Archive for
August 15th, 2006
Stories
Global Food Blog Report #28
#1: From Tanzania, MiRecipe.com spices up the day with an incredible easy and delicious recipe to prepare "Chatini Ya Ukwaju" (Tamarind Chutney). It is great with bread, and a tasty addition to your salad, fish or chicken dishes. Recipe in EN and Swahili. Get the recipe now!
#2: From Germany, Happy Burp on "Bottle Gourd Peels Chutney"
One of the themes doing the rounds of food-blogosphere these days is ‘Chutneys'. One of the main ingredients of it being peels of vegetables. I have blogged about one such chutney already. Here's another one. But it's not just another chutney, you know. It is not just eco-friendly but also very very tasty. Because it is made with peels of bottle gourd (Doodhi/Lauki). Read more…
#3: From Singapore, Lenmiscates are Forever does "Assam Prawns - my first try without a recipe"
My first try at assam prawns. I’m OK with it but not wowed away by assam prawns but since I had tamarind lying around at home to I thought I’d give it a crack. I made it without a recipe so it probably is not real assam prawns (for example, later, I found out it needs candlenuts which I did not add). Anyway, after a bit of troubleshooting it turned out quite ok actually. Above is the tamarind packet I used to make the assam. Basically, add water and strain. Follow the step by step recipe with photographs and enjoy this delicious dish!
#4: Evil Jungle Prince, presents a bounty of exotic, ethnic recipes. Some of my favorites:
- Afghani dumplings ("ashak") with mint-garlic yogurt sauce, filled with tofu and chives.
- Armenian Sweet Bread
- Green Papaya Salad from Laos
If you can can get your hands on a green papaya, you can easily prepare it too. If you have a Filipino or Thai grocery nearby, they are sure to have them. (Actually I can hardly believe that I have access to them myself — who knows where they are trucked in from?) And if you're interested in making this dish into a full meal, just add some chilled shrimp and peanuts on top. This dish is called som tum in Thai, and tam som in Laotion. Get the recipe now!
Belarus: Opposition's FAQ; Gay Belarus
The once very lively Belarusian flash mob LJ community - by_mob - is now rather sleepy (possibly, because it's summer). But it's not dead.
LJ user z-hunter, for example, has recently suggested to compile a list of 100 “frequently asked questions and answers” - about the opposition to Aleksandr Lukashenko's regime. Below is the translation of the pitch (RUS):
The fight against the System involves breaking through the information blockade. Many people, in our country and abroad, have no accesss to objective information and thus have no idea what the real situation is like. They form an incorrect view of the opposition, they don't understand the reasons of people's dissatisfaction with the current regime and its policies, they are not familiar with the alternative ways of development of the Belarusian society.
Lots of people would like to know what's going on and are, quite reasonably, asking the basic questions - Why are you against the current regime/Lukashenko? What does the opposition have to offer? Why do you need it: don't we have stability; aren't we flourishing? What ideas/ideals do you have to offer? How are you going to fight? Is it true that if the democrats come to power, they'd sell all factories for nothing to the West? Is it true that the nationalists would force everyone to learn Belarusian? Et cetera.
This Week In Palestinian Blogs: Summer Rain
August 11th saw another weekly non-violent protest in Bil’in take a wrong turn as the Israeli army attacked protesters with rubber bullets and sound grenades as they marched toward the Separation Wall. International Solitary Movement reported fourteen people injured including an Israeli activist. Bethlehem Bloggers has a first hand account from activist Jenny Digi. A video of the event created by ISM Israeli activists showed the unit commander yelling: “This is Lebanon! I will not allow a demonstration during wartime!”, as he orders his unit to fire on retreating demonstrators.
“They lost it in Lebanon, now they are going to retaliate and take revenge on Palestinian and their Supporters!” said Haitham Sabbah.
Meanwhile the siege of Gaza continues and overcome with homesickness Laila El-Haddad phones home as Dr. Mona El-Farra writes a letter to explain the situation from the point of view of a mother, physician and citizen of Gaza. Iman has some interesting information on Israel’s operation Summer Rain, launched in an attempt to recover an Israeli soldier, which has seen Gaza’s death toll rise to 193 with 790 injured. Of the dead 58 were under the age of 18 while 25 were women. Meanwhile the Palestinian film “Dreams in a Grey Spot” achieved the status of bestseller at Capalbio International Film Festival. Costing just $60 to produce by a group of young filmmakers under the age of 20, the film centers on a young man from a refugee camp who talks about his dreams as a poet and artist.
Blogger and artist Amal Kawash uses her artwork to remind us what the view is often like from the inside in this piece entitled “Windows So Clean”.
Fadi at KabobFest has an intriguing CBC video on Israeli media censorship (more…)
Impeaching the Philippine president
More than 200 citizens filed another impeachment complaint against Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Bantay Impeachment 2 provides updates on the case. The full text of the complaint can also be read here.
Tonyo wants lawmakers who are implicated in a corruption scandal to inhibit themselves from hearing the case. He asks:
“First of all, how can any decent Filipino accept the reasoning of President Arroyo's son not to inhibit himself in the House justice committee proceedings?”
The Philippine Experience blogs about attempts to bribe politicians who will vote in the impeachment case.
Confessions of a Bystander discussed the political killings in the country, which is one of the issues in the impeachment complaint. He also mentioned the President’s acknowledgement of Major General Jovito Palparan who is accused of human rights violations. Excerpt from his blog entry:
“What in the world was in Arroyo's mind when she approved of Palparan's killing spree while at the same time condemning the alarming spate of political killings in the country? Either she thinks we are too dumb not to pierce through her veil of lies or she honestly thinks Jovito Palparan is a mere innocent bystander…How many activists, journalists, oppositionists and well-meaning citizens have to die under this Administration before the Filipino people will realize that this blatant disregard for human life has got to stop?”
Gerry Albert Corpuz Presents warns the president’s allies that voting down the impeachment is a kiss of death
“President Arroyo’s pork barrel offensive will not save their grossly clouded political career. An anti-impeachment stance is a kiss of death, a suicidal position.”
Read also the statements of the President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives on the impeachment case.
Links for Tue, 2006-08
Le Blog de [Moi] reflects (Fr) on nudity and her taste for it: “Yes I confess, I am a fan of nudity. Not nudism mind you but nudity. When I come home from work, the ritual is the same: long hot shower and afterwards I dress like Eve. I.e. I don't wear anything. What pleasure. Then I lay down on the bed to practice my favorite activity these days… blogging. What did you think it would be?”
Of the eastern DRC's 85% vote for Kabila, UDPS Liege writes (Fr): “They are free to make that choice. (…) The eastern DRC opted to align themselves with the Rwandan subject to pillage the Congo and all those who collaborate with him will pay dearly for betraying the people.” The blog posts pictures of FARDC soldiers killed in the city of Sake on August 5 and construes them as evidence that Kabila will not necessarily bring peace.
Madagascar Croissance is looking for a way to vacation in Mahajunga, the “in” vacation spot, on a local's budget in Madagascar (Fr): ” All in all, with 51 euros, one can spend a standard vacation in Majunga (excluding superficial expenses of course) … But unfortunately that sum … represents the monthly salary of a simple government worker.”
Robin Thom has a lovely Flickr photoset called “HavanaWomen” — the title is self-explanatory.
Mora at Babalu Blog applauds Costa Rican president Oscar Arias's call for the democratisation of Cuba.
Eugenio Martínez Rodríguez receives an invitation to a meeting to discuss the establishment of Creative Commons Puerto Rico.
The blogger at Timorsunshine blog blames gossip for reoccurring trouble in the country. “It's strange that i should be saying this - but i think what the government needs is a great mouthpiece to spread its propaganda - or in a less biased way - spread INFORMATION. There's a lack of accurate information dissemination in this country - lots of people rely on LIA ANIN (”windy words”) or GOSSIP - and statements repeated through a chain of whispers until they become distorted and incendiary in some cases.”
Riffing off the Adidas jacket in which Fidel Castro was photographed this weekend, Luis M. Garcia mentions a friend who e-mailed to remind him that “when she was a teenager in Cuba - such capitalist attire was strictly forbidden at school. Wearing an Adidas t-shirt, let alone a jogging suit, was enough to have you branded “ideologically deviated”. Which was bad news.”
The Manicou reports that Trinidad & Tobago has won 72 medals in the World Championship of Performing Arts in Hollywood, California, adding “I have to admit though, I've never heard of the competition before.”
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