Sunday, August 31, 2008

Supernatural Thriller Set During Tsunami in 2004 Makes Europeans Angry

Vinyan, a story about a white European family that loses their baby during the tsunami has enraged some members of the European community. They believe that films staged during the context of horrendous events, should not be made.

Other people think that it is the role of art to look at things in a new light.

I think that people who have a memory of something horrible are afraid to deal with the fact that those feelings feed the ego, and they are unwilling to let go of them and let other feelings take over. It's an issue they have, emotionally, with control. I respect that disaster has struck these people's lives. But it is the purpose of art to help us move along in our lives, at the expense of our egos.

Bernard-Henri Levy Discusses Why Daniel Pearl Was Killed



His thesis:

Daniel Pearl was on the verge of discovering three things about Pakistan, al-Qaeda and the Pakistan secret service / intelligence services ISI.

Danield Pearl was on the verge of finding "a link between ISI and al-Qaeda, or the jihadists around al-Qaeda."

Levy discusses the second point is that Pearl was finding out the role the Gilliani, the guru to the Shoebomber, "is also the man who inspires bin Laden to fight the war. He has very short ideas, and there are men who have the ideas for him."

And the third point: "I think he was inquiring on the very sensible point of nuclear weapons in Pakistan. Could have been, that there were some contacts between Pakistani scientists and bin Laden. The point is to find out if it goes further than that.

He also, frighteningly points out that "the next step in this war of terrorism could involved nuclear weapons. This is the idea of al-Qaeda today."

Because of this, and because of his work walking in the footsteps of the murdered journalist Pearl, Levy, very importantly, believes the real war is in Pakistan.

"There has been a mistake of calculation. [The war in Iraq] was not the right goal," he tells Charlie Rose.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Uyghur Attacking Uyghur in Xinjiang Province, Western China


One of the most intriguing situations to happen in China is not an economics miracle story, but a "simmering" violent situation that many have linked to terrorism sponsored by the East Turkestan Liberation Movement.

There are, however, a few details about the latest incident which has caught my attention. First of all is the surprising and most obvious detail of violence by Uyghurs against Uyghurs. This situation is gaining new dimensions… or perhaps it is more appropriate to say that the conflict has always been far more nuanced than the “simmering Uyghurs” summary that is most often put forward by Western media outlets touching base with the region. The fact of the matter is, the Uyghurs’ involvement in Han develoment/colonization on one hand and East Turkestan freedom fighting/terrorism on the other hand is far from black and white. In an area is remote as this one we can expect both a strong anti-Han sentiment, as rural areas tend to be predominantly Uyghur and mostly more traditional, and a local party/government structure that is mostly Uyghur, since, well, there are less Han around to run things. So we see loyal Uyghur police officers falling in the line of duty, and who I believe inevitably will be put forward by the CCP as model minorities and to further reinforce the “extremists on the fringes” model of Uyghur discontent.





Victims of latest Western China violence all Uyghurs

What Barack Said

For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us - that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn’t come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it - because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.

America, this is one of those moments.


Barack Obama's Nomination Acceptance Speech