"THE
REVOLUTION WILL BE ON THE INTERNET"
Why this channel?
So, a few large multinational corporations (Clear Channel,
Viacom, AOL/Time Warner to name but a few) own the majority
of the TV and radio stations that you hear and see every day.
CNN? It’s owned by AOL/Time Warner. MSNBC? It’s owned by General
Electric. Lo and behold, these multinational corporations have
ties with our current presidential administration. The corporations
give the news to the talking heads. The corporations get the
news from their friends at the Pentagon. The Pentagon doesn’t
want you to know everything so they only give the information
that they want to give. The talking heads only read the information
given to them by the Pentagon and other corporate sources. The
audience only gets what the current regime wants them to. And
so on, all in the house that Jack—er, Jeb built.
What is this channel?
Like the title says, we exist to give you news and (our) views.
We aren’t owned by anyone. We don’t have to distort the facts.
Quite frankly, I was sick and tired of hearing biased news.
I am lucky and privileged enough to come from a fairly affluent
upbringing and to be educated. I know where to get news that
is unbiased (the quaintly titled “alternative” news). But not
everyone is so lucky. More to the point, you shouldn’t have
to look for honest news—it should be there for you.
Now—here it is! Our flagship show is called “A Quest Called
Truth”. You are going to hear the truth—warts and all. You won’t
hear this anywhere else, and I highly doubt that either Marc
or I will get invited onto CNN anytime soon. That’s okay though—I
would rather speak the truth to a handful of people, then to
lie to the masses. (Hey that sounds kinda cool—I just made that
up!)
All we are asking is that people think about things. Question
authority, question what you hear and read and see (yes, you
can even question us!). Don’t be a sheep and blindly follow
the talking heads on the news or in the papers. Think critically
and don’t ever, ever be afraid to speak up for what you believe
in.
Who We Are?
We aren’t even going to pretend that we aren’t progressives!
One might call us left of center, even.
Patti Smith is an attorney and actually even made partner at
her very small firm. This doesn’t mean she has any money—she
doesn’t. Patti is active in the Green Party, her Unitarian Church
in Ann Arbor, the ACLU Lawyers’ Committee, the Ann Arbor Jaycees,
the Young Lawyers Section of the Washtenaw Bar Association,
various reproductive rights groups and serves on the State Bar
of Michigan’s Domestic Violence Committee and the Washtenaw
County Citizens Advisory to the Family Court. She is also active
in the peace movement and is in a women’s book group. In her
spare time, the childfree Patti spends time with her husband,
her dog (Buddy, the wonder dog who is frequently referenced
on the radio show) and her family and friends. She enjoys reading,
consuming caffeine in all its forms, listening to music, public
speaking, and writing (has finished three books and is just
waiting for a publisher to come a’knockin!). If you want to
see my “face that was made for the radio”, please go to my website
The-Helpful-Lawyer.com
There’s a picture on there somewhere. That’s about it. Boy is
it weird talking about yourself in third person. It’s so Bob
Dole.
Marc Reichardt is chair of the Green Party of Michigan and
a lifelong political activist. He only absorbs mainstream ‘news’
for comic relief, and to see what the enemy is NOT saying about
what they’re doing. He’s a deep believer in the freedom of speech
and the need for the American public to be exposed to different
ideas at a much younger age than they are now. Hence, the show.
Away from web radio and pursuit of world peace, Marc writes,
philosophizes, and plays a lot of wargames… You can find him
online at all hours of the day or night at dystopia@wwnet.com.
Feel free to write in for a private rant about the evils of
society as we know it, not to mention the despicable lack of
originality in most modern music, films, and books…
What to Expect?
Oh, there is so much on the horizon! We have plans for future
shows, including – more of A Quest Called Truth: alternative
energy sources, the continuing ‘war on terrorism’ (Orange alert!
Duck and cover!), national health care, living wage, corporate
perfidy, and how House Majority Leader Tom DeLay gets his hair
to stay perfect, all the time… (something involving the blood
of underpaid, immigrant workers…); Herstory- real history
they won’t teach you in school (why did the United States send
10,000 Marines to deal with “58 trained communists” in the Dominican
Republic?); Orator’s Corner- speeches plucked from near
and far on the web, and occasionally read right here in Ann Arbor,
from Frederick Douglass to MLK to Eugene Debs to Gandhi to Leon
Trotsky to Noam Chomsky to…; Four on the Floor- 4 people,
one mic, many topics.
The
Music?
Yes, I know that the music isn’t all “political”, according to
the strict definition. When selecting the music, we decided on
typical political and peace music as well as what I call “rant”
music. That is, some artist, somewhere, railing against the establishment,
authority, whatever. If you have music you would like to add to
the library, just let me know.
We
Need You!!!
We need people to rant on the air along with us. Please email
me (cmnews@annarboralive.com)
and I will get back to you. Keep on rockin’ in the free world.
Keep listening—and tell your friends!
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