It’s 2012 and the news is as crazy as ever.  I really dropped the ball on archiving all the crazy things I’ve read over the last year so I’m going to do a couple posts about some stories from the past year.

Mysterious UFO-like object spotted on sea floor

by Amanda Kooser August 2, 2011 12:47 PM PDT

Sometimes it’s hard to remember just where you parked your UFO.

(Credit: Peter Lindberg)

Paging Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, we need you at the Baltic Sea as soon as possible. In what sounds like an opening for the next X-Files movie, an ocean salvage exploration company found an object on the floor of the Baltic Sea that looks an awful lot like a UFO.

The sonar images are vague at best, but the object still bears an uncanny resemblance to the outline of the Millennium Falcon. Has George Lucas been spotted anywhere in the vicinity?

The images come courtesy of the Ocean Explorer team, an experienced group of Swedish salvagers that already raised an impressive collection of rare and very expensive champagne from the watery depths.

Crazy eh!? I don’t remember seeing that in my Google news feed back in August!

My twin told me about a story she heard in which the CRTC are trying to re-word regulations that ban the broadcasting of false or misleading news.  This means news outlets wouldn’t have to fact check, or be accountable for reporting misleading news as long as it doesn’t endanger human life.  We can’t let this happen in Canada, or we’ll be drowned in our own versions of Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reily.

Getting clear, accurate and unbiased news is already hard as is.  Further deregulation will harm the people of this country and move us further away from Democracy.  Unsurprisingly, this is barely being reported on.  I could only find it in a few places.

http://www.care2.com/causes/politics/blog/crtc-to-allow-fake-news-just-in-time-for-fox-news-north-to-launch/

The regulation dealing with false or misleading news has been on the books for years. The wording of the regulation itself is at odds with a 1992 court ruling that stated that that the “right to freedom of expression” meant that a person could not be charged for disseminating false information. Committees have been asking the CRTC about this conflict since 2000, but the CRTC has appeared to have little interest in making any changes.
All that changed just over a month ago, when the commission suddenly and quietly announced it was proposing a change the wording of the regulation to say that it applied “only in cases in which broadcasters knew the information was false or misleading and that reporting it was likely to endanger the lives, health or safety of the public.” The public had one month to provide feedback.  That month expired last week.
Under the new regulations, any complainant would have to prove that the reporters knew that the information they were spreading was false or misleading, putting the responsibility on the viewer rather than the news media organization.

You can sign their petition here.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/crtc-plan-to-lift-ban-on-false-news-prompts-political-investigation/article1898147/

NDP MP Charlie Angus noted that the proposed change precedes the start of Sun TV, a network that has been shepherded in large part by Kory Teneycke, the former director of communication to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

“We all know our Prime Minister well enough to say we don’t have to be in the realm of conspiracy theory here,” Mr. Angus said at a news conference on Monday. “We can draw our conclusions and they are pretty clear.”

Behind the scenes, officials say the timing is purely coincidental, the PMO had nothing to do with it, and that the CRTC simply realized it eventually had to answer the concerns of the regulatory committee.

But Mr. Angus persuaded the Commons committee on Canadian heritage to initiate a study of the CRTC proposal. And he urged Canadians to let the commission know how they feel about it before the Wednesday deadline.

“What’s disturbed us with this [proposed] regulation change is that it’s happening very quickly and there’s very little awareness of it,” Mr. Angus said.

“It seems astounding that the CRTC would consider such a move at a time when we see the growing backlash in the United States to the poisoned levels of political discourse in the American media.”

Avaaz has a petition here.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/canada_fair_and_balanced/?copy

Green Party has a sample comment you can use to voice your complaints.

http://greenparty.ca/stand-up-for-truth

The CRTC has closed its too-short comment period on its so-called ‘public consultations’ on proposed changes to Canadian broadcasting regulations that will open the door to misinformation and lies on our airwaves.

The CRTC has been considering changing the rules that prevent TV and radio broadcasters from saying things they know to be untrue. The proposed amendment to the rules says broadcasters may not present “any news that the licensee knows is false or misleading and that endangers or is likely to endanger the lives, health or safety of the public.” That gives news broadcasters a license to lie. By arguing that a false or misleading news report does not endanger lives, health or safety, a broadcaster could get away with presenting things they know are false.

But just because the CRTC thinks they’ve heard enough, doesn’t mean we can’t stop telling them. If you didn’t submit a comment during the consultation period, send a comment to the CRTC telling them you still want your voice to be heard. Make sure you also contact your local Member of Parliament.

You can use this template for your comment, and send it from  http://www.crtc.gc.ca/RapidsCCM/Register.asp?lang=E

Sample Comment

The Hon. Konrad W. von Finckenstein

General Secretary of the CRTC

Dear Mr. Finckenstein,

As a Canadian citizen, I am very concerned about the proposed amendments to: 
Paragraph 3(d) of the Radio Regulations, 1986;

Paragraph 5(1)(d) of the Television Broadcasting Regulations, 1987;

Paragraph 3(2)(c) of the Pay Television Regulations, 1990; 
Paragraph (3)(d) of the Specialty Services Regulations, 1990.

I believe the proposed wording in these paragraphs that prohibits broadcasters from presenting “…any news that the licensee knows is false or misleading and that endangers or is likely to endanger the lives, health or safety of the public” gives broadcasters a license to lie, permitting them to present false or misleading news by allowing them to argue it does not endanger the lives, health or safety of the public.

The current wording of these regulations is completely clear and has worked perfectly well for years. I do not believe any amendment is necessary.  I believe it is unacceptable to present false or misleading news under any circumstances, whether or not it presents a danger to lives, health or safety. Presenting lies as fact is damaging to our society and to our democratic institutions. Falsehoods are wrong. Period. That is what we teach our children. That is what we expect from our friends. That is what we should expect from our news broadcasters.

I would also like to express my deep concern about the way the CRTC has attempted to make such a major change to our broadcasting system with virtually no publicized public consultation, and with such a short period of time available for Canadians to become aware of and comment on the issue.

Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]

More info:

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2011/2011-14.htm

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/5570/125/

http://www.rabble.ca/news/2011/02/crtc-ruling-easing-broadcast-restrictions-will-lead-broken-bones-and-worse