The Free Press
By Paul Lyons
Among the Iroquois, clan mothers were given the ultimate power to declare war, because they were the ones who’d given birth to those who would be sent into battle.
Here in San Francisco, a most interesting story is the legal case of SF Bay Guardian vs. SF Weekly. The SF Weekly is a paper owned by one of those nasty media companies. It is really impersonating a local rag when it is not. It makes its living out of knocking down the powers that be, whether for good or bad. Sells ad space at cut-throat prices. SF Weekly lost the case and is in for a 15.6 million dollar damages payout. It is an involved case and I totally agree with the final ruling. Predatory practices are not good for many voices. The locals need to be heard!
Veterans and soldiers have to find ways to reconnect with the divine and undo the moral inversion and become again agents of creation.
Local coverage aside, one must wonder about the state of our national press. Surely the Iraq war is covered worse than baseball. One gets the body counts but rarely the photos and the stats are not nearly as complete. Think if the Middle East section of the newspaper looked like the MLB American East. "George Bush is batting 129 and hasn’t hit a homer since the last West Lawn BBQ." "Apartments in Baghdad without water for more than six months: 140,000. Down 235 from last month!" "30,000 tubes of crest sent to the front lines. Oral hygiene at an all-time low!"
Most of the pain we are in is cause by our resistance to and denial of it
Of course we all know that the press and their vivid photos is what finally turned public opinion in the United States during the Vietnam War. Where are the photos of Iraq? In this day of digital photography, how easy this would be. Indeed, it is a scary situation and the press is far from free. The wool is over America's eyes in more ways than one.
In this month’s "The Sun" there is an interview with Edward Tick that is worth a read. The quotes scattered thoughout this ramble are pulled from the article. One must always remember the returning vets. There is much work to do.
As I’ve gotten to know and respect veterans, their situation has become intolerable to me. They are home in body, but they can’t come home in mind, heart or spirit.
All quotes by Edward Tick in The Sun, June 2008
And such is the the state of the "free press" here at the Pelican Cafe. Where wool is hard to find... hopefully.
http://www.thesunmagazine.org
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