Month: January 2009

Peter Watkins

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Peter Watkins is a new find for me. The War Game is an excellent docu-drama. This DVD contains both the War Game and Culloden, another stunning take… He has this specific style that gives documentaries a fictional touch.

Other notable movies I have seen recently:

Salaire de la peur, Le (1953)

Fukushû suruwa wareniari (1979)

Body of Lies (2008): It is like a documentary. Intelligence wars in Middle East. Well done…

Zwartboek (2006) Hmm. Please click the titles to see the titles in English..

A cult band, Napalm Death,  is playing in Istanbul tonight. However, I have a date and I am missing it. I hope I have made the right decision:)

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Here comes the pain- Ergenekon gang receives a serious blow in the 10th wave of arrests…

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Police just retrieved buried weapons in a field in Gölbaşı, Ankara after finding a map in İbrahim Şahin’s house. Mr. Şahin had been a police special force chief. He was also tried in Susurluk trial but he "lost memory" then and he did not talk….

 

 

Weapons strengthen argument that Ergenekon is armed gang

The fact that countless amounts of weapons, including 73 hand grenades, numerous guns and rifles along with Kalashnikov and Kanas firearms, have been found up to this point during raids as part of the ongoing investigation into Ergenekon, a shady network of groups and individuals accused of plotting to overthrow the government, strengthens the accusations that the gang has engaged in armed activities and assassinations.

 

Ret. generals, academics, journalists detained in Turkey’s Ergenekon

Turkish police have detained around 30 people on Wednesday in the latest investigation and detainment wave in the controversial Ergenekon case. There are three retired generals, two academic and a journalist are among those who are taken into custody.

 

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"seven points of wisdom – Gaza roundup

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seven points of wisdom (re the palestine situation)

By Galip

fact one: israel will not back off from its offensive before george "dubya" bush is out of the white house, bar an almost impossible capitulation from hamas.
fact two: hamas is virtually dead.
true, it is pictured as a victimized hero of the philistines under israeli fire but it already fell far short of hezbollah of lebanon in representing and protecting the interests of its cohorts and backers. unlike hezbollah, hamas only won the elections because the fatah clique was unbearably incompetent and corrupt and simply unbearable. however, little changed for the better in gaza since, except hamas got more despotic.

A weekly humor magazine cover… 

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"Anthropologists on the war on Gaza

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Anthropologists on the war on Gaza

By Lorenz

(in progress) After two weeks war in Gaza, it’s time to round up: How have anthropologists contributed to a better understanding of the conflict? According to my overview, they have been quite silent. And they have been more active on blogs than in traditional media. Neither Google or Yahoo news search give any relevant results.

Gabriele Marranci has written one of the first blog posts: Gaza: bad politics needs blood. He criticizes both Hamas and the Israeli government:…….

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"Government 2.0: How Social Media Could Transform Gov PR

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Political Islam, secular elite and democracy in the Middle East (1) by A. KADİR YILDIRIM

In Op-Ed

What is a bigger threat to democratization in the Middle East, reigning secular-elite parties and regimes or popular Islamic parties?

Government 2.0: How Social Media Could Transform Gov PR

In web 2.0

It’s easy to see governments as nameless, faceless monoliths, something impersonal or, even worse, untrustworthy. Much of that is because government culture remains steeped in traditional ideas about public relations and outreach work, notions that have become archaic in an Internet-enabled, hyper-connected world. Just as private companies are learning to embrace social media to manage brand reputations, governments must adapt if they wish to effectively communicate with their "customers" — a.k.a. their citizens and stakeholders.

News

Pieter Brueghel the Younger, “Paying the Tax (The Tax Collector)”, oil on panel, 1620 – found in Seven Decades of Collecting: Celebrating the USC Fisher Museum of Art’s Acquisitions

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On Tuesday evening…

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Türk Telekom – Bnei Hasharon basketball game in Ankara is postponed because of the protests… (Source: Hürriyet)

Beşiktaş Çarşı fan group marched in support for Palestine before the evening game. (Source: Hürriyet)

CHP female MEPs in support for Palestine… (Source: Milliyet)

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One of AKP's best practices: "Turkey rehabilitates poet Hikmet

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Nazım Hikmet Ran

Turkey rehabilitates poet Hikmet

Turkey is to restore the citizenship of one of its most illustrious writers, the late Nazim Hikmet.

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"Turkey-Israel relations amid sound and fury, an enduring alliance

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[06Ocak2009.gif]
Obama after Gaza… VIA

Turkey-Israel relations amid sound and fury, an enduring alliance

ANKARA – Relations between Turkey and Israel have a long and dramatic history, but over time the two countries have transcended their differences and grown closer in light of a mutual interest in promoting a democratic Middle East and, according to experts, Turkey’s outspoken stance this time around will be no different

A huge roundup follows…

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"Interview: EU political dimension 'painfully lacking'

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European gas supplies disrupted

Several EU countries report major disruption to their gas supplies from Russia as Moscow accuses Ukraine of shutting pipelines.

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"Religious Kurds become key vote in Turkey

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Milliyet's xenophobia

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Milliyet provides a list of Turkish NGOs that received foreign funding. "these fundings are questionable" the report says. Because American consulate funded a religious NGO and Soros funded TESEV, one of the most successful NGOs in research related issues. But they have supported so many other NGOs. For instance TEMA, an environmental NGO with some deep-state connections. Why does the news producer not highlight what TEMA gets?

This is a disgusting way of news making and unfortunately such a quality paper, Milliyet, is frequently trapped into that because of its particularly secularist/nationalistic agenda. If an NGO does not share your political agenda, then it betrays the country with the help of some hostile foreigns….

By the way here is the whole list in Turkish: 

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"The 10 Coolest Open Source Products Of 2008

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The 10 Coolest Open Source Products Of 2008


 News

Edvard Munch (Norwegian, 1863–1944). Golgotha, 1900. Art Institute of Chicago Announces Becoming Edvard Munch: Influence, Anxiety, and Myth

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More than 200,000 protested in Çağlayan, Istanbul

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A video fragment from the Çağlayan protests. Taken from Flash TV’s live broadcasting…

More than 200,000 protested in Çağlayan, Istanbul today according to Hürriyet.

50,000 demonstrated in Diyarbakır, Turkey.. More photos here.

There were also demonstrations in Çorum, Tokat and Van.. …

 

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For the people of Gaza:

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……..they encountered suffering and adversity, and were so shaken in spirit that even the Messenger and those of faith who were with him cried: "When (will come) the help of Allah?" Ah! Verily, the help of Allah is (always) near! (2/214)

 

Israel begins ground assault on Gaza Strip

Around 2 thousand protested last night in front of Israeli consulate in Levent, Istanbul. Photo credits: Haksoz.net More photos can be found there.

 

Hundreds of Turks protest Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip

Hundreds of Turks demonstrated outside the Israeli and United Nations missions in Istanbul and Ankara overnight in protest at Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza.

 

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Erkan provides the ultimate round up of 2008 lists (!)

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Check out my delicious bookmarks: 2008  Here are previous round ups.. 2007 2006