CoOlDiGgY: Mar 8, 2010

the big story (late edition)

Democrat Eric Massa: Democrats ousted me over health care

Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) says the House ethics committee is investigating him for inappropriate comments he made to a male staffer on New Year's Eve — and that he's the victim of a power play by Democratic leaders who want him out of Congress because he's a "no" vote on health care reform.

"Mine is now the deciding vote on the health care bill," Massa, who on Friday announced his intention to resign, said during a long monologue on radio station WKPQ. "And this administration and this House leadership have said, quote-unquote, they will stop at nothing to pass this health care bill. And now they've gotten rid of me, and it will pass. You connect the dots."

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RELATED: Kucinich Becomes Target Of Health Care Whip Campaign

earlier:

US Gave $107B to Firms Dodging Iran Sanctions

New York Times finds that firms who are violating Iranian sanctions routinely get contracts from both Obama and Bush administrations

Want to thumb your nose at US sanctions, and sink some money in Iran? That's OK, the US government doesn't mind—to the tune of some $107 billion it's given in federal contracts and grants to corporations doing business with Tehran. As the New York Times reports, a large portion of that went to Iran's energy sector—a huge financial boon to both Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

Both the Obama and Bush administrations have spotty records, and it's difficult to exert control over foreign companies or foreign subsidiaries of US companies. Recent political tensions have led various companies to pull out of Iran, but according to the Times, 49 of 74 firms that have dealt both with Tehran and Washington have no stated intention of leaving the former.

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CoOlDiGgY news (late edition)

Fed To Keep Bank Oversight

The (PRIVATELY-OWNED) Federal Reserve has won its battle to maintain singular regulatory oversight of America's major financial institutions, the Financial Times reported Sunday night.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) gave up the fight for a new super-regulator over the weekend, and will propose financial reforms this week that leave the Fed in control of big banks and the rest of the major Wall Street players

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*U.S. Sales Tax Rates Hit Record High

*Dissenters To Be Detained As “Enemy Belligerents”?

*Greeks Brace for More Strikes, Protests

earlier:

Palin: I snuck to Canada for healthcare

Sarah Palin's family used to "hustle" across the Canadian border to get healthcare, the former Alaska governor said this weekend..
In a speech in Calgary, Palin called it "ironic" that while growing up in a small Alaskan town near the Canadian border, her family used to sneak across the border to take advantage of the Canadian healthcare system.

"We used to hustle over the border for healthcare we received in Canada," she said, according to Medicine Hat News (via Dave Weigel.) "And I think now, isn't that ironic."

It's ironic, of course, because Palin and other Republicans have argued that Democratic healthcare reform will put the U.S. on the path toward Canada's "socialized" healthcare system.

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*Death Penalty declared unconstitutional. In Texas!

*Nigeria ethnic violence 'leaves hundreds dead'

*Dozens killed in Turkey earthquake

*Idea About A European Monetary Fund Gains Ground In Brussels

*Growing low-oxygen zones in oceans worry scientists

*Al Qaeda mouthpiece Adam Gadahn NOT in custody

*Shooting at Dallas bank

*Rep. Massa Blames White House For Ousting Him From His Seat

*Israel 'risking peace talks' with West Bank building

*Iraq vote turnout figures released

Over The Weekend:

*Obama Plan To Modify Second Mortgages Has Yet To Help One Homeowner

*Unemployment For Older Americans Surged 331 Percent Over Past Decade

*Insurers Set To Raise Prices, Walk Away From Consumers

*Latino livery taxis battle cabbies in central Mass

the fairer sex (late edition)

the Girls of CoOlDiGgY

(coming soon)

The Great Cleavage Oscar Wars or 2010

You will remember where you were the night breasts battle for surpremacy. It was a war. We just don't want to have an exit strategy.

earlier:
CoOlDiGgY goes to the Oscars (and were told to leave)
Okay, so we didn't go exactly. We wanted to but there was so much traffic and then WoW had an update and then it started to rain. And Auntie Ruth wanted us to look at a weird mole in her....Anyway, we did set the TiVo for hot babes and boobies. But here's some our faves: