While most of the media and many Democrats/liberals are not putting much importance on the election in Iraq, it is a big deal to the people of that country and Iraqi expatriates around the world. Don’t take my word for though, check out these blogs from the people: the Mesopotamian, Democracy in Iraq, Live from Dallas.
If you don’t know about The Internet Archive, you need to go to their website. It is an awesome project that is attempting to Archive all media. That’s right ALL media; every movie, tv show, peice of music and literature. As of now the project is being held back somewhat by the DMCA. I saw the guy that is the head of the project speaking about it on C-SPAN and it got me psyched about the whole thing. His idea that we have “universal access to knowledge”. It is a very great undertaking that Brewster Kahle and his fellow librarians are going through to do this so make their efforts worthwhile and check out the Internet Archive.
On the cover of the latest issue of America’s 1st Freedom is the following question: Can Britain Be Saved? This is referring to the fight that has just been started by a major newspaper in England and top law enforcment personnell in England to given Britains back their right to self-defense using a firearm. What does it say about gun control if the pioneer countries are starting to look back?
How can this type of struggle be won against a government who says the people are safe when “a 93-year-old woman who put up barbed wire around her home after repeated burglaries has been ordered to take it down because it could injure intruders?” (America’s 1st Freedom, February 2005, pg. 42)
I for one am doubtful that any such salvation will ever be achieved but I’m proud of those fighting for their rights.
I just finished Half-Life 2. Yes, I know I’m far behind many fanatics, but I’m just as passionate about it now that I’ve played the game. It is truly revolutionary. Anyone who hasn’t played it should. Anyone who hasn’t played on the highest quality needs to upgrade their computer and play it because the experience is drastically different and much more enjoyable. Thanks. Have Fun!
I guess a country’s first democratic election isn’t such a big deal.
Good News from Afghanistan, Jan 10/05
Note: Also available at the “Opinion Journal” and Chrenkoff. Thanks to James Taranto and Joe Katzman for their support for this project, and thanks to readers and bloggers who have done so much to publicize the series and make it better.
Stephen Hayes from “The Weekly Standard”, who has traveled to Afghanistan to witness the inauguration of President Hamid Karzai, quotes from the speech by the country’s first democratically elected leader:
Whatever we have achieved in Afghanistan–the peace, the election, the reconstruction, the life that the Afghans are living today in peace, the children going to school, the businesses, the fact that Afghanistan is again a respected member of the international community–is from the help that the United States of America gave us. Without that help Afghanistan would be in the hands of terrorists–destroyed, poverty-stricken, and without its children going to school or getting an education. We are very, very grateful, to put it in the simple words that we know, to the people of the United States of America for bringing us this day.
Sounds familiar? It shouldn’t. As Hayes writes, “Sadly, most Americans never heard these words. Gratitude, it seems, is not terribly newsworthy. Neither is democracy. The Washington Post played Karzai’s inauguration on page A-13, a placement that suggested it was relatively less important than Eliot Spitzer’s decision to run for governor of New York or the decision of the U.S. government to import flu vaccine from Germany.” As columnist Charles Krauthammer commented on the mainstream media’s reaction to the inauguration, “Miracle begets yawn.”
Yet, ironically, one of the most comprehensive and most optimistic overviews of the tremendous progress achieved in Afghanistan over the past three years comes, of all places, from an official Chinese press agency Xinhua (just consider the surreal picture of Chinese newsmen celebrating democratic election and defeat of “anti-US” Taliban). If you want to read the “good news from Afghanistan” in one short, sharp piece, go Xinhua; if you are after more detail about all the positive – and under-reported, yawn-inducing – developments in Afghanistan over the past month, read on.
* Society
* Reconstruction
* Humanitarian Aid
* The Coalition troops
* Security
Posted by Winds of Change at January 10, 2005 12:13 PM | TrackBack
This is from the Command Post blog which I check regularly.
I found this organization, Students for Global Democracy, while surfing, and thought it was such a good idea. I really like the picture on their homepage. Not all college students are nut liberals.
Are you a student? If so, are you consciously aware of your professors’ political alignment? Have you ever thought about why? Why would a professor actively profess his or her political view? For more information visit this site: http://studentsforacademicfreedom.org/
Has anyone else played Knight of the Old Republic 2? For the most part its a carbon copy of the original with a different story. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining but even the story seems to lose its ground and almost fall apart near the end. Anyway, just a thought.