At a Martin Luther King gathering Monday, Hillary Clinton unleashed on President Bush.

Sen. Hillary Clinton on Monday blasted the Bush administration as "one of the worst" in U.S. history and compared the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to a plantation where dissenting voices are squelched.

.... Clinton also offered an apology to a group of Hurricane Katrina survivors "on behalf of a government that left you behind, that turned its back on you." Her remarks were met with thunderous applause by a mostly black audience at the Canaan Baptist Church of Christ in Harlem.

The House "has been run like a plantation, and you know what I'm talking about," said Clinton, D-N.Y. "It has been run in a way so that nobody with a contrary view has had a chance to present legislation, to make an argument, to be heard."

"We have a culture of corruption, we have cronyism, we have incompetence," she said. "I predict to you that this administration will go down in history as one of the worst that has ever governed our country."

Go, Hillary. We need more of this.

by Last Night in Little Rock

... does it make a sound?

When 3,000 miners in China die in their coal mines, does it make a sound?

Not in the U.S., hardly ever. Yet our economy helps drive their need for electricity to produce. But, a coal miner's life is cheap in China, or so some Chinese think.

The Guardian reports that doctors rule out a return to office for Arial Sharon, should he survive.

Ariel Sharon's political career was at an end last night as he remained on life support after hours of surgery to stop "massive and widespread" bleeding in his brain. Political leaders publicly offered statements of support for Mr Sharon, but there was a growing acceptance that, even if he were to survive, the 77-year-old former general would not return to office. Doctors said the Israeli prime minister would struggle to recover from the stroke.

The Guardian's Jonathan Spyer says Sharon will leave "The Biggest Shoes to Fill."

As world leaders react to the health crisis of Ariel Sharon, the New York Times analyzes the hurdles ahead for Kadima, his new and centrist party. The main question seems to be, is Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert up to the task of replacing him?

Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has suffered a massive stroke.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a massive, life-threatening stroke Wednesday and underwent lengthy surgery to drain blood from his brain after falling ill at his ranch. Powers were transferred to his deputy, Ehud Olmert. Doctors placed Sharon on a respirator and were trying to save his life only hours before the hard-charging, overweight, 77-year-old Israeli leader had been scheduled to undergo a procedure to seal a hole in his heart that contributed to a mild stroke on Dec. 18.

Israeli Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger called on Israelis to read Psalms and pray for Sharon. "We are very, very worried," he said, and prayed for "mercy from Heaven."

Israel is warning its adversaries not to exploit the situation.

Speaking to reporters outside the hospital, Sharon aide Raanan Gissin warned Israel's enemies: "...the security forces and IDF (Israeli military) are ready for any kind of challenge," he said."

We hope for a miracoulous recovery.

A new law went into effect in Great Britain today, allowing police to arrest for every offense, no matter how trivial:

Police are to be given sweeping powers to arrest people for every offence, including dropping litter, failure to wear a seat belt and other minor misdemeanours.

The measures, which come into force on Jan 1, are the biggest expansion in decades of police powers to deprive people of their liberty. At present, officers can generally arrest people if they suspect them of committing an offence which carries at least five years in prison. They will now have the discretion to detain someone if they suspect any offence and think that an arrest is "necessary".

This reminds me of Rudy Giuiliani's program to clean up Times Square and other areas by arresting the squeegee men that wanted to clean your car windows. It's taking the broken windows theory of policing to new and dangerous heights.

Subcomandante Marcos and the Zapatistas have a new goal for 2006. They are giving up their military role and becoming involved in the electoral process. Marcos will know be known as Delegate Zero, as he and the Zapatistas embark on a tour of Mexico.

The Zapatista rebels of Mexico are emerging from their jungle hideout for a six-month campaign tour of the country, designed to be an alternative to this year's already contentious presidential race.

Marcos and the Zapatistas have been fighting for years for the rights of indigenous Mexicans. They will not be running for office themselves, since they still view the political process as overly corrupt, but instead will build a "nationalist leftist movement that will "shake this country up from below" during a visit to Mexico's 31 states."

The Zapatista's command council said in a recent statement: "A step forward in the struggle is only possible if we unite with other sections of society. We have to unite with labourers, teachers, students and all the workers in the city and countryside."

What a way to end the year. Where is the U.S. media on this? It's all over the European newspapers. Der Speigel:

Recent reports in the German media suggest that the United States may be preparing its allies for an imminent military strike against facilities that are part of Iran's suspected clandestine nuclear weapons program.

Some background:

According to Ulfkotte's report, "western security sources" claim that during CIA Director Porter Goss' Dec. 12 visit to Ankara, he asked Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to provide support for a possibile 2006 air strike against Iranian nuclear and military facilities. More specifically, Goss is said to have asked Turkey to provide unfettered exchange of intelligence that could help with a mission.

The Washington Post has a compelling article on rising rebelliousness of teens in Darfur, who have been existing in the dismal conditions of displacement camps.

There are 18 million kids now in the camps. Recently, a few took hostage some international aid workers, who were released three days later, unharmed. But something must be done.

These kids are like animals in a cage," said Bob Kitchen of the International Rescue Committee, who helped negotiate the release of the hostages and now plans to open five centers in Kalma to teach children skills such as mechanics and sewing.

The Bush Administration drug warriors are about to become apoplectic. Bolivia elected a new President Sunday, Evo Morales, an Aymaran Indian, of the Movement towards Socialism, who garnered more than 50% of the vote. For the first time in 500 years, Bolivia will revert to indigenous rule.

Among Morales' promises:

Señor Morales, who used to lead a coca-growers’ union, has promised to legalise the cultivation of coca, the primary ingredient in cocaine — to the horror of the US, which has pursued a big coca eradication effort in Bolivia in recent years. Bolivia is the world’s third largest producer of cocaine.

My view: Bolivia has been a democracy since 1982. Since Bush is so fond of bringing democracy to other countries, and insistent that once they get their government set up their people should rule, I think he wholeheartedly should endorse Mr. Morales and his policies.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard missed the message in Singapore's barbaric execution yesterday of 25 year old Nguyen Tuong Van.

"I hope the strongest message that comes out of this ... is a message to the young of Australia -- don't have anything to do with drugs, don't use them, don't touch them, don't carry them, don't traffic in them," Howard told Australian radio.

No. The message is that mandatory executions of non-violent drug offenders are inexcusable acts of barbarism that warrant sanctions against the offending government.

Bump and Update: The church bells have rung. Australia may not be willing to impose trade sanctions on Singapore, but I am. I will never visit or buy any piece of goods made in Singapore until they rescind the death penalty for drug traffickers.

Update: At 5pm ET, which is 6am Singapore time, Nguyen will have a black hood placed over his head and be walked to the gallows. At his Melbourne church in Australia, bells will toll twenty-five times, one for each year of his life. By all accounts, Nguyen is at peace and will walk confidently to his violent death.

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25 year old Nguyen Tuong Van will be hanged at dawn in Singapore for a drug offense. His lawyer says he is in "a beautiful state of mind."

There's no good news to report about the impending hanging of 25 year old Nguyen Van Tuong for a drug offense in Singaore scheduled for December 2. The Australian Government has given up, and right now the only thing it is requesting is that Nguyen's mother be allowed to hug her son on the way to the gallows.

Singapore's recently fired Chief Hangman Darshan Singh may perform the barbaric act after all. He says Nguyen will suffer less if he does it. Here's how it will go: