Archive for April, 2003
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2003
I've just received, by email, an extraordinary exchange (also available online) between Daniel Amit - physicist - and Martin Blume - editor for the American Physical Society. An extract:
Science cannot stay neutral, especially after it has been so cynically used in the hands of the inspectors to disarm a country ...
Posted in Political activism | Comments Off on Putting the US in quarantine?
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2003
From Toby's Political Diary ("Let it begin here", as the tagline goes) comes a discussion on the nature of fascism, and possibly pertinent examples from the contemporary US. Any piece of this type runs the risk of being dismissed on the basis of Godwin's law, but the reasoned definition of ...
Posted in Political activism | Comments Off on Fascism and equivalence
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2003
I know my previous post on SARS took issue with the media coverage of the issue, but my view is moderating somewhat. It does appear that some of the features of the disease are cause for concern - such as the rapid mutating of the virus.
Declan McCullagh's Politech list has ...
Posted in Society and culture | 2 Comments »
Monday, April 21st, 2003
Just received a note from Bob McChesney about the FCC's proposed regulation changes and what you can do to help:
Dear Friend,
If you believe that we need a free and independent media in the United States, we need you to send an email to Congress right now telling them so. Go ...
Posted in Media regulation | 10 Comments »
Monday, April 21st, 2003
I knew TV Turnoff Week was just around the corner - I just hadn't realised it was this week! Some find Adbusters annoying with their ritual "the networks won't air an ad telling people TV is bad", and some of their rhetoric can appear unthinking and reactionary. However it is ...
Posted in Corporate media | 1 Comment »
Monday, April 21st, 2003
There's a good piece on the moves to rewrite media regulations from Camille Taiara at City Beat (the piece first appeared in the SF Bay Guardian). One choice quote:
Read through the FCC's "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" for the current review or through one of Powell's editorials in USA Today, and ...
Posted in Media regulation | Comments Off on FCC and media reform
Monday, April 21st, 2003
A bit late this - I had noted the story, but put it on the back burner.
Michael Croft of Blogcritics has noted that Hilary Rosen of RIAA may be drafting new legislation IP for Iraq.
The story seems to originate with a Greg Palast report on Democracy Now (wish I'd thought ...
Posted in Intellectual property issues | Comments Off on IP in Iraq
Monday, April 21st, 2003
Was browsing Counterpunch when this image caught my eye, and I clicked-through. As the site says:Bienestar International is manufacturing a union-made casual apparel line under the brand name No Sweat?. Our clothing is produced by independent trade union members in the US, Canada, EU and the developing world. We believe ...
Posted in Labour issues | Comments Off on No Sweat!
Monday, April 21st, 2003
The US has proclaimed both that Iraq will have democracy, without outside interference, and that Iraq must remain a single state have seemed somewhat contradictory to me. Now the Washington Post has weighed in on the matter, noting that Yugoslavia may provide the proper precedent - and that the arbitary ...
Posted in International Affairs | Comments Off on Is Iraq Yugoslavia or Japan?
Monday, April 21st, 2003
It's nothing new to see disparities in coverage of two tragic stories, but it always pays to notice the trends...
Posted in Corporate media | Comments Off on 1 story, 2 sets of coverage