Z Nightly Commentaries
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Recent Z Nightly Commentaries
Bonpane: A Pilgrimage in Chiapas with Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia
Jul 19, 1999
In the wake of the Pope's visit to Mexico the press has been full of announcements about the death of liberation theology. Our recent experience in Chiapas indicated that such announcements are premature and marked by misinformation.
Solomon: Journalists Inspire Support for Community Radio / Pacifica Continues
Jul 18, 1999
Last Wednesday afternoon, radio journalist Aileen Alfandary stood on the sidewalk in front of the building where she has worked for many years. She looked out of place. The deadline for the KPFA evening news was fast approaching -- but all the doors were
Shiva: Monsanto's Expanding Monopolies From Seed to Water
Jul 17, 1999
Over the past few years, Monsanto, a chemical company, has positioned itself as an agricultural company through control over seed the first link in the food chain. Monsanto now wants to control water, the very basis of life.
Zinn: Inspire Please
Jul 16, 1999
The order came from above (I will not reveal the name, unless tortured) ): "Write something inspirational." The exact words were: "Inspire, please."
Solomon: The Public is Secondary
Jul 15, 1999
Across the country, PBS stations are in denial. And if we think the programming they provide is worthy of the name "public television," then maybe we're in denial, too.
Raptis: The Dictionary
Jul 14, 1999
Last year (1998) George Babiniotis, professor of linguistics at the University of Athens, compiled "The Dictionary of the Modern Greek Language." The dictionary was a much needed work, given the fact that all Greek dictionaries up to that time were rather
Peters: Children: Their Deficiencies,
Jul 13, 1999
We are at my 7-year old daughter's annual check-up. After a peering in her ears and mouth, palpating her glands, and listening to her heart, the Doctor points at Zoe's crotch and asks abruptly, "Does anyone ever touch you here?" Zoe is taken aback. She lo
Schechter: Our Profile and Theirs
Jul 11, 1999
When Dr. W.E.B DuBois predicted the question of color would become the problem of the twentieth century, he was writing before the advent of television, the proliferation of the mass media, and the many uses (and abuses) of the idea of racial profiling.
Landau: Indictments of Kissenger and Bush
Jul 10, 1999
The US government has released the first batch of documents relating to the violence unleashed between 1973-1990 by General Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship in Chile. Reading some of the memos, cables and intelligence reports, I was shocked -- the shock of
Weisbrot: Fed Preemptive Strike
Jul 09, 1999
The Fed launched a "pre-emptive strike" this week against an unseen enemy -- inflation -- by raising interest rates one-quarter percentage point. With inflation at its lowest level in 30 years (2.1%), why would the Fed want to start down a path that could
Carter: Buena Vista Social Club
Jul 08, 1999
Because nearly all music heard in the United States is driven by dreams of fame and fortune, the sounds of the Cuban ensemble known as the Buena Vista Social Club are immediately startling. The melodies, rhythms, and songs of the group pull you in with a
Author: The Saga of the Missing Footnote
Jul 06, 1999
On June 3, the Serb Parliament voted 136-73 to ratify the terms of a cease-fire with NATO. The document had been hand-delivered to Slobodan Milosevic the previous day by the Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari and the Russian Special Representative to Yugo
Herman: The Importance of a Left Media
Jul 05, 1999
A jarring moment in the Philadelphia area propaganda outpouring in support of the bombing of Yugoslavia was a passionately prowar Op Ed column in the Philadelphia Inquirer by long-time local antiwar activist Mark Sacharoff ("NATO did what it had to do," A
Wise: Whiteness and the Recollection of History
Jul 03, 1999
For the writer, there's nothing so frustrating as to sit in front of a keyboard and find oneself at a loss for words. To know there are a million things which need saying, and yet, you can't think of even one. Having experienced this often, I've devised a
Solomon: Big Name Candidates Bow To Media Power
Jul 02, 1999
Every modern presidential contest generates a lot of discussion about how the nation's most prominent journalists cover major candidates. But there's not much analysis of how candidates get along with the media conglomerates that employ those journalists.
Lusane: Defending the New Klan
Jul 02, 1999
It is perhaps a sign of millennium madness that the century will end with the bizzare phenomena of an African American lawyer defending in court the right of a member of the Ku Klux Klan - whose name ironically is Black - to burn crosses. However, it seem
Bronski: The Crime That Dare Not Speak Its Name
Jul 01, 1999
The ferocity of the New York City police assault against Haitian immigrant Abner Louima in the summer of 1977 was so striking that, even in the current context of urban police brutality, it became emblematic of the sustained, sanctioned violence of contem
Hightower: The Money Primary
Jun 30, 1999
What-you say the election's not until next year? Yeah, well, technically that's true. The caucuses and primaries don't begin until February of 2000, but there are about 70,000 Americans who get an extra special vote, casting their ballots this year, way b
Landau: Kosovo Lesson
Jun 29, 1999
What lessons have emerged from NATO'S self-proclaimed victory in Kosovo? Bombing supporters chanted "stop ethnic cleansing." Indeed, ethnic cleansing demanded a strong response. But those who shunned the flawed law and the UN backed a campaign to pulveriz
Jul 21, 1999
For reasons I don't totally understand, I was somewhat late in getting on line. About five years ago the small organization I coordinated - the Cuba Information Project - went on line, but usually the other staff person handled the email communications.