tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60059872011-09-30T06:58:50.737-07:00DarkMirrorReflections on world politics, personal politics, past/present/future politics, collective and personal dramas, dreams and demonologies.Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.comBlogger621100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-64044464069737706722011-02-12T07:51:00.000-07:002011-02-12T07:51:30.744-07:00The Egyptian Revolution, day by day - from the first great march on 25th Jan 2010 to victory on 11th Feb 2011: Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-24808964826386425632011-01-26T21:39:00.002-07:002011-01-26T23:49:22.857-07:00TALKING ABOUT A REVOLUTION - The True Story of the Egyptian Uprising From Cairo back to Tunis, from Tunis back to Sidi Bouzid...  Mohamed Bouazizi,  a Tunisian Martyr:R.I.P. Mohamed Bouazizi - d.  4/1/2011 Kasserine, Tunisia 10/1/2011 - Evidence of a Civilian Massacre The Tunisian Revolution of 14/1/2011  From Khaled Said to Mohamed Bouazizi, from Sidi Bouzid to Tunis, from Tunis to Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-11622841094724505052011-01-02T17:43:00.000-07:002011-01-02T17:43:50.045-07:00GAZA YOUTH BREAKS OUT   The following statement was issued by a group called   Gaza Youth Breaks Out. When contacted by Mondoweiss for more information  they sent this response:"We are a group of young people living in Gaza facing different kinds of violence everyday. We are looking for change in our country and trying to taste peace. we can't give you names bcz we are working undercover Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-28344889240699808872010-08-18T22:21:00.013-07:002010-08-18T22:47:04.348-07:00LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT..... Last US Combat Brigade Exits Iraq (BBC) The last American combat brigade in Iraq has left the country, the US military has said. The 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division began crossing by land into Kuwait in the early hours of Thursday, said a spokesman. (...)  Most of them drove out of Iraq in a convoy of armoured vehicles, say reports. The Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-73271034296701003202010-06-19T16:24:00.000-07:002010-06-19T16:24:48.781-07:0020 June 2009 - 20 June 2010:   FOR NEDA Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-66502252164740971422010-06-17T17:27:00.003-07:002010-06-17T17:56:44.016-07:00DEFECTORS FROM IRAN'S REVOLUTIONARY GUARD REVEAL REGIME'S TENSIONS One year on from Iran's disputed election, former members of the elite Revolutionary Guard speak out: Iran's Revolutionary Guards point to fresh dissent within oppressive regime Six months ago Muhammed Hussein Torkaman was a young Revolutionary Guard in Iran, working in the security team attached to the supreme leader Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-60838163166159265232010-06-09T16:04:00.000-07:002010-06-09T16:04:58.938-07:00YOU'RE TALKING BOLLOX, MR. REGEV A short primer on Israeli propaganda for media dummies* By Stuart Littlewood (via Uruknet)Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-78239593816296680172010-05-28T14:16:00.002-07:002010-05-28T19:43:02.199-07:00APPEAL BY IRANIAN POET REZA HIWA FOR ACTION TO SAVE MAJID TAVAKOLI Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-36224623161942244032010-02-07T20:12:00.000-07:002010-02-07T20:12:10.204-07:00Did You Know? GAZA Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-12905520365006587932010-01-28T22:26:00.002-07:002010-01-28T23:05:54.675-07:00SHOCK EXECUTION OF 2 POLITICAL PRISONERS IN IRAN Badp Bloggers Againstdeathpenalty: In an attempt to intimidate people and prevent more protests, Iran executed Arash Rahmani Pour (20) and Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani yesterday. Arash Rahmani Pour Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani Arash Rahmani Pour and Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani were arrested well before the elections but went on a mass trial with those Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-81803720963694421252010-01-26T12:00:00.001-07:002010-04-18T17:35:55.987-07:00AHMAD SHAMLOU - THE FINAL WORD "The Final Word (2008-2009,U.S); Moslem Mansouri's second documentary film about the legendary late Ahmad Shamlou, one of the most prominent and influential contemporary Iranian poets. The film is a 55-minute collection of unpublished interviews with the poet and his long time partner, Aida, two years before he died. [+ POEMS!] In his poetry, Mr. Shamlou, spoke Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-41609092496065194232009-12-29T14:31:00.002-07:002009-12-29T14:59:04.365-07:00OPEN LETTER AGAINST DEADLY GOVERNMENT VIOLENCE IN IRAN Please sign this petition to the UN and pass it on to others: Open Letter Against Deadly Government Violence in Iran The Islamic Republic of Iran under the Ahmadinejad administration and at the behest of Ayatollah Ali Khamenie is increasingly clinging to power through the use of repression and military force against all civil and Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-33125079884027797652009-12-16T18:47:00.003-07:002009-12-16T19:18:54.805-07:00IRAN: A BASIJ DEFECTOR TELLS HIS STORY Video with full statement in Persian and complete English transcript  here Interviewer's comments: Interviewing a former Iranian Basij militia member Since the election last June, hundreds, maybe thousands, of opposition protestors have been beaten and gaoled. Human rights groups have documented persistent reports of rape within the police stations Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-19120689660654862442009-12-12T12:03:00.003-07:002010-02-04T14:45:39.772-07:00Today's the birthday of Ahmad Shamlou....   Ahmad Shamlou, Iran's great poet of love and freedom, was born in Tehran on December 12, 1925, died there on July 24, 2000... after having been persecuted for his works and words under both the Shah and the Islamic Republic: In this dead-end (July 1979) They smell your mouth To find out if you have told someone: I love you They smell your heart Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-55320882416077137312009-12-11T15:57:00.003-07:002009-12-12T13:10:54.803-07:00Al Jazeera English - Focus - 'My torturers deserve pity'  Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught interviewed Ebrahim Mehtari, an Iranian pro-democracy campaigner, who says he was held for two weeks in a detention centre run by the Revolutionary Guards Intelligence section in East Tehran. He says he was beaten, tortured, and sexually violated. He is now living in Turkey under the protection of the Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-44398146271260246982009-12-08T18:23:00.005-07:002009-12-14T18:01:43.826-07:00THE DEMONSTRATIONS IN IRAN: BREAKING THROUGH An Iranian activist explains the protest movement and its objectives: We shouldn’t forget that ordinary people have been scared with all rights to speak up their minds in over 30 years. They need some time and encouraging examples to defeat that and it is exactly what’s happening in Iran since the Election. Iranian people have once again refound Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-14900627227930984312009-10-06T06:15:00.004-07:002009-12-12T13:14:57.378-07:00Shame on Mahmoud Abbas! Abbas helps Israel bury its crimes in Gaza Shame on Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton! US 'pressured Abbas on UN report' Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-14145465242792056032009-09-20T05:47:00.010-07:002009-12-12T13:23:12.053-07:00TEXT OF MUNTAZAR Al-ZAIDI'S GREAT SPEECH By way of final and definitive obituary for America's criminal invasion and occupation of Iraq plus any future temptations on the part of that or any other nation or gang-thereof to engage in imperialistic/expansionistic invasions in the ME or anywhere else on the planet, here - via the FP blog "Enduring America" - is the full text of Muntazar Al-Zaidi's Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-43388221549202801242009-09-10T10:58:00.009-07:002009-12-12T13:27:57.958-07:00"TAGHSIRE MAN BOOD?"/"IT'S MY FAULT?" GREAT NEW SONG BY KIOSK ON IRAN'S SHOW-TRIALS with English and Italian translations of the lyrics after the video: Lyrics in English: My Fault If a war started somewhere or someone became poor It was my fault If there was a shortage of water Emigration was just a mirage It was my fault If winters were cold and summers were warm It was my fault If Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-27008904496174752362009-07-30T01:50:00.003-07:002009-12-12T14:08:02.440-07:00IRAN - BELLA CIAO Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-55233398976333807142009-07-18T19:02:00.013-07:002009-12-14T17:59:44.135-07:00WITH THE COURAGEOUS PEOPLE OF IRAN IN THEIR STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM AND JUSTICE Images from 2009 Iranian Election protests set to classic Iranian folk-song "Yare Dabestani", subtitled in English. Warning: graphic images. ------- I've been following the dramatic events in Iran since June 11th on the "StrategyTalk" thread Elections in Iran For up-to-the-minute news on the protests in Iran, Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-9530890546589807902009-03-06T19:23:00.015-07:002009-12-12T13:19:14.127-07:00 (If the video gets stuck when loading on the page, switch to "full screen" viewing mode by clicking on the second icon from the right at the bottom of the screen - that fixes the problem!) -------- Samouni Street, Gaza Samouni Street is the scene of one of the most notorious incidents in the recent conflict in Gaza. Palestinian human rights workers say 29 members of the extended Samouni Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-17080942657128021552009-02-01T16:39:00.010-07:002009-12-12T13:25:13.139-07:00 A Palestinian man walks past a chicken farm destroyed during Israeli strikes in Gaza City on January 18, 2009. Gaza desperately short of food after Israel destroys farms Gaza's 1.5 million people are facing a food crisis as a result of the destruction of great areas of farmland during the Israeli invasion. According to the World Food Programme, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation and Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-19303442075448536982009-01-23T13:33:00.004-07:002009-12-12T14:09:52.631-07:00Gaza in Ruins A News Special by Al-Jazeera Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-54003690559453379402009-01-18T20:04:00.004-07:002009-12-12T13:26:33.770-07:00"We Will Not Go Down" (Song for Gaza) by Michael Heart Visit Michael Heart's website to download this song in Mp3 format - with this message from its author: I would like to request that after downloading the song from this page, you kindly donate directly to a charity or an organization dedicated to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. Worthy of note is UNWRA (United Nations Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-87776218762881058622009-01-14T23:30:00.012-07:002010-09-06T15:00:44.043-07:00 It is to you I speak, antipodal men, I speak man to man, with the little in me of man that remains, with the scrap of voice left in my throat, my blood lies upon the roads, let it not, let it not cry out for vengeance! The death-note is sounded, the beasts hunted down, let me speak to you with these very words that have been our share- few intelligible ones remain. Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-91916931946746554262009-01-03T19:56:00.003-07:002009-12-12T14:11:20.902-07:00Gaza is burning - the world is silent... Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-9104555867420086922009-01-03T18:47:00.006-07:002009-12-12T14:13:16.907-07:00 "They know no limits now" Canadian human rights advocate Eva Bartlett writing from the occupied Gaza Strip, Live from Palestine, 3 January 2009: It's a new year, a new Nakba, and an old scene; Israel is bombarding Gaza once again and the world is standing idly by, sitting on a fence very different from the electrified border fence encaging Gaza, or the separation wall dividing and ghettoizing Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-63220353842445271612008-12-26T08:35:00.005-07:002008-12-26T09:49:35.900-07:00To keep the music flowing, two from this side of the Med - Pino Daniele's great anti-racist anthem "O Scarrafone":and his delicate "Sara": Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-44873237041606919252008-12-14T19:48:00.003-07:002009-12-12T21:12:19.244-07:00A truly emblematic moment: my compliments to Muntadhar al-Zaidi of Baghdadiya Television for his personal courage, straight aim and fine sense of timing.Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-64865035562257685062008-11-30T20:42:00.011-07:002009-01-03T16:51:49.064-07:00Just because I love it : "Aicha" by Cheb Khaled ... :)Best introduction to the Art of Raï -"100% Arabica" by Cheb Khaled and Cheb Mami:"Azwaw": Cheb Mami warbling away like a desert nightingale - accompanied by a joyful wee platoon of Scottish Highlanders playing the bagpipes! If you liked them, I guess you'll like these Raï music clips too?"Rim Lachoua" by Cheb Mami"Ya Rayah" by Rachid Taha"ManiParvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-12830853324909432802008-08-10T16:21:00.011-07:002009-12-12T21:16:37.685-07:00IN CELEBRATION OF THE ASCENT OF MAHMOUD DARWISH Mahmoud Darwish… in the presence of Absence To a reader: Do not trust the poem – The daughter of absence It is neither intuition nor is it Thought But rather, the sense of the abyss… Mahmoud Darwish: The Expropriated Poet And history makes fun of its victims And its heroes Takes a look at them and passes by This sea is mine This moist Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-5758697254039698092008-08-07T09:39:00.005-07:002009-12-12T21:22:42.424-07:00Some pics of my roof-terrace garden - summer version: Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1169257481192984282007-01-19T16:52:00.001-07:002008-08-07T18:47:15.490-07:00INTERVIEW WITH MOQTADA AL SADRby Renato Caprile, special correspondentpublished in "La Repubblica", 19th January 2007 (print edition only)(translated from the Italian by parvati_roma)..........“A secret army is against us but the Shi’ites will resist”Moqtada al Sadr speaks: “Allawi is the US’s man, not Maliki”BAGHDAD - He feels hunted and is in hiding, he never sleeps in the same bed for more Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1156812440841617982006-08-28T17:44:00.000-07:002006-10-11T23:57:13.373-07:00Beirut 2006Io non chiesi il buio – mi ci trovai senza capireil perché dell’oscuramentodi ogni luce. Non sapevoda dove venisse quell’ondadi tenebre, né capivo le paroleurlate dalle donne in lacrimeche si strappavano le vesti di fronte alle case distrutte. No, a noi non fu chiestoproprio nulla - e nessuno ci fece domande. Persino i teschi strappati a fatica dalle macerie rimasero muti. Buio e Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1153246829103146442006-07-18T11:09:00.001-07:002008-08-10T19:56:16.862-07:00Slaughter update:240 human beings killed in Lebanon by Israel's bombings so far. Up-to-date breakdown (from "La Repubblica"):- 212 civilians- 23 Lebanese Army soldiers- 5 (five) Hizbollah militants.............Our Country is a GraveyardGentlemen, you have transformedour country into a graveyardYou have planted bullets in our heads,and organized massacresGentlemen, nothing passes like thatwithout Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1150884422005440162006-06-21T02:59:00.000-07:002006-06-21T03:07:02.026-07:00The "Da Vinci Code" doesn't travel well..?I've actually been reading the DV code thingy (my daughter got the book on loan) - must admit it's kinda-fun in its video-game way but historically off the wall. What most surprised me, as I've never read anyone pointing out this particular aspect of the book, is that it also contains a whole series of rabidly anti-French US-chauvinist assertions. For Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1144109380650440942006-04-03T17:06:00.001-07:002008-11-25T13:42:41.164-07:00Ahh... voting's on 9th-10th April... and about time too! So... who/what is Silvio Berlusconi - and why am I so against him? Just because he backed Bush's Iraq war?Nah... there's a LOT more than that to it. So much it's hard to know where to start. Thankfully, the Observer provides a great rundown on his "here and now".And - seeing as "hatred" has become such a common word in US political Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1140247751553275812006-02-18T00:20:00.001-07:002008-11-25T13:19:17.160-07:00The "Cartoon riot" massacre in LibyaAlmost too shocked and saddened just now to write rationally - weeping at the Benghazi riot massacre... death-toll figures range from 9 shot by police to 11 ... to 15. According to a direct telephone call between Italian TV and a consulate employee still in the building (a Libyan) there are a further 55 people seriously wounded (shot) plus several hundred haveParvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1139354808735410992006-02-07T16:04:00.001-07:002008-11-25T13:36:11.225-07:00The cartoons that shook the worldShock-waves still reverberating, crowds still demonstrating all over the ME, Danish embassy-embers still smouldering amidst cartoon-refreshed sectarian tensions in Lebanon, NATO-shot demonstrators' corpses piling up in Afghanistan... So what is/was it really "all about"? Some say it's about the Western "core-value" of freedom of speech vs. Muslim religious Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1126699711407547472005-09-14T05:06:00.002-07:002009-02-10T17:15:34.930-07:00More bombs in Baghdad...http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1569667,00.htmlQuote:At least 80 people were killed in a suicide bombing in central Baghdad today when a bomber lured labourers looking for work to a minibus and triggered an explosion.Police said the death toll from the blast - which happened in the mainly Shia old town area of the Iraqi capital - was likely to rise because someParvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1118652983875806312005-06-13T01:54:00.000-07:002005-06-13T02:02:30.146-07:00Some grotesquely stomach-churning reading on Gulag "re-education" techniques here - uncle Joe and Beria would have been impressed.Quote:Extracts from an Interrogation Log The document titled "Secret ORCON: Interrogation Log Detainee 063" included the following entries:23 November 20020225: The detainee arrives at the interrogation booth a Camp X-Ray. His hood is removed and he is bolted to the Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1117813617175563402005-06-03T08:28:00.000-07:002005-06-03T10:18:22.726-07:00THE DARK MIRROR OF POETRY Came across my own virtual "ghost" online the other day - an alter-ego spectre from my pre-Iraq-war days as a slight but acrobatic Italian poetess/"literatina", happily cavorting amongst shoals of like-minded mini-literati through the minor cloaca of Rome's literary catacombs... I'm "republishing" it here in full just in case the site I found it on gets taken down: LO Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1116799021165603612005-05-22T14:42:00.000-07:002006-10-11T21:22:54.453-07:00Email contact address: parvati_roma@yahoo.itIt's been over a year since I last posted and since then what's changed - the dead have risen, justice rules the world?? No, not exactly.To sum up: the Iraqi corpse-pile has piled even higher, and the save-the-world rhetoric has kinda...tapered off. The January elections proved strictly sectarian - ethnic/religious voting blocks ruled the day, despite (Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1081421422089980772004-04-08T03:50:00.000-07:002004-04-08T03:57:29.890-07:00 FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) — More than 280 Iraqis have been killed and 400 wounded this week in the U.S. Marines' siege of insurgents in this city west of Baghdad, the director of Fallujah's hospital said Thursday. Taher Al-Issawi told The Associated Press that the toll was likely higher. "We also know of dead and wounded in various places buried under rubble, but we cannot reach them," because of Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1081127806052394502004-04-04T18:16:00.000-07:002004-04-04T18:20:29.356-07:00"Iraq in flames" say the Italian press headlines, and they're dead right. Full-scale insurgency now - Sunni AND Shia!!... and as every Iraqi death ultimately brings new recruits to the radicalized militia, vicious-circle escalation guaranteed throughout coming months. The coalition's hold had been essentially dependent on Shia tolerance, but now that's blow sky-high!! ...although Sistani is Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1080851552397819832004-04-01T13:32:00.000-07:002004-04-01T13:36:11.060-07:00Despite the disingenuous reactions in US media, the horrors of the Falluja crowd's lynching of US private security agents didn't come "from nowhere"... Here's a quick checklist of the sequence of US actions that have culminated in this brutal mass attack against US personnel. How the US has been treating the people of Falluja: Air bombardments in initial invasion period; April 28th, 2003: Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1079163076699339282004-03-13T00:31:00.000-07:002004-03-13T00:34:28.733-07:00After Karbala, Madrid - the most horrendous attack in Spanish history, in Europe's history.... I sent an email to the Spanish delegation at the UN to express my total solidarity and sorrow: In these days of mourning, my heart and thoughts are constantly with the victims of this hideous massacre, their families and the people of Madrid. My greatest hope is to see those responsible for this Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1078306356067348322004-03-03T02:32:00.000-07:002004-03-03T02:35:34.343-07:00Today's black news: the Karbala and Baghdad bombings.... Blogs are at least partly for venting? So it's excusable if I say what I'm feeling now - beyond the purely "rational"? In a word: dread. The same ...don't quite know how to express it - fear of uncontrollable chain reactions? that I have been feeling since 9/11 together with the horror and sorrow, a fear that something obscure is Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1075970949635938142004-02-05T01:49:00.000-07:002004-02-05T01:55:32.610-07:00Been reflecting about how frequently Americans use the word "hatred" in political contexts these days - the Bushites keep repeating that liberals/foreigners all "hate America" "hate Bush" "hate freedom" etc, call Palestinians "hate-crazed", say Islamic fundamentalist terrorism is all about "hating Americans"... And I've also read some anti-war sites saying Americans should start to "hate" Bush Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1075704899860612982004-02-01T23:54:00.000-07:002004-02-01T23:57:16.373-07:00"DarkMirror" probability-prophecy attempt of the week... Going out on a not-too-thin prophetic limb here: ... my feeling is that no matter what Bush's electoral wishful thinking may be, I don't think the US will be able to start pulling its troops out for a long time now even if it wants to - useless as US troops are for most practical "Iraqi security" purposes due to lack of knowledge of localParvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1075697199379401492004-02-01T21:46:00.000-07:002004-02-01T21:48:55.873-07:00Kurdish leader Jamal Talabani is blaming Turkey for today's massacre of Kurds - including prominent Kurdish leaders - in Arbil!! http://debka.com/article.php?aid=779 EEK ... this is from the Israeli "insider-info" site DebkaFile, which seems to be a very good channel for Kurdish info (proved it with scoop on Kurdish involvement in Saddam's capture) - the story hasn't been picked up by the Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1075670877498419102004-02-01T14:27:00.001-07:002004-02-01T14:30:13.840-07:00Email contact address: parvati_roma@email.itParvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1075670841815062172004-02-01T14:27:00.000-07:002004-02-01T14:31:36.390-07:00The double suicide-bombings of Kurdish party headquarters Shocked, saddened at this latest tragedy - but not surprised. Unfortunately crappy US pre-war info on Iraq wasn't limited to WMDs but total off-the-wall crappiness also extended to probable course of events, post-"liberation" (what a black, tragic joke)! Pandora's Box. Remember warnings about "destabilization" - well, this is what thatParvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1075626653452903592004-02-01T02:10:00.000-07:002004-02-01T02:13:09.326-07:00Examining the field, I've come to the conclusion that Kerry meets all the requirements for a natural-born "Bilderberger". So I guess it's up to the American electorate to chose our yoke for us: either the PNAC's unilateral Pax Americana or the Bilderbergers' multilateral NWO?? Well..after the recent NeoCon Experience, Back-to-Bilderbergers-As-Usual seems not only a distinctly "lesser evil" Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1073987609889122002004-01-13T02:53:00.000-07:002004-01-14T06:45:10.936-07:00Torture of US/UK prisoners in Iraq? This topic came up in a thread on the WhatReallyHappened forum on MSN ( http://groups.msn.com/whatreallyhappened/general.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=55688&all_topics=0 ) ... setting off a long chain of reflections... it hit such a nerve that I actually produced a kind of dissertation on this hideous topic. From: Flyers Sent: 13/01/2004 21:16 Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1073986028389028972004-01-13T02:27:00.000-07:002004-01-13T02:47:00.876-07:00. Anyone remember "The Spy who Came In From the Cold??" the "Little Drummer Girl"? "Russia House" ?? The finest Cold War spy-thrillers ever written, by an ex-spymaster from British intelligence who knew exactly what he was talking about. Well, he's back!! - with a new book, and a lot to say. ............. The novelist who came in from the Cold War, Globe and Mail, January 6, 2004 By Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1073891748698597152004-01-12T00:15:00.000-07:002004-01-12T00:16:09.693-07:00And so the news from Iraqi goes on and it's not good, Iraqis still short of electricity, still short of gas, things keep on going bang, people keep on dying. Plus worries about ethnic tensions leading to possible civil war. Depressing. Email contact address: parvati_roma@email.itParvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1068643626739641702003-11-12T06:27:00.000-07:002003-11-12T06:30:42.493-07:00Devastated and angered by the news of the truck-bomb in Nasiriyah that killed 14 Italians, mainly Carabinieri. These deaths are on Berlusconi's head, for having involved our country and its men in an illegal and unjust war, in support of the aggressor's occupation armies. The Carabinieri are a fine force with a long-established reputation for honesty and courage - which I can personally attest - Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-106785752628401852003-11-03T04:05:00.000-07:002003-11-03T04:21:28.966-07:00After the weekend's fearsome deathtoll, one of the most spin-prone questions is of course just WHO is fighting the insurgent war against the US occupation of Iraq. This is Tariq Ali's take from the Guardian: .............. One of the more comical sights in recent months was Paul Wolfowitz on one of his many visits informing a press conference in Baghdad that the "main problem was that there Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1067682918029138312003-11-01T03:35:00.000-07:002003-11-01T04:39:25.756-07:00Summing it all up .... /1 I have come to the conclusion that Bush's US foreign policy offensive of the last few years, which implemented the doctrines of the right-wing US think-tanks PNAC (Project for the New American Century - Kagan, Kristol et al.) and AEI (American Enterprise Institute - whose members include Lynne Cheney, Perle, Ledeen, Kristol etc, and partially overlap those of the PNAC)Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6005987.post-1067416345239663782003-10-29T01:32:00.000-07:002003-10-29T02:06:49.180-07:00I've been around this planet for just over half a century now... mostly absorbed in living and observing my own life and the other lives around me, trying to understand what kind of meaning can or should be attached to everyday words and phrases such as "I", "you", "we", "them" - "here", "now", "the world" "history", "civilization", "the past", "the future" ...but sometimes something happens in Parvatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07300929091932895146noreply@blogger.com0