Posts Tagged “gay marriage”
- Federal bank regulators are issuing new guidelines to banks designed to encourage them to continue lending practices to creditworthy customers–an effort to make them aware that the billions in bailout money provided to them is there to help struggling borrowers and improve the overall economy. In other words, they ought to rethink the week-long Carribean cruise bonus for the fantasy football league…
 Treasury Secretary Henry PaulsonW announced that the $700 billion government bailout plan will not be used to buy troubled assets–like mortgages–and would instead turn to financial markets supplying consumer credit for products like credit cards, auto loans and student loans, with Paulson stating that supporting this market is vital for lending and growth. This change could be due to plans by mortgages lenders to offer their own relief to homeowners at risk of foreclosure, or one too many holes in the dike for one litte boy’s fingers…- House Speaker Nancy PelosiW is leading the congressional charge to provide financial help for the auto industry, who are struggling with the double burden of poor sales and tighter credit. Some lawmakers worry that extending help to individual companies opens the floodgates to any and all comers–sorta like the argument, "if you help one poor starving person, you’ve got to help them all"…
 A Connecticut judge’s ruling this morning has cleared the way for the state to legalize same-sex marriages, with several couples planning ceremonies within hours in New Haven. This was just the city where the court decision was handed down–Rosie O'DonnellW isn’t planning to relocate here…- A federal task force charged with dealing with flight delay policies has approved some voluntary guidelines but offer no fixed limit that would permit passengers to leave planes stranded on tarmacs. I wouldn’t worry–airlines who are already charging for checked luggage, aisle seats, meals and carry-on pets will be more than happy to do something for their customers out of the goodness of their hearts…
- A new Associated PressW poll has found that the public wants the tax cuts promised during presidential campaign, but seem to be willing to wait while president-elect Obama works to tackle the economy first. I’m gonna guess that Joe the Plumber wasn’t part of this study–but I don’t think he’s taking that many calls these days…
Tags: airline, Barack Obama, financial bailout, gay marriage, Henry Paulson, Nancy Pelosi
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- Better news is coming from world markets that started the new week considerably brighter, with Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore, South Korea and China all finishing with healthy increases and Eurpopean indicies showing good gains as well. The early news on Wall Street is encouraging as well–fewer brokers are on the ledges of downtown skyscrapers…
- After one of the worst weeks in Wall Street history, the White House is scrambling to get its unprecedented $700 billion economic recovery program up and running–which primarily means buying the bad assets that are at the heart of the current meltdown. Of course that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook for your crappy subprime mortgage–it’s just that if you do default, it’ll be Uncle Sam left holding the bag instead of that sleazy mortgage company…
 The American Academy Of Pediatrics is now recommending that children from infants to teens get double the usually recommended amount of vitamin D–which would mean a daily intake of 4 cups of milk, far less than most kids get. There of course is a solution for this problem–serve ice cream at every meal…- John McCain said Sunday that he plans to "whip" Democratic opponent Barack Obama’s "you-know-what" in Wednesday’s final debate and promised more of his signature "straight talk" about the race. Then he asked when the Early Bird dinner started and if "that one" was gonna try and sneak in…
 The world of competitive eating has a new superstar–24-year-old Joey Chestnut, who claimed the hot-dog eating crown the last 2 years running, grabbed the pizza-eating crown Sunday in Times Square by gobbling 45 slices in just 10 minutes. Then if was off to a friend’s home for a delicious dinner–Joey downed 3 roasts, 15 pounds of potatoes, 4 apple pies and his hosts’ pet dog Ralphie in a half-hour…- Now that the Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled that same-sex couples have the right to wed, opponents are counting on a ballot measure to force a constitutional convention–such a vote can only happen once every 20 years–as a means of rewriting the state’s charter to ban the unions. Of course, it runs the risk of further altering the constitution–such as forcing Fairfield County to pay a 90% income tax…
Tags: American Academy of Pediatrics, Barack Obama, Children, competitive eating, Connecticut, financial bailout, Financial meltdown, gay marriage, health care, John McCain, Wall Street, White House
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- Congressional leaders say they will act quickly on a plan from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to buy up bad mortgages and other investments that are putting banks and other financial institutions in danger of collapse. Of course, now that the price tag is somewhere just south of a trillion bucks, that seems about as smart a re-election move as admitting you’re a distant relative of Osama bin Laden…
 Nearly a week after Hurricane Ike struck south Texas, Houston is beginning to return to normal with electricity restored to nearly a million homes and traffic returning to normal–but Galveston Island remains closed and residents ordered to stay away while officials struggle to get just basic services restored. I can’t help but think of that classic Glen Campbell song: "Galveston, oh Galveston…I am so afraid my house is floating…" (watch out–audio is old and scratchy!)- The American Medical Association and the American Academy Of Pediatrics, along with twenty other medical groups, say public confidence in vaccine safety must be restored , amid reports of measles outbreaks at a 10-year high and a quarter of all toddlers not sufficiently immunized. The primary reason is that some parents fear that they cause autism–which is about as likely (to them, I’m sure) that they also cause homosexuality…
  A new poll has found that support for a California constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage is fading and now trails by a 17-point margin. I believe there are two major reasons–one, that Ellen DeGeneres has done it, and Anne Heche hasn’t… Federal law enforcement officials say former congressman Mark Foley likely won’t face charges for all those inappropriate emails and instant messages he sent to underaged pages. That may seem like another politician getting a break from the law, but I think the fact that Foley is now a political zero has probably punished him worse than any fine or jail time…- New Jersey’s attorney general has ordered an end to plea-bargains for teenagers ticketed for driving offenses, saying it undermines the state’s graduated license program–which mandates an improvement program for those offenders before a standard license is issued. It could have unforseen economic consequences–too many teens without cars could wipe out the Paramus Mall…
Tags: autism, Ben Bernanke, California, Financial meltdown, Galveston, gay marriage, health care, Henry Paulson, Houston, Hurricane Ike, Mark Foley, New Jersey
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- Michelle Obama told the Democratic National Convention in Denver Monday night that "I love this country", and that she
  and presidential nominee Barack Obama share America’s basic values and beliefs in a dream of a better future. She did not admit, as some wild claims have suggested, that she is the love child of Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey…
- What’s left of Tropical Storm Fay continued to rain down from Georgia to Louisiana, which for some is a welcome relief from months of drought conditions, while Florida residents begin to mop up the over 30 inches of rain that fell along the central Atlantic coast. Are we sure NASA hasn’t come up with a giant sponge that could collect it from one place and squeeze it out somewhere else?
- Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki insisted Monday that all foreign soldiers must leave the country by a specific date in 2011, and that there would be no legal immunity for American troops. After being briefed on the situation, Vice President Cheney was reportedly muttering something about "regime change" and "where’s my rifle?"…
- An Alabama initiative proposal to effectively prohibit gay couples from adopting was cleared by state officials to appear on the state’s November general election ballot. The initiative would require only married couples to adopt, and the state currently prohibits gay couples to wed–it’s that kind of shrewd thinking that has kept values in The Heart Of Dixie just as they have been for years…
 A Las Vegas judge has refused to delay the start of the trial of O.J. Simpson and a co-defendant on charges of armed robbery and kidnapping. The Juice actually had nothing to do with the delay request–he’s anxious to get started and really hoping he can drive the same level of insane media interest in whether he could possibly be as stupid as it appears that he is…- An Air Force researcher has found that a series of mishaps involving robotic warplanes are occuring because of operator error, due to the drones being controlled by increasingly inexperienced crews. I understand this problem can be quickly remedied, providing enough PS3 and XBox 360 consoles can be acquired quickly enough…
Tags: Air Force, Alabama, Barack Obama, Democratic National Convention, Flor, Florida, gay marriage, Iraq, Louisiana, Michelle Obama, OJ Simpson, Tropical Storm Fay
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- 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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