world | Mohamed Fahmy
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Caught Between Egypt, Qatar and the Struggle for Free Press
Judgment comes in just a matter of days –
July 30 – in the trial of us Al Jazeera journalists, after 19 months of a tormenting experience
that has changed me and the lives of my loved ones forever.
Understandably, the world is preoccupied with news about nuclear deals, thugs who kill their own people under the perverted justification of jihad and the banner of Islam and the war on terror that has left many journalists – myself included – under constant threat by governments who consider us just collateral damage.
Among the 200 journalists globally who are now in detention just for doing their job, perhaps our case is one of the best examples of how journalism and politics overlap in the media landscape today. It's no secret that the government of Qatar, the owner of the Al Jazeera Media Network, is a die-hard supporter of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood.
Was I overly ambitious as a journalist always out for a new challenge to take on the job of the Al Jazeera Bureau Chief of the English channel months after the ouster of the Brotherhood in 2013? After all, the Egyptian government banned and considered the Arabic arms of the channel as biased to the Islamic group and a clear supporter of its cause.
For that very reason I became hypercritical of my own work like never before. I went over in my mind every single bit of newsgathering, statistic, live broadcast and story that came out of our Cairo office. In all humbleness and after much reflection, I consider our reports -- which the Egyptian government alleges were biased and fabricated in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood -- to have been flawless.
And many months later, that assessment was validated by a technical committee of experts appointed by the judge in the retrial, who testified so to the court after reviewing the so-called video evidence.
world | Mohamed Fahmy
Exit
Caught Between Egypt, Qatar and the Struggle for Free Press
Judgment comes in just a matter of days –
July 30 – in the trial of us Al Jazeera journalists, after 19 months of a tormenting experience
that has changed me and the lives of my loved ones forever.
Understandably, the world is preoccupied with news about nuclear deals, thugs who kill their own people under the perverted justification of jihad and the banner of Islam and the war on terror that has left many journalists – myself included – under constant threat by governments who consider us just collateral damage.
Among the 200 journalists globally who are now in detention just for doing their job, perhaps our case is one of the best examples of how journalism and politics overlap in the media landscape today. It's no secret that the government of Qatar, the owner of the Al Jazeera Media Network, is a die-hard supporter of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood.
Was I overly ambitious as a journalist always out for a new challenge to take on the job of the Al Jazeera Bureau Chief of the English channel months after the ouster of the Brotherhood in 2013? After all, the Egyptian government banned and considered the Arabic arms of the channel as biased to the Islamic group and a clear supporter of its cause.
For that very reason I became hypercritical of my own work like never before. I went over in my mind every single bit of newsgathering, statistic, live broadcast and story that came out of our Cairo office. In all humbleness and after much reflection, I consider our reports -- which the Egyptian government alleges were biased and fabricated in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood -- to have been flawless.
And many months later, that assessment was validated by a technical committee of experts appointed by the judge in the retrial, who testified so to the court after reviewing the so-called video evidence.
world | Mohamed Fahmy
Exit
Caught Between Egypt, Qatar and the Struggle for Free Press
Judgment comes in just a matter of days –
July 30 – in the trial of us Al Jazeera journalists, after 19 months of a tormenting experience
that has changed me and the lives of my loved ones forever.
Understandably, the world is preoccupied with news about nuclear deals, thugs who kill their own people under the perverted justification of jihad and the banner of Islam and the war on terror that has left many journalists – myself included – under constant threat by governments who consider us just collateral damage.
Among the 200 journalists globally who are now in detention just for doing their job, perhaps our case is one of the best examples of how journalism and politics overlap in the media landscape today. It's no secret that the government of Qatar, the owner of the Al Jazeera Media Network, is a die-hard supporter of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood.
Was I overly ambitious as a journalist always out for a new challenge to take on the job of the Al Jazeera Bureau Chief of the English channel months after the ouster of the Brotherhood in 2013? After all, the Egyptian government banned and considered the Arabic arms of the channel as biased to the Islamic group and a clear supporter of its cause.
For that very reason I became hypercritical of my own work like never before. I went over in my mind every single bit of newsgathering, statistic, live broadcast and story that came out of our Cairo office. In all humbleness and after much reflection, I consider our reports -- which the Egyptian government alleges were biased and fabricated in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood -- to have been flawless.
And many months later, that assessment was validated by a technical committee of experts appointed by the judge in the retrial, who testified so to the court after reviewing the so-called video evidence.
Exit
latino voices | tanisha love ramirez
Montaña means mountain in Spanish. Montana is a U.S. state. Here's a fun fact: Montana is a derivation of the Latin word "montaanus" which means mountainous.
Ñame versus Name
Ñames (aka yams) by any other name will still taste as yummy. But ask your significant other to pick up a couple of "names" from the market, and you'll both be bitter when he or she comes home empty handed and confused.
Peña versus Pena
And last but not least: This is Michael Peña -- spelled with an “ñ”! Without a tilde his last name becomes pena, the Spanish word for pity -- which is what it is when people drop, swap out or flat out ignore the “ñ”.
How One Spanish Letter Totally Changes The Meaning Of These 9 Words
Respect the “ñ”!
The letter “ñ” gets no respect.
Pronounced "enye," the fifteenth letter in the Spanish alphabet is often misused or completely left out of Spanish (or Spanglish) text messages, captions and social media status updates, be it due to human error or autocorrect. Either way, this is a huge problem.
When you replace an “ñ” with "n", you can completely change the meaning of certain Spanish words and names. Oftentimes, those little swaps can be the difference between expressing a sweet sentiment and making a total fool of yourself. But don't just take our word for it, see for yourself.
These nine words take on completely different meanings when you replace the “ñ” with the regular ole letter "n". Can you think of any others? Share them in the comment section below.
Año versus Ano
“Happy New Anus," said anyone who has ever texted “Feliz Ano Nuevo” to loved ones on New Years. Oops! The word they were likely looking for is año, which means year. Ano, as you may have guessed by now, means anus.
Moño versus Mono
Do not caption your YouTube hair tutorial "Ballerina mono on fleek" unless, of course, your pet monkey is totally on point -- or en pointe. Otherwise, you're going to want to slap a tilde (squiggly line) on that "n". Moño is the Spanish word for bun.
Coño versus Cono
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Type cono when you mean coño and you’re essentially doing what that ducking jerk autocorrect does anytime you try to type the f-bomb in a text. That's because coño is a Spanish curse word. Cono, however, is just the Spanish word for cone.
Ordeñar versus Ordenar
To ordeñar is to milk something, like a cow, a goat... or anything that has nipples. To ordenar, however, is to organize, order or arrange something. Totally different!
Campaña versus Campana
Campaña is the Spanish word for campaign. Remove the tilde and you get the Spanish word for bell. That said, do you think ringing campanas whenever someone misspells "campaña" will help deter them from making the same mistake again? Just a thought.
Uña versus Una
You can't paint your unas, people, because una means one. You can, however, paint your uñas, aka your nails.
Montaña versus Montana
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Vincent van Gogh, "Self-Portrait," 1888.
"The one thing that he really wanted in life [...] was to have a wife and children and, of course, he never succeeded," Meedendorp told HuffPost.
According to Meedendorp, the artist knew that "it was difficult for him to meet people," and consequently, start a family. However, since his own family had been so important to him growing up, he continued to dream of having his own.
He did spend a year and a half "playing family," as Meedendorp described, in the Dutch city of The Hague, with a model and former prostitute, Sien Hoornik, and her child. After this relatively long relationship, though, van Gogh's broader relationship with women "was more difficult and much shorter," said Meedendorp.
The artist had happy but mixed feelings that his brother, Theo, was able to achieve such a family. When Theo told him he was going to have a son, Vincent van Gogh painted the now famous "Almond Blossom" and gifted it to the couple. Willem van Gogh told HuffPost that this work, which was dedicated to his grandfather, is a particular favorite of his descendants.
5. A family with a wife and children was "the one thing that he really wanted in life." Van Gogh never succeeded.
Opener: Getty