Inukshuks in Northern Iraq

There are a lot of rocks up here. As well as building materials. Erbil itself is essentially one giant consrtuction site. It may be considered the perfect place to bring in a great Canadian tradition of Inukshuk markings?

Although the rocks aren't ideal - smaller and rounder rather than the bigger, flatter shield cast offs - it is still a great way to pass time in villages.




Not sure what the locals will think of this.

Bling, bling

Everytime I come around yo city
Bling bling
Pinky ring worth about fifty
Bling bling

It's a good time to be an Iraqi parliamentarian! France 24 reported on a Iraq's law makers approving a massive personal budget and payrise, plus other lavish perks.

Under the law, an MP will have a monthly budget of around 25,500 dollars (17,230 euros) encompassing a salary of 8,450 dollars and allowances for up to 30 staff, primarily security... They will receive 80 percent of their MP salary as a pension for 10 years after they retire, as well as a plot of land of up 600 square metres

They will also be receiving diplomatic passports for themselves are their family members, good for the rest of their lives.


You can imagine this has stirred some controversy in a country where unemployment has skyrockted, particularly after ministries cut government jobs, and where 2 million + people are displaced with little to no help from the government. This is an astronomical amount of money in comparison to what an average (employed) Iraqi makes. The organisation I work for pays between $400 - and $700 a month for support staff, and $1000 - $2000 a month for operations/program staff depending on experience and qualifications. This is an international organisation - which is seen (outside of plum government postings) as la creme de la creme of salary options.

Religious leaders have been speaking out about this in mosques. This is great because the government has also started heavily censoring media through lawsuits for defamation. They have sued papers such as the Guardian and the New York Times, and kicked Al Jazeera out of the country. The fines have been heavy (upwards of 10's of thousands)- payable by the big names, but stiffling for local media (especially if their paper is forced to close).

Reporters Without Borders reported that news outlets have been been prevented from objectively reporting on internal security - even when it is massive breach - such as the August Baghdad Bombings. Therefore it is unlikely that much will get out about this.

Photo: IDP Camp, contested areas. Author's own

Arms, Comedy, Protest

I got sidetracked for about 4 weeks. October is one of those months where US government grants get the best of you. Since everything operates on the US fiscal year, something unfamiliar to me until I joined the aid world (why can't they operate a fiscal year on a calendar year... nothing is wrong with the Gregorian calendar), one month after each fiscal quarter is what I like to call... Hell.

This kept me from writing on somethings that are very important (not the UN shootings, I totally missed the boat on that one too) and that I'm keenly interested in. Arms trading, comedy and protest.

There was a report in the Guardian back in October that showed "police spotter cards" aimed at helping police identify "trouble makers" at protests. Except this one was created for the Docklands Biannual Arms Fair, and the people listed were not "troublemakers" but comedians and community workers(well I guess it depends on your definition of troublemaker - one man's troublemaker is another man's comedic genius and social worker!).

People who are genuinely concerned about arms, who they are sold to, and how nations are involved in this trade are targeted, rather than those who embezzle money through parastatles to finance civil war in... oh I don't know... say Angola. I'm looking at you Jean-Christophe Mitterand (son of former French President Francois Mitterand), Chales Pasqua (currently a French Sentaor) and Arcadi Gaydamak (who, despite several international arrest warrents, was running for mayor of Jerusalem when I was there).

Mark Thomas, the comedian in question, wrote a response piece that I enjoyed attacking the democratic right to peacefully protest at events. Particularly when those events host the likes of those that commit horrendous acts through the goods that they purchase at said events. Blurg.

Now why might a comedian be persona non grata at an arms fair is another thing:



If you watch the whole show on You Tube... you can see maybe why the arms world does not want Mark Thomas kicking around. But the stifling of protest on such an important topic so much that community activist are unwelcome is infuriating. Not many people know about the arms trade, and I'm pretty sure governments and arms companies are keen on making sure it stays that way.

Support organisations that make sure it doesn't:

Global Witness
ICBL