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July 12, 2006

The FCC Might Hurt Your Sports TV, Congress Might Hurt Your Online Betting, but at Least Comedy Central is Back on Board.

By: The Dude on the Right
I know blogs are usually supposed to be short, so I apologize now, because I think this one will be a long one.  Here we go...

For those of you oblivious to how the government continues to take control of our lives by dictating itself as the deciding body on what you can see, hear, and how you might want to have fun, in the past two days there have been a few stories that probably didn't make your headlines, maybe didn't even make your newspaper, and if they did, were buried so far that you didn't even realize it was happening.  Pretty soon, it might be too late.  These stories have to do with a group we should be afraid of, namely the FCC (and Congress too), another group that just seems to bring menial matters up when it will help them at election-time, them being Congress, but at least one group of folks are going to re-air something on TV that got pulled in controversy, namely Comedy Central.

First the FCC (and Congress).

A little while back Congress passed, and The President signed into law, that the FCC now has the ability to fine broadcasters something like $325,000 if they, meaning a handful of appointed folks at the FCC, decide a complaint about something aired on local TV or on the radio is indecent.  That's the simplest of ways to put the fine increase.  But today I found a headline on the internet that troubled me, especially after reading the subsequent story:  "FCC combing air tapes for dirty words."  Pretty much, as the story goes, the FCC has requested from a bunch of broadcasters tapes from mostly sports' broadcasts where someone, whether it be a fan, superstar, or anyone, seemed to have uttered a "dirty" word.  The question I have is "Why?"  One of the quotes from the story stated that "I don't know how they are going to rule, but they asked us for tapes with a specific emphasis on crowd noise," said another TV executive, who also requested anonymity. "If some bozo in the crowd calls the ref an asshole, the commission is asking for a copy of the tape."  If the FCC decides that said bozo in the crowd yelling "you're a lazy shit-head" is indecent, and since a TV station aired it (as well as maybe the covering radio station), that the TV and radio station should be fined, well, $325,000 (or more), if you thought your TV was getting more tame all of the time, think again.  You might be able to still watch live events on TV, but don't count on any audio.  Most people don't seem to notice and just seem to want to let our government be the babysitter for their kids, but for Christ's sake, you seem to have no idea where this path is leading.  Five people have the decision to decide if the word "shit" is indecent, and they decided it is.  No one seems to want to notice, and there doesn't seem to be many Congress folks with enough balls to say something like "I'm not for indecency, but I this is bullshit."

Next up, Congress and Gambling.

For this story the House of Representatives has passed legislation pretty much eliminating online gambling in the United States, unless, of course, you want to still play the lottery or bet on the horses.  The story isn't done, yet, because it still has to pass the Senate, but this is a bad sign.  For those of you putting money down in poker games online, trying your hand at blackjack, or maybe you just think that Ebert & Roper will give a movie "Two Thumbs Up!", well, your Congress is working to say "Screw you, you can't blow your money on someone we can't tax, but if you want to throw it all away on the lottery or better yet, the horses, go right ahead!"  How are they doing it?  Well, they are trying to make it illegal for United States banking folks to transfer money to offshore gambling sites.  I'm sure there are ways around this, but really, it's a hassle you don't need, but you also don't seem to be fighting for your right to gamble.  The Senate hasn't taken up this debate yet, but if they do, this is where, you gambling folks, better get off your collective asses and write your Senators.  The problem with the United States on this, and I think this is what really pisses them off, is that they didn't figure out a way at the beginning to make this legal in the U.S., and how to make the bucks off of this.  What to do now?  Make it really illegal until they can figure out how to make a buck.  In any case, by now, most of the online gamblers have figured that the big name internet gambling sites out there in the world aren't out there to steal their money, because that doesn't let them be there for the long haul.  The big names work to be legitimate because, well, the gamblers keep coming back.  Sometimes someone will win big, but gambling has always been in favor of the house, so that is why there are there.  If anyone is really pissed off at Congress it has got to be the casinos in Vegas because they could easily set up online gaming sites for all of the United States, make them totally legit, and even give the government their cut.  But the United States missed that boat, and a lot of these off-shore companies are making billions of bucks without having to give a cut back to US, I mean the U.S.  But Congress doesn't want you to gamble, unless someone in the United States is making money, and thus, the United States is making money, so online gamblers beware, it might get a hell of a lot more difficult for you to put you bet on the next "American Idol" or think you can actually win a Texas Hold-em Poker Match with a bunch of people you can't even see.

And Finally, Comedy Central.

There was a controversy a little while back when Comedy Central pulled an episode of "South Park" called "Trapped in a Closet," around the time when "Mission Impossible: III" came out."  Many news reports stated that it was pulled at the request of Tom Cruise, who gets made fun of in the episode, him and Scientology, but the Comedy Central folks gave their own reasons for pulling the episode.  But, as weird things go, the "Trapped in a Closet" was nominated for an Emmy award.  How can you not put an episode back on the air when it has been nominated for an Emmy Award?  Well, Comedy Central has decided to re-air the episode, so set your episode for July 19th, check your local listings for times, but this is one, really, funny episode.  At least someone in the TV entertainment side seemed to have gotten their balls back.

I guess for this blog my words of warnings are these:  Pay attention to the restrictions our Government continues to place on us.  Five people are deciding what is indecent, a bunch of people looking to get re-elected think an easy way to get votes is to eliminate gambling on the internet, (and don't get me started on gay marriage, abortion, how this manipulates your elections) and if you think this doesn't effect you, or things you like in your life, you are wrong.

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 9:12 PM | Comments (1)