In continuing our discussion of the First Amendment, the human tendency to want to censor, the Chomsky thesis, the recent role of the U.S. government and media, and the somewhat more overt approach of some other countries to media control, please take a look at the following Web site in general, and the indicated stories in particular.

The site's URL is

http://www.cursor.org/aljazeera.htm

(NOTE: I have no idea who "Cursor" is, except that, according to http://www.cursor.org/wordtothewise.htm, (a 501(c)(3) appeal for funds) s/he is working out of Room 707 at 420 North 5th Street in Minneapolis.) Cursor's main Web site URL is http://www.cursor.org/toc.htm. It contains a quite formidable collection of links and information you may find of general interest at this time; but only what's noted below is actually assigned.

ALSO NOTE: Although obvious, let me make expressly clear that the reason for looking at these stories is not to search for "the facts," or "the truth," regarding the subjects about which they report. It is not because we are going to try to come to a collective judgment as to whether Al Jazeera represents outright propaganda and nothing more, or whether it is offering a courageous and uniquely balanced view of Middle East events. Nor is it to debate what the UN Security Council, or Bush Administration, is about to do -- or ought to do -- militarily. We are simply looking at the role of the media, and various governments' responses to that role, as a part of our exploration of the First Amendment, the balance between free speech and "censorship" in our own country, and how other countries' legal systems approach these issues.)

At the www.cursor.org/aljazeera.htm site scroll down to the following headlines and brief paragraph summaries. (Each also links to the full story elsewhere, if you'd like to read it in full; but for the most part the one-sentence, or one-paragraph summaries make the point adequately for our discussion.)

Jordan Recalls Ambassador Over Al-Jazeera Broadcast
Al-Jazeera Returns to Iraq
Al-Jazeera Offends Saudi Arabia Again
Israeli TV Ban
Bahrain Bans Al Jazeera TV
America's Latest Air Campaign: Broadcasting For Peace In The Middle East

[This link goes to a column by Arianna Huffington. Some quotes: "If we're going to win the information war we'd better use all of the weapons at our disposal, especially the media megatonnage that has globalized American culture. . . . This effort is all the more important in light of the phenomenal popularity of Al-Jazeera, the inflammatory -- and increasingly influential -- Arabic news channel. . . . When it comes to substance, Al-Jazeera shamelessly plays to the nastiest corner on the Arab street, offering a frighteningly familiar -- and toxic -- mix of virulent anti-Americanism and unrelenting anti-Semitism."]

What's Heard in the Street Is Spread by Satellite
Sharon's Al-Jazeera Interview Cancelled at Last Minute
Mass Media Can Battle Mass Destruction
A War Waged With Missiles of Misinformation
Cheney Warned Al-Jazeera About bin Laden Tapes
Prince Abdullah Vents Fury at Al-Jazeera
America's Latest Fear: bin Laden On Al-Jazeera
Transmissions of Al-Jazeera Fade Away
U.S. Plans TV Station to Rival Al-Jazeera
How Smart Was This Bomb?
What the Muslim World Is Watching
Al-Jazeera Accuses U.S. of Bombing Its Kabul Office
Al-Jazeera Correspondent Released in Texas
U.S. Bombs Hit Kabul TV Station
Al-Jazeera Kabul Offices Hit in U.S. Raid