photo by Jude Nagurney Camwell
Journalists, Step Inside!
The Blog-gospel According to Dave
Dave Winer on BloggingThere was a conference on Blogging, Journalism, and Credibility, which was held in late January at Harvard. It featured an invitation-only group of fifty journalists, bloggers, news executives, media scholars and librarians.
Dave Winer , who was in attendance, makes blogging sound a bit like an evangelist's tent meeting. I think that's a pretty accurate description, if you understand the zeal of the committed blogger.
We're going to change the world, you know.
Here are Dave's words:"If you want to understand the blogger mentality, think of us as evangelists. We're zealots. We want to bring you in. We want you to use our tools. We want you to learn what we have learned and then make the world a better place. We are the idealists. We are into, you know, truth and justice and so forth. We have a passion for news, and maybe that can act as a reminder to the professionals that somewhere deep inside of your core is that same passion. That's the thing that unites us. That's the bond that we share. Rather than looking at it as an adversarial relationship, let's look at the ways we can help each other, because God knows we have much bigger problems to solve."
- From an article by Rebecca MacKinnon at The Nation, March 17, 2005
*Sorry to hear Rebecca has the flu. Heal, Rebecca!
photo by Jude Nagurney Camwell
"In our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the color of love."
- Marc Chagall
"Two thousand five hundred dollars," said a relative of the deceased Mr Dulaimi derisively. "Twenty-five million would not pay for a hair of his head. I have experience in fighting, and my friends have offered to fight with me. God willing, we will make an example of them."
Blood Money - $2500 Buys An Iraqi Civilian Unjustly Killed Under Current Rules of EngagementJimmy Massey's story is given factual support in a March 18 Financial Times report.
Link: Shoot first, pay later culture pervades Iraq by Awadh al-Taee and Steve Negus
Read what happened to Abd al-Naser Abbas al-Dulaimi and his family.
What if he'd been your son?
Your brother?
Is it time for a rethink by US commanders of their rules of engagement in Iraq?
Poverty in the Midst of Plenty (1939)
Gerard SekotoBush has yet to stand behind Blair on Poverty"Tony [Blair] and Gordon have to prepare to ring up George [Bush] and say, 'Do this, George, do this one thing for me, it's going to cost you [nothing], do it for me," [Bob] Geldof said. Any thoughts that Mr. Blair would disapprove of Mr. Geldof's rant were dispelled when the prime minister walked on stage and backed the aging rocker. "Because I'm a politician in a suit, I wince at the occasional word, but, actually, what he said is really what I think."
Tony Blair stood behind George W. Bush on the Iraq war, but Bush has yet to stand behind Blair on poverty.___________________The Financial Times Commentary/AnalysisA report that sees Africa is changing. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala [Nigeria's finance minister]. Financial Times. March 10 2005.
Amnesia and self-interest cloud debate on Africa. Michael Peel. Financial Times. March 11 2005
Top-level call for radical change in Africa aid. David White. Financial Times. March 11 2005.
Let them eat words. Editorial. Financial Times. March 12 2005
The business case for helping Africa. Niall Fitzgerald. Financial Times. March 13 2005
Europe should take the lead in Africa. Martin Wolf. Financial Times. March 15 2005 The Guardian Commentary/AnalysisI believe this is Africa's best chance for a generation ... Our report is an ambitious call for action, but it's rooted in the real world. Tony Blair. The Guardian. March 12, 2005
Leader: The next step is action. Editorial. The Guardian. March 12 2005
Time to help, not hinder Too many plans to aid Africa create problems by assuming that the west knows best, says ActionAid's Taaka Awori.
Larry Elliott: No gain without pain
The greatest tragedy of our time: how the world can help, and why it must do so now
