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France & Francophonia Commemorate Slavery Amidst Curriculum Controversy

Alice Backer · 23:59

A Day of Remembrance

France commemorated slavery for the first time on May 10, reports Haiti's Alterpresse:

Le président francais qualifie d’infamie, la traite négrière et invite les Français à « regarder tout notre passé en face », « sans concession ». Abdou Diouf, Secrétaire général de la Francophonie, salue la décision de Chirac. Cette commémoration, affirme-t-il dans un communiqué parvenu à AlterPresse, « vise à faire prendre conscience à l’humanité tout entière de la gravité de cette période dramatique qu’a été la traite négrière » … Au musée du Panthéon, l’entrée est gratuite ce 10 mai, afin que le public puisse se recueillir devant les tombes de ceux qui, comme Toussaint Louverture (Haiti) ou Victor Schoelcher (Guadeloupe), ont lutté contre l’esclavage. Des expositions, lectures de textes et autres activités culturelles sont prévues à la capitale française et en province, notamment à Bordeaux et Nantes, ainsi qu’à Gorée (Sénégal), d’où sont partis des esclaves vers l’Amérique.

The French president calls the [Transatlantic] trade in African slaves a disgrace and invites the French to “look all of our past in the eye,” “without concession”. Abdou Diouf, La Francophonie's Secretary General, salutes Chirac's decision. This commemoration, states he in a press release received by AlterPresse, “seeks to inform humanity of the gravity of the dramatic period of the slave trade.” … At the musee du Pantheon, admission is free this May 10 so that the public may reflect on the tombs of those who, like Toussaint Louverture (Haiti) [pictured below] and Victor Schoelcher (Guadeloupe) [sic], fought against slavery. Exhibits, readings and other cultural activities are scheduled in the French capital and outside of it, in Bordeaux and Nantes but also in Goree, Senegal, a departure port of slaves towards the Americas.

Deputies Attack Taubira's Law

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Vegetarian or Carnivorian, it is up to you!

Melissa De Leòn Douglass · 13:25

#1: Apuntes de Cocina desde Venezuela on Salmon Gravalax!
Learn to prepare it the easy way and enjoy it for the rest of your life! Head over to her blog to get the step by step recipes and great photos.

#2: Directo al Paladar from Spain, visits the famous Restaurante Escuela Hofmann in Barcelona, a unique restaurant with Hotel Management School. It is owned by Chef May Hofmann, and it is one of the best exponents in food and service. So, next time you are in the area, do not miss the opportunity to enjoy their excellent food, and perhaps take a class or two!

#3: Le Blog des Produits Laitiers, from France, is one of the best exponents and worshipers of the perfect food: "milk," which, by the way, is best when consumed raw. Take a moment to visit this tasty healthy blog; to surrender is the only choice before the beautiful cattle-art. Apparently there is an international art movement, focusing on decorating cities with the eye-catching pieces. So far the cattle-art has reached Mexico, Buenos Aires-Argentina, and Paris-France. The cows will move next to Lisbon-Portugal, and Barcelona-Spain.

#4: Cocinalia, from Spain, writes a thoughtful post on the "Eat Local Challenge" event that has been spreading through the blogosphere. Although Sao Mai agrees with the principle:

"EatLocalChallenge.com is a group blog written by authors who are interested in the benefits of eating food grown and produced in their local foodshed."

She backs up what Too Many Chefs has started as a complaint about the extremist behavior that some people would adopt, maybe "fanaticism?" I am totally with them, you know why? Because how about if I live in a city that only produces bell peppers, would I only eat bell peppers for the rest of my life? No way. What do you think?

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Bubble Gum Ban Video and Singapore

Preetam Rai · 12:49

A video titled “Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble” by Nicholas Carlton was linked to Singapore's metablog Tomorrow.sg. Part of the footage is shot in Singapore and refers to Singapore's Bubble Gum ban.

Some Singaporeans are not happy with the example use by the filmmaker. A comment on the Youtube page
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I'm happy my country is clean because of this unlike other countries and this is something we don't really mind but want… anyway the rules now allow us to bring over a small amount of bubbglegum over from other countries if we want to… so it's not that Singaporeans are totally deprived of chewing gum… and you can get them at pharmacies too without providing particulars… so why don't you go use other countries as an example ?

At one point in the video, the filmmaker uses split screen to compares a street in Melbourne to one in Singapore. The Melbourne streets appears more dirty with used chewing gum stuck on the surface in several spots.

An anonymous comment on Tomorrow.sg says
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