Welcome to your weekend open thread. There’s a lot of activity this weekend. Who went to the Wisconsin solidarity rally in Dover? Who plans on seeing Inside Job tonight? I’m planning on being at the Washington St Alehouse at 6 tonight if anyone wants to meet up before the show.
Do you remember the world’s shortest sex scandal of NY-26 Congressman Chris Lee? As many suspected, there is more to the story:
Gawker: “In the past 10 days, two D.C.-area transgender women contacted us, each with a separate story about exchanging emails with the ex-congressman. One sent us an ad that Lee allegedly posted on Craigslist in search of trans women; the other sent us a never-before-seen photo that she says Lee sent her after they started chatting by email. Taken together, they present a possible explanation to those who have wondered why such a tame ‘sex scandal’ forced Lee’s hand so quickly.”
That would probably explain it then. Obviously Lee has a lot of work to do to heal his marriage and wish him and his family the best of luck. He’s a private citizen now so I hope we’ll hear no more on this story.
It looks like things must be really bad for Gaddafi – his Ukranian nurse is leaving him. Last I read rebels had taken control of Tripoli’s main airport and Juan Cole reports that Gaddafi only controls about 10% of Libya. I believe he’s at his most dangerous right now but I can only hope that the people of Libya can take control before more people are killed.
The “voluptuous” Ukrainian nurse US diplomats believe accompanies Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi is about to return home to Kiev, her daughter said in an interview published Saturday.
US diplomatic cables disclosed by the WikiLeaks website suggest that the Libyan leader is reliant on a small team of Ukrainian nurses and particularly a “voluptuous blonde” identified as Galyna Kolotnytska.
The woman’s daughter, Tatyana, told Ukraine’s Segodnya daily that her mother has been shocked by the violence raging in Libya and is planning to return to her suburban Kiev residence.
…
“Gaddafi relies heavily on his long-time Ukrainian nurse, Galyna Kolotnytska, who has been described as a ‘voluptuous blonde’,” said one dispatch using the US State Department’s standard spelling for the Libyan strongman.
“Of the rumoured staff of four Ukrainian nurses that cater to the Leader’s health and well-being, XXX emphasized … that Gaddafi cannot travel without Kolotnytska, as she alone ‘knows his routine’,” the dispatch said.
One thing that has been interesting in a perverse way is the recent insight into minds of dictators. They seem to be paranoid, eccentric and think of the people of their country as their children. While their people are out of work, they have no trouble denying themselves luxuries.