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Saturday Night Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 07:17:33 PM EST
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President Obama will strike a centrist tone in his State of the Union Address. Doesn't he always?

Bath Salts are the new drug in crosshairs of the war on drugs.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

< Hospira to Stop Making Lethal Injection Drug | Former Mexican President Vincente Fox Calls for Drug Legalization >

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    Saturday Night Open Thread | 75 comments (75 topical)

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    Good gawd. (5.00 / 2) (#1)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 07:26:41 PM EST
    Never would occur to me.  I guess my Epsom and sea salts are still pretty harmless.  Of course, I would never think to use them for anything other than soaking these tired old bones.  

    A friend of mine is moving to the Bay area to live on a boat he just bought.  He's getting rid of stuff, so today he brought over a perfectly good (actually very nice) mountain bike for me.  Score.

    Your friend may regret giving away (none / 0) (#2)
    by oculus on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 07:32:27 PM EST
    that mountain bike.  Has he ever been to the bay area?

    P.S.  The damage caused by ingesting bath salts:  waiting for kdog to point out the government cannot legislate away all stupidity.

    Parent

    Yes... (none / 0) (#3)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 07:38:16 PM EST
    ...he works out there and his g/f lives out there.  The bike has been sitting in his basement for years--only rode it a few times and then he fell and broke his wrist.  Kind of cured him of the desire to ride it...

    Parent
    That would do it. (none / 0) (#4)
    by oculus on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 07:40:22 PM EST


    Parent
    Those clip-in pedals... (none / 0) (#5)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 07:43:48 PM EST
    ...are definitely a hazard.  I think I'm going to change them out--who knows what I'd end up breaking!  Plus, I have enough shoes--I don't need to be buying a special pair just to bike ride.

    Parent
    Definitely--take the clips off (none / 0) (#17)
    by shoephone on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 11:16:32 PM EST
    They are uneccessary, and cause more problems than they solve. However, a good pair of bike shoes with cleats can be really helpful for gripping, and digging in while standing up on the bike, especially if you plan on riding dirt trails.

    Have fun!

    I'm going the other direction with my biking: I want to get rid of my old mountin bike (too heavy) and get a nice cross-bike. But that was my resolution for 2010, and lazy me didn't do it yet.

    Parent

    Livin the dream (none / 0) (#29)
    by Militarytracy on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 08:12:05 AM EST
    Life on a boat.  Sounds wonderful except I get so easily motion sick on the water.  One of our friends is a scientist on Fort Rucker who studies such things and he says that it is genetic and I will always be this way.  So no life on a boat for me, just bikes :)

    Parent
    Do you get seasick on rivers? (none / 0) (#51)
    by oculus on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 12:25:28 PM EST
    A friend recently sd. she doesn't.  Just oceans.

    Parent
    I don't (none / 0) (#59)
    by Militarytracy on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 01:17:27 PM EST
    Never realized that before either.  I'm okay to take short trips on a lake too for skiing.  I get very sick on the ocean though, just sitting out there on a boat for a longer period of time.

    Parent
    It is his dream. (none / 0) (#52)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 12:32:50 PM EST
    But, it is by no means a yacht--I'd be more worried about living in such a small space.  And smacking my head every time I got up...

    In all my years on the water--crabbing on the Chesapeake, taking our sailboats out, riding ferries and the like, I've only been seasick once.  That was from overindulging in Brussels as a teen and then getting on the Hovercraft to cross the English Channel the next morning.  What a miserable boat ride that was!  

    Parent

    I've gotten sick on a (none / 0) (#61)
    by Militarytracy on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 01:19:23 PM EST
    catamaran before just working its way back and forth on a lake.

    Parent
    Puppy Pictures! (5.00 / 3) (#13)
    by Harry Saxon on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 09:26:16 PM EST
    From the LAT:

    The birth of a big litter of African wild dog puppies at Illinois' Brookfield Zoo late last year is great news for their endangered species. The litter, born to 6-year-old mother Kim and 4-year-old father Digger on Thanksgiving, contains a whopping 10 healthy puppies who were examined by a zoo veterinarian on Thursday.

    The puppies, much like their domestic cousins, needed to be vaccinated against canine diseases -- the spread of distemper from domestic dogs is one cause for their steep population decline in the wild -- and have microchips implanted for identification purposes.

    Click or Canine Me

    Thanks, Harry (none / 0) (#15)
    by Zorba on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 10:12:45 PM EST
    I didn't even know this species existed.  They look like hyenas, with maybe a dash of jackal.

    Parent
    They don't bark or howl (5.00 / 1) (#22)
    by Harry Saxon on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 11:52:39 PM EST
    like their domesticated cousin Canis familiaris or their wild American cousin the coyote:

    Members of a pack vocalize to help coordinate their movements. Its voice is characterized by an unusual chirping or squeaking sound, similar to a bird.

    Click Me or Lycaon Me

    Parent

    Gorgeous (none / 0) (#30)
    by Militarytracy on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 08:15:48 AM EST
    I'm in love.  Ten is a very large litter, even by German Shepherd standards.  I usually have to split the litter up in the first week and keep five on a heating pad in a rough tote while five eat and rotate them out hourly, or else the healthiest will weaken the smaller ones.

    Parent
    They have "It takes a village" (none / 0) (#38)
    by Harry Saxon on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 09:51:23 AM EST
    approach to both raising their offspring and hunting:

    From Youtube:

    WARNING!!!!! The video contains footage of an entire hunt and shows and impala being killed by wild dogs, DO NOT watch if this is something you don't want to see. However brutal it may seem, this is truly survival of the fittest and mother nature in action, something I don't see every day and was "lucky" to see in Botswana. It was both shocking and amazing.

    Click or Restore Me

    Parent

    Not very intimidated by the presence of people (none / 0) (#56)
    by Militarytracy on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 01:12:03 PM EST


    Parent
    The bite pressure they exert (none / 0) (#66)
    by Harry Saxon on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 05:03:05 PM EST
    is the greatest for any member of the Order Carnivora, so for them we're just tall monkeys with a thin wrapper of skin and muscle over bone.

    If they had a catagory for us, it would be 'mostly harmless'. :-)

    Parent

    Clarence Thomas slips on ethics again (5.00 / 1) (#43)
    by Politalkix on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 10:32:07 AM EST
    link

    "Clarence Thomas ethics" strikes again! It is an outrage that this man has a seat in the nation's highest court.

    Good catch (none / 0) (#57)
    by shoephone on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 01:15:42 PM EST
    Even more outrageous is that no one will try to hold them accountable for tax evasion. Nearly $7 million -- it ain't chump change. Maybe we should ask the Republicans who went after Rangel if Thomas & Co. qualifies for impeachment...

    Parent
    The story is not about a tax return (5.00 / 2) (#64)
    by Peter G on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 02:38:13 PM EST
    It is a financial disclosure statement required by the ethics rules for federal judges.  There is no suggestion that Virginia Thomas's income was not properly declared on the couple's tax returns, and there is no way that Common Cause or the LA Times could find that out, one way or the other.  The federal financial disclosure forms are designed to be public; tax returns are almost totally exempt from FOIA and similar disclosure laws.  That said, there is a serious legal misstatement in the LAT story, quoting a law professor "expert," who asserts that for a judge to file this form with a knowing omission or false entry would "not be a crime of any sort."  To the contrary, it could be a federal felony under 18 U.S.C. sec. 1001(a) or a misdemeanor under 5 USC 104(a)(2).  

    Parent
    Slight correction (none / 0) (#65)
    by Peter G on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 03:16:03 PM EST
    While my link is correct, my citation to the misdemeanor provision was not.  The federal Ethics in Government Act is not 5 U.S.C. sec 104, it is 5 U.S.C. Appendix, section 104.

    Parent
    What are the usual punishments (none / 0) (#67)
    by shoephone on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 05:19:14 PM EST
    for committing either the felony or the misdemeanor? (I still doubt that, even if it is easily provable the Thomas's committed the crime, they will ever be held accountable.)

    Parent
    Federal sentencing guidelines (none / 0) (#69)
    by Peter G on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 07:24:25 PM EST
    for convictions involving false statements to a government agency are keyed primarily to the resulting "loss" measured in dollars.  As a consequence, the recommended sentence (in the rather unlikely event of a conviction) would range from probation to no more than six months' imprisonment, even in the event of multiple counts of conviction from repeated violations over a series of years.  Sentencing judges have substantial discretion to deviate from the published guidelines, but statistically tend to stay within them 70-80% of the time, and seldom go higher when they do deviate. By the way, there are not enough facts mentioned in the LAT story to draw even a tentative conclusion as to whether Justice Thomas's forms did violate -- or even appear to violate -- the laws I cited.  I was only seeking to correct the misimpression created by the quote from the "expert" professor that federal Ethics Act violations are trivial in nature and cannot trigger criminal investigation or punishment.

    Parent
    Errata: (4.00 / 1) (#58)
    by shoephone on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 01:17:14 PM EST
    $700 thousand.

    Still more than I made over the last five years.

    Parent

    Justice Thomas now admits that he erred. (none / 0) (#72)
    by Peter G on Mon Jan 24, 2011 at 10:23:53 PM EST
    He says he misunderstood the instructions.  I guess that could be true.

    Parent
    Surely you can't just sell (none / 0) (#6)
    by andgarden on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 07:46:33 PM EST
     a psychoactive substance free of any meaningful regulation simply because you call it a bath salt, right?

    I've never heard of this stuff. I thought bath salts were useless pinkish powders you bought at spas to make you tub smell like lavender?

    Gives new meaning to the old jingle (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by caseyOR on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 07:54:04 PM EST
    "Calgon, take me away."

    I know, by referencing that commercial and that product I date myself. Is Calgon even on the market these days?

    Parent

    I say it all the time... (none / 0) (#26)
    by kdog on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 07:21:06 AM EST
    when the cube-jockeying gets rough..."Calgon take me away."

    Well played o' Captain my Captain!

    Parent

    They are still in business (none / 0) (#31)
    by Militarytracy on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 08:19:16 AM EST
    They have changed a little, and they sell some after bath and shower body sprays too.  I sometimes have some of their bath salts around to make a long soak more special when I have the time for a long soak.  

    Parent
    See huffing glue, aerosols, etc. (none / 0) (#14)
    by Dadler on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 10:03:40 PM EST
    Many things are free of meaningful regulation that can get you very phucked up.

    Parent
    Too true... (5.00 / 1) (#25)
    by kdog on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 07:19:30 AM EST
    and thank goodness...if I have to start showing ID to buy whip cream I'm gonna be p&ssed:)

    And to think that if it wasn't for the prohibition of mushrooms & peyote, there would be little to no incentive to go in the lab to create some new-fangled hallucinogen to stay a step ahead of the prohibitionists.  

    So be careful what you wish for teetotallers...ban this one and a new, perhaps even more dangerous, concoction will be along shortly.  Bottom line, the human being loves his/her high...if the past couple millenia have taught us anything.  Accept it or tilt at the windmill and create more societal problems in the process.

    Parent

    The question is..... (none / 0) (#39)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 10:20:48 AM EST
    What do you doooooooo with the whip cream????

    ;-)

    BTW - Good luck today, I'm pulling for your Jets!

    Parent

    The nitrous oxide (none / 0) (#45)
    by Harry Saxon on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 10:57:33 AM EST
    used as a propellant in cans of whipped cream is the substance you know from the dentist office as "laughing gas".

    It isn't uncommon on weekends for bored teenagers here to buy cans of whipped cream and get high on the propellant, but nobody has dies of it yet AFAIK.

    Parent

    Oh there are lots of things that (none / 0) (#63)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 02:27:15 PM EST
    you can do with just whipped creme.....

    ;-)

    Parent

    Gasoline will get you wasted (none / 0) (#32)
    by Militarytracy on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 08:20:29 AM EST
    and also give you brain damage, people still sometimes do it though.

    Parent
    Have seen kids in Tijuana (none / 0) (#62)
    by oculus on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 01:26:59 PM EST
    entertain the border-waiting line by putting gasoline in their mouths and lighting it--for tips.

    Parent
    When you are poor (none / 0) (#74)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Jan 27, 2011 at 08:51:22 PM EST
    You will do anything to eat for today.  When I visited Grenada with my grandmother long ago, so many of the people were so poor.  And poor divers would swim way the hell out in the ocean and dive for change that the tourists would throw off the ships.  That was the trip when I learned first about being sea sick.  A bunch of guys were all drunk, making horrible jokes about the people while throwing change.  I was feeling horrible as it was and fancied bumping into one and maybe helping him overboard, but I resisted my better devil.

    It was some time ago, but I watched a documentary about the poor children in Mexico living in the dumps and huffing gasoline to get high and take the edge off the pain of their existence.  It destroys their brains though without mercy.

    Parent

    Listened to BBC World News and NPR (5.00 / 1) (#75)
    by oculus on Thu Jan 27, 2011 at 09:12:12 PM EST
    this afternoon/evening.  Our Pres. saying he has as always urged Egyptian Pres. Mubarak to loosen up, permit protests, do something about high unemployment for 15-30 yrs. olds., afford his people civil rights, etc.--all sounded pretty familiar.  Wonder if Mubarak gives Obama similar advice?

    Parent
    I guess this proves that, if one is (none / 0) (#8)
    by Anne on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 07:55:43 PM EST
    determined to escape the trials and tribulations of day-to-day life, there isn't anything one won't try to sniff, inject or ingest to get away.

    Bath salts...what next?

    And golly, Obama's going to try to aim his speech right down the center...how uncharacteristic of the president who is normally unafraid to stand up for what he believes in an effort to lead the country in that direction...oh, wait...that's right...the president who was elected on a wave of "Yes! We Can!" and "Change You Can Believe In" was reportedly kidnapped and replaced with the president of "Well, No We Really Can't" and "Change?  Really?  Who Believes in That?"

    It's freeeeezing cold here in MD - last time I looked at the thermometer, it was about 10 degrees...brrrr.  But at least we don't have multiple feet of snow like we did last year...only a couple of inches from the Thursday night/Friday morning storm.  I do think one of these days the bull's eye is going to lock on us, and we'll be digging out for days.

    Oh, well.  Made some nice chicken soup that turned out well.  I've found that browning the chicken first, and sauteeing the veggies in the chicken fat before adding the liquid really builds the flavor and keeps it from being bland.

    Hope everyone is warm and toasty tonight.

    Everyone expects that I should be (5.00 / 1) (#68)
    by sj on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 06:10:37 PM EST
    used to cold weather since I came to Maryland from Colorado.  I have to tell them that Denver gets an average of 300 days of sunshine a year.  And when the sun shines in the winter, the temperature goes up.  Unlike here.  Which baffles me.

    The other day it was 18 degrees when I took my dog out for her morning constitutional and 54 degrees in Fort Collins, Colorado.  And it was 5:30 in the morning there.

    And yeah, I'm no stranger to serial blizzards like we had last year, but in Colorado the sun comes out and the snow melts.

    Parent

    Amazing what that 5000 feet closer to the sun (none / 0) (#70)
    by ruffian on Mon Jan 24, 2011 at 11:28:51 AM EST
    will do for ya!

    Colorado winters are a lot more tolerable than anyone who has not lived there realizes.

    Parent

    true dat (none / 0) (#71)
    by sj on Mon Jan 24, 2011 at 04:11:01 PM EST


    Parent
    10 degrees? Spring is here! (none / 0) (#44)
    by NYShooter on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 10:56:52 AM EST
      (-6)......Hudson Valley

    Parent
    I just turned my heat up! (none / 0) (#48)
    by nycstray on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 11:25:50 AM EST
    They were showing the NE weather on the TV and my body seemed to remember it. {Shivers!} We've had a week of sunny mild (mid to upper 60s) and looks like another week of the same. Had baby boy's first Bday party outside in Moms yard yesterday :) I have tomorrow scheduled as 'putz around in the garden' day.

    Parent
    Good development in Medicine field (none / 0) (#9)
    by Politalkix on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 08:22:44 PM EST
    Link

    Private sector had dropped the ball.

    "The cost of bringing a single drug to market can exceed $1 billion, according to some estimates, and drug companies have typically spent twice as much on marketing as on research, a business model that is increasingly suspect. The National Institutes of Health has traditionally focused on basic research, such as describing the structure of proteins, leaving industry to create drugs using those compounds. But the drug industry's research productivity has been declining for 15 years, "and it certainly doesn't show any signs of turning upward," said Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the institutes.

    Yes, much more is spent on marketing drugs (5.00 / 1) (#18)
    by shoephone on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 11:19:53 PM EST
    than on R&D and manufacture. I won't cry for the biotechs, however. They receive very generous tax breaks during the R&D process.

    Parent
    After reading the article I'd say this (none / 0) (#11)
    by oculus on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 08:57:05 PM EST
    is pretty optimistic but possibly not realistic.

    Parent
    Let's hope they develop... (5.00 / 1) (#16)
    by Dadler on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 11:03:20 PM EST
    ...genuinely necessary medicines. Read, for example, the studies about and the fine print concerning anti-depressants, still a BOOMING business, and you discover that they are all, in reality, perform no meaningful degree better than placebos.  

    Or take cholesterol drugs, which, if again you do your homework, are treating something there is ZERO medical evidence for. Just as many people have heart attacks who have high cholesterol as low, the most they can say, again if you read the fine print or listen closely, is "...MAY be a risk factor for SOME people..."  And from that thin reed of nothing an entire generation believes if they don't get their cholesterol down fifty or a hundred points, damn, they'll be dead soon. Once againk, however, reality intrudes: doctors and experts KNOW there is NO possible way to lower one's cholesterol THAT much through diet and excercise alone. It is virtually physically impossible without starving yourself.  So, lo and behold, an entire class of drugs is NECESSARY to protect us from something that MIGHT be a risk factor for SOME people. They don't know how much risk for which people, really, but here you go, pills by the millions, longterm effects largely unknown.

    Plenty of medicines are genuinely marvelous, obviously, but we've evolved to a point in this culture where, literally, we think there should be, or must be, a pill for everything.  And so everything seems to get one.  

    Parent

    Most synthetic drugs are dangerous... (none / 0) (#46)
    by Yes2Truth on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 11:03:01 AM EST

    when taken as directed. Natural drugs are safe when
    taken in moderation.  Safe, i.e., if you don't get caught using them.

    Parent
    If they ban caffeine... (none / 0) (#10)
    by rhbrandon on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 08:56:39 PM EST
    I'll just have to go to the big house.

    You and me both. (none / 0) (#21)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 11:52:37 PM EST
    Its the only vice I have left these days!

    Parent
    Take heart friends... (none / 0) (#27)
    by kdog on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 07:28:30 AM EST
    the probitionist's hubris is matched only by their ineffectiveness...unless you are very dim or very unlucky the odds of getting pinched are long.

    We may have approx. 10% of us in the system, but by my last estimate 99.278% of us are criminals...so you've only got a ten percent chance of being caught as a prole or outer party member, a little higher if you're black or latino, and with inner party members at only 1%. Variables relate to the official different rules different fools policy.

    Parent

    And when you get old even that will go (none / 0) (#40)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 10:21:41 AM EST


    Parent
    The President's going to be so keen to be centrist (none / 0) (#12)
    by rhbrandon on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 08:59:40 PM EST
    that he'll wind up grounding himself on that third rail.

    I don't plan on watching the SOTU this year (none / 0) (#19)
    by shoephone on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 11:23:20 PM EST
    I've had it with the charade. We already know how Obama plans to create jobs -- the "trickle down" nonsense, lower taxes on business, and gut the regulatory process.

    Wait... this president's a Republican, right?

    I am not inspired to watch it either (5.00 / 1) (#33)
    by Militarytracy on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 08:22:33 AM EST
    So I won't.

    Parent
    The only (none / 0) (#42)
    by lentinel on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 10:27:56 AM EST
    reason to watch it would be to count how many times he will touch his nose as he is giving up this load...

    I'm sure that he has been coached not to do it - it is such a well known "tell". Can you imagine the agony of not being able to scratch as each whopper produces its own little itch?

    Parent

    According to one of the sidebar (5.00 / 1) (#36)
    by Anne on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 09:13:55 AM EST
    headlines, Obama's dropping hints about what he's going to talk about.

    Per the Washington Monthly, which has picked up from the NYT, the good news is that - if the hints can be taken seriously - he's not going to talk about entitlement cuts.

    However, he has recorded a video for OFA that appears to include a new slogan: Win The Future.

    There was also a thematic line the president used that we may be hearing more of. "Our job is to make sure the American dream is attainable to everyone who's willing to work for it, everyone who's willing to strive for it," Obama said. "It's going to take a lot of work -- these are big challenges that are in front of us -- but we're up to it, as long as we come together as a people, Democrats, Republicans, independents. As long as we focus on what binds us together as a people, as long as we're willing to find common ground, even as we're having some very vigorous debates. That's what built this country, that's what we're all about, and that's what it's going to take to win the future."

    At the end of the clip, the on-screen graphic drove the line home: "Win the future."

    Yes, that's right, a new slogan that can be abbreviated as WTF...

    And, the emphasis on "Win" may remind those of us old enough to remember of Gerry Ford's "WIN:" Whip Inflation Now!

    As for the NYT report that he's not going to embrace the Deficit Commission's recommendations in the speech, that's all well and good, but...we've seen this movie before - the one where he delivers some grand and glorious speech that turns out to be a giant rhetorical head-fake.

    I would caution that unless and until his action is consistent with his rhetoric, whatever he says on Tuesday night should be taken with a generous helping of salt and skepticism; he's been making too much noise about entitlements, has too many people working on this in the Congress, and has brought on board too many people of like mind to think that he's all of a sudden going to go in a different direction.

    Seriously...a slogan that abbreviates as WTF?  I wonder what genius came up with that one, lol.

    Parent

    "WTF" (none / 0) (#41)
    by lentinel on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 10:22:06 AM EST
    Amazing.
    Thank God for Freudian slips.

    "Win the future" is the best meaningless slogan I've heard since "We're the ones we've been waiting for." Are we still waiting for us to show up?

    It's also telling that so far the wars are not being mentioned as a subject for this light entertainment. Perhaps he'll put in a phrase or two about our brave lads and lassies, get a standing O from the exhausted captive audience, and move on.

    I don't think I can take it.
    I'll have to read a summary.

    Parent

    Freudian slips :-) (none / 0) (#49)
    by Politalkix on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 11:38:24 AM EST
    To a conservative friend of mine, the abbreviation for LBJ's "Great Society" has always stood for "Group Sex".


    Parent
    Thanks for the inspiration! (none / 0) (#47)
    by nycstray on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 11:15:45 AM EST
    I'll be working on my line of WTF merchandise today :) Oh what fun . . . {evil grin}

    Parent
    In my view, the best thing (none / 0) (#50)
    by KeysDan on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 12:08:43 PM EST
    that can happen is SOTU with high minded, high flying words.  No substance, please.  WTF is better than CAVE.

    Parent
    And the domain name (none / 0) (#73)
    by jbindc on Tue Jan 25, 2011 at 03:54:29 PM EST
    Is owned by a conservative activist:

    President Barack Obama spent the weekend talking about the need to "win the future" in what sounds like the beginnings of a re-election slogan. But a conservative activist in Oregon owns the winthefuture websites, virtually ensuring that Republicans will define the catch phrase in their own way.Obama talked about "how we'll win the future" in his weekly address and in a video on Saturday when he previewed his State of the Union address for supporters. That video closed with a "Win the Future" graphic that elevated the phrase to a potential re-election mantra.BarackObama.com will be the President's online hub for his re-election campaign, but if people go to WintheFuture.com, they are likely to get a very different perspective from Obama's vision.Retired engineering consultant Glenn Pelikan of Portland, Ore., registered WintheFuture.com (and all associated extensions, including .org and .net) in 2007, a couple of years after former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) released his book, "Winning the Future."


    Parent
    Oops, I forgot something: (none / 0) (#20)
    by shoephone on Sat Jan 22, 2011 at 11:33:59 PM EST
    He'll hint at raising the retirement age and cutting benefits for Social Security, further propogating the big lie that SS is part of the budget problem.

    Parent
    Alphonse and Gaston. (none / 0) (#35)
    by KeysDan on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 09:06:44 AM EST
    After you, no, after you, monsieur.  The president will show his penchant for civility.  The Republicans are wary of initiating cuts to Medicare and Social Security, but once Alphonse shows his politeness (referencing the failed CatFood Commission), Gaston  will be more than ready to go, with little to lose and much to gain.  Presidential civility in action.

    Parent
    Suggestions regarding spending (none / 0) (#53)
    by Politalkix on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 12:40:01 PM EST
    I have some suggestions

    (1) Promote "Christian Healing" and "Yoga for Seniors" to bring down medicare costs. It will demonstrate that the President is truly listening to the +60 crowds that are showing up at tea parties in such large numbers and making so much noise about spending and government run healthcare plans.

    (2) Create a goal for the present administration to bring Federal Spending Received per dollar of tax paid to a ratio of 1.00 for every state in the Union. There seems to be a lot of welfare states feeding at the federal trough while tax payers in other states are bled dry but cannot get services they would like to have (eg: high speed rail, more spending on infrastructure, etc). Taxpayers in NJ, CT, MA, IL, NY, CA etc should not have to pay for welfare queen states like WV, AK, AR, AL, NM, MS, etc.

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    Fed Spending/dollar of tax paid (none / 0) (#55)
    by Politalkix on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 12:50:50 PM EST
    link

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    Musical selection from "The Heavy" (none / 0) (#23)
    by dead dancer on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 12:47:54 AM EST
    In his speeches, policy choices and personnel appointments, Mr. Obama has signaled that after two years in which his response to the economic crisis and his push for passage of the health care bill defined him to many voters as a big-government liberal, he is seeking to recast himself as a more business-friendly, pragmatic progressive.

    WTF!

    How about some musical relief: Cause For Alarm

    Who is predicted to win tomorrow's (none / 0) (#24)
    by oculus on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 02:11:11 AM EST
    football games whilst I am at a string quartet concert?

    Vegas says... (none / 0) (#28)
    by kdog on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 07:33:25 AM EST
    the Pack and the Steelers...I say Bears and the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets of course.

    I'm nervous like I'm playing...and much to my chagrin my games were postponed...apparently our fields are a sheet of ice right now.  Was hoping to go hit somebody and release some of the nervous tension over this Hunt Trophy game.

    May the football gods shine on NY today...you've shined on Pittsburgh plenty over the years...spread the wealth football gods!

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    Shine on Chicago too, old football gods (none / 0) (#37)
    by ruffian on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 09:50:59 AM EST
    Really, who needs another Packer trip to the Super Bowl? Bears-Jets would be so much more fun!

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    Looks like Egypt is getting ready to (none / 0) (#34)
    by Militarytracy on Sun Jan 23, 2011 at 08:33:50 AM EST
    kick off and spin into chaos based on soaring food prices thanks to Ben Bernanke's quantitative easing.  The ex President of Tunisia got out of the country it seems with 1.5 tons of gold, and now Egypt is having similar problems with the rich who are setting themselves up to escape the riots.  59 separate precious metal smugglings (mostly gold) have been stopped at the airport so far, all bound for the Netherlands.  Egypt has 75 tons of gold in its treasury, who knows how long that will remain a fact.

    U.S. gives Egyptian government (none / 0) (#77)
    by oculus on Thu Jan 27, 2011 at 09:53:19 PM EST
    mucho dollars for defense.  BBC commentator says if the Egyptian people manage to overthrow the government, they will not be friendly to U.S.

    New subject:  the review committee report re causes and whether avoidable re financial meltdown here.  

    Our neighbor just got done (none / 0) (#78)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Jan 27, 2011 at 10:12:30 PM EST
    With a tour in Egypt.  We had several frinds prior to Iraq kicking off who did Egypt tours.  I don't how many troops we have there, but we've sold them a lot of aircraft.....many Apache helicopters that have been used against the people.  We train their pilots too, they are all from "royal" families.  Same with Saudi Arabia.  At this point we seem a little complicit, makes you wonder how ugly things could really get.

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    Saturday Night Open Thread | 75 comments (75 topical)

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