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The recent events in Tunisia and Egypt got me thinking about North Africa and I must admit, apart from things like the French Foreign Legion and WWII films....you never hear anything about Algeria at all. (in the UK anyway)
In fact, I can't remember hearing anything at all about it since the early 60's and forgot that it even existed!
Yet it's one of the biggest countries in Africa!
Does anybody actually DO anything in Algeria?
So I thought I'd have a look on the Internet to see what's happening there and perhaps listen to some Algerian music.
My expectations were dashed however...
Unfortunately it was just like Arash and Deniz said about the crap pop stuff!
All just Arabic Rap and stuff with a Rock backing and ouds....and pictures of modern tower blocks like you'd find anywhere...
Jeez...What's the point of travelling anywhere these days?
Oh...I did see that there are some low grumbings going on about the leadership in the wake of the neighbouring uprisings.
So maybe we might hear a bit more in the coming weeks?
I have also been thinking about Egypt a great deal. It's funny; my mother and both of her parents were born there, but I have never felt any kind of connection to the place besides a profound respect for Ancient Egyptian art and culture.
Middle Eastern music is to me incredible. As you say though, it's hard to find the good stuff without tons of research. hmm, sounds familiar!
@ Ron: from www.4shared.com you will find tons of Algerian music. If you know Cheb Mami, the singer who made ''Desert Rose song'' wit@h Sting, you will find other typical Rai music of his own.
@Henry: I totally share you the opinion. I'm an Italian Egyptian
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This is hard stuff! Don't give up... And don't make it a race. Enjoy the ray of sunshine that comes with every new step in knowledge.
The recent events in Tunisia and Egypt got me thinking about North Africa and I must admit, apart from things like the French Foreign Legion and WWII films....you never hear anything about Algeria at all.
i dunno ron, what i do know is that i didnt realise that said Algeria until the end of that quote!!!! i read the first algerias as Alegria and was wondering why it was in the off topic section
On a more serious note, a lot of people were killed there in the 1990s. In Spain there was news about it nearly every day. At the time, I mentioned it to a few people living in other countries but nobody had heard about it, although now I see (Internet search) that BBC and New York Times were providing coverage.
There's a really old bulería that mentions Algeria: "Yo nací en Argel". Recorded in 1910 by Pastora and Niño Medina with Montoya and again in 1914 by Pastora with Luis Molina.
With very different meanings, the letra could be
Si mi marecita fuera mora y yo nací en Argel ¿cómo renegaría a Mahoma sólo por venirte a ver?
or
Si mi marecita fuera mora yo nacía en Argel como renegaría a Mahoma sólo por venirte a ver
These dictators who are regarded as "UK friendly or compliant" are praised for bringing x number of years political STABILITY to their country. That is what the UK goverment is saying just now about Mubarack.
Sure...anyone can have "stability" with the support of the Army, Police and Judicial system which the dictator will always treat with great generosity and perks from state funds.
Any ordinary Joe complaining is simply taken away in the middle of the night by the Secret Police and never seen again. Problem solved...stability and peace is restored and the corrupt leadership can continue their extravagent lifestyle.
i mean, at least they could be man or woman (merkel lol) enough to come to TV and tell everybody: look, we don't give a damn about your countries, about your human rights, about democracy and all the other crap. we just want to be sure that our own interests are not in danger......and we have the power to do that.....we have the better weapons, the better secret agencies........ so either you can do something against it , lets do it....or just shut up and accept it.
So,,.. could somebody summarize whats going on there in north Africa? I only saw the little video that Arash put up with that strange guy who talked like a clown but seems to be a news ancestor or something..I also didnt really get what McCain said...
So,,.. could somebody summarize whats going on there in north Africa? I only saw the little video that Arash put up with that strange guy who talked like a clown but seems to be a news ancestor or something..I also didnt really get what McCain said...
Summary somebody?
Summary: McCain said this whole democracy thing is a VIRUS which is spreading in all those countries and dangerous for USA. We don't want it ! "The Clown" said : what a motherfu.cker.
we don't give a damn about your countries, about your human rights, about democracy and all the other crap. we just want to be sure that our own interests are not in danger.
That's it in a nutshell, Arash....that's really what it all boils down to in the end.
But nobody wants to say it, lest they lose their own position as a caring, sharing, pocket-stuffing Politician in their own country. It's called Political Diplomacy.
ah..ok got it. Why is McCain against democracy there??
(Also if the clown (not McCain..the other guy.. oh man..difficult) is right.. He talks like a clown. News should be cool and objective and not like a comedy show. )
ah..ok got it. Why is McCain against democracy there??
(Also if the clown (not McCain..the other guy.. oh man..difficult) is right.. He talks like a clown. News should be cool and objective and not like a comedy show. )
bist du irgendwie gerade aufgewacht oder so ? wie kann etwas cool und gleichzeitig wie tagesschau sein? ausserdem ist da überhaupt keine komik dabei. nur etwas sarkasmus, die aber wiederum alles auf wahrheit basiert. man doit, schaue es doch bitte mal genau an nach einem kaffee oder so
Thats not "news" in that sense. He talks about recent political developments in a studio. No i didnt know that channel Arash, good find! "Young turks" is a political term in itself, might be coming from Atatürk, or maybe earlier. In case of doubt, everything is coming from Atatürk
Ron, there is ONE thing which you UK and American and other western guys are not bad at.
We can talk whatever we want on a Forum and call everybody in your politics a jerk, without going to jail
if i go on the streets in iran and call khamenei a jerk, i end up in evin prison and my a$$ will be processed in tangos compas at 400 bpm
All very true, ( and that compas thing was funny , - though as we know not for those exposed to such. - I think some who were accused of above offence didn´t leave prison alive.)
I so damn hate the term of "stability" ever since. While pretending to mean undefined philantrophy, it actually only adresses presence of industrial countries´interest and assurance for western trade bills to be paid with guarantee. A term of phoneyness engaged in about all cases of western support for dictatures and mafia regimes.
In my openion most blatantly used back then with that guy named Jelzin. Under this traitor about all of states property was alloted to the Russian mafia ( and to those Americans who threaded all that ). With the same shabby guys who once used to hang around the hotels in Russia lurking for westerners for to ask for western chewing gum or for you to sell them your jeans, now being the most unbehaved billionairs on the international scene. Anyway, western media in Jelzin times commenting like, `yeah, him not being the most integer person, but guaranteeing stability´. Right.
Algeria besides had very heroic resistance against chauvinistic and brute French occupiers, but they appear to have missed their chance for an attempt to democracy by relying on the wrong alliance / USSR, which prompted US neo-con politics, which again meant instigation and support to religious fanatics and firing up the mess.
Without the obtuseness policy of US neo-cons, according to which anything, say religous regime was to be better than lefts and democracy ( = "instability") the Near East would be looking very differently from how it does today.
Had President Truman only candidated for another legislature period / omitted that Eisenhower fool, the British would had never succeeded in their scheme ( trying to sustain their Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, which was sucking dry the country for free ) to pull the USA on their side against democracy / Mossadegh in Iran.
With another 4 years of Truman, Iran and likely much of Near East would have seen a very different post-WWII period. Exchange of views and open speech there today would be rather granted.
But the West never really wanted that, and does not want it still. Instead the industrialized nations prefer "stability" for their unbalanced biz models.
Reviewing the history in Iran, you will see that even Shah (who is been accused to be the best friend of Britain, Israel, US, etc. and sold out Iran and was a brutal dictator...and therefore thrown out of the country), was almost on the same path as Mossadegh in his last years. Therefore also HE had to go.
Khomeini was UKs and USAs Joker for Iran (they wanted a second Saudi Arabia in Iran), but khomeini betrayed them ! and went his own way.....in some way, khomeini was the MOST CLEVER politician in worlds history (of course from his perspective and his goals)
I know that specially amoung iranians , you must be Pigeon-holed, otherwise you must be crazy. So you must either be Mossadegh Lover, Shah Lover, Khomeini Lover, Leftist, Communist, Democrat, etc......
I personally learned that none of these drawers is justified. So i prefer to be crazy. Thats why i rarely can talk to ANY iranian about politics, because all of them have special preference and are emotionally biased.
or even more "shocking" , watch this. now today everybody says that shah was best friend of israel.
really?
this is imo even more "antisemitic" than ahmadinejad
don't you think?
the truth about middle east, iran, arab countries is hidden behind all the crap you read in the news or in wikipedia. you just read what you are dictated to read. just compare the news in germany for instance. everything is a COPY from one single source, there is no single totally DIFFERENT view in the major papers
the truth about middle east, iran, arab countries is hidden behind all the crap you read in the news or in wikipedia. you just read what you are dictated to read. just compare the news in germany for instance. everything is a COPY from one single source, there is no single totally DIFFERENT view in the major papers
I agree with you and 100%.
America's only interest in the middle east is Israel and Oil. We can care less about spreading democracy, and why does it have to come with a loaded gun being pointed at the opposing ideology.
The war (or invasion) of Iraq, was sold as a preventive action, because supposedly Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction (Was trying to build a nuclear bomb), when nothing was found, which the government knew would not be found, it turned into "Operation Free Iraq" The US government blew up Iraq's nuclear facilities in the early 90's. And knew that Iraq posed no threat to the US.
If my American government truly wants to stop terrorism than it needs to stop terrorizing!
you know, i fully support the palestinian resistance.
but at the same time, i am realistic.
i mean , look, even if US would stop all the support and the billions of dollars to israel, israel won't give up the land where they live. they rather would prefer to blow up everyone including themselves than to leave that place and go to alaska or something,,,,,,,,, the problem is what happened in the past and the mistakes after WWII......... but what about NOW and the future? i mean what is your suggestion , your solution ?.....
or to sum it up: what is the best REALISTIC solution for palestinian people ? honestly, i don't know.....but i think everyone in that area MUST make compromises, even if its hard to accept. even if one is principally right. even if you know that you right. otherwise we will never ever see peace in that area. whether US supports Israel or not.
i mean, lets assume US stops their support tomorrow. what will happen ? israel would be in panic and would attack 10 times more than today. they would isolate themselves totally and would even drop a nuclear bomb if they are feared to death. thats how their psychology works.... so, again what is a REALISTIC and best possible solution FROM NOW on ?
yes but the more important question is: what will happen, if you don't try to find a solution, even if emotionally its hard to accept? will your situation (and more importantly, the situation of the children born daily in Palestine and who will be young men and woman in 20 years) improve or not ? ..
i mean we have to think about which way REALLY will have the best (not good! but the best one to choose from) outcome?..... we can't change the past, but we can change the future....
i am not saying i don't understand the emotions, i am just saying, making decisions based only on emotions, will not lead to a better place for palestinians (and jews too).
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