Sunday, September 16, 2012

Hejira

At first I thought Prashant Rao was just a bitch.  A jealous one who didn't feel the need to highlight the work of others.  Petty jealousy would explain his refusal to note the BBC reports last week on the persecution of the LGBT community in Iraq.  So maybe he just didn't highlight the BBC.  But there on his Twitter feed was him highlighting the BBC about Libya on September 12th.

AFP's WG Dunlop also ignored the BBC series of investigations on his Twitter feed.  Jane Arraf ignored it as well.  It's really interesting how the BBC does an investigate report, interviews 17 gay men in Iraq, interviews Nouri's spokesperson Ali al-Dagbah, gets two former police officers to go on record that the police are ordered to harass gays and it's just not enough, is it?

They can and do link to the half-wit Norwegian.  Another bad piece by him, Nouri's blonde online boyfriend.  They reTweet that crap.

But a real story, a real report?

Is it just that they're bitchy bitches?


I don't think you can pin it on that.  We're dealing with people who've reported on Iraq for years and what stands out right now is that Prashant and Jane don't report on Iraq's LGBT community.  Don't report on it, don't Tweet others reporting on it.

That's really interesting and telling.  All these years of reporting and nothing.  In fact, let's remember that even when they finally reported on the Emo and gay youth (and those perceived to be Emo and gay), they did a lousy job of it and only picked up the story after it was so saturated in the media that Rolling Stone magzine and England's NME (New Music Express) were already reporting on it before the 'found' it.

Al Mada owned that story.  It was weeks after Al Mada was reporting on what was going on that our lovlies 'found' the story.

I think we judge reporters by what they cover and by what they refuse to cover.  I don't think they're a bevy of bitchy little bitches anymore.  I think they're a host of homophobes.  That's the impression their reporting and their Tweeting makes clear.

The BBC has the most important investigative report out of Iraq in months and note how the host of homophobes rush to ignore it.

For the BBC's main report click here, for the interview of Ali al-Dagbah click here.  And you can also refer to:





Violence continued in Iraq -- even if AFP didn't report on it.  Alsumaria notes that a Salahuddin Provincebombing left four police officers injured, a Baghdad bombings left five police officers injured, a bombing near a mosque to the south of Hilla left 1 person dead and nine injured and the mass 'terrorist' arrests continued with 17 people arrested today.    Alsumaria also notes that Jalal Talabani is finally supposed to return to Iraq tomorrow (he left in May).







I'm traveling in some vehicle
I'm sitting in some cafe
A defector from the petty wars
That shell shock love away
-- "Hejira," written by Joni Mitchell, first appears on her album of the same name

 The number of US service members the Dept of Defense states died in the Iraq War is [PDF format warning] 4488.



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