Frankendesign

A Weekly Recap
The new week starts with a thoughtful reflection on some of the more interesting news items of the past week.



from the radio program This Is Hell
The carnage of capitalism is that 7,000,000 people are homeless, yet on any given day, 14,000,000 hotel rooms are empty.

Perhaps a few new buzzwords came out of Saturday's broadcast as well.
Newsbiz: i.e. showbiz, regarding media channels belonging to multi-million dollar corporations based in the U.S.
McFundamentalism: from a discussion on the book Jihad vs. McWorld, Benjamin R. Baber


from the article
Buffalo soldiers
Salon
(…)
History would seem to undermine absolutist philosophies of nature in Yellowstone. Yet something about the place invites absolutes, even demands them -- the grandeur of the mountains, the vast meadows and waterfalls and incredible, almost surrealistic geysers, the psychedelic blue hot pots. To quote Edward Abbey, patron saint of the Green paganism, "An increasingly pagan and hedonistic people (thank God!), we are learning finally that the forests and mountains and desert canyons are holier than our churches."
(…)


from the article
Pentagon Shocker: US Threatens Nuclear First Strike
Center for Research on Globalisation
(…)
It is important to note that the Times does not really bemoan the suffering of the mass of the people in the colonial world who would be incinerated in a nuclear attack. They bemoan the end of life as we know it, in general. They fear the escalation that would bring down capitalist civilization along with everything else.

They are quite ready to put up with the horrendous bombs euphemistically called daisy cutters, along with napalm, smart bombs and all the other conventional means of destroying the workers and oppressed in their struggles.
(…)


from the New York Times, Saturday Print Edition
Pentagon Seeks Exemption From Environmental Laws
Concerned that several environmental laws are interfering with the military's ability to train soldiers and develop weapons, the Pentagon is seeking a Congressional exemption from an array of measures that have protected endangered species and their habitats for years.
(…)
A draft of the bill says, "Federal departments and agencies shall not place the conservation of public lands, or the preservation or recovery of endangered, threatened or other protected species found on military lands, above the need to ensure that soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines receive the greatest possible preparation for, and protection from, the hazards and rigor of combat through realistic training on military lands and in military airspace."
(…)
In a statement, Colonel Colin said, "We are always concerned by anything that might adversely impact the training needed to protect our military people, our nation and our way of life."


from the article
The New McCarthyism
Arab News
(…)
Jensen worries that untenured faculty may censor themselves, and he and many others are concerned about Lynne Cheney's group, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, which she co-founded in 1995 with Senator Joseph Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut.

That group issued a report after September 11 called "Defending Civilization: How Our Universities Are Failing America, and What Can Be Done About It."

It said, "When a nation's intellectuals are unwilling to defend its civilization, they give comfort to its adversaries."

And it cited more than 100 examples of what it considers unpatriotic acts by specific academics.

"What's analogous to McCarthyism is the self-appointed guardians who are engaging in private blacklisting," says Eric Foner, professor of history at Columbia University.

"That's why the Lynne Cheney thing is so disturbing: Her group is trying to intimidate individuals who hold different points of view.
(…)
Read the official report, Defending Civilization: How Our Universities Are Failing America, and What Can Be Done About It. [pdf 104k]