Hi again,

On Fri 2037-May-29 17:38, Dan Ceppa (1:138/666) wrote to Richard Webb:

 DC> The title sounds familiar...  Was he ever a guest on The Daily Show

 RW> WOuldn't know, as I don't have a television so don't watch
 RW> either.  I get my news from NPR or shortwave radio.  I don't do tv
 RW> news even. Haven't owned a television now for over a decade and don't


DC> Though those shows are satire, I do believe I get a more accurate
DC> view  of mst stories from them.  I go into withdrawl when they are
DC> on vacation!   

A friend of mine back in IOwa enjoys them quite a bit too.
I find though whenever I"m around one of those boxes that it eats all
available spare time, even if there's nothing on it I really find worth
watching.  About the only time I"m in
the presence of one is when I do the motel thing.


 RW> Agreed, and nobody to do real investigative journalism,
 RW> because the corporates don't want it when they can do flash
 RW> trash and not jeopardize the bottom line by making
 RW> advertisers uncomfortable if their pet ox gets gored.  THe

DC> The same hold true for the gvt's reasons.  They also push their
DC> agenda  that way.  

OF course it does.  Much better spin control, and it's all
about spin now.


 RW> blogosphere is not real investigative journalism because all these
 RW> individuals ooperating in isolation don't have the resources for
 RW> research, the scientific experts that can be called in, who want money
 RW> for their troubles, editors to clean up their work, etc.

DC> People don't seem to miss it, though.  I'm not sure why, but I
DC> suspect  that the younger crowd has been purposely weaned off of
DC> newspapers.   

OF course, it's easier to give 'em a bit of flash and
titillate them.  Rumors of scandal to excite the prurient
interest.


 RW> a simple click of the mouse and a flick of the switch your right to
 RW> know, and your right to question just got flushed, along with your
 RW> right to privacy. 

DC> Information is the key.  Controlling content and feedback is what got
DC> this country to tacitly approve of the war in Iraq.  

OF course, easily done.  say it loud enough often enough,
and don't allow any other point of view to be heard, or
facts that don't agree with your conclusion.  IF Mr.
Reporter wants his paycheck he won't push it when the editor flushes his
story because it doesn't fit with the owners' or advertisers' agenda.

 RW> IT scares me a bit that folks really don't want to consider
 RW> the issues of privacy, right to be let alone, freedom of
 RW> information.  these are interrelated issues.  THE only free
 RW> and open part of the internet that will remain when they get done is
 RW> the part that lets them look at what you're doing and put the big
 RW> picture together from all the little pieces of data about you.  THat's
 RW> the only open part of it that the authoritarians have an interest in. 
 RW> OTherwise what they want is good consumer wal mart shoppers.  Just shut
 RW> up and buy more shit, preferrably on credit.

DC> With what money?  The real jobs are being farmed out.  They don't
DC> want  to improve the lot of other countries' workers.  They want to
DC> lower  our workers to foreign standards.  

OF course, but you're still supposed to want it, and
mortgage your limited future to pay for it.  You'll never
notice that the insurance company refuses to insure your
health because of a predisposition to a certain condition,
or your mom has type I diabetes, or ...
AS journalism weakens the marketers become more
sophisticated.  wHen they can get the shill to do his work
and present it as "news" and "information" without
disclosing the fact that he's a shill and nobody catches on
you're on the slippery slope, and it's not a real gentle one either.

But then, MR. ORwell presaged this decades ago.  Poor
WInston sMIth started figuring out that he'd been seriously
duped his whole life.  BUt, instead of just one channel
we'll have dozens, don't like the flickering image on one
flip to another, meanwhile the panopticon has you under its
never wavering gaze.  "THis is the central scrutinizer ... "

Regards,
           Richard
...   IF YOU'RE NOT OUTRAGED, YOU'RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION                
--- timEd 1.10.y2k+