Friday, August 23, 2013
Domestic Surveillance:
NY Times: Secret Court Rebuked N.S.A. on Surveillance
"A federal judge sharply rebuked the National Security Agency in 2011 for repeatedly misleading the court that oversees its surveillance on domestic soil, including a program that is collecting tens of thousands of domestic e-mails and other Internet communications of Americans each year, according to a secret ruling made public on Wednesday. The 85-page ruling by Judge John D. Bates, then serving as chief judge on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, involved an N.S.A. program that systematically searches the contents of Americans’ international Internet communications, without a warrant, in a hunt for discussions about foreigners who have been targeted for surveillance. The Justice Department had told Judge Bates that N.S.A. officials had discovered that the program had also been gathering domestic messages for three years. Judge Bates found that the agency had violated the Constitution and declared the problems part of a pattern of misrepresentation by agency officials in submissions to the secret court..."
Education As A Profit Center, Rather Than A National Priority
The Occupy Posters: The One Comic That Explains Just How Screwed America Is
NY Times: Secret Court Rebuked N.S.A. on Surveillance
"A federal judge sharply rebuked the National Security Agency in 2011 for repeatedly misleading the court that oversees its surveillance on domestic soil, including a program that is collecting tens of thousands of domestic e-mails and other Internet communications of Americans each year, according to a secret ruling made public on Wednesday. The 85-page ruling by Judge John D. Bates, then serving as chief judge on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, involved an N.S.A. program that systematically searches the contents of Americans’ international Internet communications, without a warrant, in a hunt for discussions about foreigners who have been targeted for surveillance. The Justice Department had told Judge Bates that N.S.A. officials had discovered that the program had also been gathering domestic messages for three years. Judge Bates found that the agency had violated the Constitution and declared the problems part of a pattern of misrepresentation by agency officials in submissions to the secret court..."
Education As A Profit Center, Rather Than A National Priority
The Occupy Posters: The One Comic That Explains Just How Screwed America Is
Saturday, August 17, 2013
The Banksters:
NY Times Editorial: No Banker Left Behind
"The Detroit bankruptcy case has been cast as a contest between bondholders and pensioners that can be resolved only by shared sacrifice...
... ■ The banks’ 25 percent hit is nothing compared with the 90 percent cut to pensions suggested by the city — a cut that would be disastrous in both human and political terms and that the State of Michigan must prevent from happening.
■ Municipal officials are prey for Wall Street. The Dodd-Frank financial reform law called on regulators to establish 'enhanced protection' for municipalities and other clients in their dealings with Wall Street, but the Securities and Exchange Commission has not yet completed rules, while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s rules are so weak as to virtually invite the banks to exploit municipalities.
■ The special treatment banks receive when debtors are in or near bankruptcy is unfair and economically destabilizing. Detroit’s agreement with the two banks requires court approval, but, in general, swap deals by banks are not subject to the constraints that normally apply in bankruptcy cases; in effect, the banks are paid first, even before other secured creditors and certainly before pensioners. That privilege, dating to the heyday of derivatives deregulation in the 1990s and 2000s, is destabilizing because the assurance of repayment fosters recklessness.
Detroit’s problems are a reminder of broader challenges, identified but still unmet: protecting pensions; protecting municipalities from Wall Street; and, at long last, revoking the obscene privileges of banks that allow them to prosper on the failings of others."
Domestic Surveillance:
NY Times: N.S.A. Often Broke Rules on Privacy, Audit Shows
"The National Security Agency violated privacy rules protecting the communications of Americans and others on domestic soil 2,776 times over a one-year period, according to an internal audit leaked by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden and made public on Thursday night. The violations, according to the May 2012 audit, stemmed largely from operator and system errors like 'inadequate or insufficient research' when selecting wiretap targets..."
NY Times Editorial: No Banker Left Behind
"The Detroit bankruptcy case has been cast as a contest between bondholders and pensioners that can be resolved only by shared sacrifice...
... ■ The banks’ 25 percent hit is nothing compared with the 90 percent cut to pensions suggested by the city — a cut that would be disastrous in both human and political terms and that the State of Michigan must prevent from happening.
■ Municipal officials are prey for Wall Street. The Dodd-Frank financial reform law called on regulators to establish 'enhanced protection' for municipalities and other clients in their dealings with Wall Street, but the Securities and Exchange Commission has not yet completed rules, while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s rules are so weak as to virtually invite the banks to exploit municipalities.
■ The special treatment banks receive when debtors are in or near bankruptcy is unfair and economically destabilizing. Detroit’s agreement with the two banks requires court approval, but, in general, swap deals by banks are not subject to the constraints that normally apply in bankruptcy cases; in effect, the banks are paid first, even before other secured creditors and certainly before pensioners. That privilege, dating to the heyday of derivatives deregulation in the 1990s and 2000s, is destabilizing because the assurance of repayment fosters recklessness.
Detroit’s problems are a reminder of broader challenges, identified but still unmet: protecting pensions; protecting municipalities from Wall Street; and, at long last, revoking the obscene privileges of banks that allow them to prosper on the failings of others."
Domestic Surveillance:
NY Times: N.S.A. Often Broke Rules on Privacy, Audit Shows
"The National Security Agency violated privacy rules protecting the communications of Americans and others on domestic soil 2,776 times over a one-year period, according to an internal audit leaked by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden and made public on Thursday night. The violations, according to the May 2012 audit, stemmed largely from operator and system errors like 'inadequate or insufficient research' when selecting wiretap targets..."
Friday, August 09, 2013
Domestic Surveillance:
Unsurprisingly, there's a lot of it about, and without Congressional action it will remain in the shadows. The number of Representatives, mine included (Jared Polis, D, CO) claim not to have been in the loop. That makes Mr. Snowden a genuine whistle-blower, rather than a criminal...
NY Times: Warrantless Cellphone Tracking Is Upheld
"In a significant victory for law enforcement, a federal appeals court on Tuesday said that government authorities could extract historical location data directly from telecommunications carriers without a search warrant. The closely watched case, in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, is the first ruling that squarely addresses the constitutionality of warrantless searches of historical location data stored by cellphone service providers. Ruling 2 to 1, the court said a warrantless search was 'not per se unconstitutional' because location data was “clearly a business record” and therefore not protected by the Fourth Amendment..."
Democracy Now! - Glenn Greenwald on How Secretive DEA Unit Illegally Spies On Americans, Covers Up Actions
"Journalist Glenn Greenwald responds to a report by Reuters about how a secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit is covering up its use of intelligence intercepts, wiretaps to help launch criminal investigations of Americans. 'It’s a full-frontal assault on the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments and on the integrity of the judicial process, because they’re deceiving everyone involved in criminal prosecutions about how this information has been obtained,' Greenwald says..."
The Myth of The Liberal Media:
"If you know anyone who still believes in a "liberal media," here's 15 things everyone would know if there really were a "liberal media" (inspired by Jeff Bezos' purchase of The Washington Post)... ...1. Where the jobs went. Outsourcing (or offshoring) is a bigger contributor to unemployment in the U.S. than laziness. Since 2000, U.S. multinationals have cut 2.9 million jobs here while increasing employment overseas by 2.4 million. This is likely just the tip of the iceberg as multinational corporations account for only about 20% of the labor force. When was the last time you saw a front-page headline about outsourcing?
2. Upward wealth redistribution and/or inequality. In 2010, 20% of the people held approximately 88% of the net worth in the U.S. The top 1% alone held 35% of all net worth. The bottom 80% of people held only 12% of net worth in 2010. In 1983, the bottom 80% held 18% of net worth. These statistics are not Democrat or Republican. They are widely available to reporters. Why aren't they discussed in the 'liberal" media?'
3. ALEC. If there was a corporate organization that drafted laws and then passed them on to legislators to implement, wouldn't you think the 'liberal' media would report on them? The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is such an organization. Need legislation drafted? No need to go through a lobbyist to reach state legislatures anymore. Just contact ALEC. Among other things, ALEC is responsible for: Stand Your Ground laws Voter ID laws Right to Work laws Privatizing schools Health savings account bills which benefit health care companies Tobacco industry legislation Many legislators don’t even change the proposals handed to them by this group of corporations. They simply take the corporate bills and bring them to the legislative floor. This is the primary reason for so much similar bad legislation in different states. Hello ... 'liberal media' ... over here!!! They're meeting in Chicago this weekend. Maybe the 'liberal media' will send some reporters.
4. The number of people in prison. Which country in the world has the most people in prison? You might think it would be China (with 1+ billion people and a restrictive government) or former Soviets still imprisoned in Russia. Wrong. The United States has the most people in prison by far of any country in the world. With 5% of the world’s population, we have 25% of the world’s prisoners – 2.3 million criminals. China with a population 4 times our size is second with 1.6 million people in prison. In 1972, 350,000 Americans were in imprisoned. In 2010, this number had grown to 2.3 million. Yet from 1988 – 2008, crime rates have declined by 25%. Isn't anyone in the liberal media interested in why so many people are in prison when crime has dropped? WTF 'liberal media'?
5. The number of black people in prison. In 2009, non-Hispanic blacks, while only 13.6% of the population, accounted for 39.4% of the total prison and jail population. In 2011, according to FBI statistics, whites accounted for 69.2% of arrests. Numbers like these suggest a racial bias in our justice system. To me, this is a much bigger story than any single incident like Travyon Martin. Or, at the very least, why didn't the 'liberal media' ever mention this while covering the Martin story?
6. U.S. health care costs are the highest in the world. The expenditure per person in the U.S. is $8,233. Norway is second with $5,388. Total amount of GDP spent on health care is also the highest of any country in the world at 17.6 percent. The next closest country is the Netherlands at 12%. As a liberal, I’d like to ask why the market isn’t bringing down costs. I’d think a 'liberal' media might too.
7. Glass-Steagall. Glass-Steagall separated risky financial investments from government backed deposits for 66 years. The idea is simple. Banks were prohibited from using your federally insured savings to make risky investments. Why is this a good idea? Risky investments should be risky. If banks can use federally insured funds, there is no risk to them. If they win, they win. If they lose, we cover the cost. Elizabeth Warren does a great job explaining this to the 'liberal news' desk at CNBC
8. Gerrymandering. When was the last time you saw a front page headline about gerrymandering? Before the 2010 election, conservatives launched a plan to win control of state legislatures before the census. The idea was to be in power when national congressional districts were redrawn in order to fix them so Republicans would win a majority of districts. The Redistricting Majority Project was hugely successful. In 2012, Barack Obama was elected President by nearly 3.5 million votes. In Congressional races, Democrats drew nearly 1.4 million more votes than Republicans yet Republicans won control of the House 234 seats to 201 seats. How is this possible? By pumping $30 million into state races to win the legislatures, Republicans redrew state maps in states such as Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas, Florida and Ohio to place all of the Democrats into just a few districts. In this manner, Democrats win heavily in a couple districts and lose the rest. In North Carolina, the statewide vote was 51 percent Democrat and 49 percent Republican yet 9 Republicans won and only 4 Democrats. Where is your coverage of this vote stealing, 'liberal media'? You're willing to cover voter ID laws, why can't you cover real vote stealing?
9. The number of bills blocked by Republicans in Congress. The filibuster has been used a record number of time since Obama was elected President. From 2008-2012, 375 bills weren’t even allowed to come to a vote in the Senate because Republicans threatened the filibuster. In 2013, during the first 6 months, Congress has only passed 15 bills that were signed into law. This is 8 fewer than in the first 6 months of 2012 and 19 fewer than 2011. Also, until the Senate recently threatened to reform the filibuster, the GOP had succeeded in holding up 79 of President Obama’s picks to the U.S. Circuit Court and Courts of Appeal. They’re blocking these appointments regardless of qualification. Where's the coverage? Where are the reporters asking why nothing is getting done? * crickets *
10. The Citizens' United Supreme Court decision In a 2011 Hart poll, only 22% of those polled had actually heard of the Citizens’ United decision before taking the survey. If 77% believe that corporations have more control over our political process than people, why isn't the liberal media talking more about the Citizens’ United decision?
11. Nixon’s Southern Strategy. The Southern Strategy is a strategy for gaining political power by exploiting the greatest number of ethnic prejudices. Kevin Philips, Republican and Nixon campaign strategist, speaking about this strategy in a 1970 interview with the New York Times...
12. Tax cuts primarily benefit the wealthy. A progressive tax program is designed to tax people very little as they are starting out and progressively increase their rates as they do better. Republican plans seem designed to do exactly the opposite: shift the tax burden off of the wealthy and onto working people. Take the repeal of the estate tax. In Ohio this was recently repealed by Republicans. The benefit is only realized by people with estates larger than $338,000 (as the first $338k was exempt) and realized most by people with even wealthier estates. This also explains why Republicans want to shift the system from income taxes to consumption taxes. Consumption taxes are paid most by those at the bottom as basic consumption remains the same regardless of income. It also explains why capital gain taxes are so low. Income through capital gains is only taxed at 20% (increased from 15% in 2012) instead of at the rate of other income (closer to 35%). It also explains why Republicans were so willing to let the payroll tax cut expire. The payroll tax cut benefited people who were getting paid, not those issuing the paychecks. How much fight did you see to save this tax cut? While tax cuts are sold to us as benefiting everyone, they really benefit a select few at the very top. If everyone knew who tax cuts really benefit, would so many people vote for them?
13. What's happening to the bees? 40-50% of commercial U.S. bee hives were lost this year to colony collapse disorder. This seems like an odd one to include, why is this important? The Agriculture Department says a quarter of the American diet depends on pollination by honeybees. Dating from 2006, colony collapse disorder is a relatively new problem. More "liberal media" coverage might push the urgency of the issue. Instead here's a typical media story about bees: Thousands of Bees Attack Texas Couple, Kill Horses.
14. The impact of temporary workers on our economy. The number of temporary workers has grown by more than 50 percent since the recession ended to nearly 2.7 million. If freelancers, contract workers, and consultants are included, the number is nearly 17 million workers not directly employed by the companies who hire them. This equals 12 percent of the workforce. What's the impact of a 'just in time' workforce on workers and our economy? How about that for a story "liberal media"?
15. Media consolidation Six corporations - Time Warner, Disney, News Corporation, Viacom, Comcast, and CBS - control roughly 90% of the media in the U.S. These companies are in business to make a profit. This is why you'll find plenty of advertisements in the media. Entertainment? Check. Sports? Definitely. Weather? Yep. You'll also find plenty of 'if it bleeds, it leads' stories designed to hook you in. Vendors, witnesses recall Venice hit-and-run horror. Fort Hood trial turns bizarre as shooter grills witnesses. There's also plenty of political bickering: Democrats said this, Republicans said that. We let you decide (but we never weigh in with any facts or fact-checking). What won't you hear? You won't hear the 'liberal media' discuss the corporate media.
What to make of this If the media were 'liberal,' it would serve the public interest and shine a light on issues like the ones above. More people would also have a better understanding of global warming, peak oil, population growth, political lobbying, government's role in a functioning economy, how much we spend on the military, and countless other issues. What you’re more likely to see in the media, however, are stories designed to get you to buy their paper, or watch their show, or listen to their radio station. If it bleeds, it leads. This is why the media is concerned with scandal, celebrities, gossip, and fear. If anything, our news consists of paid advertisements and outlets too scared of offending anyone to publish much of substance. Investigative journalism is also expensive; entertainment is cheap. The way this corporate media behaves may not be surprising. I apologize if you feel any of this is beating you over the head. This Buzzfeed-style list wasn't intended to introduce this idea as new (others have done a much better job), but rather to highlight the sheer absurdity of a 'liberal media' for an audience who may not see it. One way to approach the topic is to simply ask: If we have a 'liberal media,' where are the liberal stories?"
Drug Policy:
An MD and news correspondent finally realizes the government has been lying about cannabis for 70 years...
Raw Story: CNN’s Sanjay Gupta: Americans ‘terribly and systematically misled’ about marijuana
"CNN’s Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon, apologized on Wednesday for publicly opposing marijuana legalization, saying science was clearly on the side of the drug. 'I think we have been terribly and systematically misled in this country for some time, and I did part of that misleading,' he told CNN host Piers Morgan. Though studies on marijuana in the United States tended to focus on the drug’s negative effects, Gupta explained, research from across the world had made marijuana’s positive effects clear. He said there was 'no scientific basis' to claim marijuana had no medical benefits. 'I think it is irresponsible of the medical community not to offer this as an alternative,' Gupta added, citing the high rates of deaths from prescription drugs."
Unsurprisingly, there's a lot of it about, and without Congressional action it will remain in the shadows. The number of Representatives, mine included (Jared Polis, D, CO) claim not to have been in the loop. That makes Mr. Snowden a genuine whistle-blower, rather than a criminal...
NY Times: Warrantless Cellphone Tracking Is Upheld
"In a significant victory for law enforcement, a federal appeals court on Tuesday said that government authorities could extract historical location data directly from telecommunications carriers without a search warrant. The closely watched case, in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, is the first ruling that squarely addresses the constitutionality of warrantless searches of historical location data stored by cellphone service providers. Ruling 2 to 1, the court said a warrantless search was 'not per se unconstitutional' because location data was “clearly a business record” and therefore not protected by the Fourth Amendment..."
Democracy Now! - Glenn Greenwald on How Secretive DEA Unit Illegally Spies On Americans, Covers Up Actions
"Journalist Glenn Greenwald responds to a report by Reuters about how a secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit is covering up its use of intelligence intercepts, wiretaps to help launch criminal investigations of Americans. 'It’s a full-frontal assault on the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments and on the integrity of the judicial process, because they’re deceiving everyone involved in criminal prosecutions about how this information has been obtained,' Greenwald says..."
The Myth of The Liberal Media:
"If you know anyone who still believes in a "liberal media," here's 15 things everyone would know if there really were a "liberal media" (inspired by Jeff Bezos' purchase of The Washington Post)... ...1. Where the jobs went. Outsourcing (or offshoring) is a bigger contributor to unemployment in the U.S. than laziness. Since 2000, U.S. multinationals have cut 2.9 million jobs here while increasing employment overseas by 2.4 million. This is likely just the tip of the iceberg as multinational corporations account for only about 20% of the labor force. When was the last time you saw a front-page headline about outsourcing?
2. Upward wealth redistribution and/or inequality. In 2010, 20% of the people held approximately 88% of the net worth in the U.S. The top 1% alone held 35% of all net worth. The bottom 80% of people held only 12% of net worth in 2010. In 1983, the bottom 80% held 18% of net worth. These statistics are not Democrat or Republican. They are widely available to reporters. Why aren't they discussed in the 'liberal" media?'
3. ALEC. If there was a corporate organization that drafted laws and then passed them on to legislators to implement, wouldn't you think the 'liberal' media would report on them? The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is such an organization. Need legislation drafted? No need to go through a lobbyist to reach state legislatures anymore. Just contact ALEC. Among other things, ALEC is responsible for: Stand Your Ground laws Voter ID laws Right to Work laws Privatizing schools Health savings account bills which benefit health care companies Tobacco industry legislation Many legislators don’t even change the proposals handed to them by this group of corporations. They simply take the corporate bills and bring them to the legislative floor. This is the primary reason for so much similar bad legislation in different states. Hello ... 'liberal media' ... over here!!! They're meeting in Chicago this weekend. Maybe the 'liberal media' will send some reporters.
4. The number of people in prison. Which country in the world has the most people in prison? You might think it would be China (with 1+ billion people and a restrictive government) or former Soviets still imprisoned in Russia. Wrong. The United States has the most people in prison by far of any country in the world. With 5% of the world’s population, we have 25% of the world’s prisoners – 2.3 million criminals. China with a population 4 times our size is second with 1.6 million people in prison. In 1972, 350,000 Americans were in imprisoned. In 2010, this number had grown to 2.3 million. Yet from 1988 – 2008, crime rates have declined by 25%. Isn't anyone in the liberal media interested in why so many people are in prison when crime has dropped? WTF 'liberal media'?
5. The number of black people in prison. In 2009, non-Hispanic blacks, while only 13.6% of the population, accounted for 39.4% of the total prison and jail population. In 2011, according to FBI statistics, whites accounted for 69.2% of arrests. Numbers like these suggest a racial bias in our justice system. To me, this is a much bigger story than any single incident like Travyon Martin. Or, at the very least, why didn't the 'liberal media' ever mention this while covering the Martin story?
6. U.S. health care costs are the highest in the world. The expenditure per person in the U.S. is $8,233. Norway is second with $5,388. Total amount of GDP spent on health care is also the highest of any country in the world at 17.6 percent. The next closest country is the Netherlands at 12%. As a liberal, I’d like to ask why the market isn’t bringing down costs. I’d think a 'liberal' media might too.
7. Glass-Steagall. Glass-Steagall separated risky financial investments from government backed deposits for 66 years. The idea is simple. Banks were prohibited from using your federally insured savings to make risky investments. Why is this a good idea? Risky investments should be risky. If banks can use federally insured funds, there is no risk to them. If they win, they win. If they lose, we cover the cost. Elizabeth Warren does a great job explaining this to the 'liberal news' desk at CNBC
8. Gerrymandering. When was the last time you saw a front page headline about gerrymandering? Before the 2010 election, conservatives launched a plan to win control of state legislatures before the census. The idea was to be in power when national congressional districts were redrawn in order to fix them so Republicans would win a majority of districts. The Redistricting Majority Project was hugely successful. In 2012, Barack Obama was elected President by nearly 3.5 million votes. In Congressional races, Democrats drew nearly 1.4 million more votes than Republicans yet Republicans won control of the House 234 seats to 201 seats. How is this possible? By pumping $30 million into state races to win the legislatures, Republicans redrew state maps in states such as Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas, Florida and Ohio to place all of the Democrats into just a few districts. In this manner, Democrats win heavily in a couple districts and lose the rest. In North Carolina, the statewide vote was 51 percent Democrat and 49 percent Republican yet 9 Republicans won and only 4 Democrats. Where is your coverage of this vote stealing, 'liberal media'? You're willing to cover voter ID laws, why can't you cover real vote stealing?
9. The number of bills blocked by Republicans in Congress. The filibuster has been used a record number of time since Obama was elected President. From 2008-2012, 375 bills weren’t even allowed to come to a vote in the Senate because Republicans threatened the filibuster. In 2013, during the first 6 months, Congress has only passed 15 bills that were signed into law. This is 8 fewer than in the first 6 months of 2012 and 19 fewer than 2011. Also, until the Senate recently threatened to reform the filibuster, the GOP had succeeded in holding up 79 of President Obama’s picks to the U.S. Circuit Court and Courts of Appeal. They’re blocking these appointments regardless of qualification. Where's the coverage? Where are the reporters asking why nothing is getting done? * crickets *
10. The Citizens' United Supreme Court decision In a 2011 Hart poll, only 22% of those polled had actually heard of the Citizens’ United decision before taking the survey. If 77% believe that corporations have more control over our political process than people, why isn't the liberal media talking more about the Citizens’ United decision?
11. Nixon’s Southern Strategy. The Southern Strategy is a strategy for gaining political power by exploiting the greatest number of ethnic prejudices. Kevin Philips, Republican and Nixon campaign strategist, speaking about this strategy in a 1970 interview with the New York Times...
12. Tax cuts primarily benefit the wealthy. A progressive tax program is designed to tax people very little as they are starting out and progressively increase their rates as they do better. Republican plans seem designed to do exactly the opposite: shift the tax burden off of the wealthy and onto working people. Take the repeal of the estate tax. In Ohio this was recently repealed by Republicans. The benefit is only realized by people with estates larger than $338,000 (as the first $338k was exempt) and realized most by people with even wealthier estates. This also explains why Republicans want to shift the system from income taxes to consumption taxes. Consumption taxes are paid most by those at the bottom as basic consumption remains the same regardless of income. It also explains why capital gain taxes are so low. Income through capital gains is only taxed at 20% (increased from 15% in 2012) instead of at the rate of other income (closer to 35%). It also explains why Republicans were so willing to let the payroll tax cut expire. The payroll tax cut benefited people who were getting paid, not those issuing the paychecks. How much fight did you see to save this tax cut? While tax cuts are sold to us as benefiting everyone, they really benefit a select few at the very top. If everyone knew who tax cuts really benefit, would so many people vote for them?
13. What's happening to the bees? 40-50% of commercial U.S. bee hives were lost this year to colony collapse disorder. This seems like an odd one to include, why is this important? The Agriculture Department says a quarter of the American diet depends on pollination by honeybees. Dating from 2006, colony collapse disorder is a relatively new problem. More "liberal media" coverage might push the urgency of the issue. Instead here's a typical media story about bees: Thousands of Bees Attack Texas Couple, Kill Horses.
14. The impact of temporary workers on our economy. The number of temporary workers has grown by more than 50 percent since the recession ended to nearly 2.7 million. If freelancers, contract workers, and consultants are included, the number is nearly 17 million workers not directly employed by the companies who hire them. This equals 12 percent of the workforce. What's the impact of a 'just in time' workforce on workers and our economy? How about that for a story "liberal media"?
15. Media consolidation Six corporations - Time Warner, Disney, News Corporation, Viacom, Comcast, and CBS - control roughly 90% of the media in the U.S. These companies are in business to make a profit. This is why you'll find plenty of advertisements in the media. Entertainment? Check. Sports? Definitely. Weather? Yep. You'll also find plenty of 'if it bleeds, it leads' stories designed to hook you in. Vendors, witnesses recall Venice hit-and-run horror. Fort Hood trial turns bizarre as shooter grills witnesses. There's also plenty of political bickering: Democrats said this, Republicans said that. We let you decide (but we never weigh in with any facts or fact-checking). What won't you hear? You won't hear the 'liberal media' discuss the corporate media.
What to make of this If the media were 'liberal,' it would serve the public interest and shine a light on issues like the ones above. More people would also have a better understanding of global warming, peak oil, population growth, political lobbying, government's role in a functioning economy, how much we spend on the military, and countless other issues. What you’re more likely to see in the media, however, are stories designed to get you to buy their paper, or watch their show, or listen to their radio station. If it bleeds, it leads. This is why the media is concerned with scandal, celebrities, gossip, and fear. If anything, our news consists of paid advertisements and outlets too scared of offending anyone to publish much of substance. Investigative journalism is also expensive; entertainment is cheap. The way this corporate media behaves may not be surprising. I apologize if you feel any of this is beating you over the head. This Buzzfeed-style list wasn't intended to introduce this idea as new (others have done a much better job), but rather to highlight the sheer absurdity of a 'liberal media' for an audience who may not see it. One way to approach the topic is to simply ask: If we have a 'liberal media,' where are the liberal stories?"
Drug Policy:
An MD and news correspondent finally realizes the government has been lying about cannabis for 70 years...
Raw Story: CNN’s Sanjay Gupta: Americans ‘terribly and systematically misled’ about marijuana
"CNN’s Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon, apologized on Wednesday for publicly opposing marijuana legalization, saying science was clearly on the side of the drug. 'I think we have been terribly and systematically misled in this country for some time, and I did part of that misleading,' he told CNN host Piers Morgan. Though studies on marijuana in the United States tended to focus on the drug’s negative effects, Gupta explained, research from across the world had made marijuana’s positive effects clear. He said there was 'no scientific basis' to claim marijuana had no medical benefits. 'I think it is irresponsible of the medical community not to offer this as an alternative,' Gupta added, citing the high rates of deaths from prescription drugs."
