erkan

more Chrome links and more from the cyberspace…

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More ‘EU controlling blogging’ outrage – a more careful analysis

By Jon

Back in June there was a lot of debate on numerous blogs about a draft European Parliament Resolution by Estonian Socialist Marianne Mikko. The original draft contained some rather strong paragraphs about placing legal restrictions on blogs but, after all, the initial draft – as I argued at the time – was probably the misguided view of one MEP, and that some MEPs had proposed sensible amendments.

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British artist Alan Jaras turns light into awesome works of art. A majority of the works are analogue images of the refraction patterns from a beam of light passing through a transparent object (Jaras uses pieces of textured glass). VIA

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"Orhan Pamuk: Characters pull me along in their own directions…

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Orhan Pamuk: Characters pull me along in their own directions By ABDULLAH KILIÇ These days Turkey is abuzz about Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk and his new book, “Masumiyet Müzesi” (Museum of Innocence), with a first printing of 100,000 copies. Pamuk is quite pleased with the initial reactions from the press and from the first … Read more

Now open warfare between AKP and Doğan Media Group (DMG)!

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 After a corruption case whose details given below, DMG papers and CHP started a new wave of attack against AKP and its leadership. As usual Milliyet leads the accusations. As far as I remember PM Tayyip Erdoğan uttered the name of "Aydın Doğan" for the first time and he accused him of not having moral … Read more

Historic game in 3 hours

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Map showing the Turkish areas that were inhabited by Armenians ...

Map showing the Turkish areas that were inhabited by Armenians in 1915. Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul has made a historic trip to Armenia to watch a football match and try to tackle decades of animosity between the estranged neighbours.

(AFP Graphic)

 

I am here in the office working on the dissertation, on a particular chapter and what I want most in life right now is to be in our joint, sitting with my friends and watching the game. Nearly in the break between the first and second halves of the game, we will have our traditional iftar. This will be the tenth? I am expecting 10-15 people to appear for the game and iftar.

There might be some protests in the Armenian side, some provocative acts but these are already expected. Hopefully, this will be a good day for two countries, a good day for me, having friends  around and playing cards all night after a soccer victory. Hmmm even if Turkey loses, I guess, I won’t be too upset. 

There is an ache in my back for three days due to getting cold for sure but today i began to worry if there might be a case of hernia. My dad had one. This makes me more worried; i am going to see a doctor soon if there is no progress! ok Let me back to work on "Internet based Urban Legends in the EU Process" chapter…

Rounding the circle

President Abdullah Gül is traveling to Armenia for a historic visit; Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is off to Syria for Middle East talks; direct negotiations are taking place between leaders of the two communities in Cyprus, and the foreign minister of Turkey’s neighbor and former rival Greece declares herself hopeful that the two sides will eventually reach a settlement; and Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently visited Turkey.

Can Soccer Heal Turkey-Armenia Rift? – TIME

Issues dividing Armenia, Turkey

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"What does the military?s surprise visit mean?

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What does the military’s surprise visit mean? by İRFAN YILDIRIM

The Ergenekon case is still shaking Turkey. Most recently, the visit paid on behalf of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) by Kocaeli Garrison Commander Lt. Gen. Galip Mendi to retired generals Şener Eruygur and Hurşit Tolon, who are being held in Kandıra Prison in connection with the case, has added a new dimension to the issue.

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Nosemonkey reports: "European Commission: It?s not racist to target a particular ethnic group for police persecution

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European Commission: It’s not racist to target a particular ethnic group for police persecution

Good news for fascists today – according to the EU, it’s no longer racist to target a particular ethnic group based on folklore that suggests they’re all criminals.

EU Should Balance Criticism Toward Russia and Georgia

Leonie Holthaus: The EU should serve as a mediator in the Russian-Georgian dispute. This role requires that the EU does not take sides with one conflicting party but rather balance its criticism. Even if a position like this is perceived as "hesitant" in the US press, it may contribute to resolving the conflict by diplomatic means………

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"Ordinary Folks

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Ordinary Folks

by Cheryl Rofer

I’ve been thinking some of this, on and off, but maybe now is the time to say it.

Barack Obama looks like ordinary folks I’m accustomed to. Yes, I’m white, and yes, I grew up in largely white northern New Jersey, but Obama is about the same age as, and looks a bit like, the son of my bff. She qualifies as bff because we have been more or less that status since our ages were in the single digits. Some things won’t ever change.

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Akşam, your Ergenekon friendly paper

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I am hitting Doğan Media Group (DMG) papers recently but how I missed Akşam? Owned by a once-bigger media conglomeration, Akşam’s bitter tone should be noted when one talks about the Ergenekon case. Normally, I respect Akşam’s position. Compared to major Doğan papers, it occupies a more neutral standing and unlike Vatan daily who had boasted about being independent (but then sold to DMG), Akşam stayed relatively independent. Its chief editor Serdar Turgut has an intellectual level well beyond many of his counterparts. -But of course he rejected to talk to me for my dissertation despite the talk I made with his secretary, several times. So Erkan does not like him anymore (!) and be believes his frequent quotes from famous philosophers and social theoreticians are all farcical-

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Reports from EASA

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As I become a robot like person and concentrated on writing in the remaining days, I had decided not to attend anthropology conferences this year. EASA conference was relatively close to Istanbul but i could not make it. Similarly, I won’t be attending AAA. I just did not want to deal with a trip, last minute paper preparations etc. Hopefully Erkan will be next year but in the mean time, Lorenz reported from EASA: 

First reports from Europe’s largest anthropology conference (EASA)

By Lorenz

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Today was the fifth and last day of the 10th Biennial Conference of the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) in Ljubljana, Slovenia. There are no news stories yet, but anthropology students at the University of Ljubljana have already written an impressive number of reports on workshops, plenaries and poster sessions.

The students have done a real great job and I hope they will inspire other conference organizers. There are exciting things being told and discussed at conferences. But until now, these stories have stayed inside a small community of scholars. Things are changing: The Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) has started podcasting from their annual meetings.

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Rage Against the Machine RNC – 09.02.08 (Performs Acapella in Crowd)

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Good news in Turkish foreign policy decisions, Armenia, Cyprus

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Turkey's national soccer team coach Fatih Terim talks during ...

Turkey’s national soccer team coach Fatih Terim talks during a press conference in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008. Turkey will play Armenia in a World Cup qualifier in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on Sept. 6.

(AP Photo/Ibrahim Usta)

 

President Abdullah Gül decided to attend the national game in Erivan this Saturday. On the other hand, negotiations re-started in Cyprus. This time more optimism than ever….There may not be substantive developments in near future but symbolically these are giant steps…

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"The crisis of the Post-Cold War European order

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The crisis of the Post-Cold War European order

By Ivan Krastev

A policy of engagement defined as a focus on national interest, and a radical turn from value-based foreign policy to nineteenth century Realpolitik, is not a workable option for relations between Russia and the West, writes Ivan Krastev.

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Here comes the Google browser- Chrome

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The launch of Google Chrome had to be rushed out last night after an employee accidentally emailed a comic book explainer to Blogoscoped. The really very excellent comic explains how Google rethought the web browser from the bottom up, starting by saying how the current browsers were designed in a different era of the web when we weren’t all frequently accessing heavy, interactive applications. VIA

 

Last night I installed Chrome but did not feel to play with it as I was forcing myself to write for the dissertation. My current Firefox is too nice to quit honestly. The first impressions of Chrome users all seem to be good and i may change mine too but for the moment Firefox 3.0 is really good enough to beat. We will see. Before some links on Chrome, here is Ethan’s post on-

 

Blogger “failures” in the Georgian war, and the rise of citizen propaganda

By Ethan

As Russia slowly pulls out of Georgia and the world of foreign policy wonks contemplates how the Olympics War will change the geopolitical map of the Caucuses, the world of citizen media is busily evaluating its (our?) own performance.

Two good friends have taken the blogosphere to task for its failures during the conflict. Rather than rise to the defense of Georgian, Russian, Ossetian and global bloggers, I wanted to take a look at their critiques and at the phenomenon of citizen media during the conflict and at the emergence of one of the interesting epiphenomena of citizen media: citizen propaganda…

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Should I stay or should I go?*

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* A Clash song.

Latif Demirci. 2 September 2008 Hürriyet VIA

RT Erdoğan: "you are attending the game in Erivan, ok? 

A. Gül: "oh I don’t know. Would that be right?

 

President Abdullah Gül shouldn’t hold back and go to Armenia. It is congruent with AKP policies and with the EU process. Turkey should end this blind hostility anyway. Concessions to ultranationalists did not work so far. There must be a progressive move. Let’s see what happens in a few days as Mr. Gül willdeclare his decision…

Should Gül go to Yerevan?

As President Abdullah Gül continues to consider whether to accept an invitation from his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarksyan, to go to Yerevan to watch a World Cup qualifying game between the national teams of the two countries, debates have intensified over the possible consequences of his Yerevan visit. 

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Ramadan, the second day.

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The Ramadan started all over the world.  A whole month of fasting. Now I have to get back to work/writing so i will read the Wikipedia entry for fasting later but it seems Islam’s is one of the most difficult fasting tasks. I wonder what kind of liars were those who said Islam is a religion of ease in my childhood. What kind of easiness involved in this ritual? 🙂 As part of my eccentric fragments of belief, I do fasting. And since I don’t feel attached to collective part of it, it doesn’t seem very sensical. However, it is yet another test of iron will I won’t quit. I think fasting is easier when practiced collectively and I sometimes feel jealosy for those living in a more collective mood. Yes, at least my family does fasting- mostly. But theirs is too routinized. I have to attend Iftar frequently because they are upset if i don’t. But the iftar is just another dinner in which I have to put with the then current family issues.

Anyway, here is a roundup on Ramadan, corruption in Turkey- Zeynep Göğüş interview seems to be linked extensively in the net-, Alevis and AKP, and an update on Sulukule… 

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