Britney's new video clip, "Gimme More," has been pirated already. The singer plays two roles in the strip club inspired clip - a brunette, tattoo-clad pole dancer and a sweet-faced blonde onlooker.

It was her "concept and her vision." And it shows.

She does look quite sexy in the video

But check out these photos taken from the video shoot. Whoever directed the video was a miracle worker.   more »

The pattern has been set: one president involves the country in a war on the pretext that it will protect U.S. interests from whatever the current threat is perceived to be. In the 1960s and 1970s it was Communism. Today it is terrorism.

After a time the futility of U.S. involvement will be evident to everyone, but U.S. leaders will 'stay the course' in order to prove America's 'commitment to its allies' and to 'keep America safe.' The death toll of Americans will climb steadily, as the death toll of Iraq's citizens climbs astronomically.

The reputation of the U.S. will deteriorate around the world, and the dissatisfaction of U.S. citizens will be manifested ineffectually at the ballot box and in the streets. The economy of the U.S. will be decimated, with its money being spent to achieve nothing.

Finally, after a generation of suffering, some president will embrace the inevitable, and will use some incomprehensible logic to say that American goals in Iraq have been met, and will finally withdraw U.S. soldiers.   more »

Norman Podhoretz, an adviser to Rudy Giuliani, titled his new book "World War IV: The Long Struggle Against Islamofascism." (No, you didn't sleep through World War III -- that was the Cold War.)

He says, "The stakes are nothing less than the survival of Western civilization, to the extent that Western civilization still exists, because half of it seems to be committing suicide."

By that, he seems to be referring not just to "terrorist" groups but also to the proliferation of Muslims in the West, which many conservatives see as a mortal peril.

There is every reason to be afraid, very afraid of a Giuliani victory. The article below indicates the reasons why "Loony Rudy" might win.   more »

France, Britain, America: They each have had their era of hegemony. Now, however, they all belong to the club of developed debtors, with combined current account deficits of $970 billion last year.

Other members of this club are Australia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain. Apart from Iceland, it reads like a list of ex-empires, with the former members of the British Empire (energy-rich Canada excepted) in the lead.

Collectively, the developed debtors had to borrow about $1.3 trillion last year. On the other side of this great global equation is the club of emerging exporters.

According to the International Monetary Fund, more than 40% of the developed debtors' funding requirement last year was met by China, Russia and the Middle East.   more »

Seemingly believing that the offense is the best defense, and that people like it when one makes fun of oneself, Senator Hillary Clinton has decided to put out ads in which she attacks… herself.

In the ads, which will appear soon, Clinton takes Clinton “to task for everything from her position on Iraq to her failed health-care proposals of the 1990s, to what aides characterized as her ‘whiny voice and annoying cackle’.”

One thing about her laugh: I like it. To me, it sounds like she’s truly having fun. It’s a loud - overly loud - laugh, but to me that’s a sign of true joy. And it has mocking tone. I like that.

Not only do these kind of ads make Clinton look more sympathetic, I am sure, Clinton’s aides are right to point out that these ads will send a signal to voter that the Senator “feels good about how the campaign is going.”   more »