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Thursday Night Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 08:08:46 PM EST
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Who's watching the Olympics? Women's snowboarding half-pipe finals are tonight. There's also women's downhill skiing.

Who's watching Survivor?

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

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    Thursday Night Open Thread | 39 comments (39 topical)

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    Iraq Occuaption finally over... (5.00 / 2) (#6)
    by Edger on Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 08:54:33 PM EST
    We've all heard from the Obama WH about the fact the the Great War on Terror, sometimes called The Long War, ended shortly after Obama took office last year, as was evidenced by his renaming it "Overseas Contingency Operations" last year.

    ABC News reported tonight that the Iraq Occupation is, according to the White House, finally over now too!

    ...the Obama administration has decided to give the war in Iraq -- currently known as Operation Iraqi Freedom -- a new name.

    The new name: "Operation New Dawn."

    In a February 17, 2010, memo to the Commander of Central Command, Gen. David Petraeus, Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the "requested operation name change is approved to take effect 1 September 2010, coinciding with the change of mission for U.S. forces in Iraq."

    You can read the memo -- a copy of which was sent to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen - HERE [.pdf].

    [snip]

    Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell had no comment on the memo, saying it speaks for itself.

    The move has met with some criticism. In a statement, Brian Wise, executive director of Military Families United said, "You cannot end a war simply by changing its name.  Despite the Administration's efforts to spin realities on the ground, their efforts do not change the situation at hand in Iraq. Operational military decisions should not be made for purposes of public relations, as the Secretary of Defense cites, but should be made in the best interests of our nation, the  troops on the ground and their families back home."

    If Gates was hoping that "Operation New Dawn" would convey a new period in the US-Iraq relationship, it's not clear that was the best choice of name.

    After all, Operation New Dawn was the name for the bloody and grueling 2004 battle for Fallujah.

    Iraqis all across their country must be cheering wildly.

    You can resume clapping now.

    More like Operation... (5.00 / 2) (#15)
    by kdog on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 09:18:07 AM EST
    New Yawn...my bet on the occupation rolling through 2016 and beyond is still looking like the lock of the new century.

    BTW...Good to see ya around Edger.  

    Parent

    Don't be so cynical, kdog... (5.00 / 1) (#18)
    by Edger on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 10:34:38 AM EST
    All we need now is a flight suit that fits Obama. And are there any aircraft carriers available that aren't too busy preparing to liberate Iran?

    Parent
    Ugh, Iran... (5.00 / 1) (#19)
    by kdog on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 10:40:49 AM EST
    should I chop my nephew's trigger finger off right now to be on the safe side?

    Parent
    Greenwald weighs in on the incident in Austin (none / 0) (#24)
    by FoxholeAtheist on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 01:23:30 PM EST
    Terrorism: the most meaningless and manipulated word. Here's an excerpt:
    Yesterday, Joseph Stack deliberately flew an airplane into a building housing IRS offices in Austin, Texas, in order to advance the political grievances he outlined in a perfectly cogent suicide-manifesto.

    Stack's worldview contained elements of the tea party's anti-government anger along with substantial populist complaints generally associated with "the Left" (rage over bailouts, the suffering of America's poor, and the pilfering of the middle class by a corrupt economic elite and their government-servants).  All of that was accompanied by an argument as to why violence was justified (indeed necessary) to protest those injustices...

    UPDATE: I want to add one point:  the immediate official and media reaction was to avoid, even deny, the term "terrorist" because the perpetrator of the violence wasn't Muslim.  But if Stack's manifesto begins to attract serious attention, I think it's likely the term Terrorist will be decisively applied to him in order to discredit what he wrote...

    Like Greenwald said.

    Parent

    I disagree (none / 0) (#26)
    by jbindc on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 01:31:17 PM EST
    And I could be wrong, but I think the media didn't immediately want to use the word "terrorist" because it could set people into a panic.  Maybe they were acting responsibly until they had more information before making the call.

    Parent
    That would be nice but it would be a first. (5.00 / 1) (#28)
    by FoxholeAtheist on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 01:42:02 PM EST
    To put it another way, it's not easy for me to recall the last time the MSM acted in a genuinely responsible way.

    Parent
    Here's the funny part (none / 0) (#34)
    by jbindc on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 05:26:27 PM EST
    The name has already been used.

    For what, you may ask?

    If Gates was hoping that "Operation New Dawn" would convey a new period in the US-Iraq relationship, it's not clear that was the best choice of name.

    After all, Operation New Dawn was the name for the bloody and grueling 2004 battle for Fallujah.

    Originally, US forces had called the fight for that city "Phantom Fury," but Iraqi leaders suggested it be called al Fajr, or New Dawn.

    "It is with all pleasure that I announce to you that Operation New Dawn has been concluded," the Iraqi minister of state for national security, Qasim Dawood, said at a news conference in Baghdad in November 2004.

    Jeebus - doesn't anyone in this administration check this stuff out?

    Parent

    Men's Long program is on tonight (none / 0) (#1)
    by bridget on Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 08:16:18 PM EST

    Hope Evgeni Pluschenko earns his second Oly Gold

    He really deserves it ... nobody has been so solid on the ice for the last decade - He is the Quad King.

    Go Evgeni!
      fingers crossed

    Bummed about Survivor (none / 0) (#2)
    by ruffian on Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 08:30:34 PM EST
    The only one I really wanted to win got booted. Seems she was a threat to the egomaniac men on her team. Go figure.

    Chris Mathews on Jeopardy (none / 0) (#3)
    by nycstray on Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 08:32:44 PM EST
    I think that was the quietest and most unsure I've ever seen him. He perked up at the end, but my, he was totally different than his normal PIA self.

    Packing and watching/listening to the Oly for me. I can listen like it's sports on radio, but look up for the good stuff. Hope to be somewhat productive on the move in the next couple days . . . .   :)

    He looked like someone afraid of getting (none / 0) (#5)
    by tigercourse on Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 08:48:27 PM EST
    physically beaten up. I honestly thought there was something wrong with him.

    Parent
    He's a type I diabetic whose (5.00 / 1) (#13)
    by observed on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 02:59:58 AM EST
    had lots of health problems in recent years.
    I am sure this is why he sometimes appears out of it.


    Parent
    The questions were pretty (none / 0) (#7)
    by Inspector Gadget on Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 09:45:33 PM EST
    low on the challenging level, and none of them are doing too well.

    The charity he is playing for: Chris Matthews Scholarship Fund :0 to allow children who aren't among the elite to attend the school he went to! He seemed uncomfortable on numerous levels.

    It's only just started on the west coast....I'm hoping he doesn't win...the other charities were far more likely to be ones I'd donate to.

    Parent

    Men's Long (none / 0) (#4)
    by wrensis on Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 08:37:08 PM EST
    I am torn between Pluschenk and Takahasi.  I Daisuke Takahasi do his Hip Hop Swan Lake two years ago at Skate America and was so honored to have been there to see it. Check it out on You Tube;

    Great respect for Evgeni and his decision to come back...tough choice

    BTW Survivor was ....usual survivor.  People plotting and people being plotted against.  But I never fail to watch it (smile)

    So what seems like "the story" about (none / 0) (#8)
    by andgarden on Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 10:45:17 PM EST
     Gov. Paterson is out.

    It reads like a hatchet job to me, frankly. And it's really kind of sad: he's done as Governor.

    nothing there (5.00 / 1) (#11)
    by Jeralyn on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 12:19:52 AM EST
    for all the hype. Certainly nothing to cause resignation.

    Parent
    That is a hatchet job (5.00 / 1) (#12)
    by caseyOR on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 01:53:42 AM EST
    What did Paterson ever do to those people? I especially liked how the article makes an accusation about Paterson; tears him to pieces about it; admits that this sort of whatever happens in other offices, campaigns, etc.; insists that this whatever, which they have now told us is actually pretty common, is somehow much worse when it involves Paterson.

    Somebody(s) really does not want David Paterson to be governor of New York. Who did he p*ss off?

    Parent

    Men's Figure Skating (none / 0) (#9)
    by NealB on Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 11:18:08 PM EST
    Final Results (as they should have been):

    Gold: Evgenie Pleshenko
    Silver: Johnny Weir
    Bronze: Stephane Lambiel.

    The judges were wrong.

    The judges were right! (none / 0) (#10)
    by christinep on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 12:01:38 AM EST
    Evan Lysacek's performance was remarkable in its form, footwork, and overall artistry. In 1988, I was privileged to see the 1988 North American championships and Brian Boitano skate what would become his winning performance at the winter olympics that year. IMO this was the best men's freestyle since that time. While the strength and timing were evident, Lysacek's special conformity of arms/hands with music, form brought me to my feet (and, off the couch.)

    Parent
    I think the decision was correct. Evan skated a (none / 0) (#14)
    by Angel on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 08:14:47 AM EST
    beautiful and almost flawless program, lots of artistry and energy, wonderful spins, landings and great overall footwork.  Pleshenko did the quad and front-loaded his performance with lots of jumps but I found it lacking in spirit and artistry, and his jumps were not as good as Evan's, nor were his landings on a couple of his triples, nor his footwork.  He was a little off in his performance.  Evan's gold medal is well deserved.  

    Parent
    Concur (none / 0) (#17)
    by ruffian on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 09:44:20 AM EST
    I kept waiting for Pleshenko to bust out and 'wow' me, but he never did, as he has in the past. He is a great skater, but it just was not his best night. Not good to have to save the landings of the jumps so obviously.

    Parent
    I missed Pleshenko (none / 0) (#16)
    by CST on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 09:18:41 AM EST
    because the program went late and my dvr stopped, hopefully I'll catch it some time this weekend.

    Other than that, I have to say I don't care how technical he was, Johnny Weir out-skated everyone on the ice last night (including Evan).  He was phenomenal.

    Parent

    I really love Weir (none / 0) (#20)
    by gyrfalcon on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 10:45:34 AM EST
    I like the guys with some distinct personal style and moves of their own and a little passion.  Give me Johnny Weir, Elvis Stojko, Rudy Galindo, Brian Boitano, even Philippe Candeloro, sloppy as he was.

    Parent
    yea (5.00 / 1) (#21)
    by CST on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 10:54:58 AM EST
    and I agree with Dick Button that there is too much focus on the difficulty and not enough focus on the artistry.  I understand there has to be a certain level for high competition.  But you can't measure great skating by the number of rotations in a jump or a spin - alone.

    Johnny Weir was the only one on the ice last night that I thought had that something special, a real flow and style that makes a really powerfull, cohesive skating piece - rather than just a series of jumps and spins to music.  Evan was good but he was working to hard and it showed - it looked like work, not a performance.

    Parent

    Weir skated his very best at th Olys (none / 0) (#36)
    by bridget on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 07:25:46 PM EST
    I was so happy for him and couldn't believe his placement.

    I have followed his skating since he won Juniors. He is such a special skater. He had some rocky times lately but found his confidence again this year and had the skate of his life at the Olys. Congrats, Johnny. Wish you had the Oly medal.

    I hope he can repeat this performance at Worlds.

    Parent

    Evgeni Pluschenko should have won (none / 0) (#35)
    by bridget on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 07:07:25 PM EST

    He had a quad combination and IMO the Oly Gold medal winner SHOULD have a Quad in his program in this time and day - at the v. least. Evan played it safe.

    Evgeni skated with easy and confidence. He had No fall or problems on the ice which would have justified the Gold for Evan L.

    Since Ilia Kulik every Gold medal winner has had the quad.

    Johnny Weir had a wonderful program and he skated it like a dream. He was robbed. Placing him even behind Chan was a terrible decision by the judges. I was stunned.

    I completely understand that the Russians are upset about this outcome. Evgeni must be upset (which he is). I am upset.

    And again, the press has a field day with Russian bashing. Reminds me of 2002 when the Canadian Pair skaters were placed second behind the Russian couple UNTIL they got their gold with the help of the Hamiltons et al and the Canadian and American press who didn't stop the whiny brouhaha until they got a second medal ceremony for the crying Canadian couple. Unbelievable.  

    Too bad Evgeni doesn't have the support of the American and Canadian press. Then he would get Gold as well. And he deserves it.

    Parent

    Quads are not mandatory so they don't have to (none / 0) (#37)
    by Angel on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 08:43:29 PM EST
    do them.  Skating has always been about the combination of technical ability and artistic expression.  The technical aspects are graded on level of difficulty, and Pluschenko's spins were a grade 3 versus a grade 4 for Evan.  EP had some wobbles on a couple of his landings while Evan was flawless.  Also, Evan had jumps in the back one minute of his program and got bonus points for that whereas EP front-loaded his skate, thus no extra bonus point.  Dems da rules.

    No question that EP is showing unsportsmanlike conduct which is a pity because many will remember him for that rather than his other two medals.  I thought his comments were in extremely poor taste.  

    Parent

    A true Olympic champion pushes the sport (none / 0) (#38)
    by bridget on Sat Feb 20, 2010 at 06:24:40 PM EST
    forward by showing the most difficult jumps in his/her programs. The quad has been part of mens technical for 15 years and is expected from the best skaters. None of the top skater would have stepped on Olympic ice without it. And they didn't.

    Evan was not flawless and he may have been clever by taking advantage of this new judging system by counting points but the fact remains that he played it safe. He knew one fall and he was doomed. Like his japanese rival who had a fabulous program but fell on the quad. Pluschenko had a quad combination and he would have never wimped out ..... besides, he is an amazing performer and practically never falls. I watched him put top performances on the ice since age 15 year after year. Thats why he is a true champion. He certainly has a right to be angry. Too bad the judges nationality remains hidden in this new system.  

    Besides Nothing is mandatory in the free program.

    Parent

    If it's so important, why don't all the skaters do (none / 0) (#39)
    by Angel on Sat Feb 20, 2010 at 06:37:58 PM EST
    them and why aren't they mandatory?  Huh?  Pushing the envelope goes beyond doing a quad, it goes to interpreting the artistic aspect as well as being able to do the technical jumps and spins and footwork throughout the entire four minute program, not just the first two minutes.  That's why they give "bonus" points to those athletes who perform at full speed throughout the entire four minutes.  

    So it's taking advantage of the point system when the medal is awarded to the person with the most points?  You really need to think about what your wrote.  

    And even if a skater is great most of the time, they're not always great, and EP wasn't at his best the night that it mattered.  Neither was Michelle Kwan the nights she won the silver medal and the bronze medal.  It's all about showing up and performing the best when the judges are awarding the medals. Sorry, you lose this debate.  I win gold.  


    Parent

    Sen. Lautenberg (none / 0) (#22)
    by jbindc on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 11:44:17 AM EST
    Diagnosed with stomach cancer

    A frequent target of mine... (none / 0) (#23)
    by kdog on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 11:49:10 AM EST
    with all his bedwetting over the terror-kiss incident at Newark Airport...I hope all that fear didn't contribute to his stomach problems.

    I had no idea he was that old...86, damn.  I wish him a speedy recovery, and hopefully second thoughts on retirement.  No shortage of bedwetters in the Senate:)

    Parent

    Amy Bishop thread? (none / 0) (#25)
    by diogenes on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 01:28:54 PM EST
    Is there an Amy Bishop thread here anywhere; the story of someone not charged in her brother's killing who comes up twenty years later and kills three people seems to be a criminal defense story.

    figure skating (none / 0) (#27)
    by DancingOpossum on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 01:34:41 PM EST
    bridget, like you I was rooting for Yevgeni, but I think the judging was fair. He did make some very minor tiny mistakes, whereas Leysenko (sp?) was pretty much flawless. It was a beautiful matchup to be sure. I hope this is not the end of Pleschenko's skating career.

    learned something new today (none / 0) (#29)
    by CST on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 01:51:56 PM EST
    The only Olympic Sport that is single-gender is ski-jumping (and nordic-combined due to ski jumping).  This is true despite the fact that (from TIME): "Lindsey Van holds the record -- among both men and women -- for the longest jump off of Whistler, B.C.'s normal ski jump, built for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics."

    The most messed up part of this whole thing in my view is this quote from an IOC official... named Dick Pound... (can't make this stuff up) "If in the meantime you're making all kinds of allegations about the IOC and how it's discriminating on the basis of gender," he warned, "the IOC may say, 'Oh yeah, I remember them. They're the ones that embarrassed us and caused us a lot of trouble of trouble in Vancouver, maybe they should wait another four years or eight years.'"

    In other words - sit down and shut up or we will continue to punish you just because we can.

    Not good news for the Dems (none / 0) (#30)
    by jbindc on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 02:28:10 PM EST
    CQ's latest analysis of House races coming up in November does not bring good news for the Dems.

    The universe of House seats that Republicans could conceivably flip into their column is expanding and the number of seats that Democrats would wrest from the GOP is dwindling.

    That is the finding of a CQ Politics analysis of all 435 districts in the House, which Democrats control 255 to 178, with two vacancies in Democratic-held districts.

    To accurately reflect the current political environment, CQ Politics has decided to change the ratings of House races in 27 districts. All but four of the changes upgrade the prospects for Republicans -- another sign of the challenge facing Democrats in November and the fact that the party's hold on the House has grown less secure.

    Of the 49 House races that CQ Politics now envisions as the most competitive, Democrats are the defending party in 42 districts and Republicans are the defending party in just seven.
    Depends on how you look at it (none / 0) (#31)
    by Inspector Gadget on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 02:34:22 PM EST
    This could actually be good news if it wakes the Dems up and gets them to start acting like Dems so they have a few really good votes and bills in their recent history while campaigning to keep their jobs.


    Parent
    True (none / 0) (#32)
    by jbindc on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 02:50:50 PM EST
    But what are the odds?  They only have a couple months left - the summer won't really produce any bills as they are home campaigning.  The fall won't see anything get done - too close to the election when voters are actually paying attention.

    They have until Memorial Day (with a week or two break at Easter).

    And seriously - these are the Dems we're talking about. "Get their act together??"

    Parent

    Probably low on odds, but (none / 0) (#33)
    by Inspector Gadget on Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 05:14:47 PM EST
    if they don't, they have no one but themselves to blame if it all goes R in Nov.


    Parent
    Thursday Night Open Thread | 39 comments (39 topical)

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