Zeyad has a good-sized report on the recent anti-terrorism demonstrations in Iraq in this post - Yesterday’s anti-terrorism demonstrations in Baghdad - Omar has a first-nad report (he participated in the demonstration) in this post - I was there. It is hard not to be optimistic when you see these people so enthusiastically jump into the process of taking control of their lives back into their own hands and freely express what they want.
I have read in many places where people fight over which Iraqis are the real truth-tellers - optimistic ones like Zeyad, Omar, Ays and Alaa, or seemingly pessimistic ones like Riverbend. I am not going to get into the debate - it is also very true that depending on your ideology and what you want or expect to happen in Iraq, you are going to like one side better than the other. I admit as a supporter of the war, I like what the optimistic Iraqi bloggers have to say, since they seem to be validating my contentions that ultimately the war to remove Saddam would be good for Iraq.
What is more interesting to me is a look at the demographics and see how the viewpoints differ based on that. The skeptical ones, both Salam Pax and Riverbend are younger (in their 20s) and had a lot more privileges before the war than arguably most other Iraqis. The new Iraqi bloggers on the other hand are mostly middle-aged, well-educated (some are dentists and others doctors) - they seem to have seen a lot more happening around them than the reactionary and easily-enraged young ones. This is what makes me listen to them so much more, as they seem to be wiser and more cool-headed. The older bloggers also concentrate more on fixing the broken than rail that something is not being fixed as soon as they would like it.
Of course, this is not to say this somehow invalidates the viewpoint of the younger bloggers - as a young woman, I can see how Riverbend could be fearful for her safety in the current chaos reigning in Baghdad, which might not be that obvious to the men, Zeyad, Omar, etc. Ultimately, one is not neccessarily more right than the other, just because you like what they have to say. I think it is better to be able to see all the viewpoints and try to understand them, so you get a better overall picture of what is going on in Iraq.
By now, we have all heard of and got sick of the brouhaha over Salam’s sneering letter to Bush in Gaurdian and Lileks’ takedown of the letter. I don’t have anything to add to that issue, but I was reading Alaa’s blog when I found this post - TACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS - that made me realize what it was that irked me so much about Salam’s letter.
Where Salam was all sneer, ridicule and little substance, Alaa instead chose to explain the problem he had with the American soldiers’ methods - in this case, their tactics during house-to-house searches. Alaa clarifies to those who understand, why somethings are such a big deal to the Iraqis and also has a few helpful suggestions as to how the coalition soldiers can make their tactics more palatable to ordinary Iraqis. I think that is a great thing, since it is easy for people to sit on their butt and criticize, but pretty hard to come up with workable solutions to the problems at hand.
I was really eager to read this article that I came upon via Instapundit, when I saw the title - The rise and rise of the Asia weblog. Unfortunately, it was one of those columns in which Asian means “East Asian”, in that not a single South-east-Asian blog (yes, us Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, etc. too write pretty popular weblogs, you know) is mentioned in the entire discussion of “Asian” blogs.
Yep! A (hungover) Kingsley finally delivers the Mela ;) Check it out - it just might surprise you enough to wake you up fully :)
Male birth control pill soon a reality
For the first time, a safe, effective and reversible hormonal male contraceptive appears to be within reach. Several formulations are expected to become commercially available within the near future. Men may soon have the options of a daily pill to be taken orally, a patch or gel to be applied to the skin, an injection given every three months or an implant placed under the skin every 12 months, according to Seattle researchers.The reason why I say this is a good thing for men is because these pills and other contraceptives might cause a reduction in the number of unwilling fathers who end up paying child support for children they claim they were “tricked” into having. Now that they can make sure they will not have unwanted kids, there goes one more excuse out the door for missing child support payments ;)
So, the country with world’s second largest population is running almost nose-to-nose with the leader of the stat as far as populace is concerned and is expected to beat the top country soon - what do the political hacks in power suggest their people do? Why, they ask them to breed a little more, of course! They even offer incentives to people who breed more than they should…I don’t think I can muster up enough outrage to fit the situation. Ughhh!!!
Shiv Sena asks Hindus to have more kidsThe Shiv Sena has hit upon a bizarre idea to counter what it claims is the growing population of Muslims in Uttar Pradesh. The right wing outfit has given a call to Hindu couples in the state to have more children and decided to reward those families that have more than four children.
This has got to be one of the weirdest dreams I have ever got - I was being chased around a strange town by a giant, green FISH! I have been chased by dragons, ghosts, people and aliens in my dreams before, but a fish? If I had a shrink, I am sure I would be providing him plenty of fodder to prove how nutso I am ;)
Police have executed a search warrant at Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch in California’s Santa Barbara County after new allegations of sexual misconduct were raised by a 12-year-old boy, according to MSNBC.I will only add that given Jackson’s history, any parent who let his/her child near that creep deserves to lose custody.
Check out the Mela at the the Kolkata Libertarian @www.palit.com this week - plenty of fun as usual.
I am pretty sure the Joos either caused this or did something to bring this upon themselves - Car bombs in Turkey kill 20 - I mean, they do “rule the world by proxy” and control everyone and everything, don’t they!
p.s. I am not anti-semitic - I am anti-Zionist™
…but good for Microsoft and all those web developers who might be saved the pain of having to redo their old pages to fit in with the new system.
Patent Office Reviews Disputed Web Patent - BizReportIn an unusual move, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is considering whether to revoke a patent that Internet experts claim could hobble Web browsing and online commerce. The office’s top patent-examination official has ordered a review of a patent that covers the ability of Web browsers to display multimedia content, the office confirmed on Thursday.
The only nit I have to pick about the article quoted below is their definition of “Fisking” - it means the destruction of an idiotic column or post point-by-point - not a description of what Fisk’s columns are like…I like everything else about it ;) Go on and read it - it has a funny juxtaposition of Robert Fisk’s various proclamations and his dramatic turnabout on them every time they were proved wrong.
The dangers of FiskingIn the www arena where the world speaks invisibly to itself, a new word has appeared: “fisking”, meaning the selection of evidence solely in order to bolster preconceptions and prejudices. Just as cardigans or mackintoshes are named after an inventive individual, so fisking derives from the work of Robert Fisk, the Middle East correspondent of the Independent, stationed these many years in Beirut.
I know I am jumping the gun by 2 weeks, but I cannot hold it in any longer and just need to get this out in the open. I am going to have a baby! :) It has been 11 weeks so far, out of which it has been 6 whole weeks (and counting) of awful morning sickness. I have lost about 16lb so far and don’t feel too good often, which is the reason why I have been pretty behind on my blog updates and other extracurriculars.
If everything goes well, we are going to have a June baby, so poor husband is going to be stuck with not one, but two Geminis driving him nuts. Physically I feel awful, but emotionally I have been on a perpetual high, ever since I got to see my tiny little lump in a sonogram and could actually watch the tiny, little chest raise and fall with the heartbeat. Wish me luck, y’all - I am going to need plenty of it :)
Om Mallik has a very interesting essay about micropublications - GigaOm: Essays: The Dawn of the MicroPubs - it was something that has been happening very quietly around us - we just have been too busy to notice.
Just as Indian Americans are backing Republican Bobby Jindal in the Louisiana governor’s race, Pakistani Americans have launched a campaign to support his Democratic rival.It is pretty interesting to see the Pakistani-American community in Louisiana back Kathleen Blanco just because they want to be against the Indian-American Bobby Jindal. It shows us how the regional politics of the home countries still influence to a great degree, what people do in their adopted homelands.M. Ashraf Abbasi, president of the Pakistani American Congress (PAC), said Jindal is “a highly prejudiced person, who could be a future threat for Pakistani interests in the U.S.”
He appealed to the Muslim community to vote for rival candidate Kathleen Blanco. The election will be held on November 15.
This is also going to be a funny dilemma for IAs (Indian-Americans) in Louisiana, since traditionally they have tended to vote for the Democratic Party most of the time - this might leave them with some hard choices to make. On the other hand of course, IAs rooting for Jindal can take comfort by looking back the Georgia Democratic primaries when they banded together to defeat that anti-Indian loon, Cynthia McKinney. I think they have enough influence and money to make Jindal win this, if they really put their minds to it.
Om did a great job of “sexing up” the Blog Mela over at NRI this week - Not Really Indian: Bharateeya Blog Mela #35: Week One. I apologize once again for not being pro-active and sending in nominations for the Mela - I do have an excuse - I will give it up in 2 more weeks :)
Suman Palit is going to be our host for the next week - so send in your nominations to him.
Yep, you heard me right - MSNBC is an absolute hypocrite to be publishing this opinion piece, CBS chooses profits over “The Reagans”. Why? because if you can go back a few months, their TV channel did the same thing - they hired utra-ultra-right-win-hack Michael Savage to host his show on their network, hoping that his crazed rantings would drive up their abysmal ratings. Savage screwed up on air when he made his usual bigoted statements on air to a gay (or black) caller (I forget which), which caused a huge backlash and MSNBC pulled the show off-air. Let us see, in that situation MSNBC could have stuck up for Savage’s first amendment right to be as hatefully bigoted as he wants and let him continue, but they looked at the bottomline and let him go. Physician, heal thyself?
It is particularly enlightening to read Washington Post’s take on the Regan biopic supposed to be aired on CBS, but might not be due to the controversy surrounding it.
‘The Reagans’: Too Hot for CBS to Handle? (washingtonpost.com)
Take a look at this snippet for instance -Though no one at the RNC had seen “The Reagans,” the letter insisted that either a panel of Reagan pals and historians screen the project before broadcast for “historical accuracy” or the network run a disclaimer crawl at the bottom of the screen every 10 minutes during the movie, advising viewers that “the program is a fictional portrayal of the Reagans and the Reagan Presidency, and they should not consider it to be historically accurate… .So, the RNC wants the project to be whetted by a panel consisting of historians - why should the words “historical accuracy” be enclosed in scare quotes? Why shouldn’t “Reagan’s pals” be afraid of inaccuracies, considering that James Brolin (playing Reagan) is Barbara Streisand’s husband and an admitted liberal as is Judy Davis (playing Nancy Reagan), who actually said patriotism is an awful thing? The producers of the show are also admitted liberals. Would Clinton’s people keep quiet if CBS aired a supposed biopic about him produced by Rush Limbaugh? And then, take a look at this -
“If your series contains omissions, exaggerations, distortions or scenes that are fiction masquerading as fact, the American people may come away with a misunderstanding of the Reagans and the Reagan Administrations,” the letter said ominously.Excuse me, but what was ominous about the above words? Is someone threatening to beat up CBS in some kind of code I cannot seem to fathom?
Some reporters watching the CBS party taking place below marveled that the Republicans hadn’t jumped on the Reagan project a long time ago.Umm…I dunno, maybe because they are really not the overly sensitive types as you guys are trying to portray them to be and needed that leaked script that contained outright fabrications to actually rile them up?
So, there it is - the RNC is really this big, bad mafia sending out “ominous” letters and registering websites called “supportreagan.org” and selling videos on the website. I get the feeling I am somehow supposed to get a sense of dissent-crushing from that article, but personally, I leave it wondering at the bone-headedness to refuse reality of some writers.
The big news is that I found a truly free webhost this Saturday. The company is called 1and1 and I think for now, the offer is limited to US and Canada residents only. This is not free for life, but for 3 years and offers 500MB of disk space, 5GB of monthly data transfer rate, one MySQL database, CGI/Perl and pretty much everything a regular hosting account offers. I read about this in eWeek and tried to sign up and it seemed to work.
Not one to leave a free offer unused, I have started a photolog there and I think I will also make a backup of this blog there in case Hosting Matters goes down again. Anyways, here is the link to my photolog - http://www.dancingwithdogs.com/photolog/ - Enjoy!