Yesterday I went to the prison. The guys, with whom I work, held an essay contest, where outside writers came in and presented essays to our group of slightly over one hundred prisoners. Many had never been in a prison before, so I got to tease them a bit on the way in, telling them that the officers didn’t put outside guests in a cell often, only once a month or so. On the way out, I asked them if my guys were what they had expected. They said not at all, that my guys had blown away their stereotypes. Those men always bring me pride. The downside is that I am exhausted. I’m current with comments, although my replies were brief at best. Other than this open thread, I have only one article today, and, if there is earth shaking news, I’m unaware, as I’ve been off the grid. I know that Republicans had a debate, and am confident that nothing good was said there. Today the plan is to recover.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today it took me 3:26 (average 5:08). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From CBS: The top U.S. military officer on Thursday accused Pakistan’s intelligence agency of supporting Haqqani fighters in planning and conducting last week’s attack on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.
Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Pakistani duplicity puts in jeopardy not only the frayed U.S.-Pakistani partnership against terrorism but also the outcome to the decade-old war in Afghanistan.
Given that we depend completely on this false friend for logistics, that’s all the more reason to pull the plug on this war.
From Business Week: President Barack Obama would get just a small fraction of the money he wants to build high-speed rail lines, one of his leading economic priorities, under a bill approved Wednesday by a Democratic-led Senate committee.
On a voice vote, the Senate Appropriations Committee included $100 million for the rail program in a massive measure financing 2012 federal transportation and housing programs. Obama wants to spend $8 billion next year for the rail systems, in which trains can travel between cities at up to 250 miles per hour.
Unsatisfactory! We will become a third world country at this rate.
From Washington Post: GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum recently asked Google to remove the alternative definition of his name created by sex columnist Dan Savage from Google search results. It’s a defintion so unsavory we cannot even write about it, even though it’s the first definition to come up if you search “santorum.”
Rick Santorum. (Steve Pope – AP) Google, however, gave the candidate the cold shoulder, saying it does not remove or censor results with the exception of “very limited cases such as illegal content and violations of our webmaster guidelines.
Never before has a search result been such a perfect fit.
From Think Progress: At the last GOP presidential primary debate, Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) and former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) clashed over Social Security (and have been jabbing each other on the subject ever since). Tonight they will meet again, this time in Florida. But according to a new Quinnipiac University poll, none of the GOP candidates’ respective approaches to Social Security would sit well with Floridia voters, who “are opposed to virtually all proposals to reduce Social Security.” However, they do, by a 65-28 margin, support “raising the [payroll tax] cap from the current $106,800 in salary subject to taxation.”
Sadly for greedy GOPers, America says, “Scrap the cap!!”
From Current TV: Current TV and Cenk Uygur are launching an original TV version of "The Young Turks," which has become the world’s largest online news show. Uygur’s uniquely progressive and topical commentary about politics and pop culture will air each weeknight at 7/6c.
Wonderful!
Cartoon:
16 Responses to “Open Thread–9/23/2011”
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Un-f♥cking-believable! At last night’s Faux News debate,the same hate-mongering party of Teabaggers who wildly cheered Perry’s record number of executions and also cheered for the death for a person who had no health insurance, has now added booing an active-duty soldier serving in Iraq. So why would the party of War and Death BOO that soldier? Because he is G A Y ! He had been forced to lie about being GAY prior to the repeal of DADT, and asked if any of them “would do anything to circumvent the progress that has been made for gay and lesbian soldiers in the military.” Like I said … so un-f♥cking-believable, you got to see it to believe it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuqFkbLkST4
And that sleaze-bag, Santorum, claims that he did not hear those boos.
4:04
Get the hell out of Afghanistan already!
I’m very glad to hear of Cenk’s alliance with Current. I think they’ll be a good match. I guess he was too volatile for MSNBC. I look forard to watching The Young Turks.
Good job with the cartoon!
Not bad! Yes! Me too! Thank you!
If Rick Perry and Mitt Romney don’t stop jabbing each other, there’ll be Santorum all over the place!
AAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! 🙄
I just finally got it! ROFLOL!!!!!
Very powerful graphic, TomCat, and totally appropriate as well!
Thanks Jack!
On a lighter note, “Happy Autumnal Equinox!” (A farm outside of Woodstock, VT … not to be confused w/ the famous one in NY)
Thank you, Nameless. Stunning!
3:26 A tie! Well, I won a moral victory, anyway, but I am 83 out of 266 (312).
Bernie Sanders has proposed a bill to raise the cap.
Go Bernie!
Today you have a wide open door. I support it.
Pakastan- Afghanistan — Perhaps the US is just now finding out why the Russians finally gave up, I don’t know. But it seems that a country that wants help, has tied the hands of those initially trying to help. And there seems to be so much corruption on many fronts, so much greed. As much as I disagree with the Taliban’s extremist views, let the Afghanis work it out themselves. All foreign troops should leave Afghanistan and Iraq. There has been enough death. Also, in the case of the US, there isaphicfriendly and fast, moving people and goods becomes too costly over the long haul.
Rick Santorum — Get over it. If he’d quit making an issue out of it and concentrate on the issues, people won’t notice and his blood pressure will go down. Remember, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.
The GOP — I don’t think the GOP candidates are bright enough to figure that one out. They are too fixated on their own agenda. Although, if they keep tearing at eachother, perhaps that will weaken the entire cause. There might be hope for Florida yet — I remember the voting “irregularities” years back with Gore.
Current TV — I’ve never heard of The Young Turks or Cenk Uygur, but then I don’t have TV. I associiate Keith Olbermann with Current TV and I have liked him when you’ve had clips.
I agree totally with Jack on the graphic. Absolutely spot on, unfortunately.
Lynn, I understand that 90% of Afghans have never even heard of 9/11. They just know we’re there and want us gone.
For a gay hater like him, they must hurt.
Amen!
You’ll love Cenk.
Thanks!