how terrible can cnn get?

CNN International has its moments, and it's certainly improved since the days when it was the "all Oklahoma cyclones, all the time" network---wait! really? Has it? Last night we nearly pissed ourselves laughing over a program called the World 360 degrees or some such rubbish, hosted by a desi bloke in Atlanta (Ram Ramgopal, I think, which to get the full effect of course must be pronounced as though the nickname "Battering" preceded it). Battering Ram delivered the "news" as though he were the English instructor for a classful of mentally challenged three year olds. In...Ok-la-ho-ma...an...eight-teen-year-old...boy...re-ceived...an...op-er-a-tion...to...help...con-trol..his
weight....... He...weighed...five...hun-dred...pounds...... ARRRGH! Apart from that torture, the stories they chose to pimp to sister network CNN/IBN were the lamest items of tripe they could find, and they'd pumped up the "awwww, how sweet" quotient to exponential proportions. Apparently, now every story has to end with one of those incredibly stupid kickers or it doesn't make the air. You know what I'm talking about. We're getting them in print journalism, too, these days.

I say bring back the cyclones. They were frustrating. (You know the story: Three Americans were killed in a devastating tornado that swept through Oklahoma today!) But at least they weren't "cute."