Senin, 06 Juni 2005
Power Line: What's Happening in Afghanistan
Power Line: What's Happening in Afghanistan: "To me, the most exciting thing about the internet is how it empowers individuals. More than ever before, a single person can make a difference because his or her work can so easily be leveraged--viewed within a matter of hours by thousands or even millions of people around the world, with no need for media gatekeepers. If I had to offer one example of a single individual who has used the medium to make a difference, it would be Arthur Chrenkoff. He has devoted himself to collecting the under-reported news of progress in Iraq and Afghanistan and putting it out in the blogosphere; more recently, the Wall Street Journal's online edition has also been publishing Arthur's roundups.
Today's edition is on Afghanistan, and it is absolutely unbelievable. It seems just about book-length, and covers improvements in every phase of Afghan life. Reading it is a revelation. Arthur begins:
Over the last few weeks, Afghanistan has been in the news again--unfortunately, for all the wrong reasons. The media pack has made a brief reappearance in Afghanistan to report on carefully staged 'spontaneous' riots, which briefly erupted around the country, ostensibly in protest over a report in Newsweek (later retracted) about desecration of Koran by the American military personnel at Guantanamo Bay.
Sadly, in the rush of commentary about Afghanistan's slide into anarchy and America's deteriorating position in Kabul, most of the international media again missed or downplayed many other stories, some of them arguably far more consequential than an antigovernment rampage whipped up by opponents of President Hamid Karzai. Take this story:
A crowd of 600 Afghan clerics gathered in front of an historic mosque yesterday to strip the fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar of his claim to religious authority, in a ceremony that provided a significant boost to the presidency of Hamid Karzai.
The declaration, signed by 1,000 clerics from across the country, is an endorsement of the US-backed programme of reconciliation with more moderate elements of the Taliban movement that Karzai has been pursuing ahead of the country's first parliamentary elections, due in September.
You really have to read the whole thing to get an idea of the magnitude of the story that the press is missing in Afghanistan.
Posted by John at 10:39 AM"
Today's edition is on Afghanistan, and it is absolutely unbelievable. It seems just about book-length, and covers improvements in every phase of Afghan life. Reading it is a revelation. Arthur begins:
Over the last few weeks, Afghanistan has been in the news again--unfortunately, for all the wrong reasons. The media pack has made a brief reappearance in Afghanistan to report on carefully staged 'spontaneous' riots, which briefly erupted around the country, ostensibly in protest over a report in Newsweek (later retracted) about desecration of Koran by the American military personnel at Guantanamo Bay.
Sadly, in the rush of commentary about Afghanistan's slide into anarchy and America's deteriorating position in Kabul, most of the international media again missed or downplayed many other stories, some of them arguably far more consequential than an antigovernment rampage whipped up by opponents of President Hamid Karzai. Take this story:
A crowd of 600 Afghan clerics gathered in front of an historic mosque yesterday to strip the fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar of his claim to religious authority, in a ceremony that provided a significant boost to the presidency of Hamid Karzai.
The declaration, signed by 1,000 clerics from across the country, is an endorsement of the US-backed programme of reconciliation with more moderate elements of the Taliban movement that Karzai has been pursuing ahead of the country's first parliamentary elections, due in September.
You really have to read the whole thing to get an idea of the magnitude of the story that the press is missing in Afghanistan.
Posted by John at 10:39 AM"
Minggu, 05 Juni 2005
Sabtu, 04 Juni 2005
Power Line: Some perspective, please
Power Line: Some perspective, please: "One detainee tried to flush the Koran down the toilet; another ripped out some of its pages; another intentionally urinated on the book. But these cases aren't earth-shaking either. 'Earth-shaking' is when al Qaeda converts mosques into military outposts or kills believers as they attend religious services in mosques or other houses of worship."
Jumat, 03 Juni 2005
Gulag!!!!!!
Babalu Blog: Gulags: A Rant: "Be warned: foul language ahead.)
Somewhere in Cuba, there are prisoners of conscience, political prisoners, sitting in their excrement infested 3 foot by 6 foot completely enclosed cells rotting away for maybe owning a typewriter or for writing a poem or, far worse, for expressing their opinions.
They eat maggot filled slop maybe twice a day. Dont see the light of day and are tortured both physically and mentally in so many different ways that I, so far removed yet so read up on the subject, even have trouble imagining.
Some have their arms wrapped in refrigerator coils which are powered 24/7, rendering such pain that the use of their limbs is forever atrophied. Others have cables clamped to their testicles and the other ends connected to car batteries, destroying not only their bodies, but their manhood, or, if they be lucky enough to ever be released from their hell, their ability to create a family.
Others, yet still, in the darkness of their cells, lying there naked, are doused in powdery chemicals that irritate their skin, so much so that their entire bodies are bloody from their desperate attempts at scratching the incessant itching.
All are tortured mentally. Told daily that thier wives or sons or daughters have been arrested and lay in the same predicament as they. Your son, they say to them, the 12 year old, he is in prison with the general population. Es el buggarron de todos. Youre 12 year old boy is everyone's bitch.
They are prodded and poked. Beaten. Starved. Dehydrated. Bound. Gagged.
Some days they are led outside, completely naked and made to stand in line. One of the guard puts a piece of chewing gum on his bayonet and begins to poke the chest of the first one in line. After a few pokes the blade sneaks through the gum and begins to pierce the mans body, he winces from the pain and begins to step back. More poking, more stepping back. More poking, more stepping back until the men in line are crushed together, naked, dehumanized.
Some are lucky enough to be on the upper floors of their prison cell. Where when they defecate they dont have to worry about the shit falling from the cell above through the little hole in the slab above them. Some are unlucky enough to be on the ground floor, where the feces from the two or three other unfortunate souls above them flows through that little hole above and onto the cell's floor, covering it all, making it difficult to move. Difficult to breathe from the stench of accumulated waste.
That's what happens in the REAL GULAGS in Cuba. Where desperation and real torture and humiliation reign supreme. Where thousands upon thousands of men have endured that torture and humiliation for decades upon decades. Where thousands of men have died and the rest have been marked for life.
So dont come to me and talk to me about the 'Gulag' and Guantanamo Bay. Dont come to me to convince me there's a 'gulag' being run by the evil Americans. Dont come to me and and tell me the use of the word 'gulag' is appropriate in reference to Gitmo.
Because there's no way in HELL that it is. Because the true gulag isnt just over the gottdamn fence of the Naval base, the true gottdamn gulags arent just found on the island of Cuba, scattered about from one tip of the crocodile to the other, filled with men and women who are truly tortured souls. No, the true gulag is the island of Cuba itself. Where it's not so much as how one is allowed to handle a holy book but to OWN one. To READ one. To BELIEVE in one.
Fuck you, Amnesty International. You have just spit upon the many who had hope in you. You have just spit upon those that supported you. You have just spit upon all of those that have died waiting for you.
Waiting for you, Amnesty International, in their very real Cuban fucking gulags."
Somewhere in Cuba, there are prisoners of conscience, political prisoners, sitting in their excrement infested 3 foot by 6 foot completely enclosed cells rotting away for maybe owning a typewriter or for writing a poem or, far worse, for expressing their opinions.
They eat maggot filled slop maybe twice a day. Dont see the light of day and are tortured both physically and mentally in so many different ways that I, so far removed yet so read up on the subject, even have trouble imagining.
Some have their arms wrapped in refrigerator coils which are powered 24/7, rendering such pain that the use of their limbs is forever atrophied. Others have cables clamped to their testicles and the other ends connected to car batteries, destroying not only their bodies, but their manhood, or, if they be lucky enough to ever be released from their hell, their ability to create a family.
Others, yet still, in the darkness of their cells, lying there naked, are doused in powdery chemicals that irritate their skin, so much so that their entire bodies are bloody from their desperate attempts at scratching the incessant itching.
All are tortured mentally. Told daily that thier wives or sons or daughters have been arrested and lay in the same predicament as they. Your son, they say to them, the 12 year old, he is in prison with the general population. Es el buggarron de todos. Youre 12 year old boy is everyone's bitch.
They are prodded and poked. Beaten. Starved. Dehydrated. Bound. Gagged.
Some days they are led outside, completely naked and made to stand in line. One of the guard puts a piece of chewing gum on his bayonet and begins to poke the chest of the first one in line. After a few pokes the blade sneaks through the gum and begins to pierce the mans body, he winces from the pain and begins to step back. More poking, more stepping back. More poking, more stepping back until the men in line are crushed together, naked, dehumanized.
Some are lucky enough to be on the upper floors of their prison cell. Where when they defecate they dont have to worry about the shit falling from the cell above through the little hole in the slab above them. Some are unlucky enough to be on the ground floor, where the feces from the two or three other unfortunate souls above them flows through that little hole above and onto the cell's floor, covering it all, making it difficult to move. Difficult to breathe from the stench of accumulated waste.
That's what happens in the REAL GULAGS in Cuba. Where desperation and real torture and humiliation reign supreme. Where thousands upon thousands of men have endured that torture and humiliation for decades upon decades. Where thousands of men have died and the rest have been marked for life.
So dont come to me and talk to me about the 'Gulag' and Guantanamo Bay. Dont come to me to convince me there's a 'gulag' being run by the evil Americans. Dont come to me and and tell me the use of the word 'gulag' is appropriate in reference to Gitmo.
Because there's no way in HELL that it is. Because the true gulag isnt just over the gottdamn fence of the Naval base, the true gottdamn gulags arent just found on the island of Cuba, scattered about from one tip of the crocodile to the other, filled with men and women who are truly tortured souls. No, the true gulag is the island of Cuba itself. Where it's not so much as how one is allowed to handle a holy book but to OWN one. To READ one. To BELIEVE in one.
Fuck you, Amnesty International. You have just spit upon the many who had hope in you. You have just spit upon those that supported you. You have just spit upon all of those that have died waiting for you.
Waiting for you, Amnesty International, in their very real Cuban fucking gulags."
Kamis, 02 Juni 2005
Personal Ads
Bad Example: "Actual Personal Ads in the Dublin News:
Heavy drinker, 35, Cork area. Seeks gorgeous sex addict interested in a man who loves his pints, cigarettes, Glasgow Celtic Football Club and has been known to start fights on Patrick Street at three o'clock in the morning.
------------------------------------------------------
Bitter, disillusioned Dublin man, lately rejected by longtime fiancee,
seeks decent, honest, reliable woman, if such a thing still exists in
this cruel world of hatchet-faced bitches.
------------------------------------------------------
Ginger haired Galway man, a troublemaker, gets slit-eyed and shirty after a few scoops, seeks attractive, wealthy lady for bail purposes, maybe more.
------------------------------------------------------
Bad tempered, foul-mouthed old bastard, living in a damp cottage in the arse end of Roscommon, seeks attractive 21 year old blonde lady, with a lovely chest.
------------------------------------------------------
Limerick man, 27, medium build, brown hair, blue eyes, seeks alibi for the night of February 27 between 8 PM and 11:30 PM.
------------------------------------------------------
Optimistic Mayo man, 35, seeks a blonde 20 year old double-jointed supermodel, who owns her own brewery, and has an open-minded twin sister."
Heavy drinker, 35, Cork area. Seeks gorgeous sex addict interested in a man who loves his pints, cigarettes, Glasgow Celtic Football Club and has been known to start fights on Patrick Street at three o'clock in the morning.
------------------------------------------------------
Bitter, disillusioned Dublin man, lately rejected by longtime fiancee,
seeks decent, honest, reliable woman, if such a thing still exists in
this cruel world of hatchet-faced bitches.
------------------------------------------------------
Ginger haired Galway man, a troublemaker, gets slit-eyed and shirty after a few scoops, seeks attractive, wealthy lady for bail purposes, maybe more.
------------------------------------------------------
Bad tempered, foul-mouthed old bastard, living in a damp cottage in the arse end of Roscommon, seeks attractive 21 year old blonde lady, with a lovely chest.
------------------------------------------------------
Limerick man, 27, medium build, brown hair, blue eyes, seeks alibi for the night of February 27 between 8 PM and 11:30 PM.
------------------------------------------------------
Optimistic Mayo man, 35, seeks a blonde 20 year old double-jointed supermodel, who owns her own brewery, and has an open-minded twin sister."
Langganan:
Postingan (Atom)