Saturday Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 01:02:07 PM EST
Tags: Dominque Strauss-Kahn (all tags)

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I just got back from the Farmers Market. Not too many things are worth getting up early on a Saturday, but the produce at the market is so far superior, I didn't mind at all.

Why is Kim Kardashian's wedding getting so much coverage? Does the media think she's the American equivalent of Princess Kate? I certainly don't and could care less.

Manhattan DA Cy Vance is expected to announce Tuesday whether he'll dismiss charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The latest: The DA is asking the accuser's lawyer for documents regarding settlement dicussions with Strauss-Kahn's lawyers in June. There are reports he offered to have the accuser stop cooperating with authorities if a settlement was reached. The private settlement discussions, held in mid-June, were reported by the New York Times on July 27. [More...]

Lawyers for Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Ms. Diallo had discussions in mid-June regarding sharing facts about the case and exploring a potential resolution.

The discussions did not include substantive talk about the case and ended without any agreement, according to a lawyer briefed on the discussions who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because the conversations were private. But a different person briefed on the matter said that Mr. Thompson had sought a monetary settlement.

Thompson denies the accusation. If Vance is going to dismiss the charges, it's probably better for him politically if he can blame the accuser's lawyer for torpedoing the case through improperly offering a money settlement rather than basing it solely on the accuser's false statements. Either way, I think charges will be dismissed Tuesday.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

< Roger Clemens' Prosecutors Seek Retrial | Dominique Strauss-Kahn: Accuser's Lawyer Predicts Dismissal >

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Saturday Open Thread | 57 comments (57 topical)

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My fall garden is in and (5.00 / 1) (#3)
by jimakaPPJ on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 02:48:40 PM EST

up. I should have fresh beans, squash, cucumbers and turnips in late September.

Speaking of gardens, I wonder what happened to Pickles??

Ha!! (5.00 / 2) (#12)
by Militarytracy on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 03:46:36 PM EST

Because one jerk deserves another :) Did the secretaries bring this beauty in for him or did he end up having to bring it in for himself and take the photo too :)

I know, I'm terrible....I will go to my corner now and ruminate on the fact that I have for my whole life allowed myself to suffer from this mean girl mentality and it is low and loathsome. This is one hell of a horrible display of those who might care about Tim Geithner giving a $hit about him though.

Really funny (5.00 / 1) (#37)
by ruffian on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 07:53:25 PM EST

Insert joke here. I like the "enough for all his friends" line.

You know MT, if you can't say anything nice...sit next to me.


: I almost feel sorry for him (none / 0) (#40)
by Militarytracy on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 08:09:55 PM EST

Then I remember what he did to everyone and else and NAH!

MT (none / 0) (#42)
by CoralGables on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 08:39:45 PM EST

we have to get you out of Alabama more often. Cupcakes are big. I had a Blueberry Cobbler at Cupcake on King Street in Charleston Tuesday


: I know gourmet cupcakes a big deal right (none / 0) (#54)
by Militarytracy on Sun Aug 21, 2011 at 12:09:14 PM EST

now, but so are gourmet custom fondant cakes. I can pick up a cupcake for a couple of bucks and throw some candles on it while I'm sitting at a stoplight, getting some beloved person a custom fondant cake for their 50th bday takes a bit of planning and caring :)
Maybe that is too much cake though, since everyone lately has been eating cake :)

Is there anyone else who just (5.00 / 1) (#22)
by observed on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 04:05:08 PM EST

loathes NPR?
Listening to those reporters just puts my teeth on edge. I'm not quite sure why, but they all seem to speak or be miked in a similar way which just drives me crazy.

: Gave up on NPR after Gulf War 1. (5.00 / 1) (#34)
by BBQinDenver on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 06:14:34 PM EST

Their non-stop "o boy we are at war and we love the chance to report it and support our government without question" did it for me. I considered it a direct consequence of the reliance on corporate financing of the system brought about by the Reagan years. I had been an ATC devotee from week one, May 1971. Is it better than FOX, NBC, CNN...
yes, but these days that's very faint praise.

: Also a listener from the 70s (2.00 / 1) (#41)
by brodie on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 08:13:46 PM EST

I detected a swing to the right at NPR sometime around the early 80s -- about the time their creative and aggressive president Frank Manckiewicz (RFK's press secy) was ousted and as carping from Rs in Congress about alleged too liberal programming got louder. The reporting about Reagan got soft while the network beefed up on its conservative commentators.
Liberals were thrown a few bones to keep them listening and contributing: appealing cultural reporting and a professionally produced and smooth-sounding set of two programs which were commercial free.
Politically NPR has been successfully neutered or worse by the Right since Reagan. That's thirty years of squishy soft centrist-corporatist reporting with tepid James Fallows/EJ Dionne occasionally representing the liberal pov.

: Yes (none / 0) (#36)
by lentinel on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 07:40:26 PM EST

I loathe it as well.
I remember when, in New York, the local NPR affiliate announced that it would be airing a few corporate sponsor messages - one before and one after each program. The honcho announcing this assured his skeptical audience that this would in no way influence the quality or content of programming.
Strangely, NPR soon shifted to the right- supporting every war and waving the flag as often as humanly possible.
They probably fattened the wallets of their executives and on-air personalities, but they lost me as a listener.

: Not in general, but Steve Inskeep drives me up (none / 0) (#39)
by ruffian on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 07:57:03 PM EST

the wall. His voice, his interviewing style, the whole thing.

: oh yeah (none / 0) (#45)
by The Addams Family on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 08:51:41 PM EST

Scott Simon, for being an all-around narcissist blowhole
Cokie Roberts, for her snarky adherence to GOP talking points & general attitude of knowing it all while knowing nothing, actually
Nina Totenberg, for breathlessly revealing that Douglas Ginsburg had smoked marijuana
who was it that said NPR stands for "nice polite Republicans"?

I've been catching up on Dr Who--watching (none / 0) (#1)
by observed on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 01:28:35 PM EST

season 5 on netflix.
I'm not enjoying this season as much as earlier ones.
Matt Smith has some interesting aspects to his portrayal, but he's too histrionic for my taste.

I am a huge Doctor Who fan ... (none / 0) (#6)
by Robot Porter on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 03:27:10 PM EST

and I loved revived series. I thought it was the best thing on TV either side of the pond. That's how I felt, that is, util season six where everything went off the boil.

This is Matt's second season. It's been split into two parts. The first aired in the spring. And the second part starts next weekend. So far it's just been rather dismal.

There was one exception. An episode written by Neil Gaiman. But the rest was absent the magic, emotionalism, and originality of the first five seasons. It suddenly seemed dull, emotionless and cliche ridden.

I'm hoping it was just an aberration and things get righted in the second half of the season. But the promos for the first episode have me worried.

And if you don't like Matt you're going to be really lost. Because his performance is one of the few things holding the show together.


Actually I DO like him, but (none / 0) (#7)
by observed on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 03:31:20 PM EST

he's overacting at times---perhaps to make up for a weak partner. The girl playing pond is pretty f*cking dull.


: Oh, he gets that under control ... (none / 0) (#28)
by Robot Porter on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 04:17:38 PM EST

by season six that's pretty much gone.
Yeah, Karen Gillan is attractive, and in interviews seems like a very lovely person, but she's not much of an actress.

I don't understand... (none / 0) (#35)
by desertswine on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 07:25:34 PM EST

British TV. Is a "season" only six episodes?


What is the best place to start for a newbie? (none / 0) (#38)
by ruffian on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 07:55:14 PM EST

Should I go back a few seasons? Can you give me a 'start at season x' point?


Went our local farmer's market (none / 0) (#2)
by MO Blue on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 01:37:21 PM EST

late morning. Would have gone a little earlier but it rained this morning. Produce was great. Bought a different type of garlic which is supposed to be spicier than other types. I guess I'll find out if it is something I purchase again or not.

: Channeling Emeril... (none / 0) (#4)
by Mr Natural on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 03:17:34 PM EST

b "Kick it up a notch!""

Any MS gurus here? (none / 0) (#5)
by observed on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 03:26:40 PM EST

I have a Dell computer, which means that phone help is like waterboarding. I could send my computer in for repair, but maybe there's an easier fix. My ATI Mobility Radeon program is corrupted (according to the techs I took it to), so I have to keep that program uninstalled. This lets my computer run, but the resolution suffers, especially with movies, it seems.
There are lots of similar programs out there.
How can I tell which one might work on my computer?

What you say makes no sense ... (none / 0) (#8)
by Robot Porter on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 03:34:28 PM EST

is this a desktop or a laptop?


Laptop. how does this not make sense? (none / 0) (#9)
by observed on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 03:36:18 PM EST

I'm repeating what the techs told me, and what they said seems accurate. If I keep this program uninstalled (it keeps getting re-installed with updates), my computer runs.
It's a Dell Studio, I forget the model number.


Why did doesn't make sense ... (none / 0) (#11)
by Robot Porter on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 03:46:23 PM EST

is the Radeon is your graphics processors. If you uninstalled the program that runs it you'd get no picture at all. Unless you had some type of back-up processing which laptops don't generally have. Though the behavior your describing sounds like a low-end graphics chipset.

Do me a favor go to "device manager" and list everything it says under "display adapters".


There is nothing under display adapters (none / 0) (#14)
by observed on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 03:48:16 PM EST

now. The Radeon is the only program which lists there.


Actually, the video defaults to VGA (none / 0) (#15)
by Mr Natural on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 03:49:08 PM EST

in the absence of a driver.


Is there another program I can use to (none / 0) (#17)
by observed on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 03:50:16 PM EST

replace this, without paying money?


Hmmm ... (none / 0) (#18)
by Robot Porter on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 03:52:03 PM EST

yeah, but I thought he was actually doing an "uninstall" from device manager. Not just uninstalling the driver.

Is that all your doing, Observed, uninstalling the driver?


Uninstalling from the device manager. (none / 0) (#21)
by observed on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 04:04:01 PM EST

Okay, now I think I understand what the techs ... (none / 0) (#26)
by Robot Porter on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 04:09:38 PM EST

were saying. Uninstall from device manager. Reboot. Then let it reinstall. This often clears out any corrupted stuff.

If that doesn't work. Then it's probably a hardware problem. And you need the chip replaced.


: No, I have to keep it uninstalled or the (none / 0) (#27)
by observed on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 04:14:04 PM EST

computer gets lines in the screen and crashes.

ha, it just installed again while I wasn't (none / 0) (#10)
by observed on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 03:44:49 PM EST

looking. The exact name of the program is
ATI Modility Radeon HD 3650.


That's the name of a video card (none / 0) (#13)
by Mr Natural on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 03:47:10 PM EST

ATI is the manufacturer, currently owned by AMD.


Is it hardware then?! (none / 0) (#16)
by observed on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 03:49:28 PM EST

The driver software allows Windows (none / 0) (#19)
by Mr Natural on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 03:57:03 PM EST

to control the video chip & display, without having to know a lot of internal details, whether in a laptop or a desktop.


Dell has the driver, (none / 0) (#20)
by Mr Natural on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 04:01:37 PM EST

All you need is your service tag number: http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&~ck=anavml


Hope that fixes it for him ... (none / 0) (#23)
by Robot Porter on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 04:06:20 PM EST

but sounds like a hardware problem to me.


: This computer is a system replacement (none / 0) (#25)
by observed on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 04:09:16 PM EST

---i.e. piece of crap.
The original laptop was great.

Thanks, I got to that page, but there are (none / 0) (#24)
by observed on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 04:08:37 PM EST

a lot of options! My system is constantly updating the Radeon program, but that doesn't help.


Question: there is a list of (none / 0) (#29)
by observed on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 04:20:46 PM EST

11 recommended downloads for me on the "Drivers and downloads" page.
Does this mean my computer doesn't have those programs, or that these are updates? IN particular, there is a 2011 BIOS download---that's a word that shows up a lot in error messages.
Should I download and install all of them?


why don't you just buy a new one? (none / 0) (#30)
by Jeralyn on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 04:25:00 PM EST

Dell has some good deals on laptops -- well under $1000. I got a new desktop from them a few weeks ago and the phone support has been great. And don't forget to back up your data in case something else goes. How old is it?


: 2 years old. (none / 0) (#31)
by observed on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 04:28:03 PM EST

Yeah, try it ... (none / 0) (#32)
by Robot Porter on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 04:33:52 PM EST

can't hurt. Might work.

But it sounds like a hardware problem to me.


: weird.. I get an error message.. won't start. (none / 0) (#33)
by observed on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 04:38:34 PM EST

I guess I'll have to call the" helpful" Dell bunnies again :(

TLers give Bill Clinton credit (none / 0) (#43)
by Politalkix on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 08:43:14 PM EST

for the dotcom bubble of the 1990s. Should BHO get credit now for the Silicon Valley boom under his watch? link(BTW, I do not give either of them credit for tech based boom cycles).

It was a lot more ... (5.00 / 1) (#52)
by Yman on Sun Aug 21, 2011 at 07:44:01 AM EST

... than a "dot.com bubble" in the 90's, but sure ... you can let Obama have all the credit for the tiny SV "boom, if you'd like.

Feel better?

BTW - Guess that means Obama also gets credit for California's 12% unemployment.


Unemployment (none / 0) (#44)
by Ga6thDem on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 08:49:24 PM EST

in CA is still around 12% isn't it? The dot com stuff wasn't the only thing that Clinton had going for him because unemployment was low nationwide. Maybe it was because we weren't wasting a ton of money in the middle east? Whatever, it all worked to give everybody a piece of the pie not just silicon valley.


: Yup, just went back up to 12% (none / 0) (#48)
by nycstray on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 10:13:38 PM EST

Jobs are in LA area (industry related) and tech jobs in SV and SF bay area. Construction and related jobs should pick up over the next couple years in the bay area as some big projects are coming down the pike (not houses!) like hospital wings, new terminal and an alternative fuel (for airlines) plant are a few I remember off the top me head :)
I see a lot of jobs in the tech area for gaming and related to new advances in tech/hardware etc. That industry seems to be on a roll right now, but I am also seeing a lot of new "venture capital" companies which reminds me of another boom time . . . hopefully some lessons were learned, but there is a sense of deja to all this when reading job postings, lol!~. . .

We had (none / 0) (#59)
by jbindc on Mon Aug 22, 2011 at 08:40:14 AM EST

a Silicon Valley boom?

Musta missed it.


More details emerge on... (none / 0) (#46)
by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 09:16:40 PM EST

.

The Obama jobs program.

: Regulations and job creation (none / 0) (#47)
by Politalkix on Sat Aug 20, 2011 at 09:53:02 PM EST

When regulations relating to restrictions of use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment like lead, cadmium, etc where passed around the world, a lot of stupid people got exercised that the electronics industry was being dealt a blow from which it would never recover. That did not stop the proliferation of all sorts of gadgets like smart phones and laptops which have fuelled technology, business, entertainment and jobs all over the world.

Then and Now (none / 0) (#51)
by Politalkix on Sun Aug 21, 2011 at 07:30:16 AM EST

20 years before FDR became President
"In the presidential election of 1912, 75 percent of the vote went to candidates who called themselves "progressive" or "socialist."

28 years before BHO became President
A Republican demagogued his way to the Presidency saying "government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."

For progressive ideals to bear fruit, the soil needs to be tilled first.

: Unfortunately.... (5.00 / 0) (#53)
by Dadler on Sun Aug 21, 2011 at 09:20:01 AM EST

...BHO loves him that Reagan, and believes to a disturbing degree the "government is the problem" line.
Tilling the soil today, IMO, would include shaking the earth enough to shake the hell outta Obama, who really isn't acting like a man who particularly wants the job he has. Sadly, it won't happen. We're just lefty firebaggers over here, no different that the teabaggers really, wink wink.
Too bad the right can't nominate Jesus. That'd be a nice progressive irony.

oh lucky you, (none / 0) (#55)
by cpinva on Sun Aug 21, 2011 at 02:47:38 PM EST

to have a farmer's market worthy of the name! you would think, in an area abounding in agriculture not 10 minutes from my driveway, we'd have a great farmer's market. you would think. and you would be wrong. we have a pitiful collection of perhaps a dozen (if that) vendors, who gather on saturday morning, around a dinky little park in the downtown 'burg.

we do have a fair number of "pick your own" farms, within a 5 mile radius, but it isn't the same thing.

it is embarrassing.

: That's sad! (none / 0) (#58)
by nycstray on Mon Aug 22, 2011 at 01:15:07 AM EST

I'm 4 blocks from mine, and it's a Farmer's Market at it's finest (but smaller than some in the area). We're totally overloaded with in season local fruits and veggies, it's so enjoyable to wander the 2 blocks :) My mom came up Saturday (even though she has one by her) and my niece stopped by tonight and said she would be joining us next weekend.
Have you thought about getting involved and getting more farmers and the community going on it? We have a central org (perhaps more than one in the larger total Bay Area) that handles all the markets. Back in my hood in Brooklyn, demand brought more markets the longer I lived there. We went from zero to (iirc) 6 by the time I moved and the markets were on various days (with overlaps) and some catered/leaned toward community/ethnic tastes. CSAs were also growing there and I have a couple of those in my new hood home also. Do you have a hospital near you? Here, some of the hospitals (Kaiser that I know for sure) have farmers markets weekly.
I honestly didn't understand how rich NYS ag was until I got involved in Farmer's Markets and CSAs. Twas an eyeopener for this CA gal :)

Where jobs are being created (none / 0) (#56)
by Politalkix on Sun Aug 21, 2011 at 06:51:32 PM EST

The article talks about much admired Apple also....

: Hasn't Apple always (none / 0) (#57)
by nycstray on Mon Aug 22, 2011 at 12:58:52 AM EST

developed here and manufactured overseas? (One thing I can say about them, they do hire here (I'm in the Bay Area and I also see posting for jobs in their stores, which are very active here.) If they always have developed here and manufactured elsewhere, I view that a bit differently than companies moving US manufacturing jobs out of the country. Some of those jobs may come back as distance and rising wages in other countries make it less 'cost effective' for the companies, but only if they can union bust and break down wages more here . . . . (imo)
Does anyone produce a Made in the USA computer?