Clipmarks | zizzy's Blogging, Blogs, Wordpress collection

Blog: A Vast Public Collection of Real-LIfe Rejections

Sat, 10 May 2008 01:03:53 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: literaryrejectionsondisplay.blogspot.com

Egypt detains 95 over general strike

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:41:46 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks: It was quieter than usual on Sunday and the weather matched the mood of the city. There was a dust storm, a khamsin. The tallest buildings in downtown Cairo were invisible, riot police were in force at Midan Tahrir. Classes were canceled at schools and universities. People are fed-up with class disparity and corruption.

It is unclear who initiated the call which snowballed after some 25,000 employees at the textile plant in Mahalla announced plans to strike from Sunday over low salaries and price hikes.

On Saturday the interior ministry threatened "immediate and firm measures against any attempt to demonstrate, disrupt road traffic or the running of public establishments and against all attempts to incite such acts."

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

CAIRO (AFP) - Egyptian authorities arrested 95 people including politicians and bloggers on Sunday for inciting unrest by calling for a general strike around the country

"Ninety-five people have been arrested around the country, including in Cairo and Alexandria, for inciting unrest," the official said, adding that workers had failed to heed the call to strike

Among those detained are opposition leaders including Islamist journalist Mohammed Abdel Qudoos and Magdi Hussein who heads the Labour party, suspended since 2000 after its mouthpiece published articles critical of the governmen

Bloggers and members of other opposition parties including the Nasserist and the liberal Ghad parties as well as from the protest movement Kefaya have also been detained.

Despite official claims that the strike action had failed, traffic around the country was unusually light for a Sunday, the first day of the Egyptian working week, AFP reporters said.

14 Essential Mac OS X Applications for Bloggers

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 04:19:09 GMT

clipped by: vickybaranwal

Clip Source: www.problogger.net

14 Essential Mac OS X Applications for Bloggers

A number of blogging friends have recently made the switch from using PCs to using Macs as their primary blogging machines.

Each time that one of them makes the move I tend to get an email or call a day or two later asking for advice on different applications to help with their blogging. Lately I’ve been saving my recommendations and have compiled them into a single email. I thought that I’d share it here on the blog also as I know many of you are Mac users.

Of course some of these 14 applications (not listed in any particular order) are not exclusive to Mac users - but hopefully it’ll give a little insight into the type of tools that I’m using.

1. ecto

2. ImageWell

3. Skitch

4. Twhirl

5. Flickr Uploader

6. CyberDuck

7. InstantShot

8. CaptureMe

9. Adium

10. Skype

11. Firefox

12. TextEdit

13. Keynote

14. TaskPaper

What do you use?

Tags: application, blogging, blogger, mac, os

YouTube restores account of Egypt anti-torture blogger

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 06:28:50 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks:

Abbas was a key player last year in distributing a clip of an Egyptian bus driver, his hands bound, being sodomized with a stick by a police officer -- imagery that sparked an uproar in a country where rights groups say torture is commonplace.

That tape prompted an investigation that led to a rare conviction of two policemen, who were sentenced to three years in prison for torture. Egypt says it opposes torture and prosecutes police against whom it has evidence of misconduct.

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

The video-sharing Web site YouTube has restored the account of a prominent Egyptian anti-torture activist

Wael Abbas said last week that YouTube had suspended his account and that around 100 images he had posted, including clips of police brutality, purported voting irregularities and anti-government demonstrations were no longer accessible

YouTube, owned by search engine giant Google Inc, said in a statement

Having reviewed the case, we have restored the account of Egyptian blogger Wael Abbas. And if he chooses to upload the video again with sufficient context so that users can understand his important message, we will of course leave it on the site

The statement did not clarify what would constitute sufficient context

Rights activists had complained that by shutting down Abbas's account, YouTube was closing a significant portal for information on rights abuses in Egypt just as Cairo was escalating a crackdown on opposition and independent media

YouTube suspends Egyptian anti-torture activist's account

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:10:42 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks:

But in a comment on Hamalawy's post, Mostafa Hussein said that YouTube's terms of service prevent the posting of such videos:

Well, the message from youtube is that waelabbas violated their terms of use.

This is actually true if you take a look at it. It states that content should follow the community guidelines[1]. In these community guidelines, there is this statement saying "Graphic or gratuitous violence is not allowed. If your video shows someone getting hurt, attacked, or humiliated, don't post it."

Outside of Egypt, Stan Schroeder writing on Mashable, a site which covers social networking, questioned why Abbas' account was suspended when other videos of violence are on the site:

OK, why then can I find dozens of videos of people getting tasered by the police? If you ask me, a video of someone getting shocked with a high voltage weapon can definitely be described as graphic violence. And many will argue that the violence in such videos cannot be
Clip Source: blogs.guardian.co.uk
YouTube has suspended the account of Egyptian blogger Wael Abbas, who has been posting videos of cases of torture in his country. One of the videos he posted, of a Cairo man being beating and sexually assaulting, was credited with helping bring pressure on Egyptian authorities. That pressure led to three-year jail sentences for two of the policeman involved in the assault. Abbas has called the suspension of his YouTube account "by far the biggest blow to the anti-torture movement in Egypt", according to Amira Al Hussaini on Global Voices.
Amira has collected a good sample of reaction by Egyptian bloggers. Blogger Hossam El Hamalawy called the move by YouTube "un-bloody-believable" and said:
Wael's videos have been central in the fight against police brutality, and YouTube should be proud the Egyptian anti-torture activists have been using its channels in the current War on Torture

Egyptian Blogger Eastern Bird writers about Rama Yade

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:53:01 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks:

It's not Rama Yade's - the current French State Secretary in charge of foreign affairs and human rights - political views what made the Egyptian blogger Eastern Bird write the following post (Ar). In fact, she inspired him to write about a totally different subject

Clip Source: www.globalvoicesonline.org

I was surfing the web, when I found by coincidence this photo of the minister of Human Rights in the French government, Rama Yade.
Away from any political considerations, and mainly my stance against Sarkozy's France and whatever comes from there, I kept looking at this really beautiful minister.
I then realized a fact that we usually miss.
It is that beauty has no face, race, or colour.
Unfortunately we limited ourselves to a racist view of beauty, which limits it to blond, and blue or green eyed babes.
Maybe it's because of our admiration to anything that comes from the west, and considering everything black inferior.
But for sure, Rama Yade's beauty is not just because of her look, but also because of her ability as a black woman to cross all obstacles made by racism and reach a position like this.
My greetings to you - pretty minister - and all the pretty ones like you in this world.

R.I.P. Ali Shafeya Al-Moussawi, contributor to Alive in Baghdad

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:44:50 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: www.globalvoicesonline.org

Born December 16th, 1984. Killed on December 14th, 2007.

It is with great sadness that I report the death of an Iraqi blogger. Ali Shafeya Al-Moussawi was a contributor to the video blog, Alive in Baghdad. He was killed while at home, during a raid by the Iraqi National Guard in his street. Ali took 31 bullets between the chest and head and died immediately. Ali was not the only victim of that raid. Hussain, his neighbour, was found dead. Hussain's brother and nephew have disappeared too.

Ali is survived by his mother and sister. Alive in Baghdad are collecting donations to help the family with the funeral costs.

The blogosphere today is huge and diverse yet for all its size we are still a close-knit community. There are only a few degrees separating each and every blogger - from the legends down to the occasional twitterer.

Clipmarks | zizzy's Blogging, Blogs, Wordpress collection

Blog: A Vast Public Collection of Real-LIfe Rejections

About Me

Humble Pie

Egypt detains 95 over general strike

14 Essential Mac OS X Applications for Bloggers

14 Essential Mac OS X Applications for Bloggers

1. ecto

2. ImageWell

3. Skitch

4. Twhirl

5. Flickr Uploader

6. CyberDuck

7. InstantShot

8. CaptureMe

9. Adium

10. Skype

11. Firefox

12. TextEdit

13. Keynote

14. TaskPaper

What do you use?

YouTube restores account of Egypt anti-torture blogger

YouTube suspends Egyptian anti-torture activist's account

Egyptian Blogger Eastern Bird writers about Rama Yade

R.I.P. Ali Shafeya Al-Moussawi, contributor to Alive in Baghdad