The Media Documentary More Americans Need to See

These people---Rupert Murdoch, Roger Ailes and everyone at Fox--are scarier than I even gave them and the entire situation credit (or blame) for:



The data I'd seen years before, on George W. Bush and the Republicans stealing the 2000 election as well as the 2004 election showed me what happened. After seeing this, it's even more so. Pitiful.

It's some of the best one hour and seventeen minutes you can spend. If you don't understand Fox viewers and followers as well as people who still support George W. Bush, this might help.

If there's good news, it's that young people aren't watching these ugly, misguided, warped people.

What we need is the Fairness Doctrine so we get pro and con sides of issues. We have to take our airwaves back and like getting the big money out of our elections and government, this will have to come from us, the people.

Links:  Fairness Doctrine

Equal-time rule

Personal attack rule

Quote of the day

"Vandals burn down U.K. because a gangster is shot. Republicans burn down U.S. because a billionaire may be taxed." --Yonah W Grossman, Comedian, Social Commentator, Link: http://www.ywgrossman.com/ (also on Facebook).

Why Libertarianism will never work

There is an article out last week by John Stossel over at reason.com (that name cracks me up) titled "How libertarianism can fix what's wrong with America." In it, he writes on a new book out by Reason magazine Editor Matt Welch and Reason.tv Editor in Chief Nick Gillespie: The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong With America. Sorry to rain on anyone's parade but this just isn't going to ever happen. Ever. The reason why Libertarianism can't "fix what's wrong with America" is because Libertarians can't decide and agree on--and never will--how small "small government" is supposed to be. Some will say no government at all. Others will say "only this much." Still others will say, "Well, we've got to add this." Get, say, a dozen Libertarians in a room and ask them how much government we should have. They'll never agree. Then, imagine thousands of them, collectively, at, say, a national convention. Fights would soon break out, I feel certain. They can never be a cohesive group because they'll never be able to decide the size of government and what its functions are to be. It'll never happen. Stossel writes "The big change they see stems from independents' refusal to be absorbed by any party." This "refusal to be absorbed" is more an indication of our own national fracturing and splintering, not evidence that we're coming together--or going to--to fix our problems. I say again, the way to "fix America" is to get the wealthy people's and corporation's money out of our government. We have to get them to stop legally buying our representatives and so, our legislation and government. If we can't or don't do that, nothing will change and we are doomed to failure, as a nation. And trust me, usually I'm an optimist. Links: http://reason.com/archives/2011/06/30/a-new-day-in-politics; http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1586489380/reasonmagazineA/

To hell in a handbasket

The Supreme Court's "Citizen's United" Ruling, opening up virtually unlimited amounts of corporate money into our election system and campaigns wasn't enough last year, now we got this:

Federal Judge Reverses Ban on Direct Corporate Contributions

Which means that:  the long-standing ban on corporations contributing directly to candidates running for federal office was unconstitutional.

And we thought we had the worst government money could buy.

We'll certainly get it now.

Corporations win again. America? You lose

It's happened again.

First it was the Supreme Court handing over the capability to flood government election campaigns with unlimited amounts of corporate cash, now, yesterday, a federal court ruled in favor of corporations, this time regarding internet access :

"A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that regulators had limited power over Web traffic under current law. The decision will allow Internet service companies to block or slow specific sites and charge video sites like YouTube to deliver their content faster to users."

"The court decision was a setback to efforts by the Federal Communications Commission to require companies to give Web users equal access to all content, even if some of that content is clogging the network."

I've written here before how, years ago, it used to be the government's job to protect both the "little guy"--you and me out here in the country--as well as the broader interests of the country, against the corporations.

It is certainly less and less so lately.

With this ruling yesterday, a couple of things have come out.

First, it effectively strips the power of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate the internet and all our access to it. If a corporation finds it in their best interest to slow internet access down, according to this ruling, they can do it.

That's bad for you and me but it's also bad, truly, for business.

In the rest of the world--Japan as an example, in particular--fast computer access is more of a given. The US is already known for having slower computer downloading and access.

This gives the companies the ability to give fast loading to those who can and will pay for it. Quick internet access to the highest bidder.

Typical, right? Computer capitalism. It's the "American Way", even if it is, at its core, unfair, imbalanced and, again, bad for the country, let alone bad for you and I--and small business.

It's clear this is what it's come to--more and more, the courts rule for the corporations and against the broader interests of the country, as I said above.

In this latest case, Comcast won while you and I and the US lost.

Let there be no doubt--the corporations are in control.

We need to take our country back from them.

Ralph Nader has been warning us for decades.

Texas: Rewriting history

"History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon." --Napoleon Bonaparte

It couldn't be more true.

And it's being proven again, down in Texas right now, as I wrote earlier.

Here are just a few of the real beauties that the Texas State Board of Education has come up with to add to or change in their textbooks, and so, in textbooks that can end up all over the rest of America:

--A greater emphasis on “the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s. Who knows why, except they do downplay the liberal gains of the 60's, too. Maybe this is their way of "getting even." (pathetic, isn't it?);

--A reduced scope for Latino history and culture: A proposal to expand such material in recognition of Texas’ rapidly growing Hispanic population was defeated in last week’s meetings.

Never mind that more 36.5% of Texas' population is Hispanic or Latino as of the 2008 census .

Never mind that more minorities will be born this year, compared to Caucasians.

Forget about Texas' rich history of Hispanics in the state's creation and growth. Forget all that. The Board just marginalized them, big time: "Oh, you exist, but we just don't think you're that important."

And you know what else? They won't even recognize the inherent racism of this;

--Changes in specific terminology: This one really cracks me up. Check this out--"Terms that the board’s conservative majority felt were ideologically loaded are being retired. Hence, 'imperialism' as a characterization of America’s modern rise to world power is giving way to 'expansionism,' and 'capitalism' is being dropped in economic material, in favor of the more positive expression 'free market.' (The new recommendations stress the need for favorable depictions of America’s economic superiority across the board.)"

These are Conservatives, for pity's sake, and they're ashamed of the word "capitalism". God, I love that. I bet they don't get the irony or hypocrisy of it;

--A more positive portrayal of Cold War anticommunism: This is another beauty. They prop up Senator Joe McCarthy and his communist witch-hunt, wherein he ruined people's lives. Nearly unbelievable. These are some sad, tragic, misguided people on that Board;

--Thomas Jefferson no longer included among writers influencing the nation’s intellectual origins: Okay, here's where they start really making me angry. It's one thing if you glorify communist-baiter Joe McCarthy (hateful jerk though he was), but to eject Thomas Jefferson as an influential source for America? Holy cow. That's almost unthinkable. Jefferson is known, in the world out there that is educated and civilized, as a truly brilliant man, writer and thinker. Just not in Texas. Knocking him off this pedestal does a true and deep disservice to the students of Texas and any- and everywhere else these textbooks land. This is sacrilege;

--A recommendation to include country and western music among the nation’s important cultural movements: The popular black genre of hip-hop is being dropped from the same list.

This ruling on "country and western music" and dropping hip-hop is, to me, where they show their real stupidity, shallowness and racism, by my--and I'm thinking a lot of other people's--thinking. Country and western music? Really? And you care about this? This is the part that starts to get laughable (but still, continued pathetic).

Oh, and, once again, Texas State Board of Education--your racism is showing.

If this weren't so tragic and stupid, I'd be laughing.

Link to original post:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts1253