Peaceful Tomorrows Book Release Event - September 8, NYC
Posted Friday, September 5, 2003 by vgdesign

Join Peaceful Tomorrows members and special guests including Janeane Garofalo and Amy Goodman in New York City for a reception, book signing and public forum entitled, "Beyond September 11th: New Paths to Peaceful Tomorrows."

It takes place between 6:30-9pm at the Puffin Room in Soho, 435 Broome Street between Broadway and Crosby). >>More

A U.S. soldier in Iraq wonders: 'How many more must die?'
Posted Friday, September 5, 2003 by vgdesign

By TIM PREDMORE, on active duty with the 101st Airborne Division near Mosul, Iraq

... As soldiers serving in Iraq, we have been told that our purpose here is to help the people of Iraq by providing them the necessary assistance militarily as well as in humanitarian efforts. Then tell me where the humanity was in the recent Stars and Stripes  account of two young children brought to a U.S. military camp by their mother, in search of medical care? The two children had been, unbeknown to them, playing with explosive ordinance they had found and as a result were severely burned. The account tells how the two children, following an hour-long wait, were denied care by two U.S. military doctors. The soldier described the incident as one of many "atrocities" he has witnessed on the part of the U.S. military.

So then, what is our purpose here? Was this invasion due to weapons of mass destruction as we so often heard? If so, where are they? Did we invade to dispose of a leader and his regime on the account of close association with Osama bin Laden? If so, where is the proof? Or is it that our incursion is a result of our own economic advantage? Iraq's oil can be refined at the lowest cost of any in the world. Coincidence?

This looks like a modern-day crusade not to free an oppressed people or to rid the world of a demonic dictator relentless in his pursuit of conquest and domination but a crusade to control another nation's natural resource. At least for us here, oil seems to be the reason for our presence. >>More

Gore Ogles Cable in Vivendi Stable as His Media Buy
Posted Friday, September 5, 2003 by vgdesign

By Joe Hagan, New York Observer

Will the proposed merger of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, announced on Tuesday, Sept. 2, benefit the political-counterprogramming media dream of Al Gore?

The Observer  has learned that the former Vice President and his business partner, the entrepreneur and former Democratic fund-raiser Joel Hyatt—who both have been quietly sussing out the creation of a cable-TV network for the last year—called a meeting with executives of Universal Television Group early this summer to discuss buying Newsworld International, a tiny cable news channel owned by Universal. >>More

Saddam Scientists Said Justified Invasion
Posted Thursday, September 4, 2003 by symbolman

PARIS -- The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was justified in part because Saddam Hussein retained scientists capable of building nuclear weapons, Washington's top arms control official said Thursday.

In an interview with The Associated Press, John Bolton, undersecretary of state for arms control, said that whether Saddam's regime actually possessed weapons of mass destruction "isn't really the issue."

"The issue I think has been the capability that Iraq sought to have ... WMD programs," Bolton said at the U.S. Embassy in Paris.

Bolton said that Saddam kept "a coterie" of scientists he was preserving for the day when he could build nuclear weapons unhindered by international constraints.>> More

Let's see if we can keep this straight. First Bush and Blair claimed that Iraq had WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION, Including NUKE MATERIALS, SARIN GAS, ETC, ETC - and they were capable of DELIVERING these same such materials within 45 MINUTES (A little longer to the US - Jet Lag I guess). After the INVASION and OCCUPATION Bush changed his tune (since not ONE WMD has been found despite 140,000 troops everywhere) to WMD PROGRAMS. When that didn't work out now it's THE POTENTIAL FOR SOMEONE TO THINK OF A WMD PROGRAM. Some kind of Psychic Mind Crime. According to this thought process, we could invade and kill every high school chemical and physics class room, or any country with a telephone system who could CALL A SCIENTIST. Absolutely outrageous. Impeach the Lot of them and give us our country back!

Bush's finest hour - Subtlety is victim as 9/11 drama shows a president clearly in charge
Posted Thursday, September 4, 2003 by symbolman

Exhibit "A" is "DC 9/11: Time of Crisis," a Showtime original movie about the Bush administration's response to the worst terrorist attacks in American history.

It's a valentine to Bush, who's portrayed as a Gary Cooper type (solitary, decisive, tough yet sensitive) and a gift-wrapped present to the right-wing talk radio listeners who think Saddam Hussein was directly responsible for 9/11 and that the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center wouldn't have happened if Bill Clinton had been more macho.

The movie begins from the assumption that the Bush administration came into power assuming terrorism was the most important issue facing America, and that it was an uphill fight to convince Democrats and average Americans of the same thing.

In fact the opposite was true. In the months preceding 9/11, the president's foreign policy advisers were publicly more interested in a missile defense shield than in antiterrorist initiatives, and Attorney General John Ashcroft resisted reassigning law enforcement agents from traditional crime investigations to terrorism cases.

According to numerous critics across the political spectrum, not to mention a damning investigation of 9/11 failures bankrolled by our own government, that day represented a massive, almost inexplicable failure on the part of America's government agencies. From the INS to the FBI to the CIA to the FAA, nobody really managed to connect the dots, and 3,000 people were murdered as a result.>> More

A MUST READ - this will be high comedy, except for the seriousness of the subject matter. How much more could BUSH INSULT the 3000 dead americans on 911 than to allow a propaganda film made about him as some sort of superman who can finish a sentence? OUTRAGE. We've covered this with the reality of my animation taht shows him sitting on his BUTT in front of schoolkids that morning for nearly a half an hour.>> Here's the link

Ending insecurity means ending occupation
Posted Thursday, September 4, 2003 by vgdesign

The root of the security problem in Iraq is the U.S. occupation of the country, argues Yasmine Sherif, adjunct professor of international humanitarian affairs and human rights at Long Island University, New York. Worse, she says, the United States has cornered the United Nations into legitimising its breaches of international law.

"I have come here to learn, not to teach," Sergio Vieira de Mello, the U.N. Special Representative for Iraq, reassured the Iraqi people when he arrived in their devastated country in June.

"I am going to Iraq in solidarity with the Iraqi people," Nadia Younes, his chief-of-staff told colleagues as she signed up for the U.N. mission in Baghdad.

A similar commitment to serve was held by American Rick Hooper, who had previously worked with the U.N. in Gaza for seven years.

All three were among those killed on August 19 in the bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad.

Sergio Vieira de Mello and his staff did what the United Nations does better than anyone, namely serving a war-weary people in their quest for self-determination and democracy.

The deaths of this dynamic U.N. veteran and 22 other people raise serious questions that go well beyond improving security for humanitarian workers. They compel us to examine the Bush administration's questionable approach to liberty and self-determination.

If these indeed are the true intentions of the U.S. presence in Iraq, the coalition forces have fatally failed on at least three accounts: >>More

Court Blocks New FCC Ownership Rules
Posted Wednesday, September 3, 2003 by vgdesign

By David Morgan, Reuters

A U.S. federal court on Wednesday blocked controversial new Federal Communications Commission media ownership rules pending a full judicial review, a blow to large media companies hoping to grow.

In a loss also for the architect of the rules, Republican FCC Chairman Michael Powell, the three-judge panel of the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia granted a stay barring the rules from taking effect as scheduled on Thursday.

"Given the magnitude of this matter, and the public's interest in reaching the proper resolution, a stay is warranted pending thorough and efficient judicial review," the three-page judicial order stated, issued five hours after a hearing.
...
After its review, the court will either uphold the rules or it will compel the FCC to revise them. In either case, the decision can be appealed.

The court's order was requested by a media-activist group called the Prometheus Radio Project, which argued that the new rules would precipitate a new wave of media consolidation. >>More

Depp happy in France, calls Bush 'liar'
Posted Wednesday, September 3, 2003 by vgdesign

BERLIN, Sept 3 (AFP) - Hollywood hearthrob Johnny Depp has slammed US President George W. Bush's policy on Iraq, calling him "one of the worst liars I have ever seen," in an interview with German magazine Stern  to appear Thursday.

Depp, who lives in France with his wife, pop singer Vanessa Paradis, and two children, told the magazine that "grown-up men and women in positions of power" in the US government had shown themselves to be "idiots" in choosing to go to war against Iraq and attacking Paris for its opposition to the war. >>More

The Leaders who forgot - or The NeoCons
Posted Wednesday, September 3, 2003 by symbolman

A song written and performed by Jemerson Mosley - a fan of Take Back the Media - we enjoyed it, great sentiment and a great subject.

Keep fighting the good fight Jemerson - but be careful, Symbolman and Stranger just might get their axes out and do a little jammin themselves. Thanks!>> Here's the link

Action Alert: Crucial Senate vote on Thursday
Posted Wednesday, September 3, 2003 by vgdesign

From Robert McChesney, Free Press

The fight to roll back the FCC media ownership rules is far from over.
The Senate Appropriations Committee votes this Thursday evening on the rollback. Intense pressure -- this time through a national phone campaign -- is absolutely critical to our success. Congressional staffers say calls are highly effective.
...
If you are from one of the following states, match the Senator to your state and call the phone number listed. If you are from a different state, call Senator Reid at (202)224-3542. Talking points are below.

AL-Senator Shelby (202) 224-5744
CA-Senator Feinstein (202) 224-3841
CO-Senator Campbell (202) 224-5852
IA-Senator Harkin (202) 224-3254
KY-Senator McConnell (202) 224-2541
LA-Senator Landrieu (202) 224-5824
MD-Senator Mikulski (202) 224-4654
MO-Senator Bond (202) 224-5721
MS-Senator Cochran (202) 224-5054
NV-Senator Reid (202) 224-3542
OH-Senator DeWine (202) 224-2315
PA-Senator Specter (202) 224-4254
WI-Senator Kohl (202) 224-5653
WV-Senator Byrd (202) 224-3954

What to say: "I am calling to urge the Senator to vote for a rollback of the June 2nd FCC media ownership rules that includes the cross-ownership rule. One company should not be allowed to own a newspaper, television stations and radio stations all in the same community. Thank you for your time." >>More

Comments on the NBC Vivendi Proposed Merger
Posted Wednesday, September 3, 2003 by vgdesign

(send yours to editor@radiodailynews.com)

John Gorman:  One can only imagine the down sizing which will take place on this one. If what Viacom did with CBS News and Disney with ABC News is any indication, kiss the NBC News we know goodbye.

NBC gets 80%; the French keep 20%. It's a bad deal with Vivendi's huge debt. This is another case of buying it now and figuring out what to do with it later. Of course, it's equally true that if NBC didn't do this deal, they would be a prime takeover target for Viacom, Disney or Murdoch. The new FCC rules, which allow one network to buy another created this new buying frenzy climate.

How about the fact that an American television network is 20% owned by a foreign company.

The merger also reduces competition. There are fewer outlets for independent production companies to peddle their programming to. If NBC and Universal are one and the same, who needs product from "outside" sources.

What most observers missed on this merger is the fact that Vivendi-Universal's music group was pulled from the offering of assets.

As a side note, the only remaining US music label conglomerate, Warner Bros. Music is expected to merge with BMG, the German firm - as soon as this week - and if that falls through, EMI out of the UK is waiting in the wings. That means NOT ONE of the major label groups will be owned by an American company. The RIAA should change its name.

This country is selling its media assets like a clearance sale at Filene's Basement. >>More

Jack Shafer: Richard Perle Libel Watch, Week 24
Posted Wednesday, September 3, 2003 by vgdesign

Sympathy for the foreign-policy macher

... But on the long shot that Perle still lusts for the sort of litigation that might bring him sympathy if not victory, he might consider turning his attention to another of Si Newhouse's magazine properties — Vanity Fair.

In a letter/photograph spread captioned "Separated at Birth" in the September issue, Vanity Fair  letter-to-the-editor writer Art Dudley attempts to draw parallels between Perle and Nazi Minister of Propaganda Dr. Joseph Goebbels. Dudley makes much of the physical pose Perle assumed for Vanity Fair's  photographer in the July issue, which he finds identical to that struck by Goebbels for Alfred Eisenstaedt. Dudley writes:

Here it is: the same arrogance, the same malice toward the photographer, the same all-around creepiness.

Perle isn't the first government official to use deceit and fear mongering to force an extremist, irrational, and ultimately violent view on an entire nation, or globe. >>More & Photographs

Judge may block US media changes
Posted Wednesday, September 3, 2003 by vgdesign

By David Teather in New York, Media Guardian

A federal judge in Philadelphia will today hear a request for an emergency stay of plans to allow further consolidation in the US media industry.

The petition has been signed by a group of consumer advocacy groups alarmed at the prospect of the biggest media conglomerates being allowed to own more television stations and newspapers.

The hearing will take place as the main beneficiaries of the plans to lift existing ownership limits - the television networks - intensify their efforts to woo politicians in Washington.

The proposals, announced by the federal communications commission in June, have provoked a bitter fight. In July, the house of representatives included an amendment in a spending bill to keep existing limits in place and the issue is likely to end in court.

A backlash against the proposals this week prompted Viacom, which owns CBS, News Corporation, the parent of the Fox Network and General Electric's NBC to launch an advertising campaign that targeted politicians. >>More

JOIN A SEPTEMBER 4 PROTEST AT A LOCAL MEDIA OUTLET >>TAKE ACTION

FACTBOX - Entertainment assets of NBC-Vivendi merger
Posted Wednesday, September 3, 2003 by vgdesign

NEW YORK, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The merger of General Electric Co.'s NBC network with Vivendi Universal's Vivendi Universal Entertainment creates a new entertainment industry giant encompassing a movie studio, cable and broadcast television networks and theme parks.

Here are some of the assets the new company will own:

UNIVERSAL PICTURES - The major Hollywood studio
...
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS THEME PARKS - Theme parks in Hollywood, Orlando, Florida and Japan
...
UNIVERSAL TELEVISION - A producer and distributor of TV programming worldwide
...
NBC TELEVISION NETWORK - Home of hit shows like "Friends," "The West Wing" and "Will & Grace." Also highly-rated NBC News and Olympic Games coverage.
...
USA NETWORK - Cable TV network
...
SCI-FI CHANNEL - Cable TV channel
...
CNBC and MSNBC (jointly owned with Microsoft Corp.) - Cable TV news channels
...
BRAVO - Cable network
...
NBC TV STATIONS - Ten of the 14 local NBC stations are rated No. 1 or No. 2 in their markets.
...
TELEMUNDO - Spanish-language TV broadcaster, which reaches 91 percent of Hispanic TV households >>More

Al-Jazeera relaunches English site
Posted Wednesday, September 3, 2003 by vgdesign

By Jim Hu, CNET News.com

Arabic language news agency Al-Jazeera has relaunched the English version of its Web site after previous incarnations were vandalized by hackers and abandoned by technology providers.

The site, which went live Aug. 31 U.S. time, features articles covering current events, with particular focus on the United States' current campaign in Iraq. Topic areas include global events, world business, culture, science and technology and longer-term special reports. The site's content is a combination of staff-written articles and stories culled from wire services such as Reuters.

"We have an excellent team of international journalists who hope to emulate the same robust and strident style of journalism and reporting associated with the Al-Jazeera name," said Yvonne Ridley, a senior editor at AlJazeera.net, who spoke via phone from Qatar. "We're reacting to a global demand for an English version of our already successful Arab Web site." >>More

>>Aljazeera.net English

Restoring the Good, Old Term "Bum"
Posted Tuesday, September 2, 2003 by symbolman

It Applies to So Many Bush Cronies - By WAYNE MADSEN

The word "bum" has two major meanings. One is pejorative and refers to the unfortunate among us who find themselves homeless and out of work. That particular term has properly fallen out of use. However, there is another definition of "bum." Webster's Dictionary defines a bum as "one who performs a function poorly."

Brooklyn Dodgers fans were fond of yelling "kill da bum" and "throw da bum out" to umpires who rendered questionable calls against their players. While reading about a number of Bush administration officials today in The Washington Post, I thought to myself, "these people are also bums."

Aside from being political extremists, several Bush administration political appointees and their allies abroad are, indeed, performing their jobs poorly. So let's stop with the politically correct terms and resurrect the term bum. It's clearly past time to throw these bums out.>> More

War Profiteering -- Will Congress Investigate?
Posted Tuesday, September 2, 2003 by symbolman

Let’s pretend my cousin is a dolt. Let’s pretend he hasn’t been working with bridges for over 17 years.

Let’s pretend he didn’t work on replacing at least 20 of the 133 bridges damaged during the first Gulf War. Let’s pretend he’s wrong and the cost of rebuilding this bridge is four times the number they estimated- let’s pretend it will actually cost $1,200,000. Let’s just use our imagination.

A week later, the New Diyala Bridge contract was given to an American company. This particular company estimated the cost of rebuilding the bridge would be around- brace yourselves- $50,000,000 !!

A few already rich contractors are going to get richer, Iraqi workers are going to be given a pittance and the unemployed Iraqi public can stand on the sidelines and look at the glamorous buildings being built by foreign companies.

I always say this war is about oil. It is. But it is also about huge corporations that are going to make billions off of reconstructing what was damaged during this war. Can you say Haliburton?>> More

Senators Press Bush to Outline Iraq Costs
Posted Tuesday, September 2, 2003 by symbolman

"America's mission in Iraq is too important to fail. Given the stakes, we cannot launch this 'generational commitment' to changing the Middle East on the cheap," McCain wrote in an editorial.

"The administration should level with the American people about the cost and commitment required to transform Iraq."

The demands on Bush intensified as he returned to Washington from a month-long stay at his Texas ranch. The vacation was marred by violence in Iraq including Friday's car bombing in Najaf, which killed a top Shi'ite Muslim leader, and the bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad.

ADDITIONAL MONEY

Administration officials have said Bush may ask the U.S. Congress to provide $2 billion to $3 billion over the short term for Iraq and some congressional sources are expecting a push for an emergency spending bill of $20 billion or more this year.

Congress passed a $60 billion emergency spending bill in April for U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The U.S. civil administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, said last week he needed tens of billions of dollars for the next year alone, citing $16 billion to deal with water problems and $13 billion for electrical power.>> More

Let's keep this simple. Everyone in this article is completely barking mad, as in INSANE. That includes the democrats (if you can call Lieberman one, I don't). HOW ABOUT SOME INFRASTRUCTURAL HELP RIGHT HERE IN THE US? WE need 60 BILLION Dollars for OUR citizens, schools, social programs. What's with McCain? 'OUR Very Important New Mission in the Middle East'? Hey John, go open your heart and YOUR WALLET to rebuild or OWN the Middle east. Why don't all these nutcases JUST MOVE OVER THERE and enslave THOSE PEOPLE Instead of AMERICANS! That Includes Bush, Cheney and all the other Corporates getting RICH on OUR TAX DOLLARS. We're sick of having no Jobs and No one looking out for US, and being LIED TO ALL DAY LONG. Compassionate Conservatives, My ASS! Signed, Symbolman.

ANALYSIS: Widening cry against GOP election tactics
Posted Tuesday, September 2, 2003 by symbolman

Washington -- Of all the arguments advanced by Gov. Gray Davis to fight the recall, none resonates more strongly with Democrats coast-to-coast than his assertion that Republicans are engaged in a systematic effort to steal elections.

The anger that began over former President Bill Clinton's impeachment -- and intensified after the contested 2000 presidential election -- has solidified into an unshakeable belief among the party's faithful that the other side has abandoned rules of fair play.

The charge, which is gaining favor among some scholars and nonpartisan observers, has become a staple of Democratic speeches, opinion pieces and conversations. Strategists expect, no matter what the recall outcome, it will become a potent rallying cry heading into the 2004 presidential campaign.

"People are furious over what is going on," said Molly Beth Malcolm, chairwoman of the Texas Democratic Party. "Republicans don't want a two-party system. This truly is an attitude of 'masters of the universe. We're in control and nobody can stop us. We'll do whatever we want, and we don't care what happens in the aftermath.' ">> More

It's all they ever do, the Right can't win any other way - no one wants to vote for their platform of lying, stealing, spreading fear, starting wars for no real reason, starving americans, offering no health plans, cheating Veterans, spoiling the environment, overturning safety rules, and the list goes on and on.