FRIDAY QUICKIES

Dick Jones’ Patteran Pages introduced me to the remarkable work of writer, film-maker and award-winning British investigative journalist John Pilger. I recently picked up his prescient book The New Rulers of the World, written shortly before the US decided to invade Iraq.

The book consists of four very substantial essays and an introduction that pulls them all together. The introduction, a scant 14 pages, is a breathtaking and articulate summary, a perfect snapshot, of the political and economic world we find ourselves in right now.

Here’s how it begins:

You can read the entire introduction here. But buy the book. The research is impeccable and well-documented, and Pilger has an uncanny ability to bring what look like disparate and unrelated events into blinding focus, and expose the terrifying, systematic and ruthless logic behind the activities of the massively powerful business/political elite, the New Rulers of the World.

MEDIA CENSORING NEWS OF THEIR OWN UNPOPULARITY?

Last week there was a rash of news stories lamenting an across-the-board disastrous drop in viewership of television. The drop was most marked in young men, a key demographic for advertisers, and in viewership of the season’s new, mostly dirt-cheap ‘reality’ shows. There were dire warnings that if viewers didn’t return soon, huge rebates would be owed to advertisers who had been guaranteed a certain minimum number of passive consumer eyeballs. What’s interesting is that all of these ‘bad news’ stories have disappeared behind the ‘pay-per-view’ archive windows of the newspapers and network websites. All that’s left are choppy abstracts. Are the media prematurely burying stories that threaten to hurt their own advertising revenues?

CAMILLE ON WHAT BLOGGERS NEED TO DO BETTER

In her semi-annual revisit to Salon.com, Camille Paglia takes shots at Bush, Rumsfeld, Clark and some other Democratic presidential candidates, Hannity, and Madonna, and then dismisses blogs as “endless reams of bad prose” with “a lack of discipline” and “dreary meta-commentary”. I can only assume that Ms. Paglia hasn’t done much research on the subject, and has (as many others have done) judged all bloggers by a handful of unrepresentative A-listers. She says a good blog should have:

• a sense of drama and theatre, energy and vision
• a flair for language
• strong use of visuals
• conversational style, an antidote for “the inept writing of glossy magazines”
• less focus on political minutiae and “gotcha” arguments and more attention to broader cultural issues

I’d argue that the best blogs have all this, and more. Maybe Ms. Paglia should look more closely, or at least hire a better researcher. It’s too bad interviewer Kerry Lauermann didn’t show her what some of Salon’s own bloggers have been doing.

TECHNOLOGY THAT MAKES THE WORLD BETTER

The annual Tech Museum award winners have been announced. Winners are those that have developed and deployed innovative technology that improves the world: in education, equality & diversity, environmental protection, third world development or health. Read the stories: They’re modest but inspiring successes, and demonstrate that not all businesses are greedy and careless, and not all technology is bad.

WHAT HAVE WE LOST SINCE 9/11?

This multimedia flash presentation is a year old, but still relevant and moving.

CARD COUNTING FOR FUN AND PROFIT

The MIT Blackjack team’s amazing story is now a best-seller. Wired broke the story last year. Mezrich is an engaging writer, and if you’ve watched the new James Caan series Las Vegas you’ll get a kick out of Mezrich’s view from the other side of the surveillance cameras.