Fox News gets okay to misinform public, court ruling | Media Reform | CeaseSPIN.org. Courtesy of Broadcast Blues courtesy of The Corporation UPDATED:Many news agencies lie and distort facts, not many have the guts to admit it...in court...positioning the First Amendment as their defense! The attorneys for Fox, owned by media baron Rupert Murdoch, successfully argued the First Amendment gives broadcasters the right to lie or deliberately distort news reports on the public airwaves. We are pushing for a consumer protection solution that labels news content according to its adherence to ethical journalism standards that have been codified by the Society of Professional Journalists (Ethics: spj.org).
A News Quality Rating System and Content Labeling approach, follows a tradition of consumer protection product labeling, that is very familiar to Americans. The ratings are anti-censorship and can benefit consumers. Appellate Court Rules Media Can Legally Lie. The New Inquiry. Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names. Inside India’s “Stateless” Headache. Residents of the chitmahals along India’s border with Bangladesh are living in a stateless limbo. But with other issues on their plate, can the two governments find a solution? By Maher Sattar for The Diplomat January 18, 2012 Facebook1 Twitter0 Google+0 LinkedIn0 Problems in the relationship between Bangladesh and India are nothing new, but the controversy surrounding the chitmahals, or the Bangladesh-India enclaves, has proved particularly tricky for governments on both sides.
A patchwork of about 160 microscopic states-within-states lies scattered across both sides of Bangladesh’s northern border with its giant neighbor. “We don’t belong to any country. To describe Rahman’s village as a jungle would be an exaggeration, although any signs of modernity gradually fade as you approach. The districts of Cooch-Behar and Rangpur used to be princely states within a larger area known as Greater Bengal. This odd arrangement is further complicated by the existence of enclaves within enclaves. People of Color Less Likely to Vote Due to Super PAC Influence. It’s becoming more difficult for people to see how their vote is going to matter in the 2012 election. When states are increasingly passing voter ID laws that mandate voters prove they are citizens or that they are legitimate voters at the polls, while Super PACs are able to field millions of dollars, often from unidentified people, to influence elections, then democracy becomes less of a real thing to many people.
A new survey from the Brennan Center for Justice shows majorities of Americans seeing Super PACs as corrupting forces on elections. There’s enough Super PAC distrust in the survey that many said they likely won’t vote. Evidently Bonnie Raitt isn’t the only person who feels, as she said in Rolling Stone, that “we have an auction instead of an election.” Voters of color certainly feel that way.
But before all of that, they have to overcome the idea that their one vote is going to matter as much as the $1 million gift to a Super PAC. 29 Black People Have Been Killed by Police/Security Since Jan 2012: 16 Since Trayvon. Let's Talk About Sex. This week Foreign Policy published a “Sex Issue.” They explained their decision to feature a special issue with these words Foreign Policy's first-ever Sex Issue…is dedicated…to the consideration of how and why sex—in all the various meanings of the word—matters in shaping the world's politics.
Why? In Foreign Policy, the magazine and the subject, sex is too often the missing part of the equation—the part that the policymakers and journalists talk about with each other, but not with their audiences. …Women's bodies are the world's battleground, the contested terrain on which politics is played out. We can keep ignoring it. It is commendable that Foreign Policy highlights the all too common silence about sex and gender politics in its own pages. To begin with, it is purportedly about how sex shapes the world’s politics. The primary focus is Islam and its production and repression of sex and gender politics in the Middle East. Then there is the visual. Jadaliyya. Category:Arguments - Argumentrix. The People's View: The Susan G. Komen Foundation Thinks You're Stupid. It's an unpleasant truth, I know.
But based on the recent statements coming from their leaders and affiliates, there is no other conclusion to be had. Nothing illustrates the organization's deep-seated hubris better than this snarkalicious Facebook comment from one Cheryl Roberts: We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that resulted in completely unexpected scrutiny of our CEO's unconscionably high salary, obscenely high overhead to actual good ratio, longstanding links to Republican politicians, huge budget for taking oppressive legal actions against other charities that dare use the word 'cure,' vast marketing and lobbying budgets, and long-standing history of secretly lobbying against federal assistance to women with breast cancer. Based upon the last ten years, we truly had no idea that we couldn't do whatever the hell we wanted with gullible contributors' money.
I think that captures it all quite nicely. Well, Ms. Un-Fair Campaign. 13-year-old self-aborts using pencil. Free Wood Post. If Governor Jan Brewer gets her way, Arizona radio stations will soon be prohibited from playing Latino music over the airwaves. On May 3, the Arizona House will vote on a bill that would ban any music that: 1. Promotes the overthrow of the United States government.2. Promotes resentment toward a race or class of people.3. Is designed primarily for listeners of a particular ethnic group.4. Advocates ethnic solidarity instead of treating listeners as individuals. According to the bill, “Any music that includes more than five words in a language other than English will be reviewed by an independent commission for seditious overtones.” Brewer’s supporters believe that the Governor is only doing what is necessary to protect the “American way of life”.
Governor Brewer is quick to point out that she is not banning Latino music, merely asking that it be translated into English and examined for “inappropriate” lyrics before airing it on the radio. Read More From Orbson Rice on Free Wood Post: Important Dates in 2012 for Anarchists, The 99% & Social Justice Advocates. After the rise of the #OCCUPYWALLSTREET movement, on top of various revolutions and insurrections around the world in 2011, I expect that 2012 will likely see more of the same along these lines. Of course, this will also be in the context of more draconian policies which target dissent amidst a crumbling economic and environmental infrastructure. Some people will, undoubtedly, try to preserve and maintain the status quo while blaming the victims for resisting (or for even just simply pointing out the injustices of this world).
Nevertheless, I've got a feeling that this coming year might possibly see unprecedented protests around the globe. As late as the proverbial hour is getting for the dominant culture... people may simply never have this type of opportunity to protest again. That may sound like an exaggeration, but I wouldn't underestimate the power and ruthlessness of those currently in charge of this system. The London Olympic Games: August 29th to September 9th. The Case For A 21-Hour Work Week. To save the world--or really to even just make our personal lives better--we will need to work less.
Time, like work, has become commodified, a recent legacy of industrial capitalism, where a controlled, 40-hour week (or more) in factories was necessary. Our behavior is totally out of step with human priorities and the nature of today’s economy. To lay the foundations for a "steady-state" economy--one that can continue running sustainably forever--a recent paper argues that it’s time for advanced developed countries transition to a normal 21-hour work week. This does not mean a mandatory work week or leisure-time police.
People can choose to work as long, or short, as they please. It’s more about resetting social and political norms. The New Economics Foundation (NEF) says there is nothing natural or inevitable about what’s considered a "normal" 40-hour work week today. Besides, it may be the only way a modern global society won’t overwhelm the earth’s resources. 8 Reasons Young Americans Don't Fight Back: How the US Crushed Youth Resistance. Traditionally, young people have energized democratic movements. So it is a major coup for the ruling elite to have created societal institutions that have subdued young Americans and broken their spirit of resistance to domination. Young Americans—even more so than older Americans—appear to have acquiesced to the idea that the corporatocracy can completely screw them and that they are helpless to do anything about it.
A 2010 Gallup poll asked Americans “Do you think the Social Security system will be able to pay you a benefit when you retire?” Among 18- to 34-years-olds, 76 percent of them said no. How exactly has American society subdued young Americans? 1. Today in the United States, two-thirds of graduating seniors at four-year colleges have student-loan debt, including over 62 percent of public university graduates. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. These are not the only aspects of our culture that are subduing young Americans and crushing their resistance to domination. Not Everyone’s Laughing At “Shit White Girls Say To Black Girls” Panetta admits Iran not developing nukes. By Stephen C.
WebsterMonday, January 9, 2012 11:44 EDT U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta let slip on Sunday the big open secret that Washington war hawks don’t want widely known: Iran is not developing nuclear weapons. Appearing on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday, Panetta admitted that despite all the rhetoric, Iran is not pursuing the ability to split atoms with weapons, saying it is instead pursuing “a nuclear capability.” That “capability” falls in line with what Iran has said for years: that it is developing nuclear energy facilities, not nuclear weapons. “I think the pressure of the sanctions, the diplomatic pressures from everywhere, Europe, the United States, elsewhere, it’s working to put pressure on them,” Panetta explained on Sunday.
Republicans have been beating the drums of war in recent weeks as tensions in the Iranian gulf have soared. Nuclear fuel enrichment is much different from enrichment for weapons. Copyright 2012 The Raw Story Stephen C. Stephen C. Newsnight: Paul Mason: Twenty reasons why it's kicking off everywhere.
From Finland, an Intriguing School-Reform Model. 2011 in Review: The Year Secrecy Jumped the Shark. Alabama reconsiders immigration law after not-brown person gets arrested. Number of homeless children highest in American history. To Our Faithful Current.com Users: Current's run has ended after eight exciting years on air and online. The Current TV staff has appreciated your interest, support, participation and unflagging loyalty over the years.
Your contributions helped make Current.com a vibrant place for discussing thousands of interesting stories, and your continued viewership motivated us to keep innovating and find new ways to reflect the voice of the people. We now welcome the on-air and digital presence of Al Jazeera America, a new news network committed to reporting on and investigating real stories affecting the lives of everyday Americans in every corner of the country.
You can keep up with what's new on Al Jazeera America and see this new brand of journalism for yourself at Thank you for inspiring and challenging us. . – The Current TV Staff. U.S. military infiltrates social media. Food prices trigger revolution. Big business behind solar power. More troops commit suicide than die in combat.