'Dissing Peace,Empty Colorado Prison, Chase Card Scam

Frank Rich
Joseph Rocha

"Perhaps the most surreal aspect of our great Afghanistan debate is the Beltway credence given to the ravings of the unrepentant blunderers who dug us into this hole in the first place."  - Frank Rich

"Once I joined the Navy, I was tormented by my chief and fellow sailors, physically and emotionally, for being gay. The irony of "don't ask, don't tell" is that it protects bigots and punishes gays who comply."  - Joseph Rocha

Most of today's pundits are still whining over Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize. The creepiest criticism came this morning from Liz Cheney, who's proving to be as clueless as her old man: "Well, I think what the committee believes is they'd like to live in a world in which America is not dominant. And I think if you look at the language of the citation, you can see that they talk about, you know, President Obama ruling in a way that makes sense to the majority of the people of the world," said Cheney. "You know, Americans don't elect a president to do that. We elect a president to defend our national interests. And so I think that, you know, they may believe that President Obama also doesn't agree with American dominance, and they may have been trying to affirm that belief with the prize. I think, unfortunately, they may be right, and I think it's a concern." It's old news already girlfriend, get over it and move on... But if you insist on dwelling on the subject, this link to the Daily Beast has every shade of opinion imaginable, including Christopher Buckley on why he should have declined the Nobel. My favoritepart is reading the comments at the end, a couple are quoted here:

"They can't help it, some folks are in permanent knee-jerk mode with Obama. It makes for entertaining noise at times."  - BobbyTinGA

"The reason that the so-called "radical right" continues to harp on all things Obama is because the "loony left" continues to worship all things Obama!"  - nightdragon83

And it devolves from there...

let's have a bake sale...
It looks like Montana isn't the only state with an empty prison. Colorado has one, too, and its a brand new, $208 million facility that the state currently can't operate because it doesn't have the moola. The debate is whether to change the law so a private company could run it, but hopefully not one like the scamming American Private Police Force, who was contracted to run a prison in Montana and had to withdraw because, well, it wasn't a real company, just a cool looking web site with claims to be a major security service like Blackwater or Wackenhut... The other option is to sell it, but the Dept of Corrections would rather keep it for a rainy day or until the economy takes an upswing. Another option, which I suggest, is to rent it out for Halloween parties, film locations, field trips from local schools, or even make it into a noir bed and breakfast destination. At least it would be generating income while the big boys are trying to make up their minds..

freedom to choose...
There will be a new law for consumer protection going into effect on February 1. It will not allow credit card companies to suddenly jack their interest rates up. Of course, several card companies are doing just that right now, trying to get as much profit squeezed out of their customers before they won't be allowed to. Chase is the worst offender, telling customers that they had low interest rates for the life of the card and now they are jacking up the rate and minimum payments. One couple in Ohio saw their monthly payment rise from $370 to $911 per month without any warning: "They have no respect for the American people. All they think about is the almighty dollar for themselves." Others, like Bank of America, have voluntarily frozen their rates until the law goes into effect.

Colorado's "Rep. Betsy Markey, (D-Colorado), and 17 other lawmakers sent letters to credit card banks asking them voluntarily to freeze their rates while Congress decides whether to move up the phase-in date for the new law to December." Another rip-off that is gaining in popularity, is the prepaid credit card. Many charge fees that are hidden in tiny, tiny clauses in the contracts. They will charge you a monthly fee, a fee for each transaction, a fee every time you use it at an ATM, a fee for not using it, etc. Tou can buy them along with other prepaid gift cards that are sold in supermarkets, drugstores, and Wal-Mart. Happy shopping, suckers...

that's plumpy'nut to you...
What is the cost of compassion? The recent disasters in Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and the Phillipines is bringing into focus a debate on the quality of food relief aid: "The problem for many critics of food aid is not the delivery method, though, but the food itself, which critics say is failing to address childhood malnutrition...This is no abstract discussion. A child dies of malnutrition every six seconds.  The World Health Organization estimates that, at any given moment, 20 million children are suffering from the most severe form of food deprivation -- frequently as a result of other crises, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, droughts, and civil unrest. Emergency food aid has to bring them back from the brink quickly and reliably. Unfortunately, serious questions have been raised about the healthful properties of the fortified, blended wheat, corn, or soy flours that are the mainstay of many emergency food programs. Is using these foods when better alternatives are available ethical?"


The US provides the bulk of aid, in the form of grains and flour. We haven't provided anything dairy based in over 20 years, and some critics say that its the milk and eggs that can keep young children alive, not corn and soy. So, we are reviewing our policy, and it may change what we will be sending, conforming more to what non-government organizations try to come up with. If we can be more effective in saving children's lives, that will be one more step in earning the Nobel...