Amy Winehouse Targeted by Muslim Terrorists

We just reported about how much Muslims hate Cliff Richard. Now it seems they have targeted Amy Winehouse has well. Mess with her and you're likely to draw back a nub.

Reports have emerged today (January 7) claiming that Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson have been included on a "terror target" hit list made in reaction to the current conflict in the Gaza region.

The Sun said comments were made on the forum of Ummah.com.

A post on the forum apparently called for users to compile "a list of top Jews we can target," which included both Winehouse and Ronson's names.

British anti-terror expert Glen Jenvey told The Sun that the comments should be taken seriously.

"The Ummah website has been used by extremists," he said. "Those listed should treat it very seriously. Expect a hate campaign and intimidation by 20 or 30 thugs."

Other celebrity's allegedly included on the list are The Apprentice U.K.'s Sir Alan Sugar and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

Where Have We Seen This Before?

Shades of Bill Clinton --President-elect Barack Obama's top political aides are transplanting their campaign tactics to the policy arena, using data from polls and focus groups to shape the debate over a stimulus plan that may cost at least $775 billion. David Axelrod, Obama's chief political adviser, along with campaign media adviser Jim Margolis, are encouraging lawmakers to use the word "recovery" instead of recession, and "investment" instead of "infrastructure." Those recommendations came from focus-group research indicating that such framing would make the package more appealing to voters. The Obama camp is trying to build support for the stimulus proposals, which have encountered resistance from lawmakers of both parties over size and cost.

Sorry White Folks. Y'all are Still Racist

Damnit! A perfectly good token president-elect and we get absolutely no street cred for it. Who else but CNN?

A new study published Thursday in the journal Science suggests many people unconsciously harbor racist attitudes, even though they see themselves as tolerant and egalitarian.

"This study, and a lot of research in social psychology, suggests that there are still really a lot of negative associations with blacks," said Kerry Kawakami, associate professor of psychology at York University in Toronto, Ontario, and lead author of the study. "People are willing to tolerate racism and not stand up against it."

The authors divided 120 non-black participants into the roles of "experiencers" and "forecasters." The "experiencers" were placed in a room with a white person and a black person, who played out pre-arranged scenarios for the experiment. The scenarios began when the black role-player bumped the white role-player's knee when leaving the room.

In the first scenario, the white person did not comment afterwards. In the "moderate" case, the white person said, "Typical, I hate it when black people do that," after the black person left the room. In the "extreme" case, the white person remarked, "Clumsy n****r."

Dang! I wonder what my co-employees say about me when I spill coffee on their laptops and leave the room?

Joe Kennedy Just Can't Stop Sucking Off Socialist Dictators

Wipe your chin when you're done Joe.

CITGO Petroleum Corporation confirmed the continuation of its social programs in alignment with the solidarity principles endorsed by the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela through its national oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., said CITGO Chairman, President and CEO Alejandro Granado during a press conference here today with Citizens Energy Chairman Joseph P. Kennedy II.

“Therefore, our flagship social program, the CITGO-Venezuela Heating Oil Program will continue. This decision is the result of a strong commitment and a big effort on the part of CITGO and our shareholder in light of the current global financial crisis and its impact on the oil industry in general,” said Granado.

Meanwhile, Kennedy pointed out that he is “personally aware of President Chavez’s genuine concern for the most vulnerable, regardless of where they may live.”

“Evidence of this is that President Chávez wanted all necessary efforts made to ensure the continuation of the program, so that its recipients will not be disappointed,” Kennedy added.

“This decision is a clear, direct message from President Chávez of his desire to strengthen relations between his country and the United States, particularly at this time, when a new U.S. administration is scheduled to be sworn-in within the next few weeks,” Kennedy noted.

Hey Kids! Do You Really Want to Eat that Sea Kitten? -- PETA's Not so Subtle Effort to Indoctrinate Children

This is downright shameful. PETA's website is now presenting activities for children characterizing fish as "sea kittens". An obvious attempt to make them less scrumptious. Listen kids. Deep fat fry them kittens, and dip them in a little tartar sauce. Sea kitten or not. They sho' is tasty.



I have a problem. My real kitten loves the taste of sea kittens. Reckon I should have a talk with Mr. Pickles?

h/t Doug Ross

Muslims Hijack Radio Station Because they Really Hate Cliff Richard

I know he sux, but still.

The shocked owner of a radio station whose website has been hijacked by Muslim extremists believes it was targeted because they played a song by Cliff Richard.

Hackers removed the station’s home page and replaced it with haunting images and a message said to be on behalf of Ahmed Al-Qahtani - a suspect in the 9/11 attacks.

Radio Basingstoke owner and DJ Astrid Haigh-Smith was horrified to find her website pictured a spooky pair of green eyes above a woman on an altar.

The message, which was written in green on a black background, called on God to bless Muslim fighters, or Moujahidines, and warned the West not to insult Islam.

The station, whose website had 140,000 hits last month, expressed their support for British troops over Christmas and played Cliff Richard’s version of Hallelujah.

The ageing popstar is famous for being a Christian and the Leonard Cohen song was Christmas number one for X-Factor winner Alexandra Burke.

Obama Wants to Delay Digitial TV Transistion

I guess the messiah is afraid that half the people who voted for him want be able to see him on TV. This is some audacity. He stood there and preached for more than a year about how he and his people were the one to bring about change. How they gonna do that if they can't even get their TVs converted on time?

President-elect Barack Obama is urging Congress to postpone the Feb. 17 switch from analog to digital television broadcasting, arguing that too many Americans who rely on analog TV sets to pick up over-the-air channels won't be ready.

In a letter to key lawmakers Thursday, Obama transition team co-chair John Podesta said the digital transition needs to be delayed largely because the Commerce Department has run out of money for coupons to subsidize digital TV converter boxes for consumers. People who don't have cable or satellite service or a TV with a digital tuner will need the converter boxes to keep their older analog sets working.

Obama officials are also concerned the government is not doing enough to help Americans - particularly those in rural, poor or minority communities - prepare for and navigate the transition.

Ahh...So there's the problem. No more coupons. They're still waiting on the gravy train.

The Latest Machosauce Rant

This guy's 15 minutes have to be up don't they?

This is Cool: The First Commercial Wave Project

More. Build more.

The world's first commercial wave energy project is now delivering 2.25MW off the north Portugal coast. Ocean Power Delivery (OPD) has supplied the first three Pelamis P-750 "advanced wave energy conversion technology" machines, with another 28 machines being planned along the Portugal coast within a year. They will generate 22.5MW for state-run power company Energias de Portugal.

The order for the initial phase is worth €8.2m, funded by a Portuguese consortium led by Enersis. The project brings power ashore at Agucadoura, and will supply 1,500 homes using the national state run electricity grid system. When complete, the project should meet the average electricity demand of more than 15,000 Portuguese households. It should also displace above 60,000 carbon dioxide emissions tons per year.

The Pelamis has a similar output to a modern wind turbine. Future 'wave farm' projects are likely to consist of multiple interlinked machines connected to the shore by a single subsea cable. A typical 30MW installation would occupy a square kilometre of ocean.

Busted: Hamas Stages Scene in Gaza Hospital

LGF reader “Last Mohican,” a doctor, makes a strong case that this is an obvious fake.

I’m no military expert, but I am a doctor, and this video is bullsh-t. The chest compressions that were being performed at the beginning of this video were absolutely, positively fake. The large man in the white coat was NOT performing CPR on that child. He was just sort of tapping on the child’s sternum a little bit with his fingers. You can’t make blood flow like that. Furthermore, there’s no point in doing chest compressions if you’re not also ventilating the patient somehow. In this video, I can’t tell for sure if the patient has an endotracheal tube in place, but you can see that there is nobody bag-ventilating him (a bag is actually hanging by the head of the bed), and there is no ventilator attached to the patient. In a hospital, during a code on a ventilated patient, somebody would probably be bagging the patient during the chest compressions. And they also would have moved the bed away from the wall, so that somebody could get back there to intubate the patient and/or bag him. In short, the “resuscitation scene” at the beginning is fake, and it’s a pretty lame fake at that.

So the question is, were they re-enacting the resuscitation scene by repeating their actions on a corpse, because the child had died earlier? It’s likely that the answer is no, that child is still alive, and is just an actor pretending to be a child who was killed. Why do I say that? Because the big guy in the white coat, if he’s really a doctor, nurse, nurse’s aid, EMT, or any sort of health care provider at all would be entirely aware that tickling the boy’s sternum doesn’t really look like actual chest compressions. If the boy was dead, the man would have done a more convincing job in compressing the chest. The taps on the chest that he’s doing are the sort of thing you see in bad TV dramas, when you don’t want to make the poor actor playing the victim uncomfortable by really pushing on his chest. I think the man in the white coat knows this child is actually alive, and is making the simulated chest compressions gentle so as not to hurt the child. My guess is that he assumed the videographer, like those on better TV shows, would have been smart enough not to film as far down as the man’s hands on the chest.

ACLU Sues North Carolina School for Barring Peace Activist

Something tells me the ACLU has never been to the schools in this district. Otherwise, they wouldn't be so opposed to the job opportunities that the military provides these students.

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against a rural North Carolina school system that barred a peace activist from talking to high school students about alternatives to joining the military.

The lawsuit, filed Monday, says the Wilkes County school district and its superintendent violated the First Amendment by preventing Sally Ferrell from distributing pamphlets and other materials that warn students to think twice before joining the military.

The legal group is asking a judge to issue an injunction to allow Ferrell, a member of N.C. Peace Action, to distribute the materials and give her the same access to students as military recruiters who are allowed in the schools.

The case began in early 2005 when Ferrell, 63, a Quaker and longtime peace activist, became involved in the counter recruiting movement.

In recent years, thousands of people like Ferrell have joined dozens of counter recruiting groups. They say military recruiters have given students misleading information and often target high schools in poor and rural areas where options for graduating students are limited. And after years of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan - and more than 4,600 soldiers killed and 64,000 wounded in both wars - the activists want students to know they have other prospects.

Most schools have allowed counter recruiters. So Ferrell was optimistic when she began collecting materials from anti-war groups. In March 2005, she asked the district for permission to talk to students.

But Laws reviewed the materials and told her he wasn't going to let her in the district's five high schools. He said the military was a good career choice for students who weren't going to college. He also said he didn't think people should say anything negative about the military.

"Why rip apart the military because you don't like it?" Laws said. "It's wrong. I'm not going to allow that in my schools."

The school board backed Laws' decision.

Mumbai Terrorist Leaders Cheered as they Ordered Hostages to be Lined Up and Shot

Here's today's religion of peace update:

The Pakistan-based handlers of the Mumbai terrorists ordered the murders of civilians over the phone and cheered after hearing the gunfire, according to the dossier of evidence India provided to the Pakistani government.

The documents, obtained by the Indian newspaper The Hindu, provides a cold, calculating, and chilling look at the masterminds behind the late November military-style assault on the Indian financial capital of Mumbai. More than 170 people were killed and hundreds wounded during the 60 hour terror spree that shut down the city. The Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based terror group allied with al Qaeda and supported by powerful elements within Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence agency and the military, carried out the attack.

The Pakistan-based handlers provided real-time intelligence and directed the terrorists to killed specific hostages.

The exchange between Mumbai terrorists Fahadullah and Abdul Rehman operating at the Trident Hotel and their Pakistani handlers provides a terrifying look at the minds of the masterminds behind the attack. The exchange shows they planned and executed the attack for maximum media coverage, ordered the murder of hostages, and cheered after the murders were carried out.

“Brother Abdul. The media is comparing your action to 9/11,” one unidentified handler said. “One senior police official has been killed,” referring to the chief of the Anti-Terrorism Squad killed in an earlier gunfight.

“We are on the10th/11th floor,” Abdul Rehman responded. “We have five hostages.”

“Everything is being recorded by the media,” the handler identified as Kafa told Rehman. “Inflict the maximum damage. Keep fighting. Don’t be taken alive.”

“Kill all hostages, except the two Muslims,” the other handler told Rehman and Fahadullah. “Keep your phone switched on so that we can hear the gunfire.”

“We have three foreigners, including women,” Fahadullah said. “From Singapore and China.”

“Kill them,” the handler said.

Crap. Bird Flu is Back

China's Agriculture Ministry said on Thursday that it had found no bird flu cases amongst poultry in Beijing or areas surrounding the city after a woman in the capital died of the H5N1 form of the virus. Experts had fanned out to Beijing's neighboring city of Tianjin and Heibei province, which surrounds the capital and where the dead woman had bought ducks, the ministry said in a statement on its website (www.agri.gov.cn).

Mo Money

Damn fool.-- President-elect Barack Obama told CNBC he plans "a substantial overhaul" of financial markets in the coming months, including a major restructuring of regulatory agencies."Wall Street has not worked," Obama told CNBC's John Harwood in an exclusive interview. "So it's going to be a substantial overhaul. We're going to have better enforcement, better oversight, better disclosure, increased transparency.

EU Issues Ultimatum to Russia Over Gas Supply Cuts

Wake up folks. We're so far past Republicans vs. Democrats.

The EU gave Russia 24 hours to restore gas supplies last night after all deliveries to Ukraine were halted in a dispute over unpaid bills.

As 17 European countries reported cuts to supplies, the leaders of both Russia and Ukraine were warned to stop treating Europe's gas supply as a 'hostage'.

Significantly, the EU failed to spell out what action it planned to take if its warning was ignored.

As millions of people struggled to cope in sub-zero temperatures, it has emerged that gas prices could soar in Britain if there is not a swift resolution to the crisis.

Moscow pulled the plug on three major pipelines after a pricing dispute with Ukraine.
Supplies have dwindled throughout this week and today Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic confirmed their pipelines were empty.

Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Turkey are already out of gas.

Italy suffered a 90 per cent plunge, France was down 70 per cent and Germany was affected for the first time. Britain, however, is unlikely to run out of gas as only two per cent of supplies come from Russia which can be replaced from other sources if necessary.

The cutoff has also showed the first signs of hitting the European economy as the Hungarian unit of the Japanese automaker Suzuki said it was halting production because of restrictions on industrial users of gas.

They are the Ones We've Been Waiting for -- New York Democrats Swear in Man Accused of Brutally Assaulting His Girlfriend

Y'all like apples? Well how you like these apples?

Hiram Monserrate was sworn in Wednesday as a new state senator, despite facing charges that he slashed his girlfriend's face with a piece of broken glass in a jealous rage.

Monserrate, part of a new influx of lawmakers who helped Democrats gain control of the Senate for the first time in four decades, stood on the floor on the historic day and swore to uphold the federal and state constitutions and his office.

He was surrounded by a dozen applauding friends, relatives and staff, but his girlfriend was conspicuiously absent. Others said the charges should have kept Moserrate from taking office, and one senator turned away before a photo could be taken with the new lawmaker.

"I guess they were wrong. I'm here, and I'm here for the long haul," Monserrate said of his critics. "Of course my colleagues are treating me nice," he said.

Monserrate was charged with assault and weapon possession after Karla Giraldo's face was slashed on Dec. 19 at his Queens home. Both the former New York City councilman and Giraldo say the incident was an accident _ Monserrate told police that he tripped while holding a glass of water and that the glass accidentally hit her.

But authorities say evidence, including surveillance videos, paints a more violent picture of a heated argument and a frightened, bleeding woman in distress. Investigators say Monserrate purposely smashed her face with broken glass because he thought she was also dating a police officer.

The videos come from several cameras in the apartment building. The first shows the two arguing and Monserrate throwing a policeman's union card down a garbage chute, according to a law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The two return into the apartment, and the video catches them sometime later, Giraldo's face covered with a bloody towel. The official said it's believed Monserrate smashed the glass over furniture before hitting her with it. Investigators on Monday seized similar glasses from his home.

Monserrate is seen yanking Giraldo by the shoulder down the second-floor stairwell, according to the official who saw the video. Giraldo is crying, and pounding on a neighbor's door as he pulls her away, the official said. She drops the towel, which is later found on a stairwell. The two are then shown downstairs in a small vestibule, where Monserrate tries to pull Giraldo outside.

"She's holding on with two hands, like a kid who didn't want to leave his bike. She looks terrified," the official said.

Giraldo went to the emergency room; the gash over her eye required 25 stitches. Doctors contacted Queens police and reported a woman was assaulted, the official said. According to the police report, Giraldo initially said she was assaulted, then changed her account after learning officers planned to arrest him. She later filed a statement with police saying she did not wish to press charges.

Porn Industry Wants a Bailout

They can ask all they want, but I'm not putting money in THAT cup.

With the financial industry, auto makers and more getting assistance from
the federal government to stay afloat during the recession, the
adult industry decided it would try to get something as well.

Girls Gone Wild CEO Joe Francis and “Hustler” magazine publisher Larry
Flynt have said they will petition Congress for financial aid along the lines of
what the Big Three auto makers are getting.

Francis said that he and Flynt are asking for $5 billion, and that they
have sent letters to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Congress and their local
Congressman, Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) with the proposal. Rep. Waxman's office did
not immediately respond to a request for comment.

With the $5 billion, they would "invest in building new means of
distribution, and shoring up our distribution right now to prevent further
erosion from factors like Youporn and other Internet content that has seriously
affected our business over the past few years," Francis said in an interview
with FOX Business. "We will use the money wisely, and we will create more
jobs."
Francis said that if invited, he and Flynt would drive across the
country in a hybrid vehicle to present their plans to Congress.

The press release noted that DVD sales and rentals for the adult industry
have decreased by 22% in the past year, partially because people are turning
more and more to the Internet for adult content.

"People are too depressed to be sexually active," Flynt said in the press
release. "This is very unhealthy as a nation. Americans can do without cars and
such but they cannot do without sex."
Francis said he and Flynt would also be
willing to discuss the possibility of the government buying equity stakes in
their companies, as was done with financial firms.

"If the government would like to be a partner with Mr. Flynt and I, we’re
certainly amenable to it," he said.

The Rolling Stones -- Brussels Affair

I thought I'd post as much of this legendary 1973 bootleg as I could. In my opinion this is the greatest rock n' roll recording that has ever surfaced.

Brown Sugar



Gimme Shelter



Tumbling Dice



Heartbreaker




Angie



Midnight Rambler



Rip This Joint



Street Fighting Man

Citizen Reporter is Smacked by Pro-Hamas Supporter

Yeah, these people are sane.

It's Real Simple

Can you pick out the Tard in this picture?

Crazy Muslims Attack Israeli Basketball Team

It's March Madness in January.

Bnei Hasharon experienced two hours of terror in Ankara on Tuesday evening.

Moments before the tip-off of the Israeli team's Eurocup encounter against Turk Telekom some 3,000 Turkish fans shouted 'Allah Akbar' and, by some accounts, 'death to the Jews' in protest against the IDF's actions in Gaza.

Other fans threw bottles at the Israeli players and stormed the court, forcing the Israelis to flee for the dressing rooms.

The players and staff were only able to leave for their hotel thanks to a massive police escort after being stranded for two long hours in the locker room.

Bnei Hasharon chairman Eldad Akunis described the terrifying moments.

"We arrived at the arena under heavy security. There were 1,500 policemen in the arena, 500 of them in plain clothes. The fans waved Palestinian flags and shouted abuse towards Israel," Akunis said.

"As the game was set to begin they stormed the court and we raced towards the dressing rooms. Our players are in shock and all we want at the moment is to return back home."

Team captain Meir Tapiro said only the police's intervention prevented the players from being attacked.

"The fans raced on to the court and ran towards us like madmen, but the police stopped them. It was really scary," he said.

Amazingly, the game referee demanded that Bnei Hasharon play after all the supporters were cleared from the arena, but the team refused and is set to receive a technical loss.

"After a delay due to on-court disturbances before the game, the Turk Telekom vs Bnei Hasharon game was not played due to Bnei´s refusal to play despite clearing the arena of fans," a ULEB press release read.

If Hamas were in Mexico

A cool map from the folks at The Razor which shows those U.S. cities that could be reached by Hamas' rockets and mortars if Hamas were located in Mexico.

Los Angeles notwithstanding, there are some really great places in the red zone.

Turkey Holding Mysterious Iran/Venezuela Shipment

It's not a ship full of toys for tots.

Turkey was holding a suspicious shipment bound for Venezuela from Iran because it contained lab equipment capable of producing explosives, a customs official said Tuesday.

Suleyman Tosun, a customs official at the Mediterranean port of Mersin, said military experts were asked to examine the material, which was seized last month, and decide whether to let the shipment to go to Venezuela.

Authorities detected the equipment during a search of 22 containers labeled "tractor parts," Tosun said. They were brought to Mersin by trucks from neighboring Iran, he said. Turkey's Interior Ministry said an investigation was under way.

"Experts from Turkey's Atomic Institute determined there were no traces of radioactive material, but said the equipment was enough to set up an explosives lab," Tosun said. "We have asked the military to send experts to determine whether to resume the shipment."

Some barrels, labeled with "danger" signs, contained chemicals. Tosun said details were still unclear.

Taliban Demanding Locals' Daughters to be Their Wives

Yet any day now I expect to see crowds of left-wing nutjobs protesting in their support.

The Taliban are their own worst enemy. Despite the pressure from the Pakistani army along the Afghan border, some Taliban leaders are demanding that tribes hand over young women to be wives for Taliban fighters. This is very unpopular with the tribes, and was one of the major complaints that led to tribes going to war with al Qaeda groups. In addition to burning down schools for girls and killing those who teach girls, the Taliban are also ordering women to stay away from markets, or working outside the home, unless they have a male escort from their family. These are the same attitudes that turned the Sunni Arab tribes against al Qaeda in Iraq, and is doing the same thing among the Pushtun tribes on both sides of the Afghan border.

Chavez Says those Poor Americans Can Freeze for All I Care

Where's your God now Joe Kennedy?

Citgo Petroleum Corp., the U.S. refiner owned by the Venezuelan government, will suspend charitable contributions of home heating oil to poor U.S. households -- a sign that falling oil prices may hamstring Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, whose administration has used an oil windfall to win voters' loyalty at home and allies abroad.

In a surprise announcement, former U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II said Venezuela would stop deliveries to his Boston-based nonprofit, Citizens' Energy, which last winter received $100 million of fuel that was distributed throughout the Northeast. Mr. Kennedy said Citgo cited falling oil prices and the world economic crisis for forcing the company "to re-evaluate all of its social programs." Neither Citgo nor the Venezuelan government had any comment.

The move raises questions about whether Mr. Chavez can afford to continue his oil-fueled largess. Venezuela gives cut-priced fuel to many Latin American nations and sends some 100,000 barrels a day of oil and oil products to Cuba in exchange, in part, for the services of 30,000 Cuban doctors, nurses, dentists, and sports trainers. In 2007, Cuba valued total Venezuelan aid at $7.8 billion. Some analysts say Venezuela is now as big a donor to cash-strapped Cuba as the U.S.S.R. was back in the Cold War.

Here's Some Freaky Facts

In the form of video, because as the video mentions, we're not that smart.

QVC to Sell Cheesy Obama Trinkets at Inauguration

Shameless, Soulless and I'll bet anything made in China.

QVC is traveling to Washington to mark President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration this month — and is bringing along plenty of coins, stamps, jewelry and even a small handbag to sell.

The retail network has already sold more than 100,000 items related to Obama's election and sees the inauguration as an opportunity to reach far beyond the group of people regularly interested in political collectibles.

"Frankly, if we were not at the inauguration, we would feel like we were not doing our job," said Doug Rose, vice president of multichannel programming for the retail giant, which is available in 94 million American homes and had sales totaling $7.4 billion in 2007.

Several products are set to debut within the next few weeks. For $200, a shopper can have a coin set with each of the 44 presidents on a South Dakota quarter. A gold presidential pocket watch with Obama's image will sell for $90. A coin and stamp set commemorating Martin Luther King Day and Obama's inauguration is $20. And QVC will also sell a portfolio of newspaper front pages from inauguration day.

Some of QVC's designers are at work, too, making a simulated pearl necklace and a small handbag.

Clinton's Iranian Connection

Yet another Obama appointee with a very questionable background.

On Dec. 19, 2008. at 2 p.m., the New York-based Alavi Foundation, which supports Iranian causes, contributed between $25,000 and $50,000 to the William J. Clinton Foundation. This can be best described as the ultimate chutzpah, for on the very same day, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York indicted the president of the Alavi Foundation, Farshid Jahedi, "on a charge of obstruction of justice for allegedly destroying documents required to be produced under a grand jury subpoena concerning the Alavi Foundation's relationship with Bank Melli Iran and the ownership of a Manhattan office building."

Alavi's contribution to Clinton came just two days after the Treasury Department also designated Alavi's partner, the New York-based ASSA Corp., as a terrorist entity, and the New York Southern District's attorney seized and forfeited its assets. According to the Treasury Department, "Assa ... continued to provide services to Bank Melli by maintaining Melli's interest in 650 Fifth Avenue Co. and transferring income from 650 Fifth Avenue Co. to Bank Melli." ASSA owned 650 Fifth Avenue Co. together with the Alavi Foundation. Incredibly, the government seized only 40% of the 36-story building controlled by ASSA, leaving the Alavi Foundation in charge of the remaining 60%.

As early as 1979, the foundation and its partner Bank Melli were recognized as procurement fronts for Iran's nuclear weapons program. Twenty years later, the U.S. government recognized Bank Melli as a vehicle controlled by the Iranian Government. The bank was finally designated a terrorist entity on Oct. 25,2007. What took so long? The Alavi Foundation's Web site states that its mission is promoting and supporting Shiite educational, religious and cultural programs: in essence, delivering the mullahs' message to America. The foundation also owns and funds several mosques and educational centers in New York, Maryland, Texas and California.

The Best Reason Yet I've Found to Hate Al Franken

To hell with what he did to Norm Coleman. Just look at what Al Franken did to Mick Jagger back in 1981. I'm all kinds of pissed.

Obama the Food Critic

It seems he was just as decisive and just as much a bullshitter back them as he is now. And hey. What's up with the ugly chicks?

This Blog Has Been Nominated for Nothing

Absolutely nothing. Damn! You think it would at least get a nomination for best new blog authored by dudes who took the short bus to school.

Biden Compares Economy to 9/11: "We're at War"

This guy is a demented crackpot. What's that the liberals used to say about Palin? Just a heartbeat away. Yeah. What they said.

Vice-president-elect Joe Biden likened the country’s economic crisis to the attacks of 9/11 Monday in a private meeting on Capitol Hill.

“We’re at war,” Biden told congressional leaders of both parties during their sit-down with Barack Obama in the Capitol, according to two sources familiar with the exchange.

It’s not the first time the vice-president-elect has used stark language to underscore the perilous state of the economy. In an interview last month on ABC’s “This Week,” Biden said that a stimulus package was needed to keep the economy from “absolutely tanking.”

I'd say one major difference between the economy and 9/11 is that with 9/11, our own government wasn't our enemy. I'm sorry Joe But you're a douchebag.

Bahahaha...You Got Punked Ohio State

Texas wins! Take that you blue state bastards!

Now Go Away or I Shall Taunt You Pro-Hamas Supporters a Second Time

This is good.

As the counter-jihad demonstration across Wilshire Boulevard dissipated, an expeditious Islamist gang crossed over to assert primacy over the opposing turf and counter-rally'ers. But a vigilant, few remaining Jewish-Americans stood boldly against their provocations. Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate, "Melrose" Larry Green (with little protection beyond a couple from Beitar) vociferously denounced the hate-filled antagonists, defiantly mocking their rabid anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism.

h/t democasttv

So the market was doing fine until Obama spoke

The market was hovering around even for most of the day. Then I read a headline where Obama says the economy is going to get worse. The market is now down more than 130 points. Asshole!

San Francisco to Charge to Drive Cars

Where's your God now? -- Following the lead of cities such as London and Singapore, officials in San Francisco are considering a plan to ease traffic by charging drivers a fee upon entering notoriously clogged sections of the city. Using $1 million in federal funds, the San Francisco County Transportation Authority is studying various "congestion-pricing" options. If approved, such pricing would make San Francisco the first U.S. city to charge cars a fee to enter certain neighborhoods at certain times. "I want a San Francisco that is far less congested and far easier to navigate," said a city supervisor, Jake McGoldrick, who has shepherded congestion-pricing proposals and is leaving office this week because of term limits. Congestion pricing generally intends to nudge drivers out of their vehicles and onto buses, subways and bicycles by pushing up the cost of driving into certain parts of a city during peak commuter hours.

Putin to Freeze Europe

Petro thug. -- Russia will reduce gas flows to Europe via Ukraine from Monday by the same amount it says Kiev is siphoning off, a measure that could further hurt supply to European countries facing freezing temperatures. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered state-run monopoly Gazprom to reduce supplies to the Ukrainian border in an escalation of the dispute between the two countries. Europe relies on pipelines across Ukraine for one fifth of its gas. "Yes, cut it today," Putin told Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller at the prime minister's residence near Moscow.

Ha. You Got Man Boobs

DAN Clark loved the power steroids gave him - until the "American Gladiators" star discovered the muscle-enhancing drugs made him grow man-boobs, shrank his privates and turned sex into a painful experience. "Bitch t- -s, man boobs, breast-chesticles is what they're called on the street. Gynecomastia is the scientific name. No matter what you call it, I [had] it," Clark, who was "Nitro" on the smash reality series, reveals in his memoir, "Gladiator: A True Story of 'Roids, Rage and Redemption," out next month. "I hate[d] taking off my shirt. For photo shoots, [I'd] wet my nipple with spit . . . [to] look firm instead of hanging down." As he shot seven seasons of "American Gladiators" from 1989 to 1996, he pleaded with the wardrobe stylist to make him a new uniform, but didn't tell her it was "to hide my budding breasts." He eventually underwent reduction surgery. Clark, a former LA Rams defensive lineman, used steroids for 20 years. They also took their toll on his private parts, so much so that he embarrassingly had to explain to women what was going on. "My b- - -s never really regained their size. They're kind of shriveled," he sadly told one bedmate. In addition, steroids subjected him to a "dull throbbing pain" every time he had sex.

Joe Biden Going to Pakistan to Defuse Tensions

Let me see if I understand this. America is going to repair its reputation of arrogance with Obama and Biden? Anyone else see something fundamentally wrong here?

United States vice-president-elect Joseph Biden will arrive in Pakistan on a two-day visit this week to defuse the tension between Pakistan and India after the Mumbai terror attacks, a private TV channel reported on Sunday.

The channel quoted diplomatic sources as saying that a high-level congressional delegation would also accompany Biden.

The delegation would meet President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to discuss the war on terror in Pakistan, Pak-India relations and a $15 billion aid package for Islamabad.

The sources said the US delegation is likely to arrive in Pakistan on January 9.

Obama Promises 600,000 New Government Jobs

And so it begins...

In his radio address today, President-elect Obama uses some new language when discussing what he wants the stimulus package to achieve in terms of jobs. First off, he has a name for the package -- the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan."

The president-elect says he wants to "create three million new jobs" -- this is a change from a few weeks ago, when he said he wanted the plan to create OR SAVE two million jobs.

He says the "No. 1 goal of my plan ... is to create three million new jobs, more than 80 percent of them in the private sector.”

If you do the math: 20 percent of three million means 600,000 new government employees.

World Begins to Turn on Obama

Look here. Muslims in Jakarta turning on Obama at a pro Hamas rally. The honeymoon is over. And again, Obama needs to give up smoking. He's making America look bad.



Photo by AP

U.S. to Withdraw Troops from Iraq and Send to the Mexican Border

This idea actually makes sense. Albeit for the wrong reasons.

Mexico's self-proclaimed "Grand Warlock" says the United States will pull troops out of Iraq in 2009 and send them to the border with Mexico in an attempt to expand its territory.

The prediction from Antonio Vazquez comes with a word of warning though: his record of projecting the future is spotty at best.

Vazquez has been making predictions since 1980 on events ranging from international events to the private lives of celebrities, based on his reading of tarot cards.

Vazquez erroneously predicted last year that oil prices would be stable and that Cuba's Fidel Castro and singer Britney Spears would die. This year, he says Spears will continue to triumph.

Car Insurance Rates Going Through the Roof in France: Mad Muslims Burning Cars

Of course, they could just be taking marching order from Al Gore.

From Brussels Journal:

France has set a new record. One thousand one hundred forty-seven cars were burned during New Year's night. There are several news sources. The following is from Le Post:

A deceptive account. There is an impression of "calm", since there was no major incident to report. But this is counterbalanced by a negative find: 1147 burnt-out cars, or 30% more than last year, even though the police were out in force (35,000 men deployed). Two hundred eighty persons were arrested. Other than the burnt cars there was little to report. "Only four policemen were slightly injured," declared the Interior Ministry in its communiqué this morning, adding that "no damage to public or private property" was noted.

Europe 1 suggests that some of the cars were burned by their owners:

Gérard Gachet cites possible "insurance fraud" to explain the higher figures on New Year's Eve. "When cars burn in places where everything is calm," one may wonder if "certain persons" did not want to take advantage of the "new indemnity regulations" that are part of the law on compensating victims." He added that "the experts would be able to say upon examining the cars." (...)

In Toulouse, the police used tear gas around 1:00, a.m. to assist firemen on a call. Few incidents, however, were reported in the city, where about 30 cars were torched, compared to 28 last year (...)

Here's the funniest part:

Nicolas Sarkozy has just suggested that he would prevent arsonists from getting their driver's license so long as their victims have not been compensated.

Meaning, of course, that as soon as they are compensated, the criminal will have his license!

Denmark: "Kill Jewish people evry where in ther world"

Yes, apparently you can haz cheezburger too.

This leaflet was passed out recently by a young man in Copenhagen, Denmark.



From Gates of Vienna.

Bye Bye Bill: Richardson Withdraws from Obama Cabinet

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Ron Paul on Israel's Invasion of Gaza" "We're in Big Trouble"

Not sure how much we can trust a man with office furniture like this.

Mayor Bloomberg Rushed to Bomb Shelter when Rocket Hits Duiring his Solidarity Visit to Israel

Bad Hamas. Bad.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was on a solidarity visit when a bomb struck less than a mile from where he was standing.

Mayor Bloomberg braved embattled Israeli neighborhoods today during a solidarity visit - and found himself hustled into a bomb shelter as rockets landed less than a mile from where he was standing.

During his tour of a government building in Sderot, a war-torn town two miles from the Gaza Strip, the mayor was rushed into the structure's underground shelter by his security detail as the wails of sirens warned that a rocket was 15 seconds from landing.

Chairs were knocked over as his City Hall team, Israeli workers and press jammed into a few tight rooms.

A woman shouted over loud speaker in Hebrew, "Tzevah Adom," or "Code Red."

"I was in the hands of professionals. I feel exactly the way I do when I'm in New York City. You're worried about it, you turn to the professionals," said Bloomberg after the scare.

Bloomberg's shelter doubled as a military reaction room where he could see on a map where the bombs were expected to land. He was with about a dozen people, including Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and Congressman Gary Ackerman.

"All I heard was get into a room," said Kelly.

Sderot is no stranger to rocket fire. It was hit 14 times today as tension between Hamas and Israel intensified in the Gaza Strip.
Only one building was hit. It was a widow's home that Bloomberg visited hours after it was destroyed.

"Fortunately, no one was injured, " said Bloomberg, who said the real incidents were reminders of what those who live in Sderot experience regularly.

Russia Has a 50/50 Chance of Serious Turmoil

Interesting article on Russia's economy and its future:

Uncertainty is creeping up on Russia. For the first time since Vladimir Putin's rise to power, Moscow confronts the prospect of real political instability. One of Russia's savviest politicians, Anatoly Chubais, said last month that the likelihood of serious turmoil -- economic, social and even political -- is 50 percent.

The current crisis is global, and there is no sure way to forecast its length or depth. Such uncertainty would be disturbing in any country but is especially alarming here. For years, Putin steadily eliminated all political threats to his power, and by the end of his second term as president he enjoyed absolute authority. Now that authority is being challenged by forces beyond his control.

Putin was blessed with rising energy prices that enabled him to build his oil-greased authoritarianism. He delivered generously to the nation, and the people readily withdrew from politics and rewarded him with high approval ratings. Likewise, the Russian elite stayed loyal, since the abundant oil revenue produced lucrative opportunities and comfortable lifestyles. In this environment, any remaining political opponents were easy to marginalize; only in very rare cases did Putin resort to repression.

The price of oil is now about a quarter of what it was only a few months ago, and economic problems are building within Russia. Investors are gone; the stock market barely exists. After nine years of surpluses, Russia will have a budget deficit in 2009, and the solid economic growth of recent years may give way to a contraction. An increasing number of enterprises are shifting to two- or three-day workweeks, sending their employees on unpaid vacations or laying them off. Unemployment, which had been very low in recent years, is rising, and the country lacks an adequate social infrastructure to help those who are losing their jobs. The situation is especially grave in the numerous company towns where new jobs are almost impossible to find. Meanwhile, geographic mobility is strongly limited by Russia's underdeveloped housing market.

Read the rest of the article.

Hippies Claiming that WiFi is Interfering with their Chakras

In the words of Eric Cartman, "hippies piss me off".

The new-age residents of Glastonbury are up in arms about the council's deployment of WiFi, claiming the wireless networks are interfering with their chakras and generally getting them down.

The news comes courtesy of The Telegraph, which reports local hippies are up in arms (well, placidly protesting) about the already-deployed network which they claim is interfering with local ley lines and damaging their health despite their deployment of Orgone-based generators: to absorb the negative energy obviously.

The network was deployed in May and cost the council £34,000 with the hope of helping business and encouraging tourism, but local new-agers are complaining of the usual headaches and hard-to-pin-down symptoms that are endemic where wireless technologies have received sufficient publicity - though strangely absent where publicity hasn't been so forthcoming.

Hamas Turns on Fatah -- Starts Shooting Them in the Legs and Stuff

Where is the world condemnation and outrage?

The Hamas government has placed dozens of Fatah members under house arrest out of fear that they might exploit the current IDF operation to regain control of the Gaza Strip.

The move came amid reports that the Fatah leadership in the West Bank has instructed its followers to be ready to assume power over the Gaza Strip when and if Israel's military operation results in the removal of Hamas rule.

Fatah officials in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas militiamen had been assaulting many Fatah activists since the beginning of the operation last Saturday. They said at least 75 activists were shot in the legs while others had their hands broken.

Wisam Abu Jalhoum, a Fatah activist from the Jabalya refugee camp, was shot in the legs by Hamas militiamen for allegedly expressing joy over the IDF air strikes on Hamas targets.

"Hamas is very nervous, because they feel that their end is nearing," a senior Fatah official said. "They have been waging a brutal campaign against Fatah members in the Gaza Strip."

Meanwhile, sources close to Hamas revealed over the weekend that the movement had "executed" more than 35 Palestinians who were suspected of collaborating with Israel and were being held in various Hamas security installations.

Years Later, Celebrity Sponsored Habitat for Humanity Homes Turn into Nightmare

Johnny Depp and friends endanger lives with their bleeding hearts. Liberals make crappy carpenters.

Residents of a model housing estate bankrolled by Hollywood celebrities and hand-built by Jimmy Carter, the former US president, are complaining that it is falling apart.

Fairway Oaks was built on northern Florida wasteland by 10,000 volunteers, including Carter, in a record 17-day “blitz” organised by the charity Habitat for Humanity.

Eight years later it is better known for cockroaches, mildew and mysterious skin rashes.

A forthcoming legal battle over Fairway Oaks threatens the reputation of a charity envied for the calibre of its celebrity supporters, who range from Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt to Colin Firth, Christian Bale and Helena Bonham Carter.

The case could challenge the bedrock philosophy behind Habitat for Humanity, claiming that using volunteers, rather than professional builders, is causing as many problems as it solves.

April Charney, a lawyer representing many of the 85 homeowners in Fairway Oaks, said she had no problems taking on Habitat for Humanity, despite its status as a “darling of liberal social activists”. She said the charity should have told people that part of the estate had been built on a rubbish dump.

One man pulled up his floorboards to find rubbish 5ft deep under his kitchen. Other complaints include cracking walls and rotting door frames that let in rats and ants. Many residents have complained of mildew and mysterious skin rashes.

One resident said her children were suffering from skin complaints. “The intentions are good, but when the politicians and big-shot stars have left we’re stuck with the consequences. This house looks pretty but inside it either stinks or sweats,” she said.

Hamas Rockets Made in China

The Chinese have their hands in just about everything now.

The Israel-based Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center reports that the rockets fired by the Hamas are contraband from mainland China. Hamas is a terrorist organization that took control on the Gaza strip by force in 2007.

"It was revealed that the rockets were contraband from China. The experts who liquidated the rockets saw that it was made in China," said Hagai Huberman, an Israeli Military Correspondent to the Makor Rishon newspaper, to New Tang Dynasty Television.

Chinese communist authorities have been accused of selling weapons to Hamas before. In 2006 a Paris-based intelligence newsletter reported that Chinese Ministry of State Security official, Gong Xiaosheng, worked with Hamas militants.

In a separate case in August this year, a group of Israeli terror victims alleged that the Bank of China assisted terrorist attacks by allowing the transfer of money to Hamas. According to their lawyer Nitzana Darshan-Leitner, Chinese authorities were informed about it but did nothing to stop it.

Barney Frank: The Banking Queen

Barney Frank sings to the tune of ABBA. I laughed.

Video: Israeli Troops Move into Gaza

Israeli troops moved into northern Gaza on Saturday night-Sunday morning.
FOX News captured the troops with night vision cameras. The Israeli soldiers exchanged fire with the Hamas militants.

Pro-Hamas Supporters in Florida to Jews: "Go Back to the Ovens"

This footage is from a rally in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Why are these people in our country?

Super Whacky Muslim Fun Time: Converting Aliens to Islam

First Aliens, and then animals. We're going to be outnumbered.

PREACHER of hate Omar Bakri is boldly going where no imam has gone before — ordering followers to convert ALIENS to Islam.

Bakri, acting like a character from sci-fi film Mars Attacks, said Muslims must not only spread the word worldwide but also across the galaxy.

He issued the decree during a bizarre rant which has been posted on an extremist website.

Bakri, 50, declared: “We are obliged as Muslims to make the whole galaxy subservient to almighty Allah. Allah has created all living beings in order to obey him and worship him.”

Last night a security source quipped: “Perhaps he could show his people the way — it would give everyone a break if he was beamed up.”

Syrian-born Bakri, who sparked outrage by praising the 9/11 bombers, spoke from exile in Lebanon. But he is in hiding there after local police accused him of setting up a terror training camp.

Bakri is petrified he will be tortured if he is locked up and plans to escape to a safe haven. He said: “I must get out. I am talking to people about getting a new name, new passport.”

The Divided States of America

Here's a map of future America predicted by that nutjob Russian professor who predicted the breakup of the United states.


Wow! This is what a top notch Russian education produces? This is like something out of a comic book.

Branford Marsalis Weighs in on the Modern Student and the Death of Merit

This is absolutely beautiful. Someone had to say it.

Branford Marsalis is an American saxophonist, composer and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ensembles and has led the group Buckshot LeFonque.

Hippie Graveyard Rejected by Neighbors

A resounding defeat of a very stupid hippie idea:

Elizabeth Collins, a gardener, birdwatcher and a self-described "renaissance woman," wanted to start a "natural" cemetery where bodies would be buried without embalming, coffins or vaults.

She and a partner bought a plot of land here and wrote a business plan that identified pagans, "old hippies," penny pinchers, environmentalists and Muslims -- who traditionally bury the dead without caskets -- as their target market. There would be room for 7,500 customers. Dead pets would be welcome, too.

The idea didn't sit well with the living.

Many residents in this socially conservative rural patch of central Georgia worried the cemetery would contaminate their water supply. Some also objected in principle to unconventional burial practices.

So on Nov. 4, the Macon-Bibb County commissioners killed the cemetery plan by voting in a new ordinance that requires a "leak-proof casket or vault" for burials. It became one of the first legal moves against a growing brand of environmentalism that is entering the graveyard.

Down the road from the proposed burial ground, Cherrie Mittmann was stewing. Like most of her neighbors, Ms. Mittmann, a 59-year-old housecleaner, draws water from a well on her property. She worried that decomposing remains would leach into the aquifer feeding the well, and that animals would dig up unboxed bodies. Ms. Mittmann says she has no proof that either scenario would play out, but doesn't want to wonder what her dog might be holding in its maw. Natural-cemetery advocates say stories of animals digging up human remains are little more than urban myths.

California Tax Refunds May Come as IOUs

Could this happen to a better group of free-spending bleeding heart liberals?

If you expect you'll be getting a refund from California when you file your 2008 state income tax return, be prepared: you may instead receive a "registered warrant." Translation: an IOU.

California is rapidly running out of money. Blame it on the state budget deficit that continues to bleed billions of dollars from California's reserves. Facing inadequate credit to make up the difference, California's Controller John Chiang warns that by the end of February, the nation's most populous state may not be able to pay some of its debts, and instead be reduced to issuing those creditors IOUs.

"My office has projected that, in approximately 60 days, there will be insufficient cash available to meet all expenditures reflected in the 2008-09 Budget Act," stated a Tuesday letter from Controller Chiang to the directors of all state agencies. "To ensure that the State can meet its obligations to schools, debt service, and others entitled to payment under the State Constitution, federal law, or court order. California may begin, as early as February 1, 2009, issuing registered warrants...commonly referred to as IOUs...to individuals and entities in lieu of regular payments."

Military Worries About Obama: "Nobody has confidence in this guy as commander in chief"

The concern is warranted.

When asked how they feel about President-elect Barack Obama as commander in chief, six out of 10 active-duty service members say they are uncertain or pessimistic, according to a Military Times survey.

In follow-up interviews, respondents expressed concerns about Obama’s lack of military service and experience leading men and women in uniform.

“Being that the Marine Corps can be sent anywhere in the world with the snap of his fingers, nobody has confidence in this guy as commander in chief,” said one lance corporal who asked not to be identified.

For eight years, members of the U.S. military have served under a Republican commander in chief who reflected their generally conservative views and led them to war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Now, the troops face change not only at the very top of the chain of command, as Obama nears his Jan. 20 inauguration, but perhaps in mission, policy and values.

Underlying much of the uncertainty is Obama’s stated 16-month timetable for pulling combat troops out of Iraq, as well as his calls to end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy to allow gays to serve openly in the military, according to survey responses and interviews.

“How are you going to safely pull combat troops out of Iraq?” said Air Force 1st Lt. Rachel Kleinpeter, an intelligence officer with the 100th Operations Support Squadron at RAF Mildenhall, England. “And if you’re pulling out combat troops, who are you leaving to help support what’s left? What happens if Iraq falls back into chaos? Are we going to be there in five years doing the same thing over again?”

Welcome 2009!

We start the year the same way we started this blog. Self-loathing is for dipshits! Rock n' Roll!

Bomb Threats Shut Down Aspen, Colorado

It figures. The whole thing was the work of another kook liberal.

A one-time resident of this city who had been bitter over its transformation into a playground for the rich left four gift-wrapped bombs downtown in a bank-robbery attempt, turning New Year's Eve celebrations into a mass evacuation, police said Thursday.

The dangerous bombs were made of gasoline and cell phone parts and came with notes warning of "mass death." The 72-year-old man suspected of placing them in two banks and in an alleyway on Wednesday shot and killed himself a short time later, police said.

Blanning walked into two Aspen banks about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday and left packages wrapped in holiday paper along with notes saying the boxes contained bombs, police said. The notes threatened "mass death," demanded $60,000 cash and included criticisms of President George W. Bush, Assistant Aspen Police Chief Bill Linn said at a news conference.

Blanning's notes said he was targeting four banks, police said, but only two - a Wells Fargo Bank and a nearby Vectra Bank - received the packages.

Later, police found two similar packages atop a black sled in a downtown alley. Linn said the bombs were dangerous, containing plastic bladders of gasoline, but he did not say how sophisticated they were.

The threats prompted police to clear nearly all of downtown Aspen - 16 blocks that otherwise would have been filled with tens of thousands of New Year's revelers. Residents were allowed to return at 4 a.m. Thursday, and the town's holiday fireworks were rescheduled for Thursday night.

The Aspen Times reported that Blanning left a typewritten note at the newspaper's offices Wednesday evening. The profanity-laced note, which appeared to match those Blanning left at banks, said "Aspen will pay a horrible price in blood" if his demands were not met.

Blanning was found dead alone in his Jeep Cherokee east of Aspen early Thursday, Linn said. In the car police found a rifle and a handgun they believe Blanning used to kill himself.

CNN New Year's Coverage Goes Straight in the Crapper -- Kathy Griffin Unleashes Vulgar Barrage at Heckler

This was live and on air on New Year's Eve. Comedian Kathy Griffin says [while going to commercial] to a heckler in Times Square- "Screw you, I'm working. Why don't you get a job, buddy. You know what? I don't go to your job and knock the dicks out of your mouth." Nice job CNN.

Russia Tries to Freeze Ukrainians to Death -- Cuts Gas Supplies in the Dead of Winter

Petro thug Vladimir Putin is not playing games.

Russian gas monopoly Gazprom said it cut all gas supplies to Ukraine on Thursday morning after talks broke down over payments for past shipments and a price for 2009.

Gazprom spokesman Igor Volobuyev said the cuts began as planned at 10 a.m. (2 a.m. ET) Thursday.

There are fears that a cutoff could lead to a repetition of a January 2006 gas crisis. Then, a similar dispute between Russia and Ukraine briefly interrupted gas shipments to many European countries. Ukraine controls the pipelines through which Russia supplies most of its customers in Europe.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has warned Ukraine against diverting gas intended for other customers, saying that could have "quite serious consequences for the transit country itself" by damaging relations with Europe.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has angered the Kremlin through his efforts to build ties to Western Europe and his support of Georgia in its August war with Russia.

Ukraine's position in the dispute is further complicated by divisions in the country's leadership. Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, bitter political rivals, are at odds over gas policy and relations with Russia, among other issues.

The Nedelin Disaster -- Warning Graphic

The Nedelin catastrophe or Nedelin disaster was a launch pad accident that occurred on 24 October 1960, at Baikonur Cosmodrome during the development of the Soviet R-16 ICBM. As a prototype of the missile was being prepared for a test flight, it exploded on the launch pad when its second stage motors ignited prematurely, killing many military personnel, engineers, and technicians working on the project. The official death toll was 90, but estimates are as high as 200, with 120 being the generally accepted figure. Despite the magnitude of the disaster, news of it was covered up for many years by the Soviet government and did not emerge until the 1990s. Strategic Rocket Forces Marshal Mitrofan Nedelin, the commander of the R-16 development program, was among those killed in the explosion and fire.

Toyota Developing a Solar Powered Car

The most potent weapon against terrorists and petrol thugs. A car that doesn't need gas.

Toyota Motor Corp. is secretly developing a vehicle that will be powered solely by solar energy in an effort to turn around its struggling business with a futuristic ecological car, a top business daily reported Thursday.

The Nikkei newspaper, however, said it will be years before the planned vehicle will be available on the market. Toyota's offices were closed Thursday and officials were not immediately available for comment.

According to The Nikkei, Toyota is working on an electric vehicle that will get some of its power from solar cells equipped on the vehicle, and that can be recharged with electricity generated from solar panels on the roofs of homes. The automaker later hopes to develop a model totally powered by solar cells on the vehicle, the newspaper said without citing sources.

Crack Dealers Now Accepting Gift Cards

Probably the best sign yet that our economy is in the tank.

In tough economic times, merchants have to be flexible – even those selling crack cocaine.

An Athens man who allegedly accepted gift cards as payment for crack cocaine was arrested Monday night by Athens Police.

Anthony Delmar Anderson, 38, of 1927 Cain Drive was arrested after a search warrant was executed at his residence.

“He had been selling crack cocaine and prescription drugs,” said Capt. Marty Bruce. “Officers found 2 grams of crack cocaine, 11 Xanax pills, $899 in cash and $175 in department store gift cards.”

Bruce said Anderson was accepting the gift cards in exchange for crack cocaine.

Russians Bracing for Hard Times

Seems like only months ago they were oh so cocky as they ridiculed the American economy. Turns out, it's the same ol' crappy Russia. But let me say, I don't think this is a good development for mankind. Russia is becoming increasingly desperate. And they are going to do something drastic soon.

There are many oft-quoted indicators of Russia's suffering economy — the nation's international reserves have fallen by more than 25 percent since August; the major stock indices recently plummeted by 70 percent; and the ruble has been sliding — it's now selling at exchange houses for about 30 to the dollar, compared with 23.5 five months ago.

Beyond those figures and the analysis of financial experts, however, on the streets of Moscow — a city that has known much tumult during the past century — there is for many Russians a deep sense of fear, a feeling of being underneath a gathering, dark wave of hard economic times.

Only last spring, downtown Moscow was a place where Russia's nouveau riche walked out the door of boutiques with fists full of bags from Hermes, Cartier and Gucci. In a city with more billionaires than any other in the world, Bentleys and BMWs idled outside the shops with drivers waiting to put the bags in the trunk and zip to the next shop.

That was before the war with Georgia in August, which kicked off an exodus of foreign capital; the global financial crunch, which dried up lines of credit used by heavily leveraged Russian businessmen; and, finally, the crash of oil prices that had underwritten much of the boom.

Crude-oil futures ended the year at $43 a barrel — a long way down from their record-shattering price of $147 in July.

"The stability based on oil wealth proved an illusion," observed a guest columnist in Tuesday's edition of Vedomosti, a business journal. The writer, the head of an influential polling center, reported that 61 percent of those interviewed in September said things were going in the right direction in Russia, a figure that dropped to 43 percent in December.

Obama and Another Ponzi Scheme

The man's name seems to pop up everywhere. From The Smoking Gun:

As if being linked to one high-profile criminal case weren't enough, President-elect Barack Obama's name may soon pop up in another federal prosecution, this one involving a massive Ponzi scheme (no, the other massive Ponzi scheme). In addition to the Rod Blagojevich pay-for-play probe, Obama could figure in the upcoming fraud trial of Norman Hsu, the disgraced Democratic fundraiser who was charged last year with operating a $60 million pyramid scheme. According to investigators, Hsu, a major Hillary Clinton fundraiser, pressured investors to donate money to political candidates with whom he was aligned. In a letter last week to U.S. District Court Judge Victor Marrero, Hsu's lawyer, Martin Cohen, requested a 60-day delay in the start of Hsu's trial, scheduled to open January 12 (Cohen cited the "extraordinary level of negative publicity" generated by the recent arrest of alleged Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff). In his December 22 letter, a copy of which you'll find below, Cohen also noted that Hsu was already "notorious for his political activities" and that it was "inevitable" that his client's "connections" to Bill and Hillary Clinton "and other democratic notables--including perhaps the president-elect--will be introduced at trial." Before becoming a key fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, Hsu co-hosted a 2005 California fundraiser for Obama's political action committee and introduced the Illinois Democrat to Marc Gorenberg, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who later joined the Obama campaign's national finance committee. Prosecutors allege that Hsu directed his investors to donate money to specific candidates, and then reimbursed them in violation of federal campaign laws.

Developing...