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Can AND WILL Congress Rescue Newspaper INDUSTRY?
Calling it a necessary pillar of democracy, a Senate subcommittee examined the state of American journalism Wednesday at a time when newspapers are being shuttered and downsized and network TV news audiences are declining.
"Newspapers and broadcasters have been a check on the excesses of government, business and individuals," said Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va. "But what happens when our watchdog grows mute and can no longer bark? When newspapers slice their staff and slash their news operations? What happens is that we all suffer. ... The inevitable result is less reporting, less news, and less coverage of our communities and interests at home and abroad."
The woes of the newspaper industry are now front-page news. A shift in readership to free Internet sites and plummeting advertising revenue have forced venerable publications such as Denver's 150-year-old Rocky Mountain News and the 146-year-old Seattle Post-Intelligencer to close.
Surviving newspaper companies, including McClatchy Newspapers, are doing so through drastic budget cuts, downsizing, asset sales, layoffs, furloughs and salary and benefit cuts. [Full story...]
Blacks more worried about HIV than Whites?
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for full photo coverage.Blacks are six times more likely to be very concerned about becoming infected with HIV than Whites, a new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation has disclosed.
Respondents were asked: Bearing in mind the different ways people can be infected with HIV, how concerned are you personally about becoming infected with HIV? Thirty-eight percent of Blacks replied that they were very concerned about being infected with HIV. Only 6 percent of Whites gave the same answer.
In addition, 13 percent of Blacks said they were somewhat concerned about becoming infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, compared to 10 percent of Whites. When the very concerned and somewhat concerned responses were combined, 51 percent of Blacks expressed a high degree of fear, compared to 16 percent of Whites.
Among Latinos polled, 25 percent said they were very concerned about being infected with HIV and 17 percent reported being somewhat concerned..[Full
story...]
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Domestic torture and America's racial hatred
Sharply drawn racial lines in America have clearly marked the different worlds and shaped the experiences and expectations of Blacks and Whites in the United States.
The suffering inflicted on Blacks started with our capture in Africa and continued through the horror of the Middle Passage and our arrival on land soaked with the blood of the Indigenous people. The oppression, mistreatment and murder of Blacks was codified under lawthe Constitution, the founding document of the country, injected the subhuman status of Blacks in the political lifeblood of the nation. Black people were declared three-fifths of a human being and that was only in relation to the political power and advantages to be given to their slave masters.
With the Dred Scott decision of 1857, it was emphatically declared a Black man had no rights a White man was bound to respect. Once again the courts and the legal system upheld and ensured the second-class status of Black people with Jim Crow laws, housing contracts, country club rules and local ordinances.
But beyond reinforcement of a view and an attitude was law enforcement, local police and sheriff's departments, who overtly and covertly kept Blacks in their place and asserted the power and authority of Whites in society.
The legally sanctioned abuse of Blacks didn't happen over a single decade or a century but over several centuries, embedding a disrespect for Black lives and rights into the very fabric of the so-called legal system and its guardians. As was so aptly stated on a sign during protests against the Los Angeles Police Department following the riots after the beating of Rodney King by police officers: The job of the force was to serve, protect and break a brother's neck..
The use of domestic law enforcement as goon squads is nothing new for Black people, who were terrorized by sheriffs in the South
White nationalists find a home in the military
A recent report issuedand later withdrawnby the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Intelligence and Analysis warned of the possibility of an up-tick in violent activities by right-wing extremist groups.
The assessment pointed to a number of factors, including the election of the country's first Black president, the economic crisis combined with escalating unemployment, and conservative-initiated rumors that the Barack Obama administration would advocate stricter gun control regulations, that might fuel a growth in right-wing extremist groups, and homegrown terrorist incidents.
Titled Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment, it drew immediate criticism from conservative pundits and media personalities, but one key finding was particularly seized upon.
Returning veterans possess combat skills and experience that are attractive to rightwing extremists, read the section Disgruntled Military Veterans. DHS/I & A is concerned that rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to boost their violent capabilities..
Towns print money to help local merchants
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for full photo coverage.People in Great Barrington, Mass., can go to one of five participating local banks to trade 95 cents for one Berkshare, at a five percent discount to the dollar. They can then spend Berkshares at over 400 participating local stores as a direct replacement for dollars, thus saving 5 cents with every Berkshare they spend.[Full story...]
The life and legacy of a global music icon
U.S. pullout from Iraq to be decided at polls
WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) - As Iraqis witness a spike in violence after a months-long relative lull, the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has decided to put its security agreement with the U.S. to a public referendum, although the move appears to be only heightening a sense of uncertainty over the fate of the country..
Last year, Iraqi and U.S. negotiators included a provision in the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) for a referendum on the presence of U.S. troops on Iraqi soil, to be held six months after the deal went into effect. Although the referendum was supposed to be conducted in July, recently Iraq's cabinet decided to hold it along with national parliamentary elections in January 2010.
The government allocated about $100 million for the polls, and cited financial and time constraints as reasons for the delay.
According to SOFA's roadmap, the U.S. should retreat from Iraqi cities by June 30 this year, and from the country in its entirety by January 2012. However, it is not yet fully clear whether the U.S. will embark on a full withdrawal or keep some forces in troubled areas like Mosul and Kirkuk in the north, as well as the capital Baghdad. [Full story...]
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Joke of the Day
Penguin Patrol
A police officer sees a man driving around with a pickup truck full of
penguins. He pulls the guy over and says, "You can't drive around with
penguins in this town! Take them to the zoo immediately." The guy
agrees to do so and drives away.
The next day, the officer sees the guy still driving around with the
truck full of penguins -- and they're all wearing sunglasses! He pulls
the guy over and says, "I thought I told you to take these penguins to
the zoo yesterday!"
The guy replies, "I did - they loved it, thanks. Today I'm taking them
to the beach!"
I did not put any sal-soda, or other acid or alkali, into my bread.
Today's
Birthday
Kamal Jumblatt (1917)
Jumblatt
was a Lebanese philosopher, politician, and the traditional leader of
the Druze community. He earned multiple degrees at the Sorbonne, wrote
prolifically in both Arabic and French, and held ranking positions in
government for more than 30 years. In 1949, Jumblatt founded the
Druze-backed Progressive Socialist Party. When the Lebanese Civil War
began, he was the main opposition leader, and his forces soon
controlled nearly 70% of the country. Who was suspected in his 1977
assassination?More...
Quote
of the Day
A
letter is an unannounced visit, and the postman is the intermediary of
impolite surprises. Every week we ought to have one hour for receiving
letters, and then go and take a bath. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
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