Not everything democratic revolves around Washington

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) reminds us that writers of the US corporate media like people to know the uniqueness of the US: In a News Analysis piece (7/11/09), New York Times reporter Adam Nossiter attempts to illustrate the difference between some African countries and more enlightened nations, writing: The gulf separating the West…

Anybody but the Palestinians

Mahmood Mamdani is currently Herbert Lehman Professor of Government at Columbia University and author of the new book, Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics, and the War on Terror. He tells the Boston Globe about the real agenda behind the global Save Darfur campaign: In a context where African tragedies seem never to be noticed, I…

Spielberg…from Shanghai

The Chinese blogosphere speaks: After Steven Spielberg withdrew as artistic director for the Beijing 2008 Olympics, it is not surprising to read angry words towards him in the Chinese press, both on- and off-line. But are there other Chinese who think differently on this issue? Shanghai-based scholar and cultural critic Wang Xiaoyu (王晓渔) published the…

Repression comes at a price

It may be an act of pure symbolism, but I applaud Spielberg for this decision (and expect many more of this kind before the August Olympics): US film maker Steven Spielberg said he was abandoning his artistic role in the Beijing Olympics, accusing China of not doing enough to press its ally Sudan to end…