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Gay Rights Advocates have a problem with Chick-Fil-A Corp

“If you’re eating Chick-fil-A, you’re eating anti-gay,” one headline read

You see, this problem I have with the Gay lobby and how they roll. They have no problem attacking a company that sponsored a marriage seminar and for the most part has a Conservative Christian culture.

They sell chicken sandwiches for God’s sakes is all this necessary?

It was less than a week ago that I offered an olive branch to GOPride, a Gay conservative group, that was a co-sponsor of C-PAC. I said they had the right to be part of the event because they were conservatives.

But, when other Gay groups pull these kinds of stunts stomping on others constitutional rights, that gets my blood boiling.

Here’s my reaction.

Let me eat my chicken sandwich in peace!

You can go suck a dick someplace else in peace and mind your own business!

The New York Times reports that the Chick-fil-A sandwich — a hand-breaded chicken breast and a couple of pickles squished into a steamy, white buttered bun — is a staple of some Southern diets and a must-have for people who collect regional food experiences the way some people collect baseball cards.

New Yorkers have sprinted through the airport here to grab one between flights. College students returning home stop for one even before they say hello to their parents.

But never on Sunday, when the chain is closed.
Nicknamed “Jesus chicken” by jaded secular fans and embraced by Evangelical Christians, Chick-fil-A is among only a handful of large American companies with conservative religion built into its corporate ethos. But recently its ethos has run smack into the gay rights movement. A Pennsylvania outlet’s sponsorship of a February marriage seminar by one of that state’s most outspoken groups against homosexuality lit up gay blogs around the country. Students at some universities have also begun trying to get the chain removed from campuses.

“If you’re eating Chick-fil-A, you’re eating anti-gay,” one headline read. The issue spread into Christian media circles, too.

The outcry moved the company’s president, Dan T. Cathy, to post a video on the company’s Facebook fan page to “communicate from the heart that we serve and value all people and treat everyone with honor, dignity and respect,” said a company spokesman, Don Perry.

Providing sandwiches and brownies for a local seminar is not an endorsement or a political stance, Mr. Cathy says in the video. But he adds that marriage has long been a focus of the chain, which S. Truett Cathy, his deeply religious father, began in 1967.

The donation has some fans cheering and others forcing themselves to balance their food desires against their personal beliefs.
“Does loving Chick-fil-A make you a bad gay?” said Rachel Anderson of Berkeley, Calif. “Oh, golly, human beings have an amazing capacity to justify a lot of things.” Ms. Anderson has been with her partner for 15 years. They married in California during the brief period when same-sex marriage was legal in 2008. They have 7-year-old twins. A visit to her spouse’s family in North Carolina always includes a trip to the chicken chain.

But as she learns more about the company, Ms. Anderson is wavering about where to eat when they travel to Charlotte in April.

“I’m going to have to sit with this a little bit,” she said.

More details here


Memeorandum

Busty Bikini clad Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is new Transformers Girl

I though Megan Fox was getting too damn skinny myself.

The Sun reports that the busty Brit model, who will star in the new Transformers movie later this year, wore a red bra and pink negligee for a Victoria's Secret lingerie photoshoot. Devon-born Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, 23, will replace MEGAN FOX and take the main female role in Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

More details here

British actor Henry Cavill chosen to play the new Superman.

I’ll make an observation you won’t anywhere else. I think its no coincidence that the major super hero roles are going to British actors.

We in the United States have a shortage of “manly men” looking men actors in the tradition of John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Grocery Peck, and Robert Mitchum just to name a few. Those type of actors used to be the normative appearance of rugged, tough, individualistic American male. The “strong and silent” and “tall dark and handsome” types filled the movie screens from the 1930s up until the mid 70s.

The came the women’s movement in the 1970s and since then the definition of what is manly has eroded from tough and rugged John Wayne

type to the soft, sensitive, non physical

John Cusack mode.

The rugged actors are still around but they rarely paly the hero anymore and most likely play the dumb muscle head.

The UK Telegraph reports Henry Cavill, a former public schoolboy, will star in the sixth instalment of the Hollywood franchise.

His casting as the Man of Steel means that America's greatest superheroes are played by a triumvirate of British talent. Andrew Garfield has taken on the role of Spider-Man, while Christian Bale is currently filming his third Batman movie.

It has been a long audition process for Cavill, 27.

In 2004, he screen-tested for the lead in Superman Returns, but the producers chose Brandon Routh. He was also considered for Bale's role in Batman Begins and was considered for James Bond before Daniel Craig landed the part. The near-misses led Empire magazine to dub him "the most unlucky man in Hollywood".

One of five brothers, Cavill attended prep school in his native Jersey before boarding at Stowe School, Bucks, where he appeared in several productions. "As a young boy I appeared in my first play at prep school. Afterwards all the parents came up and said, 'You were great', and it was totally unexpected. I really learned to love the stage," he said.

His most high profile role to date is Charles Brandon in The Tudors, the historical mini-series. He has also modelled for Dunhill.

The new film will be directed by Zack Snyder and released in December 2012 - 34 years after the first Superman film made a star of Christopher Reeve.

More details here

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

This 2003 film directed by Peter Weir and starring Russell Crowe is a delight. If you like stories about men with bravery and courage, then this is the flick for you.

During the Napoleonic Wars, a brash British captain pushes his ship and crew to their limits in pursuit of a formidable French war.vessel around South America.

Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey

Official website can be found here

Malt Advocate Magazine review here

Georgia Father and Auntie charged with murder after 4 yr old girl dies of alcohol poisoning

Once again we have another example of the horrible parenting crisis we have in this country that nobody wants to call out.

We’re all so afraid of offending somebody that we don’t have the freaking courage to say out loud that we have a huge problem.

The Daily Mail reports that a girl's father and aunt are charged with murder. Doctors say she died of 'extreme alcohol poisoning.

A four-year-old girl drank herself to death after police believe she was plied with alcohol by her father.

Authorities in Georgia said the toddler died from 'extreme' alcohol poisoning.

Her father and aunt were arrested and charged with murder after shocked doctors revealed the girl's cause of death.
Details of how much the girl drank have not yet been r

eleased by police in Alpharetta, Georgia.

They were alerted when the girl, who has not been named, was rushed to hospital after collapsing at her home at Planters Ridge condominiums.
She was airlifted to a hospital in Atlanta.

But tragically doctors were unable to revive her.

An autopsy revealed that alcohol poisoning was the cause of death.
The victim's father and aunt were both charged with felony cruelty to children and felony murder.

Four other children at the house were taken into care by social workers.
Officers swarmed around the apartment block where their Haitian family lived.

The Fulton County District Attorney's Office, which is helping with the investigation, was interviewing family members.
The little girl's uncle told CBS in Atlanta that she was 'a sweetheart'.
'It's terrible. We are hurting,' he said.

'She was very joyous. She showed love to everybody and she was very well-spoken.'

The uncle said the little girl's father loved her and said the death was an accident.

'It's terrible, man, because she is young and she didn't know the effects of certain things,' he said.

'I don't know if she got her hands somehow on something and drank it, it's just tragic.'

'It's never easy for us to investigate something like this,' Alpharetta police spokeswoman Jennifer Howard told local media.

'We all care about children. This is the hardest type of case to investigate.'

Natasha Henstridge

Tourists besiege Cairo Egypt airport, but airport is closed

Finally some news of foreigners in Egypt caught up in anarchy. This is still a dire situation. Egyptian police has disappeared and there’s chaos in the streets of Cairo.



Armed gangs have attacked jails and released militant prisoners. I don’t like the looks of this at all.



Again, I fear the taking of hostages by radical Islamists taking advantage of the power vacuum.



We should be sending the Marines on a rescue mission to get our people out Otherwise we risk them being taken as bargaining chips.







Yahoo News reports that several Arab nations evacuate their nationals while tourists besiege Cairo airport



Thousands of passengers were stranded at Cairo's airport on Saturday as flights were canceled or delayed, leaving them unable to leave because of a government-imposed curfew. Several Arab nations, meanwhile, moved to evacuate their citizens.



As Egypt's unrest neared its sixth day, the cancelations of flights and the arrival of several largely empty aircraft appeared to herald an ominous erosion of key tourism revenue for the country, hitting hard at its pocketbook even as protesters centered many of their grievances on the grinding poverty they endure daily.



Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan organized an additional 10 flights to evacuate their citizens,

officials at Cairo International Airport said. Among those who left were families of diplomats.



Egypt's national carrier, meanwhile, was forced to cancel 15 scheduled flights because it was unable to secure the necessary crew and service personnel, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.



For roughly 3,000 travelers, Egyptians and foreigners alike, the news was another blow in a day where little had gone right.



About 2,000 had flocked to the airport earlier in the day, many without reservations, hoping to secure a seat out of the country. With airlines canceling or rescheduling flights because of a curfew that was expanded from between 4 p.m. and 8 a.m., the options were limited, and their numbers swelled as flights arrived later in the evening.



Many of those passengers remained stranded at the airport, unable to leave because of the curfew as well as fears of the widespread looting reported across the capital.



Others, who had yet to venture to the airport, appeared to be counting the days and holding out hope for any opportunity to leave.



"We're going to contact the U.S. consulate, because we want them to know we're here," said Regina Fraser, co-host of the "Grannies on Safari" show on PBS, an American public access television channel. "We're going to try and figure out how the heck we're going to get back because we're very concerned there may not be any flights."



"We do want people to know, 'Hey we're Americans, we need to get home'," she said, speaking from the southern Egyptian city of Luxor. "Who wants to be around gunfire and also tear gases? It's pretty scary."



The immediate prospects seemed slim.



British Midlands International said its flight from London Heathrow to Cairo turned around because the change in the curfew would have made it impossible to land in time for passengers to make it out of the airport.



The plane was filled with British diplomats, human rights workers, international journalists, and some Egyptians desperate to get home -- including at least one trying to make it back in time for his wedding, according to an Associated Press reporter on board the flight.



Several airlines, including Germany's Lufthansa and Air Berlin, U.S. carrier Delta Air Lines and Poland's LOT canceled flights and some were weighing how long to extend those cancelations. Delta said its service was "indefinitely suspended as a result of civil unrest" in Egypt.



Others, such as Italy's Alitalia, Netherlands-based KLM and British Airways were adjusting their schedules to accommodate the curfew hours. BA also said it would send a charter plane to Egypt to move passengers wanting to leave.



The flight disruptions threatened to undercut the tourism sector, which according to some analysts accounts for as much as 11 percent of the country's gross domestic product. Tourism brought in more than $9 billion for Egypt in the first nine months of 2010 and $10.8 billion the year before.



Egypt's military closed off access to the pyramids in Giza -- with tanks and armored personnel carriers sealing off the site on the Giza Plateau. The area is normally packed with tourists and is a main draw for those who come to Cairo.



So far, the protests appear to have mainly affected travel plans to Cairo, while the Red Sea resorts favored by the Europeans and Russians, who make up the majority of foreign tourists to Egypt were unaffected.



The United States, France and Germany issued warnings to their respective citizens, urging them to cancel nonessential travel to Cairo and to remain indoors and away from flashpoint areas if they were already in the country.



The Polish Foreign Ministry said it had learned that some Polish tourists had rented vehicles to travel to cities where demonstrations were taking place. "We consider this very irresponsible and urge them not to do that," ministry spokesman Marcin Bosacki said.



Europeans and Russians account for a major chunk of the tourists to Egypt, opting for Red Sea resort trips while many Americans go for more expansive trips that include the Pharaonic sites in Upper Egypt, as well as Cairo.





More details here

Why is the American media silent on the condition of Americans currently in Egypt?

That’s the biggest question I want an answer to. It’s getting pretty scary over in Egypt and I’ve seen this movie before. In the late 70s there was an Iranian uprising against the Shah of Iran. He was supported by the United States too as is Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

President Jimmy Carter mishandled that situation and as a result 51 American hostages were held for 444 days by Iranian thugs.

Now I find it very interesting how the American press is very silent about Americans currently in Egypt. It’s as if they don’t want to report on Americans in danger and how that will impact the president.

I hope this doesn’t turn into that type of situation.

But, although the Obama-suck up media doesn’t want to say it, this is clearly Obama’s biggest foreign policy crisis.

Whether Egypt ends up being another Turkey or Iran is squarely on his shoulders.

TLT Pic of the Week: Big Women are Sexy Too

Here’s to the real size women that you see around you everyday. You won’t find them on the covers of Vogue Or Cosmo. But, that’s not because they’re not beautiful enough.

No, sir!

Only emaciated, ribs showing, walking skeletons with boob jobs get to make that cut.

Who wants that other than coked-up, arrogant, neurotic editors that sleep with other men anyway?

Give me cornbread and collared greens, macaroni with cheese whiz, and don’t forget the pork.

Big ups to the BBWs, you outshine them all!

Sarah Palin responds to rumours her husband Todd Palin had an affair: That's B.S.

I saw the report in the National Enquirer but chose not to publish it here because I got burned last April when NE reported that Barack Obama had an affair with Vera Baker that went no where.

The report has since been scrubbed from the site.

I figured since NE had the John Edwards cheating scandal correct, maybe they were on to something with Obama.

So why should we believe what NE has to say about Todd Palin?

The Daily Mail reports Sarah Palin has called reports her husband cheated on her with a massage therapist 'B.S.'.

The former vice presidential candidate was speaking on an Alaskan morning radio show when she refuted the claims made in the National Enquirer earlier this month, Speaking on 'The Bob and Mark morning show', she called the claims 'a waste of time'.

Mrs Palin had been asked if it was hurtful that much of her harshest criticism originates in her home state of Alaska.

She said she tries not to pay too much attention to the poll numbers - but admitted that stories like the affair rumour were hurtful.

'Look at this recent B.S. about Todd supposedly being all caught up in a prostitution ring in Anchorage,' she said with a brittle laugh.

'APD (the Anchorage Police Department) had to come out and say 'bull', there's no evidence...

'Heck, all they needed to do was ask me or ask Todd himself. 'Hey Todd, you been hanging out with hookers in Anchorage?'

'And he'd tell the truth, obviously it was a big lie.

It's a waste of time... things like that are hurtful because when we trace back the lies and know that they come from our home state of Alaska, that's hurtful.'

More details here

Incredible Video: Phoenix Suns Fan Dunks Himself

This guy is lucky he didn’t break his neck or worse. This may have been a half time show at a Suns game. A man flies in the air and goes through the hoop.

From Terez Owens

True Balloon Head Chris Matthews said Panama Canal Is In Egypt. WTF?

The thing about Matthews that is so funny is that he perfectly exemplifies what arrogant know-it-all Liberals are like.

They think they know everything but in reality they are extremely ignorant of most every subject. They read a few lines in the New Times, grab some catch words, and put down the paper without finishing the article so they can discuss what they really don’t know with their friends.

They are the biggest boobs in the world that consider themselves the most cosmopolitan thinkers that knew the solution to the world’s problems-bigger government.

NewsBusters says as NewsBusters has been reporting almost ad nauseam, Chris Matthews spent much of last week mercilessly lambasting Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann with cherry-picked and distorted quotes far afield of their intended meaning.

On Friday, the “Hardball” host got a touch of instant karma when he said the Panama Canal is in Egypt.



CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: You know, the great thing about Egypt is it’s its own country. It was always there before there was an America or Britain or anything, there has been an Egypt. It’s like China. It’s a real country. It wasn’t just carved off the map or out of the map by the Europeans, like so many African and third world countries have.

It’s got a real rooted history. It’s not just an Arab country. It was a country long before it was an Arab country -- long before Islam, there was an Egypt. Will it see itself in this moment of chaos as joining a greater Islamic world or is holding to its national identity?

AMB. MARC GINSBERG, FMR. U.S. AMBASSADOR TO MOROCCO (via telephone)GINSBERG: There’s no doubt that the Egyptians view themselves as the center of culture in the Arab and the Muslim world and the center of Islamic learning. I studied there. I used to take classes at the al-Azhar University, which is considered to be the pre-eminent Islamic institution in the Muslim world, Chris.

MATTHEWS: Right.

GINSBERG: And the fact is that there’s enormous pride going back to the history of the pharaohs. The Egyptians embrace their ancient culture. But they’re very dissatisfied with their current regime.

MATTHEWS: Well, let me ask you about the prospects we’re looking at as an American. We’re looking at the map of the world right now and where Egypt sits in the world. It’s so strategically located. It has, of course, the Nile River. It has, of course, the Panama Canal.

Someone must have spoken in Matthews’ earplug, for he corrected himself moments later:

MATTHEWS: It is the largest and only true partner even if it’s a cold peace with Israel. It is, in fact, the key to whatever Middle East peace we’re able to arrange in our lifetime. It always tends to support the moderate forces in - the Suez Canal. It has always supported the moderate forces in that region.

More details here

Memeorandum

10 Welfare families costing UK taxpayers 1 million a year in housing benefits

With all due respect to my British readers, the UK welfare system is way out of control. We here in the United States need to pay close attention to what Liberalism truly costs.





The Daily Mail reports that ten families in England are sharing an astonishing £1million a year in housing benefits, it emerged last night.



The huge sums being lavished on the families by the taxpayer are allowing them to live in streets normally reserved for millionaires.



Five of the families are receiving the maximum payment of £2,000 per week.



It is the first proof that George Osborne was correct when he claimed some households were receiving sums in excess of £100,000 a year.



Last night, the Chancellor told the Daily Mail: ‘It is precisely this kind of shocking waste of public money under the previous Labour government that led to Britain’s debt problems.



‘We are bringing an end to this by putting a cap on the total amount of benefit that a family can receive so the days of £100,000 housing benefit claims are gone.’



The Coalition triggered a furious reaction last year when it unveiled plans to cut the top rate of housing benefit to £400 a week. Chris Bryant, the Labour justice spokesman, said the cuts would lead to ‘social cleansing’, with 200,000 people forced out of the capital.



The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, also spoke of a ‘Kosovo-style’ exodus.



Critics even questioned whether Mr Osborne could back his claim that some families were in receipt of six-figure annual sums.



But Freedom of Information replies received by this newspaper show there are at least ten families in London sharing a £1million housing benefit bill between them.



The 10 families who are costing us an astonishing £1m a year between them just in housing benefits



Waste of taxpayers' money: Several families have been given thousands in annual housing benefit like Abdi Nur (pictured)

Ten families in England are sharing an astonishing £1million a year in housing benefits, it emerged last night.



The huge sums being lavished on the families by the taxpayer are allowing them to live in streets normally reserved for millionaires.



Five of the families are receiving the maximum payment of £2,000 per week.



It is the first proof that George Osborne was correct when he claimed some households were receiving sums in excess of £100,000 a year.



Last night, the Chancellor told the Daily Mail: ‘It is precisely this kind of shocking waste of public money under the previous Labour government that led to Britain’s debt problems.



‘We are bringing an end to this by putting a cap on the total amount of benefit that a family can receive so the days of £100,000 housing benefit claims are gone.’



The Coalition triggered a furious reaction last year when it unveiled plans to cut the top rate of housing benefit to £400 a week. Chris Bryant, the Labour justice spokesman, said the cuts would lead to ‘social cleansing’, with 200,000 people forced out of the capital.



The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, also spoke of a ‘Kosovo-style’ exodus.Critics even questioned whether Mr Osborne could back his claim that some families were in receipt of six-figure annual sums.



But Freedom of Information replies received by this newspaper show there are at least ten families in London sharing a £1million housing benefit bill between them.



All are being housed in Westminster, Kensington or Chelsea – the wealthiest parts of the country.



Five families are receiving the maximum of £2,000 a week, the equivalent to a working family’s mortgage on a £1.5million house.



It will re-ignite the row over the housing benefit bill, which has spiralled from £14billion ten years ago to £21billion. It is more than the country spends on policing and universities combined.



The identity of the ten families is being kept secret because of privacy rules.



Some previous cases, when the claimaints have been identified, involved even larger sums.



More details here

Glenn Beck Slams Chris Matthews Over ‘Balloon Head’ Bachmann Depiction

I’m glad Glen Beck smacked Chris Matthews around. Liberals have been perpetrating a fraud on the true history of slavery. I’ve said this at least a dozen times that the Democrats are the original slave masters. And they have been re-writing history ever since to make Black people believe that it was the Republicans.

The deception has worked for the most part, BUT eyes are being opened every day and Black folks come to me all the time and tell me that they were duped for the last time.

This is why Libs are in panic mode because if they loose even 20% of the Black vote, they’re finished.

Christians: Don’t sleep on what’s happening in Egypt

Egypt is a very significant place in the history of Christianity. It’s was the place of refuge for Abraham, the sons of Jacob, and even Joseph and Mary fled there taking Jesus Christ to avoid the slaughter of the innocence.

Strange things are happening in the world today.

Birds are falling dead from the sky and fish are washing up dead by the thousands.

Strange weather?

Floods?

Earthquakes?

I’m not making any predilections. No human being can do so.

But, keep your lamps filled with oil.

Tunisia Yesterday, Egypt Today, Jordan Tomorrow?

From CBS News

(AP) AMMAN, Jordan - Unrest ripping across the Arab world is putting pressure on Jordan's King Abdullah II, a key U.S. ally who has been making promises of reform in recent days in an apparent attempt to quell domestic discontent over economic degradation and lack of political freedoms.

After two weeks of widespread protests inspired by the revolt that overthrew Tunisia's autocratic president, Abdullah has promised reforms in meetings with members of parliament, former prime ministers, civil society institutions and even Jordan's largest opposition group, the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood Movement.But his promises appear unlikely to quash the opposition's daring calls to elect their prime minister and Cabinet officials, traditionally appointed by the king.The Muslim Brotherhood called for fresh demonstrations on Friday to press its demand for political and economic reforms."We will continue our protests until our demands are met," said Brotherhood spokesman Jamil Abu Bakr, referring to their calls for electing a prime minister and Cabinet officials; amending a controversial election law they claim had reduced votes in their favor; and implementing reforms that would eradicate corruption and introduce a transparent government policy.

Abdullah has been working to create a more open-market economy that would see a greater flow of foreign capital into a resource-barren country, heavily dependent on U.S. and other foreign aid and whose debt is estimated at $15 billion, about double the amount reported three years ago.The economy saw a record deficit of $2 billion this year, inflation rising by 1.5 percent to 6.1 percent just last month and rampant unemployment and poverty - estimated at 12 and 25 percent respectively."

The government buys cars and spends lavishly on its parties and travel, while many Jordanians are jobless or can barely put food on their tables to feed their hungry children," said civil servant Mahmoud Thiabat, 31, a father of three who earns $395 a month.Such complaints mirror those that ultimately led to the downfall of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, though as a monarch with deep support from the Bedouin-dominated military, Jordan's ruler is not seen as vulnerable as Tunisia's deposed leader.Still, Prime Minister Samir Rifai announced a $550 million package of new subsidies in the last two weeks for fuel and staple products like rice, sugar, livestock and liquefied gas used for heating and cooking.

It also includes a raise for civil servants and an increase in pensions for retired military and civilian personnel.Parliament said it will be amending the elections law soon - a move seen as a concession to the Muslim opposition.In a Wednesday meeting with the Senate, which he appoints, "Abdullah insisted on the need to move forward with clear and transparent programs of political and economic reform," the palace said. "The king underlined the need for senators and all officials to be in constant contact with the people in all provinces of the kingdom to hear their grievances and open a completely frank dialogue with them."

Abdullah met with the elected parliament speaker and the elected heads of parliamentary committees on Thursday, promising "transparency, frankness and dialogue on all domestic issues to strengthen citizen's confidence in their national institutions.""There's a lot of talk in the society about issues like corruption, nepotism and favoritism, which must be debated and responded to," Abdullah added, according to a statement released by his press office.

He said while some of "issues are right, others are not. But citizens have the right to have a candid answer."Labib Kamhawi, an independent analyst, said the king's pledges were "cosmetic" and that more needs to be done to improve the political and economic climate in Jordan."

Authentic concessions must be made this time because people are fed up with cosmetic changes and empty promises," he said.When Abdullah ascended to the throne in 1999, he said he envisioned Jordan as one day becoming a constitutional monarchy, similar to Britain.He has vowed to press ahead with political reforms initiated by his late father, King Hussein, which saw the first parliamentary election in 1989 after a 22-year gap, the revival of a multiparty system and the suspension of martial law in effect since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

However, little has since come of these plans and he retains the power to appoint ministers, dismiss parliament and rule by decree."There must be real political reforms to allow the people to have a direct involvement in matters affecting their lives," said Hamza Mansour, the head of the Islamic Action Front, the Brotherhood's political arm.Although laws were enacted to ensure greater press freedom, journalists are still prosecuted for expressing their opinion or for simply making comments considered defaming to the king and his royal household.

Women have made some gains on their rights, but not far enough. Abdullah has pressed for stiffer penalties for perpetrators of "honor killings" against their female relatives, but prosecutors often give lenient sentences.

Conservative Bedouin lawmakers have also adamantly opposed harsh penalties, saying they would encourage vice.Still, human rights abuses in Jordan are far fewer than in Tunisia and Egypt. Although some critics of the king are prosecuted, they eventually are pardoned and some are even rewarded with government posts."Nobody wants to see a regime change in Jordan, like in Tunisia or Egypt," Kamhawi said. "But people here want to see accountability, transparency, an end to corruption in government circles and wider public freedoms and popular participation in the decision-making."

Egypt protests show George W. Bush was right about freedom in the Arab world

Despite what our idiot VP Joe Biden may think, Hosni Mubarak, the president of Egypt for the past 30 years is a dictator even though he’s an ally of the United States.

President Bush believed that Muslims in the Middle East would prefer Liberty to oppression. Liberals vehemently thought he was wrong.

And although the fledgling democracies in Iraq and Afghanistan are far from ideal, the winds of freedom are blowing among other Arab states that are tired of living under despotism.

The Washington Post reports for decades, the Arab states have seemed exceptions to the laws of politics and human nature. While liberty expanded in many parts of the globe, these nations were left behind, their "freedom deficit" signaling the political underdevelopment that accompanied many other economic and social maladies. In November 2003, President George W. Bush laid out this question:


"Are the peoples of the Middle East somehow beyond the reach of liberty? Are millions of men and women and children condemned by history or culture to live in despotism? Are they alone never to know freedom and never even to have a choice in the matter?"

The massive and violent demonstrations underway in Egypt, the smaller ones in Jordan and Yemen, and the recent revolt in Tunisia that inspired those events, have affirmed that the answer is no and are exploding, once and for all, the myth of Arab exceptionalism. Arab nations, too, yearn to throw off the secret police, to read a newspaper that the Ministry of Information has not censored and to vote in free elections. The Arab world may not be swept with a broad wave of revolts now, but neither will it soon forget this moment.

So a new set of questions becomes critical. What lesson will Arab regimes learn? Will they undertake the steady reforms that may bring peaceful change, or will they conclude that exiled Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali erred only by failing to shoot and club enough demonstrators? And will our own government learn that dictatorships are never truly stable? For beneath the calm surface enforced by myriad security forces, the pressure for change only grows - and it may grow in extreme and violent forms when real debate and political competition are denied.

The regimes of Ben Ali and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak proffered the same line to Washington: It's us or the Islamists. For Tunisia, a largely secular nation with a literacy rate of 75 percent and per capita GDP of $9,500, this claim was never defensible. In fact, Ben Ali jailed moderates, human rights advocates, editors - anyone who represented what might be called "hope and change."

Mubarak took the same tack for three decades.

Ruling under an endless emergency law, he has crushed the moderate opposition while the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood has thrived underground and in the mosques. Mubarak in effect created a two-party system - his ruling National Democratic Party and the Brotherhood - and then defended the lack of democracy by saying a free election would bring the Islamists to power.

Of course, neither he nor we can know for sure what Egyptians really think; last fall's parliamentary election was even more corrupt than the one in 2005. And sometimes the results of a first free election will find the moderates so poorly organized that extreme groups can eke out a victory, as Hamas did when it gained a 44-to-41 percent margin in the Palestinian election of 2006. But we do know for sure that regimes that make moderate politics impossible make extremism far more likely. Rule by emergency decree long enough, and you end up creating a genuine emergency. And Egypt has one now.

"Angry Friday" brought tens of thousands of Egyptians into the streets all over the country, demanding the end of the Mubarak regime. The huge and once-feared police forces were soon overwhelmed and the Army called in. Even if these demonstrations are crushed, Egypt has a president who will be 83 at the time of this fall's presidential election. Every day Hosni Mubarak survives in power now, he does so as dictator propped up by brute force alone. Succession by his son Gamal is already a sour joke, and one must wonder whether Egypt's ruling elites, civilian and military, will wish to tie their future to Hosni Mubarak rather than seeking a new face.

The three decades Hosni Mubarak and his cronies have already had in power leave Egypt with no reliable mechanisms for a transition to democratic rule. Egypt will have some of the same problems as Tunisia, where there are no strong democratic parties and where the demands of the people for rapid change may outstrip the new government's ability to achieve it. This is also certain to be true in Yemen, where a weak central government has spent all its energies and most of its resources simply staying in power.


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Memeorandum

Wilpons willing to sell part of New York Mets

A Mets fan wish: Fred Wilpon, please sell the Mets and get out from under Madoff debts

I know this is wishful thinking, but sometimes wishes do come true. Fred Wilpon’s Sterling Equities announced that they are in the process of seeking limited partners to buy minority interests in the New York Mets.

I’d wager that 10 out of 10 Mets fans would hope, beg, or pray that some filthy rich individual like Donald Trump or Mark Cuban would give the Wilpons an offer they couldn’t refuse.

But, Mike Francessa of WFAN stated today on the radio that he’s been told by Fred Wilpon on more than one occasion that he intends to pass the team to his grandchildren.

That’s his right, it’s his property to do as he wishes.

However, long suffering Mets fans who live in the shadows of the New York Yankees and the millions they spend year after year to put a winner on the field, think otherwise.

The New York Post reports that Mets owners on Friday said they’re considering selling 20-25 percent of the team to "strategic partners" because of the financial uncertainty created by the lawsuit filed against them by the trustee in the Bernie Madoff bankruptcy case.

Fred Wilpon said the decision to offer part of the team was not made under pressure from Major League Baseball.

"At the outset I want to emphasize what we are discussing today has not and will not affect the Mets day-to-day operations and control," the Mets CEO said.

"Let me stress, at the end of the day, we may or may not do anything."
Jeff Wilpon, the team's COO, said the offer does not include interest in SNY or Citi Field.

The team said in a statement they have hired investment bank Allen & Co. to explore alternatives, including adding “one or more strategic partners.”

Adviser Steve Greenberg said he expects "robust interest" in the part of the team available, which could be worth over $200 million.

Last spring, Forbes estimated the Mets were worth $858 million, third in baseball behind the Yankees ($1.6 billion) and Red Sox ($870 million).

While Sterling Equities, the entity that is the Mets’ principal owner, is working to settle the suit, it wants to “address the air of uncertainty created by this lawsuit, and to provide additional assurance that the New York Mets will continue to have the necessary resources to fully compete and win.”

The Mets finished 2010 with baseball’s sixth-highest payroll at $127.6 million in going 79-83. They have not attempted to sign any top free-agents, instead adding pitchers Chris Capuano ($1.5 million) and Chris Young ($1.1 million).

In December, Irving Picard, the bankruptcy trustee trying to recover cash for Madoff's victims, sued Sterling Equities, which was a big Madoff client.

The suit, filed under seal in Manhattan bankruptcy court, did not state how much of Madoff's phony investment gains Picard was looking to claw back from Sterling but previous court filings hint that Wilpon's wallet could be $48 million lighter should Picard win.

More details here

I think the Wilpons are in worse shape than their letting on. They can’t pay back 50 million? That doesn’t even get you a decent #3 starter.

Time will tell.

Caught on Video: 30-year-old Jeryl Carter ( a good man) attacks murder suspect before the hearing gets under way.

I can feel this man’s grief. If I was a court officer I would’ve stepped aside and let him get some good punches in before breaking it up.

It would only be right!

CBS News RAW: At the trial for the murder of his sister, 30-year-old Jeryl Carter attacks the murder suspect before the hearing gets under way.

Jeryl Carter discusses his courtroom outburst
Jeryl Carter charged after Zyderrious Platt during courtroom proceedings Tuesday. Platt is accused of killing Carter's pregnant sister Jilani Platt. Carter discusses the event.

Click here Must see!

Jeryl Carter is a fine man! Much repect for you brother!

TLT Photo of the Week: First Lady Of Spain Vs First Lady Of France.

I can’t decide, it’s a very tough choice.

Photo courtesy of DamnLOL.com

Schocking Video:Afghan girl, 19, and lover stoned to death Taliban villagers

Here we have another example so-called peaceful Muslims practicing their peaceful religion.

The Daily Mail reports that TALIBAN SPOKESMAN: 'Anyone who knows about Islam knows that stoning is in the Koran, and that it is Islamic law. There are people who call it inhuman - but in doing so they insult the Prophet. They want to bring foreign thinking to this country'

Horrific video footage has emerged of Taliban insurgents stoning a couple to death for alleged adultery in northern Afghanistan.

Hundreds of villagers can be seen on the video standing around as the woman, Siddqa, is buried up to her waist in a four foot hole in the ground.

Two mullahs pass sentence before the crowd begins to throw rocks at her head and body as she desperately tries to crawl free.
But the 19-year-old collapses to the ground, covered in blood - but miraculously still alive.

At this point a Taliban fighter shoots her three times in the head with an AK-47. The crowd can be heard shouting allahu akbar as she is killed.

Her lover, Khayyam, is then marched in front of the crowd with his hands tied behind his back.

He is blindfolded with his own tunic and crouches down close to the ground as he tried to protect his body from the stones.
But he is battered to the floor by a barrage of rocks. He can be heard sobbing before eventually falling silent.

The stoning - the first to be documented on film since the Taliban were ousted from power - took place in the district of Dashte Archi, in Kunduz, last August.
Officials said that Siddqa had run away after being sold into an arranged marriage for $9,000 against her will.

She ran away to be with Khayyam, who was already married and had two children, and the pair eloped to Pakistan.

More details here If video doesn't appear click links.