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Monday Night Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Mon May 18, 2009 at 08:06:47 PM EST
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The TV season is winding down. Tonight is the last competiton on Dancing With The Stars (Go, Melissa!) and the finale of "24." Will Jack Bauer really die or get a last minute transfusion from his daughter?

The new season of The Bachelorette begins tonight with Jillian (#3 from Jason's season) meeting 30 guys and sending 10 home.

What are you doing and thinking about tonight? This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Update: As I've mentioned before, rather than continuing to write about TV here, I decided to start a new site for my tv and movie posts. I just put it up today, so if you're interested, come on over to PopLeft.com. It's a work in progress, let me know what you think.

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    Monday Night Open Thread | 34 comments (34 topical)

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    Please Don't Watch "24" (5.00 / 1) (#19)
    by BruceM on Tue May 19, 2009 at 01:56:45 AM EST
    It's bad for your mind.  It's people who watch 24 and shows like it who convince themselves that torture is sometimes okay because of the "ticking timebomb" scenario.  

    On 24 (and similar shows) you SEE a particular terrorist setting up a terrorist act (bomb or whatever) so you know it is that particular person - 100% certain of identity beyond any doubt.  So you don't feel bad when he's "harshly interrogated" because unlike real life you KNOW he did it.  

    And then there's the captured terrorist who says things like "The bomb will go off in an hour but you'll never find it muahahahah!" - people get convinced that "ticking timebomb" situations like this sometimes happen in real life due to seeing it on "24" and it warps their fragile minds.  This like this never happen.  Not ever.  Not rarely, not every now and then, NEVER.  They happen on 24 and in Nicholas Cage movies.  But never in real life does a captured terrorist say he knows where the bomb is, that it's set to go off, but he won't tell and you won't get him to tell (muahaha).  

    But when you watch 24 over and over again, it gives you a false sense of reality, and then people are defending torture because of what happened to Jack Bauer.

    Watch something else.  Please - for America.  If you love this country you won't watch "24" - not ever.

    I stopped watching (5.00 / 3) (#20)
    by Fabian on Tue May 19, 2009 at 04:31:11 AM EST
    well before they started the ticking time bomb scenarios.

    When they had a fatal virus in a package of heroin....

    Viruses are quite fragile creatures.  The odds of a virus surviving in pure heroin is nil.  The odds of a virus going from initial exposure to phenomenally contagious within 24 hours is very low.  The whole premise was literally laughable.

    So while my husband was watching the show, I was sitting there saying "Ridiculous!  Impossible!  Whadda load of bull!  Is Sutherland writing this?".

    Parent

    You missed a great finale (none / 0) (#27)
    by Jeralyn on Tue May 19, 2009 at 07:37:01 AM EST
    There was more emphasis than usual this season on the moral dilemas. And it's an exciting show. Great to watch on the treadmill at the gym on iTunes. The 50 minutes fly by.

    Parent
    I never did watch "24" (5.00 / 2) (#28)
    by Militarytracy on Tue May 19, 2009 at 07:39:57 AM EST
    I haven't seen a single episode.  I didn't like the idea behind "24".  I'm particular about my entertainment because I have a limited time to spend being entertained. I didn't feel like turning such issues as "24" attempts to depict into a soap opera in my head.  JMO

    Parent
    Another Day, Another poll showing (2.00 / 1) (#1)
    by ProudTroll on Mon May 18, 2009 at 08:43:49 PM EST
    pro-lifers gaining the mo, mo, mo, momentum.

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,520559,00.html

    "The poll finds 49 percent of voters today describe themselves as "pro-life" and 43 percent as "pro-choice" on the issue of abortion. This is the first time more voters have described themselves as pro-life in the poll since April 2004."

    A third of your party and 51% of indies are now more pro-life than pro-choice.

    That's Pew, Gallup, and Fox News/Opinion Dynamics....you cannot pull the Rasmussen excuse on us.

    What is it that you are cheering (5.00 / 2) (#3)
    by oldpro on Mon May 18, 2009 at 08:51:38 PM EST
    and what is it that you want re abortion and public policy?

    If you could write the law, what would it say and how would it be enforced?

    Please share with us the basis for your values and opinion re the issue of women's reproductive rights...abortion, contraception, etc.

    Parent

    No, No! (5.00 / 3) (#25)
    by jbindc on Tue May 19, 2009 at 07:32:55 AM EST
    Don't you know?  If you make abortion illegal, then there will be no more abortions!  You won't have to worry about penalties, because it will never happen again.  

    It makes sense, because there were no abortions before 1973, right?

    Parent

    Bingo... (none / 0) (#29)
    by kdog on Tue May 19, 2009 at 08:28:32 AM EST
    and applies to a lot of things....if you make drugs illegal, no one will use drugs!  Pay no attention to the cure being worse than the disease, that's just your freeedom-loving imagination getting the best of you...freedom is slavery, dontcha know.

    Parent
    Third try with you.... (5.00 / 3) (#15)
    by Radiowalla on Mon May 18, 2009 at 10:46:22 PM EST
    You have ignored my two other requests for information, so I will ask again, politely:

    Since you are in favor of criminalizing abortion, what penalties do you advocate?  Who will go to jail?  Doctors?  Nurses?  Women who have abortions as is the case in El Salvador?
    How long will the sentences be?  Will parole be possible?

    I haven't yet found a "pro-life" supporter willing to step up and answer these questions.   You come to this blog all the time to publish your opinions on abortion so why not give some straight answers to simple questions?

    Oh, wait!  I did find a "pro-life" advocate just yesterday who answered a similiar question by me on another blog.  Here was the answer.  Tell me if you agree:

    "I base my position on this question on the unwavering conviction that the life within the womb must be protected with the same vigour with which we protect life outside it, so yes, people would go to jail: the same as they do for murdering anybody else. We send everybody who had a hand in it to prison as either accomplices or accessories before and after the fact. Nurses and doctors would fall under these categories.

    As for the mother, it is often the case that she is under one type of duress or other at the time of the abortion, so this needs to be considered, but in general I think we need to treat abortion as seriously as we would infanticide, since that is essentially what it is. It is just not rational to grant somebody greater protection under the law because it now outside the womb rather than inside it.

    Those who murder pregnant women are liable to two charges of murder in several states. It is completely hypocritical to say that the mother herself gets a pass on the punishments which would be swiftly visited upon anybody else who might murder her child. The punishments must be the same."

    Orange Planet Link

    Are you equally in favor of Murder One as the charge for abortion?  

    Parent

    And once again... (5.00 / 2) (#16)
    by otherlisa on Mon May 18, 2009 at 11:00:28 PM EST
    crickets

    Parent
    I have a question or two.... (5.00 / 1) (#31)
    by vml68 on Tue May 19, 2009 at 09:11:45 AM EST
    Are abortions illegal in any state?
    And is the following comment true?

    Those who murder pregnant women are liable to two charges of murder in several states.

    P.S.-Please excuse my ignorance on this subject.

    Parent

    Everything you want to know (5.00 / 1) (#34)
    by Radiowalla on Tue May 19, 2009 at 10:35:58 AM EST
    can be found right here: http://naral.org/issues/abortion/

    Parent
    Yawn (none / 0) (#5)
    by gyrfalcon on Mon May 18, 2009 at 08:55:34 PM EST
    Grasping at straws.  Linky

    Parent
    Apparently the Talkleft baby murdering (none / 0) (#22)
    by Militarytracy on Tue May 19, 2009 at 07:24:07 AM EST
    crowd just chaps the ever luvin Jesus out of someone :)

    Parent
    A Fox News poll? (none / 0) (#24)
    by Militarytracy on Tue May 19, 2009 at 07:30:42 AM EST
    With figures this poor on a pro-life stance coming out of a Fox News poll I would think this poll indicates the exact opposite.

    Parent
    Hillary and Palin? (none / 0) (#2)
    by ProudTroll on Mon May 18, 2009 at 08:44:18 PM EST
    http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22681.html

    Remember you only get 4 posts a day here (3.50 / 2) (#6)
    by Jeralyn on Mon May 18, 2009 at 09:00:58 PM EST
    And please learn how to use the link button and put your urls in html format. Thanks.

    I do think you are wasting your time here, but I'm not going to censor you, just limit you as a chatterer per the comment rules.

    Parent

    I love this about you too Jeralyn (none / 0) (#23)
    by Militarytracy on Tue May 19, 2009 at 07:26:39 AM EST
    by the way.  I don't want to wake up every morning and only hear myself and my hand picked friends think :)  I like issue debate involving a bunch of lawyers.  I learn a lot.

    Parent
    Really a wacky guy... (none / 0) (#7)
    by oldpro on Mon May 18, 2009 at 09:05:37 PM EST
    wierd notions...Greta should take him in hand.

    Parent
    Just ignore him (5.00 / 3) (#17)
    by gyrfalcon on Mon May 18, 2009 at 11:34:31 PM EST
    He's not an honest commenter, not looking for dialogue, just gets himself all excited by fantasizing he's upsetting people.

    Parent
    Since I'm limited to four comments (2.00 / 1) (#18)
    by ProudTroll on Mon May 18, 2009 at 11:48:21 PM EST
    due to my status as a chatterer, I am limited in my ability to engage in a dialogue with the posters here at FarLeft, I mean TalkLeft.  I've posted a link to an article.  Perhaps you'd like to comment on what's reported in the article.

    I post to scientific polls all the time.  Perhaps you'd like to comment on why your point of view is finding itself repudiated by so many members of your own party and a majority of independents, not just Republicans.

    Parent

    Well, actually, your attempt (none / 0) (#32)
    by Inspector Gadget on Tue May 19, 2009 at 09:26:50 AM EST
    to start a conversation where you cannot participate (because of your chatterer status, of course) is rather uninteresting, dontcha see? Not to mention you attempt to start the very same topic day in and day out.

    I don't trust polls. None of them. I also don't make life decisions for anyone other than myself. No one. If Jane Doe gets an abortion, and it wasn't my child, how does her decision impact my life? I have outlived my childbearing years, so I'm sure not going to face the decision. It no longer interests me. You want to try to add yet another human, personal decision to the list of unwarranted crimes, and boast that this country has become an army of judgmental, self-righteous minions, so be it. I don't.

    You, ProudTroll, have nothing to be proud of.


    Parent

    I know. Actually, I was (none / 0) (#33)
    by oldpro on Tue May 19, 2009 at 10:27:38 AM EST
    referring to Greta's husband, referenced in the link re Hillary...but I can see why you'd think I meant the troll!

    Parent
    Don't worry.... (none / 0) (#4)
    by EL seattle on Mon May 18, 2009 at 08:54:52 PM EST
    Remember that the Great Pirate Roberts was tortured to death in The Princess Bride.  But everything worked out okay in the end on that one, didn't it?  I think ol' Keifer'll manage alright.

    I believe that was (none / 0) (#10)
    by CoralGables on Mon May 18, 2009 at 10:11:06 PM EST
    the long line of "Dread" Pirate Roberts. And yes, they tended to retire in style or marry Princess Buttercup.

    Parent
    I, too, am thinking of the choice (none / 0) (#8)
    by oldpro on Mon May 18, 2009 at 09:12:13 PM EST
    anti-choice issues raised both by the recent polls and by the president's visit to Notre Dame.

    The most interesting historical perspective is provided by Ellen Goodman, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Boston Globe.  (Sorry...I'm link averse).  She highlights the case of Susan Struck and wonder what would have happened if the case had not become moot and had actually been argued as the 'first case re abortion/pregnancy' - Susan Struck v Secretary of Defense - instead of Roe v Wade...by current Justice/then ACLU lawyer Ginsberg, no less.

    Fascinating.

    Gotta go...meeting...I'll be back, tho!

    J (none / 0) (#11)
    by CoralGables on Mon May 18, 2009 at 10:13:41 PM EST
    I think comments posted at PopLeft disappear into the great comment section in the sky.

    All in moderation (none / 0) (#12)
    by Inspector Gadget on Mon May 18, 2009 at 10:33:21 PM EST
    Seems the site moderator will be kept really busy reading and releasing comments out of moderation.


    Parent
    I think I set it to (none / 0) (#13)
    by Jeralyn on Mon May 18, 2009 at 10:33:26 PM EST
    requiring approval. I'll see if I can change that. Thanks!

    Parent
    ok, fixed (5.00 / 1) (#14)
    by Jeralyn on Mon May 18, 2009 at 10:38:56 PM EST
    You do have to register but comments will appear automatically without me having to approve them.

    Parent
    No music category? (none / 0) (#21)
    by DFLer on Tue May 19, 2009 at 07:03:32 AM EST
    Is this intended for visual media only?

    Parent
    there will be music (5.00 / 1) (#26)
    by Jeralyn on Tue May 19, 2009 at 07:35:30 AM EST
    the categories don't show until I've written something in them. It's only been up 2 days. There will be a little of everything.

    Parent
    Now I've got 2 blogs... (none / 0) (#30)
    by kdog on Tue May 19, 2009 at 08:30:06 AM EST
    to frequent...or haunt:)

    Good luck and enjoy the new venue J!

    Parent

    Two best Monday night shows: (none / 0) (#35)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue May 19, 2009 at 11:49:28 AM EST
    "Two and a Half Men" and "Rules of Engagement."

    Monday Night Open Thread | 34 comments (34 topical)

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