Jews around the world atone tomorrow, pausing to mark Yom Kippur. There seem to be many who should consider joining them.

KARMA CENTRAL: “”WE THINK THE PRICE IS WORTH IT”"

•Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s might reflect on, and atone for, a comment she made to reporter Lesley Stahl’s on CBS’s “”60 Minutes”" on May 12, 1996 in light of the many suggestions in media outlets overseas that the attack on The World Trade Center may itself have been a retaliation for the deaths of children in Iraq by the demented madmen who pulled it off. Writing in ZNET, veteran media analyst Ed Herman reminds readers of this exchange:

Stahl: “”We have heard that a half a million children have died [becauseof sanctions against Iraq]. I mean that’s more children than died inHiroshima. And–you know, is the price worth it?”"

Albright: “”I think this is a very hard choice, but the price–we thinkthe price is worth it.”"

Comments Herman: In this case, however, although the numbers dead are mind- boggling–the ratio of dead Iraqi children to deaths in the WTC/Pentagon bombings was better than 80 to 1, using the now obsolete early 1996 number for Iraqi children–the mainstream media and intellectuals have not foundAlbright’s rationalization of this mass killing of any interestwhatsoever. The phrase has been only rarely cited in the mainstream, andthere has been no indignation or suggestion that the mass killing ofchildren in order to satisfy some policy end was immoral and outrageous.”"

I am not sure if this parallel applies, nor am I comfortable with the implicit suggestion that the US and its people deserved what happened because of past crimes and/or misguided US government policies. Those policies and what happened in New York can both be condemned. At the recent recording session for the pro-tolerance “”WE ARE FAMILY”" record that I described in an earlier column, I overhead one well known recording star telling an Italian TV station, when asked why it happened, he blames it on “”30 years of bad leadership.”" I wouldn’t disagree, although it may go back longer than that. Whatever your politics, the point seems clear that we do need more historical context in news coverage. Speaking of which….

FROM INDIA–A FASCINATING STORY

The Times of India carries an account of the Osama’s early days in a town called FALUN in Sweden (not Falun Gong, just Falun) and weaves into it a Bush-Bin Laden connection that seems to suggest that everyone in this world is connected (or at least there are seems fewer than six degrees of separation.) I haven’t seen this accouunt in the US Press of the 1971 Swedish photo this column begins with:

“”The photograph, which appeared in several British tabloids on Monday, accompanies media revelations that not only was the young Bin Laden fairly Westernised before he embraced Islamist radicalism, he also had a close family link with American President George W. Bush.

“”According to The Daily Mail newspaper, Salem, the eldest of Bin Laden’s 55 brothers and sisters, invested heavily in Bush’s first business venture, Arbusto Energy.

“”The paper said that Salem, who died in a plane crash in 1983, became Bush’s business partner through James Bath, a close friend of the future American president.

“”Salem, says the paper, appointed Bath as his representative in Houston, Texas. It was Bath who invested 50,000 dollars in Bush’s company and also bought Houston Gulf Airport on behalf of Osama’s elder brother.

“”The paper said a White House spokesman was unavailable for comment on the subject on Sunday night.

“”The Swedish owner of the hotel Osama Bin Laden stayed at all those years ago, is quoted to say “”they (Osama and Salem) were such nice boys, beautiful boys, so elegantly dressed. Everybody loved them”". For more click below.

Musician Polarty l has called on all musicians to share their comments on whats happening now with him on the new site PopCULT (www.polarity1.com) which will soon be joined to the mediachannel as our popular culture connection. He wrote to me about a correspondence he has been having with a Pakistani band called JUNDON which is speaking out for peace. Click below to read his exhange. Jondon will be in New York October 27 doing a fund raiser. Here’s an annoucement for our readers here in our jittery town.

JUNDON FOR PEACE

“”Jundon, will perform a benefit concert for peace at the IndoCenter gallery in New York on Saturday, October 27. The performance will be recorded and subsequently released as a television special for a global audience.

“”By putting on this show we hope to send a strong message to the entire world that the terrorists who destroyed the World Trade Center on September 11 spoke neither for Islam nor for the peoples of the Middle East and South Asia. As South Asian Muslim celebrities who have always spoken out for peace and justice, the members of Junoon are uniquely qualified to convey this message.

“”New York Times popular music critic Jon Pareles has described Junoon as “”something like the U2 of Pakistan.”" Q Magazine calls them “”one of the biggest bands in the world.”" The band’s musical style, which blends Western rock with the devotional qawali music of northern India, speaks powerfully to both American and South Asian audiences.”"

RESPONSES TO MY COLUMNS AND MEDIACHANNEL.ORG

Jeff Chester of he Center for Media Education in Washington, and one best informed media policy wonk/activists writes on my NEWS DISSECTOR column posted today: “”Thanks for your piece, and the great work of mediachannel.org There is absolutely a connection between the coverage and the dereg. effort. The media industries are now suggesting that they have lost so much money, through the commercial-free coverage of 73 hours and the advertising downturn, that they quickly need deregulation. This, they argue, will help to stimulate an important economic sector. Indeed, an emerging deal on media deregulation is likely the Bush quid pro quo for continued TV network support of the war fever.”"

Perhaps the most bizarre comment on mediachannel was sent to me by a reader who advises that we are now being denounced in some circles as “”right wing nuts who support corporate media.”" Don’t you just love it? The reason? Our debunking of the false rumor that CNN was showing l991 footage of Palestinians celebrating the bombing of the World Trade Center. The accusation was not true–but nevermind, in some circles, challenging conspiracy kaka leads to polemical put downs.

Now, that is really nuts!”