Continuing our coverage of the global reaction to the death of George Carlin, WORLDMEETS.US has posted a poignant tribute from Britain’s Independent that touches on the unique dilemma confronting ‘responsible news organizations’ covering his Carlin’s passing:

“George Carlin, the standup comedian who made legal history by uttering seven rude words, died on Sunday at the age of 71. His passing presents every responsible news organisation with a dilemma – do we, or do we not, print those seven words? … He used them all in a thoughtful comedy routine about language that he performed in Milwaukee in 1972. “There are no bad words. Bad thoughts. Bad intentions,” he said. Yet, out of 400,000 words in the English language, there are seven: “That will infect your soul, curve your spine and keep the country from winning the war …”

Also from the Independent, Terence Blacker writes:

“Three decades on, those anxious to protect us all from filthy talk in the media are as busy as ever, but most of us are more relaxed about language. The words listed by Carlin, too predictable to list here, can be heard ad nauseam by those sad enough still to be tuning in to Big Brother.

Yet no one could seriously claim that our culture has become less censorious. Beyond the rude words, which now cause the merest frisson of surprise, there are areas which, by a more subtle process than legislation, have, over time, become out of bounds. In an age when taking offense has become a cultural pastime, a process of gentle, fuzzy self-censorship has become established. It is no longer swear words that have the power to offend, but inappropriate thoughts.”

READ ON AT WORLDMEETS.US, along with a number of other tributes from around the world to one of the greatest comedians our nation has ever produced.

In another shocking loss to the American media firmament, George Carlin’s death, in its own way, is just as disconcerting as the recent death of Tim Russert. Carlin was another champion of the common man who spoke without fear or favor to those who hold political power. Read the rest of this entry »

Does Beijing prefer John McCain to Barack Obama? It’s unusual for Chinese rulers to show their hand in such a manner, but judging by this op-ed article written by Ding Gang, the senior desk editor of China’s strictly-controlled People’s Daily, one must conclude that Beijing is not at all enamored by Obama or his candidacy.

Charging that the secret of Obama’s success is his capacity to ‘out-White’ all the other presidential candidates, Ding Gang writes: Read the rest of this entry »

The NYTimes picks up where we left off Friday:

…the news association convened a meeting of its executives at which it decided to suspend its efforts to challenge blogs until it creates a more thoughtful standard.

“We don’t want to cast a pall over the blogosphere by being heavy-handed, so we have to figure out a better and more positive way to do this,” Mr. Kennedy said.

Mr. Kennedy said the company was going to meet with representatives of the Media Bloggers Association, a trade group, and others. He said he hopes that these discussions can all occur this week so that guidelines can be released soon.

Jeff Jarvis is still saying that the AP is doing nothing but digging itself a hole to crawl into, and arguing boycott. (Isn’t that rather old media, Jeff?)

But James Joyner see the scourge of scraper blogs as a very real problem and is ready to work together to find a way to an answer:

I happened to discuss this a bit with Media Bloggers Association (MBA) president Bob Cox over the weekend during a phone call on an unrelated matter. As he points out, bloggers like myself are frustrated over the scourge of scraper blogs which republish our content automatically in order to generate revenue. Those sites often wind up higher ranked in the search engines than the original content and thus cheat us out of ad impressions and thus income. […]

I, for one, would like to see some consensus build up on what constitutes “fair use” in the Internet age. My preference would be that they be established by organizations like the MBA (of which I’m a board member) working in cooperation with major media outlets such as the AP rather than via the courts, regulatory agencies, or Congress. Jeff Jarvis is right that it’s almost impossible to create a one-size-fits-all definition based on number of words or percentage of the total work excerpted. But, surely, the original creators of content are entitled to some rights to ensure they are paid for it. That’s not only fair but in the long term interests of bloggers and blog readers.

Here’s CNet’s take; here’s Cernig; for some background on Fair Use, the best resource I’ve ever found is here.

And, hey, we could all use a little (educational) comic relief right about now. So check out this brilliant little video mashup, A Fair(y) Use Tale (NOT a Disney movie), by Bucknell prof Eric Faden. More about it here.

UPDATE: AP’s Jim Kennedy emails:

The Associated Press encourages the engagement of bloggers — large and small — in the news conversation of the day… Bloggers are an indispensable part of the new ecosystem, but… There are many ways to inspire conversation about the news without misappropriating the content of original creators, whether they are the AP or fellow bloggers.

Full text here. Headline corrected for clarity (added “Retort”). Original post begins here…

Worth watching… CLOSELY!…  Rogers Cadenhead:

I’m currently engaged in a legal disagreement with the Associated Press, which claims that Drudge Retort users linking to its stories are violating its copyright and committing “‘hot news’ misappropriation under New York state law.” An AP attorney filed six Digital Millenium Copyright Act takedown requests this week demanding the removal of blog entries and another for a user comment.

The Retort is a community site comparable in function to Digg, Reddit and Mixx. The 8,500 users of the site contribute blog entries of their own authorship and links to interesting news articles on the web, which appear immediately on the site. None of the six entries challenged by AP, which include two that I posted myself, contains the full text of an AP story or anything close to it. They reproduce short excerpts of the articles — ranging in length from 33 to 79 words — and five of the six have a user-created headline. […]

AP has filed copyright lawsuits against the VeriSign division Moreover last fall and another against the Florida company All Headline News this year.

I have no desire to be the third member of that club, but sharing links to news stories of interest has become an essential component of how millions of people read and evaluate the news today. When linking to articles, bloggers commonly include excerpts of the article for the purposes of criticism or discussion. Read the rest of this entry »

Overwhelmingly criticized in the Arab world during his most recent and final trip to the Middle East as U.S. leader, President Bush does appear to have at least some supporters in the Gulf Arab states.

According to Dr. Ahmad Al Baghdadi who writes for Al Ittihad of the United Arab Emirates, President Bush may have put off Arab leaders with his talk of democracy and freedom, but his words were spot on. Al Baghdadi writes:

“During the U.S. president’s speech, when he discussed how much injustice exists in the Arab world due to unopposed heads of state and the large number of imprisoned opposition figures, the Egyptian president walked out of the hall. … Read the rest of this entry »

Just so you can see a fuller picture.
(hat tip to Roland S. Martin www.rolandsmartin.com CNN Contributor)

Obama resignation letter from Trinity
May 30, 2008
Dear. Rev. Moss:
We are writing to make official our decision to end our memebership at Trinity.

We make this decision with sadness. Trinity was where I found Christ, where we were married and where our children were baptized. We have many friends among the 8,000 congregants who attend there and we are proud of the extraordinary good works the church continues to perform throughout the community to help the hungry, the homeless and people in need of medical care.

We also have come to appreciate your ministry and both think you have been, and will be, a wonderful pastor for years to come.
But as you know, our relations with Trinity have been strained by the divisive statements of Rev. Wright, which sharply conflict with our own views.

Our larger concern is that because of my candidacy and membership at Trinity, these controversies have served as an unfortunate distraction for other Trinity members who seek to worship in peace, and have placed you in an untenable position as you establish your own ministry under very difficult circumstances.

Our faith remains strong and we will find another church home for our family. But we also know that faith and prayer are not merely exercises to be discharged for two hours on Sunday. They are and always will be a bulwark for us in our daily lives.

We are grateful for our years as part of the Trinity community, and wish you all the best as you lead the congregation into the future. You, your family and the entire Trinity family will be in thoughts and prayers.
Sincerely
Michelle Obama
Barack Obama

Statement from Trinity on Obama Leaving the Church
“Trinity United Church of Christ was infomed that Sen. Barack Obama and his family will no longer be members of our church.

Though we are saddened by the news, we understand that it is a personal decision.
Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATE: Juan Williams reports to Fox News that many black people surrounding him having angry reactions to Obama resigning from Trinity.

UPDATE: Senator Obama has made his statement tonight saying he has resigned from Trinity. The Clinton campaign has refused comment. Likely, after today’s delegates meeting, not to torpedo any chance she may have to be veep. Pundits are spinning Obama as a radical allied with radical elements in our culture. Others are saying he is distancing himself at this late date, hoping media will not scrutinize his past associations. Some are saying Obama’s securing financial grants for Father Pfleger ought be investigated.

Also, until I can put hands on a transcript in full, I’ll not comment on content. But Fox news is hammering on a single phrase that Obama said in answer to a reporter’s leading question, “I’m not denouncing Trinity chuch… it’s not worth denouncing.” As soon as I can verify, I’ll post the actual here.

[Third Update]: what I found as a direct quote from Obama is this this: (see what appears to be his full formal statement here…by Tom Raum in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

“I’m not denouncing the church and I’m not interested in people who want me to denounce the church,” he said, adding that the new pastor at Trinity and “the church have been suffering from the attention my campaign has focused on them.”

If Obama said more in answer to a reporter’s question, I have not found that yet.

My two cents worth at this point is Obama has to decide whether to focus on endlessly explaining Trinity Church and his reasons for leaving in the coming days, and stop trying to teach anyone about the many variations to be found in African America churches and what the different groups focus on…

or to focus himself on his considerable vision of resilience and belief in and for others. Speaking about his plans for foreign relations and the specifics of withdrawal from the dual-wars, and what he plans to do to support small banks with an overage of bad loans… would be a plus.

Read the rest of this entry »

Joining the list of Beijing’s most reviled Americans alongside such luminaries as Jack Cafferty, Nancy Pelosi and Mia Farrow, is Sharon Stone.

In calling the recent earthquake in China ‘bad Karma’ due to Beijing’s treatment of its Tibetan minority, has Stone gone over the line? According to China’s rigidly-controlled state press:

“She may enjoy first class facilities; but her remarks show that she has third-class mentality … The first signal from the Chinese government, which is to stop screening all of Sharon Stone’s films, is a step in the right direction. Plans should also be made to boycott all products tied to Stone. By her own doing - this is what ‘karma’ is all about.”

People’s Republic of China - Xinhua - Original Article (English)

May 29, 2008

BEIJING: U.S. actress Sharon Stone has created a storm of criticism and condemnation in China, after suggesting that the devastating earthquake on May 12 that killed over 68,000 people was “bad karma” because of China’s Tibet policy.

Stone, 50, made the remarks at the Cannes Film Festival last week, leading to pledges by many cinemas on the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong not to show her films again, and reportedly motivating a cosmetics chain [Christian Dior] to remove advertisements with her image.

Among all the Chinese people, such disgusting remarks spark great rage. Also shocked is Sam Teng, a netizen of CCTV.com from Malaysia, who writes that Sharon Stone has a heart as cold as stone:

“I was utterly shocked and furious to hear Sharon Stone’s disgusting remarks that the earthquake in Sichuan is “karma.” At a moment when millions of people are displaced, 60,000 killed and another 20,000 missing, Chinese people around the world - including many foreign sympathizers - are greatly saddened. The survivors continue to struggle to find safer dwellings in the face of the expected rains and the risk of flooding. As such, I find Sharon Stone’s remark insensitive and inhumane. Where’s your sympathy?

READ ON AT WORLDMEETS.US, along with continuing foreign press coverage of how the world percieves our nation.

I found this aggregator a fascinating resource. Not sure how useful it will ultimately prove to be, but it’s worth checking out, if you haven’t already.

I especially enjoyed the answers to one of the week’s hottest questions: Should the Fla. and Mich. delegates be seated at the Dems national convention? The “No’s” are currently leading nearly 2-to-1.

Their licenses to steal are paying off better each year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which reports Cable TV fees rising 77 percent since 1996, roughly double the rate of inflation.

For most American TV viewers, unless they buy iffy satellite dishes, hooking up to the local Cable provider is the only game in town. No matter where they live, their community gets paid to give one seller an exclusive franchise to pump information and entertainment into homes and pump out more money each year.

Imagine the US postal system not only being paid by citizens to deliver their mail but by magazines, newspapers and catalogue publishers to decide which of them to allow into the mailboxes.

Read the rest of this entry.

In terms of observing the global media, North Korea takes the prize for coming the closest to permitting the reader to engage in time travel.

Apparently, that notorious despot Kim Jong-il is finding it necessary to again inoculate his people against the impinging imperialist world outside.

As his nation once again starves, what is Kim now telling his people to persuade them not to veer toward the hellfire of capitalism? This op-ed article from the Kim clan’s family newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, tells North Koreans not to be fooled by the “aggressive ‘liberty and democracy’ of the imperialists.”

The article warns, “A failure to maintain vigilance against the ‘liberty’ and ‘democracy’ promoted by the imperialists may result in grave and irrevocable consequences.”

The newspaper then cautions its presumably patriotic audience to be careful about ‘freedom of thought’: “Now keep in mind, the imperialists regard ‘freedom of thought’ as an important method of destabilizing and causing degeneration in socialist countries … This is how they spread bourgeois ideas and culture.

And why are we - the Western imperialists - doing all this - and what should be done?

“This they do in an effort to realize their ambition for global domination the easy way. This is why revolutionary peoples must intensify ideological education. The ideological and cultural poisoning of the imperialists must be prevented, and the socialist cause defended.”

Read the rest of this entry »

THE PRICE OF FREEDOM is an award-winning film to be shown on PBS over the Memorial Day week.

It tells the story of seven WWII veterans who fought together and were captured together; their “bonds go far beyond surviving combat. The men have joined forces 50 years after the war to conquer a final foe.”

“Despite the brutal ordeals of being a prisoner, many POWs saw their capture as a personal failure, and carried their silent burden for decades.”

Now for the first time, seven of these men who lived it, tell their unique stories and reveal how they have come together to restore their senses of manhood, of selfhood

PBS goes on to say:

Intelligent and heartfelt, this is an emotional and inspiring …[film] sure to resonate with viewers across America, especially soldiers and veterans of all conflicts. Especially now.

What some have well-meaningly named “The Greatest Generation,” could also, in a far clearer reality… have been righteously called “The Silenced Generation.” This includes the soldiers and nursing corps and families and civilians who suffered so deeply in war…

‘Observers’ with few observation skills or little experience with the night thoughts and terrors of veterans, have said in the long ago past, that those who have been to war were ‘brave’ for not speaking about their ordeals afterward. There was little timely intervention for people traumatized by war. And, if there was therapy, it was kept nearly secret from most everyone, further isolating the person ’til they could be ‘rehabilitated’ back into society again.

“Rehabilitated,” as one of my patients who is a veteran and former POW said, “rehabilitated, that’s what the enemy wanted us to be too.”

Something about ’stiff upper lip’ once back home, being some kind of badge of manhood/ honor. Silence often touted as a superior behavior by those very ones who were not POWs, those who have rarely or never been in hand to hand combat, never tried to operate in a field of blood, never tried but failed to save a life, no matter their rank, or lack of it.

One of my dear friends, John, an ace WWII pilot, now white-haired and one of the last of the truly gallant men on earth, says, “We never suffered in flying, no matter how or what we engaged, like the boys did on the ground. We were the lucky ones.”

Back then, observers and self-appointed behavior-setters, were not skilled and were not paying attention to how the psyche, if sealed off from leaching expressions of trauma will, like a radial tire, develop a bubble in the sidewall and blow out in a different way. Alcohol, anger fits, drugs, isolation, inability to bear social interaction, controlling others, instability, violence, abuse, uncommunicativeness, and other addictions gradually build up to ease the pressure from deep trauma.

Those who say it is somehow superior not to speak of grave matters as they affect the human soul and psyche, are wrong in most cases. What is brave is to speak of what one did/ saw/ thought/ felt… as each person chooses, and without fear of being exiled for being somehow less a person. How could a solider, nurse, family member, civilian who was in the midst of blood witness and war, ever be thought ‘less’?

Perhaps for those who remain silent because they have no demons riding nightly through their skulls, that is the right way for them. But that should never be confused with those who have remained silent and done their damnedest all these years, remaining silent, because they felt that if they spoke even a few sentences about these matters, it might throw them to their knees weeping to the sky.

It is brave to say out loud what a culture ought hear when done with war… all of it—rather than enjoining the most superficial aspects of culture which are giddy to wash their hands of it all, wanting only to feast now and be happy and return to ‘your regular programmed episodes,’… leaving out of their ‘happiness equation’ the depth quotient of those who went away to war mostly whole, but came back not weak, but also no longer all of a piece… or peace.

If the culture can stand to go to war, it has to be able to stand to stay near to hear the stories of war afterward, the real ones that live on in people’s very cells, the ones that would make most of us want to fall to our knees and weep to the sky.

It makes no sense to allow those who suffered for us once, to suffer for us twice, and ad infinitum…because we let them suffer in silence, alone.

THE PRICE OF FREEDOM, seven POWs break their silence and tell their stories: showing May 26, Monday KBDI TV in the Rocky Mountain market. Check your local listings

With the Olympic Games just a few months away, what will Beijing do with all of those pesky Western journalists running around the country flouting the regime’s restrictions on a free press?

If this article from China’s Global Geographic Times is anything to go by, the 2008 Olympic Games are likely to result in the mass jailing and expulsion of a majority of Western-trained journalists there.

Decrying the tactics of Western journalists, Qiao Xinsheng writes:

“Western journalists turn press conferences into battlefields - an ideological contest. Some Chinese-conducted meetings have been seen by a minority of Western journalists as places to stage political performances. They take every opportunity to pose questions that express their own political views and never miss a chance to spread their own prejudices, even going so far as to call the Chinese people’s love for their country ‘nationalism,’ and charging that the spontaneous patriotic displays of Chinese young people are controlled behind the scenes by the Chinese government. In some cases, Western media outlets have used news topics as “traps” that are virtually impossible for our officials to guard against.”

Qiao then discusses the issue of why Western journalists behave this way:

“The reason that they dare spread such nonsense about Chinese issues is that they don’t have to pay a price for it. … Therefore, the best way of putting a stop to the impunity of Western journalists in regard to Chinese issues is to force them to bear legal and social responsibility for their actions. ”

So what should be done to ‘force’ misbehaving Western journalists to bear responsibility? Qiao writes:

“Within the international community today, vilifying China is in vogue and fabricating lies about China has become the common practice of certain Western media outlets. We must change our strategy and adopt a more proactive attitude and put into effect legal measures to defend China’s national and societal interests and protect the fundamental rights of the people. … if a few Western journalists knowingly violate the law, incite the breakup of China, encourage the actions of terrorist elements, maliciously invent news stories or spread gossip to confuse the public, they should receive the most sever punishment allowed by law.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Did CNN host Jack Cafferty overstep his bounds as a TV commentator when he called Chinese-made products “junk” and referred to China’s un-elected rulers as “goons and things?’ As this report from China’s tightly-controlled Xinhua news service makes clear, Beijing’s rulers decreed that he had, and have ultimately brought CNN - that supposed bastion of the modern Western media - to heel …

May 15, 2008

People’s Republic of China- Xinhua - Original Article (English)

CNN President Jim Walton has apologized for insulting remarks made by CNN commentator Jack Cafferty on China, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said here on Thursday.

“On behalf of CNN I’d like to apologize to the Chinese people for that,” said Walton in a letter to the Chinese ambassador to the United States, Zhou Wenzhong, according to Qin.

Walton also said, “CNN has the highest respect for Chinese people around the world and we have no doubt that there was genuine offense felt by them over the Jack Cafferty commentary.”

In early April, Cafferty said during a live broadcast that Chinese products were “junk” and that the Chinese were “basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they’ve been for the last 50 years.”

As a result of complaints from China, CNN in April issued a statement saying “it was not Mr. Cafferty’s nor CNN’s intent to cause offense to the Chinese people, and CNN would apologize to anyone who has interpreted the comments in this way.”

READ ON AT WORLDMEETS.US, along with continuing translated foreign press coverage of Beijing’s campaign against the Western media.

Ande @ Toweroad has the good news:

United States District Court Richard Smoak ruled in favor of high school student Heather Gillman yesterday in a suit she and the ACLU brought against her school’s principal and the Holmes County School Board. Gillman claimed that her First Amendment rights were violated when the school forbid her from wearing clothing or displaying stickers supporting tolerance and fair treatment of LGBT people.

Via the ACLU: “During the trial, which was held in Panama City yesterday and today, Ponce de Leon High School’s principal David Davis admitted under oath that he had banned students from wearing any clothing or symbols supporting equal rights for gay people. Davis also testified that he believed rainbows were “sexually suggestive” and would make students unable to study because they’d be picturing gay sex acts in their mind. The principal went on to admit that while censoring rainbows and gay pride messages he allowed students to wear other symbols many find controversial, such as the Confederate flag.”

Said Gillman, who is not gay: “Standing up to my school was really hard to do, but I’m so happy that I did because the First Amendment is a big deal to everyone.”

Clickthrough for additional links and video.

Some reports coming out of North Korea indicate that people are beginning to openly question the regime’s explanation of why once again, starvation looms.

This article from The Daily North Korea, a publication headquartered in Seoul dedicated to reporting on the regime and getting word into the Hermit Kingdom about the outside world, reports:

“It appears that North Koreans are expressing increasing doubt about government claims that South Korea and the United States are responsible for the latest food crisis.”

According to one source, located in the North Korean Province of Ryanggang reported on a party meeting held recently in the city of Hyesan:

“During the conference, a speaker is said to have explained the state of international and domestic affairs by saying, ‘the U.S. and the puppet regime (the Lee Administration in South Korea) have overridden peaceful agreements between North and South (referring to the June 15th Joint Declaration and the October 4th Agreement) in order to create a serious food crisis in our Republic.’ … there was an awkward atmosphere in the hall after the chairperson of a People’s Unit from Hyehwa-dong in the city of Hyesan asked forthrightly, “We understand that the Americans and Lee’s puppet faction aren’t helping us with rice, but why won’t China help us, since it’s our closest ally?” The speaker’s face turned pale at the question and a silent tension filled the hall.”

By Lee Sung Jin

May 8, 2008

South Korea - Daily North Korea - Original Article (English)

Yanji, China: It appears that North Koreans are expressing increasing doubt about government claims that South Korea and the United States are responsible for the latest food crisis.

In a telephone interview on May 1st, a source from Ryanggang Province told The DailyNK, “At a conference of the Union of Democratic Women, called to commemorate the founding of the Korean People’s Army on April 25th, one speaker humiliated herself by blaming [South Korean] President Lee” for the crisis.

One of a series of meetings now being held across the country to extol the military, this meeting was held at the conference hall of the General Federation of Korean Trade Unions in Ryanggang Province.

The source reported that, “A lecture was given, entitled ‘Our revolutionary weapons are an invincible force for building a strong military-first country.’ During the lecture, he said that the politics of putting the military first were, “praised even more highly than the People’s Army itself.”

During the conference, a speaker is said to have explained the state of international and domestic affairs by saying, “the U.S. and the puppet regime (the Lee Administration in South Korea) have overridden peaceful agreements between North and South (referring to the June 15th Joint Declaration and the October 4th Agreement) in order to create a serious food crisis in our Republic.”

Then our source reports that there was an awkward atmosphere in the hall after the chairperson of a People’s Unit from Hyehwa-dong in the city of Hyesan asked forthrightly, “We understand that the Americans and Lee’s puppet faction aren’t helping us with rice, but why won’t China help us, since it’s our closest ally?” The speaker’s face turned pale at the question and a silent tension filled the hall.

READ ON AT WORLDMEETS.US, along with continuing foreign press coverage surrounding American involvement with North Korea.

Inside Higher Ed, reporting from the front lines of the culture war:

A federal judge has ruled that the Georgia Institute of Technology had materials in its office to support gay students that amounted to unconstitutional support for some religious groups over others. […]

The ruling came in a case involving a range of issues over speech codes and support for religious groups at Georgia Tech — issues that mirror those being raised at other public colleges and many of which were resolved in earlier rulings or agreements between the parties in the case. The new part of the ruling, however, focused on a set of materials used in the “Safe Space” program at Georgia Tech, a part of the institute’s diversity office designed to support gay and lesbian students.

The case was filed on behalf of two Georgia Tech students, assisted by the Alliance Defense Fund, a legal group that has sued many public colleges accusing them of violating the rights of religious students. The portion of the suit about Safe Space argued that materials at the public university were effectively religious in that they endorsed some faiths over others — and that these materials were as a result unconstitutional. Judge J. Owen Forrester agreed.

The materials in question dealt with issues that may be faced by religious gay students, or by gay students challenged about the sexuality by people from different faiths. One passage cited in the ruling says that “historically, Biblical passages taken out of context have been used to justify such things as slavery, the inferior status of women, and the persecution of religious minorities.” Such attitudes have led some religious groups to declare “that homosexuality is immoral,” the group’s materials state, while others “have begun to look at sexual relationships in terms of the love, mutual support, commitments and the responsibility of the partners rather than the sex of the individuals involved.”

Read the rest of this entry »

After six years at Guantanamo Bay prison, the only journalist yet to be incarcerated there, Sami Al-Hadj, was released last week. The case of Mr. Al-Hadj, who was a cameraman for Al-Jazeera, has sparked renewed outrage around the world.

It’s not easy reading for an American, but a good sampling of the emotion in the Arab world over the case can be found in this article from Algeria’s French-language Le Quotidien d’Oran.

K. Selim writes for Le Quotidien d’Oran in part:

“The United States is indeed a democracy: Within its own borders, the rule of law is enshrined. But beyond its walls, only the law of the jungle prevails. Read the rest of this entry »

One must hand it to the Beijing authorities. It takes tremendous gall for a regime that outlaws press freedom or open criticism of any kind, to liken the failure of Western reporters to parrot the Communist Party line to a lapse of journalistic ethics.

According to Shen Xinggeng, senior Desk Editor at the strictly state-controlled People’s Daily:

“If news reporters don’t respect basic facts, how can they talk so glibly about ‘objectivity and fairness’? Read the rest of this entry »