Thursday, October 27, 2005

Blog Count Outage

Had a whiteout sometime between 10/26/2005 12:10:55 PM Iraq time and now.

If anyone was trying to visit and "experienced difficulties" could you drop a note in the comments mentioning the day, time and nature of the difficulty?

Thanks (and thanks cile) (Zeyad, this is why you need to post to your blog more often. Just in case! Not wanting to throw weight around, but.).

UPDATE: if anyone's had probs viewing other blogs could you please drop a note as well, which ones, at which times, and what the page showed. Thanks again.

What Arabic Linguist Shortage?

Everywhere one looks, the consensus is that the United States (and I suppose every other non-Arabic speaking country) has a shortage of Arabic linguists to meet the new threat that the "war on global extremism" or whatever the Bush administration is calling it now.

So why is it that I cannot beg my way into government service as an Arabic linguist? I previously attended and completed 47 weeks of Arabic language training at the Army's Defense Language Institute (DLI) in Montery, CA but I haven't used the language since I left the military in 1993. I contacted the army reserves and volunteered to join provided that they send me back to DLI for Arabic, but the recruiter says that there is nothing available. Of course, if I want to go to DLI for Chinese or Korean, I'm good to go, but evidently there are no slots for Arabic Linguists in the state of Washinton.

Not a problem, the National Security Agency (NSA) has a language enhancement program to take those that already have a familiarity with the language and put them through the training necessary to meet their proficiency standards. I uploaded my resume to them on August 3, 2005 but after over two months I've not heard anything from them yet. I think that they are still considering my application but no word after nearly three months? I realize that there must be some background checking going on but I've previously had a top secret security clearance so I would think that would help expedite the process but evidently not. With no word from NSA I must assume that I will need to take a different route to realize my goal of once again working as an Arabic linguist, but that is a topic for another post.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Questions again

Reminder for the masochists, all those who gain pleasure by subjecting themselves to interrogation see Olivebranch (there is even a messageboard).

Subliminal messages !

Bringing to you the world's worst conspiracy revealed...

Iraq bloggers infiltrate global mainsteam! See the movie! Watch the trailer!

Features: Heroine named "River" ! Virus named "PAX" ! MR Universe (characterised by gadgetry, monitors and the conviction that "they cannot interupt the stream!") PLUS hidden operatives and THE TRUTH, which must get out there.

Basically just another sci-fi flick (with star-ships) but anyway.

Oh yes and lastly: What The Critics say ! (Click to read what the critics say).

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Damascus University Arabic Center Website Change

It looks like the Arabic Center at Damascus University has changed to the following:


Arabic Center at Damascus University


Jeremy

The Amiyya vs. Fusha Debate is on

MarHaba,

The debate is on. What do you think about the teaching and learning of colloquial Arabic vs. Modern Standard Arabic? When should a student learn colloquial? There are some universities in the US that teach both concurrently - though they are the exception. Most universities teach only Fusha for the first 2 years at least.

I am in the minority. I think, for reasons I shall post sometime, that students ought to learn colloquial and MSA at the same time. How about you? I have asked many students and many professors. This is "the" question in US Arabic academia. Let me know your thoughts.

Jeremy

Monday, October 24, 2005

More numbers - secret poll results

Yiikes. But this reflects worries that have been plaguing me for the past few weeks. Do I like what this implies? Nope. But you deserve the truth and you shall have it.

Poll results from a secret poll commissioned by Britain's Defense Ministry In Iraq, and obtained by London's Telegraph:

Eighty-two percent of respondents said they "strongly oppose" troops being in their country, 67 percent feel less secure and 72 percent have no confidence that the occupation will succeed.


Furthermore:
45 percent approve of attacks on foreign troops.


Worse still:
In some areas 65 percent support attacks, and less than one percent think the occupation is improving security.


Is it really any surprise?

Sources: telegraph.co.uk the ScienceDaily, and the World Peace Herald (if only we had some).

Update: Tellingly, even Iraq The Model are having trouble explaining this poll to their regular visitors, having conceded that "maybe even 90% of the people in any country do not want foreign troops" and "it could be true or close to the truth that 82% of Iraqis do not want the troops to stay indefinitely". I would venture that staying indefinitely or not is a mute point, opposing the presence of troops is opposing the presence of troops. Quoting the article:

82 per cent are "strongly opposed" to the presence of coalition troops.


Re article authenticity queries. Sean Rayment is a London Telegraph Defence Correspondent, a few web searches will throw up other articles of his (yes and some as controversial too - go to the tele, key "sean rayment" into the search box and click go). I do-not sense fabrication and do recognise the journalistic style, typical in that poll reportage is in itself formulaic and generally closely follows questionnaire wording. For example. How the question behind the finding that "such and such per cent are 'strongly opposed' to the presence of coalition troops" might typically be phrased:

Overall, do you support or oppose the presence of coalition troops in Iraq? Is that strongly/somewhat support or somewhat/strongly oppose?

1. Strongly support
2. Somewhat support
3. Somewhat oppose
4. Strongly oppose

Nuff said. Question forensically reconstructed. Good poll reportage sticks closely to questionnaire wording because, as many astute netizens are aware, different answers can be obtained by asking different questions.

As for queries re the time frame and researchers, the Telegraph article states the poll was conducted in August and:

by an Iraqi university research team that, for security reasons, was not told the data it compiled would be used by coalition forces.


While the article states the team weren't told who the client was for security purposes, it's not uncommon for client names to be with-held from interviewers in some reknowned international research organisations because it helps prevent interviewer bias. So far, methodology sounds legit to me.

Very fairly, I thought, the article also compares the results to another earlier poll and notes that:

The findings differ markedly from a survey carried out by the BBC in March 2004 in which the overwhelming consensus among the 2,500 Iraqis questioned was that life was good. More of those questioned supported the war than opposed it.


And queries re polling areas? The article specifically mentions results from Maysan (one of the four provinces under British control) and Basra. Given that Maysan is "traditionally the home to many Marsh Arabs" and that the Marsh Arabs are amoung the few who have faired well under this war with the reclamation of marshlands, it is striking that even so "65 per cent of people in Maysan - believe that attacks against coalition forces are justified". Why is this? Could it be that, though the marshes are irrigated again, the people are still largely poor and brassed off? In citing results for "Justification for Violent Attacks", results from Basra are compared with Iraq as a whole:

The report states that for Iraq as a whole, 45 per cent of people feel attacks are justified. In Basra, the proportion is reduced to 25 per cent.


Again, I cannot help but notice how even keeled the whole article is - having published "less sensational" results along with the damning 82 per cent finding. I also find it interesting that Basra is not as supportive of violent means and think this is consistent with cities globally. I have a theory that people in larger population centres are generally more passive. Town dwellers might fight the rat race but they are also the ones out on the streets en mass during anti-war demonstrations, they like to eat and shop and have electricity and don't like it when this is disturbed by having everything around them blowing up all the while.

Are Iraq The Model correct to question poll results? Yes, by all means question anything when the fog of war is all about us. I just wish those two were as critical of all the pro-war drivel their visitors feed them.

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Getting a bit...

Getting a bit off the topic, blog with a soundtrack. does it matter where it's from or who is behind it? Nope.

هه‌ن?س


OT update: more off the topic but related to the overall picture blogging.

Questions !

Olivebranch self-applies a questionnaire: what makes a blogger tick? Read whole post, includes survey plus Olivebranch's own answers (which he gave after some questioning about the research).

Omid arrested again - Iran

Protect Freedom of Speech - protect Omid Sheikhan




Via The Committee to Protect Bloggers.

Omid Sheikhan has been sentenced by the Iranian court to one year in prison and 124 lashes...


First arrested in September 2004, Omid now faces a second trial. Read more and sign the petition for Omid.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Carnival of the relatives

The last carnival of the relatives was written by Hassan.. And now, this is this month's carnival:

Dad (A citizen from Mosul):
Mama (Emotions):
Hassan (An average iraqi):
Moi (A star from Mosul):
HNK (HNK's blog)
Sanyora (A blog unnamed yet): A new blog by the way..
Sunshine (Days of my life):

Raghda:
Cat photos everywhere..

Finally finished... GOOD NIGHT!

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Iraq 2day

Thanks to Hassan the number of Iraqi bloggers is up by one. One of his university collegues has started a blog on Wednesday. His name is Samy, and his blog is العراق اليوم.


Samy's English is not very good, but he hopes he will improve by time. He has a very funny character and will probably bring a smile to your face. For more info, check his blog.


New; 1
Total; 171

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

New blog

Star's blog, a new blog by a 15 year old cousin, encouraged by Sunshine..
She's in the same school as I am, has written three posts so far, and so, you xan read her from the start..
She writes by the name: Sanyora..

Enjoy

New: 1
Total: 170

Saddam trial blog

Lawyers and law professionals following the Saddam trial by blog.

Issue #13: Does Saddam Hussein Have a Viable Defense Based on the Necessity to Combat Insurgents and Terrorists?

NO: by Michael Scharf read about why Michael says no.


Najma's update.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Hmm, companions with beautiful, big, and lustrous eyes eh...

Just reading Treasure of Baghdad, gives an interesting description of material being piped into Iraq from mbc1, the Saudi TV channel.

Well, that's my propaganda hit for now. Am totally cured of being a pacifist. See you later.

It's almost

It's almost not worth posting about this, everyone who visits will probably know already. But just for the archives sake:

Unusually High Vote Totals Raise Concerns About Iraq Election

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The vote count from Saturday's referendum on a new constitution is described as "unusually high" from most of Iraq's provinces more.


Link chosen at random.

Lettre Ulysses Award

Third prize to a blogger...

Winners of the Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage 2005

The first prize of 50,000 Euro to Alexandra Fuller (Great Britain) for the book Scribbling the Cat. Travels with an African Soldier.

The second prize of 30,000 Euro to Abdellah Hammoudi (Morocco): Une saison à la Mecque. Récit de pèlerinage.

The third prize of 20,000 Euro went to Riverbend (Iraq): Baghdad Burning. Girl Blog from Iraq. read the rest


(Via CharlesWT).

Monday, October 17, 2005

Referendum, soldier's view

Chad was in Sadr city for the referendum:

Right now, we are assisting another Infantry Battalion in Sadr City covering the elections. No one has patrolled there in over a year, and you can certainly tell. After the first night, all the windows in the trucks were busted! They are throwing everything except their Mommas at us. Ironic, considering we are there so they can vote, and they are trying to let us know just how much they hate us. Alot more of our soldiers died while I was on leave, the violence is increasing each and every day. The Army hates the fact that soldiers have blogs, and they are beginning to make it known more


And his "about me":

I am sick of seeing the American people give away what so many have died to protect. I am tired of Independence Limited...freedom with their acceptance. Stop sacrificing your liberties for security.
Read whole blog.

Referendum links

More news out of Iraq from Truth_About_Iraqis whose been doing some research from abroad. Points to an Israeli source.

Plus a link via Cyberhouri from Khalid, contains "items regarding the vote".

And lastly, slightly off the topic, refugee update (Al-Walid border between Iraq and Syria).

Intelligence, lol

Somebody wrote asking about suggestions for NGO's and agencies in Iraq to contact because they want to go to Iraq and do good work there. The writer writes they are an "army veteran, former intelligence analyst, and the mom of a soldier who was in Baghdad in 2004, who is now in Afghanistan". This person tells me they "hate George Bush and most everything he has done" and that they "truly believe that it is up to people like us at the grassroots level to share information and get it out to the world in order to bring about change we can't rely on the media and the politicians to do it".

My answer:
Look it's great that you're taking the time to find out but personally if you're a former army vet and intelligence analyst you should have a pretty good idea yourself where to go. I'm really sorry Sharon Jumper but just getcha self a ticket and go there if you want to. With qual's like yours you should have no probs getting through customs and into the green zone. Who knows maybe you really are sincere but you have quite a history there to overcome.

And while I'm harping on about intelligence gathering, haven't those bods asking Zeyad why he voted "no" read the drafts (numerous) themselves? I mean really, if you want to take a free opinion poll to model your next attempt on why don't you just go back and read everything that everybody was writing about it ages ago?

Sorry, I can't be bothered tippytoeing around with platitudes today. If you've managed to weather d-kos I'm sure you'll understand.

Thursday, October 6, 2005

ANALOGI KEBERADAAN TUHAN

Pesan ini dikirim oleh seorang teman bernama Mustofa Al Haddad. Isinya cukup menarik untuk dibaca, apalagi pada bulan Ramadhan yang mulia ini. (pen).

ANALOGI YANG MENGAGUMKAN !

Seorang konsumen datang ke tempat tukang cukur untuk memotong rambut dan merapikan brewoknya. Si tukang cukur mulai memotong rambut konsumennya dan mulailah terlibat pembicaraan yang mulai menghangat. Mereka membicarakan banyak hal dan berbagai variasi topik pembicaraan, dan sesaat topik pembicaraan beralih tentang Tuhan.

Si tukang cukur bilang," Saya tidak percaya Tuhan itu ada". "Kenapa kamu berkata begitu ???" timpal si konsumen. "Begini, coba Anda perhatikan di depan sana, dijalanan.... untuk menyadari bahwa Tuhan itu tidak ada. Katakan kepadaku jika Tuhan itu ada, Adakah yang sakit??, Adakah anak terlantar?? Jika Tuhan ada, tidak akan ada sakit ataupun kesusahan. Saya tidak dapat membayangkan Tuhan Yang Maha Penyayang akan membiarkan ini semua terjadi." Si konsumen diam untuk berpikir sejenak, tapi tidak merespon karena dia tidak ingin memulai adu pendapat. Si tukang cukur menyelesaikan pekerjaannya dan si konsumen pergi meninggalkan tempat si tukang cukur. Beberapa saat setelah dia meninggalkan ruangan itu dia melihat ada orang di jalan dengan rambut yang panjang, berombak kasar /"mlungker-mlungker-istilah jawa-nya", kotor dan brewok yang tidak dicukur. Orang itu terlihat kotor dan tidak terawat. Si konsumen balik ke tempat tukang cukur dan berkata," Kamu tahu, sebenarnya TIDAK ADA TUKANG CUKUR." Si tukang cukur tidak terima," Kamu kok bisa bilang begitu ??"."Saya disini dan saya tukang cukur. Dan barusan saya mencukurmu!" "Tidak!" elak si konsumen.

"Tukang cukur itu tidak ada, sebab jika ada, tidak akan ada orang dengan rambut panjang yang kotor dan brewokan seperti orang yang diluar sana", si konsumen menambahkan. "Ah tidak, tapi tukang cukur tetap ada!", sanggah si tukang cukur. " Apa yang kamu lihat itu adalah salah mereka sendiri, kenapa mereka tidak datang ke saya", jawab si tukang cukur membela diri.

Cocok!"-kata si konsumen menyetujui."Itulah point utama-nya!. Sama dengan Tuhan, TUHAN ITU JUGA ADA !, Tapi apa yang terjadi... orang-orang TIDAK MAU DATANG kepada-NYA, dan TIDAK MAU MENCARI-NYA.

Monday, October 3, 2005

The importance of immersion / study abroad programs

A Ceiling Effect in Traditional Classroom Foreign Language Instruction: Data from Russian

Benjamin Rifkin
The Modern Language Journal
Vol. 89 Issue 1 Page 3 March 2005


This is an interesting article that provides data about the necessity of immersion and/or study abroad programs. Russian is a less commonly taught language (LCTL) like Arabic. Students who really want to learn Arabic must go to an immersion/study abroad program - preferably after having had a few (two) years of instruction in their country. The learning curve will be faster if you go to an immersion/study abroad program with significant preparation. Students who do not go on such a program may reach the ceiling of their proficiency. The reverse is also true - students who simply show up to the country may never reach a high level of proficiency if they do not have explicit instruction. This instruction could be received in the foreign country, but the methodologies and teaching may not be worth leaving your home country as a beginner.

Benjamin Rifkin is a quality instructor and researcher.

enjoy, Jeremy