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Campaign '04 Photo June 30, 2004

Leading Photos: We’ve Got To Stop Meeting Like This

It seems the NYTimes is on a roll with it’s front page photos of the Iraqi transition. In this shot, new American Ambassador John Negroponte presents himself to the new Iraqi President and Foreign Minister. As the saying goes, there’s enough distance between the parties to drive a truck...

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Colin’s Break or Break Opportunity (or: “Help! I’m a Prisoner in the Pottery Barn!”)

(On the mirror in the private bathroom inside the Secretary of State’s office) One of the most significant things that came out of Bob Woodward’s book was “the Pottery Barn rule.” Specifically, Colin Powell is cited as having told President Bush that, if he sent troops into Iraq, he...

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Latest BAGnews Cartoon: Let Freedom Ring!

send this cartoon to a friend! If there was a greater distinction between globalization and corporatization, I would probably be happy to call myself a globalist. Unfortunately, the western model of the nation state has become pretty much synonymous with (or, subservient to) the corporate state. This is one...

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Campaign '04 Photo June 29, 2004

Leading Photos: Not Ready for Prime Time?

I couldn’t help featuring this image of the new Iraqi leadership. With the surprise, early (one might say “hasty”) announcement of the transfer of power, these folks got a lot of play in this morning’s papers. However, few images were as unceremonial and disconcerting and this one in the...

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Photo June 28, 2004

A Real Bombshell

A Utah artist has won a legal battle with the Mattel Corporation over the right to use Barbie for the purpose of artistic expression. The artist, Tom Forsythe, has created images of Barbie in suggestive poses and in various compromised situations, such as posing in a blender or spinning...

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Political Orbits: Looking Bad in the Shadow AND in the Light

Two weeks ago, the conventional wisdom was that the Clinton book tour would overshadow the Kerry campaign. What played out, instead, was a very effective promo tour carefully scripted to undermine President Bush in the most high minded and genial way. And, with the Fahrenheit 9/11 factor in play,...

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Campaign '04 Photo

Lead Photos: The Hand that Rocks the Hand Over

Although we’re rapidly becoming familiar with hostage photos, the specific content of one is always unique from another. Also, the selection of one specific shot over another or the specific composition of the shot will also carry particular associations. How would you read the political subtext of this lead...

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Uncategorized Photo June 27, 2004

Israeli Soldiers: There’s Shooting and There’s Shooting

One of the themes I’ve been tracking for the past few months is the “unofficial” circulation of wartime images. Although there have been many unofficial photos and video journals posted by and from soldiers over the past couple years, Abu Ghraib has brought the practice into sharper focus. The...

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White House Still Working Out “Torture” Definition

In the past few weeks, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the administration’s definition of torture. The law recognizes torture as the infliction of “severe physical or mental pain or suffering.” However, Jay S. Bybee, then a government lawyer, established in an August 2002 memorandum that only...

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Photo June 26, 2004

Pluck Of The Irish: Bush Faces Real Interviewer…For A Change

Can you name the one journalist in the world who has been able to publicly go toe-to-toe with President Bush over the war on Iraq?  Her name is Carole Coleman and she’s a correspondent for RTE, the Irish television network.  In a lead-up to Bush’s visit to Ireland earlier...

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No Education Disaster Left Behind

Who made the biggest expenditure on political ads this month? It’s a group called Communities for Quality Education. CQE bills itself as a national education advocacy organization dedicated to advancing a quality public schools agenda. They are going after President Bush in several key states to educate the public...

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Photo June 25, 2004

EPA Commercials Short Circuit

We know the White House and the Environmental Protection Agency have a total disregard for auto emission and fuel efficiency issues. It’s pretty bad, however, when they actually flaunt the attitude in a public service announcement. The NYTimes reported today that EPA’s Energy Star group (responsible for encouraging home...

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Photo June 24, 2004

Big Day Approaches

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Campaign '04 Photo

Leading Photos: Superior Fighting Machine

This lead photo from Monday’s New York Times has been on my mind for a few days now. The caption reads: Sgt. Luke Wilson, who lost a leg in Iraq, walks with a device known as a C-leg while technicians use a computer to monitor it at Walter Reed...

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Bush’s Monica Moment

Yes, it has been a year since memoryhole posted video documentation of how Bush reacted (or failed to react) to the news of the 9/11 attacks. In what is often referred to as the “first pass of history,” however, the country is only now beginning to fit the facts...

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Photo June 22, 2004

Terror Scorecard

This comment was originally posted on dkos under Tuesday’s entry titled “Decapitation.” It was authored by “theboz.” Too many people mistakenly think that al Qaeda is trying to scare us or get us to back down.  They know that won’t happen, and so they try to provoke us.  They...

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Baghdad Freestyle

Michael Tucker, who had two stays in Iraq and was embedded during the second trip, is making a film about the war. His site, Gunnerpalace.com, is part journal, part overview of the project. What’s particularly nice are two video clips he shot. One involves a soldier playing a Hendrix-style...

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