The Atlantic - Latest Comments in Open Thread At Noon

Re: Open Thread At Noon

DaveinHackensack — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 01:00:26 -0000

There's also his alleged later abusive behavior toward women, the "waitress sandwiches", etc. He wasn't a good man.

Re: Open Thread At Noon

DaveinHackensack — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:59:13 -0000

If memory serves, Oates wrote a novel based on this, I think it was narrated by the girl suffocating. I think it was called "Black Water".

Re: Open Thread At Noon

DaveinHackensack — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:57:06 -0000

I'm not a fan of the genre, but on another blog I read (the venture capitalist Fred Wilson's blog) some guy mentioned an interesting site he created for hip-hop fans: it streams new tunes, and you give them a thumbs up or a thumbs down, and the site sort of learns your tastes after a while, and gives you more new hip-hop it thinks you will like. I told the guy to post a link to it here in the open threads. Don't know if he did, since I've been scarce here this week.

Re: Open Thread At Noon

corcoran25 — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:14:29 -0000

You're right about Marquez slowing down and Pac getting better, but Floyd doesn't have the ideal style to take advantage of Marquez's slippage, I dont think. A chess match, which it'll probably be, will let Marquez get away with the legs that looked a bit shaky against Diaz, and I think his recent activity could turn out to be a big advantage if it's a really close fight down the stretch. It'll probably be the kind of fight where a couple of good counter shots might be enough to take a lot of rounds, and ring rust could make Mayweather's timing suffer. But Mayweather's got all the size and speed advantage, which is more than a enough nine times out of ten.

Re: Open Thread At Noon

brucds — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:29:50 -0000

Great website...

http://madmenfootnotes.com/

Re: Open Thread At Noon

D-Sel — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:54:15 -0000

I don't think that Marquez has the power to hurt PBF the way JCC did against Taylor. Floyd was also never make the "mistake" Taylor made and keep fighting hard in a fight he had won. Just don't see it happening.

So, Keith, are we still trying to put together a fantasy league?

Re: Open Thread At Noon

keith — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:37:26 -0000

I actually could see this thing turning into Meldrick Taylor v Chavez, although I don't think Mayweather is as at the point that Taylor was in that fight. I also don't think that Mayweather has the same instinct to fight in him that Taylor had. But I could see a fight where Mayweather seems to dominate, while Marquez gets his shots in while he can. Enough to make the later rounds interesting.

Re: Open Thread At Noon

Deborah — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:05:14 -0000

I took the kids to the MIT museum today, where we beheld the WoW Pod. An orc-themed horned cubicle with built-in toilet and computer-controlled snack dispenser (with hot plate) and one of those camel-pak-esque hydration systems. The kids were enchanted--their online time should be so lux. I thought of this thread...

Re: Open Thread At Noon

DougEMI — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:03:08 -0000

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/08/28/one-of-his-favorite-topics-of-humor-was-indeed-chappaquiddick-itself/

Here is a link to a site that has the audio of the Kennedy friend who made the claim.

It doesn't say the nature of jokes. However,it is always difficult to know the truth about Kennedy's because both their haters and their flunkies appear to have agendas that go well beyond telling the truth.

Re: Open Thread At Noon

sir macartney — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:49:58 -0000

in light of reports that he enjoyed hearing jokes relating to the incident

Source please?

Re: Open Thread At Noon

D-Sel — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:49:02 -0000

I don't know. Unless Floyd has really slowed down in his time off, or the shooting is a big issue in the background, I think this is a pretty easy fight for him. Marquez is a good boxer, but he's been slowing down for years. I thought he won the second Pacquiao fight but I also think Pac is a little overrated and since then I think Pac has improved and Marquez has gone downhill. Mayweather will be stronger, faster, and fresher. And he'll need it more too, if the IRS bills are real.

Floyd doesn't like to mix it up, so I don't know if he'll knock him out, but if he wants to, I think he could stop Marquez inside of 6 rounds.

Re: Open Thread At Noon

ST — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:48:00 -0000

"in light of reports" - do you have any documentation for this? I have yet to hear it from anyone but right-wing crazies (lots of right-wingers are not crazies, if I need to add that), and the source seems to be one radio show on which one guy said he heard a joke told, he says in Kennedy's presence.

Re: Open Thread At Noon

sans-culottes — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:14:30 -0000

I couldn't disagree more. I can't see where the government can provide an individual redemption, especially when they determined (rightly or wrongly) that Kennedy wasn't guilty of any crime.

Re: Open Thread At Noon

corcoran25 — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:07:15 -0000

Really I could see anything but a Marquez knockout. I saw some photos of Marquez in which he looked thick in a bad way around the midsection, which makes you wonder about how well he'll carry 140-plus. At the same time, Floyd's been out for two years, and as good as he is, he's lost a lot of rounds in his last few fights for such a dominant fighter (three or four early rounds against Zab, four or five against Goldie, and maybe three against Hatton too). Marquez is smaller, but a much smarter, better fighter than those guys; if Floyd is a bit slower and rusty, I could seem Marquez working the jab and picking his way to a decision.

Re: Open Thread At Noon

dmf — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:48:22 -0000

I used to have a cat, and old fighting tom, who would jump through the open window by my bed in the middle of the night and land on my chest. I'd half awaken. He'd stick his skull under my nose and purr, stinking of urine and blood. Some nights he kneaded my bare chest with his front paws, powerfully, arching his back, as if sharpening his claws, or pummeling a mother for milk. And some mornings I'd wake in daylight to find my body covered with paw prints in blood;

I looked as though I had been painted with roses.

It was hot, so hot the mirror felt warm. I washed before the mirror in a daze; my twisted summer sleep still hung around me like sea kelp. What blood was this, and what roses? It could have been the rose of union, the blood of murder, or the rose of beauty bare and the blood of some unspeakable sacrifice or birth. The sign on my body could have been an emblem or a stain, the keys to the kingdom or the mark of Cain. I never knew. I never knew as I washed, and the blood streaked, faded, and finally disappeared, whether I'd purified myself or ruined the blood sign of passover. We wake, if we ever wake at all, to mystery, rumors of death, beauty, violence... "Seem like we're just set down here," a woman said to me recently, "and don't know body know why."

-Annie Dillard

Re: Open Thread At Noon

stellar — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:43:38 -0000

I don't know Joshua Lyle. I'm not talking about farmers or airlines. I'm talking about taxing the manipulative Wall Street casino gambler dudes who just about tanked the global economy.

I'm not questioning your motivation and I am certainly no economist and not going to sit here and pretend that I know any more than I have read ( in truth - just learning about all this this year) but according to this article by Ralph Nader enough money could certainly be raised to 'pay for their own bailout. 10 to 25 cents per 100 dollars traded could raise 100 to 300 billion dollars a year.'. That doesn't sound like a lot to me and certainly wouldn't 'drive the (transactions) margins into negative territory'. Apparently this kind of tax is already on the books in many other countries including Japan and the UK and the U.S actually had some kind of transaction tax 'from 1914 to 1966'. Maybe a transaction tax would help to mitigate some of the more irrational exuberance? According to the Bank for International Settlements the 'total outstanding notional amount of Over the Counter trades (OTC) as of June 2008 was 684 trillion dollars. (the global GDP is 75 trillion per annum, American -trillion) A tax of a tenth of one per cent (as Nader points out) on this would bring in 684 billion dollars. A tenth of one per cent? Is that really too much to ask? Can we really afford to leave these markets unregulated?

I had no idea what 'Pigouvian' refers to - so I googled it. Apparently its 'Pigovian'. Unless perhaps you're some kind of Canadian. (thats a joke. takes one to know one)

Again, I must emphasize that I am no expert. But if I sound defensive - it just bothers me that when the subject of these financial transactions come up people like myself are reminded that 'we may just not understand' and its a complicated area probably best left to the experts. I'm not saying that's what you're necessarily doing - I'm just saying.

I don't trust any of this anymore. Not after this last year/year and a half. All of this stuff needs to be dragged into the light - regulated and taxed.

Re: Open Thread At Noon

stellar — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:42:21 -0000

I don't know Joshua Lyle. I'm not talking about farmers or airlines. I'm talking about taxing the manipulative Wall Street casino gambler dudes who just about tanked the global economy.

I had no idea what 'Pigouvian' refers to - so I googled it. Apparently its 'Pigovian'. Unless perhaps you're some kind of Canadian. (thats a joke. takes one to know one)

I don't trust any of this anymore. Not after this last year/year and a half. All of this stuff needs to be dragged into the light - regulated and taxed.

Re: Open Thread At Noon

Guest — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:36:08 -0000

There can only be redemption if there is first punishment. Kennedy was never punished for his crime, no matter his personal pain. I doubt he showed any lasting remorse, in light of reports that he enjoyed hearing jokes relating to the incident. That someone directly responsible for a young women's death would later enjoy hearing jokes about it is frankly disgusting.

Re: Open Thread At Noon

ellaesther — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:18:31 -0000

BWA-hahahahaha!

Re: Open Thread At Noon

CitizenE — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:10:56 -0000

For Friday--2 from West Africa:

During the 60s and 70s the nations of Mali and Guinea had, for ill and good, a system of regional and national bands. The ill was that the bands pretty much served as propaganda arms for repressive regimes and in order to play had to do so. The good was that the bands were able to entertain the very best musicians in their respective regions and nations, perform in large orchestras, stay together for years, have the best equipment and recording conditions, not to mention week in and week out stay well rehearsed, and all the while make a decent living. The greatest band from Guinea during that period was Bembeya Jazz National, whose lead guitarist was the renown Sekou "Diamond Fingers" Diabate. In the years since, most of the great Guinean bands from that era have fallen into disarray, but on several occasions Bembeya Jazz have reformed and taken tours into Europe and the Uniteds States. This clip is from a tour in Europe last year--"Sou"--Bemebya Jazz National: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeCPT55wOkA.

The second is from the great Senegalese band, Orchestra Baobab. Senegal's music scene in the 60s and 70s was far different than Guinea's and centered around the club scene in Dakar. Orchestra Baobab were formed to be one such club band. They have had a storied career, serving in international concerts as the national band of Senegal. Their lead guitarist, Barthelemy Attiso, who is origingally from Togo and who joined the band in order to earn money to put himself through law school, is undeniably one of the greatest electric guitarists of the past 50 years in the world. Baobab is one of the very few great African heyday bands that has toured the states often; they are not to be missed. "Jiin Ma, Jiin Ma"--Orchestra Baobab: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBk2VAz--bQ.

Enjoy.

Re: Open Thread At Noon

AMT — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:00:59 -0000

I hate bottles and bottle service. Douche-bag tax is right. However, I'm going to Vegas for a bachelor party next weekend and if we go to any club that doesn't have multiple poles bolted to the floor and ceiling we're probably gonna have to pay the tax to get in. It'll be at least 7 dudes. I'm pretty sure one or two of us will be dbags. I'm already annoyed.

Re: Open Thread At Noon

Joshua Lyle — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:37:36 -0000

I think in order to raise a significant amount of money (as opposed to imposing a tax for Pigouvian reasons) you'd have to set the rate so high as to drive the margins on actually arcane financial transactions into negative territory (and thus drive them out of existence and not actually get much -- if any revenue), with, depending on what count's as "arcane", the possible side effect of also significantly reducing quite valuable hedging behavior (like airlines buying oil futures and farmers hedging on crop prices).

Re: Open Thread At Noon

BreakerBaker — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:24:10 -0000

Yeah, that was the first time I'd run into the fact that she suffocated. I spent a while this morning trying to figure out the logistics. Teddy getting out of the car, but then there being enough air left in the car to keep her alive for hours.

Re: Open Thread At Noon

Josh Jasper — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:22:59 -0000

Sorry, got no time. Busy cutting the penises off of white, gentile conservatives.

Re: Open Thread At Noon

dragonflyingash — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:17:26 -0000

Unfortunately bottle service has become the norm at many clubs, especially in NYC, it's the most ridiculous thing. I guess in essence it makes sense if you have a huge group of friends and you are going to be drinking a lot (most Manhattan clubs have drink prices toppling 10-12 dollars and are watered down to boot). But still, it seems like a tourist/d-bag trap at best.

Case in point: My friends and I (to disclose three women, two men) were waiting in line at a supposedly semi-exclusive Manhattan club over the weekend of July 4. We were near the front of the line and behind us was a group of about 8 or so people trying to get in. They were talking to some "promoter" who assured that he could get them in if they bought at least one bottle. (Bottles at Manhattan clubs run well over $300 usually). I laughed out loud. But these (mostly) girls were so incredibly grateful and were under the impression that he was doing them a favor. My friends on the other hand were having no part of it, we went to the nearest bouncers and asked how long we would be waiting, the guy told us "not long" and to say we were on "Chris's list". We were in minutes later, no bottles to be bought.

Bottom line: Those girls were obviously not from the city and they got taken on by one of my favorite vague NYC jobs, "club promoter" But yes whoever invented bottle service is a complete genius.