Flag Burning!

Gates’ Gives to Tackle Disease

Give credit where credit is due. Bill Gates foundation makes a major contribution to the fight against HIV. Makes me feel that some of my hard earned money that has gone to Mister Softee had a higher purpose.

(London) “British scientists have been awarded multi-million pound grants for research into tuberculosis, malaria and HIV by Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates.

Mr Gates is donating £240m to 43 projects world-wide designed to tackle some of the world’s biggest killers.

Among the successful bidders is London’s Imperial College, which will receive £11m to fund work on TB.

St George’s Medical School in London will get £10.7m to develop a HIV vaccine for women.

It’s shocking how little research is directed toward the diseases of the world’s poorest countries
Bill Gates

Two teams at Oxford University have been awarded grants.

One will be given £9m to investigate why some people appear to be more resistant to malaria than others, and a second will be given £5.4m to investigate vaccines for HIV, TB and malaria” More…

US Bans Commandments in Courtrooms

“The US Supreme Court has ruled against the display of the Ten Commandments inside two Kentucky courtrooms.

Judges had been asked to decide whether such displays were merely a tribute to American history or an unconstitutional break with the church-state separation.

But the court upheld the presence of a monument featuring the Ten Commandments outside a government building in Texas.

Conservative Christian campaigners and secular groups have conducted a heated debate on the commandment issue.

Judges ruled against the display of framed copies of the Commandments by five votes to four.

Speaking for the court majority, Justice David Souter cited the ‘predominantly religious purpose’ of such displays.”

Iran Hardliner Hails Victory

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iran hardliner hails poll victory: “Iran’s new hardline President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has said his surprise poll win is a blow to the country’s enemies.

His comments appear to be directed at the US, which had criticised the presidential election as flawed.

In his first public statement since his victory, Mr Ahmadinejad said he wanted to ‘build up an exemplary, developed and powerful Islamic society’.

The mayor of Tehran won 62% of the vote, nearly twice that of his rival, ex-President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Some 22 million people voted in Friday’s run-off poll - a turnout of 60%, down from 63% in the first round a week ago.

The BBC’s Frances Harrison in Tehran says conservatives are now in control of every elected and unelected institution of government in Iran.” More…

With the “election” candidates stacked and filled with Islamic Fundamentalists, the so called Iranian “election” begins to set the stage for what is certain to be a show down between the US and Iran. Left unchecked, is there any doubt that this new government will be developing nuclear weapons?? We suspect that the Israeli government will watch closely to see if the EU backs off it’s recent pressure on Iran to disclose it’s nuclear ambitions. Watch for unilateral actions from Israel if that happens, sparking a potential major outbreak of war in the Middle East with ramifications around the globe. No we are not clarivoyant, just weighing probabilites given the politcal makeup at the present time.

Bush to Negotiate with Zarqawi on Troop Pullout

Scott Ott publishes sarcastic piece pointing to the frustrations of fighting a war against a “hidden” underground enemy.

ScrappleFace: Bush to Negotiate with Zarqawi on Troop Pullout: “Bush to Negotiate with Zarqawi on Troop Pullout

by Scott Ott

(2005-06-25) — In a surprising change of heart, President George Bush today called on al-Qaeda deputy Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to ‘come to the table’ to negotiate the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.

Although the president had been steadfast in asserting that he had no timetable for quitting Iraq and that freedom and democracy would prevail, today’s statement was tantamount to an admission of defeat.

‘We gave it the old college try,’ said Mr. Bush, in a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafaari. ‘But our opponents in the Democrat party were right. It’s a quagmire. We can’t beat the insurgents, and our shameless treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo have killed any chance we had at winning hearts and minds on the Arab street.’

Mr. Bush said he would dispatch a U.S. envoy to the al-Qaeda embassy in Baghdad with an invitation to Mr. Zarqawi to come to Camp David and work out terms of peace, and the withdrawal timetable.

‘I kind of hoped that Iraq’s 25 million people would experience the blessings of freedom,’ Mr. Bush said, ‘but with mid-term elections coming up here in the states, Republicans need to show the American people that we’re as sensitive to media polling data as our Democrat opponents.’

Upon hearing the news of the Bush-Zarqawi peace talks, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, immediately filed papers forming a 2008 presidential exploratory committee.” - Scott Ott / ScrappleFace (Satire)

Iran Forges It’s Way Backward

CTV.ca | Iran hardliner calls for unity after election win: “The ultraconservative mayor of Tehran called for national unity after winning Iran’s presidential election, saying he seeks to make his country a ‘modern, advanced, powerful, and Islamic’ model for the world.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s taped statement, which was broadcast Saturday on state-run radio, appeared aimed at easing concerns about his conservative views.

Reformers say he will undo years of liberal progress, taking the country back to the restrictions imposed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.”

Property Wrongs

Superme Court ruled in favor of developers over homeowners when it comes to property rights and the “greater social good”. Paving the way for evictions all in the name of progress and the greater good.

Lawyers Want Case Thown Out for "Disrespecting Koran" !

This story goes hand in hand with the one below. The difference is, this is NOT satire (for the un-initiated).

Lawyers for 2 in ‘dirty bomb’ terror case allege misconduct at jail: South Florida Sun-Sentinel: “MIAMI — Attorneys for two terrorism suspects tied to an alleged al-Qaida dirty bomb suspect are asking for the dismissal of a federal indictment against them based on a jailer’s mishandling of a Quran and intimidating jail cell searches that removed handwritten papers in Arabic.

The defense claims the seizures from the cells of Adhan Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi in May and June amount to government misconduct and an unconstitutional intrusion on trial preparation.

Jailers also disrespectfully tossed Hassoun’s Quran on his bunk and left 8,000 pages of trial papers in disarray, his attorney Kenneth Swartz said in motions filed Friday.

Hassoun, a Lebanese-born Palestinian, and Jayyousi, a Jordanian national and U.S. citizen, face possible life prison sentences on charges of plotting to fund and support Islamic jihad through murder and kidnappings abroad, including Bosnia, Chechnya and Somalia.” More…

What are your thoughts? Should this case be thrown out because a Koran was thrown on a bed? Would you all sleep better at night if our judicial system did that?

Gitmo Horror Could Spark Muslim Brutality

And from the pen of Scott Ott… more brilliant satire on the juxtaposition of Gitmo “human rights” violations and the the human rights violations of the peaceful and so wrongfully misunderstood insurgents - excuse me - freedom fighters.

Clinton: Gitmo Horror Could Spark Muslim Brutality
by Scott Ott

(2005-06-20) — Former President Bill Clinton today said that if the scandal-plagued terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay isn’t ‘cleaned up or closed down’ then insurgents in Iraq may resort to killing Iraqis, and could even begin attacking U.S. troops.

‘If the United States gets a reputation in the Muslim world of mistreating terrorist prisoners,’ said Mr. Clinton, ‘It could unleash what sociologists call ‘the righteous brutality of the oppressed’ among the normally-peaceful followers of Islam.’

The former president said the backlash could include, ‘bombings, kidnappings and even beheadings. That’s the kind of future we may face unless we atone for the sins of Gitmo.’”

Yes let’s atone and take a cat of nine tail to our backs over Gitmo. (Please, I hope you folks can still spot satire when you see it. I still get email from a nut who can’t tell the difference.)

Mary Carey Does Washington

You may have caught some of this “news worthy” story over the weekend. Excerpt from About Political Humor. Yes I agree — Political Humor is more than an understatement.

Mary Carey Does D.C.: “Porn star Mary Carey says she’s now a fully converted Republican after hobnobbing with GOP bigwigs at a fundraiser hosted by President Bush. The former California gubernatorial candidate and star of such films as ‘Dual Airbags’ and ‘Some Like ‘em Big’ was disappointed, however, that she didn’t get an opportunity to press the flesh with the president.

‘I was told that they had people ready to tackle me if I tried to, you know, get up close to him,’ Carey told MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann. ‘And they were worried about me maybe flashing or streaking through the dinner. And I mean, I can’t believe they’d think I would do that. I’m a serious politician.’

Following is an excerpt from Keith Olbermann’s amusing interview with Mary Carey:

CAREY: ‘I really wanted to meet President Bush, though, like, you know, up close and personal. I was kind of disappointed.

OLBERMANN: And that never’that was never even close, that. (Guess what part of her anatomy he was refering to.) (See insert)

CAREY: No, they actually’I was told that they had people ready to tackle me if I tried to, you know, get up close to him. And they were worried about me maybe flashing or streaking through the dinner. And I mean, I can’t believe they’d think I would do that. I’m a serious politician. I would never want to, you know, jeopardize my, you know, future career like that.” More…

I love this line, which I did hear come from her own mouth on MSMBC… “I had a great time. You know, Republicans can party almost as much as porn stars …So I want to keep going to Republican events. I‘m a fully converted Republican now. - Mary Carey “.

Washington politics. You gotta love it when you are not hating it!