brtcmfn

Now that there is 1 episode left before season 5 ends- I was wondering what subjects people would like to see exposed for next season?

Among some of the subjects I would like to see for season 6 are:

Outsourcing

Gasoline and it's real cost

Health care

Jimmy James

Sex Offenders

Drunk Driving

Saturday Night Live

das Monkey

Penn & Teller's Bullshit!

das

Red Dog

Gasoline and Sex Offenders would be very good ones.

Diseases/Psychological Disorders

Deftones

How are those bullshit? Not really sure you can do anything with those topics, that does anything to put them in a better light.

Red Dog

Another great one would be SWAT teams.

Jimmy James

Some categories of sex offenders actually have very low rates of recidivism. It is also pretty much pseudoscience at best trying to figure out what offenders to pursue for civil commitment. When you add in the expense (sometimes as much as $200,000 a year), you start wondering really quickly how society benefits.

As to drunk driving, attorneys have expressed serious doubts about the accuracy of the equipment used to measure BAC. I do believe I heard there is a battle ongoing to get the code behind one popular machine so computer scientists can examine it for errors. There should also be a ton of other interesting nooks. For instance, Virginia will be funding road construction up near DC with heavy administrative penalties for those convicted.

Deftones

Since I work in with a population that covers the gambit of criminal offenders, I'd be very interested in hearing what "categories" of sex offenders you think have low recidivism rates. And, what you base this on.

As for the stuff about the BAC, granted that it is a tool that is used to assist in the prosecution of drunk drivers, but that's exactly what it is. A Tool. Regardless of it's validity, which again, I use regularly, and is an invaluable tool, doesn't take away that there's anything you can argue positively about drunk driving. So, a show about breathalyzers, maybe, drunk driving, no.

And, BTW, the reason that the company isn't giving up the code is that it is intellectual property, and they don't want other companies to be able to get ahold of it. It's not like the company is withholding that information because they are afraid of it being shown that it is an invalid tool.

Jimmy James

It's my understanding that juvenile males who commit rape tend to have low rates of recidivism.

I didn't think you had to have true believers to make a Bullshit episode. I'd think what we've covered would give them plenty of ammo to thumb their noses at the establishment. That's the point, right?

Deftones

Depends. Forcible rape, most definitely not true. If it's a statutory rape thing that is consensual sex between both parties, then, yes. But, most of those cases probably shouldn't be charged anyway, but that's another story. So, you could delve into statutory rape and get some good material out of it, but on the whole, I don't think you can't make the argument that sex offenders would be good material for this show.

Red Dog

You not only have what's been discussed but also sex offender registration laws. Then there is the bullshit like Johns-TV. I definitely think there is enough material discussed here to make a good show.

Jimmy James

Good point. There are those sex offenders who are living under a bridge in Miami, the provisions in Georgia that Wikipedia mentions make virtually all of that state uninhabitable by sex offenders, and provisions or proposed provisions like the one we had here in Virginia that a sex offender report to the State Police within something like 15 minutes if he obtains a new email address or screen name on the Internet.

Deftones

I guess I'm jaded from being in the field that I'm in, but I can't imagine how you could argue that registration laws are BS. I mean, I know where how you could argue that they are. I just think that the arguments you could make against them, are countered with reasons far outweigh any negatives of one.

Red Dog

I think they are BS because 1) why do we do this just for sex offenders (I'd be far more interested in knowing if there are burglers who live around me), 2) they can potentially create more problems (vigilantism) than the benefits, 3) they violate double jeopardy IMO, and 4) if we need to scarlett letter these individuals, then why are we letting them out of jail to begin with - change the laws/sentences so that they serve more time behind bars.

Speaking of scarlett letters - there is more bullshit in this area - the idiots who want to have special license plates for them.

Jimmy James

Hasn't South Carolina made certain second offenses of violent sex crimes punishable by death? I think we have most of the 20 year mandatory minimum they also enacted for those crimes on the first offense to wait before it can possibly come up, but they could also riff on that.

Deftones

Pretty much what I expected you to say.

1) Outside of murdering someone, isn't rape/molestation the most heinous act against a person that someone can commit? You are personally violating that person. While you may feel violated that a burglar hit your house, you aren't physically violated.

2) I don't necessarily agree with this. When was the last case of a person attacked/murdered a sex offender based on a community notification? Additionally, since sex offenders have some of the highest recidivism rates, I'm glad they keep a registry where they can keep tabs on people.

3) This leads into the end of what I said in #2. I'll somewhat agree with that. However, if you have a felony on your record for anything, you are precluded from doing alot of things. Essentially having a felony conviction is already a scarlett letter as it is. This is just a step up from that.

4) I will agree with you here. The majority of sex offenders are predatory, and do need to be locked up for more time.

Red Dog

I'm not here to convince you of my viewpoint, but simply that there is plenty of material in the area, particularly from their libertarian POV (which mirrors mine), that they can make a show out of it.

Deftones

Considering the crap they've used this year, it would be a welcomed.

MovieExchange

To be honest, I'd just prefer there not be another season.

I'm not trying to threadcrap, either... I'm a huge fan of Penn & Teller. But the combination of Showtime muzzling them and the show descending into P&T shovelling their own BS makes me think that it's time for the series to end.

It eventually gets tiring seeing them wheel out the craziest person possible that supports the other side and then saying "see, that's what their people are like!!!"

calhoun07

Cancer Research (and the pharmaceutical industry in general).

JasonF

I'll add 5) they create a false sense of security (remember -- every single registered sex offender committed at least one sex offense before he was registered).

Groucho

Haven't they already done Outsourcing?

kvrdave

I would love to see an episode on ebryonic stem cell research vs. adult stem cell research.

Jimmy James

The only issue I'm aware of there is that adult stem cell research has been going on 30 plus years while embryonic stem cell research has been around for a much shorter time and with a lot of restrictions. That tends to explain why there is a disparity in the research. It's like comparing research on the proton to research on dark matter.

DeputyDave

i don't think so, I saw that on "30 days" though.

I would love to see their take on Global Warming. Although it would take more than 30 minutes to do it justice.