Here is my letter for the NYC Coalition for Accountability Now’s “Building What?!” campaign, which is a phone and fax campaign to help the New York City Council become aware of the collapse of World Trade Center Building 7. Please visit NYCCAN.org and join this important effort.
Tag: Iraq War
Mar 08 2010
Story-Telling is Only Human, so the News Media gets into the Act
A narrative is a story that has a beginning, middle and end. It engages the reader’s mind and heart. It shows actors moving across its stage, revealing their characters through their actions and their speech. At its heart, a narrative contains a mystery or a question-something that compels the reader to keep reading and find out what happens.
[…]
A traditional news feature starts with an anecdote or scene, moves to a nut graph that tells the reader where the story is going and then spends the rest of the piece explaining and supporting the nut graph.A narrative, on the other hand, lets the story unfold through character, scene and action-usually without summing up the story and telling readers what it’s about. A narrative also attaches a little story to a big story — it is built around theme.
In journalism, a Nut graph is a paragraph, particularly in a feature story, that explains the news value of the story. […] ie, “in a nutshell” paragraph
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N…
http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/…
News Feature v. Narrative: What’s the Difference?
Rebecca Allen — January 9, 2006
In a Nutshell, People like Stories.
Feb 12 2010
1000+ architects want new WTC investigation
Over 1,000 architects and engineers have signed the Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth‘s petition demanding a real investigation into the destruction of the three World Trade Center skyscrapers on 9/11.
That’s right, over 1,000 architects and engineers have gone on record saying the official story about the collapse of the Twin Towers and the WTC7 is not believable and think a new investigation is warranted. They think that the official theory is an extraordinarily unrealistic hypothesis and that the evidence does not support it. They have focused a significant amount of attention on WTC7 because it is the ONLY skyscraper in the history of the world to ever collapse just from fire.
Jan 29 2010
Iraq War Inquiry Resumed: Tony’s Turn
Haven’t posted anything in about a week or so on the Inquiry as I’ve had some other issues I’ve been following and there wasn’t really much more coming out as to the tidbits of what was happening on this side of the pond, my interest in this as the Brits are holding these hearings and that’s up to them to sort out there own leaderships guilt or innocence in justification for Iraq.
Tony Blair’s turn to testify is today and that’s already started, you can tune in here as he will be testifying for some six hours, these live video’s are then archived.
Not much has been covered as to these hearings here in the states even when mention of our administration, and others, were talking about taking down Saddam before 9/11, on 9/11 and shortly after and more.
Jan 08 2010
How about a Booster shot for Cheney’s Failing Memory
Exhibit A: Cheney Knows Nothing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Melanie Sloan:
In his FBI interview
He [Cheney] says, ‘I don’t recall.’ ‘I don’t remember.’ ‘I don’t know.’ well over 75 times
Why is it Cheney always has something to say —
except for when it comes to owning up to his own actions?
Dec 26 2009
Orrin Hatch: Six years ago, “It was Standard Practice NOT to Pay for things”
Uh-Oh! Did someone just let the cat out of bag?
Democrats See GOP Hypocrisy in Health Care Debate
Citing 2003 Medicare vote, Democrats see GOP hypocrites in debate over health care spending
Charles Babington, AP Writer
Dec 25, 2009
[…] when Republicans controlled the House, Senate and White House in 2003, they overcame Democratic opposition to add a deficit-financed prescription drug benefit to Medicare. The program will cost a half-trillion dollars over 10 years, or more by some estimates.
With no new taxes or spending offsets accompanying the Medicare drug program, the cost has been added to the federal debt.
[…]
Six years ago, “it was standard practice not to pay for things,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business…
Watch out Orrin, speaking the blunt truth, is NOT a GOP strong suit,
best to stick to the Lock-step GOP Talking points, you guys NO best!
Leave the blunt talking to those with real guts, those like Alan Grayson & Co.
Dec 15 2009
Stonewalling of Torture Evidence in Britain
A couple of months ago, the British High Court ruled that a document containing information on the torture of Binyam Mohamed should be disclosed in full. The original document supposedly contains seven paragraphs which describe the brutal methods used to interrogate Mohamed, including waterboarding and slicing his genitals with a scalpel.
David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary who has been resisting the High Court’s efforts to release the document, now describes the decision as irresponsible.
David Miliband accused the two senior judges of irresponsibly “charging in” to a diplomatically sensitive area over what happened to former terror detainee Binyam Mohamed while held by the Americans in Pakistan.
Jonathan Sumption QC, appearing for the Foreign Secretary, told the Court of Appeal the judges’ stance was “both, in many respects, unnecessary and profoundly damaging to the interests of this country.”
Mr Sumption added: “I would go so far as to say their views were irresponsible.”
Dec 12 2009
Tony Blair:
Tony, like our own leaders?, have found their excuses and justifications, they sound an awful lot like those of the bin Ladens and Saddam’s of this world!
Nov 24 2009
British Inquiry Into Iraq War
This is what this Country, the United States, should be doing now or had already done during the previous administration, investigating towards Impeachment and possible Indictments, depending on what evidence of crimes and lies surfaced. Especially if we really are what we like to think and demand others to believe we are and if our Constitution still exist as the leading Representative Democracy on this planet. But leave it up to ‘Old Europe’, hopefully, to seek answers that should be in the light of day and a part of the physical history added to the already known.
But it’s never to late for us to try and minimize the blowback from our extremely destructive policies, or is it!
Nov 22 2009
Names of the Dead, the Damned, and the Dispossessed — We are Number 1!
Real people … who we knew and loved … who died unnecessarily in the U.S.
Real Life Stories of Americans
THE SILENT … NOW DECEASED
“My daughter got sick with cancer after her husband lost his job. She never told anyone she was sick because she knew the financial hardship it would cause and eventually the hospital would take their house for unpaid medical bills. We lost her in the following spring … We read her diary and learned all she was feeling and thinking. Now I wonder how many others are just like her in this America? And how many before her?”
Deaths due to Preventable Diseases: Dead Last
Rankings 1st to 19th. France, Japan, Australia, Spain, Italy, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Greece, Austria, Germany, Finland, New Zealand, Denmark, Britain, Ireland, Portugal, United States
Oct 29 2009
How to PWN a Nut 101
So, Thomas Friedman, our ever wrong NYT pundit decided to give is ever wrong opinion on Iraq, again.
In the comment section, me and a poster named Patriot have been discussing terrorism, Iraq, oil, you name it. The article itself is crap, but, the comment sections may give people help in how to counter wingnut lunatics they encounter.
(Author note: Those here at docudharma have seen what my posts look like when I get a bit drunk. And no, I’m not now, but, do apologize for posting the last two drivels.)
Now… class is open…
Sep 02 2009
American’s Unitary Executive, STILL a 4th Branch of Govt unto himself
Confirmed: Cheney’s Role in Approving Torture
Edward M. Gomez; SFGate, Dec 17 2008
“… Dick Cheney isn’t sorry about any of it.” In his ABC News interview he “betrayed no second thoughts – and certainly no remorse – about the policies pursued by the administration that he both served and, according to some, led.
Cheney’s dark side – and ours
Derrick Z. Jackson, Boston Globe Columnist, Sep 1, 2009
But Cheney’s role is an old, if still developing story. After all, he warned us five days after Sept. 11 that our government would work on the “dark side.” He told the late Tim Russert, “We’ve got to spend time in the shadows in the intelligence world. A lot of what needs to be done here will have to be done quietly, without any discussion, using sources and methods that are available to our intelligence agencies.” …