FILM DIARY: Planete Doc Review 2010

Reviewing every single film I watch is a bit impractical time-wise (and this has been on my mind for a long time now despite appearances ;-P). The reason I keep doing it is that I like having a record of what I watched and how I felt about it.
I’ve finally decided that while I want [...]

Afghan elections and the future of the war on the Taliban

Afghan elections will take place on the 20th of August, the Taliban are naturally already trying to use force to stop people from voting. I wonder if, ironically, their call to boycott elections isn’t why the two main contenders are both very moderate and eloquent people. If Taliban supporters were voting that might not be [...]

Shahrukh Khan detained at US airport

This sort of thing has happened before (SRK has spoken about being frisked and checked at US airports before), but unless the Indian media is misrepresenting what happened, it’s just been taken to new levels…
Apparently, Shahrukh Khan was detained for 2h at Newark airport yesterday. He was only released after the Indian embassy interfered. The [...]

The barbers who fled the Taliban

This is an article about those who fled the Swat valley, but from a very different angle:
There are about seven barbers in Rangmala, a camp for displaced people which is a couple of kilometres from Malakand Top.
Although they want to go back home once the Taliban have gone they are relishing the chance to work [...]

Sufism vs Wahhabism

Sunday, 1 March 2009, 14:28 | Category : Crumbs, Politics, Human Rights & Other Serious Stuff
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Here’s an article, which talks a bit about Sufi Islam and how it differs from the more hard-line forms of Islam.

26/11 and The Media

Thursday, 25 December 2008, 22:47 | Category : Crumbs, Politics, Human Rights & Other Serious Stuff
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More US troops in Afghanistan - will it help?

Below is what I felt is a really interesting debate - a former prime minister of Afghanistan, a Pakistani security expert and an American journalist discuss the increase of troops. The guests are chosen very well in that they really represent completely different attitudes and points of view - each of them is coming from [...]

Kabul Express aka Bollywood telling Afghan war stories

{FILM DIARY}
Kabul Express (India, 2006)
Seen: Tuesday, 2nd December 2008 (DVD)
Runtime: 106′
Polish Distributor: None yet (AFAIK)
Director: Kabir Khan
Cast: John Abraham, Arshad Warsi, Salman Shahid, Hanif Hum Ghum, Linda Arsenio
Production House: Yash Raj Films
Plot: Two Indian journalists and an American one are looking for news stories in Afghanistan. They have an Afghan guide and are sort of [...]

The Mumbai Blasts and Cricket

Monday, 1 December 2008, 22:31 | Category : Politics, Human Rights & Other Serious Stuff, Slices
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It might sound a little weird, but looking at the aftermath of the blasts through the perspective of cricket can tell us a lot about the political situation after the attack. Cricket is, after all, the national sport of both India and Pakistan.
At the moment there is doubt about whether the Indian cricket team will [...]

Pakistan demands all Pakistani prisoners are released from Guantanamo

Wednesday, 12 November 2008, 14:38 | Category : Crumbs, Politics, Human Rights & Other Serious Stuff
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I found this very heartening. Most Western countries (with the exception of Canada and the case of Omar Khadr) have successfully gotten their citizens out of Guantanamo. Hardly any non-Western countries have tried to put any sort of diplomatic pressure on the US about this though. In fact in many cases they have refused [...]