Yesterday I finally scored an interview -- via phone, direct from the Ukraine -- with former WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, who's running for mayor of Kiev. The vote is coming up on May 25, and Klitschko is attempting to knock out (well, theoretically -- but he does have a higher knockout percentage than any other heavyweight champ!) incumbent Leonid Chernovetsky.

So stay tuned for my column on this matchup, where Klitschko -- who holds a Ph.D., incidentally -- confesses that politics is much more difficult than boxing. He also uses his upbringing in a Soviet state to craft his vision of how the Ukraine really needs to embrace true democracy and knock out corruption.

(Klitschko, btw, lived in L.A. for a while -- all of his three kids were born at Cedars-Sinai.)

Posted by Bridget Johnson at 7:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh, wait, Putin is still, for all intents and purposes, ruler supreme of Russia... Never mind!

Posted by Bridget Johnson at 7:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As Israel nears her 60th birthday, this is major food for thought: Hamas airs a "documentary" showing that Jews supposedly plotted the Holocaust to weed out the weak and gain international sympathy. They release it just a couple of weeks before the day when the world remembered the victims of the Holocaust. The media largely ignores this outrage, because Hamas represents the "persecuted" Palestinians. I write about the lessons we need to learn from this -- with the insight of my pal Valerie Harper, who took her amazing Golda Meir character to the big screen recently -- in my column this week:

"Sadly, as we marked this year's Holocaust Remembrance Day, 'never again' seems further from reach than ever. Jews continue to be targeted, be it in the 1994 bombing of the Jewish center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, or the repeated desecration of Jewish graves in Berlin. Holocaust denial has became accepted as legitimate thought in some circles and has become a foreign-policy talking point in the regimes of others.And when I, a gentile columnist, have written about the outrage of Holocaust denial, I've received far too many letters defending the deniers.

'Jews don't care about anybody but the Jews,' wrote one Canadian reader. '...Only a fool would trust a Jew to play fair with gentiles. ... They're laughing at you for falling for their lies. Don't be such a sap.'

Hamas is doing its best to stoke that disbelief in the true nature of the Holocaust, while fanning the flames of hatred for the Jewish people.

On April 18, Al-Aqsa TV - which brought Palestinian kiddies Farfour the martyr mouse and Assoud, the Bugs Bunny rip-off who vowed to 'eat' the Jews - aired an 'educational' program that accused Jews of perpetuating the Holocaust to weed out the weak among their ranks and simultaneously gain international sympathy.

This, of course, walks a fine line with Hamas' contention that the Holocaust never happened..."

Read the whole thing!

And if you want to be even more depressed, read the reader comments, which include this gem from a woman in Redondo Beach:

"Holocaust 'denial' is a misnomer. Nobody denies the Holocaust. Some people have noticed irregularities with some aspects of the official holocaust story and have raised questions. For example, why haven't the mass graves at the death camps been opened up to estimate the number of victims and see what we can find out about who they are or how they died? Why hasn't anybody demanded information about a relative they believe was murdered in one of the death camps? How exactly did the gas chambers work and how did they dispose of all the bodies?

All reasonable questions but instead of answers, you get called a bigot and anti-semite for asking them. For that reason, people will continue questioning the holocaust. It's not bigotry that leads people to holocaust revision, it's simply curiosity."

To which one reader from New York responded:

"Christina, I could not agree with you more. It's not bigotry to find the truth. The real bigots here are the stiff-neck mutated counterfeit jews that reasons with their own vile vehement that spews forth without intelligences, along with their brain dead following.."

Feeling truly ill yet? There was a positive comment over at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer to lift one's spirits (the last line cracked me up, anyway):

"I'm surprised the PI let Bridget Johnson's opinion on here.

The popular opinion on the far left is that the Jewish people and Israel are the root cause of all violence, poverty and hate in the Arab world. Without Jews, none of it would exist.

I'm sure they would have felt sorry for them as they were being cooked early in the late 30s, had they been around to see it, but now that they have recovered, prospered and are white and wealthy, they are a target.

Hamas could fry babies, and they do in a sense, and they would be the noble ones to the far left, because they aren't wealthy.

Keep the faith Bridget and if your letters smell of lattes and incense, save yourself some grief and throw them away."

Posted by Bridget Johnson at 7:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

And momentarily, the smell of sulphur left by Hugo was washed away...

Posted by Bridget Johnson at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There's a line in "Pulp Fiction" where Samuel L. Jackson's character, Jules, has a "moment of clarity" after several short-range bullets miss him: He decides to quit the hitman career, finally start living the Ezekiel passage he quoted to victims about the path of righteousness being beset on all sides by evil men, and even though totally unsure of his future he tells Vincent Vega (John Travolta) "I can't go back to sleep."

After this week's protests against the Olympic torch in San Francisco, one can't help but think -- and hope -- that many spectators now have that feeling about the myriad grievances brought against China: Tibet, the PRC's support for Sudan and Burma, press freedom (or lack of it, as the situation is), even the crackdowns on China's Uighur community (which showed up waving Eastern Turkistan flags). Media reports tend to leap to the loony protesters -- like the trio of nude guys I interviewed (and photographed, providing a scary surprise for my mother in her e-mail) -- but a strong message was sent by a passionate mass of protesters who generally heeded the call for nonviolence yet blocked the path for the torch to enter the closing ceremonies.

I was there for it. Protest events actually began Tuesday, with a Tibet-centric rally at U.N. Plaza, marching to San Francisco City Hall and the Chinese consulate after that. Many in the crowd were ethnic Tibetans, waving Tibet and American flags, but many were supporters from other walks of life. One speaker -- described as the only Tibetan in Appalachia -- eloquently compared this fight against communism to Eastern Europe's efforts, and hoped that Rangzen ("independence") would reach the same one-word movement recognition as Solidarność in 1980s Poland. One organizer handed me a sobering list -- names, ages, gender, town of those Tibetans thus far confirmed killed by the Chinese government since March 14. The elected North American representative for the Tibetan government in exile had sobering news: Some of those monks who were arrested and tortured for defying protest bans have committed suicide upon their release from Chinese custody. As it is, monasteries are under siege without access to food or water.

Mayor Gavin Newsom, of course, cowered inside City Hall and didn't come out when the protesters massed on the steps and spilled across the street. Marching up Van Ness Avenue (and yes, I did get new running shoes for the week) toward the consulate, cars driving the opposite way stopped in lanes to take pictures of the monks, the activists, and the plain ol' concerned citizens; drivers honked and flashed peace signs.

On Wednesday I got to the Embarcadero long before the torch relay was to start, sipping the best ever clam chowder on the patio of the Waterfront Restaurant as helicopters buzzed overhead and a plane flew a "Free Burma" banner. As Newsom decided to play hide-and-seek with the torch at the last minute, protesters made the wise decision to gather near the closing ceremonies site rather than spread out among the supposed waterfront route. Before long, the police barricades were null and the Chinese nationalists who had lined up to watch the missing torch were treated to a parade of demonstrators. I was in the middle of the protesters, dashing over to watch the latest shouting match or flag wrestling with China supporters who had wandered into the protest crowd.

At about 2:30 p.m. -- the relay was supposed to start at 1 p.m. -- Tibetan organizers told protesters to go through the Embarcadero Center building to get around police barricades branching far from the stage setup. “Block all the entrances!” a protest leader shouted. “Do not let the torch enter the closing ceremony!”
Demonstrators streamed through the doors of the shopping center, chanting slogans as shopkeepers peered from windows.

Once close to the ceremony site, protesters pressed against another set of barricades that kept the public out of reserved seating. “Bring down the barriers!” demonstrators shouted as police lined up and a band played covers of tunes such as David Bowie and Queen’s “Under Pressure.” A couple of protesters asked me -- I was smushed in, close to the front of the pack -- if I would push in on the barrier: "You have a press pass, so you won't get in trouble!" they theorized. Uh-huh.

I find it interesting that so many stories are painting the day as a victory for Newsom when it was the strong protest efforts that made the torch run and hide.

This, I think, is one of the saddest stories of relay day:

"At least one torchbearer decided to show her support for Tibetan independence during her moment in the spotlight. After being passed the Olympic flame, Majora Carter pulled out a small Tibetan flag that she had hidden in her shirt sleeve.

'The Chinese security and cops were on me like white on rice, it was no joke,' said Carter, 41, who runs a nonprofit organization in New York. 'They pulled me out of the race, and then San Francisco police officers pushed me back into the crowd on the side of the street.'"

I'm so glad that, here in America, Chinese authorities are allowed to decide what's acceptable speech, and then our law enforcement officers go along with it, acting like her peaceful display of a Tibetan flag is a crime. Shame on the city of San Francisco!!

But major, major props to the people of San Francisco, who are unlikely to continue to be silent about the policies of communist China. Once you learn the truth, it's hard to go back to sleep. (Unless, of course, you're President Bush, who unfortunately refuses to ditch the opening ceremonies in Beijing.)

Here's the coverage roundup thus far from my trip:

MY VIDEO:

April 8 Tibet protests

April 9 torch relay protests

MY STORIES:

Round One of Anti-China Protests in San Francisco

San Francisco alters Olympic torch route to avoid protests

Olympic Protesters Run Torch Out of Town

And coming very soon, my Daily News column on an interesting angle of the whole torch protest affair...

Posted by Bridget Johnson at 10:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Easter Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI baptized Magdi Allam, an Italian newspaper editor and a former Muslim, into the Christian faith. And ever since, various Muslim, secular, and even Christians have denounced this high-profile conversion as reckless and needlessly provocative. Allam, they argue, should have received the sacraments quietly, without all the attention and papal fanfare that could harm interfaith dialog and offend Muslim sensibilities.

But in terms of shock value and provocation, Allam’s conversion has nothing on Bl. Anthony Neyrot’s.

Neyrot, who celebrates his feast day today, was a Dominican brother living in Sicily in the Fifteenth Century. While sailing to Naples, Moorish pirates captured his ship, then sold him into slavery in Tunis. There, Neyrot would win back his earthly freedom by rejecting Christianity in favor of Islam. He was adopted into the Tunisian king’s family and took a wife, leaving his vocation, his order, and his faith behind.

It's quite possible Anthony would have died an apostate were it not for the intervention of his former Dominican prior, who had only recently passed away — St. Antoninus. Antoninus appeared to Anthony in a dream, the message of which was so profound that it spurred Anthony’s repentance. Neyrot sought out a priest, confessed his sins, sent his wife back to her family, and was readmitted to his order.

But his reversion didn’t end there. Anthony wanted his return to Christ to be as public as possible. On Palm Sunday of 1460, Anthony appeared at a procession before the Tunisian king, wearing his white Dominican habit for all to see. He publicly denounced his conversion to Islam and proclaimed his restored devotion to Christ.

Now that's a provocation.

Continue reading "A Patron for Magdi Allam and Benedict XVI" »

Posted by Chris Weinkopf at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For the mayor of a city that prides itself on its supposed commitment to human rights and its love of free speech, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's attempt to spare the Butchers of Beijing a little embarrassment is downright pathetic.

Thousands of Americans, including FF's own Bridget Johnson, were in San Fran today to protest the passing of the Olympic torch, which was en route to Beijing for the summer games. Internationally, these protests have been the cause of much well-deserved shame and humiliation for China's thugocracy, which had imagined the Olympics would be the regime's global coming-out party.

But the protest was spoiled, thanks to Mayor Newsom, who had city officials lie about the route the torch would take, so that it could follow another, protest-free path.

Which is, to be sure, exactly what the tyrants in China wanted -- a controversy-free photo-op to inflict on their own people and show to the world. Maybe that's why, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, many of the "pro-torch demonstrators" who were there today "carried red Chinese flags and said they were bused in by the Chinese consulate and other pro-China groups."

And now no less than the mayor has given Beijing a hand. Nice job, Gav.

One wonders if Newsom would have extended such courtesies to any other potential SF protests. Do you think if, oh, the pope or the president were passing through down, the mayor would have gladly lied to spare them some bad publicity?

No, I'm not calling Newsom a Communist. But a good many Americans -- politicians in both parties, and most of the corporate world -- have turned a blind eye to the despotic regime's horrendous practices because, quite frankly, there's too much money to be made there. (Thus the International Olympic Committee's bizarre choice of Beijing in the first place.) Companies like Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft, which refuse to block even the most horrific porn in the name of "free speech" here, gladly squelch any sort of political dissidence in Red China. Newsom, who hopes to be governor some day, knows better than anyone what interests he can -- and can't -- afford to offend if he wants to cultivate big-ticket campaign contributors.

But by sparing Beijing some shame, Newsom has earned plenty for himself. Check out this quote from SF Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin:

"Gavin Newsom runs San Francisco the way the premier of China runs his country - secrecy, lies, misinformation, lack of transparency and manipulating the populace. He misled supporters and opponents of the run. People brought their families and their children, and (mayoral officials) hatched a cynical plan to please the Bush State Department and the Chinese government because of the incredible influence of money.

"He did it so China can report they had a great torch run. It's the worst kind of government - government by deceit and misinformation."

Ah, maybe that's why Gavin is being a useful idiot for the Butchers of Beijing -- he admires their governing style.

Posted by Chris Weinkopf at 5:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

American politicians believe that democracy can only be achieved through free elections and a desire for self-determination. I have a different take. I say give them access to McDonalds, Wal-Mart and cell phones and you don't even need their hearts and minds -- they will fight for their right to buy more crap they don't need.

Last week, word that cell phones were going to be allowed in Cuba seemed a huge step toward freeing the people through the acquisition of stuff, until one realized that even the cheapest cell phone payment plan is beyond the means of most people. Still I image the Cuban relatives outside of Cuba would have no problem paying the cell bills to keep in contact with loved ones still on the island.

But I think I may have found the real catalyst for change in a post-Fidel Cuba: appliances.

Perusing through the Cayman Net News,a strange Caribbean newspaper in which the rules of punctuation seemed to be quite relaxed, I stumbled on a seemingly innocuous AFP story about Cubans buying (or at least, eyeing) rice cookers. (The Caymans are Cuba-adjacent,). Because of the strangeness of this paper's web site, I can't link to the story. But here's the line that I think says it all:

Cubans lined up outside stores Tuesday to gawk at, and enjoy their new right to buy, appliances such as pressure cookers, DVDs and electric bikes. Their sale had been banned by the government since 2003 amid severe power shortages.

Can western-style democracy be far behind?

Posted by Mariel Garza at 3:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We already know that Bush and Gordon Brown have no cojones when it comes to standing up for China and boycotting the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel -- Forbes' most powerful woman in the world and highly worthy of the title -- has become the first leader to put her foot down and do the right thing:

"As pressure built for concerted western protests to China over the crackdown in Tibet, EU leaders prepared to discuss the crisis for the first time today, amid a rift over whether to boycott the Olympics.

The disclosure that Germany is to stay away from the games' opening ceremonies in August could encourage President Nicolas Sarkozy of France to join in a gesture of defiance and complicate Gordon Brown's determination to attend the Olympics.

Donald Tusk, Poland's prime minister, became the first EU head of government to announce a boycott on Thursday and he was promptly joined by President Václav Klaus of the Czech Republic, who had previously promised to travel to Beijing.

'The presence of politicians at the inauguration of the Olympics seems inappropriate,' Tusk said. 'I do not intend to take part.'

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany's foreign minister, confirmed that Merkel was staying away. He added that neither he nor Wolfgang Schäuble, the interior minister responsible for sport, would attend the opening ceremony.

Hans-Gert Pöttering, the politician from Merkel's Christian Democratic party who chairs the European parliament, encouraged talk of an Olympic boycott this week and invited the Dalai Lama to address the chamber in Strasbourg, while another senior German Christian Democrat, Ruprecht Polenz, said a boycott should remain on the table."

This is awesome news!! And I'm willing to bet that Sarko will take the boycott route.

My column last week on how we shouldn't play China's games anymore got a lot of interesting reaction, by the way, including a death threat from the mainland. No worries -- I'll just sic these creepy "fuwas" on him:

Posted by Bridget Johnson at 1:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Moammar Gadhafi, who apparently has taken pleather to new, exciting places, gets all street with the amazingly birdlike Syrian President Bashar Assad...

Posted by Bridget Johnson at 1:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

... comes a newly revealed devotion to Jesus Christ.

God bless Mikhail Gorbachev, shown here paying a visit to the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi:

"It was through St Francis that I arrived at the Church, so it was important that I came to visit his tomb," said Mr Gorbachev.

"I feel very emotional to be here at such an important place not only for the Catholic faith, but for all humanity."

I'd say that Lenin must be rolling in his grave, but I suspect that the USSR's first leader has come to know the reality of God even more profoundly than has its last ...

Posted by Chris Weinkopf at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Plenty of countries claim up and down that they don’t hold political prisoners, and those eager to do business with that country are usually too eager to buy their story. But a recently leaked copy of a secret politburo document should leave everyone with little doubt that not only does Vietnam persecute political prisoners; they’re worried about learning to persecute more efficiently so they’ll catch less flack from the international community.

I got a hold of that memo, which was so tightly controlled that copies were numbered, sent out to the Communist Party hierarchy, then recalled and the numbers ticked off to make sure all were returned. Read all about it in my column today:

“When pressed last year on human rights during his historic visit to D.C., Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet passed off violations as a ‘different understanding’ that needed to be taken in context of ‘historical backgrounds and conditions.’Pro-democracy Vietnamese, however, understand well the conditions in place to systematically keep their voices silent. Now an apparent memo from the top tells the story.

The top-secret, just-leaked Vietnamese government document urges Communist Party officials to become more conscientious in their quest to ‘limit the spread of false ideas in the population about democracy, human rights, religious freedom, which impacts negatively on the Party and the State foreign policy,’ and work ‘to institute effort to neutralize these organizations and individuals who conspire to maneuver against the country and socialism.’

The document titled ‘NOTICE: Conclusion of the Political Party, concerning raising the bar of quality and effectiveness in the execution of the political trials in the face of new development’ and dated Sept. 12, 2007, was distributed to provincial authorities, party officials and leading technocrats, as noted in the memo.

Signed off and stamped by Standing Secretariat Member Truong Tan Sang, the Politburo sent out numbered copies on a recall basis. Yet a copy of the document was leaked by a Communist Party member to the People’s Democratic Party of Vietnam, which advocates a multi-party system and is thus banned by the Vietnamese regime.Reading the document - the English translation provided by the PDP - is a window into a regime that systematically conspires to silence dissidents and fears international scrutiny could derail its attempts at global acceptance.

‘The quality and effectiveness of the execution of the political cases have not met the requirements to enable the struggle to prevent and deal with these crimes,’ the memo reads, complaining that ‘the charges and rulings in a number of cases have not been appropriate’ and trials have been ‘allowing the accused excessive responses.’

‘…To fight and defeat the attack plot of the enemy forces is our first line of defense, urgent and immediate.’…”

Over at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, a reader says this in response to the column running there:

"If we had followed thru in Vietnam 30 years ago this would not be happening..."

Looking forward to seeing how those readers respond to that...

(The photo, btw, is Father Nguyen Van Ly, who said "Down with communism!" at his sham trial, and in response the politburo puppets clapped a hand over his mouth.)

Posted by Bridget Johnson at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My favorite contestant is the old guy in this audition tape from Mazar-e-Sharif:

It's like "American Idol," but scours for contestants in Kabul, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, Kandahar, etc. There's even an Afghan Ryan Seacrest (who's actually a medical student) and a woman on the judging panel a la Paula Abdul. It's in its third season, and this year a woman from Kandahar placed third, the highest ever for a woman, drawing lots of fans and pissing off conservative clerics. And I can't help but notice that, sans beards, there are some hot guys in Afghanistan...

Posted by Bridget Johnson at 6:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Might he say a word or two about the pleased comments about his potential presidency that were found on a laptop of the Colombian terror group FARC? You know, the nuggets buried at the bottom of the AP's story on the contents of the seized laptop:

"Writing two days before his death, (FARC commander Raul) Reyes tells his comrades that 'the gringos,' working through Ecuador's government, are interested 'in talking to us on various issues.'

'They say the new president of their country will be (Barack) Obama,' he writes, saying Obama rejects both the Bush administration's free trade agreement with Colombia and the current military aid program."

Surely a notorious killer, kidnapper, and drug trafficker isn't an ideal endorsement. Two days after Reyes' death, before the laptop discovery was released, Obama released a short, general statement against the threats of war in South America, saying diplomacy through "international actors" (Danny Glover?? Sean Penn??) should be used to defuse the situation. Obama's previously signaled his opposition to free trade with Colombia, but what about the U.S. aid agreement by which President Alvaro Uribe has been able to battle the traffickers and the FARC (which still holds three American hostages), thus making the cities there livable again? I'd love to hear Obama's opinions in light of the Reyes mail...

Posted by Bridget Johnson at 1:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If your enemy drops a bomb on you or shoots your child, you will be understandably aggrieved, angry and want revenge. This is only human.

When Israel suffers a shooting, as yesterday, with 9 rabbinic students slaughtered, I understand the rage and calls for action. When Palestinian families lose their children and their homes, I understand that they too cry out for what seems like justice to them.

Here’s what I do not understand. Truly, I do not understand dancing and celebrating the deaths of civilian members of the group you oppose. Not being a pacifist, I accept that war and violence are sometimes necessities. This is always tragic and never holy. There are no holy wars. That is an oxymoron. There should be no joy in the destruction even of an enemy.

The Talmud teaches that when the Red Sea closed up on the Egyptians who were pursuing the escaping Hebrews, the angels began to rejoice. G-d rebuked the angels saying that they dare not take pleasure in the deaths of the Egyptians, by saying that “they too are my children.”

Yes, when death and destruction rain down on you, your family or people you won’t much care about mood or motive. You will have pain, loss and rage. But there is something fundamentally different between fighting and killing with enthusiasm and fighting with heart aching and eyes filled with tears.

The Palestinians danced today; they danced at 9-11, they danced while dead Israeli soldiers were dragged through the streets and displayed like animals. I have never seen Israelis dance at Palestinian suffering and death. Why?

Posted by Jonathan Dobrer at 3:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

How is it that we are debating NAFTA and the shipping of jobs overseas while at the same time letting Airbus win a $41 billion contract for tanker planes for our Air Force? This contract is likely grow to over $100 billion Euros over the next decade. This represents money that could be spent here, and workers who could be employed here. The fig leaf of Northrop having offices in the states and some assembly taking place here is just that—a fig leaf.

Instead of worrying about tech support in India and people sewing shirts in South Asia for pennies and hour—jobs not really injuring our citizens—why are we not demanding the return of aerospace industry to our shores? This is not simply about jobs, though this is certainly an important part, but about our ability to engage the world.

We know that we have problems when the oil spigot dries up. What about when the world disapproves of some American foreign policy initiative? Could our military be held hostage to French foreign policy objectives or by a vote of the European Union? If we outsource our military equipment, the answer becomes Yes.

Should we need spare parts, we can imagine ourselves, like Cuba, isolated and starved of the ability to keep our planes in the air. Yes, this is economic but it is also a matter of national security.

As we enter a recession with growing deficits and unemployment, as the world becomes less and less influenced by our wants and needs, this contract is madness itself—economically, for jobs, for the deficit, the balance of trade and for our security and freedom of movement in the world.

Posted by Jonathan Dobrer at 3:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Let me mince no words: There is no world leader thirsting for war with anyone as badly as Hugo Chavez.

Here's the deal: Leftist Ecuadoran leader Rafael Correa didn't seem as upset the day before yesterday about Colombia reaching inside Ecuadoran territory to strike at a camp of FARC leaders, making their most important kill yet in taking out commander and spokesman Raul Reyes, one of seven members of the guerrilla group's hierarchy.

But in the past several weeks, Chavez, a longtime supporter of FARC, has been doing the "hostage negotiation" dance with FARC in an effort to publicly usurp the power and influence of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe (who, it has to be said, has really cleaned up the country and is Satan to Hugo because he has a good relationship with the U.S.). The slaying of Reyes puts Uribe firmly back in control and probably wounds the FARC -- a longtime thorn in the side of Colombian stability -- to the point of no return.

Chavez's message now: He's has Russian arms and he wants to use 'em. He licks his lips at the thought of drawing the U.S. into a South American conflict, and is trying to stoke the fires by saying that the U.S. jointly killed Reyes. He's gotten lapdog Correa as riled up as he needs to be.

More from the AP:

"...Chavez on Sunday promised Venezuela would respond militarily if Colombia violates its border, where he ordered tanks as well as thousands of troops. He also ordered closed Venezuela's embassy in Bogota.

Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, called for the troop deployment while also withdrawing his government's ambassador from Bogota and expelling Colombia's top diplomat.

'Mr. Defense Minister, move 10 battalions to the border with Colombia for me, immediately — tank battalions. Deploy the air force,' Chavez said during his weekly TV and radio program. 'We don't want war, but we aren't going to permit the U.S. empire, which is the master (of Colombia) ... to come divide us.'

Correa said Colombia deliberately carried out the strike beyond its borders. He said the rebels were 'bombed and massacred as they slept, using precision technology.'"

Precision technology? What's wrong with that? It meant that innocents weren't killed. Oh, that's right... you refuse to believe that the FARC are terrorists...

"'This could be the start of a war in South America,' Chavez said. He warned Uribe: 'If it occurs to you to do this in Venezuela, President Uribe, I'll send some Sukhois' — Russian warplanes recently bought by Venezuela."

The thing about Chavez is that Colombia may not even have to step one inch inside Venezuela's border for him to find "cause" to start a war. And never mind that he took his helicopters inside Colombia for his FARC kaffeeklatsch hostage retrieval.

Posted by Bridget Johnson at 2:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Free saxophone for Russian voters in Moscow today!

Perhaps Bill can do this for Hillary in Ohio on Tuesday?

Posted by Bridget Johnson at 2:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

OK, so they don't have temblors very often. And they have a bunch of stuff made of brick. And "retrofit" likely isn't the first thing on their minds. But there was no serious damage reported and one injury from the U.K. quake that was reportedly felt for 300 miles.

But The Sun tabloid is all over the hot story:

"Stunned Mark Young said he looked out of his window and saw an EIGHT FOOT crack in his neighbour’s garden at LEICESTER.

He said: 'There was a big crack through the ground and there was smoke and flames coming out. It was spitting things out.

'It is eight foot long and two foot wide.'

John Burton feared his house, in WAKEFIELD, West Yorkshire, was going to fall down as he watched television.

He said: 'It shook the whole house.'

Metal worker Simon Smith, 38, from CHATTERIS, Cambs, said: 'It felt like a juggernaut was going down my road.

'I turned to my wife Heather and shouted, "S***, it’s an earthquake."'"

Wimps.

And yes, that's the worst damage picture to be found.

Posted by Bridget Johnson at 3:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

They look so happy to be going off to fight the Marxist weenie terrorist PKK, huh? (And pretty er, cute, but that's beside the point.) That is, until they see what that cross-border incursion entails...

Damn! I guess that's why you don't invade Kurdistan in the winter. They look like a party out hunting the Yeti. Heck, with the snow camo they look like the Yeti. That's some determined Turks...

Posted by Bridget Johnson at 2:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The disputed island has elected a proud Marxist as its next president, making Communist Party leader Demetris Christofias the only (confessed) communist leader in the EU. The Communist party on Cyprus, the AKEL, features a bust of Lenin in its HQ, and Christofias loves him some classic Che T-shirts. It would probably be difficult enough to tell his rabid supporters that in their Che worship they're bowing to a murderer, but even check out the sleeve on the guy pictured: it says "CCCP." What heroes they have!! Hand over your computer and get in line for toilet paper now!!

Posted by Bridget Johnson at 2:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Saturday I went to a luncheon at the Pakistani consul general's house in Beverly Hills held in honor of the visiting Mirwaiz Omar Farooq. The mirwaiz (meer-wise) is the hereditary spiritual leader of the Kashmir Valley's 5.3 million or so Muslims; he took the post in 1990 at age 17, after his father was assassinated. In a snappy suit jacket, no tie, closely trimmed beard and no hat, he was barely recognizable at the backyard buffet. (Translation: He looked very L.A.!) He was also very eloquent, speaking at length about the need for the region to have a voice in his nonviolent quest for a solution to the Kashmir problem. Read what the mirwaiz said here at the Daily News, or at NYT clients such as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

A sample:

"'Whatever is happening in Pakistan has a direct reflection on Kashmir and we believe that this peace process needs to be strengthened,' he replied. '...So it's very important that we have a government in Pakistan who is committed to the peace process with India, but at the same time who are ready to think out of the box, not just concentrate on whatever the policy has been in the past. They need to be more flexible in their approach.'

The mirwaiz said he believes the peace process 'will gain some momentum once there's a stable government in Pakistan.'

...'People don't want violence, they want peace,' Farooq stressed. 'But peace with honor, peace with dignity. We don't want peace at the graveyard. And you cannot have peace in a vacuum.'"

The mirwaiz is constantly under threat from extremists for advocating dialogue; when his All Parties Hurriyat Conference began talks with India in 2006, Farooq's uncle was killed and Farooq's house was attacked. At this sunny Bev Hills event, I confess I kept thinking how pragmatic men like him need to stick around in this world, and it's worth saying a novena for the guy's safety.

And not to nosedive into trivial talk, but the Pakistani food was awesome at the lunch -- particularly flour patties with yogurt sauce, spinach and feta with naan (soft flatbread), korma, chicken tikka, and a shredded beef that was super-spicy. Today I found a Pakistani restaurant, Shahnawaz Halal Restaurant, and the shredded beef was included on the tandoori mix plate (but it was mintier than the buffet variety), plus the garlic naan was divine. Now where are the damn Rolaids??

Posted by Bridget Johnson at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A great idea, and one that will put many democracies on the hot seat (where as well they should be): If you don't have the guts to take a stand for human rights and boycott the Summer Games, do you at least have the balls to skip the party beforehand?

From Al-Jazeera:

"...Joel Voordewind, a member of the Christian Union that is a junior member of the ruling Dutch coalition government, said he wants governments around the world to support the boycott and lean on sponsors to use their financial clout with Beijing on the human rights issue.

'It is possible to take part in the games but skip the party before hand,' he said.

'Such a ceremony is only intended to glorify the host, China.'

Voordewind also suggested setting up a venue in Beijing during the games where visitors can discuss human rights."

Er, good luck with that one. That'd quickly meet with a Red Army tank.

"He expected opposition from organisers, but said, 'If the Chinese are against the plan, that means they are against human rights.'''

Yeah, no kidding.

"Voordewind has only just begun enlisting world support. Neither the Dutch government nor the Olympic Committee have backed him.

Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said the government regularly brings up human rights issues at meetings with Chinese officials and has no plans to support a boycott of the games or the opening ceremony."

That's because nobody intends to grow a pair before Beijing's gross spectacle.

Posted by Bridget Johnson at 10:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Fidel Castro just wrote a five-part, lengthy series of drivel on why John McCain sucks...

Posted by Bridget Johnson at 4:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As Fidel Castro steps down to let his turd brother take the permanent reins in Cuba, there are bound to be a number of apologists for the tyrant coming out of the woodwork. Just refer them to Cuba Archive, an ongoing project that is compiling documentation online of the victims of Castro's 49 iron-fisted years:

"To date, over 9,000 records have been entered into the electronic system, which grows as additional cases are entered and research and outreach efforts expand. ...The state led by Fidel and Raúl Castro emerges responsible for thousands of firing squad executions and extrajudicial killings. The archive reports over one thousand deaths in prisons, police stations, or State Security offices, as well as dozens of civilians murdered while trying to escape by sea or seeking asylum in foreign embassies and at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo. Pregnant women assassinated in political prisons and religious leaders and minors executed by firing squad are part of the tragic record. Nine extrajudicial killings and five deaths of prisoners for lack of medical attention are recorded for 2007."

Posted by Bridget Johnson at 4:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So week before last, I was invited to a screening of "Golda's Balcony" -- the new film version of the stage play -- at the Writers Guild Theatre, sponsored by the American Jewish Committee and Stand With Us in celebration of Israel's 60th birthday. Afterward, I sat and chatted at length with star Valerie Harper -- yes, Rhoda plays Golda wonderfully -- about women leaders, identity politics, and Golda Meir, who was prime minister of Israel when America was still struggling with issues of equality.

I wrote about my talk with Valerie (an awesome person -- she and her hubby, the film's producer, insisted on walking me to my car after the theater closed) as well as my thoughts on women leaders at Pajamas Media today (where I have new pieces weekly):

As I watched the life of the former prime minister unfold onscreen, I chuckled at the thought of how our 2008 obsession with identity politics seems to forget the great leaders — who just happened to be women — who have long had the attention of the rest of the world. After all, Oprah is not the most powerful woman in the world; that woman is, as ranked by Forbes, German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

But Merkel is a conservative. Meir fought for Israel’s survival in the Yom Kippur War. Even Condoleezza Rice’s term as secretary of state has not been hailed as a great advance for women and/or African-Americans. So is a leader who happens to be a women only hailed as advancement if she pursues a feminist agenda outlined by NOW or the Code Pink sisters?

It raises serious questions when Ms. magazine last month refused to run an American Jewish Congress ad hailing Israel’s powerful women leaders: Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch, Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, with the words “This is Israel.”

Ms. told the Jerusalem Post that the ad was rejected for being too political, as two of the three women were from the Kadima party (which happens to also be the ruling party, hence making the magazine’s argument that the ad was unacceptable partisanship all the more ridiculous).

I later ask Valerie how Meir wasn't compartmentalized in the stereotype of women leaders:

“Golda was an amazing person, I think, male or female, in that she was both a visionary and an activist,” Harper said. “A lot of activists have sort of a vision, but they’re so in the doing that they don’t get the big picture, and some of the visionaries are very bad when it comes to the practical application and the doing. She was both. She held the vision just so clean and clear and her whole raison d’etre was ‘I want a world that’s safe for Jews.’"

Read the whole thing!

Posted by Bridget Johnson at 6:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today in my column I write about the constitutional change pushed through Turkey's parliament by the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party, the party to which the president and prime minister also belong, to allow Islamic head scarves in universities. It seems like a cut-and-dry religious freedom issue, but it's not so simple for the secular Muslim republic established by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Do proponents of keeping the head-scarf ban relish the thought of limiting religious expression? No. They're operating out of a real fear of the snowball effect in which Islamic movements have pressured those perceived to be less pious to follow their interpretation of Islam.

In other words, they fear those who will see it as their religious duty to ensure that women cover up.

"The heads of many girls are shaved by their brothers to force them to wear head scarves," Turkish opposition lawmaker Nesrin Baytok said.

And we see what's happened in places like Iran, where top cleric Hojatolislam Gholam Reza Hassani said in December, "Women who do not respect the hijab and their husbands deserve to die."

In Iraq, women