House comes down hard on CEOs

Panel sneers at their use of private jets, asks if they would be willing to take $1 yearly salaries.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081120/AUTO01/811200390/1409

WASHINGTON -- During two days of hearings filled with tense exchanges, one of the most uncomfortable moments took place when Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., asked the chief executives of Detroit's Big Three to raise their hands if they had flown to Washington commercially to ask for financial aid.

No hands went up.

Then he asked if they would be willing to sell their corporate jets and book commercial flights home as a show of good faith. Again, none agreed.

"It's almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in a high hat and tuxedo," quipped Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y. "Couldn't you have downgraded to first class or something, or jet-pooled or something to get here?"

Ralph Nader asks if Barack Obama will be an Uncle Tom

North Idaho woman faces hard time over spilt soda

Federal prosecutors have charged a North Idahoan with 2 offenses after a dispute over the price of a pop at the Boise VA hospital.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/235/story/506395.html

Charles Barkley vs. Angola

While the Angolans idolized the Americans, it’s safe to assume the opposite wasn’t true. This much was admitted by a U.S. scout, who admitted “all we know is that they qualified for the Olympics and they are from Africa.”

In the end, the Americans demolished the Angolans by a final score of 116-48, and for as bad as that sounds, the game was actually more of a blowout than the score indicates. To be precise, there was actually an insane 13-minute run where they outscored Angola 46-1, but it’s that one point that created a whole lot of temporary trouble for the Dream Team.

More over, the point wasn’t as important to the game as was the play that caused it. For anyone that’s forgotten, it was a free throw that came after a flagrant foul on Charles Barkley, who decided to deliver a message to Herlander Coimbra in the form of a right elbow.

Naturally, there was mild outrage from the fans in attendance. In addition to that, the international media covering the event immediately began referring to the Dream Team as “Ugly Americans” and “bullies,” which got a fair amount of play in the ensuing coverage. The American media was also embarrassed, and even Karl Malone took a shot at Sir Charles, saying “I don’t think we need to go out and do anything that would degrade anybody.”

As for Barkley, his response was quick and to the point, as he simply said “You hit me, I’ll hit you; even if it doesn’t look like he’s eaten in a while.”

http://www.theloveofsports.com/index.php/site/comments/1992_dream_team_versus_angola/

McCain's Mansions

There’s one man’s veto Congress can’t override

From High Country News:

When the Bogeyman goes to sleep at night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris. Chuck Norris, on the other hand, does not sleep. He waits. He is the reason Waldo is hiding. He uses pepper spray to season his steaks. He uses 8×10 sheets of plywood as toilet paper.

And Norris, the former “Walker, Texas Ranger” star whose purported toughness has spawned an internet cottage industry of made-up factoids, is ready to deliver a roundhouse kick to the face of any Congressman standing in the way of domestic oil production. He has joined forces with Newt Gingrich’s “Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less” campaign, producing this video encouraging viewers to sign the group’s pro-domestic drilling petition:

http://blog.hcn.org/goat/2008/07/03/theres-one-mans-veto-congress-cant-override/

G8 leaders feast on 8 courses after discussing world food shortages

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4286365.ece

Food shortages and the need to double African production may dominate the G8 summit but even as they discussed the problems of the developing world yesterday, the leaders of the world’s richest nations, joined by several African leaders, ate course after course of fine food.

In a questionable public relations move, the summit’s Japanese organisers proudly displayed to the press the menus for a sumptuous eight-course banquet laid on last night and a five-course lunch a few hours earlier.

The leaders tucked into truffle soup and crab as they discussed Zimbabwe and aid to Africa’s poorest people. The evening feast of 19 separate dishes included diced fatty flesh of tuna fish and milk-fed lamb with aromatic herbs. Tomorrow, after working up an appetite discussing soaring food prices, the leaders will enjoy a £200 dinner of giant crab, £50-a-kilogram langoustine and sweet clover ice cream, prepared by Michel Bras, a Michelin three-star French chef.

It is all in keeping with a summit that has cost a total of 60 billion yen (£283 million) - enough to have bought 100 million mosquito nets to save Africans from catching malaria - and that frequently seems at odds with the Japanese hosts’ professed theme of ecology and environmentalism.

Vets for Peace Booted from National Memorial Day Parade

http://www.progressive.org/mag_mc052308

Man Jailed After Daughter Fails To Get GED

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=28d2acca-9947-44cc-8831-9859f1f6137e

A Fairfield man is in jail because his daughter hasn't gotten her General Equivalency Diploma (GED).

A judge ordered the father to stay on top of his daughter's education months ago and when that order wasn't followed, Brian Gegner was sentenced to 180-days in the Butler County jail.

The daughter, Brittany Gegner, says her father shouldn't be punished for her problems.

Especially, she says because she's now 18, an adult.

"It's ridiculously wrong," said Brittany Gegner.

"Of all the punishments they could have given him, to make him go to jail?," she asked. "I mean, probation – until I get my GED – would be reasonable, but to send him to jail? That's overboard."

Brain-damaged woman at center of Wal-Mart suit

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/25/walmart.insurance.battle/index.html?asinine

From CNN.com:

"Eight years ago, Shank was stocking shelves for the retail giant and signed up for Wal-Mart's health and benefits plan.

Two years after the accident, Shank and her husband, Jim, were awarded about $1 million in a lawsuit against the trucking company involved in the crash. After legal fees were paid, $417,000 was placed in a trust to pay for Debbie Shank's long-term care.

Wal-Mart had paid out about $470,000 for Shank's medical expenses and later sued for the same amount. However, the court ruled it can only recoup what is left in the family's trust.

The Shanks didn't notice in the fine print of Wal-Mart's health plan policy that the company has the right to recoup medical expenses if an employee collects damages in a lawsuit.

The family's attorney, Maurice Graham, said he informed Wal-Mart about the settlement and believed the Shanks would be allowed to keep the money. Watch this couple's story »

"We assumed after three years, they [Wal-Mart] had made a decision to let Debbie Shank use this money for what it was intended to," Graham said.

The Shanks lost their suit to Wal-Mart. Last summer, the couple appealed the ruling -- but also lost it. One week later, their son was killed in Iraq."

Contractor warned city about crane but was blown off

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/03/16/2008-03-16_contractor_warned_city_about_crane_but_w.html

Scott Pelley Reports On The Case Against Alabama’s Former Governor, Don Siegelman

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/21/60minutes/main3859830.shtml


“I haven't seen a case with this many red flags on it that pointed towards a real injustice being done,” says Grant Woods, the former Republican attorney general of Arizona.

Woods is one of the 52 former state attorneys-general, of both parties, who’ve asked Congress to investigate the Siegelman case.

“I personally believe that what happened here is that they targeted Don Siegelman because they could not beat him fair and square. This was a Republican state and he was the one Democrat they could never get rid of,” Woods says."

Spanish driver sues dead crash cyclist for damage

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSEIC55622520080125

MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish driver who collided with a cyclist is suing the dead youth's family $29,300 for the damage the impact of his body did to his luxury car, a Spanish newspaper reported on Friday.

CDC/Kaiser 'Groundbreaking' Morgellons Study A Fraud!

http://www.rense.com/general80/fraudf.htm

"There is insufficient information," intones Dr. Pearson, "to determine whether persons who identify themselves as having this condition, have common cause for their symptoms or may share common risk factors."

This statement speaks volumes. One can only suppose that the good doctor is either stunningly under-informed or is a deliberate liar. In light of readily available information that has come into the possession of this writer, Dr. Pearson and his friends over at Kaiser Permanente appear to be fully informed as to the scope and nature of this affliction.

They Knife Horses, Don’t They?

http://www.bestcyrano.org/THOMASPAINE/?p=552

Extract from Thomas Paine article:

"A recent article in the Daily Mail (8 Jan. 2008) by Danny Penman describes Chinese children petting a goat at a zoo. Then zookeepers hoist the animal “nonchalantly” over a wall into a pit where she is torn to pieces by lions. The children clap with delight and ‘ooh’ and ‘aah.’ This scene at the Badaltearing Safari Park is a norm in China, a fun day’s outing for the family. At another zoo, Badaling, visitors can ‘fish’ for lions using live chickens. “For just 2 £, giggling visitors tie terrified chickens onto bamboo rods and dangle them in front of the lions,” Penman writes. Other abuses: moon bears with rusting steel nose rings chained in cages so small they cannot turn around; other animals, like tigers, driven insane by captivity in “cramped, filthy” cages. “Tortoise baiting” is also a craze at these zoos. To prevent her from pulling her head in, a band is placed around the tortoise’s neck–and the desperate animal tries to get away as visitors hurl coins at her head. Since tortoises cannot move very fast, removing the protection of their shell renders them helpless. Cows put in with tigers is another attraction at China’s zoos. Unfortunately, writes Penman, the “killing skills” of these big cats are “blunted by years of living in small cages….The tiger tried to kill—tearing and biting at the cow’s body in a pathetic-looking frenzy—but it simply didn’t know how.” Zoos also have restaurants with tiger meat on the menu. The animals are factory farmed on the premises—this means life-long confinement in cages so small they cannot even turn around.

Penman makes the point that raising children to applaud cruelty can have even more devastating consequences for animals in the future. I would add for people as well since the links are obvious: those who can harm one living being will be insensitive to all living beings. Slaughterhouses and battlefield go together—as Tolstoy pointed out."

'Meanest Mom' Sells Son's Car, Family Gets Quite a Ride

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/10/AR2008011003852.html?hpid=moreheadlines


"OLDS 1999 Intrigue. Totally uncool parents who obviously don't love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom on the planet."

TSA searches, detains 5 year old because his name was on no-fly list

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/01/09/tsa-searches-detains.html

Lawsuit Promised in Transplant Case

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hFp8DsNC_gJwb9q72kNfDiZCioSwD8TM1CQO0