Boston

[Pilgrim]

Anyone else see the CBS Sunday Morning segments on Boston?  They devoted the first 10 minutes to it, and as usual for them, extremely well done and added detail and context.  That is one great news/feature program.

[westen44]

Anyone else see the CBS Sunday Morning segments on Boston?  They devoted the first 10 minutes to it, and as usual for them, extremely well done and added detail and context.  That is one great news/feature program.

I missed it.  I used to watch it much more frequently years ago.  From time to time, Charles Kuralt had some interesting features on it.  After his death, I still would watch it a little, but missed his unique presentations. 

[Pilgrim]

I loved the Kuralt programs, but I have to say that Charles Osgood has become a wonderful host.  I stopped watching for a few years, but we usually spend SUnday AM in the kitchen with newspapers and a leisurely breakfast.  When I got a TV in the kitchen we picked it up again.

BTW - if you want a TV in a place where you can't run cables to it, try these X10 units (blatant commercial content, but I have used these and they actually work well...no personal interest)
http://www.x10.com/promotions/vk82a_hps_wireless_hdtv.html#



They work amazingly well!  The only downside is that microwave ovens make them a bit nuts, but you can deal with that. I've been very surprised that such inexpensive devices work well.  I have one feeding a TV in the kitchen from a satellite receiver in the loving room, and another feeding a TV in the garage from a receiver in our master bedroom.

[westen44]

That looks really interesting to me. 

[Pilgrim]

I don't know that I'd depend on them to send HD from room to another, but we do have an HD receiver sending a widescreen feed to a 22" TV in the kitchen, and the image is very nice.  Of course, any warts don't show as much on a small screen.

[Dave W]

The reviews on Amazon sure are poor.

[uwe]

All concepts of wirless are as valid as the idea of sweating out excrement and doing it without intestines. A cable is a cable. If you want quality.

[uwe]

"Dear West, we warned you about those Chechen terrorists, but you would not listen. Just like you wouldn't listen in Afghanistan."

I'm waiting for someone to bring up the theory that this was all staged by the KGB (i.e. its successor organisation) to discredit the Chechen cause for independence. It can't be long ...

[westen44]

It's interesting the things that can unintentionally bring the U.S. and Russia together.  There was the alliance with Stalin based on a common enemy.  There was the post-Cold War period of the 90s.  Now there could be other things to bring the two countries together, once again based on common enemies.  Whether or not the things happening recently will make much impact, of course, is debatable.  In all honesty, I haven't read up too much on recent U.S-Russian relations.  I used to keep up with that kind of stuff quite a lot. 

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. 

[Pilgrim]

All concepts of wirless are as valid as the idea of sweating out excrement and doing it without intestines. A cable is a cable. If you want quality.

Absolutely true!

But when the alternative is $2000 worth of remodeling, I'm willing to settle for a "nice" picture in a part of the house that isn't accessible any other way.

Remember, I'm a broadcast/video guy, so I do have standards.  I can tell you these little boxes DO work if you follow directions.  I just added a review on Amazon.

I'm waiting for someone to bring up the theory that this was all staged by the KGB (i.e. its successor organisation) to discredit the Chechen cause for independence. It can't be long ...

I suspect it has less to do with Chechen issues than the religious aspects.  Extremists seem to be using religion as the entry point for terrorism.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

I'm waiting for someone to bring up the theory that this was all staged by the KGB (i.e. its successor organisation) to discredit the Chechen cause for independence. It can't be long ...

The conspiracy theorists have so permanently cast the US government as their enemy that they cannot fathom an enemy that doesn't send them a monthly check. It's also a reflection of the narcissism that super right-wingers in the US have, rather than the nationalism you see in right wing movements in other countries.

[Pilgrim]

You have a point there.  It seems like there's a huge contingent of right-wingers who think they can hear the black helicopters hovering just over the horizon.  To them, it's always a gummint conspiracy. 

You s'pose the same folks are the ones who believe the fabled 100-MPG carburetor was suppressed?

[Nocturnal]

I know people on both sides of the isle that have plenty of conspiracy theories about the government. But they only see the opposite party as the bad guys. They are willingly blind to what their party does to screw up the system, or make excuses for their politicians shady behaviour. Wrong is wrong regardless of which side does it.

[Denis]

It was Zooey Deschanel. At least that's what one Fox News affiliate claimed.

[Dave W]

I know people on both sides of the isle that have plenty of conspiracy theories about the government. But they only see the opposite party as the bad guys. They are willingly blind to what their party does to screw up the system, or make excuses for their politicians shady behaviour. Wrong is wrong regardless of which side does it.

Right.

I'm old enough to remember all the conspiracy theories about JFK, RFK and MLK, most of them came from the left. And the only person I know of who literally believes the black helicopters are flying over her home is a lefty.

Conspiracy theories arise because governments lie so much and cover up so much. Or things happen afterward that make some people think there was a method behind the madness. A lot of seemingly dark things could probably be easily explained if government were open and honest, but that's not going to happen because other dark things would probably be proven true.