Lessons of Darkness, Werner Herzog

Steve Brodner on the PI

One of my favorite satirists Steve Brodner wrote about Hearst's closing of the Seattle PI,

"Today marks the death of the Seattle Post Intelligencer. Published since the civil war, nothing could stop this paper, except our situation today. I can only conclude that a part of our civilization is lost now unless we can organize somehow to replace this necessary imperfect creation, the newspaper. We cannot function very well at all without it. And we have to do this fast."

Bruce Bartlett, former Treasury Dept. economist under HW Bush,

“Personally, I am partial to the nonprofit model. Foundations, universities, think tanks and even political parties might sponsor publications. For example, the Ford Foundation might take over The New York Times, Harvard University might buy The Boston Globe and the Heritage Foundation might assume control of the The Washington Times. They could run these publications without expectation of profit and a least keep alive the basic journalistic function.”

“Ohio’s Last Drops of Black Gold,” is look into a domestic drilling company and group of men that consider themselves on the “frontlines of America’s thirst for oil.” Oil drilling in Ohio began in 1860. For a period of time the oil fields in Lima, Ohio were the largest in the world. Although much of the oil in the state has either been extracted or is not economically feasible to drill, a few companies are continuing to drill. According to Dow Bowman, owner of Bowman Drilling Company, “Most of the oil and gas in southeastern Ohio and eastern Ohio over the last 100 years has been drilled. We are going back through old fields now trying to squeeze out any area that may have been missed.”

Ohio's Last Drops of Black Gold