Bowing to courageous journalists

Freedom of the press is not only endangered in war zones or dictatorships.

Today, the 1st Hamburg Press Freedom Week began; with interesting guests talking about interesting topics.

Coincidence it's September 11?

My thoughts go back ... no, not 22 years. 50 years.

September 11, 1973: Chilean coup d'état

Never shall I forget this day and the atrocities that followed. 

And I shan't forget José Carrasco. 

Chile, my tortured country

In the morning hours of 8 September 1986, shortly after a regrettably unsuccessful assassination attempt on General Pinochet, José Carrasco, editor of the magazine Análisis, was kidnapped from his flat and shot by a death squad at a cemetery wall.
The cemetery wall became a site of resistance. Residents of the adjacent poor quarter painted the wall white and decorated it with flowers.
At first, policemen came every night, painted the wall black, tore out the flowers, even sawed off an iron cross the poor of Caonchali had put up.
There, people who barely had enough money to eat, let alone buy newspapers, demanded freedom of speech and honoured the courage of the journalist and his colleagues.
Take my words as a tribute to all those who had, have and will have the courage to speak out against injustice, arbitrariness and totalitarianism of any kind.
I am not sure I would have been or would be so courageous.
The peace of the night.

Free Ramón Ebalé

Read more at Reporters without Borders.

Sound of Pots and Tans

Killing ... their power

“ ‘Gao Zhisheng! You mother****er! Your date with death is today! Brothers! Let’s show the bastard how brutal we can get. Kill the bastard.’ A leader of the group screamed. Then, four men with electric batons started to beat my head and body with ferocity. Nothing but the noise of the beating and my moaning could be heard in the room. I was beaten so severely that my whole body began shaking uncontrollably on the floor.

But one example. But one example.

How many journalists have been murdered in Mexico since 2000?

But one example. But some examples.

But one ... day ...

Forget it!!

There won't be the day that a (wo)man will not be bullied, imprisoned, tortured or killed by those who have not much more than their power.

Tell my ashes if I were wrong.

That's not enough!

The thoughts are free, who's able to guess them?
They fly by like nocturnal shadows.
No man can know them, no hunter can shoot them,
with powder and lead: The thoughts are free!

I think what I want, and what does delight me,
yet always in stillness, and as it's complying.
My wish and desire can no one deny me
and so it will be: The thoughts are free!

And if I am thrown into darksome a dungeon,
all this would be but vain an endeavour,
because my thoughts tear the gates
and walls apart. The thoughts are free!

So I will renounce my sorrows forever,
and never again with whims will plague me.
One can in one's heart always laugh and banter
and think thereby: Die Gedanken sind frei!

(translation in progress :) sj)

Sharing responsibility with Liu Xiaobo

Liu Xiaobo

One year after his detention, yesterday Liu Xiaobo was formally indicted by the Beijing Municipal Procuratorate. Liu is charged with "inciting subversion of state power", a provision regularly used to silence writers in China. If convicted, Liu Xiaobo could face up to 15 years in prison.
The case will be heard by the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court; and why would I not be surprised if injustice were dispensed while people like me are supposed to celebrate the so-called 'feast of love'.

Now do I know that clenching fists and wishing that all those Bastards of Beijing may lose their teeth except of one for permanent toothache does have about the same effect like a cucumber glass detonating in Caracas.

And I do ask myself, if - in case I were a Chinese living in China - I would have been amongst those 10,000 who signed Charter 08, of which Liu Xiaobo was one main architect, and: if I would have the courage to sign the following:

We Are Willing to Share Responsibility with Liu Xiaobo

Author：The cosigners of Charter 08

(December 10, 2009)

We, the Chinese citizens who have co-drafted or signed Charter 08 with, that Mr. Liu Xiaobo, have learnt that he is to face prosecution and be subjected to penalties, and so reaffirm our attitude once again:

1) We have always believed that China's development and progress must be based on the conditions that the human rights are fully protected, and that the justice can be fully realized, and that the rule of law tends to be completed, and the system turns to democracy. Otherwise, the society will only continue to result in abnormal prosperity, and the social wealth gap will be widening, and serious injustice will bring about the social conflicts. On this point of view, we have upheld the same ideas and pursuits as Mr. Liu Xiaobo has;

2) We are ready to sign Charter 08 and agree with its concepts, which is based on our concerns on the nation’s current and future situations, and also the performance of our civic responsibilities in accordance with the rights affirmed by the Constitution, and which we have never considered to be contrary to any of the existing laws and regulations;

3) If Mr. Liu Xiaobo is to be prosecuted for those above, then each of us is an integral part of his case, and the indictment of Mr. Liu Xiaobo is to put each of us on trial; if Mr. Liu Xiaobo is convicted, it is equivalent to condemn everyone of us as being guilty. We have no choice but bear punishment with Liu Xiaobo.

Well, so far 164 domestic co-signers of Charter 08 have signed to share responsibilities with Liu Xiaobo, and 41 overseas co-signers (see the list here).

Will ... ?

Ah!

The peace of the night.

Happy birthday, Mr Putin ...

... one does not have to wish, hm?
Surely the gentleman enjoys a most happy day with all his dear friends, and everyone will have done his best to make the flawless democrat happy.
I wonder which one was the most special present today.

Three years ago, October 7th, 2006 some admirers intended to surprise (?) their beloved President with a very very special present - and assassinated Anna Politkovskaya.

Well, and here's a List of murdered Russian journalists.

Who will be the next?

Wednesday morning:
During my four hours writing, I suddenly think of Anna Mikhalchuk / Anna Alchuck (scroll down til 'In the burning house'). Did any journalist / media investigate her death?
Scribbling her name.

***

No surprise that when about two hours later I type her name to find that after her death (obviously) she was immediately ... forgotten.

* * *

At the same time a satphone might have rung. Someone in Moscow calling someone in Grosny.

- [...] Officially Dmitry will, of course, condemn this very sad event, Ramzan. However: well done.

- Ha ha, I love your humor, Vladimir. Glad you enjoyed it. We'll have a big party tonight, anyway. [...]

* * *

The laughing idiot (not only in the classical sense) wouldn't - also, of course - not know about the 'u' in humour. In so far he's as intelligent as f.e. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld & Co., and - let's say the criminal Peace-Nobelprize winner Kissinger.

They would never spell humour h-u-m-o-u-r.

As for Putin & Kadyrov.
Kadyrov for Putin is somehow what Margaret Thatcher's "dear friend" Augusto (amongst others) was for (criminals like) Kissinger (scroll to Intervention in Chile / Argentina), Nixon et al - a useful idiot.

* * *

To cut an otherwise long post short:
I am sad. I do feel enraged. And helpless. Could I kill that bastard Kadyrov? Would I do it, if I had the chance?

Hm ...

Is the ruthless criminal Kadyrov - I repeat: the ruthless criminal Kadyrov [a: Come on, sue me, Mr Kadyrov! [Just to make sure: Sue* me, I wrote; I did not ask you (or the "flawless democrat Vladimir Putin" (quoting here a certain Gerhard Schröder); to send one of your assassins ; b) sorry, dear readers, that I would let sink myself on such a low level, but I see no reason to doubt that Mr Kadyrov is what his master Putin (in another context) would call a 'vermin' - and RRP / Russia's real President (sometimes) wouldn't err, hm?]

I do, f.e. remember Vladimir 'Ras' Putin once saying (to alleged Chechen 'terrorists'): 'We shall squelch these animals/critters/vermin'.

* * *

Why would people like Gandhi, King, Dink, Politkovskaya get murdered, and such an evil creature enjoy life?!

:) ... because people like me would not kill the bastards! Helplessness. Bloody helplessness.

Long live the evil! ?

Or, in other words: Well ... that's politics.

Ha ha ha ... what a post! What a silly post. What a fucking silly post.

A post to honour Natasha (sic) Estemirova.

To honour her with all my heart.

And to type (mind you: not to google): List of murdered Russian journalists.

to be continued ...

The peace of the night.


* :) with thanks to Bertus (see comment section)

A tragedy, Mr Erdoğan is so utterly stupid

Turkey's prime minister has described ethnic violence in China's Xinjiang region as "a kind of genocide".
"There is no other way of commenting on this event," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
He spoke after a night-time curfew was reimposed in Xinjiang's capital, Urumqi, where Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese clashed last Sunday.
The death toll from the violence there has now risen from 156 to 184, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reports. More than 1,000 people were injured.
Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country, shares linguistic and religious links with the Uighurs in China's western-most region.
Full BBC-article here.

This is most interesting. What happened to Armenians in the Ottoman era, thus before the Turkish Republic was founded, Erdoğan Effendi - sic! ha ha ha - would call "a tragedy", and his Magnificent Stupidity would feel insulted by those who would call a genocide a genocide.

What a ... oh, well - to be continued ...

Meanwhile you might like to read some post which are corroborating this post's title.
Cave Cihan, Mr Erdoğan!

Considerably exaggerated

Does article 301 apply to Erdoğan?

Mozart's homage to Erdogan

Revolutioner's Guide - made in China

As mentioned en passant, these days I am re-reading The Book of Changes / I Ching, in the legendary translation of Richard Wilhelm.
To give but one example why I do find this book interesting - although I am not sure whether it would be amongst the 100 books I'd take to the very island - , I chose hexagram 49.
Why?
Well, while reading, again I wondered why a people with such a heritage should not have been able (up til now) to create a form of government that would f.e. (have) prove(d) a certain Winston Churchill ("It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.") wrong. Judge yourself.
Hm ... :) ... I was going to ask you while reading to think of ... this and that current regime / government / dictatorship / political situations on this planet, but just in time remembered what one could not seldom hear in editorial departments: "The reader is stupid!" I do not like (such kind of) generalisation.
Yes, many readers are (unfortunately) stupid - for whatever reason, and there are many -, but I do prefer to think, not to say I am convinced: The reader is not stupid (per se). The reader has not to be told what's right, what's wrong. The reader can judge himself.
Thus, again judge yourself. The Chinese character for this hexagram means in its original sense an animal's pelt, which is changed in the course of the year by molting. From this word is carried over to apply to the 'moltings' in political life, the great revolutions connected with changes of governments. The two trigrams making up the hexagram are the same two that appear in K'uei, OPPOSITION (38), that is, the two younger daughters, Li and Tui. But while there the elder of the two daughters is above, and what results is essentially only an opposition of tendencies, here the younger daughter is above. The influences are in actual conflict, and the forces combat each other like fire and water (lake), each trying to destroy the other. Hence the idea of revolution.

THE JUDGMENT
Revolution. On your own day you are believed. Supreme success, Furthering through perseverance. Remorse disappears.

Political revolutions are extremely grave matters. They should be undertaken only under stress of direst necessity, when there is no other way out. Not everyone is called to this task, but only the man who has the confidence of the people, and even he only when the time is ripe. He must then proceed in the right way, so that he gladdens the people and, by enlightening them, prevents excesses. Furthermore, he must be quite free of selfish aims and must really relieve the need of the people. Only then does he have nothing to regret.
Times change, and with them their demands. Thus the seasons change in the course of the year. In the world cycle also there are spring and autumn in the life of peoples and nations, and these call for social transformations.

THE IMAGE

Fire in the lake: the image of revolution.
Thus the superior man sets the calendar in
order and makes the seasons clear.

Fire below and the lake above combat and destroy each other. So too in the course of the year a combat takes place between the forces of light and the forces of darkness, eventuating in the revolution of the seasons, and man is able to adjust himself in advance to the demands of the different times.

THE LINES

Nine at the beginning means:
Wrapped in the hide of a yellow cow.

Changes ought to be undertaken only when there is nothing else to be done. Therefore at first the utmost restraint is necessary. One must becomes firm in one's mind, control oneself -yellow is the color of the means, and the cow is the symbol of docility-and refrain from doing anything for the time being, because any premature offensive will bring evil results.

When one's own day comes, one may create revolution. Starting brings good fortune. No blame.

Six in the second place means:

When we have tried in every other way to bring about reforms, but without success, revolution becomes necessary. But such a thoroughgoing upheaval must be carefully prepared. There must be available a man who has the requisite abilities and who possesses public confidence. To such a man we may well turn. This brings good fortune and is not a mistake. The first thing to be considered is our inner attitude toward the new condition that will inevitably come. We have to go out to meet it, as it were. Only in this way can it be prepared for.

Nine in the third place means:

Starting brings misfortune, perseverance brings danger. When talk of revolution has gone the rounds three times one may commit himself, and men will believe him.

When change is necessary, there are two mistakes to be avoided. One lies in excessive haste and ruthlessness, which bring disaster. The other lies in excessive hesitation and conservatism, which are also dangerous. Not every demand for change in the existing order should be heeded. On the other hand, repeated and well-founded complaints should not fail of a hearing. When talk of change has come to one's ears three times, and has been pondered well, he may believe and acquiesce in it. Then he will meet with belief and will accomplish something.

Nine in the fourth place means:

Remorse disappears. Men believe him. Changing the form of government brings good fortune.

Radical changes require adequate authority. A man must have inner strength as well as influential position. What he does must correspond with a higher truth and must not spring from arbitrary or petty motives; then it brings great good fortune. If a revolution is not founded on such inner truth, the results are bad, and it has no success. For in the end men will support only those undertakings which they feel instinctively to be just.

Nine in the fifth place means:

The great man changes like a tiger. Even before he questions the oracle he is believed.

A tigerskin, with its highly visible black stripes on a yellow ground, shows its distinct pattern from afar. It is the same with a revolution brought about by a great man: large, clear guiding lines become visible, understandable to everyone. Therefore he need not first consult the oracle, for he wins the spontaneous support of the people.

Six at the top means:

The superior man changes like a panther. The inferior man molts in the face. Starting brings misfortune. To remain persevering brings good fortune.

After the large and fundamental problems are settled, certain minor reforms, and elaborations of these, are necessary. These detailed reforms may be likened to the equally distinct but relatively small marks of the panther's coat. As a consequence, a change also takes place among the inferior people. In conformity with the new order, they likewise 'molt.' This molting, it is true, does not go very deep, but that is not to be expected. We must be satisfied with the attainable. If we should go too far and try to achieve too much, it would lead to unrest and misfortune. For the object of a great revolution is the attainment of clarified, secure conditions ensuring a general stabilization on the basis of what is possible at the moment.

- - -

Comparing the above translation of Wilhelm's transition from Chinese into German, I found it slightly well done and therefore - nurturing my laziness - allowed myself to shamelessly pinch it from this site which herewith I do commend for further reading, in case you got intrigued.

The Bastards of "Freedom City"

One of China's most prominent political activists has been formally arrested for inciting subversion.
Liu Xiaobo is accused of spreading rumours and defaming the government, according to China's state-run Xinhua news agency.
Mr Liu's arrest comes six months after he was taken into custody.
He was detained just before the publication of a document that he co-authored calling for political change in China.
Full article here.

And here a tiny example why this rotten bunch of mighty criminal and corrupt cowards, the Bastards of Beijing* (this time without asterisk!), fear and suppress people like this man whose courage I do admire since 1989.
Free speech for Mr. Liu.

More information inclusive a longer France 24-interview with Liu Xiaobo is offered by Reporters without Borders.

The Taoiseach's New Clothes III

Once I don't do 'things' immediately, they would often vanish in the realm of oblivion.
That's why I am thankful to the very inner voice whispering: Carpe noctem.

Be it then: Some - do I need say?: very personal - thoughts before the chapter picture- respectively cowengate is going to get closed.

And some last words before diving in media res: I've been following with interest (and often chucking) what has been posted about this 'issue'. By the following, which I shall be writing 'without filtres', thus as the thoughts come, I do not intend to attack anybody.

*

What has happened?
A 'clever' chap (I promised to come back to this point) unasked nails some caricatures to some museum walls, and ...
... nothing happens.
So, after a while, the 'clever chap' - did anyone notice I did not call him 'artist'? - emails a newspaper.
[Comment: It would not make much sense to hit a nail into the wall of any museum's toilet, as long as noone takes notice, hm?]

Well, and what happens afterwards, meanwhile everybody (at least in the blogosphere) should / could know.

Thus, end of the beforegoing.

De gustibus not est disputandum.
Quite. Either you have it, or you have it not.

So, why would I publish caricatures of a naked Taoiseach?

Ladies, gentlemen, this is not about a "clever chap" trying to advertise his 'artwork'/name; this is about freedom of speech / music / arts / satire ...
... and - last not least - freedom from censorship!!

Yes, again, I am writing this 'without filtres', without caring about 'wrong' syntax, 'wrong' prepositions, 'wrong' idioms.

Satire is satire is satire.

Imagine all the flags burning if this were, f.e. about a naked Mohammed or any of the very genleman's afficionados.

Conclusion:
Ha, ...
... what a great fun to show a Taoiseach without clothes;
... what a fun to attack the 'fucking bastards' elected by a majority of most intelligent voters;
... what a fun we (bloggers) had while ...

... approximately 280,000 children died of starvation.

Oops. Did I spoil the fun? Sorry. Am I a fucking kill-joy? Forgive me.

After all, who cares, hm?

We - the great champions of the blogosphere had a splendid time, hadn't we?

Exactly the fun, Heinrich Heine once defined:

Der Knecht singt gerne Freiheitslieder
des Abends in der Schenke.

The peasant loves to sing songs of freedom (rebel-songs)
in the pub at night.

- - -

I am proud of myself ... as I knew before that I'd not be able to express my thoughts (in English).

So, please, forgive me and head on to read the very best post on this very topic.

The peace of the night.


The Taoiseach's New Clothes

The Taoiseach's New Clothes II

Brian, Borges & Bioy

Want a T(aoiseach)-Shirt?

Physiognomy of fine gentlemen

The Impossible Fact

Sabbat Shalom ...

... to those who have moral and courage to speak out!

"I don't think he felt too bad about it, because after all, as far as he was concerned, he did his job according to the orders he was given. And the atmosphere in general, from what I understood from most of my men who I talked to ... I don't know how to describe it .... The lives of Palestinians, let's say, is something very, very less important than the lives of our soldiers. So as far as they are concerned they can justify it that way," he said.

Quote from this Haaretz-article.

Lord of the Flies

Coincidence? One would find impertinent idiots [in the classic sense, mind you] not only in Germany, but everywhere else, f.e. in England.

Beginning with the Netherlands, though.

You might have heard of that peroxide blonde gentleman who, as my friend Tetrapilotomos recently murmured, is looking like a sunlamp-tanned songster-queen and would obviously do all to attract attention and endear himself to certain folks of another wilde faculty.
Thus he let produce a lousy little film called 'Fitna', and called it a 'documentation'.

Now would some folks not like this lousy film (no matter if they've been wasting their precious time with watching it, or not); moreover, it became a political issue, and unlike the cleric cretin who recently talked as if he was an admirer of the 'great scientist' Fred Leuchter who once stated he had gone to Ausschwitz to prove the holocaust but after about 40 years just could not find any gas and 'Eureka! no gas, no holocaust'. (Mr. Leuchter, by the way, enjoyed close business connection with several US-states who use lethal injection machine designed by him. Official sides prefered to deny this, but Tetrapilotomos still has an interesting video in his cupboard, and would certainly be delighted to jog the memory of anybody who kindly asked. You could, of course, also just have a look at the small medal on the machine whilst you are executing the next death penalty. It reads: Fred Leuchter, Boston, Massachusetts), and still earned a 'welcome back within the pales of the Catholic Church', (which is why the Central Council of the Jews in Germany ... guess! ... right: ... publicly announced they will not speak with the Pope for a while) our blonde philanthropistic would-be saviour of the western word earned severe critics. Political correct politicians behaved as if they were disgusted, and as valiant defenders of democracy and free speech demanded to censor the lousy film.

End of the beforegoing.

Now, while the plebs, i.e. the ordinary stupid voting-cattle (German: Stimmvieh) ought not to be allowed to decide themselves to watch this lousy film or not, those who consider themselves a bit more equal than others, 'of course' are not only allowed to watch the lousy film, it's even their duty, one should think, hm?

I mean, unlike those privileged people who'd not need to watch a lousy film or a mediocre book, 'spontaneously' and with burning enthusiasm to support the flags-producing industry, politicians should at least watch respectively read it.
After all, they might come to the wise conclusion that censoring a lousy film or a mediocre book does not solve any problem.

And herewith we jump across the Channel, reach London and enter the House of Lords.

Now don't you need to know each Lord and Baroness, but you should know Lord Ahmed. So let me introduce His Extraordinary Magnificence to those amongst you who up til now had the great pleasure to never ever come across his name.

With thanks to 'His Grace'
where I pinched this pic.

For the beginning it's enough that you know the Lord loves to send text messages while driving.

Alright? Fine then. Here we go:

Lord Ahmed, the Muslim Peer, has admitted dangerous driving after sending text messages while driving on a motorway just before a crash in which a father-of-two died. Full article here.

Well, and what would do who wantonly negligent killed another person?
He'd at least feel miserable and hide himself in a mouse-hole, if only he could, you say?

Right.

And what did 'our good Lord' do, when a lordly collegue invited the producer of said lousy film in order to together with him and her esteemed colleagues watch and afterwards discuss it?

According to what I learned at Cranmer's, the Lord by grace of a certain Tony Blair reportedly 'threatened to mobilise 10,000 Muslims to prevent Mr Wilders [that's the blondie that let produce said lousy film; sj] from entering the house and threatened to take the colleague who was organising the event to court'.

And what did the honourable Lordships do?

Giving Mr Ahmed a democracy-lesson, you guess?

Nah! Showing him the white feather.

And the Lord announced via BBC, Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Times etc ... err ... via Associated Press of Pakistan "a victory for the Muslim community".

And here the words almost fail me.
Imagine, next time the Lord of the Flies cometh and demands: 'Eat shit, Mylords! 100 trillion flies can't err.'

Apropos 'Lord of the (F)lies': Is it possible that Lord Ahmed on this very day sent one text message to Fethullah Gülen and four to the most intellectual mastermind's - Ha ha ha ha ... - intelligently designed mouthpieces?

Oops. Never ever heard such names in Merry Old England?
Now, that's surprising, hm?

Perhaps, after having read this and followed the links some English(wo)man feels fancy of investigating a bit on Lord Ahmed's connection with this self-styled elite and their common purpose?

Well, good luck, enjoy and let me know the results of your research.

* Title of a book written by William Golding. What did you think? :)

Jedem das Seine or: A bloody conflict

On the 64th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp today,

Germany has remembered the victims of National Socialism with a variety of events. But the country's Jewish leaders chose to skip the main government ceremony on Tuesday in protest for what they say is lack of respect.
Full article here.
And here another one on Spiegel online.

As one grand dame of the German Social Democracy who for decades was involved with the Gesellschaft für christlich-jüdische Zusammenarbeit / Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation once stated: "As long as - even when there is an obvious reason - a German must not call a Jew idiot, and vice versa, as long there do not exist normal relations between Germans and Jews."
Well, and that's why I wouldn't call said ladies and gentlemen what they are.

However, noone - I repeat: noone - and if she or he happened to worship the head of a dead sardine - will ever tell me what I am allowed to express in my or any other language. Not even an idiot.

Perhaps I should not have written 'noone will ever, 'cause one should not underestimate the mighty mightiness of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

Tiny example:

German Coffee roaster Tchibo and oil company Esso have abandoned a nationwide advertising campaign for coffee following criticism from the Jewish community that it had been using a slogan similar* to a phrase used by the Nazis.
Full article here.
* emphazise mine

Oh dear! After Auschwitz there can't be any language / poetry etc. etc., hm?

Ah, I wonder why none of the absolute altruistic and uncorrupt ladies and gentlemen sewed George Tabori, who postulated "There are taboos that need to be destroyed" and thus in a way was the obstetrician to a serious reflection of the holocaust and other atrocities 'made in Germany', and of whom none of his plays impressed me more than this 'joke' (German: Witz):

"Wie lautet der kürzeste deutsche Witz? - Auschwitz."
"What's the shortest German Witz? - Auschwitz."

As said: Jedem das Seine. To each his own. Or, as Cato the Elder reportedly put it: Suum cuique.

Having written this, I do feel much better now.:)

Thus, with thanks to Bock and Jams, here two postings that moved me deeply:

Auschwitz,

Forgiving Mengele

Please read it!

The peace of the night!

I feel I shall have a lovely dream: Some members of the Central Council of Jews in Germany wake up and henceforth speak a very rare Hindu-dialect.

Murderous

Today 200 years ago, Edgar Allan Poe was born.

A short story he wrote: The Murders of Rue Morgue.

Two novels he did not write:

The murder in Istiklal Caddesi

Today two years ago, Hrant Dink was murdered.
The mills of justice are still grinding. Or not.

The murder in 8 Lesnaya Ulitsa

104 days before Hrant Dink got murdered,
on October 7th, 2006 Vladimir Putin celebrated his birthday,
and perhaps some gentlemen intended to surprise (?)
their beloved President with a very very special present,
Anna Politkovskaya was assassinated.

Well, and I'd not be surprised when in 365 days the 'patriotic gentleman' who today killed Staneslav Markelov and Anastasiya Baburova , will also be not behind bars.

Monsanto and Obama: Yes, we can!

Now watch the organic cowboy. He's to become minister in Mr. Obama's team.
Enjoy, if you can.




- Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack supports genetically engineered pharmaceutical crops, especially pharmaceutical corn.

- The biggest biotechnology industry group, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, named Vilsack Governor of the Year. He was also the founder and former chair of the Governor's Biotechnology Partnership.
- When Vilsack created the Iowa Values Fund, his first poster child of economic development potential was Trans Ova and their pursuit of cloning dairy cows.

- Vilsack was the origin of the seed pre-emption bill in 2005, which many people here in Iowa fought because it took away local government's possibility of ever having a regulation on seeds- where GE would be grown, having GE-free buffers, banning pharma corn locally, etc. Representative Sandy Greiner, the Republican sponsor of the bill, bragged on the House Floor that Vilsack put her up to it right after his state of the state address.

- Vilsack has a glowing reputation as being a schill for agribusiness biotech giants like Monsanto. Sustainable ag advocated across the country were spreading the word of Vilsack's history as he was attempting to appeal to voters in his presidential bid. An activist from the west coast even made this youtube animation about Vilsack http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hmoc4Qgcm4s The airplane in this animation is a referral to the controversy that Vilsack often traveled in Monsanto's jet.

- Vilsack is an ardent support of corn and soy based biofuels, which use as much or more fossil energy to produce them as they generate, while driving up world food prices and literally starving the poor.

"Vilsack lobbied hard to get seed pre-emption bills into state legislative bodies, beginning in 2005. These bills seek to control the use of seeds on the state level, and thus deny local communities (and small farmers, and even backyard farmers) the power to establish their own regulations for protection from genetically engineered seeds If seed pre-emption bills become law, citizens will not be able to regulate where genetically engineered crops are grown, the creation of GE buffer zones, or the banning of pharmaceutical crops, among other things. The use of seeds becomes entirely regulated by government, and opens the door to human and plant exposure to every adverse effect of genetically engineered crops. - And simultaneously ruins biodiversity, because once transgenic seeds prevail, there's no going back. Seed pre-emption bills have been introduced in sixteen states, and the battle is ongoing. But Vilsack has been one of the chief architects of looming biodiversity disaster, and there's no reason to believe he'd halt his love affair with genetic engineering and Big Ag just because he's working for Obama."

Courtesy Campaign for Liberty

Má's bréag uaim í,
Is bréag chugam í.

The World according to Monsanto

Here's to make all those poor souls happy who are indefatigably monitoring this tiny blog.
To increase their happiness, I do ask my esteemed readers to post this documentary by Marie Monique Robin on their blogs, too, and ask their readers to do the same.

By doing so, you all might
a) not only help saving the jobs of my dear poor watchdoggies, you might even create new jobs, and
b) increase your amount of regular visitors.

It would be also useful to copy each part*, as it has happened in the past that this film miraculously vanished in the orcus of the cyberpace.

* Thanks to C'est la Craic, instead of in ten parts here's the full video.

And now watch, and spread the praise that those altruists deserve.

CPJ's 2008 prison census

Reflecting the rising influence of online reporting and commentary, more Internet journalists are jailed worldwide today than journalists working in any other medium. In its annual census of imprisoned journalists, released today*, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) found that 45 percent of all media workers jailed worldwide are bloggers, Web-based reporters, or online editors. Online journalists represent the largest professional category for the first time in CPJ's prison census. Full article here.

* tomorrow this 'today' will have become the day before yesterday. :)

A letter from Farzad Kamangar

No, I do not know if Farzad Kamangar is still alive.

I hope.

Tonight I happened to read this letter from him.

No, I do not know, if it is authentic and - given it is - how he'd been able to write it and 'smuggle' it out of his cell.

However, having spoken to two (renowned) Iranian writers once being tortured in Iranian prisons, I tend to rely on the letters authenticy and its contents.

Well, read and judge yourself.