Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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War as first resort: Simon Tisdall
Simon Tisdall in the Guardian writes about the history of war, from the perspective of the US, and argues that war is always the first resort – never the last. He lists the litany of conflicts that have involved the US. This is an excellent article. America has been fighting wars all our lifetimes, from…
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After the invasion: Jonathan Steele
Lots of good opinion pieces today. Jonathan Steele this time on the US and British plans for after the invasion, it is also well worth the read. Blair’s “moral” case is a cynical gamble. Each of his ingredients – rapid collapse of Saddam Hussein, minimal casualties, cheering crowds and no post-war Tommy Franks – has…
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US imperialism tearing up the rulebook: George Monbiot
George Monbiot continues to amaze me in how closely we think alike. His article this week is not only the read of the day, but one of the best articles I have read so far this year. I will therefore quote from it extensively. I will take you through his main points. On Saturday, President…
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How CNN censors the news
Robert Fisk has an article this week on the editorial process now being used within CNN. The new process is startling. Indeed, reading a new CNN document, “Reminder of Script Approval Policy”, fairly takes the breath away. “All reporters preparing package scripts must submit the scripts for approval,” it says. “Packages may not be edited…
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Irish government secretly retained data
Karlin has a new story over on techno culture about data retention: Data Protection Commissioner Mr Joe Meade revealed that former Minister for Public Enterprise Ms ORourke issued secret Directions for data retention last April when a dispute arose between the operators and her office over how long they should hold such data. Apparently Irish…
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Blogging archives on Radio
It is quite frustrating that the calender on the right of this page says I only really started blogging on the 11th of Feb. In fact I started blogging back in September – but I was not using Radio Userland. Can any Radio users help me? Is there anyway I can go back in time…
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Secular Europe: Regis Debray
In this thought-provoking piece, Regis Debray, a former adviser to President Mitterand, essentially argues that the US has yet to mature as a political entity. I am inclined to agree about the religous zeal coming from the Bush administration. I am not sure however if you could apply that to the entire nation of America.…
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Leave the cave-dwelling to Osama: Tom Friedman
Tom Friedman writes a somewhat humorous pieceon living in the US. He manages to get things in perspective while not being too dismissive about any threat. I love his taking the piss out of a survival kit: The only survival purchases I’ve made since Code Orange is a new set of Ben Hogan Apex golf irons,…
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The genius of Blogging: John Naughton
John Naughton writes an article about Google’s purchase of Blogger and the future of the weblog world. An interesting insight. His weblog is here.
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This time it's different : Jack Straw
British Foreign Secretary Jack Staw argues that he was once a peace protester, but with Saddam and Iraq now, its a different story. Even at this late stage, I hope and pray war can be avoided. But without the credible threat of force, which the US and ourselves have ensured, there would be no inspectors…
Got any book recommendations?