Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
It was 10 years ago today...
The eco-terrorist canard has been getting some real play in the past couple of years. There’ve been some been some heated discussion about it on (where else) blogs. Here’s one link to a thoughtful writer who expressed some dismay about it.
http://www.jamesrmaclean.com/archives/000755.html
Posted by Harry on from 04/19 at 08:05 AMI consider myself a moderate independent, and I’m certainly no die-hard lefty. So I’ve always felt fairly confident in my ability to examine any accusations of bias in the media with complete objectivity. So it’s been fairly easy to scoff at blowhards like Rush Limbaugh when they spew on and on about the “liberal media.” It always seemed to me that the network news went out of their way to maintain at least an appearance of even-handedness.
But in the last few months, that seems to have gradually changed. Since the 2004 election, NBC Nightly News is becoming more and more saturated with conservative viewpoints and religion.
A few weeks ago, I decided I’d had enough. I’d grown tired of hearing comments from the ranks of the Heritage Foundation on practically every issue that came to the fore. And I’d tired of hearing from retired General and aspiring Nazi Barry MaCaffrey. And I’d wearied of hearing almost incessant references to “God,” “praying,” and religion in multiple segments in almost every single broadcast.
It was in the middle of the week-long series on religion in America, I believe, when I saw the name “Heritage Foundation” yet one more time under the name of some talking head, and I finally just snapped. I angrily pushed the “off” button on my TV, declaring out loud that, if I wanted to see such rubbish, I’d watch Fox News. And I haven’t turned on the network news since.
I don’t know if the downturn at NBC News is the result of a ideological or political influence from headquarters or an attempt to follow a perceived change in public sentiment. But it doesn’t matter. I’ve had enough. Edward R. Murrow must be spinning in his grave.
Posted by Paladin on from Michigan, USA 04/19 at 10:29 AMI agree, Paladin. I haven’t gotten TV reception for years. Every few months my husband & I would get a hotel room and invariably turn on the TV to see what we don’t miss having around. Until recently, it was “same old stuff”. Then when I went to Cleveland recently and saw the mainstream news, the references to religion were more noticeable...by a long shot. pathetic
Posted by deb on from seattle 04/19 at 11:55 AMHave you read the interview with two members of the Tre Arrow Defence Committee? Arrow is in jail in Canada, fighting extradition to the U.S. where he is to face charges related to property destruction. He is routinely labelled an eco-terrorist by the American media.
In Canada, one term that has been legitimized by the media is anti-American, and anti-Americanism. I’m not sure if the latter means being against Americanism, or practicing the -ism of being anti-American.
Anyway, you can read the interview, which is quite good, here: http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=56&ItemID=7666
Posted by troy on from ottawa 04/19 at 02:07 PMAbout the 10 year anniversary that is being remembered with feel-good political displays today...maybe the best way to honor those who tragically lost their lives that day is to understand that those “chickens that came home to roost” in Oklahoma, came from Waco. Also another causative factor that is always conveniently overlooked is the effect of military training on young men and women. If the taboo against killing is removed from the human psyche, the result is predictable. This is not only about Oklahoma, remember the Fort Bragg wives, etc. In any nation where the citizens allow their government to live by the sword, some citizens will die by the sword. I recommend the book about Tim McVeigh by Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck. Violence begets violence. The question to ask is, “How can you restore the taboo against killing in people who have undergone Military training.?” The answer is,"You can’t”.
Posted by Rosemarie Jackowski on from usa 04/19 at 03:18 PMGreat points folks.
I wrote an essay back in 2001 regarding terrorists--I was sure I was going to get a royal pounding by my teacher since the whole thing boiled down to who really are the terrorists, *them* or the U.S.. It all stemmed from an AP newspaper article about the U.S. unloading tons of bombs on a hillside in Afghanistan--the goal being to bomb the bad guys into a some type gaseous form then conducting a DNA analysis to discover who was evaporated.
Locally, our community emergency service folks conducted an emergency test, the theme was terrorists knocking out all our communications facilities. At the conclusion of the test it was reported that all the terrorists had been killed and communication lines were saved--the report being delivered with a laugh.
When people laugh at killing other people, I tend to feel very uncomfortable. Who are the terrorists again?
I was very surprised when my essay was given an “A” and a note added acknowledging the media’s distortion.
I also gave up on network T.V. news as well as local news print--our newspaper isn’t even owned locally anymore. I used to think that T.V. was okay, today I think it’s just another tool to keep the cows mentally confined and oblivious.
I wish I could be better connected to my own community, but I know that if I try the mainstream outlets, all I’ll get is a giant plume of smoke blown up my skirt.
Does anyone know if there is a 30 or 60 minute national/international broadcast of news besides Democracy Now that is actually news content and not white house/imperialist propaganda? I do dig through the net, but this is a time consuming and combersome exercise.
Peace
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Wishing you well.Posted by J Byrd on from Eureka (like the vacuum) CA 04/19 at 03:36 PMScrapin the sheckles together and will post on friday(first payday in a while), hold a couple of copies. First short story ever completed was about two kids in the creche in the building in Oklahoma. Kids playing around, culminating in their last conscious moments of life and the simple child feelings each was experiencing as their existence was quenched. Draft lost in the destruction of my disillusioned days. respect dec
Posted by declan on from dublin 04/19 at 06:58 PMI promise there will be books here for you, D.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 04/19 at 07:06 PMJ Byrd, You may find Analysis and interview programs more worthwhile than the daily dose of news:
http://www.will.uiuc.edu/am/mediamatters
Here’s an interesting take on “objectivity” by a recently sadly deceased journalist (and blogger) who had an insider’s view of how the news is prepared (like sausages you *really* don’t need to know the details!):
http://www.fair.org/extra/9906/invisibleink.html
Posted by sk on from 04/19 at 08:05 PMMickey, when you get a chance, I’d like to know how you solved the email problem. Also, now that you’ve a got a Mac, I collected some links to software you might enjoy/find useful. They’re all at this link http://tinyurl.com/beslm
Posted by Harry on from 04/20 at 11:27 AMThanks for the link, Harreeee.
Okay, first I imported all my messages, preferences, and contacts from OE 4.5 (on the old machine) to OE 5 (also on the old machine). This took a looooooong time. Then I dragged the “OE Users” file onto a flash drive and transferred it to the new Mac. Once there, I was asked to choose an application to open the OE Users files, so I chose OE 5 on the new Mac and the transfer happened. So, at the moment, OE 5 (in the Classic OS9 environment) is my default mail program. This suits me fine for now since I am used the OE feel (although I actually like 4.5 better). Eventually, i will switch to Entourage or Thunderbird or something like that.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 04/20 at 12:00 PMThanks, Mickey. I’m saving that for my troubleshooting file.
Posted by Harry on from 04/20 at 05:58 PMMickey, is this the same Pete Williams who was ‘outed’ by Michelangelo Signorile because he was a closeted gay man but was spokesman for the Pentagon which then treated gays in the military with considerable contempt? Hypocrites!
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 04/21 at 01:23 AMYes, Helga...same Petey.
Harry: My eMac is up and running. The old machine is disconnected. But, one problem remains: Thanks to the impact of many years of writing on the tendons of my forearms, I use joystick mouse...which seems to be an issue. It’ll work fine and then act a little wacky. Sometimes it creates pulldown menus no matter where I click. This is the joystick: http://store.ergocube.com/3mermous.html.
Any thoughts on this?Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 04/21 at 06:37 AMHi MZ:
If it continues to give you problems, you can try this product that I started using to save my wrist:
http://www.cirque.com/products/desktop_easy.htmI got used to the touchpads while using my laptop. The nice thing is that it can be held in your hand, doesn’t need to rest on table top etc.
Good luck!
Peace
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Wishing you well.Posted by J Byrd on from Eureka, CA 04/21 at 08:21 PMThanks, J…
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 04/21 at 08:25 PM
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