Your Economy on Communism: Zimbabwe Inflation 'Incalculable'

This is what happens when a Communist government controls, well, everything.

Behold the joys.

Are you leftists listening?

Of course you're not. You don't give a rat's ass about anyone but yourselves.

Zimbabwe inflation 'incalculable'

Zimbabwe's chief statistician has said it is impossible to work out the country's latest inflation rate because of the lack of goods in shops.

"There are too many data gaps," the Central Statistical Office's Moffat Nyoni told state media.

Many staple goods are often absent from shop shelves after the government ordered prices to be halved or frozen in a bid to stem galloping inflation.

September's inflation rate was put at almost 8,000%, the world's highest.

Other reports suggest the rate could be at near 15,000% and the International Monetary Fund had warned it could reach 100,000% by the end of the year.

Mr Nyoni said the Central Statistical Office has delayed the release of the inflation figure until an accurate way of calculating it can be found.

"We went to too many shops to observe and so compilations have not been completed," he said.

Maize meal, bread, meat, cooking oil, sugar and other basic goods used to measure inflation largely disappeared from shops after Robert Mugabe's government ordered prices to be slashed.

Manufacturers have said they cannot afford to sell goods at below the cost of producing them.

Don't worry though. The left will spring into action once there's a complete and catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Then they'll urge us to do something!

Previously on Zimbabwe.

Don't Believe the Hype

Stunning news: Experts were once again dead wrong.

Now they're worried nobody will listen to them the next time they overhype something.

MIAMI - Despite alarming predictions, the U.S. came through a second straight hurricane season virtually unscathed, raising fears among emergency planners that they will be fighting public apathy and overconfidence when they warn people to prepare for next year.

Friday marks the official close of the Atlantic season, so unless a storm forms in the next few days, only one hurricane — and a minor one at that — will have hit the U.S. during the June-to-November period. Mexico and Central America, however, were struck by a record two top-scale Category 5 storms.

The preliminary total for the season: 14 named storms, five of them hurricanes, two of them major.

That was less activity than the government predicted before the season started, and stands in stark contrast to 2004 and 2005, when the U.S. was hit by one devastating storm after another, including Hurricane Katrina.

However, forecasters and emergency managers warned that one result of the good year for the country may be increased skepticism when they urge people to stock up on food and draw up their hurricane evacuation plans for next year.

Now, if only the idiotic global warming climate change alarmists would admit they're, um, lying to everyone.

Viva le Fwance

Religion of Peace™

Power List: Most Influential Men Under 45

No, this isn't a joke.

The list includes Kevin Federline, Moqtada Al-Sadr, school shooters, Bashar al-Assad, a dog and Kos.

What a lineup.

It's an insult to the legitimate power-brokers on the list, including new Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.

Read the list here.

H/T: Meredith.

Says Glenn Reynolds: "Really, this reads like a parody. And it is one -- just not necessarily an intentional one . . ."

'Teddy Bear' Teacher May Be Freed

Gillian Gibbons, who had the temerity to grievously offend the delicate sensibilities of Muslims by allowing schoolchildren to name teddy bears after Mohammed, may be freed after all.

Expect mass rioting if this sensible decision is made.

A British teacher arrested for allowing her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad will probably be cleared and released soon, a spokesman for the Sudanese embassy in London said Tuesday.

Gillian Gibbons was arrested Sunday and faced possible charges of insulting religion - a crime punishable by up to 40 lashes. She was questioned by Sudanese authorities on Tuesday.

``The police is bound to investigate,'' embassy spokesman Khalid al Mubarak told British Broadcasting Corp. radio. ``I am pretty certain that this minute incident will be clarified very quickly and this teacher who has been helping us with the teaching of children will be safe and will be cleared.''

Asked about the potential punishments - six months imprisonment or 40 lashes - he said: ``My impression is that the whole thing could probably be settled amicably long before we reach stages like these ... Our relationship with Britain is so good that we wouldn't like such a minute event to be overblown.''

Gibbons was arrested after one of her pupils' parents complained, accusing her of naming the bear after Islam's prophet and founder. Muhammad is a common name among Muslim men, but giving the prophet's name to an animal would be seen as insulting by many Muslims.

What's more insulting is these people are so sensitive that this would becme an issue in the first place.

Mrs. Clinton Secures the Idiot Vote

Barry O has Oprah, now The Pansuit gets Streisand.

Barbra Streisand, who hedged her bets months ago with donations to Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards, has settled on one presidential candidate.
It's Hillary.

"Madame President of the United States ... it's an extraordinary thought. We truly are in a momentous time, where a woman's potential has no limitations," Streisand said in a statement released Tuesday by the Clinton campaign. "Hillary Clinton has already proven to a generation of women that there are no limits for success."

The Oscar-winning actress and singer is an FOB—Friend of Bill Clinton—and the endorsement is hardly surprising. In Hollywood, as in politics, timing is everything, and Streisand's endorsement comes one day after another entertainment superstar, Oprah Winfrey, announced she would campaign for Clinton rival Barack Obama.

"Hillary is a powerful voice for change as we find our country at an important crossroads. Under her leadership, our country will regain its respect within the global community. She will prioritize issues of global climate change, universal health care and rebuilding a strong economy. After eight long years, the public will once again have faith in their government," said Streisand, a longtime supporter of Democratic candidates.

I wonder which Clinton wrote that drivel for her?

UPDATE: More from Hot Air and Riehl World View.

Well the circle is almost complete

The mass market media continues to push the storyline and the narrative that the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) is nothing more then Vietnam Part Deaux. Further proof. Here is a series that Brian Ross and his bosses at ABC news are doing on drug abuse among soldiers. Here is the first part complete with footage from "Apocalypse Now", which unbeknownst to me is a documentary apparently.

And if that isn't enough here is part 2
Do some soldiers resort to drug use and abuse? Certainly. Is the current conflicts to blame? They may contribute but nobody seems willing to go back and do some research and see just how many folks had their military careers cut short for exactly this reason during the 80's and 90's. You know that period of time in which we had unprecedented peace everywhere. Well except for Haiti, Panama, Bosnia, Desert Storm, and the Cold War.
There is no way to compare the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan to the war in Vietnam, just like you won't be able to compare any future conflict to the current conflict. Each war is unique.
Folks you just need to go with the flow here. Unlike our military, the mass market media is unable to adapt and overcome.

Chavez Threatens Opponents

Here's a stunner: After labeling opponents traitors last weekend, Communist goon Hugo Chavez is threatening opponents of his scheme to make himself President Dictator for life.

The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, today threatened to strip the country's industrialists of their assets if they continued to oppose his indefinite presidency.

Chávez faces a vote at the weekend on his proposals to change 69 articles of the constitution, including scrapping the limit on the number of terms a president can serve.

Venezuela's largest business chamber, Fedecámaras, to which thousands of large and small businesses belong, has called the planned reforms an "illegal act", and called on voters to oppose their passage "by every possible legal means".

In a separate development, Venezuela recalled its ambassador to Colombia as the dispute between the two countries deepened. The row was triggered last week when the Colombian president, Alvaro Uribe, abruptly halted Chávez's mediation efforts to release hostages held by rebels in the Colombian jungle.

Chávez, who has also been involved in high-profile spats with Spain and the Roman Catholic church, has accused Fedecámaras of orchestrating a coup in 2002 that ousted him from office for two days.

"When I saw and heard the president of Fedecámaras practically threatening us, that they'd do everything they have to do to avoid the reform's approval - well, if you want to, go ahead, because I'm going to take away every business you have," Chávez said in a televised speech.

Things are going to get ugly soon with this megalomaniac, especially if his referendum goes down to defeat. He's making a lot of enemies very quickly.

Sean Penn, Kevin Spacey and Democrat presidential candidates were unavailable for comment.

UPDATE: Hot Air and Protein Wisdom link. Thanks!

I wonder how stupid she feels now?

UPDATE II: Gateway Pundit has students being fired on by the Chavez goons.

Other links at Memeorandum.

Just Convert and Be Done With It

Mike at The Monkey Tennis Centre opines on the astonishing statements of Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Times reports that Williams made only “mild criticisms” of Islam in the interview, saying that the Muslim world must acknowledge that its “political solutions were not the most impressive”, and commended the Muslim practice of praying five times a day.

No mention, of course, of the Muslim practices of according inferior status to women; the stoning and flogging of women for perceived immoral behaviour; or the jailing of non-believers for 'crimes' as trivial as allowing children to name a teddy bear Mohammed.

Not a word about the murder of apostates and insufficiently Muslim Muslims, the hanging of homosexuals or the ritual slaughter of Christians; and nothing on the reluctance of Muslim leaders to condemn the atrocities carried out in the name of their religion.

But then Williams has always been ready to make excuses for terrorists and their ideologies, and to blame their victims for bringing about their own misfortune. Before radical Islam it was communism. In the 1980s Williams took part in protests against the siting of American Cruise missiles in Britain, even managing to get himself arrested outside the US airbase at Lakenheath in Suffolk.

Like the rest of the international Left, with communism defeated Williams had to find another ideology to challenge the Western hegemony that so dismays him. Apparently it found him first.

Read the rest...

Wrecked Cruise Ship Owner Goracle Acolyte

Curious how we didn't get any of this information when this cruise ship wrecked, huh?

Rush Limbaugh led off his program with this today and it's just too funny.

Al Gore buddy owner of sunken ship that left huge carbon footprint on Antarctic Ocean floor

You’d never read this in the mainstream media: The owner of MS Explorer that sank, leaving a huge carbon footprint at the bottom of the Antarctic Ocean Friday is an acolyte of teensy-weensy carbon footprint crusader Al Gore.

G.A.P. Adventures CEO and Explorer owner, Bruce Poon Tip and Gore have similar ideals, “filling their schedules with speaking engagements on environmental change to educate global audiences.” And that’s straight off of www.gapadventures.com. In fact, as recently as last April, both Poon Tip and Gore gave presentations at the Green Living Show in Toronto.

“I expressed my admiration for Mr. Gore’s commitment and leadership which spans more than 20 years,” commented Poon Tip. “I also invited him aboard our legendary polar expedition ship, the MS Explorer to visit the Arctic.”

The legendary polar expedition ship…”had at least five faults at its last inspection,” according to Greenpeace spokeswoman Bunny McDiarmid. “Maritime records show the MV Explorer has completed more than 40 cruises to the ice, but has lately been suffering maintenance and safety problems.”

Maintenance and safety problems never kept the MS Explorer from setting out for the Antarctica two weeks ago.

Good thing Gore was otherwise occupied when 154 passengers and crew had to be rescued at sea when their eco-cruise ship struck ice in the Antarctic Ocean and started to sink early Friday morning. (None of the eco warriors aboard MS Explorer were identified in weekend media coverage).

Here's The Goracle with his buddy.



The story continues.

As the Los Angeles Times described it: “The first cruise ship built to ply the frigid waters of Antarctica became the first to sink there Friday. The red-hulled Explorer struck ice, taking water as 154 passengers and crew members scrambled to safety aboard lifeboats and rafts. The ship later went to the bottom.”

According to one blogger who plans an Antarctica trip, “apparently, most (Explorer passengers) did not have wallets or passports with them,” adding in a Note to Self: “Wear identification belt at all times.”

Passengers and crew were taken to a Chilean military base on King George Island, the largest of the South Shetland Islands, from which they were flown home yesterday.

Meanwhile, Greenpeace believes tourism in Antarctica should be strictly limited because of the fate of MS Explorer, but the silence is deafening from Poon Tip and Gore about the huge carbon footprint left on the ocean floor.

Nobody ever accused these folks of being too bright, and apparently they're too stupid to carry ID.

Idiots.

Gore, the man who never shuts up, was unavailable for comment over this latest moral crisis.

UPDATE: Don Surber and Sweetness & Light have more. Via Memeorandum.

Hillary's Communist Ties

The New York Sun has been looking into Mrs. Clinton's radical past (someone has to do it, since the networks won't touch this) and has a couple of interesting stories.

Hillary Clinton's Radical Summer: A Season of Love and Leftists

In a life marked largely by political caution, one entry on Senator Clinton's résumé stands out: her clerkship in 1971 at one of America's most radical law firms, Treuhaft, Walker and Burnstein.

One partner at the firm, Doris Walker, was a Communist Party member at the time. Another partner, Robert Treuhaft, had left the party in 1958, several years after being called before the House Un-American Activities Committee and labeled as one of America's most "dangerously subversive" lawyers. The Oakland-based firm was renowned for taking clients others rejected as too controversial, including Communists, draft resisters, and members of the African-American militant group known as the Black Panthers.

To this day, Mrs. Clinton's decision to work at the unabashedly left-wing firm is surprising, even shocking, to some of her former colleagues there and to those supporting her bid for the presidency. To the former first lady's enemies and political opponents, her summer at the Treuhaft firm is yet another indication that radical ideology lurks beneath the patina of moderation she has adopted in public life.

Then today they have Hillary Clinton's Left Hook, describing her relationship with one of the firm's partners.

After Hillary Clinton clerked in the summer of 1971 at an Oakland, Calif., law firm run by attorneys with ties to the Communist Party, she never returned to work there. But she stayed in touch with one of the firm's partners and his wife, and they stayed in touch with her, until they died. The decades-long correspondence illustrates the complicated relationship between Mrs. Clinton and radical activists who were often frustrated by the failure of Mrs. Clinton and her husband to side with them.

Much of the correspondence concerns a crisis that Bill Clinton faced involving the Arkansas prison system soon after he became governor in 1979. Hollywood, the courts, and liberal activists joined forces to pressure Mr. Clinton over allegations that inmates in Arkansas were subjected to inhumane conditions and that guards were corrupt and abusive. The campaign's centerpiece was a movie, "Brubaker," which starred Robert Redford as an Arkansas warden bent on reform.

One key player in the tumult over the Arkansas prisons was a satirical writer, social critic, and former Communist, Jessica Mitford. The daughter of a British baron, Mitford was the wife of Robert Treuhaft, one of the founding partners of the firm where Mrs. Clinton summered in 1971, Treuhaft, Walker and Burnstein.

Read both of these pieces, for they are most enlightening.

If a candidate for President of the United States has ties to Communists, be they current or former, we need a complete airing of this.

Will the rest of the media turn a deaf ear to this? Do they even care?

Here is the text of the correspondence between her, Treuhaft and Mitford.

Beginning Of The End?

Myriads at Western Wall Praying Against Annapolis Concessions

(IsraelNN.com) An estimated 25,000 people took part in a mass prayer service at the Western Wall against the Israeli government's positions at the Annapolis summit.

The prayer service (video) was followed by a massive protest, co-sponsored by the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea and Samaria (Yesha), near the Prime Minister's residence. The protest is entitled, "It Will Blow Up in Our Face."

Once again.

At the time of the Western Wall prayer vigil, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was meeting in Washington with U.S. President George Bush in preparation for the Annapolis summit on Tuesday.

The front line of religious-Zionist rabbis, led by Former Chief Rabbi of Israel Mordechai Eliyahu, called for the public to attend the Western Wall prayers. MK Uri Ariel (National Union party), among those who initiated the prayer service, said, "It is critical for us to offer prayer to our Father in Heaven when the Prime Minister wants to sell our national homeland. We are here [at the Wall] to say that we trust in G-d, and that Olmert has no mandate to give up Jerusalem."

Another organizer, Rafi Atiyah, told Arutz-7's Chizky Ezra, "The feeling of despair that has overtaken some of the public has not escaped the eyes of the rabbis who called for the prayer service. But while this feeling can lead to a dead end and to a sense of helplessness, it can also be an opening for a new type of genuine and mature turn to G-d; to a taking of responsibility from a new, pure angle. It could be that out of this tiredness, we will come to the realization that it's not we who control the situation. We sometimes think that if we act, protest, settle the Land, teach, and do all sorts of things, that everything will be OK.

"But today, we are coming to the Western Wall with humility, awe, and serene faith. We return the ball that has been repressed in our hearts for the past two-plus years, and that is threatening to choke us, to our Father in Heaven. We plead with Him that He will show us the way, and that we can be partners with Him in our Redemption. We want to work with Him, to sanctify His Name."

Via Arutz-7/IsraelNationalNews.com

Our friend, Carl in Jerusalem, provides excellent analysis of the demise of the Bush Doctrine and pressure being exerted upon Israel to commit suicide.

During the run up to the Annapolis Conference, it has always had the appearance of being nothing more than Munich redux.

As such, too busy laughing his ass off, Reinhard Heydrich was unavailable for comment.

Also at A Tangled Web

'I’m Not Naturally Suited to This Job, Perhaps'

In the understatement of the century, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer admits he's had some difficulties, to put it mildly, acclimating himself to his role as the state's chief executive.

Still, he gets sympathetic treatment from the New York Times. It's hard to imagine a Republican who behaved so immaturely getting such lenient treatment.

On a Tuesday morning early this month, Gov. Eliot Spitzer and his closest aides gathered at his country estate in Columbia County, N.Y., to review the administration’s first year. Hours passed before someone asked the question on everyone’s mind: Should Mr. Spitzer drop his plan to give driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants?

On the outside, the answer was clear: the public overwhelmingly disliked the idea, Republicans were rallying against it and legal challenges were on the way.

But around the dining table, looking out over the rolling farmland, few wanted to back off. They had come to Albany to fight for their ideas, several said.

Mr. Spitzer, especially, did not want to budge. The governor, who swept into office quoting Theodore Roosevelt and promising bold action, believed he could convince people that he was right.

“At that moment I thought, ‘This is a matter where we are right on the substance, and I don’t want to sacrifice that,’” the governor said in an interview last week.

But in the end, Mr. Spitzer’s determined push sent his poll numbers to their nadir, angered his allies, and even became a point of contention in the Democratic presidential campaign.

Coming after a summer of scandal and other stumbles, the long and ultimately futile battle over driver’s licenses has left many people pondering the same simple question: Does Eliot Spitzer have the judgment to succeed as governor?

Most would argue his bullying temperament means no to that question, and if this is any indication, he may never learn how to tone it down.

Mr. Spitzer said he had, in fact, been hitting the books. While he has previously delved into biographies of governors like Roosevelt, Charles Hughes and Al Smith, all of whom battled the Legislature to bring about change, he said he was now pondering the lessons of President Lyndon B. Johnson, who matched brute will to a subtle mastery of the legislative process.

“There’s an art there that I would like to be more successful at,” Mr. Spitzer said. “Life is a learning process, and a little more Lyndon Johnson would not hurt.”

Emulating LBJ may not exactly win over too many people; then again, he leads the bluest of blue states with few GOP stars on the immediate horizon and three years left to go in his term, so don't rule out a political comeback.

Read the rest...

Meanwhile, the NY Sun reports notes questions surround the perjury probe of one of Spitzer's former aides (funny how the NY Times doesn't mention this), while the NY Post reveals an FBI twist in another Spitzer probe.

Skins' Taylor Dead After Shooting

Certainly this is a tragic event, but for too long there's been a trail of dead current or former Miami Hurricanes and dare I say the gangster culture is catching up with them.

MIAMI - Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor has died, a day after he was shot at home, said family friend Richard Sharpstein.

He said Taylor's father called him around 5:30 a.m. to tell him the news.

"His father called and said he was with Christ and he cried and thanked me," said Sharpstein, Taylor's former lawyer. "It's a tremendously sad and unnecessary event. He was a wonderful, humble, talented young man, and had a huge life in front of him. Obviously God had other plans."

He said he did not know exactly when Taylor died.

Police speculate he may have been a victim during a robbery.

Miami-Dade Police were investigating the attack, which came just eight days after an intruder was reported at Taylor's home. Officers were dispatched about 1:45 a.m. Monday after Taylor's girlfriend called 911. Taylor was airlifted to the hospital.

Sharpstein said Taylor's girlfriend told him the couple was awakened by loud noises, and Taylor grabbed a machete he keeps in the bedroom for protection. Someone then broke through the bedroom door and fired two shots, one missing and one hitting Taylor, Sharpstein said. Taylor's 1-year-old daughter, Jackie, was also in the house at the time, but neither she nor Taylor's girlfriend were injured.

"It could have been a possible burglary; it could have been a possible robbery," Miami-Dade Police Lt. Nancy Perez said. "It has not been confirmed as yet."

Taylor has has off-the-field incidents, so police may have to go back a ways to investiagte this shooting.

An All-American at the University of Miami, Taylor was drafted by the Redskins with the fifth overall selection in 2004. Coach Joe Gibbs called it "one of the most researched things" he's ever done, but the problems soon began. Taylor fired his agent, then skipped part of the NFL's mandatory rookie symposium, drawing a $25,000 fine. Driving home late from a party during the season, he was pulled over and charged with drunken driving. The case was dismissed in court, but by then it had become a months-long distraction for the team.

Taylor was also fined at least seven times for late hits, uniform violations and other infractions over his first three seasons, including a $17,000 penalty for spitting in the face of Tampa Bay running back Michael Pittman during a playoff game in January 2006.

Meanwhile, Taylor endured a yearlong legal battle after he was accused in 2005 of brandishing a gun at a man during a fight over allegedly stolen all-terrain vehicles near Taylor's home. He eventually pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors and was sentenced to 18 months' probation.

His Creation Now Haunts Him

I certainly don't advocate hacking, but this is too good to pass up.

Another inconvenient truth: Al Gore's Web site hacked

A blog set up to promote former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth, has been hacked and is hosting links to Web sites hawking online pharmaceuticals.

The links appear to have been created as part of a scheme to boost the Web traffic for sites that promote the drugs, security experts said Monday. They contain titles such as "Xanax On Line," "Viagra," and "Buy Valium Online."

Cyber scammers have been using this technique for months now, packing hacked Web sites with links to their products in hopes of bumping up their rankings on search engines like Google and Ask.com. Another similar tactic, known as "comment spam," involves flooding the comment sections of Web sites with these types of links.

Because search engines give priority to pages that are linked to by very popular pages, adding links from the Inconvenient Truth blog would be a bonanza for scammers, according to Adam Thomas, a malware researcher at Sunbelt Software. The film's blog has "such a high page ranking that they use that as sort of conduit to ... gain a really high Google page rank and hope that they can find some suckers to buy some medications online," he said.

The climatecrisis.net domain, which hosts the blog, is registered to Al Gore, the star of the 2006 Academy Award-winning documentary on global warming. Not all pages on the site appear to have been compromised, security experts say; just those associated with the blog.

H/T: ted

The Goracle, meanwhile, had his day at the White House.

UPDATE: Hot Air links. Thanks!

Why the Long Face?

Here's why.

First the good news.

A new Zogby Interactive survey shows Democrat Hillary Clinton of New York would lose to every one of the top five Republican presidential contenders, representing a reversal of fortune for the national Democratic front–runner who had led against all prospective GOP opponents earlier this year.

Now the bad.

Meanwhile, fellow Democrats Barack Obama of Illinois and John Edwards of North Carolina would defeat or tie every one of the Republicans, this latest survey shows.

Given seven months to work over Silky or Barry O, I'd like to think whoever the GOP nominee is can take care of either of those lightweights. The focus has been on the Pantsuit for so long, those two have been given a free pass to some extent.

Read on...

More at Hot Air and Memeorandum.

UPDATE: Clinton hack and Blackwater flack Mark Penn questioned the use of Zogby poll with Joe Scarborough. Just one problem. Penn himself relies on the Zogby polls more than anyone else.

Mark Penn is one of the best in the polling business, which is why he works for such high-level clients as Hillary Clinton. But he should know better than almost anyone that Zogby has long been doing online polls, and doing it with as much accuracy and success as anyone in the business. How should he know this? Because no political campaign requests copies of our polling results more often than Mark Penn's office.

HOLOCAUST DENIERS TO BE ATTACKED BY JEW HATERS?

Undercover police will mingle with students at Oxford University tonight after historian David Irving and the British National Party leader Nick Griffin were invited to take part in a debate there. Up to a thousand protesters are expected to gather when BNP leader Nick Griffin speaks alongside Irving, who was once jailed for denying the Holocaust, at the Oxford Union debating chamber. A possible riot is being speculated upon by the chattering classes!

Now I have several points to make;

1. Remember all those protesters in London who wore the "We are Hizbollah" t-shirts and waved such placards last summer when Israel defended itself against those Lebanese-based terrorists? Are these the same people who may go ape crazy when Griffin and Irving appear tonight? If so, isn't this a tad hypocritical? What is the difference between a Holocaust denier and those who demand Israel refrains from defending itself from the savages in Hezbollah?


2. As for Griffin, I'm not sure why he is sharing a stage with such a loathsome creature as Irving but I see little difference between Griffin and those such as George Galloway, the darling of the UK media for his anti-Western views. Why is there no outcry every time Galloway appears anywhere? Griffin is portrayed as the anti-Christ and the BNP as hellspawn. But the like of Galloway's Respect party, and groups such as the Muslim Council of Britain are somehow lauded for their views which seems a double standard to me!

3. Do you think that this debate should actually go ahead? I happen to think that there are many more interesting people the Oxford Union could have chosen to debate but I also believe that once invited, these two have the perfect right to attend and to be heard. Free speech must prevail.

I believe the UK MSM is furious that a party such as the BNP even exists - a party which by definition aligns itself with the national interest, as opposed to the EU interest. Since the media is full of left-wing self loathers, who worship at the shrine of the European Union, they instinctively lash out at Griffin and his BNP, and indirectly make them even more attractive to those British who wonder who will protect our ancient liberties.

UPDATE

A group of protesters broke through the security cordon and forced their way into the Oxford Union where BNP leader Nick Griffin and controversial historian David Irving were due to speak tonight.

The debate has now been postponed.

After pushing and shoving their way through the doors into the hall they staged a sit down protest at the debating table.

Scuffles erupted as the protesters tried to get into the building which had been surrounded by tight security ahead of tonight's event.

Neo-Nazi Goons Spread the Love to the Soccer Pitch

I guess fading quietly into the night and becoming normal, productive members of society is out of the questions for these insidious punks.

Now they have to go about ruining sporting events.

Regional Football Battles against Neo-Nazi Influence

Hardly a weekend goes by in Germany without some sort of racist incident on the football pitch or in the stands. A new program in Germany aims to combat neo-Nazi influence among soccer fans.

Sometimes, words simply aren't enough. Last month, the multicultural Berlin football club Türkiyemspor was in Rathenow west of the capital for a regional league match. The atmosphere was tense, and became even worse once the opening whistle blew. Almost immediately, one of the Turkish players got in the face of a fan who had insulted him. "It almost turned ugly," says Mehmet Matur. "I jumped in between them and was able to calm the situation down."

Matur, 47, isn't a player. Rather, he is the so-called integration officer for the Berlin Football Association. His primary duty is that of leading the fight against racism on Berlin football pitches. Normally, he relies on his voice, but sometimes, like last month, there is no choice but to get physical. "That is the last resort," he says.

The problem of racism on German soccer fields is one that has gotten worse and worse in recent years. There have been numerous cases of fans chanting ape noises at black players. Mass punch ups involving right-wing extremists after second and third league games have become more common. There was even a case last summer of fans firing off a torrent of anti-Semitic abuse at two teams of 14-year-olds.

Isn't that special?

Even though they've had programs to combat this idiocy, the problem is far from being eliminated.

How soccer clubs can resist such infiltration was an important topic this weekend in Halle. Though the neo-Nazis appear less menacing without Third Reich flags and combat boots, they often work with codes and symbols. The number 18, for example, stands for "Adolf Hitler," and 88 for "Heil Hitler," based on the position of the letters in the alphabet. Neo-Nazis are also geared up with the token marks of the alternative left: black hoodies and peaked caps, for example, are worn by extreme right-wingers. A picture of Che Guevara qualifies as a symbol for the national fight for liberation. A seminar entitled "Is the Jersey Number 88 Taboo?" aimed at helping coaches and referees identify such symbols.

Chavez in Rift With Colombia

The gift that keeps on giving, Hugo Chavez, is now freaking out on the President of Colombia.

Chavez freezes ties with Colombia

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he has frozen his country's bilateral ties with neighbouring Colombia.

The move follows the decision by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to end Mr Chavez's role as a hostage negotiator with Colombia's Farc rebels.

Mr Chavez said that the decision to end his mediation role was "a spit in the face" and denounced Mr Uribe as a liar."

This comes shortly after the King of Spain gave Chavez a public smackdown.

In announcing the "freeze" in relations with Colombia, Mr Chavez compared the situation to his recent diplomatic row with Spain, which was triggered when the Spanish King, Juan Carlos, told him to "shut up" at a summit meeting in Chile.

"It's like the case of Spain: until the king of Spain apologises, I'm freezing relations with Spain," he said.

Notice a pattern here? People around the world are figuring out that Chavez is a career squirrel.

I'm sure somehow Chavez will blame the U.S. for this.

The Dreaded Teddy Bear of Blasphemy

The nonstop outrage from the Religion of the Perpetually Offended continues.

Now it's just beyond stupid.

A British schoolteacher has been arrested in Sudan accused of insulting Islam's Prophet, after she allowed her pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Colleagues of Gillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, said she made an "innocent mistake" by letting the six and seven-year-olds choose the name.

Ms Gibbons was arrested after several parents made complaints.

A spokesman from the British Embassy in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, said it was unclear whether she had been charged.

Embassy officials are expected to visit Ms Gibbons in custody later.

"We are in contact with the authorities here and they have visited the teacher and she is in a good condition," an embassy spokesman said.

The spokesman said the naming of the teddy happened months ago and was chosen by the children because it is a common name in the country.

"This happened in September and the parents did not have a problem with it," he said.

'Very sensitive'

The BBC's correspondent Amber Henshaw said Ms Gibbons' punishment could be up to six months in jail, 40 lashes or a fine.

The school has been closed until January for fear of reprisals.

Fellow teachers at Khartoum's Unity High School told Reuters news agency they feared for Ms Gibbons' safety after receiving reports that men had started gathering outside the police station where she was being held.

The school's director, Robert Boulos, said: "This is a very sensitive issue. We are very worried about her safety.

These people are insane.

Michelle Malkin has more.

UPDATE: Also at LGF