Det er ofte fint å leve i Norge. Her er mange fine og hyggelige mennesker og
stillhet og natur. Bare man klarer å ignorere det meste av NRK og de andre
TV-kanalene og etermediene og 99 pst. av avisfloraen her og hente sine
opplysninger fra mindre barnaktige og romanskrivende kilder. Offentlige
personer i medie-"Norge" er i ni ut av ti tilfeller så barnaktig
selvopptatte og nærsynt selvtilfredse ("meg-generasjonen") med sitt
verdensfrelseri at vel 0,01 pst.av dette hadde vært tilstrekkelig til å bli
beskrevet som lallende ignorant i andre sammenhenger. Problemet har vært
at så mange i Norge er oppdradd til å tro på NRK, men det virker som om
dette er i avtagende.
BBCs hovedoppslag i går var et innslag (på radio) om at Bush IIs pengesterke
bidragytere til valgkassa når får klekkelig betalt for innsatsen: diverse
komiteer fylles opp med steinrike bidragyteres navn. Tilsvarende tendenser
gjør seg gjeldende i EU-land som Tyskland, England og Frankrike ifølge
innslaget; mediepåvirkning spiller en økende rolle da mediene er i hendene
på kapitalsterke krefter. Fenomenene ble karakterisert som voksende politisk
korrupsjon. Neste innslag er gjengitt nedenfor og handlet om Bushsstøtten
Harris og hennes tvilsomme påvirkningsmetoder ved valget i Florida.
Aftenposten lørdag har ett enslig oppslag om Bush II: Overskriften er
typisk: "USA støtter Bush", men når man klikker på det fikk man dog beskjed
om at "document contains no data"(!) Damebla' er opptatt av hva Bushs kone
skal ha på seg under innsettelsesseremonien. Det stoffet BBC bruker
hovedinnslag på over ti minutter på er avdempet eller vekk i de
norsk-amerikanske/EU-lydmediene.
Det samme gjelder selvfølgelig den første seiren for den omfattende
bevegelsen i Tsjekkia mot liberalismens forsøk på å kneble kritiske røster.
Bevegelsen går etter å ha presset igjennom Hodacs avgang videre. For å få
vite noe om dette er man henvist til ikke-"norske" medier.
Virkninger lar ikke vente på seg: i Norge, men også over hele vesten er
særlig de høytutdannedes tillit til det politiske etablissement på vei mot
null. Det utbredte hat til lærere og andre utdanningsfolk i den
maktapologetiske politiker- og journalistkasten finner sin forklaring her.
De få og spake kritiske røster skal ned med nakken.
Karsten Johansen
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1114000/1114377.stm
Friday, 12 January, 2001, 22:35 GMT Harris defends Florida poll
Katherine Harris and Jeb Bush are both testifying The woman in charge of
voting in the American state of Florida, Katherine Harris, has been accused
of failing in her duties during the recent dispute over the presidential
election.
On Friday, Miss Harris, the Florida Secretary of State, was subjected to
intense questioning by a commission investigating allegations by civil
rights groups that she manipulated the result in favour of George W Bush.
The chair of the US Civil Rights Commission, Mary Frances Berry, described
as "laughable" the testimony of Miss Harris, after she dodged questions
about her responsibilities.
Ms Harris, a staunch supporter of George W Bush, repeatedly referred the
questions to Florida State Election Official Clayton Roberts, saying he
carried out the day-to-day running of elections.
She did, however, admit that she remained ultimately accountable.
One panel member called it a "merry-go-round of denial".
Mr Bush was eventually handed victory in the White House race by the Federal
Supreme Court, after weeks of recounts and legal wrangling over the
extremely close result in Florida.
But some voters and civil rights groups have argued that blacks and others
in the state were systematically and deliberately deprived of their right to
vote.
One area that has aroused suspicion is that Miss Harris's department
commissioned a Texas-based company with strong Republican links to draw up a
list of convicts in Florida who were banned from voting.
Miss Harris admitted that she learned that the company had made mistakes
which involved innocent people losing their voting rights.
Asked what action she took, the secretary of state again deferred the
question to Mr Roberts.
Disputed county
When questioned on her handling of the recounts of votes in several Florida
counties, she said her only priority "was to follow the law".
She cited this as the reason that her office did not extend a deadline to
receive a recount from a disputed county.
The BBC's correspondent in Florida, Malcolm Brabant, says Miss Harris's
performance was a hugely embarrassing one and will have reinforced the
belief of many Democrats that the wrong man won the election.
The alleged irregularities range from faulty voting machines and missing
ballot papers, to falsified electoral rolls and intimidation of black voters.
The commission, which began hearing complaints from voters, civil rights
organisations and black legal officials on Thursday, is also expected to
question other prominent state officials.
Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the president-elect's brother who appeared before
the commission on Thursday, defended himself saying his powers over the
state's electoral rules were limited.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1114000/1114644.stm
Saturday, 13 January, 2001, 07:27 GMT Czech journalists say board must go
Protesters cheered the Hodac resignation - but say it's not enough
Journalists at Czech TV (CT) have demanded that all remaining members of the
board of governors resign by noon (1100 GMT) on Saturday.
On Friday, parliament voted to dismiss the board, following the furore over
the appointment and subsequent resignation of a controversial head of CT,
Jiri Hodac.
In a late-night sitting. parliament also voted to give itself the power to
appoint a new interim head of the station.
Journalists have been on strike for almost three weeks, alleging that Mr
Hodac was not politically impartial.
Now they say they will disrupt the broadcasting of programmes, unless the
directors - notably the Hodac-appointed news director, Jana Bobosikova -
step down.
So far the journalists have not sought to disrupt directly the transmissions
of programmes.
Ms Bobosikova was refusing to resign on Friday, despite the parliamentary
vote.
The bill was supported by the two biggest parties - the ruling Social
Democrats and the Civic Democrats of the former prime minister, Vaclav
Klaus, who have a power-sharing deal here.
But it was opposed by smaller opposition parties - the strongest supporters
of the protesting journalists - who feel it does not go far enough to
de-politicise Czech Television.
Those parties could yet try to amend the bill in the upper house of
parliament, the senate, which must approve the bill before it becomes law.
This could delay the approval of the bill, prolonging the crisis further.
Bitter exchange
There was a bitter exchange before the vote, with the Civic Democrats (ODS)
of former Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus trying to save the governors.
One deputy from the four-party opposition grouping which backs the new law,
Pavel Svoboda, accused Mr Klaus of organising a putsch at the TV station.
The ODS did, however, succeed in passing a motion saying freedom of speech
had not been endangered in the country.
Hodac resignation
TV newsroom staff rebelled and protests began last month following the
appointment of Mr Hodac.
Staff said Mr Hodac was chosen to increase the control of the station by the
governinng Social Democrats (CSSD) and ODS, but especially the ODS, with
which they claimed Mr Hodac had close ties.
Mr Hodac resigned on Wednesday night to cheering from tens of thousands of
demonstrators in the capital, Prague.
"It's not about Mr Hodac, and has never been," said protest organiser,
Vaclav Marhoul. "It's about principles."
Mr Hodac - who worked for the BBC Czech Service for over a decade - has
always denied he would make the station into a mouthpiece for any party.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Jan 18 2001 - 10:59:48 MET