Midday open thread

• And it only took a little more than eight years:

  Under increased pressure from the United States, an Iraqi crackdown on Iranian-backed Shiite militias has helped produce a previously elusive goal: For the first time since the American invasion of Iraq, an entire month has passed without a single United States service member dying.

• From the boo-freaking-hoo files:

  Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is firing back at Dick Cheney for what she called an ?attack on my integrity? in the former vice president?s memoir. [...]

  Rice also challenged Cheney?s story that detailed her coming into his office and ?tearfully? admitting she had been wrong to push for Bush to apologize for inaccurately alleging that Iraq had attempted to obtain yellowcake uranium in Niger.

  ?It certainly doesn?t sound like me, now, does it?? Rice said. ?I would never ? I don?t remember coming to the vice president tearfully about anything in the entire eight years that I knew him.?

• News from Libya:

  Muammar Qadhafi vowed on Thursday he would never surrender and that his country could ?be engulfed in flames,? according to a report on Syrian television. [...]

  The Associated Press reported Al-Rai issued a statement, quoting Qadhafi as saying, ?We won?t surrender again; we are not women; we will keep fighting.?

  ... but apparently one of his sons didn't get the talk-tough memo:

  ?Our leadership is fine,? he said in the statement broadcast on the Al Rai television channel of Syria and other Arab broadcasting outlets. ?We are drinking tea and coffee.?

• Nice work!

  Activists called off a week-old boycott of an Edina business that allowed a controversial youth ministry to fundraise on their property after Murphy Automotive distanced themselves from the ministry Wednesday.

  The boycott kicked off last week when 17-year-old Gabe Aderhold saw members of You Can Run But You Can?t Hide ministry, which is run by Bradlee Dean, fundraising at the Edina Car Wash. Organizers told the Minnesota Independent last week that they?d end the boycott when the business released a clear statement distancing themselves from the ministry.

  Murphy?s Automotive posted the statement on its website Wednesday. [...]

  ?While we find no fault with a Biblically-based Christian message, we do take issue with the lack of respect Mr. Dean personally has shown on occasion when communicating that Christian message he claims to support. Therefore, effective today, we are no longer going to allow the organization that Mr. Dean heads to use our facility.?
  

• What an ass:

  Whenever Bryan Fischer is too cowardly to defend his views, he plays this game where he finds some facade behind which he can hide and pretend that he is simply agreeing with their recommendations ... He does the same thing when he says that homosexuality ought to be a crime and then cites the FDA to argue that whatever punishment we hand out to those who abuse drugs ought to be the same policy we use for dealing with gays.

  Earlier this week Fischer openly called for the criminalization of homosexuality and now he is pulling the same trick once again, seizing upon an effort to mandate that all performers in pornographic films use condoms and using that to demand that it apply to all gays (and even "unmarried straights"):

  What I?m suggesting is that we enact ordinances in city after city and laws in state after state that mandate that same exact penalty - whatever penalty gay activists think is appropriate - for unprotected homosexual sex. Hey, if it?s good enough for porn stars, it should be good enough for the average gay man on the street.
  

• Remember this bit of idiocy from Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Steven Seagal? Seagal may be paying the price:

  The story of Steven Seagal accompanying Sheriff Joe Arpaio?s raid on an Arizona man suspected of cock-fighting seems almost humorous. Almost, that is, until you think about police driving into your own home with a tank and killing your dog, which is what happened when Seagal drove a tank into Jesus Llovera?s house.

  Seagal told a local radio station that animal cruelty was one of his pet peeves, and since the bust was an animal cruelty bust ? which apparently requires the use of several armored cars, a tank, and dozens of sheriff?s deputies in full riot gear ? Seagal decided to go along for the ride?and kill hundreds of roosters and a puppy in the process.

  So much for animal cruelty. It turns out, of course, that Seagal was just joining the ranks of reality TV stars, blending the line between reality and television, and the line between entertainment and justice. And now he?s being sued to the tune of $100,000 by Llovera, who is also demanding a written apology from Seagal to his children for killing their puppy.

• Well, sure ... because a poll tax never hurt anybody:

  The Chairman of Maine's Republican party has doubled down on his crusade against the apparently widespread problem of voter fraud-committing college students, declaring this week that if students want to vote they should be paying taxes.

  "I get tired of talking about this because the law is clear," Charles Webster said. "If I want to vote, I need to establish residency. I need to register my car and pay taxes in that community. You can't just become a student and vote wherever you want."
  

• Who knew?

  Texas and Oklahoma are suffering from wildfires. The Southwest is parched by drought. The East Coast is still reeling in the wake of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene. So where should you go if you want to avoid pricey weather catastrophes?

  Oddly enough, Alaska or Hawaii.

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/ACcU6NNW3YM/-Midday-open-thread

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