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Friday Open Thread

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Blog Related
Posted on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:02:05 PM EST
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Busy day. What's going on?

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    MN Senate trial starts Jan. 26 (5.00 / 3) (#9)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:38:00 PM EST
    after Franken, in last few days, lost bid to get court to just call the whole thing off.  On the other hand, this is a starting date sooner than Coleman wanted, as I recall.  On the other hand, the court will review some ballots not looked at yet.  On the other hand . . . well, there are not enough hands to handle all the back and forth on this case already, with much more to come.

    But some MN media still hold to their guess that there won't be a second senator there until spring -- although, per yesterday's comment, I still see no clarity as to whether than means spring on the calendar (March) or spring in the upper Midwest (May . . . maybe).

    Thanks for the update (none / 0) (#12)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:41:41 PM EST
    Hope they meant calendar spring on that. March is long enough to wait.

    Parent
    Synopsis of the issues that will be tried (none / 0) (#17)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:49:46 PM EST
    Here.

    So Coleman will try to establish that the ballots have not been counted uniformly, and the different methods led to an inaccurate count.

    I think this is probably a valid argument in every election we have. I'm sure someone here has already posted about this and I wasn't paying enough attention, but it seems to me that a new election in MN is a not at all an improbable outcome. It will be interesting to see how the court can possibly sort this out.

    Parent

    Bad link again (none / 0) (#18)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:51:44 PM EST
    Try this

    I will learn to preview religiously.

    Parent

    I like to live dangerously (none / 0) (#22)
    by andgarden on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:58:22 PM EST
    so. . .NO PREVIEW! ;-)

    Parent
    Livin' on the edge.... (5.00 / 2) (#29)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:05:31 PM EST
    sometimes I don't even check my spelling either. I'm a wild thing!

    Parent
    A new election? I don't (none / 0) (#130)
    by oldpro on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 07:36:20 PM EST
    see how that is fair...different voting pool; some died, some came of voting age since Nov. 4, etc.

    Does Minnesota law allow for a redo?  Even a court-ordered one?  I can't imagine that it does.

    Parent

    One of the Judges, (none / 0) (#27)
    by eric on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:03:41 PM EST
    Reilly, has a trial set for February 16 in a case my office is involved in.  I guess we can count on a continuance in that one!

    Parent
    This contest is over (none / 0) (#116)
    by WS on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 06:36:24 PM EST
    Coleman is just prolonging his agony.  Senate Republicans even gave committee ratios based on a 59-41 split.  

    Parent
    I suspect he has funding (5.00 / 1) (#126)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 07:10:34 PM EST
    from the national GOP, and it has an agenda in this -- maybe a committee appointment if the Dems are short one senator or something?  Or just mixing it up in Minnesota to help its Repub gov.  Or ?

    Parent
    Well, I think the Republicans (none / 0) (#136)
    by WS on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 08:29:47 PM EST
    just want to delay the 59th Democratic Senator (and very liberal) for as long as possible.  They're just fine with Coleman destroying his future electoral prospects with his unending and sour grape-ish lawsuits so long as he can keep Franken in limbo status.  But we'll have a Senator Franken sooner or later.  

       

    Parent

    Cold here. (5.00 / 1) (#14)
    by Fabian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:46:26 PM EST
    Let my son out to play by himself.  I promised I would go out tomorrow.  He came back in for extra layers and went out for a little while longer.

    Schools are closed for the cold today.  Most schools are running short of calamity days since they burned most of them in September courtesy of Hurricane Ike.  I still feel betrayed by that.  We aren't supposed to get hurricanes.  

    Your kid (5.00 / 2) (#23)
    by liminal on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:59:04 PM EST
    has some serious fortitude!  

    No kids here, but when I left for work this morning, I forced my outside cat to stay inside.  He was quite perturbed, but I'd rather have him mad than frozen.  

    Parent

    My cats are mad (5.00 / 1) (#31)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:10:28 PM EST
    and crazed trying to get to their catnip mouse toy, now buried under a ceiling that now is on the floor, thanks to a frozen pipe.  Back I go to the third repairman in two days plus the insurance guy.  But we're out the first $500 for sure, with $350 of that gone to the heating guys yesterday.

    At least our water bill can go down now, as it's finally above zero, so I can turn off the trickles from every faucet in the house for three days now -- the trick to keep plumbing pipes from freezing.

    But the pipe that froze was a heating pipe.  Makes no sense, but that's this old house. . . .  The second-most fun (not!) was yesterday in the worst of the cold, beyond 10 below, when we had to turn OFF the heat in the house to drain the system to make the repair.  It took hours to heat up again.

    And then came the worst part -- when as the ice melted that had leaked, so the ceiling fell.  Oops, just got word that water also got down the walls, so it looks like more than just a new ceiling is needed.  The fun never ends in the frozen northlands. . . .

    Parent

    Ick. (none / 0) (#42)
    by liminal on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:28:29 PM EST
    That sounds like quite an ordeal.  I must say, I'm grateful that I've not faced anything like that in a long time.  I hope that your ceiling is back on the... ceiling, soon!  

    Parent
    Won't be soon. Seems (5.00 / 1) (#96)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:57:17 PM EST
    we now get to call in a consultation from a "water mitigation firm."  At best, if the walls do not need to come down entirely, part will be taken down to test what's behind there.  And at best, we will have huge fans drying up the interiors.  The fans will sound like massive vacuums, so more fun for freeked cats!

    And more burden, running those fans, on our energy bills.  I will not share what last month's heat bill was for this old house, but I think I have to get a second job just to keep our historical preservation project from totally turning into tundra.

    Parent

    Looking for a bright side... (5.00 / 1) (#101)
    by joanneleon on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 05:25:13 PM EST
    Well, if the ceiling and the walls have to come down, maybe it will be an opportunity to add some wall insulation and pipe insulation?

    But argh, I feel for you.  We had sheetrock just fall right off the garage ceiling last year.

    Parent

    Exactly. Old house ceilings (5.00 / 1) (#106)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 05:41:00 PM EST
    are so high that our handyguy agreed with my plan to just give up half a foot and fill it with lots of insulation, then the new plasterboard (plus vapor barrier, which I learned about as so useful in bathrooms, but why not wherever there are pipes?).  The silly hall ceiling still will be eleven and a half feet high!  And I've been crawling around the house, looking for more odd spaces hidden by closets and nooks and crannies, where pipes might lurk that could use those insulating "sleeves."  Thing is in these old houses that have gone through so many maverick updatings, there are pipes like the one that froze and burst that we didn't even know was there, since it was to a radiator that wasn't there anymore.  (Now, only old-house owners will understand that strange sentence that makes it sound like we're seeing ghosts here.  We do.  Ghosts of past owners who thought they knew what they were doing when they did work themselves or hired non-licensed, non-union workers on the cheap. . . .)

    Parent
    Tell the handyguy (none / 0) (#155)
    by joanneleon on Mon Jan 19, 2009 at 02:41:27 PM EST
    to put those foam tubes around the pipes too, for more insulation.

    Parent
    Old houses.... (none / 0) (#69)
    by Fabian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:00:10 PM EST
    Grew up in one.  Don't remember any pipes freezing to failure, although I remember having to thaw some of them.

    I remember shutting off the heat to the upstairs and camping out on the living room floor because the ancient furnace couldn't heat a drafty century old house when the temps dropped too low.

    Ah, the romantic days of my youth!  The blizzards of the seventies!  

    Parent

    Pipes and such (5.00 / 1) (#89)
    by gyrfalcon on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:42:51 PM EST
    I really am baffled by whose pipes freeze and when.  My house is an old farmhouse built around 1850, but the only pipe that ever freezes is the drainage pipe for the dishwasher my handyman put in last year.  Everything else is fine, despite a drafty old house with mediocre insulation on the first floor and an awful lot of DIY plumbing over the years.  My first-rate local plumber pretty much guaranteed me I'd have some frozen pipes in winter, but it's never happened.

    I have no heat on 2nd floor at all except what rises through the ceiling from the woodstove, but even in last night's -20, it was perfectly OK for me for sleeping.  Good insulation in the attic, I think.

    Parent

    The pipe that burst here (5.00 / 2) (#98)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 05:06:10 PM EST
    was more than 100 years old, so I should last so long. . . .  Turns out this was the result of some maverick remodeling at some point or another in the long history of this house, when someone took out a radiator and just left stubs of the pipes rather than looping them to keep the warm water flowing.

    I grew up in an 1870s house and know what you mean.  There and here, the original stuff still works fine, unless someone messed with it since who didn't know what the oldsters knew about sensible design.  For example, I grew up knowing the importance of an airlock, an entryway with a  the second door just a few feet inside the front door.  But someone took out the one in this house at some point, so the winds blew through the house every time we opened the front door.  We had the wall and door put back in -- and beautifully, looks original matching our 300-year-old oak woodwork -- a few years ago, and the house is warmer with less energy usage.  

    So I was sick to see the property-flippers doing a house next door to us a few years ago, gutting gorgeous woodwork and all to install a burban ranch house kitchen -- and taking out the airlock, too.  I tried to tell them not to do so, but they said airlocks lack curb appeal.  Blecch.

    Parent

    My fave (5.00 / 1) (#99)
    by Fabian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 05:17:07 PM EST
    My brother found the original gas pipes used for lighting in his house - and they were still connected!

    The History Detectives & This Old House should get together and create House Detectives - a series about discovering the hidden secrets of older houses.

    Parent

    Yikes, we found a live gas line here (5.00 / 2) (#107)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 05:45:55 PM EST
    too -- that was a freeky day in our preservation project.  But I learned a lot about transitional technologies, as this house a century ago had sconces with electricity on one side and gas on the other, since electricity wasn't reliable yet!  (Like hanging on to our wired phone until we can count on cell phones more than we can just yet here.)  So all over the house, we found the stubs of the old gas lines under now all-electric sconces.  Or sticking out still, so we decided to hammer some of them in when replastering, anyway.  Well, that plan came to a fast end when (a) it turns out that a tap of the hammer took out a huge piece of old plaster, and (b) when one of the gas lines turned out to still be live.

    Instead, I found more sconces and other wall art that just cover the gas stubs now -- now that all have been checked to be sure they're capped.

    Now, if only the servant bell system still worked, I say.:-)

    Parent

    My family house (5.00 / 1) (#147)
    by gyrfalcon on Sat Jan 17, 2009 at 01:08:22 AM EST
    for almost 50 years, built in 1905 for a wealthy Boston family as a summer home in what's now the near suburbs but was then "the country," still had a couple of tubes from floor to floor that you blew in and it made a loud whistle on the other end, and then you could talk through them.

    The third floor of this big old house had clearly been servants' quarters originally, but the only use we made of it other than for storage was that my dad had his "study" up there, and we used to call him for dinner or whatever with those tubes.  Really nifty.


    Parent

    You said it (5.00 / 1) (#146)
    by gyrfalcon on Sat Jan 17, 2009 at 12:54:51 AM EST
    forensic architects, no?  I'd love to have one of those!  There are small features of this house I can't make any sense of at all.

    I'd also love a forensic botanist at some point.  I've wandered in some wonderful suburban wild places that clearly once used to be formal gardens for some long-gone house, and it would be so cool to tease out what the original landscaping was.

    Parent

    The lack of circulation in the system (5.00 / 1) (#135)
    by scribe on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 08:28:38 PM EST
    is what facilitated the heating pipe freezing.

    I recall an incident in a dorm at my college (where friends and I lived) in which the circulating pump for their part of the building broke down over the winter break.  No one was there - it was break - so no one noticed the lack of heat for a day or so (until a staff member/guard was making rounds or something).  Because there was no circulation, the heating pipes (hot water radiators) in that part of the building froze, with predictable results.  And this was in a properly insulated mid-1960s vintage building, then less than 20 years old.

    If the water keeps moving, it can be below 32 F and not be ice.  (Ask some winter steelhead fishermen about that.)  But if it stops, it's a matter of hours until something's going to break.

    Parent

    Link to the bad old days (none / 0) (#81)
    by Fabian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:14:51 PM EST
    of yesteryear.

    1978 - I remember the wind howling and howling and the strange silence when it finally stopped.

    Parent

    I remember that bad one (5.00 / 1) (#97)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:59:25 PM EST
    and the death toll here from the subzero temps will not be as bad, but every one hurts as the word is rolling in . . . like the guy on Ambien who went sleepwalking outdoors and froze to death not far at all from his home.

    Beware Ambien.

    Parent

    A weird question (5.00 / 1) (#109)
    by joanneleon on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 05:54:41 PM EST
    since you are an expert in cold weather, maybe you'll know the answer to this.  We installed a little pond in our backyard, and frogs adopt it in the summer, and stay on until fall.  When it gets really cold, they disappear.  This year we had three.  We're pretty sure that one of them was "Jerry" (short for "Jeremiah") who is pretty big, and if we're right, has been coming back for several years.  We also had another small one, probably born in the spring, named "Geraldine" and another tiny one showed up mid summer, named "Jemimah".  

    They probably originally came from a nearby creek, or a lake or one of the big retention ponds in the area.  But where do they go when they leave our pond?  How do they survive the winter?

    Parent

    I work at a Nature Museum (5.00 / 3) (#112)
    by BernieO on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 06:18:43 PM EST
    Reptiles like frogs, snakes, turtles and lizards dig under the ground below the freeze line and hibernate. Pond turtles dig into the mud at the bottom of the pond. They can get enough oxygen through the thin skin in their throats and, believe it or not, anus. Try telling that to a group of fifty 9-year-olds sometime. I always hope if this question comes up it is at the end of class.

    Parent
    Ye gods -- you know (5.00 / 2) (#144)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 10:38:28 PM EST
    interesting information.  I was intrigued by the question but am even more intrigued by the answer.

    Parent
    Heh (5.00 / 2) (#33)
    by Democratic Cat on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:13:38 PM EST
    Wait until you get home and see what mad kitty did to your shoes...

    Parent
    Mine chews (none / 0) (#90)
    by gyrfalcon on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:44:06 PM EST
    plastic when he's out of sorts, and if he can't find any, he licks whatever glossy paper he can find, like book jackets.  Maddening.


    Parent
    Mine too! (5.00 / 1) (#102)
    by liminal on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 05:28:35 PM EST
    With the plastic: except, it's not just when he's out of sorts.  He loves plastic.  If there is a plastic bag anywhere in the house, he will find it and sit on it and chew chew chew.

    Parent
    Schools out five days here, too (5.00 / 2) (#34)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:15:26 PM EST
    with Monday the MLK holiday.  But too cold to get the tykes to sledding hills until tomorrow. . . .

    For those who've never seen steam rise off the Great Lakes and freeze in the air, especially at dawn and at sunset, plus other fantastic photos of survival when the infamous Alberta Clipper winds bring the North Pole south of the Canadian border, here ya go.

    On the same site is today's survival tactic: Folks are sending their favorite summer photos!

    Parent

    Some great pictures there (5.00 / 1) (#39)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:25:20 PM EST
    Sometimes I miss winter, but the winters I miss are the Colorado winters of my more recent past, definitely not the northern Illinois winters of my youth. Certainly used to appreciate springtime a lot more though.

    Parent
    So, I probably shouldn't tell you... (5.00 / 1) (#49)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:36:06 PM EST
    ...what a lovely false-Spring day it is here with the sun shining and the mountains all covered in white?

    Parent
    Oooh...those are the ones I miss most (5.00 / 1) (#51)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:39:19 PM EST
    In Denver it's like spring comes 10 times a year. I love that!

    That's OK - it's actually sweater weather in Orlando today. Nice and brisk and cool.

    Parent

    I'm off to the dog park (5.00 / 1) (#52)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:41:33 PM EST
    Cutting out of work early. Poor doggies have been restless all week - they got used to me being home over the Christmas break!

    Parent
    We're overdue for our January thaw! (5.00 / 1) (#95)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:53:41 PM EST
    Well, okay, it usually comes in the last week of the month, but we're overdue for it emotionally here in the frozen northland.

    Our "false spring" is when it gets above freezing.:-)

    Parent

    My brother goes to Lake Erie (5.00 / 1) (#74)
    by Fabian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:06:34 PM EST
    to take pictures of the ice and snow.  Between snow, ice and wind strange and wonderful things happen.  

    Parent
    I took the earliest morning flight into Chicago (5.00 / 1) (#138)
    by scribe on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 08:34:13 PM EST
    one brilliantly clear and bitterly cold winter morning (January 1996, IIRC), when the lakes had not yet frozen all the way over and every smokestack and chimney in Chi-town was cranking to keep the place warm.  The guy who picked me up at the airport had half an inch of ice on the inside of his car windows despite the heater cranking beyond max.

    But, I still remember how shockingly beautiful the city looked from the air and the wonderful contrasts of color between the pinks, purples, and peach of the dawn, the black lake water and the sere snowiness of the land and city.

    Parent

    We've been discussing... (5.00 / 2) (#82)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:19:28 PM EST
    ...this closing school for cold weather that's been going on in the Heartland--and have reached a consensus that when we were school-age, they didn't close school for the cold.  Snow and ice, sure--but not for cold.  

    /Not to mention that we walked 10 miles, uphill, into the wind both ways and liked it.  

    Parent

    Never for the cold. (5.00 / 1) (#84)
    by Fabian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:29:11 PM EST
    Even though we rode for a half hour in a bus with no heat sometimes.  When high school students bring blankets on the bus - it's cold.

    We had to wait on the corner of the road for a few years - a quarter mile walk, no sidewalks, no pavement.  Not a treat in the winter!

    Parent

    Last line cracks me up (5.00 / 1) (#93)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:50:01 PM EST
    but the discussion here has raised a lot of points on this.  A lot more kids takes buses these days, with working parents -- and integration programs and choice schools and target schools and charter schools all over my city.  So it's the long waits at the bus stops, the walking to and from them, that worry school officials here.  (And outside of the city, the county to the west has a lot of kids bussing just because it's still a lot of country schools -- where I lived there, our school district was 84 square miles!).

    So I also remember going to school on some terribly cold days -- and frostbitten knees then, when girls were not allowed to wear pants -- but those were the days of neighborhood schools.  Ours was pretty far from home by standards then, and ours was eight blocks away.  And on the very worst days, I think some parent or other organized rides.  Now, we've got kids from preschool age up waiting for buses -- and in bad weather, those waits can be for hours.

    Parent

    We were not allowed to wear pants, either (5.00 / 1) (#113)
    by BernieO on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 06:21:48 PM EST
    but we were allowed to wear snow pants under our skirts. Taking them off without showing the boys our underwear was always a challenge. Ah, the good ol' days.

    Parent
    I forgot about that (5.00 / 1) (#114)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 06:27:53 PM EST
    I just got an instant flashback to my ice-cold thighs after waiting for the bus in the winter. Ouch, that hurt!

    Parent
    All I can say is, I'm glad my (5.00 / 1) (#129)
    by nycstray on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 07:34:44 PM EST
    no pants at school days were in southern Ca. With my poor scrawny lil' legs it would have been pathetic in a colder climate. I think we were allowed shorts under dresses finally. Victory for those of us who were monkey bar fools. And then FINALLY pants, BUT!, they had to be girl pants. No boy pants which sucked because, for my straight up and down body, those are what I wore. By the time we moved to NoCal with the colder winters, we girls had acquired pant freedom. Ahhhh! the early 70's were so liberating, lol!~

    Parent
    Not even snowpants (5.00 / 2) (#127)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 07:12:22 PM EST
    were allowed by our weird nuns in grade school.  We were not supposed to even suggest the possibility -- and I do not make this up -- of "cleavage between the legs above the knee."  Ewwww.

    Parent
    Chapped and bleeding knees (5.00 / 2) (#141)
    by caseyOR on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 09:12:14 PM EST
    I, too, was a Catholic schoolgirl in the midwest. We could wear knee socks, which are better than nothing, but not by much. My knees would chap and then bleed. And I remember when going inside to the heat my skin felt like it was burning. The nuns' advice? "Offer it up."

    Parent
    I wore uniforms with knee socks (5.00 / 1) (#143)
    by hairspray on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 09:47:12 PM EST
    to Catholic girl's school as well.  The skirts were wool with wool collars and cuffs on a starched blouse. I wore those on the island of Oahu. The weather was always in the seventies or the eighties with high humidity. Reverse penance! The nuns wore heavy wool layers of clothing.  Of course they were white so someone must have thought the uniforms were cool.

    Parent
    Is it a heating issue? (none / 0) (#86)
    by nycstray on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:31:09 PM EST
    We have schools closed for extreme heat and no AC.

    Parent
    According to the Politico, (5.00 / 4) (#21)
    by Farmboy on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:55:40 PM EST
    Rep. Steve King thinks that it's bizarre that Obama will allow his middle name to be spoken aloud at the inauguration.

    http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17506.html

    I would like to make it perfectly clear that King does not speak for all Iowans, just those in the western fourth of the state. Sigh.

    Oh, and the Omaha paper loves him too. To paraphrase an old joke, if we gave the Iowa 5th district to Nebraska it would increase the average IQ of both states by 10%.

    "the blood of Gaza's children" (5.00 / 1) (#26)
    by Andreas on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:03:19 PM EST
    The bloodletting has provoked disgust and anger in Israel as well. In a rare critical article in Haaretz Thursday, correspondent Gideon Levy wrote, "God does not show mercy on the children at Gaza's nursery schools, and neither does the Israel Defense Forces. That's how it goes when war is waged in such a densely populated area with a population so blessed with children. About half of Gaza's residents are under 15."

    Noting that even before the war, the IDF had had already killed 952 Palestinian children and adolescents since May 2000, Levy wrote, "One can say Hamas hides among the civilian population, as if the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv is not located in the heart of a civilian population, as if there are places in Gaza that are not in the heart of a civilian population. One can also claim that Hamas uses children as human shields, as if in the past our own organizations fighting to establish a country did not recruit children.

    "A significant majority of the children killed in Gaza did not die because they were used as human shields or because they worked for Hamas. They were killed because the IDF bombed, shelled or fired at them, their families or their apartment buildings. That is why the blood of Gaza's children is on our hands, not on Hamas's hands, and we will never be able to escape that responsibility."


    Israeli military lays siege to Gaza City
    By Jerry White, 16 January 2009

    What is going to be left? (5.00 / 2) (#32)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:12:41 PM EST
    The thrust into Gaza City is aimed at carrying out as much carnage and damage to the infrastructure of the area as possible before a cease-fire takes hold, in all likelihood before or shortly after the inauguration of the new administration in Washington.

    How can life possibly carry on there after this? It was already unsustainable, children starving.

    Parent

    Not Rare (none / 0) (#30)
    by squeaky on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:07:21 PM EST
    Or Unusual for Haaretz to criticize IDF and Israel right wing policies at all. What is rare is for any MSM in the US to do anything but cheer on the ongoing Palestinian genocide and Israeli  war crimes.


    Parent
    At some point (5.00 / 3) (#59)
    by jondee on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:48:13 PM EST
    historical traumatization is no longer a viable excuse for barbarism.

    Parent
    Boy, that was well said. (5.00 / 2) (#73)
    by Dr Molly on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:04:52 PM EST


    Parent
    That Is For Sure (5.00 / 1) (#79)
    by squeaky on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:13:38 PM EST
    Exactly the line of reasoning of Veteran Labour MP Sir Gerald Kaufman:

    Sir Gerald, who was brought up as an orthodox Jew and Zionist, told MPs: "My grandmother was ill in bed when the Nazis came to her home town .. a German soldier shot her dead in her bed.

    "My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza.

    "The present Israeli government ruthlessly and cynically exploit the continuing guilt from gentiles over the slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust as justification for their murder of Palestinians."

    link

    Also Noam Chomsky speaks about the current US/Israeli genocide in Gaza.

    It is really worth watching, quite sobering.


    Parent

    MSNBC: Jordan's Queen Noor on Gaza crisis (none / 0) (#125)
    by FoxholeAtheist on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 06:57:03 PM EST
    *Greenwald has a Gaza story today at Salon: "A real discussion on TV regarding U.S. policy towards Israel". Greenwald includes a link to Jordan's Queen Noor, on MSNBC, discussing the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

    *There's also a second Gaza story at Salon, by Robert Bryce: "Gaza invasion: Powered by the U.S. Taxpayers are spending over $1 billion to send refined fuel to the Israeli military -- at a time when Israel doesn't need it and America does".

     

    Parent

    Republicans upset over children's health bill (5.00 / 2) (#43)
    by nycstray on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:28:53 PM EST
    hmmm . . . .

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A push by congressional Democrats to make good on Barack Obama's pledge to provide millions more American children with health care coverage has Republicans accusing them of breaking the president-elect's promise of bipartisanship.

    Not so sure insuring more children is a good thing to pick a bone over, but then I'm not a Republican . . .

    "That spirit of bipartisan partnership for low-income children appears to be disappearing before our very eyes. It's being replaced with partisan exploitation" said Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the usually collegial Finance Committee.

    He called it "damn disgusting."

    um. ok.

    Grassley blamed Democratic leaders rather than committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, for producing a bill that he said omits a number of items sought by Republicans including provisions aimed at preventing the government run program from "crowding out" private insurance plans.

    Ahhh . . . now it's starting to make sense!!

    Republicans also opposed an amendment that would drop a five-year ban on providing the children's health benefit to legal immigrants, which Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas called a "poison pill" that injects immigration, a divisive issue for Republicans, into the children's health debate.

    "We've been thrown underneath the bus," Roberts said.

    lol!~ I hope they gave the Republicans their own bus. I don't think they'd be too comfy with the other busunders.

    Here's hoping we hear more "partisan exploitation"

    On another note . . .  Watching the NTSB press conference and it's a tad strange (in a good way) to see auch a relaxed and pleasant PC after a plane crash. They are even allowing themselves to smile.

    Glad the ice is broken (5.00 / 2) (#45)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:32:18 PM EST
    Can we forget about trying to make them happy now? They were just waiting for something to whine about - maybe SCHIP was just to get it out of the way so we can proceed with a real whoopin'.

    Parent
    A bit more detail about the copilot (5.00 / 1) (#46)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:33:51 PM EST
    role, as he is from my state of Wisconsin, where his wife and kids are sharing what yesterday was like for them when they got the call:

    The water in the Hudson River was so cold Thursday afternoon that US Airways pilot Jeffrey Skiles' legs were immediately numb, his wife said today.  Barbara Skiles said her husband, 49, was walking through the plane to find more life vests for people who had exited without them. . . .

    "He did say that it was amazing the help that they got . . . how quickly boats were at the side of the airplane," she said.  Barbara Skiles said her husband lost his cell phone in the incident but used a borrowed phone to call her with news about the accident.



    Parent
    And I want my pilot to be eligible (none / 0) (#55)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:43:36 PM EST
    to belong to Mensa, next time I fly -- but I hope that his or her rights to privacy (per FRPA) about first grade absenteeism are not so easily flouted, as happened yesterday by some incompetent staffer in a school district office.

    Parent
    Nice to know that Republicans (5.00 / 4) (#61)
    by Anne on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:51:59 PM EST
    only consider a bill to be bipartisan if they get everything they want, which is where I figured all this kumbayah talk was going to end up.

    Republicans do "wrath" pretty well, and Democrats only seem to know how to bark before rolling over, so it won't surprise me to see S-CHIP revised more to the GOP's - and the Blue Dogs' - liking.


    Parent

    Yeah. I'm waiting to see (5.00 / 2) (#67)
    by nycstray on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:57:40 PM EST
    where bipartisan really ends up in regards to the Dems. I'm assuming that's what this outrage is about. Perhaps the Dems will finally bring their spines out of the closet?

    Parent
    Don't hold your breath. (5.00 / 1) (#68)
    by jbindc on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:59:59 PM EST


    Parent
    More great science news again today (5.00 / 3) (#76)
    by Dr Molly on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:07:50 PM EST
    "HR 585 was introduced to direct the President to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences to evaluate certain Federal rules and regulations for potentially harmful impacts on public health, air quality, water quality, plant and animal wildlife, global climate, or the environment; and to direct Federal departments and agencies to create plans to reverse those impacts that are determined to be harmful by the National Academy of Sciences."

    This has been quite the week for science in DC. My workplace is in full out celebration mode.

    My favorite (5.00 / 2) (#100)
    by CoralGables on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 05:22:49 PM EST
    crash in the Hudson quote from one of the passengers:

    "Not that I'm an expert in plane crashes, it being my first one, but it went fairly smoothly."

    Hillary pulling out all the stops (5.00 / 1) (#140)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 08:59:45 PM EST
    to pay off that campaign debt. Now her mother is sending me email. What the heck, I'll kick in one more time for old times sake.

    Ted Kaufman (none / 0) (#1)
    by andgarden on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:03:56 PM EST
    sworn in this morning to replace Biden. He has a VERY Philly accent.

    Whats goin' on tonight... (none / 0) (#2)
    by kdog on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:14:33 PM EST
    is Steve Winwood at the United Palace Theater...get my "Mr. Fantasy" on.

    Guaranteed to make us all happy:)

    Very nice. (none / 0) (#5)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:25:45 PM EST
    Who is he playing with?  I'm guessing not Clapton like those '08 dates at MSG.

    Dear Mister Fantasy play us a tune
    Something to make us all happy
    Do anything take us out of this gloom
    Sing a song, play guitar
    Make it snappy
    You are the one who can make us all laugh
    But doing that you break out in tears
    Please don't be sad if it was a straight mind you had
    We wouldn't have known you all these years

     

    Parent

    No Clapton... (none / 0) (#10)
    by kdog on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:39:21 PM EST
    this go 'round, always hold out hope for a special guest though, you never know who is in town and wants to jam.

    Winwood puts on some show, seen him a couple times...what an amazing talent.  That voice, those piano and guitar chops...the real deal.

    The clock can't move fast enough so I can jet this cubicle and get the party started...sick venue too, check it out man.  United Palace has that old-school music hall feel.

    Parent

    Getting the party started, eh? (none / 0) (#15)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:46:54 PM EST
    Hmm...

    Sometimes I feel like I'm fading away
    You're looking at me, I've got nothing to say
    Don't make me angry with the games that you play
    Either light up or leave me alone

    That place looks pretty swank.  I'll bet the acoustics are amazing.  

    Parent

    Wish I were going to that! (none / 0) (#7)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:30:22 PM EST
    The percentage you're paying is too high-priced
    While you're living beyond all your means
    And the man in the suit has just bought a new car
    From the profit he's made on your dreams
    But today you just read that the man was shot dead
    By a gun that didn't make any noise
    But it wasn't the bullet that laid him to rest
    Was the low spark of high-heeled boys


    Parent
    The Low Spark was in effect... (5.00 / 1) (#150)
    by kdog on Sat Jan 17, 2009 at 09:17:34 AM EST
    awesome show, Winwood never disappoints.

    If you see something that looks like a star
    And it's shooting up out of the ground
    And your head is spinning from a loud guitar
    And you just can't escape from the sound
    Don't worry too much, it'll happen to you
    We were children once, playing with toys
    And the thing that you're hearing is only the sound of
    The low spark of high-heeled boys


    Parent
    Paterson to choose NY Senator (none / 0) (#3)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:20:50 PM EST
    after inauguration, according to Politico

    out of respect to Clinton and Obama? I guess he means so as not steal the limelight from them? Not sure what other reason there is to wait.

    The people want Cuomo (5.00 / 1) (#36)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:20:09 PM EST
    over Caroline, according to a couple of polls.  Good for Paterson for pooh-poohing the polls, but they were pretty devastating.  Still, Senator Ted still wants it to be his niece and is putting on the pressure.  Poor Paterson -- as if the lousy economy and layoffs aren't enough work for the gov of the major business center of the country.

    Parent
    Poor Paterson? (5.00 / 2) (#37)
    by squeaky on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:23:09 PM EST
    I am sure that Paterson is going to choose the best in his opinion for NYers with an eye to winning in 2010. I doubt that this is an onus for him as this sort of thing is what pols are wired for.

    Parent
    Of course. But as ever (5.00 / 2) (#40)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:26:41 PM EST
    what you have to say does not really relate to what I have to say.  It is possible to both regret that Paterson is put in this position by a waning dynasty as well as to count on him, as he apparently is a good guy and pol, to do the right thing.

    Parent
    I tried to tell ya, CC (5.00 / 3) (#72)
    by Dr Molly on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:01:44 PM EST
    I really, really did.

    Thanks for the pictures BTW. The first winter I moved to Chicago and saw the frozen wasteland of Lake Michigan, I knew I was in for something rather different. Oy. 20 below last night and everyone is getting cabin fever.

    Parent

    Same here (5.00 / 2) (#87)
    by gyrfalcon on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:32:45 PM EST
    -20 overnight in mid-Vermont.  I was tempted to put on my coat and step outside for a moment just to see what it was like, but then I thought-- "Nah!" and went back to nearly non-stop throwing more wood in the stove.  I did have to fire up the boiler a bit to help out, though, dammit.

    It was chilly enough in the house that my generalyly non-social cats piled on top of each other in a large kitty bed to sleep it all away.

    My mid-morning today, it was a very mild-seeming +10, a 30-degree rise in less than 12 hours, which seems amazing.  And wonder of wonders, my car battery survived the night and started up this afternoon-- reluctantly, but it did start.

    Given my undersized stove, I was very afraid of this cold spell, but we came through OK.  A multi-day stretch of those temps would be a very different story, though.

    Parent

    I was thinking of your (5.00 / 1) (#88)
    by Dr Molly on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:37:24 PM EST
    little woodstove and wondering....

    It's amazing how we acclimate to temperature though. 10 degrees does really seem warm sometimes.

    A co-worker of mine who grew up in Lake Saranac and experienced bitter cold winters put it eloquently. She said that sometimes it was so cold when she was a kid that she thought she could throw a rock at the air and it might shatter.

    I just remember my first winter in Chicago and having my first frozen eyeballs and eyelashes.

    Parent

    Ya told me, Dr. Molly (5.00 / 1) (#145)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 10:40:52 PM EST
    Note to self:  T for Toxic.  As in Toxic Commenter.  Listen to Dr. Molly. . . .

    Parent
    Resorting to Name Calling Again? (1.00 / 1) (#153)
    by squeaky on Sat Jan 17, 2009 at 12:50:22 PM EST
    Not surprised. It is your way. Poor baby.

    Parent
    BS (1.25 / 4) (#62)
    by squeaky on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:53:25 PM EST
    My point directly relates to your characterization of
    'poor Paterson'. I disagree with your entire premise that Paterson is under the thumb of a 'waning dynasty'.  Of course your anti Obama, and all who supported him vendetta, causes myopic thinking, and therefore it is clear that you cannot imagine anything other than your Obama/Kennedy et al, vast sexist conspiracy theory.

    Parent
    Digby's article on Carolyn Maloney was very (5.00 / 0) (#124)
    by mogal on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 06:52:35 PM EST

    impressive. Substance over style, the country should be so fortunate.

    Parent
    I Hope Andrew Stays AG (none / 0) (#58)
    by daring grace on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:47:11 PM EST
    We've got plenty for him to investigate/prosecute here in the ol' Empire State and he's just getting warmed up in the job...

    Parent
    He Is Terrible (none / 0) (#64)
    by squeaky on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:53:55 PM EST
    And should go into entertainment.

    Parent
    Maybe I Just Want One Pol Who Got Elected (5.00 / 2) (#70)
    by daring grace on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:00:26 PM EST
    to an office in New York to stay there for a while...

    I'm happy HRC is now SOS, and Spitzer clearly had to go if we were going to get anything done in Albany, but I'd rather Andrew stayed put and we send some other worthy to D.C.

    You find him entertaining...?

    Parent

    No (none / 0) (#75)
    by squeaky on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:06:53 PM EST
    But he is a clown, and would better suited to teevee or something like that. Spitzer was great, imo. Too bad he let his weakness get the better of him.

    Parent
    This Is Mildly Entertaining (none / 0) (#78)
    by daring grace on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:13:26 PM EST
    Obama in Legoland as POTUS...

    Parent
    I'm on the fence there (none / 0) (#65)
    by nycstray on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:54:16 PM EST
    I do like that he's getting in there and getting things done, but I feel he would in the Senate also.

    Parent
    sorry, broken link.... (none / 0) (#4)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:22:42 PM EST
    Try again here.

    Parent
    Reading it again (none / 0) (#6)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:27:34 PM EST
    it seems more like a stall than anything else. How does the announcement of the new Senator prevent Hillary from saying farewell to her constituents? What I don't know about NY politics has already filled many books, so I won't speculate further.

    Parent
    Still Undecided? (5.00 / 1) (#85)
    by squeaky on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:30:34 PM EST
    At a news conference in Manhattan, Paterson was asked about his timetable. "I'm having new thinking about who I'm intending to appoint and am having some follow-up conversations with some of those people who have put themselves forward as potential candidates," he said.

    He then cited a book on corporate governance that advises "investing a little more time in a decision is the best course because once you make the decision you are stuck with it."

    Buffalo News

    Sounds like he is having some fun with this..  

    Parent

    Nah (none / 0) (#8)
    by squeaky on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:31:28 PM EST
    I would take Paterson at his word on this. No need for him to delay, he has most likely already decided.

    Parent
    Timing doesn't matter much to me. (none / 0) (#11)
    by Fabian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:40:14 PM EST
    I just hope whoever it is does a good job.

    I'll be enjoying myself at my annual landscape & green industry conference on Monday and plan to be blissfully ignorant of all the hoopla.  I'm still recovering from the overdose of marketing and warm'n'fuzzy rhetoric from the campaigns.

    Parent

    Sounds Tropical (none / 0) (#13)
    by squeaky on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:42:21 PM EST
    Nice respite from the cold and political excitement, or depression.

    Parent
    I wish! (5.00 / 1) (#20)
    by Fabian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:55:37 PM EST
    Not the tropics.  It's usually freeze your butt off weather here.  After the holidays and before the growing season starts is the slack time for growers and landscapers.  It's also when they decide what to order, so it's a great time for wholesalers to pitch their wares.

    I go for the Short Courses sponsored by OSU.  I've learned about everything from green roofs to laying patios.  

    Parent

    Oh Well (5.00 / 1) (#24)
    by squeaky on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:59:24 PM EST
    My overactive imagination, and vicarious pleasure from the image of you traipsing around in an indoor disneyland version of the tropics...  

    Sounds like really interesting stuff to learn about which should help keep the mind off the freezing butt.

    Parent

    Kennedy (none / 0) (#121)
    by WS on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 06:48:17 PM EST
    completely screwed up her bid for Senate appointee.  She had tremendous goodwill when she threw her hat in the ring and squandered it with her disappointing media appearances and bungled PR.  Still, she has a chance to become a Senator but she went from front of the pack to just a member of the herd.    

    I think Cuomo would be a better pick, but I wouldn't be unhappy if Kennedy is the pick.  I just want a Democrat who will crush Peter King.  

    Parent

    Ugh (none / 0) (#132)
    by squeaky on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 07:59:19 PM EST
    Peter King is the worst. I live on a small island off the east coast of America, so it is hard for me to understand how anyone on the mainland could stomach agreeing or even listening to King.

    Paterson is pretty shrewd, imo. He is playing this to his advantage, and that means winning all around in 2010.  The longer he keeps it going the better it is for his own PR.

    Parent

    Why don't we make the banks.... (none / 0) (#16)
    by lambert on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:49:20 PM EST
    ... into regulated public utilities? I mean, we own the banks now anyhow, so why not make them work for us, instead of the other way round?

    Can I fire them? (none / 0) (#35)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:18:18 PM EST
    Did B of A really believe that Merrill Lynch was accurately stating their liabilities at the time of the merger. Gee, now they discover they need 20 billion more?

    I really almost hope they believe we are that gullible, rather than believe B of A is that gullible.

    Parent

    Who could have predicted (none / 0) (#123)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 06:49:54 PM EST
    Republicans, including McCain, would leave Dems holding the bag on TARP?

    Who but lambert that is.

    I'd McCain some  free advice to run against TARP in the campaign, but he wouldn't listen to me.  

    Parent

    I am thinking this (none / 0) (#19)
    by eric on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:51:58 PM EST
    will mean a mistrial:

    Attorney busted for drugs in Winona court

    It is a murder case, too.

    Or, maybe it was just a hearing (none / 0) (#25)
    by eric on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 02:59:30 PM EST
    can't tell, it refers to an opening statement, but then refers to a plea.

    Parent
    Oy (none / 0) (#28)
    by squeaky on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:04:51 PM EST
    Like popeye we know Ramsay's secret, as to why he is called Super Lawyer..  

    Sounds like his problem was getting out of hand.

    Parent

    Man... (none / 0) (#151)
    by kdog on Sat Jan 17, 2009 at 09:20:52 AM EST
    that lawyer sounds like a real Dave Kleinfeld.

    Parent
    How about that Lowery blog? (none / 0) (#38)
    by Realleft on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:25:04 PM EST
    At least 6 BTD blogs about Warren, nothing on Lowery.

    Lowery doesn't fix the problem (5.00 / 5) (#50)
    by andgarden on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:36:50 PM EST
    If a bird crapped on your sandwich, would you care if I offered you ketchup for your french fries on the same plate?

    Parent
    Hah! (5.00 / 3) (#92)
    by gyrfalcon on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:49:58 PM EST
    Great metaphor!

    Parent
    It would be a nice gesture (5.00 / 3) (#115)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 06:32:12 PM EST
    from you.....but if the bird offered me the ketchup I'd tell it to go pluck itself.

    Parent
    heh, exactly (5.00 / 1) (#117)
    by andgarden on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 06:37:52 PM EST


    Parent
    Good metaphor - I had to run with it! (5.00 / 1) (#119)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 06:46:43 PM EST


    Parent
    When you post without preview (5.00 / 2) (#122)
    by andgarden on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 06:48:43 PM EST
    you can't always guarantee a perfectly parallel metaphor.

    Parent
    Small price to pay (none / 0) (#148)
    by ruffian on Sat Jan 17, 2009 at 06:24:52 AM EST
    for keeping your devil-may-care attitude!

    Parent
    For you Andgarden (5.00 / 0) (#149)
    by ruffian on Sat Jan 17, 2009 at 07:48:02 AM EST
    I give you Barney Frank, from the Jeffrey Toobin profile of Frank in the  Jan 12 New Yorker:

    Now, when we fight Warren in California we are going to hear, 'Oh,yeah, but Obama picked him for the inaugural.' He doesn't deserve that honor. And I don't want to hear that the other clergyman at the inaugural, Reverend Lowery, supports gay rights. I didn't vote for a tie in the election."

    Another dead-on Frank quote:

    "Obama tends to overstate the his ability to get people to change their opinions and underestimates the importance of confronting ideological differences."

    I might just assign that quote to a key on my keyboard. I have a feeling ill be using it a lot in the next 4 years.

    Parent

    Thanks (none / 0) (#152)
    by andgarden on Sat Jan 17, 2009 at 10:21:50 AM EST
    I read that article when it was published.

    Parent
    True, I was very glad to see (none / 0) (#41)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:28:18 PM EST
    Lowery given a prominent spot. Would it have happened if not for the uproar over Warren though?

    Parent
    Hm? (none / 0) (#44)
    by Steve M on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:29:28 PM EST
    is there a Lowery controversy I missed?

    Parent
    Not that I know of (none / 0) (#47)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:34:05 PM EST
    I assumed they were refering to Lowery being given the closing prayer...and mad that BTD didn't point out the good thing Obama did along with the bad. I know that is a lot to read into the original post....I could be wrong!

    Parent
    Clarify my clarification (none / 0) (#48)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:36:04 PM EST
    I was assuming realleft was mad BTD didn't mention it.

    Parent
    Not mad, (5.00 / 1) (#63)
    by Realleft on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:53:40 PM EST
    just wondering.  And I don't think it "fixes the problem," but 6 on one with hundreds of posts and 0 on the other seems, well, out of balance to me.  More importantly, what about the V. Gene Robinson pick for Sunday?  Not my blog and not trying to be overly critical, just bad wording on that first post, but I am curious why criticism gets so much space and noticing the good things gets so little.

    Parent
    I'd be pretty happy (5.00 / 3) (#83)
    by Fabian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:22:51 PM EST
    If Lowery had been tapped first and Warren brought in at the last minute.

    Or...if Warren had been replaced by Lowery.  That would bring a smile to my face!

    As it stands?
    That's nice, dear.
    Bless your heart.
    &
    You must be so proud!

    Parent

    Not a mystery.... (5.00 / 1) (#133)
    by oldpro on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 08:03:29 PM EST
    "Man bites dog!"  Front page.

    "Dog bits man!"  Buried somewhere in B or C Section...unless the man is a celebrity or dies from the dogbite(s).

    There's a reason for "If it bleeds, it leads."

    There are plenty of cheerleader papers and blogs but few devoted to critical analysis.  Far too few.  That's why some of us come here.

    I, for one, gave up cheerleading when I graduated high school.

    Parent

    Inauguration by the numbers (none / 0) (#53)
    by jbindc on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:42:09 PM EST
    Link

    The behind-the-scenes stuff you won't see as you watch history on the big screen Jan. 20:

    Inaugural stand plywood: 22,000 sheets

    Port-a-potties: 5,000

    Police overtime: $1.5 million

    Media credentials: 4,000

    Game birds on the lunch menu: Two

    Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, was chock full of such statistics Friday afternoon as she finalized the details of the largest Inauguration in a generation.

    This Inauguration is Feinstein's final job as outgoing Rules Committee chairwoman, and in addition to overseeing the costs of building the massive platform in front of the Capitol, Feinstein decided the inaugural lunch menu should be bipartisan. So she invited Utah Republican Sen. Bob Bennett's spouse and a few others from both sides of the aisle for a taste test to help make the final choices. They settled on duck and pheasant as the main course.

    All told, the Architect of the Capitol has budgeted $3.5 million to pay for the physical costs, but the additional police force is the overriding priority.

    "Security is the number one concern," Feinstein said.

    Howard Gantman, the staff director for the Rules committee, added that Barack Obama's transition team has said the ceremony will be outside regardless of the cold. The weather forecast calls for a high around 30, so it will be colder than usual but nowhere near the below zero wind chill and blowing snow that forced Ronald Reagan's 1984 Inauguration inside.

    "The president-elect expects to do this outside," Gantman said.

    Feinstein said she would advise parents, based on her "own view as a mother and grandmother," if you bring children, "be very careful."

    Feinstein has obsessively studied past Inaugurations, including examining DVDs of the previous events, so the day planned down to the minute. "It was a surprise to me how much detail there is," she said.

    Feinstein noted there have been 1.9 million Web visitors to the official Inauguration site. But the most popular click? The menu page -- which lists the "brace of American birds" -- with 329,000 hits.

    And, the total estimated cost to DC/MD/VA is expected to be $75 million.

    Link

    But the good news (5.00 / 0) (#108)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 05:50:55 PM EST
    is that Washington, D.C., is replete with Greek pillars, so they already come with the territory.  And they'll be real, not made from styrofoam this time.  

    I do wish this was more along the lines of '92, when the donor limit was $100 . . . but on the other hand, I always enjoy seeing our beautiful capitol city strutting its stuff when the world is watching.  (I'm a sucker for those PBS Fourth of July concerts on the Mall, just to see the Mall and more.)

    Parent

    I was (none / 0) (#54)
    by liminal on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:42:50 PM EST
    this () close to buying a new 32" LCD television at Circuit City tomorrow.  They have a Samsung Series 4 on sale... however, since they are now going to liquidate rather than reorganize, I've decided against it: that "we're liquidating - no returns, no exchanges!" thing makes me queasy, whatever the supposed bargain.  

    Circuit City apparently has something like 30,000 employees, too.  Not good news.

    Check out (none / 0) (#56)
    by andgarden on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:44:07 PM EST
    J&R.

    Parent
    I'll buy there (none / 0) (#60)
    by eric on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:49:45 PM EST
    if it is cheap enough.

    Parent
    Me too... (none / 0) (#71)
    by liminal on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:01:16 PM EST
     - on some things, but the TV is a big ticket item for me.  I want to be able to easily exchange it if there is something wrong right out of the box!

    Parent
    Thud! (none / 0) (#77)
    by desertswine on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:11:13 PM EST
     
    The company's move to liquidate, reported by CNBC Friday morning, means the retailer's 35,000 employees will likely lose their jobs, the financial news channel said.

    35,000 more jobs down the tube. Yikes.

    Parent

    And (5.00 / 1) (#80)
    by jbindc on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:14:46 PM EST
    Retail observers note that, with each store ranging from 20,000-25,0000 square feet, this will be one of the largest hits to "big box" retail, especially coming on the heels of the disappearances of Mervyn's and Linens-N-Things.

    Parent
    + Goody's. (5.00 / 1) (#104)
    by liminal on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 05:34:25 PM EST
    I'm not sure about the rest of the country, but Goody's stores occupy pretty large retail spaces around here.  We have had some 'Value City Department Stores,' around here, which liquidated last fall.  I've heard rumors that locally that space has already found a new tenant - but we are poor, and not, I think as overbuilt as the rest of the country.

    Ah, the benefits of poverty.

    Parent

    That's where I spent 18 years doing (none / 0) (#118)
    by Teresa on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 06:43:22 PM EST
    financial statements, etc. That's 10,000 people, 1100 of them here in Knoxville not to mention all the truckers, etc. that worked for other companies to get our clothes to the stores.

    It would have been more but they had already closed over 90 stores at two different times this year trying to hang on.

    Parent

    Ed Gensen Quits Blago Impeachment Def Team (none / 0) (#57)
    by wystler on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:44:16 PM EST
    reported by Crains ... still working federal case tho

    Two Strikes and a lot of bawling: (none / 0) (#91)
    by KeysDan on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:49:54 PM EST
    Roland Burris, nominated by Rod Blagojevich; sworn in by Dick Cheney.

    Parent
    What's next? Sleep Blogging? (none / 0) (#66)
    by jbindc on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 03:56:43 PM EST
    Sleep Emailing

    The Eastman 10 -- the group of students from (none / 0) (#94)
    by Blowback on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 04:51:27 PM EST
    The Eastman School of Music (26 Gibbs St. Rochester, NY) who celebrated the election in the streets and were arrested by a hateful, dangerous, well-funded, armed gang who call themselves "The Rochester City Police".

    Inaugural Party, Tuesday, probably starting around 6 p.m. or so, is an Inaugural Party at Abilene Bar and Lounge (153 Liberty Pole Wy., formerly Tara) featuring The Eastman 10

    http://www.jayceland.com/

    http://www.abilenebarandlounge.com/Home.html

    http://www.esm.rochester.edu/

    NPR said today (none / 0) (#103)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 05:32:32 PM EST
    that of the ~$260B TARP funds "loaned" out thus far, the CBO expects to never see again ~$65B or 25%.

    I thought we were going to make money on these loans?

    The CBO (none / 0) (#111)
    by JThomas on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 05:57:47 PM EST
    is using models that use assumptions that they have no way of verifying....bottom line, nobody knows what the bottom will be, or if it may come back...best case we recover and the banks do not fail and we get 100% of our loans back.

    it is like buying a stock, having it go down the first week,and then saying we have lost that amount...no, it is an unrealized loss, just like when it goes above your cost,it is an unrealized gain. We prevented a massive bank failure so far, which is a net intangible gain..yet to be determined if we ultimately recover our loan but the 5% interest.

    Parent

    Well said. (none / 0) (#120)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 06:48:04 PM EST


    Parent
    Pardon questions (none / 0) (#105)
    by Natal on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 05:37:52 PM EST
    1. Can the president issue a pardon for someone not yet convicted of a crime?

    2. Can the president-elect Obama undo a prior President Bush pardon? Bush undid one of his last month.

    Just wondering about these.

    in futuro pardons (none / 0) (#110)
    by christinep on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 05:56:25 PM EST
    Yes, he can pardon people (e.g., members of his staff) just in case.... Remember Ford's pardon of Nixon. And, no future President can undo the pardon. On the whole pardon subject: If memory serves, Presidents--in general and compared to some other countries--have been rather tight-fisted in the use of the pardon. Historically, a number of western european countries granted general amnesty/pardons upon taking office and almost as a tradition. A fascinating subject; tho, a somewhat different one than the question of whether a successor government should look into the potential violations of law of a preceding administration. In that regard, I tend to believe that Krugman makes a good point--it is a point well beyond getting even or revenge or anything like that.

    Parent
    Thank you (none / 0) (#142)
    by Natal on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 09:43:01 PM EST
    for clarifying -- much appreciated.

    Natal

    Parent

    Why no Dean? (none / 0) (#131)
    by Manuel on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 07:43:08 PM EST
    Has anyone heard any speculation about why Dean was shut out of an administration post?  The MSNBC news article makes it sound as if he really wanted in.  

    Shut out? You must mean (none / 0) (#134)
    by oldpro on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 08:28:17 PM EST
    from the top spots.  Dean wouldn't be a top-tier applicant in most administrations.  

    There are hundreds, thousands of appointments still to be made.  If Dean wants one, he'll find a place.

    Parent

    Dean and Rahm Emanuel (none / 0) (#139)
    by ruffian on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 08:51:17 PM EST
    are not close, to say the least.  Most of the speculation I have seen focuses on that.

    Parent
    Mukasey Cites Risk in Using Term 'Torture' (none / 0) (#137)
    by squeaky on Fri Jan 16, 2009 at 08:32:41 PM EST
    Holder is not playing fair. Boo Hoo..  Worth a read WSJ

    Obama Dinner (none / 0) (#154)
    by squeaky on Sat Jan 17, 2009 at 03:14:17 PM EST
    Not only was

    Iran scholar Haleh Esfandiari; Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid (who had flown in from Lahore); Obama friend and foreign-policy advisor Samantha Power of Harvard University (who accompanied PEOTUS to the meeting); incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, General Scott Gration and incoming NSC chief General James Jones, at the "secret dinner" hosted by Lee Hamilton, but also attending was Pepsi CEO  Indra Nooyi.

    Laura Rozen, Ben Smith

    That seems really odd. Wonder why she was there.

    Maybe because she is considered the most powerful busineswoman in the world? Or at least #3 out of the top 100.

    Or is it this:

    Her name has now been put forward by the U.S.-India Political Action Committee as a potential Commerce Secretary in the Obama administration.

    Wiki

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