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SPIRIT IN MATTERS: Taking a Higher
View of Life on Earth
By Dianne Eppler Adams
Vol. 1, No 3 - July 15, 2003
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
...Ours is an interconnected, interdependent, sacred world.
...All relationships--personal, communal, national, global--are equal and best
approached with fairness, respect, honesty, and compassion.
...Darkness is overcome, not by avoidance, but through shining the light of
awareness on it and choosing otherwise.
FROM THIS VANTAGE POINT...
Are you well-informed?
If you are like me, you probably like to think that you are well-informed when
you express your opinions and reach your decisions. Surely here in America, we
must be well-informed since we have a wealth of information available --
newspapers dropped on our doorstep daily, the radio blasting news on the hour,
the TV projecting live images of the trauma du jour.
But how much of the picture do you think you are getting? How many sides of the
issue? Are you shown a variety of views? Lately this has caused me some concern.
I have taken to the worldwide web to find the balance I can't find in American
news.
Our forefathers, when they established this democratic experiment, realized a
diversity of viewpoints offered by a free and independent media was essential to
its survival. Today, however, our media is owned by a small number of large
corporations. Did you know that six corporations control the major broadcast
media in this country?
And just one corporation--Clear Channel--owns 1200 radio stations, controlling
11 percent of the market. Ever noticed wherever you go in this country the radio
stations tend to sound the same?
Are you aware that the FCC in early June made a ruling that paves the way for
even further consolidation, despite a large number of citizen letters, said to
be 98 percent in opposition. How can this happen when the airwaves below to the
public and are only leased to media corporations with the understanding that
they will serve the public good?
What is fascinating to me about this is that it has definitely become a
bipartisan issue. It has brought together such strange bedfellows as the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Rifle Association (NRA)
among others. Something's deeply important when these two organizations can find
agreement.
If you care about media diversity and your ability to stay well informed with a
variety of views, you might want to look further into the following article.
Although it is dated June 18, it is presents the current issue well. Neither the
Senate nor the House bills referenced in the article have been brought up for a
full vote, so you still can make a difference, if this is something you care
about.
Roll Back FCC's Rule Changes - from Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)
http://www.fair.org/activism/rollback-fcc.html
Incidentally, if you haven't heard about this issue, don't be surprised. The
major media, in their self interest, would rather not have you know your sources
of information will narrow even further as a result of the FCC's ruling.
Someone (can't remember who) said "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance." I
value my freedom. Do you yours?
(Your comments are always welcome to
SpiritInMatters@aol.com.)
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"To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells
you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive."
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)
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FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION...
The power of silence
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EG10Ak01.html
By Gorill Husby and Guri Wiggen
[Note: This interesting because it comes from a Hong Kong-based source,
reporting on an event in Norway, written from an Asian perspective. We are not
likely to find such self-reflection in our media.]
OSLO - "If the reality in Iraq is one thing and the reporting of it remains
another, it is because much of the media want it that way," say two leading
journalists who have earned reputations for reporting the "other" side of the
Iraq story.
The level of self-censorship in the media has risen not just during the Iraq war
but also since September 11, says Robert Fisk from The Independent newspaper
published in Britain and John Pilger, Australian broadcaster and film maker.
Pilger and Fisk both spoke to Inter Press Service on visits to Oslo recently.
Pilger was to receive the US$100,000 Sophie Prize for 30 years of work to expose
deception and war against humanity. Fisk gave a lecture at Fritt Ord, a
Norwegian media foundation.
"Propaganda is not found just in totalitarian states," Pilger said. "There at
least they know they are being lied to. We tend to assume it is the truth. In
the US, censorship is rampant."
Self-censorship, that is. This kind of self-censorship is an increasing problem,
and leads to one-dimensional coverage that journalists must learn to transcend,
Pilger added.
Narrowing Broadcasting
http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/8207
Comcast, the nation's largest and most powerful cable company, wants to kill off
public access television and related educational networks -- the last bastion of
diverse, local, educational and commercial-free TV -- by not updating systems
for the 21st century.
A Nation That Closes Its Eyes Is Sure To Stumble Sometime
By James Depreist
The Portland Tribune, Tuesday 08 July 2003
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/071003H.shtml
Graduates, the world in which we live is a mess. Myth masquerading as truth, our
beloved United States in crisis, many of its fundamental principles under
assault.
And yet a goodly number of your fellow Americans seem oblivious ... sleepwalking
through these alarming times, heedless and gullible beyond belief. Our country
simply cannot afford this, and our hard-won freedoms cannot long bear the weight
of an unenlightened citizenry. This has nothing whatsoever to do with the
unspeakable horror of Sept. 11 or the very real menace of world terrorism.
History has clearly shown that the ultimate weapon of mass destruction for any
society is ignorance.
[The full speech is worth reading.]
Tired of Pesky Phone Solicitors?
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/donotcall/index.html
This is the federal Do Not Call registration website to have your phone number
removed from telemarketer lists. There are some restrictions, but it should help
stop some of those annoying dinnertime calls!
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"Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching
out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach."
Clarissa Pinkola Estés Ph.D
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©2003 Spirit in Matters: Taking a Higher View of Life on Earth. All rights
reserved.
Permission is granted for reproduction or redistribution of the complete
e-newsletter issue only, provided this statement is included.
Comments are welcome at SpiritInMatters@aol.com.
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