Friday, March 5, 2004

Winning Hearts and Minds It seems some of our troops have used the ancient city of Samarra for target practice. American troops have been using the area around the ancient Abbasid capital of Samarra or target practice and training, according to recent complaints from residents around the former Islamic capital. Residents and officials are concerned that the vibrations from the American fire in the area could damage the ruins. "The American forces put a tank, a canon and bus it in the middle of the historical area to use for target practice and training, or maybe just for the enjoyment of shooting at things with tanks and helicopters. Sometimes they shoot the remains directly," said Karim Jasim, who is in charge of the Samarra ruins. "Before the war we did not allow anyone to enter the area by car to protect the old buildings and other remains, but today the American soldiers come in with their tanks and they drive around the ancient walls without caring about it or our feelings." [snip] "It's a crime against humanity," said archeologist Abd Jirau from Sallahdin, commenting on the US tank joyrides. Jirau believes the Americans want to destroy the ancient capital of Samarra because it was the seat of power of the Islamic empire. "The American speak about cultural history, arts and civilization, so they have to respect others people's civilizations," said Ahmad Ali, a history teacher. "This place represents the height of the Islamic civilization so they have to respect it, even though we know they dislike it." [snip] "[The Americans] are doing this intentionally. This is a conflict of civilizations and religions, and I think they are satisfying their desires when they destroy our Islamic ruins," said Imam Ali Hussein. "I want to tell them that Islam is not in the ruins, but in the Muslims' hearts." I'm sure they'll pipe down once the local Wal-Mart opens. UPDATE The following e-mail was posted to the Iraq Crisis mail list (run out of the University of Chicago): As far as I know, the story forwarded by Eleanor Robson from Iraq Today -- "Locals claim Americans using ancient city for target practice" -- is partly true. Allegations first surfaced in November, and marked-up satellite imagery was sent to the Fourth Infantry Division, I believe. The story confirms that tracked vehicles were being driven over the site, which is enough to do substantial damage to the unfired pisé wall mounds. I hope that has stopped now, though I do not have any confirmation, and I doubt if it has entirely. There is a political context here. The population of Samarra is extremely hostile to the occupation, no doubt because of the behaviour of American troops in the town, notably the loose firing that took place during the battle on 30th November. Local sources are probably 'maximising' the issue, as indeed military spokesmen 'minimise' it. Difficult to know the truth, without an inspection. Alastair Northedge Professeur d'Art et d'Archéologie Islamiques UFR d'Art et d'Archéologie Université de Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne) 10:52:16 PM    comment [] Jobs and Growth The latest job numbers are quite weak: WASHINGTON -- Employers added a paltry 21,000 workers to their payrolls last month, far fewer than expected, according to a government report Friday that was likely to weigh on President Bush as he seeks re-election. In its report, the Labor Department said private-sector employment was unchanged in February, while the government added 21,000 workers. The report also showed job creation in December and January was weaker than previously thought, adding to the weak tone of the report. The department revised lower its count of jobs gains in January to 97,000 from 112,000 and for December to just 8,000 from 16,000 ... Nevertheless, the overall seasonally adjusted civilian unemployment rate stayed at 5.6% in February as thousands of prospective workers gave up looking for a job. About 392,000 people left the civilian workforce in February from January. Economists at top Wall Street firms had forecast a February payrolls gain of 125,000 jobs. Over the last three months, employment has risen an average of just 42,000 a month, down from the 79,000 average of the prior three months and far short of the 150,000 or so jobs needed each month just to keep pace with growth in the labor force. So let me summarize: 306,000 -- Bush's prediction of monthly job growth if tax cuts were passed . 150,000 -- The number of jobs needed per month to keep pace with growth in the labor market. 125,000 -- Wall Street's estimate for February. 21,000 -- The number of jobs added in February (all by the government). 0 -- The number of private sector jobs added in February. minus-396,000 -- The number of civilian workers added to the work force. Now you can see why it was funny when a comedian said that if Bush keeps this up, eventually none of us will have to work. Funny, but not ha-ha funny. So ... when USA Radio News reported that the 5.6% unemployment rate showed that the economy is continuing to improve, they were grossly misleading people -- people across the country listening to 1,300+ stations. I don't see a mention of the numbers on their site, but I'll keep you posted. UPDATE: Nope, they never mentioned it. [Thanks to EA.] 11:38:45 AM    comment [] The Death and Life of Marlin Maddoux Christian conservative radio broadcaster, author and political activist Marlin Maddoux died yesterday in Dallas from complications following heart bypass surgery. He was 70 years old. Who is Marlin Maddoux? If Rush Limbaugh is the father of conservative talk radio, Marlin Maddoux is the grandfather. He began his Christian conservative talk radio show, Point of View, in 1972. When it was picked up by satellite in 1982, it became "the first conservative issues-oriented satellite call-in show," paving the way for Rush and his descendants. In Blinded by the Right (176-7), David Brock mentions Maddoux as one of a number of Christian conservative media figures (along with fellow "virulent homophobes" James Dobson and Pat Robertson) who broadcasted his American Spectator stories to millions nationwide. Furthermore, Maddoux was a prominent leader in many Christian conservative political organizations, such as the Council for National Policy, the National Center for Freedom and Renewal, and the Alliance Defense Fund (of which Maddoux said, "ADF gives Christians a unique way to fight back against the radical attacks of groups like the ACLU, homosexual activists, and anti-family activists."). He was also the author of several books, including most recently The Sea of Gaia, a piece of Apocalyptic pulp fiction: In this chilling novel about the Antichrist, the installation of a new world leader in the year 2033 spirals into a dangerous international frenzy, creating an all-too-possible end-times scenario filled with conspiracy, innocence, betrayal and supernatural power. He was working on a sequel at the time of his death. What sets Marlin Maddoux apart? However, I find Maddoux most noteworthy for his role as founder and CEO of USA Radio Network. The company provides news and information programming across the country and abroad for over 1,300 affiliated radio stations, two XM satellite stations, and Armed Forces Radio. According to USA Radio's website, Maddoux started the Dallas company in 1985 after he "identified the need for a national news service for radio stations not served by the major networks." Since 1985 the USA Radio Network has been providing listeners with up to the minute news, sports, business news and long form talk shows 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year via the latest in satellite technologies. Five minute newscasts are aired hourly, as are one minute NewsBreak headline newscasts and a one minute Christian Interest News segment is aired twice an hour. Three minute sportscasts are aired around the clock. USA Radio Network newsmagazine and/or longform programs include DayBreakUSA, NewsWrapUSA and JudicialWatch. I personally noticed USA Radio News while listening to the late-night X-files show "Coast to Coast AM." USA provides the five minute news segment at the top of every hour. What I noticed, especially during the build up to the Iraq war, was a consistently conservative, pro-Bush spin to all news. This trend has continued in their reporting of the 2004 election. For example, their news segment typically includes several clips from Bush, but I cannot, for the life of me, remember USA ever broadcasting even one clip from Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Of course, my memory may be faulty in this regard. But to support my general point, consider the following two news stories from the USA Radio site (especially the portions in bold). STORY #1: Presidential Re-election Campaign TV Ads for President Bush's re-election have begun running on television stations and networks nationwide, with some Democrats and their partisan friends complaining about the ads because they show the president's leadership during and after the September 11th attacks. President Bush named Senator John Kerry for the first time as his expected opponent in the November general election. Mr. Bush says Kerry has a long career of two decades in Washington during which he has "built up quite a record." Mr. Bush says "Senator Kerry's been in Washington long enough to take both sides on just about every issue." President Bush also appearing in Los Angeles with supporters and leaders of faith based organizations about his programs to provide them with federal money to help the needy. Mr. Bush has established an Office of Faith Based Programs in the White House and signed an executive order to funnel some federal grant money to faith based groups. The president is on a two-day campaign swing in California. Mr. Bush is expecting to raise about $3 million on this trip to California. His campaign committee has already raised more than $100 million for his re-election bid. Democrats responded to Presidnet Bush's California visit by publicly scolding him over his economic policies -- policies which have not only kept the nation from a recession but helped launch a recovery that is gaining steam every day. [Compare today's coverage of Kerry] STORY #2: U.S. Economy Continues to Improve There are fewer people filing first-time claims for unemployment. Thursday market mostly higher. The latest figures from the Labor Department show there were 345 thousand of those claims filed last week. It's a drop of seven thousand claims from the week before. The four-week moving average, which is a more accurate reflection of the employment health of the nation, showed a drop of three thousand claims. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped five points to 10,588. The Nasdaq shot up almost 22 points to 2055. The S&P 500 was up almost four points to 1154. [Compare the story with its title.] The problem here is that the USA Radio Network presents these stories as straightforward news items, rather than the conservative fare one expects from Maddoux's show, Point of View. The top-of-the-hour five minute news segment includes a news-appropriate musical introduction and is read by a plainspoken news anchor. Why should we be concerned? If you think I'm being overly suspicious of what is straightforwardly a conservative news company, consider it in the following light. Marlin Maddoux was one of several prominent conservatives chosen by the Media Research Center to judge its "Dishonor Awards" for most outrageously biased liberal reporters. His fellow judges were L. Brent Bozell III (President of the Media Research Center), William F. Buckley, John Fund, Lucianne Goldberg, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Robert Novak, Kate O'Beirne, Michael Reagan, William Rusher, Ben Stein, Cal Thomas, and R. Emmett Tyrrell (Editor of the American Spectator). Now imagine one of these more famous conservatives, e.g. Rush Limbaugh, not only continuing his regular broadcasting job, but also owning and running "one of the nation's fastest growing news networks," determining the news to be broadcast to 1,300+ stations, two XM Satellite stations, and Armed Forces Radio. This is what Marlin Maddoux should be remembered for -- as a pioneer in creatively combining conservative broadcasting and conservative media ownership in one and the same person. Maddoux started in broadcasting and then took up an ownership position. Others, like Mark Hyman of Sinclair Broadcasting, start as media executives and later take up broadcasting . THIS IS THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE. Postscript: If you try to see things from their perspective, it makes good sense. When the country needs salvation from godless liberalism to avoid certain destruction, why rely on your broadcast news company's owner (if you're a broadcaster) or your broadcast news employee (if you're an owner) when you can do the job yourself? When the stakes are so high, why trust the middle man? And while you're at it, why trust other radio stations to broadcast the news, when you can get them to broadcast your own? Winning hearts and minds is too important to be left to others. 2:57:24 AM    comment []

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