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May 12, 2006
05.12.06 Survivaball; Who is African-American?; Network Neutrality
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May 12, 2006 Edition |
| "The Best of the Rest of the Web" |
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THiS WEEK: This Week: The Yes Men take on Halliburton with their invention of the global warming "SurvivaBall;" children born behind bars; an interview with "eco-terrorist" Jeff Luers about sabotage, environmental responsibility, and what constitutes terrorism; an amazing panel of speakers asks, in this age of immigration and shifting demographics, "Who is African-American?"; a language without numbers or time; a little concept called "network neutrality," and why it's important; fighting campus recruitment; a video recap of the May 1 demonstrations; and much, much more in this slightly-delayed but ultimately worthwhile edition of Media Picks.
BUT FIRST: Check out the LiP website for three new articles! Mattilda, aka Matt Bernstein Sycamore, wonders if the gay rights movement might be playing into the hands of conservatives by focusing on marriage as the ultimate prize (originally from our "sacred cows" issue, Summer 2005; Ariane Conrad and Erin Wiegand investigate the corporatization of the organics movement (also from the "sacred cows" issue); and Brian Awehali asks author and clinical psychologist Bruce Levine about psychiatry, pharmaceuticals, and the suppression of rebellion (from the "propaganda" issue, Winter 2006). Click here.
This Week's Picks:
- WITTY SATIRE | Halliburton Solves Global Warming
An advanced new technology will keep corporate managers safe even when climate change makes life as we know it impossible. "The SurvivaBall is designed to protect the corporate manager no matter what Mother Nature throws his or her way," said Fred Wolf, a Halliburton representative. "This technology is the only rational response to abrupt climate change."The Yes Men
http://www.halliburtoncontracts.com/about - Born Into Cellblocks
At any one time in Nuevo Laredo's El Penal II, there are four to ten kids living behind bars with their mothers. Some of them, conceived inside prison walls, have not yet known freedom. A look at the lives of children born into incarceration.Penny De Los Santos & Charles Bowden | Mother Jones
Text: http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2006/05/cellblock-9.html
Photo Essay: http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2006/05/cellblock-2.html - Words From an "Eco-Terrorist"
In 2000, 21-year-old Jeff Luers and an accomplice set fire to three pickup trucks at a dealership in Eugene, Ore., to bring attention to gas-guzzlers' contribution to global warming. They were promptly arrested. Luers, who refused to plea bargain, was sentenced to 22 years, eight months in prison. It is the longest term ever handed down for environmentally motivated sabotage in America—and far longer than sentences given to arsonists in Oregon who have destroyed more property and endangered peoples' lives. So what sets Luers apart from them? The moniker of "eco-terrorist," a category of environmental activists the federal government deems one of the biggest threats to US security.Gregory Dicum | Grist
http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2006/05/04/dicum/ - VIDEO | Who is African-American?
The census tells us that the US is home to 35 million blacks, of whom 1.5 million are "Afro-Carribean" (up 70% from 15 years ago) and 600,000 are recently emigrated Africans. In the last 30 years, twice as many sub-Saharan Africans have come to the United States as during the entire duration of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In the face of such shifting demographics of the black population in America, we have to ask: Who is African-American?American Heritage Series | Seattle Channel
http://www.seattlechannel.org/videos/watchVideos.asp?program=CDForum - CARTOON | Exxon Profit Spill
Exxon continues to invest in money alternatives research, including cash made from corn.Don Asmussen | Bad Reporter
http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/pictures/2006/04/28/042806-950x317-badreporter.gif - Living without Numbers or Time
The Pirahã people have no history, no descriptive words and no subordinate clauses. That makes their language one of the strangest in the world—and also one of the most hotly debated by linguists.Rafaela von Bredow | Der Spiegel
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,414291,00.html - New "Anti-Abortion" Pill Kills Mother, Leaves Fetus Alive
Pfizer, manufacturer of UR-86—dubbed the "last-morning-ever pill"—said the drug is intended only for occasions when the mind-set or politics of the mother threaten the life of the fetus. - Protecting the Web We Love
If the big corporations win their push to charge internet users different rates for the same product, the Web as we know it will wither on the vine.Annalee Newitz | AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/36002/
AND, check out this short video on network neutrality from COA News: http://www.coanews.org/netfreedom - Lessons from the Fordham 9
Twenty years ago this month a group known as "The Fordham 9" conducted a successful blockade of a CIA recruiter at the Career Planning and Placement Office at Fordham University's Rosehill Campus in the Bronx. The act was carried out after months of negotiations with administrators that ended in a stalemate. The result of the blockade was (as far as could be ascertained) the cancellation of open CIA recruitment at Fordham for a period of at least a year.Stephen Phillion | CounterPunch
http://www.counterpunch.org/philion05062006.html - WEBSITE OF NOTE | Not Your Soldier
This coalition of students, teachers, and activists is not only putting togther regional and national "counter-recruitment" camps for youth targeted by military recruiters, they're a great resource for those trying to organize a resistance to recruiters on their own campuses. Check out the site, and make sure to watch their Flash movie, with clips from the new documentary about Vietnam soldiers resisting the war, Sir, No Sir!Not Your Soldier
http://notyoursoldier.org
FLASH MOVIE: http://notyoursoldier.org/sns - While Washington Slept
The Queen of England is afraid. International CEOs are nervous. And the scientific establishment is loud and clear: It's getting hot in here.Mark Hertsgaard | Guerilla News Network
http://www.gnn.tv/articles/2242/While_Washington_Slept - Excerpt: The Bush Agenda
Bush believes that 'free trade' and 'free markets' are synonymous with 'freedom'—and he's willing to implement this theory with military force. This is an edited excerpt from Antonia Juhasz's new book, The Bush Agenda : Invading the World, One Economy at a Time.Antonia Juhasz | AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/story/35861/ - VIDEO | We Are Organized—The Truth Behind the L.A. Student Walk-Outs
Latino students and an African American organizer comment on the depth of the energy that pushed thousands of students into the Los Angeles streets during last month's protest.Daffodil Altan, Carolyn Goosen & Min Lee | New American Media
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=c088a9330176b131c78461026837f96b
- Media Picks Contributing Editors: Adam Barker, Justin Park
- Media Picks compiled and edited by Erin
Wiegand and Brian Awehali
Posted by erin at May 12, 2006 01:48 PM