Tough economic times are forcing businesses to compete harder than ever for consumer dollars. People are buying less, spending less, and curtailing extravagant vacations.

So if you're a corrupt, bloated, scandal-ridden bureaucracy that caters to violent left-wing nations and socialist agendas, you've got to dig even deeper to ensure that those billions of dollars of mismanageable funds keep rolling in.

And what better way to do that than capitalizing on the human tragedies of the world that you whine about other people (read, the United States) solving, but do absolutely nothing to solve?

Enter the new vacation spot for the rich and completely disconnected - the U.N.'s new Refugee Run!

That's right, if you're a wealthy European with a hankering to live like the unwashed (but only until you get a craving for escargots and Pernod...) this is the place for you.

Where else can you spend your day in the squalor of a refugee tent from Darfur, Afghanistan, or Iran, and your nights relaxing in the jacuzzi of your luxurious hotel in the Swiss mountains?

Think I'm kidding? Not a chance.

I'm waiting for the U.N. to take some other opportunities it's got out there. I mean, if you're going to cross a line, cross it, dammit! Think about the possibilities. How about:

The African Famine Cafe
Where your lunch is hand-delivered to your table by a starving child. Remember, don't feed the natives!

The Tsunami Water Park
Featuring a wave pool filled with real tsunami debris and replica bloated bodies

The Holocaust House of Horrors
Wander through a terrifying journey filled with moving floors, rooms filled with mirrors, and twisted Nazi scientists as you try to avoid being one of 6 million Jews who may or may not have been murdered by a psychopathic dictator (depending on who you ask). Children under 12 get their own replica yellow star to take home...

Stalin Village
Visit the guest center, where you can play "Raze the village." Challenge other families to see who can wipe out thousands of innocent people first. Are you paranoid enough to beat Stalin's score? And when you're done playing, you can take your picnic lunch out to the perfectly flat, barren wasteland to eat, and enjoy your lunch on what was once a vibrant, thriving village before Stalin ordered everyone killed and the village buried. Visit on his birthday for special discounts!

The 9/11 Fair
What better way to commemorate the deaths of 3,000 innocent people at the hands of Islamic terrorists than a rousing game of Blame America! At the 9/11 Fair, you can learn how to divert aid funds to radical groups, and how to make bland statements denouncing terrorism, all the while condoning nations supporting terrorist groups. It's non-stop hypocritical fun for the entire family. The fair runs the month of September. Negotiations are underway to purchase the soon-to-be-closed Gitmo detention facility for terrorists, in order to allow the fair to be run year round!


Ah, the possibilities are endless.

Labels: opinion, politics, terrorism, United Nations

CIA Director: Al Qaeda is Job 1 of Top 10 Security Challenges in 2009

Iran, North Korea and Al Qaeda are still in, but Iraq is out of the list of top 10 national security threats the United States is likely to face in the coming year.

As Leon Panetta faces a Senate confirmation hearing this week to be the next CIA director, outgoing CIA Director Michael Hayden says several regions and disputes could create serious headaches for the intelligence community in 2009.

Hayden, a Pittsburgh native, put together his list on the way back from a recent Steelers game. It will not be formally presented to his successor, but it does represent the top issues Hayden anticipates will be faced in 2009.

"This is an informal list that I kind of jotted down, what are the things I would fret about over the next 12 months," he told FOX News in the second of two interviews about the nation's greatest security challenges.

"I don't want to get in the business of suggesting ways to threaten the well-being of the planet, but frankly that is what we are in the business of thinking about every day here with our analytic workforce."

Hayden said top of the list is still Al Qaeda, which has been working on expanding its associations with other groups around the world. Hayden said this development is particularly troubling because groups like Lashkar-i-Tayyiba, which was responsible for the attacks in Mumbai last November, start to think outside their region and focus on the United States and elsewhere.

The full article is here. Definitely worth the read, it includes Hayden's reasons for each pick. Here's a quick look at the Top Ten:

1. Al Qaeda

2. Violence in Mexico

3. Iran's nuclear program

4. Europe and the War on Terror

5. Instability caused by the low price of oil

7. Afghanistan

8. North Korea

9. China

10. The Middle East

No real surprises here, but I'm skeptical that the present Administration is going to really want to address many of them. There have been some positive signs with regard to Iraq and Afghanistan, but some scary ones with regard to the Middle East, the War on Terror, and Iran. Unfortunately, if things go wrong, they're going to go very, very wrong.

Labels: politics. CIA, President Barack H. Obama, terrorism

Seriously. I'm supposed to be concerned about the rest of the world thinks of my country? When these are the choices they make?

Dismay as Gadhafi chosen to lead African Union

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Moammar Gadhafi of Libya was elected Monday as leader of the African Union, a position long sought by the eccentric dictator pushing his oil-rich nation into the international mainstream after years of isolation.

Some African leaders offered tepid praise for the choice of Gadhafi, who grabbed power in a 1969 coup. Rights groups called him a poor model for Africa at a time when democratic gains are being reversed in countries such as Mauritania and Guinea.

Once ostracized by the West for sponsoring terrorism, Gadhafi has been trying to increase Libya's presence on the global stage and its regional influence — mediating African conflicts, sponsoring efforts to spread Islam on the continent and pushing for the creation of a single African government.

He attended the session dressed in a gold-embroidered green robe and flanked by seven extravagantly dressed men who said they are the "traditional kings of Africa." Gadhafi told about 20 of his fellow heads of state that that he would work to unite the continent into "the United States of Africa."

So did the Associated Press write this article, or reporters from Fashion Weekly? I mean, if the dude attended the session in a "gold-embroidered green robe," or a chicken costume, who the heck cares? He's a terrorist-sponsoring Islamofascist loon, no matter what he wears - or, for that matter, however the heck you actually spell his last name...Ghadafi, Qaddafi, Khadafy...either way, I think it means "sandwich shy of a picnic" in Arabic.

Gotta love seeing "spreading Islam" AND "single African government tied together," eh? Especially since Islam tends to BE the government in such countries. Since the Islamic nations of Africa have a habit of being a bit terrorist-rich, and really not so peaceful, I'm really not feeling the love coming from that neck of the proverbial woods.

Worry about what the rest of the world thinks about us? Somehow, not a high priority for me.

I wonder if our new President will suck up to Ghadafi Duck, too...

The rest of the article - and one SERIOUSLY unflattering picture of Ghadafi, is here.

Labels: Qaddafi Duck, terrorism, terrorists

SUPER BOWL TOSS - U.S. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander, U.S. Central Command, gets ready to toss the coin at Super Bowl XLIII here Feb 1, 2009, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Bradley Lail

Labels: CENTCOM, General David H. Petraeus, Super Bowl, US Army