Z Nightly Commentaries
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Recent Z Nightly Commentaries
Street: Not-So "Sobering News"
Sep 06, 2004
Last Thursday the United States Census Bureau reported a sharp rise in both the poor and the medically uninsured in 2003.Ê Last year, we learned, 1.3 million more citizens in the "world's richest nation" were pushed below the federal government's notoriou
Solomon: Beyond Hero Worship
Aug 29, 2004
ÒHappy is the country which requires no heroes,Ó Bertolt Brecht commented. Today, by that standard, the United States is a very unhappy country.
Shiva: Who Won, Who Lost: The Victory of the Agribusiness in the WTO Framework Agreement
Aug 26, 2004
On 16th August, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath informed the Rajya Sabha that India had made significant gains in the recently negotiated Framework Agreement in Geneva on the Doha Work Programme.
Solomon: From Attica to Abu Ghraib -- and a Prison Near You
Aug 23, 2004
A recent obituary in the New York Times told about Frank Smith, "who as an inmate leader at Attica prison was tortured by officers in the aftermath of the prisoner uprising of 1971 and then spent a quarter century successfully fighting for legal damages."
Secours: Gay Marriages: Weddings of Mass Destruction?
Aug 01, 2004
It seems that the polls reflecting Democratic candidate John Kerry's rise in popularity struck a nerve with some conservatives, and before you can say ''wag the dog,'' we have a new orange level crisis here at home. Thank goodness for the Bush administrat
Shiva: Wto Negotiations And The Betrayal Of The Doha Mandate
Jul 29, 2004
The General Council of the WTO is to meet on 27-29 July 2004 to pick up the negotiations that broke down in Cancun on the Doha Mandate.
Sagar: Reagan: The ‘Performing’ Politician
Jul 02, 2004
A man who prolonged the Cold War by turning the heat on the Soviet Union. A man who talked glibly of freedom and democracy but supported some of the worst dictators in Latin America and Asia. And a man who made the privatization of government a religious cause but who finally departed Planet Earth with a subsidized STATE funeral (that funeral should have been auctioned out really).
Solomon: Presidential Campaigns and Media Charades
Jun 22, 2004
Political myth-making goes into overdrive every four years. With presidential campaigns fixated mostly on media, an array of nonstop spin takes its toll while illogic often takes hold: When heroes are absent, theyÕre invented. When convenient claims are u
Shiva: The Indian Elections 2004: The Vote Against Corporate Globalisation
Jun 19, 2004
The world is stunned by the results of the Indian elections, both because of how the ruling BJP was wiped out at the polls in spite of its "India Shining" Campaign and its exclusivist "Hindutva" plank, but also because the majority of voters of this great
Street: A Farewell Message From Stanley Fish: "Good Professors Do What They're Told"
Jun 14, 2004
Some ZNet readers have by now caught a whiff of the putrid Stanley Fish droppings that floated to the top of the New York Times editorial page last week. Fish's May 21st New York Times commentary, marvelously titled "Why We Built the Ivory Tower," is dedi
Secours: Red, White, Black & Blue
Jun 12, 2004
WEB Dubois said the greatest challenge of the 20th century will be the color line. Lately I've been reminded--repeatedly it seems--just how relevant his words remain in 2004.
Schechter: Making the Myth, Forgetting the Man
Jun 08, 2004
NEW YORK, June 7, 2004 -- In the bad old days of the Cold War, we would learn that a Russian leader died when their TV screens went dark and martial music was all that we heard. Afterwards, their channels filled with non-stop accolades and tributes to a "
Secours: Car Shopping, Horse-trading and White House Hustling
Jun 04, 2004
Seduced by the promise of spring and economic upswing, (my cat stepped on the TV remote and I inadvertently fell asleep to Fox news) I misplaced all good judgment and went car shopping. Akin to Alice who gingerly stepped into the upside down world of the
Solomon: Major “Liberal†Outlets Clog Media Diets
May 31, 2004
For many years, health-conscious Americans avidly consumed margarine as a wholesome substitute for artery-clogging butter. Only later did research shed light on grim effects of the partially hydrogenated oil in margarine, with results such as higher incidences of heart disease.
Solomon: Major ÒLiberalÓ Outlets Clog Media Diets
May 31, 2004
For many years, health-conscious Americans avidly consumed margarine as a wholesome substitute for artery-clogging butter. Only later did research shed light on grim effects of the partially hydrogenated oil in margarine, with results such as higher incid
Shiva: Building Water Democracy : People's victory against Coca-Cola in Plachimada
May 13, 2004
Two years ago, adivasi women in a small hamlet, Plachimada, in Palghat, Kerala started a movement against Coca-Cola. Today, the Coca-Cola plant in Plachimada has been shut down. The victory of the Plachimada movement is major step in reversing corporate h
Solomon: The Media Politics of 9/11
May 01, 2004
For 30 months, 9/11 was a huge political blessing for George W. Bush. This week, the media halo fell off.
Shiva: Wheat Biopiracy
Apr 24, 2004
WILL "GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD" BECOME A PRAYER TO MONSANTO?
Shah: The Tiniest Trash Bin
Apr 11, 2004
As I approach the tiny, blue bucket of wizened, cracked plastic propped near the sink, various molded plastic and rubber items in hand, the servants washing up start to snicker. I falter, standing there in a crumbling tenement apartment in Mumbai, India.
Sep 10, 2004
I just saw a horror movie -- ÒBushÕs BrainÓ -- the new documentary based on a book with the same name by journalists James Moore and Wayne Slater. The bookÕs subtitle is ÒHow Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential.Ó IÕll spare you the grim details. Wh