"San Diego, Calif. -- Hoping for a simultaneous marketing and military coup, the Bush administration today officially set a war date, announcing that the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq will be part of the Super Bowl XXXVII halftime show."

Brilliant satire. :)

U.S.-Led Iraq War Slated For Super Bowl Halftime Show

Heh. Check out this table right under the picture. I think it's an interesting comparison.

Hail to the Thief!

Okay, this is cool. A big map laying out ownership of the six giant media companies in the world. Gee, no wonder these guys all say the same thing...

Looks like Alfred E Neuman put it together too.

Media Ownership 2001

Swater wrote:
] A nice little graph that sums it all up.
]
] Nothing we haven't heard before but a good reference place for
] the block-headed to clue in.

This is part of why things are so broken in the U.S.A. right now.

Number of corporations that control major US Media

This is the website of an English-language newspaper in the United Arab Emirates -- Another spot on the web where it's possible to find out what the Islamic world is saying about itself.

I like getting alternative news sources such as these, rather than having to rely solely on the bits that show up on western news sources such as BBC and CNN. I especially find their "opinions" section interesting, such as the column on, "Al Jazeera can change American Perspective" about the upcoming Al Jazeera English-Language website. That particular column can be read at this URL:

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=74385

I may not agree with everything they say, but I'm very eager to listen and try to understand why they're saying it!

Gulf News Online

] The richest 10% of the population - about 10 million
] households - owned 84% of the stock and 90% of the bonds
] held by individuals (including that held indirectly
] through mutual funds). The democratization of ownership
] supposedly brought about by mutual funds has a long way
] to go.

Great little graph wost the way down showing change in the the comparative wealth of American society.

Distributing the booty

Dubious source, and their numbers don't add up, but I think they're generally indicating the right order of magnitude change in wealth over my 32 year lifetime...

] in the late 1970s, the top one percent held 13 percent of
] the wealth; in 1995 it held 38 percent.

] In 1960 CEOs received 40 times the average worker's
] salary. In 1992 they received 157 times.

Wealth Distribution

cyantist wrote:
] Been tossin' a few back, partying hearty into the wee hours,
] and now you just gotta have something to eat, to take that eat
] screechin' hunger outta your besotted and befuddled brain?
] Here's a list of places we know from experience that can take
] the edge off your growling tummy and give you some time to
] clear your head for the road home. All of these joints are in
] San Francisco, so if you have to "bridge and tunnel," don't
] wait until you get back to the boonies to slurp and slob. It
] just may be too late.

I personally recommend Grubstake. An "American" diner that still serves Portugese food until 4am in the morning. No, I'm not kidding and Portugese food is great hangover food. Serious.

RE: Restaurants open late in San Francisco

] "I've never been involved in a crime, but I'm still
] worried. If they want me to go back, I will, but it's the
] way they're doing it, with handcuffs and detentions, that
] bothers me."

] Shoaib Muhammad, Los Angeles-based
] 29-year-old computer engineer from Karachi, Pakistan, on
] the Immigration and Naturalization Service's rigorous new
] registration policies .

Various items of note in the SF Gate.

PAPER TIGERS / Anarchy, Vice, War and Gambling

] EMMA GOLDMAN (1869-1940) stands as a major figure in the
] history of American radicalism and feminism. An
] influential and well-known anarchist of her day, Goldman
] was an early advocate of free speech, birth control,
] women's equality and independence, and union
] organization. Her criticism of mandatory conscription of
] young men into the military during World War I led to a
] two-year imprisonment, followed by her deportation in
] 1919. For the rest of her life until her death in 1940,
] she continued to participate in the social and political
] movements of her age, from the Russian Revolution to the
] Spanish Civil War.

The Emma Goldman Papers (DL SunSITE)