Cheney to the left of Obama on SSM?

Will the media pile accolades on Dick Cheney for his promotion of Same Sex Marriage Rights? In a dramatic rebuke to both of the Presidential nominees in the 2008 election, he has expressed support of gays' rights to marry.

"I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish, any kind of arrangement they wish."

Both the maverick John McCain, and President Obama stressed during the campaign that they believe marriage is "between a man and a woman". Notably, Vice President Biden made a point of noting that he, too, is against gay marriage.

It is unclear whether this shift toward less rights for gays in the Vice President's office will gain traction in the National media.

Club Gitmo is FUN!

claims Miss Universe:

It was a loooot of fun!", Mendoza wrote of her time at the camp, a prison surrounded by barbed-wire fence and minefields. She wrote that she went to a bar on the naval base and visited the "unbelievable" beach, Reuters reported.

Why should we be surprised? It is quite possible it rates very well when compared with life under Hugo Chavez.

Let them fail!

My local newspaper has an article that seems to go against the armageddon predicted by our government if we don't bailout Wall Street.

"The county investment pool which lost approximately $150 million in September because of its holdings in now-bankrupt Lehman Brothers is currently sound and most securities have high credit ratings, according to a recently released analysis."

FINALLY!

a tax break I can believe in!

"IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, testifying at a Senate Finance Committee hearing, said the new guidelines will apply to victims of all Ponzi schemes, not just Madoff’s."

I can't wait to deduct my FICA taxes from my 2009 return. Even if TurboTax tells me it is wrong, I'll just say I know better, my friend Tim Geithner says its ok.

What GM Should Do...

75 years is a long time to have a zero percent return on the stock price. But, that is how long it has been since their stock has been as low as it is. Think about that. It means essentially anyone who has bought GM stock in the last 75 years (and still owns it) has lost money. If ever there is a statement by the market of your business model, that is it.

At this point, they need to go bold. Announce they are going BK and reorgnize with a new cost structure. One without unions. The problem isn't the cars they make, and it isn't having American workers. It is American workers in unions and the cost structure they force upon the Big 3. I realize the Detroit workers won't likely agree to now work for a non-union GM. That's where it gets interesting.

GM should do what a truly competitive company would do. Open a plant right where the workers they DO want are. Prime example would be near the Honda plant in Ohio. I bet a bunch of those workers would LOVE to work for an American car company. The problem w/ GM isn't their cars, they are really quite good now. The American worker is also very productive.

I had a Honda Element built in Ohio and it was top notch. If I could buy a GM car made by those same workers, I'd do it in a heartbeat, and I bet a lot of other Americans would also. I was born in Ohio and I'd love to see that happen.

What do you think? I'd love to hear from any worker at a US plant of a non-union foreign automaker and ask if they'd go work for GM if they could. This assumes GM is now reorganized as efficient and well run as the current company they work for.

I'm sorry it would be truly devastating for Detroit, but, I'm afraid their fate is sealed no matter what happens. The issue is will there be a GM going forward at all.

If massive fires ever break out in Australia...

we'll know we were warned.

This article was from September of 2008.

"AUSTRALIA has been singled out as a target for "forest jihad" by a group of Islamic extremists urging Muslims to deliberately light bushfires as a weapon of terror."

Belmont shows the way!

The leadership shown by the Belmont, CA City Council is to be commended as we now see that Afghanistan is following its lead to stamp out smoking!

"Afghanistan may be the world's largest producer of heroin, but the government has taken the first step towards to a ban on smoking in public places.

Local media said on Tuesday that the council of ministers had ordered a campaign through the media and mosques to inform the public that smoking in educational institutions, hospitals and government offices has been outlawed.

The ban will be widened later to cover hotels and restaurants."