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Thursday’s OPEN thread

Broadmoor section of New Orleans | Infrogmation | Wikimedia Commons

“At any street corner the feeling of absurdity can strike any man in the face.”
Albert Camus

Join the conversation [ADD A COMMENT]

48 COMMENTS

  1. Ron | May 12, 2011 at 10:09 am

    Speaking of absurdity follow the link below and think how absurd it is that the car was found, intact, after all these years.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43003382/ns/us_news-weird_news/

  2. VT Hokie | May 12, 2011 at 10:58 am

    Ahh…Albert Camus, the great existentialist. He who enlightened us with the ultimate philosophical question.

  3. VT Hokie | May 12, 2011 at 11:11 am

    Did the idea of a blog get-together just die? I think it was supposed to happen at the 50,000 comment mark, or something like that. I was pretty excited about the idea at the time….if it was officially decided that it wasn’t going to happen I missed it.

  4. gdad | May 12, 2011 at 11:29 am

    #1 I had heard about this story earlier, Ron. Strange thing happen.

  5. Aaron | May 12, 2011 at 11:37 am

    I really feel like Jon Stewart is following this blog and getting story ideas for his show. First the fight for Osama credit, and now last night he started off the show by showing the hypocritical absurdity of Fox News and the entire right wing reaction of Common performing at the White House.

    It’s kind of funny that Jon Stewart can just be so brutally honest and show clear cut evidence of hypocrisy. But what’s even better is how there is no response from the other side. Those crickets are chirping awful loud.

  6. david | May 12, 2011 at 11:50 am

    Slate Hill II? Today, after leaving our favorite store, the new Walmart, I was North bound on 220. Right at the Parkway, between the quarry and Hunting Hills Office Suites (East side), I saw a rape in progress, much larger than Slate Hill, and in sight of the Parkway. Does anyone know what’s going on there?

  7. Kristen | May 12, 2011 at 2:22 pm

    Really david, now that the Mallwart’s out there, what difference does it make?

  8. Suzie | May 12, 2011 at 2:24 pm

    ?It’s kind of funny that Jon Stewart can just be so brutally honest and show clear cut evidence of hypocrisy. But what’s even better is how there is no response from the other side. Those crickets are chirping awful loud.

    Or it might mean you can’t read, Aaron. We sliced and diced your leftard guru pretty good on the 0bama-takes-the-credit thread.

  9. DaveH | May 12, 2011 at 2:41 pm

    One more thing for travelers to worry about:

    http://tinyurl.com/3slrnr5

    **
    Thought Bed Bugs Were Bad? Try Bed Bugs With MRSA
    By Meredith Melnick Thursday, May 12, 2011 |

    The one bright side of having bed bugs — if you wanted to be really optimistic about it — has always been that at least the tormenting critters didn’t transmit disease. But now researchers in Vancouver report that they’ve found bed bugs with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.

    The scientists studied five bed bugs, taken from three patients treated at St. Paul’s Hospital. All three patients were residents of Vancouver’s poor Downtown Eastside, where both bed bugs and MRSA have been on the rise in recent years. The researchers wanted to see if there was a connection.

    So they crushed and analyzed the bugs and found three samples with MRSA, the superbug that is resistant to most commonly used antibiotics. The two other samples had vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium, or VRE, a less dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
    SNIP
    **

  10. Brendan | May 12, 2011 at 2:53 pm

    Aaron-crickets are all your gonna hear from the Conservatives on the subject (with exception of HeeHaw Suzie of course). The truth can’t be disputed.

  11. Aaron | May 12, 2011 at 4:46 pm

    Suzie, I can read just fine.

    You, on the other hand, are lying. “We” did no such thing. You didn’t even do anything like that.

    There are 7 comments by 5 people on that thread. Of those, you were the only dissenting comment.

    In that one post, you in no way “sliced and diced” Jon Stewart.

    You decided to twist the intent of a NYT blog and tried to pin your findings on Jon Stewart. Your attempt to make it look like President Obama was taking full credit for the OBL raid was weak and could be proved completely wrong if someone clicked on that link and read the brief post.

    To quote Obama,

    And because of the extraordinary bravery of the men and women who wear this nation’s uniform and the outstanding work of our intelligence agencies, Osama Bin Laden will never again threaten the United States of America [...] We couldn’t be prouder of them.

    Sounds like he’s giving credit to soldiers and intelligence agencies.

    There Suzie, that is what slicing and dicing looks like. I hope it didn’t hurt too much.

  12. Suzie | May 12, 2011 at 5:37 pm

    Aaron,
    Odd that both you and 0bama omitted his initial remarks where HE takes credit

    A few choice paragraphs

    “And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network.

    Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan. And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.

    Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.”

    Did you count how many times Zero Boy used a form of “I” in those three paragraphs? And as for the stump speeches, as the NYT says, anytime he mentions the capture of Bin Laden, he is implicitly taking credit.

  13. david | May 12, 2011 at 5:38 pm

    Kristen, surely you do not believe that a barren hill overlooking a rock quarry, next to the Pky is even close to Walmart. At least they used design and landscaping.

  14. DaveH | May 12, 2011 at 6:43 pm

    Don’t know how many folk here keep bees or have been following the problem w/ lose of bee colonies.

    http://tinyurl.com/3ku7q5v

    **
    Cell Phones Are Killing The Bees: Study
    BY Ariel SchwartzWed May 11, 2011

    New experiments find that cell phone signals don’t just confuse bees, they off them. What does this mean for our food supply?

    Do you enjoy eating? Then you may not be too happy if bee populations plunge. That’s because out of the 100 crops that provide 90% of the world’s food, over 70 are pollinated by bees–and according to the UN, local drops in the bee population are being reported by beekeepers all over the planet. And the whole thing may be our fault: A new paper (PDF) from Swiss researcher Daniel Favre claims that part of the problem is our obsession with cell phones.

    According to Favre, a researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, phone signals may confuse honeybees so much that they become disoriented before finally dropping dead. Favre and his team performed 83 experiments that recorded honeybees’ reaction to nearby cell phones in off, standby, and call-making mode. The result: Honeybee noise increases by 10 times when a phone call is made or received. Normally, an increase in noise, or “worker piping,” is used as a signal for bees to leave their hives. But in this case, it just makes them confused.

    SNIP
    **

    Eat or talk?

  15. Al | May 12, 2011 at 6:58 pm

    Kristen: Your chili decision stinks!

  16. Ron | May 12, 2011 at 8:02 pm

    An interesting piece regarding John Boehner. It gives him some advice from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. As a Catholic let’s hope he will take the advice and be guided by it.

    http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/11/catholic-professors-want-boehner-to-reconcider-cuts/?iref=obnetwork

  17. Dan Casey | May 12, 2011 at 8:09 pm

    Did you count how many times Zero Boy used a form of “I” in those three paragraphs? And as for the stump speeches, as the NYT says, anytime he mentions the capture of Bin Laden, he is implicitly taking credit.

    Mr. President: Thank you. For at least 2 years President Clinton tried to get Osama. For 7-1/3 years President Bush apparently was trying (despite his protestations to contrary, 9 months after 9/11). You did something other presidents valiantly tried but failed to do. Job well done!

  18. Aaron | May 12, 2011 at 9:09 pm

    Changing the subject Suzie? You realized you didn’t slice and dice Jon Stewart didn’t you?

    After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.

    Who gets the credit? I’m pretty sure the word ‘they’ does not have an ‘I’ in it.

    As for the uses of ‘I’ that you are trying to complain about… let’s look at them… Heck, let’s look at most of his personal pronoun uses!

    I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda,

    Ok… He is president and Panetta does answer to him. So even if it was already the top priority, he’s just making sure it stays that way.

    I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden.

    Well, once again he is president and that’s the kind of stuff he gets on a daily basis… still not sure where he’s taking credit for things.

    I met repeatedly with my national security team…

    That’s what good presidents do. If he wasn’t doing this you’d be giving him hell for not caring about our national security.

    I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action…

    As commander-in-chief, like it or hate it, that’s his call to make. And according to some reports there was on a 50-50 chance, so it was just as likely to flop as it was to succeed.

    Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation…

    Well, aside from the commander-in-chief point, this was also a diplomatic issue since we were sending a special forces team into an ally with the specific intent to capture or kill someone within that country without their knowledge.

    All things considered… He made some key decisions (that you would have given him hell if he hadn’t made) and it happened on his watch. I still don’t see how you can say he deserves no credit.

    Using your logic, let’s go ahead and say that Saddam was overthrown thanks to George HW Bush, desert storm, and the international regulations placed on Iraq after that. Because, after all, that’s when he lost his complete stranglehold on unlimited power and abilities in Iraq.

  19. Dan Casey | May 12, 2011 at 9:26 pm

    Aaron,

    This issue is one that you don’t even need to debate Suzie on. Just look at the public opinion polls. Obama — game, set, match. I’m sure that’s very aggravating to Suzie.

    Perhaps we should feel sorry for her.

    You never know — she might need some Ativan.

    (Thank you, Jim Lucas, for introducing that prescription tranquilizer into the debate!)

  20. Sandi Saunders | May 12, 2011 at 9:34 pm

    It is about to get worse for the Suzie’s of the world too.

    http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7365872n&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CBSNewsPCAnswer+%28PC+Answer%3A+CBSNews.com%29

    …This is one of the most courageous calls…

  21. Suzie | May 12, 2011 at 9:39 pm

    All things considered… He made some key decisions (that you would have given him hell if he hadn’t made) and it happened on his watch. I still don’t see how you can say he deserves no credit.

    I don’t believe he made any key decisions for the simple reason he doesn’t know his ass from first base. 0bama doesn’t know the first thing about military operations, let alone the sophisticated work done by Special Ops. Nobody with any brains would buy what he’s selling. The generals make fun of him.

  22. Suzie | May 12, 2011 at 9:43 pm

    This issue is one that you don’t even need to debate Suzie on. Just look at the public opinion polls. Obama — game, set, match. I’m sure that’s very aggravating to Suzie.

    Nobody believes the silly AP poll Dan is obviously citing, the one that’s a full ten points higher than every other poll out there.

  23. Dan Casey | May 12, 2011 at 9:45 pm

    “I don’t believe he made any key decisions for the simple reason he doesn’t know his ass from first base. 0bama doesn’t know the first thing about military operations, let alone the sophisticated work done by Special Ops. Nobody with any brains would buy what he’s selling. The generals make fun of him.”

    This is pure opinion, not fact, except for the “I don’t believe he made any key decisions….”

    I believe she believes that (tho she has no facts to back it up).

  24. gdad | May 12, 2011 at 10:04 pm

    #15 What is Al mumbling about now?

  25. Aaron | May 12, 2011 at 10:06 pm

    Ok Suzie, here’s a challenge for you.

    Prove Dan, me, and everyone else on the blog wrong–

    Show facts that prove that you’re right.

    No “I think”, “I feel”, “I believe” crap. I’m talking pure, honest facts that have unbiased sources backing them up.

    I want objective proof (with citations linking to third party sources) that the statements you make on this blog about our current president are indeed true.

    If you are indeed as powerful and have as much influence as you want us to believe, that should be absolutely no problem for you to provide.

    That is of course unless there is no factual premise on your posts, which in that case… well, you can’t really lose credibility you don’t have. You will just be legitimately outed for the liar you are.

  26. Suzie | May 12, 2011 at 10:20 pm

    I believe she believes that (tho she has no facts to back it up).

    It’s a pretty good conclusion that anyone with an ounce of sense would come up with. Obama has never done anything in his life. He’s never run anything in his life. Whatever room he walks into, he’s the least qualified there. He not only has no experience with the military, he has open disdain for the military, one of the few branches for which he has proposed funding cuts. His generals openly ridicule him; that’s why he had to replace McChrystal. Obama is a walking punchline.

    People who believe this tall tale are as dumb as the folks who believed Hillary had no idea Bill was a cheater until he admitted it under oath. But…. Democrats count on their constituents being dumber than old tree stumps.

  27. Cold n P | May 12, 2011 at 10:28 pm

    DaveH, too bad it’s not the yellow jackets getting hammered by the cell phones. They seem to be doing just fine. Can we maybe get Monsanto to GM Yellow Jacket bees to pollinate?

  28. dave | May 13, 2011 at 1:29 am

    For Suzie and the bloggers who want to give all the credit for getting Bin Laden to Bush/Cheney and their “enhanced” interrogation techniques
    (read that torture) and for all the ex-Bush admin. folks who have fallen all over themselves this week trying to claim that credit, they were
    basically destroyed today by–of all people– John McCain. McCain finally picked this issue to return to the side of sanity after being pushed around and forced to give up his principles for the past year by the Tea Party. Hopefully, this is a signal that he has had enough.

  29. Suzie | May 13, 2011 at 8:22 am

    Aaron,

    Again, I don’t do homework for lazy liberals. If you want to google the stuff I say, you’re welcome to. It’s pretty common knowledge top military leaders think the Obama administration is inept. General Stanley McChrystal refused to meet with Obama because Obama had come in to their first meeting unprepared. Mac’s staff openly ridiculed Biden and Holbrooke. To serious military achievers Obama and his team were inept clowns.

  30. Sandi Saunders | May 13, 2011 at 8:35 am

    Gee, generals who openly ridicule and do not support their commander, how proud we should all be. Of course any general worth his salt thinks he could run the nation better, just like they run the military. I mean what better, less corrupt, more moral group is there than the military brass? I suppose that is why so many dictators have been generals. It is rather amusing that generals only respect Conservatives. Frankly, it is rather telling. Thanks for admitting that Suzie.

    That Gates is one damn fine liar, I’ll give him that. He’s no Stanley McChrystal, I’ll also happily give him that.

  31. gdad | May 13, 2011 at 8:40 am

    #26 Suzie, how do you sleep at night after making up some many lies every day?

  32. Kristen | May 13, 2011 at 8:46 am

    Thanks, Al!

  33. Kristen | May 13, 2011 at 9:05 am

    dave,I think McCain wants his legacy to be something other than Sarah Palin and inventing new and different reasons to discriminate against gays. I’m glad he spoke up on this.

  34. Suzie | May 13, 2011 at 9:31 am

    they were basically destroyed today by–of all people– John McCain. McCain finally picked this issue to return to the side of sanity after being pushed around and forced to give up his principles for the past year by the Tea Party. Hopefully, this is a signal that he has had enough.

    Funny how Dave admits McCain was forced to mouth Tea Party principles in order to get re-elected. That’s how it always works with liberals. To win, they must talk conservative. That should confirm for all the ideology of most voters.

    McCain is a leftwing-moderate puke who is, as you say, happy to return to his liberal roots once election season is over. Notice how he is never a “maverick” at election time. He saves it for when he’s safe.

  35. gdad | May 13, 2011 at 10:18 am

    #34 “left-wing moderate?” Amusing.

  36. Kristen | May 13, 2011 at 10:53 am

    After President Obama showed McChrystal who exactly is in charge, he’s giving the disgraced General a chance to redeem himself in public service by giving him a job overseeing a project to support military families.

    http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20052723-503544.html

    Sometimes, you just have to jerk a knot in people.

  37. Cold n P | May 13, 2011 at 11:00 am

    “General Stanley McChrystal refused to meet with 0bama” Lie. Didn’t happen.

    I do know that Military personnell stationed overseas in the 2008 election supported Obama with their money 6 to 1 over McCain. Military overall supported Obama over McCain by a mucher higher rate than the general population. I wonder what they knew that we didn’t?

    Since the Republican field is so weak for 2012, maybe they should draft McCrystal for the job? You know, like they did with MacArthur in ’52? Oh, right, they didn’t.

  38. Suzie | May 13, 2011 at 11:01 am

    I would appeal to you libs to try to use a little brainpower here. McChrystal disdained Obama for good reason. General McChrystal is from the tough-as-nails old school. He’s an all-business kick-your-butt no nonsense guy who hates frilly dinners, posturing, and incompetence. In other words he’s everything Obama isn’t. McChrystal was a special ops man. These are cut from the same cloth as McChrystal.

    I would LOVE to interview the Navy Seal squadrons involved in taking Bin Laden, in private to see what their true assessment is of Obama’s involvement in the rescue, and to get their feelings on his grandstanding and credit-grabbing antics. They might have forced smiles when he went to Ky., but you KNOW they view Idiot Boy the same way McChrystal does. With utter disdain.

  39. Suzie | May 13, 2011 at 11:10 am

    This credit-grabbing incident reminds me of something that happened with Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys.

    Coach Jimmy Johnson related the story. When the cowboys coaching staff and GM were huddled together on a selection Sunday back in the 90s, Jerry Jones who knew nothing about player personnel insisted on sitting with the staff and being photographed as if the group were deep in conversation about some upcoming draft pick. Johnson later said anybody closely involved with the Cowboys knew what an absolute farce that image was.

    It’s the exact same thing with Obama and the Seals.

  40. Debbie | May 13, 2011 at 12:01 pm

    Re: “Again, I don’t do homework for lazy liberals.” You don’t do homework, period. You spout off opinions and that is all you do.

  41. Debbie | May 13, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    DaveH, the connection between cell phones and bees is interesting. Another man made disaster brewing.

  42. Aaron | May 13, 2011 at 12:08 pm

    I’m sorry Suzie, but that’s not the way the world works. If you are going to make a statement and claim it is factual, you need to be prepared to back it up with evidence. It’s how the world works. If you don’t cite your own sources, then you allow your debate opponents to completely rip apart your entire argument…

    Like I am about to do right now.

    I think it’s funny that you’re citing a general who actually voted for the president you’re ridiculing on a daily basis. I’m starting to think you never read the Rolling Stone article and are not familiar with McChrystal at all aside from what you have been told about that article from either Fox News or Rush Limbaugh (at best, you probably read a few paragraphs and thought you got the gist of it.)

    Your feeble arguments just on this issue could be destroyed multiple ways.

    I could go on and on about how McChrystal’s initial impressions of Obama are entirely based on hearsay and there has been public debate as to how senior those aides were who told those details to the Rolling Stone reporter. Say he was never a fan of the spotlight and just assume he was bitter that Obama moved him from being head of special forces to being the top dog in all of Afghanistan. Point to his public apology. Say that if he seriously thought Obama was a joke, then he wouldn’t have retired a 4-star general (he had not served as a 4-star general long enough to retire with the rank-Obama approved an exception.) And I could say that of all the ranking officials in the armed forces, you’re trying to say that 1 person represents them all.

    Or, I could character bash your star witness. Call McChrystal a military brat who almost got kicked out of West Point for drinking and partying. A guy who although regarded as brilliant, finished outside of the top 1/3rd of his class because he didn’t apply himself. A guy who for his entire life has been the textbook definition of arrogant. Say that he loses completely credibility because he is the same guy that lied and tried to say that Pat Tillman was killed by enemy fire.

    He signed off on a falsified recommendation for a Silver Star that suggested Tillman had been killed by enemy fire. (McChrystal would later claim he didn’t read the recommendation closely enough – a strange excuse for a commander known for his laserlike attention to minute details.)
    [...]
    McChrystal got away with it, she added, because he was the “golden boy” of Rumsfeld and Bush, who loved his willingness to get things done, even if it included bending the rules or skipping the chain of command. Nine days after Tillman’s death, McChrystal was promoted to major general.
    –Rolling Stone

    In reality Suzie, everything you said may have had, at one point, some shred of truth. But it’s so slathered with partisan hackery and completely subjective undertones that it is not at all possible for you to defend your statements with any primary third party source. I could go on and on, but what good is it. You never learn. Give it up Suzie, you lose… Often.

    [Please forgive me for typos and random unfinished thoughts, my mind thinks faster than I can type.]

  43. DaveH | May 13, 2011 at 12:17 pm

    Re: #27

    I should have put a if-confirmed-by-additional-research disclaimer on that post.

    I’m a tad suspicious.

    However, given the problem with colony collapse any new claims catch my attention.

    As to yellow jackets, I’m with you on that.

  44. Sandi Saunders | May 13, 2011 at 12:34 pm

    I cannot decide if Suzie is aware that she is tacitly admitting that many times the CEO or the person writing the checks is disdained, despised or thought to be a fool, and that it is sometimes true, but it is refreshing to here her say it. I think the Bush/Cheney administration was the poster boy for such sentiments so it cannot be lost on her. Can it?

  45. DaveH | May 13, 2011 at 2:47 pm

    Re: #39

    Another Zerobama, by Suzie.

    Suzie can let go of the insults.

  46. dave | May 14, 2011 at 3:32 pm

    For his insubordination, McChrystal is lucky he’s not selling encyclopedias in Pocatello , Idaho for a living today. And virtually every
    general officer who spoke out on this issue said that Obama had no choice
    but to discipline McChrystal or he would have lost all respect from people in the chain of command.

    As for Suzie’s hero Jimmy Johnson, this is the same guy who can’t get a coaching job anywhere in the NFL because owners and GM’s found him insufferable to work with–the same guy who has been reduced to making commercials for ExTenze–a purported “male enhancement” pill for a living.
    “you should use it. I know I do” is his famous line. LOL. The only thing he qualifies for these days is to be one of Suzie’s “impotent old men hanging around all morning drinking coffee at McDonalds.

  47. Sandi Saunders | May 14, 2011 at 5:54 pm

    Correction to #44: ..refreshing to have her say it here. Got a little ahead of my fingers yet again. Not that she will ever admit that is what she is admitting. LOL, Jimmy I love myself and ain’t I purty Johnson??? I think she IS a comedienne after all. In the conservative world view, it would be Jerry Jones she defends, but that seems lost on her too.

  48. Suzie | May 14, 2011 at 8:45 pm

    When a president has to replace twice as many generals as any president in the past 60 years or perhaps ever, the problem isn’t with the generals.

    Obama is a laughingstock. The military doesn’t respect him. That’s why this credit-grabbing stunt is doubly ludicrous.

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