Sunday, February 19, 2006



Today Bronte was buzzing with the sound of happy and sad reunions ... a group of friends gathered to pay respect to million pieces of memories created by Kate. I will never look at large earings in the same way ...

OpinionJournal announces the launch of the OpinionJournal Federation of top political Web sites and blogs. Sometimes in journalism, the medium is the story. So it is with the ongoing saga of The Blogs vs. The Mainstream Media. With Web 2.0, the second generation of the Internet has arrived. It's worse than you think. America's free press has been threatened with violence before. The Ghost of Horace Greely

The Blog, The Press, The Media: A noble lie —Ishtiaq Ahmed
Plato wanted the ruler, the philosopher-king, to tell his citizens in Athens that God had ordained a perfect social hierarchy consisting of rulers, auxiliaries (warriors) and farmers. Of course Plato, like other Greek thinkers, did not consider the slaves, who were always a large segment of the population, as human beings. They were living instruments as his rebellious pupil, Aristotle, defined them.

The idea of a noble lie descends from the founder of political theory, Plato (427BC-347BC). He spent a lifetime trying to prove that truth is better than untruth, but deviated from this principle when dealing with the best interests of the state. He argued that it was permissible to tell a lie if it made the state strong and stable


Political power vested in the philosopher-king [Winter Olympic Games The day before the BIG day - Opening Ceremony ; Journalism is the discipline of collecting, verifying, analysing and presenting stories and images in a fair and neutral manner Abusing freedom of expression]
• · When deciding whether to broadcast offensive material, the BBC must weigh up giving a platform to extremism against the journalistic duty to inform Regulation, responsibility, and the case against censorship; Extremists are not interested in distinguishing between artistic merit and gratuitous provocation: they want total silence Schmucks and miniskirts
• · · One thing publishers and editors have to ask themselves when faced with the prospect of publishing something highly contentious or inflammatory is: what good will it do? Pictures, provocation, and free expression ; Say what you think. The importance of giving offence We live in societies, so the argument runs, that are more diverse than ever before
• · · · Jacob Weisberg on Dick Cheney's assault on the public's right to know Smoking Gun ; Filled with headless nudes, upside-down legs and vast, inflated breasts, Vanity Fair's Hollywood issue is a giant package of artificial cheese. Topless bodies found in brainless magazine
• · · · · US plans massive data sweep: Little-known data-collection system could troll news, blogs, even e-mails. ADVISE ; Gregory Rodriguez on why there's no such thing as free speech (but is it a good thing, too?). Mark Twain once wryly observed that Americans had the great good fortune to enjoy the freedom of speech——and the good sense never to use it. No Such Thing as Free Speech ; But who says freedom of speech isn’t a little negotiable?
• · · · · · Husband, father, and blogger, Michael Bérubé hardly looks like a menace to society. But is he? Dangerous Minds ; A couple of days ago Chris Pirillo lamented that in the blogosphere scoops no longer matter Scoble lamented the devious power of blog networks ; Do Scoops Matter? Does Attribution?