Off to Key West and Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 08:30:00 AM EST
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It's 2 degrees outside but at 6:00 am the TL kid and I are off to Key West for the annual NORML Legal Conference.

Here's a pretty blowup of the sunset picture. The water is very inviting as are the restaurants. And the hotel with its Caribbean Spa is just perfect for our group. [More...]

Here's Jimmy Buffett's recent song on the current state of the economy, Bernie Madoff, and the Somalian pirates: "We got a lot to drink about. Where's your bucket for the big bailout? Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan? We got a lot to drink about."

More lyric: "Tequila, of course I'll have some....CNN keeps bumming me out.... G-d Bless America." (There's also something about "Obama and Joe.")

Jimmy, of course, has been sober for years, but that doesn't stop the Parrothead audiences.

So, wherever you might be today and this weekend, I hope you have as much fun as we will in Margaritaville. It's supposed to rain some, but I'll take 70 degree rain over 2 degree cold and snow any time.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

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Off to Key West and Open Thread | 47 comments (47 topical)

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Top Chef was interesting tonight. (5.00 / 1) (#1)
by Tony on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 12:24:58 AM EST

I don't want to say anything unless people have DVR'd it, but interested in what everyone thinks.

There was a weird post in this thread a moment ago, glad to see it has been deleted. I hope you have an excellent time on your trip, Jeralyn.

Thanks, I did delete it and (5.00 / 1) (#2)
by Jeralyn on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 01:21:09 AM EST

ban the commenter. It had profanity and absurd personal attacks on both me and the TL kid, all in violation of the comment rules. I hope the poster was drunk, but who knows. He attacked BTD earlier today and I deleted that as well.


Agreed about TC (5.00 / 2) (#6)
by andgarden on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 07:15:40 AM EST

They telegraphed the result pretty early at judge's table IMO. This should be a pretty interesting finale.


I was holding my breath a little... (5.00 / 1) (#14)
by Anne on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 08:29:15 AM EST

and was somewhat relieved when the elimination was announced.

I have to say that Padma has developed an attitude that bothers me, that I can't quite put my finger on; it's like she's competing to be the best judge or something - it's not so much that there's anything wrong with the substance of her comments, it's the tone and the body language. Tom and Gail, on the other hand, continue to be very down-to-earth, and I've even come to appreciate Toby; Padma just seems to be going in another direction.

Some of it, I'm sure, is editing - probably the one part of the show that I really dislike; I don't understand the need to edit for dramatic effect when the competition itself has plenty of drama.

It also bugs me that when they bring back eliminated contestants to cook with the finalists, they alway - always - include at least one whose skills are sub-par, guaranteeing that someone will be at some disadvantage, and one whom no one liked, guaranteeing a level of tension.

Should be an interesting finale for sure.


: I was disappointed with the finale (5.00 / 1) (#16)
by lilburro on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 08:40:00 AM EST

but I have felt a few times this year (ex. when Eli left) that it was not done based on the meal before them, but the general performance throughout the competition and/or who they blindly believed was better. Not a big shocker there but still.

good episode (5.00 / 1) (#27)
by CST on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 09:45:09 AM EST

I really think this has been the best top 4 seen to date. Usually there are clear leaders and 1 or 2 standouts. This time, I had no idea who was going home, and I have even less of an idea who will win.

The brothers are funny, I watch this show with my sister so we always argue about them. Everyone is supposed to hate Michael, but as the youngest sibling myself, I have a weird affinity to him, he's funny - if kind of an @ss, and clearly has the "younger brother" syndrome. My sister of course hates him and loves Brian. Especially after he said he wouldn't mind it if Brain went home right after Brian said he wanted Michael to stay to the end. Ahhh siblings.


What is this... (none / 0) (#29)
by MileHi Hawkeye on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 10:06:49 AM EST

...younger brother syndrome you speak of?


let me re-phrase (5.00 / 1) (#36)
by CST on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 10:46:21 AM EST

"younger sibling" syndrome.

The need to be different, the need to stand-out, and most importantly, the need to beat the older sibling at something.

For example - if it came to a fight, I would always beat my older sister. Not because I'm bigger than her (which I am), not because I'm stronger than her (probably not), but because I'm willing to be meaner and fight dirty - just to beat her. And yes, this has played out more than once.


I can't say... (none / 0) (#38)
by MileHi Hawkeye on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 10:54:13 AM EST

...that I have the "need" to be all of those things, that is pretty much just how things turned out.

Kind of like being spoiled and protected and allowed to get away with way more stuff as a teenager than the siblings...


whether personal (none / 0) (#39)
by CST on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 11:48:24 AM EST

or forces of nature, it's all the same in the end.

Of course I was never spoiled... or allowed to get away with anything... :)


: I bet (none / 0) (#42)
by jbindc on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 12:47:11 PM EST

Of course I was never spoiled... or allowed to get away with anything... :)
Your older sibling(s) might beg to differ with you! (Saying this as the eldest child in the family - I know of what I speak!) :)

Jeralyn, have fun in Key West (5.00 / 2) (#28)
by KeysDan on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 09:55:14 AM EST

The weather should be good, but warm (82 at present, and 80's most of the weekend--a cold front on Sunday, with a prediction of 74 and some showers). Key West is more than Duval Street. People actually live and work here (25,000 residents), so rent a bike and see Old Town with one of the country's great collection of historic homes, some dating from the Civil War. If time permits, a sunset sail is memorable. It may be interesting to know that while in this southernmost city, you will still be in Union country, having never fallen to the Confederacy. Yes, lots of good restaurants for a 2 x 4 mile island; the best, in my view, are Pisces, Marquesa, Michael's and Square One. Oh, and enjoy that other part, the meetings.

An apology? (5.00 / 1) (#31)
by kdog on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 10:22:45 AM EST

Whats up with that? Is she not a grown-arse woman? Jesper sounds like a pimp.

He certainly... (none / 0) (#35)
by MileHi Hawkeye on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 10:37:59 AM EST

...dresses like one!


: Ha! (none / 0) (#45)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 01:52:15 PM EST

Sounds like he's pissed at ol' el Tigre to me... (none / 0) (#44)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 01:51:58 PM EST

Oh definitely... (none / 0) (#46)
by kdog on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 02:00:12 PM EST

I'm just wondering why he thinks he is Mrs. Woods keeper...maybe its a European former nanny/former employer thing and I wouldn't understand...


I don't know, I think he's just slamming Tiger. (none / 0) (#47)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 02:01:37 PM EST

Sounds more like an insult to Tiger to me.


: Thats probably it... (5.00 / 1) (#48)
by kdog on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 02:08:34 PM EST

and he won't be alone on that train!
He may have introduced them, but he didn't make her fall in love with the guy...weird to feel an apology is owed...whatever.

Streetcar Named Desire is at (5.00 / 2) (#32)
by oculus on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 10:25:40 AM EST

BAM, with Cate Blanchett as Blanche. Astounding. If you can get a ticket, this is a do not miss theatre experience.

Polanski to chalet on Friday. (5.00 / 1) (#33)
by oculus on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 10:30:47 AM EST

: All this attention to Polanski, and (none / 0) (#41)
by Inspector Gadget on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 12:05:55 PM EST

not a word about Amanda Knox's trial in Italy.

: Is it true (none / 0) (#43)
by CoralGables on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 01:14:58 PM EST

that Polanski is planning to film a reality show at the chalet with Rachel Uchitel, Jaimee Grubbs, and Kalika Moquin and call it Tigresses Next Door?

Look out for those... (5.00 / 1) (#37)
by desertswine on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 10:51:53 AM EST

Hemingway 6-toed cats!!

I hope (none / 0) (#4)
by Ga6thDem on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 05:08:33 AM EST

you have a lovely time in key west Jeralyn. Hubby and I were there three and a half years ago for our anniversary and had a great time. We did the cliche of driving from Ft. Lauderdale to Key West but it was great fun.

Heh (none / 0) (#5)
by Wile ECoyote on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 05:45:37 AM EST

I missed Chris Matthews calling West Point the "enemy camp".

Enjoy Key West Jeralyn! Have a Rum and Coke (none / 0) (#7)
by andgarden on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 07:16:56 AM EST

(or whatever your favorite drink is) for me. I have a paper to write and exams to study for. . .

Have a great time! (none / 0) (#8)
by jbindc on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 07:28:29 AM EST

Wish I was going somewhere!

But...back to reality.

The Congressional Black Caucus (of which then Sen. Obama was a member) is apparently not very happy with the first African-American president and his administration. Seems they've been at odds with he and his staff since he was inaugurated. This "feud" became very public the other day, when several members refused to vote for a financial overhaul vote. Now, their boycott didn't hurt the vote at all, but this caught my eye:

Ten CBC members decided to boycott the House Financial Services Committee vote en masse after a tumultuous morning meeting at the Capitol between Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel failed to yield a deal, according to people familiar with the meeting.
The bill passed easily, but Waters suggested the CBC's 43 members could vote with the GOP to scuttle a variety of Democratic bills if Obama and Emanuel don't address what she thinks is a lack of understanding of the CBC's wide-ranging goals of reducing urban unemployment, home foreclosures and bank failures.
"I think that it is important for us to educate those people around [Obama]," Waters told reporters. "We've got to get his people educated and moving. We have not brought these issues to him personally -- it is important first to educate those people around him so they understand."
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.), who recently accused Obama of bowing down to the GOP on health care reform, was more pointed, shouting "Yes!" when asked if he was disappointed with Obama's level of attentiveness to African-Americans' needs.
He added that he had an extensive list of issues with the president -- a list he said was too long to disgorge in a hallway conversation with a reporter.
"There are those who choose not to speak about African-Americans or the working class," Waters said. "We can no longer be in denial that certain sectors of our population, including the African-American community, are feeling the recession to a greater extent."
Waters, a former CBC chairwoman and one of its most outspoken members, clashed often with Emanuel during his days in the House and has also had a rocky relationship with the president, according to staffers.

: Leadership Dems have more important (none / 0) (#40)
by MO Blue on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 12:01:49 PM EST

things on their agenda than unemployment.

Job creation will probably have to wait until next year but the House is determined to extend the estate tax break permanently before leaving for the holidays, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters Tuesday.
...
Before the week is out, however, the House will vote to permanently extend the lower estate tax rates established during the Bush administration, which are set to expire at the end of this year. Under the law, estate taxes were lowered from 55 percent on estates worth more than $1 million to 45 percent on those over $3.5 million. Without changes, the standing law will eliminate all estate taxes next year and then reinstate the old 55-percent tax rate the following year.
...
An extension of an existing law -- especially a tax cut -- is naturally easier to move through Congress than a wide-ranging jobs program. And the standing estate-tax law's unusual expiration clauses were designed to require a decision at this point -- how to pay for the tax break, which Congressional reports say will cost roughly $234 billion over the next 10 years.
The tax break still isn't paid for. Instead of making that tough decision, House leadership plans to raise the ceiling on government debt. link
Wars and aid to the rich do not need to be deficit neutral.

Interesting poll (none / 0) (#9)
by jbindc on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 07:55:11 AM EST

Maybe the pols will wake up and smell the coffee...(nah, I doubt it).

57 of Independents want a public option

Thomson Reuters has conducted a huge survey of Americans attitudes towards health care reform and found that an eye-popping 57 percent of independents favor a public option -- with 60 percent of all those polled saying they favored the controversial provision.
That's good news for the Dems as they try to coax GOP fence-sitters Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins (Rs-Maine) -- but the bad news is that folks don't seem to believe claims that the option will force down premium costs. Granted, the poll was conducted before the release of a CBO report showing premium reductions, but most people probably haven't absorbed that data point yet anyway.
The results are a little dated, but the sample size was immense: The telephone survey of 2,999 households called from November 9-17 as part of the Thomson Reuters PULSE Healthcare. The margin of error is, consequently, a very low 1.8 percent.

Would be interesting to see (none / 0) (#15)
by dk on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 08:39:55 AM EST

the specific questions. My bet is that either the questions specifically stated, or implied, that all Americans would have access to the public option.


I agree (none / 0) (#21)
by jbindc on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 08:57:10 AM EST

can't seem to find the actual poll (I think you have to pay for it), but there's this:

Here are some of the results of the telephone survey of 2,999 households called from November 9-17 as part of the Thomson Reuters PULSE Healthcare Survey:

Believe in public option: 59.9 percent yes, 40.1 percent no.

86 percent of Democrats support the public option versus 57 percent of Independents and 33 percent of Republicans.

Quality of healthcare will be better 12 months from now: 35 percent strongly disagree. 11.6 percent strongly agree. 29.9 percent put themselves in the middle.

Believe the amount of money spent on healthcare will be less 12 months from now: 52 percent strongly disagree, 13 percent strongly agree.

23 percent believe it will be easier for people to receive the care they need a year from now.

The nationally representative survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8 percent.

Have a blast J!! (none / 0) (#10)
by kdog on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 07:56:58 AM EST

And share your expertise with all the other fine defenders...my people are counting on you guys!

It's almost Florida-like here in NY...60 degrees in December? Just gorgeous...shoulda played hookie and went to the track.

Boy... (none / 0) (#11)
by MileHi Hawkeye on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 08:12:09 AM EST

...you sure timed that right! Those of us left behind have another week of freezing temps and snow to deal with.

It was so cold this morning that my windshield washer fluid was partially frozen--couldn't even wash the MagChloride off.

Enjoy the sun and warmth--and bring some of that back with you!!!

Alcohol is your friend. (none / 0) (#17)
by Fabian on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 08:40:24 AM EST

I keep 95% isopropyl alcohol on hand during the winter. It helps with deicing and defrosting when I'm in a hurry. Good old household chemistry.

It turns out that the cautious use of a space heater works wonders as well for helping to clean off a snow or ice covered car. Much more efficient that running the engine to heat the car and you can direct the heat where you like.


It's cold enough... (none / 0) (#20)
by MileHi Hawkeye on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 08:52:05 AM EST

...that the snow just brushes off. Good old Colorado champagne powder.

The MagChloride is nasty, nasty stuff though. It coats everything with a grease like film and tends to just smear on the windshield.


: We get all kinds of precipation (none / 0) (#34)
by Fabian on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 10:37:19 AM EST

but our specialty is "precipitation lasagna". That's when you get rain, then freezing rain, then maybe an inch of snow, then perhaps sleet or ice and then finally a couple inches of snow to top it all off. It's interesting to watch the pretty colors on the weather map. It's not fun to actually deal with the stuff.
A few years ago, I wished the kids were older. We were clearing the driveway by using shovels to break crusted mass up and piling slabs, chunks and blocks into the wheelbarrow to haul away. It was perfect for building forts and igloos with!

Key West is crazy (none / 0) (#12)
by lilburro on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 08:12:15 AM EST

watch out for those chickens! Also, do not accept snakes and/or parrots handed to you for overpriced photo ops.

I didn't know Jimmy Buffet was sober. Odd.

Guys on the radio were talking about (none / 0) (#13)
by Anne on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 08:14:53 AM EST

the diagram of the Tiger Woods accident - the police report is online.

When I saw it, all I could think was that it's pretty hard not to imagine an angry woman with a golf club chasing the car down the driveway...

: All I could think of (none / 0) (#18)
by Fabian on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 08:44:49 AM EST

is how badly was he impaired or distracted? There's not a single straight line in the vehicle's path!

: Tigers turned out to be a total slimeball (none / 0) (#25)
by SOS on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 09:32:09 AM EST

But that's normal for his age and peer group in this country these days.
Loyalty? Uh whats that man?

: Read something this morning that said the guy (none / 0) (#26)
by Angel on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 09:41:51 AM EST

who called in the report said that Tiger was "snoozing" when he was on the ground, and that Tiger's mother and mother-in-law were both at the scene. Has anyone else heard this same thing, or is this just some bad reporting and joke?

lucky you (none / 0) (#19)
by Capt Howdy on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 08:48:49 AM EST

have fun and plot strategy

If you still feel the hope... (none / 0) (#22)
by kdog on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 09:00:57 AM EST

and can still sense the change...you must be on the new Obama-brand disco biscuit.

I'm a Homer Simpson-brand guy myself:)

: People who use those (none / 0) (#23)
by jbindc on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 09:08:40 AM EST

Might be the only ones still feeling hope and change!

LOL (none / 0) (#24)
by SOS on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 09:29:22 AM EST

Don't get to stoned it's not professional.

Oh snap! (none / 0) (#30)
by MileHi Hawkeye on Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 10:16:47 AM EST

In the most critical comment from a player, Jesper Parnevik said he owed Nordegren an apology for introducing her to Woods. She once worked as a nanny for the Parnevik family.
"We probably thought he was a better guy than he is," the Swede told The Golf Channel.
"I would probably need to apologize to her and hope she uses a driver next time instead of a 3-iron," Parnevik said, a reference to police officers' saying Nordegren told them she smashed out the back window of his Cadillac Escalade SUV with a golf club to help get him out after he struck a fire hydrant and tree.