What is the world coming to? Mexican lawmakers demand probe of beauty pagents

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/6182841.html

Man, if you can't believe in the sanctity of a Mexican beauty pageant, what is there left to believe in?

The hits just keep on coming...Minnesota recount slashes Coleman's 300+ vote lead to just 2 votes

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/18/colemans-lead-dwindles-votes-minnesota-senate-race/

It's a good thing they scrutinized Franken's challenges first. That way, they knew exactly how many votes they had to create in order to swipe the election. It reminds me of the 2004 Washington Governor's race. It took three recounts to add enough Democrat votes to win the election. Then, when the Dem had the lead, they called the election over.

*sigh*

Update: At the 1:30 pm ABC Radio news update it was reported that Franken has taken the lead in this election for the first time.

*sigh*

Where's Jimmy Carter to observe and police this election? He's obviously MIA, perhaps looking for something to blame on US Oil Companies.

Wall Street Journal's Auto Bailout factsheet

http://blogs.wsj.com/autoshow/2008/12/19/autos-bailout-fact-sheet/

Here's what the Automakers MUST do:

Binding Terms and Conditions: The binding terms and conditions established by the Treasury will mirror those that were voted favorably by a majority of both Houses of Congress, including:
Firms must provide warrants for non-voting stock.
Firms must accept limits on executive compensation and eliminate perks such as corporate jets.
Debt owed to the government would be senior to other debts, to the extent permitted by law.
Firms must allow the government to examine their books and records.
Firms must report and the government has the power to block any large transactions (> $100 M).
Firms must comply with applicable Federal fuel efficiency and emissions requirements.
Firms must not issue new dividends while they owe government debt.

Here are the "targets" (read: stuff that sounds like a good idea, but the UAW wouldn't agree to it in the Senate version of the bailout, so you don't have to do it if you don't feel like it as long as you can come up with a good excuse, but we're trying to not look like total sell outs, so we're putting it into the verbiage):

Targets: The terms and conditions established by Treasury will include additional targets that were the subject of Congressional negotiations but did not come to a vote, including:
Reduce debts by 2/3 via a debt for equity exchange.
Make one-half of VEBA payments in the form of stock.
Eliminate the jobs bank.
Work rules that are competitive with transplant auto manufacturers by 12/31/09.
Wages that are competitive with those of transplant auto manufacturers by 12/31/09.
These terms and conditions would be non-binding in the sense that negotiations can deviate from the quantitative targets above, providing that the firm reports the reasons for these deviations and makes the business case to achieve long-term viability in spite of the deviations.

Spender-In-Chief defies the wishes of the taxpayers. US automakers lose their best chance to become competitive and profitable

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/19/report-white-house-auto-industry-low-loans/

-No reorganization
-No mandated end to paying UAW workers to sit and play cards
-No mandated deadline as to when UAW and executive concessions must take effect
-No oversight as to the use of the $13+ billion in taxpayer funds
-No built-in incentive to become leaner, sharper and smarter
-No guarantee that this won't all happen again just months from now - with (future) American taxpayers being $13 billion poorer

Thanks, George. I'm sure you would have done the same for any of us if we were hurting. Oh, wait. We are.

Pope Benedict on Christmas during tough economic times

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/ap/20081217/twl-eu-vatican-christmas-crisis-c8e2916.html

VATICAN CITY - The world economic crisis might mean fewer Christmas
presents, but Pope Benedict XVI says that tough times can give back simplicity
and solidarity to holiday celebrations. Benedict has expressed hope that the
financial crisis will help people focus on the spiritual meaning of Christmas,
when Christians worldwide mark the birth of Jesus.
Benedict says the crisis can help people to rediscover what he calls "the warmth, simplicity, friendship and solidarity" contained in authentic Christmas values.
The pope reflected on economic suffering during his traditional Wednesday audience with pilgrims and tourists at the Vatican.

Minnesota Canvassing Board could finish this week. Legal challenges are expected

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=532595&catid=2

One has to wonder, how did they determine who's challenged ballots would be evaluated first? Did they go though Franken's challenges first so they would know how many votes they would need to produce in order to swipe the seat? Hmmmm.

Minneapolis Star Tribune: Canvassing Board sorts through challenged ballots

http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/senate/36207459.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUX

How did the first 15-20 minutes go?

Of the first five challenges, the panel rejected three, restoring votes
that had originally gone to Coleman. It upheld two challenges, one adding a vote
to Franken and the other taking one away from Coleman.

Now they move on to the remaining 995 or so challenged ballots. It is now officially ugly.