Lying Media Bastards

November 28, 2007

Responsible Corporate Citizens

Christ, what scumbags.

I’ve written here and on other sites multiple times about the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (and their allies) who have been campaigning for years to get better wages for Florida’s farmworkers. After lengthy struggles, they managed to get better wages by targetting the reputation of Taco Bell, then McDonald’s, and now Burger King. There will be a large protest this weekend outside Burger King headquarters in Miami, for those interested in participating.

But investigative journalists have discovered that Burger King has been working covertly to not only fight back against the farmworkers, but to smear them, and to try to roll back any progress their struggles have achieved. First Burger King and a tomato growers organization are threatening to impose a $100,000 “fine” any tomato growers who obey their higher-wage agreement with the farmworkers. In addition to this fierce attack, BK and the growers’ lobby are trying to convince the public that a) the higher-wage deals are illegal, b) the deals are “un-American”, and c) the farmworkers actually make tons of money, to try to mobilize resentment against the farmworkers.

Fucking jackals. Corporate profits are too important to let a few thousand brown people live above the poverty line.

Online actions to notify BK of your disgust are here and here. More info as I get it.

[sorry, no radio show today]

Posted by Jake on November 28, 2007 11:32 pm

LMB Radio 11-27-07

LMB Radio 11-27-07

The Annapolis peace summit, teachers fired for not oppressing students, vet suicides, marketing and consumerism eat capitalism alive. Music by Madvillain, Please Inform the Captain This Is a Hijack*.

For info on supporting the teachers mentioned in the broadcast, click here.

*forgot to mention the title of this song, “Your Good Thing Is About to Come to an End.” I kinda like the lyrics.

Posted by Jake on November 28, 2007 12:24 am

November 26, 2007

LMB Radio 11-26-07

LMB Radio 11-26-07

Jake talks media ownership shadiness, Benazir Bhutto’s corruption, “campaign finance”, and tomorrow’s doomed Mideast peace talks. Music by Strike Anywhere, Unkle, M.I.A. and Afrikan Boy*.

*I mention on the show that I think Afrikan Boy is from Mozambique, but after a quick spin ’round the web, it seems that he’s from the UK.

Posted by Jake on November 26, 2007 10:37 pm

November 20, 2007

LMB Radio 11-21-07

LMB Radio 11-21-07

Talk about White House Spokespeople, self-serving political biographies, the history of Thanksgiving, a War Prayer, and music by Umlaut and Resistant Culture.

Y’know, I’m not sure if anyone would like this show unless they were pretty hardcore into politics. Sigh.

Posted by Jake on November 20, 2007 8:40 pm

November 19, 2007

LMB Radio 11-20-07

LMB Radio 11-20-07

Another short show. I talk about positive and negative developments in Pakistan, and play a song by Guerrillerokulto (after embarassingly mispronouncing their name like five times.

Posted by Jake on November 19, 2007 9:52 pm

LMB Radio 11-19-07

LMB Radio 11-19-07

Welcome to LMB Radio v4.72 or something.

Due to my stupid schedule and stupid lack of organizational skills, I’ve been unable to do much blogging or record many radio shows for some months. To remedy part of this, I plan to make the LMB show a more podcast-y podcast (read: short) and try to do it every day. In other words, for at least the next month, I plan to record/assemble a 10-minute LMB show every day (well, weekday).

Today I talk about an awful bit of recent military propaganda, brave war resistance in Olympia, and play a song by The Ruts.

I’m making it up as I go along, as always.

Posted by Jake on November 19, 2007 7:50 am

November 16, 2007

Headline Fun

Billionaire Timber Tycoon Says He’s Regular Guy

He’s just like everyone else, he puts his pants on one solid gold leg at a time.

Posted by Jake on November 16, 2007 8:43 am

November 15, 2007

Upward Spiral

This has been bothering me for a few weeks now.

1) The White House tells us that Iran is a huge danger and an enemy of America.
2) Iran makes money selling oil.
3) The White House says threatening things about Iran, implying that the US will soon invade.
4) World markets freak out, and the price of oil shoots up.
5) Iran makes a killing due to increased oil prices.
6) Despite their own fears and rhetoric, the White House is actually making Iran stronger.

The price of oil is nearly $100 a barrel now, up from around $54 a barrel in January 2007. How much is this helping Iran? The 2007 Iranian budget was based upon the assumption that oil prices would average $60 a barrel. The Bush administration has helped increase their enemy’s budget by about 40%. How does that make the slightest bit of sense?

Posted by Jake on November 15, 2007 11:36 pm

November 11, 2007

The Manacles of Freedom

Lovely.

Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence. Instead, it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguards people’s private communications and financial information.

See, privacy shouldn’t mean that you actually have control over your own private information, it should mean that you should trust your private information to strangers who consistently fuck you for power and profit.

How can this prick say this with a straight face? If these past few years have shown us anything, it’s that our political and corporate warlords lie all the time, that they show no interest in public opinion or honoring their own responsibilities, that they are corrupt to the teeth, that they do not care about the life or welfare of anyone who’s not rich (and preferably white), that they are frequently incompetent in their attempts at both good and evil, and that if they are ever caught lying, cheating, stealing, killing, or fucking up, they will lie about that too, even if those lies endanger more lives! They have proven with metaphysical certainty they are not worthy of trust.

Fuck you, Mr. Kerr.

Posted by Jake on November 11, 2007 9:40 am

November 6, 2007

Conversation

Pervez Musharraf: To defend the nation of Pakistan, it is necessary that I re-overthrow my country, institute martial law, and arrest/torture all the judges, all the lawyers, all the dissidents, all the politicians, and that guy that pantsed me once in 3rd grade. I must reiterate that I am doing this for the safety of the Pakistani people, not because I am staggeringly unpopular and my Supreme Court was about to call my election victory an illegal farce. Not that. Safety.

George W. Bush: It is vital that Pervez Musharraf step down as the head of Pakistan’s military and that he hold free democratic elections. Or not, whatever.

Posted by Jake on November 6, 2007 10:10 pm