A few random highlights
Jan. 24th, 2008 01:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amari_zAlthough I’ve been trying to keep my mood up, I’ve been not so pleased lately. It’s the usual combination of I hate my job, what am I doing with my life, the world is melting, the world is spiraling further into chaos, my country is no longer recognizable to me, all my painfully-earned savings are shrinking, people suck and so on.
My reaction to Heath Ledger’s death is case in point of my grumpiness. It was shocking, he was young and had a promising career, I feel bad for his family, but . . . why is this so front in center in the news and in people’s minds? I realize this is the unfortunate way that the new news cycle has come to work and that there are much, much less worthy things that the press has focused on (hi Brittany!), but I’m actually just annoyed at this point. Can we bother with the actual news just for the sake of novelty? It’s not like there are a shortage of conflict-oriented stories out there for the media to cover.
I’ve pretty much not talked about current events or politics here in ages—and I’m not going to go into any kind of long rant—but I’m feeling compelled to point to a few things today, just because. If one follows the non-celebrity oriented news, no real surprises, I should think. Some might say don’t read if you don’t want to be depressed, but, despite my current state of mind, I’ve never bought that idea.
A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials made over 900 false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks.
The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear Enron investors appeal.
The West should strike first, and with nuclear weapons, if necessary. So says a new, 150-page "manifesto" penned by five retired senior NATO officers and military strategists and distributed over the last 10 days to Pentagon officials and NATO Secretary General.
If you were watching the news, you may have heard about the confrontation between the U.S. navy and Iranian speedboats in the strait of Hormuz. What didn’t get as much coverage (no surprise) is that the incident was basically manufactured out of a routine event. (Also see Jon Stewart poking fun at this--I have to include this clip because of the huge love for Aasif Mandvi’s “I’m from Tampa, Jon.”) Yeah, since the war mongering has been going so poorly, CNN felt it necessary to step in and do all that it could do for its country.
“A new mortality report from the International Rescue Committee says that as many as 5.4 million people have died from war-related causes in the Congo since 1998. A staggering 45,000 people continue to die each month, both from the conflict and the related humanitarian crisis. Amidst the deadliest conflict since World War II, hundreds of international corporations have reaped enormous profits from extracting and processing Congolese minerals.” See here.
Congress fails to override SCHIP veto. And some Republicans call this attempt to extend the healthcare of uninsured children a political stunt.
This summer brings unnerving shrinking of polar ice. “Astonished by the summer’s changes, scientists are studying the forces that exposed one million square miles of open water — six Californias — beyond the average since satellites started measurements in 1979.”
Surviving a CIA black site. Mohamed Farag Ahmad Bashmilah spent over two and half years imprisoned before being released without any charges being filed against him. He describes: “They wanted me to confess to having some connections to some individuals of al-Qaida. They tried several times to get me to confess, and every time I said no, I would get either a kick, a slap or a curse. Then they said that if I did not confess, they will bring my wife and rape her in front of me. And out of fear for what would happen to my family, I screamed and I fainted. After I came to, I told them that ‘please, don’t do anything to my family. I would cooperate with you in any way you want.’”
Prison break in Gaza “But for Palestinians, life has grown more unbearable since Bush decided to get "engaged". Since Annapolis, the death toll of Palestinians killed by Israelis has soared 100%. The ratio of Palestinians to Israelis killed last year was the most unbalanced ever, at 40:1, up from 30:1 in 2006 and 4:1 from 2000-2005. The total death toll for 2007 stands at 322 Palestinians and eight Israelis. Of the eight, five were soldiers who died while carrying out military operations inside the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The pretext for these endless killings is the Qassam rockets. But the truth is that the daily incursions, assassinations, and embargo, have proceeded without fail before and after the rockets. The excuses change all the time, but the reality of occupation remains the same.”
I could go on, and on. But I’ll stop here since I'm now slightly more angry than depressed. So on a lighter note, just for fun:
Bill Clinton: Screw it, I’m running for President. “While the announcement has come as a surprise to many, Beltway observers said it was not completely unexpected, citing footage from a recent Democratic debate that showed Clinton fidgeting in his seat, gripping the arms of his chair, and repeatedly glancing at all the television cameras while rapidly tapping his right foot. Analysts also noted one debate in which Clinton mouthed responses to all the moderator's questions while making hand gestures to himself.”
My reaction to Heath Ledger’s death is case in point of my grumpiness. It was shocking, he was young and had a promising career, I feel bad for his family, but . . . why is this so front in center in the news and in people’s minds? I realize this is the unfortunate way that the new news cycle has come to work and that there are much, much less worthy things that the press has focused on (hi Brittany!), but I’m actually just annoyed at this point. Can we bother with the actual news just for the sake of novelty? It’s not like there are a shortage of conflict-oriented stories out there for the media to cover.
I’ve pretty much not talked about current events or politics here in ages—and I’m not going to go into any kind of long rant—but I’m feeling compelled to point to a few things today, just because. If one follows the non-celebrity oriented news, no real surprises, I should think. Some might say don’t read if you don’t want to be depressed, but, despite my current state of mind, I’ve never bought that idea.
A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials made over 900 false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks.
The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear Enron investors appeal.
The West should strike first, and with nuclear weapons, if necessary. So says a new, 150-page "manifesto" penned by five retired senior NATO officers and military strategists and distributed over the last 10 days to Pentagon officials and NATO Secretary General.
If you were watching the news, you may have heard about the confrontation between the U.S. navy and Iranian speedboats in the strait of Hormuz. What didn’t get as much coverage (no surprise) is that the incident was basically manufactured out of a routine event. (Also see Jon Stewart poking fun at this--I have to include this clip because of the huge love for Aasif Mandvi’s “I’m from Tampa, Jon.”) Yeah, since the war mongering has been going so poorly, CNN felt it necessary to step in and do all that it could do for its country.
“A new mortality report from the International Rescue Committee says that as many as 5.4 million people have died from war-related causes in the Congo since 1998. A staggering 45,000 people continue to die each month, both from the conflict and the related humanitarian crisis. Amidst the deadliest conflict since World War II, hundreds of international corporations have reaped enormous profits from extracting and processing Congolese minerals.” See here.
Congress fails to override SCHIP veto. And some Republicans call this attempt to extend the healthcare of uninsured children a political stunt.
This summer brings unnerving shrinking of polar ice. “Astonished by the summer’s changes, scientists are studying the forces that exposed one million square miles of open water — six Californias — beyond the average since satellites started measurements in 1979.”
Surviving a CIA black site. Mohamed Farag Ahmad Bashmilah spent over two and half years imprisoned before being released without any charges being filed against him. He describes: “They wanted me to confess to having some connections to some individuals of al-Qaida. They tried several times to get me to confess, and every time I said no, I would get either a kick, a slap or a curse. Then they said that if I did not confess, they will bring my wife and rape her in front of me. And out of fear for what would happen to my family, I screamed and I fainted. After I came to, I told them that ‘please, don’t do anything to my family. I would cooperate with you in any way you want.’”
Prison break in Gaza “But for Palestinians, life has grown more unbearable since Bush decided to get "engaged". Since Annapolis, the death toll of Palestinians killed by Israelis has soared 100%. The ratio of Palestinians to Israelis killed last year was the most unbalanced ever, at 40:1, up from 30:1 in 2006 and 4:1 from 2000-2005. The total death toll for 2007 stands at 322 Palestinians and eight Israelis. Of the eight, five were soldiers who died while carrying out military operations inside the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The pretext for these endless killings is the Qassam rockets. But the truth is that the daily incursions, assassinations, and embargo, have proceeded without fail before and after the rockets. The excuses change all the time, but the reality of occupation remains the same.”
I could go on, and on. But I’ll stop here since I'm now slightly more angry than depressed. So on a lighter note, just for fun:
Bill Clinton: Screw it, I’m running for President. “While the announcement has come as a surprise to many, Beltway observers said it was not completely unexpected, citing footage from a recent Democratic debate that showed Clinton fidgeting in his seat, gripping the arms of his chair, and repeatedly glancing at all the television cameras while rapidly tapping his right foot. Analysts also noted one debate in which Clinton mouthed responses to all the moderator's questions while making hand gestures to himself.”
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no subject
Date: 2008-01-24 07:05 pm (UTC)Well, that's the current media environment for you. I've managed to keep up with all the other depressing news reports about the state of the world, including the NY Times article about the sorry state of our oceans because of overfishing to meet European demand, and the one on it's socio-economic impact on Africa, coupled with that horrid report on the mercury levels in sushi tuna. I've gotten one email from another Asian friend screaming that it's all a conspiracy, an attack on all the (primarily Asian and African) archipelago and coastal dwellers dependent on fish as a food source. I don't disbelieve her.
I consider Heath's death way more newsworthy than another White House Press conference. As a lover of acting as a craft, I do find it depressing that he's gone (and it just sucks if he did die accidentally -- even if you believe in reincarnation, you can't ask for a do-over and get this life back). It's deja-vu of River Phoenix's death for me, although I think me and my friends felt that one more acutely because he was our age, and we all had a huge crush on him.
The Yunus event had 1,000 people attending. I'm quite pissed off that no one from AP, including the AP manager in charge of this, bothered to come. How could they be so oblivious to this man's appeal (he only won that obscure little Nobel Peace Prize thing, after all)? He was quite a personality -- biting sense of humor, coupled with a don't-fuck-with-me air -- and delivered a powerful address on upending the capitalist banking model as a matter of duty.
The event did prove my point to MZ that South Asian author events are much like South Asian weddings: if they ask for 24 reserved seats, you've got to triple it at least for all the relations, neighbors from Dhaka, university mates, etc. who will come out of the woodwork with their spouses and kids, nattily dressed, and armed with cameras.
I should mention that I'm back at home, relapsed. We got out after 10 pm last night, after the store had closed.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-24 08:14 pm (UTC)No one from the AP showed up? That's pretty bad. I would make a snide comment that they were all too busy with covering Heath Ledger's death, but I'll refrain.
South Asians in general are far above such minor issues involving numbers, whether it be counting bodies or telling time. I don't know how many wedding receptions I've been to where the given time was something like 7 pm, and not a single member of the family (on either side) was there to welcome their guests (or feed them) until after 11 pm. I always feel sorry for the American guests who show up promptly at 7--I feel like a sucker as it is showing up 8.
Sorry to hear you've relapsed! Hopefully a day at home will fix you up.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-24 08:47 pm (UTC)Okay, I'm used to ghetto media set-ups from my days in the Philippines, but Bangladeshi TV sent one bloke, who came late, with one mic-ed camera, and four camera phones (presumably, his producer's and his in-laws' and their friends') to cover the event? *shakes head* And to your point about punctuality, he arrived an hour late (press call is always 6:30 for a 7:00 pm event).
OTT, I was pleasantly astonished about how many white people came up speaking in fluent Bengali, and the number of people representing new microcredit agencies from Harlem to Mexico City. And there was this super cute Pakistani-Filipino sixth grader who asked the question "Does microcredit have a viable future? If so, how and why?". He had written a paper (he referenced primary sources!) and is making a documentary about microcredit.
Bored now (is it obvious?). Am backing-up my iTunes onto an external drive, have seasoned and marinated meat, and am arranging to have my Banana Republic leather bag cleaned up by Kenneth Cole.
Oh, and your Mac powercord has finally bit the bucket, so I've added that to my list for next Friday. On the boards there have been so many complaints about it that I'm tempted to go third party (it's $30 cheaper, though it'll take a week to get here; I may just bite the bullet and get it from the Apple store).