"A Gay Girl in Damascus: My Father, the hero"

[Volstag9]

if thats true its amazing. Part of me says it isn't. She seems to remember the whole thing in awfully vivid detail. but....

I think we need more things like this. True or not its better then the crap that were normally used to getting from the media.

 

[Jamous]

That is the most beautiful thing I've read in ages.

I really, really, REALLY hope this gets some news coverage. Anyone want to e-mail this link to CNN?

My good man, I think you have just summed up absolutely all of my feelings with that img. Fucking hell. I'm quite surprised at the levels of apathy though. I thought -I- could be cynical... Kinda disappointed in myself.
Ah well. Cheered me up after a bad day.

 

[Dumori]

That is the most beautiful thing I've read in ages.

I really, really, REALLY hope this gets some news coverage. Anyone want to e-mail this link to CNN?

My good man, I think you have just summed up absolutely all of my feelings with that img. Fucking hell. I'm quite surprised at the levels of apathy though. I thought -I- could be cynical... Kinda disappointed in myself.
Ah well. Cheered me up after a bad day.

Sad thing is the later blog posts knocked me down again.

 

[nima55]

That man should have a show with mr T and chuck Norris for he is that awesome

 

[Jamous]

That is the most beautiful thing I've read in ages.

I really, really, REALLY hope this gets some news coverage. Anyone want to e-mail this link to CNN?

My good man, I think you have just summed up absolutely all of my feelings with that img. Fucking hell. I'm quite surprised at the levels of apathy though. I thought -I- could be cynical... Kinda disappointed in myself.
Ah well. Cheered me up after a bad day.

Sad thing is the later blog posts knocked me down again.

How so?

 

[Leg End]

I wish somebody did not ninja me with the Orson Clap, but, alas, they did. :L

I must just say, she is a brave girl and her father radiates badass, dwarfing the power of the Duke himself.

But, one crack from one of the pricks that I did not get. :L

Spoiler: Spoilered for those whom may take offense at a certain word and the accusation

"Did she tell you that she likes to sleep with women?" he grins, pure poison, feeling like he has made a hit. "That she is one of those faggots who fucks little girls?" (the arabic he used is far cruder ... you get the idea)

I went "das fack does that = that?". :L

I think that was simply the closest English translation.

I was thinking that, and she stated that was the closest translation, but it seems like an odd choice of words. :L

Her English is good, but like Japanese, Arabic might simply not be a difficult language to translate into English.

Certain phrases and even entire sentence structures that work in English just might not work in Arabic and vice versa.

As a insane mofo learning Japanese, I certainly see how that can be.

Still, odd choice. :L

But, ehh, what can you do? XD

 

[peetwee]

This is beautiful, thanks for sharing. every so often you read something amongst all the bleakness that restores your faith in humanity.

 

[ckam]

Aw, that's a good thing it turned out OK.

 

[TheDoctor455]

if thats true its amazing. Part of me says it isn't. She seems to remember the whole thing in awfully vivid detail. but....

I think we need more things like this. True or not its better then the crap that were normally used to getting from the media.

1. Looking through her previous posts, she has a habit of remembering a lot of details... something a lot of good journalists develop after awhile, amateur or professional.

2. Considering that the prospect of imprisonment, torture, rape, and eventually death was a very real threat at the time... I think this event would stick out.

Plus... I get the impression this was written within an hour of it happening.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

And so the lesson of Bill Hicks has been spread: "We are all one". He would've been proud to have read that, I believe.

 

[TheDoctor455]

One thing I fail to understand about those who have doubts that this really happened.

Fine have those doubts...

but my problem is this...
even if you don't think this really happened... or at least not quite as we're being told here...

What does it matter?

I get the feeling that even if things didn't happen EXACTLY that way, the gist was the same.

Even if this is completely fictional; how does that take away the beauty of it?

How does it not being a real story make it any less important?

I mean... I have no doubt that there are stories like this happening all over the world... but with worse endings.

We don't get to hear those stories.

 

[Angerwing]

I wish somebody did not ninja me with the Orson Clap, but, alas, they did. :L

I must just say, she is a brave girl and her father radiates badass, dwarfing the power of the Duke himself.

But, one crack from one of the pricks that I did not get. :L

Spoiler: Spoilered for those whom may take offense at a certain word and the accusation

"Did she tell you that she likes to sleep with women?" he grins, pure poison, feeling like he has made a hit. "That she is one of those faggots who fucks little girls?" (the arabic he used is far cruder ... you get the idea)

I went "das fack does that = that?". :L

I think that was simply the closest English translation.

I was thinking that, and she stated that was the closest translation, but it seems like an odd choice of words. :L

Her English is good, but like Japanese, Arabic might simply not be a difficult language to translate into English.

Certain phrases and even entire sentence structures that work in English just might not work in Arabic and vice versa.

As a insane mofo learning Japanese, I certainly see how that can be.

Still, odd choice. :L

But, ehh, what can you do? XD

Arabic doesn't translate very closely in to English norms. It's a very poetic language. For example, the common saying for indicating you don't speak English translates roughly to "English does not grace my tongue", rather than "I can't speak that language". It's odd, but that's just the way they speak. So direct translations to English often come across as very dramatic and unusual.

 

[peetwee]

Referring to page one: I have been incenced by this twat of a person. JayDIck whoever you are, maybe you had a bad day, who knows, and sure these facts do seem embellished, or rather coming from a writers point of view lined up and recounted in a manner easy for the memory and bulked in order to fill interest for readers. ITS A BLOG DICKHEAD. Sure this seems to me to have been written as a narrative rather than a direct and personal diary entry however I think its pretty easy even for you to see that perhaps the girl concerned doesn't want everyone to know exactly how she feels about the situation. Hence narrative context. It removes the personal injury from the retelling. Even so, LOOK AT THE FUCKING WORDS. They're not written in the writers native language, the syntax is unnatural, how easy do you think it is to write in a second language. If you were writing in French (maybe you were taught at school), unless you spend a great deal of time talking and interacting with French people there's no way you can attain the levels of emotion and subtlty that come naturally in a mother tongue.

Maybe this is pop psychology but writing inflammatory comments on this thread is an incredibly badly concealed attempt to instigate an argument is obvious. My comment in response is grow up and find something better to do. If you want a fight maybe you could look inside yourself and work out why you really left that comment. "Gee etc etc etc... who gives a crap etc whatever..." I can't be arsed to quote you correctly, it's not worth it (and yes I'm English, which if the sentence structure didn't give it away then the 'ARSED' should have... perhaps you actually wanted someone to pass comment back (which happened, absolutely no offence meant to the commentor). In which case you caused a stir... well done... would you like a pat on the head. Attention gained, go back to playschool.

And just before you comment, if you can be bothered to read it all. I'VE commented because it's dick in the morning and I have insommnia. I read the entire thing plus all blog posts AND YOU PISSED ME OFF! Fucking child.

I apologise if anyone APART from jayDICK found anything I've said hurtful or narrowminded, however even if my comments are from a very personal perspective I believe that they may help shed light on why we are not all put off by a clumsy writing style. Also maybe Jay death will learn something about himself, although with a name like that I make the supposition that you're a consummate attention seeker. I assume you're real name is Jay. Really? 'Death' on the end? lmao!

 

[peetwee]

Please note, in the above post I AM NOT SAYING THAT THESE EVENTS DIDN'T HAPPEN, quite the contrary, I just don't think it's verbatim for the reasons stated. Post-event recall is difficult, ask any policeman or psychiatrist, maybe have a look into schemas if you're really interested (the packets of memory, not the Jewish prayer scrolls) lining up events is our minds way of remembering. Embellishing detail is the minds defence against the reality of the situation. Embellishment or perhaps subtractual analysis, ie. the removal of elements too disturbing to be recalled or the alteration of those elements to make them more bareable.

As for news broadcasts, no offence meant but wishful thinking guys. Absolutely no offence meant but this is a single example and if the news focussed on this and not the larger scale picture then we would all have a very narrow view of events. Spread the word in the old fashioned way, its slower but it works. Tell people, thats what she's doing!

 

[peetwee]

Oh and before I leave you all in peace, no its not bigoted to be sceptical, it proves a curious mind. Someone who will seek out more information and raw their own conclusions whatever they might be. what you wrote was absolutely fine and people reading the thread should calm down a bit and gain some perspective on what they're reading. There's irony for you! or is that hypocracy... who cares my comments stand. There should be no offence in breaking a narrative down into its base components, I would say perhaps a more prudent choice of words but in all honesty in the context that it was IT WAS FINE

 

[peetwee]

Didn't finish my post.

PS. re: The above comment made by: ME

To explain, breaking a story down into its base components lets us better understand the underlying messages by broadcasting them as load and plain as possible. Therefore what you said was spot on.

 

[TheDoctor455]

Just for fun I applied some of the standard writing analysis techniques to this to see if it red flagged as suspicious.

- The % of time spent on buildup vs event vs prologue are normal for a truthful story
- The buildup includes tiny details, more so than the body of the story. This is a red flag for a "setup" to a fictional story.
- There are two tense changes. She moves from past to present to past again. Within each of the sections she maintains the tense she is in. This is a red flag that the part in the different tense (the attack) may not be truthful.
- She names a specific servant by name in the setup, but deliberately avoids names in the body. This is a red flag for mental disassociation with the story.
- Her writing style is very calm and ordered if that visit just happend, but the details are too vivid for a long time to have past. Another red flag.

These paterns repeat in much of her other writing. So, she either has a very unusual writing style or the stories are not 100% accurate.

I would rate the story as possible, but suspicious.

Oh, and her blog from May 4 has her now homeless and chased out by the bag guys so I guess if the story is true it just bought her one week. http://damascusgaygirl.blogspot.com/


(And before someone asks if her native language matters, it doesn't. These techniques work across languages)

Okay... but if it isn't 100% accurate, then ask why.

The news isn't 100% accurate either.

As peetwee pointed out, people going through traumatic events do not always remember them in exactly the same way that they happened. Its just easier that way.

Or even if she is reconstructing/reformatting the events to fit into a narrative; that is easily part of what makes it so moving. Real life, told with 100% accuracy, always sounds like a tale told by an idiot.

I do think the gist of these events are true however. Soldiers turn up; demand that they take her with them; Dad defies them/supports his daughter; soldiers go away... for awhile anyway.