An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Morning Coffee 09/21/08
Democrats vow to refine rescue plan
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is resisting a Democratic push to add additional help for households to the $700 billion bailout bill, the Associated Press reports.
Mr. Paulson said Sunday that because financial markets remain under severe stress, there is an urgent need for Congress to act quickly without adding other measures that could slow down passage.
Dear Lord in Heaven!!! Get the politicians out of the financial business!!!!! And for all that’s holy…KEEP the Dhimmicrats away from the purse strings!
UN: Guns fall silent in Afghanistan on Peace Day
The U.N. said tens of thousands of international and Afghan soldiers as well as Taliban militants “all stood down from offensive military operations in support of the biggest International Peace Day effort that Afghanistan has known.”
Government officials around the country reported no violence, and several credited Peace Day efforts.
“Today is Peace Day. The soldiers are resting,” said Abdul Jalal Jalal, the police chief in Kunar province, which borders Pakistan.
Maybe they should declare 365 “Peace Days”.
Corker is one of richest in Congress
Sen. Bob Corker is one of the wealthiest members of Congress, with assets ranging from $22.2 million to $105.2 million, according to a personal financial disclosure statement released Friday.
(…)
In 2006, Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., was the wealthiest member of Congress, with assets ranging from $222.2 million to $596.7 million, according to a list compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Wow. He’s down right poverty stricken compared to Harman. Must be tough. 
Mobile phone use ‘raises children’s risk of brain cancer fivefold’
Children and teenagers are five times more likely to get brain cancer if they use mobile phones, startling new research indicates.
The study, experts say, raises fears that today’s young people may suffer an “epidemic” of the disease in later life. At least nine out of 10 British 16-year-olds have their own handset, as do more than 40 per cent of primary schoolchildren.
I’m of the mind that children don’t actually NEED cell phones anyway. The epidemic I see? Rampant stupidity of parents giving their kids cell phones. Teenage drivers? Yeah….for emergencies….ONLY! Yakking on the phone, or texting, while driving is one of the most dangerous things a person can do behind the wheel. I’ve come close to being hit quite a few times by some bimbo blathering on her phone, not paying attention.
Lebanese Muslims turning backs on suicide bombings
The number of Lebanese Muslims who believe suicide bombings against civilians in defense of Islam are justified has fallen 42 percent since 2002, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project. Despite the dramatic decline (from 74 percent in 2002 to 32 percent in 2008), support for the practice remains higher in Lebanon than in all other countries polled in the survey, except Nigeria which stood in a statistical tie with Lebanon.
Of the Lebanese Muslims polled, Shiite respondents were more than twice as likely as Sunnis to consider suicide bombing “often” or “sometimes” justified (46 percent to 21 percent, respectively).
Does this mean some common sense is creeping in? Probably not.
Police look to relieve tensions with immigrants
Advocates for immigrant farm workers are hailing a decision by Vermont State Police not to investigate the immigration status of three farm workers allegedly assaulted and robbed earlier this month.
“This was the first time we had confronted a situation like this,” said Col. James Baker, director of the Vermont State Police. “We decided that, as far as pursuing the investigation of this case, we would not actively pursue the immigration issue.”
Peachy. So bust the farm owner who HIRED the “immigrant”. If he wasn’t hiring them, there wouldn’t be an issue of investigating them.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he would announce, at the Cabinet meeting Sunday morning, his plans to submit his letter of resignation. He left open the actual time of his resignation until early this afternoon, when he announced that he would hand in the letter of resignation to President Shimon Peres Sunday evening at 7:30 p.m.
The Prime Minister said in July that he would resign “when a new [Kadima] party leader is chosen… in order to enable him/her to form a new government.” Though the implication was that he would resign before or as the efforts to form a new government begin, no date was specified.
Jiminy Crickets! It’s about time! Hopefully, Israel will now get a PM with a spine!
Suitcase full of cash adds to Chavez corruption claims
A suitcase filled with $800,000 in cash has embroiled Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez in a scandal which has fuelled claims of corruption and cover-up at the heart of his self-styled socialist revolution.
A court case involving wiretaps and explosive testimony has lifted the lid on alleged attempts to buy influence across Latin America, putting Chávez on the defensive during a torrid week of coup rumours and expulsions of human rights critics and the US ambassador.
That’s what usually happens with the socialist types. People starve while the head honchos get rich. Take note lefty libtards!
Transplant recipients fear diseases from stolen body parts
Prosecutors also claim the defendants employed a two-man “recovery team” to remove body parts. They allege that Nicelli’s funeral home contained a “secret room” in which they “would remove bones, tendons, heart valves and other tissue” from corpses without obtaining consent. In some cases, Mastromarino replaced missing bones with PVC pipes so the deceased victims would appear normal at their funerals.
Good grief! It’s a CSI episode!
Howard execs’ computers seized in immigration raid
Search warrants reveal that federal agents seized 23 computers and payroll, employee earnings and unclaimed wage records in the immigration raid on Howard Industries last month.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 595 allegedly illegal workers at the factory in Laurel.
Warrants filed Monday in federal district court describe what the agents were cleared to confiscate, and an inventory of what they took from the factory and from corporate offices in Ellisville. A third warrant for the Laurel facility was sealed and not available to the public.
The warrants made public show that the seized computers include those of the company’s president and its chief executive officer.
I really hope they nail their collective hind ends to the wall. There are legal citizens who would snap up such jobs in a heartbeat, yet greed motivates hiring illegals to drive down wages.
An FBI probe of Mayor Willie Herenton’s ties to city contractors has turned its attention to the Greyhound bus station in Downtown Memphis where the city has major redevelopment plans.
Federal agents are examining Herenton’s little-known plan to relocate Greyhound to the Memphis International Airport area, a move that has already cost $3 million and could eventually put much larger sums at stake.
Is there anything that man doesn’t have his fingers in? What good would moving the bus station to the airport do? People who typically ride buses where they want to go don’t have the luxury of getting out to the airport. What a really stupid move! Having a satellite station makes sense, but not moving the whole kit-n-kaboodle! For a city that is cash strapped, $3MIL could have gone a long way for a LOT of other things…like say….security for the flippin’ schools!
Ahmadinejad: Iran to Break ‘Hand of Offender’ That Targets Nuke Facilities
Hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that Iran’s military will “break the hand” of any aggressor that target his country’s nuclear facilities.
Addressing a military parade broadcast live on state television, he said: “If anyone allows himself to commit even a tiny offense against Iran’s legitimate interests, borders and sacred land, our armed forces will break his hand before he pulls the trigger.”
The phrase “legitimate interests” is Iranian parlance for the country’s nuclear program, which the West says is a cover for a nuclear weapon program. Iran, which denies the charge, already is under three sets of sanctions by the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear program.
That raving lunatic is so anxious to go to war with Israel and the West, I have no doubt he’ll say, and do, just about anything to get it going. Something about that 12th Imam has a bug up his butt!
Two comments:
1. Leave it to the demorats to muck with the attempts (albeit misguided) to “fix” the ‘conemy.
2. The raids on businesses sets a very dangerous precedent. I disagree with the practice. Firstly because trying to make it a “greed” thing just doesn’t fly. The high cost of wages is a direct result of government interference in business and logically follows the governments blatant disregard for sovereign borders. Trying to make businesses culpable for trying to make a profit (aka “greed”) will only lead to a worsening economy, higher prices and shortages in consumables. Yet that’s exactly what the government is doing. Then they’ll try to “fix” it with a few billion in socialization. Please be a more circumspect in your examination of the “greed” creed. Of course businesses are greedy. It’s what makes the free market work.
@Stew:
1. Yup. If things can be screwed up anymore, politicians, especially the Dhimmis, will find a way to do it.
2. The greed I was referring to was the companies that don’t want to pay LEGAL citizens the going rate. Hire illegals, pay less than minimum, make more money.
Actually, I LIKE companies.
They are the reason our economy works. I just want them to play by the same rules as those who do things legally.
Agreed that ALL companies should follow the same rules and only hire legal workers BUT if a company offers a job and a person is here illegally how can making the employer responsible for this help the situation?
Punishing the employer will not solve anything. It will only raise the end prices to the consumer or at worst contribute to a company going out of business.
Let’s stop pretending that employers have any say in this whatsoever. Keep our borders secure so that the only applications are legit applications and everyone wins.
@Stew:
Well, I’ll agree with securing the borders. If we don’t/won’t do that…. sigh…
I can see where a company can hire one or two illegals, by mistake. When it comes to over 500? Don’t think so. Every job I’ve ever applied for, they’ve run a check on me, references and such. Is it too much to ask that all applicants have the same treatment?
Hey, actually maybe requiring every company to do thorough checks of employees would serve to benefit the small companies that are the backbone of the economy anyway!
(that should be enough to stop it from ever happening!)
@Stew:
How ’bout E-Verify? Right now it’s voluntary, but …. Aw hell…. I don’t know. Other than completely securing the borders, I don’t have a clue. sigh….
I blame Sarah Palin
@Stew:
Heh.