No, not Scrappleface but Pat Sajak of Wheel of Fortune! Who knew he had such a good sense of humor?
Lawyers for former Vice President Al Gore have filed numerous lawsuits against Time magazine, alleging a series of voting irregularities they maintain deprived Gore of Times Person of the Year Award. It has been announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin received the 2007 award, with Gore finishing second.
Details of the suits are sketchy, but one of them accuses certain unnamed Time employees of denying others the right to vote when it was determined they were leaning toward Gore. Rumors have surfaced that one employee, known only as Chad, has confirmed those rumors. Another separate suit claims the voting process to be far too complicated to be understood by, to quote the lawsuit, a bunch of journalists. Gores lawyers are calling for a recount of the ballots in question. They also demand that independent observers from the United Nations Commission on Climate Change be allowed access to any recount procedures.
Mr. Gore has won an Emmy and an Oscar for his important work, not to mention a Nobel Peace Prize, said a spokesman for the Vice President. They dont even have an Oscar ceremony in Russia. Who ever sees Russian films anyway?
Some Gore supporters have accused Republicans of using dirty tricks to manipulate the results. One close advisor, requesting anonymity, claimed, Putin is just the kind of civil-rights-trampling dictator the GOP loves to see in power. It would be interesting to sit down with those who voted and find out just how many have been subjected to Guantanamo-like coercion. Republicans knew Bush wouldnt win, so this was the next best thing.
So far, there have been no official comments from the White House, the Kremlin or Time.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/24/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I realize Putin wouldn't win any popularity contests around here, but I thought Times choice was a good one and refreshingly non-PC.
For my money, Putin was the most influential man (as a generic term for a person) in 2007.
#2
Gore has a real problem with elections, doesn't he. Just like a spoiled liberal, don't like the results of an election? Why, just cry and stamp your little feet. Putz!
#3
One close advisor, requesting anonymity, claimed, "It would be interesting to sit down with those who voted and find out just how many have been subjected to Guantanamo-like coercion."
Stalin's ghost appears to Putin in a dream, and Putin asks for his help running the country. Stalin says, "Round up and shoot all the democrats, and then paint the inside of the Kremlin blue." "Why blue?" Putin asks. "Ha!" says Stalin. "I knew you wouldn't ask me about the first part."
There is already a new Putin joke: Putin goes to a restaurant with Medvedev and orders a steak. The waiter asks, "And what about the vegetable?" Putin answers, "The vegetable will have steak too."
Putin and Bush are fishing on the Volga River. After half an hour Bush complains, "Vladimir, I'm getting bitten like crazy by mosquitoes, but I haven't seen a single one bothering you." Putin: "They know better than that."
#10
Putins award, I don't think he did anything special this year that he didnt' do last year or is likely to do next year. Patreius on the other hand may have reversed the situation in Iraq which could lead to enormous differences in the entire region and the world. Since the award is specific to 2007 I think the General deserves it, but doing so would mean recognizing that Iraq is not an unwinnable quagmire going into an election, something time is hesitant to do so Putin gets it.
#11
Some of the comments here are as funny as the article. The outraged ones, I mean, not the deliberate snarks. You guys do understand this is humor and not news, right?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/24/2007 12:16 Comments ||
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#13
Rumors have surfaced that one employee, known only as Chad, has confirmed those rumors
Oh that is RICH! They made of person out of the Hanging Chads from Florida!
Posted by: Charles ||
12/24/2007 14:32 Comments ||
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#14
"Putin was the most influential man"
In what way? He played absolutely no role in any major story of any importance with the US. The Iranian President played a bigger role. Putin did practically nothing ... at all ... anywhere.
#16
Jeeez, what a fowl up. I remember when Jimmy Durante played the red orchestra pretty much for all it was worth.
Posted by: Miz Kalabash ||
12/24/2007 16:45 Comments ||
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#17
What did Putin do?
He is progressively putting Russia back as a top tier player on the world stage, using energy and military hardware sales, amoungst other things. He also continues to pull Russia out of its post-communism death spiral.
A world in which Russia is led by a Yeltsin or Gorbachov type leader would be a very different place.
#18
Putin is one of the wealthiest autocrats in history, largely through his control of several energy subsidiaries. Even after he leaves the stage he will be behind the curtain pulling the strings in Russia.
It could be argued that he belongs on the cover of Time because he has led important changes. Perhaps we should ask Anna Politkavskaya, Victor Yushchenko and Alexander Litvinenko if those changes are positive.
CHILDREN have been spotted marching in formation in eastern Congo in the past week, as the recruitment of youngsters by militia forces reaches critical levels, a report from Save the Children said. "The situation for children in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is catastrophic. Fighters from all sides are using children as frontline fodder," said Hussein Mursal, the Congo director for the international charity.
Boys and girls are being recruited in record numbers to act as soldiers, porters, spies and sex slaves.
Fighting in eastern Congo has escalated dramatically since August, as rival rebel groups clash over the forested territory. Boys and girls are being recruited in record numbers to act as soldiers, porters, spies and sex slaves, the London-based charity said. Those who have managed to escape have told the aid organisation they were held captive in small holes in the ground. Schools have been targeted as "rich recruitment" spots, the charity said. Because the conflict continues to escalate, the charity, which has provided refuge to 800 child fighters this year, has not been able to return the children to their homes. It noted that "the risk of re-recruitment and physical danger from the war are so high".
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto warned on Sunday that if the PPP did not emerge as the winner and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz as a second in the general elections, the results would be unacceptable.
Benazir, addressing a rally in Larkana, said that not only would the results not be accepted but a protest would erupt much the same way as in the Philippines and Ukraine, arguing that she was taking this stand because an international survey had predicted that the PML stood no chance in the elections. If the votes of the masses are snatched, the PPP, with the PML-N and other opposition parties, will protest, she said at a big public meeting at the Municipal Stadium here. The government is trying to block the PPPs passage.
The former premier also demanded that the Election Commission (EC) of Pakistan suspend the local governments before the general elections, as her party would not accept a ghunda force (thug force) upsetting the polling. There is no need to recruit the police force for only three days ... they will bring their thugs in police uniform, she said in a veiled reference to the use of government machinery. We will not accept this. If force is needed to maintain law and order on the polling days, the EC should call in the Pakistan Rangers or Pakistan Army but not the thug force.
Madrassas condemned: Benazir strongly condemned the Charsadda attack but argued that barricades have been put up for those who demand democracy while extremists roamed free. We respect the original madrassas, she said. We received our education in Islam from the ulema of the madrassas but in political madrassas no Islamic education is being delivered. They are teaching children how to make bombs, how to use guns, how to kill women, children and the elderly. It is not permitted in Islam, even in war, for anyone to harm a child, woman or the elderly.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Well, there ya have it. The savior of pakistan is just another mountebank asswipe. Who's surprised?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/24/2007 21:11 Comments ||
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The PML-N, under the monitoring of Shahbaz Sharif, has finalised a plan for creating riots and violence in Punjab on January 8, said PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.
"Bob, could you meet me in Lahore on January 9th?"
"Sorry, Bill. I gotta go to the riots that day!"
Talking to a private TV channel, the PML-Q president said the PML-N was focusing on negative tactics as it had already seen defeat in the upcoming general elections. He said on one hand, the PPP leadership was alleging the Election Commission of Pakistan of rigging the elections, while on the other was also conveying its reservations and suggestions to it, which was an open contradiction.
Chaudhry Shujaat said former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, by accepting Benazir Bhuttos domination, had decided to participate in the elections, adding that people wanted Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi to become prime minister. Chaudhry Shujaat said PML workers would never vote for the PPP and his party would again succeed with a large majority in the upcoming elections and form governments in the centre and provinces.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/24/2007 00:00 ||
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Gee, I don't recall Muslims having to curtail any of their religous holidays this year.
Gaza's tiny Christian community is keeping a low profile this Christmas, traumatized by the killing of a prominent activist in the wake of Hamas' takeover of the coastal territory.
Few Christmas trees are on display, churches are holding austere services and hundreds of Christians hope to travel to the moderate-controlled West Bank to celebrate the holiday in Bethlehem. Many say they don't plan on returning to Gaza.
"We have a very sad Christmas," said Essam Farah, acting pastor of Gaza's Baptist Church, which has canceled its annual children's party because of the grim atmosphere.
About 3,000 Christians live in Gaza, an overwhelmingly conservative Muslim territory of 1.5 million people. It has been virtually cut off from the world and its residents driven deeper into poverty since the June takeover by Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States.
Christians and Muslims have generally had cordial relations over the years in Gaza, but that relationship has been shaky since Hamas seized control and tensions were exacerbated with the recent death of 32-year-old Rami Ayyad.
Ayyad, a member of the Baptist Church, managed Gaza's only Christian bookstore. In early October, he was found shot in the head, his body thrown on a Gaza street 10 hours after he was kidnapped from the store.
He regularly received death threats from people angry about his perceived missionary work a rarity among Gaza's Christians and the store was firebombed six months before the kidnapping.
No group claimed responsibility for the killing, and no one has openly accused Hamas of persecution. But Christians fear that the Hamas takeover, along with the lack of progress in finding Ayyad's killers, has emboldened Islamic extremists. Well, I guess tacit approval makes them complicit, doesn't it?
Hamas has tried to calm jittery Christians with reassuring handshakes and official visits promising justice.
Hamas "will not spare any effort to find the culprits of this crime and bring them to justice," said spokesman Fawzi Barhoum. He insisted the killing was not religiously motivated. How would you know, Fawzi?
At the Baptist Church on Sunday, just 10 people attended the regular weekly prayer service, down from an average of 70. There was no Christmas tree in sight.
Farah said the church's full-time pastor, along with his family and 12 employees of Ayyad's store, have relocated to the West Bank, where President Mahmoud Abbas heads a pro-Western government. Farah said he prayed for forgiveness and love among Muslims and Christians.
Community leaders say an unprecedented number of Christian families are already migrating from Gaza rattled by the religious tensions and tough economic sanctions Israel imposed on the area after the Hamas takeover.
While no official statistics were available, the signs of the flight are evident. Rev. Manuel Musallem, head of Gaza's Roman Catholic church, said he alone knows of seven families that sold their properties and left the area, and 15 more are preparing to do the same.
Musallem blamed Israeli sanctions and excessive violence in Gaza for the flight. Mostly muslim violence, though. And the Israeli sanctions, those are because of muslim violence. So I guess it's all because of muslim violence.
"In previous years we didn't see this rate of migration," Musallem said. "Now, exit is not on individual basis. Whole families are leaving, selling their cars, homes and all their properties."
The signs of despair are evident at Ayyad's home. Posters declaring him a "martyr of Jesus" hang on the walls. There is no Christmas tree this year.
Ayyad's older brother, 35-year old Ibrahim, said his 6-year old son, Khedr, was nagged in school about his uncle's murder. Muslim schoolmates call him "infidel."
Ayyad's wife, Pauline, 29, left for Bethlehem a month ago with her two children. She said their 3-year-old son, George, has been shattered by his father's death.
"I tell him Papa Noel (Santa Claus) is coming to see you, and he tells me he wants Papa Rami," she said tearfully during a telephone interview.
Pauline, who is seven months pregnant, said she plans to come back to Gaza for the birth.
But many Christians privately said they would use their travel permits to leave Gaza for good, even if that means remaining in the West Bank as illegal residents. Israeli security officials said they were permitting 400 Gaza Christians to travel through Israel to Bethlehem for Christmas.
A family of four, refusing to be identified for fear their permits would be revoked, have sold their house and car and packed their bags. The wife has transferred her job to the West Bank and enrolled her son and daughter in school there. "We fear what is to come," said the husband. Out of the fire and into the frying pan.
Fouad, a distant relative of Ayyad, said he also is packing up. He said his father, a guard at a local church, was stopped recently by unknown bearded men who put a gun to his head before he was rescued by passers-by.
"We don't know why it happened," the 20-year-old police officer said. "We can't be sure how they (Muslims) think anymore." They never did. Their brains are mostly just a reflexive circuit with the Koran being the programming.
Those who are staying are trying to limit the risks. Nazek Surri, a Roman Catholic, walked out from Sunday's service with a Muslim-style scarf covering her head. Limit the risks - you mean like convering to Islam?
"We have to respect the atmosphere we are living in. We have to go with the trend," she said. Better than dying. Probably.
#1
headline doesn't make sense, why you conna take CHRIST out of a christian holiday, and no one say too make the headline shorter because it never matters when one of the goat fuckers names are spelled out
#2
Christians and Muslims have generally had cordial relations over the years in Gaza, but that relationship has been shaky since Hamas seized control and tensions were exacerbated with the recent death of 32-year-old Rami Ayyad.
Another "Unknown Gunmen Brigade" job...
PCHRs preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 5:30 on Sunday, 7 October 2007, the body of Rami Khader Ibrahim Ayyad (30) from Gaza City was found near the Shuhada Mujama Islami Mosque in Zaitoon Quarter in Gaza City. Ayyad was abducted at 16:00 on Saturday, 6 October 2007, by unknown assailants as he was returning home from work. He worked in the Holy Book Association. Forensic sources indicated that Ayyad was killed by two bullets to the head and chest. The motives for the crime remain unknown. However, it is noted that unknown assailants detonated an explosive device at the entrance of the Association on 15 April 2007, causing extensive damages.
#3
headline doesn't make sense, why you conna take CHRIST out of a christian holiday,
Damn good point. I expect the bilderburgers and skull and bones are behind it. That or the FASCIST PLOT TO LIMIT HEADLINES TO 4 COLUMNS, AN EXCESS OF x! > Guam! FLASH! FLASH! > Morons moving into ZONAL FLOW PATTERN > Dark Tonight sez CONVENTUAL WISDOM > But LUNAR IS WAY HAI HAI this evening. CHANCE? you reackon? I LAUGH
chopa chopa chopa
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
12/24/2007 16:51 Comments ||
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#4
More "religious cleansing" by the Religion of Bombs?
The party backing Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted Thai prime minister, easily won the most seats in yesterday's election a stunning rejection of the coup that booted out the telecoms billionaire in 2006. With 93 per cent of the vote counted last night, the People Power Party (PPP) was heading for 228 seats in the 480-member parliament and said it would form a coalition government, although analysts do not expect a smooth transition in the deeply-divided country.
Samak Sundaravej, the abrasive PPP leader, said Mr Thaksin had phoned from exile to congratulate him on the result, which is a major problem for the generals whose campaign to consign him to political oblivion via the coup and corruption charges now lies in tatters. "It is a victory for this country," Mr Samak said, adding that he would "certainly be prime minister. This country lost its freedom on 19 September last year for no good reason."
The big question is whether the army and the royalist establishment, whom the Thaksin camp claims was the brains behind the bloodless coup, will allow their arch-enemy to make a comeback by proxy. Although some analysts said a strong PPP showing might trigger another coup, others believe the army-appointed government is more likely to try first to stymie the PPP by disqualifying candidates for vote fraud. The bigger the PPP win, however, the harder that will be.
Continued on Page 49
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
CHILDREN have been spotted marching in formation in eastern Congo in the past week, as the recruitment of youngsters by militia forces reaches critical levels, a report from Save the Children said. "The situation for children in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is catastrophic. Fighters from all sides are using children as frontline fodder," said Hussein Mursal, the Congo director for the international charity.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto warned on Sunday that if the PPP did not emerge as the winner and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz as a second in the general elections, the results would be unacceptable. 
