Category Archives: communications/media

Since when is diplomacy a weakness?

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According to this report, John “I don’t know how many houses I have” McCain says that the agreement reached between Russia, and the U.S. to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons is a show of….weakness.  Yep.  He asserts that the “friends and enemies” of the U.S. will view this as “provocative weakness”….um, what “friends” would view it this way?  McCain doesn’t tell us…but a clue might be in the next assertion that this will embolden Iran….so my guess is that Israel sees this act of diplomacy and peace as….weak.

Yeah, well, it takes courage and strength NOT to drop a bomb.  It takes courage and strength to negotiate.  Anyone can drop a bomb…but the conflict doesn’t end there, although by appearances it seems to take care of the problem.  Nope.  What it does is create more problems with more violence.

Leave to republicans to find something wrong with a historical moment when the United States and Russia thwart World War III…

…again, they (and some Dems) must be pissed off that they’re not going to be able to profit off yet another war….

 

U.S. and Russia reach agreement

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I thought that perhaps Vladimir Putin blew it with his chest-puffed-out stupid editorial (did you hear it was a U.S. PR firm that got it in the Times?)….but apparently not.

More stories on Syria here, here, and here. 

Ketchum rung a bell, so I went looking on PRWatch.org’s website and found several references here,  here,  and here.  And the biggie (for me, at least) here –the Dept. of Education and Ketchum. 

There’s more there if you care to go and read…

Mexico City Teachers Protest

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Apparently, they’re trying to break the teacher’s unions in Mexico, as well.  The teachers aren’t taking it lying down, either.    So now it appears this isn’t just the United States that this is happening to…

…the question is WHO is doing this…and why?

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….and here we have one of the players, Arne Duncan, who has never set foot in a classroom, being called out for his nonsense.

If teachers and parents are protesting the lame testing that does not test  potential…and they’re protesting No Child Left a Mind…and if  money will be withheld if they do not comply–I say that is a case of taxation without representation.    Time for a true Boston Tea Party.

If parents don’t start getting organized against the hedge fund managers, Gates, Broad, Rhee, and others, they will succeed in destroying public education.

PBS’ Frontline on the Wall St meltdown

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Just in case you missed the link in the Center for Media Democracy article yesterday, I wanted to highlight it here:

http://video.pbs.org/video/1302794657/

It’s really important to revisit what happened and who was responsible….so it doesn’t happen again.  We are STILL paying for Greenspan’s idolatry of Ayn Rand…

Bluntly, bankers can’t be trusted to tell the truth.  They cannot be trusted to regulate themselves.  Ain’t gonna happen.  By nature, bankers are greedy and see everything in dollar signs, and as this piece illustrates, if they think they can get away with something, they won’t let ethics or concerns for democracy get in the way.

The subtext to this story is how Brooksley Born was ignored.  A woman not taken seriously….a narrative of sexism.  It’s interesting that she refused to talk about her meeting with Bill Clinton…makes me wonder if he tried to get in her pants and then called her ‘boring” because she refused…or perhaps he was intimidated because she was not only intelligent but principled, as well.  Bill probably doesn’t “get” principled people…sharks only understand other sharks….

 

This on Phil Gramm, who….wait for it….joined a banking firm after aiding the financial meltdown.   And afterward, calling us “a nation of whiners”…um-hmmm….

Frank Partnoy, a law professor at the University of San Diego and an expert on derivatives, said, “No one, including regulators, could get an accurate picture of this market. The consequences of that is that it left us in the dark for the last eight years.” And, he added, “Bad things happen when it’s dark.”

In 2002, Mr. Gramm left Congress, joining UBS as a senior investment banker and head of the company’s lobbying operation.

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Another subtext is the intimidation by those involved.  They created derivatives to be confusing on purpose…and counted on the others to be too embarrassed to ask the question “what does this mean”? Here we have a law professor who understands derivatives, and HE was in the dark about them.

People are intimidated and don’t want to say “I don’t understand”.  I used to be that way, but no more.  Ask away, folks.  Ask away.  And if someone makes you feel stupid by being condescending, then call them on it.  There are some really smart people out there, but nobody knows everything.   And you aren’t going to learn (and understand) anything if you don’t ask questions. If more people had asked questions and raised concerns like Brooksley Born, the financial collapse would have been averted.

More on the ethics of Gramm here.

And here.

Grow your own groceries…

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Link.

This is recommended by organic consumers, but I can’t say that I’ve tried it firsthand.  Margery Wildcraft is a master gardener, however, and it does come with a 60 day money back guarantee, so I feel comfortable putting it up here.

One of the things that folks had during the Great Depression was the ability to grow their own food.  With this un-Depression, folks aren’t as likely to either know how or have the space…to which container gardening or empty city lots come in handy.    I think it is a great idea in that you know your food is grown without chemicals.  It’s local, which they say is better because it doesn’t cost $$ to transport AND there is some evidence that in geographic areas, the food has unique qualities that are beneficial.

 

Walker Backs Down

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Gov. Scott Walker has rescinded a $500,000 grant to the United Sportsmen of Wisconsin.

You know, for folks who are so dead set against government in their lives, via taxation and regulation, they sure to go out of their way to get those tax dollars while trying to circumvent the democratic process.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the grant was slipped into the budget bill by outgoing Majority Leader Scott Suder with terms that excluded most sporting groups in the state. The grant was not properly advertised, conveniently leaving United Sportsmen as the sole applicant.

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More Wisconsin news here. 

You’re telling me that citizens throwing pop cans and shouting obscenities requires the use of armed guards?  Talk about overreaction.  Yes, it was wrong for the one demonstrator to destroy the camera, no doubt, but having armed guards with assault rifles is just soo over the top.

What I don’t understand is why  they are allowed in the forest at all.  Why are they destroying what little we have left?  People seem to think that climate change is this thingy down the road….hello, it’s happening now and destroying the forests is one of the reasons.    Why are they not valued as much as the mining operations?  Why aren’t the environmental impacts on the land and water considered as important?

The primary cause of this lasting pollution is acid mine drainage. Mining exposes sulfide-bearing ore that generates sulfuric acid and mixes with water. This outflow of acidic water, otherwise known as acid mine drainage, contaminates drinking water aquifers, lakes, and streams, agricultural lands, and prime fish and wildlife habitat. Because acid mine drainage can’t be stopped, once started it must be treated until the acid generating material runs out. As acknowledged in government mining permits, this can take hundreds or thousands of years.

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Texas’ Freedom of Information Foundation is aiding CMD in obtaining public records that members of ALEC are trying to keep in the dark.

The Fight for Fifteen in Wisconsin.  I think $15 per hour is reasonable and would put us back to where we would have been had our wages not stagnated over the last twenty or so years…

There is just something terribly wrong when a CEO can make millions in income while employees are forced on food stamps or food banks to feed themselves and their families.

Finally, in non-Wisconsin news, CMD has this up on the paper trail of Larry Summers.   I haven’t begun to read all the information here, so I’m off to read the links. …note, however, the link to education “reform”–he’s on the board of the Eli Broad Foundation.  Not only that, but Andy Stern is also on the board–he was head of the Service Employees Union…wow….a union supporter on the board of an organization trying to destroy teacher’s unions and public education.  Just wow.

 

 

More sobering news **edited

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I hope my readers understand why I’m continuing to talk about stories like this and this.

…because it doesn’t get talked about anywhere else.  If it is talked about on the major networks, it’s a blip on the screen…but treated as if an afterthought.  Women’s concerns don’t matter, if you gauge it by the attention and action that it receives.

Maybe instead of “Rape Culture” we should call it “Violence Against Women” culture, after seeing this.

Good God.  What exactly was the decal maker’s message in creating this decal?? An experiment, my arse.  And then he tries to play the “concerned citizen” schtick by feigning empathy towards abused women.  Give me a break.    I could hardly stand to watch the video in its entirety–it made me sick.  I would caution against giving this creep donations…probably won’t end up where it is supposed to go.

Would he have thought it okay to create a decal with an African American hanging from a noose? Or an African American hogtied in the back of a truck?

Sweet Jesus, where does it end?

**edited to add:  I went back this morning to read the comments, and others also made note that if this decal had been an African American hanging by a noose, people would be outraged.  I rather doubt this guy would have attempted that.  Someone put up a link for yet another violent decal….so this isn’t something new.  But this does strike home the continuing acceptance of media encouragement of violence against women.  And the commenter “mick” shows how great this ingrained acceptance of violence is….it’s just a joke, what’s your problem..?  (his sarcasm, not mine.)