If you bore the entire costs of your stupidity i wouldn't care if you lived or died dude.
But when shaving an hour off the medical response time to reach you could reduce the severity of your spinal injury, and save the public millions in slashing your long term care costs - it does become a public problem. 1. You don't cost anyone money when you are healthy. 2. You are only free to be stupid only when we - your fellow humans on earth - aren't on the hook to pay the price for your actions.
Otherwise chill and be cool: Wear your seat belt. Don't murder people. Don't steal things. Get insurance. Don't become a paraplegic. These things all mitigate the possible harm you can cause ME. Your freedom must not come at the expense of mine, and it does damage my freedoms when I must pay higher insurance rates and taxes to pay for your sorry ass.
Not to defend NPR, but you maybe haven't checked your facts Tomhath. NPR gets more like 20% (not 2) of it's funding from the US government, but would survive if funding was killed. The "shell game" you mention isn't a good one since the cards are all face up on the table if you care to read them.
A simple but I believe accurate description of the funding mechanisms can be found here: http://www.npr.org/about/aboutnpr/publicradiofinances.html
If you doubt them, the financial papers for all of the publicly funded media outlets are available from each station and are often sent annually to subscription members to account for the money they earned and spent. If all media agencies were so transparent, we'd be in a better world.
Americans should be proud of this transparent book keeping, and I've followed the public stations for years because the main issue that drove all the comments on this page is very important to me. Democracy is a doomed experiment without independent media of all types playing its vital role in the checks and balances of civil society.
And Alexander was right - all media is biased. We just need fair labeling rules so that when you tune in - you know what you're getting. Fox is a perfect example of how not to do it - a giant black hole of private and corporate money - with brainwashing mantras they chant to try and convince you they are unbiased - a statement which is patently impossible. People fall for it when they hear their own fears echoed each day from attractive angry people and are drawin into the bubble shield echo chamber for the complete lack of challenge it presents to their preconceived notions.
If Fox News opened their books and showed their bank rollers, everyone would be rightly suspicious - just as we are with all the other agencies like RT, BBC, Al Jazeera, CT and yes - NPR,
To circle back to NPR - I think nothing would make it a better agency than to have state funding removed completely, and transition further into membership support models. (Even though NPR fights hard to say how important the federal funding is.) There is a huge lack in the world of news agencies with any interest in reporting news with MY bias in mind - a middle class hard working American. Let's cut the BS and screw the advertisers. I want news outlets to work for ME, not states or corporations, and I'm a willing contributor to pay for it. It's far more valuable than the Latte I drink each morning, and it costs less.
Slashdot Mirror
If you bore the entire costs of your stupidity i wouldn't care if you lived or died dude.
But when shaving an hour off the medical response time to reach you could reduce the severity of your spinal injury, and save the public millions in slashing your long term care costs - it does become a public problem. 1. You don't cost anyone money when you are healthy. 2. You are only free to be stupid only when we - your fellow humans on earth - aren't on the hook to pay the price for your actions.
Otherwise chill and be cool: Wear your seat belt. Don't murder people. Don't steal things. Get insurance. Don't become a paraplegic. These things all mitigate the possible harm you can cause ME. Your freedom must not come at the expense of mine, and it does damage my freedoms when I must pay higher insurance rates and taxes to pay for your sorry ass.
Not to defend NPR, but you maybe haven't checked your facts Tomhath. NPR gets more like 20% (not 2) of it's funding from the US government, but would survive if funding was killed. The "shell game" you mention isn't a good one since the cards are all face up on the table if you care to read them.
:)
A simple but I believe accurate description of the funding mechanisms can be found here: http://www.npr.org/about/aboutnpr/publicradiofinances.html If you doubt them, the financial papers for all of the publicly funded media outlets are available from each station and are often sent annually to subscription members to account for the money they earned and spent. If all media agencies were so transparent, we'd be in a better world.
Americans should be proud of this transparent book keeping, and I've followed the public stations for years because the main issue that drove all the comments on this page is very important to me. Democracy is a doomed experiment without independent media of all types playing its vital role in the checks and balances of civil society.
And Alexander was right - all media is biased. We just need fair labeling rules so that when you tune in - you know what you're getting. Fox is a perfect example of how not to do it - a giant black hole of private and corporate money - with brainwashing mantras they chant to try and convince you they are unbiased - a statement which is patently impossible. People fall for it when they hear their own fears echoed each day from attractive angry people and are drawin into the bubble shield echo chamber for the complete lack of challenge it presents to their preconceived notions.
If Fox News opened their books and showed their bank rollers, everyone would be rightly suspicious - just as we are with all the other agencies like RT, BBC, Al Jazeera, CT and yes - NPR,
To circle back to NPR - I think nothing would make it a better agency than to have state funding removed completely, and transition further into membership support models. (Even though NPR fights hard to say how important the federal funding is.) There is a huge lack in the world of news agencies with any interest in reporting news with MY bias in mind - a middle class hard working American. Let's cut the BS and screw the advertisers. I want news outlets to work for ME, not states or corporations, and I'm a willing contributor to pay for it. It's far more valuable than the Latte I drink each morning, and it costs less.
Soapbox mode = OFF
Well said man.