Saturday, March 20

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Sat - Mar 20 -

HUDDLE ON DIRTY: *Chiusano put Stern's rant on hold for 10 minutes and sought counsel from Infinity Broadcasting lawyers...

The lawyers turned down his request...*

:: MAINELLI on Stern :: in NYPost

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Sat - Mar 20 -

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: *Indecent programming means references to sexual or excretory functions. Under federal law and FCC rules, over-the-air radio and TV stations cannot air such material between 6am and 10pm, when children are most likely to tune in.

Question: Is there a uniform standard for indecency?

Answer: No. Whether something is deemed indecent is up to the FCC and its investigators. Critics say that leads to random enforcement.*

:: what you need to know ::

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Sat - Mar 20 -

WHISTLING CLEAN: Frank Rich examines the current purge of the electronic media since Janet Jackson's ninja-style pastie made its debut at the televised Super Bowl Game.
...a pharmaceutical powerhouse like Eli Lilly to curtail its Cialis commercials with their talk of four-hour erections...
But recreational erections are not even on the menu of public debate due to the consolidation of the media into fewer and fewer hands. Obviously, they should be taxed at least as much as cigarettes.

Toward the end of the article Rich addresses the Howard Stern issue and takes a more perspicacious look at the Clear Channel situation.

:: Rich at IHT:: Market calls the shots

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Sat - Mar 20 -

HEY, MARTHA, HOW MUCH? About 100 young men, brandishing knives and shouting "Allahu Akbar," stormed a French restaurant serving alcohol in Bahrain this past week and shouted at the customers: "Why do you drink?"

The intruders, also threw gasoline bombs at customers' cars parked outside the restaurant near the capital Manama, damaging nine vehicles.

:: Oddly Enough :: Reuters via Yahoo

Question: how much money or favours of some kind would you calculate was slipped under the table to some editor or executive in order to persuade him to trivialize this incident by filing it in the Oddly Enough Section, making it appear as if it were just part of a Monty Python movie?

But do you buy that?

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Sat - Mar 20 -

EXTRA EXTRA: A new blog that looks like it could be interesting. ::fleetstreetblogger:: "the management of US papers no longer believe news sells. It's merely the wrapper around hundreds of pages of coupons and ads."

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Thursday, March 18

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Thurs - Mar 18 -

LOUCHE LINKS: *Courtney Love lifted her olive shirt at least six times on Letterman's talk show. Her back was facing the camera when she exposed herself while making an entrance. She then stood atop Letterman's desk, sang a few bars of "Danny Boy" and offered the host an up-close viewing. The video was altered so a profile of her breasts couldn't be seen.

Love sat down on Letterman's couch, gestured to her chest and said, "FCC!"

Of the Federal Communication Commission's recent crackdown on lewd content on television and radio, Love said, "Is this like Reagan trickle-down economics? Is this like Bush trickle down?"*

LINK MAY NOT BE WORK SAFE:

:: By Michael Weissenstein for AP ::


Neither. It isn't about trickling at all. While issuing today's rulings, the FCC once again expressed its support for a Family Viewing Zone from 6am to 10pm.

Although I didn't watch the Super Bowl or see any of those commercials, I continue to feel very offended by the inclusion of "Male Erectile" drugs among the products being publicized there which garnered no opprobrium at all from the auto-pixilating FCC.
And why is this?

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most powerful industries in America. Besides designing drugs, they make a very aggressive practice of creating a market for their products. These Male Erection drugs are designed to pander to a very desirable market segment: rich, elderly men. The pills are reputed to be rather expensive, but it is repeatedly emphasized, that doesn't matter much. Why not? Because customers for this product are rich enough to throw their
money at it.

If the Super Bowl is within the Family Viewing Zone, what are these Sexual Toy drugs doing within that zone? They are not being advertised for only reproduction purposes, but rather, are clearly aimed
at Recreational Erections.

First, these drugs are not appropriate for
a Family Viewing Zone.

Secondly, they should be taxed the way alcohol, tobacco, and other personal consumption products are taxed. They should be taxed at least as much as cigarettes are being taxed, for example, in New York City, and, in this way, they could be used to underwrite and sponsor the war in Afghanistan
and Iraq.

No, I don't have anything in particular against erections per se, but I am extremely irked about the contradictory inconsistency going on with the FCC in this case. And, by the way, I do not agree that violent sports like football belong in Family Viewing or that they are suitable for young children.

The FCC first needs to sort out its Recreational Erections and establish some limits and boundaries before ruling that someone has transgressed them.

Besides the notorious "Carlin dirty words,"
exactly what else is there?

Signed:

Fed-Up in the Northeast Corridor.

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Thurs - Mar 18 -

LOOKING BACK: Nostalgia ain't what it used to be... Danny Schechter quotes Riverbend about the One-Year Anniversary we're all so mindful of this week:
These last few days have brought back memories of the same dates, last year. What were we doing in early March? We were preparing for the war, digging wells, taping up windows, stocking up on candles, matches, kerosene, rice, flour, bandages, and medicine? and what are we doing now? Using them.
This is some of how I remember it... Riverbend's first appearance in the Blogosphere on Salam's blog dated Tuesday, March 11, 2003:
We’ve stocked up on candles (dozens of ‘em) but my mother is starting to eye my collection of scented candles anyway. So you can anticipate the scene: hundreds of bombs flying overhead, the deafening sound of planes, blended with murmured prayers, in a semi-dark room smelling faintly of… lavender. And that smell will forever be consecrated in my mind along with the rest of the ‘war memories’ - candles, duct tape, kerosene lamps and lavender…
This last excerpt is from Salam Pax's Archives for the month of March, 2003.

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Thurs - Mar 18 -

ADVOCATES FOR RADIO GUY: Two Miami businessmen have launched [www.FreeStern.com] in order to get Morning Drive-Time radio personality Howard Stern back on the air in the six markets where he was dropped by Clear Channel.

:: By Debra Leibowitz :: Miami Herald ::
-- via MediaChannel.org

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Thurs - Mar 18 -

AN EAGLE COULD LAND ON HIS MUSTACHE

"I have been collecting these," said the professor.

The entries numbered 367.

The professor wetted his lips,
and, I confess, a deal was struck.

"I provide you with an abridged list."

BAGHDAD GRAFFITI:

:: By Wendell Steavenson at SLATE

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Wednesday, March 17

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Wed - Mar 17 -

IRAQ - ONE YEAR SINCE

Notes From The Lunatic Fringe

The Sykes-Picot Madness

+ According to one popular theory among the Arabic Intelligencia, Israel was "inserted" into the Middle East in order to prevent the Arab people from establishing a new, modern and contemporary Caliphate. The Sykes-Picot Agreement is often cited as the practical implementation of this disruptive intent.

Start any discussion with Arabic intellectuals about introducing Democracy or Modernization of any kind into the region and the most likely response will be: Rejectionism on the basis of Sykes-Picot. But, sometimes, code words or encoded language is used such as the argument that any such change must originate from Within and cannot be initiated from Outside... because of Sykes-Picot.

Here we take a look at some of the recent and sometimes pivotal remarks alluding to Sykes-Picot as they may relate to the Iraqi anniversary.

1<< The war in Iraq... was expected to begin within hours. Echoing a widespread... Palestinian belief, one adviser charged that Israel had dragged the United States against its interests into initiating the war. Arafat himself, asked what he sees ahead for the Palestinians, said it was hard to know what lay ahead because the war could change everything. "It's a new Sykes-Picot agreement," he declared, likening the Bush administration's plans for "transforming" the Middle East to the secret 1916 agreement, named after the diplomats who signed it, by which Britain and France arranged to draw new borders throughout the Middle East and carve up the area between themselves in the aftermath of World War I. >> This EXCERPT is from March 24, 2003.

2<< The Palestinian president Yasser Arafat warned against a new "Sykes Picot" to divide the Arab states. Arafat told journalists in Ramullah "After we, the Palestinians, had paid the price for the Sykes Picot treaty, in the frame of which the state of Israel was established, we are today standing on the doors of a similar new agreement." >> This EXCERPT is from January 14, 2004.

3<< Galloway Warns of New Sykes-Picot, Iraq War First Step: "I speak as someone who works in the building where Sykes and Picot committed the original sin against the people of the Arab world, and in the same building in which I work, the same imperialists are currently sitting down on the same tables and planning the Sykes-Picot II," Galloway warned. >> This EXCERPT is from December 20, 2002. And the article from which it has been extracted is worth reading again.

++ The emergence of the Qaeda Cult intensified this reaction because of its own intent to establish a new Caliphate. But it is silly to formulate this conflict as a clash of empires. America really doesn't have an empire as such. The Q Cultists try to compensate for that fact by insisting that American Entertainment or somesuch is the equivalent of an empire. That's pretty lame. Worse yet, Atta who was one of the 9/11 hijacking leaders had a delusion that fixated on the Disney Corporation in which Atta claimed that Disney was trying to refashion the rest of the world's architecture to look like Disneyland.

Now, that's pretty woo-woo!

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Tuesday, March 16

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Tues - Mar 16 -

THE 90-SECOND CRISIS: "Howard Stern should stop bellyaching about the FCC & start being funny again," contends Richard Huff at the NY Daily News. Meanwhile, in some other countries like Iran, people are getting dragged off to prison for supposed discourse transgressions where they are probably being tortured, if not beaten to death.

:: King of all kvetchers ::

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Monday, March 15

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Mon - Mar 15 -

LONDON+QAEDA=TROUBLE: A London man currently being held at Belmarsh Prison is to be questioned with regard to the Madrid bombings.
Abu Qatada is described as Osama bin Laden's 'ambassador' in Europe and is regarded as one of the most dangerous Islamic terrorist leaders being held in Britain.
The end of the article mentions the Four Feathers Youth Club on Baker Street which supposedly has connections to both Richard "Shoebomber" Reid and Zacarias Moussaoui.

The Four Feathers is a much beloved story from the Victorian Era by A.E.W. Mason. It has been made into several movies. The version my generation is probably most familiar with was retitled 'Storm Over the Nile' from 1955. The best known version may be the one from 1939 under the original title.

+ Here is a recap from The Classic Video Club Online:

<<< An English officer resigns his commission on principle just before his regiment is sent off to war in the 1898 battle to suppress the bloody uprising of the Mahdi's followers in the Sudan. His three closest friends in the regiment send him a white feather - symbol of cowardice - and his fiancée hands him the fourth. In despair he sets off to follow his regiment and to prove he is no coward by taking the most dangerous role of all, as a secret agent, unknown, unpaid, hidden among the Mahdi's men. It is a wonderful romp of a film and, to quote The Guardian: "Half a century on, The Four Feathers has yielded nothing in story-telling skill and pictorial impact." >>>

Notice the mention of the Mahdi. This covers some of the same territory as the Hollywood Spectacular 'Khartum' in which Lord Olivier [You'll adore him in this!] chews up the scenery a bit with his brilliant portrait of this exotic creature. It was not until the Ayatolloh Khomeni took over Iran and, more recently, Mullah Omar on his motorcycle that the implications of the Mahdi and the post-Ottoman Caliphate emerged more vividly.

:: ThisisLondon ::

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Mon - Mar 15 -

Did You Go . . . ? Anthony Shadid just participated in a Live-Online Interactive Forum over at the WashPost. On the whole, readers were appreciative and in good humour with just a touch of disaffection. Here are a couple of excerpts:

+ Dear Anthony, I disagree with College Park that your work is 'inherently biased' but I have noticed that of the half-dozen names I see writing out of Iraq that your work does reflect the point of view of Iraqis, who may in fact feel victimized. Is this your assignment? Can you tell me how you divide up the work?

~ Anthony Shadid: As with any big story, my colleagues and I end up dividing our beats, basically as a way to organize what we do day in and day out. Rajiv Chandrasekaran, the bureau chief in Baghdad, has focused more on politics and the reconstruction. I've tried to look more at society and forces from below, in particular religion.
[ . . . ]
~ Anthony Shadid: As a foreign correspondent, I try to get beyond politics in writing and reporting. My job is not policy but to understand how policy plays out, and I see my most important task as understanding how the people I cover view it... I'm always happy to hear criticism from readers...

Read More over at The Washington Post Online:

:: SHAID - Live Online ::

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Mon - Mar 15 -

AFGHAN ACTION HEATING UP: On Friday, US-led forces hunting a former Taliban provincial governor, Mullah Abd Al-Razzaq, caught three Taliban commanders in a raid on a house in Zabul province.

On Saturday, about 60 Taliban fighters attacked the office of the Shorovak district chief, southeast of Kandahar...

There are some conflicting reports at this point. There is also a report from Reuters that mentions a cave raid by Special Forces over the weekend. It is probably still too soon to get all the information straight and collated.

If you are interested in following this type of situation, try checking out Rantburg on my left Sidebar.

:: UK TELEGRAPH ::

:: AL JAZEERA. TV ::

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Sun/Mon - Mar 15

BAGHDAD BECOMING: Anthony Shadid, the Arabist at the WashPost, appeared on the Sunday Evening News at NBC in a kind of cameo feature, introducing his new two-part opus,
AN UNFINISHED WAR.

It looks longish. I usually like to copy-to-floppy longer articles so that I can read them at more convenient times or even take my time to reread them.
Like many in Iraq, Karima calls the war the suqut or "the collapse." It refers to the end of 35 years of pitiless Baath Party rule. It refers, too, to the time of confusion that has followed.
+ At Noon on Monday: Washington Post Foreign Correspondent Anthony Shadid will be online to discuss this series and the future of Iraq.

:: PART ONE ::

:: PART TWO ::

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