Saturday, April 21, 2007

Baking a Conservative Cake

Ingredients:
1 cup Arrogance
1 cup corruption
1 cup incompetence
1 cup self-righteousness
1 cup self-pity
2 cups dishonesty
Combine ingredients, mix well and bake in sunlight for all to see.
Be sure to bake well lest your concoction join other half-baked conservatives running loose. Serves: no one well

Friday, April 13, 2007

Death Penalty - English version

The media: By Noam Chomsky

Whether they're called "liberal" or "conservative," the major media are large corporations, owned by and interlinked with even larger conglomerates. Like other corporations, they sell a product to a market.
The market is advertisers -- that is, other businesses. The product is audiences. For the elite media that set the basic agenda to which others adapt, the product is, furthermore, relatively privileged audiences.
So we have major corporations selling fairly wealthy and privileged audiences to other businesses.........

The outcome is not, of course, entirely uniform. To serve the interests of the powerful, the media must present a tolerably realistic picture of the world. And professional integrity and honesty sometimes interfere with the overriding mission. The best journalists are, typically, quite aware of the factors that shape the media product, and seek to use such openings as are provided.
The result is that one can learn a lot by a critical and skeptical reading of what the media produce.
The media are only one part of a larger doctrinal system; other parts are journals of opinion, the schools and universities, academic scholarship and so on. We're much more aware of the media, particularly the prestige media, because those who critically analyze ideology have focused on them.........

The doctrinal system, which produces what we call "propaganda" when discussing enemies, has two distinct targets. One target is what's sometimes called the "political class," the roughly 20% of the population that's relatively educated, more or less articulate, playing some role in decision-making. Their acceptance of doctrine is crucial, because they're in a position to design and implement policy.
Then there's the other 80% or so of the population. These are Lippmann's "spectators of action," whom he referred to as the "bewildered herd." They are supposed to follow orders and keep out of the way of the important people. They're the target of the real mass media: the tabloids, the sitcoms, the Super Bowl and so on......

The goal is to keep the bewildered herd bewildered. It's unnecessary for them to trouble themselves with what's happening in the world. In fact, it's undesirable -- if they see too much of reality they may set themselves to change it.
That's not to say that the media can't be influenced by the general population. The dominant institutions-- whether political, economic or doctrinal -- are not immune to public pressures. Independent (alternative) media can also play an important role. Though they lack resources, almost by definition, they gain significance in the same way that popular organizations do: by bringing together people with limited resources who can multiply their effectiveness, and their own understanding, through their interactions -- precisely the democratic threat that's so feared by dominant elites.

Keith Olbermann deconstructs Bill O'Reilly

This is a journalist who tries to debunk the worst excuse for a journalist in America on the worst excuse for news in America

the TRUTH people the TRUTH

This is a great video: Combines the efforts we need to take and
who we need to take these efforts against

What the US Government won't talk about

What motivated the 9/11 hijackers? See testimony most didn't

Shortly after the 9/11 attack, CBC held a series of town hall meetings with ordinary Canadians. These Canadians generally expressed knowledge that these attacks are motivated by US foreign policy. The right wing immediately bashed our own citizens for blaming the victims, and the left shut up very quickly. But it isn't really going away. The Palestinian question must be addressed if there is going to be any hope for peace in the middle east


Final Stroke

Freedom of Speech

I made this video as a personal statement on the type of discourse that I see in the mainstream media. Everyone is so angry at one another, that no one wants to seem to listen to the other side. Extremism suffocates discourse, and we are witnessing this unabashedly. It's happened before, as this video shows, and it's never had a healthy result.

Stop This Crazy War

My Own Personal protest of the war in Iraq, which violates the UN charter, no matter what justification is used, and calls for indictments for war crimes against it's initiators in the same manner as those who were prosecuted for war crimes in WWII: That is, for waging a war of agression.