I'm catching up on clippings, links, and stories, so consider this the latest edition of the link dump. Later this week, I hope to finish my extensive overview of the financial collapse. I have most of the raw notes done, I just have to double check some facts and figures.
Let's start with MSNBC, the better of the cable news network [seriously, although I don't get it on cable anymore, I watch the links online], and this exchange between actress Janeane Garofalo and Keith Olbermann: ["Garofalo: Tea Party Goers Are Racists Who Hate Black President"].
Boy, talk about not getting it at all. Hey Janeane, I'm not a racist and neither are any of the other folks who were at the rally I attended and participated in. Also, my attendance at the rally had nothing to do with my likes or dislikes of President Obama. Admittedly, I didn't vote for Obama but I had hope that he would actually get some things done and whip the government into shape.
Instead, he continued many of the worst Bush policies and let his appointed Clinton failures give away the rest of the store. So far, it's been a big disappointment and it has nothing to with Obama's race. It has more to do with his policies.
I mean, let's be honest, Obama has given us the worst conservative and liberal stuff and not the best conservative or liberal stuff. Along the way, we're getting stuck with all the bad corporate stuff - as noted by Ralph Nader last week - that seems to be totally ingrained in our political system no matter what political party or candidate is in power.
So, what does that leave us? A lot of nothing and big disappointments and that is unfortunate because there was so much potential and so many people had so much hope for real change. Well, you all thought wrong.
Here is an interesting alternative take on the recent pirate incidents: ["You Are Being Lied to About Pirates"].
If all of this is true, it would not surprise me since the media, generalizing, especially on the national level, has a tendency to not really look at anything with any depth at all. Or, they get the story totally, TOTALLY wrong, as we've seen with the big newspapers' coverage of the Iraqi invasion.
Interestingly, a Google News search yielded a few commentary pieces about the issues of nuclear waste and over-fishing off the coast of Somali but no real updated news [some of the sources cited a BBC report about the issue but who really watches the BBC here anyway, huh?].
If this is the case, before taking action, the United States and other countries should definitely reconsider military action and instead, offer humanitarian and cleanup assistance to the affected areas. It would be in the long-term interest of the world to do this first and then take out the pirates, if they still exist after finding a bit of justice.
After reading this story, I began to wonder what the VA was so worried about: ["VA seizes reporter's tape"].
In many ways, as the song goes, meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Essentially, you can switch presidents, you can switch control of the Congress, you can even switch department heads, but the menace and bureaucracy of government often remains. That is just the nature of the beast in general, especially at the federal level. It doesn't really change much at all.
Quick sidebar: Why do we still have to go through all of the TSA checkpoints at this point? There hasn't been a hijacking or anything else in years and there never will be because most folks will stand up against the crazies to make sure it never happens again. Maybe it is time to consider loosening up the whole take-off-your-shoes crap in the TSA lines ...
Oh, I am so glad this finally happened: ["Genentech Pulls Raptiva Psoriasis Drug"].
Those commercials really gave me the creeps ... May cause this, that, or the other horrific thing ... Hmm, itchy, red, blotchy skin or potential death ... what a choice!
Seriously though, how the heck do these things get approved? And, before you start yelling about the Bush FDA, this was happening under Clinton too. So, it's bipartisan hapless oversight and regulation problems.
Most people probably missed this piece but it is worth posting: ["Newspapers Evaporating At Tremendous Speeds"].
I mean, there is so much bad newspaper news, whole entire sites are watching it all unfold. It's too much for me to keep up with.
But I'm beginning to wonder whether or not we should start talking about these issues as a society. And not just newspaper readers, employees, news junkies, and other assorted media interests. Maybe we should all begin to talk about it. I truly wonder what is going to happen to everything if the only news and supposed government oversight is a slew of people like me chirping away on blogs during our spare time. If this is what is going to happen to news reporting, we're doomed. We aren't going to believe what the nation and the world are going to look like after this seismic change.
I know there have been some of these conversations happening, mostly between media types, but maybe regular folks should start talking about what is going to happen if our news entities stop existing.
Of course, here is an opposing view, from a few weeks ago: ["Democracy's Cheat Sheet?"]. Maybe other options will reveal themselves in the future. Who knows? I don't, that's for sure.
And before we sign on to another bailout for General Motors, take a look at this: ["The List: Globalized Motors"].
In other words, it isn't just about too many dealerships, too many brands, too high wages for union folks, or even the legacy payments being made to former union employees who no longer work for GM. The simple fact is that we have gutted our manufacturing base in exchange for cheaper labor costs and access to other countries. All well and good, if that is what you decide to do. But now, a whole slew of Americans can't afford the cars, even at 0 down, 0 percent financing, over 72 months! We, as taxpayers, don't have to bail these companies out when their globalism runs out of gas and they can't sell cars domestically anymore. Too effin' bad. Good luck to you GM ... but not on my friggin' dime.
And lastly, a great piece here by William Greider, as usual:["Trust Your Guts"].
Granted, it's a couple of weeks old. But, it holds its own in the scheme of things. And this problem is still looming even though we have wasted trillions and are wasting hundreds of billions on the stimulus stuff. Trust your gut. You know they are wrong. 'Nuff said.
Let's start with MSNBC, the better of the cable news network [seriously, although I don't get it on cable anymore, I watch the links online], and this exchange between actress Janeane Garofalo and Keith Olbermann: ["Garofalo: Tea Party Goers Are Racists Who Hate Black President"].
Boy, talk about not getting it at all. Hey Janeane, I'm not a racist and neither are any of the other folks who were at the rally I attended and participated in. Also, my attendance at the rally had nothing to do with my likes or dislikes of President Obama. Admittedly, I didn't vote for Obama but I had hope that he would actually get some things done and whip the government into shape.
Instead, he continued many of the worst Bush policies and let his appointed Clinton failures give away the rest of the store. So far, it's been a big disappointment and it has nothing to with Obama's race. It has more to do with his policies.
I mean, let's be honest, Obama has given us the worst conservative and liberal stuff and not the best conservative or liberal stuff. Along the way, we're getting stuck with all the bad corporate stuff - as noted by Ralph Nader last week - that seems to be totally ingrained in our political system no matter what political party or candidate is in power.
So, what does that leave us? A lot of nothing and big disappointments and that is unfortunate because there was so much potential and so many people had so much hope for real change. Well, you all thought wrong.
Here is an interesting alternative take on the recent pirate incidents: ["You Are Being Lied to About Pirates"].
If all of this is true, it would not surprise me since the media, generalizing, especially on the national level, has a tendency to not really look at anything with any depth at all. Or, they get the story totally, TOTALLY wrong, as we've seen with the big newspapers' coverage of the Iraqi invasion.
Interestingly, a Google News search yielded a few commentary pieces about the issues of nuclear waste and over-fishing off the coast of Somali but no real updated news [some of the sources cited a BBC report about the issue but who really watches the BBC here anyway, huh?].
If this is the case, before taking action, the United States and other countries should definitely reconsider military action and instead, offer humanitarian and cleanup assistance to the affected areas. It would be in the long-term interest of the world to do this first and then take out the pirates, if they still exist after finding a bit of justice.
After reading this story, I began to wonder what the VA was so worried about: ["VA seizes reporter's tape"].
In many ways, as the song goes, meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Essentially, you can switch presidents, you can switch control of the Congress, you can even switch department heads, but the menace and bureaucracy of government often remains. That is just the nature of the beast in general, especially at the federal level. It doesn't really change much at all.
Quick sidebar: Why do we still have to go through all of the TSA checkpoints at this point? There hasn't been a hijacking or anything else in years and there never will be because most folks will stand up against the crazies to make sure it never happens again. Maybe it is time to consider loosening up the whole take-off-your-shoes crap in the TSA lines ...
Oh, I am so glad this finally happened: ["Genentech Pulls Raptiva Psoriasis Drug"].
Those commercials really gave me the creeps ... May cause this, that, or the other horrific thing ... Hmm, itchy, red, blotchy skin or potential death ... what a choice!
Seriously though, how the heck do these things get approved? And, before you start yelling about the Bush FDA, this was happening under Clinton too. So, it's bipartisan hapless oversight and regulation problems.
Most people probably missed this piece but it is worth posting: ["Newspapers Evaporating At Tremendous Speeds"].
I mean, there is so much bad newspaper news, whole entire sites are watching it all unfold. It's too much for me to keep up with.
But I'm beginning to wonder whether or not we should start talking about these issues as a society. And not just newspaper readers, employees, news junkies, and other assorted media interests. Maybe we should all begin to talk about it. I truly wonder what is going to happen to everything if the only news and supposed government oversight is a slew of people like me chirping away on blogs during our spare time. If this is what is going to happen to news reporting, we're doomed. We aren't going to believe what the nation and the world are going to look like after this seismic change.
I know there have been some of these conversations happening, mostly between media types, but maybe regular folks should start talking about what is going to happen if our news entities stop existing.
Of course, here is an opposing view, from a few weeks ago: ["Democracy's Cheat Sheet?"]. Maybe other options will reveal themselves in the future. Who knows? I don't, that's for sure.
And before we sign on to another bailout for General Motors, take a look at this: ["The List: Globalized Motors"].
In other words, it isn't just about too many dealerships, too many brands, too high wages for union folks, or even the legacy payments being made to former union employees who no longer work for GM. The simple fact is that we have gutted our manufacturing base in exchange for cheaper labor costs and access to other countries. All well and good, if that is what you decide to do. But now, a whole slew of Americans can't afford the cars, even at 0 down, 0 percent financing, over 72 months! We, as taxpayers, don't have to bail these companies out when their globalism runs out of gas and they can't sell cars domestically anymore. Too effin' bad. Good luck to you GM ... but not on my friggin' dime.
And lastly, a great piece here by William Greider, as usual:["Trust Your Guts"].
Granted, it's a couple of weeks old. But, it holds its own in the scheme of things. And this problem is still looming even though we have wasted trillions and are wasting hundreds of billions on the stimulus stuff. Trust your gut. You know they are wrong. 'Nuff said.
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