Good Morning Conflucians!! It’s a chilly morning here in the Boston area. It’s only around 37 degrees right now, but the temperature will be in the 50′s by the time I have to go out. We’re might get a little rain later, but right now it’s very nice out. I do like having the sun out early in the morning again. Of course later in the winter, when dusk begins around 3:30, I’ll wish for daily saving time again. So how is the weather where you are?
BREAKING NEWS
Just minutes ago, MSNBC reported that the runoff election in Afghanistan has been cancelled after the withdrawal of Karzai’s only opponent.
Afghanistan’s chief electoral officer announced Monday that this weekend’s planned runoff election has been canceled.
Daoud Ali Najafi gave no details, but a second senior official on the commission also confirmed the second round has been called off.
President Hamid Karzai had already effectively secured a second term when his only challenger, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, dropped out of the race Sunday because he said the vote would not be free or fair. The first round was marred by massive fraud.
It’s not clear how this will play out, but the UN and US are still involved, and UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon is there today in a surprise visit.
U.N. and U.S. representatives were still involved in negotiations with the two about a power-sharing deal as recently as Sunday morning, according to a Western diplomat who was familiar with the talks but spoke anonymously because of the sensitivity of the discussions.
Abdullah has said his decision not to participate in the runoff is final. But in a sign of how much the situation is in flux, a spokesman said Monday that they could be open to still having a second round if it is delayed to put in safeguards to prevent fraud.
There has been so much turmoil in Afghanistan recently. I wonder how President Obama is going to respond to this latest turn of events?
Update: Raw Story reports that the White House is saying these events won’t affect US policy on Afghanistan.
This just in…. Clinton faces Arab ministers after backing Israel
MARRAKESH (Reuters) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepared to meet Arab foreign ministers on Monday to seek support for resuming Middle East peace talks that Palestinians already say are impossible any time soon….
In Morocco, she was to hold a bilateral meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal as well as group meetings with Gulf Arab ministers and officials from Egypt, Jordan and Iraq on the sidelines of a Morocco development conference….
Palestinians have already reacted angrily to Clinton’s comments and called for a “unified Palestinian-Arab position” on the stalled peace process.
U.S. officials sought to downplay Clinton’s statement in Jerusalem, repeating that Washington had serious issues with Israel’s settlement policy but believed that the most important thing now was to get negotiations going.
But they underscored a shift in U.S. policy that began in September, when U.S. President Barack Obama himself called only for “restraint” in Israeli settlement activity rather than the “freeze” he had earlier demanded.
More Obama waffling? I guess the rest of the world is going to start waking up to the real Obama soon.
ELECTION NEWS
New Jersey Governor
President Obama again stumped for Governor John Corzine in New Jersey. The latest polls show him virtually tied with Republican Chris Christie, 43%-42%.
“He’s one of the best partners I have in the White House. We work together,” Obama said. “We know our work is far from over.”
Obama drew 6,500 people at a rally in Camden and an additional 11,000 later in Newark, according to campaign estimates.
Corzine Recasts Himself in Obama Shadow as N.J. Race Nears End
New York 23 Special Election
The Wingnuts are all up in arms about this one. I haven’t really paid much attention to it.
GOP nominee endorses Democrat after stepping aside under pressure from right
The Republican in a New York House race that has become a symbol of the divisions within the GOP endorsed her former Democratic rival Sunday, a sharp snub to the third-party conservative who forced her out of the race.
Dede Scozzafava, who’d been chosen by local Republican leaders to try to hold the seat for the GOP, instead threw her support behind Democrat Bill Owens — only a day after she unexpectedly backed out of the tough, three-way special election.
Ultimately, her decision not to back Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in the contest to fill former Rep. John McHugh’s open seat is likely to enrage party leaders, who rallied around Hoffman almost immediately after Scozzafava announced her campaign suspension.
Here’s another interesting piece about this race from Nate Silver:
Nevada Senate Race
With election looming, Reid boosts his standing among Nevada liberals
Reid this past week announced his intention to include a government-run health insurance plan in the Senate healthcare reform bill, winning plaudits from prominent liberals in D.C. and Nevada.
The story lists a series of other actions Reid has taken to draw support from liberals. Let’s hope Nevada liberals understand that Reid is not their friend.
Massachusetts Senate Race
So far Martha Coakley is way ahead of all of the other contenders in the polls, and I’m really pulling for her to win this one. We need another woman in the senate, and Coakley would do a great job.
For one thing, Coakley has been standing up to the big banks, including the vampire squid.
In May, without admitting wrongdoing, Goldman became the first firm to settle with the Massachusetts attorney general’s office as it investigated Wall Street’s subprime dealings. The firm agreed to pay $60 million to the state, most of it to reduce mortgage balances for 714 aggrieved homeowners.
Attorney General Martha Coakley, now a candidate to succeed Edward Kennedy in the U.S. Senate, cited the blight from foreclosed homes in Boston and other Massachusetts cities. She said her office focused on investment banks because they provided a market for loans that mortgage lenders “knew or should have known were destined for failure.”
Coakley is also standing up to the Obama administration over gay marriage rights.
States that allow gay marriage can’t force the federal government to provide benefits to those couples, the Obama administration argued Friday in court papers in a lawsuit by Massachusetts.
The Justice Department is at odds with Massachusetts — the first state to allow gay marriage — over a 1996 federal law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
Massachusetts sued in July, saying that law is discriminatory and deprives gay couples in the state of some federal spousal benefits.
The Obama administration agrees the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, is discriminatory and wants it repealed, but says it has an obligation to defend laws enacted by Congress while they are on the books and can be reasonably defended.
They *have* to defend discriminatory laws? Just like they *have* to defend torture and illegal spying?? I’m not buying that argument, are you?
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN NEWS
Teen got life sentence for killing pimp who raped her at 13
The case of a teenage girl who got life in prison for killing the man who raped her at age 13 and pimped her out for three years is drawing renewed attention to an upcoming Supreme Court decision on life terms for underaged felons…. Kruzan is one of 2,574 Americans “sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison for crimes they committed as children,” according to a Human Rights Watch report.
Raw Story provides details about a number of other cases of children who have been sentenced to life in prison.
At Alternet, there is more about the teenage girl mentioned above.
Sara Kruzan was 11 years old, a middle school student from Riverside, Calif., when she met a man — he called himself GG — who was almost three times her age. GG took her under his wing; he would buy her gifts, take her and her friends rollerskating. “He was like a father figure,” she recalls.
Despite suffering severe bouts of depression as a child, until then, Kruzan was a good student, an “overachiever” in her words. But her mother was abusive and addicted to drugs; as for her father, she had only met him a couple of times. So, more and more, GG filled in.
After a couple of years of this loving treatment, Sara found out her “father figure” had been grooming her as a prostitute.
When she was 13, he raped her. “He uses his manhood to hurt,” Kruzan recalls, “Like, break you in. I guess.”
Kruzan worked for GG as a prostitute for three years. The hours were 6 p.m. until 5:30 or 6 in the morning. She and “the other girls” would come back and hand over their earnings to him. “He was, like, married to all of us I guess,” she says. ” … Everything was his.”
After years of prostitution and sexual abuse, when she was 16, Kruzan snapped: She killed GG, was arrested and convicted of first-degree murder. Despite attempts by her lawyer to have her sentenced as a juvenile, the judge described her crime as “well thought-out” and sentenced her to life without parole.
“My judge told me that I lacked moral scruples,” she recalls, a term she did not know the meaning of.
I just want to weep after reading Sara Cruzan’s story.
In Boston, the MBTA has begun an advertising campaign to target sexual predators and perverts.
T officals and Boston Area Rape Crisis Center representatives unveiled the ads at Back Bay station yesterday.
Hundreds of new signs depicting passengers through the lens of a surveillance camera and warnings of plainclothes officers on board will be posted inside MBTA subway cars and buses over the next few weeks, T officials said.
“The awareness campaign’s message is there are certain things passengers can do when this type of thing happens to them,” said Transit Police Chief Paul MacMillan. “It’s also a message to the people who would commit these offenses that we have the means to catch you now.”
I hope it helps, but why not add more police presence too? Yeah, I know why…. the money has all gone to the banksters.
Updates on the Richmond, CA gang rape story:
Richmond gang rape seen as nearly inevitable
Richmond rape victim’s family: ‘Please do not let this happen again’
Plenty of questions but no easy answers in wake of gang rape
OTHER NATIONAL NEWS
Sez the Wall Street Journal: GOP Set to Propose Its Own Health Bill
“What we do is we try to make the current system work better,” Mr. Boehner, of Ohio, said on CNN’s “State of the Nation.” The GOP plan would likely be less costly to taxpayers and involve less government intrusion into the private sector. Mr. Boehner said the bill would take “a step-by-step approach” to expanding coverage.
It would, among other things, propose new limits on medical malpractice lawsuits and make it easier for individuals and small businesses to pool resources to purchase insurance.
Mr. Boehner said the Republican bill would also propose grants for states that use “innovative” solutions to expand coverage. He pointed to states that have created special “high-risk pools” to provide insurance to individuals with pre-existing conditions.
He said the bill wouldn’t raise taxes, nor mandate that individuals and businesses purchase insurance, as the Democratic legislation does.
What can I say? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! That’s a funny article!
AFP analyzes the Obama presidency so far: From ‘Yes We Can’ to ‘Change is Hard’
A year on, the historic promise of America’s first black president is being tested by the grim grind of governing a divided nation humbled by the worst recession in decades.
Abroad, Obama’s policy of engaging US foes has so far yielded few breakthroughs, and the president who came to power vowing to end one war, in Iraq, must now decide whether to escalate another — in Afghanistan.
Obama is battered, his political magnetism is dimmed and he stands accused by opponents of masterminding a disastrous government expansion.
But AFP sees hope on the horizon:
But despite everything, he is still standing, with his approval rating above the crucial 50 percent barrier that defines a viable presidency, and some historic reforms tantalizingly within reach.
Before the end of the year, the president may be celebrating a landmark health care reform bill and a foreign policy victory with a US-Russia deal to trim nuclear stocks.
We’ll see…..
In sports, it was nice to see Brett Farvre get a little of his own back against his old team yesterday as the Vikings decisively beat the Packers.
NYT: What they’re saying about Brett Farvre
Terry Bradshaw: Maybe I was wrong with criticism of Brett Favre
Watching that game yesterday, I had a hard time believing that Farvre is 40 years old.
HAVE A MARVELOUS MONDAY!!!!!!!!
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Filed under: General
Thanks for the roundup BB. The sun has not surfaced yet here in CA but the night sky is clear and crisp. Beautiful day is arriving soon.
The Corzine race is really fascinating to watch. Clearly this race tightened as time has marched forward but it appears to me that the final efforts of Obama are having little or no positive effect. I think voter turnout is going to be the key to the outcome—will Dems show up at the polls in large enough numbers? Will independents show up and if they do, will where are they going to go? Corzine’s approval data (or lack thereof) make the Dem and Independent voter turnout pretty hard to call.
Wondering how RD sees it.
According to the finall PPP polls, both Christie and Hoffman have leads. Voter turnout will be dispositive, as it is usually.
As a NJ resident I have been watching this closely – Christie keeps saying he’s going to lower taxes – wow – I guess he’s a real Houdini – I can’t imagine how that can possibly happen with the current legislature.
I’m no Corzine fan but he actually has reduced the budget by billions but I’m not sure how anyone can get control of the legislators – we need to vote them all out of office next year and start with a clean slate – that’s why Daggett could be a good choice – he’s got about 20% according to the polls and that means he may have a chance – a very slight one – but a chance.
His being in the race has given Corzine and the Repubs pause and that is a good thing – they need to know that we are not happy with either party.
Speaking with one of Corzine’s District people last week lead me to believe that he knows he’s in doodoo with the voters. And I’ve gotten the same message from Christie folks – they know that what should have been a walk in the park for Christie has turned ugly again, simply because people are fed up with both parties and – oh, and BTW he’s run an awful campaign.
So it looks like Plouffe has been assigned to cover Palin, Axelrod is on Limbaugh, Gibbs has Beck, and let’s see, who’s got Savage, who’s covering Savage? What a circus it’s becoming. And that’s just the media.
As I am working my way through the Clinton Tapes, it is amazing to see how this background noise of a press relentlessly pursuing the scent of scandal crowds out any meaningful political coverage of important national issues.
Meaningful political coverage was slim in the ’90s. After the GOP took the House in ’94, I remember it suddenly became popular among the politically shallow to say they were Republicans cause it seemed cool. Kind of like what’s happening now with the Democrats.
Sheeple, sheeple everywhere.
Yes, it’s quite clear that even though Bill was a great president he could have done so much more if the press and a few of the those underhanded Rs had been focused on the country’s needs instead of playing partisan-ism.
What a shame.
Well, let’s not absolve the members of Bill’s own party. They did not give him a free ride on just about anything.
Boy are you right there – what a bunch of goofs
Sexual predators. This is such a curse on the female gender. The rage that expresses itself in rape is muted and expressed in so many other “socially accepted ways” that demean and threaten females. Gangsta Rap, high class Wall St. prostitution rings, the treatment of HRC and Palin—how far removed are they from that mean cement patio in Richmond, CA?
That is so true, jangles!
people say it has nothing to do with video games and music etc… but that is a big part of it. These young people were raised to glorify violence and misogyny and having unstable family lives doesn’t help.
I will say again that these communities have to help themselves. There is no amount of police or better lighting that is going to stop violence/rape.
In addition, women have to be more militant. We have thought for decades that if we just explain it and “educate” men and other women that it will all be solved. But it won’t. Empowering women and that means electing them to offices of power, should be an obvious step.
Locally there is a race between a pro-life woman and a pro-choice man. What do you think his attack adds say? Of course it is about how he protects our rights…as if WE ARE NOTHING BUT UTERUS’S. And you know what..women will flock to the polls and support him, old women, middle aged women who don’t have a dog in that fight anymore, knowing nothing about him or her except where they stand on choice.
The violence in today’s computer games, films, and music does desensitize children and blur the boundaries between fantasy and reality. I believe that no matter what studies may say.
But what to do about it? Censorship? I’m opposed to it in principle and besides, I don’t think it ever really works.
The main thing that is needed is good parenting, IMHO.
I agree, BB. Appropriate limits, absolutely consistent consequences, values based parenting, and choosing the role of parent over the role of buddy are what’s needed, but too often are not provided.
I work in this community and my daughter goes to public school, and I see many parents taking a backseat role to their kids, ceding their authority to the children, who far too often are in charge of the family. About one third of parents want to act like kids themselves or be their kid’s buddy, about one third are afraid to say no to their children out of fear of “hurting” their delicate psyches, and about one third are willing to be the center of authority in the family and act on it.
When I heard that relatives of one of the suspects were claiming it was a racially motivated arrest I was not surprised one bit. A female middle school teacher was assaulted and stoned by students here last year while others took pictures with their cell phones. Later, the perpetrators were described as victims and parents again made claims that the police were being racist. Teachers (!!) and parents alike tried to protect the attackers from the consequences of their actions.
This is just another reflection of the deep misogyny we witnessed in the election. Jangles is right that it’s all connected.
Not nearly far enough removed. Sexual predators are a blight on our whole society.
Lots of dropping out this election season and other interesting twists
http://edgeoforever.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/elections-follies/
The White House non-response on the Afghanistan going on is not reassuring – me thinks Jack and Squat are at it again
…or “Jack IS squatting”…. has to finish reading the latest magazine with his face on the cover before he can come out of the john to make a decision….
CIT Group files for bankruptcy
“The filing would wipe out current holders of its common and preferred stock. That means the US government will probably lose the $2.3 billion it sunk into CIT last year in return for preferred shares to prop up the ailing company.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/11/02/cit_group_files_for_bankruptcy/
Guess that wipes out all that money we made from Goldie Socks paying us back early.
LOL! I know I left out the economic news…I just can’t stand to think about it.
Thanks for the link, catarina!! I ignored the economic news this morning…can’t stand to think about it right now.
The powerless feeling that comes from reading the econ stuff is sometimes better ignored-especially on a Monday, yes?
Meanwhile, the media seems to be ignoring the Citigroup news too-I’d have never found that if my econ news junkie spouse hadn’t pointed it out to me.
I guess it doesn’t reflect favorably. Instead they’ll run pics of MO’s Halloween costume all day.
*cue puking pumpkin*
I don’t think CIT is the same as Citigroup, is it?
CIT is one of the main lendors to small business, not related to CitiGroup at all I don’t think. Them going down could hurt small business prospects and, without those, the economy is sunk further in the muck.
No it isn’t. CIT(at least the arm that declared bankruptcy) is finance company for businesses.
I’m trying to guess which is going to have a bigger impact CIT bankruptcy or Ford’s profit margin.
This is the first break in that dam Dak told us about with commercial loans. We could easily have another dip.
Hi SoD! When is that NY election, do you know?
no, it would not be a hoot!
she’s a friend of Acorn and the SEIU-Obamathugs.
speaking of:
http://detnews.com/article/20091101/OPINION03/911010313/1008/opinion01/Obama-looks-for-union-label
Dede was the chosen of the GOP establishment. Since when is a win by the establishment candidate a rejection of them?
Given that a moderate Republican–an endangered species, largely extirpated from most Republican habitats–was the “establishment” candidate, I think her selection by them may reflect a growing unease by party professionals with the increasingly narrow focus of much of the Republican party. Would Democrats and other moderates/ liberals rather have Scozzafava or yet another radical right wingding Christian dominionist anti-evolution, anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-woman, anti-anyone-not-lily-white-for-the-past-ten-generations bigot?
And why is this even a question?
Since she endorsed the Democrat in the race?
I think her endorsement of the Democrat is pilon, to use a local term, just an extra bit of an already good thing. It seems to me to be a given that a moderate/liberal voter would prefer to have a moderate Republican running against a Democrat because, while the Democrat may be preferred, getting a sane Republican isn’t at all a bad deal compared with getting, say, another Michelle Bachman. It sets up something close to a win-win. It’s just been so long since there were two quality candidates in any given race that it seems we don’t know what to do with such a situation when it happens unexpectedly.
As witness, we now have alleged Hillary supporters cheering Hoffman on and sneering at Scozzaffava as a hated Democrat. I realize our whole electoral process went through the looking glass a long time ago, but I continue to be amazed at some of the permutations.
They *have* to defend discriminatory laws? Just like they *have* to defend torture and illegal spying?? I’m not buying that argument, are you?
Is that the most ridiculous double-talk or what? How can anyone defend this nonsense?
No, but that is what they have been doing all along–defending the Bush policies in court cases.
Re: The Ricmond gang-rape case
One of the above linked articles says the 15 -year old victim ” worried counselors by trying too hard to please the school’s bad boys.” Yeah, let’s blame the victim. Outrageous! And what are school counselors doing talking to the press about the victim’s background??? They should be fired. I am incensed by this.
{{Barf}} I guess I missed that. Yes, that counselor should be fired or retrained.
Worse than Barf….
In the same article, a Richmond ” community organizer ” says the gang-rape ” can represent a teachable moment “.
Will Obama seize the moment and invite the victim and her attackers to the WH for soft drinks?
Wow. The Chronicle is virtually apologizing for the gang. Sick and outrageous. The extent of the permissive liberalism in the Bay area is hard to swallow sometimes.
No he won’t seize the moment because he doesn’t care. The father of two girls proved that during the primary when he permitted (at best) and/or engineered (at worst) the ugly unleashing of misogyny against Clinton that we witnessed during the primary. Frankly, it’s not worth his time, even though he “is what a feminist looks like.” Barf, and more barf.
Of course, I was being sarcastic when I suggested any sort of “soft drink summit” at the WH between the 15-year old and her attackers. The only place the rapists should be is in jail for a VERY long time.
As a school counselor, I agree.
Bad Move.
Unfortunately, I think that the violence will continue to get worse with the deteriorating economy.
A couple of comments in the article struck me. One, that it is really only a few really bad kids behind most of the problems. That was my experience teaching in that environment.
The school grounds should have been secured before something happened, not after.
I believe that pornography contributes to such crimes. I am also against censorship. I believe that society needs to send the message that it is not acceptable behavior. Even the prison culture does not condone this kind of behavior.
Von Der Spiegel (which is like Time+Newsweak combined)
Karzais Schummelsieg wird Obamas Problem
(Karzai Cheating Victory Becomes Obama’s Problem)
Well I’m glad to hear that someone recognizes that. I’m really tired of Obots saying that Obama inherited all these problems from Bush. Obama wanted the job. Presumably he thought he could do better or he wouldn’t have run for the job. (We all know differently, but that’s another story.) Whatever has happened since January 20, 2009 is on Obama’s watch.
Got a loaner. I’ve got a great department chair. It’s slower than mine, but it’s working!!!
d,
+1.
s
i need all the stress reducers I can get this week, I’m overwhelmed
Thank you for the wonderful fall pics. I so miss my MA home. Florida is hot and humid. I live indoors most of the timeUGH!
I have this fantasy that the DNC, the “liberal” media, Obama and his campaign team will acknowledge and apologize for their treatment of Hillary last year. That the indiscretions won’t be swept under the rug and rubbed from our memory. It mattered then and matters now. But since the reckoning won’t come, I have trouble supporting or giving these players the benefit of the doubt on regional elections or much else. No more words. If and when they deliver clear results on a liberal agenda, I’ll be receptive on a local level. I’ll look for independents on the national level.
http://mail.google.com/a/dishmail.net/?AuthEventSource=SSO#inbox/124b52880d1a30f6
even his own team failed to vet backtrack. How wonderful is that for the country.
The USS New York arrived in New York today. Built in LA with some of the steel from the twin towers.
A Harvard grad set fire to the chapel that holds some of the ashes of the unidentified victims of 9/11.
Are the students in some of these ivy league colleges mostly legacy now and from a diluted gene pool?
WOMEN WITH INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERIENCE,MEN WHO SUPPORT THEM AND COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS
PUMAS,BUBBAS,EQUALISTS AND THOSE PEOPLE RULE
http://www.maniacworld.com/dad-returns-from-iraq.html
Just because sometimes we need to be reminded of the good things that happen.
WOMEN WITH INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERIENCE,MEN WHO SUPPORT THEM AND COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS
PUMAS,BUBBAS,EQUALISTS AND THOSE PEOPLE RULE
helenk: that clip is just awesome. It really was touching the kind of joy that is so sweet you just cry which is exactly what I did.
The way I read the story about the Middle East is that Secretary of State Clinton MAJORLY messed up and now the Administration has to save her bacon.
Not quite the “Obama is waffling again!” meme that you gals like to push.
0bot invasion again?
Nope, TC is on West Bank settlements again. So, open it up. Articulate a point of view. Better than leaving comment above just hanging.
Oh, so Clinton reiterates what B0 said in September regarding settlements, and now she has created a major mess up that he has to fix. Yeah, right.
Hey Roz, so nice of you to (cowardly) stop by and drop some crap from the MSM, and run away. We know they are such reliable disseminators of information. BTW: Obama had the exact same position on Israel recently. Hillary is the one doing the heavy lifting, traveling to hot spots and engaging in difficult negotiations while Obama waffles at home. Must be extremely difficult trying to explain his constant waffling and inability to make a clear decision.
Roz,
It is interesting to know that you think that President Obama messed up MAJORLY, according to the aforementioned article. I say this because you believe a MAJOR mess up has taken place and because the article says:
“Clinton’s comments in Jerusalem underscored a shift in U.S. policy that began in September, when U.S. President Barack Obama himself called only for “restraint” in Israeli settlement activity rather than the “freeze” he had earlier demanded.”
This being so, Clinton’s comments to Israel merely reiterated what was said by the President.
Given that you believe a MAJOR mess up has occurred, and the article lays the responsibility for the policy shift at Obama’s feet, are you feeling an odd pins and needles tingle up your leg to discover that you noted a MAJOR mess up that was caused by President Obama?
s
Please release me from Spammy.
TY
Can we have a cleanup at 3:14 please?
Oh never mind !
I agree. Trolls should be allowed to embarass themselves in public.
They must be exhausted after a year of endless justifications, rationalizations, backpedaling, and denial. How much cognitive dissonance can a simple brain take?!
You asked about the weather…
Here in SoCal by the sea it’s about 75 with a gentle breeze off the ocean and hummingbirds fighting in the flowers.
(Bwahahaha
)
As for the other rape case, the one where the girl who had been forced into prostitution killed the SOB who forced her into it, I’d say it was justifiable homicide. She should have gotten a medal for it.
More scary corporate news: Comcast is about to finalize a deal with GE to acquire NBC/Universal (well, getting 51% ownership). Be afraid. Very afraid.
Dandy: Please say more about your reasoning here. Why is it more fearsome to have Comcast getting majority ownership in NBC/Universal than GE?