...colleges instead relied on one's IQ score, the more definitive measure of intelligence and college readiness? Given the achivement gaps and flawed essay, I feel that the SAT is more of a money-making scheme for the College Board bigwigs to take weekend vacations to Atlantic City sipping on French wine than any reasonable measure of merit.
And yes, I've heard of Christopher Langan.
12 May 2009
02 May 2009
More on "Southland"
Broadcasting & Cable has just reported that NBC will renew it for a second season. And the Parents Television Council's grievance against the show only tempted me more to watch it. PTC is concerned that The Jay Leno Show that'll take every weeknight 10pm (9pm central) timeslot might move Southland to an earlier timeslot..."as early as 8 p.m. in the Central/Mountain time zone" in their own words. PTC also pointed out that Southland has some bleeped words.
Well excuse me PTC, but I can name a LOT of other violent shows that air in the first 2 hours of primetime: Prison Break, 24, NCIS, CSI, and Flashpoint. So what's so surprising about Southland airing at an earlier time given that a lot of other shows have such violence and bleeping (Big Brother anyone?)
Well excuse me PTC, but I can name a LOT of other violent shows that air in the first 2 hours of primetime: Prison Break, 24, NCIS, CSI, and Flashpoint. So what's so surprising about Southland airing at an earlier time given that a lot of other shows have such violence and bleeping (Big Brother anyone?)
01 May 2009
Senior week, AP exams
- Monday was the only regular school day this week. Because the underclassmen all were taking state standardised testing the seniors had activities and stuff this week.
- Tuesday: Administration and class officers gave presentation about end of the year activities such as the senior picnic, senior prom, and graduation ceremony. Because the class of 2006 was such troublemakers, the officers struggled with the principal over letting us go to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo for the picnic. Finally, the principal and leadership compromised that either we behave well or not go at all. I'm not going to the picnic; it costs $35 by the way if anyone wants to know, and instead I'll either find some work to do that day or show up to school and sleep (just so that the state gives the school a few thousand more dollars just because I stepped in the door). Also, the class president used the current recession to promote discounted prom prices that take place the week before the week of prom. It's not a big difference though ($5 for singles, $10 for couples), but hey, at least it was a pretty cool marketing tool. I'll write about prom a bit later. The only class I had that day wasn't really a class; it was a teacher's assistance period, the period I usually get to help out for a few minutes, sleep, study, and catch up on procrastination. After school was calculus homework center and a baseball game where Evergreen Valley came from behind to win 4-2 over Mt. Pleasant.
- Wednesday: The class took panoramic pictures out in the stadium. Because the seniors were being uncooperative, impatient, and all nasty it took about 30 minutes to set up the stadium. Given how my school is bursting at the seams of students it was tough to set up the picture so that every student could be seen and not cut off. After the photo, an African musical group called Tabia did a guest performance. A catering company provided barbeque for lunch, with salad and roasted chicken. Unfortunately, the state's nutrition laws forbid soft drinks/"non-nutritious" food/drink to be served anytime during the school day, so the only drink the caterers could provide was water. How ironic it was to celebrate graduation from high school with lack of freedom. >:( But oh well; I have the choice to buy my own soda if I feel like it. Again, this was a one-period only day, consisting of English class.
- Thursday: The counselors gave a presentation about graduation requirements and diplomas. Yeah, since I'm a pretty smart student with all beyond-passing grades I didn't really care for it, which's the reason why I nearly forgot about today! Afterwards there were three class periods: Third (calculus), fourth (band), and fifth (economics). It was my first official 3:00 dismissal since...er junior year I believe, since this year since I don't have 7th period I normally get off school at 2:10 or earlier. After school I went to Jamba Juice for the school band fundraiser, ordered a peach perfection. Finally when I got home I watched my DVR'ed copy of the premiere of NBC's new cop show Southland, about the LAPD dealing with gang crime and such in South Central Los Angeles. Surprisingly, it stars Benjamin McKenzie, who played Ryan Atwood in teen soap opera The O.C. from 2003-2007, as main character Officer Ben Sherman! I didn't even do a background check on the show; I just DVR'ed the show to compare it with ABC's new show about NYPD, The Unusuals. Both are good TV, but I seem to like Southland better (I've seen the pilots of both shows).
- Friday: Two San Jose Police officers came to do a presentation on responsibility for the law based on a story about a young man who was locked up for two years since turning 18, for a DUI/murder. That was ordinary, but in the end when the officers took students' questions hell began to break loose. Some students' questions covered bulletproof vests, use of weapons, and disposal of evidence, but then some idiots had the audacity to ask if cops smoked weed or distributed confiscated narcotics amongst themselves. They obfuscated my proposed question about whether lowering the drinking age to 18 would help/hurt the DUI issues. (back in February, Lesley Stahl of CBS News's 60 Minutes did a story about this) So I asked a bunch of friends and the campus police officer about the issue; the campus police officer said that the 21 age limit saves lives and that lowering the drinking age would cause HUGE problems at first but the "sin value" (sin as in misbehaviour, not sine as you math geeks would think) of it would decrease so yeah. After that the senior class presented a photo slideshow, and a chef from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco demonstrated cooking risotto (italian rice) for us. Finally, after lunch we picked up our graduation caps/gowns, which took a couple hours given how many of us there are. My AP Government teacher cancelled his study session today because he was surprisingly called in for supervision. But oh well, he gave me some study materials, and I'll do a lot of studying this weekend. I was a bit pissed to learn that this year the counselors enforce a "no backpacks" policy for AP Exams this year because of...you guessed it...a bunch of no good !@#$%^&*() cheaters. Since I have a research paper about the Beat Generation due that day, I'll have to rush to get it to my teacher before I take the exam. I bike to school and am trying NOT to carry a backpack on Monday for the Gov. exam, so all I'll do is put my pencils, eraser, and USB disk (I'll be presenting a powerpoint to class Monday) in my pockets and slide my English paper in a manila envelope to deliver to my teacher through the school office. Of course, there's also something called e-mail.
Next week is going to be HECTIC compared to this one. First, schedules resume to normal times, yay? Second, I have AP Exams on Monday the 4th (U.S. Government/Politics) and Wednesday the 6th (Calculus BC). On Monday, baseball game vs. Prospect; Friday baseball game vs. Willow Glen. I'm sure the EV Cougars will win these given I've seen them win against them in the past. GO COUGARS! And also I need to start planning for prom and preparing for a summer job since I work as cashier for the school lunch line and the school year's ending soon.
- Tuesday: Administration and class officers gave presentation about end of the year activities such as the senior picnic, senior prom, and graduation ceremony. Because the class of 2006 was such troublemakers, the officers struggled with the principal over letting us go to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo for the picnic. Finally, the principal and leadership compromised that either we behave well or not go at all. I'm not going to the picnic; it costs $35 by the way if anyone wants to know, and instead I'll either find some work to do that day or show up to school and sleep (just so that the state gives the school a few thousand more dollars just because I stepped in the door). Also, the class president used the current recession to promote discounted prom prices that take place the week before the week of prom. It's not a big difference though ($5 for singles, $10 for couples), but hey, at least it was a pretty cool marketing tool. I'll write about prom a bit later. The only class I had that day wasn't really a class; it was a teacher's assistance period, the period I usually get to help out for a few minutes, sleep, study, and catch up on procrastination. After school was calculus homework center and a baseball game where Evergreen Valley came from behind to win 4-2 over Mt. Pleasant.
- Wednesday: The class took panoramic pictures out in the stadium. Because the seniors were being uncooperative, impatient, and all nasty it took about 30 minutes to set up the stadium. Given how my school is bursting at the seams of students it was tough to set up the picture so that every student could be seen and not cut off. After the photo, an African musical group called Tabia did a guest performance. A catering company provided barbeque for lunch, with salad and roasted chicken. Unfortunately, the state's nutrition laws forbid soft drinks/"non-nutritious" food/drink to be served anytime during the school day, so the only drink the caterers could provide was water. How ironic it was to celebrate graduation from high school with lack of freedom. >:( But oh well; I have the choice to buy my own soda if I feel like it. Again, this was a one-period only day, consisting of English class.
- Thursday: The counselors gave a presentation about graduation requirements and diplomas. Yeah, since I'm a pretty smart student with all beyond-passing grades I didn't really care for it, which's the reason why I nearly forgot about today! Afterwards there were three class periods: Third (calculus), fourth (band), and fifth (economics). It was my first official 3:00 dismissal since...er junior year I believe, since this year since I don't have 7th period I normally get off school at 2:10 or earlier. After school I went to Jamba Juice for the school band fundraiser, ordered a peach perfection. Finally when I got home I watched my DVR'ed copy of the premiere of NBC's new cop show Southland, about the LAPD dealing with gang crime and such in South Central Los Angeles. Surprisingly, it stars Benjamin McKenzie, who played Ryan Atwood in teen soap opera The O.C. from 2003-2007, as main character Officer Ben Sherman! I didn't even do a background check on the show; I just DVR'ed the show to compare it with ABC's new show about NYPD, The Unusuals. Both are good TV, but I seem to like Southland better (I've seen the pilots of both shows).
- Friday: Two San Jose Police officers came to do a presentation on responsibility for the law based on a story about a young man who was locked up for two years since turning 18, for a DUI/murder. That was ordinary, but in the end when the officers took students' questions hell began to break loose. Some students' questions covered bulletproof vests, use of weapons, and disposal of evidence, but then some idiots had the audacity to ask if cops smoked weed or distributed confiscated narcotics amongst themselves. They obfuscated my proposed question about whether lowering the drinking age to 18 would help/hurt the DUI issues. (back in February, Lesley Stahl of CBS News's 60 Minutes did a story about this) So I asked a bunch of friends and the campus police officer about the issue; the campus police officer said that the 21 age limit saves lives and that lowering the drinking age would cause HUGE problems at first but the "sin value" (sin as in misbehaviour, not sine as you math geeks would think) of it would decrease so yeah. After that the senior class presented a photo slideshow, and a chef from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco demonstrated cooking risotto (italian rice) for us. Finally, after lunch we picked up our graduation caps/gowns, which took a couple hours given how many of us there are. My AP Government teacher cancelled his study session today because he was surprisingly called in for supervision. But oh well, he gave me some study materials, and I'll do a lot of studying this weekend. I was a bit pissed to learn that this year the counselors enforce a "no backpacks" policy for AP Exams this year because of...you guessed it...a bunch of no good !@#$%^&*() cheaters. Since I have a research paper about the Beat Generation due that day, I'll have to rush to get it to my teacher before I take the exam. I bike to school and am trying NOT to carry a backpack on Monday for the Gov. exam, so all I'll do is put my pencils, eraser, and USB disk (I'll be presenting a powerpoint to class Monday) in my pockets and slide my English paper in a manila envelope to deliver to my teacher through the school office. Of course, there's also something called e-mail.
Next week is going to be HECTIC compared to this one. First, schedules resume to normal times, yay? Second, I have AP Exams on Monday the 4th (U.S. Government/Politics) and Wednesday the 6th (Calculus BC). On Monday, baseball game vs. Prospect; Friday baseball game vs. Willow Glen. I'm sure the EV Cougars will win these given I've seen them win against them in the past. GO COUGARS! And also I need to start planning for prom and preparing for a summer job since I work as cashier for the school lunch line and the school year's ending soon.
08 April 2009
The recession and violent crime (updated)
With the economy in recession since the banks failed back in the fall, the War in Iraq draining millions or billions of dollars daily from the government's budget, and jobs disappearing as time goes by, there seems to be a spike of violent crime--at least in the world of the news media.
On Feb. 15, an NBC Nightly News report covered funding cuts for various American police departments
Examples:
- Nov. 16, 2008: Computer engineer Jing Hua Wu, who was laid off from his job at Santa Clara semiconductor company SiPort, kills SiPort CEO Sid Agrawal, vice president of operations Brian Pugh, and human resources head Marilyn Lewis.
- Feb. 8, 2009: R&B singer Chris Brown assaults girlfriend/singer Rihanna, gets arrested, and will be arraigned on Monday, Apr. 6. This incident was the subject of non-stop discussion that month, and Rihanna cancelled her Grammy Award performance on that day because of the attack. Brown pled not guilty.
- March 8, 2009: Rev. Fred Winters is shot to death during a sermon.
- March 10, 2009: Murder-suicide in Alabama
- March 20, 2009: Following hateful/destructive vandalism, threats of a school shooting circulated the Internet last night. That led the majority of students not to show up at Evergreen Valley High School today. During the same week, rumors spread about gang initiation meetings
- March 21, 2009: In a shootout, high-school dropout and parolee Lovelle Mixon kills four Oakland police officers before being shot dead himself.
- March 29, 2009: Devan Kalathat murders four family members and wounds his wife; after the shooting he kills himself.
- April 3, 2009: Vietnamese immigrant Jiverly Wong (born Voong) shoots dead two people at a Binghamton, N.Y. immigration center. He recently lost a job.
- April 4, 2009: Richard Poplawski shoots three Pittsburgh police officers to death and wounds two others when they came responding to a domestic dispute call. Poplawski was expelled from Catholic high school and joined the Marines to seek his GED. At least he's now in custody.
- Later that day, a father in Seattle killed all five of his children and committed suicide. His name is James Harrison.
- April 7: Another murder-suicide, this time in Alabama, but not related to the older one
- April 9: Gunman kills one, injures three at Korean Christian retreat in Riverside County, Calif.; armed man in police pursuit over three felony warrants disrupts traffic in I-80 near Lake Tahoe, Calif.
- April 11: Sunday School teacher Melissa Huckaby is arrested for the murder of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, who'd been missing since March 27 and found dead April 6. Rennie Pratt is arrested for allegedly murdering her boyfriend, Oakland attorney Michael Porcella last night.
- This weekend two of the network news magazines did stories on gun policy: CBS's "60 Minutes" and ABC's "20/20"
- April 16: Hospital worker kills two co-workers & himself; 8- and 10-year old boys arrested for armed robbery attempt
- April 17: In Cupertino, Calif.: Couple attacked, with husband severly injured and wife killed; two fifth-graders in San Jose are suspended for a failed "stabbing-for-hire". A man is stabbed on his way to the food store and is identified a week later as Enrique Flores.
- April 24: "A man was shot and killed in East Oakland in broad daylight Friday in the city's fourth homicide in a week, police said."
- April 25: Marketing professor George Zinkhan of the University of Georgia is a suspect in an off-campus shooting.
- April 26: Children hit by gunfire in Oakland
- more?
On Feb. 15, an NBC Nightly News report covered funding cuts for various American police departments
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Examples:
- Nov. 16, 2008: Computer engineer Jing Hua Wu, who was laid off from his job at Santa Clara semiconductor company SiPort, kills SiPort CEO Sid Agrawal, vice president of operations Brian Pugh, and human resources head Marilyn Lewis.
- Feb. 8, 2009: R&B singer Chris Brown assaults girlfriend/singer Rihanna, gets arrested, and will be arraigned on Monday, Apr. 6. This incident was the subject of non-stop discussion that month, and Rihanna cancelled her Grammy Award performance on that day because of the attack. Brown pled not guilty.
- March 8, 2009: Rev. Fred Winters is shot to death during a sermon.
- March 10, 2009: Murder-suicide in Alabama
- March 20, 2009: Following hateful/destructive vandalism, threats of a school shooting circulated the Internet last night. That led the majority of students not to show up at Evergreen Valley High School today. During the same week, rumors spread about gang initiation meetings
- March 21, 2009: In a shootout, high-school dropout and parolee Lovelle Mixon kills four Oakland police officers before being shot dead himself.
- March 29, 2009: Devan Kalathat murders four family members and wounds his wife; after the shooting he kills himself.
- April 3, 2009: Vietnamese immigrant Jiverly Wong (born Voong) shoots dead two people at a Binghamton, N.Y. immigration center. He recently lost a job.
- April 4, 2009: Richard Poplawski shoots three Pittsburgh police officers to death and wounds two others when they came responding to a domestic dispute call. Poplawski was expelled from Catholic high school and joined the Marines to seek his GED. At least he's now in custody.
- Later that day, a father in Seattle killed all five of his children and committed suicide. His name is James Harrison.
- April 7: Another murder-suicide, this time in Alabama, but not related to the older one
- April 9: Gunman kills one, injures three at Korean Christian retreat in Riverside County, Calif.; armed man in police pursuit over three felony warrants disrupts traffic in I-80 near Lake Tahoe, Calif.
- April 11: Sunday School teacher Melissa Huckaby is arrested for the murder of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, who'd been missing since March 27 and found dead April 6. Rennie Pratt is arrested for allegedly murdering her boyfriend, Oakland attorney Michael Porcella last night.
- This weekend two of the network news magazines did stories on gun policy: CBS's "60 Minutes" and ABC's "20/20"
- April 16: Hospital worker kills two co-workers & himself; 8- and 10-year old boys arrested for armed robbery attempt
- April 17: In Cupertino, Calif.: Couple attacked, with husband severly injured and wife killed; two fifth-graders in San Jose are suspended for a failed "stabbing-for-hire". A man is stabbed on his way to the food store and is identified a week later as Enrique Flores.
- April 24: "A man was shot and killed in East Oakland in broad daylight Friday in the city's fourth homicide in a week, police said."
- April 25: Marketing professor George Zinkhan of the University of Georgia is a suspect in an off-campus shooting.
- April 26: Children hit by gunfire in Oakland
- more?
11 March 2009
BREAKING NEWS: PTC FILES COMPLAINT AGAINST SUNDAY'S "FAMILY GUY" EPISODE (Updated 3/12)
On my RSS reader, Google Reader, I subscribe to this feed that picks up news about the "Parents Television Council" from Google News. It's easy: Go to news.google.com, type in any keyword/phrase about an interesting topic, and click search. On the search results page find the orange "RSS" logo (the orange square with the white stripes). On Firefox it's on the way tail end of the address bar; on Internet Explorer it's on some sort of toolbar (I personally use Firefox anyways so I'm not too sure about the IE situation.)
Now I've discovered that PTC has filed an FCC complaint out on Sunday's episode of Family Guy, one of my favourite shows ever. The episode was titled "Family Gay" and was about Peter experimenting with homosexuality. According to John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable:
"Family Guy is squarely aimed at young viewers and is never lacking in crude humor and explicit content, but this episode crossed the line," said Tim Winter. "Imagine the shock of a family who stumbled across the show during the Sunday evening programming block, as early as 8 p.m. in the Central and Mountain Time zones. Fox treated viewers to everything from an ‘eleven-way' gay orgy to baby Stewie eating a bowl of cereal with horse sperm instead of milk."
Pardon me, Mr. Winter, but there's a reason why Family Guy is always rated TV-14-DL (that episode was TV-14-DLSV actually, I saw the ratings box as I edited out the commercials on my DVR'ed copy of the episode). How many times do I and other bloggers have to say: Animated does not always mean kid show! I mean think about The Simpsons, Futurama, and South Park! How can you compare those shows with whatever's on Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network daytime blocks right now? I'm sure that the PTC will resort to its usual tactic of duplicated electronic complaint forms from outraged PTC members, whether they saw it or not.
If you happened to have stumbled upon this program when channel-surfing with Johnny and Jane in the room, I guess you have the right to complain. But that's why you look up the TV listings, use a V-Chip, or just not watch TV with the kids at Sundays 9:00PM (8PM in the "Heartland")! Shouldn't the kids have a good nights sleep Sundays preparing for the week ahead at school to "get their learn on"? But if you are a responsible parent and do take whatever measures to prevent the little ones from seeing Seth MacFarlane's cavalcade of filth known as Family Guy, be honest and abstain from filing a complaint about a show you don't watch. Think about the old saying, "If you don't like a show, turn it off." There's a reason why Nielsen Media Research monitors the TV ratings. There's a reason why the networks discard failed, low-rated shows after an episode or two. For example, Fox cancelled Do Not Disturb earlier this season. From what I've heard it's a cheap knockoff of the much much better The Office on NBC (That show is so much cleaner than Family Guy in terms of content but I still like it.)
Anyways, I'll be awaiting the FCC's findings. In 2005, PTC filed a complaint against Fox over the FG episode "PTV", which was about Peter creating his own sleazy TV station. That episode mocked the FCC's indecency enforcement, but PTC didn't find that too funny.
Now what else could PTC be making a fuss of? I pulled up its website on good ol' Mozilla Firefox - the sensible alternative to Microsoft's Buggy Internet Explorer - and notice that PTC wants the Walt Disney Company to stop advertising on "family unfriendly" shows, wants the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the recent Ninth Circuit Court decision to overturn California's ban on selling violent video games to minors, and demands that the fast-food chain Jack in the Box pull ads from those sleazy, violent programs that are screwing up America. Those are the first three items on its homepage at this time. The rest is old news. But surpisingly I see no sign of Family Guy; I have no idea why they didn't front-page it yet. On its "Best/Worst Shows of the Week" section, which was updated last Friday, the PTC praised NBC's special Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five based on the Oscar-winning animated film Kung Fu Panda. However, it didn't like the fact that this TV-PG rated program (the film was rated PG as well) was led out by the TV-14-DS Kath & Kim, a show I personally have no interest in watching. Did you know that that show is "tacky and devoid of humor", at least in the PTC reviewer's opinion? Thankfully I have The Office, 30 Rock, CSI, and the final season of ER to give me a good Thursday night's worth of shows. But I don't know why the PTC didn't mention that Thursdays 8PM (when the Kung Fu Panda special aired) is normally for the cruder redneck sitcom My Name is Earl, a show that's a regular on PTC's Worst List. However, Kath & Kim has always been on Thursdays 8:30PM as the lead-out for Earl, and the PTC gives it a mild "Yellow" rating on its traffic-light rating scale. (Earl got the most severe Red though.)
A google search of "Family Guy" under Parentstv.org yields nothing about the most recent episode. Oh well, I haven't seen that episode yet but am more tempted to do so now that PTC, America's greatest moral guardian of all time, has alerted prudent citizens about it! Oh, don't forget to annoy the PTC by watching next sunday's Family Guy on Fox at 9PM (ET/PT)/8PM (MT/CT) - that episode will parodise the locked-up-for-life/not-guilty-murderer/ex-football-player/actor OJ Simpson!
UPDATE: PTC didn't put their statement on this episode when the news broke about their complaint plans, but now they have. Well-mannered folks, Family Guy fans, any sensitive Internet viewer: Please proceed with caution before clicking the before link. Erin Brown, a blogger for the conservative blog NewsBusters (aligned with the Media Research Center, the right-wing media watchdog from which PTC branched off), posted an entry about this episode too. Here's what PTC had to say on the front page: Sunday night's episode of the cartoon show, Family Guy aired explicit sexual content and was rated TV-14 DLSV by Fox, meaning that in the network's opinion, this content was appropriate for 14-year olds. Yes, PTC does assert that there's a TV-14-DLSV, but in its narrow mind it doesn't matter if there were zero or 100 "content descriptors" (the letters that follow each TV-whatever rating, TVGuidelines.org explains, Fox still considered the show "appropriate for 14-year olds". Well I'm sorry PTC, but innocence can't last forever. Parents, it depends on how clean YOU want your kids' TV viewing to be. If you want to shield your child from everything "offensive"/politically incorrect until he reaches the age of majority, why don't you keep filtering out the TV-14 shows even when he's 14?
Now I've discovered that PTC has filed an FCC complaint out on Sunday's episode of Family Guy, one of my favourite shows ever. The episode was titled "Family Gay" and was about Peter experimenting with homosexuality. According to John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable:
"Family Guy is squarely aimed at young viewers and is never lacking in crude humor and explicit content, but this episode crossed the line," said Tim Winter. "Imagine the shock of a family who stumbled across the show during the Sunday evening programming block, as early as 8 p.m. in the Central and Mountain Time zones. Fox treated viewers to everything from an ‘eleven-way' gay orgy to baby Stewie eating a bowl of cereal with horse sperm instead of milk."
Pardon me, Mr. Winter, but there's a reason why Family Guy is always rated TV-14-DL (that episode was TV-14-DLSV actually, I saw the ratings box as I edited out the commercials on my DVR'ed copy of the episode). How many times do I and other bloggers have to say: Animated does not always mean kid show! I mean think about The Simpsons, Futurama, and South Park! How can you compare those shows with whatever's on Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network daytime blocks right now? I'm sure that the PTC will resort to its usual tactic of duplicated electronic complaint forms from outraged PTC members, whether they saw it or not.
If you happened to have stumbled upon this program when channel-surfing with Johnny and Jane in the room, I guess you have the right to complain. But that's why you look up the TV listings, use a V-Chip, or just not watch TV with the kids at Sundays 9:00PM (8PM in the "Heartland")! Shouldn't the kids have a good nights sleep Sundays preparing for the week ahead at school to "get their learn on"? But if you are a responsible parent and do take whatever measures to prevent the little ones from seeing Seth MacFarlane's cavalcade of filth known as Family Guy, be honest and abstain from filing a complaint about a show you don't watch. Think about the old saying, "If you don't like a show, turn it off." There's a reason why Nielsen Media Research monitors the TV ratings. There's a reason why the networks discard failed, low-rated shows after an episode or two. For example, Fox cancelled Do Not Disturb earlier this season. From what I've heard it's a cheap knockoff of the much much better The Office on NBC (That show is so much cleaner than Family Guy in terms of content but I still like it.)
Anyways, I'll be awaiting the FCC's findings. In 2005, PTC filed a complaint against Fox over the FG episode "PTV", which was about Peter creating his own sleazy TV station. That episode mocked the FCC's indecency enforcement, but PTC didn't find that too funny.
Now what else could PTC be making a fuss of? I pulled up its website on good ol' Mozilla Firefox - the sensible alternative to Microsoft's Buggy Internet Explorer - and notice that PTC wants the Walt Disney Company to stop advertising on "family unfriendly" shows, wants the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the recent Ninth Circuit Court decision to overturn California's ban on selling violent video games to minors, and demands that the fast-food chain Jack in the Box pull ads from those sleazy, violent programs that are screwing up America. Those are the first three items on its homepage at this time. The rest is old news. But surpisingly I see no sign of Family Guy; I have no idea why they didn't front-page it yet. On its "Best/Worst Shows of the Week" section, which was updated last Friday, the PTC praised NBC's special Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five based on the Oscar-winning animated film Kung Fu Panda. However, it didn't like the fact that this TV-PG rated program (the film was rated PG as well) was led out by the TV-14-DS Kath & Kim, a show I personally have no interest in watching. Did you know that that show is "tacky and devoid of humor", at least in the PTC reviewer's opinion? Thankfully I have The Office, 30 Rock, CSI, and the final season of ER to give me a good Thursday night's worth of shows. But I don't know why the PTC didn't mention that Thursdays 8PM (when the Kung Fu Panda special aired) is normally for the cruder redneck sitcom My Name is Earl, a show that's a regular on PTC's Worst List. However, Kath & Kim has always been on Thursdays 8:30PM as the lead-out for Earl, and the PTC gives it a mild "Yellow" rating on its traffic-light rating scale. (Earl got the most severe Red though.)
A google search of "Family Guy" under Parentstv.org yields nothing about the most recent episode. Oh well, I haven't seen that episode yet but am more tempted to do so now that PTC, America's greatest moral guardian of all time, has alerted prudent citizens about it! Oh, don't forget to annoy the PTC by watching next sunday's Family Guy on Fox at 9PM (ET/PT)/8PM (MT/CT) - that episode will parodise the locked-up-for-life/not-guilty-murderer/ex-football-player/actor OJ Simpson!
UPDATE: PTC didn't put their statement on this episode when the news broke about their complaint plans, but now they have. Well-mannered folks, Family Guy fans, any sensitive Internet viewer: Please proceed with caution before clicking the before link. Erin Brown, a blogger for the conservative blog NewsBusters (aligned with the Media Research Center, the right-wing media watchdog from which PTC branched off), posted an entry about this episode too. Here's what PTC had to say on the front page: Sunday night's episode of the cartoon show, Family Guy aired explicit sexual content and was rated TV-14 DLSV by Fox, meaning that in the network's opinion, this content was appropriate for 14-year olds. Yes, PTC does assert that there's a TV-14-DLSV, but in its narrow mind it doesn't matter if there were zero or 100 "content descriptors" (the letters that follow each TV-whatever rating, TVGuidelines.org explains, Fox still considered the show "appropriate for 14-year olds". Well I'm sorry PTC, but innocence can't last forever. Parents, it depends on how clean YOU want your kids' TV viewing to be. If you want to shield your child from everything "offensive"/politically incorrect until he reaches the age of majority, why don't you keep filtering out the TV-14 shows even when he's 14?
21 December 2008
Where's the morality of pro-traditional marriage figures?
It seems hard these days to find a "morally straight" advocate of traditional marriage (the "man and woman" type). A list of pundits (politicians, activists, etc.) serves to prove my point here. But first let me share my latest disappointment.
On Saturday, I watched a recording of the previous day's episode of Dateline NBC where Ann Curry interviewed pastor Rick Warren. Rev. Warren will speak at Pres.-Elect Obama's inauguration ceremony on Jan. 20, 2009 (the day after MLK, surprise!) Curry asked questions about the bad state of the economy and then on his position on "same-sex" marriage. Warren brought up some pretty good points in his interview that I bet no one could ever disprove. NBC News has posted a transcript on its website and a link to a video.
But then at the end of the interview Warren admitted this:
"I don't think gay marriage is any threat to marriage. So that's not why I'm voting the way I did. I think divorce is a bigger problem to marriage than anything else."
Whoa wait a second. Rev. Warren, if you really really think that divorce is so much more of a problem than SSM, why don't the churches start enacting anti-divorce laws? I predict that we'll see "Prop. 8.5" that'll outlaw divorce in the 2010 election ballot. Naw, I ain't serious, but I'm just saying that if the conservative "pro-family" activists really want a perfect society they've got to go after everything else that's wrong with the world.
And now I dare you to challenge these of Rev. Warren's remarks:
"Well, here what I'm saying. I've had many gay friends tell me, "Well, Rick, why shouldn't I have multiple sexual partners? It's the natural thing to do." Well, just because it seems natural doesn't mean it's best for you or society. I'm naturally inclined to have sex with every beautiful woman I see. But that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. And why should I reign in my natural impulses and you say, "Well, because I have natural impulses towards the same sex, I shouldn't have to reign them in." Well, I disagree. I think that's part of maturity. I think it's part of delayed gratification. I think it's part of character."
"For 5,000 years every single culture and every single religion has defined marriage as a man and a woman, not just Christianity [but also] Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism."
"Tolerance used to mean, "I treat you with respect even though we disagree." Some people want tolerance to mean now that all ideas are equally valid. That's nonsense. There are some things that are right and there are some things that are wrong."
And now my list of "hypocritical" proponents of "traditional love"
Unfaithful = having divorced or cheated, or just hypocritical on opinion against alternative marriage
Faithful = married to one partner constantly; remarriage only due to death of current partner
The morality of...Pro-"Traditional Marriage" politicians
Unfaithful
- Dick Cheney (Vice President, Republican, 2001-2009) - The Bush/Cheney team has like Clinton/Gore back in the day pushed for laws banning same-sex marriage, such as the Federal Marriage Amendment. But VP Cheney had no problem with his own daughter Mary getting married to another woman and having children with her.
- Bill Clinton (President, Democrat, 1993-2001) - signed Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 - but nearly cheated on Hillary! Paula Jones and Kathleen Willey sued him for sexual harassment; and then Bill's wild adventure with that White House intern almost got him expelled from office.
- Newt Gingrich (former Speaker of the House under Clinton) - From a man who's been married four times in his lifetime and has a lesbian half-sister who works for the pro-gay group Human Rights Campaign, try believing his proclamations supporting traditional marriage. Seriously!
- Phyllis Schlafly (activist, president of Eagle Forum) - Although she's an opponent of SSM, one of her sons, John, is gay.
- David Vitter (Senator, Louisiana, Republican, 2005-present) - typical Republican/conservative opponent of same-sex marriage but was a client of the "DC Madam" prostition ring.
Faithful
- Larry Craig (Senator, Idaho, Republican, 1981-2008) - voted for DOMA and other oppositions to same-sex marriage; got arrested over the Minneapolis airport bathroom incident, doesn't exactly qualify as a gay act; stated in news conference he "love[s] his wife"
On Saturday, I watched a recording of the previous day's episode of Dateline NBC where Ann Curry interviewed pastor Rick Warren. Rev. Warren will speak at Pres.-Elect Obama's inauguration ceremony on Jan. 20, 2009 (the day after MLK, surprise!) Curry asked questions about the bad state of the economy and then on his position on "same-sex" marriage. Warren brought up some pretty good points in his interview that I bet no one could ever disprove. NBC News has posted a transcript on its website and a link to a video.
But then at the end of the interview Warren admitted this:
"I don't think gay marriage is any threat to marriage. So that's not why I'm voting the way I did. I think divorce is a bigger problem to marriage than anything else."
Whoa wait a second. Rev. Warren, if you really really think that divorce is so much more of a problem than SSM, why don't the churches start enacting anti-divorce laws? I predict that we'll see "Prop. 8.5" that'll outlaw divorce in the 2010 election ballot. Naw, I ain't serious, but I'm just saying that if the conservative "pro-family" activists really want a perfect society they've got to go after everything else that's wrong with the world.
And now I dare you to challenge these of Rev. Warren's remarks:
"Well, here what I'm saying. I've had many gay friends tell me, "Well, Rick, why shouldn't I have multiple sexual partners? It's the natural thing to do." Well, just because it seems natural doesn't mean it's best for you or society. I'm naturally inclined to have sex with every beautiful woman I see. But that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. And why should I reign in my natural impulses and you say, "Well, because I have natural impulses towards the same sex, I shouldn't have to reign them in." Well, I disagree. I think that's part of maturity. I think it's part of delayed gratification. I think it's part of character."
"For 5,000 years every single culture and every single religion has defined marriage as a man and a woman, not just Christianity [but also] Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism."
"Tolerance used to mean, "I treat you with respect even though we disagree." Some people want tolerance to mean now that all ideas are equally valid. That's nonsense. There are some things that are right and there are some things that are wrong."
And now my list of "hypocritical" proponents of "traditional love"
Unfaithful = having divorced or cheated, or just hypocritical on opinion against alternative marriage
Faithful = married to one partner constantly; remarriage only due to death of current partner
The morality of...Pro-"Traditional Marriage" politicians
Unfaithful
- Dick Cheney (Vice President, Republican, 2001-2009) - The Bush/Cheney team has like Clinton/Gore back in the day pushed for laws banning same-sex marriage, such as the Federal Marriage Amendment. But VP Cheney had no problem with his own daughter Mary getting married to another woman and having children with her.
- Bill Clinton (President, Democrat, 1993-2001) - signed Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 - but nearly cheated on Hillary! Paula Jones and Kathleen Willey sued him for sexual harassment; and then Bill's wild adventure with that White House intern almost got him expelled from office.
- Newt Gingrich (former Speaker of the House under Clinton) - From a man who's been married four times in his lifetime and has a lesbian half-sister who works for the pro-gay group Human Rights Campaign, try believing his proclamations supporting traditional marriage. Seriously!
- Phyllis Schlafly (activist, president of Eagle Forum) - Although she's an opponent of SSM, one of her sons, John, is gay.
- David Vitter (Senator, Louisiana, Republican, 2005-present) - typical Republican/conservative opponent of same-sex marriage but was a client of the "DC Madam" prostition ring.
Faithful
- Larry Craig (Senator, Idaho, Republican, 1981-2008) - voted for DOMA and other oppositions to same-sex marriage; got arrested over the Minneapolis airport bathroom incident, doesn't exactly qualify as a gay act; stated in news conference he "love[s] his wife"
20 December 2008
Newstalgia on Bush
By now, a lot of Americans still remember the incident where Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw his shoes at President Bush during a press conference. That incident has been played often on the news, late-night shows, and even spun off into online Flash games!
With George W. Bush leaving office in about 30 days from today, why not have a look back at a funny incident that happened with Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, who served as Ronald Reagan's vice president from 1981-1989 and President from 1989-1993.
Here's a New York Times article on the incident. Happy holidays!
With George W. Bush leaving office in about 30 days from today, why not have a look back at a funny incident that happened with Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, who served as Ronald Reagan's vice president from 1981-1989 and President from 1989-1993.
Here's a New York Times article on the incident. Happy holidays!
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