Earlier in the day I saw mentioned on a Millions Against Monsanto site the likelihood that the mainstream media would not give coverage to said event. I thought to myself, hmmm, that sounds about right. Later I perused the NBC News website, and found, indeed, no mention of it. This was around 11:00 am EDT, after I had viewed clips of demonstrations and live streams from Cairo, Melbourne, London, and others. So the social media were there, just not the MSM.
Then, buried near the bottom of NBC’s site, away from everything else on the page, in parentheses, quotated, read the following words:
Millions will cross deficient bridges this weekend
and I thought to myself, if the MSM won’t cover the march by choice, then I’ll just have to sneak in the back door, so to speak. So I scrolled down to the comment section, and added this comment:
and hundreds of thousands of marchers will be marching against Monsanto, but you won’t hear about that in the mainstream media.
They asked me for a user name, which was easy because I have a legal name which no one on the planet has (almost- there is a Meldrum Bay on Lake Superior), and then announced that after sending me a confirmation email that they would post my comment. My friends, corporations ARE people, and they file unpopular views just like a repug would do - in the trash. I still haven’t received that confirmation email. When I enter it autofill took over and entered it correctly for me.
Playing devil’s advocate here, they can claim that my comment wasn’t really about the bridge collapse over the Skagit River, which it wasn’t, but in answer to that I would merely cite all of the brainless and racist comments that get posted all the time about other stories on their site. No, my friends, I suspect a Monsanto filter at play that catches any comment with that word. But that would imply collusion on the part of NBC and Monsanto. I’m not willing to claim that for now. We know the influence Monsanto has over the FDA. I’m thinking a list of NBC Universal board members might yield some clues, but I don’t have the time for that this weekend. And maybe my instincts are off.
I’ve pretty much given up on climate change. The fix is in, the pipeline will go through, and the people power can’t win against the oil folks. But food, well, that’s another matter entirely. History is filled with revolutions triggered by hunger or lack of access to food. The Millions Against Monsanto may well be the start of a food revolution, and though Monsanto may own the government, farmers and activists make a potent combination.
Update: 6:30 pm Saturday evening... tried posting a second identical comment at 4:30 pm. Same deal, confirm the email we are sending you and we will post your comment. No email, and comment never posted. But the Millions against Monsanto in Knoxville, TN had over 500 shows, which for the republican home of such stalwarts as Stacy Campfield, R-moron, and tea party favorite Marsha Brown, is not too shabby. Even had an official visit from an anonymous member of Anonymous, and some great signs, but little or no media coverage of course.
None. Checked all four local affiliate websites. ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox (Fox doesn’t even have a news tab at the top of the page; just Entertainment, Weather, Sports, Lifestyle, and Community. That’s interesting in and of itself).The local Scripps owned newspaper mocked the Occupy Knoxville demonstrations last year, so I don’t expect anything out of them tomorrow. It makes me wonder if it’s fear of the legal resources of Monsanto, or are the media just out and out owned by them. Still nothing on the NBC National website.
This link will take you to a bunch of pics that will show you what a protest in Republican Land looks like.
Millions Against Monsanto: Knoxville
Oh, and good evening to all you NSA recording devices.
Update II: 6:20 pm ABC News website reports over two million marchers in 400 cities. Yeah, two million IS kind of hard to ignore.