by matttbastard
Still recovering from a recent bout with the flu, so this week’s edition is even more slacker-iffic than usual. Hopefully by Monday I (and the rest of the bastard.logic crew) will have mitigated all overriding meatworld concerns enough to at least mail it in, as opposed to phoning it in (hell–forget half-assed telecom blogging; we’re talking two tin cans tied together with string here).
With that said, onward ho, dear readers!
- As the FCC in the US considers loosening cross-ownership regulations that currently prevent companies from owning both print and broadcast media in a single market, Adbusters illustrates what we in Canada have known for several years: extreme media convergence stifles press freedom to the point of asphyxiation.
- If you haven’t been reading Hope and Onions lately you’ve been missing out on some superlative citizen journalism. Godammitkitty has been burning the midnight oil all this week providing in depth coverage of current events like the Throne Speech and the Mukasey AG confirmation hearings (here, here here and here). Did I mention
she’s doing all this hard goddamn work without getting paid? Take that, Glenn Greenwald. - Libby Spencer looks at a most creative direct action campaign directed against the ruling Burmese junta (no gussets, no peace!)
Related: Even as Bush promises harsher sanctions against the junta, a recent PINR briefing shows that the US and EU are not the actors most relevant to Burma’s economic well being. Even China’s potential leverage has been overstated, according to the briefing, which advises that “the importance of trading partners within A.S.E.A.N. [Association of Southeast Asian Nations], especially Thailand, should not be overlooked.” But, as reported in the Times of India, “ASEAN will urge Myanmar’s military junta to end its bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters but it will “never” suspend the country from the regional grouping,” according to Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Alabar. (More from PINR on Burma here, here and here) - Last, but most certainly not least, as my intial contribution to Blogging For Radical Fun Day, a kickass selection of hawdcoar vids from the fine folks @ Underground Operations, guaranteed to get yr heads a-bangin’ and rumps a-shakin’ prior to the weekend (more to come later tonight, Tom — I promise):
Hostage Life – This Song Was Written By A Committee
Protest The Hero – Heretics And Killers
The Holly Springs Disaster – Up In Smoke
I Hate Sally – Hannah Hannah
bastard.logic 
Thanks for the solidarity, man! I think that same flu caught me, I’m still coughing things up after more than a week. Good luck.
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Thanks so much! I gotta put this borderline OCD of mine to some use, eh? ;)
And thanks for all of these link “roundups;” I always find good stuff here. That Adbusters piece on CanWest/Asper is must-read stuff. Media consolidation is a particular bugaboo of mine. Have you visited democraticmedia.ca? Great site!
Thanks heaps & keep up the great work, mattt, isabelle and boomgate!
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Oh! Almost forgot: I hope you’re feeling better!
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Aww, you maketh me blush, GDK. I believe I have democraticmedia.ca bookmarked somewhere, but really need to check it out more in depth. I share your media consolidation bugaboo, and am interested in doing further research/agitation, especially in light of what’s happening south of the border (to say nothing of more recent examples of broadcast media convergence here in the Great White North).
Also, note to self: get more active @ the B&R forums (self, consider this comment a digital string ’round your index finger). Y’all do yeoman’s work there. Is like a one stop clearinghouse for all things awesome .
Tom – hope you stop expelling lung butter soon LOL.
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(Oh, and yes, I’m starting to feel at least 1/3 human–a vast improvement, trust me.)
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