ANONYMOUS VS. WESTBORO
ANONYMOUS VS. WESTBORO
The Westboro IDIOTS are at it again… just hours after the bombing , Westboro tweeted their plan to protest the funerals of those killed in the Boston blast.
“WestboroBaptist Church to picket funerals of those dead by Boston Bombs! GOD SENT THE BOMBS IN FURY OVER FAG MARRIAGE! #PraiseGod,” the group tweeted at 5:20 p.m. Monday, two hours after news of the first explosion.” (full story here)
ANONYMOUS, rallies the nameless to avenge the dead. Look out Westboro…
However, hacktivist group Anonymous made it very clear that if the WBC tried anything in Boston, they would feel the full fury of the online community. (Huff Po)
My money is on Anonymous.
“I’d Like to Buy the World” (says) KOCH
“Media bias has been a favorite theme of the Right for decades, of course.-”Thomas Frank
The political activities of the Koch brothers have been influencing policy for decades. The grand puppet masters sit atop their corporate throne pulling the strings of their sponsored politicians, while Americans suffer the consequences.
The Koch Brothers first began with influencing (Bankrolling) grassroots organizations.
Three years ago, Charles and David Koch, the billionaire industrialists and supporters of libertarian causes, held a seminar of like-minded, wealthy political donors at the St. Regis Resort in Aspen, Colo. They laid out a three-pronged, 10-year strategy to shift the country toward a smaller government with less regulation and taxes.
The first two pieces of the strategy — educating grass-roots activists and influencing politics — were not surprising, given the money they have given to policy institutes and political action groups. But the third one was: media.
Other than financing a few fringe libertarian publications, the Kochs have mostly avoided media investments.
Today NYT Headline: Conservative Koch Brothers Turning Focus to Newspapers
Politically (…) the papers could serve as a broader platform for the Kochs’ laissez-faire ideas. The Los Angeles Times is the fourth-largest paper in the country, and The Tribune is No. 9, and others are in several battleground states, including two of the largest newspapers in Florida, The Orlando Sentinel and The Sun Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale. A deal could include Hoy, the second-largest Spanish-language daily newspaper, which speaks to the pivotal Hispanic demographic.
Bottom line: The Koch brothers grassroots efforts have been exposed, attacked, and challenged by several progressive organizations (most notably Brave New Foundation’s Koch Brothers Exposed). The Koch brothers’ fear of losing their influential grasp has them looking at new avenues to indoctrinate the masses.
“It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”
― Aung San Suu Kyi, Freedom from Fear
Who Controls the Media?
Corporate interests influencing politics, cable entertainment masquerading as news, and left or right leaning journalists are the single most destructive force in society.
How difficult is it to report facts, not opinions or speculative drivel . The polarization of this NATION is a by product of Corporate involvement in policy decisions.
Remember, the most influential cable networks, newspapers, etc. are controlled by the same recycled corporate interests.
The next time you turn on the television, be mindful of who is bankrolling the information.
Who Controls the Media?
| Parent Company | Networks Owned | Cable Interests |
| General Electric $100.5 billion 1998 revenuesBackground: GE/NBC’s ranks No. 1 on the Forbes 500. Prior to its merger with NBC and an alliance with Microsoft, GE specialized in electronics. The peacock owns many New York sports team. It also owns or has equity stakes in many popular websites, including Snap.com and iVillage. |
NBC includes programming, news and more than 13 TV and radio stations |
Owns 25-50% of the following:
|
| Time Warner $26.8 billion 1998 revenuesBackground: The largest media corporation in the world, Time Warner owns film and music production companies, theme parks, sports teams, magazines, websites and book publishers as well as Turner Broadcasting |
TURNER BROAD-CASTING includes sports teams, programming, production, retail, book publishing and multimediaWB Television Network |
|
| The Walt Disney Co. $23 billion 1998 revenuesBackground: With its 1995 merger with Capital Cities/ABC, Disney has become a fully-integrated media giant. In addition to its theme parks, the company profits from retail outlets, magazines, book publishers, websites, motion pictures, sports teams, TV, cable, radio, music and newspapers. |
ABC includes ABC Radio, ABC Video and ABC Network News |
|
| Viacom $18.9 billion 1998 revenuesBackground: Viacom’s purchase of Paramount, CBS and Blockbuster Video enables them to use cable, television, movies, comic books, theme parks, music publishing and book publishing to cross-market their products. Broadcasting alone brings in over $6 billion in revenues. |
CBS includes stations, CBS Radio, CBS Telenoticias and CBS Network NewsUPN includes programming and TV stations (50%) |
|
| News Corporation $13 billion 1998 revenuesBackground: CEO Rupert Murdoch’s style has inspired respect and fear, and it has also made his multinational ventures in publishing, television and satellite services very successful. The company owns 20th Century Fox, the New York Post, the London Times, TV Guide, many stadiums, the LA Dodgers and five New York sports teams. |
FOX includes programming and stations |
|
Other Major Players:
AT&T (TCI) – Recently acquired by AT&T, TCI’s hold on cable, internet and local phone services contributed to $7.6 billion in 1997 revenues. TCI is the second-largest US cable television system provider, and it has 10% ownership of Time-Warner/Turner. The company owns all or part of USA Network, Sci-Fi Network, E!, Court TV, Starz! and Starz! 2, Black Entertainment Television, BET on Jazz, BET Movies/Starz! 3, CNN, TNT, Headline News, Prime Sports Channel, The Learning Channel, Discovery Channel, QVC, Q2, Fox Sports Net, The Travel Channel, Prevue Channel, Animal Planet, The Box, Telemundo, International Channel, Encore, MSG Network, Action Pay-per-view, and the Home Shopping Network.
Sony - Sony’s main media interests, earning $9 billion in 1997 sales, are in film and television production, movie theaters and music.
Universal (Seagram) – In addition to Universal Studios, with its production facilities and theme parks, the company owns the USA and Sci-Fi cable networks.
http://www.nowfoundation.org/issues/communications/tv/mediacontrol.html
Lawrence Lessig: We the People, and the Republic we must reclaim (via TED Talks)
Got Jobs? Not if Republicans Have Their Way…
On the heels of what is being chided as the best National Convention in history, the jobs numbers are out. Opponents would have people believe that less than expected jobs numbers are all Obama’s fault. On the contrary, Obama and Democratic members of congress have repeatedly tried to pass comprehensive job creation legislation. Republicans have repeatedly voted against them.
The method Republicans have used to block all jobs legislation in the past two years is the same. A jobs bill comes up, it is filled with positive things for the economy, Republicans filibuster debate, this shields them from having to make floor speeches on why they don’t want tax breaks for small businesses… etc.
Why? Well, if the economy recovers too strongly before an election, Republicans will lose power. If jobs numbers look too good, people will want to keep the same party. By Republicans blocking all jobs legislation and keeping jobs numbers from improving they believe this is their ticket to power.
In other words, if you and other Americans suffer just long enough it will pay off for Republicans.
They sacrifice the citizens’ jobs with the hopes that they will create more Republican jobs in Congress.(FULL STORY HERE AT Policy MIC).
Republicans tout their patriotism. Patriotism is defined as devoted love, support, and defense of one’s country; national loyalty.
OH, I get it, this is how Republican’s show their love for this nation….
Cross Posted on All Things Democrat
Democratic National Convention 2012
I was fortunate to serve as a Democratic National Delegate for Texas. The still photo above was taken from a video of the President’s speech on the Here is the entire video. Te picture above was taken from the end of the video.
