Thursday Night Zodiac Open Thread

As of late, I have developed something of an obsession or a muse with Astrology. I have been asking everyone, random people even, what their signs are.

I am a Taurus, so being as stubborn as I am, it takes a lot for me to love something and commit to it, but when I do, you won’t get me to budge. I have a moon in Leo, which makes me more sociable and charismatic then other Taurus’. As a Taurus, my planet is in Venus, so I am all about the love.

It is Thursday night. From now on, every Thursday Night at the Confluence, I will do a Zodiac related post as an open thread. Conflueceans may discuss anything they want, as long as it is tied into the Zodiac in some way. Discussions of your signs are also welcome. (This is what I am after.)

Conflucian’s Say: Stress and Shin Splints

How are you handling the Great Recession of 2009?  Are you getting enough sleep?  Eating well?  Exercising? Wanna talk about it?  Join us tonight at 10PM EST for Conflucians Say  on PUMA United Radio for the Wellness Edition, among other things.

Update:  Whooops!  There is no show scheduled tonight.  Next week for sure.  But let’s not waste a post.  How are you handling the recession?

Thursday: Read it and Weep, Jon Corzine

Chris Christie (R) leads Jon Corzine (D?) in the polls for governor.

From RealClearPolitics:

Polling Data

Poll	Date	Sample	Christie (R)	Corzine (D)	Und.	Spread
RCP Average	04/17 – 05/18	—	44.5	36.8	14.0	Christie +7.7
Quinnipiac	05/12 – 05/18	2532 RV	45	38	13	Christie +7
Rasmussen Reports	05/12 – 05/12	500 LV	47	38	9	Christie +9
Monmouth/Gannett	04/23 – 04/27	609 RV	39	35	18	Christie +4
Strategic Vision (R)	04/17 – 04/19	800 LV	47	36	16	Christie +11

See All New Jersey Governor – Corzine vs. Christie Polling Data

Oh, I’m sure Jon will pull it out in the end.  Maybe.  I mean, it’s not like we haven’t had Republican governors before and nothing awful happened.  The state didn’t fall into the ocean or anything.  True, our property taxes didn’t go down, but then again, they didn’t go down under Corzine’s leadership either.  In fact, he was less than ineffectual in reducing them.  He just sort of threw up his hands and said the legislature should work it out.  Thanks, Jon.  It’s not like there aren’t plenty of more equitable ways to fund the state.  We have Pennsylvania, right next door, that has a mix of funding mechanisms as an example of how it could be done.   But WE, the homeowners of NJ, have to fund *everything*.  Excuse us for expecting you to hit up your friends in the business community and the wealthy feudal lords of Bergen and Morris counties to foot some of the bills.

Well, nothing ventured, nothing, er, ventured.  If Corzine isn’t going to do anything about moving the property tax issue off of dead center, NJ might as well punish him for giving away ALL of our delegates to Obama at the Democratic convention last year.  I’m not about to start campaigning for Christie, a former federal prosecutor who sucked up to the Bushies.  As far as I’m concerned, Republicans are intellectually and morally bankrupt and I’m not voting for them.  But Corzine’s going to have to go it alone on this one.  I want him to have to fight and fight hard for every vote.  I want him to OWE us big time.  I want him to realize how hard it was for Hillary last year when everyone in the world was against her and her friends were abandoning her left and right.  I want him to have a cathartic moment and finally understand that voters should be respected and their ballots are sacred things, not to be capriciously tossed away for some hot young thing with billionaire bankers funding him.

Let’s hope that Christie gives Corzine a run for the money and uses the clip from the Convention in his ads with something like this as a tagline: “He didn’t listen to you in 2008.  What makes you think he’s going to listen to you in 2010?”

Karma’s a bitch, Jon.

Your Breakfast Read, Served By The Confluence

Good News and Bravo

FBI arrest four in alleged plot to bomb Bronx synagogues, shoot down plane

The FBI and NYPD busted a four-man homegrown terror cell Wednesday night that was plotting to blow up two Bronx synagogues while simultaneously shooting a plane out of the sky, sources told the Daily News.

The idea was to create a “fireball that would make the country gasp,” one law enforcement said.

POTUS Obama vs Candidate Obama

Obama: Still Opposed to Truth Commission on Torture

Dick Cheney’s displeasure and Nancy Pelosi’s discomfiture may have revived the idea of setting up a “truth commission” to look into the Bush-era counterterrorism policies, but President Obama still wants no part of it. According to David Axelrod, the President’s senior adviser, Obama remains convinced that looking forward rather than back “is best for the country.”

Obama Is Said to Consider Preventive Detention Plan

President Obama told human rights advocates at the White House on Wednesday that he was mulling the need for a “preventive detention” system that would establish a legal basis for the United States to incarcerate terrorism suspects who are deemed a threat to national security but cannot be tried, two participants in the private session said.

Obama picks financial backer for UK ambassador post

Chicago friend Louis Susman chosen for plum posting despite president’s promise to end cronyism in Washington

Obama admin. opposes Joe and Valerie Wilson’s request for Supreme Court appeal in suit against Cheney, Rove, Libby and Armitage (via HuffPo)

Obama Will Try to Quell Concern on Detainees

President Obama will attempt today to answer critics of his dismantling of Bush-era policies on detention and interrogation, in a speech reminding Americans that strong national security and adherence to laws and national values are not mutually exclusive.

Obama Off Message

David Broder was constantly criticized for being a Bush sycophant, but that was wrong. He sucks up to everyone who’s in power (well except Bill Clinton)
Obama in Command

Weaklings

Why Democrats buckled to GOP fears on Guantánamo

The Senate denied Obama the money to shut down the prison, in part because Democrats didn’t want to be seen as soft on terrorism.

GOP Quo Vadis?

I learned the following with lots of regrets.
RNC drops resolution to call Democrats “Socialists”

The General vs 2 draft-dodging creeps
Powell, Limbaugh step up the rhetoric on the future of the GOP

“Rush Limbaugh says, ‘Get out of the Republican Party,’ ” Powell told the crowd. “Dick Cheney says, ‘He’s already out.’ I may be out of their version of the Republican Party, but there’s another version of the Republican Party waiting to emerge once again.”

Limbaugh appoints Colin Powell head of GOP

Middle East Watch

Iran Test-Fires Missile With 1,200-Mile Range

Iran’s missile test is playing with fire, says Israel

Israel demolishes West Bank settler outpost

Obama allows transfer of technology to make UAE first Arab nuclear state

Critics of the decision argue that could lead to an arms race in the Middle East, encouraging other countries seeking nuclear technology. They say does not make sense at a time when the US is engaged in trying to persuade Iran to abandon its uranium enrichment programme that Washington sees as intended to achieve a nuclear weapons capability.

The Never-ending Story

Iraq Bombings Shatter Lull

Three bombings in Iraq on Thursday killed at least 21 people and wounded more than 50 others, as American soldiers, police officers, and members of American-allied Awakening Councils were targeted, police officials said. Shattering a recent lull in violence, the bombings brought to over 60 the number of people killed in a 24-hour period

Iraq: Kirkuk Suicide Bombing Kills Six

Economy Watch

Retirement Increasingly Elusive In Today’s Economy

Geithner hopeful, cautious over financial system

Calif. voters nix nearly all budget issues

Craigslist’s terrible, horrible, very bad week

New iPhone could go on sale July 17