Posts Tagged “Congress”
- As expected, Congress has overridden President Bush’s veto of legislation that protected doctors from a 10.6% cut in Medicare fees. When you’re up for re-election, "Medicare" and "cuts" are never in the same sentence…
- Over 100,000 pilgrims from around the world have arrived in Sydney in anticipation of a Mass by Pope Benedict XVI to open the World Youth Day festival. This is a good time for organizers to check their wafer supplies…
- The Massachusetts Senate has voted to repeal an old law that had been prohibiting out-of-state residents from getting same-sex marriages. Maybe this is how you boost tourism during high gas prices…
- Barack Obama and John McCain highlighted their differences on the war in Iraq in speeches on Tuesday, with Obama calling it a costly distraction while McCain insisted it is a conflict that American must win. They agree that more troops are needed in Afghanistan–just not who should give the order…
- Another E. coli outbreak traced to recalled beef in Michigan and Ohio has now spread to New York, Kentucky and Indiana. While more sanitary procedures in meat production are needed, I’m thinking some folks ought to get over their love of red in red meat…
- The practice of using private firefighting companies by insurers to protect expensive homes from California forest fires is on the rise, and officials worry that they may interfere with legitimate firefighting, or their concern for just their own wealthy customers may leave others without protection. You don’t really want somebody looking at a printout before deciding if they plan to save your life…
Tags: Afghanistan, Australia, Barack Obama, Congress, E. coli, forest fires, gay marriage, Iraq, John McCain, Massachusetts, Medicare, Pope Benedict XVI
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- The FAA and FBI are investigating whether a model rocket whizzed by a Continental flight that had just taken off from Houston. It’s a matter of aircraft safety and security, plus they’re dying to get hold of that fuel…
- Reports say that other than some fatigue, Senator Ted Kennedy is doing well after 6 weeks of radiation and chemotherapy for brain cancer. It’s really no surprise–Teddy has survived so many political deaths, this one is a piece of cake…
- Barack Obama’s campaign will break with tradition and have him accept the Democratic Party nomination at Denver’s Mile High Stadium in rather than at the original convention site across town. Obama says he wants to open the event to a whole group of people who otherwise could never participate–you know, Republicans…
- Iraq’s prime minister say his nation wants some sort of timetable for the withdrawal of American troops there. I guess they’re not all that comfortable with "whatever Cheney thinks"…
- A new study says that Congress should repeal the "don’t ask, don’t tell" law, finding that the presence of gays in the military is unlikely to undermine its ability to fight and win. Besides, most of these folks have figured out that the closet can cramp more than just your clothes…
- A cruise ship has run aground in an inlet near Alaska’s Glacier Bay, but reports say there were no injuries and the hull was not compromised. On the upside, the number of seasick passengers is way down…
Tags: Barack Obama, Congress, Continental Airlines, FBI, Iraq, Ted Kennedy
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- The American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending that some children as young as 8 be given cholerterol-fighting drugs to help fight future heart problems. Physicians would make the determination based on family history, current levels of both "good" and "bad" chloresterol, and the child’s daily intake of bacon-and-bacon sandwiches…
- Cooler, more humid air Sunday gave firefighters in California a tiny break in their battle to control another wildfire threatening 2,700 homes in the Santa Barbara area. Maybe it was just the Governator channeling Mr. Freeze from Batman And Robin…
- Congress returns from a week-long holiday break with plans to provide foreclosure relief, stop Medicare cuts and broaden intelligence agencies’ ability to track suspected terrorists–all planned for completion by early August, when members will break for another month and likely begin re-election campaigns in earnest. So they’re cramming a ton of work into just a few weeks’ time–this is gonna turn out just like my last home remodeling project…
- Health experts warn that John McCain’s plan to tax health insurance premiums as income and then give those paying them a tax credit would lead many employers to stop providing it as a benefit, since many of their employees could buy individual polices for less than the tax credit they would receive. This sounds like a great plan–if geometrically increasing the nation’s uninsured is what you had in mind…
- The United Arab Emirates has agreed to cancel $7 billion of Iraq’s debt and has moved to restore diplomatic relations there, a sign of improved security and acceptance of their Shiite government. And as a thanks to US efforts there, the UAE promised that Americans would never pay more than $20 a gallon for gas…
- The latest edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary features some new additions–"Texas Hold-’Em" and "dirty bomb", as well as the lesser-known "Norovirus", "edamame", and "pescatarian". Just missing this year’s list: "K-Fed", "baby mama", and "Britney-tized"…
Tags: California, Children, Congress, forest fires, health care, Iraq, John McCain
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The US Olympic men’s basketball team helped make television history Sunday when their game against the Yao Ming-led Chinese was reportedly watched by anywhere from 500 million to 1 billion people worldwide. The enthusiastic crowd couldn’t have cheered louder for Yao and his teammates, even as they went down to a 101-70 defeat–unless it was for Kobe Bryant and the rest of their NBA favorites…
This week, Louisiana will become the last state in the US to ban the practice of cockfighting. I was really angry about this happening–until I realized that it wasn’t really what I thought it was…
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