3.25.2003
LOOK TO THE LEFT
I have a few links there that are not plugs for my blogging cohorts. 3 links actually. I look at a lot of sites on a regular basis, but these are three that I reccomend for various reasons. Slashdot, is really the first NewsBlog I ever read. It has numerous editors, and submittors come from long time users to "anonymous cowards", with news from a techie perspective (or geegy techy perspective - Open Source programming, MicroSoft bashing, Legal wranglings, and news about anime are all common fodder for posts). Though I think /. has lost a bit of it's shine over the years, there is still enough entertainment and relevance to it that I make it a daily visit, at the least. Viceland, is a 'zine fo the uberhip. Sarcastic, and certainly not mainstream. It's alternate vews of fashion, and entertaiment are strong draws for me, not to mention - dos and don'ts - props to Matty for turning me on to that one for sure!
Which leaves one site in the middle. If you happened to click on that link yesterday, you would have gotten an odd message "This Account Has Been Suspended", you could have thought any number of things; unpaid bills, some illegal activity, hacked page, what have you. The sad truth is, that Yellowtimes was simply punished for not agreeing with the will of the Pentagon. As you may know there are now American P.O.W.'s in the Iraqi conflict. While I find this distressing, I cannot say that I find it shocking. War has a lot of side effects, and a few of them involve the capture and/or death of the soldiers sent to fight in them. As much as we like to flaunt our "superior" technology as a means of illuding the public into believing this will be as simple as removing a rowdy patron from a bar, the truth is somewhat more complicated. As a result, Americans are being detained, and though footage of them (as well as of dead U.S. soldiers), was being broadcast all over the world, a Media that have co-opted their ethics for a front row seat are being more hesitant of sharing that same footage with American viewers. Thier reasoning sounds almost altruistic at first "We don't want to show the footage until the families have been notified" is what they were saying sunday as I recall, but they had no problem showing Iraqi prisoners without any such assurances that their families were aware of their condition. Now I realize that as an American media outlet, that CNN may have more interest in their American audience, except that CNN is seen all over the world by many non-Americans. Are you a News organization, or a puppet of the American Propaganda Machine? The answer here is quite important so think it over for a bit if need be.
Yellowtimes has not the viewership of CNN, and to be frank, would most certainly be described as a more "left - leaning" publisher. This does not change the fact that what they were reporting on, and the pictures of the P.O.W.'s were relevant - to whichever side of the debate you fall on. I personally don't expect these photos and videos to change anyone's position on the conflict in Iraq (aside form the weak minded, who pretty much can be swayed with any kind of emotional appeal), but I do think that it is the right of the American citizen to know what their Government is doing in their name, to see it's military successes, and failures. I also personally feel that the P.O.W. footage being viewed actually will help offer a layer of protection to those prisoners. We now know their overall physical condition, and so it will certainly be in the interest of the captors to keep them that way. Ultimately there is no law that prevented Yellowtimes from posting the pictures they did, no matter how you feel about it. I suspect that Yellowtimes ISP was also within their rights to shut down the site when they objected with the content there. But I think that when ISP's start taking it upon themselves to shut down law-abiding users, there is dangerous precedent afoot. YT is back up today on a different provider (their 3rd in 2 months), so check them out while you still can.
go and tell me all about it
I have a few links there that are not plugs for my blogging cohorts. 3 links actually. I look at a lot of sites on a regular basis, but these are three that I reccomend for various reasons. Slashdot, is really the first NewsBlog I ever read. It has numerous editors, and submittors come from long time users to "anonymous cowards", with news from a techie perspective (or geegy techy perspective - Open Source programming, MicroSoft bashing, Legal wranglings, and news about anime are all common fodder for posts). Though I think /. has lost a bit of it's shine over the years, there is still enough entertainment and relevance to it that I make it a daily visit, at the least. Viceland, is a 'zine fo the uberhip. Sarcastic, and certainly not mainstream. It's alternate vews of fashion, and entertaiment are strong draws for me, not to mention - dos and don'ts - props to Matty for turning me on to that one for sure!
Which leaves one site in the middle. If you happened to click on that link yesterday, you would have gotten an odd message "This Account Has Been Suspended", you could have thought any number of things; unpaid bills, some illegal activity, hacked page, what have you. The sad truth is, that Yellowtimes was simply punished for not agreeing with the will of the Pentagon. As you may know there are now American P.O.W.'s in the Iraqi conflict. While I find this distressing, I cannot say that I find it shocking. War has a lot of side effects, and a few of them involve the capture and/or death of the soldiers sent to fight in them. As much as we like to flaunt our "superior" technology as a means of illuding the public into believing this will be as simple as removing a rowdy patron from a bar, the truth is somewhat more complicated. As a result, Americans are being detained, and though footage of them (as well as of dead U.S. soldiers), was being broadcast all over the world, a Media that have co-opted their ethics for a front row seat are being more hesitant of sharing that same footage with American viewers. Thier reasoning sounds almost altruistic at first "We don't want to show the footage until the families have been notified" is what they were saying sunday as I recall, but they had no problem showing Iraqi prisoners without any such assurances that their families were aware of their condition. Now I realize that as an American media outlet, that CNN may have more interest in their American audience, except that CNN is seen all over the world by many non-Americans. Are you a News organization, or a puppet of the American Propaganda Machine? The answer here is quite important so think it over for a bit if need be.
Yellowtimes has not the viewership of CNN, and to be frank, would most certainly be described as a more "left - leaning" publisher. This does not change the fact that what they were reporting on, and the pictures of the P.O.W.'s were relevant - to whichever side of the debate you fall on. I personally don't expect these photos and videos to change anyone's position on the conflict in Iraq (aside form the weak minded, who pretty much can be swayed with any kind of emotional appeal), but I do think that it is the right of the American citizen to know what their Government is doing in their name, to see it's military successes, and failures. I also personally feel that the P.O.W. footage being viewed actually will help offer a layer of protection to those prisoners. We now know their overall physical condition, and so it will certainly be in the interest of the captors to keep them that way. Ultimately there is no law that prevented Yellowtimes from posting the pictures they did, no matter how you feel about it. I suspect that Yellowtimes ISP was also within their rights to shut down the site when they objected with the content there. But I think that when ISP's start taking it upon themselves to shut down law-abiding users, there is dangerous precedent afoot. YT is back up today on a different provider (their 3rd in 2 months), so check them out while you still can.
go and tell me all about it
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