The day we’ve all been waiting for has arrived: “Sex and the City 2” is now on HBO, and lo, I watched it the other night. I wanted it to be so-bad-it-was-good, but alas. It was merely so-bad-it-was-excruciating. The only good to come out of it may be that it finishes off the series for good, although you never know. The entire production cost looks to have been covered with ham-fisted product placement — did you get a shot of that Rolex? can we get the tech specs for the Maybach in the script somewhere? — and for all I know, it may well have been a big hit among the sort of women who are not you.
I’m thinking of it today because one of my students came by to visit for a while yesterday, a Muslim woman. If you haven’t heard, the main part of the action takes place in Abu Dhabi, to which the quartet jets off as part of a deal Samantha makes with an Arab movie producer. (Samantha’s one-woman PR firm now occupies a glass-fronted office overlooking Times Square, at a fairly low level, too, like the studios for Nickelodeon. I figured this is so she can occasionally get up and press her bare breasts to the window for the tourists, but no, instead we see her sitting at her desk, panties around her knees, applying the various hormonal creams she needs to hold menopause at bay. WIth her back to the window! This makes no sense.)
Anyway, once the gals are in the UAE, a certain number of script pages are devoted to their discussions about Islamic standards of modesty, of which they disapprove. It all comes to a head in one truly appalling scene where hot-flashin’ Samantha (they confiscated her hormones at the airport so they could set this all up) is surrounded by Arab men in a public market who disapprove of her outfit. I wondered why they waited until this one to object, as I’d nearly gouged my eyes out over several others, one of which could literally do the job (No. 2). She responds by pelting them with condoms, until the girls are saved by some veiled and covered women, who drag them into a safe room, strip off their black abayas and reveal outfits every bit as awful as our heroines’.
Then — then! — there is a question of how our girls will escape from the market, still in an uproar over Samantha’s condoms. They actually say this: But how will we get out? I actually said, “Three, two, one,” and as I got to “one” the shot changed:
EXT: THE MARKET, DAY.
A female head emerges from a doorway, covered in BLACK SCARF and VEIL. She turns to look toward the camera, and we see BLUE EYES. She is joined by three others as they look up and down the street. The coast is clear, and they cautiously emerge.
It’s never explained how the Arabic women they borrowed the abayas from got home that day. Perhaps they were stoned to death for those outfits. I was certainly tempted.
And you know what? This wasn’t even the worst scene in the movie. Not by a long shot. I’d nominate the nightclub scene, where the girls sing, “I am Woman” while the Arabic belly-dancers look on with pride and approval, a scene that made me bury my face in a pillow.
The title of the post today is a tribute to my brother-in-law, who christened the series “the ‘ho show” when it was still on HBO, and still somewhat watchable. He also calls Sarah Jessica Parker “Miss Nelsonville” for her family’s brief residency in that Appalachian Ohio town, on their way to Broadway and SJP’s fateful part in “Annie.” You have to have driven through Nelsonville to fully get it, but there’s one scene where we see Carrie putting on her makeup in closeup, and that’s all I could think: She really is Miss Nelsonville.
I can’t believe Salman Rushdie got fatwa’d for “The Satanic Verses,” and every single person who enabled this thing walks free today, with no apparent fear of car bombs and scimitar attacks.
With that bad taste in our mouths, let’s skip to the bloggage:
Paul Ryan’s budget proposal: Splutter, splutter.
Someone needs a heapin’ helpin’ of GET OVER YOURSELF.
Coozledad’s next project: Teach Llewd to jump like Lola Luna. I’m pleased to offer this link in keeping with our theme today (it’s from Al Jazeera):
I’m out. A great hump day to all. And no, don’t do it like Samantha.
Mark P. said on April 6, 2011 at 9:37 am
Some people have no self awareness at all. They have no idea what kind of impression their behavior makes on others. They think they are the center of the universe and everyone else must think exactly like they do. Chris Jones is one of those people.
Oh, I once watched a couple of early episodes of SATC. It was so lightweight I was afraid the TV would float away. Of course, as a middle-aged male (at the time) I had little in common with the main characters. I was just watching in case they took their clothes off.
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alex said on April 6, 2011 at 9:39 am
And here I thought you were going to say that Paul Ryan is one of those people.
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Judybusy said on April 6, 2011 at 9:54 am
I’ve never been interested in Sex and the City, because it so egregiously didn’t pass the Bechdel test.
I was at a planning meeting last night for a nonprofit, Clare Housing, that provides housing for people living with HIV/AIDS. We are already feeling the impact of possible cuts. One of the programs master leases apartments for formerly homeless people and provides support to help them stay there. The state source of funding has instructed us not to fill any vacancies, much less expand the program, as we’ve wanted to do for two years. We have to see what the final state budget looks like. For our agency alone, there are 200 people on the waiting list for our various housing options.
In the long run, it’s more expensive, because PLWAs are then either living in nursing homes (instead of adult foster care) or homeless/living in marginal situations, which means they’re sicker with subsequently increased visits to ERs and hospital admissions.
Naturally, we are discussing the need to build a new stadium for the Vikings with taxpayer money when needs like this go unmet.
The executive director of Clare Housing said that Robert Reich’s book, Aftershock, makes a case that things are going to get much worse, then better as more people realize shredding the safety net is not viable. Has anyone here read it? Opinions?
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Bitter Scribe said on April 6, 2011 at 10:23 am
Someone (James Wolcott?) said that the women on SATC act like stereotypical gay men.
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coozledad said on April 6, 2011 at 10:26 am
Llewd could make that jump, I think, but they better get that girl off the cow first.
Speaking of the Bechdel test, they finally got The Haunting in its entirety on Youtube. It’s a monument to the power of sublimated sexuality. Julie Harris just kicks ass.
I didn’t know a)She’s still very much alive, and b)She’s from Grosse Pointe.
Still keeps a home in Detroit, apparently.
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Kirk said on April 6, 2011 at 10:31 am
Sarah Jessica Parker should have hung it up after “Square Pegs,” which was a delight.
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nancy said on April 6, 2011 at 10:35 am
Something I just noticed. The German boy in that video is named “Putzhammer.” Was this an April Fool’s joke?
As for Chris Jones: I absolutely think he could be disappointed for not getting an NMA nomination. I understand he might sulk over it. I can’t believe, however, that he’d then write about it on his blog, and hit PUBLISH. That’s where we part ways.
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coozledad said on April 6, 2011 at 10:42 am
What’s worse, in German I think it would be pronounced “Poots-hammer”
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Mark P. said on April 6, 2011 at 10:48 am
Speaking of Julie Harris, I met her once and she seemed like a genuinely nice person. I accompanied a fellow reporter who did entertainment stories down to a made-for-TV movie set in a rural area not far from where we worked (for a medium-sized daily in a medium-sized city in Georgia). He interviewed and I shot pictures. I wasn’t doing the interview, but she kept trying to include me in the conversation. It was very thoughtful, and I walked away liking her.
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moe99 said on April 6, 2011 at 10:57 am
Lola? Or Luna? I’m confused.
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nancy said on April 6, 2011 at 11:03 am
Sorry, Moe. Fixed.
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Sue said on April 6, 2011 at 11:21 am
Re Paul Ryan’s destruction of Medicare:
Everyone, look over there at your 85-year-old mother/father/aunt/neighbor/friend. The one who has trouble reading a basic contract, in part because his eyesight is so poor, the one who was tricked into giving out his social security by that nice man on the telephone. If Paul’s plan were in place today, this person, who maybe might have been able to make a coherent decision when he first came on board at retirement, will have to fight with his private insurance company by himself. Once the voucher money runs out, he has no recourse, no options if he runs out of money or hasn’t made the right decisions on which insurance to buy. And when he runs out of both money and insurance, there’s no medicaid.
My goodness these death panels get more and more creative, don’t they.
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Kirk said on April 6, 2011 at 11:32 am
Re: Putzhammer.
I once saw a Deutsche Press Agentur photo credited to Dieter Endlicher. I wondered whether that was a joke.
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Dorothy said on April 6, 2011 at 11:45 am
We saw Julie Harris and Charles Durning in “The Gin Game” on stage in Pittsburgh probably 15 years ago and it was absolutely wonderful. I had seen a version of it on PBS with Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn so they (Harris and Durning) had a lot to live up to. It more than met our expectations.
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Jeff Borden said on April 6, 2011 at 11:47 am
What I found fascinating about Paul Ryan’s plan is not its casual cruelty toward the less fortunate. By now, I see that as a given in any Republican proposal. It’s who and what they are. If there’s a chance to hurt, to humiliate, to pester the poor and the helpless, by God, they are up for it.
Rather, that part of his plan includes yet more tax breaks for the wealthiest among us. Jesus H., but when is it enough? When will our plutocrats finally push themselves away from the table, enjoy a loud and sustained burp and allow the rest of us to nibble on the scraps they leave behind? Never, I guess.
My mind is not facile enough to understand how the right stands up for the unborn with such passion and conviction, but is so utterly unsympathetic to grown humans who are struggling. How can you stand so strongly for the unborn yet remain so blind to the suffering of tens of millions of adults?
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Scout said on April 6, 2011 at 11:47 am
I hope, no, pray fervently that this latest Republican brain fart is met with the same outrage that the lame Social Security privatization scam received. When are people going to realize that SS and Medicare are not “entitlements” since we all pay into those funds every paycheck of our miserable working class lives? It’s just so fucking simple it hurts – RAISE THE CAP! Everybody acts like it’s just such a brain teaser when it just isn’t, ferfuxake.
on edit – apparently MIT economists and Krugman are skeptical of Ryan’s unicorn populated budget utopia – http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/04/paul-ryans-absurdly-optimistic-budget-projections-draw-widespread-ridicule.php?ref=fpa
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mark said on April 6, 2011 at 11:48 am
Sue-
That simply isn’t true. Paul’s plan would phase in changes. Those currently eligible would continue as is, as would those currently close to the eligibility age.
Medicare and most of the other major entitlement programs have to change, with increases in taxes, age of eligibility, means testing or all of these. If we do it now, we can phase in changes and avoid major disruption to those who rely upon the programs. If we do nothing, and wait for the money to run out, there will be major disruptions.
And hypothesizing about an incompetent senior citizen who is victimized by fraud is hardly a reason to resist any change to the status quo.
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coozledad said on April 6, 2011 at 12:00 pm
I used to try that line with the ladies: “I’m just going to phase it in slowly, honey. There’ll be no major disruptions.”
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Jeff Borden said on April 6, 2011 at 12:05 pm
Mark,
Or we could do the easy thing and increase the taxes on the wealthy and return to some level of normalcy in the way we tax corporations. It simply isn’t right for General Electric to generate almost $15 billion in profits and not pay a penny in taxes.
Every poll I’ve seen shows something like 60% of respondents in favor of hiking the tax levels on the rich, but neither party seems inclined to cowboy up and do something about it.
Also, whatever became of corporate patriotism? Why aren’t the teabaggers targeting companies that set up corporate HQs in Abu Dhabi, Zug, the Cayman Islands, etc. Or those firms that ship good jobs to the poorest regions on earth?
Yeah, the international marketplace is a bear. I understand. Somehow, the Japanese manage to compete pretty well around the globe without starving their own workforce.
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alice said on April 6, 2011 at 12:15 pm
This scene from SATC2 still haunts me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq3s_rTViK0
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Mark P. said on April 6, 2011 at 12:22 pm
Jeff, the right believes that life is a zero-sum game; if someone gains, someone else must lose. And if someone loses, that means someone else must gain. They want to force women to have unwanted babies because it costs the right (rich, white, old men) nothing, and will probably cost the women (generally poor, and probably mostly not white) something. And, besides, those women are probably unmarried and must be punished for having sex by forcing them to have babies. They don’t want poor old people to get benefits because they believe if the old and poor gain, that must mean that someone – themselves – must lose. Or face the possibility that they will not gain quite as much by some infinitesimal amount. They do not care about the general welfare (“How did that pesky phrase get into the Constitution? Let’s ignore it!”) because they do not consider themselves part of the “general” population.
mark: read Krugman’s blog. He believes Ryan’s plan is smoke and mirrors. Or, if you prefer, unicorn farts.
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Sue said on April 6, 2011 at 12:27 pm
mark: I was using a current 85-year-old as an example. Please note that I said ‘if Paul’s plan were in place today’. People who are about 55 and older today would still be covered, younger people would be ‘phased in’. So, anyone starting out with these vouchers would have to make the right decisions, right away, and hope their money holds out and they have chosen a decent company and plan, because when they are old and increasingly feeble they will have to work with companies who, if history is any indication, have no compunction about denying care in MANY CREATIVE WAYS to those in health crises.
Sorry for the shouting, and you know I mostly respect your arguments, if I don’t really agree with your opinions. This is just an appalling piece of legislation. It is not a solution, it is a carpet bomb. And I am not hypothesizing. This is going to happen under this legislation. Constantly.
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Jeff Borden said on April 6, 2011 at 12:31 pm
Mark P.,
It makes sense in that context, I guess. I guess we must wait for a corrective and God knows how long that will take or even if it will ever arrive given the new tools the uber-wealthy have been given by the Roberts court.
Usually, there’s some sort of Marie Antoinette moment that sets off the underclass and the super-rich wind up paying, if not with their heads, then with a larger tax bite. I’m hoping the overreach in Wisconsin has finally lit that fuse, but there is an ocean of money at the disposal of the plutocrats that can easily sniff out that flame. And, of course, they have a ruthless political party at their beck and call in the GOP.
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Jolene said on April 6, 2011 at 12:39 pm
I can’t believe, however, that he’d then write about it on his blog, and hit PUBLISH.
Exactly. I was embarrassed for him.
On Medicare, I’m in Sue’s camp. My parents were, in their prime, among the most competent, capable, independent people I’ve ever met. They were salt-of-the-earth, pillar-of-the-community people. They never, to the best of my recollection, needed help in managing their lives from anybody. But all that didn’t stop them from having to endure several years of ill health, including dementia, before they died (at 86 and 90). The idea that either of them could have reasonable consumer choices in any domain, much less the highly complex domain of health care, is preposterous. Having to make such choices would only have added to the burdens of my nearby siblings, who were already bearing a lot.
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moe99 said on April 6, 2011 at 12:40 pm
Sue, I think your argument is spot on. I drafted and filed the Washington state lawsuits against Publisher’s Clearinghouse and Reader’s Digest back in 1999. These were generated in part by the large numbers of gullible seniors who bought into the belief that if they purchased lots of things from the sweeps runners, they were on the inside track to be the next big winner.
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nancy said on April 6, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Moe, that touches a nerve. My father was, throughout the great majority of his life, a man with a sharp mind and an infallible bullshit detector. I knew he had reached the homestretch when he called me one day to tell me he’d won the Publisher’s Clearinghouse sweepstakes, based on a mailing he’d gotten that day.
Also, I don’t want to forget how much even minor illnesses can impair an older person’s cognitive abilities, even if it is only temporary. Several times in the last five years of their lives, one or the other of my parents were hospitalized for what had started as a cold or flu and escalated into a cascade of complications requiring a long recovery. I wouldn’t have wanted either of them making any decisions in that state.
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Mark P. said on April 6, 2011 at 12:59 pm
Again, I recommend Paul Krugman’s blog for a little contrary analysis of Rand’s plan. Unicorns are mentioned.
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/
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Sue said on April 6, 2011 at 12:59 pm
Nancy, we’re there right now with my FIL. He’s been hospitalized several times in the last year, or been to the emergency room, all for things that wouldn’t have bothered him 10 years ago.
And he’s developed a sudden interest in gold as an investment against his dwindling monetary resources, thanks to Glenn Beck. Thank goodness he talked to my husband before anything happened.
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Jolene said on April 6, 2011 at 1:00 pm
Both my mother and my aunt got caught up in minor financial scams in their later years too, fortunately without significant damage. And again, these were formerly capable people–not people who’d spent their days seeking unearned wealth.
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Mark P. said on April 6, 2011 at 1:04 pm
Those cognitive problems sometimes lead the elderly to act against their own best interests, which explains why so many of them vote Republican. It can be difficult, if not impossible, to explain why they really don’t want the federal budget to be balanced on their backs.
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Deborah said on April 6, 2011 at 1:05 pm
“Also, whatever became of corporate patriotism? Why aren’t the teabaggers targeting companies that set up corporate HQs in Abu Dhabi, Zug, the Cayman Islands, etc. Or those firms that ship good jobs to the poorest regions on earth?”
Exactly Jeff B. Why isn’t the right wing in snit about companies who do that. I never hear a peep out of them when it comes to that.
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coozledad said on April 6, 2011 at 1:26 pm
Anytime there’s a big pile of money sitting around, the Republicans are loathe to see it just sit there without funneling it to their cronies, who’ll piss it away on all manner of cock-prosthetics, hookers, and blow.
In fact, there’s a term for the operation: blowout.Per Theresa Nielson-Hayden at Making Light.
The Bush regime has dumped all kinds of social-service burdens onto the states, and the states can’t fund them. It was a beautifully cynical move: the states have been scrambling to cover the shortfall while gradually giving ground, so the magnitude of the disaster has only slowly become apparent. In the meantime, Bush & Co.’s friends have been doing a fast job of looting the country.
Huh. I’ve suddenly realized that I know the form of this scam: it’s a blowout.
Here’s the deal: Your basic blowout starts when crooks take control of a legitimate business that has a good credit rating, most often by entering into an agreement to buy it from its original owners, and possibly making a token initial payment.
In the next phase, the crooks start placing large orders for easily liquidated merchandise with the business’s regular suppliers, and also with new suppliers who think they’ve acquired a valuable new customer. And since the orders are coming from an established business with a good credit rating, the suppliers don’t ask for payment up front.
Meanwhile, the goods are being resold as fast as they come in, often at a fraction of their value. It’s hugely wasteful, but the crooks don’t care. Essentially, they’re selling off other people’s stuff and keeping the money, so anything they make off the deal is pure profit for them.
The suppliers send in their bills in due course, and meet with delays in payment. That’s not an uncommon thing; and in the meantime, nobody wants to lose a customer that’s obviously doing so much business. It takes some time for suppliers to start balking, and more time for them to start aggressive collection procedures.
At that point the business’s new owners vanish, and all the money vanishes with them. Since they’ve never actually paid the agreed-upon price for the business, it reverts to the original owners. Unfortunately, what they get back is a plundered company that’s deeply in debt to its suppliers and has a wrecked credit rating.
Thus with the national situation. The looting has been swift and efficient, but it’s taken a while for the full extent of the plundering to become apparent. We’re going to be feeling this one for a long time to come.
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nancy said on April 6, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Per Tony Soprano, I think that maneuver is known as a “bustout.”
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Scout said on April 6, 2011 at 2:26 pm
Frank Luntz (R-liar) was on the Diane Rehm show this morning making the claim that the election sweep that put the R’s in charge of Congress proves that “The American People” voted for Ryan’s budget. No, you lying sack of stinking shite, they voted their frustration about the jobs situation! Diane Rehm could barely disguise her contempt for his BS.
While the right wing does a whole lotta spinning about redistribution of wealth as a “Socialist Democrat” idea, it’s pretty transparent that the continuous funneling of tax breaks and corporate handouts at the expense of the 99% of us who bear the burden is the true definition of the principle. Just more smoke and mirrors and unicorn stories reported as fact by the bought and paid for corporate media.
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Deborah said on April 6, 2011 at 2:36 pm
Didn’t Boehner say sometime recently that government spending cuts create jobs? Will somebody please explain that to me, because in my mind it’s just the opposite. I seriously want to know how that happens.
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DellaDash said on April 6, 2011 at 2:40 pm
Taking a quick break to throw in on the abomination of SATC2…haven’t read the rest of the thread yet.
I’d be surprised if this isn’t prime recruiting material for all al-Q startup cells. How can anyone not hate our corrupt, infidel ways when viewed through the SATC2 prism?
What would TLo say about the gay director who’s supposed to be a true pal to the gals? I say he’s vicious. Each one of the familiar franchise divas has aged and looks downright haggard in way too many close-ups (sans desparately needed vaseline-smeared camera lens); juxtaposed cruelly against a few dewy, luminous, youthful beauties thrown in to twist the knife.
Gotta go.
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Sue said on April 6, 2011 at 2:44 pm
Deborah, here’s Paul Krugman again, he agrees with you:
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/51547619-82/jobs-wages-employment-spending.html.csp
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alex said on April 6, 2011 at 2:45 pm
Didn’t Boehner say sometime recently that government spending cuts create jobs?
Yes he did. And yes it does. He’s doubtless referring to the seven-figure lobbyist positions that await him and his fellow legislators once they’ve paid their dues defanging the EPA, SEC, FDA, etc.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on April 6, 2011 at 2:48 pm
Farewell, Glenn Beck (just to lighten the mood today). I guess he figured out what we all did a while ago — he’s just not got much left to say, and he’s been repeating himself for a while anyhow.
I was hoping he’d talk more about the Newark Earthworks: we got a nice visitation bump out of last August on his show, erroneous & deranged though his observations were.
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Sue said on April 6, 2011 at 2:50 pm
It’s sort of official: The Wisconsin Supreme Court race has been won by Joanne Kloppenburg, by 204 votes with well over a million votes cast. Let the recount begin.
Wow. 204 votes.
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Mark P. said on April 6, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Wow. We have been sort of following upper Midwest politics since 2008. We actually contributed to Al Franken’s campaign because we knew that here in Georgia we had no chance to get any decent representation and Franken at least could counter some of the idiocy we send to Washington. If the Midwest can’t manage reasonably sane politics, the South has no chance at all.
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MarkH said on April 6, 2011 at 3:04 pm
“…he’s just not got much left to say, and he’s been repeating himself for a while anyhow.” Yeah, him and few other people I could think of. (BADA BING!!)
BTW, Jeff, Jennifer Garner was on Letterman last night extolling her years at Denison. I had no idea. She even gave a shout out to the newly crowned championship Denison swim team and their victory over…what was that school again, Dorothy?
Back to our medicinal pot discussion the other day, did anyone (paddyo’) see this:
http://www.postindependent.com/article/20110404/VALLEYNEWS/110409961/1083&ParentProfile=1074
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John said on April 6, 2011 at 4:24 pm
Matt also linked to Adam’s article yesterday, and made a connection to a long, but eminently worthwhile essay that John Holbo wrote in 2003 entitled “Dead Right”. As a recovering academic, I slipped, and read the whole thing. Yes, “Donner Party Conservatism” is alive and thriving today. The comment thread to the essay is priceless as well.
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John said on April 6, 2011 at 4:28 pm
Forgot to include the link:
http://examinedlife.typepad.com/johnbelle/2003/11/dead_right.html
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deb said on April 6, 2011 at 4:42 pm
Re Paul Ryan, conservatives here in the Dairy State LOVE this guy. I think he’s a much bigger threat to run for the White House than Scott Walker. Mark my words: He has aspirations, and he’s just warming up.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on April 6, 2011 at 4:47 pm
Jennifer Garner, Steve Carell, Michael Eisner . . . Dick Lugar is back next week, in fact. Plus we’re just now building a new natatorium for the swim team, since they have a lovely museum piece home pool built & largely untouched since the early 1950s.
I think Ryan has more points worth making than he’s being given credit for, but I don’t see where Medicare’s outlook wouldn’t be neatly resolved simply by means-testing & increasing the payroll cap for contributions. Just because Grover Norquist calls it a tax increase doesn’t mean that it is. I feel about Medicare voucherization about the same way I do about privatizing prisons.
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Mark P. said on April 6, 2011 at 5:11 pm
Jeff (tmmo) I don’t think means testing is a good idea. Just make contributions graduated over a certain income level, and significantly increase the cap. But that would take more political will, because the rich can scream louder and with more effect than the poor.
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Little Bird said on April 6, 2011 at 5:20 pm
I made it as far as the scene where they are about to get into the Maybachs. I just couldn’t keep watching. The SATC 2 movie just was nauseating. And that’s being kind.
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Sue said on April 6, 2011 at 5:22 pm
Why discuss means testing when we just had a big fight last year about eliminating tax cuts for upper-income brackets? That’s dead even for Dems, blast them.
On a related note, I see that Charlie Sheen has replaced Paris Hilton in the ‘middle class is getting shafted so __________ can have his/her tax cut’ meme.
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JayZ(the original) said on April 6, 2011 at 5:40 pm
“How can you stand so strongly for the unborn yet remain so blind to the suffering of tens of thousands of adults?”
This is why I feel the majority of pro-lifers are not pro life. They are anti abortion. They are concerned about the fetus but do not care about the human being once it is born.
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Jeff Borden said on April 6, 2011 at 6:11 pm
JayZ,
I’ve made that argument myself, though Jeff tmmo has argued quite eloquently that there are plenty of people appalled by the prospect of abortion who also are appalled by poverty, ignorance, bigotry and racism.
The problem is that no leader, either spiritual or political, has emerged to argue that if we are going to abolish abortion, we had damned well better make sure we have the facilities in place to handle a larger number of unwanted babies. This would mean expanding and extending, not shrinking, the social safety net starting with pre-natal care and extending beyond for many, many years.
Unfortunately, as Mark P. asserted earlier, there are significant numbers of anti-abortion zealots who are clearly against sex and want to punish those who enjoy it. Period. Otherwise, they would be in the vanguard of those calling for cheap and easily obtained contraceptives. Instead, they generally oppose those, arguing it will lead to new levels of sexual promiscuity. The woman who gets pregnant deserves it, in their book, and the consequences of raising an infant with little or no help is part of the price they pay for having indulged in whoopee.
It’s definitely some sick Puritan bullshit.
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joodyb said on April 6, 2011 at 6:21 pm
Thanks, everyone, for letting me completely bypass SATC2.
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Dexter said on April 6, 2011 at 6:26 pm
Fuck your jumping cow
I’ve a horse outside
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljPFZrRD3J8
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Jolene said on April 6, 2011 at 6:58 pm
A few nights ago on al-Jazeera, I saw a report about the high (compared to other rich countries) rate of teenage pregnancy in the U.S., especially in Texas, where they are off the charts. The two public health officials interviewed were in despair about about what is happening and what is likely to happen, but the controlling state officials advocate more and more teaching about abstinence. Even a program in which teen parents went to schools to talk about the importance of staying in school and delaying parenthood did not permit the presenters to talk about contraception. Just unreal.
They showed a segment of a show in which Gov. Perry was being interviewed and, when asked about the futility of the abstinence programs, he could only say, half jokingly, “Well, abstinence works. I guess the problem is in how its applied.” Yuk, yuk, yuk.
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paddyo' said on April 6, 2011 at 7:01 pm
Mark H @ 42: LOVE the item about Alpine Bank v. “Alpine Dank.” Hadn’t seen that one until you linked it here. So I’m thinking: Bank giveaway = toaster . . . Dank giveaway = toaster strudel!
And hey, everybody, if the story about what that dancing-est daughter of $he-Who got paid by her teen pregancy foundation was already discussed (I’ve been away from the discussion the past coupla days), try to ignore. Otherwise, read on and be appalled. $even time$ what they paid out to grant recipients!
Honestly, have these people no shame whatsoever?
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brian stouder said on April 6, 2011 at 8:01 pm
Back to Chris Jones.
I have a question.
When he says –
And that’s why, this morning, when I found out that I hadn’t been nominated for a story I’d written on Roger Ebert, I first took to Twitter to spit the dummy—always a wise and prudent course of action—and then retired to my day bed for an afternoon of dizziness and spells.
What does “spit the dummy” mean?
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nancy said on April 6, 2011 at 8:03 pm
When in doubt, ask Professor Google.
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brian stouder said on April 6, 2011 at 8:12 pm
Hah! Thanks for that. I’m just about completely fried right now, and good ol’ Google never even crossed my mind.
One wonders why a person would conciously decide to go on the internet and “spit the dummy”; must a be rare event, eh? (and we grant special dispensation to our man Prospero, who usually has at least several worthwhile nuggets in his expectorate, when he embarks upon “spitting the dummy”)
The young folks loved the jumping cow, and I laughed out loud at Kirk’s German photo credit (Dieter Endlicher…too cool!)
I still wonder about Anietra Hamper, the clothes scoflaw.
PS – One can never say enough – this is such a marvelous blog; a genuinely pleasant, stimulating place, full of interesting ideas and a distinctively intelligent, incisive woman’s POV. (God knows we have more than enough sources of blowhard male POVs to choos from, across the immensity of the internet; Chris Jones only the latest example of classic male-pouting-syndrome)
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Bitter Scribe said on April 6, 2011 at 8:37 pm
Moe–In the last years of my mother’s life, my sister literally had to disconnect all the phones in the house because of all the scam artists who kept pestering her. And yes, Mom kept shoveling money into that goddamned Publisher’s Clearinghouse because she was convinced she was about to win a lot of money–“See! It says I’m a finalist, right here on the envelope!” I hope there’s a special, extra-hot pit of Hell set aside for those people.
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nancy said on April 6, 2011 at 8:49 pm
In Fort Wayne, the College Republicans hoovered a healthy five-figure sum out of an elderly woman with dementia, sending her letters every few days telling her Hillary Clinton was about to lead a coup to take over the government.
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Connie said on April 6, 2011 at 8:54 pm
Have never seen Sex in the City in any form, have no desire to.
Did buy a Kobo e-reader the other day. Haven’t bought anything for it, I’ve been downloading e-books from my library.
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Mark P. said on April 6, 2011 at 9:28 pm
My mother, who is 88, gets dozens of solicitations every day, sometimes two from the same organization. They tell her that the US is going to merge with Mexico and Canada, the UN is going to take over the US, Hillary Clinton is going to destroy the country, illegal immigrants are stealing her Social Security, and if she doesn’t send money the world will end, real soon. And the little Indian children need socks. She sends most of them money, sometimes two or three checks to the same organization at one sitting. I agree with Bitter Scribe.
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MarkH said on April 6, 2011 at 9:38 pm
Absolutely, paddyo’, and what a tasty strudel it will be!
I’m with Connie @61. The only exceptions were the Samantha sex segments that made the rounds of the video sites. I admit to peeking at those.
Jeff(tmmo) – Don’t forget Bobby Rahal. A little esoteric, but I think Brian knew that as well.
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Dexter said on April 6, 2011 at 9:46 pm
My dad died mere days before the premiere of HBO’s “Six Feet Under”. That show really helped me put Dad’s passing in perspective; it really helped. Before that show , I had never really participated in message boards; blogs had not taken off yet, and message boards were “it”. I made a lot of friends on the SFU boards, and when SATC started up, most of the SFU crowd also went to the SATC boards, and I started watching.
Well, I didn’t comment on the boards much at all, but I did watch the entire series, every Sunday night.
It only startled me one time, the episode when , after Charlotte York had married Trey MacDougal, Charlotte told the other girls how she had eaten Trey’s asshole…”We’re MARRIED!”
Ah, you know…just caught me off guard a bit.
And, as Larry the Cable Guy says, “I don’t care who you are, this is funny”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfzXU2n9snI
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Linda said on April 6, 2011 at 9:49 pm
Mom was forced to hide Dad’s mail in the last few years of his life for the same reason. But the part of the Republican plan that amazes me in audacity is that over 55 year olds (the people who vote) are covered in the old plan. The Republicans are basically offering this plan to current elders: “we’ll screw the young’ns, but leave you alone. Deal?”
What it boils down to is simple: the govt won’t give you insurance. We’ll give you money to put towards insurance, and allow a lot of group plans. If your voucher can buy you insurance, you’re in luck. If not, tough luck. If I have the health history of my mom (heart failure, diabetes, kidney failure, severe arthritis), I’m so screwed. Bill Gates wouldn’t be able to cut a voucher big enough to insure me.
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Dexter said on April 6, 2011 at 9:52 pm
Alright, goddammitt. Enough SJP bashing here.
Well,just one more…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWod4sb8MJ8
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DEdelstein said on April 6, 2011 at 10:02 pm
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the winner of the Vulture (NY Mag) worst movie of 2010 critic poll:
“A Manolo-hoofed monstrosity!” —Stephanie Zacharek, Movieline
“A deadly, brainless exercise in screeching self-delusion!” —Rex Reed, New York Observer
“This is why the terrorists hate us!” —Nathan Rabin, AV Club
“Shrill, racist skankitude!” —Ed Gonzalez, Slant
“This movie’s very existence lessens us all!” —Dana Stevens, Slate
“Camp’s Gotterdammerung! —David Edelstein, New York
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DEdelstein said on April 6, 2011 at 10:08 pm
This comment was posted on the get-over-yourself blog to which you linked:
“That Ebert piece is perfection. The structure, the wording, the underlying message. We learn about Roger Ebert, but we learn about ourselves. His translucent skin which you describe so well is but a metaphor for the peeling away of his voice, which was the instrument that led to his success. What follows shows us who we really are.”
I was sure it was an extremely deft parody but it appears to be sincere.
I liked the piece, too, but, you know…
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Kirk said on April 6, 2011 at 11:26 pm
Educated estimate re: Columbus TV reporters’ pay: $35K-$40K.
Hamper, a noon anchor, likely was in $75K-$80K ballpark.
All openings are met with a torrent of applications, so no need to pay a ton.
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Rana said on April 7, 2011 at 12:26 am
Jeff, the advantage of championing the unborn is that they will never talk back, never complain, and never have an inconvenient agenda of their own. This is also why this crowd was so wrought up about Terry Schiavo – she was also a perfect blank slate, unlike all those inconvenient uppity women who dare to choose for themselves what to do with their own bodies, moralistic busybodies be damned.
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Hattie said on April 7, 2011 at 3:52 am
Vaginas about town (Tina Fey came up with that. Isn’t it great?)
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Julie Robinson said on April 7, 2011 at 9:22 am
We look at SATC with discriminating eyes, but I see young girls at my church who love it, along with The Bachelor, Teen Mom and others of that ilk. I always want to ask their parents why they let their kids watch such trash, maybe someday I will. These girls are still developing their life-views and moral codes, and I am saddened to think that materialism, narcissism, and skankitude are presented in such a positive light to them.
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Dorothy said on April 7, 2011 at 9:23 am
Am I the only one wondering what comment #64 is supposed to mean?
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Jolene said on April 7, 2011 at 9:29 am
Dorothy, #64 is a trackback, an indication that someone else (in this case, cooz) has linked to this post. The bold text is clickable and will take you to his blog.
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Dorothy said on April 7, 2011 at 10:07 am
thx Jolene. I’m used to seeing those trackbacks in the body of the comment, not in the name of the commenter so it threw me a little.
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Deborah said on April 7, 2011 at 10:24 am
Ewww, I clicked on #64 and that scrotum shot was gross, at work too.
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coozledad said on April 7, 2011 at 10:58 am
Sorry. Just trying to shore up my pageviews from the Dexter Cattle Association and the Young Republican’s singles sites.
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prospero said on April 7, 2011 at 8:45 pm
WE KIDDING NOR IN million you bulllshit asshole
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prospero said on April 7, 2011 at 9:53 pm
Tue FOpP is gucking ober gramma and grampa and despeparate children and they are are claiming they are doing this for Christian values. Whatevever you do for the least of my brethren. How do these assholes laim to to be Jesus inflected. He;d find them sorely lacking. If we are a Christian nation, we don’t bag taking care of the least of my children, How is there a Cjristian consideration in anthing remotely connected to
to anything remotel connectd top that moron ;s bullshir. This is anti-christi. We are supposed to take care of the least among us, That is what christianity dectatees. How do these assholes abandon everybody that needs a helping hand and claim to be Christms Are they kidding? The are major league liars. How do they claim to be Christians? They are big time liars..yyy
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prospero said on April 7, 2011 at 10:14 pm
I’m a Christian for sure. I beliebe in Teilljardian christianit without a doubtr, So c was just way better. Way better what the hell about this> I believe in the idea of
god becoming God, Maybe that’s hard ro understand, but it makes a great deal of sense to me, I find Nancy Nall’s interest in Detrooit womderful. but she dosresn;t get the music at all. Iggy is interesting, but he ain’t zzzmC5, by any consideration. was there Ncy. nd pprecizte your muxiczl rzre,than than buy a fucking mile, QuXKWNBUSH InaNW , NOBODY PLAYE RGS XEp likw rhw auarIN INAin ahir, rhR Qa pewrry nyxh QWAONW,
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prospero said on April 7, 2011 at 10:45 pm
I’m a sort of Christian American, and I believe that we are supposed to consider Christian values, So fucking over the elderly and going wild for the unborn while fucking over the born, that seems like republican horseshit, Here’s the deal. I’m a Catholid, and these aholes think Catholics are some demonic ssect. That’s hilarious, since ther were Catholics begore ther were any of them. So where do they get this horseshit? They care about kids a lot until they;re vorn, Then starve them is the rubric, What is wrong wth these fucking assholes, As we see, they despise actually born kids, What is wrong wiyh these shitheels? What a crock of crap? There were Catholics before the made an of this stupodotu up/yy
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