Media

In the era of Occupy Wall Street and vast income inequality Bloomberg reporter Max Abelson is performing a public service. With a therapist's knack he's getting all sorts of bankers to spill their guts on the frustrations that come with making a ton of money. It's surprising that these conversations are all on the record until you realize these people truly are living in a different universe.

A few weeks ago, Desmogblog.com released a series of internal documents from the Heartland Institute, one of the leaders of the climate denial movement, which shows the Institute’s strategy for pushing their climate denying message.

“I’m against very wealthy ­people attempting to or influencing elections” 

You might think this statement was made by Buddy Roemer, or a member of Occupy Wall Street. But you’d be wrong.

It's not entirely clear what Rick Santorum was thinking in going after President Obama this past week for wanting more young people to go to college. Perhaps he thought that bashing college is a great way to bond with the blue collar voters Santorum needs to win Michigan. Or perhaps he thinks that bashing colleges as liberal "indoctrination mills" -- as he did on Glenn Beck's show -- is a great way to bond with the conservative base.

With the Michigan primaries just one day away, the spotlight has been put back on the economic pain felt across the state. On MSNBC's "Up with Chris Hayes" this Saturday, Demos' Bob Herbert posed the million dollar question to advocates and civic leaders from the hard-hit city of Detroit:

In a speech today before Third Way, the centrist Democratic think tank, Steny Hoyer -- who is the second highest ranking Democrat in the House as Whip -- said that a big deficit reduction agreement would "provide the biggest single stimulus to the economy we could achieve. Setting our economy back on a sustainable, predictable fiscal path will help us create jobs by restoring certainty for businesses and enabling them to plan for a future without the brinksmanship that has characterized this Congress."

Get ready, after today's shooting at Chardon High School in Ohio, for yet another round of superficial analysis of what lies behind these deadly episodes. Media accounts of school shootings almost always focus on the availability of guns or, sometimes, on the influence of violent video games or other media.

Few would disagree that the United States needs to stay on the cutting edge of science and technology in order to remain a global economic powerhouse. Stop innovating in today's high-tech era and we'll be left behind by those countries that do.

Where there is ever less agreement, though, is what the proper role is for government in helping to spur innovation. No surprise there, since everything government does is now being fiercely contested.

At the University of Virginia, 17 students (now including a member of the school’s beloved athletic program) are entering the 7th day of a hunger strike, calling for living wages for all campus employees.