Archive for
September 3rd, 2008
Stories
Egypt: Tycoon Arrested in Singer's Murder
An Egyptian billionaire has been arrested in connection to the murder of a Lebanese singer in Dubai, UAE. Following are some reactions from Egyptian bloggers.
Writing at Egyptian Chronicles, Zeinobia has the scoop. She says:
I got unconfirmed news through Twitter earlier today that the General prosecutor accused officially Hisham Talaat Mustafa of Incitement to murder of Suzan Tamim.
Then the news was confirmed according to BBC Arabic , in fact today was not only the accusation day but the arrest day of Hisham Talaat Mustafa himself. Here is the news from Masrawy.com too. “Both news are in Arabic”
Hisham Talaat Mustafa was arrested today in Cairo.
His empire or rather his father empire Talaat Mustafa group “TMG”had an immediate board of directors meeting and his brother Tarek was appointed as the new CEO instead of his brother.
TMG stocks in the Egyptian Stock Market surely did not go up to the sky after the thrilling news , it went down 16% of its face value , already I expect that they will go down more and more tomorrow because the news was not announced as expected today.
Zeinobia provides the businessman's profile here.
Elijah Zarwan, writing at The Skeptic, shares more news. He writes:
Yesterday police arrested Egyptian billionaire Hisham Talaat Mustafa, former chair of one of the country’s largest real-estate development firms and a representative of the ruling party in the upper house of Parliament, on charges that he paid $2 million to have Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim murdered in Dubai. A earlier ban on reporting any connection between Mustafa and the murder had suggested that the government might stand by Mustafa, who has good connections with the president’s son, Gamal. Apparently not.
Reuters’ Aziz al-Kaissouni is filing updates about the effects on the stock market. And Heba Saleh covers the political angle in article for the Financial Times.
And while on the theme of scandals and high rollers being at the wrong side of the law, Zeinobia has more news:
Mohamed Farid Khamis ,the big tycoon of oriental weavers , the famous NDP , Policies Committee member and the Shura Council member is facing bribe charges !!
It seems the famous old businessman bribed a judge and from here he was caught red handed through mediums who confessed in front of the general prosecutor.
You do not know anything about because there was a publication ban issued by the G.P as usual ,do not forget Khamis is very strong businessman.
Teach the Masses, blogging from Kuwait, posts more details on Tamim's brutal murder. She writes:
Tamim had a rather chequered past, married twice and even herself named in a plot to kill her second husband. She had been having an affair with Mustafa ( whose family practically ‘own’ Sharm Al Sheikh ) and this was broken off about three months ago. It seems she then high tailed it to London, before heading off to Dubai. Unfortunately love spurned Mustafa trailed her to Dubai and paid an ex policeman a whopping $2M to kill her. This he did by cutting her throat.
Africa: Here Comes Big Brother Africa III
The third season of the popular TV series Big Brother Africa started last month. The show, which will last for 91 days (until Sunday 23rd November 2008) involves contestants from Angola, Botswana, Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Tanzania.
The 3rd season has already developed a huge amount of interest on the continent. African bloggers are currently discussing the show from a variety of angles. Bazanye wants to offer updates of Big Brother III but he does not own a TV. So what does he do? He makes them up:
Because I have no TV (ref Crime Rate) I cannot offer updates of Big Brother Africa III. Not unless I make them up, as I shall now proceed to do.
Day I
10:40pm
Uti belches loudly and drops his hand to his belt. After a single deft gesture he has his large belt clip open, his fly unzipped and his belly is able to escape from confinement. “That was good food,” he says. Sheila repeats the first word she uttered when she entered the house. “Fuck!” she says. Uti, speaking drowsily, replies, “You misunderstood the reason I undid my fly. It’s because I am full. Maybe later.”
Sheila is disgusted and walks away from the table to join a gaggle of other housemates who have drifted towards the fridge. She leaves Morris at the table. Morris is looking at Uti enviously. “How did you do that?” “How I opened my fly so fast and with only one hand?” “No, I mean how do you repulse women so fast? I am a pretty boy so I don’t know how to do that.” He then adds, “Shwinggg!” and walks away, too.
Mimi’s head is literally inside the fridge. She is that eager for a drink. Takondwa is looking at her bum.
11:00pm
Munya and Lucille are having a conversation. “As I said in my intro montage,” Munya brags, “Zimbabweans are the ultimate hustlers.” “Do you really think that is the best thing to say to the rest of Africa about Zimbabwe?” “Why? What’s wrong?” he continues grinning because he really doesn’t know what is wrong.
12:00-next morning
Uti farts all night long.
Felix writes a 2-part series about BBA. After briefly discussing other reality shows such as Apprentice Africa, The Ultimate Search, he focuses on Big Brother Africa III:
Let me try and describe the whole scenario, they come into the house, six boys and six girls, youths with hormones pumping like wild fire, desperate to win the prize money of 100,000USD, knowing the craziest in the house or better still the wildest, which means taking showers naked on live television,… Each housemate will scheme and play the game hard in order to be the last man or woman standing to win 100,000 US dollars; while audiences watch every minute and every second of their lives in the house live on satellite TV. Not forgetting those hot and steamy shower hours where everything comes off in the full glare of the Big Brother lenses, and the organizers of the show in other to make this happen, they arrange a cozy, luxury two bedroom apartment with small rooms, and share the participants to be 3boys and 3girls to a room and they are welcomed with enough food, drinks, cigarette and music to swing into the mood of getting to know each other fast enough for action to start taking place in the house.
Funny thing is, I find it really fascinating how watching a group of people sitting around, talking, eating and sleeping? Can be entertaining, yet you get millions of fans going to bed late, because they are waiting for the housemates to go to bed first or hoping some action like what happened in the last edition will reoccur, some might say it’s the Shower Hour( the most watched session), but the truth remains, its gets a lot of fans hooked to the screen, even me…(lol) sometimes.
Is BBA a vehicle for encouraging immorality and promiscuity?
My questions are what is the average Africa youth to benefit from Big Brother Africa which without a doubt has become one of the most followed reality series in Africa and M-net, producers of the show got massive auditions across the 12 countries for season 3. BBA2 received over 900,000 SMS messages; over 14 million registered page impressions and over 4 million viewed video clips on the show’s website and which of course means the organizers of this show are really smiling to the banks each season. My other question now being what value is being delivered? Or are we being westernized to the point where we aimlessly follow a show that is immoral and a vehicle encouraging immorality, promiscuity… but whatever you views are, if you are watching (like I am), it means you asked for what you are getting.
“Isnt homosexuality the issue anymore?,”Kenyan Gay Man asks:
The Kenyan representative in BBA stated that she is bisexual and her strategy would be to sleep with all the women first then go for the dudes. This was even reported in The Standard friday magazine.
I was expecting the usual Kenyan reaction with politicians leading the way about morals and homosexuality etc. However, except for Hot 96 fm digress Am I the only one who listens to this station and really love the music? end of digress..erm where was I, oh yes, except for Hot 96fm, I have not heard anyone else comment about this declaration.
Imagine if the contestant was a man and he declared that he would first seduce all the dudes before he takes on the chiles! Now that would be something but that aside, the reaction would be swift and take the Kenya headlines.
Bella Naija does not think the Nigerian contestant, Uti, will win:
I still have a big question mark as per the Nigerian rep. Sorry but off the bat, dont think he will win…Hope I am proven wrong tho but as per first impressions…hmmmm
BTW, the Angolan guy (Ricco) and Latoya (TZ) have already had a mini hookup! within 12 hours of being in the house!
“The guys are kinda cute,” writes Linda Ikeji:
Big Brother Africa is back and I'm so so delighted with their selection this time around. The guys are kinda cute…
I just finished watching shower hour…hmmm…I repeat, the guys are kinda cute…well packed. lol
Sheila, the Kenyan contestant seem to attract a lot of attention from viewers. Is she a bully?:
Oh yes Sheila Kwamboka is a bully in the house. She has bright ideas and feels frustrated if nobody listens to her so she turns to bullying. But she's a friendly bully.
Sheila also led a group so desperate to gossip that they locked themselves in the toilet. They could not leave even when another housemate wanted to use it. That was a shame!
Vybez says that the prize is hers:
She is 23 years old , wild and keeping it real 24/7. This time all eyes are on her coz if the other contestants don’t watch it, the prize money is hers. The only forminadable threat or compe is from Mimi the Ghanaian chiq and Towana the Botwasana chiq. Go gal that prize money is ours…lol.
Wanjiku writes about the fake nominations, which took place at the beginning of the week:
The honeymoon is over for the housemates as the inevitable nominations began. They’ve no clue that the nominations are fake and eviction on Sunday will be fake too.
So who nominated who? And why?
Africancorp posts photos of the contestants. Times Multimedia has a video.
Armenia: Nagorno Karabakh Independence Marked, Anti-Turkish Protests Planned
Photo: ARF-D Nagorno Karabakh Independence Anniversary Rally, Matenadaran, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian 2008
While the international media concerns itself with the two breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in Georgia, Armenia Discovered reminds its readers that yesterday marked the 17th anniversary of the declaration of independence by another self-declared republic in the South Caucasus — Nagorno Karabakh.
September 2 is the 17th anniversary of adoption of Declaration of Independence in Artsakh (Karabakh) Republic. During the referendum organized within the frames of Artsakh (Karabakh) the people of the region has made their decision of solving the mistake made by Stalin in the start of 20th century and leave the structure of Azerbaijan according to the Soviet Constitution acting at that moment. The followed military actions initiated by Azerbaijani officials aiming at preventing the independence of Artsakh brought to a war lasted until 1994, factual capitulation of Azerbaijan and signing of unlimited ceasefire.
My The Caucasian Knot also covered the event staged by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D), a member of the coalition government in the country, and noted that other regional issues were also on the agenda.
Despite being represented in the coalition government, speakers used the occasion to declare that the nationalist party would stage street protests if the Turkish president, Abdullah Gul, attends this weekend’s football match between Armenia and Turkey in Yerevan. As RFE/RL explains, the statement comes in stark contrast to the message of reconciliation that the president, Serge Sargsyan, has offered to his counterpart in Ankara. Vahan Hovannisian, a key figure in the party, also took the time to comment on the recent war between Armenia and Georgia.
The party line is that ethnic Armenians living in Georgia’s Samtskhe-Javakheti region should be granted autonomy.
[…]
Calls for autonomy in Samtskhe-Javakheti are also not likely to present the right image to the international community either. To be fair to Dashnaktsutyun, the idea of a introducing a federal model in Georgia is not a bad one given the country’s history of ethnic unrest and internal conflict. However, such statements are likely to also be seen as first step to demanding independence. It is not uncommon to hear Dashnaks refer to the Georgian region as historical Armenian territory and to say that “after Karabakh, Javakhk is next.”
Blogian also comments on the rally and notes that the ARF-D promised to stage street protests when Turkish President Abdullah Gul arrives in Yerevan to attend the Armenia-Turkey World Cup qualifying football match. At the same time, it says that the Armenian Football Federation has banned any political propaganda in the stadium itself — especially if it relates to the 1915 Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey.
Political signs of any kind - including banners about the Armenian Genocide - will not be allowed in Yerevan’s largest soccer stadium this Saturday where Armenia and Turkey will play for the first time. Armenia Liberty quotes the chair of Armenia’s Football Federation as saying, “Only football-related placards will be allowed there. A victory for Armenia would send a much stronger message that a few banners.”
Armenia’s nationalist Dashnaktsutyun (ARF) party, in the meantime, has started protesting Turkish president Abdulla Gul’s anticipated visit to Yerevan to watch the game with his Armenian counterpart.
While Turkey officially denies the Armenian genocide, blockades Armenia and has taken a partisan side in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, many are encouraged by the recent positive developments in the Armenian-Turkish dialogue.
But if nationalist parties such as the ARF-D plan to protest the probable visit of the Turkish president to Armenia, Unzipped notes that the opposition considers the event to be as important as the government does. Indeed, the blog commends the opposition for its maturity on the matter.
Ter-Petrosyan led opposition announced its decision to postpone upcoming opposition rally from 5 September to 12 September and to end sit-it protest on the Northern Avenue from 31 August. Instead, there will be only “political walks” daily 7pm-10pm.
[…]
The importance of that game went well beyond sporting significance and considered a possibly key moment in opening up a new page in relationships between our countries.
Opposition does not want its actions to interfere in any way with the importance of developments in Armenia – Turkey relations and objective necessity by the authorities to take all the necessary security actions.
Talk Turkey also takes a more moderate approach and says that despite the differences between the two countries, a visit by the Turkish president couldn't have come at a better time.
With the ongoing Russian restructuring and its hopes of revitalizing the Soviet empire, closer relations between affected neighboring countries are very critical in any normal setting. Then there's the issue of reconciling differences regarding the ‘Genocide' matter. And the hope for a closer dialogue without the presence of any third parties whose justification for their own existence is the continuation of the very same discord they supposedly are for ending.
A good start . . .
My The Caucasian Knot has photographs from the anniversary event staged yesterday.
Photo: ARF-D Nagorno Karabakh Independence Anniversary Rally, Matenadaran, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian 2008
Jordan: Queen Rania's Video Blogging
Queen Rania of Jordan has been named the most famous Arab video blogger on YouTube by Blogger Times, a blogging magazine run by Arab bloggers, following the success of a series of YouTube videos she launched to shake off stereotypes against Arabs.
According to the article:
الكاميرتان الأولى والثانية هما للبي بي سي في حين أن الكاميرا الثالثة هي لأعضاء مكتبها، والكاميرات الثلاث تصور أحدث حلقة من برنامجها الذي يُبث في قناتها الخاصة المسماة V-log على موقع يوتوب الخاص بمقاطع الفيديو.
وهذه هي الحلقة السابعة أو الفيديو السابع منذ أن بدأت الملكة رانيا بث أحاديثها على موقع يوتوب في شهر مارس/آذار الماضي.
وتلقي الملكة رانيا أحاديثها باللغة الإنجليزية، إذ تطلب من المشاهدين أن يخبروها ببعض الصور النمطية التي سمعوها عن العالم العربي حتى يتسنى لها “تفكيكها واحدة تلو الأخرى”.
قد لا تكون عقيلة العاهل الأردني عبد الله الثاني، الشخصية العامة الوحيدة التي تستخدم موقع يوتوب الذي يقبل على مشاهدته ملايين المشاهدين؛ فهناك سياسيون وملوك في مناطق مختلفة من العالم قد أنشأوا مواقع لهم على شبكة الإنترنت.
لكن ما تتفرد به الملكة رانيا عن الباقي هو أنها الشخصية العربية الوحيدة التي تستخدم الإنترت للانخراط في حوار مع الغرب والترويج للخطاب الإسلامي المعتدل.
تقول الملكة رانيا مازحة “ابني المراهق شخص قليل الكلام لكن انطباعه (بشأن الأحاديث) كان “جيدا”، وبالتالي فإن انطباع المشاهدين لا بد أن يكون جيدا”.
ويبدو أن زوار موقع يوتوب يتفقون معه فيما ذهب إليه إذ أن ما يربو على مليوني مشاهد شاهدوا حلقات الفيديو التي بثتها على موقع يوتوب.
وتضم هذه الحلقات تسجيلات لها إضافة إلى مساهمات من موسيقيين وكوميدييين مختلفين ومواطنين أردنيين.
Perhaps the wife of Jordan's King Abdullah the Second, is not the only public figure who uses YouTube, that’s being watched by millions of people. There are other politicians and kings in different regions of the world who have created personal websites on the internet.
But what is unique about Queen Rania is that she is the only Arab figure who uses the internet to engage in a dialogue with the West to promote a moderate Islamic speech.
Queen Rania says jokingly: “My adolescent son is a quiet person who doesn’t speak a lot by nature, but his impression towards the speeches I gave was ‘good’, and thus the viewers’ impression should be good as well.”
It seems that YouTube visitors agreed with him on what he said, as around 2 million viewers watched the video episodes broadcasted on YouTube; which include along with her recording, contributions from different Jordanian musicians, comedians and citizens.
The article continues:
وأسرت الملكة لي قائلة ” عندما قلبت في ذهني فكرة بث تسجيلات لي على موقع يوتوب، نظر إلي بعض الناس وكأنني فقدت صوابي تماما”.
وتابعت قائلة “أشعر أن عالمنا يعيش أزمة في الوقت الراهن؛ فالعنف حل محل الحوار والغضب حل محل العطف”.
ومضت قائلة “آمل أن تصبح هذه القناة قناة اتصال وتواصل بين الشرق والغرب لأنني أعتقد جازمة أن عالمنا في أمس الحاجة إلى ذلك”.
“I hope that this channel becomes a channel for communication and a bridge between the East and West, because I firmly believe our world is in dire need for this”.
You can also follow Queen Rania on her channel.
Korea: Tens of Thousands of Buddhists in Seoul
Although Korea has many religions, there have not been serious religious conflicts. Different religions have peacefully coexisted. Until now… Peaceful coexistence now seems on the verge of breaking. Tens of thousands of Buddhists protested against religious discrimination from the current government. President Lee Myung Bak is famous for being a devout Christian and has had public activities as a presbyter. Since there were several episodes in which he described his strong religious belief in public and new high officials have expressed their passion for their religion, there have been concerns that preference for Christianity might lead to imbalanced religious power and lead to benefits for a specific religion.
Buddhist monks and believers have been angered by a scandal in which the Reverend Jigwan, the Buddhist order of Jogye's respected head monk, was taken out of his car outside Jogye-sa temple and was searched by the police. The Buddhists ask for a public apology from the President and legal regulations to avoid favoritism toward specific religion. They speak out in the street. Many netizens are concerned that a new kind of conflict will arise in Korea.
[…]불교계는 정부의 종교 편향에 항의하기 위해 스님, 신도 등이 오늘 서울시청 앞 광장에서 `헌법파괴 종교차별 이명박 정부규탄 범불교도대회'를 연다고 합니다. 현재 이명박 대통령과 정부의 일부 고위 관료들은 기독교인입니다. 그동안 불교계에 이에 대해 수차례 우려를 표명하기도 하였고 조계종 총무 스님을 검문하는 과정에서 강력한 항의를 했습니다. 불교의 현실 정치에 시위하는 일은 매우 드문일입니다.[…]
Netizens worry that it could be the harbinger of more conflicts and protests against the government.
[…]우리 사회가 종교문제로 시끄럽습니다. 8월 27일(수) 오후 2시 서울시청 앞 광장에서 대규모 범불교도대회가 열립니다. 도심 한 복판에서 수천 명의 스님들과 십 수만의 불자들이 정부에 항의하는 대회를 치르는 것은 불교사에 없었던 일이라 세인의 주목을 받고 있습니다.새 정부 들어서서 기독교 공화국으로 가는 게 아니냐는 불안감을 주는 공직자들의 종교 차별적 사건들이 연이어 터졌고, 이러한 일들은 장로 대통령 임기 내내 이어질 것이라는 우려가 있기 때문일 겁니다.조계종 총무원장께서 불쾌하게 검문을 당한 뒤 스님들 분위기도 격해진 듯합니다. 만시지탄이긴 하지만, 내부 싸움에만 몰두하느라 남의 일처럼 무심했던 것을 생각하면 불교계가 이 기회를 어떻게 활용하느냐에 따라 전화위복이 될 수도 있다는 생각입니다.
While continual religious comments from government officials upset people, some recent changes in public service generate more conflicts.
[…] 2008.6.20 국토해양부의 대중교통정보이용시스템 ‘알고가’에 수만 평에 달하는 봉은사의 경우 흔적만 존재할 뿐 어떤 곳인지는 알 수 없고, ‘조계사’란 명칭은 어디에서도 확인할 수 없었는데, 반면 봉은사 주위에서만 삼성제일교회 등 7~8개의 교회 정보는 상세했다고 소개함.
2008.7.11 국토해양부 ‘경관법’, ‘경관계획수립지침’의 대상에 향교와 지방문화재 등은 포함되었으나 전통사찰은 의도적으로 대상에서 제외됨
2008. 8.7교육과학기술부, 교육지리정보서비스 학교현황 서비스에 조계사는 물론 봉은사 등 전통 사찰과 대형 사찰들의 정보가 누락된 반면 교회는 명칭과 함께 교회 한 눈에 알아 볼 수 있는 아이콘이 상세히 표시돼 있음.[…]
조계사와 봉은사가 표기를 놓칠 수도 있다.문제는 그에 비해서 교회의 표기를 너무나 자상하게? 했다는 점이다.바로 형평성을 잃은 문제다.문제는 관광자원인데도, 대통령은 경제를 살리겠다고 있는데…
바로 전통성을 버린 문제다.문제는 예전에 표기되었던 것까지 치밀하게 지웠다는 점이다. 바로 고의성이 담긴 문제다.문제는 국가 공권력을 국가 행정력을 사심으로 행사했다는 점이다. 바로 공공성을 밟은 문제다.
이건 실수가 아니라 계획적인 음모다.우리가 두렵고 무서워하는 것은 그들은 그것을 사명이라 여기기 때문이다.그들은 우리가 인내하는 것을 못난 것으로 무시한다.[…]문제는,
이러한 국가 공권력을 행사하는 국무에 일부 종교인들로 편중되고
이러한 국가 행정력을 움직이는 국정이 일부 종교쪽으로 편향하고
이러한 국가 공공성을 유지하는 국부가 일부 종교인들이 편식하는 것이다.[…]
July 11. 2008. According to the ‘Landscape Regulation’ from the Ministry of Land Transportation and Maritime Affairs, old schools and local cultural properties are included, but traditional temples are intentionally excluded.
August 7. 2008. According to the Geography Information Service at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, information about Jogyesa Temple and Bongeunsa Temple is omitted. However, Christian churches are introduced with their names and have geographical icons.[…]
It is possible to think that they forgot to make signs of Jogyesa and Bongeunsa temples. However, the problem is that, compared to the mistake, all churches are so well introduced. It means that there is imbalance. Aren’t they tourism resources? I thought that the President wants to revive the economy… Another problem is to abandon orthodoxy. They even deleted parts of the Buddhist temples that had been inscribed before. The problem is the intention. The national authority and administration are used for self-interest. The problem is that they pressed down the generality. These are not mistakes, but planned plots. What we are afraid and scared is that they think of their deeds as missions. They disregard us because we put up with it. […]
The problem is,
State affairs to handle national authority are controlled by these religious people.
National administration is inclined toward this specific religion.
National wealth is held by these religious people.[…]
A rare case of a series of Buddhists’ protests draws strong attention from people.
그동안 정부의 기형적인 종교적 성향에 대해서 다양한 성토의 장이 열렸습니다. 우선 시청 광장을 넘치고 플라자호텔까지 찾아온 불교 신자와 시민들은 현정부에 대한 다양한 의견들을 쏟아 냈습니다. 오늘 서울 광장에서 주로 다루어졌던 것은 이명박 정부의 정치적인 편향보다는 종교 자체에 대한 편향이 옳지 않다는 것에 대해서 얘기하는 자리였습니다. 본질이 너무나 뚜렷한 집회였던 거죠. 결국 불교계는 이명박 대통령의 실질적인 사과를 요구하는게 전부였습니다. 그 이상도 그 이하도 아니었습니다. 오늘 집회에서 또 특이한 점은 불교 신자 뿐만 아니라 천주교 단체의 신부님까지 오셔서 일갈을 하셨습니다. 어떤 잘못을 따지기 보다는 이번 정부가 제대로된 종교관과 정치적 중립성을 통해 평화화 화합을 다지자는 것이었습니다. 이러한 기본적인 집회를 마치고, 거리행진을 시작하였습니다. 행진은 서울시청을 출발하여 광화문 방향으로 향한 후 종각으로 진행하여 조계사로 향하는 순이었습니다. 전반적으로 할머니나 아주머니 등 노인 분들이 많이 참석한 관계로 움직임이 힘들 수 밖에 없었습니다. 다른 그 어떤 집회의 참석자보다 육체적으로 약하지만 마음만으로는 풍요로운 분들의 작지만 커다란 움직임이었습니다. 우선 모임 자체가 순수하고 참가 자체가 평화적이기 때문에 많은 경찰이 나왔지만 행진은 평온하였습니다. 앞으로 이런 집회를 다시 볼 수 없을 것이라는 생각이 들었습니다.
부디 정부는 귀를 열고 이 분들이 원하는게 무엇인지 다시 한번 생각해봐야 할 것입니다. 그리고, 이번 집회가 무력 충돌 없이 잘 마무리 되기를 바랍니다. 끝까지 같이 하지 못해 아쉽네요.
공정한 대한민국을 원합니다.
The government should open their ears and think one more time what those people want. I hope that all meetings for this issue finish well without any physical conflicts.
I hope for a righteous and fair Korea.
Bloggers continue to analyze the issue.
퇴근하고 돌아와서 뉴스들 보니 오늘 하루도 정말 많은 일이 일어났다. 산속의 노스님들까지 거리로 나오게 만든 2mb의 힘은 정말 가공하다. 과연 이명박은 사과를 하고, 어청수는 퇴진하고 종교편향은 없어지게 될것인가? 언론 플레이하고, 시간 끌기 하고, 어영부영 다른 뉴스들로 잠잠해지길 기다리지나 않을까 예상되는데…좌우지간 초딩부터 산속의 노스님들까지 물러나라 외치는 2mb가 얼마나 버틸련지 내기할 사람 모아볼까?
20만 불자들이 모여 이명박 정부를 규탄한 날 마타하리 같은 미모의 여간첩 사건이 발표되었다.국정원은 10년동안 간첩 안잡고 머했는지, 정권 바뀌자 마자 언제쯤 간첩 나타나나 기다리고 기다렸는데.아주 센세이션하게 성을 무기로 한 미모의 여간첩이 20만 불자들이 모여서 정권 규탄한날 잡혔다 발표했다. 언제나 역사속에서 그렇듯이 발표 시점도 죽인다. 간첩사건 내용 다룬 기사… 때가 어느때인데 간첩이야 분노하며 읽는데…왜 선데이 서울이나 일요신문에 나올만한 이야기 같은거지….ㅋ.내용 보고 여간첩에 넘어간 군인들 왜케 많은거야. 국방부 장관 퇴진해야 되는거 아냐!! ㅋ 간첩활동 한 내용 보니 21세기 정보화 시대에 구글검색하고 gps이용하고 인터넷 검색하면 다 나올만한 내용들이던데, 참으로 한심한 간첩같고, 그 간첩 보내서 뭘 어쩌려구 했는지 이해가 가질 않지만… […]백골단 부활에, 여간첩에, 20년전 쯤으로 돌아가고 있는거 같은데….이제 삼청교육대에 장발단속에 미니스커트 단속 이런것도 좀 해야되는거 아닌지 모르겠다.[…]
On the date when 200,000 Buddhists started the protest, the government announced a beautiful spy scandal like Mata Hari. What did the National Intelligence Service do for 10 years? I knew someday soon North Korean spies would be arrested once the government changed. And a beautiful spy who has sex as her weapon was sensationally caught on the same date when those Buddhists gathered. As history has proved so far, the moment of the public announcement is perfect this time again. The story is so similar with those you can see in Sunday Seoul or Sunday Newspaper. I read what she has done. In the technological period of the 21st century, what she did was to find information that we ordinary people can even simply find through searching on google, and using gps and the internet. Wow… she is such a stupid spy. I really don’t understand what North Korea tried to do with her.[…] Restoration of Baek-gol-dan and female North Korean spy… It seems that we return to 20 years back. Maybe, Samchung Revival Camp and control of hair and skirt lengths will start again.[…]
A blogger talks about this issue and the example of the general attitude toward Japan’s religion.
항상 누구나 말하지만 공인들은 종교에 대한 부분을 중립적 입장에서 바라보고 노력해야한다. 예전 일본총리 고이즈미나 아베 등등 야스쿠니 신사참배에 대한 한국의 모든사람들은 비판했다. 전범 무덤이 있는 신사에 왜 참배를 하냐고 강하게 항의했다. 일본에서 답변은 총리가 믿는 종교인데 강제적으로 못하게 할수없다는 입장이었다. 자 과연 현재 한국에서 일어나는 일들을 보자 정치인들이나 각 요직에 있으신 분들이 자신들의 종교와 타종교를 분리하고 탄압한다는 이야기는 뉴스를 보아도 알수있다.
과연 이분들이 일본의 총리들을 욕할수 있을까?정치와 종교는 중립적이어야 하는 것인데 아직도 자신들의 잘못을 모르고 있다. 일본 총리와 다른점이 무엇인가? 둘다 똑같다. 참고로 일본은 죽으면 누구나 신이된다고 믿는다. 어느정도 유명하신분들이 모셔있는 신사를 참배하고 믿는다. 일본에서는 종교라고 한다. 그래서 일본은 다신교라고 할수있다.
종교의 중요한 점은 자신의 마음과 행동을 다시한번 고칠수있고 좀더 자신의 안식을 찾기 위한것이다. 다른종교를 배척하고, 탄압하며, 선과악을 구분짓는 행동은 종교인으로써 문제있는 행동이다.
다시한번 이점 깊이 생각하고 문제가 있는 사람들은 반성해야한다.
Even though politics and religion should be separate, they still don’t get it. How are they different from the Japanese ministers? They’re the same. For reference, Japanese believe that if all people die, they can be Gods. They visit shrines that keep famous people and believe them. Therefore, Japan is regarded as polytheistic.
An important part of religion is that people correct their minds and behavior and can look for comforts. If they exclude other religions, suppress them, and try to divide them into good and evil, their behavior has problems. They should think about this part and reflect on their conduct.
Haiti, Jamaica: Hurricane Update
As the Caribbean territories that were hit by Hurricane Gustav begin their clean-up efforts, new storms threaten to disrupt these islands once again.
Jamaica's YardFlex.com reports that Gustav actually split the Hope River Bridge and files a separate post detailing the relief efforts.
Haiti, however, is still reeling. Haiti Reborn says that between Gustav and Hanna, the island is battered:
Hurricane Gustav tore ashore at Jacmel on the southern peninsula of Haiti on August 26th. More than 12 inches of rain fell in a few hours on Haiti's denuded hillsides. More than 75 Haitians lost their lives and over 8000 their homes in mudslides and flash floods in the hours afterwards. The sad truth is that Haiti was still recovering from tropical storm Fay which soaked the island earlier in the month, killing 23.
Just today Hurricane Hanna glanced off the northern coast, bringing concentrated rain to the same region around Gonaive where three thousand died in the flooding of tropical storm Jeanne in September 2004. Preliminary indications are that severe flooding is beginning to take place again…
Pwoje Espwa thought that pictures would describe the situation better than words, but Theo still managed to say a few words himself:
The schools are filled with homeless families; downtown Les Cayes is flooded; at least three locals have drowned. This is sad but, from what I hear, it is much worse in Gonaives which Hurricane Jeanne slammed a few years ago. Keep the folks there in your prayers.
Links for Wed, 2008-09
Natalia Antonova writes this on the fourth anniversary of the 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis: “And, for many of us, the world has not been the same since. That’s all I can say about it, really. Although, even though I’ve linked to C.J. Chivers’ “The School” before, I’ll go ahead and link to it again.”
Sean's Russia Blog wrote on Aug. 31 that “for some, Putin’s Republican affinities are all too clear: Putin is a [closet neocon] and the his real intent of his [interview with CNN] was to cast [a veiled vote for John McCain]. There are 243 comments to this post now.
The Moor Next Door briefs us about the political situation in Algeria. “When Ahmed Ouyahia was appointed Prime Minister of Algeria for the third time earlier this summer, it was an important signal for the direction of the country in the next year.”
Wu Wei reports that “things are becoming more normal in Tbilisi.” Pictures from Wu Wei's pre-war trips to Batumi and Gori are here and here. Lex Libertas posts pictures from last year's trip to Batumi.
Wu Wei posts pictures and writes about her trip to Vilnius.
Wu Wei writes about Lithuania's reaction to the Russian-Georgian conflict and discusses the relationship between Russia and Lithuania.
Ukrainiana and Foreign Notes discuss Ukraine's newest political crisis.
Following last month's military conflict with Russia, Social Science in the Caucasus examines the issues surrounding Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Georgia. The blog examines the lessons learned from past conflicts in the country in the hope that mistakes can be avoided when international donor money comes flooding in.
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