Let James Speak!

Well, graduation season is upon us (or for some of us, like yours truly, it has already passed...St. Peter's College, where I teach, had its graduation ceremonies on May 17).

But I was just amused to see what a class of true Einsteins UCLA is unleashing on the world in its graduation class of 2009.

According to this story, a large number of UCLA students were outraged that the actor James Franco (Spider-Man, Pineapple Express) was going to give a speech at their commencement ceremony. Franco had received his UCLA BA degree last year (he had first enrolled in the university in 1996). But a lot of UCLA students, it seems, are not happy with this. They feel that he "hasn't had time to accomplish anything with his degree" since his graduation.

This is the reason for rejecting Franco? Are you out of your fracking minds?

There were probably a lot of really outstanding keg parties and a great deal of excellent dope smoked by the UCLA student body over the last four years.

How about letting him speak because he is a person who obviously does not need a college degree to make a living these days but still valued education enough to get that degree? Maybe he would have said something like he completed his degree and now wanted to let other students appreciate the value of knowledge for its own sake and beyond the dollar value of a salary.

Franco, apparently, said that he backed out of giving the speech because of work conflicts. It's a reasonable way to safe face.

But at least he's probably happy that with a degree from UCLA, he just might look forward to a promising career in the entertainment industry.

Way too cool!!

I needed to post this link to aintitcool.com and their clip of a promotional trailer to a new ABC series as a way of letting some friends tell me "see, we told you so."

Yes, after a lot of complaining about the fact that most everything coming out of Hollywood these days is nothing but another "reboot," "remake," "prequel," "reimagining," or "sequel," I find a new reboot series coming to ABC that I'm actually excited about. Hey, what can I say, we all have a few weak spots for classics we just want to go on and on.

For me, after Rocky and Rambo sequels, it's the 80s science fiction TV series V. If you check out the original two miniseries from 1983 and 1984 on DVD (the DVD of the first miniseries has an excellent commentary track by writer/director Kenneth Johnson), you'll see why. It's surprising how well the originals still stand up and what a great combination they are of action, mystery, and commentary of human nature, freedom, and totalitarianism.

And no, this series is no relation to the heavy-handed, preachy film V for Vendetta.

The great thing from the trailer for the new iteration on V is that it looks like it will be another interesting mix of ideas and SF.

A Culture Wars Podcast Update

Here's an offer you can't refuse! One more update to the Culture Wars podcasts until September.

Because of some unfortunate technical problems, our interview with Dr. Barbara Oakley about her book on sociopathic behavior, "Evil Genes," has not been previously posted. But the episode is up now and it sounds great. Check it out at either http://culturewars.libsyn.com or subscribe to the Culture Wars podcast on I-tunes.

More Culture Wars Podcasts Available Now!!

On April 30, Ernabel Demillo and I hosted the last Culture Wars episode of this "season." It's now available for downloading at http://culturewars.libsyn.com or through a free subscription at I-Tunes. So be sure and catch this because new episodes will be returning only in September.

But our last spring episode had a great interview with presidential historian Nick Ragone discussing Barack Obama's first 100 days in office. I'd highly recommend you take a look at the link on the right to Nick's excellent blog, too!

Plus, we gave our spin to some of the top headlining news stories, controversies and even conspiracy theories. Check out our take on the swine flu - including Joe Biden's travel advisory - blogging by parents, the FCC ruling on curses in broadcasting, and the biggest question of the day: has Tupac Shakur really faked his death??

But in the meantime, do keep checking in on this blog throughout the summer and get a good fix of Culture Wars: the Blog Version!!

Swine Flu Casualty (sort of): Free Speech

Well, there seems to be a casualty of the swine flu today...attention to the Supreme Court's outrageous ruling that the FCC will be allowed to fine broadcasters for airing any "fleeting expletives." These are single-word curses like "fuck" and "shit" - or perhaps references that should be thrown around a lot in any documentary about the kinds of people (Parents Television Council) who are celebrating this ruling: "assholes." But while the news headlines have been dominated by the "all swine flu all the time headlines" (and yeah, not an unimportant story), the Supreme Court allowing the FCC to trample all over the First Amendment has fallen off the media's radar today.

For some excellent thoughts on this, do check on the right of this blog for Paul Levinson's piece too. As he argues - and has been arguing for years - it's outrageous how the words as clear as "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech" can be allowed to be flouted by an irrelevant and reactionary bureaucracy like the FCC.

And Dr. Levinson is absolutely right in the argument that conservative justices are ignoring their own beliefs that a judge should not legislate from the bench. This is an exact point I have believed in for a very long time, every time I heard the conservative far right wing moralists supporting censorious legislation. What the hell happened to the party of "small government" and Ronald Reagan's goal to "get government off your back?" What happened to the American people knowing how to live their lives and raise their families better than Washington bureaucrats and censorious, puritanical, whacko special interests?

Perhaps this might be one of the reasons so many are deserting that party for a real limited-government-alternative like the Libertarian Party.

Reporters Without Borders on WSPC Culture Wars

Today Ernabel Demillo and I hosted an important episode of Culture Wars, talking to Lucie Morillon from the Reporters Without Borders organization. They document and try to make public all the attacks on journalists and free speech around the world.

The episode is already up on podcast, so do check it out and download it either from I-Tunes or go to http://culturewars.libsyn.com/

This organization fights for people who get themselves into trouble around the world for doing real reporting. There are journalists out there who cover things more important than gossip and celebrities and fashion, and often they are silenced and punished for it. Reporters Without Borders tries fight for their lives, their safety, and to make their work public.

Right now American reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee are imprisoned in North Korea and Roxana Saberri is jailed in Iran.

Listen to the show and check out the work Reporters Without Borders is doing to further free speech and free press around the world

Most requested Culture Wars episode on podcast!

WSPC Culture Wars' most requested episode for podcasting - with guest Nadia Cornier of the Firebrand Literary Agency - is now available for dowloading on either I-Tunes or by going to http://culturewars.libsyn.com If you go to I-Tunes, search for the show by putting "Culture Wars" matched with either Barna Donovan or Ernabel Demillo. You can subscribe to the podcast for free!

Previous Culture Wars episodes aired since January are also available.

And be sure and let us know what you think of the show, what you think the most pressing current events issues are that we should talk about, or give us any kind of feedback at wspcradio@gmail.com