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Monday Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Mon Jul 09, 2007 at 11:52:50 AM EST
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Between Live Earth and blogging, I barely left the computer or the house all weekend. So, you're on your own today. This space is for you.

If you want to see me discuss politics with The Hotline's Blogometer's Conn Carroll, take a look here. - btd

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    Monday Open Thread | 40 comments (40 topical)

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    DC Madam List (5.00 / 2) (#21)
    by squeaky on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 09:58:30 AM EST
    Caught Red ****ed. He calles him self a sinner, which in his mind must absolve him. God and his miracles at work.
    Vitter Flashback: Clinton should resign.
    Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) first got his start in Congress after replacing former Rep. Bob Livingston (R-LA), who "abruptly resigned after disclosures of numerous affairs" in 1998. At the time, Vitter argued that an extramarital affair was grounds for resignation:

    "I think Livingston's stepping down makes a very powerful argument that Clinton should resign as well and move beyond this mess," he said. [Atlanta Journal and Constitution, 12/20/98]

    think progress
    Sounds like Mr. Vitter should take his own advice and give up his seat.

    Yeah, well... (5.00 / 1) (#22)
    by desertswine on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 10:15:44 AM EST
    Vitter says now that god forgives him. So it's all OK I guess.

    Parent
    sounds as if God was an easier sell than his wife. (none / 0) (#29)
    by Deconstructionist on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 01:33:43 PM EST
    "In the House, Vitter succeeded GOP Rep. Robert Livingston, who was in line to replace Newt Gingrich as speaker until Livingston admitted to extramarital affairs and quit Congress. Livingston had been a critic of President Clinton, calling on him to resign over his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

    Vitter and his wife, Wendy, live in Metairie, La., with their four children.

    In 2000, Wendy Vitter told Newhouse News Service she could not be as forgiving as Livingston's wife or Hillary Clinton.

    "I'm a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary," she said. "If he does something like that, I'm walking away with one thing, and it's not alimony, trust me."

    Lorena Bobbitt, in a 1993 case that drew worldwide attention, cut off her husband's penis during an argument.
    *

      Giuliani's on a roll with his campaign organization sex scandals, drug scandals... time for some rock and roll.

    Parent

    yep, pass the popcorn! (5.00 / 1) (#24)
    by Sailor on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 11:25:59 AM EST


    Parent
    Larry Flint (5.00 / 1) (#38)
    by squeaky on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 09:16:25 PM EST
    Hustler (!!) at the Heart of the Vitter Sex Scandal

    If this story keeps getting more entertaining, we may blog nothing else. Turns out, Hustler was the news organization ("news organization") that discovered Senator Vitter's presence on the DC Madam's phone list. They called Vitter for comment, and Vitter, realizing the game was up, ran to the AP with the admission, so as to preempt the Hustler story. Larry Flint, grand don of all things Hustler, is on an ongoing campaign to expose the hidden sexual misdeeds of the powerful, so there may be more of this glorious nonsense coming down the pipe.

    Mother Jones

    Parent

    Jeeze.... Give the guy a break (none / 0) (#25)
    by Edger on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 12:14:13 PM EST
    He's human. Just some minor flaws. Just like Cheney. And Bush.

    Jeezus loves them. Everyone else thinks they're ____.

    Fill in the blank.

    Parent

    the party of family values (none / 0) (#27)
    by Sailor on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 01:26:50 PM EST


    Parent
    Speaking of, (none / 0) (#30)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 01:36:41 PM EST
    what do you think of LA's (Dem) mayor these days?

    Parent
    did he run on family values and gay bashing? (none / 0) (#31)
    by Sailor on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 02:24:07 PM EST


    Parent
    Does it really matter? (none / 0) (#32)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 02:27:00 PM EST


    Parent
    yes, of course, it's called hypocrisy (none / 0) (#33)
    by Sailor on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 02:49:33 PM EST
    but you knew that.

    Parent
    So Villaraigosa ran on a platform of thievery, (none / 0) (#34)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 02:59:31 PM EST
    disregard of the law, lying and cheating?

    Hypocrisy is but one example of a lack of character. Members of both parties are hypocritical and members of both lack character.

    But you knew that as well.

    Parent

    when did you turn into ppj? (5.00 / 1) (#36)
    by Sailor on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 03:26:36 PM EST


    Parent
    Three Little Girls...... (5.00 / 0) (#40)
    by Edger on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:15:45 PM EST
    These convoys are the arteries that sustain the oc­cupation, ferrying items such as water, mail, maintenance parts, sewage, food and fuel across Iraq.
    ...
    These convoys, ubiquitous in Iraq, were also, to many Iraqis, sources of wanton destruction.

    According to descriptions culled from interviews with thirty-eight veterans who rode in convoys--guarding such runs as Kuwait to Nasiriya, Nasiriya to Baghdad and Balad to Kirkuk--when these columns of vehicles left their heavily fortified compounds they usually roared down the main supply routes, which often cut through densely populated areas, reaching speeds over sixty miles an hour.

    Governed by the rule that stagnation increases the likelihood of attack, convoys leapt meridians in traffic jams, ignored traffic signals, swerved without warning onto sidewalks, scattering pedestrians, and slammed into civilian vehicles, shoving them off the road. Iraqi civilians, including children, were frequently run over and killed. Veterans said they sometimes shot drivers of civilian cars that moved into convoy formations or attempted to pass convoys as a warning to other drivers to get out of the way.
    ...
    Sergeant Flatt recalled an incident in January 2005 when a convoy drove past him on one of the main highways in Mosul. "A car following got too close to their convoy," he said. "Basically, they took shots at the car. Warning shots, I don't know. But they shot the car. Well, one of the bullets happened to just pierce the windshield and went straight into the face of this woman in the car. And she was--well, as far as I know--instantly killed. I didn't pull her out of the car or anything. Her son was driving the car, and she had her--she had three little girls in the back seat. And they came up to us, because we were actually sitting in a defensive position right next to the hospital, the main hospital in Mosul, the civilian hospital. And they drove up and she was obviously dead. And the girls were crying.

    The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness
    Chris Hedges & Laila Al-Arian
    The Nation, July 9, 2007

    Just in case you thought the wah was over (none / 0) (#1)
    by scribe on Mon Jul 09, 2007 at 12:05:18 PM EST
    think again:  Tom DeLay is still blogging.

    And, from the looks of the image he posted next to the discussion of the end of the Supreme Court term (three guesses on what he has to say), probably infringing on the Looney Toones copyrights.

    Him and Rudy are both (none / 0) (#2)
    by Edger on Mon Jul 09, 2007 at 12:15:21 PM EST
    going after the smallest political market there is. Loony tunes pretty much describes them.

    Parent
    This isn't exactly a crime, but (none / 0) (#3)
    by scribe on Mon Jul 09, 2007 at 12:45:39 PM EST
    I think it's worth mentioning.  A company in NYC has figured out a way to feed, to appropriately equipped cell phones, the location of the nearest public rest rooms.  From the article:

    Mizpee.com works on cell phones with a built-in Web browser: Plug in any street address in Manhattan, and the nearest public toilets pop up on the screen.

    * * *

    Mizpee rates the rest rooms for cleanliness on a scale of one to five toilet paper rolls - setting up an "honor roll" and a "wall of shame."

    It says whether the bathroom is accessible to the disabled, whether it has diaper-changing facilities, and - if in a store or coffee shop - whether it's only available to paying customers.

    Oh, yeah. In the words of that old saying:  "Only in New York".

    Heh.... (none / 0) (#4)
    by desertswine on Mon Jul 09, 2007 at 01:03:50 PM EST
    Those without c-phones will still be urinating in the subways I suppose.

    Parent
    In Manhattan especially.... (none / 0) (#16)
    by kdog on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 07:50:01 AM EST
    its good to be a guy....the world is your urinal.

    Parent
    Good Hare Day -- Half Off for Gay Weddings (none / 0) (#5)
    by Ellie on Mon Jul 09, 2007 at 01:07:13 PM EST
    With the Repugs crowding their fainting couch over the cost of a haircut, I thought I'd offer them a little relaxing Hairapy.  It's not like good grooming means they HAVE to gay marry. (You are next ... you're so next ... !)

    It's in honor of the groundbreaking, spectacular What's Opera Doc? celebrating its golden anniversary this weekend (and me watching cough a bunch of them in a row. Look, the lasers were right there ...)

    C'mon, who can have just one?

    Finally I know why I am a really (none / 0) (#6)
    by Militarytracy on Mon Jul 09, 2007 at 02:13:16 PM EST
    bad gardener in lower Alabama.  My property is full of black walnut trees that release juglone into the soil and it kills off or stunts most of my garden that I plant in ground.  Next year I go all grow boxes.

    Can you package it (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by Edger on Mon Jul 09, 2007 at 02:17:07 PM EST
    and feed it to republicans?

    Since we know it works to stunt the growth of vegetables?

    Parent

    heh! (5.00 / 2) (#9)
    by scribe on Mon Jul 09, 2007 at 03:14:31 PM EST
    But, more seriously, woodworkers can (and often do) get contact dermatitis or, worse, inflammation of the respiratory tract and/or mucosa from extended contact with the sawdust from black walnut.  In some, it gets so bad they have to discontinue working with it entirely.

    This is an issue which arises more often and more severely when working with certain tropical hardwoods, but it's present with black walnut, too.  

    So, wear yer dust masks.

    Would that Christie Whitman had enforced that rule for the 9/11 recovery people working The Pile.  As looseheadprop's latest entry over at FDL indicates, Rep. Gerry Nadler of NYC, who's been pounding Whitman over the head from Day One on this, has indicated that (in at least epistemological terms) the Bush WH messing with the EPAs attempts at truthful reporting and thereby allowing people onto The Pile with false information, is equivalent to Sadaam gassing his own people, viz.:

    as topic for impeachment inquiry:
    whether the White House's interference in the public statements made by EPA Secretary Christine Todd Whitman's with respect to air quality at Ground Zero which caused her to falsely report that the air was safe to breath when EPA testing should the exact opposite to be true constituted a physical attack upon the people of the City of New York and upon rescue workers and other working on "the pile".

    Re: that last item, Rep. Jerry Nadler has been way, way out front on this one and after reading his piece in the Long Island Section of the Times and I think he has a point. Saddam is supposed to have gassed the Kurds. President Bush got Whitman to lie repeatedly about the results of the air quality testing and she told them it was safe to go back downtown, where they breathing in lungful after lungful of poisoned air.

    And the Kurds Saddam gassed, and the rescue workers dead or dying of poisoning from working on the 9/11 pile, where Bushie stood so triumphantly and Thuggy thinks he made his next job, are just as dead.  From the same cause - their governments' mis- or malfeasance.

    Parent

    yeah - black walnuts (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by scribe on Mon Jul 09, 2007 at 02:20:57 PM EST
    are kind of particular about elbowing out all the competition from other plants.  

    The nice part of that is, if you can find an outlet for the nuts, they retail for $10 or so a pound (shelled) in the big cities.  Some people are demented enough that they'll pay handsomely even for uncracked nuts - things which are often tossed aside or given away, out in the country.

    I have my unlisted spots where, after a fall gullywasher rainstorm or two, they'll have rolled downhill and accumulated in big drifts such that I can get as many as I want and my trunk can hold in an hour or two, right by the roadside, even.  They're a bit of a mess when it comes to getting the outer hulls off (rubber gloves under gardening gloves help keep hands unstained), but in the end it's all worth the trouble.

    Parent

    Very Hard to Open (none / 0) (#15)
    by squeaky on Mon Jul 09, 2007 at 06:24:29 PM EST
    But well worth the effort. mmmmmm good

    Parent
    WH weighs in on Scooter's sentence (none / 0) (#10)
    by scribe on Mon Jul 09, 2007 at 03:24:27 PM EST
    Here's the link - the diarist over at Kos cut and pasted the text into his diary.

    Short version - it seems the Preznit wants Scooter to start his supervised release immediately.

    Interestingly, according to Fielding, neither Fitz nor Scooter asked the WH for their interpretation on the sentencing issues.

    Men... (none / 0) (#11)
    by desertswine on Mon Jul 09, 2007 at 03:41:22 PM EST
    at work. I hope this isn't the beginning of a trend.

    now, let's look at these knuckleheads (5.00 / 0) (#12)
    by scribe on Mon Jul 09, 2007 at 04:27:01 PM EST
    and their belief system.  I think they're a hidden al Qaeda sleeper cell that just went active:

    [Arrestees] Calaway, Plaisted and Ragon face charges of arson at a place of worship, a first-degree felony that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, Singleton said.

    These youths are 18 and 19.

    Cmdr. Chris Havens, the Police Department spokesman, said the suspects boasted about belonging to a leaderless group of 10 or 15 who share a belief that society has become too focused on self-improvement and self-gratification and has lost focus on the glorification of God.

    Leaderless, same shared belief:  sounds like al Qaeda.

    Society too focused on self-improvement and self-gratification:  sounds like al Qaeda.

    Society has lost its focus on glorifying God:  sounds like al Qaeda.

    "They admit to being Christian and being brought up Christian, but they believe there should be one denomination and one church, not multiple denominations," Havens said.

    And all the Muslims who belong to al Qaeda, would surely admit to being and having been brought up Muslim.

    What was it Osama bin Laden said about re-establishing the Caliphate, and what all those al Qaeda types say about there being only one true denomination and one true church?  

    These knuckleheads sound like al Qaeda.

    "They did not say they had a name for their group, other than they were a radical Christian activist group. That was the way they explained their group," he said.

    No name?  We can propose one:  "al Qaeda in Burleson, Texas".

    The suspects said the group has three levels of involvement: Bible study, consensual fighting and destructive acts. Because one of their beliefs is free thought, however, participation in all three levels is not mandatory, they told police.

    Mmmm.  Bible study meets Fight Club meets "destructive acts".  Sounds like their Bible Study is really - an al Qaeda training camp turning into an active terrah cell.

    The three admitted to being in a core group of seven that created the explosive weapon as a test to draw attention to the demise of society and to see whether the device would work, Havens said.

    So, these guys admit they are the hard-core terrist leaders of this group of al Qaeda in Texas.  Good training they had- not knowing whether their "device" would work.  But it did.  Now, which one of them was the #2 of al Qaeda in Texas?  I'm sure they'll talk.  We have ways....

    "They believe that the past generations have accumulated trash and are responsible for making younger generations clean up their mess," he said. "They're trying to make a statement and get society's attention regarding that."

    Sound almost like those scary eco-terrists the Repugs are always warnin' us about.  Musta joined al Qaeda in Texas with them eco-wackos.

    That's why two of the men said they were involved in an earlier fire in a recycling bin at CentrePoint Church on Alsbury Road, Singleton said. That fire burned the materials in the bin but did not damage the church, he said.

    A failed terrist attack!  

    None of the men has a criminal record, he said.

    Well, that's over with.  

    But, none of the British crash-a-flaming-SUV-into-the-airport doctors had a criminal record either. And they were surely al Qaeda, too.  We all know it's a hallmark of al Qaeda to use operatives without a criminal record.

    They're sounding more and more like al Qaeda every second.

    "We put them in the category of a domestic terrorist group," Havens said. "We hope to discover the names of other individuals involved and if other devices have been prepared along with any plans they may be talking about to further their cause."

    Glad to see the anti-terrah polizei are on the job, hunting down the next #2 of al Qaeda in Texas.

    Parent

    scribe (1.00 / 1) (#14)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Jul 09, 2007 at 06:08:28 PM EST
    You are a little late.

    Edger, or was it Sqeaky, has already used this to claim that christians are worse than radical moslems.

    Better luck next time.


    Parent

    Do we have to pick... (5.00 / 0) (#17)
    by kdog on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 08:00:58 AM EST
    which is worse?

    Whether it's Jesus, Mohammed, pick your dead guy, or even David Berkowitz's dog that is tellin ya to get violent...you're freakin' nuts.

    Parent

    Kdog (1.00 / 1) (#19)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 09:12:19 AM EST
    The issue wasn't Jesus or Mohammed, but which set of believers were worse.

    Parent
    Still.... (5.00 / 0) (#20)
    by kdog on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 09:20:48 AM EST
    Followers of "A" plant a bomb, followers of "B" plant a bomb...there is no worse, they are the same....nuts is nuts.

    I give no creedence to delusional motivations.  People setting off bombs is the problem...period.

    Parent

    that's a flat out lie ... (5.00 / 0) (#23)
    by Sailor on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 11:25:15 AM EST
    ... but what can one expect from a terrorist sympathizer who has many times written of his support for the taliban and saddam.

    Parent
    I t6hink the point is, (5.00 / 0) (#26)
    by jondee on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 01:22:30 PM EST
    that one set of "believers" you wingers expend every ounce of breath attempting to whip the country into an hysterical frenzy over, and the other set you're all warm, fuzzy,'n sentimental towards.

    Maybe the trick is to emigrate ten million or so Islamists to red states and get 'em all worked up about the unborn, "humasexuals", secularists and the culture wars -- not much of a stretch -- and solidify the base even more.

    Parent

    Transparently dishonest (5.00 / 1) (#35)
    by jondee on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 03:10:45 PM EST
    mischaracterization, but what else is new?

    One thing is crystal clear though: American fundamentalist apologists are as dumb as their Islamic counterparts.

    Parent

    How many thousand did they try to kill? (1.00 / 0) (#28)
    by roy on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 01:32:40 PM EST


    Parent
    If they were behind (5.00 / 1) (#37)
    by jondee on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 03:36:12 PM EST
    the big push for the Iraq invasion, then they've tried to kill alot.

    Parent
    This is a sad (none / 0) (#13)
    by desertswine on Mon Jul 09, 2007 at 05:13:03 PM EST
    day. 4000.

    Only the beginning.... (5.00 / 1) (#18)
    by kdog on Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 08:04:12 AM EST
    If I make it to a rocking chair, old and grey, the newsman will be telling me about a 19 year old marine being killed in Iraq while guarding a pipeline.

    Parent
    Can we arrest Gonzales now? (none / 0) (#39)
    by Edger on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 02:32:33 PM EST
    Gonzales Knew About Violations, Officials Say
    By John Solomon, The Washington Post, Wednesday 11 July 2007
    Two senior Justice Department officials said yesterday that they kept Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales apprised of FBI violations of civil liberties and privacy safeguards in recent years.

    The two officials spoke in a telephone call arranged by press officials at the Justice Department after The Washington Post disclosed yesterday that the FBI sent reports to Gonzales of legal and procedural violations shortly before he told senators in April 2005: "There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse" after 2001.

    "I have discussed and informed attorneys general, including this one, about mistakes the FBI has made or problems or violations or compliance incidents, however you want to refer to them," said James A. Baker, a career official who heads the Justice Department's Office of Intelligence Policy and Review.
    Monday Open Thread | 40 comments (40 topical)

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