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10/17/2010

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Raul Grijalva hires Chicago goons to stalk Ruth McClung

Word is going around that Grijalva is getting back to his roots, employing dirty tactics in his bid to keep the congressional seat the he believes to be his.

Back in the early days when Grijalva first ran for office, he was known for getting liquored up and stealing his opponents’ yard signs. He also had his supporters use physical intimidation to scare the opposition. Well, now that he’s losing to rocket scientist Ruth McClung, he is looking to do the same thing in a desperate attempt to win.

40 goons have been bussed in from Chicago to confront Ruth McClung at every public event she goes to, with the purpose of getting in her face and using physical intimidation to harass her. These thugs may also be employed to go door-to-door to intimidate early voters into voting for Grijalva, and to stand watch at polling station on election day to disrupt a fair vote.

My understanding is that the FBI has been notified of this suspicious campaign behavior and that agents may be present to ensure a free and fair vote on Tucson’s south side.

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Raul Grijalva aided group that helped terrorists kill Americans

New information is emerging about efforts by major Democratic Party figures to undercut American war efforts in Iraq by providing aid to the insurgents. Lt. Col. Buzz Patterson’s article Treason in America details how a coalition of radical organizations, including US-based Code Pink, delivered some $600,000 in cash and supplies to insurgents and their families in Fallujah, just days after 51 American troops were killed there in some of the bloodiest action of the Iraq war.

They secured diplomatic courtesy letters from US Senators Barbara Boxer of California and Raul Grijalva of Arizona and Congressmen Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and Henry Waxman of California.

Buzz Patterson’s new article provides the actual letter written by Congressman Henry Waxman to the US Embassy in Aman, Jordan on behalf of the pro-insurgent group. The letter has a Congressional letterhead and is dated December 14, 2004 – while American troops were still fighting in Fallujah. It asks the Consul General to provide “any assistance you could offer” to the Global Exchange coalition during its mission to deliver supplies to the insurgency.

The corresponding diplomatic letters written by Senator Boxer and Congressmen Kucinich and Grijalva have not yet been made public. No doubt they, too, would make interesting reading.

Reposted from the American Thinker.

10/16/2010

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Raul Grijalva Refused to Debate Ruth McClung in Yuma

Dem bloggers are attacking Ruth McClung and her “little Tea Bag darlings” for “backing out” of a debate with Boycott Grijalva.

Here are the facts: Ruth chased the Boycotter’s campaign for over a month demanding a debate. He ignored her. When she finally took a tv network camera to his office, he finally agreed to a debate–but only after putting a bunch of demands in place.

He wouldn’t debate her in Yuma, which has been very adversely affected by his boycott. He insisted on a radio debate there instead… at the last minute, thus forcing her to cancel a previously arranged town hall in Tucson.

Then he insisted on selecting the debate hosts, format, and more. Finally he agreed to a public debate with the Hispanic Chamber. And he got his ass kicked!

So NOW he wants another debate. And AGAIN scheduled it to conflict with Ruth’s Town Hall. At the last minute. AGAIN.

Finally, she told him to stick it. So now he’s going to hold the “debate” without her.

The Dem bloggers are trying to whip up a frenzy by saying that Ruth is “running and hiding”, but nothing is further than the truth. Ruth kicked Raul’s butt in the first debate and will be debating him again on October 10. Just check out the video of the crowd cheering for Ruth as she enters the building.

Grijalva and the Dem bloggers tried to pull a stunt by challenging Ruth to a debate on October 20 at the LAST MINUTE… at a time that they knew she already had a town hall going… again! Don’t believe me? Check her campaign newsletter from October 3 where she lists October 18 at 6:15 PM as a time for her townhall.

Either Grijalva thinks Ruth can be in two places at once… or… he is so desperate and pathetic that he is trying to drum up a phony controversy because he got his butt kicked in the first debate.

You decide!

10/15/2010

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Ruth McClung Raises $100,000 in Grassroots Donations in One Day

The money bomb for rocket scientist and congressional candidate Ruth McClung took off in a big way, netting her campaign $100,000 in small donations given through the internet. In fact, it is the biggest one-day, small donations fundraising total in Southern Arizona history.

It would not have been possible without the enthusiasm of the grassroots. Southern Arizona’s Congressional District 7 wants new representation after Raul Grijalva angrily called for a boycott of his own state, punishing the hard working families who are barely making ends meet.

What is most embarrassing for Raul Grijalva is that while Ruth McClung is the first candidate to challenge him to a dead heat — despite the fact that he raised and spent nearly $500,000 in the primary compared to less than $100,000 for her — he foolishly spent most of his money on food and entertainment.

Grijalva obviously took the people in his district for granted. Rather than work hard for their vote, he wasted all his money on lavish meals and alcohol.

Arizona has the 2nd highest poverty rate in the country. In Yuma, more than 30% of people are unemployed. District 7 cannot afford a Congressman who calls for a boycott of his own state, spends the taxpayers’ money foolishly, and is more interested in partying than bringing jobs to Arizona.

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What did Raul Grijalva spend his money on? He ate it.

Rep. Raul Grijalva had raised over $550,000 for his campaign, and yet as of August 4th, he had less than $80,000 cash on hand. What happened to all that money? To date, Mr. Grijalva hasn’t run any television advertising. He hasn’t flooded the district with mailers or radio. So where did all that money go? He ate it.

At the end of the last filing period, Rep. Grijalva reported spending $90,959 on food and entertainment. In addition, Mr. Grijalva had spent $104,849 for professional fundraising services. That’s more than 35 percent of his total campaign contributions wasted on fundraising and fancy dinners.

Most professional fundraisers charge 5 to 10 percent for their services, Mr. Grijalva paid close to 20 percent for those services. And while buying dinner for your staff and volunteers as well as providing food at fundraising events is common on the campaign trail, it’s unheard of for a major campaign to spend nearly a sixth of their total contributions on food and entertainment.

“A half million dollars in Southern Arizona can go a long way,” noted Ruth McClung. “So, frankly, we’re glad that Mr. Grijalva decided to waste more than a third of his donor’s money on unproductive spending. Although I suppose for anyone familiar with Rep. Grijalva’s profligate waste of taxpayer funds, this should come as no surprise.”

Rep. Grijalva has never shown much respect for the money hardworking taxpayers are forced to give to the government each year. He’s voted for just about every reckless spending program cooked up in Washington, turned more than his share of pork on the spit, and now he’s advocating for an additional $50 billion federal stimulus program.

“The simple fact is that Arizonans cannot trust this man with their money,” McClung continued. “He’s a career politician who has never had to worry where his next paycheck was going to come from.” McClung paused, “Well, at least until now.”

It is this kind of disconnect from hardworking families that allows Mr. Grijalva to casually block the Superior, AZ Mine project which enjoys significant local support, and would create an estimated 6,000 direct and indirect jobs. People are out of work, families are struggling to put food on the table, and Raul Grijalva is spending tens of thousands of dollars entertaining his friends at the National Democratic Club.

Mr. Grijalva even managed to spend $4,807 in one night at Bedroxx, a Tucson bowling ally. We all love bowling, and Bedroxx is a fantastic place to take your family for a night of fun.

So we have to ask Mr. Grijalva one question: how many frames does $4,807 get you?

10/14/2010

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Raul Grijalva was deciding vote to raise taxes on poor

Americans for Tax Reform have launched a television advertisement hitting Raul Grijalva on two main issues: calling for a boycott of his own state, and being the deciding vote to let Congress go on recess without extending tax cuts to the middle class.

That means that everyone’s taxes — the poor, the middle class, and the rich — will have their taxes go up next year. Why? Because Raul Grijalva wanted to leave Washington early so that he can campaign for his seat in the hardest race of his life.

Grijalva’s call for a boycott of Arizona during one of the deepest economic recessions in recent history has cost his own state hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, killed thousands of jobs for the working people of his district, and caused turmoil for families. He does not deserved to be re-elected.

Ruth McClung will serve everyone in her district and will work day and night to bring jobs to Arizona.

Help her beat Grijalva the boycotter by visiting GoodbyeGrijalva.com and donating to her today!

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Viva Ruth! Crowd cheers for Ruth McClung

Ruth McClung nailed Raul Grijalva in her first public debate against him. It was held on the south side of Tucson, which should be his turf, but the crowd turned against him. On every topic, ranging from immigration, to health care, to education, and especially the economy and jobs, Ruth McClung inspired her supporters and made many of the independent minds in the room give her a second look.

Even when Ruth first walked into the room, cheers burst out and she was given a standing ovation. Two Hispanic women cried out “Viva Ruth! Viva Ruth!” and the entire crowd joined in on the chant. It was truly a sight to behold!

The crowd erupted when Ruth talked about unemployment, and how Grijalva’s reckless call for a boycott of his own state has exacerbated the recession for the hard working families of the district.

Recent polls show Ruth McClung in a dead heat with Raul Grijalva. If tonight is any indication, expect one of the biggest upset victories in the entire country on November 2.

10/13/2010

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Ruth McClung Money Bomb on Thursday

Two new polls by Magellan and Summit show that she is in a dead heat with Raul Grijalva, the man who called for a boycott of Arizona. Congressional District 7 has turned into one of the biggest sleeper races in the entire country, with Ruth rocketing ahead!

Ruth’s supporters have put together a money bomb website for her called Goodbye Grijalva (click the link!). The point is to have thousands of people donate a headline-grabbing amount of money all in one day. Certainly you can donate beforehand (they won’t mind), but the point is to have it all pour in at once!

So on Thursday, October 14, visit GoodbyeGrijalva.com and donate to Ruth anything you can give her. We need to break fundraising records here!

The rumor from the Grijalva camp is that the DCCC is going to start running TV ads in District 7 as early as tomorrow painting Ruth as a racist extremist (just look at this blog post from Mona Grijalva that plays the race card). She needs all the help we can give her to fight off these baseless attacks on her good character!

So please consider donating $10, $20, $50, $100 or more on Thursday, October 14! And make sure to forward this message to everyone you know!

10/12/2010

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Money Bomb for Ruth McClung at GoodbyeGrijalva.com

Yesterday was a HUGE liftoff to stardom for our very own rocket scientist Ruth McClung!

Besides being talked about on all the big blogs (like Michelle Malkin, The American Spectator, and Gateway Pundit), she was endorsed by Sarah Palin and will be featured on Sean Hannity’s show this afternoon!

Why all of a sudden? Two new polls by Magellan and Summit show that she is in a dead heat with Raul Grijalva, the man who called for a boycott of Arizona. Congressional District 7 has turned into one of the biggest sleeper races in the entire country, with Ruth rocketing ahead!

So what can you do, as a Tea Partier, to help Ruth beat Grijalva?

Ruth’s supporters have put together a money bomb website for her called Goodbye Grijalva (click the link!). The point is to have thousands of people donate a headline-grabbing amount of money all in one day. Certainly you can donate beforehand (they won’t mind), but the point is to have it all pour in at once!

So on Thursday, October 14, visit GoodbyeGrijalva.com and donate to Ruth anything you can give her. We need to break fundraising records here!

The rumor from the Grijalva camp is that the DCCC is going to start running TV ads in District 7 as early as tomorrow painting Ruth as a racist extremist (just look at this blog post from Mona Grijalva that plays the race card). She needs all the help we can give her to fight off these baseless attacks on her good character!

So please consider donating $10, $20, $50, $100 or more on Thursday, October 14! And make sure to forward this message to everyone you know!

10/11/2010

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Sarah Palin endorses Ruth McClung for Congress in Arizona

Sarah Palin just announced her endorsement of Ruth McClung for Arizona’s Seventh Congressional District.

Check out Sarah’s Facebook page to see what she wrote:

Ruth McClung is the smart choice for Congress in southwestern Arizona.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that our country is on the wrong track under the leadership of Obama, Pelosi, and Reid; but Ruth actually is a rocket scientist! Ruth’s commonsense fiscal approach to job creation and reining in reckless government spending is in sharp contrast to her opponent’s liberal record.

In fact, Ruth is running against a four term incumbent who is so out of touch that he actually called for a boycott of his own constituents

It’s simple: The people of Arizona’s 7th Congressional District deserve better. 

Please visit Ruth’s website at www.ruth4az.com and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

Raul Grijalva called for a boycott of his own state of Arizona. He does not represent his constituents and needs to go!

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POLL: Ruth McClung to upset boycotter Raul Grijalva

Ruth McClung is a rocket scientist at a local Tucson engineering company. She is running against Raul Grijalva, the co-chair of the Progressive Caucus well-known for his socialist policies and support for Raza studies in public schools. He is probably now best known for calling for a boycott of Arizona in response to SB1070.

This should be an easy win for Grijalva, with a 2-1 Democrat to Republican registration advantage. But it isn’t. Not every Congressman calls for a boycott of his own state, after all.

In fact, Grijalva will be running his first TV ads in 8 years, in a sign that he is in the hardest race he has ever had to run.

As reported in Politico, a poll by Magellan Mapping Strategies shows that his negatives are upside down and Ruth McClung is only 2 points down. You can view the Magellan results here.

And now a new poll by Summit Consulting puts her two points ahead of Grijalva.

This race is a dead heat.

Here is Ruth speaking at this weekend’s Tucson Tea Party event:

And here is Ruth’s first TV ad.

You can visit her website at Ruth4AZ.com. To donate, go here.

This is one of the biggest sleeper races in the country right now. Nobody saw Scott Brown coming – the same could be said of Ruth McClung. Her race against one of the worst Democrats in the country is quickly shaping into a huge upset.

Though in a seat that should be safe, no Democratic Congressman in the country is as reviled in his own district as Raul Grijalva. Ruth has made “Boycott Grijalva, not Arizona” the signature line of her campaign, a message that is resonating across party lines.

To borrow from her other slogan, “Maybe it does take a rocket scientist” to beat Raul Grijalva.

MORE LINKS
Stacy McCain picks up on the story at his blog and the American Spectator. Don Surber also has commentary.

9/29/2010

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VIDEO: No on Prop 106 spokesman Peter Cerchiara didn’t read federal health care bill

At a townhall in Green Valley for Proposition 106, also known as the Arizona Health Care Freedom Act, Dr. Eric Novack spoke about how important it is to ensuring the health care freedom of Arizonans. Prop 106 guarantees two fundamental rights: to participate or not participate in any health care system without fine or penalty; and to directly spend your own money to have access to any legal health care services.

Seems pretty simple, right? Not to Peter Cerchiara.

Wherever Dr. Novack goes to talk about health care freedom, he is always followed by lobbyist shills for the big insurance industry who want the government to force you to buy their product. While the rest of us believe in freedom to choose our own health care, Peter Cerchiara is the kind of person who thinks the government has all of the solutions for you and your family.

Peter Cerchiara is against Proposition 106, no doubt about that. But would you trust the unqualified opinion of someone who hasn’t even read the federal health care bill?

Peter Cerchiara founded the SouthWest Health Alliance, an unaccountable “non-profit” health plan management service that could benefit greatly from the billions of dollars in company subsidies earmarked for plans offered by organizations like his in the federal health care bill. No wonder he wants you to vote “No” on Prop 106!

Unlike Pete, Dr. Novack has actually read the federal health care bill and testified before Congress. Dr. Novack understands that health care reform can only begin when the government upholds our individual liberties.

Vote YES on Proposition 106!

(Read more about Prop 106 at Yes106.com or this Business Week article.)

9/13/2010

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Governor Jan Brewer Supports Proposition 106, the Arizona Health Care Freedom Act, against Obamacare

In the following press release, Governor Jan Brewer blasts the federal health care bill — also known as Obamacare — and supports Prop 106.

Prop 106 will guarantee that individuals, businesses, and health care providers have the right to participate or not participate in any kind of health care system without fine or penalty. It will also guarantee that individuals have the right to spend their own money to obtain legal health care services.

Here is the relevant excerpt from Jan Brewer’s press release:

“In addition to ObamaCare’s constitutional deficiencies, citizens simply do not support the law’s mandate that they purchase insurance or incur federal penalties. Just weeks ago Missouri voters rejected any federal mandate to purchase health insurance with the measure passing with more than 70 percent of the vote. On November 2, 2010, Arizona citizens will vote on Proposition 106, which is similar to Missouri’s new law. I support Proposition 106 and have every reason to believe that Arizona voters will overwhelmingly pass this measure and, when they do, a clear message will be sent to the president and Congress that this type of overreaching by the federal government will no longer be tolerated.

“When these cases are ultimately decided in favor of the states on the merits, it will be a great day for the citizens who have the right to set their own health care policies and the states who have constitutionally guaranteed sovereignty to establish their own policies in the area of health care.”

To learn more about Proposition 106, please visit the campaign website or Facebook page.

9/7/2010

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Proposition 106 Campaign Releases Ad Supporting Arizona Health Care Freedom Act

Arizonans for Health Care Freedom has released a 60-second ad spot in support of Proposition 106, also known as the Arizona Health Care Freedom Act.

The ad lets voters know that Prop 106 is about protecting their health care freedoms, keeping decisions between patients, families, and their doctors.

Proposition 106 is so straightforward, in fact, that the first woman to speak in the ad says, “I’m voting Yes on Proposition 106 because it’s simple — not like President Obama’s health care law.”

Like Proposition C (Prop C) in Missouri, which won with approximately 72% of the vote, Proposition 106 will amend the Arizona state constitution to guarantee two fundamental rights: to participate or not participate in any kind of health care system without fine or penalty, and to use your own money for any legal health care services.

YouTube Ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siih3I-4hnw

Check the links below for more information:

Yes on 106 Campaign: http://www.yes106.com

US Health Freedom Coalition: http://www.ushealthfreedomcoalition.com/

3/5/2007

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ELECTION IN ESTONIA

Yesterday, Estonia held its national parliamentary election. Prime Minister Andrus Ansip’s Reform Party increased its position from 19 to 31 seats in the 101-seat parliament, while their coalition partner in the previous government, the Centre Party, gained one seat to move to 29. The Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica holds 19 seats, the Social Democrats hold 10, and the Greens and the People’s Union of Estonia each hold 6 (the agrarianist People’s Union was the third coalition party in the previous government).

This is a remarkable gain for the liberty-oriented Reform Party, although it does not provide enough seats to form a coalition with only Pro Patria, a party more aligned with Reform than the left-leaning Centre Party is. It was Pro Patria’s Mart Laar who, before the union with Res Publica, implemented numerous market reforms largely influenced by Milton Friedman, and helped transform the former Soviet Republic into a rapidly growing Baltic Tiger. Thus, Ansip could form a coalition with Pro Patria and one other party — none is significantly libertarian — or continue the partnership with the Centre Party alone. It is unlikely that a Reform/Centre coalition would invite any other party.

The election comes at a time when Estonia is nearing entry into the Eurozone and when their relations with Russia are still simmering. Reuters notes in their story: “The tensions were sparked when parliament voted to remove a statue of a Red Army soldier from the center of the capital Tallinn because it was a reminder of 50 years of Soviet rule.”

Also of some interest, this was the first national election anywhere in the world to make use of Internet voting.

In summary, Estonia has made rapid advances since regaining independence, and with this election appears to continue in its desire to lead a path of freedom, at the forefront not just of the Baltics but throughout Europe and beyond. Their example has cleanly illustrated the links between minimal restrictions of individual liberties and an open, prosperous society.

Filed under:
UNDERCOVER NEWS FROM ZIMBABWE

Sokwanele has turned up with some incredible footage of undercover news shot in Zimbabwe and aired the ITV. The video features protestors running down the street as they flea tear gas being launched at them by riot police, along with interviews and a look at how Zimbabweans are forced to live nowadays. One man describes himself as already dead, a sign that there is so little hope for change in Zimbabwe under President Mugabe that the only thing people have left to do is fight.

This is a great video worth watching. What is possibly even more amazing is that it was posted on YouTube, so we all have the ability to see it freely. I would post it here, but I’d much prefer to see you check it out over at Sokwanele. They have some great news and content up these days so make sure to check out the rest of their site.

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IRAN CRACKS DOWN HARD ON WOMEN PROTESTORS

For at least two years in a row now, women have gathered by the hundreds, if not thousands, on June 12 to demand equal rights from the tyrannical Islamic government. They’re sick of being treated as second class citizens — no, animals — in their own society. Publius reported on these events, the first one in 2005 where demonstrators gathered to protest this gender apartheid. It was one of the first such large demonstrations by women, for women, since the revolution. In 2006, the event unfolded once again, with the women taking confidence from the year before that they could once again raise the issue.

Such a thing would prove to be too humiliating for the authorities, however. The women were rounded up, beaten, and taught a lesson that only strengthened their knowledge that the Iranian constitution, supposedly based on freedom and equal rights, is a load of hypocritical crap.

Unfortunately many of them are on trial for the simple act of protest. So today their fellow women came out to protest the impending convictions, only to prove once again that the Islamic regime in Tehran is relentless in repressing its own women.

March 5, 2007 (RFE/RL) — More than 30 Iranian women have been arrested in Tehran for protesting against government pressure being put on women’s rights activists.

The women had gathered outside a court in Tehran on March 4 to show their support for four women’s rights activists who went on trial that day for organizing a protest last summer against discriminatory laws. Reports say many of the protesters and the activists are now in jail.

The arrests are the culmination of a year of increasing pressure on women’s rights activists, who have been arrested, summoned to court, threatened, and harassed. Their protests have also been disrupted — in some cases violently — and their websites have been blocked.

Some observers believe the arrests are aimed at intimidating activists who were planning to hold a gathering on March 8 to mark International Women’s Day and to protest injustice against women.

The move is also seen as an attempt to silence activists who have been fighting for equal rights.

Many of those who had called for holding a protest in front of the parliament on March 8 are now in jail.

Iranian rights groups report that between 30 and 34 women who were arrested are being held in Tehran’s Evin Prison. Among them are four top women’s movement leaders: Noushin Ahmadi Khorasani, Parvin Ardalan, Sussan Tahmassebi, and Shahla Entesari.

They went on trial on March 4 in connection with a June gathering against laws that they consider discriminatory against women. Charges against them include acting against Iran’s national interests and participating in an illegal gathering.

The four leaders were arrested after they left the court and joined other women who had gathered outside Tehran’s revolutionary court. They were reportedly holding banners that said: “Holding peaceful gatherings is our absolute right.”

Activists say the Iranian Constitution ensures the right to holding a peaceful gathering. Yet police forces disrupted the activists on March 4 and drove the women away in minibuses.

Peyman Aref, a student activist in Tehran, told Radio Farda that police used force against demonstrators.

“They were threatened and they were also beaten up,” Aref said. “The crowd — �which� included more than 50 people — tried to resist by sitting on the ground and not reacting to the beatings. Finally, around 10:00, female police came and the activists were arrested.”

Despite the regime’s best attempts, women’s rights activists are making great headway these days. Women’s groups are pushing some major ground campaigns, including ending the practice of stoning and gathering one million signatures to end the discriminatory laws passed against them. The problem for the regime is that these days such ideas are becoming quite popular. Using force is the only way to silence them, in the regime’s eyes.

But these women don’t fight back. When they are attacked, they sit on the ground and pray for it to stop. Cowardly as it is, the government will then send in female riot police so that it looks more like one big catfight rather than a bunch of crazed maniacs with truncheons bulldozing over someone else’s wife.

It’s absolutely despicable, but nobody is fooled. These women are on the front of the lines fighting for freedom in their country. They’re the ones raising the future generation and they’re the ones taking the beating. It is no wonder that, finally, their cause is beginning to make headway.

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NEO-SOVIET RUSSIA MAKING ONE OF “THOSE” OFFERS AGAIN

Last week, we informed readers about aggressive efforts by and on behalf of Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin to punish Internet scribes who dare to criticize the Moscow regime with brutal personal attacks. In other words, demand-side pressure on Kremlin critics. The ultimate expression of this strategy was the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, though for sheer malignant, bloodthirsty sadism nothing can match the killing of strident Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London — a killing which MSNBC reported last week has been confirmed by British authorities to have been a state-sponsored Kremlin whack job (as the Conjecturer blog reminded us recently, there are dozens of relatively unknown victims of this burgeoning holocaust, and shame on us if we let them be anonymous). No sooner had the MSNBC report gone public than, terrifyingly, one of the main sources, Paul Joyal, was shot near his home in Maryland. It’s not known yet whether the incident was a random street crime, but the timing is truly terrifying.

Now, this week, let’s look at the supply side element of the Kremlin’s strategy.

It must be acknowledged that the Kremlin is not one-dimensional, and doesn’t try to solve all its problems with the use of brute force. Just like Marlon Brando in “The Godfather” (award-winning pundit Charles Krauthammer recently said “President” Putin’s “more accurate title would be godfather”), before the Kremlin kills you it will leave the head of a dead horse in your bed, and before it does that it will offer to buy your soul. If you won’t sell, they figure, that’s your problem.

If the killing of Anna Politkovskaya was the ultimate expression of the demand-side strategy, then surely the grandest manifestation of the supply-side approach was when the Kremlin went out and bought itself a German Chancellor, namely Gerhard Schr????der (shown literally at Master Putin’s beck and call in the cartoon above). The cost was a $300,000 annual salary as head of a Russian energy consortium, and ever since then Schr????der has proved a loyal minion of the Kremlin. His response to the Litvinenko killing was this: “Unfortunately, journalists die quite often in other countries, but why doesn’t anybody try to accuse the government �of wrongdoing� in those situations? In Russia , no matter what happens, it’s Putin.” Herr Schr????der apparently has not heard that, according to the Paris-based international organization Reporters without Borders, Russia isn’t just like lots of other countries where this kind of brutality is concerned. Rather, it is among the world’s very most most dangerous countries for the media, along with Iraq and Mexico. At least 20 reporters have been killed in Russia since President Vladimir Putin took office in March 2000, including three last year. The International Federation of Journalists puts the figure at 40.

And just as is the case with the supply-side strategy, there are many grass-roots level events that fly low under our radar. Let’s review a few of them.

The story begins with the Kremlin’s creation of its own satellite TV station for the projection of propaganda across the world in English, a station known as “Russia Today.” Aggressively engaged in an effort to “rebrand” Russia in the West, with the help of gun-for-hire Western PR firms, Russia Today first bought itself a nucleus of Russian journalists and then starting putting out the good word on Russia. Naturally, it doesn’t let pesky little things like facts get in the way of its reporting. For instance, as Radio Free Europe recently reported a particularly flagrant example of neo-Soviet “journalism”:

Following the killings of journalist Anna Politkovskaya and former security services officer Aleksandr Litvinenko, the FSB has also been in dire need of an image makeover. And, like the Kremlin and Gazprom, it too has initiated a public-relations campaign, although its effort has a more unorthodox flavor. At the center of its campaign has been an expedition to Antarctica, the declared purpose of which was to reinforce Russia’s claim to that frozen wasteland, undermining the United States’ “monopoly” over the South Pole.

The purpose was twofold. To show that the FSB is at the frontline of Russia’s national interests and revive the Soviet-era “heroic” image of the KGB. In 2003, FSB head Nikolai Patrushev made similar efforts and erected, with a group of FSB officers, a Russian flag at the North Pole, and, in 2004, an elite FSB force led by Patrushev put a Russian flag at the peak of Mount Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe. So on January 3, two FSB MI-8 helicopters flew from Punta Arena in Chile with Patrushev, First Deputy Director and Federal Boarder Guard Service head Vladimir Pronichev, and other assorted FSB officers on board. The expedition landed at the South Pole on January 7, where Patrushev telephoned Putin to extend his best wishes for the Russian Orthodox Christmas. Russian television channels covered the FSB expedition extensively, noting that the trip was wholly supported by private sponsors and that the Russian flag planted at the South Pole symbolizes the restoration of Russia’s superpower status.

Russian television broadcasts, however, failed to inform viewers that Patrushev was calling from the permanent U.S. Amundsen-Scott South Pole station, staffed by almost 100 U.S. citizens. Patrushev’s team was bivouacked there waiting for suitable flight weather. And the phone he used to call Putin? That was actually borrowed from a U.S. explorer, according to NTV.

Then Russia Today started branching out. It bought itself a Western “journalist,” one Peter Lavelle, to write a blog on its website. In the first entry on that blog, written January 12th, Lavelle wrote of Russia’s efforts to weaponize its energy resources and terrorize the former Russian slave states in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: “Russia is correct to maintain its position that all its customers pay world prices for energy. If that causes pain for the former republics of the Soviet Union, so be it.” It formed a nexus with a blog published by the nefarious Discovery Institute, whose main reason for existing is to ban the teaching of evolution in schools in favor of intelligent design and which is mired in ethical controversies, and this promptly turned into “The Real Russia Project.” And it established its own blog, Russia Profile, seeking to make insidious connections with the well-known e-mail newsletter published by David Johnson of the Center for Defense Information and the publisher of the Moscow Times newspaper, Independent Media — all of whom are affiliated with the project. Russia Profile’s advisory board includes Konstantin Kosachev, a sitting member of the Russian Duma and a Kremlin henchman, and Yuri Fokine, a Kremlin apparatchik. Shockingly, Russia Profile also lists Leon Aron of the prestigious and conservative American Enterprise Institute as a member of its advisory board, the only member of the group who might be expected to have critical views of the Kremlin. Whether Aron even knows what Russia Profile is doing under his name is anyone’s guess; if he doesn’t, somebody should tell him — if he does, somebody should let him have it.

A few weeks ago, Russia Profile had a banner advertising campaign running on various websites touting a conference it was sponsoring and at which Schr????der and Kremlin insider Igor Shuvalov were to lecture anyone who would listen about how Russia is a “reliable partner” in the energy field. In other words, RP was acting as the direct agent for Kremlin-sponsored PR campaign. So much for “journalism.” RP maintains an “Experts Panel” feature that provides a token Russophobe voice surrounded by a sea of Russophiles and Russian nationalists. In the most recent installment, entitled “Friendless in Moscow: Does Russia Need Allies?” the lead entry is from the lunatic Russophile Eric Kraus, a stockbroker who spends most of his time convincing hapless foreigners that Russia is a great place to plop down their money. It maintains a blog by one Dmitry Babich, which offers such posts as “Whose Double Standards: Far from showing Russia????????s unreliability as an energy supplier, Gazprom????????s recent threats to suspend natural gas exports to Belarus have only exposed the hypocrisy of the West” and one claiming that since Yegor Gaidar stated publicly that the Kremlin didn’t try to kill him, that made it a fact and Gaidar man “worthy of respect.” No mention of the possibility that Gaidar might have caved in to Kremlin threats.

A recent article from the International Herald Tribune points out that the Kremlin is plying the supply-side tactic in the Russian blogosphere as well. The article states: “Some bloggers close to the government admitted that in order to insure that certain news is spun a certain way, or that certain items get leaked, money does change hands. Ivan Zassoursky, a marketing director at SUP-Fabrik and a media expert, says, ‘Can you give someone money to organize a demonstration? Sure you can. So why can’t you give someone money to write something on �the Russian blogosphere�?”

Russia Today is only in its infancy, yet it already has a handful of Western bloggers in its pocket and a pocketful of cash to buy more. How many Western journalists is it seeking out furtively, with offers of money in return for positive coverage? How many secret threats is it dispatching? Are we watching closely enough to make sure we aren’t taken in by these neo-Soviet snakeoil purveyors?

Time will tell.

3/2/2007

Filed under:
THE DEFINITION OF INSANITY

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. –Benjamin Franklin

High-level talks have resumed between the two Koreas under the old “sunshine” policy, which can only mean that what has happened before in the past is bound to repeat itself very soon. North Korea’s supposedly impending nuclear disarmament is going to bring about all of the usual fringe benefits of duping the West through blackmail and coercion. The United States, for one, has trashed its previously assertive position with the north and is now considering early provision of fuel aid. The south, meanwhile, will eventually be resuming rice and fertilizer aid as soon as the deadline for disarmament passes.

We’ve seen this story before. It’s been on repeat for decades. The modern world cuts off the aid, North Korea begins to collapse, North Korea makes a grand threat, and the modern world caves. See the pattern? There was nothing to say before the Kim Jong-Il won’t decide to restart uranium enrichment in the future, just as there was never any precedent for it in the past. What happens when he decides there isn’t enough rice to feed his military? Fifty bucks says we’ll be repeating this scenario in a few years!

If Benjamin Franklin could see how we’re handling North Korea, he would surely describe our behavior as insane. The rational thing to do would be to find an alternative plan that doesn’t involve propping up the North Korean regime with aid. In fact, regime change by allowing it to quickly collapse on its own would be the best solution. There are tons of worries that people have, like the huge influx of refugees that China would face, but these are all minor compared to the long-term disaster that is Kim Jong-Il. Swiftly dealing with the aftereffects of collapse and stabilizing the country is much more desirable than allowing that tyrant to stay in power.

The only reason why I can imagine we aren’t doing this is because the insanity of doing so is nothing compared to that of Kim Jong-Il. If the United States is continually willing to give in, it must be because, in fact, because we are being blackmailed into allowing him to continue ruling. At least this is the valid excuse I am giving the Bush administration, because I want to believe that this opportunity was given up for a good reason. Otherwise, this is just a game of who can up the ante with the most insanity.

3/1/2007

Filed under: Uncategorized —
FILLING THE VOID: SAUDI DIPLOMACY IN A REALIGNED MIDDLE EAST

As the Bush administration moves towards disengagement in the Middle East from those regarded as extremist — including Syria, Iran, Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias in Iraq, Hamas in Palestine, and Hezbollah in Lebanon — the result has been a vacuum of power left from the absence of traditional diplomatic channels. In the post Cold War era, this meant typically working with, and in the least, involving the United States. But in recent months as American policy becomes more rigid and inflexible, Middle Eastern diplomatic channels have rerouted outside of Washington and back into the Middle East proper. In this capacity, Saudi Arabia has emerged as the new bridge where the forces of moderation can work within the framework of Middle East reality — a reality where extremists unfortunately are popular and united — and work on successful compromises.

The Saud’s have also acted as the defacto go between for Iran and the West as issues continue to flair revolving supposed Iranian involvement in the Iraqi civil war, the pursuit of nuclear technology, and of the funding and support for Shiite proxy groups. Stated by the Washington Post:

Saudi diplomats, including former ambassador to Washington Prince Bandar bin Sultan, are also deeply engaged in talks with Iran. The contacts began with a visit to Saudi Arabia by Ali Larijani, the head of Iran’s national security council. Prince Bandar subsequently visited Tehran and, according to a report in the New York Times, King Abdullah received leaders of Hezbollah. Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran back opposite sides in the escalating sectarian conflicts in Iraq and Lebanon, but the talks show that both governments are interested in tamping them down. Though there have been no breakthroughs, the diplomacy seems to have succeeded, at least, in cooling the situation in Lebanon, where a Hezbollah campaign against the Saudi-supported, pro-Western government led to several days of violence last month.

The continuation of this was seen in early February in talks initially balked at by Condoleezza Rice but brokered by the Saud’s between the almost-at-civil-war Hamas and Fatah Palestinian political groups. Instead of direct mediation by the Bush administration, the middle ground is reinvented by the parties involved:

America is holding back from serious involvement while it sees what else Saudi Arabia can do. King Abdullah and his energetic security adviser, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, a former long-time Washington ambassador, may try to stick another feather in their caps at next month’s Arab League summit. They want to revive and perhaps refine the Arab League’s 2002 proposal for all Arab states to normalise relations with Israel if Israel withdraws from all the territories it occupied in 1967, both Palestinian and Syrian.

…So was the Fatah-Hamas deal in vain? And why did Condoleezza Rice, the American secretary of state, fly all the way to Jerusalem to see Mr Abbas and Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, and on to Jordan to see America’s other Arab allies, to tell them something she could have fitted into an SMS text message?

While it is important that America acts against those committed to reckless ideology, it is increasingly important in the context of prolonged American involvement in Iraq and NATO involvement in Afghanistan that hostility does not boil over to conflict before it has the chance for diplomatic resolution. The ramifications of a sectarian Middle East become more visceral, the role of Saudi Arabia will grow as the leading voice as both a moderate country and the largest Sunni country.

Sources

Saudi Arabia’s Diplomacy, Washington Post.

Banking on the Saudis, Economist.

Decisions Deferred in Mideast Talks, Council on Foreign Relations.

Arab states watch Iraq with dread, BBC News.

A holy but puzzling alliance, Economist.

Originally posted on PBH.

Filed under:
FREE KAREEM! AND THE REST?

The organized campaign to see Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer, who was jailed this month for insulting Islam and the government, is quite a thing to behold. Between FreeKareem.org, online petitions, blog posts, and articles in huge publications like the Washington Post, rarely has there been such an interest in the blogosphere as a whole on one human rights issue involving one person in a country so far away.

I think it’s great! Bringing attention to these kinds of things is exactly how to get them changed. Otherwise, the Egyptian government will continue to its war campaign against civil society and human rights in its country. If democracy and liberal ideas are ever to take root, they cannot be ripped from the ground and thrown in jail as Kareem has been.

But what about all the others?

The only political alternative to Mubarak at this point that has any credibility and influence is the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization that seems willing to work within a democratic framework minus liberal ideas. Yet since they scored 20% of the seats in Egypt’s parliament during the last election, Mubarak has cracked down on them hard. Hundreds if not thousands of its members have been rounded up and tossed in jail, left to face beatings from inmates and torture from guards, all the while awaiting their fate to be handed down to them from a military tribunal.

Where is the outrage at this? Who is standing up for them?

The hard truth is that nobody is. There are probably many reasons for this, but here are a couple that I’ve thought of when compared to the campaign to free Kareem. They are listed in order of importance, without mentioning limited time and resources:

1. The American blogosphere and Kareem are more ideologically similar especially when compared to the Muslim Brotherhood, so the sympathy leans toward Kareem.
2. There is a high amount of interest in Kareem to a large degree because he is a blogger, so there is a great connection there.

It only makes sense that American liberals will rush to defend their fellow liberals who are under attack from their despotic governments. Kareem’s sentencing is a perfect example of everything that is wrong with the Egyptian government. Defending him highlights these issues, bringing them to the table, with the hope that both Kareem will be freed and the Egyptian government will begin to liberalize. However, when members of the Muslim Brotherhood are jailed, never is such a stink made. Simply said, most American bloggers are not going to sympathize with Islamists, so they are either unwilling to publicize such things or just don’t care to do so to such a degree as we do with Kareem. Does a Republican read the New York Times editorial page just for fun? Of course not. Kareem’s own father wants the security forces to treat him extra harshly so that the ideas will be beaten out of him. This is not a guy that’s easy to sympathize with.

Unfortunately, the word “universal” is attached to the phrase “human rights,” and regardless of political orientation, Kareem as well as the Muslim Brotherhood alike should be defended on equal grounds based on equal rights. Otherwise, we only serve to affirm those who believe the United States to be hypocritical in its application of pressure regarding human rights. We have to do it, even if we know they might not do the same for us in the future.

Being a blogger also gives us a reason to fight for Kareem. There are currently many issues revolving around blogging in the United States, and with its inherently cheap freedom of expression under attack in many countries, we want to make sure that everyone has the ability to blog. That Kareem is being prosecuted for what he has written on his blog is particularly heinous and a terrible precedent for what is to come. Yet it is not the only precedent. As Marc Lynch points out, there are plenty of bloggers out there who are members of the Muslim Brotherhood. You can bet that they are being monitored and prosecuted as well for sharing their ideas. What if one of them is put in jail for criticizing the government, as Kareem did, but instead also took on Christianity or Judaism?…

Kudos to FreeKareem.org for the great work they’ve done trying to get him free. It’s not their fault people don’t care about the whole picture. But who is there to defend the rest? That’s why I highly doubt we’d see a reaction from the American blogosphere, which leads me to believe, in the end, it is less about blogger solidarity and more about highly selective application of outrage.

2/28/2007

Filed under:
BANNED IN CHINA

No, its not pornography or terrorist websites. It’s Publius! Check out this new website, GreatFireWallOfChina.org, and type in any website to see if it’s blocked in China.

What can I say? It’s an honor that the Chinese government thinks we’re influential enough that we deserve to be blocked. Cheers!

2/27/2007

Filed under:
A SEEDY UN IDENTITY SCAM

It’s one thing to use multiple IDs as a mere blogger, and quite another to use such devices in real life explicitly to scam a pedastalled world organization to line one’s silky pockets. But that’s what a top United Nations official has been caught doing, just like some seedy barrio gangster, using multiple id’s in a bid to extend his retirement date and collect fatter pensions from the UN money stream.

The creep’s name is Kadir and he works at the World International Property Office in Switzerland. Being from Sudan, his contribution to invention resides not in industrial innovation but in the multiple birthdays he’s using around the UN to fool its gullible bureaucratic pigeons and thus get rich.

It’s complicated stuff, but that’s the essence of being a white-collar crook, to scam in complicated ways so as to encourage anti-corruption watchdogs to lose interest and thus get away with a cash killing.

Well, journalist Claudia Rosett was onto this thug’s scam, so wasn’t this his unlucky day? She’s exposed at least three of his phony ID’s and birthdates and now the ground is only going to get hotter under him. If he had expected this to happen, one wonders if he would have done it, because so much of what he’s done extends decades and has gone undetected for ages. Color his world upside down now that Claudia’s expose is out.

Check out what she’s got on this pathetic fraudster at this post here.

Filed under:
CHAVISTA LIVESTOCK

BRANDEDCHAVISTACHICKS

Venezuela: Where products are generic – and customers are branded

Source: Anibal Barreto, Correo de Caroni, via Feathers

In the slums of Caracas, Chavista grocery patrons are now being branded on their bellies (food goes into your belly, right?) with indelible ink by store personnel to ensure that they do not buy more chicken than the government arbitrarily allows.

Since at least the beginning of the year, Venezuela’s groceries have been wracked by food shortages due to Chavista price controls and controls on foreign currency. Beef, sugar, pork and coffee have disappeared from store shelves. Meanwhile, at state-controlled Chavista stores, known as Mercal, poor people have been buying up Chavez’s below-market rate foods and selling them at street stalls at their real value according to market demand, something that brings them a profit. Not surprisingly, many Mercal store shelves are empty.

That’s where this belly-branding scheme comes in. Some Chavistas functionaries are angry at the market forces that drives these shortages and have decided to take control. That’s why they’ve decided to force poor people, like cattle, to submit to a sort of ink branding on their bellies, to control just how much chicken they purchase. It probably goes for other products, too.

What it really amounts to is the first steps toward rationing of food, the logical consequences of turning Venezuela’s once-abundant agricultural production (the Venzuelan Agriculture Department is now under the control of Cuban party hacks) into the same disaster Zimbabwe is.

But although this dynamic resembles the exact same failed socialist policies of old, there’s something new and unique about it, this branding policy is spectacularly degrading. Stalin never came up with this. Castro never did either. But the thuggish government of Hugo Chavez has. It’s like marking people as cattle. I’ve never seen anything so disgusting. Chavez is treating the poor he champions …. literally …. like animals.

If you can read Spanish, the original item and photo can be read through the link here or here.

And check out Citizen Feather’s blog’s excellent take on this new repulsive low in Chavista food economics here.

Filed under:
COMMISSARS OF THE INTERNET

In September of last year, a the Russian human rights organization “Gulag” published a lengthy treatise on efforts of Vladmir Putin’s secret police to seize control of the Internet by using a cadre of “brigadniki” thugs to harrass anyone who dared to express opinions critical of the Kremlin. The lead of the piece, Anna Polyanskaya, was formerly on the staff of Russian Duma deputy Galina Starovoitova, who was murdered in November 1998 for speaking out against the rise of dictatorship in Russia. She belongs in the line of heroic Russian women that includes Anna Politkovskaya and has been previously described on Publius Pundit. The following are some of the text’s most fascinating passages (read the entire text here). It’s worth mentioning that a contributer to the forum of the Russian daily newspaper Yezhedevny Zhurnal recently posted a list of screen names used by some of the “brigadniki” described in the article as servants of the Kremlin who attack Internet critics; one of those screen names is “ENOT” (in Russian “EHOT”) a name that pops up from time to time to attack the posts about Russia on this blog. It’s also worth mentioning that the article confirms that Public Enemy #1 for the “brigadniki” was from the start Politkovskaya, clearly giving the lie Vladimir Putin’s statement that she was viewed by Russians as an insigificance so that the Kremlin would not have bothered to liquidate her.

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