We *have* military advisors on the show. And we use them constantly
on various scripts. You may think that all military people think or act
in one way. (Probably you think they all should think like you do.) You
don't like the way I do it...probably prefer the way Trek does it. Fine.
I happen to get a LOT of mail from people in the armed services, or who
were in it previously, applauding the way B5 treats the military. But I
suppose they're ignorant too, since they don't think like you do.

I'll only bother to answer one other question: why stations are in
many cases moving the 2nd airing of the show to less than terrific times,
or trying to get out of it altogether.

1) There are only 2 hours per night of prime time space available on
independent stations, 8-10 p.m., since nearly all their news programs
start at 10 p.m. That's 12 hours per week, total, to fit in all the PTEN
shows, the UPN shows, the WB shows, the Fox shows, plus other syndicated
programs. There's a glut of new programming right now, and it's a buyer's
market. And while a rerun of that week's B5 may do well, it's still less
than the first run a few days earlier, since most folks have seen it, and
a new episode of another show might do better.

2) National sponsors pay for advertising based on the cumulative
national rating. You can get a 3 on the first night, and a 3 on the second
night, and end up with a 6 rating, which is *terrific*. Local stations,
however, don't have the luxury of cumulative ratings; they go by what it
gets *that night* in *that hour*. If they only show it once, or put the
rebroadcast in a less handy place, they can motivate more people to watch
the first run, moving it up to a 4 or 5, meaning they can get a LOT more
from sponsors. In later time periods, the money is always less anyway,
so putting it on at 1 a.m. doesn't make any real difference money-wise.

jms

It is now 3:10 a.m. I am now leaving my GEnie gateway to Internet
with about 150 as yet unread messages, mostly "flame" and "yo theron" in
nature. I'll do a quick run on a couple of other systems, then crash
around 4-4:30 a.m., to get up at 8 a.m. for meetings tomorrow. Just so
everyone knows my schedule.

I've just gotten a note from someone quoting Ms. Fuller on another
service in which she again threatens to "write to Warner Bros., and let
them know what their representative is doing with their time and money."
She concludes, "That kind of behavior needs to be stopped, period."

John Ford can verify this if he chooses to do so.

It's apparent that we do not all play by the same rules here. You
and I and the rest of us rely on the arguments we pose. Some here run to
complain to various authorities because "this kind of behavior," being a
free exchange, "needs to be stopped, period." They can't win the
argument, so they go whining off to somebody to beat up on the person
they're arguing with.

Cowardice, plain and simple.

Maybe it's because it's now 3:14 a.m., and I'm tired, and this is
bullshit, and I've seen 1/3rd of the messages in my mailbox (and yours)
given over to this, but this has gotten sick and ugly and senseless.

Henceforth, I will not respond to *any* messages from either Fuller,
father or daughter. I will no longer give their sad, pathetic lives the
satisfaction and validation of a response. Which is clearly what they
most dearly want, and most profoundly cherish. To feel persecuted, to
be the center of attention, to pretend to be the wounded soul up upon the
cross.

But at least Christ died quietly and didn't go running off to the
Pharisees to complain. If one is going to wear the cloth of the martyr,
one should play the part to the hilt.

This is the last message I will write in this thread. Nor will I
read any more in this thread. I suggest one clear path of action to
everyone here:

Ignore them. Don't respond. Ms. Fuller said this "needs to be
stopped." Okay, fine...let's stop it our way. Ignore them to death.

It's the only way to make them go.

Granted, some of you will ignore reason (as I did), but suffice to
say, I'm saddened and sickened and dismayed by this, and let them lie to
their heart's content. This is the kind of behavior that makes me
question frankly the wisdom in being here. At least at 3:20 am, when
this stuff grates on me the most.

Everybody out of the pool. Somebody's pissed in the water and
made it uncomfortable for everybody else.

Either way...I'm outta this thread. Let the cowards and the
crybabies yell into a vacuum. I really don't give a shit anymore.

I'm tired.

jms (3:20 a.m.)