Open Thread

22 Comments

1. 

   Teacher Toni on October 19, 2008 at 4:09 pm

   Lions lose.

   • 

     Real History Lisa on October 20, 2008 at 12:02 pm

     And Rays win.

2. 

   Zandar1 on October 19, 2008 at 5:13 pm

   With Rush going after Colin Powell, I predict the racism of the McSame campaign will actually get worse.

3. 

   americanforliberty on October 19, 2008 at 5:25 pm

   Obama had 100,000 people attend a rally in St. Louis and 75,000 people Kansas City, Mo. McCain will be in Belton, MO tomorrow, a small venue, he will hope to fill up.

   I predict Missouri is going blue.

4. 

   dada on October 19, 2008 at 5:45 pm

   l predict normalized, within certain constraints, relations with cuba in the very near future…

   20bn barrel oil discovery puts Cuba in the big league:

   Mother nature…appears to have blessed the island with enough oil reserves to vault it into the ranks of energy powers. The government announced there may be more than 20bn barrels of recoverable oil in offshore fields in Cuba’s share of the Gulf of Mexico, more than twice the previous estimate.

   If confirmed, it puts Cuba’s reserves on par with those of the US and into the world’s top 20. Drilling is expected to start next year by Cuba’s state oil company Cubapetroleo, or Cupet.

   “It would change their whole equation. The government would have more money and no longer be dependent on foreign oil,” said Kirby Jones, founder of the Washington-based US-Cuba Trade Association. “It could join the club of oil exporting nations.”……

   guardian, uk

   this is a game changer. business as usual just got a whole lot more interesting in the western hemisphere.

   look for an increase in the calls for unlimited off-shore drilling, opening anwr, and the very real possibility that the neoCONs will be jonesin’ for another take’em out military adventure.

   it appears obama’s going to have an overflowing plate after his inauguration.

   • 

     hauksdottir on October 19, 2008 at 10:24 pm

     Why did they admit to having a richer oil field?

     Sheesh!

     The last thing I’d do is present American corporate-military-industrial interests with another target for acquisition!!!

     The neocon empire builders will claim national security (can’t have no stinkin’ commies threatening our borders), then go to war over the resources as usual.  So we went back to Iraq to finish the Gulf War and occupy Baghdad?  Will we revisit the Bay of Pigs fiasco, too?  The Cuban Missile Crisis???  How much of history do we really need to repeat before we learn from it?

     The Cubans could have quietly developed the oil field, and if they had a surplus, then sell it or sit on it for selling later.  It would be noticed in the markets that they weren’t importing, but that would be their business.

     Only a fool walks down the street of a bad neighborhood with $20’s sticking out of his pocket.  North American is a bad neighborhood with a known bully looking for excuses to rumble.

     Are the Cubans fools?

     Or is this some sort of bait to see how overextended and broken our forces really are?

   • 

     KNUCKLEHEAD on October 20, 2008 at 12:33 pm

     >                     John was in the fertilized egg business.
     >                    He had several hundred young layers
     >                         (hens), called ‘pullets,’
     >                  and ten roosters to fertilize the eggs.
     >                              He kept records,
     >                       and any rooster not performing
     >                           went into the soup pot
     >                             and was replaced.
     >                          This took a lot of time,
     >                        so he bought some tiny bells
     >                     and attached them to his roosters.
     >                      Each bell had a different tone,
     >                     so he could tell from a distance,
     >                       which rooster was performing.
     >                       Now, he could sit on the porch
     >                     And fill out an efficiency report
     >                      by just listening to the bells.
     >                    John’s favorite rooster, old Butch,
     >                         was a very fine specimen,
     >                        but this morning he noticed
     >                    old Butch’s bell hadn’t rung at all!
     >                        When he went to investigate,
     >            he saw the other roosters were busy chasing pullets,
     >                     bells-a-ringing, but the pullets,
     >                        hearing the roosters coming,
     >                            could run for cover.
     >                            To John’s amazement,
     >                    old Butch had his bell in his beak,
     >                            so it couldn’t ring.
     >                         He’d sneak up on a pullet,
     >                  do his job and walk on to the next one.
     >                      John was so proud of old Butch,
     >                 he entered him in the Renfrew County Fair
     >                    and he became an overnight sensation
     >                             among the judges.
     >                         The result was the judges
     >             not only awarded old Butch the No Bell Piece Prize
     >           but they also awarded him the Pulletsurprise as well.
     >             Clearly old Butch was a politician in the making.
     >                 Who else but a politician could figure out
     >              how to win two of the most highly coveted awards
     >                      on our planet by being the best
     >                       at sneaking up on the populace
     >                             and screwing them
     >                    when they weren’t paying attention.

     >                         Vote carefully this year,
     >                     the bells are not always audible.

5. 

   KlatooBaradaNikto on October 19, 2008 at 5:49 pm

   Dateline:January 27,2009.
   Iraq and the U.S. entered into an agreement to try and imprison Bush,Cheney,Rumsfeld,Powell and Rice as war criminals at the notorious Abu Ghraib Prison.

6. 

   budr on October 19, 2008 at 6:15 pm

   If McCain wins this election I’ll have to go on that new anger management drug, Dammitol.

   • 

     dada on October 19, 2008 at 6:27 pm

     have your doc prescribe the generic version

     

     it’ll save you some $

     • 

       AP on October 19, 2008 at 6:30 pm

       Love it, love it.

7. 

   on October 19, 2008 at 6:52 pm

   What’s with the latest Zogby poll?

   • 

     Hurria on October 19, 2008 at 7:19 pm

     Ummmm – care to be more specific? What ABOUT the Zogy poll?

8. 

   idredit on October 19, 2008 at 9:07 pm

   It won’t be a good Week for McCain

   First the Powell endorsement kicks it off then

   via Huffpost

   NYTimes set to Report New Questions Over McCain’s health

   The New York Times will break new ground on the health of the presidential candidates and their running mates in a major expose set to be published in Monday’s print edition.

   Lawrence Altman — the veteran Times reporter, George Polk Award winner, and one of the few medical doctors working as a full-time journalist — has spent weeks working with the campaigns and medical professionals on the piece, sources say.

   Much of the speculation centers on new questions about the status of John McCain’s cancer raised by the story. The Washington Post reported last week that a growing number of doctors believe that McCain’s melanoma is “more advanced than his physicians concluded and that the chance of recurrence is consequently higher.”

   But another peculiar facet of the Times story involves the McCain campaign’s refusal, as of this weekend, to turn over Sarah Palin’s medical information.

   Both Barack Obama and Joe Biden reportedly provided documentation to the Times.

   For the past month, Counterpunch has been reporting on the same health issue –

   How sick is McCain? –

   we’ve raised the possibility that his melanoma problems may be a lot worse than he lets on. Lori Klaidman, a medical researcher, sends us this bleak assessment: scroll down

   • 

     hauksdottir on October 19, 2008 at 10:48 pm

     Sarah Palin’s information would include the fact that Trig is not her child, she wasn’t pregnant, and she is engaged in an insurance fraud against the State of Alaska and perhaps the taxpayers of the US should she get elected.

     A Down’s Syndrome child costs about $200,000 each and every year to raise, educate, and care for.  The Palins are scavengers and tax cheats, scrambling for each and every nickel.  There is no way that they could help Bristol (unwed and uneducated and jobless) provide for this child.  Levi (if he is the father?) or Ray (or any of the other partyers and lovers?)… not one of these drunken and doped-out kids have the money to pay for Trig’s care.

     Of course, there may be other issues in her medical records.  Given the addiction to alcohol and drugs exhibited by Track and Bristol, the source of the weakness might be Todd’s Indian heritage passed on with the genes or something in Sarah’s past.  What else???

     If McCain steals the election, and survives until Inauguration day, Palin will be the President soon after.  We need full disclosure on ALL her records.

     • 

       Hurria on October 19, 2008 at 10:54 pm

       “the fact that Trig is not her child, she wasn’t pregnant“

       Pardon me, but that has hardly been established as fact, and is quite unlikely despite all the speculation about it.

       “Given the addiction to alcohol and drugs exhibited by Track and Bristol“

       There is a lot of talk that they have used alcohol and/or drugs, but what actual evidence is there of this, let alone for addiction.

       “the source of the weakness might be Todd’s Indian heritage passed on with the genes“

       This is WAY over the line, and I am really disappointed and sorry to see you making such a blatantly racist comment.

       And by the way, Sarah Palin’s medical records will not reveal anything about Todd Palin’s or their children’s genes.

        

       • 

         hauksdottir on October 21, 2008 at 7:07 am

         Native Americans have a problem properly breaking down alcohol. This is genetic.  I label it a weakness because fetal alcohol syndrome and drunkeness are scourges on the reservations.  This isn’t a slam against Native Americans.  It is simply that people with that heritage need to be more careful about their drinking.  I happen to be of Scandinavian descent, therefore I need to worry about sun damage.  It is a genetic weakness, not a moral one.

         Here’s a start on some reading for you, from scholarly reputable sites:

         http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&E
         RICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ493722&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ493722

         A North Dakota Prevalence Study of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

             Abstract

             We conducted a prevalence study of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) in the State of North Dakota. The response rate was 100%. Sixty-one children were reported to have a diagnosis of FAS. This suggests a prevalence rate of FAS in North Dakota children of 3.1 per 10,000 with a male-female ratio of 2:1. The rate among the Indian population was 1 per 276 or 36.2 per 10,000.

         http://www.online-clinic.com/Content/FAS/fetal_alcohol_syndrome.asp

         How common is FAS?

         The reported prevalence rates of FAS vary widely depending on the population studied and the intensity of case ascertainment. In the general population, estimates vary from 0.7 cases per 1,000 to 1.0 cases per 1,000 live births with higher rates (e.g., 3 per 1,000 live births) among American Indian and Alaska natives. Other neurodevelopmental effects of alcohol are believed to occur more frequently.

         http://www.seekwellness.com/nutrition/fetal_alcohol_syndrome.htm

         WASHINGTON – Almost 12 percent of the deaths among Native Americans and Alaska Natives are alcohol-related — more than three times the percentage in the general population, a new federal report says.

         http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26439767/

         In addition, individuals with low P3 amplitude in the placebo condition had less of a reduction or an actual increase in P3a and P3b amplitudes following alcohol intake. Given that a less intense response to alcohol has been associated with greater risk for the development of alcohol-related problems, these data suggest the presence of certain biological variables within this Native American population that may confer both risk and protection for the future development of alcohol dependence.

         http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v18/n4/abs/1395141a.html

         The reason I concentrated on fetal syndrome is the Palin children are seen in many, many, MANY photographs all over the Internet… drunk and doped and goofy.  When Palin was selected by McCain, his team discovered and tried to clean up all the facebook-type pages.  The kids were brutally honest about what they were doing (sex, drinking, oxycontin).  Many of the pictures have been cached all over the place in reaction to the scrubbing.

         If I could embed photos here… I would, but here’s a start.

         http://www.garanew.com/archives/bristol-palin-drinking-alcohol

         http://www.sodahead.com/question/146055/shocking-photos-of-palins-daughter-bristol-drinking-underage
         -will-this-hurt-mccains-campaign/

         Teenage children, Native American blood, alcohol, unprotected sex… birth defects and other problems.

         I stand by my post.

   • 

     rikyrah on October 20, 2008 at 2:36 am

     Not that I’ve forgotten about her not releasing them – I hadn’t.

     You can call it a rumor.
     You can call it speculation.
     You can say I read too many National Enquirers.

     Call it whatever the hell you want to.

     But that Downs Syndrome baby is either NOT hers (meaning it’s the grandkid) or NOT her secessionist hubby’s.(meaning it belongs to her hubby’s former business partner)

     I’ll bet REAL MONEY on that.

     • 

       Hurria on October 20, 2008 at 2:51 am

       How about presenting some actual – you know – evidence, or else shutting up about that kind of unlikely and not terribly relevant stuff?

       Just a thought.

9. 

   Oscar In Dallas on October 20, 2008 at 12:53 am

   Before the week’s over (day?), someone will call Colin Powell a (n-word) with the cameras rolling.

10. 

    Sawgrass on October 20, 2008 at 1:31 am

    It may not be a realistic prediction, but I’ll go with it.  

11. 

    aarrgghh on October 20, 2008 at 2:05 am

    for november 5th i’m predicting “nukular” explosions across the country.