Mediaopoly

Video was removed from YouTube - here's a quicktime of it: snl_conspiracy.mov.

(yep I loaded something up to YouTube)

Saturday Night Live had an animated bit making fun of the control major corporations have over what you see on television - a mediaopoly. It is actually a pretty effective piece pointing out that GE (owner of NBC) isn't about to air anything that may put its huge government contracts at risk.

When that episode of Saturday Night Live was repeated - this segment was missing. The reason given was that it wasn't funny (but that has never stopped Saturday Night Live before), but it the end it proves the point of the piece.

If the YouTube movie doesn't work>, here's a QT of it you can download: snl_conspiracy.mov.

Here is something that is not funny:


Which bring me to a TCS post from a while back:

First you couldn't trust NBC, MSNBC, etc because they are owned by GE
(don't want to report anything that might harm our defense contracts you know)

And you couldn't trust CBS because they are owned by Westinghouse
(don't want to report anything that might harm our defense contracts you know)

And you couldn't trust Fox News and The NY Post because how could you?
(nothing more to say)

And you couldn't trust ABC because they are owned by Disney
(wouldn't want to report anything that might get the 'focus on the family' crowd to boycott DisneyWorld)

And you couldn't trust CNN, Time, etc because they are owned by AOL Time Warner
(because they are idiotic wimps... that and they'd really rather not offend, because they really need the new Batman flick to be a big hit)

And you couldn't trust Newsweek, The Washington Post, and all their other TV channels and newspapers, because The Washington Post also owns Kaplan Inc. which had a revenue of over a billion dollars and you just don't want to rock that boat when you have colleges all over the world that you make money from.

Oh and UPI and The Washington Times are Moonie outfits... and Moonie sells subs to the north koreans and calls America "Satan's harvest," citing its loose women and "dung-eating dogs," or gay people. - from Where in Washington, D.C. is Sun Myung Moon (a site that you should read)

you can read the full post here.

UPDATE: I've been meaning to post that video for months and in the end when I did do it within an hour of my posting it, it is up at Crooks and Liars (and I guarantee they didn't find it here - no one finds stuff here). So I guess we owe each other a coke. Crooks and Liars links an article that gives more detail to the SNL skit.

- rob 9:16 PM - [PermaLink] -

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From New Hampshire to the nation

Senate Vote Inquiry Widens as Democrats Probe White House Link

April 24 (Bloomberg) -- To Republicans, the New Hampshire phone-jamming incident is an isolated case of political dirty tricks that took place more than three years ago.

To Democrats, it's a scandal with echoes of Watergate that may reach all the way to the White House.

Republican leaders are facing questions stemming from a criminal case involving efforts to suppress voter turnout in a U.S. Senate election in the state in 2002. Republican John Sununu won that race over Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, helping Republicans retake control of the Senate.

The facts, on the surface at least, are suspicious: dozens of phone calls to the White House by a man later convicted in the case; the national Republican Party agreeing to pay more than $2.5 million in legal bills; phones jammed on Election Day, not only of Democrats but of a firefighters' group, in the first U.S. congressional elections since the Sept. 11 attacks. Democrats say that disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff may even be involved.

- rob 7:26 PM - [PermaLink] -

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You ever wonder why UnitedHealth took 15 months to pay you back for your hospital bill, and when they did pay it was only 70% of what you thought you'd get after reading their policy?

The answer is quite simple - 1.6 billion just doesn't grown on trees.

Columns: CEO pay eclipses ridiculous

$1.6-billion
William McGuire,
UnitedHealth Group
Exercised just $114.5-million in options in 2004, but held more than $1.6-billion in unexercised options at the end of 2005.

And from the article:

Rumor has it that chief executive officers still put their pants on one leg at a time. But that sounds positively quaint now that CEOs at larger U.S. corporations on average earn $430 for every $1 earned by the average U.S. worker.

Twenty-six years ago, CEOs received an average of $10 for every $1 earned by a U.S. worker.

Somewhere in that quarter-century, something went terribly wrong.

This isn't about getting the best person for the job. Heck a lot of these companies lost money. Why not just hire me - I'll lose them money - and I'll only charge a few hundred thousand for my time.

Finally, there's Ray Irani at Occidental, another energy business. He made nearly $173,000 a day, $7,200 an hour or nearly $120 a minute last year.

Sure Occidental made money last year, but really how much of that was from the amazing work of Mr. Irani? Did he give out free cars to the Chinese? Has he given money to insurgents in Iraq to stop the oil flow from there? No - his company is doing well because of events outside of his control, so why is he rewarded?

Because he can.

This isn't good business. It is greed. It is bad for business, the stockholders, and the American tax payer.

Campaign reform has always bumped up against the idea that money is "free speech." With the billions these sad men and women have you can bet what they "say" is heard with a lot more clarity then anything you have to say.

And that means it will be pretty hard to make things better, because many of our representatives don't represent you, they represent them. Our government is just a shared division of big corporate.

- rob 7:02 PM - [PermaLink] -

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The spy comes in from the cold.

(okay so the 60 minutes interview took place on Sunday and I'm not posting about it until Tuesday - are you expecting more from a site called "This Century Sucks?")

TPM: Interview with Tyler Drumheller

First, Drumheller says that most folks in the intelligence community didn't think there was anything to the Niger-uranium story. We knew that in general terms; but we hadn't heard it yet from someone so closely involved in the case itself. Remember, the CIA Station Chief in Rome, the guy who first saw the documents when they were dropped off at the US Embassy in October 2002, worked for Drumheller.

Second, Drumheller told us a lot more about the case of Naji Sabri, Iraq's Foreign Minister, who the CIA managed to turn not long before the war broke out. Drumheller was in charge of that operation. The White House, as Drumheller relates it, was really excited to hear what Sabri would reveal about the inner-workings of Saddam's regime, and particularly about any WMD programs. That is, before Sabri admitted that Saddam didn't have any active programs. Then they lost interest.

Read the entire post to learn about Congress's white washing of investigations about why we went to war.

- rob 6:46 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Every Cloud has a smoggy lining

You know when I look at gas prices I think to myself: "what could be done that would have no effect on these prices but reward the shareholders of big oil?"

Actually I don't think that but Bush does:

Bush Eases Environmental Rules on Gasoline

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush on Tuesday ordered a temporary suspension of environmental rules for gasoline, making it easier for refiners to meet demand and possibly dampen prices at the pump.

He also halted purchases to the emergency reserve which may actually have an effect, but minimal. I was surprised we were buying at this rate if we really do just think it is a temporary "bump."

Of course it isn't. Its Peak Oil folks. Unless we start making dinosaurs and throwing up into the past via time machines - we've got to come up with something else then oil to get are old juices flowing.

I wonder what our national budget is for the oil reserve versus alternative fuel research? And let's not even talk about all the other ways we spend our tax dollars on oil, albeit indirectly (like Iraq and our entire Midwest policy)

- rob 6:07 PM - [PermaLink] -

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It looks like Faux News' Tony Snow is going to be the new press secretary for Bush.

Holden at First-Draft is very good about reprising the daily gaggle and he needs help coming up with a nickname for Tony Snow.

A lot are good like "Tony Snowjob"

I put "Tony the liger" - okay, I thought it was cute.

First Draft - Official Tony Snow Nickname Contest

- rob 5:57 PM - [PermaLink] -

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When the president talks to God
Are the conversations brief or long?
Does he ask to rape our women’s' rights
And send poor farm kids off to die?
Does God suggest an oil hike
When the president talks to God?
...
When the president talks to God
Do they drink near beer and go play golf
While they pick which countries to invade
Which Muslim souls still can be saved?
I guess god just calls a spade a spade
When the president talks to God

When the president talks to God
Does he ever think that maybe he's not?
That that voice is just inside his head
When he kneels next to the presidential bed
Does he ever smell his own bullshit
When the president talks to God?

I doubt it

I doubt it
- Bright Eyes ("When The President Talks To God")

Bush Admits Mistakes in Iraq, Defends Tactics

Later, Bush said: "I base a lot of my foreign policy decisions on some things that I think are true. One, I believe there's an Almighty. And, secondly, I believe one of the great gifts of the Almighty is the desire in everybody's soul, regardless of what you look like or where you live, to be free."

A leader who defends incompetence and warlust because of what God wants is a danger - and maybe slightly unhinged.

And while the recent poll results are good news because it means America is waking up and realizing what has become of our country under Bush; it also means we are entering a troubling time.

A desperate man who gets his walking orders "from God" can do dangerous things. Now is the time to be even more vigilant.

Bush's approval ratings slide to new low
Poll:
Only one-third say he's handling his job well

It was one of four conducted within the past 10 days that have yielded similar results: a Pew Center poll carried out April 7-16 gave Bush a 35 percent approval rating; a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll carried out last Tuesday and Wednesday gave him a 33 percent approval rating; and an American Research Group poll carried out Tuesday through Friday gave him a 34 percent approval rating.

- rob 11:04 AM - [PermaLink] -

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On religious issues there can be little or no compromise. There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. - Barry Goldwater

- rob 10:35 AM - [PermaLink] -

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Don't let Congress ruin the Internet

Save the Internet

Internet Freedom is under attack. Congress is pushing a law that would abandon Network Neutrality, the Internet's First Amendment. Network neutrality prevents companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast from deciding which Web sites work best for you -- based on what site pays them the most. Your local library shouldn’t have to outbid Barnes & Noble for the right to have its Web site open quickly on your computer.

Net Neutrality allows everyone to compete on a level playing field and is the reason that the Internet is a force for economic innovation, civic participation and free speech. If the public doesn't speak up now, Congress will cave to a multi-million dollar lobbying campaign by telephone and cable companies that want to decide what you do, where you go, and what you watch online.

As they say on that site - The Threat Is Real.

It doesn't matter your political leanings - this is truly a bipartisan issue.

- rob 6:42 PM - [PermaLink] -

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"There is no greater gift to an insecure leader that
quite matches a vague 'enemy' who can be used to whip
up fear and hatred among the population."
- Paul Rusesabagina

- rob 6:31 PM - [PermaLink] -

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- Dwight D. Eisenhower

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