George Orwell knew the Salem Statesman-Journal well

The new drive-by corporate boss dropped into Salem briefly haz a sad.  Some of the rabble have noticed that it's hard to do journalism about folks you only approach on bended knees.  So Newguy recycles the old tropes about "conspiracy theorists" imagining phone calls to tell the paper what to print.

Well, anyone paying attention knows that nothing could be further from the truth than any suggestion that it requires a phonecall from the Chamber of the 1% to tell the Statesman-Journal what to cover, who to favor and who to marginalize. After all, as George Orwell observed years ago,

Circus dogs jump when the trainer cracks his whip, but the really well-trained dog is the one that turns his somersault when there is no whip. -- George Orwell

Media Matters debunks Chamber of the 1% on class actions, shows why they're crucial to workers and employees

New head of Public Justice on a very misunderstood topic, one that the captive corporate press will never get right:

Media Matters regularly responds to Rush Limbaugh, Fox, etc., on a wide range of attacks.  Their blogs videos and whatnot are incredibly well done and professional.  They simply do fantastic work.  They take important progressive issues and make them entertaining, and educate people and change minds.

Just today, they've released a video explaining why class action lawsuits are important, how they help workers and consumers, giving several examples.  I'm honored and excited to have been interviewed extensively in the video, although they've added in a lot of clever animation, music, motion, photos, news articles, etc., so it's not just a talking head, it's something aimed at reaching a broader audience.  Here's a link to the video:

http://publicjustice.net/content/executive-director-paul-bland-talks-media-matters-america-about-class-actions-and-justice

Only rich kids should go to college. Discuss.

Only Rich Kids Should Go to College (via TIME)

"Suggesting that only the rich (or those who get full-ride scholarships and grants) go to college is about as politically incorrect as you can get... Yet more than a third of young graduates themselves do not agree that their education has paid off, and evidence keeps mounting that student loans are the equivalent of wearing lead sneakers in an economic foot race. At the very least, anyone taking out these loans should understand the full nature of their costs

May 22 -- Free film on an important awakening

http://brighidscircle.wordpress.com

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May 22nd, "Rebecca's Wild Farm: A Farm for the Future." Come join us for finger food potluck and discussion.