Wednesday, December 21, 2005

A Merry Christmas to all our readers

According to a piece by Dylan Evans in The Guardian, it's the end of the world as we know it:

Is it possible that global civilisation might collapse within our lifetime or that of our children? Until recently, such an idea was the preserve of lunatics and cults. In the past few years, however, an increasing number of intelligent and credible people have been warning that global collapse is a genuine possibility. And many of these are sober scientists, including Lord May, David King and Jared Diamond - people not usually given to exaggeration or drama. The new doomsayers all point to the same collection of threats - climate change, resource depletion and population imbalances being the most important. What makes them especially afraid is that many of these dangers are interrelated, with one tending to exacerbate the others. It is necessary to tackle them all at once if we are to have any chance of avoiding global collapse, they warn.

So, there you go, it's all going tits up. Merry Christmas and God bless us every one.

Thursday, December 15, 2005

One for the conspiracy theorists

Wouldn't it be weird if George W Bush were assassinated just before the US presidential elections? Think of the boost that would give to Jeb's campaign! Dubya, who has served his purpose, would take all the negativity about Iraq, the economy and Katrina to his grave.

OK, the puppet-masters who pull Dubya's strings might not go that far but how about if there was an assassination "attempt" and Shrub was "in a coma" for the last week of campaigning? Again there'd be a huge boost to Jeb because useful idiots across the US would cast their vote for Bush III in a misguided attempt to help Dubya "pull through".

Also, there'd be the chance for a fantastic photo op of President Jeb with his ex-president dad and his ex-president brother, who made a "miracle recovery" as the last result came in.

And guess what? The "assassin" was Iranian. Or Syrian. Or Venezuelan.

Just a thought.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Unembed time for democracy

Surgical strikes. Clinical precision. Liberation. Limited collateral damage. Mission accomplished.

This image (Copyright: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images) shows how unclean the war in Iraq is (And I mean "is", not "was". It's still going on.) According to Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, the journalist who took the picture, on 12 September 2004, in Baghdad's Haifa Street: "Twenty-two Iraqi civilians were killed and 48 injured when US helicopters opened fire on crowds celebrating around a burning US armored personnel carrier."

Now if this journalist had been "embedded" with the US armed forces, he wouldn't have taken this picture of maimed civilians. Instead he'd have got a long range shot of boys toys hardware making big bangs and flashes. His copy may also have mentioned a successful operation against militants, insurgents or that useful catch-all phrase "terrorists".

That kid in the baseball cap doesn't really look like a terrorist, does he? (Oh and that guy in the checked shirt lying on the ground on the left? He was upright in the previous shot in the series. Subsequent shots make me think he's dead. How's that for a surgical strike.)

The Digital Journalist has an extensive gallery of these images. And it carries an excellent piece on why a small group of journalists risked their lives to cover conflict while others took refuge among the Coalition soldiers:

"We crossed the lines because we believe it is more important to humanize a conflict than it is to trade in rhetorical truths, or to reinforce easy notions of enemy and friend, which are mere propaganda. Instead, we wanted to document honestly what we witnessed in the war because this is the sole duty of journalists, regardless of their nationality and religion. We were able to do this precisely because we did not carry weapons or claim allegiance to one of the warring parties."

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Hypocrite lecteur, mon semblable, mon frère

Please sit down. What I'm about to reveal may shock you. You may wish to have a stiff drink handy. (I know I do.)

The media don't always tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It's shocking I know but there are issues, such as the peak oil phenomenon or the slowing of the gulf stream or the melting of the west Antarctic ice shelf, that are a bit more important than Carol Thatcher winning I'm A Nobody, Let Me Die Slowly In The Jungle.

You will search in vain for this stuff in the corporate media because corporate media exists to sell advertising space, not to tell the frightening truth. It's run by people whose agendas are about making money, and it's easier to do that if you don't rock the boat or irritate the powerful. (Check out The Propaganda Remix Project for more artwork on this.)

So, dear complacent, complicit reader, enjoy the pretty baubles as the waters rise.

One site that provides an (albeit ranty) alternative view is Media Lens. Check it out (though I do find it irritating that they pick on The Guardian all the time. The Guardian are not the real bad guys. Try the Daily Mail or the Sun on for size.)


Friday, December 02, 2005

Publish it not in the streets of Askelon

They say revenge is a dish best served cold. (Actually, I think it's best served at several hundred degrees at short range in the back.)

Many years ago former good guy journalist Bob Woodward wrote a biography of the late comedy genius John Belushi. Thanks to the co-operation of Belushi's widow, Woodward had access to all the comedian's friends and colleagues. And he stitched his subject up like a kipper.

Now the widow is getting her own back. She's writing a book about Woodward, who has morphed from being a journalist who exposed secrets into a hack who conceals them for his political pals.

How are the mighty fallen.

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Arse brevis

More stupid, pointless control freakery emerges from the cornucopia of muppetry that rules us. Irish artist David Godbold was commissioned to officially document the UK general election. Now he claims the politicos tried to censor his work. Has the health service fixed itself? Is there no crime on the streets now? Is nobody poor? Nobody hungry? Has world peace broken out all of a sudden?

No?

Then how come our MPs have time to worry about whether a set of drawings flatters them enough...