"To blog or not to blog: that is the question:/
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer/
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,/
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,/
And by opposing end them? To blog: to sleep;/
No more; and by a sleep to say we end/
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks/
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation/
Devoutly to be wish'd. To blog, to sleep;/
To blog... " If only William Shakespeare had a blog... (c)
I knew that moving to a sunny seaside resort for good was the Top1 solution to take control over my eczema. Still, I took my time and read Eczema-Free For Life very carefully. Basically, the purpose of this blog post is to praise the book.
I have been struggling with eczema since childhood, and none of my doctors helped me to get better informed about my health condition. I do not blame them for that. They tried to help me with their pieces of advice. But reading this book was better than 100 visits to the dermatologists, who never had time to explain what is wrong-or different-about my skin.
1. Thanks to this book I understood the differences between an allergy and eczema. These should not be confused.
2. The book combats the old common myth according to which eczema is a result of the psychological problems. The faulty genes are responsible for my skin disorder and not "ill weak soul" or something like that. But this chronic skin disorder might effect psychological health of the patient.
3. The book explained what itching is and how to better deal with this very uncomfortable symptom.
4. Most importantly, the book describes the treatments of eczema in terms of what they are and what contemporary (American) scientists know about their efficacy. The authors accept the fact that some treatments work well but there is no reliable scientific research explaining why these treatments work.
5. The book, basically, disillusions, but for the patient's good: there is no sense in rushing for fast miracle cures, none exists yet. Taking control over this disorder takes a big effort, and there is no guarantee it will be cured.
The illustrations like this one are especially helpful in clarifying complex itch-scratch-rash cycle.
If you are diagnised with eczema, this book is a must. You should make sure your parents or peers understand your condition, so ask them to read this book as well. The book also helped me to understand how my loved ones, especially, my parents feel when I have severe inflamation. They have tough times seing me suffering. This book helped me to realize how egoistic and negative I was thinking my loved ones did not make an effort to understand how I feel and still try to "act normal".
This book had a very positive anaesthetic effect on me. I highly recommend it.
--- Update November 1, 2010: I have published my brief review of this book on Amazon.com. It is slightly different. If you are interested, take a look.
Besides, I had a glimpse of The Eczema Community on Amazon: very useful if you want to purchase eczema treatment products in this on-line shop.
For those interested, here is the brief description of my next course: The history of blogosphere is very short, yet very complex. This course is an overview of the personal historical narratives about the emergence and rise of what is defined today as an American political blogosphere, the U.S. political Web or the U.S. politicosphere. So, what is a “blog”? Within blogosphere, it is asserted to be “common knowledge” that the term “weblog” was coined in December 17, 1997 by Jorn Barger of Robot Wisdom. In 1998, American webloggers became a self-conscious community (Rosenberg, 2009). In January 1999, Cameron Barrett of CamWorld published an essay called “Anatomy of a Weblog,” which adopted the term “weblog” and described the main technical features of the format. In 1999, Peter Merholz of Peterme announced about his decision to pronounce “weblog” as “wee’-blog”, “Or ‘blog’ for short.” Obviously, there is no dominant definition of what “blog” stands for. It has always been a matter of definition and a question of acceptance of this definition by bloggers-practitioners, who make up a community of communities. In September 1999, Brad L. Graham of The BradLands jokingly named this enormous collection of the interconnected communities as “blogosphere”. But what stands for “politicosphere”? And how different is it from “blogosphere”? And does it make any sense to distinguisg between the both? Despite the popularity of the term in the American on-line and off-line political news, the term has not been yet defined. This course invites you to read the personal historical narratives of the bloggers-educators and journalists (Blood, Barrett, Mead, Perlmutter, Davis, Rosenberg, Boehlert, etc.) and bloggers-politicians and political activists (Dean, Obama, Plouffe, Moulitsas, etc.) and share your thoughts, observations and research findings related to the topic of this course in a short blog-project.
WEEK 1: First day of class, introduction, syllabus.
The Emergence
WEEK 2: The Emergence and Rise of the American Politicosphere I (PPT) WEEK 3: The Emergence and Rise of the American Politicosphere II (PPT) WEEK 4: Rebecca Blood (2002) “The Weblog Handbook/Practical Advice on Creating and Maintaining Your Blog” WEEK 5: Ed. Rebecca Blood (2002) “We’ve Got Blog/How Weblogs Are Changing Our Culture” WEEK 6: Ed. Rebecca Blood (2002) “We’ve Got Blog” WEEK 7: Rebecca Blood (2002) “The Weblog Handbook” and Ed. Rebecca Blood (2002) “We’ve Got Blog”
The Rise
WEEK 8: Joe Trippi (2004) “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” WEEK 9: David Perlmutter (2008) “Blog Wars” WEEK 10: Scott Rosenberg (2009) “Say Everything/How Blogging Began, What It’s Becoming, and Why It Matters” WEEK 11: Richard Davis (2009) “Typing Politics/The Role of Blogs in American Politics” WEEK 12: Eric Boehlert (2009) “Bloggers on the Bus/How the Internet Changed Politics and the Press”
The Fall (?)
WEEK 13: David Plouffe (2009) “The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama's Historic Victory” WEEK 14: Blogging declining in popularity: selection of articles and reports from The Pew Research and The Economist about the trend. WEEK 15: PRESENTATIONS of the blog projects WEEK 16: Exam, Kaffee und Kuchen
Read the full article "The Art of War" by Eyal Weizman (Frieze Magazine, Issue 99 May 2006) here.
A private message on Facebook:
"Hey Svetlana,
I had heard about the article on Deleuze and the Israeli army, that you posted on facebook, but never read it. They say the same about the American army, that they read hip contemporary theory for inspiration. It is also often pointed out that contemporary capitalist management theories also love to seek inspiration in theories about networks, rhizomes, deterritorialization, etc... It's crazy, but I think any theory can be abused if one really wants to. No theory is "sacred" in the sense that it cannot be abused or used in really terrible ways. the same with D&G. But I actually think that D&C concepts get used in problematic ways quite often.
In 2002, I was in Palestine, and back then I put some pictures on this really badly made site (I made it quickly). It's pretty hysterical and badly written. But anyway, there's a photo somewhere in there of such a big hole in the wall, you know, the D&G-"inspired" tactic: http://www.palestinepictures.sincerethought.org/"
The picture mentioned in the text: The text of the witness who took the picture:
This is a living room in the Aida refugee camp. When the army invades the camp, they don’t walk on the street, but go straight through the houses. As you can see here, most houses have big holes in the wall and painted signs for the soldiers.
There happened an important event in my life: I made up my mind on the conceptual framework for my PhD thesis. I will never forget the excitement as a result of this discovery. So, why blogging about it?
In the blogsphere, efforts to remember allow everyone to forget as the messages literally sink to the bottom archived in an accessible (and therefore not pressing) heap. In the movie, one technician uses the hero's memories to seduce the heroine (again) as if for the first time. In the blogsphere, seductions and frauds fuel the effort to forget by remembering.
I am not making an effort to forget the 3rd Deleze Conference by remembering it in my blog. It's in my long-term memory, but I do accept that some of my blog-posts were published for the purpose of forgetting some certain (even very significant) events.
11 July 2010. The event I wish I could forget: Netherlands vs Spain, 2010 World Cup Final craziness. Read below why. The prices for the shabbiest beds in Amsterdam skyrocketed. 80 Euros per night was the cheapest one could get. Luckily, one hotel agency helped me to find a cheap bed... The crew of the cruiser(!) turned out to be Russian. I figured it out after I heard the big men chatting very loudly with each other, swearing unholy and drinking, probably, Sprite. I speak Russian once a week, when I call my parents. My parents never swear over the telephone. So, it was funny to hear someone swearing in Russian so.. naturally. The tiny room cost me 25 Euros per night. Considering the fact I had 200 Euros in my pockets for five days in Amsterdam, it was a great deal! I bought me two Heineken and wished Spain luck with managing their economic crisis.
11 July 2010. The discovery I do not want to forget. I have found a beautiful graffitti at Van Diemenstraat. I thought it was a Kindergarden. If so, what an original and daring idea: a baby-dinosaurus instead of a little cute bamby, sharp-toothed predator versus vulnerable herbivorous victim. Times change and the representations of children on the kindergarden walls change as well. 12 July 2010. Failed expectations: one of the presentations I was looking forward to attending was cancelled. The presentation "Deleuze and Citizenship: From Migration to Nomadism" by Thomas Nail did not take place. If I am not mistaken, he is a philosophy doctoral candidate, who was awarded a Fulbright to conduct research in Montréal and Toronto as a visiting scholar at the Center of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement (CERIS): "Drawing on the political philosophy of French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, his research will focus on the political organization and theoretical innovations of Canada's diverse and burgeoning immigrant rights movement." I was very much looking forward to meeting this person. I am planning to write a paper about the Kyrgyz nomads who revolted against their presidents and expelled them from the country... These presidents turned into immigrants. On the other hand, they have become the nomading ex-Presidents of nomads...
12 July 2010. And here is a stream of the positive long-term memories: Double espresso chat with Stijn De Cauwer, a young incisive scholar from Belgium. Registration and welcoming plenary sessions with Constantin Boundas and Felicity Colman in the Aula (which is, actually, an old Lutheran Church). Generous lunch at the Atrium, something like a Dutch "Mensa" with healthier choices, fresher smell, more day light and cleaner floors. The Image of Thought session with Diana Masny (chair), Chris Beighton ("Criticality, Clinicality and Connectivity in Education") and Alexi Kukuljevic ("Multiplicity and the Logic of Capital"). Refreshments at beautiful Oudemanhuispoort (see the picture below). In the evening, Lorna Collins and Xena Lee invited the audience to take part in "Making Sense of Territory--the Painting Event as a Territorial Gesture" at Brakke Grond Witte Zaal. In "Philosophy in Practice" booklet the artists explain:
In Making sense of territory: the painting event as a territorial gesture, presentation, painting and active participation of the audience were all combined to create an installation, or rather a 'Makin sense event'. Lorna Collins held a presentation exploring why and how art is able to help us think about 'territory'. At the same time Xena Lee created a charcoal drawing in response to Collins' presentation. During this dialogue between Collins and Lee the audience were invited to make a simple mark on a transparency sheet in reaction to the performance. The resulting artwork, in which the transparency sheets have been projected upon Lee's drawing, is thus a combination of presentation, painting and installation; involving active participation of speaker, painter and audience.
The performance encounters the rhizomatic connections across three plateaus of participation and method and tries to make sense of the heacceity of territory and art. By combining philosophy and art, or rather putting philosophy in praxis, and showing people how to engage with art, Collins and Lee open up a way of being in the world and making sense of it.
Fragile Lorna Collins is done with her presentation. Xena Lee territorializes the painting. One of the volunteers passes on more transparency sheets to her. My modest contribution to the painting event: find the "lacy noodles with compressed spirals" chunk on the canvas. 13 July 2010. I want to forget running through the heavy rain in Amsterdam.
13 July 2010. I do not want to forget the most exciting panel session of the conference titled Trahir/Gilles Deleuze's Virtuality: René Lemieux's "The Guattarian Otherness: A Pharmakon for the Deleuzian Studies?"; Suzanne Hême de Lacotte "Gilles Deleuze's Iconoclasm?"; Flore Garcin-Marrou's "Gilles Deleuze and Theater, or The Philosophy and its 'Other'"; Cécile Voisset-Veysseyre's "The Amazonian in Questions: Monique Wittig or Gilles Deleuze?"; Fabrice Bourlez's "Deleuze and the Question of Gender"; Denis Viennet's "Virtual and Becoming-Other: The Question of Stranger in Deleuze". I have found a beautiful video on one of the webpages of the Chimères dedicated to Suzanne Hême de Lacotte's "Image Cinématographique et Image de la Pensée Philosophique". I hope, Suzanne will not mind if I also publish the excerpt available on Chimères:
"[...] La rencontre de la philosophie et du cinéma est riche de perspectives, l'engouement pour l'entreprise de Deleuze, les perspectives théoriques qu'elle a fait naître et l'intérêt qu'elle continue à susciter en sont la preuve. Appréhender cette rencontre sous l'angle de l'image de la pensée permet de la resituer dans une ligne particulièrement philosophique et de poser la question de sa place dans l'œuvre deleuzienne. La question de savoir s'il existe ou non une hiérarchie des disciplines chez Deleuze se pose au terme de cette réflexion. En tant que philosophe, il a affirmé l'autonomie de l'art, de la science et de la philosophie. Pour autant cette autonomie n'exclut aucunement, comme nous avons tenté de le montrer, que des ponts puissent être jetés entre cinéma et philosophie, que le cinéma « ait un rôle à jouer dans la naissance et la formation de cette nouvelle pensée, de cette nouvelle manière de penser. » Une ambiguïté demeure néanmoins au terme Cinéma : si la philosophie est bien posée comme devant faire la théorie - conceptuelle - de cette nouvelle pratique des images et signes qu'est le cinéma, les concepts qu'il suscite peuvent également être créés par les cinéastes eux-mêmes lorsqu'ils évoquent leur pratique : « en parlant ils deviennent autre chose, ils deviennent philosophes ou théoriciens. Ainsi, un double mouvement apparaît à l'occasion de ce détour par le cinéma : la philosophie est remise en centre pour gagner en autonomie, et dans le même temps, par un mouvement centripète, elle va se loger là où on ne l'attendait pas : chez des artistes qui la pratiquent sans le savoir, ou sans l'admettre."
Please, click on the links and check out the presenters' books (in French). Informative, interesting, at times, provoking, this penal session was my favourite.
My presentation was scheduled for the Digital Machines session at 11:30 chaired by Felicity Colman (!!!) Oh my, really? I did not recognize her. Now, when I am writing this blog-post, I am slowly realizing what a lucky ass I was to meet Felicity Colman in person and even receive a positive comment from her! Felicity Colman has many admirers. Some expressed their admiration by creating a Facebook group I'm in love with Felicity Colman ! In the age of Net, this might be considered as an ultimate expression of love, you know.
Dr Felicity Colman Lecturer, Screen Studies Qualifications
BA Design (UTS), BA ArtHis (Q'ld), MA VisCult (Monash), PhD Art History & Cinema (UniMelb) Biography
Felicity Colman lectures in the Screen Studies program on questions of political aesthetics in relation to world cinemas, histories of world film theory, censorship and media, commodity cultures (including television), avant-garde and experimental screen media. She is engaged in research into various theories of epistemological modes of address – by creative praxis and by creative theory. Her research and teaching draws on on experimental and independent world cinemas, with a focus on art, independent, indigenous, militant, documentary and feminist work from around the globe. Felicity has published on aesthetics, gender issues, and contemporary art and cinema practices, with specific reference to Gilles Deleuze and Fèlix Guattari, in journals including Angelaki, Pli: Warwick Journal of Philosophy, Women: A Cultural Review, Reconstruction, and The Refractory. Prior to lecturing at the University of Melbourne, Felicity taught visual cultural theory, and screen techniques to filmmakers, art students, art teachers, and theory students at Swinburne University, Prahran, Melbourne, and at the Centre for Ideas, The Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne. Felicity also worked in the contemporary arts industry in Melbourne for several years, as a facilitator of artist run galleries, including STRIPP gallery in Fitzroy, Melbourne. Her doctoral thesis was on philosophies of temporality in Robert Smithson’s experimental work.
I will write about my own presentation at the 3rd Deleuze Conference in a separate blog-post. Let me introduce you to Bruno Lessard, the Canadian scholar who presented his paper titled "Claiming the Event: Deleuze, Foucault, and Digital Video". Those particularly interested in film theory and Gilles Deleuze’s work Cinema 2: The Time-Image, might be interested in "Missed Encounters: Film Theory and Expanded Cinema" by Bruno Lessard available at The Refractory.
The session Micropolitical Instances chaired by Claudia Mongini gathered philosophers and artists. The presentations were very informative and hard to digest (it was a very long conference day for everyone): Andre Dias' "To Have Done with the Possible: Involuntarism as the Other Side of Biopolitics" (Andre writes a cinema and contemporary culture Portuguese blog "Ainda não começámos a pensar / We have yet to start thinking"); Tina Rahimy's "Becoming-minority-in-language The political relevance of incomprehension"; Andrea Medjesi Jones "A Shock to Thought: Conditions of the Emerging Image" (I liked her paintings and the poster: "If You Look Hard You Look Hard"); Boram Jeong's "The Power of the False: Deleuzian Politico-aesthetics". In the evening, I enjoyed observing the conference participants and organizers drinking sparkling wine and having sparkling conversations. There was something very special about this particular conference. I wish I could step forward and dance during Richard Pinhas' concert at the Expo Zaal in de Brakke Grond. I guess, Stijn, somehow noticed my unreserved admiration and asked me, "Why aren't you dancing?"
SCHIZOTROPE: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF MARIE ZORN The Schizotrope project was born out of a desire to honor Richard's friend, the noted philosopher Gilles Deleuze, who died in 1995. In 1998, Pinhas teamed up with French 'cyber-punk' author Dantec and Schizotrope came to North America in March 1999 for a series of shows. This album was compiled from tapes of these shows. Featuring Dantec reading from Deleuze’ works, accompanied by Pinhas playing guitar, with sound electronically modulated in real-time by various processors, this is a musically innovative, emotionally moving, and conceptually rich fusion of those disciplines closest to Pinhas’ heart.
14 July 2010. I woke up in my new cozy bed. My Eurocruiser cradle was off to Germany. It was my second time in Hotel Y-Boulevard. They have cheap and very cheap beds. This time, I paid 20 Euros per night. In August 2009, I paid just 9 Euros. If you scrutinize the brochure of the Hotel Y-Boulevard, you will see what a beautiful hotel it used to be. Not anymore. But I still like this cheap hotel: they have snow white towels and clean bed sheets. In addition, they have a breakfast buffet. What else do I need? Well, probably, nice quiet room mates. I met nice people from Norway, USA, Canada and Mexico in two nights at Hotel Y-Boulevard. But when the guys started drinking whisky and smoking weed, I felt strange vibrations in the air. I did not want those dark vibrations, I wanted to run away. When you go to a conference or lecture in Amsterdam, this is always the case: tourists come to this city to get wasted and get high, and you have absolutely different priorities. I want to forget the tourists who come to Amsterdam and get stupidly lost in the Red Disctrict. There is so much more to Amsterdam than smoking pot. Now when you have seen the Red District, here are "10 Things to do in Amsterdam BESIDES Smoking Pot".
14 July 2010. I do not want to forget the early-morning conversation with Phillip X. I forgot to ask his full name. He was from Brazil. I asked him about the most beautiful places in Brazil, and he recommended Bonito ("The most beautiful place in the world!") and the beaches of Florianópolis. I looked up the pictures, and now I am dreaming of going to those places. Then Phillip and I hurried to different parallel sessions. I attended the Memorial Practices session moderated by Craig Lundy. Unfortunately, one of the presenters was absent. This leads me to the next sentence. Fortunately, we had more time for questions to the presenters Jean Hillier ("Such Stuff as Dreams are Made on: Taking a Heritage Rollercoaster ride with Deleuze"), Victoria Browne ("Histories of Feminism as a Place of Immanence: Methodological Explorations in Histroriography and Archival Practice") and Zsuzsa Baross (I cannot recollect the title of her presentation, she changed the original title "159+1 Variations, or Painting Becoming Music").
I was undecided between the session Deleuze/Guattari in (Neo) Material Software Cultures and the Dutch movie The One All Alone in Eye Film Institute at the Vondelpark. And I attended the panel session, missing the last chance to watch the film. This session was extremely useful for my own PhD thesis chapter about the maps of blogosphere. I kept on making notes like crazy. I met Jussi Parikka, Director of CoDE - The Cultures of the Digital Economy-institute at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge ("Does Software Have Affects, or, What Can a Digital Body of Code Do?"). Seb Franklin's presentation "The Executable Image: Deleuze, Cinema and Software Studies" sparked a discussion between the film industry practitioners. Tero Karppi's "How to Disappear Completely? Disconnecting As an Act of Resistance Against Social Networks" evoked an overwhelming response from the audience not aware of the existance of the so-called Web 2.0 suicide machines. It was my top 2 favourite session in Oudemanhuispoort. In the closing key lecture "Vegetable Locomotion: A Deleuzian Ethics/Aesthetics of Traveling Plants", Laura Marks imaginatively explored the journeys of plants across gardens, fields, continents and--figuratively--over houses of Amsterdam, Islamic mosques and Caucasian carpets...
So many important things happened. And yes, Craig Saper, I am afraid you are right. I am afraid to forget these trivial (for you) important (for me) things, and I need technologies helping cope with this anxiety, the anxiety of a [potential] loss:
The blog style disarmingly unstudied and sincere does not march together even within a single site never mind among countless others; efforts to constellate blogs as a pattern creates an anxiety of a loss that has already occurred and continues to reinforce the fading subject even as countless subjects tell the often mundane and trivial details of their lives. In Jungian psychoanalysis, the oceanic moment of recognizing yourself as a speck in the universe becomes key to an abreaction and personal epiphany of seeing your site as part of a larger whole. The blogs and other technologies of forgetting keep deferring the archetypal closure even as it keeps insinuating itself not as the links that connect all of us, but the loss and forgetting in an unstriated space without completion. Some will bemoan the sacrifice. Others will mourn in recounting in real time every absolutely specific detail allowing for a forgetting unbounded by remembering.
8:30-10:00. Four groups of students presented final versions of their blog-projects in class today. Then the students voted for the best blog project. So here I am announcing the winner: Congratulations, bloggers Caroline and Marie! Your blog German and American Election Coverage/How the Foreign Media Reports on Elections got most of the votes!
Here is what the authors of the blog write about themselves and their blog-project:
We are two students in the "Did Angie Learn From Obama" Seminar at TU Dortmund and this, our blog project, features the media coverage of both the American 2008 Presidential Election and the German 2009 Bundestag elections. Marie will discuss and analyize the American Media coverage of the German elections and Caroline will do the same for the German media coverage of the American Presidential race.
Marie digged the web for the American news articles covering the German Bundestag elections (2009), while Caroline consulted the mainstream German news outlets covering the U.S. Presidential elections (2008). The blog is successful in it’s content and presentation. Free of hype-filled or flashy stuff, the blog is informative and interesting due to a careful selection of pictures and videos enhancing the chunks of texts.
The blog has a community-building potential. The audience which might benefit from reading this particular blog is, most apparently, the American and German student body; and anyone else searching for information about the most recent American and German elections in English.
Even if it is doomed to get frozen out there, in the large blogosphere---it will not lose its worth. But I sincerely hope this blog will not be abandoned. I hope Marie and Caroline will keep in touch and enrich the blog!
Once again, congratulations on successful completion of the course!
--- Now let me introduce German and American 3rd Party Policies. This blog-project was voted the second best today. In terms of design and visualisations, it is notoriously ascetic. No pictures, no videos---focus on the issues, instead.
Briefly about the ThirdPartyBlogger:
Two students. One male. One female. One American. One German. Both interested in politics. There you go.
The American and German ThirdPartyBloggers selected three American and three German minor parties for their analysis. Why would anyone care about the minor parties in the U.S. and Germany?
American ThirdPartyBlogger writes:
In this blog I will be discussing three Political Parties of the United States of America. However they will be the Constitution Party, the Communist Party and the Pacifist Party. Such third parties are often ignored by the mainstream media and rely on the internet to get their views out to the public.
In the light of the recent events, Americans and the American news media became more interested in the third parties ("Time for a Third Party" by Douglas E. Schoen of Politico). In Germany, the voters dissatisfied with the dominant parties, started paying more attention to the minor parties. For example, in 2009, the Left and the Greens made larger gains than ever and got safely into the Bundestag. More and more third parties have sprung up in the U.S. and Germany recently. The third American and German parties selected for this particular blog-project have a rather long history, though.
The German ThirdPartyBlogger writes:
In this blog I would like to focus on three of the so called German ''3rd parties''. Throughout the next weeks I will present their policies regarding immigration, education, taxation etc. Today I would like to start with a brief introduction of the parties, which belong to very different political camps: 1. Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (National Democratic Party of Germany), NPD (...) 2. Deutsche Kommunistische Partei (German Communist Party), DKP (...) 3. Partei Bibeltreuer Christen (Party of Bible-Abiding Christians), PBC
The German and American 3rd Party Policies blog will definately meet the needs of a content-oriented reader. This blog is unique due to the research work done. So far, it is the only one of its kind in terms of the content, and, I hope, the blog will not be abandoned. My congratulations, ThirdPartyBloggers, with a successful completion of the blog-project!
In this blog-post, I would like to publish several comments from the mentioned on-line discussion on The Economist website. I think, the comments below shed light on the several aspects of the problem, which The Economist article did not embrace.
The Economist "Kyrgyzstan: Stalin's harvest The latest outbreak of violence in the ethnic boiling-pot of Central Asia will take generations to heal"
It (Kyrgyzstan) is as much Stalin's as Pakistan was Britain's until the US Big Brother stepped in and armed the first with nukes to keep India in check, and now delves in Indian affairs since she came loose from the Russian or Stalin's influence as you put in, at top Caste level only of course.
Very little is whispered about our reveared nuclear overseer, the US and its continuing and expanding role in the Manat (should be spelled Manas) 'transit' base and the level of undercover involvement in all this destabilization.
US experience not to say severe interference uninteruptedly since 1945, further west, in Turkey, Cyprus, and Greece comes readily to mind, not to mention Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia to the south, without leaving out the ubiquitous proxy and much valued Israel, may something to learn from.
A case of Huntington's decease of the War of Civilizations'?
It is quite in order to blame Stalin or the Communist Party of the Soviet Union for not subdividing Kyrgyzstan on the basis of ethnic populations if that was possible BUT what is important is that IT IS NOT LATE EVEN NOW without simply blaming Stalin. We need to appreciate that unlike other imperial powers like Britain, The Soviet Union was divided into Republics on the basis of Nations and Nationalities to a very high degree so much so that WHEN THE SOVIET UNION COLLAPSED, all the Republics started running their administration very smoothly from day one. I am not quite familiar with the population distribution inside Kyrgystan to suggest new Nations although I have absolutely no objection. WHAT SURPRISES ME MOST is why Britain is not being blamed for for the very much more serious errors in drawing boundaries in its former colonies LIKE SRI LANKA AND A DICTATOR IN SRI LANKA WORSE THAN ANYONE IN CENTRAL ASIA OR ANYWHERE ELSE is being protected by all the democracies in the world. The truth is National Liberation which has been spptessed by traditional imperialist powers as well as Social imperialism like the Soviet Union and now by those Nations who have been given powers of countries drawn by arbitary borders as in Sri Lanka, India and the like, should be allowed to flower INSTEAD OF BEING SUPPRESSED AS FIGHTING TERRORISM. This is not happening because ALL THE CURRENT MULTIPOLAR POWERS want only stability to exploit resources needed for their own development AND DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE NATIONS BEING SUPPRESSED. The need of the hour is completion of National Liberation and for that all Nations without State need to unite AND THAT SHOULD BE SUPPORTED BY ALL THOSE WHO LOVE CIVILISATION AND HUMANITY
The situation in Kyrgystan is something very familiar to any Sri Lankan which land too has experienced a series of pogroms in the past the last of which was in 1983. A temporary halt to that series arose as a result of increasing resistance by the oppressed nationality, the Tamils. The signs are that these pograoms will start all over again with the decimation of the LTTE leadership.
Stability can never be imposed. It should arise naturally with harmony being established among different nationalities. A part of the problem is that world continues to revolve on the basis of borders of nations drawn by colonial and other 'powers' disrespecting individual national identities. For example the Kurds are an ancient nationality. Why are they not having or not being permitted to have a State that they could call their own? Is that being done in the name of 'stability'? Why does Kashmir remain an occupied territory since the dawn of 'independence' to India and Pakistan? Why have the Eelam Tamils in their hundreds of thousands being confined to 'camps' and restriced territories? Why does the Sri Lankan government deny the holocaust it carried out against the Eelam Tamils?
Only a deeper analysis of the issues involved will lead to the correct answer!
My contribution to the discussion was modest. I just wanted to point at the problem with the reference to Stalin. To me, it was a bit of a clumsy approach:
I am from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Currently, I am studying in Germany.
"Stalin's harvest"... One should say, this logical link between Stalin's decision to divide the region into different Soviet republics and the current turmoil in Kyrgyzstan might not be apparent to the citizens of Kyrgyzstan. First of all, we were taught at school that it was Lenin's idea. (In Kyrgyzstan, iron Lenin can be still seen in many places, NOT STALIN). Second of all, we approach the issue from a different angle: a) it was a blessing to become a sovereign republic; b) it is a failure of OUR GOVERNMENT to make the best of our independence! So, it might appear awkward to talk about Stalin's ghost right now. But The Economist makes a good point: we are living our post-Soviet nightmare.
Under the new constitution, the president will serve a single six-year term in office rather than a maximum of two five-year terms.
The maximum age limit for a serving president will be increased by five years to 70. Roza Otunbayeva will remain interim president until 31 December 2011, but will not be entitled to run for president again.
The number of seats in parliament will increase from 90 to 120. No single political party will be allowed to win more than 65 seats. Nobody will face criminal action for criticising officials. Opposition will no longer need official permission to hold protests outside administrative buildings and central squares across the country.
The Constitutional Court will be abolished and its powers will be transferred to the Supreme Court.
The Info Point of the City of Bonn gave a wrong address. So, it took time to find the Außenstelle der Botschaft Kirgisistan (Bonn).
WRONG ADDRESS!!! Außenstelle der Botschaft Kirgisistan UBIERSTRASSE 19, 53173 BONN DEUTSCHLAND
RIGHT ADDRESS: Außenstelle der Botschaft Kirgisistan Ännchenstraße 61 Bonn 53177 Tel: 0228-36 52 30 Fax: 0228-36 52 30
My friend and I received hearty reception in the Embassy. It took me seconds to cast my vote and hours to get to know the Kyrgyz citizens who travelled to Bonn to vote. The friendly stuff invited us to join the group of the Kyrgyzstaani, who had already cast their votes. Most of them were young males and females, self-identified as Kyrgyz citizens, taking advantage of the comfortable black leather sofas in the room, snacking on nuts, raisins, mini-sandwitches, drinking juices and water, chatting, enjoying each others company... The topics covered were diverse: studying in Germany, plans for future, German and Kyrgyz traditions, culture shock, how snails make sex, how to cook boorsok, etc. Afterwards, we watched football in a local pizzeria. Everyone wanted Germany to win. It was a great game: Germany England (4:1)!
Over the phone, mom told she was doing fine and the local news programs reported no outbreaks of violence, nothing of that kind. On Monday, Aljazeera published a neat report of the Constitutional Referendum in Kyrgyzstan.
Bishkek (Jetigen via Aki Press) - According to the "Shailoo" electronic system, as of 21:00 pm Bishkek time number of voted in Kyrgyzstan reached 1 922 295 people out of the total registered voters, 2 767 088.
The percentage of turnout on June 27 referendum peaked at 69.47%.
The referendum vote was closed at 20:00 pm, the system "Shailoo" processing data from the polling stations. Batken province - voted 140 945 people which is 62.05%. Bishkek city - voted 264 658 people which is 76.34%. Jalal-Abad province - voted 291 277 people which is 59.93%. Issyk-Kul province - voted 195 257 which is 84.96%. Naryn province - 119 824 people which is 80.16%. Osh city - 64 363 people which is 51.05%. Osh province - 352 332 people which is 58.94%. Talas province - 94 528 people which is 81,91%. Chui province - 378 486 people representing 82.82%. MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) - 20 571 people, representing 65.09%.
Kyrgyzstan struggles to preserve its sovereignty. Becoming a parliamentary democracy is a considerable step forwards. But pessimism and distrust in authority has become a part of the everyday life. The Referendum is a story of a success, of course, yet the trust in the Kyrgyzstani government is still very weak: the previous political "elite" deliberately ruined the country by exterminating the middle class and nurturing the gap between the rich and poor. I will agree with Erica Marat, a Nonresident Research Fellow with the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program Joint Center, on the three primary areas, where Kyrgyzstan needs immediate help from the UN and OSCE to stop the violence:
First, the leaders of the Uzbek and Kyrgyz communities in the region, as well as local entrepreneurs and religious leaders, must be engaged in a dialogue to build trust. Second, the capacity of the Kyrgyz police and its military to quell inter-ethnic tensions must be enhanced. Third, public debates engaging experts with various backgrounds must be organized in various media channels. Fortunately, Kyrgyzstan has the necessary preconditions for this sort of intervention – despite the recent bloodshed; it is still the only state in Central Asia with a viable and active political opposition, professional NGOs, and independent journalists.
Svetlana Makeyeva has been studying American studies in Kyrgyzstan, Germany and U.S.A. She obtained her B.A. from the American University-Central Asia (Bishkek, 2006), and M.A. from the Heidelberg Center for American Studies at the Ruprecht-Karls-University (Heidelberg, 2007). In 2008, Svetlana joined the American Studies Department at the Dortmund University of Technology to work on her PhD dissertation titled "Digital Nomadism in the U.S.".
This blog is dedicated to her work, and issues related to the academic/campus life. She also rants a lot about this and that, but, generally, she is a content person who can laugh at her own mistakes and beliefs.
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