›

America at a Crossroads series

FatbackFatback 6,746 Posts
edited April 2007 in Strut Central
http://www.pbs.org/weta/crossroads/about/Anybody been watching this? Segments that have aired can be viewed online.REQUIRED!Seriously, this series is very very good. The Gangs of Iraq segment was the best so far IMO.The Richard Perle thing was awkward.

  Comments

  • DB_CooperDB_Cooper Manhatin' 7,823 Posts
    http://www.pbs.org/weta/crossroads/about/

    Anybody been watching this? Segment that have aired can be viewed online.

    REQUIRED!

    Seriously, this series is very very good. The Gangs of Iraq segment was the best so far IMO.

    The Richard Perle thing was awkward.

    They've been playing 11 different documentaries based around the "America at a Crossroads" brand the last week or so. Good stuff.



    Said the company schill.
  • Garcia_VegaGarcia_Vega 2,428 Posts
    I caught the Muslims in America segment last night, it was very interesting and thought provoking. Had a long conversation with the wife afterwards about the multiple narratives within Islam, and how Islam and American culture, while seemingly disparate, do have some commonalities.
    News shows on PBS are the only ones I watch, although left leaning I think they make many attempts to address all sides of an issue. Essential watching for sure, hope they win some Emmy's. I'm also looking forward to Bill Moyer's new show. Too bad America at a Crossroads conflicts with Wild Chronicles, as the "Voyage of the Sea Turtle" last night was my shit, and "Rise of the Dog" next week will not be missed.
    PBS needs to cut out some of those British tv shows they keep showing, Rosemary and Thyme, Dr. Who, etc.


    DO NOT MISS THE SAM COOKE PBS DOCUMENTARY PREMIRING THIS SATURDAY AT 8PM!!!!!!!!

    Its no secret, I love PBS.
  • DrWuDrWu 4,021 Posts
    The "Gangs" one had some unbelievable "gets". The one where the Iraqi army guys are caught talking about how their sheikh has lots more munitions hidden while patrolling with the Americans searching for weapons caches was mind blowing. It think it shows how futile and misunderstood the situation is by our gov't and the army there. It also explained clearly how sectarian violence really took off and what the surge strategy really implies, which is taking on all of the various militias. I cannot see how this could possibly end up working in our favor since these militias are the only operational security force in many towns. Attacking them, will be tantamount to attacking these commmunities. Just like pacification and vietnamization didn't work 40 years ago, this policy will fail because it does not adequately address the political/security reality on the ground.

    Perle was very sad. His double down on Iran is thankfully rejected by much of the neo-conservative cognoscenti at this point. Buchannan just completed shredded him when he compared his ideas to Soviet Imperialism.

  • DB_CooperDB_Cooper Manhatin' 7,823 Posts

    News shows on PBS are the only ones I watch, although left leaning[/b] I think they make many attempts to address all sides of an issue.

    We try to pretend that we're not, though. At least, that's what we tell ourselves.

    PBS needs to cut out some of those British tv shows they keep showing, Rosemary and Thyme, Dr. Who, etc.

    It depends on where you live. PBS is the overarching syndicate of stations, but each station decides their own programming line-up. Here in Boston, we don't show either of those programs, be we do show several of the older British comedies like Are You Being Served? and Keeping Up Appearances. I keep telling folks, we need to appeal to a younger demographic, but... well, they'll figure it out when the old folk start dying off and taking their donations with them.

    DO NOT MISS THE SAM COOKE PBS DOCUMENTARY PREMIRING THIS SATURDAY AT 8PM!!!!!!!!

    Again, check your local listings. It's not playing in Boston.

    Its no secret, I love PBS.

    And we love you. Yes homo.
  • FatbackFatback 6,746 Posts

    PBS needs to cut out ...Dr. Who



    BAN



  • bthavbthav 1,538 Posts
    my next coupla weeks are crazy. thank the mother of inventions for dvr.
  • Garcia_VegaGarcia_Vega 2,428 Posts

    PBS needs to cut out ...Dr. Who



    BAN




    Ha! I wouldn't mind if they showed the Og Dr. Who, its the 90's remake that's on, beyond cheese and corn crackers.
  • motown67motown67 4,513 Posts
    The "Gangs" one had some unbelievable "gets". The one where the Iraqi army guys are caught talking about how their sheikh has lots more munitions hidden while patrolling with the Americans searching for weapons caches was mind blowing. It think it shows how futile and misunderstood the situation is by our gov't and the army there. It also explained clearly how sectarian violence really took off and what the surge strategy really implies, which is taking on all of the various militias. I cannot see how this could possibly end up working in our favor since these militias are the only operational security force in many towns. Attacking them, will be tantamount to attacking these commmunities. Just like pacification and vietnamization didn't work 40 years ago, this policy will fail because it does not adequately address the political/security reality on the ground.

    Perle was very sad. His double down on Iran is thankfully rejected by much of the neo-conservative cognoscenti at this point. Buchannan just completed shredded him when he compared his ideas to Soviet Imperialism.


    This was the only episode that I've seen. The Perle one was immediatley afterwards but I had too many papers to grade and skipped it.

    Frontline did a great job as usual. THey have at least 3 or 4 others about Iraq that are archived on the pbs.org site that are worth watching as well.

    I think Wu mentioned the highlights of the episode well.
  • DB_CooperDB_Cooper Manhatin' 7,823 Posts

    Frontline did a great job as usual. THey have at least 3 or 4 others about Iraq that are archived on the pbs.org site that are worth watching as well.

    I posted this in another thread a while back, but here's the archive.

    There's 58 full-length episodes on there. High-quality video, too.
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    http://youtube.com/watch?v=_4cc2x4L6cg

    It's so hard and painful to watch these. I've seen most of the series so far. The most moving and insightful for me were the illustrated writings of soliders. Everyone should watch these no matter what your politics. I'm sure they can all be found at youtube. I've linked one above.
  • FatbackFatback 6,746 Posts
    last night's show on Indonesia was excellent. when their AG (i think) was talking about prosecuting the Bali bombers--and how he was criticized for not prosecuting hard enough--said we are nation of laws and when you are accused you go through the judicial system. then threw a jab at the USA over Gitmo.

    what's with that crazy FPI dude who was flossing about how he owns Bin Laden?

    http://www.pbs.org/weta/crossroads/about/show_indonesia.html



  • DB_CooperDB_Cooper Manhatin' 7,823 Posts
    Don't know. I missed it last night, having gone out for a quick beer after work...that turned into a few 9% pints...that turned into me wondering how the hell I got so banged up.
Sign In or Register to comment.