Tuesday Open Thread
Welcome to your Tuesday open thread. If it’s Tuesday, then your thread is open. What’s on your mind?
Now that gas is expensive again, expect to hear the tiresome refrain of “drill, baby drill” coming from the usual suspects. CNN Money published an article explaining how more domestic drilling will do nothing for gas prices.
The problem is this: While increased oil and gas drilling in the United States may create good-paying jobs, reduce reliance on foreign oil and lower the trade deficit, it will have hardly any impact on gas and oil prices.
That’s because the amount of extra oil that could be produced from more drilling in this country is tiny compared to what the world consumes.
Plus, any extra oil the country did produce would likely be quickly offset by a cut in OPEC production.
“This drill drill drill thing is tired,” said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service, which calculates gas prices for the motorist organization AAA. “It’s a simplistic way of looking for a solution that doesn’t exist.”
The drill drill drill thing may be tired, but don’t expect rhetoric to conform to reality. Expect Republicans to do all they can to make high gas prices Obama’s fault.
Florida Representative Allan West is one of the Tea Party freshmen. He has some *ahem* interesting ideas.
Speaking before a group of conservative women last week, Rep. Allen West (R-FL), the firebrand freshman lawmaker known mostly for his hateful (and often illogical) rhetoric, accused Planned Parenthood and other women’s groups not aligned with his brand of conservatism of making the country weaker, growing the debt, and, “neutering American men.”
WEST: The women in our campaign printed up t-shirts that said “Women for West.” That’s what we need to do — we need you to come in and lock shields to strengthen up the men that will go into the fight for you — to let these other women know, on the other side, these Planned Parenthood women, the Code Pink women, and all of these women who have been neutering American men and bringing us to the point of this incredible weakness, to let them know that we are not going to have our men become subservient. That’s what we need you to do. Because if we don’t, then the debt will continue to grow.
You read that right. West said that American men are getting “neutered” by Planned Parenthood and Code Pink. Go watch the video at the link – he says some crazy things about Sparta, apparently based on the movie 300.
Tags: Open Thread
Question for the readers:
My son has returned from college for this year. He is sitting right now submitting a paper he wrote; originally for a class; to a contest, that a professor suggested and encouraged him to enter, providing him the contact. I have read the paper. Sure it’s a good paper, but of course a controversial topic, of which he has made well-reasoned, provocative sentiments. The 21st century dilemma? Should he submit this paper thru cyberspace as a punk 19 yo, to have it be ressurrected 30 years from now, or sooner, as he makes career and life choices? I’m thinkin’ Chris Coons–love the guy–but did he really need the distraction in his life, as he was pursuing other things for his “Stalingate” to show up? Your opinions please–he is actually waiting on them. As I discussed this w/ him–even he said “Wow”–I didn’t think of that”. I asked him if he could put a disclaimer at the bottom stating he was a 19 yo tadpole, subject to future life experiences. Seriously, what is this generation to do? Pandora–here is your dinnertime discussion for tonite!!! We’ve covered Facebook, MySpace, personal photos etc., but I never thought about what to do w/ their intellectual property stuff. He really is holding up, waiting to hear your varied responses. And no, I’m not telling the topic:) !!!
Allan West happens to be an argument for neutering malicious morons.
Joanne,
If you’re going to be that cautious, send it snail mail. However, if your son wins the contest, you can bet the essay will be posted online (I know — a piece my daughter wrote as a high school senior is still out there in cyberspace). Further, you’ve got no way of knowing what the contest sponsor does with all the essays when the competition is over — so his work might be found 15-20 years from now in some long-lost file, just about the time he decides to run for the Senate.
Bottom line — don’t worry too much about things you cannot control and which might not matter anyway.
And take some consolation in this: with the right opponent, bearded Marxists can win elections in the U.S., even if they deny that that’s what they are. (Sorry, Senator, I just had to say so.)
JC, I generally discourage people, especially young minds, from censoring their thought experiments because the exercize helps to foster intellectual habits that are essential to creativity and discovery. Fortunately, we live in an age when someone could, say, make a Facebook entry telling others that he has entered what is a thought experiment (not a settled position) into a contest. He could then print out a copy of the Facebook page and keep it on file. That should cover him in the future. Congrats to your son that his professor thought so much of his intellectual achievement to encourage him to enter the contest. That is a real honor.
Yea Dana!! I was hoping you would respond. Great idea w/ a “thought experiment”–this really is unchartered territory for the educational careers of this generation. Thanks!!
Keith Olbermann is back on June 20 on Current TV and the name of his show is still Countdown.
If we have become a country that discourages Chris Coons and young men like your son from making controversial, but well-reasoned, arguments then we are country in serious decline.
I don’t think we are that country so I would encourage your son to enter the contest. But I am a liberal optimist, so there is that.
we aren’t in decline at all, peak oil is a myth, climate change is a scam, the holy land is in missouri, Santa is real, the Easter Bunny lays eggs and Jason is actually the tooth fairy
Jason, I have two teeth here for pick-up.
Long story.
Thanks for your responses, the send button has been pushed.
(This is fun!)
Ayn Rand Movie Fails in the Free Market. And apparently the circular blaming squad has begun — producers, talent, everyone blaming everyone for the failure of this turkey. Wonder if anyone is taking any bets that Parts II and III get released?
Balloon Juice may have the documented the definitive viewing experience.
It’s worth opening cassandra’s Ayn Rand link just for the reviews.
What could be more ironic than Ayn Rand’s movie failing miserably in the free market? It is funny they thought breaking it down to 3 movies would work….Her book, while repugnant ideologically, is entertaining and a single movie could have been worth watching for a fair number of people.
Rand was the original wingnut welfare recipient, and even from the grave she holds out her charity grubbing claw.
The Ayn Rand movie probably suffers from the same implausibility as do most of her ideas.
Implausible or not, for 30 years America has been operating on Rand’s premise – widely accepted by our leaders as well as the people – that if you raise taxes on the rich, they will go Galt. The theory is alive and well. It has now replaced the Democratic Party’s former principle of making sure the rich pay their fair share. We heard it from our Democratic president and most of our Democratic Senators last December, and we heard it from our Democratic governor a few months ago.
Rand isn’t doing so well at the box office, but she is doing great in the voting booth.
Obama calls the loons “carnival barkers”….loved it. Now what will the baggers come up with. We know they have no solutions for anything.
Mediawatch–thanks for your reply. For some reason it posted after Dana’s in the time column, so I only saw it later. Good thoughts–and heck, by the time he’s a fully grown, independent member of society, these cyber “gotcha” trails will be so ubiquitous, it will be relegated to it’s nanosecond space. Just like what society is doing now, w/ smoking dope admissions. I appreciate your input.
But jason330, you darn liberal optimist–go ahead, talk all utopia and nirvana now, because when I can’t
get him moved out of the basement, because potential employers may have read his pie-in-the-sky view of things, and overlook at hiring–I’m sending him to pitch a tent at your place 🙂 !!
And Donviti–Everything you said, but we still have to work with it huh?
Thanks gang! JC
One other thing, Joanne… The “bearded marxist” paper writer is now Senator. Just sayin’ 😉