Saudi Rape Victim Speaks Out

The gang rape victim from Saudi Arabia who outrageously has been sentenced to jail time and lashes has spoken out.

Sure doesn't sound like she's copping to adultery, as the oil ticks claimed last week.

Read her harrowing account here.

"I had a relationship with someone on the phone," recalled the Qatif girl.

"It started when we were both 16. I had never seen him before, I just knew his voice. Then he started to threaten me and I got afraid.

"He threatened to tell my family about the relationship. Because of the threats and fear, I agreed to give him a photo of myself."

But when the girl wed another young man she became worried about the photo she had given to her "ex-boyfriend".

"I asked him for the photo back but he refused. He said: 'I'll give you the photo on the condition that you come out with me in my car.'

"I told him we could meet at a souk [market] near my neighbourhood in Qatif."

She recalled: "He started to drive me home, and when were about to turn the corner to my house, another car stopped right in front of our car.

"Two people got out of their car and stood on either side of our car. The man on my side had a knife.

"They tried to open our door. I told the individual with me not to open the door, but he did. He let them come in. I screamed."

The ordeal had begun.

"One of the men brought a knife to my throat. They told me not to speak. They pushed both of us to the back of the car and started driving. We drove a lot, but I didn't see anything since my head was forced down.

"They took us to an area with lots of palm trees. No one was there. If you kill someone there, no one would know about it."

First, they took the girl's male companion from the car.

He was the victim of homosexual rape a number of times during the course of the evening.

"I was so afraid," the girl said.

"Then they forced me out of the car. They pushed me really hard. I yelled out: 'Where are you taking me? I'm like your sister.'"

They took her to a building. Then two men came in and stripped her.

"The first man with the knife raped me. I was destroyed. I tried to force them off but I couldn't. Another man came in and did the same thing to me. I didn't even feel anything after that."

For two hours the girl begged the two men to take her home.

"I told them that it was late and that my family would be asking about me.

Then I saw a third man come into the room. There was a lot of violence.

After the third man came in, a fourth came. He slapped me and tried to choke me.

"The fifth and sixth ones were the most abusive. The fifth one took a photo of me like this. After the seventh one, I couldn't feel my body any more. I didn't know what to do. When a very fat man was on top of me I could no longer breathe."

Before she was eventually taken home by the gang, she was raped again by all seven attackers.

"They took my mobile and saw my husband's picture in my wallet.

"When I got out of the car [at her home], I couldn't even walk. I rang the doorbell and my mother opened the door. She said: 'You look tired.'

"She thought I was with my husband.

"I went to the hospital the next day. I didn't eat for one week after that, just drank water. I didn't tell anyone, but I would see the rapists faces in my sleep."

However, the story began to leak out.

Read the whole thing.

I fear she may be further punished for speaking to the media.

Say It Ain't So, Kameraden!

Progressive politics at its finest.

Fraud, intimidation and bribery as Putin prepares for victory

State workers forced to vote in effort to rig result

The Kremlin is planning to rig the results of Russia's parliamentary elections on Sunday by forcing millions of public sector workers across the country to vote, the Guardian has learned.

Local administration officials have called in thousands of staff on their day off in an attempt to engineer a massive and inflated victory for President Vladimir Putin and his United Russia party. Voters are being pressured to vote for United Russia or risk losing their jobs, their accommodation or bonuses, the Guardian has been told in numerous interviews with byudzhetniki (public sector workers), students and ordinary citizens.

Doctors, teachers, university deans, students and even workers at psychiatric clinics have been warned they have to vote. Failure to do so will entail serious consequences, they have been told.

Analysts say the pressure is designed to ensure a resounding win for the United Russia party and for Putin, who heads its party list. The victory would give him a public mandate to maintain ultimate power in the country as "National Leader" despite being unable to stand for a third term as president in March.

In a televised speech yesterday Putin implored the nation to turn out and vote for United Russia, saying: "I count on your support." The president enjoys genuine popular backing but a spokeswoman for Golos, an independent organisation monitoring the elections, said "big pressure on voters across the country" was being used to balloon the result for United Russia.

"We are seeing a new phenomenon where voters are forced to get absentee ballots under threat of being sacked or being denied bonuses," she said. "People are then instructed to vote at their workplace where everything is tightly controlled." The spokesman said the pressure applied to private businesses as well as state-run enterprises.

Students have been told they risk the prospect of failing exams or being removed from courses if they do not vote for United Russia. Alexander, a journalism student at Oryol State University, said: "It's been made very clear that students who don't get absentee ballots and vote the right way could lose their place in the dormitory."

Anna, 31, a schoolteacher in Ulan Ude, said: "We were called to the staff room in my school about a month ago and asked to sign a formal declaration promising that we would vote for United Russia. I told them that I wanted to vote for another party, but they told me to sign it in such a manner that there was no way to refuse. They hinted I could lose my job."

[...]

Bloggers on Russia's most popular social networking site, Livejournal, have posted numerous accounts of intimidation. One in Murmansk wrote that he was told that if he didn't vote for United Russia "the management would get it in the neck".

Don't be surprised if Livejournal develops a severe case of technical difficulties in the not too distant future.

Another in Yekaterinburg wrote: "Today my wife came home in shock. As the boss of a state company she has been told that all her workers living in different parts of town must take absentee ballots and go to vote in Kirovsky district. She has to go and sit all day on December 2 and call round everyone in her collective. Then she has to provide a list of who has voted." She then received a directive warning her to add anybody who didn't vote for United Russia to a list, and later those people would be "called to the office" of the local administration.

The Kremlin has cast Sunday's State Duma vote as a referendum on Putin. Although Putin is obliged to step down as president next May, a landslide victory may be used to legitimise his return to power, possibly as early as the summer.

The president's personal popularity remains high. But support for United Russia is less solid. Independent experts say the party's true ratings are around 35% - well below the 55% figure suggested by state-controlled opinion polls.

In a leak to Russian media this week, one senior election official said that regional governors had been told to deliver at least 65% of the vote for Putin's party, an "unrealistically high" total that could be achieved only through electoral fraud and by compelling people to vote.

"The elections are going to be falsified," said Mikhail Delyagin, an economist and the director of Moscow's Institute on Globalisation Problems. "The elections that took place in the Soviet Union were less falsified than this one."

He added: "All those who depend on state salaries have been forced to go and vote. This means workers on all levels of state power working for local government, all the military, and those who are in prison or psychiatric hospitals. Of course people have the possibility to lie. But there is enormous psychological pressure."

[...]

Putin's decision to associate himself with United Russia's election campaign - and to stand as a candidate at the top of the party's federal list - has contributed to the scale of the fraud, analysts said.

"The scale of pressure is due to nervousness within the Kremlin administration since it announced that this is no longer a parliamentary election but a referendum on Putin," Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of the journal Russia in Global Affairs, said. Lukyanov said he believed the amount of fraud on polling day would be small.

This schmuck wouldn't know voter fraud if it came up and kicked him in the ass. Or, he's on Putie's payroll.

"This is normal in contemporary advanced authoritarian systems. They are smart enough to organise the vote in quite a proper and correct way," he said.

Coercing people in advance was a more effective tactic, he added. "The consequences [of not voting for Putin] are not perhaps as bad as they promise. But there is psychological pressure, of course. I had thought Russian authoritarianism was much softer. We will see."

[....]

There's more

Furiously taking notes, spokesthingys from the Kooky Kult of Koslam were unavailable for comment.

Previously Democracy Under True Democrat, Vladimir Paranoid

Brutal Sarkozy Seeks to Crush French Workers

Oh, the humanity. Just imagine the hardship of having to labor more than 35 hours a week.

Sarkozy plans new blow to French 35-hour work week

President Nicolas Sarkozy is trying to revamp France's 35-hour working week without picking a fight with trade unions by making it easier and more attractive for employees to work longer.
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Introduced in 1998 when the opposition Socialists were in power, the 35-hour work week has been blamed by the ruling centre-right UMP and business for inflation, competitiveess problems, sluggish growth, and a host of other ills.

Past UMP governments have already done their bit to undermine the law by allowing some exemptions, and Sarkozy introduced tax breaks for firms and employees for overtime work -- even before Thursday's announcements.

"Everything that goes towards making the 35-hour week more flexible is a good thing," said Yves-Thibault de Silguy, chairman of construction group Vinci, told reporters.

"The idea which seemed important to me was to say that we will raise purchasing power by encouraging work. That seems a good idea as measures taken ... to make the labor market more flexible help us to hire. It is positive."

Maybe those who protest can move to Venezuela if Hugo gets his way.

Mob Boss Busted While Watching Mob Boss Getting Busted

Just imagine his confusion.

Mafia boss watching Mafia on TV arrested

Italian police burst into the room of a suspected Mafia mobster in Sicily and arrested him as he watched a television show about the arrest of a Mafia boss, investigators said.

Police said Michele Catalano was watching the concluding chapter late on Thursday of the TV mini-series The Boss of Bosses, recounting the arrest in 1993 of real-life Cosa Nostra leader Salvatore "Toto" Riina, when he was detained.

They said Catalano, 48, was suspected of being a senior commander serving under the latest "boss of bosses" Salvatore Lo Piccolo, who was arrested this month after nearly 25 years on the run.

Catalano faces charges of drug trafficking and extortion.

Savage Sues CAIR

The anti-American hate group and unindicted co-conspirators CAIR have been attacking radio host Michael Savage and now he's had enough of this crew.

Good for him.

Trend-setting radio talk show host Michael Savage has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the Council on Islamic-American Relations [sic], and has accused the organization of being a "political vehicle of international terrorism" that seeks to do "material harm to those voices who speak against the violent agenda of CAIR's clients."

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in California, seeks damages equal to the ongoing donations from CAIR supporters "who expect CAIR to act in this manner in exchange for continuing financial support" as well as "actual damages according to proof."

A spokesman for Savage indicated the top-rated talk show host would have no further comment, saying the text of the lawsuit itself would answer questions.

The focal point of the lawsuit is a series of audio clips CAIR has been using in its promotions and fundraising efforts.

Those comments from Savage's show include his criticisms of Islam and Muslims, including:

"I'm not gonna put my wife in a hijab. And I'm not gonna put my daughter in a burqa. And I'm not getting' on my all-fours and braying to Mecca. And you could drop dead if you don't like it. You can shove it up your pipe. I don't wanna hear any more about Islam. I don't wanna hear one more word about Islam. Take your religion and shove it up your behind. I'm sick of you."

But the lawsuit maintains such comments, taken in context, are Savage's verbal expression of the feelings of many Americans.

Whether you like Savage or not, we cannot have thugs like CAIR intimidating sponsors and trying to silence radio voices they don't agree with.

UPDATE: Savage's site has a copy of the suit and a link where you can donate to his defense fund.

H/T MrC_5150.

Also, NJDhockeyfan notes this interview and this video:

Grim News: Iraqi Civilian Deaths Drop Sharply

I just don't know how much more of this awful news the Democrats will be able to handle.

Perhaps this is why Iraq is no longer mentioned at any of their staged debates.

The number of civilians killed in violence throughout Iraq fell this month to the lowest level in nearly two years, according to government statistics obtained by Reuters on Friday.

The data showed 538 civilians were killed in November, down 29 percent from October. The statistics are compiled by the health, interior and defence ministries, and represent the best Iraqi count of the bloodshed.

They confirm a sharp fall in violence in the 10 months since U.S. forces launched a "surge" of 30,000 additional troops and a new tactic of moving from large bases into small neighbourhood positions to reduce violence.

The number of civilians killed in violence in October was 758. The November figure is nearly 75 percent down from the almost 2,000 deaths per month at the beginning of this year.

The last time the government recorded fewer than 600 civilians killed in Iraq was in February 2006, the same month an attack on a Shi'ite shrine triggered huge sectarian violence.

The November figures showed 24 Iraqi soldiers and 46 Iraqi police were killed. The United States has so far reported 37 of its soldiers killed in November, one fewer than last month.

If that figure is not revised in coming days, it will have been the least deadly month for U.S. forces in Iraq since March 2006.

Bob Geldof Gets It ... Almost

Stop the presses! Lefty Bob Geldof is for free trade (sort of).

Geldof unveils African trade plan

Poverty campaigner Bob Geldof and Africa advocacy group Data have introduced an African Trade Initiative ahead of the EU-Africa summit.
Its aim is "to ensure that Africa is able to grow through increased exports and regional trade".

So what are the specifics?

The initiative emphasizes the urgent need for further opening of EU and US markets to African products, reform of subsidies that harm African producers and enhanced aid for trade commitments that address Africa's supply-side challenges," Data said.

Supply side economics?

Opening up and eliminating trade restrictions?

Gee, who would have thought that Geldof was a free trade, supply-sider kind of guy. Don't let Geldof and his buddies on the left/MSM know, but he is walking arm-in-arm with Adam Smith and Ronald Reagan on this trade stuff.

But then, just when you think Gelfof get's it, he comes out with this:

Mr Geldof also said that "we should not enforce trade liberalization on the poor".

Trade is the key to deal with the extreme poverty, but it is not happening because Africa's commodity-based economies are not attracting enough money, he said.

Um, Mr. Geldof? One major reason why the "poor" are poor, is because there is not enough free trade going on. The best way to encourage more trade is to reduce trading restrictions like tarrifs and such. Okay? Get it now?

And the reason why Africa's economies are not attracting foreign capital is due to the lack of trade and the socialistic/communistic tendancies of many of the governments there. Investors just will not risk their capital in that kind of a market.

Geldof is living proof of how sad it is to waste a brain on socialism.

Forget Tupperware: Women Flocking to Taser Parties!

Maybe I can talk Mrs. JWF into hosting one of these get togethers.

Although it'd probably be a good idea if I left the premises for the day.

Granted, liberal bedwetters and Amnesty International will probably condemn this.

Taser parties stunning success with female clients

Stunning success. Get it?

Pack up your Tupperware, and get ready for a new kind of party.

Dana Shafman, founder of Shieldher Inc., has recently started sponsoring Taser parties, giving women a chance to buy Tasers for $300, or $350 with a laser beam to help with aiming.

Shafman's parties allow women to get together to discuss concerns and learn about the Taser C2, the newest consumer Taser that is similar to the device police officers use. "I felt that we have Tupperware parties and candle parties to protect our food and house, so why not have a Taser party to learn how to protect our lives and bodies," Shafman said.

She has had parties in Phoenix and Scottsdale by invitation. Guests have the opportunity to shoot the Taser for the first time at a cardboard cutout during the parties. For safety reasons, no alcohol is served and no one is actually Tasered.

After her first Taser party in Scottsdale recently, Shafman said, "I think the party was spectacular. It opened up opportunities for people to ask questions and get informed about the Tasers."

Debi McMahon was excited to get her Taser activated.

"I feel like I'm 6 feet tall and 250 pounds. I'm going to buy one for my mom. It's going to be her 81st birthday present."

Don't worry ladies, you can accessorize with them. But be sure to keep them away from the kids.

The Tasers come in color choices of pink, blue, silver or black, which caused the women at the Scottsdale party to worry that their small children might see the colored Tasers as a toy.

Caily Scheur, a mother of two, said, "I want to protect my children from (the Taser) just as much as I want to protect myself by using it."

Scheur said that once the Taser enters her house, she will keep it in a locked box under her bed with the key high enough so her children cannot open the box.

But some of the other women planned on telling their children what the Taser does and why it should be handled only by Mommy and Daddy.

Shafman created Shieldher Inc. in February and became the only Taser party coordinator in the nation, she said.

#2 issue just behind National Security

Most immigrants in Georgia illegally, study finds

Washington — Most of the 953,000 immigrants living in Georgia are in the country illegally, according to an analysis for the Center for Immigration Studies released Thursday.

Basing its findings on U.S. Census Bureau data, the analysis said Georgia has one of the fastest-growing immigrant populations of any state. It calculated that 53 percent of the state's foreign-born population — 504,000 people — are illegal immigrants. Only the estimates for Arizona, at 65 percent, and North Carolina, at 58 percent, were higher.

And here are the findings of the study.

FINDINGS
The Center for Immigration Studies' analysis found that in Georgia:
• 7 percent of the state's total school-age population — were illegal immigrants or the offspring of illegal immigrants.
• 32.9 percent of immigrant households use at least one welfare program compared to 19.1 percent of native-born households.
• Immigrants and their U.S.-born children under the age of 18 make up 13.3 percent of the state's total population.
• The number of immigrants in the state has more than tripled in a little more than a decade — growing from 268,000 in 1995 to 378,000 in 2000 to 953,000 in 2007. Since 2000, the state's immigration population has increased 58.2 percent.
• 39.7 percent of the state's immigrants and their kids lived in or near poverty, compared to 28.9 percent of the native population and its children.

Behind national security this is the most pressing problem facing America. Not abortion, not flags, not even the economy. If our federal elected officials would address this issue by shutting the border, cutting the flow, and fer goodness sakes cutting off the funding for all these social programs that have become a de facto 21st century plantation, keeping people enslaved to big government there is shortly going to be a need for more and more local and state governments to quit being scared of the ACLU and it's battalions of lawyers and do what has been done like they did in Oklahoma. The first sentence in their new law says

"The State of Oklahoma finds that illegal immigration is causing economic hardship and lawlessness in this state and that illegal immigration is encouraged by public agencies within this state that provide public benefits without verifying immigration status."

It isn't about these folks doing jobs other native born Americans won't do, it's about them doing it at a wage native born Americans won't settle for. Americans have gotten so spoiled to the idea of buying goods at the lowest prices that we have thrown all other concerns off the bus. The results are not only tainted items from China but drains on our treasury to provide services. Send them home.
You do have to wonder where all those illegal immigrants from Oklahoma went to don't you? I wonder how long before the adjoining states start feeling the strain.
Are you starting to see where the illegal immigration issue is impacting most of the major issues facing America? From national security, to health insurance, to strain on social services and decreasing scores on academic achievement.

Apparently, Not Everyone is Getting Along

Here's a blast from the past.

Rodney King is shot while riding his bike

After his 1991 videotaped beating by four white Los Angeles police officers whose acquittal touched off the 1992 riots, Rodney G. King became an overnight celebrity who symbolized for many the perception of unfair treatment of young black men by police.

But, since then, the spotlight has shifted to King's long series of run-ins with police and domestic disputes.

Television cameras swarmed his house once again Thursday after an incident Wednesday night in which he told authorities that he was riding his bicycle after 11 p.m. in a dicey area near the border of San Bernardino and Rialto and was sprayed with pellets from a shotgun.

He reportedly pedaled his bike for roughly a mile to his Jackson Street home in Rialto before calling police and heading to the hospital in an ambulance.

Rialto police, who were the first to respond, said King was intoxicated when they arrived and that it was difficult to decipher what had happened.

"We sent a couple of officers out to his address here in Rialto, but he didn't really tell us a whole lot other than he'd been shot," said Rialto Police Sgt. Don Lewis. "It looked like birdshot, looked like a long-distance shot."

On Thursday morning, San Bernardino Police Lt. Scott Paterson said police were still trying to determine what "was factual."

In interviews with investigators who visited him Thursday afternoon at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, King reported that a man and a woman approached him and demanded his bicycle.

When he rode away, King told investigators, someone sprayed his shoulder with pellets from a shotgun. King had pellet wounds on his face, arm and back, Paterson said.

You would think a man of such wealth could afford a driver.

Well, ever since he rose to fame for resisting arrest, King has had an endless string of run-ins with the law.

Shocking, isn't it?

* In May 1991, he was arrested on suspicion of trying to run over a vice officer who allegedly found him with a transvestite prostitute in Hollywood, but no charges were filed.

* In 1993, King entered an alcohol rehabilitation program and was placed on probation after crashing his vehicle into a block wall in downtown Los Angeles with a blood-alcohol level twice the legal limit.

* In July 1995, he was arrested by Alhambra police, who alleged that he hit his wife with his car, knocking her to the ground. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail after being convicted of hit-and-run.

* In 1999, he was sentenced to 90 days in San Bernardino County jail and put on probation for four years after a domestic dispute involving one of his daughters and her mother. He was required to attend a batterer's treatment program and a child-abuse program, according to court records.

* In 2001, King was ordered to attend a yearlong drug treatment program after he was arrested for indecent exposure and being under the influence of PCP at Ganesha Park in Pomona.

* In April 2003, Rialto police watched him weave through traffic in his Ford Expedition at more than 100 mph before plowing through a fence and into a San Bernardino house. He pleaded guilty to being under the influence of PCP and was sentenced to a six-month drug rehabilitation program followed by a 120-day jail sentence.

* That October, Rialto police arrested King on suspicion of punching his girlfriend in the stomach.

Susan Mickey, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County district attorney, said the office declined to prosecute the domestic violence case in 2003 and a subsequent September 2005 domestic violence case because of a lack of evidence.

In the September 2005 incident, King was arrested on suspicion of threatening to kill one of his daughters and her mother after the two women argued with his then-girlfriend, the Associated Press reported at the time.

I'm not surprised in the least he's still using PCP, since that was one of the substances he reportedly had in him while he was resisting arrest in the videotaped incident.

Now They've Come for the Rappers

How does one say pimps and 'hos in Farsi?

The Iranian government has announced a campaign against rap music which it considers obscene.

The Ministry for Culture and Islamic Guidance said illegal studios would be closed and rap singers "confronted".

An official condemned rappers for using very vulgar words, but it was not clear if the whole genre was being banned.

Rap music in Farsi is increasingly popular among young men in Tehran, with lyrics covering political, social and sexual themes.

Iranians wanting to record an album or stage a concert need to get official permission.

Some songs are approved by the ministry, but most are circulated through a growing underground market for rap.

The culture ministry official, Mohammad Dashtgoli, was quoted by the official Irna news agency as saying he wanted to "find a solution" to internet distribution of the music.

Iranian rappers are inspired by the Iranian exile community in Los Angeles - one of the main centres of American rap.

I wonder how their fashion police deal with young men wearing baggy pants?

I am getting exicited about Fred now

This is a good commercial from the Fred camp, now he needs to follow it up with more appearances and keep driving those points home. The other candidates have been getting eliminated from my Christmas list one by one based on their actions.

Huckabee - Too slick and conjuring up images of Clinton. His record on taxes and support for tuition for illegal aliens while governor turned me off.

Guilani - Too much gun control, too much mayor of NYC and not enough of what are you going to do for the country. Saying you did something while mayor does not mean you will do it as president, but if I look at everything you did as mayor then I have to cross him off.

Romney - I can't get past his mandatory health insurance plan he forced upon the residents of MA and now with Fred pointing out his obvious pandering to the Pro Life/Pro Choice crowd depending on the circumstances got him crossed off
None of the others ever really made it onto my radar screen with the exception of Duncan Hunter, whom I still know little about other then Ann Coulter likes him.

Enjoy!

The YouTube Sham

CNN deserves no mercy for the fraudulent "debate" they staged Wednesday night and should forever be shunned by Republicans. Not that they had much credibility to begin with, but now they have zero.

Michelle Malkin demolishes them here, while the New York Post notes how within hours bloggers demolished the alleged news network, which is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Democrat Party and the Clintons in particular.

If they had a shred of decency, they would apologize and fire all those responsible for this fraud.

Wednesday night's CNN/YouTube debate was barely over before the network was forced to make an embarrassing admission: One of its supposedly disinterested questioners, retired gay Army officer Keith Kerr, has an official position with the Hillary Clinton campaign.

Wait.

There's more.

Within hours, resourceful bloggers had uncovered the even more embarrassing fact that at least three others who'd been selected to grill the Republican presidential hopefuls had all declared, in various online forums, that they're backing Democratic candidates.

This isn't the end of the world, of course - though, as Malkin notes, it's not hard to imagine the national uproar that would ensue if GOP operatives flying false colors had infiltrated a Democratic debate sponsored by Fox News.

For its part, CNN said it had only checked to see whether any of its so-called citizen questioners had donated to a candidate. Obviously, a little more scrutiny was called for - as those bloggers swiftly proved.

Sad to say, though, the host network's sloppiness was hardly the only thing wrong with the debate. Or even the worst thing.

The basic format - often-bizarre home videos by mostly young questioners who seemed more full of themselves than genuinely curious - essentially turned the event into a circus.

Read the rest.

Transportation Shutdown in Italy

It must be the fashionable thing these days in Europe to go on strike. Now the Italian transport system has decided to shut down for the day.

Italy hit by transport shutdown

Italian transport unions are striking for eight hours in protest at plans to cut government spending on transport.

Most train, air, sea ferry and bus services are affected by the strike and millions of Italians are expected to walk to work or take the day off.

Not to be left out of anything, the cab drivers in Rome have walked.

Rome is experiencing additional chaos because of a strike by taxi drivers.

The drivers are protesting against a decision by Rome's city council to issue some 500 new taxi licences.

I find the logic of the taxi drivers particularly interesting. In essence, they are refusing to work because demand for their services has grown to the point where 500 more will be licensed. Seems to me you would want to work all the harder in that case. Try refusing to work in your office next time the boss hires new staff and see what happens.

But I digress. Getting back to the transport shutdown.

The negotiations "did not produce a solution to public transport problems", transport union chief Claudio Claudiani said, in a statement quoted by Reuters news agency.

These socialists actually think that shutting down the transport system and damaging the local economy will somehow produce more government revenue for their system.

Amazing. Hey morons, your work action costs the government revenue, not increase it.

This shows what happens to your brain on socialism.

Feminist Author Caves to Islamists

Looks like the Religion of Peace has intimidated another writer.

Taslima Nasreen removes comment

Controversial Bangladeshi feminist writer Taslima Nasreen has said she will withdraw some "controversial" lines from one of her books.

The lines are from Dwikhondito (Split into two) which, some Muslim groups say, are derogatory to Islam.

Of course, the seething has already started:

There have been violent protests against Ms Nasreen by Muslims in West Bengal's capital, Calcutta, recently.

She has been moved from one city to another in the last few days for her own safety after these protests and is now lodged in a safe house in the capital, Delhi.

What was the controversy about?

Critics have accused the writer of calling for the Koran to be changed to give women greater rights, something she denies.

Ms Nasreen fled Bangladesh in the early 1990s after death threats and has spent the last three years in Calcutta after a long stay in Europe.

Last week, after the riots in Calcutta, Ms Nasreen was flown out of Calcutta in a special plane to Delhi from where she was taken to Jaipur in the western state of Rajasthan.

I suggest that Ms. Nasreen switch to criticising Christians and Jews. You can say anything you want about them and be supported/applauded by the mainstream and the left (but I repeat myself).

More here.

The federal government has pledged to protect Nasreen and moved her to a safe house outside New Delhi at the weekend after thousands of Muslims took to the streets in her adopted home Kolkata demanding her expulsion.

At the same time, the Congress party-led government warned Nasreen not to make any statements that might "hurt the sentiments of our people" -- a reference to India's 140-million-plus Muslims.

Extremists accused the author of blasphemy over her 1994 novel "Lajja" or "Shame," which depicts violence against minority Hindus by Muslim fundamentalists in Bangladesh.

They called for her execution for that and other works.

The silence from feminists around the world is deafening.

Update: Linked at Hot Air. Thanks!

Dissecting Spitzer

In the January issue of Vanity Fair, David Margolick has a look at the temperamental New York Governor Eliot Spitzer.

It's not pretty.

In late January, Jim Tedisco, a Republican and the minority leader of the State Assembly, was driving to Albany on the Governor Thomas E. Dewey New York State Thruway—named for the last crime buster before Spitzer to catapult himself to the capital—when his cell phone rang. It was the governor, asking him to attend a press conference announcing ethics-reform legislation. Tedisco resisted; he’d just been excluded from some key meetings, and feared he’d merely be a prop. (Spitzer recalls it was Tedisco, dissatisfied with his treatment by the governor, who initiated the discussion.) That was when he got what’s now known around Albany as the “Full Spitzer,” or at least the electronic version, minus the bulging veins and spluttering that eyewitnesses get to see.

Spitzer’s voice suddenly changed, Tedisco recalls: it became louder, shriller, more guttural, more menacing. In three weeks he’d done more for New York State than any governor in history, Spitzer screamed. He was having enough trouble with the other goddamned legislative leaders, he went on; Tedisco would do what he was told—or he’d be crushed. As if the point weren’t sufficiently clear, Spitzer put it another way, courtesy of James Taylor. “Listen,” he shrieked, “I’m a fucking steamroller, and I’ll roll over you and anybody else.”

“I was thinking to myself, My God, is this really the governor?” Tedisco recalls. “To tell you the truth, I almost drove off the thruway It’s almost like an addiction he has to be confrontational,” Tedisco goes on. “The only way to help him is to buy a Dale Carnegie course for better communication skills, or 10 counseling lessons on temper control.” And it was all such a pity, given the high expectations for the man. “He had everything going for him,” Tedisco says. “He’s the one guy who could have turned this whole thing around.”

For all his bravado and bluster, the steamroller seems to be rather image-conscious, more concerned with his press clippings than he is with containing his sputtering rage.

“He wants to do a good job,” says Hank Sheinkopf, a New York political consultant who worked on Spitzer’s first two campaigns. “But ultimately what he really gives a shit about is whether Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and The New York Times love him, because, in the back of his brain, if they don’t love him, he’s nobody.”

It's a long piece, and a most interesting look at a pathetically insecure, power-hungry man.

NFL Week 13: Green Bay at Dallas

We'll review Week 12 and do the rest of the Week 13 schedule later in the week, and here's a quick drive-by on tonight's Packers-Cowboys affair, the Game Most People Won't See.

COWBOYS -7 Packers: The spread seems a bit high for a pair of 10-1 teams, but I like the Cowboys for several reasons. They're home now for three straight weeks, Green Bay has some injuries defensively (Charles Woodson questionable), and by all means, the Cowboys need the game much more. They do not want to go to Green Bay in January. Good game, competitive late, but Dallas gets a late score to cover. Cowboys 31-23

It's called a Confederate flag

Leroy Brooks: Hello, my name is Leroy Brooks. I am from Houston, Texas and my question is for all the candidates.

Whether this flag right here represents the symbol of racism, a symbol of political ideology, a symbol of Southern heritage -- or, is it something completely different?

Cooper: He's talking about the stars and bars.

Governor Romney?

Romney: Right now, with the kinds of issues we got in this country, I'm not going to get involved with a flag like that. That's not a flag that I recognize so that I would hold up in my room.

The people of our country have decided not to fly that flag. I think that's the right thing.

(Applause)

My own view is that this country can go beyond that kind of stuff, and that instead we can do as a party what we need to do, which is to reach out to all Americans.

Every time I listen to someone like John Edwards get on TV and say there are two Americans, I just want to -- I just want to throw something at the TV, because there are not two Americas. There's one America.

We are a nation united. We face extraordinary challenges right now. And Democrats dividing us and tearing down this country are doing exactly the wrong thing.

We're succeeding in Iraq. We've got tough challenges. We can overcome them. But we do not need to have that kind of divisive talk. And that flag, frankly, is divisive, and it shouldn't be shown.

Cooper: Governor Thompson? Excuse me, Senator Thompson? Maybe one day.

Thompson: I know that everybody who hangs the flag up in their room like that is not racist. I also know that for a great many Americans it's a symbol of racism.

So, therefore, as a public place -- he's free to do whatever he wants to in his home. As far as a public place is concerned, I am glad that people have made the decision not to display it as a prominent flag, symbolic of something, at a state capitol. As a part of a group of flags or something of that nature, you know, honoring various servicepeople at different times in different parts of the country, I think that's different.

But, as a nation, we don't need to go out of our way to be bringing up things that to certain people in our country that's bad for them.

The guy who asked this question is a Ron Paul supporter, big whoop. Why didn't he ask this of his candidate?
In a time long ago the Confederate Stars and Bars flag was a symbol of resolve, courage, and fierce independence. That was in the days before Jesse Jackson and his ilk managed to promote their campaign of hate and racism across the country blackmailing quite a few states and corporations along the way. Why is it that the flag is still worn by people trying to show their independence? It is not a symbol of racism and never has been. Neither candidate made any points among southerners, at least those who watched the debate, with their answers.
Neither one of them took the questioner to task for his false assertions rather they just let them go unchallenged. Fred gave it a half hearted attempt.
I remember a day and age when that flag accompanied with a hearty rebel yell would inspire fear in the hearts of your enemy or could be used to display a show of excitement that words were not adequate enough for.
I have never been a big Confederate flag waver, but I respected it. It epitomized what the south about. It is a link to our past, good, bad or indifferent. Now with the continuous bashing of the flag I, like a lot of my neighbors will be proudly displaying it right next to my American flag that flies outside my house.
I will not be shamed and I will not bow to some faux outrage and false associations hoisted by others upon what the flag represents.
And for what it worth here is a video from one of his friends according to his You Tube page.
Few things have gotten me real fired up, but if everybody continues to buy into this myth that the Confederate Flag is a symbol of racism this may not be the last you read of this topic from me. Gangsta rappers with pants around their knees, showing their butts in public and shooting people to get street cred for the release of their new album is far more offensive and might be something all you people wanting to burn the rebel flag might spend your energies on.
Here is your link to the video of him asking the question.

'Teddy Bear' Teacher Found Guilty, Gets 15 Days

The noble justices in the Islamic hellhole of the Sudan have found Gillian Gibbons guilty for the grave offense of insulting the world's 874 billion Muslims by having the audacity to have schoolchildren name a bear.

A British teacher has been found guilty in Sudan of insulting religion after she allowed her primary school class to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Gillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, has been sentenced to 15 days in prison after a day-long court hearing.

Mrs Gibbons had been accused on three counts of insulting religion, inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs.

She will be deported after serving her sentence.

These people sound more paranoid than Hugo Chavez.

Sudan's top clerics had called for the full measure of the law to be used against Mrs Gibbons and labelled her actions part of a Western plot against Islam.

The National Organization for Women was unavailable for comment.

H/T: Lawhawk.

Yawn ... Another bin Laden Tape

The only shock here is he didn't show up on the YouTube debate last night.

Bin Laden urges Europe to quit Afghanistan

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden urged European countries to end their military participation with U.S. forces in the Afghan conflict, Al Jazeera television said on Thursday.

Jazeera aired portions of an audio tape in which a speaker who sounded like bin Laden said his Taliban allies had no knowledge of plans for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, a main reason for the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.

I wonder if we'll get a follow-up from Al-Qaeda femme fatale Adam Gadahn.

Beef Up On Security

After what happened to Theo Van Gogh, I hope Geert Wilders has ample security.

A Dutch conservative lawmaker said Wednesday he is making a film to highlight what he describes as "fascist" passages in the Quran, his latest high profile criticism of Islam.

The interior and justice ministers said they were concerned, but believed they had no authority to prevent the lawmaker, Geert Wilders, from screening his film.

Wilders plans to depict parts of the Quran he says are used as inspiration "by bad people to do bad things."

Less than 10 minutes long, the film is expected to air in late January. It will show "the intolerant and fascist character of the Quran," said Wilders, whose anti-Islam campaign helped his Freedom Party win nine seats in parliament in last year's election.

In the past, Wilders has said that half the Quran should be torn up and compared it with Adolf Hitler's book "Mein Kampf." He has claimed the Netherlands is being swamped by a "tsunami" of Islamic immigrants.

Immigrants from Muslim countries number about 1 million of the country's 16 million people.

Wilders' planned broadcast is reminiscent of the film "Submission" — a fictional study of abused Muslim women with scenes of near-naked women with Quranic texts engraved on their flesh.

"Submission" director Theo van Gogh was shot and had his throat slit by a Muslim extremist on an Amsterdam street in 2004. Prominent Muslim critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who wrote the screenplay, was threatened in a note left on Van Gogh's body. She now lives under round-the-clock protection in the United States.

Justice Ministry spokesman Wim van der Weegen said the government is "taking measures" before the broadcast of Wilders' film. He declined to elaborate.

"Based on the discussion, the ministers have expressed concern," Van der Weegen said. "But at the same time (they) have said that Mr. Wilders has freedom of expression."

Wilders said he is not afraid of reprisals if his film angers Muslims. "I have lived with 24-hour protection for three years," he said.

"I will make the film and see what reaction it creates."

We already know what the reaction will be: Riots, mayhem, murder and seething worldwide.

Grim News: Economy Grows at 4.9%

Despite all the gloom and doom in the mainstream media, the economy is still moving forward.

GDP revised up to 4.9% for third quarter

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The U.S. economy expanded at the fastest pace in four years in the third quarter, growing at an real annual rate of 4.9%, the Commerce Department said Thursday in its second estimate of last quarter's growth.

The upward revision to gross domestic product was due to larger inventory building and a better trade balance. It was in line with Wall Street expectations.
A month ago, the government pegged third-quarter GDP at 3.9%. The government publishes three estimates of GDP, adding more complete information with each passing month.

Real GDP has increased 2.8% in the past year, close to the economy's long-run potential.

So let's review.

Unemployment is less than 5% and approaching the "natural rate of unemployment" while GDP has grown this year by 2.8% (anything over 2% is really good). So, while the housing industry is in trouble and there are individual regions that are seeing a significant slowdown, on a macroeconomic level, things are still going pretty well.

Of course, you will only hear this said by the MSM if and when a Democrat gets into the White House.

More at NewsBusters.

Civil Liberties Horror: Berkeley Cracks Down on Homeless

You ever notice the practitioners of tolerance and diversity usually take a couple of decades to catch up with the rest of society?

Sure enough, the folks in Berkeley have now passed ordinances to help restore some semblance of sanity to their streets, and it's not just the homeless who are affected. Of course, the San Francisco Chronicle considers it controversial.

The Berkeley City Council approved a controversial plan Tuesday night to reduce unruly behavior in public places.

The new plan cracks down on yelling, littering, camping, drunkenness, smoking, urinating and sex on sidewalks and in parks.

The initiative, known as the Public Commons for Everyone Initiative, will provide more housing, benefits counseling and public toilets for the hundreds of homeless people in Berkeley. It also beefs up enforcement of laws against lying on the sidewalk and imposes a smoking ban in commercial areas.

What if you lie while you're on the sidewalk?

Under the plan, seniors or social workers would walk around monitoring street behavior and either direct homeless people to social services or call the police if necessary.

"There are people on the streets that we as a society are collectively responsible for," said City Councilman Laurie Capitelli. "I think sometimes people need help fixing their lives, and we collectively have to help people do that."

City staff began crafting the initiative earlier this year in response to regular complaints from visitors, merchants and residents that the city's public places were becoming increasingly inhospitable as a result of rowdy behavior.

The original plan, which the council passed in June, called for tougher enforcement of existing laws governing street behavior. Among the suggestions was a crackdown on sitting on the sidewalk, which enraged homeless people and their advocates who said it was overly punitive.

The revised initiative eliminates the sidewalk-sitting language but makes it easier for police to cite people for lying on the sidewalk. Enforcement would be a low priority between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. if no one complained.

Berkeley has had a mixed relationship with its homeless population for decades. Homeless people, the mentally ill, teenage runaways and others on society's fringe have long been drawn to the city for its plethora of social programs, good weather, progressive history and generally tolerant attitude.

But over the years, residents and merchants have developed a more complicated relationship with the city's street population as the city has become increasingly upper-middle-class as a result of soaring home prices, and the homeless population has mushroomed.

Welcome to the real world, you intolerant bastards.

Chavez: The Meltdown Continues

Venezuelan National Guard soldiers fire tear gas and
rubber bullets at students, unseen, outside the
Metropolitan University in Caracas

Seems like the paranoid megalomaniac is getting a bit antsy, and things continue to get ugly in the streets of Venezuela.

President Hugo Chávez is encountering unexpectedly strong opposition to a referendum on constitutional reform which would cement his rule in Venezuela, with violent clashes between rival demonstrations and security forces feeding a mood that the country is at a turning point.

According to opinion polls, the socialist leader could lose this Sunday's vote amid unease over his radical policies and ambition to stay in power for decades.

Defections from his movement's ranks and food shortages have galvanised a student-led opposition campaign which is due to climax at a final rally in downtown Caracas today.

Defeat would stymie Chávez's effort to abolish term limits and oblige him to step down in five years. He has expressed a desire to keep running for president until 2030.

The president, a formidable and charismatic campaigner, has cast the referendum as a verdict on his rule and said anyone who supported him but voted against would be a traitor. "It's black and white. A vote against the reform is a vote against Chávez," he told state television.

He said he would enter a period of "profound reflection" if he lost, but dismissed the prospect. "We're obligated to victory, to continue triumphing. This is a battle of world proportions."

Nothing like a two-bit thug dictator thinking so highly of himself.

Further adding to the air of paranoia surrounding Chavez is the news Venezuela may expel the U.S. envoy, claiming, of course, we're interfering in the referendum.

Venezuela could expel a U.S. diplomat it suspects of interfering in its internal affairs by working against President Hugo Chavez's plan to run for reelection indefinitely, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro told state television he had a document that appeared to be from an American at the embassy in Caracas referring to a plan to impede the anti-U.S. president winning a referendum on Sunday.

"If it's true, we are going to declare this official from the U.S. Embassy persona non grata and eject him from the country because he would have been interfering in the internal matters of Venezuela," he said.

Chavez has grand designs, such as redrawing Venezuela's map to further consolidate power.

"The strategy is to strangle the mayors and governors," said Ramon Martinez, a governor of eastern Sucre state and a former communist guerrilla who recently broke with the president over the referendum and other issues. "Chavez will decide everything."

Chavez' project, said Manuel Donis Rios, a Venezuelan historian, mirrors the policies of 19th-century dictators who appointed military commanders to rule outlying areas and crush dissent.

Since the start of the year, Chavez' Bolivarian revolution has taken a radical turn to the left, and the 69 amendments on Sunday's ballot would enshrine many of his socialist ideas in the constitution.

As he further spirals toward dementia, the good friend of Sean Penn and Kevin Spacey claimed he would leave the government should his socialist dreamstate not come to fruition.

As if.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he will leave the government should voters reject his proposed changes to the constitution in a referendum, raising the stakes in an election pollsters say is too close to call.

``The voice of the people is the voice of God,'' he said today in a televised speech in the city of Merida. ``In the case that the reform isn't approved Sunday, I will start to pack my bags because I will have to leave the government.''

The people of Venezuela should be so fortunate.

Now, as the vote draws closer, the violence has ratcheted up. Some more photos:

An opponent to President Hugo Chavez, left,
uses an iron stick to hit a Chavez supporter during
a rally against the reforms to the nation's constitution
proposed by the president in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela

University students help a fellow student escape the tear gas
fired by Venezuelan National Guard soldiers
outside theMetropolitan University in Caracas

A university student points his slingshot toward
police during clashes outside the Metropolitan
University in Caracas

More coverage at Gateway Pundit.

Democrats Scuttle Final Debate

What a convenient excuse.

A televised debate set for next month among the Democratic presidential candidates was canceled on Wednesday due to a labor dispute between Hollywood studios and striking screenwriters, organizers said.

The decision by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) came after several candidates said they would not cross picket lines of the Writers Guild of America, which has been on strike against major film and television studios since November 5.

All eight Democrats running for the White House originally had agreed to take part in a debate scheduled for December 10 at the CBS Television City studio in Los Angeles, where striking writers have been picketing.

The canceled event would have been the last DNC-sanctioned debate before the January 3 Iowa caucuses, the first of the state-by-state contests to determine which Republican and Democrat will face off in the November 4, 2008, general election.

Of course, they could always go somewhere they could reach an audience like, say, the Fox News Channel.

Though that would mean they'd have to answer a difficult question or two.

Can't have that.

Clark as Pantsuit VP?

Sure, it's a bit presumptious for this to be floated, but if it's true, all I can say is bring it on.

Hillary Clinton has been working closely with decorated anti-war retired Gen. Wesley Clark on foreign policy, fueling rumors he could be vice-president on a “Clinton-Clark” ticket in 2008.

In recent months Clark has joined Clinton several times on the campaign trail, has been publishing a number of profile-raising editorials, and is making a substantial effort to keep his slick PAC website updated with his media schedule. He also promotes email campaigns that solicit names and contact information, as he did in his recent push to remove Rush Limbaugh from Armed Forces Radio.

Far from being an asset, his erratic behavior is sure to torpedo her campaign.

Read the rest.

Australian Soldier Admits Stealing Rocket Launchers

Looks like even a career military man could have a price. Look at what this disgrace did in Australia.

Hopefully he gets a long strtech to think about his perfidy.

Soldier admits stealing launchers

A JOINT Commonwealth-State anti-terrorism inquiry into the sale of rocket launchers, grenades and other military hardware, possibly to terrorist elements, has claimed a big scalp with a military ordnance expert pleading guilty to a charge of stealing and 10 counts of possessing prohibited weapons.

Shane Malcolm Della-Vedova, 46, who has served 27 years in the army and this year was promoted from warrant officer to captain, had extensive experience in the use of explosives and military ordnance, according to a police statement tendered to the Central Local Court yesterday.

The statement also said Della-Vedova had contacts with Afghanistan and was planning to travel there in the near future to take up employment.

On June 8, 2001, Della-Vedova was serving in the "Myambat" Logistics Company based at an ammunition facility at Orchard Hills, near Penrith, when he was ordered to destroy 66-millimetre anti-armour rocket-launchers, but instead informed a relative that they were available for sale. He also offered grenades, bullet-proof vests, night-vision goggles and other military items.

It was alleged that the relative told a man - now codenamed "Harrington" - that he could supply him with rocket-launchers, and that a deal was then made with Della-Vedova to make those launchers available. The relative is alleged to have supplied Harrington with a rocket-launcher and two or three hand grenades.

Harrington is alleged to have made contact with another man, Taha Abdul-Rahman, on September 30, 2003, and to have sold him a rocket-launcher for $12,000. On October 9 the same year, Harrington acquired seven more rocket-launchers and sold them to Abdul-Rahman for $10,000 to $12,000 each.

Two weeks later, according to the police statement, Harrington met Della-Vedova and paid him a total of $60,000. Harrington kept $10,000 for himself.

On September 30 last year, a rocket-launcher was sold to a man who was working undercover for police. Police have alleged that the rocket-launcher was one of those originally stolen by Della-Vedova.

More at the Daily Telegraph.

Hairy Munchkin: Israel Will Not Last

Little Hitler really needs to freshen up his material.

It will be a really nice day when someone drops an anvil on him.

Ahmadinejad: Israel will not last

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Wednesday predicted that Israel would not survive, as he lashed out at the US-hosted conference seeking to relaunch the Middle East peace process.

"It is impossible that the Zionist regime can last," the government mouthpiece website of state broadcasting quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in a cabinet meeting.

"Deterioration is in the nature of this regime as it has been built on aggression, lying, crime and wrongdoing," he added.

He said the meeting uniting Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Annapolis, Maryland has "failed already and was stillborn. It lacked the cornerstones of effective political work".

The Islamic republic - which has made non-recognition of Israel one of its main ideological themes - has been left isolated by the attendance at the meeting of Saudi Arabia and its chief regional ally Syria.

Three Nabbed Trying to Sell Radioactive Material

This is rather disturbing.

Slovakia arrests 3 in nuclear material case

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia - Police said Wednesday three people have been arrested for attempting to sell a small amount of an unspecified nuclear material.

Police spokesman Martin Korch said specialists were examining the radioactive material seized in Slovakia. He said the three allegedly planned a deal to sell the material, which weighs a kilo, or 2.2 pounds, for $1 million. Two of the suspects were arrested in eastern Slovakia, the other in Hungary.

More from Reuters.

Don't doubt for a second our enemies aren't trying to procure such material wherever they can.

H/T lawhawk.

'Teddy Bear' Teacher Charged

Well, it appears this report Tuesday was premature and as it turns out the Islamic hellhole of Sudan will indeed be charging Gillian Gibbons with assorted offenses over "insulting" Mohammed.

I guess world condemnation over Darfur just isn't brining enough attention to the Sudan.

A British teacher has been charged in Sudan with insulting religion, inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs.

The Foreign Office has confirmed that charges have been laid against 54-year-old Gillian Gibbons, who is from Liverpool.

She was arrested in Khartoum after allowing her class of primary school pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Lawyers say she faces six months in jail, 40 lashes or a fine if convicted.

Sudanese state media said prosecutors had completed their investigation and decided to charge Mrs Gibbons under Article 125 of the Sudanese criminal code.

The BBC's Amber Henshaw, in Khartoum, said Mrs Gibbons was expected to appear in court on Thursday.

Allahpundit has more on the travesty.

UPDATE: Check out this account of a Brit who received lashes in Qatar.

Is it inevitable that a liberal will win the White House?

Well I wrote some last week about some concerns I had about the former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee in regards to his policies on taxes and now there is more coming out bout his soft immigration stance while governor as well as other issues with ethics he had while governor. Mike this is what happens when you rise in the polls. It has been easy to beat up on Giulani and Romney since they have been the favored candidates but let's see how Mr Huckabee stands up to the scrutiny.

At one time I liked the guy even though he was from Arkansas and we all know what happened the last time we elected a former governor of Arkansas as president. It is the gift that keeps on giving. Of course being from Georgia I can't say a whole lot about former governors who make it to the White House since the stain of Jimmy Carter just won't go away either.

I am stuck in the unenviable position of having to watch the CNN/YouTube debate tonight, but I am looking for one thing. I want to see some fire come out of Fred Thompson. If he doesn't excite folks tonight then I think it is over for him. Huckabee, I am starting to think is trying to pull a Clinton on us and I am getting soft on my support for him.

It looks like this is going to come down to residents of New England running this country. If the other Republican candidates continue to falter we are going to be left with Guilani (NY), Clinton (NY), Romney (MA), and Obama (IL). It will be a shame since once again America will be in the hands of a liberal.

Paranoid Thug Chavez: CNN Instigating My Murder

The walls are closing in on the jug-eared freak.

It's a sure sign of mental illness when he thinks CNN is biased against him.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Wednesday CNN may have been instigating his murder when the U.S. TV network showed a photograph of him with a label underneath that read "Who killed him?"

The caption appeared to be a production mistake -- confusing a Chavez news item with one on the death of a football star. The anchor said "take the image down" when he realized.

But Chavez called for a probe in an interview on state television, where he repeatedly reviewed a tape of the broadcast, questioning why the unconnected photograph and wording were left on screen for several seconds.

"I want the state prosecutor to look into bringing a suit against CNN for instigating murder in Venezuela," he said. "... undoubtedly it is part of the psychological warfare."

The anti-U.S. president often denounces plots to kill him without providing much detailed evidence. On Tuesday, he said a sniper trained his gun on him at a political rally this month.

Chavez has singled out CNN for biased reporting in what he says is a U.S.-sponsored campaign in the foreign media to destabilize Venezuela. CNN says its coverage is objective.

He's beginning to sound like the nutroots weirdos who complain about a conservative bias in the U.S. media.

Meanwhile, 3 wood noted this item on the tensions between Columbia and this crackpot are escalating.

Mr Uribe responded promptly by accusing Mr Chavez of not being interested in promoting peace in Colombia and insisting Venezuela had expansionist plans that he would resist.

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin links and has more on Hugo's nervous breakdown. Noel Sheppard at NewsBusters and Bryan at Hot Air also link. Thanks!

Despite Failing Schools, NYC Councilman Wants Less Homework

The worlds's most useless legislative body strikes again.

Council Member Calls for Limits On Homework

Amid growing calls for higher education standards, a City Council member is urging the Department of Education to limit the amount of homework teachers assign students each night.

Peter Vallone Jr., who represents parts of Queens, said his two daughters are routinely swamped with homework and stuck at home, slogging through it.

"As a parent, I have been unable to have fun with my kids. We can't go for bike rides. We can't go to the park. We can't go to the museum, and that's not fair," he said.

Mr. Vallone said he understands that the Department of Education is aiming to improve test scores, but he said an emphasis on homework is taking away students' childhoods and contributing to child obesity by forcing children to stay at home with their books.

He plans to introduce a resolution next month calling for homework in public schools to be limited to 2 1/2 hours a night and said he wants the Department of Education to create a weekly homework-free night.

Waaah, it's not fair!

Maybe if this idiot spent less time offering ridiculous legislation, he'd have more time to spend with his kids. And what about students who want to get ahead by studying more? Will he mandate they limit their time spent hitting the books so his kids don't suffer from a lack of self-esteem?

Then again, maybe it's a clever scheme to keep kids stupid so they keep voting for Democrats.

As we noted, hundreds of schools are failing, yet this nitwit wants less homework.

The Department of Education's plan for reducing class size doesn't go far enough to address overcrowding at 408 failing schools, advocates charged yesterday.

While the city agreed last week to direct $153 million in new state funds toward reducing class size citywide this year, its plan targeted fewer than 150 schools for more substantial interventions.

Even the New York Times recently reported there is little progress for New York City schools.

New York City’s eighth graders have made no significant progress in reading and math since Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg took control of the city schools, according to federal test scores released yesterday, in contrast with the largely steady gains that have been recorded on state tests.

Here's a suggestion for Vallone. Why doesn't he retire and home-school his children? Then he can spend as much time as he'd like with them and give them less homework than they're currently suffering with?

Jewish Students Flee Arab Mob at York University

The proponents of tolerance and diversity were unavailable for comment.

Jewish York students flee from mob

York University saw the worst antisemitic display ever on that campus last week, said Ben Feferman, senior campus coordinator for the Canadian region of Hasbara Fellowships, an Israel advocacy organization spearheaded by Aish Hatorah.

The Betar-supported Campus Coalition of Zionists (CCZ), together with Hasbarah, manned a table in Vari Hall, with permission from the university, with pamphlets and brochures about the danger emanating from Iran.

However, the situation became very difficult for the students who participated. They were vastly outnumbered by pro-Arab students who surrounded them, and eventually the pro-Israel activists fled. As they left, there was cheering by the pro-Arab mob.

According to Feferman, “I’ve never seen anything like this at York. We weren’t even discussing the issues anymore. It was pure Jew hatred. That’s what it’s come to.” In fact, Feferman noticed an acquaintance there and said hello, but received no acknowledgement. She emailed him later that day to apologize, explaining that she didn’t want everyone to know she was Jewish. To Feferman, this episode is a red light. “We know there’s a crisis when a student on campus is afraid to reveal she’s Jewish and feels unsafe,” he said.

Another disturbing issue that day, according to Feferman, was that a Hillel executive was standing nearby, watching. Feferman can’t understand why he didn’t take action or get his students to help out.

More at Dust My Broom, which notes:

The following day, Palestinian Media Watch’s Itamar Marcus addressed York students on the daily indoctrination of children living under the Palestinian Authority to hate Jews.

“It was absolute chaos,” Hollander declared. “It was impossible to moderate. People would ask loaded questions. Marcus wasn’t given an opportunity to respond. He refused to get into a screaming match. One girl, raised in Canada, said she herself would gladly be a suicide bomber and would have no qualms raising her daughter to become a shahid.”

And this:

A couple of weeks ago, when US-based anti-Israel professor of linguistics Noam Chomsky was scheduled to address York students via satellite, CCZ and Hasbarah joined forces to provide information about what Chomsky stands for.

“We wanted to do a protest,” Feferman said, “but the university administration wouldn’t allow it, saying they didn’t want a lot of noise and they were afraid that signs could be used as weapons.” The students settled for a table with handouts about Chomsky and two large posters, one depicting Chomsky with [Hezbollah leader] Nasrallah. One poster quoted Chomsky’s statement: “I see no antisemitic implications in denial of the existence of gas chambers, or even in denial of the Holocaust.”

There's also plenty of radicalism at Ryerson University.

H/T: Daphne.

Swimmer Sells Memoirs for $8 Million

Just imagine how much money this drunken sot might command if he had any memory.

It's interesting how the caring and compassionate liberals are all about money when it's for themselves, and the biased MSM is cheering him on.

Kennedy 'sells memoirs for $8m'

The most prominent surviving member of the Kennedy family, Sen Edward Kennedy, has reportedly agreed to sell the rights to his memoirs for $8m (£4m).

After a six-day auction, they were secured by the publishers Twelve and are due to be published in 2010.

Industry sources told US media the deal was comparable to the $8m Sen Hillary Clinton got for Living History.

Then the BBC put on cheerleader outfits and started waiving pom-poms:

The Massachusetts senator has become an iconic figure within the Democratic Party, and a prominent campaigner for reforms in many areas, including education, wages, health care and immigration.

Notice how they do not categorize Kennedy as liberal, though they often label Republicans "conservative." And they have no problems with this "prominent campaigner" for reform in wages grabbing a huge pile for himself. Notice there is no reference by the Beeb of the Swimmer's many failures in life. And I bet the he forgets to discuss those events in his memoirs.

Mary Jo Kopechne was unavailable for comment.

There They Go Again

Again claiming victimhood, the so-called German "expellees" - Germans living in Poland, then-Czechoslovakia and Hungary at the end of World War II - have begun another whinefest, repeating the lie that post-war expulsions were illegal acts perpetrated by vengeful governments upon innocent people.

They very conveniently overlook the inconvenient little fact that the authority for the expulsions from those countries was set forth in the Potsdam Agreement, negotiated between and agreed to by the Allied Powers during the July 17 - August 2, 1945, Potsdam Conference that was conducted in the German city of of the same name.

Memorial for Germans expellees faces delay
A memorial to the millions of Germans expelled from Eastern Europe at the close of World War II has fallen prey to inter-departmental wrangling and is likely to be delayed, the newspaper Die Welt reported Saturday.

The government has committed itself to a "visible symbol" to mark the sufferings of up to 15 million ethnic Germans expelled as the war ended, but there has been vocal opposition from Poland and the Czech Republic, from where many were forced out.

Die Welt said the Finance Ministry was unhappy with the site chosen, while the Foreign Office was insisting on the close involvement of Poland and the Czech Republic.

The Foreign Office is reported to be against using the term "German victims."

Speaking in Warsaw on Saturday, newly-elected Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk expressed his concerns about German moves with regard to the "expellees" as they are known in Germany.

Tusk's predecessor, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, was outspoken in his opposition to a memorial.

The idea of a memorial has been strongly pushed in Germany by Erika Steinbach, president of the Federation of Expellees (BdV) and a member of parliament for Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU).

Merkel herself backed a memorial when speaking at the BdV's 50th anniversary celebrations last month.

In October a German government spokesman said agreement on a memorial was close, with the cabinet deciding on a concept before the end of this year.

German media reports said the memorial would take the form of a documentation centre under the auspices of the German Historical Museum.

In his address, Tusk drew attention to the activities of the Prussian Trust, which is seeking to reclaim property Germans lost at the end of the war, saying he shared the "special concern" about the claims.

His government would take a "very hard" stance, he added.

The activities of the Prussian Trust and of Steinbach's BdV "cast a shadow" on Polish-German relations, said the new prime minister, who has committed himself to improving relations with Germany following difficult period.

The German government has itself rejected the claims made by the Prussian Trust.

Many Eastern Europeans fear an attempt to "rewrite history" by casting the Germans as victims rather than aggressors in the war, and Steinbach is regarded with extreme suspicion in Poland in particular.

Some Poles think of Frau Steinbach in this manner.

According to German estimates, some 15 million German speakers were expelled from their homes in Eastern Europe, with 8 million ending up in West Germany and 4 million in the formerly communist East Germany.

Up to 2 million are thought to have died as a result of the expulsions.

Memo to the Whiners
There was a war.

It was a very big war.

Your folks started it.

The Allies finished it.

You're still losers.

Deal with it.

Back on August 22

Also at A Tangled Web

Fatcat Democrat Jailed in Oil-for-Food Scandal

You probably haven't heard much about Oscar Wyatt, a man whose hands are drenched with blood.

Probably because he's a lifelong Democrat and a big bucks contributor to the party.

Sure, he gave some money to Republicans, but it's dwarfed by what the Dems got.

Naturally, his affiliation is omitted from this story.

American oil tycoon Oscar Wyatt has been sentenced to one year and a day in prison for conspiracy in the UN oil-for-food programme scandal.

The Texas oilman, aged 83, had agreed last month to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

He admitted he agreed to pay $200,000 (£97,000) into an Iraqi bank account.

Under the oil-for-food programme, some companies paid bribes to officials in Saddam Hussein's Iraq in order to secure contracts to buy oil.

The programme was established in the wake of sanctions imposed on Iraq after the country invaded Kuwait in 1990.

It allowed Iraq to sell oil in order to buy humanitarian provisions.

A UN-commissioned inquiry found that 2,200 companies in 66 countries paid $1.8bn in bribes to Iraqi officials to win oil contracts.

No mention of his largesse to Democrats here either. Or here.
Nothing here, here, here, or here.

You think if this Texas oilman were a fatcat Republican, it would merit a mention?

You know the answer.

Here's a list of who he's contributed to.

More from Don Surber.