the last post from palestinian journalist hamza al-dahdouh, a message to his father wael who is also a journalist. hamza was killed in an airstrike yesterday. wael has already lost his wife, daughter, another son, and an infant grandson. hamza was his eldest son. another journalist, mustafa thuraya, was also killed in the strike with hamza. i will say it again, as ive said in other posts about palestine, how many times can a heart break? how much more suffering must palestine endure, how many more funerals and dead bodies in the streets must the world see before we put a stop to this? today i woke up and i wept for wael and his family, i wept for every journalist killed, i wept for every innocent life taken. i feel as if my tears could fill the sea.

Martin Gurri's The Revolt Of The Public is from 2014, which means you might as well read the Epic of Gilgamesh. It has a second-edition-update-chapter from 2017, which might as well be Beowulf. The book is about how social-media-connected masses are revolting against elites, but the revolt has moved forward so quickly that a lot of what Gurri considers wild speculation is now obvious fact. I picked up the book on its "accurately predicted the present moment" cred, but it predicted the present moment so accurately that it's barely worth reading anymore. It might as well just say "open your eyes and look around".

…

In conclusion, 2011 was a weird year.

Gurri argues all of this was connected, and all of it was a sharp break from what came before. These movements were essentially leaderless. Some had charismatic spokespeople, like Daphni Leef in Israel or Tahrir-Square-Facebook-page-admin Wael Ghonim in Egypt, but these people were at best the trigger that caused a viral movement to coalesce out of nothing. When Martin Luther King marched on Washington, he built an alliance of various civil rights groups, unions, churches, and other large organizations who could turn out their members. He planned the agenda, got funding, ran through an official program of speakers, met with politicians, told them the legislation they wanted, then went home. The protests of 2011 were nothing like that. They were just a bunch of people who read about protests on Twitter and decided to show up.

Also, they were mostly well-off. Gurri hammers this in again and again. Daphni Leef had just graduated from film school, hardly the sort of thing that puts her among the wretched of the earth. All of these movements were mostly their respective countries' upper-middle classes; well-connected, web-savvy during an age when that meant something. Mostly young, mostly university-educated, mostly part of their countries' most privileged ethnic groups. Not the kind of people you usually see taking to the streets or building tent cities.

Some of the protests were more socialist and anarchist than others, but none were successfully captured by establishment strains of Marxism or existing movements. Many successfully combined conservative and liberal elements. Gurri calls them nihilists. They believed that the existing order was entirely rotten, that everyone involved was corrupt and irredeemable, and that some sort of apocalyptic transformation was needed. All existing institutions were illegitimate, everyone needed to be kicked out, that kind of thing. But so few specifics that socialists and reactionaries could march under the same banner, with no need to agree on anything besides "not this".

…

Gurri isn't shy about his contempt for this. Not only were these some of the most privileged people in their respective countries, but (despite the legitimately-sucky 2008 recession), they were living during a time of unprecedented plenty. In Spain, the previous forty years had seen the fall of a military dictatorship, its replacement with a liberal democracy, and a quintupling of GDP per capita from $6000 to $32000 a year - "in 2012, four years into the crisis there were more cell phones and cars per person in Spain than in the US". The indignado protesters in Spain had lived through the most peaceful period in Europe's history, an almost unprecedented economic boom, and had technologies and luxuries that previous generations could barely dream of. They had cradle-to-grave free health care, university educations, and they were near the top of their society's class pyramids. Yet they were convinced, utterly convinced, that this was the most fraudulent and oppressive government in the history of history, and constantly quoting from a manifesto called Time For Outrage!

So what's going on?

Our story begins (says Gurri) in the early 20th century, when governments, drunk on the power of industrialization, sought to remake Society in their own image. This was the age of High Modernism, with all of its planned cities and collective farms and so on. Philosopher-bureaucrat-scientist-dictator-manager-kings would lead the way to a new era of gleaming steel towers, where society was managed with the same ease as a gardener pruning a hedgerow.

…

Realistically this was all a sham. Alan Greenspan had no idea how to prevent recessions, scientific progress was slowing down, poverty remained as troubling as ever, and 50% of public school students stubbornly stayed below average. But the media trusted the government, the people trusted the media, and failures got swept under the rug by genteel agreement among friendly elites, while the occasional successes were trumpeted from the rooftops.

There was a very interesting section on JFK’s failure at the Bay of Pigs. Kennedy tried to invade Cuba, but the invasion failed very badly, further cementing Castro’s power and pushing him further into the Soviet camp. Representatives of the media met with Kennedy, Kennedy was very nice to them, and they all agreed to push a line of “look, it’s his first time invading a foreign country, he tried his hardest, give him a break.” This seems to have successfully influenced the American public, so much so that Kennedy’s approval rating increased five points, to 83%, after the debacle!

…

In Gurri's telling, High Modernism had always been a failure, but the government-media-academia elite axis had been strong enough to conceal it from the public. Starting in the early 2000s, that axis broke down. People could have lowered their expectations, but in the real world that wasn't how things went. Instead of losing faith in the power of government to work miracles, people believed that government could and should be working miracles, but that the specific people in power at the time were too corrupt and stupid to press the "CAUSE MIRACLE" button which they definitely had and which definitely would have worked. And so the outrage, the protests - kick these losers out of power, and replace them with anybody who had the common decency to press the miracle button!

…

Any system that hasn't solved every problem is illegitimate. Solving problems is easy and just requires pressing the "CAUSE MIRACLE" button. Thus the protests. In 2011, enough dry tinder of anger had built up that everywhere in the world erupted into protest simultaneously, all claiming their respective governments were illegitimate. These protests were necessarily vague and leaderless, because any protest-leader would fall victim to the same crisis of authority and legitimacy that national leaders were suffering from. Any attempt to make specific demands would be pilloried because those specific demands wouldn't unilaterally end homelessness or racism or inequality or whatever else. The only stable state was a sort of omni-nihilism that refused to endorse anything.

(I’m reminded of Tanner Greer’s claim that the great question of modernity is not “what can I accomplish?” or “how do I succeed?” but rather “how do I get management to take my side?”)

Gurri calls our current government a kind of "zombie democracy". The institutions of the 20th century - legislatures, universities, newspapers - continue to exist. But they are hollow shells, stripped of all legitimacy. Nobody likes or trusts them. They lurch forward, mimicking the motions they took in life, but no longer able to change or make plans or accomplish new things.

…

How do we escape this equilibrium? Gurri isn't sure. His 2017 afterword says he thinks we're even more in it now than we were in 2014. But he has two suggestions.

First, cultivate your garden. We got into this mess by believing the government could solve every problem. We're learning it can''t. We're not going to get legitimate institutions again until we unwind the overly high expectations produced by High Modernism, and the best way to do that is to stop expecting government to solve all your problems. So cultivate your garden. If you're concerned about obesity, go on a diet, or volunteer at a local urban vegetable garden, or organize a Fun Run in your community, do anything other than start a protest telling the government to end obesity. This is an interesting contrast to eg Just Giving, which I interpret as having the opposite model - if you want to fight obesity, you should work through the democratic system by petitioning the government to do something; trying to figure out a way to fight it on your own would be an undemocratic exercise of raw power. Gurri is recommending that we tear that way of thinking up at the root.

Second, start looking for a new set of elites who can achieve legitimacy. These will have to be genuinely decent and humble people - Gurri gives the example of George Washington. They won't claim to be able to solve everything. They won't claim the scientific-administrative mantle of High Modernism. They'll just be good honorable people who will try to govern wisely for the common good. Haha, yeah right.

…

Gurri divides the world between the Center and the Border. He thinks the Center - politicians, experts, journalists, officials - will be in a constant retreat, and the Border - bloggers, protesters, and randos - on a constant advance. His thesis got a boost when Brexit and Trump - both Border positions - crushed and embarrassed their respective Centers. But since then I'm not sure things have been so clear. The blogosphere is in retreat (maybe Substack is reversing this?), but the biggest and most mainstream of mainstream news organizations, like the New York Times are becoming more trusted and certainly more profitable. The new President of the US is a boring moderate career politician. The public cheers on elite censorship of social media. There haven't been many big viral protests lately except Black Lives Matter and the 1/6 insurrection, and both seemed to have a perfectly serviceable set of specific demands (defunding the police, decertifying the elections). Maybe I've just grown used to it, but it doesn't really feel like a world where a tiny remnant of elites are being attacked on all sides by a giant mob of entitled nihilists.

…

At the risk of being premature or missing Gurri's point, I want to try telling a story of how the revolt of the public and the crisis of legitimacy at least partially stalled.

Gurri talks a lot about Center and Border, but barely even mentions Left and Right. Once you reintroduce these, you have a solution to nihilism. The Left can come up with a laundry list of High Modernist plans that they think would solve all their problems, and the Right can do the same. Then one or the other takes control of government, gets thwarted by checks/balances/Mitch McConnell, and nothing happens. No American Democrat was forced to conclude that just because Obama couldn't solve all their problems, the promise of High Modernism was a lie. They just concluded that Obama could have solved all their problems, but the damn Republicans filibustered the bill. Likewise, the Republicans can imagine that Donald Trump would have made America great again if the media and elites and Deep State hadn't been blocking him at every turn. Donald Trump himself tells them this is true!

With this solution in place, you can rebuild trust in institutions. If you're a Republican, Fox News is trustworthy because it tells you the ways Democrats are bad. Some people say it's biased or inaccurate, but those people are Democrats or soft-on-Democrat RINO traitors. And if you're a Democrat, academic experts are completely trustworthy, and if someone challenges them you already know those challenges must be vile Republican lies. Lack of access to opposing views has been replaced with lack of tolerance for opposing views. And so instead of the public having to hate all elites, any given member of the public only needs to hate half of the elites.

You could think of this as a mere refinement of Gurri. But it points at a deeper critique. Suppose that US left institutions are able to maintain legitimacy, because US leftists trust them as fellow warriors in the battle against rightism (and vice versa). Why couldn't one make the same argument about the old American institutions? People liked and trusted the President and Walter Cronkite and all the other bipartisan elites because they were American, and fellow warriors in the battle against Communism or terrorism or poverty or Saddam or whatever. If this is true, the change stops looking like the masses suddenly losing faith in the elites and revolting, and more like a stable system of the unified American masses trusting the unified American elites, fissioning into two stable systems of the unified (right/left) masses trusting the unified (right/left) elites. Why did the optimal stable ingroup size change from nation-sized to political-tribe-sized?

…

The one exception to my disrecommendation is that you might enjoy the book as a physical object. The cover, text, and photographs are exceptionally beautiful; the cover image - of some sort of classical-goddess-looking person (possibly Democracy? I expect if I were more cultured I would know this) holding a cell phone - is spectacularly well done. I understand that Gurri self-published the first edition, and that this second edition is from not-quite-traditional publisher Stripe Press. I appreciate the kabbalistic implications of a book on the effects of democratization of information flow making it big after getting self-published, and I appreciate the irony of a book about the increasing instability of history getting left behind by events within a few years. So buy this beautiful book to put on your coffee table, but don't worry about the content - you are already living in it.

Watcher’s Opinion on the Gods

tagged by @orime-stories! thank you for the tag, this is awesome! I’ve seen this making the rounds so I’m not sure who’s been tagged- I’ll tag @risualto @rannadylin @serenbach86 @lunarowena to do it/ do it again if you want to!

spoilers ahead!! seriously, so many spoilers for both games!!

What does Desta think about the gods?

1. Abydon: possible the only god she doesn’t have a specific issue with? The value of hard work is actually something she agrees in, and he seems to stick with interacting with his followers and not messing around with kith otherwise. Plus she appreciates that he was willing to sacrifice himself to protect kith, which is far more than the other gods do.

2. Berath: Their relationship is...strained. She’s willing to work alongside Berath to stop Eothas, but doesn’t agree with them on a lot of stuff and gets annoyed when they just brush off her input. They chose her to do this mission, yet they won’t listen to anything she has to tell them, and their attitude often feels condescending. Then the godlike reveal happened and the way Berath was so cold about it didn’t help things; the other gods being assholes was bad enough, but somehow Berath’s calm, emotionless, “yes this is your purpose, we can and will do this to you” was the worst.

3. Eothas: He’s frustrating. Desta agrees with him a lot in theory- reveal the truth about the gods? Yeah! make a world where the kith aren’t dependent on the gods and Wheel? Yeah! But all of his methods involve a lot death and destruction for kith, and he’s not exactly asking for their opinion on any of this- he’s just making the decision for him, which in Desta’s opinion makes him no better than the other gods who are willing to sacrifice kith for their own purposes.

4. Galawain: Hooooo boy. I have written multiple fics dealing with Desta’s Galawain-realted emotional baggage XD Her opinion is basically...being strong doesn’t mean you also have to be a dick, saying that “suffering builds character” is just an excuse to be a dick, and if he’s mad about her calling him a dick he can meet her in the pit

5. Hylea: Probably the only god besides Abydon that Desta doesn’t specifically dislike. Her intentions seem to be good, her actions seem to generally be helpful, and she could have done a lot better by Pallegina but at least she’s not as bad as the others. She does make Desta uneasy because Desta’s past inquisitor-self was very dedicated to Hylea, and so Desta doesn’t know if she actually likes Hylea or if it’s the Inquisitor bleeding through, and if she thinks too much about it she gets creeped out

6. Magran: Too similar to Galawain for Desta to like her at all. Also too willing to sacrifice tons of kith at the drop of a hat. You can’t solve all your problems by being mean too people and blowing things up, Magran.

7. Ondra: She has so much focus on sorrow and mourning, and Desta just doesn’t get that. Also, there was that thing where she tried to drop a moon on everyone. That wasn’t cool. And the Abbey of the Fallen Moon was pretty fucked up. Can’t any of the gods just have normal followers??

8. Rymrgand: He is awful. He’s all about the end times and desolation and hopelessness, and Desta just can’t stand it. Vatnir deserves better and she told Ryrmrgand that to his face (and that was probably the closes she ever came to being outright killed by a god. Aside from Eothas.)

9. Skaen: Nope. Just...nope.

10. Wael: She didn’t mind them too much at first- curiosity and mystery? She can support that! But she didn’t like their suggestion of what to do with the souls- she has a chaotic streak, but she’s not about to gamble with thousands of souls without having any idea of what will happen to them. And then there was the Forgotten Sanctum...again, does every god have to have a sect of really fucked up followers?

11. Woedica: The worst of them all. Desta will never understand how she was willing to sacrifice so many children for her own gain. Add in that Desta doesn’t have much respect for authority and that she considers Woedica a giant hypocrite for picking and choosing what rules to follow...there’s just no chance of a good relationship between them,

TLDR- Desta would throw hands with any of the gods if given the chance, with the possible exception of Abydon and Hylea who get “not as big a jerk as you could have been” awards

Deadfire, day 7.

Aw, I didn’t get the quest for the godseed. Now I’m sad. How do you ensure that you get it, anyway?

I want Fassina to stay friends with Bekarna, too. Though hugs might be too much to ask.

Retina hatched, thankfully, and got cooed over by Maia and Edér both. You’re going to be well taken care of, little abomination. Come here and give your new parents some tiny hugs.

The body is now dead. Fuck you, Wael and your Hand Occult.

One thing I really like about Tayn is that he doesn’t get any less friendly if you don’t go along with his Brilliant Ideas.

Megabosses!

Belranga wasn’t too hard, I’ve got a pretty good handle on how to beat her by now.

Hauani O Whe has been defeated. Chanter summons: super useful. Especially the dragon. Oh, and a nicely enchanted Essence Interrupter’s ability to shoot things dead and make them come back as different monsters that fight on your side. WHOOOOO.

Note to self: To beat Sigilmaster Auranic, you need Meteor Shower. Specifically. Fassina can have all the other spells in the game, and they won’t help (assuming she doesn’t just get knocked out in short order). Got her on the first try, once I swapped Aloth back in.

I was able to pretty reliably get Dorudugan to Bloodied, sometimes close to Near Death, but I got bored of trying to beat him before I got anywhere near succeeding.

In conclusion, three out of four really ain’t bad, and a fully-leveled, well-equipped chanter can approach cipheresque levels of cheese. You can summon so many dragons.

Time to go home to Neketaka and start the endgame.

You know what, yeah, Maia and the three members of Team Dyrwood seems like an appropriate party for assassinating the queen.

“Ah, Rauataians. To you, every problem is a head that has just not met the right bullet.” Pallegina isn’t wrong.

Aloth is pissed. Sorry, Aloth. Yeah, this is shitty, but as far as Sikkerneq is concerned, it’s the best option of a bad lot.

And Pallegina is leaving. Whoops.

I’m seriously doing this with a four-person party? Oh gods.

Edér isn’t happy about this, either. Pretty much the only people who are are Maia and the hazanui.

Atsura, spare us the pretense of caring about this “dreadful waste of life”. We all know you don’t actually give a shit about anything but securing your own legacy.

...oh, hey, a hug from Karū. What a ghastly time for hugs.

Tekēhu’s gone. I’m so sorry, fish boy. Between this and what Aegen made you do, I owe you some nice things. Maybe I’ll rerun Clelia, would you like that?

To Ukaizo, then. Maia is obviously coming with, Edér goes without saying, Xoti will want to talk to her god again, and I want to claim my Rekke hug. Sounds like a good party, right?

Looks like it’s the Príncipi coming to fight me in the channel. I’m fine with that. Fuck Furrante.

It feels so weird not having Tekēhu with me on Ondra’s Spire. I just hit the switch and that’s it? No yelling? No drama?

Endings:

Eothas left behind the statue as a haven for lost souls.

The Rauataians’ plans to “excavate and rebuild the shattered machinery of reincarnation” sounds uncomfortably like a return to the status quo. Try and make some improvements while you’re in there, guys.

Rauatai shifted over time to a national identity less centered on hardship and suffering, and the Deadfire was officially annexed to the empire.

The Príncipi were pretty much eliminated by the newly enlarged Rauataian presence.

The VTC was pushed out of the Deadfire entirely. Needless to say, the Republics weren’t happy.

The Huana went into decline, and a lot of their people assimilated to Rauataian culture.

Port Maje descended into chaos after its leaders were assassinated, then was taken over by Rauatai.

Atsura became governor of Neketaka, since Karū was now based out of Ukaizo.

The Gullet was razed, though it takes more than that to eliminate crime and poverty, certainly.

The Watershapers’ Guild remained as powerful as ever, if not more so. I can only imagine what sort of relations they had with Atsura’s government.

The Dawnstars took up sickles and lanterns and became Harvesters, ferrying souls to the adra statue.

Tikawara was abandoned, and the tribe became nomadic. Good luck out there, guys.

The Dead Floe broke apart, and Hafjórn led the remaining Harbingers back to the White that Wends to rejoin their clans. For his part, Vatnir became a pirate, “serving in a series of wildly disreputable privateer crews.”

Kazuwari became wilder and more dangerous, as usual.

Muātu is doing a great job as the new Faces of the Hunt. He sounds happy.

The original Faces became a vampiric spirit that dozens of kith died trying to defeat. Oops?

Tayn’s “little thought-bombs” escaped with a lot of information the Hand Occult would rather not have out there. Awesome.

The vithrack colony from the Collections settled in the Old City. Enjoy!

Bekarna became the best archmage. Is there any earthly reason to ever go for her other endings? (Please let her stay friends with Tayn and Fassina.)

The Black Isles were taken over by evil fungus and then crumbled entirely.

Edér got to working to help fix the damage caused by the gods and raising Bearn to be an irreverent little shit, just like Elafa would’ve wanted. As usual.

He and Xoti are still friends, aww. Give each other lots of hugs for me!

Xoti became a proper Dawnstar. Aren’t you going to need your sickle, Xoti, now that they’re all Harvesters?

Aloth got back to destroying the Leaden Key. Hopefully with a new understanding of the complexity of the situation.

Serafen took to fighting slavers. I imagine he’d have had to look pretty far afield for any slavers to fight.

Pallegina got a plum assignment back home and only had slight regrets about not doing more to swing events in the Republics’ favor. She kept in touch with Giacolo, too.

Maia spearheaded a reform movement, and her part in securing the Deadfire for the empire brought fame and glory to her family as well as herself.

She continued visiting Sikkerneq for the occasional date night, too.

Tekēhu went off to do his own thing and be an artist, though without the secrets he would’ve learned on Ondra’s Spire, his work is less spectacular than it might’ve been.

I imagine Sikkerneq would’ve had a decision ahead of her—go back to Caed Nua, back to her hometown in Rauatai, or settle permanently in the Deadfire.

And that’s that, whew.

Blog 3

Some people might claim that America is the greatest country in the world, and for a lot citizens, it is. However, America is plagued by an illness that affects a large portion of the public. It’s nearly impossible to not know anyone affected by this disease and as more time progresses, it only gets worse. The disease in question is obesity or morbid obesity. There are many ways to combat obesity including exercise, eating clean, and having the positive mindset to hit goals once thought impossible. One exercise in particular that has gained popularity is one that involves heavy lifting and full body workouts. The company that introduced the world of lifting to the everyday person is called Crossfit. Crossfit is not the name of the exercises, it is the name of the company. In 2020, the former owner, Greg Glassman made racist statements online about George Floyd, an unarmed black man brutally murdered by a police officer for possibly using counterfeit cash at a store. According to National Public Radio (2020), Glassman stepped down from his CEO position due to controversial statements relating to the BLM movement. Glassman’s actions tainted the image of the company forcing him to sell it. The role of public relations in this case is evident because the company known as Crossfit suffered through a crisis thanks to the former CEO’s actions. Glassman’s actions happened in the internet space allowing people to respond.

The theory that will be used to describe this case is crisis communication. According to Coombs (2007), crisis are damaging to an organization because they tarnish its reputation and damage the relationship between stakeholders. Coombs’ (2007) situational crisis communication theory (SCCT) is explained as a framework for protecting an organization’s reputation during the post crisis communication phase and how stakeholders will respond. Coombs (2007) provides levels of a crisis which includes the victim cluster, accidental cluster, and preventable cluster.

Based off crisis communication, Greg Glassman made the stupid decision to voice his racists opinions about a very sensitive case. Coombs’ (2007) crisis cluster of preventable definitely describes this situation because you don’t accidentally post racists things on social media. The preventable cluster is appropriate because it implies human error (Coombs, 2007). Glassman made the wrong decision by voicing his opinion on a situation that was in no way related to his fitness business. Based on the crisis communication model, Glassman brought on unnecessary conflict that directly affected his company. Crisis communication is concerned with reputation, and Glassman’s actions did just that. According to Cheryl Wischhover of vox.com (2020), large sport companies like Reebok cut ties with Crossfit.

The Crossfit situation is a great example of a preventable cluster rooted in crisis communication. The former CEO made a poor choice that damaged the reputation of his organization forcing him to resign. There is no excuse for racism and as a company CEO in the 21st century, this should be a no brainer. According to Waele et al., (2020) a CEO’s voice during a crisis could affect how stakeholders perceive that organization. According to vox.com (2020), Glassman’s social media response to this incident was as follows: “I made a mistake by the words I chose yesterday. My heart is deeply saddened by the pain it has caused. It was a mistake, not racist but a mistake.” Glassman was only sorry that he got caught; his apology is more of a non-apology because it lacks any real depth and was instead a forced reaction that he probably complained about.

Overall, the Crossfit situation was one that didn’t need to happen. If the public relations communication could be conducted differently, the simple solution would be to not post anything controversial. However, simply not posting controversial things doesn’t take away the fact that the CEO still has that mindset. Having the CEO step down from the company was the best decision but the online apology was weak. Perhaps crisis communication theory could be looked more through the lens of SMCC (social media crisis communication) to better understand how the public response to Glassman’s social media apology truly affected the business.  

Citations

Coombs, W. T. (2007). Protecting organization reputations during a crisis: The development and application of Situational Crisis Communication theory. Corporate Reputation Review, 10(3), 163–176. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.crr.1550049

De Waele, A., Schoofs, L., & Claeys, A.-S. (2020). The power of empathy: The dual impacts of an emotional voice in organizational crisis communication. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 48(3), 350–371.10.1080/00909882.2020.1750669

Salinas, B. (2020, June 9). CrossFit CEO steps down after his racial remarks led Reebok, others to cut ties. NPR. From https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial- justice/2020/06/09/873150038/crossfit-company-is-ostracized-after-its-ceos-racial- remarks.

https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/06/09/873150038/crossfit-company-is-ostracized-after-its-ceos-racial-remarks 

Wischhover, C. (2020, June 12). Why CrossFit devotees leaving the brand behind is such a big deal. Vox. From https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/6/12/21289151/crossfit-greg- glassman-black-lives-matter-box-katrin-davidsdottir-games-reebok.

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/6/12/21289151/crossfit-greg-glassman-black-lives-matter-box-katrin-davidsdottir-games-reebok

Lebanese woes eclipse '80s pound collapse

Lebanese woes eclipse ’80s pound collapse

BEIRUT: In Lebanon these days, with the pound having lost more than 80 percent of its value, discussion on the daily US dollar rate has become as commonplace as the weather or football.

Over the past months, sharp falls in the pound’s value have prompted outbursts of popular anger, while steady gains have offered short-lived hope that the worst has passed. Essentially, the pound’s exchange rate…

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Coronavirus means a ceasefire in Yemen is needed now more than ever

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Coronavirus means a ceasefire in Yemen is needed now more than ever

Moeen Alzuriqi (Protection Officer) at hygiene kit distribution in Alkoba IDP Camp, Taiz, Yemen. Wael Algadi/Oxfam

This blog was written by Awssan Kamal Oxfam GB Humanitarian Campaign Project Manager, a British Yemeni aid worker and activist. In 2015 he was forced to return to the UK when the conflict began. The people of Yemen like many in across the world in conflict affected states now face COVID-19, hospitals have been destroyed, borders are closed, and humanitarian assistance is difficult to access It is now a critical time for the UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to show leadership and take action. People in Yemen need a sustainable peace, global funding and cooperation to contain the pandemic and protect millions of people who are suffering the devastating consequences of conflict. Only this week, just over 3 months since the UN Secretary-General came out and called for a global ceasefire, the UN Security Council unanimously voted to support the call for a global ceasefire and to help fight COVID-19.  Resolution 2532 called for “a durable humanitarian pause for at least 90 consecutive days” which was reportedly broken by continued fighting in Yemen hours after the announcement.   In the last five years conflict in Yemen has caused over a hundred thousand people to lose their lives. It is hard to imagine from the outside, with many people struggling to even put three meals a day on the table, what that means until you see it with your eyes. The effects of increased food insecurity and malnutrition levels can be seen with the naked eye but it is so hard for the media to report the story. Last week, UNICEF warned that an additional 30,000 children could develop life-threatening malnutrition over the next 6 months, and the overall number of malnourished children under the age of 5 could increase to a total of 2.4 million (a rise of around 20%). The war has driven people out of their homes, not just once but sometimes 2 and 3 times, and has led to the displacement of 3.6 million people, including 76 per cent of women and children. This makes it even more tragic that their voices and needs are shut out from any solutions to their situation. The recent escalation and fighting across the country are making an already dire situation even worse. Aid groups and local civil society organisations are struggling to find funds, as well as ensuring that their staff can safely respond to the humanitarian needs. You might wonder, why it is so important for aid organisations and civil society groups to be able to respond in Yemen now, when the people of Yemen have struggled for many years?  Access to water and sanitation is going to fighting the spread of COVID-19. Due to increasingly depleted groundwater basins and now the conflict that has raged for 5 years people are having to travel even further across conflict lines to access water and pay more to pump it out of the ground. For communities (especially in rural areas) washing hands is a luxury. Many only wash their hands before eating their only meal of the day. Simple measures for preventing the spread of Coronavirus, such as handwashing, are impossible for many.   War has brought a broken health system to its knees. In a country where doctors have struggled for many years to get equipment, you can imagine how difficult it is now to get the necessary PPE to respond safely to Coronavirus. In the already struggling health system, a caesarean section for a woman could cost the family nearly 5 months of their wages. Just a simple procedure like a broken arm could cost the equivalent of 3 months of wages.   According to the UN, “COVID-19 is spreading rapidly across Yemen. About 25% of Yemenis confirmed to have the disease have died. That’s five times the global average.” In his briefing to the UN Security Council on 24 June 2020, Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock said, “We know many cases and deaths are going unrecorded. Burial prices in some areas have increased by seven times compared to a few months ago” The UK Government’s Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, James Cleverly, announced that UK aid-funded research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimates that infections in Yemen have already reached 1 million cases. The research states that in the worst-case scenario, there will be up to 85,000 deaths.  

(The publicly available London School research can also be found here, the Press Release from the UK government is here on Gov.uk)

(The publicly available London School research can also be found here, the Press Release from the UK government is here on Gov.uk) In early June, the UK Government and other donors met virtually to discuss the humanitarian situation in Yemen. The UN called for $2.4 billion to be able to respond to new challenges in the country. This virtual meeting generated $1.35 billion, more than $1 billion short of the UN’s target. Unfortunately, there was no sight of the record-breaking $1 billion pledge from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to humanitarian operations in Yemen 2018, and it is unclear when this money might be dispersed.   At this meeting, the UK Government pledged £160 million to Yemen. Given the current situation, it is positive to see continued support from the Government for the crisis in Yemen. However, it is disappointing to see a reduction in UK funding since last year, when the UK pledged £200 million at a similar event and subsequently gave an additional £40 million, bringing overall spending in Yemen to £240 million in 2019. Since the conflict escalated in 2015, the UK has contributed nearly £1 billion in assistance to Yemen. This figure is huge, but it contrasts with over £6 billion that the UK earned over the 5 years of war from selling of arm to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. So called “open licences” add at least hundreds of millions more but are not publicly reported If a more permanent, nationwide ceasefire and a political solution is not reached soon, and more funding to support humanitarian activity is not found, the food security situation will further deteriorate, more children will become malnourished, and many may die as Coronavirus gains a stronger hold within the country. The UK should now show global leadership by taking concrete action to make this ceasefire a reality in Yemen, ensuring respect for international law and stop fuelling the conflict by halting arms sales. In his statement calling for a global ceasefire three months ago the Secretary- General said, “The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war.” He added, “It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives.” Now is the time to silence the guns and stand with those who are unable to access adequate health care and sanitation. We need to focus on ensuring inclusive and lasting peace, so that global efforts focus on the real challenges of inequality, and our drive to overcome Coronavirus. 

Author

Awssan Kamal

Awssan is an Oxfam GB Humanitarian Campaign Project Manager, a British Yemeni aid worker and activist. In 2015 he was forced to return to the UK when the conflict began.

Global Report: Social marketing in the Middle East and North Africa — 1000heads

With 1000heads offices located in places as far flung as Sydney, New York, London – and indeed Dubai – we’re lucky to be able to cultivate a globally rounded view of social media marketing. Today we hear from Yazeed Khalaf, one of our team working with clients in the Middle East and North Africa, who takes a brief look at how social and digital marketing has developed in the region.

As with the rest of the world, the importance of social media in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has seen a steady rise to the point where it is a now a key factor in both people’s personal lives and the way businesses choose to engage with their audience. In 2014 however, it wasn’t just a growth in the social and digital marketing space that was notable, but a clear step change in how companies in the MENA region are approaching and investing in campaigns on social media representing a new level of maturity in the market.

To highlight this trend, I’ve outlined two examples of how companies and organisations in the MENA region positioned themselves using social and digital media to achieve improved results.

THE POWER OF THE COMMUNITY

At the end of 2013, Dubai was successful in its bid to host #Expo 2020 AKA The World Expo, and a direct descendant of 1851’s Great Exhibition. In looking to both secure the bid and kickstart interest in the lengthy run-up to the Expo, the Dubai bid team saw real value in social and digital media. Dubai dominated social channels, compared to competing cities and at the time of the bid, its Facebook page had an impressive 854K fans while its Twitter followers exceeded 94K (and has many more of both now) and among the four candidate cities, Dubai amassed 45% of the total number of Twitter mentions related to the Expo.

With an increasing number of locations seeking to host global events, the power of social media will become more and more important in which candidates receive those events, how the events are perceived by the wider public and indeed the overall success of the event when they actually happen. Dubai’s Expo 2020 campaign is a great case study as such and shows a sophistication of thinking that is a credit to the region.

TAKING OPPORTUNITIES

After Egypt suffered a disappointing 6-1 loss to Ghana in qualifications for the 2014 World Cup, tournament sponsor Coca-Cola had to rethink their strategy to reaching football fans in Egypt. Their solution? To embrace the negative side of this situation and turn it into something positive. In doing so they ended up with this comic ‘EPIC FAIL’ ad starring Egypt international Wael Gomaa.

The ad resulted in over 2.5 million views on Youtube, but it didn’t stop there. Twitter also played an important role in the World Cup campaign by engaging with users on a daily basis to extend the tone of the campaign throughout the tournament and offer Egyptians a chance to go to the World Cup, even if the players weren’t…

The confidence to activate integrated campaigns like this in social and digital media is another shift in the region that has fully matured over 2014 and something we’ve long worked towards, and are excited to be part of.

This content was originally published here.

30 Day Watcher Challenge: Day 4

With 19 days to go till Deadfire - prompt by ohyashas

Questions 9 and 10 are quite the blocktext <3

9. Reputations: what are your watcher’s dispositions? do they line up with how you envision your watcher? what are your watcher’s reputations? do they work to maintain any reputations, either good or bad?

I often picked a disposition reply because I thought it fitted the conversation, and ended up getting the full disposition for many of them. I like the double-sided nature to them and thought they fit Laura’s personality nicely.

Benevolent: 4 - Laura is charitable, kind, but also soft, weak due to the lack of sleep and traumatic experiences. She was always considered soft by her fellow Vailians, yet she likes to think her compassion is stronger. She lived in poverty for the first years of her life, and is fond of children, developing a maternal instinct whilst in the Dyrwood, so when she is asked for help by those who suffer, she often accepts, even if there is no reward for her efforts.

Clever: 3 - She can be sarcastic and sassy at times, trying to joke in dire situations when tensions are high.

Stoic: 1 - There were moments when Laura tried to keep her cool, or was so affected by what happened that she didn’t know what to say or how to react.

Aggressive: 2 - She doesn’t appreciate being taken advantage of, often acting out of impatience. She can also be bold, daring, courageous. However, she favors peaceful solutions to confrontational ones.

Diplomatic: 4 - Vailian at her core, Laura knows how to behave in certain circumstances and how to be polite and proper. She is courteous and often cautious, seeking to reconcile two aggravated parties, often seeking a compromise that benefits both sides.

Passionate: 3 - Again, Vailian at her core, Laura is a romantic, passionate about her morals and ideals, but never zealous or obsessive. She prefers to be balanced, often lashing out when troubled or impatient.

Rational: 4 - Laura tries to seek the reasoning behind people’s actions; if she cannot cipher her way through a situation, she can rationalize it. Helped by her high intelligence and innate talents.

Honest: 4 - She tries her best to be sincere, disagreeing with going behind people’s backs to get a problem solved. She thinks the hard truth is better than the pleasing lie. She is often seen as cold, partly due to her appearance and episodes of blank stares.

Deceptive: 1 - But when it comes to her enemies, she believes lying can be more beneficial, like getting someone inside, saving lives in the process. For instance, she lies her way into the Temple of the Fallen Moon, due to her not wanting to kill every single Ondrite.

In terms of reputations:

She tries hard to be accepted, and as her plan is to remain in the Dyrwood, she aims to leave a pleasant impression on the people she encounters, often helping even if she probably shouldn’t get involved. She especially tries to maintain good relations with Twin Elms since she respects the Eir Glanfath and hopes she can learn more about her abilities from their ciphers.

Her enemies are the rogue family of the Doemenels and the Ethik Nol, disagreeing with both their methodology and aspirations.

10. faith & the gods: what are your watcher’s opinions on the gods? do they change throughout the game? is there any god that they favor or worship?

Due to her Godlike heritage, Laura isn’t fond of the Gods, like at all. The only one she is aligned with is Hylea, the Goddess of Sky and Song, as she is a patron of the arts. She asks for Hylea’s favor during Sun and Shadow, as she is the only one Laura wishes to be associated with, hoping to return the souls back to their original bodies anyhow. However, other than that, Laura cares little for the gods.

Before coming to the Dyrwood, Laura hated Ondra, thinking she stole her brother on one of his voyages and sacrificed her mother through the unnatural birth. Most of her life, she also feared that Ondra would try to reclaim her, drown her in the seas, if she ever stepped on a ship, or even went for a swim at the beach. Thus, when she had to leave Old Vailia, Laura thought she will meet her death on her journey, scared that Ondra might take some of the other passengers as well.

Yet when she landed in the Dyrwood, Laura was still alive - there had been no incidents on their smooth journey. Thus, Laura stopped fearing Ondra. During the second act of White March, she finally gets to speak to her ‘mother’, calling her a whore in the first instance but beginning to understand the goddess a bit better throughout the conversation. She attempts to ask about her race multiple times, but Ondra constantly deflects her question, behaving as if she never heard the question asked in the first place.

In the end, she has mixed feelings about Ondra. She disagrees with her worldview, but understands some of her motives and empathizes with her emotions, still driven to understand why she was born this way.

In terms of other gods, she is neutral to them before the events of the first game; afterwards, she hates Woedica, Skaen and Magran, and has mixed negative feelings about Galawain and Rymrgand, mixed positive feelings about Berath, Wael and Eothas, and a general good opinion of Abydon, who’s likely Laura’s second ok God, if she had to make a list. She doesn’t temper him, initially trying to do so, but failing when she realizes that those arguments are not hers, but Ondra’s, and that she agrees with the Eyeless.

After the big reveal, Laura stops respecting any and every god. She no longer considers them worthy of their title, stopping herself altogether from thinking about them in an attempt to focus on her own life, on Vela and the kith around her. Whilst her past life is at peace, knowing the answer to the question that awakened it in the first place, her present one is troubled, unsure of what to do with it. So instead of dealing with the issue, she ignores it, keeping the answer to herself - for now.

Extended Research Post

Research Post Extended

How did social media contribute to the Egyptian Revolution?

The Arab spring caused huge uproar back in 2011 when Egypt, Libya, Syria, Tunis and Bahrain all erupted with people taking the streets protesting the unfairness and political instability in the countries (Beaumont, 2011). Unlike all revolutions that took place in the years prior to the Arab spring, the protests didn’t start with people walking in the streets and shouting at others to join (Brown, Guskin and Mitchell, 2012). The Arab spring started with a few people at home, using their cellphones or computers, expressing their ideas and posting videos and pictures of the whole situation (Gustin et al., 2011).

Mohammed Bouzizi was a Tunisian man who burned himself in the Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid. The video someone took of him went viral across the Arab world and caused anger among the citizens who were already suffering from oppression and lack of money (Beaumont, 2011). In Egypt though, pictures and articles about a young man by the name Khalid Saed went viral. Khalid lost his life due to Egyptian police brutally beating him and stuffing drugs up his throat then claiming he was a drug dealer, which is the scenario that has been used many times and people were fed up of hearing(Beaumont, 2011).. Once the topic got out, social media users did not stop talking about it and discussing it until Wael Ghoniem, the executive of Google Egypt back then made a Facebook event to gather the people into one square; Tahrir Square (Beaumont, 2011).

In my research, I will be using the two research techniques Oral History and Ethnography. With Oral History, I will use my conversation with my Uncle which is an Egyptian immigrant in Canada who by chance was in Egypt during the Egyptian Revolution. For Psycogeopgraphy, I will use my own personal point of view.

Oral History

What is Oral History? Oral history is basically spoken and not written parts of history told by people who have lived through it. For that part, I will be using my Uncle who physically lived through the interview (Oral History Association, n.d.).

Transcribed Interview with Wael Eissa, a 45 year old Egyptian electrical engineer:

Laila: How can you describe the start of the Revolution in Egypt?

Wael: Well, it all started in the end of 2010. With the bombing of the Church of the Two Saints and the Khalid Saed Incident, I noticed the anger growing on social media even along my group of friends and family. People were done with the all the injustice, terrorism and police brutality going on. I mean, 30 years is a pretty long time. I remember the Facebook event that was organized by Wael Ghoneim. He organized an event for people in Cairo to all gather in Tahrir Square in Downtown Cairo and protest. It was all very fast and surprising. I mean, growing up I always knew people were not allowed to criticize the man in power and if anyone dared to do so, their fate was destined; either sentenced to life in prison or mysteriously disappearing and dying. Basically, I can say the start of the Revolution was a fast, surprising, life turning event which changed the lives of millions.

Laila: Can you tell me more about 25th of January 2011?

Wael: Well, I remember waking up in the morning to the sound of my mum watching the news. I remember hearing the chants and noise from TV then going outside in our balcony and seeing people outraged in the streets. I open my computer to check Facebook to get an idea of what is happening. As you know at that time, there was no internet and I had to turn on a proxy to be able to gain access like the rest of Egyptians at that time. I see my friends and family posting statuses, pictures and videos live from Tahrir Square. I see statuses of people asking for money, food, medicine and help since the government started shooting at the demonstrators and throwing gas bombs. Without Facebook, my uncle would have probably been dead as he had to hide in a restaurant until I ran there to take him to the hospital. Later on, I saw that on Facebook that the shooting stopped and I decided to go join the demonstrations. I don’t remember much as after that everything started to feel like a dream to me.

Laila: Can you describe the days following the 25th of January 2011?

Wael: Well, the days that followed were basically just a mess. The jails opened up and the prisoners escaped, buildings were going on fire, people were getting shot by snipers on the streets, all shops were closing and it was just horrible. I was leaving the house everyday knowing that there is a possibility of me not returning which was scary. I couldn’t even contact my mother because the government shut off all cellphone towers. It was horrible. My sister could only contact me through Facebook which I had to be home to use and I wasn’t spending much time home then.

Laila: How do you feel like social media contributed?

Wael: Well, without social media, I don’t think that much people would have heard about the incidents and not that much people would have known about the 25th of January gathering in Tahrir Square. The revolution was mostly done by the youth, who have suffered based on the consequences of the decisions of the older generation. So, with social media, the youth were able to bring their voice out there and actually gather and make a difference.; specially that the older generation, even my own generation wasn’t really involved in social media as much back then. The government was very threatened by social media as well and that is why from January 8th till February 2nd they cut off the internet from people. They just didn’t know that that would make people realize how scared and how strong we can be using the internet. It’s truly amazing how social media brought all these people together.

In my extension of my previous research post, I’ve decided to continue with oral history about social media during the Egyptian revolution. This time I’ve decided to interview an Egyptian who permanently resided in Cairo before and after the revolution. Ehab Eldesouky is a 53 year old professor of economics and finance in one of Cairo’s best economics schools. He participated in the Revolution from beginning to end. I’ll be comparing between the history I’ve been told by Wael and Ehab.

Laila: How can you describe the beginning of the revolution?

Ehab: Well, it all started in the end of 2010 when the Church of the two saints was bombed. People started losing it. Everyone got very angry because the government claimed that it was an act of terrorism meanwhile everyone knew it was the government distracting the people from the all the bullshit that is happening around. Social media went crazy about it and the people in the streets were angry. Then the Khalid Saed case happened at the same time Bouzizi set himself on fire. That’s when everything started escalating. Everyone including myself started expressing themselves using Facebook and twitter. I and other activists were setting up plans to meet and discuss the issues using Facebook, back then the government wasn’t very interested in stalking people on Facebook unlike now. They didn’t know how powerful it was until after the revolution. The Facebook page by the name “We are all Khalid Saed” was posting updates on the trial case of his murder. The court claimed that Khalid was a drug dealer and that he was killed by police because he resisted when he tried to get arrested. That was totally not the case. Khalid’s family was actively posting on the page trying to the truth out to people. They were trying to let people know that their innocent son was killed because a bunch of corrupt, power-abusing policemen just decided to commit a horrible crime. The page got huge acknowledgment; I and everyone I know knew about the page and were constantly keeping up to date with it. Then the Facebook event of “The Friday of Anger” which took place on January 25th 2011 happened. Everyone I knew said they’re going and that is what actually happened. We all went to the streets and started protesting; everyone had so much rage in them. It was like the 30 years of dictatorship and pressure just exploding.

Laila: Can you tell me more about 25th of January 2011?

Ehab: It was the best day of my life. The whole revolution lasted for 18 days until Mubarak decided to step down but no day was as intense as the 25th. It was beautiful to see that much Egyptians from all different social classes come together all chanting for three thing, bread, freedom, and social equivalence. The cell phone service that day was cut off but we managed to gain internet access somehow with the help of specialized people. Many people were using Facebook to keep the people staying at home updated. People were posting videos, pictures and status updated about the current events. People were asking for medical and financial help using Facebook and it actually helped. Personally, I was able to keep my children aware of my situation and that I am totally fine. Videos of the protests and people in the streets went viral quite quickly and made others aware that there are people in the streets unlike what the government run TV channels were claiming. That day was a like every Egyptian’s dream come true. It was the day that the bomb of oppression exploded and people actually stood up for themselves.

Laila: Can you describe the days following the 25th of January 2011?

Ehab: The days following the revolution were the hardest Egypt has ever been through in modern history. Facilities shut down, shops were closed, no one had cellphone service and it was just horrible. The jails opened up and thugs were everywhere. People communicated online and decided to form groups in every neighborhood to go down with knives, sticks and guns to protect the areas from thugs. It was very scary. The government let the thugs out for commotion to spread but that didn’t work. People were determined to overthrow Mubarak. No one was going to give up as so many people lost their lives during the first days of the revolution due to police brutality.

Laila: How do you feel like social media contributed?

So first of all, it shed a lot of light on the Khalid Saed incident. A lot of people started expressing their frustrations, and disapproval of the regime. The Khalid Saed incident became a movement that had so much momentum behind it that they actually called for a protest on the 25th of January. Social media like Facebook and twitter helped the people spread the truth and portray what actually happened in the streets unlike the mainstream basic media. Although I haven’t been very interactive with social media before the revolution, I started using it much more afterwards. I realized the power it has and how underestimated it is.

Comparison

The main difference between Wael and Ehab is the fact that both are permanently resided in different places in Cairo. Wael resides in the Heliopolis area of Cairo next to the presidential palace. This area has not seen much of the 25th of January revolution because it was heavily secured by the military. Ehab resides in downtown Cairo where all the commotion was taking place; hence he’s seen much more details of what happened. Wael has been an active social media user before the revolution because of the influence of his permanent residency in abroad in Canada. Ehab resides permanently in Cairo where social media was not very popular among the elderly at that time. Ehab has a broader view of the issue as he’s lived through the pre-revolution months in depth. He’s also an activist who means he had to deal with many other activists and has based his ideologies on many different influences by his surroundings. The fake portrayal of news on Egyptian TV was more noticed by Ehab than Wael as Ehab is a constant viewer of Egyptian news unlike Wael. Wael mentions that the youth were the main contributors of the revolution while Ehab emphasizes on the activists and doesn’t generalize a specific age group. In general, I felt like both Wael and Ehab agreed on the most important aspects of the revolution which is that it was due to the constant oppression over the time of thirty years through which Mubarak ruled. They also both agreed on the role social media played which was portraying the events live from the streets, helping gathering people and actually raising awareness among the people.  

'Kiss Me Not' ('Balash Tbousny'): #Film #Review | Dubai 2017

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'Kiss Me Not' ('Balash Tbousny'): #Film #Review | Dubai 2017

Peculiarly well timed within the days when the movie trade is questioning the abuse of actresses by highly effective males, writer-director Ahmed Amer’s Kiss Me Not (Balash Tbousny) flips the coin, because it have been, in a satire lampooning the abrupt conversion to spiritual modesty by sure Egyptian actresses. The movie’s secular stance and informal daring uncover a number of the mega-contradictions in Egyptian society. However other than curious festival-goers like these at its bow in Dubai’s Arabian Nights part, its comedy is just too broad and native for many artwork home audiences to digest. Missing the sophistication of final yr’s The Preacher by Magdi Ahmed Ali, which touched on the unholy alliance between faith and state in Egypt, Kiss Me Not ought to have a largely regional profession.

Nonetheless, the topic is ideal for comedian therapy. The development towards conservative onscreen dressing, which started within the early years of the millenium on a wave of politically–inspired emotion, concerned actresses like rising younger star Hanan Turk, who immediately introduced she wouldn’t shoot any extra movies with out being totally coated up. She ended up starring in TV soaps, and the confused younger heroine of Amer’s comedy seems headed in the direction of an analogous destiny.

Although touted as a mockumentary within the PR supplies, its style is healthier described as a movie inside a movie, inside a movie. It tells the story of how the earnest Tamer, a first-time director capturing the ultimate script of a revered, deceased screenwriter, makes his first artwork film. On the similar time, certainly one of his buddies from movie college shoots an intrusive making-of doc that reveals the younger director’s ineptitude in dealing with a significant disaster along with his lead actress, Fagr (Yasmine Rais).

Because the movie opens we discover her on set, totally made up in screaming pink lipstick, below satin sheets and in mattress with the narcissistic actor who’s taking part in her husband. The fictional movie’s denouement is determined by husband and spouse resolving their marital points in a passionate kiss in mattress, however on the essential second, Fagr makes a disgusted face and attracts again.

What at first appears to be a private problem together with her co-star turns into one thing way more severe as, take after take, she flubs her strains and/or refuses to kiss him. Viewers sympathy goes out to the nervous younger director, definitely to not her. Virtually everybody on the set is an impatient male, and even Fagr’s mom and a lone make-up lady urge her to kiss the man and get it over with. The one exploration of her deeper motivations occurs in some closely satirized conferences with a religiously inclined shrink, to whom she recounts her Freudian goals. He simply advises her to carry quick to her purity and keep veiled.

Exterior the Arab nations, most viewers will most likely agree that the flicks are a troublesome place for actresses who will solely play roles carrying a hijab that covers their head and shoulders, or a full black niqab gown that depart solely their eyes seen. However given the spirit of the instances, it’s additionally uncomfortable to see ladies negatively and completely branded as “seductive” as a result of they’ve performed a love scene or carried out a stomach dancing quantity onscreen, as Fagr has. Maybe it’s a part of Amer’s recreation to maintain the viewers drawing strains and making worth judgments about her choice, even because the fictional director Tamer’s movie and repute lie in ruins.

Rais (who starred within the late Mohamed Khan’s Manufacturing unit Woman and performed a gifted ingenue in Shirin Neshat’s Searching for Oum Kalthoum) has loads of charisma however presents Fagr as extra clueless starlet than movie professional, severely lowering sympathy for her character. In the meantime, Tamer is additional befuddled by his lecherous aged producer who remembers the great previous days, when he was the lover of a giant star who later veiled up, then apparently modified her thoughts. Apparently, she is performed by Sawsan Badr, an actress whose real-life alternative was to cowl up on the peak of her profession.

So there are issues to mull over, like younger Fagr’s psychological vulnerability to her non secular information, however they are going to be most blatant to native audiences.

Technically the movie suffers from a very lit, brightly coloured look that makes the gags appear much more facile. Very properly performed, as an alternative, is a protracted opening montage of passionate kisses compiled from traditional Egyptian films of yore, which heightens the anomaly of the nation’s return to puritanism.

Solid: Yasmine Rais, Sawsan Badr, Mohamed Mahran, Aida Riad, Salwa Mohamed Ali Director, screenwriter: Ahmed Amer Producers: Wael Omar, Dina Farouk, Ahmed Amer, Alaa Karkouti, Maher Diab Director of pictures: Hossam Shahine Editor: Emad Maher Music: Omar Fadel World gross sales: MAD Distribution Venue: Dubai Movie Pageant (Arabian Nights) 88 minutes

Miream Salameh’s Speech at #BringThemHere Rally in Melbourne

My name is Miream Salameh. I’m a Syrian refugee artist who came to Australia three years ago.

I am from a Christian family. I never needed to say that here or in my country because Muslims and Christians always live together in harmony and peace, but I say this today because I need to explain that my family and I escaped from the Syrian regime violence before ISIS even existed in my country.

The Assad regime claims that it protects minorities like us from extremist groups. That is not true. The regime protects itself by using minorities as a playing card to tell Western societies that it is the only source of protection for us.

In early 2011, a peaceful revolution for freedom and democracy started. Syrian people took to the streets to get rid of the dictatorial regime. But from the very beginning, the regime responded by arresting and killing anyone who opposed it.

Six years on, the international community has not taken a single serious step to stop these war crimes against a people who just ask to live a free and dignified life in a civil democratic state. Six years on and the world is watching us in complete silence.

During the revolution, I was an activist. I recorded videos to document Assad’s abuses, and my friend and I established a magazine. We had to stop publishing it after only six months because the regime twice attacked the place we were meeting in and committed horrific massacres there. In one instance, this included killing 20 young men and arresting 150 people, among them women who were stripped naked in public.

Later, I started to receive many arrest, rape and death threats from Syrian security. I was forced to leave my home, my memories and all my life to go to Lebanon. I had no choice but to flee.

At this time my art teacher and the closest person to my heart, Wael Kasstoun, was arrested by Syrian intelligence and tortured to death. His only crime was refusing to draw a painting that supported the regime. His body was found by accident in a military hospital among 200 bodies. Syrian security was preparing to bury them in a mass grave without letting their families know where they were or what happened to them.

The Syrian people carry on living while death is only seconds away. There is no choice but to flee to bordering countries, to live in camps which lack the basic necessities of life, and where there is no future, no protection and no prospect. This is especially true for children, who are being forced to work in appalling conditions to help their families – a whole generation that has lost its childhood and its most basic rights.

When I was in Lebanon, I met many Syrian families and witnessed their suffering. Many were living on the streets or under a bridge. Watching these people, I felt such rage, sadness and helplessness. I knew that the UN was not going to provide these people with any adequate assistance. My family and I stayed in Lebanon for one year, but only after 11 months did the UN call us to collect aid vouchers. They also did nothing when my friends and I had been attacked, and were nearly kidnapped by Hezbollah. The way the UN treated us and other Syrians in front of the UN building was humiliating and inhumane.

This is not to mention the plight of the majority of Syrian refugees who are stuck in the camps and cannot obtain a humanitarian visa, because they need a relative to sponsor their application. A refugee visa should be given based on the dire situation that refugees live in – on the risks that threatened their life. It should not depend on whether they have relatives that can support their application.

I can’t understand how the Australian government provides the refugees who came by humanitarian visa with all the rights here, but forbids these same rights for refugees who come by boats, and put them in detentions centres for years despite their dreadful suffering.

As refugees, we have all fled from the same horrific situation. I feel very sad when I hear that Christians are prioritised. As a refugee, I call on the Australian government to bring in people according to their horrific situation, according to the risks that threaten their life and their children’s lives, and not distinguish between us. This is the only way to protect justice and fairness for all.

I feel very lucky that this beautiful country has welcomed me and my family and has treated us in the best way I ever imagined, and gave us all the opportunity to rebuild ourselves and start a new safe life.

But my heart is always with our people who every day face death by all kinds of weapons. The Assad regime and its allies committed and are still committing massacres against the Syrian people. They are bombing schools, bakeries, markets, hospitals and civilian neighbourhoods using internationally banned weapons.

They use sieges and starvation as a weapon to give the people in the besieged areas two options – leave their land or die in it. The Syrian people just want to live in safety, in freedom and in dignity. They just want to hear their children laughing, not screaming and crying. To hear them talking about their dreams, not about death and destruction.

Is that too much to ask?

After nearly six years of suffering, the number of refugees has now reached 8 million. We have more than 300,000 detainees and over 500,000 martyrs. Six years on, the international community has not taken a single serious step to stop these war crimes against a people who just ask to live a free and dignified life in a civil democratic state. Six years on and the world is watching us in complete silence.

But we will continue our revolution and we believe that the Assad regime, and its right arm ISIS, fear our revolution, because they know when we will win there will not be any existence for them.

If we really want to stop the refugee crisis, we have to get to its roots. Turning back the boats is cruel, and is not the solution. Putting asylum seekers indefinitely in detention centres in very bad conditions, destroying years of their lives for no reason, is not the solution. Taking only people who have sponsors in Australia and ignoring those who have been stuck in refugee camps for years is not the solution. Deporting asylum seekers is not the solution. Closing borders and preventing refugees from entering Europe is not the solution. These strategies are all complicit in the crimes being committed against people who only want to live a safe life.

Part of the solution is to secure a safe passage to refugees and open borders and close the detention centres. But this alone is not enough. The only real solution is to stop the war crimes of all dictatorships and the self-serving policies of the great powers. This is the root of the Syrian refugee crisis and the refugee crisis around the world. This will be its end.

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Filed under: Politics & Society

Global Report: Social marketing in the Middle East and North Africa — 1000heads

With 1000heads offices located in places as far flung as Sydney, New York, London – and indeed Dubai – we’re lucky to be able to cultivate a globally rounded view of social media marketing. Today we hear from Yazeed Khalaf, one of our team working with clients in the Middle East and North Africa, who takes a brief look at how social and digital marketing has developed in the region.

As with the rest of the world, the importance of social media in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has seen a steady rise to the point where it is a now a key factor in both people’s personal lives and the way businesses choose to engage with their audience. In 2014 however, it wasn’t just a growth in the social and digital marketing space that was notable, but a clear step change in how companies in the MENA region are approaching and investing in campaigns on social media representing a new level of maturity in the market.

To highlight this trend, I’ve outlined two examples of how companies and organisations in the MENA region positioned themselves using social and digital media to achieve improved results.

THE POWER OF THE COMMUNITY

At the end of 2013, Dubai was successful in its bid to host #Expo 2020 AKA The World Expo, and a direct descendant of 1851’s Great Exhibition. In looking to both secure the bid and kickstart interest in the lengthy run-up to the Expo, the Dubai bid team saw real value in social and digital media. Dubai dominated social channels, compared to competing cities and at the time of the bid, its Facebook page had an impressive 854K fans while its Twitter followers exceeded 94K (and has many more of both now) and among the four candidate cities, Dubai amassed 45% of the total number of Twitter mentions related to the Expo.

With an increasing number of locations seeking to host global events, the power of social media will become more and more important in which candidates receive those events, how the events are perceived by the wider public and indeed the overall success of the event when they actually happen. Dubai’s Expo 2020 campaign is a great case study as such and shows a sophistication of thinking that is a credit to the region.

TAKING OPPORTUNITIES

After Egypt suffered a disappointing 6-1 loss to Ghana in qualifications for the 2014 World Cup, tournament sponsor Coca-Cola had to rethink their strategy to reaching football fans in Egypt. Their solution? To embrace the negative side of this situation and turn it into something positive. In doing so they ended up with this comic ‘EPIC FAIL’ ad starring Egypt international Wael Gomaa.

The ad resulted in over 2.5 million views on Youtube, but it didn’t stop there. Twitter also played an important role in the World Cup campaign by engaging with users on a daily basis to extend the tone of the campaign throughout the tournament and offer Egyptians a chance to go to the World Cup, even if the players weren’t…

The confidence to activate integrated campaigns like this in social and digital media is another shift in the region that has fully matured over 2014 and something we’ve long worked towards, and are excited to be part of.

This content was originally published here.