Midday open thread
- President Obama, on the decision not to release photos of a dead Osama bin Laden:
That's not who we are. We don't trot out this stuff as trophies....we don't need to spike the football
- Stop pretending, Mitch:
Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana paid a visit to Washington on Wednesday, but he dropped few clues to clarify the growing chatter among Republicans about whether he intends to jump into the party?s presidential nominating contest.
- Disgusting:
A Texas high school teacher has been placed on administrative leave following an incident where he allegedly told a 9th grade Muslim girl in his algebra class "I bet that you're grieving" on Monday following the death of Osama bin Laden.
According to one parent at Clear Brook High School in Houston who spoke about the incident to a local ABC affiliate, the teacher also said, "I heard about your uncle's death." [...]
"The student ended up crying over what was said to her by the teacher and the teacher asked her why she was crying and another student said it was because of what you said earlier," the parent told the station. "And his response was, oh, OK, and just kind of smirked and giggled and walked away."
- Maybe they can rename french fries while they think about it:
The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is cautioning against moving precipitously to cut or terminate U.S. aid to Pakistan.
Michigan Republican Mike Rogers says the discovery of Osama bin Laden in a sealed-off compound near a Pakistani military base "is embarrassing to them." He tells ABC's "Good Morning America" Wednesday he believes that institutional entities in Pakistan like the army, intelligence service and government likely didn't know about bin Laden's presence, although he also says that it's possible "some individual might have known."
- From the you-can't-make-this-shit-up file:
John Ashcroft has been hired to work as an independent ethics advisor for Xe Services, the military contractor that used to be Blackwater Worldwide, the company announced Wednesday.
Ashcroft, who became a controversial figure while serving as George W. Bush?s attorney general from 2001 to 2005, will head the company?s subcommittee on governance, which ?will focus on the company?s efforts to maximize governance, compliance and accountability, continuing to build and promote the highest degrees of ethics and professionalism within the private security industry.?
- I'm no expert, but this seems way too soon:
Though radiation sampling in recent weeks has shown fallout from Fukushima in rain, drinking water and milk, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced yesterday that it is returning to its regular program of quarterly sampling.
After a thorough data review showing declining radiation levels related to the Japanese nuclear incident, EPA has returned to the routine RadNet sampling and analysis process for precipitation, drinking water and milk.
- Oh, for God's sake:
Karen Santorum says the 2012 presidential race, in which her husband, Rick, is a likely Republican candidate, is "not just another political race. It?s about going on to the battlefield and defending God?s truth in the world." [...]
She says the couple has "prayed a lot about the decision" and the former senator's decision--apparently she's referring to his forming a presidential exploratory committee--"is what God wants."
- Fat chance unless Democrats can be blamed:
U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell thinks the full House Agriculture Committee should hold hearings and launch an investigation into the relationship between rising oil prices and Wall Street speculators.
?As ranking member of the Agriculture Subcommittee that oversees the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, I have a responsibility to ensure speculators are not exploiting oil supply fears to make big profits,? Boswell said in a prepared statement.
- Worth a watch (and pass it along): the "It Gets Better" ad.
- It's the 41st anniversary of the shooting death of four students at Kent State University by the Ohio National Guard.
Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/iWskM5SSzFo/-Midday-open-thread
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