What, These are for Learning?

On the upside, at least they weren't sending spam email.

Nigerian pupils browse porn on donated laptops

Nigerian schoolchildren who received laptops from a U.S. aid organisation have used them to explore pornographic sites on the Internet, the official News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported on Thursday.

NAN said its reporter had seen pornographic images stored on several of the children's laptops.

"Efforts to promote learning with laptops in a primary school in Abuja have gone awry as the pupils freely browse adult sites with explicit sexual materials," NAN said.

A representative of the One Laptop Per Child aid group was quoted as saying that the computers, part of a pilot scheme, would now be fitted with filters.

Filters are on the way. Won't the kids be thrilled.

Soul Searching by Oil Ticks

The funny part about this Reuters dispatch is it suggests that these Saudi scumbags actually have souls.

Saudis at Iraq, Lebanon battles embarrass homeland

Obviously, having 15 of the 19 9/11 monsters coming from Saudi Arabia wasn't sufficient embarrassment, now they're exporting a good portion of the jihadists to Iraq and Lebanon.

Don't buy their BS for a nanosecond.

RIYADH, July 19 (Reuters) - Recent reports suggesting there are significant numbers of Saudis fighting alongside Islamist militant groups in Iraq and Lebanon have provoked embarrassment and soul-searching in Saudi Arabia.

Iraq's National Security Advisor Mowaffak al-Rubaie said this week that Iraq had tried 160 Saudis for involvement in violence, and a report in a U.S. newspaper said 45 percent of foreigners fighting in Iraq were Saudis.

Lebanese officials say dozens of Saudis are among militants of the Fatah al-Islam militant group which has been battling the army for two months in a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon. The Saudi-owned Arabic press has countered the reports, citing officials who say the numbers are exaggerated in both Iraq and Lebanon.

Columnists are once again wrestling with the issue of the Saudi role in global Islamist militancy, an issue which first came up after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 where 15 of the 19 attackers were Saudi nationals.

"The question raised since the 9/11 terrorist attacks is whether Saudis, once known as the most peace-loving people, are aware that they have become an international problem?" wrote Abdel-Rahman al-Rashed in Asharq al-Awsat newspaper this week. "Why Saudis, we may ask? Because they are mentally and politically prepared to act like time bombs that can be manipulated by regimes with dangerous political agendas."

Arrogance On Display

Just three weeks as le gran poobah and he's already in somebody's sights.

EU referendum drive targets Gordon Brown
A cross-party campaign to be launched in September will personally target Gordon Brown for refusing voters a referendum on the new European Union treaty.

As the party conference season gets under way, the "I Want A Referendum" campaign will be launched with an "eye-catching stunt" and advertising in newspapers and cinemas.

A Daily Telegraph campaign for a referendum on the treaty had attracted 12,500 signatures by yesterday, reflecting growing demand for the voters, not Parliament, to be given the final say. The treaty revives elements of the EU constitution, rejected by France and the Netherlands in 2005.

The petition, launched online and in a coupon in this newspaper a week ago, demands that the Government stands by its manifesto commitment to hold a national referendum on the EU reform treaty.

In the Commons yesterday, Mr Brown again rejected calls for a referendum on the amending treaty, due to be agreed by EU leaders at the end of the year. He told Ian Davidson, Labour MP for Glasgow South West and a leading Eurosceptic: "There is no need for a referendum on any issue at the moment."

Heh. Brown just might find out that a majority in Commons may decide that there's no need for the current prime minister, too.

No confidence vote in 5 --- 4 --- 3 --- 2....

There's more.

Deja vu

This should surprise only the Dhimmicrats.

Insurgents form political front to plan for US pullout
Seven of the most important Sunni-led insurgent organisations fighting the US occupation in Iraq have agreed to form a public political alliance with the aim of preparing for negotiations in advance of an American withdrawal, their leaders have told the Guardian.

In their first interview with the western media since the US-British invasion of 2003, leaders of three of the insurgent groups - responsible for thousands of attacks against US and Iraqi armed forces and police - said they would continue their armed resistance until all foreign troops were withdrawn from Iraq, and denounced al-Qaida for sectarian killings and suicide bombings against civilians.

Speaking in Damascus, the spokesmen for the three groups - the 1920 Revolution Brigades, Ansar al-Sunna and Iraqi Hamas - said they planned to hold a congress to launch a united front and appealed to Arab governments, other governments and the UN to help them establish a permanent political presence outside Iraq.

It figures they would have their confab in Damascus. Doing so in Iraq would put them at risk of becoming martyrs.

There's much, much more in this Guardian exclusive.

Nancy Pelousi, Harriet Reid and Jean-Pierre Kerry are trying to figure out how Karl Rove put this one together.

Bravery On Display

Once again, intrepid representatives of the Master Race have demonstrated their bravery and superior intelliegence.

Jewish cemetery vandalised in Bohumin
The recently reconstructed cemetery of Czech Jews in Bohumin became a target of vandals at the weekend, local town hall spokeswoman Lucie Balcarova told CTK Monday.

The unidentified perpetrators destroyed and knocked down 25 gravestones.

The Jewish community, that ceremoniously reopened the cemetery after a six-month repair work two weeks ago, put the damage at around 30,000 crowns, Balcarova said.

If caught, the vandals can be charged with damage to a thing and breach of the peace, she added.

The town hall has promised help in the removal of the damage. "We are considering installing a closed-circuit television camera to monitor not only the cemetery, but also the adjacent area," Mayor Petr Vicha said.

"Moreover, after the cemetery is reopened, we are ready to send more police patrols there," Vicha added.

The local Jews are appalled at the act of vandalism. "I am awfully sad and it has tremendously hurt me," Jirina Garajova, chairwoman of the Bohumin Jewish community, said.

"Bohumin has no memorial to its Holocaust victims and this was one of the few opportunities to remind the Bohuman residents of their disappeared neighbours," Garajova said.

The Jewish cemetery in Bohumin was in use until the mid-19th century.

"Before 1939, there were some 400 Jews in Bohumin, of whom a mere eleven survived the Holocaust," Garajova said.

Thirty-two gravestones have been preserved at the cemetery. The Jewish community has made them repaired. The work cost almost 200,000 crowns, she added.

Maybe the chickenshit bastards responsible for this could start writing for the dailyProtocols of the Elders of Koslam. I have no doubts - none whatsoever - that they'd be welcomed with other than wide-open arms.

After all, great minds think alike.

Related.

Golfers on Steroids?

Are pro golfers juicing up?

Player says he knows of at least one golfer who has used 'roids

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland -- Gary Player said Wednesday he knows of at least one golfer who has used steroids, and he urged golf organizations to move quickly toward a random drug-testing plan.

"We're dreaming if we think it's not going to come into golf," Player said.

Player estimated 10 players from tours around the world were taking some type of performance-enhancing drug. Asked how he knew golfers were taking steroids, he said a player told him in confidence.

I would fall over in a dead faint if pro golf was totally clean. And it looks like most of the tours seem to agree with me.

Last year, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews and the USGA used random testing for the first time at the World Amateur Team Championship in South Africa. All 12 tests came back negative.

The LPGA Tour said it would start drug testing next year, while the European and PGA tours also are moving toward drug policies. PGA Tour Tim Finchem said in June that drug testing in sports has become a reality and golf organizations around the world should make sure they're on the same page.

As far as the LPGA goes, I woud start out with certain very muscular women in their 30's who happen to have very peculiar cases of acne and tendancy in recent years to be hurt a lot. Not sayn', just sayn'.

And what does Captain Shortgame (otherwise known as Phil Mickelson, last seen throwing up all over himself at the Scottish open) have to offer on the subject?

I don't think there's even a remote chance that will happen," he said of a golfer testing positive for steroids.

Right Phil, and nobody on the tour ever sets up to a shot in the rough with a wood, then switches to an iron after they got grass tapped down nicely behind the ball, either.

I wonder if Mickelson said that with a straight face.

Islamic Jihad Claims They Will Stop Israel Suicide Attacks

The come promising peace, we're assured. Sure, we've heard this before, but why should we not believe such a peace-loving group like these nice-looking folks?

Islamic Jihad says will halt suicide bombings in Israel

The Islamic Jihad may stop initiating suicide bombings inside Israel, according to Walid Abeidi, commander of the group's military wing, the al-Quds Brigades.

Wait. The headline says the will, not may. A slight nuance, I guess.

Abeidi, also known as Abu al-Qassam, said that "the organization is considering halting the suicide bombings in order to help bring both sides, the Israelis and the Palestinians, to a mutual calm and ceasefire."

According to Abeidi, the Islamic Jihad has no intention of thwarting the efforts to reach a truce between Israel and the Palestinians, as the calm will bring about an ease of restrictions on the Palestinian population, will relieve the residents' suffering and will resume the financial aid, which will also be used to pay the salaries of hundreds of government workers.

In other words, they need some cash, so we'll promise anything now, regroup, and come at you later.

Be assured of that.

The al-Quds commander added that he hoped Israel would stop pursuing Palestinians and hurt innocent people.

"This is not said from a point of weakness, but from deep concern to the Palestinian situation and interest. The Islamic Jihad will decide on its stance in accordance with the developments, and any stance it decides on will be in favor of the Palestinian people."

Sure, stop pursuing our bad guys and we promise peace and harmony.

"We want a mutual and dignified truce which will guarantee the Palestinians an honorable life," he explained.

How about recognizing Israel, and allowing them an honorable life? Of course that will never happen.

"Israeli violations will be met with harsh responses by the organization's fighters and the Palestinian resistance. This is our decision and it proves that all the talks in Israel on an external Iranian influence are nonsense," Abeidi said.

Mary Jo KopechneJuly 26, 1940 -- July 18, 1969


Do we operate under a system of equal justice under law? Or is there one system for the average citizen and another for the high and mighty? -- Senator Ted Kennedy, 1973

Socialists at Reuters Baffled by Economics

Well, the socialists at Reuters are demonstrating their economic ignorance again.

Americans would hit brakes if gas hits $3.50: poll

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Some 40 percent of Americans would curb their driving habits if retail gasoline prices shot up to $3.50 a gallon, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.

Hey Reuters editors, put down the Das Kapital for a minute and try reading Milton Friedman for once in your life.

In the real world, people make their purchasing decisions "at the margin", which means we consider our options relative to our income and the strength of need, and buy accordingly. Each of us has our own price break points. That means that there is no specific target price at which "people" will change their behavior. Folks are making purchase decisions all the time. That is called the "free market system" which I know sends shudders down your spine just at the sound of it.

So Reuters, try reading up on "elasticity of demand", have someone explain the words longer than two syllables to you, and then come play again.

Run With the Bulls, Lose Your Kid

Meet one of the dumbest men on the planet.

Run With the Bulls, Lose Access to the Kid

A man who took his 10-year-old son running with the bulls in Pamplona has lost visitation rights with the boy, after his ex-wife complained to the police.

The bull run in Pamplona has been a rite of passage for centuries: Long before Hemingway discovered it, men in this northern Spanish town have set full-horned bulls loose in the medieval streets and gone sprinting ahead of them like frightened puppies. But now a judge in Spain has sided with the ex-wife of a man who took his 10-year-old son bull running in Pamplona last week, and rescinded his visitation rights.

The boy's mother complained to police after she saw a photo in the newspaper of her ex-husband, Luis Miguel Gomez, leading their son by the arm a few steps ahead of the bulls, according to Spanish radio reports.

A judge in the town of Fuenlabrada, south of Madrid, ordered police to find the man and return the boy to his mother. And since the region of Navarra, which includes Pamplona, requires bull runners to be at least 18, officials hit Gomez with a €150 fine ($210).

A member of the mother's family said they didn't want the boy to lose touch with his father, but said Gomez had to be taught a lesson. "We want him to get a warning, so that he realizes that his main duty is to look after the boy's well-being," the relative said.

Gomez is defiant, though. He's told Spanish media that he would let the boy run the bulls again.

What an idiot.

Friends of Hamas Accuse Bush of 'Islamophobia'

When you're an unindicted co-conspirator with a terrorist organization and your membership is dwindling rapidly, you do anything for attention.

Bush office is anti-Muslim, group says

A Muslim civil rights group today blamed Bush administration policies for promoting "Islamophobia" and said the "war on terror" won't stop terrorists.

"The new perception is that the United States has entered a war with Islam itself," said Parvez Ahmed, chairman of the national board of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

"Terrorism is a tactic. You cannot eradicate it by declaring a war against it. The war on terror is causing us infinitely more harm than the terrorists could have ever imagined."

Mr. Ahmed, who spoke at CAIR symposium at the National Press Club, said the war against terrorists is driven by an "irrational" fear that the Bush administration has inculcated in the American public. The chance of being killed in a terrorist attack, he said, is 1 in 80,000 over a lifetime.

"It is important to bear in mind that terrorists cannot destroy America," he said as a member of a panel discussing the symposium theme, "Attacking Islam: Implications for Social Cohesion and U.S. Relations with the Muslim World." The U.S., he said, is too powerful and too resourceful for terrorists to destroy.

I guess we have an irrational fear of his friends flying planes into buildings.

Or was that just my imagination?

Insensitive Goracle Offends Humane Society

I guess now that Live Earth was a total bomb, the Goracle can go back to his usual slothful ways, wrecking the environment, consuming colossal amounts of energy in his mansions, jetting around the globe and now consuming endangered species.

The inconvenient truths just keep mounting.

Gore's message loses bite

ONLY one week after Live Earth, Al Gore's green credentials slipped while hosting his daughter's wedding in Beverly Hills.

Gore and his guests at the weekend ceremony dined on Chilean sea bass - arguably one of the world's most threatened fish species.

Also known as Patagonian toothfish, the species is under pressure from illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing activities in the Southern Ocean, jeopardising the sustainability of remaining stocks.

The species is currently managed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Living Marine Resources, the body which introduced a catch and trade documentation scheme as an attempt to tackle illegal poaching of this species.

Working with non-government organisations, the Humane Society International's focus is now on pursuit of illegal fishing operators who, in the rush to cash in on the highly valued species, plunder stocks with no regard for sustainability.

For shame, fatboy, for shame.

C'mon, lecture me some more on how to live my life.

More from Blue Crab Boulevard, Tigerhawk, Roger L. Simon, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers.

Top al-Qaida in Iraq Figure Captured

Of course, it will be downplayed or dismissed, and the timing questioned by those currently employing the fullcourt press to cut and run. Still, a sliver of good news in a ocean of negativity.

BAGHDAD - The U.S. command said Wednesday the highest-ranking Iraqi in the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq has been arrested, adding that information from him indicates the group's foreign-based leadership wields considerable influence over the Iraqi chapter.

Khaled Abdul-Fattah Dawoud Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, also known as Abu Shahid, was captured in Mosul on July 4, said Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a military spokesman.

"Al-Mashhadani is believed to be the most senior Iraqi in the al-Qaida in Iraq network," Bergner said. He said al-Mashhadani was a close associate of Abu Ayub al-Masri, the Egyptian-born head of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Bergner said al-Mashhadani served as an intermediary between al-Masri and Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri.

"In fact, communication between the senior al-Qaida leadership and al-Masri frequently went through al-Mashhadani," Bergner said.

"Along with al-Masri, al-Mashhadani co-founded a virtual organization in cyberspace called the Islamic State of Iraq in 2006," Bergner said. "The Islamic State of Iraq is the latest efforts by al-Qaida to market itself and its goal of imposing a Taliban-like state on the Iraqi people."

More at Captain's Quarters, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Pat Dollard.

In Her Own Words

Orlando over at FortHardKnox puts Senator Thunderthighs under the microscope with his presentation, Hillary TV

Michael Vick Indicted

Seriously, how stupid is this guy?

Vick indicted in dogfight investigation

RICHMOND, Va. - Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on charges related to illegal dogfighting. Vick and three others were charged with violating federal laws against competitive dogfighting, procuring and training pit bulls for fighting and conducting the enterprise across state lines.

The indictment alleges that Vick and his co-defendants began sponsoring dogfighting in early 2001, the former Virginia Tech star's rookie year with the Falcons.

It accuses Vick, Purnell A. Peace, Quanis L. Phillips and Tony Taylor of "knowingly sponsoring and exhibiting an animal fighting venture," of conducting a business enterprise involving gambling, as well as buying, transporting and receiving dogs for the purposes of an animal fighting venture.

Telephone messages left at the offices and home of Vick's attorney, Larry Woodward, were not immediately returned.

A woman who answered the phone at the home of Vick's mother said the family knew nothing about the charges.

On July 7, federal authorities conducted a second search of the Surry, Va., property owned by Vick that is the center of the dogfighting investigation.

According to court documents filed by federal authorities earlier this month, dogfights have been sponsored by "Bad Newz Kennels" at the property since at least 2002. For the events, participants and dogs traveled from South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, New York, Texas and other states.

Read the rest.

Expect a lengthy suspension. If found guilty, he should get booted from the NFL for at least a season.

When in the course of human events

Czechs' journey to happiness


We have reached a tipping point. For the first time since surveys of this sort started appearing in the Czech Republic, for the first time, even, since the fall of the communist regime, the popularity of the European Union among Czechs has fallen to below the magical 50%. Results of the Europbarometer survey published yesterday [12 July 2007] show that only 46% of Czechs think that the EU is a good thing.

Some members of the Czech media and political elite are doubtless patting themselves on the back. A conglomerate of the ODS, the commuinists and the president elected through their joint efforts, along with a group of anti-European journalists, succeeded in achieving the virtually impossible. Through their systematic anti-European campaign, they have managed to convice the once-enthusiastic Czechs that the organisation to which they owe their last few months of incredible economic prosperity is, in fact, something awful.

Of course, the ham-handedness of the EU, the quality of Czech exports; and an aggressive marketing campaign have nothing to do with it.

To be able to fully appreciate this achievement, it's necessary to review the context. The Czech Republic is experiencing unprecedented economic growth (6.1% last year, compared to 3.6% in 2003), largely thanks to entering the common Europen market and enjoying the trust of investors, stemming from our EU membership. The Czechs are traveling around Europe without passports like never before, sending their children to study abroad, searching for work. Out the original 15 EU states, the Czechs can live and work without restrictions in the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Greece, Finland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands and Denmark. Surveys show that the main concern about our joining the EU was unemployment. Yesterday, Czech papers complained that the economic boom has driven down unemployment to such a degree that the lack of workers could hinder further economic growth.

When the European Union respects the Czechs for more than the financial contributions taxes made payable to the EU, maybe - just maybe - the Czechs may reciprocate a little bit.

And Euroweenie journalists can find something else to wet their panties over.

There's more

CAIR Stooge Hooper: Islamic Rage Boy a Racist Stereotype

Dougie Hooper continues to do some great comedy. Now he laments the unfair portrayal of Islamic Rage Boy.

TNOYF has audio.

More from Jules Crittenden, who notes an inconvenient fact for fatboy Hooper: IRB is a living, breathing, rage-filled person, not a stereotype.

The Perils of Sock Puppetry

Paging Glenn Greenwald. Or is it Rick Ellensburg?

The Hand That Controls the Sock Puppet Could Get Slapped

SAN FRANCISCO, July 15 — On the Internet nobody knows you’re a dog — or the chief executive of a Fortune 500 company.

Or so thought John Mackey, the chief executive of Whole Foods Market, who used a fictional identity on the Yahoo message boards for nearly eight years to assail competition and promote his supermarket chain’s stock, according to documents released last week by the Federal Trade Commission.

Mr. Mackey used the online handle “Rahodeb” (an anagram of his wife’s name, Deborah). In one Internet posting sure to enter the annals of chief-executive vanity, Mr. Mackey wrote as Rahodeb, “I like Mackey’s haircut. I think he looks cute!”

With all a chief executive has to do, the 14-hour days spent barking orders, digesting reports, motivating employees and courting Wall Street, why would they spend their time sparring with anonymous critics online? And what makes them think they won’t be revealed?

One word: hubris.

Iran Hosting Al Qaeda

This comes as a shock to nobody, except maybe the mainstream media that neglects to report it.

Iran Is Found To Be a Lair of Al Qaeda

WASHINGTON — One of two known Al Qaeda leadership councils meets regularly in eastern Iran, where the American intelligence community believes dozens of senior Al Qaeda leaders have reconstituted a good part of the terror conglomerate's senior leadership structure.

That is a consensus judgment from a final working draft of a new National Intelligence Estimate, titled "The Terrorist Threat to the U.S. Homeland," on the organization that attacked the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The estimate, which represents the opinion of America's intelligence agencies, is now finished, and unclassified conclusions will be shared today with the public.

The classified document includes four main sections, examining how Al Qaeda in recent years has increased its capacity to stage another attack on American soil; how the organization has replenished the ranks of its top leaders; nations where Al Qaeda operates, and the status of its training camps and physical infrastructure.

The judgment that Iran has hosted Al Qaeda's senior leadership council is likely to draw some criticism from those outside the government who doubt Iran plays a significant role in bolstering Sunni jihadist terrorism. Iran's Shiite Muslims are considered infidels by the Salafi sect of Sunnis that comprise Al Qaeda.

Read the rest.

Expect to hear plenty of simpering from the left over this report later today, questioning the timing, of course. They refuse to believe Al Qaeda had any presence in Iraq before we toppled Saddam Hussein, and they could see video of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cavorting with Osama bin Laden and they still wouldn't admit what we're dealing with here.

More at Captain's Quarters, Gateway Pundit, Michael Totten, Michelle Malkin, Jules Crittenden.

Staring Down The Russian Bear

Leading presidential contender Ron Paul (Moonbat-Texas) hasn't linked this to Bush foreign policy blowback -- yet. However, the week is still young.

Curbing "Russian Aggression"
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband arrived at the House of Commons with his report on relations with Russia exactly on schedule, at 15:30 London Time. His mood was decisive: the evening before, in a televised interview with the BBC, he had declared that the British government is "considering seriously all of our options" in relation to Russia.In the same interview, the 42-year-old foreign secretary noted that the situation is something of a paradox, since economic ties between Britain and Russia have never been stronger and more flourishing.

In his speech before Parliament, Mr. Miliband dispensed with a lengthy history of the case, since the murder of Alexander Litvinenko and the demand from the British Crown Prosecution Service that Russia hand over suspect Andrei Lugovoi are certainly some of the most high-profile stories in the British press. "Our aims are clear: first to advance our judicial process, second to bring home to the Russian government the consequences of their failure to cooperate, and third to emphasize our commitment to promoting the safety of British citizens and visitors," stressed Mr. Miliband instead.

What happened to the multilateralism, international institutions and new alliance of opportunity claptrap being preached Friday?

Britain's first sanction against Russia involves the introduction of visa restrictions. The press service of the British Embassy in Moscow explained to Kommersant that a new procedure will be developed for reviewing visa applications submitted by the Russian government. In other words, according to UK Embassy spokesman Anjoum Nourani, these restrictions will not affect ordinary Russians, whose documents will be reviewed as before. Documents from Russian officials, however, will be subjected to special checks that will make it more difficult for representatives of the Russian government to travel to Britain.

That'll teach 'em!!!

In addition, the raft of measures proposed by David Miliband includes the suspension of talks aimed at liberalizing the visa regime. As of June 1, 2007, an agreement between Russia and the EU that simplifies the visa-application process for citizens of Russia and the European Schengen Zone countries has been in force, but the UK was not party to this agreement and has been carrying on separate talks with Russia. Now, in the wake of Russia's refusal to hand over Andrei Lugovoi, these negotiations have been closed. The British authorities were also planning to create an independent processing center in Moscow to expedite the granting of visas to Russian citizens, but David Miliband has since announced that this idea has been abandoned.

Mr. Miliband also mentioned the implementation of yet another anticipated sanction against Russia in his speech before Parliament: four Russian diplomats will be expelled from Great Britain within the next few days. The British press has been writing for days about the possibility that such action would be taken, and a source in diplomatic circles told Kommersant that a list has already been compiled in London of possible candidates for expulsion. The British authorities have an idea of which of the employees of the Russian Embassy are intelligence officers, and the current scandal is being used as a pretext to ask them to leave the country. Expulsions of diplomats are not rare occurrences, but usually they take place well out of the public eye. If an employee of an embassy abroad is suspected of intelligence activities, the authorities of the host country simply recommend that the other country's diplomatic mission send that person home. Only rarely do such incidents grow into notorious spy scandals: the last time Russian diplomats were ejected from London to make a point was in 1996.

Most assuredly, Soviet Russian president Vladimir Paranoid is laughing his ass off over the milquetoast now in residence at #10 and his cabinet ministers.

Send Prince Charles to negotiate with Putie and you just might get everything you want -- posthaste.

There's more.