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Nervous Nellie Networks + Football (+Open Chat)

By SusanUnPC on December 9, 2007 at 2:09 PM in Current Affairs, Media

Are TV networks paternalistic? Control freaks? Or just too nervous about offending anyone? Steve Benen has a great rundown on the recent history of ads rejected by TV networks. And I agree with Steve that while I don’t like the content of the recently-rejected rightwing Freedom Watch TV ad, it should be allowed to run. (Then there’s my gripe: That U.S. satellite and cable providers are too gutless to add Al Jazeera English to their line-ups. To be sure, all the ‘wingers would go ballistic, accusing them of abetting terrorist propaganda. But, as rational people know, Al Jazeera’s news coverage is objective and intelligent, and covers news we never get in the U.S.)

FOOOOOOOOOOOOOTBALL: Who’s watching the New England-Pittsburgh game today? Any predictions? (I have to watch the Seahawks v. Cardinals, so will be switching channels a lot.) Danny O’Neil’s NFL power rankings are pretty funny:

1 New England (1) Patriots prevailed Monday in a flag-football game chock full of fourth-quarter penalties.
2 Dallas (2) Ken Hamlin turned into the most INT-eresting offseason addition with five picks so far this season.
3 Pittsburgh (3) A player no one’s heard of guaranteed victory. In related news, a tree fell in an unattended forest.

[...]

8 Seattle (11) The Tatupu Scoopa is a revolutionary product that effortlessly corrals doo-doo thrown out by QBs. [YESSSSSSSS!]

[...]

13 Washington (13) Tom Collins: A cocktail served over ice. Todd Collins: A smooth chaser who warms up quick. [INCLUDED THIS BECAUSE THIS IS LARRY'S TEAM.]

[...]

15 Arizona (18) Growing pains? No, the Cardinals suffering from the groin pains of WR Larry Fitzgerald. [YESSSSSSS!]

Read all.

http://noquarterusa.net/ SusanUnPC

MSNBC announced another poll this morning that shows Huckabee leading Romney in Iowa by 12 … 32 to 20 percent.

Will have to watch MTP — wonder if Tim went after Rudy about Judith’s police protection paid for by taxpayers. Anyone see it? Did he?

P.S. We just got more snow here today. Put food out for the birds. They’re so hungry today.

P.P.S. The top story in the Sunday Seattle Times is about how clearcutting and too much development greatly exacerbated the devastating flooding that hit SW Washington state last week. (By the way, I-5 is open again, but barely — it was 10 feet under water near Centralia just a few days ago.)

As I watched the coverage of the latest fires in Malibu, I thought about how — when i lived near there about 25 years ago — those canyons were not developed, and Malibu was truly a sleepy little stretch of a village along the PCH. All that development must make a difference in the number of fires (?).
lester

here is a letter to the editor I wrote to the Boston Globe regarding a column by Jeff Jacoby, a neoconservative. in it he warns against believing in the vracity of the latest Iran NIE, a position that is a little ridiculous considering his column of only two weeks ago which exorciated democrats for playing down the tactical success of the surge.

“According to the latest NIE, said to be the best sourced NIE ever, we are apparently safer than we thought we were just a few weeks ago. One of our major enemies on the world stage, Iran, doesn’t, according to the best guess of a myriad of experts, have a nuclear weapons program. After being starved of good news for years we have an embarassment of it with the , for now, success of the surge and the knowledge that Iran, even if it wanted to develop a nuke now, wouldn’t be able to till long after we have likely left the region, as least a decade. Of course, they have little reason to want such a program as their principle reason for having one in the first place, most likely Saddam Husseins regime in iraq with whom they were at war officially for 8 years and unofficially long before and after, had by mid 2003 been eliminated. it would appear we are actually seeing and end to this endless war! Finally, we can tend our gardens, which in our case is trying to resesitate our badly debased currency , rebuild our military and re- everything else that’s fallen by the wayside since 9/11.

You’d think Jeff jacoby in particular would be positively ecstatic about this development but no, He is instead worried. A curious reaction, it’s almost like he WANTS Iran to have nukes!!! While democrats hemmed and hawed about the surge till it’s success, at least tactically if not politically, could not be denied, Jacoby is adamant that we need to ignore this good news. Amazingly, he notes that if the report is true, it is because of “international pressure”. If this sounds an awful lot like “heads I win, tails you lose” it ought to, that’s preceicly what it is. This is the face of neoconservatism. They don’t want the war in iraq or war in the middle east to end. They want us to fear. They envision us as a sparta depended on handouts and condemned to a life of paranoia and militarism. Kind of like the country in the middle east they are all such big fans of. “
http://noquarterusa.net/ SusanUnPC

WTF? The Seattle CBS TV affiliate isn’t showing the Patriots game … paid advertising instead. I can’t believe it. They’ve shown games against Seahawk games on other dates.
wethornet

were the seahawks at home? if so, you won’t get the game afterwards. league rules.

wethornet, season ticket holder.
http://noquarterusa.net/ SusanUnPC

Yes, they were at home — and, by the way, they rawked, winning handily. NE also won handily.

Is that rule true if the Seahawks game is on at the same time as the New England game, and on different networks? Seahawks were on Fox, NE on CBS, both at 1:15 PT.

For which team are you a season ticket holder? Must be a blast — I’m envious!
TeakwoodKite

Lawrence Livermore Lab run by Becthel and UC laying off workers? What ever projects are being worked on it is pie in the sky to think they would stop because of the reasons given.
Perhaps Bechtel has outsourcing in mind.

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_7452564?source=most_emailed&nclick_check=1
http://www.food4humanity.org HoosierHoops

Well.. The Colts are destroying the Ravins..
Ok the football season is awesome. ( So far) I read Tony Dungy’s book the other day..pretty good.
Susan.. I finally watched Booktv today..
They had a guy talking about his book on DNA.
There is only 1 1/2% to 2% differences between all of our DNA. Well some are tall, short, pretty, strong, smart..ect ect..
How does that account for the members of the GOP?
Scientifically..we all all brothers and sisters..
Ethically, It’s like night and day…
PrchrLady

Susan, I am so glad you are safe and that life in your area is starting to return to normal. It has been hectic here for me, as life in a big family takes many twists and turns. I hope you are rehabing well, and following the doctor’s orders. I have been, and finally am able to get out of the house.

The blog has been great Larry, and Susan, and Leslie, and many very well discussed topics. I have been trying to keep up, but haven’t had time to write some of the comments I would like to make.

Yeah, I used to have season tickets to the Lions games here in Detroit. Then they moved to the suburbs, and built a new stadium… I was angry, and knew that eventually my Tigers would not have a home either… I gave up my season tickets when they left my city, and have never been to the new stadium. Don’t remember how many years ago that was… and WetHornet is right, they don’t televise home games unless they are sold out so many days ahead of the game… ‘protects the advertisers’…

Hope everyone had a great WE, and that everyone is getting their holiday plans in order. I am giving gift certificates, and ordered them through NQ advertisor… hope you get credit… Marlene
lester

As it turns out, you don’t talk shit about the Patriots!!
Kathleen

Happy Holiday Americans

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18856.htm
Kathleen

Turning Iraqi girls into prostitutes.

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
middle_east/7119473.stm

I guess this is what the Bush administration meant by the world being safer now that ‘Saddam is gone”

Bush, Cheney and the rest of the cakewalk team are some sick mother children fuckers!
http://noquarterusa.net/ SusanUnPC

Woah. Well, Lester, you have to admit they’re getting boring. All they do is win. Week after week after week. It’s so predictable. Yawn.
lester

susan – I was referring to the unfortunate remarks of the Steelers Safety.

The last two game were pretty close actually
http://noquarterusa.net/ SusanUnPC

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Thinker

Susan, some of the best news comes out of Russia, so I would expect Al Jaweera to be free of some Western protocols. In my opinion [current] terrorism was invented with the term AlQaeda. Those who use the term endorse the myth.

In fairness to both you, Larry et al, I think AlQaeda is used as a common label (I would like to say non-racist, but it is racist as none would infer anything non Islamic) for “Islamic fundamentalist threat”. And I do concur that Larry has said on a number of occasions he is not sure how much the AlQaeda concept has unified previously dissident Islamic cooperatives.

Someone described America as the land of the free the other day, and I responded, “don’t you mean the land of the captured?”. I think you rest my case Susan. Thankyou.
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Good Layout and Design. I like your blog. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. .