Al-Jazeera's Selective Reporting

Monarch Airlines Airbus makes Passenger Responsible for his Own Behavior
In the U.S., the airline would be sued for discrimination and a whole slew of other things. As an employee of the travel industry, I applaud Monarch Airlines for their decision.

Al-Jazeera drops the ball
Al-Jazeera seems to be making very selective decisions on covering issues affecting the world of Islam. First, I have been checking and re-checking the English-language version of Al-Jazeera for any mention of the honor killings in Pakistan.
A search on Dogpile.com for "honor killings pakistan" shows that the story, written by the AP, was carried on Fox News, CNN, USA Today, ABC News, MSNBC, the Seattle Times, the Taipei News, the Free Republic, the Salt Lake City Tribune, etc., etc., etc. However, I can't find any mention of it on Al-Jazeera.net. My theory is that Al-Jazeera writes their own stories and does not carry news reported by the AP. While this makes some sort of Arab Pride logic, it does not make sense to keep important news from people who go to Al-Jazeera first for their news. These are quotes from the "About Al-Jazeera" page:

"With more than 30 bureaus and dozens of correspondents covering the four corners of the world Aljazeera has given millions of people a refreshing new perspective on global events."

"Aljazeera.net English goes behind the scenes to provide every visitor with 'the news they don't see', daringly and boldly as Aljazeera always does. "

"Our team of dedicated journalists with their multi-national education and diversified backgrounds share a common set of attributes: objectivity, accuracy, and a passion for truth."

"Truth will be the force that will drive us to raise thorny issues, to seize every opportunity for exclusive reporting, to take hold of unforgettable moments in history and to rekindle the willpower within every human being who strives for truth."

Also, I haven't seen reactions from Muslim leaders on any news sources, although there should be condemnations from pole to pole on this issue.

There is also no mention on Al-Jazeera of the Florida teenager who went to Iraq for Christmas vacation. He is of Iraqi descent and saw the Middle East from a boy of Iraqi descent from America who takes pride in his parents' native country and sincerely wants to help. I was seriously interested in what he saw and how he viewed it through an American teenager's eyes. But Al-Jazeera didn't mention one word about it.

Whistleblower in the UK
Craig Murray is publishing secret memos on his blog about the UK about torture collusion between the US, UK and Uzbekistan. You can read them on his page here. You can also look for them here and here if his page has been shut down.

This is a full-time job!

12/28/05
Ok, so sharing my valuable opinions with the world could become a full-time job. There's so much in the news today I need to comment on! And, I'm still working on getting all the links attached to my last posting so that I can at least justify myself a little bit. I'll just have to keep plugging along. I want to get at least the links and a quick comment on here today and then I'll go back and flesh it out a little when I can.
-Andrew

Ansel Adams vs. Larry Flint
As long as it is something you can pay too much for and hang in your foyer, politicians are all for the freedom of expression in art. But make something the politicians don't agree with and it's labeled as porn and demands are made to take it down. Politicians should be 100% behind the artists in these cases. They need to get on TV and tell people, "This is what you get with freedom of expression--alternate viewpoints. This is what being part of a FREE society is about! Freedom of expression doesn't mean freedom of only YOUR expression."

Honor Killings
This is exactly the reason that people find it easy to hate Muslims. This could be cultural, it could be religious, but whatever it is, it can't be divorced from Islam. It may not be representative of all of Islam, but I'm sure it happens much more often than reported. Just like Pat Robertson and abortion doctor killings give Christians a bad name, stories like this make people turn to each other and say, "I told you so." And, until issues like this are addressed in the Muslim community, there will continue to be a huge rift between Muslim nations and the rest of the world. I actually think Al-Jazeera is a pretty decent news agency, but checking their English-language website, I didn't find any mention of this story on their homepage, news page or culture page. Leaders of predominantly Islamic countries should be shouting the condemnation of these killing from the rooftops, but their silence will only act as a nod to the "faithful" that these types of acts are condoned. I won't be too harsh right now, though. As I write this, it's just after 10:00 a.m. in Dubai, so it's possible "official" responses to this tragedy haven't been publicized yet.

2-weeks' notice
I like this story. Maybe so called "high-ranking" Democrats will get the message that they need to shape up or people will ship out. I think it's high time for 2 more parties anyway. Moderate Republicans and liberal Democrats are simply not represented by their parties any more.

Ooh, this is getting good
OK, this bears my full attention. Break out the Preparation-H, baby, because I'm full of opinions and mine probably stink, but I need an outlet for my valued insights and blogging is healthier than chucking eggs at passing cars...
I think I'll work on the comments and put it in my next post. I'll be on the lookout for more end-of-2005 stories.

On a lighter side
The Literary Review Bad Sex in Fiction award is awesome. Not only are the passages themselves fun (and painful) to read, awards like these are necessary to keep writers honest who want to take a little too much literary freedoms in their work.

Blogging without Borders
Apparently Reporters without Borders recommended the use of http://www.Anonymizer.com to access independence websites in Morocco and has since been blacklisted. I attempted to access Anonymizer from my computer at work, and our Internet filter restricted it because it contained "Anonymizers content." Apparently, someone at Corporate has done their homework. I won't say what company I work for, but I ran across this unusual article online. By the way, Reporters without Borders also has this "handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents."

Arianna Huffington's 2005 List

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Abu Ghraib, Tookie and Cheney

"The US had 'come a long way' since the Abu Ghraib scandal."

In a striking display of companssion, the US has said it won't "hand over detainees to the Iraqi authorities until they [the Iraqis] raise levels of care." In related news, Donald Rumsfeld has announced that Lynndie England will be handling the transition of prisoners from US to Iraqi prisons as part of her work-release program.

Alert! For first time ever, man on Death Row claims he is innocent of the crimes he was charged with!

First off, I have to ask why I have a moral obligation to be opposed to the death penalty because it doesn't work as a deterrent of crime? Can't I support the death penalty as punishment for a crime you have been convicted of? Or do I have some obligation to view crime and punishment from a Christian/Buddhist/New Age view point? If I firmly believe in the separation of Church and State, then I should not be basing my viewpoints on Capital Punishment, a role of the State, not the Church, on viewpoints put for by the Church. Removing the religous argument from the equation, as Separation demands that I do, I am just left with my own morals and principles to decide if the death penalty is just, and I really don't have a problem using death as a punishment for death. Who cares if it's a deterrent or not?
By the way, Bianca is aging just as well as Keith Richards.

How do you artificially inflate the value of stock you own?

By securing bid-less government contracts for billions of dollars of tax dollars that never have to be accounted for! And then, blatantly lie about it!

"Since I left Halliburton to become George Bush's vice president, I've
severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interest,"
the Vice President said. "I have no financial interest in Halliburton of
any kind and haven't had, now, for over three years."