Friday, April 30, 2004
Have you missed McCarthyism? Well, maybe this will satisfy you. Here we have Nightline intending to read the names of dead US soldiers on its program, and Sinclair Broadcasting (the largest owner of U.S. broadcast TV stations) pulling that program for that day, saying "The action appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States."
Great. In fact, they wanted to interview Ted Koppel about their censoring Nightline to use in their own single-shot show, that they would air *instead of Nightline*. I guess maintaining his anchor-brand loyalty is important to them, even if his show's content is not.
Now, Sinclair says sanctimoniously they support "the troops", having tailored their own reporting to that end: "We found, according to our reports, that the overwhelming majority [of Iraqis] are thrilled the U.S. is there." But when the troops turn out to be real, mortal, American people, apparently that support doesn't translate to anything as concrete as, say, speaking your name on-air. By which it should be clear to anyone that what they really mean is that they support the war, and the troops only inasmuch as they are making it. Inasmuch as they are dying, leaving families or any other inconvenient realities, they'd prefer to hide it: reading soldiers names "without any context and any discussion of why we're there and why these lives are being sacrificed, it will unduly influence people."
Thank God we have strong people like Sinclair to stand up and prevent us from being unduly influenced. They know best: no memorial, no mention can occur without restating the reason we are sacrificing lives. Perhaps they would like to append their own spiel to the Vietnam Memorial Wall on Domino Theory and the evils of Communism? The stated purpose of The Wall, by the way, is "to separate the issue of the sacrifices of the veterans from the U.S. policy in the war, thereby creating a venue for reconciliation."
Reference the Washington Post: Sinclair Broadcasting Censor's Nightline's "List of the Fallen".
**all the emphasis in quotes is my own
PS: In a strange twist, try getting "more info" from this page listing those soldiers who died on this calendar day in Vietnam. All I get is "The document you have requested has expired." And that's already more than Sinclair is prepared to allow.
Great. In fact, they wanted to interview Ted Koppel about their censoring Nightline to use in their own single-shot show, that they would air *instead of Nightline*. I guess maintaining his anchor-brand loyalty is important to them, even if his show's content is not.
Now, Sinclair says sanctimoniously they support "the troops", having tailored their own reporting to that end: "We found, according to our reports, that the overwhelming majority [of Iraqis] are thrilled the U.S. is there." But when the troops turn out to be real, mortal, American people, apparently that support doesn't translate to anything as concrete as, say, speaking your name on-air. By which it should be clear to anyone that what they really mean is that they support the war, and the troops only inasmuch as they are making it. Inasmuch as they are dying, leaving families or any other inconvenient realities, they'd prefer to hide it: reading soldiers names "without any context and any discussion of why we're there and why these lives are being sacrificed, it will unduly influence people."
Thank God we have strong people like Sinclair to stand up and prevent us from being unduly influenced. They know best: no memorial, no mention can occur without restating the reason we are sacrificing lives. Perhaps they would like to append their own spiel to the Vietnam Memorial Wall on Domino Theory and the evils of Communism? The stated purpose of The Wall, by the way, is "to separate the issue of the sacrifices of the veterans from the U.S. policy in the war, thereby creating a venue for reconciliation."
Reference the Washington Post: Sinclair Broadcasting Censor's Nightline's "List of the Fallen".
**all the emphasis in quotes is my own
PS: In a strange twist, try getting "more info" from this page listing those soldiers who died on this calendar day in Vietnam. All I get is "The document you have requested has expired." And that's already more than Sinclair is prepared to allow.
Sunday, April 25, 2004
A massive organized index of kite links, I give you the Kiting Link Farm.
Friday, April 16, 2004
I have purchased kiting provisions from www.KiteBuilder.com, an excellent source for such items, including ripstop nylons and polyesters, Tyvek and Dacron. The whole deal. My project is the Black Crow Kite from the most excellent Japanese Kite Collection.
Thursday, April 08, 2004
"The ultimate goal is to have a computer that has the kind of semantic knowledge that a reference librarian has."
-- Craig Silverstein,
Director of Technology
@ * Google *
[Newsweek, 03/28/04, p. 58... via my mother, a reference librarian]
-- Craig Silverstein,
Director of Technology
@ * Google *
[Newsweek, 03/28/04, p. 58... via my mother, a reference librarian]
