|
Thom's blog
Why the Media isn't Talking about the War...
You need to know this. A new study by the Pew Research Center may explain why outrage isn't growing around the country over the unpopular war in Afghanistan. Simply – the media is not talking about it. This year – Afghanistan surpassed Vietnam as the longest military engagement in American history. It was also the bloodiest year on record in the 9-year war. In great detail – a release of wikileaks cables illuminated the conflict for Americans to see the brutality clearer. And – a strategy review released by President Obama stated the US military will likely be involved in the country for at least another 4 years. Yet – according to the new Pew study – the American media has only devoted 4% of it’s coverage to Afghanistan. The war costs taxpayers more than $160 billion a year – but it’s not even talked about in the public sphere – even in terms of deficit reduction - which has been a hot-button topic all year. Media outlets claim the story of the war simply doesn’t interest people – so they don’t cover it. And therein lies the problem with our news media – instead of reporting the news we NEED to know – they report what we WANT to know like partisan politics – or the royal wedding – or bed bugs. Ending this war is one of the greatest challenges facing all of us right now. Unfortunately – Americans can’t take a stand against the war if corporations who own our news media - and have interlocking boards of directors or company divisions in the defense industry - won’t cover it.
-Thom
(How can we end the Afghanistan war? Tell us here.) |
|
|
|
Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 9pm and 11pm... The end of the internet as we know it... (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT, and catch past shows on Youtube)
Need to know: Media Industry & Military Industry interconnected... Media Withdraws From Covering Complex Afghan War. With Chris Hedges, columnist at Truthdig, Senior Fellow at the Nation Institute, author of numerous books... his latest is " Death of the Liberal Class".
Screwed: The end of the internet as we know it... With Craig Aaron, Managing Director-Free Press.net.
The end of the internet as we know it... Obama FCC Caves on Net Neutrality -- Tuesday Betrayal Assured. With Seton Motley, President of Less Government.
The Best of the Rest of the News...
How can they sleep at night? Coburn Will Block 9/11 First Responders Bill, Potentially Killing Its Chance Of Passage. With John Devlin, 9/11 first responder, Operating Engineer with Local 15 in NYC.
Sex abuse in the military Statistics and soldiers’ testimonies reveal epidemic of sexual assault in the US Military. With Dahr Jamail, Independent Investigative Journalist.
Another BP coverup? Palast Arrested...Busted by BP in Azerbaijan. With Greg Palast, investigative journalist and author; his reports can be seen on BBC Newsnight (his NY Times bestsellers are "Armed Madhouse" and "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy").
Crazy Alert: No happy ending, no refund...and no more allowance Police: Man finds teenage son in bed with naked 35-year-old woman.
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly Tea Party Nation's Judson Phillips Wants To See Methodist Church Disbanded.
Daily Take: Waging war on Muslim extremism only creates more Muslim extremism.
|
|
|
Read Thom's Book for Free!
|
|
The Daily Stack 
Quote: "The foundation of every state is the education of its youth." -- Diogenes Laertius.
Hour One: FBI Database on private citizens...what's a little privacy for more security?! Thom confronts Matt Mayer, former Dept. of Homeland Security official and now a Visiting Scholar with The Heritage Foundation.
Big Brother has come to the DC Metro...could it come to you next? Sue Udrey of Defending Dissent.org will be here.
Hour Two: Has Obama caved on net neutrality? Thom speaks with Craig Aaron of Free Press.net.
Hour Three: Should we be turning our education system over to billionaires? Thom speaks with NYU education historian/Professor of Education, Dr. Diane Ravitch.
|
|
|
Coming up Wednesday on The Thom Hartmann Program
Hour One: It's a special Wednesday, holiday edition of "Brunch With Bernie"...America's Senator... Senator Bernie Sanders will be here for the first hour talking about the important issues of the week and taking your calls...
Hour Two: Does watching Fox News make you stupid? Thom has a rumble with Dan Gainor of the Business and Media Institute..
And, the best of the rest of the news and your calls right here on...
The Thom Hartmann Program... your media support group for we the people.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Watch & Listen to Thom
Congressman Ron Paul
Time to kick the US Chamber of Commerce out of Congress?
Never Give Up!
|
|
|
Alternatives to kingdom corporations
Chapter Eleven, In the Shadow of the Dragon, tells the story of a visit to the Mondragon Corporation headquarters in the town of the same name in the Basque region of Spain in late 2009. What we saw was one of the world’s largest worker-owned businesses with more than 90,000 employees turning over more than $14 billion a year all over the world. There are alternatives to the traditional top-down investor-owned corporate form, and people around the world are increasingly embracing these alternatives because they are better for local communities, better for the workforce, and better for the environment. The only losers are billionaires, particularly those who own most of our media and thus never tell you that every corporation in Germany, for example, must have at least 50 percent of its board of directors coming directly from the ranks of labor.
|
|
 Would you like to help give a child with a very troubled background this feeling of peace? Thom and Louise Hartmann founded the New England Salem Children's Village (NESCV) in New Hampshire in 1979. With states delaying payment for the children they entrust to the village, they need help with cash flow. Can you help? |
Thom and Louise Hartmann founded the New England Salem Children's Village (NESCV) in New Hampshire in 1979. With states delaying payment for the children they entrust to the village, they need help with cash flow. Can you help? http://www.salemchildrensvillage.org/ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Show Info
Call Thom on the show at 1-866-987-THOM (8466) (0870 974 9686 from the UK, +1 503 796 2324 from outside the US or UK).
Sign up for Thom's podcasts.
Come on over to the free chat room, where Thom hangs out during the show.
Join in the discussions on Thom's free message board.
Blog or upload videos or audios at Thom's community.
|
|
|
Thom Hartmann Program
It will be Jon Huntsman (former Utah governor and President Obama's ambassador to China), not Mitt Romney. Ah ha! So that's why his father (a great businessman and philanthropist) appeared on The Yecch Beck show last week. And sure enough, today's news includes Jon's overt leanings to run for President, and, for the first time, criticism of the Administration. Hmmm. Mr. Romney must be fit to be tied over this. Jon will "know how to deal with China" and doesn't have the president's health-plan necklace around his neck! So, my fellow Americans, there you have it. Unless you want facism and corporate control of the Supreme Court, be afraid.