I happened upon Imus one day awhile ago; it must have been a storm day or something. I could not believe the gutter level of humour. Not only was it not funny, it was insulting to a variety of people: gays, muslims, women, educated people. It wasn't even provocative, it was just stale and base. I was shocked that other actors and announcers and poiliticians and guests and media professionals participated. It was one of the few times in my life I was thankful for Canadian political correctness and politeness and that Imus could never fly here.

Let's not go overboard. I mean what you are suggesting might be taken as cause for suggesting that the <i>Air Farce</i> and other CBC versions of "political humour" are to be preferred. I would add, instead, thank God for NPR and BBC and the internet that lets me listen to that quality of radio.

Re Overboard: Perhaps, in that light, we might consider Little Mosque on the Prairie the Canadian opposite of Imus but on the same spectrum of humourlessness. Parenthetically, I used to love Codco and even liked 22 minutes until Mary Walsh's ego took over. I now laugh at Rick Mercer only rarely and in spite of myself. As for Air Farce, I always thought of it as the poor sister to Wayne & Shuster until they veered into political humour. I am tired of political humour almost as much as those dreadful monologues of Leno and Letterman.

I agree entirely but for Leno. I think he is doing something very different. But his Mom's from Greenock so maybe that is it.

Ah! The Greenock Diaspora!

A bit bigger than the Heuveltonian equivalant.

Personally I am torn between my despisement of censorship and my knowledge that while normal intelligent people listen to folk like him and say "whadda maroon" yet the some of the dopey impressionable masses cheer and say "yeah, he's got it right!" then go about their day being more racist than before because they feel vindicated seeing a public celeb type sharing their semi-hidden views.

I'm not defending Imus, but what are the rules?

Anyone watched Carlos Mencia or Dave Chappel? Why only get mad at Imus for doing it? NOW is the only org I know of who's been consistent. They have the right to go after Imus. 'Fredies Fashion Mart' Sharpton? Hell no. And, for the most part, neither does 90% of the population. If you've ever laughed at John Stuart(and his comedy isn't high brow at all, but definitely of the sophmoric type) then you've got no ground to moan about Imus. I don't listen to Imus. I watch lots of MSNBC, but never during Imus. But he doesn't do anything nobody else is. No, two wrongs don't make a right. But that doesn't absolve people of hypocrasy.

The rules are that irreverant humor, whomever it is leveled at, is still humor and not racism. That's what I'm told about comics who do stuff waaaaay worse than this. I don't understand why everyone is so upset about Imus. Do you get a feeling of superiority by going after him or something(non-rhetoric, but earnest question)? I simply don't get it.

ry: I'm with you on all of that. Steve martin, chevy chase, bill murray.. never resorted to that kind of humour.. man I must be getting old..

Ry, you are going to have to improve. You've dump out these grab bags of sequential but not really connected vaguely contrarian Limbaughesque statements that never advance or, really, express anything.

What do you want, Al?

It is the hieght of hypocrisy to deal with Imus like this. Personally, I'd love to see guys like Mencia, Mahr, Chapelle, Cho, Imus, and the like shut down, heck I'll even throw guys like Jim Rome('cause I remember when his 'Jungle' was on 690 out of San Diego and he called players 'faggots' and '*ussies not worthy of wearing a dress' back in the day) and sports talkers who go out of bounds all the damn time too. They aren't civil. they aren't polite. They aren't really illuminative. But because they've got the tag-line of 'irreverence', despite overtly racist, homophobic, and other hatreds it's all okay and we roll it under being open minded and loving the 1st Amendment. But not for Don Imus. He, a white guy, insulted black players for Rutgers. That's the worst thing ever!

I have a real problem with this because it is inherently racialist. White guys can't use words that have pushed into the vernacular of pop-culture? Why? Their skin tone? And that's seemingly the basis of the criticism. Imus, a stupid ass white guy I can't stand, says something that a hundred other entertainers say with the same venom behind it and they get nary a peep, other than from NOW(the only org I think has a shred of cred on this issue), and now we're going to be upset? If you're going to have a rule, an unwritten one at that, that we have to be accepting of irreverent humor and social commentary it has to be universal. Anything else seems to be defacto racist---we allow Hispanics outside these boundaries, Asians outsides these (orthogonal) boundaries, Blacks outside yet more boundaries, etc.. That's crap. I'm calling you on crap. You aren't a racist, Al. But you're being silly in falling into a racist trap. 90% of the time our sense of proper coincides. The others aren't so divergent that we're at each other's throats. but this is based in racism. Steven A. Smith, and the black entertainment community in general, can be racist and homophobic but not Imus? That's a nasty double standard. That's allowing someone to be 'superior'. That's not the 'Two Tone' way. Have a universal standard of accepting irreverence in entertainment or none at all.

Yeah, the result sucks. You've got people saying things just to shock and angering you everywhere. It's the Andy Kaufman-ization of public discourse. Do I think there are boundaries of how far we should allow people to go? Absolutely. But those aren't the boundaries I run into on a daily basis. The boundaries i run into are that 'ho', 'bitch', 'skank'(and a laundry list of other terms often used by commentators on the radio and cable tv---John Stewart and such aren't untouched by this taint) and such are acceptable, despite the term being highly offensive to most of the population. But now, it comes to Imus. Now we're seeing hypocrasy in full force. Al Sharpton, race baiter extroirdinaire, a tag earned for his role in many incidences in NYC, one of which resulted in a Jew being inured(or killed, can't remember) in a riot instigated by Sharpton does not get to take the moral highground against Imus. Neither does anyone else who's ever laughed at or supported other comics, sports talkers, radio hosts, tv hosts, or bloggers who've leveled racist/homophobic/anti-religious/hate filled vitriol. They don't get to because they're not universally applying the exceptions they call on others to make for that which is irreverant.

Again, I can't stand Don Imus. I think the man is stupid and pile of shit. I can't stand him or his show. I find it neither informative nor entertaining. So what. Much of what he does is the same shit that offends me as one can find on The Daily Show, Borat(and Sasha Cohen in general, particularly his Ali G persona) the Rowe Conn Show, Air America, Will Farrell(who trades, it would seem, solely in jokes based on stereotypes and mocking people), and a giant list of others. So what. The marketplace of ideas is loaded with things that offend. If we're ever going to get anywhere in terms of race relation everyone is going to have to grow some thicker skin. This least little bit jazz simply will never work and have all races at each others throats(look at LA where Hispanic and Black neighborhoods are essentially in arms for exactly this same type of thing).

You, Al, don't get to take the high ground here either. Your thinly veiled charge that Limbaugh listeners are retarded droolers robs you of that. I happen to listen to Limbaugh if I'm in the car when he's on. 90% of what he does is crap. 5% makes you wonder. 5% is him being an ass on purpose for a joke. You've taken a whole class of people and made them 'other' or less than you. How horrible! You mean, evil, ska loving and beer brewing man.(Actually, I don't care if you hate limbaugh. I can't stand John Stewart. Not all esthetics match.). Are you to know be brow beat, in public no less, for such an action? I doubt it. Nor should you. We're adults and can move past such slights, as are the players from Rutgers and the entire Black community.

Acceptance of irrevent forms of humor or social commentary means you don't get to be pissed off when your sacred cow gets gored, nor when someone transcends your metaphorical line in the sand, since you demand that others accept it when you cross their's. It sucks. It means you're going to have to put up with a ton of stuff you think isn't just irreverant but flat out racist or mean. Parrallax matters.

If you expect others to accept irreverence for their 'holies' you better accept irreverence to yours. Don Imus' comments were stupid and mean. I can see how some would see them as racist, but that's largely because I think such people are racist themselves, already having divided the world up by race to begin with and are just waiting for something to justify their release of 'righteous anger'. At first blush I saw nothing more serious than something that might be sexist, about the same as calling them 'manly and unfeminine', but hey, they're in the public eye and put up with MUCH worse at games(I know I did playing B-ball in HS) Beyond the pale of decent discussion? Absolutey, and so what. Is it going to get easier for any of these women if they play in the WNBA(where the trash talk, like in the NBA, centers around taunts like 'nigger' and other race issues? Hell, that shit goes on during college games. Are we to have fouls for using racist speech during games, and will it be universal or will black players get to call each other and others nasty names because they're black?)

There's substance, Al. I was trying to be polite and apparently that lead to incoherence. I think you're being stupid here. By playing it this way you think you're helping race relations when you aren't. Having race relations means we're always going to have problems. Mutt-ization is the way to go. A Canadian identity or a 'Murican identity that crowds out others is the only way we can forgoe this kind of stuff in the future. Everyone the same because we're all mutts of uncertain ancestry. Playing it this way ensures jackasses like Sharpton win, and there will always be discord and discontent. Canada has had much better relations with Native Americans than the US, and it's still less than rosey because non-NA and NA Canadians can still haul out ancient hurts to justify bigoted attitudes. Same down here, and same with Imus. Imus is a dick, but his 'screw everyone equally' is true equal opportunity. He doesn't care if you're black. He's going to mock you and make you feel like shit. There's nothing racist about it. Mean? Absolutely. Stupid? Check. Beyond what you and I think is decent? Yessireebob. So what. He's an entertainer who treats everyone like shit, and entertainers get to be irreverent and make racist/homophobic jokes(and so do shock sports talkers) with impunity. I don't like it, but I like your hyper-reaction, defense of Stewart who says equally evil and mean shit on a nightly basis(and scripted to boot) and denigration of others even less.

So I'm a hypocrite too. So shoot me.

That is so weird it is like performance art. Nothing personal but I have no idea how I might be comfortable in your company. You have such a seething yet very impressive power to explode over things I really do not feel deeply about at all. I mean I think about Don Imus for about 17 seconds a year. Same with Limbaugh. I hear the sound of their voices and I hit a button to make it go away because they are equally bad. But I prefer this freak out thing to when you try to hold back to be nice as you are unable to fully read into my words the conspiracy I have not yet considered. That is gold. <p>I am not being mean at all - honest - but are you, like, a quiet person or a really loud one? And can you do this over any topic, you know, just go entirely nuts. Like if I write "cottage cheese" or "wankle rotary engine" can you just blast on it in two thousand words in about 87 seconds?

ACtually, I'm rather quiet. I speak quietly and walk quietly. I listen to things quietly. I actually read and type slowly. No, I can't do this over any topic. Lots of this is stuff that's been in my head for years----what else can one do while driving a semi from Long Beach to Silicon Valley but think about these things? the double standard is something I've noticed for years.

I know you don't mean to be mean, but it still is. This isn't performance art. That's a serious beef. Chris Rock walks out and calls people 'niggers' and nary a peep. Don Imus says something in the modern vernacular is a rather tame insult, 'nappy headed ho', and he's a racist? chapelle can do trully mean spirited sketches that express his hatred, which is something his S. African trip allowed him to work out, but it's okay? White guy Imus says something nowhere near as bad and he's the racist who needs to lose his job and is a bad person? I just don't think you looked at it seriously.

But I will take that as being shown the door. No need to ban. Later.

What you don't seem to understand but which is blindingly obvious is he said it about identifiable specific athletes at New Jersey's state university. Not public figures - college kids, somebody's daughter. Then he turns it into some whacked performance art piece on standing up to rudeness in rap just as you have shown it only means to you about how affluent white people are oppressed. All really sad. Apparently he will make some time to meet with them in the near future. Why anyone would meet with him or a Limbaugh or any other apologist dope with a microphone is beyond me.

for the record, my last comment was rife with sarcasm.

Cottage cheese.. COTTAGE CHEESE!!! I LOVE COTTAGE CHEESE!!!

Cottage Cheese Recipe..

INGREDIENTS
.
1 Gallon Fresh Milk
4 oz. Mesophilic Starter Culture
1/4 tab Rennet
..
Mix 1 gallon fresh milk with 4 oz. of mesophilic starter.
.
Mix 1/4 tab Rennet into two tablespoons of COOL water. Mix this into the milk thoroughly using a whisk and stirring for at least 5 minutes.
.
Cover and set aside to ripen for about 20 hours at room temp (70 F / 21 C).
.
The milk should be a firm curd within 20 hours, however the full 20 hours is needed to develop the correct flavor.
..
After 20 hours cut the curd into 1/2 inch cubes.
.
Allow the curds to firm up for 15 minutes.
..
Over the next 30 minutes slowly raise the temperature of the curds to 110 F (43.5 C).
.
Cook for an additional 45 minutes at 110 F (43.5 C).
.
Stir the curds often to prevent them from matting.
.
The curds should have greatly shrunken and sunk to the bottom of the pot.
.
Line a colander with a cheesecloth and drain the curds.
.
Allow the curds to drain for 5 minutes.
.
Lift the curd filled cheese cloth from the colander and repeatedly dunk into a bowl of ICE COLD water for at least three minutes.
.
Drain the curds and place in a bowl.
.
Season the curds with a teaspoon of salt, herbs, etc. Use more or less to taste.
.
Place the cheese into a sealable container into a refrigerator.