M2 PRESSWIRE-25 February 2003-ETSI: Accessibility for All conference -- Making a world we can all share(C)1994-2003 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD
RDATE:02242003
Sophia Antipolis, France -- A major conference will be held on Thursday 27 and Friday 28 March 2003, examining how the establishment of standards can help to widen access to a variety of modern products, services and environments for all - for young, old and people with disabilities or special needs.
The event, entitled 'Accessibility for All', is being organized by the three European Standardization Organizations (ESOs) - the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). It is part of their common action plan to meet the objectives set by the European Commission's eEurope initiative, and helps to mark 2003 as the European Year of People with Disabilities. The conference will be held in the Acropolis Convention Centre, in Nice, France.
The programme will cover the application of the ESOs' standards in areas ranging from construction design, ergonomics and transport services to intelligent homes and buildings and telecommunications, as well as the eEurope initiative and the concept of an Information Society for all; the final address will be given by Erkki Liikanen, European Commissioner for Enterprise and Information Society, on the subject of the eEurope Action Plan.
The conference will examine the role of standards in Accessibility for All, and user requirements, particularly the needs of older people and those with disabilities. The event will present the achievements of standardization to date and will also trigger new activities by identifying areas where additional standardization is required. The conference therefore represents a unique opportunity for interested parties to explain their specific needs and influence future work to improve life for those with special needs. The goal of the conference is to improve the impact of standards on the world of new technologies.
The programme will cover various aspects of accessibility for which the ESOs are developing standards:
* Accessibility to the public
* Accessibility at home (including electrical products for people with special needs, 'smart houses', TV broadcasting for all, access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) by young people)
* Accessibility on the move (accessible transport services, ticketing, mobile communications, technical aids etc)
* e-Accessibility (including Design for All, computing accessibility, assistive devices for ICT)
* Accessibility to the Internet (including e-Commerce)
There will also be case studies taken from experiences in different countries both inside and outside Europe. The final plenary session will bring together ideas for future action.
Expert speakers will be gathered from all over the world and will include senior representatives of the EC, officials of disability organizations, representatives from industry, from the ESOs and national standards organizations, academics and others working to meet the needs of disabled people.
The event is being funded by the European Commission under its eEurope initiative, which seeks to bring the benefits of the Information Society to everyone in Europe, and is offered free of charge to delegates. Details of the conference workshops and a registration form are available at: www.etsi.org/cce.
NOTES TO EDITORS
About ETSI
Based in Sophia Antipolis (France), the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) is officially responsible for standardization in telecommunications, broadcasting and certain aspects of information technology within Europe. As such, it also plays a major role in global standardization.
ETSI unites almost 800 members from 55 countries inside and outside Europe, including manufacturers, network operators, administrations, service providers, research bodies and users - in fact, all the key players in the telecommunications arena. For more information: www.etsi.org/
About the European Commission's eEurope Initiative
eEurope 2002 - An Information Society For All - was launched in 2000 to ensure that the whole of Europe reaps the benefits of the Information Society; it is a key element in the strategy for modernizing the European economy and aims to bring everyone in Europe - every citizen, every school and every company - on-line as quickly as possible. Building on the success of eEurope 2002, in June 2002, an Action Plan for eEurope 2005 was launched. Its objective is to provide a favourable environment for private investment and for the creation of new services and new jobs, to boost productivity, to modernize public services and to give everyone the opportunity to participate in the global information society.
For more information: www.eeurope-standards.org
CONTACT: Geraldine Tarroux, ETSI - European Telecommunications Standards InstituteTel: +33 4 92 94 4224Fax: +33 4 92 38 5224e-mail: press@etsi.orgWWW: http://www.etsi.org
((M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data prepared by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com)).
SANTA ANA, Calif., Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Transacting business with local government got a little easier today with the introduction of GovernLink(TM), a new electronic commerce program that allows individuals to access government records and services from their home or office computer.
Introduced by Lockheed Martin, GovernLink provides consumers with confidential and secure access 24-hours-a-day to various government records. In
its first application, the innovative service is designed to link county and municipal government offices across the nation directly to consumers, allowing them to access birth, death and marriage certificates, or to search a fictitious business name without having to visit or wait in lines at the government centers.
"Consumers routinely use the Internet to access a variety of information. Lockheed Martin, using Web-based technology, now has provided a direct link from home or office to the halls of local government," said Holli Ploog, managing director and senior vice president with Lockheed Martin, which is partnering with Oracle Corp., to offer the innovative government service.
Oracle will provide its Internet computing technology, which includes the Oracle8 database, Oracle Application Server and other products.
"More and more consumers also are discovering the convenience and efficiency of purchasing goods and services over the Internet. GovernLink opens a new door that allows consumers to quickly and effectively handle various transactions," Ploog said.
The innovative local government service was unveiled here today at the annual meeting of the California Clerk-Recorders' Association Conference in Orange County. GovernLink is now available to the county's approximately 800,000 residents on the Internet at www.oc.gov/recorder/.
Orange County Clerk-Record Gary L. Granville said, "Orange County is pleased to be the first local government in the country to offer this service to its residents. This service will allow residents, including those who are disabled, to access records around-the-clock, making government more convenient and efficient.
"The service also will enhance our office operations, because customers will not have to commute great distances or pay additional fees for parking. Local government is government at the front lines of serving citizens, and GovernLink gives us a new tool and additional technology to better serve our citizens," he added.
GovernLink is designed to protect a consumer's confidentiality as well as ensure the integrity of the data.
Ploog said Lockheed Martin plans to make GovernLink available to government offices nationwide. By using the system, consumers will be able to request and receive government records, including fictitious business names, satisfy regulatory requirements, pay delinquent fees and fines, and apply for licenses and permits.
Other GovernLink features are:
* Easily customized to meet the requirements of an individual local
government Web site.
* Allows existing government business processes to benefit from Web-based
technology.
* Provides consumer access via credit cards to transactional services.
* Allows businesses to send and receive privileged data.
* Enables electronic funds transfer directly between business and
government bank accounts.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is a highly diversified enterprise principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced-technology systems, products and services. The corporation's primary businesses span space, telecommunications, electronics, information and services, aeronautics, energy and systems integration. Employing approximately 170,000 people worldwide, Lockheed Martin had 1997 sales surpassing $28 billion.
Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL) is the world's leading supplier of software for information management, and the world's second largest software company. With annual revenues of $7.5 billion the company offers its database, application server, tools and application products, along with related consulting, education and support services, in more than 140 countries worldwide.
AILYN AGONIA DOHA SELINA Farooqui, the 23 yearold winner of this year's W Doha and VCUQ Fashion Award, looks up to fashion gurus Valentino, Lanvin and Nina Ricci but credits her cosmopolitan background for her distinct panache.
The three-time winner of the VCUQ prestigious Golden Needle Award and W Hotel's Best Fashion Designer 2011 is an Indian national, who was born and raised in the Middle East and educated in American schools.
"I have been brought up in an international setting.
I feel all these aspects of my background have influenced my design concepts.
I am able to create contemporary and wearable garments, which are unique in fabrication, style and colour and feature a mixture of Indo-Arabian touch.
My collections are unique because I'm fond of amalgamating different textures of fabrics, contrasting heavy jacquards and embroidered fabrics with gauzy chiffon and smooth silk.
I also put a lot of hand detailing into my garments, giving each piece a distinct touch.
Most of my garments are one of a kind," Selina told Qatar Tribune in an interview.
The young fashionista discovered her love for stylish designer wears when she was in high school.
She said it was her passion for art and fondness for shopping and fashion-reading materials that enhanced her creative flair.
"I had always loved art, sketching and painting.
And I was equally interested in shopping and reading fashion magazines and books.
The two mixed together in my last year of high school, when I started designing accessories.
I filled up entire sketch books with drawings of shoes and jewellery.
I remember one of the first designer collections that I saw on the Internet was a collection of evening gowns by Lebanese designer Zuhair Murad.
The sheer luxury and beauty of his gowns touched me, and I was for the first time, inspired to be a fashion designer myself, and to create my own fashion that would one day inspire others.
When it was time for me to choose the university, the choice was clear.
I wanted to study fashion design and I enrolled myself at VCUQ and haven't looked back since," she said.
While in university, Selina started realising her dreams.
In fact, it was during her second year at VCUQ that she made something she officially considers 'her first creation'.
"I had purchased some sequined sari material from India and transformed it into a simple dress.
I still have it with me today, and I have actually worn it well! At the time I felt like I had made the most beautiful dress in the world.
For the first time I saw what I could do with a sewing machine.
I look back at it now, seeing several small things I need to fix, but also with fond memories of my beginnings, of learning how to drape fabric, make patterns and how to master the industrial sewing machine," she fondly recalls.
The annual VCUQ Fashion Show has always been the highlight of the fashion students' year and more so for Selina.
During this event, all students get to present their collections to selected fashion experts in the country.
Their works are being judged from construction, craftsmanship, quality of execution and fabric selection to design concepts.
And for the third year in a row, it was the Indian designer's collection which was hailed the best.
"Each year the competition in our university has been getting stronger.
More and more talented designers are coming up and I found that I had to put in 100 per cent of my effort and creative energy to produce the award winning collection.
I have tremendous respect for my fellow designers and feel we all have something unique to offer the world of fashion," she said.
Selina, who graduated last month from the VCUQ, recently showcased over 100 garments and accessories from her past and present collections at the W Hotel's famous E-Wow Suite.
It is part of the perks of being named by the posh hotel as the Best Designer of the year, another feat for the youngster.
According to her, "This showcase was a huge success.
So many people came to support me and to view my collection.
I have gained confidence in my work and this achievement is pushing me to further my career as a designer and to never stop improving myself.
I am motivated now to create even better collections and more classy garments.
This has set me on the path and I am ready to go with everything I have to offer." Just like any other fashion student, Selina hopes to see herself as an established designer down the road.
Her future plans also include selling her wears in different boutiques in the Middle East and taking part in the international fashion week.
And Selina has already started taking baby steps towards her ambition.
She announced that she will be selling a new collection at Cugini, a boutique in the Pearl, Doha, soon.
The collection will be for Fall/Winter 2011-12.
"I can't predict more about my future as I believe part of the excitement of life is when we do not know what to expect next.
At present, I am doing everything I can to see myself succeed as a designer.
I am working harder than I have ever done before.
I am multi-tasking and taking on every opportunity that is presented to me.
I want to try my best to make my dreams come true and to not have any regrets later on," she said.
Copyright Qatar Tribune. All Rights Reserved.
Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company
A COW-COCKY FROM Canterbury has moved to Las Vegas in a bid to revolutionise the skincare industry with an invention inspired by his days on the farm.
Denie Hiestand's product Electric Body is an anti-ageing moisturising lotion containing 75 per cent colostrum _ a milk-like fluid produced by cows, humans and other mammals late in pregnancy.
``When I look at the ingredients in most skin creams I'm amazed women are still alive,'' said the 62-year-old.
``The more I looked into it, the more frightened I became. I knew I had to come up with something that wasn't so toxic.
``I thought it would be easy, but it's been the most difficult thing I've ever done.''
Dairy farming expert Professor Colin Holmes said colostrum was higher in protein than ordinary milk and contained high amounts of vitamin A, antibodies and immunoglobulins which protected newborns against disease.
``When you think about colostrum, you don't think about rubbing it on your face. But you never know, colostrum is a very good product.''
Hiestand's product uses colostrum from New Zealand dairy cattle. It's exported to the US in a powder form then reconstituted with mineral water. It contains no chemicals, preservatives or fillers and has been approved by the European Union as an all-natural cosmetic.
``Every compound is exactly how nature made it,'' said Hiestand. ``You could feed it to a newborn.''
Hiestand said his background in agriculture meant he had an unconventional approach to skincare.
``The skin is a live, absorbable organ. Compounds you put on it are delivered into the bloodstream,'' he said.
``I'm a New Zealand dairy farmer. There's no way I'd spend seven years doing this if I didn't believe in it.''
Electric Body sells on the internet for about $130 for 50ml and is stocked around the world _ including at UK department store House of Fraser.
``We were the first unknown brand they've ever taken on in their 100 years of business,'' Hiestand said. ``I just called them up and asked for a meeting with the bosses. After that, they tested it for seven months and were so impressed they took it on.''
Hiestand and his wife Shelley chose Las Vegas as their base because of its high number of tourists, low taxes and quality of life. ``It's a very beautiful, well-funded, modern city,'' said Hiestand.
``It's more than the one street. We can fly direct to any city in America and most of the major cities in the world.''
celeste.anstiss@hos.co.nz
TOTOWA, N.J., May 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Dydacomp, a leading provider of business technology platforms for eCommerce and multichannel merchants, announced today that SiteLINK eCommerce clients experienced a double digit increase in eCommerce revenue during the first quarter of 2011 compared to the previous year. This growth was in line with the eCommerce industry that, as a whole, saw a 12% increase in eCommerce revenue during the first quarter of 2011 over the same period a year ago, according to comScore Inc. The average SiteLINK store's growth was fueled by an impressive 11% increase in orders per day, as well as a continuing uptick in average order size throughout the first quarter of 2011.
"SiteLINK eCommerce merchants experienced an impressive holiday season that was able to jump start the strong eCommerce growth for the first quarter of 2011. SiteLINK eCommerce users recognize the value of the online marketplace to their business and strive to exceed consumers' expectations for online shopping. SiteLINK merchant's ability to streamline all eCommerce processes allows them to focus on growing their eCommerce revenues and not worry about the insignificant details," said Al Pascale, Dydacomp Manager of eCommerce Services. "SiteLINK eCommerce merchants are able to capture these sales and illustrate to all small and medium sized merchants that there is an opportunity for online sales revenue regardless of business size and vertical."
This trend appears to be continuing into the second quarter across all verticals, while certain verticals are showing a stronger than average growth at the start of the second quarter. For example, SiteLINK jewelry merchants saw a 46% increase in eCommerce revenue during the first month of the second quarter compared to the previous year. These jewelry merchants also experienced an impressive 80% growth in average order size year-over-year during April 2011. Another vertical that experienced a promising start to the second quarter was the SiteLINK home furnishing merchants. These merchants saw eCommerce growth with a 21% increase in online revenue in April 2011 and a 23% increase in average order size year-over-year.
"The eCommerce industry continues to grow and become a more attractive channel to consumers as online shopping provides a more convenient shopping experience with lower prices. The first quarter growth seen across the eCommerce industry serves as proof," continued Pascale. "SiteLINK eCommerce merchants are able to capitalize on the Multichannel Order Manager's comprehensive feature set through the seamless integration to capture online revenue. Dydacomp provides multichannel merchants the tools to succeed in the competitive eCommerce channel, and SiteLINK merchants are surpassing our expectations."
Dydacomp will be demonstrating SiteLINK eCommerce and Multichannel Order Manager at the Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition in San Diego June 14 - 17 at Booth 1204.
For more information about the SiteLINK eCommerce solution and Multichannel Order Manager, please visit www.dydacomp.com.
About Dydacomp
Dydacomp specializes in multichannel software solutions for eCommerce, catalog, DRTV, and traditional point-of-sale business. Dydacomp's popular Multichannel Order Manager software, formerly Mail Order Manager, first released in 1986, is fully featured including integrated eCommerce, inventory control, order entry, customer maintenance, credit card processing, list management, fulfillment and other related functions. Through Multichannel Order Manager (M.O.M.), online merchants using MIVA, Shopsite, Yahoo!, eBay, Amazon, SiteLINK and other carts or marketplaces can manage their entire back-office operations. Dydacomp's client base, approaching 10,000 Multichannel Order Manager Installations worldwide, consists of eCommerce, mail order, fulfillment, distribution and call-center companies.
SOURCE Dydacomp
According to DOD: Swanberg Construction, Inc., Valley City, N.D., was awarded on April 20 a $17,003,815 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the construction of raised and extended embankments to provide flood protection to the city of Devils Lake. Work will be performed in Devils Lake, N.D., with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2012. The bid was solicited through the Internet with three bids received. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, St. Paul, Minn., is the contracting activity (W912ES-11-D-0005).
FLORIANOPOLIS, Brazil, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Tractebel Energia S.A. (OTC: TBLEY) (BOVESPA: TBLE3) (TRACTEBEL) jointly with its controlling company, GDF SUEZ Energy Latin America Participacoes Ltda (GSELA), announces the following video webcast:
| What: | Meeting with investors and capital markets' professionals to announce initiatives in its governance to be applied to related party transactions. |
| When: | Friday, October, 1st, 2010 at 08:00 AM ET |
| Where: | http://www.mediatown.com.br/prnewswire/player/?id=367 |
| How: | Live over the Internet -- Simply log on to the web at the address above. |
The meeting is to be held in Sao Paulo, in Portuguese, with simultaneous translation into English. A conference call resource will also be offered for those taking part on a remote basis, in the following connection numbers:
* for participants in Brazil (audio in Portuguese): call (11) 4688-6361;
* for participants from the United States (audio in English): call (1 888) 700-0802;
* for participants from other countries (audio in English): call (1 786) 924-6977;
* password: Tractebel Business Day.
The presentation in electronic format used at the meeting will be filed on the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission's (CVM) website following the close of business of the BM&FBovespa trading session on September 30, 2010.
If you are unable to participate during the live video webcast, it will be archived at http://www.tractebelenergia.com.br . To access the replay, click on the Investor section.
Tractebel Energia has its registered offices in Florianopolis in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. It is the largest private sector electric energy generator in Brazil. The Company's generating complex has 21 hydroelectric, thermoelectric and alternative energy sources plants in the states of Parana, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goias, Tocantins, Ceara and Piaui, with an installed capacity of 6,469.1 MW, around 6% of Brazil's total.
A Company belonging to GDF SUEZ Group, Tractebel Energia has over 1,000 employees in Brazil. The Company's main customers are electricity distributors and traders, in addition to large industries. It also supplies energy-related services, such as installation of co-generation, operation and maintenance of energy production equipment as well as monitoring of energy quality.
Contact: Antonio Previtali Jr. of Tractebel Energia S.A., +55 48 3221-7221, previtali@tractebelenergia.com.br
SOURCE Tractebel Energia S.A.
M2 PRESSWIRE-10 September 2009-K-STATE: Media Arrangements For Inauguration Of K-State President Kirk Schulz(C)1994-2009 M2 COMMUNICATIONS
RDATE:10092009
INAUGURATION: Kirk H. Schulz will be inaugurated as Kansas State University's 13th president at 2 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24, in Bramlage Coliseum.
CREDENTIALS: Apply for credentials by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22. Please provide your full name, name of media you represent, your job position and work phone number. Credential information can be supplied by phone, 785-532-6415; e-mail, media@k-state.edu; or fax, 785-532-6418. All credential requests must be made by the deadline. Anyone without credentials will be denied entrance to the photo pool/media seating area.
NEWS MEDIA PARKING AND BRAMLAGE ENTRY: Media parking will be in the east Bramlage parking lot. No special parking permits will be needed. All media must enter the southeast doors of Bramlage.
PICKING UP CREDENTIALS: Credentials and media packets may be picked up at the southeast entry of Bramlage Coliseum. The doors to Bramlage will open at 1 p.m. You must present a photo ID to obtain your credentials.
NEWS MEDIA SEATING: Reserved seats for the media will be in sections 13-14. Admittance to this area will be by credential only. A mult box will be available. Wireless Internet is available in the coliseum.
ELECTRONIC MEDIA: For television transmission service, including scheduling satellite uplinks, contact Susan Jagerson, sdj@k-state.edu, 785-532-3105, fax 785-532-7355. For television production services, contact Jim Mock at jmock@k-state.edu or 785-532-3153.
SATELLITE TRUCKS: All uplink trucks must park in the southeast Bramlage lot and plug into the video mult box. No cable may be strung into Bramlage.
PHOTO POOL: Photographers and TV crews must remain on the photo/video platform in front of sections 13-14 at all times. Because this is a formal academic ceremony, no roaming from the designated area will be allowed. David Mayes, university photographer, will serve as the pool photographer. A selection of photos will be available after the lecture. To download full size images at no charge, go to: http://www.zenfolio.com/ksuphoto/p24365922MEDIA AVAILABILITY: Kirk Schulz will be available for a short media availability following the inauguration ceremonies, before the reception. Media interested in participating are asked to remain in their seats until those seated on the floor level have exited. Media relations staffers will be on hand to escort media to the availability.
WEB FEED: The inauguration ceremonies will be streamed live on the Web at http://www.k-state.edu/president/inauguration/
Apply for credentials by 5 p.m. Sept. 22
CONTACT: Cheryl May, K-StateTel: +1 785 532 6415e-mail: may@k-state.edu
((M2 Communications disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data prepared by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com)).
Susan Avery's cover story on Emerson Electric's new MRO buying operation (page 38) speaks volumes about the importance of understanding and getting control of an operation before trying to change it.
In an era when much foolishness is being spoken in behalf of electronic catalogs, integrated supply, electronic requisitioning, and purchasing on the Internet, it's refreshing to follow the reasoning of someone like Emerson's Norbert Loebs. In setting. up his approach to driving cost efficiency into MRO buying, Loebs spent little up-front time on the tools of transaction. In fact, before even considering the technology of transaction. he first methodically thought through the strategies necessary to meet his firm's MRO materials needs.
As a result, he can now show his company's management a well-reasoned supply strategy that really does take the big costs out of MRO buying. Moreover. he has developed a strategy that varies in detail of application over a large multi-plant operation, while remaining consistent on a corporate level.
Purchasing professionals reading this story should be especially attentive to Loebs' awareness of what really drives the process. Despite a great deal of publicity about electronic shopping and electronic catalogs, the real drivers in most manufacturing procurement operations are supplier agreements and long-standing supplier partnerships and alliances.
Despite many goofy comparisons of industrial procurement to consumer shopping and paeans to the wonderful freedoms offered by electronic catalog ordering systems, buying professionals need to stand firm on what procurement is about. Purchasing is about choosing supplier partners, not filling shopping lists.
Once good agreements (covering price, quantity, quality, service levels) are hammered out with good suppliers, then and only then, should work be started on implementing them. In most companies the transaction processing that implements agreements needs to be clean and simple and product catalogs and electronic requisitioning have a place in implementing agreements. But firms that try to solve their MRO cost problems with transaction processing systems don't understand their costs.
Those who talk of buyers searching out suppliers on electronic search screens just don't understand how purchasing gets done.
WAR has been a way of life for Iraqis for the past thirty years. Internal wars and then wars with neighbors, especially Iran after its 1979 Islamic revolution, have marked the rhythm of existence in the world's oldest civilization. The interference of the United States on Saddam Hussein's behalf in the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-88 empowered the new president until the miscalculation of U.S. support for his August 1990 venture into Kuwait turned the former sponsor into a formidable enemy. In January 1991 the world's remaining superpower let loose on Iraq its full arsenal, and Saddam became Enemy Number One. September 11, 200l, provided the pretext to crush any remaining opposition to a U.S. presence in the land of Abraham. In March 2003 the United States and its allies invaded and occupied Iraq.
Almost thirty years of war, and writers were writing throughout. Whereas the earlier conflicts produced state-sponsored literature that was conventionally published and distributed, this latest stage has seen a transformation in the production of war stories. Young women and men have turned to the Internet to publish their experiences. These bloggers are writing for a global audience that they keep abreast of social and political developments in their occupied country.
In Women and the War Story (1996), I discussed local literary approaches to the Iran-Iraq War. (1) I focused on writers who lived in Iraq during the hard times of the war since the situation of the exiled writers was so different. Although many praised the war--not so surprising since the war stories to which I had access were published by the Iraqi Ministry of Culture--some authors bypassed the censor to condemn a war they were expected to extol. The women's texts in particular exhibited considerable courage, especially during the last year of the war. The Iraqi women then, and also after the Gulf War and today, eschew their expected role of Mater Dolorosa. They do not quietly lament and submit to a fate that might be cruel, pointless violence. They fight this violence with their pens.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
The stories in Aliya Talib's Al-Mamarrat (1988; Corridors) mock the "dulce et decorum est" of war and its official narration, and the hollowness of heroism haunts every apparent encomium to the combatants. (2) Spartan mothers who are proud to sacrifice their sons for a cause they do not understand must be accounted partially responsible for the persistence of the war. Suhayla Salman's short stories, al-Liqa' (1988; The meeting), openly criticize the official mandate for women to bear boys, preferably five of them, to become the next victims to this brutal war. (3) One woman on a pilgrimage to Imam Reza's tomb in the enemy city of Mashhad in northeast Iran prays for a girl, vowing, "I'll kill myself if it's a boy!" Lutfiya Dulaymi's Budhur al-nar (1988; Seeds of fire) is, I believe, the only Iraqi war novel by a woman. (4) Although she had written patriotic stories at the beginning of the war, by the late 1980s she changed. She exposed Saddam Hussein's use of chemical weapons, most notoriously in the 1988 Halabja massacre of Kurds, through the allegorical story of a woman artist. Working for an advertising agency during the 1980s, she balks at an assignment to draw an ad for insecticide, suspecting a connection with the war. She tells her director that she cannot fulfill the assignment because she fears that the chemical company soliciting the advertisement is not producing insecticide but rather ammunition for chemical warfare.
These three women knew that their stories might be published but not distributed since the government had control of the market. Talib, Salman, and al-Dulaymi were virtually assured that what readership they might have would not extend far beyond the Iraqi border. Until today these writings remain in Arabic.
The 1991 Gulf War and the ensuing years of crippling sanctions drove more women to write. Dunya Mikhail's poetry evokes the "night of nightmares" of January 17, 1991, that marked the beginning of the U.S. all-out attack on the Iraqi citizenry who were made to pay for their leader's reckless arrogance. (5) Ibtisam 'Abdallah's Matar aswad, matar ahmar (Black rain, red rain) adds that the planes swooped so low that the citizens on the ground could see the pilots flash victory signs to each other. (6) Betool Khedairi's Kam badat al-sama qaribah (1999; Eng. A Sky So Close, 200l) also takes the reader into the heart of that war.
It's raining bombs. You can't imagine what we're going through. A black rain covers the gardens, the streets, and the rooftops, resembling black decomposing remains; it makes the days uglier than the nights. The economic embargo has made us cut our hair short to economize in the use of soap and water.... A young man looks for his fingers blown off amid the debris.... We've acquired new habits. Shrapnel stopped us from sleeping on the rooftops. We are put off eating fish, polluted from nibbling corpses in the Shatt al-Arab River. (7)
And these new habits had to be maintained since the U.S. war on Iraq did not cease when it was said to have ended in March 1991. In her next novel, Ghayib (2004; Eng. Absent, 2005), set in late-1990s Baghdad, Khedairi notes the almost daily bombing that was not reported in the U.S. media and the desperate normality of life in a war that is said not to be war. (8)
After the United States invaded Iraq in March 2003, Dunya Mikhail responded in her anthology The War Works Hard (2005). The war, writes Mikhail, "continues working, day and night / It inspires tyrants / to deliver long speeches, / awards medals to generals / and themes to poets. / It contributes to the industry / of artificial limbs, / provides food for flies." (9) Again, she turned her people's suffering into poems that assured the world they would not give up. From her new base in the United States she has been able to find a translator and publisher for her poems. In 2001 Mikhail was awarded the U.N. Human Rights Award for Freedom of Writing, and in 2005 her collection The War Works Hard won PEN's Award for Poetry in Translation.
THE CHAOS AND MAYHEM of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq found a new literary outlet, the blogosphere. This medium made room for new writers: young women and men comfortable with the Internet, fluent in English, and anxious to communicate with the outside world. Several women have chosen to chronicle their lives in war. Coming from different backgrounds (there is a group blog by some Kurdish women), most use pseudonyms like HNK, Marshmallow 26, and Chikitita, but the best known is Riverbend. She began to post her blog in August 2003, predicting the "fake elections," denouncing the Iraqi "puppets," and mocking Operation Enduring Freedom. (10) Keeping the world abreast of her reactions to social and political developments during the first years of the U.S. occupation of her country, she provided a vivid chronicle of how the average Iraqi experienced the occupation: electricity cuts; horrible heat; the abduction of family members; and the state of constant alertness with bags by the door full of "sturdy clothes, bottles of water, important documents (like birth certificates and ID papers), and some spare money ... in case the ceiling came crashing down or the American tanks came plowing through the neighborhood."
Keenly aware of her foreign readers, for whom she provided local and cultural information, Riverbend wrote in idiomatic American English. Her blog was eloquent testimony to her enthrallment with American culture, and it provided an important alternative perspective to the one projected by world media and their embedded journalists. With time and a growing readership, her blog became a lifeline.
This literary piece of cyberspace is ongoing, dynamic, and far from ephemeral since in 2005 she published her first year of blogs in Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq. Her messages are carefully crafted with a keen sense of satire: "So now the heads of terrorism in the world seem to be Osama bin Laden, Aimen al Dhawahiri, and Abu Mussa'ab al Zarqawi. Here's some food for thought--Osama is from Saudi Arabia, al Dhawahiri is Egyptian and al Zarqawi is Jordanian. Which countries in the region are America's best allies?" Riverbend sarcastically dissects U.S. official discourse so transparent in the streets of Baghdad: President Bush's inarticulate speeches about the improvements in the lives of Iraqis brought about by the occupation are coupled with reports of U.S. troops murdering Iraqi girls. On November 22, 2003, two hotels and the Ministry of Oil were bombed, and donkeys were found in the area
leading colorful carts with missile launchers and missiles camouflaged with hay. The donkeys, looking guilty and morose, were promptly taken into custody for questioning and were not available for a statement.... Could this be the first real tie to al-Qaeda? After months of trying to connect Iraq to terrorist activities, this latest attack could prove to be the Pentagon's "missing link." After all, donkeys and mules are very widely used in Afghanistan [so] their presence in Baghdad is highly suspicious. It is, as yet, unclear whether the donkeys are foreign guerrillas who crossed into Iraq from one of the neighboring countries, or are actually a part of a local al-Qaeda cell. Baghdad residents are wondering: could these culprits be the first donkeys sent to Guantanamo?
On September 11, 2004, she watches a bootleg copy of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 and wonders whether Americans feel safer since the war on terror became a war on Iraqis, whose dead over the course of eighteen months numbered eight times greater than those who died in the World Trade Center.
Beyond black humor, Riverbend provides a powerful multiple critique that targets several foes simultaneously. She is able to articulate her recognition of the danger in the U.S. government policies that map on to British legacies; the American boys and girls even when she recognizes their humanity; and the "power hungry freaks," a.k.a, the Puppets, the U.S. state was supporting. And for every defense of Islam the religion, she indicts the criminal Islamist individuals and groups that try to control all, not only Muslim women's presence and appearance in a country that used to boast the highest levels of education and employment for women in the Arab world. They are part of a new world disorder where the political appeal to religion resonates: people who are losing everything need jobs (Islamists exchange social goods for political support) but also transcendental values to shape their lives.
Riverbend's attitude toward the Americans swings between anger at Donald Rumsfeld and a gloating President Bush and an empathy she demands from others for the disoriented kids from Middle America lurching around the streets of Baghdad. September 11, she writes, was not tragic "because 3,000 Americans died ... but because 3,000 humans died." This recognition of the humanity and commitments of others is at the heart of a cosmopolitanism that she characterizes as deeply Iraqi. On October 21, 2003, she writes: "The majority of Iraqis have a deep respect for other cultures and religions ... and that's what civilization is. It's not mobile phones, computers, skyscrapers, and McDonald's It's having enough security in your own faith and culture to allow people the sanctity of theirs."
By April 2004, however, sympathy for the young American soldiers simmering in the sun has evaporated, and the reader is surprised it has taken so long. The photographs of tortured prisoners from Abu Ghraib that obsessed the people and the media incensed Dunya Mikhail. In the following lines of "An Urgent Call," she indicts the American woman who humiliated Iraqi prisoners: "This is an urgent call/for the American soldier Lynndie / to immediately return to her homeland.... Take a sick leave / and release your baby/from your body, / but don't forget / to hide those terrible pictures, / the pictures of you dancing in the mud.... You don't want your child to cry out:/The prisoners are naked." (11)
RIVERBEND'S AND MIKHAIL'S responses to the daily pressures and sometimes the horror of life in Iraq under U.S. military rule derive from but also move beyond the particular to evoke universal reactions to warmongering. Their personal stories and poems intersect with the political to reveal its crass unconcern for the individual. They recall Talib, Salman, al-Dulaymi, 'Abdallah, and Khedairi, who had also rejected senseless violence, whoever the perpetrator might be. These narratives reveal a people keenly aware of the stakes in the national struggle and of their own role as victims. In this most recent stage, Riverbend assures her readers that Iraqis--like all oppressed people with their own hidden transcripts who are well aware of their oppressors' agendas--know what the occupiers believe to be their own state secrets. (12) Every Iraqi knows that the U.S. government is giving the reconstruction jobs to Dick Cheney's Halliburton, not to Iraq's highly qualified engineers. Every Iraqi knows that the U.S. leaders are exploiting the situation for their own economic benefit, while deluding themselves that they are fooling the Iraqis with ridiculous justifications for the war on terror.
Riverbend continues to post and challenge the world to pay attention to the great injustices visited upon the Iraqis:
As I write this, Oprah is on Channel 4 (one of the MBC channels we get on Nilesat), showing Americans how to get out of debt. Her guest speaker is telling a studio full of American women who seem to have over-shopped that they could probably do with fewer designer products. As they talk about increasing incomes and fortunes, Sabrine al-Janabi, a young Iraqi woman, is on Al Jazeera telling how Iraqi security forces abducted her from her home and raped her.... She might just be the bravest Iraqi woman ever. Everyone knows American forces and Iraqi security forces are raping women (and men), but this is possibly the first woman who publicly comes out and tells about it using her actual name.... Some people will call her a liar. Others (including pro-war Iraqis) will call her a prostitute--shame on you in advance.... She's just one of tens, possibly hundreds, of Iraqi women who are violated in their own homes and in Iraqi prisons. She looks like cousins I have. She looks like friends. She looks like a neighbor I sometimes used to pause to gossip with in the street. (February 20, 2007)
Go home, Lynndie, pleads Mikhail, this is no place for an American mother, for an American woman or American man, or, indeed, for any non-Iraqi. An Iraqi woman names an American woman, and we are no longer in the space of the abstract where causes, cruelty, and absurd justifications for violence flourish. The recognition of the humanity of the torturer echoes across time and space in the call for an end to the senselessness of war.
When I wrote in the mid-1990s about the women and men who penned their stories about the Iran-Iraq War, I did not know these writers, I wondered who they might be, and I sometimes even doubted that they were using their own names. Their books were sent to me from an official Iraqi agency and had been published by government-sponsored houses, so I assumed that their authors were in the pay of the Saddam Hussein regime. I was surprised to find that many of the texts I had received were far from propaganda, and I grew to admire those courageous souls who had risked a great deal to tell the truth as they saw it. But the truth that they told remained hidden in a system that carefully controlled the distribution of culture both inside and outside of the country. There were dozens and dozens of people who had been published, and yet their literature did not leave the country--such is the fate of intellectual production under authoritarian rule. Then, in 1994, the World Wide Web changed everything. Information technology easily cut through the barriers that before had been impermeable. It is now no longer necessary to fight the censor or to find a publisher to get one's story out or to worry about its distribution. Anyone with any kind of access to a computer can tell her story to the world.
Whether they write novels, short stories, poetry, or blogs, for the past quarter of a century creative Iraqi women have been sending dispatches from their homes that are the front. No jeremiads, their war stories insist on the evil of warriors who claim that the violence they practice on civilians is justified and legal. Readers of these women catch the pulse of life in situations of absolute injustice whether inflicted by Saddam Hussein or the American Operation Enduring Freedom.
Durham, North Carolina
(1) Miriam Cooke, Women and the War Story (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996).
(2) Aliya Talib, al-Mamarrat (Baghdad: Dar al-Shu'un al-Thaqafiyya al-Amma, 1988).
(3) Suhayla Salman, al-Liqa' (Baghdad: Dar al-Shu'un al-Thaqafiyya al-Amma, 1988).
(4) Lutfiya Dulaymi, Budhur al-nar (Baghdad: Dar al-Shu'un alThaqafiyya al-Amma, 1988).
(5) Dunya Mikhail, Diary of a Wave Outside the Sea, ed. Louise I. Hartung (Cairo: Ishtar Publishing House, 1999), 12-13.
(6) Ibtisam 'Abdallah, Matar aswad, matar ahmar (London: Bazzaz, 1994).
(7) Betool Khedairi, A Sky So Close (New York: Pantheon Books, 2001), 203, 225.
(8) Betool Khedairi, Absent (Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2005).
(9) Dunya Mikhail, The War Works Hard (New York: New Directions, 2003), 6-7. Four poems from the collection first appeared in the January-April 2005 issue of WLT (40-41).
(10) See http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com. Excerpts appear in Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq (New York: Feminist Press, 2005).
(11) Mikhail, The War Works Hard, 13-14.
(12) James C. Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990).
MIRIAM COOKE is Professor of Arab Culture at Duke University and the author of several books about war, gender, and religion in the Arab world, including War's Other Voices: Women on the Lebanese Civil War (1987), Women and the War Story (1996), and Women Claim Islam: Creating Islamic Feminism through Literature (2001).
