Mad As Hell
First we had Al Gore letting loose with
both barrels at NYU, and now Bill Moyers drops the bomb on the
poverty gap in this country.
"The rich have the right to buy more homes than anyone else. They have the right to buy more cars than anyone else, more gizmos than anyone else, more clothes and vacations than anyone else. But they do not have the right to buy more democracy than anyone else."
P.S: Earth to Kerry: mebbe you want to talk to one of these guys, they seem to be on to something. Have one of your speech writers give them a call...
posted by piedrasyluz
on Jun 18, 2004 -
47 comments
When U.S. Foreign Policy Meets Biblical Prophecy "Does the Bible foretell regime change in Iraq? Did God establish Israel's boundaries millennia ago? Is the United Nations a forerunner of a satanic world order?
For millions of Americans, the answer to all those questions is a resounding yes"
"Leaders have always invoked God's blessing on their wars, and, in this respect, the Bush administration is simply carrying on a familiar tradition."
posted by thedailygrowl
on Feb 21, 2003 -
10 comments
Covered with moss: I've been a continuous subscriber to
Rolling Stone ever since I bought my first issue off the newsstand in October 1975 ("Patty Hearst: The Inside Story"), back when the magazine was still published on newsprint in SF and at least seemed to be a product of the counterculture. Today it's a
glossy celebrity rag published in NY and has almost no relevance to anything except the most superficial aspects of pop culture. Publisher Jann Wenner is bringing in a new editor in hopes of appealing to a younger demographic; this piece asks: Why not just pull the plug instead?
posted by nathanstack
on Jul 2, 2002 -
28 comments
'Over-newsed' and disconnected by thousands of miles:
Will there reach a point where we are intellectually drowned by news from a 'distant' and deepening war? I myself listen to Talk of The Nation daily, read the news hourly (when I can that frequently) and yet I cannot, or better yet, am having a hard time feeling the insane tragedy that has befallen our planet. Will complacence set in as those of us who are concerned feel more and more powerless to even possibly exact the smallest amount of change that each of our voices can in our respective countries? It is painful to not be particulary 'moved' by this link's eyewitness accounts of the battle underway in Ramallah. Is it simply too much to vicariously behold for the mortal human?
posted by crasspastor
on Apr 3, 2002 -
30 comments
Brand USA Naomi ('No Logo') Klein on Charlotte Beers' work to manage the US 'brand'. Sitting outside the US, a lot of what Klein says about external perception of the 'brand' (and of Beers' actions) seems quite believable to me, but I'd be interested in hearing an insider view.
Klein's assertion that "...
America's problem is not with its brand-- which could scarcely be stronger--but with its product" seems relatively solid, and if it is, it seems that Ms Beers' mission is all-but-impossible, or at the very least misdirected.
That said, the thrust of Klein's argument is the assertion that the US's values are basically incompatible with the whole idea of branding, and I'd suggest that the same could be said of many countries. I suppose the point here is that this specific exercise is rooted in the US's positioning of itself in the world at this point in time.
[Via
abraxas]
posted by jonpollard
on Mar 18, 2002 -
4 comments
'Alternative' media can be corrupted too. Narco News publisher Al Giordano is pulling out of
Alternet, which he said has a near monopoly in the market of "alternative" news syndication. He outlines a number of problems with Alternet's operation and its director: in addition to taking
half the fee paid for content, he says Alternet also stole content and blacklisted writers. He also touches on the sometimes rivalry with "alternative" news groups, including
FAIR,
Project Censored, and
IndyMedia, and expresses hopes for
looming competition. In the fight to legitimize "alternative" media, are the evils of the mainstream unavoidable? [More inside]
posted by pzarquon
on Mar 4, 2002 -
2 comments
Adum Druckman does a nostalgic then-and-now by comparing today's weblogs to its earlier incarnation, the clunky personal homepage. While I appreciate Druckman's yearning for yesteryear, I think he needs to browse around more -- there's still plenty of clunky old pages out there to charm him. But it does make me pause and wonder where will weblogs go next? Your thoughts?
posted by debrahyde
on Sep 6, 2001 -
8 comments
