An American citizen, taken hostage in Iraq, was seen on a video broadcast on Al Jazeera today, begging for his life.

The tape on Wednesday showed a man sitting behind a wooden desk as three men pointed their guns towards him.

He was holding what looked like a passport and a photo identification.

The US embassy spokesman in Baghdad - Bob Callahan - confirmed the captive's name as Jeffrey Ake and that the pictures appeared to be consistent with his appearance, but declined to give further details.

Aljazeera did not air the tape's audio, but said Ake had asked the US government to start a dialogue with the Iraqi resistance.

I'll link to the video once it becomes available.

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Moonbats far and wide are protesting heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar today, in the name of flattened protester Rachel "Our Lady of the Royal and Blessed Pancake" Corrie.

Corrie was run over by an Israeli Defense Force bulldozer when she stepped in front of it to attempt to prevent a Palistinian house from being demolished. The house was the residence of a suicide bomber. The IDF has a practice of demolishing the homes of suicide bombers.

On April 13, join groups all over the world in opposing Caterpillar sales of home-crushing bulldozers to Israel. That day, Caterpillar shareholders will meet in Chicago and will discuss a resolution on sales of bulldozers to Israel. We're calling on groups to organize local demonstrations at CAT-related locations, such as board of directors' offices or CAT dealerships, to send a strong message that cooperation in human rights abuses is unacceptable.

The Caterpillar Corporation has been in the business of war profiteering, profiting from the violation of the human rights of the Palestinian people and from the escalating cycle of violence between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

To hear them tell it, all of Caterpillar's products have minds of their own - kind of like the old ABC Movie of the Week and Theodore Sturgeon science fiction story Killdozer.

What's next, to insist that Bob the Builder is evil because he uses a bulldozer?

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Al Sharpton insists he did nothing wrong in terms of fundraising for his Presidential campaign.

"I assure you that everything handed to us was properly filed," said Sharpton, referring to $140,000 in donations collected by two shady businessmen who later were caught by a wiretap speculating that Sharpton had not reported most of that money to the Federal Election Commission.

"It is very suspicious that we have a pattern here," Sharpton said yesterday, citing both the FBI's secret videotape and bugging surveillance of a 2003 meeting he had with the fund-raisers and an FBI microphone found in the office of Philadelphia Mayor John Street, who also is black.

"People understand what this smells like," Sharpton said at a press conference outside The Post, which detailed the federal probe yesterday in a front-page story.

"I know that there were irregularities in Mr. [John] Edwards's [presidential campaign] . . . I know there were questions about John Kerry's mortgaging his house for his campaign. I don't know of any of them being wiretapped," Sharpton said.

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It looks like one of Mel Gibson's next projects will be a biographic movie of the life of Pope John Paul II.

Gibson, a 'devote' Roman Catholic, got a jump start by sending a production crew to Rome to film the Pope's funeral last Friday.

Mel's "The Passion Of The Christ" was one of Hollywood's biggest box-office hits last year and he's already been talking about doing further religious themed movies such as "The Revolt Of The Maccabees", the story behind the Jewish holiday Hanukkah.

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John Kerry showed up Sunday whining about "voter intimidation" of minorities citing an old adage that says that Republicans should vote on Tuesday, while Democrats should vote on Wednesday.

Kerry even cited "evidence" (though he could not produce said "evidence") that fliers were passed out to that effect.

Kerry cited examples Sunday of how people were duped into not voting.

"Leaflets are handed out saying Democrats vote on Wednesday, Republicans vote on Tuesday. People are told in telephone calls that if you've ever had a parking ticket, you're not allowed to vote," he said.

In other words, it was a joke. Whether Kerry figured that out or not is still up for debate.

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Michael Jackson has reportedly asked his aging parents to take custody of his children, 8 year-old Prince Michael, seven year-old Paris and two year-old Prince Michael II, in the event of his conviction and imprisonment.

The house is Jackson's childhood home where he allegedly suffered physical and verbal abuse under his father, Joe Jackson.
Despite the star's reported unhappy relationship with his father, Joe has been at his son's side in court throughout the trial.

However, Jackson's ex-wife and mother of his two eldest children, Debbie Rowe, is so unhappy with the decision she is fighting for custody.

Rowe signed away her parental rights in 2001, telling a judge: "I had the children for him to be a father, not for me to be a mother."

But she launched a legal battle to retract the ruling after hearing Jackson was charged with child abuse and his parents were to be her children's guardians.

Or is he planning to move in with Roman Polanski in Europe?

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By now, you've seen Tiger Woods' incredible birdie shot on the 16th at Augusta National in yesterday's final round of The Masters. But for those of you who simply have not seen it, the incredible shot has already been turned into a Nike commercial by marketing guru Joseph Jaffe. Of course, you can see the commercial in 30 and 60 second forms at Jaffe's site.

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The Conservative Brotherhood's expansion (that I mentioned last week) was noted this weekend by Wizbang (among other places), and appears to have caused a bit of a dust-up (at least in the comments on their entry). The predictable bitching and moaning is coming from both of the expected places - those who whine about the notion of a collection of "black" conservatives versus a collection of "white" conservatives, as well as the soul patrol regulars who are so enamored with the term "uncle tom" that they toss it at us with mindless abandon.

Feh.

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Prince Charles has caused a bit of an uproar by shaking hands with thuggish Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe yesterday at Pope John Paul II's funeral.

Prince Charles was sitting one space away from Mugabe, and was caught unawares during the portion of the mass when the members of the congregation "exchange the peace," a time of mutual reconciliation and greeting.

A Clarence House spokesman said the prince "finds the current Zimbabwean regime abhorrent" and "was not in a position to avoid shaking Mr Mugabe's hand".

The spokesman added: "He has supported the Zimbabwe Defence and Aid Fund which works with those being oppressed by the regime.

"The prince also recently met Pius Ncube, the Archbishop of Bulawayo, an outspoken critic of the government."

A Foreign Office spokesman said seating arrangements at the funeral were made by the Vatican.

But Labour MEP Glenys Kinnock, who has called for the EU to get tougher with the Mugabe regime, said shaking his hand was not "sensible".

She added: "I am sure that by now Prince Charles regrets shaking Mugabe's hand.

"However, this is yet another failure of the establishment, of people with power and responsibility in the international community, to be sensitive enough about how to respond to this man."

MEP Richard Corbett said Prince Charles should have refused to shake Mr Mugabe's hand.

He said: "This was a golden opportunity to deliberately and very visibly refuse to shake hands with this man.

"To fail to do so was, frankly, stupid."

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Eric Robert Rudolph, accused of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing nine years ago, along with two other bombings in metro Atlanta and one in Birmingham, has agreed to plead guilty to all the charges against him in exchange for a life sentence.

Rudolph has signed agreements with the U.S. Attorneys' Offices in Birmingham and Atlanta in which he agreed to plead guilty to the three Atlanta bombings and the Birmingham bombing and agreed to waive all appeals. The plea agreements provide for multiple life sentences for Rudolph without the possibility of parole.

"The many victims of Eric Rudolph's terrorist attacks in Atlanta and Birmingham can rest assured that Rudolph will spend the rest of his life behind bars," said Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. "The best interests of justice are served by resolution of this case and by the skillful operation that secured the dangerous explosives buried in North Carolina."

Rudolph is scheduled to plead guilty to the Northern District of Alabama indictment Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith at the federal courthouse in Birmingham. On the same day, the U.S. Marshal's Service will transport Rudolph to Atlanta, where he is scheduled to plead guilty before U.S. District Judge Charles A. Pannell, Jr., at the federal courthouse in Atlanta.

Pursuant to the plea agreements, Rudolph disclosed to the government the existence and locations of more than 250 pounds of dynamite buried in several locations in Western North Carolina. Three of the locations were relatively near populated areas, including one location where Rudolph buried a fully constructed dynamite bomb with a detached detonator, the press release says.

At least 40 pounds of bomb-making material, mostly dynamite, was found near an armory in Murphy, N.C., near where the task force was based to search for him, according to a source close to the investigation. Authorities also found dynamite scattered throughout the North Carolina woods where agents were looking for him. Allegedly, most of the dynamite was taken from a rock quarry near Cherokee, N.C.

A second bombing occured in early 1997 at an abortion clinic in Sandy Springs. Once first responders and police arrived at the building where the bombing took place, another bomb went off in a trash dumpster, resulting in several injuries. One more bombing took place in Atlanta, at a lesbian bar, The Otherside about a month later.

Early in 1998, a bombing attributed to Rudolph happened at an abortion clinic in Birmingham, resulting in two deaths.

Rudolph then disappeared into the hills of North Carolina, not to been seen until his capture two years ago.

The plea deal, set to be entered in Atlanta next Wednesday, will permit Rudolph to avoid a probable death sentence.

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Pope John Paul II has been laid to rest in the tombs underneath the Vatican. The Pope's body has been placed inside of a simple cypress coffin, which was placed inside of a zinc liner, which in turn has been placed inside a walnut coffin inscribed with a cross and Pope John Paul II's personal crest.

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The Conservative Brotherhood, of which I'm proudly a charter member, has expanded it's ranks by three.

Tavares Forby holds down the fort at BlackPundit.org. He's young, Republican and an electrical engineer. He comes from the streets, but knows where his head is at. Laser-beam penetrating logic, a quick tongue, and enthusiasm caught all out attention when he stepped up. We're proud to have him.

Ol' Sarge at The Hunter's Herald is Demond Hunter, back home from serving our nation in the mean streets of Iraq. He's a NASCAR dad, and I'll even forgive him for rooting for the Tarheels over the Illini.

Joseph C. Phillips is a man on a conservative mission across this entire nation. You'd recognize his face from his acting work - running the gamut from General Hospital to The District to The Cosby Show. He was one of the speakers at last summer's Republican National Convention, and he is a family man in the classic sense. I've only spoken with him a few times, but he sounds like a better cook than I am (not that cooking better'n me is a difficult feat).

We're proud and happy to add them to the ranks of the Brotherhood. You can find all our links over on the left menu rail, and you can find strong opinions and fantastic conversation from each one of us.

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The MJ fans are sure to be in a tizzy now. A former Neverland Ranch security guard testified today, and told jurors that he had actually seen Michael Jackson performing oral sex on an underaged boy while Jackson and the young boy were nude outside a shower in 1993.

The defense tried to counter Ralph Chacon's testimony by painting him as a disgruntled former employee forced into bankruptcy by an unsuccessful civil suit against Jackson.

Chacon testified that Jackson and the boy -- who was involved in a civil suit against Jackson in 1993 -- were engaged in "passionate" kissing and were caressing before the sex act.

He told prosecutors that the sex act occurred in late 1992 or 1993.

He said the incident began around midnight, when he saw Jackson and the boy, who was 9 or 10 at the time of the incident, laughing and playing in a whirlpool spa. He said they later went to a bathroom on the ranch grounds, which contained a shower.

Chacon testified he was walking by the room more than a half hour later when he heard Jackson and the boy together in the shower. He said he first walked away, but he returned because he thought to himself, "Hey, what's going on here? There's a grown man in the shower with a boy."

He said he looked through a window, and he saw Jackson and the boy standing naked in a well-lit room outside the shower. Jackson caressed the boy and kissed his hair, then Jackson moved his lips to the boy's genital area and performed oral sex, Chacon said.

Chacon said walked away and later saw Jackson giving the boy a piggyback ride. Both were wearing only towels, he said.

He also said that on another occasion, he saw Jackson passionately kissing the same boy in front of a display of Peter Pan dolls, and "Jackson's hands went down to the boy's crotch area."

Many professional trial-watchers have indicated that since the judge in the case is allowing testimony from prior circumstances - going to a pattern of behavior on the part of Jackson - that Jackson's legal team would be on the ropes under a barrage of bombshell accusations, perhaps leading them to try to settle the case and reduce the amount of time that Jackson would have to spend in jail. As of this point, there is no indication of a plea bargain on Jackson's part. 46 year-old Jackson insists he is not guilty of the child molestation charges brought against him.

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A pie was tossed at David Horowitz of Frontpagemag.com-fame last night during a Butler University lecture last night.

Witnesses say there was some "pushing and shoving" when Horowitz's supporters followed the pie-throwers out of the hall, but the attackers got away. After the incident, Horowitz completed his lecture.

A Butler spokesman called the incident "deplorable." Horowitz has criticized what he calls the "leftist domination" of college campuses. On his blog Wednesday night, Horowitz spoke of "a wave of leftist violence against conservative speakers on college campuses."

Last week, salad dressing was thrown onto Pat Buchanan at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI, while Weekly Standard editor and Fox News contributor Bill Kristol was "pied" at an appearance at Earlham College in Richmond, IN. Last fall, columnist Ann Coulter was nearly hit by a pie during a speech at the University of Arizona.

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1 well, now we know one thing, we liberals have much better aim then you conservatives.

Posted by: steve at April 07, 2005 10:06 AM (PqSU9)

2 They can't legitimately attack the message so they go for the messenger with a pie. Liberals have so much class....NOT!!

Posted by: Odd Brian at April 07, 2005 02:46 PM (b4q3c)

3 i'm not sure what steve meant with his quip, but i would have to say most of the non-liberals who have a good aim are serving this country not running around throwing pies. but then again...this is another good example of the kind of people they are.

Posted by: jcrue at April 08, 2005 01:53 PM (wNzN0)

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I've heard of cloak and dagger political plots, but this one has to take the proverbial cake.

A new article by James Ridgeway in the new Village Voice suggests that the Republican party has a wild-eyed plot to put former President Bill Clinton on the Supreme Court in order to nullify any chance Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (Moonbat-NY) has of winning the White House in 2008.

Last weekend Bob Novak described a novel scheme, supposedly emanating from the fevered brain of Karl Rove: Stop Hillary by putting Bill on the Supreme Court.

Here's what's supposed to happen: Bush names either Clarence Thomas or Antonin Scalia to be chief justice. That leaves one vacancy on the court. Then he appoints Bill Clinton to the court.

The thought of adulterer Clinton on the court (think Monica as clerk) sends right-wingers up the wall. But wait a minute. Think it through: Next, Bill Frist—Senate majority leader, Terri Schiavo defender, and himself a presidential hopeful—immediately moves to hold up Bill's nomination. Next, Harry Reid, the Democratic minority leader in the Senate, cuts a deal to free the conservative judicial nominations now backed up in Congress in return for letting Clinton on the court.

Once on the court, Clinton is out of the picture when it comes to campaigning for Hillary or anyone else in 2008. What to do about Hillary? Americans may differ on whether she should be president, but almost everyone will agree that the country could not stand to have two Clintons dominating two branches of government.

Just damn, indeed.

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Cornrows & Co. was founded by the husband and wife team of Taalib-Din Uqdah and Pamela Farrell in the Nation's Capitol in 1980 to provide an underserved clientele quality hair braiding services.

After the company built an excellent reputation and a clientele of more than 20,000, bureaucrats ordered him to cease and desist.

Local bureaucrats ordered Uqdah to cease and desist, or be "subject to criminal prosecution." Why? Because he didn't have a license. "It's a safety issue," said the regulators. Those who run a hair salon must have a cosmetology license. The chemicals they use dyeing or perming hair might hurt someone.

Hair dye is hardly a serious safety threat, but even if it were, Cornrows & Co. didn't dye or perm hair. They only braided it. That didn't matter, said the Cosmetology Board -- they still had to get a license. In order to get one, Uqdah would have to pay about $5,000 to take more than 1,000 hours of courses at a beauty school.

Uqdah thought he understood why the cosmetology board wanted to shut down his salon: "Money -- other salons don't like the competition."

Even if licensing boards intend to protect the public, in time they are captured by the people who care most. Who cares most? Not consumers -- you don't get your hair done that often, and even if you did, you don't care enough about it to want to join a regulatory bureaucracy. Innovators don't join the boards; they're busy innovating. Scientists, economists, doctors, and others with genuine expertise in safety and commerce don't join the boards, either. They're busy doing more important things. So boards are usually captured by the licensees, the established businesses. William Jackson, a former member of the Washington, D.C., Cosmetology Board, admitted, "The board, 90 percent of the time, are salon owners."

Uqdah and Farrell went on to establish the American Hairbraiders & Natural Haircare Association to help others in their situation across the nation to stave off predatory cosmetology laws, and educate the public about their industry and art.

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Asq4WpuymMJ:www.liningup.net/media/images/black_vader_logo.jpg" align=left hspace=3>Star Wars fans got in line this week for the late May opening of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, just as they have before each of the prior Star Wars flicks.

The only problem this time: it isn't opening at the Chinese - it's opening at the ArcLight a few blocks down the street.

"We've heard all this before," said Sarah Sprague, one of the designated spokesmen for the group. In 1999 and 2002, there were plenty of rumors (ultimately false) that the previous two pics weren't going to open at the Chinese.

This year the rumors seem to be true. Fox and the ArcLight haven't finalized their "Star Wars" deal, but execs on both sides say they expect "Revenge of the Sith" to play the ArcLight and not the Chinese.

As theaters normally do, the ArcLight is likely to ask Fox that it be the only theater playing "Revenge of the Sith" in the immediate area. And even if it doesn't, Paramount confirmed it will open "The Longest Yard" at the Chinese the week after "Revenge," which means Fox won't want to book the theater for just one week. (Paramount partly owns Mann Theaters.)

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All-Pope-all-the-time coverage of the death of Pope John Paul II continues with his funeral, set to get underway from Vatican City Friday morning at 4A Eastern Time. All the major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, MSNBC, FNC, NWI, BBC World, CBC, Univision, Telemundo, C-Span), along with Catholic television network EWTN will carry coverage live - most coverage gets underway at about 3A ET.

The Conclave that will choose the next Pope (doesn't that sound like the ultimate reality show? Where's Mark Burnett when you need him?) is set to be sequestered at the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City on Monday, April 18. 116 Cardinals will get to vote for their choice to be the new Pope. The person elected will need to receive two-thirds of the votes, plus one to ascend to the throne of St. Peter.

Four votes per day will take place until the job gets done. The only signals we will have in the rest of the world are black smoke from the Sistine Chapel's chimney if there is no pope chosen, and white smoke accompanied by the peal of bells if there is a new pope chosen.

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ABC World News Tonight anchor Peter Jennings announced this morning that he has lung cancer.

He is set to begin chemo treatments next week.

As you all know, this is a challenge. I begin chemo-therapy next week. I will continue to do the broadcast.

There will be good days and bad, which means that some days I may be cranky and some days really cranky!

In an e-mail, ABC News President David Westin indicated that PJ would continue to do the program, but that he would be off from time to time, depending on how he's doing. Elizabeth Vargas, Charlie Gibson and others will sit in for him on WNT in those instances.

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Newsworld International (NWI), the little-watched
Canadian-based international news network that formerly owned by USA Networks before their purchase by former Vice-President Al Gore, will go away on August 1, as Gore's brainchild, Current, will debut in it's place. Current will be a news network geared toward the 18-34 age-range with MTV-style short-form programming.

Al Gore and Joel Hyatt announced Current's new name and target start date today.

The new network will try to build on the audience of 20 million homes that NWI has from DirecTV, and digital cable deals on some Comcast and Time Warner systems.

Gore and Hyatt have recruited talent from the exsisting broacast universe to spin their form of news both in front of and behind the camera. On-air talent includes Gotham Chopra from the old Channel One network (and creator of the comic book Bulletproof Monk) and Laura Ling, also from Channel One.

Behind the camera, names include Chief Operating Officer Mark Goldman (former programming president of Channel One), Anne Kallin Zehren (former publisher of Teen People) & former ad executive Joanna Drake Earl.

Sounds like they're going to try to shove "news" in the form of blipverts down our collective throats (for any of you who remember the old Max Headroom storyline). I'm sure they'll fail miserably. Even more reason for me to get my Canadian satellite system - a Canadian dish will at least let me continue to watch CBC's The National and ITV's evening newscast.

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