This is Planet Earth’s Impact So Far in the Universe
Look for the tiny blue dot for our impact. Adam Grossman writes about “The Tiny Humanity Bubble” on jackadamblog:
Mankind has been broadcasting radio waves into deep space for about a hundred years now — since the days of Marconi.
That, of course, means there is an ever-expanding bubble announcing Humanity’s presence to anyone listening in the Milky Way. This bubble is astronomically large (literally), and currently spans approximately 200 light years across.
But how big is this, really, compared to the size of the Galaxy in which we live (which is, itself, just one of countless billions of galaxies in the observable universe)?
French Media Ban The Mention Of Specific Social Networks On Air
In an attempt to reduce the amount of ‘free publicity’ given to social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, the French have banned any mention of specific sites in their TV and radio broadcasts. One of the reasons for this ban is to allow a fair platform for smaller networking companies in the future. BBC News reports:
French TV and radio presenters have been banned from mentioning social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter on air.
The country’s broadcasting watchdog has ruled that doing so would break guidelines on advertising.
Stations can still talk about services without naming them, it said.
The French government is seen by many internet watchers as overly keen to regulate in relation to new media and the web.
In a ruling, published online, the Conseil Superieur de l’Audiovisuel (CSA), said: “Referring viewers or listeners to the page of the social network without mentioning it has the character of information.
[Continues at…
Christian Broadcasting Head Says World Will End This Weekend Due To Gays
Harold Camping, the elderly president and voice of the juggernaut 150-station Family Radio network, lays out how and why Judgement Day will definitely be arriving on Saturday. Wondering who’s to blame — The Jews? The Muslims? Oprah? Know-it-all meddling scientists? Nope, they’re going with the gays.
New Bill To Kill Ham Radio?
New York Republican Peter King has made national headlines in 2011 with his congressional hearings on the (dis)loyalties of Muslim-Americans. However, that is not the only trouble he has been stirring up. The media largely missed his recent introduction of House Resolution 607, which would auction off for commercial use the frequency bands used by amateur radio operators (for the purpose of funding the use of other frequency bands by the police in emergencies). The American Radio Relay League fumes:
On February 10, 2011, Rep. Peter King (R-NY), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, introduced H.R. 607, the “Broadband for First Responders Act of 2011,” which has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee (which handles telecommunications legislation).
The Bill provides for the allocation of the so-called “D-Block” of spectrum in the 700 MHz range for Public Safety use. HR 607 uniquely, provides for the reallocation of other spectrum for auction…
The Man Behind Charlie Sheen’s Rants: Alex Jones?
Alex Jones is getting a lot of mainstream attention today because of recent remarks made by Charlies Sheen on Jones’ radio show that caused Sheen’s popular sitcom Two and a Half Men to close production for the year. If you’re wondering who Alex Jones is (unlikely for Disinfo readers), here is a mainstream media assessment in the Hollywood Reporter:
Context is important, and Sheen made his controversial remarks on Alex Jones’ syndicated radio show. Those who have listened to Jones know that he is no ordinary talk radio host. Long before Glenn Beck made headlines (and millions) mining conspiratorial territory on his radio show, Jones was exploring the wilder side of political talk radio for a devoted following online.
Jones is not mainstream (he has under 25,000 Twitter followers), yet he has influence and is sometimes linked to by more influential media figures such as Matt Drudge.
As his fans know, Jones is different than…
Media Roots Radio: Wikileaks, Bradley Manning & False Memory Research
In this episode of Media Roots Radio, Robbie and Abby Martin discuss Wikileaks, Bradley Manning and the inhumane conditions of his detention.
Media Roots Radio- Wikileaks, Bradley Manning, False Memories with Guest Researcher Steven Frenda by Media Roots
During the second half of the show, guest Steven Frenda talks about his studies and research in the field of human memory: manipulated and false memories, coerced confessions, and how they relate to the legal system…
Congress Passes Landmark Community Radio Act
A leftover nugget of good news from before the holiday: Congress passed legislation allowing for the creation of hundreds or thousands of new independent, community-based, non-commercial radio stations on American airwaves. Here’s to the “outdated” medium of AM/FM radio becoming a surprise bulwark against the trend of corporate media consolidation. Pitchfork writes:
Yesterday, on the same day that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was repealed, another significant bill was passed by both the House and Senate: the Local Community Radio Act.
This is a major victory for those aspiring to become community broadcasters, and an extremely exciting development for community-driven radio nationwide. Pitchfork very much looks forward to reporting on and supporting these new stations as they appear.
As the Huffington Post reports, this legislation allows for the creation of new non-commercial stations on American airwaves– a number that could reach to the hundreds or even thousands. In a press release, the Future of Music…
Media Roots Radio: Breaking Apart The Official 9/11 Coincidence Theory
Media Roots Radio- Breaking Apart the Official 9/11 Coincidence Theory by Media Roots
FAST FORWARD TO 28:00 MINUTES TO SKIP THE INTRO AND GET TO THE 9/11 BREAKDOWN
This is a special 2 hour 20 minute episode of Media Roots Radio about the events of 9/11. In this edition, Abby and Robbie Martin introduce how their political awakenings were prompted by 9/11, and break apart the official government and corporate media narrative of the 9/11 attacks by discussing the foreknowledge, government complicity, and gross inconsistencies regarding every aspect of the events. The show then delves into the aftermath: the psychological manipulation of the American psyche and the significance that this event continues to have in our nation and world…
Public Finally Gets Some Airwaves Back: Congress Passes Local Community Radio Act
Finally, Congress passes the Local Community Radio Act, which has been sitting on the shelves for 10 years. The public finally gets some of its airwaves back. Reports Reclaim The Media:
With the clock ticking toward the end of this year’s Congress, the Senate on Saturday passed a new law which will enable community groups, churches and schools across the country to establish new non-commercial, low-power FM radio stations in their cities and towns.
The Local Community Radio Act, which will allow the FCC to issue possibly thousands of new noncommercial LPFM radio licenses, earned broad, bipartisan support after some ten years of organizing by grassroots media democracy advocates from coast to coast. Backers of the bill included a stupefying range of civil rights groups, religious organizations, musicians, unions and garage-bound radio dreamers around the country.
The FCC initially created the Low power FM service radio in 2002, as a way to counter the…
Famed Russian Mystery Transmission UVB-76 Has Gone Offline
f you haven’t heard of this mystery, start here. The creepiest thing about this — is not the normal transitions — but the three interruptions in the course of twenty years (described here by Wikipedia). The first one occurred on Christmas Eve, 1997:
Ya — UVB-76. 18008. BROMAL: Boris, Roman, Olga, Mikhail, Anna, Larisa. 742, 799, 14.
Here is how it has normally sounded on the shortwave radio station, frequency 4625 kHz. If you still can hear it, please let us know:
Drunk History: Nikola Tesla vs. Thomas Edison
On the latest Funny Or Die Presents, this is Drunk History: Nikola Tesla. If you think this is purely a joke, I’m afraid not …
On January 7th, Duncan Trussell drank a six-pack of beer, then a half a bottle of absinthe … and then he discussed a historical event:
World Government, Alex Jones and Me
Columnist Gideon Rachman credits 
Alex Jones with his success (sort of), in the Financial Times:
To this day, the most successful article I have ever written was a column called “And now for a world government“. By successful, I don’t mean that it was a particularly good article – this is “success” defined in terms of internet hits.
I noticed the other day that if I type my name into Google, one of the first popular searches suggested is “Gideon Rachman world government” which yields over 40,000 results. Gideon Rachman and new world order produces 844,000 results. Slightly weirdly, another popular search seems to be “Gideon Rachman, Jewish”, which produces over 15,000 hits.
The common thread, I think, is that my world government piece was picked up by the loony right in America as grist for their conspiracy theory that there is a secret plot to create a world government and to deprive…
Why The End Of Air America Is Not The End Of Liberal Talk Radio
Steve Carney dissects what went wrong at Air America and what it means for progressive talk in the Los Angeles Times:
Coming only two days after the Republicans’ upset U.S. Senate victory in Massachusetts, the sudden demise of the Air America radio network — after a protracted illness — left liberals reeling and conservatives gloating over the failure of their competing ideology’s highest profile outlet.
But the end of Air America is not the end of liberal talk radio, nor should it be, according to observers.
“The only thing they did that was outstanding — boy, did they get a lot of PR,” said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, a trade journal of the talk-radio industry.
“The thing that was so maddening about Air America’s original programming — and they squandered their initial capital and their initial publicity — [was that] all you heard was about how bad Rush Limbaugh was and how…
Air America Calls It Quits
The lone voice of progressive talk in the radio spectrum is conceding that it just can’t attract an audience the same way that the conservatives do and will declare bankruptcy. Funny how liberal blogs are so popular in comparison…
From the Air America site:
It is with the greatest regret, on behalf of our Board, that we must announce that Air America Media is ceasing its live programming operations as of this afternoon, and that the Company will file soon under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code to carry out an orderly winding-down of the business.
The very difficult economic environment has had a significant impact on Air America’s business. This past year has seen a “perfect storm” in the media industry generally. National and local advertising revenues have fallen drastically, causing many media companies nationwide to fold or seek bankruptcy protection. From large to small, recent bankruptcies like Citadel Broadcasting and closures like…
