July 08, 2008

Russia says a-ok to preemption

This is definitely great news... It's always nice to know when a nuclear power changes its military posture from defensive to offensive.

Posted by mcblogger at 08:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 02, 2008

People are shocked when Russians act like, well, Russians

So, BP is having problems with it's oligarch partners in it's oil venture, TNK - BP. How shocking... especially when you consider that the synonym for 'Russian Billionaire' is 'Gangster'.

Lookit, Russia is not a politically stable country. Period. The only thing that's kept things from going off the rails there is an increase in natural resource prices (like oil) which has fattened the national treasury and, of course, Putin the Strongman, with whom Russians more readily identify. With a drop in oil prices, watch as things get bad. Real fast.

These people have been lied to all their lives and they are STILL being lied to. For example, did you know that the Soviets were DECADES ahead of the US in high powered chemical lasers for defense applications? Neither did I. Because it's bullshit. However, it doesn't stop the Russian press from trying to build up the collective Russian ego.

Now, Gazprom, the state-owned natural gas company, is projecting $250/bbl for oil. Their future depends on it. The sad part? It's not going to happen anytime soon. What happens when that doesn't materialize? A return to the chaos of the Yeltsin years?

Posted by mcblogger at 10:38 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 10, 2008

Why is Britian trying to kill a gay kid?

Iran likes to kill that gays that live there and unfortunately for an Iranian student studying in Britian, he's been tagged as gay. The authorities in Iran found out about it when they interrogated his former boyfriend whom they then hanged.

The student has requested asylum in Britian, which, unbelievably, was denied. Gee, fellas, if you just want to kill the kid it would be far more humane to just shoot him in the head.

Posted by mcblogger at 04:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 19, 2008

Caribbean strong man resigns

You know, there's just no way to funny this up. Castro resigned. The story is here. Knock yourself out.

Seriously, can you get excited about the resignation of this fossil? Can there be anything more irrelevant to what's happening today than Cuba? I really don't even care if the Friedmanite shock 'therapists' go in and fuck it all up. I hate the tropics and I'm not so much for rum.

Cocktail flu... that's why I'm such a bitch today.

Posted by mcblogger at 08:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 14, 2008

Think nepotism in Texas is bad?

Try Singapore where there is a large sovereign fund being run by cronies and the relatives of cronies...

The stake was part of a broader expansion started in mid-2002 by the company’s executive director, Ho Ching, formerly head of government-owned Singapore Technologies and wife of Singapore’s prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong. Aimed at reviving Temasek’s financial performance in the wake of a recession, Temasek has since taken large stakes in banks as distant as India, China and the Standard Chartered Bank of Britain.

And...

The Government Investment Corporation, known as G.I.C., is controlled by the state, and Singapore’s founding prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, is its chairman. His son, the current prime minister, is deputy chairman. Tony Tan, its executive director, is a former deputy prime minister.

Wonder when 39% will decide that his boy needs to be on the TTC? Or the ERS?

Posted by mcblogger at 09:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 27, 2007

H*ly F*ck*ng Sh*t!

You know this is big.

Olbermann Back To Countdown Tonight

Keith Olbermann will be cutting his vacation short to cover the assassination of Benazir Bhutto as he returns tonight to anchor Countdown. The Bhutto breaking news resulted in some anchors on Fox News coming in from vacation tonight as well.

However, the Leader of the Free World will remain at his vacation home near Crawford, Texas, playing Wii.

Posted by mayor mcsleaze at 01:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 04, 2007

United Russia wins but things look bleak

Yeah, by now you've probably heard that Putin and United Russia (the political party that put him front and center), swept the recent parliamentary elections in Russia with the Communists providing the only serious opposition. Seriously, the communists? Let me get this straight... you guys are voting for the party that fucked y'all up for over 70 years? I guess it proves that there are stupid people in every corner of the world.

UR swept with 60% of the votes which will allow them to functionally control the Parliament and hands Putin a great big 'Good Job, guy!' as he leaves office early next year. And why shouldn't they be saying 'good job'? Sure, Putin (much like Bush) has curtailed civil liberties but he's also got the economy running and people are doing better than at any time in the past 30 years.

At least the Russians got broadbased economic growth out of their deal with the devil.

The interesting thing is that this is truly a high point for Putin and UR. Which means that their 60% isn't quite as strong as it looks.

Posted by mcblogger at 02:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 26, 2007

How secure are Pakistan's nukes?

The NYT has a good time with this...

If General Musharraf is overthrown, no one is quite sure what will happen to the team he has entrusted to safeguard the arsenal. There is some hope that the military as an institution could reliably keep things under control no matter who is in charge, but that is just a hope.

“It’s a very professional military,” said a senior American official who is trying to manage the crisis and insisted on anonymity because the White House has said this problem will not be discussed in public. “But the truth is, we don’t know how many of the safeguards are institutionalized, and how many are dependent on Musharraf’s guys.”

Even if it never comes to a loss of control over weapons or their components, the crisis carries another level of danger. Administration officials say privately that if the chaos in the streets worsens, or Al Qaeda exploits the moment, Pakistan’s government could become distracted from monitoring scientists, engineers and others who, out of religious zeal or plain old greed, might see a moment to sell their knowledge and technology.

Sleep well, y'all!

Posted by mcblogger at 12:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 19, 2007

American honored in Russia...

... for delivering atomic secrets to the Soviets during and after World War 2.

On Nov. 2, the Kremlin startled Western scholars by announcing that President Vladimir V. Putin had posthumously given the highest Russian award to a Soviet agent who penetrated the Manhattan Project to build the atom bomb.

The announcement hailed Dr. Koval as “the only Soviet intelligence officer” to infiltrate the project’s secret plants, saying his work “helped speed up considerably the time it took for the Soviet Union to develop an atomic bomb of its own.”

How about a resolution in Congress condemning him? You know, if we're going to waste time condemning Turkey for something it did during a time of war, let's take a moment and condemn one of our own for giving us 50 years of the Cold War.

Posted by mcblogger at 02:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 05, 2007

Oversubscribed

PetroChina shares went public today in Shanghai to Chinese domestic investors who have been unable to buy the stock which trade in NYC and HK. The offering was so massively oversubscribed that at one point the company had a valuation of more than $1 trillion, double that of Exxon.

It was a record-setting day for PetroChina (PTR). With an $8.9 billion debut in Shanghai, the state-controlled oil-and-gas producer laid claim to raising the greatest amount of money of any new listing globally this year. By the end of the first day of Shanghai trading on Nov. 5, PetroChina's share price had more than doubled, to 59¢, up 163%.

The Beijing-based company first went public in New York and Hong Kong in 2000, but until the Shanghai debut its stock was largely off-limits to China's huge pool of retail investors, who can't legally trade shares outside the mainland. Now PetroChina is no longer out of reach. The euphoria that greeted the Chinese debut left the company with a market capitalization of $1 trillion, leaving second-ranked Exxon Mobil (XOM), valued at a mere $488 billion at the Nov. 2 close, in its dust.

However, on a normalized EPS multiple (13 for Exxon which has almost double the profit of PC which trades at a 55 multiple), the company is still substantially smaller than Exxon and the major global oil companies. In other words, the market cap is more a function of investor demand than corporate performance.

But looking at PetroChina by market cap alone grossly overstates its relative size and importance in the global oil industry. The company's displacement of ExxonMobil is a reflection of just how overheated China's stock markets have become. PetroChina may have a market cap more than twice the size of ExxonMobil, for instance, but when measured in profits the Chinese company is still a pip-squeak compared to the U.S. giant: PetroChina saw earnings rise a mere 1.4% to $10.9 billion in the first half of this year, compared with Exxon Mobil's $19.54 billion.

Regardless of the mechanics behind the valuation, on paper this is the first company in the world capitalized at more than $1 trillion. Pretty impressive for an economy that 30 years ago was widely viewed as just another third world basket case.

Posted by mcblogger at 01:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 01, 2007

Maureen Dowd's joke becomes news in Iran

Oh, this is too funny...

Liberals are accusing the Bush-Cheney folks of trying to foment World War III or IV with all that reckless saber-rattling about Iranian nukes.

But it seems New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd brought us closer to the brink with a Sunday column in which she purported to interview Vice President Cheney. This is how it played on Press TV, the first international Iran-based news network to broadcast 24-7 in English.

"Cheney: Iran has WMDs, just like Iraq," said the headline on the online edition, posted Sunday.

"The US Vice President, Dick Cheney, has accused the Islamic Republic of having weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), 'just like Saddam,' " the story read.

"While the negotiations are underway between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog, the hawkish US official said the White House considers Iran's nuclear dossier in 'the final stages of diplomacy,' " the report said.

" 'We are not going to get hung up on democracy this time,' Dick Cheney said in an interview with the New York Times on Sunday. 'It's time for squash. Not to mention mushrooms, clouds of them,' said the Vice President, when asked how close Washington was to launching military strikes on Iran.

"When asked if he would wait for the new round of sanctions against Iran, he said Washington has waited enough, adding that 'the sanctions were announced Thursday. It's now Sunday.' "

Posted by mcblogger at 08:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 31, 2007

Iran : Russia and the US face off...

The US is working hard to get the UK on board with possible military action against Iran.

The Pentagon is keen to have the Royal Navy's cooperation in the event of an attack, to prevent Iran from introducing mines to the Persian Gulf to block oil exports in retaliation.

The White House and Downing Street would rationalize such an attack as a protective measure to protect troops in Iraq. But moderates in the US government are concerned that the counterterrorist justification can be used as a cover for military action that could escalate into all out war with Iran.

What they should be doing is effectively negotiating with the Russians. Except Condi and Bush are too dumb to do that.

Posted by mcblogger at 09:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 22, 2007

Hu opens the Communist Party Congress

Just in case you were wondering, the faux commies in China opened their party Congress last week and enshrined the philosophy of President Hu Jintao into doctrine. That was, seriously, the only thing they apparently did.

Hu, dressed in his trademark blue suit and television-friendly red tie, used his two-and-one-half-hour speech mainly to underline his doctrine of "scientific development," which he described as "an important guiding principle for China's economic and social development and a major strategic thought that we must uphold and apply" to pursue "socialism with Chinese characteristics."

The party announced Sunday that Hu's innovation will be enshrined in the party charter during the week-long 17th National Congress as a historical contribution to Marxist ideology. The move constitutes an endorsement by the party faithful of Hu's emphasis on tempering breakneck economic development with such social concerns as protecting the environment and guaranteeing that the poor have access to education and health care.

Just as important, it ushers Hu into a pantheon of historical Communist figures who have shaped Marxist doctrine. In the eyes of the Chinese party, Hu, 64, will be joining a line of ideological greats that began with Marx and Lenin and has continued over more than a century with Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin.

"The Politburo formulated the guiding principles for the current amendment to the constitution, stressing that the amendment must follow the guidance of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of [Jiang's] Three Represents, [as well as] embody the Scientific Development Outlook," Li Dongsheng, the congress spokesman, said at a news conference.

He spoke for TWO AND ONE HALF HOURS?!?!? Can you imagine being the guy or gal in the audience who had a large coffee prior to the start and about two hours in desperately need to use the restroom?

I really think this is all pretty exciting. I wonder Tyler Perry will make it into a movie starring Tyler Perry. And the exhumed corpse of Mao.

Posted by mcblogger at 09:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 25, 2007

Brownback and Ahmadinejad : A match made in heaven?

Sen. Brownback (R-Asshat) tried to pimp an Anti-Gay 'Marriage Amendment' while speaking to New Hampshire voters. Apparently, those in the Granite State didn't like his gay bashing rhetoric, so they booed him. Think Progress has the transcript and the video...

In related news, the Iranian President yesterday said that there were no gay people in Iran. Dungeon Diary points out that it's probably because the Iranian religious police have killed a bunch and the ones that remain are obviously in hiding. Given this bit of news, it makes me wonder if maybe the gay-free paradise Brownback and his cohorts have been trying to create already exists... in Iran.

Maybe they should go there for a bit and see a country where gays are so scared that they stay in the closet. They can enjoy the basketcase economy, the drab fashion and the lack of intellectual freedom. Maybe then they'll realize that The Gays aren't really that big a threat.

Posted by mcblogger at 12:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 13, 2007

Legislator gunned down

Unfortunately, it was not...

Warren Chisum
Charlie Howard
Leo Berman (Why God? Why not take him??!?!)
Tom CradDICK
Dan Patrick

Instead, it was some Mexican legislator who ran afoul of some drug dealers (I'm all the time telling them to be nice to the drug dealers!) and got himself shot. Of course, the Mexican government won't do much about it, and isn't that the really shocking part?

Seriously, y'all... you need to let a couple of the Federales go a little John Wayne/Clint Eastwood. Kill some folks

(h/t to PinkDome at Dome Of The Pink)

Posted by mcblogger at 09:20 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

June 06, 2007

Are you, like me, wondering about buying a nuke?

It's true, it's true... I'm in the market for a small nuclear weapon. I won't say why, let's just say there is a small town somewhere in Texas that, in my opinion, deserves to have a really bad day.

Kidding! I'm actually looking to build a reservoir of my own where I can build a lake house and spend my retirement. I'll sell a few of the remaining lots to some gullible foreigners. Maybe folks from Minnesota?

ANYWAY, I'm in need of a small atomic device and I've been wondering where to get it and how hard it might be. It's not like you can just run down to HEB or Neiman's and pick one up. So, this book will be VERY helpful to me. If I had a copy AND a few million dollars.

So much for non-proliferation.

Posted by mcblogger at 09:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 04, 2007

What if the smoking gun came in the form of dead air?

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to right-wing gasbag Sean Hannity:

Freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of conscience are not a thorn in the side of government. Disagreeing with your government is not unpatriotic and most certainly should not be a crime in any country, especially a democracy.

Okay, small misstatement of fact on my part. Condi wasn't speaking on Fox News but instead at a meeting of OAS foreign ministers and she was actually speaking about events in Venezuela, where bonapartist dictator Hugo Chavez recently shut down a hostile TV network and threatened to do the same to others.

Irony accomplished.

For his part, Chavez's representative compared Bush to ho hum Hitler, and not favorably either. Still, considering that Chavez had previously referred to Bobo as the Devil, some say this could actually be a sign that Chavez wants better relations with the country whose purchases of his oil finance his revolution.

Posted by mayor mcsleaze at 03:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 30, 2007

Russia sees US ABM system, raises with new MIRV platform

Well, the Russians did say that if the US broke the ABM Treaty it would open up a pandora's box of new weapon systems.

Russia tested new missiles yesterday that a Kremlin official boasted could penetrate any defense system, and President Vladimir V. Putin warned that U.S. plans for an anti-missile shield in Europe would turn the region into a "powder keg."

First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said Russia tested an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple independent warheads, and it also successfully conducted a "preliminary" test of a tactical cruise missile that he said could fly farther than existing, similar weapons.

Mostly, this is boilerplate BS for Ivanov who is running to replace Putin as Russia's next President. Being seen as the 'strong on national defense' candidate has always been a safe move in Russia. Doesn't that sound familiar?

So now, instead of our ABM systems having to hit a missile, they will have to hit 4 or more VERY small warheads. Considering it doesn't hit larger targets very well, do you think maybe we shouldn't have bothered to waste all that money on a system that can be overcome by just adding a more targets?

Posted by mcblogger at 12:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 26, 2007

Fashion Police

Wow. This is worse than Sugarland.

Some 150,000 women have been detained in Iran for violating strict new Islamic dress code rules, the country's top police officer has announced. "During the first four days [since the code came into effect] we have picked up 150,000 women who were not properly veiled, but many of them were released after they signed an admission of guilt and a formal apology," General Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam told journalists. An unspecified number of the women taken into custody were also forced to undergo psychological counseling, Moghaddam said.

“Only 13 of these women are still being held and they will have to stand trial," he explained.

Two Hundred-thirty legislators in Iran's Majlis parliament in a letter addressed to Moghaddam, expressed their support for the way police acted.

In the letter, the legislators blame the United States and Israel for "inciting" Iranian women not to respect the Islamic dress code, including the shrouding of the head with the hijab scarf

Radical Islamist deputy, Seyyed Mehdi Tabatabai, said that “those who do not respect the dress code and who refuse to wear the hijab have no place in an Islam country and should leave."

Posted by mayor mcsleaze at 05:44 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 10, 2007

YAY! Nuclear fuel! YAY!

The Iranians have announced that they can refine uranium into reactor fuel! Who's the BSD now, bitch!

"With great honor, I declare that as of today our dear country has joined the nuclear club of nations and can produce nuclear fuel on an industrial scale," Ahmadinejad said. The U.N. has imposed limited sanctions on Iran until it suspends enrichment a key process that can produce either fuel for a nuclear reactor or the basis of a warhead. The United States and its allies accuse Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons, a claim the country denies.

I know I'm excited!

Posted by mcblogger at 09:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 07, 2007

It's official... we're causing global warming

"I feel that it is inappropriate for the state to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions due to the highly speculative arguments that it may contribute to global warming. As the Star-Telegram correctly noted, I think the global warming theory is bad science." - State Rep. Phil King

Ok, Phil, I think this pretty much settles the fallacy that the arguments regarding the contribution of man-made CO2 emissions are 'speculative'. They are fact, dumbass, even the if they aren't published in the Star-Telegram.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, made up of hundreds of scientists from 113 countries, said that based on new research over the last six years, it is 90 percent certain that human-generated greenhouse gases account for most of the global rise in temperatures over the past half-century.

So, what do we do now? Surely it's a good idea to go with clean coal and gen 4 nuclear as a first step, then move to pure renewables like wind and advanced solar. All the while we can make some dramatic improvements to efficiency and conservation. The sure thing is that it'll take all kinds of solutions to get us past this. One is, as Hank Gilbert talked about, using biofuels derived from crops like miscanthus. For one thing, it's easier to grow in Texas than corn and doesn't require nearly as much water to grow or process into fuel.

Unfortunately, the lead on biofuels is going to Illinois and California. Way to go, Texas Dept. of Agriculture!

Since Phil and his pals won't be able to whine about speculative science anymore, they'll now start whining about how expensive it will be and that it will destroy the economy. That won't play either.

Forcing power plants to reduce carbon dioxide emissions will not make consumers - or in most cases the power plants themselves - feel a pinch in their pocketbooks, according to a study released Thursday.

Economists from the University of Maryland, Towson University and a Washington think tank, Resources for the Future, said the overall affect on Maryland's economy will be slightly positive when Maryland joins the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in June.

"We concluded that there is a modest positive effect, it will actually lower a consumers electricity bill by about $22 dollars per year," said Steve Gabriel, co-principal investigator at the University of Maryland. "We can breathe a sigh of relief. Actually, we can breathe better, because that, after all, is the intent of the program."

We know the problem is big. We know what we need to do. We know that doing it won't break us. SO LET'S DO IT, SENATOR.

Posted by mcblogger at 05:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 01, 2007

Where we screw up, Iran steps in

Oh. Damn. Connecticut native George Bush is being outplayed by the Iranians in the Middle East. Like no one could see that coming...

"It's very bleak and it's very dangerous," said Dakhil, the Saudi writer. "We have a sectarian civil war in Iraq now and this is drawing sectarian lines through the region. This is the most important, the most dangerous ramification of the American war in Iraq."

It's not surprising that the heavy handed tactics of Americans (and, in Lebanon, the Israeli's) have had a deleterious effect. What is surprising is the extent to which Iran is stepping up their aid and support to those affected, creating goodwill from the Mediterranean to the Gulf.

"The United States is the first to be blamed for the rise of Iranian influence in the Middle East," said Khaled al-Dakhil, a Saudi writer and academic. "There is one thing important about the ascendance of Iran here. It does not reflect a real change in Iranian capabilities, economic or political. It's more a reflection of the failures on the part of the U.S. and its Arab allies in the region."

Added Eyal Zisser, head of the Middle Eastern and African Studies Department at Tel Aviv University in Israel: "After the whole investment in democracy in the region, the West is losing, and Iran is winning."

Yeah, we've been thinking for a while that you gain more friends with honey than you do with bullets... but no one in Washington seems to be listening (they all think foreign aid is a waste of money)

In Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, a banner hangs near a bridge wrecked by Israeli strikes last summer: "The Zionist enemy destroys, the Islamic Republic of Iran builds." Even before the 33-day war ended, Iran had provided Hezbollah with $150 million to begin rebuilding, some of it going to victims in $10,000 bundles of crisp U.S. currency, according to a Shiite politician who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"You want me to give you my opinion? Honestly?" asked Hajj Hassan Sbeiti, a 44-year-old merchant, his face breaking into a wry smile. "If you say hello to me, you probably like me. If you say hello to me and ask what I need, you're a friend. If you say hello to me, ask what I need and put money in my hand, then you're going to be my brother."

Oh, sure... attacking Iran is a natural. We're guaranteed to make friends that way. Just look how well it's worked in Iraq. Quit with the bullshit about Iranian nukes and let's get down to winning the war of hearts and minds.

Posted by mcblogger at 12:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 27, 2007

Something is happening but you don't know what it is

The US Central Command revealed Friday that an airstrike near the dusty Somaili town of Buur Gaabo was believed to have killed the elusive terrorist mastermind Burger King. A Pentagon spokesman who insisted on remaining nameless said that the death of the number three man in Al Qaeda was a significant victory in the War on Terror.

UPDATE Intelligence analysts now believe that the man killed was Sali ibn-Wazir, a wealthy retailor of strict Islamic women's apparel, known as the Burka King. A Pentagon spokesman who insisted on remaining nameless said that the death of the number three man in Al Qaeda was a significant victory in the War on Terror.

Posted by mayor mcsleaze at 09:06 AM | Comments (0)

January 26, 2007

China has ASAT weapons...

This is a comforting thought... the Chinese, rather than let their old satellites just fall back into the gravity well and burn up in the atmosphere (which is what EVERY OTHER NATION DOES), have decided to shoot them down with a missile. Of course this causes a tremendous amount of alarm on the part of the DoD because the US military is heavily dependent on satellites for real time information and now, rightly, have figured that they have a tremendous achilles heal. No shit.

We've often wondered why an enemy would want to nuke us at all. It would be far easier and more effective to just EMP out the power grid and kill all our electronics. No cars, no trucks, no computers, no phones, no food. Yeah, without being able to run down to Randall's every two days, I'd certainly be dead.

Yeah, I said it. R-A-N-D-A-L-L-S. Fuck a bunch of Central Market and HEB.

Posted by mcblogger at 09:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 21, 2006

Turkmenbashi croaks

Once upon a time there was a place called the Soviet Union, which was ruled by a series of evil dictators. Eventually they ended up with a not-so-evil dicator and after a few years the country fell apart. Some of the successor states, Russia and Ukraine for example, are somewhat familiar to Americans; others, like the stans of Central Asia, have remained much more obscure. These are to this day mostly run by evil dictators in the worst Soviet tradition; now the leader of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov has died, perhaps ending a bizarre cult of personality rivalling anything dreamt of by Kim Jong Il or Kinky Friedman.

Known as Turkmenbashi, or Father of all Turkmens, Niyazov was renowned for such peculiar acts as ordering citizens to get gold teeth extracted, outlawing opera and banning men from listening to car radios.

During a 21-year rule he turned his country into a hymn of praise to himself: kindergartens, towns, factories and a month of the year (January) were named Turkmenbashi. He erected a revolving gold statue of himself in the capital Ashgabat and giant billboards of the leader hung all over the country.

He often feigned embarrassment at the adulation. "I'm personally against seeing my pictures and statues in the streets - but it's what the people want," he once said.

But the pressure to worship the leader was relentless. Children in the gas-rich state were forced to learn his book of poetry, the Ruhnama, at school, and a copy of the book was sent into space for good measure.

Posted by mayor mcsleaze at 03:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 12, 2006

Even reading about this hurts

Mom and dad decide to have their 10 year old boy circumcised. Kinda mean, I know, but it's apparently the 'in thing' for Malay Muslims. My only question is why did they have to select the Shakes McShaky of mohels?

A medical assistant accidentally severed a 10-year old boy's penis during a botched circumcision at a private clinic in Malaysia's southern Johor state, a news report said Sunday.

The boy was rushed to a real hospital where the part of his dick that was sliced off was reattached. No word on whether or not the penile reconstruction was successful.

Posted by mcblogger at 06:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 08, 2006

India Brings Down the Average

I knew someone was holding down the worldwide average for penis size. God only knows the Chinese probably are doing the same but we'd never know it for their state sponsored media machine which advertises Hefty-bag sized condoms for all Chinamen.

Condoms designed to meet international size specifications are too big for many Indian men as their penises fall short of what manufacturers had anticipated, an Indian study has found.

The Indian Council of Medical Research, a leading state-run center, said its initial findings from a two-year study showed 60 percent of men in the financial capital Mumbai had penises about 2.4 cm (one inch) shorter than those condoms catered for.

For a further 30 percent, the difference was at least 5 cm (two inches). A poor fit meant the prophylactics often didn't do the job they were bought for, and led to some tearing or slipping off during use.

Posted by spamburgler at 04:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 04, 2006

Excellent articles on China and India

Two articles caught my eye today... one on China's budding relationship with Saudi Arabia and another on India becoming more attractive than China to international business. Both are worth the read when you have a chance.

One has to wonder exactly how much the Saudi's will value their relationships when push comes to shove.

Posted by mcblogger at 09:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 25, 2006

Old Skool, or, How Putin takes out an enemy

Don't criticize President Putin or he'll jack you up with some polonium. Putin don't play, bitches.

Posted by mcblogger at 01:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Old Skool, or, How Putin takes out an enemy

Don't criticize President Putin or he'll jack you up with some polonium. Putin don't play, bitches.

Posted by mcblogger at 01:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 19, 2006

To our friends overseas : Y'all are fucked up!

From time to time I take some moment out of my busy life to go through the visitor log... you know, to find out where our readers are geographically, how they got to McBlogger and, if through Google, what they were searching for.

Turns out, our friends in the Netherlands, France and England are searcing for HOOKERS. Seriously, image search on google, page two top row. That's us... indexed there because of this post which is definitely NOT about hooking up overseas freaks with trashy women.

Our friends in Germany are even more fucked. They've been searching for 'teenboys' (I shit you not. Every single one of them) and hitting this post which is pretty innocuous and all until you read a comment that's a spam ad for teenage porn. Yeah, I'm deleting it.

Austrians have a bit more of a sense of humor... they were searching for camel toe and happened upon this gift idea from last year.

Just think of us here at McBlogger as your own special NSA. And by special I mean... well, you should know that by now, no? I think I'm going back to watching some asshole making turkey au vin on the Food Network.

Posted by mcblogger at 02:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 17, 2006

Dutch seek ban on burkas in public

Oh no! Paul better not plan on going to the Netherlands anytime soon.

Posted by spamburgler at 12:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 12, 2006

Pastures of Plenty

Afghanistan: easy to invade, hard to conquer. Ever wonder why?

Canada troops battle 10-ft Afghan marijuana plants

Like they say, war is hell.

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian troops fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan have stumbled across an unexpected and potent enemy -- almost impenetrable forests of 10-feet (three meter) high marijuana plants.

General Rick Hillier, chief of the Canadian defense staff, said on Thursday that Taliban fighters were using the forests as cover. In response, the crew of at least one armored car had camouflaged their vehicle with marijuana.

"The challenge is that marijuana plants absorb energy, heat very readily. It's very difficult to penetrate with thermal devices ... and as a result you really have to be careful that the Taliban don't dodge in and out of those marijuana forests," he said in a speech in Ottawa.

"We tried burning them with white phosphorous -- it didn't work. We tried burning them with diesel -- it didn't work. The plants are so full of water right now ... that we simply couldn't burn them," he said.

Even successful incineration had its drawbacks.

"A couple of brown plants on the edges of some of those (forests) did catch on fire. But a section of soldiers that was downwind from that had some ill effects and decided that was probably not the right course of action," Hillier said dryly.

One soldier told him later: "Sir, three years ago before I joined the army, I never thought I'd say 'That damn marijuana'."

Posted by mayor mcsleaze at 08:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 10, 2006

North Korea : "I will not be ignored!"

Much like Glenn Close's character in Fatal Attraction, North Korea and it's pasty little leader have decided to detonate their own little nuke which had the predictable effect of focusing attention back on the troubled nation. Though no one knows the yeild or the type of weapon (uranium or plutonium, fission or fusion), that information did not stop basically the entire world from saying...

Not so much

with the


nukes, dick!

The Russians believe the yeild was in the 5-15 kilotons of TNT range. By comparison, the bomb US forces dropped on Hiroshima was the equivalent of 15 kilotons of TNT. The South Koreans, who are either really smart or super dumb, estimated the yeild at 550 tons of TNT.

Of course, the Foley thing is still much sexier which is really a sad, sad commentary on just what an ugly man Kim Jong Il is. The President also had something to say about it but it was so full of dumb that I'm not even going to bother linking. And yes, he still mispronounces 'Nuclear'.

Posted by mcblogger at 03:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 05, 2006

More on the crisis in Oaxaca

¡Para Justicia y Libertad! has more up on the situation in Oaxaca. Before you freak out on me and ask why the hell I'm so concerned about Mexico, let me explain that an unstable Mexico, led by people whose legitimacy is doubtful at best, is not a good thing for Americans. Further, we may end up having to do the same thing in November.

Have you sent your letter yet? If not, keep in mind that Mexico is our largest trading partner here in Texas. What Texan's think actually does have an impact on Mexican leadership, especially when they realize we're standing with the people, not the power.

Posted by mcblogger at 12:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 02, 2006

What the hell is going on in Oaxaca?

XicanoPwr over at ¡Para Justicia y Libertad! has a post up about the situation in Oaxaca which is, to say the least, disturbing as hell. Apparently, the Mexican government is prepping for an attack on civilians in the city who have been engaged since May in an active protest of the Governor, Ulises Ruiz, who they claim was elected fraudulently. While we can't speak to their claims, given the recent Presidential election and how disputed it was (as well as the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections here in the US) I'm more than willing to give folks the benefit of the doubt and call for at least an investigation into whether election fraud was committed.

I'm also more than willing to call bullshit on using armed forces and tanks to beat up on civilian protestors.

I'm pasting information how to get a letter to President Fox in the SuperSize as well as link to a site with more details on what's happening in Oaxaca. Please keep in mind, before dismissing this, what happened last Thursday and realize that the people we help today may be the ones who help us tomorrow!

from El Enemigo Común

Dear President Vicente Fox,

Please do not authorize the use of Federal force to resolve the current social and political dispute in Oaxaca.

Sincerely,
Your Name Here

Write to:

Vicente Fox Quesada
(Presidencia, Los Pinos)
Telephone:
011 52 (55) 2789 1100
011 52 (55) 18 7501 Atencion Ciudadana
Fax: (55) 52 77 23 76
email: vicente.fox.quesada@presidencia.gob.mx

If you use email, please send copies to:

President Elect Felipe Calderón Hinojosa: felipe@felipe.org.mx and

Secretary of Government: Carlos Abascal: segob@rtn.net.mx

Posted by mcblogger at 01:11 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

September 27, 2006

New Flavors from Mexico

You love their illicit narcotics, cheap prescription dugs and chiclets. Now you can enjoy some of their quality meth, even better than the bathtub gin like shit made here in Texas by meth heads.

It's methamphetamine, hecho en Mexico and it's coming soon to your local dealer.

...Grits has been sounding the alarm for some time - the crackdown on bathtub-gin style homemade meth handed the lucrative market to Mexican smugglers. The stuff they produce turns out to be purer and even more addictive. Whoops!

Apparently, some of the big boys have set up great meth cooking operations just across the border and are making a high quality product that meth heads here in Texas, accustomed to stuff made with Drain-O, are totally digging. Grits for Breakfast has a full post up on it with a pointer to Rep. Pena who has been concerned about this for a while. Just another example of 'get tough' policies implemented by stupid people that have failed miserably.

Posted by mcblogger at 12:50 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack

September 23, 2006

Ted Turner : Invading Iraq was dumb

I can't really say I've always admired Ted Turner... I always thought he was kind of a geek. However, I find more and more that I agree with what he says.

The U.S. invasion of Iraq has caused "incalculable damage" that will take 20 years to overcome "if we just act reasonably intelligently."

"It will go down in history, it is already being seen in history, as one of the dumbest moves that was ever made by anybody. A couple of others that come to mind were the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and the German invasion of Russia," Turner told the forum.

I'm posting the full text in the supersize

Published on Wednesday, September 20, 2006 by Reuters
Ted Turner Says Iraq War among History's "Dumbest"
by Daniel Trotta

NEW YORK - The U.S. invasion of Iraq was among the "dumbest moves of all time" that ranks with the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and the German invasion of Russia, billionaire philanthropist Ted Turner said on Tuesday.

The founder of CNN and unabashed internationalist also defended the right of Iran to have nuclear weapons and the effectiveness of the United Nations and, in a jocular mood, advocated banning men from elective office worldwide in a Reuters Newsmaker appearance.

Alternately combative and humorous, Turner spoke nine years after his pledge to donate $1 billion to the United Nations over 10 years and on the same day President Bush addressed the U.N. General Assembly a mile away.

The U.S. invasion of Iraq has caused "incalculable damage" that will take 20 years to overcome "if we just act reasonably intelligently."

"It will go down in history, it is already being seen in history, as one of the dumbest moves that was ever made by anybody. A couple of others that come to mind were the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and the German invasion of Russia," Turner told the forum.

"It literally broke my heart. You don't start wars just because you don't like somebody. ... I wouldn't even start a war with Rupert Murdoch," Turner said, referring to his onetime cable network rival.

Often contrarian, Turner called it a "joke" that Bush demanded that Iran abandon any ambitions for nuclear weapons while at the same time hoping to ban all such bombs.

"They're a sovereign state," Turner said of Iran. "We have 28,000. Why can't they have 10? We don't say anything about Israel -- they've got 100 of them approximately -- or India or Pakistan or Russia. And really, nobody should have them.

"They aren't usable by any sane person."

POWER TO THE WOMEN

One way to reduce such dangers in the world would be to leave women in charge, said the former husband of Jane Fonda.

"Men should be barred from public office for 100 years in every part of the world. ... It would be a much kinder, gentler, more intelligently run world. The men have had millions of years where we've been running things. We've screwed it up hopelessly. Let's give it to the women."

In the meantime, the United Nations represents the best hope, Turner said.

While the world body is ridiculed as ineffective and irrelevant by its harshest critics and often criticized by its strongest advocates, Turner offered what was then one-third of his net worth to the world body nine years ago.

"I am absolutely certain we would not have made it through the Cold War without the U.N.," Turner said. "When Khrushchev at the U.N. took his shoe off and hit podium he was so mad, but he had a place to let off steam. If the U.N. hadn't been there, that would have been war right then."

When a questioner from the audience challenged Turner on the United Nations's value, Turner shot back.

"The war between Lebanon and Israel and Hizbollah would still be going on if it hadn't been for the U.N., and that's only in the last two weeks, Bubba."

© Reuters 2006

Posted by mcblogger at 09:40 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

September 19, 2006

Thus spoke The Idiot and more!

The President addressed the UN. Here's a snapshot of the audience

Look like some engaged people, no? Seriously, I saw people LAUGHING at him around the time he once again said 'NUKULAR'. Basically, he said

"My country desires peace," Bush told world leaders in the cavernous main hall at the U.N. "Extremists in your midst spread propaganda claiming that the West is engaged in a war against Islam. This propaganda is false and its purpose is to confuse you and justify acts of terror. We respect Islam."

Damn! So I guess he IS looking at the polling data which means we'll be leaving Iraq soon, no?

Addressing Iraqis specifically, Bush said, "We will not abandon you in your struggle to build a free nation."

Damn. Guess he's decided to ignore the polling. Huh. Talk about mixed messages.

He then went on to talk about Iran's nuclear program. And Sudan. Honeslty, I'm not sure what the rambling thing was about. However, that doesn't mean that the ambassadors weren't listening...

He was wrong, but still forged ahead with war against Iraq without the support of many other nations. And he is still trying to rebuild credibility with the body, experts say.

"The sense outside of the U.S. is that the United States is responsible for many of the failures in Iraq, first by going in mostly alone and then by incompetent administration," said Jon Alterman, a Mideast expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"The problem with the way he's talked about democracy in the Middle East is not that people see it as undesirable," Alterman said, "it's that people see it as naive. He needs to persuade cynical people that not only is he sincere, but it's achievable, and here's what they need to do to make it so."

No worries, folks... we think he's an unrealistic nut as well.

Posted by mcblogger at 01:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 12, 2006

US working toward sanctions on Iran. Fools.

Here we go again...

“We are heading toward the U.N. Security Council to consider a sanctions regime,” R. Nicholas Burns, the United States under secretary of state for political affairs, said in a speech at the American Academy in Berlin after meeting with diplomats from Britain, France and Germany. He also met separately with representatives of China, Russia, Japan, Italy and Canada.

Do the morons in the Administration not get just how weak their hand is? Inflamming the situation is going to drive oil above $120/barrel and at that level the economy in the US is screwed. Further, they've seen Bush use the military option... they KNOW we can topple them but much like the Taliban, they'll be able to come back and wreck havoc on everything. Nukes are off the table, so exactly which sabre are you going to rattle this time, President Bush? You've already broken the blades off the ones you have.

Posted by mcblogger at 09:35 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 29, 2006

Texas isn't the only place to implement stupid laws

Apparently drinking standing is a bigger problem in England than we realized. Here I was thinking their only problem was an unnatural affinity for sherry, port and Guinness.

ENGLAND’S latest public health crisis is a plague of bellicose, over-balancing drinkers. Such at least is the message from Preston, Lancashire, where the police want pub-goers to sit down. They are worried that the inevitable jostling and shoving at the bar leads to trouble — and that standing drinkers, when they drop, have further to fall. Backed by the local health officials, the authorities are trying to impose a no-standing policy in the city’s pubs by autumn.

Granted, not quite as draconian as Austin's smoker discrimination and moral purity law (still hate you for that, Glen) but come on! Have we not learned the futility of laws to modify behavior in bars? Even the smoking ordinance isn't really working at a number of establishments.

Where are they? Don't you wish YOU knew...

August 28, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
Bar None
By JACK TURNER

Thoiry, France

ENGLAND’S latest public health crisis is a plague of bellicose, over-balancing drinkers. Such at least is the message from Preston, Lancashire, where the police want pub-goers to sit down. They are worried that the inevitable jostling and shoving at the bar leads to trouble — and that standing drinkers, when they drop, have further to fall. Backed by the local health officials, the authorities are trying to impose a no-standing policy in the city’s pubs by autumn.

Anyone who’s spent much time in an English pub might sympathize with the impulse, but the method seems questionable. And history shows that, however commendable the reasoning, efforts to control how people drink — or eat, or smoke — tend to backfire.

Bars and pubs are notoriously difficult places in which to regulate behavior. For much of the 20th century, bars in Australia and New Zealand closed at 6 p.m., the idea being that this would encourage men to spend the evenings with their families, rather than frittering away their time (and money) on liquor. The measure dated from the First World War, and was largely the doing of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, which held that a sober, moral home front would accelerate the successful prosecution of the war.

In fact, the only thing that accelerated was the drinking, now crammed into 60 liquid minutes. To speed things up some pubs fitted a spigot on a hose to fill drinkers’ glasses as soon as they emptied. Publicans pulled up the carpet and tiled all exposed surfaces so they could hose down the premises afterwards. The result was that men became too drunk to spend time with their families. The money was gone (and the morals?), only faster.

Alcoholic fluids, it might be argued, bring out people’s contrary nature, but carping about other patterns of consumption has seldom fared any better. The history of Lenten dietary regulations dates back much further but is not always any brighter. The medieval Roman Catholic Church stipulated a diet free of meat, dairy and eggs for Lent, Advent, special fasting days and, depending on where you were, Wednesdays and Saturdays as well — in other words, nearly half the year.

The result was a quite extraordinary ingenuity in devising meat-free dishes to ease the tedium. Those who could afford it went all out to brighten the Lenten fare of fish and vegetables with exotic ingredients: foremost among them spices, denounced by the church for their luxurious expense, their incitement to appetite and, not least, their purportedly aphrodisiac properties.

The unintended consequence was that for the well-to-do the “lean” days of fish were often far more luxurious — and asked more of the cook — than the “fat,” indulgent days of meat. The dietary martinets of the Middle Ages were due credit, indirectly, for some of the medieval cook’s spiced masterpieces, ancestors of today’s bouillabaisse and Christmas puddings.

There is nothing, however, particularly religious about this instinct. After the French Revolution, the intensely irreligious Jacobins promoted communal “civic” meals in the streets of Paris, with the aim of promoting fraternity and frugality in equal measure.

These years of civic meals were followed immediately after by the stunning success of a new, uniquely French idea: the restaurant. Within a couple of years the new dining establishments had popped up all over town, and Paris was established as the gastronomic capital of the world, and the elitist Michelin guide was just around the corner. So much for fraternity.

While the revolutionaries and utopians took on the conspicuous excesses of the upper classes, just as often as not the Puritan impulse tends to aim at the disempowered. In Lancashire and elsewhere, propping up the bar is, of course, historically a working-class pastime. Women of all classes present a still more inviting target.

For the first decades of the 20th century, the issue of female smoking was so contentious that even Big Tobacco scrupled at advertising to women — which was precisely why, of course, the flappers made such a point of smoking. The taboo crumpled in the late 20’s when American Tobacco coined the slogan “Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet.” This was one of the most successful advertising campaigns of all time.

Ram a message down people’s throats and they tend to gag. Unremarkably, the point was lost on Hitler, a vegetarian who tried convincing the Germans that the future was meat-free, and whose efforts at dietary reform went the way of his other delusions. From what I’ve seen, present-day Germany is a lonely place for a vegetarian.

The United States is of course no stranger to Puritanism, which has seldom been confined to the pulpit. The behaviorist psychologist B. F. Skinner proposed a solution to the age-old problem of the sweet tooth in his 1948 book “Walden 2.” In his fictional community, children lived happily indifferent to lollipops thanks to the rigorous conditioning they received. Backsliders were made to wear lollipops around their necks for a few hours until all temptation was “psychologically concealed.”

Though Skinner went on to become one of the more famous psychologists of the century, his utopian vision was more widely regarded as a dystopia, inimical to basic human freedoms. Several communities modeled upon Skinner’s vision were established and survive in the United States, though whether they have succeeded in lollipop control has, I confess, eluded my researches.

So what should they do in Lancashire? The answer, I think, is known to anyone who has visited the tourist spots of Paris or Rome. Many a footsore traveler has retreated to a cafe only to find, when the check arrives, that a coffee costs double when seated. In Lancashire maybe they should do the same but they should, so to speak, turn the tables. Charge more to stand, and they’ll be falling over themselves to sit down.

Jack Turner, the author of “Spice: The History of a Temptation,” is writing a book about cooks.

Posted by mcblogger at 08:00 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Drunk Irishmen invent perpetual motion machine

Apparently, some former oil company people in Ireland have discovered a new kind of physics that allows a simple arrangement of magnets on a wheel to produce more energy than it consumes. In short, ladies and gentleman, they have invented a perpetual motion machine that violates classical physics, as well as common sense. This is, of course, not the first time the Irish have violated common sense. The first and most heinous violation of common sense on the part of the Irish was the creation of Guinness.

There is a test rig with wheels and cogs and four magnets meticulously aligned so as to create the maximum tension between their fields and one other magnet fixed to a point opposite. A motor rotates the wheel bearing the magnets and a computer takes 28,000 measurements a second. The magnets, naturally, act upon one another. And when it is all over, the computer tells us that almost three times the amount of energy has come out of the system as went in. In fact, this piece of equipment is 285% efficient.

That's a lot of "free energy" and, supposedly, a slap in the face for one of physics' most basic laws, the principle of conservation of energy: in an isolated system (the planet, say), energy can be neither created nor destroyed; it can only be converted from one form into another.

Don't believe it? Well, neither did they at first.

"We couldn't believe it at first, either," says McCarthy, chief executive of the company.

See? But now that they've done all this research and offered a challenge to anyone willing to try and disprove the technology they are actually getting some attention.

Is it just me or does this feel like some kind of email scam to you?

Posted by mcblogger at 09:27 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

August 25, 2006

I'm guessing the food's better than Auschwitz

A restaurant in Mumbai, India opened recently with a name that invoked history in an unusual way. Ladies and Gentleman, I give you Hitler's Cross Bar and Grill.

The restaurant's name and its marketing gimmick had infuriated India's Jewish population, which had said it would fight any attempts at "rehabilitating Hitler."

Germany and Israel joined the protests with the Israeli consul-general in Mumbai writing to city authorities urging them to take steps to get the restaurant's name changed.

At first, God help me, I actually thought the Germans and Israeli's were overreacting. Then I looked at the picture again and had to acknowledge that is really offensive. Both my grandfather's fought in Europe and neither of them would have thought this was in good taste. One of them was extremely upset when we was told by a cousin (who was too stupid for words) that a car my mother had recently purchased was German. In the 80's.

The restaurant has decided to change the name but has not yet decided to what. Feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments.

photo courtesy Reuters

Posted by mcblogger at 11:00 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

August 20, 2006

Truthiness, Justice, and the American Way

If you watch the Colbert Report you've probably heard about the on-line effort to have the Hungarian government name a new bridge after America's favorite pundit. (And if you don't, isn't it about time you get with the program?) The good news is that the Steven Colbert Bridge has now pulled ahead, now leading Hungarian national hero Nicholas Zrinyi 19%-11%. And the best part is that we know that since these votes are being tallied electronically, the election is completely fair and tamper-proof!

Posted by mayor mcsleaze at 05:39 PM

I have a few extra bucks...let's knock over an African country

Let's say you're a bored British millionaire who's not particularly bright, nor hindered by any outmoded concept of morality. Let's also say that there is a corrupt African country, run by a cannibalistic dictator many would like to see dead. Finally, let's suppose that there is a group of mercenaries floating around Africa who share your amorality and desire for profit.

With that, you have a basic outline for The Wonga Coup (reviewed here at Salon), a new book detailing the exploits of a rogues gallery of people from Margaret Thatcher's son to the scion of a brewery empire in their almost comical efforts to topple a government. Almost, but not quite because they came so close to actually succeeding.

Posted by mcblogger at 02:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 18, 2006

Deputy British PM : "Bush is Crap"

from The Indepent

John Prescott has given vent to his private feelings about the Bush presidency, summing up George Bush's administration in a single word: crap.

The Deputy Prime Minister's condemnation of President Bush and his approach to the Middle East could cause a diplomatic row but it will please Labour MPs who are furious about Tony Blair's backing of the United States over the bombing of Lebanon.

Full text in the supersize

Bush is crap, says Prescott
Deputy PM criticises US handling of Middle East, condemning 'cowboy' President at private meeting
By Colin Brown, Deputy Political Editor
Published: 17 August 2006

John Prescott has given vent to his private feelings about the Bush presidency, summing up George Bush's administration in a single word: crap.

The Deputy Prime Minister's condemnation of President Bush and his approach to the Middle East could cause a diplomatic row but it will please Labour MPs who are furious about Tony Blair's backing of the United States over the bombing of Lebanon.

The remark is said to have been made at a private meeting in Mr Prescott's Whitehall office on Tuesday with Muslim MPs and other Labour MPs with constituencies representing large Muslim communities. Muslim MPs wanted to press home their objections to British foreign policy and discuss ways of improving relations with the Muslim communities.

Some of the MPs present said yesterday they could not remember Mr Prescott making the remark. He has been at pains to avoid breaking ranks with Mr Blair in public although he is believed to have raised concern about the bombing of Lebanon at a private meeting of the Cabinet. But Harry Cohen, the MP whose constituency includes Walthamstow, scene of some of the police raids in the alleged "terror plot" investigation, said Mr Prescott had definitely used the word "crap" about the Bush administration.

"He was talking in the context of the 'road map' in the Middle East. He said he only gave support to the war on Iraq because they were promised the road map. But he said the Bush administration had been crap on that. We all laughed and he said to an official, 'Don't minute that'." Mr Cohen added: "We also had a laugh when he said old Bush is just a cowboy with his Stetson on. But then he said, 'I can hardly talk about that can I?'

Last night, an official from the Deputy Prime Minister's office said: " These discussions are intended to be private and remain within the four walls. They are private so that there may be frank discussions."

And today Mr Prescott issued a statement in which he said: "This is an inaccurate report of a private conversation and it is not my view. "

Told that others at the meeting could not recall the words, Mr Cohen said: " He did. I stand by that."

Many Labour MPs have been infuriated by the spectacle of Mr Bush and Mr Blair jointly supporting the Israeli action. The Labour MPs went to see Mr Prescott to lodge their criticism of the Government's foreign policy and some said last night that they would be delighted if he did break ranks over the Bush administration following the outcry at the bombing of the Lebanon.

In the private discussions with Mr Prescott, the Labour MPs representing large Muslim communities pulled no punches in their criticism of Mr Blair for giving his backing to Mr Bush. Another of those who was contacted about the conversations did not deny Mr Prescott's words, but laughed and said: " I can't discuss that." When asked whether he had heard Mr Prescott use the "C-word", he said: "I don't remember that."

The Deputy Prime Minister is said to have made it clear he strongly backed the efforts by Mr Blair to persuade the Bush administration to revive the road map for Palestine and Israel. Mr Blair has given a commitment that he will give the peace process his priority when he returns from his holiday in the Caribbean.

"There was a very robust exchange of views," said the MP. " We had a row about community relations. The Deputy Prime Minister was told in no uncertain terms that the Government was relying too much on the elders in the Muslim community who didn't have the credibility that was needed."

Muslim Labour MPs also told Mr Prescott that they needed to retain their own credibility in their communities, which was one of the reasons why they had signed a controversial letter calling for a change in British foreign policy. They said it was not helpful for the Government to have attacked their letter.

Mr Prescott has been accused in the past of making his feelings known about the Republican administration in the White House. He became friendly with Al Gore, the unsuccessful Democrat presidential candidate in 2000, during the negotiations on the Kyoto treaty and allegedly told Mr Gore after his defeat that he was sorry he lost the race to Mr Bush.

Mr Prescott is also known to have used the word "crap" in relation to political events before. Earlier this month, he angrily rejected claims that he could resign over the row about his links to the bid by the tycoon Philip Anschutz for a super-casino at the Millennium Dome as "a load of crap".

Mr Prescott was left in charge by Mr Blair when the Prime Minister went on his delayed holiday but has largely taken a back seat while John Reid, the Home Secretary, has led for the Government on security and the alleged terror plot to blow up planes across the Atlantic.

Behind the scenes, Mr Prescott had to contend w