Sunday Morning Open Thread

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Blog Related
Posted on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 11:08:40 AM EST
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Sunday Morning Open Thread | 45 comments (45 topical)

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Yikes! I just quit my job! (5.00 / 2) (#5)
by ChiTownDenny on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 11:33:31 AM EST

Telling myself to look forward to the future. I've decided to go to Cairo in October, instead of the end of the year. Want to see the pyramids and ride a camel. I'm pissed; I'm a bit anxious; I'm hopeful. And I'm lucky I stashed some cash.

Wow! (5.00 / 1) (#6)
by cawaltz on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 11:37:26 AM EST

Sounds like congrats and good lucks are in order. Getting something off that bucket list is a pretty priceless experience and well worth a few risks.

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Yup! (none / 0) (#7)
by ChiTownDenny on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 11:40:16 AM EST

That's how I see it.
Oh, YIKES!

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If you have the opportunity, be sure to (5.00 / 2) (#23)
by oculus on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 01:16:41 PM EST

also got to Petra in Jordan. Short flight of Amman from Cairo. Our extension included visits to Jerash and Mt. Nebo (fogged in) and an overnight at Petra.

Parent

Petra too, yes (none / 0) (#40)
by andrys on Mon Aug 24, 2009 at 01:25:39 AM EST

Am also slated to go in late October, to go cruising down the Nile and will take the option to go to Petra, enjoy the night show there and see the place the next day in normal light.

Am looking forward to it but I hear even late October the weather's still pretty hot. Wondering whether I should change it to November... Any advice?

Parent

: We went in January--coolest weather. (none / 0) (#41)
by oculus on Mon Aug 24, 2009 at 09:17:43 AM EST

Quite pleasant, although in Cairo people were wearing winter clothes. Cold at Petra due to really heavy rain the day before.

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Channeling your Mom... (5.00 / 2) (#24)
by oldpro on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 01:21:47 PM EST

"Are you taking your medication, sweetheart?"

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LOL! (none / 0) (#25)
by ChiTownDenny on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 01:24:21 PM EST

It seems...not.

Parent

: Hooboy. We moms are (none / 0) (#27)
by oldpro on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 02:16:49 PM EST

worried sick when you kids quit your jobs without another one lined up...unless, of course, you have an independent income or a patron.
I know, I know...there's always Mom and Dad who will feed you no matter what. That's what unconditional love is, no?
Still...our job is to worry and we are GOOD at it! (Practice, ya know).

Parent

I went to a dog show in Atlanta (5.00 / 4) (#17)
by Militarytracy on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 12:35:49 PM EST

yesterday because afterwards we have a cluster meeting with the clubs we have one of our cluster shows with. I am very fortunate to have a very wise woman who is also an AKC delegate who is also a President of one of the clubs. Anyhow, a judge has offered us his services free of charge but he comes with controversy. He was suspended once for a having a lack of tactful humor. He walked into the ring to judge Best in Show once, looked at all the dogs lined up with their handlers, got a coin out of his pocket and flipped it. It was supposed to be a joke. People were not amused. He was suspended for a time. Recently though he attempted to write a bill that would restrict puppy milling, but it ended up being dismantled in debate. The AKC delegate wanted to know if we wanted to take him up on his offer because he could be considered controversial. Some of the big names in the business could be considered commercial breeders under some definitions and they perceive his bill was gunning for them. I couldn't help it, I now ask questions about anything like this thanks to you guys. I asked specifically what it was in his bill that had some upset. Nobody even knew. I asked if there was anybody at the table not interested in shutting down the puppy mills and of course everyone wants puppy mills shut down. So then I said that I could not fault someone for taking the issue on and I can't judge him for the legislation that he tried to get passed without knowing what it was and what was supposedly at fault with it. The table was completely silent and all these people were staring at me. I felt myself shrinking, all these people have been showing since I was about five years old. It was like discussing the one opera I've seen with six oculi. I sat there thinking about how TalkLeft is ruining my life, but then the group voted to use the judge.

LOL. (5.00 / 2) (#18)
by shoephone on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 01:02:03 PM EST

Good for you, MT. Oftentimes it takes someone outside the circle to pierce through the b.s. and get the job done.

I love dog shows and every few years I go to the ones here in Seattle. But ever since seeing "Best in Show", I can't look at the handlers without thinking they are as loony as some of the characters in that movie!

Parent

Yay MT - You made them think (5.00 / 4) (#19)
by ruffian on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 01:05:43 PM EST

I've heard from a friend that dog show politics would scare Machiavelli. Kudos for speaking your mind.

Parent

Good result and well worth your effort, (5.00 / 1) (#21)
by oculus on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 01:13:55 PM EST

sounds like.

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Definition of "puppy mill"? (5.00 / 1) (#22)
by gyrfalcon on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 01:14:30 PM EST

That would be my guess for why some folks didn't like it. That's the tricky part of writing that kind of law, so it applies only to the things you want it to apply to and doesn't accidentally drag in others.

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That and the $$$ it brings in for the AKC ;) (5.00 / 1) (#29)
by nycstray on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 02:43:51 PM EST

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The AKC doesn't tend to get (none / 0) (#35)
by Militarytracy on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 06:16:41 PM EST

many people who purchase from the puppy mill outlets to turn their AKC paperwork in. Of course they'd hate to shut that door in anyone's face, but usually most of those people never end up registering the cute "purebred" puppy they purchased at the pet shop. Most of my families who get a pet puppy from me don't officailly register them very often either. I run about 1.5 to every 5 in a litter being registered. I can go look up all my litters on the AKC website and see who registered their puppy and who didn't.

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Didn't they try and encourage (none / 0) (#38)
by nycstray on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 07:22:04 PM EST

pet store puppy buyers to register? I seem to remember a big dust up over that. Do the millers have to register the pups to claim AKC?

It seems to me there was some $$ in the process somewhere that keeps the AKC in the millers camp. I'm not that invested in the AKC, so my memory is sketchy at best in that area. I just see the dust ups on various message boards ;)

Parent

They did go through an episode (none / 0) (#42)
by Militarytracy on Mon Aug 24, 2009 at 03:23:36 PM EST

of trying to get the pet store buyers to turn in those cash needed registrations. And they got called on putting registration ahead of the well being of dogs in general. The world of dogs and the different things that have morphed lately have been right in line with politics in general. The largest puppy mill contractor in the United States attempted to join the German Shepherd Dog Club of America, and the board voted to allow it. Unbelievable chit storm, he is not a member today but for awhile he was. He came to some meetings with his lawyer, tried to scare his way in....worked for awhile. What a mess though. So many people will never forget the board doing that. The board said they were scared. Always rumors of them being bought off....what a mess overall. Anyhow, it now seems that the contractors have been selling some very genetically flawed dogs, but if the parents are registered the puppies are supposed to be able to be registered. Anyhow, some folks will do anything for a dollar, breed anything for a dollar, sell it with papers.....something horrible happens with the animal's health.....heart broken family and children. I don't know what exactly the AKC has been questioned about lately or what's going on. Only know that the delegates recently all met in New York, and one of the delegates walked around Atlanta on Saturday muttering to himself that the contractors are destroying us all. I was too busy, heard him mumble, got home and realized I wished that I knew more about what is going on.

Parent

: I believe that's the episode I was (none / 0) (#44)
by nycstray on Mon Aug 24, 2009 at 10:22:44 PM EST

thinking of. Between my dog advocacy and Dal lists, I was getting some outraged smatterings of it. And then there's the "problem" with the AKC and DCA accepting backcrossed Dals that would work towards solving a serious health issue in Dals. My attention has been diverted to food issues since I'm not getting another Dal for a couple years, but I still catch and try and be a bit aware of the problems in the dog (/cat/rescue) world. Dals have already been exploited beyond belief, so the DCA seems to stand pretty strong in that area (AKC buy offs, exploitation, bad breeding, etc), there's just the issue of the backcrosses that seems to be the divider I see in the club. Some breeders that are pro backcross have split and started another Dal club and are showing through UKC, but also breeding with AKC. When I get my next Dals, aside from rescue, I'll be looking UKC backcrosses. And breeders that do more than show, of course. I'm having fantasies of learning to really ride (horses) when I get to CA so I can do road trials with Dals. I can't think of a better way to spend a day. . .
An additional note . . I'm so damn glad Dals have fallen down so far on the popularity list. When you search for online sellers, they don't come up as often from millers. Still too many BYBs, but they aren't a huge pet store pup from what I can see.
The politics of the dog world will prob keep me to performance dogs vs trying my hand at showing.
And right on cue . . the news is talking about the 150 puppymill dogs that have just landed at a shelter here . . .

Parent

The dog show business (none / 0) (#26)
by Fabian on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 01:25:15 PM EST

sometimes makes me cringe.

You get kudos from me for being brave enough to go in there. I wouldn't feel bad if it's not a welcoming place though. From what I can tell, some of the best breeders are on the outside of the show biz.

(Went online looking for kuvasz breeders one time. There's not a whole lot of them and the ones that stood out in my mind were the ones that emphasized "champions" and "championships" the most. I made a note to avoid those breeders.)

Parent

: It's a mixed bag (none / 0) (#36)
by Militarytracy on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 06:21:57 PM EST

The AKC showring is a very very tough competition so I would never brush someone off who had championed one of their dogs in their breed. It is only a conformation judging though and we have a lot of sort of stupid yet really pretty dogs that are conformation champions. The hard breeder to find is the one who champions in conformation and then has the obedience and working titles behind that. You find that breeder, you have grade A choice stock you are getting a puppy from. Also anybody who doesn't have a story about a bad breeding producing a few undesireable traits is also full of baloney. There are a lot of really great breedings out there and fab litters but nobody got there batting a thousand. If someone isn't being honest with you about some of the undesireable traits that their lines can produce they are full of it.

Parent

They didn't think the coin toss (none / 0) (#30)
by nycstray on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 02:47:39 PM EST

was funny?!

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Someone didn't :) (none / 0) (#34)
by Militarytracy on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 06:13:28 PM EST

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You know me with my dark sense of humor though (none / 0) (#37)
by Militarytracy on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 06:22:48 PM EST

I thought is was hysterical. I suppose there are many forms of hysterical too :)

Parent

I thought it was a good joke (5.00 / 1) (#39)
by nycstray on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 07:28:04 PM EST

especially if you've ever paid attention to the dialogue about all the dogs in the ring at that point, lol!~ "Anyone can win" "The best of the Best" "they aren't being judged against each other but their breed" etc . . . and then the ever predictable dialogue after they choose the winner . . .

Parent

There's a judge from Mexico now (none / 0) (#43)
by Militarytracy on Mon Aug 24, 2009 at 03:28:47 PM EST

that when she judges Best in Show she walks in the ring with a coat on, throws it off and you never know what you are getting. Once she was a belly dancer....another time she looked like a "working girl" with six inch stilletos. A show day can get long with everyone packing up as soon as their breed is done and their group is done. She gets EVERYONE to stay to the bitter end and that's what we like :) Navarro is coming from Mexico for our cluster next year, he is crazy too, talks to the crowd and makes them talk back to him.

Parent

: While many may not agree with me (5.00 / 1) (#45)
by nycstray on Mon Aug 24, 2009 at 10:34:25 PM EST

I think adding variety and/or humor at the BIS judging intro is good. Engages the audience that has been there through it all. As long as when the judging starts they are down to business, what's the harm of a laugh? Wakes everyone up, eases some tension and gets everyone to re-engage.
When I go to Westminster (to see the Dals mostly), I love it when the spotty monsters come out. They usually compete when the other rings have working dogs and the little long haired ones. One ring out of 6 is a comedy show ;) It's way too funny to see the seriousness of the other rings and the Dals are all dancing around and trying to see what's going on in the other rings while the Dal one on ones are going on. Lots of spotty butt wagging :)

Parent

Ben Masel's DK diary on (5.00 / 1) (#28)
by oculus on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 02:20:06 PM EST

FISA revise, privacy re cell phone location records, etc.: Masel

Not often I get a LOL from my Amazon (5.00 / 2) (#32)
by ruffian on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 04:27:54 PM EST

suggestions list...but I just had Richard Wolffe's Obama 'insider account' book "Renegade - the Making of a President" pop up. What a joke.

Questions for Curious Minds (5.00 / 1) (#33)
by pluege on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 04:40:31 PM EST

How come no one from the left has been finding out how many of the death panel liars have living wills?

If you redirected from the $620 billion per year criminal pork barrel endeavor referred as the "defense budget", $100 billion per year for universal health care and $100 billion per year for non-military infrastructure improvements, what would the US look like in 10 years?

Afghanistan not going well (none / 0) (#1)
by Dadler on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 11:18:56 AM EST

Link

Are HEALTH insurance mandates (none / 0) (#2)
by TeresaInSnow2 on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 11:21:42 AM EST

unconstitutional? Does Rivkin make sense?

Link

It is laughably absurd (5.00 / 1) (#8)
by Big Tent Democrat on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 11:42:25 AM EST

UNLESS you think Medicare is unconstitutional.

I would post about it except it is too stupid for words.

Parent

But (none / 0) (#10)
by TeresaInSnow2 on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 11:50:14 AM EST

Medicare is paid for via a direct tax to the government and is a government program.

Rivkin argued that raising taxes to fund a government sponsored healthcare system would NOT be the same as requiring that people purchase PRIVATE insurance or be penalized.

We'll see. The bottom line is I'll bet the Repubicans take any bill including Mandates to court -- and may very well win given our court structure.

Parent

Are you kidding? (5.00 / 1) (#20)
by gyrfalcon on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 01:10:25 PM EST

The GOP LOVES mandates! They're totally behind it, as far as I can tell. More moolah into the coffers of the insurance cos. If they voted against it, it would drive the ins. co. $$ into the Dem. camp for a long time to come.

What the GOP doesn't like (aside from the public option) is regulation and restriction on what ins. cos. can charge and who they must cover. But if the ins. cos. get to sign up by force of law all those luscious healthy young folks who don't want to bother with health insurance, that's a trade-off they're happy to make.

Parent

Sandy Levinson and Jack Balkin (none / 0) (#12)
by andgarden on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 11:56:53 AM EST

have explained this pretty well in the past couple of days. Bottom line, BTD is absolutely right.

Parent

Sure (none / 0) (#13)
by Big Tent Democrat on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 11:58:56 AM EST

Rivkin argued an incredibly stupid point of view.

I'll grant you that he did that.

I thought about writing about it, but it really is too stupid for words.

Parent

: The Supreme Court (none / 0) (#14)
by TeresaInSnow2 on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 12:02:43 PM EST

has never made a stupid judgment?

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Interesting argument (none / 0) (#3)
by cawaltz on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 11:31:30 AM EST

which probably provides insight into what occurs if a mandate is passed(challenged in court). I'm not sure they can actually make the argument entirely though that health care isn't qunitessencially economic, not when it is 1/5 of the GDP. I'm not a lawyer though so what do I know :)

Parent

I'd say (none / 0) (#9)
by TeresaInSnow2 on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 11:44:24 AM EST

it's quintessencially personal, and the economics is a side effect.

You can cease growing grain, but you can't cease being a human being (uh, with a few exceptions. Mr. Delay I'm looking at you!).

Parent

: I don't agree (none / 0) (#11)
by cawaltz on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 11:56:49 AM EST

not when if someone is uninsured and it means everyone has to pick up the costs they incurred when they can't pay.

Parent

The beach... (none / 0) (#4)
by kdog on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 11:31:32 AM EST

if my friends ever get their arses in gear...I can sleep with the best of 'em but this is ridiculous.

Wanna see what kinda waves Hurricane Bill is hitting us with and marvel at Mother Nature's mojo.

: What is really impressive (none / 0) (#15)
by Fabian on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 12:03:38 PM EST

is that Bill will remain a coherent storm apparently until it reaches landfall on the other side of the Atlantic! [wunderground link]
Reminds me of Ike. I'm not sure how common it is for hurricanes to hold together that long or move that fast.

Parent
: Don't get lost (none / 0) (#31)
by cawaltz on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 04:24:16 PM EST

like these poor folks.
http://news.aol.com/article/hurricane-bill/634859?icid=main|main|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com %2Farticle%2Fhurricane-bill%2F634859

Parent

Funny (none / 0) (#16)
by lilburro on Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 12:28:22 PM EST

The Skinny German Juggling Boy - I remember seeing him at a county fair two years ago. He is pretty good, the article is hilarious. I feel as though the NYT is obliged to be the local paper of everywhere - regardless of the fact they aren't very good at it.

Sunday Morning Open Thread | 45 comments (45 topical)

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