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Sen. Feingold Reintroduces Radio Competition Bill
jonerik writes "Billboard is reporting that Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) has reintroduced his Competition in Radio and Concert Industries Act, which is aimed at limiting the concentration of radio stations and concert promoters in the hands of a few large companies, such as Clear Channel. In addition, the bill would close loopholes in payola laws which currently permit 'pay-for-play' deals between record companies and radio stations 'unless an appropriate sponsorship identification announcement is made.' The bill's introduction comes as the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation prepares to hold a hearing Thursday on the problems of radio consolidation, and the committee's chairman, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), is expected to sign on soon as the bill's co-sponsor."
I like hearing the same 12 songs on 10 different stations.
in the shuffling madness
im making first posts and stuff
something about a train...
tull forever!
- cornjchob
reinstating the Fairness Doctrine?
40 hrs+ a week of hate radio is a bit extreme.
Any chance of getting Clear Channel/Scaife/Faux to let America hear a different slant?
Imagine a Beowulf cluster of these babies!
Rock On! This noos rools...
Making sure every station, every where, sounds exactly the same!
Banaaaana!
Time to put a stop to this criminal activity.
Radio killed the MP3 Star,,, la la la
So I guess I'm not surprised to see him take the lead on something like this. I also won't be surprised to see the bill totally tank after all sorts of unrelated legislation and water-downs are tacked on by his fellow employees.
With the loss of Paul Wellstone, Russ Feingold is one of the strongest supporters of liberal ideals and causes left in the Senate. It's good to see him getting support from the Republicans in the form of McCain. Democrats certainly can't afford to go it alone in their current minority status, so to get any decent laws passed, we're going to need to have Republicans crossing party lines to support bills whose bottom line is not aimed at increasing the wealth of the wealthy for once.
After they finish that vital piece of entertainment-oriented law-making, I hope they will turn their attention to legislation aimed at getting Joey to date Phoebe.
Every radio station in every city that's making any money is probably 9 times out of 10 part of ClearChannel's vast network (dare I say monopoly) of radio stations across the United States.
The same Top 40 songs are heard day in and day out in every city. Nothing changes. Only artists with big media contracts (Sony, Columbia, etc.) can afford to buy air time.
I often wonder why there's been little innovation on the radio. Bands like Radiohead come along, but I've probably only heard one song of theirs on the radio, and that was once or twice even.
Let the little guys get some airtime. Fight this consolidation. I urge you to contact your representatives in government.
*nix.org -- Just when you thought unbiased opinion pieces and news articles no longer existed...
Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate. Ex-O'Reilly/MIT employee, now a full-time Google employee.
I really do think this Feingold guy is pretty decent. He, as I recall, was the one guy who stood up and voted against the horrific Patriot Act, which for those who are unaware, was about taking away some of our everyday freedoms, etc. Nobody in the senate seemed to give a rats ass but there he was on C-SPAN basically saying "are you guys crazy? This isn't right!" Now look at him taking yet another potentialy unpopular (to moneyd interests like Clearchannel, anyway) stand for what's right.
I'm proud to say he's from my home, Wisconsin.
You like your Macintosh better than me, don't you Dave? Dave? Can you hear me Dave?
If He would have designed a wider electromagnetic spectrum, we could all be broadcasting without any interference.
Payola is one of the factors that made record companies the giants that they are today.
This is old news anyway. Read this article written in 1956.
STF
Every now and again, after the cynicism and the corruption and the payola and the lobbying... our government comes through.
I get so depressed, reading about DMCA suits & SLAPPs, reading about corporate (*cough* Coble) whores. You get to thinking that the government is just trying to screw us all.
And yet, there are good guys. There are champions of the common man.
I feel pretty good.
Looking for a Rails developer in Chapel Hill?
Can you elaborate? I don't quite follow what you mean by 'hate' -- shock jocks, ultra right-wingers, racism? All I get on the talk part of the dial are sports, religion, and gasbags, but nothing I'd classify as hate...
I loved being from Wisconsin for a reason :).
Of course, we'll need the Republicans to remain vigilante so we don't see bills passed whose bottom line is supporting the lazy and vulgar of this country who refuse to do work and continue to demand handouts. We certainly don't want our country to lose its Euro-centric cultural identity and became yet another third world country because of an invasion by unskilled labor from Mexico. And clearly, the Republicans will have to make sure that our hospitals aren't being overrun by Mexicans demanding free health care because Joe Liberman promised they could have it.
I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
in the car, i've got a subscription to XM, which is diverse enough that no matter what format I want to listen to, its available. true, its 101 stations run by one corporation, but truly the best part about it is the fact that since its subscription based, most channels aren't advertising-revenue driven, so there's no incentive to play the latest hit single four times an hour.
i don't know, if XM goes to hell, back to CDs for me.
Hence, why McCain has been getting a lot of attention from the Phoenix Linux User Group.
poop.
The only guy in the Senate with the balls to vote against the PATRIOT Act. Thanks, Russ. When the rest of them panicked and stampeded to trade our liberty for security, you were the one true patriot.
All you nerds in Wisconsin better vote for this guy when he comes up for reelection. A good Senator is a rare thing indeed.
Wow, go Russ go! I just wish I could vote for him.
-B
It's unfortunate that what he stands up for is often unconstitutional. Think restrictions on political speech in the campaign finance reform legislation. What part of "Congress shall make no law..." are they having trouble with?
[ home ]
What about the problem with BREAKING UP radio stations? Many might go under or have severe financial problems due to restructuring and cutting off from their main backup cash source (companies like ClearChannel). I'd hate to see a single station go down or be forced to let a bunch of staff go just because they are essentially forced to by a bill...
Don't get me wrong, I hate ClearChannel just as much as anyone; I'm just wondering about the individual stations in the event that this passes...
JOE MILLIONAIRE: THE SHOW THAT LETS YOU SEE WOMEN IF THEIR MOST BASIC FORM, BITCHES
Yea it's true, Joe Millionaire is my new most favorite show now. Not only does it prove my theory that women are heartless bitch-whores that only care about money and will do anyone or anything to get it, but in the end it makes them look like total fucking idiots. Well today it only showed like half of it, but it was fucking awesome. What they do is bring in this guy who is probably just like me and you,(broke) and set him up in this Paris mansion then invite these 20 whores over to meet him. They tell the women that he just inheirited millions of bucks and he's looking for a woman. There was one woman in particular that i hated more than the others right from the start. She was a bitch named Heidi, who i knew from the begining was going to be a gold-digging shitbag, but i got to watch her squirm near the end when the guy Evan ditched her bitch ass, hahahahahaa. Then the butler made fun of her for being retarded. Anyways when the women were away from the guy, their REAL side came out. Talk about some low-down dirty tramps, damn. Talkin shit and.... well being typical women. Anyways he put them through little test to kinda see what their personality was going to be like. He made one group harvest and assload of grapes out in the rain in mud, hahahahahaha. The next group was told they were going on a train ride through the French country side, but they had to shovel the train full of coal, hell yea, work them bitches. Then the last group, which included Heidi, was going horse back riding, but first they had to shovel horse shit out of stank ass horse stalls in the cold, HAHAHA. It gave me such a hard-on to see women so misrible. Anyways they cut all except for 6 and stopped it till monday, and i WILL be watching. Well, i better roll, got shiz to do and people to do it with.
Every now and again, ... our government comes through.
I'd say it's more like every now and again, some individual comes through despite the best efforts of the rest of the government--but never for long.
I hope this bill passes. It would be great to be able to listen to the radio and hear music I enjoy, rather than the commercialized crap they play now. I haven't listened to the radio since my favorite classical station switched to a talk format about 5 or 6 years ago.
At the same time, I doubt this bill will pass. Feingold is in the minority in Congress in his ability to ignore the payoffs offered him by big media conglomerates. The political system is corrupt, and will remain so.
Oh well. If only we lived in a free country...
I found the meaning of life the other day, but I had write-only access.
Wby should the government decide how many radio stations you or I, or a corporation owned by one of us, can own? In a free-market economy, these decisions should be made only by market forces, ie, supply and demand. If consumers prefer the content provided by less concentrated ownership, then large conglomerates will naturally fail due to competition. If the inverse is true, conglomerates will succeed, but only because this is the choice made by individual listeners.
Elitists and left-wing intellectuals often mock market forces, because they believe they know better than the average person what constitutes "good" radio programming, and want to craft public opininion in their own Stalinist mold. But most Americans know better, realize that an uninhibited market is the purest form of democracy in existence, and like the results wrought through free competition in the area of radio broadcasting. Every freedom-loving American should write their congressperson in opposition to this bill immediately!
Finally a reason to be proud of a) being A Wisconsinite and b) having voted for Feingold.
I hope that this movement goes through, everything around here (Milwaukee) seems to be Clearchannel. The radio, atleast 3-4 stations, 2 of the TV, and a large majority of the billboards and the such are all clearchannel.
Go Feingold Go
I'm a little tea pot.
The full text of the bill, as proposed, is available here in PDF format.
Note that this is not the first time that he has done something like this before.
topreacher@signature.slashdot.org 1% rm -rf sig
I am from a small country where the scene "used" to be pretty large. I used to be straightedge, but i'm not anymore, although i still don't drink, take drugs or sleep around. alot of st8 edgers give the whole scene a real bad name. they say no primiscous sex but all they do is sleep around. they say unity, but all they do is beat up people who aren't straightedge. the atmosphere at the shows are so judgmental and arrogant that it makes them unpleasant to go to. don't get me wrong ilove the music and alot of the people but alot of st8edgers give the scene a real bad name and they come across as hypocrites.
So I'm reading all of this, and I get to the last past and see the quote at the bottom of the screen that /. has so graciciously given us. 'Twas from Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 by Pink Floyd:
We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
I'll tell ya what, Clearchannel is nothing but bullshit ads and everything else controlling the population. I remember after 9/11, they had a list of songs they wanted their stations to 'opt out' of or something like that. Songs that even mentioned the word jet in the lyrics were thrown out. Pathetic. Nothing works better than denial. Plus, all their stations only play what they're being paid to, causing most people to buy from the same places over and over; effing mindless automatons. But hey, whatever; I listen to Beefheart and Zappa, and that's the way I likes it.
We now have confirmed reports from an informed Orange County minister that Ethel is still an active communist.
...from a great guy, but there are too many rich special interests out there, greasing too many palms.
Somebody will tie a rock to this pig's neck and sink it, as sure as a certain company wants to be the only channel.
They say the first thing to go is your penis. Well, it's either that or your brain. I forget which...
Maybe satellite radio is the way to go - but much of that still has advertising anyway.
pr0n - keeping monitor glass spotless since 1981.
Hmm, now we've got ClearChannel, the 800-pound gorilla of broadcasting owning practically every radio station in many towns, and the public complains that every station sounds the same.
I'm sure it's nothing the public ever asked for.
So, radio stations must pay copyright holders to broadcast their songs, but in order to charge for the otherwise free advertising they're giving these songs, they need to say "paid for by Warner bros."? What happened to freedom in this country. Why does the govt. feel they need to regulate everything? If a radio station wants to play unknown stuff from independent artists, let them. If they want to take cash to play stuff from artists with deep pockets, why shouldn't they be able to? Radio station have the right to free speech, not the obligation to play music without compensation.
Vote for Pedro
I just wanted to send out props to KBFR, Boulder Free Radio at 95.3 evenings and weekends... when the feds don't work. :)
Take a listen next time you're in Colorado, or try out the stream at KBFR.org.
All random shit. All the time.
Dragging people kicking and screaming into reality since 1996.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm sick of how all radio stations sound the same because there are only a few companies controlling them. When I moved from central OH to KS, I could have swarn that the local radio stations were the same in both places, just with different call letters. All the hosts even sound exactly the same. The contests the stations do are identicle. You can't tell the difference, because they are controlled by the same companies, and made for mass market (not local tastes). At least with TV it's obvious who controlls things(NBC, CBS, Disn^H^H^H^HABC, etc). But with radio they almost never make it easy to find out who they belong with. Your best bet is to guess by where they get their top of the hour news ("Now this from our ABC affiliate...")
It's really nice to see legislation that will most likely make a difference like this have a good chance. All I can say is I hope another bill comes down soon: one to prevent the Disney-ABC type thing. How only 3 or 4 companies own the major networks, most cable network, the movie studios, and everything else. I don't know about the rest of you, but the national morning news shows are some of the most thinly veiled infomercials for movies and TV shows that I've ever seen.
I know I'll be telling my Senators to vote for this, I hope you all do the same.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
The funny part is now hearing commercials for stuff that used to only exist in banner ad form a few years ago. Miracle diet pills and elongate penis enhancers buying air time? Looks like banner ads do work because these people are still in business.
The only time the clearchannel station here can play indie or oddball bands is like 3-5am before Stern comes on. You know nobody is listening then. I often wondered how hard it would be to have some program that listens to a song for a few seconds and identifies it from a known list. Now you can have a chart of how often a song is played.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
http://www.house.gov/paul
XM is going under - investment is futile.
I sometimes think that the attention span of the average radio listener must be on a half life of a year or so. Eventually we'll get to the point where the radio will literally play the same rotation of songs, restarting at the top of the hour. We're already at the point where the rotations repeats every 4 or 5 hours on some stations (with the more popular songs peppered in a few extra times for good measure). It drives us nuts, but it must be making money, and for it to be making money, people must be buying into it.
This is another one of those fights where we're going to lose because we don't understand our enemy. Clearchannel is not the enemy. Congresspeople are not the enemy. OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY who don't understand what's happening are the enemy! The majority of consumers probably don't know who clearchannel is. We must EDUCATE them so they know that each time they put in a dollar vote to the latest pop sensation, they're helping to kill free market capitalism and create free market socialism.
Get out there and tell EVERYONE you can at every opportunity that we need to stop supporting the big record companies. Introduce them to indies and older music! A lot of kids who listen to modern rock (translation: the reconstituted garbage of yesterday) probably never heard of bands like Lynard Skynard or Pink Floyd. They'd probably like it if they did though. The wider a selection of music you introduce to these people-sheep the more choices they'll realize they have. The whole effect will snowball, and they'll start experimenting with new things. This can only lead to good things... personally, I'm not going to lose any sleep if I'm responsible for the owners of Clearchannel having to move out into the street.
Alito: A vote for Alito is a punch in the eye to put that bitch back in her place!
Businesses pay radio stations to play their commercials, so you go buy their products...
Either way, to the consumer, who's gaining free "entertainment", amounts to nothing more than mind control. I can't imagine why anyone would willingly tune into this.
now, if a radio station came about where all the songs played (or a majority) were paid for by the record companies, and ran no commercials, then it would be a little easier to swallow. However, at the rate we're going, where someone is paying the radio stations for everything they play, its no wonder why corporations like ClearChannel are weeding out whatever competition they run across.
I just recently moved to WI. I will definitely be voting for Russ Feingold in the future.
For those of you in Southwest Virginia (where I used to hail from), there is someone equally worthy to vote for, though he's a representative rather than a senator. Support Rick Boucher as well. He's introduced the recent act to limit the DMCA.
Maybe instead we should deep six National Pubic Radio, if the left really want's fairness then that would be the first place to start.
the 1st being rep. boucher, who's working to extend fair use rights.
http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article.php/1381471
nice to see that the slashdot voting bloc is gaining momentum.
anybody else want to get in on the ground floor?
disponibile
I am increasingly growing fond of McCain.
Of late he's introduced some risky legislation (think of his recent proposals on carbon dioxide emissions) that has set him apart from his party but make him stand out for his clear-thinking and integrity.
I want this guy for President in 2004.
I wonder if the real motive isn't a return to the Fairness Doctrine of a decade or two ago, requiring radio stations to give equal time to a variety of viewpoints? Democrats have tried and tried again to get their own talk show going, and it fell flat on it's face every time. But, if they can do it through legislation, I bet they would.
I hope this is not the case, but with Feinstein, one of the most liberal in Congress, behind this, I'm all but positive this is a huge part of this whole thing.
Go ahead. It's a troll and I DON'T CARE.
Personally I think the should be treated more like a chair. you can move it around and change what it is, but it can't talk and it certainly can't halt inhibit me from sitting where I choose.
You've worked on his staff for how long, now?
"...a straightforward and honest answer"
Rather than a straightforward and dishonest answer, or a cryptic, yet honest answer? How about just 'truthful'.
"...creative elusiveness that has become the hallmark of modern politics."
Sure, like a lack of morals in politicians just started appearing this generation. Or does 'modern' mean since Ceasar's last reign?
Stop using your (AC) Boy Scout manual as a style guide and maybe you can come up with a point...maybe.
If what you say about Radiohead (one of the most innovative bands of the 1990s and 2000s) is true, I pity the American radio industry.
Are there no government-sponsored or community radio stations on air in the USA?
In Australia, we have a fantastic 'youth radio' network called Triple J (JJJ). It has around 50 broadcast points across the country, and plays probably at least 80% of the non-mainstream, commercial music heard across the country.
Then, about 4-6 months after being played on JJJ, the most popular songs inevitably make their way across to the giant radio comglomerates.
We also have a variety of smaller community radio stations that play to their own niches.
Surely there must be room in the USA for a station that can reward creativity and talent, rather than commercial success?
-- Askari: Give JavaScript the bird.
What about Representative Ron Paul (R-Texas)?
"competition in Radio And Concert Industries aCT", hereafter known as the 'RACICT' (spoken like 'racist'). Where do they come up with these names?
Radio station have the right to free speech, not the obligation to play music without compensation.
Not exactly -- not while they are using my airwaves.
In America, the airwaves are owned not by radio stations but by the American people. *If* the act of accepting money to play particular songs is bad for the people, than the people have the right -- as owners of the airwaves -- to change the rules that the radio stations have to play by.
When the people own the medium (television, radio), than the people have the right to determine how that medium is used.
For a good time, check out Free Air Time to find out about a similar regarding the television frequency range.
Support a few technologists in Washington.
Who cares about radios?
The movies The Matrix, Vanilla Sky, and Green Mile might have hit chord with you. This world is the wool pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth. You might not believe me, but if you have read this far, you might resonate with what is being said here.
Imagine for a second that this reality of earth in the 21st century is in fact just a creation of your mind. Let's imagine that your mind is just a small part of your consciousness. Let's also imagine that there is no past, future, or present, that everything is an "eternal now". Now imagine that within this "eternal now" exists every possibility of anything and everything that could exist, even things you probably couldn't imagine with your present mode of thought! Now, since you imagined that everything that could exist does, imagine that you are in touch with EVERYTHING that exists. That would make you ALL-KNOWING. Now, let's say that as an all-knowing being, you could decide to block out some portions of everything. The more you blocked, the more defined your reality becomes by rules. These rules that define your world, that of earth, are an example of what I am speaking about. Oh, humanity! if you only realized that there is so much more out there than you can ever imagine in your present state. You bind each other with rules, defining what is and isn't allowed in this reality. Things that are commonplace elsewhere, such as telepathy, is considered something that is not normal, or mysterious. If you took away the mystery, you would have understanding.
Are there aliens out there is one of the biggest questions you ask. This is because you feel so alone in your isolation. The rules you have created isolate you from understanding how the rest of the universe operates. These rules also distort your ideas of where life can exist. There is life on the sun, on venus, mars that you cannot see. There is also life on and within your very own planet you cannot see. In fact, even earth itself is alive. If you wonder why you can not see them, its because you blind yourself from them. Its the veil of consciousness that is this wool that blinds you.
Once you start to break away from each others in terms of following a set of rules that govern order on this planet, you will realize your potential as a diverse energy that can anchor true wisdom into this part of the universe. It will be almost like a full-circle, but its as it was meant to be.
If you have gotten this far without turning away, you should know that realizing the institutions of the world are not as they appear at first glance, that there is corruption deep routed in all forms of government and rule, is a great first step. The next step is realizing that the rabbit hole only goes deeper. How deep you want to go at this time is up to you, but will eventually be inevitable.
By late 2012, time will end and this experience will be over. Afterwards, your eyes will open almost like newborn children, and you will be born into a brave new world where you are the masters of your own reality.
or are McCain and Feingold two of the only people on the hill fighting for consumers rights and the countries ultimate best interests?
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
Let the individuals who invest their money in corporations decide for themselves, and *FUCK* the CEOs!
The correct method for countering satan-kissing, sack-of festering-goat-scrotum limbahj is a brutal smack to the back of the head with a shiny new hardwood baseball bat....for starters, that is.
I do agree with you about the slob being a 'host'...with the load-o'-crap-things that come out of his pizza hole, something is surely growing inside. Let us hope and pray to the suddenly devine that it devours the host it thrives on.
I remember when his step-daughter had her tongue pierced, and he could not figure out what the purpose of the stud was...no clue she was using it for sport-sucking...what a riot.
It's interesting that in what you just said, you completely failed to even begin to find a fault in what the parent comment said.
>>"...a straightforward and honest answer"
>Rather than a straightforward and dishonest answer, or a cryptic, yet honest answer? How about just 'truthful'.
Does it really make a difference which one of those things he's differentiating from? Either way, "straightforward and honest" is the better option. As for your second stab, you're criticizing the parent for being too eloquent. I'd say that the sentence you complain about so nitpickingly is a very apt way of describing political speech.
I found the meaning of life the other day, but I had write-only access.
would allow me to open a station in competition to Clear channel. but i can't, without facing a raid from the FCC. This bill attempts, clumsioly, to offset the protected monopoly created in the '30s.
Ben Masel: 51,282 votes for US Senate in the Wisconsin Democratic Primary
You too can now be a memeber of the Russ Feingold Fan Club! Simply visit www.feingoldfanclub.com!
I just happened to notice this site while trying to find some local news... these people really need to learn to use subdomains though.
I'm not sure whether to be proud or frightened.
Don't forget that Russ Feingold is the same Senator who introduced a bill to halt research on data-mining technology by the Dept. of Homeland Security until Congress can investigate it.
I'm proud to have voted for him.
Story here.
WOOHOO!
let's hope this has ramifications abroad. Australian radio stations currently enjoy receiving payola for giving particular songs airplay without any notification (including the national government-funded Triple J). Interestingly, due to a largely publicised debacle a few years ago, talkback radio announcers are now supposed to give their audiences notification when the opinions they spout are the result of a fat paycheck from some company. Not that they're ever honest in this regard. It's stupid that talkback radio has to announce when they're receiving payola, but music stations don't - and since we Aussies like to follow the US in other media circles perhaps something good will come of it.
It's good to see him getting support from the Republicans in the form of McCain.
Who said McCain was a Republican?
Yes, he had the party's nomination. But he tends to bolt the party on votes - to the point that people expected him to switch parties if the Senate came out a tie or near-tie in the last election.
Conservatives have a term for politicians: RINO - for Republican In Name Only. McCain is the current poster-child for the breed.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Obviously I am not an imbecile because I made a typo. I would be an imbecile if I didn't know how to spell "Republican" but that is clearly not the case. To focus on that makes you a shitfaggot, which I already knew about you. Now, this country was founded by Europeans and the majority of her citizens have always have European descent. Races from elsewhere in the world have always been a minority. That's not bigotry, that's the truth. I really want to know what about that statement makes me a bigot? I didn't say that other cultures weren't as good as my European roots. I merely said that I want my country to hold onto the roots that I embrace. I want the majority to agree with my principles, my moral principles, and my beliefs. There's nothing wrong about that. I am not a bigot.
If you're so ashamed to live in this country, leave. You're not wanted here you whiney liberal faggot. I notice you didn't attack any of my other policy decisions although I would guess you want all illegal immigrants to receive free health care, you fucking jackass. In conclusion, go suck some more cock and maybe, God will smile upon me, and give you AIDS.
I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
And yes, I'm proud to have him for a senator too.
Karma whorin' since 1999
listening to right wing hate radio or as I like to call it... things I can agree with.
Si vis pacem, para bellum! For evil to succeed good men need only do nothing!
Campaign finance reform trys to limit the corrupting influence of big money on politics. It doesn't affect your freedom of speech at all - money is not speech. When a corporation gives money to a political candidate, it is not exercising free speech.
Limiting political contributions is not a radical idea. There are already laws on the books against this, dating back to 1907. McCain-Feingold simply closes some of new loopholes.
2. Add water.
Don't worry, the froth whips itself up.
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
first, he co-authors the mccain-feingold campaign finance reform bill, which was a very un-politician thing to do. then he makes the politically risky move of speaking at one of the shadow conferences they had a while back, whose purpose was to voice opinions outside of the normal two-party fair. he railed against his own party for being awash in special interest money. that took some balls. then ralph nader endorsed feingold as one of the good guys in a bad congress. and now he's proposed this beautiful piece of legislation that just might make radio suck less. go feingold and go wisconsin!
A couple of years ago, I was in a band with commercial promise. We found a group of investors, comprised of money men, attorneys and others with industry contacts, to back us financially. We understood from the beginning that playing in a garage until discovered only worked in "That Thing You Do". We understood that incessant touring with no radio play only works for a very minimal amount of bands. We understood that marketing and promotion were more important than the songs themselves (at least in the are of financial success).
We took their money and our purposely catchy "written for radio" songs to the Hit Factory in Miami (an uber-studio, with clients like Creed, Michael Jackson, Lenny Kravitz, etc) and recorded alternative rock Radio Hits (tm) with the best producer we could afford. We came out with a CD that sounded so good, I'm still glad to have myname associated with it.
Since we were not signed to a label, we had no "in" with the local "independent promoter", who "owned" the rock radio market in our area. Clear Channel is the monopoly in our market, and will play the songs that the "Indie" pays them to promote, at a price that is unfair to non-megacorps. The "Locals Only" show was on only on Sunday nights at midnight (how typical). There was no way for us to get on the radio.
Then, we had the brilliant idea of buying Advertising time (as in commercials) on the station and playing our songs. One of the investors on our team had an "in" with the marketing company that booked most of the time for ads on the 3 rock stations in the market. We recieved very favorable rates per thirty seconds, and it actually would turn out cheaper than paying the "indie", if we had access to him.
Long story short, after 6 days of strong ad-time and experiencing a jump in concert atttendance and merch sales, our ads were pulled (while still having 8 days left on the current ad contract). It turns out that the Indie was receiving complaints from a higher-up and threatened to drop that particular station from his list (which would make the station lose access to the latest hits. Remember that hits=ears=money). We were outraged. We couldn't even bypass the payola system in place, even though we were still paying to get heard on the radio.
The moral of this story is that Russ Feingold and anyone else with the balls to stand against corporate radio money needs all the support he can get. Even when you have the backing to do it yourself, you're still not a Label-Slave(tm). You are not to be considered for airplay.
Governments are not necessary.
My trauma induced decision to comment was purely in reaction to what seemed like a snippet from a class paper, rather than a true opinion, thoughtfully formed in the soup of an active mind.
I would rather see a dark moldy lump that concealed an original thought and interesting idea, as opposed to a trite comment wrapped in crisp paper and flowing ribbon. I'm sure you would too...at least I hope with glee steeped in non-angst that you as a clear thinking and unredoubtful person of untarnished demeanor will see the warmth of my pending delight and respond in kind, not with blatant fervor, but with charity of thought, glamour of kindness and alacrity of understanding that only bipeds and Popes can bring forth without miscue of character. Please do not fail or misconstrue my request for depth and humor as a disregard for clarity and a display of hubris, for I know that you have the ultimate capacity and sterling wit that such a non-flanged retort is not only possible, but probable beyond doubt and shapeless desire. Please, privy my ears and eyes and respond forthwith. I wait, with baited and pregnant breath for the joy I know and trust will grace these hallowed and sacred pages.
Hustler Magazine Interview
By Bruce David
1-18-3
For those of us who've long suspected that our democracy is up for sale to the highest bidder, award-winning investigative journalist Greg Palast has uncovered disturbing evidence confirming as much. Palast's exposes of the theft of the 2000 election, the financial ties between the Bush and the Bin Laden families, and how these connections kept the FBI from perhaps preventing the horrific events of 9/11 have thrown fear into the hearts of media pundits. There has been a near-complete news blackout of the explosive findings documented in Palast's book, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. First released in England, where he reports for the BBC and The Guardian, Palast's collection of writings is finally being published in America by Penguin/Plume books with 40% new material. In an exclusive HUSTLER interview, the author discloses the truth on high crimes in high places that the mainstream media is afraid to touch.
HUSTLER: Tell us about your new book. I know you've been able to get your groundbreaking exposes published in England and Europe, but, up until now, your stuff has been too controversial for the American media to touch.
PALAST: Not a chance in America, until now, thanks to the book.
HUSTLER: What kind of material do you have in the book?
PALAST: How about this for an example: After Daddy Bush left the White House, he went to work for a company called Barrick Gold Corporation in Canada, something you haven't read in the United States. The first thing he does is pick up a big, fat check and stock options from Barrick Gold Corporation for, essentially, selling them the presidential seal and the presidential Rolodex. And he writes letters to dictators like [former president of Indonesia] Suharto, saying, "Give these nice guys gold-mining concessions."
HUSTLER: What is Barrick Gold?
PALAST: It was founded with money from Adnan Khashoggi, the arms dealer. You may remember that Adnan was the bagman in the guns-for-hostages, Iran-Contra scandal. The sheikh got out, then Bush got in. You have to ask yourself a question: What would a Canadian gold-mining company do with a used president? Well, it turns out that before he left office, Daddy Bush put in motion an expedited process for laying claims to gold in the United States. It allowed Barrick Gold Corporation and a couple of other operators to lay claim to the largest gold mines in America. To stake a claim on $10 billion worth of gold ore, Barrick paid the U.S. Treasury less than $10,000.
HUSTLER: I would have gone for that, myself. I could have scraped together $10,000.
PALAST: All I can say is that Barrick was very, very grateful for the gold mine. But the public got the shaft, and Daddy Bush got the job. And George W. got the donations. That's the other thing that has been unreported here: People don't realize how much easy squeezy [campaign money] is flowing in. That includes things like parallel spending and soft money and hard money, which, by the way, hasn't ended. You know that our Congress has passed campaign-finance reform, so-called. What they did was eliminate soft money, but they doubled the amount of hard money. It's just Viagra for campaign donations. Our big problem is that we held something closer to an auction than an election in America. A lot of the reason [George W.] Bush raised all that cash-that easy squeezy-is because of his father's business connections. You're never quite sure where the Bush family's bank account ends, and the campaigns and our American policy begins.
HUSTLER: Did Barrick get anything else from Bush Sr.?
PALAST: He helped Barrick secure a gold-mining concession in Tanzania. Now the gold-mining concession was owned by another Canadian company, named Sutton, which Barrick hoped to get the rights from. But there was a problem: The land was worthless, because there were Tanzanian miners already on it who had the rights to the mine. That's why, in the first week of August 1996, Sutton bulldozers ran across that property with military police firing guns to chase off the miners. In the process, they sealed up the mine pits and, unfortunately, there were 50 miners still in the mines, buried alive, say witnesses. That's information that has not been reported in the United States. You can't get that word out for nothing, because Bush's gold-mining company terrorizes journalists who dare breathe a word about it. They terrorize newspapers; they've been terrorizing wire services, and so you don't get the story.
HUSTLER: They threaten legal action?
PALAST: They threaten legal action, and they bring legal action. They sued my paper, The Guardian; they said it's all a lie. That's the most prestigious newspaper in the world. They tried to get me to back up and say that no one died. I held firm, and there was nothing that they could do. I wasn't in Tanzania, and I didn't dig out the corpses myself, so maybe Barrick's right, but I have videotapes of the corpses.
HUSTLER: Your book also mentions Bush and intelligence failures prior to September 11, right?
PALAST: CIA and FBI agents told BBC Television, for which I was reporting, that they were ordered not to investigate Saudi Arabian financing of terror networks such as al Qaeda. The FBI agents "accidentally" left a file about the Bin Laden family on the desk of one of my researchers. They called up and said, "Oops, we left our file on your desk by accident. You haven't read it, have you? Well, we'll be back to pick it up in 30 minutes-unless you need 45." The FBI agents handed us material dated September 13, 2001, two days after the attack. It was on that date that the FBI was finally released to go after two members of the Bin Laden family, who they had already identified as being involved with a suspected terrorist organization. But by September 11th, they were flown birds.
HUSTLER: What happened to other members of the Bin Laden family living in the U.S. after 9/11?
PALAST: Just after the no-fly restriction was lifted, a private Saudi Arabian jet airlifted the Bin Laden family members out of the country before the FBI could talk to them. Everyone thinks there's just one black sheep in that family, but the FBI agents were telling us at BBC they think there's a couple of gray sheep, and they had some questions for the family members. There were a lot of people dead under the rubble at that moment when those people left.
HUSTLER: What had American policy been regarding the Bin Laden family prior to the Bush Administration?
PALAST: Bill Clinton had already put a go-slow on investigations of Saudi Arabian financing of terror networks. Clinton had always taken the position that we can't annoy our dear friends, the Saudis, even if our dear friends happen to be funding terrorists like the al Qaeda network; however, he never actually stood in the way of investigating them, whereas George W., according to FBI and intelligence agents, said, "You can't go there. You may not look. You may not investigate the American Bin Ladens."
HUSTLER: So the FBI and CIA agents were pissed at George W.?
PALAST: They are furious. He blindsided our intelligence agencies. How could a trillion-dollar intelligence operation like the CIA not foresee the most deadly attack on America since Pearl Harbor? The answer is not because Bush knew about September 11 in advance. Rather, they were told not to look because of connections that are political, personal and financial between the Bushes and the Saudis. When these agencies were told not to look, there was a lot not to look at. There was a 1996 meeting between the al Qaeda financial arm, Saudi billionaires and key international arms dealers. There was a discussion about which Saudis would pay how much to al Qaeda. Now if I can find out about it, and the French intelligence had a mole in the meeting, you can bet that our trillion-dollar CIA could find out about it; so why wasn't there follow-up? Why wasn't there action? How about a note to the Saudis saying, "Do us a favor: Stop giving money to people who are killing us."
HUSTLER: What about the Bin Laden and Bush connections to the Carlyle Group?
PALAST: The Bin Ladens were investors in a very private and a very exclusive operation called Carlyle, which is an investment group. Carlyle is one of the biggest private corporations on the planet; so they report to no one, and they're responsible to no one, except their little coterie of owners, which is made up of an ex-president and dictators. Daddy Bush worked for, and still continues to be on a retainer for, the Carlyle Group, representing the company in Saudi Arabia and in Asia. His son, our President, was also put on the board of one of the companies owned by Carlyle, Caterair, and he was paid on the order of $50,000 for them to access his great business acumen. Caterair went under, but they never asked for their money back.
HUSTLER: What about George W.'s oil ventures?
PALAST: He had several oil ventures and could never find oil in Texas, which is almost impossible, as you know. On the other hand, he had a company, Spectrum Seven, which was bought out by another company, Harken Oil. Before that, he had Arbusto, which means shrub. He could never find oil, this guy. But he did find Saudi Arabians who put money into Harken and got him on the board where he was paid consulting fees. Then, despite the fact that the company seems to be going south, a miracle occurred. That is, the Bahraini government insisted on giving Harken Oil a contract to drill in the Persian Gulf. This is a dry-land Texas company suddenly being given an offshore oil lease by a country that had previously been doing business with Amoco. They picked this little, teeny company out of nowhere, which of course has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the guy was the son of the President of the United States.
HUSTLER: What about Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela? Was the CIA really involved in the attempted coup last April? And how did that relate to oil?
PALAST: What's not discussed in the American press is that the president of Venezuela, who they say is a Communist and a dictator, was, in fact, elected in a democratic election. In that regard, it's worth noting that our President's spokesman said, "Winning a majority of the vote does not make your government legitimate."
HUSTLER: Who should know better?
PALAST: [The U.S. government has] been working on getting rid of Chavez, because he's not only president of Venezuela, he also got to choose the president of OPEC, and I haven't read that anywhere in the U.S. press. He controls the biggest pool of available oil. Saddam Hussein's oil fields, if we do invade, will be in flames. Where do we get the oil to make up for the losses in a war? One place, Venezuela, which pulled our bacon out of the fire during the Arab oil embargo of the '70s.
HUSTLER: Didn't Chavez piss off U.S. oil companies by restructuring his deal with them?
PALAST: Here is a guy who said, "Look, I've got a nation where millions of people are living in cardboard houses. We're raising the price of oil, I'm taking over OPEC, I'm putting it back together, and I'm gonna take that money and rebuild the ghettos of Caracas," which he did. And that cost a lot of money, which he got by doubling the royalties on foreign corporations taking out the oil. They were getting 16% royalties-this is the Venezuelans' own oil, after all-and Chavez said, "We'll take 30%. You get 70%. Is that a deal?" The response from the Bush Administration was to get the guy kidnapped. And our ambassador, a political toady named Charles Shapiro, ran down from the U.S. Embassy to put his arm around the guys who are literally holding the president of the country hostage. You have to imagine what this looks like to the rest of the people in the world. Of course, we didn't see that. We're not permitted to find out what's happening in our news media.
HUSTLER: What has happened to the the news media in this country?
PALAST: I vomit every time I see Tom Brokaw.
HUSTLER: And Dan Rather-
PALAST: I feel sick at heart when I see Rather, because he's actually a journalist. He came on my program, Newsnight [in England] and said, "I can't report the news. I'm not allowed to ask questions. We're gonna send our children and our husbands into the desert now, and I can't ask a question, because I will be lynched." This is what Rather said in London. He looked defeated and awful, and I was thinking, Why am I feeling sorry for this guy who is worth millions? He should turn to the camera and say, "Well, now for the truth. Over to you, Greg, in London." The problem is that he can't report the story of the intelligence agents who are told not to look at the Bin Laden family, not to look at Saudi funding of terror.
HUSTLER: What makes Rather afraid to do his job?
PALAST: It's not just that there are brutal shepherds like Rupert Murdoch out there to beat the dickens out of any reporter that asks the wrong questions; it's all about making news on the cheap. You know, for some of these editors, cheap and easy is a philosophy of life. To do a heavy-duty story on Bush, and his oil and Bush and his gold-mining company is beyond them. A little bit of the Harken stock scandal came out, but that story was already seven years old. To some extent they know that there are certain things you cannot say. Rather says he would be necklaced for telling the truth.
HUSTLER: He said that? What did he mean?
PALAST: In South Africa, under apartheid, if someone didn't like you, they put a burning tire around your neck. That was called "necklacing." On my show, Rather said, "If I ask any questions, I'll be necklaced." And I'm thinking, Oh, that's a good image. It's sad, but if Dan Rather doesn't have the cajones to ask a question, then you name a reporter who's gonna step out and ask about what's going on. It's not that the corporate guys say, "Don't run that story," although that has happened to me many times in North American media, but also the shepherds pick the lambs who won't ask the questions. For example, there was a reporter, some poor producer, who wanted to run a story about how Jack Welch had lied about polluting the Hudson River. The story didn't run. Shockeroo. That was for Dateline NBC, owned by General Electric, of which Jack Welch was the chairman of the board. Or as in the case of Venezuela, I was stunned to come back from Caracas to find a picture on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle of 100,000 people marching against the president of Venezuela. Sounds like he's a terrible guy and people hate him. What they didn't say was that half a million people were marching for him. At least the Soviet Russians knew that the stuff in Pravda was coming out the wrong end of a toilet, whereas, we live under the pretense that The New York Times prints all the news that's fit to print.
HUSTLER: I won't read The New York Times. That publication has no credibility with me.
PALAST: The New York Times ran a story, front page, the first week of September 2001, talking about gold-mining companies in Nevada and how they seem to be getting let off the hook by the Bush Administration on environmental rules. They didn't mention two things in that front-page article: They didn't mention the owner of the big gold mine-Barrick-and they didn't mention who had been on their board-the President's Daddy. I brought that up to an editor of the Times. They said, "How dare you. No one has ever accused The New York Times of cowardice," and [former Times writer] Seymour Hersch leaned over to me and said, "That's the guy who had me pushed out of the Times."
HUSTLER: They haven't really told the truth about Bush and the 2000 election, either.
PALAST: I've got brand-new, deeply evil stuff about that in the new book. What happened was that, five months before the election, Katherine Harris, acting under orders from Jeb Bush, knocked 57,000 voters off the rolls. They were suspected of being evildoers and felons and, therefore, not allowed to vote in Florida. Here's the news: Of the 57,000 people, 97% were innocent of crimes, but they were guilty of being black. Half of them were African-American or Hispanic-in other words, Democratic voters. Was the state guessing who the the people of color were? In Florida, it's like South Africa; they list your race right on your registration. There was no guessing. These people not only lost their vote, but lost their president. BBC figures Gore lost 22,000 votes this way, but you didn't read that in the U.S. press. You didn't read in the U.S. press that they say they're going to allow the voters back on in 2003. That means that they were screwed for the election of 2002 as well. I ran the story of the theft of the election on the BBC. Then a hotshot with CBS News calls me and says, "Oh, that's a great story, can we have a piece of it? We want something new." I said, "Yeah, I got something for you: Jeb Bush's office, the governor of Florida, is involved in knocking off the voters too, not just Katherine Harris, and there's a letter dated September 18, 2000, which directs county-election officials to deliberately violate the law and not register a bunch of people who are Democrats. These are people who committed crimes in other states. Jeb can't legally stop them from voting, but he did anyway. And he knows that these people are Democrats, because there's something about going to jail that turns people [into] Democrats, about 93% [of ex-cons vote Democrat.]
HUSTLER: So, people who were either black or who had previously gone to jail were just automatically eliminated?
PALAST: Right. Jeb sent out the letter anyway, September 18, 2000, despite two court orders saying he couldn't do that. I had an insider in his office, some poor woman, shaking, saying, "I gotta read you this letter." She knew about the court orders. Okay, so I said, to CBS, "That's a story." CBS News didn't run the story-one night, two nights. I said, "What happened?" They said, "It didn't stand up." I said, "How do you know the story didn't stand up?" "Well, we called Jeb Bush's office, and they said, 'We didn't do it.'" Oh. Hotshot Dan Rather investigative news team. They said, "The letter doesn't exist. It's not in the computer files; it's in no one's files, not in the governor's files. It's nowhere to be found." Then Katherine Harris writes a hysterical, screeching letter to Harper's Magazine, calling me twisted and maniacal, but she didn't say I was wrong. She said, "Yeah we knocked off these people, but it's not my fault; I got a letter from the governor." I called up her office-I didn't say, "This is Mr. Twisted and Maniacal"-I said, "Um, excuse me, I got a letter from your Secretary of State saying that she had a letter from the governor, before the election, regarding removing people from the voter rolls. Could you fax that to me?" Suddenly, the letter that CBS says doesn't exist is faxed to me. I've got it in my hot little hands, the letter that was in Katherine Harris's desk; so CBS just took an official denial, because they're not gonna say, "The President's brother, the governor of the state of Florida, fixed the election"-that we had a coup d'Ztat by computer.
HUSTLER: What can you tell us about the way the news media counted the ballots in Florida after the election?
PALAST: ABC News ran down after I noticed that 180,000 ballots were not counted in Florida. Never counted, because they were spoiled, as they say. They were not counted because the ballots had mismarks on them. Would you be surprised to find out that most of those ballots were from black voters? Black precincts. Black counties. So Ted Koppel's team goes to investigate, and what they find is that black voters have a tough time figuring out the ballots, because they're not very educated.
HUSTLER: That's what they actually said?
PALAST: They reported on Ted Koppel that the reason so many black votes were voided is that, basically-in very polite, expert terms, in the way Ted always speaks from under his wig-blacks are too fucking dumb to figure out the ballots. But I went down to Tallahassee, and what I found out is that in white areas, when you have a paper ballot, and you make a mistake, it goes into an automatic reader-an optical reader. It comes back as a mistake, and you get another ballot, and you vote again. In black counties, you make a mistake, it goes into the same ballot, it's the same machine, and the ballot is destroyed. The buttons were set differently; so it wasn't that black voters were too dumb to vote. It was that the white reporters were too dumb to ask.
HUSTLER: Isn't it true that even with the fix put in by Jeb and Harris, Gore would have won if there had been a recount of all the ballots statewide?
PALAST: Absolutely. Walking away, Gore won. People thought that they were voting for Al Gore. What they called a ballot that doesn't count is one where Al Gore's name is circled on a paper ballot. And listen to this: People wrote in the name Al Gore because the ballot said, "Write in candidate's name." And they wrote in Al Gore. If you wrote in Al Gore, because he wasn't a write-in candidate, your ballot was voided. And again, you gotta go back to the fact, it's not everybody's ballot that was voided. The blacker the ballot, the higher the chances it will not be counted, and that was the evil of it. That's the modern way: Use computers and mechanisms to steal elections, and if you know the race of a voter, you know the color of their vote.
HUSTLER: Any final words on the state of the American press?
PALAST: Let's put it this way: This is the 30th anniversary of the Watergate break-in, and that means it's been 30 years since the Washington Post has broken a major story. I uncovered the story of the purged voters and broadcast it in Britain within three weeks of the election. Al Gore was still in the race. The Washington Post ran my story, seven months later, nicely buried there. W. is reading it in the White House and giggling to himself. For more news and views from Greg Palast, go to www.gregpalast.com.
***
PBS stations nationwide will broadcast "Counting on Democracy," featuring Palast's investigation of state manipulation of the vote in Florida during the 2000 presidential election. Local broadcast times for the film, directed by Emmy award-winner Danny Schechter, can be found at at www.GregPalast.com (Events), where you can also read and subscribe to Greg Palast's "London Observer" columns and view his reports for BBC Television's Newsnight.
Or Feingold/McCain, I'd vote for either one. It'd certainly be unprecedented (I think). Sadly, I don't think the money is there.
I need to check this out further, but a read over the press release shows no mention of Internet Radio.
I certainly support the bill * can I get an amen? * and I suppose you have to pick your battles, but doesn't Internet radio need a little fairness also?
I would like to see parity between Internet broadcasters and FM broadcasters regarding what is required of them by the RIAA. The RIAA doesn't want independent Internet radio stations to succeed and is imposing stifling reporting requirements (i.e. song, title, time played, listener's IP address, listener's blood type etc.) and exorbitant copyright compensation fees. As it stands now, independent Internet radio stations are dying.
I believe that radio will eventually be "broadcast" almost exclusively over IP networks with the wireless component being handled by ubiquitous, low-power, ultra-wide band radio in the city and satellite radio in the country. I think an explosion of music could happen if the RIAA would just get out of the way. Instead, they seek to hinder this explosion because it is not something they understand or feel that they can control.
I urge you to consider that "small and independent" radio is increasingly going to be an Internet phenomenon and we future station owners need your help.
Thank You
"The world is a construct of forceful imagination. Those who don't know walk around in the reailties of those who do"
Under my guidance, Love Media has emerged as the fastest growing US-run media conglomerate of the past five years. With newspapers, television stations and radio stations across the US and the free world, alongside a wide array of industrial and technological interests, we at Love Media ensure you get the truth behind the story every time. From films to dog food, from news radio to pop music, you can be sure of independent, quality-led broadcasting every time you tune in. That's why we're the fastest growing cable supplier and health insurance provider in the northeast, and why our new satellite in China is something all Americans can be proud of. Here at Love Media we are proud of what we have done to help America and to help hard-working Americans relax.
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Isnt it a bit too late for this? After many a cross-country road trip, my expectations of radio sank lower and lower until I finally didnt listen to it at all. Most of the bands I enjoy will NEVER be on radio so what purpose is there in listening to it? Force of habbit? No thanks...
Ill keep my netradio and be on my merry way. Perhaps this might stop a few people from taking the road away form radio, but its really too late I think.
Picture growing up and seeing a bunch of old people listening to music on AM radio, even though FM had been around for quite awhile, they simply were accustomed to hearing it on AM and stayed with it. History doesnt repeat itself, but it sure rhymes. (Mark T.)
Those damn liberals are at it again, stifling the small businessman...
oh, wait...
Pay attention, dipshit.
Sure, but they are groups of people.
Everything a corporation does is done by people. And everything they say is said by people, who have the right to free speech. So I don't understand how the people/corporation distiction would change anything.
You've worked on his staff for how long, now?
I have no direct association with the Senator. I do follow the Congressional Record from time to time, a habit I picked up while studying the machinations of the houses of Congress, and have simply learned how to separate the significant from the fluff. There's a lot of fluff.
Rather than a straightforward and dishonest answer, or a cryptic, yet honest answer? How about just 'truthful'.
My use of two adjectives was not merely a rhetorical attempt to place emphasis on a point by using two words that may appear to some to be redundant. 'Straightforward' carries a connotation of succinctness -- it's direct; it doesn't dance around the issue. 'Honest' refers to truth. I could dumb things down, but I visit here to try and escape the real world for a bit.
Sure, like a lack of morals in politicians just started appearing this generation. Or does 'modern' mean since Ceasar's last reign?
I'm not arguing morals, I'm arguing the leaving of plenty of room for deceit. The creative elusiveness I'm referring to isn't how Henry VIII cleverly extricated himself from all those inconvenient marriages, or the diplomatic prowess of Genghis Kahn. It doesn't really have anything to do with morality, actually. I'm talking about "it depends on what your definition of 'is' is" and all other conversations cut from the same cloth. It may be textbook public relations (a relatively modern industry that started picking up steam in the 20s but hasn't really come into its own until recent decades) but it insults my intelligence, and generally when I point out to people the way perceptions can be managed they notice how pervasive this disingenuity is not only from our elected representatives but in the media in general. People have of course sought to promote the positive and downplay the negative throughout history when their positions relied on the goodwill of others, but the recent art of 'spin' transcends that penny-ante crap because it's a phenomenon that came into play after instantaneous national communication became a reality.
Here's an excerpt from Larry King Live the night of the State of the Union address. Watch the smooth transition between the public persona and actual actions of a Senator who just got caught catering publicly to a constituency that is largely anti-war while privately voting to pave our way back in:
Actually comparing how some of these folks speak and vote when they're at work to what they're saying when they're on national news is a good first step towards becoming an educated voter. That's a good chunk of the reason I appreciate having someone like Feingold in the Senate even if our ideologies differ -- he sticks closer to Democratic ideals than the party does.
Tell it like it is, admit when you're wrong, stand up even against adversity for your beliefs, don't judge a book/bill by its cover, and don't jump off a bridge just because everybody else is doing it. I can count on one finger the number of Senators that opposed the PATRIOT Act -- legislation that flew through despite the fact that no Senator could have possibly read through the whole thing, let alone judged its potential impact on our society. Whether or not you agree with the bill, the carelessness displayed on the floor that day was reprehensible. If nothing else (and there is 'else', of course), the fact that Feingold was the only one to stand up against the Senate's abrogation of their duty to us to evaluate the suitability of the legislation they're judging makes me think highly of him and poorly of the rest.
So, do you know what your representatives are really up to, or are you blowing smoke? Don't rely on FOX, CNN, or the rest -- go straight to thomas.loc.gov and do a little research.
Stop using your (AC) Boy Scout manual as a style guide and maybe you can come up with a point...maybe.
This is what depresses me about our generation. Music's about the size of the titties on the singer. Humor is about how loud and lowbrow the comedian can get. They tried to come up with an XFL because football has become too long-winded and didn't have enough dudes called Crusher and He Hate Me. We're just three years away from having our news issued to us in comic books.
Look, there used to be this thing called nuance, and before it became a fragrance it was quite popular to choose your words to say a lot more than you are spelling out. Why is it my problem that you missed the point?
I've heard the United States referred to as the "Great Experiment". I believe the experiment has been successful, but the test of time has shown some weaknesses in our Constitution and in democracy in general. We need to patch a few serious exploits...
Our rights do not come from the Constitution. Our Constitution is an acknowledgement by the government of certain rights which we posess simply by virtue of being human. Among those rights is the right of self-government. We would not be outside our rights to abolish the existing Constitution and reaffirm our belief in democracy with a new one. I think the Founding Fathers would quite approve.
But of course, there are not enough honest politicians in Washington to entrust our government with that task today!
GO figure.
A veteran, war hero, man of immense integrity, somebody who is never afraid to say what he actually thinks and he is not a "real" republican. What does that say about "real" republicans?
War is necrophilia.
this is just about the stupidest solution anyone could possibly propose.
you want real diverysity in the airwaves?
how about expanding the spectrum to allow more voices to be heard?
20 MHz of spectrum for FM and about 1 MHz for AM is pretty thin, don't you think?
but nooooooooooo, that solution will NEVER be proposed, because that would require relinquishing feingold's precious gonvernment control over the airwaves.
this is actually my first comment ever on slashdot, after reading for almost 6 years. this proposed "solution" was just so over-the-top i had to say something!
Down on Long Island/NYC, which is perhaps the biggest rock market in the US, there is only one Modern Rock station. There were two a few years ago, but since they are both owned by the same company, the other went talk. The Modern Rock station, WXRK (Howard Stern's home), plays Rap, etc along with the other stuff. Yes, we heard 'Because I Got High' too (ugh).
If you're in a college town, listen to their station! Free format may mean you only get a little you like, but at least it will be different music all the time.
GL
Who said McCain was a Republican?
Yes, he had the party's nomination. But he tends to bolt the party on votes - to the point that people expected him to switch parties if the Senate came out a tie or near-tie in the last election.
So the republican party is the political equivalent of the Borg, here?
Conservatives have a term for politicians: RINO - for Republican In Name Only. McCain is the current poster-child for the breed.
Near as I can tell, Republican *is* a name only. As is Democrat. Alan Keyes ain't George W ain't Pat Buchanan ain't etc...
Don't get me wrong. I see your point. One of the people I know who work close to congress said he thinks McCain really needs to get his meds worked right, and there's a lot of republicans who feel that way. But being willing to break with the party line on an issue -- to me, that's worthy of respect rather than scorn. Probably because I don't subscribe to the ideology or trust the leadership of any prominent political party these days.
Libertarianism is rich wolves and poor sheep playing gambler's ruin for dinner.
My point, by way of sarcasm, was that you had no point...just an agenda.
The reason your non-point was so thin is that it was simply a platform to hang your conservative flag on.
In the past your type was acceptable as part of the cloth of diversity that represented an overall culture that seemed to allow each voice a place in the choir. Today, the conservative voice is raised in all manner of deception and singular faith, and I for one mistrust the future you paint and admire.
I'm sure you feel comfortable in assuming you should minister any cause you're told is honorable, but I'd like to suggest you take time to get out of your rose colored bubble and learn that we all have as much right as the next person to practice our beliefs, without having to explain or argue them as others think we should.
The next time the rapture strikes, and you feel like belting out a hymn while dining at Sizzler, stop and think about how many cultures and political views are represented in that room...and how they may not appreciate your pushing your agenda on them...regardless of what your prayer group tells you.
Am I the only one who could care less who owns the FM stations? FM should die. I'd rather see a nationwide WiFI network and the ability to tune-in streaming Internet stations.
More choice. More variety. Advertisers win because they can see concrete listener numbers. Radio stations win because they can profit from the advertizing. Listeners win because we'll have more choice.
So where am I wrong... other than the fact that WiFi isn't cut out to scale to nationwide proportions... (I think)
They say that ClearChannel has no real competition but it's not true -- check out CheapChannel Radio, a satiric competitor with a voice tracking program to rival even the big boys. Voice tracking is the system ClearChannel stations use to have a DJ in Houston pretend he's from cities all around the country to give canned stations a little "local" flavor. CheapChannel is a project of the Prometheus Radio Project, which was recently featured on the PBS's McNeil News Hour for their work promoting Low Power FM stations. The first site is fun, and the second is interesting, if you're concerned about media consolidation.
s/have to of/have to have/
Presumably : they av to ov sounded okay in your head
8)
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
I know there is a small market for it, but if this opens the window for a cross-country heavy metal conglomerate, "overdrive channel" perhaps, I am all for it.
sir_haxalot
stuff |
I believe our rights were given to us by that creator and that no man can take them from you nor give you others, nor even decide which ones I can exercise. Man and their laws can punish me for exercising those rights, but that's about all.
I am given the right to walk, talk, think, break into my neigbor's home and kill them, etc, etc. I am not given the right to fly under my own power.
But that is way off topic.
The truth doesn't care what I think.
Bill Gates is hoarding cash. What does he know that you don't?
Rather a lot, unfortunately, which is why he has the cash to horde and I don't...
"Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
It strikes me funny that lawmakers are concerned about anti-competetive practices among corperations (Clear Channel, Salem, Cumulus, et al), and not look at the environs that are creating such large entities...
For example: K-localstation with a potential audience of 100,000 is humming along fine playing POP/AC along with web simulcast.
Firstly, the RIAA managed to get legislation passed to receieve royalties, RETROACTIVELY - I might add, and therefore has to shut down the webcast and figure out how to pay for the previous casting...an expense no one could have reasonably foretold.
Secondly, HugeRadio Corperation decides to entire the market, first by trying to purchase the local station for a mere pittance of actual value, then muscling in by sheer force, offering advertisers lower advertising, greater transmitting, etc....
K-localradiostation cannot, already finacially strapped due to the RIAA, bad economy, etc, cannot possibly compete and eventually sells out, not to the first corperation, but to a compteting one.
I don't see who breaking up these corperations are going to save the local stations without removing some of the legislation and "fees" that are killing them in the first place...smells like relection legislation to me.
".. of the people, by the people, and for the people".
If we feel regulation is to the benefit of the people, we have every right to regulate our property that we license out.
I think the more important question is: what is with these corporations believing it is socially acceptable to trade off our culture and awareness for money?
As I understand it one of the arguments against allowing microbroadcast licenses was that all of the small, not-for-profit channels would drive the local, for-profit stations out of business. These stations after all have (or had) staff and facilities to pay for, and a limited broadcast market to recoup those costs. Along comes clearchannel, with remote broadcasting and consolidation. Clearchannel can afford to run on a smaller slice of each market, since their cost per market is reduced. They have eliminated staff and facilities, centralizing broadcast centers and management.
I believe that the consolidation of radio stations has removed the competition argument against microbroadcast licensing. With their increased financial base they no longer need market protection from community radio.
Russ probably feels guilty that he is privileged enough to have access to stations like WMSE - Milwaukee School of Engineering, with extremely diverse formats. Commercial stations would never play such a broad range of music. Of course avail on the net.
http://www.wmse.org/
I used to live in Wisconsin, Milwaukee, watched Russ sneak in the senate by taking the high-road running as an independent dark-horse with a positive platform, while the Dems and Publicans fought a negative campaign tearing each other from limb to limb with little concern for Russ.
Russ is a maverick, but will give him credit for teaming up with McCain and vice versa. Both have guts to stand up to the establishment, whether their ideas are good or not is one for induhviduals to decide at the polls.
I now live in Tokyo where radio is pretty much the same popular stuff, have not come across anything like WMSE yet, but DSL/ftth is affordable, so WMSE and others always available at home, plus can at least free sample music in many music shops. Tokyo does have a diverse music retail industry, many specialty shops, but of course a hassle to visit compared to the radio. Having travelled quite a bit would rank Tokyo's retail market at or near the top.
Wonder if Russ and McCain have an WMSE shirt? or better yet a slashdot alias?
What ever happened to the bill (or was it just an FTC guideline?) allowing the small power stations on commercial bands? I heard a lot about it, and then nothing.
The FCC is the primary reason why the playing field of radio is so unlevel. When you have a government entity dictating who can broadcast, where/when/what they can broadcast, you're going to have strong lobbying by corporations to have this body make policies that are favaroble to them. Hence you have insanely expensive licensing fees and stiff fines if you don't do the FCC's bidding. This can't be fixed by more regulation. Government regulation of the airwaves is what caused this problem in the first place.
If you want to restore true fairness to the radio environment, get rid of the FCC.
Got Freedom?
Thinking?
...can we just cut to the chase and place a ban on any station anywhere playing "Free Falling" by Tom Petty for oh, say, the next ten years?
I like the song, but when I can't flip through the FM band without hearing it at least three times, there's a problem!
A: Apparently, how to get loads of hoardable cash. The only hoardy thing that separates us non-hoarders from the hoarders is the hoard-load of hoardables.
Let's not stir that bag of worms...
With today's technology, it should be possible
to have hundreds of channels per market.
Combine this with reasonable ownership
limitations and the situation would be much
better for people who want choice.
OK, I'll admit it - I forgot, is this the good guy or the bad guy? Is this a good thing, or not?
FYI, I have relatives in mgt. at Walgreens. They dropped alcohol because it was not a moneymaker. Liability insurance, staffing over-21 employees, etc. btw, they are now more profitable as a company.
PS - the mormon group is Bonneville, and they own quite a few radio stations - alternative and otherwise - that advertise alcohol, IIRC.
Agree? Disagree? Tell someone who can do something about it.
} .senate.gov'.
http://www.house.gov/writerep for your US Representative.
http://www.senate.gov for your US Senators. (Senators' e-mail addresses are usually 'senator_${senator_last_name}@${senator_last_name
For all of them - be sure to include your name and address, so they know that you live in their district. More likely to take you seriously, then.
We all know that the corporations are looking out for our best interests so why do these commie pinko libruls have to try and ruin all the fun for the Rush Limbaugh, Savage Nation, and Bill O'Really lovers out there in the heartland? Damned librul media.
Corporations.
Really.
Aren't.
People.
or C.R.A.P.
Oh how I would love to see a McCain/Feinglod ticket. They have both really stuck to their principles and I respect that.
Your "tolerance and generosity towards all people" bullshit is just that; bullshit. Let's take care of the kids living in the South Bronx before we worry about assholes in Tijuana that aren't even cared about by their own government. I say, let's make sure our own are taken care of before we try to help anyone else. Gasoline and supplying health care to illegals have nothing to do with each other but since you're a liberal, I'm not surprised. Liberals never understand how issues relate. I do not want to supply health care to illegal immigrants because they are here illegally. They knew that what they were doing was against the law when they ran across the border and not receiving health care is the consequence they must endure. They should have stayed in Mexico and applied for immigration papers to the U.S. if they wanted in so badly. This belief that I must be tolerant of everyone and try to help everyone is stupid. If you end up in Mexico and demand the type of treatment that illegals are given here, good fucking luck. You probably won't get out of Mexico alive. The rest of the world doesn't aim for this type of charity and neither should we. I will not embrace everyone's right to be different. If you want to be in this country, learn some fucking English and support the economy. Don't work for an employer who is not paying taxes. Don't run across the border illegally. Don't fucking piss me off.
There's a simple cure for AIDS; people should stop fucking around. I am at a very low risk for AIDS because, first of all, I don't engage in anal sex (where more blood is passed between partners) since I am heterosexual and I do not sleep around with many different women. If people were to live their lives morally, as they should, the spread of AIDS would be halted. Those people with AIDS would die off and the "epidemic" would be over. Furthermore, there are many more critical diseases and disorders to spend money on. AIDS isn't killing that many people in the U.S. so I demand that my tax dollars go towards something that is actually affecting my people.
You go ahead and embrace diversity. I'm sure you'd like to embrace child molestors, rapists, and murders too right? There needs to be a line drawn somewhere and you liberal faggots are so afraid of offending anyone that you will never draw it. And your "God does not smile" shit sounds a little too Muslim. You better not check into any flight schools Mohammed. And the best way to help countries who are shit, is by not supporting them at all. If Mexicans couldn't get free health care in the U.S., they'd rise up and force their government to reform. The government corruption would no longer be acceptable. But since Juan can just take a short trip across the border means that no one gives a shit about the Mexican government. People need to sink or swim - a perpetual state of receiving handouts only makes them reliant.
You're a fucking loser who doesn't really understand how the world functions. Stop being such a pussy and take a stand on an issue. All you do is "embrace diversity", you fucking pillow-biter. Well, I have a different view from you - don't you want to embrace me and welcome me into "your" country? Come on, you want a Mexican that doesn't know how to add to get a free ride but me, a highly educated and sophisticated moral and upright person; me, you'll kick out. Fuck you loser. Again, AIDS + You = Me, laughing.
I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
ClearChannel signed a deal with the city of San Francisco a few years back that should make any self-respecting civil libertarian cringe.
The city board of supervisors (then controlled by mayor Willie Brown) passed an ordinance to prohibit newspapers from putting their own vending boxes on city streets. All newspapers would have to be sold through city-sanctioned newspaper racks or city-sanctioned newspaper kiosks. No newspaper would be allowed to place its own rack on the streets. They then contracted with ClearChannel to place and run these news racks, allowing CLearChannel to determine which papers could exist in them. Some newspaper publishers have filed suit to block the law, but I'm not sure how effective that will be. No matter what the outcome, the city will be obligated to pay ClearChannel for the "administration" of these racks.
Here's an article on the subject.
"You done taken a wrong turn."
-Bill McKinney, in Deliverance
PS - "because I got high" is a decent piece of music, you have to admit that. I do and I detest rap.
Heroscape, it's like legos combined with anachronistic wargames.
Mormons as a group have never advocated any political group whatsoever (the church leadership directly forbids it), and have never bought out anything for any censorship reasons whatsoever. When christian groups began circulating petitions and congressmen grading cards around, they were banned from mormon churches almost immediately. I can see absolutely no reason why any mormon "group" would even exist, or why they would buy out any rock station at all. Granted, there are mormon owned businesses, but businesses don't make money by buying out radio stations with "questionable" content and then closing them down. Mormon owned businesses try to make money, and I believe one of the largest truck stop businesses is mormon-owned and sells alcohol (I could be wrong about this). Mormons believe in free agency and freedom of choice as much as anything else.
P.S. I'm a mormon.
...would IMHO have made good presidents. If either Albright or Powell ran, I'd vote for her/him. I have far more respect for Powell than for any other current member of the administration, and it seems The Onion's horoscope agrees with me. (Is Dubya's sign Cancer, I take it?)
Anybody know what Albright has been doing since Clinton left? She kicked ass, I thought.
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
Where did you hear that mormons shut down 104.1? From what I understand, it was bought out by the company that owns 105.7 (not to mention 94.7, amongst others) then converted into a wonderful 80's station that makes me want to shove pencils in my ears whenever my cousin makes me listen to it in the car. Now, I honestly don't have any data to back it up but I'd never heard anything even close to mormons buying it.
Ignorance kills, complacency kills, hatred kills, but usually not the ones guilty of them.
I used to listen to a number of different music stations, but when they got bought out by sucky 100-ad-a-minute monopoly stations, I started listening to my local NPR station more. I know I'm not the only one who's gone that direction.
... silence. *ahhhh*
So, unless ClearChannel starts buying out (non profit, listener funded) Public Radio there are probably a lot of people (read: voters) fed up with crappy music and insipid morning shows that are switching to award-winning, (relatively) evenly-biased journalism about the politics of the U.S. and the world.
Yes, I know it's going a long way to find a "bright side" to something so obviously bad and wrong, but I can't help but see some good coming out of the bad state that things are in.
And as a note to anybody who doesn't like what's playing on the radio monopoly: turn it off. It feels really good to have some whinging pop-tart singer or annoying advertiser giving you their line, and *beep*
The requested URL
Mormon's dont buy radiostations. The mormons parly own 1 station, and a mormon related company (bonnivile communications, who puts on their general conference for free) owns PAX TV. The LDS church (as far as i can tell) doesn't have anything to do with radio.
"Martha Stewart can lick my Scrotum......do i have a scrotum?" -- Sharon Osbourne
What a shitty mod.
>In true capitalism, pirate radio stations would probably spring up all over
Stamp my passport right now. I was in a backwater town in the Philippines, and heard the Backstreet Boys and Shania Twain. I got home and scoured the stores for And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead's "Madonna," Neko Case, and live James Brown.
If the FCC allowed "pirate" radio stations, I'll be the first in line to put a dipole up Clear Channel's "freedom."
No, the FCC would not allow pirate stations. The FCC would simply not exist, as government regulation on industry is against the principle of Capitalism, where the only driving force is market force.
BTW, true Capitalism also allows for monopoly but, considering there are no patents/copywrites, It's a lot harder to start one...
Jw