Eden

Because the one-year anniversary of the Hurricane Katrina disaster draws imminent, I'm re-reading the Operation Eden blog's entries.

Interesting stuff. What a year this has been.

POTD

People at Google are fucking smart. I'm just sayin'.

Yikes

Yikes.

Babies

Debate

Fascinating. You really must watch this exchange between George Galloway and A Sky News reporter. Remarkable for the tenor of the conversation, but far more remarkable if you pay attention to the language and symbols employed by Sky News and its reporter.

Notice that Sky news splits the screen as the conversation progresses, showing Galloway on one half wile footage of Israeli soldiers runs on the other half. Notice how the Sky News reporter tries to summarize Galloway's position on a very complex issue in a single sentence ("Hezbollah's actions are justified..."). Notice the number of times that the Sky news reporter refers to the Lebanese as "terrorists" -- a word designed to halt conversation. Note how the reporter reverts to scripted phrases rather than engaging in a conversation. And note how the reporter tries to halt conversation by making a comparison between Hezbollah and the IRA.

Whatever your position on the current Israel / Lebanon violence, try to listen to the clip objectively. Listen for the subtext and bias in the reporter's speech.

Frightening.