News Items That Seem Strange To Me
By Gary Gerard,
dumbhoosier.com
A hodgepodge of news items that seem strange to me.
Occupy Oakland
The Occupy people in Oakland, Calif., shut down the Port of
Oakland earlier this week. They targeted the port largely
because they knew the Longshoremen’s union there had a
clause in its contract that allowed the union to honor other
groups’ work stoppages.
Cool.
But the net effect was idling a bunch of dock workers and
truck drivers and delivery people. Seems like the Occupy
guys went after the 99 percent instead of the 1 percent.
I read on an L.A. Times blog that there were confrontations
with several truckers and longshoremen who just wanted to go
to work.
Bieber’s Baby?
Mariah Yeater claims heartthrob Justin Bieber is the father
of her 3-month-old baby boy and is seeking to establish
paternity.
But the tables may be turned because at the time she and the
pop star allegedly hooked up, he would have only been 16.
That would mean Bieber was legally a minor. The L.A. cops
say they may be investigating Yeater’s claims. If her claims
are true, she could face prosecution.
Now, seriously, if you were going after somebody famous like
Bieber, wouldn’t you get some decent legal advice first to
avoid just such an eventuality?
Greek Drama
Greece agreed last week to a package of cuts in government
benefits and programs as part of a bailout package from the
European Union to stave off certain financial doom.
Problem is, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou this week
decided the package would have to be put to a nationwide
referendum before it could be enacted.
Papandreou said he trusted the Greek people to do the right
thing and vote for the bailout package. Yeah, right. You
know nobody is going to vote to cut their own benefits.
So the opposition leader called for Papandreou to resign and
the leaders of France and Germany warned that Greece would
be kicked out of the Euro zone if Greek voters rejected the
plan.
At this writing, Papandreou had changed his mind and said
the referendum wouldn’t be necessary after all.
Why was it so hard to reach that brain-buster of a decision?
Herman Cain
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain fumbled and
bumbled through a week of tough questioning by the media.
Seems some women from Cain’s past, when he was head of the
National Restaurant Association, say he sexually harassed
them.
They got a settlement from the association. The stuff
happened back in 1999.
Cain has been all over the map when talking to the press
about the incidents. Seems his team wasn’t very well
prepared to deal with a scandal of this magnitude.
But you know what?
The guy actually got a bump in the polls and most voters say
the scandal isn’t that big a deal.
So he remains in a statistical dead heat with Mitt Romney as
frontrunner for the nomination.
But remember who won the Iowa caucuses in the 2008 election
cycle?
Mike Huckabee.
Nancy Pelosi
House Democratic Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said
she supports the growing nationwide Occupy Wall Street
movement.
“I support the message to the establishment, whether it’s
Wall Street or the political establishment and the rest,
that change has to happen,” said Pelosi in an exclusive
interview with ABC News “This Week” anchor Christiane
Amanpour.
“We cannot continue in a way this is not relevant to their
lives.”
No surprise that she supports these folks. I mean, after
all, she’s taken tons of money from unions and has enjoyed
union support over the years, helping her to get re-elected
repeatedly in her San Francisco district since 1987.
She received the Cesar Chavez Award from the United Farm
Workers Union. And in 2005, she co-sponsored a bill to award
Chavez posthumously with the Congressional Gold Medal.
But, ironically, interesting is the fact that her and her
husband’s Napa vineyards and winery, which are worth around
$25 million, are non-union.
And Hoover Institute fellow and New York Times contributor
Peter Schweizer notes that Pelosi has garnered more money
from the hotel employees and restaurant employees unions
than any other member of Congress.
Yet, in addition to her wine business, she and her husband
own a large, multi-million-dollar stake in an exclusive
resort hotel in Wine Country, the Napa Valley Auberge Du
Soleil Resort.
That joint has more than 250 employees, but not one is
in a union.
And, Schweizer reports the Pelosis also are partners in a
900-employee restaurant chain called Piatti which is – you
guessed it – non-union.
I mean, hey, you can’t expect people like the Pelosis to
have to pay those higher union wages, right?
One of my favorite movie lines was uttered by Val Kilmer as
Doc Holiday in “Tombstone.” I think it’s appropriate here.
“My hypocrisy knows no bounds.”
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