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- Feb 28, 2001
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American are the only people in the world who deny that their media reflect their culture. I wonder why they're so ashamed of it?
OK, you bloody twit, that one is a non sequitur in that it performs the fallacy of the unrelated antecedent.
We deny that the media reflects our culture accurately because anything that shows "ordinary" life won't sell. "Big media" is out for a buck - our slang for making money. So they sell fantasy - which by definition is fantastic in the sense of "not real." What facet of reality they choose to show is of no consequence. Whatever the media shows, it is exaggerated, stretched to fit, and otherwise not representative of reality. It has omissions, additions, modifications, flights of fantasy, extrapolations, compressions, and all of the other little tricks that make the program "fit in the time allotted."
Since that presentation is not related to reality, how does it figure that we are ashamed of our real culture? (Answer: It does not.)
Therefore, when you toss in that remark about Americans being ashamed of their culture, you drew it from the nothingness inside you because you surely cannot have deduced it from our comments on what our media actually display. You were just being mean-spirited. You can deny it but I'm calling you out that you were just bashing for the sake of bashing. Either that, or your ability to understand logic is sorely deficient.
Hollywood (and probably Pinewood in the UK) have NO RELATION TO REALITY! If there is any shame, it is about a human - not a USA - trait. Morbid curiosity. We have no lock on this one. That is why the stuff made in TinselTown sells. It appeals to the basest of human interests.
I've watched the police video shows referenced in other posts. I once talked to a police officer who happens to also be a tennis buddy of mine. He told me what was going on. I'll try to explain.
Once you have a police chase that involves collisions, refusal to stop, and other issues that indicate an unwillingness to cooperate, you quickly get into the situation called a "felony stop." Listen to the shows more carefully to hear this phrase. I have heard it many times when the tape comes from the California area and the officer's voice is that of the helicopter observer.
In this mode of operation, the police ASSUME the worst because the driver has ALREADY SHOWN IT TO BE TRUE! Trying to force an officer off the road, trying to run down pedestrians (or just plowing through intersections without regard to pedestrians), using the car AS A WEAPON - these make the actions of the driver a FELONY. In such cases, to protect the lives of the police AND the citizens around them, the rule is that you draw your weapon because you will not accept further resistance. The driver has already performed a felony or two before they get the vehicle stopped.