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August 10, 2005

08.10.05 Edition | Interactive Map of Iraq Fatalities; Patenting the Pig; Diversity in Kid Lit
August 10, 2005 Edition

"The Best of the Rest of the Web"

THiS WEEK: 60th anniversary of the atomic bomb attacks on Japan; graffiti artist Banksy takes on the West Bank Wall; Monsanto attempts to patent the pig; why religious extremism and political terrorism shouldn't be confused; fighting homophobia in schools; the white, white world of children's literature; Telesur brings alternative television to Latin America; and more.

This Week's Picks:

  1. VIDEO | A Tale of Two Cities
    Last weekend marked the 60th anniversary of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This 1946 propaganda film describes the glorious destructive power of The Bomb, yet is careful to show no actual deaths. Chilling and fascinating.

    Archive.org
    http://www.archive.org/details/TaleofTw1946


  2. Art Prankster Sprays Israeli Wall
    British graffiti artist Banksy, who managed to hang anti-war art pieces in four New York museums (see the BBC report at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/438 2245.stm), has now taken to illustrating the wall in the West Bank, spraypainting satiric pictures of life "on the other side."

    BBC News
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/47480 63.stm

    See more pictures on Banksy's website: http://www.banksy.co.uk/news/index2.html


  3. Disengagement and Diaspora
    Diaspora is not a simple thing, or even a single, tangible event. If it's about exile, it's not simply about physical exile. To be in Diaspora is to be withdrawn from the world, disconnected from the basic joy of the human experience. The most terrible consequence of continued violence is this disconnection--the destruction of even the memory of community. "Disengagement" is not its antidote.

    Ramzi Kysia | Counterpunch
    http://www.counterpunch.org/kysia08022005.html


  4. Monsanto Files Patent for New Invention: the Pig
    It's official. Monsanto Corporation is out to own the world's food supply, the dangers of genetic engineering and reduced biodiversity notwithstanding, as they pig-headedly set about hog-tying farmers with their monopoly plans. We've discovered chilling new evidence of this in recent patents that seek to establish ownership rights over pigs and their offspring.

    Brian Thomas Fitzgerald | Greenpeace
    http://www.greenpeace.org/inte rnational/news/monsanto-pig-patent-111


  5. Blaming the Mosques For the Sins of Governments
    If Islamic religious extremism truly produced terror in a complete vacuum, it would make little sense for an Iraqi woman to be the first suicide bomber following the invasion in March 2003, considering that most extremists forbid women from taking part in physical jihad. It would be equally baffling if one recalls that communist Palestinian revolutionaries are the ones who spearheaded Palestinian terrorism in the 1970s, decades before Hamas was even conceptualized.

    Ramzy Baroud | ZNet
    http://www.zmag.org/content/sh owarticle.cfm?SectionID=40&ItemID=8460


  6. AUDIO | Homophobia In Schools
    Many LGBTQ youth encounter homophobia and transphobia in school. Fellow students, school staff, and sometimes outside anti-gay groups can make life difficult or downright intolerable. Lai-San Seto of the GSA Network, the ACLU's Tamara Lange, and student Drew Espanol discuss what's at stake.

    C.S. Soong | Against The Grain
    http://www.againstthegrain.org/audio8.03.05.mp3


  7. Diamonds in the Rough
    The white, white world of kid's books, and the search for truly diverse, multicultural children's literature in an industry that usually reduces the inclusion of brown faces to a mere trend or market niche.

    Janine Macbeth | ColorLines
    http://www.arc.org/C_Lines/CLArchive/story8_3 _03.html


  8. The Twilight Era of Petroleum
    Several recent developments—persistently high gasoline prices, unprecedented warnings from the Secretary of Energy and the major oil companies, China's brief pursuit of the American Unocal Corporation—suggest that we are just about to enter the Twilight Era of Petroleum, a time of chronic energy shortages and economic stagnation as well as recurring crisis and conflict.

    Michael T. Klare with commentary by Tom Engelhardt | Mother Jones
    http://www.motherjones.com/ commentary/columns/2005/08/twilight_oil.html


  9. INTERACTIVE MAP | Fatalites in Iraq
    This map charts US and coalition military fatalities in Iraq from the beginning of the war in 2003, and is updated regularly. Run back the clock, or check to see how many fatalites Slovakia has suffered thus far.

    Obleek
    http://www.obleek.com/iraq/index.html


  10. Bush Vows to Eliminate US Dependence on Oil by 4920
    Bush called on both Democrats and Republicans living 1,200 years from now to work together to pass the program.

    The Onion
    http://www.theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4132


  11. TeleSur Takes to the Airwaves
    Spanish-language TV both in the US and in many Latin American countries is perhaps best known for its sensational, sex- and drama-soaked telenovelas (soap operas) and variety shows, soccer games and news segments heavy on the blood and gore of accidents or street crime. But now, there is a new and controversial alternative available throughout the region, which eschews glitzy entertainment for hard reporting on the destruction of rain forests, the effects of globalization and poverty issues, along with promoting Latin American traditional and contemporary arts and culture.

    Kari Lydersen | Infoshop News
    http://www.infoshop.org/inews/art icle.php?story=20050805124307140


- Media Picks Contributing Editors: Adam Barker and Erica Wetter
- Media Picks compiled and edited by Erin Wiegand and Brian Awehali

Posted by erin at August 10, 2005 12:03 AM

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