Provocations

Paul Hawken puts the wonder into perspective

A quote for the season:

Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if the stars only came out once every thousand years. No one would sleep that night, of course. The world would become religious overnight. We would be ecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God. Instead the stars come out every night, and we watch television.

- Paul Hawken, to the Class of 2009, University of Portland

Swine Flu and US-owned Smithfield Farms in Vera Cruz, Mexico

UPDATE,Grist, May 22: Biotech industry group alights on La Gloria to test backyard pigs

The bad news is that the scientists aren’t from the World Health Organization or some other neutral international group. Indeed, one of the two scientific teams that have arrived in La Gloria is funded by the biotech industry - and rather than investigate the large-scale concentrated-animal feedlot operations that lie at the villages perimeter, they’re focusing on backyard hog raising as the culprit.

UPDATE, TIME, May 15:  H1N1 Virus: The First Legal Action Targets a Pig Farm

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I watched a CNN interviewer this morning "interviewing" US Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, asking whether the US-owned (Smithfield Foods) hog farm in Vera Cruz could be responsible for the current swine flu outbreak. Vilsack took the opportunity to go on at length on how safe US pork is,  either ignorantly or deliberately avoiding the matter of pig-human transfer of the virus.  Equally unaware or incompetent, the interviewer allowed herself and her network to be used to convey Vilsack's message and avoid the critical issue of accountability.

Whether there's something to this story is another matter but we need to have the answer to questions like this, and we need media staff to have the understanding and intellectual rigour to ask - and stay with - the question.

Here's the one article currently asking the question. It also points out the current lack of coverage of this story: Swine-flu outbreak could be linked to Smithfield factory farms

David Simon's 'The Wire' lays it bare

Still think there might be some value to "the war on drugs"? I challenge you to watch this video and still have some justification for that thought.

Think the war on drugs is BS but can't articulate very clearly why? Watch this video.

Wonder why inner-city stuff seems predictable and stuck? Wonder what's going on in the "world's most livable city" - Vancouver - where every few days a gang member is killed?  How will that end up?

Who really cares?

Sick of reading stats and hearing platitudes?

Watch this video. It's well-presented.

Then, you may well decide to watch the second half.

"When television history is written," one critic says, "Little else will rival 'The Wire.'"And when historians come to tell the story of America in our time, I'll wager they will not be able to ignore this remarkable and compelling portrayal of life in our cities.  - Bill Moyers.

OK. Enough said.

The Real News Network: Uncompromising broadcast journalism

If this isn't your first time here, you will have noticed that I fairly frequently include video material from The Real News Network. In this PBS interview, Real News CEO Paul Jay speaks about the "uncompromising broadcast journalism" that this network is starting to provide.

Phil Donahue on corporate media in wartime

I don't like unsolicited e-mail any more than most but, during the lead-up and year or two following the US invasion of Iraq, I sent out many articles and links (generally welcomed) with information and opinion that just wasn't being included in the North American media. This interview with Phil Donahue considers this phenomenon of complicit mainstream media, then and now.

Marijuana movie: 'The Union' - the money and politics behind pot

Unless you have your head in the sand, you probably know that much of what we've been told about the dangers of marijuana are propaganda. Unfortunately this masks any real problems with partaking of this particular herb.  If you haven't given some thought as to who might have vested interests in keeping marijuana illegal, you might be surprised. Here's an interview, courtesy of CBC's The Hour,  with a couple of open-minded lads who were surprised at much of what they found out as they made a movie about marijuana in Canada: 'The Union - The Business Behind Getting High.'

No part of Canadian cable tv bill goes to local programming

According to a recent Nanos poll:

A new study of cable/satellite TV subscribers shows that while a large majority value local news programs more than any other Canadian programming and services, few know that none of the proceeds of the monthly cable/satellite TV bill directly supports local TV stations.

I guess we shouldn't be surprised that corporations don't encourage local choice. Gone are the days - at least in this part of Canada - where the local cable provider, operated a channel available for local community programming.

I presume then that local channels are completely dependent on advertising.

Eric Margolis on what North American media are not reporting about Iraq

Step by step a new, independent news source is emerging.  The Real News network is beginning to provide news that is independent of direct corporate and governmental influence. Here's a sample, an interview with Eric Margolis, contributor to American Conservative magazine and The Real News.

The Promise of The Real News

It was apparent to many at the time and obvious to many more now that the corporate US news media failed the public. With the exception of a few taxpayer-supported services like the BBC and CBC, I believe it is mostly an illusion that news media serve the public, especially when public interests run counter to their real masters: the corporate executives and shareholders. They have no motivation for change - other than to save or make more money.  Enter The Real News. This service is just beginning to shed a little light on TV reporting that is usually dismal, especially in the USA. Here's an indication of what lies in store:

Where young US liberals get their news

Quote for the Easter weekend:

Surveys show that 77% of all persons under 35 defining themselves as "liberals" say The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is their primary news source. Which probably makes Jon Stewart happy as hell but doesn't bode well for what little remains of our republic.

- Joe Bageant, public talk, April 2007