Comments | nausicaa1: Working, Playing

nausicaa1

Working, Playing

Nov 09, 2008 23:45

I think I've finally got my topic for that American Government paper nailed down: "The War on Terror: the Frothy Shitpile of Propaganda, Jingoism, and Warmongering or Why the Rest of the World Hates Us". I've been digging through the online school library for citable research materials and coming up with very little so I decided to wing it doing ( Read more... )

Comments 7

firstashore November 10 2008, 07:42:45 UTC

It's fine to use Google as long as you use it to find reputable sources. Just remember that NYT and CNN are fine in moderation but you don't want to cite ONLY news sources. If you really want to impress the prof use sources like The Brookings Institution. They publish proper academic-grade reports.

Here is a really good one:
http://www.brookings.edu/saban/iraq-index.aspx

It is a monthly (or weekly) update of events in Iraq.

A lot of news organisations also cite www.icasualties.org/oif for information on Coalition casualties in Iraq and www.icasualties.org/oef for Afghanistan.

Something in your introduction like:

As of 1 November 2008, 4190 US military personnel have died in the Iraq War1

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1. Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, http://www.icasualties.org/oif

Now THAT will give him an academic hardon.

nausicaa1 November 10 2008, 15:13:10 UTC

Thanks man! You are so awesome! *big hugs and kisses* I'm gonna mine the shit out of all that.

My stupid little community college library and its web affiliates leave a lot to be desired.

hatter_anon November 10 2008, 09:41:35 UTC

I'm reading a book at the moment called 'Why Do People Hate America' by Ziauddin Sardar and Merryl Wyn Davies. It's quite a thoughtful look at American dominance in the world and the attitude of the rest of the world to America covering politics and pop culture. Might be worth looking for?

nausicaa1 November 10 2008, 15:15:16 UTC

I'll go look for it. Sounds like an interesting read. Honestly with all my news junkie ways, I feel like I should know all this stuff.

hatter_anon November 12 2008, 03:40:15 UTC

I saw Ziauddin Sardar speak at the 'Festival of Ideas' not long after the book came out, but it's taken me this long to get around to reading it. He's an interesting guy and I really enjoy the way he and Davies give as much air time to the pop culture as to the politics, with the argument that this is people's 'lived experience' and contributes significantly to how we view the world around us.

existential70 November 11 2008, 17:39:26 UTC

If you want a little-- well, maybe alot-- deeper analysis, try The Clash of Fundamentalisms by Tariq Ali, and either 9/11 or Hegemony and Survival by Noam Chomsky. The first two were written fairly early in the war, pre-Iraq, I think, but they're pretty good about laying out the stakes of what was going to happen. Likewise with Precarious Life by Judith Butler, which is insanely readable for a philosopher. In fact, painfully so-- at times it sounds like she's trying to explain things to a 5-year old ( ... )

nausicaa1 November 12 2008, 02:44:10 UTC

Dude. I love you. Reserved copies of all of them from the library. Even if I don't get through reading all of them by the end of the month, all these recommendations sound fascinating. I like where Agamben is heading with those parallels, though maybe not so much where the parallels are heading.

Come on Barack. I got my rally cap on upside down, fingers and toes crossed, and that sick feeling in my gut that I get when it dawns on me I could win the game if I don't fuck up. Close that fucker down, leave no stone on another, and salt the earth.