MetaFilter posts tagged with alternet

Once Rapture starts leaking, the old girl's never gonna stop.

The Whelk — Sun, 31 May 2009 11:30:38 -0800

The Seasteading Institute (previously) is the brain-child of former Google engineer Patri Friedman , and seeks to set up independent governments in international waters. In April 2009, the institute received $500,000 of seed funding from PayPal founder Peter Thiel. After reading it's revised manifesto, Brad Reed (of Sadly, No) remains unimpressed. "The seasteaders briefly address the threat of piracy by explaining that "most pirate attacks are either very small-scale, preying on unarmed ships, or very large-scale, with organized groups stealing entire cargo ships. A seastead will be too tough for small pirates and not financially worthwhile for big ones." Really! An entire sea platform filled with highly profitable illegal drugs would not be financially worthwhile for pirates to attack! Good luck with that."

The touchy-feely web

Human Stain — Mon, 24 Jan 2005 07:43:26 -0800

Thingster is an open-source weblogging service for locative media. It's also the backend for BooksWeLike, which describes itself as "activist e-commerce" and is sponsored (partially) by AlterNet. It's part of a movement for social sharing services, which seems to be an extension of what was previously discussed here.

Mad As Hell

piedrasyluz — Fri, 18 Jun 2004 10:21:57 -0800

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...

The P.U.-Lizter prizes are out.

skallas — Wed, 31 Dec 2003 00:45:40 -0800

The P.U.-Lizter prizes are out. Also, Geov Parrish's media follies.

foreign policy and biblical prophecy

thedailygrowl — Fri, 21 Feb 2003 19:27:18 -0800

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."

nathanstack — Tue, 02 Jul 2002 11:25:52 -0800

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?

ookamaka — Thu, 25 Apr 2002 23:34:07 -0800

Is Taking Psychedelics an Act of Sedition?

crasspastor — Wed, 03 Apr 2002 01:24:31 -0800

'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?

jonpollard — Mon, 18 Mar 2002 04:59:57 -0800

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]

pzarquon — Mon, 04 Mar 2002 00:22:43 -0800

'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]

geir — Sat, 10 Nov 2001 08:37:41 -0800

What bin Laden and Bush Don't Talk About: The Politics of Oil , an article on alternet.org. The title is better than the article, but it's food for thought anyway.

KirkJobSluder — Thu, 18 Oct 2001 15:12:18 -0800

What does Dick Armey, the Green Party, the Traditional Values Coalition and the American Kurdish Information Network have in common? They all are blocked by internet filters mandated by congress in schools and libraries. That's ok, I didn't want to go to the Focus on the Family Pure Intimacy site anyway.

debrahyde — Thu, 06 Sep 2001 05:51:36 -0800

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?

lagado — Wed, 13 Jun 2001 20:40:31 -0800

What your government isn't telling you:
Pot Cures Cancer