Arab News Services Report Saddam Has Been Hanged

Al Jazeera and al Arabiya have reported that Saddam Hussein has been executed, Fox News is reporting. There is no other confirmation.

FOX News has not yet confirmed that the execution has taken place. Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya wire services reported his death.

This is just breaking - will update as more comes out.

UPDATE: Hot Air (See-Dubya) is also watching this as it develops. The Associated Press is confirming the execution has taken place.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Saddam Hussein has been hanged, state-run television reported Saturday. "Criminal Saddam was hanged to death," state-run Iraqiya television said in an announcement. The station played patriotic music and showed images of national monuments and other landmarks.

UPDATE: Apparently, I am not the only news junkie around tonight: Michelle Malkin, Sensible Mom, Captain's Quarters, Ed Driscoll.com, Macsmind, Mary Katharine Ham, Jihadi Du Jour, Bill's Bites, Assorted Babble, Right Voices,  The Jawa Report, Lord Nazh, The Sundries Shack, Texas Rainmaker, The Broken Chair, The Moderate Voice, Pirate's Cove, BizzyBlog, Seven Stripes, Webloggin, A Blog for All, Babalu, Gateway Pundit, Redstate, Democracy Project, Atlas Shrugs, Power Line, Riehl World View, Gay Patriot, TigerHawk, Clarity & Resolve, The Belmont Club, PrairiePundit, Tammy Bruce, Dr. Sanity, Verum Serum, Demon Blog, Citizen Journal, The HILL Chronicles, RightWinged.com, Confederate Yankee, Speed of Thought, Gun Toting Liberal, Church and State, The Anchoress, Stuck On Stupid, Peoria Pundit, MsUnderestimated, 

UPDATE: Telegraph coverage. The Australian.

UPDATE: Telegraph coverage. The Australian.

Men, Read At Your Own Risk

For all males reading this post, this is your last warning. We mean it. Honest. You won't enjoy this story.

Woman charged with malicious castration

LILLINGTON, N.C. - A woman was charged with malicious castration for allegedly attacking a man during a Christmas party, police said. Rebecca Arnold, 34, is accused of grabbing the genitals of a 38-year-old man during a fight that erupted early Tuesday morning at a party hosted by the man's girlfriend. All three were heavily intoxicated, Lillington Police Chief Frank Powers said.

"This was a very unique situation, to say the least," Powers said, describing the man's injuries as moderate.

Witnesses gave conflicting stories to police, who were called to the house for a domestic disturbance, Powers said. Other details weren't provided.

We are eternally grateful that they were not. Thank you very much. We already have far too many details. Although the North Carolina criminal code defines the offense thusly:

§ 14‑28.  Malicious castration.

If any person, of malice aforethought, shall unlawfully castrate any other person, or cut off, maim or disfigure any of the privy members of any person, with intent to murder, maim, disfigure, disable or render impotent such person, the person so offending shall be punished as a Class C felon.

Class C? That's all? Don't say we didn't warn you!

Oops.

I would never have suspected it, but apparently the very best porn site on the internet is the official British tourism site, Visit Britain! Who Knew!

Visit Britain said they thought pranksters had hacked into their Internet site after the porn link was reported by net surfers who got more than they bargained for when searching for what Cardiff has to offer.

"In the immediate term we have corrected the link and, while we cannot be responsible for the content of external sites, apologise for any distress caused," said a spokesman for the website.

Jeff Rees, a Welshman living in Finland, logged on and said he was left absolutely disgusted.

"I was shocked when I saw that — very surprised," he told the South Wales Echo newspaper.

"I wanted to see what kind of things were being done to promote Cardiff and I was just amazed when I saw this website link; I couldn't believe it."

(Boy, are they going to get some weird traffic until this dies down.)

Friend Of The Bride Or Friend Of The Buffalo?

A water buffalo charged into a wedding party just outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia, injuring six people.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Six persons were injured when a rampaging bull buffalo gored guests at a wedding ceremony and passersby, police said Friday.

The buffalo charged from a nearby field into some 100 guests who were attending a wedding Thursday of the daughter of a Cambodian tycoon on the outskirts of the capital Phnom Penh, said Chey So Sila, a district police chief, declining to reveal the name of the tycoon.

After goring four guests he ran off to attack two passersby, the officer said. All were hospitalized, some with serious injuries. He said the buffalo's owner fled his home after learning about the incident for fear of being held responsible.

This is why Emily Post said you should never invite a buffalo to the wedding. They have terrible manners. Ok, she never really said that. But she should have.

Hey! Wanna See Tony’s House?

This is very cool. A virtual tour of 10 Downing Street, the official residence of British Prime Ministers for many, many years. It is very well done, too.

Users get a 360-degree perspective of each of the public areas, can zoom in on works of art and find out fascinating facts about the interior design.

Welcoming the launch of the tour, Tony Blair said:

"This is an excellent way of showing the tremendous history of this building. I feel very lucky to live and work here and if we can share just a fraction of the fascination of this extraordinary place, then this tour will entrance a great many people online."

A Downing Street spokesperson added:

"This year has seen the Downing Street website grow and develop - with the introduction of podcasts, e-petitions and more online interviews and webchats. In 2007 we will build on these initiatives, with greater interactivity and access for the public to the work of the Prime Minister."

Aral Balkan, the founder and director of Ariaware, and a renowned expert in the field developed the tour. He used the latest Flash multimedia software (although a Flash-free version of the tour is also available).

A historical time waster!

Saddam’s Lawyers Ask US Court To Stop Execution

Saddam Hussein's lawyers have just filed papers asking a US court to grant a restraining order to stop the US from handing Saddam over to the Iraqis.

Hussein's lawyers filed documents Friday afternoon asking for an emergency restraining order aimed at stopping the U.S. government from relinquishing custody of the condemned former Iraqi leader to Iraqi officials, a spokeswoman for a federal court in Washington D.C. said.

I rather doubt that will work.

UPDATE: The AP is reporting that all of the official witnesses chosen to attend the execution of Saddam Hussein have gathered in the Green Zone in Baghdad. Officials say the hanging will be carried out sometime before 10 PM EST time (6 AM local time). American officials have made it abundantly clear that they do not want Saddam mistreated or abused, either before his death or after he has been pronounced dead.

An adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saddam would be executed before 6 a.m. Saturday, or 10 p.m. Friday EST. The time was agreed upon during a meeting Friday between U.S. and Iraqi officials, said the adviser, who declined to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

"Saddam will be handed over shortly before the execution," the official said. The physical transfer of Saddam from U.S. to Iraqi authorities was believed to be one of the last steps before he was to be hanged. Saddam has been in U.S. custody since he was captured in December 2003.

Al-Nueimi said U.S. authorities were maintaining physical custody of Saddam to prevent him from being humiliated before his execution. He said the Americans also want to prevent the mutilation of his corpse, as has happened to other deposed Iraqi leaders.

"The Americans want him to be hanged respectfully," al-Nueimi said. If Saddam is humiliated publicly or his corpse ill-treated "that could cause an uprising and the Americans would be blamed," he said.

UPDATE: A grim catalog of Saddam Hussein's crimes against humanity. It is only a partial list.

UPDATE: You know, it really is frustrating that it takes an event like Saddam's imminent execution for the Associated Press to run some of these stories about what Saddam did to Iraq:

Saddam's reign leaves destruction behind

"People overlooked their political deprivation and lack of participation, they only saw buildings sprouting here and there," said Iraqi economist Ghanim Hamdoun, who researched Iraq's 1970s economic experiment.

Under Saddam, imprisonment or summary execution of political foes was common. Political parties, unions and civic groups not controlled by Baathists were banned. Traditional bonds were reshaped to support a one-party state.

Millions of Iraqis, though, were able for the first time in their lives to wear designer clothes and vacation in London, Madrid or Paris. Others started tasting imported foods and driving Japanese, German or French cars — all at government subsidized prices.

Baghdad was a hub for Arab writers and artists who gathered at annual festivals. An Iraq-based foreign development fund provided economic aid to poor nations in Africa.

Tens of thousands of young Iraqis were sent to colleges in the West on state scholarships.

"Saddam seemed to be building an empire and only waiting to declare himself its emperor," said Hamdoun.

But the oil boom also ushered in an era of heavy-handed, centralized decision-making. In the 1975 state budget some $13.7 billion, or 27 percent of public expenditures, went to the army, police and other security forces.

Saddam suppressed opponents at home and embarked on military adventures abroad.

His 1980 invasion of Iran, portrayed as a fight against the Persians on behalf of all Arabs, set off an eight-year war that drained Iraq's economy and killed hundreds of thousands on both sides.

Weary soldiers returned home to few or no jobs. Soon the regime found itself in the throes of deep crisis. Iraqis protested the presence of millions of Arab workers, mainly Egyptians, brought by Saddam to run the factories, construction projects and farms while Iraqis were away fighting Iran.

Saddam wreaked havoc on Iraq and its people. The West, and Americans in particular, need to remember that. Some have pointed this out all along. Kofi Annan's massively corrupt leadership of the UN made the situation in Iraq much, much worse.

UPDATE: 9:27 EST, a Federal judge has refused to grant a restraining order to stop US forces from transferring Saddam into Iraqi custody. That is literally all the information I have, it is flash traffic with no links yet.

UPDATE: Here is the order. One sentence from Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. Applicable word is "denied".

UPDATE: Iraqi media reports Saddam Hussein has been executed. That is all the information available at the moment.

Newest Ship In The Navy

A new ship is set to join the US Navy. The aircraft carrier Harry S Truman. No, not the aircraft carrier that joined the fleet in 1998. The all new, improved and miniaturized Harry S Truman. Oh, and it happens to be built entirely out of Lego blocks.

300,000 or so Lego blocks.

The real thing is one of the largest ships afloat - and this amazing copy is the biggest one ever made out of Lego.

Father-of-two Malle Hawking, 36, used more than 300,000 lego bricks to build his scale model of the USS Harry S Truman from scratch.

The Harry S Truman is one of the largest carriers in the US fleet. The full size nuclear powered aircraft carrier carries 85 warplanes and more than 5000 airmen and crew.

Hawking's scaled down version is the same down to the smallest detail, and took him more than a year to build.

The IT Consultant from Munich, Germany, said: "I used to play and build Lego models when I was a boy, all my friends did.

"I stopped building in my teens, but in February 2005 almost 20 years after my so called Dark Ages began when I did not have any Lego for 20 years, I watched a documentary about Aircraft Carriers.

"I was so inspired I ran down to the cellar, poured my two boxes of Lego on to the floor and immediately started trying to build one of my own." Using pictures from the internet, he tried to copy the Harry S Truman over and over again until he got it right.

He did get it right, too. They have pictures. Here are the photos Hawking posted on Brickshelf.com. Hawking is actually going to take his ship to visit the real Truman, incidentally.

Baghdad Bob Rides Again

Apparently, the islamists in Somalia have taken lessons from Saddam Hussein's old spokesman, Baghdad Bob. He is famous for having informed the press that US forces were nowhere near Baghdad. While American tanks were in the streets, mind you. In an Associated Press report today about the Somali Prime Minister's visit to Mogadishu - hastily evacuated by the islamists just yesterday, there is this gem:

Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, the executive leader of the Council of Islamic Courts, the umbrella group for the Islamic movement, told the AP on Friday his fighters would remain defiant.

"We will not run away from our enemies. We will never depart from Somalia. We will stay in our homeland," he said from the southern city of Kismayo, where his forces retreated from Mogadishu.

Apparently, they've been retiring at a brisk walk all this time. So briskly that the Ethiopian forces couldn't keep up very well. But one hopes the Ethiopian and Somali government forces are willing to try catching up with the islamists as they briskly head for the horizon. Otherwise they might run - er - walk briskly - right into the ocean.

About Time, Too!

Finally, someone is taking the Animal Uprising™ seriously! The police in Riga, Latvia have woken up to the enormous threat posed by the scheming beasts. When they were notified of a wild boar loose at a gas station, they responded quickly, appropriately and with great force!

They sent in the SWAT team!

RIGA (AFP) - A police SWAT unit was called out to a gas station in the Latvian capital early Friday after a wild boar was spotted wandering around the facility. 

"We received a call at about 2:00 am (0000 GMT) and sent out special operations unit 'Alfa'," state police spokesman Aigars Berzins told AFP Friday.

"The boar was about three years old and had wandered in from a wild animal yard," he said.

Such yards are becoming more and more popular in Latvia, and are often set up in wooded suburban areas near big cities.

During the ensuing gun battle, the pig took several gas station attendants hostage before being cut into riblets in a hail of heavy caliber gunfire. Ok, ok, we confess. We made that last bit up completely. It was more exciting than what really happened. They actually just quietly led the pig back to his pen.

Having been screaming hysterically over and over about the dreaded Taser-Proof® Bacon running amok everywhere, it is heartwarming to see our advice finally being followed. Kudos to the Latvian SWAT team! I think a good old fashioned pig roast is in order!

Red Ken, Indeed

London Mayor "Red" Ken Livingstone is planning on expending very large sums of public money to arrange a huge celebration in London. To celebrate Fidel Castro's Cuban dictatorship. For all the freedom and justice its brought to Cuba, you know. Call it Maximo Lider meets el Cerebro Minimo.

Ken Livingstone is planning a "massive festival" across London to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Fidel Castro's Cuban revolution.

The event, to be staged in 2009, will involve street parties, sports venues and some of London's leading museums as well as the closure of Trafalgar Square.

Although the Mayor's office refused to provide budget estimates, it could cost up to £2 million.

The festival was agreed on the Mayor's controversial trip to Cuba last month. But Mr Livingstone's lavishing of public money to honour one of the last dictatorships in Latin America was condemned today.

"Forking out to celebrate a totalitarian regime is a choice that most Londoners will find bizarre," said Angie Bray, leader of the Conservative group on the London Assembly.

"The Mayor associates himself with some of the most odious people around and it's Londoners who are being asked to pay out. Sooner or later, there will be a reckoning."

Speaking at a recent public meeting at Central Hall, Westminster, Mr Livingstone said: "We've got the backing of the Cuban government for a massive festival to celebrate 50 years of justice in Cuba."

Ah yes. Cuban "justice". It's just a real paradise there, Kenny. Let's see, Human Rights Watch says:

Cuba’s legal and institutional structures are at the root of rights violations. Although in theory the different branches of government have separate and defined areas of authority, in practice the executive retains clear control over all levers of power. The courts, which lack independence, undermine the right to fair trial by severely restricting the right to a defense.  
 
Cuba’s Criminal Code provides the legal basis for repression of dissent. Laws criminalizing enemy propaganda, the spreading of “unauthorized news,” and insult to patriotic symbols are used to restrict freedom of speech under the guise of protecting state security. The government also imprisons or orders the surveillance of individuals who have committed no illegal act, relying upon provisions that penalize “dangerousness” (estado peligroso) and allow for “official warning” (advertencia oficial).  

Now since we are to accept without question whenever HRW slams the US or Israel, are we supposed to ignore them when they slam Fidel's police state? I think London should send Ken back to Cuba. One way, of course.

UPDATE: More from Fausta.

Finally! A Use For Unwanted Pets!

Turn unwanted pets into beer!

The unemployed man offered to take the dog for a walk and then stopped at a bar where he convinced the owner to buy the 3-year-old dog for 40 euros ($53).

The man spent the proceeds quenching his thirst for beer. The bar owner has now returned the dog to its owner.

Well, unwanted beagles, anyway. Excuse me a moment, I want to see if this works with Norwegian elkhounds……

Resisting The Spiral

Daniel Henninger, in his weekly Opinion Journal column, tells about two American volunteer organizations that have every reason to be discouraged. And yet, they are not, nor are they trying to cut and run from Iraq or Afghanistan. They remain committed to helping the civilian population in those countries even in the face of setbacks and diminishing support at home.

Spirit of America's experience in Iraq has followed the same rugged timeline of events as the war. Recall that in April 2004 it raised sufficient monies to rebuild TV stations in Al Anbar province, staffed by Iraqis, to counterbalance propaganda from the likes of al-Jazeera. Those TV stations were built. And they have been destroyed. A sewing center for Iraqi women was similarly destroyed.

This past year, the group got a request from the Army 451st Battalion to help restore the medical facilities at the Najaf Teaching Hospital. The Mahdi militia had occupied it for a time. Spirit of America sent seven cardiac monitors to the hospital's director, Safaa Hamedi. In October, gunmen killed Dr. Hamedi outside his home.

Still, requests from the Marines and Army continue to arrive at Spirit of America. An Army captain in Afghanistan's Parwan province asked for medical textbooks for local doctors. SoA sent bee serum to inoculate honey bees at a business in Iraq's Diyala region. Marine Lt. Jim Wilmott got camping equipment for 200 Iraqi Boy Scouts. At the request of U.S. Embassy personnel, SoA has sent clothing and school supplies for orphans in Baghdad and Basra. They've sent thousands of kids' backpacks and school supplies requested by soldiers around the country. With the SonoSite ultrasound company, SoA delivered handheld ultrasound machines to the primary hospital in Al Qaim, Iraq, near the Syrian border. "Before this," said Mr. Hake, "they were using seashells to listen to the sounds of a pregnant mother and baby; the Marines couldn't believe it."

…..

It was about 19 months ago to the day that 13 women from Afghanistan were looking out the windows of the 29th floor of the Empire State Building in midtown Manhattan, brought there by a group of American businesswomen who call themselves the Business Council for Peace (Bpeace). One of the women remarked that New York looked "very new." The idea was to expose the Afghans, most of them college graduates, to basic business know-how. Bpeace had identified the Afghans as "fast runners," women with entrepreneurial instincts. Kate Bruggeln, a Council member and retailing specialist, just returned from Kabul, her fourth trip there. Three other Bpeace women were with her…..

….."The thing Afghans fear most is that we're going to leave," Ms. Brugelln says. "Not only do they fear it, they predict it, because everyone has done it before. This fourth trip by our group was profoundly meaningful to them. In the face of all the instability, we showed up again. Bpeace won't be part of the downward spiral."

Read the whole thing. As Henninger points out, these people remain committed. Despite setbacks, they believe they are doing the right thing. they refuse to join the downward spiral. Can we do less?

“But What Is Needed Now…..”

…."especially in Washington and Baghdad, is not despair but decisive action — and soon." Joe Lieberman writes an op-ed in the Washington Post. (I'm sure this will go over really well with the Koz Kidz.) Lieberman argues forcefully for an increase in the troop levels in Iraq to provide basic security for Iraqi civilians to give the government time to grow strong enough to take over on its own.

The most pressing problem we face in Iraq is not an absence of Iraqi political will or American diplomatic initiative, both of which are increasing and improving; it is a lack of basic security. As long as insurgents and death squads terrorize Baghdad, Iraq's nascent democratic institutions cannot be expected to function, much less win the trust of the people. The fear created by gang murders and mass abductions ensures that power will continue to flow to the very thugs and extremists who have the least interest in peace and reconciliation.

This bloodshed, moreover, is not the inevitable product of ancient hatreds. It is the predictable consequence of a failure to ensure basic security and, equally important, of a conscious strategy by al-Qaeda and Iran, which have systematically aimed to undermine Iraq's fragile political center. By ruthlessly attacking the Shiites in particular over the past three years, al-Qaeda has sought to provoke precisely the dynamic of reciprocal violence that threatens to consume the country.

On this point, let there be no doubt: If Iraq descends into full-scale civil war, it will be a tremendous battlefield victory for al-Qaeda and Iran. Iraq is the central front in the global and regional war against Islamic extremism.

Read the whole thing. My son and I were talking the other day about troop levels. Frankly, there should have been more on the ground sooner. That is looking back with 20/20 hindsight, of course. It is vital right now not to simply abandon the Middle East to Iran's ambitions. Yet that is what some want to do.

What Silencing Actually Is

The left loves to inform the world - at every opportunity - of how they are being silenced. This is often done in a television interview or in interviews given to major media outlets. The Dixie Chicks would be a prime example of this behavior. But for an illustration of real silencing of speech, as opposed to the Hollywood version, one only has to look to Venezuela. (T)Hugo Chavez is performing real silencing by shutting down independent television stations there.

In an address to troops, Mr Chavez said he would not tolerate media outlets working towards a coup against him.

Radio Caracas Television, which is aligned with the opposition, supported a strike against Mr Chavez in 2003.

But the TV's head said there must be some mistake as its licence was not up for renewal in the near future.

Marcel Granier also vowed to fight against the president's plans in Venezuela's courts and on the international stage.

The BBC's Greg Morsbach in Caracas says Mr Chavez has repeatedly threatened to take the TV off the air but has never given a date.

The move could help silence some of his critics in the media who have been a thorn in his side for several years, he says.

Another step in (T)Hugo's plan to become dictator-for-life moves forward. This is what actual silencing looks like.

Just For The Record

No, I did not receive a new laptop. Or a free copy of Vista. I did however get several offers to "punch my lights out", so all in all, not a bad day.