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1111 Articles for Buzzle

When one reaches a threshold, one is usually inclined to stand still for a while, and look backwards so that, in a retrograde manner, carry out an evaluation of achievements, gains and losses.

When I opened an account in Buzzle, deciding to publish some articles on Iraq and Sudan, I could never imagine that I would manage to publish 1111 articles!

The experience was however new. In the beginning, even the horizon of 100 articles looked faraway. Although I had published hundreds of articles in newspapers, reviews and magazines, hundreds of encyclopedia entries, dozens of academic articles, scholarly review articles, and more than 10 books in the 80s and the 90s, the online publication was a new experience for me.

I still remember finalizing the last paragraph of my first article "Open Letter to President al Bashir of Sudan - Out of the Arab League Now!" (http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-29-2004-58615.asp) in an Internet Café in Alexandria, Egypt. I was sure that the deterioration would be grave. As I read now my article's first lines "Open Letter - The Way out of Darfur is the Way out of the Arab League - An open letter to the President al Bashir aiming at stopping the final decomposition of Sudan. A dead end of the colonial ideology of Pan-Arabism is demanded for the survival of the multi-cultural Paradise Sudan that unfortunately turned out to be a cemetery of peoples", I find that I have nothing to change.

And I feel very sad for the great number of casualties that occurred ever since in those wonderful lands of Darfur and Kordofan where I spent several months in 1992 and 1993, discovering the immensity of Sahara, and assessing the invaluable worth of the Nile.

As I started writing more and more articles, enjoying the interaction with the readers, I realized the value of the portal, which became my primary source of news and a sort of online encyclopedia.

There was no plan for my articles, and to great extent I corresponded to the wishes of many readers who wrote to me extensively, bringing me closer to their interests, life experience, and concerns. At times, for months, I did not write a single text; and some days were entirely spent in writing and publishing online articles.

As there was no plan, I have been driven to an odd situation that only time can rectify; corresponding mainly to readers' calls, I did not write anything about many subjects and sectors that I know very well and like very much! Recently, I felt it was incredible that, despite the fact that I had already composed more than 1000 articles, I had never published anything online about South Azerbaijan, a vast country that I explored extensively, after I had studied its History and published many articles, entries and academic articles about it. The same I can say today about Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Uzbekistan, Libya and Algeria.

It is still incomprehensible to me how I did not write anything about various religions, myths, and historical events; but I guess this is the result of the gravity of the readership demand.

I could divide my Buzzle contributor's tenure in two parts; the first covers two years (August 2004 - September 2006); then, I published in total ca. 100 articles. Longer (September 2006 to present), the second period is characterized by my greater concern to respond to readers' call for more extensive and dense publications; during that period I wrote more than 1000 articles!

As the hundreds of articles were accumulated, I thought about writing a brief text as a reassessment and restart; it would help me share with readers my experience of Buzzle contributor for all these years.

I first thought to write a title "1000 Articles for Buzzle"; I then found the title too conventional. Then, came another idea; as my Buzzle contributor number is 973 (http://www.buzzle.com/authors.asp?author=973), I thought it would be quite symbolic to compose an article under the title "973 Articles for Buzzle"; however, I found it too egocentric.

I concluded that the best would be to wait until four asses be completed. Finally, I noticed that it took me 1667 days to write 1111 articles. If the ratio is lower than 1 article per day, the reason is the low rhythm in the first period; for the second period, the ratio is ca. 1.25 articles per day.

It is time to share with you my Buzzle experience of 1667 days.

The time you spend as a portal contributor is like the Babylonian origin Roman God Janus: two-faced. It consists in the time you spend writing for the portal; and it is also the time you spend reading articles in the portal.

It would be impossible to enumerate for you now all the Buzzle articles that I read and found very interesting, and all the Buzzle contributors whom I have been glad to know either through their publications or personally. I will herewith mention those whose contributions attracted my interest most. I am convinced that you will take the maximum profit of your time in Buzzle, visiting their profiles, monitoring their publications, and enjoying the horizons that they open for you.

I will start with Irena Knehtl, who is our times' Queen of Sheba! Based in Sanaa, Yemen, Slovene of origin, and Muslim of faith, Irena (http://www.buzzle.com/authors.asp?author=1154) offers authoritative and real, yet highly inspired, information about the riches of Yemen, and many other places of the world where she has already been either physically or spiritually. Her "Prayer Across the Indian Ocean" (http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/10-9-2005-78453.asp) and "Wadis of Hadhramaut" (http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/7-16-2006-102498.asp), have absorbed my imagination.

I will then shift the focus to a highly creative Luo who left Kenya (like President Obama's father) and settled in the States, James Opiko, who is the owner of the wonderful and immense portal www.afroarticles.com and the very informative and authoritative blog www.politicalarticles.net. With a strong background in the sphere of Networking, Information Technology, Internet, and Online Marketing, and with a deep understanding of the American society and politics, James (http://www.buzzle.com/authors.asp?author=5894) published a superbly enlightening article on the Clintons' obstructive campaign against the then candidate Barack Obama, entitled "The Clinton Snakes Inc." that I highly recommend (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/the-clinton-snakes-inc.html) to anyone willing to understand US politics.

I believe that Buzzle found in the person of the Sidama national Wolassa Kumo (http://www.buzzle.com/authors.asp?author=19569) an excellent economist with leading contributions that truly break ground. His "Demutualization of African Stock Exchanges" (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/should-african-stock-exchanges-demutualize.html) attracted all my attention.

I greatly enjoy Gaynor Borade's articles on the automobile sector that can be found here: http://www.buzzle.com/authors.asp?author=13444. The same contributor opened my horizons with an insightful into the Philippine literature )http://www.buzzle.com/articles/history-of-philippine-literature.html).

Anish Chandy's articles in Buzzle were among my first readings in the portal; they are all here: http://www.buzzle.com/authors.asp?author=773. I truly enjoyed his articles on rock polishing, the Amazons (http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/11-10-2004-61463.asp), and the Bigfoot (http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/11-2-2004-61101.asp). His "Basics on Cryptography" (http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/11-3-2004-61154.asp) is a must read.

The same I would say for everything published by Dr. Vishwas Purohit (http://www.buzzle.com/authors.asp?author=768); his "Cosmic Rays" (http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/4-11-2005-68369.asp) and "Applications of Nanotechnology" (http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/7-30-2006-103920.asp) were truly helpful. His "Aristotle" (http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/4-13-2005-68474.asp) is an excellent introduction.

I like reading all contributions by Alvin Starkman (http://www.buzzle.com/authors.asp?author=5686) on Oaxaca, Mexico, like "Rainy season in Oaxaca" (http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-6-2006-104659.asp). To me – except I travel to visit pre-Columbia antiquities there – Oaxaca means Alvin Starkman, and Buzzle.

Yogesh Ambekar (http://www.buzzle.com/authors.asp?author=957) impressed me with his "Monetary policy" (http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-15-2004-57858.asp) and his fantastic narrative about dolphins (http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/7-25-2004-57066.asp).

I highly appreciated the introduction to the "Ancient Chinese Culture" (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ancient-chinese-culture.html) by Ningthoujam Sandhyarani (http://www.buzzle.com/authors.asp?author=21405).

Kashmira Lad (http://www.buzzle.com/authors.asp?author=12032) offered a humane approach to History with her "Life in the Middle Ages" (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/life-in-the-middle-ages.html) that has nothing to envy from the rigid analysis of some constipate scholars who seem to write only to alienate their readership from their own topic.

As I said, it would be impossible to record all my favorite Buzzle contributors and the thousands of brilliant articles I read in the portal over the past 1667 days. I want only to mention two more names of Buzzle authors whose pages I constantly monitor, namely Pranay Rupani (http://www.buzzle.com/authors.asp?author=16691) and Andy Carloff
(http://www.buzzle.com/authors.asp?author=506).

Buzzle is the portal where you can read truly unexpected articles like "Hussain Bookstore in Hyderabad" (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/a-a-hussain-for-books-and-a-slice-of-history-hyderabad-book-store.html) and "Dialogue on Astrology" (http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/12-20-2005-84516.asp).

I enjoy surfing through the following Buzzle sections: Arts and Literature (http://www.buzzle.com/chapters/arts-and-literature.asp), Poetry (http://www.buzzle.com/chapters/escape-hatch_Poetry-Bee.asp), Books and manuscripts (http://www.buzzle.com/chapters/arts-and-literature_books-and-manuscripts.asp), Myths and Legends (http://www.buzzle.com/chapters/arts-and-literature_myths-and-legends.asp), and Travel where I found wonderful articles on the Architecture of Taj Mahal (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/architecture-of-taj-mahal.html) and Mexico (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/immigration-from-mexico-the-challenges.html and http://www.buzzle.com/articles/bills-adventure-in-mexico-a-true-story.html).

With this, I think I completed my brief exposé on my experience in Buzzle. There is one point left, an explanation I owe to many readers, particularly those who happen to know me personally. Many among them asked me, in different moments in the past, why at times I republish, in their entirety, lengthy Reports published by various Human Rights organizations, instead of merely publishing a link to them.

Well, there is a certain number of reasons for this; the most important is the fact that many times my readers do not have the comfort of a laptop or a PC, placed a hassle free office or room and connected with the web. Some of my readers live in provincial towns whereby there is only one Internet Café to connect them with the rest of the world, and at times, electricity is available for only some hours. Many of them go to the Internet Cafés only to briefly pick up a copy of my articles in a diskette; the circumstances of life – let alone Internet connection – that they narrate to me let me understand that I have two obligations toward them, namely to facilitate everything for them, and second, to let them realize that there are many oppressed nations in other countries who also suffer, and that there are many organizations that can still help them. In addition, as I repeatedly said, interconnectedness among all the oppressed nations of the world is key to overall success.

With this, I completed this commemorative article for 1111 articles for Buzzle in 1667 days – in 1667 words.