Bidoun

lingredientsecret: Une idée pour ce...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:24:32 +0900

Une idée pour ce soir!

witanddelight:

talking about toast today on the blahg.

Soup: Libya, Bahrain, China, Ivory Coast, Yemen News Roundup: March 2.

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 15:31:25 +0900

Soup: Libya, Bahrain, China, Ivory Coast, Yemen News Roundup: March 2.:

Here is a news roundup for Libya, Bahrain, China, Ivory Coast, Yemen and other countries for Wednesday, March 2.

[Previously: March 1]

Live Blogs:

Live Blog - Libya | AJE

Live Blog - Libya | LibyaFeb17.com

Live Blog - Middle East and North Africa…

Dancing Android

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 22:11:33 +0900

Dancing Android

Soup: Algeria, Bahrain, Libya, Yemen Resource List [updated]

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 13:32:48 +0900

Soup: Algeria, Bahrain, Libya, Yemen Resource List [updated]:

pantslessprogressive:

Categories will be updated as more resources become available. Message me if you have additional resources that can be added.

[Iran Resources: Iran Event Link Portal (via Soup); StandWithFreeIran; SeaofGreen]

[News roundups: Feb. 14; Feb. 15; Feb 16]

"I learned the news business in the UK, in which newspaper political coverage is much like cable TV..."

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 19:17:11 +0900

“

I learned the news business in the UK, in which newspaper political coverage is much like cable TV news in the US. Fake news, manufactured, hyped, rehashed, retracted — until at the end of the week you know no more than at the beginning. You really might as well wait for a weekly like the Economist to tell you what the net position is at the end of the week.

To follow the daily or hourly news cycle is the media equivalent of day-trading: it’s frenzied, pointless and usually unprofitable. I’d much rather read an item which just showed me the photos or documents. And if you’re going to write some text, take a position or explain something to me. Give me opinion or reference; just don’t pretend you’re providing news. That’s not news.

”

- Nick Denton (via soupsoup)

shortformblog: Look, we think that this is really important....

Sat, 05 Feb 2011 21:43:14 +0900

shortformblog:

Look, we think that this is really important. While they have used Tumblr as a temporary solution in the past few days, their voice is one that Tumblr really needs. It’s something that would make the Tumblr community at large stronger. It’s something that could encourage people who haven’t been following the Egypt conflict to follow it. And it’s a way to encourage the free flow of information that they’ve been so good at with the recent crises in the Middle East. So, please reblog if you agree. This may be the 100th thing on their list considering everything going on, but it would be something that would prove greatly valuable to them in the coming days and weeks. Thanks Newsflick for providing the seed of inspiration for this.

cbotzzz: heylikeluke: do want. Now plez. This is NOT the way...

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:31:40 +0900

cbotzzz:

heylikeluke:

do want.

Now plez.

This is NOT the way to eat sushi. You delicately tilt your chopsticks to dip the fish side of the sushi into the soy sauce. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a messy disintegrated sushi. My knowledge of sushi decorum comes from a trustworthy source, Mr. Sushi King - a Japanese comic book on the rise of a young sushi master.

"In many nations of the Middle East — countries of great strategic importance — democracy has not yet..."

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:18:41 +0900

“

In many nations of the Middle East — countries of great strategic importance — democracy has not yet taken root. And the questions arise: Are the peoples of the Middle East somehow beyond the reach of liberty? Are millions of men and women and children condemned by history or culture to live in despotism? Are they alone never to know freedom, and never even to have a choice in the matter? I, for one, do not believe it. I believe every person has the ability and the right to be free.

Some skeptics of democracy assert that the traditions of Islam are inhospitable to the representative government. This “cultural condescension,” as Ronald Reagan termed it, has a long history. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, a so-called Japan expert asserted that democracy in that former empire would “never work.” Another observer declared the prospects for democracy in post-Hitler Germany are, and I quote, “most uncertain at best” — he made that claim in 1957. Seventy-four years ago, The Sunday London Times declared nine-tenths of the population of India to be “illiterates not caring a fig for politics.” Yet when Indian democracy was imperiled in the 1970s, the Indian people showed their commitment to liberty in a national referendum that saved their form of government.

Time after time, observers have questioned whether this country, or that people, or this group, are “ready” for democracy — as if freedom were a prize you win for meeting our own Western standards of progress. In fact, the daily work of democracy itself is the path of progress. It teaches cooperation, the free exchange of ideas, and the peaceful resolution of differences. As men and women are showing, from Bangladesh to Botswana, to Mongolia, it is the practice of democracy that makes a nation ready for democracy, and every nation can start on this path.

It should be clear to all that Islam — the faith of one-fifth of humanity — is consistent with democratic rule. Democratic progress is found in many predominantly Muslim countries — in Turkey and Indonesia, and Senegal and Albania, Niger and Sierra Leone. Muslim men and women are good citizens of India and South Africa, of the nations of Western Europe, and of the United States of America.

More than half of all the Muslims in the world live in freedom under democratically constituted governments. They succeed in democratic societies, not in spite of their faith, but because of it. A religion that demands individual moral accountability, and encourages the encounter of the individual with God, is fully compatible with the rights and responsibilities of self-government.

Yet there’s a great challenge today in the Middle East. In the words of a recent report by Arab scholars, the global wave of democracy has — and I quote — “barely reached the Arab states.” They continue: “This freedom deficit undermines human development and is one of the most painful manifestations of lagging political development.” The freedom deficit they describe has terrible consequences, of the people of the Middle East and for the world. In many Middle Eastern countries, poverty is deep and it is spreading, women lack rights and are denied schooling. Whole societies remain stagnant while the world moves ahead. These are not the failures of a culture or a religion. These are the failures of political and economic doctrines.

As the colonial era passed away, the Middle East saw the establishment of many military dictatorships. Some rulers adopted the dogmas of socialism, seized total control of political parties and the media and universities. They allied themselves with the Soviet bloc and with international terrorism. Dictators in Iraq and Syria promised the restoration of national honor, a return to ancient glories. They’ve left instead a legacy of torture, oppression, misery, and ruin.

Other men, and groups of men, have gained influence in the Middle East and beyond through an ideology of theocratic terror. Behind their language of religion is the ambition for absolute political power. Ruling cabals like the Taliban show their version of religious piety in public whippings of women, ruthless suppression of any difference or dissent, and support for terrorists who arm and train to murder the innocent. The Taliban promised religious purity and national pride. Instead, by systematically destroying a proud and working society, they left behind suffering and starvation.

Many Middle Eastern governments now understand that military dictatorship and theocratic rule are a straight, smooth highway to nowhere. But some governments still cling to the old habits of central control. There are governments that still fear and repress independent thought and creativity, and private enterprise — the human qualities that make for a — strong and successful societies. Even when these nations have vast natural resources, they do not respect or develop their greatest resources — the talent and energy of men and women working and living in freedom.

Instead of dwelling on past wrongs and blaming others, governments in the Middle East need to confront real problems, and serve the true interests of their nations. The good and capable people of the Middle East all deserve responsible leadership. For too long, many people in that region have been victims and subjects — they deserve to be active citizens.

…The great and proud nation of Egypt has shown the way toward peace in the Middle East, and now should show the way toward democracy in the Middle East. Champions of democracy in the region understand that democracy is not perfect, it is not the path to utopia, but it’s the only path to national success and dignity.

As we watch and encourage reforms in the region, we are mindful that modernization is not the same as Westernization. Representative governments in the Middle East will reflect their own cultures. They will not, and should not, look like us. Democratic nations may be constitutional monarchies, federal republics, or parliamentary systems. And working democracies always need time to develop — as did our own. We’ve taken a 200-year journey toward inclusion and justice — and this makes us patient and understanding as other nations are at different stages of this journey.

There are, however, essential principles common to every successful society, in every culture. Successful societies limit the power of the state and the power of the military — so that governments respond to the will of the people, and not the will of an elite. Successful societies protect freedom with the consistent and impartial rule of law, instead of selecting applying — selectively applying the law to punish political opponents. Successful societies allow room for healthy civic institutions — for political parties and labor unions and independent newspapers and broadcast media. Successful societies guarantee religious liberty — the right to serve and honor God without fear of persecution. Successful societies privatize their economies, and secure the rights of property. They prohibit and punish official corruption, and invest in the health and education of their people. They recognize the rights of women. And instead of directing hatred and resentment against others, successful societies appeal to the hopes of their own people.

Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe — because in the long run, stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty. As long as the Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish, it will remain a place of stagnation, resentment, and violence ready for export. And with the spread of weapons that can bring catastrophic harm to our country and to our friends, it would be reckless to accept the status quo.

”

- President GEROGE W. BUSH, in remarks to the National Endowment for Democracy on its 20th anniversary, Nov. 6, 2003.

Whatever your political stance may be, and whatever you think of American foreign policy and its relationship with nations in the Middle East, give this a read. I think it’s fascinating and underscores the complexity with which countries do, and must, conduct their international affairs.

And yes, the the Washington Post op-ed that led me to it, written by a former Bushie, has a distinctively partisan tone. To be expected.
(via inothernews)

inothernews: DEFIANCE Pakistani girls collected their books...

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 17:17:36 +0900

inothernews:

DEFIANCE Pakistani girls collected their books from the debris of what used to be their school near the Afghan border Monday after the Taliban allegedly bombed the school. The militant group has bombed dozens of schools for girls. (Photo: Said Nazir Afridi / EPA via the Wall St. Journal)

Fuck the Taliban.

inothernews: LEAP THOUGHTS A vendor and a man jump from the...

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 17:15:31 +0900

inothernews:

LEAP THOUGHTS A vendor and a man jump from the top of one overcrowded train to another as thousands of Bangladeshi Muslims try to return home after attending the three-day Islamic Congregation on the banks of the River Turag in Tongi, outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Photo: AP via the New York Post)

Photo

Sun, 23 Jan 2011 21:04:28 +0900

Facebook Poke

Sun, 23 Jan 2011 20:57:05 +0900

I find the Facebook poke super annoying when it is used by people who I’m not regularly in touch with.. If you have something to say or if you want to get in touch with me, write me a message. What, you don’t want to be the one to get in touch first? Is that what this is about? I don’t really get it.

inothernews: love-and-radiation: Blue on blue (by Jennie...

Sun, 23 Jan 2011 00:20:13 +0900

inothernews:

love-and-radiation:

Blue on blue (by Jennie Faber)

And now I have to go back to working on Chapter 14 of the kid’s book. I want to finish it so I can start chapter 15 tomorrow morning.

Blogging via typewriter.

I really want one.

inothernews: EVERYWHERE SIGNS Pedestrians walk in a shopping...

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 15:41:40 +0900

inothernews:

EVERYWHERE SIGNS Pedestrians walk in a shopping district in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo: AFP-Getty via the New York Post)

Myeong-dong, Seoul, South Korea

Boiled spiced pork with raw oysters in central Seoul...

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 15:41:11 +0900

Boiled spiced pork with raw oysters in central Seoul (Jongro).
Dinner and drinks Thursday with some Korean reporters.

“Social Media Experts as real as unicorns.” Then...

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 18:56:59 +0900

“Social Media Experts as real as unicorns.”

Then they must be really real?

Minimalist dinner at Pure Arena.

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 18:55:00 +0900

Minimalist dinner at Pure Arena.

"Leftist parties have failed to voice the indignation that’s been brewing since 2008. They seldom..."

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 17:54:42 +0900

“Leftist parties have failed to voice the indignation that’s been brewing since 2008. They seldom manage to put together a good narrative – a dream, if you like. For instance, whereas American Democrats typically bang on about policies, Republicans tell a story about America.”

- Simon Kuper | “Indignant? We should be”

nybooks: The Fading Dream of Europe Orhan Pamuk In the...

Sat, 25 Dec 2010 20:45:01 +0900

nybooks:

The Fading Dream of Europe

Orhan Pamuk

In the schoolbooks I read as a child in the 1950s and 1960s, Europe was a rosy land of legend. While forging his new republic from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire, which had been crushed and fragmented in World War I, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk fought against the Greek army, but with the support of his own army he later introduced a slew of social and cultural modernization reforms that were not anti- but pro-Western. It was to legitimize these reforms, which helped to strengthen the new Turkish state’s new elites (and were the subject of continuous debate in Turkey over the next eighty years), that we were called upon to embrace and even imitate a rosy-pink—occidentalist—European dream.

Photo: A portrait of Atatürk in the Cağaloğlu neighborhood of Istanbul (Andreas Herzau)

vruz: Egyptian superheros. as featured on Joan Navarro’s...

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 20:31:16 +0900

vruz:

Egyptian superheros.

as featured on Joan Navarro’s blog

—via hotmonsters:fluzo