Daily Kos has a review up of Naomi Klein’s new book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Harper’s ran an excerpt from The Shock Doctrine in the October issue which was, as the DKos review says, riveting, and immediately put the book on my must-read list. I’m planning to pick up a copy […]
Entries Tagged as 'News'
On My Reading List: Naomi Klein’s New Book, The Shock Doctrine
October 16th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Activism, Books, Climate Change, Culture, Film, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Infrastructure, Journalism, News, Politics, TV, Video
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The Golden Compass: Official Trailer and Featurette on Daemons
October 12th, 2007 · 3 Comments · Books, Culture, Fantasy, Fiction, Film, Lit, Music, News, Science Fiction, TV, Ursula K. Le Guin, Video
The official/final trailer for The Golden Compass is out, and the more I see of this film the better it looks. I am somewhere between guardedly optimistic and completely geeked out. Also, here’s a nice little featurette called “Defining Daemons,” which looks at the animal companion-spirits that accompany the characters on their journeys. […]
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Video of the Week
September 24th, 2007 · Comments Off on Video of the Week · Culture, Foreign Policy, History, Journalism, Media, News, Politics, TV, Video
In case you missed it, Keith Olbermann was on fire this week. His special comment was possibly the most powerful I’ve seen him deliver. And his ultimate point about the sacred dividing line between the civilian leadership and the military is one that needs to be heard more often — too many people don’t seem […]
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Roundup: Swiftly Tilting Planet Edition
September 17th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Swiftly Tilting Planet Edition · Activism, Books, Chicago, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Fantasy, Film, Foreign Policy, Hate Crimes, Health, History, HIV/AIDS, Infrastructure, Journalism, LGBT, Lit, Media, Nature, News, Peace, Politics, Public Transportation, Roundup, Science, Science Fiction, Tech
Eric Alterman has an outstanding column in The Nation on how the media’s mean girls (of all genders) develop the narratives they use to bring down the presidential candidates they take a dislike to. With examples of what they did to Gore in 2000, and what they’re doing to Obama and Edwards right now. Two […]
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Roundup: Pink Elephant Edition
September 10th, 2007 · 3 Comments · Activism, Books, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Energy, Film, Foreign Policy, Health, History, HIV/AIDS, Human Rights, Internet, Journalism, Language, LGBT, Media, Music, Nature, News, Peace, Performance, Politics, Racism, Roundup, Science, Tech, Theater
General Petraeus says that “victory” in Iraq will require 9-10 more years. I’m trying to imagine how ten more years of bloody occupation can possibly work out to a victory. More on that subject here. A bill has been introduced in Venezuela to restrict baby names to a list of 100 approved choices. “The bill’s […]
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Trailer for Rendition, with Meryl Streep, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Reese Witherspoon
September 10th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Blogs, Comics, Culture, Film, Human Rights, Media, News, Politics, Torture, Video
Via Towleroad, the trailer for the new movie Rendition, scheduled for release October 19 in the US. I’m not usually one for movies that get the “thriller” label, but the political dimension to this one — and the quality of the cast — make it look like an early standout among fall releases. There’s […]
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Russell Hoban News: New Releases and More
September 7th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Books, Culture, Fiction, Film, Lit, News, Russell Hoban, Science Fiction, Theater
I just updated the News page over at The Head of Orpheus, the Russell Hoban Web site I maintain, so I figured I might as well cross-post the info here as well (with a few slight formatting tweaks). Autumn 2007 is shaping up to be a great season for Hoban fans, with Russ’s next novel […]
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Music: Deborah Harry, “Two Times Blue”
September 7th, 2007 · Comments Off on Music: Deborah Harry, “Two Times Blue” · Culture, Music, New Wave, News, Video
From Debbie Harry’s forthcoming solo album Necessary Evil, which is due out October 9 in the US. I’m not entirely sure about the video, but I really like the song. You can hear another track from the album, “If I Had You,” on Ms. Harry’s official MySpace page.
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Good Morning, Day 51
September 6th, 2007 · Comments Off on Good Morning, Day 51 · Activism, Culture, Film, HCC-DDT, Health, Healthcare Crisis, Human Rights, Media, News, Politics, The Economy, Stupid
1,850 U.S. citizens were recently killed in an entirely preventable disaster. It’s been a while since I’ve updated this record — 37 days, to be exact. On July 18 I started keeping count of the 50 U.S. citizens who die every day because they can’t afford health care, according to this statistic. So in a […]
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Doctor Who News: Hugo Number Two, and a TARDIS Hiatus After Season Four
September 6th, 2007 · Comments Off on Doctor Who News: Hugo Number Two, and a TARDIS Hiatus After Season Four · Culture, Doctor Who, Fantasy, News, Science Fiction, Theater, TV
Steven Moffat has won his second Hugo award for writing a Doctor Who episode — this time for the Season Two episode “The Girl in the Fireplace.” And well deserved, in my book. “The Girl in the Fireplace” was a beautiful script and a real standout in Season Two. (Moffat previously won for the “Empty […]
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“Lord Have Mercy, I Think It’s the Cops”: Larry Craig and Madame George
September 4th, 2007 · 3 Comments · Activism, Culture, Essays, History, Human Rights, Journalism, LGBT, Music, News, Politics, Theater
Forgive me for posting twice in a row about Larry Craig. After the past week, surely it’s time for him to begin shrinking in the collective rear-view mirror of our culture. But I can’t help it. On Sunday, someone who goes by the nom de net Blueness posted an absolutely beautiful diary on Daily Kos, […]
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Roundup: Dinosaur Corsage Edition
August 31st, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Dinosaur Corsage Edition · Activism, Advertising, Comics, Culture, Doctor Who, Energy, Film, Foreign Policy, Health, Healthcare Crisis, History, Human Rights, Law, LGBT, Media, Nature, News, Peace, Pets, Politics, Roundup, Science, TV
Scary stuff: There’s a lot of buzz and speculation that starting just after Labor Day, the Bush administration is going to be rolling out a major PR campaign to pave the way for war with Iran. See here and here for starters. Grand Moff Texan at DKos says the Bushies will be using the same […]
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