Open Threads

3557 posts

Your Happy Morning Open Thread

663 comments

Well good morning, sleepy head. Thanks for dropping by. Here is some breakfast related news to provide you with a nutritious start to your day.

Attention promiscuous teens. A new study suggests that teen mothers who eat breakfast have healthier eating habits overall. The study also suggest teen mothers who eat breakfast promote healthier eating habits for their kids.

Contrary to rumors that he is in ill health, Hosni Mubarak was seen having breakfast on the beach of his private resort yesterday. The interim government is reportedly shocked by the amount of corruption and graft they have uncovered since Mubarak’s departure.

Also yesterday, Miley Cyrus had breakfast with her mom. I am not sure why this is important.

Have a wonderful day.

The Heart of Darkness: Your Overnight Open Thread

342 comments

Good evening/morning and welcome to the open thread. Here’s some headlines from our strange world.

The Smoking Gun reports on a Florida woman arrested for baring her breasts at an elementary school. Interestingly, she did this to register her displeasure with another parent who she believed was showing too much cleavage. Won’t somebody think about the children? Continue reading →

Tuesday Afternoon Super-Fantastic Open Thread

448 comments

Good afternoon. Just a couple of quick announcements for you Crasstalkers:
Please take a moment to read the new commenting guidelines and the writing rules posted by our Beloved Leader last night. Also, there will be a writers workshop thread starting about 8 pm EST tonight. Please join in if you are writing or want to in the future. Also Coffee and Cigarettes is hosting the first Crasstalk Book Club Meeting on Sunday. Better get to reading, kids. Continue reading →

What’s a Nice Open Post Doing in a Place Like This?

583 comments

Good morning. Hopefully you are more chipper than I am today. A couple of housekeeping announcements. Please take a moment to read the new commenting guidelines and the writing rules posted by our Beloved Leader last night. Also, there will be a writers workshop thread starting about 8 pm EST tonight so we can all get together and talk about our “art.” I hope that we can all use this as an excuse to exercise our pretension muscles.  Actually, I am really hoping we can give each other support and develop our ideas. Continue reading →

The End of Love: Your Overnight Open Thread

108 comments

Good evening, or good morning to our European partners. Please take a moment to check out the new articles on commenting and writing guidelines. We have commenced herding cats and we are hoping that this will make Crasstalk more fun for everyone. Please feel free to give us feedback in those threads.

Usually for open threads I post a few news items, but since I am guessing we can all find the BBC I thought I would do something a little different. I am going to post a few of my favorite Wikipedia articles. I am picking them because they are fascinating, weird, or thought provoking. Post yours as well and maybe we can find out some interesting things to talk about.

Lysenkoism is the manipulation of scientific fact for political purposes. The term is named for a Soviet agronomist who was favored by Stalin for his loyalty. Lysenkoism is the worst outcome when science fuses with politics. This page illustrates the awful consequences of dogmatically driven politics.

Toynbee tiles are a set of weird, cryptic messages found embedded in asphalt in several US cities. The messages reference the movie 2001, but are named for Arnold Toynbee who is also frequently referenced.

Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-born actress who emigrated to the United States. A classic beauty, she starred in Cecil B. Demille’s Samson and Delilah. However, there was much more to Hedy than looks. Along with a musician friend she developed a rough frequency-hopping idea which served as a basis for modern wi-fi.

Have a wonderful night Crasstalk.

Your Open Post Love

489 comments

Happy Valentine’s Day, even if you are single you have the Crasstalk love to keep you warm tonight.

Just a quick rehash in case you haven’t been over here. We did a redesign last night and hope that everyone is feeling very pretty. Please give the new format a chance, but please also report any bugs or issues to crasstalk at gmail dot com. Here’s a few headlines to start of the conversation tonight:

Iranian security forces clashed with protesters today in Tehran. Tens of thousands of demonstrators have taken to the street after last week’s detention of a number of journalists and activists.

Pro Publica has an interesting investigative report on disabled student loan borrowers. People who become disabled are entitled to get the loans forgiven, but apparently the process of doing this has become confusing and arbitrary leaving many disabled borrowers in severe financial trouble.

A report from Politico details the enduring nature of the Obama birth certificate conspiracy. While national politicians will not touch the issue state and local politicians have taken up the cause. Ten states so far have introduced birth certificate requirement bills before their state legislatures. I am sure this is a productive way to spend lawmaker’s time.

Hope you all have a wonderful evening.

The Brave New World Monday Open Thread

679 comments

Good morning fine Crasstalkers. I know you may feel a bit out of sorts by the changes, but please give this a try because we think you will like the new design. Courage.

Please see the post from our fearless leader for more information about the redesign. We hope that we are making you look as fancy as you all deserve. While no news on Crasstalk is as important as what is happening on Crasstalk, here are a couple of stories from overnight. Continue reading →

Your Sunday Evening Open Post

562 comments

Hi all, hope you are having a relaxing Sunday. Here’s a couple of conversation starters (as if we need those).

The Atlantic has some fantastic videos of the reaction of protesters during the moments after Mubarak was removed a s Egyptian President. It really captures the emotions of a beautiful moment.

Ron Paul (R-TX) won the CPAC presidential poll this weekend in Washington. This is the second year he has won, but Paul is not exactly embraced by the mainstream part of the Republican party. Alex Jones is probably pretty stoked though. Sarah Palin finshed third, suggesting that their are limits to crazy, even at CPAC.

The Economist has an interesting article about income inequality in Angola. While the country has become rich from national resources, corruption, poor planning, and lingering animosity over the civl war have meant most Angolans still live in abject poverty.

Also, Jerry Springer turns 67 today. Try not to throw a chair or get anyone knocked up during your celebration.