The June B-List

Your monthly media supplement of seven recommended readings from beyond the Briarpatch.

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1. Is CBC’s new populism perverted?
Why youth fans like me are tuning out
By Elaine Corden
The Tyee
June 21, 2007

Ideally, user participation makes an outlet like the CBC more democratic. But as we all know, the ideals of a democracy can be easily subverted, and an organized and vocal minority can quickly become the most powerful voice in a debate.

http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2007/06/21/CBC/

2. The rise and rise of Hamas
By Stephen Zunes
Asia Times
June 30, 2007

In light of Hamas’ seizure of the Gaza Strip, it is worthwhile to understand how this radical Islamist organization came to play such a major role in Palestinian political life and how Israel and the United States contributed to making that possible.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IF30Ak04.html

Plus: The inimitable Robert Fisk asks of Hamas’ victory in Gaza, How do we deal with a coup d’état by an elected government?

http://news.independent.co.uk/fisk/article2663199.ece

3. Possibilities and false hopes: The realities of microlending
By Robert Pollin
Counterpunch
June 25, 2007

How effective is micro credit as a poverty-fighting tool? These institutions have made important advances relative to the array of moneylenders and pawnbrokers that had previously controlled the provisioning of banking services to the world’s poor. At the same time, considered on its own, Grameen-style initiatives have limited capacity to fight global poverty, especially when placed in a policy setting dominated by neoliberalism.

http://www.counterpunch.org/pollin06252007.html

4. Home-grown military-industrial complex: An excerpt from Holding the Bully’s Coat
Linda McQuaig
Rabble.ca
June 2007

“When Canadian troops go overseas,” declared the general, “they expect sex.” Within a split second, Hillier had corrected himself: “success.” It was a slip of the tongue, nothing more. But it also somehow seemed to fit the mood in the room. After years of feeling like an emasculated army of peacekeepers, the Canadian Forces now had a real fighting man at their helm. No more girlie-man peacekeeping, boys! We’re gonna make war!

http://www.rabble.ca/reviews/review.shtml?x=60430

5. To Remake the World:Something Earth-changing is afoot among civil society
by Paul Hawken
Orion Magazine
May/June 2007

The movement has three basic roots: the environmental and social justice movements, and indigenous cultures’ resistance to globalization—all of which are intertwining. It arises spontaneously from different economic sectors, cultures, regions, and cohorts, resulting in a global, classless, diverse, and embedded movement, spreading worldwide without exception. In a world grown too complex for constrictive ideologies, the very word movement may be too small, for it is the largest coming together of citizens in history.

http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/265/

6. ~ VIDEO ~ Confronting Empire: Liberalism and the Free Press
By John Pilger
Socialism 2007
June 30, 2007
(A stirring 45-minute address, well worth watching all the way through.)

“I’m not denying the virtues of liberalism — far from it. We’re all beneficiaries of them. But if we deny its dangers, its open-ended project, and the all-consuming power of its propaganda, then we deny our right to true democracy — because liberalism and true democracy are not the same. Liberalism began as a cult of the elite in the 19th century, and true democracy is never handed down by elites. It is always fought for.”

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17944.htm

7. Comic Heist: Yes Men pose as Exxon at Calgary Conference to propose burning humanity for fuel

“We need something like whales, but infinitely more abundant,” said “NPC rep” “Shepard Wolff” (actually Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men), before describing the technology used to render human flesh into a new Exxon oil product called Vivoleum. 3-D animations of the process brought it to life.

“Vivoleum works in perfect synergy with the continued expansion of fossil fuel production,” noted “Exxon rep” “Florian Osenberg” (Yes Man Mike Bonanno). “With more fossil fuels comes a greater chance of disaster, but that means more feedstock for Vivoleum. Fuel will continue to flow for those of us left.”

Read the press release:

http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/0615-04.htm

View the presentation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkLzK13rI-Y

This month’s B-List compiled by Dave Oswald Mitchell

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