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**** you very much the FCC

Sep 24, 2006 moldyman link
http://radio.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=radio&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pythonline.com%2Fplugs%2Fidle%2Findex.shtml

Very funny song and FREE (and LEGAl, not two words you usually see together). Monty Python site to be even more incentive.
Sep 25, 2006 Professor Chaos link
Well, the FCC part I mostly agree with.... the standards for swearing are all backwards, fuck is offensive because someone decided to be offended, it means the same as screw or jack. The same people who throw a fit if you say "man, that's fucked up," the next minute will say "that's screwed up," or "that's jacked." "Shit" was an ordinary word for feces until William the Conqueror decided anything not of Norman, Anglo-Norman, French or Latin origin was vulgar, and just like that with the Norman Conquest "shit" is a taboo word, and "feces" is acceptable. Ecxept today, just like "fuck," those who are offended by "shit" say "crap", or "poop," which are perfect synonyms for "shit." The ratings system imposed by the government says nothing of the value of anything, only how many times someone "swears" (shit and fuck aren't swearing, they're just rude). They are more likely to up a movie's rating for a reference to Christianity than for a reference to homosexuality, and it doesn't matter how either are portrayed. So, brilliant movies with real lessons to learn are censored for the number of occurences of a certain word, while awful offensive crap with no value whatsoever gets on TV because they never say "fuck." It's all backwards, and designed to avoid lawsuits and exert power.

As for the rest of the song, I voted for Bush twice, so I don't agree with everything in there... but a funny song anyway.

Martha shouldn't have gone to jail, that was just the government exerting its power again. It was good for comedy value, though, SNL sure cashed in, as did all the late night shows.

As for Limbaugh, they'll prosecute him for something no one is ever prosecuted for (the ACLU even defended Limbaugh, and Limbaugh is one of their biggest critics), illegally seize his records, and stop him at the border for posession of viagra just because he's Rush Limbaugh, but they won't secure the borders even though they know they're a big security risk, because they don't want to discriminate.

People will protest Bush's use of Halliburton, but Clinton's similar previous use of Halliburton goes overlooked. The same people falsely accuse Bush of draft dodging, (Dan Rather STILL says those documents weren't forged), but Clinton gets a pass on draft dodging.

Condaleeza Rice is an example of when "tolerant" people get upset when a black person is a successful, self-made conservative (so is Cosby), while Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who get rich by telling black people they need the government to succeed, are looked at as heroes.

When did the EPA ever give away Alaska's oil? We have so much oil here in the US, but it costs so much to find it, then the EPA says you can't have it, oil companies go to other countries. This Gulf of Mexico oil we've found, we can't drill for it ourselves, but Cuba has no such scruples. So the environment will be impacted by inferior technology that pollutes far more than ours, and a dictator will benefit. We couldn't affect the ozone layer unless we turned off the sun, and it's a greenhouse gas (a misnomer) also, so there's a trade-off.

So, kind of a funny song, but whatever.

Sorry about the rant.
Sep 26, 2006 LeberMac link
/me gets the professor a tequila shot.

But Idle's quite the comedic genius. No matter what his politics are.
Sep 26, 2006 Professor Chaos link
True that. Like I said, I did laugh during this song. Holy Grail is a masterpeice, and I love Flying Circus. I think that by far my favoritest Monty Python song is Bruce's Philosophers Song. "And Rene Descartes was a drunken fart, 'I drink, therefore I am!'"
Sep 27, 2006 toshiro link
"Rule one - no pooftahs.
Rule two, no member of the faculty is to maltreat the Abbos in any way whatsoever - if there's anybody watching.
Rule three - no pooftahs.
Rule four - I don't want to catch anyone not drinking in their room after lights out.
Rule five - no pooftahs.
Rule six - there is NO rule six!
Rule seven - no pooftahs!
That concludes the reading of the rules, Bruce."

Don't forget the preceding sketch. I like it even better than the song :)
Sep 27, 2006 Professor Chaos link
Hehe, I actually haven't even seen the sketch. I just have the song. I used to work at Barnes & Noble, and every time I went to do anything in the philosophy section, in my head, well.... "IIIIIIIIImanuel Kant was a real pissant who was very rarely stable....."
Sep 28, 2006 Shapenaji link
Just a point to Prof Chaos, since I think the rant involved us being in a zero sum game (while true currently) leads us down a very dark and foreboding path.

I think its important to recognize the faults that seem to be omnipresent in our society. Whether Clinton did it or Bush did it, doesn't matter.

These things don't balance. Shared mistakes only point to a deeper problem.

Much like the problem of media bias. If you assume that there was a liberal bias before Fox News, even then, Fox's statement that they are "balancing" is completely wrongheaded. You don't balance bias, you just get more misinformation.

I vote for people who will ACTUALLY deal with the everpresent graft and corruption. And what is exasperating about Bush is that , while what he's doing is nothing new, the lack of any apology or repercussions makes me realize how little power the American people have. Its quite obvious at this point, that he doesn't care what the majority of people think, he's said so explicitly.

When a press secretary can shrug off major issues, on which there is publically available information, its a sign that the American people have effectively vacated the public scene.

Hence, I vote for people who will restructure the game. I would have voted for John McCain, had he not been so brutally slandered in the 2000 election. But I won't vote for him now, since he basically turned tail and backed the party. (I'm officially a dem btw)

------------------------------------------------

So F*** you very much the Autocrats,
the Repub sycophants and Demo Rats,

I can't see a way to win, when its all that's on your mind,
Empathy is out to lunch, with all of humankind,
And Justice for the people, will rob the people blind.

So thank you all so very F***ing much.


So what the planet fails? There's a bunk left in the jails,

So thank you all so very F***ing much.
Sep 28, 2006 break19 link
Actually.. I can think of several Christian movies that were given PG ratings simply because of the religiousness associated with it.
Facing the Giants: rating PG
http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/interviews/alexkendrick.html
Chronicles of Narnia: rating PG
http://www.dougbeaumont.org/MovieReviews/narnia_review.htm

Both of these movies have very strong Christian backgrounds, and in fact, one was given the PG rating soley on the fact the movie talked about Jesus.. so.. perhaps before you spout nonsense about ratings.. perhaps you should read more.

Besides.. just because YOUR parents are the kind of trash that'll let their kids get away with anything doesnt mean all parents are, and perhaps they do not want their children exposed to the kinds of filth that are in many movies today.
Sep 28, 2006 ananzi link
break19 whats wrong with that? we cant have militant christians going around and spreading their ideology of hate, intolerance, and violence in america. you are supposed to be allied to the united states, not to some mystical diety that commands you to torture and kill people, invade countries, and impose your ideology.
Sep 29, 2006 Professor Chaos link
break19: Huh? What are you talking about? I don't know where you got the idea that my parents let their kids get away with anything....and I mentioned that there were movies whose ratings were bumped a level for Christianity.

My point wasn't that any kind of trash was acceptible, my point was that the rating system is built to avoid lawsuits rather than accurately rate the value of the movie/tv show. All sorts of offensive garbage makes it to TV because it doesn't show nudity or use "offensive" words, but it doesn't have anything of value and presents bad values and negative messages. A movie, however, may have an excellent message but be given a harsher rating because they said a certain word one too many times, or it's too violent, or, like you pointed out, it references Christianity in a positive way.

Shape: I'd rather not get into a lengthy political debate here (even though it's "off-topic" this isn't the place), but since I can't help myself, I'll give a couple quick comments (I can't keep out of debates). I didn't excuse a Bush mistake by pointing out a Clinton mistake, that wasn't even about Clinton vs. Bush. I don't think Bush made a mistake sending Halliburton, I was just pointing out a media double standard, where they are critical of Bush but not Clinton. One of the biggest reasons I respect Bush (even on a few issues where I disagree with him) is that he's not a slave to the polls, he doesn't waffle. He has principles, and he sticks to them. The reason we were vulnerable to attack, and the reason many Iraqis have been reluctant to accept our help is that our country has a history recently of backing out when it's tough, just to stay popular. We've been fair-weather friends to the Iraqis, the Israelis, the Iranians, so many others, so the situation has come to a breaking point of sorts.

I love Fox News (huge fan of Neil Cavuto, not so much O'Reilly lately), and McCain thinks he was supposed to be president (McCain and Gore both think their birthright was stolen from them), and McCain belongs only to the party of McCain. Notice how when he's tough on liberals the press vilifies him, then the next day he's tough on conservatives, and he's a hero in all the headlines. He's a camera hog and untrustworthy.

Obviously, I'm very conservative (what used to be called Laissez-Faire Liberalism, but the term liberal has been hijacked, as has the entire Democrat party).

Anyway, there's a Democrat (other than Zell Miller and Joe Lieberman) whose column I read weekly, and agree with 80% of the time, who happens to be an amazing author, who wrote my favorite novel of all time: Ender's Game. Here's the link to Orson Scott Card's website, and then a link to a good article he wrote:

http://www.hatrack.com/

http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2006-02-05-1.html
Sep 30, 2006 ufoman link
/me salutes to ananzi