Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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America's netizens go to foreign media outlets
Newsweek contributing editor Deborah Branscom has linked to me today, in a story about the media in the US. She was also mentioned in Wired’s lead story today. She cites my story and Karlin’s story from Irish radio last week – in which BBC journalist Kate Adie made some remarkable claims. The Wired story is…
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Hightened terror alert in UAE, other Gulf nations
The British Foreign Office has advised its citizens that there is a high risk of terrorist attacks in the Gulf region, and is now more likely given the impending invasion of Iraq. It warns its citizens to be wary of public places that are likely targets such as bars, hotels and nightclubs. This is the…
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US is about to commit a wilful war crime
Tom McGurk writes a stirring piece this week. Some of the information he gives;I read last week in an article by George Monbiot. But as usual McGurk gives an excellent insight – the war will be illegal, there is no legal way to pre-emptively invade a country.
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For a Nickel I Will: Cringely
Robert Cringely’s article this week makes for some intereting reading. In it he suggests that spam companies should pay us for getting their annoying emails. After reading lenghty reader contributions on the spam issue Cringely quotes one that he agrees with – a guy who once worked in direct (snail) mailing – “I was once…
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Radio can be annoying sometimes.
Radio can be annoying sometimes. There is something wrong with the calender and links – the upstreaming can sometimes be a bit dodgy…
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They don't know what it is like to take a life, or to walk among the dead
Fergal Keane of the BBC writes this thoughtful article in the Indepedent. He does’t mention the war poetry and stories from Greek and Roman history. Greek history is littered with some excellent accounts of the trauma of war. Interesting comparison could be drawn between the experiences soldiers of the First World War had, and Greek…
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The wrong war, for the wrong reasons: Paul Krugman
Paul Krugman is in the Herald Tribune today, a good read. He feels that the Bush administration is losing touch with reality – and is almost obsessive in its resolve to invade Iraq. He argues that this type of arrogance is what is turning the rest of the world against the US. He also points…
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China's new Great Leap: into space
China’s plans for manned space exploration are not covered much in the Western press, but Joseph Kahn of the New York Times makes up for much of it with this article. Not only is China planning on sending humans into space, but it will send up to three taikonauts on their first attempt at manned…
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France likely to suffer reprisals from America: Joe Fitchett
Joe Fitchett in the Herald Tribune writes about the repurcussions of the French stance on Iraq. Relations between France and the US are at an all time low – following Chirac’s promise to veto any resolution on military action against Iraq. Fitchett sites many problems that have arisen – French products boycotted by US companies…
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'Unauthorised' journalists to be fired on – Pentagon official
In a debate on Irish radio, Kate Adie has made some startling remarks. The show is hosted by Irish rugby guru, Tom McGurk. The other panelists this week included author Phillip Knightley, New York Times war correspondent Chris Hedges, and former Irish Times editor Connor Brady. During the discussion the issue of censorship by the…
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