Dear John: Do something. Please.

By Carl Safina
Posted: January 15, 2012 7:42pm

Well, people, what an incredibly long drop it’s been since the electrifying National Geographic TV specials of my youth, whose mere opening theme notes would raise the hair on my neck.

It seems almost like the scenario of a post-apocalyptic surrealist satire, unimaginable just a few years back: National Geographic Channel has been bought out by Fox, is “joint-venturing” with the disgraceful and disgraced Rupert Murdoch, and creating programming to push Bill O’Reilly’s books. And, well — National Geographic Channel will be killing endangered species for entertainment.

"Wicked Tuna" follows the lives of commercial tuna fishermen. (photo via the National Geographic Channel)

They’ve just announced the new unscripted show: Wicked Tuna.

Awesome, eh? Already, we have: a smiling face and a dead, rather small, bluefin tuna.

Here, in 2012, I find the premise revolting. Despicable.

And therefore, it’s bound to be a crowd pleaser as National Geographic Channel aims to lead in Cable’s race to the bottom….

Please read the whole thing here.

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Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corp is the majority owner of the National Geographic Channel, is wreaking havoc with our Society's good name.

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Tagged as: Bill O'Reilly, Carl Safina, Dear John, Fox, Huffington Post, John Fahey, News Corp, NG Channel, Rupert Murdoch, Wild Tuna

davemarciano

http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/the-victory-of-the-commons?fb_ref=likebutton&fb_source=profile_oneline&fwcc=1&fwcl=1&fwl

On the myth about tragety of the commons

http://societymatters.org Alan Mairson

Fascinating. Thanks for the link, Dave.

One passage in particular caught my eye: “Garrett Hardin himself later revised his own view, noting that what he described was actually the Tragedy of the Unmanaged Commons. Columbia University economist Joseph Stiglitz, also a Nobel winner, commented, “Conservatives used the Tragedy of the Commons to argue for property rights, and that efficiency was achieved as people were thrown off the commons…What Ostrom has demonstrated is the existence of social control mechanisms that regulate the use of the commons without having to resort to property rights.”

In the case of fisheries, is government the “social control mechanism”?

davemarciano

Your welcome . Just my opinion but if you pay attention to whats going I. In New Englsnd groundfishery over the past 18 months to two years . You can see the devesating effects of a move to quotas or away from a system of the commons . I believe it sent us back 100 years in successful fisheries management for the . For those who don’t know groundfishery being . Cod , haddock , and flounders some of the most popular food fish . I believe that the point of being well managed is the key . I think we were close to that but quotas pushed us back to the dark ages .

http://societymatters.org Alan Mairson

Well, now you’ve lost me a bit. I thought quotas imposed by the government would be the “social control mechanism” that prevented what that article called the “Tragedy of the Unmanaged Commons.”

Without quotas, who or what does the managing?