the media

Because i’m subscribed to the NYTimes, i got to fill out a survey for them. Of course, i obliged ’cause… well, it was a survey. One of the questions that was asked was how i felt about the NYTimes – whether it was my only source of news, my ideal, my favorite, or some negative statement. It made me think.. what is my favorite source of news these days? If i want to see what the news media is saying, i go to google news. But really, the way that i prefer to watch this war is via blogdex. There’s something powerful about a lot of disgruntled bloggers desperately wanting to know what’s going on and thus the popular voice is just fascinating!

freeping…

The Free Republic community proved the power of action when they freeped the Dixie Chicks after they said a very benign comment about being embarassed. Radio stations pulled their songs thinking that thousands of people were outraged. But those thousands of people were from a very small community who magnifies their voice to sound like they represent everyone. And they make waves.

I was thinking.. the left doesn’t really have an equivalent. I always feel guilty calling some place twice because i want to share my one vote, one voice. It’s weird because i guess we could blast those who are so vigilently pro-war, but it just seems so strange. Thus, things don’t get heard. Like, i was *stunned* today when i found out that most of the east coast media did not even cover Rachel Corrie’s death (or blamed her for being a radical freak). I really want to secede.

6 degrees of Saddam-Osama

To celebrate last night’s stupidity with some humor: Powell Offers Proof of Saddam-Osama Link. In a bold move of social network applications, Powell clearly shows that there are only 6 degrees between Saddam and Osama (and of course, it goes through Kevin Bacon). Of course, like all good connections, it can be simplified from there.

if you can’t change it, laugh about it

OK… sometimes, humor really is the best medicine – Fun Live Journals:

Saddam Hussein
Yasser Arafat
George W. Bush

Controversial Russian lesbian duo a hit

Controversial Russian lesbian duo a hit: Clad in skimpy tank tops, teenage pop stars Lena and Yulia giggle and clasp hands on a Russian television talk show as their hit music video is played for a studio audience.

A professor told me yesterday that she thought that there’s been a reduction in gay teen suicide because it’s so much more socially acceptable. I wonder how much this is true, or how much it is felt in the more rural areas of the world. I wonder how teen lesbian popstarts would be treated in the US…

asylum for KJ

In SF, there’s a psy-DJ named KJ who is risking deportation because he’s from Pakistan and doesn’t have the right papers. I don’t know him, although i’ve heard him spin, but i’m so amazed at the way folks in the psy community (and the late night culture in general) are coming together to beg for his asylum, attempting to raise funds and awareness. Another reason that i love SF…

why i love sf..

I went out dancing tonite… a fabulous multi-cultural, religious chillout dj. When i reached a point of exhaustion, i treked to the 24 divis busstop to trek home. A cab pulled up, and the driver offered me a ride. I waved him on, saying that i only had my dollar (the only thing left from my adventure, enough to get home). He told me to get in, that it was slow and he was bored, that no one was out tonite. He was from Tunesia, came to the US to study architecture. Studied English for a year, was accepted into Berkeley when 9/11 happened and he was no longer allowed to go. I asked him if it was hard to be in the US these days. He told me that the only trouble living in SF is dealing with the government.. how he has to keep reporting to the FBI and other organizations, how exhausting it is. We reached my home… i tried to offer my dollar but he wouldn’t take it. I love my city… i fear my government.

I Think, Therefore IM

I Think, Therefore IM is an article from the NYTimes that i never blogged, but am often trying to look up. Therefore, 6 months late, here it is. It’s a little article about IM speech habits.

Continue reading →

boycott brand america

From Adbusters:

Because I am one of the millions of people against the war;
And because America has made it clear that it won’t listen to world opinion;
And because the symbols of America are its corporation and their brands;
I hereby pledge to boycott Brand America, from the moment the war begins and to the best of my ability until the empire learns to listen. [Sign here]

it’s beginning…

The anti-choice legislation is beginning. Firstup: ban on “partial birth” abortion. My favorite commentary on it is when opponents argued that this puts women’s health at risk, Santorum argues that “it addresses the health issue by declaring that the procedure is never necessary for health reasons.”

danah boyd | apophenia

making connections where none previously existed