This past Tuesday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the FCC regarding the use of expletives on television. The case stems from two Billboard Music Awards programs broadcast by Fox Television.
The Court voted 5-4 in favor of the FCC. Thank goodness for justices such as Antonin Scalia for making sure our vulnerable children are not exposed to words that conjure visions of disgusting biological functions such as sex and excrement.
Some critics raise the question as to why the FCC allowed many instances of the word “fuck” during the movie Saving Private Ryan when it was broadcast on network television. These critics completely missed the point. Saving Private Ryan is a movie about WWII, American heroism and patriotism. These critics are unpatriotic at best, traitors at worst. They were probably even routing for the Germans during the movie.
I have a solution that would solve this whole vulgarity issue. Why not just replace the use of expletives on television with something that is acceptable to the FCC and the conservative wing of the Supreme Court. I suggest that any time someone is to use an expletive it be replaced with some form of violence such as a murder scene or a war scene, or any type of gratuitous violence. Because I for one would much rather have my child exposed to scenes of violence than a horrific word that could scar him forever, not to mention act as a gateway word to, I dare not think what else.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
The Roof is on Fire, We Don't Need No Water Let the #@%* Burn
I’ll tell you what, you have to be thankful for the Internet. The downfall of print journalism is a true shame, but it’s about time this whole mainstream media conglomerate paradigm is burned to the ground, plowed under, and the earth salted so it can never grow back into its despicable self again.
Journalism, alas, the entire media industry is undergoing a paradigm shift. Let’s just hope when the dust clears that the journalism profession re-emerges with the ferocity of the likes of Elmer Davis and Edward R. Murrow and not the paper tiger it is today.
This is how screwed up things are at this moment in time. Shepherd Smith of Fox News went ballistic on Fox’s Strategy Room, a show streamed live over the Internet screaming “We are America, we do not f**king torture.”
Now all the speculation is how long it will be before Smith is sacked by Fox News. Well, I speculate that if Smith boosts Fox’s Internet and/or television ratings then he isn’t going anywhere. This is my whole point, increased ratings translate into increased ad rates which translate into increased share price. These are the only things important to Rupert Murdoch, Roger Ailes, et al. They don’t give a rat’s ass about journalism.
Once again Glenn Greenwald exposes the media elite corporate suck ups, i.e. Chris Matthews, David Gregory, David Ignatuis, etc, etc, etc. Here is just a small excerpt of Greenwald’s piece on the current torture topic on Salon.com:
“This remains the single most notable and revealing fact of American political life: that (with some very important exceptions) those most devoted to maintaining and advocating government secrecy is our journalist class, of all people. It would be as if the leading proponents of cigarette smoking were physicians, or those most vocally touting the virtues of illiteracy were school teachers. Nothing proves the true function of these media stars as government spokespeople more than their eagerness to shield government actions from examination and demand that government criminality not be punished.”
Journalism, alas, the entire media industry is undergoing a paradigm shift. Let’s just hope when the dust clears that the journalism profession re-emerges with the ferocity of the likes of Elmer Davis and Edward R. Murrow and not the paper tiger it is today.
This is how screwed up things are at this moment in time. Shepherd Smith of Fox News went ballistic on Fox’s Strategy Room, a show streamed live over the Internet screaming “We are America, we do not f**king torture.”
Now all the speculation is how long it will be before Smith is sacked by Fox News. Well, I speculate that if Smith boosts Fox’s Internet and/or television ratings then he isn’t going anywhere. This is my whole point, increased ratings translate into increased ad rates which translate into increased share price. These are the only things important to Rupert Murdoch, Roger Ailes, et al. They don’t give a rat’s ass about journalism.
Once again Glenn Greenwald exposes the media elite corporate suck ups, i.e. Chris Matthews, David Gregory, David Ignatuis, etc, etc, etc. Here is just a small excerpt of Greenwald’s piece on the current torture topic on Salon.com:
“This remains the single most notable and revealing fact of American political life: that (with some very important exceptions) those most devoted to maintaining and advocating government secrecy is our journalist class, of all people. It would be as if the leading proponents of cigarette smoking were physicians, or those most vocally touting the virtues of illiteracy were school teachers. Nothing proves the true function of these media stars as government spokespeople more than their eagerness to shield government actions from examination and demand that government criminality not be punished.”
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Dump the Tea and Drink the Kool-Aid
Tomorrow is the big day, April 15th, that’s right, Tax Day Tea Party day. These Fox News and CNBC backed protests are scheduled to take place nationwide. The protests are aimed at Obama and his tax policies. It will be interesting to see how many Fox minions actually show up. What will be even more interesting, as pointed out on Salon.com, will be how many of the protesting minions will be receiving a tax cut via Obama’s new tax policy.
I would surmise that quite a few will be in the middle class tax cut bracket. Wealthy people don’t take to the streets, they manipulate weak-minded underlings to do their dirty work. So it is ironic that the "Tea" in Tax Day Tea Party in an acronym for Taxed Enough Already.
Fox News, aside from being completely biased in their support of anti-Obama protests can’t even get the metaphor correct. The last time I checked everyone in this country is represented in the U.S. Congress, except of course for the residents of Washington, DC and half the population of Minnesota (hey Norm, don't go away mad, just GO AWAY!).
I would surmise that quite a few will be in the middle class tax cut bracket. Wealthy people don’t take to the streets, they manipulate weak-minded underlings to do their dirty work. So it is ironic that the "Tea" in Tax Day Tea Party in an acronym for Taxed Enough Already.
Fox News, aside from being completely biased in their support of anti-Obama protests can’t even get the metaphor correct. The last time I checked everyone in this country is represented in the U.S. Congress, except of course for the residents of Washington, DC and half the population of Minnesota (hey Norm, don't go away mad, just GO AWAY!).
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Pandora's Box Revisited
I recall reading an article a few months ago which addressed the issue of the precedent set by the Bush administration regarding presidential powers. The main point was once Pandora’s Box is opened is it possible to put the demons back?
Before the 2008 presidential election conventional wisdom was that if John McCain is elected then he would absolutely continue to abuse the Constitution through these questionable executive powers. But if Obama is elected then he would restore the proper protocols and all would be well again, after all, he is a constitutional lawyer.
Well once again, it looks like conventional wisdom, i.e., the mainstream press, assumes there is a difference between Democratic and Republican politicians.
Glenn Greenwald at salon.com has been exposing Obama’s continuation, alas, escalation of Bush’s unconstitutional powers. Straight out of the elite’s handbook - never relinquish powers once achieved – policy has once again trumped principle.
The one comforting thought in all of this is that many staunch supporters of Obama are taking to the digital streets and hammering him all over the Internet for his assault on the Constitution. This is a refreshing change from the blind, almost messianic, loyalty the conservatives had for Bush.
On a side note, if you are sick and tired of reading mainstream media garbage (I don’t mean liberal media, this is a myth. I mean media that are slaves to their corporate overlords) you really should read Glenn Greenwald as an alternative source.
Before the 2008 presidential election conventional wisdom was that if John McCain is elected then he would absolutely continue to abuse the Constitution through these questionable executive powers. But if Obama is elected then he would restore the proper protocols and all would be well again, after all, he is a constitutional lawyer.
Well once again, it looks like conventional wisdom, i.e., the mainstream press, assumes there is a difference between Democratic and Republican politicians.
Glenn Greenwald at salon.com has been exposing Obama’s continuation, alas, escalation of Bush’s unconstitutional powers. Straight out of the elite’s handbook - never relinquish powers once achieved – policy has once again trumped principle.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
The one comforting thought in all of this is that many staunch supporters of Obama are taking to the digital streets and hammering him all over the Internet for his assault on the Constitution. This is a refreshing change from the blind, almost messianic, loyalty the conservatives had for Bush.
On a side note, if you are sick and tired of reading mainstream media garbage (I don’t mean liberal media, this is a myth. I mean media that are slaves to their corporate overlords) you really should read Glenn Greenwald as an alternative source.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Enough!
It’s about time people started calling out the right wing nut jobs for their fear mongering and violent rhetoric. Many moderate and progressive blogs are finally exposing right wing blowhards such as Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, and Dobs, just to name a few. Crooks and Liars (C&L) points to a very disturbing statistic in making their case of a connection between the aforementioned blowhards and the weak minds they tend to influence, “According to the F.B.I., there have been 1.2 million more requests for background checks of potential gun buyers from November to February than there were in the same four months last year.” But C&L makes one mistake in their argument with this qualifier, “Coincidence? Maybe. Just posturing? Hopefully. But it all gives me a really bad feeling.”
Leave off the qualifier and state the obvious logical conclusion which is, the right wing nut jobs have been touting bold face lies since Obama was elected (and long before) that he will attack the Second Amendment and take away everybody’s guns. This is unsubstantiated rhetoric with no factual basis designed only to infuriate their weak-minded minions and inflate their ratings.
It’s about time these self-serving blowhards are called to the carpet for their irresponsible, un-American behavior without the qualifiers. These pretend patriots are a clear and present danger to a civil society. It’s true, it’s real, and it’s about time we take to the streets and shout it as loud as humanly possible.
Leave off the qualifier and state the obvious logical conclusion which is, the right wing nut jobs have been touting bold face lies since Obama was elected (and long before) that he will attack the Second Amendment and take away everybody’s guns. This is unsubstantiated rhetoric with no factual basis designed only to infuriate their weak-minded minions and inflate their ratings.
It’s about time these self-serving blowhards are called to the carpet for their irresponsible, un-American behavior without the qualifiers. These pretend patriots are a clear and present danger to a civil society. It’s true, it’s real, and it’s about time we take to the streets and shout it as loud as humanly possible.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
It's Time
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Wednesday, in Mexico. Clinton admitted that the U.S. is very much complicit in the increasingly explosive problem that is the Mexican drug trade. This is a truism that no one from the former Bush Administration would ever have admitted, lest they be waterboarded by Dick Cheney.
Humans have been altering their states of consciousness since time immemorial. The biological and psychological drive to alter reality is just too strong and history is fraught with futile attempts by arrogant, ignorant power brokers to ban it. The Spanish Conquistadors attempted to ban the Aztecs from using peyote in the 16th century. It didn’t work.
Evo Morales, the President of Bolivia wrote an excellent op-ed piece in the NY Times imploring the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs to remove the outlaw designation from the coca leaf. Morales’ argument makes way too much sense, therefore, it most likely will be ignored by the powers that be at the UN.
The time has come to abandon the ignorance, arrogance, and the joke that is the war on drugs which is nothing more than a war profiteer machine. Natural plants such as marijuana and coca should be legal to grow and possess without designation. Then legalize, regulate, and tax other drugs such as cocaine and heroin to put all of the drug cartels out of business. Maybe it’s time to declare war on failed policies and while we’re at it let’s declare war on declaring war. Then we can take to the streets to protest the wars on failed policies and declaring war.
Humans have been altering their states of consciousness since time immemorial. The biological and psychological drive to alter reality is just too strong and history is fraught with futile attempts by arrogant, ignorant power brokers to ban it. The Spanish Conquistadors attempted to ban the Aztecs from using peyote in the 16th century. It didn’t work.
Evo Morales, the President of Bolivia wrote an excellent op-ed piece in the NY Times imploring the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs to remove the outlaw designation from the coca leaf. Morales’ argument makes way too much sense, therefore, it most likely will be ignored by the powers that be at the UN.
The time has come to abandon the ignorance, arrogance, and the joke that is the war on drugs which is nothing more than a war profiteer machine. Natural plants such as marijuana and coca should be legal to grow and possess without designation. Then legalize, regulate, and tax other drugs such as cocaine and heroin to put all of the drug cartels out of business. Maybe it’s time to declare war on failed policies and while we’re at it let’s declare war on declaring war. Then we can take to the streets to protest the wars on failed policies and declaring war.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Send in the Clown
Timothy Egan wrote an excellent editorial, Wednesday, in the NY Times titled Fears of a Clown. It is about the latest drama being played out within the Republican Party regarding Rush Limbaugh as the new de facto leader of the GOP. There is a long list of Republican politicians who have, after deriding Limbaugh, publicly groveled for his forgiveness. The latest butt kissing suck up is Michael Steele, the former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, and present chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC). As Egan points out, “smarter Republicans know he (Limbaugh) is not good for them” and this is much to the delight of the Democrats. Limbaugh could possibly be sticking, albeit unintentionally, a dagger in the heart of the GOP; this got me thinking about Pagliacci, the sad tragic clown.
Pagliacci is an Italian opera about a clown named Pagliacci who murders his wife for being unfaithful. The opera is actually a play within a play, so Pagliacci is played by Canio (a character in the play) who was played, most famously, by Luciano Pavarotti. Pagliacci, as a clown, must continue to make his audience laugh even as he murders his wife and her lover. Limbaugh is that sad, tragic clown who is murdering his once loyal Republican Party which has lost its way, in his eyes. The only difference is that Limbaugh does not even realize the damage he is inflicting. Is it because he is blinded by his quarter of a billion dollar contract or his massive, pompous ego, I don’t know; but one thing I do know is that if the “smart Republicans” want to save their party they better take to the streets. As for the Democrats, they should take to the seats, with popcorn in hand, and enjoy the show.
Pagliacci is an Italian opera about a clown named Pagliacci who murders his wife for being unfaithful. The opera is actually a play within a play, so Pagliacci is played by Canio (a character in the play) who was played, most famously, by Luciano Pavarotti. Pagliacci, as a clown, must continue to make his audience laugh even as he murders his wife and her lover. Limbaugh is that sad, tragic clown who is murdering his once loyal Republican Party which has lost its way, in his eyes. The only difference is that Limbaugh does not even realize the damage he is inflicting. Is it because he is blinded by his quarter of a billion dollar contract or his massive, pompous ego, I don’t know; but one thing I do know is that if the “smart Republicans” want to save their party they better take to the streets. As for the Democrats, they should take to the seats, with popcorn in hand, and enjoy the show.
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