17/01/04 20:45 Filed by Saswat Pattanayak in:
Reference
| Political
That inimitable Arundhati Roy's speech at the WSF...
Do turkeys enjoy thanksgiving?
By Arundhati Roy
LAST JANUARY thousands of us from across the world
gathered in Porto Allegre in Brazil and declared —
reiterated — that "Another World is Possible". A
few thousand miles north, in Washington, George
Bush and his aides were thinking the same thing.
Our project was the World Social Forum. Theirs — to
further what many call The Project for the New
American Century.
In the great cities of Europe and America, where a
few years ago these things would only have been
whispered, now people are openly talking about the
good side of Imperialism and the need for a strong
Empire to police an unruly world. The new
missionaries want order at the cost of justice.
Discipline at the cost of dignity. And ascendancy
at any price. Occasionally some of us are invited
to `debate' the issue on `neutral' platforms
provided by the corporate media. Debating
Imperialism is a bit like debating the pros and
cons of rape. What can we say? That we really miss
it? Read More...
Tags: Saswat, Feminism, Communism, Imperialism, Capitalism
16/01/04 18:43 Filed by Saswat Pattanayak in:
Political
The World Social Forum is starting today at Mumbai,
India.
It proclaims that it’s not an organization, nor a
united front platform, but "…an open meeting place
for reflective thinking, democratic debate of ideas,
formulation of proposals, free exchange of
experiences and inter-linking for effective action,
by groups and movements of civil society that are
opposed to neo- liberalism and to domination of the
world by capital and any form of imperialism, and are
committed to building a society centered on the human
person".
The first WSF was held in the southern Brazilian city
of Porto Alegre in 2001. Then 25000 participated.
This time there are 85,000 dreamers/activists who
believe another world is possible. More power!
Tags: Saswat, Communism, India, Peace, Activism
13/01/04 13:04 Filed by Saswat Pattanayak in:
Saswat | Reference
| Editorial
| Political
In an age of information warfare, its worthwhile to
note that propaganda often forms the bedrock for
‘objectivity’ in media. Journalists more often than
not rely on secondary sources who possess a narrowed,
at times, reactionary world-view, because the ones
who are eligible to become sources, have multiple
agenda at hand. Do we as journalists merely play into
them?
Well I can’t afford to generalize. Although I will
agree that all journalists at most times, cannot
afford to ignore secondary sources (secondary
sources, as opposed to primary experiences). And the
real problems arise, as most often is the case with
them, when the sources would rather use the
journalists, than be used.
Tintin, the famous fictitious reporter, and the most
widely read comic-hero ever created in the world, is
no exception to this observation. Indeed my research
verifies that Tintin was created merely to fight the
Bolsheviks in erstwhile Soviet Union. And what better
profession was there for him to choose than that of
becoming an international scribe to achieve this aim?
As global territorial, religious and consumerist wars
shroud vision, and journalists become embedded,
blindfolded and commodified, its time to ask, if the
best among the reporters in real life today have any
semblance with best of the reporters in the world of
fiction, Tintin.
I will come back to Tintin soon on this blog.
Tags: Saswat, Literature, History, Media
03/01/04 10:40 Filed by Saswat Pattanayak in:
Reference
Very Interesting Chinese Blog
here
Just some students at Berkeley. I think its a great
job, folks! But what I always keep seeing is China's
obsession with Japan, at least as seen by the Chinese
scholars abroad. Must have been such a break for
Indian politicians of late. No news is good news.
Tags: Saswat, Technology, Academic