Action Point with Cynthia Black 05-25-2008: The Reference Shelf

SPECIAL NOTICE
ENJOY A GREAT MEMORIAL DAY "BEST OF" SHOW and these CURRENT ITEM LINKS!!!

• POLITICS: ELECTION INTEGRITY: No matter how many ways the insiders in election integrity explain that Gore won over Bush n 2000, and retell it, and include charts, graphs and diagrams, it never seems to stick. Even the cable documentaries manage to avoid admitting the fact. So I have to hand it to Brad Friedman of Bradblog,com (please somebody put this guy on broadcast radio) to still be telling this story and making it funny as well (if that's possible): Recounting the Recount and Counting the Uncounted. AND as populist politics gains ground, why not populist publishing?! Check out this offer from Alternet to participate in publishing a compendium of election laws nationally to help any reader get a head start in ensuring his or her vote WILL be counted this November!

• MUST READ: A Different Kind of Democracy: There are quite a few more bits of evidence that good developments are coming our way in the news-stream these days. For example, this from David Sirota:

  ...this week ...ExxonMobil's annual meeting in Dallas....may be...about something that can be more critical than even presidential elections -- something called shareholder democracy...citing their desire to "safeguard long-term shareholder value," a group of shareholders with $5 billion in ExxonMobil stock excoriated company management in 2006 for "not sufficiently preparing for tomorrow's energy" and running "the risk of lagging significantly behind" competitors...are expected to back this year's alternative energy resolution, especially considering the boost from none other than the Rockefellers -- the family that originally founded what would become ExxonMobil.

• PERSONAL SECURITY: THE ANDREW MYERS FILE: New York 8th-Graders Boycott Practice Exam But Teacher May Get Ax: Its been a while since a story I noted seemed to fit the criteria of this file, meaning it cover over-the-top threats to personal liberty and freedom of expression. After you read the article about 8th graders protesting taking (yet another) proficiency test, which for me is much more about the hell the teacher is catching for his role in the boycott advocation. ask yourself this question; what was the last time you heard of a teacher being reprimanded for advocating critical thinking skills and admonished for '...giving them (students) messages that were inappropriate.' Challenging authority = inappropriate?

• MINORITY ISSUES: UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS; Media Matters has a new report and congressional attention for its program Fear & Loathing in Prime Time: Immigration Myths and Cable News.