home

Monday Afternoon Open Thread

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Blog Related
Posted on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 05:28:55 PM EST
Tags: (all tags)
Share This: Digg! StumbleUpon del.icio.us reddit reddit

This is an Open Thread.

< Obama Administration Makes $30B AIG Infusion Contingent On Bonus Repayment | Displaced Rocky Mtn. News Reporters to Lanch Online Subscription Site >

  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


    • Display: Sort:
    Monday Afternoon Open Thread | 52 comments (52 topical)

    Readers Must Login or Create an Account to Comment

    NCAA Women's (5.00 / 2) (#1)
    by TeresaInSnow2 on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 05:38:47 PM EST
    tournament bracket will be announced in 20 minutes!

    Counting down!

    Go State! (5.00 / 1) (#16)
    by Steve M on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 07:20:05 PM EST
    The Spartans have the first two rounds at home, including a potential second-round matchup against #1 seed Duke (which features, coincidentally, MSU's former coach).  Doesn't exactly seem fair to the higher seed to have to play a road game like that, but I hate Duke so I'll take it.

    Parent
    Oooh, them's fightin' words..... (none / 0) (#30)
    by ap in avl on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 08:00:37 PM EST
    I love my Dookies and Coach P.

    Right about the scheduling on the Spartans home court.  Ultimately won't matter, though.  UConn is in a league of their own.  Each round any other team survives is just delaying the inevitable.

    Parent

    The suspense is killing me. (none / 0) (#47)
    by oculus on Tue Mar 17, 2009 at 12:34:22 AM EST
    here's the answer:

    Monday, 3/16/2009
    Montana received a No. 13 seed to the 2009 NCAA Tournament and will face No. 4 Pittsburgh Saturday night in Seattle, Wash.


    Parent

    One thing is painfully obvious. (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by SOS on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 05:59:57 PM EST
    You can't educate sedated and misinformed Americans overnight.

    Melissa kicked *ss (5.00 / 1) (#38)
    by NJDem on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 08:50:02 PM EST
    on Dancing with the Stars tonight--I think she'll go far in this venue.  Missed last week, and didn't really didn't think about it tonight, but happen to have it on and it seems like she's getting great 'revenge.'  Good for her.  

    What (none / 0) (#3)
    by andgarden on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 06:22:37 PM EST
    Glenn said.

    Yep. Go Glenn. (5.00 / 1) (#34)
    by pukemoana on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 08:12:38 PM EST
    I've watched friends desperately trying to wriggle their way round this one.  Neither of us are Americans and as a same-sex couple with kids the US was a complete no go.  So we took our respective Ivy League PhDs (thanks for the education . . .) and headed off to a country that recognized us as a family (gidday Canada)

    Parent
    Seattle P-I to cease... (none / 0) (#4)
    by EL seattle on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 06:22:45 PM EST
    publication as a newspaper tomorrow.

    Link here.

    RIP PI (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by DFLer on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 06:25:27 PM EST
    that's sad.

    Parent
    Obama In SoCA (none / 0) (#5)
    by squeaky on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 06:22:53 PM EST
    This week

    President Obama will tour Southern California on Wednesday and Thursday, with stops at town hall-style meetings in Los Angeles and Costa Mesa and a visit to " The Tonight Show With Jay Leno."

    The town hall meeting will be open to the public, and tickets will be distributed on Tuesday.

    LaTimes

    Any fundraiser appearances? (none / 0) (#6)
    by oculus on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 06:25:18 PM EST
    Huff Po says giving is down.

    Parent
    Giving Down? (none / 0) (#9)
    by squeaky on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 06:34:05 PM EST
    Not from Uncle Sam, from what I understand.

    But you can go to the event and throw a few bucks on stage. Someone will be sure to appreciate it.

    Parent

    Campaign war chests. (none / 0) (#10)
    by oculus on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 06:35:02 PM EST


    Parent
    BTW, (none / 0) (#8)
    by andgarden on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 06:30:01 PM EST
    I think Sirota blew it.

    Heh (none / 0) (#12)
    by Steve M on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 07:11:04 PM EST
    She's not really my type!  I'm guessing not your type either.  I frankly don't get what's so sexualized about the video, although I guess the finger-wagging thing is a little naughty.  It's frankly no more remarkable than a company choosing to use an attractive female in their advertising, which happens about a million times every day.

    It's hard to argue with much in Melissa's post.  I don't think Sirota is evil or anything, but his post had a definite vibe of "yeah, I'm checking out this babe, but look how sensitive I'm being about it!"  In other words, I wouldn't call it sexist, I'd just call it a load of BS.

    Parent

    There must be something wrong (5.00 / 4) (#43)
    by Anne on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 10:10:47 PM EST
    with me, because I did not find that safety video in the least bit sexualized or titillating.  Sure the woman in the starring role is attractive, but, so what?  Her voice is normal and not sexually inflected, her body language is neutral and professional.

    Seems like a lot of fuss about nothing, but maybe we know more about what turns David Sirota on; I could live another 50 years without ever feeling I needed to know that!

    Parent

    Nope, as I think you know, I don't (none / 0) (#15)
    by andgarden on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 07:18:25 PM EST
    play for that team.

    I think the way Sirota pointed it out was kind of icky, though. Melissa's point in a comment has it just right:

    [Sirota's] questions are predicated on an exceedingly unlikely presumption about passenger demographics and the "safety justifies sexism" premise excludes all consideration of women.

    Several people have reiterated their objections along similar lines, as well as having noted that the premise also fails to be inclusive of gay men.

    But the most bothersome aspect of Sirota's post was how transparently he was celebrating the exploitation of the video (though I'm sure he'd claim he wasn't).  

    Parent

    Hmm (none / 0) (#20)
    by Steve M on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 07:36:47 PM EST
    Is the presumption that airline passengers are more likely to be straight males really "exceedingly unlikely"?  Or do I miss what she's driving at?

    The more relevant point seems to be that you wouldn't normally expect a rational corporation to choose an advertising tactic that caters to 55% of people and alienates the other 45%, with a handful of exceptions like beer commercials.  But there's this societal norm where you get to pander to the (straight) male audience and everyone else is expected to politely look the other way.

    Parent

    It strikes me as an exceedingly stupid method (none / 0) (#24)
    by andgarden on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 07:40:46 PM EST
    But as I wrote, my beef is with Sirota for gawking at it in public like a 12-year-old.

    Parent
    Well. . . (none / 0) (#25)
    by LarryInNYC on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 07:42:43 PM EST
    Is the presumption that airline passengers are more likely to be straight males really "exceedingly unlikely"

    You're looking at no more than 45% of the population (6% in Manhattan), and that's not adjusting for children.  So I think that's statistically unlikely possibility.

    Parent

    Well (none / 0) (#35)
    by Steve M on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 08:25:12 PM EST
    Children are neither here nor there, really.  But I'm pretty sure that business travelers are overwhelmingly male, like it or not, which is bound to skew the average.

    Parent
    The point is (none / 0) (#36)
    by andgarden on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 08:29:20 PM EST
    that Sirota overlooked some pretty important issues for some pretty obvious reasons, and he's offended for being called out.

    Parent
    What? (none / 0) (#23)
    by LarryInNYC on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 07:39:24 PM EST
    I don't play for that team.

    You're not a Skymiles member?  AAdvantage?

    Parent

    Well, Philly is a USAir town, but that's (none / 0) (#27)
    by andgarden on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 07:44:08 PM EST
    neither here nor there.

    I'm pretty well-represented among male flight attendants, though. . .

    Parent

    Smiling Mommy (none / 0) (#31)
    by squeaky on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 08:01:27 PM EST
    She is good for all genders and sexual orientations, imo. She is the giver of life via saftey info very maternal.  If she were really super sexualized, as some may have it,  the only people able to soak in the info would be straight women, gay men and small children.

    The straight men would only be thinking about sex, not safety.

    Parent

    what about (5.00 / 1) (#32)
    by CST on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 08:03:29 PM EST
    the lesbians?

    They seem to be missing in all this talk.

    Parent

    Yes (none / 0) (#33)
    by squeaky on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 08:09:53 PM EST
    Lesbians also would be zoning out were this super sexualized.

    The topic is interesting. The slam seems unwarranted imo.

    Parent

    I did not think the video was sexualized (none / 0) (#14)
    by magster on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 07:16:52 PM EST
    The flight attendant is definitely pretty, and that's probably why Delta chose her, but it wasn't tittilating.  It seemed more like the viewer was supposed to be friends with the cool hip playful Delta crew. That Sirota (and the many youtube watchers) was aroused by the video says more about Sirota than Delta.

    Thanks for the link BTW, my wife and I enjoyed analyzing and discussing and wasting a good twenty minutes on this.  

    Parent

    Honestly, I could barely watch the while thing (none / 0) (#17)
    by andgarden on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 07:20:32 PM EST
    because I found it tacky. I think Melissa explains the sexualization pretty well in the comments at her site.

    Parent
    I find Sirota's (5.00 / 1) (#22)
    by caseyOR on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 07:39:17 PM EST
    response to Melissa's post whiny and beyond self-righteous.

    Parent
    Well, that's his shtick (5.00 / 1) (#29)
    by andgarden on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 07:59:00 PM EST


    Parent
    I could barely watch the whole thing... (none / 0) (#18)
    by magster on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 07:31:54 PM EST
    ...because it was boring.  

    I'm much more outraged at the newer hotter Dora the Explorer,  because young girls, like my daughter, aren't allowed to be curious and tomboy looking after the age of 6.


    Parent

    heh (none / 0) (#19)
    by andgarden on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 07:35:18 PM EST


    Parent
    You might want to rephrase that. . . (none / 0) (#21)
    by LarryInNYC on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 07:37:05 PM EST
    given the subject matter of the kerfluffle.

    Parent
    Fair point. . . (none / 0) (#26)
    by andgarden on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 07:42:54 PM EST


    Parent
    I'min Mahattan again (none / 0) (#11)
    by cpa1 on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 07:08:47 PM EST
    The last time I was here, to see Pal Joey, I almost ran over John Kerry coming out of the midtown tunnel.  He was a man I once picked for president, then trashed him for his political ineptness.  

    I am here again and walking on Madison near 79th Street &  coming out of a Chase Bank, was Elliot Spitzer & his wife.  She is incedibly beautiful, much better live.  Elliot is a nice looking guy and I did predict, when I was on the DailyInfant, that  he'd be the first Jewish president.

    Who will I run into next time...probably Hillary or Sharpton but I never predicted he'd win.

    Nice time to be in the city (none / 0) (#13)
    by andgarden on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 07:11:51 PM EST
    it's just warming up again.

    Parent
    Huh. Just back from 3 days in NYC (none / 0) (#37)
    by Cream City on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 08:39:36 PM EST
    walking all over for many miles and didn't see anyone "important," in quotes -- just lots of people important to me, the marvelous everyday Noo Yawkers who make people-watching wonderful there.  Maybe I spend too much time in museums and little basement restaurants in Soho and such, not listed in guides but on lists of recommendations from New Yorker friends -- and my kids' friends there, so we really elevated the age level in some places.:-)  

    Stayed in a great old midtown hotel so got to enjoy an NCAA crowd, with one of the surprise winning teams with us.  So lots of whooping it up with students, parents, and the pep band in the lobby.  But they were a quiet crowd, once nighttime fell.

    Can't say the same for the streets of New York at night, though.  I live in a city, and in a student area -- but nothing like the noise of that city!  Two nights straight of little sleep, with street repairs below our hotel window all night the first night and then with a fight and police sirens and arrests the next night.  Next time, we give up the great old hotel to find something a tad farther out and walk even more to get to museums and restaurants and more. . . .

    Parent

    I guess that noise level is something one (5.00 / 1) (#39)
    by Anne on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 09:35:59 PM EST
    might eventually become accustomed to, but as someone who has always had sensitive ears, and for whom noise is stressful, I'm not sure I would ever get used to it.

    One of the joys of living where I do, in the country on 6 acres of land, is that at the end of a nerve-jangling day, I come home to the quiet.  No horns honking, no whoosh-whoosh of cars speeding down the road, no people noise.  Just birds, mostly, and the occasional dog barking from somewhere nearby.  

    Sounds like you had a great trip - it's good to go off the beaten path a little, explore the things the average visitor doesn't know about.  I would love the museums, though - there's a Cezanne exhibit in Philadelphia I would like to see.

    Too much on the plate these days, what with tax season and getting my aunt's house emptied out and ready for sale.  Looking forward to getting all of that done, and having some time to really relax and feed my spirit and soul a little.

    Parent

    We used to live (5.00 / 1) (#40)
    by Steve M on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 09:41:53 PM EST
    on a very noisy streetcorner in NYC.  My wife would freak out every time a siren would go by, worried that it would wake the baby.  But I suspect our daughter will be a sounder sleeper in years to come, having become accustomed to a higher level of ambient noise.

    Parent
    Sounds like me (5.00 / 2) (#41)
    by CST on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 09:44:53 PM EST
    I have trouble sleeping in the country.  The crickets are way too loud.

    Trains, planes, and automobiles are just normal background noise.  Crickets are intolerable.

    Parent

    One of the most useful things the (5.00 / 2) (#42)
    by Anne on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 10:00:32 PM EST
    pediatrician ever told us was not to think we needed to make the house dead quiet for the baby to be able to nap.  "Put the bassinet in the living room or the family room and let her sleep there while you go about your daily routine - she'll be so much better off if she can sleep anywhere than if she needs total quiet," is what he told us - and he was right!

    I love the crickets and the locusts humming in the summer - and I most especially love the dark.  Love being able to see the stars - some nights it's just amazing.  We have a couple of owls who "hoot" at night - having lived here for almost 30 years, I just feel comforted by the sounds of nature.

    Parent

    I was born in Manhattan (none / 0) (#45)
    by gyrfalcon on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 11:41:37 PM EST
    and lived there until I was 9.  I not only have no trouble sleeping with Manhattan-level noise outside the window, I fall off almost instantly with a great big happy smile on my face because all that city noise takes me right back to my infant wallowing in unconditional love, I think.

    I live in the near total silence of the country now, and I love that more than I can say.

    What drove me nuts for the intervening 40 years was the off-and-on nighttime noise of the suburbs.

    Parent

    Re: infant wallowing in unconditional (5.00 / 2) (#46)
    by oculus on Tue Mar 17, 2009 at 12:03:21 AM EST
    love.

    Please, please, please tell this to your parents!

    Parent

    I did that many (5.00 / 1) (#51)
    by gyrfalcon on Tue Mar 17, 2009 at 10:56:13 AM EST
    times before they passed away.  Same thing with travel.  We did some extrensive traveling when I was 5, and I have that same blissed-out feeling when I get on the road to go somewhere.


    Parent
    One more week and I'm there. (none / 0) (#44)
    by oculus on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 11:20:38 PM EST
    Don't care a smidgen about the noise.  Can't wait.

    Parent
    Well (none / 0) (#48)
    by Cream City on Tue Mar 17, 2009 at 01:09:46 AM EST
    if six huge city trucks and front-end loaders and more, and a dozen yelling men in hardhats appear below your window at midnight, and all excavate a huge hole in the street and then drop huge metal sheets over it -- while dropping metal rods onto the metal sheets about every other minute, too -- until six ayem, and it doesn't bother you . . .

    . . . then you already bought the top item on my to-do list for our next trip:  EARPLUGS.

    As I said, I live in a city, and in an area considered noisy by burbanites what with all-night car and bus traffic and student life, too.  But really, the scene above was a bit much.  And even then, I took it in good humor and just figured that I would catch up the next night . . . until the streetfight and sirens and arrests for hours.  I've had a quieter night in that hotel even on St. Paddy's!  (Oh, how I wish I were there for the parade again today. . . .)

    Parent

    OK , I'm taking my ear plugs. (none / 0) (#49)
    by oculus on Tue Mar 17, 2009 at 01:14:09 AM EST
    Probably helps that my hearing isn't the greatest.  

    I'm listening to Muratami's memoir:  WHat I Think About When I'm Running.

    He and his wife have a fourth floor apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is complaining about the constant noise generated by repairs to the apt. complex.  

    Parent

    More on that possible plan to (none / 0) (#28)
    by NJDem on Mon Mar 16, 2009 at 07:53:38 PM EST
    charge Veterans:

    "The American Legion Strongly Opposed to President's Plan to Charge Wounded Heroes for Treatment"

    Has anyone seen this story on the tv news--I haven't?

    Private Insurance Companies (none / 0) (#52)
    by Inspector Gadget on Tue Mar 17, 2009 at 11:16:28 AM EST
    It's posted on other political sites and being discussed, but haven't seen anything on the news.

    Perhaps someone should write to NBC's Tonight Show and see if Jay Leno will ask the president about it when he appears on his show this week.

    Parent

    Home invasion and Attempted murder... (none / 0) (#50)
    by kdog on Tue Mar 17, 2009 at 09:16:55 AM EST
    in Michigan...just another day in the war on drugs...which side are you on?

    Monday Afternoon Open Thread | 52 comments (52 topical)

    Readers Must Login or Create an Account to Comment