Too hot for America

Not only Rachel Corrie's life and death but also her words have proven too hot for America, the country of her birthplace.

Billy Brag wrote and sang about her in The Guardian today.

Amy Goodman interviewed Rachel's parents on Democracy Now last Wednesday.

Salesmanship

Ghali Hassan of Center for Research on Globalization has written an ineresting column.

So, when is a "negligent homocide" a "murder"?

It Takes an Artist

Some times, it takes a courageous artist to recall basic facts — to remind us how important truth can be where lies have found great currency.

As an example, see Arash Norouzi's piece on the how media has demonized Iran. Norouzi's Mossadegh project might also be worth a look. He also points to a Mossadegh rock opera by Michael Minn, which premiered in New York in the summer of 2004. For the audio clips of the opera try here.

Courage should not be that hard to muster but it apparantly has become a very rare commodity only accessible to the few.

IRIB Transcript of Ahmadinejad's Address

Here is IRIB's version of Ahmadinejad's address given in Zehedan, Sistan-Baluchistan province of Iran today. Nadir, a writer from the U.K., contributes an interesting and perceptive comment (obviously, based on an actual reading of the full address) at News Forum on the BBC Online.

Reuters and The New York Times

When it comes to accuracy of reporting, even when it concerns simple items of news such as accurate quoting of world politicians, The New York Times proves itself to be miles behind Reuters (in written form).

What is surprising is that The New York Times can give itself the luxury of deleting words out of Reuters reports and replacing them with "..." when this fits the Times' editorial inclinations!

It is good to see that International Herald Tribune editors do not allow themselves such luxuries when they use Reuters' stories.

How long will Reuters' independence last?

I guess as long as its board is organized the way it is.

BBC or Reuters

The more I listen and read, the less I get to like the BBC and the more I get to like Reuters.

Often it is because of particular reports. For example, I've never quite liked the reports by Judy Swallow of the BBC. She cuts people off and seems to be totally open to the spread of mis-information of all kinds. Since she is such a strong presenter, I'm not sure whether it is her editorial staff to blame or she herself as the presenter and shaper of the news. She is one of those few presenters that I know who seem to be a real shaper of the news that comes. In other words, her selections and mode of presentation are very skilled to push a particular view (i.e. hers) while sounding quite professional.

This is in sharp contrast to reporting by Retuers.

Could this great gap in reporting quality be due to the independence clauses built into Retuers' corporate structure that give Reuters' reporters and editors such a great edge over the ones at the BBC?

Jawad al-Khalisi on the War

For The Guardian, Jawad al-Khalisi has written a very compelling essay on the war.

The Wall Street Journal and the Facts

The Wall Street Journal is one of the best papers published in the U.S.

The fact-checking in most articles is quite impeccable, and the reporters respond positively to the occasional request for correcting errors.

However, when it comes to opinion (and some editorial) pieces, the Journal takes greater liberties and commonly falls quite short on facts, and sometimes, long on fable.

In some cases (for example today's editorial and similar opinion pieces on Iran), the essayist repeats a number of false claims (also made in earlier editorials and opinion pieces), perhaps cognizant that such repetition through time and across pieces will help give such questionable claims greater validity in some minds.

Alas!

This sort of editorializing, whether formally or as an opinion piece, only misguides the reader into beliefs that have no basis in real facts.

Instead of an attempt to help comprehend that which is at stake, the practice clouds and stupefies the mind.

Ashura

Tomorrow is the day of Ashura . . .

Muharram

Here are three English blogs on Muharram: 1, 2 and 3.

The Man Who Moved A Nation

Ayatollah Sistani, the man who moved a nation . . .