Wednesday Open Thread
Here’s an open thread for a rainy Wednesday.
Here’s another bizzare GOP sex scandal story: “Green Balloons”.
The former speaker of the Missouri House has been charged with a felony after what looks like a bout of sado-masochistic sex that went way too far.
Details are still unconfirmed, we should note. But a woman appears to have suggested to police that Rod Jetton, a Republican who now works as a political consultant, may have slipped something into her drink, then beat her up during sex, after she failed to use the safe word they had agreed upon as a signal to calm things down.
This is not the oddest part.
The woman added that she and Jetton had agreed on the phrase “green balloons” as a “safe word” that she could use if things got too rough during sex. That’s not uncommon among people who enjoy sex that involves dominance and submission.
But somehow things seem to have gotten way out of hand. The police report continues:
[The woman] recalls Jetton hitting her on the face very hard. She then remembers waking up, lying on the floor and Jetton was choking her. [The woman] said she did not know what happened with her memory because she had been drunk but had never had the blank spots in her memory.
According to the formal complaint filed against Jetton, he “recklessly caused serious physical injury” to the woman “by hitting her on the head, and choking her resulting in unconsciousness and the loss of the function of part of her body.”
Jetton then stayed the night, says the woman. When he woke up, she says, he kissed her and said, “You should have said green balloons.” He then left and hasn’t returned.
Tags: Open Thread
poodle
It’s sunny and breezy down here in the best part of Delaware. This short parody of one of your favorite media heroes gave me a good laugh. I hope you appreciate it in the the spirit in which it was intended:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/112972/supernews-smarmy-time-with-bill-maher
At this point, Joe Lieberman might as well be majority leader, with Olympia Snowe as whip.
South Carolina’s Love Governor, who loves girls in Argentina and loves wasting taxpayer money on fancy jets, avoided impeachment today. I guess you can’t impeach for hyprocicy, eh? And the republicans surely want to protect their own. Impeachment is only applicable for dems.
“I guess you can’t impeach for hyprocicy, eh?”
Clinton?
More blatant hypocrisy:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-obama-accept-nobel-peace-prize-oslo-norway/story?id=9284977
Dear Friends,
The State of Delaware has no jurisdiction over the maintenance or the operation of a Federal Waterway. The Delaware River is a Federal Waterway navigated by a variety of commercial vessels going to and from the various ports along the Delaware River from Big Stone Beach Anchorage (where lightering takes place), Salem, Delaware City, Wilmington, Claymont, Marcus Hook, Paulsboro, Philadelphia, Morrisville– all the way to Trenton, NJ– just to name a few of the places where ships and barges are bound. The Corp of Army Engineers and the US Coast Guard are responsible for the complete operation of the Delaware River–not the state of Delaware! That being said, I am writing this dissertation as an environmentalist, a fiscal and economic conservative, and a retired Delaware River Pilot with 33 years of local knowledge concerning this issue.
The State of Delaware, (DNREC), various members of the State Legislature from both sides of the isle, previous Governors, and our Republican Congressman Mike Castle have vociferously spoken out against the dredging of the Delaware River from its current controlling depth of 40 feet to 45 feet. The apparent, negative rub by these people against the project has been the fallacious concern- that deepening the channel by digging into the bottom- could possibly release toxins that might hurt the environment ? The other argument is that there would be no specific, economic benefit for the State of Delaware, because the mismanaged Port of Wilmington does not currently handle ships with a deep draft???
Folks, this kind of absurd reasoning makes my blood boil, especially when our state and our country are in an unparalleled, economic crisis. There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that deepening the Delaware River would create any environmental problem. Hell, using insipid words like “could or might” are ridiculous, assumptive, and completely unscientific. Furthermore, the Delaware River regularly shoals up even in the middle of the shipping channel. The Army Corp of Engineers is constantly dredging–digging out 2 to 3 feet off the bottom to maintain the channel for deep loaded vessels carrying not only oil, but a variety of necessary products that we use locally.
Deepening the channel to 45 feet, will open up a fabulous, new horizon for the Delaware River, making it the only, true deep water port in the United States. Ships will come here instead of other ports, making the entire Delaware Valley competitive in many ways. The trickle down effect from a successful port operation that imports or exports a lot of cargo creates more jobs and economic prosperity for everyone. A well run port of any city is the life blood of that city. That is the main reason so many cities were built and developed on the rivers and lakes of this country in the first place. New York, Philadelphia, Charleston, Richmond, Cleveland , Detroit, Chicago, and San Francisco are just a few successful Port Cities that are steeped in maritime history.
This brings me to the Port of Wilmington. The Port of Wilmington is now owned by the State of Delaware. It could be the most, fantastic, financial bonanza that there ever was for the State of Delaware. It is “The Field of Dreams”. “If you build it they will come !” Deepen the Delaware River to 45 feet; then deepen the Port of Wilmington to 45 feet. Make it one of the most productive container ports in the United States. Develop the Delaware side of the Channel from north of the Delaware Memorial Bridge to the entrance of the Christiana River ! You’ve got railroads, I-95, the New Jersey Turnpike, all right there to offload a myriad of products. Some of our elected officials are so jaded and lacking in vision, they do not understand the history of our nation, the economic development of our cities through its ports, and the tremendous possibilities for the future.
Frankly, I will go so far as to say that anyone who is opposed to the dredging of the Delaware River is truly misinformed and misguided. The fallacious and unscientific hype put out by various environmental organizations with the insidious result of delaying this necessary project is criminal. The deepening of the Delaware River will be an economic boon for Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania for years to come. Anything to the contrary is simply the result of poor reasoning.
Respectfully submitted,
JUDSON Bennett-Coastal Network
FWIW – Ceila Cohen now has her sponsors listed on the left-hand side of her page: two unions, Pete du Pont, Jim and Ada Leigh Soles, Hal Haskell and M.C. Byrd.
There are more sponsors after the click, too. I wonder if that is all of them, or just the ones that allow her to print their names.
Also, I bet they all summer together.