continuing proofs America is wacko [2]

Eldo, you can do anything if you set your mind to it!  I think the above pic might be a testament to the fact that it is possible. However, you may consider throwing in a hefty dose of political partisanship, childish humor (buttz r fun-e!1! lOlz!), and partial nudity.

Also, I just wanna wipe that stupid grin off of that moron's face. Republican's complained how the Dem's mocked Bush when he was in office, then they turn around and do the exact same thing to Obama.  

If only they could examine themselves objectively.

The funny thing is how many of Bush's policies the democrats hated that Obama has continued, and yet the Republicans still compare him to Hitler. That's why I want to get rid of them all (both sides) so the partisanship will be cut out like a tumor and we can start all over.

I don't think partisanship is ever going to go away, but it doesn't really bother me that much. Factions have existed for as long as human society has. You just have to manage them. I think the biggest problem for America is how far right the entire political spectrum has been dragged. It destroys any sense of perspective compared to other countries (and, of course, there are lots of Americans who think that because we're so exceptional you can't make such comparisons).

This is why I hate the golden mean fallacy. Too many people are willing to say "but both parties suck!", so you get to the point where a faction of one party can manufacture a crisis like the government shutdown by refusing to engage in the routine maintenance of government work, and then millions of people will cry "but why won't the other side compromise with them?!"

No jail time for pastor convicted of raping boys to ‘cure’ homosexuality

http://www.examiner.com/article/no-jail-time-for-pastor-convicted-of-raping-boys-to-cure-homosexuality

That's fucking disgusting.  

And the original sentence was only 17 years?

I always knew we shouldn't let Iowans be the first to vote in the presidential primary.  

More of a personal anecdote than actual proof, but I remember talking to my parents (they're pretty conservative) during the run-up to the 2012 election. This occurred the day after the debate in which Romney stated that he would cut the subsidy to PBS.

So, I'm talking to my parents about the debate and they said that they really liked watching the debate on PBS because they didn't have any of the annoying tickers or distracting graphics that the other networks had. And I'm thinking to myself that my parents watch a lot of programming on PBS (various cooking shows, Eastenders, Mr. Bean and Wallace and Gromit (which we would all watch as a family when I was young), and other shows like Rick Steve's Europe, etc.).

I didn't bother to point out the irony that they were planning to vote for Romney, and cutting funding to PBS. I'm sure it would have just been lost on them.

PBS is one of the most beautiful things in american culture. I always donate.

Its like the BBC then?

I think so, but I haven't experienced enough of the BBC to make a 100 percent for-sure statement. Although I can say that PBS is not the powerhouse that the BBC is.

Hmm, I wonder why. /s

Pettytyrant101 wrote:Its like the BBC then?

PBS has never had the reach that the BBC has; they trail behind the "big four" networks in the US (ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX).  PBS also doesn't get enough money from the government to cover all of their expenses, so they rely on donations from viewers and from corporate sponsors.  So their public TV credentials are a little bit spotty.  That said, they consistently produce interesting and entertaining material, including news reports that wouldn't necessarily find a home elsewhere.  For example, they just aired a scathing report on the NFL's approach to player safety after the NFL pressured ESPN to abandon its involvement with the project.  Also, WGBH, the PBS affiliate in Boston, is a co-production company for Sherlock along with the BBC.

So no license fee at least then.
Is cspan on it? I watch their main Sunday political program most weekends and its always struck me as very unAmerican in its style of tv and I never could work out what station it originates on (its shown on BBC parliament channel here)

Yeah, no license fee, fortunately (or maybe not, since if we had it then PBS wouldn't have to worry so much about its funding).

C-SPAN is its own cable channel (or rather, three channels, now).  It's a non-profit company which is funded by affiliate fees from cable and satellite stations who are allowed to re-broadcast C-SPAN material in return.  They style themselves a "public service created by the cable television industry" and enjoy an extremely high level of editorial independence.

PBS rarely makes things just for entertainment: except for a very highbrow audience that likes literature and fine arts. I watch it mainly for science, history, and reporting. It also tends to air shows from the BBC such as Red Dwarf, Are You Being Served, etc. Apparently if it's British it's automatically high brow.

But PBS can't afford to make things unless it will attract the discerning audience that pays money because it can't be found anywhere else. It's sort of contradictory, but the fact that they don't get much funding means they can only afford to make high quality material!

Cable companies such as The History Channel tried to make documentary style programming, but it has never held a candle to PBS. And the BBC entertainment imports are usually the best. (the execrable As Time Goes By being an exception).

They do love their British stuff.  PBS airs both the original (British) Antiques Roadshow and the American knockoff that they created, which I have found myself enjoying in spite of myself. :DAnd they were also the home of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, one of the greatest TV shows ever made, for most of its insanely long run.

Edit: Oh, and Kratts' Creatures/Zaboomafoo.  The nostalgia.

I loved Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.  

I also really liked Arthur. But the new episodes today are just shit.  

We have three government funded TV stations. ABC, SBS (that can take advertisements to assist funding), and now NITV, which is a station catering for our Aboriginal Communities (and plays plenty of Indigenous shows from around the world). These three are pretty much my full viewing (though I don't watch a lot of TV). Finding satisfactory stuff worth watching on Commercial TV is generally a tougher task. I don't mind my taxes paying for Public Broadcasting. It's (generally) money well spent.  

I used to read this webcomic on a semi-regular basis, but I just stumbled across this specific comic today.

Some classic laws there, I dont know where to start.  

The law against chickens crossing the road isn't dumb. The town of Quitman, Georgia has the right idea. That joke was played out a long time ago. I hope the force of law helps send it to the great joke factory in the sky where it belongs.

but what did happen when the chicken crossed the road?

It went to jail!

Norc wrote:but what did happen when the chicken crossed the road?

A car swerved into a ditch to save it's sorry-ass life.

some uk laws.

It is an offense to be intoxicated (drunk) and in charge of a cow in Scotland

Under the terms of the Polish Potatoes (Notification) in England Order - 2004: No person shall, in the course of business, import into England potatoes which he knows to be or has reasonable cause to suspect to be Polish potatoes

MP’s are not allowed to wear armour in parliament.

It is illegal to order or permit any servant to stand on the sill of any window to clean or paint it. (does that include husbands?)

Under the terms of a bye-law it is illegal to "Jump" the queue in the tube ticket hall. Any person directed by a notice to queue (or when asked to queue by an authorised person) shall join the rear of the queue and obey the reasonable instructions of any authorised person

All beached whales and sturgeons must be offered to the reigning monarch
The original law which is now largely defunct stated: "The King shall have throughout the realm, whales and great sturgeons taken in the sea or elsewhere within the realm, except in certain places privileged by the King."

In London, it is illegal for a person (knowingly) with the plague to flag down a taxi or try and ride on a bus. (Sort of True)
This is somewhat true as the law prohibits any person who knows that they have a notifiable disease (including the plague) from entering any form of public conveyance (taxi) without first telling the driver of the conveyance. Actually, the taxi driver can then still agree to transport them so long as he (or she) then has the taxi immediately disinfected. This is part of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984, sections 33 and 34: Public Conveyances. Some of the other notifiable diseases listed do indeed include, plague, rabies, food poisoning and leprosy

Makes you proud to be British.

I seem to recall Slavery was techincally still legal in the UK until 2009.