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Just got off the phone with Digby -- Jane went into surgery this morning at precisely 7:30 am PT. Digby spoke with the surgeons prior to Jane going in, and hung out with Jane while the anesthesia was kicking in this morning. (Let's just say that Jane was a hoot as she was going under and leave it at that...) The surgery is expected to last a while, depending on what they find and how the pathology reports come back and what those indicate will dictate a couple of other things, and then Jane will be in recovery for at least an hour afterward, so it's going to be a fairly long day today. I am promised updates as they get them from the surgeons. Will let you guys know as soon as I hear anything. In the meantime, consider this an open thread.
And just for kicks, here's a little Buffy...because everyone needs a little cancer vampire slayer, now and then. What has caught your eye in the news today? Link it up in the comments below.
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Huggity!
By the way, how’s the Peanut, Redd? Give her a hug from me, too.
Hey y’all… just to let you know I’m kicking America’s ass at this sign-hanging thang…
http://freewayblogger.blogspot.com
Cardboard, paint and something to say… that’s all it takes.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6274147.stm
You can always count on big time to do the wrong thing.
Praying for Jane
Jane!
you rock, momma and we are sendin’ out the vibes to you and those surgeons too!
christy,
what catches my eye is that NYT editorial about the attorneys Bush is kicking out, especially the one that’s investigating Congressman Lewis of California. to my mind, this act alone is worthy of impeachment. the faux POTUS is aiding and abetting a criminal. he is interfering with the justice system of this nation. this is malfeasance, pure and simple.
Well, this is interesting/funny/scary as hell. It made Countdown last night as the second runner up in the WPITW segment.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/.....kid18.html
posted near the end of the earlier “waiting room” thread, and definitely worth reviewing for a great laugh - thanks, CBL!
cbl @ 180
prayers and good intentions….
white light
the FBI chief in San Diego about fired U.S. Attorney Cariol Lam:
“What’s she suppose to do? Let crime exist?”
What catches my eye in the news this am? This:
“John McCain is tanking,” says ARG president Dick Bennett. “That’s the big thing [we’re finding]. In New Hampshire a year ago he got 49 percent among independent voters. That number’s way down, to 29 percent now.”
oh sweet jeebus !
Colbert slaps around Dinesh and takes his lunch money
http://www.crooksandliars.com/.....sh-dsouza/
Christy - thanks so much for the update !
Thanks for the update, Christy. I told Jane (e-mail) that they probably wouldn’t let her live blog from the OR, but I’ll bet she tried! Buffy’s got nothin’ on Jane.
…hugs for jane…and a shout out to digby and john for being there. caring friends go a LONG way!
a link? ok, here’s an early afternoon distraction … in case you’ve missed this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9mEKMz2Pvo
cbl - because of the appearance on Colbert, Dinesh D. Looza was KO’s worst person in the world last night.
Hi CHristy,
Thinking about you and Jane today,
As to what is burning my britches- I’m with farender on one:
what catches my eye is that NYT editorial about the attorneys Bush is kicking out, especially the one that’s investigating Congressman Lewis of California. to my mind, this act alone is worthy of impeachment. the faux POTUS is aiding and abetting a criminal. he is interfering with the justice system of this nation. this is malfeasance, pure and simple.
From what I gather from sources, the San Diego lady on the list was going to indict more Congress people too. Probably Goppers.
I had a beloved uncle, Uncle Donald, who had a lung removed in the late fifties, due to the big “C”. This man, who never smoked, lived another 40 years. True story.
Jane is a fighter-writer-thinker, with a passion–and an intellect that burns. I’m confident she’ll pull through this one.
Pentagon ‘reluctant to share data on Iraqi troop readiness.’
Pacing, pacing…
Yup, gonna be a looong day in the waiting room.
Jane’s recovery must be accompanied by gales laughter and giggles. Maybe some episodes of Faulty Towers or Monty Python. Richard Pryor. Borat. What else?
Buffy fans should check out the season 8 opening credits.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 12
Becoming John McBush may not have been such a great move after all.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 12
Yeay! Booyah! I can’t think of better news! Now if Kyl would go down too, I’d be much happier.
I’d never seen D’Louza up close and personal. What a dork. ‘Splains a lot, actually. he seems like such a hot-house flower. Was he home-schooled? I bet his hands are soft as a baby’s bottom ;~0
Ann in AZ @ 24
McCain no longer rocks in Granite State
And this is what caught my eye this morning, from Salon’s War Room, al-Maliki and US Army Chief of Staff skeptical about Iraq escalation:
Mommybrain @ 21
Princess Bride, Raising Arizona, Spinal Tap…because, it goes up to 11.
Hugs and prayers. Thanks for keeping us posted and thanks for the great place.
And, for more that just thanks, I just got back from the Visa page and made a donation - to help keep this place going and Jane from stressing out about money.
Christy, I know you don’t like to ask, so I will ask for you. If you are a FDL reader, commenter, or lurker - and you love this place like I do - and you haven’t donated yet, get your behind over there and do so. IE, put your money where your love is. There is nothing we can do to help what is going on this morning, except pray, but we can help keep this place going while Jane gets better!!!
mc @ 28
Dont forget Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstien
Ministers: No Bush library at SMU
……..
“Methodists have a long history of social conscience, so questions about the conduct of this president are very concerning,” said one of the petition’s organizers, the Rev. Andrew J. Weaver of New York, who graduated from SMU’s Perkins School of Theology.
http://www.protectsmu.org/
…ok, now i must get back to work. :(
Sending warm and strong wishes to Jane for a good outcome. Six hours is a long time. Thanks for keeping us posted, Christy.
A blog pimp.
I’m sure you have all heard the news that cancer deaths are down two years in a row both in percentage and absolute numbers. According to this post at think progress the boy king has cut funding for cancer research by something like $10 mill. And that’s just this year.
Not gonna Zigg:
Old Robin Williams concert videos.
Steven Wright.
Hoodwinked.
Videos of kittens and puppies playing.
i am hoping for the excellance of Jane’s surgeons, oncologists, and nurses and the competance and hard work of all the researchers who have brought therapy for brest cancer to its present point to carry Jane to many more years of joyful life. My mother died from breast cancer and my sister’s health has been damaged by her grapple with the beast.
on another matter in the news today…. i find this quiet yet long lasting alteration in the federal proscecutors office unsettling in the extreme… i feel queasy that we are watching all this action on the top of the table, but some real business in going on quietly below. and this real business is altering the protections in the constitution, bit by bit, in lots of different ways (which is their strategy as you can see in the elections…no single way to sabotage elections, many many insects chewing at the whole structure). So, they are looking like they are not planning on going away any time soon, although now the 2 years seems like a lifetime…. but are they laying the groundwork for it to be our lifetimes? i know that sounds paranoid, but why all this quiet chewing at our basic rights and constitutional protections if they are not planning to be in control while it crumbles? it all fits with the “unitary power” issues, signing statements that negate the key elements of the law without the cleansing nature of a veto and as always, done quietly.
Thank you for being who you are, where you are. i read FDL every day, multiple times. All of you at FDL are an inspiration to me. Did you get your name from the books by the Gears?
bourbonjockey @ 15
IMHO, that guy on the link deserves fame and fortune. I was nearly mesmerized. He seems quite talented. Thanks for the link.
Mommybrain @ 21
Oh, I find DUCK SOUP always goes a long way. All the boys are at their best, and Harpo is truly hilarious in this one. Some good anti-war statements in there as well.
WHAT’S UP, DOC?, A SHOT IN THE DARK, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL…. That’s enough to get you started.
Catching my eye in the news today:
Great story about the “accomplish everything!” 110th Congress: MSNBC: Five down, one to go in House 100-hour goals
I can’t see how Snow can belittle this. Heh.
Also via MSNBC.com: Fitz is pushing back at the Defense, saying that jurors should not be dismissed because they are against the Iraq war. Go Fitz!
And, Pakistan denies that a Taliban leader is hiding in their country (a claim the Afghan government says is true… looks like the US is a little quiet on this right now):
via CBC.ca: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/.....istan.html
bourbonjockey @
15
That’s beautiful. Thanks.
Mommybrain @ 33
Night Court
High Anxiety
The BBC versions of Hitchhiker’s Guide.
BC
ok fine, one more: Cute Overload
“The belief by legal experts is that Fitzgerald, already shown to have covered up critical evidence in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing that would have implicated Osama Bin Laden, who, at the time, was still under the operational control of the CIA and Britain’s MI-6, has taken a dive for the Bush administration.” — WayneMadsenReport.com
That’s worrisome.
Socialized Canadian medical researchers discovering a cure for Cancer:
http://www.newscientist.com/ar.....ncers.html
That’s fantastic!
Revealing more of the Niger uranium forged document story:
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=7681
That’s wonderful!
Christy, thanks a lot for the Jane-update. A lot of us are (metaphoricaly) in the waiting room with Digby, (metaphoricaly), holding our breath.
Never believe anything Wayne Madsen says. He’s slightly less reliable than Jason Leopold.
MarkH @ 42:
I understand that Wayne Madsen is generally considered Not Very Reliable as a source. And I can’t see Fitz taking a dive on this case at this point.
/holding breath, more prayers
zeppo @ 37
and especially “Life of Brian” !!!!!!
Funny how the world shrinks all around us when a very special friend is in dire straits. The news of the world seem nothing more than a way of distracting one’s self.
Christy,
While we’re all waiting for news of Jane’s victory, how are you Christy, our very own Hot Lips, doing?
Is there anything we can do for you?
Sweet!
NY Daily News confirms that for the O’Reilly/Colbert show swap today, the O’Reilly show tapes first (and Colbert is only on there for 8 minutes, followed by some “Fox Analysts” who will respond to the interview of Colbert). Then, Colbert’s show will tape later in the day.
Even O’Reilly admits that Stephen is gonna have the upper hand. Oh, please give us a really nice slap down of “Papa Bear”, Stephen! Please give him the D’Souza treatment.
salivating at the thought…
linky to story
MarkH @ 41
Man, oh man, oh Manischewitz. The science is plausible, the results are promising.
On that basis, I expect clinical trials to begin somewhere around Never 12. Dichloroacetate is in the public domain and there’s no money in it for Big Pharma.
BC
Yesterday, on Capitol Hill, three Congresswomen not only spoke out powerfully on the issue of escalation, but also – with characteristic leadership, courage and determination – laid out a principled alternative to the Bush Way Forward into continuing human catastrophe. And, at this critical moment, it offers all citizens who care about peace the opportunity to rally around a single, rational proposal for withdrawal.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?pid=158515
Why is it when I think of Senator Hillary Clinton’s attributes, the quality of “courage”, is so sadly missing?
Mad Dogs at 49 — Well, thanks for asking. I’m on pins and needles and hovering over my cell phone. Meanwhile, I need to hop in the shower and go and get my hair done because, apparently, there are some teevee media types who want to talk with me on camera next week (eeep!) and I cannot do so with bad hair. Jane would kick my sorry ass. *g*
So, I’m trying to get a hair appointment at some point today. No one wants a ReddHedd whose hair is scraggly, now do they?
To CHS @ 54 -
Would that be a ReddHedd with BeddHedd?
Before I left for work today, I read the scathing review of D’Souza’s “book” from Sunday’s Post:
Fun stuff, and he doesn’t even really get into the fact that D’Souza is effectively saying that he agrees al-Qaeda.
FWIW, I’m going to call John Amato mid-day, to see what progress has been made.
Pray for success.
My thoughts and prayers for Jane to have a speedy recovery….
christy - let me add my thanks for the update.
some of us tried to live blog the senate judiciary committee hearing webcast (with gonzales on the dock) on scarecrow’s earlier thread. the hearing is now in recess… will continue at 1:45pm.
now i can catch up on the libby thread!
major but gentle hugs to Jane
Badwater @ 23
He really is the king of bad timing. In terms of investing in the BushCo political “company,” it would be hard to find a clearer example of “buy high, sell low.”
Ideally, this would become a cautionary tale for decades to come about the dangers of abandoning the style that made your reputation in order to suck up to the people you think you need to win. But since the pundits refuse to see beyond the “straight-talking maverick” myth that they constructed, they’ll probably never understand what happened.
best wishes to Jane.
AP - Defense Secretary Robert Gates met with senior U.S. and coalition naval commanders Thursday to plan operations in the Persian Gulf, including the arrival next month of another U.S. aircraft carrier and more Patriot missiles meant in part as a warning to Iran. This tiny state in the northern Gulf is headquarters to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet and Central Command’s naval staff.
scarlet p. @ 3
Great work! I’d love to see those all over America.
Redshift @ 61
probably alreasdy posted, salon.com cover story:
For the most amusing news story of the day, I nominate Maliki’s statement that Bush Administration criticism of his government emboldens the terrorists.
Big pharma has lost the plot. Pig Pharma has never been neccessary in the devlopment of new drugs: they are certainly not neccessary to conduct clinical trials (Phase I - III) in human subjects.
The GOP (acting through Reagan) defunded public sector biomedical research, but they did not eliminate it.
Cancer researchers all over the planet will be looking at the results. Public and private (Kaiser) entities with large numbers of patients will cheerfully subsidize thier own clinical trials - more effective (and less expensive) cancer treatments help these entities fight Pig Pharma’s monopolistic pricing on chemo agents.
Even Pig Pharma couldn’t stop clinical trials of this promising agent.
Bargain Countertenor @ 51
Jane in my heart until this thing is kicked into dust, just like she and we did to the Repugs this year. No wonder she is so fearless. After cancer, nothing can stand in your way.
Panel grills Gonzales over spy program
Responding, Gonzales said “there is going to be information about operational details about how we’re doing this that we want to keep confidential,” he said.
Good thoughts going out to Jane.
This caught my eye in the news:
Publishing house HarperCollins announced Wednesday that it’s shutting down all operations of Regan Books, the imprint headed by Judith Regan before she was fired last month. In a statement, the company said: “Effective immediately, the Regan name will no longer be used and an interim logo, HC, will appear on all books published through summer.” (Hollywood Reporter)
aine @ 35
Nah, you’re not paranoid, they really are doing all that, and probably lots more we have yet to find out about. Our problem is that being basically optimistic, live-and-let-live, help your neighbor types, we can’t imagine why or how anyone would behave that way. Also, we don’t really believe that they will keep on doing it after we said not to (eg, Nov 2006).
“I’m more concerned about normaloia than paranoia. That’s when you think everything is OK, no matter what.” Jan BenDor
Mommybrain @ 21
Blackadder! Lately, I’ve been mentally casting W as Baldrick (no slight intended to Tony Robinson.)
“So for you, Baldrick, the Renaissance is something that happened only to other people.”
Thanks to Redd for the update, to Digby for being with Jane, to Amato for feeding her pretzels.
Compared to the medical (co-pay) bills that I’ve been faced with in recent years, a few bucks in the FDL till is really not much. Deeply appreciate the updates on FDL.
twolf1 @ 69
Continued grilling, please, over a slow, open fire.
414 Members Of Congress Go On The Record About Escalation
The news is out that Maliki’s government has arrested 400 members of the Mahdi Army of Muqtada al Sadr. There has been a lot of criticism that Maliki has not responded promptly to US suggestions. Well, this debunks that. Maliki was so quick off the mark this time that, in fact, he began these arrests in October 2006 3 months before Bush’s January 10 speech.
Washington is not the only place that kabuki is practiced.
In other words, this is manufactured news. The impression you are supposed to take away is that 400 Sadrists were arrested in the week following Bush’s speech and moreover and somewhat inexplicably Muqtada just rolled over and didn’t react to what amounts to mass arrests of his followers. Well, one reason he didn’t is because it didn’t happen. The timeline isn’t a week, it’s 3-4 months. And we have only Maliki’s word that A) those arrested were militiamen and B) they belonged to Muqtada.
Also in the news is that Maliki has come out with strong criticism of the US failure to supply the national army (largely made up of Kurdish and Shia militiamen) with heavy weapons. I’ve talked about this for some time in the larger context of why the Iraqi army is an army in name only. After nearly 4 years in the country, you might wonder why we haven’t given them these weapons. The answer is pretty simple. We don’t trust this supposed army we created. We haven’t trusted them before and we don’t trust them now. We don’t trust how Maliki or the Shia dominated government would use heavy weapons against the Sunni, or eventually the Kurds. We aren’t sure that they might not try to use them against us.
Having overthrown the minority Sunni government and fostered political parties along sectarian lines, we are now confronted by a Shia dominated government which we support but don’t trust. We would like to cede power to it (and must if we are ever to leave) but are afraid of what they will do with that power. Stupid, short-sighted policies you see are not the monopoly of the Bush Administration.
Redshift @ 66
Saw this earlier but I was holding back. Thanks for putting it up. I snickered, too.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 63
Interesting. Note yesterday morning’s leading story on MSNBC.com (which I have heard nothing about on CNN or other news):
Commanders to Gates: Afghanistan needs more troops
a few snippets:
And there is that CBC story I posted upthread about how the Afghans are insisting that Pakistan is providing cover for a Taliban leader: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/.....istan.html
So, where exactly are all these troops going? Are we just going to send virtually all military personnel to the Persian Gulf and deploy them willy-nilly to whichever country we feel like dealing with on a daily basis?
Oh, the insanity of having a war - especially with no war plan.
The analogy is so strong: what Jane has done in ferreting out
the evil cancer in this administration, she’ll now have to do with
her own body. I trust she will be able to do as good a job on
herself as she has done here at FDL in finding, exposing and
defeating the enemies of the US. Good thoughts are on the way.
XO also to all of you who care so much. .
Mommybrain @
21
Firefly!
twolf1 at 10:07 am
Thanks for the link.
fahrender @ 47
My favorite is just plain old Python, the series. And MST3K.
Oh, and for more amusement, check out this remix of Bush’s speech (RealAudio) by The Daily Feed.
The Daily Feed isn’t so daily any more, but they were doing great political humor that was broadcast on the local alternative music station before blogs were born. That station got bought by Liberty Media and neutered (and later switched to a Spanish-language format), so they’re on the web now.
twolf1 @ 31
http://www.protectsmu.org/
…ok, now i must get back to work. :(
Being raised in the Methodist church, I really wish church leaders would go a step further and publicly denounce Bush’s policies. He shames the true spirit of the Methodist church, which, is inclusive, nonjudgmental and nonviolent.
Oh dear, the last thing you want to do when someone has just had major chest surgery is make them laugh — it is awful — very painful. The humor should be light, make you smile, turn up the lips a little, but not really provoke a laugh or a giggle. Save the laughs for after the healing is well underway. (Crying hurts just as much).
I too send all good wishes to Jane, particularly for a good recovery and post op period. In fact it was 37 years ago yesterday that I had cancer surgery — Melanoma in my case that had spread into my chest after an earlier simple wart removal was misdiagnosed. My statistics in 1970 sucked — 5% for more than 3 years, but I got into one of the early chemotherapy clinical trials, and I am still here, 37 years later. When this happens to someone I think I know a little, I always have those couple of years of surgery, recovery, chemotherapy flash by — now knowing that so much more is possible than we had in 1970. I know Jane’s hospital is good — it always shows up on lists with good outcomes from clinical trials — which is one way to rate a medical system if you ever need to do that for a complex medical problem.
mandrake @ 82
We have the DVDs of the MST3K shorts, and one of them is of a natural-gas business training film about relocating to Venezuela. Every time there’s a news story about Venezeula’s gas industry, it always has (more modern) stock footage of the exact same offshore natural-gas field, which never fails to crack us up. The first time it happened, it took a minute of “I know this scene, but from where?” before we figured it out.
Hugh at 10:08 am
Thanks, I’m waiting for various Middle East experts to start telling the WaPo and NYT’s that as bad as Saddam really was, Iraq and the entire region were a lot better off with him in power than under Bush and his war of choice.
OT, one of my probably forlorn hopes about the deevolution of Iraq is that Western libertarians will realize what the absence of credible government looks like.
Best of luck, Jane- get well soon.
I’ve had my share of surgery in recent years, and find modern anasthesia to be amazing. I usually ask for a shot of ‘happy juice’ to help me through the pre-surgical anxiety. Last time I got wheeled into the operating room I was high as a kite, couldn’t have been happier.
And I usually wake up feeling refreshed and clear-headed, sort of like it was good nap, no hangover.
Have sung a “mi shebeirach” for you twice today, Jane, before and during…
You are and continue to be such an inspiration! Enjoy reading these as you recuperate!
I liked this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01.....ref=slogin
Micromanaging is the new trope of the Bush diehards. Anything but saying yes to Bush is micromanaging. An extension of this is if you have a military and fund it, then the President can do anything he wants with it. Of course, if you don’t fund it, then you aren’t supporting the troops.
Life is simple when everything is black and white and your best friends are strawmen.
Good thoughts and prayers for Jane, and support for you Christy. I and my dogs are all standing by for further information!
The garden reflects my thoughts of this administration today. After the freeze in S.Calif this week everything is dead and black!
Hugh @ 90
micromanagement? fuck that shit! throw his sorry ass in jail!
And if she’s not up to looking at stuff, here’s some cool things to listen to from the ZBS Foundation. Remember radio plays? Lots of fun for driving, too. I can see Jane as Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe, or maybe vice versa.
kirk murphy @ 66
You’re more optimistic than I about the FDA. I fully expect them to put trial applications for these agents on the
v e r y
s l o w
t r a c k.
Remember, fascism is the coalescence of government and corporate power.
BC
Hey Sara, your beautiful prose gives you away imho as the wonderful Sara at tnh. Hey completely other thing, you had that great post, last year, (was it your first at tnh?) about West Point’s policy on occupations? It was the 1921-22, doc that informed General George Marshall’s occupation of post WWII Germany and Japan. Back when you did it, we didn’t have the spotlight capability. If you could provide a link to it, (or repost it at tnh), I could “spotlight” it to some main stream journalists who might be interested in what the Bush administration is ignoring.
Best of luck to you Jane. You are in thoughts today.
All of us at BobGeiger.com — oh, wait, it’s just me — are sending all positive energy and thoughts to Santa Monica today for our friend Jane… When I’m not typing, my fingers are crossed all day…
She will prevail.
Bob
Peterr has a fresh thread, gang. Just FYI. Liveblogging of jury selection in the Libby trial will start again after the lunch break.
New thread upstairs from Peterr. w00t, Peterr!
The zero, however, is already taken, ahem.
…thanks for Jane update Christy…what I saw in the news today?
Aerial gunning of wolves has started in Alaska today, at least ten have been gunned down and there are “hopes” of killing at least 600 more…Killing of more wolves will begin shortly in Idaho where a lottery is determining who gets a ticket for the kill (don’t write their governor, he is “hoping for a ticket” ) Fish and Game in both states (and Wyoming is next) is in full support of this SPORT and KILLFEST so if anyone has a bit of heart for the majestic wolf, can you please make your feeling known? Am begging on my knees…
ET: what say you?
Redshift @ 86
Oh, that’s funny! See, we must have the same sense of humor - I loved it b/c when we were kids, my brother and I used to do running commentary on cheesy movies, too.
I wanted to buy the whole set but it’s outrageously expensive! I keep wishing someone would sell it on e-Bay.
I never have really understood why they can’t put the show into syndication - something to do with licensing.
Speedy recovery, Jane! You will beat this thing! Just glad you don’t have cancer of the buttocks, we need your a** back here! *g*?
My prayers and thoughts are with Jane. Thank you FDL, I love you guys.
and I might add, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.”