In Basra, one man gives the average Iraqi a voice

[tocqueville]

By Leila Fadel, Knight Ridder Newspapers
53 minutes ago

BASRA, Iraq - Every morning Hussein Abdul Razak al Ayash wakes up, leaves the shabby hotel where he lives for a couple of dollars a night and sets up his outdoor office: a plastic chair, colored permanent markers and a stack of large sheets of thick white paper.


He sits between the Basra tourism office and a theater, picks up a marker, listens to life on the bustling streets of the second largest city in Iraq and writes. The Sidewalk Newspaper comes to life among the honking car horns, the street vendors and the wafting smells of sewage.

"Good news. The government is increasing the ration card.

"100 kilos of sadness and pain for every family.

"50 kilos of problems for every house.

"250 kilos of garbage on every street.

"5 random shots (one might shoot you in the head, depending on your luck)."

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