Our BetterMost Community > Chez Tremblay

Is it just me, or...

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delalluvia:

--- Quote from: ednbarby on September 26, 2006, 04:26:45 pm ---  Resistance may be futile, but as long as I'm breathing, I will *not* be assimilated.
(So, I just dated and outed myself as a Star Trek: Next Generation geek at the same time, there...)

--- End quote ---

You are SO busted, barb. ;D

newyearsday:
There's certainly a lot of crap out there on TV, that is for sure. But I did watch a ton of TV when I was growing up, and I have to say I look back fondly on all those cheesy 70's and early 80's shows; life was somehow simpler then even though I'm sure they had their homophobic moments. Now things in the country feel more back-biting, more apt to stir up controversy, and more written for shock value. I don't watch much TV, except for the distractions it can provide and sometimes, the education. I just watched Oprah today with wife of former vice presidential candidate John Edwards' wife Elizabeth Edwards on as the guest, and it was well done.

I also have to say I love Conan O'Brien. He's nutty, and doesn't take himself seriously.

One thing though re: the Superdome, they did debunk the myths about the murders and rapes that were originally reported to have occurred (although we really have no idea; rapes could easily have occurred and not been reported since the majority of them never do get reported) but I'm pretty sure people died there, from not receiving medical attention and being diabetic and such. The lack of food, water, and air conditioning would have been enough for the elderly and the young to die. I get mixed up between the Convention Center and the Superdome, but deaths occurred at one and probably at both.

alec716:

--- Quote from: newyearsday on September 27, 2006, 05:34:47 pm ---I have to say I look back fondly on all those cheesy 70's and early 80's shows; life was somehow simpler then even though I'm sure they had their homophobic moments. Now things in the country feel more back-biting, more apt to stir up controversy, and more written for shock value.

--- End quote ---

Exhiibit A: 1974: Flip Wilson dressing as a woman and playing Geraldine on his comedy show.  Then, it was funny.  Now, it would be controversial.  Ugh.   :(  I still maintain that it was funny!

serious crayons:

--- Quote from: newyearsday on September 27, 2006, 05:34:47 pm ---One thing though re: the Superdome, they did debunk the myths about the murders and rapes that were originally reported to have occurred (although we really have no idea; rapes could easily have occurred and not been reported since the majority of them never do get reported) but I'm pretty sure people died there, from not receiving medical attention and being diabetic and such. The lack of food, water, and air conditioning would have been enough for the elderly and the young to die. I get mixed up between the Convention Center and the Superdome, but deaths occurred at one and probably at both.
--- End quote ---

Oops, you're right, Jenny. There were some deaths. Sorry, Barb and everybody, my mistake. Not only that, but I neglected to give the New Orleans Times-Picayune credit for breaking the debunking story! This is from the Times-Picayune:   

Rumors of deaths greatly exaggerated
Widely reported attacks false or unsubstantiated

6 bodies found at Dome; 4 at Convention Center

By Brian Thevenot
and Gordon Russell
Staff writers

After five days managing near-riots, medical horrors and unspeakable living conditions inside the Superdome, Louisiana National Guard Col. Thomas Beron prepared to hand over the dead to representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Following days of internationally reported killings, rapes and gang violence inside the Dome, the doctor from FEMA - Beron doesn't remember his name - came prepared for a grisly scene: He brought a refrigerated 18-wheeler and three doctors to process bodies.

"I've got a report of 200 bodies in the Dome," Beron recalls the doctor saying.

The real total was six, Beron said.

Of those, four died of natural causes, one overdosed and another jumped to his death in an apparent suicide, said Beron, who personally oversaw the turning over of bodies from a Dome freezer, where they lay atop melting bags of ice. State health department officials in charge of body recovery put the official death count at the Dome at 10, but Beron said the other four bodies were found in the street near the Dome, not inside it. Both sources said no one had been killed inside.

At the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, just four bodies were recovered, despites reports of corpses piled inside the building. Only one of the dead appeared to have been slain, said health and law enforcement officials.

That the nation's front-line emergency management believed the body count would resemble that of a bloody battle in a war is but one of scores of examples of myths about the Dome and the Convention Center treated as fact by evacuees, the media and even some of New Orleans' top officials, including the mayor and police superintendent. As the fog of warlike conditions in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath has cleared, the vast majority of reported atrocities committed by evacuees have turned out to be false, or at least unsupported by any evidence, according to key military, law enforcement, medical and civilian officials in positions to know.

"I think 99 percent of it is bulls---," said Sgt. 1st Class Jason Lachney, who played a key role in security and humanitarian work inside the Dome. "Don't get me wrong, bad things happened, but I didn't see any killing and raping and cutting of throats or anything. ... Ninety-nine percent of the people in the Dome were very well-behaved."

jura86:
Since we're on the topic of television, I've always been curious about a few things about American tv - how many network channels are there? Do most people have cable or satellite with extra channels in the US?

For most of my life I had four network channels on my TV (and still do while I'm at uni) but at home I have satellite television now with hundreds of channels (none of which I ever watch). I do think one of the greatest things about network tv in the UK though was the creation of Channel 4, designed specifically to cater for minority audiences, so they take their gay audience seriously. I didn't have Channel 4 for most of my life unfortunately (we don't get it in Wales! - we get S4C instead) -- but now I do, it is by far my favourite channel! Plus it has all the great US imports, like Six Feet Under, Sopranos etc. Is there a network channel in the US for minority audiences, or are they all pretty similar?

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