Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The "Ecosystem Of Corruption"

Hmmmm...it looks like Julian Assange of Wikileaks may be sitting on a rather interesting (and large) pile of emails from a large U.S. bank. A pile that he says will illustrate the "ecosystem of corruption"...

...

It will give a true and representative insight into how banks behave at the executive level in a way that will stimulate investigations and reforms, I presume.
...

Yes, there will be some flagrant violations, unethical practices that will be revealed, but it will also be all the supporting decision-making structures and the internal executive ethos that cames out, and that’s tremendously valuable.
...

You could call it the ecosystem of corruption. But it’s also all the regular decision making that turns a blind eye to and supports unethical practices: the oversight that’s not done, the priorities of executives, how they think they’re fulfilling their own self-interest. The way they talk about it.
...

A major U.S. bank...Got any guesses? The full interview here.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Only One Solution

We can't help but wonder how much coverage the corporate media will give to other plans to reduce the deficit. To what extent will the corporate media follow conservative talking points by repeating endlessly that the only way to solve the problem is by cutting existing programs--and completely ignore growth and job creation as viable alternatives.

Alternative plans DO exist. Alternative possibilities DO exist. Austerity DOES NOT have to happen:

The Blueprint takes a very different approach from other prominent proposals, specifically prioritizing a strong economic recovery because widespread job creation and robust economic growth are essential to successful deficit reduction.

The plan will produce the following short- and long-term results:

Substantial and sustained increased funding for job creation and investments, especially in the near term; A budget path that significantly improves the 10-year budget outlook;

A transition from a primary deficit to a primary surplus in 2018, and sustainable debt levels by the end of the decade;

An improvement in the long-term path for public debt, stabilizing debt as a share of the economy beyond 2025;

A solid footing for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for the long term; and A modernized tax code that raises adequate revenue fairly and efficiently.

The Blueprint’s budget path boosts funding for near-term job creation, achieves lower deficits in the medium-term and balances the primary federal budget in less than a decade. It does so with the recognition that boosting—rather than cutting—spending on national priorities, including infrastructure, transportation, technology and education, is critical to American prosperity.

If our entire economy's health is predicated on spending money, then how can it be a good thing to freeze wages? Or to not invest in infrastructure, transportation, technology, or education? See, 'cause if people don't have money, they don't buy stuff. That's kind of an important concept here. Firing people, freezing wages and not investing in our country won't help matters.

Here are some more ideas you'll never hear or see again:

Use our tax dollars wisely by making targeted, common-sense cuts to military spending.

Shore up funding for Social Security by expanding the payroll tax to include more of the earnings of high-income individuals.

Get the economy back on track by investing in immediate job creation and a strong economic recovery.

Do you need to be reminded that it's all about the children (like they say in church)?

Create the foundation for long-run economic growth by increasing investment in early childhood education, quality child care, infrastructure, public transit, rural broadband connectivity and research and development.

And before we go, do you need to be reminded that you are not a millionaire?

Rebalance the tax code by repealing the Bush-era tax cuts for top earners and by taxing capital gains and dividends as ordinary income.

Who wrote this strange report?

Demos, EPI and The Century Foundation have produced a budget blueprint for economic recovery and fiscal responsibility. The blueprint prioritizes a strong economic recovery because widespread job creation and robust economic growth are essential to successful deficit reduction. Investing in America's Future is a project of Demos, EPI and The Century Foundation.

We will not have a strong economy unless and until the middle class is strong again. Policies that result in weakening the middle class even further will not help. But those will be the only policy options presented to us by politicians and the corporate media.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Well? What Are You Waiting For?!


We've got a lot of work to do if we're going to undo all the progress we made in the 20th century...

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Farmers: Does Dan Soucek Hate Us, Too?

And one more thing, also from Watauga Watch:

On state budgeting and priorities, Soucek said education is a top priority, but then when asked where he'd cut the state budget, he suggested eliminating the Golden Leaf Foundation, which he said would save $570 million. Which we reckon would make the $150,000 grant from the Golden Leaf Foundation for laptops for Watauga High School students just more needless pork.

This is the Golden Leaf Charter:

The Golden LEAF Foundation was formed under a charter established by the North Carolina General Assembly. According to the charter, the Golden LEAF Foundation “shall promote the social welfare and lessen the burdens of government [by using its funds] to provide economic impact assistance to economically affected or tobacco-dependent regions of North Carolina in accordance with the Consent Decree [between the state of North Carolina and cigarette manufacturers].”

Activities to be supported include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Education assistance for tobacco farmers and other workers affected or projected to be affected by a decline in production of tobacco products.

  • Job training and employment assistance for tobacco farmers and other workers dependent on tobacco farming, production and sales to transition to other sources of income.

  • Scientific research to develop new uses for tobacco or for the development of alternative cash crops.

  • Economic hardship assistance experienced by tobacco farmers, quota owners, their families and others as a result of decline in quota and/or production of tobacco or tobacco products.

  • Public works and industrial recruitment to local governments for upgrading utilities, transportation, and other public service infrastructure to attract new businesses or for more general economic development purposes.

  • Health and human services to improve health care and other social services needed to maintain the stability of tobacco-dependent communities.

  • Community assistance in the form of grants and/or loans to economically depressed and deteriorating tobacco-dependent communities, to be used exclusively for public purposes.

What Would You Cut?

Why would a freedom-loving Teabagger threaten to sue a radio station for showing a video of an interview that the Teabagger voluntarily agreed to do at the radio station? Maybe because it reveals a little too much about the Teabagger? We could have sworn that Teabaggers/conservatives were against frivolous lawsuits. To top it all off, the Teabagger was being interviewed by a conservative talk show host.

Oh, the evil media! Things get fun at about 4:36. Grab some popcorn.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Why Does Dan Soucek Hate Watauga County Students?

From Watauga Watch:

On state budgeting and priorities, Soucek said education is a top priority, but then when asked where he'd cut the state budget, he suggested eliminating the Golden Leaf Foundation, which he said would save $570 million. Which we reckon would make the $150,000 grant from the Golden Leaf Foundation for laptops for Watauga High School students just more needless pork.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

The Drop Zone

In its entirety, the letter to advertisers from Tides Foundation CEO Drummond Pike concerning Glenn Beck and his followers:

Dear Fox Advertiser,

I am writing to ask your company to take a simple step that may well save lives in the future. And it is not unimportant that taking this action will remove your company and its products from any connection to what could very likely be an unpleasant tragedy, should things remain as they are today. On behalf of my organization, and many others like it, I ask that you cease advertising on the Fox News Channel.

This is neither a hollow request, nor one rhetorically made. There is an urgency to it born of our own direct experience as the target of a would-be assassin inspired by Fox's Glenn Beck Show.

On July 19th of this year, I arrived at our San Francisco office to learn that a misguided person carrying numerous guns and body armor had been on his way to start a "revolution" by murdering my colleagues and me. The Oakland Police Department called to tell us that, following a 12 minute shootout with the California Highway Patrol, law enforcement officials arrested an assailant who had targeted the Tides Foundation, an organization which I founded and currently serve as CEO, and the ACLU for violence. To say we were "shocked" does not adequately describe our reaction. Imagine, for a moment, that you were us and, had it not been for a sharp eyed highway patrolman, a heavily armed man in full body armor would have made it to your office with the intent to kill you and your colleagues. His motive? Apparently, it was because the charitable, nonpartisan programs we run are deemed part of a conspiracy to undermine America and the capitalist system, which is hogwash.

Although not a political organization, the Tides Foundation has been a frequent target of misinformation, propaganda, and outright lies by Fox News' Glenn Beck. Since his arrival at Fox in early 2009, Beck has repeatedly vilified Tides, suggesting we are intent on "creat[ing] a mass organization to seize power." He accuses the foundation of indoctrination and says we are "involved in some of the nastiest of the nasty." Beck tells viewers that Tides has "funneled" money to "some of the most extreme groups on the left" and that our mission is to "warp your children's brains and make sure they know how evil capitalism is." In total, prior to the attempted rampage, Beck had attacked the Tides Foundation 29 times. On September 28th, more than a month after the shooting, Beck reiterated his focus on the Tides Foundation, warning, "I'm coming for you." In jailhouse interviews, the gunman confessed he views Beck as a "schoolteacher" who "blew my mind." My would-be killer admitted that Beck "give[s] you every ounce of evidence you could possibly need" to commit violence.

Beck is a self-described "Progressive Hunter" who relies on violent rhetoric. Do you really think that the millions of Americans who describe themselves as "progressive" need to be "hunted down"? If so, to what end?

For hours every day on radio and television, Beck pits American against American, telling his audience that our country is under attack by a demonic Nazi-like regime seeking to destroy all that is great about America while insisting it's up to his viewers to resist and revolt. He warned his audience that "these are the most dangerous two years of our republic. Because in the end, in revolutions, the real dangerous killers show up." Beck even compared our government to vampires while instructing his viewers to "drive a stake through the heart of the bloodsuckers" and pretended to poison Speaker Pelosi on television. A few months later, Gregory Giusti was was arrested for repeatedly threatening House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- including threatening to destroy her home -- because he was upset over health care reform. The man's mother told a local news station he listens to those with "really radical ideas," adding, "I'd say Fox News or all of those that are really radical."

When I started the Tides organizations 35 years ago, I did so in the very American belief that ordinary citizens had a role to play in our democratic process. It was, I thought, the responsibility of everyone to become engaged in our civic life, and for years we've worked with thousands of Americans to do just that. And, while we support progressive values and goals, we respect the rights and voices of those with whom we disagree on issues. Never in our history have we tolerated employees or grantees that support those who would do harm to others. By supporting Fox News Channel, you and your company are risking your reputation and good standing because they are doing just this.

As you may know, a coordinated advertiser boycott by Media Matters and Color of Change, an online civil rights group, has caused Glenn Beck's Fox News show to lose over 100 sponsors. Despite the campaign's success, Fox insists it has had no impact on the channel's profitability because the overall demand for advertisements on Fox has remained stable. Companies are still paying to advertise on Fox News, but their ads are simply moved to a different time of day. Thus, businesses that pay to broadcast commercials on Fox News are subsidizing Glenn Beck's television show by continuing to pump money into the network. It has become clear that the only way to stop supporting Beck is to stop supporting Fox News.

I respectfully request that you bring this matter of your company's sponsorship of hate speech leading to violence to the attention of your fellow directors as soon as possible. I believe no responsible company should advertise on Fox News due to its recent and on-going deplorable conduct.

While we may agree to disagree about the role our citizens and our government should play in promoting social justice and the common good, there should be no disagreement about what constitutes integrity and professionalism and responsibility in discourse - even when allowing for and encouraging contending diverse opinions intelligently argued. This is not a partisan issue. It's an American issue. No one, left, right or center, wants to see another Oklahoma City.

The next "assassin" may succeed, and if so, there will be blood on many hands. The choice is yours. Please join my call to do the right thing in this regard and put Fox News at arm's length from your company by halting your advertising with them.

Sincerely,

Drummond Pike

CEO and Founder, Tides

Take action here.

Area radio stations that carry Beck's radio show:

WHKY 1290 AM Hickory

WSIC 1400 AM Statesville

WFHG 92.7 FM Abingdon, VA

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Damming The Flow

Corporate control of elections is working well. So why wouldn't corporate control of the flow of information on the internet work well too?

On Net Neutrality, government-that-works means ensuring that citizens, innovators, and creators -- not large corporations or the government - control the flow of information.
More here.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Just One Lottery Ticket Away...


Local teabaggers will be having a rally in Jefferson on October 16th. It will be interesting to see how much coverage they get from goblowridge.newt.

Will the teabaggers ever understand who owns them?

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Useful Idiots

Are you one?

Way back in the day, some notable journalists and left-leaning intellectuals allowed themselves to be fooled by the likes of Mao and Stalin. Fooled into thinking that these brutal dictators had somehow managed to create "Utopian Societies" in their countries. The BBC is doing an excellent job covering this fascinating story.

But who are the useful idiots of today? We would suggest that the useful idiots of today are the teabaggers.

Why? Because they are being used to spread the agenda of a tiny, wealthy elite in the U.S. That's the "useful" part. What the teabaggers do not seem to understand is that if the policies they are being told to support actually were enacted, that they - the teabaggers - would be hurt the most. Yeah, you guessed it--that's the "idiot" part.

Teabaggers, think for a minute--about David H. Koch (full article here):

On May 17th, a black-tie audience at the Metropolitan Opera House applauded as a tall, jovial-looking billionaire took the stage. It was the seventieth annual spring gala of American Ballet Theatre, and David H. Koch was being celebrated for his generosity as a member of the board of trustees; he had recently donated $2.5 million toward the company’s upcoming season, and had given many millions before that.

...

A few weeks after the Lincoln Center gala, the advocacy wing of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation—an organization that David Koch started, in 2004—held a different kind of gathering. Over the July 4th weekend, a summit called Texas Defending the American Dream took place in a chilly hotel ballroom in Austin. Though Koch freely promotes his philanthropic ventures, he did not attend the summit, and his name was not in evidence. And on this occasion the audience was roused not by a dance performance but by a series of speakers denouncing President Barack Obama. Peggy Venable, the organizer of the summit, warned that Administration officials “have a socialist vision for this country.”

...

Americans for Prosperity has worked closely with the Tea Party since the movement’s inception. In the weeks before the first Tax Day protests, in April, 2009, Americans for Prosperity hosted a Web site offering supporters “Tea Party Talking Points.” The Arizona branch urged people to send tea bags to Obama; the Missouri branch urged members to sign up for “Taxpayer Tea Party Registration” and provided directions to nine protests. The group continues to stoke the rebellion. The North Carolina branch recently launched a “Tea Party Finder” Web site, advertised as “a hub for all the Tea Parties in North Carolina.”

...

The Republican campaign consultant said of the family’s political activities, “To call them under the radar is an understatement. They are underground!” Another former Koch adviser said, “They’re smart. This right-wing, redneck stuff works for them. They see this as a way to get things done without getting dirty themselves.” Rob Stein, a Democratic political strategist who has studied the conservative movement’s finances, said that the Kochs are “at the epicenter of the anti-Obama movement. But it’s not just about Obama. They would have done the same to Hillary Clinton. They did the same with Bill Clinton. They are out to destroy progressivism.”

...

The Kochs’ subsidization of a pro-corporate movement fulfills, in many ways, the vision laid out in a secret 1971 memo that Lewis Powell, then a Virginia attorney, wrote two months before he was nominated to the Supreme Court. The antiwar movement had turned its anger on defense contractors, such as Dow Chemical, and Ralph Nader was leading a public-interest crusade against corporations. Powell, writing a report for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, urged American companies to fight back. The greatest threat to free enterprise, he warned, was not Communism or the New Left but, rather, “respectable elements of society”—intellectuals, journalists, and scientists. To defeat them, he wrote, business leaders needed to wage a long-term, unified campaign to change public opinion.

...

Do. You. Get. It? They are using you to push an agenda that will make THEM more money. Not YOU.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

WXIT Goodness With Karl

Thanks so much to the corporate media tools at WXIT-AM for carrying Rush. We got an extra treat recently when Rush went on vacation (or rehab, whatevah). His fill in host was none other than THE Karl Rove. And oh, did he SUCK:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy



Scintillating. He probably even lost the local tea-bagger audience, with all his references to footnotes and appendices. Know your audience, Karl. Try to keep it to one syllable or less.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Don't Be Evil

WASHINGTON – Free Press, MoveOn.org Civic Action, CREDO Action, the Progressive Campaign Change Committee and ColorofChange.org today delivered petitions on behalf of more than 300,000 people challenging Google to stand by its “don’t be evil” motto and to call off a deal with Verizon that would jeopardize the future of the open Internet.

“It shouldn’t be left to the whims of two companies to decide for the rest of us how the Internet works,” said Josh Silver, president of Free Press. “We’ve seen the disasters that can happen when industry giants are left to regulate themselves. Unless we want to see the Internet go the way of the Gulf of Mexico and AIG, our leaders in Washington need to reject the Google-Verizon deal and get back to making policies that truly protect Internet users and the open Internet.”


More here.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Everything Is Fine

Looks like some banks in North Carolina are getting ready to go belly up. Should you worry your pretty little head? Of course not:
Harry Davis, an economist for the N.C. Bankers Association, was surprised by the growth in the number of troubled banks. However, like Smith, he doesn't anticipate a large number of failures.

"The reason there are so many problem banks right now isn't because they were poorly managed," said Davis, who is also an Appalachian State University banking professor. "It's because the absolute bottom has fallen out of the economy."

While one might certainly expect someone who works for the banking industry in NC to say something like the above, recent SEC filings from one troubled regional bank seem to indicate that the FDIC has had a few concerns with the quality of management at the bank being, ummmm, less than good, maybe:

� Within 90 days of the Order, develop and implement a written strategic plan covering at least three years consistent with sound banking practices to improve the Bank's operating performance;

� Within 30 days of the Order, appoint a committee of the Board of Directors that is responsible for overseeing compliance with the Order and providing progress reports to the full Board regarding compliance with the Order; and

� Develop a budget designed to improve net interest margin, increase interest income, reduce discretionary expenses, and improve and sustain earnings.

The above 8K filing was from 2009. Kinda looks like the FDIC wanted to see some managerial improvements way back then.

Not poorly managed?

� Cease to extend additional credit to any borrower who has a loan or extension of credit with the Bank that is classified as "Loss" or "Doubtful";

� Within 45 days, adopt and implement a plan regarding the Bank's liquidity, contingent funding and asset liability management and review and revise the plan on a quarterly basis;

Not pay cash dividends without the prior written consent of the FDIC and the Commissioner;

Local journalists may want to cover this story--that is if they can pry themselves from set of Scrambled Squares. Thank goodness they have their priorities straight.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Corporate Censorship: We Own Your Opinion

If only we could turn over all of our media to the private sector. Then, there would only be efficiency. No inefficient stuff like censorship would exist. Our glorious corporate story would be on view for all to see:

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Greed Requires Regulation

This is what the unfettered, deregulated free market has to offer:



Yes, mere "externalities", those lazy birds and fish. Apparently they are not using their bootstraps--otherwise they would have saved themselves by now.

The free market will take care of all of this by allowing BP to go bankrupt--or be taken over. And all that death? All that environmental destruction? All the lost jobs? Just more "externalities."

See, all better. All done.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

"How Soon Until The Free Market Stops The Oil Spill?"

From Bob Cesca:

...As I watch these robots slice the riser from the blowout preventer and read the news about lakes of oil moving towards the coasts of Florida, I'm wondering who to blame for this. The list is long, but, in part, I blame anyone who bought into the lines: "government is the problem" and "the era of big government is over." It's been systematic deregulation and the elevation of free market libertarian laissez-faire capitalism that have wrought this damage and allowed potentially destructive corporations to write their own rules and do as they please.
...
This oil spill is the culmination of deregulation mania, which started with dear Ronald Reagan. Policies have consequences.

C'mon private sector. What's taking you so long? How come that invisible hand thing ain't workin'? Where's your self interest? Milton? Ronnie? Anyone??

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Death On The High Seas & Underground

Have you heard much about the workers who were killed on the Transocean/BP oil rig in the Gulf? Heard anything about the totally outdated laws on the books today dealing with how a deceased worker's family is compensated in the event of an on the job fatality?

Why, its almost as if these workers don't even exist. Certainly, in the eyes of many a multinational, workers are simply viewed as being expendable. And those laws? Well, those same multinationals have a pretty strong interest in making sure that they NEVER get updated.

At about 8:35 in to this video, Ed Schultz talks to the father of a worker killed in the explosion on the Transocean/BP oil rig.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy



Oh, and just in case you have forgotten--some miners were killed in West Virginia. Remember?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy



Ah, what deregulation hath wrought. Look at that private sector self-policing itself.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Cheney's Katrina

And from the slime, his tentacles emerge...his familiar seizes the reins of deliberate misinformation:

As if the water wasn't deep -- or oily -- enough around British Petroleum's public relations, the company has hired a former spokeswoman for Vice President Dick Cheney to be its public face for the disaster.
...

More via rawstory.com.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Neo-Charismatic Cells

Why bother taking the time to evangelize people one at a time when you can simply identify where the "evil" is on a map and take over an entire town? A leading researcher believes that there are approximately 15 million people out there (she calls them neo-charismatics) who subscribe to this worldview--and who are actively involved in "reclaiming the 7 mountains of culture". Essentially, infiltrating and taking over society with the goal of imposing their own brand of "religion".

Here's an interview with that researcher, Karen Tabachnick, from The Young Turks:



Need more information on those 7 mountains?



One can't help but wonder how many of these true believers live the High Country mountains...

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Healthcare Hoosgow

Yikes. Not only are the righties going to be rounded up and sent to FEMA concentration camps, but Fox News and Rush say that if you don't buy health insurance, the guvmint will send you straight to jail!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

April 19th: Not Just Another Monday For Some

Try to make time in your schedule to see the April 19th Rachel Maddow Show. It's called The McVeigh Tapes. The show will focus on how Timothy McVeigh became radicalized, and will air tapes of his interviews with law enforcement officials--some never heard before. The show airs on MSNBC at 9:00 pm.

April 19th is a big day in extremist world:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Concentration Camps: Conservative Style - or - Our Conspiracy Theories Are RIGHT!

Conservative John Birchers, Oath Keepers and Tea Partiers say beware of the FEMA Concentration Camps:
...
The Conservative Political Action Conference this February was cosponsored by groups such as the John Birch Society, which believes Dwight Eisenhower was a communist agent, and the Oath Keepers, which suggests that the government has secret plans to declare martial law and intern "patriotic Americans in concentration camps," the SPLC said.
...
and...
They don't believe that the president's policies are ill-conceived; they believe he is actively working to destroy the country so he can impose a fascist dictatorship and begin herding people into concentration camps. People at tea party rallies inevitably talk about how they are stockpiling supplies and ammunition for the coming civil war.

Sorry...who is obsessed with the concentration camps again?

Monday, March 29, 2010

Stephanie Miller On The Ed Show

Hey, have ya seen Rush's little New York apartment? Apparently it's for sale (or has been sold, whatevuh!). Check out the interior design themes...just a few more examples of his regular guyness. He's jus' folks!



And who can forget this?! Oh, the things our local radio brings to us.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Meet The Vanderboegh

It's important to understand that there are people in this country who are actively calling for the use of violence against those they disagree with. It's important to understand how those calling for the use of violence to spread their messages. It's important to know who gins up the hatred.

Start with this:



Then this.

Then this.

See how it works? Thank goodness we have WXIT 1200 AM to serve as the local megaphone for violence.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Harsh Reality

Conservatives, reality can sometimes be harsh:

WASHINGTON — Americans by 9 percentage points have a favorable view of the health care overhaul that President Obama signed into law Tuesday, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, a notable turnaround from surveys before the vote that showed a plurality against it.

By 49%-40% those surveyed say it was "a good thing" rather than a bad one that Congress passed the bill. Half describe their reaction in positive terms, as "enthusiastic" or "pleased," while about four in 10 describe it in negative ways, as "disappointed" or "angry." The largest single group, 48%, calls the bill "a good first step" that should be followed by more action on health care.

...
Now if we can just get goblowridge.newt to balance its coverage of healthcare by interviewing politicians who represent the majority of public opinion in these here United States, that would be nice. Oh, and maybe some syndicated talk programming that doesn't refer to the newly passed healthcare bill (law!!) in the same breath as declaring that healthcare reform has led to the death of democracy.

Monday, March 15, 2010

The Free Market Speaketh Againeth

Who can possibly argue with the wisdom of the great private sector? Certainly not Glenn Beck--or FOX:
...
More than 200 companies have joined a boycott of Beck's program, making it difficult for Fox to sell ads. The time has instead been sold to smaller firms offering such products as Kaopectate, Carbonite, 1-800-PetMeds and Goldline International. A handful of advertisers, such as Apple, have abandoned Fox altogether. Network executives say they believe they could charge higher rates if the host were more widely acceptable to advertisers...
We fully expect the free market worshiping Mr. Beck to fold up his show in light of the decision rendered by his heroes. Your former sponsors have behaved rationally, Mr. Beck--now we expect you to do the same.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Here They Come Again

Geez. Take a week off and look what comes out of the woodwork--more domestic terrorists:
Last night, a California man armed with two semiautomatic weapons and “many magazines” of ammunition opened fire on police officers at the entrance to the Pentagon, wounding two before being killed by police. The shooter, 36-year-old John Patrick Bedell, was “well dressed in a suit” and “very calm,” walking “very directly to the officers” before engaging them, a police spokesman said. Bedell “appears to have been a right-wing extremist with virulent antigovernment feelings,” the Christian Science Monitor reports, who traveled from California specifically to attack the Pentagon. While police were hesitant to assign a motive, “writings by someone with his same name and birth date, posted on the Internet, express ill will toward the government and the armed forces...
...
In a post, Bedell urged potential collaborators to contact him at an email address with the domain name @mises.com -- which belongs to the Ludwig Von Mises Institute, a libertarian think tank with ties to Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX). A Mises senior fellow led an official event at CPAC last month. Bedell's connection -- if any -- to Mises is unclear, though he was also a "fan" of the organization on Facebook.
...
Libertarian terrorism? What would Neal Boortz say? Ron Paul? How about Ron Paul's supporters? All those folks who took to the streets to support Mr. Paul by waving signs at the intersection of the 105 Extension and U.S. 321?

How about these upstanding citizens?
An evangelical Christian hate group called “Repent Amarillo” is reportedly terrorizing the town of Amarillo, Texas. Repent fashions itself as a sort of militia and targets a wide range of community members they deem offensive to their theology: gays, liberal Christians, Muslims, environmentalists, breast cancer events that do not highlight abortion, Halloween, “spring break events,” and pornography shops. On its website, Repent has posted a “Warfare Map” of its enemies in town.
...
Army of God? Genuinely scary.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Mid-February Break

Well, we're going to take a few days off. But we don't want you to get lonely! So here, relax to the groovin' Christian sounds of Final Placement. Love the guitar solo!! Maybe High Country Radio will give these fellas their much deserved big break--and launch them into the big time!

"Shine" by Final Placement from sharity world on Vimeo.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Right-Wing Radio Work Around

The Thom Hartmann Program has a new outlet in Asheville, WPVM-LP FM. From the Mountain Area Information Network:

The nationally syndicated radio program, The Thom Hartmann Program, is moving to MAIN-FM, 103.5, where it can be heard live from noon to 3 p.m. beginning Monday, Feb. 15.

MAIN-FM is a low-power radio station licensed to the nonprofit Mountain Area Information Network (MAIN) in Asheville.

...

Bowen called the show “compelling radio” due, in part, to Hartmann’s practice of interviewing conservative guests. “Thom is that rare talk-show host who is willing to talk to people who disagree with him,” said Bowen. He lauded the show as “evidence-based, give-and-take dialogue in the democratic tradition of debating important issues in a public forum.”

Thom Hartmann has been doing something very interesting in the world of talk radio. He has allowed his show--which is a commercial, advertiser-supported program--to be carried by non-commercial, community & college radio stations.

There's more than one way to skin a cat. And if the corporate-owned, right-wing world of talk radio won't allow alternative programming on their air? Then its just time to get creative.

Thom Hartmann here. MAIN here.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Journalists With Guts

Indulge us for a minute while we stay on the aviation theme.

You know, some of the best known investigative journalists have found themselves out of work as a result of their employers' financial woes. Many of them have ended up submitting their work to publications not previously known for investigative reporting--like Vanity Fair and even Maxim.

We're not huge fans of Maxim generally, but this week an interesting investigative news article caught our eye. Journalist Simon Worrall has written a piece called "The Mysterious Death of Bush's Cyber-Guru", and it raises some important questions.

From the article:
Just six weeks before his death, Connell had given a deposition in an Ohio lawsuit that accused Rove, Bush, and Co. of something far more serious than merely scrubbing e-mails: the theft of the 2004 Ohio vote. “This is the biggest scandal in our history,” says Mark Crispin Miller, a professor at New York University who has written extensively about electronic voter fraud. “Watergate grew out of a paranoid attempt to disable the opposition. But Ohio was exponentially different. We’re talking about a systematic, centralized attempt to rig the voting system.”
...

Ohio’s secretary of state in 2004 was a fiercely partisan Christian named Ken Blackwell. Blackwell had hired a company called GDC Limited to run the IT systems, which had subcontracted the job to Michael Connell’s company, GovTech. Connell had in turn sub-contracted SMARTech, an IT firm based in Chattanooga, to act, it was claimed, as a backup server.

“By looking at the URLs on the Web site, we discovered that there were three points on election night when SMARTech’s computers took over from the secretary of state,” says Arnebeck. “It is during that period that we believe votes were manipulated.”

In computer jargon it is known as a man-in-the-middle attack.

...

We may never know the truth about Connell’s last flight, but contracts between Connell’s company, GovTech, and Ken Blackwell’s administration establish a credible scenario for electoral fraud and place Connell at the scene of the alleged crime.

Among other things, the contracts contradict Connell’s sworn testimony that SMARTech, in Chattanooga, merely acted as a backup site for election data.

...

More here.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

WVS: Sub-Minimum Wage Pilots

It's great when companies save money, right? Because the savings get passed on to you, right?

Like when a co-pilot for an airline is being paid less than $16,000 a year...and moonlighting to make ends meet:

The crash of Continental 3407 outside Buffalo last year, killing all on board, was big news, as any commercial crash is. But like many who were fortunate enough not to be touched personally by the tragedy, what most caught my attention was the news that followed. The co-pilot had been making less than $16,000. While I knew the airline industry had been struggling through tough times since 9/11, I sure didn’t know that some of the folks that fly me around are working second jobs and overnighting on lounge room La-Z-Boys. And I didn’t know that regional airlines, once thought of as puddle-jumpers, had grown so fast that they now account for more than half the nation’s daily departures. We are on our way to becoming a regional airline nation.



The quest to save money? Or a race to the bottom? Gotta save at ALL costs. You decide.

Friday, February 5, 2010

The Special Olympics and High Country Radio

Will the irony never cease? While High Country Radio carries Rush Limbaugh on WXIT--who, on his February 3rd program offered up some classic insults directed toward "retards"--goblueridge.net (a part of High Country Radio, and like High Country Radio also owned by Curtis Media) reports on its site about the upcoming Southeast Region Alpine Games which will take place here in the High Country this weekend.

Limbaugh's comments drew a response from the Chairman of the Special Olympics, in the form of an open letter:

Dear Mr. Limbaugh:

I incredulously listened to the segment in your show in which you repeatedly and offensively used the term "retard" in reference to our meeting with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

As a public figure, you have the great opportunity to influence the hearts and minds of millions of people in this country and around the world. People with intellectual disabilities - the largest group of people with disabilities in the world - have suffered generations of discrimination and humiliation...

Apparently, High Country Radio and Curtis Media do not realize how hurtful their programming is. Apparently, they believe that they can have it both ways--by carrying programming/content that simultaneously hurts and promotes the Special Olympics.

To that, we call Bull****.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Weekend Video Salon: Casino Jack

One of the many concerns which arise from living in our context-free media world is that our media generally tend to present events as a series of isolated occurrences. So, we are left to try to figure out for ourselves if any given event is the direct result of a long-standing way of doing things--a mere continuation of a given methodology or trend.

Like this guy, James O'Keefe. He was recently arrested after allegedly tampering with a sitting Senator's telephone lines. Did he just pop up out of nowhere? Or is he maybe following in the footsteps of an inspirational conservative god?

It turns out that "Casino Jack" Abramoff, the uber-lobbyist who is now doing a little time himself, got noticed by the conservative establishment by doing some things that seem kinda similar to what the fine Mr. Keefe has allegedly done.

Well, waddya know? There's a new movie coming out this spring that may just interest you:







What a proud family tradition. Now in context.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Progressive Talk Radio Success Via The Funny

As should be clear by now, most of the successful progressive radio show hosts have had little or nothing to do with the now defunct Air America. This is Stephanie Miller (syndicated by Dial Global). She knows the secret to successful radio programming--it's called entertainment. That means funny. Get it?

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Weekend Video Salon: Scanning Our Way To Safety?

You've gotta wonder. What is it about conservatives that they will protest every seeming "encroachment" by the government upon their right to do as they choose--yet they will gladly accept the use of invasive technology like body scanners at an airport?

Conservatives might reply that they have nothing to fear because "they're not terrorists". But doesn't this very reply completely contradict their oft-stated desire to do as they choose? To not be told by the government how to behave? Or what to think? Or their fundamental distrust of what they government does with all the data it accumulates about them?

Like the naked pictures of them taken by government officials at the airport?

So, what about it? Can we scan our way to safety? Or are we just giving up our civil liberties so that a few companies can make massive profits (another conservative goal)?

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Thursday, January 14, 2010

The Rush/WXIT Tampon Problem

Is WXIT proud to carry this kind of programing? Here he calls a female caller to his show a "bigot" with "tampons in her ears". That's some quality family programming there, WXIT.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

WXIT's Psycho Talker

Time for some much needed pushback against the kind of garbage carried on our local public airwaves:

Monday, January 11, 2010

Listen, Human. The Internet Is Talking:

And it wants net neutrality. January 14th is the deadline:

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Weekend Video Salon: It's All GOOD


Have we been conditioned by the private sector/corporate media to simply accept the idea that what is efficient and profitable is automatically good for the country? Here's a good discussion on that very concept:

PBS has the video here.