Man, I’m going to have to start getting into Beck again

(via Offworld)

Well, this is a first for me…

I just got locked out of making any new comments on an  anti-Chavez post on Boing Boing. I was told I wasn’t linking to enough ‘reputable news sources’ to support my arguments. That is true–I wasn’t. I didn’t realise I had to. Instead, I suggested that everyone watch the incredible documentary on the 2002 coup in Venezuela,  ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’.

I always feel that this is a good place to start with any discussion on Chavez as it shows very clearly the motives and tactics of those lined up against him, and so helps balance the narrative coming from various ‘reputable news sources’ (essentially… he’s an evil dictator, despite such non-evil-dictator-type behaviour as conducting fair elections and winning them).

My last few posts, the ones which presumably angered the moderator the most, offered a deal.

“Why do you expect me to spend my time tracking down news stories that support my argument, when you don’t want to spend seventy-five minutes of your time watching an excellent documentary that was filmed from inside the 2002 coup? And why have you decided that the documentary is not reputable?

How about this…I’ll go Google ‘Chavez’ and find a few dozen things that support my argument (you could do this yourself, but never mind) if you watch the doc.”
Well, time is tight in the world of  internet discussion groups, and the moderator banned me instead. I include the link here again in case any of you haven’t seen this  thrilling film and can spare the whole hour and fifteen minutes it takes to watch it.

‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

(Update: Got a nice surprise today–a very kind e-mail from Cory Doctorow, saying that he didn’t think what happened to me was “fair or appropriate”. Xeni, too, wrote to patch things up. She disagrees with the content of my posts, but she also didn’t think I should have been blocked. Apart from the joy of being visited by two of the actual Elders of The Internet, I’m grateful they took the time to respond in such a gracious way.)

Lunch bags in hell!

This guy posted about doing art lunchbags for his kids, which is very sweet and one of the great things about the internet–that every so often it brings to light the ingenuity and thoughtfulness of some people… things you’d otherwise never have heard about.

That said, I wouldn’t actually have posted a link to it had I not noticed this totally awsome thing. The ad that I had to click to get into the site accidentally looks like a Jack Chick cover and is therefore a little disturbing!

For those of you who haven’t had a jack Chick tract fall into your lap when you opened a comic, here’s a taste (warning! He’s insane!).

I nominate this as a possible meme! Innocent things as Jack Chick covers!