That's Right, The Women Are Smarter

Some major breakthroughs in Congress - none of which have anything to do with gay marriage (I'll comment on that later) - took place today.

The Senate approved a $26 billion bill to pay for Medicaid reimbursements and save the jobs of 130000 teachers nationwide after Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) joined Democrats in breaking a Republican filibuster.

At that news, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared her intention to call the House back into session during the August recess so her chamber could pass the same bill and send it to President Obama for his signature. She made it clear that she wanted to get this done.

Meanwhile, Senator Deborah Stabenow (D-MI) introduced a bill in the Senate that could be a game changer for Democrats in the midterms. Senator Stabenow's bill would extend unemployment benefits by twenty weeks and also provide with tax breaks to businesses to encourage them to hire the long-term unemployed. Activists are already working on a plan to hit Republicans with e-mails, faxes and phone calls to get the support of at least two senators to help her bill pass.

If you want something done in Congress, get a woman to do it. :-)

Pains In the Neck

Rush Limbaugh revealed the depth of his compassion for the unemployed. Speaking with and unemployed 49-year-old male caller about the severity of the man's employment situation, Limbaugh was so touched by his story - after he learned that he didn't vote for Obama - that he gave him information for getting a free massage from one of Limbaugh's sponsors to relieve his stress.

I would have preferred a fruit basket. At least then I'd have something to eat.

Meanwhile, someone suggested to Sarah Palin that Glenn Beck should be her vice presidential running mate if she is nominated to run for President in 2012. Palin praised Beck in response.

This story has given me something no masseur can relieve. :-O

The Green and the Greatest

I read two interesting stories in this morning's paper regarding Ireland. The country currently suffers from a 12.4 percent unemployment rate - the second-highest unemployment rate among the sixteen countries using the euro, after Spain. This is the result of a rather reckless and speculative period of prosperity in Ireland that came to a crashing halt when the global economy did.

The people of the Irish town of Ennis, anyway, got some good cheer from one of their favorite sons - Muhammad Ali. It has long since been proven that Ali had an Irish great-grandfather, Abe Grady, who emigrated from Ennis, in County Clare, to America just before the Civil War. Ali visited the town recently and received a hero's welcome, the residents happy to claim him as one of their own. A champion of human rights, Ali, I'm sure, expresses interest in and appreciates the nine hundred years of oppression the Irish had to go through. Heck, he's one of us!

Ireland continues to suffer under the weight of its history as well as under its current malaise, and I'm certainly happy that Ali's presence in his great-grandfather's hometown lightened the load and give a glimmer of possibility to the townspeople. Call him the Great Green Hope.

Kelly green, that is. :-)