Thursday, June 14, 2007

To Kill a Dirty Word

My oft harangued home state deserves a lot of the shit flung its way. Shitty politicians, race issues, fundamentalist preventing beer on tap and titty clubs, inflexibility, etc, etc. (N.B. I do reserve the right to punch you square in the mouth if you talk shit about her and aren't a product of an Alabama womb).

But I'm a firm believer that negative extremes often produce a fertile ground for the equal and opposite extreme to develop... especially in the arts. You need pressure and conflict and the world working against you to produce superior art.

Not only in the arts, though. There's a reason the best Marines are produced on Paris Island in South Carolina. The place is a hell hole. You want a superior soldier? Train them in the worst possible conditions, then.

Anyway, it has always been a pleasure of mine to know that one of the most popular American novels was written by an Alabamian and that that novel's power is in its ability to positively influence people's view regarding bias and injustice.

2nd most popular book in the U.S. next to the Bible. Get some of that!

Alabama town uses "Mockingbird" to learn from past

U.S. readers often cite it as their favorite novel. It ranked second only to the Bible in a reader survey of books that had affected them the most. Library Journal voted it the novel of the 20th century.


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This report was produced by the Bush administration. It doesn't even mention the issues with gun control and points the finger at privacy laws. Do you get that? Privacy laws were what caused the rampage at Virgina Tech.

I'm sorry, but that's about the biggest load of bullshit I have ever heard. I work with privacy laws every damn day in a University setting. This 'report' is a bullshit attempt to take more of your privacy away by this gestapo of an administration.

This shit makes my blood boil. The laws ain't the problem. If, per Mike Leavitt below, "People don't understand what they can share and what they can't share" is true, then its not the laws fault. Its the damn lazy fucks in charge who don't take the time to educate themselves and their employees on those laws. And trust me, Academia in the U.S. is fraught with lazy, fat cat bureaucrats who actively work against any type of innovation because they don't want to change their Luddite ways.

Absolute bullshit.

Virginia Tech report faults privacy laws:

"'People don't understand what they can share and what they can't share,' said Mike Leavitt, the secretary of Health and Human Services."
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SiCKO going to be BIG. It's time to crush these greedy fuck medical insurance companies. They practice 'preventative healthcare'. It is their goal to prevent you from getting healthcare because it will cost them money.

Daily Kos: *UPDATED*: Nurses Give Moore, SiCKO 8-minute Standing Ovation:

"Yes I timed it.

After yesterday's national debut of SiCKO, 1,000 nurses from the California Nurses Association and across the country rose as one, roared, and continued roaring for 8 full minutes. I had goosebumps and tears in my eyes at the same time, and so did everyone else in the theater."
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Put this in the "news that should not be news" category. Spielberg makes movies, right? Who gives a fuck who he endorses, then? Is the Stars Wars voting contingency waiting to hear from Lucas on who they should vote for in '08? I shan't be voting for Jar-Jar.

Gee, I'm waiting to see who Paris Hilton endorses (probably herself).

It. Doesn't. Fucking. Matter.

Clinton Gets Endorsement From Spielberg:

"NEW YORK — Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton has won the endorsement of film producer and director Steven Spielberg, ending a tug-of-war between Clinton and Barack Obama for the Hollywood heavyweight's affections."
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The liberal media that isn't:

For seven hours, MSNBC hosted only conservatives and reporters to discuss immigration:

"During the seven hours of the June 11 edition of MSNBC Live (9 a.m.-4 p.m. ET), 15 segments aired about immigration or the Senate immigration bill, none of which featured a Democratic or progressive commentator. Indeed, in nine of the 15 segments, the anchor interviewed a conservative anti-immigration activist who had opposed the bill -- including six separate solo interviews with MSNBC political analyst Pat Buchanan. The remaining six segments consisted of two panels with Buchanan and conservative activist and Manhattan Institute senior fellow Tamar Jacoby (who, alone among the guests, favored the recent immigration bill), an interview with Congressional Quarterly immigration reporter Michael Sandler, an interview with MSNBC terrorism analyst Joe Cantamessa, and two reports from MSNBC congressional correspondent Mike Viqueira."
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Fuuuuuuuuucckkkkkk....k........kk.....k

You Are So F--ing Obscene / The president says it, you say it, your kids say it all the time. So what's the f--ing problem?

Let us now recap: Since 2003, BushCo's own nipple-terrified regulatory agency has been working like a prudish little ferret to destroy perceived indecency, particularly those "fleeting expletives" that love to pop up in major media, threatening to fine any network roughly $5 bazillion for any appearance of the dreaded "f--" or "s--" or anything else that causes unusual tingling sensations anywhere in the pallid body of FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.

Dismissed as eye-rollingly idiotic by every cunning linguist in existence, this absurdly strict rule nevertheless caused enormous panic and trepidation among generally spineless network honchos who immediately shifted programming and yanked uncut versions of "Saving Private Ryan" from broadcast and fired on-air talent for the slightest indiscretion and desperately called their lawyers in prayer. It was, to put it simply, f--ing ugly.

Fast-forward to now. A New York appeals court just told Bush's hard-line FCC that they are, in essence, a bunch of simpleminded out-of-touch dweebmonkeys and that the TV networks, while morally vacant in nearly every way imaginable, still cannot be held to such impossible standards when such juicy curse words are a common element of everyday speech, including that of President "Stop This S--" Bush and Dick "Go F-- Yourself" Cheney and just about every other being anywhere, with the possible exception of the ghost of my late grandmother.

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

As one who is broke with no health insurance, and with ongoing health problems, I know firsthand how medical care "works" in the U.S.

AAW said...

On the other end of the spectrum, Davy, I do have health insurance but when I go get a yearly check up they try their damnedest to not check me out. I was told that the more test they do the greater opportunity there is that one of those test would return a false positive and more test would be required.

My response was, "What if that positive is not false?"

Kaiser's response, "Uhhhhhhh"

Anonymous said...

A few years ago a friend of mine died of cancer because Kaiser did not want to spend the few extra bucks to run the proper tests to get a proper diagnosis, all of which they had to admit in the mediation that she initiated. When you join an HMO like Kaiser, you give up your right to sue, and they are famous for dragging out the mediation (even with dying patients) for as long as they can, often, as in this case, until the patient has died.

Anonymous said...

Sorry. That previous comment was not from "anonymous". It was from me, davyproctorboy. My error.