Here at Red State/Blue State, we have been discussing
the concept of Under the Radar for a few months now. There is so much news that
is simply not being given enough coverage that many important stories seem to
go under the radar. In defense of journalists and news organizations, there are
many in-depth stories that are simply too long or too in-depth to be covered in
the space of a short television news segment or in a small article.
However, the coverage of certain stories that seem to
attract media attention are glaring. Donald Trump ad nauseum is good for
ratings, but the coverage tends to lower the bar however you look at it. So
here are just a few of the stories amassed in a span of a few weeks from some
of the articles on Red State/Blue State in Flipboard.
The new magazine, Under the Radar, is going to
continue to focus on some of the stories highlighted here, and those that will
continue to gain traction, although perhaps not through any of the traditional
media outlets. The myth of the “Liberal elite media” and the bias of coverage
in the mainstream media is another bubble that needs to burst.
All media outlets race for the highest ratings and it’s a
numbers game rather than an idealogical struggle for the most part. That is
another reason we are not seeing many of these stories getting front page
coverage. Murder and sex and chaos and celebrities drive the news cycle. It’s
rarely a high-minded attempt to focus on pressing issues that the public is
clamoring to hear.
Here are just a few of the stories pulled that you may have
missed or wanted to hear more about:
·
Quartet of crises: In Europe,
there’s more than one crisis on the horizon. The Greek debt problem is one
issue. The EU (European Union) is suffering an identity crisis of its own.
There’s talk of Britain leaving the EU, along with other countries.
·
Russia looms large over the Europeans, with its continuing threatening
posture towards Ukraine. And on top of this, there’s a growing immigration
problem that puts our puny US/Mexico border debate in the shade. To top it off, the EU economy has been
downgraded to a negative rating.
·
Pentagon: Future is more war.
When pressed for a scenario of what our impending future looks like, the
outgoing head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff admitted that there seems to be a continuing
scenario of war in the immediate and near future for the United States.
·
Pope Francis: Pope Francis’
upcoming trip to the US will occur in the month of September. His address to
Congress will happen on the eve of their vote concerning the Iran Deal, which
looks to be a highly contentious affair. Francis’ focus on the poor and his
acknowledged support for the theory of
man-made Global Warming may prove to be an awkward moment for some of
his faithful who are wedded to the GOP agenda.
·
New warnings on Climate change:
On the Global Warming front, there’s nothing new save for the continued
acknowledgement that we are dealing with
even faster acceleration of ocean rise!
·
Healthcare Game-changers:
Recently, we have heard about some Scientific and Medical breakthroughs that
may prove to be game-changers in the medical field. Genomes: A genome is an
organism’s complete set of DNA. Scientists are mapping out the human genome,
and it may prove to be a huge breakthrough, particularly in the field
of/Predictive medicines;: With Predictive medicine, a patient that knows the
certainty of a diabetic diagnosis, a Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s diagnosis, may
be able to completely reverse impending disease with fore-knowledge of a
diagnosis.
·
Telemedicine: Doctors will
be able to tele-conference and even more frequently in the future, provide
medical diagnosis and treatment from a distance. In rural areas, and where
there are shortage of doctors/ General Practitioners-this may be a game-changing
method in patient health and preventive medicine.
·
We make enough to feed the world
now, but…
·
38% of Earths croplands are degraded
·
11% is salt-contaminated
·
90% of the biodiversity of our 20 main staple crops has been lost due to
·
Nitrogen Fertilizer: Which causes 6%
of Greenhouse gases
·
Nitrogen Fertilizer runoff creates 400 Marine Dead zones
·
75% reduction of nitrogen fertilizer is required
·
350,000 die yearly from pesticide toxicity.
·
Small Farmers work 60% of the land; and provide 50% of our food. They are the Key to
our Future. And most small farmers are female. They control 90% of staple food production worldwide.
·
Solutions: Conservation Agriculture
·
The World Bank is focusing on Climate Smart Agriculture.
·
The focus is on: Sustainable Water Use and increasing research budgets
worldwide. Also Gender Equality is vigorously being promoted!
·
Lebanon: Has the highest per
capita refugee population in the world. 1.1 million of 4 million in Lebanon are
refugees, about one-quarter of their entire population. Lebanon has almost
reached the projected population totals for the year 2050!
·
Fears & concerns of
Saudi Arabia and Isreal over the Iran Deal: The phrase, Follow the Money comes to mind. A great deal of
anxiety seems to center on money. Iran will be a stabilized Global Trading
Partner of the US-that may be their biggest concern!
· The case has been argued recently
that America’s dominant force is actually Corporate Libertarianism. Corporations
have emerged as “people”; they have rights over most people. Mega corporations
have gained the autonomy to pretty much do as they like.
·
The Death of American
Universities: The idea of learning should be to come up with new ideas, to challenge
the existing dogma, and the teachers, with new thoughts, innovations, and ways
of looking at things. It should not merely to repeat by rote what you have
learned
·
The Corporatization of
Universities: Citizen United was
the culmination of this philosophy. Back in the seventies, the decision was
made that money was a form of speech. After that, 70% of the public has become disenfranchised
from politics. Therefore, only about 1% of the top 1% really make the
decisions.
Business also
determines how we are educated in this country. With the rise of Charter schools,
and with funding cut for state universities, we see the business model emerge
victorious. The Business model also transfers costs to the people: hence we now
have crushing student debt. This same model believes in discipline,
indoctrination and control. There’s also no guarantee of employment, and this
extends to teachers tenure. Higher learning institutions quickly have adopted
this model. While other countries have free higher education and universities,
the US has continued to impose higher burdens of student debt on the young
people coming out of college.
This Business Model World View has been adopted in much of the Western
world. It’s argued that only East Asia and parts of South America that has not
accepted it.
·
Survival of the Fittest is
the Business Corporate Model. Every aspect of our lives has imposed the
business/corporate model world view for 40 years at least. It’s worked to
divide the society into two distinct groups. The Plutonomy is a word coined by Citibank; it defines the top sector
of wealthy citizens, globally and here in the US. The other group is the Precariat-who live a precarious
existence. One of the most amazing speeches uncovered was one that then Fed
Chairman Alan Greenspan gave in 1997 before the US Congress, in which he said
it’s “healthy” if workers are made to feel more insecure. They then won’t ask
for higher wages, go on strike, or ask for benefits. It was the Optimal world
view for Corporations! All this has led us to the present day situation, where
workers and young people are dissatisfied with the status quo and it’s showing
with lots of unrest and angry voters
·
Water from Golf Courses and Pool
Use in California: There has been quite a lot of back and forth during the
disastrous drought in California regarding the amount of water that wealthy
people are using for Golf Courses and for swimming pools.
·
Candidates & the repeal of
Glass-Steagall: One of the crucial areas of debate that should emerge in
the coming 2016 Election should be the candidates’ stances on the repeal and a
subsequent re-instatement of the Glass-Steagall Act. Most economist believe the
repeal of Glass-Steagall brought about the shady banking practices leading to
the Economic Collapse of 2008.
·
Child Abuse/Pedaphilia is at
record numbers in US!
·
China has now become the
second most obese population in the world!
·
Governors: Governors across
the US are reporting that there are now more deaths caused by drug overdoses than car fatalities.
·
US: We have a record low number
of women serving in Congress in relation to the rest of the developed world.
·
Over one-half of European
citizens are at risk for poverty/food insecurity
·
Who was the richest man in the history
of the world? The King of Timbuktu!
·
John D. Rockefeller did make the top ten list along with fellow American
turn of the century magnate Andrew Carnegie, coming in at # 7 & # 6, respectively.
·
Bill Gates is # 9 on the Money magazine list
of the top 10 Richest Men of all
time! He is next to Alan the Red who funded William the Conqueror and right in
front of Genghis Khan, who appears
at #10 on the list!
·
70 years after Hiroshima: The
stigma of survivors still exists. The Atomic Bombing was called Hibakusha in Japan
·
Jimmy Carter: Before
President Carter made the announcement of his cancer diagnosis last week, he
recently proclaimed that the US is now an oligarchy. An Oligarchy is defined as a small group of people having control of a
country or institution. He said that politics today violates the “Essence of what made America Great”. Unlimited
money threatens the democracy, subverts political system, with payoff to major
contributors
·
Planned Parenthood: is still more popular than both political
parties in recent polls.
·
Half of the Syrian Population has been displaced. A total of 22 million people means
11 million have been displaced since the start of the Civil War!
A
Refugee camp in Jordan: is home to
81,000 refugees who live within a 5 mile radius Within the
refugee camp, there are 12 districts, 3 with schools. There’s a high frequency
of rape and sexual violence. The girls are expected to marry very young.
·
60% of refugees earn an income
within the camp at the more established camp of Zaatarii. 80 children are born
each day at the camp!
·
The goal that remains with almost all refugees is to return home. But displaced
persons may be extremely discouraged to know the UN estimate is on average 17 years before refugees from crisis areas
may return to their native homes.
·
10 companies control 55% of the
seed market for the entire world.
·
Agro ecology is an emerging
revolutionary way of looking at food production. Relocation of food
production and distribution to growers and public consumers rather than
corporations is the goal.
·
UN: There’s been a rise in
women and children dying in the Afghan war/conflict
·
UN Security Council approved the Iran
Deal in a 15-0 unanimous vote. The EU did the same
·
Hillary is the odds on favorite
to win in 2016 with book-makers.
·
Key to victory for Democrats in
2016 is the Governor’s Races. The key is who draws the congressional
districts. The GOP has taken control of so much territory by virtue of the re-designed
state districts.
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