Anna

I am writing my script about Anna and Nord Ost and spent many hours every day rereading her articles. she had a very unique style of writing. you become part of her thinking process and her emotional journey. It doesn't register when i read about Russians arresting suspects in her murder. She really was an amazing woman whose goal was to help those in tragic situation, to make their voices heard, to fight those who abuse power. To fight evil.

Met my friend today, former bureau chief of Al Jazeera in the US now attempting to set up independent ie out of state's control news channel in Cairo, Egypt. His main sponsor has reduced the amount of the promised investment, and is very likely to be trying to pull out of the deal altogether, most certainly out of fear of the backlash from the state. Currently there isn't a single news channel in Egypt that's not under state's control so i do hope my friend succeeds. But it's a hard road.

Watched a fragment on cnn today about prostitution in Iraq. Many women who as a result of this war, end up in a dire situation, with their husbands killed or jobless, with money to feed their children become prostitutes. i am trying to imagine how they do it, because they don't parade the streets in stockings. a lot of those women try to kill themselves because they do it still unable to accept that they are doing it. It's hard enough for those who slip into that kind of activity in the western world, it's 100 times worse in their culture.

i am now writing a number of essays about my life in the context of Russia and Russian politics. I am having a great time doing it feeling absolutely no need to be politically correct.