Code Pink Crank Laments: 'We Don’t Have a Very Vibrant Anti-war Movement Anymore'

What's a Castro-loving psychopath to do when things go bad for her guy?

As President Barack Obama formally declared an end to combat operations in Iraq this week, the anti-war movement that helped sweep him into office — and that worked for seven years to bring U.S. troops home — finds itself struggling for survival.

Several factors — war fatigue; a deep, lingering recession; and the presence of a Democratic president they helped elect — have drained the energy from organizations that led the fight against the Iraq war. Some of the most influential anti-war activist groups that once summoned half a million people to march against the Iraq war and the policies of President George W. Bush are straining to raise the money and attention to fight what they see as Obama’s military entrenchment in Afghanistan.

“We don’t have a very vibrant anti-war movement anymore,” lamented Medea Benjamin, founder of Code Pink, one of the anti-war movement’s most visible organizations. “The issues have not changed very much. … Now we have a surge [in Afghanistan] that we would have been furious about under George Bush, yet it’s hard to mobilize people under Obama. We have the same anti -war movement and not the same passion.”

MoveOn.org, which produced a 2007 anti-war newspaper ad labeling Gen. David Petraeus “General Betray Us” for the surge in Iraq, has largely been silent, despite a similar U.S. strategy in Afghanistan with Petraeus at the helm. Cindy Sheehan, perhaps the most famous anti-war protester, believes the peace movement is over. And United for Peace and Justice — once the largest of three major anti-war coalitions — has practically dissolved.

Leslie Cagan, UPJ’s founder, resigned last year after nearly seven years leading the group.

“I was totally exhausted,” said Cagan, 63. “I have a long history of anti-war activism — about 45 years — but the last eight or nine years have been totally intense. In a post 9/11 world, it’s just nonstop.”

Fighting your own country all these years can really take a toll, huh? What a washed-up Communist to do? Well, now their battlefield has shifted. Rather than supporting America's enemies, their primary mission is propping up the people they helped elect.

After fighting the Bush administration for the better part of a decade, the anti-war movement can barely draw public attention to Afghanistan because of kitchen-table issues like the worsening economy, the increasingly unpopular health care overhaul and high unemployment. Meanwhile, the leaders have kept their grumbling about Afghanistan mostly to themselves, to keep Obama’s sagging poll numbers from sinking further or jeopardizing the Democratic majority in Congress.

“A lot of the people who were part of this movement have retreated,” Code Pink’s Benjamin said. “They wanted to give up on the timetable [for withdrawing from Iraq]. Some are still reluctant to criticize a Democratic president now with the midterms coming up.”

So it was never about the troops and all about politics.

Thanks for clearing that up, Medea. All this leaves Cindy Sheehan very confused.

“I basically think that it’s over,” Sheehan said. “And the reason that it’s over is that so many of those same groups that you’re talking about supported Obama. … I just don’t think that if you’re anti-war you can support somebody who is for war.”

Mother Sheehan is still a diehard. She thinks Obama's a war criminal.

Comrade Fidel, Web Junkie

Can it be long until he's blogging at the HuffPost?

Fidel Castro is back from the dead (his words) and has been reincarnated as an Internet junkie. Not only is he a prolific blogger on Cuba's online Granma newspaper but, it turns out, the 84-year-old greybeard consumes 200 to 300 news items a day on the Web and is fascinated by the WikiLeaks site, with its trove of 90,000 formerly secret U.S. documents on military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The "resuscitated" revolutionary is smaller and shakier than he was before the intestinal illness that prompted him to hand power to his younger brother in 2006, but no less verbose. He spoke with the editor of the Mexican newspaper La Jornada for five hours, during which he raved about the profound impact of the Web. "Do you know what this means, comrade?" he asked, like some sort of Rip Van Winkle waking up in the 21st century. The Internet, he said, "has put an end to secrets.... We are seeing a high level of investigative journalism, as the New York Times calls it, that is within reach of the whole world."

Not only is the hero of the left blogging it up, hundreds of other "bloggers" are also in business.

Besides Fidel Castro, Cuba has about 300 bloggers, about 100 of them unauthorized, including several who are highly critical of the government. They have a terrible time communicating with the world and have to resort to all sorts of tricks to circumvent government barriers, including phoning the information to friends abroad for posting on servers outside Cuba. The most famous blog is Yoani Sanchez's Generation Y, which nets more than 1 million hits a month and is available just about everywhere but in Cuba, which may explain why she hasn't been muzzled; another reason may be that she is equally critical of the U.S. and its trade embargo. (She was, however, beaten and her blogger husband was attacked by a mob.) Sanchez helped Jose Luis Pardo and others establish Voces Cubanas, an independent site with about 30 bloggers who chronicle the trials, deprivations and beauty of Cuban daily life in words and pictures.

The rest of this mashnote posing as journalism blames the U.S. for lack of Internet access, of course, rather than blogger Fidel Castro.

I wonder if the approved government bloggers have their own Journolist?

Creepy Palin Stalker: 'If Sarah Ever Found Out They Talked, Oh, Something Terrible Would Happen to Them'

Sure to be a critically acclaimed bestseller. Sarah Palin's delusional stalker Joe McGinniss has finished with his "research" in Alaska and has left town. I'm sure the folks are sad to see him and his paranoid delusions go.

McGinniss would not reveal what his book will say about the former governor. But he did get a taste of the support Palin has inspired.

"It's just a peculiar thing, but she does, as I found out in May, she presses a button and what comes back is hate," he said. "The people who respond when she complains about something are just so filled with hate. I got some of the ugliest, most vile e-mails directed at me, my grandchildren, my children, my wife — just ugly, ugly stuff."

As for his interviews, most people he approached in Palin's hometown were willing to speak, but he said there was what he calls an "undercurrent of fear."

"People — I don't know if they're afraid of shadows or whether there's something real there — she's no longer in a position of governmental influence but there are people up there who are scared to death to talk because if Sarah ever found out they talked, oh, something terrible would happen to them," he said.

Oooh, a climate of fear!

The 'Good Life Card' Comes to Venezuela

The basket-case that is Venezuela inches closer to a Communist dictatorship, but according to Sean Penn and Oliver Stone's good buddy, living under complete control of the state and getting your food rationed is bizarrely called the good life.

Presented by President Hugo Chávez as an instrument to make shopping for groceries easier, the ``Good Life Card'' is making various segments of the population wary because they see it as a furtive attempt to introduce a rationing card similar to the one in Cuba.

The measure could easily become a mechanism to control the population, according to civil society groups.

``We see that in short-term this could become a rationing card probably similar to the one used in Cuba,'' Roberto León Parilli, president of the National Association of Users and Consumers, told El Nuevo Herald. ``It would use more advanced technological means [than those used in Cuba], but when they tell you where to buy and what the limits of what you can buy are, they are conditioning your purchases.''

Chávez said Tuesday that the card could be used to buy groceries at the government chain of markets and supplies.

``I have called it a Good Life Card so far,'' Chávez said in a brief statement made on the government television channel. ``It's a card for you to purchase what you are going to take and they keep deducting. It's to buy what you need, not to promote communism, but to buy what just what you need.''

Of course this commie blockhead fails to note what happens when the money runs out.

Former director of Venezuela's Central Bank, Domingo Maza Zavala, said this could become a rationing card that would limit your purchases in light of the country's recurring problems with supplies.

``If the intention is to beat inflation, they should find a good source of supply for the entire market and not only for centers that are part of social chains,'' he said. ``To do that, you need to encourage local production with the help of the private sector, since they cannot do it by themselves. The government cannot become the ultimate food distributor.''

Humberto Ortega Díaz, minister for public banking and president of the Venezuelan Bank, minimized such criticism and said that all this measure is trying to do is to improve service at the government supply chains.

``Why can't our Bicentennial chain use a card to make it easier for customers to buy their groceries?'' the minister said in an interview broadcast on a government channel. He said that this type of initiative has been used by private commercial entities.

Yet, critics pointed out that the measure could turn out not as innocent as the minister makes it to be, and they insist that the government control over the supply chain is too broad and depends greatly on imports the government authorizes through its currency exchange system.

In theory, the government could begin to favor the import of products to be sold through the government chains and have more control over the type of products purchased and the people buying them.

Jaime Suchlicki, director of the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, said that Venezuela's current problems of scarce supplies are very similar to those Cuba faced when Fidel Castro introduced the rationing card.

``The card emerged when goods began to become scarce,'' Suchlicki said. ``The government had seized many companies that did not work because the government managed them poorly. Then they decided to distribute groceries through those cards.''

Report: Eight Investors Contributed to Purchase of Ground Zero Mosque Building

OK, so now we know two of the eight investors for the Ground Zero Mosque. One is a former waiter with a lengthy arrest record and the other is a Medicaid scam artist who's given money to the Hamas front group Holy Land Foundation. Then there's the (ahem) moderate imam who's got the hots for the Iranian mullahs.

Now for a rather dubious crew who claim they want to build bridges and be open about their business, why are they hiding the identity of the other six investors?

Eight investors contributed to the $4.8 million purchase price of the building for a proposed Islamic community center and mosque near the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, the developer of the site confirmed on Friday.

The eight investors include Hisham Elzanaty, an Egyptian-born Long Island resident who donated $6,000 to the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development in 1999, a group shut down by federal authorities two years later for donating to Hamas.

Mr. Elzanaty gave restricted money to the group for orphans, unaware of its links to Hamas, according to Park51, the group behind the proposed 13-story center in downtown Manhattan.

"Hisham is a major investor in the Park51 project," said Sharif El-Gamal, the developer and founded of SoHo Properties in a statement. "He is one of eight investors all whom agree with me that this project will not be funded in anyway from any country, terrorist organization or entity hostile to America or its values."

Messrs El-Gamal and Elzanaty are the only Muslims among the group of eight investors, according to a source familiar with situation. Mr. El-Gamal has declined to release the names of the other investors.

In a telephone interview, Mr. Elzanaty said, "I'm very tired emotionally and physically from all of this and I'm very concerned about my family because of this ."

Aw, the poor thing is tired. Just imagine how tired he be if the media had done their homework and discovered Elzanaty's identity way back when all the hubbub commenced?

"We are under a crisis right now," he told the crowd of worshipers. "You're reading about it every single day. And this is for you and your family and ….children. And it's only going to happen brick by brick, dollar by dollar."

Yeah, well critics are going to be silent until we know who the other investors are, and I suspect opposition will become even more fierce once we find out who they are. Otherwise they'd have told us already.

Considering his vociferous support for the mosque, I wouldn't be shocked to see the name Bloomberg on the list.

Rangel's Legal Tab Now Up to $1.8 Million

For a guy drawing a relatively modest paycheck he sure seems to have plenty of money on hand to pay for his legal defense. Oh, wait. He's using campaign contributions?

The party's over for Charlie Rangel, but not the legal bills.

The embattled Harlem Democrat has forked over $111,170 to lawyers since July from his campaign stash, federal filings released Friday show. The bulk went to fighting 13 ethics charges.

That cash comes from the $403,630 pot of money he raised this summer, most notably from his 80th birthday bash at The Plaza which attracted the Democratic elite.

Rangel's total legal tab from his ethics battle is more than $1.8 million, a growing expense he highlighted during his rant on the House floor last month when he railed against lawmakers who wanted him to resign rather than fight the charges.

He's not the only one using campaign cash as a legal defense fund.

Rep Gregory Meeks (D-Queens) has spent $75,000 of his campaign funds on Dorsey & Whitney, the law firm representing him in an ongoing FBI probe of corruption in Queens, the federal data shows.

Gov. Paterson spent $900,000 from his campaign treasury this year on legal bills to battle three investigations, including whether he improperly obtained Yankee tickets.

While politicians coughing up campaign cash for their legal messes isn't illegal or uncommon, watchdogs say it's inappropriate.

Of course if Republicans did it there's be a furor. When corrupt Democrats do it then it's OK, apparently.

Barack Who? Bill Clinton Stumps for 'Independent' Democrat

From the sound of things here you would think Bill Clinton is still president and Barack Obama didn't even exist. Such is life today for endangered Democrats facing slaughter at the polls in November.

Bill Clinton strongly endorsed "independent" Staten Island Democrat Rep. Mike McMahon's re-election bid yesterday -- even saying it was OK for the incumbent to buck President Obama by voting against health-care reform.

"The one thing you got to say about this guy is he has been truly independent; he is not partisan," Clinton said while stumping for McMahon at Wagner College.

"He has not voted for the president on every issue. On health care, for example, we New Yorkers have a special problem. We have a lot of immigrants here who are undocumented, and our hospitals claim real problems under this health-care bill," Clinton added.

Well, it's nice to see a Democrat finally acknowledging the fact we're overrun with illegal, er, "undocumented" immigrants.

The former president said McMahon "wants to fix it the right way" while Republicans want to put the insurance companies in charge of health care.

"When I was president, I loved congressman like Mike, people who didn't always vote for me but were always thinking and listened to the evidence and looked for solutions," Clinton said.

Clinton's backing of McMahon during a rally attended by 1,600 was a boost for the incumbent, who caught flak from Democratic activists for voting nay on the health-care overhaul.

McMahon is expected to face a tough general election against a Republican challenger in the conservative-leaning district, which voted for Republican John McCain over Obama in the 2008 presidential race.

McMahon, while appearing alongside Clinton, did not utter the name "Obama" at all during his speech.

Barack Who?

As to Clinton's revisionist history, are we really to believe he liked Democrats who voted against him? Please.

They don't call him Slick for nothing.

McMahon's Republican challengers may criticize him for supporting President Obama's economic stimulus package, Clinton said, but the bill "gave money to state and local governments so they wouldn't have to lay off a million teachers and health care workers or turn around and raise taxes on you to keep them working, which would have been a disaster in this economy."

Clinton cautioned against a repeat of the years after he left the White House, when Republicans turned his budget surplus into the biggest deficit in the nation's history.

"We can't let them do it again," Clinton railed.

"We need individuals who think and do what's right for you," he added. "You've got to have people who think, not ideologues. Republicans are utterly impervious to evidence."

What evidence, like the 9.6% unemployment?

Sure to Be a Fashion Statement: Designer Stubble

Do these people have the slightest idea how stupid they look? The headline at the story calls them knitwits. It fits.

It is the ultimate fashion accessory for anyone who thinks they might look good with a beard... but can't be bothered taking the time to grow one.

Crochet enthusiast Tara Duff has created a range of beanies with fashionable facial hair attached - combining a little imagination with her passion for crocheting.

While keeping a simple pattern, the beanies and beards come in a number of different colours, and sell online from £30.

Her designs are modelled by her husband - but don't be fooled into thinking that the comedy headgear is just for men.

Mrs Duff and her three young children are also proud owners of a beard beanie - and there is even a special bunny design for those who really want to get into the spirit of Easter.

Freaky: Dead Ringer For Jim Tressel at Ohio State Game Dressed Just Like ... Jim Tressel

It's scary how much they look alike.

Malaysia To Scour Internet for 'Harmful' Blogs

Sounds like Media Matters is setting up shop abroad.

MALAYSIA has formed a task force to scour the internet for blog postings deemed harmful to national unity.

Home ministry deputy secretary general for security Abdul Rahim Mohamad Radzi said the unit would involve the police, internet regulators, the information ministry and the attorney general's chambers.

"It is a mechanism that will coordinate these various agencies to help monitor what is being said in cyberspace and to take action against those that are trying to stoke racial tensions and disunity," he said.

Abdul Rahim said the group would also monitor alternative and mainstream media for similar content.

"There is a disturbing trend now appearing on the internet where some people are inciting racial unrest and causing confusion and this will damage the peace we have in the country," he said.

Sounds like a taste of what's eventually in store for us.

Police are also investigating ethnic Chinese rapper Wee Meng Chee for sedition, after he posted a three-minute rap on YouTube criticising a Malay headmistress accused of making racial slurs against minority students.

The government has ordered a probe into the case which caused anger among Malaysia's minorities, who complain their rights are being eroded as the country becomes increasingly "Islamised".

In another case, Malaysian journalist Irwan Abdul Rahman was charged this week over a satirical blog which made fun of the state power firm Tenaga, and faces a year's jail if convicted.

The prosecution caused a stir because unlike the mainstream press, the web and online media in Malaysia have remained relatively free, despite occasional raids, bans and government criticism.

Major newspapers and broadcasters are closely linked with the ruling coalition, so the internet has become a lively forum for dissent and debate.

Newspapers and broadcasters closely linked with the rulers? Hmm, that sounds so familiar.

'I Wanted To Do Something Crazy'

Maybe instead you could have just got yourself a kitten.

A man who drove for about 90 kilometers the wrong way along two expressways after becoming upset that his cat had died has been arrested, law enforcers said.

The man, 31-year-old Tsutomu Mizumoto, was arrested for violating the Road Traffic Law following the escapade early on Sept. 1.

"I was sad that my pet cat died. I wanted to do something crazy," Mizumoto was quoted as saying when questioned over his actions.

While the 31-year-old hit an expressway vehicle at a checkpoint, he did not collide with any other vehicles and no-one was injured.

Hokkaido Prefectural Police said a driver made an emergency call at about 5:45 a.m. on Sept. 1, reporting a car driving the wrong way along the Sasson Expressway near the Zenibako Interchange in the city of Otaru.

At about 6 a.m. police found Mizumoto's vehicle roughly 15 kilometers away from the interchange, and pursued him, ordering him to stop, but he ignored them, and continued on to the Doo Expressway, heading toward Sapporo the wrong way.

An expressway traffic police unit set up five emergency blockades between the Kitago Interchange in Sapporo's Shiroishi Ward and the Tomakomai-nishi Interchange in Tomakomai, but Mizumoto broke through all of them. At the Sapporo-minami interchange he reportedly went the wrong way through a tollgate. He continued on toward the city of Muroran, but at about 7:15 a.m. he stopped his car at the side of the road and was apprehended by police.

Exhausted Obama Heads to Camp David

Listen, six vacations, countless rounds of golf, all that packing and unpacking can really take a toll on any man, let alone The One. I just hope the poor thing can get some time to relax after putting in what has to be an unprecedented record of five consecutive days of work.

This afternoon, the first family heads to Camp David. But the president won't have the whole long weekend there. On Monday, it's Milwaukee for Laborfest, an annual event put on by the AFL-CIO.

What sacrifice, putting in some work on Labor Day with the union goons.

Peaceful Muslim Cleric: Hey, Let's Chop Off Geert Wilders' Head

Nothing like helping make the guy's argument.

A well-known Australian Muslim cleric has called for the beheading of Dutch anti-Islamic politician Geert Wilders, a newspaper said on Friday.

Wilders' Freedom Party scored the biggest gains in June 9 polls and is currently negotiating to form a new minority government with the Liberals and Christian Democrats. Polls show Wilders would win a new election if one were called now.

Wilders demanded to know why he had learnt about the threat from the newspaper and not from Dutch authorities who are guarding him after a film and remarks he made angered Muslims around the world.

De Telegraaf, the Netherlands' largest newspaper, led its front page on Friday with a story on the speech by Feiz Muhammad.

The Sydney-born Muhammad has gained notoriety for, among other things, calling on young children to be radicalized and blaming rape victims for their own attacks.

The paper posted an English-language audio clip in which he refers to Wilders as "this Satan, this devil, this politician in Holland" and explains that anyone who talks about Islam like Wilders does should be executed by beheading.

De Telegraaf did not say when the speech was given but said it and the Dutch secret service both had copies. According to his website, Muhammad is based in Malaysia.

Wilders told Reuters it was "really terrible news" and that he was taking it seriously.

"I will ask for clarification from the Dutch minister of interior/justice why the secret service and anti-terrorism unit NCTb have not informed me before and what the consequences will be for me," he said in an email.

A spokesman for the Dutch secret service referred inquiries on the threat to the NCTb. A spokeswoman for the NCTb was not available to comment.

Wilders is currently on trial in the Netherlands for inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims.

So he's the one inciting hatred while some maniac literally calls for his head?

'I Will Stand With the President of the United States Anywhere, Anytime, No Hesitation'

Sure, he'll stand with Obama anytime, anytime without hesitation. Except when Obama shows up in his state and the endangered Democrat heads for the hills. C'mon, Russ, man up.

When President Barack Obama visits Milwaukee on Labor Day to talk to working families and members of dozens of labor unions, one prominent politician won't be there.

A Labor Day schedule released by the staff of U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) indicates that while Feingold will be in Milwaukee for a Laborfest pre-parade on Monday morning, he will not be in town when Obama is expected to arrive.

Obama is scheduled to arrive in Milwaukee early in the afternoon. Laborfest is open to the public, but a ticket will be needed to enter the area where the president is scheduled to speak. That ticket procedure has not yet been announced.

Laborfest will be open from noon to 7 p.m. at Henry Maier Festival Park.

On Labor Day, Feingold has two other commitments - in Janesville, his hometown, and Kenosha. Both cities have strong union ties.

When Obama was in Menomonee Falls and Milwaukee last month, Feingold greeted the president in Milwaukee and stayed with him the entire day.

"I will stand with the president of the United States anywhere, anytime, no hesitation. I'm proud of what this president has tried to do," Feingold told the Journal Sentinel in an interview last month prior to Obama's visit.

You can bet your ass if Obama were actually popular this guy would be front and center for any photo op. But since the Golfer-in-Chief is radioactive and is dragging down Democrats across the nation they're too cowardly to come out and support their man.

Unexpected! Unemployment Rises Again

The Obama disaster continues. In other news, Labor Day has been canceled since nobody has a job.

The unemployment rate rose in August for the first time in four months as weak hiring by private employers wasn't enough to keep pace with a large increase in the number of people looking for work.

The Labor Department says companies added a net total 67,000 new jobs last month, down from July's upwardly revised total of 107,000. Wall Street analysts expected a smaller gain, according to Thomson Reuters.

Overall, the economy lost 54,000 jobs as 114,000 temporary census positions came to an end. State and local governments shed 10,000 positions. The jobless rate rose to 9.6 percent from 9.5 percent in July.

More than a half-million Americans resumed their job searches in August, which drove up the jobless rate. When the unemployed stop looking for work, they are no longer counted in the jobless rate.

'Even After a Night in Jail, I Strongly Support the Policy'

This may be the best spin I've ever seen from a suspected criminal. Naturally he's an aspiring Democrat politician.

A Long Island state Senate candidate was nabbed in a terrifying road-rage incident targeting his ex-girlfriend -- repeatedly trying to run her off the road as she traveled with a new beau, authorities said.

Yet despite spending a night in jail, Dave Mejias, a former Nassau County legislator, said he believes that domestic-violence suspects should always be arrested.

"Even after a night in jail, I strongly support the policy," said Mejias, 39, of Farmingdale. After he was released on bail, he said he had "nothing to hide" and would be cleared of the charges.

Mejias -- a Democrat who is trying to unseat incumbent Kemp Hannon in the 6th Senate District -- was charged with misdemeanor stalking, menacing and reckless endangerment Wednesday night in the exclusive hamlet of Locust Valley.

Nassau Detective Sgt. Anthony Repalone said the suspect followed his ex by car after she failed to reply to his text messages.

"He was following them and pretty much tailgating," said Repalone.

Mejias allegedly tailed his 34-year-old ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend and twice cut her off -- driving into oncoming traffic to go around her.

The first time, the woman turned around and fled -- but Mejias pursued her and cut her off again -- forcing her to brake or smash into his vehicle, cops said.

The second time, Mejias banged on the woman's car hood and tried to yank her door open while "ranting and screaming at his former girlfriend," according to Repalone.

"She does tell us he was in a highly agitated state. She was shaken up by the ordeal," said Repalone. "She was fearful that he may cause harm to her."

The victim fled to her parents' home nearby, where she called police. After an investigation, Mejias was arrested. Repalone said the couple had been dating about three years before their breakup.

The office of Nassau DA Kathleen Rice -- a Democratic candidate for state attorney general -- announced that a special prosecutor would be appointed in the case because of "a personal relationship between the victim, her family and the district attorney."

The New York Democrats have been running low on felons of late so they may want to get behind Mejias just to keep up appearances.

Shocker: Ground Zero Mosque Moneyman Linked to Holy Land Foundation

Last week we wondered aloud about the very mysterious Hisham Elzanaty, the money man behind the criminal Sharif El-Gamal, the so-called developer of the Ground Zero Mosque., the holy man who's been arrested seven times and who owes $224,000 in back taxes.

Well, now we know a little more about Elzanaty, no thanks to the lamestream media who has no interest in his ties to radical Islamists.

An Egyptian-born businessman who lives on Long Island — and who once gave thousands of dollars to a Hamas front group — is a major investor in the proposed mosque near Ground Zero, it was reported last night, in the first disclosure of the money behind the controversial project.

Hisham Elzanaty was a “significant investor” in developer Sharif el-Gamal’s $4.8 million purchase of the former Burlington Coat Factory building, where the mosque and Islamic cultural center will be built, the donor’s lawyer, Wolodymyr Starosolsky, told Fox 5 News.

El-Gamal himself has refused to disclose where he got the money to buy the building in July 2009. Elzanaty owns a $2 million home in Roslyn Heights, and operates medical companies out of a building in The Bronx. He also owns the New York Neuro and Rehab Center in Morningside Heights.

State records show he was ordered to repay $331,000 after an audit revealed Medicaid had overpaid him in 2004-2005.

Elzanaty didn’t return calls last night. Starosolsky would not discuss the Fox 5 report with The Post.

Shortly after the Burlington building was acquired, Elzanaty also co-signed a $39 million mortgage so that el-Gamal’s company, Soho Properties, $45.7million building in Chelsea from developer Stei k ff money man,” a source told The Post.

In 1999, he donated $6,000 to the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, which was later shut down because of its ties to terrorism.

The foundation was the largest Islamic charity in the US until the feds froze its assets and designated it a terrorist organization following an FBI probe after 9/11.

In 2008, five of its leaders were convicted of providing material support to Hamas.

Elzanaty’s contribution to the Holy Land Foundation was uncovered by the DC-based Investigative Project on Terror.

Elzanaty believed he was spending $500 a month to help orphans, his lawyer told The Post.

Sure, thaty's believable. Well, if your name is Michael Bloomberg, that is. Does anyone have a concern here?

So now it transpires that a key money- man behind the proposed Ground Zero mosque is a one-time supporter of a group shut down by the feds because it was a front for Hamas.

No wonder the mosque's principal imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, refuses to discuss the project's finances.

Or, for that matter, refuses to speak harshly of Hamas -- an Iranian cat's-paw that's long been one of the deadliest Islamist terrorist organizations operating in the Mideast.

It was reported last night that Hisham Elzanaty -- an Egyptian-born businessman from Long Island -- provided a big chunk of the $4.8 million needed to buy the building that will be demolished to make way for the mosque.

Among other things, Elzanaty runs a Bronx-based medicial supply company that had to refund more than $300,000 in Medicaid payments in 2004-2005.

In 1999, he donated thousands to the Holy Land Foundation, later shuttered by the feds because of its Hamas ties.

All of this is, as they say, enough to give one pause.

But we doubt it will truly surprise any among the 71 percent of New Yorkers found this week by Quinnipiac University pollsters to oppose the mosque.

Mayor Mike and others think they are bigots, but most seem to have asked -- and answered to their own satisfaction -- a fair question:

How close to the scene of that deadly Islamist attack on America is too close to build a mosque?

Answer: The proposed site was close enough to have been hit by a landing-gear assembly from one of the crashed airliners -- and that's way too close.

They're also nervous about the project's backers -- even before Elzanaty popped up -- deciding that, with those folks involved, anywhere might be too close.

As The Post reported yesterday, Rauf has been catching iffy tax breaks since 1998 for an organization run from his wife's Upper West Side apartment.

How'd he do it? By telling the IRS the one-bedroom digs were actually a mosque where 500 people prayed daily.

These are only the latest revelations about the mosque's backers, who've run up a cumulative record of petty crime, slumlording and tax-scamming.

And that's being generous.

Rauf, who's due back in New York this weekend after a long trip abroad, has plenty of explaining to do to the people he's been thumbing in the eye for weeks.

First there is Elzanaty's role, of course.

Then there's the elephant in the room: Whence the $100 million needed for the mosque?

And then there is this.

At a forum in Dubai on Tuesday, Rauf appeared to call the 71 percent of New Yorkers who oppose his project religious "extremists."

The Law Of Unintended Consequences

How's that hopey-changey thang workin' out, Markkkos?

Democrat Candidate for NY State Senate Arrested for Stalking Ex-Girlfriend

Looks like this dude may have to put his political career on hold.

David Mejias, a former Nassau County legislator and current state senate candidate, was arrested on charges of stalking Wednesday night.

Mejias, a Democrat who served as a legislator representing Farmingdale from 2003 until he lost a bid for reelection in 2009, was allegedly following his 34-year-old ex-girlfriend Wednesday at noon as she was driving on Piping Rock Road in Matinecock. When the woman noticed she was being followed, detectives say Mejias passed her and abruptly stopped the vehicle, causing her to stop as well. Mejias then allegedly exited his vehicle and approached the victim yelling and screaming at her. When she drove away from the scene, Mejias continued to follow her. She was eventually able to give Mejias the slip and reported the incident to Nassau County police, who arrested Mejias later that evening.

Mejias is an attorney on Long Island who specializes in--wait for it--domestic violence.

As a legislator and in the practice of law, David has fought for the rights of victims of domestic violence. He has been recognized by the Coalition Against Domestic Violence for his efforts on their behalf.

Just another Democrat hypocrite.

Time: How Mr. Wonderful Became Mr. Unpopular

They scratch their pointy heads in bewilderment how a guy nobody knew anything about went from being popular to detested in less than two years. They'll be the last ones to figure it out, but we helpfully add a visual clue in case they don't get it.

The Barack Obama that most Hoosiers remember voting for can still be found on YouTube. He stands before a cheering Elkhart high school gymnasium in August 2008, tireless, aspirational, promising a new America of jobs and hope. "We can choose another future," says the newcomer with the funny name. "So I ask you to join me."

Today that view of Obama is harder to find in Indiana. A couple of weeks back and a dozen miles west of Elkhart, hundreds gathered in another school gym - except this time it was for a job fair. With the local unemployment rate above 12% and rising again this summer, about a third of the employer display tables stood empty. Julie Griffin, who voted for Obama in '08, sat down at the room's edge, well dressed and discouraged. After 23 years as a payroll administrator at a local RV plant, she got laid off 18 months ago. "Really, what has he been doing?" she said when I asked about Obama's efforts to help people like her. "I guess I don't know what he is doing."

Across the gym floor, Joe Donnelly, Elkhart's pro-life, pro-gun Democratic Congressman, worked the crowd. He was part of the moderate wave that won Congress for Nancy Pelosi in '06, and he was re-elected with 67% of the vote while campaigning for Obama in '08. The President has since returned to the region three times, but Donnelly is nonetheless fighting for his political life. In a recent television ad, an unflattering photo of Obama and Pelosi flashes while Donnelly condemns "the Washington crowd." This is basically a Democratic campaign slogan now: Don't blame me for Obama and Pelosi. "I'm not one of them," Donnelly told me when I caught up with him. "I'm one of us."

This shift in perception - from Obama as political savior to Obama as creature of Washington - can be seen elsewhere. When Obama arrived in office in January '09, his Gallup approval rating stood at 68%, a high for a newly elected leader not seen since John Kennedy in 1961. Today Obama's job approval has been hovering in the mid-40s, which means that at least 1 in 4 Americans has changed his or her mind. The plunge has been particularly dramatic among independents, whites and those under age 30. With midterm elections just nine weeks off, instead of the generational transformation some Democrats predicted after 2008, the President's party teeters on the brink of a broad setback in November, including the possible loss of both houses of Congress. By a 10-point margin, people say they will vote for Republicans over Democrats in Congress, the largest such gap ever recorded by Gallup.

This is what happens when media creations of God-like figures go bust. Chris Matthews aside, did anyone really believe a guy we still know very little about was Mr. Perfect?

Of course in the end none of it is his fault. It's the right-wing smear machine that apparently controls the media or something.

When challenged about his declining popularity, the President tended to deflect the blame - to the state of the economy, the ferocity of the news cycle and right-wing misinformation campaigns.

Naturally, no examples of this so-called "misinformation" are provided.

Time helpfully begins the Obama makeover and what we might expect after he leads the Democrats to slaughter two months from today.

But two years is the equivalent of multiple lifetimes in politics, and there are signs that Obama is already pivoting away from plans to engineer massive reforms in energy policy, global-warming response and immigration law to less-stirring, more-popular challenges like reducing the deficit and reforming taxation and entitlements. What little margins Obama does have to push major reforms through are sure to shrink away in the coming months. "I think the next couple of years, we've got to focus on debt and deficits," Obama told NBC News after his summer vacation. "We've got to focus on making sure that we make the recovery stronger. And a lot of that is attracting private investment."

Of course Obama believes in none of that so it's all about political expediency. After seeing the damage he's done in less that two years is there a single American out there who believes he wants to cut taxes and reduce the deficit?

Not Illegal, Just Unauthorized

That is how the Pew Research characterizes illegal aliens. No doubt the Obama administration will take these numbers as an affirmation that thier immigration policies are the correct ones and tout them to the high heavens while ignoring thee real reason people ain't all that eager to come to America anymore.

The annual inflow of unauthorized immigrants to the United States was nearly two-thirds smaller in the March 2007 to March 2009 period than it had been from March 2000 to March 2005, according to new estimates by the Pew Hispanic Center.

What would make a person given a choice between living with the drug war violence in Mexico and pursuing what we used to call the American Dream decide to stick with the drug warlords? There is no more American Dream. If you work hard to succeed Barry wants to take it away from you to make it fair. If you are in a position to put others to work to pursue their dream they want to crush you with all sorts of mandates, taxes, and regulations to ensure that the only ones who have a job are lawyers who can sort through the crap only to wind up telling you you are better off shuttering the windows and locking the doors and walking away while you can.

Unless the Republicans start stepping up the talk of undoing all of these misguided programs being imposed on us by this administration they are going to lose their momentum in the upcoming election. I have no doubt the Americans are going to put Republicans back in power for no other reason then to try and put roadblock to all the schemes of the very far left wing of the Democrats who have seized power, but if they don't start talking about undoing the damage, not merely trying to mitigate it, then in 2012 they could very well see their fortunes go sour.

I have been a strong anti-incumbent guy this election cycle because I firmly believe that the entrenched political elites on both sides have grown too accustomed to the lifestyle they enjoy inside the Beltway and I feel fresh blood is what is needed. Too many of our elected officials still revel in the glory of the Greatest Generation, and while that is laudable, it is time to come to the 21st century and start basing policy on the realities of this time in history rather then dwelling on what happened 70 years ago. That means Social Security can no longer be off limits. The average working person doesn't believe it will be around for them anyway.

Gee I sort of got off on a rant didn't I? It is just when I see the American Dream being destroyed I take it personally. I have worked damned hard since I was about 13 years old and had a paper route, yeah remember them, until today, all with the intent to make life for my children better and to create the opportunities for them and leave it up to them what they do with those opportunities. The current mindset seems to be to put you in a box, convince you that the government knows best so put away your silly dreams and accept all your subsistence from those who know better. Step out of the box, achieve too much and they will squash you. You are no longer responsible for your success or failure, the government will decide what is fair for you and you will accept it and live with it. Or die with it depending on what some bureaucrat decides is best.

Just so you don't think I am trying to make the case for illegal immigrants I ain't. I am just trying to make the point that people no longer are motivated to come to this country to try and improve their station in life. You want to come to this country fine and dandy. Sign the guest book and obey the laws. I would be curious if Pew also saw a decline in legal immigration.
Heckuva a job Barry.

Zsa Zsa Gabor's Husband Plans to 'Plastinate' Her Body

As America's vigil for Zsa Zsa Gabor continues, there's exciting news from her husband today.

The German husband of ailing 93-year-old Hollywood actress and socialite Zsa Zsa Gabor said he wanted preserve her body by plastination after she dies, the Bild newspaper reported on Thursday.

"My wife has always dreamt that her beauty would be immortal," Frederic von Anhalt said, "I would like to show the plastinated body of Zsa Zsa Gabor in the context of a scene in one of her films."

Von Anhalt said German anatomist Gunther von Hagens should carry out the procedure, after his controversial world exhibitions displaying plastinated bodies with just muscles and tendons intact.

Gabor, who has been hospitalised several times in the past months, returned earlier this week to hospital in Los Angeles after von Anhalt had found her unconscious.

Maybe they can take the body on tour and have Arianna Huffington provide voiceovers.

If like me you're not up to speed on plastination, here's a primer.

He's Mine! No, He's Mine!

You could be mine

How'd you like to be this Chilean miner? You're hoping and praying you're rescued from deep under ground, yet at the same time likely dreading the moment you see daylight since a couple of ladies are eagerly awaiting your arrival.

Hey guys, take your time.

One of the trapped Chilean miners is in no rush to be rescued -- because both his wife and his longtime mistress will be waiting for him when he finally sees the light of day.

Neither woman was aware of the other's existence until they met at a candlelight vigil for the miners, The Sun newspaper of Britain reported.

Yonni Barrios' wife, Marta Salinas, was shocked to hear another woman shouting her husband's name at the gathering held to support the 33 men who are trapped 2,300 feet underground, the paper said.

They compared notes and figured out that they both had been shafted. Officials said the miners aren't likely to be rescued before Christmas.

Despite feeling "horrified" about her husband's cheating ways, Salinas, 56, has told friends she still plans to welcome Barrios, 50, back with open arms once he's freed, the paper said.

"Barrios is my husband. He loves me and I am his devoted wife," she said.

But she's not the only one who feels that way.

Susana Valenzuela, who's been his mistress for five years, insists she'll always be his soul mate.

"We are in love. I'll wait for him," she told The Sun.

Salinas clawed back at her rival, refusing to address Valenzuela by name.

"This woman has no legitimacy," she hissed.

I smell reality TV.

Slumlord Rauf Getting Special Tax Breaks

Seriously, who does Mikey Bloomberg's slumlord pal have incriminating photos of? Every day another scam is uncovered about this grifter and the most of the media just continues to ignore it.

The leader of the Ground Zero mosque got hugely valuable tax-exempt status for a Muslim organization he founded after claiming as many as 500 of its members prayed daily in a small, one-bedroom Upper West Side apartment also listed as his wife's residence, The Post has learned.

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf sought "church status" -- an official IRS term for a house of worship of any religion -- for the American Sufi Muslim Association, or ASMA, in 1998. The feds granted the request.

"Church status" is more than just an exemption -- it means never having to pay taxes, file returns or reveal the sources of a congregation's money or how it's spent, according to the Washington-based Investigative Project on Terrorism, which discovered the group's startling claims on the IRS form it filed seeking the special status.

On that form, the organization said it held services at 201 W. 85th St.

That's a 17-story apartment building with no public space big enough to accommodate the 450 to 500 worshippers the group claimed regularly showed up five times a day to pray.

There's no indication ASMA or any of its officers rented space in the building other than the apartment, which the Investigative Project says is only 800 square feet.

A year earlier, the imam's wife, Daisy Kahn, had been named as an ASMA director in incorporation papers.

In those papers, she stated the 10th-floor apartment was her legal residence.

The Miniature Mayor of New York City has in the past gone out of his way to make an example of people who have broken the law. Plaxico Burress comes to mind as one example. Yet here we have people who obviously have misrepresented themselves yet the one man who champions them most is Bloomberg himself.

What have they got on him?

When Sarcastic Headlines Become Reality

When we jokingly referred to Palestinian terrorists as activists the other day we had no idea we'd be setting the standard for the lamestream media. It wasn't intended to make light of the horrific acts perpetrated by the Islamic monsters, rather than highlight how these bottom-feeding scum are viewed by the media.

So this morning I heard a CBS Radio News report where the words "Hamas activists" were used and nearly drove off the road. Yet it appears to be in widespread use.

On cue, here are some headlines this morning:

Palestinian forces arrest dozens of Hamas activists

Video: News Update: Palestinian security forces arrest more than 100 Hamas activists

In a story from Bloomberg News (surely King Mikey has issued a style mandate, no?):

Palestinian security services arrested about 150 Hamas activists in the West Bank after the settler killings, Hamas said in an e-mailed statement today.

Depressing. Check how many hits show up when you search for Hamas activists.

Just a refresher: Hamas is a designated as a terrorist group by our own State Department. Ironically, that same state department is paying for the Ground Zero Mosque imam to travel the world on our dime, the same guy who refuses to condemn Hamas.

Of course when it comes to mischaraterizing mainstream conservative group, the media wastes no time calling them extremists.

The Slums of Rauf

Obviously these women are anti-Muslim bigots. Meanwhile, Mikey Bloomberg's best friend, who's living off our dime while traveling the Middle East, can't really deny he's nuts.

"In a true peace it is impossible that a purely Jewish state of Palestine can endure. . . . In a true peace, Israel will, in our lifetimes, become one more Arab country, with a Jewish minority."

Two years later, the imam weighed in on the Iranian revolution. In a February 27, 1979 letter, in which he scores Americans for failing to apologize to Iran for past misdeeds, he wrote, "The revolution in Iran was inspired by the very principles of individual rights and freedom that Americans ardently believe in."

Meanwhile, in what may be the final kiss of death for the Ground Zero mosque, it received an endorsement from Charles Rangel today.

Speaking at a local TV station he told an interviewer that the mosque opposition is being led by a “very small group and they have succeeded in putting some confusion, arousing confusion and suspicion in a broader base of people and this is unfortunate.”

Supporters of the mosque , including leaders of dozens of Muslim organizations rallied on Wednesday on the steps of New York’s City Hall. Among the demonstrators was New York City Congressman Charlie Rangel who said “this isn’t a problem for Muslims; it’s a problem for Americans in doing the right thing and respecting our constitution.”

Yeah, I guess 70% of Americans is a "very small group" that have a problem.

Oh, in case you needed another affront to your senses, prepare to hurl.

The State Department has handed out overseas nearly 3,000 copies of an Islamic book written by Ground Zero mosque promoter Feisal Abdul Rauf, an imam who asserts publicly that America has killed more Muslims than al Qaeda.

The department is now sponsoring Feisal's fourth trip as a special U.S. emissary to the Muslim world. He made two trips in 2007 during the Bush Administration and one earlier this year to Egypt. Feisal is now visiting Bahrain, Qatar and U.A.E. at a cost to U.S. taxpayers of $16,000.

Phew! Ladies Nights Ruled Constitutional

I'm not quite sure what this guy's problem is and let's just hope he decides to drop his crusade now. The thought of having the Supreme Court hear arguments on the legalities of allowing women to drink at a discount just strikes me as un-American.

The Manhattan lawyer who thinks the big problem with singles clubs is that women pay less to get in got the big brush off in court yesterday.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims by self-proclaimed "anti-feminist lawyer" Roy Den Hollander that letting women past the velvet rope for free or half price on "Ladies Nights" violates the Constitution.

The state has no control because "liquor licenses are not directed related to the pricing scheme" at the door, the court said.

The court, with evident amusement, said it must rule against Den Hollander even though "without action on our part, (he) paints a picture of a bleak future, where 'none other than what's left of the Wall Street moguls' will be able to afford to attend nightclubs."

Den Hollander, who sued the Copacobana, China Club, Lotus and others, blames militant feminists for the ladies-pay-less door policies - not prowling promoters trying to lure women to the clubs.

"The guys are paying for girls to party. I don't think that's fair," Den Hollander said. "It's a transfer of money from the wallets of guys to the pocketbooks of girls."

Now I'm as anti-radical feminist as the next guy, but in the days I'd be trolling bars if I stumbled across a place where young ladies were consuming copious amounts of alcohol at bargain prices the last thing on my mind was who was the evil genius behind this scheme. In fact, during college we'd always be sure to go out with the girls to the $2 all you can drink nights since it usually meant plenty of cheap booze for us anti-feminist cavemen. Now that I think of it, whoever did think of Ladies Night should be awarded a special commendation.

Hollander, meanwhile, needs to get a grip or have a stiff drink.

Hollander blasted the ruling, saying it will allow nightclubs to "discriminate against any group of persons by charging them more for admission than other groups."

"It does not matter whether the nightclubs charge males or females or blacks or Latins or any other identifiable group more for admission—it is now constitutional," he said. "It’s either a decision driven by feminist ideology or the Second Circuit decided to punt the case to the U.S. Supreme Court."

Related: Likely reason for Hollander's raging case of douchebaggery.

But to today's tall tale of woe from the man that feminists forgot — or tried to, anyway. He looks like that creepy guy that used to go to the 19+ clubs in college and stare at all the girls who wouldn't fuck him. But, obviously, that's not his fault for being a creepy bastard trying too recapture his lost youth by boning drunk chicks half his age, it's Feminism's fault for convincing drunk chicks half his age that they could do better. Way better.

Ouch.

Fwench Railway Catching Hell In Florida

Here's some red meat for the folks over at Stormfront and my friends at Kosland.

Go get 'em, tough-tards.

French railway faces criticism in US for WWII role

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The French national railway's hope to bid on the first high-speed tracks in the United States is running into resistance from Holocaust survivors because of the company's role in transporting Jews to Nazi death camps.

One of those leading the charge against the railway is Florida resident Rosette Goldstein, whose father was taken away by Nazi soldiers, shoved in a cattle train and delivered to his death during World War II. Goldstein plans to voice her opposition on behalf of many Holocaust survivors to the railway Thursday when the Florida Department of Transportation holds a public meeting in Orlando on the $2.6 billion high-speed rail project, which would connect Tampa and Orlando.

Goldstein and others — including legislators — want the railway, known as the SNCF, to formally apologize for its role in the war, give full access to its records and make reparations.

"Why does this company deserve my tax dollars when they cooperated with the Nazis and let their trains transport people to be murdered?" said Goldstein, 71, who lives in Boca Raton.

SNCF stands for Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Francais. The company has argued that it had no control over operations when France was under Nazi occupation from 1940 to 1944 and was under orders to transport Jews to death camps. The firm also has said the French government has made an apology and offered reparations, although survivors contend the company itself has never made such amends.

"We plan to have a full disclosure of our records and complete transparency," said Peter Kelly, an American-based attorney for SNCF. "The fact is many railway workers were killed by Nazis, many were bullied and the company was under control of an occupied government."

As part of your full dsiclosure, Mr. Kelly, be sure and include copies of the billing statements SCNF submitted to the French government after the war.

Not everybody accepts that explanation.

Rositta Ehrlich Kenigsberg, vice president at the Holocaust Documentation & Education Center in South Florida, said corporations such as SNCF have long used coercion as an excuse. She said SNCF profited greatly from the transports, charging per person and kilometer.

"Being a collaborator and saying you were coerced is not acceptable," she said. "Nobody bought that at the Nuremberg Trials, Rwanda, Darfur and other genocides. You can't help murder people and then just say, 'Well, we were coerced.'"

In California, lawmakers passed a bill last month that forces companies hoping to compete for a piece of California's $45 billion high-speed rail project to disclose whether they transported Holocaust victims. SNCF is also hoping for that project and said it has no problems with the bill.

Florida lawmakers are also stepping into the fray.

U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, a Democrat who represents portions of Broward and Palm Beach counties, a district with a high Jewish population, said he was writing a letter to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist asking for some of the same things Goldstein wants.

"This was a company that was taken and used by the Nazis that profited from the deaths of tens of thousands of people," said Klein, who is also Jewish and serves on the board at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.

SNCF employs 175,000 people and operates 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) of high-speed lines in France, and is generally respected as a heavyweight in French industry. But the company has had a hard time erasing its past.

Between 1941 and 1944, 3,000 wagons — originally designed for the transportation of cattle — were used by the SNCF to transport Jews to Nazi death camps, according to a study by French historian Christian Bachelier, ordered by SNCF in 1996. The study points out that there were acts of resistance, but they were sparse, isolated and mostly by workers — not SNCF administration.

SNCF is among about 30 companies hoping to bid for the Florida contract. Transportation officials are going through paperwork the companies have submitted.

Plans for high-speed rails were announced by President Barack Obama in January. Florida would get $1.25 billion in stimulus money and trains are expected to begin operating at speeds up to 168 mph by 2015.

At the very least, SNCF faces big challenges trying to win U.S bids.

"The court of public opinion may already have convicted them, and politicians don't want to be called soft on the Holocaust or anything," said Winston Nagan, a professor of international law and human rights at the University of Florida.

Goldstein and others whose families were wiped out have vowed to raise their voices.

Goldstein was 4 years old when she hid with another family on a farm outside Paris as her father enlisted at a nearby labor camp to avoid internment. He often sneaked away at night to see her, then one night he didn't come.

She said he was transported by an SNCF train — Convoy No. 32 — to Auschwitz, then Buchenwald and finally Langenstein-Zwieberge, where he was killed by Nazis just five days before the camp was liberated by Americans.

"If SNCF had resisted even a little, more people could have been spared," she said. "What's worse, is the way they've ignored us. Is it so hard to say, 'I'm sorry?' I'm one of the youngest survivors — soon there's not going to be any. We have to make sure people don't forget what happened."

Via The AP

Tool Who Lost Florida Democrat Senate Primary to Sue Newspapers

Without even addressing the merits of his compliant, let's just say if political candidates could sue newspapers then there'd be a long line of conservatives who've gone through the media's rectal exams waiting to sue. Having said that, if you're a guy who got waxed by 26 points by a very weak candidate you might just want to lick your wounds and go back to partying with Lindsay Lohan and taking trips to Cuba.

Jeff Greene, a Florida real estate developer who lost one of the year’s most bitter and closely watched primary elections, is preparing to sue The St. Petersburg Times and The Miami Herald for libel, claiming that articles they published cost him his bid for the United States Senate.

Mr. Greene lost the Democratic primary last week to Kendrick B. Meek, who will face Gov. Charlie Crist, an independent, and Marco Rubio, a Republican, in November.

A libel suit is a rare step for a political figure. While many candidates complain about unfair news coverage, few go as far as making their complaints a legal case. But Mr. Greene, who has deep pockets and apparently the wherewithal to pursue the case all the way to trial, has proved he is no ordinary politician.

Dogged by rumors about wild parties aboard his 145-foot yacht and about fraudulent real estate deals, Mr. Greene will seek at least $500 million in damages in part, he said, to teach the news media a lesson. “I want to send a message to every newspaper in the country: Do your homework,” he said Tuesday in a telephone interview. “I deserve to have the record corrected, and they deserve to be punished.”

He has hired L. Lin Wood, a prominent libel lawyer who has won settlements for other public figures who claimed they were defamed by the news media, including Richard A. Jewell, the security guard cleared as a suspect in the 1996 Olympics bombing in Atlanta. Mr. Wood said he expected to file a formal complaint in state court in Miami-Dade County on Wednesday.

Welcome to politics, Jeffy. Might want to bone up on things before you ever run again with this history.

Merits of the case aside, it seems a stretch for Greene to pin his loss on those stories. As a candidate, he came to the race with little knowledge of Florida’s political landscape and enough baggage to sink his 145-foot yacht. Among the highlights:

- He became a billionaire betting on credit default swaps. Translation: As Floridians lost homes and saw home values plummet, Greene got rich.

- His recent past was populated with a cast of colorful — and politically damaging — characters. He allowed Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss to live in one of his guest homes. Lindsay Lohan partied on his yacht. And, most famously, he asked Tyson — the former heavyweight champ, ear-biter and convicted rapist — to serve as his best man three years ago.

- He claimed he was a “life-long Democrat” when, in fact, in his only other bid for elected office, he ran as a Republican.

- He’d been a permanent resident of Florida for just a little over two years.

- He offered several versions of why he and his yacht visited Cuba a few years ago. First, he said he hadn’t made the 2007 trip. Then he said he was on a Jewish mission trip. Then he said his boat had to stop in Cuba for repairs.

With all that, I love seeing the media punished for being unfair to some politicians but the best way to do that is to ignore them.

Obamas in 2009: 'Hey, Give the Kids Some Privacy'; Obamas in 2010: 'Hey, Our Kids Have Braces, Dance to Hip-Hop and Want to Save the Tigers!'

After parading their kids all over the place during the election in 2008, the Obamas lamented their lack of privacy once they got to Washington.

During the interview, a candid Malia talked about decorating her new bedroom and giving her father advice on greeting her friends. Afterwards, Obama said the publicity hadn't been "healthy."

Well, forget that. Bet you didn't know their television and computer time and every other intimate detail of Malia and Sasha.

Twelve-year-old Malia Obama wears braces, toots a flute and is after her father to save the tigers. Younger sister Sasha, who is 9, shoots hoops like her basketball-loving dad and dances hip-hop.

Both girls get up at 6 a.m. to get ready for school.

Barack and Michelle Obama put their girls off-limits to the news media after they moved to the White House, saying they wanted to keep their daughters' lives as normal as possible. But tidbits about the private doings of the youngest children to live in the White House since the Kennedy family do dribble out. Often they come from a surprising source: Mom and Dad.

So as with everything they do, it's do as we say and forget what we said last year. Oh, and if you look at us cross-eyed, it's racist or you're picking on our kids.

The first lady is also guilty of breaching the privacy wall she and her husband put up around the girls.

"Malia's one issue for her father is saving the tigers," Mrs. Obama told an audience of young children visiting the White House. "So we talk about the tigers at least once a week and what he's doing to save the tigers." Tigers apparently are Malia's favorite creature.

Mrs. Obama also has revealed that:

_Both girls play the piano; Malia also plays the flute.

_Sasha likes to dance hip-hop. The girls also are working on their tennis game.

_They are not allowed to watch TV during the week, and weekend viewing is limited.

_The girls can only use the computer during the week if they need to for school assignments.

The White House says the Obamas are just behaving like, well, parents when they talk about Malia and Sasha.

That's all well and good, but don't go around using your kids as political pawns to drum up sympathy for dreadful public approval.

Random thought: How long until we see Save the Tigers legislation?

Finally: The White House Dance Series

No doubt you all can't wait to see Queen Michelle shaking her thang on the dance floor.

All I know is the idea of her dancing is rather disturbing.

Setting the Course on Fire

Usually that means you're in the groove and playing well, not actually setting the golf course ablaze. For as much hacking and duffing I've done on some of those challenging Southern California courses, I've never managed to do this.

A golfer's errant shot sparked a 12-acre forest fire in Southern California.

The golfer was playing at the Shady Canyon Golf Course in Irvine when he hit a shot that landed in the rough.

On his next swing, the club struck a rock, causing a spark that set fire to the rough and spread into nearby woodland and over two dry, brush-covered hillsides.

The scale of the blaze saw 150 firefighters attending the scene to prevent it from spreading near homes.

No charges have been filed against the unidentified golfer.

'It's For The Children'

That's what the Left starts whining whenever they lack substance - or are otherwise losing - on fiscal issues. But their 'it's for the children' is modeled on the failed ideas of both Marx and Lenin, while Central and Eastern Europe pursue free-market capitalism and Western Europe confronts piddling distractions such as a Eurozone on the verge of collapse and bills coming due for single-payer health insurance, the very type of healthcare change now making its debut in the Colonies. But there's an upside: US schoolkids don't get hurt playing games such as dodgeball and many school decisions are made in consideration of whether it will possibly damage a student's self-esteem.

Czech secondary school students Europe's best in finance literacy

Czech secondary school students finished the best in Europe in a test of financial literacy organised by the NGO Junior Achievement along with the Citi Foundation, the two organisations' representatives have told CTK.

The test involved almost 3000 students from 12 European countries.

Young Europeans did markedly better in the test than their peers from the U.S.

"The Czech students achieved the important victory when they finished first with the highest number of correctly answered questions, ahead of Bulgaria and Britain," Junior Achievement executive director Josef Mueller said.

Congratulations to the Czech students, you are the best amongst your peers.

The questions checked how students understand basic financial principles and terms.

European students correctly answered almost 63 percent of the questions, while the U.S. students achieved 48-percent success.

The Czech Education Ministry made financial literacy a part of school curricula last year. It is not a compulsory subject, it is up to schools to offer such lessons.

A previous research by the Finance Ministry showed that Czechs have a low knowledge of the area of finance and banking. The special lessons are to help people better manage their household budgets and avoid a debt trap.

ČeskéNoviny via The Prague Monitor

The NEA was unavailable for comment.

Ohio Constitution Party Candidate for Senate Indicted on Sex Charge With Minor

While the news story says he's a Constitution Party candidate, the wild-eyed left is calling him the Tea Party candidate since a couple of tea party groups endorsed him. If he indeed were the Tea Party candidate one assumes he'd run under their banner. Whatever the case, he's toast.

Eric W. Deaton, a Constitution Party candidate for U.S. Senate, was indicted Tuesday, Aug. 31, for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, according to Greg Flannagan, spokesman for Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias H. Heck Jr.

Deaton, 42, of New Lebanon is to be arraigned Sept. 14 in county common pleas court on the third-degree felony count. The indictment alleges that between March 20, 2006, and March 25, 2007, Deaton engaged in sexual conduct with a girl who was between the ages of 13 and 15, Flannagan said. Deaton faces five years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted.

“I think this is politically motivated,” said Deaton, blaming the indictment on his decision to run for political office.

“The powers that be don’t like that,” said Deaton, who said he intends to stay in the race.

Naturally, headlines blare that he's a Tea Party candidate.

Best T-Shirt Ever?

Maybe. I like it, though I doubt my wife would want me walking around in it. Still, she could be persuaded and is a Sarah fan.

You have to love it, though. Comes in all sizes as well as a sweatshirt. Tim Blair calls it the greatest single item in the history of clothing.

Crazed Hollywood Moonbat Calls for 'Satanic Death Cult Center' at Fox News

Does this schmuck have any clue how stupid he sounds? Memo to Cusack: Just because you can memorize a few lines from a script doesn't make you some political sage.

Actor John Cusack went on a caustic Twitter rampage Sunday evening, attacking former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Fox News.

“I AM FOR A SATANIC DEATH CULT CENTER AT FOX NEWS HQ AND OUTSIDE THE OFFICES ORDICK ARMEYAND NEWT GINGRICH-and all the GOP WELFARE FREAKS,” Cusack tweeted.

Cusack has long been outspoken about politics. He supported Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election and has contributed to The Huffington Post, but this is the first known time he has stooped to the level of making threats.

And while the U.S. Constitution protects Cusack's right to speak his mind, some critics say he should be more careful about what he says, since he has more than 200,000 Twitter followers.

“His provocative tweets could easily incite a rabid fan to commit violent acts against Fox News Headquarters and others he names," said Dr. Carole Lieberman, a Beverly Hills-based psychiatrist and author of "Coping With Terrorism: Dreams Interrupted."

"Fans could not only be influenced because of their devotion to Cusack, the man, but also because of their love for one of the characters he plays,” she told Fox411.

Cooper Lawrence, the author of “Cult of Celebrity” told Fox 411: “The fear isn't that a celebrity will influence someone to do something violent or out of character due to the sheer devotion to the celebrity, the fear is that someone who is already vulnerable, mentally disturbed, already considering something dangerous, may be encouraged to do so if it is advocated by their favorite star,”

Mentally disturbed pretty much fits Cusack. Frankly, illiterate is pretty apt as well.

'Obama Needs Bloomberg More Than Bloomberg Needs Obama'

Memo to the White House: You can have him. New York City has had enough of this twerp.

Is Mayor Bloomberg being wooed to join the Obama administration?

Asked about last weekend's four-hour golf game with President Obama on Martha's Vineyard, Bloomberg told reporters yesterday, "The economy was the main subject, other than discussing golf."

Now there are whispers that the president went even further and sounded out Bloomberg about whether he would join his foundering economic team as treasury secretary, replacing prime blame-target Timothy Geithner.

"Obama needs Bloomberg more than Bloomberg needs Obama," a source tells us. "Obama's looking to do something bold and credible before the election."

If he really wants to do something credible he'd resign, but that'll never happen.

Insiders say multibillionaire Bloomberg, who was on the short list for the gig in 2008, has the star power and credibility to help Obama. "It's been the focus of a lot of discussion," said one Democrat. "He's very well-liked and well-respected on Wall Street."

Who cares if he's respected on Wall Street? His recent actions when it comes to defending the location of the Ground Zero Mosque leave him little credibility with the overwhelming majority of Americans who oppose the mosque. Bloomberg is so out of touch he doesn't even see the need to investigate where financing for the mosque is coming from. Then again two guys on the fringe of American political opinion would seem to be a natural fit.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg's good pals from the mosque refused to condemn Hamas for their murder of four Israelis yesterday.

Classy: Iranian Newspaper Calls for Death of Carla Bruni

The nerve of Nicolas Sarkozy's wife to speak out against the stoning of women.

The hard-line, regime-backed daily Kayhan, which already had called the wife of President Nicolas Sarkozy a "prostitute," said her lifestyle meant she deserved a fate similar to that of the doomed Iranian woman Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.

"Studying Carla Bruni's record clearly shows the reason why this immoral woman is backing an Iranian woman who has been condemned to death for committing adultery and being [an] accomplice in her husband's murder and, in fact, she herself deserves to die," Kayhan wrote.

French Foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero called the comments "unacceptable," and said Paris had told that to the mullahs' regime.

A Huffposter condemns this outrageous behavior, yet some commenters are so blinded by their hatred for American conservatives they see little problem with it.

The US government killed hundreds of thousands of civilians in Iraq with no accountability in sight (Obama makes sure he calls war-criminal Bush before his speech to get his permission to talk about Iraq!) and yet when a country like Iran which has been openly threatened by various violent US officials is dealing with one case of injustice, there is a huge outcry.

How many pregnant Iraqi women died during the invasion or had their new-born babies die? How many elderly or sick died because the US government bombed the country's basic infrastructure?

So many innocent people died in Iraq just like that and yet the war-mongers tells us that Iran is a horrible country.

The horrible country is the violent imperialist US. It has killed and tortured more people than all middle eastern countries combined in the last 40 years.

BDS, there is no cure.

Funny thing, Marina. For the longest part of your article, I thought you were talking about the conservatives in America. Wasn't until the end, when I realized you were talking about other male conservatives.

Where are the conservatives in this country calling for women to be stoned?

Meanwhile, the Iranian psychos carried out a mock execution of Ashtiani.