Posts Tagged “Congress”
- John McCain has distanced himself from an advisor who suggested that McCain would benefit politically from another terrorist attack on the US. This guy probably also thinks that an infectious outbreak of e.Coli or salmonella is a real blessing for a doctor’s business…
- Congressional Democrats charged in hearings Monday that large investors’ speculation in oil futures is behind its meteoric price increase. Those testifying denied the claims–then burped in unison, driving up prices $3 a barrel…
- Gloucester, Massachusetts’ mayor said Monday that there is no evidence that a group of its high school girls made a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together–while the principal who helped break the story for Time magazine now says he can’t remember his source of information. With 17 of his students becoming pregnant in one school year–four times the average–maybe it just became a really bizarre case of wishful thinking…
- President Bush has nominated Lt. General Ann Dunwoody to become the nation’s first female 4-star general. Dunwoody seemed truly humbled by the president’s action, but still decided against participating in the generals’ traditional "longest pee" contest…
- China announced that it will begin work next year to clean up Mount Everest from its northern side, removing over 50 years’ worth of climbing debris–including oxygen canisters, tents, backpacks and more from a place called "the world’s highest garbage dump". It sounds like it could also lead to the world’s largest garage sale…
- A new study concludes that there is a relationship between low levels of vitamin D and deaths from heart disease, suggesting the nutrient we can get from the sun’s rays is intregal to good health. Like everything else, it’s a question of moderation–meaning turning yourself the color of a lobster will only make you about as smart as one…
Tags: China, Congress, Democrat, Gas prices, heart disease, John McCain, President Bush, terrorism
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- Michelle Obama said she was "touched" that first lady Laura Bush came to her defense after being criticized by Republicans for a comment Obama made in February. She plans to fist-bump with Bush the first chance she gets…
- John McCain continued with his energy proposals yesterday, calling for the construction of 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030 and the promise of federal money to, quote, "make clean coal a reality". That sounds like an awful lot of work–all that scrubbing…
- Barack Obama said yesterday that as president, he would bring Osama bin Laden to justice in a way that wouldn’t allow him to become a martyr. It’s an excellent idea–it’s just too bad Johnnie Cochran passed away..
- A new study has found that gastric bypass surgery–primarily used to treat obesity–not only reduces heart disease and diabetes, but dramatically decreases the chance of several types of cancer. That’s amazing, but can it take on a real challenge–like curing the 6 cheeseburger lunch?
- Conservative Republicans are working to slow down the passage of a housing rescue bill designed to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, saying it would, "reward stupidity on the part of people who bought homes they couldn’t afford". That is an ideal strategy to capture the wealthy, greedy, uncaring robber-baron vote…
- A pregnant earthquake survivor in China who was trapped in the rubble of her apartment building for over 2 days gave birth to a girl she named "Ai"–the Chinese word for "love". She should have some nicknames too –like "Miracle" and "Blessing" and "Olympics Symbol"…
Tags: Barack Obama, cancer, China, Congress, earthquake, foreclosure, John McCain, Michelle Obama, Republican
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- The recent salmonella outbreak has ratched up a Congressional investigation into claims that labs responsible for testing food entering the US routinely and repeatedly test food until a clean result is obtained. So we’re basically talking a whole "if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again" deal, right?
- Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he has invited both Afghanistan and Pakistan to join a US investigation into an airstrike that Pakistani officials claim took the lives of 11 of their troops. Those folks would be smart to go along–Gates is likely to fire them, too…
- The Supreme Court dealt a major blow to Bush administration policies when it ruled that Guantanamo detainees are entitled to rights of "habeas corpus"–a prisoners’ right to know the legal justification and factual basis for their detention. I wonder if Dick Cheney will accuse the Constitution of giving aid and comfort to the emeny…
- FEMA reportedly gave away $85 million in donated items and household supplies originally intended for Katrina victims–at least partly because the charitable group coordinating much of the effort to help victims was not officially registered with a state surplus agency. I really hope this bunch of bureaucrats have their resumes updated…
- Senate Republican leaders say it is likely that their best-case scenario for the fall election is that they will lose three to four seats. Their plan is to make a big push in 2010–when they hope there’s a President McCain with an approval rating above 40…
- A California high school is defending its actions after it recently informed students that a number of their classmates had been killed in weekend car wrecks, then later told the shocked and saddened group "never mind"–it was all a scared-straight exercise to dramatize the dangers of drinking and driving. Many were outraged, certain that it was their place to manipulate the feelings of adults…
Tags: Afghanistan, Congress, drunk driving, FEMA, Guantanamo, Hurricane Katrina, Pakistan, Republican, Robert Gates, salmonella, Senate, Supreme Court
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- Space shuttle Discovery will dock with the International Space Station today on its mission to deliver the second of three parts of a Japanese lab, plus parts to repair the space station’s lavatory. The crew is anxious to avoid going where no man has gone before…
- Hillary Clinton won the Puerto Rico primary by a wide margin yesterday, but Barack Obama still gained delegates to move closer to the "magic number" he needs to win the Democratic nomination. The Clinton camp says it plans to lobby Obama superdelegates to change their minds–which seems about as likely as the site of her recent win becoming our 51st state…
- An early morning fire yesterday did extensive damage to Universal Studios, destroying back-lot sets used in dozens of movies from To Kill A Mockingbird to Back To The Future. Does this mean Marty McFly is still stuck in 1985?
- A Minnesota Catholic church has obtained a restraining order to keep an autistic teen from attending Mass, claiming he has struck a child, spit on someone and urinated in the church–which his parents deny ever happened. This seems like a tragic situation–especially in light of something Jesus Christ once said about "the least of…my family"…
- President Bush has asked his defense and interior secretaries to work towards getting national momuents designations for Pearl Harbor and other historic World War Two sites in the Pacific. Perhaps sixty years from now, a future president may do the same in Iraq–I just hope it’s over by then…
- A bill in Congress requiring greenhouse gas reductions could be a hard sell, with affected industries on one side claiming it will cause another spike in energy prices while environmental and other groups saying the increase will be moderate and is justified to overcome the effects of global warming. This debate will generate what our Earth needs least–more hot air…
Tags: autism, Barack Obama, Congress, global warming, Hillary Clinton, International Space Station, NASA, President Bush, Puerto Rico, space shuttle, Universal Studios, World War II
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- Democratic Congressional leaders say they will pressure uncommitted superdelegates to make their candidate choice public by next week, so campaigning can focus now on who the nominee will be. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton has her advisors working on how to postpone the general election until next spring…
- The Texas Supreme Court ruled yessterday that the state’s Department Of Family and Protective Services had no right to take more than 400 children from a polygamist compound, which should reunite most of them with their families. It’s a lesson we learned from Richard Simmons–just because someone is freakishly bizarre, it doesn’t mean they’re bad…
- Federal commodities regulators say they have been investigating crude-oil trading the past six months with a focus on possible "futures market manipulation". Who wants to bet it will lead to finding Ross Perot in a room on a telephone, saying, "Listen buddy–I’m sellin’ premium in a regular world here…how much you want?"…
- Former US attorneys from both parties have told a federal judge in a friend-of-the-court brief that they agree that Congress can demand documents and testimony from President Bush’s aides in their investigation of claims that US attorneys were fired for political reasons. Unfortunately, Vice President Cheney has warned them that anyone who talks will go hunting with him…
- Bahrain’s king has named a woman believed to be the Arab world’s first Jewish ambassador to the US. I have no doubt she is eminently qualified and it really is a forward-thinking move–but perhaps it was the only way he could get Michael Jackson to leave the country…
- Documents just released by Britain’s National Archives reveals that their Cabinet knew of the link between smoking and cancer over 50 years ago but considered it a minor threat and did little out of fear of losing tax revenue. It’s too bad they didn’t realize then what we know now–there seems to be no relationship between our vices and their prices…
Tags: Britain, Congress, crude oil, Democrat, Hillary Clinton, smoking, superdelegates, Texas
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