Darfur refugees attend NBA Finals

Congratulations to the Spurs on their sweep of the Cavs last night; here's a story you won't see much about:

Cavaliers reserve swingman Ira Newble hugged and shook hands with 15 refugees from southern Sudan, his special guests for Game 4.

Newble has become an activist for Darfur, a region of Sudan where four years of warfare have left more than 200,000 dead and 2.5 million people displaced.

"A lot of people are losing lives right now. This needs to stop," Newble said. "This is a form of genocide. It's no different than the Holocaust."

Newble has been gathering signatures from fellow players for a letter he plans to send to China, a major backer of Sudan. China is also the host of the 2008 Olympics, an event in which NBA players will participate.

China, which buys two-thirds of Sudan's oil exports, sells the African country weapons and military aircraft and has blocked efforts to send U.N. peacekeeping forces to Darfur without Sudanese consent.

So far, Newble has 15 signatures on the letter. He said more are to come.

Newble decided to take action after reading about the conflict, including the involvement of professor Eric Reeves, a Sudan expert at Smith College in Massachusetts.

"He's a guy who could have easily looked away," said Reeves, who attended the game. "Ira has fashioned a dream team of consciousness."

Newble, who was inactive for Game 4 and has only played one minute in the series, invited 15 of Sudan's "Lost Boys," orphaned and made homeless in Sudan's civil war, to Quicken Loans Arena.

Ngor Aguen, 27, came to Cleveland six years ago from Sudan with help from Catholic Charities. Wearing a blue Cavs hat and a wine-colored "Rise Up!" T-shirt, he met Newble for the first time Thursday night.

"He's got a heart," Aguen said. "He can see outside of here and say, 'What can I do to help?' God put it in his hands. I think he will be a messenger."

Newble plans a trip to Darfur in August.

The Darfur conflict began in 2003 when local rebels took up arms against the Sudanese government, accusing it of decades of neglect. Sudanese leaders are accused of unleashing the pro-government Arab militia, the janjaweed, to fight them -- a charge they deny.

Billo: "Slavery is essential for a healthy agrarian economy"

If Fox News Had Existed Throughout History

See more like this on kontraband.com

My response from Bartcop

He basically told me it's all a lie. Which is kind of disappointing:

It's Hillary's election to lose.
People hate it when I state the facts, but what choice do I have?

Hillarty's (sic) going to win every state Kerry won
- then add about 6 million women voters and pop the champagne.

But when she takes the oath, people can't hold me responsible for everything she does..

He didn't address the whole toxicity issue, but Bart really only ever talks about Congress to complain, Dems or Repukes.

Still love him, still think he's wrong about Hillary.

"Crapping our pants with musketballs of joy"

Jesus, please just let me post this before I crap my own pants with musketballs of jocularity:

Mitt Romney: That jaw! Those FAA-approved shoulders! So tall! So presidential-looking! And thank goodness someone's willing to stand up to the arrogant, know-it-all truth and insist that Saddam rejected IAEA inspectors. Can we double Guantanamo now, daddy?

Rudy Giuliani: Tough! Steely! Take-charge hero of 9/11! He'd be a great hunter if he hunted! Messy divorces? Bernie Kerik? Megalomania? Water under the bridge. And if you make Lieberman your veep we may crap our pants with musketballs of joy. Now, tell us more about Iran nuke plans, daddy!

John McCain: Maverick's hittin' his stride? Straight Talk Express back on the tracks? Answer to immigration question at last debate puts him in driver's seat? Even nuke-ier on Iran than the cross-dresser? New slogan---"Iraq 4evuh, my friends"---has edgy, youthful ring to it. Can we sit on your lap and do pony rides, Granddad?

Sam Brownback: A sweet man who's simply getting overshadowed by his wealthier rivals. But he's a shoe-in to head the new Department of Womb Management. ("Ya keeps the baby or ya gets the lash!")

Mike Huckabee: Started off strong by scaring the fur off the Great Orange Satan's hindquarters, and had us in stitches by attributing 110lb weight loss to a stay at "a concentration camp held by the Democrat Party of Arkansas." Then, to nation's horror, turned heretic by forgetting Ronald Reagan's birthday. No more funds, governor, 'til you make Simi Valley pilgrimage and atone.

Tommy Thompson: Hate to break it to ya, son, but if you can’t control your bowels, you can't control the country.

Fred Thompson: Christ is risen.

Hillary loses to all three top Republicans

and Barack Obama defeats them all (LA Times/Bloomberg, .pdf):

Hillary - 41
McCain - 45

Hillary - 41
Romney - 43

Hillary - 39
Giuliani - 49

***

Obama - 47
McCain - 35

Obama - 50
Romney - 34

Obama - 46
Giuliani - 41

****

Edwards - 40
McCain - 45

Edwards - 46
Romney - 32

Edwards - 46
Giuliani -43

****

Also, 18 percent of Democrats polled say they will never vote for Hillary under any circumstances. That is true for only six percent for Edwards and five percent for Obama.

Texans are lovin' Hill hard at the moment.

Now if that's not enough evidence to those who do not accept the premise that Clinton is ruin to Democrats down-ballot -- and their numbers include EOW, Kuff, and Greg -- then just wait a while longer, gentlemen, and there will be some more coming shortly. Just please don't wait until November 2008. Or next summer. Or even next winter. (And please do tell me again how I cannot infer such a result from these abysmal numbers. Please.)

In Austin today, John Edwards -- the Democrat Republicans fear the most -- picked up several endorsements, from Senator Kirk Watson to Rep. Garnet Coleman to Ag Commish candidate Hank Gilbert.

I'll take two, please

Apple Computer announced today that it has developed a computer chip that can store and play music -- inside a woman's breast implant.

The iBOOB will cost between $499 and $599.

This is considered a major technological breakthrough, addressing the concerns of women who complain about men staring at their breasts and not listening to them.

Regarding Tony

Nothing happens. Credits. What?

It is what it is. Whaddyagonnado?

Melissa Monday -- and Tuesday, then Saturday

My dear Boadicea, Warrior Queen (Google it):

With a hat tip to Kuff, I'll let John Whiteside at Blue Bayou do the heavy lifting, because he does it so well: When there are just two candidates, the distinctions become clearer than when you've got a whole pack running. Front-runner Noriega has behaved like a front-runner, with some get out the vote activities. Morales has, to be kind, stopped making a lot of sense. Before the first election, his focus seemed to be statements about dramatic property tax cuts (but not, as far as I was able to see, any details about what cuts to city services would make this possible). Now he's talking about "sanctuary." What that means, of course, is the police department's policy of not asking everyone they encounter whether they are in the country illegally. It's a reasonable policy, and one that you will find in a number of large cities; aside from the drain on police time (a particular problem for our understaffed department), there are practical matters. Could you prove that you're in the country legally during a traffic stop? I couldn't. Think what would happen next would depend on your accent and skin tone? You bet. The police department does, of course, cooperate with Homeland Security on immigration enforcement activities and DHS has had positive things to say about the relationship. This is not "sanctuary," which means protecting someone. If you're providing "sanctuary" you're not cooperating with the authorities trying to catch somebody. Anytime you hear someone talk about "sanctuary" it's a sure sign that they are misinformed, or - in the case of a politician - bending the truth to stir people up. Election day for the runoff is June 16, but the number of voting locations has collapsed, so it's going to be confusing. Better to early vote at a convenient location. 2% turnout is being expected. That's approx 15,000 voters deciding this city council race in the fourth largest city in the country. If you're a Houstonian, be one of the few, the proud, the actual voting public. Vote early. Vote for Melissa Noriega. Vote with a friend. Be one of the approx 7,501 deciders of this race. You'll be glad you did.

Bush Defends Immigration Bill to His Rapidly Imploding Base of Xenophobic Crackers

Straight from the source -- WhiteHouse.org:

THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon. Today I want to take a minute to gab atcha about the new bipartisan immigration bill which I'm betting the farm will be the only part of my legacy that isn't a big sloppy shit sandwich. Now for some mysterious reason, lots of folks don't like my policy – and a big chunk of my base is even trying to get it killed in Congress. Luckily, it's not the all-important Corporate Gazillionaire Plutocracy part of my base. No, it's just the piss-ignorant, dirt-poor, trailer trash KKK Bible zombie part of my base. And me and Karl Rove know how to play them like a cheap jew's harp. [Thumbs Up.]

That's why today, I just wanted to issue a friendly reminder to all those millions of red state Rush Limbaugh fans who have worshipped me without question for the past seven years:

Folks, we've been together through a lot. And you've stood by me through it all. Through the illegitimate election of 2000. Through the double-dip recession. Through the terror attacks of 9/11^TM. Through Enron. Through the botched war in Afghanistan and failed hunt for Osama bin Laden. Through the clusterfuck kickoff to the Iraq war in 2003. Through the Patriot Act and illegal wiretapping of innocent Americans. Through "Mission Accomplished." Through Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and a policy of torture. Through Katrina. Through failed Social Security reform. Through Armstrong Williams & Jeff Gannon. Through Terri Schaivo. Through Tom Delay. Through Mark Foley. Through Scooter Libby. Through $3.00 gas. Through Walter Reed. Through "the Surge". Through Alberto Gonzales. And now even through 3500 US troops killed in Vietraq.

And after all that, the thing it takes to get you folks pissed at me is letting a few million Mexi-Ricans pour over our borders and steal your jobs so you can't afford to put Ramen on the table? Well, I think I understand your problem. On one hand, you correctly accept that I'm practically Jesus. But on the other hand, you can't help but feel a surge of simple-minded, paranoid racist hatred every time you hear one of those dirty Spics yammering away in that nonsense gibberish of theirs – when even Star Trek nerds know that English is the only language in the universe. So yeah, I know, it's awful confusing for y'all.

That's why today, I just wanted to shoot out a quickie reminder to you folks that should clear everything up:

I am your divinely appointed ruler.

God picked me.

Never question my (His) opinions.

Immediately resume being the obedient brainwashed hicks I know and love.

Or you will rot in Hell.

[Thumbs Up.]

I have spoken.

Thank you.

A No Confidence Monday

It's hard to imagine how anyone can still have any confidence in this Attorney General's ability to do his job. His credibility is in tatters, his memory is apparently shot too, and at least six Republican senators have publicly called for his resignation.

There's plenty of reasons for Gonzales' resignation -- even impeachment. We could start with his egregiously partisan behavior in the US Attorneys scandal, and continue to his lies under oath regarding the matter. Or we could go with his blatant politicization of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, or his FBI's widespread abuse of PATRIOT act powers to spy on ordinary Americans.

Chuck Schumer said it best: "If all senators who have actually lost confidence in Attorney General Gonzales voted their conscience, this vote would be unanimous. However, the President will certainly exert pressure to support the Attorney General, his longtime friend. We will soon see where people's loyalties lie."

It will be especially telling to see how those six Republican Senators who have already called for Gonzales to resign -- including Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, John Sununu of New Hampshire, Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Gordon Smith of Oregon and John McCain of Arizona -- cast their votes.

The Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, has promised to lard up the resolution with meaningless amendments and slow it down procedurally.

I wonder how Kay Bailey and Box Turtle Cornyn will vote?

Update (6/11, 2:30 p.m.): Arlen Specter, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary committee and someone who has previously stopped short of calling for Gonzo to step down, will vote in favor of the no-confidence resolution. A vote scheduled this evening will require sixty votes -- ten GOP senators (in addition to all the Democrats and independents) -- to invoke cloture and proceed to the resolution. Besides the six named above and Specter, three other Senators have spoken disparagingly of the attorney general: Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, Pat Roberts of Kansas, and Jeff Sessions of Alabama. I'll update this post with the votes of all ten later tonight.

Update II (5:50 p.m.) Motion fails, 53-38. Six Republicans -- Coleman, Collins, Hagel, Smith, Snowe, Specter, Sununu -- supported the measure. Republican Ted Stevens of Alaska voted 'present'.

Joe Lieberman opposed it.

Sunday Funnies (late edition)

Lebron, Duncan to get whacked by Tony Soprano

NBA versus the mob tonight. Basketball players figure to lose:

When the Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs tip off Game Two of the NBA Finals, they will be up against the last episode of "The Sopranos" and figure to get whacked in the TV ratings.

...

"Me and my guys have definitely sat down to think about it," James said. "My friends think that either the Feds are going to come and get him or he's going to make friends with the Feds and maybe snitch on a lot of people.

"Or he's going to be whacked, which I don't think is going to happen. I hope that he's just able to get away and not worry about nothing."

James has a small problem. He has a previous engagement Sunday night and won't be able to watch the final episode when it airs for the first time. He plans on catching up when he gets back to Cleveland next week.

"I did have my girlfriend TiVo 'The Sopranos,' definitely, so when I get home I'll be able to watch it," James said. "But I think I'll be more focused on Tony Parker."

...

"I'll watch it during vacation," said Parker, who also is planning a wedding in France (to "Desperate Housewife" Eva Longoria) that is less than a month away. "I'll watch the whole season. I missed the whole season. I've got a lot of catching up to do."

I'll be DVR'ing the ballgame and watching HBO and trying hard not to blink.