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Tuesday Open Thread

I suspect Fitzgerald and the RoveGate participants are busy writing plea agreements and making arrangements to surrender to authorities - and that major news won't break until late this afternoon or even later this week. So, I'm heading back to work.

For major newsbreaks, keep checking Huffington Post and Raw Story. For video replays, head over to Crooks and Liars. For a roundup of opinions on both sides, head to Gabe Rivera's Memeorandum, and congrats to Gabe for this very flattering and true Tech Station article about his site. My favorite line, of course, is this one:

Gabe Rivera has built a website seamlessly driven by a proprietary algorithm which fuses blogs and MSM stories into a one page intersection of instant commentary lined up with political news and tech news. This is fresh. The algorithm updates every five minutes. It covers opinion: where else can you see TalkLeft and Powerline on the same page. It's a very quick read. And, amazingly, it is largely automatic.

The New York Times also has a roundup of blogger posts on PlameGate. No need to stick to that topic though, this thread's for you. For an assortment, don't miss Cursor.

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    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:07 PM EST
    Time to take the steak knives to the shopping center and have them touched up. Serrated blades on all sides, pointing at the traitors. And they say Santa's dead. He's not dead; he's just embedded in a stack of legal briefs, any one of which could spell Christmas.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:07 PM EST
    Hey, you know what is funny? All of a sudden all the trolls are gone. They must be having some sort of emergency meeting over at Troll Central. Something about the wheels coming off the Clown Bush, horrified looks, twisted metal, screams. 'All thumbs to the Wall of Lies' won't do it any more. So sad. Truth Out.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#3)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:07 PM EST
    Trolls? Gone? PIL...what do you think you are? ;-)

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#4)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:07 PM EST
    Billmon speculates about a great tinfoil hat theory that is actually plausible regarding Valerie Flame. A friend who is has gotten english work re-translated back into english from Hebrew often winds up with having Fs and Ps interchanged. Pe the twentieth letter of the Hebrew language sounds both P and F. The reason that i love the story is that it brings in Feith and AIPAC who, I believe are certainly involved. People have speculated that Brewster Jennings, Plame's front Co, was getting awfully close to some shady Israeli dealings and that is why she was outed. The story about smearing Wilson was just a red-herring. Tinfoil hat for sure, but until we know, why not.. billmon

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:07 PM EST
    A heads up that tonight's Frontline is about the despicable US act of rendition. Outsourcing our torture to other countries. By doing this we have made ourselves into what we pretend to hate. Looks like the terrorist won. B

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#6)
    by pigwiggle on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:08 PM EST
    Looks like the terrorist won.
    Good heads up. Watched it; and indeed it does. Sad.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#7)
    by roy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:08 PM EST
    Now that it's out in the open, can we give the torturing jobs to Americans?

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#8)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:08 PM EST
    Well since this an open thread... Hurricane Wilma has just become the third catagory 5 hurricane of 2005, with winds of 175 mph and a central pressure of 892 millibars. This makes it the strongest hurricane of the season, even stronger than Rita and Katrina. It is also the strongest hurricane on record for the month of October and...get this...tied for the second strongest EVER in the Atlantic. Some of the records of the 2005 Atlantic Hurricane season: Three catagory 5 storms. The 2nd, 4th and 6th strongest storms on record. The strongest storm on record for October. The two strongest storms on record for July. The most named storms. Currently tied for the most total tropical storm/hurricanes in one season (21) and the most hurricanes in one season (12). And there is still at least 6 weeks to go in the season.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:08 PM EST
    I think Max Mayfield is wonderful. I wish he were President instead of Bush. Notice how he tells the truth, plans ahead, takes into consideration all possible consequences before moving blindly ahead into action. He's never taken a photo op at the center of any hurricane. He just does his job. What a great leader.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#10)
    by roy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:08 PM EST
    Congress is congratulating itself for taking the painfully obvious step of not giving itself a raise for 2006 to help pay for NOLA.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#11)
    by peacrevol on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:08 PM EST
    we should be experts at hurricane survival after this year. dayuum

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#12)
    by pigwiggle on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:09 PM EST
    “Hurricane Wilma has just become the third catagory 5”
    This gives me a good opportunity to grind an axe. I’m in the business of modeling complicated chemical phenomena on big computers; it is remarkably similar to what folks do with hurricanes. One of the best hurricane models used for predicting climate impact on hurricane behavior is also the same model used to forecast actual hurricane development. It’s really interesting stuff and I recommend you all look into it. Anyway, my point; apparently the model isn’t so great. It forecast Wilma strengthening into a low-grade cat 3 over the past 24 hours, not the record-breaking monster we are seeing. When we all start talking about using computer modeling as a guide for policy (and if this one trounces Florida I predict we will), please keep in mind that the state of the art failed miserably this time.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#13)
    by roy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:09 PM EST
    Models are good research tools because if you find a case for which your model isn't predictive, you update it with what you learn. They provide a false sense of good policy for the same reason.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#14)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:09 PM EST
    As a system become more and more unstable the predictions of its behavior will become less and less accurate, especially in the short term. (See 'chaos theory')

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#15)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:09 PM EST
    Political Science 101 SOCIALIST: You have two cows. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor. You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow. COMMUNIST: You have two cows. The government seizes both and provides you with milk. You wait in line for hours to get it. It is expensive and sour. DEMOCRAT: You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. You feel guilty for being successful. Barbara Streisand sings for you. REPUBLICAN: You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. So?

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#16)
    by roy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:10 PM EST
    Shouldn't the Repubs enact trade restrictions so nobody else can import or breed cows?

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#17)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:11 PM EST
    Roy: I think their plan is to preemptively invade all countries that breed cows, so that for the rest of the century they will have absolute control of the worlds livestock supply. Course, there will be a huge insurgency of really pi**ed off farmers, and barnstorming will be revived, as "terrists" (republican covert agents) fly crop dusters by remote control into barns full of sheep.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#18)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:11 PM EST
    edgar-sounds like a lot of bull.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#19)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:11 PM EST
    Squeaky: a lot of bull Isn't that usually all we get when the republicans come through town?

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#20)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:11 PM EST
    Yes, the volume of pachyderm pucky makes our imagination so fertile that we think we must be hallucinating once they dump their load.

    Re: Tuesday Open Thread (none / 0) (#21)
    by roy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:11 PM EST
    So, a technical question about federal income tax. I know my employer pays half of the tax on my salary, but what determines the rate they pay when I have multiple sources of income? i.e. what's the difference from my employers' perspective if I have one job paying $40K / year or two jobs each paying $20K / year (with the 25% tax bracket starting at $29,700). Does the employer get to pay less tax if I deduct charitable donations?