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Tuesday Morning Open Thread

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Blog Related
Posted on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 11:46:53 AM EST
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Here's an Open Thread for commenting until the next Obama Administration insult of "the Left."

Open Thread.

Charlie Rangel on the floor. Going out swinging.

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    Tuesday Morning Open Thread | 46 comments (46 topical)

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    fun news headline day (none / 0) (#1)
    by CST on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 11:53:54 AM EST
    on msn.

    "Levi Johnston to run for mayor of Wasilla"

    "Inspectors shut down kid's lemonade stand
    The 7-year-old faced fines for having no license."

    "Man jumps under train for fun
    Video: A 28-year-old man films himself jumping under a subway train in Shanghai."

    "Upset flight attendant activates chute, exits plane"

    "Why it might pay for Dad to die now"

    That city (town) definitely (none / 0) (#3)
    by MO Blue on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 12:03:35 PM EST
    has way too many inspectors with way too much time on their hands. Find them something more productive to do or save the taxpayers some money by firing them.

    "Inspectors shut down kid's lemonade stand
    The 7-year-old faced fines for having no license."



    Parent
    i finally read the article (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by CST on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 12:17:37 PM EST
    the inspectors eventually relented after local protests.  $500 fine was dropped, apology issued to "Julie" the 7-year old in question who was forced to take down her stand.

    Although the article also says she made it with kool-aid.  Which I think should be reason enough to shut it down :)

    Parent

    But but but... (none / 0) (#12)
    by kdog on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 12:51:00 PM EST
    if we let her sell lemonade, anarchy will surely follow.

    Law and order must be maintained! If you don't like it, change the law!  Or something like that...lol.

    Parent

    I will see your 7 year old (none / 0) (#13)
    by Capt Howdy on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 12:54:30 PM EST
    lemonade maker and raise you a 12 year old film maker:

    I have just been sent the first production photo from Emily Hagins` new movie, My Sucky Teen Romance, which is currently in production in Austin, Texas (wrap is scheduled for the beginning of September). Some of you might remember Emily from the popular filmmaking documentary Zombie Girl: The Movie, which Hagins attempt to film a feature length zombie movie at the  age of only twelve years old. Emily is now 17 years old and for her third feature, she has chosen to script a teen comedy, but with vampires. Her latest effort has her biggest budget yet, and a number of local Austin professionals have stepped forward to help her achieve her vision on film.



    Parent
    Take this job and shove it... (none / 0) (#2)
    by kdog on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 11:54:45 AM EST
    Have y'all met America's newest folk hero yet?

    His name is Steven Slater and I've got a serious man-crush...hope John Law ain't too hard on ya buddy!

    You can do anything you want on your last day (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by ruffian on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 12:14:36 PM EST
    ...and it WILL be your last day.

    One of the myriad annoying things about air travel are obnoxious fellow passengers who get up during taxi and open luggage compartments. If Slater is prosecuted I hope the jerk of a passenger is too.

    I'm sorry for Slater's sake that he snapped. Even if he becomes an Internet hero he may wish he had his old life back at some point.

    But for me I have to applaud the eff-it-ness of the act.

    Parent

    I think he'll be allright... (none / 0) (#9)
    by kdog on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 12:39:00 PM EST
    if he is able to stay out of one of our cages, he's facing up to 7 years.  Maybe some reality tv?  But he might be regretting it today...I hear ya.  But 20 years from now, I think he will remember the day his self-respect mattered more than a stupid paycheck, and he will smile:)

    If he has trouble finding another gig once the legal mess is over, I'd happily contribute to a collection...I mean this kinda vicarious joy is priceless.

    Parent

    I'ld like to go back and find (none / 0) (#17)
    by Untold Story on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 01:10:31 PM EST
    out the situation whereby he gets hit in the head.

    Was the passenger out of his seat (getting down his/her bag) when he/she was suppose to remain seated?

    If the passenger wasn't in violation of rules and regulations, then did he or she not have the piece of luggage in control when it hit Slater?

    Slater should have used his head, other than stopping luggage, and gotten a good lawyer for damages, headaches, brain damage, etc.

    Parent

    the story (none / 0) (#21)
    by Capt Howdy on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 01:16:34 PM EST
    The drama happened as a flight from Pittsburgh landed at JFK around noon, and was taxiing to the gate.  According to witnesses, one passenger ignored the "Stay seated with your seatbelt on until we are parked at the gate" instruction and got out of his seat and started getting his stuff out of the overhead compartment.  Slater told the man to sit down, which the passenger ignored. Slater got up and approached the passenger as he pulled his carry-on down and the suitcase struck Slater in the head.

    Slater asked for an apology, and the passenger cursed him out instead. Slater got on the PA system, cursed out everyone on the plane, went to the exit door and activated the evacuation slide and launched himself off the plane, ran to the employee parking lot, got in his car, and drove home, where he was later arrested.

    personally I am a little amazed why everyone is so in love with this guy.  have they flown lately?

    Parent

    I've flown... (none / 0) (#26)
    by kdog on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 01:26:17 PM EST
    and the only people who hate the airlines more than the passengers are the flight crew...you think he liked being the hall monitor?  

    Parent
    From what I've read... (none / 0) (#22)
    by kdog on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 01:18:23 PM EST
    a passenger insisted on getting their bags out of the overhead prior to the plane coming to a complete stop.

    Parent
    oh goodness (none / 0) (#23)
    by Capt Howdy on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 01:19:56 PM EST
    sounds like a candidate for waterboarding

    Parent
    I hear ya... (none / 0) (#27)
    by kdog on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 01:27:19 PM EST
    but the passenger should know better than to take out their frustration on the poor flight attendants...don't shoot the messenger.

    Parent
    The details aren't a secret - (none / 0) (#25)
    by Anne on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 01:24:50 PM EST
    The contretemps unfolded as JetBlue Flight 1052 from Pittsburgh landed at Kennedy around noon -- on time -- with a full load of 100 passengers and pulled up to the gate, said the law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing but offered the following account:

    One passenger stood up to fetch belongings from the overhead compartment before the crew had given permission. Mr. Slater instructed the person to remain seated. The passenger defied him. Mr. Slater approached and reached the passenger just as the person pulled down the luggage, which struck Mr. Slater in the head.

    Mr. Slater asked for an apology. The passenger instead cursed at him. Mr. Slater got on the plane's public address system and cursed out the passenger. Then he activated the inflatable evacuation slide at service exit R1; launched himself off the plane, an Embraer 190; ran to the employee parking lot; and left the airport in a car he had parked there.

    Link

    As far as I'm concerned, the passenger was exactly as Slater described her (yes, the passenger was a woman): a "f**ing a$$hole."

    Can't wait for her to be outed, as she surely will be.

    Parent

    I think so too (none / 0) (#20)
    by hollyfromca on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 01:13:59 PM EST
    The airline issued a statement to the effect that at no time were any of the passengers or crew in danger.  It's a fantasy!

    Parent
    Many of our "crimes" are... (none / 0) (#24)
    by kdog on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 01:20:23 PM EST
    or at least the enforcement of them....fantasy.  

    I also read they practically sent the calvary to his house...the neighbors were freaked thinking he was robbing banks or something.  50 cops.

    Parent

    While I've had the same fantasy (none / 0) (#37)
    by jbindc on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 02:23:31 PM EST
    (anyone who ever worked in customer service has had a similar fantasy), you have to remember that his job as a flight attendant is to ensure the safety of the passengers until they leave the aircraft.  By leaving and in the way he did, he could have potentially put someone in danger.

    That being said - that female passenger (I believe) was in violation of federal law for not following a flight crew member's instruction and I hope they nail her.

    Parent

    Nonsense... (none / 0) (#39)
    by kdog on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 02:48:25 PM EST
    no one was in anything even closely resembling "danger"...arrest for "reckless endangerment" is a joke.  And I don't see anything resembling the other charge either, "criminal mischief"...another knee-slapper.

    I disagree about the rude passenger too...don't want her "nailed", just embarassed, as she surely is.  Everything should be dropped and we should just enjoy the vicarious living moment brought to us by Mr. Slater.

    Parent

    Um (none / 0) (#47)
    by jbindc on Wed Aug 11, 2010 at 10:52:53 AM EST
    Just because no one was hurt because he deployed an emergency system without authorization and abandoned his post, doesn't mean someone couldn't have been.

    What do you think his (viable) defense will be if the charges stay?  "A passenger made me mad?"

    While I applaud his sentiment, his actions leave a lot to be desired.

    Parent

    She hit him in the head (none / 0) (#45)
    by hollyfromca on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 08:36:35 PM EST
    With her suitcase. Assault??

    Parent
    Slater needed our flight crew's solution (none / 0) (#44)
    by Cream City on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 03:59:24 PM EST
    which was duct tape.  Yes, all the way back across the ocean, our plane was held together by duct tape.

    Some of the overhead doors kept flying open, so out came the duct tape.  And folks who had squeezed their bags in there so that the overhead doors kept flying open just had to wait longer at the end.

    That the plane had to be held together with duct tape would have been a bit less worrisome, had we not already dealt with another bit of a problem upon boarding -- when as soon as I sat down, my feet felt something in the way under a seat, and it turned out to be a huge piece of the plane.  I gave it to a flight attendant, who unwisely said, "oh, another piece?"

    Well, actually, the flight already was problematic even before boarding, as we had to spend almost three hours in line first . . . because there was only one staffer to check us in, because -- we were told -- it was a work slowdown, because of layoffs.  Etcetera.

    Flying so sucks today -- and this is only a part of the problems -- that I am staying home.

    Parent

    I think the "professional left" is (none / 0) (#4)
    by Anne on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 12:07:19 PM EST
    going a little Steve Slater today, as well they should.

    As was written in Salon today:

    Slater's actions were assuredly grand and possibly a tad overzealous. As New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly understatedly told CNN, "It's a strange way to quit, let's put it that way. I don't think he'll be able to come back." Yet his hall of fame-worthy exit cut right to the heart of a sentiment felt by anyone who's ever had to take crap from customers for a living, toiled in quiet desperation for an impersonal corporation, or looked at a paycheck and thought, "Are you kidding me?" Or as Drew Carey once said, "You hate your job? There's a support group for that. It's called everybody, and they meet at the bar." If you have never had a job that you fantasized elaborately about storming out on, you just haven't been working long enough. Suffice to say the news of Slater's exit made me wish I could get in a time machine and go back to the last day of my year in nonprofit. And that the museum I worked for had an emergency chute.

    The economy sucks. The unemployment rate hovers at nearly 10 percent. We're losing our health insurance, and our homes are being repossessed. That Slater has also, according to reports, been caring for his dying mother gives his desperate act a deeper resonance. Who quits his job at a moment like this? A guy we love, apparently. Nutty as his action may have been, it was a "We're not gonna take it" win for working stiffs everywhere, a reminder that we actually do have a choice in life, somewhere in between sucking it up and opening fire in a post office. What he did was crazy, but half the people you know are kvetching about how they "can't quit" their terrible, soul-sucking jobs -- and what's sane about that?

    When the sword of Damocles is hanging over your head, it is a bad time to be reckless. That's exactly what Steve Slater was. He threw it all away. He jumped. Few would have the moxie to leap after him, but look how many there turned out to be on the ground, waiting to cheer for his landing. For everyone who's ever been abused in the line of duty, for everyone who's ever been a cog in the machine, score one against helplessness.

    Hear, hear...


    Parent

    My dear departed Father... (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by kdog on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 01:01:32 PM EST
    used to share his quitting fantasy often with us around the kitchen table...he used to say "If I hit lotto, I'm taking a big ol' dump right on the boss' desk."

    He never did get to live that one out, but he did something similar for my moms...she used to work at this deli where the owners treated her like real sh*t, bothered my dad something awful, but we were broke...but one night his love and self-respect gets the better of him, he ties a nice bag on, goes to the deli and says "Honey, you ain't working for these bastards another second" and cold clocks the deli owner, they walk out.  

    Somehow we got by till moms found another, better, job.  My father always called it one of the proudest moments of his life.

    Parent

    yeah (none / 0) (#8)
    by Capt Howdy on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 12:32:15 PM EST
    he is definitely the king of pyrrhic victory today.

    Parent
    Not nearly as good (none / 0) (#18)
    by hollyfromca on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 01:12:13 PM EST
    But here's another one for you:

    Girl quits her job on dry erase board

    Parent

    I think I will make a power point slide myself (none / 0) (#38)
    by ruffian on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 02:25:17 PM EST


    Parent
    I'm dying to check it out... (none / 0) (#41)
    by kdog on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 02:51:43 PM EST
    but the link keeps crashing my internet explorer...it'll have to wait I guess.

    Letterman needs to do a top ten creative ways to quit your sh*tty job list:)

    Parent

    Try Gizmodo, it's there (none / 0) (#43)
    by republicratitarian on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 03:41:46 PM EST
    I can't figure out how to link to a story on here, help?

    Parent
    It's a hoax (none / 0) (#46)
    by hollyfromca on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 08:45:06 PM EST
    But very creative :)

    Parent
    this is amazing (none / 0) (#10)
    by Capt Howdy on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 12:39:37 PM EST
    Counterexamples to Relativity
    (from conservapedia)
    whats wrong with these people.  dont they know the discovery channel is owned by NewsCorp?

    some choice bits:

    The observed lack of curvature in overall space.

    The theory predicts wormholes just as it predicts black holes, but wormholes (might)violate causality and permit time travel.
    (why they have a problem with this I cant imagine.  isnt going back in time what they want?)

    over at stinque (none / 0) (#11)
    by Capt Howdy on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 12:47:06 PM EST
    eh came up with a much better list of counter examples to relativity.  a few:

    1. Relatives.

    2. The Lost finale.

    3. A cat's unexplained ability to hover at your door without being either in or out

    4. Aqua Buddha.

    5. The Rocktoberfest Paradox.

    6. The Amazing Kreskin.

    7. Dick Cheney still walks the Earth.

    8. Anomalies in the locations of anemones.
    (personal fav)

    23. Anchor Barbies.

    Parent

    did you read that quote (none / 0) (#28)
    by jondee on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 01:36:28 PM EST
    at the bottom: "virtually no one who believes in relativity reads the Bible"?

    No theologians, ministers, professors of literature etc who give credence to Einstein's theory read the Bible?

    These people seem to be trying awful hard to vindicate MKS's conservatism-as-religion thesis..

    And an ass-backwards form of religion it is.

    Parent

    I make jokes (none / 0) (#29)
    by Capt Howdy on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 02:01:33 PM EST
    because its horribly frightening.
    what else can we do?


    Parent
    keep making jokes (none / 0) (#34)
    by jondee on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 02:05:10 PM EST
    and keep making better and better ones.

    If we have to go down, at least we'll go down laughing. And he who laughs last..

    Parent

    which of couse (none / 0) (#30)
    by Capt Howdy on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 02:02:34 PM EST
    btw, is not true.  there are many religious scientists.  it just that their religion doesnt demand they believe the earth is 6000 years old.

    Parent
    Newton (none / 0) (#32)
    by Capt Howdy on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 02:03:02 PM EST
    was a Deacon

    Parent
    Faraday.. (none / 0) (#35)
    by jondee on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 02:08:37 PM EST
    Pascal, there's a list to be made..

    And if the crux of your religion is a sense of wonder and mystery and a kind of reverence that goes along with that, then Einstein himself would be near the top of the list.

    Parent

    Any updates from the Blago trial? Been a while. (none / 0) (#14)
    by republicratitarian on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 01:01:16 PM EST


    deliberating (none / 0) (#16)
    by Capt Howdy on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 01:05:16 PM EST
    deliberating deliberating.

    I heard this morning that if convicted of all counts he would get, like, 450 years in prison and millions in fines.

    Parent

    Oyster Herpes (none / 0) (#19)
    by Capt Howdy on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 01:12:50 PM EST
    Don't worry--oyster herpes isn't a new side effect of eating "the food of love."

    The incurable, deadly virus is, however, alarming fishing communities in Europe, where oyster herpes seems to be spreading--and could go on spreading as seas continue to warm, experts say.
    Ex-Mexican President (none / 0) (#31)
    by MKS on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 02:02:47 PM EST
    Vicente Fox advocates legalization of drugs.

    This as the LA times reports that the Mexican Drug cartels are winning the drug war.

    Fox is a conservative....

    and you know what (none / 0) (#33)
    by Capt Howdy on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 02:04:11 PM EST
    probably a real conservative.

    Parent
    Funny how the epiphany comes... (none / 0) (#36)
    by kdog on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 02:13:52 PM EST
    when they are no longer in a position to do something about it...and after they've cashed out on this god-forsaken war.

    Parent
    Even if Mexico legalizes drugs (none / 0) (#40)
    by MKS on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 02:50:48 PM EST
    we still have the U.S. side....Will Mexico legalize alone?

    Just think of the tax revenue that could be generated, and the savings obtained from fewer resources going to law enforcement.

    Parent

    I doubt it... (none / 0) (#42)
    by kdog on Tue Aug 10, 2010 at 02:58:29 PM EST
    they love the anti-drug money as much as Colombia does...they won't legalize without an ok from Uncle Sam...and that will never come.  Maybe decriminalization for personal use...that's more feasible.

    I tend think half the world's drug laws are on Uncle Sam's say so....like an international version of witholding highway money till every state raised the drinking age.  I mean not everybody can be this stupid for free.

    Parent

    Tuesday Morning Open Thread | 46 comments (46 topical)

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