Evening Snack (4/29)

Tenet Faces Backlash

Secretary of State Rice on Sunday disputed Tenet’s claim that the Bush administration, before the American-led invasion in March 2003, never had a serious debate about whether Iraq posed an imminent threat or whether to tighten existing sanctions.

Don’t they take oaths or some such thing to keep their mouths shut?

Gov’s tollway signs drive push to close loophole

Now some lawmakers are trying to close a loophole in state ethics laws that enabled Blagojevich to bill taxpayers for the $15,000-apiece signs that read “Open Road Tolling, Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor.”

“[Blagojevich] was the major poster boy on using this loophole,” Rep. Elizabeth Coulson (R-Glenview) said.

“Taxpayer dollars should be going to market a program, not the elected official.”

Loopholes: A politician’s best friend. I still think Wisconsin should have a special toll very every car with an Illinois tag. 🙂

Mashaal: If Israel doesn’t yield we will kidnap again

“Hamas is determined to free all the Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails, be it by kidnapping more soldiers or other methods,” said Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal on Monday at a rally for Palestinian prisoners in a Damascus refugee camp.

I guess it doesn’t matter to Hamas if those they want freed are guilty of anything or not. Why should Israel always be the one to ‘yield’?

Iran ban on ‘Western’ hairstyles

The move is part of an unusually fierce crackdown on what is known locally as bad hijab, or un-Islamic clothing, that this year is also targeting men.

Hair stylists have been warned that they could lose their licenses if they do not comply.

However, police have denied a report that they have ordered barbers not to serve customers wearing ties.

All choice is being removed from the Iranians. How do you have a diplomatic chat with people who destroy all freedoms?

At least two dead in Ward Parkway Center shooting

Police were notified shortly before 4 p.m. that a man was firing shots at the center at 8600 Ward Parkway and that several people had been hit. Initial reports indicated that as many as four people may have been shot.

The world has gone mad.

California Interchange Collapses After Tanker Fire

A heavily traveled section of freeway that funnels traffic off the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge collapsed early Sunday after a gasoline tanker truck overturned and erupted into flames, authorities said.

Flames shot 200 feet in the air and the heat was intense enough to melt part of the freeway and cause the collapse, but the truck’s driver walked away from the scene with second-degree burns. No other injuries were reported.

I am truly amazed no one was killed.

A retail giant celebrates humble beginnings in Kemmerer

You might think he was cheap, given the name of the store, and some of you might think that a man with the name James Cash Penney was just a little too hard to believe.

Well, the good folks in Kemmerer owe a lot to the man that created one of America’s greatest — and most ubiquitous mall anchor stores.

Cool. I’ve actually been in that store. Ok, it was a long time ago, but still….. 🙂

Tennessee earthquake commission to begin meeting next month

“We need to be proactive about what happens, not reactive,” said Clifford DeBerry, director of analysis, strategy and performance at Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division.

I’m trying to figure out where we’re going to stash our supplies….just in case, ya know. 🙂

Gross!

Serious question!  Does anyone know how to clean the jet thingys in a jacuzzi type tub?

I thought using that might help with the aches and pains that accompany the fever I have acquired.   I fill up the tub, step in, turn on the jets…..and all this seriously disgusting black stuff comes flying out.  So much for that idea.  Perhaps the previous owners never used the thing?  They sure did talk it up when we were looking at the house.  I think I’ll just take some more aspirin. 

The Slaughter of Innocents

S.C. a leader in restricting access to abortions

South Carolina is one of the most difficult places in the United States to get an abortion, abortion rights advocates say.

Over the past two decades, a host of legislative restrictions — mandatory waiting periods, requiring “informed consent” information and regulations on abortion clinics — have jelled to limit access to abortions.

Shouldn’t women who are considering an abortion have ALL the information they can get?

The impact of the laws is evident in:

• The decline of S.C. abortion clinics to three from 14 in 1996

• The drop in S.C. doctors who perform abortions. South Carolina is the only state in the nation that has a law that defines a fetus as a person. Abortion rights advocates say that law could expose doctors who perform abortions to criminal prosecution.

• Two-thirds of the state’s reproductive-age women live in counties where no doctors perform abortions.

• A slight increase in the number of S.C. women going to other states to get abortions

As a result, abortions in South Carolina have dropped 53 percent since 1988.

This is a good thing! How many women decided against an abortion instead of going out of state?

“I would say (the anti-abortion strategy) has worked,” said Rauch Wise, a Greenwood attorney and abortion rights backer.

Wise defended a Greenville woman who took drugs while pregnant in a high-profile 1992 case. That case led to the state Supreme Court’s landmark 3-2 ruling that a viable fetus is a “person” and, therefore, protected by the state’s child-abuse laws.
(…)
South Carolina’s high court, which took 29 months to deliberate the case, is the only one nationwide to uphold such a law. Other states passed identical laws that have been struck down.

Perhaps S.C. sees a value in all life?

vi·a·ble
1 : capable of living; especially : having attained such form and development as to be normally capable of surviving outside the mother’s womb
2 : capable of growing or developing
3 a : capable of working, functioning, or developing adequately b : capable of existence and development as an independent unit 
c (1) : having a reasonable chance of succeeding (2) : financially sustainable

Sure sounds like an unborn child to me. Except for the ‘financially sustainable’ part, anyone with kids knows they aren’t cheap.

Anti-abortion supporters say a woman is 80 percent more likely to change her mind about an abortion if she has information that causes her to reflect on the procedure ahead of time.

The more information a person has, the better informed decision can be made. Why do the pro-abortion bunch prefer a lack of information? Perhaps because the killing of babies has become such a big business? The abortion mills give a lot of money to promote their agenda. And I hate to say it, but Hitler ain’t got nuthin’ on those folks when it comes to murdering. 12 million human beings during the Nazi’s reign. More than 40 million babies since Roe v Wade.

Morning Coffee 4/29/07

Thompson would aid Iranian revolution

Thompson accused Tehran of “playing a larger part in killing our soldiers” in neighboring Iraq.

Many Iranians don’t like their government, “and I think we ought to capitalize on that,” Thompson told The Associated Press. “There is a chance they may mobilize themselves, and we need to assist them if that happens.”

I’m all for encouraging the Iranian folks ousting Ahmabooboo!

Most Katrina Aid From Overseas Went Unclaimed

Allies offered $854 million in cash and in oil that was to be sold for cash. But only $40 million has been used so far for disaster victims or reconstruction, according to U.S. officials and contractors. Most of the aid went uncollected, including $400 million worth of oil. Some offers were withdrawn or redirected to private groups such as the Red Cross. The rest has been delayed by red tape and bureaucratic limits on how it can be spent.

I just heard Condi tell that guy on deface the nation that they were encouraged to send funds to the Clinton/Bush foundation, bypassing the bureaucratic red tape.

Tamil Tiger planes strike fuel depots

It was the third time the separatist rebels have used light aircraft to hit military targets. The Bandaranaike International Airport shares a runway with the adjoining military base where war planes are parked.

I’ve tried to find out more about this group, but the information seems limited. Or, perhaps I’ve been looking in the wrong places. Any bunch who targets civilians are terrorists in my mind.

Vegas house-flippers crushed as market crashes

Foreclosure filings across the U.S. rose 47 percent last month from a year ago to 149,150 – one for every 775 households, according to statistics from Realty Trac Inc., a foreclosure listing service. And for the third straight month, Nevada’s foreclosure rate led the nation when it rose 220 percent from a year earlier to 4,738 filings, or one in every 183 households.

I never could figure out why they were going overboard with the building in Las Vegas. The resources are limited, so why did they push so hard to keep on building? Who’s stupid idea was that? I think there’s a LOT of blame to be shared on this housing situation, including the folks who accepted loans for more than they could afford. The word is NO.

Rival groups sound off on FB rental ordinance

Perhaps the hottest issue in suburban elections is in Farmers Branch, where residents will decide whether they want Ordinance 2903 – a law that would ban apartment complexes from renting to most illegal immigrants, by requiring apartment management to obtain proof of citizenship or legal immigration status from tenants.

I’ll ask the question again: What part of I-L-L-E-G-A-L do people not understand?

GOP has uphill climb for cash and candidates

Some of the GOP’s top choices to run for the House next year have declined, citing what Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) called a “poisonous” environment. And Republicans’ fundraising edge, an important advantage over the last five years, has dwindled.

Give us an alternative choice (a Fred Thompson perhaps?), and you’d see a BIG upswing in fund raising.

School budget trims jobs

Fewer students and teachers, more psychologists, social workers and nurses, and no major changes in the overall approach to teaching children – those are among the highlights of a $1.2 billion budget proposal by Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent William Andrekopoulos for 2007-’08.

More shrinks? Are they serious? How ’bout a few salary cuts? Maybe make the employees pay more for their own health care, like the rest of the real world has to do?

Baghdad Hit With Blasts; Karbala Toll Up

U.S. forces fired an artillery barrage in southern Baghdad Sunday morning, rocking the capital with loud explosions. The death toll from a suicide car bomb attack in the Shiite holy city of Karbala rose to 68 as residents dug through the debris of heavily damaged shops.

I’m still baffled over the type of person who is willing to commit suicide to kill as many innocent people as possible.

Cardinals reliever Hancock killed in car crash; tonight’s game postponed

Hancock’s Ford Explorer slammed into the rear of a tow truck that was parked in the far left westbound lane shortly after 12:30 a.m. The tow truck driver, who was seated in the vehicle at the time, was unhurt.

R.I.P.