Open Thread

11 Comments

1. 

   Steven D on April 12, 2007 at 5:52 pm

   LINK

   WASHINGTON – A second congresswoman said Thursday she is quitting the Congressional Hispanic Caucus over opposition to its male leadership.

   The announcement came from Rep. Linda Sanchez (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., whose sister, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., quit the caucus in January and accused the group’s leader of calling her a “whore.”

   The chairman, Rep. Joe Baca (news, bio, voting record), also a Democrat from Southern California, has denied saying that. But other women also have complained about his leadership. When Baca was elected chairman in November, he was supported by only one of the six women in the caucus. […]

   Linda Sanchez said in a statement she was suspending her membership in the caucus “because I believe that the current leadership has not made needed structural reforms to ensure that the caucus is more equitable and inclusive of all its members.”

   • 

     Kahli on April 12, 2007 at 5:53 pm

     That is really sad to hear.

2. 

   Kahli on April 12, 2007 at 5:55 pm

   Sad to say I am completely unemployed, too.  But I’m not old enough for social security and medicare.  And my earning history has been a bit more modest than Imus’s.

3. 

   Man Eegee on April 12, 2007 at 6:03 pm

   Some days I want to just give up.  Today is one of those days

   A woman who was found dead in the desert near a Southeast Side gas station Monday was an illegal entrant from Mexico, police said Wednesday.

   A cause of death has yet to be determined for the woman, although Tucson police say no obvious signs of physical trauma were found during the autopsy.

   Sigh…

   • 

     Kamakhya on April 12, 2007 at 10:22 pm

     Don’t ever give up.  You bring me news and perspectives    that I don’t see elsewhere. Your stories may be horrific, but because you bring them to us, I see hope.

     • 

       Man Eegee on April 13, 2007 at 2:30 pm

       thx K.  I was having a Nietzsche moment:  If you stare into the Abyss long enough the Abyss stares back at you.

       Feeling much better today.  Plans to attend a neighborhood fiesta with food and live mariachi.

       • 

         stormkite on April 13, 2007 at 3:00 pm

         Lucky you.  Wink at a couple of señoritas for me….  (doesn’t matter who…)

         I’m going to an elementary school play.  <sigh>

4. 

   Brendan Skwire on April 12, 2007 at 6:20 pm

   Murder number 110 or 111 occurred across the street from my house about a half-hour before I got home. The cops and the news are still out there taking pictures.  I can see the chalk outlines around the bullets.
   I can’t smoke a bowl by the window like I usually do.
   My neighbor heard the shots saw four people running away, older teenagers she thinks.

   • 

     Kamakhya on April 12, 2007 at 10:47 pm

     I feel for you.  It seems like there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t read about another homicide in my town.  I don’t see hope for our kids.  I see a 50% dropout rate for our black kids and 75% of them can’t get a job.  I found a rare niche in our city that people don’t shoot one another in, but petty crimes are pretty abundant.  If I went 2 miles west or east, it would be a different story.  

     I live in Oakland, CA., aka the ghetto of SF and the entire Bay Area.  I came here with much skepticism, sure that I would never want to raise my daughter here.  I found a most magnificent city.  It is one of the most dangerous cities with an astronomical murder rate, but to balance that out it is the only city I have ever been in that is truly multicultural.  Yeah, we do have a china town, and a korean town, and a little Latin America.  But because of the variety of enclaves, there is an enormous amount of overlapping.  There is a large and vocal and outgoing part of the populous that welcomes diversity and strives to find common ground.  It is truly wonderful to see.

     I guess what I am trying to say is that there are pockets of America that do see death everyday, but we don’t let that stop us from trying to prevent the next one.  It sucks to see, but it only forces us to further our resolve because we know the next one might be someone we love.  There is hope that someday people will evolve from the killers they are.

     Hugs.

5. 

   Second Nature on April 12, 2007 at 6:26 pm

   why Keith Olbermann feels the need to out Anderson Cooper all of a sudden.  WTF is that all about?  I like Olbermann when he’s slamming the Bush administration but who the hell gave him the master key to everyone’s personal closet?  Me thinks he’s jealous of Cooper’s big new contract….not to mention those impossible blue eyes and stunning wardrobe.

6. 

   louisianagirl on April 12, 2007 at 6:43 pm

   Louisiana Attorney General Foti (D) will offer his opinion on the status of John Breaux’s “citizenship” tomorrow morning.  This is important, for if the opinion is favorable, then Breaux will run.