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Friday Morning Open Thread

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Blog Related
Posted on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 09:19:21 AM EST
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The eagle flies on Friday . . . and freezes its a** off. Even in Florida.

This is an Open Thread.

< What If You Didn't Have to Fly? | Gruber's (And the Obama Administration's) Disclosure Problem >

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    Friday Morning Open Thread | 89 comments (89 topical)

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    We lost yet more jobs (5.00 / 1) (#1)
    by jbindc on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 09:22:13 AM EST
    Unemployment steady at 10%

    The nation shed 85,000 jobs in December -- worse than economists forecasted -- as the jobless rate remained steady at 10 percent.

    Analysts had expected a drop of just 8,000 jobs last month. The nation now has 15.3 million people out of work, and the number of long-term unemployed -- people looking for jobs for more than half a year -- grew to 6.1 million.

    A big factor in the decline is the steep decline in manufacturing jobs -- an area that has especially hurt Michigan and other factory-reliant Midwestern states.

    The 10 percent unemployment rate remained unchanged because fewer people were looking for work, and once a person stops the job hunt, he or she is no longer considered unemployed.

    In December, manufacturing employment decreased by 27,000. The nation shed about 1.3 million manufacturing jobs in 2009 and has lost 2.1 million since the recession began in December 2007.
    I'd thought we would add a few jobs (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by tigercourse on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 09:32:51 AM EST
    this time.

    Unemplyment is going to be very high for a long time.

    Parent

    Yes (none / 0) (#4)
    by jbindc on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 09:34:17 AM EST
    That little blip of good news last month (where we only lost 8000 jobs) was definitely an anomaly.

    Parent
    Stop the early cheering, jbindc (none / 0) (#70)
    by christinep on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 02:01:09 PM EST
    Or, at least, the style seems that way.  No, seriously, most economists still expect the jobs to turn up fairly soon. Recall that at this time last year, the economy was shedding 750,000 jobs.(Of course, 85,000 loss or any loss stinks. Frankly, in the aught decade, we are looking at 2 million jobs lost. (For my little jab: During the mid to late 1990s, jobs were being created at well over the 150,000 level per month that it takes to keep up. That was a good economy.) One other thing that is important to note: Since last summer, many economists pointed out that an early sign of a job-growing economy would be an increase in temporary hiring--the thinking being that employers start back into the hiring market first and cautiously with temps. Last month and the months before, temporary job increases were finally on the upswing. (I believe last month added 47,000 temporary jobs.) Clearly, the shape or perceived shape of the job market in April-May-June will have a significant effect on November, as it usually does historically.

    Parent
    We elected Obama to stop (5.00 / 1) (#82)
    by jimakaPPJ on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 02:47:49 PM EST
    the shedding and despite claimns that the figures wouldn't go above 8% they have hit 10%.

    It is obvious his plan is not working.

    Parent

    This is what happens (5.00 / 1) (#83)
    by jondee on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 02:53:23 PM EST
    when you dont make the Bush tax cuts permanent.

    And trivialize the greatness and farsightedness of Karl Rove by "Miss Piggy" remarks etc

    Parent

    Hey, he is (none / 0) (#87)
    by jimakaPPJ on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 08:58:05 PM EST
    your President.

    Looks like you are finding out that it is easy to run for office but very hard to lead.

    Parent

    "Scat munching" (none / 0) (#91)
    by jondee on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:57:22 PM EST
    a potentially health endangering trend popular amongst political conservatives, and first diagnosed by researcher Bill Hicks in the ninties, is now being discussed as a major contributing factor in the recent hospitalization of Rush Limbaugh.

    Limbaugh's devoted fans remain skeptical, as this theory would seem to contradict Limbaugh's hard-line  stance against recycling.

    Parent

    I don't think my opinion has (none / 0) (#94)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jan 09, 2010 at 12:15:34 PM EST
    anything to do with the obvious fact I posted.

    Parent
    As The Chinese say (none / 0) (#95)
    by jondee on Sat Jan 09, 2010 at 01:26:15 PM EST
    when the wrong man says the right thing, it means nothing.

    And Rush is still a scat muncher.

    Parent

    Hardly cheering (5.00 / 1) (#92)
    by jbindc on Sat Jan 09, 2010 at 07:54:06 AM EST
    As I personally have been looking for a permanent job for a year now.  

    I don't cheer for people losing their jobs, especially as I am from Michigan and the article above includes people I actually know and care about. When I was home for the holidays, I went to lunch with 10 people I used to work with.  Half of them don't have jobs now and haven't for at least a year.

    I don't cheer for things that hurt real people.

    Parent

    And things aren't looking much better (none / 0) (#93)
    by jbindc on Sat Jan 09, 2010 at 11:12:46 AM EST
    The Secretary of Labor also had a really bad time on her monthly appearances on the morning talk shows to discuss these numbers.

    It's going to get worse before it gets better.

    But the jobless rate is likely to rise in coming months as more people see signs of an improving economy and start looking for work again. Some economists think it could near 11 percent, which would be the highest since World War II, by June.

    The Labor Department's monthly jobs report suggested employers will remain wary about hiring and skeptical of the economy recovery. Just Friday, UPS said it would cut nearly 2,000 white-collar jobs.

    "It is a wait-and-see attitude," said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group.

    The economy is growing, but too weakly to persuade employers to ramp up hiring. Growth has to be robust to drive down the jobless rate, especially as more people start looking for work.

    Complicating the recovery are remnants of the recession: high debt, a sputtering housing market and the inability or reluctance of people and businesses to borrow and spend. Most economists think unemployment will rise this year and stay high into 2012.

    SNIP

    The 85,000 lost jobs for the month is based on a government survey of employers. A separate government survey of households found a much darker picture -- nearly 600,000 fewer people said they had jobs in December than in November.

    That gap could reflect layoffs at small businesses that are having trouble getting loans and can't afford to hire new people. That's something many economists think the employer survey misses because it undercounts small companies.

    It was the second straight month the unemployment rate came in at 10 percent. The only reason it didn't rise was that 661,000 people stopped looking for jobs and left the work force.

    In a normal economic recovery, more people would be entering, not leaving, the job market. If those people hadn't dropped out, the rate would have hit 10.4 percent in December, according to an estimate by the Economic Policy Institute.

    Counting the people who have given up looking for work and the part-time workers who would rather be working full-time, the so-called underemployment rate edged up to 17.3 percent in December. The record high is 17.4 percent, reached in October.



    Parent
    This is so sad for my four children (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 09:44:09 AM EST
    who are unemployed or, in one case, underemployed.  My son and his new wife, trying to start their life together after so much travail with immigration -- she gave up a great job but cannot get her career going here -- were hoping to no longer be living with us by now and out on their own.  And she came here believing Obama's promises about a lot of startups in her field, sustainable energy -- but she keeps being told that the jobs are on hold because the government funding just is not there, after all.

    They were talking last night about this story, about the predictions that the report today would be better.  Now the forecast is for few new jobs for the next year.  I am hoping the distraction of our awful weather, the drive they had to do for hours to get to a temp job and a parttime job, may mean they don't see this story.  I am girding myself to give them a night out tonight, if they're not too exhausted from the drive back.

    At least my unemployed stepson, a skilled cabinet maker and carpenter and more, laid off from his construction job, is picking up some cash today from snow shoveling.

    Parent

    Don't forget to tell stepson... (none / 0) (#7)
    by kdog on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 09:53:27 AM EST
    to tell the IRS about his snow-shoveling income:)

    Since we're being so well served and all he should pay his share...LOL.

    Parent

    Atlanta shuts down (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by kmblue on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 09:45:25 AM EST
    We're not really equipped to handle snow.
    Got an inch or so in Metro Atlanta where I live--hard on commuters, the drive is awful at best!

    One inch?! (none / 0) (#16)
    by CST on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:05:06 AM EST
    and you shut down?

    That disappears just by walking/driving on it.

    silly southerners :)

    Parent

    yeah (5.00 / 1) (#17)
    by Capt Howdy on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:06:27 AM EST
    boo hoo
    there were times yesterday when I had one inch on my utility room floor.  (thats where the dogs go in and out)

    Parent
    It's true (5.00 / 1) (#37)
    by kmblue on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:52:15 AM EST
    I'm a Cali girl originally and Atlanta folks
    (guess that includes me now) are total wimps when it comes to snow and ice.  It's no joke for elderly people though.  An ice storm back in the nineties trapped them in their homes.  Atlanta, to its credit, mounted a rescue effort to make sure food and heat was available to all of them.

    Parent
    Frozen iguana (none / 0) (#86)
    by Inspector Gadget on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 06:41:57 PM EST
    were falling out of trees in southern Florida. They do come back to life when they warm up, though.

    Parent
    I always got a kick... (none / 0) (#20)
    by kdog on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:14:14 AM EST
    out of the garbage trucks when I lived in FLA..."Free Snow Removal" printed on the side of 'em.  I always kinda hoped mother nature would do something crazy and dump some snow on the Sunshine state just to see if they really were prepared to deliver.

    Parent
    I spent a year in Montreal (5.00 / 2) (#21)
    by Capt Howdy on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:19:50 AM EST
    working.  now, THOSE GUYS know snow removal.


    Parent
    for some reason (none / 0) (#23)
    by CST on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:23:06 AM EST
    when I was living in Pittsburgh they seemed to run out of salt every year before the winter ended.

    Maybe it's because they never seemed to bother much with plows and would just dump salt everywhere.

    But I always thought it was weird that they never got it right.  Hello, it's winter, you get snow every year.  You'd think they'd have it figured out by now.

    Parent

    I lived in a downtown highrise (none / 0) (#25)
    by Capt Howdy on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:26:31 AM EST
    and fortunately I had no car.  every evening you would hear this chorus of sirens and look out and see a parade of tow trucks.
    it meant come out and move your car or it would be towed because they had to scrape and remove the snow every night.  because it snowed every day.
    every.  day.
    they would remove it in giant dump trucks.
    I have no idea where they put it but part of it is most likely still there.


    Parent
    Low salt supplies a serious problem (none / 0) (#26)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:26:48 AM EST
    in many municipalities in the Northland now -- because of soaring costs.  That has been the reason before as well for why communities can run out.  Same goes for running out of funds for removal.  

    We are being warned that roads are far less safe than usual here this year, far less salt than usual.

    Parent

    I guess I am just used to something different (none / 0) (#30)
    by CST on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:33:56 AM EST
    Up here, it starts snowing, and the plows are out immediately.  Of course, we get a lot more snow, a lot faster.  I used to say Pitt thinks it's a lot to get a foot of snow over the course of a week, we think it's a lot to get it in one night.

    They would just wait until the snow stopped and clean it up in the morning.  It was worse in some ways to go out in a light snow storm there than a nor'easter here.  Not that that's a very good idea either.

    Parent

    Unemployment in Montana (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by athyrio on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 09:56:25 AM EST
    is a tad better at 4+ percent...don't know why but guess our economy is a bit insulated from the rest of the country..

    Upps typo (none / 0) (#18)
    by athyrio on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:08:34 AM EST
    6+ percent...

    Parent
    They had an energy boom that went bust (none / 0) (#57)
    by rdandrea on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 12:02:21 PM EST
    Much as we did in Colo.  Nobody is totally unaffected.

    Parent
    Yeesh (5.00 / 3) (#10)
    by DancingOpossum on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 09:57:21 AM EST
    And I'm looking for a new job...O boy isn't my timing great... My heart goes out to all those who have been out of work for so long. I've had periods of unemployment but never in such bleak circumstances. There was always a pretty good certainty that a job would materialize soon, but that isn't the case now.
    It's supposed to get down to zero (5.00 / 1) (#11)
    by Maryb2004 on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 09:57:37 AM EST
    today and only up to 9.   I keep reminding myself that the benefit of cold weather is that it keeps us from having those big bugs they get in the south.  bleh I hate bugs.   But I think getting down into the teens would do that and this is overkill.  

    I keep thinking about all the mold (none / 0) (#13)
    by Militarytracy on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:00:07 AM EST
    that's getting killed right now.  DIE MOLD DIE!

    Parent
    It always comes back though ... (none / 0) (#24)
    by Maryb2004 on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:24:10 AM EST
    It freezes here but by summer the mold count is still astronomical.    But a cold winter makes for a better spring :)

    Parent
    I keep telling (none / 0) (#35)
    by standingup on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:44:17 AM EST
    myself the same thing, the extended cold period will help cut down on the pests when things warm up. If it makes you feel better, just 100 miles west of you we will drop down to -8 tonight.

    Parent
    I know you all are having it worse (none / 0) (#44)
    by Maryb2004 on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:59:39 AM EST
    We've been fairly lucky so far.

    Stay warm.  

    btw - It's nice to "see" you - it's been too long since I've actually seen you in person.

    Parent

    Thanks (5.00 / 1) (#58)
    by standingup on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 12:16:10 PM EST
    and hope you stay warm too. Last year was an unusually busy one. Hope we can make one of the gatherings this year, if there are any.

    Parent
    Fun in sub-zero weather: (none / 0) (#53)
    by DFLer on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 11:41:40 AM EST
    Take a pan of boiling water out and toss it in the air.....it will evaporate in a cloud, then trickle down in little ice drops to the ground. (apparently boiling water turns to gas more quickly than cold water, in the freezing air.)

    Living in an area where, last week, the high temp did not get above zero, in some areas; and where it was 17 below air temp at 9 am last week....well yes some do have it colder.

    Read an interesting article in the Mpls. Star Tribune (sorry can't find to link)about the fact that this cold all the way south is due to arctic winds, that normally cycle in a tight pattern around the Arctic, but are currently loose and goosy ('cause Arctic is warmer?) and are pushing the cold air south. Shades of Day After Tomorrow This weather pattern is stronger than the warming effects of El Nino.

    Parent

    Thanks Dark Avenger (none / 0) (#68)
    by DFLer on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 01:46:48 PM EST
    and the weather pattern of the Arctic winds that I was referring to is called "Arctic Oscillation"

    found the article: Strib

    Parent

    cold (none / 0) (#50)
    by TeresaInPa on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 11:26:50 AM EST
    is a better preservative for us who are getting older.  Just think of all the tanning you can not do.

    Parent
    took a snow day yesterday (5.00 / 2) (#15)
    by Capt Howdy on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:02:56 AM EST
    and stayed home to play with the snow dogs.  the weather was dreadful and perfect for sitting by the fire and drinking hot chocolate and periodically going outside to run around in the blowing drifting snow we have what must be close to a foot.
    hard to tell with the drifting.
    the dogs are in heaven.  they would come in with ice caked on their heads and looking like snowballs.
    and then want to go back out.

    I can't believe... (5.00 / 1) (#19)
    by kdog on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:11:51 AM EST
    what a stink is being made about the "security breach" at Newark Airport...we've gone totally bed-wetting mad...the guy just wanted one more goodbye kiss for christs sake and (gasp!) crossed a non-velvet rope.

    I've never seen such a bunch of scaredy cat ninnies in all my life...we are shot.  He never got near getting on a plane.

    I feel bad for all the passengers (none / 0) (#22)
    by vml68 on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:20:45 AM EST
    who had to hang around in the airport because their flights were delayed 12-18 hours. That just sucks. If the d@mn TSA cameras were working, they would have known it was not terrorist related.
    And, since we keep hearing how the NYC area is AQ's dream target, should'nt we have state of the art security systems at Newark and JFK?

    Parent
    At this point... (none / 0) (#40)
    by kdog on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:55:24 AM EST
    vml, and I know I'm alone here...I'm ready to roll the dice with the blood-thirsty crazies and just make the airport like the bus station.  Death and destruction we can handle...its the little things that drive a man mad.

    Bukowski said it best in The Shoelace.

    Parent

    I will say (none / 0) (#80)
    by nycstray on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 02:37:42 PM EST
    I'm looking forward to not living in "AQ's dream target" any more. Not for any fear, but just all the effin' BS that goes with it.

    Parent
    The concern is why he got through (none / 0) (#28)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:30:05 AM EST
    which is because . . . the guard left his post.  For quite a while, it seems.  And others who were supposed to be monitoring the video must not have been doing so, since it was waiting passengers who reported the problem.

    I think it's a legitimate concern, no matter that this time, someone got through so-called "security"  for love of a woman, not hate of this country.

    Parent

    I guess... (5.00 / 0) (#43)
    by kdog on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:59:21 AM EST
    I still think we're a bunch of scaredy cat ninnies though:)

    Parent
    Why? Lots of people are flying (none / 0) (#60)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 12:44:48 PM EST
    so what is the evidence that we're scaredy cats?  That we talk about our fears -- fears based on realities?  Better that we not talk about them?  Why?  Not the manly thing to do?

    Parent
    What we put people through.. (none / 0) (#62)
    by kdog on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 12:50:08 PM EST
    to fly proves us to be irrational scaredy cats.

    Sen. Frank "Yellow Knickers" Lautenberg is a good example...read in todays paper he wants the lovebird who passed the non-velvet rope identified and apprehended...if I was in AQ I'd be laughing my arse off right now.

    Parent

    Ah, then by "we," you mean government (5.00 / 1) (#63)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 01:12:30 PM EST
    That is a useful clarification.  So you see the Obama administration, in its directives to agencies, as over-reacting -- or perhaps reacting not too much but in the wrong ways.  

    What would be the appropriate reaction, then, do you think?

    Parent

    If we must do something... (none / 0) (#65)
    by kdog on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 01:32:28 PM EST
    bomb puffers and/or bomb-sniffing dogs for explosives, metal detectors for weapons, impenetrable cockpit doors...and thats it.  

    Everything else is illusionary nonsense that just makes us look like idiots.

    Parent

    The technology of terror (none / 0) (#67)
    by jondee on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 01:43:02 PM EST
    is just going to co-evolve with the technology of "security". And we'll STILL be sh*tting our knickers.

    It's ludicrous.

    Parent

    Going on 9 years of WOT... (none / 0) (#69)
    by kdog on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 01:49:20 PM EST
    I'd still be more worried about the plane plain old crashing than the plane being hijacked or blown up...deferring to the odds of past perfomance, being a gambling man and all.

    Wouldn't it be ironic if all the people sick of flying hit the interstates and car crash fatalities rise...driving is still the most dangerous way to travel last I checked.  In our effort to "save lives" we get more people killed...man those unintended consequences are a b*tch ain't they?

    Parent

    Just wait till the next attack (none / 0) (#73)
    by jondee on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 02:18:51 PM EST
    that actually comes off -- and kills a few hundred people.

    The panic-stricken lemmings will be ready to be willingly sent to occupy Pakistan, Kashmir, Gaza and all the refugee camps by the time Pentagon's p.r firms are done spinning it.

    Parent

    I fear you're right... (none / 0) (#75)
    by kdog on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 02:22:30 PM EST
    look how one mutant with some PETN in his drawers has us running around with our hair on fire?

    Parent
    "Remember Flight 104 !" (none / 0) (#79)
    by jondee on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 02:36:19 PM EST
    "Remember the Alamo!"

    Parent
    What do you think of this? (none / 0) (#74)
    by vml68 on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 02:20:04 PM EST
    Mind reading systems

    Parent
    I don't like it.... (none / 0) (#77)
    by kdog on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 02:28:28 PM EST
    don't like it all...I'm with the critics mentioned in the link...the same concerns popped into my head before I even got to that portion of the link.

    Mind reading technology is too scary to even think about...thats the kinda sh*t that makes me wet the bed:)

    Parent

    I could just see some (none / 0) (#78)
    by jondee on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 02:31:32 PM EST
    harmless neurotic person going through the line going to themselves "dont think about blowing up a plane, dont think about blowing up a plane..No!!"

    Kinda like when they tell people on safari not to look the baboons in the eyes and everybody does.

    We wont even get into "mind reading" being the ultimate imposition-violation and who else gets to access that kind of technology.

    Parent

    Other than involvments (none / 0) (#66)
    by jondee on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 01:37:32 PM EST
    in things like U.N peacekeeping missions, convert 90% of our military to a infrastructure improvement, conservation and public service projects, or deal constantly with the Blowback and concomitant fear and panic that results from constantly meddling in other countries affairs.

    Either that, or just acclimate somehow to the constant fear, panic and overreaction status quo; which isnt going to go away until Big Pharm starts coming out with some much better happy pills.

    Parent

    Just saw this story on Yahoo (5.00 / 2) (#27)
    by Militarytracy on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:27:15 AM EST
    Granted it is about stores destroying unsold clothing instead of donating it.  With as cold as it is though right now it really does remind me of the stories about the fruit crops being destroyed during the Great Depression trying to drive the price up.

    The story has been on CNN (5.00 / 2) (#33)
    by vml68 on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:38:35 AM EST
    for a couple of days. It is truly horrendous considering the state of the economy. I don't know what these companies were thinking. Think of the goodwill they could have built by donating those clothes.

    Parent
    I'm going to offer a counterpoint that (5.00 / 1) (#36)
    by tigercourse on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:44:21 AM EST
    may or may not be correct. An African studies professor once told my class that a large percentage of donated clothes never go to people in this country, but are sold cheap in Africa, where they serve to prevent the growth of a local textile industry.

    Parent
    I have seen that in cities in Asia. (none / 0) (#42)
    by vml68 on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:56:32 AM EST
    You see people selling gently used clothing on the streets that have been donated by people in the US/Europe. From what I was told, that is a result of corruption. Instead of these items going to charity as was intended, they get sold to these small time "entrepreneurs" with the bureaucrats pocketing a tidy sum for making sure the goods get misdirected.

    In this case, these are new clothes being destroyed by these stores. The only explanation I can come up with is that if they had donated these items, the goods would have gone to the very demographic that shops at these stores.

    Parent

    That's also how the pro sports leagues (none / 0) (#48)
    by scribe on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 11:21:38 AM EST
    dispose of the premade t-shirts and hats they'd made for the teams that wound up not winning the Super Bowl, World Series, etc.

    They'd ship that bundle of a couple hundred "Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl Champions" t-shirts to some remote village where no one even knew what Arizona or a cardinal was.

    I'm not surprised, though, that Walmart was trasing stuff rather than give it to charity.  Seems both wholly in line with their company philosophy and consonant with their corporate interest in milking the poor.  Why give it to your customers when you can sell it to them?

    Parent

    That's true (none / 0) (#81)
    by gyrfalcon on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 02:44:40 PM EST
    of the big collectors-- Goodwill, etc.-- from what I've read.  They actually sell the clothes to companies in Africa, which turn around and sell them to the people there.  Goodwill, of course, uses the money they make to fund other good projects.  And there simply isn't a need in this country for the incredible volume of clothes Americans throw away.  Many churches have huge bins of used clothing they give away free to the poor, but they have more than they can handle a lot of times and have to ask people to stop donating them for a while because they're overloaded.

    Warm clothing isn't the problem for the poor in this country, it's food and shelter-- and health care.

    OTOH, the fact that this stuff has completely stifled the development of home-grown industry in the countries it goes to is I think a real big negative.

    Parent

    Uh-oh (5.00 / 3) (#47)
    by DancingOpossum on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 11:21:31 AM EST
    Obama has some 'splainin' to do:

    White House visitor logs dumped late in the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve show that Billy Tauzin, the top lobbyist for the prescription drug industry and once a favorite target of Barack Obama, visited the White House at least 11 times in Obama's first six months in office.

    The White House's open door for Tauzin, whom candidate Obama attacked as the embodiment of the revolving door and the corrupt collusion between politicians and industry, further dismantles the myth of Obama as the scourge of special interests. It also bolsters the conclusion that health care "reform" has become a boondoggle for the health industry, especially pharmaceutical companies.

    http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Once-Obama_s-target_-lobbyist-Tauzin-now-his-pet-8722075- 80746897.html

    Nothing like handing ammo to your enemies, eh what?

    Heh (5.00 / 1) (#76)
    by CST on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 02:25:19 PM EST
    Guiliani "We had no domestic attacks under Bush; we've had one under Obama"

    That's rich.

    It is cold down here (none / 0) (#2)
    by Militarytracy on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 09:30:32 AM EST
    I left the car in the driveway.  The humidity in the air last night eventually froze the door insulation to the frame and even the inside of the locks a bit this morning.

    Heh. Just remember the three warmest (5.00 / 1) (#52)
    by scribe on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 11:35:44 AM EST
    words in the English language:  "Flannel lined jeans".

    IF you think you're alone in a winter wonderland, consider this:  there is such a severe winter storm (Actually, a series of storms and a major cold wave) going on in Europe that German radio reports there are many cities in which sleds have totally sold out.  And, FWIW, there are towns in Sweden and Norway where the temperatures have gotten down to -40.  (-40 F and -40 C are the same temp, BTW).  That temperature is where the mercury in the thermometer freezes.  This article has a nice picture of the whole of Britain covered in snow, as seen from space.

    And last week where I am it snowed for four days straight and will go below zero this weekend.  IT was 11 when I took the dog out for her walk this morning.

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    -52 and heading down in the Dakotas (5.00 / 5) (#61)
    by Cream City on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 12:48:22 PM EST
    the other night -- and with blizzard winds, too.

    It's everywhere.  But it's really hard on the folks on the rez there, the Pine Ridge reservation (site of Wounded Knee), as a lot of them still lack electricity and central heating, rely on wood stoves, etc., and the wood is buried now.  Anyone interested in doing a good deed can google the groups that work to help the First People still treated so terribly in their ancient sacred lands.

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    Alabama won ugly IMO (none / 0) (#9)
    by Saul on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 09:56:57 AM EST
    Had McCoy not gone down Texas would have won hands down.  McEelroy was sacked I believe like 9 times.  The defense for Tx was fantastic but the back up quarter back was no McCoy.  His lack of experience and mistakes cost Tx the game. Yet he still threw for 2 TD's.   When Tx got the ball back with 2 minutes left with only a three point difference in the game the young TX quarterback got sacked and fumbled.  Had it not been for that I'm sure they would have won it.  

    Anyway Alabama met their only true competition yesterday.

    You could see it in Sabin's eyes and demeanor when interviewed that yeah it was a win but it was not a true win since they were playing against the second stringer quarterback of TX

    A win is a win is a win (none / 0) (#12)
    by Militarytracy on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 09:59:10 AM EST
    Pffft....a true win?  Alabama cannot help it if a McCoy is such a WATB.  I just learned what a WATB was the other day, when I found out I was one too :)

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    That's the breaks (none / 0) (#14)
    by jbindc on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:02:09 AM EST
    Part of the game - people get hurt.

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    I don't much care either way (none / 0) (#88)
    by jimakaPPJ on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 09:02:25 PM EST
    but we now know that the AL QB had two broken ribs from the SEC Championship game that were taped up.

    That accounts for some of AL game plan.

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    I want (none / 0) (#29)
    by Capt Howdy on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:32:17 AM EST
    to go hiking here

    Caminito del Rey

    El Caminito del Rey (English: The King's little pathway) is a walkway or via ferrata, now fallen into disrepair, pinned along the steep walls of a narrow gorge in El Chorro, near Álora in Málaga, Spain.

    Awesome. n/t (none / 0) (#34)
    by vml68 on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:43:22 AM EST


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    Yikes. (none / 0) (#49)
    by desertswine on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 11:23:01 AM EST


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    Grapes of Wrath (none / 0) (#31)
    by DancingOpossum on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:35:36 AM EST
     
    stories about the fruit crops being destroyed during the Great Depression

    There's a wonderful depiction of that in the "Grapes of Wrath." Speaking of movies that are oh-so-timely...I recently watched it again and was stunned at how much could apply to what's happening today.

    Blech (none / 0) (#32)
    by DancingOpossum on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:36:18 AM EST
    My reference to that "Grapes" scene was from the book, of course, I don't remember if that was in the movie.

    It's one of those times in the semester (none / 0) (#38)
    by andgarden on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:52:51 AM EST
    where I again emphasize how evil the Bluebook is.

    Question about the full body scans.... (none / 0) (#45)
    by vml68 on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 11:07:56 AM EST
    Will the scans be viewed by security personnel of the same gender as the passenger?
    Or can I look forward to a male security person looking at all my lumps and bumps in a beautiful shade of blue-grey... :-)?!

    If we're gonna use the stupid things... (none / 0) (#46)
    by kdog on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 11:13:54 AM EST
    I think the passenger should get choice of what gender they want looking at their blue/grey privates...same policy should apply to pat downs and strip searches too.

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    For my NYC brothers and sisters... (none / 0) (#54)
    by vml68 on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 11:48:37 AM EST
    Whole foods has wild pink Maine shrimp on sale for $3.99. I loaded up yesterday, very sweet and at a great price.

    You can never let (5.00 / 1) (#55)
    by CoralGables on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 11:52:20 AM EST
    an anti health care reform Whole Foods CEO influence a good NYC shrimp buy.

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    Main shrimp! (none / 0) (#84)
    by gyrfalcon on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 03:04:39 PM EST
    Small, but oh, so, so, so wonderful!  The "season" for them is for some reason December and January, so get 'em while you can.  They're very hard to find outside of Maine, but Whole Foods often carries them.

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    NYPD does it again... (none / 0) (#56)
    by kdog on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 11:57:14 AM EST
    Woman walking the streets of Sunset Park at night?  Must be a hooker, lock her arse up...pay no attention to the asthma attack.

    Shee-it... (none / 0) (#71)
    by kdog on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 02:11:04 PM EST
    If I worked there my whole wardrobe would consist of clothes boss-man told me to throw away.

    Random thought... (none / 0) (#72)
    by kdog on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 02:14:59 PM EST
    how long before MADD starts advocating for all drunk drivers to be charged with the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction they are charging the Scrotum-Bomber with, and be subject to life?

    Evil (none / 0) (#85)
    by DancingOpossum on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 03:23:54 PM EST
    how evil the Bluebook is

    It truly is an abomination. Why aren't you using ALWD instead? It was supposed to be an improvement, and it is, but kind of in the way spending five days in Hell is an improvement on spending 10 there. No, really, toss the Bluebook.

    Law students have (none / 0) (#90)
    by BackFromOhio on Fri Jan 08, 2010 at 10:01:19 PM EST
    better things to do than spend tons of time checking the darned blue book.  How about learning ethics or substantive law?

    A rite of passage.

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    Friday Morning Open Thread | 89 comments (89 topical)

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