Thursday, March 27, 2003
I'm going to add a link to Spinsanity.org to the links. I think I might find, "The nation's leading watchdog of manipulative political rhetoric" a useful resource for sorting the media wheat from the chaff.
</Aurelius> <!--12:54 PM-->I originally posted here a link to a London Times article analyzing facts about the Iraq conflict. Today I discovered a similar post at Spinsanity.org, "Myths and misconceptions about Iraq." I mention it because it outlines the known facts in a more accessible, question and answer format.
On an editorial note, I haven't been anywhere near thorough in researching sources that I post here and fear that I'm falling into the same trap that I dislike in the media, that of spreading unsubstanciated information. I don't claim any objective view here. This is simply me trying to make sense of my world (or limited perception of it.)
</Aurelius> <!--12:31 PM-->Wednesday, March 26, 2003
One thing that I've wondered a lot recently is what people mean when they refer to terrorists. If we're having a war on terrorism, I would like to be certain about what exactly we're fighting. Merriam-Websters defines it thusly;
Main Entry: ter·ror·ism
Pronunciation: 'ter-&r-"i-z&m
Function: noun
Date: 1795
: the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion
- ter·ror·ist /-&r-ist/ adjective or noun
- ter·ror·is·tic /"ter-&r-'is-tik/ adjective
Which actually sheds little light on how we're using it today. The above link goes to the FAIR Media Advisory article, "'Terrorism' Is a Term That Requires Consistency: Newspaper and its critics both show a double standard on 'terror'". A not unreasonable request.
</Aurelius> <!--3:36 PM-->National Public Radio (NPR) features an Iraq timeline along with its special coverage of the war. Many links to NPR reports.
I'm very curious about the Iran-Iraq conflict. I have memories of it from my childhood but hardly paid enough attention. It seems to be a necessary prologue to understanding the current conflict.
</Aurelius> <!--3:19 PM-->