An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings
Morning Coffee 01/24/08
Former Rival, Hunter, Endorses Huckabee
Mike Huckabee got a welcomed endorsement today from one of his former rivals for the GOP nod to the White House. Rep.Duncan Hunter (R-CA) endorsed Huckabee, citing hisâ€outstanding character and integrity.â€
†I got to know Governor Hukcabee well on the campaign trail, “said Hunter in a press statement.†Of the remaining candidates I feel that he is strongly committed to strengthening national defense, constructing the border fence and meeting the challenge of China’s emergence as a military superpower.â€
Duncan Hunter just dropped a few notches, in my book. A guy with tough immigration stands endorsing the guy who turned Arkansas into a ’sanctuary state’? Boggles the mind.
Unsuccessful robber shoots self in foot
Authorities said an unsuccessful robber shot himself in the foot … by shooting himself in the foot. Police said Kelvin Ethelbert Roberts, 28, botched his plans to rob a Cherryville convenience store by accidentally shooting his right foot.
Heh. Shame it didn’t hit a little higher.
Snow strands hundreds of vehicles north of Los Angeles
Heavy snow kept a mountain stretch of Interstate 5 closed Thursday, as several hundred vehicles were stranded south of Bakersfield to north of Santa Clarita, the California Highway Patrol said.
“It’s going to be awhile,” said California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Ehly. He said motorists who were free from the snow were spinning out on black ice along the 40 miles of closed expressway.
Oh, great boracle….send us your warmth! 
Bloomberg in D.C.: ‘The Jig Is Up’
As Congress and the Bush administration scramble to reach an accord on a plan to jump-start the ailing economy, Mayor Bloomberg is deriding the consensus proposal for a stimulus package as a shortsighted “quick fix” that would have little long-term benefit.
Mr. Bloomberg arrived here last night to accept the President’s Award from the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and he promptly threw cold water on the rare burst of bipartisanship that has brought together Democratic leaders and the White House to hammer out an economic stimulus plan.
YIKES! I’m agreeing with Bloomberg.
Mayor, staffer sent steamy txts
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick exchanged romantic text messages with a top aide, contradicting their denials in court that they had romantic ties, a newspaper reported.
The county prosecutor’s office declined to comment on the legal implications of the report, posted Wednesday on the Detroit Free Press’ Web site. A conviction of lying under oath can bring up to 15 years’ imprisonment.
Good grief! Don’t they know nothing is ever really ‘deleted’ in this age of technology?
Lawmaker wants labeling requirement for genetically altered food
A state senator wants to require labeling for all genetically altered food sold in Tennessee.
The state Agriculture Department estimates that up to 70 percent of products on grocery store shelves contain genetically engineered ingredients.
Legislative analysts project the proposal by Sen. Tim Burchett, a Knoxville Republican, would cost the state about $240,000 a year to implement.
It’ll cost a hell of a lot more when people start suing their sorry asses for not labeling it!
Governor makes hasty exit without answering questions about legal bills
Gov. Rod Blagojevich refused to answer questions Wednesday on why his campaign fund has racked up more than $2 million in legal bills.
Federal authorities have been investigating allegations of hiring corruption in the Blagojevich administration and have subpoenaed Blagojevich’s campaign fund as part of their probe into whether top aides and advisers exchanged state business and jobs for political support. They also are scrutinizing the real estate deals of the governor’s wife, Patricia. Blagojevich has maintained that his administration does business the right way and has denied any wrongdoing.
Are there any politicians who ever accept responsibility for “wrongdoing”?
A plan to pay Baltimore high school students to improve test scores has caused a split on the school board and drawn the sharpest criticism that Andres Alonso has faced in his first half-year as city schools chief.
Mayor Sheila Dixon came out in opposition to the plan yesterday morning, only to change her mind in the afternoon after speaking by phone with Alonso.
Alonso said he expected to take heat for his decision to spend nearly $1 million to pay struggling students up to $110 each for improving their performance on the state graduation exams. Yesterday he did, fielding a swarm of calls and media inquiries and trying to win over school board members.
What an absolutely ridiculous idea! Students payed to do what they’re suppose to do in order to succeed in life and get a decent paying job? They are being housed, clothed, and fed, which is a form of payment. All they have to do is get a freakin’ education so they can succeed in life. What kind of message is this sending? I’m seeing some serious cheating going on in Baltimore’s future.
Times poll finds Clinton holding on to lead
Clinton was preferred by 42% of the likely Democratic voters polled, and Obama by 33% — a significant increase for the senator from Illinois since a similar poll in early December, when he was the choice of 21%. Support for the senator from New York remained virtually unchanged over that period.
The overall preference figures mask a pronounced racial divide among Democratic voters: About two-thirds of black respondents said they would vote for Obama, whereas only about a fourth of white respondents said he was their choice.
I don’t suppose it ever occurs to anyone that many people just don’t like either one of ‘em? But since they are Dhimmis, and the Dhimmicrat Party is nothing, if not loyal to the socialist ideals. Hell, they’d support Mickey Mouse if he promised to give them everything.
Americans United threatens public school over religious film
Americans United for Separation of Church and State is threatening to sue an Alabama public school if it continues showing the popular Christian film Facing the Giants.
(…)
Staver argues that the position of Americans United goes against the First Amendment. He believes the amendment is being wrongly used to make schools “religious-free zones,” when that was not the intention of the authors of the Constitution.
I don’t know where they came up with the idea for their name. These weasels don’t ‘unite’ Americans, they divide. With 85% of Americans proclaiming faith in G-d, I’d say they are a very small minority.
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Scientists Estimate That Pesticides are Reducing Crop Yields by ONE-THIRD Through Impaired Nitrogen Fixation – July 2007
Drawing on their recent work and other published studies, the team projected that pesticides and other contaminants are reducing plant yield by one-third as a result of impaired SNF. This remarkable conclusion suggests one mechanism, or explanation of the yield-enhancing benefits of well-managed, long-term organic farming systems. http://www.organic-center.org/science.hot.php?action=view&report_id=99
Furthermore this is all about monopoly not science :
On 17th December 2007 Monsanto was found guilty of contempt of the South African Advertising Authority (ASA) for publishing false claims about the safety of GM foods.
In January,2007, Monsanto was fined 15,000 euros (US$19,000 ) in a French court for misleading the public about the environmental impact of herbicide Roundup.
A former chairman of Monsanto Agriculture France was found guilty of false advertising for presenting Roundup as biodegradable and claiming that it left the soil clean after use. Monsanto’s French distributor Scotts France was also fined 15,000 euros.
In 2005 Monsanto was caught smuggling South African produced GM Bollgard cotton seed into Indonesia disguised as rice. Monsanto was fined for bribing Indonesian officials.
In 2006 Monsanto suppressed evidence of serious damage to the liver and kidneys of rats in their MON 863 GM maize trials until ordered to release this evidence by a German Court.
In June, 2007, a second peer-reviewed case involving another variation of Monsanto’s GM maize, namely, NK 603, has been shown by studies to be potentially toxic to humans. NK 603 has been approved for food, feed, processing, and propagation in Europe and the Philippines The new research, carried out by the French scientific research institute CRIGEN, involves biotech firm Monsanto’s NK 603 GMO corn (marketed commercially under the name Round-up Ready).
Rats that were fed GM maize showed significant differences in measurements, as well as significant weight differences compared to those fed with normal maize. Almost 70 statistically significant differences were observed and reported – 12 for hematology parameters, 18 for clinical chemistry parameters, nine for urine chemistry parameters, six for the organ weights (brain, heart, liver), 14 for body weights and body weight changes, and eight for food consumption. toxicity, The most alarming was the diminished brain size. Scientists warned that diminished brain size sent out a urgent danger warning for growing children fed `GM food.