Folks, we need a new mass transit initiative.   There was a time at the turn of the last century that all cities had trolleys; even many small towns had trolleys.   However, in the early 1900’s the automobile corporations (particularly GM) decided that trolleys stood in their way to a mass market. They were correct, and they are still subverting mass transit. Of course in those days gasoline was not an issue. Now is the time to return to mass transit, I would love to be able to read on my way to and from work.  What a waste of time and money is the private automobile and the belief that it is the manifestation of our "individualistic freedoms."

A few days ago I saw a segment on the new internet journalism site ProPublica on The NewsHour.  I was interested for 2 reasons.  I'm always looking for good sites that bring together news and opinions such as DKos and HuffPo (although HuffPo isn't what it used to be IMHO).  Second, my older daughter is a journalism major.....

Check out ProPublica.  I like what I see so far.......

 It is often impossible for me to read entire accounts of what our government has done in the name of Democracy in one sitting.  The torture documents were the most difficult.  But I return to the text, feeling that it is my obligation as a safe, comfortable citizen to at least know of the facts.  The nearly 3000 pages that the AP wrestled from the grip of our government through a Freedom of Information lawsuit in 2006 that told of the horrors at Guantanamo challenged my assumed obligation to know.  The Associated Press series earned an award at the University of Florida.( http://news.ufl.edu/...
University of Florida News - UF Freedom of Information Center honors AP writer ) When the Pentagon was forced to release the names of the detainees, I felt angst for them and their families....what if it were I?  Would anyone demand to know?

This will be brief. Tonight on The Newshour, Gwen Ifil announced that a scheduled segment which was to be a debate on energy policy between the Obama and McCain camps was to be cancelled because PBS could not get a connection to the McCain side. A replay of a segment on AIDS in Africa was shown instead.

Washington Week's future has been in question only once during its existence. In 1972 the Nixon administration, citing Washington Week specifically, generated intense pressure against public affairs programs on PBS. The deluge of mail from avid viewers saved it.

That's from "About the Show" on Washington Week's Web site. The Public Broadcasting Service show first aired in 1967. You know, PBS, that commercial-free channel that takes the middle man and his self-serving ads out of the picture.  

I was a guest last night on BIll Moyers Journal along with two stalwarts from McClatchy (formerly Knight Ridder), John Walcott and Jonathan Landay, famed for repeatedly raising doubts about the Bush case for war back in 2002 and 2003.    The subject was the lack of media self-criticism on the war in the wake of the McClellan book, what the press is still getting wrong, and the rising chances of an attack on Iran.  

Bill was his usual thoughtful and welcoming self, his wife is a joy, and it was kind of a thrill to hang out in the Green Room with the McClatchy guys on Thursday morning as the new Senate report on the cooked Bush evidence against Saddam came in over their blackberries.  Of course, they had reported almost all of it first, long ago.  

I've linked to the full video and transcript below. I am also blogging and answering questions at the PBS site.  

Study finds strong correlation between IQ and the TV shows a person finds enjoyable!

And many of the shows enjoyed by high IQ individuals have a distinctly liberal tilt to them.

Study finds strong correlation between IQ and the TV shows a person finds enjoyable!

And many of the shows enjoyed by high IQ individuals have a distinctly liberal tilt to them.

19 years ago today, after millions of students and citizens converged at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, in peaceful demonstration to pursue an end of government corruption and freedom of expression, a government-enforced martial law and slayings of unarmed civilians of all ages followed starting on the night of the 4th of June in 1989.

The next morning on the 5th, after several attempts by the protesters to continue their demonstration against the Chinese government, all of which were violently quashed by the military leaving scores dead and wounded, a lone man walked before the lead tank among a moving line of over a dozen others; and he stunned onlookers with this scene:

After 19 years, this lone man's identity remains unknown.

His act of defiance then, staring down the overwhelming hardware of a system that employed tyrannical rule, public execution, and the slaying of unarmed protesters, remains a core image to all of those whom wish to see a freer world for themselves and others.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi states on PBS, The NewsHour that the

Democratic Party has a process and the process is about Delegates, not popular vote

.  I did have to paraphrase from what I heard live.  Hopefully the video will be online soon.

(You can watch the documentary online here, but I suggest catching it in HD if you can.)

A Walk to Beautiful follows the stories of five women in Ethiopia that suffer from obstetric fistula. After living as outcasts in their communities, these five women independently make the journey to the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital to be cured and get a chance at a new life. This condition has been essentially eradicated in developed nations, but effects 2 to 3 million women in the developing world. The procedure to cure it is very effective (up to 90% success rate) and relatively cheap ($300-450 US). I will not attempt to summarize the documentary in detail, as I don't think I could possibly do it justice. I will just encourage those who may have missed it to give it a look and donate to the cause.  An anecdote and some of my personal thoughts are beneath the fold.

Watching the PBS series "Carrier" was a revelation, but not always a pleasant one...

MSM, the GOP and the rival Democat campaign's divisive political tactics to seperate Obama from the rest of the electorate appears to be working to some degree.

Listening to the radio this week, I heard a caller say, 'We fought WWII to end the Holocaust."  It was a justification for our invasion of Iraq.  This is not the first time I've heard this ahistorical nonsense.  During a three hour CSPAN "In Depth" program with Victor Davis Hanson a few years ago, I heard Davis say the exact same thing and immediately realized how completely ignorant VD Hanson is.

Now I am watching a PBS show "Secrets of the Dead" relating the story of two Slovakian Jews who escaped from Auschwitz to warn the Hungarian and Slovakian Jews that the concentration camps were death camps.  This was in late April of 1944.  According to this account, even the Jews of Slovakia and Hungary did not know about the death camps until the Spring of 1944, much less the Allies.

The historical fact is that we didn't fight WWII to end the Holocaust.  We fought WWII because Japan attacked us at Pearl Harbor and because Germany and Italy then declared war against us.  It had nothing to do with the Holocaust.  In fact, the fate of Europe's Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, Communists, Socialists, or anybody else  never really entered into our calculations.

Start here.

Trinity United Church Of Christ
info@tucc.org

This list ncludes some media contact information, because I've been hearing some want to let it be known how they feel about how the media has handled this issue. It is far from complete, of course. More a sample of what is out there.

The biggest offense in the Wright tapes - when played in longer segments than Fox or ABC (which supposedly played it before Fox or CNN) or any other outlet has played them - is no one has captured the sentiment around the words beyond the Noise Level. Wright is talking to a community that feels like America has left them behind - economically, politically, socially, demographically. As Jimmy Boegle put it, "Why do you think it's impossible to love your country, yet still be ashamed of it?" Which a poster on Reddit added "I remember Trent Lott saying something like "It's possible to support troops while opposing the president." Which are variations of exactly what Wright was saying in the 'God Damn America' speech. Using the quote of a Reagan appointee.

Wow. What a reasonable human being. Shockingly, the various excerpts, even from this interview, really suggest something other than what happened during the preamble/introduction segment and follow-up interview.

Wright came across as an extremely knowledgeable man on Scripture, hermeneutics, history and human nature. If one bothered to watch this program, one could easily see the attraction Obama had to the man. Wright is an intellectual, above all else. I was drawn into his sermons, given more context - and even learned some things.

On Friday, April 25, 2008 Rev. Dr., Jeremiah Wright, Jr., former Pastor of Presidential candidate, Barack Obama gave his first televised interview, since snippets of his preaching were thrust into the public domain for nefarious reasons by ABC News and Fox News earlier this year.

Dr. Wright was interviewed on PBS by acclaimed journalist Bill Moyer who is also affiliated with the United Church of Christ by way of his membership at Riverside Church (UCC/American Baptist) in New York City.

The interview was excellent and viewers had the opportunity to search beyond the snippets and sound bites to find the person and purpose of Jeremiah Wright and Trinity United Church of Christ.

I have written several articles over the past months regarding the MSM, its reporting of the Rev. Wright topic, the overall lack of substance of the MSM and its journalistic responsibility or lack there of.  After viewing Bill Moyers interview last night with Reverend Wright, if it is not clear to those watching the MSM response to this interview, that we as recipients of their (MSM) reporting, it is time to take these so-called journalists to task.  But how do we do it?  How can we begin to educate and inoculate the general public?  Perhaps, much like Obama's campaign, it must be organized from a bottom up, grassroots level.