Make Some Noise!

Well, hello there!

2011-01-03T00:46:00.000-08:00

We're back.

After a loooong visit chez Facebook - which is a nice place but no place for some of my comments about various things going on. FB shall be reserved for shout-outs, event planning, whining (qui, moi?) about aspects of my current job and setting up collaborations.

More or less.

So, back to my various obsessions about politics, art, general rants and social commentary.
It's a new year.

Ha!

Well...

2009-06-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well. Gotta get back to blogging. I was kidnapped, mesmerized, co-opted by FACEBOOK!!!!!!

On which I learned WAAAAAAY too much about various people...

Seriously. Facebook.is.fun...

It's also great for social networking and getting hooked up with other writers, artists, socially interesting people (don't hate me, MySpace.....!) and do MASSSIVE inviting at once....

But.
Still...
Got stuff to say,
revolutions to foment,
hellraising to do.

Gotta hop to, you know....

meanwhile:
check out my screening series Movies that Matter on facebook and at moviesthatmatter.blogspot.com

How's that for self-serving promo?

Later...

Zazou Endorses

2008-10-26T10:38:00.000-07:00

ZAZOU ENDORSES....

I thought I would provide a partial list of endorsement for the fistful of people who read this blog (an easy excuse to put up a post, anyway :)). These endorsements are both national and state- for the California vote.

For :

Barack Obama

Proposition 8- the wording on the ballot states:

ELIMINATES RIGHT OF SAME-SEX COUPLES TO MARRY. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. Changes the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California. Provides that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. Fiscal Impact: Over next few years, potential revenue loss, mainly sales taxes, totaling in the several tens of millions of dollars, to state and local governments. In the long run, likely little fiscal impact on state and local governments.^[26]

NO on Proposition 8

Proposition 2: the voter information states:
STANDARDS FOR CONFINING FARM ANIMALS. INITIATIVE STATUTE.

Requires that calves raised for veal, egg-laying hens and pregnant pigs be confined only in ways that allow these animals to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs and turn around freely.
Exceptions made for transportation, rodeos, fairs, 4-H programs, lawful slaughter, research and veterinary purposes.
Provides misdemeanor penalties, including a fine not to exceed $1,000 and/or imprisonment in jail for up to 180 days.

YES on Proposition 2

Proposition 4 : the voter information states:
WAITING PERIOD AND PARENTAL NOTIFICATION BEFORE TERMINATION OF MINOR’S PREGNANCY.
INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.

Changes California Constitution to prohibit abortion for unemancipated minor until 48 hours after physician notifies minor’s parent or legal guardian.
Permits notification to certain adult relatives if doctor reports parent to law enforcement or Child Protective Services.
Provides notification exceptions for medical emergency or parental waiver.
Permits courts to waive notice based on clear and convincing evidence of minor’s maturity or best interests.
Mandates reporting requirements, including reports from physicians regarding abortions on minors.
Authorizes damages against physicians for violation.
Requires minor’s consent to abortion, with exceptions.

NO on Proposition 4 (because of issues regarding abusive guardians and the conditions under which the minor may have become pregnant.)
Whatever your position is, get out there and do this:

On
November 4
and remember:
if the voting machines fail,
you have the LEGAL right to a printed ballot
and a private voting booth.
Demand this
and
make your vote
count.

This is

2008-10-20T11:43:00.000-07:00

abominable.

Courtesy of Sepia Mutiny comes this nasty piece of work out of Sacramento County- the work of some brilliant mind at the county GOP who seems to be blissfully oblivious to the realities of multi-cultural, multi-ethnic life here in the US, and in particular in Sacramento County which has a very diverse population.

This is disgusting, regardless of which party does it. There are so many things wrong with this, tha I can't even begin to go into them, but for starters, the Obama is a Muslim and Muslim are baaaaaaad people, man, is a tired, divisive refrain which is, theoretically, contrary to the concept of the US as land of the free, home to a mutual plurality. And then there is waterboarding, aka, torture. Think about that for awhile.

If you would like to drop in on the Sacto Country GOP, here is their url:
http://www.sacrepublicans.org/

They have since taken this material down, but there seems to be a range of reactions from oh well, to god this is awful,

For want of a pill...

2008-08-17T17:49:00.000-07:00

Once again, George Bush and co strike a blow for...reactionaryville and Reagan's America in which good little girls dream of white picket fences, nice little jobs until the man they love comes along, sweeps them off their feet and into lovely Lilli Pulitzer dresses with strategically placed bows for the mom-to-be, for which they have paid by sweetly asking if they could use the credit card because, of course, they don't have any money of their own because no businessman in his right mind is going to hire that sweet little lady because she's going to be a mommy soon and well, new mommies should stay home with their new babies and make sure the new daddy has a nice drink and a clean baby to admire when he gets home after a tough day working for his sweet little family.

And of course there's the bad girl, out there drinking mojitos, working (maybe even working in management) getting laid, and slowly but surely making her way toward that hanger in a back alley with her name on it.

Then there's the rest of us, back in realityville, who want to beat George Bush over the head with a trojan (the horse, not the condom unless you can fill it with something really heavy).

In case you've been too busy watching Gossip Girl (I think the girls on that show use contraceptives...), you've probably heard by now that Bush co would like us to believe that contraceptives= abortion. Unless Bush is doing a Tony Blair and becoming a post-Vatican/pre Jean Paul II Catholic for whom the Pill and abortion is a confused, somewhat gray area, Bush is.Full.Of. Shit.

For anyone who wants to argue that no Habeus Corpus required at Guantanamo Bay won't affect us, I say Horseshit.

Here is a clear-cut example of US foreign policy in regards to abortion and contraception being brought home to be tailored to the Religious Right's agenda for the American people.

Access to abortion is currently at its lowest since shortly before Roe v. Wade. All this abstinence teaching isn't working (ask John Edwards, for example) be it for straight or Gay sex while the US remains a highly sexualized society.

Sex between consenting adults is a private thing. and as long as no one is getting hurt, forced against their will or part of an arrangement that includes cheating on a spouse/serious partner, whatever.

However, what, exactly does Bush Co suggest replace contraceptives? The rhythm method? Oh, puhleaze! Condoms? hey, anyone out there volunteering to be the posterboy of condom use?
No?
Oh.

Most women have at least one partner is their history who was not a condom enthusiast no matter what she said or did.

case in point- the ex who said and I quote- I did not get married so that I could use a condom...
(To which I thought great- have some chemicals and see how you like it! To his credit, he did look very concerned when I read him the issues surrounding the birth control pill- we were very happy when the ortho shot showed up and the sponge came back).

So why is it that men, who don't have to take hormone-adjusting cocktails or stick things up themselves (then again, that could be arranged...the sticking something up you know where part), think that adjudicating a woman's right to choose is their perogative? Men who don't have to carry a baby nine months, spend a lot of time in the bathroom puking their guts out (must be that frat nostalgia thing going around), risking various things, not to mention breastfeeding etc, are presuming to think that they know what is best for women.

That sucking sound you hear is US society rushing backwards into the lovely era of white picket fences, moms with no credit unless dads extend it, glass ceilings miles thick- and oh yeah, in case you all forgot, miscegenation laws and Jim Crow. The backward move into the Great White Man in the White House knows best about the female body is part and parcel of a movement that restricts civil rights, creative thought, constitutional freedoms in the name of patriotism and decency- thinly veiled versions of a Religious Right agenda.

While Condy may tell Russia hands off Georgia, she better damn well be thinking of telling Bush Co hands off the American female body as well, because if she doesn't, a whole lot of us will.

I am

2008-08-17T17:23:00.000-07:00

deeply, deeply ashamed by this and disgusted.

In a country known for its more humane view of life and living, this is despicable. However, it also shows how far Italy is veering toward the right with the influx of immigration(ironic from a country from which so many people immigrated,including the infamous Mafia and La Cosa Nostra- two groups not famous for law-abiding behavior).

ON a beach near Naples, two young Roma (Gypsy) girls, both born in Italy (and therefore Italian citizens) lie covered with towels, not because they are sunbathing, but because they have drowned in sea, right off the beach.

For several hours, as their bodies lay on the beach awaiting an ambulance, Italian beach goers picnicked nearby, and continued to enjoy the beach.

The relationship between Italians and have been fraught with tension of late, especially with the influx of Roma from the Balkans. There are severe problems with integration and aculturation even though the Roma have been living in Italy for almost 1,000 years.

Whatever the rubs, however, two little girls lay dead on a public beach, and in the words of James Baldwin as he spoke about the four little girls killed in an explosion of a church on a Sunday in the South during the Civil Rights Movement years, "nobody cared."

How sad for these children, how absolutely tragic for the rest of us.

A slant by any other name...

2008-08-15T11:52:00.000-07:00

Catching up. Ok, I confess, my viewing of the Olympics has been less than stellar. I am not glued to the TV, I don't watch it much, if the games come up while channel surfing, I'll watch. And here's a little secret- the TV isn't on that much. Whew, feels good to get that out in the open.

But, I digress....(really? as M. says, disgressing again?)

Yeah, well.

Here is an Olympic tidbit that managed to catch up with me, which could be called:

What Were They Thinking?
Oh, yeah, right, they're from Spain.

I'm sorry, love Spain, love my Spanish friends, but as sportsmen, their sports teams are a national shame.

The latest lovely demonstration of Spanish manners was held by not one by several Spanish Olympic teams, including the Women's basketball team.

I don't care if this was for an ad, it's racist, demeaning and disturbing, especially given the racist behavior that occurred during the World Cup in 2004 with several people appearing in blackface to racially jeer Hamilton, a Black British player.

This is just unacceptable no matter who does it.

For a take on how this kind of thing makes people feel, lend an ear to

this from NPR:

India Turns 61

2008-08-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

Midnight's Children are collectively 61 today. Things economically are looking quite good for India as it sits, poised to be a major player over the next 10 years.

To celebrate tonight, watch

Earth
or
Partition.

Who let

2008-08-13T20:49:00.001-07:00

the Prez out?

I mean, really!

From The Guardian:

Did you

2008-08-13T19:13:00.000-07:00

miss the Cold War?

Somebody must have because it's back! In all its nasty glory with Georgia slogging on South Ossetia, Russia slogging on Georgia. And the US- whoa, was that Dick Cheney come out with his Cheshire Cat grin, suggesting we should take sides?

All this diversion to take our minds off Iraq, the coming war with Iran and hide some offensive behavior going on somewhere.

Have a high ball. Hell, have two. Just don't let Disk Cheney stir it for you.

2008-08-12T23:31:00.000-07:00

From the Guardian:

A vigil for Mahmoud Darwish

Wonderful column

2008-08-12T23:25:00.000-07:00

from the Independent on Mahmoud Darwish:

Mahmoud Darwish, however, did not come from a country which swapped communist oppression for blatant capitalist excess. He came from Palestine, or what would be Palestine if the state were allowed to exist. At the age of 12, he was invited to write a poem for Israel's Independence Day and wrote one contrasting the experience of living in Israel of an Arab and a Jew. He was summoned to the military governor, who told him that if he continued to write such subversive material, his family would suffer. From that point on, he never stopped.
(the rest)

R.I.P. Mahmoud Darwish

2008-08-12T19:09:00.000-07:00

The incredible Palestinian poet and writer
Mahmoud Darwish, has died at the age of 67.

I first encountered his poetry while in Paris:

Identity Card

Record!
I am an Arab
And my identity card is number fifty thousand
I have eight children
And the nineth is coming after a summer
Will you be angry?

Record!
I am an Arab
Employed with fellow workers at a quarry
I have eight children
I get them bread
Garments and books
from the rocks..
I do not supplicate charity at your doors
Nor do I belittle myself at the footsteps of your chamber
So will you be angry?

Record!
I am an Arab
I have a name without a title
Patient in a country
Where people are enraged
My roots
Were entrenched before the birth of time
And before the opening of the eras
Before the pines, and the olive trees
And before the grass grew

My father.. descends from the family of the plow
Not from a privileged class
And my grandfather..was a farmer
Neither well-bred, nor well-born!
Teaches me the pride of the sun
Before teaching me how to read
And my house is like a watchman's hut
Made of branches and cane
Are you satisfied with my status?
I have a name without a title!

Record!
I am an Arab
You have stolen the orchards of my ancestors
And the land which I cultivated
Along with my children
And you left nothing for us
Except for these rocks..
So will the State take them
As it has been said?!

Therefore!
Record on the top of the first page:
I do not hate poeple
Nor do I encroach
But if I become hungry
The usurper's flesh will be my food
Beware..
Beware..
Of my hunger
And my anger!

The Judgement of Paris

2008-08-09T14:19:00.000-07:00

I confess. I find Paris Hilton rather fascinating- in a beautiful, perfectly awful sort of way. She certainly photographs well and, I must add, provides excellent fodder for Seduction (of hamburgers) 101 and Interesting Use of Celebrities in Ads for Things They Probably Don't Use- lesson 1 for my media literacy lessons.

But, this, this new "postcard" from Parisworld is, in the words of "Dubya"- fabulous. In the words of not a few people (including an incredulous M.) -"she actually makes sense!" (sounds of gasping as Hell freezes over for a nanosecond.)

So, enjoy. This may be one of the truly momentous light moments in what promises to be a snide, snippy pissing contest of a presidential campaign season.

Who killed

2008-08-09T14:13:00.000-07:00

Margaret Hassan?

On the video of her apparent execution, there are no Islamic banners, no Muslim chants, no claim of responsibility, just the killer and the fatal shot. After her kidnap, Margaret – who once worked as an English-language newsreader on Saddam's government television station in Baghdad – even found support among the anti-American insurgents; they issued a joint appeal for her release. Even Abu Musab Zarqawi, the al-Qa'ida leader in Iraq who was later killed by the Americans, joined in the appeal. Margaret had worked in Palestinian camps in the 1960s and fought tirelessly for those thousands of Iraqis under her care in Iraq. If her husband's suspicions were correct, then whose "foreign" hand took her away?

Robert Fisk contemplates what happened to one of the most compassionate Westerners in Iraq. And what he thinks about is enough to make you weep.

WTH???????

2008-08-03T22:25:00.000-07:00

This is completely ridiculous. All one has to do is look to the Ottoman Empire, the Sultanates in North Africa and other places to see that this logic is idiotic, as well as divisive. I've seen references among the US right wing to this as well- more along the lines of if they don't let us do this, then why can't we?

Religious near-sightedness knows no one religion, it seems.

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=UAj_RvKLsF8&feature=related

(thanks, Sepia Mutiny)

Vicious and Pernicious

2008-06-01T15:03:00.000-07:00

Cluster bombs are a hideous evil that the US has used repeatedly in Iraq. Although not the subject of a definitive weapons ban, they have been recognized as causing unbelievable damage to civilian populations.

" the Air Force confirmed that 63 CBU-87 cluster bombs were dropped in Iraq between May 1, 2003 and August 1, 2006. A CENTAF spokesman contacted for confirmation that none of these were dropped on or after January 1, 2006, offered no response. His superior officer, Lt. Col. Johnn Kennedy, the Deputy Director of CENTAF Public Affairs, similarly ignored this reporter's requests for clarification.

These 12,726 BLU-97 bomblets -- each CBU-87 contains 202 BLU-97s or "Combined Effects Bombs" (CEBs) which have anti-personnel, anti-tank, and incendiary capabilities or "kill mechanisms" -- dropped since May 2003 are, according to statistics provided by Human Rights Watch, in addition to almost two million cluster submunitions used by coalition forces in Iraq in March and April 2003."

source

Many of the bomblets lie unexploded, sitting in wait for an unsuspecting hand to pick them or for someone to step on them.

And they don't just kill civilians.

One of the first US casualties was Jesus Suarez del Solar whose father tells of how he died while stepping on a cluster bomb.

It never ceases to amaze me how people are unable to process the information that the US has used deadly and highly questionable weaponry on the Iraqi civilian population: cluster bombs, depleted uranium, white phosphorous. Things that we would not hesitate to label war crimes, or crimes against humanity had someone else done this.

Now comes the latest:

"On Friday, 111 nations, including major NATO allies, adopted a treaty that sets an eight-year deadline to eliminate stockpiles of cluster arms — pernicious weapons that scatter thousands of small bombs across a wide area, where they pose a long-term deadly threat to innocents. The Bush administration not only failed to sign the treaty but vigorously opposed it." ( NYT)

How is it possible to set a nation up as an arbitor of democracy, justice, and human rights when that same nation (or rather, administration) can't even bother to see certain types of weaponry for what it is: an affront to universal decency and human rights?

Why do we need to depend on the sneakiness of cluster bombs to defend ourselves against a civilian population that has done nothing to us? Why kill and maim a population (and sometimes our own military) in such a devious and far-reaching way? Is that what you want your tax dollars doing in your name? Killing some little kid a couple of years down the road? Maiming someone beyond repair as they go innocently about their life?

Is this what the US stands for?

Seriously, now,

2008-05-29T22:03:00.000-07:00

WTF.

Scotty is like several years late to the party. Did we think he was lying?

You betcha.
Every time he opened his damn mouth.

McClellan is the latest rat to get religion- or should I say, actually read the Constitution and think, wow, this democracy thing is kind of cool! Maybe I should try it! Oh, yeah, but I'll have to recant first.

I can't decide whether I should feel sorry for the poor schmuck or save the questionable vegetables in the fridge to hurl at the TV the next time he sullies our airwaves.

They say evil is what happens when good men do nothing. What is it that happens when the evilly incompetent, the banal functionaries suddenly discover they might have been wrong? And then publish mea culpas they hope will rehabilitate them?

Scotty might be able to tell us... or is he just taking one for the team?

For an interesting take, read this on Slate.

Excuse me

2008-05-18T16:33:00.000-07:00

while I laugh myself stupid over this:

"America is deeply concerned about the plight of political prisoners in this region, as well as democratic activists who are intimidated or repressed, newspapers and civil society organizations that are shut down and dissidents whose voices are stifled," Bush said.

"I call on all nations in this region to release their prisoners of conscience, open up their political debate and trust their people to chart their future," Bush said. (ital. mine)

{read the rest here}

Where is President Dubya and what did you do with him????? (and would you mind keeping him? Thanks).

That sound you hear is the world choking with laughter.

Bush lecturing Arab leaders on human rights, civil rights, political debate? Oh, please, This is the Decider who has decided the Constitution does not apply to him, his office or his minions. This is the party leader whose party is insinuating a Democratic candidate might not be a god enough patriot (Obama) and yet has approved a Patriot Act that would strip citizens of their citizenship if the White House sees fit.

This is the person lecturing the leadership of the Arab world.

This is the American president who:
- would suspend habeus corpus
- allows war crimes and crime against humanity to be committed in our name
- permits extraordinary rendition
- has allowed 1,000's of people- citizens, permanent residents, etc. to disappear into the black sites set up after 9/11
- invaded and destroyed one country with no provocation
- is working tirelessly to create a pretext to do the same to another

Excuse me while I laugh myself stupid.

It's the only alternative I can think of to crawling off in shame, burning my passport, and weeping for what a pathetic mess we have become.

File under N-S

2008-05-17T22:17:00.000-07:00

Seriously. This goes under the No Shit heading:

"Adrienne Kinne is a former Army sergeant who worked in military intelligence for 10 years, from 1994 to 2004. Trained in Arabic, she worked in the Army translating intercepted communications. She told me in an interview this week that she saw a target list that included the Palestine Hotel. She knew that it housed journalists, since she had intercepted calls from the Palestine Hotel between journalists there and their families and friends back home (illegally and unconstitutionally, she thought).

Said Kinne: “[W]e were listening to journalists who were staying in the Palestine Hotel. And I remember that, specifically because during the buildup to ‘shock and awe’ ... we were given a list of potential targets in Baghdad, and the Palestine Hotel was listed. [P]utting one and one together, I went to my officer in charge, and I told him that there are journalists staying at this hotel who think they’re safe, and yet we have this hotel listed as a potential target, and somehow the dots are not being connected here, and shouldn’t we make an effort to make sure that the right people know the situation? And unfortunately, my officer in charge ... basically told me that it was not my job to analyze ... someone somewhere higher up the chain knew what they were doing.”

Those of us who could put 2+2 and get 4, had this already figured out: The US deliberately targeted the Palestine Hotel and the journalists working from it.

And now, we have a confirmation.

Targeting journalists is against the Geneva Conventions.

Impeach. Impeach. Impeach.

Poetry

2008-05-17T14:31:00.000-07:00

I am SOOOOOO proud of my ALI Writing 107 students! They were given a very hard assignment: translate something from your own language into English- it could be poetry or a song or a short passage + some background on the poet/writer, why they chose this piece, any areas of difficulty, and the piece's cultural place. I must confess, I assigned this partially out of selfishness- I get REALLY, REALLY bored by average essay questions- which is also why I assign topics like a version of Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire and You are a political refugee and you have been given one week to get ready and leave. Where will you go and why, what will you bring with you, what/who will you miss, what will you do in exile, do you think you will ever go back? (btw- go ahead and write an answer to this yourself and submit it- maybe we'll do an If I were a Political Refugee... Blog. What do you think?). Also assigned this because a) I had to do this in French class (merci, Monsieur!) and I translate myself- mostly North African material.

But I digress...

On their poetry blog, Every one...a poet, you will find poetry in several different languages as well as some very interesting and informative background material. In at least one case, you can listen to the song. be sure to drop by once in awhile as the various students post and comment. Feel free to comment yourself, as well.

Happy reading!

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T12:02:00.000-07:00

From Slate.com today

Happy Mother's Day! A mother is a precious thing, even when you're relatively grown up- they will always be there to tell you what you need (but don't always want to!) hear.

This is an iffy age, at best. Parents are being beset by a world run by the stable boys of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. It is an act of faith to have a child, a belief that small miracles can and do happen.

So, to all those great moms that I know: Aunt Marion, my cousins Monica and Andrea, my sister-in-laws Debbie, Annette, Naima, Fatiha, friends Dominique, Eloissa, Teresa, Djamila, Bernadette, Linda F., Linda M. , and especially

My Mom,
who,
even though I STILL haven't turned out the way they expected,
talks to me anyway.

Watch this.....

2008-05-10T14:10:00.000-07:00

Watch this:

This is AMAZING!!!!!!

Pangea Day at pangeaday.org

Streaming NOW.

Detained and Deined...

2008-05-08T16:09:00.000-07:00

Anne-Marie Jacir, an incredible Palestinian-American filmmaker. The following is a press release I received from Society for Cinema Studies:

Press Release

Thursday May 1st 2008

ISRAELIS DENY OFFICIAL CANNES FESTIVAL FILMMAKER ENTRY TO PALESTINE

Officially selected for the 2008 Cannes Film Festival which will take place next month, Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir has been denied entry to Palestine at the Jordanian border. She was on her way home for the world premiere of her new film, "Salt of this Sea" which is the first feature film by a Palestinian female director. She was held at the border for six hours, repeatedly questioned, her telephone taken from her, and then denied entry. Two agents from the Israeli Ministry of Interior escorted Annemarie from the terminal and placed her on a bus back to Jordan.

Israel continues to deny hundreds of people entry to Palestine, including outstanding filmmakers like Jacir, entry to Palestine with complete impunity. Annemarie, who is from the West Bank, has not been allowed into Palestine for nine months, which meant the some of the final scenes of her film could not be shot in Palestine and had to be filmed at an alternate location with the cooperation of the French in Marseille.

- END-

For more information please contact:

Keith Hammond - Scottish Committee for the Universities of Palestine scot.cam.ac.boycot@googlemail.com

Campaign for the Right of Entry/Re-Entry to the Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt)
(A Grassroots Campaign for the Protection of Foreign Passport Holders Residing in and/or visiting the occupied Palestinian territory)
Email: info@righttoenter.ps
Website: www.righttoenter.ps
m) +970(0)59.817.3953
f) +970.2.295.4903

Annmarie Jacir annemariejacir@yahoo.com

PRESS RELEASE

The Palestinian film, Salt of this Sea ("milh hadha al bahr"), directed by Annemarie Jacir and starring Suheir Hammad and Saleh Bakri, has been accepted as an "Official Selection" of the Cannes Film Festival 2008.

The Cannes Film Festival takes place in May 2008, which is also the 60th anniversary of the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Salt of this Sea, the first feature film by a Palestinian female director, follows the story of third generation refugees in search of freedom and is a commemoration of the ongoing Nakba.

In May 1948, Israel was declared a "Jewish state" despite the fact that the majority of the indigenous population consisted of Palestinian Arabs, Christians and Muslim. Zionist leader David Ben Gurion instituted "Plan Dalet" in order to change the demographic make-up of historic Palestine and secure physical control over the territory. What followed is the expulsion and dispossession of 780,000 Palestinians from their homes and land (75% of the population). More than 530 Palestinian villages were depopulated and/or completely destroyed. And the world's largest and longest-standing refugee population was created.

Before Cannes, the film will have its world premiere in Amari Refugee camp in Ramallah with the presence of the film director Annemarie Jacir and main cast.

Milh Hadha al-Bahr (Salt of this Sea)
Palestine 2008
Directed by Annemarie Jacir
Produced by JBA Production
1'43"min.

Salt of this Sea synopsis

Soraya, born in Brooklyn in a working class community of Palestinian refugees, discovers that her grandfather's savings were frozen in a bank account in Jaffa when he was exiled in 1948. Determined to reclaim what is hers, she fulfills her life-long dream of "returning" to Palestine. She meets a young man whose ambition, contrary to her, is to leave forever and find a life far away. Tired of the constraints that dictate their lives, they know that in order to be free, they must take things into their own hands, even if it's against the law.

ANNEMARIE JACIR BIOGRAPHY

Award-winning Palestinian filmmaker and writer Annemarie Jacir has been working in independent cinema since 1994 and has written, directed and produced a number of award-winning films. She was named one of Filmmaker magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Cinema. Her short film, like twenty impossibles was the first Palestinian short film to be an official selection of the Cannes International Film Festival (Cinefondation), went on to be a Student Academy Awards Finalist, and won 15 awards at International festivals including Best Film at the Palm Springs Short Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, Institute Du Monde Arabe Biennale, Mannheim-Heidelberg Film Festival, and IFP/New York.

She is a recipient of a Jerome Foundation Media Arts grant, a New York State Council on the Arts distribution grant, the Paul Robeson Fund, and is winner of the Kathryn Parlan Screenwriting Award as well as a Zaki Gordan Award for Excellence in Screenwriting. Her feature script “Salt of this Sea” was selected for the Hubert Bals Development Fund, the Sundance Screenwriters Lab in Utah, and was a Sopadin finalist for the Grande Prix du Meilleur Scenariste.

She is chief curator and co-founder of the groundbreaking Dreams of a Nation Palestinian cinema project. She has taught courses at Columbia University, Bethlehem University, and Birzeit University and also works as a freelance editor and cinematographer as well as film curator. She organized Palestine’s first major traveling film festival in 2004, screening films across the country. Jacir is a board member of Alwan for the Arts, a cultural organization devoted to North African and Middle Eastern art. She has served as a jury member to the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival as well as Cinecolor Award, Argentina. She is a founding member of the Palestinian Filmmakers’ Collective, based in Palestine.

Jacir lives in Palestine. Salt of this Sea, Palestine’s first feature film by a female director, follows the story of a working-class, Palestinian-American refugee returning home. It is Jacir’s first feature length film.

Awards & Distinctions
• 25 New Faces of Independent Cinema, 2004 - Filmmaker Magazine
• Best Films of the Year list, 2003 - Film Comment Magazine
• Recipient of Jerome Foundation Media Arts Grant, 2003
• Winner of the Kathyrn H. Parlan Screenwriting Award
• Winner of a Zaki Gordon Award for Excellence in Screenwriting
• American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee Jack Shaheen Scholarship
• Hubert Bals Development Award 2005
• Sundance Screenwriters Lab Selection 2005
• Berlinale Co-Production Market Selection (Talent) 2005
• Paris Cinema Project Selection 2005
• Recipient of Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media 2007
• Winner of Groupama Gan Foundation Award 2006
• Sopadin Finalist, Grand Prix du Meilleur Scenariste 2007

Selected Film Awards & Festivals
• World Premiere, Cannes Film Festival, Official Select, Cinéfondation
• National Finalist - Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Student Academy Awards
• Best Short Screenplay - Nantucket Film Festival
• Best Short Film - Palm Springs International Short Film Festival
• Best Short Film (Emerging Narrative) - IFP/New York
• Silver Plaque - Chicago International Film Festival
• Best Short Film - Institute Du Monde Arabe Biannual
• Best Screenwriting – Lenola Film Festival, Italy
• Best Short Film Second Prize – Lenola Film Festival, Italy
• Audience Choice Award - Polo Ralph Lauren Columbia University Fest.
• Special Jury Prize - Ramallah International Film Festival
• Best Short Film, Luis Trenker Award – 4Film Festival, Italy
• Sélection Officielle Corto Cortissimo – Venice Film Festival
• Locarno Film Festival, Official Selection
• Edinburgh International Film Festival, Official Selection
• Telluride Film Festival, Official Selection
• New York Film Festival, Official Selection
• Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Czech Republic
• Sarajevo Film Festival, Bosnia
• Carthage Film Festival (Journees Cin. de Carthage), Tunis
• Clermont Ferrand Short Film Festival, France

---

ENTRY DENIED

I have been looking forward to this week for months now – it was to be one of the most important moments for me - the world premiere of my feature film “milh hadha al- bahr” (Salt of this Sea) in Palestine.

The premiere was to take place in Amari Refugee camp in Ramallah, with the cast and crew, the people who helped make this film happen, who believe in it, to be in attendance. An outdoor screening and an occasion to share the completion of a project which has been the result of a five-year struggle. What made this event so special was that it is also a big celebration for us – that we received the incredible news that the film was selected for the Cannes Film Festival as an Official Selection (May 14th – 25th, 2008).

As you may know, the Israeli Authorities have not allowed me to return to Palestine for 9 months now. Because of this we were not able to film a main scene of the film and in the end, the scene had to be shot in Marseille, France. My lawyer has been working now for eight months on the issue of my return home. So for the premiere of the film, I also had an invitation from the French Consulate in Jerusalem, who have been supporters of the film, and the International Art Academy of Ramallah were co-sponsoring the screening. There was nothing I was looking forward to more than finally being back in Palestine and sharing the film.

From Amman, Jordan, I took the bus to the Allenby bridge (Sheikh Hussein) in order to cross the Jordanian border and enter the West Bank. I arrived at the bridge at 10 in the morning. The Israelis held me there for six hours, during which time I was interrogated approximately five times. In the beginning I was made to wait in the main room with all the other people crossing. After some time, I was taken to another section in the back, separated from the others, and spent the remaining period of my time waiting there alone. Every now and then people would come in and out of a door, sometimes to ask me questions, sometimes just on their way somewhere else. My telephone was taken from me.

At the end, I was then taken to the general room once more and asked to sit and wait. After about 20 minutes, a woman in a blue uniform (the others wore a different uniform), came towards me with my passport in her hand and four security agents behind her. She handed me my passport and said, “The Israeli Ministry of Interior has denied you entry.” I asked if a reason was given. She said, “You spend too much time here.” I was then deported - escorted by two of the agents out of the terminal and onto a bus back to Jordan.

I got on the bus. I felt like my legs weren’t strong enough to carry me.

April 30th, 2008
Annemarie Jacir

OK

2008-04-17T17:23:00.000-07:00

I'm back. I admit it. I'm a password moron. I cannot, cannot remember more than two passwords. So, so annoying.

BTW, have been hanging out on Facebook. Very fun, but too many green patch requests.

Check out Checkpoint303. Sorry, you'll have to find the URL on your own. I'm t-i-r-e-d and going h-o-m-e.

Schuss!

And then there's that little think that hapened in Ankara 92 years ago...

2007-11-10T17:43:00.000-08:00

Sorry, Turkish friends and acquaintances, but this is really important to me:

Robert Fisk has this to say about the US response to being asked to recognize the Armenian holocaust. And yes, you read that right, holocaust- the mass massacres, deportations and slaughter of the Armenians in Ottoman Turkey which set the stage for the other such horrific events of the 20th century:

The "story so far" is familiar enough. In 1915, the Ottoman Turkish authorities carried out the systematic genocide of one and a half million Christian Armenians. There are photographs, diplomatic reports, original Ottoman documentation, the process of an entire post-First World War Ottoman trial, Winston Churchill and Lloyd George and a massive report by the British Foreign Office in 1915 and 1916 to prove that it is all true. Even movie film is now emerging – real archive footage taken by Western military cameramen in the First World War – to show that the first Holocaust of the 20th century, perpetrated in front of German officers who would later perfect its methods in their extermination of six million Jews, was as real as its pitifully few Armenian survivors still claim.

But the Turks won't let us say this. They have blackmailed the Western powers – including our own British Government, and now even the US – to kowtow to their shameless denials. These (and I weary that we must repeat them, because every news agency and government does just that through fear of Ankara's fury) include the canard that the Armenians died in a "civil war", that they were anyway collaborating with Turkey's Russian enemies, that fewer Armenians were killed than have been claimed, that as many Turkish Muslims were murdered as Armenians.

The Armenians did not die in a "civil war"- Turkish documents of the time bear this out, Turkish publications handed out by the embassies bear this out. While Turks today bear no direct responsibility for what was done under the Ottomans- "The Armenian solution" was still less than 100 years ago. Who do they think carried this out?

Happy Diwali!

2007-11-08T16:32:00.000-08:00

Deepawali if you prefer,

to our friends, colleagues and loved ones-

Chatnya and Neal at ALI,

Sakshi,

Conditioner, Loofah et al over at Shower Monologues,

Amit V., (update your blog...;->),

Mahendra,

Amit and Mukul K.,

those fabulous subversives over at Sepia Mutiny

and the way cool crew over at Artwallah

+ a shout out to Cheb i Sabbah who's been mixing some cool beats again.

(off to set things up and hopefully not burn down the house)

So Cal in Flames

2007-10-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

Well, SoCal is going up in smoke like the tinderbox it is. We're in the middle of a drought and people are still planting lawns.

Fortunately, as the flames lick their way down the freeways and into housing divisions, the loss of life has been, mercifully, limited. Not so, sadly, property damage. As of tonight, most schools are closed (I may be forced to do... housework), major freeways above SD and near the border are closing. Thankfully, none of my friends are in serious danger, although some have been evacuated. All the ash makes breathing a chore...
View Larger Map

Here's a map tp help you see:

say hello to

2007-10-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

M's new set of blogs, among them reviews from the San Diego Asian Film Festival, thoughts on new media and a look at film distribution. Some really good material was at this year's San Diego Asian Film Festival which just finished. Hop on over and say hi!

Eid Mabrouk!/Happy Eid!

2007-10-14T00:21:00.000-07:00

Eid Mabrouk!/Happy Eid!

to our dear friends, blogger buddies (The Arabist crew, the Angry Arab (well, maybe less so, today :), Dr. Strangelove, the Shower Monologues crew, those genteel revolutionaries at Sepia Mutiny-, the Jarrar family, Laila of Morrish Girl- sorry if we forgot anyone...), family (Fathia, Soufian, Soukina, Naima, Ahmed, Mohamed Amine, Osama, Oum Khalthoum...) and students (Walid and Nelly and Ryan, Mohammed M., Mohammed Al-J., Retno, Munif, Yazid and Ahmed, Meshari, Munira, Noura, Ahmet. Essam, Esma, Arkil, Duygu), artist friends (Khalil B., Khalil back in the bled, the Levantine Center Crew, The Cinemayaat folks, Reem H., Rabah S. ), and whomever else we may have forgotten.

Have a wonderful holiday!

Sept 11- or life through the lense of the perpetual war on terror

2007-09-11T13:51:00.000-07:00

I would like to hand this space over to my friend and fellow writer, Jordan El Grably of the Levantine Center of Los Angeles. Jordan has been instrumental in creating an artspace that nourishes community, encourages artists and stimulates productive and provocative debate. Courtesy of Jordan comes this well-reasoned and hopeful essay that encourages all of us to actively hope for and participate in a greater communion with our brothers and sisters both in the Middle East, and here, in the American-Middle Eastern community,

Shukran, ya ahai.

After September 11

Another Perspective

by Jordan Elgrably

This date remains as infamous to Americans as Pearl Harbor, and we certainly live in a different world in the post 9/11 era—with U.S. military forces occupying Afghanistan and Iraq, and hawks in the Bush administration salivating over Iran, not to mention W’s State of the Union insistence that “fighting the war on terror is the defining struggle of our time.”

An era of endless war, of course, is a boon to the defense industry, but a boondoggle for the American people, to say nothing of how our nation is now perceived abroad. Never has America had a more despised profile in the world at large than during the Bush years, to the point that people have slapped “Tricky Dick is Looking Good These Days” bumper stickers on their cars. I was a freshman in college during the years of Richard Nixon’s impeachment and remember how Americans thoroughly hated the 37^th president, but Tricky Dick’s chicanery in the Watergate scandal has indeed begun to seem trite in view of the post-9/11 falsehoods that characterize our occupation of Iraq, the government contracts awarded to Halliburton, and the criminal excesses that characterize Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo.

For me, the American media is complicit in legitimizing the constitutional aberrations of the Bush era, for never do news anchors or editors or reporters discuss aloud the very nature of American empire and our de facto war economy, nor has the mainstream media consistently pursued the stories of electoral fraud that marred the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004. For these reasons, and many more too numerous to mention in a short commentary, I believe that we have already entered the post-American era. Our military weakness has been exposed in Iraq, our economic frailty has been made clear by the power of the euro, and our reputation as a civilized nation of law and democracy has been put into question for the lengths government has been willing to go in the name of “homeland security.”

Post-9/11 paranoia in this country has made life for Arabs and Muslims far more negative than ever before—not that it was ever rosy, as the statistics of hate crimes and discrimination gathered by organizations like MPAC and the Arab American Institute show. What to do?

Recently I participated in a workgroup organized by the Brookings Institution and the Saban Center for Middle East Policy Study. It was a gathering of artists and activists working in the area of Arab/Muslim arts and culture, under the guise of an initiative entitled “Focusing the Lens: Engaging the Muslim World Through the Arts.” The purpose of the project was to explore how we can export arts programs and develop creative initiatives that engage people in the Middle East/North Africa, to improve the way America is perceived in that part of the world. To a lesser extent, we also discussed what we might do here in the United States to improve the Arab/Muslim image.

While the latter is in fact a major part of Levantine Cultural Center 's mission—in addition to bringing together people from Middle East cultures in conflict, i.e., Arabs and Jews, Armenians and Turks, etc., to (re)create a sense of community and solidarity—I felt distinctly uncomfortable when discussing how we might improve America’s image in the Arab/Muslim world, because little mention was made of the tremendous mess that the current administration has made in that part of the world. While our elected (or selected) leaders and military are out creating chaos in Iraq and Afghanistan, and provoking the Iranians with bellicose talk of a bombing campaign, artists and activists are supposed to soften the blows with concerts and conferences and other such initiatives?

And how are we to manage as peacemakers on behalf of the Palestinians and Israelis, when it is clear that the U.S. government has not been an honest and impartial broker in the moribund “peace process”?

In the face of the absolute absurdity of being an artist/activist in this age of excess and abuse of political power, it seems to me we have two choices: Either we feel utterly disgusted and weakened as convincing advocates of East/West relations, and therefore abdicate our role as a mitigating constituency for peace; or we hold up our heads and extend our arms out to artists, activists and leaders in the Middle East, creating bonds of solidarity now that will continue to grow in the future. We can either remain passive, convinced that there is little difference we can make in the face of this enormous abuse of power perpetrated in the name of America and Americans; or we can choose to lead by example, showing each other that peace is created by the people on the ground, in day to day relationships, across all manner of boundaries and borders. As Mahmoud Darwish wrote in a poem, “the hearts of people are their nationality; take away my passport.”

Indeed, my heart is my passport, and I will continue to do everything in my power to lead by example, to support the freedoms and democracy underscored by the U.S. Constitution, and to see all people as my people, regardless of their religion, nationality, ethnicity or political persuasion.

Levantine Cultural Center has an important role to play in creating bonds of solidarity amongst all people of Middle Eastern heritage in Southern California, setting an example for our friends and relatives in the Middle East and North Africa. Eventually we shall reach our goal of opening a landmark Middle East cultural arts complex for all of Southern California—a beacon of peace that will shine around the world.

In the meantime, on this sixth anniversary of the events of 9/11, I urge you to mark the day by making a new friend from a culture or nation different from, and perhaps in conflict with your own. We may not be able to stop warmongers from pursuing their nefarious agenda, but nothing can stop us from saying NO! by acting as leaders for peace, justice and cross-cultural communitas.

Jordan Elgrably is a writer in Los Angeles and serves on the Board of Directors of Levantine Cultural Center. This commentary does not reflect official policy of the center and is wholly the personal opinion of its author.

lcc-arts mailing list lcc-arts@lists.levantinecenter.org http://lists.levantinecenter.org/mailman/listinfo/lcc-arts

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Film To See (and See again)

2007-09-03T15:05:00.000-07:00

Like I said, have been watching films after it has cooled off some and so watched Earth with M who has been telling me it is one of the most moving films on partition made to date, and I must say, I wholeheartedly agree. For anyone feeling any curiosity about how India and Pakistan came about in this, their 60th year.. this film bears watching.

Earth is Deepa Mehta's amazing film, based on the book, "Cracking India" (a great title if ever there was one) about the partition of India. This part of her trilogy Earth, Fire, Water, of which I had already seen one (Water). When I saw it, I stood in awe of its story and the cinematography.

With Earth, I felt that the story was much more compelling than the cinematography- although this may be that I was learning about events I had only heard about such as the mass murders on the trains bringing refugees out of the split sections of Punjab (what became Pakistan and India). Indeed, what I found interesting was the horrific subtlety of the scenes depicting some of the most shocking violence of partition and it got me thinking: in an area in which multiple religions and ethnic groups have lived in relative harmony for 1,000's of years, how does the fabric of a society get rent so violently in such a short time? Does colonialism have anything to do with it, or does each group secretly harbor hope for an individual homeland, a hope passed down through the privately expressed mythology of each?

I'm going to have to watch it again, since I am sure, in my being caught up in the story, there was so much I didn't catch. I'll write something more profound after a 2nd viewing, including something about the touching and charming kite flying scene. Suffice to say, I highly recommend Earth - just be warned, there is little light about it and it is a profound viewing experience.

An interview with Deepa Mehta here.

Random, slushy thoughts

2007-09-03T14:39:00.000-07:00

Well, we're roasting out here in SoCal. Now mind you, I like heat- just not slightly damp, slightly muggy heat. So before I melt, I thought I'd write a bit.

For the weekend, I've been thinking, listening to music and watching films (lethal combo-for you, anyway).

And, as the school year approaches, I am gearing up for my annual, don't let your child be recruited by No Child Left Behind (and yes, Fadi, as we get closer to bombing Qom, this means you) campaign. Cannot tell you how evil this thing is.

And I've been thinking about the Green Card Soldiers, who come mostly from the Southwest and who are often in the front line and make up a growing percentage of the war dead.

(still from The Short Life of Jose Antonio Gutierrez)

And I thought of this song by Pistolera from their album Siempre Hay Salida:

La Espera, track 9
LA ESPERA ( THE WAIT)
Alguien le prometió un futuro mejor.
Le dijeron que el trabajo era un trabajo de honor.
Y a otro le dijeron que esto era su chance pa' proteger a su país y demostrar su valor.
Y se fueron, cada quien tenía su razón.
La guerra no discrimina quien lleva y quien deja regresar.
La esposa esperará con los dedos cruzados que su esposo regrese a conocer a su hijo.
Y la otra familia piensa que tienen suerte, no están preparados para malas noticias.
Cada día algunos caen y otros sobreviven.
La guerra no discrimina quien lleva y quien deja regresar.
Someone promised him a better future.
They told him that the work was one of honor.
And to another they told him it was his chance
to defend his country and demonstrate his bravery.
And they went, each had his own reason.
War does not discriminate
who is it takes and who is allowed to return.
The wife shall wait with crossed fingers
that her husband shall return to know his son.
And the other family believes they are lucky,
they are not prepared for bad news.
Each day some fall, and others survive.
War does not discriminate
who it takes nor who is allowed to return.

You can listen to it here.
It's a beautifully tragic song that is, sadly, very true.

Fez for Prez

2007-08-20T23:59:00.000-07:00

Not sure whom to vote for? Despairing of choices? Have no fear, a new candidate is here!

Khalil Bendib, aka America's most wanted cartoonist is throwing his"hat," so to speak, into the ring. Oh, why be coy, it's a fez.

America¹s First Muslim President?
Muslim-American cartoonist throws his Fez into the Ring;
(Any one can run for president and it¹s been done to death, frankly but how many can TWIRL for president?)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In a year when America may see -- for the first time -- either a woman president or a Black Leader of the Free World, what are the odds for a first-ever Muslim Commander-in-Chief?

After carefully testing the waters for months, the newly declared candidate (who, as an homage to the late Dr. Seuss, calls himself "the Prez in the Fez,") today started pounding the pavement, mindful to not appear too stereotypically violent or too "anti-pavement.²"

According to anonymous but reliable sources, "turning swords into ploughshares" will be at the heart of the candidate's foreign policy. "Box cutters, machetes, Ginsu knives, we'll turn any sharp cutting implements into organic- food cultivating instruments, "declared the so-called Prez-in-the-Fez, whose campaign slogan is "The Pen is Funnier than the Sword." According to Mr. Bendib, "Mirth Makes Right -- not Might" and "Disarming the enemy through the power of laughter and good cheer" is the best defense. "Ours will be the funniest, most hilarious administration in American history," asserts the candidate, with a straight face, "no joke!"

Some skeptics, however, claim that having turned the United States of America into the world's laughingstock over the past seven years, the current administration may be a tough act to follow, comedically speaking. How does Khalil Bendib propose to outdo the clowns currently occupying the White House? The key, according to candidate Bendib, will be to Make the rest of the world laugh with us, rather than laugh at us, as has been the case for the past decade or so.

But beyond these facile generalities, critics are asking Bendib "Where is the beef ?" and -- more importantly is it Halal (Kosher for Muslims)? What follows are a few planks from the candidate's presidential platform:

* On Government waste and Pork barrel spending : As a self-respecting Muslim, you can guess how I feel about PORK: I'm not exactly wild about it!...
* On Free Trade: The Prez in the Fez favors the free flow of Danish goods into America -- except for Islamophobic cartoons, of course...
€ On Education: Pens not guns, books not bombs, Math Instruction not Mass Destruction.
€ On the Patriot Act: Once elected, I will act like a patriot -- and repeal the Patriot Act!
€ On the Use of Torture: In the candidate's own words, ... If you absolutely HAVE to obtain information?..
Tickle, don't Torture!
Amuse, don't abuse!
Be clever and cute, don't electrocute!
€ On Nuclear proliferation: Islam is a religion of Peace and America is a Peace-loving nation. Instead of bombing Iran, we will shame the Islamic Republic into voluntarily abandoning its nuclear ambitions. How? We'll lead by example and demand the dismantlement of all nuclear weapons everywhere, starting with the world's largest arsenal - our own -- putting back the "non" into "non-proliferation."
€ Finally, on Guantanamo Bay: The candidate says: "Render unto Fidel what belongs to Fidel, have the Cubans tear down the torture center and put in something more positive there - like a dental school or something!"

Concludes Bendib, "Sadly, Islamophobia runs deep in America today and it has been cultivated as an excuse for preventive wars, domestic spying, torture, the suspension of Habeas Corpus and the erasure of so many of our most treasured constitutional freedoms. What better way to bring back our precious liberties and to rid us once and for all of the exaggerated fear of Islam than to elect America's first Muslim president? In 1960, President Kennedy did not bring the Vatican into the White House, as initially feared, and in 2008 the Prez in the Fez will not bring Mecca into the Oval Office!" To paraphrase another great president before him, the Muslim candidate concludes: "The only thing we have to fear is the fear of Islamophobia itself! God Bless America and Peace be Upon you!"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Khalil Bendib is the author of the new book of political cartoons, ³Mission Accomplished.²He can be reached at www.bendib.com <http://www.bendib.com>

You can meet the Fez for Pres on his book tour for the following book:
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: Wicked Cartoons by America¹s Most Wanted Political Cartoonist
Khalil Bendib. Interlink/Olive Branch $17.95 paper ISBN 978-1-56656-691-

Praise for the book:

³Bendib is an Equal opportunity skewer. The more a subject or victim is ignored by the mass media, the more he infuriates, informs and intensifies the reader¹s attention. Cartoons need to jolt. Bendib obliges page after page.²
RALPH NADER

"Khalil Bendib is your friendly non-violent castigator of all the powers that oppress us."
LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI

"Khalil Bendib, with a few ingenious strokes of his pen, gets to the heart of the issues of our time. His cartoons are in the greatest tradition of American political humor, with that combination of wit and intelligence so needed in the struggle for justice." HOWARD ZINN

³Khalil Bendib always delights me with his intellectual and extremely poignant, often times sadly funny, cartoons. This book should be required reading for all concerned with social justice everywhere!"
CYNTHIA MCKINNEY

Publishers Weekly book review:

Mission Accomplished: Wicked Cartoons by America¹s Most Wanted Political Cartoonist
Khalil Bendib. Interlink/Olive Branch $14.95 paper ISBN 978-1-56656-691-9
At once rueful and hilarious, this collection by widely syndicated, Berkeley, Calif.based, Muslim American political cartoonist Bendib graphically illustrates the Orwellian relationship between the rhetoric of freedom among the powerful and the realities faced by those on the receiving end. These topical single-frame tableaux, mostly drawn from 2003 to this year, are ingeniously detailed and only occasionally dated. One shows a military graveyard with headstones converted into filling-station pumps, while another presents the Statue of Liberty as pregnant with political prisoners, the world¹s largest penal population and detainees in U.S.-sponsored camps and secret prisons worldwide. Bendib is an equal opportunity offender who connects the dots with gusto‹whether dogging the Bush administration¹s blunders in Iraq or post-Katrina New Orleans; nuclear proliferation; racism in the U.S.; corporate welfare and waste; Islamophobia; the faux democracies of Middle Eastern autocrats; or Israel¹s continuing occupation and colonization of Palestinian land (one memorable image has Bush in Siamese twinship with Jerry Falwell¹s Christian Right, lecturing Palestinian voters on the democratic necessity of separating church and state). Those inclined to see the Bush administration¹s ³war on terror² as an excuse for imperial aggrandizement and corporate greed will find Bendib¹s no-holds-barred satire fiercely funny. Those not so inclined, beware. (June)

If Howard Zinn liked it, chances are you will, too.
~ Zazou dit ca

Catch Khalil here:

What: Official kickoff of Khalil Bendib¹s 2008 Presidential Campaign
Where: Mudrakers Cafe, 2801 Telegraph Avenue (at Stuart), in Berkeley
When: August 30, 7p.m.
Who: Khalil Bendib (will give a short speech followed by a
Powerpoint presentation, Q and A and book signing)

Check this space for SoCal appearances.

VOTE
Fez
for
Prez
!

2007-08-19T14:19:00.000-07:00

Me: tell me an Indian joke...
M: England.

Mabrouk!

2007-08-15T16:45:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, India- 60 years old today!
Janam Din ki badhai!
Janam Din Mubarak!
Ravihi janmadinam aacharati!

At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance..... We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again.
~ Nehru, August 15, 1947

While partition/liberation was not easy, on this day, centuries of colonial rule came to an end and an amazing place returned to its rightful place on the modern stage.

Some cyber places to visit today in honor of India:

Sepia Mutiny
cool site with great articles and posts
The Shower Monologues
get your feet wet here -check out Conditioner's picts
Random Thoughts
Sakshi has some things to say to you...
Cool photos from Slate
more fun in Socal !

Ah, yes...

2007-08-15T16:38:00.000-07:00

do need to post. Have been feeling very depressed and bereft over demise of the beloved volvo.(or at least its current state of critical condition). And trying VERY hard to consider cars made after 1980... Did I tell you about 1968 Saab that caught my eye?????? (sound of M and other friends having a fit...) Sigh...

Blog housekeeping:
Conditioner- see, here's a post...
Ingrid, I'm working on passing on the kudos...
So Rove is leaving- about f***king time- EXCEPT where is he going?
Have a few words to say about torture soon...

And some general snarky commentary to come...

Happy Fourth

2007-07-04T21:51:00.000-07:00

Well, USA, it's that time of year again, you turn one year older, blow out your candles and make a couple of wishes. I have a few suggestions for the old wish list:

May Dick Cheney do the job he was elected to do or get impeached.

Hold fair and honest trials and then close Gitmo- and not by sending people to Jordan where they would probably be tortured and killed inside of five years-

let's not kid ourselves.

Stop using mercenaries. Remember the Hessians? Remember a little thing called the American Revolutionary War? Thought so.
Agree to read (as in actually think about it) the Constitution. Don't count on Dick Cheney to do it for you. He obviously doesn't understand it.
Call a spade a spade- we invaded Iraq, we screwed up and now we are occupying it. We are NOT liberators, we are incompetent colonizers.

Can we go home now?

Restore Habeus Corpus and Posse Comitatus-

don't make Lady Liberty come down there and smack you.

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans? I do and thousands of people from the Ninth Ward and other sections do, too. Demand that restoring

(not making it nice for rich investors and contractors) New Orleans be a priority.

Let's not kid ourselves, II- the US DOES SO torture. And, it teaches others to enjoy it, too. Ain't the US you think the flag stands for? Then stand up and SAY SOMETHING!
You know, Bob Marley was right- stand up , get up for your rights and think about this- if you ain't free, then I ain't free, as the saying goes. Civil Rights are right for everyone. Don't let the present "government" fool you. Your privacy, my right to speak out, my brown brother's right to freedom of assembly, my black brother's right to be safe in his own house, my Asian brother's right to fair wages, my Native American brother's rights to safety and sovereignty are guaranteed by the Constitution and by every treaty this country has signed. Look out for your brothers because one day they may need to look out for you.
And that, my friends, is the US of A.

Today the day to stand up against torture...

2007-06-26T22:02:00.000-07:00

"The president enjoyed a visit with the students, accepted the letter and upon reading it let the student know that the United States does not torture and that we value human rights," deputy press secretary Dana Perino said.

The handwritten letter said the students "believe we have a responsibility to voice our convictions."

"We do not want America to represent torture. We urge you to do all in your power to stop violations of the human rights of detainees, to cease illegal renditions, and to apply the Geneva Convention to all detainees, including those designated enemy combatants," the letter said. (emphasis mine)
the 2007 Presidential Scholars

If a group of high school students can identify and condemn what the US does as torure and contradictions of the Geneva Conventions, what are we waiting for?

Forgive me, Father,

2007-06-21T22:13:00.000-07:00

for I have sinned. I am not sure when my last real confession was but I have brought about the calvary of Baha Moussa whose death resembles nothing so much as that of the martyrs, lied to my countrymen, colluded with Bush to invade a sovereign nation, caused the deaths of thousands of civilians, sent hundreds of my countrymen into harm's way, so perverted the conscience of some of my fellow citizens that they lied, interrogated, tortured and murdered in my name...shall I go on, Your Grace?

And now, I commit myself to the Holy Mother Church, two of whose popes have called my war an unjust act, and called for its end- in hopes that, unlike Lady MacBeth, in doing so the blood shall fall from my hands and I shall be clean again.

What, Father, if anything, should be my penance?

(read about Blair's move to Catholocism)

Blacklisting Blackwater

2007-05-24T21:12:00.001-07:00

As some of you may know, Blackwater, aka Mercenaries Are Us, is trying to set up a training camp in Southern California outside the town of Potrero, not too far from the SD-Tijuana Border.

Now why would that be, I wonder?

In another post, I will take a deeper look at who and what is Blackwater. Suffice to say, Blackwater is not a nice little security company whose dearest wish is to make the world a comfy place for you and me. Blackwater provides some of the best security money can buy- comandoes? Yep. Psych-ops specialists? Got that. Urban counter-insurgency? Sure. "Pursuasive Techniques training?" Glad you asked.

They recruit former SEALS, special ops, etc, as they come off their tours-- hence the interest in the geographic proximity both to Camp Pendlton and the SEALS on Coronado Island.

Blackwater also displays a decidedly international approach to its hiring and training. Folks like Chilean paramilitary members get recruited and sent to Iraq, and other places. And then there are the boys from the SADF- the South African Defense Force- the defenders of Apartheid, a number of whom are working in Iraq and were also in New Orleans doing post-Katrina security duty. That's right, in a city with a large African-American population, in the midst of an extraordinarily horrific crisis- Blackwater was paid to bring in South Africans with an Apartheid background.

I am particularly disturbed by Blackwater's proximity to the border as well as San Diego and Los Angeles, both sites of massive anti-HR447 (Tancredo's draconian Immigration reform bill) last year. I am very suspicious of the placement, in part because I feel that the Bush- military contractor complex is using the border region as a lab for both international and domestic insurgency practice, and because it seems that with both satellite offices of Dyncorp and Blackwater, should a state of emergency be declared, the border and the region around it will be sealed as tight as a drum, with civil rights off the table.

So, for your reading pleasure, may I recommend reading the rest of the following:

CIA-Pentagon-Blackwater "revolving door"

"A number of senior CIA and Pentagon officials have taken top jobs at Blackwater, including firm vice chairman Cofer Black, who was the Bush Administration's top counterterrorism official at the time of the 9/11 attacks (and who famously said in 2002, 'There was before 9/11 and after 9/11. After 9/11, the gloves came off.')," Ken Silverstein, wrote September 12, 2006, in Harper's Magazine.

In fall 2005, Robert Richer "resigned from the post of Associate Deputy Director of Operations; he immediately took a job as Blackwater's Vice President of Intelligence. Richer is a former head of the CIA's Near East Division and long served in Amman, where, for a period beginning in 1999, he held the post of station chief. For years he was the agency's point man with Jordan's King Abdullah, with whom he developed an extraordinarily close relationship," Silverstein wrote.

Also, Silverstein wrote in September 2006, "there's talk at the agency that Blackwater is also aggressively recruiting José Rodriguez, the CIA's current top spy as director of the National Clandestine Service. Rodriguez has a number of former agency friends at Blackwater, most notably Rick Prado, with whom he served in Latin America and who is now Blackwater's Vice President of Special Programs."

Recent Cofer Black start-up and merger, Total Intelligence Solutions, LLC, is a merger of three companies, The Black Group, The Terrorism Research Center, Inc. and Technical Defense. TIS very well may fall outside the legal corporate domain of Blackwater, however two of the top executives at TIS, Cofer Black and Enrique Prado still hold positions at Blackwater, and Robert Richer recently left his position at Blackwater to take on responsibilities at TIS. As well, it should be noted that one of the three companies merged to create TIS, The Terrorism Research Center, is owned by Blackwater founder Erik Prince. [19]

[edit]

UN Peacekeepers?

Blackwater's advertisement in the IPOA journal, March/April 2007

Blackwater is an active member of the International Peace Operations Association, a trade association which promotes the use of commercial force, logistics, demining and other conflict/post conflict services. Blackwater runs an advertisement on the second page of their journals, which can be downloaded free at their website, which acts well as an example of the image the PMC industry is seeking to re-define themselves within.

Blackwater said that "it can help keep peace in Darfur, Mark Langfitt reported May 26, 2006, for NPR. "Doug Brooks runs an association of private military firms, which includes Blackwater. He says his members can help where governments have failed."

"The United Nations, which hopes to deploy in Darfur this fall, opposes the outsourcing of force," Langfitt wrote. "The peacekeeping pitch sounds great, but has all kinds of problems, [said] Peter Singer, a scholar at the Brookings Institution and author of Corporate Warriors. "For one thing, [Singer said], there's little accountability. If contractors misbehave—as they did at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison—they rarely face charges. Singer says private military firms are focusing on peacekeeping, in part, to improve their image."

Blackwater "is pushing to be part of UN peacekeeping missions in places like Darfur," The Current host Anna Maria Tremonti commented June 11, 2006, on her CBC (Canada) radio show. "But so far the United Nations is not buying. It says peacekeeping is something that requires great sensitivity."

[edit]

Soliders of Fortune

[edit]

"Coalition of the Billing"

"There are no reliable figures on the number of guards from Colombia or other countries," Sonni Efron wrote July 30, 2005, in the Los Angeles Times. "Fijians, Ukrainians, South Africans, Nepalese and Serbs reportedly are on the job in Iraq."

Peter W. Singer of the Brookings Institution, "author of a book on the private military industry, said veterans of Latin American conflicts, including Guatemalans, Salvadorans and Nicaraguans, also had turned up. 'What we've done in Iraq is assemble a true 'coalition of the billing',' Singer said, playing off President Bush's description of the U.S.-led alliance of nations with a troop presence in Iraq as a 'coalition of the willing'," Efron wrote.

Blackwater and other U.S.-based private military contractors do not only recruit Americans; according to Jonathan Franklin, former commandos from Chile are an increasing presence among private military troops in Iraq. Gary Jackson, president of Blackwater, told the British newspaper The Guardian that former Chilean commandos, "many of who had trained under the military government of Augusto Pinochet," will be sent to Iraq for a year and a half, to guard oil wells from saboteurs. "We scour the ends of the earth to find professionals - the Chilean commandos are very, very professional and they fit within the Blackwater system," said Jackson. And the private military melting pot doesn't stop there: "Squads of Bosnians, Filipinos and Americans with special forces experience have been hired for tasks ranging from airport security to protecting Paul Bremer, the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority." [20]

And here is a communique from Congressman Bob Filner, in whose district Blackwater is trying to set up:

Dear Friends:

I am grateful to the Courage Campaign for getting the word out about

Blackwater's egregious attempt to set up a mercenary training camp

outside Potrero, a small peaceful rural town in my district. I'd

also like to thank you all for signing their petition calling on

Governor Schwarzenegger, Senator Boxer and Senator Feinstein to keep

Blackwater out of California.

Since the petition was launched, more than 2,600 people have joined

us in opposing Blackwater West and with your help, I think we can

drive that number even higher. Can you deliver just one more

signature? Click the link below to send the petition to your family

and friends and let's show California's leaders how loud our voice

is.

Double the impact of your signature by getting someone else to sign

the petition today.

http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/m/m7Q3U19i32C/Sqn5Jx

Thank you for all you are doing to keep private mercenaries out of

Potrero. Again, if you could spread the word to your family and

friends and deliver JUST ONE more signature to the petition, you can

increase the impact we'll have by showing our statewide leaders just

how widespread the opposition to this plan is.

http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/m/m7Q3U19i32C/Sqn5Jx

Thank you,

Congressman Bob Filner----

Still waiting...

2007-05-22T21:55:00.000-07:00

It's Tuesday...

And Alberto Gonzales STILL hasn't resigned.

We're waiting....

You might want to know...

2007-05-21T23:23:00.001-07:00

The Immigration debate is heating up again. Here in SoCal, where there really is a border (unlike Washington, DC), and there are real crops to bring in, which, by the way, the Minutemen are doing jack to help with, the immigration debate is significant. Add to that the fact that many of the greencard soldiers and the youth from the barrios who are recruited (and yes, they are youth- at 17, 18, 19) for that catastrophy known as the War in Iraq, have parents and other relatives who are currently illegal, this is about real prople and real border issues.

All this discussion about border security and terrorism is a bunch of hooey. Ask the BP and not one, count 'em folks, not one Middle Eastern OTM (other than Mexican) has been apprehended staggering across the desert, withering under a cactus or abandoned by a coyote on the side of some god-foresaken road.

The proposed fence is a travesty and a disaster both environmentally and culturally. The close association of its construction to the fence along the green line (well, sort of along the green line) in the occupied territories of Palestine is highly disturbing in that it speaks to a seige mentality which has a distinctly racist base. IN addition, the sheer construction needed to sustain such a fence is detrimental to the ecosystem of the region. Also, the inducements and veiled hints of retribution against border first nations such as the Tohono O'odham are causing these nations to become cut off from important ancestral tribal lands and pathways over and across the border as well as unwitting pawns in a national policy which has none of our best interests at its core. It seems that the only good Indian is an HS Indian.

What needs to happen is a humane and intelligent immigration policy based on reality, true economic figures and sector needs. None of this voodoo economics and bogeyman stuff that's being pulled by Tancredo and his pals.

This ran in this morning's Roll Call and was created by my friends Victor Payan, Sandra Sarmiento Pena, Perry Vazquez and others in order to call attention to the need for a bi-partisan, intelligent discussion on immigration. Chek out Keep On Crossing for more information about the proposed legislation and other issues surroung the immigration debate.

The stories within

2007-05-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

Maybe Ira Glass of This American Life and David Sadaris have a point: telling stories about yourself holds meaning. And , according to a new book, the meaning comes from how the story is told.

During a standard life-story interview, people describe phases of their lives as if they were outlining chapters, from the sandlot years through adolescence and middle age. They also describe several crucial scenes in detail, including high points (the graduation speech, complete with verbal drum roll); low points (the college nervous breakdown, complete with the list of witnesses); and turning points. The entire two-hour session is recorded and transcribed.

In analyzing the texts, the researchers found strong correlations between the content of people’s current lives and the stories they tell. Those with mood problems have many good memories, but these scenes are usually tainted by some dark detail. The pride of college graduation is spoiled when a friend makes a cutting remark. The wedding party was wonderful until the best man collapsed from drink. A note of disappointment seems to close each narrative phrase.

By contrast, so-called generative adults — those who score highly on tests measuring civic-mindedness, and who are likely to be energetic and involved — tend to see many of the events in their life in the reverse order, as linked by themes of redemption. They flunked sixth grade but met a wonderful counselor and made honor roll in seventh. They were laid low by divorce, only to meet a wonderful new partner. Often, too, they say they felt singled out from very early in life — protected, even as others nearby suffered.

Very interesting! Read the rest.

To Disappear You Is No Loss...

2007-05-19T13:08:00.000-07:00

How many of you have a class picture from when you were young? How many of you have a class picture with circles around the faces: this one died, thisone was disappeared, this one went into exile, this one was shot at a demonstration, this one we never saw again...

Every day, in dozens of countries, people are disappeared, murdered, raped, and tortured by their governments and para-military squads.

Yesterday, over a dozen Iraqis were kidnapped, died, were murdered and some even raped in a country in which Paul Bremmer feels the US did a good job. Argentina recently supported the US by walking out of a meeting in which the US was roundly criticized for its role in the mayhem going on in Iraq today. Shades of almost 30 years ago when the US walked out with Argentina when Argentina was being criticized in a UN meeting about its dirty war against its own citizens.

The same men who were junior staff during Reagan watched and learned and waited. And now, we see what their schooling has wrought.

Today, as you read this, someone died in Iraq, someone disappeared, someone was dumped in an umarked grave.

Today, as you read this, you can make a difference: you can hold your government accountable, you can ask your representatives for answers on foreign policy, you can support Amnesty International and Survivors of Torture. And, if you live outside the US, you can ask your government how can they support one like ours.

Today, you can not look the other way and say, Thank God that was not me.

Today, even a little gesture such as visiting this photo essay on the disappeared, will make a difference, because, to simply do nothing, is one of the biggest mistakes you will ever make..

Oh, so that's what

2007-05-19T11:33:00.000-07:00

No Child Left Behind means....

from Counterpunch, about the endlessly entertaining, endlessly inappropriate Mr. Rove. Ah yes, buffoons in high places...we truly are the Hope of the Free World.

LLate last month, Teachers of the Year representing the states of the union gathered in the nation's capital to be recognized for their outstanding achievement. While waiting for the arrival of President Bush into the Rose Garden off of the West Wing of the White House to receive their award, a door swung open, sending the Secret Service into a flurry of activity, questioning who had opened the door.

"The dog ate my homework," blurted out from a door opening to the garden where the teachers were waiting.

Who would sling such a remark at Americans' whose lives are dedicated to service? The answer: Karl Rove, the maestro of political strategy for the Bush Administration. What's more, he even had the audacity to follow his disrespectful comment with a snicker of laughter as he slid from the doorway and went about his daily goings-on. Perhaps even more unsettling was that he offered no other acknowledgement, uttered no other words to the teachers.

Too bad the dog didn't eat Karl Rove. Then again, maybe the homework tasted better...

Read the rest.

It ain't easy being green...

2007-05-10T07:13:00.000-07:00

Check out Vanity Fair's new May Green Issue.

Something to think about: Global warming is threatening the sacred spaces of native peoples by melting them, drying them up or cooking them.

Happy Mother's Day!

2007-05-10T07:06:00.000-07:00

Mary Cassat

To my Mom, my sister-in-laws Debby, Annette, Fatiha, Naima; my cousins Andrea, Monica and Bonnie; my dear friends Dominique, Teresa, Eloissa, Linda, Linda, Donna H., Yasmine P, Maryam and all you moms out there trying so hard to raise decent kids, in these, some of the most trying of times.

Happy Mother's Day!

2007-05-10T07:01:00.000-07:00

Levantine Center style.

Fun events planned for Sunday, Check it out!

In case you're wondering- the beautiful picture on the postcard is by my dear friend, extraordinary artist and a damn fine human being, Claudia Fernety. Like what you see? Check out the link to her website in the links column to the left.

The NYT

2007-05-10T06:38:00.000-07:00

finally gets a little insight into the ghastly state of democracy in Egypt. Apparently denial(as in river) has been overflowing its banks as far as Washington DC, and Tunis where the reputed US Ambassdor to Tunisia held said country up as a "model for the region." While I love my Tunisan friends, Tunisia, Tunisian movies, this hideously irresponsible statement makes me gag.

Quelles sont vos premières impressions sur la Tunisie ?

Elles sont très positives. Le peuple tunisien est très chaleureux. Le pays est très beau, son histoire est magnifique, je trouve que la Tunisie est un modèle pour les autres pays de la région
(Q: What were your first impressions of Tunisa?
A: They were very positive. The Tunisian people are very welcoming, the country is beautiful, its history is magnificent, and I find that Tunisia is a model for the countries in the region.)

{snip}

Je voudrais ici insister sur l’idéal humaniste de notre politique étrangère pour aider d’autres à réaliser les valeurs universelles auxquelles nous aspirons tous : la liberté, la prospérité et la sécurité.
(I would like to take the opportunity to underline the humanist ideal of our foreign policy of helping others to realise the universal values to which we all aspire: liberty, prosperity and security)

(after which he probably suggested a shopping spree in the souk)

So typical of the tone deafness of this administration in which Rice can stand in Cairo, and with a straight face, say Egypt is a burgeoning democracy, while bloggers and others whom Mubarak's people consider dangerous to the State, get beaten and sodomized by the police. But, then again, she is the mouthpiece of a democratic government which brought us Abu Ghraib, extraordinary rendition, Guantanamo, and other things too delightful to mention. So, maybe in that light, Egypt looks pretty democratic.
Ah, yes, Denial...not just a river in Egypt....

After crackdowns weakened or destroyed so many of Egypt’s independent political organizations, democratic activists are hoping the burgeoning trade union movement will pick up the fight for democratic change. Which is why Mr. Mubarak has ordered the shuttering of the trade union centers.

With so many other things to worry about in the Middle East, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President Bush also seem to have lost their earlier fervor for Egyptian democracy. Washington must warn Mr. Mubarak clearly about the costs — for Egypt’s long-term stability and its relationship with the United States — of such anti-democratic moves. Happy talk and denial just damage America’s credibility and enable more repression. (read more)
thanks to Issandr of the Arabist.

Miss Thing

2007-04-26T07:58:00.000-07:00

Just exactly who does she think she is?

OSLO, Norway -

Condoleezza Rice said Thursday she has already answered the questions she has been subpoenaed to answer before a congressional committee and suggested she is not inclined to comply with the order.
Rice said she would respond by mail to questions from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on the Bush administration's prewar claims about
Saddam Hussein
seeking weapons of mass destruction, but signaled she would not appear in person.

The arrogance of Rice is astounding. Since when is the Secreatary of State above the Congress? Since when has she no obligation to answer questions about her conduct posed by the representatives of the People? Since when, in the midst of one of the most destructive periods of our history as a nation, does Miss Rice get a pass on her activities?
Read the rest

Kan Ya Ma Kan...

2007-04-22T10:57:00.000-07:00

Mostly ma kan.

France is going to the polls today, and I hope Le Pen and the Front National will not do well, although I hear they are above 10% (as D. says any % is bad). Le Pen and ses potes tend to dine out in the spector of Islamofaciscm and Islamoterrorism and have as long as I have been aware of them.

And so I find the following of great interest:

How about the Islamic terrorists then? Considering the perpetual warnings in our daily papers, the findings in the Europol report is, to say the least, surprising. The truth is that Islamists only carried out one out of the 498 terrorist attacks in the European Union in 2006. Don't believe me? The entire report is available on Europol's website. Had Islamic fundamentalists been behind a higher number of attacks-say 136-it would have been front page news at every big daily. One attack is simply too few--it won't do if the image of an "Islamic threat" is to live on.
(emphasis mine)

You can read the rest here .

As they say kan ya ma kan, there was not was- but mostly its la makensh. Not here.

Waaaaay fun!

2007-04-21T13:19:00.000-07:00

Say hello to Artwallah!. Here at Make Some Noise! we love, love, love Artwallah's graphics and cool video loops. Yet another reason to travel north for cultoorah.

Artwallah joins Zazou's list of Very Cool Orgs with Art Stuff to do in LA.

And if you are in LA this weekend, check out The Levantine Cultural Center. Did you miss "Blacks, Arabs and Jews Comedy Jam"? (what, you think we all can't laugh at ourselves?) How about the latest Arabic-urban spin with DJ Rai?

There's hope for you yet. Check out the Center's page and go hang with the chaban- between Artwallah and the Levantine Cultural Center -we got you covered. Ewa!

orale!

2007-04-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

Comunidad y Cultura, Si!

Finally, it looks like the boycott of the Centro Cultural de al raza in San Diego's Balboa Park may be over. The boycott has gone on for more than 5 years, while the artistic community (Chicanos and others) have been bereft of a cultural home. Voz Alta, Chicano Perk, Chicana, Besos not Bombs, Red Calaca press and others have stepped into the void, but there is nothing like a community- centered space that enjoys support from the greater community. From my perspective, the probelms at the Centro, caused in part by a corporate-minded mentality and misunderstandings, are part and parcel of a larger attempt by corporate entities to control and regulate artistic expression, especially expression that is at odds with the mainstream and speaks out against the war, racism and suppression of free speech. Self-Help Graphics in LA has experienced problems as well as other centros in several places. This becomes particularly evident when sponsors such as SAIC are brought in to "support" as community whose youth have been particularly damaged by the occupation in Iraq and Afghantistan (made possible in part by SAIC), through heavy recruitment practices.

I am particularly happy to see that the communidad will hopefully be able to come home and join other fine institutions such as the Leventine Center in LA (see sidebar) in promoting community art, cutting edge ideas and social responsibility.

See Save our Centro for more info on the resolution.

Ok...

2007-04-21T12:10:00.000-07:00

The Marine Corps chain of command in Iraq ignored "obvious" signs of "serious misconduct" in the 2005 slayings of two dozen civilians in Haditha, and commanders fostered a climate that devalued the life of innocent Iraqis to the point that their deaths were considered an insignificant part of the war, according to an Army general's investigation.
(Read here)

WTF????????

Are you kidding? JUST NOW, in 2007, they come to this conclusion? What is wrong with us? While I am glad they came to this conclusion - the better late than never school, I suppose- many of us came to this conclusion shortly after Haditha, after Hamdaniya, after each and every killing of families at check points, deaths in detentions, etc. As a news editor, it was particularly obvious to me as I would ask for stats that none- where Iraqis were concerned, would be forth-coming. "Collateral damage" was the watchword around the newsroom. Collateral damage, my foot. The Geneva Conventions specifically state that stats on civilian dead need to be maintained and that the civilian population is to be protected at all costs.
But, I guess, if you de-humanize the people you occupy, demonize them in target practice, foster an attitude from the top down (that would include W. and co), that the victims are responsible for what happened to them (sounds like a conservative judge and a rape victim, now that I think about it)- then the civilian population never stood a chance. Ever.

I cannot tell you as someone who lives in the San Diego region how disgusted I am with the local military- the Camp Pendleton Marines who brought Haditha, and only god knows what else, into being in our name.

Support the troops?
I don't think so.
Bring them home and give them ALOT of psych treatment.

Condolences

2007-04-21T12:07:00.000-07:00

to everyone at Virginia Tech. Some very fine people lost their lives. May we be inspired to make the most of our own lives and to exercise compassion and concern when dealing with troubled individuals.

Mabrouk! Watch this

2007-04-21T12:04:00.000-07:00

fantastic short piece by George Azar, the amazing photographer and documentor of the Middle East (NYT, and others). This piece, on his Gaza fixer, is on Al Jazeera's English-language section, under Witness. Check it out! It's really, really good.
The Gaza Fixer

Ya Galbi

2007-04-21T11:46:00.000-07:00

L'Algerie vit des moments durs, tres durs. Il y a de quoi pleurer dans tout ca.
The spector of the violent and bloody 90's raised its head this month with the bombings in Algiers. At least twenty three people died in attacks claimed by Al Queda in Islamic Maghreb. While hardly on the scale of the violence that rocked Algeria in the 90's, this attack is enough to raise questions about who and what is around. The FIS and the GIA have mutated and faded, possibly re-absorbed into the local Al Queda off-shoot. What is interesting is that this attack on government offices comes a scant month before elections in Algeria. Having covered Algeria off and on for a year in the early '90's, I don't see this as an announcement of things to come, rather as a temper tantrum pre-elections. Although there is not much hope for clean elections in Algeria- I do hope they go forward because every election that goes forward is one that much closer to an honest democratic process.

ON a related note: June will be the 15th anniversary of the assassination of Mohammed Boudiaf in Annaba. I had high hopes for Boudiaf, and his death left a huge breach, une fossee, in Maghrebi politics.

VOTEZ....

2007-04-21T11:39:00.000-07:00

mais on te supplie-
pas pour Le Pen.
Vote pour le pays-
un pays ou tout le monde est acueilli,
quoi que soit leur confession ou le couleur de la peau.

Happy Easter!

2007-04-07T20:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

There's a charming legend about pysanky- the art of Ukrainian Easter eggs, that when the world is unstable, that not enough eggs have been decorated to keep strong the chains that bind Evil.

Wishing you many beautiful Easter eggs and a sunny Easter Sunday.

One of my happiest Easter memories as a child was when my father would design Easter egg hunts, complete with fantastic clues. At the end, we would envariably find a rabbit (for a few yeasr, anyway), given to us by Zio. We would name the rabbit Pasquale (that's right, every year). Pasquale would pass his time getting bigger and bigger and chewing on his cage, until one day, Zio would decide he needed to get on with his life and join his jackrabbit cousins in the fields behind our house.

I don't have room for a rabbit, but I try to make Colomba di Pasqua every year (except this year- the pilot light is out )

If you want to try it yourself, this is a pretty good recipe- it's not exactly like that of Lucca, but pretty close.

Easter Dove Bread #1
Colomba di Pasqua

Makes 1 Loaf

The Colomba is a sweet bread similar to panettone but it is shaped like a dove and made during Easter all over Italy, most of it commercially these days. This bread, along with many others, was prepared on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, and eaten during Easter week. The recipe has come down through the Galasso family.

1/4 cup warm water (110º to 115ºF)
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm milk
2/3 cup sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs, at room temperature
3 large egg yolks, at room temperature
4 1/2 to 5 cups King Arthur™ Unbleached, All-Purpose Flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg white, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon turbinado (raw sugar) or coarse brown sugar

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, put the warm water and yeast and stir to dissolve. Let the mixture proof for 10 minutes. Add the milk, sugar, butter, lemon zest, vanilla, whole eggs, and egg yolks and beat on low speed to blend well. Then beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Add 4 cups of the flour and the salt and beat on medium speed. Gradually add the remaining flour a little at a time, until a soft dough is formed. You may not need all the flour.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Place the dough in an oiled bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Punch the dough down, divide it in half, and form 2 balls. Place 1 ball width-wise on a greased baking sheet and gently flatten it into a cylinder 10 inches long and 5 inches thick. Curve the dough slightly in the center.

Pat the other ball of dough into a triangle over the cylinder to form a T. Twist the top third of the body to the right; pinch and shape to form the dove's head, neck, and beak. Twist the bottom third to the left; pull and stretch it into a fan shape to form the tail. With a scissors, cut deep slashes in the wings and tail to resemble feathers.

Cover the dove with a sheet of buttered waxed paper and a towel. Let the bread rise in a warm place until almost doubled, about 20 minutes. Do not let it overrise or the shape will be lost in baking.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Gently brush the dove all over with the egg white and sprinkle the wing tips and tail section with the brown sugar. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown. Carefully transfer the bread to a rack to cool.

This recipe is from NELLA CUCINA by Mary Ann Esposito, published by William Morrow and Company Inc., in 1993.

(from Ciao Italia!)

This year Western and Othordox Easter fall on the same day, so...

Joyeuses Paques, Buona Pasqua, Felices Pasquas, Kalo Pascha, Eid kebir mubarak

The disappeared have voices I

2007-04-07T20:28:00.000-07:00

An untitled piece by Colombian artist Juan Manuel Echavarría.
~Courtesy of the Museo del barrio

They are images that shred the heart, memories that lacerate the soul. And, if one is an American who has been paying attention, there is a furtive little voice that says, as one stands before their awful beauty- Thank god, it's not me. I don't know if I could survive this. But, deep down, you know you would, somehow, because you would have to do what these artists are doing: witness and give voice to the desaparacidos- the desaparacidos of Latin America- victims of another time, another war, and another American policy that collaborated with the banality of evil to visit these things upon them.
And, then you remember- there are desaparacidos now- only we don't call them that - and it is their governments which are cooperating with the banality of evil which is our government meant to render them as such. And, perhaps, you may wonder- what art will their children produce to commemorate their calvary?

There may have been a more moving show of contemporary political art in the city this season than “The Disappeared” at El Museo del Barrio, but if so, I missed it. The title refers to a peculiarly chilling form of violence associated with political upheavals in Latin America over the last 40 years, one that is now becoming more common in Iraq.

Multimedia

Slide Show
Disappearing Acts

A man leaves for work one morning, but doesn’t come home at the end of the day, or later that night, or the next day. A week passes. Relatives suspect that the missing man, who may or may not have had risky political ties, has been arrested or kidnapped. But they don’t know by whom, or where he’s been taken, or if he’s alive or dead.

He’s one of the disappeared, “los desaparecidos,” the victim of terrorism through stealth removal. A death permits mourning, assignment of blame, a possibility of closure. Disappearance generates uncertainty, paralyzes action, leaves an open wound. If I say nothing, a survivor thinks, maybe my husband, or child, or mother, or wife will be spared, even returned. If I inquire or accuse, I may seal their fate. As often as not, fear wins out.

The 15 artists in the show are all from Latin American countries that experienced totalitarian regimes in the late 20th century, when almost every family had friends who disappeared or were themselves forced into hiding or exile. Directly or indirectly, their art is about these experiences.
(Review by Holland CotterNYT)

“The Disappeared” (“Los Desaparecidos”) continues through June 17 at El Museo del Barrio, 1230 Fifth Avenue, at 104th Street, East Harlem; (212) 831-7272, elmuseo.org.

If you do nothing else in New York, go see this show.

Fes, mon amour...

2007-04-07T20:15:00.000-07:00

Yet even as it opens, Fez remains a hidden city. High windowless walls hem narrow passageways adorned with flowing Arabic scripts, impenetrable to the outsider. Many men are hooded, many women veiled. In its hundreds of mosques, barred to non-Muslims, worship proceeds beyond public view. Talismans protect from the unseen world of djinns.

An “enchanted labyrinth sheltered from time,” was the reverent assessment of the writer Paul Bowles, who lived in Tangier.

Fez speaks in symbols. Few places on Earth seem so imbued with buried meanings: in the patterns of hand-knotted carpets; in the tattooed faces of Berber peasant women; in the cosmic swirls of carved plaster in its architecture; in the voices of traditional Sufi and Gnawa singers; in the techniques of expert craftsmen; in the ingredients of its cuisine.
From the NYT

A call to conscience

2007-04-05T08:22:00.000-07:00

Some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak. And we must rejoice as well, for surely this is the first time in our nation's history that a significant number of its religious leaders have chosen to move beyond the prophesying of smooth patriotism to the high grounds of a firm dissent based upon the mandates of conscience and the reading of history. Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. If it is, let us trace its movement, and pray that our own inner being may be sensitive to its guidance. For we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us.

As we stand on the brink of a new conflict, let us remember the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., who, 40 years ago today, called on Americans to listen to their conscience and demand an end to the war in Vietnam.

In his address, he speaks of the damage done to Vietnam:

If we continue, there will be no doubt in my mind and in the mind of the world that we have no honorable intentions in Vietnam. If we do not stop our war against the people of Vietnam immediately, the world will be left with no other alternative than to see this as some horrible, clumsy, and deadly game we have decided to play. The world now demands a maturity of America that we may not be able to achieve. It demands that we admit that we have been wrong from the beginning of our adventure in Vietnam, that we have been detrimental to the life of the Vietnamese people. The situation is one in which we must be ready to turn sharply from our present ways. In order to atone for our sins and errors in Vietnam, we should take the initiative in bringing a halt to this tragic war.

He could be describing Iraq...

We, the US, have been given an unusual opportunity- to make right the horrors of a war for empire past by calling for an end to the present one which bears remarkable parallels to our actions in Vietnam.

Tomorrow is Good Friday. Passover is in progress. The rumors coming out of Russia say we will strike Tehran tomorrow morning. Let us pray this shall not come to pass.

And if we are so lucky as to have the twin horsemen of war and death pass us by, we should use this briefest of periods- the holidays of rebirth, renewal and escape- to have some compassion for others and ourselves, and start a new cycle by rising up and demanding our leaders cease and desist.

These are might times, people. Mighty times.
Make yourselves heard. Make some noise!

Adieu Chraibi

2007-04-05T01:57:00.000-07:00

"Depuis 1954, j'ai attendu qu’un écrivain prenne la relève. On a peut-être imité, mais on n'a pas fait un autre Passé simple. Il y avait plusieurs révoltes dans ce livre : celle contre l’autorité paternelle, mais surtout celle contre le langage. Avant, quand on écrivait sur nous autres Indiens du Maghreb, c’était un langage loukoum, Jean-Pierre Loti, les frères Tharaud, François Bonjean, etc. Moi, j’ai employé un autre langage que celui d’un orientaliste. Ce livre, c’est une révolte de l’individu qui se reconstitue tout seul, d’une façon peut être hybride, mais qui dit d’emblée que ce n’est pas l’Occident qui est source de tous nos maux, mais c’est aussi nous-mêmes. Il faut balayer devant notre porte et commencer par là."
("Since 1954, I have been waiting for someone to pick up the baton. The Passe Simple (his book) has been imitated, but no one has written another one like it. There were a number of rebellions in this book: against the authority of the father figure (paternalistic authority), but above all, against the language. Before,when writing about we other "Indians" of the Mahgreb, it was in a loukoum-like tone, Jean-Pierre Loti, the Theraud brotehrs, Francois Bonjean, etc. Me, I used a language other than that of Orientalism. This book, this is a revolt of the individual who reconstructs himself on his own, perhps in a hyrbid way, but one which says right there and then that it is not the West which is the source of all our ills, but it is also ourselves. We have to put our own house in order and start there."
From an interview with Tel Quel

The great Moroccan writer, Driss Chraibi has died (heads up from Laila Lalami of Moorish Girl). Chraibi was an incredible writer who chose to write in French, as one of the emerging voices from Morocco after Independance. Chraibi's was an uncompromising voice- one that spoke in a compassionate tongue for immigrant rights, women's emancipation and the Berber (Imaghzen) identity. It was also harsh but bitingly humorous in its critique of the excesses in Islam, the Moroccan government and the French attitude towards their former colonials. As such, Chraibi is often consider the father of the modern Moroccan (francophone) novel.

Chraibi was one of the first Moroccan authors whose work I encountered while starting out as a translator. I had read Tahar Ben Jelloun while living in France and was turning more towards the Algerian writers of the first generation, as well as Si Mohand when I met with Three Continents Press to discuss possibly translating work for them. They kindly made me a present of several books, including some of Chraibi's most iconic works (Civilisation, ma mere! Le Boucs) and somewhere I have my copies of "e Passe Simple, L'Oum Er Bhia which I have treasured for years.

A Moroccan of Berber origin, Chriabi is, I think, one oe the first Moroccan writers to envision a Morocco that makes room for its Berber identity as well as looking back at a time when the Berbers first encounter the Arabs. In addition, his clear articulation of the alienation and complexity of the immigrant experience in France, written a muscular, yet tender style, stands as an eloquent documentation of an era in which students and laborers alike had to turn to France in an effort to fulfill some of the promises of an independence that was threatening to sour. His later works, including the Inspecteur Ali series, were just as strongly written, making Moroccan Francophone literature (as well as with Tahar Ben Jelloun, Rachid Mimouni, etc) into a force to be reckoned with.

For more on Chraibi.

Just a thought...

2007-04-01T14:15:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share...

In talking about a fellow writer..."but we do not like her very much. We do not think she has a rich inner life or that God likes her or can even stand her. (Although when I mentioned this to my priest friend Tom, he said you can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.)"
~ pg. 22, Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott

That's all.

2007-04-01T14:08:00.000-07:00

Bush: Gonzales 'honorable and honest'

PENDEJO

Way to start the week

2007-04-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

As I hold my breath, wondering if the Rusian press is right and we're going into Iran on Good Friday (comments on this for another post), here's an event in Los Angeles that is definitely worth attending and very timely:

The Levantine Center, as always a hotbed of cultural activity, provocative programming and damn good parties (yay Jordan!!!!!!) has put together the following:

In the summer of 2006, several graduate students from UCLA studying Arabic in Beirut found themselves under siege as a minor border skirmish on the Lebanese/Israeli border suddenly escalated into a full-scale war. No part of Lebanon escaped bombardment. Ports, highways, bridges, border crossings and the international airport in Beirut—all came under attack. The country was effectively cut off from the outside world. The UCLA students were virtually abandoned and left to find an evacuation solution by themselves. Once safely back in the U.S., they discovered that very little of what they had been experiencing and seeing with their own eyes was actually being conveyed to American media audiences. This symposium is intended to redress that shortcoming, and to provide a perspective that was notably absent from most discussions of the war in the U.S. Panels will cover the history and prehistory of the war; the conduct of the war in terms of international law; and Lebanese narratives of the war. The event will conclude with a roundtable discussion of the media coverage of the war, including members of mainstream and alternative media, among them Al Jazeera, Los Angeles Times, The Angry Arab News Service and KPFK.

April 3 (Tues), 9 am-6 pm—"Covering Lebanon," Conference on Media and the Recent War at UCLA

UCLA Faculty Center, California Room. Several panels and a concluding roundtable will examine how the U.S. media presented the war in Lebanon, in contrast to international media representations. Background info on 2006 Israel-Lebanon Conflict on Wikipedia.

9-11 am—History/Pre-history of the War, with Gabriel Piterberg, UCLA, History; Nubar Hovsepian, Chapman University, Political Science; Sondra Hale, UCLA Anthropology.
11:15 am-1 pm—War and International Law, with Richard Falk, Princeton University, International Law; Karim Makdisi, American University of Beirut, International Relations.
1-2 pm—Break for Lunch.
2-3:30 pm—Narrating the War, with Stephen Sheehi, University of South Carolina, formerly of AUB; As'ad Abu Khalil, California State University, Stanislaus, editor of The Angry Arab News Service.
4-6 pm—Media Representations of War, with Nicholas Goldberg, Op-Ed Editor, Los Angeles Times Current; Josh Rushing, Al Jazeera, Washington, DC; Marjorie Miller, Foreign Editor, LA Times; and As'ad Abu Khalil, California State University, Stanislaus. Moderator: Ian Masters of KPFK's "Background Briefing." [Bios below.]

Moderators: Gil Hochberg and Aamir Mufti, UCLA. Conference co-sponsored by UCLA's Center for Near Eastern Studies, Department of Comparative Literature, Department of French and Francophone Studies and the Comparative Literature Graduate Student Group, and Levantine Cultural Center, with support from Diane Shammas, Visionary Sponsor, Ferris Wehbe and Casey Kasem, Activist Sponsors.

Free to the public, however, seating limiting, RSVPs necessary. Email your name and phone, or call 310.559.5544. Info and directions to UCLA's Faculty Center.

SPEAKERS:

GABI PITERBERG Gabi Piterberg was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and grew up in Israel. He graduated at Tel Aviv University, where he majored in Middle East history and political science (BA), and Middle East and European history (MA). His D.Phil. in the history of the Ottoman Empire is from the University of Oxford. He taught at the University of Durham, England, and Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. Piterberg has three main fields of interest: the cultural and intellectual history of the Ottoman Empire and its Mediterranean environment in the early modern period; the critique of Orientalism, nationalism, and Zionism; the theoretical literature on what history is.

NUBAR HOVSEPIAN Dr. Hovsepian joined the Chapman faculty in 2004 as Associate Professor of Political Science and International Studies. He completed his Ph.D. at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Before moving to Chapman, he was the Associate Director of the Middle East Center at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia). He specializes in comparative politics and international relations, with research and teaching interests in Middle East politics, state formation and educational institutions, democratic processes, nationalism and social movements, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

SONDRA HALE Sondra Haleis Professor of Socio-Cultural Anthropology at UCLA. Her research includes Gender; political economy; social movements; postcolonial and cultural studies; diaspora; aesthetics; Islam/Islamism; Middle East and Africa (mainly Sudan and Eritrea).

RICHARD FALK Richard Falk is Albert G. Milbank Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University and Visiting Distinguished Professor in Global and International Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His most recent book, The Great Terror War (2003), considers the American response to September 11, including its relationship to the patriotic duties of American citizens. [More]

KARIM MAKDISI is Assistant Professor of Political Studies at the American University of Beirut. He received his Ph.D. in International Relations from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 2001. His focus is Public International Law, International Environment and Natural Resource Policy and Politics, Colonialism and De-Colonialism, International History and Politics.

STEPHEN SHEEHI is an Associate Professor and Director of the Arabic Studies Program at the University of Southern Caroline. He received his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1998. His teaching interests include Modern Arab intellectual, cultural, and literary heritage, Visual culture of the Arab World, particulary photography and film. Critical theory especially radical political and Marxist theory, poststructuralist and postcolonial liberationist theory. His recent book is Foundations of Modern Arab Identity, (University Press of Florida, 2004). Currently he is working on The Arab Imago: Consumerism, Capital and the Social History of Arab Photography in Lebanon. Until the recent war, he was on the faculty of Arts and Sciences at the American University of Beirut.

AS'AD ABU KHALIL is a professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus and visiting professor at University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of Historical Dictionary of Lebanon (1998) and Bin Laden, Islam & America's New "War on Terrorism" (2002). He maintains a blog, The Angry Arab News Service, in which he describes himself as an "atheist secularist".

MARJORIE MILLER Prior to her appointment as London bureau chief in 1998, Miller held several bureau chief positions for The Times: Jerusalem (1995-1998), Bonn (1993-1995), Mexico City (1988-1993) and San Salvador (1985-1988). She served two years as a staff reporter covering the U.S.-Mexico border for The Times' former San Diego County edition and earlier completed reporting internships in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.

NICHOLAS GOLDBERG Formerly a bureau chief for Newsday, Nicholas Goldberg edits the op-ed page and the Current section of the Los Angeles Times.

JOSH RUSHING was a United States Marine Captain who was a press officer for United States Central Command (CENTCOM) during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. He became famous for his appearance in the documentary Control Room, which documented his conversations with Al Jazeera correspondent Hassan Ibrahim. After the Pentagon ordered him not to comment on the movie [1], he left the Marine Corps and is now working for Al Jazeera English.

MODERATORS:

GIL HOCHBERG Gil Zehava Hochberg (Ph.D. UC Berkeley; Assistant professor of Comparative Literature, UCLA) specializes in contemporary Levantine literatures (North Africa, Israel, Palestine). She is especially interested in Transnational and Diaspora studies, language politics. [More]

IAN MASTERS is a BBC-trained broadcast journalist who has covered national security affairs for over 25 years on public radio. He is the host of "Background Briefing" and "Live From The Left Coast" on KPFK (90.7FM) Sundays 11AM to 1PM. He has produced documentaries for ABC News and "Frontline" and edited a number of features and documentaries including "The Secret Life of Plants" and "Koyannisqatsi". As a screenwriter he adapted Robert Ludlum's "The Osterman Weekend" and has worked as a script consultant on "Under Seige", "The Fugitive" and "Chain Reaction". He has been a senior fellow at UCLA's Center For Strategic and International affairs and the UCLA Center For International Relations and was a consultant to the Center For National Security Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

AAMIR MUFTI Aamir Mufti teaches Comparative Literature at UCLA. He worked for his Ph.D. in English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University with Edward Said. He also studied Anthropology at the London School of Economics and at Columbia, with a regional focus on North Africa. He is a co-editor of Dangerous Liaisons: Gender, Nation, and Postcolonial Perspectives (Minnesota), editor of "Critical Secularism," a special issue of the journal boundary 2, and author of Enlightenment in the Colony: The Jewish Question and Dilemmas in Postcolonial Culture (Princeton).

I can't go because I have students to subvert and I owe several editors book reviews and film reviews and an essay or two.

Your assignment? Go and report back to me. This is a stellar line up. Don't miss it.

Memories of subjugations past...

2007-03-31T14:15:00.000-07:00

(colonization, 1945)

Thought I would post this and invite dialog. I am (probably stupidly) hanging around a scruffy little exchange about colonization on Arabist.net in the comments section. To head off any mis-understandings right now- I love the Arabist and think Issandr and co are doing a great job. (see side bar for link).

However, there seem to be some people on the exchange who are under the impression colonialism was good for the colonized. Hmmm, if this were consentual minor S&M sex, I could see how that might work...but it wasn't, and I have lived in enough post-colonial environments and done a lot of work (academic and artistic) on post-colonial issues, that I strongly beg to differ. I personally feel that colonialization continues to poison the body cultural long after the infecting agent has left.
A friend, M. takes a very pragmatic view- 50 years should be enough to move on, but then this view comes 60 years after the end of the Raj. D. , I and several others, like A., another M., N., R., the K's and probably A. from Marrakech, don't quite see it that way as we come from a Francophone experience. As D. puts it- sure, the rhetoric of victimhood gets worked out, but then a low burning rage sets in.
Driss Chraibi says in an interview with Lire- je colonise le colonisateur dans sa propre langue. (I colonize the coloniser in his own language). Which is what many Indian writers do as well- I think of Gosh, Iyer, Seth, Mukherjie, and I am in awe of the beauty of their language. The Francophone/Beur writers twist and curve French to make it their own and in doing so, create a text that sings with third party meaning.
But does that indicate a nostalgia for subjugation and second class (if that) status, or is it making the best of a slightly poisonous inheritance?

I'd be really interested in what other people think, ex-colonials and others. Although some (like M.) may consider post-colonialism done, in my own life and in the work of fellow artists, it still runs through us- and whether we stand on the fringes of American Empire, or somewhere within the inner margins- I think it is still a valid issue to ponder.

What do you think?

2007-03-31T10:39:00.000-07:00

(courtesy of Old Amerian Century.org

Oh, dear...

2007-03-31T01:30:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you let little boys play Monty Python. They grow up to be bitingly funny and on the mark.

Call that humiliation?

No hoods. No electric shocks. No beatings. These Iranians clearly are a very uncivilised bunch

Terry Jones
Saturday March 31, 2007
The Guardian

I share the outrage expressed in the British press over the treatment of our naval personnel accused by Iran of illegally entering their waters. It is a disgrace. We would never dream of treating captives like this - allowing them to smoke cigarettes, for example, even though it has been proven that smoking kills. And as for compelling poor servicewoman Faye Turney to wear a black headscarf, and then allowing the picture to be posted around the world - have the Iranians no concept of civilised behaviour? For God's sake, what's wrong with putting a bag over her head? That's what we do with the Muslims we capture: we put bags over their heads, so it's hard to breathe. Then it's perfectly acceptable to take photographs of them and circulate them to the press because the captives can't be recognised and humiliated in the way these unfortunate British service people are.

It is also unacceptable that these British captives should be made to talk on television and say things that they may regret later. If the Iranians put duct tape over their mouths, like we do to our captives, they wouldn't be able to talk at all. Of course they'd probably find it even harder to breathe - especially with a bag over their head - but at least they wouldn't be humiliated.

And what's all this about allowing the captives to write letters home saying they are all right? It's time the Iranians fell into line with the rest of the civilised world: they should allow their captives the privacy of solitary confinement. That's one of the many privileges the US grants to its captives in Guantánamo Bay.

The true mark of a civilised country is that it doesn't rush into charging people whom it has arbitrarily arrested in places it's just invaded. The inmates of Guantánamo, for example, have been enjoying all the privacy they want for almost five years, and the first inmate has only just been charged. What a contrast to the disgraceful Iranian rush to parade their captives before the cameras!

What's more, it is clear that the Iranians are not giving their British prisoners any decent physical exercise. The US military make sure that their Iraqi captives enjoy PT. This takes the form of exciting "stress positions", which the captives are expected to hold for hours on end so as to improve their stomach and calf muscles. A common exercise is where they are made to stand on the balls of their feet and then squat so that their thighs are parallel to the ground. This creates intense pain and, finally, muscle failure. It's all good healthy fun and has the bonus that the captives will confess to anything to get out of it.

And this brings me to my final point. It is clear from her TV appearance that servicewoman Turney has been put under pressure. The newspapers have persuaded behavioural psychologists to examine the footage and they all conclude that she is "unhappy and stressed".

What is so appalling is the underhand way in which the Iranians have got her "unhappy and stressed". She shows no signs of electrocution or burn marks and there are no signs of beating on her face. This is unacceptable. If captives are to be put under duress, such as by forcing them into compromising sexual positions, or having electric shocks to their genitals, they should be photographed, as they were in Abu Ghraib. The photographs should then be circulated around the civilised world so that everyone can see exactly what has been going on.

As Stephen Glover pointed out in the Daily Mail, perhaps it would not be right to bomb Iran in retaliation for the humiliation of our servicemen, but clearly the Iranian people must be made to suffer - whether by beefing up sanctions, as the Mail suggests, or simply by getting President Bush to hurry up and invade, as he intends to anyway, and bring democracy and western values to the country, as he has in Iraq.

· Terry Jones is a film director, actor and Python
www.terry-jones.net

Word

2007-03-30T18:39:00.000-07:00

This interesting message brought to you via Skippy (and first mentioned by James over at Left End of the Dial). Apparently Skippy has been hanging around Little Persia in LA, whence this snap.

Why the street grafitti in this vein, you might ask? Well, if you didn't ask, you should. It appears we may all wake up one day and find we have taken Tehran, invaded Isfahan, conquered Qom, what have you. According to this and that on the blogosphere, Russian Intelligence predicts a Spring offensive. Thankfully this did not happen on Norouz, but may in time for Orthodox Easter, a symbolism not unwasted on the US (as in the hanging of Saddam on the first day of Eid), but certainly not wasted east of Rome.
While the US has been itching to mix it up with Iran for months now, enter a new and fascinating scenario:
The British Sailors: act I, II and III, co-produced by, in alphabetical order, Great Britain, Iran and the United States
Not, may I point out, accompanied by music by Gilbert and Sullivan or even Andrew Llyod Weber.
Act I is currently playing, Ladies and Gentlemen, at least the part in front of the curtain.
Act I seems to be going like this: in the prologue, the US seizes several Iranian diplomats in Iraq and detains them. The curtain goes up and Iran has seized a number of British sailors, claiming they have gone into Iran's waters. The Brits produce a map suggesting, nay, stating, Iran has committed a crime in detaining the crew. But wait! What's this? The map is potentially old, wrong and a ploy. Former British Ambassador Craig Murray has challenged the accuracy/versacity of the map while Tehran claims to have footage of the incident, that includes, they now say, repeated forays into Iranian waters.
Shades of the summer the Cedar Revolution got burned to a crisp due to arson?
This being the 21st century, no such spectacle would be complete without a mediated component.
Let's reel in the TVs and see, shall we?
Ah yes, the parading of the captives. Apparently several, including the female crew member, apologized for being in Iranian waters. . I haven't seen the video myself but I have seen stills, and while the three sailors don't look thrilled to be there, they don't look physically mistreated, either. The NYT has a transcript of Leading Seaman Faye Turney's on camera statement.
Much has been made in the British sector of the fact that Turney was seen wearing a scarf- it's black alright, but hardly tied like a hijab- she's not wearing chador and she looks more like a younger babushka doll.
What wasn't seen (as another writer has pointed out - I'll reference when I find it again)- were orange jumpsuits, guns pointed at them, signs of torture, shackles or hoods. Which is because the show isn't being staged by the Americans at this point.
Besides, this kind of background casting is very expensive- but I digress.
The point to be made is that no one should be paraded in front of the cameras like this.

Act II: will be brief. The curtain closes on the West wringing its hands over the appearance of the sailors on Iranian TV and rises on impassioned pleas for their release on the part of the Brits, careful posturing on the part of the US, and the bullying of the UN to declare more sanctions by them both while Mohammed El Barradei reprises his role in the 2003 production of the W Shock and Awe Show (a yet to be completed passion play), saying Iran poses no threat as a nuclear-capable state. The curtain falls on deaf ears as Barradei's soliloquy draws to its ineffective close.

Act III: the beginnings of Act III are currently classified- suffice to say, the Americans firmly believe that one good turn deserves another- and something has happened- a soldier was killed on the Iraq/Iran border, whatever - something the equivalent of the slap the French Ambassador recieved from the Dey of Algiers- and we're off - with the British taking the lead for a short time before the US outmaneouvers them to steal the show.
But because this is primarily an Anglo-American production (the Iranian participation ceases at the end of Act II), the production is not actually complete and there is talk of a fourth act, as yet still classified, but we understand it involves Iraq, disgraced exiles and an oil barrel or two.
There is a strong possibility that Rice will pronounce the epilogue at the final curtain- since by now- the production will have taken on profoundly Shakespearean tones.

Joking aside- this does not bode well for any of us. Iran did something possibly unbelievably stupid- it remains to be seen about the map- and W is once again herding us to the brink of a destructive, pointless conflict that will lead to more misery everywhere, and possibly the collapse of the US as we know it.

Do not, do not follow this man blindly. He has ruined us- but I do not hold him entirely responsible. I hold the American people primarily responsible. What is wrong with you that you cannot see what is happening? How can you let this happen to us? What has happened to you? This is no longer the country I grew up in and I hate and dispise you people who continue to support this travesty of an administration.

The View from Ramallah

2007-03-25T14:59:00.000-07:00

UT:What are the prospects and how should the peace process, which has been almost moribund now for quite some time, certainly since Hamas' electoral victory last year, be revived?

AS: First of all, the peace process was nonexistent for the last six years, not since Hamas' election a year ago.

UT: Well it was certainly nonexistent during this violent second intifada in which there was virtual warfare between Israel and the Palestinians.

AS:If you go back to the (former U.S. Sen. George) Mitchell Report, it says that the second intifada started as a nonviolent movement, and it was the ferocious repression of the Barak government then that pushed a few unwisely to use the little weapons they had. But the peace process was nonexistent the last six years. And by the way, this is one of the major reasons why Hamas won the legislative elections; nonexistence of the peace process for the last six years and the unconvincing nature of that process in the previous years. I believe in the need of a third-party (intervention). So I personally believe that the American role is decisive. In my analysis, I always – even in my dealings with the State Department – often speak of what I call the self-inflicted impotence of the American administration. America is a superpower all over the world except in its dealings with Israel. And up to now, we have witnessed what I call static diplomacy. You're not unaware that Dr. (Condoleezza) Rice has been there in the area in the last few months nine times with very little fruit of that agitation. And I perceive, indeed, that America should be more vocal, visible and assertive. We have a wonderful window of opportunity if the players want to capitalize on it. The Arab world is available for historical compromise, was available for that compromise for years.

Afif Safieh, Palestinian Representative to the US, was in San Diego last week to give a presentation to the San Diego World Affairs Council. This interview appeared in today's (Sunday) San Diego Union Tribune (UT) paper. While some of the interview is ok, Safieh was interviewed by members of the UT editorial board, who, to me, seem to have been singularly unprepared for the interview. The tenor and scope of some of the questions are poor and indicate a weak grasp of the subject, inapproporiate for a major metropolitan daily with some recent pultizers.
They had a unique opportunity to understand the Palestinian position, especially in light of last year's events in the West Bank and Lebanon, the Mecca Accords, and now Mubarak's move against Egyptain bloggers and the Egyptian Constitution, and Rice's oddly ineffective (personally, I think they are very effective- window dressing is never asked to be profound or intelligent) jaunts around the region.

You can read the rest and judge for yourself.

Alberto el tonto

2007-03-13T23:28:00.000-07:00

At a news conference Tuesday, Gonzales said he would find out what went wrong but said he would not resign. "I acknowledge that mistakes were made here. I accept that responsibility," Gonzales said amid growing calls for his own termination.

Gonzales spins a lovely fable at a news conference about the questionable firing of 8 well-thought of, qualified federal prosecutors, including Carol Lam of San Diego.

Again, there is the mea culpa thing said in a loud, but actually uncontrite voice- a sham auto-criticism that says
it happened on our watch
mistakes were made
we'll get to the bottom of this
something went terribly wrong.

Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.
Notice the use of the indefinite third person, the passive (aggressive) verb formation.
It is never "I" did this so there. It's more "I take full responsibility" and symbolically offer to throw myself on my sword only to save myself at the last moment by offering up an underling (the lying wretch!) to take the fall.
For a biblically inspired presidency, this is oh so sacrifice of Abraham.

Screw it.

Recall Gonzales, fire him on charges and then hold him over for trial.
Que conyo.
read the sorry rest here.

You must...

2007-03-06T20:59:00.000-08:00

Il faut...
see this film/voir ce film:

Indigenes/Biladin ("Days of Glory")
(ps: check Tingis in a week or two to find out why- oh, who cares why- just go see it! And read Tingis, anyway-it's good and good for you!)

George + Fatuous =

2007-02-21T23:19:00.000-08:00

one fantastic article in Slate on inane utterances of one self-declared Decider.

To wit:

"George Washington's long struggle for freedom has also inspired generations of Americans to stand for freedom in their own time. Today, we're fighting a new war to defend our liberty and our people and our way of life."

Did I miss something? Is this one of the categories on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me? The one called "Things you should have learned in school were you paying attention..."

Did George Washington invade a sovereign nation 1,000's of miles away? Did he take out their leader (or whatever), kill 1,000's (and say oops), and occupy the rest?

This is the George Washington, right?

National Remembrance Day

2007-02-19T00:32:00.000-08:00

Today is officially National Remembrance Day of the signing of Executive Order 9066. IN 1942, Roosevelt signed EO 9066, effectively turning 1,000's of US citizens and legal residents into enemy aliens. EO 9066 also condemned 1,000's of Japanese-Americans and legal residents of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast to four years in relocation camps Roosevelt himself termed concentration camps. If you know anyone who was part of the Nisei Regiment or whose father fought with them, say thanks, for these were men drafted or asked to volunteer by a nation that had so little regard for their civil rights that they arrested them for the crime of being of Japanese descent, The Nisei Regiment was one of the most highly decorated for bravery in WWII.

See two posts down for more on Executive Order 9066.

HMMM...

2007-02-19T00:21:00.000-08:00

MSN is thinking about Black History Month and wondering if we really need it.
First of all, I am not sure that is the question we should be asking ourselves. Rather, the question should be why isn't there more information in our history books and cultural readers about the contributions, etc, of African-Americans? or for that matter, other groups?
But, since MSN asked the question, I think I'll answer it: yes and no. No, because we are perfectly capable of reading and finding out and celebrating what these people did all year long.
On the other hand, most of us don't individually, our textbooks don't, and neither does our society in general. African-American contributions are far greater than just Booker T. Washington, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr, Malcom X, Betty Shabbaz, Alice Walker, Angela Davis, Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, etc. The efforts of these various people made all our lives better in great and small ways.
Which is why their accomplishments as well as those of Asian-Americans, Native Americans, Latinos and others need to be a part of our history, and taught as such.

A National Shame Remembered

2007-02-17T14:57:00.000-08:00

Whereas, The successful prosecution of the war requires every possible protection against espionage and against sabotage to national defense material, national defense premises and national defense utilities as defined in Section 4, Act of April 20, 1918, 40 Stat. 533 as amended by the Act of November 30, 1940, 54 Stat. 1220. and the Act of August 21, 1941. 55 Stat. 655 (U.S.C., Title 50, Sec. 104):

Ironically, this day of remembrance falls on President's Day, February 19. On February 19th, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Excutive Order 9066, thus designating tens of thousabds of immigrants and their native born children as "enemy aliens."
Bowing to and fostering national fear, racism and exclusionary politics, Executive Order 9066 caused the arrest and detention of Japanese immigrants, Japanese-Americans, Italian immigrants, Italian-Americans, German immigrants and German-Americans, mostly on the West Coast.
The Japanese and Japanese-Americans bore the brunt of this order-they were "relocated" en masse to detention centers closer to the interior-places that were converted horse stables, abandoned buildings, etc. Their properties were often pillaged by their neighbors, their houses occupied, their businesses destroyed. Many Japanese-Americans never formally graduated high school since they were "relocated" before the end of the school year. Many of the young men were drafted into the army so they could "prove" what good citizens they were of a country which had killed habeus corpus and denied them their Constituional civil rights. These men formed the "Nisei Regiment," the most highly decorated of the war.
My family, too, were the subject of Executive Order 9066. Luckily for them, as Italians, they were not relocated, but their neighbors were not so lucky. That whole family, including their US-born American citizen children were sent to the camps. Before leaving, the father asked my grandfather, a fellow "enemy alien" to keep his family's things in my family's barn. This my grandfather did, and when the family came back, four years later, they gave my grandfather a kitchen table around which my family ate, every day of my life. These simple acts of decency and of gratitude are inscribed in that table and in the food handed around it.
This I remember.
There are those who would be apologists for this action- who claim that Executive Order 9066 was necessary for the safety of the nation. That it was to be expected. I don't believe this for one minute.
Like Martin Luther King, Jr. I believe that for this nation to be a decent respectable nation, it must live out the conscience of its creed and its constitution.
It is in times like these that the defense of our civil liberties is most incumbent upon us. They are not to be taken lightly (and therefore become optional), nor are they to be conferred upon minorities at the pleasure of the mainstream. For our civil liberties to have meaning, they must be vigorously applied without prejudice to all in times of crisis, lest they become meaningless in times of fair weather, when it is easiest to pay them lip service.
And so I, the grandchild of "enemy aliens," ask you, my fellow Americans to spend a few minutes remembering what fear, racism and a lack of conscience made possible 60 years ago.
In this time of crisis, as this administration herds us to the brink of another war, we must not allow them to con us into betraying what is the hallmark of this country: our collective civil liberties.

Robin over at Under the Holly Tree has an excellent list of activities you can go to.

2007-02-15T21:45:00.000-08:00

Here's a letter I sent to the San Diego Union Tribune in response to one Mr. Carmody who was rather unhappy that the San Diego police had been called out to help assure the protests last year were safe and peaceful.

Dear Editor,

Apparently Thomas Carmody would prefer protesters to go to Washington, DC to protest the war and leave San Diego out of it, so as not to tax the local police force.
I, too, would like to recognize the local police for their ability to calmly patrol the protests and enable their fellow citizens to engage in their First Amendment privileges.
I would also like to remind Mr. Carmody that this war is a force that gives the San Diego region meaning. San Diego plays a very important role in making this war possible, and benefits greatly from the defense money for which this region sells its soul and its youth.
Here are but a few examples:
The San Diego region is home to the Marines, the Navy SEALS and the Airforce, all of which pour money into the local economy and whose presence in the civilian population makes this region a sitting duck for attacks.
Some of the most horrific war crimes of this conflict have been committed by Camp Pendelton Marines. Several Navy Seals have also been implicated in abuse.
San Diego-based Titan Corporation sent hundreds of interpreters to Iraq, thus facilitating the war and the occupation. Several of these interpreters also helped facilitate the abuses of Abu Ghraib.
San Diego-based SAIC scooped up numerous non-bid and bid contracts for Iraq, including the production of American propaganda and the planting of false stories in the Iraqi media.
Our congressional representatives have worked hard to funnel DOD money to local contractors, thus further greasing the war machine and their own careers.
Military recruiters recruit heavily in the barrio and other disadvantaged neighborhoods, thus ensuring frontline fodder. Over 15% of the official casualties come from California.
According to National Priorities.org, the war in Iraq is costing San Diego alone, $1,700,000 and San Diego County is contributing $3,900,000,000. You and I have already paid $1,275 each. That is alot in a region whose police are underpaid and overworked. It is a staggering amount when you consider the fact that California schools rank near the bottom of the schools in the nation, and San Diego schools are near the bottom of that, Little wonder then, the recruiters look for and find new recruits who have few opportunities before them.
Yes, war is a many-splendored thing, made possible, in large part by a region that feeds and feeds on the war machine: San Diego.
Which is precisely why the protests are here. Washington may command, but the San Diego region answers the call to the tune of thousands of dollars, war crimes and war dead.
And that, Mr, Carmody, is the price we all pay.

and what I would like to say here is this: regions such as San Diego have become defense money whores. As long as a region's economy becomes inextricably tied to the Military machine and profits from war, as long as the military housed in regions such as San Diego continue to agree to ship out by merely appearing for deployment, as long as we continue to say "support our troops!" without questioning why these people were not better educated so as to have more options, so as to be able to question the logic, the shellgame and the out and out lies that have brought about their presence, as long as regions like San Diego continue to be apologists for a rogue administration, as long as we permit the sham courts that allow plea bargains on war crimes, then the US will be able to continue to occupy Iraq and roll through Iran and whatever other nation is in its sights. As long as regions like San Diego enable this administration and its vassals, we, the American people, will be perpetually at war with someone, perpetually draining our national coffers and sacrificing our youth to conflict because we no longer have the money to educate or give them health care.

You know, about that dead rose...

2007-02-13T22:20:00.000-08:00

Sometimes Valentine's Day can be so gooey sweet, so, so, so...you know what I mean.

And now, there's a book for that! A funny, charming, oh my god, did I just read that (yes, you did) book. May I present:

a sort of festivus for the rest of us kind of book. Or, if you are enjoying Valentine's Day (with friends, family, significant other, the dog), which I think you should, you will enjoy this book anyway because we have all been there at some time or another:

Fun stuff you might find:

(pg 326) Now you're gone, I'll eat oranges and grow my hair long- even though you said it doesn't suit me. I'll deliberately forget to wash the bath after me and I won;t call your mother on her birthday. Now that you're gone, I shall get a cat- you always disliked cats, that should have warned me about you from the start.

and this from pg 159:

Dear John:
I regret to inform you that you have been eliminated from the search for the position of Mr. Perfect. Please do not be discouraged in your efforts. The competition has been extremely strong and we have had to sift through many fine candidates.
There were however some specific reasons that came up during your trial run. Perhaps you might be interested in this feedback, which may be of use to you as you continue with your efforts.
1. Making love is not similar to going to the dentist in the sense that the sooner it's over, the better.
2. Occasionally women, even married ones,enjoy being taken out for dinner.
3. Leaving your dirty socks and underwear on the bedroom floor is not an attractive quality.
4. Likewise withe emission of bodily gasses-most unpleasant, especially if done under the bedcovers.
5. When you rent a vide on Friday night, it's polite to occasionally let your partner make the decision.
6. Next time you caress and cuddle and kiss that dog of yours, take a look in the mirror and ask yourself, "what's wrong with this picture?" On the other had, you and your pooch might make a lovely couple.
Good luck with your efforts in the future. Please pass on our condolences in advance to all your future partners. Last but not least, don't call us, wait for us to call you, which we probably won't.

Never yours,

Now why couldn't Anne Boleyn have thought of that?

Hell Hath No Fury by Anna Holmes

Happy V Day!

2007-02-13T22:16:00.000-08:00

The Washington Post has a very cool proposal (one that doesn't include Iran- well, it might, but only if your last name starts with a C and ends in a y):

Write an original short story inspired by the photograph above in 1,500 words or less.

Sound fun? Find out more here.

Cool new show!

2007-02-13T21:54:00.000-08:00

Before Harmony: Moroccan Womens Song Project (photo by Amanda Koster)

Amanda Koster has an amazing new show opening in Seattle this weekend (lucky you guys!)
Before Harmony: Moroccan Womens Song Project:

Before Harmony: Moroccan Women’s Song Project, a collaboration with Spirit of Fès and photographer Amanda Koster, preserves traditions of Moroccan women vocal artists. The photographs were made while Spirit of Fès produced audio recordings for a CD of the musicians. The images illustrate the musicians performing and also portraits, prerparing to sing. Through exhibition (see page: exhibition plan), the project creates a forum for dialogue and exploration. Have a look at the project's website

Info on the reception:

Neighborhood Cafe (Ballard) Sunday, February 18, 7-10pm. 1418 NW 70th St Seattle, WA 98117 206-784-9404

http://www.neighborhoodcafe.org/

If you like what you see, check out the website. Amanda is trying to transfer some of the pictures to photosilk- an expensive process. Let her know if you can toss a little flous her way.

Welcome

2007-02-11T22:23:00.000-08:00

to an amazing new blog on torture-Torture Survivors and Support Coalition one that invites survivors of torture to write and dialog.

Its first entry is from Sister Dianna Ortiz, herself a torture survivor.

As you remember, I first spoke of Sister Dianna during the Bloggers Month Against Torture as one of my entries on torture and Latin America.

Hers is a sad witnessing. She was working in Guatemala with the Mayan peoples in 1989, when she was seized by forces working for the Guatemalan government, tortured and raped by people trained by the US government, and working under the watchful eye of the CIA.

This is what Reagan, George H.W. Bush and the CIA have done in the name of the American people- in your name.

These are the words that they have taught Sister Dianna Ortiz to speak.
It is an insidious vocabulary that shames us all.

read the rest and listen to Sister Dianna here
(courtesy of James over at Left End of the Dial)

Loving Fun Lit

2007-02-11T21:40:00.000-08:00

AUSTRIA WAS GOING TO BE FULL OF INTRIGUE for years to come, and the great royal houses would misuse their influence, and the common man would slowly rise in importance. It was going to take years. After class, she opened her book for him to see the great grounds of the palace of the Hohenzollerens, and she ran her finger over the acreage and said, "I know this kind of thing just makes you want to mow it and play soccer, but, Luke, please remember that the world needs some statuary."

Valentines Day lit from the Washington Post.

What kind of story would you write for a picture?

We interrupt

2007-02-11T16:11:00.000-08:00

our coverage of the weather and of Anna Nicole Smith to bring you the war drums bulletin:

US baiting Iran retaliation

We now return you to your regularly scheduled obsessions.

Travelin' tales

2007-02-11T10:20:00.000-08:00

The Grammys are tonight. Here is a pict I just love from Slate's Grammy essay (picts from Magnum)

Slim pickins

2007-02-11T10:01:00.000-08:00

Growers and labor contractors will tell you that the area can't afford to lose more workers. Some say that the current farm labor shortage — of as much as 50% — made the effects of last month's freeze worse than it otherwise would have been. The recent crackdown on the border is being felt in this corner of the Central Valley.

"If we had more workers, we could have picked up to 75% of the crop," said Lindsay-born labor contractor Alice Gutierrez. Growers had a week's notice that the freeze, which caused an estimated $418 million in damage in Tulare County alone, was imminent.

Lindsay Mayor Ed Murray says the worst-case scenario is that the town could lose up to 30% of its labor force. "Regardless of whether they're legal or illegal, it's imperative that we have workers here for next year's harvest," he said. Murray hopes that the federal government will find a way to not only aid his town's residents in the short term but to legalize the undocumented.

Given the divisiveness of the national debate, it is remarkable how many people here recognize the need for the workers who have come to this country illegally. Perhaps not surprisingly, business people, who already are feeling the pain of the freeze, are most likely to make the case.

(read the rest)

I have about had it up to here with the illegal immigrant debate and the non-California born"nativists" yammering about how illegals are this and illegals are that.

And I have also about had it with the "guest worker" hot air coming out of DC with nary a solution in sight.

I come from an agricultral region of Northern California and I am born in that state. And, like a lot of people from that region my age, I have worked in the agricultural sector briefly. (In my case, it was a tomato cannery.

A lot of the nativist talk down in SoCal seems to be coming from people who are not from California. The Minutemen are an especially obnoxious lot, with a lot of time on their hands. They appear to be either retired or unemployed.

Well, I have a question for those folks: now that some of the orchard produce is getting ready to come in and a number of the other crops need weeding, would you like me to tell the folks up in NorCal that I know with orchards and farms that you are coming? You're legal and seem to have nothing better to do. I know I'm not going- I've already seen what it's like and I'm not going to do it again. Since you're not washing dishes or cleaning houses or anything else that many illegals do down here, why don't you do your part and climb those trees and weed those rows?

Then, maybe you'll have a better understanding about the relationship between California and Mexico, and shut up.

Inside the Watada trial...

2007-02-11T09:50:00.000-08:00

or at least as close as you can get:

We have been keeping LONG hours, up EARLY in the morning to get here to get our passes. Security is much tighter today and yesterday the press was told they were not allowed to fraternize with any of the activists or talk to us. They were even told not to go eat at the same place we were eating and to avoid all contact. I really have to wonder why this was told to them because as I read the new’s accounts of what occurred yesterday many key statements in the testimony were excluded in the press accounts. For instance, when asked by Eric Seitz why he insisted on issuing deployment orders to Ehren when he deemed him unfit as an officer for his statements and attempted resignation since January of last year, Lt. Col William James could not give an answer, in fact he ignored the question altogether. James also testified that he counseled Ehren not to make a “young man’s mistake”, based on emotion. Seitz asked him if he took Ehren’s request to resign or be reassigned seriously James said “Up until that time Watada had been an exempliary officer” and that he felt that Ehrens’ requests and statements were purely based on emotion. So in other words (my take) if you question, if you do all you can to follow military rules and do not agree with those higher than you, you are simply being “emotional” and are dismissed.

Robin over at Under The Holly Tree has several very interesting posts about the court-martial of Lt. Watatda, including testimony not mentioned in press accounts. She also has some very nice photos of those standing vigil for Watada. Plus, it's a very well-written blog. You should check it out!

Your silence will not protect you...

2007-02-10T20:21:00.000-08:00

Robert Fisk on why silence reigns in some corners of the Middle East:

Just as they are silent now over the mutual killings in Iraq. Sure, the mass killings of Iraq would not have occurred if we hadn't invaded the country. And I do suspect a few "hidden hands" behind the civil conflict in a nation which never before broke apart. In Algeria, the French spent a lot of time in the early 1960s persuading - quite successfully - their FLN and ALN enemies to murder each other. But where are the sheikhs of Al-Azhar and the great Arabian kingdoms when the Iraqi dead are fished out of the Tigris and cut down in their thousands in Baghdad, Kerbala, Baquba? They, too, are silent.

Not a word of criticism. Not a hint of concern. Not a scintilla (an Enoch Powell word, this) of sympathy. An Israeli bombardment of Lebanon? Even an Israeli invasion? That's a war crime - and the Arabs are right, the Israelis do commit war crimes. I saw the evidence of quite a few last summer. But when does Arab blood become less sacred? Why, when it is shed by Arabs. It's not just a failure of self-criticism in the Arab world. In a landscape ruled by monsters whom we in the West have long supported, criticism of any kind is a dodgy undertaking. But can there not be one small sermon of reprobation for what Iraqi Muslims are doing to Iraqi Muslims?

Of course, but the real problem the Arabs now face is that their lands have been overrun and effectively occupied by Western armies. I worked out a few weeks ago that, per head of population - and the world was smaller in the 12th century - there are now about 22 times more Western soldiers in Muslim lands than there were at the time of the Crusades. How do you strike back at these legions and drive them out? Brutally and most terribly, the Iraqis have shown how. I used to say the future of the Bush administration will be decided in Iraq, not in Washington. And this now appears to be true.

(read the rest)

Jr. Caligula reads (gasp!) a book...

2007-02-10T15:08:00.000-08:00

And amazingly enough, one for which there are no cliff notes, but, as the gods of irony would have it- a movie.

From the British Independent (why do they always know all the news?), comes a news item in which Shrub is seen (caught?) reading a book about...no, not Anna Nicole Smith, but the way in which the French waged war in Algeria during the bloody war for independence that cost almost a million Algerian lives and which the French...lost.

As usual, enlightenment, if one could call it that, or at least some semblance of self-awareness, comes late to the present Administration. Perhaps we should be grateful that it comes at all.

The president has been reading Alistaire Horne's recent book, 'A Savage War of Peace" about a conflict surprisingly not unlike the US situation in Iraq. It includes torture...check...occupation by an unloved foreign military...check...outrages against civilians...check...corruption...check...porous borders...check...another religion...check...the profound belief on the part of the Western power that they are bringing order, civilization, enlightenment to an otherwise backward and benighted people...check.

As you may recall (discussed months ago), the Pentagon watched the Battle of Algiers and apparently learned nothing from the screening. They may have come away with the mistaken impression that the French had won something. Well, they didn't, and Pontecorvo's point was that colonization, occupation and attrocities against civilians eventually spawn an angry and resentful population, one that rises up and attacks you by any means.

There is a line (which I will have to paraphrase) from a press conference in which Colonel Matthieu is exhibiting his prize, a much sought after Algerian maquis. When asked by an outraged journalist how the resistance can plant bombs in the baskets carried by women, the Algerian calmly replies, "Give us your planes, Monsieur, and we will give you our baskets."

Horne compares the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib and the indefinite detention of detainees in Guantanamo to French behaviour in Algeria. It ultimately cost France the war, because the wave of public revulsion was such when it was publicised that opinion swung violently against the conflict.

Let us hope that Bush learns from his reading and then re-screens the Battle of Algiers - the sad thing is that this time, we have already lost the war, and Iraq has yet to become a country that has its own future back.

The hour of Confession

2007-02-09T08:30:00.000-08:00

I honestly never thought I would say this about someone like Eric Fair, but what Eric Fair, a former US Army interrogator has done is remarkable. He has opened the US/Iraq torture files the way NGO reports never can: by starting to discuss his part in the what happened. By doing so, Fair potentially paves the way for war crimes accusations and misconduct charges, but his eloquent essay, coming on the heels of the Watada court-martial, raises important questions. When asked by your commanding officers to commit what you know are immoral and degrading acts upon another human being, do you obey or do you say no?
Many Americans would like the Abu Ghraib scandal to go away, so they can get back to other things, like being puzzled as to why Iraq lies in tatters. Well, it won't. Abu Ghraib is precisely part of the reason the situation in Iraq is like it is and our moral authority in the world hovering above zilch. Something is rotten all the way up the chain of command and into the White House, and no one knows better than Eric Fair.

Despite my best efforts, I cannot ignore the mistakes I made at the interrogation facility in Fallujah. I failed to disobey a meritless order, I failed to protect a prisoner in my custody, and I failed to uphold the standards of human decency. Instead, I intimidated, degraded and humiliated a man who could not defend himself. I compromised my values. I will never forgive myself.

We have failed to properly address the abuse of Iraqi detainees. Men like me have refused to tell our stories, and our leaders have refused to own up to the myriad mistakes that have been made. But if we fail to address this problem, there can be no hope of success in Iraq. Regardless of how many young Americans we send to war, or how many militia members we kill, or how many Iraqis we train, or how much money we spend on reconstruction, we will not escape the damage we have done to the people of Iraq in our prisons.

Fair has yet to address the more egregious sexual abuse such as rape and sodomy of male and female prisoners, but perhaps, as he says, the book on Abu Ghraib has really yet to be opened.
(read the rest)

2007-02-07T08:32:00.000-08:00

It has come to my attention that the State Department has been dropping by my humble blog quite a bit of late, partially because of the dialog on another blog regarding (and possibly now including) one Brent Blascke. I am rather curious about this. I was wondering, DS reader(s) if this is part of your job description or are you so terribly bored that you are websurfing on this site? Given the recent topics here and the post concerning Blascke over on Sabbah's blog, I find your sudden interest rather odd.

Just thought I'd mention it.

Dinesh D'Souza needs a moral compass

2007-02-07T08:23:00.000-08:00

This from the NYT review of D'Souza's latest book, "The Enemy At Home." The title alone is incindiary and devisive.

He writes that American prisons at Guantánamo Bay and Abu Ghraib “are comparable to the accommodations in midlevel Middle Eastern hotels” in terms of cleanliness, food and amenities, and argues that abuse at Abu Ghraib did not reflect a disregard for human rights, but rather “the sexual immodesty of liberal America.” (“Lynndie England and Charles Graner were two wretched individuals from red America who were trying to act out the fantasies of blue America.”)

One would think D'Souza, of all people, would have a keen sense of colonial legacy, colonial behavior and post-colonial concerns, but apparently, being the poster boy of the intellectual Right (yeah, there really is such a thing...) seems to have taken precedence over rigorous analysis.
(read the rest)

Watch this carefully...

2007-02-05T08:27:00.000-08:00

Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to refuse to serve in Iraq, is being court-martialed today for refusal to go. He is being charged with failure to deploy and two accounts of "unbecoming of an officer." Two previous charges were recently dropped - in part, I suspect, because they hinged on interviews he had given several journalists, namely Sarah George and Dahr Jamail. George had been subpoenaed by the prosecution, and was facing a decision- testify or go to jail and was intending to probably do the latter when those charges were suddenly dropped.
Watada has been discussed here before with comparison being made with the Courage to Resist movement in Israel.
Here is what the LA Times had to say today:

First Lt. Ehren Watada is giving it all back and, out of courtesy, packing it up. The Army had treated him with the utmost respect until the moment it decided to court-martial him. It was nothing personal. The Army does what it has to do.

Just as Watada himself did what he felt he had to do seven months ago when he became the first — and only — commissioned officer in the United States to publicly refuse deployment to Iraq.

His conscience, he said, had overtaken him. He told the world what he had privately told his superiors months earlier: that he believed the war was illegal and immoral, and he would play no role in it.

Watada tried to resign; the Army respectfully denied him. He said he was willing to fight in Afghanistan; the Army refused him again — a soldier can't pick and choose where he fights. As his unit shipped off to Iraq, Watada stayed to face the consequences.

(read the rest here)
Watada is a man of courage and conviction, and a voice that speaks for many who dare not. As the Bush juggernaut rolls ever more resolutely towards Iran, I think we should hope that more officers and other enlisted personnel like Watada stand up. Unfortunately, a desperate DOD needs an example to head off a potential defection, and so I think Watada will end up being convicted of failure to deploy, at the very least.

Ok...

2007-02-04T21:53:00.000-08:00

This is funny and scary at the same time. Slate has gotten ahold of a nifty little pdf from the DHS folks - that's Department of Homeland Security to you and me, in which said DHS has gathered a bunch of internal suggestions for improvement. Apparently the nice folks at DHS who so enthusiastically and with such dedication raise the terror alert at oppportune times (like the Superbowl- I'm sorry, but why on earth would somone blow up such a sorry example of cultuah, and in Florida of all places?), are, get this, unhappy.

Here is one suggestion:
Build Trust, by:
-Clearly defining the DHS mission to the American People.
- Publically and internally establishing Homeland Security goals and performance metrics so all can objectively see and measure Homeland Security success.

Oh, please...

But this is the scary part (what, you didn't find the above remotely disturbing?)

Recommendation 5: Engage the State, Local, Tribal and private Sector in an "Outside the Beltway-Focused" Collaborative Process:

Note the use of "tribal" and "private sector."

The private sector thing is actually already in place, although you have yet to receive your secret decoder ring, complete with one serving of fallafel and Rumsfeld's Field Guide to Terrorists. Remember the exhortation to keep your eyes open and to be aware of and report any suspicious activity? Did you know that America's Most Wanted was behind a tip line (called TIPS, so original) to help you do just that? Ever wonder why we don't hear too much about it these days? Americans have an interesting definition of anything suspicious and unusual. Remind them enough and they'll report their neighbor, the paperboy and the nun down the street in a heartbeat- because, with the phrase better safe than sorry ringing in their ears, you never know...
Why no one has reported Gonzales for impersonating a real lawyer is beyond me.

But it's the tribal that is becoming an issue. Much of this "tribal" we're talking about lies on the borders, and more specifically, the US/Mexico border, especially the California and Arizona borders. DHS money is being dangled in front of First Nation governments on tribal lands where poverty is rampant and unemployement exceeds 40%. Like No Child Left Behind, this is no Reservation on the border left Unfenced, Should a tribe not cooperate, there is the suggestion that other funding and services will be cut. A Good Indian is a DHS Indian. And the fences will start going up- the very same fences that cut through tribal land and sacred sites, the ones with the stakes being driven into the ground and the wildlife from the area, the ones where plants and the natural habitats are being trampled along with centuries of tradition.
Never mind that the Border Patrol has yet to apprehend a single Middle Eastern OTM in non-border checkpoint crossings in the last five years. (my interview with the BP/2006). No, DHS money talks and walks, and now, thanks to them, the Tribal sector is finally wearing the White Hats and defending the US, even while the DHS has them over a barrel.

Morocco- telling jokes behind closed doors...??? ?????

2007-02-04T09:48:00.000-08:00

Morocco, as some of us have noted, is doing a two step: one step forward, two giant steps back. We mentioned in an earlier post how Morocco is returning to its old ways of employing torture, and has acquired some new ways- namely acquiring the US as a client state in its ever growing quest to outsource, including torture.

Many of us were hoping that freddom of the press would be something Mohammad VI would embrace, especially in light of the fact that he had separated the Ministry of the Interior from the Ministry of Information and retired many of his father's loyal servants in the upper eschelons of the ministeries. But now, with the suit against Nichane over the jokes issue, questions are being raised. The official charge was "insulting Islam" since many of the jokes recounted in the issue were making fun of religion- these being jokes you can hear at school, among friends, told by colleagues,at home- in short, many are common knowledge. So why the thin skin? What is really beneath this? In a relatively moderate society, does this signal that al Malik is turning towards a stricter, public interpretation of Islam? Is this a harbinger of crackdowns on journalists and once again will we see young journalists going to jail for pieces they wrote for the opposition papers. And what about the bloggers? Will Morocco look to Egypt for its model, as Moroccan bloggers become emboldened by the medium?

Laila Lalami of Moorish Girl has a very articulate Op-ed over at the NYT that is very much on target.

But while the court cases against independent news magazines like Nichane, Le Journal Hebdomadaire and several others are within the bounds of Moroccan law, they appear to single out the independent press, to the exclusion of more partisan publications. These cases highlight a particularly troubling pattern, in which the regime represses the progressive voices it claims to champion.

Meanwhile, newspapers like Attajdid, the mouthpiece for an Islamic party, go unmolested, probably because they are careful to confine their criticism to social issues and generally avoid two of the three infamous “red lines” — the king and Western Sahara — that limit press freedom in Morocco. When it comes to the third taboo, Islam, such publications often set the tone for public debate, as they did during the Danish cartoons controversy.

The government then tries to prove that it, too, can defend Islamic values; hence the case against Nichane for printing jokes deemed offensive to the religion. It is a high-stakes game between the religious right and the government, and it is unclear which will come out the winner.

In a sign of the times, Nichane has retreated. The magazine has already announced that it will not appeal the court’s decision, and it is likely that it will respect the “red lines” from now on. In contrast, Aboubakr Jamaï, Le Journal Hebdomadaire’s besieged editor, resigned from his post in order to save his magazine. Since any salary he makes in Morocco can legally be seized to pay his colossal fine, he argued, he has to leave the country and work elsewhere. Morocco cannot afford to lose his voice.

(read the rest)
(info courtesy of Angry Arab News Service)

The US does not

2007-02-03T00:38:00.000-08:00

use terror, this I know. (How do I know? )Because (someone at) the State Department tells me so!

Excuse me while I laugh uncontrollably.

Wow, I had NO idea, really, I didn't, that things like Operation Condor, the kidnapping and murder of nuns, extra-judicial kidnapping, hopped up Johnny wacking Iraqis with riffle butts were not terrorism. Boy. I am so glad I got that straightened out!

I'm sorry, but could I possibly be on the wrong mobius strip?
Check out this hilarious exchange between blogger Sabbah and his new buddy with the Afghanistan Desk at the State Department:

You state that the pictures you posted February 1 depict victims of terrorism by the United States. The U.S. does not use terror. You have no evidence to support your claim and are intellectually dishonest in doing so. If you are truly concerned about the plight of the Palestinian people you will lend your support to the “Roadmap” - which represents the fastest path to an independent Palestine - rather than making baseless and inflammatory charges.

(courtesy of the Arabist.

This should keep me giggling until we invade Iran sometime before Easter.

Rep supports Lt. Watada

2007-01-30T23:03:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday (Jan 30), US Rep. Honda wrote the following in the San Francisco Chronicle in support of Lt. Ehren Watada, who is facing courtmartial February 5 for refusing to serve in what he terms "an immoral war." Two of the charges, "conduct unbecoming" are being dropped- the ones for which the prosecution subpoenaed independent journalist Sarah Olson and threatened to subpoena independent journalist Dahr Jamail (see sidebar for links to Dahr's site).

Watada Chose to Stop Fighting

By US Rep. Mike Honda
San Francisco Chronicle
Tuesday, January 30, 2007

U.S. Army 1st Lt. Ehren K. Watada volunteered for military service following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on our country out of a desire to protect his family and compatriots. His service record has been exemplary, and he was deemed "among the best" by his superiors.

All that changed on June 22, 2006, when Watada was ordered to deploy to the Middle East as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Opposed to the premise and conduct of the war in Iraq, Watada refused to comply with this order. He now faces a court martial and up to six years in prison.

Lt. Watada has taken a solemn oath of allegiance as a military officer. With the order to deploy to Iraq, he found himself with a dilemma: Either follow this oath or risk the severe consequences of disobedience. In the spirit of Henry David Thoreau, this young man searched his soul and found himself unable to suppress his conscience and opposition to what he views as an immoral, illegal war.

Watada is not alone. Poll after poll points to an ever rising tide of public opposition to President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq. This soldier is unique, however, in that he is the first commissioned U.S. military officer to refuse Iraq deployment.

I am neither a lawyer nor a veteran, and it is not my place to opine on the legality or military propriety of Lt. Watada's actions. I am, however, a proud and patriotic American solemnly entrusted by his friends and neighbors to represent them, their hopes, their dreams and their principles in the greatest deliberative body in the world.

I voted against giving President Bush the authority to use military force in Iraq, and do not believe his justifications for taking us into war were even minimally adequate. As a duly elected member of Congress, I express my admiration for a young American who, in the same spirit, has heeded his conscience at tremendous risk to livelihood, reputation and personal freedom in order to right what he and the vast majority of his compatriots see as a tremendous wrong.

This soldier is neither a conscientious objector nor a pacifist. He volunteered to serve his nation in the armed forces, has expressed his willingness to fight in our struggle in Afghanistan, and declined his superiors' offer to deploy to a desk job in Iraq, out of harm's way. There is not, nor can there be, the slightest doubt as to this young man's bravery, patriotism or commitment to his fellow soldiers.

In facing charges of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, it is my belief that Ehren Watada has laid bare a fact that is becoming increasingly plain: Mr. Bush has handled this war in a manner unbecoming a United States president.

At best, our president misled the nation on the rationale for going into Iraq. He has embroiled this great country in a cycle of brutality there that has grievously tarnished America's international reputation, has further destabilized an already precarious Middle East and has taken the lives of more than 3,000 American fathers, mothers, sons and daughters.

Watada has risked being deemed guilty of breaking one law in furtherance of a higher, moral one, rather than participate in a fight that, in his and my view, needlessly sends our compatriots to their deaths.

In Watada's own words: "To stop an illegal and unjust war, the soldiers and service members can choose to stop fighting it" (www.thankyoult.org, click on YouTube video).

Democrat Mike Honda represents San Jose in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Great Pumpkin, that rock over there...

2007-01-30T22:41:00.000-08:00

or whatever.

This hilarious but thought-provoking column on religion, Shrub and the decision to invade Iraq.

The Great Pumpkin Goes to Washington

I don’t care a fig about our next president’s personal religious views. The candidate can worship the Great Pumpkin, for all I care, as long as he or she doesn’t assume that the rest of us do too, and that the Great Pumpkin told him to do things such as, to take a case at random, invade Iraq.

But I certainly want to know what any presidential candidate thinks government should and should not do to protect freedom of religion and freedom from religion. The candidate may be a person of deep faith or a godless atheist, but what matters to me is the candidate’s willingness, and ability, to ensure that the law protects the rights of other people to have their own deep faith or godless atheism, and keep them from messing with one another.

I pledge allegiance to the first amendment, which I interpret to mean that government shouldn’t traffic with religion—neither promote it nor persecute it—and this means that, in the public arena, the candidate should not use religious rhetoric, which does nothing but harm, fogging over the clear lines of argument on the issues and eliciting irrelevant and irrational choices in the electorate.

(more here.

The Righteous are

2007-01-30T22:22:00.000-08:00

those who know in their hearts that crimes against humanity are wrong, no matter the color of one's skin, the religion one professes, or one's origin.

JERUSALEM - At the height of World War II, Khaled Abdelwahhab hid a group of Jews on his farm in a small Tunisian town, saving them from the Nazi troops occupying the North African nation.
ADVERTISEMENT

Now, Abdelwahhab has become the first Arab nominated for recognition as "Righteous Among the Nations," an honor bestowed on non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews from Nazi persecution.

The nomination of Abdelwahhab, who died in 1997, has reopened a little-known chapter of the Holocaust in the Arab countries of North Africa.

Contrary to what many people think, the Jewish populations of many Arab nations lived in relative harmony with their fellow Arabs until the end of WWII with the establishment of Israel and the seizure of Palestinian lands.

IN North Africa, the Jewish population came from many sources. Some were indigenous Berber tribes, others were the descendents of Andalusian Jews who were expelled from Spain, still others had immigrated at one time or another.

When the Vichy France asked for Morocco's Jews, the Sultan Mohammed V is reported to have said,"there are onl Jews here, only Moroccans, and if you take anyone, you will have to start with me." a courageous position for someone whose country was in pretectorate status.

To read more about Abdelwahhab and others like him, go
here."

Make Some Noise!

Well, hello there!

Well...

Zazou Endorses

STANDARDS FOR CONFINING FARM ANIMALS. INITIATIVE STATUTE.

YES on Proposition 2

Proposition 4 : the voter information states:

WAITING PERIOD AND PARENTAL NOTIFICATION BEFORE TERMINATION OF MINOR’S PREGNANCY. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.

NO on Proposition 4 (because of issues regarding abusive guardians and the conditions under which the minor may have become pregnant.)

This is

For want of a pill...

I am

A slant by any other name...

India Turns 61

Who let

Did you

Wonderful column

R.I.P. Mahmoud Darwish

The Judgement of Paris

Who killed

WTH???????

Vicious and Pernicious

Seriously, now,

Excuse me

File under N-S

Poetry

Happy Mother's Day!

Watch this.....

Detained and Deined...

OK

And then there's that little think that hapened in Ankara 92 years ago...

Happy Diwali!

So Cal in Flames

say hello to

Eid Mabrouk!/Happy Eid!

Sept 11- or life through the lense of the perpetual war on terror

Film To See (and See again)

Random, slushy thoughts

Fez for Prez

Mabrouk!

Ah, yes...

Happy Fourth

Today the day to stand up against torture...

Forgive me, Father,

Blacklisting Blackwater

CIA-Pentagon-Blackwater "revolving door"

UN Peacekeepers?

Soliders of Fortune

"Coalition of the Billing"

Still waiting...

You might want to know...

The stories within

To Disappear You Is No Loss...

Oh, so that's what

It ain't easy being green...

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

The NYT

Miss Thing

Kan Ya Ma Kan...

Waaaaay fun!

orale!

Ok...

Condolences

Mabrouk! Watch this

Ya Galbi

VOTEZ....

Happy Easter!

The disappeared have voices I

Multimedia

Disappearing Acts

Fes, mon amour...

A call to conscience

Adieu Chraibi

Just a thought...

Way to start the week

Memories of subjugations past...

Oh, dear...

Word

The View from Ramallah

WAITING PERIOD AND PARENTAL NOTIFICATION BEFORE TERMINATION OF MINOR’S PREGNANCY.
INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.