London Times war correspondent Christina Lamb is called a ‘unilateral’ journalist because she she is not “embedded”. Her interview on Irish Radio starts at 1 hr 16 min and runs until 1:29

(Link broken)

A California Congressman has drafted a law that would require postwar Iraq use the CDMA cell phone standard. The bill would benefit Qualcomm corporation, whose headquarters are in his district and set the tone for Iraq’s post war reconstruction.

Darrell Issa demagogues for his cause by calling the competion (GSM) an “outdated French standard”. The important question to ask is not what an American Congressman wants, but what is in the best interests of Iraq.

GSM already has 60 million customers in the region and coverage in:

• Kuwait
• Jordan
• Israel
• Turkey
• Saudi Arabia
• Egypt
• Syria
• Iran

America is not likely to gain new friends in the region if exhiles and visitors to Iraq need to purchase new dual chip cell phones.

Related

• Darell Issa’s Letter: Parlez-vous francais?
• Congressional Lawmakers Balk At Plan To Deploy French/German Cell Phone Technology In Post-War Iraq

GSM’s response

• The Guardian: Battle over Iraqi mobile network begins Internet
• News: CDMA Pushed on Postwar Iraq News.com: Legislator makes call for Qualcomm
• Salon: To the victor go the spoils
• Wall Street Journal: Lawmaker Wants Postwar Iraq To Use Qualcomm Technology, by Jesse Drucker
• Reuters: Lawmaker Urges U.S. Wireless Standard for Iraq Slashdot: CDMA vs. GSM in Post-war Iraq
• Computer World: Citing antiwar views in Europe, U.S. lawmaker pushes CDMA technology

 

Update

U.S. push for CDMA standard rebuffed

I never knew that Fred Roger’s testimony was quoted in the Supreme Court Case which legalized the VCR:

.. Very frankly, I am opposed to people being programmed by others. My whole approach in broadcasting has always been “You are an important person just the way you are. You can make healthy decisions.” Maybe I’m going on too long but I just feel that anything that allows a person to be more active in the control of his or her life, in a healthy way, is important.

Full Story: We’ll Miss You Mr. Rogers in New York Lawyer via Martin Schwimmer and Ernie the Attorney

A lot of media is packaged into a fear-response format. The “consumer alert” is one instance of this theme that the government seems to have followed with their ready.gov web site.

Maciej Ceglowski has the remix.