" And Revolution in the air..."

Dropped by my blog, now shamefully out of date...; Iran is revolting and for the first time ever I have been able to follow the minute by minute updates on Social media; Twitter. Vietnam was the first war to be televised, Somalia on CNN and so was Iraq/Afghanistan, but also on the Internet/ YouTube... So now we have Twitter with the hashtag # IranElection and hurray for this incl all the faults!

What's happening right now in Iran, where the just held election was "Bogarded" by the sitting Pres. Ahmadinejad with the support of the spiritual leader of Iran; Khameni is Real and Live and on the Net; The Paramilitary gangs (Basij) shooting students armed with rocks, doors being kicked down in the night and whole families taken away to torture, fake courts and then a very real sentence of public hangings....

Today I saw a young girl die in the streets of Tehran and this made me tremble... (It's very graphic -It's here)

I'm 51 years old and I remember seeing the famous clip from Hanoi(?) on TV, where a man is shot point blank on the street, seen horrendous photos from Burma, Rwanda and all the other places where war, sudden and violent death has been reported with live footage and stills, I've worked with the "displaced children" in Bosnia during the war in '93, and I've worked for more than 10 years in Refugee camps in Denmark and seen what Shiite Vs Sunni can do in a "Peoples Court" during the Lebanese civil war, but still; The open eyes of Neda dying in her fathers arms of a gunshot wound in the stomach- "hit" it home for me and left me shivering in the summer sun; This is for real, this is how "I'll die for what I believe in - I'll die for Freedom " looks like......

The youth of Iran is now ready for the 30 year long oppression to end, not that the Shah was much better, the plight and suffering for the Iranians, once a mighty Persian empire is a long potholed and very rocky road!

But the girls wants to feel the wind ruffle their hair and boys wants to be able to hold the hands with their loved ones (being straight or Gay) without being hanged by the Moral Police - Who can blame them, these are things we take for granted. And while we in the West has made our selves comfy in our "Lazy Boys" while leaving it all up to "our savior Obama" to change our worlds for us - Though we're very, very, very quick to complain, when things don't happen as fast or exactly how we want it to..... We're very hard to please, you know! We live under our noble motto; Success is a fine thing, but other peoples failures is okay too!

Now the Iranians will have to muster all their courage and be prepared to give their lives for a "Change; Yes We Can" - In our neck of the woods, we just have to shuffle down to our local ballot box and exercise, what we now consider our birthright; Namely to vote in a democratically held election without the votes being tampered with in any way or form......!

What a difference, eh? Suddenly (or not so suddenly, really...!) how our spoilt and sheltered existence is pointed out to us ...... again!

The isolation of the abandoned !

Last year, during these days of March, Tibet saw a riot against the Chinese oppressors which surprised not only the Chinese Government but also the rest of the world. It's been 50 years of exile for the Dalai Lama who spoke harshly against China for the very first time, calling Life in Tibet "hell on earth" (Full speech)

China has now clamped down with massive troops movement into the region and Internet/cell phone net is partially closed. No foreign journalist or tourists are allowed in; "for their own safety" in order to isolate the people of Tibet.

New York Times have a very good and in depth series of articles on the isolation of Tibet and on the official Chinese version of Tibet's tortured history and how China portrays the Tibetans in the rest of China, as bogeymen, who have to be feared and Dalai Lama as "a Jackal in monks robes"

I think the West lost a great opportunity to actually apply pressure on China with the Olympics 2008! It was a show of good intentions, which in the last minute caved in to the Chinese government and their brazen-faced denials of any problems in Tibet or anywhere else in the great "Democratic" state of China.

After the cheering of the winners, the tears of the losers and the awe of the final fireworks; The Olympics closed down and the circus moved elsewhere... And then we lost interest or have simply forgotten the suffering people on the roof of the world. - A bit like Burma/Myanmar - Apart from one Danish director Anders Østergård - But more on him later....

Smooth operator with a human touch

Ahr, well... The colors of fall is blowing in at full blast and the wind is getting noticeably chillier... Just like the atmosphere at the US elections.

And at full blast is, the all attention consuming US election... The campaigns are firering off the heaviest ammo they can muster and the dirtiest truths, half-truths and right out lies, they can possibly dig up. And all this without coming across like an angry, impulsive wildcard as opposed to a determined, informed pro...Cold or presidential? And so on, and on and on....! "An ugly campaign, is getting harder to do, on account of the internet"- says Huffingtonpost

 Now that Barack Obama is going to Hawaii to visit his sick Granny Toot. Michelle Obama, his very capable wife and selfprofessed "Obama Mama" is going to do the talking for a couple of days...(Can you imagine Cindy McCain do that?) The media speculated on the effect on the swing- voters of this trip, and should his Campaign managers now be nervous?

 For me, this would only take away the last hesitation, if any! This proves that; Obama is, what he say he is; A man concerned  about the soft as well as the hard issues. And thus; All cries of Obama being way too slick, cold and smooth for his own or the nations good... must now be silenced...!

But humans with their emotional likes and dislikes are indeed a fickle affair... 

What it all boils down to is that all of this, is all of it in the eye of the beholder! 

There's no telling what they might do, when the day comes. When Non-Joe the Non-Plumber, stands all by his lonesome in the booth with only his maker as his witness, where he'll put his cross or whatever fantastic system the Americans have dreamed up!  - The first reports of voting machines with a mind of their own, is already coming in - This is promising!

On CNN; I saw a map of the world, decked out like a political map of US. 

In the case of the world having a vote in this election, the map was almost entirely Democratically blue - Georgia and Russia would go to John McCain, though! -( How can your have a running mate; Sarah Palin, who will not give interviews?)

But this brings me back to my old utopian idea of a system for global "voting". A vote that didn't count as a US citizenship vote would or should, but should count never the less, they have super-delegates and electorals in the American elections already. This could be like; An amount of people, picked at random. The number is according to size of the country. Every country in the world is involved. And everyone should have a say/vote.  From Albania to Japan.

America and whoever is running the show is a huge influence on all of our lives - Just throw a sideway glance at the finance rumble!- whether we like or not, and we should therefore have a say in their elections. This would only be fair.... But it will never be.... but still...! 

If you want to play with political maps go to RealClear Politics site, also a great place for any questions, you might have about American Politics... which is a bit mysterious for Europeans as my self. - Oh, and they have authors from both sides - Elephants and Donkeys alike!

The gap is flexible, and it's apparently a uphill battle for McCain, who is loosing Colorado...or rather searching for a trick to win the election without winning Colorado, New Mexico and Iowa.... Good luck on that one! And McCain is currently harping on Obamas inexperience on national security and therefore being a danger to the nation. But I think that Rep. Colin Powells endorsement of Obama, pretty much neutralizes that statement!!  - And Obama is leading with 9 points...

And right now McCain is grabbing on to anything, that comes his way or not, to hook on voters; Like; Obama hanging out with baseball players of different clubs and claiming to be fan of them all, depending of which state he's in, that Obama is a socialist, you name it.. nothing is too small, too petty as not to be thrown in. 

Does being a Vietnam POW, makes you an expert on the matter of all concerning national securities and foreign policies? Or maybe just a expert on being a POW? This is said with the outmost respect to what the man must have endured! 

A Danish taxidriver told me, that he was certain, that Obama will be assasinated, if he makes it to office....; "The Americans will never allow a black man as President" Man, that's a disturbing thought!

 Heard  a Danish reporter (Martin Krasnik ) (danish link) 

say ( yep, yet another danish link -sorry!!); "One of the real problems, is the divided nation. Well, that's not exactly news. Both candidates have shout outs for a united America. But I hadn't thought of the consequences; (but maybe that's just me) And this is, that everyone keeps to their own side of political observation; Only reading/hearing/seeing what their peers has to say, do... etc. And that's how; outrageous, die hard rumors E.g. "Obama is a Muslim" can live a long and undisputed life. 

Each side have their "own" radio/TV personalities, who can pour gasoline on the mythic bonfires to their hearts content... No " Presse etisk råd" (Council of media- ethics) to keep journalists in check here, or keeping the blunt and uninhibited media personalities on the straight and narrow -( Think O'Reilly on Fox) Being objective is not the name of the game ...!! Try and watch something like CNN's "The situation room" Everyone in that studio is biased and openly so...! I have talked to conservative Americans, and they prefer Fox news and thinks of CNN as too biased !! Just to show you, that we tend think that our opponents are the only one who's partial to the facts  

But anyways... I know what Martin Krasnik means, though... As I sometimes have a hard time listening to people of other political observation, than my own... I do tend to either turn them off or turn the page. Because it does have an effect on my blood pressure, when I try to exercise some restraint and sit through an interview with the likes of the danish right-wing politician and extreme patriot; Pia Kjærsgård...( Link in danish) But if I don't pay attention to the people, who is of a different opinion, than my own, then how can I even pretend to be informed...?

 When it comes to; Websites, documentaries, books and news-paper articles etc.etc ; I find, that the Objective author/instigator is a creature in danger of extinction.... 

On that note, I wanted to read a american newspaper and as I still don't have my Mac back from repairs, I thought I'd treat myself to the Sunday edition of "The New York Times" (Talking about keeping to ones own! ) And yes, it is a rare treat, when in Denmark, one has to pay; 80,- Dkr (14,15$) for a copy.... Somehow the slow death of the printed word, doesn't come as a surprise! But at least the Sunday ed. is as abundant in reading matter as the spanish "El Pais" Sunday edition. NYT comes with two glittery magazines, a Book, a Arts& Leisure, a Travel, a Styles, a Week in review, a Sports and a Business supplements.... So there's enough for the rest of the week.... Served up with my latest flame: Ben and Jerry's "Bohemian Raspberry" Now that "Cherry Garcia" is so very hard to find in these parts!  

Ice cream goes really well with Dutch "Stroopwafels", American Politics

 and the oncomming elections, which I find as fascinating as a great J. Le Carré novel....

 (All Stroopwafels is courtesy of Ninon & Simon in Amsterdam)