NPR // Current TV

N.Y. Preschool Starts DNA Testing For Admission

For years, New York parents have been applying to preschools even before their... more

Incredulous
added this
1 month ago
|
35 comments

Journalistic Standards: NPR Takes the Lead on Media Transparency

Many of us have been longing for a non-partisan, fact based media offering that... more

StewSteve
added this
2 months ago
|
0 comments

Christians Perform Free Labor on Illegal Jewish Settlements

Wow...just wow. Hat tip to Keith Johnson from Revolt of The Plebs blog, which I cannot... more

maasanova
added this
3 months ago
|
0 comments

The New York Times Pulitzer Prize-Winner, Anthony Shadid, Has Died in Syria

CNN... . New York Times reporter dies in Syria By the CNN Wire Staff... more

EthicalVegan
added this
3 months ago
|
24 comments

James O'Keefe Should be Investigated for Voter Fraud

O'Keefe badly wants to convince Americans that voter fraud — an extremely... more

StewSteve
added this
4 months ago
|
0 comments

NPR has fallen

’s-captian-hook-in-npr’s-peter-pan/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=em... more

artemis6
added this
6 months ago
|
20 comments

Sarah Palin trashes National Endowment for the Arts

March 16, 2011 | 2:58 pm
Television commentator and half-term Alaska governor Sarah Palin trashed the National Endowment for the Arts recently, describing the agency as "frivolous" in a Thursday interview on a Fox News talk show. [http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/hannity/transcript/sarah-palin-talks-wisconsin-union-battle-julianne-moore-playing-her-hbo-movie#ixzz1GnICRkVo]
"NPR, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, all those kind of frivolous things that government shouldn't be in the business of funding with tax dollars -- those should all be on the chopping block as we talk about the $14-trillion debt that we're going to hand to our kids and our grandkids," Palin told right-wing host Sean Hannity. "Yes, those are the type of things that for more than one reason need to be cut."
Palin did not elaborate on what the other reasons might be for chopping the NEA budget. But the government of every major civilization in world history has also prominently funded the arts.
The comment about the NEA came during a discussion of the ailing U.S. economy. Palin is certainly conversant with frivolous activity, but her grasp of the economy is weak.
Debt reduction would barely be affected by penciling out the small federal arts agency, which currently operates on a $161-million annual budget. Palin's support of a federal subsidy for the notorious "bridge to nowhere" in her state became a campaign issue when she ran for vice president on the 2008 Republican ticket. That local project carried a price tag of $223 million.
"Reality is we have 15 million Americans who are out of work," said Palin. Nationally, the nonprofit arts and culture industry supports 5.7 million jobs and generates $166.2 billion in annual economic activity, according to Americans for the Arts. [http://www.artsusa.org/information_services/research/services/economic_impact/default.asp] The NEA is one linchpin in that sizable economy.
In the interview Palin made no statement advocating similar budget cuts to her home state as she recommended for the NEA, which is also in the cross hairs of Washington's Republican leadership. Palin's Alaska gets $1.84 in federal spending for every dollar its citizens pay in federal taxes. [http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-11-14/news/27081146_1_alaska-snooki-reality]March 16, 2011 | 2:58 pm Television commentator and half-term Alaska governor Sarah... more

Judgian12365
added this
6 months ago
|
0 comments

Newstalgia Pop Chronicles - Voices In The Wind - 1975

From another whole lifetime ago.

Gordonskene
added this
6 months ago
|
1 comment

Ian Bogost, L. Ron Hubbard, Cow Clicker, and Scientology

I had something that felt like an epiphany today. I believe the future of all mankind is the present ways of mankind.

I know that the Scientology assholes are quick with a lawsuit if you say anything disparaging against their "religion," cause their pussies, but this isn't really disparaging. A church I irregularly attend did a sermon about "real" Angels. I was aghast at how much like Scientology that sounded. I'm a sermon on the mount, pragmatist type of church goer, not a miracles and magic type.

If I take a cursory look at Hubbard's life, the early parts seem common, reasonable, and show no indications that Scientology would be a result. I know many people who are reasonable about many things but absolutely batty in their head about a few other things. So generally I assumed Hubbard was batty about a lot of things, but now in light of the linked interview I thought, maybe he wasn't crazy on his own, maybe he got swept up into the psychological zephyr that society has which can form a religion out of thin air.

Here's the NPR interview with Ian Bogost about his rationale for inventing the game Cow Clicker that will give you a similar epiphany. http://www.npr.org/2011/11/18/142518949/cow-clicker-founder-if-you-cant-ruin-it-destroy-it

Now suppose that between the 30's and 1950 when Hubbard published Dianetics, that he saw the horrible methods and theories of treating mental health with the same disdain that Bogost had for the mindless Facebook games. Suppose that Hubbard wanted to do some PhD work and would have tried to publish Dianetics for his doctorate. Suppose that after he publishes it (for whatever reason), that the content of the book takes on a life of it's own, just like the parody game of Cow Clicker did. Suppose that movement of people changed Hubbard just like the Cow Clicker community changed Bogost; "There was one point when I realized that I was now attached to in a compulsive way."

What the hell has happened? Is this how all religions were formed? Is this how FOX News changed from a right leaning outlet for the Republican Party message to a WTF!? radical right wing brainwashing organization?

In Monty Python's Life of Brian, it seemed comical that Brian could not use reason to stop his followers from following him, but apparently it's funny because it's true. It's so ubiquitous that we don't even noticing it happening. It happens in the corporate office, it happens in your church, it happens at a town hall meeting, it happens at the family dinner table.

It makes me melancholy to think that mankind is tethered to the worst crippling bullshit parts of society because too many people are the follower type that will play Cow Clicker.I had something that felt like an epiphany today. I believe the future of all mankind... more

WNYmathGuy
added this
6 months ago
|
5 comments

OccupySTL receives 24-hour warning about use of Kiener Plaza

Occupy St. Louis tweeted this afternoon that they have received an email from Gary... more

lifestudentno83
added this
7 months ago
|
0 comments

Tom Keith, "A Prairie Home Companion's" Sound Effects Star, Has Died

Los Angeles Times... . Tom Keith dies at 64; 'Prairie Home Companion'... more

EthicalVegan
added this
7 months ago
|
2 comments

Radio Show Distributed By NPR Fires Host After She Takes Part In Protests

On Tuesday, Roll Call ran a story noting that Lisa Simeone — a radio personality who hosts the shows World of Opera and Soundprint — has been taking part in and serving as an informal spokeswoman for anti-war protests in Washington, DC known as October 2011 (which are separate from the Occupy D.C. demonstrations). The Daily Caller and Fox News soon picked up on the story, attempting to stir a controversy.

These media sources implied or incorrectly stated that Simeone worked for National Public Radio (NPR), noting that NPR has prohibitions on “engag[ing] in public relations work, paid or unpaid.” The truth is that Simeone was not an NPR employee and rather served as a host on a show that was distributed by some NPR stations.

Yet NPR reacted sharply to pressure from conservative media outlets, sending out an e-mail to its staffers noting that it was “in conversations” with radio station WDAV, which produces one of Simeone’s shows, about “how to handle this. We of course take this issue very seriously.” And late last night, WDAV caved to pressure from NPR and fired Simeone from her job hosting Soundpoint after NPR’s code of conduct was read to her.

In an interview with journalist David Swanson, Simeone noted that she wasn’t even an NPR employee and that her show did not cover politics. She also noted that a wide variety of NPR’s other employees appear as commentators on conservative media or take speaking fees for their work:

Simeone told me: “I find it puzzling that NPR objects to my exercising my rights as an American citizen — the right to free speech, the right to peaceable assembly — on my own time in my own life. I’m not an NPR employee. I’m a freelancer. NPR doesn’t pay me. I’m also not a news reporter. I don’t cover politics. I’ve never brought a whiff of my political activities into the work I’ve done for NPR World of Opera. What is NPR afraid I’ll do — insert a seditious comment into a synopsis of Madame Butterfly?

“This sudden concern with my political activities is also surprising in light of the fact that Mara Liaason reports on politics for NPR yet appears as a commentator on FoxTV, Scott Simon hosts an NPR news show yet writes political op-eds for national newspapers, Cokie Roberts reports on politics for NPR yet accepts large speaking fees from businesses. Does NPR also send out ‘Communications Alerts’ about their activities?”

Last month, NPR’s ombudsman explained that the station was choosing not to cover the protests on Wall Street because it didn’t view them to be sufficiently newsworthy. Now, it appears that the station is going out of its way to pressure independent stations like WDAV to fire hosts who take part in similar protests.On Tuesday, Roll Call ran a story noting that Lisa Simeone — a radio personality... more