Control Room is a documentary on the perception of the United States’ war with Iraq, with an emphasis on Al Jazeera’s coverage. It makes it clear that the endeavor for unbiased reporting is a difficult, almost impossible task.
Control Room running time is 1 hours and 26 minutes. Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
[Control Room – YouTube]
(via)
Did the city of Berkeley, California, tell the US Marines that their recruiting office was not welcome there? Yes, they did.
BERKELEY, Calif. Local officials in this liberal city say it’s time for the U.S. Marines to move out.
The City Council has voted to tell the Marines their downtown recruiting station is not welcome and “if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome guests.”
The measure passed this week by a vote of 8-1.
This electrifying speech by Oprah Winfrey solidifies my belief that nothing could be better for the United States and possibly the entire world, than Barack Obama as President.
[LA Rally: Oprah Winfrey – YouTube]
Here are a few stats from urbanfervor:
Obama has received, on average, 51.2% of the votes in each of the states to have held primaries through Super Tuesday yesterday. Clinton has, on average, taken 42.3% per state. Obama has won 70% or more of the vote in three states, Clinton has won 70% of the vote in none.
Obama has won 60% or more in 8 states. Clinton has won 60% or more of the vote in only Arkansas, where she was once First Lady of the state and a successful corporate attorney.
Obama won 80% of the vote in one state, Idaho. Clinton has not won more than 69% in any state.
Obama has won 10 states by at least 15 percentage points over Clinton. Clinton has won only five states by such margin, including Arkansas again, New York, where she currently serves as the Junior Senator, and Florida, which was uncontested and is virtually worthless delegate-wise.
In the states Obama has won, he has won by, on average, 25.5 points. In the states Clinton has won, her average margin of victory is 15.09 points.
Obama hasn’t just won more states by big margins, he’s won the most tight battles. In elections decided by five or fewer points, Obama has won 3, Clinton only 1.
A couple months ago everyone was penciling Clinton in as the nominee. Probably time to rethink that. I think a lot more people out there are a lot more excited about Obama than are for Clinton. The more we see him and get to know him, the more we like him. As the primaries continue on, with the money he has raised and the enthusiasm he has generated, I can’t see him not winning the nomination.
I hope he’s right. I’m tired of not loving the United States—the world is watching and hoping for change.
Here’s Obama himself, answering some questions at Google headquarters.
[Barack Obama: Q and A from Google employees II – YouTube]
The Electoral Compass is a tool designed to help you know which candidate in the US Primaries holds views most similar to yours.
Here’s where I stand, if I were voting:
Big Brother State is a nice motion graphics video that uses the examples of closed circuit TV and trusted computing to warn about the dangers of a surveillance society.
It is released under a Creative Commons sampling licence by David Scharf and you can download the short film in several formats.
If your finding the download a bit slow, the YouTube mirror is nice and fast.
(via)
During a seven-week stay in 2005 in Iraq, photojournalist Ed Kashi captured thousands of images that were used in this interesting flip-book style animation, “Iraqi Kurdistan“.
Iraqi Kurdistan is an expansive look into the daily lives of the Kurdish people of northern Iraq. These images provide an alternative perspective on a changing culture, one different from the destruction and discord that dominates so much media coverage of the region.
Here are policemen seated on the floor, eating lunch and laughing, old men taking care of their fields and young girls celebrating at a suburban birthday party.
There is also hardship and tribulation, to be sure; the Iraqi Kurds endured generations of brutality under Saddam Hussein. His genocidal campaigns cost close to 200,000 lives. But as Iraqi Kurdistan documents, the region is mostly peaceful today. The people enjoy more autonomy and women’s rights continue to grow stronger.
Very compelling on a social studies level, but also I also found the images themselves to be fantastic—they are not only beautiful but also capable of stirring a variety of emotions.
I had a hunch he was using a Canon 5D and though I’m still not 100% sure, I saw the Canon logo in one of the photos with a mirror in it. I would love to get myself one of those.
Michael J. Fox talks To Katie Couric about Parkinson’s, Rush Limbaugh, and stem cell research.
Seriously, there is something wrong with the United States. They are considering legalizing TORTURE! See this Metafilter post and its many links.
This has me blown away. So here’s your chance (yes you) to tell me (and everyone else), what you think about the USA trying to legalize torture.
YouTube is hosting Keith Olbermann’s special commentary on Fox’s ambush (see CNN report or Crooks and Liars post with video) of former American president, Bill Clinton.
I have to say, I never agreed with Clinton’s questional behavior behind the scenes, but I certainly felt that the media’s reaction was worse than what he did.
Here is Bush’s [non]response to Clinton’s accusation that the Bush administration had no meetings about Bin Laden for nine months after he left office.
This month’s Rolling Stone magazine reports on the United States’ worst president ever:
According to the Treasury Department, the forty-two presidents who held office between 1789 and 2000 borrowed a combined total of $1.01 trillion from foreign governments and financial institutions. But between 2001 and 2005 alone, the Bush White House borrowed $1.05 trillion, more than all of the previous presidencies combined. Having inherited the largest federal surplus in American history in 2001, he has turned it into the largest deficit ever—with an even higher deficit, $423 billion, forecast for fiscal year 2006. Yet Bush—sounding much like Herbert Hoover in 1930 predicting that “prosperity is just around the corner”—insists that he will cut federal deficits in half by 2009, and that the best way to guarantee this would be to make permanent his tax cuts, which helped cause the deficit in the first place!
Last weekend I went to Drayton Valley to celebrate Easter with my sister and her family. I car-pooled with my parents for the 6 hour drive and had a chance to talk about the American national debt problem with my dad. (It’s one of our favourite recurring topics of discussion).
I wondered what will happen to the highly dependant Canadian economy if/when the American dollar/economy collapses. Carrying the tremendous weight of almost $8.4 trillion, it seems to me only a matter of time before somebody (maybe China?) comes asking for their money back. And if it’s not the other countries that have money invested, maybe it will be a large portion of the population that come to the realization that, “hey the government can’t actually back up those bonds for my lifesavings — maybe I should try and get it now before it’s too late!”
It’s obvious that such a scenario would be catastrophic for the States, but I was curious how it would affect “The Great White North”. I’m guessing the biggest impact on the Canadian economy (other than lost money invested in the States) will be the inability to sell our products to the massive consumer giant to the south. In turn, massive layoffs; then an economic depression. Simply saying it’s going to be ugly really doesn’t approach the magnitude of hardships we’re going to be up against.
Attempting to save the world, one dictator at a time aside, the economic decisions of the United States affect everyone, and it’s something that is cause for grave concern. Luckily, China and the US are on such great terms. Oh, wait… never mind.
(Rolling Stone link via Waxy)