What is the logical consequence of noting the fact that the terrorist groups that make a difference on planet Earth—such as Hamas and Hezbollah, the PLO, Colombia's FARC—are extensions of, respectively, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and Venezuela? It is the negation of the U.S. government's favorite axiom. It means that when George W. Bush spoke, and when Barack Obama speaks, of America being "at war" against "extremism" or "extremists" they are either being stupid or acting stupid to avoid dealing with the nasty fact that many governments wage indirect warfare.

International relations professor Angelo M. Codevilla argues that Osama bin Laden is not quite influential, not quite relevant, and probably dead. (multipage version)
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Mar 27, 2009 - 33 comments

Rethinking Public Opinion - the immense importance of public opinion polling in American politics, and the under-reported problems at the heart of the enterprise, combine to call for a serious critique of the polling industry, its assumptions, and its method
posted by Gyan on Nov 8, 2008 - 40 comments

GEORGE PUTNAM (all caps, because that's the way he said everything), Los Angeles Television/Radio Legend, has died at the age of 94. A protege of Walter Winchell who came to L.A. in 1951 to restart a stalled career as a news anchor, he was famous for his dramatic style and extremely UNobjective reporting. Retrospective of his colorful career: Part One, Part Two. Best known on the Web as the "outstanding news reporter" who narrated the '50s alarmist documentary "Perversion for Profit", he was also acknowledged as the model for the Mary Tyler Moore show's bombastic newsman character Ted Baxter (seen here sitting in on a real newscast). Not restricting his editorializing to his daily "One Reporter's Opinion" segment, he is credited/blamed for the election of Sam Yorty as mayor of Los Angeles. And when TV News outgrew him, he found a home for the next 30 years doing Talk Radio (where some of us believe Rush Limbaugh also modeled his style after him). And that’s the up-to-the-minute obitfilter; up to the minute, that’s all the obitfilter. [more inside]
posted by wendell on Sep 13, 2008 - 13 comments

Pluribo is a way-cool Firefox extension that automagically summarises Amazon product reviews.
posted by matthewr on Jul 1, 2008 - 25 comments

An opinion piece by Edward N. Luttwak in the May 12 Sunday New York Times declares that Obama is an apostate under Islamic law (Sharia), and thus that an Obama Presidency would compromise US relations with the Middle East. This Sunday, Clark Hoyt, the NYT ombudsman, was sorry.
posted by flotson on Jun 2, 2008 - 56 comments

Recently an opinion writer for The Age, Catherine Deveny unleashed a firestorm of sorts when she wrote an article entitled 'Why Do Some Wives Still Change Their Names?'. The reaction to her article (from both men and women) was strong; so much so that in a recent follow up article entitled 'I Don't Give A Stuff What You Do. I'm Paid To Write What I Think' , she jokingly wrote that it had had the effect of reducing her readership to three. But when an article penned by a professional comedian employs such pointed rhetoric along the lines of "Insecure or conservative or stupid women are bowing to the wishes of their husbands", can she truly claim surprise at the level of vitriol her article generated or is this simply a case of an opinion writer trying to get opinions?
posted by Second Account For Making Jokey Comments on Sep 19, 2007 - 98 comments

The New York Times has published its first video "letter to the editor", a 10-minute mini-documentary by Charles Ferguson on the decision by L. Paul Bremer to disband the Iraqi army shortly after the US occupation began. The video is posted as a rebuttal to a recent op-ed by Bremer that tried to redistribute some of the blame for that catastrophic blunder that in large part gave birth to the Sunni insurgency.
posted by stbalbach on Sep 15, 2007 - 22 comments

All men are liars. Start with the follow-up to this much-discussed article.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Aug 3, 2007 - 103 comments

'In defense of film critics' posits that 'Film critics [unlike food critics, etc] are expected to be cheerleaders.' I guess we're not supposed to think it's odd that the piece was written by paper's resident film critic. He does ask at least one good question, though: why have so many truly awful [and poorly reviewed ] films done so well at the the box office this year?
posted by chuckdarwin on Apr 27, 2007 - 36 comments

Newsfilter: Bush and America are now perceived to be more dangerous than Kim Jong-il according to an international opinion poll published by the Guardian Newspaper. Perhaps more interesting than that, it shows that only 1 in 4 people in Israel think that Bush has made the world safer - a fairly small percentage for a country that is traditionally one of America's staunchest allies when it comes to national security...
posted by Mave_80 on Nov 3, 2006 - 90 comments

A Rogue State. Matt Yglesias sums up what America has become after the McCain "Compromise."
posted by empath on Sep 26, 2006 - 48 comments

Their view is that psyops can be directed toward global transregional audiences. My view is that that’s not possible because it directs psyops against our own friends and allies and even at our own public. ... In Mind Games, Columbia Journalism Review thoroughly examines the disintegrating lines between Public Affairs, Psy-Ops, IO, the public, and the truth. Some old friends are mentioned too: the Lincoln Group, the Rendon Group, the Pentagon, our own media, and others. If truth is our greatest weapon, as Rumsfeld has said, how can the administration hope to prevail in an information war when it is not honest with itself?
posted by amberglow on May 1, 2006 - 21 comments

Feminism causes rape. Or, maybe not.
posted by nofundy on Apr 26, 2006 - 166 comments

an example of Operation Homefront? --this news report about a Reservist back from Iraq is apparently part of a new Pentagon propaganda operation aimed at us. ...Did Diaz return to the U.S. on emergency leave with an agenda -- to offer a positive spin that could help counter growing concerns among Americans about the U.S. exit strategy? How do we know that's not his strategy, especially after he discloses that superior officers encouraged him to talk about his experiences in Iraq? ...
posted by amberglow on Jan 4, 2006 - 91 comments

Spengler of the Asia Times. Right-headed, wrong-headed, at times off-headed, but always interesting. You can spend a lot of time wading through the archives. The fellow, anonymous for whatever reason, has written on US/China trade, Ratzinger as a dark age theologian, the American empire , how Europe might be re-Christianized, US vs Islam, religion vs philosphy, Tolkien vs Wagner, internet stocks , and anti-semitism. A bit of something for everyone. Also runs a lively little forum.
posted by IndigoJones on May 14, 2005 - 20 comments

Goodbye and good riddance to William Safire. Though, yes, admittedly not good form to post a link to an Op-Ed piece, let alone several, Safire's retirement from the Times' Op-Ed pages is something of a landmark event, even to those of us who grew up reading his On Language pieces (which will continue) and did not yet know of his past as a speechwriter for Richard M. Nixon. His opinions were sometimes aggravating, and other times, infuriating, but they were always well-written. [many NY Times links]
posted by psmealey on Jan 25, 2005 - 19 comments

Don't believe the hype Debunking the so-called genius of Prince, The Sopranos and 'Blade Runner'. Amusingly harsh yet convincing cases all round. Can I add 'Goodfellas' to the list? Never has so much been written about a film so lacking. I prefered 'Casino'.
posted by feelinglistless on Dec 4, 2004 - 135 comments

MemeOrandum: A newfangled news tangle [via Poynter Online]
posted by mmahaffie on Nov 19, 2004 - 5 comments

Al Gore on tomorrow's Bush-Kerry duel: The debate tomorrow should not seek to discover which candidate would be more fun to have a beer with. As Jon Stewart of the "The Daily Show'' nicely put in 2000, "I want my president to be the designated driver.''
posted by CunningLinguist on Sep 29, 2004 - 37 comments

What Is Conservatism and What Is Wrong with It? According to Philip E. Agre, previously discussed here and the guy behind the Red Rock Eater News Service, the answers to these questions are simple (if 13k+ words = simple).
posted by boost ventilator on Aug 15, 2004 - 41 comments

Voice of a Superpower --Foreign Policy magazine puts together an interview with John & Jane Q. Public on us, the world, terror, and stuff--based on our responses to public-opinion polls from a wide variety of sources.
posted by amberglow on Jun 7, 2004 - 5 comments

Tom Friedman, well meaning NYT columnnist lunkhead, gets job outsourced In a stunning development, Tom Friedman - until recently the famous NYT op-ed columnist who has downplayed the outsourcing of American jobs, finds his job has been outsourced due to an egregious factual error concerning T-shirts. "[ BANGALORE, India ] I am delighted to write to you today as the new foreign-affairs columnist for the New York Times . My name is Tam Veeraraghavan. Ah, you say, you've never heard of Tam Veeraraghavan, but the name sounds vaguely Indian. Well, I am an Indian. I live in Bangalore. And I'm now the pundit you read in this newspaper. Now some of you might think that I'm an example of how outsourcing is hurting American workers. Well let me introduce you to Yamini Narayanan, an Indian-born 35-year-old with a Ph.D. in economics....."
posted by troutfishing on Mar 11, 2004 - 41 comments

When all dot-com companies existed in full power (late 90's), none of us could actually use them (because of our lazy dial-up modems), now that we could use them they don't exist. "Which leads me to think that there might be another dot-com flourishing just around the corner." Is Moby right?
posted by nandop on Aug 28, 2003 - 21 comments

MJ pro-tech, anti-jail: "I am speechless about the idea of putting music fans -- mostly teenagers -- in jail for downloading music," he said in a statement from his Neverland Ranch in the western state of California. "It is wrong to illegally download, but the answer cannot be jail. Here in America we create new opportunities out of adversity, not punitive laws, and we should look to new technologies ... for solutions. This way, innovation continues to be the hallmark of America. It is the fans that drive the success of the music."
posted by allaboutgeorge on Jul 22, 2003 - 23 comments

The tide is turning. A new poll from the Pew Research Center indicates that the Bush Administration is losing support for a war against Iraq, with only 29% favoring war if U.N. inspectors fail to find weapons of mass destruction. Polls are looking considerably worse in Great Britain, where 47% of the public disapprove of an attack on Iraq, compared to just 30% in favor of such an attack. Blair is certain that he can get the British public to support war, however, even if Britain goes to war without U.N. support. "When and if that time came, people would find the reasons acceptable and satisfactory because there is no other route available to us."
posted by insomnia_lj on Jan 21, 2003 - 55 comments

Nelson Mandela calls it like he sees it: the United States of America is a threat to world peace... Dick Cheney [and Donald] Rumsfeld...are dinosaurs, who do not want [President Bush] to belong to the modern age. His arguments are well made. But is the power of his historical perspective undermined by his forays into oversimplified racial analysis?
posted by alms on Sep 10, 2002 - 56 comments

Canada's long term viability in question amongst canadians "only 30 per cent of Canadians are certain we will have an independent country 25 years from now". Sure it's a link about canada, but I'm sure it has plenty of North American and Global relevance, doesn't it?
posted by canucklehead on Sep 6, 2002 - 28 comments

Molly Ivins wraps it up nicely and ties a bow on top. When Dick Cheney was CEO of the oilfield supply firm Halliburton, the company did $23.8 million in business with Saddam Hussein, the evildoer "prepared to share his weapons of mass destruction with terrorists."
posted by pejamo on Sep 4, 2002 - 22 comments

Fairly well-reasoned WSJ Op-Ed piece concerning the Boston Phoenix decision to link the unedited Daniel Pearl video. Apparently the Phoenix's editor claims he would have wanted it shown.
posted by Su on Jun 12, 2002 - 18 comments

What We Think of America Twenty-four writers drawn from many countries describe the part America has played in their lives—for better or worse—and deliver their estimate of the good and the bad it has done as the world's supreme political, military, economic and cultural power.
posted by semmi on May 11, 2002 - 6 comments

I support the war in Afghanistan because I believe the Al Qua'eda network is an enemy that must be eliminated. I stand almost alone in my community and in my family in this belief. A former punk describes how she re-examined her beliefs after Sept. 11 and found out that what the extreme left were saying was as tired and reactionary as those from the extreme right. This piece posted on Blogs of War was turned down for submission in Punk Planet as not being timely enough...or was it because it was too moderate. After yesterday's post on Punk=Capitalism is this a meta trend?
posted by AsiaInsider on Feb 27, 2002 - 34 comments

Larry Miller has started a column on The Daily Standard. Nicely executed potboiler preaching to the choir. Not quite as brilliantly inflammatory as Ann Coulter, but quite enjoyable. Anybody got any favourite left-leaning humorists?
posted by BGM on Jan 14, 2002 - 22 comments

Here's what American Muslims think. What do you think? They come off modestly better than they did in a poll conducted in England a month back. But then, no embarrassing questions were asked this time.
posted by Real9 on Dec 22, 2001 - 6 comments

(NYT) It is not just the poverty, the illiteracy and the absence of any commonly accepted social contract that define our sense of wretchedness; it is, rather, the increasing awareness among us that we have failed as a civil society by not confronting the historical, social and political demons within us. . .
posted by semmi on Nov 16, 2001 - 8 comments

Ignoring for a second that he is probably a mass murderer, do you think that Bin Laden's fight is a just one? I'm not asking about his method, that is obviously appalling, what I am asking you is whether you think that his cause is fair/right/just. Try putting yourself in Arab or Muslim shoes, then consider whether you would support his general plight. (the commentary on Bin Laden starts next to the paypal icon on the left, so scroll down if you are busy, otherwise don't as the rest of the article is quite a good crack.)
posted by Wet Wednesday on Oct 1, 2001 - 89 comments

Gartner's opinion proliferates into the mainstream Internet news sources. any further thoughts?
posted by tatochip on Sep 25, 2001 - 10 comments

Even if you're not a Dave Barry fan you might appreciate reading his thoughts on the 9/11 disaster. For me, this piece was evidence that one of America's most prolific humorists has talent that goes beyond just being funny.
posted by Bixby23 on Sep 16, 2001 - 10 comments

Mideast Myths Exploded. It's becoming clear who wants peace and who wants unending killing.
posted by semmi on Aug 21, 2001 - 80 comments

Arbitron just sent me a dollar..? I've been invited to participate in a once (sometimes occasionally twice) in a lifetime opportunity. No wonder our radio waves are so screwed up. Station owners think they learn what the public wants through a short-sighted random process, which obviously doesn't work. What's most amusing to me is they're buying my opinion for a buck. Even jury duty was kind enough to pay me six!
posted by ZachsMind on Jun 19, 2001 - 25 comments

The Ornery American proclaims to publish "the voices of those Ornery Americans -- the common folk who don't pretend to be intellectuals or elite in any other way, but who are just stubborn enough to think that we ordinary folk are the ones to whom this nation was entrusted from the start." It's godfather is sci-fi writer and social critic Orson Scott Card.
posted by jhiggy on Mar 9, 2001 - 22 comments

Flutterby wonders what the difference is between those who have faith in media and those who see them as "an unending stream of barely edited press-releases."
posted by Mo Nickels on Oct 6, 2000 - 5 comments