state of the union

I generally avoid blogging about domestic politics ('cause there are lots of other blogs covering that base, and I'd rather devote my time to Nancy Ajram and Turkish poetry, and the subject also just makes me despondent). But in (dis)honor of the SoTU and the terrible news of Alito's confirmation, I thought I'd post some pictures to mark the occasion.



The image on the top right is one of my signs from the various marches in London (I think this one was from Bush's visit in autumn 2004). I took the middle photo at the World Social Forum in Mumbai/Bombay--that poster was originally made by my friend B's mother for a protest in Lahore, and then Pakistani activists brought abundant copies to WSF. The bottom image is a poster that was plastered all over Beyoğlu in June 2004, shortly before Bush'n'Blair came to Istanbul for the big NATO meeting. "Gelme" is Turkish for "don't come!"



Also, since Tony Blair's about to visit Oxford, a link to the much-emailed Swedish television clip that raised our spirits over & over again back in the dark days of 2002-3. This one's for my RSAW comrades; I miss y'all.

(Note: atmo.se has several other clips from the same "Read My Lips" series on this page. The one with Silvio Berlusconi singing "I'm just a gigolo" is unmissable.)