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July 06, 2005
07.06.05 Edition | 6th Declaration of the Selva Lacandona; Africans Are Not Whales; Golfing Against the G8
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June 29, 2005
Edition |
| "The Best of the Rest of the Web" |
THiS WEEK: Thoughts on Nationalistic Fervor Day, Zapatistas release their broad outline for the EZLN's next political phase; what's to come in a post-globalization world; African blogger tells Live 8 promoters: "we are not whales!"; 1987 letter from the Samish Indian Nation points out that endangered species receive greater protection and benefits than do Native American tribes; why the makeup of the Supreme Court is more than a matter of right and left; how to tell where YOUR country falls on the scale of "democracy to despotism"; number of classified documents in US reaches record high; if album covers were advertisements; shut down the Guantanamo military base; golfing against the G8; and much, much more in this unexpectedly long edition of media picks.
This Week's Picks:
- Specters of Militarism, Nationalism Dog Independence Day
As U.S. citizens mark their annual celebration of patriotism, the Fourth of July holiday, they might do well to also ponder the specter of two other "isms"—militarism and nationalism—that threaten the Republic's durability and strength raised by two important books published over the past year.Jim Lobe | Inter Press Service/Common Dreams
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0702-05.htm - Sixth Declaration of the Selva Lacandona
This is our simple word which seeks to touch the hearts of humble and simple people like ourselves, but people who are also, like ourselves, dignified and rebel. This is our simple word for recounting what our path has been and where we are now, in order to explain how we see the world and our country, in order to say what we are thinking of doing and how we are thinking of doing it, and in order to invite other persons to walk with us in something very great which is called Mexico and something greater which is called the world.Subcommandante Marcos | ZNet
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=59&ItemID=8218 -
After Globalization
The shape of what comes next will therefore be decided—a conscious act—or it will be left to various interest groups to decide for us, or simply to fate and circumstance. It will probably emerge from a mix of all three.John Ralston Saul | The Tyee
http://www.thetyee.ca/Views/2005/06/27/AfterGlobalisation - BLOG PICK | We Are Not Whales!
The Live 8 concerts are the latest incarnation of social justice-themed megaconcerts like Live Aid and Band Aid. Timed to precede the G8 Conference in Scotland from July 6-9, and running in coordination with the UK's "Make Poverty History" campaign, Live 8 is an attempt to pressure the G8 countries into adopting policies of debt relief and economic justice, particularly for African nations. But many are pointing out the racism inherent in fundraisers and awareness-raisers like Live 8, which project an image of Africa as a beggar with hand outstretched. Blogger Sokari Ekine has some scathing words about the real aim of the Live 8 concerts: to assuage white guilt while reinforcing a western position of superiority.Sokari Ekine | Black Looks
http://okrasoup.typepad.com/black_looks/2005/07/we_are_not_whal.html - UK Aid Funds Iraqi Torture Units
British and American aid intended for Iraq's hard-pressed police service is being diverted to paramilitary commando units accused of widespread human rights abuses, including torture and extra-judicial killings. Iraqi Police Service officers said that ammunition, weapons and vehicles earmarked for the IPS are being taken by shock troops at the forefront of Iraq's new dirty counter-insurgency war.Peter Beaumont and Martin Bright | The Observer
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5230205-111381,00.html - Ecce Homo
From a memo addressed to the U.S. Department of the Interior's director of Fish and Wildlife Service in May 1987 by Gale Norton, currently the secretary of the interior, when she worked in the department's conservation and wildlife program. The Samish Indian Nation of the Pacific Northwest had sought designation as an endangered species, suggesting that such species receive benefits from the DOI superior to those granted to the tribe. -
Court Fight: It's More Than Left vs. Right
With O'Connor's exit, the court will move in one of two directions. No, not right or left. With O'Connor out, the court will either go backward or forward.John Nichols | The Nation
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?pid=4246 - VIDEO | Despotism
This 1946 propaganda film takes a look at the concentration and distribution of power. Where does YOUR community fall on the scale of "democracy to despotism?" Brought to you by the good people of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (Available in streaming and downloadable formats.)Encyclopaedia Britannica | Internet Archive
http://www.archive.org/details/Despotis1946 - As It Eyes Cities, Wal-Mart Has No Plan B
As a national battle rages over pharmacists not filling prescriptions for the "morning-after pill," Wal-Mart continues to keep Plan B off its shelves. The megastore's policy, catering to its rural base, complicates its pursuit of new markets.Liza Featherstone | Women's eNews
http://www.womensenews.com/article.cfm/dyn/aid/2350/context/cover - Increase in the Number of Documents Classified by the Government
US government secrecy has reached a historic high, with federal departments classifying documents at the rate of 125 a minute as they create new categories of semi-secrets bearing vague labels like "sensitive security information."Scott Shane | The New York Times
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/070305B.shtml - ACTION | Shut Down Guantanamo Base
Guantanamo has become a symbol world-wide of the Bush Administration's arrogant disregard for the most basic of human rights. And it needs to be shut down. Now. Take a minute to lend your support.The Center for Constitutional Rights
http://www.democracyinaction.org/ccr/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=831 - Golfing Against the G8
An anarchist group known as the Peoples' Golfing Association will be taking to the fairways of the posh Gleneagles Club, the location of the G8 summitt. From their statement: "The PGA will be holding the Peoples' Open Golfing Tournament which culminates on July 7th, and plan to be playing golf on the sumptuous greens of Gleneagles during the G8 schmooze-fest. The tournament is open to all freedom loving individuals who reject everything the G8 stands for (except golf). The golfing event promises the opportunity to brush shoulders with influential and dapper anarchists from around the world. It goes without saying that golf skills are not required. In fact, golf skills may even be frowned upon. We encourage the formation of autonomous golfing blocs for participation in the PGA Gleneagles tournament."The Peoples' Golfing Association
http://www.tao.ca/%7Ewrench/dist/g8/pga.html - US Retains Control of Web, Worrying Foreign Critics
A unilateral decision by the United States to indefinitely retain oversight of the Internet's main traffic-directing computers prompted concerns that the global telecommunications network could eventually splinter.Matt Moore | Salon/Truthout
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/070305D.shtml - Bringing It Home: Indian Film Tackles HIV, Gay Life With Family Tale
In India in the past, films depicting homosexuality have been censored or ignored. Theaters screening such films have been ransacked. But a new film with a gay relationship at its core is moving audiences to tears by focusing on the family and the impact of HIV.Sandip Roy | Pacific News Service
http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=fa0101b29f8103276d765f83fc524aa0 - If Album Covers Were Advertisements
After the unfortunate news spread that Nike has ripped off a Minor Threat album cover for a new ad campaign (due to negative publicity, Nike has since cancelled their plans), some enterprising readers of I Love Music tried to imagine what other well-known album covers would look like if advertisers got a hold of them.Stay Free!/I I Love Music
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2005/06/if_album_covers.html
Check out the thread on I Love Music, here: http://ilx.p3r.net/thread.php?msgid=5942033#unread
- Media Picks Contributing Editors: Adam Barker and Erica Wetter
- Media Picks compiled and edited by Erin
Wiegand and Brian Awehali
Posted by erin at July 6, 2005 11:58 AM