Open Thread * The Intel Void

Well, I’m not prepared to talk about the Intel thing right now, but there is something else I would like to bring up on this open thread (I mentioned it a couple of days ago on another thread).

I know there are lots of cat owners and cat lovers who read No Quarter, and I want to share this precaution:

CATS AND CHRISTMAS TINSEL

I knew that cats could sometimes eat Christmas tree tinsel, and that this can be very dangerous. Nevertheless, I loved tinsel on the tree & always used it. This year, for the first time, one of our 2 cats developed a fondness for tinsel. This can cause blockages and serious internal problems. If your cat eats tinsel, you may see it coming out the rear end. It may drag little turds outside the litter box, and you may find these little treasures laying about. I discussed this with the vet, and he said it is quite dangerous and a common problem. DO NOT try to pull out the tinsel if you see it protruding–it could screw up their intestines. Cut it off as it comes out. I immediately took all the tinsel off the tree. The cats are a higher priority–and that’s really saying something.

Merry Christmas to all of you, and your cats & dogs too!

Merry Christmas to all of you, and your cats & dogs too!

and Merry Christmas to you and yours!

If this is an open thread I came across this article in the New York Times on Ms. Kennedy:

But Ms. Kennedy,…who helped oversee the vetting process for Mr. Obama’s possible running mates — is declining to provide a variety of basic data, including companies she has a stake in and whether she has ever been charged with a crime.

Ms. Kennedy declined on Monday to reply to those and other questions posed by The New York Times about any potential ethical, legal and financial entanglements. Through a spokesman, she said she would not disclose that kind of information unless and until she becomes a senator

This strikes me as a little off center. You mean the people of New York have to wait until after the deal’s been done to see if the deal should have been done?

...we cannot trust ANY news organization for objectivity.

Ok, roger that, but then if nothing can be trusted, what methods can be employed to verify fact from fiction? In this echo chamber that is becoming increasing difficult. It takes experience persistence and patience.

Every week before Christmas we watch Band of Brothers.

Now being a cat owner many times over, but w/ a tinsel-free tree, that makes for episodic images I can’t quite get over. I just shovelled up the wretched pellets on the rug in the hall and sniffed out the latest spray opportunity, but never have i had to deal with that.

Not just cats…dogs as well. CUT IT OFF AS IT COMES OUT!!!??? Sorry but my first reaction was sheer horror followed by PULL IT OUT NOW! which was closely proceeded by soaking my hands in bleach.

This is what gets me about this whole thing. Obama is gonna get on that stage, people around him will be crying for the symbolism that his inauguration represents. Freedom from the prejudices that have plagued this nation for so long. Then in walks a preacher to swear him into office. A preacher who thinks that Homosexuals should join the ranks of people who commit incest and have sex with children.

This is disgusting. Its like a horror film where everyone has lost their minds. What exactly does this represent? I can’t put into words how disgusting this display of complete and utter hypocracy this will represent. There are no words to describe the injustice of it. It is hell reborn.

Our cats loved tinsel but it didn’t seem to affect them. Thanks for the PSA.

touchet, Warren also changed his stance on climate change (affecting the evangelical position in general) and his church has done work for HIV relief in Africa. He’s more open-minded than some people seem to be willing to give him credit for. He could flip on civil unions, too, but only if he has the political room to do so.

As for the general point about Brennan, he seems to be someone who carries water for whomever he’s serving (he says he opposed many of these practices but buckled), which was pretty much Tenet’s problem.

I find it hard to believe that it was a blog that changed that made them change their mind (PS: the “blog” they show in the clip is the Atlantic… not just some blogger but a frigging magazine, the writers for which also blog), and they haven’t changed their minds about Warren, and I think there’s a lot more pressure from the blogosphere on that point than there was on Brennan.

Excuse me! No matter what he has done for Aids or what not, that doesn’t excuse what he said! Are you completely nuts!

So, I put into the same category as him, as far as I am concerned.

You are a hypocrite.

Lie in your bed of filth.

I agree with the original post, we can’t trust the news, and that means any news, not just Fox – and certainly not specifically Fox – since they will on occassion report what is banned in the MSM – providing a valuable service.
PUMA’s I’m sure clearly see the MSM bias the foxheads screamed about for years. Problem still is, even with bias either way, the news itself is often just a wasteland – and a biased wasteland matters even less.
I’m sure bloggers do affect the barry machine, but of course there is something else going on, and it’s probably “avoiding the inevitable” – that no matter whom the b team annoints – they are going to have problems – let’s just hope they don’t choose the discovery channel’s flower arranger (for funerals) claiming wot deaths have been ignored.
I think the larger point was made, though – this fella the raging blogheads lied about – is what the b team would perhaps really want – but the general publics idea about him, if any, is opposite what he really is about. So, there’s that problem. If people keep allowing it, it can WEAKEN the USA by requiring peacenik extremists for hardcore warlike protection positions. That will work wonderfully until something like 911 happens (which being a foolish pacifist at all costs would assist). Then all the happy camper hug your enemies crud doesn’t play too well for a while – but then of course this is after a while, so it plays great right now – just like it did for a decade+ after “the soviet collapse”.
Maybe the b team will just appoint a muslim cleric to be fair, equitable, and not predjudicial. I for one would not be surprised at all. They would just tell us “the history” of the individual and make all sorts of claims concerning this or that backround that proves it a wise choice. Certianly he would have served in some capacity in our military – so that would be used to quell the uproar.
Whatever – somehow the twists and turns are so deranged lately, and with trying to determine what the truth is when the news often admits it doesn’t know, is a fulltime job.
Good luck to intelligence – another hamstrung mess all too often.

Welcome to the world of arrogant, lying, cheating, stealing, Narcissistic Personality Disorder as modeled by the corrupt puppet fraud and his corrupt puppetmasters and minions. Caroline is no better than these Chicago criminals if she gets away with this non-vetting nonsense.

The American Public must want a very hard lesson in democracy and the loss thereof of to come out of this fascist stupor.

Ever hear the Hindu tale, “The Blind Men and the Elephant”? To me this is one of the most powerful stories I have ever heard. The other implication is that most of us, having a partial grasp of the truth, think we know the whole truth and refuse to consider that others have something to contribute. We are all in the dark about the full truth and must look to other sources then use our reason to come to the best approximation of truth that we can.

http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/1/?letter=B&spage=3

Check out these columns in the Washington Post. For once, I agree with Richard Cohen (although I don’t recall him being tough on Obama in the past like he claims). EJ Dionne is being his usual naive self.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/22/AR2008122201848.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/22/AR2008122201847.html

Then there is this bizarre column by Eugene Robinson who, while wishing that history throws the book at Bush and Cheney, gives them a pass on their negligence prior to 9-11. He justifies their ignoring of the warnings of impending attacks by implying that they were buried in other lots of other info the administration was getting when in fact the warnings were being shouted at them. The outgoing Clinton administration, Richard Clark, George Tenet and others at the CIA tried desperately to get them to take the threat seriously. Bush’s telling a CIA briefer who was giving him yet another heads up “You’ve covered your ass, now” makes it crystal clear that Bush knew the CIA was emphasizing the warnings and that he deliberately tuned them out, thinking he in his infinite wisdom knew better.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/22/AR2008122201852.html

Doesn’t Warren have a policy of banning all non “ex-gays” from his Saddleback church ? That doesn’t read to me as anyone in a position to honor Obama’s risk in him as a “good faith” negotiating partner.

oowawa, thanks for bringing that up. i am taking down my tree today. one of my kitties won’t leave the tree alone. i won’t be putting it back up. i’ll leave the decorations up that they can’t reach.

caroline just went even lower in my opinion of her. who knew that was possible.

If I have to look at four years worth of topless Obama photos, I’m gonna puke.

No man over forty, with his shirt off, should be sold as a sex symbol.

Well, ok, OBAMA shouldn’t be sold as a sex symbol.

And he’s aleady whining about the press, you’d think he was Prince Charles, or something the way he goes on–man it up, ‘bama, it’s gonna be a rough ride…

Why did we have to know about every single contributor to the Clinton Foundation? I can just imagine the MSM’s reaction if Hillary said wait until after I am confirmed.

I don’t need Rick Warren to “flip” to validate me. Permission does not come form Rick Warren or the patriarchal pastorate.

Civil Unions are bogus BTW. So are the claims that I can pay huge fees to an attorney and carry a satchel full of legal papers with me at all times that are generally ignored. Who in the hell else lives that way. Now in all truthiness, how many of you married folks keep your marriage license, your children birth certificates and/or adoption papers on your person to produce in case of an emergency at all times? I can imagine the outcry if there was an emergency with your child or spouse and you could not see them or make any decisions for them until you produced your papers.

Do you think he’d whine if no one paid any attention? You bet.

He wants attention, all right. He just doesn’t want anyone to really see him.

Warren’s AIDS thing in Africa is just an excuse to get govt funding to prosletyze the Africans into his bigoted thinking. Don’t buy the BS.

True that, BernieO

Open thread?

FavreauGate, WarrenGate, Betty Jean and the gangraped lesbian have me very upset.

All of which are Obama’s fault. Not Favreau or Rick Warren’s.

An early Christmas present is we were right about everything – namely that Obama is corrupt, unqualified, misogynist and homophobic.

That was for any Lobotobots who may be reading.