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July 26, 2004

07.09.2004 | More bad news about Mad Cow; What "Fahrenheit 9/11" Misses; Mushrooms Rock

LiP Media Picks
"The Best of the Rest of the Web"

July 9, 2004 Edition

THiS WEEK: A stellar online exhibit exploring how photography makes us see race; more bad news about Mad Cow; "God Rocks!"; artist Sarah Jones talks about her run-ins with the FCC; why "Fahrenheit 9/11" may ultimately be a conservative movie; the growing momentum behind medical marijuana legalization; a devious rabbit tricks Bush into signing a gun ban law; the startlingly diverse uses of mushrooms; and how think tanks are trying to kill the open source software movement.

This Week's Picks:

  1. ONLINE EXHIBIT | Only Skin Deep: Changing Visions of the American Self
    This groundbreaking exhibition examines how photography has made us see race. It includes over 200 historical and contemporary images from a wide range of genres that date from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Superb.
    International Center of Photography
    http://www.icp.org/osd/preview/

  2. Mad Cow: Worse Than You Think
    In December, a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) veterinarian discovered that a cow imported from Canada into Washington state tested positive for the invariably fatal Mad Cow disease. Two months later, the USDA quietly concluded that it had failed to find as many as 80 animals from the same herd that may also have been infected. The admission of failure, drowned out by a ridiculous Super-Bowl-related controversy, slipped nearly unnoticed past the public.
    Chris Clarke | Earth Island Journal

    http://www.earthisland.org/eijournal/new_articles.cfm?articleID=884&journalID=79

  3. God Rocks!
    The following was culled from articles in Grand Canyon: a Different View, edited by Tom Vail and published by Master Books last year. Last summer the National Park Service approved the book, which presents a creationist view of the formation of the Grand Canyon, for sale in park bookstores and gift shops. In July three bronze plaques bearing biblical verses were reinstated to public viewing areas on the Canyon’s South Rim, despite advice from the Interior Department that such religious displays violate the First Amendment.
    Harpers
    http://www.harpers.org/GodRocks.html

  4. INTERVIEW | Don't Get Too Comfortable
    New York's fearless impersonator, Sarah Jones, talks about her mix of humor and politics, and her battles with the FCC.
    Joshua Wolf Shenk | Mother Jones
    http://www.motherjones.com/arts/qa/2004/07/07_100.html

  5. INTERVIEW | Howard Zinn on the Role Of Artists In A Time Of War
    David Barsamian | Sun Magazine
    PDF: http://www.thesunmagazine.org/343_Zinn.pdf

  6. Stupid White Movie: What Michael Moore Misses About the Empire
    I have been defending Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" from the criticism in mainstream and conservative circles that the film is leftist propaganda. Nothing could be further from the truth; there is very little left critique in the movie. In fact, it's hard to find any coherent critique in the movie at all.
    Robert Jensen | Counterpunch.org
    http://www.counterpunch.org/jensen07052004.html

  7. The Drive to Legalize Picks Up
    The movement toward ending America's irrational marijuana prohibition is building momentum. What's needed now is courageous leadership to take it to the next level.
    Ethan A. Nadelmann | AlterNet
    http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/19174/

  8. Devious Rabbit Tricks Bush Into Signing Gun Ban
    The nation's sweeping new gun-control legislation is the result of a confidence trick pulled on President Bush by a devious rabbit, White House sources said Tuesday. The "Coney Act," which Bush signed into law Monday, prohibits the sale or ownership of handguns and semi-automatic weapons and enacts harsh penalties for the hunting of small game, most notably rabbits.
    The Onion
    http://www.theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4027&n=1


  9. Ford Gets an 'F' for Fuel Efficiency
    Two groups launch a nationwide campaign to tell Ford Motor Co. to clean up its act and to encourage Americans to declare independence from oil.
    Kari Lydersen | AlterNet
    http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/19148/


  10. Mushroom with a View
    Washington’s Paul Stamets is a downright visionary. He sees the lowly mushroom as the Next Big Thing for the future of our ecology — and, get this, one of the most vital pieces of our national security. It’s all in the power of the fungus organisms.
    Silja Talvi | Evergreen Monthly
    http://www.dragonflymedia.com/em/em2007/mushroomview2007.html

  11. When Think Tanks Attack
    Australian blogger Tim Lambert has taken a closer look at some of
    the think tanks that have emerged as critics of open source
    software, which threatens Microsoft's position in the marketplace.
    "Why are all these think tanks so down on Open Source?" Lambert
    asks. "..I was able to detect a common theme to all their criticism. They all seem to be funded by Microsoft."
    John Lott’s Unethical Conduct
    http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~lambert/blog/computers/tanks.html

  12. PROJECT HIGHLIGHT | Involver
    An alliance of independent organizations, venues and artists who are pissed off about the state of our country and are facilitating a new political movement with two solutions: 1. Convincing our generation that we have to get involved in politics in order to fix the big problems. 2. Offering ways to take action that will make the country work for us. We can just get pissed, or we can get involved.
    http://www.involver04.org/

- Media Picks compiled and edited by Brian Awehali

Posted by brian at July 26, 2004 02:36 PM

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