LATEST IN THE NEWS

When the Federal Government Fails the People - Our Constitution Has a Solution
Joel S. Hirschhorn, My Town
http://www.mytown.ca/ev.php?URL_ID=124955&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201
The hardest thing for Americans to do right now in this presidential election season is to fight distraction and, instead, focus on the failure of all three branches of the federal government. And also to resist the propaganda masquerading as patriotic obligation that voting will fundamentally fix the federal government. The real lesson of American history is that things have turned so ugly that electing a new president and many new members of Congress will at best provide band-aids when what is needed is nothing less than what Thomas Jefferson wisely said our nation would need periodically: a political revolution.

The Fallacy of the 401(k)
Marie Cocco, Washington Post Writers Group
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/102775/

Bulls, Bears, Donkeys and Elephants
Tommy McCall, NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/10/14/opinion/20081014_OPCHART.html

Private Sector Loans, Not Fannie or Freddie, Triggered Crisis
David Goldstein & Kevin Hall, McClatchy Newpapers
http://www.truthout.org/101408K
As the economy worsens and Election Day approaches, a conservative campaign that blames the global financial crisis on a government push to make housing more affordable to lower-class Americans has taken off on talk radio and e-mail. Commentators say that's what triggered the stock market meltdown and the freeze on credit. They've specifically targeted the mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which the federal government seized on Sept. 6, contending that lending to poor and minority Americans caused Fannie's and Freddie's financial problems. Federal housing data reveal that the charges aren't true, and that the private sector, not the government or government-backed companies, was behind the soaring subprime lending at the core of the crisis.

The Presidential Debates Are a Scam
David Bollier, OnTheCommons
http://www.alternet.org/election08/102829/
Have you wondered why the presidential debates don't present any serious ideas or encourage any substantive exchanges about policy and political philosophy? Have you noticed that the events resemble a whirring jukebox of familiar sound bites -- a highly produced, tightly scripted affair with with no surprises and little passion? There's a reason. Both candidates and their political parties want it this way. The debates are not the production of some independent third party like the League of Women Voters, the host university or news organizations. They are co-produced by the Democratic and Republican Parties themselves, who have ingeniously disguised their actual roles by nominally delegating control to the Commission on Presidential Debates.

Palin Drops the Puck
Dave Zirin & Daniel Denvir
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/10/13-3

The Lord of the Rings 1981 Radio Series
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(1981_radio_series)

Transcripts - http://www.tolkienradio.com/

To sample the BBC radio version on YouTube - http://free--expression.blogspot.com/2008/08/lord-of-rings-1981-bbc-radio-adaptation.html