Open Call: Hold Bush Responsible

He lied, thousands died!

Hold George Bush responsible.

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Open Amnesty

Amnesty International Posters (Originally found here. As this site is hosted in China it is more than likely these images will not remain available.)

 

 

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Open Code of Ethics

Proposed Bloggers’ Code of Ethics Against Sectarianism

July 2, 2008 · print · email

We have discussed this issue many times before, and we have successfully launched the Just Bahraini campaign, I believe that in the current circumstances, it is time to notch it up higher, and as bloggers, stand united together against sectarianism and discrimination in all their forms.

Therefore, I propose the following code to be adopted and signed by all Electronic Publishers, be they bloggers, webmasters, forum moderators, etc.

The code was the result of discussions with friend and journalist Ahmed Al-Aradi of Al-Waqt who wrote an excellent series of articles about the situation in Bahrain entitled “The Manufacture of Hatred”. The code he wrote was based on the previously published Bloggers’ Code of Ethics. He has retooled that to create this new code specifically targeted to alleviate sectarianism and the propagation of hate in the electronic sphere.

I suggest we review the following text and come to an agreement on the final code which I propose that we all sign physically and electronically on the International Blog Day which coincides with the 31st of August.

The Websites Code of Ethics (sites without sectarianism)

We the undersigned, owners of the websites, forums, and blogs, being managers, supervisors, controllers, participators and stakeholders,

declare, each according to his/her position and sincere national role, our being bound to this code entitled (sites without sectarianism), announcing to the public what follows:

1. The freedom of expression is guaranteed by the Constitution. It is an asset that cannot be eliminated, being an integral part of the fundamental freedoms laid down by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the National Action Charter and the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain, provided that this freedom is a responsible freedom in the maintenance of the social fabric and provided that it does not infringe upon the others’ freedoms and religious or doctrinal belongings.
2. We seek freely and fairly raise the level of dialogue and discussion within the democratic frame, apart from any sectarian, racist or family suggestions.
3. We refuse any suggestion or writings including a sectarian concept or an incitement to hatred, an abuse of the freedom of religion, doctrine or belief.
4. our duty is to protect religions in the light of the religious values, morals, customs, traditions and inherent Bahraini heritage, based on forgiveness, solidarity and cooperation, without giving precedence to the interests of any religious, doctrinal, sectarian or family category over another or attacking any of them, no matter how different they are from our religious and doctrinal components or faith.
5. we seek through our management, control, supervision and participation in the sites, forums and blogs, the service of the country with all its categories, currents and trends under the pluralist freedom, based on the understanding, negotiation, and exchange of points of view without any sectarian, doctrinal, or family allusions.
6. We expressly and strongly refuse any fanatic suggestion whether at the religious, doctrinal or sectarian level of any religion or sect and we declare our refusing position of all what enhances the separation between the one society members, due to the damages it may cause to the national unity.
7. We insist on our full compliance with all what is suggested on our sites and in our forums and blogs subject to the national line unity, and we will take a strict position in confronting personalities or sects that want to destroy such sites, forums or blogs, instead of criticizing positions and decisions.

[Note: I am including the entire English text because this should not just be for
Bahraini bloggers but for all netizens.]

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Open Illiteral Traslation

"Tu eres human"

according to Babelfish

'your you are human'

(to err is human)

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Open Intimidation: There is no such thing as free speech

Iran: Death Penalty for Blogging?

from Global Voices Online by Hamid Tehrani

On Wednesday, Iranian members of parliament voted to discuss a draft bill that seeks to “toughen punishment for disturbing mental security in society.” The text of the bill would add, “establishing websites and weblogs promoting corruption, prostitution and apostasy,” to the list of crimes punishable by death.

Emphasis mine.

Balocuh has published a cartoon where a cleric tells a woman about to be executed: “Don’t be upset, we'll execute you legally.”

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Open BASIC poetry

Go here and buy his stuff!

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Open Olechko Art

Local market butcher

 

 

from olechko - blog by olha pryymak

Local market butcher, oil on canvas, 20×25,5 cm, 2008

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Open Open Patois Patois

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Lawd, mi chile! Whappen tu Jamayka?

Jamaica is building up a good head of froth over the prospect of a project by the Bible Society of the West Indies to translate The Bible into Patois and publish it. Already, I feel conflicted. Should I write every sentence in standard English and then the equivalent in Patois? Is "Patois" a proper noun needing to be capitalized or can I write it with a small p? That's another issue, but it could also lead to a lot of froth. Now, it may not be my choice as the best use of money, but do I fear for my country's linguistic balance as a result of this?

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Open Memories: Albion MI

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Open request: Google Calendar

Older laptops like this IBM R51 can only do 1024x768 which is now "low-res" compared to today's standards. My request is that Google Calendar make better use of this space (highlighted red rectangle) ... maybe move it to the left column.

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Open MJQ, a morning jazz moment

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
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Open: The Spin Doctor will see you now...

Anil Dash has offered one of the best "spins" of the era ...

Bill Gates has pulled off one of the greatest hacks in technology and business history, by turning Microsoft's success into a force for social responsibility. Imagine imposing a tax on every corporation in the developed world, collecting $100 per white-collar worker per year, and then directing one third of the proceeds to curing AIDS and malaria. That, effectively, is what Bill Gates has done.

If for a moment I thought there was one iota of forethought on the part of Mr. Gates I as well would hold him up as a paragon of virtue. Conversely I think Mr. Bill Gates is suffering the weight of his ill-gotten booty.

Having imposed Windows on the world and exacted a pound of flesh for each copy I think Mr. Bill now gets to try and crawl out from under the burden of his wealth. Some now he and the Gates Foundation would have us believe that out of the great Windows deprivation will come the great good of human health and well being.

Bill, how does it feel to be pwned?

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Open Hunting

Witch hunt continues unabated

June 29, 2008 · print · email

7 more people have been detained by the Public Prosecutor under the guise of the recently announced “protecting our values” as determined by the Prime Minister. This time, 3 of those investigated are writers for Alwefaq’s political party’s publication, the remainder are connected apparently with the already banned sites

Raise your hands if you think this is a clear abuse of power and yet another attempt at silencing criticism cloaked in “protecting our values” thingy.

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Open to unite a divided nation

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Open Emptybottle

Real words of wisdom...

First, do no harm. Or as little as possible.

Second, do not suffer fools or Bad People. They will rob you of your life.

Third, make choices with an eye to minimize future regret. In other words, imagine you were on your deathbed looking back - live your life to make that old bastard as peaceful as possible about dying.

Fourth, learn and wander. We may or may not be hairless monkeys, but there is wisdom out there. It may be an evil world, but there is beauty. Find it.

Thanks stavrosthewonderchicken

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Open Heartbreak: R.I.P. Winston Rand

WINSTON RAND…HE WAS A PRETTY GOOD GUY.

My sincerest condolences...

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Open and shut.my.mouth

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
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Open Truth Speak and Equality

There is a phrase that epitomizes the social struggles of our time. Struggles
against oppression by poorer, weaker people. The burden of the economically repressed 'have nots' being taken advantage of by the 'Haves'. The disparity of the Political Machine and the representation of the will of the people. On a larger scale the Oppressors and the oppressed.

There is a long standing fear. A fear so ingrained that we let only the most innocent among us, our children, state the obvious, "the emperor is naked." For a myriad of 'sophisticated' reasons we are unwilling or unable to ...

...speak truth to power.

We fear that the Emperor will seek retribution. We fear that our personal circumstance will be made worse by the powerful who's veracity we have impugned. The stakes are so high that we even feel as though our very existence, our life, is jeopardized by the telling of the truth. In short we are afraid of losing what little power we have for the sake of the truth.

As such we are just a culpable as the power elite. We are afraid of our own perceived self-imposed retribution. We are unwilling to sacrifice what we have in deference to the truth. We are unwilling to speak truth to our own power.

Immediately our egalitarian ire surfaces.

• "Why must I tell the truth while others refuse to do so?"
• "Why must I sacrifice my power when others refuse to do so?"

Observation: Truth and Equality are not interdependent.

Equality is the evaluation of two or more entities. A state of balance, measure for measure. Truth is a single entity for which there is not a more or less truthful counterpart. Equality is a conditional relationship. Truth is unconditional.

Observation: We have forsaken Truth in deference to Equality.

I have recently heard, again, the platitude, "Everyone is equal. It is just that some are more equal than others." I have to wonder if the speaker realizes that in espousing such a view how completely they have abrogated any semblance of validity to their discussion point.


Coming soon: Open Value of Truth and Time

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