An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings
Morning Coffee 8/31/07
Bush to Outline Aid to Mortgage Holders
Offering federal help for strapped mortgage holders, President Bush is proposing to aid hundreds of thousands of borrowers hard hit by the housing slump.
The president on Friday was to talk about several initiatives and reforms to help homeowners with risky mortgages keep their homes, a senior administration official said Thursday. Bush also was to discuss efforts to prevent these kinds of problems from arising in the future.
And here I thought he wasn’t going to ‘give aid’ to those who were foolish enough to take loans they knew they couldn’t afford? Life isn’t always rosy, but you deal with it, and move on.
Perry commutes Texas death row inmate Foster’s sentence
AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry blocked the execution of death row inmate Kenneth Foster and reduced his sentence to life in prison Thursday after weeks of statewide protest and controversy over the law used to convict him.
The unusual intervention came just after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted, 6-1, to recommend that the sentence be commuted, which is also rare. It’s the first time in nearly seven years in office that Mr. Perry has stopped an execution, other than in response to Supreme Court rulings that barred the execution of juveniles and the mentally retarded.
The guy was in on the robbery, there was evidently a gun involved, so how could he not know there was a possibility of someone dying?
Rookie cop who shot himself to death at party was intoxicated
A San Francisco rookie police officer who shot himself to death during a late-night gathering at his San Mateo apartment was legally drunk, toxicology tests show.
(…)
Gustafson shot himself in the neck at 1:40 a.m. during a gathering of as many as 15 people, as he was showing a woman how police are taught to prevent someone from using a gun against them, authorities said.
Death by stupidity.
Sadr aides put conditions on cease-fire
Aides to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr on Thursday appeared to place conditions on his call for a six-month halt to his militia’s operations, but the Iraqi capital was noticeably calm a day after the announced stand-down.
(…)
Sadr, who led his powerful Mahdi Army in two battles with U.S. forces in 2004, announced Wednesday that he was ordering a halt to hostile actions for six months to purge his ranks of alleged rogue elements who he said had been attacking fellow Shiites and giving his militia a bad name.
Aw shucks. The bad guys giving themselves a bad name. Why haven’t the Iraqis put this guy under lock and key, and charged him with incitement, or some such thing? He’s getting aid from Iran, who is making sure life is very difficult for the Iraqis. He should have been taken out a LONG time ago!
University of Wisconsin opens kosher kitchen in residence hall
UW-Madison is opening a kosher meat kitchen in a residence hall dining room starting this fall. Muslims who follow Islamic dietary laws, called halal, will also be accommodated.
A growing number of schools are offering kosher dining options, but few have full kosher meat kitchens, said UW-Madison housing director Paul Evans. Other schools with the service include the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University.
I have no problem with accommodating dietary laws, but I’m wondering who is going to pay?
Ohio High School Student Suspended After Tricking Rivals Into Insulting Themselves
HILLIARD, Ohio — A high school student who tricked football fans from a crosstown rival into holding up signs that together spelled out, “We Suck,” was suspended for the prank, students said.
Kyle Garchar, a senior at Hilliard Davidson High School in suburban Columbus, said he spent about 20 hours over three days plotting the trick, which was captured on video and posted on the video-sharing Web site YouTube. He said he was inspired by a similar prank pulled by Yale students in 2004, when Harvard fans were duped into holding up cards with the same message.
ROFLMAO And they suspended him? Sounds like it took a lot of planning. They should give him an A! No one died. No one was hurt, except maybe a few “feelings”, so what’s the big deal?
Indian tribal leaders honor Al Gore for documentary
GAUHATI, India (AP) — Tribal kings and chieftains in a remote corner of India that is one of the rainiest places on Earth chose former Vice President Al Gore for their first “global award” for bringing attention to the dangers of climate change.
More than 3,000 kings, chieftains and elders from Meghalaya, a northeastern state, decided to honor Gore after watching his Academy Award-winning documentary film, “An Inconvenient Truth.”
Excuse me for not being impressed.
Justice Dept. Probing Whether Gonzales Lied
The Justice Department’s inspector general indicated yesterday that he is investigating whether departing Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales gave false or misleading testimony to Congress, including whether he lied under oath about warrantless surveillance and the firings of nine U.S. attorneys.
If those yahoos are going to do a ‘probe’ every time they THINK someone MIGHT have not been totally forthcoming, D.C. better STFU! They open their mouths, it’s proof positive someone in that town is lying!
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[...] Clark Morning Coffee 8/31/07 » This Summary is from an article posted at An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings on Friday, August 31, 2007 [...]
The kid was wrong. While well-executed, it really was not good sportsmanship. But since he did not use profanity, why wouldn’t after school detention or saturday school be a more appropriate punishment. Suspenion is a tad harsh.
Well, yeah, it probably wasn’t the best idea, but suspension? Definitely over the top. I think he should have been ’sentenced’ to cleaning up trash at the stadium. Would have been a bit more of an appropriate punishment. It still took quite a bit of coordination, and ingenuity to pull it off. I still think an A is in order.