We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore LappĆ©, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Texas Drought 2011: State Endures Driest 7-Month Span On Record

Click here to access article by Betsy Blaney from Huffington Post.
With much of the nation focused on a spring marked by historic floods and deadly tornadoes, Texas and parts of several surrounding states are suffering through a drought nearly as punishing as some of the world's driest deserts.
With all the extreme weather that we have seen here in the US, and indeed across the world, one might expect some mention of climate change. But I haven't seen any such reference for several years. Nowhere in this and the many other mainstream media articles will the journalists make any possible connection to climate change. This is even more surprising coming from a section of Huffington Post, now a semi-mainstream media source that is supposedly devoted to the subject. Apparently the authorities have purged this concept from journalism.

I wonder how censorship works in a "free press" that we in the West supposedly have. I mean, it is not like Stalinist Soviet Union, is it? I mean, surely somebody from a central government agency doesn't keep close watch on media matters and disciplines those who stray. 

For some answers, I refer you to the author of Washington's Blog who sees four types of censorship in US media and how each functions to limit and shape what is reported.