Wednesday Night Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 08:08:45 PM EST
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It's barbecue night here. Which means an open thread for you. All topics welcome.

The ACLU has a lot of news today I didn't get to blog about.

Report Confirms Continued Dragnet Collection Of Americans’ Communications

Obama Administration Should Release CIA Inspector General Report Without Substantial Redactions, Says ACLU. Apparently, the Newly Released Detainee Statements Provide More Evidence Of CIA Torture Program (CIA Continues To Suppress Information From Detainee Tribunals With Heavy Redactions)

And, in the mail: a new novel, The Legal Limit, about a drug offender who faces a moral quandry and laws that always do justice. I can't tell yet if it's a pro-prosecution book or not. If you've already read it, let me know:[More...]

And Human Rights Watch has a new report showing we need to amend a 13-year-old federal law that denies prisoners equal access to justice.

The 46-page report, "No Equal Justice: The Prison Litigation Reform Act in the United States," addresses a law passed by Congress in 1996 that singles out lawsuits brought by prisoners for a host of burdens and restrictions that apply to no one else. The report shows that as a result of the law, many cases brought by prisoners seeking the protection of the courts against dangerous conditions of confinement, or a remedy for sexual assault or other abuse by staff or inmates, have been thrown out of court.

The grill is ready. This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

< Obama DOJ to Allow More ICE Agents to Make Drug Busts | Sending Good Thoughts To Hillary Clinton >

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Wednesday Night Open Thread | 48 comments (48 topical)

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Now (5.00 / 1) (#6)
by andgarden on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 12:11:55 AM EST

this is the kind of article I like to see!

This just ticks me off (5.00 / 1) (#7)
by nycstray on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 12:21:32 AM EST

. . . allows administration personnel to take leave to care for sick partners and requires the government to recognize their partners as household members when determining overseas housing allocations for State Department employees, among other things.

That was already covered by Hillary. Along with the fact the other benefits aren't exactly "new".

Geeze, I couldn't even get through the first paragraph. Back to try again . . .


I like the framing of the article (5.00 / 1) (#8)
by andgarden on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 12:24:11 AM EST

"sorry, not good enough!"


: I agree there. (5.00 / 2) (#10)
by nycstray on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 12:31:40 AM EST

I just came over to add this:

For instance, Mr. Berry said, United States medical facilities overseas would now be open to the partners of State Department employees.
That was also in Hillary's announcement/change at the State Dept.
Woman's groups need to adopt the "sorry, not good enough" attitude. I think we are all sick of crumbs, and now getting pretty darn sick of the "game". I just wish the "feminists" would step up more. bravo for you that you are getting the "not good enough" word out. (I hope that came out the right way! seriously, I'm glad we're hearing this message!)

So much for avoiding ... (none / 0) (#16)
by FreakyBeaky on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 01:47:33 AM EST

... the hot-button culture war issues, which are just so 1990s ...

Some things you just can't duck. Shouldn't have tried.


I thought his comments (none / 0) (#20)
by lilburro on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 08:56:13 AM EST

at the signing were extremely weak.

And why the f*ck can't he apologize for that stupid brief? I realize he can't go around apologizing for everything the DoJ does, but if he doesn't act on DOMA quickly (and he isn't indicating he will) then the lack of apology will continue to be a source of anger in the LGBT community.


btw (none / 0) (#21)
by lilburro on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 09:25:16 AM EST

John Cole is still astonishingly unable to hold Obama accountable on gay rights issues. And he's ignorant on the subject to boot.


Hey! Did you see this? (none / 0) (#30)
by nycstray on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 10:49:04 AM EST

Gillibrand's dairy @DK regarding DADT?


I urge everybody to... (5.00 / 1) (#22)
by kdog on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 09:26:11 AM EST

take a second to send some good vibes eastward to Iran...the land of the yearning to be free and the home of the insanely brave. Link

Freedom loving people the world over stand with you....get up, stand up, don't give up the fight.

It almost brings a tear to a jaded eye....awe inspiring stuff.

From the WTF files... (5.00 / 0) (#25)
by MileHi Hawkeye on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 10:05:07 AM EST

A Maine high school senior says he was denied his diploma because he bowed during graduation and blew a kiss to his mother.

How utterly stupid. A time of celebration and this kid is punished for acknowledging his Mother? What is wrong with people?

One last power trip... (none / 0) (#26)
by kdog on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 10:11:53 AM EST

on the boy before he goes off in the world? Maybe the principal didn't feel he was properly broken down.

I guess my whole senior class was lucky to get ours...we did the beach-ball thing with an inflatable sex doll...and that was a catholic school!


: Yeah... (none / 0) (#27)
by MileHi Hawkeye on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 10:17:22 AM EST

...our entire Senior class would have probably all ended up in the pokey in today's world.
I'll tell you what though, if it would have been my Mom, that principal would be wishing they'd never been born right about now.

Graham/Lieberman Victory... (5.00 / 1) (#28)
by Anne on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 10:27:13 AM EST

From Think Progress:

Last night, the Senate passed by unanimous consent a bill that would prevent the release of controversial photos of alleged U.S. abuse of prisoners and detainees. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), was proposed as standalone legislation after it was stripped from a war funding supplemental bill by House Democrats.

I am just sick about this. Sick and disgusted.

Unanimous consent - the coward's tool.

: Change? (none / 0) (#33)
by mmc9431 on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 11:02:54 AM EST

Another example of "change you can believe in". Politician's on both sides are still more concerned with covering their a**es than truth, transparency or the Constitution.
All of our lecturing the rest of the world about human rights and it turns out we can't practice what we preach. And of course the two sponsors of the bill are among the leaders in hypocrisy.

: Our Senate (none / 0) (#42)
by ruffian on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 03:37:46 PM EST

Some real profiles in courage there. Just ridiculous.

Strong Rumors (5.00 / 0) (#36)
by CoralGables on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 11:57:13 AM EST

that the Minnesota Supreme Court will rule on Coleman today.

The WaPo fires Dan Froomkin. (5.00 / 1) (#41)
by Anne on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 03:30:47 PM EST

Really sorry to learn about this, as Froomkin was about the only one there who spoke truth to power, regardless of who was holding it.

Glenn posts:

One of the rarest commodities in the establishment media is someone who was a vehement critic of George Bush and who now, applying their principles consistently, has become a regular critic of Barack Obama -- i.e., someone who criticizes Obama from what is perceived as "the Left" rather than for being a Terrorist-Loving Socialist Muslim. It just got a lot rarer, as The Washington Post -- at least according to Politico's Patrick Gavin -- just fired WashingtonPost.com columnist, long-time Bush critic and Obama watchdog (i.e., a real journalist) Dan Froomkin.
What makes this firing so bizarre and worthy of inquiry is that, as Calderone notes, Froomkin was easily one of the most linked-to and cited Post columnists. At a time when newspapers are relying more and more on online traffic, the Post just fired the person who, in 2007, wrote 2 out of the top 10 most-trafficked columns. In publishing that data, Media Bistro used this headline: "The Post's Most Popular Opinions (Read: Froomkin)." Isn't that an odd person to choose to get rid of?
[snip]
All of this underscores a critical and oft-overlooked point: what one finds virtually nowhere in the establishment press are those who criticize Obama not in order to advance their tawdry right-wing agenda but because the principles that led them to criticize Bush compel similar criticism of Obama.

Depressing; Froomkin did a great job.

: Hmmmmm (5.00 / 1) (#44)
by jbindc on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 03:54:56 PM EST

Wonder if there was political pressure.....? (Yes, tin hatty, but with these people, anything is fair game).

Larry King hybrid (none / 0) (#1)
by gyrfalcon on Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 11:13:04 PM EST

What a spectacle, Wolf Blitzer filling in for Larry King to do a show on Iran, but they've booked him a Larry King-style panel of Iranian-born TV entertainers to open the show with their political commentary. <sound of teeth grinding>

Aren't you just aching to know more than anything else about Iran what long-time Iranian exiles who are actors and TV entertainers think of all this? (One of them just said admiringly that the young people in the streets with their cell phones and Twitter accounts were all born after he left the country.)

Oy. (5.00 / 1) (#2)
by nycstray on Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 11:48:25 PM EST

Me was on cable watching Top Chef etc. :)

How's your kitty?


Kitty RIP (5.00 / 3) (#11)
by gyrfalcon on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 12:53:03 AM EST

I posted on it yesterday back on the previous thread where I'd asked about toxoplasmosis.

But tests came back Tuesday afternoon showing instead that she had raging feline infectious peritonitis-- untreatable, always fatal. So I went immediately up to the hospital and after cuddling her for a while and telling her how beautiful she was and getting a nice purr from her, I held her while the vet ended her suffering.

I brought her home and buried her today next to another lovely little cat I lost last November to a rare passing truck. I'm getting to be quite a veteran at this.

This disease is a terrible, cruel virus that's present harmlessly in many cats, but from time to time just mutates into this deadly form. Piecing things together, the vet and I think she was probably suffering from it as long ago as March, but it's one of those insidious things that can produce only faint, vague symptoms until it reaches its climactic stage.

The good thing is that she was essentially robustly healthy otherwise up until only a day before she completely succumbed to it. It was only last week I was enjoying watching her racing madly around my property.

Only 10 months old, which is just totally unfair. But she enjoyed herself and had fun the last six months since I've had her, right up until only a couple of days before she died.

I'm lucky, too, that I have a wonderful, wonderful vet who keeps up on the latest research, talks to me about these things like a colleague instead of a moron, and who sat with me for about 45 minutes while little Mollie took her last breaths and patiently and thoroughly answered all my questions.

When I said something about how hard it must be for her to preside over these painful endings, she got red in the face and then suddenly began weeping herself, apologizing and saying it had been a particularly bad day for it. So I found myself oddly hugging her and giving her comfort. Give me a smart, conscientious, animal-oriented vet with a big heart any day. I've had some truly bad ones in the past, so I'm terribly relieved to have found her.

Thanks so much for caring.


D@mn! I'm so sorry!! (5.00 / 3) (#12)
by nycstray on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 01:09:49 AM EST

and she was so young! {tears}

Lordy, that would break my heart. And like you, I think I have veteran status with kitties. I lost 3 in a 2mo period in the fall of 2005 and one earlier in the year. I had lost kitties in the past, but all four were from a different "issue" in the same year. Veteran status doesn't make it any easier. I feel for you :(

I also have a wonderful vet, very UTD on traditional, holistic eastern,etc and doesn't talk to me like a moron. It really, really helps. I've always been able to make informed choices, and I know how much that does help in times like this.

I'm hoping Mollie has met my Joleen, Sierra, Rikki, Rock_er, Alex and Vinnie at the bridge and they are enjoying a good romp through the grass. Rikki in particular will watch out for her, That's his specialty ;)

I'm so, so sorry for your loss :(

R.I.P. sweet baby girl Mollie.


Oh, I love that (5.00 / 1) (#38)
by gyrfalcon on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 01:46:14 PM EST

mental image of them all playing together endlessly-- perhaps in a weedy field full of immortal and indestructible mice! And lots and lots of ice cream and tummy rubs every day.

You're so right about informed choices. I lost a cat about five years ago because of mouth cancer, and her last days were made infinitely more horrible for her because the stinking, lousy vet at the time did not give me the information I could have acted on to spare her from the worst of it. I don't really understand how some of these very bad vets manage to sleep at night with the amount of unnecessary suffering they cause.

I was standing around a church lobby talking with some friends once when somebody brought out a tiny, trembling baby rabbit wrapped in a soft blanket, and a nun who was there beamed this transcendent smile of love and pleasure at the creature and reached out to pet it very, very gently and murmured softly "God bless a small heart."

I'm not a believer, but that's so perfect I've always thought of it, God bless a small heart.

Sigh.


Can my Sam, Katie, Chrissy, (5.00 / 1) (#40)
by vml68 on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 01:53:43 PM EST

Smudge, Scotty, Boomer and Luke join in the romp too?


And Max, Murphy and Katmandu too? (5.00 / 2) (#43)
by ruffian on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 03:41:08 PM EST

And my dog Ruffian will keep them all amused. Dogs seem so silly to cats.

So sorry Gyrfalcon. She sounds like a lovely kitty and I'm glad she had a good life with you, however brief.


: Dusty and Rosy, too.... (5.00 / 1) (#47)
by Inspector Gadget on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 04:26:45 PM EST

what a terrific image of all the kitties (and ruffian)....

I'm so sorry about (5.00 / 3) (#13)
by TeresaInSnow2 on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 01:36:14 AM EST

your kitty. My very solemn condolences.

My 13.5 year old lab is pretty much on his way to the big dog park in the sky too, and we're just waiting for the sign. Sometimes I wish it were clear-cut. He still has the bright, smiling eyes and doggie sense of humor, but his neuro disease is getting fairly severe. Sadly we may have to make the choice based on his care being just too much for us, literally losing an hour or two of sleep every single night taking care of him.

So your case is especially poignant for me.

I hope you have great memories for comfort.


Very Sorry (5.00 / 3) (#17)
by cal1942 on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 02:24:53 AM EST

Ten months old is unfair but no matter the age it's a terrible loss.

Our little princess died last June at 17 and for some time my wife and I were immobilized with grief.

I know how you feel. There's something about losing a four-legged family member that's hard to put into words. They are innocents, they depend on us to care for them, return absolute love in return and can't tell us what's wrong.

Frustrating and heart breaking.


: They are innocent (5.00 / 1) (#37)
by gyrfalcon on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 01:03:43 PM EST

without "sin" of any kind, and if the world were fair, would always lead entirely happy and interesting lives. I have some sort of spiritual context into which I can put human suffering, but not animal. I find I can cope emotionally with having lost her, but not very well at all with what she went through those last couple of days.
I wish I could have spared her that, but it wouldn't even have been possible to diagnose this with certainty before she came apart so badly because there's no lab test for it until autopsy, only a collection of test results that combined with this kind of great distress gives you a high degree of certainty.
Thanks so much for all the sympathy and support. I have my fingers crossed hard that my other two cats don't develop this after having been exposed to it for so long.

Sorry about your kitty... (5.00 / 1) (#23)
by desertswine on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 09:38:56 AM EST

I have two myself.


So sad to learn (5.00 / 3) (#24)
by KeysDan on Thu Jun 18, 2009 at 09:53:30 AM EST

about your kitty. Loss of our little Eve, a rescue cat who brings so much joy to our lives, would be hard to bear so I c