by PunditGuy | May 31, 2005 | General |
Now that the veil has been lifted on the mysterious identity of ‘Deep Throat’ (aka Mark Felt), one thing has become very clear. Felt ratted Nixon out because the president didn’t promote him to FBI director.
Bob Woodward said Felt helped The (Washington) Post at a time of tense relations between the White House and much of the FBI hierarchy. He said the Watergate break-in came shortly after the death of legendary FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, Felt’s mentor, and that Felt and other bureau officials wanted to see an FBI veteran promoted to succeed Hoover.
Felt himself had hopes that he would be the next FBI director, but Nixon instead appointed an administration insider, assistant attorney general L. Patrick Gray, to the post.
So, in the end, it was an act of revenge, pure and simple. Felt had a vendetta against the president, and he got back at him by spoon feeding information to Woodward, knowing it would fatally damage Nixon.
That’s the real story.
by PunditGuy | May 31, 2005 | General |
If you are at least 30 years old, you may remember the Live Aid concerts performed back in 1985. Today, Live 8 was announced, and once again the event is being organized by Bob Geldof.
Bob Geldof unveiled plans for a repeat of 1985’s Live Aid concert, called Live 8, to highlight the ongoing problem of global poverty and debt. The free event will be held in London’s Hyde Park on 2 July with concerts in Philadelphia, Paris, Rome and Berlin.
Dear Mr. Geldof,
I hate to break it to you, but the people (teenagers) who attend your free concert will be there to see whomever shows up. They will not attend the show as a sign of solidarity to end world hunger. They will not leave the show and change their consumption habits either. In fact, 24 hours after the concert, I bet 99% of them won’t remember any of the overtly political messages blurted from the stage. All the pontificating that will go on between acts and between songs will go in one ear and out the other. Oh, you’ll hear cheers and applause alright…but don’t make more out of it than it is. Crowds like these will cheer the breaking of wind.
And the line up…Could you have picked a more boring and predictable cast of characters? Elton John campaigning against poverty! Is that some kind of joke? The (girly)man spends £100,000 a year on flowers! For all of your high intentions this is just another opportunity for millionaire rock stars to massage their egos and quell their consciences.
Like the previous concert in 1985, in the end, Live 8 will change nothing.
by PunditGuy | May 31, 2005 | General |
Ex-FBI official says he is ‘Deep Throat’.
UPDATE: WaPo confirms…the mystery is solved. CNN has the story.
by PunditGuy | May 31, 2005 | General |
Bishop Denies Request for Non-Wheat Communion Wafer
A New Jersey woman whose 9-year-old daughter is allergic to wheat, which is used in Communion wafers, has failed to persuade her Roman Catholic bishop to let the girl use a non-wheat substitute for the church sacrament. In an hourlong meeting with the bishop at the diocese headquarters on May 17, the bishop told Elizabeth Pelly-Waldman that because of Vatican rules his decision from last summer to not allow the rice substitute would stand. Pelly-Waldman’s daughter Haley suffers from celiac-sprue disease, which prevents her from digesting any gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye, but not in rice. Gluten consumed by celiac sufferers can damage the lining of the small intestine.
My wife and I have a child who is allergic to wheat, so we know exactly how dangerous it can be. It’s absurd for the Vatican to stand fast on rules like this. What harm would there be in offering a substitute wafer to parishioners who simply cannot digest the substance?
How pathetic.
by PunditGuy | May 31, 2005 | General |
Via AP: The Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of the Arthur Andersen accounting firm for destroying Enron Corp.-related documents before the energy giant’s collapse.
More: Full story here.
by PunditGuy | May 31, 2005 | General |
Does this guy love himself or what?
by PunditGuy | May 31, 2005 | General |
Hardly.
States say $5.15 an hour is not enough.
More states are raising their minimum wages, pushing hourly rates above $7 in some and shrinking the role of the federal minimum wage, which hasn’t gone up in eight years.
Eleven states have raised their rates since January 2004, and Wisconsin will become the 12th on Wednesday. Employers there must pay at least $5.70 an hour through June 2006, when the minimum wage rises again to $6.50 an hour.
In all, 17 states and the District of Columbia — covering 45% of the U.S. population — have set minimums above the federal rate of $5.15. That has helped cut the number of workers earning the minimum or less (for those earning tips) from 4.8 million in 1997 to 2 million last year, or 2.7% of hourly earners, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says.
About half of minimum-wage earners work at restaurants. Millions more have wages that are influenced by the minimum. Its buying power is at its lowest point since 1949.
We’re in a state of panic over 2.7% of the workforce, half of which receive minimum wage plus tips?
by PunditGuy | May 31, 2005 | General |
Protect your ice cream from thievery.
by PunditGuy | May 31, 2005 | General |
Via BBC: Canada Red Cross used HIV blood.
The Red Cross in Canada has pleaded guilty to distributing contaminated blood supplies which infected thousands of Canadians with HIV and hepatitis C.
More than 3,000 people have died since getting the tainted blood in the 1980s.
The blood scandal is widely regarded as one of the worst public health disasters in Canadian history.
The organisation now faces a fine of up to C$5,000 ($4,000), but charges of criminal negligence could be dropped as part of a deal with prosecutors.
For the first time, the head of the Canadian Red Cross, Dr Pierre Duplessis, has apologised to the victims and their families.
Wait a minute. The Red Cross knowingly distributes HIV blood and they pay a fine of US $4,000? Shouldn’t that be somewhere in the ballpark of $4,000,000, or better yet, $40,000,000? What kind of lesson is learned by slapping a nominal fine on an organization who has been putting out tainted blood for nearly 25 years?
