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yall

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  1. And that this interference in Iraq that was killing American soldiers and led stright to the top of the Iranian regime. So the mullahs are killing our boys. The meeting was conducted by high level American military people, I gather. But they wouldn't tell their names. No video or sound recording equipment was allowed in, no cell phones and it was the front page story on the NYTimes, Washington Post, Yahoo, etc. So its front page news but no one went on record with these allegations.

    Is there something wrong with this picture?

     

    Yeah, and the problem is that our credibility is shot to sh*t.

  2. Why doesn't clear channel ban Kenny Chesney for being a gay? :unsure:

     

    For the same reason they don't ban Pearl Jam who are fairly anti-Bush. It serves no purpose for them as a company. I know you were being sarcastic, but it brings up an important distinction. The radio stations that banned the Dixie Chicks did so in large part for publicity and ratings, and not really so much because of some misguided and over-zealous patriotism.

     

    They knew that the majority of their country station listening audience would applaud such a move, and it would probably reflect well on the station and their advertisers.

     

    Or, in other words: $.

  3. It was an act of censorship and first amendment violation. They held Senate hearings on it over the media consolidation issue and this case was one of the major elements of it. In fact, even though I hate John McCain he did something extraordinary in those hearings for a guy I know, and McCain was the strongest critic of Cumulus and Clear Channel. he was the one that brought up the federal crime issue. Cumulus later lifted their ban. And now Clear Channel is selling off stations. This is not specifically related to the Dixie Chicks (the Clear Channel thing) but somewhat is, since that is what McCain was complaining about. That they had a monopoly on the marketplace, and then used that monopoly for censorship.

     

    But wasn't the criminal issue related to their monopoly, and not what they chose to play? Granted the two are related in that CC had to much power in that they controlled too much, but there is no crime in what they choose to play or not play.

  4. As far as Clear Channel goes, it definitely was censorship and a federal crime I think. Clear Channel ordered all of their program directors to completely stop playing the Chicks records, and since that crossed state lines, it became a federal issue. That's not company policy, that's censorship.

     

    Huh?

     

    What exactly about that is a criminal act?

  5. I thought I head that nearly every American concert of theirs sold out - usually rapidly.

     

    Now I have to see if I can confirm that. As though I hadn't wasted enough time on this topic today...

     

    I'll help ya... (Man, I'm REALLY bored today... :unsure: )

     

    http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2006/06/10/di...tour.html?print

     

    The Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines in New York in 2003. Maines's anti-Bush remark has had an effect on the band's concert sales in some cities.

    (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

    "This time around, we are willingly feeling our way through unchartered territory," said the statement. "Things don't come as easy as they might have come in the past, and it makes each accomplishment more exciting and appreciated. We will go where the fans are with great anticipation and no regrets."

     

    The group's spokesman is also quoted in a Saturday Los Angeles Times article as saying there has been "some reshuffling of dates" and additions to the itinerary.

     

    The Dixie Chicks' latest album, Taking the Long Way, opened in the No. 1 spot on the U.S. charts, selling 526,000 copies in seven days.

     

    Continue Article

     

    Industry reports say ticket sales are sluggish in Republican states because of the prolonged backlash to a 2003 comment by singer Natalie Maines at a British concert. She had said the group is ashamed to come from the same state, Texas, as President George W. Bush.

     

    "Basically, they're having to rethink the entire tour at this point," Gary Bongiovanni of the concert industry magazine Pollstar told Reuters.

     

    Concert schedule changes

     

    Bongiovanni says dates in Memphis, Tennessee, Oklahoma City, Indianapolis, Houston and Fresno, Calif., might have to be dropped from the tour. An extra date has already been added in Toronto."

  6. Particularly since the free advertising sent their CD, concert, and merchandise sales through the !@#$ing roof. They're such victims... :unsure:

     

    I think that was only in Canada though. I think their stateside sales of merch, cd's, and tix went down siginificantly. What was funny was their audience got a slight augmentation from people who hated the President, but normally wouldn't touch country.

     

    I also recall them having some feud with the "Ford Truck Man".

  7. I'm not a Dixie Chick fan, nor could I name one of their songs, but when Clear Channel Communications bans your records it is significant - don' t they control over 80% of the commercial radio market in the country?

     

    It was clearly censorship. It was not, however, a 1st Amendment issue.

     

    I don't know that I would call it censorship. A media outlet can pick and choose what they want to play. CC probably felt that enough of their Nashville Pop audience would bristle at any Dixie Chick song, and felt it would better serve their customers/listeners by not playing the material.

     

    Their record sales and concert attendance figures probably suffered more from their ticked off core fanbase than it did CC deciding to not play their material.

     

    I don't really care, but it irks me to see the press calling artists "brave" for speaking their minds, as if there is a real danger of jack-booted goverment agents coming into their homes and pistol whipping them with broom handled mausers.

  8. Over the weekend I saw a TV commercial for an indoor/outdoor R/C helicopter. It was small enought to fit in your hand and I wanted to order it, but forgot the website. I did a net search and found a bunch, but they didn't seem like the one I saw.

     

    Has anyone else seen this commercial, and if so, do you recall the name of the product/company?

     

    Thanks in advance.

  9. I would take that rep's statements with a grain of salt regarding the mac part. I know people who work for MS that would dispute his statements and these guys are aren't blind followers either.

     

    That said, in the corporate type environment, you are big time right in holding off. While Vista was pretty stable for me and others during the development process from post b2 and on, we're not in a rush to upgrade our users to it. Too many issues to sort out (GPO management, app compatibility, drivers - especially nvidia, etc.).

     

    I'd hold off until SP1 or SP2 as well.

     

    As far as the Mac stuff goes. I have a Mac as well as several PC's. Since moving to XP, my PC's have been far more stable than my Mac. The Mac will hang, freeze, throw unexpected error on Apple software, etc. The user interface is sh*t. The only reason I even use it is for video editing, which it does fairly well (importing video is really easy, making DVD's is simple, but more than anything I got a free copy of Final Cut Pro for the Mac which basically sealed the deal).

     

    On top of that, I can no longer use the iTunes music store. I can't access the store without updating iTunes, but my current version of OSX (10.2.x) won't support the upgrade. So, the solution is pay Apple to upgrade the OS to whatever feline persuation iTunes 7.0 requires, so that I can pay them for music. Keep in mind, I was able to purchase music from the iTunes store as recently as 2 months ago. Great job!

     

    The bottom line is this: Apple is no better than MS. And as far as the whole vs. thing goes, it's more show than reality, considering the stake MS has in Apple.

  10. I agree - if anyone wanted to play Oblivion, I'd think they already have on the PC or the 360. Why spend $600 to play a game on a system you can buy for $300? (or heck, you could spend $75 for a video card that would outperform the 360 and PS3 combined! :) ).

     

    It seems that most of Sony's titles are rehashed 360/PC titles. Even most of their former exclusives (GTA, for example) are supposed to be released on the 360 at the same time now. There are even rumors that Metal Gear Solid will be on the 360 as well.

     

    CW

     

    As well as their beloved Tekken 5 [edit... meant Virtua Fighter 5]. (Which EGM gave a higher average review than.... Gears of War... :) )

  11. I wonder if Sony was counting on Oblivion moving consoles like it did with the 360? I have to imagine the hardcore RPG fanbase already played this game on a PC or a 360.

     

    Plus, with that price point, I can't imagine a single game can be a system seller. I bought a PS2 just for GTA:San Andres, but for 150 bucks, it was a pretty easy pill to swallow. I can't justify throwing down 600 bucks to play one game, no matter how good it might be.

     

    I think that combined with the fact that there are so few really good exclusives spell doom for the PS3. Maybe not "doom" as in "OMFG Sony is going out of teh business!!!!" but doom in the sense that the platform is going to have a less than significant impact on the gaming world, which is in stark contrast to the PS2.

     

    PS - We need a gaming forum....

  12. So I'm doing my usual 7:00 AM news site surfing today, and I'm seeing a ton of "Defiant Dixie Chicks" type of headlines. On top of that these stories seem to have the common theme that the Dixie Chicks were somehow censored and their constitutional right to freedom of speech was violated.

     

    Could someone please let the press know that an artist who says something that pi$$es off 50% of their core fan base, and then those fans choosing to ignore that artist's product, is neither censorship nor is it a violation of 1st amendment rights?

     

    My fiancee, who likes the Dixie Chicks, didn't seem to think they deserved 5 grammys, although she said it was their best album yet. I'm not much of a fan (I think the lead singer has a pig face and she rubs me the wrong way. I would like the other two to just rub me... :) ) and I have to wonder how much the controversy they have created impacted their nominations/awards. Not that I think the grammys are a measurement of anything that resembles artistic merit. (*Cough* *Sham!* *Cough*..)

  13. a better title for that poll is not "Who is Hotter", it should be "Who the heck are any of these people"???? Am I that much out of the loop that I have not heard of a single one of them???? :rolleyes:

     

    Seriously. Are these ladies from a local retirement home or something? Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes winners perhaps?

  14. Do I have to read the above to know Holcomb's Arm has NO idea what he's talking about again? Or is it just safe to assume?

     

    Well he does have the general concept of a negative externality correct, but I'm not sure I would entirely agree with his point about the free market. I would argue that free market systems have done a better job at controlling pollution as more consumers become aware of the effects of pollution. No, I wouldn't expect every consumer to become experts in deciphering which companies and/or products are more "green" but as companies realize this is important to consumers they will advertise it themselves (kinda like trans fats).

  15. meh, no one really takes them seriously as a political voice. they get more protesters than klansmen at most of their "rallies" and the protesters usually only show up about 10-15 strong. they get no press and no attention other than government agencies keeping tabs on them and locking them up. this is probably the most attention anything klan related has garnered in a while... which makes me wonder... ieatcrayonz: klan member??

     

    Shouldn't this be in PPP?

     

    At any rate, this type of news will become fodder for people like Ruben Navarrette Jr., to whom every single opponent of illegal immigration is some uneducated, racist xenophobe. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that it shouldn't be reported, but at the same time you know that people with an "anti" position on illegal immigration will now be painted with a broad stroke as begin similar to the KKK.

  16. If Okoye was as dominant as quoted, coupled with his youth (see potential) and seemingly high character you're right he likely won't last to pick 12. The Dolphins at pick 9 seem like a good fit with their age at DT (see Traylor, Holliday and Zgonina) all over age 30 and little depth behind them. Not to mention Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas likely won't be around too many more years and they'll need someone to pass the torch too.

     

    Wait a minute you said "seemingly high character" and the Dolphins seem like a good fit?

     

    No wonder your name is the Jokeman!

     

    :thumbsup:

  17. Except Al Gore isn't running for POTUS, has repeatedly said he has no interest in running for any public office, and hasn't been in public office for seven years. It couldn't be that he's just passionate about something? It couldn't be that maybe, just maybe, his only agenda is to bring to attention something he cares deeply about, whether you agree with him or not?

     

    I've stayed out of this one for the most part, due to the fact that I honestly don't know who is right and who is wrong even after doing a fair amount of reading on the subject. As usual the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

     

    At any rate, I do take issue with this being something that Gore really care about, when he tends not to practice what he preaches. This is an older article, but I think it speaks volumes about these pseudo environmentalist types that want to tell the common folk that every bit matters, but are unwilling to make sacrifices themselves.

     

    http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/edito...ore-green_x.htm

     

    I didn't bother finding a link, but I'm sure most of you remember Gore having a motorcade to drive him and his "posse" 500 meters at the Cannes Film Festival, to promote his conservation movie. :thumbsup:

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