An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Morning Coffee 01/27/09
Berkeley departments skirmish over 3M contract
Berkeley’s public library will face a showdown with the city’s Peace and Justice Commission tonight over whether a service contract for the book check-out system violates the city’s nuclear-free ordinance.
The dispute centers on a five-year, $63,000 contract the library wants to sign with 3M, an international technology company based in Minnesota, to service five scanner machines library patrons use to check out books.
But 3M, a company with operations in 60 countries, refused to sign Berkeley’s nuclear-free disclosure form as required by the Nuclear Free Berkeley Act passed by voters in 1986.
As a result, the library’s self-checkout machines have not been serviced in about six months. Library officials say 3M is the only company authorized by the manufacturer to fix the machines, which were purchased in 2004.
Here’s a thought….how ’bout Moonbat Central secede from planet earth? I’d have NO problem if that particular part of the country slid into the Pacific either. Their choice.
Stimulus Bill Sends Thrill Through Region
The stimulus plan is viewed in the two states and the District as something of a bailout. But it remains unclear how much money local governments will get and how many items on their wish lists will be funded, given the vagaries of funding formulas and the evolving nature of the legislation.
Governors and members of Congress are being deluged with inquiries and wish lists from local governments, which see the American Reinvestment and Recovery Plan as deliverance from a fiscal nightmare.
For state and local governments, the situation is deteriorating. Maryland is trying to close a $2 billion shortfall. Virginia has delayed more than $2 billion worth of road and transit projects statewide because of declining tax revenue. The District faces a shortfall of nearly $260 million.
It might be wise for states, ALL states, not to learn their accounting lessons from D.C. I might be wrong, but I was under the impression that the feds (all of US taxpayers) were responsible for infrastructure, and the states were responsible for everything else. How do they manage to take in such a large chunk of money, yet never have any?
Obama chooses Arab network for first TV interview
President Barack Obama today chose an Arabic-language satellite TV network for his first formal television interview as president, delivering a message to the Muslim world that “Americans are not your enemy.”
The interview underscored Obama’s commitment to repair relations with the Muslim world that have suffered under the previous administration.
The president expressed an intention to engage the Middle East immediately and his new envoy to the region, former Sen. George J. Mitchell, was expected to arrived in Egypt today for a visit that will also take him to Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
Has anyone figured out the U.S. is NOT this clown’s first priority? Shouldn’t his first OFFICIAL interview have been with AMERICAN reporters???? Are you Kool Aid drinkers getting the picture yet????
Consumer Confidence Hits New Low, Dipping to 37.7 in January
The Conference Board said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index edged lower in January to 37.7 from a revised 38.6 in December. That’s a historic low for the widely watched barometer, as shoppers worry about their jobs and watch the value of their homes and retirement funds dwindle.
It’s also lower than expected. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a reading of 39. The levels in recent months have hit the lowest point since the index began in 1967.
Ya think perhaps this might have something to do with the fact that folks have NO confidence in the fed’rul gubmint and all their feckless tinkering? See, most of us out here have actually figured out that if you keep repeating the mistakes of the past, you’re bound to get the same results. Government is actually doing more harm than ANY good they could, if they’d just get their fingers out of the pie.
Ground Troops, Tanks Return to Gaza; Hamas Attacks Negev
IDF tanks rolled back into Gaza along with foot soldiers Tuesday afternoon following an early morning roadside bomb explosion and a rocket-propelled grenade attack that killed one soldier and wounded three others, one seriously.
Hamas warned that it has not agreed to a “calm” and that its previous ceasefire announcement is dependent on Israel’s re-opening Gaza crossings to all commercial traffic.
Why should Israel re-open anything if all they can expect from these pigs is more attacks? Israel needs to finish the job. Perhaps because the Israelis actually DO want peace, it is perceived by the Hamas animals as weakness. They would be wrong, but that’s never stopped them from acting like the garbage that they are.
‘Uranium For Iran Nuke In 2009′
“But being able to enrich uranium is not the same as having a nuclear weapon.”
However, the survey reports doubts over US Intelligence estimates that Iran halted its work on nuclear weapons six years ago.
This points to Tehran’s continued development of long-range ballistic missiles able to reach targets in Israel and beyond.
The IISS recommends a mixture of carrot and stick as the best international response.
I wonder if our new….*choke*….president will be helping Iran out with their quest to destroy Israel when he has his little ‘diplomatic’ chat? BHO: “Could you please pass the sugar cookies, and oh, by the way, here’s those plans you need for your bomb, with a little extra material, just to show how much we like you.” 
Actually, the ONLY ‘carrot and stick’ to use with them would be at the end of a really big bomb…from US! I’m sick of all the playing nice with these people (and I use that term quite loosely.).
Obama keeps at it: ‘Yes we can’ quit smoking
Everybody wants to guilt-trip the president for smoking cigarettes, but nobody has tried to shame him off Nicorette gum. Indeed, the makers of Nicorette and its knockoffs caution users about dependency, saying they should chew for no more than 12 weeks, gradually reducing the dose to wean themselves off nicotine.
One of the few things I don’t give a crap about this guy, is whether or not he smokes. It’s really NOBODY’S business if he smokes. What is everyone’s business is what he does with the country, and so far, I ain’t impressed. Matter of fact, I’m a tad (read extremely) pissed with his actions. So, him lighting up is totally irrelevant. Why not be more concerned about the millions of babies he’s sentenced to death? Or the destruction of the family? Why doesn’t anyone concern themselves with how they are going to pay their tax bill? BHO’s smoking or not smoking doesn’t mean dick, compared to the damage he has already done to this country in one VERY long week.
S.S. D.D.
