http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Mon, 27 Jun 2005 16:08:03 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/06/27/160803.php Travis MarshallRemember when Jan Egeland suggested that Western powers were being "stingy" with their tsunami aid pledges? Remember when many Americans became hysterical over that comment, and blogs posted pictures of kids selling lemonade to raise money for tsunami victims with large headlines reading "WE AREN'T STINGY!"? People got so angry when a UN official simply stated that we could afford to do more. A very interesting article today mentions the fact that many Americans think our country is more generous than it tends to be in actuality. Polls over the last decade show most Americans believe 10 percent of the federal budget is spent on humanitarian and economic aid for the world's poor and that America gives more than any other country.But the world's richest economy actually spends just over one half of 1 percent of its budget on aid to the world's poor, less per capita than every other wealthy nation."Americans believe they are giving a lot already and that they are giving more than other countries on a percentage basis," said Steven Kull, director of the University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes, which has compiled data on Americans' aid views. ... The United States was criticized for giving too little government aid after the deadly tsunami that hit Southeast Asia last year. U.S. President George W. Bush said America gave a lot more when private donations were included.But even when private giving is counted, American aid on a per-capita basis ranks 19th out of 21 rich countries, according to Foreign Policy magazine's 2004 Ranking the Rich survey.I certainly don't want to belittle any donation -- public or private, large or small -- made by people in this country, nor do I dare oversimplify the complexities of giving aid to some nations run by corrupt governments. There is, however, something fascinating about the American obsession with the feeling of superiority, as well as our anger towards those that challenge that "exceptionalism", both home and abroad.To be sure, I love this country in which I live. I love that I can grow here, learn here, find work here, and eventually raise a family here -- all while enjoying freedoms that to many people in this world are only fantasies. But all my love for this country doesn't blind me into believing that it is superior in every way and thus has no obligation for improvement.At the center of this issue is the division between those who think our best days are past us, and those who think our best days should be ahead of us -- visions of America as the land of Superman, Lady Liberty and "The Greatest Generation" and America as a future leader in charity, medical and scientific breakthroughs, and true social equality.If we we are intentionally deaf to all criticism of our country, if we define ourselves exclusively by our selective, idealized past, if we balk at the notion that to be a truly great nation is to bypass self-satisfaction and continually strive to make our world better, then this so-called "city upon a hill" will slowly fade into obscurity. Politics31663@blogcritics.org Mon, 27 Jun 2005 16:08:03 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/05/07/183053.php Travis MarshallTonight I watched possibly the most powerful film I've ever laid eyes on. It was a rebroadcast of an incomplete film produced by British and American filmmakers - including Alfred Hitchcock - about the atrocities that took place in Nazi concentration camps. Sixty years ago, in the spring of 1945, Allied forces liberating Europe found evidence of atrocities which have tortured the world's conscience ever since. As the troops entered the German concentration camps, they made a systematic film record of what they saw. Work began in the summer of 1945 on the documentary, but the film was left unfinished. FRONTLINE found it stored in a vault of London's Imperial War Museum and, in 1985, broadcast it for the first time using the title the Imperial War Museum gave it, "Memory of the Camps."Many people my age have studied this subject. We've watched films on it, read books, and even heard survivors speak to us in person. Still, nothing that I've ever seen or heard prepared me for the impact Memory of the Camps had on me.In its incomplete state, missing part of the sound track and several pieces of the film, it is a raw documentation of the horrors committed during the second world war. There is nothing slick, and nothing new about it. It is simply biting footage of the dead, the dying, and the living - all taken within hours and days of the liberation of the camps.Tonight was one of the last broadcasts of the film on PBS' Frontline, but they have it up in its entirety on their website: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/camp/ No matter how difficult it is to watch (and I had to look away more than once) it is worth watching. No story, no picture, no music or film has ever left the impression upon me that this program did.Few people seek out this kind of experience, and even fewer desire it. I simply happened upon the film as it was being broadcast, and could not make myself turn it off. The images haunt me as I try to go about my evening. I can only imagine how they will do so as I sleep.Watch this film. Video29150@blogcritics.org Sat, 7 May 2005 18:30:53 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/05/05/121639.php Travis MarshallThe Daily Show had a great comparison of US and UK "town hall meetings" last night. So apparently Tony Blair lets people with dissenting views into meetings to discuss their beliefs with him and to voice their criticism. And here I thought town hall meetings were just about reading off of scripts once everyone has been searched and made to sign a loyalty oath...Crooks and Liars has the Daily Show video here.Today, as Britain votes, it will be interesting to see the voter turnout numbers. While I would be quite surprised if Labour lost its majority, most experts in the UK think it will win by a much slimmer margin than in the last election.Voter turnout in the UK dropped from 71% in 1997 to a post-WWII low of 59% in 2001. Of course, the United States had the highest turnout in recent history this past November with 60% of eligible voters going to the polls, the highest percentage since 1968. Between the UK's strangely legitimate debates and town hall meetings and the fact that our turnout high is their turnout low, well I feel a bit frustrated.Even their campaign ads are better...Granted, the vast population disparity between the two nations is cause enough for the percentage difference, but can't we do better than 60%? Why is it that our leaders expend so much hot air extolling the virtues of spreading democracy throughout the world when we seem so disenchanted with our own? With our staged, lifeless campaigns where being forthright and honest are considered politically dangerous, it's no wonder people don't care enough to walk a few blocks to their local polling station. With two major parties deciding who we can vote for, then leaving us to choose the most inspiring stuffed shirt available, it's no wonder 40% of eligible Americans don't give a s#*t.Oh, but did you hear about Paula Abdul!? Have you listened to the Pat O'Brien recordings!? And Britney's pregnant!!! Politics29065@blogcritics.org Thu, 5 May 2005 12:16:39 EDT