Meh. Never seen him, never heard of him. I’m sure he’s a swell guy, but is he American? I heard he was of S. African lineage. Will he be as biting and ascerbic on US politics as Stewart was, or be more disinterested?
2.
raven
@Face: I’ve never heard of you either. Meh indeed.
I had never heard of Jon Stewart until The Daily Show. Let’s give Trevor Noah a chance before we start deciding his “South African lineage” disqualifies him.
4.
Big ole hound
BOOOO> Bad move. Comedy Central is going the cheapest route. He will be replaced in less than 6 months. In his few appearances with Jon he came off as a snob trying to poke fun at a culture he was unfamiliar with. What little talent he displayed came off as mocking like an 18 year old preppie.
5.
dan
Eh. Not that impressed.
6.
mai naem mobile
Never heard of him. Apparently we can’t even produce talk show hosts in the. US. First Kenyan POTUS. Now South African talk show host. WTF? Thanks Obama.
7.
BGinCHI
I had Richard Dawson in the pool. I knew that wasn’t going to pan out.
8.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Big ole hound: He will be replaced in less than 6 months.
I forget who said about the mini-campaign to get Jessica Williams the job: Why would you wish this on anyone you actually like? I imagine the pressure and scrutiny will be pretty unforgiving.
9.
Punchy
@SiubhanDuinne: JS was a fixture (host VJ) on MTV, wasn’t he? I’m pretty sure he was well-known (at least among the Gen-Xers) when he was hired.
10.
Bobby B.
The Daily Show is an obnoxious interruption to the perpetual flow of Tosh.0 and South Park reruns I cherish.
I don’t know. An outsider’s view of the goings on in this country could be pretty entertaining. It’s not like Americans are listening to each other at this point.
Thank God. He can’t be worse than Jon Stewart. Even if he’s incompetent, he won’t have as many liberals trusting him. That Obama interview where Stewart wouldn’t talk about anything except how Obama had failed to stop partisanship in congress was eye opening and nauseating to me. Until then, I tried to put off his cheap, nuanceless ‘both sides do it’ as comedians being comedians. God damn, Stewart, do you harangue wives about why they don’t work harder to stop their husbands from beating them?
13.
kindness
I like Trevor but will use this occasion to blame Hillary because…….Benghazi!!!11!!
He may well have been; in fact, I’m sure he was. I’m just saying that I had never heard of him until TDS. The point is, whether you or I or Face has ever heard of him is not, by itself, either a qualifier or disqualifier. At least it shouldn’t be.
Why am I in this stupid conversation so early in the day?
15.
SuperHrefna
@debbie: John Oliver is awesome, for example, though to be sure I think he does have dual citizenship now. I just hope the writers are up to par. I think I only saw one of Noah’s appearances on the Daily Show but I remember him being devastatingly handsome and not terribly funny. And failed humor is painful.
Much as I love John Oliver’s new show I do wish he’d got one of the Comedy Central show slots because then we’d see so much more of him! I gave Larry Willmore’s new show an honest try, I watched the whole first month, before giving up on it because it just wasn’t entertaining/interesting enough. I’ll take either, but I need at least one.
16.
Hildebrand
I like having folks with perspectives from outside the US. John Oliver and Craig Ferguson are good examples of entertainer types who bring an interesting take on US politics and foreign policy. Maybe another voice who hasn’t been marinating in our society forever isn’t a bad thing.
17.
waysel
@Frankensteinbeck: Agree. I thought he was biting and funny sometimes, but the gross inaccuracy in his ‘both sides do it’ was often disgusting- as if he got talking points from Fox writers. Did you see him kissing McCains butt a few months ago? Grotesque.
18.
Hill Dweller
This guy can’t be any worse than Stewart has been for the last few years. He’s mostly mailed it in, because the quality of the writing has plummeted. Furthermore, Stewart’s recent attempt to claim the Republican’s letter to Iran was equivalent to Pelosi’s trip to Syria, which was coordinated with Bush’s WH and State department, was truly sad. His rationalization of the Republican’s treatment of Loretta Lynch wasn’t much better. I think Stewart just might be a Glibertarian.
19.
GregB
This is an obvious slap in the face to the most qualified white Christian man to take Stewart’s place, Pastor Mike Huckabee. This reverse racism has to stop. We need to demand that Huckabee get the job and that Sarah Palin becomes a correspondent and that the studio is moved to Indiana.
I first learned about Noah from my nephew, so this is an appeal to the youngs.
OT: old employer/client of mine went missing, so they called the techno-librarian (me natch) to [redacted], anyway he was last seen about 50 miles east of Austin, sunday noonish… :-/
He’s 70 and married, not the type to run off exactly. Hopefully that last phone ping will give them enough to work with. Wife and assistant are both going nuts.
Off to Taipei tomorrow, if anybody has tips btw. Other than the imperial collection, naturally.
22.
Xantar
I don’t know anything about Trevor Noah, so I’m willing to give him a chance. I’m interested to see how his interaction with Jessica Williams will play out now. Part of Jon Stewart’s schtick was that he would play the clueless but well-meaning white dude while Jessica blacksplains current issues in racism to him. That won’t really work with Trevor unless he plays the clueless foreigner to Jessica’s American. But then he would be doing that for everyone.
23.
Jim
CNN carried this as breaking news, and of course the hosts had to editorialize. One of them suggested that maybe TDS should become a serious show rather than a comedic one. Really? On the *Comedy* Channel? Where satire is the whole point? Jeebus.
24.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@SuperHrefna: I like Larry Wilmore a lot, but he shot himself in the foot with that panel format. Also, he has a sly, laid-back style that might be too big a jump from Stewart’s mugging and the Colbert character’s bombast.
I can’t see anything in the reports that actually talks about shots being fired. So far, it all talks about cars crashing into each other or into the gates.
26.
Matt McIrvin
@Jim: Maybe they’re moving in that direction anyway. I was just thinking that Larry Wilmore’s show is peculiar in that it’s usually not all that funny, but it’s a credible current-affairs panel show with a vibe kind of like, say, Charlie Rose, and a few jokes added in.
27.
SuperHrefna
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yeah, I was so excited for Wilmore’s show because I loved his appearances on other people’s shows. But the panel format is a disaster – there are too many panel guests and not enough time to discuss anything with any depth. It ends up being just so superficial. How they ever thought they could cram a panel discussion into about 22 minutes while also having a monologue and an outro just bewilders me. They need to retool and relaunch his show with a format that works.
28.
Origuy
I’ve seen him on QI, the British fake game show hosted by Steven Fry. He’s really smart and has a quick wit. The QI shows are all on YouTube.
29.
WaterGirl
@Face: Or maybe he’ll be more ruthless, in a good way. I quit watching Jon Stewart a couple of years ago because I was tired of both sides do it.
I think Jon Stewart had several failed talk shows before the Daily Show.
31.
Elizabelle
So women cannot host a late night talk/satire show? There is no woman who could do so? They found Samantha Bee. Having a woman as host doesn’t mean fast lane to becoming “The View” or cheapish chick programming.
By most accounts, Oliver’s wife didn’t want him to take on the grind of a daily show because she saw up close how infrequently Stewart was home and how stressful a daily show is. I can’t really blame her for that.
34.
ThresherK
@Jim: In the “it feels good when I stop (hitting my knee with a hammer” category, shouldn’t CNN first try to stop providing so much material for The Daily Show?
Not trying to pretend the media was all Uncle Walter and Edward R. Murrow (the good “This Is London” one, not the ebbil one who took down the courageous Commie hunter), but have these folks inside the Beltway ever said “Maybe we’re providing too much oxygen to the fire?”
35.
Major Major Major Major
@Elizabelle: well Amy and Tina can’t do *everything*.
Winky face indicating agreement as well as sincere sarcasm
36.
Elizabelle
OK, I read the press release and am intrigued by this Trevor Noah and interested in seeing what he will do.
You may want to keep your powder dry (as they say) until Colbert takes over Letterman or you’ll exhaust yourself.
39.
SuperHrefna
@Mnemosyne (tablet): That makes sense. And I do love the extra depth allowed by his retrospective format, he actually manages to make explanations of complex underlying issues entertaining enough to go viral which is just wonderful. I just wish his show was on more often for my own, selfish reasons. Sorry, Mrs Oliver!
40.
PurpleGirl
@Face: Let’s also remember that TDS had writers preparing scripts for Stewart. A lot will depend on the scripted work besides Trevor Noah’s delivery of the words.
41.
Elizabelle
In non-funny news: NYTimes:
Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot of the Germanwings jetliner that crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday, had been treated for “suicidal tendencies” before receiving his pilot’s license, officials said.
Jesus fuck. How does anyone with that history get hired by a passenger carrier? Thank you, medical privacy records.
I’d bet some of his “care providers” are not sleeping very well, thinking of the body and aircraft fragments strewn among the Alps.
ETA: We had a similarish issue re pilot privacy with a Continental airlines crash a few years back. Turned out co-pilot had been released from American Airlines for incompetence, but HR was afraid to say that honestly for fear of being sued by the incompetent pilot. And so he was hired by Continental (?), where he paid insufficient attention to having his plane de-iced.
This is a different kind of privacy issue than Mr. Adam Smith, prick Fil A rantmeister. He’s still suitable for his chosen profession, finance.
42.
srv
You know you can’t trust them – people with two first names.
43.
KXB
I thought Samantha Bee was going to get it. Noah has been OK in his appearances – and keep in mind that show reflects the comedic sensibilities of a staff of writers, not just one person. As for interviewing skills – that always takes time. But, whereas the Usual Suspects would dismiss Stewart as a NY liberal show-biz Jew (and occasionally called a self-hating Jew by Likudniks), the South African Noah will targeted with “un-American” to a greater degree. While this is jumping the gun, one wonders what the response will be when he does his first bit on the Middle East. Black African laborers are treated like garbage in Arab boomtowns like Dubai. Israel supported the apartheid gov’t in South Africa until the end of that regime. If he mentions these inconvenient facts about our regional allies, I hope Noah has a suit of armor in his closet.
44.
Iowa Old Lady
@SiubhanDuinne: TPM reports two men disguised as women rammed the gate. Police killed one and wounded the other.
@Major Major Major Major: my experience is 20 years old, but Ding Tai Fung served phenomenal dumplings of all varieties (not really dim sum, they didn’t have room for carts to maneuver) and are still around, and have even added a couple of other locations.
Let us know how the trip was!
46.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Sounds like security shot one of the guys in the car?
A shooting reportedly left one dead at National Security Agency headquarters on Monday morning after a driver of a vehicle apparently tried to ram through an entrance gate there.
One person was dead while two people were hospitalized following the shooting at about 9:30 a.m. EST at Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, according to television station WTTG.
MSNBC reported that two men disguised as women driving a stolen car attempted to break into the facility. Several people were shot, and drugs were found in the car, the channel reported.
This shiny object ought to distract the Village for a couple days. “Don, is there a history of ISIS operatives operating in drag?”
47.
SuperHrefna
@Elizabelle: I would have loved it if Kristen Schaal had got the Daily Show chair. I love the edginess in her humor, where it seems she could go ANYWHERE with what she is doing. Her appearances on the Daily Show always blow the cobwebs away.
I don’t know look how the foreigner Lorne Michaels screwed up Saturday Night Live. And how Alex Trebek screwed up Jeopardy after taking over from Art Fleming.
He was screened, like every other pilot ever
He was fine
Nothing major happened in his life
Then one day, stuff felt a little off
He saw some doctors
It got worse
The doctors wrote stuff down saying he couldn’t work, years after certification
He slipped in just under the wire for mandatory notification.
Don’t you dare blame privacy laws. The mentally ill have fought tooth and nail for those.
Do you know what “suicidal tendencies” means in Germany? Do you know what treatment for it looked like 15 years ago?
50.
Belafon
Shaun King has a diary at Daily Kos about him. Because Noah’s dad is white and his mom is black, Noah was treated as neither in South Aftrica. One of the things he said he was hoping was to be treated as black when he got to America, and the first person who met him here tried to speak Spanish because they thought he was Latino.
The doctors wrote stuff down saying he couldn’t work, years after certification
He slipped in just under the wire for mandatory notification.
What do you mean by that?
54.
Major Major Major Major
@srv: what’s so bad about antidepressants that anything other than Prozac must be ‘worse’?
55.
Major Major Major Major
@WaterGirl: he had torn up doctors’ notes releasing him from work in his pockets and around his house. For stress and general mental health iirc. Germany gives the patient a few days before mandatory reporting kicks in.
Germany gives the patient a few days before mandatory reporting kicks in.
Well, that’s certainly a problem, particularly for someone who holds other people’s lives in their hands.
57.
mainmata
@Elizabelle: Ellen DeGeneris already proved that you can be a very funny and very capable talk show host. She doesn’t usually do political satire but I’m sure she could do it if she was so inclined. And I would definitely vote for Samantha Bee though I’m not sure she would want the confines of the host position.
@Major Major Major Major: I’m curious, what was the treatment for suicidal tendencies 15 years ago in Germany? Having spent way more of my life than I’m comfortable confessing fighting depression and anxiety I like to know what stigmas operate where…
60.
Major Major Major Major
@WaterGirl: well–in this case the doctors went for the “wait and see” option. German doctors certainly have the ability to toss you in the hospital for your own good, but they’re loathe to use it, given how they’re trained, given the history.
Don’t get me wrong, a number of systems failed here, and what happened is just monstrous. But he had no history they were aware of, so that’s medical record continuity of it’s anything on trial here.
61.
Major Major Major Major
@SuperHrefna: much like in the US, if that’s your background, except you have a country still trying to reconcile its soviet and western halves, so mental health treatment is sidelined and you have at best “you’re bipolar? Well, woody Allen is funny, here’s some bupropion” and at worst “well, have you tried ECT?” Much better now of course.
However, I think “suicidal tendencies” should be disqualifying. I do realize that honestly disclosing same leads to loss of one’s livelihood. So sad. That’s a private tragedy. People with brilliant response time and understanding of flight dynamics, but poor vision, are not up there either.
People are dead, public tragedy, because a condition recurred.
@Major Major Major Major: I would imagine that ‘suicidal tendencies’ is a very long word in German.
65.
srv
@Major Major Major Major: Any one of eleventy-billion anti-psychotics or anti-hallucinagenics?
66.
Violet
I really like him the couple of times I’ve seen him on The Daily Show. Smart, funny, quick witted. I think he’ll do well.
67.
KG
The Daily Show is going to be a completely different creature. Samantha Bee and Jason Jones are leaving to do a show on TBS. Kristen Schaal is on the new Will Forte show on Fox which means probably less time for TDS.
Mary Schmidt Campbell Named President of Spelman College
Campbell will step into new role August 1, 2015
by Courtney ConnleyPosted: March 30, 2015
Spelman College has named educator Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D. as its next president to follow the 13 year legacy of Beverly Tatum, Ph.D.
Coming from an extensive background in education, public service and the arts, Campbell was appointed dean of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in 1991 and retired from her position in August 2014. Prior to her tenure at NYU, Campbell lead efforts in transforming the Studio Museum in Harlem from a rented loft over a liquor store into the country’s first accredited black fine arts museum. She currently serves as vice chairwoman of a presidential committee that works to improve the importance of art in public schools.
Last September, Campbell visited the prestigious black women’s college to help the school plan the renovation of its art facility and from there the relationship grew.
“I was blown away,” Campbell told Philly.com. “…I thought how phenomenal it is to be a black women and come to a place where you are the heart and soul of the mission of that place.”
Campbell, who earned a bachelor’s in English literature from Swarthmore College and a master’s and Ph.D. from Syracuse University, will officially step into her new role August 1, 2015. She says her goal at Spelman is to focus on increasing financial aid to attract the best students, while bringing in more resources for teaching and research and developing the new arts facility.
Tatum, who is Black Enterprise’s 2015 Legacy Award recipient, sent the below congratulatory tweet to Campbell.
I think the problem is not that he had suicidal ideation, but that he had homicidal ideation as well. Most people who commit suicide have no desire to take other people with them. I don’t know how that part slipped through the system — did he not tell his doctors, or did they not listen to him? — but missing that was really the disaster point.
Not everyone with depression also has suicidal ideation. I never even considered it, and I had a long-standing and persistent depression for 10 years before I sought help. IIRC, current research indicates that people with bipolar are at higher risk of suicide than people with clinical depression.
The Daily Show is going to be a completely different creature
Wasn’t it a completely different show before Stewart took over?
79.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Mnemosyne (tablet): We’re probably not gonna know what “slipped through the system,” just as we’re unlikely to get much of an idea on how clear – if at all – a suicidal ideation presented. I would suspect that there was no indication of a homicidal ideation; without knowing German law on the topic, I would have to imagine that there is some type of Tarasoff warning requirement, and that an airline pilot with homicidal ideations would trigger such a report. Full disclaimer: I have not researched German law on this point; my German is much too out of shape for that.
80.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne (tablet): sorry, didn’t mean to diminish your experience or misstate mine.
I’ve got bipolar II maybe or cyclothymia, but weighed down majorly on the depressive end, myself. Took me about six years and one almost-fatal assault to get me to where I was seeking help. I try to be loud and proud about it but sometimes I can overdo it.
There’s no zealot like a convert after all. Anyway, just like to keep it out there I guess.
81.
Major Major Major Major
@srv: wow, you still haven’t named a single thing I’m taking.
82.
Matt McIrvin
@Mike J: It was, but it ran for less than two years with Craig Kilborn. A few features of the Stewart-era show are actually holdovers from Kilborn’s, though: the weird field interviews, and “Your Moment of Zen.”
83.
Major Major Major Major
@srv: I was objecting to your use of “worse”, anyway. Implying “more than bad.” I’ll accept that you meant it in the FAA sense and not in the objective or moral sense.
84.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Matt McIrvin: Also Lewis Black. I wish Stewart had kept Frank DeCaro (Out At The Movies) and A Whitney Brown. Killborn was much less political, IIRC
Is there any way available to the mental health community for screening for that subcategory of suicidal tendencies?
86.
Felanius Kootea
Yesssss! As a fellow African I’m definitely biased – I think Trevor is one of the funniest up-and-coming comedians on the international scene and I’ve followed his work for the last two years. Don’t underestimate this guy; he is sharp as hell and has an international perspective on things that is at times similar to John Oliver’s.
I remember laughing at his joke about having to walk on the other side of the street from his dad (with his mom) during the apartheid years while his dad waved at him because they couldn’t all legally walk together as a family. Anyone who could make that sad history funny has talent.
87.
Felanius Kootea
Oh and Larry Wilmore needs to change his show’s format. I stopped trying to watch it a few weeks ago. So much potential. Mostly squandered thus far.
88.
Major Major Major Major
@sharl: it’s called bipolar, generally. You just don’t want to meet them on a depressive upswing, aka “I’m better than all of you and none of you can see it, well I’ll show you!”
Am I the only one confused by the passive-aggressive dynamic of this conversation?
91.
Tommy
@Felanius Kootea: I find the show almost unwatchable. I don’t have cable and when The Daily Show comes up on Hulu I am giddy. I so wish Larry’s show was better. I think the dude is laugh out funny but they seem to hinder him with the style/format of the show.
92.
shell
So, a whole weekend without any puppy update? Okay, we had that diverting post of the guy with the owl on the Swiffer, but how are Thurston and Lovey doing?
93.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Major Major Major Major: I certainly don’t want to pick a pedantic psych fight with someone who is – admirably – out and proud about a dx. But I’m wondering if you could explain this response
it’s called bipolar, generally. You just don’t want to meet them on a depressive upswing, aka “I’m better than all of you and none of you can see it, well I’ll show you!”
to this question:
he had homicidal ideation as well.
Is there any way available to the mental health community for screening for that subcategory of suicidal tendencies?
I’m genuinely curious. I’m always leery of inadvertently encouraging stigma.
@Botsplainer: Nope. I’m confused enough to be uncertain whether my comments are part of it.
94.
shortstop
@shell: Still laughing at your sparrow waking up and taking a comradely view of cheeping despite his imprisonment.
95.
sharl
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I interpreted M*4’s answer to mean ‘no, homicidal ideation is one of many possible manifestations of bipolar disorder, and not a predictable one at that (especially if one chooses to avoid admitting to those thoughts, and can see through any interview questions from a therapist that try to get at that.)’
However, I may have read too much into the response from M*4.
96.
sharl
@shell: I’m afraid the only recent pupdate came from Cole’s twitter feed:
John Cole @Johngcole · 13h 13 hours ago
I just made it rain with doggie chew toys in the hopes they stop shredding my fucking possessions.
Hopefully he will be less “both side do it” than Jon. Don’t get me wrong, when Jon was good, he was amazing good. But then he’d decide he needed to balance it out by pretending a Democrat nonissue was an issue and I’d lose a lot of respect for him.
Sharl’s right, in the short read of admittedly short comments about a big subject. But that’s what I meant.
The depressive upswing is the hardest part to diagnose and probably the most important one to diagnose as well, in my opinion. It can look so much like reversion to the mean, in terms of mood, but… it seems like you’re getting better but really you’re just going manic enough to kill yourself. It’s why antidepressants have black box warnings, same idea at least.
99.
Germy Shoemangler
Speaking of comedy, I’m one of those old cranks who complains that SNL isn’t funny anymore, but I was impressed with the Dwayne Johnson “cold open”. They did Obama turning into angry Hulk after dealing with Boehner, Cotton, and Cruz. Michelle becomes She Hulk after the secret service ruins her garden:
For my money, Key and Peele do the best Obama and Anger Translator, but this was a pretty decent sketch.
I linked to on an earlier thread, so I’m repeating myself here, but I thought the sketch was funny. Cotton saying “I’ve only been here three months, but I think I know more about foreign policy than you” and Obama’s smoldering rage.
@Germy Shoemangler: Just happy somebody else is watching Key and Peele :). I wonder how much of the writing they do themselves because being funny isn’t easy.
Edit: I should add that I only mention it because it has worked really well for someone I know who was diagnosed Bipolar II. Actually, this person was really marginal for a Bipolar II diagnosis–stubborn depression–and the psychiatrist decided it was worth a try in that situation and it has worked.
104.
Old Dan and Little Ann
I remember being bummed thinking no one could replace Craig Kilborn on TDS.
105.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Major Major Major Major: Thank G*d for that. I could speculate about some meds for BPII, but I won’t unless asked.
I understand your point now. Absolutely the lift out of the depressive end is really dangerous – and why mood stabilizers are so important. Other than a mixed state, it may be the most dangerous time, and also why spring is a dangerous time for mood disordered folks.
Don’t you dare blame privacy laws. The mentally ill have fought tooth and nail for those.
Do you know what “suicidal tendencies” means in Germany? Do you know what treatment for it looked like 15 years ago?
All those dead people on the mountain have lots of permanent privacy, and the treatment for their condition is the same as it did 15 years ago. If you’re going to work at a job where other people’s safety depends on your mental stability, I frankly don’t give a damn about your privacy concerns against your employer knowing about a condition which calls that into question.
107.
Elizabelle
@Major Major Major Major: Mnem got there first re not every condition leads to suicidal tendencies, and that homicidal is the real problem here.
I am glad for medical privacy and that we’ve made great progress (more to go) in treating mental health issues. I think there’s a genuine public interest in the medical records of pilots and presidents and a few other professions (snipers, perhaps). Who cares if they’re impotent — stuff like that should stay private — but you want to know about risk factors for seizure disorders or early dementia or disorders of the mind that might lead to unsound decisions.
Mental health is a continuum as well, and some conditions may make a person unsuitable for flying planes or driving heavy equipment at some times under stressful conditions. Whereas that person would make a superb attorney or teacher or physician or so many other skilled professions. That’s discriminatory, true, but there’s a public safety issue behind it.
Please do not take my comment as a slam on those who have or love folks with mental health issues. I think just about everybody cares for or is someone who’s experienced that. Which is why pilots not being allowed to take antidepressants for relatively mild conditions is a topic for discussion.
Although do you think the airlines and military ban them because of legal liability for any unusual drug reactions? Insurers speaking there, perhaps.
108.
Germy Shoemangler
@Tommy: The latest I heard is they’re developing the Substitute Teacher into a full-length film.
109.
Tommy
@Old Dan and Little Ann: I am willing to bet if you got Jon in your living room. Just having a conversation he’d say the reason for his success is his writers. If Trevor Noah can keep that talent he will be successful.
110.
Major Major Major Major
Compendium response. On an iPhone. Broken into portions cuz WP link limit.
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
Gabapentin and bupropion and the occasional benzo, meditation and having a job I love help a lot too. I’m lucky but I worked my ass off to get here too.
111.
Elizabelle
I wish we had mental health screening for congresscritters and governors and state legislators and especially presidential contenders.
I could live with a Teddy Roosevelt (manic depressive, but of great intelligence and genuinely interested in public service). Or an Abraham Lincoln, who suffered from depression. We’re the better for their service. They were functional, and had a knowledge base and great empathy and imagination.
The whackjobs spiteful voters are throwing up now? Not so much.
@Major Major Major Major: you can’t throw a rock in Taipei now without hitting a branch of Ding Tai Feng. Absolute must try: the truffle dumplings! Hit the night markets, too. Shilin is the largest, can be reached by subway. Taipei’s chock full of attractive temples, if you like that sort of thing. Longshan temple, in an older part of the city, is easily accessed by subway. I think the nearby snake market may have been disbanded by now. Ximen Ding for sauntering about at night for snacks and people- watching. The plaza behind the Red House (Hong Lou) for a selection of gay cafes and bars. Any other questions, you can contact me at this name at ay-oh-el.
113.
Aleta
A few years ago, one relative had to go off all his meds (according to his recruiter) in order to be accepted into the Marines. He was told by that the Marines would prescribe for him if needed. Another relative came up for renewal of U.S. security clearance, had to go off antidepressants in order to do this.
114.
Violet
@Major Major Major Major: Not sure what you mean by the “imperial collection” but if you mean the National Palace Museum, it is truly wondrous. I highly recommend it.
I don’t think it’s that hard to get out of Taipei, so if you have the time you might see about a few days out of the city. The island is gorgeous in places.
Meh. Never seen him, never heard of him. I’m sure he’s a swell guy, but is he American? I heard he was of S. African lineage. Will he be as biting and ascerbic on US politics as Stewart was, or be more disinterested?
John Oliver wasn’t born in the USA and yet is as biting as Jaws.
116.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Jesus fuck. How does anyone with that history get hired by a passenger carrier? Thank you, medical privacy records.
I’d bet some of his “care providers” are not sleeping very well, thinking of the body and aircraft fragments strewn among the Alps.
@Elizabelle: It’s called “medical confidentiality” and it’s the law here as well as in Germany. Sign of a civilized society.
Not in any way the docs fault if he fails to tell his employers he’s been thinking a lot about how awesome it would be to put a plane into the side of a mountain. Not only are they not mandated to report to anyone, they’re forbidden to.
117.
Major Major Major Major
@Elizabelle: I think you’re totally right. I’d never sign up for the Air Force. Because I can’t. And that’s good. We don’t have a shortage of Pilots.
Three Plane McCain notwithstanding.
I really have no issue with people having honest reactions to honest mental health revelations. We need more of both.
118.
Germy Shoemangler
I was intrigued by this new article on transcranial direct-current stimulation:
She posted a photo of herself with the transcranial gear on her head.
Here’s a sample tweet:
You can tell MS Word was made by capitalists bc spell check tries to replace “commodified” w “commoditized.”
I think she’s great.
119.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Major Major Major Major: That sounds like a good regimen that’s working for you. And it is a matter of working your ass off to get there. Good work.
120.
Paul in KY
@Major Major Major Major: That was a joke. Should have put a smiley face after it. If you were on Haldol, you probably couldn’t type coherent sentences.
People here I am sure will correct me if I am wrong, but last I checked in the US and most first world nations unless you tell your doctor you plan to hurt somebody then everything you say is protected. I don’t have mental health issues but I planned to work in this profession.
My undergrad degree is in Psychology. Ran a suicide hotline in college. Being able to openly talk to somebody and not fear they will rat on you is kind of important.
I decided not to work in this profession because it was too hard. It takes a special type of person for work in this field. I was not that person.
125.
Germy Shoemangler
@Paul in KY: Yes, that guy. And I’m optimistic the movie will be good, because it’s being written by the people who wrote the original sketch.
126.
Jim
@Matt McIrvin: Good point. I’m liking Larry Wilmore a lot, and feel that it’s more wit than humor.
127.
Aleta
@Elizabelle: I wish they had to pass a test covering history, government, world geography and religion, and ethics.
128.
Major Major Major Major
@Tommy: I was. I am. Scroll up to see that it takes one to know one.
129.
Major Major Major Major
@Elizabelle: you forget Winston, he of gin and cigars for breakfast.
I think it really sticks in their craw that there are a lot of people out there who take the Daily Show more seriously as a trustworthy outlet for news than they take “worldwide news leader” CNN. And who knows, maybe they’re still not over how Stewart killed Crossfire with one poison dart back in the day.
So if they’re saying “oh good, maybe finally the Daily Show has a chance to become more serious, be assured that it’s some thinly veiled concern trolling borne out of jealousy.
131.
Tree With Water
I think it’s great. Try to imagine not having been born and raised in the USA, and what we must look like to the rest of the world. As John Oliver (et.al.) has proved, a talented person has a virtual bottomless pit of material to milk for laughs here in the states. Noah was born and raised in a country that succeeded in implementing a reconciliation amnesty. Who knows? We might even learn a thing or two.
132.
Tommy
@Major Major Major Major: The power of conversation. When I ran that hotline it was stunning what happened when you just talked to people. We had a multi-tier process. The first was called “concreteness.” We could talk to the person and use the second thing, “empathy.” Then the third. Resolution. We never gave advice. You got to figure that out for yourself.
133.
LanceThruster
Still in withdrawals over no “Colbert Report.” The Nightly Show is good for what it is, but is in no way able to replace the Report. I would like to see TDS do less ‘schtick’ as it were and more direct skewering of the lunacy of the newsmakers. Straight ‘news analysis’ is pretty comical in and off itself because no one with the MSM ever mentions the many elephants in room in regards to their own coverage.
Whoever is given the slot should be given a chance as those are tough shoes to fill. I really like John Oliver’s HBO show (“Last Week”) but wasn’t that fond of his TDS guest hosting. It will succeed…or it won’t. Am pretty despondent over their show doing more thoughtful news than the so-called ‘hard news’, but that’s the world that we live in.
134.
mb
Shoulda picked Wyatt Cenac. I found Noah’s appearances kinda cringeworthy.
The most courageous person I know has experienced the progression of bp treatments occurring over the last 40 years. He has come back from a dark place again and again. Then to experience stigma, job loss, criminal insurance co.s, and ignorance of people around him. He speaks honestly, too.
136.
Marc
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Actually, Wilmore’s imitation of Stewart’s constant mugging and playing to the studio audience is what put me off his show. Maybe he’ll grow out of it and develop his own persona, but I’m not sure I’ll be around to find out.
137.
another Holocene human
@SuperHrefna: not interesting enough? Whoa. My only beef is his panels can be so diverse they devolve into flippant tribalistic one liners. I often flip it off when he gets to his questions unless someone really funny is on, like Mike Tyson.
He booked Jake Tapper once. Terrible.
138.
Major Major Major Major
@cmorenc: nationalize the airlines, problem solved. No argument here.
You’re right, germany doesn’t do mandatory reporting because they think it drives ppl away from treatment
They may be reconsidering, at least for some professions
Nothing wrong with smoking weed but if they find it in my urine I’ll lose my job. That’s dumb but fuck yeah they should treat for disinhibitors like alcohol and cocaine. Both drugs are factors in lots of accidents.
140.
Violet
@another Holocene human: I think it would be a better show if he used the panels less frequently. Maybe when he can do an entire show with the panel as he’s done sometimes. Also have some one-on-one interviews, like the one with Bill de Blasio. The shouting panels aren’t different enough from the ones they’re ostensibly riffing on (the cable shows and Sunday shows) that they’ve hit their mark.
I’m also in huge Colbert withdrawal. I know he’ll be back but the created character Stephen Colbert never will. Sadness.
141.
jl
Noah can be very funny, and I think he will take the show in an interesting direction. So, interesting TV, I don’t see how people can turn down that opportunity, it doesn’t come by that often. Will be interesting to see what happens.
From what I have seen of Noah’s act, he is not invested in cultural and political conventions of US, which Stewart was. Noah has very broad cross-cultural interests. I think people will give him a good chance, especially younger viewers, just out the WTF? factor.
142.
jl
@Violet: I like Wilmore’s show, but I agree, often the panels don’t work very well, though sometimes they are great. Wilmore’s stand up at beginning of show consistently better than the panels.
Why the odd constraints on the show, though. Very little supporting production or staff, even less than Colbert’s show. Wilmore’s choice or budget constraints? I’m not sure.
@CONGRATULATIONS!: I thought they were mandated to report if you were a danger to yourself or others.
145.
WaterGirl
@CONGRATULATIONS!: I think some of you guys are being kind of shitty to Elizabelle, and I’m not sure why.
Seems like you’re coming down with hammers when a simple question would have been more effective.
146.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@WaterGirl: I think for some of us an indictment of medical confidentiality is explosively offensive.
Jesus fuck. How does anyone with that history get hired by a passenger carrier? Thank you, medical privacy records.
That comment ^ may not seem like a statement that requires more than a simple question. Many of us either are, or know someone who is, living with a condition that could preclude employment if publicly known, even though the condition will in no way impair performance or endanger anyone (beyond the ordinary dangers presented by any person performing the position in question). Stigma is an enormous issue the US. So there are apt to be – as you observed – some strong reactions to statements like the one quoted.
“So if they’re [the corporate media] saying “oh good, maybe finally the Daily Show has a chance to become more serious, be assured that it’s some thinly veiled concern trolling borne out of jealousy.
People like Stewart,Noah, Wilmore, Colbert, Oliver, Bee, most of the daily show staff and regular commentaters are more serious than all the Schieffers, Todds, Pelleys, Lemons and the other news divas put together, at least for political stories and analysis.
So, I guess that is tough for the corporate hacks to swallow. Too bad for them.
I think TDS and Colbert have blown some stories in terms of correct information, and doing better than our corporate press is a very low bar. But I think our corporate news media is horrible, and an embarrassment to the US.
148.
Tree With Water
@Major Major Major Major: That was the second eye opener for me about Jimmy Carter that I didn’t like, i.e., he deregulated the airlines. They were working just fine as is, although admittedly I rarely flew. The first eye opener was the day he called for a 5% increase in the Pentagon’s budget after campaigning to cut it.. history’s greatest monster, indeed.
When they picked Colbert to star in his own show, you knew it would be a hit, because he was so funny. Same thing with Oliver. While I’m not crazy about Larry Wilmore’s format (single topic/round table), atleast he’s very funny on a personal level.
But, this guy – he wasn’t funny.
I got a feeling they picked him simply because he’s young and good looking (see Craig Kilborn). It sadly also signals that Viacom is tired of the heat they receive over their popular nightly shows running powerful interest threw the ringer and wants to move away from political topics to cultural commentary.
Three-Plane McCain was US Navy, much as I hate to admit it.
His background was Admiral father and Admiral Grandfather, which gave him extra planes to crash.
Reading his description of the beginning of the fiery disaster on the USS Forrestal made me think he should have spent his time in stir at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, rather than the Hanoi Hilton, as he broke with military regulations at every step he took, from my lowly perspective as an E2.
From his own words, his first step was to drop all of his ordinance into the burning fuel on the flight deck, contrary to SOP which was to keep it all on board so that the damage control teams could push the plane overboard and be rid of all ordinance.
Next, after he escaped from the cockpit of his plane, he ran below decks, rather than taking charge of a damage control team, like an officer with leadership skills would. These teams were disorganized as many of the senior petty officers were hurt of killed already.
Then he left the ship on board R W Apple’s helicopter flight back to mainland for some R&R. Mr. Apple was the senior N Y Times correspondent in the war zone, and was flown to the Forrestal to cover the tragedy. I imagine he got permission from someone in his chain of command, but I can imagine that most officers would feel that they would have work to do after their air craft carrier was nearly burned to death. But not Mr McCain, who needed some time to recover from his close call on the burning flight deck.
Three Plane McCain, that’s good, I hadn’t heard it quite that way before, I can’t imagine him as the POTUS, such a cowardly incompetent worm.
No one who is willing to call his wife a cu*t in front of reporters is worth – well anything at all!
@Felanius Kootea: Agreed, he is funny as all get out but the show does not leave much time for laughs.
The panel is too slow and they never have any time to get deep , so it just sort of falls flat.
That said I love the guy and am genuinely happy there is an actual “black” show on TV -that was long needed.
To replace Colbert, however…big shoes and all that -the audience does no even know why they chant Steven, but now they do it for Larry?
Yay Fela Kuti !
155.
Caravelle
You know what, my reaction was going to be
1) This is incredible, I love Trevor Noah and he’ll probably be great
and
2) I only found out about his existence a few months ago, if he’s qualified, how come Jessica Williams isn’t ?
But it turns out he’s hosted many TV shows before, so now I have no misgivings whatsoever.
(Also, I just learned that Jessica Williams is not only younger than me, she’s younger than my little brother. What. Is that what growing old feels like ?)
I’m fascinated by the concept of a foreigner hosting the Daily Show; I wonder if he intends to become a decadal fixture like Jon Stewart. It does seem like they’re deliberately courting an international audience. So welcome to globalization I guess ?
Face
Meh. Never seen him, never heard of him. I’m sure he’s a swell guy, but is he American? I heard he was of S. African lineage. Will he be as biting and ascerbic on US politics as Stewart was, or be more disinterested?
raven
@Face: I’ve never heard of you either. Meh indeed.
SiubhanDuinne
@Face:
I had never heard of Jon Stewart until The Daily Show. Let’s give Trevor Noah a chance before we start deciding his “South African lineage” disqualifies him.
Big ole hound
BOOOO> Bad move. Comedy Central is going the cheapest route. He will be replaced in less than 6 months. In his few appearances with Jon he came off as a snob trying to poke fun at a culture he was unfamiliar with. What little talent he displayed came off as mocking like an 18 year old preppie.
dan
Eh. Not that impressed.
mai naem mobile
Never heard of him. Apparently we can’t even produce talk show hosts in the. US. First Kenyan POTUS. Now South African talk show host. WTF? Thanks Obama.
BGinCHI
I had Richard Dawson in the pool. I knew that wasn’t going to pan out.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I forget who said about the mini-campaign to get Jessica Williams the job: Why would you wish this on anyone you actually like? I imagine the pressure and scrutiny will be pretty unforgiving.
Punchy
@SiubhanDuinne: JS was a fixture (host VJ) on MTV, wasn’t he? I’m pretty sure he was well-known (at least among the Gen-Xers) when he was hired.
Bobby B.
The Daily Show is an obnoxious interruption to the perpetual flow of Tosh.0 and South Park reruns I cherish.
debbie
@Big ole hound:
I don’t know. An outsider’s view of the goings on in this country could be pretty entertaining. It’s not like Americans are listening to each other at this point.
Frankensteinbeck
Thank God. He can’t be worse than Jon Stewart. Even if he’s incompetent, he won’t have as many liberals trusting him. That Obama interview where Stewart wouldn’t talk about anything except how Obama had failed to stop partisanship in congress was eye opening and nauseating to me. Until then, I tried to put off his cheap, nuanceless ‘both sides do it’ as comedians being comedians. God damn, Stewart, do you harangue wives about why they don’t work harder to stop their husbands from beating them?
kindness
I like Trevor but will use this occasion to blame Hillary because…….Benghazi!!!11!!
@Punchy: Talk Soup.
SiubhanDuinne
@Punchy:
He may well have been; in fact, I’m sure he was. I’m just saying that I had never heard of him until TDS. The point is, whether you or I or Face has ever heard of him is not, by itself, either a qualifier or disqualifier. At least it shouldn’t be.
Why am I in this stupid conversation so early in the day?
SuperHrefna
@debbie: John Oliver is awesome, for example, though to be sure I think he does have dual citizenship now. I just hope the writers are up to par. I think I only saw one of Noah’s appearances on the Daily Show but I remember him being devastatingly handsome and not terribly funny. And failed humor is painful.
Much as I love John Oliver’s new show I do wish he’d got one of the Comedy Central show slots because then we’d see so much more of him! I gave Larry Willmore’s new show an honest try, I watched the whole first month, before giving up on it because it just wasn’t entertaining/interesting enough. I’ll take either, but I need at least one.
Hildebrand
I like having folks with perspectives from outside the US. John Oliver and Craig Ferguson are good examples of entertainer types who bring an interesting take on US politics and foreign policy. Maybe another voice who hasn’t been marinating in our society forever isn’t a bad thing.
waysel
@Frankensteinbeck: Agree. I thought he was biting and funny sometimes, but the gross inaccuracy in his ‘both sides do it’ was often disgusting- as if he got talking points from Fox writers. Did you see him kissing McCains butt a few months ago? Grotesque.
Hill Dweller
This guy can’t be any worse than Stewart has been for the last few years. He’s mostly mailed it in, because the quality of the writing has plummeted. Furthermore, Stewart’s recent attempt to claim the Republican’s letter to Iran was equivalent to Pelosi’s trip to Syria, which was coordinated with Bush’s WH and State department, was truly sad. His rationalization of the Republican’s treatment of Loretta Lynch wasn’t much better. I think Stewart just might be a Glibertarian.
GregB
This is an obvious slap in the face to the most qualified white Christian man to take Stewart’s place, Pastor Mike Huckabee. This reverse racism has to stop. We need to demand that Huckabee get the job and that Sarah Palin becomes a correspondent and that the studio is moved to Indiana.
I first learned about Noah from my nephew, so this is an appeal to the youngs.
SiubhanDuinne
O/T: Shots fired at NSA HQ.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32121316
Major Major Major Major
OT: old employer/client of mine went missing, so they called the techno-librarian (me natch) to [redacted], anyway he was last seen about 50 miles east of Austin, sunday noonish… :-/
He’s 70 and married, not the type to run off exactly. Hopefully that last phone ping will give them enough to work with. Wife and assistant are both going nuts.
Off to Taipei tomorrow, if anybody has tips btw. Other than the imperial collection, naturally.
Xantar
I don’t know anything about Trevor Noah, so I’m willing to give him a chance. I’m interested to see how his interaction with Jessica Williams will play out now. Part of Jon Stewart’s schtick was that he would play the clueless but well-meaning white dude while Jessica blacksplains current issues in racism to him. That won’t really work with Trevor unless he plays the clueless foreigner to Jessica’s American. But then he would be doing that for everyone.
Jim
CNN carried this as breaking news, and of course the hosts had to editorialize. One of them suggested that maybe TDS should become a serious show rather than a comedic one. Really? On the *Comedy* Channel? Where satire is the whole point? Jeebus.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@SuperHrefna: I like Larry Wilmore a lot, but he shot himself in the foot with that panel format. Also, he has a sly, laid-back style that might be too big a jump from Stewart’s mugging and the Colbert character’s bombast.
Xantar
@SiubhanDuinne:
I can’t see anything in the reports that actually talks about shots being fired. So far, it all talks about cars crashing into each other or into the gates.
Matt McIrvin
@Jim: Maybe they’re moving in that direction anyway. I was just thinking that Larry Wilmore’s show is peculiar in that it’s usually not all that funny, but it’s a credible current-affairs panel show with a vibe kind of like, say, Charlie Rose, and a few jokes added in.
SuperHrefna
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yeah, I was so excited for Wilmore’s show because I loved his appearances on other people’s shows. But the panel format is a disaster – there are too many panel guests and not enough time to discuss anything with any depth. It ends up being just so superficial. How they ever thought they could cram a panel discussion into about 22 minutes while also having a monologue and an outro just bewilders me. They need to retool and relaunch his show with a format that works.
Origuy
I’ve seen him on QI, the British fake game show hosted by Steven Fry. He’s really smart and has a quick wit. The QI shows are all on YouTube.
WaterGirl
@Face: Or maybe he’ll be more ruthless, in a good way. I quit watching Jon Stewart a couple of years ago because I was tired of both sides do it.
MomSense
@Punchy:
I think Jon Stewart had several failed talk shows before the Daily Show.
Elizabelle
So women cannot host a late night talk/satire show? There is no woman who could do so? They found Samantha Bee. Having a woman as host doesn’t mean fast lane to becoming “The View” or cheapish chick programming.
This is getting embarrassing.
AliceBlue
@Hill Dweller:
The way he kept going on for days about Obama not going to the demonstration (photo op) in Paris made me want to smack him.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@SuperHrefna:
By most accounts, Oliver’s wife didn’t want him to take on the grind of a daily show because she saw up close how infrequently Stewart was home and how stressful a daily show is. I can’t really blame her for that.
ThresherK
@Jim: In the “it feels good when I stop (hitting my knee with a hammer” category, shouldn’t CNN first try to stop providing so much material for The Daily Show?
Not trying to pretend the media was all Uncle Walter and Edward R. Murrow (the good “This Is London” one, not the ebbil one who took down the courageous Commie hunter), but have these folks inside the Beltway ever said “Maybe we’re providing too much oxygen to the fire?”
Major Major Major Major
@Elizabelle: well Amy and Tina can’t do *everything*.
Winky face indicating agreement as well as sincere sarcasm
Elizabelle
OK, I read the press release and am intrigued by this Trevor Noah and interested in seeing what he will do.
But still ….
Carol Ryan
Bye bye Daily show.
debbie
@GregB:
You may want to keep your powder dry (as they say) until Colbert takes over Letterman or you’ll exhaust yourself.
SuperHrefna
@Mnemosyne (tablet): That makes sense. And I do love the extra depth allowed by his retrospective format, he actually manages to make explanations of complex underlying issues entertaining enough to go viral which is just wonderful. I just wish his show was on more often for my own, selfish reasons. Sorry, Mrs Oliver!
PurpleGirl
@Face: Let’s also remember that TDS had writers preparing scripts for Stewart. A lot will depend on the scripted work besides Trevor Noah’s delivery of the words.
Elizabelle
In non-funny news: NYTimes:
Jesus fuck. How does anyone with that history get hired by a passenger carrier? Thank you, medical privacy records.
I’d bet some of his “care providers” are not sleeping very well, thinking of the body and aircraft fragments strewn among the Alps.
ETA: We had a similarish issue re pilot privacy with a Continental airlines crash a few years back. Turned out co-pilot had been released from American Airlines for incompetence, but HR was afraid to say that honestly for fear of being sued by the incompetent pilot. And so he was hired by Continental (?), where he paid insufficient attention to having his plane de-iced.
This is a different kind of privacy issue than Mr. Adam Smith, prick Fil A rantmeister. He’s still suitable for his chosen profession, finance.
srv
You know you can’t trust them – people with two first names.
KXB
I thought Samantha Bee was going to get it. Noah has been OK in his appearances – and keep in mind that show reflects the comedic sensibilities of a staff of writers, not just one person. As for interviewing skills – that always takes time. But, whereas the Usual Suspects would dismiss Stewart as a NY liberal show-biz Jew (and occasionally called a self-hating Jew by Likudniks), the South African Noah will targeted with “un-American” to a greater degree. While this is jumping the gun, one wonders what the response will be when he does his first bit on the Middle East. Black African laborers are treated like garbage in Arab boomtowns like Dubai. Israel supported the apartheid gov’t in South Africa until the end of that regime. If he mentions these inconvenient facts about our regional allies, I hope Noah has a suit of armor in his closet.
Iowa Old Lady
@SiubhanDuinne: TPM reports two men disguised as women rammed the gate. Police killed one and wounded the other.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/fort-meade-nsa-shooting
Scamp Dog
@Major Major Major Major: my experience is 20 years old, but Ding Tai Fung served phenomenal dumplings of all varieties (not really dim sum, they didn’t have room for carts to maneuver) and are still around, and have even added a couple of other locations.
Let us know how the trip was!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Sounds like security shot one of the guys in the car?
This shiny object ought to distract the Village for a couple days. “Don, is there a history of ISIS operatives operating in drag?”
SuperHrefna
@Elizabelle: I would have loved it if Kristen Schaal had got the Daily Show chair. I love the edginess in her humor, where it seems she could go ANYWHERE with what she is doing. Her appearances on the Daily Show always blow the cobwebs away.
FridayNext
@debbie:
I don’t know look how the foreigner Lorne Michaels screwed up Saturday Night Live. And how Alex Trebek screwed up Jeopardy after taking over from Art Fleming.
Foreigners ruin everything!!
Major Major Major Major
@Elizabelle: so it’s my understanding that:
He was screened, like every other pilot ever
He was fine
Nothing major happened in his life
Then one day, stuff felt a little off
He saw some doctors
It got worse
The doctors wrote stuff down saying he couldn’t work, years after certification
He slipped in just under the wire for mandatory notification.
Don’t you dare blame privacy laws. The mentally ill have fought tooth and nail for those.
Do you know what “suicidal tendencies” means in Germany? Do you know what treatment for it looked like 15 years ago?
Belafon
Shaun King has a diary at Daily Kos about him. Because Noah’s dad is white and his mom is black, Noah was treated as neither in South Aftrica. One of the things he said he was hoping was to be treated as black when he got to America, and the first person who met him here tried to speak Spanish because they thought he was Latino.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@Scamp Dog:
We have Din Tai Fung in Southern California now, and their dumplings are indeed extremely tasty.
srv
@Elizabelle: When half the people out there are on prozac or worse, isn’t just amazing that not a single pilot needs something like that?
Because if they asked for help, their livelyhood would be taken away from them.
WaterGirl
@Major Major Major Major:
What do you mean by that?
Major Major Major Major
@srv: what’s so bad about antidepressants that anything other than Prozac must be ‘worse’?
Major Major Major Major
@WaterGirl: he had torn up doctors’ notes releasing him from work in his pockets and around his house. For stress and general mental health iirc. Germany gives the patient a few days before mandatory reporting kicks in.
He didn’t wait.
WaterGirl
@Major Major Major Major:
Well, that’s certainly a problem, particularly for someone who holds other people’s lives in their hands.
mainmata
@Elizabelle: Ellen DeGeneris already proved that you can be a very funny and very capable talk show host. She doesn’t usually do political satire but I’m sure she could do it if she was so inclined. And I would definitely vote for Samantha Bee though I’m not sure she would want the confines of the host position.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Major Major Major Major: Thank you. Hear, hear.
SuperHrefna
@Major Major Major Major: I’m curious, what was the treatment for suicidal tendencies 15 years ago in Germany? Having spent way more of my life than I’m comfortable confessing fighting depression and anxiety I like to know what stigmas operate where…
Major Major Major Major
@WaterGirl: well–in this case the doctors went for the “wait and see” option. German doctors certainly have the ability to toss you in the hospital for your own good, but they’re loathe to use it, given how they’re trained, given the history.
Don’t get me wrong, a number of systems failed here, and what happened is just monstrous. But he had no history they were aware of, so that’s medical record continuity of it’s anything on trial here.
Major Major Major Major
@SuperHrefna: much like in the US, if that’s your background, except you have a country still trying to reconcile its soviet and western halves, so mental health treatment is sidelined and you have at best “you’re bipolar? Well, woody Allen is funny, here’s some bupropion” and at worst “well, have you tried ECT?” Much better now of course.
Elizabelle
@srv: Jim Fallows link: only “antidepressant” legally available to pilots is alcohol.
And that’s a policy that needs review.
However, I think “suicidal tendencies” should be disqualifying. I do realize that honestly disclosing same leads to loss of one’s livelihood. So sad. That’s a private tragedy. People with brilliant response time and understanding of flight dynamics, but poor vision, are not up there either.
People are dead, public tragedy, because a condition recurred.
Elizabelle
@Belafon: Thanks. That sounds interesting. LOL.
Paul in KY
@Major Major Major Major: I would imagine that ‘suicidal tendencies’ is a very long word in German.
srv
@Major Major Major Major: Any one of eleventy-billion anti-psychotics or anti-hallucinagenics?
Violet
I really like him the couple of times I’ve seen him on The Daily Show. Smart, funny, quick witted. I think he’ll do well.
KG
The Daily Show is going to be a completely different creature. Samantha Bee and Jason Jones are leaving to do a show on TBS. Kristen Schaal is on the new Will Forte show on Fox which means probably less time for TDS.
rikyrah
Mary Schmidt Campbell Named President of Spelman College
Campbell will step into new role August 1, 2015
by Courtney ConnleyPosted: March 30, 2015
Spelman College has named educator Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D. as its next president to follow the 13 year legacy of Beverly Tatum, Ph.D.
Coming from an extensive background in education, public service and the arts, Campbell was appointed dean of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in 1991 and retired from her position in August 2014. Prior to her tenure at NYU, Campbell lead efforts in transforming the Studio Museum in Harlem from a rented loft over a liquor store into the country’s first accredited black fine arts museum. She currently serves as vice chairwoman of a presidential committee that works to improve the importance of art in public schools.
Last September, Campbell visited the prestigious black women’s college to help the school plan the renovation of its art facility and from there the relationship grew.
“I was blown away,” Campbell told Philly.com. “…I thought how phenomenal it is to be a black women and come to a place where you are the heart and soul of the mission of that place.”
Campbell, who earned a bachelor’s in English literature from Swarthmore College and a master’s and Ph.D. from Syracuse University, will officially step into her new role August 1, 2015. She says her goal at Spelman is to focus on increasing financial aid to attract the best students, while bringing in more resources for teaching and research and developing the new arts facility.
Tatum, who is Black Enterprise’s 2015 Legacy Award recipient, sent the below congratulatory tweet to Campbell.
https://twitter.com/BDTSpelman/status/581928679246188544
http://www.blackenterprise.com/education/mary-schmidt-campbell-named-president-spelman-college/
A Humble Lurker
@SuperHrefna:
Eh, I would’ve wanted Samantha B. Schaal was always hit or miss to me. I’m more than willing to give this guy a shot, though.
GregB
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
We can assume that legislation mandating criminal profiling of cross-dressers will be wending through Congress at any moment.
Major Major Major Major
@srv: curious to know which of mine are bad.
Care to guess?
Major Major Major Major
@Paul in KY: you’d be surprised then.
Major Major Major Major
@Elizabelle: you do realize that people who seek antidepressants usually do so due to…
Drum roll…
Well you’re sapient, you can finish that yourself. It starts with an s and ends with uicidal tendencies.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@Elizabelle:
I think the problem is not that he had suicidal ideation, but that he had homicidal ideation as well. Most people who commit suicide have no desire to take other people with them. I don’t know how that part slipped through the system — did he not tell his doctors, or did they not listen to him? — but missing that was really the disaster point.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne (tablet): see @me earlier. He was let out on a warning.
I’m not saying this to be a troll, but… There was a reason cockpit doors didn’t have unlock able locks before 9/11.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@Major Major Major Major:
Not everyone with depression also has suicidal ideation. I never even considered it, and I had a long-standing and persistent depression for 10 years before I sought help. IIRC, current research indicates that people with bipolar are at higher risk of suicide than people with clinical depression.
srv
@Major Major Major Major: As stated, according to the FAA: ALL OF THEM.
If you’re butthurt that I sad coke (prozac) insteads of SSRI (soda), maybe they have a pill for that.
Mike J
@KG:
Wasn’t it a completely different show before Stewart took over?
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Mnemosyne (tablet): We’re probably not gonna know what “slipped through the system,” just as we’re unlikely to get much of an idea on how clear – if at all – a suicidal ideation presented. I would suspect that there was no indication of a homicidal ideation; without knowing German law on the topic, I would have to imagine that there is some type of Tarasoff warning requirement, and that an airline pilot with homicidal ideations would trigger such a report. Full disclaimer: I have not researched German law on this point; my German is much too out of shape for that.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne (tablet): sorry, didn’t mean to diminish your experience or misstate mine.
I’ve got bipolar II maybe or cyclothymia, but weighed down majorly on the depressive end, myself. Took me about six years and one almost-fatal assault to get me to where I was seeking help. I try to be loud and proud about it but sometimes I can overdo it.
There’s no zealot like a convert after all. Anyway, just like to keep it out there I guess.
Major Major Major Major
@srv: wow, you still haven’t named a single thing I’m taking.
Matt McIrvin
@Mike J: It was, but it ran for less than two years with Craig Kilborn. A few features of the Stewart-era show are actually holdovers from Kilborn’s, though: the weird field interviews, and “Your Moment of Zen.”
Major Major Major Major
@srv: I was objecting to your use of “worse”, anyway. Implying “more than bad.” I’ll accept that you meant it in the FAA sense and not in the objective or moral sense.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Matt McIrvin: Also Lewis Black. I wish Stewart had kept Frank DeCaro (Out At The Movies) and A Whitney Brown. Killborn was much less political, IIRC
sharl
@Mnemosyne (tablet):
Is there any way available to the mental health community for screening for that subcategory of suicidal tendencies?
Felanius Kootea
Yesssss! As a fellow African I’m definitely biased – I think Trevor is one of the funniest up-and-coming comedians on the international scene and I’ve followed his work for the last two years. Don’t underestimate this guy; he is sharp as hell and has an international perspective on things that is at times similar to John Oliver’s.
I remember laughing at his joke about having to walk on the other side of the street from his dad (with his mom) during the apartheid years while his dad waved at him because they couldn’t all legally walk together as a family. Anyone who could make that sad history funny has talent.
Felanius Kootea
Oh and Larry Wilmore needs to change his show’s format. I stopped trying to watch it a few weeks ago. So much potential. Mostly squandered thus far.
Major Major Major Major
@sharl: it’s called bipolar, generally. You just don’t want to meet them on a depressive upswing, aka “I’m better than all of you and none of you can see it, well I’ll show you!”
sharl
@Major Major Major Major: Ah, thanks.
Botsplainer
Am I the only one confused by the passive-aggressive dynamic of this conversation?
Tommy
@Felanius Kootea: I find the show almost unwatchable. I don’t have cable and when The Daily Show comes up on Hulu I am giddy. I so wish Larry’s show was better. I think the dude is laugh out funny but they seem to hinder him with the style/format of the show.
shell
So, a whole weekend without any puppy update? Okay, we had that diverting post of the guy with the owl on the Swiffer, but how are Thurston and Lovey doing?
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Major Major Major Major: I certainly don’t want to pick a pedantic psych fight with someone who is – admirably – out and proud about a dx. But I’m wondering if you could explain this response
to this question:
I’m genuinely curious. I’m always leery of inadvertently encouraging stigma.
@Botsplainer: Nope. I’m confused enough to be uncertain whether my comments are part of it.
shortstop
@shell: Still laughing at your sparrow waking up and taking a comradely view of cheeping despite his imprisonment.
sharl
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I interpreted M*4’s answer to mean ‘no, homicidal ideation is one of many possible manifestations of bipolar disorder, and not a predictable one at that (especially if one chooses to avoid admitting to those thoughts, and can see through any interview questions from a therapist that try to get at that.)’
However, I may have read too much into the response from M*4.
sharl
@shell: I’m afraid the only recent pupdate came from Cole’s twitter feed:
Parrotlover77
Hopefully he will be less “both side do it” than Jon. Don’t get me wrong, when Jon was good, he was amazing good. But then he’d decide he needed to balance it out by pretending a Democrat nonissue was an issue and I’d lose a lot of respect for him.
Major Major Major Major
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): @sharl:
Sharl’s right, in the short read of admittedly short comments about a big subject. But that’s what I meant.
The depressive upswing is the hardest part to diagnose and probably the most important one to diagnose as well, in my opinion. It can look so much like reversion to the mean, in terms of mood, but… it seems like you’re getting better but really you’re just going manic enough to kill yourself. It’s why antidepressants have black box warnings, same idea at least.
Germy Shoemangler
Speaking of comedy, I’m one of those old cranks who complains that SNL isn’t funny anymore, but I was impressed with the Dwayne Johnson “cold open”. They did Obama turning into angry Hulk after dealing with Boehner, Cotton, and Cruz. Michelle becomes She Hulk after the secret service ruins her garden:
http://splitsider.com/2015/03/snl-review-dwayne-johnson-man-for-the-job/
For my money, Key and Peele do the best Obama and Anger Translator, but this was a pretty decent sketch.
I linked to on an earlier thread, so I’m repeating myself here, but I thought the sketch was funny. Cotton saying “I’ve only been here three months, but I think I know more about foreign policy than you” and Obama’s smoldering rage.
Paul in KY
@Major Major Major Major: Haldol?
Major Major Major Major
@Paul in KY: nope
Tommy
@Germy Shoemangler: Just happy somebody else is watching Key and Peele :). I wonder how much of the writing they do themselves because being funny isn’t easy.
Violet
@Major Major Major Major: Lamotrigine (Lamictal)?
Edit: I should add that I only mention it because it has worked really well for someone I know who was diagnosed Bipolar II. Actually, this person was really marginal for a Bipolar II diagnosis–stubborn depression–and the psychiatrist decided it was worth a try in that situation and it has worked.
Old Dan and Little Ann
I remember being bummed thinking no one could replace Craig Kilborn on TDS.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Major Major Major Major: Thank G*d for that. I could speculate about some meds for BPII, but I won’t unless asked.
I understand your point now. Absolutely the lift out of the depressive end is really dangerous – and why mood stabilizers are so important. Other than a mixed state, it may be the most dangerous time, and also why spring is a dangerous time for mood disordered folks.
cmorenc
@Major Major Major Major:
All those dead people on the mountain have lots of permanent privacy, and the treatment for their condition is the same as it did 15 years ago. If you’re going to work at a job where other people’s safety depends on your mental stability, I frankly don’t give a damn about your privacy concerns against your employer knowing about a condition which calls that into question.
Elizabelle
@Major Major Major Major: Mnem got there first re not every condition leads to suicidal tendencies, and that homicidal is the real problem here.
I am glad for medical privacy and that we’ve made great progress (more to go) in treating mental health issues. I think there’s a genuine public interest in the medical records of pilots and presidents and a few other professions (snipers, perhaps). Who cares if they’re impotent — stuff like that should stay private — but you want to know about risk factors for seizure disorders or early dementia or disorders of the mind that might lead to unsound decisions.
Mental health is a continuum as well, and some conditions may make a person unsuitable for flying planes or driving heavy equipment at some times under stressful conditions. Whereas that person would make a superb attorney or teacher or physician or so many other skilled professions. That’s discriminatory, true, but there’s a public safety issue behind it.
Please do not take my comment as a slam on those who have or love folks with mental health issues. I think just about everybody cares for or is someone who’s experienced that. Which is why pilots not being allowed to take antidepressants for relatively mild conditions is a topic for discussion.
Although do you think the airlines and military ban them because of legal liability for any unusual drug reactions? Insurers speaking there, perhaps.
Germy Shoemangler
@Tommy: The latest I heard is they’re developing the Substitute Teacher into a full-length film.
Tommy
@Old Dan and Little Ann: I am willing to bet if you got Jon in your living room. Just having a conversation he’d say the reason for his success is his writers. If Trevor Noah can keep that talent he will be successful.
Major Major Major Major
Compendium response. On an iPhone. Broken into portions cuz WP link limit.
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
Gabapentin and bupropion and the occasional benzo, meditation and having a job I love help a lot too. I’m lucky but I worked my ass off to get here too.
Elizabelle
I wish we had mental health screening for congresscritters and governors and state legislators and especially presidential contenders.
I could live with a Teddy Roosevelt (manic depressive, but of great intelligence and genuinely interested in public service). Or an Abraham Lincoln, who suffered from depression. We’re the better for their service. They were functional, and had a knowledge base and great empathy and imagination.
The whackjobs spiteful voters are throwing up now? Not so much.
Ninedragonspot
@Major Major Major Major: you can’t throw a rock in Taipei now without hitting a branch of Ding Tai Feng. Absolute must try: the truffle dumplings! Hit the night markets, too. Shilin is the largest, can be reached by subway. Taipei’s chock full of attractive temples, if you like that sort of thing. Longshan temple, in an older part of the city, is easily accessed by subway. I think the nearby snake market may have been disbanded by now. Ximen Ding for sauntering about at night for snacks and people- watching. The plaza behind the Red House (Hong Lou) for a selection of gay cafes and bars. Any other questions, you can contact me at this name at ay-oh-el.
Aleta
A few years ago, one relative had to go off all his meds (according to his recruiter) in order to be accepted into the Marines. He was told by that the Marines would prescribe for him if needed. Another relative came up for renewal of U.S. security clearance, had to go off antidepressants in order to do this.
Violet
@Major Major Major Major: Not sure what you mean by the “imperial collection” but if you mean the National Palace Museum, it is truly wondrous. I highly recommend it.
I don’t think it’s that hard to get out of Taipei, so if you have the time you might see about a few days out of the city. The island is gorgeous in places.
Brachiator
@Face:
John Oliver wasn’t born in the USA and yet is as biting as Jaws.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@Elizabelle: It’s called “medical confidentiality” and it’s the law here as well as in Germany. Sign of a civilized society.
Not in any way the docs fault if he fails to tell his employers he’s been thinking a lot about how awesome it would be to put a plane into the side of a mountain. Not only are they not mandated to report to anyone, they’re forbidden to.
Major Major Major Major
@Elizabelle: I think you’re totally right. I’d never sign up for the Air Force. Because I can’t. And that’s good. We don’t have a shortage of Pilots.
Three Plane McCain notwithstanding.
I really have no issue with people having honest reactions to honest mental health revelations. We need more of both.
Germy Shoemangler
I was intrigued by this new article on transcranial direct-current stimulation:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/04/06/electrified
The author (who has a history of depression) undergoes treatment and describes the experience.
I also enjoy her tweets:
https://twitter.com/bananakarenina
She posted a photo of herself with the transcranial gear on her head.
Here’s a sample tweet:
You can tell MS Word was made by capitalists bc spell check tries to replace “commodified” w “commoditized.”
I think she’s great.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Major Major Major Major: That sounds like a good regimen that’s working for you. And it is a matter of working your ass off to get there. Good work.
Paul in KY
@Major Major Major Major: That was a joke. Should have put a smiley face after it. If you were on Haldol, you probably couldn’t type coherent sentences.
Paul in KY
@Germy Shoemangler: The A-A-Ron guy? If so, that would be a hoot.
Elizabelle
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Seconded!
Major Major Major Major
@Paul in KY: been on it. Not that funny.
Sorry I’m being a crazy buzzkill right now :/
Thanks everybody
Tommy
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
People here I am sure will correct me if I am wrong, but last I checked in the US and most first world nations unless you tell your doctor you plan to hurt somebody then everything you say is protected. I don’t have mental health issues but I planned to work in this profession.
My undergrad degree is in Psychology. Ran a suicide hotline in college. Being able to openly talk to somebody and not fear they will rat on you is kind of important.
I decided not to work in this profession because it was too hard. It takes a special type of person for work in this field. I was not that person.
Germy Shoemangler
@Paul in KY: Yes, that guy. And I’m optimistic the movie will be good, because it’s being written by the people who wrote the original sketch.
Jim
@Matt McIrvin: Good point. I’m liking Larry Wilmore a lot, and feel that it’s more wit than humor.
Aleta
@Elizabelle: I wish they had to pass a test covering history, government, world geography and religion, and ethics.
Major Major Major Major
@Tommy: I was. I am. Scroll up to see that it takes one to know one.
Major Major Major Major
@Elizabelle: you forget Winston, he of gin and cigars for breakfast.
Turgidson
@Jim:
I think it really sticks in their craw that there are a lot of people out there who take the Daily Show more seriously as a trustworthy outlet for news than they take “worldwide news leader” CNN. And who knows, maybe they’re still not over how Stewart killed Crossfire with one poison dart back in the day.
So if they’re saying “oh good, maybe finally the Daily Show has a chance to become more serious, be assured that it’s some thinly veiled concern trolling borne out of jealousy.
Tree With Water
I think it’s great. Try to imagine not having been born and raised in the USA, and what we must look like to the rest of the world. As John Oliver (et.al.) has proved, a talented person has a virtual bottomless pit of material to milk for laughs here in the states. Noah was born and raised in a country that succeeded in implementing a reconciliation amnesty. Who knows? We might even learn a thing or two.
Tommy
@Major Major Major Major: The power of conversation. When I ran that hotline it was stunning what happened when you just talked to people. We had a multi-tier process. The first was called “concreteness.” We could talk to the person and use the second thing, “empathy.” Then the third. Resolution. We never gave advice. You got to figure that out for yourself.
LanceThruster
Still in withdrawals over no “Colbert Report.” The Nightly Show is good for what it is, but is in no way able to replace the Report. I would like to see TDS do less ‘schtick’ as it were and more direct skewering of the lunacy of the newsmakers. Straight ‘news analysis’ is pretty comical in and off itself because no one with the MSM ever mentions the many elephants in room in regards to their own coverage.
Whoever is given the slot should be given a chance as those are tough shoes to fill. I really like John Oliver’s HBO show (“Last Week”) but wasn’t that fond of his TDS guest hosting. It will succeed…or it won’t. Am pretty despondent over their show doing more thoughtful news than the so-called ‘hard news’, but that’s the world that we live in.
mb
Shoulda picked Wyatt Cenac. I found Noah’s appearances kinda cringeworthy.
Aleta
@Major Major Major Major: Thanks for everything you’ve said.
The most courageous person I know has experienced the progression of bp treatments occurring over the last 40 years. He has come back from a dark place again and again. Then to experience stigma, job loss, criminal insurance co.s, and ignorance of people around him. He speaks honestly, too.
Marc
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Actually, Wilmore’s imitation of Stewart’s constant mugging and playing to the studio audience is what put me off his show. Maybe he’ll grow out of it and develop his own persona, but I’m not sure I’ll be around to find out.
another Holocene human
@SuperHrefna: not interesting enough? Whoa. My only beef is his panels can be so diverse they devolve into flippant tribalistic one liners. I often flip it off when he gets to his questions unless someone really funny is on, like Mike Tyson.
He booked Jake Tapper once. Terrible.
Major Major Major Major
@cmorenc: nationalize the airlines, problem solved. No argument here.
another Holocene human
@CONGRATULATIONS!: wait you think that’s a good thing?
You’re right, germany doesn’t do mandatory reporting because they think it drives ppl away from treatment
They may be reconsidering, at least for some professions
Nothing wrong with smoking weed but if they find it in my urine I’ll lose my job. That’s dumb but fuck yeah they should treat for disinhibitors like alcohol and cocaine. Both drugs are factors in lots of accidents.
Violet
@another Holocene human: I think it would be a better show if he used the panels less frequently. Maybe when he can do an entire show with the panel as he’s done sometimes. Also have some one-on-one interviews, like the one with Bill de Blasio. The shouting panels aren’t different enough from the ones they’re ostensibly riffing on (the cable shows and Sunday shows) that they’ve hit their mark.
I’m also in huge Colbert withdrawal. I know he’ll be back but the created character Stephen Colbert never will. Sadness.
jl
Noah can be very funny, and I think he will take the show in an interesting direction. So, interesting TV, I don’t see how people can turn down that opportunity, it doesn’t come by that often. Will be interesting to see what happens.
From what I have seen of Noah’s act, he is not invested in cultural and political conventions of US, which Stewart was. Noah has very broad cross-cultural interests. I think people will give him a good chance, especially younger viewers, just out the WTF? factor.
jl
@Violet: I like Wilmore’s show, but I agree, often the panels don’t work very well, though sometimes they are great. Wilmore’s stand up at beginning of show consistently better than the panels.
Why the odd constraints on the show, though. Very little supporting production or staff, even less than Colbert’s show. Wilmore’s choice or budget constraints? I’m not sure.
WaterGirl
@cmorenc: I have to say I agree with you.
WaterGirl
@CONGRATULATIONS!: I thought they were mandated to report if you were a danger to yourself or others.
WaterGirl
@CONGRATULATIONS!: I think some of you guys are being kind of shitty to Elizabelle, and I’m not sure why.
Seems like you’re coming down with hammers when a simple question would have been more effective.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@WaterGirl: I think for some of us an indictment of medical confidentiality is explosively offensive.
That comment ^ may not seem like a statement that requires more than a simple question. Many of us either are, or know someone who is, living with a condition that could preclude employment if publicly known, even though the condition will in no way impair performance or endanger anyone (beyond the ordinary dangers presented by any person performing the position in question). Stigma is an enormous issue the US. So there are apt to be – as you observed – some strong reactions to statements like the one quoted.
jl
@Turgidson:
“So if they’re [the corporate media] saying “oh good, maybe finally the Daily Show has a chance to become more serious, be assured that it’s some thinly veiled concern trolling borne out of jealousy.
People like Stewart,Noah, Wilmore, Colbert, Oliver, Bee, most of the daily show staff and regular commentaters are more serious than all the Schieffers, Todds, Pelleys, Lemons and the other news divas put together, at least for political stories and analysis.
So, I guess that is tough for the corporate hacks to swallow. Too bad for them.
I think TDS and Colbert have blown some stories in terms of correct information, and doing better than our corporate press is a very low bar. But I think our corporate news media is horrible, and an embarrassment to the US.
Tree With Water
@Major Major Major Major: That was the second eye opener for me about Jimmy Carter that I didn’t like, i.e., he deregulated the airlines. They were working just fine as is, although admittedly I rarely flew. The first eye opener was the day he called for a 5% increase in the Pentagon’s budget after campaigning to cut it.. history’s greatest monster, indeed.
David Koch
This has bomb written all over it.
When they picked Colbert to star in his own show, you knew it would be a hit, because he was so funny. Same thing with Oliver. While I’m not crazy about Larry Wilmore’s format (single topic/round table), atleast he’s very funny on a personal level.
But, this guy – he wasn’t funny.
I got a feeling they picked him simply because he’s young and good looking (see Craig Kilborn). It sadly also signals that Viacom is tired of the heat they receive over their popular nightly shows running powerful interest threw the ringer and wants to move away from political topics to cultural commentary.
David Koch
@Tree With Water: jimmy carter? geez, you must be old.
Kathleen
@Felanius Kootea: I agree with you. I watched his Showtime special and was blown away.
J R in WV
@Major Major Major Major:
Three-Plane McCain was US Navy, much as I hate to admit it.
His background was Admiral father and Admiral Grandfather, which gave him extra planes to crash.
Reading his description of the beginning of the fiery disaster on the USS Forrestal made me think he should have spent his time in stir at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, rather than the Hanoi Hilton, as he broke with military regulations at every step he took, from my lowly perspective as an E2.
From his own words, his first step was to drop all of his ordinance into the burning fuel on the flight deck, contrary to SOP which was to keep it all on board so that the damage control teams could push the plane overboard and be rid of all ordinance.
Next, after he escaped from the cockpit of his plane, he ran below decks, rather than taking charge of a damage control team, like an officer with leadership skills would. These teams were disorganized as many of the senior petty officers were hurt of killed already.
Then he left the ship on board R W Apple’s helicopter flight back to mainland for some R&R. Mr. Apple was the senior N Y Times correspondent in the war zone, and was flown to the Forrestal to cover the tragedy. I imagine he got permission from someone in his chain of command, but I can imagine that most officers would feel that they would have work to do after their air craft carrier was nearly burned to death. But not Mr McCain, who needed some time to recover from his close call on the burning flight deck.
Three Plane McCain, that’s good, I hadn’t heard it quite that way before, I can’t imagine him as the POTUS, such a cowardly incompetent worm.
No one who is willing to call his wife a cu*t in front of reporters is worth – well anything at all!
tones
@mai naem mobile: I love you.
tones
@Felanius Kootea: Agreed, he is funny as all get out but the show does not leave much time for laughs.
The panel is too slow and they never have any time to get deep , so it just sort of falls flat.
That said I love the guy and am genuinely happy there is an actual “black” show on TV -that was long needed.
To replace Colbert, however…big shoes and all that -the audience does no even know why they chant Steven, but now they do it for Larry?
Yay Fela Kuti !
Caravelle
You know what, my reaction was going to be
1) This is incredible, I love Trevor Noah and he’ll probably be great
and
2) I only found out about his existence a few months ago, if he’s qualified, how come Jessica Williams isn’t ?
But it turns out he’s hosted many TV shows before, so now I have no misgivings whatsoever.
(Also, I just learned that Jessica Williams is not only younger than me, she’s younger than my little brother. What. Is that what growing old feels like ?)
I’m fascinated by the concept of a foreigner hosting the Daily Show; I wonder if he intends to become a decadal fixture like Jon Stewart. It does seem like they’re deliberately courting an international audience. So welcome to globalization I guess ?
Tree With Water
@David Koch: Insightfully observant, too.