The Largest Minority

July 13th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

I’ve been meaning to post this video for a long time.

Emmanuel Jal was a child soldier in south Sudan before he was smuggled out of the country by a British aid worker. He is now based in London and is a respected activist. See part one and part two of AlJazeera’s interview with Jal to learn more about his story.

July 11th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

I think the end of the URL at the source says it all: “funny=not”.

The American leader, who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: “Goodbye from the world’s biggest polluter.”

He then punched the air while grinning widely, as the rest of those present including Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock.

Mr Bush, whose second and final term as President ends at the end of the year, then left the meeting at the Windsor Hotel in Hokkaido where the leaders of the world’s richest nations had been discussing new targets to cut carbon emissions.

One official who witnessed the extraordinary scene said afterwards: “Everyone was very surprised that he was making a joke about America’s record on pollution.”

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July 11th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Here’s the video I did for the Nader campaign, documenting my time in Nevada. The audio quality is shit, but that’s YouTube for ya. I’m confident I’ll get the settings all worked out next time. Anyway, enjoy the video, share it with everyone you’ve ever met, and if you have a blog please add “&fmt=18″ at the end of the video URL if you plan to embed it so that it plays in a higher resolution.

July 10th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

In light of recent reports which have revealed that the US is conducting illegal terrorist operations inside Iran to destabilize the government and is intent on attacking before the elections, somehow an Iranian missile test has become the real threat. Somehow Iran has become the agitator in this scenario, even though it’s still well within its rights.

US troops are currently occupying Iran’s neighbor illegally and a nuclear Israel has been running bombing drills for months. Imagine if a heavily-armed group of murderous thieves killed your neighbor, took up residence in their house, and made it very clear that you’d be next. Would you then be in the wrong for buying a weapon for protection? Would you be the threat? The fact that Iran can defend itself, if only slightly, is really only a threat to nations like ours who are intent on attacking it.

July 9th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

The motivation behind the resistance in Iraq is the same now as it was when the war started, and the only way to end it is to end the military and corporate occupation. It really is that simple. We have no right as aggressors to determine our future role in a foreign country when the government of Iraq has clearly stated that we’re not welcome. Haven’t we killed enough innocent people? Haven’t we destroyed enough nations? Haven’t we been robbed enough ourselves by Washington?

Barack has failed to deliver. Those of us who actually listened to the debates from the beginning knew he was a Clintonian clone. Fuck him. He never was and never will be an agent for change. If you actually do desire change, and you’re pissed enough to finally do something about it, then show a little backbone and hold your vote as leverage above the Democrats.

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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June 16th, 2008 by D.C.

Fadel Shana, a photographic journalist for Reuters, was killed by an Israeli tank shell on April 16th, 2008. He died while reporting in the Gaza Strip, and Israeli forces have stated that they could not discern whether he was a journalist or not. In a recent Reuters article, Shana was said to be:

filming from a tripod in full view of two tanks for several minutes when one of the tanks fired a shell that exploded above them, showering them with metal darts known as flechettes.

Both wore body armor that carried “Press” markings, as did the car which they had been driving in the area for about half an hour. They were about 1.5 km (a mile) from the tanks. Shana’s camera captured the fatal shell being fired.

Not only was Shana killed, but eight adolescents aged 12 to 20 were killed. It is a blaring attrocity, but doesn’t seem to be the only case where Israel has fired first and asked questions later. In a botched airstirke, Israeli forces killed 6 people. It just seems to be a recurring theme in Palestinian territory: Israel forces respond to Palestinian activity with a quick military response, and sometimes that response is fatal.

What is peculiar about this incident is the fact that the tank fired into a group of people, where two men were journalists (and might I add, clearly journalists and not hostiles). The Israeli military forces have been known to discourage press coverage inside the Gaza Strip, so could this be their way of sending a warning to other journalists who want to cover the conflict? Or is this just a simple case of a trigger-finger-happy officer? Either way, it is an attrocity and should be investigated to the fullest extent. Will the investigation (if one actually takes place) actually give us an answer into the brutal death of Shana and eight others? Probably not, but I am hoping for the best result.

A spokesperson for Ehud Olmert, Mark Regev, commented on the deadly firing of the shell by stating:

“We have expressed regret and the army is conducting an investigation. It’s a tragedy,”
“There was no identification that he was a journalist. Had it been clear he was a journalist, the shell would not have been fired.”

This is a rather interesting comment. Apparently, by the statement he makes above, if a person is not recognized as a journalist in the Gaza Strip the military is free to fire on them. Does that make any sense to you? It sure doesn’t strike me as very humane. Regev’s statement leads me to believe that Israel does not regard the lives of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as being worth very much. If they are willing to fire tank shells into a group of people that, according to the Reuter’s article, weren’t doing anything suspicious, I wonder what else they are ‘willing’ to do?

I am very sorry for the loss of the Shana family, and condolences to the families of those Palestinian adolescents killed that day as well. What I hope comes from these tragic deaths is a change in the way Israel treats people in the Gaza Strip, and hopefully they will actually stop and think before they act. When it comes to people’s lives, I think that is at least due.

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