Pakistan's Silent Majority

I found this video clip very fascinating in relation to Entman's Projection of Power in chapter 3. It gives analysis for the question of support v. opposition of Pakastani President Musharraf. It is interesting that he believes he has supporters because of the successful election results, but in reality the majority of the voters, who live in rural areas, do not support him or his policies. This clip acts as an investigation, and visually shows the countryside, the people, and the honest opinion of their leader.

Raw Video: Iranian Boats 'Harass' U.S. Navy

Here is the second of the two clips.

Iranian Video of Navy Incident

Here is one of two links that we discussed today in class.

Should foreigners vote for the next U.S. president?

Would it be conceivable to think that non-U.S. citizens would vote for the next U.S. president? According to the New York Times, outsiders/foreigners are pining for change in the White House as much as American voters. The occupant of the White House, outsiders recognize, has potentially as much influence on their own lives as their local governments. So, is it too much to ask for a chance to vote for the next U.S. president? And what would such a vote be? Does such a question imply that U.S. foreign policy is not so 'foreign' a policy for outsiders, that it is part of the daily/domestic policy discussion outside the U.S.?

The Second Link - Michael Yon's Website

Frontline Blogger Covers War in Iraq With a Soldier's Eyes

I found this article relevant to the issue of free flow information that we discussed day 1 of class. Also, i think that it relates to agenda setting and the influence of media on public discourse. It tells the story of soldier, Michael Yan, and his transition into the journalistic world through the method of blogging. I thought this a good example of an alternative news source although i stumbled across it while browsing a mainstream media source, so how effective it would be without the mainstream connection i do not know? Regardless, it was fascinating to discover that anyone can be a journalist if they have an interest in the subject, and a story to tell. I encourage you to look at the 2nd link, which is the soldier's website initiated and run by him. He seems to write without reservation, and does not hesitate to depict, with oral language and visual image, the true situation of the Iraq War. I think it is a relief that there are still sources of information and news material in the world that are initiated by individuals who have no goal other than to inform the public of current situations. The negativity of his popularity gained through mainstream media sources is now his work has become a source of profitable income, and a market has been created to try and sell his written thoughts and photo images. Still, i think that the initial plan of an open blog about the Iraq war was a good one.

Al Jazeer's take on the Kenyan Crisis

This article was supposed to be attached to the other post on the Kenyan Crisis, but for some reason I could not post two links.

Kenyan Crisis

Both of these articles summarize the dismal state that Kenya is in after the re-election of Mwai Kibaki, the president of Kenya. These stories were the headlines stories in each sources section on Africa. BBC World has chosen to direct it story towards the EU's influence and command over the situation, while Al Jazeera continues to report more on violent outbreaks and ethnic tensions. 

Make sure to look through the photographs these two sites have posted to describe this particular situation. Some are terrifyingly brilliant and, I believe, really portray the brutal situation in Kenya rather than the actual elections result and what it will mean for Kenyans. 

I would also like to point out that when searching for this subject matter in a popular Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, a single story on Kenya's crisis could not be found...

Civil liberties: freedom of speech "The Tongue Twisters"

This is an interesting article about the struggle to keep up traditional views and uses of freedom of speech while involved in a war and without conflicting with the need for national security. It seems that this article may be appropriate for the beginning of this particular class since it touches on the harsh reality that individual speech may not be as free as we perceive or wish it to truly be. 

Al Jazeera Domesticated?

This is an interesting article on al Jazeera's domestication, how it refrained from being critical of Saudi authorities after their recent scandalous verdict to incarecerate a rape victim. It is even more scary to think that the fate of political reform and media freedom has to hang on Arab political regimes, in the absence of grassroots/popular support and demands to safeguard such 'advances.'