Democracy loses the election

At Truthdig, Amy Goodman mourned the biggest loser during the election day this week: democracy.

As the 2010 elections come to a close, the biggest winner of all remains undeclared: the broadcasters. The biggest loser: democracy. These were the most expensive midterm elections in U.S. history, costing close to $4 billion, $3 billion of which went to advertising. What if ad time were free? We hear no debate about this, because the media corporations are making such a killing by selling campaign ads. Yet the broadcasters are using public airwaves. I am reminded of the 1999 book by media scholar Robert McChesney, “Rich Media, Poor Democracy.” In it, he writes, “Broadcasters have little incentive to cover candidates, because it is in their interest to force them to publicize their campaigns.” . . .
Goodman points out that the airwaves belong to the public, yet they are being used for reaping huge profits that create a financial bar to candidates who merely have good ideas.
The place where we should debate this is in the major media, where most Americans get their news. But the television and radio broadcasters have a profound conflict of interest. Their profits take precedence over our democratic process. You very likely won’t hear this discussed on the Sunday-morning talk shows.

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Negative interest rates are here

Step right up and buy a bong that pays negative interest:

The U.S. government, for the first time, has sold bonds that have a negative rate of return, as investors seek protection against the threat of inflation. The government sold $10 billion worth of the bonds Monday. Investors paid $105.50 for every $100 of bonds they bought, effectively agreeing to pay the government for the privilege of lending it money.

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And the sign said

I've noticed quite a few signs around town lately. First, here's an emotionally-charged set of signs that might save lives. First I noticed a terribly wrecked car in the center of the campus of St. Louis University (I sometimes ride a bicycle through this area on the way to work): When you look closer, you'll see why this car was towed here: Two people were recently killed while driving this car. Once again, I am reminded that when I'm traveling in a car, it is likely the most dangerous thing I will ever be doing. There are other serious signs, of course. Here's one I spotted in a trending part of town. You see, this manly man believes that Jesus once visited the Americas. This poster is just down the street from the Roman Catholic Cathedral where, based on my experience being raised as a Catholic, most of the parishioners don't understand the most basic teachings of the church, and don't really care that they don't understand. Yet they disparage the Mormons and vice-versa. What other signs did I notice? How about this sign warning about the great danger presented by this parking lot gate? Click on this image, and you'll see that these gates are terribly dangerous, even though it doesn't seem so to me. It's especially hard to understand this warning when the bottom of the gate is padded with foam. In the photo above, you can see the entire apparatus. I now hesitant to go near it. But this gate is not a fluke. Here's another parking gate I noticed this week, this one located at the St. Louis County Circuit Court: [More . . . ]

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Quotes for a Sunday evening

I've really been stretched this weekend. One big distraction is upgrading the family's main computer from Windows XP to Windows 7. The new product is well-rated, but the upgrade can take many (as in more than 12) hours. I'm working on many ideas, but I haven't had a chance to write them up yet. Therefore, I will turn once again to the terrific quote collection of on of our readers, Mike Baker: "Do not save your loving speeches, For your friends till they are dead; Do not write them on their tombstones, Speak them rather now instead." Anna Cummins "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed." ~ Mahatma Gandhi "He who is greedy is always in want." ~ Horace "The road to Auschwitz was built by hate, but paved with indifference." ~ British historian Ian Kershaw "The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear—fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants beyond everything else is safety." ~ H. L. Mencken, American journalist and humorist (1880-1956) "With numbing regularity good people were seen to knuckle under the demands of authority and perform actions that were callous and severe. Men who are in everyday life responsible and decent were seduced by the trappings of authority, by the control of their perceptions, and by the uncritical acceptance of the experimenter's definition of the situation, into performing harsh acts. A substantial proportion of people do what they are told to do, irrespective of the content of the act and without limitations of conscience, so long as they perceive that the command comes from a legitimate authority." ~ Stanley Milgram , 1965 "The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance -- it is the illusion of knowledge." ~Daniel Boorstin "All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them." ~ Galileo Italian astronomer & physicist (1564 - 1642) "Long experience has taught me this about the status of mankind with regard to matters requiring thought: the less people know and understand about them, the more positively they attempt to argue concerning them, while on the other hand to know and understand a multitude of things renders men cautious in passing judgment upon anything new. ~ Galileo [More . . . ]

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An alternative to capitalism working its way into every corner of society – the story of the commons

Media Education Foundation recently released a new documentary titled "This Land is Our Land." The video is critical of fair market fundamentalism, arguing that the idea of "the public commons" is fundamental to America's past successes. "We forget what the commons is and why it matters." Air, water, government research, community garden, public forests, public libraries, the G.I. Bill, material protected by only limited copyright and the public airwaves. Some states named themselves "commonwealths." The idea of the commons has been with us forever. Even Babylon had nature preserves. "This Land is Our Land," narrated by David Bollier, offers dozens of examples of the importance of the commons. The idea of public property is critically important: "We have a moral personal connection with it." Yet those who dare to honor this age-old idea of the commons now face blistering allegations that they are communists, or at least socialists.  Bollier runs a website titled "On the Commons."   At that site you can read a well written article titled, "Why the Commons Matters Right Now." What is hard to miss is that recognizing the importance of the commons is often not convenient to corporate interests. Especially amazing is the section of the documentary discussing the fact that, according to a law from the mid-1800s, companies have, with out any payment reaped great profits from public lands. What we have today is the "enclosure of the commons," the process by which the commons is clawed back from The People. A prime example is the fact that huge telecoms are currently working hard to gain control over the Internet, incrementally winning the battle over those who are fighting for net neutrality (And see this speech by Senator Al Franken). Perhaps the most salient part of the documentary is the opening story about Jonas Salk, who refused to apply for a patent on his polio vaccine. When Edward Murrow asked him, "Who owns this patent?", Salk replied, "No one. Could you patent the sun?." Those with possible interest in purchasing,"The Land is Our Land," can view a low-res version of the entire documentary here.

Continue ReadingAn alternative to capitalism working its way into every corner of society – the story of the commons