Scientists discover that some chicks who dig Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirts also dig cars
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Men and women agree that cars play an
important role in dating, but they don't always agree on what should
happen once things get rolling.
Eighty-nine percent of males and 95 percent of females said they
were extremely or somewhat likely to notice their date's car, according
to a survey conducted by Ford Motor Co. The survey was conducted as
part of a program, including "speed dating" events in various cities,
to promote the company's new Fusion sedan. The survey polled 400 single men and women.
It's not just the make and model of a car that's getting noticed,
according to the survey. Fifty-eight percent of those surveyed said the
condition of their date's car would at least somewhat impact their
attraction to the person.
Women felt more strongly about their date's car condition than men
with 69 percent saying it would at least somewhat affect their
attraction to their date compared to 47 percent of men.
"You often get one chance to make a right impression and, many
times, your car is one of the first personal things your date sees
about you. Similar to your clothes, your car says something about you
and your style," said Ellen Fein, dating expert and co-author of The Rules.
About 20 percent of respondents said they had been "asked to chip in
for car-related expenses by their date." Of those that had been asked
to chip in, 15 percent said they were asked to spring for gas followed
by parking (9 percent) and tolls (6 percent).
When asked to recall their "most embarrassing car date moment," 22
percent of respondents said it was being told by their date that they
were a bad driver. Far more women suffered this insult than men. Second
overall was suffering an "upset stomach," followed by being pulled over
for speeding, and getting in to a fender-bender. Just barely making the
list was "getting caught fooling around."
Sixteen percent of those surveyed ranked kissing as their "favorite
car date activity." But, only 8 percent of females surveyed chose
kissing versus 24 percent of males.
Gosh, a car company discerned that shiny new cars might help garner affection ? Whoda thunk it.
The Fault, Dear Brutus, Is Not In Our Stars, But In
Ourselves
I'm trying to imagine a modern news anchor (or pundit) saying anything
that articulate or erudite on the air today, and failing miserably. The
McCarthyite use of fear and the climate of fear was eerily similar
to today's GOP attacks on war critics "Why do they hate America." You
sense it strongly as you watch this movie -- the parallels.
Went to see "Good Night and Good Luck" last Friday. One hell of a movie and is highly recommended. What I especially liked about it, though, was how
focused it was, how it didn't try to be about more than just a moment, when
a group of people powerful in their own right decided to stand up to a
bully. Dianne Reeves's singing, for the jazz score alone, was worth the price of admission, without all the politics.
The story is inspiring, though, to see those who go
to the same cocktail parties challenge one another, to see one neighbor
take on another. We need only think about our lapdog MSM or of Judith Miller and the NYT fiasco
to realize how rare that is today, and how much the poorer we are today for
the co-opting of the once powerful press.
A transcript of Murrow's famous McCarthy program is here. This was the part that had me holding my breath in the theater:
Earlier, the Senator asked, "Upon what meat does this,
our Caesar, feed?" Had he looked three lines earlier in Shakespeare's
Caesar, he would have found this line, which is not altogether
inappropriate: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in
ourselves."
No one familiar with the history of this country can deny
that congressional committees are useful. It is necessary to
investigate before legislating, but the line between investigating and
persecuting is a very fine one and the junior Senator from Wisconsin
has stepped over it repeatedly. His primary achievement has been in
confusing the public mind, as between internal and the external threats
of Communism. We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must
remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction
depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear,
one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason,
if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we
are not descended from fearful men -- not from men who feared to write,
to speak, to associate and to defend causes that were, for the moment,
unpopular.
This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthy's methods to keep
silent, or for those who approve. We can deny our heritage and our
history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is
no way for a citizen of a republic to abdicate his responsibilities. As
a nation we have come into our full inheritance at a tender age. We
proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom,
wherever it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend
freedom abroad by deserting it at home.
The actions of the junior Senator from Wisconsin have caused
alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad, and given considerable
comfort to our enemies. And whose fault is that? Not really his. He
didn't create this situation of fear; he merely exploited it -- and
rather successfully. Cassius was right. "The fault, dear Brutus, is not
in our stars, but in ourselves."
Straithairn was magnificent in the portrayal of Morrow, and that is
the
primary strength of this movie -- a short study of Morrow's
character.
As history, it was representative but still thin gruel. It does not try to present Morrow as the defeater of McCarthy, and
presents only a few bare bones moments about McCarthy's overreaching.
The uneducated who learn their history from movies might mistakenly
believe that it tells the whole story, but it is unfair to critique the
movie for something it does not purport to be.
One thing to realize about Morrow -- he got his start
in radio, and had
a preachy pedantic air common for that era. It worked for him because
he was so good, but Rather copied the style without success. I think
Morrow's style did not translate as well to television, but what really
mattered was his dedication to the story rather than to self-preening
so common of media stars today.
Went to see 
