MetaFilter

Cartoonists' Quandry Apparently Newsday and NY's Daily News has pulled 'The Boondocks' cartoons because they may be... eh... too controversial? Perhaps "unamerican" to some? I understand these are difficult times where everyone feels vulnerable and suspicious, but nonetheless, the issues are worth addressing. Does expressing one's views and dissatisfaction with the government make you automatically unsymapthetic and unpatriotic? I can't pretend to understand what it's like to be a New Yorker over this last month, but I do think I would like to hear all perspectives, regardless of how potentially offensive or analytically critical they were.
comment posted at 8:45 AM on Oct-12-01
comment posted at 8:56 AM on Oct-12-01

All men are created equal. (Just some more equal than others.)
comment posted at 10:04 PM on Oct-12-01

"I don't live in this state, your laws don't apply to me." The Supreme Court of Illinois threw out a traffic ticket because the driver is not a resident of Illinois. Granted its just a no-insurance ticket but this looks like a very bad precedent.
comment posted at 2:29 AM on Oct-12-01
comment posted at 6:54 AM on Oct-12-01

Bert is Evil is gone. "I have taken down the "Bert is Evil!"site from my server. I would like to thank Sesame Workshop for their patience and restraint all these years. I implore all fans and mirror site hosts of "Bert is Evil" to stop the spread of this site too. -- dino"
comment posted at 2:36 AM on Oct-12-01
comment posted at 6:13 AM on Oct-12-01
comment posted at 6:15 AM on Oct-12-01

"A Slight Case of Anthrax" CBS pulls tonights episode of The Agency (at least on the West Coast, don't know about East Coast). Hmmm...I can't imagine why: "The team works against the clock to stop an anthrax threat in the United States. A Belgian kennel has fallen victim to a terrorist attack in which the deadly disease anthrax was used. When the CIA discovers the perpetrator's identity and that Washington, D.C., is his next target, the team mobilizes to stop the criminal before he can reach the capital." Is the shrinking line between truth and fiction becoming too close for comfort?
comment posted at 1:11 AM on Oct-12-01

Atheists feel alienated by calls for prayer and the media finally noticed. I've only been able to find this Associated Press lagniappe in one online newspaper. Has anyone seen it elsewhere? Perhaps the other media outlets just haven't picked it up yet. (We ARE the largest minority, you know.)
comment posted at 2:14 AM on Oct-12-01
comment posted at 1:58 PM on Oct-12-01

The Limits Of Soviet Airpower: The Bear Versus The Mujahideen In Afghanistan, 1979-1989 "This manuscript [from the United States military's Air University] analyzes the failure of Soviet air and ground forces to defeat the Afghan mujahideen during the nine-year Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. In pursuit of this objective, Soviet military strategy underwent a process of increasing radicalization that eventually resulted in a sanctioned policy of terror by Soviet air and land forces. During this period, airpower played a critical role in this campaign of terror by providing the platforms for punitive bombardment, chemical attack, aerial mining, troop insertion, and fire support." Oh. Soviet air attacks were "terror". Ours are different. Somehow. After all, we're fighting terrorists, so how can we be terrorists ourselves, eh?
comment posted at 2:50 AM on Oct-12-01

"Mr. President, do you consider Bert to be an accomplice of Usama Bin Laden?" "Where is VP Cheney?" "Can you say 'Read my lips' like your father did?"

Bush to meet the press tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time

If he would take questions chat-room style, what would you ask?
comment posted at 12:47 AM on Oct-12-01

White House instructs TV networks not to air bin Laden videos
comment posted at 6:18 AM on Oct-11-01
comment posted at 7:05 AM on Oct-11-01
comment posted at 7:41 AM on Oct-11-01
comment posted at 7:45 AM on Oct-11-01

Top of the world - A lost view. (sorry, if this is a double post, but I haven't find anything via mefi-search)
comment posted at 12:37 AM on Oct-11-01

With friends like these... "The Left in 2001 needs a media upgrade in the worst way. It needs to figure out a way to communicate its message that doesn't cause a vast majority of Americans to roll their eyes. Change in this country comes about through numbers, and continually alienating the bulk of the nation with old, tired tactics isn't going to change anything. "
comment posted at 11:10 PM on Oct-10-01
comment posted at 12:30 AM on Oct-11-01

Some lawmakers are shocked, shocked that there is anti-American sentiments in some countries! "Why is it that from the streets of Jakarta in Indonesia to Pakistan to scores of other countries, the white venom of hate is oozing in a singularly ugly and sickening fashion?" Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., said Wednesday at a hearing on public diplomacy. Those are "two nations that we have helped enormously since they gained independence." The answer, he said, is bad P.R. What's your answer?
comment posted at 6:53 AM on Oct-11-01

Berkeley does it again... The Berkeley City Council is considering condemning the US attacks on Afganistan as acts of terrorism. The best quote: "Berkeley has always been an island of sanity in terms of the war madness that has prevailed in this country," Spring said. "The U.S. is now a terrorist. According to the Taliban these are terrorist attacks." (Via the WSJ Opinion Page)
comment posted at 6:39 AM on Oct-11-01

Clarance Thomas lied during his confirmation hearings. Does it matter? Even though he was under oath at the time? Like Bill Clinton?
comment posted at 4:28 PM on Oct-10-01

B61-11 tactical micro-nuke headed for Afghanistan? Though large "theater" thermonuclear devices -- doomsday bombs -- don't fit the Bush administration's war on terrorism, smaller tactical nukes do not seem out of the question in the current mindset of the Defense Department. Rumsfield avoided answering the question of whether the use of tactical nuclear weapons could be ruled out. What kind of nuclear fallout would a weapon like this cause?
comment posted at 12:02 AM on Oct-9-01

TV's reality: Everyone is thin, and fat people are often ridiculed Overweight characters on TV are less likely to date and have sex than their slimmer counterparts, and they are more likely to be the butt of jokes and be seen chowing down, fueling possible bias against the heavyset, according to research being presented today. The question is: Is television reflecting reality?
comment posted at 9:09 PM on Oct-8-01
comment posted at 10:00 PM on Oct-8-01
comment posted at 11:43 PM on Oct-8-01

Anthrax case becomes criminal investigation as Law Enforcement intensifies its searche for a Summer Intern who worked in the office.

He is said to be from the Middle East. Hopefully unrelated, but evidence is mounting... i.e. - employees received a strange letter before the WTC attack containing a white powdery substance and a "Cheap" Star of David charm...
comment posted at 9:55 PM on Oct-8-01

I'm probably the only loser in America to care about this. It looks like the days of listening to your favorite radio show (if it's a Premiere radio show at least) for free on the net are over. Goodbye, Phil. Not so sad about Dr. Laura though.
comment posted at 9:26 PM on Oct-8-01

Rush Limbaugh has gone deaf. While he can recognize sound, he cannot understand it, including callers to his radio show. He's working around it now (somehow), but may have to change his format in the near future. Rush's site is being hit hard, but you can find a transcript of his monologue here.
comment posted at 10:36 PM on Oct-8-01

Chomsky on MSNBC talks about recent events! That would be news all by itself. I know that a lot of people on the right disagree with him, but who can argue with what he says here? Also from left field an incisive Q&A about Afghanistan history and the current situation by Tariq Ali.
comment posted at 10:04 AM on Oct-8-01

The Pump Girls! Rockin' With the Diabetes! They're called the Pump girls because they all have insulin pumps in them! Cool! "The Pump Girls, is a pop music group consisting of 3 girls aged 13-14. The girls, who are all from Southern California, sing about boys, love, dancing and overcoming challenges. They all have Juvenile Diabetes. One of their goals is to motivate other teens to deal with the challenges of the disease successfully."
comment posted at 11:02 PM on Oct-7-01

Where Was God? .......there is nothing else I can say about this.
comment posted at 9:15 PM on Oct-7-01

Osama Binladin's Brother, Abdullah Mohammed Binladin, condems him in this Boston Globe article.
comment posted at 1:14 PM on Oct-7-01

This didn`t seem too important to many but the last pieces of evidence associating Bin Laden and company to the WTC attacks was released, and is detailed by the Sunday Times. It`s surprising that many people were ready to go to war without this info...
comment posted at 12:48 PM on Oct-7-01

Airstrikes have begun in Afghanistan. Just heard on NBC, but no web links yet... President to address the US at 12.50p EST.
comment posted at 11:54 AM on Oct-7-01
comment posted at 12:08 PM on Oct-7-01
comment posted at 12:38 PM on Oct-7-01
comment posted at 12:41 PM on Oct-7-01
comment posted at 12:54 PM on Oct-7-01
comment posted at 1:01 PM on Oct-7-01
comment posted at 10:40 PM on Oct-7-01

US/Russia Strike Reciprocal Deal on Tactical Nuclear Weapons Deployment In Afghanistan and Chechnya From Debka.com, Israeli site "approved" by USA Today. Does anyone know how credible Debka really is? Over the last few weeks, they've reported some interesting things, sometimes first, sometimes alone.
comment posted at 3:05 PM on Oct-6-01

Will a changing world change film? Will the Sept. 11th tragedy instill a new social or political significance to contempoary art? Does this mark the end of irony? How do you think these recent events are going to shape film, art and comedy?
comment posted at 11:23 PM on Oct-4-01

Startlingly beautiful girl. What is her life like? Does she resent it? How uncomfortable must life be for this girl's boyfriend? Why do restaurants give her a 75% discount if she sits at a window table? Rhetorical questions all, but sometimes you gotta ask. Be sure to click the slideshow thingie. (NYtimes link)
comment posted at 4:31 PM on Oct-4-01
comment posted at 4:33 PM on Oct-4-01
comment posted at 12:22 AM on Oct-5-01

Focus on the Family says ABC’s The Drew Carey Show propagandizes "the idea that men enjoy watching lesbian sex." Instead of showing the kiss, the camera pans slowly around to show the male cast and crew in a voyeuristic trance. "To a lot of people, Drew Carey represents middle America, and what you see here is perversions working their way through the TV and this supposed middle American icon"
Among religious conservatives in general there is a dislike of ABC and parent Disney programming. The conservative American Family Association thinks Christians should boycott Disney. Are these groups just a bunch of religious fuddy-duddies or do they have a valid gripe?
comment posted at 4:51 PM on Oct-4-01

Hijacked Plane Said to Land in New Delhi. NYTimes article -- you know the deal. CNN and Salon both confirm.
comment posted at 1:40 PM on Oct-3-01

Representative Ron Paul: 'It is clear that protecting certain oil interests and our presence in the Persian Gulf help drive the holy war.' This is his speech to the House of Representatives after 9.11 blaming(in part) U.S. foreign policy for the tragedy. Does anyone have any insight into members of the body politic who are pushing for research into environmentally sound alternatives to oil? The U.S. takes pride in being the best at everything, why not be the best at saving our planet and eliminating our blood-ties with OPEC?
comment posted at 1:29 PM on Oct-3-01