Wednesday, July 21, 2004

Reliable Media FEATURED ARTICLES - At Riggs Bank, a Tangled Path Led to Scandal, NY Times - The Bush-Riggs Connection, Atrios & American Progress - RHINO RECOMMENDS:  Link TV - RHINO RECOMMENDS:  NOW With Bill Moyers QUOTE OF THE DAY "When I learn something new-and it happens every day-I feel a little more at home in this universe, a little more comfortable in the nest." - - Bill Moyers KNOW YOUR HISTORY - JULY 21st 1542 -- Rome - The Roman Inquisition is established. God moves in mysterious ways & he's no pacifist. 1887 -- Poland: A small booklet entitled The First Book appears in Warsaw (Varsovie ) signed by a certain "Doktoro Esperanto", pseudonym of the linguist Dr. Louis-Lazare Zamenhof (1859-1917). The 40 pages present a program for an international auxiliary language which spreads around the world under the name Esperanto. This neutral & easily learned idiom (at least for Westerners), is designed to facilitate comprehension & communication between peoples. Among its early enthusiasts were many anarchists, seeing here not only a means of countering warmongering nationalisms, but also a way to diffuse the libertarian ideal beyond the official statist borders. 1943 -- "Stormy Weather" premieres in New York City with Lena Horne, Bill "Bo Jangles" Robinson, Fats Waller, Cab Calloway, the Nicholas Brothers, & Katherine Dunham. A week before the premiere, Horne said of African American actors, "All we ask is that the Negro be portrayed as a normal person. A worker in a union meeting, a voter in the polls...or an elected official. Perhaps I'm being naive. Perhaps these things will never be straightened out on the screen itself, but will have to wait until... [they're] solved in real life." RHINO HERE: On Monday, The NY Times ran a piece about the Washington DC based Riggs Bank which has been knowingly laundering money for the likes of Augustus Pinoche, former dictator/murderer of Chile. At Riggs Bank, a Tangled Path Led to Scandal By Timothy L. O'Brien, NY Times, July 19, 2004 At: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/19/business/19BANK.final.html But the article never mentions the fact that Riggs Bank is headed by longtime Bush family friend Joe Allbritton, employs President Bush's uncle Jonathan as a top executive, and other executives have been financial donors to the Bush campaign. Atrios Blogger, Holden asks, "If a blood relative and close friend/financier of Bill Clinton or John Kerry were deeply involved in a bank that laundered money for dictators and terrorists, what do you think the focus of the Times story would be?" Atrios at: http://atrios.blogspot.com/2004_07_18_atrios_archive.html#109025125564463484 More On The Bush-Riggs Connection American Progress, May 17, 2004 More Rhino ponders, "For the NY Times, the rag many right leaners accuse of being a bastion of the so called liberal media, to neglect to beat the Bushes about those connections, is proof that if well meaning American patriots wants to know the real stories behind the stories these days, they have to make special efforts to find journalists, publishers & broadcasters they can trust." Today Rhino directs your attention to two vital sources of the real stories behind the stories. As featured in Monday's BOTTOM LINE, Bill Moyers made an historic speech at the Inequality Forum addressing the growing concentration of wealth, income, power, and opportunity in America. The aim of the conference was to move a critical national problem onto the front burner of American politics and public discourse -- within this election season and beyond. Video of that address will be broadcast nationally several times this week on LINK TV; a uniquely reliable TV network. http://www.linktv.com For more info on Moyers'  speech & broadcast times, go to: http://www.linktv.com/programming/programDescription.php4?code=moyers2 RHINO RECOMMENDS:  Link TV LINK TV is available on DIRECT TV (Channel 375) & on Dish Network (Channel  9410). Link TV is the first national network offering a global perspective on news, current events and culture, presenting viewpoints seldom covered in the U.S. media. We present first-run documentaries on global issues, current affairs series, international news, classic foreign feature films, and the best of world music. Link TV's programming, combined with innovative use of two-way digital link-ups and our participatory web site, deepens audience engagement and encourages active participation. Besides morning airings of the stridently truth-telling news show, "Democracy Now" and the mind blowing daily look at Middle East current events through Middle Eastern eyes on, "Mosaic,"  Link TV also offers the best in world music videos and documentaries like, "From the Heart of the Masters," which this week features Jack DeJohnette, one of the US's greatest living jazz drummers together with Foday Musa Suso, who has pushed the limits of the Kora (African Harp). The performance airing, from the 2003 Montreal Jazz Festival, is peppered with commentary by both musicians, but mostly consists of "groove-based, trance inducing pieces and passages of inspired improvisation. DeJohnette's elegant touch is a perfect foil for Suso's harp, while his rhythmic dynamism pushes the kora master to new and uncharted territories. More info at: Masters The Rhino (alias Gary Rhine - that's me) was fortunate to work with Link TV on creating the first nationally broadcast, regularly scheduled TV series on Indigenous peoples' issues. The 26 part series, entitled "First Peoples' TV," which ran Thursday nights for 52 weeks last year, received an enthusiastic response from Indian communities across the U.S., who were grateful  to see many of their concerns explained to a national audience.  This was a totally non-profit project, as is all of Link TV's efforts and we are now seeking necessary funding to do another 26 part season. If any Rhino's Blog readers know of an individual or organization interested in possibly sponsoring that effort (for a mere 5 figures) drop me an email at:  rhino@kifaru.com More On First Peoples' TV  at: http://www.dreamcatchers.org/fptv/index.html Here's an example of one episode of "First Peoples' TV" which reruns this week. Storytellers of the Pacific - Self Determination - A look at the oral traditions of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Rim. This show looks at the issue of self-determination through the words and stories of four cultures who have had to struggle to keep their cultures intact. Groups featured are the Nisqually people of the Pacific Northwest, native Hawaiians, the Seri people of the Sonoran Desert in northern Mexico, and the Aleut people of Alaska's Pribiloff Islands. "Storytellers of the Pacific" is part of the "First Peoples' TV" series made possible by DreamCatchers, a non-profit organization working to bring Native films to a wider audience. Storytellers RHINO RECOMMENDS:  NOW With Bill Moyers Another reliable source for the real stories is once again, Bill Moyers, & his PBS series, "NOW." Today's RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE is simply a summary of this weeks episode of NOW which consists of 3 vitally important stories behind the stories. Both transcripts & video clips of all these segments as well as archives of past NOW shows are available at:: http://www.pbs.org/now The NOW Web Site also has excellently researched features such as: Election 2004 On NOW Check out NOW's look at the election-year issues Fact-check campaign ads online at: http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/election.html ! For Educators Teacher Alert! Medicare Reform - A lesson plan for high school students http://www.pbs.org/now/classroom/medicare.html 7:41:58 AM    comment

This Week On NOW "SEND THIS TO A REPUBLICAN!" This Week On NOW July 16, 2004    On Thursday, the Center for Public Integrity disclosed the findings of their investigations into Big Oil. Among other disclosures, the Center revealed that the oil and gas industry has spent more than $440 million dollars on campaign contributions and lobbying since 1998 and that US gas and oil companies have 882 subsidiaries in tax haven countries. David Brancaccio sits down with the Center's executive director Charles Lewis, to talk about Thursday's report, the first in a series expected to be released throughout the year to identify the size and scope of the international oil and gas industry and measure its influence in the halls of government worldwide. The Center for Public Integrity is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that conducts investigative research and reporting on public policy issues in the United States and around the world. This year, Lewis and the Center released the bestselling book, THE BUYING OF THE PRESIDENT 2004: WHO'S REALLY BANKROLLING BUSH AND HIS DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGERS - AND WHAT THEY EXPECT IN RETURN. In Mississippi, as many as 65,000 people are bracing for the deepest cuts any state has ever made in Medicaid eligibility for senior citizens and the disabled. The cuts are so severe, critics say, that many of the state's most vulnerable are facing an unthinkable choice between buying food and buying medicine. Bill Moyers goes inside the Mississippi Medicaid crisis and examines the cutbacks championed by the state's Republican Governor Haley Barbour. Are tough cuts necessary, as Barbour argues, to save the program for the future, or are other viable options being overlooked? Is there a clash of cultures in America? From prayer in schools to censorship to abortion - the values debate is dividing America this political season. But is there only one source of morality and values? And what role should government play in the religious life of Americans? To get his take on what America's thinking and his thoughts on such hotly debated cultural issues as gay marriage, Bill Moyers talks withCal Thomas, the country's most widely syndicated columnist and host of FOX News' AFTER HOURS WITH CAL THOMAS. MORE AT:  http://www.pbs.org/NOW "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. Tell a friend about Rhino's Blog 6:38:12 AM    comment

© Copyright 2005 Gary Rhine.