Moving Burning Matter

Stay tuned as I take a small break to move BurningMatter off blogspot and onto www.burningmatter.com. We expect to be up and re-running by Tuesday November 16. See you then!

Veteran's Care in the USA

It's Veterans Day in the USA this Thursday, November 11.  And what is Veterans Day? Veterans Day is the US federal holiday honoring military veterans that started at the end of WW1 in 1918.

I want to explore the state of care of these Americans who sacrificed so much. I bring this topic to attention because health care cuts for Veterans is an issue to be knowledgeable about in the next election cycle. Personally, I'm still just trying to find information so I offer some links to stories as you make your decision about the USA's VA health care:

• News: Vet gets $250k for VA (Veterans Administration) hospital negligence http://bit.ly/cPIxya
• Opinion: The following copied from a post, spelling and all, from The SF Bayview http://bit.ly/csQwNz , "Unless you are a vet, and have actually experienced "the best healthcare in the world" you can cite all the "studies" you want. This year alone, in the first 39 VAOIG inspections of the "VA Healthcare System" 37 Medical Centers had critical life threatening deficiencies. While not reported broadly, tort claims for malpractice are enormous, with payments in the hundreds of millions. There are significant problems with unsanitized equipment, physician credentialing and certification, scheduling of appointments, pharmaceutical theft and lack of inventory control, contractual oversight of provider and healthcare service contracts ad infinitum. How do I know this? I'm a 100% disabled veteran, military retiree who abides by the advice of my VA physicians, which is to use my private healthcare provider."
• Governmental Cost: The cost of care for veterans and soon-to-be veterans--this is an important article to read http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2010/September/30/Veterans-Health-Issues.aspx
• Diseases that Need Treatment: Link to a study released today, November 9: http://bit.ly/c21wLP

Other official sources

• www4.va.gov/healtheligibility/ 
• http://www.military.com/benefits/veterans-health-care/veterans-health-care-overview 
• www.veteranstoday.com/ 

 It is a complex issue, but for this one aspect of it, I am reminding myself that it's not about the war, it's about the citizens who fought and are fighting it.

WikiLeaks but not the Leaks

Burning matter du jour: Why are most stories about the concept of WikiLeaks, but not about the content of the leaks?

I did a very unscientific and brief Google on "Iraq War Leaks" only to find that most of the stories are about WikiLeaks and very few on the abuses detailed in the leaked material. I believe that content is fundamentally important to news and yet, journalism in the 140 character Twitter world we live in, seldom dives into content. (However, here's an interesting more in-depth article I found, it's worth checking out at http://bit.ly/aOrANP

Oddly enough, England--home to CCTV and other Orwellian apparatus--has devoted far more ink to the content and has continuing coverage. Major outlets in the USA gave speak and ink to the leaked documents in the first week of their release but has not truly continued in diving deeper other to slam Julian Assange. Of course this gives rise to my other burning peeve: lack of coverage on ongoing big news stories of interest. So how can this be remedied?

Probably the bigger question is: Why do citizens allow themselves to float above the news and surf on headlines? What does it say about us citizens of the world when we allow journalism to dissolve into quick elevator messages. The only way to stop two-second journalism is to stop consuming it--but sadly, I see that people just don't have the will to stop. So what's a stopgap measure?

Burning suggestion du jour: News outlets should devote carved-out pages to update stories like BP oil spills, etc.

PS: It's Veteran's Day Thursday in America...does that make the Iraq War Leaks even more important? Email me at burningmatter@gmail.com and let me know.

WikiLeaks, The One Trick Pony?

Looking at WikiLeaks home page, you'd think they were just a one secret trick pony.  http://bit.ly/93mijT

And we all know what happens to a one trick pony--they ride off into the distance never to be heard from again. So, here's what really burns me about Julian Assange and how he is wrecking a good idea.

1) You can't find browse or find information on other "leaks" than "The Iraq War," even though there is a short list buried on the "About WikiLeaks"
2) The site mentions other leaks, but then doesn't give links to either the resulting published stories or a summary of the leak.
3) The only media friendly contacts seem to be with Al Jazeera News--nothing wrong with that, I also peek in on Al Jazeera for their news slant--but please, what other credible media/reporters are there working with WikiLeaks?
4) Julian Assange's mantra seems to be, "Any news is good PR"--but guess what, he's just destroying WikiLeaks credibility and ability to accomplish its mission.
5) WikiLeaks is fast becoming the Julian Assange personality cult.

WikiLeaks is a great idea born in a time when journalism needs it most. I also like the idea that Iceland could be its home. In order for this explosive idea to grow, here's some steps I think need to be taken:

• Julian Assange needs to step down as the sole front man
• WikiLeaks needs to divide, by topic, into a growing collection of leaks
• Multiple global journalists and outlets need to be cultivated in a cooperative and collaborative fashion
• Multi-national legal support needs to be transparent

Let's not allow a good idea, whose time has come, to end up in ashes.

Remember Remember the Fifth of November

Burning Matter: Things Remaining the Same
The Question: Where is our Guy Fawkes?

Happy Guy Fawkes Day! He's the 17th century terrorist who with a group of like-minded conspirators tried to blow up Parliament in London. The reason why: Religion. At the time, 1605, King James I was heading up a Protestant monarchy and the plot was to restore a Catholic one. And while the gunpowder conspiracy was discovered on the fourth, November 5 was the day to celebrate the failure of the King's assassination attempt. Hence the traditional building of bonfires. And while it wasn't until January 1606 that Guy Fawkes was hung, drawn and quartered for treason--remembering the fifth of November is, in fact, a warning to future terrorists.

By the way, this event was merely precursor to the Thirty Year's War (1618-1648) in Europe which started as a conflict between Catholics and Protestants. However, I found a description of the Thirty Year's War as a conflict by Barons wanting a better view of the Rhine.

As I think of Barons wanting a better view and using religion to go to war in order to obtain it, I am reminded of America's war on Iraq which could be thought of as Barons wanting better access to oil and using terror to go to war in order to obtain it.

The more things change, the more they remain the same. So can we all find a route out of these damaging old political patterns that are still the same centuries later? And where is our Guy Fawkes? I would love an explosive new idea that blows up old damaging patterns.

For a change, let's look over the pond and ponder another western country's governmental issues for today. Jo Johnson in today's Financial Times blog space shares grips on the situation in UK as Guy Fawkes Day is remembered: http://bit.ly/9j5gWZ

Notes: Illustration by Crispijn van de Passe, a 17th century Dutch engraver

Information Please

My burning matter today: Information Dislocation
First: Identify the problem
Problem: Finding decent unbiased information in a world of biased information overload

I know this question intersects strongly with two other areas I'm interested in: journalism and WikiLeaks. Reminder folks: this blog is a two-year exploration in issues that matter leading up to an important USA election in 2012; I can't give you the easy answer today.  I invite you to be part of the discussion; Email burningmatter@gmail.com with your thoughts and suggestions. We are making a journey together in order to reset our thinking. Here's some supporting information on why we need a mass "reset" from Joe Keohane's Boston Globe 2010 article titled "How facts backfire. Researcher discover a surprising threat to democracy: our brains"  http://bit.ly/cCQXS4

Let's talk journalism. Not to be pedantic, but let's revisit the ten commandants of journalism. The following is from Wikipedia  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalism: "In order for a journalist to fulfill their duty of providing the people with the information, they need to be free and self-governing. They must follow these guidelines:

1. Journalism's first obligation is to the truth.
2. Its first loyalty is to the citizens.
3. Its essence is discipline of verification.
4. Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover.
5. It must serve as an independent monitor of power.
6. It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.
7. It must strive to make the significant interesting, and relevant.
8. It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional.
9. Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience.
10. Its the rights and responsibilities of citizens."   

Just writing this post is giving me question overload! And yet, I will be expected to be an informed citizen so I can make important informed choices. And I can't make informed choices without information.  Journalism tends to be one of the touchstones for our information and yet journalism has changed dramatically in the past few decades.  Here's just a few examples with important ramifications:

• USA foreign news bureaus reduced by more than 50% so Americans are out of touch with the rest of the world
• No USA new bureaus in Africa, India and South American where more than 2 billion live reside
• Most stories are AP wire and Reuters rehashed without context and connections to news importance
• The rise of journalism as entertainment as we follow Lindsey Lohan into court then rehab, and watch Charlie Sheen tumble through restaurants and wives
• Political parties attack with crafted 20-second elevator statements devoid of content
• Major USA news outlets are corporations with political bias, just look at GE (not to mention the obvious completely biased News Corporation which owns Fox News, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, SKY News, TV Guide Network and many many more media outlets.)

In the face of all this, what steps do I need to take to become an informed decision maker?

So I continue to ponder the matter of information dislocation matter (in other words, those trusted, seemingly ethical bound sources that formerly supplied news are now displaced by a plethora of unhinged corporate interests, blogs, wires and outlets with hidden--and not so hidden--biased agendas).

By the way, let me list the media sources I use to moderate each other's information (not including blogs and topic specific sites such as www.opendemocracy.net and www.transparency.org

New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Aljazeera English Edition, BBC News, Der Spiegel International Online, Salon, Hacker News and Huffington Post.

Tomorrow, I want to explore the whole WikiLeaks topic again.

Burning Matter: The Two Party Country

The two party system does not work anymore--and maybe it never did. Even the first president of the US, George Washington thought that two parties only "...serves to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the Public Administration....agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one....against another....it opens the door to foreign influence and corruption...thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another."

I often think that America might be "too big" for just two parties. Regardless, this two-party system fueled by special interest money is not working. And more Americans than ever are coming to that same conclusion. According to a May 2010 WSJ poll, "Nearly one in three, 31%, said the two-party system is broken and that a third party would be good for the country. It’s the highest mark for that question, which has been asked in 2007, 1997, and 1995 (with 29%, 28% and 27% respectively)." 
http://bit.ly/cbQS9Z

 This topic is far too big for a simple post. But watching the mid-term election campaigns confirms, to me at least, that we have become what Washington feared--a country with two parties whose base concern is to win power by the lowest means possible by setting up ill-founded jealousy, false alarms and animosity against each other.

Our elections have steadily devolved into a popularity contest between two battled hardened special interest groups: Democrats and Republicans.

• Neither are interested in good governance, but in fact waste billions of collective dollars to maintain power bases.
• Neither is interested in true election and campaign reform.
• Neither wants to lose the special interest and lobbyist money and perks and trips and...and....and...
• Neither wants to stop ego-driven infighting

In fact, what we have is exactly what Washington warned us against. So what do we do? Well, I'm going to dig deeper into this topic. I feel I need to because of the near complete lack of choice in the California governor race (an entrenched life time political family son vs. a Silicon Valley billionaire with a political whim). At least Jerry Brown is an idealist--that's probably the best I can say.

Burning Matter: Harvard article affirms yesterday's post

As I said yesterday about WikiLeaks "Having just one source for information activists to share secrets is simply too much for one Julian Assange." Now if only The Harvard Crimson would go the next step to encourage what I suggested.

check out http://bit.ly/cfDG9T

Burning Matter: #sfriots--glad this isn't my car but thanks Holy Mountain Photography for taking it.

The Matter of Giants Fans

Burning Matter du jour: San Francisco Giants Fans rioting like it was the Rodney King verdict in Los Angeles.

Instead of happiness in SF last night glowing in the Giants World Series win, it was a scene from a violent riot with people pelting police and firemen with trash and bottles while starting fires, stabbing people and damaging personal and business property. Even a muni bus was set on fire! This is what passes as "celebration" in San Francisco? I don't even want to begin to think about just how much money (tax dollars mind you) the city of San Francisco needs to pick up after these thugs. Not to mention the business and private property insurance claims being filed as you read this post! And not to mention, I'm guessing, that the cost of this insurance in San Francisco will rise because the public has proven that they are just violent thoughtless thugs

What is equally annoying is that this story is not being given big media time play (yet). I think people need to look very closely at what is happening in our society and in our culture.

Equally sad, you can't get people to get involved with serious causes with peaceful demonstrations and activism; yet there appears to be no end of violence and destruction you can do in the name of celebration. Sad indeed.

 By the way, the SF police actually were amazingly patient and tactful according to reports I've read. Congratulations to them. As for the Giants, well, their win is SF's loss.

The Matter of WikiLeaks

Burning Matter
Do we need a WikiLeaks in the World?

For those who don't know or only know a little, here's a brief background (followed by links to other detailed articles about Wikileaks and its co-founder/director Julian Assange).

Brief Background
Appearing in January 2007, WikiLeaks may have been co-founded by, but is now fronted by Julian Assange who sees himself as an "information activist." Basically WikiLeaks is a dissident minded, freedom of information sharing platform with the goal, "to ensure that whistle-blowers and journalists are not jailed for emailing sensitive or classified documents" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiLeaks). On www.wikileaks.org you will currently find Iraq War Logs - nearly 392,000 Significant Action reports which provide a very different picture of the war from one being told about in major mainstream media.  However, please remember, WikiLeaks is not just about leaking USA documents--this is a global information sharing so any and every country is watching this site.

Information activism probably had it first major modern outing in 1971 when Daniel Ellsberg released what we now call "The Pentagon Papers." And Ellsberg, who is a fan of Wikileaks, was recently quoted in a John Nichols article titled Dan Ellsberg on WikiLeaks & the Essential Democratic Question: Who Will Tell the People? published in the July 26, 2010 issue of The Nation as saying: "Those who leak and publish the true facts about America's wars, he explains, can usually be said to have "showed better judgment in putting it out than the people who keep [the facts] secret from the American people."

Between the leaks, the attacks, the condemnation, the drama and the support something has gone missing. The missing element can be found at the root of the basic matter: What Will You Tell The People?

My Take
I'm a big fan of reality. But I know that reality can take many forms. And the only way I can discern my view is if I have the most information available. I need this information so I can form opinions, vote, provide proper input and develop ideas that are relevant to changing/creating a culture that is optimal for humanity.

So, I like my leaks. And I find it discouraging that "leaks" are almost always portrayed in a negative fashion and usually just because the information leaked is considered negative -- or runs counter to the desired positive outcome. Usually those upset with the leaks are those who are in the position of being responsible for the reason for the leaks. Some of the codewords that supposedly warrant information secrecy these days are terrorism and national security. But in the new era of open social and transparency maybe we should have a public discussion about governmental secrecy, information classification and its rules. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classified_information

 What I would like to see? Not just one WikiLeaks, but many. Having just one source for information activists to share secrets is simply too much for one Julian Assange. We need a community of people dedicated to liberating information and a community to support the effort. In my utopia there is a vast network of released secret information. After all, this is our world and we need to know what's going on with it.

More on WikiLeaks, information secrecy and information activism in the next post.

The First of November, The First of Burning Matter

2010. Mid-term elections around the corner in the USA. Recession or depression-lite depending upon so many factors that it may seem impossible to figure out exactly. The media is sloppier than ever with extra tail spin to each important matter. Wars founded in duplicity still wage with the attendant stories of corruption, abuse and theft of humanity.

Personally, I can only try to understand one burning matter at a time. To understand just one of these burning matters more completely may help integrate the tangled mass of issues so maybe, just maybe, it will be easier to see correlated associations.

I have no order of issues. This is just my way to think through the burning matter that alights. If you want a preview of what I might touch upon, here is a short list.

• The failure of two-party government in the USA
• Wikileaks in the world
• Too big might be too bad for all of us
• The new generation gap
• Drugs: legalize or not
• Is western civilization reinventing fascism?
• Whatever happened to journalism?

The first post follows. The burning matter: "Wikileaks in the World"