Monday Morning Minutes

1. This child did not have to die.
   

   Only weeks after her birth Dana, the Lennox Head grand-daughter of former Kangaroo Ken McCaffery, contracted whooping cough.
   
   On Monday she died. She was only four weeks old.
   
   “We miss her so much and are devastated that such a beautiful, innocent child is the victim of ignorance. She never stood a chance against this epidemic.”

   
   Hat tip to Left Brain/Right Brain where it is also noted that this disease is on the rise in the US. How many more people have to die before we stop letting our actions be dictated by those spreading false fears about vaccines?


2. We've been the "Great Satan" to Iran since at least 1979 so I'm not really surprised that this didn't go over too well.
   

   Iran’s Supreme Leader Dismisses Obama Overtures
   
   Iran's supreme leader rebuffed President Barack Obama's latest outreach on Saturday, saying Tehran was still waiting to see concrete changes in U.S. policy.
   
   Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was responding to a video message Obama released Friday in which he reached out to Iran on the occasion of Nowruz, the Persian new year, and expressed hopes for an improvement in nearly 30 years of strained relations.
   
   Khamenei holds the last word on major policy decisions, and how Iran ultimately responds to any concrete U.S. effort to engage the country will depend largely on his say.
   
   In his most direct assessment of Obama and prospects for better ties, Khamenei said there will be no change between the two countries unless the American president puts an end to U.S. hostility toward Iran and brings ''real changes'' in foreign policy.
   
   ''They chant the slogan of change but no change is seen in practice. We haven't seen any change,'' Khamenei said in a speech before a crowd of tens of thousands in the northeastern holy city of Mashhad.
   
   ***
   
   Khamenei, wearing a black turban and dark robes, said America was hated around the world for its arrogance, as the crowd chanted ''Death to America.''



3. There are thirteen companies who have received bailout money who owe more than $220 million in unpaid federal taxes. We don't know the names of those companies because they can't be released for legal reasons (I was sorely tempted to break the scare quotes for that lame excuse). Yet Barney Frank obstinately demands the names of AIG employees who received bonuses to be made public despite clear evidence of threats made against these people and their families. Some priorities. Also, the expression "tin ear" comes to mind.


4. What she said, "Chris Dodd: For AIG bonuses before he was against them."


5. I trust we can all agree now that writing, voting on, and signing into law a piece of legislation without first taking time to read the blasted thing and consider its implications is perhaps not a good thing? No? Oh come on. You guys are no fun.


6. Dumb. As. Rocks. (Apologies to any silicon based life forms that may come across this post.) Vandalizing a Marine Corp recruiting center. Apparently in protest of the Iraq War which did not miraculously end on November 4, 2008 nor January 20, 2009.