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Thursday Morning Open Thread

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Blog Related
Posted on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 10:00:42 AM EST
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    Thursday Morning Open Thread | 44 comments (44 topical)

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    newsflash (none / 0) (#1)
    by Capt Howdy on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 10:02:15 AM EST
    old people like reading stories that make young people look stupid.

    Older people enjoy reading negative stories about young
    Buried (none / 0) (#2)
    by Capt Howdy on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 10:07:58 AM EST
    I think Ryan Renolds is exceptionally hot but I wonder if he can carry a one man show.
    reviews say he can.

    The entire movie takes place in the coffin, with Ryan Reynolds providing the only on screen performance.
    He makes some valid point (none / 0) (#3)
    by dead dancer on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 10:40:50 AM EST
    TheAmazingAtheist

    Breaking news (none / 0) (#4)
    by MO Blue on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 11:04:01 AM EST
    GRAND ISLE, La. (AP) -- An offshore oil rig has exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, west of the site of the April blast that caused the massive oil spill.
    AP

    It hasn't been determined whether the structure is a production platform or a drilling rig or whether workers were aboard.

    Not a production platform (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by gyrfalcon on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 11:14:52 AM EST
    apparently, but nobody seems to know yet what the explosion means.  12 or 13 people on the rig, at least 12 "in the water" and waiting for rescue.

    The rig is on a shelf and in only 450 feet of water, apparently, so whatever it is should be easier to manage.

    Parent

    Who gets to apologize to the oil company (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by scribe on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 11:41:27 AM EST
    first?  

    Parent
    BBC and WAFB.com (none / 0) (#7)
    by KeysDan on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 11:44:49 AM EST
    are reporting the rig to be in 2500 ft of water.  

    Parent
    Saw the same over at TPM (none / 0) (#8)
    by scribe on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 11:49:51 AM EST
    and their link to AP.

    Parent
    According to Mariner company (none / 0) (#14)
    by gyrfalcon on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 12:09:38 PM EST
    guy on CNN as we speak, the rig in question is in only a couple hundred feet of water.

    Parent
    I think they got that wrong (none / 0) (#11)
    by gyrfalcon on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 12:01:07 PM EST
    but it always takes a while to sort this stuff out.  This company has a number of platforms and rigs in the area.  CNN at least has been reporting consistently for about the last hour that it's on a shelf and in only a few hundred feet of water.

    Latest I'm hearing is that it's a fixed structure attached to the bottom, and I don't think you can do that with a deepwater platform.  Supposedly now, this is a gas production platform that's normally unmanned but had a dozen people on it for some repainting or some such.

    But all that depends on whether they've pinned exactly which Mariner rig this is, so it may all turn out to be wrong.

    Parent

    You are right, (none / 0) (#15)
    by KeysDan on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 12:14:48 PM EST
    it will take a bit to sort it out.  May be some added confusion with Marine Energy's rigs, Vermillion 380, which most are reporting.  But there are others around (Vermillion 398 and 360, for example).  Of course, we know that any depth can be bad (e.g. ixtoc l, 50 m) if there is a spill.  

    Parent
    True, but (none / 0) (#44)
    by gyrfalcon on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 11:21:24 PM EST
    they've learned a lot (not least from the BP debacle) and technology has vastly improved since Ixtoc, which was a lonnng time ago.

    Parent
    Oil sheen reported (none / 0) (#18)
    by MO Blue on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 01:35:49 PM EST
    NEW ORLEANS, La. (AP) -- A mile-long oil sheen spread Thursday from an offshore petroleum platform burning in the Gulf of Mexico off Lousiana, west of the site of BP's massive spill.

    Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Coklough said the sheen, about 100 feet wide, was spotted near the platform owned by Houston-based Mariner Energy Inc.

    He said Mariner had deployed three firefighting vessels to the site and one already was in place fighting the blaze. AP



    Parent
    Let us hope that this (none / 0) (#20)
    by KeysDan on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 01:54:25 PM EST
    oil is from that stored on the production platform (can store about 4200 gallons of oil). Sure do not want to see a damaged, wild well. This, based on early reporting, was not a drilling well but facts are often scarce commodities as we have recently noted. For starters, we will need to wait to see if the rig exploded or there was an explosion on the rig.

    Parent
    Just yesterday, there was a rally (none / 0) (#34)
    by KeysDan on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 02:42:32 PM EST
    in Houston (via Financial Times) by members of the oil industry (about 5000 employees were bused to the Convention Center) to protest the Obama Administration's offshore drilling moratorium. Barbara Dianne Hagood, Senior Landman for Mariner Energy (owner of the Vermillion 360) spoke against the moratorium as hurting the oil industry.  And, I would not be surprised if the Administration was listening.

    WaPo reports that from its SEC filing, Mariner claimed that the moratorium on deep water drilling in the Gulf had affected their operations and felt that they would be impacted in the future by increased regulatory oversight and delay drilling.  Of course, the moratorium applies to deep water drilling, this one is, apparently, in shallower waters (340 feet?).  

    Parent

    Sweet Jesus... (none / 0) (#9)
    by kdog on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 11:51:42 AM EST
    and I was sweating the geniuses over at BP messing with the cap on the big spill...now this?

    Not to get all Pat Robertson, but maybe there is a higher power trying to tell us something about our greed, gluttony, sloth, and stupidity.

    Parent

    Don't need no Greater Being (5.00 / 1) (#10)
    by scribe on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 11:57:29 AM EST
    to know that greed, sloth, stupidity and gluttony never yield a good result.  Y'got 5 or 10 thousand years of human history to provide examples.

    Besides, as the book says:  God is too pure to behold iniquity.

    Or, in other words, He don't give a sh*t because when one goes down that bad road, the guy going down the bad road has chosen to leave God-land behind.  All that suffering?  Totally self-inflicted.

    Parent

    Oh yeah... (none / 0) (#12)
    by kdog on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 12:01:59 PM EST
    but we never learn...I was thinking maybe there is a force in the universe giving us another chance with some dire warnings.

    Which we will surely continue to ignore:)

    Parent

    Might want to wait (none / 0) (#13)
    by gyrfalcon on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 12:05:52 PM EST
    to find out whether there's any kind of unmanageable spill here before tearing your hair out.

    Parent
    Larry Barry and Terry (none / 0) (#16)
    by Capt Howdy on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 01:22:18 PM EST
    and Huey Dewey and Brewer

    an Brewer at... uh... um... er... last night's Arizona governor

    amazing (none / 0) (#17)
    by Capt Howdy on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 01:33:46 PM EST
    I've never seen anything like this: The Earth captured in time lapse by an astronaut at the International Space Station, cruising at 17,239 miles per hour--that's 7.7 kilometers per second, or 4.7 miles per second.

    the aurora is sweet from that view.

    you think (none / 0) (#24)
    by Capt Howdy on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 02:10:46 PM EST
    that sickly yellow halo is pollution?


    Parent
    Rod Stewart gives Paris Hilton drug advice: (none / 0) (#19)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 01:42:24 PM EST
    here.

    also:

    LAS VEGAS --  Paris Hilton is looking at being arraigned for possessing cocaine after she was arrested in Las Vegas, but lawyers says it might be a hard case to prove.[...]

    "First they are going to have prove it's her purse and then she had custody of it," Gorin said to LA Times. "When it comes to celebrities, often assistants and entourage handle things like that, so it becomes harder to show they are the ones with the item."


    However...
    A photograph posted by Paris Hilton more than a month prior to her drug arrest in Las Vegas could blow up her claim that the purse she was carrying -- which contained cocaine -- did not belong to her, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting.

    In mid-July, Paris Tweeted a photograph of a purse and wrote: "Love My New Chanel Purse I Got Today :)" That purse appears to be identical to the purse she was carrying when arrested on cocaine possession charges in Las Vegas last weekend.

    RadarOnline.com discovered another photo of Paris with the new Chanel purse before the arrest. That photo was taken July 25.
    Help a brother out... (none / 0) (#21)
    by kdog on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 02:00:57 PM EST
    what's Rod the Mod's take...save some for me?

    Or is he one of those insufferable on the wagon types...I couldn't handle it, so no one can have any fun without me.

    Parent

    "insufferable . . . (none / 0) (#22)
    by Capt Howdy on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 02:08:55 PM EST
    . . . on the wagon types."

    amen brother

    Parent

    Ha! Apparently his daughter and Paris (none / 0) (#23)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 02:10:39 PM EST
    used to be BFFs, though not so much any more. He says he never really got into drugs but that if Paris is into it she should probably stop. That she really doesn't need them. He pretty much presumes she's into it.

    Parent
    hmmmm (none / 0) (#25)
    by Capt Howdy on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 02:13:11 PM EST
    never really got into it?
    that is not how I remember it.

    We did our first gig at Manchester University. We had one rehearsal, one single rehearsal. I said to John, "What am I going to do? I only know one song, 'The Night Time Is the Right Time'," the Ray Charles thing.

    And John says, "Don't worry. Just get up there and sing." One of the guys in the band gave me a pill. It was a black pill, a black bomber. I didn't know anything about drugs, but I took it. It made the song last for almost an hour. I just kept singing the same verses, over and over. That is how I got started.



    Parent
    more (none / 0) (#26)
    by Capt Howdy on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 02:14:50 PM EST
    Rod Stewart: 'Nowadays' Cocaine Is too Weak for Me'

    Parent
    on the other hand (none / 0) (#27)
    by Capt Howdy on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 02:17:46 PM EST
    I suppose some obfuscating is understandable.

    Rod Stewart's Son Leads Magazine's Hollywood Drug Expose

    Stewart, who got sober nine months ago, tells In Touch magazine, "Once, I walked into a club and people threw their cocaine in the air. Another time, I was at a huge house party in the Hills and a very famous sports star was standing in the corner smoking crack. I was completely surprised."


    Parent
    He certainly looked... (none / 0) (#28)
    by kdog on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 02:20:16 PM EST
    coked out of his gourd during the "If You Want My Body" era...but looks can be deceiving.

    Parent
    I'm certainly not here to defend him, but... (none / 0) (#29)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 02:22:04 PM EST
    "He says he was never really into drugs." jibes pretty well with
    And John says, "Don't worry. Just get up there and sing.  I didn't know anything about drugs, but I took it. It made the song last for almost an hour. I just kept singing the same verses, over and over. That is how I got started [in the music biz].

    No?

    Parent
    He was still a teenager at his first gig... (none / 0) (#30)
    by kdog on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 02:30:45 PM EST
    I believe.  He was never into drugs before that first black beauty, that I buy...after that first black beauty, I find it hard to believe...especially being in a band with Ron Wood:)

    Parent
    ROD STEWART EXCLUSIVE: WHY BOTHER WITH COCAINE (none / 0) (#31)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 02:33:23 PM EST
    ROD STEWART EXCLUSIVE: WHY BOTHER WITH COCAINE NOW?
    By Peter Willis 8/11/2005

    HE has enjoyed 30 years as one of the world's top singers, so it's no surprise that Rod Stewart has indulged in a little rock 'n' roll excess along the way. Something of a boozer in his younger, wilder days, he even admits to having snorted the odd line of cocaine. But you wouldn't catch him doing it now.

    "Odd line of cocaine" jibes with "never really into drugs," it seems to me...

    Parent
    but not so much with (none / 0) (#32)
    by Capt Howdy on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 02:37:09 PM EST
    "coke is not strong enough for me anymore"

    Parent
    Really? That's your paraphrase? (none / 0) (#35)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 03:04:07 PM EST
    Here's his quote:
    "I don't know why anyone would want to take coke now. It was different in my day, because it was all so much purer.
    You make it sound like he's into other, stronger, drugs now because he's such a big drug user that coke isn't strong enough for him any more.

    Considering all of his comments from that interview, I'm pretty sure he's really saying something more along the lines of: these days people cut coke with so many foreign impurities, why would anyone want to use it and put those impurities into their bodies.

    Parent

    possibly (none / 0) (#37)
    by Capt Howdy on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 03:09:26 PM EST
    but he also has a whole new audience of blue haired ladies for Forever Young who are not into the same things his audience for Every Picture Tells a Story was into.

    whatever.  revisionist history buggs me.
    I guess my point is any who saw him back then would not believe the current spin.

    Parent

    anyway (none / 0) (#33)
    by Capt Howdy on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 02:37:51 PM EST
    I have seen the guy back in the day and if he wasnt completely tooted he is the best actor evah.


    Parent
    Ya, I never saw him perform, so I'll cede to your (none / 0) (#36)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 03:06:04 PM EST
    observation.

    Parent
    I was once a big (none / 0) (#38)
    by Capt Howdy on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 03:10:27 PM EST
    big Rod fan.  when he was good.  back in the day.
    saw him and Faces a few times.


    Parent
    Stewart was-is a card (none / 0) (#42)
    by jondee on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 03:43:44 PM EST
    I'll give 'im that..

    I remember listening to a (possibly drunk and coked out) rambling, hilarious radio interview with him back in the Faces days, with him going on and on in that Scottish-cockney accent of his about Woody and his trials and tribulations in putting up with Jeff Beck's flamethrower ego when they were both playing in the Jeff Beck Group..

    Stewart and the Faces at one point, more-or-less definitively captured a certain rambunctious, young, working class kid vibe for all time..

    And is there a better in-slightly-over-your-head, coming of age song than Maggie May?        

    Parent

    Every Picture Tells A Story (none / 0) (#43)
    by Capt Howdy on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 03:48:52 PM EST
    is currently in my car cd player

    Parent
    Depends on your definition... (none / 0) (#39)
    by kdog on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 03:13:02 PM EST
    of "into drugs"...many consider the occasional line as being "into drugs".

    By rock-n-roll standards, it probably doesn't qualify...those are high standards:)

    Parent

    Paris Hilton Against Cocaine Use (none / 0) (#40)
    by squeaky on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 03:24:48 PM EST
    She claims to be against using coke.

    If I understand correctly, the said Channel bag is not unique. IOW they are massed produced.

    Besides, Hilton is not so stupid to take a bag that she thought was hers out of the car, and then claim it was not hers.

    The fact that it looked exactly like her bag, would account for the fact that she thought it was hers.

    The case against Hilton is very weak, imo.

    Parent

    Ya, she mixed up her Chanel bag with Cy's. (none / 0) (#41)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Sep 02, 2010 at 03:39:52 PM EST
    She's stoopid like a fox, or so some say...

    Know what I think? I also think the prosecution is going to have a hard time getting a conviction.

    Parent

    Thursday Morning Open Thread | 44 comments (44 topical)

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