I was just one letter among many, but its contents stuck with me. “Mr. MacKinnon,” the reader wrote, “still cannot find within himself the intestinal fortitude to call those who took hundreds of women and children hostages in Beslan, and proceeded to shoot them in the backs, their proper name – terrorists and cowards.” Journalists… Continue reading The War on ‘Terrorist’
Our worst enemy?
The morning of Yasser Arafat’s funeral last November, Don Imus, host of Imus in the Morning said, “They’re [Palestinians] eating dirt and that fat pig wife [Suha Arafat] of his is living in Paris.” His guest, sports anchor Sid Rosenberg, added, “They’re all brainwashed, though. That’s what it is. And they’re stupid to begin with, but they’re brainwashed now.… Continue reading Our worst enemy?
Weighty Words
“Terrorist.” The first time I remember hearing the word, I was 12. It was 1995, and the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City had just been bombed. For many years after, whenever I heard the word terrorist, I pictured a shady white man in a hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses. Following the tragedy of… Continue reading Weighty Words
Fork in the road
On June 15, 2004, the online music magazine Pitchfork published a review of the Beastie Boys’s 2004 release, To the Five Boroughs. It was written by Brent DiCrescenzo, one of the site’s regular contributors. More than 2,000 words in length, the actual CD review was buried under a disjointed and confusing chronology that moved between Milan and Manhattan… Continue reading Fork in the road
Rabble, Straight Goods, Indymedia
While working at the Edmonton Journal in 2002, Lisa Gregoire’s editors told her to “cover the riots” at the G8 Summit in Kananaskis. But there were no riots. Instead, there were peaceful rallies and playful campaigns like, “I’d rather go naked than wear Gap.” Gregoire produced articles about these non-violent demonstrations and about the effects of globalization, all… Continue reading Rabble, Straight Goods, Indymedia
