Archive for the ‘Politics – The Wrong Way’ Category

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China Law Seeks to Curb Foreign Media Too

Monday, July 3rd, 2006

BEIJING, July 3 — A Chinese draft law that threatens to fine news media for reporting on “sudden incidents” without permission applies to foreign as well as domestic news organizations, an official involved in preparing the legislation said today.

The law, now under consideration by the Communist Party-run legislature, calls for fines of up to $12,500 if news media produce unauthorized reports on outbreaks of disease, natural disasters, social disturbances or other so-called sudden incidents that officials deem false or harmful to China’s social order.

Wang Yongqing, vice minister of the legislative affairs office of China’s State Council, or cabinet, told reporters at a news briefing that the law should apply to all news organizations, including foreign newspapers, magazines and broadcast outlets that usually operate under different rules than local Chinese media.

More… ➡

Posted in Politics, Politics - The Wrong Way | 1 Comment »

HR 2679 – The Public Expression of Religion Act

Friday, June 30th, 2006

How the GOP Summer Agenda Would Remove Penalties for Religious Freedom Violations

House Republicans have announced their legislative plan for the rest of the summer, leading up to the mid-term elections in November. Hidden in the “American Values Agenda,” amid the traditional fare is the “Public Expression of Religion Act (HR 2679).” The bill, which got a hearing in the House Constitution Subcommittee last week after the sexual harassment fiasco covered by every news outlet. This bill, would keep state and local governments from having to pay damages or attorney’s fees as a result of violating the Establishment Clause of the Constitution.

Think about that. Imagine your local government decides to teach a version of creationism in science class, or promote atheism in social studies, lead evangelistic prayers during official government meetings, or offer government grants for Christian conversion efforts. This bill would effectively remove your ability to hold the government accountable. And, to add insult to that injury to your religious liberty (…and it is your religious liberty. When the religious freedom of any of us is threatened, we are all threatened.), you as the plaintiff would be required to pay the massive legal fees it takes to bring such a lawsuit proving unconstitutional actions.

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Posted in Politics, Politics - The Wrong Way, Religion, Religion - The Wrong Way | No Comments »

Fake TV News: Widespread and Undisclosed

Wednesday, June 21st, 2006

A multimedia report on television newsrooms’ use of material provided by PR firms on behalf of paying clients

Over a ten-month period, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) documented television newsrooms’ use of 36 video news releases (VNRs)—a small sample of the thousands produced each year. CMD identified 77 television stations, from those in the largest to the smallest markets, that aired these VNRs or related satellite media tours (SMTs) in 98 separate instances, without disclosure to viewers. Collectively, these 77 stations reach more than half of the U.S. population. The VNRs and SMTs whose broadcast CMD documented were produced by three broadcast PR firms for 49 different clients, including General Motors, Intel, Pfizer and Capital One. In each case, these 77 television stations actively disguised the sponsored content to make it appear to be their own reporting. In almost all cases, stations failed to balance the clients’ messages with independently-gathered footage or basic journalistic research. More than one-third of the time, stations aired the pre-packaged VNR in its entirety. ➡

Posted in Capitalism & Corporations, CrashBlogging, Politics, Politics - The Wrong Way, The Perfect Storm | No Comments »

The Red Cross strongly criticises the US

Thursday, May 11th, 2006

There are a lot of reasons why I’ve been discouraged and even disgusted with our government’s policies in recent years and this sort of thing is a good representative of why.

US lambasted on secret detainees. The Red Cross strongly criticises the US for refusing to allow it access to detainees in secret locations. [BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]

Posted in Politics, Politics - The Wrong Way | No Comments »

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