Well, maybe you'll only laugh if you're from Minnesota, but I find this just freakin' hysterical.

Dealing a stunning blow to Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the Legislature, a Ramsey County judge Tuesday struck down a tobacco fee that promised to raise $401 million over the next two years for the state.

Ramsey County District Judge Michael Fetsch ruled that the fee of 75 cents per pack violated a settlement between the government and tobacco companies that barred the state from seeking additional money from the firms to pay for health care costs related to smoking.

The ruling could jeopardize the comfortable budget surplus that the state has been counting on and pose a major embarrassment to Pawlenty and legislative incumbents just in time for a critical election year.{...}

Now that's funny. The part that's not so funny is this:

"We are very disappointed by the court's ruling and will ask for an immediate appeal directly to the Minnesota Supreme Court," Pawlenty said in a statement. He also is considering "using existing administrative authority" to apply the fee at retail outlets.{...}

{my emphasis}

Did you get that? Pawlenty wants to keep collecting the tax while he appeals it---even though it's not really clear that he can appeal it due to the terms of the settlement---and is considering using administrative authority to apply the tax fee. It's apparently so important to the Governor to keep collecting this tax fee that he's willing to violate the state's consitution to do so.

Can you say "illegal" boys and girls? The better question is can Governor Pawlenty say it?

I agree with Doug and David---it would be much better for Pawlenty in the long run to just drop this stupid tax fee and move on. There is another way to find $400 million dollars to balance the budget: it's called reduced spending. The guv didn't even have to cut spending. He just had to reduce it---you know, spend a little less than normal and he would never have had to start up this tax health impact fee business to begin with.

Pawlenty, in an effort to not piss people off, has pretty much pissed everyone off. There's a life lesson in all of this, if you're willing to look for it.

Posted by: Kathy at 11:14 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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In Germany, apparently, when you're sentenced to life in prison for killing a US Navy diver and hijacking a TWA jet, you get out of prison after almost nineteen years.

Then you get to get on a plane and leave the country. Where you can then disappear.

BEIRUT, Lebanon - A Lebanese man serving a life sentence in Germany for the 1985 hijacking of a TWA jetliner and killing of a
U.S. Navy diver has returned to Lebanon after being paroled in Germany, security and guerrilla officials said Tuesday.

Mohammed Ali Hamadi arrived in Beirut four days ago on a commercial flight from Germany, a Lebanese security official and a Hezbollah guerrilla group said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

It was not known where Hamadi, who spent 19 years in prison, went after entering Lebanon.

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut refused to comment on Hamadi's release or whether the United States will pursue his arrest. The slain diver's brother called the parole "absolutely disturbing."{...}

{my emphasis}

Oh, and there's this little bit that gets the eyebrows to rising:

{...}German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger said there was no connection between Hamadi's release and the recent freeing of former hostage Susanne Osthoff, a German woman released over the weekend after spending more than three weeks as a captive in Iraq.{...}

Hamadi was released last Friday. Ostoff was released by her captors in Iraq over the weekend. He was allowed to leave the country, which is pretty unusual in any parole situation, no matter what country you're in.

You can draw your own conclusions.

Thanks Germany!

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And they said it couldn't be done! They said, "gee, those people don't have any historical experience with democracy; they won't know what to do with it. Should we really try and impose our western values on them?"

And the answer is, "Yep."

WASHINGTON - As the political battle intensifies over President Bush's efforts to spread democracy to Iraq and the Middle East, an influential human rights organization, Freedom House, has found that the past year brought significant improvements in personal and political rights across the region.

Reports of increased freedom emerged from Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinian territories, and observers attributed the results to the Bush administration's support of fledgling democracies worldwide.

The findings were released yesterday as part of Freedom House's Freedom in the World 2006 report, a global survey of political rights and civil liberties published annually by the organization since 1972. The report evaluates countries based largely on criteria drawn from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and rates countries under the categories "political rights" and "civil liberties" on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 indicating the greatest level of freedom.

This year's Freedom in the World based its evaluations on events that took place between December 1, 2004, and November 30. During that time, according to the study, the number of electoral democracies increased from 119 to 122, the most in the report's 33-year history.

In the Middle East, the sweep of successful democratic elections was the decisive factor in improving the region's ratings, Freedom House's research director and a co-editor of Freedom in the World, Arch Puddington, said yesterday.

The most significant change, Mr. Puddington said, took place in Lebanon. Freedom House uses countries' numerical ratings to divide nations into three categories: "free," "partly free," and "not free." This year, Lebanon transitioned from "not free" to "partly free," largely owing to its "Cedar Revolution" in February and March, Mr. Puddington said.{...}

Go read the whole thing.

{Hat Tip: Fausta}

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Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

On the same wavelength as Jeff's post, but not so much that I'm going to toil and try to tie them together---I leave that to you, my devoted Cake Eater readers---Morgan Freeman has said some interesting things in a 60 Minutes interview that will air Sunday:

Morgan Freeman says the concept of a month dedicated to black history is "ridiculous." "You're going to relegate my history to a month?" {...}"I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history."

{...}Freeman notes there is no "white history month," and says the only way to get rid of racism is to "stop talking about it."

The actor says he believes the labels "black" and "white" are an obstacle to beating racism.

"I am going to stop calling you a white man and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man," Freeman says.{...}

I can't wait to watch and see Mike Wallace lose it. That'll be worth whatever CBS' share of the DirecTV's bill actually is---which, if you do the math and take into consideration that we have 300+ channels with DirecTV, is somewhere around $0.20 per month.

Which is totally fair market value to see Mike Wallace sputter incoherently, if you ask me. I wouldn't pay a dime more.

Posted by: Kathy at 11:37 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Iran's freely elected President is at it again:

{...}TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has reiterated his doubt about the Holocaust and called on Muslim nations to take a proactive stand on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, state media reported Tuesday.

The president's comments, published on Iranian state television's Web site, were the second time in a week he has expressed doubt about the Nazi genocide of Jews during World War II. In October, Ahmadinejad also said Israel should be "wiped off the map."

"If the killing of Jews in Europe is true," the Web site quoted Ahmadinejad as saying during a speech at an Islamic conference in Tehran, "and the Zionists are being supported because of this excuse, why should the Palestinian nation pay the price?"{...}

{my emphasis}

When it comes, remember that this guy asked for it.

Posted by: Kathy at 10:42 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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...perhaps the ever-growing list of idiot celebrities who want to save a murderer who has shown no remorse for the crimes which put him on death row, would find it in their interest to take a look at the case of Cory Maye.

You know, if they're really interested in social justice, fighting the man!, etc., this might be the more worthwhile cause to use their celebrity for.

And people might actually have respect for them instead of contempt.

It's just a suggestion.

Posted by: Kathy at 10:17 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Bubba proves, once again, that he's a two-faced, spotlight hog:

MONTREAL - A contentious U.N. climate conference entered its final day Friday with the long-term future undecided in the fight against global warming, and with a surprise visitor on tap to rally the "pro-Kyoto" forces.

Bill Clinton, who as president championed the Kyoto Protocol clamping controls on "greenhouse gases," was scheduled to speak at the conference Friday afternoon — in an unofficial capacity but potentially at a critical point in backroom talks involving the U.S. delegation.

The U.S. envoys, representing a Bush administration that renounced the Kyoto pact, were said to be displeased by the 11th-hour surprise, although there was no formal protest, according to an official in the Canadian government, the conference host.

This official spoke on condition of anonymity because as a civil servant — not a politician — he is barred from the public light during Canada's current election season.

The U.S. delegation was meeting late Thursday and had no immediate public comment, said spokeswoman Susan Povenmire.

Clinton, who was invited here by the City of Montreal, will speak in the main conference hall between the official morning and afternoon plenary sessions, said U.N. conference spokesman John Hay. Despite its unofficial nature, the speech was sure to attract hundreds of delegates from the more than 180 countries represented.

A city spokesman said the ex-president will be representing the William J. Clinton Foundation, which operates the Clinton Global Initiative, a program focusing on climate change as a business opportunity.

Clinton's vice president, Al Gore, was instrumental in final negotiations on the 1997 treaty protocol initialed in the Japanese city of Kyoto. It mandates cutbacks in 35 industrialized nations of emissions of carbon dioxide and five other gases by 2012.{...}

Isn't this what the French would call a "le slap in ze face?" Why the hell isn't the US delegation protesting? This is a humongous breach in diplomatic etiquette. Former Presidents, or former leaders of any country, not just the United States, do not attend conferences or summits where their home country is already formally represented by the government which currently holds power. It confuses people; it sends the wrong message. The message Bubba's appearance in Montreal sends to the world is, "Well, never mind what the Bush administration says, there are Americans who agree with you. There's still hope for Kyoto."

But you see the thing is is that there isn't hope for Kyoto---at least as far as the United States is concerned---and Bubba knows this. After all, it's a policy that began in his administration. If Bubba had really wanted Kyoto to be ratified, he would have submitted it to the Senate for ratification and actively worked toward that end. But Bubba didn't do that. He knew Kyoto wasn't going to be ratified by the Senate when he had Al Gore sign the stupid thing, so like all legislation he couldn't automatically count on coming straight to his desk with universal acclaim, he didn't bother with it. Bush, at least, had the guts to be honest about his intentions, whereas Clinton was, once again, a gutless wonder who couldn't get a damn thing done---even on a treaty which he'd made the United States a signatory.

I am sick to 'effin death of the Bush Bashing by the climate change freaks. It's amazing: Bush has dealt honestly and fairly with them. He's told them flat-out that he is not going to submit the treaty for ratification---and it's the Senate who ratifies treaties, by the way, not the President---because he doesn't think it's fair to the United States. He could have sent the treaty up to the Senate for ratification and shifted the responsibility for its failure onto the Senate's back, but he didn't do that. He didn't believe it was a treaty the US should have signed, so the buck stopped with him. Yet, despite his lack of interest in Kyoto, Bush is interested in climate change; he's not in willful denial of it; he just doesn't think Kyoto's the way to go---he wants more options that don't lay the bill at the foot of the US economy. The climate change people should be thankful that he's at least told them the truth about US participation, and then gone forward to see what the US needed to participate. But they haven't done that. It's Kyoto or bust! Clinton was, as usual, dishonest. Not only to the American people, but to the world as well. He lied to them when he had Al Gore sign the stupid thing, knowing full well he did not intend to send the treaty to the Senate for ratification. You'd think they would be pissed to holy hell with him. But they're not. The climate change freaks, apparently, enjoy being lied to. They appreciate a honeyed, forked tongue, as opposed to one that tells the truth.

Why the US representatives at the UN conference haven't lodged a formal protest over Bubba's presence, I don't know. But I sure as hell want them to. He has no business being there. Absolutely none. And if the US representatives don't call him on it this time, he's just going to keep on showing up at these things, ultimately undermining their position and any progress they might have made. It's past time to call him on his attention seeking behavior.

UPDATE: Asshole

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The Twin Cities' Gay Men's Chorus answered the phones during TPT's (Twin Cities Public Television) latest flog-a-thon and one of Frater's readers, one Ross from Burnsville, wants to know who knew what and when did they know it:

{...}Here are some questions: Did TPT disclose to its audience during the Andy Williams special that their phones were being answered by the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus? It seems inappropriate that such a group would be answering the phones during this kind of programming. What exactly is the relationship between TPT and the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus? Is TPT funding this group? If so, how much is TPT giving them? Would these men really be volunteers if TPT is funding them?

Well, far be it from me to point this out, Ross, but maybe, just maybe, the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus likes to have Andy Williams programming on TPT, and they would like to show their support for such choice programming by answering phones no one else wants to answer. Perhaps they like Andy Williams just as much as your average, Burnsville residing, straight guy and his wife and that's why they were answering the phones during TPT's flog-a-thon.

The chorus' alleged love of the stylings of Andy Williams aside, I suppose they could have also been doing it for the PR, too. Because they do have products to sell and concert halls to fill. And, as we all know, things just don't sell themselves, so if the chorus had to go over to St. Paul and answer phones for a crummy two second endorsement of their products, they'll do that. Because that's usually what being a "media partner" of TPT entails---TPT gets free labor and money and everyone else gets bupkiss.

Ya think either one of those answers could possibly be right, or do we need an independent prosecutor to convene a grand jury to really get to the bottom of things?

Posted by: Kathy at 03:41 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Just ask Kathleen Blanco.

She can tell you how much more important it is to look good, rather than it is to do good.

Because looking good is what really matters in this world.

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