Our Leading Authority on Communication Politics, Jul 19 2004

McChesney is also an outstanding political scientist, as he competently analyzes all sides of communications politics, from America's long-standing democratic traditions to our current ruinous domination by neoliberalism (economics) and neoconservatism (politics). One of this book's most fascinating chapters analyzes the highly troublesome hijacking of the First Amendment by the media conglomerates. Note that this particular book was published in 1999, so the chapter on the possibilities of the internet for democratic communications has become outdated (though McChesney's cynical attitude toward those possibilities has sadly become true). However, the underlying strength of McChesney's work is his focus on the structural issues behind the modern media and their very worrisome effects on public knowledge and democracy. Note that the "structuralist" arguments make up a portion of this volume, but have since been expanded in a hugely illuminating way in McChesney's exceptional 2004 release "The Problem of the Media." [~doomsdayer520~]

One Step Away from Trashrock Greatness, Jul 17 2004

Unfortunately, Velvet Revolver is unlikely to achieve true immortal greatness, and that's because they decided to hire the wrong singer. Sure the band members are all good friends and support each other, but Scott Weiland is the weakest link by far. He no longer has the excuse of an incompetent band behind him, so his mediocrity sticks out all the more. He has always been one of rock's most overrated and inconsistent singers, as he still can't decide which grunge or classic rock vocalist he's trying to impersonate from verse to verse. Hence we get little more than his old monotonous semi-rapping, off-key yelling, and derivative blues-isms. And on this album's three ballads, Weiland isn't even remotely believable as a sensitive and emotional guy, dragging those tracks down into ruinous sappiness. Velvet Revolver has very nearly returned us to the greatest days of hard trashy rock, but their choice of singer is quite disappointing.

(Note that this review deals exclusively with the album's music, not with the inability of crybaby teenagers to illegally rip MP3's.) [~doomsdayer520~]

Uber-Execucrats Get Stomped, Jul 16 2004

Bryce's cash-centric theories on the Enron downfall are open to scrutiny by financial experts, and could possibly be shot down, but that doesn't affect the quality of the book's condemnation of the Enron executives and the suffering they caused for employees and investors. Bryce has a wonderfully biting and sarcastic writing style that leads to some unexpected chuckles, with quips like "there's no sex in laying pipe," "Texas-sized sphincter," and my personal favorite "uber-execucrat" (referring in particular to Enron's purchased statesman Henry Kissinger). Bryce should probably take some heat for his treatment of the women in Enron's upper ranks who may have gotten to the top by less-than-wholesome means, especially Rebecca Mark, who nevertheless blew away a few billion dollars. Bryce is generally harsh in his portrayals of all the guilty executives - from the unscrupulous Fastow and the self-worshipping Jeff Skilling to the utterly incompetent Ken Lay. But these greedy plutocrats, who pocketed tens of millions for their personal fortunes while ruining the lives of thousands of employees and sticking investors with billions in losses, deserve harsh treatment. That's just the beginning of the punishment they deserve. (...)

Swinging in All Directions, Jul 13 2004

What's unique about this book is that Huffington usually (though not always) succeeds in saving us from yet another partisan whinefest, and she has plenty of vitriol for everyone. Here we have not the usual left vs. right arguments, but down-to-Earth insights for the mass public vs. the privileged few. The "Fanatics" of the book's title are the elite establishment Republicans that Huffington used to party with, especially the current administration, who by relentlessly controlling social thought, have miraculously convinced the public that they actually represent regular people rather than just the mega-rich and corporate campaign contributors. Meanwhile the "Fools" of the title are the Democrats that Huffington now supports in principle, but are too wishy-washy to be anything other than watered-down Republicans.

Great column-sized vignettes outlining the sheer ridiculousness of the Bush Administration's policies make up about three quarters of the book, with Huffington's outstanding insights into the severe hypocrisy and lying involved, plus the real-world consequences. However, the tail end of the book is problematic as Huffington outlines what the Democrats can do to fix the situation. Her recommendations are correct and aligned with the great strengths of both the Democrats and the American people. However, her writing on this subject disregards short-term political realities and tends toward the idealism of a wishful, though certainly good, speechwriter - which appears to be Huffington's next career goal. [~doomsdayer520~]

Critical but Uneven Manifesto on the Corporate Media, Jul 8 2004

This powerful manifesto by Bagdikian sometimes suffers from a lack of focus. One frequent weakness is his tendency to opinionate on the social issues he uses as examples of poor mainstream media coverage. Examples include homelessness and smoking, in which Bagdikian forgets his analysis of media control issues and embarks on long expostulations of his own personal politics. A more general issue is his tendency to drift into political science as applied to modern corporate conservatism and crony capitalism. These are subjects in which Bagdikian is certainly proficient, and they are the root causes of the horrific state of American media. However, Bagdikian frequently drifts from useful media analysis to occasionally cranky political tirades that detract from the focus and power of the book's main points.

And even though this is a completely new edition, much of the text has still been copied verbatim from the old versions of the original book, leading to odd appearances of stories and examples from the 1960s and 70s, some of which have little modern relevance. The new chapter on the internet gives the impression that Bagdikian is barely familiar with that realm, as he gives remedial introductions to concepts that most of us are long familiar with. Other writers and analysts have now taken the issue of corporate media control and produced outstanding treatises that surpass Bagdikian's groundbreaking work (I especially recommend Robert W. McChesney). However, Bagdikian is still the originator and when he's focused, his insights into the social and political damage wrought by our corporate media are still powerful and prescient. [~doomsdayer520~]

Fantasy by Numbers, Jul 6 2004

Build the story around a journey or quest to find some enchanted items like magic stones. Speaking of magic, throw that word around often but don't worry about describing it in too much detail. Add some other magic items, such as swords, that give power to those who know how to use them, but peril to others without that special inner strength. Give the people and places vaguely Celtic or Gothic names like Quentin Leah or Ryer Ord Star or Castledown. Add a bunch of elves and dwarves, and maybe a druid for good measure. Have the characters converse copiously about honor and courage and loyalty, preferably right in the middle of dangerous chases or battles. Show the good guys wracked with fear and indecision, only to dramatically realize their potential heroism in inspirational ways. Make your bad guys unquestionably evil monsters of alien races. And finally, write in the trilogy format, so instead of one large but focused book, you can crank out three inconclusive medium-sized books.

Sound familiar? Fantasy writers have done all this a gazillion times. So has Terry Brooks, and he does it again here without deviating from expectations. [~doomsdayer520~]

Poor Robert Still Can't Find Himself, Jul 4 2004

People have been making comparisons to various Cure albums of the past, but I feel that this one is most directly related to Wish from 1992, one of the albums that most convincingly integrated all of the band's strengths, from the sweet to the sinister. However, that great synergy is rather missing from this album. Robert is screaming and yelling more than he ever has, but his emotional impact tends to fall flat. He is hardly convincing as an angry young man in the excessively harsh "Us or Them," and his anguish sounds forced in the otherwise delightfully creepy "Labyrinth." Another misstep here is the fact that many of the songs are abnormally short for latter-day Cure and end abruptly, without embarking on the mesmerizing repetition and slow-burn movements that made Disintegration, Wish, and Bloodflowers so moving (the less said about Wild Mood Swings, the better).

However, the music here is still flawlessly executed, usually avoiding bombast and predictability, and furthering the band's sonic strengths while ignoring trends. The lineup of Smith-Gallup-Bamonte-Cooper-O'Donnell has now been intact for at least eight years (lo and behold, longer than any previous Cure roster) and their musical attack meshes perfectly and solidly with Robert's dark outlook. It's no longer necessary for Robert and the Cure to prove themselves as masters of their own unique vision. This album does not disappoint too much in that regard, but they seem to have forgotten that breaking new ground has always been one of their greatest strengths too. [~doomsdayer520~]