A Novel Approach to News and Slowing Global Warming
May 4th, 2008
Connecting the Dots
by Glynn Wilson
It is almost too nice a spring day outside to be sitting in front of a computer writing a column, but there are a few things I have to say today besides talking about watching the revolutionary garden grow.
The tomatoes, collards, green beans and corn are coming up fine and will help offset the rising food prices this summer in Bush’s recessionary world.
But that’s not all that’s going on in the world, not that you would know it by reading the corporate news media and watching the public relations that passes for news on the local television airwaves.
The state of the economy seems to be affecting the news media as it often does in hard times. It is becoming harder and harder to find real news stories worth reading even in the national papers. Every news organization in the country is still talking about the Reverend Wright today, even as presidential candidate Barack Obama went on NBC’s “Meet the Press” for the full hour this morning and still sounded like the smartest, most reasonable candidate in the race.
While Senator John McCain continued to support Bush’s surge this week and made a strange appearance in Selma, Alabama last week, as if any African-Americans were ever going to vote for him, Hillary Clinton was showing her support for Israel with language much like Bush when she talked about “obliterating” Iran if they ever launch a nuclear attack on the Jewish state.
Of course what the American masses who barely keep up may not realize is that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon and will most likely never obtain one. Dick Cheney and the Israeli military will see to that - if Bush doesn’t send in the U.S. Air Force soon and start World War III.
Obama pointed that out for Tim Russert, who just had to raise the issue - even though he should know better.
Even Brian Williams, the anchor and managing editor of NBC’s “Nightly News,” pointed out in a blog column the other day that the New York Times circulation is down and said this:
“I must admit that on Sundays it becomes a tough paper to figure out. While (last) week’s paper featured an op-ed piece by Elizabeth Edwards bemoaning the lack of serious, in-depth coverage of the political race, it’s tough to figure out exactly what readers the paper is speaking to, or seeking.”
I’ve been wondering that myself, since I check out the Times Website a couple of times a day looking to see if they might be breaking another story on the illegal surveillance program being run by the Bush administration - or something. The paper is credited with breaking a big story on that back in 2005, even though we had been talking about it on the blogs already, but where is the followup?
The Washington Post has done some fairly interesting stories of late, especially Dana Milbank in his “Washington Sketch” column, which by the way is online only and not in the print edition of the newspaper. Here are a couple of examples.
Anniversary of ‘Mission Accomplished’ Draws Laughs
The Incredible Shrinking Presidency of George W. Bush
The fare was so weak today I turned to The Nation magazine, where at least I found this:
But even that is not as strong as what you can sometimes find here at the little old Locust Fork Journal, when we have the resources and the motivation to go out and find the good stories.
I mean the Birmingham News is focusing all it’s guns on going after another African-American Democrat these days, the poor new mayor of Birmingham, instead of focusing its investigative attentions perhaps on a big story like why Birmingham has some of the most polluted air in the country. Was that story on the front page? Of course not. It’s “bad news,” not PR or manufactured news designed to bash Democrats.
Birmingham in Top Eight Polluted Cities
I mean we know what causes the bad air, mainly Alabama Power’s coal-fired power plants, along with the lack of an automobile inspection program that would help get the old polluting cars and pickup trucks off the roads. But I guess all that Alabama Power advertising money keeps them focused on things like doing the PR for the State Troopers in their “Take Back the Highways” campaign to keep drunks off the road (and everybody else who might like to have a glass of wine or a beer with dinner out at a restaurant).
If the local press had put as much effort into investigating the causes of the bad air and potential solutions as they do drunk driving, we could have already solved the problem.
Here’s a simple suggestion no one in the press or the presidential race has thought about. What if every car on the road and every house in the suburbs had a white roof? That would reflect sun light back into the atmosphere like the glaciers that are now melting due to global warming.
And what if the federal and state governments switched the tax incentives to putting solar cells on houses instead of investing in oil exploration and bio-fuels, which is one of the major factors leading to high food prices.
If you are also disgruntled with the fare in the newspapers or TV news stations and want to help us chase those headlines and investigative reports, please consider making a donation today. You will be glad you did.
May 4th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Feel free to ask editor and publisher Glynn Wilson questions anytime in this space. Try asking anyone at any corporate news organization a question and see if you get an answer. The New York Times makes a show of doing this every day with a different editor or reporter, and the Washington Post does too. Most local newspapers and TV station Websites say they encourage feedback, but have you ever tried to get an answer from them? It’s all for show with no substance.
I often wonder why we don’t get more questions here in the comments section. If I were a discerning reader here to ask myself a question today, I might ask something like: Gee, Wilson, why do you write about your garden, as if anybody gives a damn?
My answer is: Well, if that is true, why does the Washington Post now have a home and garden section prominently displayed on the front page of its Website, even though most people turn to the Post for political coverage in DC? And how has Southern Living magazine made so many millions over the years writing about such softball fare? I planted my revolutionary garden as part of a protest of the Bush administration’s complete failure to care about poor people, in spite of its early slogan of “compassionate conservatism.”
That would be a sick joke if the lie were not so tragic for people all over this state, country and the world who are having a hard time affording food. If my tomatoes do well enough, I will be donating some of them to the homeless in Birmingham.
May 4th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Another obvious question no one has asked:
In covering the Alabama Democratic Party’s Jefferson-Jackson fund raising dinner Friday night, why didn’t you do a typical speech story like the AP or the local newspaper would?
My answer:
Three reasons.
I did do a complete daily newspaper style story on the party’s fund raising dinner in December…
General Clark Calls Siegelman Prosecution Political, Bush Presidency ‘The Worst’
The main reason I did was because I knew neither the Birmingham News or the AP sent reporters to cover that event, mainly because Wesley Clark was not big news since he was not in office or in the presidential race - and maybe because the News and AP don’t care much about Democrats. If you will recall, Siegelman was in jail at that point. I figured the News and AP also knew Siegelman would be at the Pelosi event.
But I thought Clark’s comments about Bush and the country were worth reporting newspaper style.
I knew the News and AP would be there to cover Pelosi, although I found her speech particularly tepid and not as newsworthy as Clark’s.
The third reason is that I am increasingly concerned that the Alabama Democratic Party does not know how to save itself from a Republican takeover of the Legislature in 2010.
I believe my home state needs a competitive two-party system, or someone needs to come up with a plan to introduce more parties in the system to do what the Democrats seem unwilling to do.
I have tried to communicate how to raise money online, for one example, but my entreaties continue to go largely ignored by the party apparatus. So I am considering continuing my investigation of “What’s Wrong With The Alabama Democratic Party?” and writing a series about that in the near future.
The tepidness needs to stop, for starters, and the party needs to embrace its left wing, especially on environmental issues. There are tens of thousands of people in this state who do not vote at all because they see only Democrats who are pro-business, pro-family and wear their Christianity on their sleeves like Republico-crats.
Here’s a clue: To help save the environment, it is not necessary to couch it in Christian terms by saying we are trying to “save God’s creation” as Pelosi did. You don’t have to be a Christian to believe saving the environment is critical to saving life on Earth and for public health reasons. The Christians think the world is going to end anyway. Those of us who follow science believe that does not have to be true in our lifetimes - if we take action.
The reason we believe Obama will be the next president of the United States is because he is bringing millions of new voters into the Democratic Party. In his case it is not because of his stance on the environment, which in fact is still a weakness of his campaign. McCain has bona fides on the global warming issue, which might hurt Obama or Clinton in the general election - if they don’t get onboard in a stronger way. Even Republicans say they are pro-environment in public opinion polls, so why are Democrats so afraid of being labeled liberals by talking about it?
And here’s a news flash you won’t see on the right-wing Christian Political Parlor blog, which for some reason gets linked to by the Alabama Democratic Party’s Web guy - when this site does not.
I talked to a guy at the Pelosi event from Vulcan Materials, one of the worst polluting corporations on the planet. The reason I talked to him is because I grew up with him. His name is Joe Howle, and he is the environmental rep for Vulcan these days. Why was he even there at a Democratic Party fund raiser? I know for a fact he’s no Democrat.
Because his company is concerned that McCain and Hillary might convince Congress to pass gas tax relief this summer, which would devastate federal and state road building efforts. The company and others have already convinced Gov. Bob Riley to come out against it, and Obama is so far resisting the move. The best I can tell the Alabama Democratic Party has said nothing about that yet, including our own Rep. Davis, who endorsed the Obama campaign early on.
How’s that for breaking news blog style? Are you paying attention Brannon? Or are you just “too busy” reading the Political Parlor blog and the Birmingham Ruse?
May 5th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Thanks for another fine article filled with truth.
I was very interested in your revolutionary garden when you first told us about it and I get your reasons for it, besides the satisfaction that comes from the delicious food planted with your own hands. We love the tomatoes we get from our tiny space. I know that my grandparents, parents and their siblings made it through The Depression because they grew most of their own food, including meat. I know they often were hungry, but they did not starve, and they shared and cared about their neighbors and vice versa. Not many people have the space these days to grow such expansive gardens, and I worry about what will become of us all when the hard times come. The government, the extremist churches and other entities have caused people to become so uncaring and cold toward others that I cannot see us coming together to help each other survive the next time.
Please do go forward with the ADP. “Tepid” is exactly the right word–the ADP needs resuscitation before it falls into a persistent vegetative state. My small one-on-one attempts to engender courage down there go into the round file. There is no reason they should listen to me–I am just a passionate Democrat with a small pocketbook, but you can reach people.
I cannot imagine a more opportune time than now for that group to rejuvenate itself, so those guys need to throw some cold water on their faces, look at what is happening right now, stiffen their spines and go for this opportunity that has landed in their laps.
(Sorry, Glynn, I know it’s your soapbox. I appreciate your letting me use it from time to time.)