JCC BECKTOPIA!!

Odd, I've read quite a bit of Green Lantern and they've never mentioned that.

 

Most of our media, of all political stripes, act like a bunch of crazy people - yelling and shouting and hollering over each other like they were a bunch of third graders instead of allegedly serious commentators discussing important issues of national policy. What have we seen just this week? Hollering maniac Piers Morgan decides to divert some attention to how much he acts like an agitated nutcase by bringing the utterly-bonkers screaming conspiracy kook Alex Jones on his show. Nice save, Piers - it must have been hard digging up someone who makes you look sane and reasonable by comparison.

But this is just the way TV works. Look, it's not like there aren't sane, rational, reasonable, polite, well-educated, well-spoken people on all sides of the political spectrum in this country. Sure there are - but watching people like that thoughtfully debate substantive issues isn't going to get anyone any ratings. It's just like reality TV; like The Real World or Jersey Shore. You could draw a random six people from 90% of the population, put them together in a house, and they'd get along boringly well. That's why MTV intentionally picks people who they know are going to get on each others' nerves so we can watch them do the only two things anyone wants to watch them do - fight and fark. And we watch, and the networks know it. And so we get more of it.

And so the right gets their news from a hollering nutter with a blackboard and the left gets their news from a professional comedian on the Comedy Channel and both consider themselves well-informed for having done so. And the sad thing is, compared to the majority of boobuses who get no news from anybody, they actually are.

But it's all a put-on. It's all a show. It's all pretend, as Paddy Chayefsky tried telling us 35 years ago, before the 24-hour cable news channel came around and made it even worse. We probably should have listened more:

 

*facepalm* Yeah, no, not that John Stewart Ramza

Hell, I remember when O'Reilly was hosting A Current Affair (granted I was a kid at the time, but still...)

 

Best.Lantern.Ever.

 

Well which John Stewart are you referring to? I'm seeing vague references to a comedian John Stewart, but the only Stewart I can think of in the comedy line of work is Jon. Not a tremendously great joke, I'll admit. Should've opted for the traditional descending quotes.

True that.

 

*facepalm* That's it, I'm off to bed.

 

We are safe for another 8 hours, guys!

 

Jaypes, I cannot decide who had the better post here - you, or Crem.

As a result I gave you both a "like".

 

Hal was a jerk, Guy was a damp squib - John was the only Green Lantern worth paying attention to for anything other than his ring.

 

yeah its probably just a ponzi scheme or something but how much more fun would it be if it turns into a waco/jonestown situation? a man can dream

 

actually a study found that people who claim they get their news from FOX were less informed than people who said they dont follow the news. CNN and MSNBC didnt do much better





people who listen to NPR were the best informed which isnt really surprising but you'd thnk they'd have a lot of useless knowledge about fair-trade pan-flute playing crowding out the important international news

they did a similar study in 2011 with the same result for FOX

 

That's right, take cheap shots at public radio listeners. This American Life had the best piece in its history over the weekend with a story about trying to trace a rumor that restaurants were substituting fried pig rectum for calimari. It ended up with the Chicago public radio staff in a restaurant doing a taste test. Where else can you get that kind of groundbreaking journalism?

It was almost as good as Anthony Bourdain's trip to Austia on No Reservations, during which he announced that sheep sphincter "tastes like ass."

 

TAL owns.

the best informed republican i know is a big NPR listener. she always complains about terri gross but ive noticed she talks about terri gross quite a lot. i cant even think of another celebrity she's mentioned. i think she has a grade-school crush on terri gross

 

For someone who runs one of the world's largest economies, Jerry Brown's fairly nutty. I'd joint his cult in a heartbeat. I regretted not doing it in the mid 90s when Brown set up his own commune. Anyone else remember that, or were any of you born yet?

 

was that before or after he got beaten for the nom by an adulterous used car salesman?

 

June 95 was when he moved in. Brown did his radio show on premises, according to the NYT article.

 

no wacoesque showdown, huh?

 

Some of us are old enough to remember Governor Moonbeam round one, California space program and all.

This latest project by Beck reminds me of a cross between a religious cult and Walt Disney.

In other words, it'll make millions.

 

Let's see, what do I love on NPR? This American Life, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, Car Talk and Fresh Air are the best. But Talk of the Nation is occasionally really good too.

 

Disneyworld with open carry? Dream come true.

 

So he's adroitly exploiting the conservative survivalist craze (black man wins reelection + some sensible gun control just being proposed = world ending). Should be good for another few million.

 

LOL Hey, It's a small world song grates and the little puppets bug me too but not bad enough to open fire on 'em.
There was a comedian who had that ride in his sketch for a long time and how he dreamed of taking out one of those puppets with a baseball. That's about as far as it got with me.

 

Beck; that news broadcaster from V for Vendetta who watched himself while in the shower....on crack. It amazes me that people can be fooled by such an obvious charlatan. Yet he makes tens of millions of dollars per year from people taken in by this.

It's all there. Use religion, Americana, the Founding Fathers, and use the word freedom with great frequency. I could not help but laugh at that thing in the center being a symbol for his penis...a big **** you to everyone.

I skipped a bit here and there. Where is this to be built? TBH the idea of micronations is nothing new. It extends all the way to space. If you could get off the Earth for the same price as arline tickets then the solar system opens up(See O'niel colonies). Orbital colonies become microcosms. People try this with the states. Certain folks get influence and for example invite people to go to South Carolina where it could become Far Right Wing friendly, then they have their very own power base where you will go to church, you will learn creationism, you will own a gun,etc etc. I always wondered if a given microcosm would be enough. If people lived in their very own bubble will that be enough for them to leave all the oter bubbles alone?