ztraffer

I've given in to the pleadings of my conscience and removed the really bad sake haiku I had authored -good riddance!

Chaplin's "The Dictator" has become quite poular in Iran In the past decade, Iran has made headlines often because of its nuclear research and hostile stance in the world stage. Unfortunately it is easy for people reading headlines to think that most of Iran is composed of zealots, especially during a time when the Bush administration made Iran a part of “the axis of evil”. However, the events of recent weeks in which the people have massively protested the election fraud, have helped the world see that in spite of its alleged democracy, Iran’s regime has no mandate from its people. In other words, the people in Iran massively oppose their government: -They do not want to pursue the development of nuclear weapons. -They do not wish the destruction of Israel. -They do not hate the West, Israel, or care to be seen as a destabilizing force. -They are very unhappy with the way the regime has managed the country, in particular the economy, and want to have a say on how it is c...

It's been said over and over: the US spends twice as much in health care as the average developed nation, and yet 1 out of 6 US citizens are uninsured. If nothing is done, the number of people without health care will continue to grow, or the government will eventually go belly up -or more likely, both. OK... but why is this happening in the first place? Answer: The underlying problem has to do with the lobbying mechanisms that allow interests groups to exert such enormous influence on the Congress that it amounts to legalized corruption. Lobbying should be a democratic mechanism for minorities and groups that otherwise would have no voice; unfortunately it has become a tool for groups with huge sums of money to push legislation that favors their interests at the expense of the country, and over the past decades it has had a negative effect on health care. Specifics: 1. Doctors get paid based on the drugs and tests they prescribe -the more they order the more money they make. Yes, ...

Google just announced it is launching its own operating system: Chrome OS. Someone described this as dropping a nuclear bomb on Microsoft, and it kind of feels that way. There's no question a war has been brewing, and the object of that war -market dominance of the Web- is now moving into Microsoft's core territory. As Google put it, existing OSs were designed before the web -that is, they are computer-centered, to run local applications . It has been clear for a while that the computer world is moving from the local PC to the web. So not only is Google threatening the Windows OS, it is threatening MS Office, or pretty much ninety percent Microsoft's revenue. This reminds me of the first web war: the battle between the Netscape and Internet Explorer (see browser wars ) -of course, back then Microsoft used to bundle IE with Windows in new PCs while Netscape couldn't do much but watch helplessly. Google plans shipping its OS with new netbooks and later full laptops and...

I found myself reading the news about the riots in Xinjiang , and wondering, who are the Uyghur people , and why can't the central government just let minorities thrive instead of drowning their cultures among Han mainstream? Fear, of course. But I don't want to think too much... here is some Uyghur pop music, enjoy.

Iran's tide of change continues to advance. According to this NYT article , leading celrics in Qom declared the elections illegitimate, in a direct challenge to the Ayatollah, showing the regime faces strong opposition at all levels. What is most interesting is that there this is supposed to be a stronghold of the regime as there are "...no liberals or opposition groups here(Qom); this is the center of mullah control over the government, culture, and politics of Iran." If the regime is finding strong opposition here, it means it is standing in very shaky ground indeed. This in turn will undoubtedly embolden others to openly opose the regime, which would require even more repressive violence, which would enarage the people even more. The possible arrest of Mousavi seems to be more and more likely -this may prove to be an unintentional boost to the reformists, as it would provide a rallying focus to the protesters. Arrests of citizens and media repression continue: The BBC...

May your true spirit shine in this new era of hope.

The creative graffiti in the streets of Tegucigalpa turns Mel Zelaya to Mel Ze Vaya (Mel Go Away) Honduras ' legitimately elected president, Manuel Zelaya , has been ousted in an alleged coup. I say alleged because in spite of the international backing of Zelaya , so far I have seen no clear evidence that his removal from office was illegal -after all, the move to attempt re-election violated articles of the Constitution that forbid changes to the presidential limit of one four-year term and establish the legal procedure for constitutional amendments- however, the mode of his removal seems hardly a democratic measure and adds legitimacy to Mr. Zelaya's claims. In any case, declarations from OAS, UN, and the US, state their support for Zelaya and demand his return to power. Perhaps I should humbly assume they know exactly what they are doing and are acting out of their selfless devotion to Democracy. I'm not being sarcastic this time (really, I'm not). Elected o...

The government continues to supress demonstrations , and blames the West on government television, even showing "confessions" of protesters supposedly incited by western media outlets. The Iranian bloggers make clear that no one is fooled by this, but since the Supreme Leader decided to show his hand and intervene in the elections, he doesn't have a choice but to play his role and go on with the act, leaning on his security forces. Although Khameini has succeeded in making the public demonstrations diminish significantly, the unrest persists in the minds of the people. It seems clear that this isn't simply going to go away. The clamp down on the media, scare tactics on the party leaders and reformists, violence on protesters, and monitoring of Internet comunications may have calmed things down to an extent on the surface, but underneath the tension hasn't gone away. So far the government has been threatening to arrest Mousavi; if they do, a general strike may like...