Sweet Dreams Tea, Continued

Will goblueridge.net and High Country Radio follow Fox's example and push the next round of teabag parties as hard as they did last time around? We've only seen it mentioned once so far on goblueridge.net, but there's still time.

By the way...these teabag parties? Totally grassroots. Not funded by rich lobbyists at all. Not one little bit. So you just get that thought right out of your head:

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Reprising their role in orchestrating the first tea parties, the lobbyist-run groups Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks are again helping to organize the July 4 protests. FreedomWorks is working alongside other right-wing groups on a new website to publicize the events, and Americans for Prosperity is hosting several rallies on the 4th, including one with Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).
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But while these lobbyist-run groups played a pivotal role in financing the logistics and coordination of the tea parties, Fox News was certainly the megaphone for the movement. Just as Fox News became a full-fledged sponsor of the April protests, running back-to-back segments and broadcasting live from protests across the country, the network is attempting to motivate another round of radical, anti-Obama protests on July 4th.
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Maybe the "reporters" at goblueridge.net can call in reinforcements from the "Foothills Bureau" to help them count the attendees this time around.

Sunday Service

Listen to the good Reverend Wiley Drake as he tells Fox News Radio that he is praying for the death of President Obama:

Oh-Kay

From Mike Lux at openleft.com:

Will Kay Hagan Betray Ted Kennedy?

by: Mike Lux

Fri Jun 19, 2009 at 15:05

This won't be a long post, because I just need to ask a simple question. With Ted Kennedy too sick to come down to DC and make the committee vote, Democrats will need every Senator on the HELP committee to produce a strong bill, a bill that fights for what Teddy Kennedy has been fighting for his entire life. The last holdout is Kay Hagan, who represents a state (NC) that is one of the worst in the country in terms of percent of people without health insurance. The insurance companies are lobbying Hagan against the bill, because they don't like having to compete with a public option. My simple question is this: Teddy Kennedy is too sick to be there, Senator Hagan, so he is relying on your vote for the issue that he has fought for passionately his entire life. Will you betray him to help the insurance companies? You need to make up your mind now.

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Another Unregulated Private Sector Triumph

Tyson Foods is a pretty big employer in Wilkes County. So, we are kind of curious if this story will get any coverage in the local or regional media:

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- An Arkansas federal judge on Friday ordered Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) to pay $500,000, the maximum criminal fine allowable, and serve a year's probation for violations of worker-safety regulations that led to a worker's death.

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In a county where unemployment is sky high--and worker-activism is not exactly appreciated or encouraged--we suspect that there will be no coverage at all in the local media. It would even seem fair to say that Wilkes is a company county, now that Lowe's is basically gone.

The likelihood of Tyson workers in Wilkes expressing their concern over incidents like this to local management is about zilch. And who could blame them? They'd be afraid of losing their jobs...in a extremely tough economy.

There's more though:

Little Rock--Tyson Foods and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are actively fighting workplace safety measures that could have prevented the tragic death of a Tyson Foods worker, said Reverend Steve Copley today.

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"Mr. Kelley's death is the worst possible example of what can happen when employees do not have a voice on the job and are not protected at work. If workers had a voice at that plant, if they had a union, there could have been a more rigorous safety program in place to prevent this tragic loss of life," said Rev. Copley.

Despite an identical accident in 2002, Tyson Foods did not put safety measures in place to make sure it didn't happen again. Tyson Foods workers do not have a union and its workers were not able to hold their employer accountable for failing to enforce these federally mandated worker safety protections.

"Groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that opposed the original Occupational Safety and Workplace Act and are now fighting legislation that would enable allowing more workers to choose to form a union. They're opposing workplace safety," said Rev. Copley.

Does the local or regional media have any responsibility to employees who might be too scared to ask for basic workplace protections--which would prevent accidents like this from occurring...or even to ensuring that this tragic story is made known to their readers?

Or is everyone still stuck in that "all unions are evil" mentality? Unions...you remember...the folks that brought you the weekend, worker safety, and a decent wage?

Sunday Service: Second Opinion Needed

You may recall the fuss about the Department of Homeland Security report which came out in April...the report discussed the potential for increased right-wing violence in the U.S.

Conservative Christians like Dr. James Dobson, whose radio program can be heard all over the High Country were quick to denounce the report as a total exaggeration. Watch the good doctor as he seeks to reassure us all.

If you're too lazy to click through to the site, here is Dr. James Dobson's assessment of the DHS report:

Dobson said "there are no Timothy McVeighs out there right now. They're making a big deal out of something that hasn't happened and may not happen."

Maybe that DHS report hit a little too close to home, doc.

Holocaust Museum Shooting.
Tiller Murder.
Pittsburgh Police Murders.

Hate Radio Contributes To Domestic Terrorism

It's time to call it like it is. Hate radio is directly hurting this country, and the local stations which carry this sort of programming need to do some very hard thinking.

Because, as shown by today's shootings at the Holocaust Museum in Washington--hate radio jocks are clearly ginning up the hate. With tragic results.

One of Rush Limbaugh's favorite conspiracy theories revolves around the ridiculous idea that Obama is somehow not an American. And just today, Limbaugh ripped Obama for daring to remember the horrors of the Buchenwald Nazi death camp.

Care to take a guess as to who out there shares Rush's views? Why, James W. von Brunn--the same guy who shot up the Holocaust Museum today. Need some proof?

Some more? Listen to Rush's clip about Obama's birth certificate, and then read this, from TPM:

The following Web postings and articles appear online under the name of James W. von Brunn, the reported suspect in the Holocaust Museum shooting today. TPM cannot independently verify that the postings were written by James von Brunn.

--Brunn: 'Obama Is Missing'

Obama has lived for 48 years without leaving any footprints -- none! There is no Obama documentation -- no records -- no paper trail -- none -- this is no accident. It is being done on purpose with Media help - but to serve whom & why???

By broadcasting this kind of hate speech, hate radio can provide just the rationale people like von Brunn need to do their work.

Why would any local radio station which claims to be community-minded broadcast suff like this? Hate radio is contributing to domestic terrorism.

Sunday Service: Christian Patriarchy Movement

Looks like if your husband beats you, you're just going to have to deal with it:



No doubt he'd tell you that it's your fault anyway.

Libertarian Paradise Found

Attention Libertarian WXIT 1200 AM Neal Boortz fans!

Your tax-free paradise has been found...in Alabama. Go there--and be free from the shackles of evil government taxpayer-funded services. Like, um--roads, and nursing homes, law and order and other oppressive stuff:

June 5 (Bloomberg) -- Alabama’s most populous county is preparing to stop road maintenance, close courthouses and shutter services for the elderly after a court struck down taxes that pay for about 35 percent of its budget.
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The proposed cuts, released today by county Commission President Bettye Fine Collins, would slash deeply into the government’s services and also include closing a nursing home for the indigent, declaring a moratorium on enforcing zoning and littering laws, and scrapping local development contracts.
...

Your libertarian paradise awaits. Go live your dream with NEAL! Be true to your ideology. Full article here.

Open The Pod Bay Doors, HAL

Hal Turner, a somewhat noted right wing-talk show host, probably wishes right about now that he could get those doors opened. But tonight, he may be busy with his new cellmate, Bubba.

Looks like Hal has gotten himself in trouble...for yelling ""fire!" in crowded movie theater. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy:

Reactionary radio host and white supremacist Hal Turner was taken into custody Wednesday after remarks urging Catholics to "take up arms" against two Connecticut lawmakers and a state ethics official over legislation being considered in the state legislature regarding the church.
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"It is our intent to foment direct action against these individuals personally," the blog stated. "These beastly government officials should be made an example of as a warning to others in government: Obey the Constitution or die."

And, the post continued, "If any state attorney, police department or court thinks they're going to get uppity with us about this; I suspect we have enough bullets to put them down too."

He was arrested for inciting violence--and he is being held in New Jersey. So, how 'bout it right-wing defenders. Gonna start a legal fund for him? More here and here.

Progressive AND Popular

Rachel Maddow, formerly of Air America Media (technically she's still on AAM in the morning, but it's just a replay of her previous nights' TV show on MSNBC), was so unpopular on the radio that she got her own television gig.

Yes, she's been on the teevee for quite some time--but isn't it funny how all these progressive radio hosts (who are so unpopular!) seem to keep winding up with their own TV shows too?

There is just no interest out there in progressive radio or TV, as this trend clearly illustrates.

Question: Why was the phone number of an Operation Rescue staffer on the dashboard of Dr. Tiller's murderer's getaway car? Just askin'.

Future Gatekeepers?

Well, Charter Communications is still bankrupt. Didn't know about that? Aside from a teeny-tiny blurb in the High Country Press, there's been very little coverage of Charter's bankruptcy in High Country media outlets.

You'd think there would be a tad more coverage, given the fact that Charter is basically the monopoly cable provider up here. Lots of internet service, too. Just sayin'.

Would it concern local residents to know which companies might be interested in buying Charter?

It might concern local residents if they knew that one of the companies which may be very, very interested in scooping up Charter is in the process of laying the legal framework to monitor (and charge for) their subscribers' bandwidth usage--by rewriting their consumer subscriber agreements and engaging in a subscriber "education" campaign:

Time Warner Cable has modified the language of its consumer subscriber agreement that is directed at legitimizing the cable company’s ability to throttle and measure a consumer’s bandwidth. The new additions to the agreement also sanction tiered pricing.
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The language means that a subscriber can’t sign up for a contract plan hoping to avoid tiered pricing by getting in before a new tiered plan is implemented. It also specifically threatens throttling of a person’s service for violating the terms of use (hopefully it makes those terms of use a little clearer, though).
...

You see, if consumers actually know about things like this, then they can write to the FCC and express their concerns. They can even write to the FCC and express their opposition to a Time Warner acquisition of Charter. Public service in journalism--what a concept.

Meantime, we think this is kinda funny.