
 |
|
May 21, 2012
Mark Clayton: Cybersecurity: How US utilities passed up chance to protect their networks
Howard LaFranchi: NATO summit: Who will foot the bill for long-term Afghanistan security?
Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Social anxiety disorder --- or just shy?
Guy Jackson : Victim's father regrets death of Lockerbie bomber
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: Famed chef's veal shoulder farsumagru: A festive meat course for late spring
May 18, 2012
Rabbi Berel Wein: Striving: The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the People
Steven Goldberg: 5 Great Stock Picks and the Exchange-Traded Fund that Owns Them
Mary Pickett, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Don't be forced into gluten-free lifestyle based merely on a doctor's false-positive test
The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
Warren Richey: Teacher fired for being unwed and pregnant can sue religious school, court rules
Josh Mitnick: Netanyahu's 'centrist' coalition is already proving it's anything but
Steven Goldberg: Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Amina Khan: Research links coffee to lower death rates
The Kosher Gourmet by Faith Duran : Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole with Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
May 16, 2012
Carmen Terzic, M.D., Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: A variety of exercises can help improve balance
Melissa Healy: National strategy on Alzheimer's disease aims to halt it by 2025
The Kosher Gourmet by Joyce White : GOODNESS GRACIOUS: GREENS! 4 winning recipes that are no longer just for down-home folks (Includes expert tips & techniques)
May 15, 2012
Kristen Chick: Obama administration resumes arms sales to Bahrain despite serious unresolved human rights issues. Activists feel abandoned
Pat Mertz Esswein: Homes are now affordable again and mortgage rates are low. What you need to know before you buy
Kathy Kristof: Our Practical Investor Fights Inflation with These 6 Investments
Sue Hubbard, M.D.: The Kid's Doctor: Lactose intolerant young child? Check again
The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Hunt: Spread a Little Excitement with EXOTIC CONDIMENTS (4 RECIPES)
May 14, 2012
Lisa Gerstner: How to Protect Your Identity, Finances If You Lose Your Phone
Harvard Health Letters: Heart disease and dementia
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: MANGO COCONUT OAT MORNING MUFFINS are a bright but hearty delight
May 11, 2012
Jessica L. Anderson: Get the Best Deal on a Used Car
Jett Stone: Forget face-lifts and fake knees. Scientists have seen the fountain of youth --- and it's broccoli
The Kosher Gourmet by Chef Mario Batali: The famed chef's vegetable dish that tastes true to the season: FAVAS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH POTATOES AND TARRAGON
May 10, 2012
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
Mary Rourke: How being a 'mentch' got Vidal Sasoon his start and fighting in Israel's War of Independence provided him with confidence and a strong sense of his own identity
Jeff Bertolucci: Get Home Phone Service for Less Than $10 a Month
The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Gleaming with its golden, crimson, and snowy white hues, this silken smooth and creamy STRAWBERRY ORANGE TRIFLE looks impressive, but is easy to prepare
May 9, 2012
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Feb. 26, 2009
/ 2 Adar 5769
Tuning in to the English Channel
By
Malcolm Fleschner
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
I was taken aback the other day when I read that the British economy has been experiencing a significant downturn. "Wait a minute," I thought to myself, "what on earth am I doing reading a story about the British economy?" I quickly turned the page in search of an item more likely to have an immediate impact on my life, such as the horoscope column.
But before doing so I learned that in Britain, just like here in the United States, a down housing market has been the primary cause of the English economic woes. According to the article, the ripple effects have been felt in slumping car sales, increased unemployment, declining restaurant patronage and perhaps most upsetting for the English people 1.6 million fewer pints of beer sold daily in British pubs compared with this time last year. On the bright side, British authorities also report 1.6 million fewer incidents of public urination per day.
But what surprised me the most about this story was that I had assumed the British economy was doing just fine. Admittedly, I wasn't basing this assumption on traditional economic indicators like the GDP (gross domestic product) or CPI (consumer price index), but rather on a dramatic increase in a statistic of my own devising called the NORTSFEN (Number of Reality Television Shows Featuring English Nannies).
You've no doubt at least caught snippets of this particular reality subgenre, with shows featuring titles like Nanny 911, Supernanny, Nanny Get Your Gun, Love is a Nanny-Splendored Thing, etc. These programs all feature a prim British nanny straight out of central casting, complete with umbrella, thick accent and disapproving air, who is dispatched to intervene on a dysfunctional American family.
Typically the nanny arrives to find a household in turmoil where the parents have lost all control and the children are screaming, fighting, cursing, discharging firearms and generally misbehaving so badly that they could easily be mistaken for adult reality show contestants.
After spending a day monitoring the children, the nanny sits down with the parents and patiently explains, citing specific examples from her observations, why she needs to get the hell out of there. Or at least that's what I'd do. The kids on these shows are so wild, they make a strong case for dosing the nation's Hi-C supply with Ritalin. And the feckless parents are no better with their misguided attempts at discipline after watching one child whale away on his brother with a wiffle ball bat for a few minutes, a dad will typically step in by saying, "Stop hitting your brother. Let your sister have a turn."
But the nannies somehow manage to straighten things out. They teach mom and dad more effective parenting techniques like following through on disciplinary threats, instituting a "time out" chair to punish misbehavior and not handing steak knives to the kids and telling them to go play by the electrical outlet. The kids, meanwhile, seem to undergo genuine behavior changes as all their aggression and misbehavior is redirected toward trying to figure out what the strange lady with the funny accent and bad teeth is saying.
Part of the appeal of these shows is that they tap into the uniquely American belief, passed down from the hardy early pioneers who tamed this great nation, that no struggle is too intimidating, no obstacle too insurmountable and no personal problem too embarrassing that it can't be solved by making a spectacle of yourself on television. Hey, it always works for the guests on the Jerry Springer show, right? I mean, once they get out on parole, that is.
And while I'm sure the TV networks tout the educational value of these nanny programs and how viewers can learn proper parenting techniques from the nannies' wealth of experience ("Honey, it turns out we're not supposed to store oily rags in the kids' closet alongside our collection of roadside flares"), but that's like saying people watch Survivor to learn what to do in case they're ever stranded on a remote island and their only chance at survival depends on their ability to form an "alliance" with a chiropractor from Van Nuys.
No, the truth is that many of us like to watch these nanny shows because we appreciate seeing hopelessly out-of-control real-life families that by comparison make our households look like we're taping episodes of "Leave it to Beaver: The Next Generation."
And frankly, that's what good reality television is all about allowing those of us at home to look around at the problems in our own lives the family discord, the relationship troubles, financial insecurities, the dishes piling up in the sink and say, "Well, my life may not be perfect, but at least I'm not competing to see if I can eat two dozen ox testicles in under a minute."
JWR contributor Malcolm Fleschner is a humor columnist for The DC Examiner. Let him know what you think by clicking here.
Previously:
02/19/09: 25 AND COUNTING
02/13/09: A new life, dead ahead
01/29/09: NOW STARRING ... EVERYBODY!
01/15/09: You know the type
01/08/09: Just in time, here comes 2009
11/20/08: Hotels go for the green
11/06/08: Something does not compute
10/30/08: Early adopters tech their chances
10/21/08: Cyberspace invaders
10/21/08: Keeping up disappearances
09/17/08: Victims of math hysteria
08/07/08: My newfound sense of self (promotion)
06/24/08: Getting the brand back together
05/29/08: Phrased and confused
05/13/08: Take this job and love it
04/17/08: News you can (re)use
04/02/08: Commercial (over)load
02/20/08: An overdose of reality
02/14/08: A developing situation
01/30/08: I can tech it or leave it
01/02/08: Confessions of a coke addict
01/02/08: Our bills are due
12/13/07: Going (to lunch) once, going twice…
11/28/07: Out with the old
11/06/07: My latest pet project
11/06/07: Can't tune it out
10/23/07: Something special in the hair
09/12/07: Can I have your attention, please?
09/12/07: Houston, we have an image problem
08/21/07: In the heat of fashion
08/09/07: Let's get in the game
06/13/07: You gonna eat that?
05/08/07: That's disinter-tainment
05/02/07:You Are (not) Getting Sleepy...
04/18/07: No time like Father Time
03/15/07: Deface the Nation
03/08/07: More gifts? You shouldn't have
02/22/07: Relationships can be such a chore
12/05/06: Who's calling the shots?
11/09/06: I'm taking selling to a whole new level
10/27/06: Some skills are beyond repair
10/18/06: You can't tech it with you
10/04/06: Award to the wise
08/24/06: Phrased and Confused
08/09/06: We're Gonna Party Like it's $19.99
07/19/06: Just Singing in the Brain
05/24/06: Who says you can't go home again?
05/11/06: When nightly news stories go off script
04/26/06: Cents and sensibility: A thought for your pennies
03/16/06: The day the Muzak died
02/23/06: Checkbook diplomacy begins at home
02/15/06: Today's toys: Where learning means earning
© 2006, Malcolm Fleschner
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Alan Douglas
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
Marybeth Hicks
A. Barton Hinkle
David Horowitz
Jeff Jacoby
Renee James
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ed Koch
Ch. Krauthammer
Michael Ledeen
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Pat Sajak
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Ben Wattenberg
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
Lisa Benson
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Ed Stein
Danna Summers
John Trever
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
Tech Maven
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|