There's really NOTHING I like more than messing with the media. Especially when the reporters get angry about it! What's wrong with the reporters? How can they not realize that it's funny?

i was waiting for you to post this. predictably, the herald felt wounded, first in the "objective" news piece:
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=180480

and secondly, by a particularly angry columnist who managed to offend youth culture, liberalism, a non-patriarchal marital scheme, and belarousians/kazhakis(?). he also managed to confuse belarus with russia, which is forgiveable, since they're gonna merge.

oh, right, that's at http://news.bostonherald.com/columnists/view.bg?articleid=180462

Belarus and Russia are going to merge? Can we call it Russbelarus?

I'd like to also take credit, while I'm posting comments, for my eagle eyed catching of the Boston Channel photoshopping out the middle finger on our Mooninite friend:

http://www.fantent.com/2007/01/31/aqua-teen-hunger-force-media-alters-ph...

Hey, I saw the boingboing post earlier today but didn't even notice. Nice job.

... one of those guys (the quieter one, who's due for a haircut) is a friend of mine.
Man, I am going to be pissed if anything further happens to him.

I like how the news clip said they'd pled 'not guilty' without mentioning just what crime it was they were accused of.

The MSNBC clip also blurred out the finger.

I'm close to writing a letter to the editor of the Boston Herald suggesting that this Howie Carr person would be a better columnist if he laid off the ad hominem attacks and irrelevant cultural criticism. (Oooh! A hyphenated last name! She must be one of those feminists who want to destroy America!)

what crime they were guilty of? how about being dicks? how about being dicks who are a billion percent less cool than they think they are, considering they're tools of a megacorporation?

also, howie carr is a long-reputed fucking moron.

Basically this just makes me embarassed and disappointed in this generation. It's time for us to be more responsible. They cost the city millions and everybody knows that you can't leave blinking packages in public places these days, sorry to say. They think they're being alternative, meanwhile feeding into the Turner empire and "brain drain" of America. We're not in high school anymore. Kids 10 years younger than us are *dying* at war, the number of shootings in Boston is astronomically on the rise (you might have heard about a stabbing in the 'burbs, but not about the 3 kids killed in one week two weeks ago, all under the age of 14--one of whom is my student's cousin), and I could go on with a list of other depressing statistics that people could be dealing with instead of numbing themselves. I just think the America of our generation cares more about adult cartoons, video games, and so-called "reality" television, than climate change, violence, and world peace. It's disappointing and I'm getting more and more angry about it. I wish we had rolling blackouts--to keep people from accessing the media they like to blame for everything as they lap it all up and also to make climate change.

I don't think enjoying Aqua Teen Hunger Force and caring about/acting to solve serious global problems are mutually exclusive.

And despite the media distractions, etc., our generation is actually more progressive and more socially active than pretty much every generation that has preceded it.

In any case, I don't think the problems are generational, or have anything to do with stoner humor. In fact, the causes of the problems you spoke come primarily from the generation between their 40's and 60's, and very little power is in the hands of middle-class young Americans. Not to say that we won't own those problems in the near future, but I do think you are misplacing your concern. These problems are institutional, born of institutions, and this even reminds me of two things: 1) Blind faith in in institutions is one of the greatest problems plaguing our soceity; and 2) Even when you think you are acting rebellious or contrary to mainstream culture, you are usually in the pocket of another, even if counterbalancing, institution. But I'd rather be closer to #2 than #1.

Of course I don't think that entertainment is evil, but I do think a lot of people are very apathetic and yes, I do think they are plugged in and tuned out. And yes, I do hold middle class Americans and our generation to a standard (not necessarily a higher standard). It's not about power or adherence to institutions to make change, it's about small gestures and daily habits and I just don't see these actions and qualities in as many people as I'd like to. I don't agree or think it's fair to compare our generation as "more progressive and more socially active." Maybe we're more liberal-minded on surveys recently generated, but how are our actions--are we binding communities and volunteering our time? Are we more courageous? Are we effectively displaying our outrage? Or do we buy pink ribbons or red ipods to show we care? Time to stop looking to the older generations. We're up. I'm probably rallied by the fact I just came from the NAACP breakfast for Black History Month and truly the violence in Boston disturbs me and has been hitting too close to home (school) lately. The most disturbing part is that no one is talking about it, it's not consistently front-page news. And I blame that on the fact that it's happening to people of color and hasn't interfered with anyone's shopping or property values, because that's what it comes down to in the states (and exactly why the stabbing in Sudbury MA made headlines). How can we ever get used to guns and killings? This is exactly why I did not want to move down to Boston and I'm serious about that. I was always afraid that I would start to think it's normal that kindergartners carry knives and 6th graders have access to bullets that even the police have never seen before. So far I haven't changed in that I'm not used to it; the only thing that's changed is that now I understand why they can justify carrying the weapons. Why wouldn't you if your 13 year old cousin was shot 6 times?

Yeah, I realized after the fact that the Boston Herald is a tabloid both in size and spirit.