General

Matthew Engel in The Guardian:

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Matthew Engel in The Guardian: US media cowed by patriotic fever, says CBS star.

The White House was to blame for its failure to provide adequate information about the war, [Dan] Rather said. “There has never been an American war, small or large, in which access has been so limited as this one.

“Limiting access, limiting information to cover the backsides of those who are in charge of the war, is extremely dangerous and cannot and should not be accepted. And I am sorry to say that, up to and including the moment of this interview, that overwhelmingly it has been accepted by the American people. And the current administration revels in that, they relish that, and they take refuge in that.”

He said his view of the patriotism differed from that of the administration. “It’s unpatriotic not to stand up, look them in the eye, and ask the questions they don’t want to hear – they being those who have the responsibility, the ultimate responsibility – of sending our sons and daughters, our husbands, wives, our blood, to face death.”

As I’ve said before, if our country is going to go to war on our behalf, torture suspected terrorists, tolerate collateral damage, and for that matter, execute death-row inmates — if we are going to do all that, we damn well better know the truth about it.

If we’re too lazy, numb, frightened, or self-censored to ask the important questions and share what we learn with each other, we might as well sign over what’s left of our civil rights right now. It will be a lot easier to lose them, than it will be to get them back. [Jake’s Radio ‘Blog]

Ren and Stimpy return with

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Ren and Stimpy return with 9 new episodes in 2003!

05-16-2002 09:35 PM

by Matt Wilson

TNN originally made the announcement of a brand new adult-animation

block on their network to launch in 2003. It would be featuring

cartoons like Stripperella, Gary the Rat, and, what seemed to be the

biggest surprise, Spumco’s Ren and Stimpy..

It was then mentioned by Jerry Beck at Cartoon Research that TNN was

in talks with John Kricfalusi to direct new episodes.

And now, the deal has been secured.

John K. signed a deal with TNN this Tuesday to direct not only 9

half-hour episodes of Ren and Stimpy, but even a made-for-TV movie as

well!

Beck reports that John is already at work on the storyboarding, but

there is no information as to whether Billy West will be called back

to play the role of Stimpy, or a replacement actor will be found.

So gather together your magic nose goblin collection, your “Don’t Whiz

on the Electric Fence” home game, and your local circus midget, and

get set to enjoy Ren and Stimpy all over again, next year! Joy!

"Youth Looks Forward but Age

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“Youth Looks Forward but Age Looks Back”.

The Technology Behind Napster is Far from Dead

“Initially, Creative Commons is building technology that helps people license their work on terms they set. The idea is to create a database that can be easily queried by those who want to make further use of such works.

One of Lessig’s collaborators in this project is Aaron Swartz, who’s become well-known in several small but important corners of the Net. He’s working on the software that will help turn Creative Commons into a reality.

I knew of Aaron Swartz (www.aaronsw.com) before I met him last week at a World Wide Web conference in Hawaii. He’s here this week in Santa Clara, and will be on stage when Creative Commmons makes its official debut Thursday. He’s an object lesson to the dinosaurs who run Hollywood and think they can control the uncontrollable. The young people of this world will ultimately decide how this turns out.

Shawn Fanning was a college student in Boston when he created Napster. Aaron Swartz is 15.” [SJ Mercury]

I guess it’s the young that will inherit the earth, not the meek.

[The Shifted Librarian]

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posted by swift ª May 15 4:40 PM | 11 comments. Colorado boys punished by school administrators for pretending index fingers are guns.The boys were shooting at imaginary aliens. One administrator says they “demonstrated a level of aggression” that violates the school’s zero-tolerance policy toward violence.

[MetaFilter]

This is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen. It demonstrates the stupidity of “zero tolerance” policies. What happened to logic & reason?

I really feel sorry for kids going to school now. They’re not allowed to play or have any kind of fun. Did the school adminstrators forget the things they did when they were kids?

The Free State Project. The

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The Free State Project. The Free State Project aims to coordinate the move of approximately 20,000 “liberty-oriented” people to a state such as New Hampshire, and then proceed towards secession by “first reforming state law, opting out of federal mandates, and finally negotiating directly with the federal government for appropriate political autonomy.” [kuro5hin.org]

Interesting idea. Since Bush proclaims this a “Christian” country and I’m not a Christian, I don’t feel that this country’s government represents me. Only thing, I wish they’d move it to a warmer climate like Florida.

Not Harmful to Minors. The

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Not Harmful to Minors. The twin concepts of innocence and ignorance are vehicles for adult double standards. A child is ignorant if she doesn’t know what adults want her to know, but innocent if she doesn’t know what adults don’t want her to know. –Jenny Kitzinger, Children, Power, and the Struggle against Sexual Abuse Never have I read a book which has been damned and derided on almost all sides, so steeped in controversy and outrage, yet, after reading this book it has become glaringly obvious that the detractors have not read it. Perhaps a few of its right-wing* critics have skimmed it looking for choice morsels which they can extract from the surrounding context and infuse with their own meaning (you know, much like they do with the Bible), so let me set a few things straight. What Judith Levine has actually written in her book Harmful to Minors is not radical, unusual or beyond common sense. [kuro5hin.org]

I just bought this book & “blinded by the right”, although I haven’t had a chance to read either one yet.