Monday, May 9, 2011

"If this is News then I don't understand what News is any longer."

A quote from Neil Gaiman's Facebook page regarding this article:

I took the opportunity to write this comment regarding the current state of "news reporting", and it turned into a dire warning about the importance of Net Neutrality, a story you aren't getting from the "news". No surprise there, since those are exactly the business intersets that stand to profit (hugely) from the end of our free and easy access to what is essentially already ours. My comment to his post:

"The HLN (Formerly "Headline News") ran the story of the couple who made their prom outfits entirely out of duct tape in their 30 minute cycle today. On New England Cable News in their cycle was, "Chefs all over want iPads for the *kitchens!*" and "How to choose the right patio furniture." Neither felt that the continuing irradiation of Northern Japan warranted a minute or so ALL DAY. Even "public" radio has sponsors, and sponsors tell the "news" directors what kind of stories they are willing to sponsor, and which they are not. Mr. Gaiman does not offend any of the corporate supporters of that NPR channel, so hooray for NG! (Lulu's note: I should have read the article first. It was an attack on Mr. Gaiman for accepting taxpayer funds for speaking. Of course corporate media, and corporate supported media, which is what NPR truly is, would pursue this story. The mega-corporations spend their time nitpicking at every tax dollar deposited into any pocket other than theirs, and this is reflected ad nauseam in our daily "news" broadcasts!) Listener/viewer supported is the only way to get real news anymore. Imagine if we didn't have the Internet!

This is why you must support Net Neutrality. Though the Internet belongs to the US (just ask George Bush!) which means it belongs to the People, there is no public means for civilians to access it. Only privately owned means. And on private property 1st Amendment rules do not apply. It's almost as if they planned it that way! ;^) So without Net Neutrality, Verizon and Comcast (etc.) can decide to block pages they don't like, (and so much more!) and the Constitution doesn't apply. At. All.

The GOP has reversed the NN law in the House; they voted it down the night of the threatened shut down, and surprise, surprise this fact didn't make the "news". It heads for the Senate next and the GOP is fighting with the FCC over it now. The GOP is calling NN "Government takeover of the Internet! Interfering in private business!" That's rich. It is a government, taxpayer supported entity, but the People demanding that the private conduits to it respect their Constitutional rights is a "Government take over". They are getting fat and rich giving us access to something that is already ours. Once we lose Net Neutrality, getting it back will be soooooo much harder, because those apposed to it, the ISPs will then be allowed to block your "Bring Back Net Neutrality" Content. Small wonder this isn't making the MSM "news"

http://www.themoralliberal.com/2011/04/22/u-s-house-and-senate-stop-government-takeover-of-the-internet-2/ Here's a hoot. This site calls it self "The Moral Liberal" He is an alleged Liberal who rabidly defends the interests of business over the will of and the rights of the People. This makes him "Moral"? I want you to read this outrageous article and remember: US taxpayers founded the Internet, grew the Internet, and still pay to maintain the great bulk of it. It belongs to you, but you can't access it with out paying these creeps, and they want to exercise *their* rights as private property owners to silence dissent.

Not only should you drop what you are doing right now and call your Senators and the President to demand Net Neutrality, you should ask, why the heck We the People have been tasked with funding this Internet for so many years, yet no *publicly owned* means of *access* to it yet exists? Think about that. After all the many billions spent on it since its inception, not a penny to provide the People access to it through a channel that must respect the 1st Amendment.

If you want real news in future, you had better start making calls and spreading the word. Now.

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