COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Open thread



We're all going to miss Deuce. Everyone loved his excellent original Photoshop work and his cutting insights as he kicked off his threads, which he made look far easier than it is. I'm hoping that he'll wander back here if we keep the home fires burning. In contrast to our great country where blogging is protected by the First Amendment in the highest law of our land, places like Egypt stand ready to clamp down on bloggers the instant US pressure for human rights eases up on them. When bloggers in those places go on sabbatical, their reasons for doing so (to avoid jail or torture, for example) can make even our most solemn ones look utterly trivial.

Sandmonkey latest blogger to get out of Dodge

A popular Egyptian blogger known for his withering criticisms of the government has given up writing after becoming the latest victim of a state crackdown on dissent.

The blogger, known as Sandmonkey, signed off last week, writing that he had noticed state security agents on his street and heard clicking noises on his phone. "There has been too much heat around me lately," he wrote.

During Sandmonkey's three years on the internet, his was one of the most widely read Egyptian blogs, popular especially among Western readers for his unconventional opinions about his country and the Middle East. "Cynical, snarky, pro-US, secular, libertarian, disgruntled" was how he described himself.


Someone should tell him there's an opening here at the Elephant Bar. ::Joke::


In other news, Paris Hilton gets 45 days in the can.

10 comments:

  1. Yes, we do have the First Ammendment, but as Everyone knows, Google can juggle reality and giggle about it, best keep an eye on those rich kids.
    Also might be in the do do in certain venues for refering to an esteemed Arab in this country as a Sandmonkey.

    ----

    ReplyDelete
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  3. Doug said: Also might be in the do do in certain venues for refering to an esteemed Arab in this country as a Sandmonkey.

    The rules are that oppressed minorities get to take ownership of perjoratives that are used against them. For instance, I get to call myself a Flip.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I read him occasionally, and really, this guy would have fit in the EB.

    There's always some potential friends, no matter how seemingly hostile the group outwardly.

    Problem/question is whether you can afford the luxury of distinguishing that closely in manners of foreign policy or war. Probably not, unfortunately.

    ReplyDelete
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