Media Coverage

of what has been termed the "2006 Israel-Lebanon War," a little to grandiose a description for my tastes.

The Hartford Courant and the CBS evening news have been the primary sources for my information on the incursion, and the difference in coverage was not all that surprising. The Courant has shown a remarkably even-handed approach to the conflict, devoting entire articles to the suffering of the Lebanese people and the violence of the attacks. They also had articles on the rocket attacks on Haifa and northern Israel, as well as Israeli government statements, but those are always present in American coverage. CBS, however, was notably less balanced in coverage. The word "Hezbollah" only appeared as an adjective for the word "terrorists" during the broadcasts, and the vast majority (85-90%) of the coverage from Lebanon focused on the fleeing foriegners, especially Americans. There would be a fifteen second spot showing a group of bombed-out "Hezbollah terrorist centers"/apartment buildings, then a ten minute piece on the rocket attacks on Haifa. I don't mean to discount and dismiss the suffering of Israeli civilians, but the proportion of death and destruction between the two sides is tremendous. There is nearly a 20:1 ratio of Lebanese civilian deaths to Israeli civilian deaths, and the humanitarian crisis caused by the constant air bombardment makes it extremely difficult to treat the thousands of wounded.

By the end of the week, however, CBS began to do more stories on the toll on Lebanese civilians, and by today Bob Schieffer had replaced "terrorists" with more neutral words like "militants" or "fighters." They even covered the Israeli bombing of Red Cross convoys, and their subsequent refusal to guarantee the safety of such groups, which has been going on throughout the conflict but was not noted until today.

The importance of balanced and truthful coverage on the part of the media cannot be understated. The American government is refusing to force the Israelis to stop the bombardment and accept a ceasefire, instead making vague calls to "limit civilian casualties" that, from the daily tolls, seems to have not been heeded. Most of the rest of the world wants a ceasefire with the intent to stop hostilities and insert a peacekeeping force so the sides can get together and hash out a more permanent agreement (even Syria has called for such action), but the Bush administration refuses to apply any pressure on Israel to accept. Without the proper information, the American people cannot understand the immense suffering of the people of Lebanon and call for an end to the invasion.

Dual CD Review: "The Eraser" and "Numbers"

Thom Yorke's solo album hasn't officially been released yet, but upon purchase at Amazon, one gets access to a digital copy of the album, so I've been listening to that. The 101's latest came in the mail today, so I've been listening to that. First time I've ever submitted track names to iTunes instead of vice-versa...

Alright, I'll start with The Eraser because I listed it first. The album is themed on global warming, which may worry some, since, you know, politics is preachy. But Radiohead has been doing it well for a good while, so it shouldn't surprise that the theming doesn't cause any problems.

Now, global warming is some pretty ominous stuff, and the album's tone fits it well. It's got that same sort of feeling-of-impending-doom-sound that I think made Hail To The Thief what it was. The music itself fits into the same vein as Kid A and Amnesiac. One of the problems with solo albums (in my opinion) is that they often are very narrow in musical variability (e.g. If you like acoustic guitar and 21-piece string sets, you'll like Return of The Frog Queen. If you don't, you won't). The Eraser covers a decent range - all within the same electronic-rock setup, of course - and avoids the "which song number am I on?" that usually is a bad sign.

Overall, it's a solid album. It probably won't make my "5 Best of 2006" list, but, hey, it's better than Mr Beast. I don't really have any complaints or admonishments, it's just not totally phenomenal. So...8.102517/10. -ish. Favorite song? I might have to go with "Analyze," the piano works very well. Plus, it perfects the doomism that drives the album.


Alright, so now Numbers. The first three songs are, quite flatly, amazing. I had to smile at the outro on the title track, which could've come right off of Stereo. I've always liked The 101 because it sounds like the 90's radio rock I grew up on. The 101 EP played like what the Goo Goo Dolls should've sounded like. Numbers is a bit more complex than either of the previous two albums, but it sticks to the same formula. If I had to assign a tone to the album, I'd say it sounded like a summer day, which is good, because that's what it was when I first listened to it. Maybe I was biased.

Tracks 4-9 sound similar to the middle tracks on Green Street. This isn't bad, because there's enough variety between the two sets and within them that it doesn't feel like you're listening to Green Street. The last two tracks are decent, but "Domino," the final track, fails to live up to the closers on the previous two albums. I mean, c'mon, "Regret" is amazing.

So, overall, despite the brief review that I did complain a lot in, it's probably their best album yet. The EP probably had more "whoa" per square minute, but it was a lot shorter too. Overall, a 8.3/10 and my favorite song would be "Numbers." It just is amazing.