Archive for June, 2003
SARS art in Taiwan
This is an English language letter by the author of a powerful on-line comic strip about SARS in Taiwan. In the letter he explains all of the cultural references and the plot of the comics, which are also presented here. It is well worth a look!
Liu the Beast often revenge to his foes with giving […]
In-depth coverage of Jessica Lynch
I’m tired of blogging the Jessica Lynch story, but since I’ve been doing so, I feel it is important to point out this excellent in-depth story in the Washington Post. They go back and look at the whole story, with extensive new interviews, etc. Well worth a read.
Why aren’t Unions able to Organize?
The simple answer is being fired. Which happens pervasively in union drives.
Two very good posts about the state of Unionization in America over at Nathan Newman. The above quote is from this one, and he has more here.
“Ideas Need Legs” - Bill Moyers on Progressivism
Here is an excerpt from the acceptance speech given by Bill Moyers when he was presented with the “America’s Future Lifetime Leadership Award” award at the Take Back America Conference in Washington DC:
What will it take to get back in the fight? Understanding the real interests and deep opinions of the American people is the […]
Iraqi Children Worse Off This Year
The number of children in Iraq suffering from diarrhoea and related diseases appears to have risen dramatically in the past year, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) said on Sunday.
The incidence of diseases such as cholera, dysentery and typhoid was 2.5 times higher this May than for the same month last year, said Unicef […]
US Army patents WMDs
From SF Gate:
A new rifle-launched gas grenade, invented by the U.S. Army ostensibly for nonlethal crowd control, has created a stir because the patent filed on the technology claims that it can deliver chemical and biological agents, two payloads forbidden by international treaty and U.S. law.
Thanks to Cursor.org for the link!
More on Endangered Languages
Here are some letters to the NY Times that respond to many of the same issues I raised in my earlier post.
Dr. Leanne Hinton
The movement toward revitalization of endangered languages is a community-generated process, not a linguist-generated process. Furthermore, it is the younger generations who are in the leadership roles.
Dr. Alice Thor Pianfetti
The essay […]
13,000 Arab men deported!
This is just awful!
Remember the forced Arab male registration program Bush instituted this past year? Where all of the muslim males from several countries had to register with the Government as part of the plan to make us safer? 13,000 of those men who followed the directive, believing they would have a […]
Fox News - really more “balanced”?
It seems that there is some credence to Fox News’ claims to deliver balanced reporting. Even though they were more overtly pro-war than any other network news outlet, FAIR has a report which shows they also had more anti-war guests than either PBS or CBC!!!
Though Fox News Channel frequently engaged in overt cheerleading for the […]
Endangered Languages: The Metaphor
I recently came across an article in the NY Times that discusses the concept of “endangered languages.” It is an intelligent, well written article that is ultimately fundamentally flawed and highly conservative. The article, by David Berreby, is titled “Fading Species and Dying Tongues: When the Two Part Ways.” The article takes as its starting […]
An anthropologist and documentary filmmaker, 
