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Wednesday Open Thread

Did Ilyas Kashmiri really have a third eye? I've seen this reported a few places:

[Senior Taliban Commander]Qari Idrees said Kashmiri had taken part in Afghan Jihad against the Soviet occupation army and lost his two eyes and three fingers of his right hand in an explosion. However, he said, later his right eyesight was restored through a donated eye brought from Sri Lanka.

Lawyers for Dominique Strauss-Kahn have filed their first discovery request.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

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    I read where (5.00 / 2) (#2)
    by CoralGables on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 11:36:58 AM EST
    Fox News Sunday is intending to apologize this coming weekend for showing a picture of Tina Fey and identifying it as Sarah Palin. My question is, to whom are they planning to apologize? My suggestion is, they should apologize to Tina Fey.

    reading Bossypants now (none / 0) (#19)
    by CST on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 02:50:46 PM EST
    Tina Fey is just awesome.  She has a whole chapter about the Sarah Palin debacle.  

    Paraphrased:

    If I was wondering whether anyone was watching 30 Rock, the answer was now clear, they were not.  No one had even noticed that I left SNL.  Or that when I was there, I only read the news.  Brown hair!  Glasses!

    For anyone looking for some seriously funny escapism slash light reading, I highly recommend it.

    Parent

    School's out for Prof. Feingold (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by Towanda on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 11:39:50 AM EST
    so he's marching at his state Capitol with residents of the tent city, "Walkerville" -- since so few are allowed in their Capitol now, almost shut down by the governor.  Dozens of protesters are arrested daily now, as did not happen in previous protests.  

    But no one is noticing beyond a few media there.

    Heat Wave!... (5.00 / 1) (#11)
    by kdog on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 01:26:35 PM EST
    Burning in my heart....

    Hot as balls and I'm loving it...hittin' the Sound after work for a dip...Summer is here, at least in NY, and at least until Sat...glorious.

    after 3 straight months (5.00 / 1) (#12)
    by CST on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 01:34:57 PM EST
    of March, I will take it!  Humidity and all.

    Just no more tornadoes please.

    I feel kind of bad for everyone who grew a playoff beard.  But at least that means the Bruins are still in it to win it!

    Parent

    Ugh! (none / 0) (#13)
    by jbindc on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 01:41:35 PM EST
    October and it's glorious weather can't get here soon enough!

    Parent
    Go Canucks! (none / 0) (#14)
    by kdog on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 01:52:10 PM EST
    Nice hot weather or not, still a hater:)

    Here's one we can agree on...US looked pretty sound against Canada in Gold Cup action.  otoh, Mexico looked unstoppable vs. El Salvador...Chicharito is ridiculous, only Messi is better right now.

    Parent

    Thank goodness (none / 0) (#16)
    by CST on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 02:11:33 PM EST
    after they stunk up the joint against Spain last Saturday I was feeling a little worried.  Then again we played our "B" team against their "A" team and their "A" team is a lot better than our "A" team.  I felt kinda bad for my main man Howard though.

    I really want the Bruins to pull this one out.  It would be the icing on the cake of an obscenely great sports decade for Boston.

    I will say I'm glad we are sending more hockey teams to Canada though.  It makes such a difference to have people who care watching on both sides.  It's no accident that this is the highest rated cup in over a decade.

    Parent

    Obscene Decade... (none / 0) (#18)
    by kdog on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 02:20:50 PM EST
    my thoughts exactly, less the "great".

    RE: the US team, I dig Tim Ream's game on D, hope Bradley keeps playing him.  Agudelo looked so so...too green.  We need a striker badly.

    Parent

    Soccer (none / 0) (#21)
    by Dadler on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 04:26:22 PM EST
    Scorching, record temps here, too (none / 0) (#23)
    by Towanda on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 04:53:13 PM EST
    which means, of course, big thunderboomer storms soon to break the heat.  And then, forecast is for a 40-degree drop tomorrow.  From the high 90s to the mid-50s in two days.  Ah, Midwestern summer.

    But after a horridly late and lousy spring, this is wonderful.  Rain and heat are giving me a great garden, at last.  Of course, the grass is a foot high, as it has been just too darned hot to get outside to do anything other than gaze, at last, at the irises and peonies and last of the lilacs and my favorite, rare yellow tea rose bush.  And soon, all this rain soon will make my heirloom climbing roses bloom.

    I deferred an extended trip out of town to be home in my garden this June.  I missed June here last year, the loveliest month before the heat of July and August -- the heat that we've had for two days.  That beats two months of it!

    Parent

    Casino Jack (5.00 / 1) (#17)
    by ScottW714 on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 02:20:47 PM EST
    Saw it last night, pretty good, it tied everything together.

    Worth seeing just because it's funny, a bunch of idiots trying to make a bunch of cash, without any sense of right/wrong or even legal.  

    I didn't know someone was murdered over the casino adventure, or that Abramoff wrote and produced Red Scorpion starring Dolph Lundgren.

    I'll have to check it out.... (none / 0) (#20)
    by kdog on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 03:02:07 PM EST
    One for you guys...HBO has a new series of documentaries airing...first up was the Bobby Fischer doc.  Well worth a watch....wild dude, wild life story.  

    The cold war side-story was especially interesting...the USSR pumping all this money into making chess championships and one latchkey kid from Brooklyn becomes the best of them all.  An argument against excessive central planning? :)

    The fine line between genius and madness, and the tendency of chess masters especially to go stark raving mad...all so very interesting.  A bunch of 'em in the series look like they will be good as well.

    Parent

    Couldn't finish watching the Fischer (none / 0) (#67)
    by brodie on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 02:14:43 PM EST
    doc -- clearly a case of someone who hadn't been allowed a normal childhood, which was totally taken up with chess, chess and more chess.  And so, when he'd finally achieved his life-long goal of becoming world chess champion, there was nothing but a broken foundation to fall back into, and so all sorts of even weirder behavior ensued.

    And one interesting thing -- his opponent in the championship, reigning world champ Boris Spassky, showed every sign of being very normal psychologically (disproving the thesis that all great chess masters are nuts), and took his beating by Fischer like a good sport, despite having to put up with weeks of bizarre tournament conduct by Bobby.

    Btw, the recent liberal-minded Russian chess master (names escapes me) who in recent times has been very outspoken about Putin and the lack of democracy in Russia, also seems entirely normal.

    Fischer just failed to have anything remotely approaching a normal childhood.  It could have been chess or the cello or gymnastics which obsessed him in those years, but it was an obsession, a total one, and it ruined him emotionally.

    (btw, someone can remind me how it ends -- I couldn't bear to sit till the end, such a depressing story in the post-championship yrs ...)

    Parent

    The ending... (none / 0) (#74)
    by kdog on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 02:37:59 PM EST
    he anti-America rants during the 9/11 attacks while in exile in Japan after the trouble he got in for playing in Yugoslavia violating US/NATO sanctions, G-Dub gets pissed and has Japan pick him up.

    Iceland steps up and agrees to take him in, and he immediately embarasses them with a anti-semitic rant during a press conference.

    But god bless the tolerant Icelanders, they gave him a home till he died of cancer a few years later.

    Parent

    Yes, but there is a difference (5.00 / 2) (#29)
    by KeysDan on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 06:54:22 PM EST
    between an assumption and  a fact.  And, as we know, Republicans are really into facts.

    sorry I had to delete the comment (none / 0) (#33)
    by Jeralyn on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 11:02:19 PM EST
    you are replying to for spelling out the "p" word. Censor software at law firms and spammers and all.

    Parent
    This one is for you kdog (none / 0) (#1)
    by MO Blue on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 11:36:26 AM EST
    LAGUNA WOODS, Calif. (AP) -- Joe Schwartz is a 90-year-old great-grandfather of three who enjoys a few puffs of pot each night before he crawls into bed in the Southern California retirement community he calls home.

    The World War II veteran and stroke sufferer smokes the drug to alleviate debilitating nausea and is one of about 150 senior citizens on this sprawling, 18,000-person gated campus who belongs to a thriving -- and controversial -- medical marijuana collective operating in the middle of one of the largest retirement communities in the United States.
    ...
    Many members of the 2-year-old collective keep a low profile, but others grow seedlings on their patios and set up workshops to show other seniors how to turn the marijuana leaves into tea, milk and a vapor that can be inhaled for relief from everything from chemotherapy-related nausea to multiple sclerosis to arthritis.

    The most recent project involves getting collective members to plant 40 seeds from experimental varieties of marijuana that are high in a compound said to have anti-inflammatory properties best suited for elderly ailments. The tiny plastic vials, each containing 10 seeds, are stamped with names like "Sour Tsunami." link



    Thanks MO... (5.00 / 1) (#10)
    by kdog on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 01:24:21 PM EST
    great story...I could always use 150 new friends...grow old-timers grow!  And feel better for it:)

    Parent
    Leisure World, baby (none / 0) (#4)
    by Dadler on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 11:49:40 AM EST
    Can you imagine if this place gets busted?  A riot of canes and ankle braces.

    Parent
    I think my mom's 90+yo cousin (none / 0) (#7)
    by nycstray on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 12:10:21 PM EST
    lives there  :)

    Parent
    Pay her a visit... (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by kdog on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 01:54:41 PM EST
    they might need some pointers from one of our resident whipper-snapper green thumbs:)

    Parent
    Makes me think of the show Weeds (none / 0) (#8)
    by republicratitarian on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 12:21:15 PM EST
    Daniel Ellsberg says all Nixon would (none / 0) (#5)
    by oculus on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 11:54:00 AM EST
    He is right IMO (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by MO Blue on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 12:07:29 PM EST
    Precedent has firmly established that anything the president does is legal.

    Parent
    You Mean... (none / 0) (#9)
    by ScottW714 on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 12:59:49 PM EST
    ... Republican President.  Pretty sure this one can't even move prisoners w/o permission.

    Parent
    Anthony Weiner's wife, Huma (none / 0) (#22)
    by jbindc on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 04:28:53 PM EST
    I don't get this at ALL (5.00 / 1) (#48)
    by observed on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 12:30:27 PM EST
    What on EARTH is the relevance of his wife's pregnancy?? I feel like I'm living in an insane asylum.
    So NOW he should resign, because there's proof he actually had sex with his wife????
    It's not our business and never was.

    Parent
    Days of our lives (none / 0) (#24)
    by andgarden on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 04:54:01 PM EST
    Any other gossip to share?

    Parent
    Breitbart, the political dumpster (5.00 / 1) (#27)
    by KeysDan on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 06:37:05 PM EST
    diver, released the full monty photo of Congressman Weiner.  Absolutely no reason to do so at this stage.

    Parent
    He wants him gone. (none / 0) (#30)
    by nycstray on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 07:07:07 PM EST
    Breitbart wants (5.00 / 1) (#31)
    by Zorba on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 07:09:43 PM EST
    anyone to the left of Ronald Reagan (or maybe Dick Cheney) gone.

    Parent
    Yes, and, don't forget, (none / 0) (#32)
    by KeysDan on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 09:27:28 PM EST
    Weiner lied to Wolf Blitzer.   He has to go.

    Parent
    Who is our General Welch? (none / 0) (#49)
    by observed on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 12:31:49 PM EST
    Not sure what the nastiness is about (5.00 / 1) (#34)
    by jbindc on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 08:17:30 AM EST
    It just makes the whole story even sadder.  Sorry if it doesn't comport with your always "lofty" (cough) comments.  And considering we're commenting on a blog where everyone, including the people who write the posts, engage in gossip, your comment is frankly, ridiculuous.

    Parent
    I think the whole "story" is nasty (none / 0) (#56)
    by andgarden on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 01:14:36 PM EST
    The private, consensual, non-flagrantly hypocritical, sexual activities of public figures are none of my business.

    Parent
    I'm not sure if it (none / 0) (#60)
    by brodie on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 01:46:48 PM EST
    was entirely consensual when Weiner allegedly sent the x-rated pix of himself or x-rated twitter messages, perhaps to some very young adult women (and one hopes not younger than young adult).

    I started out more in his camp re resigning, and have now moved to undecided/lean resign.

    The more I learn of this guy, the more I think, as with his ex girlfriend Kirsten Powers, also initially supportive, that the guy has some serious emotional issues he needs to deal with, preferably with a professional in the area, 2-3 times/week.  Iow, this is not just a garden variety adulterous (virtual) fling or innocent flirtatious behavior that truly should be private (e.g., Bill Clinton/Monica, or Gary Hart & the Monkey Business blonde).

    One thing that is keeping me from fully calling for him to step aside is the continued presence of lawbreaking adulterer Sen Vitter in the senate, and some of the good which has come out of l'affaire Weiner which is the long-overdue bad publicity for the Louisiana Diaper Dandy.  I'd like to at least see that bad pub continue for him for a little longer, before Weiner is forced by his party to retire.  

    Parent

    I'm not getting this... (none / 0) (#61)
    by kdog on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 01:53:11 PM EST
    need for therapy business...maybe cyber-sexting is his therapy for an over-active libido?

    And if I hear one more piker call him a sexual predator I'm gonna puke...they do a disservice to the victims of actual predators.

    I have not seen or heard anything that leads me to believe these internet virtual cyber flings were anything but consensual.

    Parent

    It may be his "therapy" (none / 0) (#65)
    by brodie on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 02:04:57 PM EST
    or his release, but again I wonder if the young women on the receiving end were entirely comfortable with it.  Not sure if we have enough evidence on that at the moment, but some of the sexting messages seem rather sextually aggressive in nature, and of the type I'd expect most women, even younger ones, would not welcome.

    Sexual predator may be too strong a term, but I'd say the guy was showing some remarkably immature and borderline disturbed behavior, certainly below and beyond just a guy having an extramarital fling or semi-fling like Bill Clinton or Hart.

    And do you think Bill CLinton himself -- the guy who officiated his recent wedding -- or Hillary, Weiner's wife's boss at State -- are just matter of factly dismissing what he did as some here advocate?  Unlikely.

    Parent

    I don't think Bill... (none / 0) (#68)
    by kdog on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 02:18:42 PM EST
    has a moral leg to stand on...he leaped from fantasy to actual schtupping...as far as we know, Weiner stuck to fantasy.

    Can't speak for the women of course, but the Blackjack dealer was definitely comfortable with it and encouraged it.  I don't know why you think only men could or would enjoy some virtual reality nookie.  Immature, perhaps.  A little freaky? Sure.  I can't leap to disturbing or requiring professional help, absent additional info.  This is a more popular and prevalent pastime than I think people realize.  

    Do you know how those transcripts got out btw?  Was it the blackjack dealer or Facebook?  

    Parent

    Now of your damn business, or mine (none / 0) (#64)
    by andgarden on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 01:56:12 PM EST
    I am unpersuaded by your insinuation that there's anything nonconsensual to be seen. Certainly I'm not going to go looking.  

    If a woman feels that Weiner has harassed her, she can make that accusation.

    Parent

    Rule of thumb though for straight guys (none / 0) (#66)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 02:12:54 PM EST
    Don't send any woman you are interested in or bonded to photos of your wiener.  The day that we get sick of looking at it is the day your troubles have really begun :)

    Parent
    No worries Tracy... (none / 0) (#69)
    by kdog on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 02:22:18 PM EST
    even if a lady asked, I couldn't do it.  I don't even like taking regular PG pictures...I'm a memories guy, or a close your eyes and imagine guy.  

    I can enjoy a portrait of the female form, but I prefer classy over Larry Flynt style:)

    Parent

    Yeah, but I don't advise it (4.50 / 2) (#25)
    by sj on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 06:23:51 PM EST
    If you go to jbindc's link and then click on the "quietly signaled" link and read the comments, you will get some seriously icky gossip.

    I will not provide a shortcut for you.  You wouldn't want it anyway.

    Parent

    Three well-informed individuals report. (none / 0) (#26)
    by oculus on Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 06:30:32 PM EST
    Who?  Rep. Weiner, his spouse, and her ob-gyn?  Ridiculous.  I blame it on "Advertise Liberally."

    Parent
    Apparently (none / 0) (#35)
    by jbindc on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 08:24:24 AM EST
    Their friends and family knew.  Any of which could have told two friends, and so on, who could have leaked this news at this time.

    Parent
    Paging Pharmacuetical Co's... (none / 0) (#59)
    by kdog on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 01:42:09 PM EST
    You guys are always making new drugs to treat new things...how about some R&D in a drug that makes people mind their own business...there is a huge market.

    Breitbart is lucky Weiner is not a street justice guy...serious violation of the street guy code opening this can of worms...typically punishable by a clock-cleaning.

    Parent

    Or a safe drug which could (none / 0) (#62)
    by brodie on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 01:55:39 PM EST
    lower one's testosterone level sufficient to make our male pols satisfied with what they have at home with their (usually) attractive spouses, as in the case at hand.

    Or maybe it's an anti-exhibitionist drug I'm looking for -- this guy seemed to get his jollies showing off his bod and the lower parts, and to people (we don't know yet how many) he'd never met.  Something kind of almost sick about that -- a 46 y.o. and newly wed to a very good-looking wife.  A 16 y.o. showing off like that -- perhaps that's a little more common with the new techonology these days.  But a middle-aged guy just married?

    Parent

    To each their own... (none / 0) (#70)
    by kdog on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 02:27:59 PM EST
    It gets a lot freakier than an exhibitionist fetish brodie...thats almost tame compared to some of the kink out there....boggles the mind.  

    Like the movie "8mm", there are things I wish I could unsee:)

    Parent

    Well the one rival Weiner (none / 0) (#73)
    by brodie on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 02:37:00 PM EST
    has for kinky, at least wrt recent scandals, would be the Diaper Dandy David Vitter.  Which, again, is one reason I'd sort of prefer this one play out a little longer, assuming our side and some in the media rightly continue to call out the GOP for their hypocrisy in enabling that Louisiana prostitute-palling pol.

    Parent
    Add... (none / 0) (#71)
    by kdog on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 02:30:19 PM EST
    they had that testosterone lowering procedure  back in the day...I think they were called eunuchs.  Good luck getting a guy to volunteer for that:)

    Parent
    FIFA (none / 0) (#36)
    by CST on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 10:24:23 AM EST
    "the Iranian women's soccer team has been disqualified just before a crucial qualifying match for the 2012 London Olympics because of the Islamic headscarves they wear while playing. FIFA officials concluded that the scarves the players use to cover their hair break the association's dress code."

    Link

    "This ruling means that women soccer in Iran is over," said Shahrzad Mozafar, the team's former head coach. She said that as a result of FIFA's decision, the Iranian government will no longer send the team abroad for competitions."

    This is messed up on so many levels.  We should be supporting the fact that they have a women's soccer team, not punishing the players for the actions of their government.

    Let them play! Let them play! (none / 0) (#37)
    by kdog on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 10:33:08 AM EST
    I can see FIFA's point here, all sports have their uniform dress codes.  Really Iran should let the ladies play without head coverings, no place for superstition in sport, but thats not gonna happen...FIFA should step up, be the better party, and make an exception. More important for sport to cross the lines that divide us and bring us together.

    Knowing FIFA, all it will take is a well-placed bribe to get around this rule...should we take up a collection in small unmarked bills? :)

    Parent

    Are males of the Sikh faith permitted to wear (none / 0) (#40)
    by oculus on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 11:27:54 AM EST
    wear their turbans?

    Parent
    Good question... (none / 0) (#41)
    by kdog on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 11:48:54 AM EST
    can't say I've ever seen any dudes with their heads covered in a game under FIFA's jurisdiction.

    I should have said no place for religion in sports, not my slang usage of "superstition" meaning religion...lots of superstition in sports.  Can't believe Wade Boggs really ate all that chicken:)

    Parent

    According to news reports, FIFA permits (none / 0) (#53)
    by oculus on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 01:03:20 PM EST
    hajib above collar bone, but not obscuring it.  Not sure why, but them's the rules.  

    Parent
    Since when need there be... (none / 0) (#55)
    by kdog on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 01:06:00 PM EST
    a good reason for rules...rules for rules sake.

    Parent
    Because they then do consider it (none / 0) (#63)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 01:55:49 PM EST
    a religious symbol instead of a way to make women publicly ashamed of their own bodies, and powerless and voiceless.  I have mixed feelings about all of it.  I understand why FIFA is doing it, and I understand how painful it must be for the women who have no other choice.

    I view it like I view racism and the klan in the South....zero tolerance.  And in this there are innocents involved and hurt, there always are.  When I shun your mom and dad for being racist and evil, if you are their child you are subject to it too.

    Parent

    The thought (none / 0) (#39)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 10:56:06 AM EST
    that this has brought to my mind is what is with fundamentalists and women's hair? I just don't get it. When I used to travel to NY the Hasidic Jews would come into the showrooms with their heads covered too. I had to ask someone in the showroom why they did that.

    Parent
    Menfolk see a lovely lady's locks... (none / 0) (#54)
    by kdog on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 01:04:40 PM EST
    and they have "unpure" urges...or some nonsense like that.

    Why that is the ladies problem I have no idea...make the fellas wear blinkers or a blindfold if they can't handle it:)

    Parent

    I think it's (none / 0) (#57)
    by CST on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 01:15:39 PM EST
    pretty rediculous myself.  But I don't see much of a point in picking a fight over it.  Why are breasts considered more clothing-worthy than arms?  Cultures in general are weird.

    This ban on neck-warmers and scarves is relatively new.  I don't think I've ever heard of a single instance of someone being choked on the soccer field.

    It seems like a rediculous line in the sand to draw considering all of FIFA's other problems.  And when you add in the fact that this will prevent - not just the entire Iranian team, but also women on other teams who have objections - from playing, it's just wrong.

    Parent

    I'm inclined to agree... (none / 0) (#72)
    by kdog on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 02:32:59 PM EST
    but not for nuthing, we aren't talking about a ban on a particular race, creed, religion...were talking about a ban on hats.  If you wanna play that bad just take the hat off.

    I feel bad for the ladies, they were used as pawns in a FIFA v. Iran d*ck-swinging match...but it's worth noting we're talking about hats...not a ban on women playing or blacks playing, etc...just hats.

    Parent

    You mean FIFA (none / 0) (#44)
    by Nemi on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 12:10:53 PM EST
    the organization that claims it's Mission and Goals for women's football is - among other things:
    to popularise the game by increasing public awareness and conducting information campaigns as well as overcoming social and cultural obstacles for women with the ultimate aim of improving women's standing in society.
    The organization that recently in a democratic election for the fourth time elected 75 year old Sepp Blatter, in an election so democratic that the only other contestant had prior been taken out due to bribery allegations - allegations that Blatter himself had been cleared of ... by his own organization.

    That FIFA? [Snort]

    As Maradona, who never was one to mince words say, it's a museum run by "dinosaurs who don't want to give up power".

    Parent

    Back in 2004 (none / 0) (#46)
    by Nemi on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 12:24:24 PM EST
    that same Blatter earned himself the nickname Sepp" Hot Pants" Blatter by:
    suggesting female players wear tighter shorts to promote "a more female aesthetic".

    Sepp Blatter said women should have skimpier kit to increase the popularity of the game. "Let the women play in more feminine clothes like they do in volleyball," he said.

    "They could, for example, have tighter shorts. Female players are pretty, if you excuse me for saying so, and they already have some different rules to men - such as playing with a lighter ball. That decision was taken to create a more female aesthetic, so why not do it in fashion?"


    Sure, why not? [repeat snort]

    Parent
    in other words (5.00 / 1) (#52)
    by CST on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 01:01:42 PM EST
    we are willing to consider uniforms that will attract more men to women's soccer, but we will not consider uniforms that will allow more women to play women's soccer - thus attracting more women to women's soccer.

    Parent
    The Iranian women's soccer team was in tears after being forced to forfeit a 2012 London Olympics qualifying match this past weekend because it showed up to play in hijabs.

    FIFA banned the Islamic head scarf in 2007, saying that it could cause choking injuries -- the same reason it gave for recently banning snoods (neck warmers).

    FIFA also has strict rules against any religious statements in team uniforms.

    Since Iran refused to comply with these rules and didn't use the specially designed caps that its 2010 Youth Olympics team wore, Friday's match was abandoned by officials and a 3-0 win was awarded to Jordan as a result.

    The Football Federation of Iran said it will complain to FIFA about the ruling, but FIFA says assurances were made beforehand so that this situation would've been avoided.

    From the AP:

    "Despite initial assurances that the Iranian delegation understood this, the players came out wearing the hijab, and the head and neck totally covered, which was an infringement of the laws of the game," FIFA said in a statement. [...]

    Jordan team officials also objected to the hijab rule before the game, but prepared to play by declining to select women who objected on religious grounds.

    "The Iranian team and three Jordanian players were also banned from playing because they wore the traditional head cover," Rana Husseini, head of Jordan's women's football committee, told The Associated Press.

    "The problem is that the head cover assigned and approved by FIFA for women players to wear does not suit them as it reveals part of the neck and this is not allowed and it is not acceptable," she said.

    Iran also forfeited a second group match against Vietnam on Sunday, seriously damaging its chances of advancing to the London Olympics.

    It seems unlikely that its federation's complaints will help its case, though, since these rules are not new and compromises have been made in the past.

    It's just a shame these women were put in the middle of this debate between Iran's federation and FIFA and set up for disappointment.




    Parent
    Paging Fellow Conspiracy Theorists... (none / 0) (#38)
    by kdog on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 10:51:27 AM EST
    The Bilderberg Conference is underway, plotting another years worth of global reverse Robin Hood economic tyranny.

    Tune into Alex Jones this week for the straight dope:)

    What the big secret is I can't tell ya...I assume the usual, figuring out how to get more of the pie for fewer people...same as your local private exclusive country club, only on a larger more exclusive scale.

    I was wondering what... (none / 0) (#43)
    by kdog on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 12:05:54 PM EST
    the guitar strings were all about...Happy Birthday Les!  He changed the game forever.

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    Very, very cute (none / 0) (#45)
    by Zorba on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 12:14:00 PM EST
    I'm sure that I'll spend way too much time there today.   ;-)

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    And (none / 0) (#75)
    by CoralGables on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 03:38:42 PM EST
    you're able to record your own guitar playing for playback ('m not very good)

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    Segue: golf course. (none / 0) (#47)
    by oculus on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 12:30:10 PM EST
    LAT

    City council of Burbank votes to loan a lot of money to golf course, which mayor deems "too big to fail."  City council is also considering cutbacks to librarys, fire dept., etc.

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    I was ready to rail... (none / 0) (#51)
    by kdog on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 12:56:30 PM EST
    till I saw its a municipal golf course, not a private club.

    One could argue a municipal golf course is akin to a public park, aka a public good...trying not to let my anti-golf bias cloud the issue, obviously I'd prefer a park or preserve or ballfields if it was my town, but thats taste:)

    I think parks and outdoor open spaces are a good use of resources, few better...take it from the police dept budget before fire and libraries though.

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    Interesting plan for Apple's (none / 0) (#58)
    by brodie on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 01:30:48 PM EST
    new corp headqtrs office building in Cupertino -- part mothership in look and part Pentagon in size.

    I like curved buildings, myself, and some of the private houses built to resemble spaceships -- such as comedian Jackie Gleason's FL flying saucer house built in the early 60s -- are attractive to the eye and look like interesting places to live.  

    From what I've seen, I'm in favor.

    Me too, looks pretty (none / 0) (#76)
    by ruffian on Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 04:12:38 PM EST
    and from what I read pretty environmentally friendly, for a corporate mothership.

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