Independent Media in a time of war

Vocal polemicist and host of Democracy Now!, Amy Goodman, discusses the way American reporting has degenerated into something identical to State-sponsored media. We're not just talking about Fox News either. Some of the most venerable news outlets, such as CNN, is placed under Goodman's microscope, and it's tragic to find how lop-sided toward the military American coverage is. A highlight from the short, 30-minute documentary is Amy's suggestion that 24-hour networks invite doctors along with retired Generals onto their evening "newscasts" to inform people of how the recently-deployed bombs the General talked about in the previous segment effects the human targets on the ground.

A major theme presented in the film is the power of images. For a deeper analysis on the topic the ever-illuminating Susan Sontag wrote an exquisite book entitled Regarding the Pain of Others and is well worth your time.

Bush's Budget Blunders or Save NPR!

Why does Bush like to pick on public broadcasting so much? Does he have something against Burt and Ernie? Maybe it's because they don't qualify conjecture and gutter-speak as hard news. Or is it because they refuse to fellate the administration around the clock like other news outlets I could name? I think the answer to these questions is a resounding yes.

While his new budget proposal gives assloads of money to the Pentagon it also helps one of our most persecuted minorities - the rich. Those tax cuts Bush wants to make permanent gives the richest one percent thirty-one percent of the cuts and the bottom forty percent (you and I) a measly four percent. But never fear I'm sure those old, white men at the top will surely demonstrate their magnanimity before the beginning of the next war.

And so NPR is facing another attack along with significant cuts to child-care assistance and the Headstart program. PBS has stated that without these funds they might have to jettison "Seasame Street and "Arthur". Bush's thinking is backwards and upside down. Hell, this interview alone should be reason enough to keep NPR strong. Sign this petition and send a message to Congress saying you support upstanding Journalism and stand against fattening the bank accounts of multi- millionaires