CosmicBills

We all just witnessed a nice moment there.

:lol:

And still we'd have no one to throw him the ball past 10 yards.

Curiosity spots 4 UFOs during landing...

But there's science there! Look! It's got charts and graphs and real UFO!

That technology already exists. Not that we're allowed to know about it... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uah330yQcw /end of days

Come on, Rob. You know exactly who's marganilized by his comments. I've enjoyed your posts throughout this thread and marveled at how you've managed to steer to conversation towards something more interesting than what this old, stu-tarded man said. But there's no reason to continue the dance. Do you know how many rapes go unreported each year? Over 54%. Why do these women not report the rapes? Fear of being ridiculed. Fear of having to relive the moment for judges, laywers, the press. Worse, many don't report it because who will believe them. It's their word versus the man's. Not every rape is a dark alley mugging by a stranger -- it's more often than not a co-worker, family member, aquaintance. Meaning there are REAL consequences to these women for admitting what happened. They face ridicule, doubt, and the social/workplace fall out if they press charges. And now this asshat comes out and attempts to say there are such things as "legitimate" rape? Do you think that will make more women want to step forward and admit what happened to them or less? Forget abortion. This is about a man who's so clearly out of touch with reality (forget medical science) that he should be forced to wear a sign around his neck that says "asstard" for the rest of his life. And quibbling over his statements is disingenuous.

Walked right into that one, didn't I? Well played, sir.

I'll bite... what makes that happen? (*science newb)

:lol:s All around. I had no idea, Mezz. I'll shut up now.

It's on Starz Friday nights at 9pm. Season 1 was some of Fraiser's best work ever. And he's done a lot of good stuff. Haven't started in on Season 2 yet.

For real?

That's the plot of the 24 movie. Jack goes on welfare.

You and Tom are quite right. To me, it's the fallout from the commercialization of news. It's now "info-tainment".

I missed these responses until today somehow... still getting used to the new site. I honestly don't know the answer to that. But if you step back and look at the big picture one could make a strong argument that the true power in this country doesn't reside with the people. If the populace is fractured to the point of stagnation (which, based on the past 12 years I'd say is apt), how can it? In context of this discussion, if (and I'm not stating this as fact) the mainstream media is really following marching orders from liberals paid by conservatives -- then it would seem the plan was to perpetuate the constant bickering between the masses. The question is why? I can think of plenty of reasons... all of them crazy. Which is why I mainly work in fiction. Gracias. I'll check it out. Exactly! This isn't a new phenomenon. It's existed since before the media existed. In my opinion of course. I'd like to hear more. I've worked for CBS, it is not a liberal bastion by any stretch. It's Hollywood so there are certainly left-wingers in their employ, but in terms of the marching orders from the top down (creatively) -- it's just not liberal. They are the only network that caters to the older side of the coveted 18-45 demographic. A lot of this comes from Redstone's influence, a man who I've had the pleasure of meeting a couple of times -- a sharp man, definitely right-leaning and until a few years ago, ran Viacom from soup to nuts. The new CEO, I have never met. He might be left-leaning, but I'd doubt it based on the fact he was hand picked to succeed by Sumner. NBC I know nothing about in terms of personal experience. Zucker came up as a reporter, so it wouldn't surprise me to learn he leans left. But he answers to Comcast -- a conservative leaning corporation that doesn't shy away from the family brand. Which again is another interesting contradiction. NBC marches to Comcast's orders -- regardless of who's the CEO of NBC. Just like CBS marches to Viacom's and ABC marches to Disney. The networks are less defined by their political leanings than they are to their specific demographics: ABC = women, CBS = 50 and up, Fox = female teens, NBC = people who leave the TV on all day just to feel like there is someone else there with them. And good call on Palmer! Totally a Dem. But there were two other Republican presidents. One went crazy and killed people (if I remember right?) and the other one avenged Palmer's assassination and saved the day. That show rocked in it's cra-cra.

...If you're a horrible human being of course. Thankfully, I am.

I'm speechless in the awesomeness that is AJ's post. God, this show is going to kick so much butthole.

Does this one work? Guess it does. I dunno, the design reminded me of Spawn.

Has it gone unrecognized? As long as I've been alive on this planet I've heard about the liberal bias in the press. I mean, no one tunes into Rachel Madow thinking they're getting unbiased reporting. They tune in to get their own beliefs reinforced. Doesn't that give them motive and opportunity to perpetuate a cycle designed to get everyone fighting with one another, yelling at imaginary boogey-men, rather than asking more substantive questions about where the power in this country really resides?

I get that. And you're probably right. But isn't it counter productive? Fueling the oposition's fire with your corporate account while writing checks to the GOP from your personal one?

Interesting. I hadn't thought about framing the context. But I can see how that could be used to change the whole nature of the national conversation. That's also interesting about the GW article you found. I think that supports the theory that the mainstream media is spiraling down the drain because they're competing for a shortened national attention span. Bigger stakes makes for better ad sales. Maybe it's the biased becoming more virulent, but it could also be just the death knell of the industry.

My response to DC got interrupted by work so I didn't read this until after I posted. I see what you are saying and don't dispute that it exists at all. But I guess I don't see it as being as slanted as you see it (at least on the entertainment side -- though that's a different conversation). If you think about who actually owns the mainstream networks -- ABC (Disney), Fox (NewsCorp), CBS (Viacom), NBC (Comcast) -- they're all funded and controlled by right leaning corporate entities. If there was a mandate to slant to the left, why would the big bosses -- the ones who control who is given airtime and who isn't -- allow that to continue if it ran counter to their own political interests? 24 did it a bunch.

Okay, cool. But hasn't the advencement of social media, the ever-quickening speed of communication, the proliferation of the Drudges/TMZs of the world, not to mention the rise in stature of talk radio pundits (Limbaughs, O'Reily's, Hannity's, Ingrams) increased the availability of information expodentially? Does anyone under the age of 70 make the nightly news appointment viewing? Do Limbaugh's listeners really tune in nightly to Brian Williams and subscribe to the NY Times? I'm asking honestly because it seems to me that people are too busy to wait for news today. Instead we seek out our own sources. The majority of people I interact with don't get their news from the networks anymore, frankly I can't believe the traditional nightly news still exist. In fact, I'm willing to be that it won't exist 25 years from now. I realize that I'm speaking from a very subjective persepective, but it seems to me that the concept of the mainstream media being the majority's source of information is an old ghost. Again, I'm not saying that the bias isn't there in the mainstream media -- it is. I'm pretty sure I'll disagree with some folks on PPP with regards to how much bias there is, but there is bias. I just don't get why it matters as much today as it did 5 years ago. Or, why it will matter 5 years from now... News in the mainstream meadia as you define it has become entertainment, it's a race to grab eyeballs rather than inform. And I think most people, in all political camps, would admit that. Wouldn't they?