The Urban Grind

Hat Tip: The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, via GOP Bloggers.org

In response to ten year old Shelby Dangerfield inking her index finger to show support for the Iraqi people, GOP Bloggers.org is helping out by asking bloggers and their readers to ink their index fingers tomorrow in solidarity with the Iraqis, and to email their photos to editor@gopbloggers.org

What is there left to try for jaded New Yorkers who have done the bar/nightclub scene, online dating and Hamptons share houses in hopes of finding Mr. or Ms. Right?

Ahmed Ibrahim.

Since "Desperate Housewives" is my favorite tv show, I couldn't help but notice how funny this was

Hat tip: Jeff at Beautiful Atrocities

My week of guest blogging over at Ace of Spades HQ has come to an end. Now you have me all to yourselves. So I'll be back to posting here shortly.

Many people seem to hold a benign view of environmentalism -- that if it helps keep our air and drinking water clean, then it's a good thing.

But to me, that's a short sighted view. As I see it, environmentalists want to sacrifice the well being and quality of life of humans for the sake of nature, which, in their view, has the right to exist for its own sake, unconditionally.

Via Yahoo News

SAN DIEGO — On the southwestern-most tip of the country, just across the border from Tijuana, rugged canyons drop down to a rich Pacific estuary, where millions have been spent restoring fresh and saltwater marshes that sustain the California brown pelican and other rare birds and plants.

But this landscape also represents a gaping hole in the nation's defenses against terrorists, drug traffickers and other criminals, federal officials say.

The Bush administration proposes closing off this final 3.5-mile stretch of border between the United States and Mexico by moving massive amounts of dirt from nearby mesas into canyons to create a long earthen berm. On the berm, parallel to the existing border fence, a second fence and a patrol road would be constructed.

But opponents argue that if Congress pushed through the border proposal as planned, it would be authorizing a landfill project that would cause tremendous erosion in the ecologically fragile Tijuana River Valley area. That could threaten endangered species such as the San Diego fairy shrimp, California gnatcatcher and the light-footed clapper rail.

So pelicans, rare birds and shrimps take precedence over the safety of American citizens in the middle of a war on terror? Personally I can't understand anyone equating the well being of a Pelican or a shrimp with that of a human being. But then again, I'm not an enlightened liberal, just a selfish conservative.

Making this landfill is a step in the right direction. But a lot more needs to be done. Also, there has been plenty of debate about placing the military on the U.S. /Mexico border. And while I don't think it's a bad idea, it's not a permanent solution either.

Just now, I remember watching an interview with the former head of Israeli airline El Al's security. This man said that their screeners were never nationalized. Instead, they were employed by private companies operating under government guidelines.

But getting back to the porous U.S/Mexico border, I just wonder if the job could be done better by private companies operating under governmental guidelines. Think of the business opportunities that would become available.

Also posted at Ace of Spades HQ

On the one hand, you have joyous Iraqi's risking their lives to be able to vote:

Samir Hassan, 32, who lost his leg in a car bomb blast in October, was determined to vote. "I would have crawled here if I had to. I don't want terrorists to kill other Iraqis like they tried to kill me. Today I am voting for peace," he said.

"This is a wedding for all Iraqis. I congratulate all Iraqis on their newfound freedom and democracy," said Jaida Hamza, dressed in a black Islamic veil that also hid her face.

As do I, along with my fellow guest-bloggers and most Americans.

Baghdad's mayor was overcome with emotion by the turnout of voters at City Hall, where he said thousands were celebrating.
"I cannot describe what I am seeing. It is incredible. This is a vote for the future, for the children, for the rule of law, for humanity, for love," Alaa al-Tamimi told Reuters.

All of this despite the repeated attacks by terrorists.

Salama al-Khafaji, a 46-year-old Shiite dentist, has survived three assassination attempts, including one last year in which insurgents killed her 20-year-old son and a bodyguard.

"We have principles, we believe in democracy and human rights," she said. "If I die, it is better to have died for something than to have died for nothing." As she spoke, she struggled into a bulletproof vest and a traditional black cloak to return to Baghdad's streets for a last round of campaigning.

Yet despite printing this brave woman's comments, The New York Times then proceeds to belittle the entire Iraqi elections on the grounds that they are held under the dominion of the U.S. (How eeevil!!!)

Many Iraqis, interviews in recent months have shown, do not accept that fundamental choices about the shape of their future political system should be made by a foreign power, particularly one they regard as a harbinger of secular, materialistic values far removed from the Muslim world's.

Hmmm...I remember seeing Fox News's Alan Colmes of "Hannity & Colmes" go on about how we shouldn't go to war with Iraq, since it's a secular country with no ties to Al Qaeda, and that Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden hate each other, etc.

And now, for the purpose of bashing the elections, the Times blathers on about how we can't force a Jeffersonian democracy on a religious country:

But questions over the election go far beyond the American stewardship, to issues that touch on whether it was ever wise or realistic to think that Jeffersonian-style democracy, with its elaborate checks on power and guarantees for minority rights, could be implanted, at least so rapidly, in a country and a region that has little experience with anything but winner-take-all politics.

Granted, it won't be a Jeffersonian style democracy right away. But so what? America's Founding Fathers owned slaves. And women, at first, did not have the right to vote. Does that mean we should disregard everthing else they stood for? Does that make our republic style of government any less valid? Should we throw out the baby with the bath water?

With regards to Iraq, The New York Times seems to think so:

Compounding those objections, the elections are being held in the grip of a paralyzing fear that many Iraqis see as inconsistent with a free vote. A savage insurgency, and the harsh measures America's 150,000 troops have taken in response, have angered and terrified Iraqis, who now face election conditions that have made an obstacle course of the process, at every stage.

Apparently, The New York Times would rather the Iraqi's cower in fear, rather than getting out and voting.

To read the rest of this article, click here.

Hat Tip: LGF

Some people say that any publicity is good publicity.

But then again, I'm sure Barbra Steisand, Michael Moore and Sean Penn won't think so after seeing these billboards which will go up in February, near the Kodak Theater, where the Academy Awards are held:





I wouldn't be surprised if these celebs become apoplectic upon being thanked for President Bush's re-election in such a fashion. Either that, or they'll have some serious nervous breakdowns.

Also, wouldn't it be nice to see a bunch of conservatives gathered outside the Shrine Auditorium on Oscar night February 27 with signs loudly saying something to the effect of "thank you for helping re-elect 'W'?

Also posted at Ace of Spades HQ

Crossposted at Ace of Spades HQ

A Mexican government official is threatening to use international courts to block Proposition 200, a statewide measure which denies most tax payer benefits to illegal aliens. It also requires voters to show proof of citizenship and a government ID when voting at polls.

Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said in a radio interview Wednesday that an international strategy would be used if other attempts to reverse Proposition 200 fail, the Associated Press reported.

"We are seeking all the legal opportunities that exist, first using the legal capacities of the United States itself and ... if that does not work, bringing it to international tribunals," AP quotes Derbez as saying.

What part of the word "illegal" don't these people understand?

Meanwhile, so-called "Republican" Governor Huckabee of Arkansas is bent out of shape over similar anti-illegal alien legistlation in that state saying that it's nothing but "inflammatory...race baiting and demogoguery."

I hate to say it, but it looks to me like these politicians care nothing for securing our borders and protecting citizens against terrorism, crime, drugs and ID theft. They don't care if hospitals in border towns go bankrupt. They don't care that the taxes of hard-working Americans go up, when corporations get corporate welfare by hiring illegals at a fraction of the cost of American citizens. Nor do they care about rampant ID theft.

In fact, Arizona has the highest rate of ID theft in the country.

Selling counterfeit ID's and Social Security cards has actually become somewhat of a business in Mississippi, with one illegal alien charging up to $80 for counterfeit resident alien and Social Security Cards.

But nooo. Neither Republicans nor Democrats will go near this illegal alien problem with a ten foot pole, as they are too busy whoring for Hispanic votes.

Also posted at Ace of Spades HQ

So says the International Organization for Migration, which is closely allied to the U.N.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Rich countries poach doctors and nurses that poor nations spend millions to train, taxing already underfunded, over-stretched hospitals in Africa and elsewhere, according to a report released Wednesday.

Have they taken into account the fact that these doctors are moving to the U.S. and Europe for a better life for themselves and their families. I guess not. For them, the prosperous nations are to blame, as if these doctors had no free will of their own.

Poor nations, meanwhile, spend $500 million a year training health workers, according to the report presented at a two-day meeting to discuss the impact of the migration of Africans.

Now if they're so poor, where on earth do they get $500 million from. I doubt it's from their dictators. If anything, I should think it's from developed countries who, for one thing, make available their medical journals at not cost to the developing countries.

Or how about presitigious U.S. medical schools, such as the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York?

In Nigeria, health workers blame mismanagement by a succession of corrupt military and civilian regimes for the economic woes of the past two decades that have continued to force them abroad.

Poor salaries are paid late and overworked doctors have to work with outdated equipment, leaving most dissatisfied and eager to leave, said John Adebowale, a general practitioner at the Lagos Island Hospital in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos

What kind of doctor would want to work under such conditions?

The character of Dr. Hendriks in Ayn Rand's Magnum Opus "Atlas Shrugged" put it best:

I quit when medicine was placed under state control some years ago...Do you know what it takes to perform a brian operation? Do you know the kind of skill it demands, and years of passionate, merciless, excruciating devotion that go to acquire that skill? That was what I would not place at the disposal of men whose sole qualification to rule me was their capacity to spout the fraudulent generalities that got them elected to the privilege of enforcing their wishes at the point of a gun. I would not let them dictate the purpose for which my years of study had been spent, or the conditions of my work, or my choice of patients, or the amount of my reward. I observed in all the discussions that preceded the enslavement of medicine, men discussed everything -- except the desires of the doctors. Men considered only the 'welfare' of the patients, with no thought for those who were to provide it. That a doctor should have any right, desire or choice in the matter, was regarded as irrelevant selfishness; his is not to choose, they said, only 'to serve.' That a man who's willing to work under compulsion is too dangerous a brute to entrust with a job in the stockyards -- never occurred to those who proposed to help the sick by making life impossible for the healthy. I have often wondered at the smugness with which people assert their right to enslave me, to control my work, to force my will, to violate my conscience, to stifle my mind -- yet what is it they expect to depend on when they lie on an operating table under my hands? Their moral code has taught them to believe that it is safe to rely on the virtue of their victims. Well that is the virtue I have withdrawn. Let them discover the kind of doctors that their system will now produce. Let them discover in their operating rooms and hospital wards, that it is not safe to place their lives in the hands of a man whose life they have throttled. It is not safe, if he is the sort of man who resents it -- and still less safe if he is the sort who doesn't.

So what is the IOM doing about this?

Ndiaye told The Associated Press that the IOM is working to have rich countries pay for professionals from poor countries to return home and work there for an unspecified time each year.

That's it. Just keep on penalizing success and see where that takes you. I guess these people are impervious to the concept of laissez-faire capitalism. What if those doctors don't want to return to Africa?

Do they take into account that several U.S. medical schools offer their students the opportunity to work in developing countries, as a course elective? A SUNY in Brooklyn does, as does the Loyola Medical School. Obviously that doesn't count for the IOM.

To continue reading the entire article, click here.

Today we're helping Rick Santorum by donating at
https://www.rapiddonor.com/Santorum2006/
Yes, I know we did that last week too; but this race is really that
important.

Here's Polipundit's post.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm guest-blogging over at Ace of Spades HQ this week, as Ace is out of town.

Still I also wanted to make you all aware of the blogs of my fellow guest-bloggers, which are very good:

WuzzaDem is written by a former Democrat who has according to Ace, seen the light.

Alarming News is the first real blogger Ace met, and had an awful lot to do with him starting his blog. And the same is true for me too!

The Unpopulist is another guy Ace keeps linking, and whose tips he's come to rely upon.

Say Anything is one of those blogs that annoys Ace, because he's gotten way too much attention in such a short time. Attention that Ace thinks should be going to him, dammit.

Dave from Garfield Ridge is a long-time contributor to Ace of Spaces.

So have fun reading these guys!

January 27, 2005 marks the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, one of the biggest death factories in operation during the Holocaust.

Tom Carter has an excellent, thoughtful post on remembering the Holocaust:

Check it out.

(Also posted at Ace of Spades HQ)

Only a terrorist lover/aplologist would consider this news.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Twenty-three terror suspects tried to hang or strangle themselves at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay during a mass protest in 2003, the military confirmed Monday.

The incidents came during the same year the camp suffered a rash of suicide attempts after Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller took command of the prison with a mandate to get more information from prisoners accused of links to al-Qaida or the ousted Afghan Taliban regime that sheltered it.

Not to be "cold and unfeeling," but for me, the only thing out of the ordinary is that these terrorists didn't try and take along any "infidels." But I guess the AP hasn't considered that the Guantanamo Bay prison is guarded to the teeth. So these prisoners probably couldn't bring along any "infidels," as much as they'd love to.

Naturally, Amnesty International has jumped into the fray:

"When you have suicide attempts or so-called self-harm incidents, it shows the type of impact indefinite detention can have, but it also points to the extreme measures the Pentagon (news - web sites) is taking to cover up things that have happened in Guantanamo," he said.

"What we've seen is that it wasn't simply a rotation of forces but an attempt to toughen up the interrogation techniques and processes."

Ooooh those poor darling terrorists! Look at what they have endure at the hands of those big bad Americans...

More...

Hey everyone!

This week, I'll be a guest blogger over at Ace of Spades,
which is quite an honor for me.

So if it's not already a blog that you all regularly visit, I strongly recommend reading him, as he's an *excellent* writer with a very interesting way of looking at things.

Anyway, I'll try and post here as well, although it will probably be lighter than usual.

Maybe not literally but in my opinion, both groups have a deep hatred for human beings who want to pursue their rational self interests, who by doing so, rise beyond the level of a caveman living "at one" with nature.

With the price of crude oil increasing 2.7% to $48.60 a barrel, and all the killings going on in Iraq, one would think that drilling for oil in our own country would be a good thing. I mean, why give money to rogue states who support terror? For me, it's a no-brainer.

But not for the enviro-wackos
Whenever there's the possibility of drilling for oil in Alaska, for the benefit of HUMAN BEINGS, the enviro-wackos will always side with animals, or nature, which, in their view has a right to exist just for the sake of existing.

While most of the 22 million-acre reserve is open to oil development, its lake-pocked northeastern corner has been fenced off, dating back to the Reagan administration, because of environmental concerns. That area also is viewed as having the highest oil and gas potential within the reserve.

The Fish and Wildlife Service, which like the BLM is part of the Interior Department, has said the area around Lake Teshekpuk in the northeast corner of the NPRA is among the most important molting areas in the entire Arctic for wild geese. It is also used for calving and insect relief by herds of caribou.

The BLM, however, has concluded that more than 400,000 acres surrounding Lake Teshekpuk should be opened for exploratory drilling with restrictions. The government estimates the area contains about 2 billion barrels of economically recoverable oil and 3.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Henri Bisson, the BLM's Alaska director, outlined the planned action in a speech posted Friday on the agency's Web site, predicting the decision will prompt strong criticism from environmental activists and a likely lawsuit.

Well, if at first you don't' succeed, sue and sue again.

Long time "Tonight Show" host Johnny Carson passed away in his sleep at the age of 79. Carson hosted the "Tonight Show" for thirty years.

I vaugely remember watching him on TV. He struck me as a nice soft-spoken man.

On the other hand, when Joan Rivers was the guest host of the show, she was hillarious. With her designer gowns, her FULL face of makeup, and her raspy voice, she expertly made fun of herself (and others). And for those of you who though she was too nasty to the celebs whose outfits she didn't approve of on her "E" show, she was even more obnoxious (and funny) as guest-host of the "Tonight Show."

The oldest woman in the world, Hanna Barysevich of Belarus turned 116 in May 2004.

For those of you wondering how she ate, this might come as a surprise:

As to diet, Barysevich prefers simple village food: homemade sausages, pork fat, milk and bread.

Meanwhile, Power Bar founder, and world class marathon runner Brian Maxwell died of a heart attack in March of 2004 at the age of 51.


It just goes to show you, the dietollahs don't know best.

George W. Bush's re-election is just too much for some on the left, who turned violent during the inaugural parade.

Several dozen protesters thronged toward the security fence, lobbing bottles, trash and snowballs at police, witnesses said. More than 100 police officers were at the scene where hundreds of protesters had gathered.

A small group of anti-Bush demonstrators overturned several of the metal security barricades, and a handful of protesters broke through.

Witnesses said they saw police use pepper spray against some of the protesters.

Also along the route toward the White House, protesters set a small fire close to the barricades.

Hate to break it to you spoiled brats, but harming police officers, setting fires and stampeding barricades won't do anything to advance your cause. It will just make you look like the out-of-touch, America hating, filthy, smelly hoodlums you truly are.

And face it, these people wouldn't be whining about voting machine irregularities, discrimination and a stolen election if John Kerry had won Ohio. It would have just been the will of the people, fair and square.

Anyway, here's a group of women who I'm sure is very happy that President Bush got re-elected. Will we hear about this from the American feminists? No way, since it doesn't afford them an opportunity to bash the President.

We encounter them everywhere -- on the bus, on the street, in restaurants -- always talking to an invisible companion. They're people gabbing on cell phones, and they can be obnoxious.

And just to elaborate, they can also be found topless in the women's locker rooms at gyms in Manhattan obliviously yapping away. That's just one of the reasons I no longer belong to any gyms.

Fortunately a group of entrepreneurs has come up with a solution.

The people making these notecards give some advice on how to use them:

If downloaders are going to use the cards, Coudal suggests handing one out and then leaving the immediate area.

"We don't really want to be responsible for a confrontation in the shoe department of Nordstrom's or anything," he said.

What about a confrontation in the women's locker room of the chi chi Equinox gym? Would that play out any differently with a topless woman.

Maybe they should also make a card that reads "keep it down and show some modesty, will you?"

But seriously, obnoxious cell phone users, I think, act that way because they believe they come across as important. It's like how some people always say they're busy.

A while back, Allure magazine did a commentary on people who always go on about how busy they are. (This was a long time ago, and I don't have the link.) The writer of the piece opined that telling people about their busy schedules gave them a feeling of status, and also that the words "I'm busy" are used to justify all kinds of rude behavior.

In her view, which I agree with 100%, truly busy, important people never pontificate about how busy they are, and, their desks are spotless. (I guess that does it for me, since I've always been a slob with a messy desk.) She ended by quoting Ross Perot who said, "If I had wanted an appointment every hour, I'd have become a dentist."

Very well put.

And I'm glad of it:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) members separately rejected on Wednesday an emergency request from a California atheist who sought to stop the recital of prayers at President Bush (news - web sites)'s inauguration.

Maybe now, Newdow with go away.

Newdow, who lives in Sacramento, California, said he would drop his plans to attend the inauguration if forced to confront the prayers by two Christian ministers.

Good! Don't go. The less nut-jobs there, the better.

More...

Today's Wictory Wednesday, where bloggers help raise money for various GOP candidates.

Today we're helping Rick Santorum by donating at
https://www.rapiddonor.com/Santorum2006/

To see PoliPundit's post, click here.

Is it just me, or have the judges in this country gone koo koo?

Michael Newdow (who unfortunately won't just drop off the face of this earth) is appealing his inaugural prayer case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Somehow I doubt that the Supreme Court will throw this case.

The liberal argument will be that we all should have private freedom of religion, as well as freedom NOT to believe in a deity.

So I wonder what this moron would say should be done about parents who (hypothetically) murder their child, cut up the corpse in tiny pieces and make a human broth of the remains, as a religious practice. Does that constitute religious freedom? Obviously not. The reason is that our society is founded on Judeo-Christian values, where life is sacred.

It's annoying that this man is taking up the Court's time (and taxpayer money) over an inaugural prayer. No one is forcing him to convert to Christianity at gunpoint. And nowhere in the Constitution is there a right not to feel uncomfortable.

Anyway, I hope I'm wrong, but I see the Justices debating this one to death, whereas in the case of Saudi Arabia, U.S. District judge Richard Casey dismissed claims against Saudi Arabia, Saudi princes and Saudi banks by 9/11 survivors:

The judge dismissed claims against Al-Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp., Saudi American Bank, Arab Bank Plc, and royalty including Saudi Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.

Casey, in a 62-page, single-spaced opinion, allowed claims to go forward against Saudi Binladin Group, the construction and distribution company run by bin Laden's relatives.

Casey refused to dismiss claims against the National Commercial Bank and several other defendants. Also, dozens of defendants, including foundations and charities such as the Muslim World League, weren't involved in the ruling.

These judges need to held accountable.

That's what Maureen Dowd thinks.

She laments powerful men taking up with their secretaries, publicists, nannie, flight attendants, etc. In her view, men are not attracted to smart women. Dowd even quotes studies done by psychologists:

A new study by psychology researchers at the University of Michigan, using college undergraduates, suggests that men going for long-term relationships would rather marry women in subordinate jobs than women who are supervisors.

As Dr. Stephanie Brown, the lead author of the study, summed it up for reporters: "Powerful women are at a disadvantage in the marriage market because men may prefer to marry less-accomplished women." Men think that women with important jobs are more likely to cheat on them.

"The hypothesis," Dr. Brown said, "is that there are evolutionary pressures on males to take steps to minimize the risk of raising offspring that are not their own." Women, by contrast, did not show a marked difference in their attraction to men who might work above or below them. And men did not show a preference when it came to one-night stands.

A second study, which was by researchers at four British universities and reported last week, suggested that smart men with demanding jobs would rather have old-fashioned wives, like their mums, than equals. The study found that a high I.Q. hampers a woman's chance to get married, while it is a plus for men. The prospect for marriage increased by 35 percent for guys for each 16-point increase in I.Q.; for women, there is a 40 percent drop for each 16-point rise.

Evolution, my tukhas!

My feeling on "studies" is that they can, and often are used to justify whatever hypotheses the researchers set out to prove.

So my answer to Ms Dowd and these researchers is that smart is one thing. Being a castrating bitch is a completely different story.

In fact studies have shown that women (myself included) prefer working for a male boss as opposed to a female boss:

Generally, although attitudes are becoming more positive toward female managers, employees are still more likely to say they prefer a male boss to a female boss (Gallup, 2001)

.

But getting back to men and marriage, in her book "The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands" Dr. Laura Schlessinger directly takes on this type of woman:

SUZANNE: Hi Dr. Laura, I am a real estate agent, which is an all-or-none profession. I have been in it for about five years. I have just started to build up my career, and this past weekend, my husband gave me the ultimatum of either quitting my job or he wants a divorce.

DR. LAURA: Why?

SUZANNE: Because he feels neglected on weekends and evenings.

DR. LAURA: What if he was neglecting you on nights and weekends? Wouldn't you be in some women's group bitching about it?

Another Dr. Laura listener named Rachel was even more blunt:

Rachel, a listener, wrote that she also thought nagging was an inherent right of wifehood. Although she and her husband had been married for only about a year, they were arguing every day! She wanted the two of them to go into marriage counseling to help him discover what he was doing wrong. She felt that all her needs were important. For example, she would nag him about how to soak dishes, or get angry at him for forgetting something he'd said in passing three months earlier.

Who needs common sense when you can get paid for performing bogus studies, or for that matter, if you're Maureen Dowd.

Who needs another women's magazine?

You would think there are plenty of them already.

Wrong.

Up until now, there has never been a magazine targeted to female terrorists and wives of suicide bombers. Al Khansa appears to be the first of its kind, and it's nothing like Cosmo.

I'm not much of a tv watcher except for Fox News. But lately not even Sean Hannity (whose views I mostly agree with) is doing it for me. His arguments are pretty much the same each night, and some of them are acutally weak. So since I don't exactly see him "Hannitizing" himself in the forseeable future, I won't be tuning in every night.

But what I have been watching regularly each Sunday night is the series "Desperate Housewives." So for those of you who like the show as much as I do, here's a look at the latest events on Wisteria Lane.

Apparently having even one right of center news network on cable is unnacceptable to liberals. These allegedly tolerant compassionate people are not content with just having CBS, ABC, NBC, PBS, NPR, CNN, MSNBC, the Associated Press, Al-Reuters, (as in we don't use the word terrorist), BBC, Al-Guardian UK, The New York Times, The L.A. Times, and The Washington Post in their corner.

The want to shut out Fox News from their cable boxes.

Gee, I wonder what would happed if a similar device was invented to block out CNN. The liberals would cry "censorship." And it would all be the fault of President Bush and the big bad right wingers.

The Left does not just want equal opportunity. They also want equality of outcomes. If people have unequal amounts of wealth, then that's a civil right's issue right there.

Since when did having wealth equaling that of another person, or group become a right? As a personal example, I'm not a brain surgeon. But I'm sure that good brain surgeons make lots more money than I do. Are my civil rights being violated because I make less than the brain surgeons?

A job is a two way street. If someone wants to pay you for whatever skill or service you offer to the best of your ability, and you agree on the wage, that's great. It doesn't mean it's the government's job to force someone to hire you.

This also reminds me of the whole censorship/free speech issue. As I understand it, freedom of speech means that the government can't lock you up for mentioning casually to friends that you hate President Bush. It does *not* mean you can mouth off to your boss without consequences. Nor does it mean that people should be forced to subsidize forums for ideas that they find repugnant. Take for example, Linda Rondstadt's Las Vegas concert of a few months ago where she was booed for calling Michael Moore a patriot. The audience was well within its rights. They paid to hear her sing, not to engage in a political rant.

As the saying goes, you insult your employer at your own peril.

Guess how!

It's really quite simple. The industrialized countries need to up their aid to poor countries to half of a percent of their national incomes. Don't believe it? Well the beloved U.N. says it's "utterly affordable."

"We're talking about rich countries committing 50 cents out of every $100 of income to help the poorest people in the world get a foothold on the ladder of development," said Sachs, appointed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to head the project in 2002.

The worldwide outpouring of grief and aid since the tsunami killed more than 150,000 people has stirred hope here that the same wellspring of empathy can be tapped for what Sachs called "the silent tsunami" of global poverty that kills more than 150,000 children every month from malaria alone.

So then, Americans are not paying enough taxes?

I wonder if these bureaucrats even know the meaning of the world capitalism. Did it ever occur to them that the most prosperous countries are ones where individual rights and property rights are upheld?

I doubt it. To them, it's all a matter of industrialized, prosperous countries being stingy. It's as if they believe that the wealth created in America makes other countries poorer. That bromide is debunked here, and here.

Andrew Bernstein of the Ayn Rand Institute describes capitalism best in an old commentary piece:

Capitalism is a social system based on individual rights, the right of every individual to his life, his liberty and the pursuit of his own happiness. The thinkers of the Enlightenment, including John Locke and the Founding Fathers, brought these ideas to the forefront in Europe and America. The result was an economic revolution, which--in a relatively brief time--transformed the West from a poverty-stricken region to one of great productive wealth. This system of freedom liberated the most creative minds of Western society, resulting in a torrent of innovations--from James Watt's steam engine to Louis Pasteur's germ theory to Henry Ford's automobile to the Wright Brothers' airplane and much more. This new freedom, and the Industrial Revolution it spawned, resulted in vast increases in agricultural and industrial production.

Creative minds--from Thomas Edison to Steve Jobs--flourish only under freedom. The result is new products, new jobs, new wealth, in short: the furtherance of life on earth, in length, quantity and quality. Under the kings, theocracies, military dictatorships and socialist regimes that dominate Africa, such minds are stifled. The result is stagnation, poverty and death.

Africa has the identical natural resource fundamentally responsible for the West's rise: the human mind. But it has neither the freedom nor the Enlightenment philosophy of reason, individualism and political liberty necessary for creating wealth and health. Africa is mired in tribal cultures that stress subordination to the group rather than personal independence and achievement. All over the continent brutal dictators murder and rob innocent citizens in order to aggrandize themselves and members of their tribes.

Time to give that U.N. the boot!

Hey everyone!

I've updated my blogroll yet again. So feel free to check out these blogs:

Ari Goes Down

Clarefied

F Train

Ivan Lenin

Ken Wheaton

Kesher Talk

Kevin McCullough

My Urban Kvetch

Enjoy!

Last night, a bunch of NYC bloggers gathered at Manhattan's Ruby Lounge in the East Village to celebrate fellow blogger C's (A Picture of Me) birthday.

It's so nice to be able to associate a face with a blog. I finally met for the first time Ken Wheaton, Esther, Ivan Lenin, Funnya, Ariana, Dawn, and Dave

It was also nice seeing Karol, Jessica, Lisa,Judith, Mary, Ace of Spades, Yaron and Paul again.

Anyway, the funniest part of the evening for me was when I first met Candace who said to me "oh you're the one who hates the hawks."

Heheheh.

I guess I'm developing a reputation.

Recently, the atheists went ballistic about this comment that President Bush made about his belief in G-d:

And on the other hand, I don't see how you can be president - at least from my perspective, how you can be president, without a - without a relationship with the Lord," he added.

So for the highest office in the land, and leader of the free world, it looks like the atheists would prefer someone who felt no accountability whasoever to any type of higher authority. Of course, liberals would reply to this saying that the President of the United States is accountable to the American people.

Hate to break it to you lefties, but public opinion is fickle. Then again, atheists will shoot back and say that logic can be substituted for religion. Nice try, but logic can be twisted to justify a multitude of sins like, for example communism and Nazism.

So then what? Would the atheists prefer that our next President think that HE is a type of deity?

No way. Our Declaration of Independence explicitly states that we are endowed by our "Creator" (with a capital "C") with "certain inalienable rights." The document never says our rights are granted to us by our government.

And remember, what a government gives, it can also take away.

You would think that America deposing a homicidal dictator and attempting to bring democracy to Iraq to prevent more terrorism would be a good thing. But not for some eternal malcontents across the Pond:

LONDON, Jan. 15 (AP) - American-led troops using the ancient Iraqi city of Babylon as a base have damaged and contaminated artifacts dating back thousands of years in one of the world's most important archaeological sites, the British Museum said Saturday.

For example, military vehicles crushed a 2,600-year-old brick pavement, and archaeological fragments, including broken bricks stamped by King Nebuchadnezzar II, were scattered at the site, a museum report said. The dragons at the Ishtar Gate were marred by cracks and gaps where someone tried to remove their decorative bricks, the report said.

John Curtis, keeper of the British Museum's Near East department, who was invited by the Iraqis to study the site, said in the report, "This is tantamount to establishing a military camp around the Great Pyramid in Egypt or around Stonehenge in Britain."

He acknowledged that at first the American presence protected the site from looters. But later work - including covering large areas with gravel to provide parking lots and helipads - was damaging, he said.

My oh my!

But to me, what's even worse is that the U.S. military is worrying about freaking ruins at a time like this:

The United States military says that all earth moving has been halted and that it is considering relocating troops to protect the ruins.

Lt. Col. Steven Boylan, an American military spokesman, said that all engineering work was discussed with the head of the Babylon museum. "An archaeologist examined every construction initiative for its impact on historical ruins," he said.

This British Museum seems to value ancient artifacts more than the well being and lives of coalition troops and Iraqi citizens. As far as I'm concerned, we should not be kowtowing to them.

Some people, no matter how educated, successful, or affluent have no "I." By "I" I mean a sense of themselves as individuals, as opposed to part of the collective. They base their value on what other people think of them, sometimes regardless of who these other people are. They are, in fact, modern day "Peter Keatings."

One example is people who pay money to be escorted by a party buddy to hip Manhattan night clubs that they couldn't get into on their own -- for $350 to $1,200 per night.

Sounds like groveling to me.

If this woman was my mother, I would have also had sex at the age of twelve.

The re-election of President Bush for a second term is just too embarrassing for some lefties whose raison d'etre lately seems to be kissing foreign tukhas (backside) across the Pond:

NEW YORK - After spending 10 days in London with friends who were outspoken about their disdain for President Bush’s policies, Berns Rothchild came home wishing she had a way to show the world she didn’t vote for him.

“I sort of felt ashamed, and didn’t really want to be associated with being an American,” said Rothchild, who lives in New York City and voted for John Kerry.

At this point, you all might be wondering if Ms. Rothchild decided to pack up and move to Germany.

Unfortunately, that's not happening. And quite frankly, I *might* even have a modicum of respect for people who actually leave the country and give up their citizenship, as they would be backing up their blather with some action. But then again, these people are all talk and nothing more.

Instead, Rothchild, and other Kerry supporters decided to sell plastic bracelets, inspired by Lance Armstrong's LIVESTRONG wrist bands. Rothchild's bracelets are blue , and say "Count Me Blue." And there are other bracelets that say I DID NOT VOTE 4 BUSH.

However, conservative's are getting in on the action too, starting with Bern Rothchild's father John.

John Rothchild, a Miami Beach, Fla., resident who voted for Bush, has invested in 5,000 “COUNT ME RED” bracelets.

He has hired his daughter’s boyfriend, who created her Web site, to create his, which he launched this week.

“Now we’re sort of having a father-daughter competition to see who can sell more,” Berns Rothchild said.

Unfortunately for Michael Newdow, a judge has ruled in favor of President Bush saying a Christian prayer at his inauguration.

Newdow argued that saying a Christian prayer at the Jan. 20 ceremony would violate the Constitution by forcing him to accept unwanted religious beliefs.

Now I'd like to know how President Bush saying a Christian prayer violates anyone's freedom of religion. What Newdown conveniently ignores is that America was founded based on Judeo Christian values, which is not the same as a state established religion.

On another note, Davison High School, has once again rejected former student Michael Moore's nomination to the Davison High School Hall of Fame.

Most people would not find this surprising. Yet Democrats keep trying to come up with elaborate explanations for their huge loss this November just can't acknowledge that a lot of it is due to this anti-American cow.

I have often remarked (to anyone who would listen) that women's evening wear and wedding gowns look a lot like negligees. So when I look at pictures of celebrities in their skimpy evening gowns, it just looks to me like the women did their hair and makeup but otherwise didn't bother getting dressed.

Now it seems this trend is filtering down to ordinary people. Apparently, a 39 year old male jogger in West Memphis, literally could not be bothered to get dressed for his routine jogs.

What the logic of such a person is, I just can't imagine.

In the United States, if a person is overweight, he or she will be told invariably by doctors, nutritionists, magazines, diet books and personal trainers to cut out the saturated fat. For decades, the conventional wisdom has been that saturated fat makes you fat, clogs up your arteries, makes your cholesterol skyrocket, and will ensure that you die of a heart attack. This is the reasoning behind the Lipid Hypothesis.

Just today, the American dietollahs issued another warning that Americans should stick to low fat or fat free milk. Not surprising.

How is it that French (and I'm no Francophile) enjoy butter croissants, triple cream cheeses, sausage, and steak au poivre, among another things, and generally remain slimmer than Americans? And how is it that the French have lower rates of heart disease and cancer than Americans? The dietollahs blatantly ignore this since it contrasts their dogma.

Yet there fortunately have been some dissenting voices. The Cleveland based dentist, Dr. Weston A. Price traveled all around the world and studied the differences between so-called "primitive" cultures and those eating Western foods. Dr. Price's data is presented in his book "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration."

Clinical nutritionist, Dr. Mary Enig and the current president of the Weston A. Price Foundation Sally Fallon are continuing where Dr. Price left off here, here, and here.

Senator Hillary Clinton is not satisfied with President Bush's women's health policy, saying that it provides too much emphasis on abstinence, and not enough on family planning/birth control/abortion.

President Bush's administration is backing Uganda's policy on AIDS prevention, called ABC, which stands for abstinence, being faithful and condom use. But at international conferences the United States puts the emphasis on abstinence rather than contraceptives, especially among single people.

"ABC is a good strategy, but it has three parts to it and we need to remind the administration of that," Clinton told the International Women's Health Coalition, which funds and helps women's health projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

As I've said many times, abstinence is the only form of contraception that is 100% effective. So I sometimes feel as if there's a conspiracy to get every young woman to have sex, no matter if she's too young or otherwise uncomfortable. The conventional wisdom seems to be that young women need to get over their "hangups" in this regard.

Also, and this is going to sound VERY politically incorrect, if a woman is single and dirt poor, then unprotected intercourse is a luxury she cannot afford. (And I don't care if you're black, brown, purple, white, or what country you live in.) Now granted, condoms are not 100% effective as birth control, or as protection against STD's. That's where being faithfull, or ideally, married, comes into play.

In some ways, this situation reminds me of the use of sunscreen to prevent skin cancer. Several studies have shown that sunscreens don't always guarantee a person will be free of skin cancer. The reasoning is that people apply too little of the stuff, thinking that's enough to protect them, then play in the sun for a long time, and then forget to reapply the stuff after they've been swimming.

Hey everyone,

It's Wictory Wednesday.

Today we're helping Progress for America promote Social Security reform
by donating at

https://secure.securecontribution.com/pfa/contribute1.jsp

A mixed breed Pekingese dog survived a flight in an eagle's claws and found his way home to its owners in Bozeman, MT.

This all makes me wonder about how those moonbats in Manhattan who protested the removal of the hawks nest from the cornice of 927 Fifth Avenue would feel if it was their dog that was snatched up by these birds of prey.

On a lighter note, word is that Oscar de la Renta will be designing Laura Bush's inaugural ball gown which will be made of silver/blue tulle embroidered in bugle beads and outlined in Austrian crystal.

Other designers who have recently been dressing Mrs. Bush include Carolina Herrera and Peggy Jennings (who I have never heard of until now).

For the upcoming festivities, the Bush twins will be wearing clothing designed by Badgely Mischka, Lela Rose, Derek Lam and Oscar de la Renta.

Yet dressing a First Lady is apparently not without its challenges:

"You have to be very diplomatic to dress a president's wife," said Arnold Scaasi, who has wardrobed his share, including Barbara Bush, the president's mother; Mrs. Kennedy; and Mamie Eisenhower. "You must tell them nicely that they didn't look too great before you, and would look so much better now if they would only listen to you. "

Wrong Arnold. Telling a woman how bad she looks is not going to score you any points. It's like the stories I hear about women booking facials only to have the facialist go on and on about how bad their skin is, and that they this that and the other cream or potion. It's a big turn off.

Apparently, lefty billionaire George Soros is no longer meditating in his monastery. Word is, he's back to funding left wing groups to counter the influence of right wing organizations such as the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute.

Personally, I just don't understand where these lefty billionaires are coming from.

A defiant Mary Mapes continues to defend the authenticity of the Bush National Guard documents:

I am shocked by the vitriolic scape-goating in Les Moonves's statement. I am very concerned that his actions are motivated by corporate and political considerations . ratings rather than journalism.

Honey, you aren't exactly blameless in this, so don't start off talking about scapegoating.

Mr. Moonves's response to the review panel's report and the panel's assessment of the evidence it developed in its investigation combine not only to condemn me, but to put all investigative reporting in the CBS tradition at risk.

That's exactly the point Mary. Your beloved tradition of investigative reporting amounts to being nothing more than the mouthpiece of the DNC.

Much has been made about the fact that these documents are photocopies and therefore cannot be trusted, but decades of investigative reporting have relied on just such copies of memos, documents and notes. In vetting these documents, we did not have ink to analyze, original signatures to compare, or paper to date. We did have context and corroboration and believed, as many journalists have before and after our story, that authenticity is not limited to original documents. Photocopies are often a basis for verified stories.

Again that same fake but accurate spiel.

It is noteworthy the panel did not conclude that these documents are false. Indeed, in the end, all that the panel did conclude was that there were many red flags that counseled against going to air quickly. I never had control of the timing of any airing of a 60 Minutes segment; that has always been a decision made by my superiors. Airing this story when it did, was also a decision made by my superiors, including Andrew Heyward. If there was a journalistic crime committed here, it was not by me. Those superiors also made the decision to give the White House little time to consider or respond to the Killian documents. Contrary to the conclusions of the panel, I vetted all aspects of the story with my editors. In fact, as I have always done with my editors, I told them everything.

Fair enough. Others have also noted that the big guys on top never get blamed.

Quite frankly, I think she should have just apologized. But then again, it seems like most people view apologizing as a sign of weakness or ignorance. I see it as more like owning up to your actions in a given situation.

Dan Rather also made a bland statement today, where he doesn't really seem to be apologizing for his part in this whole scandal. (Link via LGF)

To read Mapes' entire statement, click here.

Hey folks,

Here are the latest additions to my blogroll:

Da Goddess

Prolegomena

Slagle Rock's Slaughterhouse

Strange Women Lying in Ponds

Enjoy!

Apparently, being wrapped up in an Israeli flag, having a woman rub up against you in a sexual manner and being tied up in a cold room with loud music blaring is now considered tantamount to torture. Heck, lots of people would pay for that kind of treatment.

Now I'd like to know what the heck our country is coming to when people whine over stuff like this. You never hear them getting this worked up over aid workers or businessmen who are kidnapped and beheaded by terrorists. But instead, they get worked up over terrorists, who as I understand are not subject to the Geneval Convention rules, who feel "humiliated."

To read the entire article, click here.

Four people in Florida have been paralyzed after being injected with raw botulism, marketed as a cheaper alternative to Botox.

To me, the first moral of this story is never skimp on cosmetic surgery procedures if you insist on having them.

Also, not to be a party pooper, but no injection or cream will completely undo years of sun exposure, smoking, drinking, recreational drug use, sleep deprivation, poor diet and lack of exercise.

The best advice I can give for women is to stay the heck out of the sun and wear sunscreen every freaking day of the year.

Four CBS staffers have been fired over fake Bush National Guard documents. Fortunately, Mary Mapes was one of them. The independent panel assigned to investigate the "60 Minutes Wednesday Report" found that CBS sacrificed accuracy and CBS standards as a result of its "myopic zeal" to be first with the story.

Or how about the zealous obsession with bringing down a president during a war? Apparently, Mary Mapes had been working on this story for five years. And all she could come up with were forged documents which were quickly identified as such by bloggers.

Kim Gandy, leader of the National Organization for Women, pledged yesterday to hound President Bush on reproductive rights, same sex marriage, social security, minimum wage and the war in Iraq. Gandy ranted as follows:

"What about abstinence only?" she asked, referring to Bush's view on sex education. "Don't you just love to call it `ignorance only'? It's a form of `femicide' -- keeping women in the dark, afraid or calling them sinners or wanton."

I'm sure everyone will agree that abstinence is the only form of birth control that is 100% effective. Also actions have consequences -- That is, a woman can get pregnant from having sex. And extra-marital sex ALWAYS has consequences.

Bush's push to privatize Social Security will hurt women, who typically live longer than men and are less likely to have a pension from work, according to NOW.

I don't know what planet Ms. Gandy has been living on, but in this day and age, stay at home wives are not the norm, thanks on one end, to our punitive tax system. I also have a hard time believing that Ms. Gandy and other liberal women rely solely on Social Security to finance their retirement. You can be sure those women are investing in stocks. But they don't want that freedom for the poor women they are supposedly championing.

Yet I'm not surprised. NOW is really all about having bigger government, and opposing capitalism by redistributing wealth.

That seems to be the motto of the Alliance for Democracy, which has been vigorously fighting the certification of George W. Bush as the winner of the November 2004 presidential election.

The alliance has played a leading role in financing and filing a lawsuit on behalf of 44 Ohio voters, contesting the election in the Ohio Supreme Court. The lead lawyer in the suit is Clifford Arnebeck, an Ohio attorney and the alliance's cochairman

They also believe that the big bad corporations are the cause of all of society's ills:

While its Ohio efforts have taken the spotlight, the alliance is waging other campaigns as well. It opposes corporate ownership of water utilities, promotes universal health care, and battles international agreements that increase corporate globalization.

Naturally the solution for such groups is always bigger government. I'm surprised these people haven't moved to Canada yet. But then again, they're all talk and nothing more.

But on another note, a Kerry voter (for once) gives an intelligent reason why the Democrats lost this November

It's probably asking too much, but maybe he can knock some sense into the litigious moonbats of the Alliance for Democracy.

The winner of this year's Wacky Warning Label Contest, sponsored by Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch, was for a flushable toilet brush label that says "do not use for personal hygiene."

This group's purpose is to ultimately lessen frivolous lawsuits by getting more people motivated to read product warning labels.

Some of you might ask, "what about using common sense?"

Looks like some crazy liberals find that concept outdated, being that they can get financially compensated for their stupidity, through lawsuits.

Here's a look at what the runners up won for:

* The $250 second place award went to Matt Johnson of Naperville, Illinois for a label on a popular scooter for children that warns: “This product moves when used.”

* Third place and $100 went to Ann Marie Taylor of Camden, South Carolina who found the following warning on a digital thermometer that can be used to take a person’s temperature several different ways: “Once used rectally, the thermometer should not be used orally.”

* Fourth place was a label on an electric hand blender promoted for use in “blending, whipping, chopping and dicing,” that warns: “Never remove food or other items from the blades while the product is operating.” Sent in by Ken Stein of Berkeley, California.

*In fifth place was a label on a nine- by three-inch bag of air used as packing material. It carries this warning: “Do not use this product as a toy, pillow, or flotation device.”Sent in by Christen Millard of Westerville, Ohio.

A brand new "right" has been discovered by the liberal loonie defenders of psychotic and drug addicted, promiscuous mothers who neglect or murder their children:

The right to procreate.

Family court judge Marilyn O'Connor ordered thirty one year old judged W. to stop having children until she proves she can look after the seven she already has (by seven different men). Three of the children tested positive for cocaine at birth. Currently, all the children are in foster care.

Naturally, the New York Civil Liberties Union is up in arms:

The New York Civil Liberties Union maintained that the opinion cannot be enforced because it "tramples on a fundamental right - the right to procreate."

"There is no question the circumstances of this case are deeply troubling," said the group's executive director, Donna Lieberman. "But ordering a woman under threat of jail not to have any more babies ... puts the court squarely in the bedroom. And that's no place for the government."

Wrong Donna! What kind of society are we if we allow such abuse to take place. Clearly this woman has shown, by sleeping around and snorting coke that she has no interest in taking care of her existing children. And if she refuses to act responsibly, then somebody has to protect the children. But then again, the loonie liberals are not concerned with the rights of children to grow up in a loving home free from violence and neglect.

This all reminds me of the Andrea Yates case. Yates was found guilty of drowning her five children in the bathtub. Here was a clearly unstable woman taking psychotropic medication, who ignored the advice of her psychiatrist not to have more children (Heck, Bill O'Reilly, mentioned in one of his shows a while back that the doctor even wrote on the prescription pad "no more kids").

It seemed to me like Yates and her husband believed that their "right" to procreate trumped every other logical consideration. Obviously, when things got rough, Yates must have felt that her mental troubles must gave her the "right" to drown her children.

Currently Yates' murder convictions have been overturned due to the faulty testimony of a defense witness.

Somehow I wouldn't be surprised if Yates were to get pregnant yet again!

I've been reading a lot about people who are so disappointed that Bush was re-elected that they've been considering a move to Canada.

But I was shocked to find out where some of Manhattan's Jewish liberals want to escape TO, post election:

GERMANY!!!

“There are ways in which one can describe the U.S. as a fascist country,” says Michael Ochs, a retired editor whose family left Germany in 1939, when he was 2. He’s gathered up the necessary documents—including his old German passport, stamped with a large, red J—though he has no intention of moving back right away. He views it more as a precaution: “It’s very Jewish to want to know where the exit is.”

Un-freakin' believable!

Younger applicants tend to see a German passport more as a ticket to an EU identity. Rebecca, 26, a writer whose grandmother left Germany in the late thirties, has vague plans about living in Europe. “I don’t think it’d be Germany,” she quickly adds. But she may hold off on applying. The thought of telling her grandmother about her plans terrifies her (as evidenced by her request not to use her last name). “Most things I do in my life, she doesn’t need to know about. But this requires her birth certificate. I’m going to have to wait for her to die to apply.”

These moonbats are taking advantage of a clause in the German constitution of 1949:

Article 116 of the 1949 German Constitution established a “right of return” for Jews who fled between 1933 and 1945, and their descendants.

To these people, who are too stupid to appreciate the country they live in, I say good riddance, and don't let the door hit you on the way out!

Check this out to see how you measure up.

Now I've been living in Manhattan for almost twelve years, and at least half the stuff this article mentions doesn't apply to me. I must be getting old. Oh well.

Well it looks like CBS will be eating a nice large portion of crow, since they gambled with that National Guard story and lost, big time.

According to a Broadcasting & Cable source in Washington, D.C., CBS News president Andrew Heyward, along with Washington bureau chief Janet Leissner, recently met with White House communications director Dan Bartlett, in part to repair chilly relations with the Bush administration.

Heyward was “working overtime to convince Bartlett that neither CBS News nor Rather had a vendetta against the White House,” our source says, “and from here on out would do everything it could to be fair and balanced.” CBS declined to comment.

More...

I for one am interested in seeing how CBS will get itself out of this one.

Clare Short believes that President Bush must not undermine the U.N. with regard to international efforts to help the Tsunami victims in Asia.

In Ms. Short's view, the U.N. and its agencies are not culpable for the violence taking place in Darfur, the genocide in Rwanda and the Oil For Food Scandal. The U.S. and the U.K are, since they dominate the Security Council.

I find this growing appetite for UN bashing very worrying. In a period of growing international disorder, humanitarian crisis and environmental threat, there is a major push by the world's strongest power to undermine the only system we have for taking co-ordinated action to enforce peace, respond to humanitarian crisis and reach environmental agreements.

Personally, I wonder if Ms. Short finds THIS disturbing.

Is it ok to rape young girls as long as the rapists are part of an organization with large role in the "international humanitarian system?"

Somehow I suspect it would ok with Ms. Short as long as there was an opportunity to bash the United States and President Bush.

Since I doubt the MSM will devote any attention to this, I thought I'd spread the word about the Mullahs in Iran having bloggers tortured.

Via Jeff Jarvis