Seriously. It is a nipple, everyone has got one.

Well, yes. For some reason it’s OK to show an entire breast as long as you cover the nipple. I have no idea what makes the nipple the particularly “private” part of a breast; it seems absurd to me that revealing a breast is OK as long as you cover the nipple. I realize I have an opposite point of view from yours (I’d prefer no breast, you see no problem with showing the whole thing), but what’s the point in covering up the nipple if you’re going to show everything else?

What is it about nudity that freaks people out so much?

Well, we’ve had this discussion before, but I think it’s fair to say that in this society the majority of people feel that nudity is a private thing not to be shared publicly. Some have convictions about this; others just feel it’s wrong somehow, thus the aforementioned “R” rating.

heroine

I don't think I'd refer to any woman on that stage as a ``heroine''.

Oh. You mean ``heroin''.

Only in "America"

A recent (if not the most recent) Newsweek has an interview with the big poobah of Iran (whatever his title is) and he said that he greatly admired the Puritan culture that the US is based on. Interesting, I thought, and perhaps more correct than I'd want to admit.

On another note, I'm officially sick of people being annoyed by people referring to the US as ``America''. Is the name of this country unfortunately non-descriptive? Yes. Can I do anything about it? No. Am I going to go out of my way to avoid offending those in Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America? Not any more. It's just a pain in the ass. You know what I mean when I say ``America'' or ``American''. Deal with it. (This isn't especially aimed at you, Mark.) If I mean the entirety of those two continents or the people living there, then I'll spell it out, not that I can imagine any context in which that would really come up. (How often does one really end up using the term ``Eurasian''? And those two continents are much more intertwined than North and South America.)

Anyway, you'd think that, these days, all the other countries on these two continents would want to distance themselves from the US as much as possible.

Well, the name of the second largest country in North America is "[The] United States of America", commonly abbreviated to a smaller mouthful as "the USA" or "the US" or "America".

Now if only the founding rebels had actually given the place a name, rather than a description of what/where it is, the darned place would be easier to discuss!

There are other "US" countries, and other countries in the Americas.

No worries, we all know what's usually meant by America.

Cheers

Now if only the founding rebels had actually given the place a name, rather than a description of what/where it is, he darned place would be easier to discuss!

Naming by committee, I suppose.

That should definitely be the first task we undertake when we invent the time machine. Convicing Thos. Jefferson that he needs to come up with a better name.

How did the other new world countries come up with their names, do you suppose?

Not the first breast controversy* that Janet has raised.

*May not be "work friendly."

ESPN's take...

"Janet Jackson made VH1 history yesterday and rejuvenated her buzzless career when she "unintentionally" demonstrated conclusively that she does indeed have a right mammary accessory."

VH1 history... hehehe. She was just about to hit the "Where Are They Now" status.

Other than her association with her brother Michael, do today's kids even know who Janet Jackson is? I know CBS is the network of old people, but if they were going to go in that direction, weren't The Stones available?

AMG shows that her last album release (All for You) was in April, 2001, but she has a new album to be released in March (Damita Jo [!?] -- all but three years later). Sounds like they should have pushed the release date up. In a month, no one will remember this stunt.

Interestingly, there was a gap of three and a half years before that album (after The Velvet Rope), over four years prior to that one (after janet.), then four years (after Rhythm Nation), then three years (after Control). Not exactly prolific, is she?

brother Michael

Brother?? I'm not so sure of the applicability of that description.

I find it terribly disturbing that you (as well as many others, it would seem) are are upset that a child would see an naked breast, but see nothing wrong with them enjoying a violent sport.

I'm not against football, exactly. I just think that it's pathetic to rail against "ghetto rappers" promoting their "pimps hos and heroin", but a sport with it's fair share of violent, drug-dealing, gun-toting, homicidal, and just downright stupid people is perfectly acceptable.

If you want "hos and heroin", you may need to start the search suburban-style; I like a lot of so called "ghetto/gangster rap", and I have yet to hear anyone glorify shooting H or getting AIDS from a ho'.

I'm not directing this only at you, Jerz. Honestly, the fact that anyone (here, on CNN, EVERYWHERE) would spend so much time discussing a friggin' nipple as if it were a terror attack makes me a bit embarrassed to be an american....

..makes me a bit embarrassed to be an american....

Or should I say "..a bit embarrassed to be a citizen of a somewhat democratic republic generally referred to by it's location, and not by any proper name, such as would be the norm with places such as Canada, Japan, or so on. .."

Actually most of today's youth are quite familiar with Janet. "All For You" received heavy rotation on pop radio and MTV a couple years ago.

Sounds like they should have pushed the release date up. In a month, no one will remember this stunt.

You did your homework about checking the album release date, but you forgot that they frequently release a single before the album. Fancy that, her new single "Just a Little While" debuts today.

Good call.

You just aren't nearly far enough out on the fringes to see it, that's all.

You seem to have missed my point. My music collection is chock full of "fringe" artists. I'm not saying I want pop music to evolve because all I listen to is pop and I want it to change. I'm saying that I want pop music to evolve so that the record companies will give more marketing muscle to 2nd and 3rd-tier artists who don't get a chance when they're looking for the next Britney Moore or Jessica Aguilera. Then it'll be much easier to find good music instead of having to hunt it down like I do today. There have been times recently when the most popular music styles of the time were actually listenable and produced music that, to me, sounded good. Those times are gone.

I find it terribly disturbing that you (as well as many others, it would seem) are are upset that a child would see an naked breast, but see nothing wrong with them enjoying a violent sport.

I wouldn't classify football as a violent sport. Sure, they run into each other a lot, but they all have PADS. Besides, he has the right to determine what his kids see, and you would not expect that kind of display at the Superbowl. I like boobies just as much as the next guy, but you have to look at the situation in context. Tasteful nude photography in a gallery is different than Justin saying "I'm gonna get you naked" and ripping off part of her bra. It's also not something you'd expect on NBC in prime time. Obviously our culture is more uptight about things than others, but there always has to be a transition process. Boobies on MTV? Yeah, you might expect that. On NBC during one of the most watched TV shows of the year... bad decision.

I'm not against football, exactly. I just think that it's pathetic to rail against "ghetto rappers" promoting their "pimps hos and heroin", but a sport with it's fair share of violent, drug-dealing, gun-toting, homicidal, and just downright stupid people is perfectly acceptable.

Football players don't glorify violence, drug-dealing, gun-toting or homicide. I can't really comment on stupidity. Rap constantly glorifies all of these things. I like some of it, I believe you can have all the freedom of speech you want. Just recognize the majority of it does promote pimps, hos and drug use, if not specifically heroin.

If you want "hos and heroin", you may need to start the search suburban-style; I like a lot of so called "ghetto/gangster rap", and I have yet to hear anyone glorify shooting H or getting AIDS from a ho'.

Now, now. Who said anything about AIDS? Don't put words into his mouth.

I'm not directing this only at you, Jerz. Honestly, the fact that anyone (here, on CNN, EVERYWHERE) would spend so much time discussing a friggin' nipple as if it were a terror attack makes me a bit embarrassed to be an american....

This discussion will last a week, the terror attack discussions will last for years. I don't think that's a fair comparison. The fact is our society is still in transition when it comes to nudity and sex. It's becoming less and less taboo, but you cannot expect total change overnight. Just look at what has happened in the past 10 years.

We just need to broadcast hardcore porn during primetime.

Football sucks

I like American Football (actually I'm a Rugby fan above all else....) Though I can see why some wouldn't.

The big thing for me is that living in New England you just know that when you sit down to watch the Patriots - your stomache will be in knots for the next ~60 minutes (or the 12 minutes of non-continuous action that the Super Bowl offers.) They will always take it down to the wire and keep you on the edge of your seat till the very end. That's what keeps me watching.

And for what it's worth: the Panthers played out of their minds yesterday. I really felt bad for them after they fought so hard.

...and rejuvenated her buzzless career.

[disclaimer] Let me just clear the air and say that I dislike any type of music that Janet Jackson has ever put out. I dislike her style, her dancing and her genre (POP).[/disclaimer]

Wow, how old do I sound?

That being said I think she's absolutely brilliant! Is there anyone not talking about her, in one context or another, today - the day her new single is released?

CBS is officially the worst network.

Honestly, I don't see how CBS (or anyone) could've expected anything different from an MTV produced event. In the rare event that someone DOES actually see a music video on that channel.... It's exactly like what we saw during the half-time show. Duh!

Or three... did I say that out loud?

In high school, I knew a girl that had 4. She showed me the bottom two, which looked pretty much like perfectly symmetrical birthmarks, half way down her abs.

Sure, because we all know that hardcore porn is an accurate representation of how a sexual releationship between a man and a woman should be.

"Whatever a man, a woman, another man, a midget and a donkey choose to do in the privacy of their own home is up to them!" (Paraphrased from Dave Attell)

Boobies on MTV? Yeah, you might expect that. On NBC during one of the most watched TV shows of the year... bad decision.

CBS, but your point remains intact.

Well, if it was on all the time, maybe people would just get used to it and not complain so damn much and reserve their indignation for things that actually matter.

"Things that actually matter" is very subjective. I think the phrase "when in Rome" applies here very well. There are actions that you and I take every day that would be entirely offensive to people in other cultures, but to us they are trivial. If we were to choose to trivialize these actions when in their culture it would be considered disrespectful and offensive.

This is why I see a lot of people take offense to what happened yesterday. They consider it offensive and disrespectful. Many people view what happened yesterday as the degradation of our values and morals. Those morals might shift over time, but haven't gotten to the point yet where it is acceptable on broadcast TV. I don't think the actual nudity is frowned upon, it's more what that nudity represents.

it's more what that nudity represents.

What, cheap publicity stunts to pump sales of a mediocre pop album? Yeah, that offends me, too.

Football sucks.

Football sucks, or just the super-overhyping of the Super Bowl? I agree that the Super Bowl media blitz has gotten WAY out of hand, but think of it this way. The NHL, NBA, and MLB all have multiple games to decide their champion (best of seven). The NFL just has this one game for the championship. That's why it's always the #1 rated TV event every year. If the other pro sports had just ONE championship (-- God forbid. The Stanley Cup Finals are fine the way they are), I'm sure we would see similar "extreme-hype" for them as well. My take on the whole thing is that it was an excellent game to watch. It's just disappointing to see that a nipple has taken away from it. When people reflect on this game they won't go, "Hey, remember that sweet game between New England and Carolina that went down to the wire?", but rather, "Hey, remember that Super Bowl when Janet Jackson's boob popped out?"

Also, check out Dave Barry's article on the Super Bowl. Pretty funny...

All football sucks because it preempts regular TV every fucking Sunday throughout the fall and most of the winter. And not even because the game ran long, but because after it did run long, they had to discuss it for thirty minutes. You know what? Those people that cared watched the damn game and don't need a fucking recap. Those few who missed it are just gonna watch SportSCenter anyway. And then they can't be bothered to stretch their post-game show out to a half-hour mark. No, they have to stop at 7:50 so that I can watch the last ten minutes of King of the Hill or, formerly Futurama, which, as we all know, is all of a TV show you really want to watch anyway.

They know these damned games are going to run long. Why don't they just go ahead and schedule them long? If it runs shorter than that, show some highlights from the other thirteen games that day. Or show a rerun of some regular programming. Or some Three Stooges shorts, for God's sake.

And let's not get started about how every football fan on the planet complains about how slow baseball is. Every football play on TV is immediately followed by a slo-mo replay of that play from each of the fifty-two cameras the network set up on the field. And then there's the timeouts called specifically so that the network can cram in some more commercials. Apparently these people have never been to a football stadium and seen a live game in their lives.

So, nope. I pretty much hate football.

Whatever floats your boat, there. I'm a sports junkie, In fact, I'll be in your neck of the woods (Chapel Hill, to be precise) Thursday to see the greatest rivalry in all of sports.

Go HEELS!!

I don't mind that there's sports on TV. I just hate the fact that they become more important than everything else on TV when they are.

Consider the alternative. Reality TV? Please. On the other hand, if sports were on The Discovery Channel and it pre-empted Monster Garage or Myth-busters, I would be pissed.

At least reality TV has the decency to stay confined to its time slots, even if the content is more offensive.

When people reflect on this game they won't go, "Hey, remember that sweet game between New England and Carolina that went down to the wire?", but rather, "Hey, remember that Super Bowl when Janet Jackson's boob popped out?"

Nah, not me. I wasn't even near the TV for halftime... We went out to the garage to hear a halftime blues jam of my friend's regular trio. Way better than whatever went on in Houston @ halftime... Great game...