TV Makes the Case for Torture

Quoting Alexis de Tocqueville, “In a Democracy, the people get the government they deserve.” So considering the newest poll numbers, it seems that Americans deserve (and are in the process of getting) a government that supports torture:

Fifty-eight percent (58%) of U.S. voters say waterboarding and other aggressive interrogation techniques should be used to gain information from the terrorist who attempted to bomb an airliner on Christmas Day.

A Short History of Torture

The uses of Torture in:

Tribal Societies,

Feudal Societies,

Democratic Societies,

and Modern Dictatorships

Huffington Post, Torture and Christmas

Huffington Post posted a promotional video called A “24″ Christmas: Jack Bauer Tortures Santa Claus.

In it, Santa Claus has been apprehended by the CIA, and Jack Bauer is sent in to torture and interrogate him. Of course, almost everyone is going to click on the video to see if Jack Bauer really does torture Santa Claus.

The Benefits of Bozo

There have been plenty of scientific studies showing associations between Television and academic mediocrity, depression, aggression, poor concentration, obesity, consumerism, civic disengagement, etc.

You would almost think that TV might be bad for you!

For lovers and defenders of TV, how to fight back? Luckily for them, two economists have come to the rescue, providing a statistical study showing that TV really is good for kids.

Save energy: Lose the TV

It turns out the new flat-screen TVs use significantly more energy than the old-style TVs.

Here’s one excellent solution:

The obvious solution to the problem of energy-guzzling TV sets (“TV sets may get greener,” Oct. 22) is simply banishing them from our homes.

TVs are not required for life. My household has been TV-free for many years now, and yet I manage to live a full, active life and stay engaged with the issues as an educator and citizen.

Doing away with TV also immediately eliminates so many of the corporate messages telling us we are inadequate if we are not buying more and more things.

There are so many other wonderful things to do instead of watching TV and shopping. Yes, there is good content on some networks, but there is good content out in the non-virtual world as well.

Killing our TVs could help save energy for things more essential to life.

RUTH E. MALONE Oakland

Cool Blogs

kill your tv.

Originally uploaded by yes, spaz.

 

Lately my anti-TV blogroll has increased substantially.

For some fun reading on TV, anti-TV and Instead of TV check out these new blogs: