Au contraire. If you drive a gas burning car, you are asking BP to drill for oil. If you have not weaned yourself from the global fossil fuel grid you are asking BP to drill for oil. Most of us are oilaholics and probably will end our addiction only when we are forced to, economically.
The story is that we were in Iraq killing people for fraudulent reasons. No WMD. Bush and company lied, hundreds of thousands died. A trillion dollars in tax money spent. Thousand of our own troops died, or were maimed for life. This video just documents the tragedy that is war.
Imagine a foreign helicopter hovering over a subdivision in the U.S. shooting unarmed civilians on the ground.
It is absurd that Americans have to make employment decisions based on whether or not they can get medical coverage. If you have any kind of health condition at all, and you are not employed, you are screwed. Canada's system is far superior and Canadian friends who have worked here in the U.S. have many good things to say about the U.S. but the health care system/medical insurance companies puzzle them. I don't know a single Canadian who would trade his health care system for ours. Obama's plan leaves much to be desired, but it is much better than McCain's which makes no sense at all.
We have a horse and buggy electric grid, courtesy of the descendants of Standard Oil which supposedly made horses obsolete. Infrastructure needs to come first. Should have started 40 years ago.
Lessig's project is important and deserves support. Our corrupt system of institutionalized bribery is what has turned the U.S. in the warped, hollow, screwed up shell of a democracy we have today. Making the actions of our elected representatives easier to see and understand is an essential thing. And since the media is part of the institutionalized bribery system now, it is left up to actual individual humans with a conscience to see this thing through. Don't count on any help from GE, Newscorp Disney or Time Warner. They are all in the pockets of our crooked government.
The U.S. system is absurd. Start with the fact that the U.S. and New Zealand are the only countries that allow prescription drugs to be advertised and go from there. Special interest groups have taken over the government. Policies are in place to benefit the largest campaign contributors, period. And that would be the biggest multinational companies. Small business and citizens are now serving a big business oligarchy. Naturally the biggest most profitable hospital chains would adopt this first. And naturally they will come up with a way to benefit their business allies. Until we vote for real change in Washington DC and our state capitals, this will continue. Anyone who hasn't read the great sci-fi book Oryx and Crake, should get the book and get some real insight as to where we are headed: Corporate city-states where profit is the only value: http://www.amazon.com/Oryx-Crake-Margaret-Atwood/dp/0385503857/ref=ed_oe_h
There will be no real change in Washington until citizens demand a chance in the way we finance elections. Our system is currently institutionalized bribery. So only special interests, multinational corporations, labor unions, tax attorneys, auto makers, and oil and insurance and drug companies are really running the country. The FCC is simply acting in its own way like congress does, favoring the biggest corporations at the expense of the taxpayers and smaller competing business firms. An investigation by congress of the FCC would be welcome. But it is only window dressing. We have the best government money can buy and all that implies. http://ncstockguy.blogspot.com/
Well they said something that investors like. The stock has moved up nicely from its earnings conference call. Their revenue and earnings are increasing. We also really like their music service. Rock on.
The FCC chairman is actually proposing to make it easier for big companies to own more media outlets, including newspapers and TV stations in the same markets. Folks need to email the congressmen about this and stop it. More info here: http://www.freepress.net/
Those of you who think it's a good idea for Rupert Murdoch to own twice as many TV stations and more newspapers in the country, should do nothing.
John Edwards is the most honest, open candidate running for president, among those who have even a slight chance of getting elected. However his support for alternative good ideas like open source has brought a firestorm of opposition from the entrenched establishment. Big corporate media and the Washington establishment would hate to see him elected. He has potential to be the best president since FDR, his wealth being an asset, freeing him from lobbyists and special interests. Open source is much needed in the election process, this is just another reason we will see blistering and irrelevant attacks on his candidacy.
Agree. Al Gore is by far the most intelligent, aware person of all the potential and actual candidates. And he actually did write the bill that funded the infrastructure that made the internet a reality. If Gore doesn't run, John Edwards. He is the anti-Bush and that would be good for not only nerds but for the country and the world.
Google has never been any better or worse than the average corporation. They are, after all a corporation with all the intrinsic qualities. For more on intrinsic qualities of a corporation see "The Corporation" one of the best documentaries in many years. Their mottos and slogans are nothing more than marketing platitudes designed first of all to defend and protect their business plan.
This is a no-brainer. If the Fairness Doctrine is re-instated half the radio stations in America will stop carrying the likes of Rush Limbaugh and other right wing ideologues. This is because the corporate owners will be too cheap and lazy to monitor program content and make sure that other programs are aired that provide an opposing point of view. Radio stations used to routinely do this, even with staffs as small as 8 people (I worked at one). It was not that hard and it took probably three or four hours a week to make sure the station was in compliance. The trashing of the Fairness Doctrine is THE reason right wingers now dominate the radio spectrum. period paragraph end of sentence.
The only way Disney can get away with broadcasting this crap endlessly is because the FCC did away with the fairness doctrine. If stations were still required to broadcast different points of view, stations like KFSO would get honest real fast.
Folks are not going to change unless they are forced economically to do so. It won't be long. Losing one's house to floods, or a monster hurricane, or massive crop failure due to climate change drought, would be a nudge in the right direction. Too bad we have the scientific knowledge but not the political will to do something about it. The sad part is, its the little kids now who will pay a much steeper price than today's adults.
Big difference. In this case the news item is clearly attributed to the nonprofit group. Those fake news stories are passed off as being 'real' when they were in fact funded by corporations with an agenda. If the tv news reports were to say " we now present this story produced by a public relations firm working for Exxon Mobil" the actual ethical problem would go away. of course most news organizations wouldn't be caught dead doing that. But they'll pass them off with news if they think they can get away with it. For a better understanding of corporations and why they do these kinds of underhanded things, watch: http://www.thecorporation.com/
Worth watching. While the corporations would have you believe net neutrality would affect only big web providers, it would also impact internet users. How would you like tiered net service? Google? Sorry you have to subscribe to our GOLD service for that. You could of course use our crappy proprietary search engine with your current cheap level of service. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXAJbkeXoV4
Au contraire, Colbert is the PERFECT person to satirize right-wing blowhards. He's smart enough to grasp their logic and turn it inside out. The true test of Colbert's wit, is to watch his show with a regular Fox viewer. They come away confused and a little uncertain. Bingo.
We don't really know what the worm will ultimately do. Perhaps it is collecting email addresses for a purpose, and I'll wager that purpose is not a particularly constructive one...
Bush's folks are running full throttle to shut down our civil liberties. When they tap a reporter's phone or snag phone call data from a news room they are effectively putting a shutdown on your right to information. The press is a key component in keeping us free. Just ask anyone who lives in a country that does not have a free press. Obviously Dubya and company are getting some consulting help from Vladimir Putin.
"Foxes tell Farmer Fence Around Chicken House is too High" That would be a better headline. These laws are all written by special interests anyway because congress and staff are too dumb to do it. Guess what we get? Sarbanes-Oxley was one of the few laws in recent years actually written by objective parties. Naturally the business community wants to blow it away.
The problem is the media. All national broadcast media in the US are now owned by six, count them, SIX multinational corporations with agendas far broader than reporting the news. News is just a sideshow for them. Witness the fact that "Frontline" on PBS is now the only regularly scheduled documentary on broadcast television. Newspapers aren't much better. Knight Ridder, a decent chain, just sold itself to a mediocre chain and there are far fewer newspaper owners than there used to be as well. The result: What we are getting now. Inferior reporting, lapdog journalism and programmed blandness.
A lot of people, more than generally believed did NOT get their full series of immunization shots starting in the 80s. The problem will only get worse because of the problems with mercury in the vaccines, fewer and fewer folks are having their kids immunized. Wait till 2020.
The acquisition of JBoss is a big step forward for Red Hat because it puts them squarely in the middleware market which they lacked before. Not only does it head off a likely purchase/shutdown by Oracle of JBoss, it vaults Red Hat over such companies as BEAS in a key market sector. This is why, (for those who pay attention to such things) Red Hat stock moved up on Monday, and will probably move considerably higher. RHAT is a very strong company now and this makes it stronger. All the better to keep Microsoft and Oracle at bay.
Slashdot Mirror
Au contraire. If you drive a gas burning car, you are asking BP to drill for oil. If you have not weaned yourself from the global fossil fuel grid you are asking BP to drill for oil.
Most of us are oilaholics and probably will end our addiction only when we are forced to, economically.
The story is that we were in Iraq killing people for fraudulent reasons. No WMD. Bush and company lied, hundreds of thousands died. A trillion dollars in tax money spent.
Thousand of our own troops died, or were maimed for life.
This video just documents the tragedy that is war.
Imagine a foreign helicopter hovering over a subdivision in the U.S. shooting unarmed civilians on the ground.
It is absurd that Americans have to make employment decisions based on whether or not they can get medical coverage. If you have any kind of health condition at all, and you are not employed, you are screwed.
Canada's system is far superior and Canadian friends who have worked here in the U.S. have many good things to say about the U.S. but the health care system/medical insurance companies puzzle them. I don't know a single Canadian who would trade his health care system for ours. Obama's plan leaves much to be desired, but it is much better than McCain's which makes no sense at all.
We have a horse and buggy electric grid, courtesy of the descendants of Standard Oil which supposedly made horses obsolete. Infrastructure needs to come first. Should have started 40 years ago.
It's easy to get a PC with XP. Just go buy a nice refurbished model. I haven't purchased a new computer since Vista came out, and will not.
Lessig's project is important and deserves support. Our corrupt system of institutionalized bribery is what has turned the U.S. in the warped, hollow, screwed up shell of a democracy we have today. Making the actions of our elected representatives easier to see and understand is an essential thing. And since the media is part of the institutionalized bribery system now, it is left up to actual individual humans with a conscience to see this thing through. Don't count on any help from GE, Newscorp Disney or Time Warner. They are all in the pockets of our crooked government.
The U.S. system is absurd. Start with the fact that the U.S. and New Zealand are the only countries that allow prescription drugs to be advertised and go from there. Special interest groups have taken over the government. Policies are in place to benefit the largest campaign contributors, period. And that would be the biggest multinational companies. Small business and citizens are now serving a big business oligarchy. Naturally the biggest most profitable hospital chains would adopt this first. And naturally they will come up with a way to benefit their business allies. Until we vote for real change in Washington DC and our state capitals, this will continue.
Anyone who hasn't read the great sci-fi book Oryx and Crake, should get the book and get some real insight as to where we are headed: Corporate city-states where profit is the only value:
http://www.amazon.com/Oryx-Crake-Margaret-Atwood/dp/0385503857/ref=ed_oe_h
There will be no real change in Washington until citizens demand a chance in the way we finance elections. Our system is currently institutionalized bribery. So only special interests, multinational corporations, labor unions, tax attorneys, auto makers, and oil and insurance and drug companies are really running the country.
The FCC is simply acting in its own way like congress does, favoring the biggest corporations at the expense of the taxpayers and smaller competing business firms.
An investigation by congress of the FCC would be welcome. But it is only window dressing.
We have the best government money can buy and all that implies.
http://ncstockguy.blogspot.com/
Well they said something that investors like. The stock has moved up nicely from its earnings conference call.
Their revenue and earnings are increasing. We also really like their music service. Rock on.
The FCC chairman is actually proposing to make it easier for big companies to own more media outlets, including newspapers and TV stations in the same markets. Folks need to email the congressmen about this and stop it.
More info here:
http://www.freepress.net/
Those of you who think it's a good idea for Rupert Murdoch to own twice as many TV stations and more newspapers in the country, should do nothing.
John Edwards is the most honest, open candidate running for president, among those who have even a slight chance of getting elected. However his support for alternative good ideas like open source has brought a firestorm of opposition from the entrenched establishment. Big corporate media and the Washington establishment would hate to see him elected. He has potential to be the best president since FDR, his wealth being an asset, freeing him from lobbyists and special interests.
Open source is much needed in the election process, this is just another reason we will see blistering and irrelevant attacks on his candidacy.
Agree. Al Gore is by far the most intelligent, aware person of all the potential and actual candidates. And he actually did write the bill that funded the infrastructure that made the internet a reality.
If Gore doesn't run, John Edwards. He is the anti-Bush and that would be good for not only nerds but for the country and the world.
Google has never been any better or worse than the average corporation. They are, after all a corporation with all the intrinsic qualities. For more on intrinsic qualities of a corporation see "The Corporation" one of the best documentaries in many years.
Their mottos and slogans are nothing more than marketing platitudes designed first of all to defend and protect their business plan.
http://thecorporation.com/
This is a no-brainer. If the Fairness Doctrine is re-instated half the radio stations in America will stop carrying the likes of Rush Limbaugh and other right wing ideologues. This is because the corporate owners will be too cheap and lazy to monitor program content and make sure that other programs are aired that provide an opposing point of view. Radio stations used to routinely do this, even with staffs as small as 8 people (I worked at one). It was not that hard and it took probably three or four hours a week to make sure the station was in compliance.
The trashing of the Fairness Doctrine is THE reason right wingers now dominate the radio spectrum. period paragraph end of sentence.
The only way Disney can get away with broadcasting this crap endlessly is because the FCC did away with the fairness doctrine. If stations were still required to broadcast different points of view, stations like KFSO would get honest real fast.
Folks are not going to change unless they are forced economically to do so. It won't be long. Losing one's house to floods, or a monster hurricane, or massive crop failure due to climate change drought, would be a nudge in the right direction. Too bad we have the scientific knowledge but not the political will to do something about it. The sad part is, its the little kids now who will pay a much steeper price than today's adults.
Big difference. In this case the news item is clearly attributed to the nonprofit group. Those fake news stories are passed off as being 'real' when they were in fact funded by corporations with an agenda. If the tv news reports were to say " we now present this story produced by a public relations firm working for Exxon Mobil" the actual ethical problem would go away. of course most news organizations wouldn't be caught dead doing that. But they'll pass them off with news if they think they can get away with it.
For a better understanding of corporations and why they do these kinds of underhanded things, watch:
http://www.thecorporation.com/
Worth watching. While the corporations would have you believe net neutrality would affect only big web providers, it would also impact internet users. How would you like tiered net service? Google? Sorry you have to subscribe to our GOLD service for that. You could of course use our crappy proprietary search engine with your current cheap level of service.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXAJbkeXoV4
Au contraire, Colbert is the PERFECT person to satirize right-wing blowhards. He's smart enough to grasp their logic and turn it inside out.
The true test of Colbert's wit, is to watch his show with a regular Fox viewer. They come away confused and a little uncertain. Bingo.
We don't really know what the worm will ultimately do. Perhaps it is collecting email addresses for a purpose, and I'll wager that purpose is not a particularly constructive one...
Bush's folks are running full throttle to shut down our civil liberties. When they tap a reporter's phone or snag phone call data from a news room they are effectively putting a shutdown on your right to information. The press is a key component in keeping us free. Just ask anyone who lives in a country that does not have a free press. Obviously Dubya and company are getting some consulting help from Vladimir Putin.
"Foxes tell Farmer Fence Around Chicken House is too High"
That would be a better headline.
These laws are all written by special interests anyway because congress and staff are too dumb to do it. Guess what we get?
Sarbanes-Oxley was one of the few laws in recent years actually written by objective parties. Naturally the business community wants to blow it away.
The problem is the media. All national broadcast media in the US are now owned by six, count them, SIX multinational corporations with agendas far broader than reporting the news. News is just a sideshow for them. Witness the fact that "Frontline" on PBS is now the only regularly scheduled documentary on broadcast television.
Newspapers aren't much better. Knight Ridder, a decent chain, just sold itself to a mediocre chain and there are far fewer newspaper owners than there used to be as well.
The result: What we are getting now. Inferior reporting, lapdog journalism and programmed blandness.
A lot of people, more than generally believed did NOT get their full series of immunization shots starting in the 80s. The problem will only get worse because of the problems with mercury in the vaccines, fewer and fewer folks are having their kids immunized.
Wait till 2020.
The acquisition of JBoss is a big step forward for Red Hat because it puts them squarely in the middleware market which they lacked before. Not only does it head off a likely purchase/shutdown by Oracle of JBoss, it vaults Red Hat over such companies as BEAS in a key market sector. This is why, (for those who pay attention to such things) Red Hat stock moved up on Monday, and will probably move considerably higher. RHAT is a very strong company now and this makes it stronger. All the better to keep Microsoft and Oracle at bay.