News July 16th 2010

Read by Nicholas Fiscina and produced by Drew Pascoe.

Stories written by Alina Gotcherian, Nicholas Fiscina and Jose Espinoza.


Unsexy War News - New Media and Politics

There was supposed to be a post yesterday on the Canadian troops handing over Kandahar city to the US Forces. You have to wonder how the Afghans feel about it though.  Apparently it's all part of a major reorganization of NATO's forces in southern Afghanistan, due to the influx of thousands of fresh U.S. troops into Kandahar. After the worst month for NATO fatalities in the nine year history of the war, Lt.-Col. Craig Dalton of the Canadian Forces told a news conference in Orwellian speak that, "This rising tide of security will set the conditions for the Afghans to defeat the insurgency."

Good luck with that!


(Belated) Review Round-Up Thursday: SometimeNever, !!!, Sick Of It All And Bonus Links!

The Powerlessness of Positive Thinking - New Media and Politics

 I found this over at Pharyngula. It's an entertaining and eye-opening ten minute talk about the doctrine of positive thinking being used to quell dissent - for social control. Barbara Ehrenreich has an answer though: realism and collective power. Watch for yourself and see if you don't agree,


Climate Science Deniers Getting Desperate - New Media and Politics

With the once and for all debunking of "climategate" earlier this week - there were editorials around the country telling their readers that the integrity of the science was solid in spite of all that had been alleged over the months since last November when the scientists private e-mails were hacked into - it seems that the anti-science crowd has become far more bellicose.


Pages