A topic close to my heart.



Egyptian blogger offline after 'harassment'
From correspondents in Cairo
April 29, 2007 07:42pm
Article from: AAP
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ONE of Egypt's most prominent political bloggers has decided to call it a day, citing harassment by security services as his main reason to quit.
The Egypt-based blogger, known only as “Sandmonkey” – a derogatory term for people of Arab descent – posted his last entry on Saturday.
“One of the chief reasons (for quitting) is the fact that there has been too much heat around me lately,” he said.
Sandmonkey – who describes himself as “extremely cynical, snarky, pro-US, secular, libertarian” – started posting two years ago and has since been one of the main animators of Egypt's vibrant blogosphere.
The blog offered stinging commentary on the Islamisation of Egyptian society as well as virulent criticism of President Hosni Mubarak's 26-year-old regime.
Sandmonkey regularly reported on the arrests of political activists, police brutality and videos recently posted on the internet of alleged vote-rigging in a referendum for constitutional amendments, which critics say curb civil liberties.
“I no longer believe that my anonymity is kept, especially with state security agents lurking around my street and asking questions about me, since that day,” he said, referring to anti-referendum protests last month in which he participated and several demonstrators were detained.
Egypt's bloggers came to public attention during the political ferment surrounding elections in 2005 and have since been targeted by the regime, drawing international condemnation.
In April, security forces detained blogger Abdel Moneim Mahmud for criticising the government's human rights record.
In February, an Egyptian court sentenced blogger Abdel Karim Suleiman to four years in prison for insulting religion and defaming the president, a verdict condemned by rights groups as an attack on free speech.
     



Thousands protest Turkish Government
From correspondents in Istanbul
April 29, 2007 10:25pm
Article from: Agence France-Presse
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AT least 300,000 secular Turks waving the red national flag flooded central Istanbul to demand the resignation of the pro-Islamic government.
The second large anti-government demonstration in two weeks, it followed a sharp rise in tension between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the country's powerful pro-secular military, which accuses the government of tolerating the activities of radical Islamic circles.
“Turkey is secular and will remain secular,” shouted thousands of flag-waving protesters, who travelled to Istanbul from across the country overnight.
The demonstrators sang nationalist songs and demanded the resignation of the government, calling Mr Erdogan a traitor




Iran cracks down on offbeat Western hairdos
From correspondents in Tehran
April 29, 2007 07:39pm
Article from: AAP
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TEHRAN barbers are to stop offering Iranian men unconventional Western hairstyles amid a nationwide crackdown on dressing deemed to be unIslamic, the Etemad newspaper reported today.
The paper quoted the head of the Tehran barbers' association as saying police had issued a directive forbidding its members from giving men offbeat hairstyles that are all the rage in more affluent parts of the capital.
“Currently some salons use Western grooming methods to create styles that are in line with the European and American ones,” said the association's head, Mohammad Eftekhari-Fard.
“The union has repeatedly announced the restrictions against unconventional grooming when issuing permits to each of the barber shops. Hence barbers, knowing these rules, should not pursue the wrong methods.”
“The union will withdraw its support from those barbers who cut hairstyles that are out of line with the norms of the system,” he said.
Eftekhari-Fard did not specify which hairstyles were being targeted, but conservatives in Iran have long been upset by the heavy use of styling gel, shoulder-length hair and the spiky “big hair” styles sported by some of Tehran's young males.
The directive also banned the use of “facial cosmetics, plucking of eyebrows and applying special make-up in male salons,” he said.
Iran has handed out thousands of warnings over the past week to women found to have infringed Islamic dress rules in the latest police crackdown.
However, the authorities have emphasised that men are not excluded from the drive, and males whose T-shirts were found to be too short or tight and hair excessively groomed have also found themselves apprehended.
Eftekhari-Fard told Etemad that while only 5 per cent of Tehran hair salons were deviating from the laws, they would be strictly monitored and if necessary their permits taken away for at least a month.
Customers would also not be allowed to wear ties and bow-ties – frowned upon in Iran as a symbol of Western imperialism – in barber shops, he said.

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[url]http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/658282.cms[/url]

According to the link above, JJJ, only 28.5% of Egyptians vote. Despite the fact that voting in Egypt is 'compulsory.' 

ex-member DonaldTrump wrote on Apr 30^th, 2007 at 6:22pm:


the protest was in Turkey and was run by people opposed to the Turkish government that was elected into office.

what does that have to do with Egypt?

Sprintcyclist wrote on May 2^nd, 2007 at 11:03am:


from what i read in the paper, the pro-Islamic party wasn't imposed, it was elected.

also, why is it u assume that no one else stood for the election because of fear, but all of a sudden there isn't any fear about protesting in the streets? it sounds like sour grapes to me, people who don't support the pro-Islamic party just aren't happy that they got elected.

basically, the pro-Islamic party won the election this time around, so they should still rule. there is talk of them being removed from office, but to remove them is to make a mockery of the democratic process and the message it sends out to the rest of the world is "democracy is okay, provided an Islamic party isn't elected". that wouldn't go down well with the world's muslim population.

Sprintcyclist wrote on May 2^nd, 2007 at 12:46pm:


i think protesting against the result of a democratic election is a threat to democracy.

Protesting against an election result is not undemocratic. The right to protest is important to a functioning democracy. For starters, it is necessary in cases where the public suspects electoral fraud.

Also, military in Turkey is siding with the secular protestors and are threatening to overthrow the democratically elected pro-Islamic government if they don't step down.

So, at the moment, Turkey may end up having a military leadership rather than a democratically elected government.

What a blow for democracy!!

http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Overhaul-Aussie-internet-laws-expert/2007/05/02/1177788215921.html

Australian laws must be drastically updated to protect consumers' rights to access information on the internet, says a legal expert.

The Copyright Act covers personal media like iPods, but has limited provisions for the protection of legitimate copyright information on the internet - classified as news, satire and parody.

He uses the current infringement case against the popular video sharing site YouTube (by entertainment corporation Viacom in the US) as a test case that could have major implications for internet users in Australia.

Viacom has filed a law suit demanding all of its content, such as clips from MTV and Comedy Central, be removed from the online video sharing website YouTube.

It is seeking more than one billion dollars in damages and an injunction prohibiting Google and YouTube from further copyright infringement.

In a legal response by Google this week it claims that Viacom's complaint threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information, news, entertainment, and political and artistic expression.

Dr Rimmer says if Viacom wins its action it could have a detrimental effect on how the internet functions.

"All that material will be taken down and YouTube would have to clamp down on its open access that it operates under, it would be much more restrictive," he said.

"There is a need to ensure that the internet works efficiently, and it's not going to be efficient if YouTube and Google spend all their time searching for copyright infringing material, rather than innovating and creating new things.

"I guess the fundamental problem here is the need to recast additional copyright laws so they are better adapted for the evolution of the internet."

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Ruddock wants terror material ban soon

http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Ruddock-wants-terror-material-ban-soon/2007/05/03/1177788279724.html

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock hopes changes to censorship rules banning the publication of material that advocates terrorist acts will come into force next month.

"The proposal is to put beyond doubt that publications, films and computer games that advocate terrorist acts are refused classification."

Mr Ruddock said if state attorneys-general failed to agree by the beginning of June to the proposed changes to the classification process he would consider introducing legislation to implement them.