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BuzzMachine
by Jeff Jarvis
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June 30, 2003
Shucks
: The Times of London writes about writing weblogs and says something nice about this very bit of bytes (though I'm the very former editor of EW): Jeff Jarvis, the editor of Entertainment Weekly, is quick to pick up on showbiz buzz, but has lately been tracking weblog culture in Iraq and Iran. Unlike most bloggers, he can actually write.
Evading the censor
: If you're in a totalitarian country and you're having problems reading some sites thanks to the rulers' censors, the German news site Telopolis has advice and links to a few services that promise to let you read sites that have been blocked. Try SafeWeb and Freebird. [via der Schockwellenreiter]
Instaphotoshop
: Here and here and here:
  
Sticks 'n' stones
: Xeni Jardin reports in Wired that First Amendment protections have been extended to bloggers: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last Tuesday that Web loggers, website operators and e-mail list editors can't be held responsible for libel for information they republish, extending crucial First Amendment protections to do-it-yourself online publishers.
Online free speech advocates praised the decision as a victory. The ruling effectively differentiates conventional news media, which can be sued relatively easily for libel, from certain forms of online communication such as moderated e-mail lists. One implication is that DIY publishers like bloggers cannot be sued as easily.
"One-way news publications have editors and fact-checkers, and they're not just selling information -- they're selling reliability," said Cindy Cohn, legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "But on blogs or e-mail lists, people aren't necessarily selling anything, they're just engaging in speech. That freedom of speech wouldn't exist if you were held liable for every piece of information you cut, paste and forward." I wish Reynolds weren't on vacation so he could comment on this. [via Anil]
Bozo driver of the day: NJ MKR 635
: I'm initiating a new feature: The Bozo Driver of the Day. Everytime I see a bozo driver, I've decided I'll give the guy the attention he so urgently desires right here. If you all do that, too, look what we can create: a dynamic, nationwide Bozo data base. It's not unlike my dynamic weblog Consumer Reports: Just say "BrandX sucks" and whenever people search Google for that combination of words, they'll find warnings from fellow consumers. (My most recent: Expedia sucks and Sears sucks). Soon, you can Google your own license plate and see whether you've been busted by the blog cops.
So today's Bozo Driver of the Day is a BMW driver. Of course. BMW drivers are, as a breed, Bozos. They are the true target market for those penis-enlarger spams.
This morning on I-78, this Bozo kept rushing my tail (though I could go no faster, since I was behind traffic). Then, showing all the strategic acumen of a dot.com stock analyst, he would swerve into the right lane in hopes of passing me us that way, though there was more and slower traffic in that lane. Thus, he went nowhere, except swerving back into my lane behind me again and again. He never learns.
So you know who you are, beemer boy with your shaved head and too-cool sunglasses. You are the Bozo Driver of the Day.
Puce has a day job
: He's writing Iranian T-shirts. This, also, from View From Iran: “A lot of the music you hear is a copy of music made elsewhere,” F says. “Sometimes it is the words that are copied, sometimes it is the tune.”
“I am not surprised,” I say. “It is true of everything else.” Copies of everything are here. There may be no Crest, but there is Crend with a similar logo. There are bad copies of the Coca Cola logo on bottles of homegrown soda that tastes pretty damn good. The Nike swoosh is a little too fat here. Things are “’maed’ in USA.” Children’s T-shirts have slogans on them like:
“Have a happy how heavy is a duckling.”
and
“Barbie is beauty fine and miss”
We watch movies on CD that are imprinted with: “Property of Miramax for prescreening purposes only.”
The lyrics of Metallica have all been translated into Persian and are published in a book that is very popular with teenagers.
A blue Mickey Mouse graced a wall in the restaurant we ate at last night. The same post about Iran's counterfeit pop culture makes a point about a popular video there now and then makes this wise observation: In a way the video presents a life that Iranians could have. People just seem bursting to have fun. Fun is power. Fun is what will ultimately bring down this regime.
Terrorism
: One must take news flashes from weblogs without names with a grain of salt but this one is intriguing. From the American/Iranian husband-wife weblog View From Iran: Our sources tell us that quiet investigations into the plane crashes here in Iran on February 19 and in Pakistan on February 20 were likely bombs and the work of Al Qaeda. The belief is that they were a direct response to the fact that the 2 governments had recently arrested several suspected members of Al Qaeda. Al-Qaeda's MO is often not to take "credit" for its attacks (thus getting "credit" for fear they didn't necessarily instigate) and so this is conceivable.
Internationalization
: Hoder, the man who started the Iranian weblog revolution, calls on weblog software and news aggregator creators to get up to speed internationalizing their applications so they can handle languages that don't use this alphabet. Amen to that. Look at what's happening in Iran; imagine what can happen throughout the world as weblogs build bridges across borders. Stick that in your RSS pipe and smoke it!
June 29, 2003
New!
: Rossi announces the gay Gawker: QueerDay.com, coming soon.
Building bridges, building islands
: The New York Times' Thomas Friedman got it wrong today in his column on Google as God.
He fears that the Internet will lead to more islands, more hatred, more collections of groups doing bad.
But I see the exact opposite happening. I even preached about it today. I see more connections, more bridges, thus fewer islands. I see Iranians and Americans talking; I see Iraqis beginning to tell their stories to the world; I see Israelis communicating their viewpoint; I see good coming of all this.
The byte is half-full, Mr. Friedman, not half-empty. The Internet -- and particularly, weblogs -- brings connections, not disconnections, understanding, not misunderstanding.
World Stupidity Awards
: Well, how could I have missed the World Stupidity Awards: :Stupidest Person in the World - Former Iraqi Information Minster Saeed al-Sahaf.
Stupidest Government in the World - People's Republic of North Korea
Media Outlet which has made greatest Contribution to Furthering Ignorance Worldwide - CNN
Stupidity Award for Reckless Endangerment of the Planet - U.S. President George W. Bush
Stupidest Trend or form of Mass Hysteria - Humans destroying the planet
Stupidest Film of the Year - Kangaroo Jack
Stupidest Person in Canada - Prime Minister Jean Chretien Hmmm. If only I'd had the chance to nominate Jacques Chirac as Stupidist Head of State; BBC as Stupidist Network, Canada as Stupidist Former American Ally. Any other nominees?
The original reality show
: The proceedings of the Old Bailey 1714-1759 are online. Now you, too, can look up your apparently felonious ancestors. [via Die Zeit]
Iran auf Deutsch
: And now an Iranian weblog auf Deutsch. [via Steppenwolf]
A sermon
: My posting has been light the last day or so because I had to finish up a sermon I got dragooned into giving this morning at my little Congregational church in New Jersey.
It was my third sermon out of September 11th: "The first time I stood here, six months after September 11th, I talked about the pain. The second time, on the first anniversary, I talked about the anger. Today, I will talk about the beginning of redemption in three small changes for the good." It mentions this weblog as well as Hoder's and Greg Allen's. Full text, if you dare, is here.
America and Iran
: L. Bruce Laingen, who was charge d'affaires at the U.S. embassy in Tehran when it was seized by Iranian hostage-takers, writes a column arguing that we shouldn't get involved in Iran and that it's not ready for revolution. I wonder what the Iranian bloggers have to say about that; it's one matter to debate America's support of the Iranian democracy movement and quite another to debate the existence of that movement. Regime change in Tehran is inevitable. But it must come from within. Iran is not Iraq. It is big; it is populous: 70 million and counting. It is overwhelmingly Shiite. Its people are culture-proud and intensely nationalistic. The current student unrest is symptomatic, but there is little evidence of a burgeoning public movement sufficient to press revolutionary change. A quasidemocratic process and an evolving civil society work to keep political agitation largely under control, with the Basij and other militants put on the streets to curb student unrest. After the climactic events of the revolution and the eight years of devastating war with Iraq, there is little public readiness for institutional upheaval. Nor is there any evident alternative leadership of any stature among the students or other opposition.
Change will come, but it can and should be "soft" change.
Our neighbor to the north, Iran
: I'm going to give the guy the benefit of the doubt and hope that he was misquoted by the Iranian official news agency but here's what they say Canada's deputy prime minister said in Tehran: Zanjan, June 29, IRNA -- Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Patric Carson said here on Sunday that Tehran and Ottawa shared identical problems with Washington.
Carson, who is heading an economic delegation to this northwestern province, said that his country has economic problem with the US while Iran's problem with Washington is political.
The Canadian official made the remark in a meeting with deputy governor general of the province for planning, Ahmad Sorkhpar. If true, this is appalling.
: UPDATE: Comments, below, make it clear that the deputy PM is not Patric Carson and no one can find any Patric Carson in the government of Canada. So Iran lies. Surprise, surprise.
Beeb not kosher
: Israel may be going a bit far but it got so fed up with the BBC and its "repeated 'demonisation' of the country" that it has cut off the network: The move will involve a refusal to put up official spokesmen for BBC interviews. There will be visa restrictions, not imposed on other news organisations in Israel, to ensure that the bureau chief is rotated every few months and to make it hard for BBC staff to report.
“The BBC will discover that bureaucracy can be applied with goodwill or without it. And after the way that they have repeatedly tried to delegitimise the state of Israel, we, as hosts, have none left for them,” Daniel Seaman, director of the government press office, told The Times.
“We see the well-known pro-Arab touch of the Foreign Office and the traditional anti-Semitism of parts of Britain’s Establishment in the way they are acting against us.” By cutting off the BBC, they also cut off information and cutting off the BBC's audience and that is a mistake. But the frustration is clear. [via Israpundit]
June 28, 2003
G
: Iraqi blogger No. 1 G has a fotolog. And today, he writes about an 18-year-old Syrian boy being treated by Americans after he was shot on the wrong side of the Iraqi border. He sounded so hopeful when he said he’ll be leaving in the few coming days, but when he was asked how did the Americans treat you, he said: “good, good…ummm good they are treating me very well, but….” – and here tears started rolling on his cheeks as he removed part of his blanket to show the leather straps tying his leg to the bed “they are treating me like a prisoner”.
I had to go but as I was about to leave he grabbed my hand and asked me if I was an Iraqi, I told him yes, he whispered to me: “god help you Iraqis you have been humiliated but inshaallh god will help you defend your self against the occupiers”. He was so somber when he was telling me these words.
A few minute later he called me
-are you a Muslim?
-No.
-Why is that?
-Well I think that is due to some technical reasons related to the fact that my mother and father mated when they were Christians.
-But how come you are not a Muslim? you are smart (!!!!) and you handle two languages easily you should be a Muslim!
-But I always considered my self a member of the Islamic culture.
*he acted a if he didn't hear my answer*
-my friend I m ready to talk to you whenever you want.
He was so nice and in the same time wounded in his pride, he was betrayed. Allah betrayed him he told him to go, cross the border and there he will find all the infidels he wants. He could go and kill as much as he could to purify the land of the Muslims from those filthy animals. Instead he is trapped in this fuckin’ hospital, being taken care of by cute Americans. He was under tremendous pressure; I felt his soul cracking under this pressure....
Silence
: Iranian blogger Steppenwolf, from Tehran, has been silent and today he explains why: You see, writing in English offers me a dramatically broader audience, while finely endangering me of being accused. Accused of providing the enemy(!) with information. With internal information. Yes, my weblog is anonymous. But then, I don't even want to jeopardize my peace. I am sure everyone can understand this. There is nothing in it for me being political.
Honestly, the fact is I tend to get excited as soon as my fingers touch the keyboard. I can't help it. I can't help my harsh feelings either. So, I prefer to stay silent, stay away from it. It is hard for those of us who live with the privilege and right of freedom to know what life is like for those who have to worry with every word.
In the cause of democracy
: Pejman Yousefzadeh points to a superb open letter by expat Mohsen Moshfegh
to Iranian reformists, arguing that they must be ready to create a new government in Iran -- once the mullahs surely fall -- and that America is the best ally of democratic reform: . . . In my opinion, the United States has a much more serious preoccupation these days than just money and financial rewards of a free and unhampered trade with Iran. This is not to say that the American capitalists care little about substantially lucrative opportunities that a democratic Iran under a free market system can offer them. But after the events of September 11 and the realization of its vulnerability to terrorism, the United States was painfully faced with two essential and very basic facts: first that money has no value when you're dead; and second that as long as the two issues of international terrorism and the proliferation of nuclear weapons are not effectively dealt with being dead is a very real possibility. Also, as the sole remaining superpower in the world, the United States does not only have the responsibility to deal with this problem, but is the only power with sufficient means and international reach to solve a problem of this magnitude. And solve it, it must. So, in my opinion, America's desire to eliminate the theocracy in Iran is based on much more fundamental motivations than money and financial rewards, and therefore, makes a much more dependable ally for our democratic forces than the European Union. Where Europeans are our tactical allies, the Americans can be considered our strategic allies in establishing a secular democracy in our country and propagating it throughout the region.
Am I claiming that the United States will never, under any circumstance abandon our secular democratic forces and make a deal with the Islamic Republic? No, not at all. We should not be naïve about this, either. The United States is driven by nothing more than its own national security objectives. But that's just fine, because at this historical juncture the United States indeed "has no better friend" than a secular democratic Iran. Our success in establishing a secular democracy in Iran would eliminate one of the most potent sources of anti-American sentiments in the Middle East and one of the major forces of international terrorism, as well as one of the most significant obstacles to peace between Palestine and Israel.
So, given that the United States -like any other sane country- is driven by its own interests, would it still make a good ally for our democratic forces? The answer is, of course it would. We should not fear taking a helping hand from the United States, if offered. The Americans do not have any hidden agenda. They are crystal clear about their objectives and are not after our independence. A peaceful, free, and democratic Iran is big enough of a prize for them. It's a great letter.
If only the expatriate reformers of Iraq had had similar foresight.
June 27, 2003
'I tried not to think of the impossibilities'
: Blue Bird Escape -- the wonderful weblog by the teen girl visiting her homeland, Iran -- gives us another simply eloquent entry in the diary of her trip: Shiraz is very different from Tehran. It is much quieter and has less traffic. Though it is very hot.
It is now 9:50 P.M. We just came back from Hafezieh -- the grave stone of the great Iranian poet. It was a beautiful spot to pray and think. Although it gives a sad feeling, it is very quiet and pleasant. We stayed there for a while and said our prayers. I thanked God for giving me the best and I wished for my family safety and happiness. I wished the people of Iran lots of luck.
The wind was blowing a bit, a nice cool wind through the hot air. I was happy.
People of Shiraz seem to be happy in their own way of life. Whenever we go out they look at us constantly. I guess they know we are not from Shiraz.
Today is Thursday, our last day in Shiraz. Tomorrow we will leave around noon. Right now I'm sitting in a restaurant. I have just finished my kabob. There is live music here. They are singing old Iranian songs. My mom would have liked this place.
As the days end and my journey comes to an end I feel sad, but I remind myself that everything ends. I have been very lucky to have this wonderful visit to my country.
We are in a beautiful garden. It is very beautiful. There is an old palace here. My sister and I are falling in love with this palace; the big dining room, living room, and all its other parts. As a joke I told her I will have my wedding there. It is a perfect place for a wedding.
We sat on a bench under the trees and thought of our dreams.
"Unfortunately we live in this country,"is what my sister said when we were eating pizza for dinner. In Iran no matter what you talk about it always leads to politics and ends with anger and disappointment. If I ask someone what's new in Iran, they will say there is nothing to tell, tell us about America.
I hate being only an individual and not having the ability to do something.
At Hafezieh we touched his gravestone and said a few prayers. At night some people were sitting on steps, heads down, in their own thoughts. I became sad, I tried not to think of the impossibilities.
Inflammatory lies from the BBC
: BBC Foreign Editor John Simpson has gone over the edge of credibility and decency as he essentially accuses the U.S. military of targeting and murdering non-embedded journalists. BBC world affairs editor John Simpson has called on the US government to investigate why more journalists were killed by American soldiers than by any other means during the Iraq war.
Simpson blamed the deaths of many of the journalists - what he called "the ultimate act of censorship" - on the system of embedding, which meant that journalists operating independently of US and British troops became "potential targets". I was about to start screaming about taking away Simpson's journalism stripes and drumming him out of the corps.
But then I came to a buried paragraph in the Guardian report: American soldiers did not kill journalists on purpose, said Simpson, but out of "a mixture of blind panic, inadequate street training, and complete and utter ignorance". I'd say the Guardian is just as at fault for this bit of inflammatory accusation as Simpson, for that last bit should have been at least alluded to in the first three paragraphs. Altogether, it's a festival of anti-Americanism and it's shoddy journalism. [via IWantMedia]
Al-Queda No. 2 nabbed
: I see this at the German site Focus and not yet on any of the English-language news sites: The right hand of Osama bin Laden is in captivity, according to an Arab TV report. Aiman el Sawahiri (German spelling) and other al-Queda members were reportedly in Iran.
: Drudge has it now too. Don't know why it's taking so long to spread. This is big news.
Do not call. Do not email. Do not write. Does not work.
: Joe Territo discovers that the new Do Not Call service doesn't work. As if they couldn't anticipate a flood of traffic to this?
That says it all
: Kucinich came in second?
Morality
: Justice Scalia's logic in his defense of the Texas sodomy law has been rolling around inside me like a botulistic oyster. He argues that by overturning this law, all laws based on morality are up for grabs. He quotes the Bowers decision: "...if all laws representing essentially moral choices are to be invalidated under the Due Process Clause, the courts will be very busy indeed." OK, let's carry that to its logical end. Laws on murder, rape, theft, assault, hate are all based on morality -- all based on society's shared view that these things are wrong, that they are immoral and should be illegal. Thus, Scalia is putting homosexuality and sodomy in the same moral bucket with murder, rape, theft, assault, and hate. He says that if you don't forbid homosexuality, all other moral decisions are baseless. In what universe? In what church? In what nation? That is patently offensive and downright stupid.
: Atrios says: I have to admit I´m rather annoyed at the limited view the media seems to be taking with the Lawrence decision. It isn´t a victory for gay civil rights - it´s a victory for civil rights period. And, an incredibly sweeping one. Right. On this, liberals, libertarians, and compassionate conservatives should all agree. Only bigots and fundamentalist fanatics will not.
Free!
: Thanks to Anil, I just ordered an Amazon goodie box.
Leading by example
: Micah Halpern at Jewsweek suggests that as they set up their new nation and government, the Palestinians should follow the example of... Israel: Palestinians have very few examples after which to model themselves when it comes to creating a state. The notion of a modern state is very new to them. Ironically, one of their best examples is a country they will be loathe to emulate -- Israel.
The countries in the region, with the lone exception of Israel, are all Muslim states. With the exceptions of Turkey and Lebanon they are all dictatorships, powerfully ruled by monarchs and totalitarians.
Leadership and hegemony have a long history in the Arab world. But most of it is family based and tribal based, certainly a far cry from a Western system of national government....
The present leadership in the Palestinian Authority is different. Unlike Palestinian President Arafat and unlike most of the rest of the Arab world, Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen does not want to create a dictatorship. Like them, he has an underlying distrust of anything Western and hatred towards Israel. But Abu Mazen understands that that's not the way to build a country or to build a future.
Another Iraqi blogger
: Salam Pax trumpets the arrival of a woman Iraqi blogger. I'll say that I'm glad to have another blogger, another voice, a woman's voice. Now that I've said that, let me quickly add that her first post is utterly full of camel crap. Her first words: I know that one day there will be agreat revolution against the Americans and now we have the first seeds of that revolution... Did you know that at the beginning of the invasion everybody said it’s a bless getting rid of Saddam Hussien but it turns to be an ever lasting curse,haw could they just go leaving the biggest oil reservoir in the region, they have planned to stay, accept it or not ,the staunting thing is what the people want naw (the return of Saddam the tyrant)!!! . When you think thoroughly about it you find it logical & reasonable ,during the past regime there were safety &work chances(money) BUT, THERE IS NO FREEDOM, naw there is freedom without safety or public services with very very mini work opportunities , so normally they prefer the past time of saddam.... No, let's not be coy and clean; let's call that what it is: shit. Yes, let's return to the mass-murdering tyrant. Yes, it's easy to set up an administration in no time (and why is that entirely the Americans' responsibility; do the Iraqis bear no responsibility for their disorder?). Sounds like Baathist nostalgia to me.
: UPDATE: Former (unfortunately) blogger Diana Moon has been working hard to get more bloggers -- particularly women bloggers -- online in Iraq and she deserves credit for this step. Doesn't matter whether I agree or disagree with the blogger (clearly, it's the latter for me) or even like the blog. The point is: The more voices, the better. So Diana added a voice and Shanti is ready to play host to the choir. Good for them.
Lazy Americans
: Reynolds and Layne and Quick are taking vacations. The nerve.
Iranian hostages
: Harry Hatchet reports that, according to Kurdish media in London, Iranian authorities have occupied a university in Sanandaj. More here.
June 26, 2003
Kidnapped
: Australian TV reports that two U.S. soldiers were kidnapped in Iraq.
At last
: I'm not a lawyer (thank God) and there are plenty of smart lawyers commenting on the Supreme Court's rejection of the Texas sodomy laws, but from a moral perspective -- Scalia be damned! -- is thank God for this decision. The moral decision is to treat people as people and not to discriminate -- or worse, for Christ's sake, prosecute -- one group of people because of who they are. I do not buy arguments that say the voters of Texas have some greater right on this matter. By that logic, then Brown v. Board of Education was wrong; by that logic, the racist laws of Southern states and the racist regimes of such governors as George Wallace and Lester Maddox would have gone unchallenged. No, Scalia et al, the moral issue here is not homosexuality; the moral issue is bigotry.
The sun never sets on my empire
: A sample shot from today at the Jersey Shore (exhibiting the fine culinary offerings there), thanks to Beach Blog and the NJ.com Zoom Cam.
If a navel had eyes...
: Here's a blog post about blog posts about blog posts. Doc Searls says: I'm tired of blogging about blogging. I kinda OD'd on it in Boston a couple weeks back, at the bizblog conference there. Fun as it was, a room full of bloggers blogging about blogging, mostly (it seemed to me at the time) for each other, seemed almost a parody of a parody of itself.
Putting it together, bit by bit...
: Greg Allen is rushing to finish his World Trade Center memorial proposal and struggling with the tools of the trade, as I did. Must. Learn. To. Photoshop. Properly.
Must. Learn. Illustrator.
Must. Admit. Powerpoint. Is. Not. A. Real. Graphics. Program.
Must. Say, puffy fabric paint and a scanner is easier than learning Form-Z.
Must. Say, I have newfound appreciation for the way artists' studios accrete materials and tools. You can't just go out and buy some of that stuff.
Must. Add, that the world of craft supply stores is actually a solar system of tinier worlds: the claymolding world, the tole painting world, the modelmaking world, the balsa world, the cast-and-paint-your-own-doll-head world, the make-your-own-gel-filled-candles-or-soap world. Oh, and the puffy fabric paint world. I forced myself to finish mine earlier this week. Went to the newly renamed UPS store. The guy was going to wrap it in four boxes and two miles of bubblewrap. Absolutely, I said; it was my baby. A strange and fulfilling (and frustrating) experience, doing this.
Somebody's been smoking newsprint
: New York Magazine media kvetch Michael Wolff gives a keynote to a Guardian forum on war coverage (!) and accuses U.S. TV networks of "kissing ass" to get relaxed ownership rules. Wolff put forward what he described as the "semi-conspiracy theory" that major media companies in the US meekly followed the flag-waving agenda of the Bush administration in order to persuade the federal communications commission to change its regulations.
"Ass kissing has gone on to a profound degree. It's pervasive throughout all these news organisations. They need the FCC to behave in certain ways. In order to do this we have got to go along to get along," said Wolff... I dare him to look the war reporters and show producers in the eye and say that. I dare him to tell them that they're all just a bunch of frigging liars. I dare him to go to the widows and children of the correspondents who lost their lives covering this war and say that they died in vain; worse, they died a lie.
Yeah, he's grandstanding. But this kind of grandstanding only reduces his own credibility as he questions the credibility of those he criticizes.
I wonder who else spoke at this forum: Fisk? [via IWantMedia]
A boy in Iran
: A boy in Iran writes a weblog: hi
i think i am supposed to write about iran.
but i prefer to write about myself and my world.
that's the way it is.
u know guys, now i am chatting with my ex-girl friend, laughing at every thing u can imagine in the world, trying to forget all the past and future surounded us.
and here iran's always been a thing to forget for me, and all the youth like me. if u wanna a happy healthy life here, u should be very strong, and u should be able to forget.
u should forget that ur coutry in ur mind is tied with all the oblivion's u feel from childhood, all the think u didn't have, all the hate u feel deep insight, all the lost things u are always searching for....
Bin Laden, road trip
: I don't trust this story but I pass it on fyi: The "Iran Press Service" says bin Laden was in Iran planning his next attack. Methinks someone wants to goad us into invading.
Rhetoric
: G, the new Baghdad blogger, has a super essay today on the two "channels" Iraqis turn on when talking to others: the reality channel and rhetoric channel, the one used to save your skin during the Saddam regime, the same one used now to talk to Western reporters about the occupation. So how for god’s sake we will know the truth? All those Rambo like journalist who came here with their satellite phones, laptops and digital cameras, how will they be able to tell what the Iraqis really think? Read on and you start to scratch the truth.
: Salam Pax has a fotolog (including photos of the bearded G).
: Salam on the mood of the military in Iraq: You can see the distrust in their eyes and the way they hold these big guns towards you when you move close to a check point. And if you ever drive beside a convoy don’t look out your window they would be having their guns pointed at you, aimed right between your eyes.
Some areas are better than others, you still see soldiers in certain districts very relaxed walking around and talking to people. Kids on their tanks or buying roasted chicken from a restaurant. They are on their edgier side when moving or on checkpoints. I don’t blame them; I hate to be in the situation they are in. I was hoping that the day when they would be moving in Baghdad in civilian clothes and browsing thru our markets, mixing with people was closer than it looks now.
June 25, 2003
Baghdad Bob captured
: Or so says the Mirror.
Real business
: Marketing Fix is bought by Andy Bourland. Good news for all.
Those were the days, my friend
: Via Der Schockwellenreiter, here are some DDR (East German) nostalgia sites (this one auf Englisch); I have a soft spot for commie kitsch.
  Hot!: We're blogging the beach!
That's right. Forget about politics, war, the law, religion, life, and death.
We're blogging bodies!
And I couldn't be prouder.
Here's the NJ.com Beach Blog.
On top of that, you can control the cam on the beach at the Jersey Shore with ZoomCam.
Enjoy, you poor office rat.
: And, shame on me, I neglected to send you to our MLive.com Michigan Beach Cam. Yes, Michigan beach.
Iranian Christmas
: David Warren has visions of sugarplums dancing in his head at the thought of the mullahs' collapse: ...when the world's first, most successful, and longest-lived, "Islamist" totalitarian regime finally dies, the prestige of Islamic political fanaticism everywhere will be catastrophically undermined....
If the ayatollahs fall, the international Hezbollah terrorist network will be orphaned; the Syrian Baathist dictatorship will lose its main foreign ally and prop; the North Koreans will lose their principal weapons market; the nuisance of Iranian subversion will be removed from Iraq and Afghanistan; the last serious Russian influence in the region will evaporate; France will lose its chief remaining means to sow mischief against U.S. interests; and the U.S. will lose its only credible rival as a military presence in the Gulf.
It is moreover just possible that the world oil market will go into long-term glut, from the collapse of political obstacles to free trade. This would have various economic implications, debatable environmental ones, but two indisputable strategic effects: the permanent elimination of Saudi Arabia's oil weapon, and the gradual removal of the oil crutch upon which the region's economies lean. The very need for productive enterprise, to feed swelling young populations, will force free-market reforms that will change the nature of Arab society.
And this is before calculating the power of example, if Iran -- flanked, Allah willing, by other successes in Iraq and Afghanistan -- can establish a secular democratic constitution. The desire for it is overwhelming, and after the fall of first the Shah, and then the mad mullahs, Iran may have exhausted the alternatives. The prospects for a democratic constitutional order are better in Iran than in any Arab country, from the Iranians' willingness to do it themselves. They do not require a foreign liberator. Mouth-watering, eh?
Iran today
: Pejman Yousefzadeh has a very good backgrounder on Iran today at Tech Central Station.
: More from the Iranian/American couple blogging their trip to Iran. This from the American wife, on clothes: Before coming here, I promised myself that I would not obsess over the headscarf and the manteau that I am forced to wear. When other writers did that, I was bored. I thought that there were other issues of women’s life that were more important. After all, I do have to wear a modicum of clothing anywhere I go. It’s just that I don’t really want to walk around the city topless or bottomless, but I definitely do want to walk around without a scarf on my head and without a manteau. I mean, it’s summer for god sakes!
I am losing my tolerance. Anyone who knows me, knows how frigging accepting I can be (I can hear my sisters and brother laughing now). But I am losing my tolerance.
My sisters-in-law can’t run out in the street to say goodbye when friends and relatives leave; they are afraid to be seen from the doorway even; they barely leave the house during the day because of the heat. It’s not even that hot! But it is that hot when you are wearing a scarf and a manteau.
I used to believe women who said that the hijab does not restrict them in any way. Oh yeah? Try telling that to any woman that I have spoken to hear in Iran. Even religious women that I have spoken to are fed up with the restrictions. Every single woman I have spoken with from those who pray 3 times a day to those who don’t pray at all feel restricted by the dress code and restricted by this regime.
This is the first time I have been in a truly restrictive society. Church and state? Prayer in school? A religious society? Come here if that is what you want. You’ll quickly find yourselves longing for liberals and liberal society. And this on her husband's history in Iran: K took me on a walk of places he had been beaten up in this city. “Here is where I was thrown out of a second-story window. Here is where I was beaten and dragged and left for dead. Here is where I used to give out pamphlets and got beaten up for it. Here is where I was when I was told that the beating I got was deserved.”
This treatment he got from less than one percent of the population of his city. Less than one percent believed so fervently and extremely in their religion and its rightness that they were willing to kill and die for it. Less than one percent of this city terrorized the other 99% of the city and forced them to live with the restrictions of an Islamic regime.
It does not take much. It just takes unquestioning faith and twisted beliefs. : Note that Tony Blair is sticking by us again, supporting Iran's demonstrators. The mullahs are pissed.
: Whoman on oil and Iran: Many Iranians believe that the discovery of oil in their country has been probably one the worst things that could have happened to them. Many call oil the bread that brings about hunger, cursed blessing, or things like that...
It is simply because oil has attracted many powerful countries and has derailed all democratic movements in Iran since 1907 when the first Iranian revolution in recent history took place. What kind of an authentically democratic government would rip off its own people by filling up the foreign tankers with cheap prices?
June 24, 2003
Free straightlines here!
: Fill in your own joke: Canadian medical researchers have discovered an intriguing condition, sexsomnia, in which people who are asleep proceed to initiate sexual activity with others. The condition, detailed in the June edition of the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, appears to be a mix of sleepwalking and adolescent wet dreams.
Amazingly, not all partners of such people are distressed or irritated by the novel experience of having an unconscious person make love to them. Some almost prefer it.
Another holiday
: Alt.muslim reports: This July 4th, leaders of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and the Muslim American Society (not to be confused with the American Muslim Society of Imam W. D. Muhammad, which shared that name until recently) are planning a joint convention in Philadelphia that will be the mother of all patriotic Muslim events.
A holiday
: I hereby declare this Monday a national holiday: It's Hans Blix Retirement Day. At last.
All work and no play...
: Thanks to Aaron Swartz [via hEiko] we have a new Google game: I looked to see what ads Google AdSense would place on my blog. They include: Surviving Terrorism
Help your family in case of attack...
3'x5' World Flags $9.95
Buy 6+ polyester flags at $6.00 each or 12+ at $5.00 each....
Israel & Palestine
The occupation is killing us all. Action options to end the conflict... Man, I gotta lighten up.
So does Glenn Reynolds: Help ARC Help Iraq
Help the American Refugee Committee provide relief in Iraq....
Help the Iraqi People
All of your tax-deductible gift goes to Iraq humanitarian relief... Now look at what it would place on Gawker: Google
Grand Canyon Helicopters
Helicopter Tours,Canyon Hotel Rooms Las Vegas & Grand Canyon, Savings... Fun, fun, fun.
Now Raymi: Day Quit Smoking Plan
Ends Addiction Quickly, Gently, Repairs Damage to Skin & Body...
San Diego Hypnosis Center
Rapid results for smoking, stress, weight loss, and emotional issues. I could think of a few more endemic advertisers.
We link, you decide
: Scott Brodeur brings together the debate: What is he really saying about Hillary Clinton?
Unemployed bloggers should apply
: Bill Hobbs finds a fascinating job ad for journalism trainers to go to Iraq and help jumpstart a free press there. Posted by the Institute London-based War & Peace Reporting: IWPR trainers in Iraq will lead intensive personalised training through a combination of workshop (knowledge-based) training and practical on-the-job (skills-based) instruction and mentoring.
Workshop training cycles will lead participants through a significant curriculum of basic and specialist training modules (from fundamentals of journalism, to humanitarian, peace and human rights reporting) to provide grounding in the core tenets of fact-based reporting. As part of the project, a training manual in Arabic and Kurdish will be produced to support the training process, and IWPR trainers will play a significant role in its development.... The ideal candidate will have experience in international journalism, experience as an international journalism trainer and knowledge of Arabic or Kurdish language, though candidates with two of these three attributes may be considered.... IWPR's Anthony Borden reports: Efforts by the US-led authority in Iraq to establish responsible media are in crisis, with bitter inter-agency rivalry, senior staff changes and poor planning undermining early efforts to launch programming and lay out a framework for media development.
The stakes are high. A prerequisite for any kind of emerging democracy is a professional and trusted media, to convey facts, support responsible debate and represent the diversity of communities and views within Iraq. But the absence of a reliable Iraqi media exacerbates the frustration, and growing anger, felt because of the lack of an Iraqi authority and basic security and services. Powerless and uncertain, Iraqis need a voice.
There has been a dramatic post-war boom in local media, with the launch of up to 150 newspapers and many radio stations. Indeed, there is a bewildering - exciting - diversity of new voices for a changed Iraq emerging from decades of dictatorship. But the majority are highly partisan media established by rival political interests jockeying for position, and could be destabilising in a fragile post-conflict environment. Many are directly produced by political parties, or by former senior Ba'athists or other figures with a political, rather than a journalistic, orientation. Informed media with balanced reporting is largely absent. If you've been reading this weblog for more than a few days, you know I'm eager to help Iraqis start weblogs, since they will allow a wide variety of voices to be heard around the world.
I also think that online media can inform this journalism training greatly. Iraqi newspapers do not need to -- in fact, cannot -- operate like newspapers in the U.S. or Britain or Europe; they can't afford to.
Online media have learned to do things in new, faster, cheaper, better ways and that is the best model for Iraq.
A new breed of newspaper in Iraq -- a "fact-based" paper, as this group puts it -- can learn from weblogs by pointing to and summarizing news sources around the world (see The Week magazine).
It can cram a tremendous amount of information into a small space (compare any weblog post to any LATimes story and tell me which is informative in less space and time).
It can use its audience to help gather news and the voice of the audience.
And these same lessons can be applied to local radio and TV: You no longer need hugely expensive equipment to gather audio and video.
Online can help teach all these media to remember that -- especially in a place like Iraq -- the audience is often the story. Listen to your audience and you will find the news. Listen first, then speak.
The irony of all this is that newspapers here and in Europe could end up learning from brand new newspapers in Iraq (if they're given the right jump start). Newspapers in the rest of the world will need to rethink themselves as online gives them more competition for the attention of the audience and for classified ad dollars. They will need to rethink how to do their jobs, what makes them valuable, what makes them useful, what makes them unique, what makes them trusted, and what makes them profitable.
Iraq could turn into a great laboratory for the future of media, if it is given half a chance.
Tick... tick... tick...
: A day after announcing her weblog -- and telling us to look at it today -- Coulter is uncharacteristically silent. Enjoy it while it lasts.
'Unlike the streets of Paris, Berlin or Berkeley, anti-Americanism is not fashionable in Tehran'
: Iranian.com says these demonstrations are different and says that those who say that America should just sit back and shush are wrong [my emphases]: The students, backed by ordinary people in the streets, are no longer asking for reform but for the removal of the clerical regime. They are chanting “death to Khamenei,” the Supreme Leader, which is by law a treasonous act....
The protests have now spilled into more areas than the streets around Tehran University. There are rumors that the youth of Naziabad, one of the poorest and traditionally most religious sections of Tehran, have extended their support to the students and offered to do the dirty fighting for them. Even in the well-to-do northern residential areas of town young and old have taken to the streets in support of the uprising.
Once again the regime blames the U.S. for homegrown problems. Both Rafsanjani, the powerful head of the Council of Expediency, and Khamenei have accused the U.S. of agitating and meddling in Iranian affairs. The chief of police, Baqer Qalibaf, claimed on Sunday that no students had been arrested -- only U.S. backed “hooligans” who have infiltrated student ranks.
The speaker of the Majlis, Mehdi Karrubi, defensively claimed on Sunday, “We already have democracy in Iran. The national elections are symbols of democracy in the country.” He even went as far as to remind people of the 1953 U.S. backed coup that brought the Shah back to power, claiming that American-style democracy is not what Iranians need.
But anti-Americanism here is staid. Tired of theocratic hard-line rule, the people are happy to get whatever help they can from abroad. The opposition radio and satellite television are widely used even in the poorer sections of Tehran. Accusations of American backing actually have given courage to the demonstrators. Unlike the streets of Paris, Berlin or Berkeley, anti-Americanism is not fashionable in Tehran. The regime, having adopted it for the past twenty-five years since the Islamic Revolution, has beaten the life out of it.
People are encouraged by the presence of U.S. in both the East (Afghanistan) and the West (Iraq) of Iran. The influence of opposition media from abroad cannot be under-estimated. But the accusations of American meddling are exaggerated and betray a certain helplessness on the part of the rulers in the face of their mounting unpopularity. This is a spontaneous uprising coming from the university and spreading out. It is an uprising that is unorganized, without leadership or ideology. A massive protest that comes from the deep discontent and frustration of a people tired of being bullied.
This is an indigenous movement of a youth who wants individual freedom and who has finally mustered enough courage to stand up and face the knives, clubs and guns of government thugs. It is exactly the improvisational nature of the uprising that gives it weight -- it is difficult for the regime to paint it as anything but genuine and indigenous. There are no leaders to assassinate or arrest and no ideology to detract - only an ever-growing frustration that has spilled into the streets.... Some say that America could not support the demonstrators so as not to give them coodies (as we used to say). Others, including this author, say our support and attention -- from government and media -- is vital.
Read it all.
: And note with mirth that this Iranian writer includes Berkeley in a list of anti-American hotbeds.
: Kaveh sees the irony ruling Iran: I can kill two birds with one stone. I wanted to discuss safety at work in Iran. If you come to Iran, you will see taxis with no seatbelts, people working on jackhammers without ear protection, people welding without masks, people riding girders at construction sites to the tops of buildings, and definitely no hard hats. Perhaps you will also see some graffiti about 18 Tir (July 9) which the construction workers partially erased out of fear. They are afraid of the government, but not bricks falling on their heads. They are also boiling tar in barrels with an open flame... : A Washington Post poll says: "By 56 percent to 38 percent, the public endorsed the use of the military to block Iran from developing nuclear arms." I hope not. This is yet another reason to support the popular democratic movement from inside Iran: so there is not intervention from the outside.
: Here's evidence that the mullahs are nervous about Washington: They're offering gifts: Iran admitted yesterday that it had "identified" al-Qa'eda members in captivity and would extradite some of them to "friendly" countries.
After repeated claims by Washington that Teheran was harbouring al-Qa'eda terrorists, the government admitted that it had "several" in custody, but said it did not yet know who they were.
The admission that their identities had been established is apparently a gesture to appease Washington which has become increasingly frustrated with Teheran.
June 23, 2003
I'm not the only one
: Jackie risks offending Harry Potter freak/fans: I gave into the Harry Potter thing this weekend and read the new book. I am stunned -- and I mean STUNNED -- at how mediocre the writing is. It makes me even more awed by JK Rowling, though, because she's made a huge success out of something that's not actually very good. As someone who is not outrageously talented, I take comfort in this.
We opine, you decide
: Ryan Pitts points us to a thoughtful (yes!) Bill O'Reilly column on the dawn of opinionated news in America: But the new era of instant information rendered Brinkley and many other broadcast veterans almost powerless. No longer is the American public a captive audience, and no longer will the folks settle for an expressionless recitation of the news. With the advent of the Internet and round-the-clock cable news, the audience quickly knows the basic facts of a story. But often, along with those facts come instant spin and contradiction. Informational fog develops, leaving busy Americans in need of context.
They want to know how the journalists they trust feel about things important to their lives. The news consumer is almost desperate for someone to define the truth.
Thus, the good old days when the Brinkleys and Cronkites could simply introduce stories in measured tones are coming to an end. The audience for dispassionate news is shrinking, and the demand for passionate reporting and analysis is on the rise. This, I have been arguing, is precisely the lesson of the success of both FoxNews and weblogs: The audience does want opinons -- or at least to know what the presenters' opinions are. The audience wants compelling, not dull, news. The audience will think for itself and isn't afraid of opinions. O'Reilly himself is the proof.
Copycats
: Can't say it better than Fimoculous: There goes the neighborhood. Ann Coulter: blogger. CoulterGeist, indeed. No entries yet.
: Wonder whether she'll update more often than Geraldo (last entry: April 24).
Al-Jazeera hacker
: The guy who hacked the al-Jazeera web site has pleaded guilty.
Positively potted
: This is what I was talking about, below, when I complained about people giving too much credit to Harry Potter. From the Washington Post: Harry Potter has changed the world.
You just can't say that about many books. You've got the Bible, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Copernicus wrote something or other. So did Newton and Malthus, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Charles Darwin.
But we live in different times: the UltraMaxiMedia-Age. We are slaves to the Next, ruled by videocracy. Taught by image; motivated by movement. Books are so old school. Reading is downright irrelevant. The world doesn't really change these days, anyway. It fractures and reassembles and moves from abnormality to new normality to post-whatever-was-in-fashion-as-this-sentence-was-being-written.
That said: J.K. Rowling's record-setting books -- number five, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," goes on sale today -- are altering our landscape. With more than 200 million copies in print worldwide, the books have been translated into 55 languages and are available in 200 countries. The literary influence is global. Changed the world? Come now. It had far more of an impact on marketing than on literature, literacy, and culture. [via IWantMedia]
 Now isn't this a pretty sight?
: Here's the first issue of the Baghdad Bulletin, a not-quite-weekly English-language newspaper in Iraq put out by a small group of entrepreneurs and locals.
Already, I'm seeing reporting there I've been wanting to see from western sources. For example, I've been waiting for someone to explain why restoring power has been a problem when in this war (vs. 1991), the power stations were not bombed. Here's a comprehensive report that explains just what's happening.
The circulation in Baghdad:
Office of the Coalition Provisional Authority - 600
NGOs, including USAID - 300
Embassies - 100
Hotels - 1000
Iraqi English speaking neighbourhoods - 2000
Businesses direct - 300
Private universities/ hospitals - 100
Supermarkets/ shops - 500
Sold through newsagents - 1000 It's a start.
I'll suggest writing a story about how to start a weblog.
History lesson
: Blogger Alireza Doostdar gives NY Times columnist Tom Friedman a history lesson. Friedman argues that building democracy in Iraq will have a positive impact on Iran (well, it certainly will have a positive impact on the entire region). But Alizera says: True, Iraq, like Iran, is a majority Shiite country. But Iran, unlike Iraq, has a 150-year-old democracy movement, which started with a revolution that constitutionalized the monarchy and established a parliament during the Qajar period. The Islamic Republic was not established when clerics suddenly decided to get out of their hujras in Qom and invade Tehran. It was an important milestone in the evolution of a massive national movement, which has continued to evolve and change. I think it is very naive to think that by helping Iraqis start to build democratic institutions where they have never existed, and "experiment with defining relations between religion and politics" you would have a significant impact on a country that has been experimenting with various definitions of the same relationship for decades. If anything, it will probably be the other way around, with the Iranian experience impacting developments in Iraq (as has seemed to be the case at least so far).
Peace progresses
: Mark Steyn on Iran today: Looked at the other way round, peace is processing apace, and the chips are all falling George W Bush's way. Whatever the defects of post-Taliban Afghanistan, it's no longer the world's biggest training camp for Saudi-funded terrorism. Whatever the defects of post-Saddam Iraq, it's no longer a self-promotion exercise for the ne plus ultra of anti-American Arab strongmen. And, whatever the defects of post-ayatollah Iran, the fall of the prototype Islamic Republic will be a huge setback to the world's jihadi.
It was Ayatollah Khomeini who successfully grafted a mid-20th century European-style fascist movement on to Islam and made the religion an explicitly political vehicle for anti-Westernism. It was the ayatollah who first bestowed on the U.S. the title of "Great Satan." And it was the ayatollah who insisted this Islamic revolution had to be taken directly to the infidels — to the embassy hostages, to Salman Rushdie, and, ultimately, to America itself. Twenty years ago, there was a minor British pop hit called "Ayatollah, Don't Khomeini Closer." He came too close. And the end of a regime built on his psychosis is good news for Iranians and Westerners alike.
An American in Iran
: Kaveh points us to a blog by two people: an Iranian returning to his country for the first time in 20 years (that's "K") with his American wife (that's "TE"). There's nothing better than a view from the ground.
Says TE: To get to Arak from Tehran we pass through the buckle of the Koran belt: Qom. K told me that he went there to see Khomeini when he first arrived from exile. “There were so many cars that the traffic did not move at all. We had to get out of our cars and walk.”
Driving through Qom makes me realize that I have not once heard the call to prayer since we arrived in Iran. This is unlike Istanbul with its warring calls to prayer. Every mosque in Istanbul has gigantic speakers that blare out the call to prayer. It was not until the third day here when we arrived in Arak that I heard the call to prayer.
It was also on the third day that I saw my first gun. And this from K: The state of the Islamic republic of Iran sucks.
This is the first time I am writing to you from Iran, so let me please say this:
this government is corrupt, unimaginative, and old-fashioned in the worst way. It is a powerful and growing cancer which forces its victims to give up first before it will take the last breath out of their bodies. Unfortunately a lot of Iranians like to be victims and are still waiting for god, in the form of Uncle Sam, to come and free them. They make the argument that Germany, Italy, Japan, and others were freed from evil governments with the help of Uncle Sam. We are not better than G I Joe. I have heard this argument from neo-conservatives in the US too....
Life in Iran will break you one way or another. It has its daily painful effect on my dearest people in the world: my family. I am in constant pain since I came here to see my family living this way. My 8 year old niece is wearing a veil, and when I said, "You are just 8 years old, and it is night, you don’t need that," she answered, "But my father gets upset if I don't wear it."
I know her father better than I know myself. There is nothing Islamic about him. He is just sick of protest. He has given up on changing his life, and I am not sure if he sees any changes for his kids. I am not sure how many people like him live in this country of about 67 million. I know this is what the hardliners in Iran want: to make you worth nothing, with no desire for a better life, no hope for change, and more importantly, no power to make change. I know you get stuck here, and you want to get out. : And today's installment from Blue Bird Escape (the weblog by the teenage girl returning to Iran): Iran has changed a lot. People have changed a lot. They dress differently, they look different. I was once among them and didn’t see what I see now. I thought everything was fine. I didn’t see any faults. After living a year in America I finally began to notice those faults. I finally began to understand why my parents did not want to go back. I understood why I did not want to go back.
When a revolution begins
: Who's to say when a revolution really begins?
Michael Leeden [see the discussion regarding him below] says in today's Washington Post: Win or lose, democratic revolution has broken out in Iran. Even the fragmentary reports from journalists operating under tight regime control in very limited areas of the country show that the mass demonstrations now involve all classes and regions. This is no longer purely or even primarily a "student" movement, as it has been for the past four years -- although many of its leaders come from student ranks. People of all ages, from all walks of life, in every major city in the country, have taken to the streets every night for more than a week to demand an end to the Islamic Republic and the free election of a secular, democratic government.
Mullahs declare the July now has no 9
: Well, here's the proof that the mullahs are frightened of July 9: Iran said on Monday it would ban any demonstrations outside universities to mark the July 9 anniversary of 1999 student unrest following a wave of sometimes violent democracy protests that prompted a crackdown this month.
Busy, busy, buys
: The Iranian news agency has this newsflash: Head of Majlis Commission in charge of Article 90 of Constitution Hussein Ansarirad said here Monday that freedom of expression, non-inquisition and respect for human rights are distinctive features of the Iranian Constitution.
Ansarirad told Justice Anand, the visiting head of Indian Human Rights Panel, that his commission is responsible for investigating complaints lodged against three branches of government, and violation of public rights and human rights. Well, I'll be he's one busy bunny these days, eh?
Harry's new home
: Harry Hatchet has moved off Blogspot to a new Movable Type home. I'm way overdue in updating my blogroll (and it's going to wait until I send the WTC memorial proposal and get back from vacation). In the meantime, here's the place.
Liberal 3.0
: I've been trying to figure out a new label for myself. I still know I'm liberal (human rights... the need for regulation... health care... you know the drill). But I don't much like my fellow liberals these days -- the ones who are getting PR -- and what they've done to liberalism (politically correct orthodoxy... an absence of support for human rights in Iraq and Iran... support for Palestinian terrorism... you know that drill, too). I'm not conservative. I'm not libertarian. I'm a man without a label. Some in my boat would try to say that we're classic liberals before liberals ruined liberalism. But I don't think so. I think there's a new practicality and realism to this school of liberal politics and also a new openness (yes, I can support the war without voting for Bush). So I'll argue that this is a new generation. It's not neolib or postlib (already some weird definitions to those labels). It's liberal 3.0 because, just like Microsoft, it takes three tries to get it right.
Now go read Roger L. Simon, who has been arguing that the old labels don't work anymore and here's why: What has replaced it is a kind of moving consensus, which may, in its own way, be more democratic and is also highly pragmatic. For example, at the moment, the accepted view in the Blogosphere appears to be in favor of (to pick two disparate issues) intervention in Iraq and gay marriage. Is this liberal or conservative? More importantly, does anybody care?
Weblogs as a very public forum
: Michael Leeden of the National Review and the American Enterprise Institute, raises the dander of various Iranian webloggers, who say he supports the return of the monarchy to Iran.
Well, Leeden just responded to one of those webloggers -- Pedram Moallemian -- in his comments (saying that he does not support a monarchy, for the record). Pedram confirmed that the comment came from Leeden and responded here. Says Moallemian: I sincerely welcome this opportunity for exchange of ideas, even if I have called him our enemy #1 in the past. I hope his effort to reach out to myself as well as other Iranians (bloggers or otherwise) can provide him with a more accurate image of what needs to be done to help in our struggle for freedom.
I also hope this can be the start of a healthy and contructive dialogue, where both sides can learn from one another and perhaps common grounds can be explored to achieve some of the mutual goals. Weblogs -- because they are interactive, because they allow two people to have an intelligent and controlled discussion -- are a great forum for productive public communication and debate.
June 22, 2003
Enemies
: Dan Gillmor has spent too much time out of the country going to weblog conferences. He gets back on our shores and goes batty over a Jimmy Breslin column decrying the Justice Department over the arrest and guilty plea of Lyman Faris.
Breslin does his usual hysterical rant.
Gillmor threatens to leave America and journalism: The travesty is, first, that our government now operates a secret criminal justice system, because Congress doesn't care enough about liberty to stop a power-mad Bush administration from tearing up the Constitution.
The second travesty, as Breslin trenchantly observes, is the spinelessness of my chosen profession. I am ashamed to be a journalist when I realize how far down the road we have gone toward utter deference to power.
Why are journalists not screaming bloody murder about this case? Sloth no longer suffices to explain our negligence?
I cringe for my profession. I fear for America.
Easy, boy.
This is what Time magazine says about Faris, without all the emotion: Iyman Faris, 34, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Kashmir, had pleaded guilty at the beginning of May to providing material support to al-Qaeda. Not only had he scoped out the Brooklyn Bridge as part of a plot to destroy the New York City landmark, but he had also tried to obtain equipment to help derail a train near the nation's capital. The feds had done more than nab a truck driver from Columbus, Ohio, who was leading what Ashcroft called "a secret double life," a man determined to wreak havoc right here in the U.S. They had turned one of Osama bin Laden's loyal foot soldiers into another breed entirely: double agent for the U.S. Now I think John Ashcroft is a dangerous fanatic but that's not the issue here.
The Justice Department did good work. They nabbed an al-Qaeda operative who was trying to launch more terrorist attacks; they stopped him from attacking; and they used him to gain more sorely needed terrorist intelligence. This will save lives.
That's what you do in a war. That's what you do with criminals. The guy pleaded guilty. He sang like a mafia rat because they had the goods on him. He made a deal. And we got the good end of that deal, as well we should.
Twice last week, I talked with people from the West Coast, who seemed to be downplaying the ongoing impact of terrorism on America.
Well, here on the East Coast, we still take terrorism very seriously. Look at that picture below, where the World Trade Center used to be. Now tell me it was a bad thing that we got a confederate of the people who did that, a man who planned to do more of the same, a man who could lead us to yet more of the slime.
I don't think I'll leave America, or journalism.
Still standing
: Greg Allen went down to the World Trade Center site to gather facts for his memorial proposal and though he thought everything had been demolished, he found a staircase still standing. In my travels down there, I've been wondering whether some underground superstructure was left over from the original (see the picture). Anybody know?
Better than Japanese T-shirts
: BWG gives us actual Chinese movie subtitles, including: • A normal person wouldn't steal pituitaries.
• Baldly!
• Beat him out of recognizable shape!
• Beware! Your bones are going to be disconnected.
• Damn, I'll burn you into a bbq chicken!
• Don't make me bare the consequence.
The damage a headline can do
: Reuters ran a story about Iranian weblogs under the headline, "Iran Internet Use at Risk from Conservatives."
CNN picked up the story but added its own sensationalistic headline: "Prostitute diary tops Iran Web hit."
Lady Sun warns: Such provocative headlines
are the best excuse for tougher regulations on the Internet freedom of
speech, which is currently being discussed in the Iranian parliament and
judiciary. Ironically this comes at a time when personal websites, and
weblogs have become the most valid news source from the Iranian nations
continuing struggle towards democracy. She sends us to a petition to protest.
Lady of Steel
: The Jerusalem Post is, of course, offended at a Palestinian paper's profile of Condi Rice, focusing on her race.
I, however, see grudging respect and fear and that's a good thing: In an article entitled "Beware of the Lady of Steel," prominent Palestinian columnist Hasan al-Batal describes Rice as a "black widow" and a "single black lady." Earlier this year, Al-Ayyam launched a similar attack on Rice, dubbing her a "black raven." Then, she was targeted for accusing the PA of supporting terrorism....
"She [Rice] is as pretty as supermodel Naomi Campbell and much more intelligent than the iron woman Margaret Thatcher," said Batal, whose columns appear on a regular basis in Al-Ayyam....
The article concludes by warning Palestinians to be wary of the "single black woman," adding: "We don't want to say the black widow out of respect for her femininity, her brightness, and her determination, which makes her the lady of steel." Yup. Don't F with Condi.
Posting
: Been working hard trying to finish my proposal for the World Trade Center memorial.
Kinda sad watching me. I can't draw. I'm clumsy. I'm sticking my tongue out as I try to sketch things and just paste them on straight.
Will finish and then open the wine and then be back.
: Technology is wonderful, even if it's not on a screen. I printed out the words onto Avery 8.5x11 clear label sheets and then laid those down on the presentation board. It's almost thrilling to see the words lay themselves onto the paper and bond. Damn, I wish I were an artist.
June 21, 2003
Meanwhile, in the Congo
: A compelling presentation of the CBC's reporting on the Congo. [via Die Zeit]
Aw, shucks
: I'm honored to be included in a list of a-list bloggers. Except I think I'm a poseur on that list. And, in fact, I doubt that there is an A-list. There are a hundred A-lists: one for tech, one for politics, one for sports, one for Cleveland, one for Iran, one just for guys named Hebig, and so on, and so on. The power of blogs is the power of the total, not the power of the powerful few. I didn't include my own blog on my list of most-influential lists (and, again, I was flattered just to be asked).
Another life
: Blue Bird Escape -- the weblog of a teenager Iranian-American girl who has just returned to visit Iran -- continues to amaze me with its clear, heartfelt insight. Today's entry: Coming back home has made me look at things differently. It has given me a brighter and stronger view. I now understand why people want to get away. I now understand how different my life would have been if I had stayed. I can see that people have problems. I can see that they are not happy but they try to make the best out of it.
Dear Kofi Annan
: Ali sends an open letter to Kofi Annan urging help for Iran: ...If the world community does not take an urgent and timely action it is feared that the Iranian regime may observe no limits in its suppression of the demonstrators.
With regard to the above, we the undersigned request your urgent help so that another human tragedy can be prevented before the Islamic Republic's regime causes a bloodbath in Iran. Protests and demonstrations are a democratic right of the Iranian people and it is a duty of the world democrats to defend this right. We ask you as a responsible authority to respond to this appeal:
1)Condemn the inhumane crimes of the Islamic Republic of Iran and demand that it stops the suppression and use of violence against the demonstrators.
2)Send immediately an international team to observe the situation in Iran.
3)Support the general demand of the Iranian people for a referendum and free elections observed by international organisations.
Please act urgently so that another human tragedy can be prevented in time. The letter also gives us good background on the significance of July 9 and the ongoing demonstrations for democracy.
UPDATE: Here's where you can sign this letter as a petition.
Dear President Bush
: Iranian.com offers three letters to send to President Bush. One tells him to support the student demonstrations. Another tells him to offer only moral support. The third says the U.S. should do nothing. Take your pick.
Dear Ayatollah Khamenei
: And here's Human Rights Watch's letter to the supreme leader.
: You can see this ying-yang of opinion in my comments below: One Iranian commenter thanking bloggers for support, another warning that such support can put people in danger.
And you see this exact debate at Iranian.com, where Setareh Sabety lectures Iranian exiles and emigres: Iranians abroad must unite under one cause: the protection of the human rights of those protesting in Iran. It is the duty of those Iranians who live in democracies to try their best to do what they can to protect the Iranians that have mustered enough courage to take to the streets in Iran and demand a regime change....
But this very right, that Iranians abroad possess, to differ with one another, is exactly what is needed in Iran. The right to speak ones mind without fear of being imprisoned or beaten up is the most basic first step to achieving democracy....
I asked friends who live in France and have French nationality why they did nothing to protest the comment made by their foreign minister that Iran was a democratic nation. They looked stunned as if they, in fact, as French who cared for their motherland, had a duty to voice their anger about France's repeated appeasement of the theocratic regime....
[We should] unite and demand our respective host nations and the international community as a whole to put pressure on the regime to avoid imprisonment and bloodshed? Is that not the best that Iranians abroad can do for the youth within our borders? : Andrew Sullivan wonders why Iran is still page-three news in the Times.
Movable Type PR crisis
: Movable Type has a PR crisis brewing. Anil joined in the comments at Site-Essential but if you want my PR advice, when something starts brewing in the blog world, the best thing to do is go to your own site and explain things clearly: Open source the info.
Beeb dweebs II
: Giles Ward says there was even more wrong with the BBC's What the World Thinks of America (below) than meets the eye and ear.
Giles says that the BBC's international mission as a taxpayer-supported service is to report the facts. However, the “What the World Thinks of America” beebate is a prime illustration of how the BBC is going wrong; instead of reporting facts, it is reporting its opinion of other people’s opinions. And this is wrong for a number of reasons. Firstly it is simply self indulgent – the actions of a bunch of grads trying to carry on student debates into their adult working lives as opposed to doing their jobs. Secondly, the results are normally entirely vacuous, you get sort of discussion you get with a bar full of students. But more importantly it runs against the rationale for BBC... it undermines the communication framework that simple news reporting provides. By broadcasting to the world the view that it is opinions that matter more than the news, they create a world where is shouting loudest that matters more than actions, events and consequences. This not only encourages irresponsibility, but also extremism as each side in a debate adopts a more extreme position in order to shift the centre ground. And I thought it was just a crappy show. I did watch much of the show and it was an offense. In retaliation, I was going to suggest that an American network should create What the World Thinks of Europe but the truth is, the world couldn't care less.
Potted
: In all the hyperactive hype over Harry Potter, it is accepted media wisdom that these long books are a good thing because they're getting kids to read them.
Pardon me, but that's like saying that Mary Higgins Clark is good because it's getting middle-aged bon-bon eaters to read.
They're not dissimilar. As narrative drama goes, Harry Potter sometimes displays the story-telling skill of a 6-year-old recounting a movie: This happened, then that happened, then this, then that. Resolution comes deus ex machina -- when J.K. Rowling intervenes to solve the crisis with a magic spell or medieval gizmo rather than through the dramatic conflict and examination of conscience of the characters.
But my criticism isn't with Harry Potter. If you like the books and movies, wonderful: enjoy. I'm the greatest fan of popular culture; being popular is the best review.
My criticism is with the media assumption that Harry Potter -- just because it's a book and more just because it's a long book -- is high culture. It's an oddly snobby assumption. In my view, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is better dramatic fiction; so is Star Trek. | |