Daily Topics - Thursday August 26th, 2010
By shawnt56
Quote of the Day: It is our attitude toward free thought and free expression that will determine our fate. There must be no limit on the range of temperate discussion, no limits on thought. No subject must be taboo. No censor must preside at our assemblies. -- William O. Douglas
Hour One: NBC TV's new Fall show "Outsourced"...funny or offensive? Thom has a rumble with Dan Gainor of the Business and Media Institute www.businessandmedia.org
Hour Two: "Everything you know is wrong about sex...are humans naturally violent and monogamous?" Dr. Christopher Ryan co-author of "Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality" will be here www.sexatdawn.com; Plus, Geeky Science - You've heard of secondhand smoke, but how about "thirdhand smoke?" And why is it especially dangerous?
Hour Three: What was Alan Simpson thinking when he compared Social Security to "a milk cow with 310 million...?!" Congressman Peter DeFazio spends the hour with Thom and takes your questions www.defazioforcongress.org; Plus, "Taking Our Country Back" - Melissa Fox, candidate for California State Assembly will be here http://votemelissafox.com
Comments
#2
Kill your TV! For most of my life, I have not even had a TV in the house- thank goodness. This is the final insult. What is really insulting, is who will watch the show- people who have come home from a long day of work. And when the unemployed plea they have been trying to find work, the employed class will demonize them and tell them to move to India. Insulting.
#3
Mr Gainor excused this new "Outsource" sitcom's poor taste, by saying we didn't shut down Hollywood during WWII. WTF is he talking about?
Please Mr Gainor, can you tell me the name of a movie from that period that made a joke of the Pearl Harbor attack, or any other battle of of the war? The only comedy I've seen from that period about that period was negative towards the Axis powers, it didn't excuse it.
I'm getting fed up with this tired meme that Hollywood just produces extreme left wing messages. When it rarely does.
N
#4
When George Bush introduced torture as an acceptable method of information extratction, the show "24" showed torture too. It isn't a comedy, but didn't it also show torture as at least a mildly acceptable thing to do? I think that's way worse. I think tv and movies reflect what's happening in our culture, and outsourcing is something that's happening in a big way. It's an unfortunate reality brought to us by conservatives and corporatists. And it sounded from the clips like it's not a show that glorifies outsourcing, but pokes fun at it.
#5
What's the point of getting upset at Mr Welch, he thought outside the box and figured out a legitimate loophole to cut costs. What pisses me off, is that our Government has done nothing to close this loophole. It hasn't decided to tax mass bundled communications out of country driving up outsource call centers. No, our representatives just sit back and say "Gee there doesn't seem to be anything we can do (but take more contributions from these unpatriotic businesses)." What a load of BS.
#6
Regarding "Outsourced", all I can say is that we must remember the definition of comedy:
Tragedy Plus Time Equals Comedy
Rima
#7
Socially responsible companies are B Corporations http://www.sethink.com/bcorp.htm I am a little leery because the owner of 7th generation makes a statement that I thought was- of the intent to take the goverment out of their business. My apologies if I took out of context.
#8
Chang’s Bad Samaritans Thom’s book review of regarding the free trade myths of http://blog.buzzflash.com/hartmann/023
#9
As long as corporations rule us and make the laws to help themselves and pour hundreds of millions into campaigns to buy politicians, there won't be one thing we can do about it. Not one little thing. President Obama kowtows to Wall Street almost as much as conservatives. Business holds the real power and always will until perhaps we have a massive depression that will wake people up coupled with a leader that will have the nerve to take them on. Till then, we will watch "Outsourced" and laugh to keep us from crying.
#10
re: #1 where would I find a skull cap in Texas?
#11
Jeanie, there is something we can do, there is always something we can do, albeit one little thing... and that is to say "This is not acceptable, who's with me!" Perhaps no one will answer, perhaps you'll be deafened by the noise of the reply "I'M WITH YOU!". You'll never know till you speak up.
N
#12
I don't think the show being discussed has a serious side, but I do think a comedy show that showed the horrors of outsourcing the way MASH showed the horrors of war could be the most effective way to educate people about outsourcing.
#13
THOM & LOUISE & et al.
Thank you for scheduling Melissa Fox! She's good folk.
#14
Whenever I call a call-center in India, I commiserate with and apologize to the poor Indian, whom Im sure is underpaid, for having to deal with pissed-off Americans all day. How do they do that all day, then go home and not shoot the dog and drown the goldfish? Must be hindusim
#15
I think Thom is on the verge of starting a trend. First he has Bernie Sanders on weekly, then Stephanie Miller started having Alan Grayson on weekly, now Thom is getting Peter DeFazio on today to answer questions frankly (dare I hope this turns into a weekly bit too). Could you imagine if progressive Congressmen/women and Senators started doing this on mass (which really isn't too many all in all). Imagine being able to call up to a show that's having a representative you want to ask a question of available weekly? Wow, to dream the impossible dream.
Good on ya Thom.
N
#16
World Wide Reccession??? Are you sure?
I spent last weekend at the Grand Canyon (I hated spending money in AZ but I tried to keep it in the National Park) and I was surprised to notice that I was one of the few people there with a "North American" Accent. The place was full of Germans, Italians, British, Middle Eastern and Japanese. It seemed that there were Families of all sizes and Pre-College teens everywhere... Very few North Americans though. As nice as it was to see so many people enjoying the National Park I found it odd that so many foreigners could afford to visit and so few Americans could...
I think we are being fed a lot of puckey about the rest of the world so we don't realize how bad things are here...
But on the plus side, the Stimulus funds are working - The Park looks Great!!! it was my 4th time there and I almost didn't recognize it (the big canyon helped)!
#17
Re: End Social Security, Extend tax cuts for the very wealthy
If Tax cuts create jobs, then why isn't our economy booming?
#18
Finally starting to hear some Jerry Brown for Governor commercials. Was beginning to think the campaign was just going to roll over and let Whitman just stroll into office.
I know this isn't as big a deal to non-California residents, but just had to voice my sentiment on this.
N
#19
During the bushes reign of terror, there was a show about royalty. It was based on a king (I think in America, all I saw were ads). It had a good looking guy dating the kings daughter. I always thought it was the media's way of trying to soften us up to get use to the idea of a King of America. I never watched it just for that reason.
Anyway it died a natural death.
#20
DRichards, for that matter, I'm still waiting for things to trickle down to me.
#21
Jeanie,
Trickle down works.
Don't feel like you've been trickled on?
#22
@Jeanie, its all evaporating before the Trickle gets down off the Estates.
N
#23
Tax cuts create jobs
Trickle down lifts all boats
These are two dogs that don't hunt. If they did we wouldn't be in a recession.
#24
The trickle coming down is warm and yellow and magically fails from the skies . . . And results in no money being moved anywhere except outta the country . . .
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
Images of Thom
With His Holiness The Dalai Lama, at His home in Dharamsala, India (Synthesis Dialogues - made into a movie narrated by Harrison Ford)
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"In an age rife with media-inspired confusion and political cowardice, we yearn for a decent, caring, deeply human soul whose grasp of the problems confronting us provides a light by which we can make our way through the quagmire of lies, distortions, pandering, and hollow self-puffery that strips the American Dream of its promise. How lucky we are, then, to have access to the wit, wisdom, and willingness of Thom Hartmann, who shares with us here that very light, grown out of his own life experience."
From Screwed:
"Hartmann speaks with the straight talking clarity and brilliance of a modern day Tom Paine as he exposes the intentional and systematic destruction of America’s middle class by an alliance of political con artists and outlines a program to restore it. This is Hartmann at his best. Essential reading for those interested in restoring the institution that made America the envy of the world."
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"With the ever-growing influence of corporate CEOs and their right-wing allies in all aspects of American life, Hartmann’s work is more relevant than ever. Throughout his career, Hartmann has spoken compellingly about the value of people-centered democracy and the challenges that millions of ordinary Americans face today as a result of a dogma dedicated to putting profit above all else. This collection is a rousing call for Americans to work together and put people first again."
Anti-Islamophope group
I started my first Facebook group yesterday and I'm amazed at how fast it took off. I put a link to it here yesterday.
Here's the link again
Wear Hijab on 9/11, Defy "Burn a Quran Day"
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=144913692209438
The text:
Join us! If you are also horrified by the recent outrageous fear mongering of the right wing against American Muslims then here is a way to push back. I am not a Muslim but I plan to wear the hijab on 9/11 as a gesture to American Muslims that they are full citizens of this country and deserve the same rights as the rest of us. Concerned men might wear skull caps in solidarity with us women.
Yes, it will take some courage to make this gesture. However, I remembered how the people in Billings, Montana put menorahs in their windows to protest the anti-Semitic activities of the KKK in their town. See http://www.facinghistory.org/explore/exhibit/stories/niot/read
Another wave of anti-Semitism is sweeping our nation, this time against Muslims. Let's stand up and stand out to demonstrate that not all Americans are bigots.
I hope you'll join me in making this gesture. I feel that it demonstrates true American values as written in our Constitution.
Peace, Shalom, Salaam,
~ Charell
I've received many thanks from Muslims around the world but I was hoping for more non-Muslims to join me in my protest. If you like this idea please join me in wearing a Hijab on 9/11, or a skull cap if your a man.
Thanks!