News of the Day (August 24)

From the China Freedom Blog Alliance: Between Heaven and Earth has the report from a rally in Victoria, BC for Falun Gong practitioners and lawyers arrested by the Communists (see also Victoria Times-Colonist). Meanwhile, The Korea Liberator takes up the cause of the refugees currently under arrest in Thailand (see also BBC) and has the latest counterfeiting news.

Chen Guangcheng sent to prison for four years: The anti-"one child" activist whose lawyers themselves were arrested to keep them away from the trial (tenth, second, ninth, ninth, thirteenth, lead, tenth, fifth, tenth, sixth, ninth, eighth, ninth, eighth, ninth, sixteenth, and ninth items) was sentenced to four years in jail (BBC).

More on the Communist war against the lawyers: Jennifer Chou, Radio Free Asia, documents how attorneys in Communist China are trying put the regime on trial (Daily Standard). Fang Han, Epoch Times, focuses on the arrest of Gao Zhisheng.

More on human rights abuses in Communist China: A woman in Henan Province "who contracted HIV during hospital surgery" (Agence France Presse via Breitbart) was assaulted by a security guard "protecting" the local mayor from her pleas for help. A Buddhist monk in Yichun, Jiangxi was thrown out by the cadres for holding "a religious ritual for people killed in the Tiananmen Massacre in 1989" (Boxun). The Communists tighten their grip on Wal-Mart employees (BBC). Meanwhile, an art presentation for human rights in China wins praise in Brooklyn (Epoch Times), and the embattled Falun Gong exhibit in Vancouver (thirteenth) wins support (Vancouver Courier).

More on the Stalinist North Korea: Reverend Philip Buck, who helped refugees escape from the Communists' Korean colony, is finally out of a Communist jail cell after 15 months (Time Asia); he is now in the U.S., but "he intends - again - to go back." Daily NK analyzes the possibility of an SNK nuclear test; the dissident publication also reports harrowing pictures of Korean suffering are circulating in - of all places - Communist China's internet.

On Communist China and Iran's nuclear weapons program: The editors of the Washington Post call on the cadres to be "the forces for global stability that they claim to be" and help the U.S. stop the mullahcracy's nuclear ambitions. Don't hold your breath.

Ignorant Comment of the Day: Today's dubious honor goes to the editors of the Washington Times, for endorsing the visit of former mullahcracy mouthpiece Mohammed Khatami to Washington, D.C.

On Tehran's influence in Iraq: Ellen Knickmeyer (Washington Post via MSNBC) calls the Moqtada al-Sadr outfit "the most pivotal force in Iraq after the United States," but somehow ignores the role of the Iranian regime in funding and supporting him (if not for the Washington Times, she would have scored the ICOD).

More on Middle Eastern Proxy Number One (Iran): The regime's call for "serious" talks about its nuclear ambitions was so weak even the State Department had to admit it (BBC, Fox News, Washington Times); the Center for Security Policy was far more detailed in its criticism of Tehran. Meanwhile, the House Intelligence Committee blasted the nation's intelligence community for having effective nothing of value on the mullahcracy's plans (Washington Times); Worldwide Standard joined in the concern. Martin Walker (United Press Int'l via Washington Times) ponders possible next moves for the regime and the U.S.

Syria (Middle Eastern Proxy Number Two) demands UN stay away from its Lebanon border: Most believe Bashar Assad is making this demand so he can keep arming Hezbollah without anyone noticing (Cybercast News, Washington Times), but World Net Daily proposes an additional reason: "Syria is forming its own Hezbollah-like guerrilla organization to fight Israel in hopes of 'liberating' the Golan Heights."

On Middle Eastern Proxy Number Three (Hezbollah): One of the terrorist group's Canadian apologists - Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj - heads for the political hills (Shotgun, Steve Janke).