Sarah Palin names George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” as one of her favorite books back in the day, when she was a voracious reader. Hey! We have something in common. I liked it, too. I think I was around Kate’s age when I first picked it up. It’s the perfect starter novel for a kid transitioning to adult material, just serious enough to let you know you’re reading something Important, but at its most basic level, simple and easy to follow.
Or as my old colleague Bob once noted, it’s so sad when Boxer dies.
In honor of the five hours of sleep I got last night, in anticipation of a weekend spent lolling and cooking and making birthday cakes and studying Russian vocabulary, just for the hell of it — let’s make today a short one.
Go ahead, laugh, I did: Irish priest kidnapped in Philippines released by MILF. Don’t they have dirty-minded copy editors at the Christian Science Monitor? Or are they just having a laff? You could spend all day writing subheds for that one: Pleads for recapture, say, or Announces engagement, plans to leave priesthood. If you must know without clicking, it’s Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Worth your while: A 3-D recreation of Capt. Sully’s genius flight, and thanks to crinoidgirl for finding it.
Even cooler: Starlings in flight. About the only time you’re going to see starlings appreciated in this space.
Now I must shop. See you Monday.
Dutch said on November 13, 2009 at 11:06 am
Well, at least Sarah Palin understood the lessons of Animal Farm and applied them.
Unlike…
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Deborah said on November 13, 2009 at 11:17 am
Enjoyed both flight videos, the birds and the plane. Great way to start a Friday!
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MichaelG said on November 13, 2009 at 1:26 pm
So who counted all those birds? Not Sean Hannity I hope.
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Jolene said on November 13, 2009 at 2:32 pm
When the starling video, which is, indeed, very cool, ended, You Tube suggested this one. More Friday fun.
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Julie Robinson said on November 13, 2009 at 2:42 pm
That was an amazing recreation of the flight. The photo at the bottom says it all–a passenger who wrote “we are very lucky”.
Now, who can recommend some Ramones tracks for a beginner?
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moe99 said on November 13, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Julie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMD7Ezp3gWc
Great song for a Friday!
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Jenine said on November 13, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Watched the Hudson recreation last night with my husband. Sully’s voice speeds up a little bit right after the bird hit. But he never sounds nervous. Amazing.
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Jeff Borden said on November 13, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Julie,
Sheena is a Punk Rocker
Blitzkrieg Bop
Rockaway Beach
The KKK Took My Baby Away
Beat on the Brat
I Just Want to Have Something to Do
…and the pleasantly sweet
Baby, I Love You
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Jeff Borden said on November 13, 2009 at 4:49 pm
WITH APOLOGIES TO JEFF TMMO AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO IS SICK OF CARRIE PREJEAN. . .
Princess Jesus Boobies is not only a flaming hypocrite. She apparently is a real jerk, too.
Prejean threatened walkout before she stepped on set of ‘Larry King Live’
By: Nikki Schwab and Tara Palmeri
Washington Examiner
11/13/09 12:23 PM EST
A huge “nay” for Carrie Prejean.
Upon entering CNN’s Washington Bureau Wednesday night, the first words out of Former Miss California Carrie Prejean’s mouth to CNN news assistant Christina McAusland were, “You tell Larry if he’s not nice to me, I will get up and leave.”
McAusland, who said she admired Prejean for her candor, was shocked by the beauty queen’s tone and warned “Larry King Live” producer John Gilmore of her threat.
Beyond her on-air hissy fit, the beauty queen’s behavior at the studio was classless.
She arrived with an entourage of five, (for cable news Green Room context, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., never arrives with a group that large) and barked at a studio operator for touching her hair while setting up her microphone.
After her appearance in which she dubbed King “inappropriate” and attempted to exit the set, Prejean accused the staffer of lying to her, saying King’s producers promised no phone calls. She belittled McAusland saying, “Is the intern talking to me? Oh look at the little intern, look at the little intern trying to explain!”
“I’ve never been treated so poorly in my whole life,” McAusland, who recently accepted an executive producer position at Newsie.com of Media Convergence Group, said.
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Dexter said on November 13, 2009 at 5:10 pm
I emailed the Sully link to Captain Steve, my daughter’s man, who flies in and out of Teterboro frequently. This link made me shiver…wow, those folks really came close to dying. The whole series of events is amazing.
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Sue said on November 13, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Jeff Borden:
Where is the money coming from for a five-person entourage, I wonder. Who’s funding this girl and when is the money going to get pulled?
Bitch, yes, but she’s a kid, for heaven’s sake, with very apparent 22-year-old social skills. She must be absolutely terrified.
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Jeff Borden said on November 13, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Sue,
She received an advance from the book she wrote. There is a possibility the publishing company has engaged bodyguards, handlers and makeup people to accompany her on her publicity rounds.
I will respectfully disagree that she is a childish 22-year-old with poor social skills. As noted yesterday, she is a pageant girl and has been for years including a stint in her late teens as Miss San Diego. Nancy, who covered a Miss America pageant many years ago, can vouch for the paces these young women are put through including how to handle their fame and the media. This is why her poor behavior on Larry King was so striking.
I covered the TV and radio industry for more than 20 years and reviewed a lot of rock shows early in my career. Fame twists people pretty quickly.
Case in point: When “Miami Vice” was ready to debut in 1984, actor Don Johnson was about the nicest and most accessible actor you could ask for. He had blown one go-around in Hollywood and seemed genuinely grateful for another crack at success in a show that was being seen as a break-out hit. One year later, the guy was surrounded by a cadre of bodyguards and no one was allowed to talk to him.
Apparently, St. Carrie of Silicon has fallen victim to the same malady. Enough people have deferred to her that she now believes it is her due.
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Jolene said on November 13, 2009 at 6:20 pm
“wow, those folks really came close to dying. The whole series of events is amazing.”
And not only them. A lot of people on the ground could have been killed too. They were lucky to have a river to land on. Amazing how fast it all happened.
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Sue said on November 13, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Jeff Borden:
I get what you’re saying. Maybe I’m looking at this from the viewpoint of a mom with a 24-year-old daughter. My daughter has 8 gazillion friends, and one thing I’ve learned from watching poised young women is that they hide their fear well. I’ll give you the spoiled protected brat part if you give me the terrified part.
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brian stouder said on November 13, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Kudos to crinoidgirl for finding, and to the Proprietress for sharing that link about US Airways and Sullenberger (et al); maybe I’m just tired, but I found that completely enthralling (had to keep right over the pause button, so I could read the cross-talk between Sully and his co-pilot). Of course we all know how it ends, yet still it choked me up.
Sue and Jeff – wouldn’t it be marvelous if our national punditry (not to mention our political institutions themselves) would trade points like that? Reaching for the agreed-upon, and past the contested?*
I got a pretty good laugh from this article, about Levi Johnston’s decision to drop his Levis and show off his johnson –
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33898086/ns/entertainment-gossip/
an excerpt:
…according to a source at the photo shoot, Johnston is wearing nothing but a hockey stick. “We have confirmation from the set of Levi’s Playgirl shoot that he has just posed naked with a hockey stick,” Gawker reported. (They also included an additional personal detail, but it’s not something I want to be responsible for searing into your brain.)
I had heard that Playgirl is actually only a website now, and mostly aimed at gay males; upon clicking into their site, I can confirm that apparently lots of fellows appear there with woody hockey sticks in their hands
*I was pondering what the Proprietress said about Governor Palin’s multi-million dollar book advance, and it made me wonder: why can’t some promoter offer a multi-million dollar prize, and with a travelling road-show of OPPOSING big-time pundits and public figures mixing it up with each other in a structured series of debates?
I would spend $30/ticket (or, the price of a hardback book) to take in the spectacle of Keith Olbermann and/or Jon Stewart and/or Rachel Maddow, plus a few credentialed scholars from the left – versus Sean Hannity and/or Glen Beck and/or Anne Coulter, plus a few credentialed scholars from the right.
For spice, they would have to be contesting for the lion’s share of the prize fund
edit: I went to gawker, and the ‘searing into your brain’ detail might have been this nugget: Gawker’s source says, “His ass is smooth as a Sade song.”
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Jeff Borden said on November 13, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Brian,
There was a time when people did pay good money to hear orators take different points of view and debate them. There have been some efforts to revive this idea, but I like yours a lot better.
There’s nothing I’d enjoy more than getting some of our favorite demagogues out of their radio and TV studios and into an open forum, where they would not be able to control the rules of engagement or cut off the microphones of their opponents. Oh, to see Sean Hannity shriveling in the bright light of reason, to see Boss Hogg Rush’s chins quivering under real questioning. . .
It will never happen. These guys prefer speaking to the choir. You’ll see them at CPAC,but that’s about it.
Sue,
I certainly mean no disrespect. I’m childless and lacking in the kind of experiences you’ve had with your daughter. Perhaps Carrie Prejean really is a relative innocent, someone who truly believes she is doing the Lord’s work. Perhaps I’m too cynical. . .35 years in the newspaper business will do that to you. . .but I see dollar signs in those eyes whenever I see her.
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coozledad said on November 13, 2009 at 9:19 pm
It’s beginning to look like the masturbation tapes are a bit of a hobby for Carrie. Seven more tapes, thirty or so nude photos. Talk about product dumping.
The video of Speedo-clad Pat Robertson cavorting in a tub of raspberry jello with Gary Bauer is even doing slightly better in futures trading.
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Sue said on November 13, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Jeff Borden:
No no no, I wasn’t taking your comments as disrespectful. Nor was I assuming Carrie isn’t seriously misguided and a little bitch. I was just saying that, based on my experience with the age group, she’s still a kid, doing stupid things and getting busted big time. Sort of a drunken myspace or facebook photo writ very very large.
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brian stouder said on November 13, 2009 at 10:37 pm
she’s still a kid, doing stupid things and getting busted big time.
I have the exact same reaction. If you close your eyes and skip her exaggerated sexuality, and only listen to the words she says (and her tone of voice) – honestly, she sounds like my 11 year old daughter!
“You’re being inappropriate, Larry”, repeated four times sounds like a paraphrase of how our 11 year old argues with her older brother (every damned morning! – but we digress)
Regarding her fouled up present situation, I heard her plaintively offer (in another interview)that “I’m only 22” – which took me aback! Most 22 year olds would not put that minimzing “only” before their age.
My main impression of her is that she’s not very emotionally or intellectually developed, especially with regard to her singular emphasis on her sexuality
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Dexter said on November 14, 2009 at 12:13 am
http://tinyurl.com/ya9ga6o
Uhggghh. Why try?
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on November 14, 2009 at 9:27 am
Threadjack – Has anyone read “Let the Great World Spin”? Hola, what a ride. Buy it thru Nancy’s link below, or grab the library copy if your state is still funding libraries . . . but read it.
It’s almost as good as “David Copperfield”! (I am not capable of higher praise.)
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moe99 said on November 14, 2009 at 11:05 am
http://wonkette.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/rogue225.jpg
Wonkette captures a page from Going Rogue that seems to encapsulate laPalin’s pov. She was for change waaay before Barack Obama was….
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brian stouder said on November 14, 2009 at 11:28 am
Moe – you’ve given me my laugh of the morning!
“We were change when change wasn’t cool”
hmmmm, let’s think about that. When was change “not cool”? When President Bush-the-decider decided to
[insert long list of well-worn Bush decisions and defaults, including going to war with Iraq, cutting taxes without cutting spending, signing into law the prescription drug benefit without figuing how to pay for it, dithering while New Orleans was suffering, delegating his JOB to the VP and otherwise shirking his duty to BE the Commander-in-Chief with reagrd to the two wars that he was responsible for…etc!] –
when all THAT was happening, MILLIONS OF AMERICANS were for change! And at the crest of that mighty wave of public sentiment, was the hockey-mom with lipstick surfing? Was she boldly “going rogue” and lambasting the direction our ship of state was then sailing? Did she advocate for changing course? Did she make any consequential statements (let alone decisions) to affect any change? – indeed – who is included in her use of the word “we”? Because everytime she says anything, Rush Limbaugh (et al) immediately begin genuflecting; in fact Uncle Rush says that her book is one of the most substantive policy books he’s ever read! (which in his case may well be true)….and I don’t recall THAT part of “we” being for any change AT ALL!! in the voting booth
Back in those days – when “change wasn’t cool” – then-Senator Obama was for change. Even Senator Clinton – who was more for “change” than Governor Palin ever was, mistakenly emphasized “experience” over change….but then again, “experience” isn’t a long suit for Governor Palin, either, eh?
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Jolene said on November 14, 2009 at 12:19 pm
You folks are thinking way too much about what the book says. It has italics and exclamation points, doesn’t it? Isn’t that enough?
John McCain could single-handedly reduce unemployment to 3%, turn Iraq and Afghanistan into the regional equivalents of Sweden and Switzerland, and convert carbon emissions into perfume, and all that wouldn’t be enough to compensate for having inflicted Sarah Palin on us.
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beb said on November 14, 2009 at 1:16 pm
There was a time when people did pay good money to hear orators take different points of view and debate them. There have been some efforts to revive this idea, but I like yours a lot better.
I would enjoy seeing Rachael Maddow debate – well, anyone. But who among the anti-progressive sphere would be willing to debate with her? Glenn Beck’s crying won’t score points with her. Bill O’Rielly won’t be able to cut off her mike when she’s winning a point. Rush Limbaugh won’t be able to out shout her. Is there one top-tier conservative who have actually debates issues? I don;t think so. It’s all bluster and hyperbole from the right.
additionally: I’m amazed that people are going nuts over the idea of bringing the 9/11 terrorists to New York for trial. Sheesh. We’ve tried terrorists before and besides we should try these law-breakers. We are, after all, a nation of law.
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brian stouder said on November 14, 2009 at 4:42 pm
I’m amazed that people are going nuts over the idea of bringing the 9/11 terrorists to New York for trial. Sheesh. We’ve tried terrorists before and besides we should try these law-breakers. We are, after all, a nation of law.
Here, here!!
Some folks say “but it will be a show trial” – as in – the terrorists will get to put on a show! – and denounce us, and so on.
But the problem with that argument is, the sons of bitches have already put on that show for the world, with real blood.
And, if anyone thinks it would be viewed as a governmnet show-trial, then they’d think that no matter what we do. A military tribunal could be made to look like a kangaroo court.
As beb says, we’re a nation of laws, and it is refreshing to see us act in accordance with that truth
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Jolene said on November 14, 2009 at 5:03 pm
I was surprised, too, to hear some of the reactions to the idea of trying KSM et al. in in NY. Of course, I discount the reactions of most Repubs, but my senator, Jim Webb, who is at least a nominal Democrat and not given to histrionics, also issued a strong statement opposing Holder’s decision.
The statement was light on reasons, except to say that they are “enemy combatants” and should be tried by the military. Wish I could talk to him to find out more about his reasoning.
I actually think John Kerry was right in saying that terrorism should, to the extent possible, be treated as criminal activity. Our anti-terrorism activities should focus on intelligence, prevention, and propaganda.
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coozledad said on November 14, 2009 at 5:34 pm
The Brits have treated terror as a legal matter for years, and it’s probably one of the key reasons the dispute at the heart of the violence has gradually become a tractable issue. A matter of talk as opposed to blood.
Bin Laden picked the right administration during which to launch his strike; one that revered personalities and myths about personalities above laws; one whose internal arrangements he would have found familiar and comfortable, that he could have navigated effortlessly without the slightest cultural point of reference. You’ve got to give him that. He knew precisely where and when to push the buttons to shiver the whole thing to bits.
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mark said on November 14, 2009 at 5:38 pm
I would think that the due process crowd here at the end of this thread must be horrified that we are lobbing missiles into Pakistani dining rooms because the camera end of a predator drone indicates that it might contain people that we think might be the people that we think are lawbreakers. Never convicted of anything by a jury of their New York peers, however.
We should send the police, not soldiers. Arrest them, being careful to avoid any unnecessary force, and read them Miranda warnings. Then bring them all to New York for four year trials. If we do otherwise, we are not a nation of laws.
Just curious, since some here think KSM is entitled to US constitutional rights, how does NYC constitute a jury of his peers? Should he be released since we didn’t extradict him as we do with suspected criminals? Let him go for no Miranda warnings?
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brian stouder said on November 14, 2009 at 6:34 pm
I would think that the due process crowd here at the end of this thread must be horrified that we are lobbing missiles into Pakistani dining rooms because the camera end of a predator drone indicates that it might contain people that we think might be the people that we think are lawbreakers.
Well, Mark, modern warfare is indeed pretty horrifying, don’t you agree?
And further to your point, the Pakistanis are becoming quite tired of our literally inhuman UAVs constantly whizzing around – ready to deal push-button death and destruction within their borders. We are supposed to be allied with them, but this campaign of ours (which I am inclined, at the end of the day, to defend) cannot be winning over the ‘hearts and minds’ of anybody – whether we’re killing bad guys or not.
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brian stouder said on November 14, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Just curious, since some here think KSM is entitled to US constitutional rights, how does NYC constitute a jury of his peers? Should he be released since we didn’t extradict him as we do with suspected criminals? Let him go for no Miranda warnings?
Well you know, the high-ground argument that I would expect from an “American exceptionalism” right wing flag-waving ‘First Principles’ person would be an appeal to our most basic and orginal ideals; our stated belief that “All men are created equal”.
We have these people in our hands. It is our (America’s) choice what to do with them. We can run them before a military tribunal, and try them, and – if convicted – execute them. Or – we can put them into civil court and try them, and – if convicted – execute them.
I think that more people in the world will appreciate the validity of any such proceeding if it is at least a few steps removed from raw American military power.
Or – looking at it the other way, are we better off to say that NO non-American person can avail themselves of due process if they get arrested or tried here? How will that work?
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mark said on November 14, 2009 at 6:44 pm
I do agree, brian. Which is why I think it is silly to pretend it’s a criminal matter involving suspected law breakers. Worse yet is to change horses mid-stream, voluntarily bestowing “rights” upon people like KSM in the middle of the process.
And all persons arrested here DO get the protections of due process already. That’s not an issue. This is why Zachar???, the 20th hijacker, was tried in a US Court, given Miranda warnings, etc. We are talking about people picked up on foreign soil, often in the aftermath of battles, by soldiers who had no reason to anticipate that they had to treat the enemy with the same restrictions that are in play when the cops make a traffic stop. Square peg, round hole.
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brian stouder said on November 14, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Worse yet is to change horses mid-stream, voluntarily bestowing “rights” upon people like KSM in the middle of the process.
Mark – I do see your point. I honestly think – for entirely selfish, pro-American reasons! – that giving KSM more than he deserves (ie – his day in civil court) serves America’s interests more than a military tribunal will.
Indeed, President Obama, it seems to me, is all but saying that. The sons of bitches who attacked the USS Cole aren’t getting a civil trial; they got shunted over to a military tribunal. Too bad for them.
But the world will, I believe, turn its gaze pretty intensely upon the KSM (et al) trial in New York City – especially with the (quite intentional) added drama of having that trial 1000 yards away from the site where the unmitigated horrors of these defendants unfolded.
I don’t think KSM will garner much sympathy for the fact that he was tortured, as the prosecutors lay out evidence such as phone records and money transfers and e-mails and so on, unrelated to water-boarding. And if KSM really has the towering (so to speak) ego that he’s reputed to have, he’ll thump his chest and take credit for what he did.
Proceed with alacrity, I say
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mark said on November 14, 2009 at 6:57 pm
I hope you are correct in how things turn out with KSM.
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brian stouder said on November 14, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Mark, agreed.
And in a semi-related matter, there’s this:
http://www.pharostribune.com/localcolumnists/local_story_317210006.html?keyword=topstory
One could simply dismiss this small-town newspaper article in a condescending way, or ignore it….or – if we take it seriously, scratch our head in wonderment. The photo of the columnist shows an old white guy. For all I know, he doesn’t get paid for this stuff (for the sake of that newspaper, one can hope anyway!) – but still.
Here’s an excerpt:
The news media won’t come out and say who and what Nidal Malik Hasan is, but all good Americans know what he is. The news media won’t call it an act of terrorism, but what is it when unarmed people are murdered in cold blood? I think Uncle Sam has enough holes in his feet by now, so I suggest we put the politically correct gun away. If something waddles like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck, we had better start calling it a duck and treating it like a duck. When men and women living in this country start talking and working against the well being of the United States, we had better consider them enemies.
See – this is what’s so pernicious about saying “This is WAR” and then wanting to change the rules. “If something waddles like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck, we had better start calling it a duck and treating it like a duck” – I bet Fred Korematsu would disagree with this.
Or else, think of all the “ducks” who drive pickups with gun racks and plastic testicles and Obama-as-Joker bumperstickers…those ducks look a lot like the moron who blew up the Federal building on Oklahoma City
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Deborah said on November 14, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Not to bring up a sore subject from an earlier comment thread… I stand by my statement that we are a violent nation. I finally had a chance to read last week’s New Yorker and there’s a good article about murderous America.
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2009/11/09/091109crat_atlarge_lepore
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beb said on November 14, 2009 at 9:29 pm
jOLENE @27. Someone needs to remind Sen Webb that “enemy Combatant” was an invention of the Bush administration to justify the imprisonment of cibilians for whatever reason the president cared to make. It’s not a legal statute, category of law or anything recognized by the Geneva Conventions. That Obama has not renounced and denounced the concept is one of the things I hold against him. When I voted for him I thought I was voting for a liberal, not Bush III!
Mark #29. I would think that the due process crowd here at the end of this thread must be horrified that we are lobbing missiles into Pakistani dining rooms because the camera end of a predator drone indicates that it might contain people that we think might be the people that we think are lawbreakers
I am. I think the use of drone forces is a bad idea but because it’s indiscriminate and because war should never be antiseptic. Wars where people never die only makes the idea of war too cheap, common and easy.
Mark, KSM is being tried in New York because that’s where his crimes, the murder of nearly 3000 Americans took place. Let’s not forget that the terrorists who tried to blow up the Word Trade Center in 1993 were arrested by the FBI, tried in New York courts and sentenced to prison, in the USA, which is where they are now.
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crinoidgirl said on November 14, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Noooooooooooooooooooooo!
Buckeyes are going to the Rose Bowl!
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mark said on November 14, 2009 at 10:48 pm
beb,
You are a little off on KSM. Read AG Holder’s comments and you will see that he claims to have done a search of various jurisdictions to determine the one best equpped to safely conduct the trial, deciding upon NY. So far as I am aware, KSM is not charged with any criminal activity occurring in NY. His activity took place outside the country. The ’93 bombers were tried in NY in court because the crimes took place there and they were arrested in the US, entitling them to all constitutional protections.
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brian stouder said on November 14, 2009 at 10:57 pm
Mark – I dunno about your statement that
So far as I am aware, KSM is not charged with any criminal activity occurring in NY. His activity took place outside the country.
Possibly he isn’t formally charged yet (which may have been your point) – but despite conspiring elsewhere, clearly the murders he will be charged with occurred in New York and Washington and Shanksville, PA.
There’s this from Alan Dershowitz
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/america-is-on-trial-as-much-as-khalid-sheikh-mohammed/article1363102/
an excerpt (emphasis added)
The Obama administration has announced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-confessed mastermind of 9/11, will be subjected to an ordinary criminal trial in the federal court of New York. He will almost certainly be charged with the mass murder of nearly 3,000 individuals, and could possibly face trial for the death of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, whom he claims to have beheaded in Pakistan.The form of the indictment isn’t yet clear – whether it will be a conspiracy or RICO charge, or whether it will include special terrorist counts as well. Whatever the form, the substance of the charge will be that Mr. Mohammed and his co-defendants murdered more people than anyone who has ever faced justice in a U.S. court. Despite the fact that Mr. Mohammed has confessed to virtually everything, his trial will face daunting challenges, unless he decides to plead guilty, as he tried to do last year when he sent a note to a military judge at Guantanamo. If he changes his mind and decides to fight the charges, he will have powerful legal weapons at his disposal.
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Jolene said on November 14, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Read AG Holder’s com ments and you will see that he claims to have done a search of var i ous juris dic tions to deter mine the one best equpped to safely con duct the trial, decid ing upon NY.
Right. He said that he consulted w/ both Mayor Bloomberg and NYPD Chief of Police Ray Kelly before deciding where to hold the trial. Since these detainees will be charged w/ federal crimes, they could be tried in any federal court. Recall that Moussaoui was tried in Alexandria, VA.
According to AG Holder, NY is best able to provide the security needed for these trials; in addition to personnel who have handled security for many complex events, they have tunnels connecting the cells where they’ll be held to courtrooms so that they can be moved w/o having to take them outside.
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coozledad said on November 15, 2009 at 10:19 am
Unprecedented administrative incompetence. And the press put the kneepads on.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/books/review/Heilbrunn-t.html
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brian stouder said on November 15, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Say “yes” to Michigan, the Rodney Dangerfield of the United States (even amongst folks “BOOOOORN in the USAya!”)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33945218/ns/entertainment-music/
an excerpt:
The Boss bellowed “Hello, Ohio!” to his fans at the Auburn Hills Palace in Michigan. Springsteen referred to the neighboring state several times in the following 30 minutes until E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt whispered in his ear.
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Dexter said on November 15, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Oh no, Brian…I am a long time devotee of Bruce, but this crowd surfing photo pose looks more like an old rocker in a coffin than the rock and roll king that is Bruce Springsteen.
http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/detroit/index.ssf/2009/11/michigan_fans_forgive_bruce_sp.html
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Jeff Borden said on November 15, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Crinoidgirl,
Yes, the Buckeyes are going to the Rose Bowl, where they again will play the patsy and make football fans across the nation laugh at the very idea of the Big Ten as a football powerhouse.
I suppose there is no perfect place to try KSM, but I have no problem with his trial being in New York, just as I have zero worries about turning an underutilized state prison 150 miles of Chicago as a pen for those still held in Guantanomo. The political posturing has been nauseating. I expect Rudy Ghouliani to scream about it, though if you look at previous comments about terror trials in NYC, he was for them. Joe Biden is correct about Rudy: Noun, verb, 9/11. Repeat.
Here in Illinois, all the little GOPers who want to be a U.S. Senator piddled in their pantaloons over the idea of housing suspected terrorists in Thomson, Ill. The people in Thomson, a poor community along the Mississippi, are in favor of the move because they believe it will create jobs.
Isn’t the whole goal of terrorism to take away our sense of propriety, our adherence to the rule of law, and reduce us to cowering puddles of fear? Isn’t the best way to flip the bird at the crazies in the caves to continue acting civilized?
At the height of The Blitz, theaters were still showing movies and plays, restaurants and pubs were still serving food and suds. The nation embrace the slogan: Remain calm. Carry on. And they did.
If the trial of KSM or the transfers of suspected terrorists to Illinois reduce our political class to terrified infants, what might they have felt if they’d been in London in 1940?
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Jolene said on November 15, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Bruce turned 60 this past September, Dexter. Forever Young is a good name for a song; unfortunately, real life is a little different.
Am listening to Giuliani try to justify his present opinions given his past remarks right now. It’s not going well.
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moe99 said on November 16, 2009 at 1:39 am
Cool caves:
http://www.uniquescoop.com/2009/10/caves-world-beneath-world.html
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Dexter said on November 16, 2009 at 2:02 am
Yeah, Jolene, I always make a big deal outta Bruce’s birthday since we are just five days apart, same year. This year I called a satellite radio show who had forgotten it. Some people can remember exactly how many times they have attended Bruce shows. It’s easy for me: 4. Detroit, Pontiac, St. John’s Arena Columbus and Schottenstein Center Columbus. Another one in Indy was cancelled when The Big Man Clarence had to have eye surgery. Big Man’s got a new book out, too.
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/09/18/e-street-bands-clarence-clemons-answers-burning-questions-from-the-rolling-stone-twitter/
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moe99 said on November 16, 2009 at 2:35 am
Al Gore is pretty funny:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWC-n8gtLpY&feature=player_embedded
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