THE HEADLINES

(Photo courtesy CBS News)

THOSE AFGHAN PROTESTS: PRESS COVERAGE TO THE CONTRARY, IT ISN’T JUST ABOUT THE “INADVERTENT” BURNING OF SOME KORANS.

(Salon)

News coverage tends to marginalize as religious fanaticism the grievances of Afghans against the United States, covering the fact that the U.S. is perceived as an invader of their country and that it is their duty of loyalty to their country to practice jihadic acts against the invader. The lame “apologies” and unfulfilled promises of punishment of those who perpetrate atrocities like the urination on dead Afghan bodies issued by American authorities are no substitute for the rock-bottom fact that the “best behavior” of American soldiers in the area would not cure the fact that they occupy the country as invaders.

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ENVIRONMENTALISTS SEEMINGLY CAN’T WIN FOR LOSING ON THE KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE ISSUE.

(Common Dreams)

Last month they were celebrating a “victory” in Obama’s rejection of TransCanada’s plan for a pipeline from Canadian oil tar sands to refineries on the Gulf coast. Now it becomes clear what skeptics of that victory said at the time: that the Obama administration was apparently simply buying some time by allowing the company to “appeal” with a more acceptable plan. The outlines of their plan (or their wily scheme) are becoming more clear as TransCanada now says it will proceed with a pipeline from western Oklahoma to the Texas Gulf coast (without a permit) and apply again for a cross-border permit for the northern section of the pipeline, and a White House spokesman indicates likely administration approval. This is a maneuver that even Bill McKibben of 350.org, one of the chief celebrants of last month’s “victory,” sees as an ultimate cave-in to oil interests to the detriment of the environment.

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EXTREMELY DRAMATIC AND INCREDIBLY COMPLACENT: A CONTRARIAN VIEW OF STEPHEN DALDRY’S NEW MOVIE.

(World Socialist)

In this season of the Oscar, Joanne Laurier undertakes a review of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close to note how the trauma of 9/11 is used as the pretext for a movie that is profoundly unquestioning about that event while it focuses on the Katie Couric “how does that make you feel?” style of coverage of disastrous events. For all its dramatic virtues, which are formidable, especially in the child lead actor, the film seems to contribute to the prolongation of the “un-closured” sense of grief and need for revenge. Laurier finds some support for this view in the fact that the International Olympic Committee has already chosen Daldry to executive produce the ceremonials for the already-controversial 2012 Olympic games in London.

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I’M YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK BUT DON’T HAVE A JOB. SO WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?

(Raleigh News-Observer)

Chancellor of North Carolina Central University in Durham, the nation’s first “public liberal arts college” for African-Americans, has an answer for you. It’s about wearing a tie, son! Many of the male students of this college grew up without a daddy in the household, or at least one who wore a tie to work. The University seeks to remedy this by holding its version of a jobs fair in which the Chancellor himself shows bemused under-graduates how to tie a tie.

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WHAT CAN SAME-SEX COUPLES NOT DO IN FLORIDA THAT HETEROSEXUAL ONES CAN? FILE A JOINT TAX RETURN, FOR ONE.

(South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

Even same-sex couples in long-term stable relationships and with children are not able to receive the tax advantages of joint filing. Even though they might be legally married in another state, their union would not be recognized in Florida under the provisions of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and Amendment 2 to Florida’s constitution. Even cohabitating heterosexual couples have this option if they decide it is financially advantageous for them to marry.

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Quote of the day…

Transcanada’s decision to build its pipe from Oklahoma to Texas is a nifty excuse to steal some land by eminent domain. It doesn’t increase tar sands mining because there’s still no pipe across the Canadian border, but it’s the usual ugly power grab and land grab by the fossil fuel industry — we’ll do what we can to stand by our allies in that arid and beautiful land.

Bill McKibben, on effort to continue plans for oil pipe line from Alberta oil tar sands to refineries in south Texas.

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