No this isn't a blog report. But this is a group of bloggers attempting to note stories that mattered which didn't receive the attention they should have last week. If you're feeling like you've o.d.ed on one story and want to see what you might have missed, this is the article for you. If you're someone who considers yourself fairly informed, you can turn this article into a game by seeing which stories you know about already without checking the links, then check the links and see if you're right.
We tried to avoid repetition. Ron of Why Are We Back In Iraq?, Pam of Big Brass Blog and Folding Star of A Winding Road all did their picks in a timely manner. Which left us, C.I., Rebecca and Betty to hash out what didn't get covered that hadn't already been picked. That was a two hour plus discussion. You'll note that Ohio pops up more than once but considering that C.I., Rebecca and us were all pointing out that story last Sunday, we think we had a right to
point it out more than once this go round.
Ron of Why Are We Back In Iraq?:
1) The Brad Blog:
Mystery Solved! Location of 'American Center forVoting Rights' Found! Exclusive Photographs!Brad Friedman (and his crew at the Brad Blog) prove that a voting rights group that testified at a congressional hearing is nothing but a front for the GOP like Talon News.
2) Watching The Watchers
Tas (from Loaded Mouth) continues his blogging about the genocide in Darfur, which isn't getting as much press (or blog coverage) as it should.
3) Why Are We Back In Iraq?
I blogged about Congressman John Conyers who wrote a great article in support of the constitutional rights of bloggers, continued to press on for election reform, and opened up his blog to allow commenting.
Pam Spaulding of Big Brass Blog
1) Thin skin of the Technorati Testosteroni
Are the big boys still up to the job? Do they have the mojo? It's something I talk about with my blogger pals all the time, but no one writes about it. Well, one guy did, and Atrios unleashed his faithful on the poor chap.
2) The politics of hair (again): school bans white girl with braids
I wrote this piece because you just don't have many people in the blogosphere talking about this topic. It's an extremely deep issue -- "good hair" vs. "bad hair" and what the history of these deep-seated pathologies means in today's world, where racism is so internalized that many people don't even realize their own prejudices.
3) Spike Lee, Essence Magazine speak out on the pimp/ho arm of hip hop
Women have been debased in some elements of the hip hop community as nothing more that tits and ass, and there's no shortage of women that are willing to "shake it" in front of a camera to get next to a star rapper. It's taken a while, but some well-known and respected figures, including Spike Lee and Essence Magazine have said enough is enough.
4) Mobilize
(Shakespeare's Sister): This is only tangentally about Schiavo; it's a call to arms about the increasing move of both the Democratic and Republican parties to cave on what used to be a clear separation of powers. And the people are asleep while it all happens. ShakesSis beautifully breaks it down.
Folding Star of A Winding Road:
I'd say the Wolfowitz story: Democracy Now! and A Winding Road.
2) The protests marking the second anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq war which Democracy Now! covered on Monday.
3) And I think the Kyrgyzstan issue is pretty big, too. I mean, electoral fraud is all too real a problem in this country, and here's a country that has had enough and, like in the Ukraine, isn't going to take it anymore. It should be a huge story. Democracy Now! covered this on Friday.
Common Ills community member Betty (and blogger on April 1st, watch for details on The Common Ills and Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude).
1) Georgetown students hunger strike of 9 days leading to victory after three years for a living wage for the people who work on campus.
2) I'd pick Democracy Now!'s "Red Lake Struggles to Cope with Shooting Tragedy" about a tragedy that pretty much everyone blew off, including the Bully Boy, initially. I also heard Janeane Garofalo seriously address this topic on The Majority Report.
3) I'd also pick a story at The Black Commentator by Margaret Kimberly which notes that criminal allegations against celebrities are nonstop news but criminal behavior by our government are treated by the media as shout outs.
[Note: Betty's first item has been substituted per Betty & C.I. 3-28-05]
Third Estate Sunday Review (Ty, Jess, Dona, Jim & Ava)
1) The anti-war protests were not covered by the national mainstream media.
2) FAIR's "Women's Opinions Also Missing on Television: Women of color virtually invisible on Sunday shows" has yet to garner the attention it deserves.
3) John Bolton's fallen off the radar as Rebecca's noted and his confirmation hearing is scheduled for April 7 so we'll point out Ian Williams' article from In These Times -- as did Rebecca.
4) No one's talking about "Marriage amendment re-introduced in U.S. House."
5) Not to be Tim Russert but Ohio, Ohio, Ohio.
6) The verdict in the Jeremy Hinzman case is another story that has implications that the press hasn't really focused on. There's a lot of angles to that story. There's the fact that he's appealing the verdict, that others have gone to Canada for sanctuary, that a treaty that went into effect this year may overrule any decision that a higher court could come to, and the fact that the verdict comes down as Bully Boy is entertaining the prime minister of Canada.
7) Rebecca's post on Air America and how Unfiltered, a diverse show featuring an African-American male and two women -- one of whom is a lesbian, is being cancelled and replaced with a radio program by Jerry Springer. That doesn't bode well for the network or for diversity. Air America wasn't overflowing with strong women voices (there's Laura Flanders, Randi Rhodes and Janeane Garofalo, plus the woman who does Eco-Talk which airs way too early on Sunday mornings) and it certainly didn't have enough people of color hosting shows (there's now only one co-host of color) so the decision to put on another middle-aged white male seems to go against what the network was supposed to be about. This is obviously the reason Lizz Winstead left Unfiltered and the network at the start of the month. Yet instead of explaining to listeners what was going on, they allowed false rumors about Winstead's health to be spread. This was a very embarrassing moment for Air America and couldn't come at a worse time as the documentary marking the one year anniversary begins airing on HBO.
8) Chris Anderson's NYC Indymedia story on the false coverage of "Battle at Lake Thanthar."
Major press like The New York Times just took dictation and didn't verify according to the article and no one's really talking about it. This is a story. And part of a pattern that we all know led us into the current invasion/occupation.
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude:
1) Well I'd note that lean, long cock Ari Berman of The Nation, as I like to think of him, noted the fact that an Ohio court has ruled that domestic violence can only take place between married couples which leaves out same-sex couples since they can't be legally married and it also leaves out any two people living together or in a relationship. I think that's a very scary development and one that could have national implications if we're not paying attention to it now when we can cause an uproar over the decision. Ohio doesn't seem to make the media's radar at all. Maybe if it was a decision handed down by a Florida court it would have gotten attention?
2) The link C.I. did to the Guerrilla News Network's story "Fayetteville Diary" seems like news to me, about how Operation Truth thinks they can dictate what, who and where a protest will take place. Not just for their organization but for anyone opposed to the war. I'm thinking of another link C.I. did to a story in The Nation and I'm wondering exactly how a spokesperson for Operation Truth thinks he's going to help stop the war by attacking the right to peaceably assemble. I'll also give props to Big Brain Rachel Maddow for refusing to play along with the spokesperson when he appeared on Unfiltered this week.
3) I know C.I.'s going to go with one story for sure, so I won't pick it, knowing what it's like when your own pick, hint: Ian Williams' story on Bolton, is raided. But I will note that The Washington Post came out today with a story on the secret tribunals hearings and that it was covered in The New York Times in a sort of that's-just-how-it-is-kids way. So I'll note C.I.'s comments when that Times story was noted Thursday at The Common Ills. I haven't seen it all over the place yet, possibly because we've only had one story all week, but I'm hoping it picks up traction.
4) In terms of the media, I'd note the Un-embed the Media tour that Amy Goodman and others are doing and the riveting interview Goodman and Juan Gonzalez did with Phil Donahue Thursday on Democracy Now!
5) C.I. had a link to Luke of wotisitgood4 discussing how the media really isn't addressing the SEC investigation into Richard Perle, the Dr. Phil of the neocon set. I'd agree with Luke and argue that this is a story that should be getting a lot more attention. Possibly his empty threats to sue Sy Hersh awhile back has some in the press scared of covering the issue or possibly the embedded media's been sleeping in the wet spot so long they don't feel the need to go after their guy?
6) I'll note Folding Star's post from Wednesday about how we weren't paying attention to the issue of Paul Wolfwitiz being nominated for the World Bank. By the end of the week, this was getting a little more attention but still not enough.
7) Lastly, I'll note that The Third Estate Sunday Review was correct when they voiced the fear last week that the mainstream media wouldn't cover the protests. You saw them covered in the indy media world and on Democracy Now! but not a lot of other places. So I'll note the interview with eighty-one people and add that I'm really proud to have been a part of that and not someone who just shrugged their shoulders and decided to cover other things.
C.I. of The Common Ills
1) Absolutely Ohio. In addition to Jude of Iddybud, I'd also note Ron's coverage of it and the fact that tonight (Sunday), The Laura Flanders Show will be covering it.
2) I don't think Naomi Klein's report on Democracy Now! Friday regarding Giuliana Sgrena can be overlooked or should be -- but I worry that it already has been. Sgrena is saying the car was shot at not from in front, but from behind. That's only one detail to emerge from Klein's report and people should be paying attention to this. As Klein noted, the military refuses to turn the car over to Italy for inspection.
3) I'm bothered that the media appears to be able to focus only on one foreign story at a time.
Events of this week meant that Lebanon was largely neglected in terms of coverage. I'll note the archive of stories that LeftTurn just posted online March 25th.
4) I'll close with "Judge Tells City to Release Much of 9/11 Oral History" by Michael Cooper from The New York Times because I do feel like this is news that a lot of people haven't heard about it. It was buried in the New York region section of the paper and considering that this is a national issue, it should have been on the front page, my opinion.
Unlike some sites that give lip service to be interested in all blogs, we actually are. If you're a blogger and you would like to have something noted that you've covered or someone else has that's not gotten the attention that you feel it should, please e-mail us at thirdestatesundayreview@yahoo.com and we'll try to note it in a future edition. Just follow the way it's been set out above and provided you're a blogger from the left, we'll be happy to note it.
Ty says "no conspiracy theories." (We'll let Ty make that ruling since he's just grinning right now and refusing to add anything to that.) We thank Pam, Ron and Folding Star for their help.