January 05, 2005

Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes

Good on ya, mates:

Prime Minister John Howard pledged $1 billion to help Indonesia get back on its feet from the ravages of the Boxing Day tsunami, stealing the lead on other world leaders who will gather in Jakarta on Thursday to discuss the aid program.

But "stealing the lead" seems a bit churlish and editorial in nature, doesn't it? But in another of the good news/bad news depending on your perspective:

North Korea has ordered its citizens to be ready for a protracted war against the United States, issuing guidelines on evacuating to underground bunkers with weapons, food and portraits of leader Kim Jong Il.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, I included this below in the No, No, No, No post, but maybe this is a sign that the end is near for the world's most foolishly wicked man and that the salvation of the long-suffering North Korean people is nigh. Well, I can hope. Just like I can hope that this more equal than others hypocrite is nailed for..., wait for it ..., fake turkey giving:

The director of a Detroit food bank wants to know what happened to 60 turkeys -- 720 pounds of frozen birds -- that his charity gave to members of U.S. Rep. John Conyers' local staff two days before Thanksgiving to give to needy people.

Conyers' Detroit office promised an accounting of any turkey distribution by Dec. 27, but the Gleaners Community Food Bank had received no paperwork as of Tuesday, said the charity's director, Agostinho Fernandes.

Fernandes said he became suspicious that the turkeys didn't get to poor people after hearing from a friend that a federal court worker had said he was offered free turkeys from a member of Conyers' staff.

Isn't it all rather typical that Congressman Conyer's office has promised an "accounting of any turkey distribution," but no actual turkeys for the poor? Maybe they can use some of the leftover sauce for this gander in Washington:

State House and Senate leaders who gather here next week will announce that, hearing no objection, the Legislature hereby ratifies the 2004 election.

But with the prospect that Republicans may contest the race that Gov.-elect Christine Gregoire won by 129 votes over Dino Rossi in a controversial hand recount, that tradition might become the first casualty of the Legislative session.

House Minority Leader Bruce Chandler, R-Granger, said yesterday that unless questions are answered about the election process -- specifically about how several counties counted thousands more votes than there were voters recorded -- Republicans plan to object.

Chandler said House Republicans plan to "work with whoever wins the race," but he added that with all the unanswered questions, "we don't know who won the election, and we never will."

Of course, now that they've "won" some people just want to, to borrow a phrase, move on:

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said it's time to put the election behind and move forward to address the pressing issues of the state. She said election officials followed the rules. Brown said Republicans are upset because their candidate lost.

Takes one to know one, eh Lisa?

Posted by Charles Austin at January 5, 2005 03:46 PM
Comments

Among other aspects of the "Turkeygate" episode for John Conyers was the pesky fact that one of the two people who received those frozen turkeys had been recently convicted of a crime which forced him off Conyers' staff. The other pesky fact was that the second of two people who collected those turkeys from the Gleaners Food Bank was Conyers' deputy chief of staff.

It's not like Conyers can claim his DCOS was unaware of that conviction. Nor can Conyers produce a list of bona fide recipients for those turkeys. The states' welfare office (ahem, the Michigan Family Independence Agency) has stated they do *NOT* make lists like that for public distribution.

Posted by: weaselteeth at 10:29 PM