I'll be volunteering for, attending, and blogging about the United States Social Forum, which will be held in Atlanta June 27-July 1. Hope some of the rest of you will be there, too. The schedule of workshops looks interesting and includes several sessions on Palestine-related topics and some potentially exciting workshops on Islam and social change. We shall see....
A new world may be possible, but you have to get off your ass to make it happen.
Salaam.
18 May, 2007
Two more journalists murdered in Iraq
Cameraman Alaa Uldeen Aziz (left), 33, and soundman Saif Laith Yousuf (right), 26, two Iraqi journalists working for ABC News, were forced from their car by gunman as they left work Thursday and their deaths were confirmed by ABC this morning.
The last count by Reporters Without Borders, not believed to include Aziz and Yousuf, of journalists and media staff killed in Iraq since March 2003 was 174.
According to ABC News, Aziz is survived by his wife, his two daughters and his mother. Yousuf leaves behind his fiancee, his mother and brothers and sisters.
I cannot fathom murdering journalists. Aside from taking that life, the killers are, in a sense, taking countless other lives by keeping others' stories from being told. We need to hear these stories; be reminded of those living through this nightmare are not simply numbers. Sometimes one story can make the difference.
Salaam.
Insha'allah.
17 May, 2007
What do all those squiggly lines mean?
Oversight is generally not regarded as being amongst the U.S. government's skill sets. (See Halliburton, KBR, $12 Billion US CASH!....) And then there's al-Hurra, "The Free", broadcasting in Arabic from the state of Virginia to the Arabic speaking world courtesy of your tax dollars and mine.
I only know of one person who watches the channel. The first family I rented a room from in Damascus lived in the U.S. for a number of years before returning to Syria. The father, born and raised in Syria as a Muslim, insisted I refer to him as 'John' instead of his kunya and was exceptionally insistent on telling me how much he hated "stupid...lazy....mindless...untrustworthy..." Arabs and Muslims until the day I moved out (about a week after moving in). But, my, did he love watching al-Hurra and always offered to change the channel to it whenever I was home, once offering to let me "watch some real news." Perhaps tellingly, the only content I ever saw broadcast the few times I tried to watch the channel were fashion runway shows. Our nation's brave message to the Arab world - "Stop eating and wear more overpriced, uncomfortable, and overly-revealing (even for me) clothes". Winning countless hearts and minds, indeed.
Unfortunately, while their fashion sense is keen their common sense is not. The people running al-Hurra in Virginia apparently neglected to hire any editorial supervisors who actually spoke Arabic. One might see this as a problem when your content is in Arabic and sometimes feeds live.
Such was the case, it seems, when they let Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah speak live for about an hour last December. Apparently, Nasrallah made comments inciting violence against Israel. Shocking. You let Nasrallah go live on air and he said what? That was followed by a broadcast of comments by Hamas leader and current Palestinian PM Ismail Haniya supposedly supporting the assertion of Iranian President Ahmadinejad that the Holocaust against European Jews was a myth. Again, not too surprising. Syndicated columnist Joel Mowbray, referring to Nasrallah, claimed on CNN "By the five-minute mark, he told the people in the audience, who were firing their guns in celebrations, not to waste their bullets, and to save their bullets for where they belong, the chest of the enemy, the Israeli enemy." I have yet to find full transcripts of either broadcast.
What do these squiggly lines mean?
The Middle East Subcommittee of the US House of Representatives grilled members of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, who oversee several US funded broadcast outlets including Radio Sawa, VOA, and Radio/TV Marti, about this on Wednesday. Subcommittee chairman, Rep. Gary L. Ackerman, D-N.Y, asked the $63 million dollar (current annual budget) question:
"Doesn't anybody watch the broadcasts?"
Rep. Ackerman was referring to the station's supervisory staff, but the question is just as valid for their intended audience who usually refer to the station as "the American propaganda channel" or thereabouts.
Secretary of State and de facto Broadcasting Board of Governors member Condaleeza Rice was asked in March by the House Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, which provides funding for al-Hurra, about the incidents and admitted that "mistakes had been made".
Most of the critics are making Larry Register, al-Hurra's recently appointed news director and a former executive producer at CNN, out to be all but a member of a sleeper cell for the supposed changes wrought under his leadership. Register was appointed a month before the Nasrallah speech. CNN reporter Brian Todd paraphrased the criticism of Register: "[he] focused coverage less on corruption and human rights abuses in the Middle East, and more toward anti-American events, like the Holocaust-deniers conference in Tehran." Nine members of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations sent a letter on May 9 to Sec. Rice calling for Register to be replaced.
My main criticism is that with almost $70 million surely they could buy a copy of al-Mawred or hire somebody who speaks fluent Arabic. I know people, Larry. Arabic speakers, lots of them. Call me.
Again, al-Hurra means "The Free" and free speech is often messy, but always necessary. Do I agree with what Nasrallah and Haniya said? No. Do I want my tax dollars going to support a platform for such statements? No. Then again, I wouldn't want my tax dollars to support a station that only broadcast one side of things that felt good and easy for the U.S. government to broadcast. Personally, I don't think the governments should be in this business in the first place. What message are we sending about censorship if we censor? How is al-Hurra different from the state-owned channels in the region? If you want to be a legitimate news organization, you have to look at everything, which often includes some uncomfortable things, and from a balanced perspective. Of course it also helps to have somebody in the building who can speak the language.
Salaam.
I only know of one person who watches the channel. The first family I rented a room from in Damascus lived in the U.S. for a number of years before returning to Syria. The father, born and raised in Syria as a Muslim, insisted I refer to him as 'John' instead of his kunya and was exceptionally insistent on telling me how much he hated "stupid...lazy....mindless...untrustworthy..." Arabs and Muslims until the day I moved out (about a week after moving in). But, my, did he love watching al-Hurra and always offered to change the channel to it whenever I was home, once offering to let me "watch some real news." Perhaps tellingly, the only content I ever saw broadcast the few times I tried to watch the channel were fashion runway shows. Our nation's brave message to the Arab world - "Stop eating and wear more overpriced, uncomfortable, and overly-revealing (even for me) clothes". Winning countless hearts and minds, indeed.
Unfortunately, while their fashion sense is keen their common sense is not. The people running al-Hurra in Virginia apparently neglected to hire any editorial supervisors who actually spoke Arabic. One might see this as a problem when your content is in Arabic and sometimes feeds live.
Such was the case, it seems, when they let Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah speak live for about an hour last December. Apparently, Nasrallah made comments inciting violence against Israel. Shocking. You let Nasrallah go live on air and he said what? That was followed by a broadcast of comments by Hamas leader and current Palestinian PM Ismail Haniya supposedly supporting the assertion of Iranian President Ahmadinejad that the Holocaust against European Jews was a myth. Again, not too surprising. Syndicated columnist Joel Mowbray, referring to Nasrallah, claimed on CNN "By the five-minute mark, he told the people in the audience, who were firing their guns in celebrations, not to waste their bullets, and to save their bullets for where they belong, the chest of the enemy, the Israeli enemy." I have yet to find full transcripts of either broadcast.
What do these squiggly lines mean?The Middle East Subcommittee of the US House of Representatives grilled members of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, who oversee several US funded broadcast outlets including Radio Sawa, VOA, and Radio/TV Marti, about this on Wednesday. Subcommittee chairman, Rep. Gary L. Ackerman, D-N.Y, asked the $63 million dollar (current annual budget) question:
"Doesn't anybody watch the broadcasts?"
Rep. Ackerman was referring to the station's supervisory staff, but the question is just as valid for their intended audience who usually refer to the station as "the American propaganda channel" or thereabouts.
Secretary of State and de facto Broadcasting Board of Governors member Condaleeza Rice was asked in March by the House Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, which provides funding for al-Hurra, about the incidents and admitted that "mistakes had been made".
Most of the critics are making Larry Register, al-Hurra's recently appointed news director and a former executive producer at CNN, out to be all but a member of a sleeper cell for the supposed changes wrought under his leadership. Register was appointed a month before the Nasrallah speech. CNN reporter Brian Todd paraphrased the criticism of Register: "[he] focused coverage less on corruption and human rights abuses in the Middle East, and more toward anti-American events, like the Holocaust-deniers conference in Tehran." Nine members of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations sent a letter on May 9 to Sec. Rice calling for Register to be replaced.
My main criticism is that with almost $70 million surely they could buy a copy of al-Mawred or hire somebody who speaks fluent Arabic. I know people, Larry. Arabic speakers, lots of them. Call me.
Again, al-Hurra means "The Free" and free speech is often messy, but always necessary. Do I agree with what Nasrallah and Haniya said? No. Do I want my tax dollars going to support a platform for such statements? No. Then again, I wouldn't want my tax dollars to support a station that only broadcast one side of things that felt good and easy for the U.S. government to broadcast. Personally, I don't think the governments should be in this business in the first place. What message are we sending about censorship if we censor? How is al-Hurra different from the state-owned channels in the region? If you want to be a legitimate news organization, you have to look at everything, which often includes some uncomfortable things, and from a balanced perspective. Of course it also helps to have somebody in the building who can speak the language.
Salaam.
Happy Birthday, Alan
Today marks captured BBC reporter Alan Johnston's 45th birthday. He was abducted in Gaza on March 12. A group called Jaish al-Islam released a video showing his BBC ID and calling for the release of all Muslim prisoners in British custody. There has been no direct word from Mr. Johnston since his abduction.
Salaam.
Salaam.
16 May, 2007
Oh, if ONLY!
Thank you CNN International for 12 seconds of bliss before reality crashed the party.
Bush. Blair. Whatever.....
Thanks SO much to mediabistro for the screencap.
Bush. Blair. Whatever.....
Thanks SO much to mediabistro for the screencap.
A Sad and Not-so-surprising week for Syria
It has been difficult to read the news out of Syria this week....
Prominent writer Michael Kilo and Mahmoud Issa were each sentenced to three years in prison on charges of "weakening national sentiment" in part due to their signing of the 2006 declaration calling for improved Lebanese-Syrian relations.
Sulaiman Shummar and Khalil Hussain were sentenced the same day, in absentia, to five years in prison for "weakening national sentiment" and "undertaking acts and writings unauthorized by the Syrian government that may expose Syria to aggressive acts or spoil its relations with another state." Shummar, member of the political bureau of the unauthorized Worker's Revolutionary Party and a leader of the National Democratic Gathering, and Hussain, member of the Kurdish Future Movement, are in hiding or have fled the country and it remained unclear as to whether the five years for each charge were consecutive or concurrent sentences.
These most recent prison sentences follow the sentencing on May 11 of human rights activists Dr. Kamal al-Labwani and Anwar al-Bunni. Dr. al-Labwani, a physician and founder of the Democratic Liberal Gathering, was sentenced to life in prison (ultimately reduced to 12 years) with hard labor for "communicating with a foreign country and inciting it to initiate aggression against Syria" due to his travels to Europe and the US in 2005. Al-Bunni, a human rights lawyer, was sentenced to five years in prison for "spreading false or exaggerated news that weaken the spirit of the nation." The "exaggerated news" referred to a statement by al-Bunni claiming that a man had died in a Syrian jail because of the inhumane conditions.
According to the Constitution of the Syrian Arab Republic:
"Freedom is a sacred right. The state protects the personal freedom of the citizens and safeguards their dignity and security." (Article 25, line 1)
"Every citizen has the right to freely and openly express his views in words, in writing, and through all other means of expression." (Article 38)
I hope these sentences are overturned. I also hope the US State Department will use the informal talks between Rice and Mouallem at Sharm al-Sheikh as a jumping-off point for more substantive talks. The silent treatment serves neither side well.
Also, President Bashar Al-Assad has been nominated by the newly-elected Syrian parliament as the only presidential candidate for the nationwide referendum to be held on May 27. According to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), exams for students, scheduled for the same day, have been postponed to enable the students to, according to the National Union for Syrian Students "show their support.
According to SANA, the Union's statement also said that the "referendum embodies national aspirations and dignity". In my opinion, the men imprisoned this week embody those same things. Read their words and decide for yourself.
Despite its troubles, I love Syria and the many people I met during the months I lived there. Not one person there ever had a problem distinguishing me from my government and I don't have a problem doing the same for them. I hope to return to see my friends soon and pick up where I left off.
Salaam.
Prominent writer Michael Kilo and Mahmoud Issa were each sentenced to three years in prison on charges of "weakening national sentiment" in part due to their signing of the 2006 declaration calling for improved Lebanese-Syrian relations.
Sulaiman Shummar and Khalil Hussain were sentenced the same day, in absentia, to five years in prison for "weakening national sentiment" and "undertaking acts and writings unauthorized by the Syrian government that may expose Syria to aggressive acts or spoil its relations with another state." Shummar, member of the political bureau of the unauthorized Worker's Revolutionary Party and a leader of the National Democratic Gathering, and Hussain, member of the Kurdish Future Movement, are in hiding or have fled the country and it remained unclear as to whether the five years for each charge were consecutive or concurrent sentences.
These most recent prison sentences follow the sentencing on May 11 of human rights activists Dr. Kamal al-Labwani and Anwar al-Bunni. Dr. al-Labwani, a physician and founder of the Democratic Liberal Gathering, was sentenced to life in prison (ultimately reduced to 12 years) with hard labor for "communicating with a foreign country and inciting it to initiate aggression against Syria" due to his travels to Europe and the US in 2005. Al-Bunni, a human rights lawyer, was sentenced to five years in prison for "spreading false or exaggerated news that weaken the spirit of the nation." The "exaggerated news" referred to a statement by al-Bunni claiming that a man had died in a Syrian jail because of the inhumane conditions.
According to the Constitution of the Syrian Arab Republic:
"Freedom is a sacred right. The state protects the personal freedom of the citizens and safeguards their dignity and security." (Article 25, line 1)
"Every citizen has the right to freely and openly express his views in words, in writing, and through all other means of expression." (Article 38)
I hope these sentences are overturned. I also hope the US State Department will use the informal talks between Rice and Mouallem at Sharm al-Sheikh as a jumping-off point for more substantive talks. The silent treatment serves neither side well.
Also, President Bashar Al-Assad has been nominated by the newly-elected Syrian parliament as the only presidential candidate for the nationwide referendum to be held on May 27. According to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), exams for students, scheduled for the same day, have been postponed to enable the students to, according to the National Union for Syrian Students "show their support.
According to SANA, the Union's statement also said that the "referendum embodies national aspirations and dignity". In my opinion, the men imprisoned this week embody those same things. Read their words and decide for yourself.
Despite its troubles, I love Syria and the many people I met during the months I lived there. Not one person there ever had a problem distinguishing me from my government and I don't have a problem doing the same for them. I hope to return to see my friends soon and pick up where I left off.
Salaam.
13 May, 2007
So much for "unbiased"
I hope somebody else saw Casey Wian and Bill Tucker's report for Lou Dobbs on CNN this week regarding the rise of the new sanctuary movement among religious leaders in the U.S. Click on the post title for the transcript (scroll halfway down). The tone of Tucker's voice, unfortunately, was what really made it for me. He sounded downright disgusted.
I am not a big fan of Lou Dobbs and his show. First of all, I think my mother nailed it when she muttered "That man's angling to run for something," as we paused on his show on night. He does seem like he's working very hard to hit an awful lot of the right notes not to be an eventual candidate for some office. Also, some of the reports I watched on his show are like FOX-lite; not as downright xenophobic, jingoistic, fear-mongering, etc. as some of the other guys, but enough to leave a bad taste in my mouth. Like polite racism; smarter packaging, gentler delivery, but still revolting.
Here's an example of what Bill Tucker felt was unbiased reporting:
"And so say the leaders of the new sanctuary movement, are positioning themselves, not only in opposition to immigration law, but also, the sovereignty of the United States."
Dobbs then reminded viewers of the audience poll: "Tonight's poll, our question is straightforward. Do you believe the political adventurism of our religious leaders is now a threat to our constitution and the doctrine of separation of church and state? Yes or no."
For those of you that aren't familiar with the term, the sanctuary movement was an organized response, primarily led by faith communities, to the influx of undocumented refugees fleeing the bloody civil wars in Central America in the early '80s. Instead of leaving people to fend for themselves or be shipped back to death squads and military juntas, people in this country rallied to face the challenge of a humanitarian crisis. Google "El Mazote" or "University of Central America massacre" or "Rio Negro". This was the front-page news of my childhood growing up in Miami and it left an impression on me.
Now with the U.S. government and a large portion of the citizenry on this latest anti-immigrant tear that has seen a 20% rise in deportations in the last year alone (NY Times), which I believe is wrapped up with an atmosphere of xenophobia and general "anti-foreigner" undercurrent, the call has gone out again to all faith communities to join together in the effort.
No one disputes that the immigration system needs to be fixed. Consider that it was intimidating and frustrating for me and my then-husband and we both have college degrees, speak English, and had the financial resources to pay the exorbitant fees and hire a lawyer to assist us. And no one disputes that there are serious issues to be resolved as to provision of services for undocumented workers and their families. Militarization of the border, a wall, fear mongering, short-sighted so-called "solutions" will not provide these answers.
I am not a big fan of Lou Dobbs and his show. First of all, I think my mother nailed it when she muttered "That man's angling to run for something," as we paused on his show on night. He does seem like he's working very hard to hit an awful lot of the right notes not to be an eventual candidate for some office. Also, some of the reports I watched on his show are like FOX-lite; not as downright xenophobic, jingoistic, fear-mongering, etc. as some of the other guys, but enough to leave a bad taste in my mouth. Like polite racism; smarter packaging, gentler delivery, but still revolting.
Here's an example of what Bill Tucker felt was unbiased reporting:
"And so say the leaders of the new sanctuary movement, are positioning themselves, not only in opposition to immigration law, but also, the sovereignty of the United States."
Dobbs then reminded viewers of the audience poll: "Tonight's poll, our question is straightforward. Do you believe the political adventurism of our religious leaders is now a threat to our constitution and the doctrine of separation of church and state? Yes or no."
For those of you that aren't familiar with the term, the sanctuary movement was an organized response, primarily led by faith communities, to the influx of undocumented refugees fleeing the bloody civil wars in Central America in the early '80s. Instead of leaving people to fend for themselves or be shipped back to death squads and military juntas, people in this country rallied to face the challenge of a humanitarian crisis. Google "El Mazote" or "University of Central America massacre" or "Rio Negro". This was the front-page news of my childhood growing up in Miami and it left an impression on me.
Now with the U.S. government and a large portion of the citizenry on this latest anti-immigrant tear that has seen a 20% rise in deportations in the last year alone (NY Times), which I believe is wrapped up with an atmosphere of xenophobia and general "anti-foreigner" undercurrent, the call has gone out again to all faith communities to join together in the effort.
No one disputes that the immigration system needs to be fixed. Consider that it was intimidating and frustrating for me and my then-husband and we both have college degrees, speak English, and had the financial resources to pay the exorbitant fees and hire a lawyer to assist us. And no one disputes that there are serious issues to be resolved as to provision of services for undocumented workers and their families. Militarization of the border, a wall, fear mongering, short-sighted so-called "solutions" will not provide these answers.
11 May, 2007
Why hide if there's nothing to hide?
Anybody remember the 2004 classified British memo outlining comments Shrub made to Blair about wanting to bomb the Doha, Qatar headquarters of Al-Jazeera? Anybody? It was during the worst days of the Battle of Falluja. You remember, right? Back when "Mission Accomplished" was a the general assumption for the US media and not shorthand for "total clusterf***." You know, back when Bush & Co. could claim we were "winning" the war and still get the majority of Americans buy it.
The story certainly failed to register with most of the media in the US or stir any righteous indignation with most in the US. In addition to swallowing the Al-Qa'ida/Saddam link people in the US have also sucked up Bush & Co.'s assertions that Al-Jazeera is basically Osama's PR machine. We STILL don't have a cable company willing to program Al-Jazeera in English, which continues frustrate and sadden me. Nobody seemed to think twice about a US President expressing interest in bombing A) an allied country B) civilians C) an outlet of the world media. The idea that Shrub would be up for such a strike was hardly far-fetched given the US millitary's treatment of Al-Jazeera prior to the leaking of the memo: the 2001 bombing of their offices in Afghanistan and the 2003 killing of correspondent Tariq Ayoub in an attack on their Baghdad office. I will admit I had forgotten about this story. More precisely, I assumed the publication of the leaked memo was the end of it.
Instead, the day after Blair finally announced he's stepping down in June, two men are off to prison following a highly secretive trial. According to Davide Simonetti from Blairwatch in an interview with Democracy Now!, these aren't even the two men who did the leaking (scroll down to the bottom). Those would be MPs and members of Blair's own cabinet. Nobody wants to get into bringing MPs up on charges because that would be messy and uncomfortable, no?
The memo has yet to see the light of day. Even Al-Jazeera couldn't get it under a FOIA request and if anybody deserves a look at it I'd say it's the people who were to be bombed. Anybody who would publish it also faces jail time, but that hasn't stopped countless people from offering to do just that if it gets out. After all, if you don't have anything to hide....?
Salaam.
The story certainly failed to register with most of the media in the US or stir any righteous indignation with most in the US. In addition to swallowing the Al-Qa'ida/Saddam link people in the US have also sucked up Bush & Co.'s assertions that Al-Jazeera is basically Osama's PR machine. We STILL don't have a cable company willing to program Al-Jazeera in English, which continues frustrate and sadden me. Nobody seemed to think twice about a US President expressing interest in bombing A) an allied country B) civilians C) an outlet of the world media. The idea that Shrub would be up for such a strike was hardly far-fetched given the US millitary's treatment of Al-Jazeera prior to the leaking of the memo: the 2001 bombing of their offices in Afghanistan and the 2003 killing of correspondent Tariq Ayoub in an attack on their Baghdad office. I will admit I had forgotten about this story. More precisely, I assumed the publication of the leaked memo was the end of it.
Instead, the day after Blair finally announced he's stepping down in June, two men are off to prison following a highly secretive trial. According to Davide Simonetti from Blairwatch in an interview with Democracy Now!, these aren't even the two men who did the leaking (scroll down to the bottom). Those would be MPs and members of Blair's own cabinet. Nobody wants to get into bringing MPs up on charges because that would be messy and uncomfortable, no?
The memo has yet to see the light of day. Even Al-Jazeera couldn't get it under a FOIA request and if anybody deserves a look at it I'd say it's the people who were to be bombed. Anybody who would publish it also faces jail time, but that hasn't stopped countless people from offering to do just that if it gets out. After all, if you don't have anything to hide....?
Salaam.
Poem for the moment
The recent revelations from the Save the Children report should not be forgotten:
Since 1990 child mortality has jumped 150% and no other country in the world has seen such a sharp rise. One in eight Iraqi children died before reaching their fifth birthday in 2005.
In addition to the children lost there are the orphans.
When I read the following poem this week it stayed with me.
(from Modern Poetry of the Arab World ed. and trans. by Abdullah al-Udhari)
My Apologies by Buland Al-Haidari
My apologies, my honored guests,
The newsreader lied in his last bulletin:
There is no sea in Baghdad
Nor pearls
Not even an island,
And everything Sinbad said
About queens of the jinn
About the ruby and coral islands
About the thousand thousands flowing from the sultan's hand
Is a myth born in the summer heat
Of my small town
In the burnt-up shadows of the midday sun
In the silent nights of the exiled stars.
We used to have
A sea, shells, pearls
And a polished moon
And fishermen returning in the evening;
We used to have,
Said the newsreader's last bulletin,
An innocent, dream paradise;
For we, my honored guests,
Lie to be born again,
Lie to stretch in our long history
The myth told by Sinbad -
We used to have
A sea, shells, pearls
And the hour of birth.
My apologies, my honored guests,
The newsreader lied in his last bulletin:
There is no sea in Baghdad
Nor pearls
Not even an island.
Since 1990 child mortality has jumped 150% and no other country in the world has seen such a sharp rise. One in eight Iraqi children died before reaching their fifth birthday in 2005.
In addition to the children lost there are the orphans.
When I read the following poem this week it stayed with me.
(from Modern Poetry of the Arab World ed. and trans. by Abdullah al-Udhari)
My Apologies by Buland Al-Haidari
My apologies, my honored guests,
The newsreader lied in his last bulletin:
There is no sea in Baghdad
Nor pearls
Not even an island,
And everything Sinbad said
About queens of the jinn
About the ruby and coral islands
About the thousand thousands flowing from the sultan's hand
Is a myth born in the summer heat
Of my small town
In the burnt-up shadows of the midday sun
In the silent nights of the exiled stars.
We used to have
A sea, shells, pearls
And a polished moon
And fishermen returning in the evening;
We used to have,
Said the newsreader's last bulletin,
An innocent, dream paradise;
For we, my honored guests,
Lie to be born again,
Lie to stretch in our long history
The myth told by Sinbad -
We used to have
A sea, shells, pearls
And the hour of birth.
My apologies, my honored guests,
The newsreader lied in his last bulletin:
There is no sea in Baghdad
Nor pearls
Not even an island.
10 May, 2007
The Best Program Most of You Aren't Watching
I suggest everybody link over to Hometown Baghdad. This is an ongoing series of documentary shorts about the realities of life in Baghdad as told by those living it. It is a collaboration between Chat the Planet and a group of Iraqi filmmakers and is well worth your time. To hear these people speaking about what all this - headlines and newscast teases to us - means to them on a very personal level is profound.
Salaam.
Salaam.
04 May, 2007
The Truth of the Matter
Look. See. Don't turn away. And try to understand.
This is only some of what we're not seeing in the U.S.
Salaam.
Insha'allah.
This is only some of what we're not seeing in the U.S.
Salaam.
Insha'allah.
03 May, 2007
Girl Meets Boy
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will finally meet with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mouallem during this weeks two day summit concerning Iraq in Sharm Al-Sheikh, Egypt. Does this mean Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the members of the US Congress who met with Syrian officials in Damascus over the last few years are no longer to be tarred, feathered and called traitors? I hope so, because the ridiculous vilifying really turned my stomach. The whole conference only lasts two days so I am interested in just how much time will be spent on the meeting between Mouallem and Rice. They certainly have plenty to talk about. And, two whole days to work on solving the Iraq crisis? Wow, don't work too hard folks. The participants are supposed to agree upon a five-year plan outlining support in exchange for Iraqi reforms. Although I am not too sure how much reforming a people can do when just surviving a shopping trip to the neighborhood souq is something to celebrate. I hope Secretary Rice eventually finds her way to Damascus to keep the discussions moving.
To those of you who are apoplectic about the meeting - Ann, Bill, Sean, etc. - don't worry. The administration continues to refuse to deal with Iran; 18 years and counting.
Salaam.
To those of you who are apoplectic about the meeting - Ann, Bill, Sean, etc. - don't worry. The administration continues to refuse to deal with Iran; 18 years and counting.
Salaam.
02 May, 2007
Bad Day for Mother Nature
In Florida, if you are building a strip mall or tract houses, you can legally kill a Gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus). In Florida, they are listed as a species of concern (two steps removed from endangered) and on the decline, mainly due to habitat lost to the area's rampant development.
Oh, sure you can try to relocate them, but they just end up killed one way or another while slowly making their way back to their home range. Much like you or me they eventually just want to go home only to discover like the rest of us that you can never truly go home again. For us it's usually family issues. For them "home", once sand pine scrub, is now a new housing development incongruously named for what is no longer there ("Tortoise Trace") and laced with pretentious, made-up street names (Harvard Ln. or Yale Pl.). And we're not talking one or two; try about 200 for one roughly 2000 acre site. So, the polite term for how land developers and mining companies can handle their tortoise "problem" is mitigation. According to the Gopher Tortoise Council:
"In Florida, rather than relocate tortoises, developers have the option of "mitigation". In this case the developers must apply for an incidental take permit, and although tortoises at the development site are lost, funds are contributed toward the purchase of gopher tortoise habitat elsewhere. Gopher tortoises at mitigation sites are afforded long-term protection by the state."
So, if you are a tortoise living under what will be that "master planned community", gas station, shopping mall, etc. you are screwed; mitigation equals death by entombment. However, if you are one of the lucky ones blessed to live in a "mitigation site," even if all you want to do is get your prehistoric self back to your home range, you will live to the expected ripe old age of upwards of 60 years.
Once granted your permit, and you most certainly will be, you can go on your merry way and simply pave over their nests. These tortoises are burrowers and not all that quick, so it's an easy task to manage. Yes, as easy as 1-2-3 you can encase them in concrete, leave them to suffocate, and get on with erecting a new Gas-n-Sip, patio home, or drug store. Does this whole thing seem wrong to anybody? Of course, now and then, one of these ancient buggers throws a wrench in your plans and gets himself in the way of "progress" and then makes it into the papers. And I am not the only one who thinks this is just plain wrong.
In addition to the loss of this poor guy, we may have to deal with the loss of honey bees, which admittedly could pose larger problems Sure I knew they had their function in nature, but I had no idea how important honey bees are to this country's food crops. Anybody have any good ideas for replacements?
And, that alarm you should hear going off worldwide would be the Arctic ice cap, melting a good 30 years AHEAD of schedule. Way to work on deadline.
And, somewhere in environmental hell James Watt and Anne Gorsuch are smiling. Can somebody inform Shrub's people that the Endangered Species Act is not a hunting season to-do list. For those of you who don't remember Reagan other than his funeral.
Good times, good times.
Oh, sure you can try to relocate them, but they just end up killed one way or another while slowly making their way back to their home range. Much like you or me they eventually just want to go home only to discover like the rest of us that you can never truly go home again. For us it's usually family issues. For them "home", once sand pine scrub, is now a new housing development incongruously named for what is no longer there ("Tortoise Trace") and laced with pretentious, made-up street names (Harvard Ln. or Yale Pl.). And we're not talking one or two; try about 200 for one roughly 2000 acre site. So, the polite term for how land developers and mining companies can handle their tortoise "problem" is mitigation. According to the Gopher Tortoise Council:
"In Florida, rather than relocate tortoises, developers have the option of "mitigation". In this case the developers must apply for an incidental take permit, and although tortoises at the development site are lost, funds are contributed toward the purchase of gopher tortoise habitat elsewhere. Gopher tortoises at mitigation sites are afforded long-term protection by the state."
So, if you are a tortoise living under what will be that "master planned community", gas station, shopping mall, etc. you are screwed; mitigation equals death by entombment. However, if you are one of the lucky ones blessed to live in a "mitigation site," even if all you want to do is get your prehistoric self back to your home range, you will live to the expected ripe old age of upwards of 60 years.
Once granted your permit, and you most certainly will be, you can go on your merry way and simply pave over their nests. These tortoises are burrowers and not all that quick, so it's an easy task to manage. Yes, as easy as 1-2-3 you can encase them in concrete, leave them to suffocate, and get on with erecting a new Gas-n-Sip, patio home, or drug store. Does this whole thing seem wrong to anybody? Of course, now and then, one of these ancient buggers throws a wrench in your plans and gets himself in the way of "progress" and then makes it into the papers. And I am not the only one who thinks this is just plain wrong.
In addition to the loss of this poor guy, we may have to deal with the loss of honey bees, which admittedly could pose larger problems Sure I knew they had their function in nature, but I had no idea how important honey bees are to this country's food crops. Anybody have any good ideas for replacements?
And, that alarm you should hear going off worldwide would be the Arctic ice cap, melting a good 30 years AHEAD of schedule. Way to work on deadline.
And, somewhere in environmental hell James Watt and Anne Gorsuch are smiling. Can somebody inform Shrub's people that the Endangered Species Act is not a hunting season to-do list. For those of you who don't remember Reagan other than his funeral.
Good times, good times.
01 May, 2007
Trek salaama wa fursa sayida
I am saddened and worried to hear Riverbend is leaving Iraq. Everybody should know about her blog and be reading it at this point. Read her latest post about the walls being built by the Americans and Iraqi government around Sunni areas of Baghdad. I agree with her that this is a ridiculous idea (see also: Palestine and Mexico); better fences do not make better neighbors is the very least of this issue. She also reveals that her family has finally come to the awful realization that they must leave and what she writes is heart breaking. What would you take of your life if you didn't know if you would ever be back? I wish she and her family safe journeys and luck at the border; luck being all that most Iraqis have to depend on these days. Jordan and Syria are the only countries they can enter without a visa and are thus being overwhelmed.
According to the UNHCR, an estimated 2 million Iraq's have been displaced inside Iraq and another 2 million have fled to other countries with the Syrian government estimating that 1.4 million have entered Syria. Read this article about the efforts of the UNHCR and the Syrian government overall and yesterdays signing of an agreement for the UNHCR to provide the Syrian Ministry of Health $2 million for improvement of hospitals, staff increases, and provisioning.
The US response was to FINALLY increase the number of visas available, but as Riverbend points out one is lucky to survive the necessary trips to the so-called "safe" Green Zone to go through the formalities and paperwork. And you had better have the right kind of passport. And you had better keep your mouth shut about unpleasant things like body counts.
And you had better not be a Palestinian refugee from Iraq. The Syrian government decided the 450,000 Palestinian refugees already living there is enough for them and are refusing Palestinians entry from Iraq thereby leaving these people in limbo at the border. This is only the latest problem for this segment of the Iraqi population; for being treated well by the Hussein regime, who saw them as a way to score political points in the region, they now face reprisals ranging from the loss of homes to murder.
When I arrived in Damascus in January 2006 there was a lot of talk of the refugees. People complained about rising prices. My neighborhood was said to be full of Iraqis, but somehow I only met Syrians. When I returned in December of 2006 the effects were far more apparent; I was shown a tiny one bedroom walk-up flat that the owner wanted to rent for about five times what I'd paid for spacious apartment with a glorious view just a few months prior. The streets seemed to burst with more people than I remembered; the faces and mood had changed.
According to the UNHCR, an estimated 2 million Iraq's have been displaced inside Iraq and another 2 million have fled to other countries with the Syrian government estimating that 1.4 million have entered Syria. Read this article about the efforts of the UNHCR and the Syrian government overall and yesterdays signing of an agreement for the UNHCR to provide the Syrian Ministry of Health $2 million for improvement of hospitals, staff increases, and provisioning.
The US response was to FINALLY increase the number of visas available, but as Riverbend points out one is lucky to survive the necessary trips to the so-called "safe" Green Zone to go through the formalities and paperwork. And you had better have the right kind of passport. And you had better keep your mouth shut about unpleasant things like body counts.
And you had better not be a Palestinian refugee from Iraq. The Syrian government decided the 450,000 Palestinian refugees already living there is enough for them and are refusing Palestinians entry from Iraq thereby leaving these people in limbo at the border. This is only the latest problem for this segment of the Iraqi population; for being treated well by the Hussein regime, who saw them as a way to score political points in the region, they now face reprisals ranging from the loss of homes to murder.
When I arrived in Damascus in January 2006 there was a lot of talk of the refugees. People complained about rising prices. My neighborhood was said to be full of Iraqis, but somehow I only met Syrians. When I returned in December of 2006 the effects were far more apparent; I was shown a tiny one bedroom walk-up flat that the owner wanted to rent for about five times what I'd paid for spacious apartment with a glorious view just a few months prior. The streets seemed to burst with more people than I remembered; the faces and mood had changed.
29 April, 2007
Go Gators!
No surprise that the severe drought in my home state of Florida is having a greater effect on wildlife than on those pesky humans who complain mightily about not being able to wash their cars when they please or water their personal exotic landscapes known as lawns. As is the case when water levels are low the alligator population is searching for some relief and that is often found closer to humans than many of the two-legged creatures would prefer.
Many people in S. Florida have complained about gators in their pools, backyards, etc. for years. Homo sapiens originated about 200,000 years ago. Alligator mississippiensis and its relatives developed about 80 million years ago. So, who is in whose backyard really?
Gators may, in fact, make better neighbors than other humans. A friend of mine who tried to welcome a new neighbor to his S. Florida neighborhood with a simple "hello" was met with the response, "I didn't move to f***ing Florida to talk to f***ing neighbors."
Where I am currently staying people haven't tuned into their own drought issues; they are surprised a visitor like me can rattle off their watering restrictions. It seems to me people continue to think about water the way we used to (o.k., often still do) think about trees: plenty of them, always been there and always will be.
Florida is a contradiction; a landscape defined by water, yet a green desert lacking significant surface water resources. And with studies showing about 1,000 people moving to Florida every day the situation will only continue to get worse. Too many people not enough effective leadership and, in some critical areas, a real lack of community. Period. Unfortunately it's been this way for a very long time. People have been shouting about the need for change down here since before I was born. And yet here we are in another drought, which is beginning to sound as quaint a term as "police action". The term "water emergency" is actually being uttered this time.
In my experience, the transient nature of the population is a special kind of problem. A lot of transplants live there, but "home" is strangely still where they came from; that's where their allegiances lie whether your talking taxes for education or water. These are often the people that think a hurricane warning is a reason to party, not evacuate. They don't know about this place they moved to and they don't care. In writing about the 2001 drought for a small newspaper in S. Florida I fielded far too many calls from newcomers who thought S. Florida's watersheds functioned the same as the ones in Pennsylvania, New York, or Ohio. They questioned why they couldn't wash their car when there was plenty of water in the "lake" behind their condo, which is actually an aquifer recharge pond. My favorite was the guy who was irate because, "there's plenty of water in the water hazards on the golf courses." I had to bite my tongue and try to keep from suggesting he go ahead and chug down a big glass of it; water hazards collect all the crap that gets added to the course to make it so "pretty".
Read this article from today's Miami Herald that gives some pretty graphic explanations of how bad it is - "face the prospect of buying bottled water if seawater works its way into coastal well fields, making tap water too salty to drink." Worse is what is already happening out in the Everglades - "Wading birds already have abandoned the drying marsh ''super colony,'' the most productive breeding ground in the Glades in recent years." You don't have to be a scientist to know it could get even worse there with devastating wildfires eating away the peat and a shortage of fresh water flowing into already-troubled Florida Bay increasing algae blooms. The accompanying map shows how the natural system is supposed to work and where it's not.
There is a virtual Mary Poppins satchel of information about water on the web including the EPA's Surf Your Watershed. For those of you living in, moving to, or contemplating a move to Florida check out SFWMD, figure out which water management district you live in, do your homework and make some changes. And to those of you that refuse to believe, listen, or change. Do the rest of us a favor and, please, leave. Last one out, turn off the tap.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)