Blunt Language From Missouri Senator About Abortion

I fully participated in the recent campaign to prevent the move to cut funding to the the organization that prevents more abortions than any other, Planned Parenthood. Even though Republicans held to that partisan budget pittance to the point of shutting down the government, the health services for poor women provided by Planned Parenthood will continue to get that dollar per citizen for another year. Yay. But along the way, I wrote to my Senator, Roy Blunt. Weeks later, he wrote back. Here (in part) is his response:

"Thank you for contacting me about funding for Planned Parenthood"

"I am deeply opposed to the practice of abortion and do not support federal funding for any organization that performs or promotes abortions, which includes Planned Parenthood. An unborn child is a living human being and abortion ends the life of that child. Throughout my time in the House I worked hard to protect the lives of the unborn.

"I am proud to have the highest possible pro-life voting record according to National Right to Life, and, as I begin my time in the Senate, I will continue to support efforts to make adoption more attractive for parents and prohibit the use of taxpayer dollars to pay for abortion."

Either he is ignorant, or tacitly lying. Three percent (3%) of Planned Parenthood's activities are abortion related. Of those, none (0%) have ever been taxpayer supported. The prohibition against tax money for abortions is still in effect from the 1976 Hyde Amendment. Only under very rare circumstances does this act allow any federal money to be involved in an abortion. Lawmakers can posture all they want to; it is already illegal for tax money aid poor women who must resort to that tragic choice. I'm not a single-issue voter, nor do necessarily I oppose his position every issue. But his ignorant formula response to my request has cemented my opposition to his reelection.

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Craig Newmark’s new connection-venture

Craig Newmark is the well-known founder of Craigslist. At the 2011 National Conference for Media Reform, I had the opportunity to hear him discuss his new project, craigconnects, the stated goal of which is to bridge the gap between concerned citizens and great causes. According to this write-up, craigconnects "spotlights companies doing positive work in categories including Veterans' Issues, Technology for Social Good, Community Building, and Journalism Integrity." At the NCMR, Newmark remarked that craigconnects is going to be a work in progress and that he has made a 20 year commitment to see how far he can take it. Hearing about craigconnects reminds me of an organization a friend recently told me about:  Kiva.  If you would like to help someone out with a micro-loan, Kiva is a great place to get you connected.

We are a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world.

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Wikileaks in the spotlight at the National Conference for Media Reform

I'm in Boston attending the National Conference for Media Reform - 2011, sponsored by Free Press. I'm one of 2,500 would-be reformers on hand, learning a lot about the state of the media, but there's not enough good news about the news these days. Countless journalists are losing their jobs, newspapers are being shuttered and important stories are thus not getting adequate coverage. On the other hand, the attendees at the conference are, as a group, affable, intelligent and capable people, as are the presenters. Yesterday I attended a panel discussion on Wikileaks, hosted by Amy Goodman of DemocracyNow. I'll offer some of my observations below, before presenting several videos I shot during the discussions.  These videos include of all of the comments by Salon.com's Glenn Greenwald, who has made Wikileaks a strong focus of his work over the past year.  I've also included a video of Amy Goodman's opening comments. In addition to Glenn Greenwald, the panel included Greg Mitchell, who has created an ongoing and comprehensive Wikiweaks series of posts, in The Nation. Each day's entry at his blog includes multiple items, and he's up to at least Day 132. Mitchell has just published an excellent book, The Age of Wikileaks: From Collateral Murder to Cablegate (and Beyond) (2011); I bought a copy at the conference and I'm halfway through. Mitchell suggested early in the session that the federal government has been treating Bradley Manning inhumanely to discourage future whistle-blowers.  Why would that be?  Many of the answers are in Mitchell's own book.  For instance, Mitchell reports that prior to the release of the "Collateral Murder" video, Julian Assange predicted:

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Net neutrality upside down

Today the Republican-dominated House voted to keep the government's hands off of the Internet or, at least, that is the story that is being widely promulgated. For example see here: House Republicans adamant that the government keep its hands off the Internet passed a bill Friday to repeal federal rules…

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Good Ads for Bad Stuff

I was watching a marvelous recent fundamentalist ad and my childhood training touched my consciousness. I was five when my parents first brought a TV into our house. They watched with me, and explained that any product that was worth getting didn't need to be advertised. Basically, they implanted the idea that commercials were plugs for stuff you don't need, or were too inadequate to sell on their own merits. I easily absorbed this meme. Anytime I see a product on the tube, it feels like a negative review. As I grew older this gave me some trouble, because I noticed some products that I already liked being advertised. But I got over it. Commercials these days do have some of the highest production values out there. And this one linked above is visually stunning and emotionally persuasive. But for a dark and dangerous version of the product they are selling: Prayer. I would have embedded it, but embedding was disabled. I suspect because the ad was being panned by rationalists around the web; not their intended audience. But for visual interest, here is an ad from a few years ago that appeals to the same people, The Gathering Storm: Really, go see the new one. Much more powerful. They are learning.

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