Sunday, January 23, 2005
One strike, nobody out... yet.
Multi-linguals like to play games with words... sometimes proper names even!
TORI AMOS for instance evokes the verb "toreamos" which in Spanish means, literally, "we bullfight" or "we keep on bullfighting"...! That always conjures up a silly image in my mind - two or three toreadors (the three amigos of corridas?) who sing and dance along while bulls look on impassively... Note that I always root for the bulls in those things - never on the basketball court, no, but in those bloody "sports events" - always. But I digress...
Likewise, it may seem as a minor difference to most, but IRAQ is spelled IRAK in French-speaking regions around the world... A footnote - no more - to most people out there indeed, but for me it is immensely amusing... and oh-so appropriate too!
Think about it - THE MIGHTY USA - the country where you commit three crimes - you are out! (Kudos -wow, a word that starts with a K now...!- go to Billy C for that great achievement of so-called legislature and "justice"...). Three strikes and you're out... just like in the magnificent game of baseball! (One has to admire a nation (no Red Sox Nation jokes now) that bases its affairs of LAW and ORDER (no - not the tv show) on a pasttime - though national it may be...). Three strikes... no foul balls allowed? (Apparently not...). :(
Three strikes - three "K's"! And, correct me if I'm wrong, but IRAQ is definitely a "K"... maybe not even the first one either... for the whole American nation! And what will happen when, as Jean Chrétien, former Canadian Premier, once dubbed the US of A... "the leader of the free world"... what will happen when said "leader" collects three strikes?!? Hmm? Even the best lead-off hitters can strike-out... What remains to be seen is where this parallel will take the ENTIRE BLAMED WORLD... Hey - the USA started this whole "baseball is an allegory for life" schtick...! Some all-american author started this beautiful trend... let it progress to its inevitable end... and logical conclusion!
Next batter up... England... gotta be... Dubya's best friend... way better than "brothers" Canada... and Mexico!
I guess we might just as well pack up for oblivion right now - with this kind of starting line-up, WORLD WAR THREE will be over in a jiffy...! *LOL*
TORI AMOS for instance evokes the verb "toreamos" which in Spanish means, literally, "we bullfight" or "we keep on bullfighting"...! That always conjures up a silly image in my mind - two or three toreadors (the three amigos of corridas?) who sing and dance along while bulls look on impassively... Note that I always root for the bulls in those things - never on the basketball court, no, but in those bloody "sports events" - always. But I digress...
Likewise, it may seem as a minor difference to most, but IRAQ is spelled IRAK in French-speaking regions around the world... A footnote - no more - to most people out there indeed, but for me it is immensely amusing... and oh-so appropriate too!
Think about it - THE MIGHTY USA - the country where you commit three crimes - you are out! (Kudos -wow, a word that starts with a K now...!- go to Billy C for that great achievement of so-called legislature and "justice"...). Three strikes and you're out... just like in the magnificent game of baseball! (One has to admire a nation (no Red Sox Nation jokes now) that bases its affairs of LAW and ORDER (no - not the tv show) on a pasttime - though national it may be...). Three strikes... no foul balls allowed? (Apparently not...). :(
Three strikes - three "K's"! And, correct me if I'm wrong, but IRAQ is definitely a "K"... maybe not even the first one either... for the whole American nation! And what will happen when, as Jean Chrétien, former Canadian Premier, once dubbed the US of A... "the leader of the free world"... what will happen when said "leader" collects three strikes?!? Hmm? Even the best lead-off hitters can strike-out... What remains to be seen is where this parallel will take the ENTIRE BLAMED WORLD... Hey - the USA started this whole "baseball is an allegory for life" schtick...! Some all-american author started this beautiful trend... let it progress to its inevitable end... and logical conclusion!
Next batter up... England... gotta be... Dubya's best friend... way better than "brothers" Canada... and Mexico!
I guess we might just as well pack up for oblivion right now - with this kind of starting line-up, WORLD WAR THREE will be over in a jiffy...! *LOL*
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Record 129 journalists killed in 2004, Iraq worst hotspot: IFJ
Tue Jan 18, 2:03 AM ET Top Stories - AFP
SYDNEY (AFP) - A record 129 journalists were killed in 2004, with Iraq (news - web sites) and the Philippines proving the most dangerous countries for the media, an International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) report says.
The IFJ said the death toll, a large rise on the 93 killed in 2003, showed journalists were increasingly being considered as legitimate targets as they reported on war zones and investigated corruption.
The report singled out Iraq, where 19 reporters and other media workers were killed last year, and the Philippines, where 13 journalists were murdered.
"This report reveals how journalists and media employees in every corner of the globe have been targeted, brutalised and done to death by the enemies of press freedom," said the report.
"Some have been sought out by crooks and hired assassins, others have been gunned down as a result of nervous, unruly and ill-disciplined soldiering.
"Many succumbed because they appeared to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
The report by the Brussels-based lobby group, released in Sydney, said it was deeply concerned about the safety of journalists reporting the conflict in Iraq.
The IFJ said a total of 62 media personnel had been killed by coalition forces or Islamic insurgents since the invasion of Iraq in mid-2003.
"There can be no half-hearted condemnation of the major culprits for media killings this year -- fanatical terrorists, whose targeting of civilians including journalists has been mainly responsible for the heavy toll of journalists and media staff lost," said the report.
IFJ president Chris Warren also said coalition forces in Iraq had failed to provide a safe enviroment for journalists and helped make the media targets by attacking a Baghdad hotel favoured by reporters early in the war.
"When western democracies send out a message saying media organisations are legitimate miliary targets, there are plenty of people out there prepared to take them at their work," he said.
"Tragically in Iraq, we've seen both sides have taken that up."
The report said the issue of journalist safety in the Philippines had reached a crisis point.
"Time and time again, journalists who were vigorous and independent in their reporting are singled out and murdered with apparent impunity," the report said.
In response, the IFJ is sending a delegation of Australian, Indonesian and possibly Danish journalists to the Philippines next month to highlight the issue and demand government action.
Delegation member Gerard Noonan said 55 journalists had been murdered in the Philippines since the mid-1980s but not one conviction had been recorded over the deaths.
After Iraq and the Philippines, India recorded the most journalist deaths with seven. It was followed by Brazil (six), Bangladesh (five), Mexico (five), Colombia (four), Nepal (four), Russia (three) and Sri Lanka (three).
"A majority were the victims of politically-motivated assassinations," Warren said.
He said while the most attention focussed on foreign correspondents killed covering major stories, the majority of the reporters killed were locals working to expose corruption and drug trafficking in their communities.
Warren identified the countries of the former Soviet Union as one of the most difficult environments in which journalists operate, citing close connections between the military, politicians, business figures and organised crime.
"Things can get bad very quickly where there is this sense that you can kill journalists and get away with it," he said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1503&e=27&u=/afp/20050118/ts_afp/mediaifjyear_050118070344
The article came with an AFP file photo that featured protesters showing off a banner that read "STOP KILLING JOURNALISTS" during some peaceful manifestation... Stop killing them... because they are just doing their job...? True - absolutely true - they are... But, to make an equal media splash, who would "they" have to kill instead...? A hundred times as many poor, destitute nameless civilians...? Not a nice trade-off... sorry! In the best of worlds - there would be no casualties of war at all. No war. No hunger. No epidemics. No disasters of any kind. And not even worldly over-population...
Alas, that is not the real world we live in...
Tue Jan 18, 2:03 AM ET Top Stories - AFP
SYDNEY (AFP) - A record 129 journalists were killed in 2004, with Iraq (news - web sites) and the Philippines proving the most dangerous countries for the media, an International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) report says.
The IFJ said the death toll, a large rise on the 93 killed in 2003, showed journalists were increasingly being considered as legitimate targets as they reported on war zones and investigated corruption.
The report singled out Iraq, where 19 reporters and other media workers were killed last year, and the Philippines, where 13 journalists were murdered.
"This report reveals how journalists and media employees in every corner of the globe have been targeted, brutalised and done to death by the enemies of press freedom," said the report.
"Some have been sought out by crooks and hired assassins, others have been gunned down as a result of nervous, unruly and ill-disciplined soldiering.
"Many succumbed because they appeared to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
The report by the Brussels-based lobby group, released in Sydney, said it was deeply concerned about the safety of journalists reporting the conflict in Iraq.
The IFJ said a total of 62 media personnel had been killed by coalition forces or Islamic insurgents since the invasion of Iraq in mid-2003.
"There can be no half-hearted condemnation of the major culprits for media killings this year -- fanatical terrorists, whose targeting of civilians including journalists has been mainly responsible for the heavy toll of journalists and media staff lost," said the report.
IFJ president Chris Warren also said coalition forces in Iraq had failed to provide a safe enviroment for journalists and helped make the media targets by attacking a Baghdad hotel favoured by reporters early in the war.
"When western democracies send out a message saying media organisations are legitimate miliary targets, there are plenty of people out there prepared to take them at their work," he said.
"Tragically in Iraq, we've seen both sides have taken that up."
The report said the issue of journalist safety in the Philippines had reached a crisis point.
"Time and time again, journalists who were vigorous and independent in their reporting are singled out and murdered with apparent impunity," the report said.
In response, the IFJ is sending a delegation of Australian, Indonesian and possibly Danish journalists to the Philippines next month to highlight the issue and demand government action.
Delegation member Gerard Noonan said 55 journalists had been murdered in the Philippines since the mid-1980s but not one conviction had been recorded over the deaths.
After Iraq and the Philippines, India recorded the most journalist deaths with seven. It was followed by Brazil (six), Bangladesh (five), Mexico (five), Colombia (four), Nepal (four), Russia (three) and Sri Lanka (three).
"A majority were the victims of politically-motivated assassinations," Warren said.
He said while the most attention focussed on foreign correspondents killed covering major stories, the majority of the reporters killed were locals working to expose corruption and drug trafficking in their communities.
Warren identified the countries of the former Soviet Union as one of the most difficult environments in which journalists operate, citing close connections between the military, politicians, business figures and organised crime.
"Things can get bad very quickly where there is this sense that you can kill journalists and get away with it," he said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1503&e=27&u=/afp/20050118/ts_afp/mediaifjyear_050118070344
The article came with an AFP file photo that featured protesters showing off a banner that read "STOP KILLING JOURNALISTS" during some peaceful manifestation... Stop killing them... because they are just doing their job...? True - absolutely true - they are... But, to make an equal media splash, who would "they" have to kill instead...? A hundred times as many poor, destitute nameless civilians...? Not a nice trade-off... sorry! In the best of worlds - there would be no casualties of war at all. No war. No hunger. No epidemics. No disasters of any kind. And not even worldly over-population...
Alas, that is not the real world we live in...
Hmm... this silence must be the silence of death already, casting its shadow upon the 27-28 odd % of net-users who actually KNOW what a BLOG is...!!! LOL
IRAK... ah, IRAQ = strike one.
IRAN... strike two?
and then North Korea sure can complete the famed (infamous really) AXIS OF EVIL... LOL
Another fine two messes you want to get us all into - DUBYA! And yes - the duds gave ya four more years to do it!!! THANKS AMERICA!!!
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IRAK... ah, IRAQ = strike one.
IRAN... strike two?
and then North Korea sure can complete the famed (infamous really) AXIS OF EVIL... LOL
Another fine two messes you want to get us all into - DUBYA! And yes - the duds gave ya four more years to do it!!! THANKS AMERICA!!!
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