War on information

[Cardboard]

Although, I will readily admit that I am more inclined towards the conservative view, I find that the far left is really pushing it nowadays to block anyone from publishing views and news contradictory of theirs. 

 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100722631

 

This attempt to block the Koch brothers to buy a newspaper is outrageous IMO and against free speech. Real threats are being made to prevent other opinions from being published. If anyone has seen: "The Rise of Evil" then you will recognize some similarities. Once this kind of behavior is allowed and a trend gets in place then it can go a very long way. What is also illogical is that the newspaper has declining readership so if the Koch want to blow their money away, go ahead and second if the so called far right views of the Koch don't please readers then you would expect subscriptions to decline even faster making it irrelevant pretty quickly.

 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100721630

 

I also find outrageous the multiple and vicious attempts to discredit and ridicule Reinhart and Rogoff. Although, it is true that they have made a mistake in one of their calculations, it should be logical to anyone that their is a breakeven point when too much debt or leverage creates a downward spiral. We have all seen it during the financial crisis, so why this attempt to convince people that governments can go to infinite debt levels without any negative consequences in a competitive world? It is likely not right at 90% of GDP, but there must be some level where real issues arise. It seems to be once again the same gang or far left hiding under Keynes that wants to eliminate this notion.

 

I wish people would be able to listen to all points of view and decide on their own what makes the most sense to them. Blocking access to information and on various points of view weather it be from the right or the left is wrong IMO.

 

Cardboard

[DTEJD1997]

Hey all:

 

I think "journalism" has been on a decline in the USA for a very long time.  I had a paper route in high school back in the 80's.  I can remember reading the paper every day and thinking "this is odd, almost everything is an AP newswire reprint".  They had let go most of their writers and were simply carrying AP stories for 80% of the paper.

 

Fast forward to today, and it is the same thing except worse.  In addition to just reprinting the newswire, the press has lost all skepticism and desire to "get to the bottom of things".

 

I thought a "free press" was supposed to have a critical eye and watch & question those in power.  The media in general now has very little desire to get to the bottom of things.  Where are they on the national debt? what happened in Libya? Education? Government spending? Unemployment? The Middle East? Barrack Obama's past? The list of things they are asleep at the switch on is a long one.

 

Why is it that Al-Jazeera, Russia Today, and the British Press are better than the USA press?

 

A fully functional "free press" is critical for an informed population and a healthy republic.

[Guest deepValue]

If you look closely enough, just about everyone who attains political influence is peddling a corrupt message in an unethical manner. The left has perfected the art of swaying the gullible masses, but I find little optimism in the hope that the right may regain a similar stature in the minds of the ignorant class.

 

Too few people can point to a consistent set of principles upon which they stand, which allows the two parties to sway the masses using shallow arguments and emotional appeals. I find it ironic that many "value investors," which portend to apply a strict set of principles to their investing decisions, devote so little time to developing a consistent set of life principles to guide non-investment decision making.

 

The Koch brothers will find a way to get their message out there, but the right-wing jump into print and televised media will be every bit as ugly and elitist as the left-wing nut-jobs who control the media now.

[rkbabang]

Too few people can point to a consistent set of principles upon which they stand, which allows the two parties to sway the masses using shallow arguments and emotional appeals. I find it ironic that many "value investors," which portend to apply a strict set of principles to their investing decisions, devote so little time to developing a consistent set of life principles to guide non-investment decision making.

 

+10

 

The Koch brothers will find a way to get their message out there, but the right-wing jump into print and televised media will be every bit as ugly and elitist as the left-wing nut-jobs who control the media now.

 

Yes.  If you want to see an example of both just flip between MSNBC and FOXNEWS.  They are equally sickening.

[Cardboard]

"Yes.  If you want to see an example of both just flip between MSNBC and FOXNEWS.  They are equally sickening."

 

I agree, although what I tend to do is to listen to Fox News during a Democratic led government and to MSNBC during a Republican led government. It seems to give me more information as to what could be going wrong or being hidden from public view. It prevents the brainwashing effect.

 

Cardboard

[Palantir]

Just like how Fox has been running a daily special on Benghazi and groping around to find SOMETHING that implicates Obama so he can be impeached.

 

Yes, it prevents the brainwashing effect.  ::)

[Guest hellsten]

I wouldn't sell a newspaper to Russian oligarchs or Berlusconi. The Koch brothers belong to the same group of people. Information is neither free nor unbiased in mainstream media. Would the information in the newspaper be more or less free if it was sold to the Koch brothers?

 

http://www.kochbrothersexposed.com

[rkbabang]

I'm no fan of the Koch's, they have a long history of trying to take over the libertarian movement and its institutions and push it to the right.  But I'm also no fan of the current left-wing owners of most newspapers either, so I don't see much of difference who owns them.  I don't view the world as left-vs-right, I view it as statism vs. freedom.  Both the left and the right are together, equal, and entirely encompassed in the statism category.  Whether the media is controlled by the Koch's, Rupert Murdoch, or Ted Turner it makes no discernible difference to me.

[JSArbitrage]

No offense but this one of those typical "my team is the being persecuted!" posts.  The Koch Brothers literally shovel millions upon millions of dollars (hundreds of millions) into the pockets of politicians and political parties to get legislation that they want passed.  Oh and their environmental record is so bad they have literally killed people.  Look it up. 

 

Now some unions send a letter to a shareholder and all of a sudden it's a "War on Information?"  Oh please.  Cry me a river, Charles or David or whichever you are.

 

The Koch Brothers belong at the bottom of the ocean along with the Masters of the Universe.  I've never seen so much whining from billionaires, bail out recipents and back-room-dealers in my entire life.