By Ukraine Standards 'Our Election Was Stolen' Roundup
Ra Energy Fdn.
Raleigh Myers
Worksheet bio
http://raenergy.igc.org/bio.html
Blog
http://raenergy.blogspot.com/
snip: Jesse Jackson Chicago Sun Times - November 30, 2004
http://www.suntimes.com/output/jesse/cst-edt-jesse30.html
In Ohio, as in Florida and Pennsylvania, there was a
stark disconnect between the exit polls and the
tabulated results, with the former favoring John Kerry
and the latter George Bush. The chance of this
occurring in these three states, according to Professor
Steven Freeman of the University of Pennsylvania, is
about 250 million to 1.
By Ukraine Standards 'Our Election Was Stolen' Roundup
http://www.solarbus.org/stealyourelection/
Vote Fraud
http://raenergy.igc.org/votefraud.html
Ra Energy Fdn.
Raleigh Myers
Worksheet bio
http://www.igc.apc.org/raenergy/bio.html
Blog
http://raenergy.blogspot.com/
Call to Action blog a virtual seminar for change
http://www.google.com/search?q=Global+Vote+raenergy&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=02Eigc%2Eorg%2Faction%2Ehtml
Newsgroups beginning in the eighties click on date and web
http://groups.google.com/groups?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=%22Ra+Energy+Fdn%2E%22
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. - - Margaret Mead
Eugenics Society Aids Day_Aids man made?
Ra Energy Fdn.
Raleigh Myers
Worksheet bio
http://www.igc.apc.org/raenergy/bio.html
Blog
http://raenergy.blogspot.com/
Eugenics Society Aids Day_Aids man made?
Boyd Graves (BG): The 1971 Flow Chart is the blueprint for the development of AIDS. It is the quintessential missing link document which provides absolute proof of the U.S. origin of HIV/AIDS. It is located in one of the 15 progress reports of the federal program entitled The U.S. Special Virus Cancer Program.I believe the term cancerwas a misnomer to misdirect the actuality of the HIV development. It provides, again, absolute, absolute evidence of the U.S. origin of HIV as a synthetic biological agent.
http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_1597.shtml
History of AIDS Timeline
http://www.boydgraves.com/timeline/
Eugenics Day Aids Day a primer on depopulation
http://raenergy.igc.org/WestNileEugenics.html
Google on Eugenics
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=Graves+Aids
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=Eugenics+Aids
Ra Energy Fdn.
Raleigh Myers
Worksheet bio
http://www.igc.apc.org/raenergy/bio.html
Blog
http://raenergy.blogspot.com/
Call to Action blog a virtual seminar for change
http://www.google.com/search?q=Global+Vote+raenergy&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=02Eigc%2Eorg%2Faction%2Ehtml
Newsgroups beginning in the eighties click on date and web
http://groups.google.com/groups?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=%22Ra+Energy+Fdn%2E%22
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. - - Margaret Mead
Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948
To establish a global premise and beyond for the redistribution of TIME, the currency of the sovereign citizen _cosmic citizens who have a right to be here.
For those involved in the electronic and direct democracy forums there are a series of corrective strategies posted as TEN INCIDENT PREMISE based on implementing some lowest common denominator prophetic thinking that is long over due. For instance, what do we vote for that will manage an ocean of need rather than just another deception management flack attack analogous to holding back the tide with a broom?. In other words how do we actually cause the paradigm shift we have been anticipating, to happen _regain control of our destiny from the flatlanders who have ruled the earth since it was flat :).
http://raenergy.igc.org/global.html
Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948
From: Professor Ed Kent <ekent@brooklyn.cuny.edu>
(More than a pointer to a few links, here is a document you should save to
a file and use it to point out the anti-judicial policies of the United
States and for talking points to oppose the government's right wing
politics...Hank Roth)
December 10 will mark the 56th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights of 1948, which was formulated during the brief post WW2
hiatus before the Cold War broke out and the world embarked on a series of
wars -- the Korean, the Vietnamese and other lesser encounters,
suppressions, disruptions, and removals of governments on both sides
(Hungry-Nagy, 1956), Iran-Mossadeq, 1953, Guatemala-Arbenz, 1954,
Chile-Allende, 1972) that have left behind scars even now still being
healed and/or resolved through truth and reconciliation commissions such
as those that operated in Argentina and South Africa and the recent
announcement of compensation for the thousands tortured by the Pinochet
regime in Chile:
http://news.google.com/news?q=Chile+Torture+Compensation&hl=en&lr=&sa=N&tab=nn&oi=newsr
The peculiar feature of the U.S. Constitution which requires 2/3 of the
Senate to approve treaties, initially precluded the U.S. from ratifying
the Universal Declaration, although Eleanor Roosevelt, the widow of F.D.R.
in her capacity as our U.N. ambassador, had played a major role in
formulating this remarkably forward looking protocol. Those opposed to
ratifying the Declaration consisted of a coalition of Southern Democratic
"Dixiecrats" opposed to its equal rights claims (e.g. See Article Seven
below) and mid-Western Republicans comparably opposed the the right to
work and other social protection guarantees in the latter clauses
(Articles 22 and after). Such minorities even delayed the U.S.
ratification of such protections as that against genocide (the Holocaust)
-- proposed and ratified nearly universally following the Nazi war
criminal trials at Nuremberg in 1948 -- until 1986!
http://www.remember.org/guide/Facts.root.aft.lib.aft.html
The U.S. now has a record of discord with a growing number of nearly
universally approved international conventions and standards of right
conduct:
-- Kyoto Protocol, which would protect the atmosphere from poisonous
gasses and which has just been ratified by Russia:
http://unfccc.int/2860.php
-- the Universal Criminal Court:
http://www.ejil.org/journal/Vol1/No1/art4-01.html
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Aid-threatened-as-US-fights-war-crimes-court/2004/11/26/1101219749088.html?oneclick=true
--The Land Mine Treaty, which would bar the use of land mines that kill
and maim thousands each year decades after hostilities have been ended in
particular military confrontations:
http://unfccc.int/2860.php
--Death penalty standards, which we have discussed in class (e.g.
against executing juveniles): http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/
etc.
The U.S. has ratified some portions of the Universal Declaration with
reservations -- particularly those civil and political rights sometimes
designated as negative liberties or freedoms from various state or
partisan violations of rights -- roughly Articles 1-21. But we still have
not endorsed either by Constitution or by international treaty commitment
the so-called positive social and economic rights beginning at Article 22.
protections of jobs, education, medical care, housing, food, etc.
As I have worked closely with our CUNY Citizenship Project and its head,
Allan Wernick, on behalf of students seeking naturalization and fleeing
the threat of brutal administrative detention and/or fleeing the country
to avoid same, I am particularly distressed by our violation of Article 14
which specifies (1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other
countries asylum from persecution.
All of us conversant both with American law and international standards of
conduct are also deeply distressed by the Bush Administrations violations
of some of the most basic rights specified here. Two in particular, are
considered to be non-derogable (i.e. no exceptions): Article 4 directed
against slavery and Article 5, against torture which the Red Cross
yesterday in the NY Times accused the U.S. of carrying out at Guantánamo:
Red Cross Finds Detainee Abuse in Guantánamo
By NEIL A. LEWIS A
confidential report states that the U.S. military has used psychological
and sometimes physical coercion "tantamount to torture" on prisoners.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/30/politics/30gitmo.html?th
The Bush administration's disregard of international standards of
conduct generally such as the Geneva Convention regarding the treatment
of war prisoners (and civilians):
http://www.genevaconventions.org/
and the most recent appointment as of Mr. Gonzalez as Attorney General
who is reputed to have supported the use of the brutal treatment of
prisoners at Guantánamo while serving as a White House legal advisor
speak for themselves:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4000679.stm
Web site for the Universal Declaration:
http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
[Note the British spelling variations in this version, which I have left
as a reminder of the differences that develop even among common-based
languages, let alone political traditions.]
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(other language versions)
Adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III)
of 10 December 1948
On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations
adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full
text of which appears in the following pages. Following this historic act
the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the
Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and
expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions,
without distinction based on the political status of countries or
territories."
PREAMBLE
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and
inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of
freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in
barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the
advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and
belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest
aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have
recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression,
that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly
relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter
reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and
worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and
have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in
larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in
co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect
for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of
the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,
Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION
OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and
all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society,
keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and
education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by
progressive measures, national and international, to secure their
universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples
of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under
their jurisdiction.
Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one
another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in
this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour,
sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social
origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall
be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international
status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it
be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of
sovereignty.
Article 3.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 4.
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave
trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6.
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before
the law.
Article 7.
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any
discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal
protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and
against any incitement to such discrimination.
Article 8.
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent
national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him
by the constitution or by law.
Article 9.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 10.
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing
by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his
rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
Article 11.
(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be
presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial
at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of
any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under
national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor
shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the
time the penal offence was committed.
Article 12.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his
privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour
and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law
against such interference or attacks.
Article 13.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence
within the borders of each state.
(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own,
and to return to his country.
Article 14.
(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries
asylum from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions
genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the
purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 15.
(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor
denied the right to change his nationality.
Article 16.
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race,
nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family.
They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at
its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full
consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society
and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 17.
(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in
association with others.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
Article 18.
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and
religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief,
and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or
private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship
and observance.
Article 19.
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this
right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek,
receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless
of frontiers.
Article 20.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and
association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Article 21.
(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his
country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his
country.
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of
government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections
which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret
vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
Article 22.
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security
and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international
co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each
State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his
dignity and the free development of his personality.
Article 23.
(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment,
to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against
unemployment.
(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal
pay for equal work.
(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable
remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of
human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social
protection.
(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the
protection of his interests.
Article 24.
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable
limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Article 25.
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the
health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food,
clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the
right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability,
widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his
control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and
assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy
the same social protection.
Article 26.
(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free,
at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education
shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made
generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to
all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the
human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and
fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and
friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall
further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that
shall be given to their children.
Article 27.
(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural
life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific
advancement and its benefits.
(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and
material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic
production of which he is the author.
Article 28.
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which
the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully
realized.
Article 29.
(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free
and full development of his personality is possible.
(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be
subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the
purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and
freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality,
public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary
to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 30.
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any
State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform
any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set
forth herein.
-----
/ o o \
===OO=====OO==================================================
4 Portals - 2 News Wikis - 2 Conferences -- No BuSHIT!
It all starts here: - http://pnews.org/ (Internet since 1982)
http://pnews.org/PhpWiki/ (West Coast News Wiki)
http://g0lem.net/PhpWiki/ (East Coast News Wiki)
==============================================================
RHETORIC/PNEWS-L Subscription/Unsub information:
http://pnews.org/signup.shtml - ALL LINKS: http://pnews.org/
==============================================================
Ra Energy Fdn.
Raleigh Myers
Worksheet bio
http://www.igc.apc.org/raenergy/bio.html
Blog
http://raenergy.blogspot.com/
Call to Action blog a virtual seminar for change
http://www.google.com/search?q=Global+Vote+raenergy&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=02Eigc%2Eorg%2Faction%2Ehtml
Newsgroups beginning in the eighties click on date and web
http://groups.google.com/groups?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=%22Ra+Energy+Fdn%2E%22
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. - - Margaret Mead
Law Restricts Municipal Wi-Fi Networks
Ra Energy Fdn.
Raleigh Myers
Worksheet bio
http://www.igc.apc.org/raenergy/bio.html
Blog
http://raenergy.blogspot.com/
Law Restricts Municipal Wi-Fi Networks
I suppose I should just say it: Now do you believe that Corporatism-Fascism is here ?????
Making free communication illegal was an anticipated event. We could have had free communications since the advent of the CB radio. Now we can get with it and make it happen. Most of the out of patent components are in place we just need to bundle them. These technologies are is the key to the virtual global direct democracy synergy.
http://raenergy.igc.org/wireless.html
BENTON'S COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for DECEMBER 1, 2004
For upcoming media policy events, see http://www.benton.org/calendar.htm
TODAY'S QUESTION: Is it really a good idea to give phone companies the
right to deny municipalities the ability to deploy their own networks? (see
first story below)
TELECOM POLICY
Law Restricts Municipal Wi-Fi Networks
TV Stations Urge Go-Slow Approach on Wi-Fi
NCTA Raises TV-Interference Concerns
Nation's Advocates Propose Wireless Consumer Protections
Bright House Seeking 'Naked' DSL Ruling
FCC Should Embrace 'Dynamic Deregulation'
MEDIA POLICY
APTS Applauds the Continued Growth in Federal Support
for Public Television
PBS Deal With Comcast Seen as Militating Against
Mission & Values
Fighting FCC on Indecency
TV Executives Urge Taking Wider View of Family Friendly Programming
EchoStar Says It Can't Provide Local Emergency Alerts
Libel Case Could Chill Speech Online
The Fight for Docu-Democracy
WORTH A LISTEN? -- Digital Generations; Payola Persists
FROM THE BLOGSPHERE -- Pegasus News; Media as Election '04 Loser
TELECOM POLICY
LAW RESTRICTS MUNICIPAL WI-FI NETWORKS
Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell (D) said late Tuesday night that he had
signed into law a large telecommunications bill placing severe restrictions
on the ability of cities and towns to offer telecommunications services, an
item that was heavily lobbied by Verizon and other big telephone companies
in similar legislation across the country. The legislation signed by Gov.
Rendell gives phone companies the right to deny municipalities the ability
to deploy their own networks, which could hinder the deployment of Wi-Fi
networks throughout the state. Gov. Rendell said that the bill's provision
limiting municipal competition was a "problem." However, he pointed to
Verizon's agreement to waive its right to stop Philadelphia's plan for a
Wi-Fi network, and said the state would "work with other municipalities on
projects that they have established or propose to establish in order to
ensure that, to the extent that they are now viable, they will also have
the opportunity to succeed." The legislation also contains a potentially
lucrative provision giving phone companies like Verizon large incentives to
promise to modernize their networks. Some have criticized that provision
since companies would be eligible for the incentives after filing the
modernization plans, but before the upgrades have actually taken place.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jesse Drucker jesse.drucker@wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110185892280287396,00.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace
(requires subscription)
See also:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23826-2004Nov30.html
TV STATIONS URGE GO-SLOW APPROACH ON WI-FI
Public and commercial broadcasters are asking the FCC to delay plans to let
wireless local area computer networks (known as Wi-Fi) and other unlicensed
communications devices operate on vacant TV channels. The FCC proposal
"would produce many detrimental and unintended consequences to America's
free, over-the-air television service but fails to present any meaningful
method for resolving such problems," the National Association of
Broadcasters wrote in comments filed with the FCC Tuesday. "The public
would be ill-served by its adoption." The Association for Public Television
Stations agrees with that assessment. Until broadcasters have picked their
permanent channels and real-world testing of the devices proves that there
will be no interference, introduction of the new service puts at risk the
billion-plus dollars that public stations have invested in construction of
digital television facilities. The Wi-Fi Alliance, an association that
certifies interoperability of wireless local area network products,
however, is eager for the FCC to move forward. It asked the Commission to
allow telecom companies great leeway in choosing which
interference-mitigation techniques they believe work the best rather than
forcing a particular method on the industry.
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: Bill McConnell]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA484384.html?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP
(free access for Benton's Headlines subscribers)
NCTA RAISES TV-INTERFERENCE CONCERNS
Allowing unlicensed wireless-Internet providers to share broadcast-TV
spectrum could disrupt cable-system access to TV stations that have
mandatory carriage rights, the National Cable & Telecommunications
Association said Tuesday. NCTA said the FCC's proposal, particularly in
urban areas, could foster so much congestion that "an electromagnetic
cloud" could emerge, "making it nearly impossible to identify a single
source of interference in the presence of many such sources." Each TV
market is allocated 402 megahertz of spectrum -- enough bandwidth to
accommodate 67 TV stations. But the average consumer has access to about
seven stations due to market conditions and interference issues that
require channel spacing among stations.
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA484376.html?display=Breaking+News
(requires subscription)
NATION'S ADVOCATES PROPOSE WIRELESS CONSUMER PROTECTIONS
An organization of the nation's consumer utility advocates believes that
over 160 million wireless customers need to be protected from unscrupulous
advertising, poor service and anti-competitive practices. The National
Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA) unanimously passed
a resolution earlier this month at its annual meeting in Nashville,
Tennessee, calling for state and federal action to adopt and enforce
service quality and consumer protection standards for wireless companies.
NASUCA believes that the important areas that should be applied to all
wireless companies and made mandatory include: 1) Clear and uniform
disclosure of all rates and charges at the point where a consumer is
purchasing a service plan. Customers need to know up front about any
activation, airtime, roaming, long-distance and early termination fees; 2)
Providing customers with the full terms and conditions of service. This
information should include equipment return, cancellation and replacement
policies, contract extension guidelines and a method for agreeing or
declining inclusion in directory assistance listings; 3) Itemized billing
to clearly separate company-imposed charges from those fees and taxes
mandated or authorized by a federal, state or local government. Customers
need the ability to make educated decisions, including knowing which fees
are comparable; 4)Distribution of accurate calling area maps and disclosure
of coverage gaps; and 5) Details of how emergency 9-1-1 services are
accessed, including variations from customers' expectations from
traditional home telephone service.
[SOURCE: Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates]
http://www.nasuca.org/newsroom/PR-wireless%20resolution.doc
BRIGHT HOUSE SEEKING 'NAKED' DSL RULING
Cable companies are asking the FCC to direct every incumbent phone company
"to port numbers without delay and to offer 'naked' DSL, i.e., DSL on a
line without voice service also on it." Doing so would make it easier for
cable companies to sell their Internet telephone services to current phone
company customers. Verizon and BellSouth require customers of their DSL and
local-phone services to drop both if the customer just wants to change
local-phone providers and will not transfer customers' telephone numbers to
new phone providers until both local service and DSL are dropped.
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Ted Hearn]
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA483829.html?display=Breaking+News
(requires subscription)
FCC SHOULD EMBRACE 'DYNAMIC DEREGULATION'
Randolph May, senior fellow with The Progress & Freedom Foundation, has
developed a new scorecard designed to measure whether the Commission is
acting in a deregulatory, pro-competitive manner. To act consistently with
the "Dynamic Deregulation Vision" (last seen on Batman), May set four
benchmarks for the FCC; it should: 1) finish freeing broadband facilities
from unbundling obligations, 2) remove local switching from the unbundling
requirements, 3) remove high capacity loops from the unbundling regime, and
4) take specific actions to ensure prompt implementation of its UNE decision.
[SOURCE: Progress and Freedom Foundation Press Release]
http://www.pff.org/news/news/2004/112904troscorecard.html
MEDIA POLICY
APTS APPLAUDS THE CONTINUED GROWTH IN FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR PUBLIC TELEVISION
In the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2005, funding for
public broadcasting grew by more than $11 million, with the most
significant increases coming in the form of federal support for digital
infrastructure. While advance funding for the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting remained steady at $400 million in FY 2007, pre-rescission
funding for the new satellite system to interconnect local stations was $40
million, up from $9.9 million the previous year. Congress allocating $40
million to CPB to support the digital transition of local stations, $21
million for the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP), and
$10 million for public television stations serving rural populations to
build out their digital infrastructure. Congress also provided
pre-rescission funding levels of $23.5 million for Ready To Learn, an
increase of nearly $1 million, and $14.4 million for Ready To Teach, two
important educational programs that support curriculum-based content and
community-based outreach.
[SOURCE: Association of Public Television Stations Press Release]
http://www.apts.org/news/approps05.cfm
PBS DEAL WITH COMCAST SEEN AS MILITATING AGAINST MISSION AND VALUES
Public TV stations are mostly ambivalent about PBS's decision to lend its
name to a commercial children's channel being launched in partnership with
Comcast, HIT Entertainment and Sesame Workshop. Comcast and HIT would
invest $75 million in the channel, set for launch in fall 2005. PBS and
Sesame Workshop will put up no cash but will get 15% equity each for the
PBS brand, broadcast cross-promotion and goodwill. But some stations fear
the unabashedly commercial nature of the venture will give lawmakers on
Capitol Hill and in the states an excuse to drastically cut or even
eliminate funding for public broadcasting. PBS COO Wayne Godwin says some
producers were ready to take there shows to the new network with or without
PBS, but now PBS and Sesame Workshop are in position to shape the
programming philosophy of the new channel and have influence over the kinds
of commercials that will be show [Arthur juice box, anyone?]. Critics
include Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting which warns that
commercialism "corrupts" PBS's mission.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Dinesh Kumar]
(Not available online)
FIGHTING FCC ON INDECENCY
Has the FCC, in its string of rulings this year, confined itself to the
powers defined by the Supreme Court in FCC vs. Pacifica (the 1978 case that
featured George Carlin and the prohibition of seven dirty words)?
Broadcasters believe the agency has exceeded its bounds. In Pacifica, the
court had reprimanded the Pacifica Foundation for allowing Carlin's riff to
play on its New York radio station during the afternoon when a young boy
was listening. The high court in a 5-to-4 vote affirmed the agency's power
to regulate indecent broadcasts. The court's majority emphasized "the
narrowness of our holding." Its dissenters expressed fear the court had set
broadcasting on a path toward airing "only what is fit for children." The
high court said broadcasting has limited free-speech protections only for
two reasons: It is "uniquely pervasive" because it reaches into homes, and
it is "uniquely accessible to children, even those too young to read."
There is little doubt the environment surrounding broadcasters has changed
since the ruling.
[SOURCE: MediaWeek.com, AUTHOR: Todd Shields]
http://www.mediaweek.com/mediaweek/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000727210
There's more on the recent indecency campaign at:
The Great Indecency Hoax
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/28/arts/28rich.html?oref=login
(requires registration)
TV EXECUTIVES URGE TAKING WIDER VIEW OF FAMILY FRIENDLY PROGRAMMING
The Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the Family Friendly
Programming Forum (FFPF), and the National Council for Families & TV held
the Family Friendly Programming Symposium on Tuesday at which broadcast
executives warned that care should be given when seeking programming with
family oriented appeal because the definition of family has changed. They
also noted that although many people say there needs to be more safe,
family programming on the air, when asked if they would watch it, the
answer is no.
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Valerie Milano]
(Not available online)
ECHOSTAR SAYS IT CAN'T PROVIDE LOCAL EMERGENCY ALERTS
EchoStar said it can't receive, process and relay emergency alerts to the
550 Emergency Alert System (EAS) local areas. "The difficulties of
obtaining this capability are likely insurmountable," EchoStar said in
reply comments on the FCC's review of EAS. The company wouldn't specify the
costs of such a system, an EchoStar
spokesman said, saying only that the price in resources and bandwidth would
be "nearly inestimable."
[SOURCE: Communications Daily, AUTHOR: Tania Panczyk-Collins]
(Not available online)
LIBEL CASE COULD CHILL SPEECH ONLINE
Last week the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the American Civil
Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU) filed a friend-of-the-court
brief in a case that could undermine a federal statute protecting the free
speech of bloggers, Internet service providers, and other individuals who
use the Internet to post content written by others. The case in question is
a libel suit filed against women's health advocate Illena Rosenthal after
she posted a controversial opinion piece on a Usenet news group. The piece
was written not by Rosenthal, but by Tim Bolen, a critic of plaintiff Terry
Polevoy. In their brief, EFF and the ACLU argue that Section 230 of the
federal telecommunications Act of 1996 protects Internet publishers from
being held liable for allegedly harmful comments written by others. Similar
attempts to eliminate the protections created by Section 230 have almost
universally been rejected, until a California Court of Appeals radically
reinterpreted the statute to allow lawsuits against non-authors. The case
is being reviewed by the California Supreme Court
[SOURCE: Electronic Frontier Foundation]
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2004_11.php#002132
THE FIGHT FOR DOCU-DEMOCRACY
[Commentary] Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911 demonstrated that there is a
large global market for dissenting perspectives that can compete for
mainstream movie goers and attention. Beyond the proliferation and success
of compelling well made films there is a deeper meaning to this phenomenon
that directly impacts on the media and democracy fight. The docu-explosion
is part of the emergence of an oppositional culture responding to the
decline of quality in our media system, the uniformity of its approach to
news and information and growing distrust it has spawned.
[SOURCE: Mediachannel.org, AUTHOR: Danny Schechter]
http://www.mediachannel.org/views/dissector/affalert293.shtml
WORTH A LISTEN?
DIGITAL GENERATIONS
Monday: A report on how some rural communities are installing their own
high-speed Internet connections. New research indicates that speed is the
determining factor in who uses the Internet.
Tuesday: Cell phones, PDAs, computers and MP3 players may seem a bit
confusing to the average adult but for kids born in the digital age, these
devices are second nature. A 13-year old and his family talk about what it
means to grow up as a part of the Net Generation.
[SOURCE: Morning Edition]
http://www.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=3&prgDate=29-Nov-2004
http://www.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=3&prgDate=30-Nov-2004
PAYOLA PERSISTS
In 1960, legendary disc jockey Alan Freed was indicted for accepting music
industry money in exchange for radio air time. The scandal sparked
anti-"payola" legislation, but loopholes have persisted. Last month, New
York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer launched an investigation into modern
forms of pay-for-play by the major record labels. Brooke speaks with New
Yorker columnist James Surowiecki about "spot buys" and the gaming of the
Billboard charts.
[SOURCE: On the Media]
http://www.onthemedia.org/stream/ram.py?file=raotm/otm112604c.ra
http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/transcripts_112604_payola.html
FROM THE BLOGSPHERE
A LOCAL MEDIA REVOLUTION?
A new local news company called Pegasus News is aiming to reinvent local
market content and advertising, according to its Website. The company says
its beta test will take place in Dallas, Texas in late 2005 and eventually
launch in every top-25 U.S. market with a monopoly newspaper. "Within a
month of launch, the most broadly interesting and immediate content from
that site will be published in a daily tabloid print newspaper," the site
says. The core principles of Pegasus News are: 1) Local news and
information is aggressively, inherently, totally local, 2) Users have so
many choices of medium, that we cannot afford not to distribute content
through as many media as technologically possible, 3) Media is a
conversation, not a monologue, 4) Engaged consumers are better than paying
consumers, and 5) All products and services are as precise and precisely
priced as technology will allow.
http://blog.pegasusnews.com/
[SOURCE: CyberJournalist.net]
http://www.cyberjournalist.net/
Writer Says Media is Election's Big Loser: 21 Times
Mega bloggers and syndicated columnists said it. College students and
ranting professors said it. Bob Dole said it. The real loser, the big loser
in '04 was The Media.
[SOURCE: PressThink]
http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/
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Ra Energy Fdn.
Raleigh Myers
Worksheet bio
http://www.igc.apc.org/raenergy/bio.html
Blog
http://raenergy.blogspot.com/
Ra Energy Fdn.
Raleigh Myers
Worksheet bio
http://www.igc.apc.org/raenergy/bio.html
Blog
http://raenergy.blogspot.com/
Call to Action blog a virtual seminar for change
http://www.google.com/search?q=Global+Vote+raenergy&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=02Eigc%2Eorg%2Faction%2Ehtml
Newsgroups beginning in the eighties click on date and web
http://groups.google.com/groups?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=%22Ra+Energy+Fdn%2E%22
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. - - Margaret Mead
Imagine providing a service for free a criminal offence _
desighner crime???
Ra Energy Fdn.
Raleigh Myers
Worksheet bio
http://www.igc.apc.org/raenergy/bio.html
Blog
http://raenergy.blogspot.com/
Imagine providing a service for free a criminal offence _ designer crime???
The solution: Wireless Phone and Internet Direct democracy involves the governing within support groups, support groups to global village. To facilitate our electronic town meetings and switch on the global brain we need communications free from frankencorp and rogue governments.
http://www.igc.apc.org/raenergy/wireless.html
VERIZON, PHILADELPHIA DISCUSS DEAL ON CITY'S WI-FI PROPOSAL
The Pennsylvania General Assembly passed legislation this month that could make it illegal for municipalities to provide low-cost wireless Internet access via the technology called Wi-Fi, or to provide other telecommunications services. Gov. Edward G. Rendell has until the end of today to sign or veto the pending legislation, which would require municipalities to ask the local phone company for permission to offer such services. If the phone company says it plans a similar offering, it would have the power to deny the municipality and then have 14 months to offer it themselves. These provisions are part of a much larger bill supported by Verizon that gives phone companies in Pennsylvania large financial incentives if they promise to deploy broadband networks. They are also part of a larger trend by telecom providers to lobby legislators to stem competition from the public sector. Verizon is negotiating a deal with Philadelphia that would allow the city to proceed with a planned Wi-Fi network, but watchdog groups say that although it is a good deal for Philly, it is bad news for the rest of PA and cities across America.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jesse Drucker at jesse.drucker@wsj.com]
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110177460936386225,00.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace
(requires subscription)
Ra Energy Fdn.
Raleigh Myers
Worksheet bio
http://www.igc.apc.org/raenergy/bio.html
Blog
http://raenergy.blogspot.com/
Call to Action blog a virtual seminar for change
http://www.google.com/search?q=Global+Vote+raenergy&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=02Eigc%2Eorg%2Faction%2Ehtml
Newsgroups beginning in the eighties click on date and web
http://groups.google.com/groups?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=%22Ra+Energy+Fdn%2E%22
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. - - Margaret Mead
