Monday, June 22, 2009

Too Trivial To Be Censored

Just so you know... if you ever have an appliance repairman in your house (a long-awaited appliance repairman) and he says to you, "Excuse me, ma'am? We have a problem"....

You have a problem. Particularly if the appliance in question is a dishwasher and there are two meals worth of dirty dishes waiting on the counter because today is the day that the dishwasher is going to be fixed so why bother washing them by hand?

Yup - I jinxed myself.

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I think that Larry will find it hard to criticize my blogging habit as a waste of time anymore - that is, not if he believes in the fight against political oppression and the importance of democratic values. Check out this doozy of an article in The New York Times. Here's a sample (boldface emphasis is mine):

As it happens, Mr. Zuckerman said, the Iranian government’s censorship task has been made harder because there is a thriving blogging community there...

...there is something satisfying about a country being assisted by ordinary bloggers who suddenly show their skills in organizing and belief in basic political principles. It harks back to heroes like the Roman leader Cincinnatus, a farmer who had to be persuaded to lead the republic in a time of need and after succeeding quickly returned to the farm...


Mr. Zuckerman emphasizes that it is precisely the ordinary blogs that are important in times of political upheaval - they slide under the wire of government censorship, but are written by people who have already earned the trust of their readers.

In other words, lolcat blogs and mommy bloggers have the potential to be the vanguard in the defense of our democratic ideals. That is, if we can get ourselves to take time away from photographing the contents of our refrigerators and such.

I swear, I'm not making this up. Go read it yourselves. I've got to get to bed. There are dishes to wash tomorrow. And...um....governments to topple...

8 comments:

  1. The only thing worse than having an appliance repairman say "Excuse me, ma'am? We have a problem"
    is having the plumber ask you "Do you have home owner's insurance?"

    Trust me on this one.

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  2. AnonymousJune 23, 2009

    The tragic death of that girl made me log into twitter for the first time in 3 months and change my settings to Tehran.

    I've got dishes to wash, too, but mostly because no one made dinner tonight (I had a meeting) and it was every man (and boy) for himself. And they finished the milk, not thinking that Dad would need some for his thermos in the morning. *sigh*
    May you get a working dishwasher SOON!

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  3. I'm bummed for you! I don't know what I'd do if my dishwasher was down for the count for so long...We're only a family of 3, and it runs daily! I hope it gets fixed soon!

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  4. I can't use my blog for good!! Where would I talk about ME? And my EVIL?

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  5. Oh, Jillybean, I know all too well.

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  6. AnonymousJune 24, 2009

    Is 'broken dishwasher' really a coded call to action?

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  7. AnonymousJune 24, 2009

    re Larry's judgement: One person's hobby is another person's waste of time. As I've gotten older I realize how hard it is not to be judgemental...

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  8. As one who just suffered through three days of partially backed-up plumbing, ie we were okay as long as we didn't turn on the washing machine, I feel for you. And no rivers and rocks nearby to help out, either. (Picturing scrubbing dishes with rocks...)

    And thank you so much for standing up for the power of ordinary bloggers in extraordinary situations. It's people who change the world. Imagine.(humming John Lennon.)

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