Notable Quotable: Attention, Corporate America!

Image found at Dvorak.org

"Attention, Corporate America: If the Bill of Rights interferes with your business model, the problem ISN'T the Bill of Rights."

-- Huffington Post commenter, DatelessNerd

Sarah Palin's Facebook Page: Now With Scrubbing Bubbles!

After abandoning her Governorship, Sarah Palin hasn't really been a politician, she's been a political celebrity. Which is funny, when you remember the "Paris Hilton" ads the McCain/Palin campaign ran during the 2008 election. I guess being a political celebrity was only bad when it was Barack Obama. But back to the point, the only domain that Sarah Palin can claim as her Queendom is Twitter or Facebook (certainly not Barnes & Noble). So it stands to reason that when Queen Sarah starts getting a little negative public attention, and that people start saying so on her Facebook page. . .that those people would be. . .dealt with.

No, she hasn't shot them from a helicopter. But she's got somebody madly hitting "refresh" on their computer, frantically deleting posts that are critical of Herself. Immediately after I realized that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords had been one of the "targets" on Palin's "hit list," I put up my own post on this blog, saying that Palin ought to be ashamed of herself, and should publicly say so. By and large, media reports of the connection have been perfunctory and matter-of-fact. It is a salient, newsworthy point to be made, and I've seen very little editorializing about it from the mainstream news. Keith Olbermann--a news commentator--did a "special comment" on the topic (in which he did not exclude himself), and never once did he blame Palin for what happened. Yet read any right-wing report on it, and they will outright state that the left is blaming Palin. 

And besides, the shooter was a lefty (it was on Twitter, it must be true). And some little known diarist on DailyKos said that Giffords "was dead to him." And Markos himself used the words "target" and "bull's eye" in a list similar to Palin's. So both sides do it! So there! Or something.  Except, Markos isn't known for his "don't retreat, reload" gun brandishing (and fetishizing) rhetoric. Palin is. I know that whoever helps her out with her Facebook page makes her appear far more clever than she actually is. But I don't for a second believe that Palin didn't actually mean to use the words and the graphics she did. The same can't be said for Markos. I'm sure he regrets having used those exact words, but I'm equally sure he wasn't trying to stir up a macho "guns baby, yeah!" image to his readers. In addition, "bull's eyes" on a map of the United States--with no names--is distinctly different from a map with cross-hairs* on individual districts, alongside the names of the people representing those districts.

* And the excuse that those are cartography marks rather than cross-hairs is laughable.

[Excerpt]

Inexplicable Edits on Sarah Palin's Facebook Page



Sarah Palin has a reputation for being an agressive editor of comments on her Facebook page - a reputation that has always seemed likely accurate to me, given the tedious consistency with which all comments on the page are along the lines of "I love you SARAH!". . .
 
Read more at: Obama London

Homer Simpson's Butt Censored by FOX!!!



Image from source, Huffington Post

 Yes, I'm running two HuffPo-sourced articles in a row, but anyone who knows me knows that I couldn't possibly ignore this story. D'oh!

[Excerpt]

'Simpsons' Head: Fox Won't Let Us Show Homer's Butt



"The Simpsons" celebrated some good news Thursday, as the animated legend was renewed by Fox for an eye-popping 23rd season. While discussing the renewal with New York magazine, Al Jean, who runs the show, revealed an interesting tidbit about the standards department at Fox: they won't let "The Simpsons" show any of the character's bare behinds. . .
 
Read more at: Huffington Post

Christian Group to Boycott. . .William Shatner?

Image from Joe.My.God.

Some people simply have too much time on their hands. Of all the genuine problems in the world, what do religious activist groups choose as their causes?  Stopping people from getting married and dirty words.  Well, I love William Shatner, I'm gay-married, and I have one thing to say to the "Parents Television Council":  mind your own business, and shut the fuck up!

[Excerpt]

Christianists Call For Shatner Boycott

The Parents Television Council is calling for a boycott of William Shatner's new show, $#*! My Dad Says, because the title implies a naughty word. Last week the group sent letters to hundreds of advertisers demanding that they not support the show. . .

Read more at: Joe.My.God.

South Park Censored by Comedy Central

Grrr.  This is a rather stupid capitulation by Comedy Central (or Viacom, or whomever). Obviously, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park were not worried about the reaction to their episode. The storyline of their 200th (and 201st) anniversary shows basically crammed every celebrity and religion that has been offended by the show into one story.  Anyone taking it seriously would have to have a screw loose. Waitaminute. . .Okay, I can see why the powers-that-be may have been wary.

But the whole storyline was about the ridiculousness of being immune from criticism. By censoring every mention of the word "Muslim," and by covering up the depiction of Mohammad--a character that has appeared before, mind you--they wrecked the whole idea.  The irony of course, is that there wasn't any criticism of Mohammad or Islam in the whole story. Just the appearance of the character.  If Muslims can't depict an image of Mohammad, fine. Parker and Stone are not Muslims.  

[Excerpt]


Has 'South Park' gone too far this time?




Nothing is sacred on "South Park."

This is a show, after all, that once painted God as a gap-toothed rhinoceros-monkey, portrays Satan as a simpering milquetoast and regularly features Jesus as a superhero -- the kind who's not afraid to ignore the peaceful teachings of the Sermon on the Mount to smite his opponents. The show has mocked Jews, Catholics, Mormons, Scientologists and atheists, among (many) others. . .

Read more at: CNN

Rush Limbaugh & Sean Hannity Skirting the Law?

A while back, I mentioned that I overheard the creation (or at least an early stage) of a new conservative "meme" while listing to just a couple of minutes of The Mark Levin Show. I do not recommend this listening activity, by the way. And it turns out I was right. Sean Hannity--who liberal talker Randi Rhodes maintains gets virtually all of his shtick from Levin--has been using the phrase "censorship doctrine" instead of "fairness doctrine" on his show.

This is sort of a spin of a spin. Rush Limbaugh, Hannity, Levin and other conservative talkers have been working their listeners into a lather over the fairness doctrine, a repealed FCC rule that dictated that political speech should be balanced on broadcast TV and radio. They maintain that Democrats are eager to reinstate it, and that it will restrict their "free speech." But the fact is, there is only tepid support by mainstream Democrats for such a thing. It's just spin to create a new bogeyman. And changing "fairness" to "censorship" is just one more layer to their stinky onion.

But are they breaking the law? I sure hope so, because seeing any of these guys--particularly Hannity--in an orange jumpsuit, with a cell-mate named Bubba would be almost as good as seeing Karl Rove in the same scenario. . .

[Excerpt]

Radio Treason? Right Wing Talkers Skirted Disclosure Law

. . .Airing this week on talk radio shows have been a slew of "538" ad buys, confusing listeners into thinking a revived Fairness Doctrine would muzzle partisan talk. Hannity in particular began referring to the law as the "Censorship Doctrine" but quickly laid bare in an L.A. Times piece, we saw the effort was an intentional "cry wolf", meant to begin a messaging campaign - that is, conditioning listeners to have kneejerk reactions at any mention of the Fairness Doctrine. Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, who calls it the "hush Rush" bill should perhaps be gearing up to answer different questions about disclosure requirements on public airwaves. . .

Read more at: OpEdNews

ABC Refuses to Run "WE" Anti-Big Oil Ad

I've watched it, and I can't see what's so objectionable. Take a look, and see what you think. You can urge ABC to reconsider at the site, if you feel like it.



[Excerpt]

Tell ABC to Air Our Ad

ABC recently refused to run our Repower America ad, even though they run ads from oil companies that mislead the American people about the role fossil fuels play in the climate crisis. . .

Read more at: WE

Clear Channel Radio vs. Clear Channel Outdoor

I was recently reading an article about Clear Channel Outdoor Advertising's refusal to put Harry Shearer's (of The Simpsons & more fame) new album cover on any outdoor billboard. 'Songs of the Bushman' features the graphic you see to your left gracing the cover. I like it! Hard to believe that such closed mindedness in advertising can occur at the same company that this occurs...
Pride: Gay lifestyle radio programming 24/7.
And guess what, it is their break away hit radio station.
Now while each, 'advertising' versus 'radio', claim to be separate arms of the Clear Channel business... are they not of the same octopus? I guess opposites do attract... The Christmas parties at this company must be something to remember.

NEW YORK – January 22, 2007 – FM radio listeners in Denver, Hartford, Las Vegas, Tucson and West Palm Beach can now hear Pride sensations Ryan & Caroline every Sunday night on local FM stations. The crossover of the popular program, whose FM broadcasts begin this week, makes Pride the most successful Format Lab genre to date. Read on...

Emmy Awards Controversy

Photo from source, television.aol.com

OK, now that the show has aired, I can finally read the afore-mentioned AOL story on the Emmys controversy. Nice of them to put that on their splash page while the show was just airing in the West. Harrumph.

Anyway, the FOX censors got a little melodramatic, cutting away to a silent shot of a large disco ball over the stage, blanking out whatever it was that Ray Romano and Sally Field were saying at different times during the show. Much ado about nothing, I think. A simple bleep would have done just fine, and not called so much attention to it.

Another note: that whole "in the round" concept was not a good idea. These shows are usually played against a backdrop, and the entrances and exits are obvious. Most of the stars looked confused about which way to go. Not to mention, half the audience present had to look at backsides. I'll bet they go back to the traditional stage setup next year (another prediction!).

[Excerpt]

Emmy Censors Get Workout

Ray Romano joked about his former "Everybody Loves Raymond" wife, Patricia Heaton, sleeping with her new "Back to You" co-star Kelsey Grammer. But he used a stronger word than "sleeping," which prompted Fox to cut away for a few seconds. [snip]

Sally Field praised mothers when she won an Emmy for lead actress in a drama series but also let her anti-war sentiments surface with a God-related swear word." And, let's face it, if the mothers ruled the war, there would be no (expletive) wars in the first place," Field said.

From: television.aol.com

UPDATE: The video is now available:

Censorship: What the F**k?

Ever since Janet Jackson's "nipplegate" controversy a few years ago at the Superbowl, broadcast TV and radio have gotten very skittish about foul language and perceived indecency. Curiously, cable channels like FX (a Rupert Murdoch property!), Showtime and HBO have gotten racier.

Anyway, the other day, I was listing to "JackFM" here in Las Vegas, a station that plays a pretty diverse song set, the best songs of the last 40 years or so. Great concept, I know it's popular all over. I heard a Maroon 5 song, with the F-word fuzzed out. I don't know why Adam Levine always has to throw the F-word around in his catchy little songs, but he does. A short while later, I heard "Unbelievable" by EMF, a very catchy song from a one-hit wonder in the early 90s.

Interesting fun fact? The line, "What the F**k" is heard in the song, over and over and over again! Uncensored. Then I remembered another ditty that has been around for closer to what, 35 years, The Who's "Who Are You?" (the theme song from CSI). This song says "Who the F**k are You?" a couple of times. These songs have been played uncensored for years and years. See for yourself:



This is an edited clip, and the video is barely there (just the opening of a CSI episode), but the f-word in question is sung at 3:02.