February 28, 2002
# Notes on Argentina

Some notes on what's going on in Argentina, from various sources.


posted by dru in activism
# Direct Democracy in the Land of Silver

Americas.org has some excellent coverage of the various forms of direct democracy being practiced all acrossed Argentina.

The Philadelphia Indymedia Center has a site about Alternatives to Corporate Globalization, which is surprisingly comprehensive and well articulated. A comprehensive overview with links to good pages on each topic.

Sylvia's Flives and Knowers (unofficial name) are pretty darned cool.

posted by dru in activism
February 27, 2002
# Stolen from RRE

A critical appraisal of operation "Enduring Freedom".

A kind of new book: Critical Theory of Technology

I continually have trouble seeing how anyone can see Bush as anything but the corrupt illegitimate puppet that he is. Case in point: according to this Boston Globe editorial, almost none of the new defense budget increases could even concievably be spent on the "war on terror". Instead, we're getting more high-tech submarines, tanks, etc. The remaining question is: how can people not also see Congress as either corrupt and illegitimate (as above), or else cowardly and evil (maybe less so if they refuse to pass this budget)? And then there's the press. And all the other people with the power to stand up to this who turn their heads. I'm not saying that I don't tend to gloss over the true extent of the madness as much as the next person, just that it's truly astounding how far it goes.

It's only a matter of time before we all implode from massive, irresolvable internal contradictions.

posted by dru in blog
# Google

Google now has all 20 years of Usenet postings in their database. Wow. They have compiled a history of the last two decades from the postings. Fascinating.

And just because google came up, go read Paul Ford's little ditty about the googlebot.

Sometimes, it sucks to be reminded what a sick and twisted place the world can be.

posted by dru in blog
February 26, 2002
# Beer Riots

Tim Wise: The Invisible Whiteness of the Olympic Beer Riot

That the coverage of the Olympic "beer riot" was decidedly different than that for any riot ever led by people of color goes without saying. News reports of the events in the land of Mormon discussed the violence in a whimsical, bemused fashion, on a sort of "gee, don't they have anything better to do" kind of tip -- as opposed to the preachy and scared shitless tone reserved for black and brown folks who act up in such a fashion. And of course the mere labeling of the phenomenon as a "beer riot" in the first place is instructive. With apologies to the National Rifle Association, beer doesn't riot, people riot. Specifically, people who are desperate for beer riot -- white people, to be precise.

Looks like its almost time to switch to MacOS X

posted by dru in good_articles
February 25, 2002
# Argentina

Apparently, thousands of people are attending public meetings and trying to build direct democracy in Argentina in other ways.

Barter markets have started up to ease the difficulty of the economic slowdown.

Another article discusses the various Argentinian protests in terms of anarchist tactics.

A cute photo of Moira, the Argosy production manager and part-time bartender.

A tongue in cheek article from the Vancouver Sun outlines the various conspiracy theories surrounding 9-11. The theories are pretty unbelievable, but some of the facts that the article points out are probably worth looking in to. Of course, one doesn't have to be a conspiracy theorist to know that the right wing has taken advantage of the tragedy in damaging, offensive and other inappropriate ways politically... that's just obvious.

posted by dru in blog
February 22, 2002
# Welfare King, or: Welfare Emperor's New Clothes

CBS: The Pentagon has up to 2.3 Trillion unaccounted for. Go team USA!

I have decided that karma votes will only be positive from now on. The reason is that if you like something, you seldom have anything to say but just that: that you like it. Karma communicates this well. If you don't like something, however, there is almost always a specific reason, and a negative karma vote doesn't communicate this. As a result, when I see things rated negatively I just wonder why the voter didn't like that post. Additionally, the volume of karma votes that I get leads the positive and negative votes to negate each other. So, in the interests of karma being useful: if you like a post, give it a positive vote; if you don't like it, kindly tell me why. Here at misnomer, we value our customers, and appreciate your feedback.

apple.slashdot.org.

Heather Meek's End Days of Analog is back this week.

I never used to get riled up about Canadian sports teams, but I surprised myself by feeling quite satisfied that the Canadian Women's Hockey team beat the US on their own ice, with biased reffing.

"Everyone was expecting us to win. We expected to win,'' U.S. defenseman Angela Ruggiero said. "That's why it's so disappointing.''

posted by dru in us
February 21, 2002
# tariq ali's

The cover of Tariq Ali's new book is too funny.

BBC via daily chump: Train workers strike

And on Arriva Trains, unions have decided to stop strike action in favour of the "fare free" days, in order to hit the firm's profits but not disrupt services for passengers, according to the RMT.

posted by dru in blog
by Sherryl-Annette Snyder

Hello, I am interested in contacting Tariq Ali. I met him on the protest in DC in April. I have wanted to be in contact with him if possible since then.
If nothing else then if you know how to get in touch with him say Hi for me. Tell him to say hi to his sister also for me.
Thank you Sherryl-Annette Snyder

# curios

Photos: some photos from home, ca. last december. Gallery format shamelessly borrowed from textism. For values of home that are equivalent to Chimacum, Washington.

This is both curious and rather engaging.

I've decided that I will be Learning Python this summer. In other words, I will be Learning to Program. The aim is to get good enough where I can implement some of these.

David Grenier's weblog has lots of decent stuff lately. And his home-grown content management system is looking good, too.

I found "The Faces of the Liberal Media" image on this page quite amusing.

Some FAIR reports on the mideast conflict:

The pro-Israel critique of Mideast coverage

Muffled Coverage of U.N. Vote

Bias and Fear Tilting Coverage of Israel

Occupied territories no longer "occupied" on TV news

NPR's coverage of Mideast deaths doesn't match reality

posted by dru in blog
February 19, 2002
# On Intellectuals' Responsibilities

Two excerpts from two excellent books that I'm reading: Arundhati Roy's Power Politics and Edward Said's Representations of the Intellectual, which I originally typed up for a friend.

Arundhati Roy:

...In the midst of a bloody military coup, for instance, you could find yourself fascinated by the rituals of a purple sunbird, or the secret life of captive goldfish, or an old aunt's descent into madness. And nobody can say that there isn't truth and art and beauty in that. Or, on the contrary, in the midst of a putative peace, you could, like me, be unfortunate enough to stumble on a silent war. The trouble is that once you see it, you can't unsee it. And once you've seen it, keeping quiet, saying nothing, becomes as political an act as speaking out. There's no innocence. Either way, you're accountable.

Today, perhaps more so than in any other era in history, the writer's right to free speech is guarded and defended by the civil societies and state establishments of the most powerful countries of the world.. The writer is embraced and protected... The artist, I imagine, is finally as free as he or she will ever be. [talks about the extent to which (famous) writers are lavished with attention and made into big time celebrities]

...There is very real danger that this neoteric seduction can shut us up far more effectively than violence and repression ever could. We have free speech. Maybe. But do we have Really Free Speech? If what we have to say doesn't "sell", will we still say it? Can we? Or is everybody looking for Things That Sell to say? Or the subtle twenty-first-century version of court eunuchs attending to the pleasures of our incumbent CEOs? You know -- naughty, but nice. Risque perhaps, but not risky.

Edward Said:

... Politics is everywhere; there can be no escape into the realms of pure art and thought or, for that matter, into the realm of disinterested objectivity or transcendental theory. Intellectuals are of their time, herded along by the mas politics of representations embodied by the information or media industry, capable of resisting those only by disputing the images, official narratives, justifications of power circulated by an increasingly powerful media--and not only media but whole trends of thought that maintain the status quo, keep things within an aceptable and sanctioned perspective on actuality--by providing what Mills calls unmaskings or alternative versions in which to the best of one's ability the intellectual tries to tell the truth.
posted by dru in good_articles
February 14, 2002
# Losers.

Guardian: Can the US lose?

A report for the US Space Command last year, overseen by US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, rhapsodised about the "synergy of space superiority with land, sea, and air superiority" that would come with missile defence and other projects to militarise space. This would "protect US interests and investment" in an era when globalisation was likely to produce a further "widening between haves and have-nots". It would give the US an "extraordinary military advantage".

Dack.com has transformed tself into the "Warlog", including "You Dropped a Bomb on Me, a breakdown of how many bombs were dropped, and how much it cost taxpayers. I can't help but imagine that there is something more productive that could be done with $285 million.

posted by dru in us
February 08, 2002
# Another Week, Another Ed

Editorial: The [Student Union] Needs to get Webified!

posted by dru in blog
February 03, 2002
# Enron

Michael Moore lays out the implications of the whole Enron mess in an open letter to George W.

posted by dru in us
February 02, 2002
# A week in the life

Editorial: Personal Hypocrisy Index

Dotcom Scoop did an interesting interview with Rusty Foster, that Kuro5hin guy.

Warning: Media Management Now in Effect.

News from the World Economic Forum meetings and protests.

posted by dru in blog
by SMJ

The Personal Hypocrisy Index failed to link - reason?

by dru

should work now.

# A more serious CUP proposal

A little writeup of my ideas of how CUP could do its part to create an alternative to the corrupt media.


posted by dru in politicsoftech
by Dru

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