Archive for
December 15th, 2005


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Peruvian Blogs Recently 

a small portrait of this author Juan Arellano · 13:54

La versión original de este artículo está disponible en español.

These days have been active, politically speaking, as various bloggers have posted frequently about recent happenings and among them all, the one that called my attention the most was written by “La Morena” about the candidate of the ruling political party: De Guatemala a Guatepeor con los Chakanos in which reading it, we discover that, for Morena, simply being a successful business man isn't enough to be a good candidate. In any case, past news items make it clearnthat not everything is said aloud, not even in the estates of the “Perú Posibilistas.” One problem is that the comments don't appear to be complete, but you can see them here. In the blog Peruvian Culture, Gustavo Garcia presents us with a list of candidates and possible candidates for the upcoming presidential elections: “Ensalada de Candidatos in 2006” and ends the post with a “congressional reggaeton” alluding to the absurdity of the “Patriotic Fathers.” The bloggers of Perú Político post a summary of the most important news from the past week: Crónica semanal (30 de noviembre al 6 de diciembre) and in Página Libre, Fernando Cáceres reflects about democracy and our political class in “El Peru en su propio laberinto (Peru in its Own Maze). Finally, in a post entitled “A la Plaza,” Angelo laments a decision by Lima's “Comuna” to not allow Plaza San Martín to be used for political meetings.

In other aspects of the Peruvian blogosphere, Ecoperú posts about the ecological problems being caused by the gas pipeline of Camisea: “Machiguengas vs Camisea. Juan Carlos Luján of Sin Papel, in a post titled “El mensaje que no trascendió en la CADE 2005,” informs us of the exposition at CADE 2005 - a conference for the political and business classes of Peru - of León Trahtemberg who “garnered applause from the audience by analyzing the relationship among the social sectors, the authoritarianism in the schools (where “plagiarize, march, and keep quiet” is the common denominator), and the candidates that charm the masses with easy speeches without receiving skeptical questioning.

From the Southern city of Puno, Eland Vera of Comunicación y Desarrollo Peru, in the post “Puno's Bloggers of the National University of Altiplano,” tells us of his teaching experiences using blogs. And, speaking of blogging, Nauta posts “Blogs con rostro (Blogs with Faces)” which favors the option of identity over anonymity when blogging. FutbolPeruano.com informs us of recent news in Peruvian sports in the post, “Copa Libertadores 2006: Lottery Did Not Favor Peruvian Teams.”

Discussing music events, Germán of MusicBlog / M&S offers his impressions of a recent performance by the salsa group, Niche in “Crónica de un concierto anunciado (I) y (II). Enrike who writes at Cámara de Gas shares his experiences at the concert of heavy metal band, Napalm Death, in “Napalm Death en Perú” and later tells us that the group liked Peru and the good vibes at the concert.

Related to culture, Seycko of Réplica posts “Fotos de Magda” about the first solo exposition of photographer Magdalena Sangalli. Juan Carlos Bondy of Lado B tells us about the publishing delay of a prizewinning collection of poetry and short stories in “Winners and Finalists of the 2002 Copé Award.” And Javier Agreda writes about a recent book by Peruvian author, Luis Hernán Castañeda in a post titled “Hotel Europa.”

Among the more personal posts, Fernando Lozano writes about friendship and being Peruvian in “Cuando pienses en volver, Daniel (When do you think you'll return Daniel?).” And Sergio of Idioteca recounts his weekend in “Lights, Music, Beer, Bloggers, and Graffiti.” And with that, I'll see you the next time.

Translated by David Sasaki

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The Iraqi Elections-A Blogger Analysis 

a small portrait of this author Deborah Ann Dilley · 10:34

By the time you begin reading this polls will have opened in Iraq. In 15 other countries expatriate voting began on Tuesday.

Iraqis spent a tense and quiet night waiting for dawn. However amid warnings (proven now false) of a mass poisoning of the water system, multiple candidate assasinations, and election fraud involving falsified ballots, Iraqis still remain hopeful of this day, the day that many see as the first of many steps that will lead them to their own freedom.

The election predictions are as varied as the candidates themselves. Some Iraqis hope for a new secular government, some believe that nothing will really change with the new vote, and others chose not to care at all. Regardless, Iraqi bloggers will be there to give up to date information.

General Information on the Elections
In coordination with the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation a “Guide to Iraqi Parties” was distributed in Iraq on the 11th and 12th of December, 2005, as a supplement to the “Al-Sabah al-Jadid” newspaper. There have been massive poster campaigns from the various candidates. If the posters haven't helped you prepare your vote, Niqash.org has an electionaire to help you find what party to vote for based on 25 questions. Here is just a small glimpse of the raw numbers involved in this election (plus a little bit of speculation):

POLL BY NUMBERS
7,700 candidates
228 parties forming
21 major alliances
15 million voters
275 seats

MAIN PARTIES
United Iraqi Alliance Shia Muslim coalition of 17 groups. Likely to win more than 110 seats
Kurdish Alliance Coalition of eight Kurdish parties. Likely to win 50 seats
Iraqi National List Coalition of 15 parties representing Iraq’s secular middle class. Likely to win 35 seats
Iraqi Accord Front List Main Sunni Muslim party comprising 15 groups. Could get 30 seats

Voter Security
Security both before and after the elections is a big issue, and there are many precautions that have been taken. Borders were closed in preparation for election day and strict curfews were put on citizens in order to keep the streets clear. Increased police presense was put on polling stations.

Here is a rundown of the major players in today's election:

Unified Iraqi Coalition. Vote number 555
Is very popular in the more Southern regions of Iraq and represent the Shi'a majority. Muqtada al Sadr and Ayatollah Sheik al Sistani are the figureheads of this party and represent a strict religious platform.

Tawafoq Iraqi Front. Vote number 618
Represents the Sunni population of Iraq, it is very important to note that supporters of this party come from all ethnic bases within the country.

National Iraqi List. Vote number 731.
This is the party fronted by current President of Iraq Ayad Allawi, and poses as a secular option to government. Many Iraqis are voting for 731 as they wish to stay away from parties that have a more religious focus, and that 731 supports the current status quo.

Kurdistani Gathering. Vote number 730.
Presents itself as the dominant conglormate of all of the Kurdistani lists. Support for this party is almost entirely centered on the region of Northern Iraq.

The one thing that has stood out in viewing all of the different opinions on the election is the messages of hope for the future, regardless of political afflication or opinion of US foreign policy. Today Iraqis will give the world a proud purple finger!

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South Asia: From the Blogosphere 

a small portrait of this author Kamla Bhatt · 02:29

Bangladesh:

Imtiaz has a link to a Voice of America interview of Dr. Chanchal Khan, an Asian Development Bank advisor who specializes in development and political terrorism issues. Rezwan has an entry about phone tapping vs. human rights in his blog. Drishipat also talks about wiretapping in Bangaladesh . Addabaj talks about why Bangladesh is the best on the eve of Bangaldesh’s independence day that is celebrated on December 16th.

India:
It seems to have been a week for survey Arzan mentions a recent Business Week article that looks at the number of engineers that graduate in the US, China and India, and how that impacts the technology sectors in each country. It turns out the USA produces more engineers than reported in the media. The second survey is on the affluent cities of India that
Reuben covers in his blog.

Film and entertainment invariably are an important part of many Indian blogs. If you have not heard as yet the big story in India for the past few weeks has been superstar Amitabh Bachchan’s surgery and Gargi wonders if the Indian media is overdoing its coverage of Mr. Bachchan’s health issue. Jai Arjun Sing talks about the a new book out by Madhu Jain on the famous Kapoor family of the Indian film industry.

Nepal:
UnitedWeBlog has an interesting entry about the The New Buddha who has been fasting for 200 days without consuming water or food. In legal news the latest developments is that the Supreme Court of Nepal has ordered the army to produce Himal Sharma, a Maoist student leader detained by the army.

Pakistan:
The movie theme from the Indian blog space continues in Pakistan where Raheel Lakhani talks about the Kara (Karachi) film festival. Lahore Metblogs talks about the earthquake that hit the Pakistan-Afghanistan border earlier this week.

Sri Lanka:
Webhamuva discusses about the lack of progress in Sri Lanks since last year’s tsunami. Srilankaserves.net discusses the latest finding on how last year’s tsunami occurred.

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