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August 31, 2005

08.31.05 Edition | More Journalists Killed in Iraq Than Vietnam; The Economic Basis of US Empire; Flying Spaghetti Monsterism;
August 26, 2005 Edition

"The Best of the Rest of the Web"

THiS WEEK: The death toll for journalists in Iraq, over the past 2 years, has already surpassed that of twenty years in Vietnam; meanwhile, soldiers killed in the Iraq War are rewarded with Pentagon slogans on their gravestones; no honor in "redface"; why Flying Spaghetti Monsterism must be allowed a place in public schools, alongside evolution; dissecting the economics of US imperialism, in two parts; the two faces of Canadian foreign policy; the whiteness of wi-fi; Jon Stewart has some customarily humorous things to say about Pat Robertson's call for the assassination of Hugo Chavez; the growth of alternative education in the US; locked-out radio workers on strike across Canada decide to keep working on their own terms—through their own podcast shows; and more.

This Week's Picks:

  1. More Journalists Killed in Iraq than Vietnam
    The death of Reuters soundman Waleed Khaled—who was shot in the face and chest by a US sniper—brings the death toll to 66 for journalists in Iraq since the beginning of the war, according to Reporters Without Borders. That surpasses the 63 killed in over 20 years of conflict in Vietnam.

    Reuters / Truthout
    http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/082905I.shtml
    Reporters without Borders 2005 Report: http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=509


  2. Troops' Gravestones Have Pentagon Slogans
    Unlike earlier wars, nearly all Arlington National Cemetery gravestones for troops killed in Iraq or Afghanistan are inscribed with the slogan-like operation names the Pentagon selected to promote public support for the conflicts.

    David Pace | AP / Commondreams
    http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0824-07.htm


  3. 'Red Face' Does Not Honor Us
    Sports teams aren't the only culprits of the negative images of Natives in American society, just as negative imagery are not the sole reason that we face the problems that we do. But the NCAA's decision to no longer use American Indian imagery is an important first step. And we must not stop pushing for more.

    H. Mathew Barkhausen III / SNAG Magazine
    http://www.snagmagazine.com/index.php?s=23&a=32


  4. Touched by His Noodly Appendage
    In an open letter to the Kansas State Board of Education, 25-year-old Bobby Henderson argued that although science students should indeed be taught "multiple viewpoints" of how the universe came to be—as the BoE has given preliminary approval for teachers to do—he is concerned about students hearing only one theory of "intelligent design." After all, there are many such theories, including his own fervent belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster.

    Sarah Boxer | NY Times
    http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/29/arts/design/29mons.html
    Henderson's letter, responses, and more information on the Church of the FSM: http://venganza.org


  5. Captions Based on Pigmentation
    The difference between "looting," "finding," and "shopping."

    Dustin3000 | Flickr.com
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/firewall/38725768
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/firewall/38797241


  6. AUDIO | Financing Empire
    We're in an age of American empire—that's something on which most of the left seems to agree. But how does this empire work? Political economists Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin talk about the American imperial order that arose following WW2 and the role that finance has played in binding it all together.

    Sasha Lily (host) | Against The Grain
    http://www.againstthegrain.org/audio8.17.05.mp3


  7. US Defense Firms Feast on Bush's "War on Terror"
    Analysts say that a significant part of the American's national life is determined by the financial interests of the "mighty 10."

    Al Jazeera
    http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/review/article_full_story.asp?service_ID=9528


  8. The Two Faces of Foreign Policy
    Canada has often been widely praised for its commitment to extending the rule of international law. But looking at some of the major initiatives of the past 50 years presents a very mixed picture. What you find is that Canadian businesses, and transnational corporations in particular, have made a significant amount of coin from the government's support for one idea publicly and a different one behind the scenes.

    David Evans | This Magazine
    http://www.thismagazine.ca/issues/2005/07/chart_foreign.php


  9. VIDEO | Pat Sounds
    Who would take Pat Robertson seriously, anyway?

    Jon Stewart | The Daily Show
    http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/videos/headlines/index.jhtml


  10. Weapons of Mass Instruction
    When it comes to education, people are fed up. Modern education has come down to a limited set of choices, like Pepsi or Coke, or Wal-mart or Costco. And with the indoctrination of Bush's "No Child Left Behind" Act, and more recently, his highly endorsed, "Intelligent Design" theory, state schooling is fast becoming a less enticing choice for our children's education, provoking many people to seek other alternatives.

    Paul Rathgeb | Resist!
    http://resist.ca/story/2005/8/21/224211/149


  11. CBC Workers Launch CBC Unplugged and Studio Zero
    Imagine a bunch of locked-out auto workers standing outside the factory gates and saying, "All right, let's build our own cars." Across Canada, locked-out CBC employees are working together to put out their own radio programs, under the collective name of CBC Unplugged.

    Peter Tupper | The Tyee
    http://www.thetyee.ca/News/2005/08/22/CBCUnplugged


- 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 31, 2005 12:47 AM

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