It's safe to say there are mixed feelings about Thomas Friedman among this blog's contributors.
His advocacy on the Iraq War was and is risible. His cheerleaderly, monochrome enthusiasm for globalization maddens (how come pundits never talk about outsourcing punditry?). And his chipper, un-self conscious cheesiness can occasionally cause even a pacifist like me to want to physically strike him.
But.
Watch this video, where he explains the green thing to Tim Russert:
That, friends, is a state-of-the-art piece of 21st century communicating. It may not be as thoughtful and nuanced as wonks like me would like. But it is absolutely, exquisitely suited to our current media environment. He picks the right talking points -- security, competitiveness, strength -- and reels off a perfectly composed raft of fine-tuned soundbites for each.
It can sound false and programmed to some ears, but it is effective. It speaks directly to mainstream ears in a mainstream voice.
In short, despite his irksome flaws, it is a blessing for greens that Friedman is on our side. His mustache fu is strong.
(via ecogeek)
Slideshow: Our favorite green mustaches
Tom Friedman chats with Grist about the green challenge and globalization
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Kif Scheuer Posted 6:06 am
11 Dec 2006
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JMG Posted 6:16 am
11 Dec 2006
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE - The rush of job recruiting ads on Monsterindia.com tells the story of the latest class of workers to watch their trade start migrating to another continent. "Urgent requirement for business writers," reads one ad looking for journalists to locate in Mumbai. "Should be willing to work in night shifts (UK shift)."
Another casts for English-speaking journalists in Bangalore with "experience in editing and writing for US/International Media.". . .
Remote-control journalism is the scornful term that unions use for the shift of newspaper jobs to low-cost countries like India or Singapore with fiber-optic connections transmitting information all around the world. But the momentum for "offshoring" to other countries or outsourcing locally is accelerating as newspapers small and large seek ways to reduce costs in the face of severe stresses, from sagging circulation and advertising revenue to shareholder pressure. . .
WAN, a Paris-based organization representing 72 national newspaper associations, conducted a global survey of about 350 newspapers in Europe, Asia and the United States, and company executives reported that they expected the outsourcing to increase, although few were willing to farm out all of their editorial functions.
Since then, the memos have been churning: The Columbus Dispatch in Ohio announced its intentions to shed 90 graphic design jobs and ship out the work to Affinity Express in Pune, India. The Contra Costa Times, a California newspaper newly acquired by Media News Group in the breakup of Knight Ridder, revealed plans to shift ad production positions to Express KCS in India, which bills itself as the "world's media back office."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/19/business/outsource...
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randino Posted 10:25 am
11 Dec 2006
The Mustache is first and foremost a full throated unabashed believer in the Market God. In this respect he is a throw back to the common sense of the Gilded Age. He seems utterly incapable of seeing any flaw in the world run by corporations and fundamentalist free market ideology. He has utter contempt for anyone who does not see the self-evident benevolence of corporations uber alles. If you dissent, you are either on the pay roll, or you are a fellow traveller of petrol authoritarianism. But, he is a brillant representative of the current corporate bedazzled common sense. Our time deserves him.
It is a common sense that has been seducing a lot of the environmental movement I am afraid. When I was a child, a favorite song from Peter Pan, was "never smile at a crocodile." I think the modern corporations are the crocodile, and we forsake our critical attitude towards them at our peril.
Appauld the Mustache when he deserves it. But let us not forget for a moment where he is coming from. A place many of us, for very good reasons, have a lot of problems with.
randino.
Randy Cunningham
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greendreams Posted 9:11 am
12 Dec 2006
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