Jacob's Politics

Two references in the same day

This morning as I was listening to Mike Webb, the liberal talk show host from Seattle, Washington State, one lady called in to ask whether Mike had heard of the blog called Baghdad Burning by a young Iraqi lady who is known by her blog name of Riverbend (...I'll meet you 'round the bend my friend, where hearts can heal and souls can mend..),

Strangely, Mike had not heard of this outstanding young woman, a now unemployed computer scientist, who has been blogging out of Baghdad from the beginning of 2003.

The lady speaking to Mike had received a personal email from Riverbend, which sort of tied in with the latest blog entry on how life for women in Iraq had become intolerable ever since the invasion and occupation by the Americans.

Under Saddam women were permitted university education, earned the same amount as men, and enjoyed a wide set of freedoms not found in most other neighbouring countries. Women also served in Iraq's army.

The lady had read out the email from Riverbend at an Open Mike hour, which is quite common in many bookstores in America. She said how surprised she was at the positive response she had had from young people who had heard her. They told her they had no idea how life had become so bad for women in Iraq after the American assault!!

This is something that the male prostitutes, that pass as the mainstream American media, do not report!!

This evening, as I was coming down to the cellar, I heard Annikki listening to Finnish Radio. Annikki suddenly asked me whether I had ever heard of the woman...

Even before Annikki could finish the question, I told her all about Riverbend, whose not so regular blogging has been part of my daily web surfing routine to see what she may have written.

Thank you Riverbend for keeping us informed about what is happening in your country. And we pray for all of you.

posted by Jacob Matthan @ 09:45