How global is our sympathy?

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Wednesday August 17, 2005 · 9:25 AM PDT

2005/08/17 · 09:25

Raise your hand if you've heard about today's bombings in Bangladesh. Anyone? No? More than 300 explosions took place in over 50 cities across the country, and the story is nowhere to be found on the CNN or FoxNews websites.

A few weeks ago, the mainstream media was plastered with news of the London bombings. Regular programming was interrupted for special broadcasts; blogs stopped their usual partisan bickering to post about the tragedy and display little yellow ribbon icons that said "We support you London." It was a big deal.

But when an Egyptian resort was bombed a few days later, there were no "We support you Egypt" ribbons to be found. And now when a similar attack happens in Bangladesh, it barely registers on the media's radar. The only place I found coverage was on BBC (via Fark.com).

What is it that makes one so much more tragic than the other? Why do the London bombings impact people emotionally more than the Bangladesh bombings? Is it because one nation is our ally and the other not? Is it because one nation is developed and the other not? Is it because one nation is predominantely white and the other not? Read More

Is Tom Cruise the new Jerry Falwell?

Elyas

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Tuesday June 28, 2005 · 2:44 PM PDT

2005/06/28 · 14:44

With Tom Cruise drawing so much media attention to Scientology in recent weeks, it would be easy to jump on the Tom-bashing bandwagon and dismiss Scientology as a fringe, extremist cult. Like a friend's coworker who recently referred to Cruise as an "atheist with no balls," while watching him tear in to Matt Lower on the break-room television.

But, honestly, I don't know the first thing about Scientology. Yes, the general consensus among the American public is that Scientologists are about as sane as Wacko Jacko. But this is the same American public that acquitted Michael Jackson, elected someone named George Bush three times, and bought millions of Britany Spears/Jessica Simpson albums.

So, I did what I always do when I want to learn something new, I went to Wikipedia. I wikilearned that Scientology's central beliefs are that: Read More

Where's the Left's "Swift Boat Veterans"?

Elyas

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Thursday June 16, 2005 · 9:40 AM PDT

2005/06/16 · 09:40

From: http://www.ablogistan.com/archives/2005/06/attack_of_the_d.html

It comes as no surprise that the controversial book, The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She'll Go to Become President is filled with personal attacks on Senator Clinton. It seems to make it on a non-fiction bookshelf these days you have to write a radically partisan attack book that stimulates a brute, politically savage area of the brain.

Fine. If the markets decree that polarized attack books are what America wants, then I'll search a little harder in the bookstore for resemblances of objectivity. Or I'll read fiction. But when these best sellers are riddled with inaccuracies and slander, as the new book on Clinton supposedly is, why are they allowed to be categorized as non-fiction? Read More

Conservative Elitism

Elyas

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Monday June 06, 2005 · 11:41 AM PDT

2005/06/06 · 11:41

http://www.ablogistan.com/archives/2005/06/the_conservativ.html

Liberals, and Democrats by association, are often stereotyped and criticized by conservatives for being "elitist." You saw it in the last election, with pundits portraying Kerry as a snobby intellectual going against the good-ol-country-boy George Bush.

But what about conservative elitism? Can't right-wing pundits be just as condescending and arrogant as anyone? Let's take a look.

First, we have Rush Limbaugh, who recently said making election day a national holiday won't help Democrats because most of their voters don't work anyway:

LIMBAUGH: The two to three big opportunities so far mentioned by Howard Dean -- pension portability and changes to election laws. ... So portability of pensions. What's the second one? Oh, yeah, Election Day a holiday. And well, you know -- I don't know why they need to do that. Most of their voters don't work anyway, so I don't know how that's going to help them that much. At least in a percentage basis. (June 2)

Elyas

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Tuesday May 31, 2005 · 9:29 AM PDT

2005/05/31 · 09:29

From here.

The American Family Association, the group who recently brought you the national boycott of Kraft foods, has now issued a boycott against Ford Motor Company. Why? "Because of the company's track record for supporting the homosexual agenda, including homosexual "marriage," says the group's founder. The AFA has even created a special website for their cause.

It seems the ends of the political spectrum, the extremist groups, are more successful (or maybe simply more committed) at utilizing spending power to reinforce their political beliefs. I used to be strongly in favor of doing this: following your dollar. The logic goes, each dollar you spend is like a vote cast. Although I'm no economist, I know enough to use the phrases "market signals" and "supply and demand." If you know less about economics than myself, that simply means a standard company, with the goal of making money like all good companies, will generally do more of something that makes money and less of something that loses money. Read More

The last taboo

Elyas

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Wednesday May 25, 2005 · 12:58 PM PDT

2005/05/25 · 12:58

Reprinted from: http://www.ablogistan.com/archives/2005/05/the_last_taboo.html

"More people joined the Michael Jackson fan club. We've done picked all the low-lying Lynndie England fruit, and now we need warm bodies." - Bill Maher on the Army's low recruitment numbers for April. "

Is this statement treason? According to Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Alabama) it is. "I think it borders on treason," Bachus said. "In treason, one definition is to undermine the effort or national security of our country."

I don't know what dictionary Bachus uses, but Dictionary.com defines treason as: Violation of allegiance toward one's country or sovereign, especially the betrayal of one's country by waging war against it or by consciously and purposely acting to aid its enemies. Read More

Media Bias

Elyas

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Friday May 20, 2005 · 8:25 AM PDT

2005/05/20 · 08:25

http://www.ablogistan.com/archives/2005/05/look_in_the_mir.html

Look. I have problems with mainstream media. Most major news outlets are nothing more than sensationalistic entertainers, afraid of losing ratings if they interrupt their 24-hour coverage of the latest celebrity trial to report on real news.

But for once, I come to their defense. Read More

The American Dream

Elyas

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Monday May 16, 2005 · 9:55 AM PDT

2005/05/16 · 09:55

http://www.ablogistan.com/archives/2005/05/the_american_dr.html

David Brooks writes about the different attitudes between poor Republicans and Democrats:

The big difference between poor Republicans and poor Democrats is that the former believe that individuals can make it on their own with hard work and good character. According to the Pew study, 76 percent of poor Republicans believe most people can get ahead with hard work. Only 14 percent of poor Democrats believe that.

Kevin Drum offers an interesting analysis and points to another NYTimes article about income mobility: Read More

Gay Marriage in the year 2055

Elyas

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Wednesday May 11, 2005 · 12:07 PM PDT

2005/05/11 · 12:07

From Ablogistan.com

Someday my kids will look back at the current gay marriage debate with the same disbelief I have when looking back at the legal racial segregation from a generation ago. Let me explain:

Growing up, I was under the impression that human history was an inevitable progression toward something better. Toward equality, even. And looking at history as it is taught in public schools, this seems like a natural conclusion. Especially with American history. We learn that hundreds of years ago, Americans enslaved Africans and killed off an entire continent of Native Americans. But, we eliminated slavery and went to a system of segregation and oppression, which sucks, but isn't quite as bad as slavery. Next, we got rid of legal segregation as well. In the 90's there were race riots, but that's not near as troubling as segregation and slavery. If we stayed on this course, it seemed like racial equality would be just around the corner. Read More

Happy 25th Anniversary

Elyas

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday May 08, 2005 · 7:03 AM PDT

2005/05/08 · 07:03

Diary reprinted from: http://www.ablogistan.com/archives/2005/05/happy_anniversa.html

A few years ago, around this time, I came across an article commemorating the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox. I don't remember which anniversary it was: the World Health Organization (WHO) declared smallpox eradicated on May 8, 1980, but the last reported case was three years earlier.

I also don't remember who wrote the article or where I read it. The actual article is lost forever. But something about it has stuck with me since then. It has helped shape my worldview and provided an analogy with which I can explain my perspective. Every spring the article enters my mind and renews my twisted mix of optimism and cynicism.

Many regard the eradication of smallpox as one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century. And they're right. This was the first time an entire disease had been eradicated from the planet. At the height of the Cold War, in a time when the threat of a global nuclear war haunted minds across the planet, the eradication of smallpox symbolized the best of the human spirit. Read More

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