Friday Open Thread
Welcome to the Friday edition of your open thread. I don’t know about you, but this week has seemed extra-long to me, despite only working 4 days this week. I’m ready for the weekend!
Next time a dog tries to sniff at your crotch, encourage him:
Man’s best friend may cement his position if early results from French researchers can be replicated. A team of researchers from Tenon Hospital in Paris reported Tuesday at a San Francisco meeting of the American Urological Assn. that dogs can be trained to detect the characteristic odor of unique chemicals released into urine by prostate tumors, setting the stage for a new way to identify men who are most at risk from the cancer. If developed, the test might be more effective than the PSA test now used because it would have fewer false positives.
As surprising as the idea might sound, other researchers have already been studying the use of dogs to detect cancers of the breast, lung and bladder. Many tumors release characteristic chemicals that can be identified by the exquisitely sensitive canine nose. Lung cancer cells, for example, can release such chemicals into the air of the lungs, and they can then be detected on the victim’s breath.
There are scientific instruments that can detect molecules at extremely low levels as well. I don’t think we’re going to have to submit to dog scans at the doctor’s office.
South Carolina politics continues its reputation for being the state with the dirtiest politics:
In supporting a rival to Nikki Haley (R) for South Carolina governor, state Sen. Jake Knotts (R) used a slur for Arabs to describe both her and President Obama, The State reports.
Said Knotts: “We already got one raghead in the White House. We don’t need another in the governor’s mansion.”
Knotts later defended his comments saying they were “intended in jest.”
Nikki Haley is the daughter of Indian immigrants. Her maiden name is Nimrata Randhawa.
Tags: Open Thread
Arkansas is pulling voting booths from a strong Halter district (Blue Arkansas via dKos):
Sounds like Arkansas hired former OH Sec of State Ken Blackwell (R) to run their runoff election. Blackwell did the same thing in 2004 in Ohio, pulling voting machines in heavily Democratic precincts.
Knotts later defended his comments saying they were “intended in jest.”
Must be the same mindset of the person who came to our site and defended a certain congressional primary candidate’s repeated references to Nazi Germany when speaking of ideological opposition.
Stuff like that is as intolerable as the statement that generated it. Some people truly make gaffes, then others reinforce it by doing it more than once. “Ragheads,” really? There’s one you can call batshit crazy.
Truly heartbreaking photos of birds in the Gulf.
Wow, the water just got hotter for Rep. Knotts in South Carolina. He said more than “raghead.”
Wow, just wow. More…
Just saw Adolph Hayward on a BP commercial making a pitiful apology or something. I wonder how much money they [aid their marketing department that SHOULD have gone to oil clean up.
cant wait until saint sarah pushes for this to happen in ANWAR!!!
UI – your update on Rep. Knotts makes my statement stand out even more.
Yes, I shall repeat it:
Stuff like that is as intolerable as the statement that generated it. Some people truly make gaffes, then others reinforce it by doing it more than once. “Ragheads,” really? There’s one you can call batshit crazy.
Looks like DE Dems are going to have a busy primary this year (depending on your district).
Kenneth Dargis filed yesterday to primary Dennis E. Williams in RD10.
New developments in the BP Runaway Oil Gusher:
“New videos show more clearly than ever how BP, with little resistance from the Coast Guard or other federal agencies, kept the public in the dark about just how bad things were beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.”
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/bp-feds-withheld-videos-showing-massive-scope-oil/story?id=10819367
“Gulf oil spill: BP to go ahead with $10bn shareholder payout”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/03/gulf-oil-spill-bp-dividend
Where are all the blog posts here describing what a wonderful job Obomba is doing in protecting the public’s interests? Or where are all the blog posts here criticizing Obomba for handing the response and clean-up of this natural disaster to BP, the oil company that caused it?
During Katrina, there were many posts here about the incompetent federal response to that disaster. About the Gulf Oil gusher, not a single one in more than a week.
Obomba/BP Clean up = Obomba/BP Cover up
Jesus H. Christ… that BP dividend needs to be stopped in its tracks.
In bankruptcy proceedings, if you pay out unusual sums right before you go bankrupt, the court can look at those pre-bankruptcy transactions and actually claw the money back from the people you paid it to.
I realize BP isn’t necessarily bankrupt, and even if it was the dividend couldn’t be touched – but still, the principle should apply. I think it would be on the SEC to stop it, right?
If BP runs out of money to pay claims, that dividend could become the target of a nasty lawsuit.
Yes, I’m extremely upset that Obama has not called in the Department of Stopping Oil Gushers in to help with the leak. I think it’s a deliberate conspiracy.
Somebody suggested plugging the leak with the collected works of Ayn Rand.
I belong to that facebook group, anon.
I saw it in a dkos comment, I don’t do facebook. But it’s a good one and it bears repeating.
LOL, while googling for that group I came across another comment desribing Ayn Rand as:
“Nietzsche for stupid people”
Having read a bit of Nietsche, I get the joke.
I guess I am kind of new to Rand-hate.
Yes, U.I. the whole thing is a big joke. And it is hysterical the way the Federal Government has handed the whole thing, including the clean-up to BP. And it cracks me up that BP is getting ready to pay a $10 BILLION dollar dividend to its shareholders while whole industries and the livelihoods of millions of American families are lost. And I think is a stitch watching the birds flap around and die.
Its so funny that I could cry.
And you are still here, A1 — where the hell is your blog where you write about all of these things that you want addressed? Go off and create your own blog and talk about what you want — you have no standing whatsoever to demand anything from anyone here — especially since you so studiously add nothing to this place. Fire up your own wordpress blog and go to work instead of getting your whinge on again.
Yes, cassandra_m, attack me because you can’t refute what I write. I didn’t (and don’t) demand anything from anyone here. I just point out the facts, and you can’t stand it. Instead of complaining about my worthless comments, why don’t you just blog about what a great job Obomba is doing in response the the Gulf catastrophe?
Obviously Obama needs to declare war on England.
Bush would have invaded Venezuela by now in response to the BP spill.
A1: If you don’t want to start your own blog, you can always go read the conservative blogs. They offer plenty of Obama criticism.
That said, the news should be troubling even to Obama supporters because it’s yet another instance of ham-fisted message control from a White House that has lost all credibility.
Clinton was smart enough to can his hillbilly advisers in favor of Washington pros when the time came. Carter, OTOH, kept his inner circle intact and they all went down together. Let’s see which way Barry plays it.
A1: She’s not wrong. You do constantly phrase your complaints as “where is/are the posts saying…” and so forth. Instead of aiming the criticism at the people who run the blog, why not aim it at your intended target, Obama? That way they’ll be more likely to stick to the points you claim you want to make, instead of defending themselves from what read to this non-combatant like attacks on the bloggers for not thinking as you do.
No one cares about refuting what you write, A1. But apparently you care enough about what goes on here that not only will your bitch and complain about the content you don’t get, but you don’t even add a damn thing to the content here. If you want specific content or blogging, go off and start your own. And STFU about what people don’t write about here — because you certainly won’t man up and go write about it yourself.
Since it’s 4:20 I was just downing a Fosters oil can, and a new nickname for Obama just came to me, “OIL CAN BARRY”.
What do you think ?
I think it’s really cool if you’re eight years old.
And, Fosters? Really?
cassandra_m, when somebody criticizes the News Journal, should the NJ’s response be “go start your own newspaper?” Of course not. And your “go start your own blog” makes as much sense. I like this blog, I write here often as a commenter; and I follow the rules. Why do you have such a problem with that?
It is surprising to me how you can dole the most virulent and mean criticism out about anything and anybody, but become remarkably thin-skinned when one lowly commenter criticizes your blog. Are you really that insecure?
Geezer, why should the editorial content of this blog should be off-limits from praise, criticism, or observations from its readers? I think that what a blog chooses to write or not write about is a perfectly legitimate topic in an open thread, and I can’t think of a reason why it shouldn’t be.
Clearly, one of the points that I intend to make is the hypocrisy of remaining silent while Obomba does the same things that Bush did and for which Bush was roundly and rightly criticized for. Again, I think that is a perfectly legitimate topic.
I made my complaints clear on a post last week (or week before). I think letting BP be in charge of too many things was a mistake and being complicit (or standing by) while BP tried to hide the amount of the problem is a bigger mistake. Obama is letting himself get outdone by Bobby Jindal, who is a complete know-nothing. So my main complaint is the administration-BP relationship.
However, most of the complaints of critics have been completely stupid. Obama’s not mad enough or emo enough or doesn’t feel everyone’s pain. It’s people longing for a daddy-in-chief. The people who complain that the leak’s not stopped – hey I’m with them but there’s not much the government can do about that. The main problem was not being prepared or regulated enough, mostly a Bush problem.
A1,
The NJ is staffed with people who are paid to put out a newspaper. This blog is completely a volunteer effort run by amateurs. I certainly don’t claim to be any kind of professional writer. I consider myself just a person with an excess of opinions and hopefully flashes of insight. As far as content, we try to have a variety. That actually attracts more people. Posts about how awful things are all the time is just depressing. I like a mixture of fun posts and serious posts.
Sure, you can criticize but it’s not going to change things. In fact, I’m saying this as my opinion, it makes people less likely to write about the subject since they know a shit storm will be coming if they write about it.
That said, the news should be troubling even to Obama supporters because it’s yet another instance of ham-fisted message control from a White House that has lost all credibility.
BP announcing a dividend is ham-fisted message control? So the White House should be controlling BP’s financial reporting responsibilities now?
Really, I don’t get why this dividend has everyone’s panties in a twist. Apparently BP’s CEO was non-committal on this dividend today. Even if you read A1’s link from yesterday in the Guardian, this is one of the real key’s to BP’s thinking about a dividend:
But at the end of 2009, BP had revenue of almost $30B. They had cash reserves of about 7 or 8B and assets of about 68B. This is still a company with world class assets that still perform awfully well. And do not forget that EXXON survived the Valdez with both reputation and balance sheet intact.
Rather than having on about whether or not BP pays a dividend, it would be WAY smarter for these legislators to get their butts to work to do this:
1. Lift any caps on BP, Transocean’s or Halliburton’s liabilities here. Don’t leave them any legislative refuge.
2. Make certain that BP will pay all of its’ obligations here. Don’t let them do what EXXON was able to do in Alaska — which was to litigate away a fair amount of their obligation.
3. Make any future drilling operations price in the real costs of this drilling — no more tax subsidies; require safety features; require specific cleanup capability; ask them for a performance bond so that you can assurances up front for certain amounts of cleanup funds.
If these legislative idiots had been paying attention before they ever approved deepwater drilling, we wouldn’t be here today.
cassandra_m, when somebody criticizes the News Journal, should the NJ’s response be “go start your own newspaper?
The difference here, is that you pay for the NJ, either via the dead tree version or by providing eyeballs for their online ads. Critiquing the NJ is about asking for a better consumer product. You pay for nothing here and you add nothing here. Bitching about content provided or not provided by a crew of volunteers is not only ungracious (not that we ever expect grace from you) but dumb as dirt. If you don’t like what these volunteers are doing — go somewhere else where you can get the professional content you want or start your own. If you can do better then go volunteer to start your own damn blog. You are entitled to absolutely nothing here — pretty much in line with what you add.
A1 = fact checker. NOT!!!!
U.I., Paid or not, the point is the same. Telling me to start my own blog because someone doesn’t like what I write in the comments makes no sense.
I get everything that you are saying, and I like this blog – I never said that I didn’t. I like the people who write here, even though most of you are as anonymous to me as I am to you. I like the variety of content, and I also think that certain topics are deliberately dodged.
I can’t write posts and I don’t hold any keys to this blog. You do. If what I write is “not going to change things,” so be it. That doesn’t mean that I can’t or shouldn’t try. Obviously, some people have strong reactions to what I write, and I get the “shit storm” from certain people here. Cassandra_m even went through a bunch of my comments and changed “Obomba” to “Obama.” That was nothing but silly and dishonest to your readers.
I really do find it surprising how some writers of this blog try to hold me and others to some higher standard of discourse while failing to hold themselves or each other to that same standard.
Really, cassandra_m, you haven’t noticed the paid ads at the top of your blog? And if I add nothing, why do you even bother to criticize me and modify my comments? You can ignore me; I won’t care. Really.
anonone said, “shit storm”. Have you been watching “Trailer Park Boys”?
Mr, lahey says that all the time.
If you aren’t too busy tomorrow and want to come down to Sussex, this is a great event. What originally started as a fundraiser for Jack Markell is now a fundraiser for the Food Bank of Delaware.
Example number 3,201,995,412 of A1 not knowing what the fuck he is talking about *again*:
you haven’t noticed the paid ads at the top of your blog?
That same example would be example number 3,201,995,409 of A1 not adding anything to the discussion, either.
I can’t write posts and I don’t hold any keys to this blog.
Which doesn’t stop you from starting your own blog and whinging about Barack Obama not being your own personal Magic Negro, either. If you want specific content, go off and create it.
Cass,
Your unbecoming and shrill defense of Obomba “and all his works” and unbridled wrath at A1 reminds this atheist of following scripture:
“Then the high priest tore his clothes and declared, 1 “He has blasphemed! ” Matthew 26:65
Caiaphas 33 A.D. = Cassandra 2010 A.D.
Remind yourself this is the weekend and try to chill.
Peace,
Delacrat
Shrill? You have a lot of nerve telling someone they’re shrill and to “chill” when I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve succumbed to a fit of the vapors. You (and A1) have no business lecturing anyone about their tone.
I like the idea of an anonone and delacrat blog. You guys should really consider it – and I’m not being snarky.
I’d like to point out one more thing. Last week I wrote a post entitled Does anyone know how to stop the oil spill and neither one of you commented. Why is that? That post was a perfect opportunity for both of you to weigh in with your solutions. 36 comments and not a one from either of you. Just sayin’
Delacrat is another of the Dunce Brigade. Who also has reading comp issues. Maybe he’s Frank Knotted trolling over here.
pandora,
When you hold your fellow bloggers to the same standard of discourse that you so sanctimoniously judge me by, then maybe you’ll have some “business lecturing anyone about their tone.” Until I see that happen, your “tsk tsking” is hollow.
anonone
cassandra_m,
Your constant referral to “Barack Obama not being [my] own personal Magic Negro” is racist and disgusting, even from an African American. In my world, Obama’s race has nothing to do with his qualities and policies as President, and I have never inferred that it has and I never will.
Your comments in response to my “nothing” comments are simply ugly and now are racist. I write my “content” in various blogs, including this one. If you don’t like my opinion, you are free to disagree or say nothing. But altering posts and now dragging racist stereotypes into it is beyond the pale, even for you.
anonone
Actually, A1, we can simply make you go away. Take Cassandra’s and Pandora’s advice, set up your own blog.
Why are you threatening to “make [me] go away,” MJ? Specifically, tell me what DL blog rules have I broken?
I don’t make threats, A1 and I didn’t threaten you. Paraphrasing you – A1, do you have a thin skin?
In-between periods, right 🙂 Uh, yesterday, MJ, you said I was “gone” and today it was “we can simply make you go away.”
Anyway, I am glad to hear that you aren’t threatening “to make [me] go away.” Perhaps you can tell me what you meant by that statement then?
I don’t need to explain anything to you. In fact, no one here is under any obligation to explain anything to you.
Obama’s race has nothing to do with his qualities and policies as President,
And my characterization of your reaction to Obama isn’t about race. It is about a remarkable habit of yours to infantalize the most complex of problems while looking for the easy way out. So you can take your *racist* bullshit and play that somewhere where people might be intimidated by it. I sure am not.
But then neither close reading or any real self awareness on your part certainly has never been your forte, right?
I actually think that back in the 70’s, A1 would have been hijacking planes to Cuba, because he does a bang-up job of trying to hijack this blog everyday.
“when somebody criticizes the News Journal, should the NJ’s response be “go start your own newspaper”
Yes, it should. We have a free press in this country. If you don’t like the product, pass it by.
But more to the point, if you are complaining about Obama, complain about Obama. That’s clearly not your point. You’re just acting as an irritant by constant criticism of people who are doing work, just not the work you want them to do. Frankly, I’d ban you too at this point, because you’re interfering with them doing what they want to do, and have every right to do. If you want someone to criticize Obama, there’s plenty of that out there. Go buy the other brands.
If you go to the theater and the troupe is performing Shakespeare and you stand up and yell that you’d rather see Shaw, you’re not adding anything, and you’re subtracting quite a bit.
“BP announcing a dividend is ham-fisted message control?”
No. Having possession of tape showing the oil gushing and failing to release it to stifle criticism is ham-fisted message control.
Geezer,
I don’t tell people what they should or should not write about. I don’t force anybody to respond to my comments. I wrote my comment in this open thread. I simply think that it is important to point out the double standard that is applied to Obama versus Bush in hopes to change that.
And it isn’t just here; it is happening in many liberal blogs. For whatever reason, actions and policies that were roundly and rightfully condemned when Bush was President are given a pass now that the President is Obama. I think it that is wrong; and I don’t think that I should be banned for saying that.
People want to make me the issue when it isn’t about me at all. It is about watching hope and change slip away while people stand by, watching silently. It is about being lied to without protest. It is about watching a war escalate without reason. It is about watching a large part of America’s coastline being destroyed by a multi-national corporation while the Federal Government hands over the clean-up and response the that same corporation, which is trying to cover it all up. It is about hearing Bush gleefully admit to ordering torture while Obama fails to prosecute anyone and now runs his own secret prisons.
So, yes, my complaints are about Obama. But my complaints are also about the double standard applied to Obama and Bush. If we are to have any hope of ending the slide to a corporate police state, we must hold all office holders to the same performance standards, regardless of their party affiliation.
If people are uncomfortable with that point of view, then they are welcome to not read my comments. If people want to ban me for expressing that point of view because it makes them uncomfortable, then that says far more about their own ability to tolerate a diversity of opinions than it does about the ideas that they are trying to silence.
anonone
That’s a laugh. A1’s Whole bag is telling people what they should write about and what they should be pissed off about. If I were a DL contributor I would have banned his crybaby ass months ago.
Jason, just a few short years ago, this whole blog was about telling people “what they should be pissed off about,” i.e. Bush and the republickins. You were a master at it. How soon you forget.
So start your own blog dummy. Call it delawareliberalsucks. Or a1ispureandevery1elsesucks. If your peeves have merit and find a market in the open agora of ideas it will flourish and plow this blog under. If your peeves are yours alone, it will be just another evolutionary dead end.
There is no real barrier to entry.
But you will not. Do youknow how I know? Starting your own blog would take effort, getting it to flourish would take work and creativity. You seem to favor the lazy, uncreative route of being a gadfly. It is easy to sit in the stands and jeer. It is another thing to get in the game
Who gives a crap about tolerating a diversity of opinions? Lots of opinions aren’t worth hearing. Yours is incredibly tiresome, not the least bit original or interesting, and in general just plain annoying. You not only aren’t changing anyone’s mind, you’re helping solidify opinion in the other direction. You’re just like Liz Allen — she might be right, but who the hell wants to hear it screeched without originality, subtlety or sympathy?
There are plenty of reasons liberals don’t want to attack Obama, at the very least because it helps his enemies. You have no answer to any of this, just the same redundant complaint. We get your point; you should get a life.
As I said, I’d ban you, and I won’t be sorry if they do.
“just like Liz Allen — she might be right, but who the hell wants to hear it screeched without originality, subtlety or sympathy?
The fact is Geezer, most people on this blog just don’t want to “hear it”. period. when it comes to left-wing criticism of Obomba.
The fact there is no discussion on this “liberal” site of banning the conservative/GOP posters whose criticism of Obomba are no more “original,subtle or sympathetic” than A1’s is , well, curious, don’t you think?
Geezer,
Those who are afraid of attacks on Obomba’s policies from the left “at the very least because it helps his enemies” are part of the reason that Obomba continues to tack to the right. We aren’t going to get the policies that we want by sitting down and shutting up or making excuses. Those who are afraid to speak up will get stuck with the policies of those who are not afraid to speak up.
The last disagreement that you and I had was regarding off-shore drilling where you said that the chances of a worst case spill were so remote that they could be ignored and I vehemently disagreed with you. How’d that work out?
You can call my points “tiresome” in the same way that Obomba called the debate over off-shore drilling “tired” just before he sided with big-oil over environmentalists and approved more of it. “Tiresome” is a handy way to dismiss opinions that you disagree with; it doesn’t make them wrong. And you certainly don’t know if I am changing anybody’s mind or not.
People can choose to read and respond to my comments or ignore them, just like they can yours or anybody else who posts here. Delacrat’s question is a good one. Ignoring the legion of right-wing commenters here who criticize Obomba, liberalism, this blog, and the contributers to this blog, why I am the only one who has their comments surreptitiously edited and gets threatened with banning? And it isn’t because I break any of the blog rules.
anonone
Blah blah blah. Lazy, jerk.
The fact is Geezer, most people on this blog just don’t want to “hear it”. period. when it comes to left-wing criticism of Obomba.
Yes, and for the reasons many have cited about both you: You play the same note, over and over. David Anderson might be insane, but you never know what he’s going to say (which heightens the sense that he might be insane).
As to “how did the [drilling issue] work out,” it required no new rules to happen. And, as awful as it is, it won’t end deep-sea drilling.
Nor will your call for moving to the left move American politics to the left. But I will take your advice and ignore you from now on.