Showing all posts in June 2019

Telesur, a Venezuelan government media initiative undertaken in association with Argentina, Cuba and Uruguay, is about to launch, a truly pan-Latin American station. America, of course, is concerned about “anti-American” propaganda. The aim is to provide a counterweight to the CNN style programming all too prevalent in the region.

The US military will be introducing a “Star Wars” style gun in Iraq next year, despite concerns over its effectiveness and safety. MSNBC reports: “The Active Denial System weapon, classified as “less lethal” by the Pentagon, fires a 95-gigahertz microwave beam at rioters to cause heating and intolerable pain in less than five seconds. The…

“The Oriental doesn’t put the same high price on life as does a Westerner. Life is plentiful. Life is cheap in the Orient.” Guess who made this comment? The contemporary relevance is startling.

A manga version of Anne Frank? Tokyo Times reports. UPDATE: “Call-girl services in Tokyo are starting to replace their wholesome, fleshy, real-live hookers with ‘love dolls,’ i.e. the modern, high-tech sex mannequins like RealDolls.”

Two films that screened at this month’s Jerusalem Film Festival tackled the price of Zionism and concluded that the ideology was the prime reason behind the dispossession of another people, the Palestinians. Why is it that a handful of voices can make such statements in Israel and yet arguing similarly in the Diaspora causes faux…

While our mainstream media continues its delusions about the “War on Terror” – including feting Prime Minister John Howard for doing and saying absolutely of note in Washington and London this week – John Pilger writes in this week’s New Statesman of Western culpability, “liberal” media blindness and the twisting of the terrorism debate: “How…

Indians are obsessed with skin colour, according to blogger Vislumbers. A fascinating insight into Indian ideas of beauty, fashion and avoiding the sun.

The Independent doesn’t know if it loves Australia or finds us irritable. Either way, pretty predictable and uninspiring choices. We’ve moved past the “having a shrimp on the barbie” days. Really.

Ricky Gervais, aka David Brent, aka the genius behind The Office, returns today on BBC2 with Extras. Check out a preview here. I’ve asked my English cousin to tape the series, as who knows how long it will take the ABC to realise they should be buying BBC productions other than costume dramas. Gervais also…

One of the greatest film directors of our time, David Lynch – creator of Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Eraserhead and Mulholland Drive – wants to raise US$7 billion to bring world peace through transcendental meditation programs. He intends to educate children in the ways of meditation. “I am starting this foundation [The David Lynch Foundation…