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Media Watch: 2004-09-30

| 4 Comments | 1 TrackBack

Sigh. The mainstream media doesn't appear to be learning much.

  • The Justice Department has charged that a veteran New York Times foreign correspondent warned an alleged terror-funding Islamic charity that the FBI was about to raid its office - potentially endangering the lives of federal agents. Ace of Spades also links to some background re: this reporter. Note that the Times denies the charges. We'll see.
  • Nick Coleman of the Minnesota Star-Tribune pens a scathing piece about bloggers, saying "...a lot of the attack against the mainstream media is coming from bloggers, which is like astronomers being assaulted by people who swear that aliens force them to have sex with Martians."

1 TrackBack

Tracked: September 30, 2004 5:36 PM
Excerpt: INDC Journal snags a three-part interview with the movers behind CBS News' controversial Draft reinstatement piece, which aired Tuesday evening and was subsequently cited by several commenters as an example of CBS's penchant for advocacy ...

4 Comments

For an opposing view on al-Qaradawi see Abu Aardvark's take:

Meanwhile, why do I continue to defend Qaradawi? Not because I particularly like or support his brand of socially conservative religious activism. But because he continues to make arguments like this: ""Reform has become a religious obligation and a necessity pushed by a deep deterioration gripping the Islamic nation on the ground," Sheikh Qaradawi said during a lecture in Cairo Thursday, August 26 . "All people feel the brunt of our current crisis of weakness and rampant corruption, from intelligentsia to ordinary people.".. Sheikh Qaradawi further dismissed claims that Islam is an obstacle to cherished reforms in Islamic countries, reiterating that democracy is compatible with the spirit and teachings of Islam.

Also see here and here.

What's the truth of it? I don't know. But I'm reminded of how an old psychology prof of mine described the process of teaching a bear to dance in a circle. First, you observe the bear. As soon as you see the slightest motion that could be construed as "dancing in a circle" (a step, a move of the head), you reward the bear for it. You reward each movement the reflects the behavior you want to re-inforce. And with enough patience (and rewards) you'll teach the bear to dance in a circle.

If we're going to get the kinds of behavior changes in Muslims that I've read a lot about here (and elsewhere), we're not going to get far by looking for dancing bears. We're going to have to re-inforce even very slight movements in the direction we're looking for.

Under bullet three, I think link two should be this.

Note that the other fellow is essentially an English Professor.

Al. You're correct about that URL. Fixed, sorry.

Dave Schuler (quoting Abu Aardvark):

"Meanwhile, why do I continue to defend Qaradawi? Not because I particularly like or support his brand of socially conservative religious activism ..."

Jupiter's Nuts! Rabid anti-Semitism and stoning homosexuals and adulterers to death - is that what we call "socially conservative religious activism" these days?

I look forward to seeing the fascist Muslim Brotherhood, dancing in a circle like tamed bears. Lots of luck with that one.

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