The Wrestling home of Moondog Manson

Before delving into wrestling-related type stuff, I'm going to reply a couple of recent news stories, both courtesy of Yahoo News.

By Jeremy Pelofsky

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top communications official on Thursday called for an overhaul of the government's broadcast indecency standard as hundreds of complaints flooded his office about the Victoria's Secret lingerie fashion show that aired on prime time national television Wednesday night.
Michael Copps, one of five commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission , urged the agency to revise the definition of indecency and also look into whether it should be expanded to include obscene, violent and profane programming.

"The current definition of indecency to me should be capturing for enforcement purposes some of these programs and it is not," Copps told reporters during a briefing. "We are only having a paucity of enforcement actions against programming that is palpably and demonstrably indecent."

Copps said he did not watch the fashion show that aired on Viacom Inc.'s CBS television network.

Federal indecency rules bar the broadcast of obscene material and limit the airing of indecent material that contains sexual or excretory references in a patently offensive manner.

"I am strongly of the opinion we ought to be considering excessive violence as part of that definition," he said. A revision is "sensitive, it's delicate, it's difficult to do that, but I think we need to do that."

Copps made the comments to reporters in his office. Behind him on his computer there were more than 300 e-mails from the public complaining about the lingerie fashion show. Some of the e-mails had subject lines that said: "When will this trash stop?" and "Victoria's Secret smut show."

CBS aired the show on Wednesday at 9 p.m., considered a prime-time viewing slot, and Victoria's Secret, a unit of Limited Brands Inc., spent $7 million to produce the highly-watched show.

Last year, Walt Disney Co.'s ABC television network aired the fashion show and had about 12.4 million viewers. received scores of complaints, but said they did not demonstrate the sexual aspects of the material was "so graphic or explicit as to be patently offensive."

A spokeswoman for CBS was not immediately available for comment.

Copps on Thursday also wondered if there was a link between the rise in what he described as more indecency in broadcasts and the consolidation in the media industry, or whether it was merely a "simple coincidence."

Separately, the commissioner, the lone Democrat on the commission, said he would go ahead with plans to hold public hearings on the agency's review of ownership limits in the media, even though the idea has not won support from FCC Chairman Michael Powell.

The FCC is reviewing limits on how much of the national television audience one entity should be allowed to reach; limits on local radio station concentration; and a ban on some common ownership of television and radio stations, or a television station and newspaper.

The agency hopes to have a proposal for the commissioners by the spring of 2003.

"I do not see how hearings would delay the process and it would make the process a lot more comfortable," Copps said.

He hoped other commissioners would join the hearings and added the gatherings would likely begin in early 2003.

I saw the ads for the lingerie special, but missed the show. Why don't these so called "Watchdogs" find something more beneficial for society to do with their time? Women in intimate apparel? Well sound the alarms, because god forbid something a tiny bit titillating should air in prime time, you know, that time of night when children should maybe either be asleep, or having their viewing habits monitored? It's far easier to bitch in an email as opposed to actually being an active participant in what your child sees. I was offended as hell by the Katie Vick nonsense, but where does the buck stop?With me, because I was the one who did not change the channel. I am starting a movement right now! I think the readers of this website need to petition the networks right now for more Victoria's Secret specials.And more mudwrestling coverage on the sports news. Who gives a fuck about the NBA?

But I digress:

TIFFIN, Ohio (AP) - A college freshman died after falling from a moving pickup truck in a stunt possibly inspired by the television show "Jackass," authorities said.

Adam Ports, 18, and three fellow students at Tiffin University set a chair on fire and threw it from the back of a moving truck Tuesday night while friends photographed the stunt. Ports then jumped or fell from the truck as it sped away on a country road, officials said.

He died Wednesday from head injuries.

"They were trying to create some type of stunt like they have on the TV show 'Jackass,'" Seneca County sheriff's Sgt. Brian Hescht wrote in a report. The now-defunct MTV show of crude stunts was made into a movie that debuted last month.

MTV/Paramount spokeswoman Marnie Malter denied that the show was to blame.

"The police report that was filed makes it clear that this incident has no connection to any stunts performed on the 'Jackass' television show or film," Malter said.

"Jackass" has drawn criticism in the past for allegedly encouraging dangerous behavior.

After one show showed a man in a fireproof suit being set ablaze on a grill, a few imitators were burned trying to perform their own variations.

A New Hampshire boy said he was inspired by "Jackass" to ignite lamp oil on a 12-year-old friend, who suffered burns over 30 percent of his body last year. Last week, a 15-year-boy in Seattle suffered severe burns after he and his friends soaked his T-shirt in alcohol and lit it on fire. Officers said they were attempting a "Jackass" stunt.

I believe it was Dennis Miller who talked about how natural selection has a way of thinning out the herd. You would figure by the time someone is in University, they can see why throwing a flaming chair from the back of a moving vehicle is a really dumb fucking idea.Unless he skipped class that day to plan the stunt. But, again, it's pretty easy to blame the magic box in the living room, rather than blame an 18 year old who really should have known better. But hey, it's one less idiot in the gene pool, so it's all good.

At least no one has ever been injured during a Victoria's Secret special, except for wrist cramps and maybe a black eye or two for saying "Honey, why can't you look like that?"

If you look in our articles section, you will find a Marty Goldstein story about how 20 or so wrestlers booked for California's EPIC promotion ended up in a parking lot, as opposed to the venue earning a living. See, most of us show up at work, do our jobs, fulfill our end of an agreement, and put faith that the brass are going to uphold their end of things. Evidently, that responsibility is too much for some people, case in point. It's a wonder there does not seem to be a great deal of trust in the wrestler/promoter relationship. Sad thing is, it makes things that much tougher for those who conduct their business affairs honestly.

Dan Titus
titus@moondogmanson.com

Where the naughtiest of boys CUM to play.