OCCUPYWALLSTREET REINFORCEMENTS!

[Elderberry]

At one point the point of news organizations was to report. Now it's to make money.

Okay that's broad, but when corporations began to buy radio and television stations and newspapers and look at them with an eye to maximizing the investment...
And the internet was a swerve.

Yes, but when campaigns no longer have unlimited amounts of money to spend on TV and other media advertising, the incentive for making money from political reporting wont be there.

yeah, because of course, there would be no "behind the scenes" payola, by "unknown supporters" of candidate "F", to any news organization, to play more dirt, OP ED more, or, hide certain news on page 8.

And PAC's could easily still do things.........investigate, whatever, and release the info." Anonymously", if necessary..........
To be naive enough, to think the "big money" behind candidates, won't find a way, or bribe a way, for advantage is unfortunate.

The cynic in me says, big money is big power......big power, finds a way.

LOL No system is perfect, especially when it involves living human beings. But if that activity is illegal at least there is recourse. And if you have absolutely no faith in our legal system and rule of law, then woe is you.

[ygmir]

how, do you say that, and then turn around and say what you do about FOX?
I see them as two ends of the spectrum......NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, etc, to me, all lean left.

See what I mean? Those stations, for the most part are "center" and pretty fair and balanced. (pun intended, but still true.) Now if you said MSNBC--well, I 'might' not argue with you, other than extremes.

haaha, and, "you see what I mean"? I see them as left.......and yes, would include MSNBC. One might wonder, if you feel that way about MSNBC, why you don't decry their "falsehoods " and fabrications, or at least, accuse them in the same manner? Could it be, that, since it promotes your agenda, it's ok?
Being a partisan, I can see how feeling yourself, and your opinions, in the majority of Americans that you would see those who tend to agree with you, as "centrist", while those you don't usually agree with as "extreme".
Most folks, tend to see themselves as "centrist", and, feel their opinions reflect the majority of their fellows.
I see both ends as extreme,,,,,,,and, as a "drop out" of "standard" politics, I feel I can see them for what they are. I don't feel I'm in the majority, by any means.
I see the country divided: 40/40/20.

I also like a divided government.
To me, the less "they" do, the less "they" screw up.........my favorite congress is when they're on recess.

[ygmir]

LOL No system is perfect, especially when it involves living human beings. But if that activity is illegal at least there is recourse. And if you have absolutely no faith in our legal system and rule of law, then woe is you.

Well, that's true. And we all know how making something "illegal" stops it immediatly.............
and, referring to the rule of law, applying to politicians and "the 1%" (as you'd put them), no, I have very little faith in it.

[cowboyangel]

Finally got around to editing this. The meditation teacher was an exceptionally beautiful lady. We ain't going away, no way.

[youtube][/youtube]

[ygmir]

do a lot of the OWS days include Thai Chi, dance, and/or yoga?

[cowboyangel]

In Oakland, that's what I saw.

[ygmir]

I sorta get mixed messages from it.
on one hand, yay for relaxing, staying focused, exercising.
on the other hand, makes it seem like they're a bunch of self entitled hippie types, who, will be ordering espresso and biscotti, and, are there for the party.

I wonder, how the Occupiers in other parts of the world act?
seems austerity and focus, would speak louder.

[Sola Gangsta]

on the other hand, makes it seem like they're a bunch of self entitled hippie types, who, will be ordering espresso and biscotti, and, are there for the party.

Sure you're not being hypocritical?

[littleflower]

What I really have a hard time understanding is how their political arm can be so conservative*, yet their entertainment arm so liberal. Fox entertainment has some of the most forward leaning shows on TV. Really boggles the mind. Especially how Fox viewers square this, or don't they make the connection?

If you equate MSM, meaning Main Stream Media, with the left you have bought into one of the best propaganda campaigns ever perpetrated by the right in all of recorded history.

now, this is interesting. i have an answer for the first: In 1996 Murdoch saw a market for a republican-leaning news source, and exploited it. That market was around for at least 10 years before he found it. so i would like to know .... who was running that "propaganda campaign" in the 80's ?

and i doubt many fox news watchers see a lot of network TV.

[lemur]

and i doubt many fox news watchers see a lot of network TV.

people overestimate the market for fox news, and all of the cable news channels for that matter.

at any one time in their prime viewing period you MIGHT have 5 million people between fox/msnbc/cnn.

LOST averaged 10 to 15million viewers during its entire run..


and that show sucked.

[lemur]

id further add.... i see a lot of liberal folks do this in reference to conservatives.. it seems to them, the liberals, a safe assumption that anyone who is a conservative or republican likes fox news or watches fox news.. but if you look at their ratings its surely impossible.

if we are truly split, with all repubs fox newsing it. and all dems on msnbc.. or even close to split at 40%... youd see a lot more than 2 million people showing up to watch whatever foxnews has as their best prime time offering

[Simon of the Playa]

plain and simple, demographics.

Fox relies on the republican tool of tricking those people to vote against their own financial and general interest by utilizing wedge issues to divide and conquer.

whether it's Gay Marriage, The spectre of Racism and Crime, or Regulation of Industry, The Right, and lets not kid ourselves, fox is neither fair nor balanced, SCARES people into their positions instead of EDUCATING the voting public.

it is a tried and true method, especially amongst those who are already scared, because their mind-set tells them to be, and Fox re-enforces this.

it is a hideous circle jerk of mis-information, dis-information and partial truths that forms this witches brew of Propaganda.

One could Argue that MSNBC does this from the left hand perspective, but i find them to be more truthful in their reporting, even if you perceive them as leaning one way in the political spectrum

what amazes me is how seemingly rational people get sucked into the emotional vortex that is Hate News, and lose all sense of Logical Discourse because they have been emotionally manipulated by what they have seen and heard.

The Right, and Republicans do NOT have the numbers, they rely on dirty tricks, re-districting, Negative Ads, Poll Id Laws, and even worse to discredit opponents and affect opinion.

I used to be an operative for the democrats, i enjoy rolling in the gutter and duking it out, i was part of the truth squads that followed Pataki around in 1994 in NY, pointing out his foibles....Super Mario lost that one, it was heartbreaking, but we fought the good fight of information, even if not enough listened.

i digress.

My Point is, unless the American Public all of sudden drinks the Smart Kool-aid and steps back and begins to assess what is really going on in their lives and their world, they will continue to be stupid, uninformed voters.

I dont think this will happen anytime soon, as our school system has failed us, miserably.

that benefits the republicans as well.

The Dumbing Down in our society that has occurred over the past 30 years is directly related to where we are today.

it is the only explanation for Two Terms of Shrubbery, as i can find no other...Stupid is as Stupid does, and we, dear eplayans live in a great ocean of stupid...

I'm Afraid we get what we deserve....The potential is very real for violence amongst neighbors, friends, brothers and sisters.

Not since the Civil war have we seen such division based in ideology.

Fox News is there to foment, and create problems for the current administration, they have even said so...That is their mission, not to Help and try to Heal our Nation, but to Destroy it for short Term Political goals...

Shame on Them, and Shame on anyone who quotes them or uses them as a "News" source...

Google Father Coughlin, he would of been a Fox Commentator today with his own fucking show if he were alive.

[Bob]

Next time you guys are slumming with Occupy, find out what they're planning for Christmas. Crafts for sale? Santa photo booth? Looting downtown businesses?

[Simon of the Playa]

[youtube][/youtube]

[lemur]

Next time you guys are slumming with Occupy, find out what they're planning for Christmas. Crafts for sale? Santa photo booth? Looting downtown businesses?

occupy in the northern climates will be doing a strategic retreat, to come back in the spring offensive with force as they dont want to freeze their balls off for freedom..

southern climates will be stuck betwixt the fact that nearly all occupy people are liberal atheist 20somethings and that the kids need the adult christians around to make their movement seem justified and diverse..

so it will be a fight, with many rounds of direct democratic voting.. will we have a manger or not, will there be a tree or not?

its gonna be awesome..

(non denominational sugar cookies will be sold, after long debate)

[ygmir]

on the other hand, makes it seem like they're a bunch of self entitled hippie types, who, will be ordering espresso and biscotti, and, are there for the party.

Sure you're not being hypocritical?

How so? Perhaps I am, and, don't see it. I'm always open to enlightenment.

[Bob]

OO makes it pretty clear that any and all business or property owners are their enemy. And anybody who disagrees with their propaganda or choice of campsites.

We have met the enemy, and they is Ygmir.

[Simon of the Playa]

can i start making funny posters with Yggy breaking protesters legs yet, or is it too soon...

[ygmir]

[ygmir]

[youtube][/youtube]

[cowboyangel]

What I really have a hard time understanding is how their political arm can be so conservative*, yet their entertainment arm so liberal. Fox entertainment has some of the most forward leaning shows on TV. Really boggles the mind. Especially how Fox viewers square this, or don't they make the connection?

If you equate MSM, meaning Main Stream Media, with the left you have bought into one of the best propaganda campaigns ever perpetrated by the right in all of recorded history.

now, this is interesting. i have an answer for the first: In 1996 Murdoch saw a market for a republican-leaning news source, and exploited it. That market was around for at least 10 years before he found it. so i would like to know .... who was running that "propaganda campaign" in the 80's ?

and i doubt many fox news watchers see a lot of network TV.

Fox news was a financial loser for many years. Murdock's millions propped it up until it could be a viable money maker. So there wasn't a "market" for it as you suggest. It was kind a like an AstroTurf news network....the 1%'s propaganda machine if you will, like other right wing AstroTurf phoney baloney populist campaigns.

[cowboyangel]

plain and simple, demographics.

Fox relies on the republican tool of tricking those people to vote against their own financial and general interest by utilizing wedge issues to divide and conquer.

whether it's Gay Marriage, The spectre of Racism and Crime, or Regulation of Industry, The Right, and lets not kid ourselves, fox is neither fair nor balanced, SCARES people into their positions instead of EDUCATING the voting public.

it is a tried and true method, especially amongst those who are already scared, because their mind-set tells them to be, and Fox re-enforces this.

it is a hideous circle jerk of mis-information, dis-information and partial truths that forms this witches brew of Propaganda.

One could Argue that MSNBC does this from the left hand perspective, but i find them to be more truthful in their reporting, even if you perceive them as leaning one way in the political spectrum

what amazes me is how seemingly rational people get sucked into the emotional vortex that is Hate News, and lose all sense of Logical Discourse because they have been emotionally manipulated by what they have seen and heard.

The Right, and Republicans do NOT have the numbers, they rely on dirty tricks, re-districting, Negative Ads, Poll Id Laws, and even worse to discredit opponents and affect opinion.

I used to be an operative for the democrats, i enjoy rolling in the gutter and duking it out, i was part of the truth squads that followed Pataki around in 1994 in NY, pointing out his foibles....Super Mario lost that one, it was heartbreaking, but we fought the good fight of information, even if not enough listened.

i digress.

My Point is, unless the American Public all of sudden drinks the Smart Kool-aid and steps back and begins to assess what is really going on in their lives and their world, they will continue to be stupid, uninformed voters.

I dont think this will happen anytime soon, as our school system has failed us, miserably.

that benefits the republicans as well.

The Dumbing Down in our society that has occurred over the past 30 years is directly related to where we are today.

it is the only explanation for Two Terms of Shrubbery, as i can find no other...Stupid is as Stupid does, and we, dear eplayans live in a great ocean of stupid...

I'm Afraid we get what we deserve....The potential is very real for violence amongst neighbors, friends, brothers and sisters.

Not since the Civil war have we seen such division based in ideology.

Fox News is there to foment, and create problems for the current administration, they have even said so...That is their mission, not to Help and try to Heal our Nation, but to Destroy it for short Term Political goals...

Shame on Them, and Shame on anyone who quotes them or uses them as a "News" source...

Google Father Coughlin, he would of been a Fox Commentator today with his own fucking show if he were alive.

Well said Simon and worth repeating!

[theCryptofishist]

The cynic in me says, big money is big power......big power, finds a way

OH Hail The WISE NORDIC MAN!!!!

Oh, absolutely. It's like an arms race, or the evolution of predator and prey. One changes and gets better, then the first changes to counteract that change in a continuing circle. What we have to do is be willing to come back 10 years from now (or 20, or whenever) and close whatever loophole they are coming through. The point is to keep an eye on them.

[theCryptofishist]

I used to be an operative for the democrats, i enjoy rolling in the gutter and duking it out, i was part of the truth squads that followed Pataki around in 1994 in NY, pointing out his foibles....Super Mario lost that one, it was heartbreaking, but we fought the good fight of information, even if not enough listened.

Does anyone else find this a fascinating insight?

[littleflower]

Fox news was a financial loser for many years. Murdock's millions propped it up until it could be a viable money maker. So there wasn't a "market" for it as you suggest. It was kind a like an AstroTurf news network....the 1%'s propaganda machine if you will, like other right wing AstroTurf phoney baloney populist campaigns.

cowboy, it took several years to get cable to carry FNC ... that might have something to do with it, n'est pas? a few tidbits from wikipedia:

At launch, only 10 million households were able to watch FNC, with none in the major media markets of New York City and Los Angeles. According to published reports, many media reviewers had to watch the first day's programming at Fox News studios because it was not readily available.

To accelerate its adoption by cable companies, Fox News paid systems up to $11 per subscriber to distribute the channel.[16] This contrasted with the normal practice, in which cable operators paid stations carriage fees for the programming of channels.

A lawsuit was filed by Time Warner against the City of New York claiming undue interference with, and inappropriate use of, the city's educational channels for commercial programming. News Corporation countered with an antitrust lawsuit against Time Warner for unfairly protecting CNN. This led to an acrimonious battle between Murdoch and Turner, with Turner publicly comparing Murdoch to Adolf Hitler while Murdoch's New York Post ran an editorial questioning Turner's sanity. ... In the end, Time Warner and News Corporation signed a settlement agreement to permit Fox News to be carried on New York City cable system beginning in October 1997, and on all of Time Warner's cable systems by 2001, though Time Warner still does not carry Fox News in all areas.

i refuse to pay for cable TV, so i can't comment on FNC. but i can comment on the mainstream media, which i have always seen as biased towards the left... and trust me, everyone i know who is even remotely conservative agrees. i totally agree with Simon about the dumbing down of society; i used to watch reports on PBS' News Hour, then switch to the network news, to compare ..... the latter invariably pulled the most controversial tidbits out of context and blew them way out of proportion, particularly if a republican was involved. anti-republican hate is constantly spewed from the msm ..... if you don't see it, be careful. you may be part of the hate problem.

that hate is what bothers me more than anything else. but i think there are still a lot of level heads out there, and hopefully civil war is only a remote possibility... at least, for the foreseeable future.

[gyre]

Fox can't be a right or left wing news source, as they don't qualify as journalism by even the weakest standards.

Analysts evaluate fox as being less accurate than comedy shows like daily show, etc.

Critical evaluation of the news is a teachable skill, and sadly lacking.


MSNBC - owned by that well known bastion of left wing freedom, General Electric, manufacturer of over 60,000 nuclear weapons, and well known to censor news for it's corporate benefit.

About journalism, in general, understanding reality doesn't make you left wing, just good at your job.
By the same token, hiring journalists with a mainstream viewpoint and controlling what they say, does not make a conservative news source like nbc honest.
Much less left wing.
They snuck lines about this issue into a satire of snl.
Bet it doesn't survive to reruns.

(Any journalist or investigator can easily find out many things about reality, and does. Finding enough proof to get it into print is a much higher standard, especially with all usa media being controlled by BIG MONEY. I found out things about the last administration here that would easily get me killed if I didn't get it into the press fast enough. My agents were too terrified to take photos. I only needed one. Every journalists in town knew the story. Couldn't publish it.
These things shape the viewpoint of journalists.
Maybe 10-20% of important news makes it to the public, though often the facts are provided to be interpreted.
Corporate or political corruption - the percentage is far lower. )

Fishy has it dead right.

There are entire books and dockos about the failure of usa journalism.
It can't be covered in one post.
Everyone should learn how it has changed.
And why.

[lemur]

MSNBC - owned by that well known bastion of left wing freedom, General Electric, manufacturer of over 60,000 nuclear weapons, and well known to censor news for it's corporate benefit.

Comcast now owns 51% of NBC Universal while GE owns 49%.

[gyre]

Thanks.

Not sure that's better though.

[Sola Gangsta]

obamahypocrisy2.jpg

[Elderberry]

Well said.

plain and simple, demographics.

Fox relies on the republican tool of tricking those people to vote against their own financial and general interest by utilizing wedge issues to divide and conquer.

whether it's Gay Marriage, The spectre of Racism and Crime, or Regulation of Industry, The Right, and lets not kid ourselves, fox is neither fair nor balanced, SCARES people into their positions instead of EDUCATING the voting public.

it is a tried and true method, especially amongst those who are already scared, because their mind-set tells them to be, and Fox re-enforces this.

it is a hideous circle jerk of mis-information, dis-information and partial truths that forms this witches brew of Propaganda.

One could Argue that MSNBC does this from the left hand perspective, but i find them to be more truthful in their reporting, even if you perceive them as leaning one way in the political spectrum

what amazes me is how seemingly rational people get sucked into the emotional vortex that is Hate News, and lose all sense of Logical Discourse because they have been emotionally manipulated by what they have seen and heard.

The Right, and Republicans do NOT have the numbers, they rely on dirty tricks, re-districting, Negative Ads, Poll Id Laws, and even worse to discredit opponents and affect opinion.

I used to be an operative for the democrats, i enjoy rolling in the gutter and duking it out, i was part of the truth squads that followed Pataki around in 1994 in NY, pointing out his foibles....Super Mario lost that one, it was heartbreaking, but we fought the good fight of information, even if not enough listened.

i digress.

My Point is, unless the American Public all of sudden drinks the Smart Kool-aid and steps back and begins to assess what is really going on in their lives and their world, they will continue to be stupid, uninformed voters.

I dont think this will happen anytime soon, as our school system has failed us, miserably.

that benefits the republicans as well.

The Dumbing Down in our society that has occurred over the past 30 years is directly related to where we are today.

it is the only explanation for Two Terms of Shrubbery, as i can find no other...Stupid is as Stupid does, and we, dear eplayans live in a great ocean of stupid...

I'm Afraid we get what we deserve....The potential is very real for violence amongst neighbors, friends, brothers and sisters.

Not since the Civil war have we seen such division based in ideology.

Fox News is there to foment, and create problems for the current administration, they have even said so...That is their mission, not to Help and try to Heal our Nation, but to Destroy it for short Term Political goals...

Shame on Them, and Shame on anyone who quotes them or uses them as a "News" source...

Google Father Coughlin, he would of been a Fox Commentator today with his own fucking show if he were alive.