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Saturday Open Thread: Dancing in the Dark

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 04:31:37 PM EST
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Drug dogs in schools, police departments taking out classified ads for snitches, spending vast sums of money to fight the drug war in Mexico and Afghanistan,

This gun's for hire

even if we're just dancing in the dark

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

< NJ High School to Use Dogs to Find Drugs | Mike Doogan v. Alexander Hamilton and James Madison >

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    Saturday Open Thread: Dancing in the Dark | 29 comments (29 topical)

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    It's nice to (5.00 / 0) (#8)
    by Patrick on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 05:24:02 PM EST
    have the old talkleft back.  Thank God that election is over.  Well almost back, there are quite a few new faces, miss some of the old ones.    

    Yes (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by squeaky on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 05:27:32 PM EST
    One thing you can count on is that things change. I miss many of the old timers as well..  Hope that at least some of them migrate back, although many of the newer commenters add quite a lot.

    Parent
    I don't comment often, but (5.00 / 2) (#16)
    by GeorgiaE on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 06:36:29 PM EST
    I read Talk Left everyday.  Plan to make a donation to this site as soon as I pay off my ridiculous winter gas bills!  Most of the Talk Left members are just awesome, and I love reading your comments.  

    Parent
    By the way, (none / 0) (#18)
    by GeorgiaE on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 06:48:56 PM EST
    Is PayPal safe/secure?  I've never used it before.

    Parent
    I never had a problem with Paypal. (5.00 / 1) (#24)
    by befuddledvoter on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 11:10:03 PM EST
    I use it all the time and they even cover if you get stiffed.  Just watch those phishing emails that you might get, asking you to put in your username and password becuase something is wrong with your paypal account.  That never is paypal.  

    Parent
    By all reports, yes it is safe (none / 0) (#21)
    by DFLer on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 07:44:04 PM EST


    Parent
    Paypal is very safe (none / 0) (#25)
    by Jeralyn on Sun Mar 29, 2009 at 12:28:23 AM EST
    I've used it for a variety of things for over five years. It's the only service of its kind I trust. Amazon recently dismantled its "honor system" program where you could make donations that way.

    Parent
    You can mail in a donation as well... (none / 0) (#29)
    by kdog on Sun Mar 29, 2009 at 09:03:54 AM EST
    if you're a weirdo who doesn't trust nobody in the money-movin' racket...which reminds me I'm long overdue to drop something in the mail.

    Parent
    Senate Sisterhood is Powerful (5.00 / 2) (#13)
    by daring grace on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 06:12:02 PM EST
    Never had much use for Kay Bailey Hutchison, but this was a classy moment between her and Hillary Clinton.

    snip:

    ""I think the most incredible thing I saw in you during this period was your ability to keep a happy face, a confident face, when you were getting so many disappointments," Hutchison said, speaking beside Clinton at an event at The Women's Museum in Dallas"

    and, snip:

    ""It was that incredible ability to lose, get over it, help the president of your party win and put your heart into it.  . . . That character is why you're secretary of state today," Hutchison said."

    Yes (5.00 / 1) (#14)
    by Ga6thDem on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 06:18:51 PM EST
    but I think there's more too it. It seems everybody wants her voters so for years and years of being dastardly to her they've decided that she MIGHT really be onto something.

    Parent
    I agree, Daring Grace, (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by GeorgiaE on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 06:27:28 PM EST
    Class with a capital "C"!

    Parent
    So, who is participating in Earth Hour? (5.00 / 1) (#17)
    by BarnBabe on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 06:42:41 PM EST
    Almost 7:45 here. So 45 mins until the East Coast is in Earth Hour. I am amazed in reviewing the slide shows how many countries did participate. The Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Phillipeans, Australia, Japan, etc. 80 countries signed on. Even the Vatican kicked in.
    I use all energy saver bulbs, but I will cut the outside front porch off for an hour. NY will include the Empire State Bldg. It is symbolic, but it is a good world group effort.  

    Went down to check on 91 year old mother (5.00 / 1) (#23)
    by befuddledvoter on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 11:05:37 PM EST
    I asked her why she was sitting in the dark.  She explained it was Earth Hour. I forgot but she did not. LOL

    Parent
    I am looking forward to participating, (none / 0) (#19)
    by GeorgiaE on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 06:57:00 PM EST
    I bought some energy saver bulbs today, also. My first purchase. (Can't wait for an old one to blow).  

    Parent
    Every little bit helps. (none / 0) (#20)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 07:28:51 PM EST
    And in the end we're helping ourselves.  If only more people had taken Jimmy Carter's message to heart all of those many years ago...

    Parent
    Change them now. Might as well (none / 0) (#22)
    by BarnBabe on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 10:32:04 PM EST
    The energy saver bulbs last a very long time. I changed mine and my electric usage shows it. I leave a hall light on at night so I do not fall down the stairs, heh, and it took a year to burn out. I replaced my front door ones and even my spot lights. The old ones use to take a while to light up fully, but the new ones take about 20 seconds to be totally bright. I keep the old regular bulbs for emergency. Hate to throw them out but if I look at what I paid for them and the money I save with the new ones, it was worth it to make the immediate change.

    Parent
    Yoko Ono is participating (none / 0) (#26)
    by Jeralyn on Sun Mar 29, 2009 at 12:29:11 AM EST
    big time, her twitter feed has been filled with tweets about it for days.

    Parent
    Paul Krugman (none / 0) (#1)
    by andgarden on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 04:33:39 PM EST
    apparently gets a Newsweek cover to himself. Well-deserved IMO.

    But he takes (none / 0) (#4)
    by andgarden on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 05:02:06 PM EST
    a shot at himself:

    [W]hen you see a corporate chieftain on the cover of a glossy magazine, short the stock. Or as I once put it (I'd actually forgotten I'd said that), "Whom the Gods would destroy, they first put on the cover of Business Week."



    Parent
    OMG (none / 0) (#28)
    by Dr Molly on Sun Mar 29, 2009 at 07:24:16 AM EST
    He's on the cover along with a headline stating "Obama is Wrong". I wonder when the public stoning will begin. I hope he has security.

    But seriously, he's a brave soldier of a real progressive nature, not a fauxgressive. Kudos to him for having the balls to go against the tide and for standing on principle instead of personality.

    Parent

    Another great Glenn Greenwald essay (none / 0) (#2)
    by kempis on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 04:42:35 PM EST
    Greenwald takes the occasion of Jim Webb's brave advocacy for prison reform and uses it an example of what it is: putting principle before politics. In doing so, he expresses a bit of exasperation at those who continually excuse their favorite politicians' lack of principled stances as "politically impossible."

    link

    CNN--Ibetween (none / 0) (#3)
    by oculus on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 04:55:56 PM EST
    Endless reports re sandbagging--shows video of law enforcement officer who lit up SUV which ran. red light. Mother in law in hospital dying. Anyhow--one reporter is reading her facebook page whixh is on camera and the other reporter is checking twitter. Is this vlogging?

    why are you so bugged by CNN's sandbag stories? (none / 0) (#5)
    by DFLer on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 05:09:45 PM EST
    Is this natural disaster not worth the coverage, in your opinion? Or is it merely a general the media sucks critique?

    I ask because this is the second time you have complained about sandbag reports.

    I'm guessing you don't live on or near this flood plain.

    Whenever I see a national reporter reporting from a northerly blizzardy storm area, I think of that scene in Broadcast News, when being sent to report about storms in Alaska indicated a downward spiral in the reporter's career path.


    Parent

    Actually I grew up in a city (none / 0) (#6)
    by oculus on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 05:19:00 PM EST
    On the bluffs above the Mississippi River in SE Iowa and became a bit jaded as people living on the banks were constantly rescued by fed. Taxpayer only to rebuild in the same place.  Not appropos
    Of Fargo/Moorhead. .

    I don't usually watch news on tv So am just joining the chorus here.

    Parent

    Ah yes, living high on the bluffs (none / 0) (#10)
    by DFLer on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 05:33:35 PM EST
    and looking down on those in the flats. :)

    what town in se IA?

    Parent

    Burlington (5.00 / 1) (#11)
    by oculus on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 05:39:32 PM EST
    Fifth largest city in IA: 30,000!!!

    Parent
    Not A Pretty Picture (none / 0) (#7)
    by squeaky on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 05:24:01 PM EST
    A once-prominent art dealer was arrested on Thursday on an indictment charging that he stole $88 million from investors, collectors and artists who had consigned paintings and sculpture to his Upper East Side gallery, the authorities said.

    The Manhattan district attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, said the dealer, Lawrence B. Salander, sometimes sold the same painting to more than one buyer. Aides to Mr. Morgenthau said Mr. Salander sold one painting to three people, promising each a 50 percent share.

    NYT

    At least he still has one friend left:

    At the arraignment, Ms. Shulman said Mr. Salander's family was being supported with $25,000 a month by a benefactor. That person, whom she did not name, was considering buying the family's 66-acre estate in Millbrook for $5.1 million and letting the Salanders remain there, she said.
    For lovers of live (none / 0) (#12)
    by oculus on Sat Mar 28, 2009 at 05:47:26 PM EST
    Theatre:  Blithe Spirit really clicks; cast has wonderful comic timing. So does the cast of God of Carnage but Reza's play isn't as well written as Coward's.  

    What "gun for hire" do you think (none / 0) (#30)
    by kcbill13 on Sun Mar 29, 2009 at 08:16:39 PM EST
    Bruce was writing about here??

    Saturday Open Thread: Dancing in the Dark | 29 comments (29 topical)

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