Ireland Forever.
And a green beer to to with it.
Will the government shut down? Will the Japanese get the nuclear plant under control? Will the stock market correct? Will the middle east settle down? These are uncertain times.
127 Thoughts to “Open Thread……………Erin Go Bragh………………………..3/17”
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- Bacons' Rebellion Blogspot
- Bearing Drift
- Blue Virginia
- Citizen Tom
- Counts of Monte Cristo. The
- Derecho, The
- Dixie Pig, The
- My Side of the Fence
- My Star Journey
- NARAL Pro-Choice VA Blog
- New Dominion Project
- Nova Common Sense
- NovaTownHall Blog
- One Libertarians's Point of View by Al Alborn
- Pete Candland's Blog
- Potomac Local
- Prince William Muckraker
- PW Conservation Alliance
- PWC Moms
- PWCPolitics.com
- PWCPolitics.com
- Red NoVA
- Shad Plank, The
- She the People
- State of NoVA, the
- The Jeffersoniad
- Townhall
- VEA Daily Reports
- VivianPaige
- WDGolden.com
- You, Me and the Lamp Post
dat green beer looks mighty good
Billions of dollars spent in an effort to remove ‘toxic’ substances from consumer electronics all over the world. Substances that our parents and older folks grew up with were all around, and now we’re on a global crusade to rid landfills of it. Some how a few bad chemicals or elements in our daily environment pales to the threat of radiation exposure from nuclear accidents as is occurring in Japan. In the grand scheme of things we should be using the billions of industry dollars being spent to remove minute amounts of ‘toxic’ substances from our products and instead spend it to reinforce the backup systems of nuclear power plants across the globe. Which is the greater threat to future generations, a broken mercury thermometer in a school lab, or the 40 year old nuclear power plant down the street powering the lab? You decide!
I think the only way to move forward with your discussion, SA, is to be specific. Do you mean toxins like DDT and asbestos?
@e
It really does look good, doesn’t it?!!
WAHHHHH! Make Brian Kilmeade stop saying ‘where are we AT.” He should know better.
Need a good laugh? It seems as though Delegate BM has some hobbies, but not much time for them. He does seem to have that camera of his in tow when I’ve seen him out and about.
“His hobbies (when he has time) include weight lifting, gardening and photography.”
Source BM’s website.
I appologize for the Fox News link but my time is more compressed now a days. Huff should pick it up shortly if they haven’t already.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/03/17/florida-governor-sign-teacher-merit-pay-legislation/?test=latestnews#
The legislation will establish a statewide teacher evaluation and merit pay system in 2014 and do away with tenure for new teachers hired after July 1 this year. It also chips away at teachers’ due process and collective bargaining rights.
To everyone, Happy St. Paty’s and if you do drink.. make sure your of legal status and don’t drive. 🙂
Absoeffinglutely. Toss them batteries in that landfil. Coat them toys with lead. Bring back CFC’s. I mean as they are used so sparingly there is no way that with mass use of these things they will have any impact! Hey while we’re on that line of thought, let’s do away or stop insisting parents place babies and small children in car seats. I mean our parents didn’t have that coddling, and they survived! Also let’s get rid of child-proof devices like outlet covers and cabinet door locks. Our parents played with the bleach under the sink and stuck forks into the outlets and THEY survived. Such needless worry…..
It is easy to break one stick. Take a bunch of those sticks however and try to break them all at once…..seems as if the bunch – made up of small insignificant sticks – becomes an opposing force to struggle to defeat.
…………….
As to the Japan situation…anyone ponder the future of that nation after this catastrophe? If TOKYO is being evacuated because radiation levels are so high, what ill that do to their economy and their place on the global econommic stage? What about their neighbor accross the China Sea…..CHINA? As far as I know they still long for posession of Taiwan….
Anyone start to consider the geopolitical ramifications of this disaster????
@marin,
I think it is time for me to go on record as saying that the Florida governor and legislature are just plain stupid. In the first place, if Florida is a right to work state, then there were no collective bargaining rights to start with.
At least 50% of the evaluation for new teachers will be based on test scores. That is easy to fix. Give the teachers you like the smarter, more academically oriented kids and give those you hate those who routinely fluck. A moron can figure that one out. Plus it is just for new teachers.
Merit pay costs money. PWC found they couldn’t afford to implement the program. Also, what will those teachers do who don’t teach core subjects? There won’t be test data. I guess they won’t qualify for merit pay?
It is pretty obvious that there is not only a war on public employees but also a war on teachers. Its probably a back door way of being able to bring in school vouchers.
The stupid won’t win. Let’s see what Congress does with NCLB which is up for renewal.
ps Marin, its ok to post Faux News stuff.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/rare-species-of-frog-may-hold-cure-toah-never-mind,6607/
Something else to blame on those darn Republicans?
I am blaming them for Florida….I am running out of blame energy, big Dog.
M-H,
Are you could go Foxy and blame it all on Obama.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2011/03/st-patricks-day-html
Up The Irish!
Why not blame everything on Obama (that way nobody else has to take responsibility for anything!) Now the hawks want him to start another war in Libya.(I guess 2 isn’t enough!)
2 is never enough. Bear, you read my mind. I was just coming here to remind our local nay-sayers that perhaps they should suggest Obama go put out the fires in the nuclear plant, once glass at a time.
We had too many years of a person in a decision making position who didn’t think things through, especially in the unintended consequences department. I am glad that Obama doesn’t go running off in different directions. I like the deliberations, even if they occur on a golf course. (or bike, during hoops or while bowling)
Have you seen Obama bowl?LOL All kidding aside though, I’m glad the guy who is supposed to be in charge is actually in charge! Rumsfeld running amok with his own agenda was a scary situation. I won’t even discuss Chaney.
You make an excellent point, Bear. The guy we elected is in charge and he is thinking before he reacts.
I’m thankful we have a president that doesn’t say “where are we at”. I don’t think #43 said that. Mrs. #43 would have bopped him.
So would his mother!
Forget the green beer–I’m holding out for a St. Joseph’s Day zeppole
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?=175174
Ok, not Moby Dick, but it is Herman Melville and has Manassas in the title.
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=175174
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day!
There’s No One as Irish as Barack O’Bama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HplZ_taHXLM
Its true. He’s as Irish as JFK!
St Joseph’s Day!!!! Haven’t heard that in a while. Wear red.
I must be the only adult in Manassas drinking decaf coffee right now.
@Juturna
@Emma
I’m not Catholic or Italian, but my babysitter growing up was both and from CT. Her dad came to the US from Italy in the late 1920’s. She would always make homemade zeppole for St Joseph’s Day. Makes me want to have her mail us some from Fla. 🙂 I’d almost forgotten about those delicious sweet treats. Thanks for the childhood flashback, ladies.
What’s decaf? 😉
D. Palmieri’s Bakery in RI–the BEST zeppoles, the best EVERYTHING.@Juturna But they won’t ship zeppole, Lafayette. I asked (sadface)
When I was growing up, you were allowed to break your Lenten fast for St. Joseph’s Day sweets.
So what’s your preference — bang or whimper?
Sorry Bubba, but right about now I think the Japanese would agree with my post #2, but go ahead and establish your own set of what the global risks are. I’ll risk lead poisoning from my old TV set over radiation poisoning from a nuclear accident any day!
The situation in Japan sounds like it is getting worse and worse. Most of the news folks are in agreement that the Japanese govt. is not being honest with them or with the Japanese people.
On the first day I got en e-mail from a Japanese friend saying we’re OK.
Haven’t heard from her since.
This is horrendous. I can’t imagine the suffering that’s going on. When people run out of potable water, what do they do. You know, we can live a long time without food but without water…
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/joe_conason/2009/03/27/deficits
Take away: GOP deficits are dandy, Democrat deficits ruin the country.
Got it?
In a poll out yeterday, independent voters prefer Charlie Sheen over Sarah Palin. Does that hurt? You betcha. http://politi.co/fgKikZ Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker also scored high among republicans and there’s talk of him as a presidential candidate in 2012. Talk about going old school … every President in the 20th and so far 21st century earned a college degree. Sporting a high school diploma, Walker would break that trend, which goes back to the 1800s.
Morris Davis,
FYI: Harry Truman was our last President who didn’t graduate from college.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/03/ronald-reagan-loved-unions-and-collective-bargaining/72633/
In case you missed this “moment of Zen”.
Big Dog – You’re right. I seemed to recall that he went to law school, but I see he dropped out (that was in the day when a college degree wasn’t required to go into law or serve as a military officer).
We only got St. Patricks Day’s. But always, even in uniform, wore green on the 17th and red on th 19th.
Just for fun, plug in your zip code to find out how far you would be from a nuclear diasaster if one occurred at your closest reactor:
http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/nuclear_power_plants_locations/index.html
@Need to Know
That’s cool. I see that I have to head southwest. Prevailing winds come from the northwest and there are reactors also to the NE and SE.
Manassas is just outside the fifty-mile radius of North Anna 1, 2. Well outside the 50-mile radius of all others. I remember when they were hawking those lakeside lots at Lake Anna. Don’t recall two nuclear reactors just down the shoreline being part of that retirement property’s marketing brochure. Mrs. NTK and I want to buy mountain land for a retirement home later. Looks like we were right. Heading west toward West Virginia seems to be the way to go.
Friday’s Funnies!
Biden Train Stop is WAY over budget.
http://nation.foxnews.com/stimulus-money/2011/03/17/amtrak-station-named-simulus-sheriff-biden-57-million-over-budget
Aaaaand….Barrack Obama Elementary School Closes:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/03/17/state/n181352D56.DTL
Too Funny!
Dale City, not so lucky.
I guess I fail to see the humor there, Slowpoke. Schools should close if they have a declining student population and their pupils can be better served in other areas. That is a much older building–a century old.
Sure you do……now you may not be laughing, but you see it!
Perhaps its just ‘special’ humor, Slow.
Tell me again why Senator Reid should not be laughed at and thrown out of office for being a complete idiot for urging that we pay for a poetry convention. He, and many others just like him, ie most of Congress, are not being serious about what we are facing:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/CBO-Obama-understates-apf-1323525507.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=5&asset=&ccode=
A new assessment of President Barack Obama’s budget released Friday says the White House underestimates future budget deficits by more than $2 trillion over the upcoming decade.
The estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that if Obama’s February budget submission is enacted into law it would produce deficits totaling $9.5 trillion over 10 years — an average of almost $1 trillion a year.
Obama’s budget saw deficits totaling $7.2 trillion over the same period.
The sad part is that Obama’s budget was NOT laughed out of office at the time either.
7.2 trillion dollars….$700,000,000,000 per year was supposed to be “ok.” And yet, Bush budget was chastised for HIS overspending. Which never reached 500 billion in a year.
From my brother’s email. He was a Marine helo pilot in Vietnam and his son is an fighter squadron XO…..so, he’s got some contacts.
This from the CO of Marine Corps Air Station, Futemna, Okinawa, Colonel Dale Smith. Several forwards have been deleted.
>
>
>
> Quick note to let you know what’s happening and a sincere “thanks” for your
> note of concern…it’s not taken for granted and appreciated greatly.
>
> We worked all weekend…(Air Station is normally limited hours on
> Saturday’s, closed Sunday’s)…open 24/7 now in support…our guys/gals will
> be fairly ragged soon.
>
> MEF pushed 8 Phrogs and 10 or more C-130s North to Iwakuni over the weekend.
> A Joint Task Force (JTF) was established by USFJ…led by Army 3-star; his
> deputy is the Division’s CG…(our guy), a 2-star select.
>
> 31st MEU is inbound…MEB has moved forward as well…JTF will attempt to
> establish its HQ at Sendai Airport once they can get in there and clear some
> things….(but a third reactor just blew, not sure how close they get just
> now). Devastation truly is “atomic equivalent” in nature….entire villages
> (cities)..gone, “everyone” within their populations (in some cases
> 10,000)…missing or dead. Damage isn’t isolated to just Sendai
> area….over 10 cities we’re taken “out”….gone, off the map, along with
> their people. I cannot write this without tears…it’s that bad.
>
> Helos from Oki, Korea, supporting…with as many fixed-wing as possible as
> well…all branches of service. Flew all weekend myself, along with our
> other OSA aircraft (3 jets, 1 C-12 from Oki), Two C-12s from Iwakuni,
> getting people up to Yokota (Tokyo area), Iwakuni, Atsugi, etc…. Most will
> move forward into the disaster area when able to support what will no doubt
> be a very long recovery process and HADR ops. My XO is flying today…(I
> was scheduled to, but was pulled off the sched to support other ops). XO is
> flying the Generals over the latest reactor explosion area…(above what’s
> now becoming a nuclear cloud). USS Ronald Regan floated through the “cloud”
> yesterday and became contaminated to a degree. Helo’s are doing the same,
> and have to be “decon’d” upon returning to base….rescuers and victims are
> becoming “exposed” to the radiation, and unfortunately for now, the end
> isn’t in sight as to how bad the nuclear situation will get.
>
> Thanks again Horn….I’ll keep you updated when I can. Appreciate the
> prayers for all….(wx’s been good, but rain and snow are moving into today
> up there, as if the people weren’t suffering enough). At times like this,
> all one can do is their best, and remember, God has a plan we sometimes
> don’t understand, but have to trust, He’s in control.
>
> Semper Fi,
> Smitty
CArgo, where did you get your politics? They seem so oriented towards retribution.
You obviously did not hear Harry Reid’s remarks in context. He was talking about defunding cultural events. He used the poetry as an example of something his state valued. Good grief. You want to throw him out of office for that?
You Republicans or whatever you are need to really think about how you come across. This anti-intellectual, anti-cultural just plain old mean spirited attacks on things you don’t like turns everyone else off and frankly, makes even Democrats we might not be attracted to seem suddenly not quite so bad. This Ann Coulter/Michelle Malkin behavior just makes me wish I never had to even think about politics.
I am also really tired of hearing about money. I was born under huge deficits because there had been a huge war. It worked itself out. We have huge deficits now because of 2 wars and a serious recession. It will work itself out. The doom and gloom is just overbearing, especially when some of these politicians like Walker are trying to fix their problems on the backs of public emploiyees.
There. I feel better.
Laf- you could be honorary either if you bake some of those up. I hear you’re quite the baker.
Came across this -from Bloomburg News. The article goes on to say in some cases the number of people in the public unions are better educated than the average worker which would account for higher pay. Gee, I would think educated teachers would be a bonus….. I’m sure it’s all a lie. After all, what’s a teacher worth compared to a top program manager at Booz…..
“Over the past 30 years, the number of private-sector unionized employees has dropped from more than 20 percent of the work force to 7 percent today. The number of unionized public employees has remained at about 35 percent.
Yet the impact of teachers and police unions are exaggerated. Labor costs, including wages and benefits, are actually a smaller share of state and local spending — about 52 percent today, down from 63 percent 30 years ago, according to the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The power of collective bargaining, critics charge, is a cause of the states’ fiscal situation. Yet some states such as Texas, which prohibits collective bargaining for public employees, have a far greater budget shortfall than Wisconsin. Most experts agree the real cause of the budgetary crisis on the state, local and national levels is the 2008 financial crisis.”
The 2008 financial crisis which began at 12:01am on 11/9/2008, I guess.
@Need to Know
We are going to WVa. for retirement too. That should keep us a safe distance in case of such a disaster.