Open Thread - Thursday Evening

by whataboutbob
Thu May 11th, 2006 at 12:05:30 PM EST

Wow! The pace has sure picked around here suddenly! And thanks to all who responded to my call for more diaries...great stuff...keep them coming!

So what's on your mind, as we approach Friday and the weekend?


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It is TOTALLY beautiful and warm in Zurich today!! Yes!!

"Once in awhile we get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if we look at it right" - Hunter/Garcia
by whataboutbob on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 12:10:17 PM EST
It's grey in Washington DC. Enjoy your sun over there...
by STA (sta.blog@gmail.com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 12:50:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Must get away from computer for the evening ...

I've gone insane: the thoughts that just went through my mind were:

  1. Get away from computer.
  2. Grab book and laptop and book and go make some notes.

Apparently my laptop is no longer a computer in my mind.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 12:56:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I have the same problem.

By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 01:18:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I don't own your problem :-)

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
by DoDo on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 02:03:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]
And in the Rhineland as well.

I sat outside to work this afternoon and could hear the blue tit chicks chirping in the birdhouse.

Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine - Patti Smith

by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 12:59:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It was a lovely day here, except for the police brutality...
by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 01:01:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Warm. Stormy.

I'm working late on a project.

I'm probably going to be working late all month.

But at least I'm working late at home with the window wide open, lots of fresh spring scents drifting in, and thunder rumbling in the distance.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 01:09:01 PM EST
That I will be leaving the site effective immediately.

I've decided that I need to become multi-millionaire immediately and all this leftie stuff will just slow me down ...

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 01:21:37 PM EST
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 01:21:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]
"We're all stuck in a bugging subroutine, a bugging subroutine, a bugging subroutine"
by Alex in Toulouse on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 01:30:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Hey, I like that one!
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 01:34:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Yep. It's sure gettin' deep around here all right.

Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine - Patti Smith
by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 01:32:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Colman, you keep discovering all these 21st century lifestyles...
As proposed, the submarine would constitute the single largest private undersea vehicle ever built, and arguably, one of the most significant personal transportation devices of the century.
Are you planning on writing a diary on them?

By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 01:42:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I can't imagine I'd be able to see through the tears to type it.

And I don't know if they'd be tears of laughter or horror.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 01:44:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I'll do it then. I've been gathering links to them...

By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 01:46:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]





By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 01:52:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Please don't leave out How To Live Like Ewoks.

Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Hobbes
by Izzy (izzy at eurotrib dot com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 04:19:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I'm hairy, but not that hairy.

By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 04:46:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]
... temporarily at a loss for words ...

The difference between theory and practise in practise ...
by DeAnander (de_at_daclarke_dot_org) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 05:13:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
You!?!?!?!?!?!?

Now it gets really bad...

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 05:20:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I'm going to use it to sneak up on you at sea...
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 05:28:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]
<Illuminatus>

You are Hagbard Celine and I claim my obscure literary reference.

</Illuminatus>

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 05:55:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]
$78, huh? Good luck!

By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 01:41:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I mean $78M.

By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 01:41:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Not to worry. I mean, when you get to that level, what's a factor of 10^6 or so among friends?

Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine - Patti Smith
by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 01:44:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Oh, I get by, with a little help from my 10^6 friends...

By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 01:46:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Colman, if $78M gives you s little sticker shock, you might consider a $3M executive jet...
Ever since Bill Lear revolutionized the private jet market with the introduction of his Learjet 23 in 1964, corporate chief executives and wealthy travelers have been flying in style on custom jet aircraft. The business jet has become so common that most passengers are middle management types. In fact, it's now a buyer's market.


By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 05:28:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Nah, I know too many people with private jets already.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 05:31:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Mere middle management...

By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 05:31:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Exactly. Riff-raff.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 05:33:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]
This is not diary worthy but it is revealing about the social fabric in Iraq and its inherent lack of symbolic unity.

From the Whitehouse:

We Know Iraqis Can Live Together Peacefully. Iraq is a nation with many ethnic, religious, sectarian, regional, and tribal divisions - and before Saddam, Iraqis from different communities managed to live together. Even today, many Iraqi tribes have both Sunni and Shia branches, and in many small towns with mixed populations, there is often only one mosque, where Sunnis and Shia worship together. Intermarriage is common, with mixed families that include Arabs, Kurds, Sunnis, Shia, Turkmen, Assyrians, and Caldeans.

Article from Times

The fragile state of the sectarian divide in Iraqi politics was exposed today when a fight broke out in parliament after a mobile phone ringtone played a Shia Muslim chant.
A procedural session of the Iraqi parliament was suspended as Shia and Sunni leaders stormed out to protest the ringtone and the subsequent scuffle, which erupted between the armed bodyguards of the Sunni speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani and the hardline Shia politician, Gufran al-Saidi.

A roughly similar French version on my blog.

by STA (sta.blog@gmail.com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 01:56:51 PM EST
I really want to laugh, but I know I shouldn't.

By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 01:58:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Your comment reminded of Waiting for Godot (From the Act I):


VLADIMIR: One daren't even laugh any more.
ESTRAGON: Dreadful privation.
VLADIMIR: Merely smile. (He smiles suddenly from ear to ear, keeps smiling, ceases as suddenly.) It's not the same thing.


by STA (sta.blog@gmail.com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 04:26:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]
This reminds me that 2006 is the 100th anniversary of Samuel Beckett.

By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 04:46:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Chinese theater gets a little absurd

Irish Nobel laureate Samuel Beckett's play, Waiting for Godot, has been performed in China before, but never with elements taken from traditional Peking Opera - including dance, mime, music and song.

The Standard - China's Business Newspaper



We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. Oscar Wilde
by Sam on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 05:18:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Many thanks for this link.

I teach Beckett's Godot at the end of my introductory philosophy course. It usually generates great discussions. I will have to mention this article next time.

by STA (sta.blog@gmail.com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 06:53:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]
And we're still waiting for it.
by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 05:57:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Everywhere were the shells of the great beetles which men had made and worshipped. They were automobiles. They had killed everything.
— Kurt Vonnegut


By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 04:00:45 PM EST
I regret I haven´t been much help this past week. I have been traveling. It´s amazing the lack of internet points where I am. Anyway, now that Napolitano is the president-elect, Ciampi should resign on Monday. Napolitano ought to be sworn in soon after and ask Prodi to form a government.

Napolitano was certainly the best all around choice. The opposition missed an occasion to appear responsible. In all of this B is the big loser.

On another note there are very important developments in the Abu Omar kidnapping case. A carabinieri, ROS Marshall Luciano Pironi, has confessed to having been an off-hours CIA irregular who participated in the actual kidnapping. His confession unveils probable collusion of the Italian government and the Sismi in the case- something both have always denied. The scoop will be published tomorrow, Friday, in the Espresso weekly.

It´s fitting that the care-taker Berlusconi government in its last throws can only release official notes of denial that aren´t worth the water they´re written on.

by de Gondi (publiobestia aaaatttthotmaildaughtusual) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 04:29:47 PM EST
On my side I'm now back on ET more seriously, after a 4-5 day absence and/or occasional read.

I've decided to sip some wine tonight ("why not" I thought, this must be the 3rd time I get myself a bottle in say 4 months, bar this weekend's party, so it's not like I'm an alcoholic) ...

... my commenting is therefore going to become excellent after a few glasses, consider yourselves warned.

slurp slurp aaah

by Alex in Toulouse on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 05:36:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I look forward to your drunken comments, Alex!  Things have gotten to that point here -- I'm listening to Meatloaf and thinking Paradise Under the Dashboard Light is The. Best. Song. EVER!  

I think I need some distraction... (/understatement)

Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Hobbes

by Izzy (izzy at eurotrib dot com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 06:13:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Well let me see, what could I say. Ok like I said I fell asleep in the toilets on Sunday evening at my friend's civil union party. I of course have no recollection of this. The way it happened: somebody wanted to use the toilets, but I was in for a while so that somebody got suspicious. Two friends came and unlocked from outisde, found me snoring comfortably, sitting on the seat to take a pee (I always sit to take a pee). As they tried to put my shorts back on before lifting me out, I woke up, stood up quickly, started bellowing uncomprehensible stuff in English, and hobbled past them straight towards the living room where I crashed onto a sofa with my shorts still down.

I can't believe that people say alcohol is a mild social lubricant.

by Alex in Toulouse on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 06:17:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]
  1.  Will you be drinking at the meetup?

  2.  Are we allowed to laugh in front of you or do we have to keep it in email?

  3.  Is there any way you can go to YearlyKos in Vegas and arrange, say, a dinner with Jerome and Maryscott?


Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Hobbes
by Izzy (izzy at eurotrib dot com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 06:26:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]
  1. Oh I'll certainly have a few beers at the meetup, and at that mild level of boozing it's guaranteed that I will behave.

  2. You can fully laugh in front of me, I don't mind ;) After a few drinks anyhow I laugh at just about anything anyone says.

  3. Vegas? Have you been drinking? ;))
by Alex in Toulouse on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 06:32:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Here's another anecdote. I was at the same countryside houes last year, with the same friends (back then we were celebrating two birthdays). On the first morning after, I had this weird sensation on my face in my dream, I awoke but still had my eyes shut ... and it took me a few minutes to figure out that I was sleeping on the lawn outside and that my friend's dog was licking my face non-stop (and this dog is not particularly a face licker, or at least not for such long periods of time). I got up, saw that a few friends were passed out on the lawn too, turned around, and saw that the wooden terrace's wooden table was on fire. This friend of mine (girl) had lit these sweet cosy candles in oil the night before, but had left them on all night, and one had been consumed all the way to the base, the oil had overspilled, burned the plastic covering on the table, and then started burning the table, a table sitting like I said on a wooden terrace, and underneath a wooden roof covering linked to the house. The fire was a good 2 meters high and 1 meter large when I got up thanks to Rintintint's licking efforts. I thought "ok, I don't live here, maybe it's none of my business". Then I thought "ok Alex, time to wake up, it is your business, the house is about to go on fire. I thought "ok what do people do in movies to put out fires? ah yes, they cover them with blankets". So my alcohol-damaged brain thought that I should get something like a blanket. So I grabbed a newspaper and tried to put it out with that. Bad idea. My neurons were out and failing me. So I woke up a friend sleeping on the lawn nearby. Tried anyhow for some time "hey hey hey hey wake up hey hey there is a fire to put out". He finally got up, looked at the fire. I asked him "what's the best way to put out a fire". I was very calm, just not very intelligent. He looked at it for a good minute and told me "hum, I think water will work". So we got a few liters of water bottles and put out the fire, and saved the day for all the people sleeping inside.

I can't believe that people say alcohol makes people smarter.

by Alex in Toulouse on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 06:30:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Oh man guys guys guys, I just talked to my (younger) brother's new girlfriend for the first time (on the phone)! Aha cool. She's Tunisian ... she and he were talking to me about this new dog that they just got and which they named "Harissa Couscous Boulette" (I can't possibly translate that, but it's kind of a whacky hommage to her Tunisian heritage).

Do you have any younger brothers and sisters and if you do, do you get all excited about life developments concerning them?

by Alex in Toulouse on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 06:53:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Precision: my younger brother is 10 years younger than me, so in my case the "elder brother reference" is in its full potential. He looks up to me for some things, for other things he needs to look down on me. It's coooooool to be an elder brother like that hehehehehe. I do have an elder brother myself, but we're only a year apart. And he's the married with kids type, so I really am the one who's more in line with my younger brother's student life.
by Alex in Toulouse on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 06:56:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Between this and Migeru's hirsute comment, I think I'm learning more about Europeans than I ever wanted to know...

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. -Voltaire
by p------- on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 06:33:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I always thought, naively perhaps, that a man who sits down to pee is more of a lady's man (as opposed to those damn slobs who stand to pee and $#0% anger the ladies, and myself).
by Alex in Toulouse on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 07:00:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Ladies man?  

Uhm, ok...  Clean up after thyself is all I ask. More than that I don't want to know.  

Look, I'm all for women and men sharing a drink, a bed, a pet, and even some things best left unmentioned here, but once you close that bathroom door behind you, the rest is your business and yours alone!  I mean, who the hell are you trying to impress in there?!  And where did your get such an odd idea?  

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. -Voltaire

by p------- on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 08:48:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Take it easy - Ritter hasn't yet posted photographs from FKK beaches :-)

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
by DoDo on Fri May 12th, 2006 at 05:11:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Nelonen - the alternative TV channel - had their annual drunken bash tonight at Club 51 in downtown Helsinki. It even went so far as having live golden ladies lying in the buffet table. (Roman Bacchanalian theme).

Anyway, I got a bit pie-eyed, and then went to my brother-in-laws restaurant which has a knees-up on Thursday nights. (Our Lyon expert knows the place well)

Than I went for a train about 01.50 out into the night (full moon). I'll just catch some zeees I thought as I made myself comfortable on  the train. Classic mistake. I went 5 stops over (some 20 Kms) and landed in the god-forsaken siding of Nuppulinna on a fortunately warm night. As the taxi driver said "Don't do this in winter".

Anyway. I'm awake now---

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 08:49:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Studio 51 - the imagination of Sedu Koskinen knows no bounds

You can't be me, I'm taken
by Sven Triloqvist on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 08:56:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Studio 51 - the imagination of Sedu Koskinen knows no bounds

You can't be me, I'm taken
by Sven Triloqvist on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 08:57:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]
...and I always thought it was 'horse power'...

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. Oscar Wilde
by Sam on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 05:44:17 PM EST
I also like this one (taken from La Liste à Suivre - site seems down?):


by Alex in Toulouse on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 05:52:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Now THAT's horse power!

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. Oscar Wilde
by Sam on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 05:56:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]
We could add it to Colman's visions of 21st century lifestyle too.
by Alex in Toulouse on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 05:57:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It was a slow night so I posted a diary: "Bush will Resign"

You can view the responses (and ballot) here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/5/11/185735/663

Policies not Politics
---- Daily Landscape

by rdf (robert.feinman@gmail.com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 07:44:21 PM EST
First:

President Bush's job-approval rating has fallen to its lowest mark of his presidency, according to a new Harris Interactive poll. Of 1,003 U.S. adults surveyed in a telephone poll, 29% think Mr. Bush is doing an "excellent or pretty good" job as president, down from 35% in April and significantly lower than 43% in January.

Second:

Monkeys drink more alcohol when housed alone, and some like to end a long day in the lab with a boozy cocktail, according to a new analysis of alcohol consumption among members of a rhesus macaque social group.
by STA (sta.blog@gmail.com) on Thu May 11th, 2006 at 11:05:58 PM EST
Raw Story, admittedly, not the most respected news source, but the people quoted are not crackpots:

US military, intelligence officials raise concern about possible preparations for Iran strike

Strike could come earlier than thought

Other military and intelligence sources are expressing concern both privately and publicly that air strikes on Iran could come earlier than believed.

Retired Air Force Colonel and former faculty member at the National War College Sam Gardiner has heard some military suggestions of a possible air campaign in the near future, and although he has no intimate knowledge of such plans, he says recent aircraft carrier activity and current operations on the ground in Iran have raised red flags.

Gardiner says his concerns have kept him busy attempting to create the most likely scenario should such an attack occur.

"I would expect two or three aircraft carriers would be moved into the area," Gardner said, describing what he thinks is the best way air strikes could be carried out without disengaging assets from US fronts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Two air-craft carriers are already en route to the region, RAW STORY has found. The USS Abraham Lincoln, which recently made a port call in Singapore, and the USS Enterprise which left Norfolk, Virginia earlier this month, are headed for the Western Pacific and Middle East. The USS Ronald Reagan is already operating in the Gulf....

Steven Aftergood, senior research analyst at the Federation of American Scientists, says that the B-2 bomber is capable of such long range activity.

"The B2 bomber was designed, with the Soviet Union in mind, for intercontinental operations," Aftergood said. "With aerial refueling, it has a range of up to 10,000 miles."

Like Gardiner, Aftergood has heard similar claims with regard to a June strike, but has not been able to confirm them independently.

Intelligence sources confirm hearing the allegations of a June attack, but have been unable to fully confirm that such an attack is in the works. Both the New Yorker and the Washington Post have previously reported that the Pentagon is studying military options on Iran.

Question for Jerome and other experts:

Is there a move in the financial and energy markets that will signal that a significant portion of the participants expect an attack in the near future?

by goinsouth (imgoinsouth@gmail.com) on Fri May 12th, 2006 at 01:21:28 AM EST
Some good news about Iran by Jerome a Paris


In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Fri May 12th, 2006 at 01:54:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]
So there was a huge but short-lived spike to 80 around yesterday's close on the December bet?  Small volume?
by goinsouth (imgoinsouth@gmail.com) on Fri May 12th, 2006 at 02:55:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]


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