AP (via GoUpstate.com):

U.N. to Discuss Reconstruction in Iraq.

New Iraqi Government May Take 6 Months.

Joi Ito questions the panic around SARS.

I have to say, I am perplexed also. It seems to me that 79 people worldwide is hardly something to get worked up about - maybe the threat of “biological weapons” and nasty viruses has our danger sensors on high alert?

Bit of perspective - UNICEF estimates that 12 million people die each year from malnutrition, poor water or other preventable causes. That’s 32876 people dying each day! But it won’t affect us here in the developed world, no-sir-eee. So we’re more worried about the 79 people that have died of SARS so far.

I have friends whose parents are sending them gloves and masks to travel home because they’re passing through Singapore. The airports here in Australia are setting up quarantine procedures and publicising them on TV.

I just don’t get it…

Today I noticed that the Iraqi civilian casulaties have exceeded 1000. On the same day AP (via GoUpstate.com) reports that the coalition force death estimate is 107 (or roughly 10%). There seems to be no estimates on the number of Iraqi troops that have died.

Update: AP (via GoUpstate.com) reports Up to 3,000 Iraqis Said Killed in Baghdad. Not a full total estimate, but indicative (if you believe U.S. Central Command that is).

A Hawk Explains the War to a Dove [Via Anita Roddick]

Practice to Deceive (Joshua Marshall)

Another commentator who is looking further than oil as the motivation of the U.S. led war on Iraq. I spoke today in class about this view of the war, that it is a long-term plan to bring democratic, pro-Western governments into power in the middle-east. It is an interesting theory.

John Robb: ” If I was Saddam, I would be paying top $$ not for weapons of mass destruction but for urban warfare experts from Chechnya”

Powell: “We are still examining the proper role for the United Nations.” (Source: AP via GoUpstate.com”)

AP (via GoUpstate.com): Study: TV War Reports Lack Perspective.

Tony today pretty much said the same thing - that the embedded reports can be good and bad, but on the whole, a massive improvement over the coverage allowed of previous conflicts.

An article on the Online Journalism Review about the Kevin Sites’ Blog saga. Doesn’t really make a point, just gives some good background.

As an aside, I went to a public presentation at UTS today on media coverage of the war, and Tony Vermeer (Managing Editor of AAP). He mentioned weblogs as one of many sources that journalists are using in gathering news. It caught me off guard having someone such as Tony throwing the word “blog” into the discussion.

Cafepress.com turns the propaganda around, so you can wear it on a shirt? [Via Dean]