![]() I saw a clip on YouTube labeled "The Most Honest Minutes In Television". I felt it was very poignant and decided to post it here. If you want to see it put "The Most Honest Minutes In Television" into your web search engine. I borrowed the following text from and it is a quote from HBO's TV series "The Newsroom". In other words I own nothing. Though I did cut out some parts. [Jenny] "Can you say why America is the greatest country in the world?" [Emily Kathleen A. Mortimer (1 December 1971) - As Sharon] Diversity and opportunity. [Debate Moderator] Louis [Louis] Ah freedom and freedom, let’s keep it that way. [Debate Moderator] Will? [Jeffrey Warren "Jeff" Daniels (February 19, 1955) As Will] IT’S NOT. It’s NOT the greatest country in the world, Professor. That’s my answer. [Debate Moderator] You’re saying [Will] Yes. [Debate Moderator] Let’s talk about [Will (Speaking to Sharon] Fine. Sharon, the NEA is a loser. Yeah, it accounts for a penny out of our paycheck, but he gets to hit you with it anytime he wants. It doesn’t cost money. It costs votes. It costs airtime. And column inches. You know why people don’t like liberals? Because they lose. If liberals are so fuckin’ smart then how come they lose so goddamn always? [Sharon] Hey [Will (to Lewis] And with a straight face, you’re gonna sit there and tell students that America is so star-spangled awesome that we’re the only ones in the world who have freedom? Canada has freedom. Japan has freedom. The U.K. France. Italy. Germany. Spain. Australia. BELGIUM has freedom. (laughs) Two hundred and seven sovereign states in the world, like, a hundred and eighty of them have freedom. [Debate Moderator] All right [Will] And you, Sorority Girl, just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there’s some things you should know. One of them is there’s absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re seventh in literacy. Twenty-seventh in math. Twenty-second in science. Forty-ninth in life expectancy. A hundred and seventy-eighth in infant mortality. Third in median household income. Number four in labor force and number four in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: Number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next twenty-six countries combined, twenty-five of whom are allies. Now none of this is the fault of a twenty-year-old college student, but you nonetheless are without a doubt a member of the worst, period, generation, period, ever, period. So when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I dunno what the fuck you’re talkin’ about. Yosemite? (Audience surprised.) [Will] Sure used to be. We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons. We passed laws, struck down laws, for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed. We cared about our neighbors. We put our money where our mouths were. And we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and we cultivated the world’s greatest artists and the world’s greatest economy. [pause] We reached for the stars. Acted like men. We aspired to intelligence. We didn’t belittle it, it didn’t make us feel inferior. We didn’t identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn’t, oh, we didn’t scare so easy. Ha. We were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed. By great men. Men who were revered. First step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore. [pause] Enough? Greetings to the fine folk that moderate our site. I, along with many, have been writing and posting on your fine site for years now, some of the better examples of up and coming writers out there are now suddenly finding some of the stories we've come to love at risk of being removed without the chance to even rectify our errors. For some, that means the permanent loss of a story. While I don't have anything that (I believe, from other stories similar to mine that I've seen on this site, also for a number of years), violates your terms of use, there are those out there that are never able to recover a story in its original form, this is something I find to be almost worthy of a legal action, as while we cannot claim ownership of a character, the stories are OURS and simply destroying them is something that is inexcusable. It's quite easy to simply add an MA rating, additional filters or even a simple requirement for a free membership to read the stories presented here, and would cut down on hateful anonymous reviews and posts at the same time, so I have to question as to why such a thing, in all this time, simply wasn't added. If you're worried about falsification of a registration then have an appropriate disclaimer and then there can be no dispute, you took your steps and the PARENTS didn't monitor their children, if that is even your concern. If it is more of a personal view or desire then please at least let people know and give them a chance to remove a story that you and yours find offensive, most people on the site are actually rather cordial when it comes to such requests. While I cannot say for sure if this letter will even reach those that may be willing to listen, of if it's more akin to a wide spectrum purge in preparation for something bigger, please understand that you are going to be losing a LARGE number of your writers, and thus your income from a lack of readers if there is not some level of action taken to help with this situation. For those that may agree with this, please feel free to sign on and send this to the support server, maybe we can get some movement on this. Psudocode_Samurai Selonianth Chrystel Malfoy-Potter Crazy909 QueenGuin angelgreene220 MY Results of the "What Hogwart's House Are You In?" Quiz GRYFFINDOR: HUFFLEPUFF: RAVENCLAW: SLYTHERIN: I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT TO DO WITH YOU...SLYTHERIN! Favorite Quotes: "There is no wrong and right, only choices. Love and hate share a fine line. There is no good and bad, only opinions and views. Good does not equal right or light or love. Bad does not equal wrong or dark or hate. The world is grey and reality is cruel."--Said by Harry Potter in Ch. 14 of fanfiction story Cafe by Faust VII Controversial Issues: We interrupt this profile for an important message to one who has passed on. He will be remembered dearly. OBITUARY FOR THE LATE MR. COMMON SENSE Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense,who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and Maybe it was my fault. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6 year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get Parental consent to administer Calpol, sun lotion, or a band-aid to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion. Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault. Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by his 3 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing. A moment of silence. (Stolen from Lina03 who stole it from mandy-san's profile) And I stole this from someone else's profile too. 1. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 3 letters of real name plus izzle): Criizzle 2. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav colour and fav animal): Green Wolf 3. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, and current street name): Marie Vista De Oeste 4. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, last 3 letters of mom's maiden name): Goncrlly 5. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME: (fav colour, fav drink): Green Sunkist (Maybe Green Sun for short.. Superman's arch-enemy!!HAHA) 6. YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one your pets): Black Dude 7. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (fav fruit, and something that can go wrong): Pineapple Sunrise(I'm nocturnal{sp?}) 8. YOUR PIRATE NAME: (fav colour, pirate accessory): Green Sword |