is the World really changing?

Osama bin Laden's latest call for Iraqi insurgents to unite against Americans fell on deaf ears this week in Ramadi, the city that al-Qaeda leaders once declared the seat of a new Islamic caliphate and capital of the Iraqi insurgency. Rather than rise up against them, the people of Ramadi Tuesday invited U.S. forces to watch a massive parade — albeit one so tightly secured that no pedestrian traffic got close to it. The almost surreal, two-hour martial procession was led by the city's children to commemorate the martyred leader of a tribal revolt that has virtually silenced al-Qaeda in Anbar Province. It gave the Baghdad government a photo-op to make points about national unity, and so the Shi'a dominated government sent a representative to Sunni Ramadi. "With unity, victory is possible," said Iraqi Defense Adviser Mowaffak al Rubaei, clearly referring to bin Laden's attempt to drum up support for a renewed anti-American uprising.

taken from here, where you can see the photo & read the more thorough article

Buch Day 52
[back @ work week 6]

location: Room 7 @ the IB
mood: slightly unnerved
office mates' shirts colours: orange, pink & beige

working on:

• the Internal Monitoring Procedures Manual
• pursuit of my 'Toilets' project
• figuring out GTD over the next couple of weeks

flavour: Green tea with lemon & vanilla from Fares
looking forward to: the concert this Saturday

Observed at:	Bucharest, RO
Elevation:	299 ft / 91 m

	66 °F / 19 °C Mostly Cloudy
Humidity:	60%

In The Sadeian Woman Angela Carter gives us a re-evaluation of the work of the Marquis de Sade from a feminist perspective. She sees de Sade as the prototype of the moral pornographer. He [is said to have] viewed the relations between the sexes (and between the classes) honestly and without hypocrisy. He shows sex as being about power, as being a social relation that is dependent on social and political structures. He also frees female sexuality from the function of reproduction and emphasises that it is not gender that matters but power.

De Sade also demonstrates an understanding of the mechanics of the female orgasm that is a little surprising when you consider the complete ignorance on that topic that prevailed through much of the following century.

Carter looks at de Sade’s best-known works, particularly Justine and Juliette. The eponymous heroine of Justine believes that virtue will be rewarded, and despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary continues to believe this. She is also convinced that virtue, in a woman, is entirely a matter of sex – as long as you don’t have sex, or if you must have sex as long as you don’t enjoy it you are automatically virtuous. In fact Carter tells us that Justine’s behaviour is often astonishingly selfish and even callous because of this profound misunderstanding of the nature of virtue. Her sister Juliette does not share her delusions. She embraces vice with enthusiasm, and she gets everything she wants. The fact that she is a woman does not prevent her from gaining both wealth and power. Justine is powerless not because she is female but because she misunderstands the nature of society.

Carter also relates de Sade’s work to the way women have been depicted in Hollywood, with Marilyn Monroe being a version of Justine. The Sadeian Woman is Angela Carter at her most provocative. - review taken from here

I must add, once again, that this book has been particularly troublesome for me to go through - and not due to the consistency of the arguments, but rather to attributes of the descriptiveness of Sade's imagination. One thing's certain: I'll never read Sade's stories after having read this book!
The other thing - which is completely missed out on by the above review - is that the role of devil's advocate appears to be taken by Angela Carter only so far as the analysis is concerned, though not throughout the conclusions; and the conclusions are the part that have redeemed this book in my eyes! That is due to her acceptance of Sade's unnatural passion for pain and complete lack of transformation of his characters: neither women, nor men, may or can change/evolve according to his world view. And if anyone asked me, that's completely flawed! I'd add: literary redemption simply feels wrong in relation to a "moral pornographer" without a moral & whose style is that of a unidimensional portraitist in a dystopian realm!

Rwanda aims to become Africa's high-tech hub

By Scott Baldauf 2 hours, 38 minutes ago

Kigali, Rwanda - Sometime in the next two years, nearly every school in Rwanda – from distant mountain villages to swelling urban areas – will be hooked up to the Internet. And it won't be some crummy dial-up service. It will be high-speed broadband, carried by fiber-optic cables.

The fact that Rwanda is closing in on this goal without having the massive oil wealth of Angola or Sudan, the diamonds of Congo or South Africa, or even the copper of nearby Zambia is a testimony to the power of imagination. And Rwanda imagines that one day, it will be the information technology center of Africa.

"In 2000, we decided to transform the country from agricultural subsistence to a knowledge-based economy," says Albert Butare, Rwanda's minister of state for energy and communications. With two fiber-optic rings around Kigali, and cable being laid across the country, Rwanda is well on its way to being wired. "Once we've reached the towns of each sector, it's like you've covered the whole country. In another two years, we should be there."

- taken from here, where you can read the rest of the story as well. I personally find it rather intriguing, to say the least. In this line, I wouldn't be surprise to hear of statements declaring Romania the next U.S. of A. of Eastern Europe... I'm just curious on the area such a statement might choose...

recycling is easy



Recycling is easy. Easy and overlooked. I mean, people need to toss away rubbish anyway - so why not do it in an environmentally-friendly manner, then?
There's not that much of a difference so far as the effort one needs to put into it is concerned, and the advantages are multiple, from the main purpose of recycling itself to the mere consciousness of having done something right/useful on one particular day.

Still, this easily adoptable behaviour appears to present itself as problematic when it comes to a lifetime of lack of habit. Why so?
Well, I'd like to know that as well! I think the main reason rests in the terra incognita aspects of behavioural adjustments: something new is something strange and, by the same token, needs to be laughed at, mocked, and generally disconsidered.
But then again, it's so easy!I mean, it really is!

What's ironic, is that non-compliant behaviour stems from the same individuals who enjoy praising Politeness and Etiquette (in its lightest form of "Social Good Manners"). Yet I dare ask: How polite is it to disrespect the one who used to be called "Mother Earth" by former civilisations?


taken from here

Boek Day 41

gps: the IB SOP HRD - Room 7
mood: I heard the winter's coming this weekend - brrr!
office mates' shirts colours: pink & bordeaux

working on:

• graphics
• emails
• (relevant) EU Regulations
• the auditing of next week
• getting the interior yard cleaned up within the near future
• getting reimbursed for my purchase of an electric cord for the office
• figuring out my timetable over the weekend
• seeing my grandfather this afternoon

flavour: the corner shop's espresso
thinkin of: better time management & a more coherent plan

Boek Day 40

location: the world of twitter
mood: lucrative
office mates' shirts colours: beige, grey & army-patterned


working on: graphics of the progression of Lisbon (education) indicators for Romania
flavour: PEANUTS!! (:
thinkin of: Dad

Buch' Day 39

location: the WWW
mood: GTD-ish
office mates' shirts colours: pink, grey & olive

working on: catching up with my readings [work-related], de-cluttering my yahoo Inbox, getting apps sent
on my mind: Dad's arrival - tomorrow afternoon
flavour: not yet decided

Quote of the Day: There is no passion like that of a functionary for his function. - Georges Clemenceau [taken from here] - words proven by the acts & facts of my current surroundings

Buc Day 37
[back at work, week 4]

location: my desk
mood: autumnal

office mates' shirts colours: pink & blue
working on: EC Regulation 1083/2006 of July 2006 on structural funds

fuel: perhaps a bit more coffee
thinkin of the fact that autumn is definitely here!

Parks I

Upon my return to Bucharest, he challenged me to see as many parks as possible. This is the beginning.

1. Cismigiu: Every morning, my path to work succinctly crosses this park. Story goes, it's the oldest & largest in the city centre. I tend to believe them until proven otherwise. Admittedly, prior to the winter season, Cismigiu makes my mornings slightly more enjoyable: the trees, the birds, the lake, even the 'punk' teens from the nearby high school - they all bring some type of morning-type of energy about. I prefer the morning crossings to the afternoon ones, for that matter.
2. Izvor: Not matching my idea of a park at all; major amounts of trees are lacking, the birds are few & it generally feels too empty & wasteland-like in my view. Seen it with Alex D. on 30 Sept.
3. Carol: It's spacious & I appreciate that. Upon my visit, jammed with kids & youngsters roller blading, cycling, skateboarding, or just strolling/running around. Quite nice. It also has a nice cafe by the water, small & somewhat intimate but nice. I had a really sweet frappe there, sipped it in no time! Seen it with Alex D. on 30 Sept.
4. Kisselef/Kiseleff (the Romanian spelling doesn't seem to match the English one. I haven't chosen my fav yet): Though not web-ified yet, this park is definitely worth it! Amongst Alex P.'s chosen running areas in Bucharest, I only saw it in brief during nighttime and it felt ozone-ified & clean. A bit like the Dutch parks - thus stirring memories, of the good kind. I remember I used to go there quite frequently when working in the area 1,5 years ago. I hope to see it soon during daytime as well. Seen with Alex P. on 2 Oct. This is the closest image I could get (somewhere in the neighbourhood).

thought of the day: I'm starting to enjoy mornings again! (:

Buch Day 31
[back at work, week 3]

location: the IB SOP HRD
mood: environmentally aware

office mates' shirts colours: pink, green & purple
working on: same ol' Framework Document for Implementation

fuel: water & lollies
thought of the day: issues to be addressed in the cleaning up of the backyard (administrative, bureaucratic & human resources)

The main reason why I enjoyed Rant is the unexpected relation that this convulsive, twisted story manages to create with the reader; that is to say: the more I was reading, the more I wanted to read on. For me, it's the alternative reality of expression, or better said, the alternative reality it envisages in general, together with the mix of social interactions flavoured by roughness.
The book was released this year in May and the official website speaks quite nicely of it! it's interactive and it includes most of the main references in the book.

I'll just end this by adding that this is the latest creation of Chuck Palahniuk - the (perhaps better known as) author of Fight Club.