WHY THE PRESS FAILED
Orville Schell, tomdispatch.com
The Bush administration's media strategy was simple: Treat
the press as a special interest group and the American
public as a market of consumers. It almost worked.
*In MediaCulture: http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/

Here is another view of the after math of WWII comparing treatment of Japan and Germany:
The Looting of Asia
Chalmers Johnson, London Review of Books, 20 November 2003
Review of Gold Warriors: America's Secret Recovery of Yamashita's Gold
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v25/n22/john04_.html

One of the best sources for well thought out essays on current news is the following: You should look through and check out some of the stories.
From: update@butterfliesandwheels.com
Date: Mon Jul 12, 2004 10:03:01 PM Asia/Tokyo
To: carsurf@dragon.email.ne.jp
Subject: Butterflies and Wheels weekly update

Hello

This email provides details of the content that has been added to ButterfliesandWheels.com over the last week.


NEW ARTICLES

Machiavellian Monkeys
http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/articleprint.php?num=64

Lesson Plans
http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/articleprint.php?num=65


NOTES AND COMMENT

There are new notes and comments to view:
--The Moore Files
--Judy, Judy, Judy
--There Are Limits, After All
--Blunkett on Today
--How About Religious Mild Dislike?
--Borrowing From Chomsky
--A Quick Twirl
http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/notes.php


LATEST NEWS

The Hubble's Last Years?
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian/issues04/jul04/hubble.html
NASA has canceled missions to service telescope.

High Art v Low is a False Dichotomy
http://www.azcentral.com/ent/arts/articles/0704artinamerica04.html
'In America, even the intellectuals are anti-intellectual.'

Tupac Shakur not Some Sort of Byron
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4960930-110760,00.html
John McWhorter says rap teaches 'recreational outrage.'

The 'No Ectoplasm Clause'
http://www.newhumanist.org.uk/rationallyspeaking_more.php?id=820_0_7_0_M
Massimo Pigliucci on the neurobiology of regret.


Arab News Media and the 'Blood of Martyrs'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A24987-2004Jul3
'al Qaeda has become mainstream and being part of the movement is "cool" in the eyes of young people.'

Moore Could be Better and Still Be Moore
http://www.opendemocracy.net/themes/article-3-1988.jsp#
'He could show us that war kills and Bush is appalling, and yet be more scrupulous.'

Sucking Up to Judith Butler
http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2004/07/06/butler/print.html
Superstar, classic, defining work, platinum album, seminal work, provocative, immense success, etc.

Open Democracy on Multiculturalism
http://www.opendemocracy.net/articles/ViewPopUpArticle.jsp?id=1&articleId=1991
Does multiculturalism lead to cultural relativism? What about the universal standards of human rights?

The Nuances of That Word
http://fray.slate.msn.com/id/2103467/
You? Yourself? Or off? Hitchens suggests off is best.

In Biology Everyone Stands in Mayr's Shadow
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/07/05/MNGFV7GBAS1.DTL&type=printable
'Mayr's life defies the myth that elderly scientists are incapable of changing their minds.'

Interview with Ernst Mayr
http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=0004D8E1-178C-10EB-978C83414B7F012C
'Biology is an autonomous science and should not be mixed up with physics.'

On Alexis de Tocqueville
http://www.the-tls.co.uk/this_week/story.aspx?story_id=2107722
The physics of democracy.

Is There a Shortage of Scientists in the US?
http://chronicle.com/cgi2-bin/printable.cgi?article=http://chronicle.com/free/v50/i44/44a01001.htm
The inaccuracy of past pronouncements creates a woof-woof problem.

BHL Has Views That Annoy
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-levy6jul06,1,5078897,print.story?coll=la-headlines-world
'The Palestinian "victimocracy" has a tendency to hide wars that are infinitely longer and more murderous.'

A Theosophical Heir to the Throne
http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/ArticleView.asp?P_Article=12672
'Much of this assault on contemporary rationalism flows from the prince's rather eclectic spiritualism.'

What Price 'Life of Brian'?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3871867.stm
David Blunkett wants to outlaw 'inciting religious hatred'.

Blunkett Renews Bid to Outlaw Religious Hatred
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/07/07/nrace07.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/07/07/ixhome.html
Inappropriate to punish those who merely offend people's religious sensibilities?


That's a Relief
http://www.spiked-online.com/Articles/0000000CA5D8.htm
We can criticise religion, as long as we do it sensibly.

Blunkett's Well-meaning Waffle
http://www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2004/07/08/dl0801.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2004/07/08/ixopinion.html
Beyond the remit and power of home secretaries to compel people to be kind.

Hormonal Birth Control as 'Silent' Abortionist
http://www.prevention.com/cda/feature2002/0,2479,s1-7342-P,00.html
Pharmacists and doctors are denying patients access to birth control pills.

Hear Blunkett on Today
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/ram/today4_blunkett_20040707.ram
No worry, we can say what we like about religion, as long as it's sensible.

Campaigns Against Vaccinations Can Do Harm
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v26/n13/penn01_.html
How can doctors be persuaded to comport themselves as scientists?

Surely Ethical Tobacco is an Oxymoron?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1256877,00.html
Well but they grow it with ever such nice organic fertilizer.

Study of Environmental Causes of Autism
http://society.guardian.co.uk/publichealth/story/0,11098,1256741,00.html?gusrc=ticker-103704
Colin Blakemore says MRC's 2001 review of autism research highlighted gaps in knowledge.

Meghnad Desai on Religious Hatred Laws
http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=539082&host=3&dir=70
Secular democracy should get away from privileging religion, not give it special status.

Polly Toynbee Named 'Islamophobe of Year'
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6AAA43FD-D8BE-4188-BE72-B2D5D64799BA.htm
Perhaps it's time to start naming 'Secularophobe of the Year'.

Union of Concerned Scientists
http://www.chriscmooney.com/blog.asp?Id=921
Chris Mooney reports on their press conference.

Surgeon Rebukes Prince over Alternative Therapy
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;sessionid=SORGB0XM0PYR5QFIQMGSM54AVCBQWJVC?xml=/news/2004/07/09/nsurg09.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/07/09/ixportal.html
Authority via study and research v. authority via accident of birth.

Surprise! Americans Don't Read Much
http://chronicle.com/free/2004/07/2004070901n.htm
From On Native Grounds to Amusing Ourselves to Death.

Yusuf al-Qaradawi Will Not Face Charges
http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,1258170,00.html
Insufficient evidence, cautious speech, interest in the truth.

Doubts About Religious Hatred Law
http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,1256001,00.html
'...where people feel free to be able to express sensible views and have sensible arguments.'

How to End 'Honour' Killings
http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,1254995,00.html
Create communities where people believe there is no honour in honour killing.

Swami Agnivesh Opposes Hindutva
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1087373602732&p=1012571727132
'If the BJP comes back, it will come back with a vengeance. I fear it will.'

Some Arguments Against a Religious-Hatred Law
http://www.civitas.org.uk/pubs/religiousHatred.php
From Civitas, the Institute for the Study of Civil Society.


A Cultural Change
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=5625949
Bush administration still packing science advisory panels with ideologues.

Washington Post on MMR and Wakefield
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A41450-2004Jul10?language=printer
Media panics create a debate where there isn't one.

See Gwyneth Paltrow's Cupping Bruises!
http://www.blacktriangle.org/blog/2004/07/allsorted_quack.html
Hey, it's an ancient Chinese practice, so it must be healthy, right?

With Respect, YH, You've Got it Wrong
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7457/118
Michael Baum tells Charles Windsor what's wrong with anecdotal 'evidence'.

Nick Cohen on Blunkett's Cunning Plan
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,1258540,00.html
'a religion is a system of ideas like any other.'


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THE BLOG IS THE MESSAGE
http://www.globalprblogweek.com/archives/jay_rosen_pr_needs_t.php
"Public relations should first understand that to the extent that
its art is a form of 'spin' - whether it's reasonable spin,
accepted spin, good spin, bad spin, terrible spin - it is selling a
service for which there is less and less value, and less mind is
paid to it. Spin was possible in the era of few-to-many media, and
a small number of gatekeepers who could be spun," media critic and
Press Think blogger Jay Rosen tells Micro Presuasion blogger Steve
Rubel, who also takes part in Global PR Blog Week 1.0, an online
forum on PR and blogs. With the rise of participatory journalism,
which has been facilitated by the Internet and weblogs, Rosen says
journalistic bloggers create a "second wave" effect that has an
impact on the traditional press. "A little orchestra of
interpreters instantly comes along and does something to
journalism, plays back its significance, but first editing out all
the noise. It's like a reply. Smart journalists are tuning into
that because its an intelligent use of their work - and a departure
point, a place where criticism flashes," Rosen says.
More web links related to this story are available at:
http://www.prwatch.org/spin/July_2004.html#1089673543
To discuss this story in the PR Watch Forum, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/forum/discuss.php?id=1089673543

A TRAVELER'S GUIDE TO THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Joe Lockard, Bad Subjects
A unique and useful guide to the geography of the civil
rights movement is a part of a new and needed genre of
political travel guides.
*In Rights & Liberties: http://www.alternet.org/rights/

DROPPING THE "H-BOMB"
Marah Eakin, WireTap
An interview with Katharina Cieplak von Baldegg, editor of
Harvard's controversial new magazine.
http://www.alternet.org/wiretap/19159/

"OUTFOXED": HOW RUPERT MURDOCH IS DESTROYING AMERICAN
JOURNALISM
Don Hazen, AlterNet
A review of Robert Greenwald's new documentary investigating
the Fox News Channel.
http://www.alternet.org/story/19199/

Social Lives of a Cell Phone
Say you’re young and single, and you’re out on the town one Saturday night. With a hot new service called Dodgeball, you take out your mobile phone and tap in the name of the restaurant where you are hanging out. You get a list of friends, and friends of friends, within 10 blocks. You can message each other about getting together, and maybe send a photo of yourself. Social connection services like this, based on mobile wireless devices, are about to radically changes how we communicate with friends, family, and colleagues.
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/wo_bender071204.asp?trk=nl

Social Lives of a Cell Phone
Say you’re young and single, and you’re out on the town one Saturday night. With a hot new service called Dodgeball, you take out your mobile phone and tap in the name of the restaurant where you are hanging out. You get a list of friends, and friends of friends, within 10 blocks. You can message each other about getting together, and maybe send a photo of yourself. Social connection services like this, based on mobile wireless devices, are about to radically changes how we communicate with friends, family, and colleagues.
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/wo_bender071204.asp?trk=nl