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FCC Looks Into Regulating Violence on TV

The Importance of writes "The FCC's regulation of indecent and profane speech has gotten a lot of attention recently. Now, the FCC is considering getting into the business of regulating violence on television (broadcast and cable/satellite). This isn't unexpected, because the House Commerce Committee ordered the FCC to conduct the study. Notice of Inquiry [PDF] [TXT]. Somehow, I don't think the FCC is going to tell Congress there is nothing they can do about violence on TV."

352 of 506 comments (clear)

  1. Max? by DAldredge · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Does everyone in DC have a tv set from max headroom? I mean how fscking hard is it to turn the tv off or program your tv to skip the channels you do not like?

    1. Re:Max? by Commander+Trollco · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That doesn't matter, the point is to clamp down on what the plebs can see and hear. The consolidation of federal power has been going on since Hamilton, and this is just one small step for mankind's enslavement. Considered in the light of other news, anyone can see what direction we are headed in. "Slippery Slope" is not a fallacy, it is usually correct.

      --
      http://persianews.on.nimp.org/?u=Tar_Baby
    2. Re:Max? by Lord+Kano · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You seem to be missing the point my friend. This is all about money. It's a shakedown. Hollywood isn't passing around enough campaign funds. Congress will threaten regulation, a flood of campaign funds will flow in and the call for regulation will be forgotten.

      This is just like every other argument, it isn't to protect the "average" person. It's to protect the morons who are too stupid to learn how to change the channel. And especially those people who are too stupid to use "The V Chip" that congress mandated be included in all new TV sets. Remember when they told us that they were mandating that so "parents" would be empowered to control the television viewing habits of their children? All of a sudden, that's not enough. MORE HAS TO BE DONE! I call bullshit. It's a smokescreen and a sham. This is about legal extortion, nothing more and nothing less.

      LK

      --
      "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
    3. Re:Max? by Darby · · Score: 1, Troll

      If you're that concerned, throw out the TV.
      Just because you are too fucking ignorant of a parent to realise that you do have that power does not mean that you can call in big brother to fuck everything up for the rest of us.
      People like you need to die slowly and painfully.

    4. Re:Max? by HermanAB · · Score: 1

      Hmm, mandate that all TVs must ship with the V-chip turned on by default, so that only people that know how to program a TV will be able to hear the swear words?

      --
      Oh well, what the hell...
    5. Re:Max? by nysus · · Score: 1

      People like you need to die slowly and painfully.

      Sounds like you've been exposed to quite a bit of violence on television. The surgeon general recommends you begin reading books.

      --

      ---Technology will liberate us if it doesn't enslave us first.

    6. Re:Max? by forgetmenot · · Score: 1

      Ever hear of "Hanlon's Razor"?

    7. Re:Max? by devilspgd · · Score: 1

      That could work, unemployed geeks could make a living turning off V-chips.

      --
      Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day, but teach a man to phish...
    8. Re:Max? by HermanAB · · Score: 2, Funny

      and best of all, the politicians will all think that TV finally cleaned up its act...

      --
      Oh well, what the hell...
    9. Re:Max? by Darby · · Score: 1

      Sounds like you've been exposed to quite a bit of violence on television. The surgeon general recommends you begin reading books.

      I rarely watch TV and I do read a lot.
      It's sad when somebody is as dumb as the OP, but when they have the audacity to have children and not have the basic respect and decency to take some responsibility for them, then that is about as evil as you can get IMHO

    10. Re:Max? by what+the+dumple+is · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Funny* you should choose the phrase, "enslavement."

      My fortune when I logged on today was:

      A warning from Scots Historian Professor Alexander Tyler circa 1787 re the fall of the Athenian Republic:

      "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money (generous gifts) from the public treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship."

      "The average age of the world's greatest civilization has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through this sequence.

      From bondage to spiritual faith;
      from spiritual faith to great courage;
      from courage to liberty;
      from liberty to abundance,
      from abundance to selfishness;
      from selfishness to complacency,
      from complacency to apathy,
      from apathy to dependency,
      from dependence back into bondage."


      If the 90s were all about apathy it's dead clear where we're headed. My take, if they're going to do somewhat about violence, at least give us our sex back. :p

      * not so much funny as interesting, really.

    11. Re:Max? by Marko+DeBeeste · · Score: 1

      You're so right. And let's not forget this juicy ticket sales if the only place you can see the whole movie is at a theatre or on DVD

      --
      Faith: n. -- That human impulse that drives them to steal appliances when the power goes out
    12. Re:Max? by nysus · · Score: 1

      First, what I wrote was a joke. My point was that saying shit like "I hope you die a slow and painful death," while probably not to be taken literally, shows you feel a lot of anger and resentment in your life at something. Take a chill pill.

      --

      ---Technology will liberate us if it doesn't enslave us first.

    13. Re:Max? by fermion · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Turning off the TV is what everyone wants to prevent.

      TV is the perfect medium. It passively places the rabble in a harmless state without the negative effects of other methods such as alcohol. Such pacification is a critical part of social control.

      TV allows the elite to clearly define the norms and customs of said rabble and set the appropriate expectations. This means that every person in America knows that he or she must consume. It means that every person in America has a common cultural basis.

      TV clearly presents people in similar economic and social situations as the rabble, but with better stuff. This implies that the lack of stuff is caused by some personal defect, and not the fact that your job pays nothing. Friends was brilliant in this regard, convincing gullible young adults that life is good and good things could be had even if the means to pay for them was non existent

      Remember that the one mistake Bradbury made in Fahrenheit 451 was the notion that we would need walls of TVs for social control. We now know that a single set will do the job. We now have confirmation that people will go into debt to acquire this means of social control.

      --
      "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
    14. Re:Max? by Ari_Haviv · · Score: 1

      "slippery slope" may be a logical fallacy but deeply grounded in behavioral reality.

      --
      Join Team Mozilla #38050 Folding@home
    15. Re:Max? by pgnas · · Score: 3, Insightful
      ...who are too stupid to use "The V Chip" that congress mandated be included in all new TV sets.
      Can I puke now? It's always about money or power. In addition, when are we going to learn that we are incapable of making decisions on our own about our own lives, they must be made for us through legislation. If they were not made for us, how would they justify their existance. There are enough laws right now for us to be on auto-pilot for the next 50 years, I suspect we would avoid anarchy during that time, wouldn't you?

      The problem is that there are way too many politicians with way too much time on their hands generating noithing but worthless legislation and mandates. If you think this statement is far-fetched, please turn on CSPAN for about 8 hours (if you can take it), I garauntee you will be fighting to keep your eyes open and holding your mouth in order to fight back the vomit.

      I can't think of anything worse than a fat, disconnected (from reality), slick talking politician mandating how I should live my life because I am incapable of making my own decisions, however, my intellect appears to be fully in tact when I am filling out 10,000 tax forms each year and making out the check to pay their salaries (that they more than likely voted to increase).

      Just shut up and keep paying, just keep paying, after all bubba needs a new yacht and house in kennebunkport.
    16. Re:Max? by Commander+Trollco · · Score: 1

      My point was that it is NOT a logical fallacy. The slippery slope argument applies whenever the ideas/assumptions behind group A's actions would, carried out to their logical extent, be the end result of the said slippery slope argument. Perhaps someone would like to make up for my shitty vocab and voice my argument more, um, accurately.

      --
      http://persianews.on.nimp.org/?u=Tar_Baby
    17. Re:Max? by xSauronx · · Score: 1

      does tv get to show the politicians havent?

      --
      By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth. -- George Carlin
    18. Re:Max? by ultranova · · Score: 1

      You have a 4 year old in the house. She's watching an "Edu-tainmen" special on Fox. You give it the basic test - no real offensive violence (other than maybe a cheetah devouring a gazel.) So, you leave the room, only to come back to see that the damn network is showing a Cops advert. It's insane, frankly. What business do the dumbasses at Fox/UPN what have you do in putting that sort of advertising in during the children's segment?

      I'd imagine that it's their business. It's their TV channel, after all. If you didn't do adequate testing of its contents beforehand, then you are the dumpass.

      What business do you have for leaving a 4 year old unattended, anyway ? Don't make children if you can't be bothered to look after them. And if you do, don't start whining that other people should watch over them so that you can do whatever it was you were doing in the other room.

      Your kids, your job.

      Yup, we have the V-Chip, but it's less than useful - the latency for the damn thing to kick in is miserable.

      I guess you just have to monitor what your child sees yourself. Woe is you.

      Yeah, free-market this and that - but frankly, it ISN'T happening.

      Sure it is happening - you've simply mistaken television for a babysitter. I've understood that it's a common mistake nowadays.

      If the bastard networks can't use a little wisdom, then I have no problem with the stompin' foot of government.

      It's not the networks that aren't using their wisdom, it's you who's not using yours.

      BTW. Nice troll, made me answer. Congratulations :). Didn't get modded up, thought (was still at zero as of this writing).

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    19. Re:Max? by severoon · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Hear, hear!

      The V chip makes me mad. This is a minor example of what's happened to cars over the last fifteen years or so. My dad bought a brand new 1989 Dodge Omni for $5900 off the showroom floor. The exact same car, in the year they stopped making that particular model, went for about $10,500.

      What happened? Did inflation nearly halve the value of money in the 90s? Nope...it was nuts like Nader running around proclaiming that every single car has to have child seat anchors and inside-the-truck latch releases and driver and passengar airbags and side curtain airbags and knee baffling for front seat occupants and big, giant foam bumpers that spring out of every car surface if you get within 10 feet of another automobile and floatation devices and an outboard motor in case you run off of a bridge into water (silent trolling motor and bass tank extra).

      Ok, so how many people's lives did we save? And how many inner city breadwinners are now limited to working on bus routes because there's no such thing as a cheap, reliable car anymore? And if people in general are safer with airbags, how come my insurance premiums didn't go down when I got a car with airbags? Wouldn't I have seen that extra insurance savings if the government hadn't interfered and, given the choice, I selected a car with airbags?

      sev

      --
      but have you considered the following argument: shut up.
    20. Re:Max? by uncoveror · · Score: 1

      The V-chip is always on, and has nothing to do with protecting kids from violence. It's not just in Soviet Russia that TV watches you! Read more.

      --
      The Uncoveror: It's the real news.
    21. Re:Max? by FictionPimp · · Score: 1
      My nephew's family has a box that allows them to moderate everything about tv for him. It can block channels, language, even individual shows. It can be done if parents want to take responsibility for their children. Unfortunatly, as we've learned with video games, this country is lacking on good parents.

      When I didn't listen to my parents, I got an ass whoppin. When my best friend next door didn't listen, he got a "time out". Guess which one has his own house and doesn't live with his parents? Well, its not me...I've got a good job, I can pay my bills, and I can take responsibility for my own actions and horrible spelling. Parents need to step up to the plate. If you can't monitor what your child is watching, maybe he doesn't need to watch tv. WHOA!!! WHAT!!! NO TV???!!?!? Yea its possible.

    22. Re:Max? by write_with_numbers · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Freedom and laws are always opposed to one another. The challenge lies in creating just enough laws and taking away just enough freedom to keep citizens from encroaching on the freedoms of other citizens. With that in mind, consider how many of The United States of America's current laws encroach on personal choices.
      Stem cell research bans, drug criminalization laws, censorship and banning of media(books, movies, TV, ect.), and countless other laws restrict choices that the government's jurisdiction should not cover. Also consider the new concept of "Civil Unions" for homosexual couples and remember a policy we once had on another issue where "Seperate but Equal" was our motto.
      Sadly, certain people just can't let others have the freedom to make their own choices, but we should look to the wisdom of those that have tried with all their being to fight for the ideas of true liberty.

      "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
      "Prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation and makes crimes out of things that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded." - Abraham Lincoln
      "Laws do not persuade just because they threaten." -Seneca
      "Censorship, like charity, should begin at home: but unlike charity, it should end there." - Claire Booth Luce
      "To limit the press is to insult a nation; to prohibit reading of certain books is to declare the inhabitants to be either fools or slaves." - Claude Adrien Helvetius

      --
      You teach a child to read and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test. - George W. Bush
    23. Re:Max? by pkarlos_76 · · Score: 1

      How hard well ggg if you haven't noticed there are hundreds of programs on TV, how am I supposed to watch every TV show out there to know if it has inappropiate content. If I did that I would have no time for the kids and the wife and no time for work and no time for school and no time to take care of my household responsibility. I should not be forced to immodestly dressed women and neither should my kids, we should not be forced to listen to crude talk that in the business world is considered very unprofessional. When I say forced I mean not know that it's coming in a show or movie before hand, inorder to know this we have to watch the show first. Personally I rather not have to subject myself to this garbage. Furthermore, if all movies or tvshows provided options to tune this garbage out I would be all for it, however the media (TV and Movie industry give us as a people no CHOICE), therefore until the rest of the public against it get off their butts and fight back like I do, I'll support the FCC regulating it. For now I will have to tell my kids no tv for the most part and let their friends tell them their parents are weird cause I won't let them watch half naked cursing, smoking, and drug addicts men and women on TV.

      P.S. It's always nice to sit down with the family and watch a movie, but these days make it a little hard to do. Especially when the ratings don't give enough information about the shows.

    24. Re:Max? by DAldredge · · Score: 1

      If you don't want all those extra channels DON'T BUY THEM. You have to pay a lot extra to get all those channels so it's your damn fault that they are in your house to begin with.

    25. Re:Max? by ratamacue · · Score: 1

      Personally I never understood the fascination with democracy. People speak of democracy (especially politicians) as if voting is guaranteed to bring about the most free, most fair and just society possible. But in the US, government just keeps getting more expensive and more intrusive, year after year. If this growth rate continues, we're headed straight for absolute oppression. This seems more like proof of democracy's potential for abuse, rather than it's promises of freedom.

      The fact that the majority gets to choose who obtains power does not, in any way, remove the element of power from government. That is the achilles' heel of democracy: Power still exists. IMO, the root of our problems is not that the wrong people have obtained power -- it's that power exists in the first place and is there for the taking. Absolute power will be abused absolutely, as the saying goes.

      The bottom line is individual freedom. I could really care less whether I lived under a democracy or a monarchy -- the bottom line is how much of my natural rights as a human being I will retain.

    26. Re:Max? by plague3106 · · Score: 1

      Um, why does it matter if its on or off by default? There was such a big stink raised about it that everyone knows its there, if you want it, YOU turn it on..its not really that hard..

    27. Re:Max? by plague3106 · · Score: 1

      nd if people in general are safer with airbags, how come my insurance premiums didn't go down when I got a car with airbags? Wouldn't I have seen that extra insurance savings if the government hadn't interfered and, given the choice, I selected a car with airbags?

      Um, why would insurance companies ask if you have them or not if it didn't affect your rate?

    28. Re:Max? by plague3106 · · Score: 1

      First, what I wrote was a joke. My point was that saying shit like "I hope you die a slow and painful death," while probably not to be taken literally, shows you feel a lot of anger and resentment in your life at something. Take a chill pill.

      Just a wild guess, but maybe the anger and resentment is directed to said lazy parents that are making things that, as an adult, he should be able to do, difficult or imposible.

    29. Re:Max? by blankgm · · Score: 1

      I say this about that:

      1. Apparently there are those who think we have no free will, this made apparent by the recent statement to the effect that the reason we have to stop all this is because we are being bombarded daily by the airwaves and that there isn't any way of keeping them out of our homes. I found that quote interesting (though I don't recall the exact phrasing or which Representative made it) because it made me feel as though I missed out on the "in-brain" and "terminally on" receiver that the guy must have been talking about. Where can I pick one up? It sure would save a lot of time for me if I could get my favorite radio/television station while, say, at the beach.
      2. Stand by for the follow-on hearings in which one Congressman will state "I can't define what violence is - but I know it when I see it."
    30. Re: Max? by gidds · · Score: 1
      Ah, but censorship is never about controlling what you can see. It's always about controlling what other people can see.

      Just listen to people complaining about programmes. It's almost never "I was disturbed by this," or "I shouldn't have been allowed to see this," -- it's usually "What if someone with a nervous disposition was watching this?" or "Do you really think this is suitable for children to see?" That last one is the most common, of course. How easy it is to use children as an excuse for what offends us...

      (Not that there aren't some things I think children shouldn't see, or that no-one should see. But I think that's used as an excuse just as often as a valid reason. And it's always interesting to see people project their offence onto others.)

      --

      Ceterum censeo subscriptionem esse delendam.

    31. Re:Max? by Demonspawn · · Score: 1

      Bah.. wanted to mod this article, but I found your comment so insightful yet ignorant at the same time that I had to reply.

      I had a similar upbringing to yours. When I misbehaved, it was the hand or the belt. I learned quick, wised up, and was able to get out on my own not long after I landed a successful job.

      The problem? I've got rugrats of my own now. If I tried to give them a similar upbringing, I'd be in jail for any of the "omfg you DARED to spank your child" laws in existance now.

      And we wonder why most children are so out of control.......

      --Demonspawn

    32. Re:Max? by JAD+lifter · · Score: 1

      The bottom line is individual freedom. I could really care less whether I lived under a democracy or a monarchy -- the bottom line is how much of my natural rights as a human being I will retain.

      That is very true. I am far more concerned about being able to be happy, secure and free than I am concerned about whether we are in a true democracy, a republic, a monarchy or whatever else. An old school republic where I am free to do what I wish with no one bothering me is preferable to any true democracy where I have the ignorant masses telling me that I cannot read Hustler because their religion deams it obscene and they make the laws: mob rule.

    33. Re:Max? by Woody77 · · Score: 1

      The problem with a democracy is that it requires educated voters concerned with the overall welfare of the nation. NOT immature, whining, assholes that just want to pay less taxes and have the government give them everything for free.

      I'd love to see this country go hell-bound libertarian for a while, to the point that all the whiners realize that they have to DO something to protect thier own property, because no one is looking out for them. That would be fricking hilarious.

    34. Re:Max? by FictionPimp · · Score: 1
      guess which one has his own house and doesn't live with his parents? Well, its not me...I've got a good job

      Wow, is screwed that line up. What I ment to say is my friend never learned responsibility. I did. I think our upbringing had a lot to do with how we turned out.

    35. Re:Max? by Hognoxious · · Score: 1
      So, you leave the room, only to come back to see that the damn network is showing a Cops advert.
      I'd imagine that it's their business. It's their TV channel, after all. If you didn't do adequate testing of its contents beforehand, then you are the dumpass.
      Is he, indeed? Are the adverts all listed in the schedules? No they aren't. So it seems you are the 'dumpass', and a creptinous fuckptard to boot.
      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    36. Re:Max? by glitch23 · · Score: 1

      How hard is it to be able to turn the tv on and see some decent television for once? Why should we have to turn it off when we're paying for it? What's wrong with trying to accomodate the biggest audience possible? You still have your PPV and premium movie channels if you don't care about the content you watch. Those channels have all the swearing, nudity, and violence a guy would ever want, right? Garbage in/Garbage out. Some people actually care to watch shows that don't have every other word being the F word and they don't have thrive on nudity in everything they watch either. THen again, we have others, like yourself, who needs things like that and wants everyone else to ignore it.

      --
      this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. -- Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
    37. Re:Max? by nyseal · · Score: 1

      And in the latest news: "Supreme Court rules punishment of criminals violates their civil rights"

      --
      [SIG] Remember Mattel handheld games?
    38. Re:Max? by severoon · · Score: 1

      Not cuz they're dropping rates for people that have them, man. Cuz they have a justification now to raise rates for people that don't.

      In other words, once airbags came along your rate is only affected (negatively) if you don't have 'em...otherwise, no change. I asked my insurance company about this when I got my first airbagged car, and they said, "We spend about as much replacing deployed airbags as we used to on repackaging the brains of accident victims." (I'm paraphrasing.) You'd think repacking people's brains would cost more, but apparently the brains didn't use to deploy as often as airbags now do.

      sev

      --
      but have you considered the following argument: shut up.
    39. Re:Max? by pkarlos_76 · · Score: 1

      It would help if basic cable wasn't polluted with garbage too......and you can't pick and choose individual channels! Fact of life, cable companies package them up in groups. So you get garbage with every package.

    40. Re:Max? by pkarlos_76 · · Score: 1

      "If I did that I would have no time for the kids and the wife and no time for work and no time for school and no time to take care of my household responsibility"

      >... and no time to learn how to write proper >English

      Lemme rephrase just for you;

      If I viewed every single show I would have no time for my wife, kids, work, and school. In addition I would have no time for household responsibility.

      Is that better? :P

  2. Cable/Satilite by Ryan+Stortz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Hey, I thought Cable and Satelite were more or less restriction free on what they can broadcast. They just do some self censoring. It works now, why mess with a good thing?

    --
    Bugs are just features that have been fixed.
    1. Re:Cable/Satilite by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It works now, why mess with a good thing?

      Because there's still violence and in the world, and we all know the world was a vast utopia of love and understanding before TV.
      The world is so evil today because the morals of the elite few has not been crammed down everyone's throats enough! Down with free speech, it only breeds violence!

      Yeah, that was sarcasm for those who haven't realised it.

    2. Re:Cable/Satilite by FleaPlus · · Score: 2, Funny

      After all, if the government doesn't protect and care for our children, who will?

    3. Re:Cable/Satilite by hunterx11 · · Score: 1

      The networks supposedly don't enjoy 1st amendment rights because the airwaves belong to "the people," so it's not really violating their rights. Now it sets a precedent that the government can regulate media--they are making a farce of the very idea of free speech. I consider the justification for regulating the airwaves tenuous, but at least they only get away with it because they have such a rationalization. If they touch cable at all, it is censorship, pure and simple.

      --
      English is easier said than done.
    4. Re:Cable/Satilite by calidoscope · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Hey, I thought Cable and Satelite were more or less restriction free on what they can broadcast.

      Since satellite still uses over the air transmission, they are theoretically less "immune" to regulation of content than cable. A cable-co can block objectionable material from even getting into your house by filtering out the appropriate channels.

      Methinks the broadcasters are now reaping what they've sown - they've been asking for increased regulation in the form of "broadcast flags" and the like - the FCC is now saying "Oh you want more regulation? WE'LL give you more regulation!"

      --
      A Shadeless room is a brighter room.
    5. Re:Cable/Satilite by hachete · · Score: 1

      Hey, it's "Back To The Fifties"*! A show for all family! In this week's episode, it's Sunday and the Ambersons go to church and boy scouts salute the flag.

      But all isn't well. Little Jimmy, played by Jimmy Glowacki, is about to sign up for the Marines, and he gives his True Love, Sheila, played by Blanchard Ryan, an eternity ring. Next stop Baghdad where he wants to hunt Al Qaeda down like the dogs they are. She looks at him starry eyed and *really* doesn't want that job in the city with her best friend Annie (cheekily played by Ann Hecht). Instead, Sheila waits at home reading articles about cleaning fridges in the "Perfect Home".

      Debs Amberson, played by Alicia Silverstone, is the tomboy of the family who wants a motorbike, always in trouble pulling the pigtails of the other girls. Silly thing. In this week's episode she falls in love with Andy Amos, who shows her what a real girl wants.

      Rock Hudson plays the father, Chet Amberson, who likes an occasional drop of whisky and playing with the boys in the park.

      Doris Day is the mother, Wendy Amberson, who always has a little something for the boys around her back door on a Saturday morning.

      h.**

      * Coming from Fox real soon now, your GOP-suckup channel.
      ** Yes, I realise this is a literary skit - unlikely to get anywhere in Slashdot. Oh hum.

      --
      Patriotism is a virtue of the vicious
    6. Re:Cable/Satilite by sLaSh_N_bUrN_(.Y.) · · Score: 1

      You should be moderated "Sad but True."

    7. Re:Cable/Satilite by scumdamn · · Score: 1

      This totally had me fooled until the Rock Hudson part. The Southern Baptist portion of the Religious Right-Wing party would hate to see Chet drinking. I think he should be the one giving something to the boys in their back doors.

    8. Re:Cable/Satilite by Hognoxious · · Score: 1
      Because there's still violence and in the world, and we all know the world was a vast utopia of love and understanding before TV.
      Why must people blame TV for all of society's problems?

      If they just stopped to think for a minute, they'd see that the cause is those intarwebs.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    9. Re:Cable/Satilite by IvyKing · · Score: 1
      Really, imagine a TV with 0 violence, think 1960's

      You obviously weren't watching TV in the 1960's.

      While there were many shows on with zero violence then, there were others with considerable violence - Gunsmoke, Wild Wild West, Bonanza, Combat, etc.

  3. I agree with the FCC... by havaloc · · Score: 5, Funny

    there isn't enough violence for me and we need to regulate it to get more.

    1. Re:I agree with the FCC... by ekidder · · Score: 2, Interesting
  4. They've also looked into censoring web broadcasts by beee · · Score: 5, Informative

    There was a report issued in 2002 to determine whether the FCC had jurisdiction over webcasts (internet TV and the like) and whether or not their current TV regulations would apply. It's pretty interesting and their conclusions are somewhat alarming (especially if you oppose regulation on the internet), but it appears not much came of it. You can read the report here: DOC, PDF, or TXT.

    --


    + Donald Gunth
    + Email: dgunth@quicktek.net
    "Caffeine is the greatest lubricant ever created." -ESR
  5. Next targets by usefool · · Score: 1

    Next month they'll be regulating reality TV and EST (American's biggest bestest craziest funniest americans) on TV, now that's one thing I don't mind.

    --
    Uselessful technology (Air-Charged
  6. Regulation? by Carnildo · · Score: 4, Funny


    I'll shoot the next guy who tries to tell me that violence on TV is a bad thing!

    --
    "They redundantly repeated themselves over and over again incessantly without end ad infinitum" -- ibid.
    1. Re:Regulation? by Anepthia · · Score: 1

      I'll shoot the next guy who tries to tell me that violence on TV is a bad thing! Just as long as you don't do it on a live broadcast.

    2. Re:Regulation? by Alsee · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'll shoot the next guy who tries to tell me that violence on TV is a bad thing!

      Just wondering, are you also planning on fucking the next guy who tries to tell you that sex on TV is a bad thing?

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
    3. Re:Regulation? by Carnildo · · Score: 1

      Depends. Is he cute?

      --
      "They redundantly repeated themselves over and over again incessantly without end ad infinitum" -- ibid.
  7. Does this mean by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    that we can no longer see wartime footage? Highly convenient that such steps should become popular about the time the most American casualties are occurring in this administration's ill-guided war.

    1. Re:Does this mean by Master+of+Transhuman · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      Depends on whether you believe we "got" Saddam.

      Depends on what "got" means (at the risk of sounding like Bill Clinton).

      What I see we "got" is one old man who may or may not be Saddam (his wife says no, and his attorneys say they fear the US may kill him before trial to prevent anyone from knowing for sure).

      What I see we "got" is no oil and 900 (at least) dead troops and thousands of civilian casualties and a $200 billion dollar bill that AIN'T gonna be paid off by Iraq oil revenues despite what Wolfie told you.

      If you'd have paid me one billion dollars, I'd have "got" Saddam for you and made a nine hundred million dollar profit (at least) and nobody but him and some of his cronies would have died.

      Your tax dollars at work.

      Moron.

      --
      Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
    2. Re:Does this mean by op00to · · Score: 1

      Hey, why don't we go take some pictures of the Army coffins arriving at Dover AFB?

  8. Equalising... by cujo_1111 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Finally they are trying to equalise their violence vs nudity vs language levels, going the wrong way though.

    How is it that in the US you can see as many shootings as you want on TV bvut as soon as someone says fuck or bares a breast, the loonies go nuts... I thought seeing people getting killed would harm a kid more than seeing a breast or two.

    --
    If I point out that you are incorrect, making me a foe does not make you any more correct.
    1. Re:Equalising... by Creepy+Crawler · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Go watch 60's and 70's western shows.

      A little racy (for their time), but you see what 'land rights' are, how to deal with squatters, and other problems.. You shoot em. Go watch an episode of Bonanza, there's almost guaranteed someone to die. By gunshot, poisons, natural causes, starvation...

      You're also taught respect, courage, and humility. You were also taught how to be a man (in some aspects). And I dont mean this pig-like "go get me a beer, wench" type.. but someone who stands up for what they believe in.

      Anything on TV now has lost what shred of worthiness it once had. Dont go saying im romanticising about the past.. Tell me that "YOURE FIRED", Big Brother, or some other tipe show on now has anything worth listening?

      --
    2. Re:Equalising... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      When someone says fuck on TV, they said fuck.
      When someone shows their tits on TV, there they were.
      When someone gets shot on a TV show, they did not really get shot. It is a simulation.

      There is a difference. Not that I give a flying shit. I want real sex and war violence on TV 24-7.

    3. Re:Equalising... by Izago909 · · Score: 5, Funny

      You are forgetting that America was founded by prudes. For Gods sake, the Brittish thought they were too uptight.

    4. Re:Equalising... by crimethinker · · Score: 2, Interesting
      How is it that in the US you can see as many shootings as you want on TV bvut as soon as someone says fuck or bares a breast, the loonies go nuts... I thought seeing people getting killed would harm a kid more than seeing a breast or two.

      I have a theory about why violence is deemed "OK" but sex is not. It goes a little like this:

      Most of us are reasonable enough that when we see a bad guy shooting random people on TV, we recognise his behvaiour as completely unacceptable and not something to be copied. I grew up seeing LOTS of gunplay on TV, and I *still* haven't shot anyone, despite carrying a concealed weapon for a number of years now. (That's another story for a different time.)

      However, almost every single teenager in the world is a raging ball of hormones, and seeing T&A on TV only makes them hornier.

      In other words, lots of kids will replicate sexual behaviour they see in movies and on TV, but not many will replicate the violent behaviour they observe.

      From a strictly financial perspective, teenage sex is much more costly than violence. That teenage sex results in teenage pregnancies, which gives us welfare mothers, children growing up in single-parent homes (which, incidentally, has been shown in some studies to correlate with juvenile deliquency, i.e. violence, hmmmmm), and so on. The burden on society is enormous.

      Contrast with teenage violence, particularly where one gang member whacks another. Now, instead of two thugs to put in jail (admit it, they were both headed there eventually anyway), you only have to bury one and put the other one in jail. Jail costs money, and now with only one thug in jail instead of two, you spend less of my tax dollars on prisons.

      Of course, it could also just be the philosophical leanings of the current people in power in the U.S., but I believe that even during the Reign of Darkness (1993-2001), the administration was overly concerned with how much T&A went over the airwaves, a la the V-Chip.

      -paul

      --
      Pistol caliber is like religion: everyone has their favourite, and theirs is the only right choice.
    5. Re:Equalising... by cujo_1111 · · Score: 5, Informative

      However, almost every single teenager in the world is a raging ball of hormones, and seeing T&A on TV only makes them hornier.

      In other words, lots of kids will replicate sexual behaviour they see in movies and on TV, but not many will replicate the violent behaviour they observe.


      Have you seen the nudity that is broadcast in a lot of European countries? They show breasts in commercials, do they have a massive teenage pregnancy problem? No they don't.

      Do you think that it could be possible that restricting nudity could have the opposite effect in controlling teenage pregnancies?

      --
      If I point out that you are incorrect, making me a foe does not make you any more correct.
    6. Re:Equalising... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I have a theory about why violence is deemed "OK" but sex is not.

      I have a theory too: the Americans are just nuts.

    7. Re:Equalising... by gwalla · · Score: 4, Informative

      To be historically accurate, the American attitudes most often called "puritanical" actually had their origin much later, in the Victorian era. Puritanism itself was not, ultimately, that influential in American life--it'd been basically drowned out by secular elements before the Revolutionary War.

      --
      Oper on the Nightstar
    8. Re:Equalising... by Tony · · Score: 1

      Several holes in your theory, most of which have to do with real life not supporting it.

      The US has *always* had a teenage pregnancy problem, compared to the rest of the world. We've also had a fair problem with teen violence, and not just in the last 20 years; it's just that in the last 20 years, it's bled over into the middle- and upper-class families.

      WRT teen pregnancy, there is a direct correlation between condom education and condom use; there is no correlation between abstinance education and abstinance use. To sum up: statistics suggest it is probable that educating teens about sex, and the proper prevention of pregnancy, is much more effective than *not* teaching teens about sex, and *not* teaching them the proper prevention of pregnancy.

      Huh. Go figure.

      Violence in the US has been more of an economic burden than teen pregnancy has *ever* been. Consider the economic effect of violence in urban America, what with the killing of people and all. Not only do housing prices plummet, but evidence suggest that poverty and violence go hand-in-hand; and poverty-stricken areas in the US receive poorer education, leaving the kids with less opportunity, than their wealthier peers. This leads to a wonderful cycle which is hard to break, compounding the economic and social damage done by violence.

      The cost of teen pregnancy is highly exagerated.

      --
      Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
    9. Re:Equalising... by Coryoth · · Score: 3, Interesting

      However, almost every single teenager in the world is a raging ball of hormones, and seeing T&A on TV only makes them hornier.

      In other words, lots of kids will replicate sexual behaviour they see in movies and on TV, but not many will replicate the violent behaviour they observe.


      Which is interesting really. Teens will "replicate the sexual behaviour they see". Now just where do you think they'll see this sexual behaviour? In a more open society that didn't cringe at every minor sighting of breast and keep everything repressed (like, say, Europe) they might see sexual behaviour treated openly and honestly. In a prudish society that tries to hide everything away from the poor children they'll probably have to resort to porn to see much sexual behaviour.

      Hmm, open honest representations, or porn... I wonder which is better to have them trying to replicate?

      It's worth noting that despite their much more open attitudes toward sex Europe has a lower rate of teen pregnancy than the US.

      Jedidiah.

    10. Re:Equalising... by Jameth · · Score: 1

      It's a common misconception that seeing violence is all bad. Seeing realistic violence makes it seem very unappetizing for those who are not already sadistic. However, seeing sex makes it seem very desireable.

      Thus, if you wish to have less sex among children, you don't show it to them, and if you wish to have less violence among children you just make sure it isn't fake-as-all-hell and incredibly glorified.

      Of course, they already prevent anything realistic from being shown because they're far too uptight and possibly stupid, but that doesn't mean the basis of the restrictions is wrong.

    11. Re:Equalising... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      What makes you think that nudity and sex on tv would increase teen pregnancy rates? You state it like it is a known fact.

      That just doesn't make sense. Hiding it doesn't make it go away. Make purchasing and using birth control not be something to be embarassed about and more teenagers might actually use it. Open discussions seem the logical solution to teenage pregnancy.

    12. Re:Equalising... by dvdeug · · Score: 1

      but someone who stands up for what they believe in.

      By shooting the people who disagree. Great.

      Tell me that "YOURE FIRED", Big Brother, or some other tipe show on now has anything worth listening?

      How about the fact that they can deal with things in a civilized manner? There are a bunch of law shows that tells us that vigilante justice is not the way to go and that it frequently hits the wrong person, that right will win in the end if you let the law handle it.

    13. Re:Equalising... by killjoe · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Unfortunately the american psyche got burned with that image of what "being a man" was. Mainly it meant that you killed people and resorted to violence immediately. Is there an episode of any show from the 60s and seventies which did not involve fights and violence? Well maybe but they are pretty rare.

      It's remarkable to me how this worwhip of violence and defining your manhood by how many people you hurt and kill permeated our society to such level that we can't seem to go five years without dropping bombs on somebody or another.

      --
      evil is as evil does
    14. Re:Equalising... by killjoe · · Score: 1

      It's nice how you ignore the hundreds of studies done that show that kids will indeed react to violence seen on TV by acting out in violent ways.

      Sure you didn't shoot anybody yet (I am sure you will eventually) but I bet you have resorted to violence when a non violent response was possible.

      --
      evil is as evil does
    15. Re:Equalising... by Mant · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's worth noting that despite their much more open attitudes toward sex Europe has a lower rate of teen pregnancy than the US.

      Even in Europe, countries like the UK which are much more uptight about sex have much higher teenage pregancy then places like Sweden, which are much more relaxed.

      Maybe its the lure of the forbiden, if you make sex a big deal it becomes more attractive. Or maybe if people are just used to seeing sex, where people use protection, teenages are more likely to emulate that.

    16. Re:Equalising... by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Actually, if you look at the old westerns a bit closer, you'd see that it is the BAD GUYS who "shoot the people who disagree". The Good Guys(tm) seemed to do their shooting in the context of self-defense, and defense of others (you could always count on Our Hero (tm) to blow away the Bad Guy(tm) who was threatening a woman.

      As to your second point ("that right will win in the end if you let the law handle it."), if you believe that, please stop whining about the Microsoft settlement, the last election, and the SCO lawsuits (even if they win).

      Hate to say it, but "the Law" and "Right" are NOT tied together - there are unjust laws everywhere. Hell, you're bitching about a law you feel is unjust.

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    17. Re:Equalising... by Kombat · · Score: 1

      Actually, if you look at the old westerns a bit closer, you'd see that it is the BAD GUYS who "shoot the people who disagree". The Good Guys(tm) seemed to do their shooting in the context of self-defense, and defense of others (you could always count on Our Hero (tm) to blow away the Bad Guy(tm) who was threatening a woman.

      This is rather interesting. It almost seems as if the show were scripted with the intent to give the protaganist an excuse to shoot someone. Like, the show knows that it's viewers will live vicariously through the hero, so if the here has an excuse to shoot someone, then the viewers get to pretend they're shooting someone, but in the context of "self-defense," so it's OK.

      Then you get all these people running around with guns, talking about how it's a "means of last resort," or whatever. They'll talk openly, sterilely (is that a word?), and graphically about what they'd do if they ever had to use their gun in self-defense. But I often wonder if, deep down, these people actually secretely hope that someday, some nameless, faceless punk will give them an excuse to pull their gun and shoot a "bad guy" in self-defense, and thus get that exhilarating rush that they think comes with shooting another human being, but without all the baggage of guilt that comes with it (because, after-all, he was a "bad guy"). It feeds there immature, macho ego.

      I could be way off base here, but it is interesting food for thought, don't you think?

      --
      Like woodworking? Build your own picture frames.
    18. Re:Equalising... by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1
      Not especially.

      TV shows WERE scripted! Some were scripted to produce laughs at certain places, some to make people happy or sad when certain events happened. And some were scripted where the bad guy got his.

      Most likely, though, Westerns were scripted that way because having the Good Guy(tm) behave in an obnoxious manner would make him not a Good Guy(tm). Just as making the Bad Guy(tm) behave nobly would make his badness questionable. Note that there WERE episodes of some Westerns where the Bad Guy(tm) behaved nobly. Usually those were the episodes that were resolved without violence (other than the initial accidental/misunderstood violence that provoked the conflict.

      Violence is part of "entertainment" because it is one of the easiest ways of illustrating vices, virtues, and conflicts. Guns are especially apt for this, since it requires nothing other than a draw, a shot, some fake blood, and a fall. Unlike, say, swords, which look fake as all hell anywhere they are used - sticking a sword all the way through someone was pretty hard to do convincingly back in the day.

      One of the virtues (at least in the USA) is to stand up for oneself, rather than running to mommy (or the nanny state). Considering that you beleive that censorship is bad, you seem to believe you are capable of doing right without running to the Government for aid, correct? The Good Guy(tm) in a Western was much the same way - the Law couldn't protect him (it can't protect you either, according to the US Supremes), so he defended himself. With his fists if possible, with a gun if necessary.

      Today, we seem to believe we are "above" violence. We should let the Law handle things that would have been handled with violence. A commendable attitude. Of course, this discussion, as so many others on /. is about people complaining and whining that the law is wrong/evil/bad/high-cholesterol/whatever. If the Law is such sure protection, why complain about it? Or is the Law only a shield for the individual when the Law is one you personally approve of? If so, there is always room for taking the law into your own hands. With a computer, a CD/DVD burner, a P2P network, a gun. Just depends on the law....

      I own firearms. I don't talk about using them at all, except when I go to the range. Then I usually say something like "I'm going to the range to blow holes in some targets. Anyone want to go along?" I don't expect to need to use one in self defense, though there were a couple times in the last fifteen years when it came tolerably close. I'm not sure I'm mentally prepared to do so, and won't know until and unless the crunch comes (and if anyone who hasn't been in combat tells you otherwise, they're lying to you and themselves). But I AM physically prepared - I have the option of defending myself with the most effective weapon for the purpose, if the situation should come up.

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    19. Re:Equalising... by suprmario · · Score: 1

      theres dozens of quotes on this that go roughly like this:

      Teenagers are horny, they are going to think about sex no matter what images you show them, they dont need instructions or inspiration to lead them to sex.

      While I say censorship is bad, any and all. Decency and common sense should prevail when considering what is put into the prime development zone of many 5-12 year olds.
      The Network broadcasters used to respect informal rules to not broadcast innappropriate material until after 10pm, slowly they have chiseled down the starting times, and pushed the limits of how far they could go in terms of langauge, gore/violence and sexual behavior. I for one have no need to see Andy Sipowitz's(sp?) ass on tv. I dont mind tv sitcoms written with much cleanier and less abrasive langauge than is experienced in daily life.

      This shouldnt be regulated, it should be standard practice in the name of quality and decency. Let the more risque presentations be pushed out on cable. And dont pass laws to restrict what they can and cant show/say.

      Of course the problem is really the people. Average Joe who votes with his remote control, his tivo or some "ratings" system, AJ is voting for sex, violence, and the raciest of programing, trashy (un)reality tv, generally the worst quality programing. Let the race to the bottom continue!

    20. Re:Equalising... by Scarblac · · Score: 1

      In other words, lots of kids will replicate sexual behaviour they see in movies and on TV, but not many will replicate the violent behaviour they observe.

      This is what the Netherlands does: good education that explains sex to kids, free access to anti-conception pills, even anonymously for children as young as 12 or 13 (can't remember). As you say, they will have sex, better prevent the problems that come with it. We have the lowest number of teenage pregnancies per capita in Europe, last I heard, and the number of young people actually having sex is not different from other places.

      It's a bit like our drug laws - some people will smoke pot, let's seperate it from the actually evil stuff by making only pot legal, and besides we can tax it then. I love realism and pragmatism.

      Unfortunately, our current sometimes very boneheaded government (that I even voted for...) seems to want to do away with things like this.

      --
      I believe posters are recognized by their sig. So I made one.
    21. Re:Equalising... by Idarubicin · · Score: 1
      In other words, lots of kids will replicate sexual behaviour they see in movies and on TV, but not many will replicate the violent behaviour they observe.

      Counterargument:

      Kids (and adults) have a biological imperative those raging hormones you mentioned to have sex. It's a healthy and natural desire. One of those things evolution stuck us with.

      Kids (and adults) don't generally physically attack someone or something violently unless a) they feel that they are in danger, or b) they think it's something they can eat. Again, a biological imperative. Randomly acts of violence for no 'productive' purpose were mostly weeded out of our psyche, just because there's no survival advantage to it.

      Does seeing sex/violence on television increase the incidence of either behaviour? Perhaps. If it does, does the notion that it affects one behaviour but not the other hang together? I doubt it. People have always preferred sex to violent confrontation (except in pathological cases). The fact that more young people have sex than commit random acts of violence is both unsurprising and healthy. Further, it is the pattern of behaviour that was observed prior to the development of television, too.

      From a strictly financial perspective, teenage sex is much more costly than violence. That teenage sex results in teenage pregnancies, which gives us welfare mothers, children growing up in single-parent homes (which, incidentally, has been shown in some studies to correlate with juvenile deliquency, i.e. violence, hmmmmm), and so on. The burden on society is enormous.

      Really? Teenage sex is more costly than violence? If I shoot someone in cold blood, then the base costs to society are: fifty thousand dollars for the guy to receive medical treatment (assuming that I shot him somewhere reasonably important); fifty to several hundred thousand dollars for my trial and appeals; anywhere up to a hundred thousand dollars per year to incarcerate me...

      Teen pregnancy, welfare mom--twelve grand per year (in a generous state) plus maybe eight thousand per year in medical coverage. An abuse of statistics is also worth noting here. Yes, children who come from single-parent homes are significantly more likely to be involved in violent acts when they are older. This neglects the observation that the fraction of those children who actually commit violent acts is still quite small.

      Incidentally, the parent is also presuming that teenage sex necessarily leads to teen pregnancy, single parenthood, social degeneracy, and a welfare crack whore mother.

      The actual costs of teenage sex are usually closer to: a few hundred dollars (lifetime total, maximum) for condoms; or a few hundred dollars for birth control pills; or two thousand dollars for an abortion; or a child placed for adoption. Healthy children are very much in demand, by infertile couples in so-called good homes.

      The only obvious conclusion is that we need to replace the violence on television with more sex. I'd rather have kids fucking than kids shooting.

      --
      ~Idarubicin
    22. Re:Equalising... by fulldecent · · Score: 1

      For my yankee edification, please explain how pot is regulated and taxed.

      --

      -- I was raised on the command line, bitch

    23. Re:Equalising... by dvdeug · · Score: 1

      it can't protect you either, according to the US Supremes

      Okay, it makes sense that a paranoid person would trust his gun over the police. Remember to wear your tin-foil.

    24. Re:Equalising... by dvdeug · · Score: 1

      you could always count on Our Hero (tm) to blow away the Bad Guy(tm) who was threatening a woman.

      So another moral of these TV shows was that women are helpless little things?

      "the Law" and "Right" are NOT tied together

      Neither is "what you think is right" and "Right". A vigilante is a danger to everyone, and it is a good thing that these TV shows remind us that vigilantes often kill inoccent people.

      It's easy to bitch about human-made systems; we aren't perfect. But the idea of everyone carrying around a gun and killing any one who commits a crime is much more scary then the problems of the police.

    25. Re:Equalising... by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1

      You've obviously not kept up on your Supremes. Quite a few years back, they ruled that the police have no obligation to protect any member of society from crime (This in response to a lawsuit brought against a police department). The police are reposnsible to protect society as a whole, not any particular member of it.

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    26. Re:Equalising... by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1
      you could always count on Our Hero (tm) to blow away the Bad Guy(tm) who was threatening a woman.

      So another moral of these TV shows was that women are helpless little things?

      Never watched Gunsmoke, I see. Miss Kitty did in a few Bad Guys (tm) in her time. No, most Westerns didn't portray women as "helpless", any more than most detective shows did. Certainly, there were "helpless" women on these shows, but there were also "helpless" men (though we much concede that "helpless" men were described in less flattering terms than "helpless" women were).

      In case you don't remember, Miss Kitty was the local saloonkeeper in Dodge. That also made her the local Madame, but that was quietly overlooked in the show.

      Neither is "what you think is right" and "Right". A vigilante is a danger to everyone, and it is a good thing that these TV shows remind us that vigilantes often kill inoccent people.

      Neither is it true that what YOU think is right is necessarily Right. And, no, the classic Westerns didn't actually show much, if any, killing of innocent people (read: men - within the genre, killing a woman was "right out", unless she were, herself, a serious Bad Guy (tm), and even then it was unlikely). What they tended to show was Bad Guys (tm) killing innocents, and Good Guys (tm) killing/capturing Bad Guys (tm).

      It's easy to bitch about human-made systems; we aren't perfect.

      And yet...I don't bitch about human-made systems much. The Police have, in the occasions I have had reason to deal with them (in four or five jurisdictions), been unfailingly courteous and helpful (with one exception - that particular guy was an ass - but it was 4 in the morning, and most people are asses then). I recognize, however, that that won't help me if someone breaks into my home - they don't patrol close enough to respond in time to make a difference.

      I am, by the way, a big believer in the deterrent value of firearms - I don't believe that using one is at all necessary to prevent a crime, if you are prepared to use one if needed.

      But the idea of everyone carrying around a gun and killing any one who commits a crime is much more scary then the problems of the police.

      Does it ever bother you that the parts of the country with the highest gun ownership rates tend to have the lowest crime rates? Washington DC and nearby Virginia are a classic example.

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    27. Re:Equalising... by Scarblac · · Score: 1

      For my yankee edification, please explain how pot is regulated and taxed.

      The current laws are pretty absurd, because we can't really legalize it 100% without getting into trouble with many other countries, so we have a half-assed system.

      In practice, so-called "coffee shops" sell marihuana/cannabis to people over 18, and this is tolerated and totally accepted. Amsterdam (the capital) is famous for it, but it's the same everywhere else in the Netherlands.

      If any hard drugs are ever found (or alcohol is sold) in a coffee shop, it's in deep trouble, and will probably be closed.

      Legally, the shops aren't actually allowed. That's why they're "tolerated". Really legalizing them would have many benefits, but would be a problem with, for instance, France, who hates our soft drugs policy. As said, in practice selling cannabis is basically legal, but buying it is illegal for these shops! Especially growing (in huge quantities) is illegal. It's an absurd situation.

      The shops are taxed via normal VAT (which is as high as 19.5% around here).

      The idea is that people will smoke cannabis, that this is mostly harmless anyway, and that bad effects come mostly from combination with alcohol (selling both isn't allowed) and from later "upgrading" to hard drugs because they would be sold by the same dealers (but not in coffee shops).

      And you know, it just works. For the record, I don't smoke at all, so no cannabis either.

      --
      I believe posters are recognized by their sig. So I made one.
    28. Re:Equalising... by glitch23 · · Score: 1

      How is it that in the US you can see as many shootings as you want on TV bvut as soon as someone says fuck or bares a breast, the loonies go nuts... I thought seeing people getting killed would harm a kid more than seeing a breast or two.

      Any particular reason why anyone who doesn't agree to your low level of standards is a looney? By the way, "because they are" isn't a valid response.

      --
      this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. -- Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
    29. Re:Equalising... by glitch23 · · Score: 1

      Have you seen the nudity that is broadcast in a lot of European countries? They show breasts in commercials, do they have a massive teenage pregnancy problem? No they don't. Do you think that it could be possible that restricting nudity could have the opposite effect in controlling teenage pregnancies?

      Is that the only causality you can come up with? I'm sure there are many other factors affecting teen pregnancy other than what is on tv. Is sex ed. taught in schools w/o parental consent or knowledge? Are condoms given out in schools? Do family members talk with each other more about sex? Are parents more willing to get their daughters birth control? Are kids more apt to engage in anal or oral sex rather than intercourse? Life isn't that simple so don't pretend to make it be.

      --
      this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. -- Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
    30. Re:Equalising... by glitch23 · · Score: 1

      Why should a teenager care whether a naked body is treated openly and honestly in a sexual manner? They are going to engage in sex no matter how it is presented so long as they want sex. You think they care about loving a person first? Sounds like easy access to porn is the problem. Fix that and you won't even have to show the meaningful side of sex in order to counterbalance the hedonistic side of it. Then they won't have anything to try to replicate. It doesn't mean they won't have sex but it might mean they won't replicate it since they won't be seeing it.

      --
      this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. -- Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
    31. Re:Equalising... by dvdeug · · Score: 1

      Does it ever bother you that the parts of the country with the highest gun ownership rates tend to have the lowest crime rates? Washington DC and nearby Virginia are a classic example.

      Correlation does not imply causation. Washington DC also has a higher population density and more poor people than nearby Virginia does. If you want to avoid crime, go where it's cold; the Northwest Territories (Canada), Alaska, and especially Antartica have very little crime.

    32. Re:Equalising... by dvdeug · · Score: 1

      (This in response to a lawsuit brought against a police department).

      Because they didn't feel it would be good for thousands of people to start suing police departments. As to what police departments do, it is irrelevant; as to what they are supposted to do, I doubt there are many city councils or police departments that even noticed it. It isn't a justification to take the law into your own hands.

    33. Re:Equalising... by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1
      Didn't work too well, then. People sue Police Departments all the time. Just not for failure to protect them, since that's the one thing they CANNOT sue for.

      By the by, self-defense is NOT "taking the law into your own hands". Again, read up on your Supremes.

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    34. Re:Equalising... by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1
      Metairie has the same population density, and much the same demogaphics as New Orleans. They are about the same size. New Orleans has a good year when it has only 200 murders. Metairie has a bad year when it has 20.

      Are you suggesting that cities intrinsically have high crime rates? Seems an odd claim for what is supposed to be the centerpost of our civilization.

      Or are you suggesting that poverty causes crime? I have heard that belief espoused before, but thought that it had been debunked by counterexample - for instance, rural Mississippi is one of the poorer parts of the country - it's crime rate is no more than national average, last I checked.

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    35. Re:Equalising... by fulldecent · · Score: 1

      Cool, thanks. Do they actually check ID? It's interesting that they pay the VAT on it and keep the sales on the books. That is also an interesting way of looking at it, with having "dealers" that wont let you "upgrade".

      --

      -- I was raised on the command line, bitch

  9. I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Bryan+Ischo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ... for me and for my kids. Better yet, don't censor the airwaves at all, just require a very thorough, detailed, and precise rating system, and enforce it. Then parents can decide what is suitable for themselves to view as well as their children, and nobody needs to step on anyone else's right to broadcast what they want or watch what they want.

    Also, I think that any program whose audience is intended to be children, should not be allowed to have commercials. This would protect kids from commercial interests and would have the side benefit of reducing the amount of insipid commercial programming that wastes kids' time and rots their brains and bodies (because producing such programming would no longer be profitable, and all that kids would be left with would be educational programming on PBS).

    Of course, there's nothing more important than responsible parenting, and that should be the first line of defense for children. But just because we want parents to be responsible doesn't mean that we shouldn't give them all the tools possible to be such, and provide as much of a safety net as possible for those kids whose parents are not responsible.

    1. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by LiquidMind · · Score: 5, Insightful

      having moved to the states from germany, i was amazed at how the violence to sex content ratio is so backwards. i remember watching a commercial during germany's prime-time tv shows, and they'd advertise some shampoo where you'd see the lady bare-chested and everything....and it wasn't a big deal.
      i think people are very hard-up about anything regarding sex in this country. remember that nipple slip during the supperbowl? wow, mothers of America were yelling bloody murder! i read some email that was sent to CNN from a concerned mother who stated that her child's life will now forever be changed because of that scene.
      I'm not surprised that we see so many sex-related crimes in this country, it seems that people have been so shunned from sex while they were growing up, that when they're old enough to do whatever they want, they go all psycho....
      I honestly think that teaching your kids about sex and showing them that it's a very natural part of human life is not a bad thing (TM).

      --
      This sig contains repetition and redundancy.
    2. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by extrarice · · Score: 1

      [quote]
      Better yet, don't censor the airwaves at all, just require a very thorough, detailed, and precise rating system, and enforce it. Then parents can decide what is suitable for themselves to view as well as their children, and nobody needs to step on anyone else's right to broadcast what they want or watch what they want
      [/quote]

      I think that's the way to go. However, most parents in this country don't want to have any responsibility with their kids. They would rather have the govt. play babysitter and take care of everything. So, if the law makers don't do anything, Joe and Jane Sixpack will complain about the crap on TV that their kids are watching, instead of monitoring what's being watched, making it a family thing, and otherwise taking an interest in the growth and development of their kids.

      --
      "Jesus saves, but everyone else in a 10 foot radius takes full damage from the fireball."
    3. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by garcia · · Score: 1

      How about YOU as a parent (I assume) do YOUR job and pay attention to what's on TV and decided for YOURSELF what is best for you and your children?

      The FCC was not meant to become a censorship committee deciding what is decent and indecent for the public. They control the fucking airwaves. We shouldn't be allowing them to continue their bullshit.

    4. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Triumph+The+Insult+C · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Better yet, don't censor the airwaves at all, just require a very thorough, detailed, and precise rating system, and enforce it.

      NO! This is the wrong approach. The gov't should not do any of this. The FCC should be there to make sure Company A's radio freqs don't mess with Company B's radio freqs, and end there.

      The gov't saying what's wrong and what's right, what's too sexually explicit and what's not, is completely wrong.

      If soccer mom's are afraid that their kid might see something bad on TV, they can: A) don't let the kid watch TV or B) let the kid watch and explain it was wrong. having the gov't rate what is right and wrong is just flat-out wrong. what's next? the FCC says a Christian radio show isn't indecent, but a Jewish one is?

      Keeping children safe is the responsibility of the parent, not the gov't.

      --
      vodka, straight up, thank you!
    5. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by garcia · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I honestly think that teaching your kids about sex and showing them that it's a very natural part of human life is not a bad thing (TM).

      I understand that you haven't been in this country very long but please try to remember that we are under a conservative, religious, republican regime that believes in creationism, teaching abstinence instead of condom usage, covering a CLASSICAL ART statue because it is nude, and ignoring the seperation of State and Church.

      Of course we have to be up in arms about a boob. Our leaders tell everyone how great it is to be scared of it.

    6. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Bryan+Ischo · · Score: 1

      Please read my comments again. I said that I think that broadcasters should be required to accurately rate and describe the content of their programs. Then it should be up to parents to use the tools available to them to limit what their children watch.

      The airwaves are a public resource. The public has every right to place restrictions on how it is used for the greater good of the owners of that resource (which is, of course, the public). I see no problem with the FCC enforcing very thorough and complete ratings on all broadcast programming. And it's not censorship either, in fact I said that the government should NOT censor what is on the airwaves at all, it should just require broadcasters to be up front about what is being aired so that parents can decide ahead of time what is appropriate for their children and what isn't.

    7. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by SageMusings · · Score: 2, Informative

      It was Puritan society that established the first European foothold on this Continent. Are you surprised at how prudish American culture is? Why, it's an institution in the United States.

      Guess what, mothers of America? Your child has already seen and probably performed many of the things you feel so abhorent. I mean how many kids are bussed to the local museum to see statues, paintings, and [gasp] dare I say nudity? And those Bible stories? Hey, didn't Abraham schtoop his maid and was blessed for it? That's Sunday school 101.

      --
      -- Posted from my parent's basement
    8. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by otprof · · Score: 1
      Then parents can decide what is suitable for themselves to view as well as their children, and nobody needs to step on anyone else's right to broadcast what they want or watch what they want.

      I agree with you completely in principle. There is one issue here that I haven't seen anyone mention: The level of violence and other objectionable material in network commercials for shows coming on later. If I am a parent who wants to watch a sporting event with my young son, I end up exposing him to whatever is on the show later, which I would never let him see.

      As far as I'm concerned you can have your HBO and your late night shows of every variety. But, there has to be someone who will tell the networks that they can't show dead bodies and murders taking place and people arguing and fist fighting during the baseball game. [Please no Red Sox jokes :-)]

    9. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Bryan+Ischo · · Score: 1

      [quote]
      If soccer mom's are afraid that their kid might see something bad on TV, they can: A) don't let the kid watch TV or B) let the kid watch and explain it was wrong. having the gov't rate what is right and wrong is just flat-out wrong. what's next? the FCC says a Christian radio show isn't indecent, but a Jewish one is?
      [/quote]

      Apparently, you agree with me, even though you think you don't.

      I said that the government should enforce very detailed, thorough, and complete ratings for programming. Then parents will have the ability to *control what kids watch without even having to be in front of the TV*. They can just select a level (or hopefully a more complex and detailed set of criteria for deciding what the kids can watch) and for those times when they are not around (which of course should be few and far between - responsible parenting and all that), their decision can be carried out by the dumb slave that is the rating system electronics in the TV.

      Currently we have something kind of like this; the FCC mandated V-Chip ratings but they are very incomplete, very granular, not detailed, and not really enforced. We just need a much more thorough ratings system and a more sophisticated ratings delivery mechanism (more detailed digital data encoded in the broadcast), "smarter" TV circuitry, and someone willing to force this rating system on all broadcasters.

      Then we'll have the best of all worlds: parents who don't give a shit can let their kids watch what they want, and those that care have the most complete toolset possible for restricting their children's viewing habits, for those times when (GOD FORBID!!!) they should not be around to explicitly control the remote.

    10. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by voidptr · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Please. Broadcast television standards have been in place since the first commercial station got a license.

      This administration may be conservative prudes, but so was everyone else ever at the wheel of the FCC, and blaming existing decency standards on them is unjustified.

      --
      This .sig for unofficial government use only. Official use subject to $500 fine.
    11. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by garcia · · Score: 1

      I said that I think that broadcasters should be required to accurately rate and describe the content of their programs. The airwaves are a public resource. The public has every right to place restrictions on how it is used for the greater good of the owners of that resource (which is, of course, the public).

      Sorry but you are not making sense. The FCC is not the public. They SHOULD NOT be allowed to do what you propose.

      Parents should be able to decide for themselves (without intervention from a government regulated third party) what is acceptable.

    12. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Denyer · · Score: 4, Funny
      i read some email that was sent to CNN from a concerned mother who stated that her child's life will now forever be changed because of that scene.

      I assume she either never breastfed (in itself lacking wisdom) or is simply a fucking hypocrite.

      Come to think of it, families are evidence of sex. Perhaps we should ban those on TV, too.

      --
      Ph-nglui mglw'nafh Gates M'dna wgah'nagl fhtagn.
    13. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Bryan+Ischo · · Score: 1

      In a democracy, the government IS the public. It is made up of public citizens, selected publicly, with the sole purpose of putting into effect the common will of the public.

      The FCC is a branch of the government.

      Therefore, the FCC *IS* the public, and SHOULD be allowed to do what I propose.

      Parents ARE able to decide for themselves what is acceptable, but they need to KNOW what it is they are deciding about before they can make the decision. A thorough and complete ratings (and description!) system for all programming would simply allow parents to KNOW what it is they are deciding about and make MORE INFORMED decisions.

      Parents should also be allowed to decide that anything broadcast over the airwaves is perfectly acceptable for their kids to watch, in which case they would simply IGNORE the ratings that I have described.

    14. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Rimbo · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Exactly. The Puritan tradition remains. It went into remission partially during the 18th and early 19th century, but came back full force with the rise of Fundamentalist Christianity in the late 19th and early 20th century. It then went into remission again in the 1920s, but the Depression and WW2 helped to get it re-established so that sexual moral standards were very oppressive during the 50's and 60's, when TV became ubiquitous.

      Such a sensible post from someone who considers me a foe. Makes me wonder what I said to piss you off.

    15. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by SageMusings · · Score: 1

      There are no elected officials to the FCC. Everyone is either appointed or a career bureacrat(sp?). Therefore our voice and ability to effect any change within the FCC is severly diluted.

      I was never a fan of auctioning spectrum space to the highest bidder. But the FCC thought that would necessarily equate to the best companies with the best resources able to make "proper" use of that finite resource. Was the voting public consulted? Hell, we weren't even informed. Honestly, your elected representative likely does not know of the practice or even what a radio spectrum is.

      When our founding fathers said REPUBLIC, they really meant it. We can directly influence only a vanishingly small percentage of our Government. Sure, it simplifies things but it also seems to be perceived as a tacit understanding that the public does not know what is best for it.

      If the FCC goes too deeply into issues such as censorship, I would demand better representation in that agency.

      --
      -- Posted from my parent's basement
    16. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Thing+1 · · Score: 1, Insightful
      i think people are very hard-up about anything regarding sex in this country

      Nothing more needs be said, really. We mutilate our male children's genitals and recoil in horror when told that African tribes cauterize their female children's genitals.

      Neither society uses anesthesia.

      I may seem like I'm ranting, but one reason given for circumcision was to cut down on masturbation. Like feeling good is a bad thing! And it doesn't seem to work, but it sure does make us crazy about sex.

      --
      I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
    17. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by tekunokurato · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I completely agree with the idiocy of american puritanism. But, just one point: the "nipple slip" (she was actually wearing a pastie) was probably more objectionable than it would usually be because of the inexpectedness of it. That is, if you don't want your kids to see that, you can usually pay attention to ratings and have certain content expectations for regular TV, especially sports. But when the content is rated one way and turns out to be different, it's very difficult to "protect" one's children, so they almost have a point.

    18. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Bryan+Ischo · · Score: 1

      Well, I thought that we were having an interesting discussion but since you've brought it down to name-calling, there's no longer any point.

    19. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Bull999999 · · Score: 1, Troll

      I suppose it'll be a much better system under the liberals who's motto is "We believe in free speech as long as it doesn't offend anyone". I suppose those liberals will be happy now that SATA will get rid of "master/slave" term us racist geeks use with our racist computer devices.

      --
      1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d
    20. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by aXis100 · · Score: 1

      just require a very thorough, detailed, and precise rating system, and enforce it

      I think Australia does a pretty good job of this. Most regular shows are G or PG rated, but when any slightly adult content show is due to appear, there are a few seconds taken for an informative warning/rating screen.

      Eg, the following program contains:
      * Occasional coarse language
      * Nudity
      * Adult themes
      etc...

    21. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by DAldredge · · Score: 1

      Bush is about as Conservative as Ozzy is, look at what he DOES not what he SAYS and you will see this too. As for his religion, well it appears to be an act as his admin gets way more worked up about sex/porn/nudity they they do over the jailing/beating/executing of Christians and other religious groups in China.

    22. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Baseclass · · Score: 1
      because producing such programming would no longer be profitable, and all that kids would be left with would be educational programming on PBS

      No, you'd be left with shows like The Mattel & Mars Bar Quick Energy Chocobot Hour.

      --
      ^^vv<><>BA
    23. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Fulcrum+of+Evil · · Score: 1

      Nothing more needs be said, really. We mutilate our male children's genitals and recoil in horror when told that African tribes cauterize their female children's genitals.

      The difference is that I, as a circumcised male can still enjoy sex.

      --
      "We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
    24. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Triumph+The+Insult+C · · Score: 1

      Not really. I disagree with you about a "ratings system for programming." There doesn't need to be yet another thing for the gov't to use to tell us what's wrong and what is right. This technology was available when I was a kid. It was called (for the first offense) "Mom says don't watch that TV show." The second offense was no TV, at all, for X days/weeks/months.

      Basically, this is a societal problem, not a technological one.

      Then we'll have the best of all worlds: parents who don't give a shit can let their kids watch what they want...

      I fail to see how a parent not giving a shit what their kids do is a 'best world'

      --
      vodka, straight up, thank you!
    25. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Synonymous+Yellowbel · · Score: 2, Insightful
      I disagree with you about a "ratings system for programming." There doesn't need to be yet another thing for the gov't to use to tell us what's wrong and what is right. This technology was available when I was a kid. It was called (for the first offense) "Mom says don't watch that TV show." The second offense was no TV, at all, for X days/weeks/months.

      Look buddy, whether you like it or not, a vast proportion of kids in modern society have parents without the time to police their every move. Why not introduce perfectly feasible technology to help parents do their job as they see fit? The suggested scheme isn't the government telling us what's right or wrong - it's the government telling us the content of particular shows. It is the parent who decides whether that content is "right" or "wrong" for their child.

      steve

    26. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by mcelrath · · Score: 1
      Close but wrong. Simply not watching TV is a poor choice these days.

      There is a significant demand in the market for parents to know which programs have sexually explicit content, violent content, cuss words, etc. This demand should be creating products and ratings from industry so that parents can enforce what their kids watch. Parents will pay more for a TV that can filter violence.

      The reason they don't do this currently is that the government is already doing it for them. This is not an appropriate thing for the government to be doing. The free market can take care of this with fewer drawbacks than letting the government do it.

      -- Bob

      --
      1^2=1; (-1)^2=1; 1^2=(-1)^2; 1=-1; 1=0.
    27. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by aardvarkjoe · · Score: 1

      Insightful? Try offtopic. Idiot moderators.

      --

      How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
    28. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by beakburke · · Score: 1

      Well for starters it makes cleaning that region of the body much easier. Of course with modern hygene it's not as important as it used to be. I'm sorry, but removing skin is not the same as hacking off someone's genitals.

      --
      ----- Question authority, but not ours. Hate the man, but we're not him.
    29. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Chris+Carollo · · Score: 1
      The gov't saying what's wrong and what's right, what's too sexually explicit and what's not, is completely wrong.

      If soccer mom's are afraid that their kid might see something bad on TV, they can: A) don't let the kid watch TV or B) let the kid watch and explain it was wrong.
      Saying that something is "too sexually explicit" is a value judgement. Saying that something is "sexually explicit" is not. Presuming there's a commonly accepted standard, which there surely would be, it's not difficult to make a value-judgement-free ratings system.

      I mean, do you potentially want extreme violence or hardcore porn just a channel click away from Sesame Street and Mister Rogers? That seems absurd to me -- of course you want to control what's available to your children. There's no reason TV viewing has to be an all-or-nothing situation.

      If you're okay with the government regulating what frequences stations get, why is regulating that they accurately provide information on the content they're going to be showing such a big deal? It would help responsible parents do their job and yet still retain free speech rights as well as allowing adults to enjoy entertainment unencumbered by children's standards. Sounds like a win all the way around.
    30. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 1
      This poster is a troll. Male circumcision in America is something that is supposed to be performed in a safe, clean, hospital environment. Female circumcision in other countries are brutal endeavors which are not held to the same medical standards of America. On top of that, males who are circumcised are still able to feel pleasure just fine, as opposed to females who are circumcised. Let me ask you this, if its such a bad thing, why is it that there are many people each year who go in voluntarily when they are adults to get their foreskin removed?

      --
      Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
    31. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by killjoe · · Score: 1

      Nobody enforeced those laws before and this administration increased the fines by an order of magnitude. So don't pretend that somehow this administration is no more prudish and other.

      Both the president and the attorney general are fundamentalists.

      --
      evil is as evil does
    32. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Frank+T.+Lofaro+Jr. · · Score: 1

      what's next? the FCC says a Christian radio show isn't indecent, but a Jewish one is?

      Nah, the gov't will declare both the Christian and Jewish shows indecent. After all, the gov't is run by the Freemason/Illuminati/Satanist cabal. :)

      --
      Just because it CAN be done, doesn't mean it should!
    33. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Snover · · Score: 1

      Poor, poor uninformed, brainwashed man.

      The 'bacteria' to which you refer is actually 'smegma' which is a naturally occurring lubricant. You lose #1.
      The 'unecessary' [sic] layer of skin is not only very sensitive sexual tissue, it is also used as a sheathing device to prevent the raw rubbing of skin against the sides of the vagina, making for a very painful experience for the woman. (With the foreskin, the head of the penis is free to move in and out without any extra friction.) You lose #2.
      It doesn't stop you from feeling good, but it makes it a lot harder and you don't feel as much. Circumcision removes 20-80% of sexually sensitive tissue. You lose #3.
      NO medical organizations support routine circumcision for any reason. You lose #4.

      Hey, it's your skin. Just don't force your children into it. Once they're 18, they can feel free to lop if off if they want, but forcing sexual mutilation on someone who is still young, impressionable, and in the case of infants COMPLETELY UNABLE TO DEFEND ITSELF is disgusting.

      Thanks for listening to reason.

      --

      [insert witty comment here]
    34. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Xrikcus · · Score: 1

      0% of your kids who had no foreskins had problems with their foreskins? I think that part was stating the obvious ;)

    35. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by PsiPsiStar · · Score: 1

      I know circumcision cuts down on transmission of HPV. I'm not sure what else.

      --

      ___
      It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
    36. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by jez9999 · · Score: 1

      More anecdotal evidence:

      I'm male, and have a foreskin, and have never had any serious foreskin problems. And I'm damn glad I'm NOT circumcised.

      See how useless anecdotal evidence is?

    37. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by forgotmypassword · · Score: 1

      Anecdotal Evidence: Someone in my family got an infection after their circumcision and ganegreen rotted off most of their penis. Nobody got circumcised after that and those persons are AOK and have not had any trouble with hygene or tight foreskins.

      Having foreskin problems is fairly uncommon and easily treatable. Having really bad infections after circumcision is probably less common in a place like America. Death from circumcision is even less common but does happen.

      And, being an avid non-circumcist(?), she takes more time teaching them cleanliness, and still has problems.

      She might be doing some cleaning that you aren't supposed to. For one thing, exposing certain parts to dirty bath water is a very, very bad idea. Those parts can stay unexposed, and don't need to be cleaned like that.

    38. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by forgotmypassword · · Score: 1

      "Smegma is probably the most misunderstood, most unjustifiably maligned substance in nature. Smegma is clean, not dirty, and is beneficial and necessary. It moisturizes the glans and keeps it smooth, soft, and supple. Its antibacterial and antiviral properties keep the penis clean and healthy. All mammals produce smegma. Thomas J. Ritter, MD [co-author of Say No to Circumcision] underscored its importance when he commented, 'The animal kingdom would probably cease to exist without smegma.'" ("Where Is My Foreskin? The Case Against Circumcision," by Paul M. Fleiss, MD, Mothering, Winter 1997)

    39. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by TiggsPanther · · Score: 1

      Notice that the Parent post didn't necessarily say that it should be the FCC doing the regulating.

      Every single time something comes up about TV-censorship in the US people always spout "The FCC shoudl just regulate frequencies and leave it at that."
      Which is a fair point, but not always the appropriate response to every post/article.

      Yes, it looks like the FCC are the wrong people to be doing this. It's way outside their original spec, and not really what they should be doing.

      Yes, I'm wary about Government (any country's government) having much direct say in what is and isn't appropriate for kids/people to watch.

      Plus, to the "They should check what their kinds are watching" brigade, this is what the Parent was even saying.
      (emphasis mine)

      Better yet, don't censor the airwaves at all, just require a very thorough, detailed, and precise rating system, and enforce it. Then parents can decide what is suitable for themselves to view as well as their children, and nobody needs to step on anyone else's right to broadcast what they want or watch what they want.

      I agree with this. I don't necessarily like that it's necessary, but unfortunately with modren societies something like this is necessary.
      And better Ratings than Censorship. (Although here in the UK sometimes it's hard to see the line between the two...)

      But if before a program, or in the TV Guide in the papers, or the EPG there was a clearly stated rating stating what content should be expected - and that the information was accurate and trustworthy - then no censorship would be needed. Any people complaining about what their "Precious Little Angels" saw could be pointed several examples of where the program was clearly labelled and have their complaint laughed out.

      Yes, parents should have final say in what their kids should watch. However, as the Parent rightly points out, they need the information to make an informed choice.

      Having said all that, I don't think it's the FCC's job to do any of that. And I also don't think it's anything that should be closely controlled by politics.
      Some sort fo regulatory body does need to exist, but one that is truly seperate from the government. And one where complaints from politicians have equal say (but no more) than anyone else's.

      --
      Tiggs
      "120 chars should be enough for everyone..."
    40. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1
      Also, I think that any program whose audience is intended to be children, should not be allowed to have commercials.

      What?? You want to CENSOR TV? Forbidding commercials is just as much censorship as forbidding sex or violence.

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    41. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1

      Incorrect. Those laws were enforced in the early days of TV. Later on, as what passed for civilization here became more permissive/relaxed, they were increasingly ignored.

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    42. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by pommiekiwifruit · · Score: 1
      Perhaps because the entire German film industry is based on phrases like "das was so geile!" and "ich spritzen!".

      Well apart from Whale Rider which they gave some money to for having a german character in it. Can you name any other (non-pr0n) german films?

    43. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by FictionPimp · · Score: 1
      No medical organization supports the removal of wisdom teeth

      I am sure now that you are a troll. My wisdom teeth grew in sideways along the jaw bone. This caused horrible pain and shifted my teeth forward. Removing them fixed my long term migrane issues as well as allowed more room inbetween my teeth which made them easier to clean.

    44. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by ratamacue · · Score: 1
      just require a very thorough, detailed, and precise rating system, and enforce it

      So you are against "outright" censorship, yet you still propose more government as a "solution"? (What exactly was the problem again?)

      I don't want or need your rating system. I barely watch TV at all. Why should I be forced to support this expansion of government?

    45. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by ratamacue · · Score: 1
      Keeping children safe is the responsibility of the parent, not the gov't.

      I agree completely, and I'd note that people who propose government as the "solution" to this "problem" are really proposing to free themselves of personal responsibility and dump it on everyone else. I guess it's easier to cry to the nanny state than it is to admit you haven't done your job.

    46. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by garcia · · Score: 1

      I didn't post any of that, just so you know.

    47. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by killjoe · · Score: 1

      Right. Now this administration has slid back the advance of civilization and takes us to more religous fundamentalist time. They also seem hellbent on rolling back civil liberties too.

      --
      evil is as evil does
    48. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1
      I am indifferent to TV violence or sex, since I don't watch TV, and haven't for years.

      However, allowing sex/violence on TV is NOT a sign of the advance of civilization. Nor is it a sign of the decline of civilization. Nor is it much related to religion (the people opposed to sex on TV are often religious, the people opposed to violence are often not).

      And I haven't seen this administration to be more hellbent on rllingback civil liberties than any in the past. Frankly, they all do this to the extent they can get away with it.

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    49. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Hognoxious · · Score: 1
      Taking off the male foreskin isn't really all that harmful (there are benefits and drawbacks )

      Not afterwards there aren't.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    50. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by plilja · · Score: 1

      Oddly enough, the young-kids programing on the Disney Channel does not have any commercials during the shows and only has commercials for other programming between the shows. I don't know how they do it, but they put out a very high quality product as well.

    51. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Hognoxious · · Score: 1
      Can you name any other (non-pr0n) german films?
      Das Boot. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082096/
      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    52. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Hognoxious · · Score: 1
      people arguing and fist fighting during the baseball game. [Please no Red Sox jokes :-)]
      Of course not; you go to an ice hockey game for that.
      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    53. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by LiquidMind · · Score: 1

      I agree that there aren't many german films that do not follow that genre. American movies made up for most of our viewing pleasure...
      but just to proove a point, try 'Run Lola Run', starring the chick from the bourne identity (and its sequel).

      --
      This sig contains repetition and redundancy.
    54. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by n0d3 · · Score: 1

      I won't go into all o fthe above and start some major discussion but two things you should think about:

      1) In europe only people with religious 'issues' do this to their boys. Nobody else really gets circumisized. So think muslims and jews really.

      Can't say about africa or asia though, But I doubt that asians do it. As it did originate as a religous thing to do. (i belive it is said to return something to god or some bs)

      2) I bet you chop off your hands too, probably put some pipes up your ass and removed all your teeth aswell, cos you clean all those every day don't ya. Is it so strange to have to clean your penis as well or is it supposed to be self cleaning while the rest of your body "needs" cleaning. If so, then really don't wanna see your ass, pewww. Or worse, what about all those girls, explains why american girls are always so stinky. I thought it was cause they are so fat, but now I know, american's don't wash! [/sarcasm]
      Not cleaning causes infections, we know this from all parts of our bodies. The penis is still part of our body.

      To somewhat re-topic this off-topic part, the whole circumsition thing in the US is caused by the puritianism you guys got going on over there. I understand however how you feel the need to defend yourself as it's something you have been brought up with. But the parent was right on all his points.

    55. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by n0d3 · · Score: 1

      Funny that you mention KY, lubricant's seem to be big in the US, as it's obviously very much so required : )

      And you don't want to teach him how to clean his penis ... prude american lol! Again, you want some hill billy kid with bad teeth, a smelly ass and dirty stinky 'athlete's feet'

      Babies don't use their penis? they don't pee? Heh .. ok so even if they don't 'use' it, that doesn't mean it's not sensitive to pain. Just because they can't tell you that your bloody insane to do that to them, that they can't tell you to not do it, and they can't tell you afterwards cos they have forgotten doesn't make it not hurt or maybe be bad psychological or something. Maybe that's why american's are thought to be so crazy ;)

      And how can you say sex isn't better? How could you possibly ever know if all you know is to be circumzised. Only people that can really talk about it is people that have had it done afterwards, and what I've heard from people uptil now was that their sex life got better because they could make love longer, as it was less sensitive. (I dunno if that's a good or a bad thing, I'm sure you can make it last longer without de-sensitizing it)

      Reminds me about something I saw on Nip/Tuck ... the kid wanted to circumzise himself because his girlfriend was 'affraid' of his uncircumsized penis ... social pressure, because (in america) it's 'normal' to be cut. Turned out the chick was a lesbian, heh. He regretted it afterwards, I think.

    56. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by glitch23 · · Score: 1

      You might have forgotten this but nothing stops you from contacting your state reps. and telling them what is right and wrong and having it used for topics of discussion....just a thought..instead of whining and leaving responsiblity up to only 1 side of the situation. Companies have responsiblity too..or at least they used to until people like you decide they don't.

      --
      this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. -- Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
    57. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by killjoe · · Score: 1

      The only reason to oppose nudity or sex is for religious reasons. Civilization is pretty much defined as a movement away from superstition and towards rationality and science. This administration has rejected science in favor of religious fundamentalism everytime it had to make that choice.

      Also I don't think you'd find too many people who think that administration has not rolled back more rights then any other in recent history.

      --
      evil is as evil does
    58. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by forgotmypassword · · Score: 1

      ???

      Researchers have known that smegma doesn't cause penile cancer since the 1940's-1960's. That's an old myth.

      You can look that information up on cancer.org, aka the American Cancer Society. They give a short blurb in the risk factor section.

    59. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by Thing+1 · · Score: 1
      Hi sir,

      I apologize if I appeared to be trolling; I was most certainly not (although it did generate a bit of healthy (and not so) discussion).

      I firmly believe that one of the causes (or perhaps effects) of our insane society is routine circumcision. I witnessed my Jewish friend's child's briss, and the Moyle used no anaesthetic. The baby cried something fierce, and one of the witnesses passed out from the sight and sound.

      It is barbaric to remove any part of the body. If you're religious, it's the body that God gave you. Even if you're not, it's your body and nobody should be making any decisions about whether to keep or remove parts of it except you.

      If you choose to be circumsized after you've become an adult then more power to you. But it was forced on me and I can never get it back (at least, not until nanotechnology but even then I'll still have the pain and suffering of growing up missing parts of my body), and I refuse to force that decision on my children.

      --
      I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
    60. Re:I'd trade violence for sex on TV anyday ... by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1
      You're joking, right? Nudity taboos are based in religion? Boy, have you got a lot to learn about religion!

      And civilization is a movement away from superstition and towards rationality and science? I think you should look at the history of civilization some more. Civilization has existed for nearly 10000 years (or a bit more, opinions are divided). For a small minority of the population of the world, for no more than the last 1000 years, has civilization equated even a little bit with rationality and science.

      Hate to disappoint you, but civilization (based, at least, on history) is more about art than science.

      Also I don't think you'd find too many people who think that administration has not rolled back more rights then any other in recent history.

      Actually, there seem to be lots. Even the Deomcrats' hero WJ Clinton worked at it. DMCA, anyone? SB Copyright Law (or whatever it is really called). His attempt to nationalize health care (which failed. Not yet sure whether I am happy about that or not). Ugly Rifle Ban (aka Assault Weapons Ban - did you know that the full automatic versions of every weapon banned by that law were still perfectly legal under that law - only the semi-auto versions were affected). As examples.

      The Patriot Act had some effect on Civil Liberties. Not much, but some. Notice how little howling there is about it, compared, for instance, to Nixon's Wage/Price Controls? Or Roosevelt's Wage/Price Controls, for that matter.

      Abortion funding may have been cut (I prefer to read the laws rather than the newspapers' descriptions, so I'm not sure about that one yet), but that isn't necessarily a matter of religion. Religious reasons are the most common given for opposing abortion, but they aren't the only reason (I oppose abortion, and am not especially religious, and not fundamentalist at all).

      Hmm, can't think of anything else that has been done to roll back civil liberties under Bush or Clinton off the top of my head. Can't see where most of Bush's have been based on religious fundamentalism, either.

      Just remember, disagreeing with you does NOT make someone opposed to science, anymore than you disageeing with me makes you opposed to science.

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
  10. Its an election year by gad_zuki! · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Expect more of this to fire up the GOP base and conservative democrats.

    I mean, how many people are going to be upset at a politician who claims "I fought to clean up violent media."

    Its a shame most people don't see that as meaning, "I'm big on censorship."

    1. Re:Its an election year by jdog1016 · · Score: 1

      >Its a shame most people don't see that as meaning, "I'm big on censorship." Yeah, what a fucking shame that maybe they'll finally be able to do something about ten year olds watching this crap. You know, I completely agree that it is the parents' responsibility to monitor and control what their children watch, but the reality is that many ARE NOT DOING THEIR JOB. So what's the result? The result is that we have kids that watch nothing but violence on tv and movies and video games. I actually work with children and it is shocking and startling how many children are exposed to this nowadays. They suffer and society suffers.

    2. Re:Its an election year by Abcd1234 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      First of all, it ain't up to the state to protect the children from idiot parenting. Otherwise, most of the children in middle class homes would probably taken away from their parents due to neglect.

      Second, censorship is never the right solution. The parents should have the right to control what their children can and can't watch, while still being able to watch things *they're* interested in. Hell, technology can all but do this for them, anyway! It's called locking out channels. It's existed for years (or don't you watch the Simpsons?).

      Thirdly, even if kids are watching a ton of violence, please, prove to me that it actually matters. I've seen plenty of studies which disprove any link between watching violent materials and commiting violent acts.

      Fourthly, even if you want to try and censor violence, how do you define it? What about animated violence? What about live action "violence" where there is no blood? Or where there's only the "suggestion" of violence?

      Fifthly, censorship is a dangerous, slippery slope, with questionable benefit. If we start censoring TV and video games, what next? When will they start censoring "inappropriate" books? Or music? After all, we need to "protect the children", lest we somehow damage society.

      Personally, I'm a little tired of people trotting out the ol' "think of the children!" line every time they want to curb *my* rights.

    3. Re:Its an election year by Nogami_Saeko · · Score: 1

      It's odd that the "think of the children" crowd regularly allow their kids to watch "professional wrestling" (and I'm not referring to the Olympic variety) - which is possibly one of the most violent productions on TV.

      And the same nutters that allow their kids to watch actors smashing eachother over the head with chairs (often drawing blood) throw a hissyfit if the kids see a female breast or buttock on TV and start campaigning for better family values.

      Talk about a sad excuse for parenting.

      N.

      --
      "Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence." - Charles de Gaulle
    4. Re:Its an election year by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1
      Actually, there are two halves to the "think of the children" crowd:

      the half on the right: oppposed to sex and nudity on TV.

      the half on the left: opposed to violence on TV.

      This sounds like the quid pro quo given to the Left half to keep them from raising too much stink about what the Right half wanted: cutting down the sex...

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    5. Re:Its an election year by Hognoxious · · Score: 1
      I've seen plenty of studies which disprove that the moon is made of cheese
      I don't think you'll ever see such information; it doesn't need to exist because, well, it just is.
      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    6. Re:Its an election year by Abcd1234 · · Score: 1

      Umm, that should be:

      "Please, prove to me that the moon is made of cheese. I've seen plenty of studies that prove that the moon is not, in fact, made of cheese."

      Followed by:

      "I don't think you'll ever see such information; it doesn't need to exist, because the argument that the moon is made of cheese is an emotional one, not based on fact."

      Basically, you're missing the point he grandparent is making. His/her contention is that there is no studies which prove a link between violent TV and violent acts because you don't need that kind of information to make the argument. Why? Because that argument is an emotional rather than logical one.

      Good try, though.

    7. Re:Its an election year by Hognoxious · · Score: 1
      His/her contention is that there is no studies which prove a link between violent TV and violent acts because you don't need that kind of information to make the argument.
      You certainly need them to make a convincing argument. I don't even accept that an "emotional argument[1]" exists, it is a fallacy or indeed a combination of several.

      [1] In the "course of reasoning aimed at demonstrating truth or falsehood" sense, not the "A quarrel; a dispute" sense; anybody who has lived with a female[2] will attest that the latter does exist.
      [2]Uh, this is slashdot, I know. I suppose mom in the house above the basement counts.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    8. Re:Its an election year by glitch23 · · Score: 1

      First of all, it ain't up to the state to protect the children from idiot parenting. Otherwise, most of the children in middle class homes would probably taken away from their parents due to neglect.

      You can't protect your kids when they go to someone else's house or go to school. Make them stay at home you say? Then how is a child ever to interact with his peers?

      Second, censorship is never the right solution. The parents should have the right to control what their children can and can't watch, while still being able to watch things *they're* interested in. Hell, technology can all but do this for them, anyway! It's called locking out channels. It's existed for years (or don't you watch the Simpsons?).

      I don't deny that more parents need to care (I've seen many who don't) but responsiblity is a 2 way street and there is no reason why we shouldn't keep the media producers responsible for some of the shit they produce and distribute through mass media outlets. Don't just make the parents responsible. When people die from bad meat we don't tell them to switch brands or tell them to take up eating fish. We go after the company who had bad enough business practices to let bad meat slip into the good meat bins.

      Thirdly, even if kids are watching a ton of violence, please, prove to me that it actually matters. I've seen plenty of studies which disprove any link between watching violent materials and commiting violent acts.

      Prove to me violence ever HELPS. Then we may have a reason to make sure it doesn't get toned down, otherwise what is the big deal?

      Fourthly, even if you want to try and censor violence, how do you define it? What about animated violence? What about live action "violence" where there is no blood? Or where there's only the "suggestion" of violence?

      Good point but it isn't impossible to set standards. oops, I said the s word, shame on me.

      Fifthly, censorship is a dangerous, slippery slope, with questionable benefit. If we start censoring TV and video games, what next? When will they start censoring "inappropriate" books? Or music? After all, we need to "protect the children", lest we somehow damage society.

      So why exactly is no censorship at all such an end all to our problems? You think an anything goes attitude is somehow better? If they wanted to censor the things you are worried about they would have tried by now; let them censor what need to be censored. Your kids will have plenty of time to learn about how to kill and rape eventually; no need to let them learn/see it by age 12 by watching FOX or F/X.

      Personally, I'm a little tired of people trotting out the ol' "think of the children!" line every time they want to curb *my* rights.

      Personally, I'm a little tired of people trotting out the ol' "but they will want to censor more" and the "tell them to turn off the tv" lines every time they want to tone down the content that is distributed. Your rights aren't being affected at all so quit your complaining. What is being affected is the right of the media producers to make anything they want. The double standard works both ways. You want people to just turn off the tv and I say why when they are paying for the content? They want good content to watch, not to have it go to waste because people have an anything goes attitude to what they include in their tv shows and it doesn't agree with society.

      --
      this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. -- Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
    9. Re:Its an election year by CodeRed · · Score: 1

      The "but they will want to censor more" argument can be proved. Remember, you MAY NOT be the biggest bible thumping nutcase out there.

      --

      --
      CodeRed, the lower user #. No relation to SirCam.
    10. Re:Its an election year by Abcd1234 · · Score: 1

      You can't protect your kids when they go to someone else's house or go to school. Make them stay at home you say?

      Not at all. Teach them to protect themselves, and how to react to potentially dangerous situations. Kinda like how people should be taught to be aware of what they're watching on TV.

      I don't deny that more parents need to care (I've seen many who don't) but responsiblity is a 2 way street and there is no reason why we shouldn't keep the media producers responsible for some of the shit they produce and distribute through mass media outlets. Don't just make the parents responsible.

      1. What you call shit, I call high quality entertainment. The Sopranos and CSI and very graphically violent, but many consider them to be some of the best drama on television.

      2. Yes, you should make the parents responsible. They're *parents*, for christ sake! It's their *job* to be responsible! Geezuz... by your logic, we should eliminate alcohol from society too, because, hey, kids might get into that stuff! And parents can't follow their kids around everywhere.

      hen people die from bad meat we don't tell them to switch brands or tell them to take up eating fish. We go after the company who had bad enough business practices to let bad meat slip into the good meat bins.

      You're absolutely right. If you could show me *provable* damage being cause by the material on TV, I would absolutely entertain the idea of stricter government regulation. The problem is... there *isn't any proof!* Worse, there's proof to the *contrary!*

      Prove to me violence ever HELPS.

      Okay, firstly, it's *your* job as the censor to prove to *me* that violence depicted on television is bad, because unless you can do that, you have no right to curb people's freedom of expression.

      Secondly, I would argue that violence can be used *very* effectively for art's sake, let alone entertainment. Programs like CSI and The Sopranos are just two good examples. And that ignores all the brilliant, violent movies out there (Apocalypse Now, Taxi Driver, Fight Club, etc).

      Good point but it isn't impossible to set standards. oops, I said the s word, shame on me.

      Sure, standards. Standards which can be changed, amended, expanded upon, reinterpreted... hell, just look at the smut laws here in Canada. Legitimate lesbian literature ended up being held at the border because people decided to reinterpret the law the way *they* saw fit. Standards aren't worth the paper their written on in the face of an hysterical, emotionally driven public.

      So why exactly is no censorship at all such an end all to our problems?

      Did I *say* it was? My contention is that, in this case, censorship provides no provable benefit, and hence cannot be justified, given that censorship, by definition, infringes on the rights of others, and the only time a person in a free society should be willing to infringe on the rights of another is if there is measurable damage being caused by the person exercising their rights.

      If they wanted to censor the things you are worried about they would have tried by now;

      They are trying. Right now! That's the whole damned point of this article!

      let them censor what need to be censored.

      Whatever that is.

      Your kids will have plenty of time to learn about how to kill and rape eventually; no need to let them learn/see it by age 12 by watching FOX or F/X.

      Okay, what part of "studies show that watching violence doesn't beget violence" don't you get? Kids *don't* "learn about how to kill and rape" by watching TV.

      Besides, violence has been depicted on TV, movies, and other forms of art for a *very* long time. It's nothing new, no matter what you may believe. And yet, I'm supposed to believe that, somehow TV is now the root of all evil? Please... if anything, this is just scapegoating. After all, it sure is easy to say "see, it's t

    11. Re:Its an election year by glitch23 · · Score: 1

      Contrary to what you may think, just because someone reads a particular book doesn't mean they are a nutcase. Stop your stereotypical prejudice before it hurts someone, including yourself.

      --
      this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. -- Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
    12. Re:Its an election year by glitch23 · · Score: 1

      2. Yes, you should make the parents responsible. They're *parents*, for christ sake! It's their *job* to be responsible! Geezuz... by your logic, we should eliminate alcohol from society too, because, hey, kids might get into that stuff! And parents can't follow their kids around everywhere.

      It is a meat packer's job to be sure they produce clean meat but when they don't we go after them. We don't tell the people who may have accidentally at that meat that they had the choice of picking another brand but they chose not to. We don't blame the consumer for it. This is the same situation. At the least we have to hold the producers accountable, as well as the consumers since in this case they can see what they are getting so they do have some responsibility now.

      By the way, when you have alcohol, you have drunkards and low lifes and that can attract crime and then that attracts prostitutes, but hey, if you can find a good reason to have alcohol by all means let me know what it is. Oh, did I mention drunk driving and vehicular homicide?

      --
      this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. -- Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
    13. Re:Its an election year by Abcd1234 · · Score: 1

      It is a meat packer's job to be sure they produce clean meat but when they don't we go after them... This is the same situation.

      No, it's not. You must have missed that part of my post, or conveniently ignored it. The food production industry and the media industry are *NOT THE SAME*. Am I being clear? And Why? Because bad food can harm people, bad media cannot. Despite what you seem to think.

      Oh, did I mention drunk driving and vehicular homicide?

      You're missing my point (surprise, surprise...). There are *many* dangerous things in society which have a proven ability to harm children. Cars, Knives, Bleach, guns, etc, etc. And we realize that it's up to the parents to protect their children from these items. Why on earth is TV so different? Especially when, in the case of TV, there aren't even provable harms! As opposed to, say, cars, knives, bleach, or guns...

  11. last bastion of american television by crackshoe · · Score: 1

    come on - you can't show sex or drugs - at least leave us our ultraviolence. or regulate the news channels.

    --
    Don't worry - its just stigmata. Pass me a napkin and don't you dare tell my mother.
  12. FCC, let parents do their job by Fux+the+Penguin · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Our problem in the States these days is that parents want the government to be responsible for their kids. When their kids get in trouble for shoplifting or shooting another kid over a pair of shoes, they want to point to violence on TV or the music they listen to as the problem. Unfortunately, the real problem, as most intelligent people know, is the parents themselves. They don't want to take the time to raise their kids. They want the onus of responsibility to be with the government, hence these absurd laws.

    The Republicans are always going on about family values, and while I'm a liberal myself, I have to agree with that one issue. Family values in this country have, for the most part, gone to shit. I was raised by a single mother who worked full time. She still managed to raise me to know the difference between right and wrong. Even after a long, hard day's work, she managed to come home and spend time with me and talk to me about my day.

    The fact is, getting the government to charge out after indecency on TV is a complete and utter waste of time. As if kids can't find stuff 100 times more indecent and profane in the SPAM in their inboxes anyway.

    What we need is to start prosecuting parents for the crimes of their children so that parents will start taking responsibility for their kids again. At least that's my opinion. Parents can be much better parents than any government, if they have the incentive.

    1. Re:FCC, let parents do their job by tool462 · · Score: 1
      What we need is to start prosecuting parents for the crimes of their children so that parents will start taking responsibility for their kids again. At least that's my opinion. Parents can be much better parents than any government, if they have the incentive.

      That's making a very dangerous (and entirely unproven) assumption that the behavior of the child is solely the result of how they were raised by their parents. The child committed the crime, so punish the child. This may warrant looking into the child's home life, and if the authorities discover a history of abuse or neglect, then charge the parents with that. People should only be punished for the crimes they have committed. It's entirely possible that a child could be raised by loving and caring parents who are only concerned with the welfare of their child, and yet the child will still commit a crime. There are many more factors that play into the behavior of any person than your simplistic system would suggest.

    2. Re:FCC, let parents do their job by magefile · · Score: 1

      What we need is to start prosecuting parents for the crimes of their children so that parents will start taking responsibility for their kids again.

      Um, we do. Or do you mean we should stop prosecuting kids who are 16+ years of age? In which case, I agree (and yeah, I know, there are younger kids who are prosecuted. Sometimes a good thing, sometimes a bad thing).

    3. Re:FCC, let parents do their job by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      That's making a very dangerous (and entirely unproven) assumption that the behavior of the child is solely the result of how they were raised by their parents.

      I didn't read that in what he wrote. How I read it is that the government will never be better parents than parents. That is, if any part of the resulting adult is influenced by nurture, then a parent would be more appropriate for that than the government. If, as you imply, there are significant non-nurture factors, then the government is mostly irrelevant. Either way, the responsibility should fall to the parents, not the government, up to the societal definition of adult.

      People should only be punished for the crimes they have committed.

      Ok. And if they raise a child that is consistently casusing problems (killing neighborhood animals, setting the house down the street on fire, throwing rocks at cars on the highway), then the parents, as the legal guardians, should be held responsible for criminal negligence for letting their evil little child out into the world. The demon seed is their responsibility, just as a dog is. If they don't keep their dog in check and it bites people, they can be held responsible. They should be held to no less standard for their children.

      Whether the parents have the ability to control the outcome of their offspring, if they choose to procreate, they are responsible for the actions of their child until the law declares that the child is an adult.

    4. Re:FCC, let parents do their job by tool462 · · Score: 1
      I didn't read that in what he wrote. How I read it is that the government will never be better parents than parents. That is, if any part of the resulting adult is influenced by nurture, then a parent would be more appropriate for that than the government. If, as you imply, there are significant non-nurture factors, then the government is mostly irrelevant. Either way, the responsibility should fall to the parents, not the government, up to the societal definition of adult.

      I agree. I got that out of the first part of his original post. It was just the part I originally quoted where he was essentially stating that the government should be responsible for making parents parent. I don't think that is necessary or advisable.

      Ok. And if they raise a child that is consistently casusing problems (killing neighborhood animals, setting the house down the street on fire, throwing rocks at cars on the highway), then the parents, as the legal guardians, should be held responsible for criminal negligence for letting their evil little child out into the world. The demon seed is their responsibility, just as a dog is. If they don't keep their dog in check and it bites people, they can be held responsible. They should be held to no less standard for their children.

      Then punish the child for his repeat offenses. I'm pretty sure the law has escalating punishments for repeat offenders. How should the parent prevent their "evil little child" from going out into the world? Lock him in his room? Chain him in the backyard? The parents will be arrested for child abuse. Not a win-win situation, is it? Besides, the child has to go to school eventually. It is essentially impossible for a parent to maintain physical control over their child 24 hours a day. If the parents were ACTUALLY negligent, then yes, punish them for it. But you can not assume that this is the case, even for a child who has committed multiple crimes. Prove that they were negligent, then punish them for negligence. Don't punish them for vandalism when it was their kid that threw a rock through the neighbor's window. Besides, in the extreme cases you are posing, I would be surprised if you couldn't find any history of some kind of abuse/negligence or at least mental illness. If mental illness, the child should be in an institution. If abuse, punish the parents for abuse--the crime they actually committed.

      Also, your analogy comparing a child to a dog isn't very apt. Dogs are animals. Children are human. Humans are capable of independent and critical thought. Dogs are not. A human can be held responsible for choices it makes. Dogs can not.

      We will likely have to just agree to disagree on your last point. To me, the status of "legal adult," while useful in some aspects of law, but is just an artificial milestone that has no bearing on reality. Any additional control a parent has over a child at 8 than at 18 is more the result of physical and financial circumstances than the age and mental development of the child. You may disagree, but this is how I see it.

  13. So they want to get rid of shows that inspire by foidulus · · Score: 1

    violence?
    Great, this means that Ryan Seacrest will finally be off the air!
    That man has probably inspired more rage than any other actor in history.

    1. Re:So they want to get rid of shows that inspire by Triumph+The+Insult+C · · Score: 1

      Seacrest OUT!

      --
      vodka, straight up, thank you!
    2. Re:So they want to get rid of shows that inspire by marco0009 · · Score: 1

      Too late, his T.V. show was scrapped as of yesterday. His radio show however lives on.

      --
      Physics makes the world go 'round.
    3. Re:So they want to get rid of shows that inspire by foidulus · · Score: 1

      So the system does work then?

  14. this is bad by Triumph+The+Insult+C · · Score: 2, Funny

    this is not a problem for the gov't

    this problem can be solved very easily

    on most TVs, there is a dial, keypad, or buttons that can be used to change what channel is currently showing. it's an amazing piece of technology that a parent can use to influence the life of a child

    --
    vodka, straight up, thank you!
  15. Violence in the USA by Teun · · Score: 1
    Violence is a Way Of Life in the USA.

    Well, at least that's how TV has been portraying it.
    Removing violence from the average US TV show is going to be a sort of decapitation for the industry, the remarkable result could be no life left for them.

    But thank God for the Real American Values there is satellite where the FCC has no power!

    --
    "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
  16. Oh god by Trikenstein · · Score: 5, Funny
    I can see it now.

    It'll be like 80's TV all over again.
    Like the A-Team, where they expend 10K rounds of ammo, but no one ever gets hurt.
    Or during a fist fight or HtH combat, the guys always land on soft cardboard.
    And those god awful wimpy, mustache twirling, limp wristed villains they had back then.

    1. Re:Oh god by Triumph+The+Insult+C · · Score: 5, Funny

      you got a problem with the A-Team fool?

      --
      vodka, straight up, thank you!
    2. Re:Oh god by Trikenstein · · Score: 1
      Well, considering that they had one plot that they recycled, and varied somewhat that was borrowed from Shichinin no samurai, they did create at least one great cultural icon.

      But to believe that 1/4 ton of brass could hit the ground could hit the ground, but not one round found flesh was ridiculous.

    3. Re:Oh god by Trikenstein · · Score: 1
      yep, yep

      and I even previewed previewed that one that one

    4. Re:Oh god by Fulcrum+of+Evil · · Score: 1

      you got a problem with the A-Team fool?

      Yeah - what're you going to do, shoot me? You guys are worse than Imperial stormtroopers.

      --
      "We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
  17. Maybe I am too European, but ... by thomasj · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I find it more disturbing having my kids see guns on television than breasts.

    But, ... I am from Europe.

    --
    :-) = I am happy
    :^) = I am happy with my big nose
    C:\> = I am happy with my OS
    1. Re:Maybe I am too European, but ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Typical socialist. Don't you know seeing breasts will cause the young men of our land to use otherwise perfectly harmless guns to force women into positions they'd rather not be in?

      Breastestes are bad, m'kay.

  18. Time to regulate... by lothar97 · · Score: 1

    bad TV. I'm more offended that we see all the WWF wrestling and shows like "Saved by the Bell." Once sex and violence is gone, then we can get rid of the crud, and we'll only have good wholesome shows like "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman." Star Trek is out, because they have guns.

    --

  19. Funny how... by Transcendent · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...we used to make fun of other countries (like in the middle east) because of how their government censored the public.

    Put another religious leader in the american government, and I guess we'll get the same result.

    </politeness>

    Why is the US so damn anal about nudity and violence? The mid east cuts off people's appendages on TV and normal public, Europe had free nudity on TV and on the beaches (Canadain women can even walk around topless)... but damned if someone curses or shows a little leg on my good ol' American Television!

    1. Re:Funny how... by riptide_dot · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Offtopic, I know...but I just had to spout this off:

      One of the core beliefs of our founding fathers (that I'll bet is making them turn over in their graves now) was that our government (and any decent government for that matter) should hold as one of its highest priorities the seperation of church and state.

      Just about every one of the U.S. Presidents has had a religious background of some sort.

      The problem comes in when they decide that their religion is the best for the entire country and therefore start trying to make legislation that includes/mimics their own religious values or beliefs.

      --
      I was in the park the other day wondering why frisbees get bigger and bigger the closer they get - and then it hit me.
    2. Re:Funny how... by Herkum01 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The mideast cuts off people's appendages on TV

      They also make the US like pretty free and wild compared to how women are allowed to dress. Different strokes and all.

    3. Re:Funny how... by Jugalator · · Score: 1

      Europe had free nudity on TV and on the beaches (Canadain women can even walk around topless)...

      There are european countries were women can walk around 100% nude (no, no panties) in a city if that's what you wish. :-)

      I kind of agree with this -- I mean OK if they don't want to show sexual acts, but walking around nude or sunbathing nude is hardly a sexual act to me. So few people would do it anyway because they feel awkward with it that it's hardly a problem if allowed anyway.

      --
      Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
    4. Re:Funny how... by Snover · · Score: 1

      Maybe, maybe not. If you were a woman that did not dress in what is considered and displayed in the media as 'hip' clothes, you would probably be discriminated against. It's different than being forced to be covered head-to-toe, but how much different? Instead of being covered from head to toe to promote the inferiority of women, we have showing off as much skin as is legal to promote the inferiority of women. Polar opposites to the same end.

      --

      [insert witty comment here]
    5. Re:Funny how... by Jugalator · · Score: 1

      By the way... It's kind of funny -- in the first link above, they explain they had to stop shooting public nudity afterwards because, on one of the photos, they accidentally photographed some important building in the city they didn't like to be on the same photo as the girl. :-) So not because of the nudity per se. It's a quite funny read (you'll only READ right? ;-)).

      --
      Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
    6. Re:Funny how... by glesga_kiss · · Score: 1
      America, Love it or leave it. If you don't like the way the country is run, why don't you move to Russia or Iraq?

      That is quite simply the most un-American statement I've ever heard. It's a shame most Americans miss the point of America.

    7. Re:Funny how... by ragnar · · Score: 1

      I think the "think of the children" crowd are nuts as well, but I think you are painting too broad of a stroke concerning religion. By and large the religious position in America on nudity is to portray the human body in a positive manner. The fringe groups, who demonize all nudity, naturally make the most noise but they aren't representative of typical religious sentiment.

      As for the separation of church and state, this is a notion intended to prohibit the establishment of a Church of America or the endorsement of any specific religion. In other words, the government shouldn't use taxes to build churches or fund specific religious functions. The concept, put forth by Jefferson, wasn't intended to banish any moral precept from public policy.

      --
      -- Solaris Central - http://w
    8. Re:Funny how... by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 1

      Probably the part where the American women in frumpy clothes still is allowed to go out in public without getting bones broken, getting gang raped, and so on.

      --
      Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
  20. How about giving parents the choice by A1kmm · · Score: 1

    The article seems to suggest they don't want a blanket ban on Television. So perhaps they should take several factors into account...
    a) Which channel
    b) When
    c) Will parents have a chance to see whether or not violence is coming up and make a decision beforehand(e.g. displaying symbols in the corner of the screen warning of violence, obscene language, etc..., or warning trailers).
    Parents could then tell their children, for example, never watch this channel, or only watch this channel between certain hours.

    Then it could be up to parents to decide. If parents can stop their children playing with matches, they can stop children watching things they don't want, if they get warnings first.

    --
    X-Has-Sig: yes
  21. At least it makes sense... by Psx29 · · Score: 1

    I mean it makes more sense to censor violence than to censor sex, right? At least comments that mention this hypocrisy are usually modded up on here... so mod away ! ;)

  22. The FCC should do its job instead of that by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They should regulate the media industry. Prevent, instead of encourage, media consolidation. Regulate if/how media businesses should be owned by corporations, and ensure said corps don't dictate the media outlet's line. And most of all, they should prevent its CEO (the chief regulator) to have such close tie with a member of a government that demonstrably wants a total secrecy and government-approved only press releases.

    Instead of that, they pretend to be working on censoring nudity and violence on TV, which is a comparatively mundane and non-important, and pretend to be working on stuff that way. In reality, they just divert the public's attention from the real issues they're not working on, a method not unlike what Joseph Goebbels was advocating.

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    1. Re:The FCC should do its job instead of that by AntiOrganic · · Score: 1
      a method not unlike what Joseph Goebbels was advocating.
      When debating, deceptive juxtaposition is a great way to ensure that nobody takes you seriously.
  23. The Problem Is... by Bongo+the+Monkiii · · Score: 1

    The problem is that they have to appease the people who gave them their jobs. Since the FCC officials weren't voted in, that means appeasing Congress. Since Congressional seats ARE voted on, whoever's constituents make the most noise are the ones that will, ultimately, decide where this goes.

    It's kind of scary to think that people you didn't even vote for and can't (directly) rid yourself of have this much power, isn't it?

  24. Most violence is on the news anyway by bdigit · · Score: 1

    Seriously. It seems the news focuses on the bad more then the good sometimes. I watch the headlines and maybe one of them will be a good story, the others...

    fire kills family, cop murdered, hit and run, etc...

    Does that mean news stations will have to report all nonviolent news stories?

  25. kickass! by JeanBaptiste · · Score: 1

    im sick of the lack of violence on television. its great the FCC is going to set a minimum level.

    i dont read articles anymore. the news is much better that way.

  26. Solution.. by t_allardyce · · Score: 1

    Now would be a perfect time to come up with a digital tv standard to fix this - when theres violence/sex/profanity or whatever thing the FCC prudes like to censor it gets transmitted with a signal, your tv or add-on box gets the signal and depending how you've set it will either show everything as normal, or blank the audio/video or black out some of the screen - could be done at a dct block level without any major changes to the current standards, it could even be done on current analog, the only question is do you show the stuff by default and get a box to block it, or do you block it by default and get a box to see it. Its really that simple. Otherwise American TV will end up like TV in countries like Saudi Arabia. Already most of the world is laughing at you - when janet jackson gets interviewed they keep a still of the nipple shot in the background!

    --
    This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
  27. Let 'em by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I say, let them do it. It'll piss off more people than they know and nothing will motivate the people to doing squat about it until their choice has been taken from them. After all, it appears that we, the people, have been ruled incompetent, and judged incapable of making these sorts of decisions on our own. It's a good thing Uncle Sam is there to pass those judgments and make those choices, for us.

  28. Overheard at the senate by Mr.Zong · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Dumbass Politican 1 : "Okay, heres the plan. Lets fist make it so we only got like 3 media companys."

    Dumbass Politican 2 : "Yea, I'm feeling ya."

    D.P. 1 : "Then, we can enact these here laws that allow us squash any kind of creative thought!"

    D.P. 2 : "Hell yea, but why do we need that consolidation again?"

    D.P. 1 : "Cause numbnuts, the networks said that they're sick of having to compete for viewers. And if theres only two or three companys, and nobody can serve anything but vanilla, THEN they no longer have to worry about dealing anybody that can muff with their hold on the public. No dissent, no new ideas, no thinking. We win all around! Duh."

    D.P. 2 : "And we get fat paid"?

    D.P. 1 : "A-fuckin-men".

  29. The V-Chip by stubear · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is a great use for the V-Chip, the much maligned device that would be put in all televisions and allow parents to censor what shows their kids could watch and let others watch whatever the hell they want. However, thanks to over reactive "experts", the V-Chip was crucified as being a tool of government sanctioned censorship of our airwaves, ignoring the fact that it's actually self censorship. I say bring the V-Chip back and establish a consistent rating system for all television shows to use.

    1. Re:The V-Chip by Bryan+Ischo · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Very true, but the V-Chip system is pretty weak.

      I work for TiVo and I implemented most of the "parental controls" functionality present in TiVo software. I can attest to the fact that V-Chip ratings are pretty hit-and-miss: some networks use them consistently, some don't. It's much worse with digital over-the-air broadcasts: even though the FCC has more control over over-the-air broadcasts, all the stations that I have seen very, very rarely broadcast ratings in their PSIP data.

      I am all for the V-Chip system because it gives parents the ability to restrict their kids viewing without actually controlling the content itself (V-Chip ratings simply augment the content and make it easier to determine ahead of time if the content is acceptable for a child to watch).

      But, I think that V-Chip ratings should be *much* more detailed, precise, and most importantly, UNIVERSALLY ENFORCED. And I think that the FCC should have the responsibility and power to force all broadcasters to very thoroughly and accurately rate their broadcasts.

    2. Re:The V-Chip by Izago909 · · Score: 1

      The V-Chip still requires you to trust the body who rates the program and have faith that they are unbiased.

    3. Re:The V-Chip by stubear · · Score: 1

      That's what I was getting at. It's not only important to enforce the use of the V-Chip, it's also vitally important to establish consistent TV ratings and enforce these as well. The just of all this though is that parents, and not government, makes the decision to censor or not; as it should be.

    4. Re:The V-Chip by TiggsPanther · · Score: 1
      But, I think that V-Chip ratings should be *much* more detailed, precise, and most importantly, UNIVERSALLY ENFORCED. And I think that the FCC should have the responsibility and power to force all broadcasters to very thoroughly and accurately rate their broadcasts.

      Normally I'm against things like this being compulsary - usually because it's done along the lines of "Here is what you must do to continue, by the way you have to pay to get it done."
      Now if this didn't cost the broadcasters any extra (I have no idea if it would) then it certainly should be mandated. Personalyl I don't like the idea of "other people" deciding what is and isn't suitable, but it seems that that's the way things are going. So if it's going to happen then I'd rather that it was "tagged and flagged" and the final decision made at the viewer's end, rather than "tagged and gagged" and either not broadcast at all or severaly dumbed down.

      By all means say that violent acts are unsuitable, that human bodies should be shown fully covered at all times, and that certain words really shouldn't be heard.
      But put the switch at my end, not yours. If parents really want to allow their kids to watch unsupervised at times[*] then let them. But also allow them the option of restricting what appears on the box. Though prefereably not by restricting me in the crossfire. (Flag in good, cancelling broadcast bad.)

      [*] Eventually you have to trust your kids, and nothing winds them up more than constantly checking up on what they're doing. Which is why I don't mind some sort of inbuilt restrictions - as long as they're always overridable.
      Plus although I do kinda believe that watching alongside your kids is probably a good thing, it's not always viable.

      --
      Tiggs
      "120 chars should be enough for everyone..."
    5. Re:The V-Chip by 10101001+10101001 · · Score: 1

      No, the FCC shouldn't be involved in it. It's called blocking all channels which don't provide the broadcast ratings. Now, if they *lie* in their broadcast ratings, maybe then the FCC (or FTC) should get involved. It seems obvious to me that the V-Chip is only part of the answer with another other part being the parent being around your kid so they can't disconnect the V-Chip (since the truth is, the only sane way for most parents to be able to afford a V-Chip is if it's a relatively cheap add-on).

      --
      Eurohacker European paranoia, gun rights, and h
    6. Re:The V-Chip by randomjohndoe · · Score: 1

      I was just wondering "What ever happened to the v-chip?" I haven't seen mention of it anywhere since it was forced on the manufacturers. Proof of the short memory/attention span of Congress? Or proof that the whole thing was a bunch of political posturing? ("Let's prove to the voters that we're 'doing something' by passing a law.") I forget: Was the V-chip requirement passed in an election year?

  30. well by ejaw5 · · Score: 1

    so much for raunchy NBC-style sex or senseless CBS-style violence.

    Really now, how hard is it to change the bloody channel when you see something you don't like? ..or teach your kids what they shouldn't be watching, or if mature enough watch and understand what's wrong with it or what was being shown on tv reflect on our own real world? If there's a shoot-em-up special and people want to watch it, let them watch in peace. If there's a skinamax special and people want to watch it, let them watch in peace. If you don't like it, don't watch it. Don't pretend that it doesn't exist and that it's "wrong" based on your standards. Besides, as with any literature, if something affirms your beliefs, it's served its purpose. If it contradicts your belief and/or makes you think, it has also served its purpose.

    --

    $cat /dev/random > Sig
  31. First they... by Mongoose · · Score: 1

    first they came after topless black women...
    then howard stern...
    now action movie stars...

    Soon they get the gays and the non-English speakers!

    Can't interfere with the new plan for the master race and all... can't wait for the FCC and the proposed 9/11 joining of MINT/FBI/CIA SS to issue me my new barcode identity number. I guess instead of star of davids we'll get little frowny jesus figures.

    1. Re:First they... by siege04 · · Score: 1

      If I had any mod points I'd definitely use them on you. You sound almost sarcastic but I wouldn't at all be surprised if all of that came true.

  32. Iraq coverage? by raistphrk · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What, does this mean that we won't be able to hear about the actual events that occur in Iraq, since that's too violent for our poor, virgin American ears and eyes?

    The problem with this policy is that it ignores the fact that the world is a violent place. Maybe things aren't so bad out by the FCC building in DC, but if the FCC took a stroll out through the city of DC alone at night, they'd probably get mugged. If they meandered through the streets of Darfur in Sudan, they'd get shot. If they stepped out into the neighborhoods of Fallujah, they'd be blown up.

    The world isn't violent because of what's on TV or the Internet. The world is a violent place because people can't get it through their damn head that maybe - JUST MAYBE - if we all started to respect one another and chill out occasionally, we'd live in a happier place. But no. Wars and gang shootings aren't happening because of human frailty, selfishness, or obstinance. No. It's because some guy got shot on network TV last night.

    1. Re:Iraq coverage? by raistphrk · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Damn near every network - including allegedly liberal networks like CNN - peddled the government propaganda to the American public without so much as a question during the Iraq conflict. The first "sensitive" footage about Iraq that hit the airwaves didn't come up until well after the invasion was over.

      I'm glad that CBS had the cajones to break the Abu Gharib prison scandal. If they hadn't reported it, the public would've never heard about it.

      I keep hearing conservative criticism that all the coverage of the war is negative, and then I shake my head in disgust. After World War II, official statistics report that 0 Americans died during the reconstruction and aftermath in Germany. However, numerous reports have been floating around for years that contradict these numbers. Why did "0" Americans die in the aftermath of World War II? Because the US government decided not to report those numbers to the American public.

      Flash forward to Vietnam. If the press hadn't been in Vietnam, how many American deaths would've been reported?

      I'll give you a hint: NOT MANY.

      War is heartless. I consider it the duty of the press to make that reality known. People die. Many people. Families are left broken and in pain. But if the government doesn't have to tell us that, why would it?

      I want to hear the news. I want to know if 900 or 1,000 or 5,000 soldiers and marines died in Iraq. If the media won't report that these people died, we'll never know. Their memory will be forgotten, and the public will see little but through rose-colored lenses.

      I want to see the harsh realities. Those realities are news. Refusing to show "sensitive" things doesn't give us news - it gives us dillusion. And dillusion brings us little security.

      I want American soldiers and marines who die in Iraq to be known by their names - not as Anonymous Cowards.

    2. Re:Iraq coverage? by Fulcrum+of+Evil · · Score: 1

      if the FCC took a stroll out through the city of DC alone at night, they'd probably get mugged. If they meandered through the streets of Darfur in Sudan, they'd get shot. If they stepped out into the neighborhoods of Fallujah, they'd be blown up.

      Depends on the area. In Adams Morgan, you're probably ok. Walk around most of SE at night and you'll be lucky to see morning (if you're white).

      --
      "We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
    3. Re:Iraq coverage? by PsiPsiStar · · Score: 1

      Reporting water flowing downhill wouldn't create an emotional reaction. There isn't any need to prevent people taking photos of it happening. The war in Iraq is not water flowing downhill.

      If everyone knew that war was heartless, Bush & team wouldn't have gone through all that rigamarole about how we would be treated as liberators, welcomed with open arms, etc. (which we were by the Kurds in the north, but not by anyone else. A majority of Iraqis consider us an occuping force and want us out of there as quick as possible. If democracy really matters, this wish should be respected. Instead, we're building 14 new bases over there.) When the army purchased 2000 coffins prior to the war, Bush brushed off the notion that there'd be that many casualties. Now it's looking like a pretty good estimate. The American people were given a rosy picture of what this war would look like and a lot of folks were dumb enough to believe it. If it was news enough for Bush to claim there wouldn't be 2000 American casualties, it's news enough to say when we've hit that point. Supporting the war is one thing. Diliking the coverage is another. Americans deserve to know just what Hussein has done, and just what we've done. Censorship is undemocratic. It prevents people from voting according to their interests.

      We have libel laws in the U.S. (which I agree might be too weak). The biggest problem is with 'anonymous sources' where some rouge newspeople can make assertions that can't be properly fact-checked. Of course, the Democrats have been skewered as much as anyone else, and the mainstream press is extremly conservative, economically.

      The Right wing has supported Right wing dictatorships just as much as the Left wing supported left wing dictatorships.
      The Atlacatel in El Salvador were right wing and supported by the US, even though they murdered and raped civilians and were some of the most brutal salvadoran soldiers. The Taliban was certainly right wing, and a good friend of Reagan's, as was Saddam Hussein during the first Reagan administration. I've heard right-wingers speak out in favor of August Pinochett. Bush has gotten us into a quid pro quo with Pakistan supporting that dictatorship, despite the fact that they've helped enormously in the proliferation of WMD. Batista wasn't considered too bad by the US, though Castro was. Was one really worse than the other? Batista was a dictator, too. There are plenty of dictators for both the "Right" and "Left" to adore.
      I think the terms "Right" and "Left" are more and more deceiving.

      There are people who support the centralization of power by various means and ideologies, and people who oppose it. This is how the lines should be drawn.

      --

      ___
      It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
    4. Re:Iraq coverage? by ratamacue · · Score: 1
      Damn near every network - including allegedly liberal networks like CNN - peddled the government propaganda to the American public without so much as a question during the Iraq conflict.

      No surprise there. The more entangled government is in private affairs, the more influence government has over private affairs. As it stands, government is very entangled in the mass media business.

  33. Violins on TV? by yanokwa · · Score: 1

    You know, some of my friends complain that there is too much sax and violins on TV and this is ruining our children... *ducks*

  34. Obligatory "Mothers against Canada" quote by vlad_petric · · Score: 2, Informative


    Horrific, deplorable violence is OK as long as people don't say any naughty words

    --

    The Raven

  35. Re:Tivo by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 1

    would they regulate Tivo too? Tivo (or vcr for that matter) allows viewing of programs at other times than the transmission time. so at the time of transmission, children may not likely to see, but they may be likely to see later.

    Indeed, that could be a problem with a Tivo. However, with a VCR, children are quite safe: even adults have trouble programming the damn things...

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  36. FCC regulates cable? by Max+Threshold · · Score: 1

    Since when does the FCC have jurisdiction over non-broadcast technology like cable TV? Just one more example of a government agency overstepping the bounds of its intended purpose.

  37. Re:Why won't they... ? by raistphrk · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe instead of flipping out about the content of programs on TV, we should teach our children to respect one another? Jesus didn't waste his type chastizing the prostitutes; he taught people the importance of mutual respect and understanding.

    If we teach our kids that getting a tax break is more important than sacrificing a little to help those who are not as lucky as ourselves, our kids are going to turn out to be MUCH worse than kids who watch "trash" on television - our kids are going to be selfish, callous, and uncompassionate. And I worry quite a bit more about the callous and greedy than I do about the kids who like watching action films.

    Teach your children the value of other people. The greed and selfishness I see in the world today is far more indecent than anything I see on television.

  38. Hollywood got nothing on the BBC by Turn-X+Alphonse · · Score: 1

    ANYTHING you can make for TV will never be as violent as the wars we've had recently. If I can turn on the news and see people with no arms and legs then why can't I do the same with a movie where I know they got up after and went "hehe, that was fun"?

    --
    I like muppets.
  39. Thanks a lot by Monkeyman334 · · Score: 1

    I guess we have to blame all those people that said "hey, there's so much violence on TV, what's the big deal about Janet's boob?" Did you really think that the result would be more boobs on TV? Where am I supposed to get my sex and violence now? Yeah, thanks a lot.

  40. Saved by the Bell...ALL DAY. by raistphrk · · Score: 1

    This just in:

    The FCC has decided that the only after-school specials will meet their criteria for decency on the airwaves. Starting tomorrow, all networks will begin airing Full House and Saved by the Bell. All day. Every day.

    In other news:

    Dustin Diamond, reportedly thirty seconds from hanging himself in a closet, quit his failing career as a comedian and signed on with NBC to film ten new seasons of Saved by the Bell.

  41. Start with the Olympics by jayrtfm · · Score: 1

    since archery, shooting, boxing, fencing, judo, taekwondo, and wrestling glorify violence, they should be either banned, or only broadcast after 10 pm.

  42. In The End... by Demanche · · Score: 1

    House Speaker: I understand the report on violence on tv is ready to be disclosed, may the house hear of its findings.

    House Representative: The house committee has determined after months of stuides into violence on tv - that we do have the power and means to remove violece from tv, the web, video games, and books. We predict that the cost and overhead of such censorship will amount to a few billion dollers and the department that oversees this process should be merged with the department of homeland security. After much debate amongst us, we also believe that educating americans on how to use their remote contols - or just how to prolong usage of such remotes by replacing their batteries, would all but stop the viewing of innappropriate material. Apparently Tv's have been shipped with parental tool for some time, and americans just need to be informed.

    House Speaker: Do I understand correctly? The house committee sugests we have a 'how to use your tv remote control' campaign?

    Representative: Thats correct, the proposed bill allowing tax money to be spent on educating americans on how to use their remote controls is in the process. We are still working on a cost estimate, but costs are believed to be in the millions.

    ----- IANAL.. Just a geek... -----

    This is pure fiction, but... How much tax money is wasted because some americans just don't have a clue? ;)

    --
    Mod me down im a newf (wiki)
    1. Re:In The End... by Macgrrl · · Score: 1

      How much tax money is wasted because some americans just don't have a clue?

      I'm guessing - most of it...

      --
      Sara
      Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
  43. What's more important sex, violence, or profanity? by captain_macosx · · Score: 1

    It is easy for the FCC to say what words cannot be used on broadcast television. It is a clear brightline rule. I would imagine they would want to do this for violence as well, how much blood or how many dead bodies, etc. However, this really doesn't address the real problem, Americans are more shocked by sex than violence. Sex is something almost everybody is going to have. Yes, parents Sally is probably going to do it someday. So maybe we ought to lighten up on things like breasts. Maybe not worry about kids seeing the statue of the thinker because it has a penis! Or of course we could "protect" ourselves from the "bad" TV companies rather than expecting the government to think for us.

  44. Think of the children! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I agree, the kids must be protected. Let's go back to the fifties, where you can't see a married couple share a double bed or, God forbid, show a toilet. And all entertainment shall be Westerns and detective shows where not a single bullet lands on its target, except perhaps to harmlessly shoot the bad guy's gun from his hand.

    Of course, sex has to go. Not just dirty shows like Sex in the City and Friends, but any show about divorce, single parenthood and unmaried couples engaged in any sort of relationship. We don't want kids to know that there is any sort of lifestyle beyond the two-parent house. We also don't want them to know that their parents are real people who have lives beyond complete servitude to them.

    But why stop there? Let's abolish Conan O'Brien and The Daily Show and The Simpsons and Adult Swim, because the humor is just too hard to get for a young child's fragile mind and we wouldn't want them to get confused.

    We should also abolish all beverages but milk for kids, because that's the only one that's guaranteed wholesome.

    That would be a start, but there's still a long way to go. The number one priority of our government should be protecting our children at all costs. That is, for the eighteen years or so when they're actually kids... Once they turn into ignorant, sheltered adults we should send them out into society and feed them to the wolves.

  45. Violence should be associated with the sponsors by cyber_rigger · · Score: 1


    Instead of banning violence just give an AWARD to the best sponsor of violent TV.

    This doesn't say it is good or bad, it just says who is paying the most to bring it into your living room.

  46. It's about time... by jlanthripp · · Score: 2, Funny

    The government really needs to regulate violence on television. The violence on television lately is so poor that the only fix is for the government to step in and ensure that all violence shown on television meets standards of quality. I for one demand that the violence in my entertainment be the finest violence available.

    --
    "Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms" should be a convenience store, not a government agency.
    1. Re:It's about time... by BCW2 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      ABC, CBS, NBC have alot of catching up to do. CNN and Fox News are showing much more violence from Iraq than the other three show any day put together. Quality violence is so hard to find.

      --
      Professional Politicians are not the solution, they ARE the problem.
  47. Re:Tivo by Wolfier · · Score: 1

    I apologize for stating the obvious but...

    Fact: children most probably can learn programming a VCR _QUICKER_ than adults can.

  48. Well let's look at the bigger picture by a+whoabot · · Score: 1

    So, tv becomes "worse".

    Maybe less people will sit around on the couch? Or less will fall victim to ads for useless products and junk food. The future looks truly bleak.

  49. Rating system by Safety+Cap · · Score: 1
    Then parents can decide what is suitable for themselves to view as well as their children, and nobody needs to step on anyone else's right to broadcast what they want or watch what they want.
    A small handgun provides the thorough, detailed, and precise rating system you require. Simply "point" and "click."

    Once you've applied your new rating system to every TeeVee in the house, provide every one of your brood with a Library Card.

    --
    Yeah, right.
  50. Nothing to see here folks... by gcaseye6677 · · Score: 1

    Nothing will ever come of this. If you made a list of conservative politicians' favorite movies, most of them would be violent. This is simply an election year ploy to kiss up to the religious right and squeeze out a few more votes. After the election, this will not be mentioned again and if anyone asks about it, the failure to regulate TV will be blamed on liberals. Hollywood and TV networks donate to almost all political campaigns, and their donations are far larger than the Christian Coalition's, so that tells you where the legislative priorities are.

  51. No beheadings are ever shown by HermanAB · · Score: 1
    on American TV - there were two today, but only AlJazeera shows it.

    They want to censor TV even more?

    --
    Oh well, what the hell...
  52. Re:They've also looked into censoring web broadcas by Refrag · · Score: 2, Interesting

    There's no such thing as a "Web broadcast". Broadcasts mean that you're sending information in a broad manner. Web streams are no-sort-of-casts because they have to be requested before the information is transmitted. This is important to realize when considering whether or not the gov't has their normal TV regulation authority over Web streams.

    --
    I have a website. It's about Macs.
  53. Re:They've also looked into censoring web broadcas by Master+of+Transhuman · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Excuse me, but the FCC will decide that FOR you, you know.

    And if some pesky wording of the law gets in the way, I'm sure Congress can easily pass an amendment.

    You're relying on reality which is always a sure path to defeat when dealing with politicians.

    --
    Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
  54. Amen, Brother! by quarkscat · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The wealthiest portions of the IT industry basically "ignored their duty" to make political donations in the 1990's. How dare they! The pigopolists like Microsoft would never have come into the crosshairs of the DoJ if they had been "sharing the wealth" more amongst the polititians. The anti-trust settlement against Microsoft was finalized under a GOP administration that has gone out of its way to be friendly (with out- stretched hand) with big business. It was no accident that Microsoft's "punishment" was as moderate as it was: -- they could not have written the punishment they received better themselves (oops, oh, wait). Money is the "mother's milk" of politics, and those with the biggest teats get the most out of our wonderful "representative" government in the USA. I believe it was Samuel Clemmens that once stated "We have the best system of government that money can buy!" And the Bush administration has made it known (from the start) that they are "open for business" ...

  55. What violence? It's just reality TV by gelfling · · Score: 1

    Seriously what violence are they talking about? Talk shows? Eat Bugs shows? The Real World? Golf? The Fishing Channel? Who wants to marry my Dad? Oprah? Fairly Odd Parents?

    What violence?

    Do they mean channels that are already restricted like HBO?

  56. Expectations by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 1

    Broadcast TV is far different from cable/sat. During broadcast prime time hours, there is the expectation of no nudity. i.e. family time. A safe place for kids to hang with the parents and watch TV. It wasn't so much the nipple, but the expectation of not seeing a nipple during the Superbowl. And you KNOW they did that for the shock value, and the rating spurt it brought.

    Cable is far, far different. You KNOW there will be some sex & violence, so hopefully you regulate your kids appropriately.

    Nudity, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. But in the search for ever higher ratings, the line would be pushed back farther and farther. Given free reign, the advertisers would have Mr. & Mrs. McFeely live up to their name.

    1. Re:Expectations by YrWrstNtmr · · Score: 1

      the expectation of no nudity. i.e. family time.
      Because we all know that nudity is anti-family.


      Did you sit down with your 6 year old and watch the Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee video, explaining the finer points as you went along?

      Why not?

      How about the goatse guy? That would be a nice bit of nudity for your kid to dwell on at night.

  57. Re:can we have the sex back? but without Cialis ad by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

    Also can we please PLEASE "regulate" those goddamn annoying "erection" commercials?? They get more and more explicit and just plain annoying every year.

    I'd be happy if Enzyte was found by the FDA to be making illegal medical claims and shut them down. Perhaps I'm just watching the Impotence Network, but I feel like every other commercial is for Enzyte. At least with the Viagra and Cialis commercials, they can't get specific about what it does without having to list the side effects and such, so there are more of them that are just flying kites and couples running in fields.

    However, since they've started better aiming adds based off gender and age, I've had to sit through fewer feminine hygene commercials. I guess I don't watch what 13 yr old girls watch.

    Or, to put this specifically on topic, there are many commercials for sex related items on, so why not shows with sexual subect content? Why is that off limits, when CSI (the most popular show in the country) shows about 2 murders every show, 3 or more shows a week (at least once NY comes on, plus more with reruns).

  58. Usual Bullshit by Master+of+Transhuman · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    There is no need for regulation of any kind of programming by the state.

    Not porn, not violence, not snuff films, not commercials, nothing.

    Children are not "harmed" by any of this crap. They are harmed by moronic primate parents who can't explain reality to them because neither THEIR parents nor the educational system in this pathetic country ever explained it to them. Period. And that's the way the government and the religious and educational and corporate institutions in this country like it.

    You want regulation of violence? Learn to shoot politicians without hitting anyone else.

    --
    Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
  59. Why HBO rocks, and I want to live on Mars by Shihar · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I say take care of your own damned kids and leave me alone. I am an adult, I don't want a fucking V-chip in my TV and I don't want the FCC to decide what program I can and can not watch. The networks are already squeamish enough about what they show, I don't need the FCC to kill entirely kill any hope for a TV show being gritty.

    One reason why I love HBO is because they flip the bird to censorship and guess what? Every single year they rake in the awards for their programming. Censorship kills intelligent programming. Why the hell can't the government get the fuck out of my TV, out of my house, and stop punishing me because some parent is too fucking stupid to take care of their own kid?

    Is your kid a little shit who likes to watch bad things behind your back and you are unable to control the little brat? Here is a solution, throw out your fucking TV or lock it in your room. I am so fucking pissed at how much I have to pay for other people's stupidity these days. I can't fucking smoke pot, can't watch violent/sexual TV, my fucking city closes at 2 am (hurray Boston curfew laws!), the rave seen as all been shut down in my area, I can't buy liquor at a bar past 1 am (another hurray for Boston's blue light laws!), violent video games are on the decline because Lieberman takes every chance he can get to threaten the industry, I can't gamble, and I can't even find an all night dinner (one more cheer for Boston curfew laws!) all because somewhere someone out there is too fucking stupid to handle these 'major' responsibilities. I am pissed and I am sick of seeing my liberties being slowly sucked away because some dumbass out there needs the government to protect themselves from themselves or watch their fucking kids.

    So let me state it clearly. If you can't take care of yourself or your kids, please do me a favor and go fuck yourself. Don't beg the government to save you from your own incompetence at life. Go move to a nation that gets off on baby sitting its citizens or just purge your worthless genes from the pool. If you can take care of yourself, but really want to help other people take care of themselves, for fucks sake, stop being such a whiny little hypocritical bitch, get off your ass, and go help. Don't beg the government to do the work you want done for you. Want to keep kids from watching violent TV? Get off your fucking ass, make the rounds in your neighborhood and tell parents how to raise their kids. Someone might even listen to. Hell, offer to baby sit the little shits 24/7 and make sure the job gets done right. Just stay the fuck away from me.

    Honestly, if we start flinging rockets to mars or asteroids I'll sign up and be the first guy to start a new world. Maybe then in my pressurized habitat in the middle of a barren wasteland I can enjoy some nice violent and sexual explicitly TV in peace.

  60. Why not decensor everything? by agraupe · · Score: 1

    I should be able to see nudists shooting each other, and cussing while they do it, for hours on end during prime time. On a serious note, perhaps parents should pull their head out of their ass and actually be involved in what their child sees. I don't wanna have censorship because of some stupid Christian that doesn't like their children seeing violence or (God forbid!) breasts!

  61. In the meantime, in Canada... (In other news...) by Bilange · · Score: 1

    CRTC (Canada's FCC equivalent) decided to not renew CHOI-FM's broadcasting license, because of some offensive comments, personal attacks and harassment.

    This decision is made in the same week then CRTC approval for al-Jazeera broadcasting rights. Beheading, anyone?

    External links:

    Journal entry commenting about this
    CRTC report about non-renewal
    News: Thousands march to support CHOI-FM

    --
    "...a generation of kids has grown up thinking Trance is the shittiest music since country and western." - Paul van Dyk
  62. Regulation != Censorship by RaisinBread · · Score: 2

    Restructuring how you deal with violence on TV has nothing to do with censoring it. The fact that the government is looking into helping me control what comes into my home and affects my children is great in my book.

    Why does everyone throw the 'you-are-all-for-censorship' flag? Saying that I'm not tolerant or supressing free-speech is a bit hypocritical: I would ask you to be tolerant of my desire to shield my children (and myself) from harmful images and behavior portrayed on public TV.

    Accusing me that I can't control my children (just turn off the TV or change the channel) doesn't especially work either. I fully agree that parents have prime responsibility for their chidren. But I don't want to have to be a control freak to protect my children. Besides: allowing me to filter things coming into my home protects me (and them) from accidentally coming across things I don't want to see.

    Let's not skirt this issue either: The fact that people scoff at the US's sex/guns ratio is beside the point as well. I assume that it is the general consensus of the population of the world that viewing graphic sexual or violent content isn't beneficial, and if anything, harmful. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm right. Mix it however you want. Or we could say its some sort of election year tactic by the conservatives..... blah. Let's talk about the issue.

    --J

    1. Re:Regulation != Censorship by Dillusionary · · Score: 1

      Ok I'm going to say this as nice as possible, V-CHIP you idiot, change the channel, why don't you take care of your own children instead of using my tax dollars cause you are too damn lazy? You know if you fear TV and the corruption of your kids that much, then move to another country? The Mountains? The deepest part of the ocean? YOU KNOW DO IT FOR THE CHILDREN, BECAUSE WITHOUT THE GOVERNMENT WE ARE ALL DOOM, don't be so fucking naive ok?

    2. Re:Regulation != Censorship by Mant · · Score: 1

      I assume that it is the general consensus of the population of the world that viewing graphic sexual or violent content isn't beneficial, and if anything, harmful.

      Quite a few places seem pretty relaxed about graphic sexual content, and the idea about what is "graphic" varies quite a lot as well. Countries where more graphic sexual content is around tend to have lower rates of teenage pregnancy too. To be fair it probably isn't a case of one causing the other, but both reflecting healthier attitudes to sex.

  63. err... by templest · · Score: 1

    TV? What's a TV? I'll stick to my monitor thank-you-very-much.

    --
    I'm a signature virus. Please copy me to your signature so I can replicate.
  64. I don't get it... by Bull999999 · · Score: 1

    Many slashdotters wanted greater government regulation of those evil TV stations owned by the TV corporation. I guess you need to be careful of what you wish for.

    --
    1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d
    1. Re:I don't get it... by Bull999999 · · Score: 1

      I guess you haven't figured out that if you give Governmnet an inch, they'll take a mile.

      --
      1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d
  65. Re:Why won't they... ? by Macgrrl · · Score: 1

    The greed and selfishness I see in the world today is far more indecent than anything I see on television.

    YES! If I had mod points today - you'd get them

    --
    Sara
    Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
  66. Regulation = Censorship by Shihar · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Regulation absolutely does equal censorship. If government controls dictate that certain types of programming can't be on until after 9 P.M. that IS censorship. If the FCC fines NBC (or whoever) because someone flops a boob around on TV, that IS censorship. Yes, even a mandated rating system is censorship is because it means that you can't show something unless you jump through a certain hoop. If you are not allowed to show something unless the government reviews it first, that, my friend, is without a doubt censorship. You can not 'regulate' speech without censoring.

    As to your kids, take some fucking control or don't complain. I am sorry you don't want to be a 'control freak' but the minor inconvenience of knowing what your kids are watching and/or setting up some parental locks is worth censorship of the rest of the population can see. I honestly don't give a damn about your kids and am at a loss as to why you think it makes any sort of sense that the rest of the population should have to endure censorship of what they can view because you don't want your kids to think you are a mean Daddy/Mommy.

    I find abhorrent that people think it is okay to use the force of the government to get around being 'control freaks' with their children. This same stupid line of reasoning would dictate that the Internet needs to be controlled by the government because your kids might run into a porn site and you don't want to be a 'control freak' that uses a filter on your computer. Hell, this line of reasoning says that people shouldn't be allowed to swear in public or talk about sex on the streets because your kid might overhear it, and you really don't want to have to be a 'control freak' and always be with your kids to protect them from such vile behavior.

    Parents need to take responsibility for themselves and their damned kids. Don't want your kids to see violence or sex on TV? Lock out all channels but PBS and Discovery (although, be careful, god forbid they learn about science of sex through the Discovery channel). Any modern TV can do this simply and easily. Still paranoid PBS might do a special on sexual reproduction or violence, throw away the damn TV. Whatever the case, I, an adult without kids, shouldn't have to suffer because you are manically trying to protect your kids from depictions of sex and violence, yet are too lazy to put in the effort to shield your kids from the fact that violence exists and most adults not only have sex, but have it often.

    If you want to shove puritan values down your kids throats yet are too lazy to actually put in the effort to do it, do everyone a favor and don't breed.

    1. Re:Regulation = Censorship by RaisinBread · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Regulation absolutely does equal censorship. If government controls dictate that certain types of programming can't be on until after 9 P.M. that IS censorship.

      No it doesn't. Browsing at +3 is regulation. Not allowing users to troll before 9:00 pm is censorship. Let me filter - you can show your sexy/violent stuff all day if you want, just allow me a sure way to block it all.

      I honestly don't give a damn about your kids and am at a loss as to why you think it makes any sort of sense that the rest of the population should have to endure censorship of what they can view because you don't want your kids to think you are a mean Daddy/Mommy.

      Um... that would be because I believe certain content is harmful. Sorry. If I want to keep your dogs out of my house, you're just gonna have to 'endure' my closed-minded 'regulation.' They may hurt you, but I'm afraid they're gonna knock my kids around. Look: Fair's fair. If you want your graphic content, I want a way to keep it out.

      I find abhorrent that people think it is okay to use the force of the government to get around being 'control freaks' with their children. ...

      The kind of control freak I'm speaking of is the parent who has to be omnipresent for all media consumption. If you read my first post, what I'm after here is a safe way to *regulate* obscene content. Broadcast it all day if you want, just rate it. Flag it. Something.

      Parents need to take responsibility for themselves and their damned kids. Don't want your kids to see violence or sex on TV? Lock out all channels but PBS and Discovery (although, be careful, god forbid they learn about science of sex through the Discovery channel) ... Whatever the case, I, an adult without kids, shouldn't have to suffer because you are manically trying to protect your kids from depictions of sex and violence, yet are too lazy to put in the effort to shield your kids from the fact that violence exists and most adults not only have sex, but have it often.

      If you want to shove puritan values down your kids throats yet are too lazy to actually put in the effort to do it, do everyone a favor and don't breed.


      Maybe all this regulation talk has really caused you to suffer as you say. I suppose all the broad generalizations about anti-sex sentiment, puritan brainwashing, and emotive argument are a result of a mind depraved of graphic sexual and violent content.

      Sorry. ;o)

      --J

    2. Re:Regulation = Censorship by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1
      No it doesn't. Browsing at +3 is regulation. Not allowing users to troll before 9:00 pm is censorship.
      I agree. Did you read the article? I'll help you with a quick quote:
      "Of particular importance is that the FCC wants to consider whether to create a "violence" safe harbor as they have with indecent and profane broadcasts."
      In other words, the FCC is considering not allowing broadcasters to portray violence before 10PM.

      Like you said, it's censorship.
  67. We need to regulate the gene pool instead by leereyno · · Score: 1

    Ever wonder where stupid, ignorant, detrimental ideas like the FCC censoring the airwaves come from? That's right, from stupid, ignorant people whose continued existence on this planet is detrimental to anyone with a triple digit IQ. I say we neuter and castrate them so their offspring don't carry on in the family tradition and cause the same problems for our children and grandchildren.

    The more time goes by and the older I get, the more certain I become that the average person is dumb as a sack of shit, not to mention superstitious, reactionary, and last but not least, easily led.

    I wish there was some way of culling these people and snipping what needs to be snipped. Unfortunately any process or proceedure to do this created by human minds and administered by human hands is guaranteed to be a disaster. What we need is a naturally occuring process that cannot be tampered with or easily avoided. Traditionally man has benefitted from natural selection just like all other life on this planet. Unfortunately civilization has trumped that and has created an environment where really stupid and useless idiots are not only surviving, but are breeding in increasingly large numbers.

    I really, really, really wish that nature would find some way to get rid of the dregs of humanity instead of letting them multiply and eventually find jobs working for the FCC, organized religion, and political extremist groups.

    Too bad we can't do what that one planet in Douglas Adam's books did and trick all their morons into going off to colonize another planet. The fact that those colonists eventually found their way to earth is something I find less and less suprising with each passing day.

    Shakespeare said kill all the lawyers. I say castrate all the cretins!

    --
    Muslim community leaders warn of backlash from tomorrow morning's terrorist attack.
  68. first they came... by Allison+Geode · · Score: 1

    first they came for janet jackson's breast, but i didn't speak up, because i'm a girl and have my own.

    then they came for the violence, but i didn't speak up, because i have video games.

    then they came for me, and there was nobody left to speak up for me.

  69. Re:Why won't they... ? by Thing+1 · · Score: 1
    If we teach our kids that getting a tax break is more important than sacrificing a little to help those who are not as lucky as ourselves, our kids are going to turn out to be MUCH worse than kids who watch "trash" on television - our kids are going to be selfish, callous, and uncompassionate.

    How about, best of both worlds:

    Teach our kids to get a tax break, so that they can help out those less fortunate.

    --
    I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
  70. Re:In the meantime, in Canada... (In other news... by WildBeast · · Score: 1

    The role of the CRTC should be reviewed. Censorship shall not be tolerated.

  71. Sigh... by bishmasterb · · Score: 1

    Exactly what part of "Congress shall make no law..." does Congress not understand?

  72. Except... by brunes69 · · Score: 1

    That that is all total BS, the same BS right wingers always spout.

    As the parent said, America is the only country in the world who is this prudish about sex (especially on TV), and guess who has the highest teen pregnancy rates, and the most date rapes, and the most sex crimes?

    One hint, is it is the *SA. Fill in the blank letter.

    1. Re:Except... by jez9999 · · Score: 1

      As the parent said, America is the only country in the world who is this prudish about sex (especially on TV)

      I dunno. The UK seems about as bad if not worse to me, nipples (and usually most nudity) blocked out, and the fact that a huge number of people only watch terrestrial television still means that these channels have to be heavily regulated, ie. virtually zero sex. There was controversy recently about two of the participants on Big Brother being *heard* to have sex on TV, let alone being seen.

    2. Re:Except... by brunes69 · · Score: 1

      Heh, you don't watch much American TV do you.

      No scene with the potential for nipples would even make it to the set, much less be blocked out.

      Unless you're watching HBO.

      TBS is the absolute worst. I have seen them cut out entire scenes from movies in the name of censorship.

    3. Re:Except... by Deagol · · Score: 1
      TV movie editing just cracks me up.

      Anybody remember when Judd Nelson was dubbed to say "eat my socks" rather than "eat my shorts" on the broadcasts of The Breakfast Club? I never could figure out the reasoning for that.

      Yet... daytime soaps and Fox prime time have steamier bedrooms scenes than most R-Rated movies I've seen in the past few years (except the foreign ones, of course).

  73. Re:Why won't they... ? by Creedo · · Score: 1

    I agree with you for the most part, but I do take issue with one thing:
    If we teach our kids that getting a tax break is more important than sacrificing a little to help those who are not as lucky as ourselves
    I believe(and will teach my children) that personal philanthropy is far preferable to a government nanny state. I make it a habit to support good organizations, and I regularly buy food for homeless people aside from that.
    My point is, don't equate a political view about the function and responsibility of government with a disregard for humanity.

    --
    All that is necessary for the triumph of good is that evil men do nothing.
  74. You know... by b1scuit · · Score: 1
    Boobs were quite possibly the first thing I ever saw that I wanted to see again.

    Come to think of it, that's pretty much still true. Let's not blame the boobs.

  75. Re:They've also looked into censoring web broadcas by DAldredge · · Score: 1

    Network Working Group S. Deering
    Request for Comments: 1112 Stanford University
    Obsoletes: RFCs 988, 1054 August 1989

    Host Extensions for IP Multicasting

    1. STATUS OF THIS MEMO

    This memo specifies the extensions required of a host implementation
    of the Internet Protocol (IP) to support multicasting. It is the
    recommended standard for IP multicasting in the Internet.
    Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

    2. INTRODUCTION

    IP multicasting is the transmission of an IP datagram to a "host
    group", a set of zero or more hosts identified by a single IP
    destination address. A multicast datagram is delivered to all
    members of its destination host group with the same "best-efforts"
    reliability as regular unicast IP datagrams, i.e., the datagram is
    not guaranteed to arrive intact at all members of the destination
    group or in the same order relative to other datagrams.

    The membership of a host group is dynamic; that is, hosts may join
    and leave groups at any time. There is no restriction on the
    location or number of members in a host group. A host may be a
    member of more than one group at a time. A host need not be a member
    of a group to send datagrams to it.

    A host group may be permanent or transient. A permanent group has a
    well-known, administratively assigned IP address. It is the address,
    not the membership of the group, that is permanent; at any time a
    permanent group may have any number of members, even zero. Those IP
    multicast addresses that are not reserved for permanent groups are
    available for dynamic assignment to transient groups which exist only
    as long as they have members.

    Internetwork forwarding of IP multicast datagrams is handled by
    "multicast routers" which may be co-resident with, or separate from,
    internet gateways. A host transmits an IP multicast datagram as a
    local network multicast which reaches all immediately-neighboring
    members of the destination host group. If the datagram has an IP
    time-to-live greater than 1, the multicast router(s) attached to the
    local network take responsibility for forwarding it towards all other
    networks that have members of the destination group. On those other
    member networks that are reachable within the IP time-to-live, an
    attached multicast router completes delivery by transmitting the

    datagram as a local multicast.

    This memo specifies the extensions required of a host IP
    implementation to support IP multicasting, where a "host" is any
    internet host or gateway other than those acting as multicast
    routers. The algorithms and protocols used within and between
    multicast routers are transparent to hosts and will be specified in
    separate documents. This memo also does not specify how local
    network multicasting is accomplished for all types of network,
    although it does specify the required service interface to an
    arbitrary local network and gives an Ethernet specification as an
    example. Specifications for other types of network will be the
    subject of future memos.

  76. Re:In the meantime, in Canada... (In other news... by Bilange · · Score: 1

    Jeff Fillion went too far, I agree.

    Genex Communications knew they were playing with fire by letting Fillion fully express himself: that attracted listeners, so it was at Genex advantage to let him talk. But now they went too far and want to come back... its a bit late.

    Also, i'd fire Fillion and the subject would be closed. But oh well, I dont understand governments. (Quebecer, Canadian, American, English, you name it all.)

    --
    "...a generation of kids has grown up thinking Trance is the shittiest music since country and western." - Paul van Dyk
  77. Re:Why won't they... ? by Macgrrl · · Score: 1

    Bugger - I just got mod points :)

    But as I've already commented in this thread - I can't give you one... :(

    --
    Sara
    Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
  78. Oh, fer crying out loud... by Tony · · Score: 1

    I suppose those liberals will be happy now that SATA will get rid of "master/slave" term us racist geeks use with our racist computer devices.

    Good lord, it's not the scary, scary liberals who are up in arms about the "master/slave" term; it's the equally-scary, scary conservatives, because it reminds them of bondage and dominance, and that nanny they once had, the one with the leather outfits and that ever-so-intrusive rod.

    You know the one.

    --
    Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
  79. Re:In the meantime, in Canada... (In other news... by WildBeast · · Score: 1

    He went too far with what? He's just a radio show host expressing his opinions. If somebody got hurt as a result, they can always sue him in court and let the justice system decide. It's not up to the CRTC. The CRTC is now gonna start censoring radio stations and decides who get to speak and who doesn't based on what they say? That's pathetic.

  80. Censorship can spawn ignorance by I-R-Baboon · · Score: 1

    It is *NOT* the duty of the FCC to take the place of irresponsible poor exuses for parents. This applies to TV, Movies, Video Games, Radio, and any other medium they make a power grab for. Violence and horrors are a part of human nature, to try and candy coat life by making it disappear only within American borders is not the solution to it. Removing it prevents responsible parents from educating children on this dark side of human nature when the child is ready for such subjects. If a child has access to such things without guidance, the parents need to be penalized not the masses.

    If you are offended by something you hear and/or see, change the damn channel. There is enough of a market for that show to be on the air, so the minority who cries the loudest should not be allowed to proxy an already over burdened government agency into their holy crusade. Trying to recreate reality will only add to the problem, it will exist until we evolve past the point of our obsessions with numbers, chunks of metal, and thousand year old compilations of short stories. Humans bleed, humans hurt other humans, and we all to often kill each other. With proper guidance perhaps we can recover our failed society, but guidance is not sweeping under the rug. I watch shows that contain all sorts of content that is not morally modelling, but I sure as shit do not allow my children to watch them. I take the responsibility as a parent to filter what they take in and provide education and guidance as they grow old enough to understand more and more reality. When they are old enough to understand I will explain the difference between fantasy and reality and make sure they understand the full ramifications of violence and immoral actions/words towards their fellow humans. They will understand fully the pain it brings to everybody connected, even if you do not see them right away. I watch these shows, but I'm not running organized crime ordering hits on people and settling things with a pistol. I don't need the government trying to be a parent, that is what the MOTHER and FATHER are for or responsible guardian. The government really needs to try focussing on something else rather than taking on another project they can fail miserably at. Their track record speaks for itself.

    See: War on Drugs, Prohibition, Peace keeping in Iraq, Defoliating in Columbia, Supporting Bin Laden, Bay of Pigs Invasion, and Growing Urban Poverty.

    mv /soapboax /home/nextslashdotter

    --
    -1 Overrated (Too many big words for me to comprehend)
    1. Re:Censorship can spawn ignorance by superpulpsicle · · Score: 1

      While I agree in so many ways. You and everyone else in this forum is missing the real point. Now for the real conspiracy theory.

      The FCC is there pretending to protect you to basically sound like a good guy. In reality the government needs to make sure the average American gets a healthy dose of violence. So that they don't see extreme violence for the first time in Iraq. Same with the rating system, it's there to make you crave for renting rated R films when you turn 16 etc. Oh just before you join the military. wink wink

  81. LOSE THE FCC by Dillusionary · · Score: 1

    They are %10000 completely worthless, as well as most governments. How long do you think it will take before we have a revolution? How much crap will the American people swallow until they stop and say why, wtf? It's your right to take YOUR country back. Do it now before it becomes harder and bloodier.

    The other question everyone needs to ask is, what right does the IRS have by taking your money and calling it income tax, where do they come off convicting people for not paying taxes? There is NO LAW that says you have too, do your research!!

  82. No more live battles from Iraq by LuSiDe · · Score: 1

    Just the non-violent pieces, please. News shouldn't be tied to a rule like this one. If something is violent or the result of violence yet important, it should be shown. I guess it boils down now to "being said" only on TV? Or the radio?

    --
    WE DON'T NEED NO BLOG CONTROL.
  83. Let the FCC be already! by OOO0000OO0O0 · · Score: 1

    Our culture has degraded. There's just no craftsmanship in art anymore, and TV shows are only one example of the arts that have taken a hit. Which is why it's good if the FCC goes censorship happy. Now, it's better to be pro-censorship. It's like how Slashdot started out unmoderated and now there are some controls in place. It's way past the time to implement these controls, on a rigorous, complete basis, cable companies be damned.

    For example:

    1. Paint random lines/shapes onto a canvas.

    2. ???

    3. Profit!

    4. GOTO 1
    (Damn, I'm using this joke too much. Someone shoot me.)

    Now do the likewise thing for a TV show:

    1. Insert boobs.

    2. Insert ass.

    3. Insert random bouts of angst and unnecessary violence. Call it "reality."

    4. ???

    5. Profit!

    6. GOTO 1

    And THIS is mainstream? God help us. The FCC can do lots to stem the tide of shallowness by censoring the offending programs. Sure, shock tactics worked for a while...but today they have it the other way around. It's shocking NOT to display a scene of violence or sex used to fill out the $6.99 script. Real TV shows that are good (not "reality" shows, which reflect reality as well as a media CEO reflects speeding bullets) are the exception. This kind of TV also does nothing to stop the inherent rot in American culture, maintaining a recursive cycle.

    And music? Sure, that remains as one of the last bastions of craftsmanship. You can't stick T&A into a guitar riff or piano solo. However, the first cracks are beginning to show there too.

    Take one noise that you synthesized by adding 200dB to the Imp growling sound from Doom, distorting it, applying multiple audiofilters (# of filters = level of skill apparently) and looping it for God knows how many times, and you get "good dance/house/techno." Oh and slap on a cookie cutter rhythm while you're at it, because it will make all the Cool Dudes bounce and wiggle (NOT dance) to it and think it's "phat."

    Whatever happened to making techno that had depth in its rhythm? Is the popular techno these days really what I think it is?

    Whatever happened to learning how to play an instrument? And I don't mean "jamming on the guitar," because most of the mainstream music these days shouldn't be mainstream. Top 40 singers routinely get their voices pitch-corrected and filtered up to make you think they sing well. Pop singers who can hit notes (!) do an extreme amount of pitch bending in their songs so they don't so much as hit a note as swipe past it.

    And your tech support is from India.

    1. Re:Let the FCC be already! by Dillusionary · · Score: 1

      Totally, now only if they legalize it!! Why don't they? Beer and shit kills people every day.

  84. Cripes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "just allow me a sure way to block it all."

    Easy. The off switch. That's not even a difficult thing to do. I have two kids, and I don't forbid them to watch anything. Nothing. They don't watch much TV though. Life is too interesting. Surfing, martial arts, scuba, going to parties, playing sports, going to plays. TV is for the few minutes in between living life, or to put you to sleep when you're too keyed up from an exciting day.

    For you though, apparently, its a way to babysit the kids. Good luck to your kids. They need it.

    1. Re:Cripes by Chris+Carollo · · Score: 1
      Easy. The off switch. That's not even a difficult thing to do. I have two kids, and I don't forbid them to watch anything. Nothing. They don't watch much TV though. Life is too interesting. Surfing, martial arts, scuba, going to parties, playing sports, going to plays. TV is for the few minutes in between living life, or to put you to sleep when you're too keyed up from an exciting day.
      Ah, the inevitable "I'm better than TV" post. Knew there had to be at least one around here somewhere.

      I'm a pretty smart guy by most standards and I watched a fair amount of TV as a child. Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, 321 Countdown, Reading Rainbow, etc. Watched a bunch of fluff cartoons too (Transformers, Mask, etc), and sure, not all of it was "good for me" per se, but on the whole it was clearly beneficial. Even now as an adult there's plenty of really high-quality entertainment out there if you look around a bit. Nothing wrong with that -- everyone needs to be entertained, and not everything needs to be 100% edifying.

      Do you have HBO or Cinemax? Would you be okay with them watching any program on those networks? I know for a fact that there's a lot of content that would have been inappropriate or upsetting for me to watch well into my teens. Nothing wrong with that content being accurately rated and you controlling what your children view.

      And for the record I also practiced martial arts, played piano, was on 2 or 3 sports teams every year, and had fun with friends. There was plenty of time for all those other activities. No need to look down your nose that folks that enjoy some television. As much as you'd like to think so, you're not inherently better than them.
  85. I agree by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

    Your right, sex should be open to all children. It's ok if a 13 year old girl has sex. She must explore her sexuality at a young age so she can grow up the be strong and confident. ...and don't worry if she get's knocked up or has STDs. The government will pay for all the abortions as a form of birth control. The question is, how does the government get all it's money?

    Is your face turning red yet? I hope so, because it means your thinking.

    --
    Life is not for the lazy.
    1. Re:I agree by flyingV · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Heh. Yeah, because "sex should be open to all children" is exactly what he said.

    2. Re:I agree by Ari_Haviv · · Score: 1

      well it is if it's on TV

      --
      Join Team Mozilla #38050 Folding@home
    3. Re:I agree by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      You sir, are the fucking idiot. Go to Africa some time and you will see how common it is for girls at age 11 to get married and start having children as soon as it's biologically possible. Notice how high the AIDs epidemic is. And they won't use condoms because it doesn't "feel right". Once you're sexually active, it's like genetic behavior switch that doesn't turn off easily. Hence, they will continue to have sex over and over and over again.

      Abstinence before maturity is the only proven method of birth control and preventing STD via promiscuity

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    4. Re:I agree by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      Yeah, gods forbid the kids' PARENTS do something to keep him from watching a TV show rated M-nudity. Oh the horror, the bimbo soccer mom will have to tear herself away from "Survivor 36: Why are people still watching this shit?" to make sure little Jimmy isn't watching titties bouncing on old "Baywatch" reruns.

    5. Re:I agree by Ari_Haviv · · Score: 1

      oh I totally agree. Parents have to realize this stuff is out there but they don't want to do something about it themselves. They want someone else to be a parent to their kids for them

      --
      Join Team Mozilla #38050 Folding@home
    6. Re:I agree by Hognoxious · · Score: 1
      It's ok if a 13 year old girl has sex. She must explore her sexuality at a young age so she can grow up the be strong and confident. ...and don't worry if she get's knocked up or has STDs.
      I take it you believe the Vatican's "condoms have tiny holes in them" story, then?
      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  86. Reader beware by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    That quote seems to be fictitious.

    1. Re:Reader beware by Asterisk · · Score: 1
      That quote seems to be fictitious.
      The attribution may be fictitious, but the quote itself seems quite accurate.
  87. This should've been done long ago by m4dh4773r · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm glad to see that the FCC is finally taking up the responsibility of censoring what little kiddies watch on tv, because it sure as hell isn't the parents anymore. When I turn on the tv and flip through the stations and pause on, say, USA and see a police show about gang violence and how it glorifies street life with kids carrying pistols, it makes me wonder about gun violence among youths. It also makes me wonder when it's going to push the feds to take all the guns from us good guys. I enjoy my freedom in my state to legally carry a firearm for self defense. If no one steps up and does something about the growing problem we have with teen violence, we will all lose that right. If you don't agree with me, you must've already done something to lose that right and don't give a shit about anyone else. If this offends you, you are probably one of the millions of parents who don't give a shit about what your kids watch on tv. Don't think it can happen? Ask a Canadian. Ask a European. I just hope we haven't let it get too far out of hand.

  88. Re:Puhleese! by beakburke · · Score: 1
    Puhleese is right! You accuse the parent of ignoring facts that don't square with his world view. But then you go and do the exact same thing. Ignoring other evidence that doesn't square with YOUR world view, and then after ignoring evidence that doesn't support your point, you make wild statements such as" the prison guards were told to violate the geneva convention up and down the chain of command" and try and lay the blame at Bush's feet. Why? Because it's what you WANT to believe. You are engaged in the same act as parent, or worse with the rediculous claims.

    Sure you can make an intelligent and convincing case that Iraq wasn't as pressing or dangerous as Bush claimed, or that it should have been handled with X number of troops, or Y strategy. But you don't do that, at least not in this post.

    --
    ----- Question authority, but not ours. Hate the man, but we're not him.
  89. Hypocrisy by fpga_guy · · Score: 1
    I was on a flight between Australia and the US recently. The first movie was Calendar Girls, a story about a bunch of 50+ English women who do a nude calendar as a fund raiser - in it there were a couple of very brief titty-shots that had been pixellated out.

    After this, on comes some new boxing movie, completely uncut, with the classic slow motion head-jarring blood-spitting sequences that they seem to thrive on.

    Jokes aside, can someone explain to me how a bit of saggy tit is more offensive than gratuitous full-screen slow motion violence?

  90. Re:Why won't they... ? by Chris+Carollo · · Score: 1
    Teach our kids to get a tax break, so that they can help out those less fortunate.
    And how much, percentage-wise, would you guess those tax breaks for the top 1% of wageearners went towards helping out the less fortunate?

    I honestly don't know, but I'd expect it to be pretty small (much less than 100% anyway). Whenever I read things like it strikes me as extremely disingenuous -- "Yes, please give me money rather than the desperate and poor, and I'll be sure to help them out, honest!". If you were handing out aid checks and someone said that to you, would you believe them? Somehow I think not.
  91. SFDT by aklix · · Score: 1

    i dont watch TV anymore anyways. if i want video i find a good divX clip or go to http://sfdt.com./, stick figure death theater. some funny stuff on that, and a little bit of it isnt that bad. search: rob denbleyker

  92. Enemy combatants by PsiPsiStar · · Score: 1

    Not to defend Bush, but his contention is that the Geneva convention requires that soldiers identify themselves as soldiers via an insignia, uniform, etc. Those that don't do this, he claims aren't offered the protections of the Geneva convention. Thus the phrase "enemy combatatant" you keep hearing. He's trying to create a new class of enemy so that old protections don't apply.

    --

    ___
    It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
    1. Re:Enemy combatants by PsiPsiStar · · Score: 1

      Well, it's always been okay for the US to use terrorism, or whatever means they'd like in order to acomplish their goals.

      I think this was established in Nicaragua when we were attacking 'soft targets' or in El Salvador when US trained Salvadoran troops literally liquidating churches full of civilians at El Mozote. Or maybe it's in the constitution somewhere.

      --

      ___
      It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
    2. Re:Enemy combatants by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 1

      Well, the Conventions do say that spies (i.e. somebody captured out of uniform, basically) aren't considered Prisoners of War, and I believe they can be summarily executed. That might be the old convention (small-c) though.

      --
      Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
    3. Re:Enemy combatants by fishbowl · · Score: 1

      If a militia is so poor that they have to choose between bullets or uniforms, they aren't going to have a bake sale to buy uniforms.

      --
      -fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
    4. Re:Enemy combatants by beakburke · · Score: 1

      If Green Berets were captured by a signatory to the Geneva Convention then they WOULD have to identify themselves (name, rank, serial number...). But since Al-Queda and rebel insurgents aren't part of any group that recognized the convention, it is argued that they fall outside of it's protections (notice that terrorist organization have affirmatively acted in ways that suggest that even if they were given the opportunity to "legitimize" themselves by signing such a convention, they would refuse.)

      --
      ----- Question authority, but not ours. Hate the man, but we're not him.
  93. Why cure the symptoms? by haraldm · · Score: 1

    I mean, nobody seems able to stop the NRA, eh? So they cure the symptom instead of the disease. Duh.

    --
    open (SIG, "</dev/zero"); $sig = <SIG>; close SIG;
  94. Exactly! by Mold · · Score: 1

    My daughter was born when I was 16.

    Why? Because I *HAD* to know what those lumps on my girlfriend's chest were. I just couldn't figure out what the hell they were. And one night, she showed me. And other nights, I had to see them again, because I *HAD* to study them. Something so elusive that I'd not seen them my entire life *MUST* be something worth studying. Or something.

  95. HPV and circumcision. by PsiPsiStar · · Score: 1

    Re: health and circumcision.

    Circumcision protects against cervical cancer and HPV.

    http://www.agi-usa.org/pubs/journals/3421602b.ht ml

    --

    ___
    It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
    1. Re:HPV and circumcision. by Snover · · Score: 1

      I'd wait until you have more than one independently verified study to back up that information. If it is true, great, we've found a highly destructive way to reduce cervical cancer caused by a treatable and largely non-fatal viral infection that often disappears on its own, but trying to support an argument like this with one isolated study is a bad way of making an argument.
      And like I said, I'm not against circumcision bar none, I'm just against forcing juveniles into it, and the amount of misinformation on the subject is astounding. (Conspiracy theorists have a field day on why this is -- in several antecdotes it's because many of the doctors that perform circumcisions get a high off of it, for whatever demented reason certain serial killers enjoy murdering lots of people slowly and methodically.) Anyway, if I can impress anything upon anyone here, it's that you should not force your kids into such a permenant and largely un-necessary procedure. (Besides, what if they turn out to be gay? Then it makes no difference to women anyway!)

      --

      [insert witty comment here]
    2. Re:HPV and circumcision. by PsiPsiStar · · Score: 1

      Well, I assume that gay people could still get Cancer.

      It probably isn't as important today as it was a few hundred years ago when hygene was my worse.

      Of course, conspiracy theories are probably less credible than single scientific studies.

      --

      ___
      It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
    3. Re:HPV and circumcision. by Snover · · Score: 1

      That bit about crazy doctors was an antecdote (though perhaps not an untrue one), nothing more. And men don't have cervixes, which makes getting cervical cancer rather difficult, wouldn't you say? :)

      And a few hundred years ago circumcision was not routine; when it first became as such it was in the late 19th/early 20th century to prevent "masturbatory insanity" -- sexual pleasure from masturbation was thought at the time to cause many physical and psychological problems, which is of course completely false, but that was the major reasoning to get circumcision ritualised in U.S. hospitals. The man to thank? The very same that makes your breakfast cereals, J.H. Kellogg.

      Also, numerous studies show that circumcision causes infants to sleep poorly, be fussier, and have increased heart rates compared to those that do not undergo the procedure. This is, of course, not surprising, since it is an extremely traumatizing experience. http://www.cirp.org/library/procedure/plastibell/
      Oh, did I mention that even though these are "supposed" to be conducted with anaesthetic, many times they are not because anaethesia in infants is a very quick way to kill them? And since the infant does not have a developed spinal clamp, they feel more pain than adult in a similar position would? And since the foreskin is still attached to the glans and is not due to detach for several years that it is forcibly ripped away from it? Does that really sound like something you want to allow be done to an innocent child?

      So no, you're wrong, thanks for playing, though.

      --

      [insert witty comment here]
    4. Re:HPV and circumcision. by PsiPsiStar · · Score: 1

      Men don't have cervixes, but I'm going to take a wild guess and say they do have anuses and penises. If you want to try and question me on this too, you're welcome to find some nice gay bars downtown and do some research for yourself. Tell the guys there that you're taking a survey. Bring a clip board. It'll make things more convincing if you look like you're keeping notes. If you buy them a drink first, you'll probably get more cooperation, too.

      HPV is linked to anal and penile cancer in gay men. http://my.webmd.com/content/article/25/1728_58051

      More than 40 separate studies have shown that uncircumsized men are more likely to contract HIV from heterosexual exposure.

      Doctors have noted that despite the adult's well developed spinal clamp, "HIV will still fuck you up pretty good."

      Uncircumsized boys are also about 10 times as likely to get serious kidney infections in the first year of life as are circumcised infants

      http://www.medicirc.org/meditopics/medicirc_topi cs .html

      --

      ___
      It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
    5. Re:HPV and circumcision. by n0d3 · · Score: 1

      I'll repeat myself, Because also young boys need to be washed. I never had any problem what so ever, my parents first helped me, and therefor tought me, to keep my foreskin clean. Just as they tought me to wash my hands after peeing, wash up for dinner, and to brush my teeth.

    6. Re:HPV and circumcision. by Snover · · Score: 1

      Wow, that last bit of misinformation links to a site with no actual scientific citations, where the "further proof" is a powerpoint presentation also with no citations, not to mention no AUTHOR, and I'm supposed to take that as fact. Yeah, right. Try perhaps a site that actually cites scientific studies. What? You can't find one because all the studies showing that the benefits of circumcision outweigh the hazards are bullshit? Oh, sorry about that.

      Ten times of a miniscual number (in the case of 'serious kidney infections') is still a miniscual number. Why do you persist? If the threat was really as great as you say it is at least ONE of the major children's health organizations would be in favor of routine circumcision, but none of them are.

      I'm sure I could think of a better analogy than this but I'm running on 2.5 hours of sleep: You can die by touching hot electrical wires with your fingers. Should we lop everyone's fingers off so that it would be more difficult to be electrocuted, or maybe we should just teach people the proper manner of handling live wires? Perhaps rather than trying to continue to create reasons for a barbaric practice we should instead learn to eduate people to, say, not be fucking stupid with sex and use a condom? Honestly.

      --

      [insert witty comment here]
    7. Re:HPV and circumcision. by PsiPsiStar · · Score: 1

      Alternatly, if you were going to find a reliable source you'd go somewhere that didn't have their own idological agenda. The stuff about 'ripping' the foreskin, for example, is garbage. I'm circumcised and the cut is quite clean. I've never heard of anyone winding up with a jagged edge or trauma that would be caused by ripping.
      I persist because you're just offering propaganda and because you're an arrogant fuck.

      nuff time wasted on this argument.

      --

      ___
      It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
    8. Re:HPV and circumcision. by Snover · · Score: 1

      Oh yes well, yours is 'perfect' so everyone else's must be. It sounds to me like you don't really know or care to know what actually occurs during the procedure, which is, the foreskin which is attached to the glans of the penis (the shrivelled remains which you refer to as glans is nothing compared to what it should be). The foreskin is normally attached to the glans by a membrane called the synechia. The glans and inner lining of the foreskin are still developing in the young child. During circumcision, the synechia must be torn apart.

      --

      [insert witty comment here]
  96. Hmm... by PsiPsiStar · · Score: 1

    If the stuff on TV was better, maybe I'd start caring if it were harmful or not.

    Right now, it's not worth watching. If 'Who wants to be a Millionaire' was done in the buff, I couldn't care less.

    --

    ___
    It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
  97. political judo by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Congress will regulate the TV violence display choices for everyone, which will have wide support from lazy parents. Then, when they apply the same rules to sex, there will be momentum, and it will be easy. Then, when they apply the same rules to "dangerous ideas", it won't be so hard. Then it doesn't matter what they do.

    --

    --
    make install -not war

  98. At the risk of a Troll by Shihar · · Score: 2, Interesting

    At the risk of a troll, conspiracy theories aside, I would say the US is anything but an apathetic nation. Perhaps you could point the Europe as being apathetic these days, but the US seems very much hell bent on changing the world. Forget whether it is changing for better or for worse. I would say in the past 60 years the US touched just about everything in this world, and done it with a great passion. The Cuban missile crisis was the US stating pretty clearly that they care enough to risk a nuclear war. In fact, the entire cold war was a pretty strong declaration of a lack of apathy. Two nations sitting with their finger hovering over the button to end it all and utterly dead serious about pressing it is not a sign of apathy. The cold war was no bluff. The US would have sent everything and anything to defend Europe if the USSR ever game, and the US cared enough that it was more then willing to wipe everyone and everything out to make sure the communist couldn't have it if they had to.

    In this day in age the US is still very much not an apathetic player in the game. Conspiracy theories of corporate overlords and Saudi families aside, the US seems pretty hell bent on making Iraq a democracy regardless of the pain either side has to suffer. The strategy might be stupid and counter productive, but it certainly is not apathetic. If WMDs were the issue the US could have just wiped Iraq's government and military off the face of the earth and left the people of Iraq to fight over a new government that might or might not have democratic ideals. Instead though, the US is slugging through, pissing off the rest of the world, restraining from using its full might to gain control of the situation, and taking their licks. Further, the US isn't showing any signs of backing off from the rest of the world.

    Even if you look beyond the Middle East, lack of apathy is easy to see. The US has set up shop off the cost of Taiwan with every intention of fighting one of the most powerful nations in the world to defend a tiny island thousands of miles away and sitting on the enemy's doorstep. Risking a war with China for a little island where democracy seems to have taken hold might be a sign of madness, but not apathy.

    I don't care if you agree with what the US is doing; though I am sure an idiot is going to reply anyways telling me the US is evil and in doing so utterly miss my point. What the US isn't doing is being apathetic or complacent. The US might be sowing the seeds of its own demise, but it is digging its own grave with great enthusiasm, and not slowing rotting with apathy or complacency. With the track the US is headed down right now, if the US goes down, it is going down with a bang, not a whimper.

    1. Re:At the risk of a Troll by ultranova · · Score: 3, Insightful

      In this day in age the US is still very much not an apathetic player in the game.

      All the examples you've given show the US, as a single entity, being active. However, that was not the point. It's the apathy/activity of the people that decide the fate of democracy (and what the parent was referring to).

      Democracy is based on the rulers being accountable to the ones being ruled. This accountability can only happen if the subjects are active - passive subjects let their government stay in power even after it screws up, basically allowing it unlimited power. Because of this, the ones in power want their subjects to remain passive. TV is a tool for this passification. That was the argument.

      Conspiracy theories of corporate overlords and Saudi families aside

      "Conspiracy" refers to some kind of secret plot, but the contributions from corporations to US politicians are public knowledge, available from, for example Opensecrets.org, so unless you think that the donating corporations are stupid enough to continuously spend money for no gain (which they propably aren't - they wouldn't have gotten big if they were), I'd say those theories are statements of facts.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    2. Re:At the risk of a Troll by dbc001 · · Score: 1

      I believe that "apathy" here refers to the state of the subjects of the nation, not the leaders of the nation. American leaders are indeed aggressive, but the population of the nation has historically been rather apathetic (of course, the coming election will likely change that - expect record levels of voter turnout this year due to the closeness of the race).

  99. Re:They've also looked into censoring web broadcas by kinema · · Score: 1

    I thought your sig attributed to ESR was great "Caffeine is the greatest lubricrant ever created." I did a Google search for it and found no similar quote even with "lubricrant" spelled correctly. Where did you find this quote?

  100. The problem with the V-Chip by edsterino · · Score: 1

    There are 2 main problems with the V-chip. As you said, the ratings are pretty weird sometimes. PBS documentaries and news get zapped a lot ?!?!

    The biggest problem, though, is that commercials aren't rated. It's amazing the stuff that appears in commercials even between 8 am and 5pm. Extremely violent commercials pop up in the middle of some pretty innocent shows.

  101. Shooting the people who disagree... by Firethorn · · Score: 1

    That's NOT really standing up for what you believe in. That'd be just plain murder. Sure, violence is part of a man's (and woman's) arsenal. It's on the extreme end, to be used when necessary, such as defending yourself, your family, other innocents, and ultimatly, especially in those days where the majority didn't have insurance and the nearest sheriff was three days away, the property used to make your living.

    that right will win in the end if you let the law handle it.

    Sure. The police never have an agenda. Waco, Ruby Ridge, anybody? If you're going to go and commit a violent crime in front of me, I'm going to at least consider stopping it.

    --
    I don't read AC A human right
    1. Re:Shooting the people who disagree... by dvdeug · · Score: 1

      Sure. The police never have an agenda.

      Give me a break. First place, I wasn't writing a dissertion on the morals of modern police shows; I was summerizing a dozen shows and hundreds of episodes into one line. Yes, it's more complex than that; the TV shows do portray that.

      Second place, the police are trained to uphold the law and put aside their agendas. While police sometimes have agendas, there's lots of gay people, blacks, people of the wrong religion, etc., that have discovered that ordinary people often have agendas too.

      If you're going to go and commit a violent crime in front of me, I'm going to at least consider stopping it.

      you see what 'land rights' are, how to deal with squatters, and other problems.. You shoot em.

      Those aren't violent crimes. As for stopping violent crimes, there's a difference between stopping a crime you are at the scene, and shooting a man because you don't like how his trial is going.

    2. Re:Shooting the people who disagree... by Firethorn · · Score: 1

      the property used to make your living

      What I said back then, in the time of no insurance, no welfare, and limited charity, that some "non-violent" crimes could cost the settlers their lives. Add in that law-enforcement could be weeks away, and you end up having to protect yourself. Even today, there are incidents of the police taking hours to get to a crime scene.

      Most of these shows didn't have them shooting somebody just for squatters. They have weapons because the area was dangerous, and confronting unknown people dangerous too. The cop shows also often have gratutitous errors.

      Another thing is that the "wild wild west" wasn't so wild. Their murder rates were actually lower than the eastern cities.

      --
      I don't read AC A human right
  102. The Study I read about. by Firethorn · · Score: 1

    Sure, the little kids (I think they were preschool age) showed a short term effect. They were seen playing out parts of the show. It didn't help that they were shown the power rangers or equivalent. However, have any studies shown that these kids retain a more violent approach to life in general? It's like writing a paper about the effects of alcohol, and not including any observations a couple of days later.

    --
    I don't read AC A human right
    1. Re:The Study I read about. by killjoe · · Score: 1

      " However, have any studies shown that these kids retain a more violent approach to life in general?"

      It takes a long time to do a long term study into adulthood. I am sure such studies are going on right now.

      It seems to me however there is a perfect study in the culture of America itself. I don't think there is any denying that America is a more violent place today then it was before TV was invented.

      --
      evil is as evil does
  103. Anyone get the feeling. . . ? by Fizzol · · Score: 1

    That unlike regulations for greenhouse emissions and various polutants the government won't issue "volutary guidelines" on televised violence?

  104. I know how it will be by Loconut1389 · · Score: 1

    If its anything like how they regulate profanity, you'll be able to kick twice, but not three times. You can have blood spew when a kick/punch happens, but only if it's not a blow to the face. You can't show someone getting punched in the cojones but you can kick someone there... Etc..

    My biggest pet peeve is when you hear music on the radio and ass by itself is ok, but not ass-h$@e.. Bitch is ok, but not s@*t, nig##$ is ok but not da@n. I mean come on, really. Either let it all go or really make it right. Current regulations are completely assinine, of course that's probably a bad word too.

  105. Re:That statement brought to you by... by m4dh4773r · · Score: 1

    I didn't offend you did I?

  106. The plural of "mom" by JessLeah · · Score: 1

    The plural of "mom" is "moms". It is not "mom's".

  107. If someone tries to take violence from *my* TV... by Adapt+or+Die · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'll fuckin' cut 'em.

  108. Re:Why won't they... ? by Thing+1 · · Score: 1
    Well, my point was that I would teach my children to be as efficient as possible in all areas of their lives, so as not to waste. This includes any dealings with the governments: if the government says that my children are legally able to pay less taxes because they fit a certain mold (whatever that mold may be), then I would consider my children irresponsible to not pay less taxes.

    I don't see "paying taxes" as helping people out. The government wastes money left and right, and data supports that charities are far more efficient than government. Charities spend 5-15% of their funds in the process of collecting those funds; government spends upwards of 50%. So if my children want to help those less fortunate, their money will be far better spent donating to charities than it would overpaying their taxes.

    Now, it sound like you're arguing that my children shouldn't lobby the government for tax breaks for their pet cause, like mohair subsidies and whatnot, and if that's what you're advocating then I agree. However, that's not what the granparent said, he said "getting a tax break" which I assumed to mean filling out the right form for the IRS, not changing the law (which would have been "getting a tax break passed").

    There's nothing disingenuous about teaching your children to be efficient. Efficient, and compassionate.

    --
    I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
  109. Re:Why won't they... ? by eaolson · · Score: 1
    Charities spend 5-15% of their funds in the process of collecting those funds; government spends upwards of 50%.

    Sorry, but I have to call bullshit on this one. The budget for the IRS is nowhere NEAR 50% of tax revenue.

    Waste in the government, sure. And we should do our best to get rid of it. Half of all income going to fund tax collection? No way.

  110. Think of the children - bleh! by The+Queen · · Score: 1

    I agree completely. So much so that I published a rant on the subject - Aug. 8 is National KidsDay

    --

    The House Between - Original Sci-Fi Series
  111. Went to far with... by Bilange · · Score: 1

    What he said on-air.

    Granted, its not CRTC to judge whats good for listeners or not, i totally agree, but they (CHOI-FM) got warned in the past about many things (see the CRTC report), and their broadcast rights got extended for two years (2002-2004) instead of seven because of complaints etc.

    CHOI-FM 'doesnt seem to comply to the rules even with that warning' (from CRTC point of view), so here they are, axed.

    I sound like im taking CRTC side with this message, but dont get me wrong, CHOI must stay alive, its the only good private radio station that doesnt belong to any big networks (Astral & Quebecor), and AFAIK the only radio that focuses on rock music in the eastern Quebec.

    --
    "...a generation of kids has grown up thinking Trance is the shittiest music since country and western." - Paul van Dyk
    1. Re:Went to far with... by WildBeast · · Score: 1

      Why should they comply? They should have the right to free speech. It's not up to the CRTC to say what is or isn't acceptable.

  112. A Filmmaker's $0.02. by Whatthehellever · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Go ahead and tell me what I can and cannot film. Tell me what cannot be seen because your archaic model of 1950's suburbia is still being held in high regard by your church.

    Go ahread and try. A federal lawsuit claiming violation of my first amendment rights will be slapped on the FCC so fast, it'll take three days for the sound to catch up.

    --

    ---
    IMHO, of course.
    May the SOURCE be with you.
  113. We are accountable for our children by jaydge · · Score: 2, Interesting

    People are influenced by what they think about. People think about what they watch. We cannot assume that anything is harmless on TV because "everyone is mature enough to keep it in perspective of reality." No, this becomes reality for many, especially children growing up without the luxury of parents who teach them the truth and give them some self-image and self-worth outside of what the media says.

    Let's use discretion and at least a hint of moral integrity about what's OK for broadcast.

  114. Re:He wasn't by Chris+Carollo · · Score: 1
    I think he/she was looking down his nose at people (like you) who expect the government to make sure entertainment is "safe" so as to avoid responsibility to monitor what their children do.

    So in that respect, I think it is correct to ridicule you, becase you're a bad parent.
    Wait, did you actually read what I posted? I advocated the government requiring accurate ratings on shows so that PARENTS can make good choices about what thier children watch. I don't think the government should be regulating the content except in the most extreme of cases -- but wanting good information about what my children are going to be exposed to allows me to be a BETTER parent.
  115. Oh, gosh darn... by cmdrwhitewolf · · Score: 1

    Slamming all those innocent little electrons against the TV screen... We must cease and desist this violence immediately!

    --
    [Now, I'm off to lift my le... Um, visit... at another place.]
  116. Re:It boils down to the parents by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1

    And its management during the term enhances and protects the principal. Parental guidance of TV watching prepares the child well for a life of propaganda exposure.

    --

    --
    make install -not war

  117. Even better... by brunes69 · · Score: 1

    Racist Motherfucker -> Racist Melon Farmer ( TBS, some Eddie Murphy Movie I forget which )

    Yippie-Kay-Ay, Motherfucker -> Yippie-Kay-Ay, Mr. Falcon ( TBS, end of Die Hard 2 )

  118. from the turbine heart discussion by Gropo · · Score: 1

    Just have to tell you your acronym retort was well worth the +1 Funny mod I gave it. Keep it up.

    --
    I hate Grammar Nazi's