ENDTIME machines

What lies under the skins of a Neo-Con Ninny ? Now you can wonder no more.

Prepackaged TV News--a Tip of the Propaganda Iceberg

Living in the world of the simulated and unreal ? NYT has a minor glimpse into the Propgational Propaganda thats been at work for years thru our own Whore press.
Under Bush, a New Age of Prepackaged TV News

some bytes:

Under the Bush administration, the federal government has aggressively used a well-established tool of public relations: the prepackaged, ready-to-serve news report that major corporations have long distributed to TV stations to pitch everything from headache remedies to auto insurance. In all, at least 20 federal agencies, including the Defense Department and the Census Bureau, have made and distributed hundreds of television news segments in the past four years, records and interviews show. Many were subsequently broadcast on local stations across the country without any acknowledgement of the government's role in their production.

The reports themselves, though, are designed to fit seamlessly into the typical local news broadcast. In most cases, the "reporters" are careful not to state in the segment that they work for the government. Their reports generally avoid overt ideological appeals. Instead, the government's news-making apparatus has produced a quiet drumbeat of broadcasts describing a vigilant and compassionate administration.

An examination of government-produced news reports offers a look inside a world where the traditional lines between public relations and journalism have become tangled, where local anchors introduce prepackaged segments with "suggested" lead-ins written by public relations experts. It is a world where government-produced reports disappear into a maze of satellite transmissions, Web portals, syndicated news programs and network feeds, only to emerge cleansed on the other side as "independent" journalism.

..a long piece...go read the rest.

the BankRAPTURE bill

TPM- bankruptcy is a constantly updated page that TPM has set up on the atrocious "Fuck the poor" bankruptcy bill now being passed by our terrorist in congress.
This is truly a Rapture for the Banks ( & Credit Card cos) as now they get to still play their funny tricks for forcing people into Huge Debt--and yet now the prey can't escape either. Sickening... what Repugs will do when left to their own devices.

Krugman also has a few words about the Debt-Peonage Society.

Amazon...the Big Time ?

Boing Boing has a link that leads to this wonderful bit of inside info for all ye micro-publishers.
How to get your CD, DVD, or Book listed on Amazon - by Kevin Kelly
stick it in that secret knowledge file of yours eh.