House Zips Through ‘Pigulus,’ uh, ‘Stimulus’

So Far, So Good

WASHINGTON (AP) – Moving with remarkable speed, the Democratic-controlled House lined up eagerly Wednesday to approve $819 billion in spending increases and tax cuts at the heart of President Barack Obama’s economic recovery program. Republicans fought the bill as wasteful. “We don’t have a moment to spare,” Obama declared at the White House as Democrats hastened to do his bidding.

A mere eight days after Inauguration Day, Speaker Nancy Pelosi heralded a new era.  “The ship of state is difficult to turn,” said the California Democrat. “But that is what we must do.  That is what President Obama called us to do in his inaugural address.”

Republicans said the bill was short on tax cuts and contained too much spending, much of it wasteful and unlikely to help laid-off Americans.

The party’s leader, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, said the measure “won’t create many jobs, but it will create plenty of programs and projects through slow-moving government spending.”

The legislation includes an estimated $544 in federal spending and $275 billion in tax cuts for individuals and businesses.

Already a more bipartisan – and costlier – measure is taking shape in the Senate, and Obama personally pledged to House and Senate Republicans in closed-door meetings on Tuesday that he is ready to accept modifications as the legislation advances.

B.S. Report

More

That's Definitely Not All Folks!

To Come……

Islamic Judge To Christian: ‘If I Had A Knife, I Would Kill You’… ‘Religion Of Peace’ On Display In Egypt

By now, we all have to practically hold back our laughter when we hear Islam described as “The Religion of Peace.”  We know that, if anything, Islam can more accurately be described as:  “The Religion of Pieces.”

A woman was detained at the Cairo airport; another in an ocean of examples of Islamic tolerance, because her identity card described her as a Christian.  Uh oh…if this were a comedic movie script, the screenwriter could simply write the tag-line:  “High-Jinx Ensues!”

These maniacs really do remind me of some sort of prehistoric “Keystone Kops.”  But unfortunately we’ve all become very familiar with the radical Islamic idea of High-Jinks.  And it must be terrifying when a judge can literally take you aside and threaten to kill you.  Frankly, I’m surprised that he didn’t have a knife on him..isn’t that standard equipment for barbarians?  I picture this Egyptian Muslim judge kind of like this…but this time he fortunately forgot his knife at home.

"Nobody changes from Muslim to Christian. You are a Muslim!"

Here’s the story.

Judge Tells Christian, “I Would Kill You”

A former Muslim woman who converted to Christianity was arrested at the Cairo, Egypt, airport and threatened with death because her identity card described her as a Christian.

As World Net Daily reported, authorities in Egypt deprived the woman’s two children, ages 2 and 4, of food to try to coerce her to abandon Christianity and return to Islam.

According to the Assyrian International News Agency, a woman identified as Martha Samuel Makkar was arrested Dec. 13 as she, her husband, Fadl Thabet, and two sons were trying to leave Cairo for Russia.

Makkar, formerly known as Zainab Said Abdel-Aziz, was accused of carrying forged government documents, because she identified herself as a Christian. Islamic law forbids Muslims from abandoning the faith. (Read more.)

Music Chart Toppers

Billboard Charts Number 1 Song on this day:

50 Years Ago–Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, by The Platters

25 Years Ago–Owner Of A Lonely Heart, by Yes

10 Years Ago–Two Hearts, by Phil Collins

Today———-Just Dance, by Lady GaGa featuring Colby O’Donis

Al Gore Still Pitching His Man-Made Global Warming Hokum… ‘We Need Decisive Action’

Gore:  “We Need ‘Decisive Action’ To Tackle Global Warming”

WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Al Gore is urging lawmakers not to let the U.S. economic crisis get in the way of addressing global warming.

Testifying Wednesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Nobel Peace Prize winner said lawmakers should pass the economic stimulus as a first step to bringing greenhouse gases under control.

Gore said “decisive action” also is needed on a bill to cap heat-trapping gases if the U.S. is to take a leading role in negotiations on a new international climate treaty later this year.

It was the first time Gore appeared before Congress since March 2007. Since then, the recession has deepened. A Democratic-controlled Congress and Democratic president have raised hopes for passage of a climate change bill.

B.S. Report

What Al Gore really means is that he doesn’t want our focus on the economic crisis to derail his huge money-making global warming “enterprises.”

This Day In History…

On this day in 1986:  Space Shuttle Challenger exploded.

On this day in 2003:  In his second State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush presents his case for war with Iraq.   Here’s a link to the  audio.

Today’s ‘Did You Know?’ Sports Fact

On this day in 1921:

The National Football League franchise in Decatur, Illinois was transferred to Chicago. The team took the name, Chicago Staleys for the 1921 season. The following year, it was decided that since the team was playing in the stadium of the Chicago Cubs, it should be named the Chicago Bears, or as they say in the Windy City, “Da Bears.”

NFL Founder, Owner, and Head Coach George Halas

Freedom Quote Of The Day

In “honor” of the “pigulus” package, we put today’s quote in the capable hands of the great H.L. Mencken.

[I]f experience teaches us anything at all it teaches us this: that a good politician, under democracy, is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar. His very existence, indeed, is a standing subversion of the public good in every rational sense. He is not one who serves the common weal; he is simply one who preys upon the commonwealth.

–H.L. Mencken

Not All Employer-Employee Relationships Are Hostile…Pancake House Works Shift For Free To Help Boss

In a world yearning for good news, meet Mary VanDam who decided to help out her boss during tough economic times by working a Sunday shift for free.

Then, just to put icing on the cake, she convinced her fellow employees at Mr. B’s Pancake House to do the same.

A week ago, 17 restaurant employees — servers, cooks, busboys, dishwashers, cashiers and hostesses — worked exclusively for tips, so owner Dave Barham could trim the payroll.

“Isn’t that something?” he asked.

When the last customer left on what employees dubbed “Donate A Day,” they’d saved the boss about $700 in wages. The restaurant employs 31 people.

“We wish we could have saved him $5,000,” VanDam said. “We wanted to give back to him, lighten the load a little.”

Not that Barham is crying poor, but “It’s tight for everyone all over,” he said. On more than one occasion, VanDam reported, Barham has reached into his own pockets to meet the restaurant’s payroll. (Read more.)

MySpace Typo Leads To Mother-Son Reunion

Sometimes you need to really scour the news to find a feel-good story.

SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 27 (UPI) — A Utah woman said she was able to reconnect with the son she gave up 32 years ago thanks to a typo and an Internet search.

Terri Fuller said her then-2-year-old son was adopted 32 years ago by a childless California couple acquainted with her aunt after she made the decision to give him up, KSL-TV, Salt Lake City, reported Tuesday.

Fuller said she began trying to reconnect with her son years later, but was unable to locate him. She said she eventually created a MySpace profile explaining her desire to find her long-lost child, but she mistakenly misspelled his new last name, Hawver, as “Haver.”

However, Rustin Hawver said he chanced upon his biological mother’s MySpace page while he was searching for his blog and accidentally left out the “w” in his last name.

“She had my name misspelled. If it wasn’t for Google or that keyboard being messed up, I would have never have found that,” Hawver said.

Mother and son said they are delighted at having reconnected and are currently planning to meet in March for the first time in decades.

Just How Indebted To Foreign Interests Is Hillary?

Just How "In-Bed" With Foreign Interests Were The Clintons?

One of the concerns about Senator Hillary Clinton becoming Secretary of State Clinton was the worry that much of her husband’s money was earned from foreign companies, and would that have an undue influence on  decisions she would make in her new office?

I’m not saying it would have– but the question itself isn’t unreasonable.  Of course, it’s all a moot point now.  In financial documents filed by Secretary Clinton, she shows that her husband earned nearly $6 million in speaking fees last year alone, nearly all of it from foreign companies.

The documents obtained yesterday by the Associated Press indicate that about $5 million of the reported $5.7 million in 2008 honoraria came from foreign sources.  They included Kuwait’s National Bank, a Hong Kong-based company, and other firms and groups in Canada, Germany, India, Malaysia, Mexico and Portugal.

All senior officials in the Obama administration are required to complete a detailed disclosure of their personal finances, including spouse and children, which is updated yearly.