Open Thread for Monday, July 7, 2014

Some quick possibilities:

  1. Benjamin leaves law firm — Which I suppose means his only jobby-job right now is the part-time one as mayor.
  2. Pope Is Contrite in First Meeting With Victims of Abuse — It sounds like this meeting was pretty intense. “Before God and his people, I express my sorrow for the sins and grave crimes of clerical sexual abuse committed against you,” said the pope. “And I humbly ask forgiveness. I beg your forgiveness, too, for the sins of omission on the part of church leaders who did not respond adequately to reports of abuse made by family members, as well as by abuse victims themselves.” He said the abuses had had “a toxic effect on faith and hope in God.”
  3. More Than 50 People Were Shot In Chicago Over The Holiday Weekend — That statistic just kind of startled me. You? (Originally, I wrote, “That statistic just kind of blew me away,” but then I realized that was not the best phrasing.)
  4. Israeli police arrest six over Mohamed Abu Khdeir killing — As the six Jewish suspects were arrested, Netanyahu denounced the act with which they are charged as “terrorism,” and added “We do not distinguish terror from terror.” No doubt a similar statement will be forthcoming from Hamas regarding the murders of the three Israeli boys. Right? Right?

Or… whatever you want to talk about, within the bounds of civility…

21 thoughts on “Open Thread for Monday, July 7, 2014”

  1. bud

    288,000 new jobs. 6.1% unemployment rate. DOW above 17k. The silence from the right wing blogosphere is positively deafening. But if there is ever the teeny, tiniest bit of bad economic news you’d think the great depression was upon us. So what is the right’s favorite go-to economic statistic? The labor participation rate. Problem is that really isn’t bad news except for the capitalists who need cheap labor. If the labor participation rate is high then wages are likely lower. The reduced size of the labor force has been predicted for a long time as the baby-boomers retire. So why all of a sudden is this a problem?

    1. Doug Ross

      Glad to see you are cheering for the stock market now. Lots of people getting rich..isn’t that great?

      1. Harry Harris

        I’m not sure how paying more for a stock makes a 401K holder richer. If you want to feel rich based on the last price some fool paid for GM stock, go right ahead. Our securities and bond markets have devolved into a betting pool with bookies, tipsters and manipulators getting rich from speculation and greed rather than investors earnings growing from good business performance. Buffett (not Jimmy) probably has the most sensible approach based on bottom line performance and good management, not top-line numbers.

    2. Bryan Caskey

      Bud, Just curious: What are the big sites you are referring to when you speak of the right wing blogosphere?Obviously, other than mine, of course.

      I’d be interested to know what blogs you think are the movers and shakers of the crazy right wingers. Maybe I can pick up some good tips. A top five list, for instance…

      3. bud

        Blogosphere was a poor choice of words. Perhaps echo chamber would be more appropriate. That would include the usual suspects, Fox News, Rush Limbaugh etc. But there is one pretty interesting right-wing website that is always on Obama’s case that keeps cropping up in my Facebook account: http://conservativepost.com/ .

    3. Bart

      bud, I had a nice long response to your comments that can be easily debunked but decided against posting it. After all this time, you are not going to change and no reasonable rebuttal of your comments anyone posts will have any impact on your entrenched convictions and beliefs. Life is too short to waste time beating one’s head against a brick wall.

      1. Bryan Caskey

        So are you conceding that the only way gun control works is that we have to ban guns everywhere?

        Don’t the little stickers, signs, and laws in Chicago apply to all guns, regardless of their point of origin?

  3. Kathryn Braun Fenner

    Steve has blasted through several high-paying law firm jobs. Word is he fails to make the promised rain.

    Does this have to do with the federal investigations? Inquiring minds want to know.

    1. Bryan Caskey

      My completely uneducated speculation is that Parker Poe may not have wanted to be the mayor’s employer of record if/when he is charged with a crime.

      1. Kathryn Braun Fenner

        Word on the street is that he has failed to generate the biz his salary commanded.

            1. Bryan Caskey

              Yeah, you’re right. I guess I was thinking that since Spock was the science officer, he would have been a doctor, but now that I really think about it , the only one I recall them referring to as “doctor” was McCoy (and he always reminded people of it, too).

              They probably don’t have doctorate degrees on Vulcan, anyway.

        2. Silence

          Isn’t Mayor Benjamin still on the McAngus etc. etc. advertisements? I’m pretty sure I see his picture on one every time I go to the airport. Maybe they’ll finally take those down.

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