Teddy Bloggie Blog Blogging

I was listening to alternative radio on KQED today and the topic was the current state of journalism. There were three major problems or biases discussed in the taped speech that was broadcast:

1. Because of a pursuit of "professionalism", the media can only discuss topics and views that comes from "official" sources. Any journalist who writes based on information from alternative sources can be labeled unprofessional. This means your news most likely comes from the White House, Governor's Mansion, City Council, etc... If the information doesn't come from official sources, then it's not likely to be covered. Worse still, the journalists are usually close to the sources they get their information from and are not very skeptical or critical of the information they get.

2. News usually require a "peg" to be covered. Otherwise, the news may seem biased or partisan. Stories surrounding long-term problems are no longer adequately being covered because of this.

3. Bias of "dig here not there". For example, government malfeasance gets covered but not corporate malfeasance. Enron became a business story instead of a deeper story about the implicit pact between business elites and political elites. It's likely a reflection of media concentration and corporate control.

There's a bunch of other interesting issues discussed and definitely worth a listen.

Here's a link for the streaming m3u of the lecture. It's a long lecture though so be prepared. You can download it at this site.

What's going on these days? Do civil rights no longer apply in our no-end-in-sight war against invisible terrorists? What's next? Detention camps like those created for Japanese Americans during WWII? Why are we having registration programs anyway? I think the NAZIs had them, but they're not an example we would want to follow.

My turn to bang my head against the wall. The reason: this piece from the LA Times.

INS arrests hundreds from Mideast, Africa / They were held when they showed up, as requested, for a registration program

Los Angeles -- Hundreds of men and boys from Middle Eastern and African countries were arrested by federal immigration officials in Southern California this week when they complied with orders to appear at INS offices for a special registration program.

There are only three real problems with having my motorcycle sit in the rain without a cover.

1. A part of the left handlebar is rusting.
2. My brake rotors are rusting. (polishes away)
3. My registration underneath the seat gets wet. (usually keeping them in a zip-locked bag works)

But even those minor issues don't bother me as much as the unreal problem; the thought of my bike sitting outside getting drenched. Sometimes I picture it as though the wind and rain will weather it as they do to landscapes, in particular granite landscapes. Other times, I think of my bike as a living creature, like a horse or dog, and you just don't leave those guys outside in the rain. I sold my last bike because I couldn't stand the idea of it getting rusty outside in the perennial mist that is so typically Berkeley. Now I have a bike that's almost entirely aluminum and plastic and it still bothers me to have it showered upon. Maybe it's me.

With the consumption that inevitably comes along during the Christmas season, I wanted to talk about the future of not having. Part of this idea came from a discussion I had with Tony Hebert, a research fellow with the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

As I see it, the consciousness surrounding consumption is changing around the world, or better put, it's beginning to change. Tony, for his part, disagrees because he sees that consumerism is as strong as ever, especially as each market segments into infinitely smaller pieces. I think he's right that consumerism is as strong as ever before, but I believe the people are now paying more attention to the effects of consumerism and that consciousness extends to civic projects and civic planing. Tony also hopes I'm right. Me too.

I don't have all the facts to back up my claim, but here's a brief sketch of what I'm noticing...

In the past, a country's progress has been measured in what that country has developed in terms of its massive infrastructure. Those with it were considered developed, those without, were either underdeveloped or developing. When I think of industrialization in the antebellum years, I think about the massive industries associated with the robber barons of the time. The railroads, coal mines, steel factories. We built monsterous skyscrappers, dams, canals and saw those projects as signs of human progress. Then we had a period where durable goods signified social and economic evolution.

Today, we see the same things happening in China, India and to a lesser extent Brazil. But today, it's no longer a sign of progress as much as a necessity and a symbol of playing catch-up. Post-industrial countries will look back and see that the massive dams, sprawling freeway systems, and concrete trophies are signs of social adolescence.

Hopefully, we'll leave that behind. The evidence for this are the growing interest and development of low cost building techniques that are not material intensive and the interest in development that leaves local landscapes unadulterated. Also, more of our economic output are in services than in durable goods now. Problems resulting from development as we have known it such as environmental degredation and transportation congestion are not compatible with the more and bigger solutions of the past. Economic resources will have to be spent in solving today's and tomorrow's problems by figuring out ways to build smaller, smarter, and more efficient. The solutions may even be concentrated on getting rid of the causes of the problem instead of coming up with a solution. Wouldn't that be a hoot! That consiousness will also probably extend to a new form of consumerism.

Since it's almost Christmas time, maybe the vision of not needing and not wanting as gauge social and economic progress will prove timely.

It's one way to rock the night away. From USGS.org:

Magnitude 3.6

Time:
Tuesday, December 24, 2002 at 8:22:30 (UTC)
Tuesday, December 24, 2002 at 0:22:30 AM (PST)

Distance from:
2 km (1 miles) S (175 degrees) of Pacifica, CA
6 km (4 miles) WSW (244 degrees) of San Bruno, CA
7 km (4 miles) W (273 degrees) of Millbrae, CA
10 km (6 miles) S (189 degrees) of Daly City, CA

Coordinates:
37 deg. 36.2 min. N (37.603N)
122 deg. 29.0 min. W (122.483W)

Depth:
9.7 km (6.0 miles)

Quality:
Excellent