Showing posts with label media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label media. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Robin Hood Foundation Gives ALL of Donations to Needy in NYC

From Denny: There is nothing better than a charity that uses ALL of its funds to achieve its goal. In recent years, Americans quit giving to national charities because of scandal and excessive use of funds for "administration costs" to the tune of 97% of it.

This is a New York City charity geared toward helping the 2 million who live in poverty in their city. It's pretty cool how the board members, instead of taking the usual salaries, actually pay all the administration costs of the charity! They free up all the donation money to go to those in need. Take a look:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy



*** THANKS for visiting!
at 4:17 PM
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Monday, October 5, 2009

Video: Meet The Press, part 2, Democrat Maddow Pummels Republican Murphy into a Pout

From Denny: As usual, inside Washington they worry far too much about their own egos than they do about the welfare and job situation of the American people. Gregory tried to define President Obama as weak for trying for the Olympics and then losing. Emotionally mature people, that is, grown-ups, don't talk like that or fritter away their time thinking about it - but Gregory sure had to waste the time of his audience asking a question no one cared to hear except his merry band in the TV studio.

Rice's answer was a lesson in how to meet life even when it doesn't go your way: why would you criticize the President for standing up for and promoting his country abroad? How is that a weak position? Clearly, the Democrats are finally fine-tuning their stance and backing it up with a steel spine. Better late to the game than never showing up to take a stand.



Rice made a great point here that the United Nations is a body of 192 nations of which only a handful get negative press on a regular basis: Iran, Venezuela and Libya, the clowns of the global neighborhood. Basically, boiling down her answer and what she implied, is that no one in the world has enough money in their treasuries to "go it alone" like the naive Bush and Cheney strategy for handling all the many problems facing each country.



What a shame; they edited out Murphy looking pissy and giving the chic style of the cold shoulder to Maddow when she asked him why Palin asked the only White Supremacist author in America to be the co-author of her best-selling book on Amazon. Throughout the program Maddow constantly challenged Murphy which he clearly did not appreciate.

Maddow blindsided him with the truth and facts and he was uncomfortable. After all, he is the Bush author of "don't go anywhere or do anything unless you control the situation ahead of time." I read that as fear of the unknown and the inability to think well on your feet. Meet The Press is still a heavily endowed Republican centric program rather than an objective news show. Editing any clips where a Republican looks bad said it all.

at 5:07 AM
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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

3 Videos: Free Health Clinics Serving Middle Class America Now, Republicans Party of No Answers

From Denny: This is a disturbing report. As foolish Republican strategists, conservative media and everyday citizen political hacks continue to fight the President on health care reform because their incomes are paid for by the insurance industry, middle class people with jobs have to resort to free health clinics for basic needs.

Free clinics were once the last resort of the poorest of the poor in America. Today, people call their local fire department and 911 calls for free help as much as overwhelming the emergency rooms of hospitals. Now the new trend is free clinics. Has America become a third world nation? We are a nation in distress and Big Business and the Repubican Party doesn't give a damn.

Americans are dropping their health insurance premiums in droves. No one can afford the $15,000 a year premiums just to own basic coverage. That doesn't even address catastrophic coverage if they were to experience a cancer diagnosis.

Nor does the health insurance industry any longer guarantee, even if rated up to higher premiums, that a person can get coverage because of pre-existing conditions, some as easy to treat as Type 2 Diabetes.

Doctors and nurses are already overworked across America from a stressed out medical system. Yet, here they are, a number of hardy loving souls, volunteering their "free" time to help offer health care to folks who can no longer afford health care premiums. Those $100,000 a year jobs are now only paying $30,000. With a 70% cut in pay across America (because of Big Business still continuing to outsource our jobs as no one has stopped the so-called "work visa" program), no one can any longer afford what they used to pay, yet the insurance industry keeps rocking along gouging the American consumer.



at 5:09 AM
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Monday, September 21, 2009

6 Videos: President Obamas Media Blitz to Sell Health Care Reform

From Denny: In case you missed the news or couldn't watch all 5 stations at once, here's the roundup of President Obama pushing to pass his current project of health care reform.






And from moderate Republican Senator Olympia Snowe:



Clips from Meet The Press on Sunday:



President Obama on the angry tone of the health care reform debate:



at 5:34 AM
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Thursday, August 6, 2009

Video: Salute to Better Journalism From Walter Cronkite

From Denny: This is news anchor Brian Williams' tribute to the great journalist Walter Cronkite. Cronkite embodied the best of TV journalism. He came from a time when there were those journalists who chose to be of good character and think responsibly about how they affected their viewers by what they said and how they said it.

Today, marketing, huge salaries and big business influences or downright drives the opinions on the news. Where are the affable principled Cronkites now for this generation? When the public quits supporting unprincipled deceptive journalists that's when the media will start delivering what they should have delivered all along: the whole truth, not marketing for a desired effect.

Kudos to those journalists today who have labored in obscurity while maintaining their principles and good character - like the Knight-Ridder newspaper chain speaking the truth during the Bush years when the rest of the media became tame obedient lap dogs. If Obama gets re-elected again it will be interesting to see how many journalists start working up their courage to do better. Let's hope for the best.

at 7:54 AM
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Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Videos: Jailed U.S. Journalists Speak, All Gore Thanks, Obama Comments, Hillary's Role in Diplomatic Mission

First: from Al Gore who thanks Bill Clinton and teams who successfully concluded this humanitarian mission



Second: from journalist Ling who recounts her reaction upon meeting Bill Clinton in North Korea. Thanks everyone for their prayers as they felt those prayers while in captivity and it kept them going through their ordeal.



President Obama comments upon their release:



Hillary Clinton's role in the diplomatic mission as reported by Andrea Mitchell who is traveling with the Secretary of State in Kenya:

at 6:07 PM
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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Video: Comedian Bill Maher Rips Palin

From Denny: On a lighter note about circus acts in politics...

CNN: Comedian Bill Maher attacks former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.




Here's the news story about her leaving the Alaskan Governor's Mansion with 18 months left to serve. She just up and quit like some diva, surprising everyone and angering Republicans for being a quitter. Guess she can't fade the heat of 16 ethics charges.

CNN: CNN's Candy Crowley reports on the questions remaining following Sarah Palin's decision to quit her job.




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at 7:16 PM
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Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Blame CUPE

Are you tired of blaming fate, the vagaries of nature, or God for your misfortunes? Try blaming CUPE. It's fun and easy.

Here's an example, provided by the Toronto Sun.


CUPE killed summer. That's right. Summer is dead, and CUPE perpetrated the murder.

Try it yourself. Car won't start? Blame CUPE. Weather too cold? Blame CUPE. Miss the bus? Stub your toe? Spill your coffee? You know who to blame.
at 2:12 PM
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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

The media have finally discovered homelessness. Not surprisingly, they get the story wrong


One of the fundamental human requirements is shelter. How do homeless people survive? Where do they sleep? On friends and family's couches and floors (if they are lucky), at shelters, in churches, in parks, on sidewalk grates, in abandoned buildings, in doorways, under bridges, in cars, or wherever else they can.

And of course, they sleep in tents. The burgeoning tent cities in the U.S. have finally made the national awareness. Interestingly, it seems as though the media is only interested in the newly homeless, those middle class folks who lost their homes because of the economic collapse. In other words, those who they believe are homeless because of circumstances, not because of some kind of individual moral failing. Unlike, you know, the other kind of poor.
Over the past few months, reporters from around the world have flocked to the now-famous tent city in Sacramento, Calif. When they find out that 55-year-old John Kraintz has been living in a tent for almost seven years, they turn around and walk away.

"They don't want to talk to me," he says. "They're searching for people who just lost their homes. It's kinda tough to lose a home when you've never owned one. Sorry, but most of the people here have been homeless for a long time."

Homelessness is seen as an anomaly, a sign of the economic crisis, not as a structural problem with capitalism. But there are homeless during the boom times, too, lots of them.

"The other day, I heard a German reporter ask if this is happening because of the recent economic collapse," says Kraintz. "This has been happening for 30 years, but the powers that be have been able to pretend it doesn't exist. Why aren't reporters asking about flat wages, jobs being shipped overseas and the lack of affordable housing?"

Burke agrees, saying one of the many issues ignored in most articles about tent city and homelessness is the fact that poor people cannot afford housing, especially in an expensive state like California.

"People who are poor end up homeless through no fault of their own, but because people higher up on the food chain have made affordable housing a very scarce commodity," she says. "If we had sound housing policies and programs that helped people when they have a run of bad luck, we would not have a tent city."

Kraintz says he knew the system would finally blow up. It was just a matter of time. The question, according to him, is this: Do the powers that be have the political will to create a fairer, more just economic system? <Alternet>


Photo Credit: A tent city in Fresno, from a 2004 article by Mike Rhodes on Indybay
at 7:14 AM
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Saturday, February 21, 2009

Worst Headline Ever

If there were an annual worst headline award, The Sun would probably win pretty much every year. Today's paper screamed "'Enormous' fraud at City Hall"

It makes it sound as though the city council or mayor has been caught doing something corrupt or fraudulent. Reading the article, one finds out there were 9 civil servants (working in social services) who are accused of insurance scams with Manulife, the city's supplier of health insurance. They allegedly made fake claims. This is being investigated, has been turned over to the Toronto Police right now, and the city sent the accused employees home (with pay, which is necessary when a charge is unproven).

Rob Ford, (the only councillor interviewed in this article on the same topic, opined "I've always said corruption is rampant at City Hall," he said. "I believe this is the tip of the iceberg."

The city is scrutinized in ways the federal and provincial governments aren't. The city is more efficient than any other level of government - it has to be - and yet, it is constantly being accused of waste. Our city budget is well in line with other large North American cities, it supplies services many other cities don't have to (due to good old Mike Harris), and every penny is watched. If 9 low-level employees of a company which employed over 50,000 were to scam their health insurance, nobody would claim the company itself was corrupt.

City News coverage of the same story
at 4:41 PM
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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Gender, Jobs, Recession... and bad math

Usually the Toronto Star has pretty decent writing, but this was one of the poorest pieces I've seen in a while. There are some good points made, but the headline ("In shrinking workforce, women may surpass men") is misleading, and the writing jumps around without leading to any reasonable conclusion.

Perhaps this is nitpicky, but there is some sloppy math here. The article claims "there's a possibility women will soon outnumber men in the job force." The numbers quoted in the same article don't really bear that out, unless you define "soon" as "probably never".
According to StatsCan, there were 7,295,900 men with full-time jobs in January 2005 and 6,297,400 women working full-time.

By January 2008, that number had dropped to 7,186,800 for men and to 5,339,200 for women. And as of last month, it fell further, to 7,095,000 full-time jobs for men and slightly for women, to 5,339,000 full-time positions.

So the trend shows in the longer term women losing significantly more full-time jobs than men (from 2005-2009, men lost 200,000 while women lost 958,400 jobs, or put another way men lost 2.7% of their full-time jobs while women lost 15.2%). From 2008-2009, men lost 91,800 jobs and women lost only 200. Now there are 1,756,000 more men than women employed full-time. If this trend were to continue, exactly as is, it would take over 19 years for the number of men and women employed full time to equalize. I don't know about you, but I don't consider 19 years as "soon". In addition, most stimulus money is targeted to male-dominated industries, so if the stimulus package has any effect, traditionally masculine industries will see a boost, slowing or reversing this trend.

If they had included part-time work as well, maybe the conclusion would be justified (women's part-time job participation is about three times that of men). Here's the most recent Statcan numbers.

If it were true that women were surpassing men in the full-time paid workforce, why is this a problem? Aren't we supposed to be living in the land of equality?

One reason this is indeed a problem is that women still make less money than men, partly because pink-collar jobs typically offer lower pay and fewer benefits. Women-headed households are on average much poorer, even when there are two parents.
Economists also point out that men have lost high-paying jobs with health care and pensions but women are supporting families with jobs that are not necessarily as good.

The article also points out:
This trend can also mean a shift in family dynamics. "If more men find themselves home, that has important implications for the way families operate," said Julie McCarthy, assistant professor at Rotman School of Management. "It's not a bad thing – most men are amazing parents but traditionally, it's not their primary role. Perhaps this trend will facilitate that."

Why shouldn't men stay home and watch the kids half the time? Many men I know would love to have more time with their kids. And most kids would love to have their fathers around more.

Wouldn't it be nice if mommy's salary was enough to support the family while daddy took care of the cooking, cleaning and kids. Or perhaps, his EI benefits could help the family pay the bills (except that like Diane Finley said, "We do not want to make it lucrative for them to stay home and get paid for it, not when we have significant skills shortages in many parts of the country." This government wanted to make it easier for women to stay at home, but I guess the same doesn't apply to men.) Or perhaps a decent subsidized daycare system could help out when both mommy and daddy need their crappy minimum wage jobs, or when mommy is single.

Then I don't think we would worry so much about equal job participation rate among men and women.
at 9:36 AM
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Monday, September 1, 2008

A Pox on the Age of Digital Media!

Damn digital camcorders and youtube! Damn independent media! How can we run a good old fashioned repressive regime when you are constantly reporting the truth?
...........................................
A little tip: if you are going to make a ridiculous arrest of someone at a protest, you might want to make sure that the person is not a reporter for one of the biggest independent media outlets in the country. Sheesh.

Amy Goodman and Two Democracy Now! Producers Unlawfully Arrested At the RNC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
www.democracynow.org

September 1, 2008

Contact:
Denis Moynihan 917-549-5000
Mike Burke 646-552-5107, mike@democracynow.org

ST. PAUL, MN—Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman was unlawfully arrested in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota at approximately 5 p.m. local time. Police violently manhandled Goodman, yanking her arm, as they arrested her. Video of her arrest can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYjyvkR0bGQ

Goodman was arrested while attempting to free two Democracy Now! producers who were being unlawfully detained. They are Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar. Kouddous and Salazar were arrested while they carried out their journalistic duties in covering street demonstrations at the Republican National Convention. Goodman's crime appears to have been defending her colleagues and the freedom of the press.

Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher told Democracy Now! that Kouddous and Salazar were being arrested on suspicion of rioting. They are currently being held at the Ramsey County jail in St. Paul.

Democracy Now! is calling on all journalists and concerned citizens to call the office of Mayor Chris Coleman and the Ramsey County Jail and demand the immediate release of Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar. These calls can be directed to: Chris Rider from Mayor Coleman's office at 651-266-8535 and the Ramsey County Jail at 651-266-9350 (press extension 0).

Democracy Now! stands by Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar and condemns this action by Twin Cities law enforcement as a clear violation of the freedom of the press and the First Amendment rights of these journalists.

During the demonstration in which they were arrested law enforcement officers used pepper spray, rubber bullets, concussion grenades and excessive force. Several dozen others were also arrested during this action.

Amy Goodman is one of the most well-known and well-respected journalists in the United States. She has received journalism's top honors for her reporting and has a distinguished reputation of bravery and courage. The arrest of Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar is a transparent attempt to intimidate journalists from the nation's leading independent news outlet.

Democracy Now! is a nationally syndicated public TV and radio program that airs on over 700 radio and TV stations across the US and the globe.

Video of Amy Goodman's Arrest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYjyvkR0bGQ
at 5:27 PM
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Tuesday, July 8, 2008

The latest from our crazy world

Did you know the "latest data and research" shows:
* Liberals are more self-centered than conservatives.
* Conservatives are more generous and charitable than liberals.
* Liberals are more envious and less hardworking than conservatives.
* Conservatives value truth more than liberals, and are less prone to cheating and lying.
* Liberals are more angry than conservatives.
* Conservatives are actually more knowledgeable than liberals.
* Liberals are more dissatisfied and unhappy than conservatives.

It's true. Or at least, it is according to Peter Schweizer's generously titled Makers and Takers: Why conservatives work harder, feel happier, have closer families, take fewer drugs, give more generously, value honesty more, are less materialistic and envious, whine less … and even hug their children more than liberals

Speaking of valuing honesty and whining less, Bill O'Reilly has defended Fox's photoshopping of reporters to make them look subtly (or not so subtly) more menacing. Since The Times has previously run caricatures and illustrations of him (like the one on the right), O'Reilly calls this "the most hypocritical situation we have ever seen." Apparently he can't see the difference between what is clearly an illustration and (in Matt Bors' words) "to manipulate photographs of enemies, make them look ugly and pass them off as real on a 'news' show".

Price of gas got you down? Forget choosing a more efficient vehicle, lobbying for improved public transportation, or driving less. Just... pray. And if that doesn't work, just say "please sir, can we have some more" to Saudi Arabia. From Carfree USA:
The Pray at the Pump Movement, founded by Rocky Twyman, has been holding prayer vigils at gas stations across the country. On Monday, Twyman decided to take his movement from Exxon and Shell stations straight to the steps of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, D.C., hoping to encourage the oil-rich country to raise the amount of barrels they release each day from 200,000 to 1.2 million.


And finally, via Wired, a human-like race is going extinct
Orangutan numbers have declined sharply on the only two islands where they still live in the wild and they could become the first great ape species to go extinct if urgent action isn't taken, a new study says.
Of course, animal rights activists, rescue workers and scientists who work tirelessly to prevent such a tragedy probably just whine too much and don't hug their kids enough.
at 3:18 PM
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Thursday, July 3, 2008

They didn't even do a good job

If you're going to Photoshop someone, so as to play on your witless viewers' prejudices, at least a) start with an original photo that isn't published anywhere, and b) hire a decent graphic artist so the picture looks halfway believable.

Geez.


Fox News airs altered photos of NY Times reporters


During a segment in which Fox & Friends co-hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade labeled New York Times reporter Jacques Steinberg and editor Steven Reddicliffe "attack dogs," Fox News featured photos of Steinberg and Reddicliffe that appeared to have been digitally altered -- the journalists' teeth had been yellowed, their facial features exaggerated, and portions of Reddicliffe's hair moved further back on his head.


Through the toobz from Media Matters to Tiny Little Dots to Crooks & Liars to The Galloping beaver to me and then straight to you!
at 7:17 PM
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Wednesday, June 18, 2008

So What About Iraq?

What with the subprime mortgage crisis, the Democratic primaries, and the spiking food and fuel prices it seems as though everyone has forgotten about Iraq. Here's an interesting post from Last of Iraqis, one of the few Iraqi bloggers still left in Baghdad:
I have been asked by many westerner friends and readers so many times about the reality of the situation in Iraq and especially in Baghdad. Many are confused about the truth, many are manipulated by the media and most of them have the same question "is the situation good in Baghdad as we hear?"
He sums up:
...it got better but is it good yet or close to being good? No it's not...Is it close to normal, is there a hope for such thing? No it's far way from being normal and I can't see hope for such thing at least not in the 10 coming years...Is it violent? Yes it is...
He says things are better than they were during the absolute peak of the violence (2006-2007 "was the bloodiest times for Iraqis so when comparing to those times the situation is less violent but please don't forget that at that time Baghdad was like a living hell") but cautions the situation is still far from good.
Baghdad is still violent, there is a large count of daily civilians casualties, unidentified dead bodies, road side bombs, explosive cars, kidnapping and criminal acts and there is something I need to make clear that is the pattern of violence.
Some areas are better than others, and some types of violence have receded more than others. He also suggests he may be more desensitized than an outsider - fewer dead bodies still means there are dead bodies, after all.
I might see it good but I strongly believe you would not if you came here...it's a bit less violent but it's still violent...still there are explosions and they are a lot, still there are kidnappings and they are more than the beginning of this year, still there are sectarian violence, still there are a lot of dead bodies.

Here's another post on a similar topic from about a week ago, with pictures.
at 7:17 PM
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Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Internet Traffic "Shaping"

Ma Bell, we really got the ill communication...

CBC's the National does a segment on traffic shaping (a euphemism if I ever heard one)

Take Action
http://stopthethrottler.ca
Read more

Via Campaign for Democratic Media
at 6:39 AM
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Friday, March 21, 2008

The Stupifying World of Fox News

So I was reading about the mainstream media's lack of coverage of Winter Soldier. In a way I was surprised, since the winter soldier testimonies were all over my feed reader, from Democracy Now to Common Dreams to The Real News. On the other hand, I guess it isn't so surprising after all.

I thought I'd check Google News, and indeed, the only coverage of Winter Soldier was from the independents and a few local papers. There were only 240 results. (As a comparison, just try searching for "American Idol" - nearly 14,000 results.)


So I thought, just for kicks, that I'd check to see if there was even a speck of coverage on CNN or FOX.


On Fox, the only results from 2008 was a story about Captain America, the ultra-patriotic comic book superhero.

Then I started browsing FOXNews.com. Why? Must have been momentarily possessed by a self-destructive devil. The subcategories under U.S. are all about fear and distraction. Crime, Sports, Education, Live Audio, War on Terror, Homeland Security, Law, Immigration, Natural Disasters, Sept. 11, U.S. Military. And who, oh who, can protect us from the brown hordes that threaten us (learn all about it under Immigration, September 11, Homeland Security, War on Terror)? And from our neighbours? And the damn planet? Then there's the "HOT TOPICS": FOX News Election Coverage, Celebrity Gossip, FOX Movietone News. Hmm, that's basically sports and entertainment. Even though sports and entertainment have their own top level categories. I guess the American economy is doing A-OK. I could feel my brain turning to mush already.

Next, I went to the videos, where I was treated to some interestig headlines:
Axis of Evil - Is there a connection between Iran and Al Qaeda in Iraq? The Axis of Evil is back? Ma, we better make ourselves a fallout shelter.
Man's World? - Can Hillary Clinton use business leadership skills to reach the White House? Everyone knows Hillary has bigger Kahunas than most men. She should really go home and bake a cake.
Damage Control? - Obama, church blame media for controversy over pastor's provocative comments But of course, that's just damage control, or maybe it's the liberal media's fault. Because everyone knows Fox is fair and balanced.
Losing His Religion? - Obama distances himself from controversial pastor Catch-22: if Obama distances himself from the pastor he's losing his religion, and if he doesn't, then he's racist.
Losing My Religion? - New poll suggests shrinking spiritualism in U.S. Must be Obama's fault.
Racism or Sexism? - Is racism or sexism the bigger problem? Because we must hierarchize, always. By the way, the host's answer was that people just need to stop whining.

Of course, it wasn't all bad. I did learn about panda porn.
at 8:08 AM
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Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Top Ten Most Underreported Humanitarian Stories of 2007

From Chechnya to the Central African Republic, from Sri Lanka to Zimbabwe, the countries and contexts highlighted by MSF on this year's list accounted for just 18 minutes of coverage on the three major U.S. television networks' nightly newscasts from January through November 2007.

For example:

Graciela and her family are a few of the millions of Colombians who have had to flee their homes to escape fighting between government, rebel, and paramilitary forces.

Armed groups fighting for territorial control have a stranglehold on many rural areas of Colombia, depriving civilians of access to health care by making roads impassable, forcibly conscripting children into militias, and murdering those suspected of collaborating with rivals.


See the top ten most underreported humanitarian stories of 2007 in Images and text.
at 4:18 PM
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Africa: Talking about "Tribe": Moving from Stereotypes to Analysis

I have to say that overall the reporting of the crisis in Kenya has lacked depth and understanding. One particularly damaging word that was constantly in use was "tribal". This word has been used uncritically, perpetuating misleading stereotypes about Africans. Would we say that Europe is made up of tribes? Or that the English-French tensions within Canada is tribal conflict? Why not? It's about as sensible as assuming that Africa is made up of tribes. Well, apparently I'm not the only one irritated by this:
The Kenyan election, wrote Jeffrey Gettleman for the New York Times in his December 31 dispatch from Nairobi, "seems to have tapped into an atavistic vein of tribal tension that always lay beneath the surface in Kenya but until now had not provoked widespread mayhem." Gettleman was not exceptional among those covering the post-election violence in his stress on "tribe." But his terminology was unusually explicit in revealing the assumption that such divisions are rooted in unchanging and presumably primitive identities.


Here's an interesting article: 'Talking about "Tribe": Moving from Stereotypes to Analysis,' Africa Policy Information Center (APIC), November, 1997:

For most people in Western countries, Africa immediately calls up the word "tribe." The idea of tribe is ingrained, powerful, and expected. Few readers question a news story describing an African individual as a tribesman or tribeswoman, or the depiction of an African's motives as tribal. Many Africans themselves use the word "tribe" when speaking or writing in English about community, ethnicity or identity in African states.

Yet today most scholars who study African states and societies--both African and non-African--agree that the idea of tribe promotes misleading stereotypes. The term "tribe" has no consistent meaning. It carries misleading historical and cultural assumptions. It blocks accurate views of African realities. At best, any interpretation of African events that relies on the idea of tribe contributes no understanding of specific issues in specific countries. At worst, it perpetuates the idea that African identities and conflicts are in some way more "primitive" than those in other parts of the world. Such misunderstanding may lead to disastrously inappropriate policies.

In this paper we argue that anyone concerned with truth and accuracy should avoid the term "tribe" in characterizing African ethnic groups or cultures. This is not a matter of political correctness. Nor is it an attempt to deny that cultural identities throughout Africa are powerful, significant and sometimes linked to deadly conflicts. It is simply to say that using the term "tribe" does not contribute to understanding these identities or the conflicts sometimes tied to them. There are, moreover, many less loaded and more helpful alternative words to use. Depending on context, people, ethnic group, nationality, community, village, chiefdom, or kin-group might be appropriate. Whatever the term one uses, it is essential to understand that identities in Africa are as diverse, ambiguous, complex, modern, and changing as anywhere else in the world.
<The rest>
at 11:44 AM
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Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Children of Gaza rally for peace and an end to the siege

Yesterday, as reported by the Popular Committee against sieges (PCAS), there was a rally for besieged children in the Gaza Strip. Apparently hundreds of children participated. The kids formed a human chain in the largest street in Gaza city for almost two hours.

El Khoudary (Chair of PCAS) said about this rally:
occupation is killing innocent Palestinian children day by day in all ways. Children are here today to tell the world we are being killed and you are completely silent. Children must be protected in all times and this is a guaranteed right by all humanitarian charters... On behalf of oppressed besieged Gazans, PCAS calls upon the free world to lift the tight illegitimate siege. This siege threatens lives of all Gaza residents. It's flagrant and obvious violation for all humanitarian charters and conventions.


PCAS reports:
The 7-year-old Hend started to cry when we tried to spoke to her, "All I need is to see my father back in Gaza, he is trapped in Egypt and not able to get into Gaza as crossings are closed."


This was a press release, and just like any press release should not be taken at face value - for instance, numbers may have been exaggerated, important details omitted. A responsible media would take this press release and fact check, perhaps interviewing participants, and then report it. But who wants to bet we read absolutely nothing of this nonviolent Palestinian protest in our mainstream media?

Nonviolent activism in the Middle East gets almost no coverage at all, even when there are huge peaceful popular marches, demonstrations, and strikes. These sorts of protests are simply invisible because they fall outside the prejudiced view of Arabs and Muslims as somehow violent by nature. The lack of reporting on these activities to Western media consumers, while often gruesomely reporting on violent ones, then only helps to reinforces those same prejudices.

Previous related posts: Huge Peaceful Demonstrations in Najaf: Press & White House Dismissive, and Non-Violent Resistance in Iraq, and Non-Violent resistance in Israel and the Occupied territories.
at 4:58 PM
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