The Big Fear – the small reframing May 5, 2011
Posted by dissident93 in economics.comments closed
Update: the new website is now online:
The Big Fear – the small reframing
Earlier this week, with the help of colleagues and friends, I launched a “campaign”, The Big Fear – the small reframing, in the Guardian newspaper. I’ve been working on a “tagline” – something which sums it up in an easily replicable “meme”. The wording I decided on may not seem “clever” at first glance, but it ticks all the boxes (please post it widely in various forms – the website URL isn’t yet included – it will follow when live [update: here it is]. This blog isn’t the place).
It’s a very modest globe-spanning thing, with no delusions of grandeur – an audience of one is sufficient; self-promotion isn’t the name of the game. With that in mind, I’d like to thank the following for their advice (and their kind words regarding the final “meme”): Fredric Jameson, Noam Chomsky, Paul Krassner, Peter Lamborn Wilson, Paris Review (“Oui oui!”), and Franz Kafka II (for the graphics). For further info, please contact me via the “About” page.
For a larger image (printable size, over 3000 pixels wide), click here.
Fu Manchu now biggest threat? May 3, 2011
Posted by dissident93 in Media Criticism.comments closed
With the confirmed death of evil genius, Osama bin Laden, it seems that the biggest threat now facing the West is Dr Fu Manchu. This notorious master criminal has a PhD, making him more credible than bin Laden.
Meanwhile, the ‘radical’ blogosphere seems to be reacting to the corporate media’s obession with bin Laden… by obsessing over media coverage of bin Laden. The evil genius apparently knew how to make himself the focus of global attention, which is probably what real “power” boils down to.
“I tell you, freedom and human rights in America are doomed. The U.S. government will lead the American people – and the West in general – into an unbearable hell and a choking life.” – Osama bin Laden, CNN, February 5, 2002
Turning to Chernobyl
Which evil criminal (or systemic state/corporate abstraction) was responsible for the “million” deaths “caused” by the Chernobyl disaster (eg as a result of alcohol poisoning, etc, which may or may not have been caused, presumably indirectly, by the radiation from Chernobyl)? Hmm – approximately one million deaths alleged in a supposedly “prestigious” “scientific” report, and a messenger (George Monbiot) who gets attacked for revealing that this “prestigious” report has serious flaws, and isn’t even peer-reviewed. Throw in the inadequacies of epidemiology* to quantify mortality resulting from the disaster – and I get a major attack of déjà vu.
* “Greenpeace notes, ‘It is widely acknowledged that neither the available data nor current epidemiological methodology allows holistic and robust estimations of the death toll caused by the Chernobyl accident’. This is an important point. During my 40 year career in radiation protection I have observed fierce arguments (mainly related to differences of opinion on the magnitude of radiation risks) which have turned out in the fullness of time to be merely reflections of the large uncertainties inherent in the data.” (Monty Charles, review of Yablokov report, in Radiation Protection Dosimetry)
