The Largest Minority

June 27th, 2008 by evmonk

Global Voices, a unique blogging project started by Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, is holding their yearly conference in Budapest for the next two days. Today the conference panels are focused on the censorship and freedom of expression online. Tomorrow there will be a number of panels on citizen media and the use of web2.0 to improve the political process, build community, and bridge the language barrier. The entire even is being streamed and liveblogged, and archived video of every panel is available here. If you’re interested in this stuff, there are some great speakers and discussions. But remember that these are bloggers and technophiles, so their presentations aren’t always the most entertaining.

If you haven’t heard of Global Voices, check them out. They aggregate and review blogs from around the world and then organize the best posts by region and topic, in addition to having a general feed.

June 18th, 2008 by D.C.

In a free society one would expect to be able to hold their own personal opinion (even if it goes against the government) and be able to voice this opinion to whoever will listen. In Turkey this simple concept is illegal and seems to have sparked controversy. Bulent Ersoy, a very popular transsexual singer in Turkey, has been charged with trying to turn the public against the military.

It was in February that she made comments that the Turkish war against the separatist PKK group was not worth the deaths of so many Turkish soldiers. If convicted Ersoy faces up to four years in jail. Hakkan Ozgur, one of the officials that submitted a complaint against Ersoy, explains why she was charged:

“The Turkish military is fighting a war on terror,” “I believe making propaganda against this is illegal. It creates doubts in people over whether to go to the military. It sows doubt in the minds of those whose children are already serving.”

I find his comments preposterous. Bulent Ersoy’s opinion that too many people are dying in a war shouldbe perfectly legal. She has the ability to voice this opinion to a wide audience, and why not use it? Bono, of the band U2, uses his star-status to voice his opinions. the Dixie Chicks have used their popularity to voice opinions against the War in Iraq, and they haven’t been charged. I do realize that Turkey is a much different society than North America, but I think these basic rights should be common throughout the world.

I also balk at Ozgur’s use of the excuse that Turkey is “fighting a war on terror.” It seems that this is a common way to avoid criticism for denying simple rights for people (maybe he is taking some cues from George W. Bush). If someone is doing something that a government doesn’t want them to do, it seems the ‘war-on-terror-card’ gets played. According to BBC, to persuade people from questioning governmental actions in Turkey they cite Article 318 of the penal code - dissuading people from military service. It is also a crime to insult the Turkish nation and its institutions. Personally, I think this is little more than oppression. The ability to question your government seems to me to be very essential to making sure that things are done properly which benefits all. 

I applaud Ersoy in her courage to voice an opinion, and question the practices of her government that she finds questionable. Although, her trial can have two effects: It will either create fear to question the government because a high profile person such as Ersoy was charged, or the fact that a high profile person such as Ersoy questioned the government will influence others to do the same. I hope that the second effect takes hold in Turkey. The people have a right (or should have a right) to point out something wrong with the government, military, etc. if they wish. I feel like sending a copy of Voltaire’s works to the Turkish government. The voice of the people should be taken into fully consideration when running a country because it should be about the people, for the people.

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May 31st, 2008 by Manila Ryce

After giving what I can only imagine was a purely factual and objectively reasoned talk on international relations at the literary Hay Festival in Wales, former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton escaped an attempted citizen’s arrest by columnist and activist George Monbiot. As Bolton ran from the foreign threat of justice, two large security guards blocked Monbiot from serving him a charge sheet.

After being released by Bolton’s goons, Monbiot attempted to catch up to the war criminal in a rain-soaked chase scene through a tented village but was unable to grasp the slippery snake. The former US ambassador to the UN is a key chickenhawk who favored “regime change” in Iraq prior to the 2003 invasion and is currently a huge proponent of attacking Iran to “win” in Iraq.

Under the Serious and Organized Crime and Police Act of 2005, a citizen can carry out an arrest if they believe someone else to be guilty of a crime. Monbiot said he was “disappointed” to have been obstructed by Bolton’s guards, adding that “this was a serious attempt to bring one of the perpetrators of the Iraq war to justice, for what is described under the Nuremberg Principles as an international crime.”

You can visit Monbiot’s website to view the charge sheet against Bolton

During Bolton’s talk to an audience of 600, Monbiot asked what the difference was between him and a Nazi war criminal. Bolton’s answer was that the Iraq War was legal. He added, “This is not my personal opinion, this is the opinion of the entire legal apparatus of the US government.”

After running like a coward from the arrest, Bolton later brushed off the incident as “comic” and gave completely ass-backwards definitions of democracy and fascism to explain why he doesn’t belong in jail right now.

“I think there’s a larger issue here. You have a democratically elected parliament and its government assessed the war as legal and proper.”

When individuals took actions outside the law, in their eyes to bring those responsible for the war to justice, “that is the point you move towards lawlessness and fascism,” he said.

And when one’s views do match those of the democratically elected government, “you have to accept that”, he added.

Yeah, apparently fascism arises when citizens have the power to hold their elected officials accountable, and democracy is achieved whenever those citizens completely surrender their power and accept that everything those officials do is legal. By Bolton’s logic, officials have the never-ending gift of immunity, and Thomas Jefferson was making a case for fascism with this statement: “When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”

Additionally, it was MLK who reminded us that everything Hitler did in Nazi Germany was legal. So no, there actually is no difference between Bolton and a Nazi war criminal in that regard.

If Bolton’s argument regarding legality is irrelevant to the issue of him being a war criminal, how exactly do he and other officials justify their actions when the citizens of that supposedly “democratic” government stop accepting their lies and start confronting them directly? They don’t. They run like hell (like they did from Vietnam).

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May 18th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

I’m a day late, but it’s important to celebrate the third anniversary of MP George Galloway giving US lawmakers a much-needed ass kicking. Galloway is a real anti-war hero and proponent for human rights. He not only spoke up when it was politically inconvenient, but went head first into the belly of the beast to do so directly to the US Senate. Fearless public figures like him are responsible for real change (not meaningless Obama-esque “change” that looks nice on a bumper sticker). For the first 6:30 minutes Galloway’s blood is brought to a slow boil. Enjoy the magic once they finally allow him to speak.

May 16th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

“It is far better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”

After Adolph Hitler dissolved Austria into the Third Reich, he then began to demand that the German minority in Czechoslovakia also be reunited with the fatherland. In 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain appeased Hitler out of fear by signing the Munich Agreement, which annexed Czechoslovakia’s heavily fortified Sudetenland to Nazi Germany. Hitler invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia the following year.

Anyone who honestly tries to compare Nazi Germany to modern day Iran either has no clue about World War II, no clue about Iran, or both. Kevin James operates under the notion that the loudest debater wins the argument, but Matthews has a rare moment of journalistic integrity by not letting him pull the Nazi card. James references a moment in history he is clearly ignorant of, and Matthews does not let him get away with it. At least temporarily, Chris deserves the title of “bus driver” for taking James to school.

April 4th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has admitted that reinforcements will not be able to be sent to Afghanistan this year due to the strain Iraq is having on our military. Because of this, President Bush wants countries like Ukraine to join NATO so that their soldiers can be sent instead. Unfortunately, France and Germany cockblocked their admission. So what’s the best way to remind NATO members that fighting our wars is their responsibility? By reading an inspiring list of silly British names.

Unbeknownst to Jon, his staff changed those names between rehearsal and the show so he ends up going all Jimmy Fallon on us by having a laughing fit in the middle of the sketch.

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March 10th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Spain’s conservative opposition Popular Party conceded defeat yesterday, saying that the ruling Socialist Workers Party, led by Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero, appeared to have won the elections. The socialists secured 169 seats, falling short of the 176 needed for an overall majority, and will likely form alliances with smaller regional parties in order to govern.

The prime minister’s win in 2004 was seen as a fluke to conservative critics who saw Sunday’s vote as their chance to correct the mistake. This victory gives Zapatero some legitimacy though the opposition conservatives were also successful in picking up seats. Sadly, both parties gained at the expense of smaller leftist and regional groups.

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February 10th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

The British Ministry of Defense says that around 28 Iraqis were killed in the fighting while nine others were detained.

But lawyers, basing their evidence on witness statements, death certificates and video footage shot by the relatives of the victims, allege that 22 people were killed while in British custody and that nine survived torture and abuse.

“This incident, if proven, is off the scale for abuse committed by either British or American troops serving in Iraq,” lawyer Phil Shiner told Reuters.

“If these harrowing allegations are proven, then you’d be pushed to be able to put it in context — it would be the worst conduct by the British army in the last 100 years.”

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