Based on a true story

Women rights or shall we say human rights?

      Women's rights is an escalating issue since the dawn of time. Masculine structure of the society kept a very limited range of rights for them. Women were perceived as mothers, nest makers and care givers more then what they actually are or would like to be.

"If you can't see a problem in this, stop reading this article and get out while you can"

      It wasn't until late 19th century, women got a hold of the right to vote. But still it wasn't before 20th century, where women were fully recognized as individuals and treated as equals to men in the eyes of the law. In countries who suffers from dictatorships, religious regimes and non-steady governments women still don't have the rights as they should have. In Saudi Arabia women have nearly no rights at all, including right to vote. Turkey gave this right to women in 1930, it was 1931 for Spain & Portugal or 1945 for France. Well as you may deduct, being 15 years earlier on giving the right the vote has made us lazy. Right to vote is one of the foremost rights a women should have, but also the right to educate is another important aspect of womens rights. For example in Turkey, in the south-east region, little girls going to school rates are still very low. Girls being in the same classrooms with boys are still a taboo and it doesn't make things easier when going to school is already hard due to the circumstances.

    "You say potato, I say potato"

      Violence against women is another hot issue in the womens rights debate.  First of all its really important that a culture and society to realize that violence against women, let alone domestic, is punishable by law. Women should be able to trust the law and police for their protection. For example, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, especially the east region the country have been deemed as the worst conditions and status for women. Violence towards them are perceived as normal, also rape towards women are common. Because of the endless civil war, armed groups get away with anything they do.
 

      On the other hand in such a capitalist system where we live in today, women are expected to contribute to economy. There are still some gender biased occupations or women getting less money from men just because of their gender. But they are advancing more quickly in this area more than ever. As the world develops it needs more workers to finance this immense globe with huge expenditures.
   
      Considering the struggle women had for their rights, its only natural to assume its an essential for them to keep on having a meaningful life. The most basic things I have mentioned throughout this article such as vote, freedom, security, education etc.. The  hunger for democracy  also supports and strengthens their case day by day. I haven't talked about the relation of happiness to their rights very much for now, I felt like I didn't need to. If you edit this paper to make it sexless, replace “women” with “people” it would be clearer that the rights that women demand and fight for are the rights essential for human beings. So I deeply believe in the direct relation between happiness of women and their rights.

" ... "

Restriction of Internet, Restriction of Rights

     The internet can be perceived as "mother" of all information sources. But it also provides room for illegal action actions; theft, fraud, child porn are the first ones that comes to mind. Now the real question is, is there a need for inspection and if there is who has the right to do it and to what extent?

    The wave of democracy is sweeping our planet for the last century, need for democracy is sweeping our planet for the last century, need for democracy is growing day by day and implementing the right form of democracy has never been an easy thing. The internet provides a certain freedom for every individiual, but should it be regulated for the good of the masses? It is impossible to disregard the relationship between democracy and the unrestricted use of internet as nowadays the internet has become a large part of everyday life for quite a large part of the population.

    It is my belief that there is a direct correlation between the level of unrestricted use of the internet and the level of democracy within a country. I know this, as someone who lives in Turkey and needs to use OpenDNS to enter YouTube, Wordpress, Livescore and numerous other sites.

    On the other hand I definitely agree that there has to be certain restrictions on internet. One of the most disgusting that the internet is being used for child porn. Also I can understand the ban on gambling sites, since its illegal in Turkey. But restricting access to YouTube just because some idiot uploaded a video bad mouthing Atatürk is plain ignorant. YouTube is a great source of entertainment, education, marketing, information etc.. Also people have the right to express their opinion no matter how wrong you think they are. Also if they are out of line while stating their opinions you have the chance to report them, where YouTube officials deletes the videos themselves.

    Also another important ban Turkey implements is on evolutionist Richard Dawkins' website, which is again just against everything democracy stands for. You ban something just because its not within your belief system. Especially in such a complex issue like religion, where everyone should have the right to exercise their own beliefs.

    The term "freedom of speech" is always popular while discussing democracy and again it's an important aspect of the internet. Being able to state our opinion is one of the most valuable things we human beings have. With hundreads of thousands of blogs, there are millions of opinions. But when some blogger explained how to watch Digiturk for free in his blog, the nations answer was blocking access to blogger.com entirely. Now I don't questions the intentions of Digiturk who filed the charges, but its again a senseless action to deprive millions of people from massive amounts of information just because of one bad apple in the basket.

     I'm not an expert on these internet security matters, but I believe with the level of technology that is available to us and with our rights as people there should be other ways to restrict the access to criminally offensive sites.

and the Oscar goes to...

 

        Oscar haftası gene geldi çattı ve şimdiden heyecanlanmaya başladım. Bu küçük altın heykelciklerin temsil ettiği şeyleri sevmiyor olabilirsiniz ama hadi itiraf edin Oscar töreni baştan sonra sizi ayrı bir dünyaya götürmekte çok başarılı. Evet biliyorum sizin en sevdiğiniz film büyük ihtimalle Akademi tarafından es geçildi, aday bile olmadı belki benim içinde öyle! Ama bu yine de bu müthiş organizasyondan keyif almamak için bir sebep değil.  Oscarlar en iyi filmi, en iyi oyuncuyu, en iyi senaryoyu, en iyi yönetmeni temsil etmiyor olabilir ama baştan sona aylar harcalanarak hazırlanan bu gösteri gerçekten keyif verici. Ama her zaman ve her konuda olduğu gibi keyif almak için bazı şeyleri aşmak gerek, Avrupa filmlerinin ve bağımsız filmlerin çoğu zaman es geçilmesi gibi. 

                  2010 Oscarları asla unutulmayacak bir tören oldu şimdiden. Casablanca'nın en iyi film ödülünü aldığı 1943 yılından sonra ilk defa bu yıl En İyi Film dalındaki aday sayısı 10'a yükseltildi. Bunun en büyük sebeplerinden biri geçen yıl ki ödül töreninde The Dark Knight'ın bu dalda aday bile olmamasından sonra çıkan eleştirilerdi. Ödülü haketmese bile en azından adaylar arasında olması konusunda herkes hemfikirdi. Burada ortaya çıkan sorun daha çok muhafazakar bir yapıya sahip olan Akademi'nin bir çizgi-roman uyarlamasına itiraf etmek istemese de horgözle bakmasından kaynaklanıyordu. Aynı kategoriye Avrupa filmlerini, animasyonları, bilimkurgu filmlerinide dahil edebiliriz. Tabi ki istisnalarını saymak mümkün olsa da bu alandaki filmlerin yarışa 1-0 geride başladığını kimse inkar edemez. En İyi Film kategorisindeki aday film sayısı 10'a çıkartılarak o yılın iyi filmlerine ödül alamayacak olsalar bile belli bir derecede Akademi tarafından adam yerine konmuş olucaklar. Yoksa şu an 10 aday var ama çekişme yine 2 bilemediniz 3 aday arasında yaşanacak.

               Bu seneki adaylar ve benim tahminlerim:

1) En İyi Film: *Avatar, *The Blind Side, *District 9, *An Education, *The Hurt Locker, *Inglorious Basterds, * Precious, *A Serious Man, *Up, *Up in the Air

      Bu dalda Kathryn Bigelow'un savaş draması The Hurt Locker(Ölümcül Tuzak) ağır basıyor. Filmin tek rakibi ise tahmin edebileceğiniz gibi James Cameron'ın Avatar'ı. Bu dalın sürprizi ise Jason Reitman'ın Up in the Air'i. Hurt Locker ülkemizde çoğu kişi izleme fırsatı bulamadı, Irak'taki özel bir bomba imha ekibinin günleri anlatılıyor filmde. Ama bu filmi Amerikan işgali temalı filmlerde sıkça rastladığımız Amerikan sempatizisi yaratma çabası yok. Film savaşı bomba imha ekibinin üstünden ve onların psikolojisini, iç dünyasını göstermeye çalışıyor. Pek tanınmamış -en azından şimdiye kadar tanınmamış kadrosu-, sıkı senaryosu ve muhteşem görüntüleriyle benim favorim The Hurt Locker. Filmin tek dezavantajı ise yaklaşık bir hafta önce filmin yapımcılarından Nicholas Chartier bazı Akademi üyelerine En İyi Film için Avatar yerine Hurt Locker'ı seçmeleri yönünde etkilemeye çalışarak e-mail yolladı. Başka bir filmi kötüleyerek veya kullanarak üyeleri etki altına almak kesinlikle yasak, yapımcının bu hareketi ters tepebileceği yönünde yorumlar yapılıyor. Bu hareketi sonunda Nicholas Chartier'ın törene katılması yasaklandı. Ama hala benim favorim The Hurt Locker. Avatar diyenlere ise tek sözüm, o mükemmel belki de yeni bi çağın yaratıcısı efektleri bir yana koyup düşünün. Elinizde ne kaldı? Güzel bir pazar filmi...

p.s: The Hurt Locker şimdiye kadar BAFTA(İngiliz Oscarları diyebilirz),  Chicago ve New York eleştirmenlerinin verdikleri ödüllerde En İyi Film ödülünü kucakladı.




2) En İyi Erkek Oyuncu: *Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), George Clooney (Up in the Air), Colin Firth (A Single Man), Morgan Freeman (Invictus), Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)

        

     Bu dalda benim adayım Jeff Bridges. Şahsen kendisinin "The Dude"(The Big Lebowski) karakteriyle almasını tercih ederdim ama bu seneye kısmetmiş. Jeff Bridges Hollywood'un en çok saygı gören oyuncularından biri, ayrıca bu onun 5. adaylığı artık onu evine bir heykelcikle göndermenin vakti geldi. Artık gözden düşmüş bi country şarkıcısını oynadığı filmi ben izleme fırsatı bulamadım ama okuduklarıma bakılırsa filmi ayakta tutan yegane şey Jeff Bridges'ın inanılmaz oyunuymuş. Ayrıca  Amerika'daki anlam veremediğim country müzik sevgisi Akademi üyelerinde de varsa kaçınılmaz bir son.

3) En İyi Kadın Oyuncu: *Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side), *Helen Mirren (The Last Station), Carey Mulligan (An Education), Gabaurey Sidibe (Precious), Meryl Streep (Julie&Julia)

       

       17 yaşında, 1.93 boyunda ve 143 kilo ağırlığındaki siyahi bir genci yanlarına alan "Amerikan Rüyası"nı yaşıyo diyebileceğimiz bir ailenin onu yanlarına alarak topluma kazandırma hikayesinin anlatıldığı filmde ailenin başı dik annesini canlandıran Sandra Bullock ilk kez aday olduğu Oscarlarda ödülü eve götürücek gibi gözüküyor. Sandra Bullock için bu sadece güzel bir yüz ve vücuttan oluşmadığını kanıtlama fırsatı olucak ve Akademi bu kariyer açısından yeniden doğuş hikayelerini çok seviyor. Tek rakibi ise Meryl Streep tabi ki. Ama onun şimdiden 2 heykelciği var ve zaten şimdiden başarılabilecek bütün başarıları kazanmış gibi gözüküyor. O yüzden Akademi tarafından bir fazla Oscar'ın gerek olmadığı düşünülebilir. 

p.s: Meryl Streep'in 16. adaylığı...

4) En İyi Yönetmen: *Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), *James Cameron (Avatar), *Lee Daniels (Precious), *Jason Reitman (Up in the Air), *Quentin Tarantino (Inglorious Basterds)

    

         Kathry Bigelow'un kazanacağını gösteren birçok sebep var. Birincisi DGA(Amerika Yönetmenler Birliği) bu yıl en iyi yönetmen ödülünü ona verdi, bu ödülü almak Oscarlarda En İyi Yönetmen ödülünü kimin alacağının en büyük habercisi olmuştur her zaman. Ayrıca ikinci en büyük göstergeyse benim için bu ödülü daha önce hiçbir kadının almamış olması! Kadın yönetmen sayısındaki azlık bunun en büyük sebeplerinden biri belkide ama artık kadın-erkek eşitliğinin tavan yaptığı günümüzde Akademi bu ödülü bir kadına vermenin zamanı geldiğini düşünebilir. Vermişken gerçekten güzel çekilmiş bir filme vermeleri ise sadece sevindirici.

p.s: En İyi Film'de olduğu gibi bu dalda da en büyük rakip James Cameron ve Avatar. İşin komik tarafı ise Kathryn Bigelow ve James Cameron'ın 1989-1991 yılları arasında evli bir çift olması...

5) En İyi Senaryo: *Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker), *Quentin Tarantino (Inglorious Basterds), *Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman(The Messenger), *Joel & Ethan Coen (A Serious Man), *Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Thomas McCharty (Up)

             

     Bu dalda biraz duygusal yaklaşıp Tarantino alacak diyorum. Şahsen Inglorious Basterds'a bayıldım, sadece sinemada 3 kere izledim. Buna rağmen En İyi Film veya En İyi Yönetmen'de pek şansı olduğunu düşünmüyorum. Ama En İyi Senaryo başka bir konu. Finalde Hitler'i bir sinema salonunda öldürterek 2. Dünya Savaşı'nı baştan yazmaktan daha orjinal ne olabilir. Ayrıca şu an herkesin konuştuğu Christoph Waltz'un, QT'nin yazdığı senaryo ve Hans Landa karakteri olmadan bir hiç olacağınıda unutmayın. Bu alanda da Mark Boal The Hurt Locker'la ciddi bir rakip WGA(Amerikan Yazarlar Birliği)'da da en iyi senaryo ödülünü aldı ama ben kalbimi dinleyip Tarantino diyorum.

6) En İyi Uyarlama Senaryo: *Neill Blommkamp, Terri Tatchell (District 9), *Nick Hornby (An Education), *Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche(In the Loop), *Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious), *Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner (Up in the Air)

                Up in the Air bu yılın eleştirmen favorilerinden biriydi, En İyi Film ve En İyi Yönetmen konusunda 3. sırada gözüküyor ama açık konuşmak gerekirse pek şansı yok. Ama Oscarlarda sıkça gördüğümüz şekilde o kategorilerden eli boş dönen iyi filmlere biraz da teselli niteliğinde En İyi Senaryo ödüllerinden biri veriliyor. Ayrıca film gerçekten çok akıllı diyaloglar içeriyordu ve günümüz dünyası yalnızlığını çok iyi anlatıyordu. Bu dalda da en güçlü aday Up in the Air. 

*Burda da gönül isterdi ki Nick Hornby alsın, filmi çok beğenmesemde en beğendiğim yazarlardan biridir kendisi. About a Boy ve Fever Pitch gibi sinemaya uyarlanmış kitapların yazarıdır kendisi bu Fever Pitch'ten sonra yazdığı ikinci senaryosu.

7) En İyi Yardımcı Erkek Oyuncu: *Matt Damon (Invictus), *Woody Harrelson (The Messenger), *Christopher Plummer (The Last Station), *Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones), *Christopher Waltz (Inglorious Basterds)

8) En İyi Yardımcı Kadın Oyuncu: *Penélope Cruz (Nine), *Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air), *Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart), *Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air), *Mo'Nique (Precious)

9) En İyi Yabancı Film: *Ajami (İsrail), *Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (Almanya), *El secreto de sus ojos (Arjantin), *Un propéte (Fransa), *La teta asustada (Peru)
 

10) En İyi Animasyon: *Coraline, *Fantastic Mr. Fox, *The Princess and the Frog, *The Secret of Kells, *Up

Understanding the National Characteristics from a Bunch of Numbers!

    

   As a management student, Geert Hofstede is a familiar name to me. He is a well-known sociologist for his works on national and organizational cultures. His research, mainly "Hofstede's Framework for Assessing Cultures" helped understanding foreign cultures for people, even if you have no idea about the culture in a country, you can have an overall impression.

I'll try to compare Turkey & Netherlands. I visited Netherlands a couple years ago, so at least I have that perspective with me. Also Hofstede is also a dutchman. So I thought it would be funny to use the country of the person I am using the framework.  First of all here is our graph comparing the two countries stats:

1- PDI (Power Distance Index): This numbers relate to acceptance of unequal distribution of power by the lower level members of the culture. In lamer terms, it shows the conformity of a culture. Are you OK with being a sucker or are you going to do something about it? The higher your number is, the lower of chances you are going to do something about it.

     Turkey: 66 against Netherland: 38. In Turkey its been so long that people are now somewhat used to the injustice of people who holds the power. So I'm surprised its not even higher. People always compromise and do not fight for their rights in most cases. I didn't witnessed something related with Netherlands scoring 38 on PDI but I've read in the internet, news etc. that they're vocal when they feel injustice is occuring. Also with being in the EU its standard to get something lower then 40's.

2- IDV (Individualism/Collectivism): IDV shows how members of a culture defines themselves. Are they individualists who want to be known as Baran or Ezgi, or are they collectivists who define themselves as a member of a political organization or an ethnic group or the region they were born etc. High score means individualistic, whereas lower you go the more collectivist you are.

      Turkey: 37 against Netherlands: 80. Well they're double the individualists we are, or in other words they are half of the collectivists we are. In a coutry like Turkey, where we love labeling its only natural to discover that Hofstede's index is this low. We have the left-right wingers, Turks-Kurds, Sunni-Alevi and the labels just go on and on here. Turkish people love being part of a group so there goes the IDV points. Even the high rate of people living with their families is a sign of a collectivist culture. Based on the few number of dutch people I know, they are really depended on their independence. Living with family members after high school is highly unlikely.

3- MAS (Masculanity vs. feminity): This shows whether or not the culture has masculine or feminine characteristics. In masculine cultures ambition, competitiveness and assertiveness is important whereas in feminine cultures relationships and quality of life is more at play. 

       Turkey: 45 against Netherlands: 14. I was surprised by this, eventhough Turkey has a patriarchical culture considering the definitions of masculanity in Hofstede's terms I believe we are more of an feminine culture. It is my belief that relationships and quality of life is more important to Turkish people. May be in the last couple of years masculanity may be rising but still I believe Turkey is more feminine. As for the Netherlands again I believe they are more of a masculine culture. My reasons behind this observation is the dutch exchange students that I had to chance to meet and observe in my classes. They are really really ambitious and competitive. Also I've a friend whose one side of the family is dutch, and he was raised in Netherlands who also showed some really masculine characteristics.

4- UAI (Uncertainty Avoidence Index): As the name itself suggest, it tells you that in cultures where people are uncomfortable with uncertainty, where they need specific guidelines and rules to operate UAI is high. In cultures with low UAI people tend to be more flexible on rules, more of an independent culture therefore exists. Also I believe that there is an inverse proportion with this stat and IDV index.

      Turkey: 85 against Netherlands: 53. Turkey as a traditional country who relies on its customs so certainly it's not news for me. But I guess I was surprised with Netherlands 53, I expected them to be lower. Well with the legal substances they are allowed to use, they should be in the 10-20 region at least. Talk about flexibility.

Walking and Window Shopping at its Best

   I am person of habits and rituals. One of rituals that I love to do when I have time for myself is just walking through Tunalı Hilmi Street with my iPod on. This "ritual" consists of several stops:

1- Karum: Old habits die hard I guess. This mall used to be the hotspot in Ankara, which now seems to be like ages ago. But still, I just spend like 10 minutes and take a stroll down the memory lane.

2- Kıtır: The best place for baked potatos & kokoreç! They also serve beer and their playlist is similar to my taste in music so I definitely go there for a bite or a drink.

3- D&R: This is the main place so I'll talk about it after my list is done.

4- Kuğulu Pasajı: This old place have mainly jewellery stores, my friend owns one of the stores there so I visit him and have a laugh and free tea :) Also there is this great second-hand bookstore with really unique books & comics.

5- Vitamin: Another great place to have a bite. They have the best hot dog and anything related to toasts. Also their freshly squeezed juices are great for refreshing.

6- Mısır: I don't smoke but I'm kinda addicted to hookah(waterpipe, nargile). So this is the place that I enjoy it. I've been going here since I was a sophomore in high school. Again a long, long time ago if you take into account my extended adventure at Bilkent.

Of course if I don't have a whole day off its hard to make every stop because to do the whole list I'ld need like 4-5 hours. So it differs day to day. But in the end its always the same I walk back to my home which is like 28 minute walk according to google maps. But if you ask me it takes like 20 minutes, I guess I'm a fast walker.

D&R

<==  This big building is home to my beloved D&R. I love books, dvds, music, magazines, technological gadgets so as you can see the connection D&R is like heaven for me. 

*D&R has 5 levels that are divided into segments like magazines, music, technology&dvd&games, books, books in english et

*You can find your favourite magazinesand even their foreign versions here

*Nearly every book published in Turkey is available here, also they have one of the largest collection of books in english.

*If there's a DVD you're looking for, the chances are high that it'll be here.

*They don't have a wide range of products but still they offer lots of musical instruments.

*Every floor has these comfortable seats for customers to relax and take a look at the things they're thinking of buying. They are nearby the windows looking at Tunalı Hilmi Caddesi. You can even just read the books or magazines you bought there.








*I forgot to take photos of the terrace, where there's a Gloria Jean's Coffe Shop(I'ld prefer if it was a Starbucks) just like the one they have at the entrance. So right after you are done with your shopping you can get a coffe or a sandwich there.




        I love D&R because they make your stay there enjoyable. Whether you are looking for some book or cd, or just trying to spend some time while you are waiting for your friend.

Ivy League Education Just an Internet Connection Away!

Today is a hard day for me... I need to decide which university to attend from these bunch: MIT, Yale, Stanford, Cornell, Oxford, Cambridge, Duke, University of Warwick and 15 more very prestigious options. 

I know the questions running through your mind right about know

Q: Baran do you have a 4.0 cum-gpa?
A: Well if you have ever met me for a couple of minutes you clearly know the answer is no. i'm not trying to imply i'm stupid or else i'm just lazy :)

Q: Did you make an ground breaking invention?
A: Wish to do this someday but haven't yet

Q: Have your parents made donations size of an elephant to these universities?
A: Sorry to disappoint but no


Q: ?????????????
A: I just downloaded itunes.


Q:?????????????????????????????????????????????????

Well i don't know if you haven't heard about this earlier thanks to itunes, now you can take courses from each and every university i mentioned above. Most of us dare not to dream about attending these universities, but now just by downloading itunes you can enjoy the same experiences like a student there.


A couple of months ago iTunes started this thing called "iTunes University", where you can reach from "iTunes Store" section of your iTunes. You can take a course from MIT in mechanical engineering or a political science course in Yale and so on. These universities contribute their lecture videos, syllabuses, slide shows and etc. to iTunes University for everyone to enjoy. 


I encourage everyone to at least surf through this great idea, of course many of us won't be checking out the engineering lectures but there are countless options there. Like for learning a new language(french, spanish etc.), for learning playing guitar or drums, lessons on fine arts(films, music, graphic design etc.).


My personal favourite is "Stanford Musicians" where students upload their own songs or covers of popular songs. 


By the way, everythings here is FREE. Thank you steve jobs, thank you...