Thursday, January 31, 2008

Weekly 1/31/08 - 5

THIS IS THE WEEK!  Lloyd House party Saturday 2/2/08, 6 pm.  Be here for Groundhog Day.  See below for details.  

Salon Weekly

~ In 4  Color-Coded Sections:

          • Table Notes
          • Events & Opportunities
          • Articles, Letters
          • Books, Reviews, Films, Magazines
          • Tri-State Treasures: events compiled by Jim Kesner


A W
eekly Email Publication of The Lloyd House: Circulation:  613.  Growing out
of the Wednesday Night Salon .  
For info about the Salon, see the bottom of
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...................................................
Section One: Table Notes ............................................................................ (Note: these notes were taken at the table and have NOT been approved or corrected by the speakers.  Reader beware of inevitable misunderstandings and misrepresentations.  E.B.)
At the table Wednesday 1/30/08
Ginger Lee Frank (a pseudonym), Bob witanowski, Mary Biehn, Bill Limbacher, Derek Lester, Ellen Bierhorst, Santa, Carolyn Aufderhaar, Elaine Bradford, Judy Cirillo, Mr. G., Spencer Konicov, Mira Rodwan, Sophia Yarden, Julia Yarden, Darrel Kidwell, Chris Metzger,
(Welcome Darrel!)

Mary:
read the preamble.  
Announcements at table

The atty gen. has refused to declare waterboarding as torture.
Ellen: Lloyd House Party Sat (see invitation below)
Mary:  a ccording to Wall St. Journal, if you exercise  3-5 x week you are 9 years young biologically.
Bob I am healing well  from lipoma surg.
Elaine: the Ensemble Theater on Monday, new play, dress rehearsal, free plus offering.
Bill: I am going to look at an apt. Friday.  
Ginger: I brought three print outs.  Mayor’s task force on transportation/climate change.  They focu only on vuel and emissions.  I brought up the distance food has to travel...  #2: vit. D and sunshine.  #3: skeptics group will be discussing honeybees colony collapse syndrome.  The organic hives have only 10% of the loss of conventional.  

Mira At St. John’s UU church, daybreak on Groundhog Day, Sat, at Mt. Storm Park.  Then to Sitwell’s for breakfast.  
Arts sampler weekend Feb. 8 – 10
Carolyn: I have a bunch of Rodney Yee yoga tapes.  I am giving them away free.
Santa:  Edwards and Guilliani dropped out.  The Ron Paul people have been running recall in New Hamp and caught out the voter fraud.  That’s why Hillary won New Hamp....
Another thing.  In Aug. I said “by the end of Jan. of this year the planet Nibiru will be spotted and will be publicized.  Sure enough it has.  ... I will be moving out of cinti. Down into KY.  ... The pole shift will happeb between April and August.  Will be the most devastating event since the sinking of Atlantis.  
So good bye.  
Spencer Feb 24 donate to Amer. Lung Assoc, who sponsors a carew tower climb.  45 flights of steps.  Last year I did it in 13 min 11 sec.  About 900 steps.  
Judy I have four huge plastic sheeting pieces from mattress ... Nice drop cloths.  Anybody want them?
Derek we have survived 120 pole swaps over last 150 million years.
It happens on an extremely regular schedule and we are 70 thousand years late.

Spencer in Wall St. Journal.  Study of homeless with alcohol and drug problems: correlation between people’s having drug and alcol. Problems and having a history of brain trauma.  Also found same in children with school problems.  Could have sig. impact; treating the brain injury helps the other things.  

TOPICS

Under what conditions can the gov’t violate its constitution?
Styles of presidency  (Ellen: I read article in New Yorker about Obama’s vs. Hillary’s styles of presidency...)

Wiretapping bill
To grant immunity to all telcom corps. who may have broken the lawy by allowing the administration to do wiretapping without warrnts.  

Darrel they suspended rights like that under the war powers act.  Patriot Act.   Martial Rule, since 1942, you have to ask permission for lots of things that used to be god given rights.  
Mira Dan Schorr has opinion; implied that if we let these things go by we’ll be sorry.  Will be losing more and more rights.  

Chris I fear we won’t be sorry... Diminished expectations.  New generations of Americans, this is the way it is for them.  This summer  the Olympics games, many will be wearing air pollution masks.  As humans our virtue is that we adapt... I am afraid we’ll accept the curtailment of our god given rights.

Ellen  I grew up in Greenhills... The woods were honeycombed with paths , the children lived in the woods.  No more.
Darrel: increasing obesity among children.
... Indoors with video games.
Ginger story about Pigmys.  

Santa Ron Paul’s support is well dispersed by age group.  

Ginger  After Kucinich was barred from debates ... Dropped out ... Now under corporate attack; is in danger of losing his house seat.  Huge corporate assault to keep him out of the house.

Darrel  Jim Condit has a point, local man.  The verbiage in the right to vote: everyone has the right to see their vote counted.  But actually no one is seeing this.  He is pushing to get this actually seen.  

Mira  also there is possibility of ballots not arriving safely at the counting place.  

Ellen Bev Harris of Black Box Voting has studied the voting machine business.  Check it out. http://blackboxvoting.org/


STYLE OF PRESIDENCY (p.s. Check out former salonista Erik Bendix’ thoughts about voting, and why he is for Obama.  In Navy Blue section below.)

Ellen:  charisma vs. expertise of management.  New Yorker article about Obama vs. Clinton.
Spencer  Truman, Lincoln were not charismatic.  New book, Judgment.  What are the characteristics of people who make good decisions.  
Santa:  different scenario.  George is going to attempt again to declare martial law.  He will be arrested then and removed.  In return we’ll have Al Gore put in place as president because he won the 2000 election.  If he becomes pres. He’ll make the gen’l announcement of the planet Nibiru.  

Elaine  my comment: has anyone checked the birthing planetary stars of the different candidates, astrology, to see what that says.  Birth signs.  

Derek  I have a very nice telescope... We could look for Nibiru.

Chris  following up on Ellen’s thought.  The chief executive as in large companies, succeeds if he has good people running the divisions.  We haven’t had a good CEO for at least 8 years.  Should put in competent people.  So you don’t need a good manager as pres.  
Also, I hear a lot about “pragmatism”.  My understand is that means the ends justify the means.  

Ginger  again, re. Ellen’s thoughts.  I would be thrilled to have either an Afr. Amer. Or a woman.  ... The message to the world by whom we elect as pres.  Many Western democracies have elected a woman head of state.  But  it would be big to have a Black person, esp. named Obama.  

Judy  I think having a dark skinned man as pres. Will so impress Arabs and others... Am I wrong?

Spencer  the average person is out scrambling for a living.  Is not well informed.  If they Swift boated Kerry, they will Muslimize Obama.

Ginger  years ago I was working in Austria; during Bush I.  bush appointed this woman who was born in Austria to be ambassador... The Austrians were so impressed.  

Spencer  next week, let’s discuss the sub prime mortgage lending.  Some of the interesting things people are doing.  

    

~ End of Table Notes~

Hugs to everyone,
Ellen




Section Two: Events & Opportunities


URSULA ROMA has a new art show up at St. John’s UU Church, Resor Ave., in Clifton, Feb. 1 – 29.  Very cool artist.  




The Lloyd House is having another of it’s wonderful parties.  Come!  All ages.

Lloyd House Hosts: Ellen Bierhorst, Debra Martin, Carolyn Aufderhaar, Kati Krome, Derek Lester

FABLOUS LLOYD HOUSE IMBOLC/BRIGID/CANDLEMAS PARTY~
Children Welcome

Saturday 2 February 2008
6:00 pm – 10 pm
Pot luck.  Bring either Main course, vegetable dish, salad, starch, wine, beverage, desert, crackers/chips, ... Bring just enough so that if you and your party only ate that for the meal you’d have just a tad left over.  

Live Band: “the Dial Tones” with Mike and Karen Radeke, Jelly Roll and the band
$5 – 10 band donation requested  Tip bucket will be circulated
DANCING ..... DANCING ..... DANCING ..... DANCING ..... DANCING ..... DANCING .....

Park on Lafayette Avenue, unless physically handicapped.  We have space in driveway for one handicap vehicle. Please remove shoes in the foyer (we have a number of pairs of slippers in the back hallway.  Feel free.)

In celebration of the goddess Brigid (pagan holiday of Imbolc, high winter) we will sweep away our old encumbrances from the previous year (and life?) and burn them up in the fire, making way for new things to arrive and grow.  It’s Candlemas (Groundhog Day), in dark of winter when soulfire burns brightest.  Perhaps we’ll have a bonfire, weather permitting.  You might reflect on what you want to “sweep away” in order to make way for the new... Habits or patterns that are holding you back from realizing your goals and dreams?  Hurt, resentment or trauma that is darkening your spirit?  Fears of people or of economic insecurity?  It is neat to write them down on little scraps of paper and at the right moment, toss them into the flames, burning up the old, making way for new energies to come into your life.  You don’t have to be a pagan to get off on this.

Lloyd House parties are characterized by extremely diverse guest list, jolly silliness, joviality, and fun.  Did I mention dancing?  
There’s never been anything but fabulous parties at the Lloyd House!”  The ghosts love a party.  

3901 Clifton Avenue Cincinnati 45220

Map to the Lloyd House:

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&country=US&popflag=0&latitude=&longitude=&name=&phone=&level=&addtohistory=&cat=&address=3901+Clifton+Ave.&city=cincinnati&state=oh&zipcode=45220


Sat. Feb 9, Loveland Greenhouse, Granny's Garden Winter FunRaiser...Attention salonistas! Wanted to let you all know about this fun winter event, Saturday, Feb. 9 from 1-5 p.m out at Loveland Greenhouse.  There will be an auction w/ local auctioneer Jim Poe, a "hearts in bloom" cake contest, a section for heirloom appraisals, planted baskets for sale, a kid's crafting corner, food and fun!
 
Gardeners, families, educators, this is a fundraiser for Granny's Garden School, a non-profit working with Loveland's 3 K-4primary schools. The Garden School teaches children hands on about gardens and nature and ties it directly into the required public school curriculum. This program falls right in line with my vision for making gardening a public school initiative and building a more effective form of place-based, hands-on learning. For more information about the event or the program go to <http://www.grannysgardenschool.com/> and the info on the event and the school are right there.   
from Mimi Rook, an erstwhile salonista


Food Not Bombs serves a free meal every Saturday down town at Maine and 5th at 2:30.



Dr. Vlasta Molak offers 2 day workshop, Feb. 7, 8, 9 *
(On the evening of Thurs 2/7 will be a 3 hour overview for only $60.  Contact her to get more info: mailto:DrMolak@email.com  )


Sustainable Cincinnati:  

Aiming for a TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE (Economic Development, Environmental Protection and Solving Social Problems)

By Dr. Vlasta Molak, staff, and invited national experts in sustainable development and re-development, GAIA FOUNDATION, Inc.,
Web: http://www.GaiaFoundation.net <http://www.gaiafoundation.net/>  E-mail: DrMolak@gmail.com <mailto:DrMolak@email.com>  or tel. 513/521-9321  

This is a 2- days workshop, starting on a Thursday evening, and ending on Saturday afternoon is designed to enable the participants maximal interaction and problem solving for creating sustainable Cincinnati   

PLACE:
 
Gaia Feast and Sustainable Living Center, 806 Plum Street, Cincinnati 45202 across from Cincinnati City Hall

DATE:
 Feb 7-9
, 2008.   
 
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:  Our workshop is particularly designed for the City Council (and staff), Hamilton County Commissioners (and staff), and members of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County business community, developers and other VIPs, and Northern Kentucky equivalents, since they are the citizens with the most power to affect positive (and/or negative) changes in our community of Greater Cincinnati.  Other citizens involved in development and redevelopment and/or who are concerned about environment and future of our community may also find our seminar very useful.

PURPOSE:
 The purpose of this condensed workshop is to teach a new paradigm in dealing with urban and suburban environmental, occupational, and social problems, by integrating science and technology with the social sciences and applying them to sustainable development of the Greater Cincinnati Community. Sustainable development is defined as “integrated strategies that would halt and reverse the negative impact of human behavior on the physical environment and allow for a livable environment for future generations on Earth.”  Sustainable Cincinnati is linked to our work in Over-the-Rhine, in which we are starting to apply a systemic approach, in contrast to a “business as usual” band-aid approach, to solve multiple urban problems of Cincinnati (poverty, homelessness, racial tensions, drug dealing, crime, etc.).
 
We are connecting sustainable development of Greater Cincinnati with the sustainable redevelopment of the urban blight areas in Cincinnati, according to the vision stated in our SEARCH (Sustainable Development and Advanced Renewal of Cincinnati Heart) in addition to Sky Gardens, our vision of the Banks, which will house a totally sustainable Rainbow Town and will not require ANY tax money from the citizens to built and maintain, see our Web site. According to our calculations, when we complete those two major projects, the tax-paying population of the city will increase and the social ills will decrease.   Indeed, both of these projects will increase the wealth and the tax-base of our city and restore its glamour of the past as the QUEEN CITY.  
 
This type of approach has not yet been used anywhere else!  Why not start with Cincinnati?  Perhaps we can finally dispense with Mark Twain's assertion that everything in Cincinnati comes 10 years after it arrives anywhere else!

PERSONAL RETREAT AND HEALTHY LIVING STYLE:
 
It turns out that sustainable living is also good for personal health.   “Walking lightly on your mother Earth” also involves eating lower from the food chain, i.e. decreasing a consumption of foods derived from animals (meat and meat products and milk and milk products).  It also involves avoiding the most inefficient mode of transportation -a single driver car, which is 60 fold less efficient than bicycle.  Walking, biking, and other body movements not only decrease our personal CO2 emissions, but also improve our personal health.  Therefore, what is good for the Earth is also good for our personal health.  In our workshop we will also include healthy nutrition.


PRICE:
 
$ 360  
if registered and paid before January 9, 2008.  Price includes meals, desserts, and drinks, a manual, and a high-quality tea-shirt with the Gaia Foundation logo.  $ 410 after January 9, 2008

Gaia Foundation, Inc.,
which is sponsoring this course and is developing the SEARCH and Gaia Oasis project, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promotion of sustainable development of communities and environments for improved quality of life. Results are achieved through multiple means, such as educational programs, demonstrations of sustainable technologies, providing consulting to non governmental and governmental organizations, developing policies on local, state, national and international levels, and/or getting involved with practical projects within communities.  Guidance and support is provided to volunteers and professionals who are dedicated to the improvement of local, national, or international living conditions and environments. The headquarters of the GAIA FOUNDATION are at 8987 Cotillion Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45231
 
Dr. Vlasta Molak is an international expert in sustainable development and had taught courses in this and similar topics in many venues.  In 1993, she has taught a one-day course on Use of Risk Analysis in Sustainable Development at then newly formed Division for Sustainable Development at the United Nations in New York.  She had also taught the old City Council (1990) on Fundamentals of Environmental and Occupational Risk Analysis and Management.  Roxanne Qualls was one of the lecturers.   In addition, Dr. Molak has taught numerous environmental risk analysis courses in Brazil, Russia, Check Republic, Croatia and others.   Her book on Fundamentals of Risk Analysis and Risk Management (see amazon.com) is used as a reference book and text book in graduate courses on risk analysis.

 

In 1999, Dr. Molak served as a Congressional Fellow in the Office of the Ohio Congressman, Dennis Kucinich, working primarily on all aspects of sustainability under the Kyoto Protocol.  All other environmental issues were also under her domain.

REGISTRATION   FORM
 register and pay on the Web site with Pay Pal.




There is now every Sunday morning an open weekly Tai Chi practice session at the Lloyd House in the third floor zendo at 10:15 am.  Everyone welcome.  Group is led by Jackie Millay (sp?) and I finally made a class last week.  It was excellent!  Only three of us.  Come join us.  Raise the chi, warm yourself up this winter.  ellen


 
From the website of

 

www.investinneighborhoods.com <http://www.investinneighborhoods.com/>
  
2008 6th Annual Neighborhood Summit at Xavier University
 
Free event......community connections
 

 
CLEAN, GREEN and SERENE
 

"Mark the Date
It's Clean, Green and Serene:

 

It's the Neighborhood Summit 2008.

 

Mark your calendars for Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008, at Xavier University's Cintas Center. To read about it, please go to our Activities <http://www.investinneighborhoods.com/activities.html>  page, or go directly to the registration <http://www.investinneighborhoods.com/register.html>  page.
 
 
  
Dr. O'dell Owens is the guest speaker at the kickoff dinner on Friday evening. You can reserve a space at dinner here <http://www.investinneighborhoods.com/dinner.html> .

Use the above connections, or the connections that follow at the Invest In Neighborhood website to register for the following:
 
Friday night dinner with speaker Dr. O'Dell Owens.......
http://www.investinneighborhoods.com/dinner.html
<http://www.investinneighborhoods.com/dinner.html>

 

Saturday activities and free lunch (see the list of sessions and topics below that appear on the site):

 
http://www.investinneighborhoods.com/register.html <http://www.investinneighborhoods.com/register.html>
CHOOSE ONE FROM EACH SESSION TIME FRAME:

  • Session 1: 9:30am-1040am
  • Reducing Gun Violence: Two Approaches

  • Pitch in - Recycle

  • Fighting the Affects of Foreclosure

  • Grant Writing

  •  

  • Session 2: 10:45am-11:45am

  • Hamilton County and Crime Preventiuon: What Now?

  • Building Green to Renew a Neighborhood

  • Schools as the Center of Community

  • Liquor Licenses from the Bottom Up

  •  

  • Session 3: 12:45pm-1:45pm

  • Developing a Neighborhood Safety Plan

  • Preventing Crime by Changing the Environment

  • Zoning as a Neighborhood Revitalization Tool

  • City Budget Basics and Community Priority Requests

  •  

  • Session 4: 2pm-3pm

  • The Role & Power of Communities in Fighting Crime

  • Community Gardens

  • Engaging Officials at the State and Local Level

  • Engaging New Groups in Community Life

 

See you at the 2008 SUMMIT!

 



 

(See Tri-State Treasures,  the compilation of cultural events by Jim Kesner, at the bottom of the entire weekly.  It’s juicy! E.)



Section Three: Articles


Contents:

  • Erik Bendix, former salonista, now of Asheville NC, writes re Obama
  • Cool video online about “stuff”, how we are trashing our environment.  Check it out. Kid friendly: http://www.storyofstuff.com/index.html
  • Gettysburg Address, A. Lincoln.  
  • Salon Preamble... We read this each Wednesday night before singing our round and beginning the discussion.  Thought you might be interested. Ellen
  • NOAM CHOMSKY on our manipulated media
  • Nuclear Power and W A T E R !  Dangerous shut-downs due to drought are possible

Erik Bendix for Obama

Dear friends,
 
I'm just back from a long day in Union, South Carolina, knocking on doors to get out the vote.  I have the usual preconceptions about a deep South town like that, but it is so gratifying to make personal contact instead of second guessing people's attitudes. How would people react to a white-haired white man like me standing outside Wal-Mart holding up a big sign for a black candidate?  I did not expect so many white people to say they had voted for Obama.  Times are changing.  As the results rolled in at the end of the day, it began to look like Democrats could actually take back the South.  That would be a tidal shift in our politics.  
 
This is one of the most wide-open Presidential races we have seen in our lifetimes.  On the Democratic side of the ticket, the candidates' positions on issues are very close to each other.  The race really comes down to personality and character.  
 
I understand how dearly women would like to see one of their own finally at the helm.  There is no question how badly men have screwed up, especially in recent years.  But one of the men who literally screwed up is now doing it again, this time racially, and again jeopardizing the chances of his party.  Do we really want that family's dysfunction back in the White House?  The Republicans will make mincemeat out of them all over again, and meanwhile our pressing problems will get mired in personal controversy and polarization.  It is not a recipe for effective change.
 
I've heard a lot of skepticism about whether "other white people" would really vote for a black candidate.  This is passing the buck. If you are a white person, the only question is whether you would vote that way.  Obama is not making race an issue at all, so if you make it an issue, you are the one doing it.  Don't.  It is not that race doesn't matter.  In a country that all through its history has been torn apart  by race, having a black president has enormous potential to help us see ourselves in a new light.  In one stroke it would remake our image in the world, and would be a fitting reply to America haters everywhere.  They don't hate us for who we are, they hate our hypocrisy.  We have a chance here to do something really new.
 
I've got kids.  I raised them during times when the only goals their country seemed to offer young people was self-interest and making money.  My children have never seen a political movement the likes of the Civil Rights movement I grew up around.  They never heard Martin Luther King Jr. or John F. Kennedy inspire them about the difference they could make.  Political winds in our country have finally begun to shift back in that direction.  Not everyone seems to have felt them, but I have.  I read Obama's book.  I saw his upset victory among white voters in Iowa.  I started listening to the crowds of young people shouting "Yes we can!", and I started to remember what it felt like in the early 1960s.  We don't have to be a country of bickering, ambition and greed. There are a lot of decent people out there who care. I'm sending this out to you because I think you are among them.
 
Thanks for taking the time to read this.  Please vote when you get a chance.  It matters.
 
Love,
Erik  

GETTYSBURG ADDRESS  (I read this recently in A Team of Rivals, a biography of Lincoln’s political genius by Doris K Goodwin.  Made me weep.  It’s still a redeemable country.  Ellen)


Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we may take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Nov 19, 1863

SALON PREAMBLE

   
Welcome to the Lloyd House Wednesday Night Pot Luck Salon.
    We gather here at 5:45 each week of the year to enjoy good talk.  Those of us at the table are aware that detailed notes of our spoken words are shared with over 600 subscribers to the SalonWeekly via email and the Internet.  We reserve the right to “turn off” note taking and/or to use pseudonyms for the published version.
    Topics vary widely, from politics to environmentalism to the arts to personal experiences.  We welcome diversity of viewpoint and diversity of background.  
We share the underlying belief in civility and respect for one another, and although excitement occasionally stimulates competition for the floor, it is our agreement to listen to one another, and to seek out the contributions of those who may have soft voices and meek demeanor.
   
Abraham Lincoln said:   Gettysburg Address read in full  (We occasionally change the quote; we have had Granny Dee, and Bill Moyers.)
  
    May our gathering this evening bring us good fellowship, intellectual and spiritual nourishment, and may it contribute to the goodness of our city and our wider society.  




CHOMSKY ON OUR MEDIA
Chomsky on the U.S. Media
as a propaganda machine to “manufacture consent” of the people for a Gov’t policy serving Big Money
(
I was reading the Wikiedia article on Noam Cbomsky and came across this wonderful  analysis of the media.  Ellen)
From Wikipedia.org     

...
Another focus of Chomsky's political work has been an analysis of mainstream mass media (especially in the United States), its structures and constraints, and its perceived role in supporting big business and government interests.
Edward S. Herman and Chomsky's book Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (1988) explores this topic in depth, presenting their "propaganda model" of the news media with numerous detailed case studies demonstrating it. According to this propaganda model, more democratic societies like the U.S. use subtle, non-violent means of control, unlike totalitarian systems, where physical force can readily be used to coerce the general population. In an often-quoted remark, Chomsky states that "propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state." (Media Control)
The model attempts to explain this perceived systemic bias of the mass media in terms of structural economic causes rather than a conspiracy of people. It argues the bias derives from five "filters" that all published news must "pass through" which combine to systematically distort news coverage.
The first filter, ownership, notes that most major media outlets are owned by large corporations.

The second, funding, notes that the outlets derive the majority of their funding from advertising, not readers. Thus, since they are profit-oriented businesses selling a product—readers and audiences—to other businesses (advertisers), the model would expect them to publish news which would reflect the desires and values of those businesses. In addition, the news media are dependent on government institutions and major businesses with strong biases as sources (the third filter) for much of their information.

 Flak, the fourth filter
, refers to the various pressure groups which attack the media for supposed bias.

Norms, the fifth filter
, refer to the common conceptions shared by those in the profession of journalism. (Note: in the original text, published in 1988, the fifth filter was "anticommunism". However, with the fall of the Soviet Union, it has been broadened to allow for shifts in public opinion.)

The model describes how the media form a decentralized and non-conspiratorial but nonetheless very powerful propaganda system, that is able to mobilize an élite consensus, frame public debate within élite perspectives and at the same time give the appearance of democratic consent.

Chomsky and Herman test their model empirically by picking "paired examples"—pairs of events that were objectively similar except for the alignment of domestic elite interests. They use a number of such examples to attempt to show that in cases where an "official enemy" does something (like murder of a religious official), the press investigates thoroughly and devotes a great amount of coverage to the matter, thus victims of "enemy" states are considered "worthy". But when the domestic government or an ally does the same thing (or worse), the press downplays the story, thus victims of US or US client states are considered "unworthy."
They also test their model against the case that is often held up as the best example of a free and aggressively independent press, the media coverage of the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War. Even in this case, they argue that the press was behaving subserviently to élite interests.

NUCLEAR POWER : Shut-downs possible due to drought
Another Reason to oppose Nuclear Energy..!!
Posted by: Caeli Good
Thu Jan 24, 2008 6:56 pm (PST)

Published on Thursday, January 24, 2008 by The Associated Press
Drought Could Force Nuke-Plant Shutdowns

by Mitch Weiss

Lake Norman, N.C. - Nuclear reactors across the Southeast could be forced to throttle back or temporarily shut down later this year because drought is drying up the rivers and lakes that supply power plants with the awesome amounts of cooling water they need to operate

Utility officials say such shutdowns probably wouldn‚t result in blackouts. But they could lead to shockingly higher electric bills for millions of Southerners, because the region‚s utilities may be forced to buy expensive replacement power from other energy companies.

Already, there has been one brief, drought-related shutdown, at a reactor in Alabama over the summer.

„Water is the nuclear industry‚s Achilles‚ heel,‰ said Jim Warren, executive director of N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network, an environmental group critical of nuclear power. „You need a lot of water to operate nuclear plants.‰ He added: „This is becoming a crisis.‰

An Associated Press analysis of the nation‚s 104 nuclear reactors found that 24 are in areas experiencing the most severe levels of drought. All but two are built on the shores of lakes and rivers and rely on submerged intake pipes to draw billions of gallons of water for use in cooling and condensing steam after it has turned the plants‚ turbines.

Because of the yearlong dry spell gripping the region, the water levels on those lakes and rivers are getting close to the minimums set by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Over the next several months, the water could drop below the intake pipes altogether. Or the shallow water could become too hot under the sun to use as coolant.

„If water levels get to a certain point, we‚ll have to power it down or go off line,‰ said Robert Yanity, a spokesman for South Carolina Electric & Gas Co., which operates the Summer nuclear plant outside Columbia, S.C.







Section Four: Books/Movies/Magazines/Reviews
...................................

Send me a short blurb about books, magazines you are reading, or movies etc. you are seeing.  We’d love to hear about it. ellen


Sorry, we did not receive Tri-State Treasures this week.  Hope you are ok Jim.  




The Lloyd House Salon (usually about 12 people) Meets on WEDNESDAYS at 5:45,
EVERY Wednesday, 52 WEEKS/YEAR come hell or high water, as my mother used to say.

We of the
Lloyd House Salon gather in a spirit of
respect, sympathy and compassion for one another
in order to exchange ideas for our mutual pleasure and enlightenment.  

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Our Salon blog is a promising interactive site:   
http:lloydhouse.blogspot.com
  Also, we have an Interactive Yah
oo Salon group, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LloydHouseSalon

For Pot Luck  procedures including
 food suggestions, mission and history visit
http://home.fuse.net/ellenbierhorst/Potluck.html   .

You are invited also to visit the Lloyd House website:  http://www.lloydhouse.com


> To
unsubscribe from the Lloyd House Potluck Salon list, send a REPLY message
> to me and in the SUBJECT line type in "unsub potluck #".  In the place of  #
> type in the numeral that follows the subject line of my Weekly email.  It
> will be 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7or 8.  This tells me which sub-list your name is on so I can  
> delete it.  Thanks!   ellen bierhorst     


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