Alright, a little background first.
Over here, in Commie Pinko Holland, every district has a Program Commission that gets to decide whichever programs will be offered in the municipality-provided cable package. The package is not free, and there are other options out there (satellite, for instance), but as far as entry-level TV packages go, the Program Commission has a strong say in whatever Joe Public gets on the tube.
Now, the Program Commission for a few of the Northern provinces has taken it upon themselves to propose that CNN be scrapped from the list of provided channels, because their coverage of the war in Iraq has been too pro-American.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m no great CNN fan, personally. In fact, I tend to agree that CNN has a somewhat pro-US slant (granted, it’s no Fox News, if the Pit is anything to go by).
But apparently, that’s too much for us simple proles to decide for ourselves. Big Brother will spare us the trouble, and cut the feed for us.
Shitheads! It doesn’t even affect Amsterdam, but still it pisses me off. I’m smart enough to decide which channel I’ll watch, and I’m smart enough to separate fact from propaganda. Don’t try and make those decisions for me, please.
What makes it even funnier is that as a replacement, the Program Commission has proposed either EuroNews or BBC World, both of which are decent news stations in their own right. But, get this, the PC was leaning towards EuroNews because BBC World might give too much of a British perspective! GAH! BBC World! The Beeb! I consider them pretty much a textbook example of unbiased journalism, and I suspect I’m not alone. It’s not like they became flag-waving “Rule Brittania”-singing mindless drones the moment Tony Blair decided to go and play war with Georgie Bush in the Gulf!
God, this pisses me off. In fairness, there is a period for appeal of 2 months, in which people can contest the recommendation. I hope the Program Commission gets the living shit appealed out of it.