Who says George Galloway is a cheap date?



To paraphrase the old joke, we all knew what George Galloway was, but we weren't sure of the price. Until now.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 2:57 PM -

 
Still a fathead



Instapundit:

Lying to a grand jury is serious, if true. The rest is Martha Stewart stuff. But this isn't the Libby-Rove-Cheney takedown that the lefties have been hoping for -- there's not even a charge of "outing" a covert agent -- and the very extravagance of their hopes will make this seem much less significant.

And Joe Wilson is still a continual liar:

The Senate report includes a 48-page section on Wilson that demonstrates, in painstaking detail, that virtually everything Joseph Wilson said publicly about his trip, from its origins to his conclusions, was false.

When do we get the investigation of the fathead himself for publicly revealing his "secret" mission and the CIA airheads who employed him and his wife?

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 2:16 PM -

 
Lazy Hazy School Daze in North Carolina

Mike Adams keeps us up to date on the latest goings on in the groves of academe in the Old North State:

Yesterday, Anna Potter (anna.potter@unc.edu) of Feminist Students United (FSU) sent out an email that should make us all want to sign up for the list serve (fsu@listserv.unc.edu) of this UNC-Chapel Hill student organization. The email provides an update on the Orgasm Awareness Festival that FSU is co-sponsoring later this semester.

Orgasm Awareness?

In case you haven't heard about this exciting event, it is focused on the female orgasm and dispelling myths about masturbation, sexuality, orgasm and other important topics.

The orgasm festival is going to take place on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill on Thursday, November 10th. There are going to be "pin the finger on the clitoris" and “locate the g-spot” games followed by contests to see how quickly and properly people of both sexes can put condoms on bananas.

They didn't have parties like this when I was a lad!

There will also be a "vibrator museum" showcasing various sex toys including - but not limited to! - an antique vibrator from 1924.

Steam powered, no doubt. No word if it's a "hands on" exhibit.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 10:04 AM -

 
A man of the people fer sure!



The NY Post astounds with TRUTH SHOCK FOR LYIN' LIBERALS:

PORCINE provocateur Michael Moore likes to portray himself as a working-class man of the people, but a new book exposes him as a "corporate criminal, environmental menace and racist union-buster."

In "Do As I Say, Not As I Do: Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy," Peter Schweizer reveals that Moore, who has been vociferous in his criticism of defense contractor Halliburton, has bought and sold hundreds of shares of Halliburton stock — and that of other defense contractors — through his private foundation.

Moore, who has claimed he doesn't own a "single share" of stock, has also invested heavily in HMOs and pharmaceutical giants, the targets of his next movie, "Sickos."

Moore also likes to rail against what he calls rampant racism in the United States and the fact that supposedly no one hires blacks for good jobs. Schweizer points out that "out of the 134 producers, editors, cinematographers, composers, and production coordinators Moore hired, only three were black." And not one African-American lives in the ritzy Michigan enclave where Moore has a $1 million mansion.

And while publicly championing unions, Moore has been quite anti-union in his own business dealings and had several clashes with the Writers Guild.

Gosh, Mikey! Say it isn't so!

Apparently, a number of the other usual suspects get skewered as well.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 8:11 PM -

 
You knew this was coming, didn't you?

Demos propose letting evacuees vote absentee through 2008:

Elections go on through rain or shine, so several Democrats figure a hurricane shouldn't stop people from voting either.

Death doesn't stop Democrats from voting as well, but tell me more.

Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala., and Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisc., touted their bill Thursday that would allow evacuees of Hurricane Katrina to vote absentee in their home districts through the 2008 elections, regardless of where they move temporarily. They must first sign an affidavit indicating an intent to move back after the area is reconstructed.

On that basis, why don't we all get to file affadavits as to where we plan to be in 2008 and vote there? Just send me two ten spots or a case of Heineken and I'll say that I plan to move to New Orleans. I'm sure they won't be too hard on me when my plans change.

Election laws vary from state to state, but in most places, getting a job or buying a home somewhere else is legal proof that a voter has moved and that his registration should too.

Sounds right to me.

Davis said that's fine for people who intend to move permanently, but he believes hundreds of thousands of evacuees intend to return to Louisiana, Mississippi or Alabama once they can. In that case, they should have the right to vote for the officials who will preside over the reconstruction, Davis said.

Me too, since I plan to be there too! FedEx my Heineken now!

There's more blather in the article including this remarkable observation by Senator Gidget:

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said it's an issue the country must confront in the event of future long-term evacuations, either from a natural disaster such as a hurricane or earthquake, or from a terrorist attack.

"If you don't make national provisions for this, you basically are impacting your democracy in a way that you don't want to at just the time you need to be seeing about what they think about this, where they want to go in the future," Landrieu said.

Easy for her to say, I'm sure.

Hmm, I wonder when we'll start hearing that they should get to vote both where they are and where they intend to be. After all, it would be unfair for them not to have a say in their current local conditions as well as their future home. Heck, no need to worry - if this joke passes they'll probably be registered in both places anyhow.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 6:52 PM -

 
More than I wanted to know

Forbes reveals the Top-Earning Dead Celebrities:

They're famous across the globe. Their work is treasured by millions. And they're rolling in cash--they just can't spend any of it.

I know it's just merchandizing, but it seems a tad ghoulish:

Musician Ray Charles makes the list for the first time this year, in part because of income related to his 2004 biopic. Johnny Cash, who also makes his first appearance this year, has his own movie out in November.

Hmm, I wonder if the Guevara heirs are cashing in on their thuggish relative?

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 10:42 AM -

 
It's the United Nations way

The NY Times gives us a preview of the big UN "Oil-for-Food" investigation final report:

More than 4,500 companies took part in the United Nations oil-for-food program and more than half of them paid illegal surcharges and kickbacks to Saddam Hussein, according to the independent committee investigating the program.

The country with the most companies involved in the program was Russia, followed by France, the committee says in a report to be released Thursday.
...
The new report studies the people outside Iraq who profited illicitly and how they did it. It will identify companies and individuals who took part, both deliberately and inadvertently, and will chronicle in detail the experience of 30 to 40 of them, the investigators said.

I wonder if Georgie Galloway offered his story? Nah, probably not. He's likely still claiming it's an Iraqi frame-up.

The committee said some companies had complained that the evidence against them was gathered in Iraq and was therefore not trustworthy. But a lead investigator said that in those cases where corroborating evidence was available, the Iraqi information turned out to be sound.

Kinda like the Georgie's wife's bank account, I guess. So what does it all mean?

In an interview, Mr. Volcker said that while he knew the naming of companies and the exposure of international "machinations" would draw attention, he hoped it would not obscure his committee's purpose in keeping the focus of their work on the need for United Nations reform.

"In my mind," he said, "this part of our investigation, looking at the manipulation of the program outside the U.N., strongly reinforces the case that the U.N. itself carries a large part of this responsibility and needs reform.

"Even though we are looking at it from the outside, it kind of screams out at you, 'Why didn't somebody blow a whistle?' The central point is that it all adds up to the same story. You need some pretty thoroughgoing reforms at the U.N."

Or a hearty flush. Considering that this was a UN sponsored investigation, the true story was likely much worse.

Meanwhile, in related news - UN Debates Meaning of 'Wipe' Israel from Map:

The United Nations Security Council today took up discussion on what Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad might have meant when he called for Israel to be "wiped out from the map".

Secretary General Kofi Annan said Iran, as a member of the U.N., must be given the benefit of the doubt that the phrase was intended to encourage peaceful diplomacy.

"'Wiped' is a word that can denote cleanliness," said Mr. Annan. "The Iranian president may have simply meant that the map should be cleaned so Israel's legitmate borders are easier to see."

Mr. Ahmadinejad's remarks came during the month-long 'World without Zionism' celebration, and echoed the Ayatollah Khomeini's previous comments about map hygiene.

It's ScrappleFace, but it's hard to tell, isn't it?

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 10:30 AM -

 
Illegal Alien Angst Alert!

Durham (North Carolina) raid causes illegal immigrants elsewhere to stay home:

A raid at a Durham semiconductor company has stirred up fears among illegal immigrants who fear they also may be arrested.

As opposed to what? A visit from the Welcome Wagon?

Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrested three dozen suspected illegal workers at Cree, which has a contract with the Defense Department.

Ann Robertson, an immigration lawyer who represents employers and who works with the Mexican Consulate in Raleigh, says people are terrified. The illegal immigrants who work for other private businesses are staying at home, and Robertson says she has never seen a similar situation during the 15 years she has practiced immigration law.

I'd say it was about time then, although "home" apparently doesn't refer to their native lands.

Tom O'Connell, the resident ICE agent in charge, says he received about 30 phone calls Monday from lawyers representing employers whose workers were absent, and from the consulate and its legal team.

I hope he explained to them about the "illegal" in "illegal alien" since it's apparent they don't have a clue. Hmm, I thought lawyers were officers of the court. They wouldn't be aiding and abetting criminal behavior would they?

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 7:02 PM -

 
Headline of the day!

From AFP: US judge sets December date to execute Nobel Peace Prize nominee. No word on some of the actual winners, but I haven't given up hope.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 12:14 PM -

 
Miracles of modern technology!

(Via Michelle Malkin) Those pesky photo doctors in the maintream media are at it again and this time their target is Condi Rice. But they really don't have to have a computer to play - they've been doing quite well with modern makeup products:



(Hat tip: terrylee.com via doug_from_upland)

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 9:59 AM -

 
Hitchens puts the boot in on Georgie Galloway

Calling Galloway's Bluff:

I replied that this was not necessary, since his public denial to me was on the record and had been broadcast, and since it further confirmed the apparent perjury that he had committed in front of the U.S. Senate on May 17, 2005. I added that I wanted no further contact with Galloway until I could have the opportunity of reviewing his prison diaries.

That day has now been brought measurably closer by the publication of the report of the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. This report, which comes with a vast archive of supporting material, was embargoed until 10 p.m. Monday and contains the "smoking gun" evidence that Galloway, along with his wife and his chief business associate, were consistent profiteers from Saddam Hussein's regime and its criminal exploitation of the "Oil for Food" program. In particular:

1) Between 1999 and 2003, Galloway personally solicited and received eight oil "allocations" totaling 23 million barrels, which went either to him or to a politicized "charity" of his named the Mariam Appeal.

2) In connection with just one of these allocations, Galloway's wife, Amineh Abu-Zayyad, received about $150,000 directly.

3) A minimum of $446,000 was directed to the Mariam Appeal, which campaigned against the very sanctions from which it was secretly benefiting.

4) Through the connections established by the Galloway and "Mariam" allocations, the Saddam Hussein regime was enabled to reap $1,642,000 in kickbacks or "surcharge" payments.

Lots of good fun by following the links including that one of the witnessess against ole Georgie was his and Saddam's former bosom chum, Tariq Aziz. Punchline:

Yet this is the man who received wall-to-wall good press for insulting the Senate subcommittee in May, and who was later the subject of a fawning puff piece in the New York Times, and who was lionized by the anti-war movement when he came on a mendacious and demagogic tour of the country last month. I wonder if any of those who furnished him a platform will now have the grace to admit that they were hosting a man who is not just a pimp for fascism but one of its prostitutes as well.

Not likely, but I bet they're miffed they can't make wingnuttery pay like Georgie.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 9:53 PM -

 
2nd Hoot!

Last one out of Cuba, turn out the lights:

The 40-member National Chorus of Cuba, which specializes in patriotic songs about the glories of the Revolution, is touring Canada. Twenty members just defected en masse in Toronto.

It's a Workers Paradise fer sure!

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 7:53 PM -

 
Today's Hoot!

Right Wing News:

You know what kills me about this? It's not that Spike Lee buys into this conspiracy theory, because let's face it, Spike Lee is a complete chucklehead. What kills me is that you have a reporter from ABC, who knows better, saying that Lee is espousing a "reasonable theory".

They're all Bozos on that bus.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 7:42 PM -

 
There's bad news and good news



The bad news is that Cindy Sheehan isn't going to be tying herself up. The good news is that Activists to 'Die' Outside White House:

"I'll be laying down and not getting up," Sheehan said Tuesday to a small crowd in which the number of journalists exceeded the number of protesters.

I guess she's just getting our hopes up. I wonder if her handlers told her this time not to smile when the cops are carrying her away?

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 7:26 PM -

 
Bad news for the whining spiv



US Senate 'finds Iraq oil cash in Galloway's wife's bank account':

GEORGE GALLOWAY faces possible criminal charges after a US Senate investigation tracked $150,000 (£85,000) in Iraqi oil money to his wife’s bank account in Jordan.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will refer the Respect Party MP for possible prosecution after concluding that he gave “false and misleading” testimony at his appearance before the panel in May.

The sub-committee claimed that, through intermediaries, Mr Galloway and the Mariam Appeal were granted eight allocations of Iraqi crude oil totalling 23 million barrels from 1999 to 2003.

It will also forward the new information to British authorities, saying it raised questions about Mr Galloway’s financial disclosure and the payment of illegal kickbacks to Iraq. “We have what we would call the smoking gun,” said Senator Norm Coleman, the sub-committee’s Republican chairman.

The sub-committee’s report, released today, was provoked by Mr Galloway’s clash with the senators — which he turned into a book entitled Mr Galloway goes to Washington. In that encounter, the anti-war MP vehemently denied receiving oil allocations from Iraq.

But the report provides bank account details tracking payments from an oil company through a Jordanian middleman to Mr Galloway’s now estranged wife, Amineh Abu- Zayyad, and his Mariam Appeal fund.

Couldn't happen to more a oleaginous piece of pondscum.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 2:05 PM -

 
I know it's hard to believe

In Chicago - Are scandals creating a lawyer shortage?

There's been no shortage of city workers ensnared in the federal government's ongoing Hired Truck investigation.

But as more and more folks get caught up in the scandal, could there be a shortage of seasoned attorneys to represent them?

There are a limited number of criminal trial lawyers experienced at defending people in public-corruption cases in Chicago's federal court -- and many of them now are spoken for.

Some of the best were picked off early by city officials who have never been charged and hope they won't be.

So far, 36 people have been charged in the Hired Truck scandal, and 23 have pleaded guilty since January 2004. The investigation continues, federal officials have said.

Once a lawyer is representing a defendant in the Hired Truck case, his or her firm often discourages partners from representing any new defendant whose case could pose a conflict with the first client. It'd be a sticky situation if one defendant ended up having to testify against the other, and their lawyers worked at the same firm.

They'd have more "seasoned" lawyers if they prosecuted more of the Chicago kleptocrats.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 2:55 PM -

 
Today's Hoot!

Cold Fury points to If World War II Was an RTS

If World War Two had been an online Real Time Strategy game, the chat room traffic would have gone something like this.
...
Hitler[AoE]: cool, i start with panzer tanks!
paTTon: lol more like panzy tanks
T0JO: lol
Roosevelt: o this fockin sucks i got a depression!
benny-tow: haha america sux
Stalin: hey hitler you dont fight me i dont fight u, cool?
Hitler[AoE]; sure whatever
Stalin: cool
...
*Roosevelt has left the game.*
Hitler[AoE]: wtf?
Eisenhower: sh1t now we need some1 to join
*tru_m4n has joined the game.*
tru_m4n: hi all
T0J0: hey
Stalin: sup
Churchill: hi
tru_m4n: OMG OMG OMG i got all his stuff!
tru_m4n: NUKES! HOLY **** I GOT NUKES
Stalin: d00d gimmie some plz
tru_m4n: no way i only got like a couple
Stalin: omg dont be gay gimmie nuculer secrets
T0J0: wtf is nukes?
T0J0: holy ****holy****hoyl****!
*T0J0 has been eliminated.*

Much more at the source.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 2:14 PM -

 
I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell ya!

U.N. Procurement Scandal: Ties to Saddam and Al Qaeda:

The scandal engulfing the United Nations Procurement Department now appears to be bottomless. It also shows signs of growing more sinister, especially where it involves a mysterious private company called IHC Services, which did big business with the procurement department until it was removed from U.N. rosters in June.

New details of how dark the scandal could prove to be have emerged from the private sale of IHC on June 3, 2005, just as the procurement scandal was about to break. It now appears that while doing business with the U.N., IHC had links both to Saddam Hussein’s old sanctions-busting networks, and to a Liechtenstein-based businessman, Engelbert Schreiber, Jr., known among other things for his ties to a figure designated by the U.N. itself as a financier of Al Qaeda.

Is it time to dump the United Nations yet?

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 10:57 AM -

 
Here's high comedic potential!



Out in Nevada - A presidential son explores venture into national politics:

John William ''Jack" Carter, 58, the eldest son of President Jimmy Carter, is plotting a campaign against US Senator John Ensign, a Republican first-termer running for reelection next year.

The presidential son, who moved to Las Vegas in 2003 and campaigned for John F. Kerry last year, said he's about to embark on a ''listening tour" of Nevada to find out ''if my fellow citizens feel the same way about me as I feel about them."

Bwahaha! That ought to be real interesting.

Carter, an equities investor who lives with his wife in fast-growing northwest Las Vegas, said he's been contemplating a bid against Ensign for a while.

Equities investor? The only "investor" I recall in the Carter family was Billy and he had a few problems in that regard. So what does ole "Jack" really do? It turns out he is CEO of Carter Global LLC, a "securities firm". And what does Carter Global LLC actually do? Well from Googling it you find out that they make minor political contributions and that they are the driving force behind collegesurvivalkits.com, purveyors of College Survival Kits and EPC Apparel ("represents the culture of everyone around the world"), both of which are "coming soon." Admittedly that could be another Carter Global LLC, but it seems like the feckless goofiness one would expect from the Carter family. Read how Jack describes getting kicked out of the Navy for drug use while attending nuclear power school:

In the oral history interview, Carter said he took care to make sure the Navy had enough evidence to justify a discharge.

"Nobody actually caught me," he said. "Some people had said that I had actually smoked marijuana with them. And when they came to ask me if that were true, I said that it was. Because it was.

"And also, threw in that I had had a couple of LSD tablets and some THC, just to make sure that ... if I was on the borderline, to make sure I got out," he told the interviewer.

What a guy! And here's the best part, Jimmy's backing him up:

"Yes, I talked to him about it," Carter said of the Senate bid. "He thinks I'd be good at it."

There's all you need to know.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 9:31 AM -