Microlog
16 Microlog entries tagged with ‘politics’
Sherlock agrees to attend debate with organiser of anti-’SOPA’ petition
That’s after he initially refused to attend if Simon McGarr wasn’t removed from the panel, accusing him of “causing some reputational damage to this country by deliberately misinterpreting the [new legislation] as SOPA” (which wasn’t the case, and he knows it, but howandever). Shame I can’t attend the debate this afternoon; seems like the hashtag is #DRF2012 so I can follow things on Twitter later. Current Affairs ·
Barack Obama’s presidency, three years on - is it time to give up hope?
The Guardian’s Jonathan Freedland on the diminishing expectations for change. I’m reserving judgement till next year, if/when Obama gets re-elected; then we’ll know if he can forgo political expediency and show his ‘stomach for a fight’. Current Affairs ·
Ireland has done what the IMF wanted, but where is the reward?
It’s lovely that the bureaucrats and politicians think of Ireland as some kind of grand economic experiment. But, y’know, there are real people here, a few million of us actually… Current Affairs ·
A response to Sean Sherlock’s Drivetime interview on Ireland’s SOPA
Someone needs to be challenging Minister Sherlock (and the rest of the Dáil) on these matters directly. That Radio 1 interview made a hames of it, IMHO: he simply wasn’t confronted with all the facts. Current Affairs ·
Ireland’s SOPA to permit three strikes; TDs asked to debate something they haven’t seen
Incidentally, adds TJ McIntyre, the move contradicts the minister’s own Programme for Government which states that “The situation can no longer be tolerated where Irish Ministers enact EU legislation by statutory instrument. The checks and balances of parliamentary democracy are by-passed.” And they say trust in government is rising? Not with me it isn’t. Current Affairs ·
Ireland and EU to sign controversial ACTA treaty
This is what happens when politicians think they know what they’re signing, but don’t understand its wider implications. Current Affairs ·
Marco Ament on ‘the next SOPA’
The web censorship bills might be shelved for now, but will no doubt return in this or some other form — unless there is an aggressive push for campaign finance reform, and a recognition that unless we stop giving money to the MPAA et al, they will keep coming back. Current Affairs ·
We’re all terror suspects now
“They’re patting us down now, my friends object, and they’re confiscating our contact-lens fluid. They’re forcing us to travel with tiny tubes of toothpaste and moving us to wear loafers when usually we’d prefer lace-ups … I listen to their grousing and think that the one thing the 9/11 attacks have achieved, for those of us who spend too much time in airports, is to make suspicion universal; fear and discomfort are equal-opportunity employers now.” Current Affairs ·
Remembering Why Americans Loathe Dick Cheney
Who does Chaney remind you of, if not a post-colonial African dictator? His name should be as maligned as Hitler’s. Yes, I went there. Current Affairs ·
Roger Ailes and the rise of Fox News
“To watch even a day of Fox News — the anger, the bombast, the virulent paranoid streak, the unending appeals to white resentment, the reporting that is held to the same standard of evidence as a political campaign attack ad — is to see a refraction of its founder, one of the most skilled and fearsome operatives in the history of the Republican party … Ailes has used Fox News to pioneer a new form of political campaign — one that enables the Republican party to bypass sceptical reporters and wage an around-the-clock, partisan assault on public opinion. The network, at its core, is a giant soundstage created to mimic the look and feel of a news operation, cleverly camouflaging political propaganda as independent journalism.” The rest is even worse. What a scumbag. Media & Journalism ·
David Norris failed, yet the ‘nothing new’ system failed too
I’m still disappointed about this whole situation. And I have no idea who else is in the running. That says a lot. Current Affairs ·
9/11 Ground Zero: why has its rebirth turned sour?
The story of what happens when egos, business and bad politics get in the way of good intentions. Current Affairs ·
Paul Krugman: The President Surrenders
Indeed. Obama has messed up in trying to keep the moral high ground; if everyone else is cheating, you don’t get anywhere trying to stick to the rules. Current Affairs ·
Haim Saban: The Influencer
A long profile of the Israeli entertainment mogul behind most of the cartoons I watched as a kid (and later, the insufferable Power Rangers); now he’s positioning himself as a power broker in US-Israeli relations. At least he wants peace in the Middle East (it’s good for business) but what if he didn’t? It’s a scary thought. Arts & Culture ·
Stop the war (the other one)
Ben Edwards runs the numbers. Sigh. If only politics was really about serving the people… Arts & Culture ·
What next for Zimbabwe?
“With the economy in tatters, endemic poverty and unemployment, and continued political strife, where is Zimbabwe heading as 2005 draws to a close?” BBC News readers have their say. Arts & Culture ·
About
This is the personal website of MacDara Conroy, a production journalist and mediavore in Dublin, Ireland. Read more »
Details
This page lists all Microlog entries by MacDara Conroy tagged with ‘politics’. You will find many more entries sorted by month and by category in the Archives.
Frequent tags
#culture (242), #society (223), #music (180), #technobabble (150), #journalism (143), #media (127), #design (98), #books (97), #humour (88), #photography (84), #theguardian (83), #funny (82), #film (81), #currentaffairs (77), #photos (74), #reading (73), #writing (61), #offbeat (55), #movies (54), #food (51)