ivan

boom! who needs courts and trials anyway? the learning his lesson thing is silly though - how on earth was he gonna rape a 2nd kid and not have it all over the place? is there anyone who said he didn't deserve jail time for what he did? of course he did. he served 40 something days and was supposed to do more - all the hub-bub was over how his plea bargain went down w/ the original judge, who seemed likely to ignore the deal and impose a much longer prison stay than had been agreed. bitching about the sentencing range for a first time sex offender is another matter.

Leave It In the Beaver? could star a leper

So the public has clearly been clamoring for crappier shows all this time? Wrong. The vast wasteland of shite that comprises today's "must see TV" landscape is a direct result of chasing advertising dollars, cutting production values to maintain profit margins, and striving to appeal to the lowest common denominator in a context of lowered educational expectations. This creates a climate in which content producers are highly risk-averse and more likely to follow an already established formula than go out on a limb. This sheds light on the proliferation of copycat programming and blows holes in the argument that corporate media provides greater diversity. gilligans island was quality programmign? howdy-fawking-doddy? the gong show?

why set hbo aside? it's practically the only tv i do watch, and the shows are generally really good, including the documentaries and bill maher's talk show (though skin-a-max does own them when it comes to yer late night options ) hbo's a fine example of being able to get quality programming, sans advertising, if you're actually interested in that sorta thing. That's the point. HBO operates less through ad revenue so is insulated from the lowest common denominator imperative and has more freedom for determine content free from commercial advertisers. Spike Lee's "When the Levees Broke" don't sell Cocoa-Puffs, yo! but hbo's doing fine business, and if folks want more good channels like that, the market will produce it. i don't have that much time for tv, so 1 hbo type provider is fine for me.

sex offender to be ordained a priest, how's that for a coincidence?

why set hbo aside? it's practically the only tv i do watch, and the shows are generally really good, including the documentaries and bill maher's talk show (though skin-a-max does own them when it comes to yer late night options ) hbo's a fine example of being able to get quality programming, sans advertising, if you're actually interested in that sorta thing. people who are inclined to sit through commericial breaks were hopeless fools long before murdoch built his empire.

for a dude who looks like buddha, you sure do talk like jesus

first alpine style winter ascent Are you saying Colin and Marko didnt climb the North Ridge in alpine style? If so how do you define alpine style? sans fixed ropes, i believe, not that it makes a bit of difference to me in terms of kewlness of acomplishment

yeah, but: a) it's too fucking cold to do anything but hang inside and read for half the year and b) sure they get free food at school, but it's lute-fisk! and c) hawt finnish chicks only give it up if you can recite the quadratic equation from memory

anyone else watch ken burns national parks documentary on pbs the last few nights?

now why can't i use this in my classrom?

wise sir do not grieve it is always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning for every one of us living in this world means waiting for our end let he who can achieve glory before death when a warrior is gone that will be his best and only bulwark and to die is far different than what anyone ever supposed and luckier

alright, well this hardly sounds insane - good luck getting the funding though, as you know pbs makes the conservos insane - i don't see the need to break up fox or any other current news provider however, but taxing mega-corps to help fund your more public channels might work - the current lineup of pbs shows already has a # of snoozers though, so it'd be challenging to find much of quality to fill the time - seems like it'd mostly be wayne's world knock-offs

facebook sure helped them iranians and burmese get rid of their wicked, wicked governments!

i guess what we're saying is that it's sad you think that all we know or can think about is what corporations broadcast - i get essentially zero of my news analysis from the t.v. and the majority of it from conversations w/ other people who's intelligence or experiences i find interesting

i do want to understand your argument - are you just saying you want the goverment to pick up the tab for more cspan/pbs type channels and have some democratic body for determining their content?

the "what would you do if somebody raped your baby" question can't help but remind me of how this guy got spanked

I don't know that I'd give "normals" that much credit either. this is the exact point i tried to make back on page 1 - hello, our society encourages us to be pervs! for christ's sake, when some folks gave me free baby clothes for my little girl, half the shit had writing plastered all over the ass!

And you advocate the same thing, but have a different message (that few care to listen to). Bugger off. indeed - and who the hell gets their tv through the public airwaves these days anyhow?

actually i'd say his fame might actually have worked against him - your average nobody rapist sicko could escape to a country w/o extradition and never be thought of again

sounds like a lower variation to an already existing route and indeed, who cares? getting worked up about anythign climbing related is a Sign of Disturbing Things to Come

i understand that you might not think it enough of a punishment, but he has not gotten off scott-free - he did serve 40-some odd days in jail, pay god know's how much over the years in legal bills, and has had his freedom/security of movement restricted for the past 3 decades a far cry from the cheese-grater/acid treatement for sure, but then i'd rather reserve that for the folks who've displayed a complete inability to control their sick needs - this guy does not appear to have repeated his offense so would appear to have learned his lesson via less draconian methods

i'm sure the authors of the constitution and the bill of rights would agree w/ you understand i'm speaking in general though, not about this bastard, who already plead guilty to having sex w/ a minor and fled after becoming convinced his plea deal would not be honored - the crime i see polanski still needing to answer for in this case is that, his flight - sure, he can say the court was biased against him (and it sure seems like it was), but you don't win that fight by running away from it. the irony is that, if he does come back to stand trial, the whole damn thing will likely be dropped anyway

sure, but in practice, arranging a succesful trial after 40 years is unlikely

i agree w/ jay - it is a fuzzy term - as to your last question, are you suggesting that mr murdoch have his freedom to speak his mind (which for everyone involves their private motives) taken away by the government? it is not the gov's place to determine who can speak, just to ensure that all can speak - it might well be regretable that many large companies can, by virtue of their resources, reach many more ears than my own weak diatribes from the bowels of my spray-cockpit, but i don't think that means murdoch has to be silienced. the public interest in this case is just that everyone should be able to speak, not that everybody else should have to hear.