NH, VT Public Radio applaud $200 million gift from McDonalds widow

[Paul Hopfgarten]

Which, Aaron, only proves that Government and Corparate leaders are
generally cut from the same cloth. There is no RIGHT or LEFT at these
levels, only the "How do I get mine and screw others" mentality. Only the
means to the end are different, the end IS the same for both.

(This also holds true for Union vs Management issues). It's ALWAYS how much
Power and $$ (as a means of representing power) one can exert over others,
either through monopolization (corporate) or regulation (government),

Paul Hopfgarten
East Derry NH 03041
paul@03038.com


> -----Original Message-----
> From: boston-radio-interest-bounces@rolinin.BostonRadio.org
> [mailto:boston-radio-interest-bounces@rolinin.BostonRadio.org]On Behalf
> Of Aaron Read
> Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 10:53 AM
> To: Chuck Igo; brian_vita@cssinc.com
> Cc: boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org
> Subject: Re: NH, VT Public Radio applaud $200 million gift from
> McDonalds widow
>
>
> At 03:11 PM 11/8/2003, Chuck Igo wrote:
> >Aaron:  time to drop the sanctimonious stuff about Public Radio,
> from which
> >you derive your income.  (you DO get paid, right?)
>
> Ehh...yes and no.  I volunteer at WBRS but they do pay me when a major
> project comes around (like the transmitter replacement I'm doing in two
> weeks).   With the rest of my non-comm's I do get paid but
> frankly I'm not
> getting rich off them...I do it because I'm a sucker for college
> radio.  :-)    What really pays my bills is my commercial clients, which
> are some AM/FM/TV's, but largely are municipalities on wireless
> consulting.
>
>
> >time and again, Aaron, you stray a bit far from the topic and
> wind up on the
> >soapbox.  the day Public Radio stops getting federal funds (which are
> >provided by, um... oh yeah, the taxpayers), then preach away.  on this
> >point, imo (and there's nothing humble about it this time), you
> were way off
> >base.
>
> I don't see that.  The original thread was about how Ms.Kroc made a $200
> million donation to NPR.  It had nothing to do with the politics about
> public radio funding until Brian made his rather cynical remark.  Really,
> it was a smartass remark, as was my reply...and was meant to be a mild
> tit-for-tat.  We're all adults and a little nose-tweaking isn't
> forbidden,
> is it?  :-)
>
> Anyways, what irks me about Brian's comment...and comments in the same
> vein...is that it ignores the "corporate welfare" and shady business
> practices by hundreds of commercial broadcasters (Clear Channel the
> biggest, but hardly the only) that have resulted in the same thing public
> radio gets: a handout on the backs of the average Joe.   Sure, I
> don't HAVE
> to go to a purchase or listen to Clear Channel's wares, whereas I have to
> pay taxes, but when a corporation decides it doesn't want to pay
> as much in
> taxes, it bullies its home state (Raytheon, anyone?   Or Pfizer to CT for
> that matter) and that DOES mean I have to pay more tax to make up the
> difference.
>
> Sure, it's pennies on the dollar, but so is public radio funding.
>
> Does public radio engage in these shady deals?  Yeah, I'd say there's
> probably something there...public radio isn't very "public"
> anymore and NPR
> is run very much like a commercial outfit; the programming is barely held
> in check by the FCC underwriting rules.  But I can't imagine NPR is doing
> it to even one-tenth the degree you see it with a Clear Channel or
> whoever.  Personally I prefer it up front and in the open with public
> radio, rather than some fatcat sweetheart deal in a smoky pool
> room of some
> Congressional hangout.
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------------------------
> Aaron "Bishop" Read             aread@speakeasy.net
> FriedBagels Consulting          AOL-IM: readaaron
> http://www.friedbagels.com      Boston, MA
>