Friday's Odds and Ends

The wealthy American mother of three children who were found dead in an Edinburgh town house will face criminal charges in a Scottish court. Authorities issued an arrest warrant against Theresa Riggi, 46, as police completed autopsies on her children — 8-year-old twins Augustino and Gianluca and their sister Cecilia, 5. Riggi is currently going through a bitter divorce with her American oil industry executive husband, Pasquale Riggi, 46, of Colorado. They were contesting the custody of their children. 

Why do the children always have to suffer?

And speaking of suffering children. What about all the children "forgotten" in vehicles who die horrible deaths in the heat? We read about it all the time. A parent forgot to drop a child off at day care. Or a day-care worker forgot a child in the back of the van. How can you forget? It is beyond my comprehension. Some people think it is understandable what with all the distractions in the world today. They also think that Congress should step up and require automakers to install technology that would remind parents to remove kids from the back seat.


If parents are so busy and so stressed out that they can forget their children, then maybe it is time they re-evaluate their lives.


A recent headline: GM Shows Healthy Profit
General Motors shows signs of strength as it posts $1.3 billion profit, but the automaker still owes the government — and American taxpayers — more than $43 billion in federal bailout money it took after it declared bankruptcy last June. Okay, GM execs, are you going to forgo your bonus so we can have our money back?

Christ United Methodist Church in Plano, Texas builds a house every summer for a needy family. Applicants have to be employed  and able to make the mortgage payment of about $550. For that they get a nice 3-bedroom house. Sweet.

Can the President Really do This?

The other day President Barack Obama told Rick Wagoner, CEO of General Motors, to step down. First of all, I couldn't believe that the president would actually do that, and I was shocked that Wagoner agreed. And I can't help but wonder what happened behind the scenes to lead to this.

Wagoner's tenure as CEO of General Motors occurred during a recession and high gas prices that led to a sharp decline in GM stock value, and inthe last four years GM lost $82 billion. Even so, the federal government has no authority to dictate to businesses.

There is some talk that there are more measures proposed by the government that will impact workers, unions, suppliers, shareholders, retirees and the communities where plants are located.

I suppose that the White House is justifying the interferance because of the millions of dollars that have been loaned to General Motors and Chrysler in recent months. The taxpayers are asking for accountability and transparancy as to how this money is being used. But I haven't met a taxpayer yet who supports the president telling people how to conduct business.

We are swiftly moving toward a socialistic absolutism, which is a form of government in which a single leader or party exercises absolute control over all citizens and every aspect of their lives.

I don't know about you, but I like to control my own life, thank you very much.