An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings
Morning Coffee 02-29-08 - Leap Year …….
…….and WildBlue still sucks edition!
Chemical Ali’ to Be Executed Within 30 Days in Iraq
Iraq’s Presidential Council endorsed the death sentence for Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as “Chemical Ali” for his role in the gassing of thousands of Iraqi Kurds during a 1988 campaign of genocide.
Al-Majid, a cousin of former President Saddam Hussein, will be executed within 30 days, President Jalal Talabani’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan said today on the party’s Web site. Talabani, a Kurd, is joined on the council by vice presidents Adel Abdul al-Mahdi, a Shiite Muslim, and Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Muslim.
Dang! And here I thought he had already done his “swing dance”.
Vallejo Strikes Deal to Avoid Bankruptcy
A last-minute deal between city leaders and labor unions could allow this cash-strapped Bay Area suburb to avoid becoming the first city in the state to declare bankruptcy over a budget shortfall.
The two sides reached the tentative agreement Thursday to cut labor costs just before the City Council was set to vote on whether to seek bankruptcy protection. Vallejo has grappled with spiraling employee expenses, a slowing economy and a rash of home foreclosures.
And yet, people still don’t get the connect between unions and financial woes. Go figure. “Spiraling employee expenses”? That translates to benefits the average Joe doesn’t get, at the taxpayers expense.
Nader announces his running mate
Beginning a climb as steep as some of the streets in his hometown, former San Francisco Supervisor Matt Gonzalez signed on Thursday as running mate in Independent Ralph Nader’s mid-stream - and many say, quixotic - bid for the White House.
Gonzalez defended Nader, now a five-time presidential wannabe whose reputation as a spoiler was set in cement after Al Gore’s narrow loss to George W. Bush in 2000.
“Everyone wants to blame him for running,” said Gonzalez, a 42-year-old consumer activist who will take a leave from his law practice to focus on the campaign. “But he has to run, because the other parties don’t want to fix the problems with election reform. They’ve put us in an awkward position - either we never run for office, and the problems never get fixed; or run, try to win votes on substance and get criticized for it.”
Never heard of the guy, but I guess they’ll get a lot of the moonbat vote. 
Highly Poisonous Ricin Possibly Found At Las Vegas Motel
Police were called to the Extended Stay America Motel on Thursday and retrieved a package from the motel manager that was determined to be a chemical or controlled substance, Officer Ramone Denby said.
Two preliminary tests indicate it contained ricin, he said. Results from further tests by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a second local lab are expected Friday, police said.
“Ricin has no medical uses other than cancer research,” police Captain Joseph Lombardo said at a news conference Thursday night. “An individual citizen other than being involved in cancer research or cancer prevention would not have any legal means or proper means of having that.
And they’re saying this isn’t a terror related incident? Wonder what they were going to use it for? Starting their own cancer research facility? Hmmm….
Prince Harry to Return Home After Combat
Prince Harry will be immediately brought home from Afghanistan, where he has spent the last 10 weeks fighting on the front lines, the British Defense Ministry said Friday.
Harry, 23, third in line to the British throne, deployed to Afghanistan on Dec. 14 and has been fighting Taliban forces from a forward combat base in southern Helmand province.
Why didn’t they just put a bulls-eye on the boy’s back? Asshats! Obviously, the “story” outweighed his safety.
Israel warns of Gaza ‘holocaust’
Israeli leaders are warning of an imminent conflagration in Gaza after Palestinian militants aimed rockets at the southern city of Ashkelon.
The deputy defence minister said the stepped-up rocket fire would trigger what he called a “bigger holocaust” in the Hamas-controlled coastal strip.
Israeli air strikes have killed about 30 Palestinians, including six children in the past two days.
The Gazans don’t much care about their children. If they did, they’d do their utmost to stop the trash from bombing Israel, and make an effort to live peacefully.
Italy: Human rights court sides with terror suspect in deportation dispute
The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Thursday that Italy would violate its obligations under the European Convention of Human Rights if it deported Tunisian terror suspect Nassim Saadi from Italy as he ran a real risk of torture and ill treatment in his home country.
I don’t suppose it’s occurred to these so called ‘human rights’ types that is exactly what he would do to others, if given half a chance?
McCain: Citizenship issue settled
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain said Thursday that the question of whether he can run for president, despite being born in the Panama Canal Zone, was put to rest 44 years ago during Barry Goldwater’s run for the White House.
McCain added that he does not know why his campaign sought a legal opinion on whether his birth outside the continental United States might disqualify him from the presidency.
Why indeed. Perhaps prompted by some left wing loon fringe group trying to derail? Who knows. If the kid of an illegal immigrant is born in El Paso (aka anchor baby), he/she could run, so what’s the problem?
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I had heard that Drudge was the one who “broke” the story of the Prince’s deployment, but I do not know for certain. Whoever did it should be sent to Afghanastan to replace Harry.
Common sense is truly dead. sigh….