Soldiers want withdrawal is not recent news....

The fact that the soldiers want to withdraw from Iraq is not a recent phenomenon. There's been a poll out for awhile where 72% of the troops (stationed in Iraq) thought the US should withdraw from Iraq. Grassroots "peace" activists in Hampton Roads are regularly approached by local service members voicing concerns about the Iraq occupation.

The "news" was that the topic got some coverage by the Nation. (I noticed a few other VA bloggers were posting this Nation scoop a few hours "after" it first appeared on the lefty blog roll...Kudo's go to this blog for breaking the story in the VA Blog network. Credit where credit is due folks.)

There are two Virginian Pilot articles featuring Jonathen Hutto and his appeal for redress. October article November article (So the VA Pilot "finally" deserves some credit for not ignoring this story. Hopefully, the Virginian Pilot will become "curious" about what local activists in Hampton Roads are up to and more pertinent local news coverage will be done. Folks are tired of the media obsession with crime, crime, and more crime. We want in-depth coverage on "pending legislation" so that folks have time to research and then contact their elected officials BEFORE the bill is passed.)

It is amazing that the Appeal for Redress project has managed to obtain over a thousand signatures in spite of systemic obstacles. We know that military personnel are "hesitant" to speak their minds when their opinion differs from the commander in chief. The military structure discourages speaking out an opinion or concern. The service members working on the Appeal to Redress project are not allowed to discuss the issue on base with their colleagues. All Appeal for Redress activities have to be done off base and in civilian life (including the clothing). [Note to Service Members: Jonathen Hutto (the founder of this Appeal for Redress) is currently up for "Sailor of the Year."]

I "predict" that if the Corporate Media adequately covers this story and the service members discover they can legitimately voice their concerns to Congress...there will be more "thousands" of signatures headed to Congress. I believe just the reservists who would like to "Appeal for Redress" number in the thousands....IF this gets adequate coverage the service members themselves may be the factor that ends the occupation of Iraq.

Heck....even Colin Powell has "finally" decided to speak out and call for the troops to withdraw within the next six months.

UPDATE: Star is correct on one point....This blog was first up on Lefty Blogs at 12:02 pm. However, as I surfed this a.m. I believe that the west of shockoe blog is the one who got the scoop on all. Their post on this reads 11:01 a.m. We stand self-corrected on this point....Buzz...Buzz...Mosquito

Media Watch--Hampton Roads

Local television newscasts are difficult for many of us to keep up with. Yesterday, I was flipping through channels and I caught the tail end of a WVEC tv (channel 13) broadcast. They were comparing drug prices of three popular prescription drugs (I have no idea if these were generics, etc). However, unlike the Virginian Pilot's recent drug story WVEC included COSTCO in it's report. I saw that the lowest COSTCO competitor's prices for the three drugs was approximately $116.00

Costco's price was approximately $47.00. The $69.00 savings is significant. It would definitely be worth the time and gas to travel to Costco to get this kind of savings.

So three and a half buzzes for WVEC for doing a competent job reporting on local drug prices.

Media Watch--Virginian Pilot Fails it's Readers

On Wed, November 15 The Virginian Pilot ran a story entitled "Pills and Bills" comparing generic drug costs and advising its readers on pharmacies they could choose from.

Amazingly enough they left out a major cost cutting pharmacy in the region. Consumer Reports has identified Costco as providing the best deal on medications in the country. There are three Costco stores in our region AND the medications are also available via the internet.

Costco also allows non-members to use their pharmacy so the annual membership price is not a factor.

I contacted Michelle E. Shaw, one of the reporters of this story, During our conversation Ms. Shaw affirmed she was familiar with Costco and the Consumer Reports information. When asked why Costco was excluded from the story Ms. Shaw stated that it was because they only had three stores in the Hampton Roads region and the criteria for selecting the pharmacies was clearly stated in the story.

I read the story and I "missed the criteria that Ms. Shaw was referring too.

It's too bad that the Virginian Pilot readers were not given the information that would have directed them to what is most likely "the best deal in town."

One has to wonder if advertising revenues have anything to do with "leaving out 'Costco'." Costco is often called the biggest retailer that you haven't heard of. Costco relies on word of mouth, internal advertising, and rarely spends money advertising with corporate media.

The Virginian Pilot did a disservice to it's readers by not mentioning Costco as a valuable resource to check out when comparing prescription drug costs.