blatherings

Iran's toy market is being inundated by models of Barbie, Batman, Spiderman and Harry Potter and the young must be protected from their harmful cultural effects, the prosecutor general was quoted as saying on Sunday.

"Promoting figures like Barbie, Batman, Spiderman and Harry Potter and the uncontrolled import of CDs of video games and films should alarm all the country's officials," Ghorban Ali Dori Najafabadi was quoted as saying by the student ISNA news agency.

"We need to find substitutes to ward off this onslaught, which aims at children and young people whose personality is in the process of being formed," he added.

Dori Najafabadi's comments came in a letter to an Iranian vice president, urging measures to protect "Islamic culture and revolutionary values".

While officials regularly lambast Western culture for polluting the minds of the public, Western toys have become a regular and popular feature on the shelves of toy shops in Iran in recent years.

Affluent Iranian parents are known for indulging their children and the purchase of such toys has become for many an obligatory treat.

But Dori Najafabadi said: "These toys, which do not respect the required norms, present dangers for the health of children and affect the survival of toy factories in this country."

Two years ago, police raided toy shops to put black stickers on the packaging of Barbie dolls to hide their bodies. In public in Iran, women must cover all bodily contours, a rule that Barbie conspicuously fails to obey.

Sun Apr 27

CARACAS (Reuters) - The governor of New Mexico met on Saturday with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in an effort to restart talks with neighboring Colombia to secure the release of hostages held by leftist rebels.
 

Chavez this year helped free six hostages held for years by the Marxist FARC rebels in Colombia’s four-decade old civil war, but talks have sputtered amid continued bickering between Chavez and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

“I’ve had a good meeting with President Chavez … (he) has told me that he is willing to help in this situation,” Gov. Bill Richardson told reporters after the meeting…

The leftist Chavez and right-wing Uribe have exchanged bitter accusations throughout the year, even during the hostage release negotiations.

Uribe accuses the self-styled socialist of supporting the FARC rebels, while Chavez says the Colombian leader of advancing Washington’s agenda in the increasingly anti-U.S. Latin American region…

so ok.  maybe gov. richardson is just trying to duplicate his incredible success with getting the North Koreans to disarm.   *cough*  

even putting gov. richardson's dangerous behavior aside, amazing how our watchdog media refers to the dictator chavez as a “leftist” and president uribe as “right-wing”?  *cough, cough*

i gotta get something for that cough!

it was 1976 -- our country's bicentennial year -- and over 40,000 baseball fans saw rick monday risk his career by grabbing what could easily have been a roaring fireball to rescue the American flag doused in lighter fluid by a couple of jerks on the field.  at first you only heard it in isolated pockets around the stadium but soon sweeping through the stands like The Wave would later do, Americans stood up and sang “God Bless America” — not prompted by the stadium organist but fueled by love of country and her symbol.  i love this vid.  definately a poose gimple moment. 

maybe this IS the greatest moment in baseball history i'm not sure.  but what i do know is that it's definately another testiment to what makes our country so great.  and what makes those who hate her reviled.  and go dodgers!
 
h/t Hot Air

some prolife advocate groups report that many pro-lifers want the video pulled, while others like jill stanek suggest it is possibly an anti-abortion message similarly to the one from comedian chris rock.  the wayans video is also under fire by some on the left like salon.

so what do you think?  is wayans trying to send an anti-abortion message here?  or is this simply irresponsible potty humor at the expense of one of the most serious moral and social issues of our time? oh and a reminder of what all the "fun" is about:



hat tip: m/m

h/t:  sevenload.com

though a relative newcomer to national politics, much of the country has been bedazzled by the eloquent and charismatic barack obama.  and certainly by now we all know that obama wants us to think of him as the change agent -- that he's hopeful, has sound judgement at 3 am, will take the country in a different direction. 

the sun is breaking through the storm clouds as a choir begins to sing...  i digress.  *cough*



i guess it's that "will take the country in a different direction" part that bothers me the most.  so here we go: 

obama isn't the uniter we hope for - there's that little irritation called a 20 yr relationship with his anti American pastor ;  obama isn't that pro-american advocate in chief for our country's interests we hope for - there's that equally troubling relationship with an unrepentant terrorist; and obama isn't that 'agent of change' we need - he seems quite easily linked to a crooked indicted political fundraiser named Tony Rezko .  all of this and i haven't even mentioned that he has the most far left votes in the Senate of anyone.  can you say socialism? 

he showed his true feelings at a private fundraiser in San Francisco saying condescendingly that many people cling to their religion and guns and are bitter.  his speeches now resemble most other political speeches. he defends himself against attacks and he attacks back -- feeling quite put out that someone would actually call him on inconsistencies.

perhaps obama looks at ayers - the unrepentant terrorist - and really does see an english teacher; looks at Wright - the anti american pastor - and really sees only your average Christian pastor.  if that is so, then the question that needs to be asked of all those bedazzeled by obama is: 

are you comfortable with a president who looks at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and thinks, “oh yeah, he’s that engineering student who was mayor of Tehran”?   yikes.

h/t Andy McCarthy

for all of us dimwits who are simply too stupid to see that barack obama is a gift - a messiah if you will - to all of us,  a new video has emerged.

inspired by the "classic" *cough*  Chris Crocker video Leave Britney Alone! (warning: the original contains strong language.)  now someone is standing up for the misunderstood barack obama — he’s suffered enough people!