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the dredwerkz
The chador'ed purple finger | forrest

I'm very pleased with how smoothly the Iraqi parliamentary elections went--there was only scattered violence. In the coverage, I noticed something odd, though: the overwhelming majority of news photos I saw of people voting were of women voting. The net effect is to imply that there is something newsworthy about the fact that women, in particular, are voting in Iraq. It assuredly is newsworthy that anybody in the country felt safe enough to venture out to polling places--but that's a separate question.

Close-up of purple finger

The former Iraqi regime was pretty horrible to women, as it was horrible to most of its subjects. They were exposed to the "rape rooms" and other torture. However, it's my understanding that the regime itself didn't have much interest in oppressing women qua women. Women could vote (for the only candidate, Saddam), they could enter professions (Iraq's educated class tended to be people in middle age and later, because education and training were not high among the regime's priorities since about 1980, but women rank among its engineers and lawyers), and girls could go to school.

Possible explanations include journalists' (and editors') desire for an arresting image, or their desire for an image which would be distinctively Iraqi (Iraqi and Turkish men, for instance, don't dress that differently).

Sexualized violence is far from disappearing in Iraq. Domestic violence remains common. Sexualized political violence persists too, as women and girls are kidnapped and raped in order to intimidate their families. Indeed, some freed kidnap victims are killed by their families, who presume them to have been raped--male kidnap victims, by contrast are universally welcomed back if they are returned. (Listen to this story--it's highly recommended). This is a tribal practice, which even the honor killers concede is forbidden by their religion. The proposed Constitution doesn't do much to protect women's rights. Indeed, it seems more likely that many of these de facto practices are likely to be codified as reactionaries and theocrats gain power.

posted at: 2005-12-17 16:25:24 with 2 comments
A heck of a job, Rummy | forrest

Asked yesterday if Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld will stay in his post through the end of the President's term, the President had this to say:

"Well, end of my term is a long time, but I tell you, he's done a heck of a good job and I have no intention of changing him."

The President, praising Tom DeLay's effectiveness and expressing confidence in his innocence, also tried to frame the "Duke" Cunningham, Jack Abramoff, and David Safavian cases as part of an equal opportunity culture of corruption.

posted at: 2005-12-15 10:11:18 with 1 comments
a few thoughts about the district | fincher

I just discovered Daily Candy. It also covers other cities in addition to DC. Any good?

I've recently become quite impressed with a few new joints in town. I could barely believe the hostess when she told me that Open City was open until 3 a.m. on a Sunday night. Of course, the place opens after I've moved out of the neighborhood. At least now my new apartment is just a 10 minute walk from Busboys and Poets, which I was finally able to check out tonight with Edward, although they had a 30 minute wait for a table on a Wednesday night.

I also enjoy studying at an old favorite, Love Cafe. Between all of this, Starbucks just doesn't cut it anymore. I have been liberated from corporate America....by gentrification?!

posted at: 2005-12-14 20:53:47 with 0 comments
Froomkin And Code | edward

I'm now going to try to link to Froomkin's latest column more often in an attempt to show my support for how needed he is.

Sure enough, as usual, he's perfectly fair and appropriate.

One of the better summary/takes on the situations is Brad DeLong's. Be sure to check the link to the Editor & Publisher piece on his page.

During the entire sage of this, I've finally also enabled posts to automatically be tracked through technorati. (The tags feature will have to wait until the redesign goes up, though.) Now if only I could figure out to enable trackback pinging, I'd be set.

posted at: 2005-12-14 11:49:36 with 3 comments
Global Warming-Schmobal Warming | dwight

"Bush" discusses the environment. I miss Will Ferrell on TV.

This Thursday evening I'm getting a big group of people together for cocktails and bowling and then dancing at Heaven's 80s Night. A Dredwerkz contingent would add zest to the affair. Join me, won't you?

posted at: 2005-12-13 13:08:10 with 0 comments
Froomkin vs. Howell | edward

This is annoying.

Go ahead and read this biased article by the new Washington Post Ombudsman, Deborah Howell.

Now compare that to this article written by the former Ombudsman, Michael Getler.

Getler gets it right. (And I noted so here with respect to, who else, Froomkin!) And Howell is way off base. Let's look at some of her more inflammatory paragraphs:

Political reporters at The Post don't like WPNI columnist Dan Froomkin's "White House Briefing," which is highly opinionated and liberal. They're afraid that some readers think that Froomkin is a Post White House reporter.

John Harris, national political editor at the print Post, said, "The title invites confusion. It dilutes our only asset -- our credibility" as objective news reporters. Froomkin writes the kind of column "that we would never allow a White House reporter to write. I wish it could be done with a different title and display."

Harris is right; some readers do think Froomkin is a White House reporter. But Froomkin works only for the Web site and is very popular -- and Brady is not going to fool with that, though he is considering changing the column title and supplementing it with a conservative blogger.

Froomkin said he is "happy to consider other ways to telegraph to people that I'm not a Post White House reporter. I do think that what I'm doing, namely scrutinizing the White House's every move -- with an attitude -- is in the best traditions of American and Washington Post journalism."

On the other hand, Chris Cillizza, a washingtonpost.com political reporter, appears in The Post frequently. When he writes for the paper, he works for Harris, who is happy to have him.

First off, Froomkin is much better than Cillizza, who simply channels The Note/Hotline conventional wisdom about politics. Cilizza is good at his job, sure, but it has nothing to do with Froomkin's ability to do his job. Insert apple/oranges cliche here.

Second, why is the WaPo Ombudsman concerned about an intra-Post dispute between the online and print editions? Did readers complain about Froomkin? Because otherwise, the Ombudsman has nothing to do with this.

Third, if the "kind of column" Froomkin writes is unacceptable, why does Dana Milbank have a job? And what is his column about then?

Finally, I encourage everyone to write a letter to Ms. Howell and encourage her to relook the Froomkin issue. If this is indicative of her ability, I think the WaPo made a huge mistake to get rid of Getler.

But wait, is there more? I just discovered the best paragraph Howell wrote:

Some Post reporters don't appreciate that links are put on the Web site to what bloggers are saying about this or that story -- especially when the bloggers are highly negative.

Hmm. Really? I cannot imagine what stories she's referring to...oh, wait, how about this one? Yes, it appears over 37 bloggers and counting are being "highly negative" about such an uninformed piece. Who could have written such dreck?

posted at: 2005-12-13 11:45:06 with 3 comments
Count | forrest

The President today said that he estimates--apparently based on media reports--that about 30,000 Iraqis have been killed since the invasion. He's getting a lot of credit in the media for finally answering questions. I agree that we should give him credit for finally exposing himself to questioners who aren't pre-screened. However, the number is one which merits some questioning.

A Lancet statistical study by Dr. Les Roberts, an expert in counting war dead, found that--excluding Fallujah--there were an estimated 98,000 extra Iraqi deaths between the invasion and late last year (some of whom would have been combatants). Violence accounted for most of the extra deaths, and coalition airstrikes and artillery accounted for most of the violent deaths. Here's the study (unfortunately, registration is required, but Bugmenot works). Here's an episode of This American Life in which Dr. Roberts explains why the study is statistically credible.

posted at: 2005-12-12 16:37:52 with 2 comments
Busy | edward

Crazy at work. But in this holiday season, if you're going to shell out a couple benjamins for a shoddy wine-bottle opener that breaks within a few months, you might consider heading over here to give some cash to ActBlue.

Looking at the numbers now, less than 20 people have given on average to each of these five states. That's too low. Only 80 people have given in total! Look, I'll cough up $20 to help out. Will you?

posted at: 2005-12-12 16:21:14 with 0 comments
Pryor | edward

Richard Pryor is dead.

This world may be constructed for me, but Pryor's death is a serious flaw in said design.

posted at: 2005-12-11 02:51:28 with 0 comments

go back a week...

...go forward a week