Her Heinous better be careful with that centrism stuff

Hillary, you've got some 'fessing up to do:

Activists in the bluest district in the bluest city of probably the bluest state in the nation believe they've earned the right to deliver a blunt message to Hillary Clinton: Senator, we in this liberal enclave see red every time we hear that you are the Democrats' main hope to reclaim the White House in 2008.

Why? We see you as a female equivalent of John Kerry, taking safe, centrist positions in general and, most glaringly, a wimpy stance on the war in Iraq.

Mark Green, who was Kerry's campaign manager in New York City and who supports your national ambitions, found himself on the defensive during a recent appearance in our district. Addressing members of an Upper West Side political club, he chose to speak positively about your presidential prospects at a particularly untimely moment: You had just been quoted in the media as backing the recent invasion of Fallujah on the grounds that it would "bring stability to Iraq."

The uproar over that Fallujah comment - "Panderer!" said one member; "She'll jump on any bandwagon," complained another - had barely subsided when Green arrived. He came to lead an election post-mortem but was asked about a key figure in the party's future: you. What was his rationale for supporting you, given your tepid policy positions?

"She's doing what she has to do to be a credible national candidate," Green said. "When was the last time an Upper West Sider ran for president?"

When was the last time an Upper West Sider found his/her/its butt without a roadmap? On the other hand - Give her hell, moonbats!

The Rev. Al does the Hanky Panky

And the Village Voice has the details. Frankly, there's too much dysfunction to summarize easily, but you'll get the idea from this:

Ironically, with all of this intrigue circulating just beneath the surface, Sharpton has made himself into some sort of national religious figure, asking on Meet the Press just a week ago: "All of us are talking about whether God is on our side. Are we really on God's side?" He and Jerry Falwell have squared off four times on national television—immediately before and after the election—as the embodiment of the moral values of their respective parties.

Indeed, after collecting a puny fraction of the delegates that Jesse Jackson and Shirley Chisholm won in their presidential campaigns, Sharpton has miraculously repackaged himself as a combination Spike TV reality star, supposed candidate for the helm of the NAACP, kingmaker within the Democratic National Committee, and telegenic conscience of the left. For New Yorkers who know our most famous reverend well, watching him on display as a post-election ethical compass, representing Democratic values, is the final sick joke in a year when we thought Karl Rove already had the last laugh.
...
Strangely enough, it was Falwell in the TV debate who boasted that he operated a home for unwed mothers, an AIDS hospice, an adoption program, and a clinic for drug addicts, all in tiny Lynchburg, Virginia. When he asked if Sharpton was "involved" in even one similar effort, the reverend who's never had a church, or run a substantive social program, changed the subject.

As the rest of the article reveals, Rev. Al does have a favorite charity - himself.

Chinese farmers don't have to worry about the goverment seizing their land for development

Because they don't own it

SANCHAWAN, China - For five months, Gao Lading and other angry farmers had occupied the walled compound of the Communist Party's village office. They had pitched tents, eaten rice and sweet potatoes, and waited.

It was a sit-in born of desperation. Officials from the nearby city of Yulin had seized land that had been part of the village since imperial times. The farmers had protested for nearly two years before finally seizing the village government's seat of power.

Early on Oct. 4, the government struck back. Witnesses say truckloads of paramilitary police surrounded the sleeping village. Hundreds of people inside the office compound were injured as the police fired tear gas and rubber bullets.
...
In real estate terms, the crackdown amounted to closing day. Like other land transactions in rural China, negotiations had been one-sided: Yulin officials, citing an obscure legal clause, ordered farmers to leave and offered them $60 per parcel of land. The farmers had screamed robbery.

But farmers in China cannot be robbed of land because they are not allowed to own it. The same economic reforms that have made China the world's fastest growing economy have created a two-tiered property system that favors city dwellers while handicapping the farmers once at the core of this society.

One result is that a booming, private real estate market has emerged in cities, where residents can now buy and sell apartments or suburban villas as investments toward joining the fledgling urban middle class. Farmers still fall under a village collective system that forbids them to own, buy or sell the land they till - and that often leaves them powerless to keep it.

The Sanchawan case is one example among thousands in which city officials pushing lucrative development projects have confiscated rural land by guile, fiat or force. Experts estimate that as many as 70 million farmers have lost their land in the past decade - a number expected to rise above 100 million.

Good thing they don't get to vote or icky stuff like that.

Biscuits and Gravy - Dec. 8, 2004

Marines saved 'em from Qaeda

When the Jihadis burst into the U.S. Consulate in Saudi Arabia, guns blazing and screaming, "Where are the Americans!," the diplomats quickly fled to a panic room.
"I certainly was worried," Consul-General Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley said yesterday, a day after the daring daylight Al Qaeda raid that left two Americans wounded and five consular workers dead.

"It's not good to hear gunfire outside but I did have complete faith in the security of the building."

That's because the five militants who managed to shoot past the Saudi guards at the gate were no match for the Marines manning the main chancery building - where the American staff had sought sanctuary.

Meanwhile there's another battle zone around Washington D.C.

Prince George's County fire officials said yesterday that two Marine Corps cars recently were set on fire, which makes at least 10 vehicles set ablaze near military recruiting stations during the past 15 days.

Unfortunately you can't shoot 'em if you catch 'em.

Michael Moore: Democrats need to embrace Hollywood

"Democrats need to embrace Hollywood because this is where they need to come to learn how to tell a story."

That's a shock - they've been spinning tall tales for years.

Ding Dong, the Witch is Gone! And all we have is a crappy AP report that makes it seem Mary Frances Berry was "even handed."

Who says they're stupid bureaucrats at the United Nations?

Congressional investigators are examining whether the former head of the U.N. oil-for-food program laundered profits from shady oil deals with Saddam Hussein through family businesses in Cyprus to make it look as if his newfound wealth was coming from an "inheritance."

A spokesman for the House International Relations Committee told The Post yesterday the panel is investigating new information that ex-oil-for-food chief Benon Sevan concocted an elaborate scheme to hide profits he received from sweetheart oil deals by diverting money to family members in his native Cyprus.

"The information we received is that he diverted the money [from the deals] to family members in Cyprus," the spokesman said.

"We have been informed that it was set up so that if he were to be put in a room and asked where his money came from, he would say it came from inheritance from his grandmother or an aunt."

Here's another United Nations poser

Most people would say countries that tolerate slavery should be ineligible for membership on the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. Same goes for those guilty of crimes against humanity.

The presumption is that egregious rights violators have no business on a commission whose prime purpose is supposed to be to protect rights.

But in a report last week, a U.N. panel established by Secretary-General Kofi Annan rejected the notion that there should be any standards at all for membership on the Human Rights Commission. That means Sudan need not worry about losing its seat on the 53-member commission even though the country stands accused by the United States of committing genocide in its western Darfur province.

At the State Department, frustration over the commission is accelerating, and officials wonder how long the United States can justify its continued membership on the panel if current trends continue.

Same goes for the UN as a whole, but the folks at Foggy Bottom don't seem to realize it.

But not to worry, Kofi Annan is on the case! - Annan Opens First Islamophobia Seminar

It's a tautology

French Offensive

We always knew that we would strike a few nerves with Our Oldest Enemy: A History of America's Disastrous Relationship with France. We certainly never expected anything but a negative review from the New York Times let alone from a hotshot French intellectual like Bernard-Henri Levy.

But judging from Levy's fulminations in the Times on Sunday, we didn't just strike a few nerves — we're actually pushing people over the edge.

In his one-page critique, Levy hurls just about every hysterical epithet he can find in our direction. He accuses us of "racism" and "Francophobia." He calls our book "nauseating," "fantastical," "grotesque," and in competition for the "grand prize in stupidity." He even compares what we've written to "the fascist French literature of the 1930s."

Now that's a curious putdown, comparing us to the French.

The only thing more curious may be the fact that before Levy goes diving off the deep end, he concedes so much of our argument. He readily admits that French anti-Americanism is "lodged in the heart of my country's culture." He even calls our historical account of Franco-American diplomatic relations — which is to say, the vast majority of our book — "a more or less fair re-evaluation."

More Gallic hilarity by following the link. But Mark Twain gets the last word.

Good news is breaking out all over!

Dead in toilet for 2 days. No it isn't the moonbats at Democrat Underbelly, it's the UK's National Health Service:

A WOMAN died in a hospital toilet — and was not found for TWO DAYS.

The patient — a mum of two — lay undiscovered in the casualty ward loo until a workman spotted her as he fixed a cubicle.

Last night the gruesome find sparked a storm at Solihull Hospital in the West Midlands.

Michael Summers, chairman of the Patients Association, said: “It’s disgraceful this could happen without the knowledge of the hospital authorities.

“The first question that should be asked is, ‘How often are the toilets cleaned?’ One would hope toilets and washing areas in hospitals are cleaned at least once, hopefully twice, a day.”

I want some of that there HillaryCare!

On a more spiritual note:

"A Buddhist monk decided to break his lifelong vow of celibacy with a prostitute - but picked up an undercover police officer instead."

I'm sure he was just looking for someone to relieve his Karmic burden.

Fun with technology!

Tired of looking through your webcam at piles of steaming volcanic rock?

You could always hit the bar instead! (Mildly NSFW).

That's a horrible joke - wrong in so many ways, and I absolutely can't condone that sort of humor. I was reminded of it when I stumbled across this horrible, horrible, website that a lot of the guys deployed over here seem to get a kick out of. Whatever you do, don't visit it! From what I've heard it's just wrong. In fact, that's why I've never visited that site, honest Mrs. G!

Everybody's doing it!

House Republicans say Annan should resign over oil-for-food scandal and, brace yourself, the Democratic Leadership Council agrees:

The secretary general should place this critical mission ahead of his personal interests, and step aside. Given his own lack of credibility on the oil-for-food program, this step is the price Annan must pay to help restore the U.N.'s credibility, and to salvage his legacy as secretary general.

In case you aren't familiar with the DLC, it's the organization of "moderate" Democrats. We haven't heard from them much since Bubba took off for the big city and left the moonbats in charge.

Iranian Hijinks Alert!

(Via Best of the Web) Al-Jazeera’s Psyops

The Al-Jazeera network’s recent insult of the Iranian nation was totally unacceptable.

The Arabic network, which broadcasts its programs from the little Arab country Qatar, has recently posted an insulting cartoon about the Islamic Republic of Iran on its English site.

Yadda, yadda

But the actions of the network gradually revealed the fact that Al-Jazeera officials, on the orders of Zionist agents, are trying to divide Islamic countries and tarnish the image of Islam.

When jihadist wingnuts fall out, we all have fun! Which reminds me, I wonder if this was the cartoon in question?



Nah, probably not. Hmm, how about this one?



That's funny too, but the laugh's on us. For now.

The United Nations is the gift that keeps on giving

Turn your head and Kofi:

The United Nations' "Oil-for-Food" program, which began in 1996, permitted Saddam Hussein to sell oil, provided that the revenue went for food, medicine and other necessities. It was a deal between the world's largest bureaucracy and one of the planet's most crooked and ruthless dictators. What could possibly go wrong?

So now we find out, with a shock value equal to the one that hit us this morning when the sun rose in the east, that Hussein was skimming money off the top, and bottom for that matter. Skimming? More like building a dam. The General Accounting Office estimates that Hussein's regime netted over $10 billion. The psychotic-yet-most-entrepreneurial mustachioed one who had a destiny with a spider hole was, with a lot of help, inflating prices on humanitarian imports, which allowed him to sell that much more oil and keep the extra for himself and whoever else was involved. High markups, high profits and skimming – Iraq had become a 172,000 square mile jewelry store run by Jimmy Hoffa.

Lots more by following the link including fun with the Minneapolis (Red) Star Tribune:

The Tribune assigns an air of untouchable altruism to the United Nations, which, to them, is a noble body working toward the betterment of mankind, so they've earned the right to the occasional colossal blunder or not-so-accidental dereliction. In other words, they're a lot like the newspaper business.

By the way, the author, Doug Powers, now has his own blog.