July 11
In a sense we need to take the wind out of the sails of fake news and rhetorical hyperbole by charting a practical course toward social democratic/democratic socialist policies on health, education, immigration, environment, economy, labor, social justice and foreign policy.
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July 06
A few weeks ago Triangle Square Books for Young Reader’s Facebook page was attacked by a wave of conservative homophobes. That the attacks and one-star ratings were instigated by a blogger who once videotaped herself eating bacon while ranting about Islamic terrorists was hideous enough. But the fact that she chose to egg on her followers with homo- and transphobic language during Pride Week was particularly galling.
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July 05
Is Russian hacking really more significant than . . . the Republican campaign to destroy the conditions for organized social existence, in defiance of the entire world? Or to enhance the already dire threat of terminal nuclear war? Or even such real but lesser crimes such as the Republican initiative to deprive tens of millions of health care and to drive helpless people out of nursing homes in order to enrich their actual constituency of corporate power and wealth even further? Or to dismantle the limited regulatory system set up to mitigate the impact of the financial crisis that their favorites are likely to bring about once again? And on, and on.
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June 21
What supposedly thorny journalistic questions could be simply settled by honest, unbiased inquiry? Noam Chomsky asked that very question in 2002, in his speech "The Journalist from Mars," included in the second edition of Media Control: The Spectacular Achievments of Propaganda. Let's say an idealistic journalist came down from Mars, with none of the prejudices used by intellectual elites to buttress up power. What would that Martian make of global affairs and the way they're reported? How would our Martian friend report on terrorist acts in Nicaragua, Lebanon, the U.S., and elsewhere? Chomsky does his best Martian impression and informs us below.
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