Hope, Change, Kidnapping, Rape and Assault

All in a day's work for the budding agents of change.

A Durham couple charged with kidnapping, rape and assault was involved with a satanic cult, a prosecutor said Monday.

Joy Johnson and Joseph Craig appeared at a bond hearing Monday. A judge set Craig's bond at $590,000, but refused a prosecution request to increase Johnson's bond from $270,000 to $500,000.

Prosecutors said a man and a woman met Craig through a shared interest in Satan worship, but the pair never consented to physical abuse.

Craig shackled his victims to beds, kept them in dog cages and starved them inside his Albany Street home, prosecutors said. He was charged with beating the man with a cane and a cord and with raping the woman.

"This goes well above what they were interested in doing," an assistant Durham County district attorney said.

Johnson, who was third vice-chair of the Durham County Democratic Party and vice-chair for the Young Democrats, was charged with two counts of aiding and abetting. Prosecutors said she knew her husband planned the crime and watched as they were committed.

She has resigned her positions with the Democratic Party, said state Sen. Floyd McKissick, D-Durham.

Resigned? Why, seems to me these charges are a resume enhancer.

More here.

Floyd McKissick, a state senator and a Democrat from Durham, said Monday he had been told Johnson had resigned her posts with the party. He, too, reserved judgment.

“I was absolutely shocked and flabbergasted,” McKissick said. “You never would have suspected allegations that she would have had any participation in these rituals.”

Johnson and Craig, along with Diana Palmer, first vice chairwoman for the local Democrats, are partners in a company called Indigo Dawn. The company’s Web site says Indigo Dawn offers products and services “to promote enlightenment and assist in the development and self-empowerment and divine potential.”

Among the services offered, according to the Web site, are “intuitive guidance, past-life regression, spirit guide communication and healing and cleansing.”

Boy, after that Mike Nifong mess, the Durham Democrats really needed some good publicity.

This isn't it.

Democrats to Keep Moonbats Caged in Denver

Just like at the 2004 Democrat Convention in Boston, the human debris that gathers to protest, whine and snivel in Denver this year will also be kept at arm's length.

Let's face it, these people are only useful to Democrats when they're badgering Republicans. They want as little to do with them as the rest of us.

I just hope they're using environmentally friendly, trans-fat free chicken wire.

The fence around the public demonstration zone outside the Democratic National Convention will be chicken wire or chain link, authorities revealed in U.S. District Court today.

That may allow protestors to be seen and heard by delegates going in and out of the Pepsi Center during the convention.

But the American Civil Liberties Union and several advocacy groups have filed an amended complaint to their lawsuit against the U.S. Secret Service and the city and county of Denver that says protestors and demonstrators may have their First Amendment rights violated by security restrictions.

The ACLU has said it wants to avoid the conditions that existed during the 2004 convention in Boston, where protesters were caged, infuriating First Amendment advocates.

Harken back to Boston, when the barbaric conditions were likened to concentration camps.

Yes, really.

"We don't deserve to be put in a detention center, a concentration camp," said Medea Benjamin of San Francisco. "We feel it's tragic that here in Boston, the birthplace of democracy, our First Amendment rights are being trampled on."

Benjamin was joined by two other protesters from the anti-war group Code Pink who dressed in pink Statue of Liberty garb. The two others kept their mouths taped shut during the news conference, and Benjamin removed her tape to speak with reporters.

Activists said they understand the need to maintain high security for the convention. But they said organizers went too far in restricting demonstrations.

"We are on high, high red alert for the protection of our civil liberties," said Claryce Evans, national coordinator for United Peace and Justice. "Yes, security is an issue, but you don't handle it by setting up an internment camp."

Dingy Harry: 'Coal Makes Us Sick'

Amazing how stupid a man can be and somehow manage to become Senate Majority Leader.

HARRY REID: “the one thing we fail to talk about is those costs that you don't see on the bottom line. That is coal makes us sick, oil makes us sick; it's global warming. It's ruining our country, it’s ruining our world. We’ve got to stop using fossil fuel.”

What an idiot.

Via The Corner.

Obama Throws Clark Under the Bus

Boy, that didn't take long.

It was a soft landing.

Barack Obama just delivered a speech on patriotism in Independence, Mo., hometown of what was once America's most powerful haberdasher, and offered a mild rebuke to Wesley Clark, who took on John McCain's military record the other day in rather scorching terms.

And just to make it clear, an Obama spokesman sent out this brief statement as Obama was speaking: "As he's said many times before, Senator Obama honors and respects Senator McCain's service, and, of course, he rejects yesterday's statement by General Clark."

Why wasn't Obama man enough to condemn this statement yesterday?

And why wasn't he man enough to condemn Clark during his speech, when his supporters would hear it loud and unequivocally?

Update: So much for Clark's VP aspirations. Indeed. Alas, Time wants this issue to go away. Now. Sure, we can let it go. Now just stop bringing up Willie Horton and Swiftboating, then we'll talk, OK?

If you can stomach it, check some of the comments there. The sheer ugliness of the left is breathtaking.

Swiftblogging McCain

Having noted earlier today the left's incessant whining over John Kerry being derailed by his former Swift Boat crew members and the absurd attacks from bloggers and Wesley Clark on John McCain, we figured maybe a new term was in order: Swiftblogging.

Since the attacks on McCain will be coming fast and furious the next four months (and beyond, of course, if he's elected), let's turn it around on the left and call any and all attacks on John McCain's military record Swiftblogging.

Forget comparing his and Kerry's records against each other. Instead, if you're sick like I am over the endless droning about Swiftboating four years later, just throw it back at the left and accuse them of Swiftblogging whenever they besmirch McCain.

Maybe then they'll realize how petty they sound.

Of course, some don't get it.

However, I'm with John Cole when he says that the Rightie-tighties howling in outrage today but geefully [sic] participating in smearing Kerry then have nothing under their feet but swamp.

While I feel he's off-base about Kerry, Andrew Sullivan thinks Clark and his ilk are way out of bounds.

GayPatriot echoes that thought.

Another far-left loon perpetuates the myth the media let the SBVT have their way (do these people even remember how that all went down?), the aptly-named Crooks and Liars and the Kos Kidz eat their own by directing their ire at CNN.

An important point to make is if you recall 2004, there weren't any Bush elected Republicans out there trashing John Kerry for his military service. The SBVT did that on their own.

Contrast that with today when, as Jim Geraghty notes, several elected Democrats have gone after McCain over his service.

John Kerry lost because he was the weaker candidate, not because he was Swiftboated. As ugly as this campaign has already become, John McCain may well wind up winning because he'll be Swiftblogged.

Update: Speaking of the Swift Boat Vets...

Brad Thor - The Last Patriot

Brad Thor's newest book goes on sale officially tomorrow, and Amazon is allowing pre orders. So why am I telling you about this book? There are no guarantees on how long this book will be available. Not because it will sell out, which it probably will, but rather because forces within the Islamic community will stage their usual protest, feign outrage and threaten all sorts of acts of violence to prove they are a religion of peace. Brad Thor has a loyal following from his previous books he has written. He writes thrillers full of political intrigue, but in his latest, which some are describing as the Islamic Da Vinci code, he dares to venture into that cult of which nothing ill is ever allowed to spoken evil of.
The premise of the book is that a manuscript has been discovered that contains the last revelation of Mohamhead, and if it is made public Islam will never be the same. Apparently even putting forth such a premise, in a work of fiction, is even to ruffle the feathers of those thin skinned Muslims who kill over cartoons.
It will be interesting to see what kind of uproar the book causes. The author has already received death threats in advance of the release, but what remains to be seen is if there will be any public photo ops for the Islamic Rage Boy.

Obsession: NY Times Still Whining About 'Swiftboating'

They'll never get over it.

Yes, they even quote someone who wants to--get this--ban the word entirely.

Good luck with that.

To think, it's only been four years. They're still sniveling about Willie Horton 20 years later! Of course, it was Al Gore who brought Willie Horton to the public's attention, but they never mention that fact.

Anyway, this leftwing media obsession with Swiftboating is just pathetic. Now even the slightest criticism of a liberal is met with the pathetic cries of Swiftboating! Get over it, people, your boy John Kerry lost.

Sure, Watergate will never be just the office complex. And the name Willie Horton will always refer to more than just a criminal. But for Swift boat veterans, the name theft is more personal. When they talk about Swift boats, they recall friends and crewmates killed, countless moments of sheer terror in their young lives, the pain of coming home to a country that offered less than a hero’s welcome.

“It’s completely inappropriate,” said Michael Bernique, a highly regarded Swift boat driver who led missions up a canal that became known as Bernique’s Creek. “The word should connote service with honor, which is what was conducted. Anything that demeans that honor is shameful.”

In an April column in Proceedings magazine of the United States Naval Institute, Harlan Ullman, a Swift boat driver in Vietnam and a Pentagon consultant known as a creator of the “shock and awe” concept, wrote: “It is time to ban a word that is at once offensive, demeaning and obscene both to and for anyone serving in the naval profession. That word is ‘Swiftboating.’ ”

Fitna Breaks No Laws

So say the Dutch.

Expect much outrage and seething today.

Fitna, the short feature film on Islam and violence put together by MP Geert Wilders does not break the law, the public prosecution department said on Monday, according to news agency ANP.

In addition, a number of statements about Islam made by Wilders over the past few months are also within legal limits, ANP reported Amsterdam's chief public prosecutor Leo de Wit as saying.

Fitna, a 16-minute compilation of video footage, was released on the internet on March 27. An article in the Volkskrant newspaper in which Wilders called for a ban on the Koran was also investigated.

New Democrat Talking Point: So McCain Was Tortured, Big Deal!

That's the theme of the day for the left. So John McCain spent five years in the Hanoi Hilton being tortured. No big deal. What else did he do to qualify himself to be president?

Sunday saw that asshole Wesley Clark again trashing McCain on television; now some creature named John Aravosis asks the following question:

Honestly, besides being tortured, what did McCain do to excel in the military?

When Obama loses in November, these schmucks can look back at such tactics and pinpoint where it all started going downhill.

These same people whine like little bitches at the slightest criticism of Barack Obama. But they go right into the gutter when attacking John McCain.

It really is contemptible, but what do you expect from these people?

Yes, we all know that John McCain was captured and tortured in Vietnam (McCain won't let you forget). A lot of people don't know, however, that McCain made a propaganda video for the enemy while he was in captivity. Putting that bit of disloyalty aside, what exactly is McCain's military experience that prepares him for being commander in chief? It's not like McCain rose to the level of general or something. He's a vet. We get it. But simply being a vet, as laudable as it is, doesn't really tell you much about someone's qualifications for being commander in chief. If McCain is going to play the "I was tortured" card every five minutes as a justification for electing him president, then he shouldn't throw a hissy fit any time any one asks to know more about his military experience. Getting shot down, tortured, and then doing propaganda for the enemy is not command experience.

There's even more ugliness here. Another one being cute by now calling the blog Brilliant Hussein at Breakfast. So clever.

Four years ago, John Kerry's three-month stint in Vietnam was enough to qualify him, until it all unraveled by being exposed by the Swift Boat Vets for Truth.

Now McCain's military experience doesn't matter.

Nothing like being consistent.

You stay classy, Democrats!

Update: AJ Strata goes nuclear on Aravosis while Ed Morrissey shreds Wesley Clark.

Update II: Glenn Reynolds links. Thanks!

Further thoughts here on the attacks on McCain's military service.

Scapegoating Speculators

I know it is the current fashion to blame "speculators" for the skyrocketing oil prices. Bill O'Reilly has made this a particular cause of his. However, there appears to be no clear evidence to support this assertion:

Speculators are often scapegoats, economists say

Once again, it's open season on speculators.

The popular tale holds that with the rise of long-only commodity index funds and increased interest in commodities from pension funds and other players, speculators must be to blame for surging oil prices and have probably been the prime culprit in the steep rice in prices for food and other commodities as well. Politicians are on the war path, promising to bring speculators to heel. There's just one rub: Economists say they have yet to see the commodity markets exhibit the symptoms they would expect to find if speculators were pushing commodity prices above levels dictated by supply-and-demand fundamentals and geopolitical concerns.

You see folks, it's one thing to make a claim, it's another thing to prove it. Destructive speculation leaves tracks in the market, such as more speculators bidding prices up than down, more long positions than short positions, that kind of thing. Unfortunately for the conspiracy theorists, these indicators do not exist in the market right now.

In a recent paper, Irwin -- along with Dwight R. Sanders of Southern Illinois University and Robert Merrin of the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands -- delved into the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's weekly reports on trader commitments and other data. Their task was to gauge whether speculative players in agricultural commodity markets were trading primarily with other speculators or with farmers and commercial interests who use the futures markets to hedge risk.

Speculators are crucial to futures markets. By taking the opposite side of trades with farmers, end-users and other commercial players, they help ensure markets are liquid. Without enough speculators, markets can become illiquid and increasingly volatile.

Speculation can get out of hand, however. If speculators are primarily trading with each other, bubbles can develop, Irwin said.

But the study found that levels of speculation in the agricultural futures pits were well within historical norms, despite a surge in participation by long-only index funds and other speculators in recent years.

In other words, the rise in speculative long positions -- bets that prices will move higher -- was equaled or surpassed by an increase in short positions -- bets prices will fall -- by commercial hedgers.

I repeat, speculative long positions were equaled or surpassed by speculative short positions. So more speculators are betting that prices will drop than go up. So there is no destructive speculation artificially driving prices up. No, the reason that prices have been jumping is no more complicated than supply and demand, and in fact the speculators are figuring that supply will catch up with demand pretty quick. So to the conspiracy theorists out there, especially Bill O'Reilly, who should know better, what say you?

'He'll Cause More Damage to the Stock Market and Even Make Jimmy Carter Look Good'

Anyone jittery of the stock market would do well to read that headline, step back and assess your portfolio now before it's too late.

If you think the economy is weak now and have hope Barack Obama will change things, think again.

You'll be in for a nasty surprise by this time next year.

New Threat: The 'Obama Market'

Of course, simply noting this will inspire charges of fear-mongering!

As if investors didn't have enough to worry about, a new land mine is lurking: "the Obama market."

That's what I heard over the weekend from a veteran investment adviser, Charles Allmon. "Political ramifications represent a significant added market risk that should not be ignored," he says.

Initial polling suggests that Senator Obama will be the next president, a view Mr. Allmon shares. An Obama presidency is certain to mean a big tax increase, he says. He also points to the likelihood that the senator will seek to raise the marginal tax rate to 52% from 39.6% and hike the capital gains tax rate to at least 25% from 15%.

"He'll cause more damage to the stock market and even make Jimmy Carter look good," Mr. Allmon says. "Senator Obama is leading a children's brigade, but the problem is children shouldn't be leading this country."

Wall Street, they say, is a young man's game. Try telling that to our 87-year-old worrywart, who has been doggedly tracking the stock market for more than half a century and who offers a compelling argument that money managers in their golden years still have the brain power and analytical savvy to strike gold.

Mr. Allmon, who manages about $200 million of assets — individual, pension, and profit-sharing money — is outperforming this year's crummy market, with a modest gain, he says, of between 1% and 2%. He attributes this showing to a conservative investment strategy, notably huge cash reserves (currently at 80%).

"You have to be crazy not to be conservative in this kind of market unless you're willing to take a bath," he says.

Read the rest and watch your wallet.

French Military Prowess: 16 Injured at Show When Soldier Fires Live Rounds Instead of Blanks

They believe it was accidental, but in the meantime the offending soldier has been taken into custody.

A military shooting demonstration in south-east France ended in disaster last night after a soldier fired real bullets instead of blanks, injuring at least 16 people in the crowd, many of them members of soldiers' families.

Four people were seriously wounded, including a three-year-old child, after shots were fired during a demonstration of techniques used to free hostages at a barracks in Carcasonne. Bernard Lemaire, head of the regional administration in Aude, told France-3 television that 15 of the injured were civilians.

The Laperrine military barracks in the centre of the town had been hosting an open day for a crowd made up largely of soldiers' families. The crowd had watched five 20-minute demonstrations of military skills in a large open space inside the compound, home to the 3rd marine infantry parachute regiment. Just before 6pm, live shots were fired during a demonstration by a group of parachute commandos simulating an assault to free hostages.

The soldier who fired the shots was taken into police custody pending an inquiry, although local officials did not rule out the possibility of an accident.

The injured were taken to nearby hospitals, with the most seriously wounded taken to Toulouse.

It's True! Men's Fashion More Feminine Than Ever

C'mon, I dare you, guys. Anyone man enough to wear this getup?

The notion of wardrobe androgyny was the fitting theme of Yves Saint-Laurent's men's collection, the house that kicked off the just-ended Paris men's shows where men's fashion won a feminine touch.

At YSL, designer Stefano Pilati used quotations from Plato to explain why he combined female detailing with a masculine silhouette.

"The original human nature was not like the present ... the sexes were not two as they are now."

Pilati underscored the union of genders with a line for men made in fabrics normally worn by women -- crepe de chine, organza, shantung and silk voile, all fabrics which float rather than fall.

In an era obsessed with global warming and sustainable development, the 44 spring/summer 2009 collections displayed at the four-day men's fashion shows ending Sunday featured light airy see-through linens, silks and soft feathery cottons.

Bright colours, more often the domain of women's wear, also figured strong.

As Gay Pride marches took place across Europe, pink was popular in Paris.

Louis Vuitton, a house with a predominantly masculine view of the world, chose pink for shorts, pants and waistcoat, and even shoes.

A huge pink sail served as the backdrop for an otherwise frankly male take on fashion from Emmanuel Ungaro designer Franck Boclet, who said fuschia was simply one of the house's signature colours.

"I wanted a gay fresh style," Boclet said of what he told AFP was "a Paris 60s look" of hip-hugging tight-thighed pants, chequered suits, and the odd item in day-glo orange, bright blue or purple.

I guess they don't have anything in a jeans and t-shirt motif.

Style points and two finger snaps up, though, for somehow finagling global warming into the story.

Iran Thinking Ahead, Digs Graves for Enemy Soldiers

Do they realize they'll be taken out from the air? On the bright side, we'll at least be spared all those bodybag stories beforehand, since they're kind enough to do the advance work.

Iran to ready thousands of graves for enemy soldiers

Iran is to dig 320,000 graves in border districts to allow for the burial of enemy soldiers in the event of any attack on its territory, a top commander said on Sunday.

"In implementation of the Geneva Conventions... the necessary measures are being taken to provide for the burial of enemy soldiers," the Mehr news agency quoted General Mir-Faisal Bagherzadeh as saying.

"We have plans to dig 15,000 to 20,000 graves in each of the border provinces or a total of 320,000," the general said, some of them mass graves if necessary.

Bagherzadeh said Iran was keen to "reduce the suffering of the families of the fallen in any attack against our country... and prevent any repetition of the long and bitter experience of the Vietnam War."

Thanks for your consideration.

Wesley Clark Trashes McCain ... Again

So the blowhard Wesley Clark trashes John McCain today and it's supposed to be news?

Gen. Wesley Clark, acting as a surrogate for Barack Obama’s campaign, invoked John McCain’s military service against him in one of the more personal attacks on the Republican presidential nominee this election cycle.

Clark said that McCain lacked the executive experience necessary to be president, calling him “untested and untried” on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” And in saying so, he took a few swipes at McCain’s military service.

“He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee. And he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn't held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded — that wasn't a wartime squadron,” Clark said.

“I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president.”

I don’t think being a community organizer is a qualification to become president, either, Wes, so what's your point?

Can't you just taste the change heading our way?

Anyway, this drivel had a familiar ring to it, which makes you wonder why a man of such dubious history continues to flack for Obama on military affairs.

Well, he is a darling of the far left, so expect them to be kvelling over this latest idiocy of his.

H/T Shiplord Kirel.

British TV Outlet Pays Hefty Ransom to Taliban

First of all, this dumbass was in a lawless area where foreigners are prohibited, so he's only got himself to blame. Now Channel 4 has given these mutants the green light to kidnap media types, knowing they'll be handsomely rewarded.

Channel 4 has come under fire for paying a £150,000 ransom to secure the release of a documentary maker held hostage by Taliban criminals.

Politicians have hit out at the broadcaster's decision to hand over a brief case of cash to thugs linked to extremism, to secure the released of the reporter.

Sean Langan, 43, was made captive after travelling to the remote tribal regions of Pakistan, a stronghold for extremists where foreigners are banned.

Kidnappers threatened to take the life of him and his translator unless the ransom was paid to them.

He was abducted by a local tribal family before the Taliban became involved in holding him.

Both men were eventually released after an Afghan journalist acting as a middle-man, said to have been hired by the broadcaster, handed over the money.

It is understood that the Foreign Office tried to convince Channel 4 not to pay the ransom fearing it would spark a spat of copy-cat abductions on others.

Eight weeks after he disappeared on his filming trip it was revealed that he was being held hostage, in constant fear of beheading and held in a tiny cell.

But now following his release politicians have hit out at the broadcaster, saying that by paying the ransom they have put more lives at risk.

Conservative MP Philip Davies, who sits on the culture, media and sport select committee, criticised Channel 4 for paying the money.

He claimed the broadcaster's 'caving-in' had effectively put more people lives at risk in the long run.

The MP said: "I don't believe in basically caving in to kidnappers in any way, shape or form. It creates a more unsafe environment for everyone.

Israeli Cabinet Approves Prisoner Swap; Hezbos Party

What a deal. Israel gets back the bodies of two dead soldiers, while Hezbollah welcomes back a conquering hero, among other very live terrorists.

Hizbullah celebrated the decision of the Israeli cabinet on Sunday to approve the proposed prisoner exchange deal. Kidnapped soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, presumed dead by the military and government, will be traded for notorious terrorist Samir Kuntar and four additional Lebanese prisoners.

In Beirut, the organization said the decision reflected the group's strength.

"What happened in the prisoners issue is a proof that the word of the resistance is the most faithful, strongest and supreme," the Hizbullah-owned Al-Manar Television quoted the organization's Executive Council chief Hashem Safieddine as saying.

The Palestinian Authority also voiced its satisfaction of the deal. A Palestinian official told Ynet: "Everyone today knows that Israel only understands force. Prisoners, we see again, can only be freed by pressuring Israel and not through negotiations."

Now it's party time.

Kuntar's brother, Bassam, also praised Hizbullah, and told Al-Manar that the returning prisoners would receive a hero's welcome. "They will get their due respect in Beirut and in each of their hometowns. All of Lebanon will celebrate with Samir Kuntar in his village of Aabey. The majority of the celebrations will be organized by Hizbullah," he said.

Then they'll back to kidnapping and murdering more Israelis.

It's what they do.

He Really Is The Candidate of 'Change'

(Click to enlarge)

Changing his mind, that is, to fit the moment.

It's back and forth for Barack Obama.

The candidate of change has changed some of his own positions in recent weeks, raising the risk he'll be labeled a flip-flopper on hot-button issues that look as if they will play a central role in the general election.

First it was his about-face on public financing. Last week, Obama insisted "I never said that I was definitely going to be in the public-financing system."

But his statement that he would "aggressively pursue" a public-financing deal with the GOP was widely reported when he made it at the start of the primary season.

Obama blamed a "broken" system and rivals who are "masters at gaming" it for his sudden turn in direction - not the enormous advantage he'll have over Republican front-runner John McCain in fund-raising.

Next up was the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act - a bill that would protect telecommunications companies from lawsuits for cooperating with the federal effort to eavesdrop on terrorism suspects. The bill's provision for "retroactive immunity" raised hackles among Democrats in Congress.

Last year, Obama spokesman Bill Burton said: "Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity."

As recently as February, while campaigning in the Maryland and Virginia primaries, the Illinois senator said he refused "to let President Bush put protections for special interests ahead of our security and our liberty."

Fast-forward to June 20: Obama's far-left base was shocked to hear the candidate announce his support of new FISA bill because of the "legitimate threats we face."

He could change his mind on every issue and his far-left base will still vote for him, hypocrites that they are.

Unity! Vehicles Vandalized With Anti-Obama Messages

Somehow I'm sure Republicans or bloggers will be fingered before long.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Racial slurs targeting Barack Obama were discovered spray painted tonight on dozens of city vehicles in Orlando.

The vandalism happened in a City of Orlando parking lot on the corner of south and orange.

Phrases including “Obmama smokes crack” and others phrases with racial slurs were written in blue spray paint on the white city cars and trucks.

Other vehicles appeared to have had their gas tanks tampered with.

Along with the paint, hundreds of business cards were left on windshields.

The cards contain criticism of Obama on one side, and support for Hillary Clinton and her family on the other side.

The same cards were left on channel nine vehicles in Daytona Beach several weeks ago.

The vandalism happened the same night the Obama campaign kicked off its Florida organization with parties across the state.

Honestly, I wouldn't put it past some braindead Obamatons doing this themselves.

Since it's a city parking lot housing city vehicles, one would imagine there might be some videotape of the incident, and maybe in fact city employees were involved.

Expect plenty of mysterious "racial incidents" between now and the election.

A slideshow of the dreaded images of hate here. Seems John McCain was also a target.

Special business cards left near the damaged vehicles contained negative messages about Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain. However, there were positive words about Sen. Hillary Clinton, Local 6's Kimberly Houk reported.

Gateway Pundit is also suspicious.

Seriously, these illiterates write Oboma Smoks Crack?

Obmama?

Zimbabwe Stunner: Mugabe 'Wins' With 85.51% of the Vote

Oddly enough, the Newsweek and Los Angeles Times polls forecast a 100% win, but they obviously undersampled the Tsvangirai vote.

So the goon Mugabe squeezes one out.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was on Sunday declared winner of a widely condemned election in which he was the only candidate and which African observers said was scarred by violence and intimidation.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew a week ago saying a systematic campaign of violence, which killed nearly 90 of his followers, made a free and fair vote impossible. The ballot was held in defiance of world opinion.

The electoral commission said turnout was 42.37 percent, almost exactly the same as a March 29 election won by Tsvangirai. The commission had said Tsvangirai fell short of the majority needed for a first round victory.

The commission released the result of Friday's vote in less than 48 hours, compared to five weeks for the March poll.

Amazing how fast they got the tally out this time.

Brits Finally Resolve Biggest Crisis

No, they're still freeing dangerous al Qaeda members. That, apparently, isn't that big a deal.

It's those life-threatening salt shakers they're at war against.

Pot-holed roads, crumbling schools, litter-strewn streets – there’s no shortage of problem areas crying out for their attention.

But councils believe they have found a better use for their money: reducing the number of holes in chip shop salt shakers.

Research has suggested that slashing the holes from the traditional 17 to five could cut the amount people sprinkle on their food by more than half.

For some odd reason, it hasn't occurred to the geniuses that people can still get as much salt as they'd like, though this requires something many Brits aren't familiar with: a little hard work.

Cllr Chris Hobson, leader of the Conservatives, said: ‘This is just silly, a total waste of money in an area where council tax is very high. I’m all for good health but do they really think they are going to stop people using as much salt simply by putting fewer holes in thecellar? They’ll just shake it for longer.’

Beryl Scott, who owns the Chipchase Chippy in Linthorpe in the city, said a council worker had visited the previous week to explain the merits of less salty fish and chips. ‘He said he had a salt cellar with five holes to give me free.

I thought it was a joke. It doesn’t matter how many holes it has, people are going to put on as much salt as they want.’

Another local chip shop owner, Carol Ackerman, who runs Carol’s Plaice in the suburb of Acklam, said: ‘People will just put on more salt if they want more.
‘In fact, we have had some people unscrewing the lids to do so.’

So Much for That 'Covert' Operation

Traitor

Revealing information like this used to get the author thrown in jail, or worse, executed.

Nowadays, it gets you 24/7 news coverage from the leftist media.

Actually, it will get some people killed--those in Iran who were secretly helping us.

Now Seymour Hersh has blown their cover.

U.S. congressional leaders agreed late last year to President George W. Bush's funding request for a major escalation of covert operations against Iran aimed at destabilizing its leadership, according to a report in The New Yorker magazine published online on Sunday.

The article by reporter Seymour Hersh, from the magazine's July 7 and 14 issue, centers around a highly classified Presidential Finding signed by Bush which by U.S. law must be made known to Democratic and Republican House and Senate leaders and ranking members of the intelligence committees.

"The Finding was focused on undermining Iran's nuclear ambitions and trying to undermine the government through regime change," the article cited a person familiar with its contents as saying, and involved "working with opposition groups and passing money."

Hersh has written previously about possible administration plans to go to war to stop Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons, including an April 2006 article in the New Yorker that suggested regime change in Iran, whether by diplomatic or military means, was Bush's ultimate goal.

Good job, Seymour. I hope you sleep well.

The article said U.S. support for the dissident groups could prompt a violent crackdown by Iran, which could give the Bush administration a reason to intervene.

None of the Democratic leaders in Congress would comment on the finding, the article said. The White House, which has repeatedly denied preparing for military action against Iran, and the CIA also declined comment.

Um, I Thought the Wives Were Off Limits?

Well, if your name is Michelle Obama, you cannot be criticized, so rest safe.

If your name is Cindy McCain, you're fair game for a media assault.

It's not as if she got some cushy loan like Kent Conrad or Christopher Dodd, who are granted immunity because they have a D after their names.

Anyway, the children are having orgasms today over this non-story.

Further reaction here.

Maybe Newsweek can make up another poll to show how badly this affect John McCain. Oh, and next time we criticize Michelle Obama, I don't want to hear any whining from the left.

With Someone Like Obama, I Think the Whole Country, the Whole World Will Coalesce'

Once a Meathead, always a meathead. Really, do these people ever step back, ponder their words, and think how stupid they sound, not to mention hopelessly naive?

With someone like Obama, I think the whole country, the whole world will coalesce. Every election is about change, and change takes a long time because there are big issues that can’t be changed overnight. But the one thing that will change dramatically is how we’re viewed around the world. Once Obama is in there, the world will view us in an entirely different light. And that, to me, is a good thing.

Change!

Sick: Mugabe Goons Break the Legs of an 11-Month-Old Baby

For all the horror stories we've been reading coming out of Zimbabwe, this is one of such unspeakable cruelty and barbarism.

These are absolutely soulless monsters.

A baby boy had both legs broken by supporters of President Robert Mugabe to punish his father for being an opposition councillor in Zimbabwe.

Blessing Mabhena, aged 11 months, was seized from a bed and flung down with force as his mother, Agnes, hid from the thugs, convinced that they were about to murder her.

She heard one of them say, “Let’s kill the baby”, before Blessing was hurled on to a bare concrete floor.

Blessing, who may never be able to walk properly, was one of the youngest victims of atrocities against the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change in the run-up to last Friday’s sham presidential election.

Nobody is safe any longer.

'We Are All Hussein'

Clever little darlings, aren't they?

Emily Nordling has never met a Muslim, at least not to her knowledge. But this spring, Ms. Nordling, a 19-year-old student from Fort Thomas, Ky., gave herself a new middle name on Facebook.com, mimicking her boyfriend and shocking her father.

“Emily Hussein Nordling,” her entry now reads.

With her decision, she joined a growing band of supporters of Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, who are expressing solidarity with him by informally adopting his middle name.

The result is a group of unlikely-sounding Husseins: Jewish and Catholic, Hispanic and Asian and Italian-American, from Jaime Hussein Alvarez of Washington, D.C., to Kelly Hussein Crowley of Norman, Okla., to Sarah Beth Hussein Frumkin of Chicago.

Jeff Strabone of Brooklyn now signs credit card receipts with his newly assumed middle name, while Dan O’Maley of Washington, D.C., jiggered his e-mail account so his name would appear as “D. Hussein O’Maley.” Alex Enderle made the switch online along with several other Obama volunteers from Columbus, Ohio, and now friends greet him that way in person, too.

Mr. Obama is a Christian, not a Muslim. Hussein is a family name inherited from a Kenyan father he barely knew, who was born a Muslim and died an atheist. But the name has become a political liability. Some critics on cable television talk shows dwell on it, while others, on blogs or in e-mail messages, use it to falsely assert that Mr. Obama is a Muslim or, more fantastically, a terrorist.

“I am sick of Republicans pronouncing Barack Obama’s name like it was some sort of cuss word,” Mr. Strabone wrote in a manifesto titled “We Are All Hussein” that he posted on his own blog and on dailykos.com.

Next time the Obamatons whine about The Messiah being called by his middle name, they can be reminded of this silliness.

H/T Hot Air.

Steve Gilbert detonates on the Times.

Look, Up in the Sky! It's Hope, Change ... and a Hellfire Missile Coming in at 950 MPH!

Poor bastard didn't even have time to purdy himself up for all those virgins he'd soon be meeting.

The fanatical Taliban mastermind behind recent attacks in which six British soldiers died in Afghanistan has been killed in a missile attack by an Army Apache helicopter.

In what military chiefs described as a 'deliberate and surgical strike', the 35-year-old rebel leader - known as Sadiqullah - died alongside nine fellow Taliban fighters after the Apache fired two laser-guided Hellfire missiles at their red pick-up truck and destroyed it.

The rebel leader had been tracked down after weeks of secret intelligence work.

His death would have been instantaneous, as the warheads of the 5ft-long missiles, which travel at 950mph, are loaded with high-explosives designed to destroy even the heaviest tank armour.

The British military spokesman in Afghanistan, Lt Col Robin Matthews, said last night: 'This was a deliberate and surgical strike against a man who facilitated a number of fatal attacks on British, Nato and Afghan forces and civilians.

'It was conducted with meticulous precision and strikes a blow at the heart of the Taliban's leadership in southern Afghanistan.'

Rest in pieces.

‘Is This a Monty Python Sketch?’

Well, you've got to give them props for at least livening up an otherwise dreary political chat show. Besides, whatever happened to the notion of diversity?

THE BBC has been accused of “stomach- churning” television after inviting a transvestite dressed like Little Bo Peep on to highbrow politics show Question Time.

Viewers of the BBC1 debate programme flooded its switchboard and website with complaints.

As his alter ego Claire, prize-winning potter Grayson Perry, 48, sat alongside Minister Yvette Cooper and Tory shadow security spokesman Dame Pauline Neville-Jones on the panel of Thursday night’s edition.

But debate quickly turned to farce when the camera focused on Perry in a wig and a pale blue gown with a lace-trimmed collar.

“It was like a seated Rocky Horror show,” wrote one viewer. “Stomach-churning.”

Another wrote: “Does the BBC really see a place for such farcical behaviour when discussing issues integral to the nation’s moral fabric?” Other viewers were, at least, able to see the funny side.

One wrote: “Most would be hearing the words but thinking, ‘Is this a Monty Python sketch?’”

The Club Gitmo Experience

Don't feed the moonbats

Thirty-one flavors of crazy down in Washington today and Jonn Lilyea was on hand to chronicle the lunacy.

The lengths people will go to to enable those who'd gladly slit their throats.

British to Free Another Al Qaeda Leader

Clearly there's some sort of sick death wish going on here. Is there any adult supervision in the UK or did they put the Kos Kidz in charge?

Secret negotiations have taken place to arrange the release from a British jail of one of al-Qaeda’s most important operatives in Europe, The Times has learnt.

The prisoner, who can be identified only as U, is expected to be released from the high-security wing at Long Lartin jail next week.

Appeal Court judges ruled in April that the man, a 45-year-old Algerian veteran of al-Qaeda’s Afghan training camps, should be freed on bail. But discussions between security agencies and U’s lawyers became deadlocked over the conditions restricting his movements and whom he can meet when he leaves prison.

The authorities are understood to have sought bail terms more stringent than the 22-hour curfew imposed on the radical cleric Abu Qatada when he was freed last week. These conditions would require U to spend all his time indoors.

Security agencies blocked requests for U to live in London claiming that he has extensive contacts among extremist Islamist groups there. They also objected to an address in Brighton. U will be required to wear an electronic tag, subjected to round-the-clock monitoring and forbidden to use the internet or a mobile phone.

When the agreement is finalised the details will be passed to a judge who can release U from the prison in Worcestershire without any further court hearing. The Home Office refused to comment on the situation beyond saying it was seeking “the strictest bail conditions” possible.

While Abu Qatada is a preacher whose role in the al-Qaeda network is to justify and encourage jihad, U is alleged to be a terrorist leader who recruited, trained and facilitated operations. Members of his group, which was formed with the personal approval of Osama bin Laden, have been convicted in the US of a plot to blow up Los Angeles International Airport in December 1999 and, in Germany, of a plan to bomb the Strasbourg Christmas market a year later.

U, a studious figure with a reputation in prison as a bookworm, arrived in Britain in 1994 and claimed asylum on the ground that he had been ill-treated in Algeria.

Between 1996 and 1999, according to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), he was based at al-Qaeda’s Khalden training camp in Afghanistan where he formed a cell of north African terrorists tasked with exporting jihad to the West.

He then returned to London and ran his operations out of the Finsbury Park Mosque, then under the control of Abu Hamza al-Masri, and maintained close contact with Abu Qatada.

How sick has this gotten? Now they won't even identify this maggot.

Absolute madness.

The sun is setting on Great Britain.

Chuck Hagel's Quixotic Quest To Stay Relevant

If it weren't for these monthly reappearances and bold proclamations signifying nothing, we'd forget Chuck Hagel were still alive.

Now he pops up again offering more vagaries, declines to endorse John McCain, and again sucks up to Barack Obama.

Senator Chuck Hagel declined to endorse his party's likely presidential nominee, John McCain, and said he would consider serving as secretary of defense in a Barack Obama administration.

Hagel, who last year considered a White House run as an independent, said he would remain a registered Republican: ``I don't know forever, but right now I'm not considering changing my registration.''

``I don't have any plans to endorse any candidate,'' Hagel, 61, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television's ``Political Capital with Al Hunt,'' to be broadcast today.

The Nebraska senator broke with his party over the war in Iraq, calling it a ``catastrophic mistake.'' He voted with Democrats to withdraw troops and against President George W. Bush's so-called surge that boosted the number of soldiers in Baghdad last year.

Yes, the so-called surge that was wildly successful. Apparently Hagel hasn't heard about that since the media is doing their best to ignore it.

Shocker: Islamic School Faces Fraud Charges

Countdown to charges of Islamophobia and racism in 3...2...1...

ONE of Australia's best-known Islamic schools has been accused of defrauding the commonwealth and West Australian governments of more than $3million by claiming it had hundreds more students on its books than it did.

Australian Islamic College director Abdallah Magar, 69, and school principals Mark Debowski, 50, and Aziz Magdi, 53, are due to appear in a Perth court on Wednesday over charges that they obtained a financial advantage by deception for another person and gained a benefit by fraud.

They were released on $100,000 bail yesterday. Police are expected to ask the men to forfeit their passports.

After being released from custody yesterday, Mr Magar said he would defend the charges.

The men are accused of inflating their student numbers by claiming money for students who were not attending the school.

Delahunt Backtracks

Bumbling Massachusetts Democrat William Delahunt made an idiot of himself the other day and was pummeled far and wide.

He tried to clarify himself by calling in to Mark Levin Friday.

Conservative Punk has the audio.

Seven Whoppers: Media Myths and the Lying Liars Who Lie About Them

Ralph Peters minces no words today.

THE facts about your security are being torn to shreds by activist liars. And they think that you're too stupid to know the difference.

Let's lay out the worst current examples of media make-believe and election-year truth-trashing:

Whopper No. 1: America is less safe today than it was on Sept. 10, 2001. Oh, really? Where's the evidence? The Clinton years saw New York City attacked and Americans slaughtered by terrorists around the globe. Nothing was done to protect us.

And the true end of the Clinton era came on 9/11.

A record to be proud of.

Countless aspects of the Bush-Cheney administration deserve merciless criticism. But fair is fair: Since 9/11, we haven't suffered a single successful terrorist attack on our homeland. Not one.

Explain to me, please, how this shows we're less safe. What factual measurement applies, other than the absence of attacks?

God knows, the terrorists desperately wanted to strike our homeland. And they couldn't. Are we supposed to believe that was an accident?

Six more to go. Read on.

An excellent point Peters makes is one we've been noting, and it's the absurd notion that a bunch of Clinton hacks represents change.

Hmm: Take a gander at Obama's senior foreign-policy advisers: Madeleine Albright (71), Warren Christopher (82), Anthony Lake (69), Lee Hamilton (77), Richard Clarke (57) . . .

If you added up their ages and fed the number into a time-machine, you'd land in Europe in the middle of the Black Death.

More important: These are the people whose watch saw the first attack on the World Trade Center, Mogadishu, Rwanda, the Srebrenica massacre, a pass for the Russians on Chechnya, the Khobar Towers bombing, the attacks on our embassies in Africa, the near-sinking of the USS Cole - oh, and the US bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.

Their legacy climaxed on 9/11.

You couldn't assemble a team in Washington with more strategic failures to its credit.

Ouch.

Change!

A Town Called Insincerity

I didn't catch any of the alleged Unity rally in--coincidentally--Unity, NH, with Mrs. Clinton and The Messiah, as, quite frankly, I've had more than enough of those two.

But a guy who gets paid to suffer through this choreographed nonsense weighs in with his thoughts, and somehow I doubt this was the account presented by the television babbleheads last night.

There's no "I" in "team," but there sure is in "unity."

And "I" was on full display yesterday as Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton tried their damnedest to patch things up after months of grueling warfare against one another.

Meeting in a place called Unity (renamed "Insincerity" here for accuracy's sake) under the banner of "change," the two former foes looked like Ken and Barbie, only stiffer and more awkward.

Obama tried honoring her by wearing a blue tie that matched her pantsuit. As they bounded up on stage, the two frolicked and touched like teenagers in love, stopping to share a whispered inside joke only they would get.

Sometimes the two looked into the audience, spotted a phantom friend in common, pointed together and dissolved into giggles.

But that's where the unity ended.

"I like the guy on the left," grumbled Larry Ross, an Obama supporter. "I can't stand the one in blue."

An Obama volunteer, standing nearby, apologized: "He's got to do what he's got to do."

And once Clinton started talking, there were groans from Ross and others in the crowd.

She opened by talking about how New Hampshire holds a "special place in my heart."

That's code for: "Remember, I won here!"

She talked about all her supporters who have vowed to support Republican John McCain.

She "strongly" urged them to "reconsider."

Media outlets can make up all the polls they want (I'm looking at you, Newsweek), but the truth is, large percentages of Clinton supporters will not be voting for Obama. The Obama people can think they're clever staging this event in New Hampshire, but the probable fact is John McCain will be winning that state.

Party Time in Pakistan: 5000 Witness Taliban Executing 'Spies'

Another fun Friday in the Muslim world.

Militants in Pakistan have carried out what officials have called a "public execution" of two Afghans before thousands of cheering supporters.

The pair were alleged to have helped an American missile strike that killed 14 people in a border village last month.

Correspondents say that the brazen nature of the killings - one man was decapitated and another shot - show the Taleban's growing power.

The deaths took place in the Bajaur tribal agency near the Afghan border.

The BBC's M Ilyas Khan says that such killings before large crowds are unusual - but not unprecedented - in the tribal areas.

An AFP correspondent who witnessed the executions said more than 5,000 people watched on open ground 10km (six miles) west of Khar, the main town in Bajaur.

Local security officials say that the two condemned men were kidnapped two days ago by the Taleban.

The AFP reporter said that the Taleban announced the spying charges against the men on megaphones.

They alleged that their spying activities led to the US missile strikes in the Damadola area of Bajaur.

The houses of two militant leaders were targeted on 14 May and 14 people were killed.

"The men's faces were covered and their hands were tied. One was slaughtered with a knife amid shouts of Allahu akbar (God is great), while the other was shot with a burst of fire from a Kalashnikov," the AFP correspondent said.

Correspondents say that after the two Afghans were killed, celebratory gunfire broke out. Two bystanders were shot dead. It is unclear whether they died from stray bullets or whether they were caught up in an argument.

Sure looks like all the media were invited for the festivities.

Maybe These Two Should Keep a Lower Profile

When it comes to co-sponsoring something called the Marriage Protection Amendment, it probably helps if you don't have baggage in your past, such as shacking up with hookers or doing the wide stance dance in airport bathroom stalls.

Seriously, can David Vitter and Larry Craig be any more clueless?

You just help the left tee it up, and who can blame them?

And what is Larry Craig still doing in the Senate?

Norquist: Obama is 'John Kerry With a Tan'

Oh my.

John McCain has been trying hard of late to link Barack Obama with Jimmy Carter in the public consciousness, hoping that the "ineffectual" label that many voters affix to the former president will prove transferable.

Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist touts Goc. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota as prime vice presidential prospects for presumptive Republican presdiential nominee John McCainBut Grover Norquist -- the conservative activist who specializes in promoting an anti-tax agenda and, more generally, revels in the role of agent provocateur -- is offering a different comparison.

Norquist dropped by The Times' Washington bureau today and, as part of his negative critique of Obama's liberal stances on economic issues and other matters, he termed the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee "John Kerry with a tan."

Since Norquist isn't running for anything, he can get away with such remarks; we doubt McCain will be incorporating the line into his speeches anytime soon.

I doubt Norquist will be getting away with anything. In fact, he'll probably be getting as far away from McCain as possible once the left melts down over this remark. You know they will.

Of course, we all fondly recall Lerch with his faux tan.

Alternative Energy Sources..Not So Fast

This is why why we are in the energy mess that we are in. Stories like this and the thousands of other ones that preceded this one.

Faced with a surge in the number of proposed solar power plants, the federal government has halted new solar projects on public land, pending environmental impact studies. They're expected to take about two years and could paralyze the solar industry.

You either want more energy sources, both conventional and alternative or you don't, but the constant stone walling and roadblocks thrown up by the government and those all so concerned about the environment wackos, will never allow it to become a reality. In this case it is the government bowing down to the enviro wackos. So while you are paying $5 a gallon for gas and your home heating cost go up, make sure to hug a tree hugger to show them how much you appreciate their efforts to help us with our energy problems

Headline of the Week: 'Tigers' Inge loses battle with pillow, placed on DL'

Brandon Inge will never live this one down.

For the past three weeks or so, the rigors of baseball couldn't aggravate Brandon Inge's side injury enough for him to be placed on the disabled list.

What those rigors couldn't accomplish, a pillow did.

"It was the stupidest, most freakish thing," Inge said Wednesday, explaining why he had just been placed on the 15-day DL with the pulled side muscle (oblique) he suffered 3 1/2 weeks ago.

"I have a 3-year-old son who sleeps in the bed with my wife and me," Inge said. "I was trying to push the pillow down behind his head (two nights ago), and when I did ... I repopped (the strained muscle).

"You take swings in baseball, and it's not as bad as pushing a pillow down."

Upon hearing this story, manager Jim Leyland said, "That's a first."

Heartbreak: Queen Can't Afford to Redecorate

Living off the public has its limitations.

The man who controls the royal purse-strings has complained that the Queen cannot afford to redecorate or even maintain royal buildings such as Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle because of the cumulative effect of a government funding freeze.

The cost of keeping the Queen and the Royal Family rose £2 million last year to £40 million, driven largely by a packed itinerary of foreign trips. That equates to 66 pence per taxpayer for the year.

In publishing the Royal Household’s annual financial report today, the Queen’s accountant, Sir Alan Reid, Keeper of the Privy Purse, warned of a £32m black hole in funding, which has caused a backlog in maintenance and repair work. The Palace is also having to compete against the Olympics for more funding from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

The Goverment has rejected repeated requests from Buckingham Palace to bolster the property grant, which is frozen at £15 million for the next three years. That has left officials unable to order asbestos removal, rewiring and re-roofing work, which they say is badly needed.

Must really suck having to squeeze by on a mere £40 million a year, a figure some say is on the low side.

Republic, the anti-monarchy campaign group, said that the true bill to the taxpayer would be nearer £150 million a year if the cost of police and army security were included.

Its spokesman, Graham Smith, said that the Queen should receive a fixed salary managed by the Government and that Parliament should set an annual budget for the monarchy.

“There is a clear need to reform the royal finances, so we can all be sure they are entirely transparent and accountable,” he said. “It is high time the monarchy abided by the same standards of accountability as the rest of Government."

Good luck with that.

Greenwald Versus Olbermann: The Catfight Continues

We noted Thursday how shocked Socky McSockpuppet was to discover the odious Keith Olbermann had no principles.

Well, Olberfraud went running to one of the few places that even entertain him anymore and rambles on incoherently.

Socky returns the volley today.

Meow!

'Women Tennis Players are All Sexpots and Bitches...'

'She's a little sexpot'

He contemptuously utters those words as if there's something wrong with being a bitchy sexpot.

OK, nobody wants to be bitched at much, but hey, as long as it's coming from a sexpot, I can live with the tradeoff.

A senior tennis official was today at the centre of a sexism row after insulting the world's top female tennis players.

The comments - which included describing some stars as 'sexpots' while threatening violence to another - were in an interview given by Justin Gimelstob, a US tennis player who sits on the board of directors of the ATP, which controls the men's game.

The ATP is 'appalled' by his remarks and Mr Gimelstob, 31, has been forced to apologise in an attempt to cling to his influential post.

Most of his vitriol, during an hour-long interview for US radio, was directed at Anna Kournikova, 27. Describing his relationship with the Russian star, with whom he trained as a junior, he said: 'She's a bitch.'

Asked if he hated her, he replied: 'Hate's a very strong word. I just despise her to the maximum level just below hate.'

Mr Gimelstob, who is due to play Kournikova in an exhibition mixed doubles match in Washington next month, then said he wanted to hit her hard with the ball in the midriff when serving at her.

'If she's not crying by the time she walks off the court then I did not do my job,' he added.

Finally, asked if he would ever have an affair with Kournikova, he said: 'Definitely not. I have no attraction to her because she's such a douche. I really have no interest in her... I wouldn't mind having my younger brother, who's a kind of a stud, nail her and then reap the benefits.'

Sounds like a real ladies man.

He said that while he did not fancy Kournikova - 'she has a great body but her face is a five' - he was attracted to other players.

He said of 21-ranked Tatiana Golovin that she was a 'sexpot'; of Nicole Vaidisova, who is ranked 22, 'she's a well developed young lady'; and of the 17th ranked Alize Cornet 'she's a little sexpot'.

He said there were fewer lesbians now on the women's tour than 15 years ago, adding: 'That's because they're all Russian chicks. And there's some other cute ones out there.'

Naturally, people are just a tad upset with Gimelstob.

'MonkeyBama' Ad Pulled in Japan

Uh oh, can't make fun of The Obama. Not even in Japan.

So, they've pulled the ad.

A Japanese mobile phone firm said today it had pulled a TV advert depicting a monkey as a political candidate amid accusations that it was a racist reference to Barack Obama, who is seeking to become the first black US president.

The ad, for eMobile, shows a monkey in a suit addressing an election rally, surrounded by supporters carrying placards with the word "Change".

The apparent intention is to persuade subscribers to other mobile phone carriers to transfer to eMobile.

But the combination of the monkey, and the resemblance of his message to the theme of Obama's campaign - "Change we can believe in" - prompted bloggers to accuse the company of making a racist slur against the Democratic hopeful.

Of course, bloggers for years have been calling George Bush Chimpy, with those cute photos to go along with it.

That's still OK, I guess.

Don't you just love double standards?

The company, which stressed it had used the macaque mascot in several other adverts, said it had never intended to insult Obama but had decided to pull the "Change" ad in response to criticism in the blogosphere.

"We had no bad intentions, but this is a cross-cultural gap issue and we have to accept it," eMobile's chief executive, Sachio Semmoto, told Reuters. "There are African-Americans in Japan, so we decided to take prompt action and shut down the ad."

Perhaps in the future they could just run all ads by Obama's people to make sure nobody gets upset. Granted, I can see where they're coming from on this, even though monkeys are revered in Japan. This isn't as stupid as, say, comparing him to Curious George. They were trying to be funny and apparently some people didn't see the humor in it.

Thanks to Gateway Pundit for the link.

Are Your Ready for .xxx Domains?

A major shakeup is upon us as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) has approved new web suffixes, a development a long time in coming.

The internet is set for a radical shake-up after the organisation that oversees website names gave the green light to plans for a new way of creating web addresses.

The decision means that as well as millions of existing website addresses which end in .com or .co.uk, surfers will also be able to choose from sites with suffixes such as .bank, .sport or .bet.

A marathon meeting of the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), which administers the development of the internet, ended in unanimous approval for the introduction of a new set of "top level" website addresses, bringing nearly three years of debate and planning to an end.

The process, which will begin in 2009, was described by the organisation's chairman, Paul Twomey, as "the biggest change to the way people find each other on the internet since its inception".

At first it is likely that new suffixes will be limited to businesses and other major organisations such as city councils, with cities such as New York and Berlin keen to create a whole selection of .nyc and .berlin addresses.

Naturally, the most popular searches on the web (you know who you are) will be heading for .xxx sites, assuming those are approved. Oddly enough a guy named Butts quotes a guy named Peters in the story.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is discussing the possibility of creating a triple-X domain for pornography.

Bob Peters of Morality in Media believes relegating pornography to a triple-X domain will not work on two levels. First, he argues, it is not mandatory, and secondly, it requires parents to use filters -- and many parents will not. Finally, he adds, children can gain access on computers outside the home that are not filtered.

Peters stresses protection of children from pornography is a major concern, but it is not the only one. "There are other harms that pornography causes, particularly to marriage," he points out. "[A]nd certainly there are connections to sexual exploitation of children, sexually trafficking, prostitution in general -- and putting this stuff in a XXX zone is not going to protect marriage. It's not going to protect society overall," Peters argues.

If implemented, switching to a XXX domain by pornographers would be on a voluntary basis. The decency advocate finds the idea that pornographers could continue operating their .com domains troubling. "Originally as it was proposed ... people who ran the XXX domain were going to expect some somewhat ethical behavior on the part of pornographers," says Peters. "You talk about an oxymoron."

Faced With Plummeting Approval Ratings; Supreme Court Finally Issues Coherent Decision

How's this for coincidence? On the morning they awoke to a 26% approval rating, the Supreme Court finally issued a decision that doesn't fly in the face of all logic and decency.

For the first time in U.S. history, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that individual Americans have the right to own guns for personal use, and struck down a strict gun control law in the U.S. capital.

The landmark 5-4 ruling marked the first time in nearly 70 years the country's high court has addressed whether the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects an individual right to keep and bear arms, rather than a right tied to service in a state militia.

In the majority opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia said the Second Amendment protected an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.

You suppose them giving rights to terrorists had anything to do with their 26% approval? Of course it does. I surmise if you poll them again after yesterday's decision on the child rapists it would be even lower.

Curiously, after today's ruling on the Second Amendment, the country's leading proponent of gun control--the unctuous Charles Schumer--is unavailable for comment for the first time in his life.

Hmmm.

Still, what's disturbing is there are still four idiots on the high court who don't believe in the Second Amendment. They should be thankful five of their brethren saved them from facing an armed insurrection in this country.

Greenwald Shocked to Discover Olbermann Has Zero Principles

Poor Glenn Greenwald. He may be the last person on earth to realize Keith Olbermann has no principles and will say or do anything to carry water for Barack Obama.

What's much more notable is Olbermann's full-scale reversal on how he talks about these measures now that Obama -- rather than George Bush -- supports them. On an almost nightly basis, Olbermann mocks Congressional Democrats as being weak and complicit for failing to stand up to Bush lawbreaking; now that Obama does it, it's proof that Obama won't "cower." Grave warning on Olbermann's show that telecom amnesty and FISA revisions were hallmarks of Bush Fascism instantaneously transformed into a celebration that Obama, by supporting the same things, was leading a courageous, centrist crusade in defense of our Constitution.

Here's some friendly advice for Socky McSockpuppet: Keith Olbermann is not a newscaster. He's a hack propagandist. Sure, you may love him when he goes on his insane Bush rants, but as for Barack Obama, he's in the tank. The Messiah can do no wrong.

Oh, and if you haven't noticed, Obama doesn't have any principles, either.

H.R. 6275 Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008

Well that is the name of it. And it is winding it's way through congress.

6/17/2008--Introduced.
Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase and extend through 2008 the alternative minimum tax (AMT) exemption amounts; (2) extend through 2008 the offset of certain nonrefundable personal tax credits against regular and AMT tax liabilities; (3) treat net income and loss from an investment services partnership interest as ordinary income and loss; (4) deny major integrated oil companies a tax deduction for income attributable to domestic production of oil, gas, or primary products thereof; (5) limit tax treaty benefits with respect to U.S. withholding of tax requirements imposed on certain tax deductible payments made directly to a foreign parent corporation; (6) require payment settlement entities to report certain identifying information to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) relating to the settlement of payment card and third party network transactions; and (7) extend the applicability of the continuous levy for delinquent taxes on payments due to a vendor to property or services sold or leased to the federal government (currently, applicable to goods or services).
Amends the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 to increase estimated tax payments due in the third quarters of 2012 and 2013 for certain large corporations (corporations with assets of at least $1 billion).

Charlie Rangel introduced this bill and you would think by the title some sort of relief was forth coming, but that isn't the case at all. There is no relief, just a change in the level of income at which the AMT will kick in. The whole thing needs to be abolished.

(a) In General- Paragraph (1) of section 55(d) is amended--

(1) by striking ‘($66,250 in the case of taxable years beginning in 2007)’ in subparagraph (A) and inserting ‘($69,950 in the case of taxable years beginning in 2008)’, and

(2) by striking ‘($44,350 in the case of taxable years beginning in 2007)’ in subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘($46,200 in the case of taxable years beginning in 2008)’.

And as far as Chris "Sweetheart Deal" Dodd is concerned, here is how he is going to deflect from the whole Countrywide scandal.

S. 3188: A bill for the liquidation or reliquidation of certain entries of top-of-the-stove...

A bill for the liquidation or reliquidation of certain entries of top-of-the-stove stainless steel cooking ware from the Republic of Korea, and for other purposes.

I guess he got a bad sauce pan from Korea or something, because by golly molly he is going to send the full weight and force of the US government against the stainless steel cooking ware industry. Shady practices by large mortgage companies resulting in a severe impact to the US economy,...Not so much.

CA Continues to Promote Policies to Drive Non-Millionaires Away

CA, who for so long has fostered all kinds of left wing special interest causes to fester and grow within it's borders and in fact enables all the special interest groups to dictate so much of the rules and laws in CA, is once again looking to institute some regulations in their latest attempt to save the planet.

Nichols declined to speculate on what the program will cost for individual business sectors such as the utility industry, but said the initiatives overall should benefit the state's economy by about 1 percent starting in 2020.

"Since most of the measures in this plan are designed to make our state more energy-efficient, we believe we can predict with confidence that this is a plan that works to the benefit of the California economy," Nichols said.

Excuse me while I apply some liberal logic to argue with Ms Nichols. Since we won't see any benefit for more then 10 years why should we permit it. That is the argument they use to block drilling for oil, so what is good for the goose is good for the gander.
CA continues to pursue all these onerous rules on businesses, that quite a lot of businesses have finally had enough and leaving the state. The price of doing business is just too expensive, not only in terms of money, but also in terms of time spent trying to abide by all the rules and regulations in the state. Companies leave, corporate tax base goes with them, individuals can no longer afford to live in the state so they also move on. Some follow their company, others merely move to neighboring states. California's tax base continues to shrink, their social programs bills continue to increase, and all of those millionaire Hollywood continue to slap most average Americans in the face calling us all kinds of vile names and playing the guilt trip card to try and get us to bend to their will.
A sane person would look at the price of goods in CA, from gas to groceries, and instantly conclude that whatever they are doing we certainly don't want to repeat it. In the business world the phrase is called "best practices". You mimic what works and discard what doesn't.
Oh yeah the Reuters headline was priceless also. California unveils ambitious climate plan Unproven conclusions, based on junk science, guiding government policy is going to change the climate how? I think my headline more accurately describes the story. And notice they have dropped the phrase Global Warming in favor of the now in vogue climate change, previously known as the four seasons.

Heartache..Ron White Drunk While Flying

Ron White of the Blue Collar Comedy crew has run afoul of law enforcement after an incident aboard his private jet.

Channel 2 Action News has learned a federal investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration is under way involving famed comedian Ron White about allegations that he may have risked the safety of crew and passengers on board his private jet.

The allegations were made by White’s pilots, who live in metro Atlanta, and who said they were fired by White after the alleged incident.

Crisis Delayed not Averted...Yet

Anheuser Busch is reported to be announcing it's rejection of the unsolicited take over bid from the Belgium company InBev.

Pirko said a rejection from Anheuser sets the stage for InBev to either raise its bid or take its bid directly to shareholders -- options he said InBev is likely to pursue.

One possible course of action now for InBev is to raise their offer and go directly to the shareholders with their offer. If Anheuser Busch shareholders are presented with an offer it will be interesting to see how they react. Remember whenever it is the evil CEO and corporate board of directors who agree to these kinds of mergers and buyouts it is always a bad thing and a sign of corporate greed. Will the average shareholder when presented with making the same choice stand on principle or will they too sell out to the highest bidder? It will be interesting to watch just to see how the shareholders react when the money gets high enough.