Christmas Day Open Thread
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I always wondered how long it took the elves to clean up once Santa got
home!
Open thread below. We hope you had a good Christmas!!!
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8 hours ago
3/02/2012
The New York Times presenting war propaganda as news - again
The "liberal" New York Times is working overtime to sell another war in the Middle East, once again using WMDs as their rallying cry.
Most of us will remember the New York Times coverage of the WMD allegations leading up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, which included front page stories by star journalist Judith Miller. It was only later that we learned that those stories were basically written by Ahmed Chalabi, an indicted con artist and one of the leaders of the Iraqi National Congress (INC), an organization that was pushing for a military invasion.
The Times is at again - Glenn Greenwald writes in Salon:
On January 25, the New York Times Sunday Magazine published a lengthy article by Israeli journalist Ronen Bergman that conveyed the views of multiple Israeli officials about Iran in order to conclude that an Israeli attack is likely. That the entire article was filled with quotes from Israelis meant the piece served as a justification for such an attack while masquerading as a news story about whether the attack would happen...
Yesterday, the NYT published an Op-Ed by Amos Yadlin, one of the Israeli Air Force pilots who attacked the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981 and then became chief of Israeli military intelligence, arguing for the necessity of an attack on Iran and warning that Israel will do it if President Obama does not give absolute commitments of his intent to do so. Today, the NYT has a news article by incoming Jerusalem Bureau Chief Jodi Rudoren summarizing the views of Israeli President Shimon Peres that an attack on Iran is imperative (“This is an unavoidable situation. It’s not exactly the Nazi situation, but my God, what a catastrophe”) and warning Obama that “if the White House [is] not resolute, Israel might have to go it alone.” Also today, the NYT has a news article by outgoing Jerusalem Bureau Chief Ethan Bronner summarizing the views of Netanyahu and other Israeli officials in advance of their meetings this week with Obama: “Israel will not outsource what it views as its vital security interests based on an American promise to take military action if sanctions fail. Israel’s goal is an American attack on Iran, but it seems unlikely to wait till it no longer can do it by itself.”
For months, Americans have been subjected to this continuous, coordinated, repetitive messaging from Israeli officials, amplified through the U.S. media. This is generally how the establishment American media conducts the debate over whether to attack Iran: here are Israeli officials explaining why an attack is urgent and why the U.S. must conduct it.
The views of those who oppose an attack on Iran or who question claims about the alleged nuclear program are conspicuously absent from the Times' coverage, as the U.S. gears up for another criminal war. The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg reports:
In the most extensive interview he has given about the looming Iran crisis, Obama told me earlier this week that both Iran and Israel should take seriously the possibility of American action against Iran's nuclear facilities. "I think that the Israeli government recognizes that, as president of the United States, I don't bluff." He went on, "I also don't, as a matter of sound policy, go around advertising exactly what our intentions are. But I think both the Iranian and the Israeli governments recognize that when the United States says it is unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, we mean what we say."
See Also: NY Times Again Lies About WMD - Now in Iran
11/09/2011
Adbusters vs. New York Times
From Adbusters:
Hey you jammers, dreamers and truth-tellers out there,
In the wake of #OCCUPYWALLSTREET, the corporate media have tried repeatedly to discredit the movement. We've been called every name in the book but the lowest blow has come from the New York Times who have twice taken a nasty swipe at Adbusters. Now, they refuse to print the truth.
Go to Mondoweiss and check the fight we're having to exercise our right of reply.
And if you feel outraged by the Times' refusal to run our full letter then shout it, tweet it, and give it the rounds. Perhaps Executive Editor Jill Abramson might be swayed by a few emails telling her that it would be grossly unfair and against all journalistic standards for the New York Times to deny Adbusters adequate right of reply. Be creative … do whatever you can to put some pressure on them to do the right thing.
It seems the real story here is that Adbusters has upset the pro-Israel and anti-Palestine bias that has marred the New York Times over many years in some of its editorials, columns and especially with the reporting by Isabel Kershner and the Times' Jerusalem bureau chief Ethan Bronner. Ms. Kershner and Mr. Bronner – who has a son who served in the Israeli army – both have deep ties to the Israel of today. Their often ahistorical, context-free reporting is partly to blame for what Adbusters has called "the United States of Amnesia."
A cultural shift is in order at one of the great newspapers of the world … and that just might start with them agreeing to print our letter.
for the wild,
Culture Jammers HQ
10/25/2011
10/22/2011
10/06/2011
An Open Letter From Two White Men to #OCCUPYWALLSTREET
I'm an enthusiastic supporter of the Occupation of Wall Street - I was there on the first day of the occupation and have spent a lot of time there since. This piece, from the blog Racialicious, raises some important constructive criticism:
full post here
But a quick survey of the movement so far shows that that the good intentions outlined do not reflect the reality of the situation. There is indeed an organizational structure and a core group that makes leadership decisions in #OWS (and we think this is a good thing). They are the media team at the media command center, the committee facilitators and the people who have been actually occupying the park for the past three weeks. One only needs to take a good look around to see that the leadership and the core group—which has managed to attract enormous national and international media attention—is overwhelmingly white (and largely male), and as a result the voices and perspectives of #OccupyWallStreet reflect that reality more generally.
Luckily, some people who have felt excluded or erased from “the 99%” have spoken up, alerting us to the notion that the anti-corporate occupation in Liberty Park may not be as welcoming to all as its image of consensus-bound activists, non-hierarchical structure, and free food has suggested to many (see http://bit.ly/q9q10C; http://bit.ly/oABMbQ; and http://bit.ly/oTBcfs for some examples).
full post here
Steve Jobs' Biggest Success: Sweatshops & Fat Salaries
"But while the workers who make Apple products lack the right to form independent unions and make less than $40 a week, not so Tim Cook who helped create the sweatshop. According to Forbes Magazine, Tim Cook received total compensation of $59 million in 2010."
from Steve Jobs' Biggest Success: Sweatshops & Fat Salaries
from Steve Jobs' Biggest Success: Sweatshops & Fat Salaries
