The Islamic Globe
(PDF)
White Gardenias In Your Eyes
2 hours ago
Friday, 18 February 2011
A Day in the Life of a Love Doll
Opening at New York’s Salon 94 Bowery on the day after Valentine’s Day, The Love Doll: Days 1-30, presents Simmons large-scale, color photos and video of her mail order roommate, which she gradually befriends. Documenting her from day one, when she emerges from a box in only a slip, Simmons takes her under her wing — buying clothes and creating a fantasy lifestyle for her in the artist’s New York apartment and country house. The lively results expose a psychological situation, where the doll partially sheds its designated role as a sex object and begins to take on an identity projected on it from Simmons’ poetic imagination.
Laurie Simmons – The Love Doll: Days 1-30 is on view at Salon 94 Bowery February 15 to March 16.
Shy U.S. Intellectual Created Playbook Used in a Revolution
Gene Sharp: From Dictatorship To Democracy(PDF)
Bahrain: What's at stake for America
As far as Washington is concerned, this small Persian Gulf kingdom may be where support for Middle East democracy dies. The loss of American military power that would accompany an overthrow of the regime of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa is incalculable.
Nestled between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Bahrain is home to 1.2 million people. It's also home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet -- a vital instrument for the Pentagon in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Fighter jets from carriers in the fleet provide close air support for American troops in Afghanistan.
The fleet is also a potential bulwark against a future nuclear Iran, analysts note.
"It's our most important strategic asset in the Persian Gulf," said Michael Rubin, a former Bahrain resident and Middle East expert at the American Enterprise Institute.
The security of America's naval presence in Bahrain was called into question when protests erupted there this week. Three people died and dozens were injured Thursday when security forces stormed a group of protesters. Witnesses described a blunt show of force, with police firing pellets and rubber bullets, as well as using tear gas.
Two other people died during disturbances earlier in the week.
"Violence is not an appropriate reaction," lectured White House press secretary Jay Carney. Leaders in Bahrain and across the Middle East region need to "be more responsive" and "live up to the hopes and dreams of their people."
But exactly how responsive?
Bahrain has been ruled by a Sunni Muslim royal family since the British left in 1971. Two-thirds of its population are Shiites. While the latest turmoil is largely a reaction to uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, and elsewhere, younger Shiites have routinely led protests -- often violent -- to complain about discrimination, unemployment and corruption.
They also rioted when the Islamic Revolution toppled the Shah of Iran in 1979. Since then, every time Shiite protests have become too heated, the Sunni rulers of Saudi Arabia have quietly sent troops into the country, according to Rubin.
"On the one hand, Bahrain is a flash point between the United States and Iran," he told CNN. On the other, it's "a flash point between Saudi Arabia and Iran."
Bahrain was actually a Persian province through the 16th century. Iran claimed the territory when the British left, but the Bahrainis opted for independence.
"Bahrain is Iran's Kuwait," Rubin said, referencing former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein's insistence that Kuwait was rightfully an Iraqi province.
If Bahrain's government falls, "there is no question -- no ifs, ands or buts -- Bahrain would become an Iranian satellite, and the Fifth Fleet would be sent packing," Rubin predicted.
The Obama administration is "not being too vocal on the riots in Bahrain because it's pretty much the one country where we can't afford regime change," he said.
Could U.S. officials find a new naval home in the Gulf? Possibly Qatar or the United Arab Emirates, Rubin said, but "if there's a sense that the dominoes are falling and the United States is the big loser, then all the regional states are going to make their accommodation with Iran whether they like us or not."
The stakes could not be higher.
Alan Silverleib @'CNN'
Baghdad wants U.S. to pay $1 billion for damage to city
The city's government issued its demands in a statement on Wednesday that said Baghdad's infrastructure and aesthetics have been seriously damaged by the American military.
"The U.S. forces changed this beautiful city to a camp in an ugly and destructive way, which reflected deliberate ignorance and carelessness about the simplest forms of public taste," the statement said.
"Due to the huge damage, leading to a loss the Baghdad municipality cannot afford...we demand the American side apologize to Baghdad's people and pay back these expenses."
The statement made no mention of damage caused by bombing.
Baghdad's neighborhoods have been sealed off by miles of concrete blast walls, transforming the city into a tangled maze that contributes to massive traffic jams. Despite a sharp reduction in overall violence in recent years only 5 percent of the walls have been removed, officials said.
The heavy blast walls have damaged sewer and water systems, pavement and parks, said Hakeem Abdul Zahra, the city spokesman.
U.S. military Humvees, driven on street medians and through gardens, have also caused major damage, he said.
"The city of Baghdad feels these violations, which have taken place for years, have caused economic and moral damage," he said.
U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq's cities in June 2009 before formally ending combat operations last August. Around 50,000 remain in Iraq but they are scheduled to withdraw by year end.
Baghdad is badly in need of a facelift. Electricity and trash collection are sporadic, streets are potholed and sewage treatment plants and pipes have not been renovated for years.
Iraq has seen growing protests in recent weeks over poor government services.
Zahra said the city's statement issued on Wednesday would be the start of its measures to get the United States to pay for damages but he did not say what other steps might be taken.
@'Reuters'
Thursday, 17 February 2011
(GB2011) Scrap the minimum wage for young people
Youth unemployment in the UK is at a record high, with nearly a million 16 to 24-year olds out of work – 20.5% of that age group. Around 600,000 of them have never worked at all. Youth unemployment is particularly worrying. If young people cannot get a job and learn work skills, and the basic habits of work, it blights their whole lives. Sadly, too few youngsters are not getting into the work stream but instead are getting drawn into the welfare stream. Instead of learning about life in work, they are learning about life on benefits.
Youth unemployment – and the same is true of immigrants and other minority groups – is always worst when times are hard. Employers keep the best workers and shed the labour they do not value so much. And the fact is that young people are just not worth as much to employers as older workers. They may have no marketable skills. They will have little or no experience of how workplaces operate. They might, after a decade and a half of state education, even lack basic life skills.
And yet government regulation forces employers to pay not less than £4.92 per hour for 18 to 20-year-olds and £5.93 for those 21 and above. It is plain that many employers think a large proportion of young people are just not worth that amount of money too them. Particularly when other employment legislation adds to their costs even more, and makes it almost impossible to get rid of workers they find they don't need. No wonder they aren't hiring.
It's time to scrap the minimum wage for young people. It just prices them out of jobs, so does them no good at all. For them, low-paid work is a way of building up some human capital that will make it easier to find a better job. But we stop them even getting that work at all – and all in the name of protecting workers.
HERE
Youth unemployment – and the same is true of immigrants and other minority groups – is always worst when times are hard. Employers keep the best workers and shed the labour they do not value so much. And the fact is that young people are just not worth as much to employers as older workers. They may have no marketable skills. They will have little or no experience of how workplaces operate. They might, after a decade and a half of state education, even lack basic life skills.
And yet government regulation forces employers to pay not less than £4.92 per hour for 18 to 20-year-olds and £5.93 for those 21 and above. It is plain that many employers think a large proportion of young people are just not worth that amount of money too them. Particularly when other employment legislation adds to their costs even more, and makes it almost impossible to get rid of workers they find they don't need. No wonder they aren't hiring.
It's time to scrap the minimum wage for young people. It just prices them out of jobs, so does them no good at all. For them, low-paid work is a way of building up some human capital that will make it easier to find a better job. But we stop them even getting that work at all – and all in the name of protecting workers.
HERE
NickKristof Nicholas Kristof
At hospital in #Bahrain. 600 brought here w/ injuries as of 8 am, more since. Beatings, shotgun pellets, rubber bullets.
2احداث البيضاء ليبيا 2011/2/16
Protesters chant "Gaddafi you dictator! Your turn has come! Your turn has come!"
Libyan protesters prepare for 'day of rage'
In a country where public dissent is rare, plans for the protests were being circulated by anonymous activists on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and it was not clear if the demonstrations would materialise.
Libya has been tightly controlled for over 40 years by Muammar Gaddafi – who is now Africa's longest-serving leader – but the oil exporter has felt the ripples from the overthrow of long-standing leaders in its neighbours Egypt and Tunisia.
Though some Libyans complain about unemployment, inequality and limits on political freedoms, analysts say an Egypt-style revolt is unlikely because the government can use oil revenues to smooth over most social problems.
Witnesses and local media reported that several hundred people clashed with police and Gaddafi supporters on Tuesday night in the city of Benghazi, about 1,000km (600 miles) east of the Libyan capital.
Late on Wednesday evening, it was impossible to contact witnesses in Benghazi because telephone connections to the city appeared to be out of order.
State media reported there were pro-Gaddafi protests too across the country, with people chanting "We sacrifice our blood and souls for you, our leader!" and "We are a generation built by Muammar and anyone who opposes it will be destroyed!"
People posting messages on opposition website Libya Our Home, which is based outside the country, urged Libyans to protest and drew parallels with the uprising this month that toppled the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak.
"From every square in our beloved country, people should all come together in one city and one square to make this regime and its supporters afraid, and force them to run away because they are cowards," said a post from someone called Mustafa.
A Facebook page dedicated to the planned protest urged followers to "make it a day of rage in Libya".
Gaddafi says Libya does not need to import western concepts of democracy because it is run on his system - known as the Third Universal Theory - under which citizens govern themselves through grassroots institutions called popular committees.
Thursday is the anniversary of clashes on 17 February 2006 in Benghazi, when security forces killed several protesters who were attacking the city's Italian consulate.
Amnesty International voiced concern about a new crackdown. "The Libyan authorities must allow peaceful protests, not try to stifle them with heavy-handed repression," it said in a statement.
@'The Guardian'
Bahrain
nolanjazeera Dan Nolan
WARNING:horrific picRT @joshmull @StateDept @PJCrowley Still dont feel like making statement on Bahrain crackdown?
monaeltahawy Mona Eltahawy
Bahrain authorities launch surprise attack on protesters
Security forces in tiny but strategic Bahrain launched a brutal assault early Thursday against at least 1,000 defiant anti-government protesters, including children, camped out in tents in the capital's Pearl Square. At least two were killed and 50 hurt.
A barrage of tear gas canisters thundered across the square about 3 a.m. as dozens of police cars, armored security vehicles and ambulances converged on a makeshift tent city in the center of Manama that was beginning to resemble a smaller version of Tahrir Square in Cairo, where Egyptian protesters this month were successful in overthrowing their president.After a peaceful, festive evening, most of the protesters in Pearl Square were asleep when the attack began, witnesses said, noting that no steps had been taken to guard the area against the security forces, even though two people had been killed in clashes with them earlier in the week.
"They told us we had three days in the square," said one man as he ran from the scene. "And then they attack us on the second day."
As flashing blue police car lights cast an eerie strobe effect down side streets and a helicopter swooped overhead, packs of young men with bandannas covering their faces to thwart billowing clouds of gas fled the area, flashing V signs while shouting slogans and warnings...
Continue reading
Seena, 9, grieves at the funeral for an eight-month-old baby drowned when an asylum-seeker boat broke up on rocks on Christmas Island. Photo: Getty
Boy returning to Christmas Island
Ning Nong - Ning Nong Typecast II
1. Medicine – One More (Creation)
2. Serena-Maneesh – Honeyjinx (4AD)
3. Slowdive – Morningrise (Creation)
4. Arab Strap – Last Orders (Chemikal Underground)
5. Yo La Tengo – Saturday (Matador)
6. Unrest – Imperial (Teen Beat)
7. Moose – Suzanne (Hut)
8. Altar Eagle – Spy Movie (Type)
9. His Name Is Alive – Lip (4AD)
10. Swirlies – Bell (Taang!)
11. Dinosaur Jr – In A Jar (sst)
12. Swervedriver – Duel (Creation)
13. The Verve – Drive You Home (Hut)
14. Blur – Resigned (Food)
15. Pale Saints – Kinky Love (4AD)
16. The House Of Love – Love In A Car (Creation)
17. Ride – Like A Daydream (Creation)
18. The Boo Radleys – Almost Nearly There (Creation)
19. Teenage Fanclub – Alcoholiday (Creation)
20. The Jesus & Mary Chain – Something I Can’t Have (Blanco Y Negro)
21. Interpol – Not Even Jail (Matador)
22. Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci – Where Does Yer Go Now? (Mantra)
23. Mogwai – Year 2000 Non-Compliant Cardia (Chemikal Underground)
24. Sunset – Man’s Heart Complaint (Autobus)
25. Flying Saucer Attack – In The Light Of Time (Domino)
26. Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career (4AD)
27. My Bloody Valentine – Sometimes (Creation)
28. Swallow – Peekaboo (4AD)
29. Kate Bush – Cloudbusting (emi)
30. Tindersticks – Drunk Tank (This Way Up)
31. Bark Psychosis – All Different Things (Cheree)
32. David Sylvian – Let The Happiness In (Virgin)
33. Cocteau Twins – Ella Megalast Burls Forever (4AD)
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David Rodigan interviews Bob Marley (1980)
In 1980 I had the privilege of interviewing Bob Marley in London on his way back from having performed at the Zimbabwe Independence Celebrations. This is an extract from that interview. (David Rodigan)
LISTEN HERE
Butterflies feat. John Malkovich
Design/VFX - Gentleman Scholar
Creative Directors - Will Johnson & William Campbell
Producer - Tyler Locke
Executive Producer - Rob Sanborn
Editor - Josh Bodnar/The Whitehouse
Designers/Compositors - William Campbell, Will Johnson, Tommy Wooh, Daniel Blank, Paul Yeh, Heather Aquino, Claudia Yi Leon, Joseph Chan
Director - Sandro Miller
Music Composer - Matt Hutchinson
via
Iran protester's death 'hijacked by regime'
The Iranian regime has been accused of hijacking the death of a young pro-democracy protester killed during rallies in Tehran on Monday.
A family member of Saane Zhaleh, a 26-year-old theatre student at Tehran University of Arts, told the Guardian that the Iranian authorities had launched a campaign to depict the pro-opposition protester as a member of the government-sponsored basiji militia who had been killed by what they described as terrorists.
"They [security forces] have killed him and now they want to hijack his dead body and exploit his funeral for their own purposes. His family is totally devastated and inundated in sorrow," said the family member, who asked not to be identified.
Opposition websites reported that two protesters were killed in clashes between security forces and thousands of defiant protesters who marched in a banned rally organised by the leaders of the green movement on Monday.
Iranian state news agencies later identified them as Zhaleh, a member of Iran's Kurd and Sunni minority, and 22-year-old Mohammad Mokhtari, but blamed the opposition for their death.
Iran's semi-official FARS news agency published a basiji identity card that it said belonged to Zhaleh, but the opposition immediately questioned its authenticity. In response, activists sympathetic to the green movement published a photo of Zhaleh on social networking websites that showed him in a meeting with grand Ayatollah Montazeri, a leading opposition figure who died in 2009.
Authorities staged a funeral at the Tehran University of Arts but did not permit Zhaleh's family to attend. Witnesses told opposition websites that the hundreds of basiji members who were bussed in to the university to participate in the funeral outnumbered the students and clashed with them.
According to the family member, Zhaleh's parents and siblings – who live in the western city of Paveh in Kermanshah province – were asked not to attend the funeral in Tehran and were threatened that Zhaleh's body would not be handed to them if they spoke to foreign media.
"Zhaleh's family are under pressure not to deny the way the officials have portrayed him. His father was forced to give a short interview to the state television. The authorities are depicting him completely upside down, they have silenced the family by threatening not to hand over his body," the family member said.
At the same time, Sajad Rezaee, a member of the Islamic Society student group at Tehran University of Arts, told Kaleme.org, the official website of Mir Hossein Mousavi, that the dead protester was not a member of the basij but was a pro-Mousavi activist during the 2009 election campaign.
Shahabaddin Sheikhi, a Kurdish journalist based in Germany, said: "The authorities' handling of Zhaleh's death reminds me of that of Neda Agha Soltan, the girl whose story took the world's attention. In Neda's case, they also tried to portray her as pro-regime demonstrator and they lied several times to impose their own version of the story but that finally did not prevail. Same thing is happening with Zhaleh because they are afraid of the world's reaction and also the reaction of the people inside the country. They can not get rid of this disgrace and taint easily."
Monday's protest, inspired by the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, marked the Iranian opposition's first attempt in more than a year to hold anti-government demonstrations.
On Tuesday, the majority of the Iranian parliament called on the Iranian judiciary to put opposition leaders Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi on trial and sentence them to death. Both leaders of the green movement have been placed under house arrest for the past couple of days.
Saeed Kamali Dehghan @'The Guardian'
Glenn Greenwald Discusses Wikileaks Smear Campaign with Matt Miller
"Given my involvement in this story, I’m going to defer to others in terms of the reporting. But — given the players involved and the facts that continue to emerge — this story is far too significant to allow to die due to lack of attention. Many of the named targets are actively considering commencing civil proceedings (which would entail compulsory discovery) as well as ethical grievances with the relevant Bar associations. As the episode with Palantir demonstrates, simply relying on the voluntary statements of the corporations involved ensures that the actual facts will remain concealed if not actively distorted. The DOJ ought to investigate this as well, but for reasons I detailed on Friday, that is unlikely in the extreme. Entities of this type routinely engage in conduct like this with impunity, and the serendipity that led to their exposure in this case should be seized to impose some accountability. That this was discovered through a random email hack — and that these firms felt so free to propose these schemes in writing and, at least from what is known, not a single person raised any objection at all — underscores how common this behavior is."
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More facts emerge about the leaked smear campaigns
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