This blog post is to remind those who have stumbled upon this page that I'm still here. College classes are doing their level best to bury me, but I'm quite indomitable. Or indefatigable. I'm not really sure what either of those words mean, but they have a certain strong quality about them, so I'm just going to let it hang out there, and hope you've skipped this part of the post.
This new program for Mozilla called 'Performancing' is quite nice. It lets me blog from any page--no need to log in to Blogger. It also contains some nice features which I'll have to explore more fully in the future.
Rich and I spent a good amount of time tonight watching "To Catch A Predator" on NBC. It is a show that certainly stirs debate. Obviously, men who prey on children need prison or psychiatric help, and there is untold good to be had by removing them from our streets. On the other hand, when watching the show you notice that the men are always charged with attempting a lewd act with a minor. Is there no stronger charge that can be leveled against them? If so, why isn't it being used? And if not, does that mean that what these men are doing doesn't provide enough evidence to warrant more serious penalties? How many of these men are convicted of the charges they're arrested on? I'd like more data on the results of this show.
What is beyond dispute is the abject absurdity that is the program's host, Chris Hansen. The man looks like the captain of the lacrosse team who is pretending to be a journalist. He is far to coiffed and tanned to be a journalist, as it suggests he spends the preponderance of his time doing pilates rather than chasing down leads, burning up the phone lines, writing blistering copy, and other newsroom movie cliches. I would be rather surprised to find the man speaking without a script. His chief qualification for being a television personality is an undying and ceaseless quest to tell you [the predator and the viewer at home] that he is Chris Hansen, from Dateline NBC. Even when the man in the sting has confessed that he recognizes our host, and even correctly identifies the program, Blonde-bot 4000 looks dazed and bleats out "I'm Chris Hansen, from Dateline NBC." Only then does the look of smugness and assurance wash back to his face, knowing that he didn't go off-book for too long and that he's back in his comfort zone.
The show, while controversial in many ways, is worth watching if only to see if Hansen short circuits at the prospect of not audibly identfying himself to a camera. Make some popcorn and check it out.
This new program for Mozilla called 'Performancing' is quite nice. It lets me blog from any page--no need to log in to Blogger. It also contains some nice features which I'll have to explore more fully in the future.
Rich and I spent a good amount of time tonight watching "To Catch A Predator" on NBC. It is a show that certainly stirs debate. Obviously, men who prey on children need prison or psychiatric help, and there is untold good to be had by removing them from our streets. On the other hand, when watching the show you notice that the men are always charged with attempting a lewd act with a minor. Is there no stronger charge that can be leveled against them? If so, why isn't it being used? And if not, does that mean that what these men are doing doesn't provide enough evidence to warrant more serious penalties? How many of these men are convicted of the charges they're arrested on? I'd like more data on the results of this show.
What is beyond dispute is the abject absurdity that is the program's host, Chris Hansen. The man looks like the captain of the lacrosse team who is pretending to be a journalist. He is far to coiffed and tanned to be a journalist, as it suggests he spends the preponderance of his time doing pilates rather than chasing down leads, burning up the phone lines, writing blistering copy, and other newsroom movie cliches. I would be rather surprised to find the man speaking without a script. His chief qualification for being a television personality is an undying and ceaseless quest to tell you [the predator and the viewer at home] that he is Chris Hansen, from Dateline NBC. Even when the man in the sting has confessed that he recognizes our host, and even correctly identifies the program, Blonde-bot 4000 looks dazed and bleats out "I'm Chris Hansen, from Dateline NBC." Only then does the look of smugness and assurance wash back to his face, knowing that he didn't go off-book for too long and that he's back in his comfort zone.
The show, while controversial in many ways, is worth watching if only to see if Hansen short circuits at the prospect of not audibly identfying himself to a camera. Make some popcorn and check it out.
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