Very Political Day in US Today November 2, 2010

Today is Election Day in the US, which is decreed in our Constitution as the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November.  I don’t know why the guys who wrote it didn’t want it to be convenient, like on a weekend or something, but it is what it is and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be changed.

Today is also the day that the Supreme Court is going to be hearing arguments from both sides about California’s unconstitutional violent video games law, which despite being struck down by every court is now headed to the highest court in the land.  By the time I write this the hearing has already passed and has definitely made for some great reading.  It seems Justice Scalia has quite a wit about him saying such things like, “Would you Censor Grimm’s Fairy Tales?” (a fair question that has been asked more than once historically) and the other Justices seem to be on the ball asking questions about their clerks who play a lot of Mortal Kombat and what would happen to them if the law would be allowed.

Logic be damned there are no studies to equate violence in games to equally violent behavior in reality, it seems California’s sole evidence on their side is to equate games to porn and their whipping boy seems to be the game Postal 2, which has been referenced a lot by California’s side.  I’m sure the free-speech minded makers of Postal 2 are upset that their single game is being used to demean such a diverse and comprehensively succesful industry.

I seriously hope that the citizens of California, a state on the verge of bankruptcy, who make their games, record their music, produce their movies are appalled by the complete waste of money this has been for the state not just because of today’s proceedings but for the five years they have tried unsuccessfully to force passage of this illegal law.

Please note nothing is going to be resolved today this is just the beginning.  A ruling in this case will probably not be given for many months (It does take time).  Also note that just because the law has been struck down as unconstitutional in every other court below it the Supreme Court can vote differently and even some times in defiance of the Constitution (just ask the late great George Carlin).  However there have been cases where free speech has prevailed (ask Larry Flint).

G4 Dropped by DirecTV, No One Cares November 1, 2010

Satellite provider DirecTV has announced starting today they will no longer carry the G4TV station.  Because of this, starting today their subscribers will no longer be able to watch 24 hour reruns of Cops and Cheaters, much to the contrary position of G4’s wishes.

I’ve been playing very close attention to the comments section of most of the news articles being posted up about the decision DirecTV made to drop G4TV from their lineup, and they do not agree at all with what most of the articles proclaim or what G4 wishes to be known.

The internet has pegged G4 as getting a bad rap because of these proceedings and have been slamming DirecTV for what they claim are unfair business practices probably due to the fact that G4 is currently owned by Comcast, one of their competitors.

I myself have written about the downfall of G4, and it looks like I was right on the money.  DirecTV claims it’s the lowest rated station they provide and the cost to continue to carry it that G4 wanted was not justified given the low viewership.  I couldn’t agree more with this logic.

G4 used to be a good station.  I can’t stress that enough, and all the feedback I’ve read about this event seems to agree with that statement.  It has not been a good station since after the merge with TechTV.  Both stations had a perfectly unique lineup of shows which had a very dedicated viewership.  Once new management took control of the stations in the interest of changing the viewership to a much broader base, the station was completely wrecked and never recovered because they did this by either cancelling, shifting, or restaffing all of the well received shows leading to a viewership exodus which never recovered (and based upon the fact G4 hasn’t brought back any of the shows they produced that their former viewership watched it never will).

Without a strong lineup of unique well made shows (like what they used to provide) there is no incentive for someone to watch your station.  If no one watches your station then no provider will offer it.

Bring back your shows G4 or you might as well shut down.