LAST NIGHT'S DEBATE

Hmmmm. Go to a media party for the re-opening of Ray's on the River here in Atlanta with Belinda and Cristina, or sit back and watch the YouTube crowd ask questions of the Democrat Party candidates. Tough choice. The food was great. I'll bone up on the "debate" though and we'll have some fun with it today on the show.

MICHAEL VICK UPDATE

Right now there are probably a few rooms full of attorneys in Atlanta, Virginia and New York trying to find out a way to get this problem solved. The goal? Avoid any sort of a felony conviction or plea from Vick. A conviction or plea means the end of his football career.

Jock culture is in play. We all know it, though some of us are loathe to admit it, but from high school days forward athletes are treated differently than the rest of us.

The latest is that Vick has been banned from training camp .. not, as I understand it, by the Falcons, but by the NFL; this until they completely review the case and see where things lead.

THE HOLY LAND TRIAL

Six years ago the U.S. government shut down the Holy Land Foundation for funding terrorism, specifically Hamas. At the time it was the largest Islamic charity.

Today, officials of the Holy Land Foundation will stand trial for supporting Hamas by sending money, goods and services to Islamic charity committees controlled by Hamas. They also gave direct funds to Hamas' offices in the West Bank and Gaza. When shut down in December 2001, records show that the Holy Land Foundation raised more than $57 million.

The Holy Land officials say that the evidence collected by the FBI is fraudulent and that conversations were taped using warrantless wiretapping.

Let's take a look at some of the founders. How about Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook. He is a founder of the Holy Land Foundation and contributed a substantial amount of money to the organization throughout the 90s. He also happens to be a political leader of Hamas. In 1994, Marzook decided to use the Holy Land Foundation as the primary fund-raising entity for Hamas in the United States. And they still claim there is no connection?

And, of course, where would we be without CAIR - the Council on American Islamic Relations - being in the picture. CAIR has a bit of a campaign going against me right now, and I couldn't be more pleased. CAIR happens to be one of the groups listed as an unindicted co-conspirator along with the Holy Land Foundation. CAIR also happens to be founded by former members of the Islamic Association of Palestine, a Hamas front organization. And its founding funding came from none other than the Holy Land Foundation.

Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for CAIR accused prosecutors of the Holy Land's case of using smears and "McCarthyite tactics." He said that this is an "attempt to marginalize and disenfranchise mainstream Muslim groups." Yup .. this is the same Ibrahim Hooper who has spoken of his desires to see the United States under Islamic Law.

Quite a crowd.

GOVERNMENT INEPTITUDE

A Liberian man who gained asylum in the U.S. was charged with repeatedly raping and molesting a 7-year-old girl. The judge, however, dismissed all charges in the case. Why? Because the court could not find an interpreter who spoke the rare West African dialect of the suspect.

The dialect is the tribal language of Vai. Linguists estimate that only 100,000 people speak it. The court has waited three years to find the proper court-appointed interpreter.

Although, the man was able to attend high school and community college in the U.S. How was he able to get an education if he supposedly can't speak English. I doubt they had Vai translators at government schools.

In Montgomery County, MD alone, the court spent $1 million of tax payer money on interpreters in 2006. That is ten times the amount spent in 2000.

Sounds to me like the court was duped. English as an official language anyone? How in the hell can we let a man get away with rape because he can't speak English?

HUGO LIMITING SPEECH ... AGAIN

Hugo Chavez, our favorite Venezuelan president, said that foreigners who publicly criticize him or his government while visiting Venezuela will be expelled from the country. Any outspoken critics of his presidency will be deported.

Chavez had this to say during his six-hour long TV/radio program on Sunday: "How long are we going to allow a person - from any country in the world - to come to our own house to say there's a dictatorship here, that the president is a tyrant, and nobody does anything about it?"

He continues to assert that George Bush is out to kill him. As a little present, Cuba's Fidel Castro gave Chavez a copy of former CIA Director George Tenet's memoir and said: "'Read it, Chavez, because that is the most perfect killing machine ever invented and I'm a survivor ... I survived more than 600 (assassination) attempts.'"

So ... who would be safe in Venezuela right now? Cindy Sheehan, for one. Probably Michael Moore. Birds of a feather.

IRANIAN CRACKDOWN

Iran is launching a new campaign to crackdown on anyone who dresses "un-Islamic." They call this an increase in security.

It will target women who were badly veiled, wore overly tight overcoats or pants, and were "dressed like models."

Men will be punished for having "Western-style" haircuts and clothing. Not only the men that wear the Western styles, but the hairdressers and clothing shops providing the Western styles will be targeted.

Many in Tehran are happy about the campaign, but moderates think Iran would be better off tackling poverty and crime rather than "immoral" dress.

My guess? Not a good move by the weird-beards. There is a large segment of the Iranian population, mostly younger people, who are becoming more and more westernized and more disenchanted with the Mullahs' rule. They can't be all that happy with the latest move. Let the cultists keep stirrin' the puddin' like this. Something unsavory is going to come to the top.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

The UK's new prime minister Gordon Brown says that he won't rule out using military force against Iran. Good. He's coming around.

A Kurdish woman is killed by friends and family because ... she fell in love with the wrong man and brought shame on the family. What a wonderful religion! How can the rest of the world resist?

Here's an article in the New York Times about all of those brats on airplanes that aren't controlled by their parents. Wish they had interviewed me.

Congress' approval ratings are at a dismal 14%. But the question is, who are these people (the 14% of you) who actually feel that Congress is doing a good job?

You're friendly global warming update. And this one is about none other than the hypocrisy of Al Gore and the filming of his documentary. Unfortunately the people who really need to read this article are playing with the Nintendos right now.

This is an excellent article for all of you who believe that equality will make everyone happy. When it comes to income equality, liberals will be 20% less likely than conservatives to say that hard work leads to success for the disadvantaged. Do they ever get anything right?

A top US spy chief says that