Let's talk about reporting.

[jimborae]

that trailer is dire

watch this. it's the opening scene for the first series.


it's simply superb

and it grows... the episodes burn into you.

Ok you convinced me will be downloading & watching tonight, looks excellent.

[Zak33]

good man. report back in....

[jimborae]

good man. report back in....

Just watched the 1st episode and it was great, thanks for the heads up. Let's hope that it holds up for the rest of the season.

[santa claus]

Isn't that one of those strange loaded questions.

Greatest how?

Well spotted . I just wondered who would choose what and why because the choice is indeed as you say personal. My choice would be the UK. Never have so few given so much (I mean we are a small Country with Global impact).

Sorry if this is OT Zak but it seemed your comments on The Newsroom were fully gushed

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The idea of reporting, should, in it's simplest form, be exactly that: reporting.

Ideally, but in reality no,when money and politics are involved.

Just look at something like tech reporting - its in a atrocious state IMHO,and its not hard to think why,when the websites are so dependent on ad revenue and goodwill from major companies for their survival. I have seen so many major issues buried since it might annoy PR of certain companies,or even reviews where the results show one thing and the conclusions say another. There are so many sites when the reviewers don't seem to understand what they are reviewing too IMHO.

[Dareos]

Just watched the 1st episode and it was great, thanks for the heads up. Let's hope that it holds up for the rest of the season.

It doesn't, it gets better and better and better.

The Newsroom is quite simply, the best fact based drama I have ever seen. I say fact based because it uses real events from around the world and bases its episodes around those. It uses things like the BP oil spill and the african rebellion and so on and so forth.

I believe its written by the guys that did The West Wing. Its rivetting watching and please just watch it for when the Republican Anchor (Will) refers to the Tea Party as The American Taliban, its utter utter genius.

[TeePee]

I guess there was even something admirable about how in the 50s the USA was trying to shape the world, via economic aid missions, rather than creating a colonial structure.

Now hold on a sec... The US certainly tried to shape the world, but economic aid was not the only method used. Operation Ajax, which installed the Shah in Iran, is a perfect example of how US Shadow-colonialism worked. We destroyed a democratic and progressive country and installed a brutal dictator because it suited our own interests. That's the most well-known example, but the US went on to do exactly the same thing in Gutamala in 1954. We talk about the 'Bay of Pigs' in Cuba in the context of the Kennedy Assassination, but this was only part of the US's intervention in Cuba. Brazil, Chile and Argentina followed, with brutal, US-supported, military regimes set up to support US interests.

I would say that the vast majority of problems in the Middle East today stem from US foreign policy in the 50's, 60's and 70's.

[TheAnimus]

I was meaning compared to the UK or France.

The French honestly translates as the protectorate, if you were outside of it, then you were not going to be protected, but also you couldn't trade or anything.

It was a monopolistic way of exploiting people. Looking soley at Indochina, more specifically Vietnam, we see the US funding the horrific Diem regieme, compared to the French system, which was worse. Neither addressed the underlying issues which constituted the appeal of communism for the nationalists. Both were 'bad'. But the US one, a little less bad.

The thing is, look at the alternatives, Ho Chi Minh's idea of nationalist communism wasn't exactly kind either, many, especially those in the south, are highly critical.

Sometimes there is no good option, compared to our messes, the USAs attempts were, a little less bad let's say.

[Zak33]

It doesn't, it gets better and better and better.

The Newsroom is quite simply, the best fact based drama I have ever seen. I say fact based because it uses real events from around the world and bases its episodes around those. It uses things like the BP oil spill and the african rebellion and so on and so forth.

I believe its written by the guys that did The West Wing. Its rivetting watching and please just watch it for when the Republican Anchor (Will) refers to the Tea Party as The American Taliban, its utter utter genius.

with bells

[peterb]

Your hobby seems to be playing full time devils advocate. From the very first thread I wrote on hexus back in 2007 you have continued in the same vein.

Your first ever posts were a customer services requests to YoYotech who, at the time, had a support forum on HEXUS.

Your first posts outside that were advocating software/copyright theft - a thread TheAnimus did not participate in.

Your first thread concerned ISPs and Fair Use Policy - again a thread that TheAnimus did not contribute to.

[TheAnimus]

Maybe it's the environment I grew up in, Army influenced heavily, my fathers books would be best described as 80% historical with an emphasis on military, and the rest Tom Clancy or other such tripe.

Having had such an upbringing one thing becomes abundantly clear, nothing is clear cut.

There is no good vs evil, it's just a matter of perspective. One of the biggest mistakes people make is to discredit this. Don't understand what was the appeal for the Germans kicking off WW2, then frankly, you are setting yourself up for failure. Peace in our time! You can be as optimistic as you like, demonise the Germans for their ethnic cleansing, but fail to understand why people want to do that, and you will never know your enemy, never be able to hope to defeat them. To many of the Germans at the time, we were cruel oppressors brutalising them for the actions of their parents and a defunct regime.

If you are planning to support any kind of forceful action, against people who don't want you too, it bodes you well to understand the reasoning behind those who would resist you. It belays you to negate them as being brainwashed or 'stupid'.

Sadly there is this Hollywood idealised vision of things, and even worse people carry that over into life.

[jimborae]

with bells

So I finished season 1 over the weekend and am half way through Season 2. Wife now hates me as I've got her addicted to it also and didn't wait for her to catch up! Cheers Zak33!!.

[peterb]

I take back (nearly) all I said about Evan Davies after his piece on MrWhippy the World cup predicting whippet on The 'Today' programme this morning. And just when I was thinking that I have now had more than enough World Cup news.

[Zak33]

So I finished season 1 over the weekend and am half way through Season 2. Wife now hates me as I've got her addicted to it also and didn't wait for her to catch up! Cheers Zak33!!.

my pleasure

[Zak33]

Having had such an upbringing one thing becomes abundantly clear, nothing is clear cut.

There is no good vs evil, it's just a matter of perspective.

this is THE statement of the month for me

it's utterly true to such a depth as to be frankly astonishingly poignant

[TheAnimus]

It's the fact that it is OK for you to see their actions as evil or whatever, because to you they may well be completely evil.

But it does no help to you to not try and understand things from their perspective, you don't have to agree with their perspective, but if you can not put yourself in their shoes enough to understand why they would 'be evil' then you are never going to begin to understand them. If the 'evil ones' have any power or strength, you must understand them as a matter of your own safety.

It's funny on morality, because whilst not Game of Thrones, The Newsroom is HBO, as such I've gone through this classic oatmeal comic http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones