Archive for
June 4th, 2007


Stories

Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana: JFK “terror” plot 

a small portrait of this author Nicholas Laughlin · 21:41
lingua → pt

As the news broke over the weekend that US law enforcement officials had uncovered a plot to bomb fuel tanks and pipelines at New York's JFK International Airport, bloggers in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana reacted with consternation. The alleged mastermind of the plot, Russell Defreitas, is a US citizen born in Guyana; two of his alleged co-conspirators are Guyanese citizens (one of them a former member of the Guyanese parliament and mayor of the town of Linden); and the fourth suspect is Trinidadian. As a result, international news media coverage of the alleged plot has branded the two south Caribbean nations as new “hotbeds” of terrorist activity.

Guyana-Gyal's response was “grief”: “we hear the news yesterday, take down we flags and hang we heads instead in shame and grief, stop this rain and let we tears rain down instead.” Elspeth at Now Is Wow said she was “unable to think anything but … why?“ And Allyuh.com posted some of the alarming graphics broadcast during the coverage of the story on Fox News.

The Manicou Report worried about the implications of having these two small countries implicated in the “War on Terror”:

You see, America, the Fox News Channel is up to it's old war-baiting sensational tricks again. It's reporting that Trinidad and Tobago is the “New Hotbed in the War on Terror”. Now hoooooooooooold on for a just a sec…. we would rather not have any part in your war on terror. A couple arrests doesn't make us a hotbed.

KnowProSE wondered exactly how the plot was discovered: “This is a country where they cannot find kidnappers and murderers; it seems somewhat strange that the people accused gave this information out so easily.” Other bloggers were more outspoken about their suspicions. “My country may not be the best, but it sure ain't no hotbed of terrorist activity,” said Outa Meh Head. “I think this whole thing was just an example of the US using the fear of its citizens to distract them from what's happening in Iraq.” Jeremy Taylor asked, “How serious could this thing really be?”:

Of course a really well-planned airport attack would be a nightmare. But this quartet had been infiltrated by the Americans since January last year, and all the FBI could produce as evidence was some banter about how big a deal it could all be to blow up JFK, the sort of conversation that must go on in a million places around the world every day.

And even as the Guyanese newspaper Stabroek News published a detailed summary of the evidence as reported by US investigators, Living Guyana made a few wisecracks:

If this guy, a hardcore Lindener and others were planning to take out the entire JFK then it might not be so far fetched that Osama might actually be hiding out in some spider hole in Buxton backdam.

The CIA better check it out.

7 comments · »»

More on Moldovans in Italy 

This author has no photo Lyndon Allin · 21:20

A couple of months ago, I translated a comment on Alex Culiuc's blog which I found to be touching and revealing about the lives of Moldovan labor migrants. Since then, I've been meaning to translate a follow-up comment by the same commenter (here's the original), Snejana, and I've finally gotten around to it:

…when I write about Moldova I get very emotional, because I don't understand why life is so difficult. On every corner in Italy there are Moldovans looking for work which they hope will make them some money and allow them to pay off their debts and send some money home to their children. Just today I was standing by a bank, and a strange woman walked up and greeted me. She asked me just one thing: “Do you know of any job at all, no matter what it pays, I'm sick of walking around outside and searching from morning until night,” and she got teary-eyed, then she got embarrassed and left.

It's difficult when there's nothing I can do to help, it's difficult when I hear hurtful words about us, but those at home should know that there are lots of us here who work very hard and aren't ashamed to say we're from Moldova, and to tell people about our holy places; we cook our national dishes, and we pray all the time for our motherland.

I know lots of people who say that they are sick of being someone's slave and have gone home to their villages, because it is psychologically very difficult to always be a foreigner.

My friend is an Italian, and he always wants to learn something about my country, I'm happy that at least Europe is interested in us because of our girls. Because before, 10 years ago, no one even knew what side of the world we were from, but now, like they say, “whether they talk good or bad about you, at least they talk about you.” […she describes differences between Moldovans and Italians…]

I'm still quite young, and I have time to choose my way in life, but now I want to tell the people who want to come here that the land where you were born will always be in your soul. Best to you all, Ciao vi voglio sempre bene.

Another comment from Snejana, in which she summarizes an Italian's opinion and posts it in full (in Italian, which I can't translate and have omitted here):

Here are a few words from Italians who have visited Moldova. I don't know if you'll understand Italian, but I'll translate the most important part, which is that those who have been there a few times say that the situation is getting better; I want to believe this, too.

So do I, although I'm not sure it's true.


Old and New on Str. Cosmonautilor - Chisinau, Moldova, August 2006 - photo by Lyndon Allin

4 comments · »»

Nicaragua: Where's the Blogosphere? 

a small portrait of this author Rodrigo Peñalba · 19:58

Second Blog Roundup for Global Voices Online. The first one can be found at Barricada and here Global Voices Online

Where's Nicaragua's Blogosphere?

marthaisabel.jpg

From Florida

When we started collaborating with Global Voices Online, we thought there wasn't a real blogosphere in Nicaragua… and there isn't, but one does exists in the Nicaraguan Diaspora.

In this case, we'll talk about Martha Isabel Arana, a Nicaraguan resident in Florida USA, who writes in her introduction: “I'm interested in everything about technology, art, music, literature, and cultural interchange with other countries. As an immigrant living in the USA, one of my major desires is to promote the culture of my country for all the readers who want to know more about us.”

In her blog she publishes videos, poems, short stories and reports about Nicaraguan culture. In regards to this work Martha says [ES]:

Nunca pensé compartir al mundo mis planes, era más que todo un proyecto personal. No conocía el mundo de los blogs o bitácoras, ni la herramienta de comunicación tan importante y poderosa que representa. Después de “copiar y pegar” un par de leyendas vistas por allí, los primeros comentarios comenzaron a llegar. Me di cuenta que otras personas en diferentes partes del mundo estaban leyendo mis pequeñas historias y la necesidad de buscar una nueva leyenda para mi bitácora nacía apenas publicaba una anterior…. Me atreví a dar un paso mas adelante y quise recopilar nuevos testimonios. Los nicas me inundaron de vivencias y relatos y me enamoré de sus historias, sus cuentos, del tesoro que estaban poniendo en mis manos. De pronto habían 10, 20… 80 mil visitas de diferentes regiones del mundo leyendo las historias mágicas que nacen en nuestros ríos, explotan con nuestros volcanes y desembocan en el mar.

I never thought of sharing my plans with the world, it was more a personal project. I didn't know about blogs, or the importance of such a powerful form of communication. After “Copy & Paste” a couple of legends that i read somewhere, the first comments started to appear. I realized that other people in other parts of the world where reading my short stories and the need to search for a new legend for my blog arose soon after i published the previous one. I dared to give another step forward and started to compile new testimonies. The “Nicas” started to flood me with memoirs and short stories; and i fell in love with their stories, their short tales, with the treasure they were putting in my hands. Suddenly, I had 10, 20… 80 thousand visits from different regions of the world reading the magical stories that were born in our rivers, explode from our volcanoes and dove into the sea.

From Costa Rica

Mi Patria es Ticaragua [ES] (My homeland is Ticaragua*) is a blog edited in Costa Rica that tries to unite both Costa Rica and Nicaragua past any territorial or political differences between the two countries.

* Ticaragua = Is a combined word, from TICA, the short name Costa Ricans gave themselves, and RAGUA, for nicaRAGUA, Ticaragua.

Mi Patria Es Ticaragua posts news, opinion articles, and events which promote positive interchange between both countries. For example, they posted the concert of Nicaraguan singer/songwriter Perrozompopo (Ramón Mejía) and Esteban Monge (see event) or to listen to some songs by Elsa Basil, a Nicaraguan, at her MySpace page.

Nicaragua Actual [ES] compiled a bunch of mp3 songs (some by Nicaraguan authors) in honor to Mother's Day in Nicaragua. It calls itself the “Informative Magazine of the Nicaraguan Community in Costa Rica”.

Nicaragua y su blog

nysb.jpg

Nicaragua y Su Blog [ES] introduced itself in Barricada some months ago, on April 28 to be exact. We visited them again and we noted that their work had advanced.

Their objective “is the promotion of all the Nicaraguan blogs in the blogosphere. To succeed in this “mission” we'll write a little review of the Nicaraguan blogs that we find along the way and we'll also add them in our link area”.

Their blog began February 22, 2007, and have since published 46 posts to date, reviewing, indexing, and sharing videos or other blog matters relevant to Nicaraguan blogs.

About Barricada they wrote this:

Hoy le presentamos el blog de noticias de Nicaragua “Barricada”. Este nombre pertenecía a un diario que existio en los anos ‘80. Hoy, hablamos no del periódico, sino del blog que lleva su nombre, según ellos nada que ver con el periodico.

Today we present you the Nicaraguan news blog, “Barricada”. This name belonged to a former newspaper that existed in the 1980s. Today, we are not talking about that newspaper, but of the blog with the same name, which editors claim not to be the same newspaper.

and more recently they reviewedour sister website, MarcaAcme.com:

Hasta el momento, después de Barricada, (Marca Acme) es uno de los blogs con diseño profesional y uno de los mas importantes en Nicaragua y porque no decir en Centroamérica

After Barricada, (Marca Acme) is one of the most important blogs in Nicaragua and why not, in Central America

They have blogs we haven't listed yet in the Wiki Marca Acme, but we'll add them in the future.

Mother's Day

We cite three fragments for different blogs published in the month discussing Mother's Day, or by extension about being a woman and their difficulties.

Karla Castillo, from El Nuevo Diario [ES], published the text titled Freedom to Nurse

Hace poco, una conocida de mi familia dio a luz a una niña. Pese a que la madre tiene 38 años, era su segunda experiencia en la maternidad, y sin embargo, la criatura casi se le muere por deshidratación, tres días después del parto, porque los médicos le dijeron que si quería tener una hija sana, inteligente, con las defensas elevadísimas, sólo la alimentara con su leche y que en los primeros seis meses no le diera a beber ni siquiera agua.

El resultado fue catastrófico, aunque la pequeña sobrevivió, y no quiero pensar que la mujer intentó en algún momento someter sin necesidad a su hija a este tipo de carencias. Pero ¡Por Dios! reflexioné, si ella ya había parido hace algunos años, pecó de confiada, al creer todo lo que los médicos dicen sobre la leche materna.

Just a short time ago, one family friend gave birth to a baby girl. Even the mother was 38 years old, it was only her second time giving birth, but the little creature almost died of dehydration three days after birth, because the doctors told her that if she wanted to have a healthy and smart baby with powerful immune system, she should only feed the baby with her milk. During the first six months she didn't give the baby anything to drink but milk, not even water.

The outcome was catastrophic, even though the girl survived. I don't want to imagine this woman putting the baby through this kind of suffering. But… Jesus!, I said to myself, if she was already a mother, why did she trust the doctor's advice about the milk so blindly.

The post continued to examine various issues on this topic.

Therapeutical Abortion

A PDF file was transmitted trough various email chains with this text in it:
37 Muertes Maternas en el 2007, 80 niños y niñas sin madre
37 mothers died in 2007, 80 boys and girls are now orphans

and the next image counts the dead, which was a consequence of the banning of therapeutic abortion or the fear of the law.

The figures speak for themselves.

Mother is Merchandise is Marketing

Martha Cecilia Ruiz [ES] posted a sincere and straightforward blog entry on the celebration of Mother's Day in Nicaragua (May the 30th)
Mother to buy for, to sell to, to give birth to and to forget..

Otra vez el día de las madres. Nuevamente las rosas rojas anunciando la venta de electrodomésticos y los productos de belleza para que las madres cumplan de mejor manera con sus roles –dentro y fuera de sus casas. Con mayo, más que lluvias, caen torrenciales de propuestas comerciales para convertir a la madre “en reina por un día”, pues para servir, obedecer, callar y parir los hijos que “Dios mande” está el resto del año. Y por si alguien duda del mandato, ahí están las canciones que confirman los cánones que dicen que madre buena es aquella sufrida, resignada, con vida sexual solamente para la reproducción y que vive la maternidad como un apostolado.

Once again it's Mother's Day. Once again the red roses announce the sale of electrical appliances and beauty products so that Mom can fulfill her duties in and outside the home. In May, with the rainy season comes the flood of commercial offers to turn Mom into the “Queen of the house”, so she can shut up, serve, obey, shut up, and give birth for the rest of the year. And if there were any doubt left, there are the poppy songs to remind her that a good mother must suffer, resign, use her sexual life exclusively to procreate and live motherhood as an apostle

Hernaldo Zuñiga, fan-blog

“Official” blog for the fans of Hernaldo Zuñiga.
Bio, discs, lyrics and news about Hernaldo… the great nica trovador

The blog is edited by Marcela, who she says: “I'm married with Jaime, and I have three sons: Jaime, Ignacio & Sebastián”. She lives in Chile and posts videos, reviews, concert dates, lyrics, news and song of the Nicaraguan author that lives in México working as songwriter. He recently released a new album called Nomada (2007).

The blog is part of a Yahoo! Group dedicated to Hernaldo Zuñiga. Visit the official website.

Why there is not a Nica blogosphere?

Actually, it exists, but not as blogosphere. Many users have accounts on social networs as Hi5 or MySpace, but the main space for dialogue in internet is in the forums.

Here we give account of some formums, somes with hundres of users, others with a few loyal visitors, and others dedicated to local audiences only

Foros Bacanalnica, it seems to be the biggest. 5 years working and more than 6000 users and 30 subforums.
Foros Rocknica, dedicated to local music scene.
Area 505, for the nicas in Miami.
Foros de Nicaragua en Skycrapercity, a Nicaragua community discussing developments in the construction and architecture fields in Nicaragua.
Foros de Computación de la UNI, used by ingeniering students, experts and open source communities.
Forums for local cities: Jinotega Life (Jinotega), DBakanal (León).

10 comments · »»

Add your citizen media event to the Global Voices calendar! 

a small portrait of this author Solana Larsen · 19:34
lingua → fr · es · pt

One of the best kept secrets of this website is a calendar of local and world events, bloggers meetings and conferences.

This month is busy with meetings in South Africa, Tanzania, and the G8 Summit in Germany. Got any ideas for new blog projects? There's just one week to go before Rising Voices and J-Lab grant proposals are due. Scroll ahead in the calendar to see more events.

Bloggers, we want to know where you're going and what you'll be blogging. Event organisers, send us information about your conferences, unconferences, barcamps, and blogger meet-ups. Make sure to include links, dates, and location of events…

Use this form (addressed to managing editors) for your suggestions. Many thanks for your tips, links, and ideas (so you know it, we reserve the right to keep some things off the calendar).

1 comment · »»

Kuwait: Parties, Art and Telecom 

a small portrait of this author Abdullatif AlOmar · 19:26

With Yemenis in Kuwait celebrating their Unification Day, Kuwaiti bloggers are out in full force checking out art exhibitions, the telecoms situation, wedding parties and book censorship, to name a few.

Our first stop is with The Stallion, who covers how Yemenis in Kuwait marked their Unification Day.

Since the 22nd was on a Tuesday the organizers decided to have the event on Thursday the 24th! Many of you might be wondering what this celebration is for, well the 22nd of May commemorates the day when the unification of North and South Yemen occurred! There is a large population of Yemeni citizens in Kuwait so every year at this time they have a celebration!

Athbi over at moodless checks out a friend's art exhibition.

التقطت بعض الصور يوم أمس لمعرض بدر المنصور التي تحدثت عنه قبل ايام، اخترت منها عدة صور فقط كون اغلبية المعرض لم يكن قد انتهى منه بعد (تغييرات اخر لحظة!)،، اتركم مع الصور واتمنى ان اراكم في الاقتتاح اليوم الساعة السابعة مساءا في جمعية الفنون التشكيلية بمنطقة حولي. (اضغط على الصورة لحجم اوضح)

Yesterday I took some pictures for Bader Almansoor's exhibition which I wrote about a few days ago. I picked some pictures of it since most of the exhibition was not done yet (last second changes!). I will leave you with pictures and I hope I see you at the opening tonight at 7pm at the Arts society in Hawali. (Click on the images for larger pictures.)

KtheKuwaiti explains a new service from one of the telecommunications companies in Kuwait and why he thinks that most people wouldn't need it in the first place.

MTC has finally launched the Blackberry service in Kuwait (after Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and UAE). Their Ad campaign was a bit unnecessary as those who know what Blackberry is already want the service. And those who don’t know what it is probably don’t want it.

Qias over at io81 talks about what he considers a bad business practice from the same company.

I have always got these weird SMS asking me to send back the letter R if I’m interested in the latest dairy of Halema Boland (a Kuwaiti TV presenter), who the hell cares! anyways this is not the matter, so i just ignore these messages hoping others wont reach my mobile anymore, most probably MTC is selling my information to all of these service companies.

Zdistrict goes to another soical event - this time it's a Milcha (wedding party attended by men only).

This was an event I was looking forward to going to and it's always nice going to them. This time I had to stay the whole time since the milcha is for a good friend and lots of people I know were there. I have to say that it was nice seeing some old faces and saying hello.

ChillNite is amazed with an expression English newspapers in Kuwait are using.

The newspaper headlines in Kuwait amaze me everyday! This time its Daily Star Kuwait online edition. The headline is ‘State bans sale of White Weapons’ read it here [LINK]

WTF are white weapons? According to the news article they are Daggers, Swords and other sharp metal objects. Damn now I cant buy kitchen knives no more in Kuwait, nor can I buy nails and hammer.

Q over at kuwaitism wonders .. What's up with the National Symbol.

A friend of mine today told me about an issue that bothered his dad, and that is the numerous versions of the Kuwait national symbol, so I came back and checked out what’s available online, and I was surprised!!
All the symbols have been found online, through the various government websites

Aseel over at Brahat Mubrak talks about an episode of Dewaniya (a talk show) she watched on TV .

فتحت التلفزيون بالصدفة بعد عودتي من خارج المنزل ليلة الاثنين لألتقط أذيال حلقة البرنامج
وكان الموضوع رقابة وزارة الإعلام على الكتب

حقيقة لا املك خلفية كافية ووافية عن الموضوع ولكني أسمع بالجدل الدائر هنا وهناك عنه

I turned on the TV by chance after I came home on Monday night and I caught the last part of the program. It was about the Ministry of Information's censorship on books.

سمعت أحد طلبة الجامعة يطلب حرية من دون سقف ومن ثم يتكلم عن كتب كلية الشريعة وما تحتويه بعضها من وصم لبعض المسلمين بالفرق الضالة ويندد بهذه الكتب رافضا لها
يعني دام انك تبي حرية تامة ليش زعلان على كتب الشريعة يا ولد دشتي..
ولا لمّا الحرية تمس المذاهب… العلمنة تبعيتكم بتحطوها عالرف وتشغلوا الموجة الدينية؟
الكويت ليست دولة متقدمة حتى يكون فيها حيادية بالفكر والتوجه..الديني وغير الديني
فلا تطلبون أكثر من المستطاع ولا حد يناقض أفكاره

I heard a university student calling for unlimited freedom and the abolishment of censorship on books. Then he spoke about the College of Sharia (Islamic law) and that their books contained derogatory terms about other Islamic sects. He said such books should be banned.
Well, if you wanted absolute freedom why don't you want the Sharia college books? Or is it only when freedom touches your sect that you shelf your secularism and operate the religious voice?
Kuwait is not that advanced of a country to have neutral thought - be it religious or otherwise. So don't ask for what is not attainable and don't contradict your ideas.

الكاتب الصحفي أحمد ديين يقول إن رقابة الكتب ليست تحت أي ضغط قبلي أو تياري أو سياسي
وانما تندرج تحت قوانين ولوائح…
هذا بس جذي حجي ما يوكل خبز .. واحنا من متى نطبق لوائحنا؟
بالأدق من متى واحنا ما نخترق قوانينا عشان سواد عيون القبلية والمكاسب السياسية واذنك خشمك؟
عجبتني جملة ذكرها: علينا أن نفرق ما بين الكتاب الاباحي وكتاب يتعلق بالثقافة الجنسية
أتمنى من الناس المتطرفين يفهمون

The columnist Ahmad AlDeyeen said that book censorship is not under any tribal or political pressure but under laws and regulations. This is not a definitive answer and since did we abide to regulations? To be precise, since when have our laws and regulations not been broken for tribal and political gains?
I liked a phrase he said: “We need to distinguish between book pornography and the book on the sexual culture.”
I wish that extremists would understand.

أحد مسئولي وزارة الاعلام ما أذكر اسمه يقول احنا ما بيدنا شي
اذا في جماعة يطالبون برفع سقف حرية الرقابة على الكتب
خل يكلمون أعضائهم يضغطون على الحكومة
مشالله هذا نظام اداري عالمي جديد في الوزارات الحكومية ولاّ فنتـق كويتي؟
اذا هذا مستوى فكر القيادات الحكومية عندنا وهذا أسلوبهم في اتخاذ القرار
فيعطيهم العافية أشوفنا كل ماله نرد ورا.. ونقول الخلل من وين.. كديّنا خير

One of the Ministry of Information officials whose name I don't remember said: “We can't do anything, if people want to abolish the censorship on books, tell them to talk to their Parliament members, to pressure the government.” Wow, now that's a new management way. If this is how our management thinks and this is the way they run work, then that is why I see that we are going backwards and we wonder where the problem is.

عبدالله الخلف أمين عام رابطة الأدباء يقول إن قبل كان عادي الكتب المصورة لصور الأنبياء موسى وابراهيم عليهما السلام وغيرهم.. اما الحين فتم منع هذا الموضوع —> يعوي بووزه مو عاجبه
هذا وهو امين عام الرابطة الأدبية اللي عندنا يقول جذيه
نعاني من مشكلة دارجة بالمجتمع وهي.. الجهل بالفرق ما بين الحداثة والتغريب
هل يعتقدون أن التشبه بالغرب في أمور تعد مسلّمة عندنا كمسلمين هو تطور وحداثة
آنا مو فاهمة شنو مشكلتهم.. بس لما الموضوع يوصل لرجل من طبقة مثقفة.. صعبة

Abdullah Alkhalf, Secretary General of the Association of Authors, said it was normal to have books with images of Prophets Moses and Abraham in the past. Now, it is banned.
He says this and he is the Secretary General of the Association of Authors. We have a problem in society - that is ignorance of the difference between modernity and westernization. Do they think that following the West in some areas where it's agreed upon between Muslims is modernity?
I don't understand their problem but when such ignorance effects a person from the educated class, it's bad.

الجماعة المتأسلمين يتكلمون عن العلمانيين وكانهم عبدة الشيطان
والجماعة العلمانيين يتكلمون عن الاسلاميين وكأنهم من حقبة الانسان الأول
متى بينولد مفهوم تقبل الطرف الآخر في مدينة الكويت وضواحيها؟
ومتى بيَسْري مفهوم التعايش في دمائنا حتى نصبح كالدول المتقدمة؟

People who act like devote Muslims talk about secular people as devil worshippers and secular people talk about Islamists as if they are cavemen. When will the idea of accepting others emerge in Kuwait? And when the idea of coexistence flow in our blood so we become like the advanced countries?

العلمانيين يخلطون اوراق الاسلام والتأسلم والمتأسلمين ويسدون آذانهم
وتالي يقولون ما نبي قمع.. ما نبي دهس.. ما نبي سحق.. نبي حرية
لو يروحون يعمّدون نفسهم بأقرب كنيسة وايد أحسن
ذولاك المتأسلمين وعارفين مشكلتهم العويصة والكسيفة في طريقة التفكير والأسلوب
بس بني علمان شنو مشكلتهم.. آنا للحين ماني فاهمة!؟
اللي يسمعهم يقول الكويت هي أحد كهوف طالبان

Secular people mix up between Islam and people acting like Muslims and block their ears
and then say we don't want suppression, oppression and being run over. They want freedom. Those pretending to be Muslims, we know their problem in thinking and understanding. What is the the problem with secular people in Kuwait? I don't know! Anyone listening to them would think Kuwait is one of Taliban caves.

Kuwaiti Liberal over at Jibla Square writes an eulogy about one of Kuwait's finest oil ministers.

ودعت الكويت د.حمود عبدالله الرقبة الذي توفي عن عمر يناهر ال 57 عاما والذي ساهم عبر مسيرته العملية في خدمة الكويت في كل مواقع المسؤوليات التي اسندت اليه.حيث كان اخر بئر من الآبار النفطية الكويتية التي فجرها النظام العراقي البائد عند اندحاره من الكويت قد اطفيء عندما كان حمود الرقبة وزيرا للنفط بحضور امير البلاد الراحل المغفور له الشيخ جابر الاحمد الجابر الصباح.

Kuwait bid farewell to Dr. Humod Abdullah AlRaqba who died of age of 57. He contributed to serve Kuwait in all of fields of responsibility that he was given. He was Oil Minister when the last burning oil field that the Saddam's regime in Iraq blew up when he was driven out of Kuwait in a ceremony attended by the late Amir Shaikh Jaber Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah.

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India: On Dirty Gold, Tamil Muslims and Orkut 

a small portrait of this author Javits Rajendran · 15:43
lingua → zht · zhs · pt

Gold and diamonds are symbols of purity and love, but Desi Italiana from Passtheroti has arguments to believe why gold, the “Indian Passion” is dirty and why diamonds “forever” are sodden with blood. While reasoning with women and their love for gold, she points out why gold pollutes. She also talks about blood diamonds and India's mammoth stake at polishing them.

[.]From 1991 to 2002, there was a civil war in Sierra Leone that took place alongside Liberia’s 14 year long civil war as well. Both civil wars were partially funded by “blood diamonds;” that is, diamonds from these two countries which were used finance the civil war. This spawned a whole industry of middlemen, smugglers, and so on, especially after the UN imposed sanctions.One of the stops that smugglers made was in India.[..]

The oldest communities are those of southern India and north-eastern Sri Lanka, when it comes to the Tamil language. At present there are huge number of Tamil emigrant communities scattered around the world, especially in central Sri Lanka, Malaysia, South Africa, Singapore, and Mauritius. And PK Balachandran from TW News has reports on Tamil speaking Muslims from India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia finding common ground, re-establishing ties weakened for 400 years now. Ancient histroy of their immigration, is also described.

[.]The Portuguese introduced the “cartaz” or a permit system, which in effect, prevented Muslims from using many ports in South and South East Asia. In Sri Lanka, they were driven away from the prosperous Western coast. Under Dutch rule, they were not given government contracts.[..]

Roshan from his blog is having the last laugh at the deprived state of IT education in the rural areas, and the cause for ill-favored action due to communities in the mega virtual hangouts of Orkut, towards cyber café owners. While Orkut has been having its share of trouble in India, Asif Khan from Itsmaklife writes of how he made friends through orkut who not only tipped him to bring an umbrella, but fed his Indian food hungry soul with his favorite dish Dhal, all the way in Japan

[.]I found Gautam on orkut before coming over to Japan. I contacted him via scrapbook. He was more than happy to hear from me and told me to bring an umbrella. This advice was really of great value as it rained just the next day of my arrival.[..]

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Lebanon: The Special Tribunal and The Fighting 

a small portrait of this author Moussa Bashir · 15:20

This week, most Lebanese bloggers discussed the forming of the special tribunal for Lebanon at the United Nations and the continuing war between the Lebanese Army and the Fateh al Islam militants/terrorists. The first is the special tribunal of an international character that was passed under UNSCR 1757 to try those responsible for the terrorist crime that killed the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and others. Some bloggers see this as the beginning of a new era in Lebanese history. The second is the fighting that started three weeks when a group of Fateh al Islam militants/terrorists attacked and killed Lebanese soldiers, some of whom were not on duty, and hid in the Nahr al Bared Palestinian refugee camp. What followed was that the army enforced a blockade on the camp and engaged the militants in fierce fighting that is still going on today. Some of the bloggers report on their visits to the refugee camps.

So what did some of the bloggers say about these two events?

On the special tribunal

Laure Ghorayeb posted a series of her drawings about the tribunal. This one here is titled “la femme du martyr” or “the martyr's wife”:
l ghorayeb
Independence05 wrote about the days and hours before the voting in the United Nations on the resolution concerning the special tribunal:

On the social level, those last 10 days were not busy at night as it is usually. Malls, movie theatres and restaurants had no waiting lines, empty parkings and innocent traffic jams. Lebanese are not afraid as much as they are sick of the situation. Delivery and DVDs are the Lebanese’s best friend those last few days. There are always exceptions of those who go out and party whatever the situation is, but these people are rare.

Perpetual Refugee took another approach. He began by a flashback, describing his impressions and personal experiences in Lebanon during the past decade, and then drew parallels with today in light of the tribunal:

Some things haven’t changed that much since then. Assad. The son. Is still stealing our angels and replacing them with demons. While Hariri. The son. Continues with the ambitious (and flawed) plans to bring back heaven to our holy land. We tasted it. A sampler really. If only for a brief moment. We tasted it. Then the flaws became apparent. […]
Today, we edge closer to that taste of heaven. It’s seasoned with a tablespoon of justice. A gallon of revenge. And a flash of a middle finger. Today Hariri, the son edged one past Assad, the son. Today, while we prepare for a taste of heaven, we prepare for a taste of hell. And in the name of the fathers. We continue our march. Towards our intertwined destinies.

From Beirut to Beltway argued that many battles were fought to establish the tribunal. And cautions that many more battles are expected. He argued that Saad Hariri and March 14 (pro government group) will make a mistake if they decide to stop now and start a new phase with the opposition:

LBC viewers Thursday night who watched Saad Hariri's interview with Marcel Ghanem saw a victorious Saad Hariri, inarticulate as ever, extending an olive branch to Hizbullah. Saad, perhaps asked by the Saudis to give Iran a chance, decided Hizbullah was no longer an Iranian tool—but almost a victim, like all other Lebanese, of an Assad regime plot to destroy Lebanon. The son of Rafik Hariri said it was not normal for him not to be meeting with Nasrallah “in a country like Lebanon”, calling for “turning a new page”. He also called for dialogue between the Future movement and Hizbullah, in a way reminiscent of the calls for dialogue Hizbullah made after they thought they won the Lebanese street, thinking they could impose their way. In fact, the difference between Saad and Hassan Thursday night was little. If you substituted “Syrian” with “American” or “Israeli”, you'll get nearly the same discourse, and the same disregard for state institutions.
If Saad cannot articulate his thoughts, and is verbally stuck between the Saudis and Jumblatt, Nasrallah, he must know, has no genuine interest in the state's institutions. For that, Saad Hariri and his March 14 are foolish to pause the fight and pretend they could turn a new page as if nothing had happened, as if the cabinet were not still under siege, and Hizbullah not casting doubt over the army's operation to (partially) root out terrorism.

Other blogs like Beirut Spring and Jamal's Propaganda also posted about the tribunal, but these were mentioned in the GVO roundups during the week.

On the fighting:

Laure Ghorayeb also posted a series of drawing on Nahr el Bared, of which the one posted here is called “Nahr el Bared 21”.
lghorayeb
Land and People used sarcasm to suggest that poverty is a possible cause for the instability and unrest that is spreading around the country:

Half the Lebanese people are poor […] (this is confirmed by Oxfam study posted earlier and by the findings of the UN survey). The Lebanese government is unimpressed, and the minimum wages have been frozen since 1996, but not the prices of basic commodities. The worst regions: South Lebanon, Bekaa and North Lebanon. No surprise if most of the ‘turbulence' in Lebanon originate from these regions. Could this be linked to the events in Nahr el Bared? Noooo of course not. In Nahr el Bared, it is just Palestinians trying once more to destroy Lebanon. Ask any Lebanese. Especially (but not exclusively) those aligned with the government.

Lebanese Renaissance also pointed out the widening rift between the rich and poor in Lebanon and declared that it was unacceptable. Although he did not relate this topic to the fighting going on:

I took a look at the people around me and the cars, and I just got angry. Here we have people starving in Lebanon, and people not able to pay their bills or even afford electricity, and then you have THOSE people. This just goes to show you the level of social inequality going on in the country. The widening gap between the rich and the poor of Lebanon, which is of course totally unacceptable, by my standards or any person with a conscience.


Sietske in Beiroet, on one of her visits to the north, wrote about the surreal normality of life just a few kilometres away from the fighting despite the backdrop of sounds from artillery fires:

One thing that never ceases to amaze me about war is how life behind the front line goes on as if there is no war. Less than 3 kilometers always from the camp, which is now completely off limits to journalists, you cannot even reach the northern entrance anymore, people are going about their daily business. Under the cracking of the cannons (shells make an odd cracking sound when they are launched, like lightning strikes) kids play soccer in the streets, friends lounge on an assortment of benches in the garden while playing cards and smoking argileh, cars are being repaired in the garage and the baker bakes his bread.

Remarkz addressed several questions raised due to the recent wave of violence taking place. Among them, is the question of the impact that the fighting in the north had on the Lebanese political groups.

The most interesting aspect of all this is how government, the opposition and even somewhat neutral ‘bystanders' in the presses, blogs etc. are just working the problem through the ethical dilemma they face: Should we back the Lebanese army? or should we voice our concerns against the Palestinian civilians? Should we accuse the US of fomenting trouble, and wanting to find a pretext in order to either send more aid or just build a military base?

Michael Totten wrote that Al Qaeda’s coming to Lebanon was inevitable for these reasons among others:

Fatah al-Islam terrorists in the Palestinian Nahr al-Bared refugee camp (which is an urban ghetto in Tripoli, not a tent city) are, reportedly, mostly not Palestinian. No one has suffered more from Lebanon’s worst fighting since the civil war ended than the Palestinian civilians of Nahr al-Bared. After decades as second-class non-citizens living in dejection and squalor, they are now human shields in a battle between foreign terrorists and the host country. […]
Lebanon is a weak and divided country. It is also, by far, and despite Hezbollah’s presence, the most liberal and democratic of all Arab countries. More than two thirds of the people who live there (Christians, Shias, and Druze) are considered infidels fit for slaughter by the salafist groups. A large percentage of Sunnis, in Beirut especially, are irreligious and bourgeois and modern. I, for one, am surprised it took Al Qaeda so long to move on them.

Anecdotes from a Banana Republic also visited the north and reported on the protest and her conversation with the displaced among other things:

A little girl and her friends came over to tell us that “their” camp is much nicer than this one, as if apologizing for a messy house to unexpected visitors. “My camp is beautiful. Not like this,” she said, waving her hand dismissively at her surroundings.

Finally Blacksmiths of Lebanon is still posting images and updates on the fighting and other matters.

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Francophone Morocco: Blogging for the Maghreb Arab Union 

a small portrait of this author Hamza Daoui · 07:09

When Morocco and Tunisia gained independence in 1956, the idea for an economic union of the Maghreb countries was born. It took more than thirty years before the five Maghreb states - Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia - came together for the first Maghreb summit. In 1989, they signed an agreement to form a Maghreb Union.

Since then, however, due to rivalries between Morocco and Algeria and the Western Sahara conflict, union meetings have been on hold. A conference was scheduled for 2005, but was canceled when Morocco refused to attend due to Algeria's support for the Polisario and Saharan independence.

Although the countries of the Maghreb have not been able to pull together, the bloggers of the Maghreb have. On May 15, Tunisian blogger Big Trap Boy (fr) posted an invitation to blog for the Maghreb:

Ce blog est en campagne pour rassembler les bloggeurs maghrébins autour d'une action qui vise à demander une intégration réelle des pays du Maghreb ainsi que le dépassement des conflits qui bloquent ce processus. Notre rendez-vous est pris pour le 1er Juin, chacun écrira une note pour le Grand Maghreb. Il s'agit d'une initiative citoyenne qui sera peut-être le premier pas que les politiciens n'ont pas pu faire. On demande à voir des projets et non plus à entendre des discours. Le Maghreb a beaucoup plus à nous offrir que le terrorisme international.

Vous êtes tous invités à nous rejoindre.

This blog is campaigning to gather the Maghrebian bloggers around an action which aims at demanding a real integration of Maghreb countries as well as going beyond the conflicts which block this process. The date is set for June 1; each one of us will write a note for the Grand Maghreb. This is a citizen initiative which will perhaps be that first step that the politicians could not take. We want to see projects, not hear speeches. The Maghreb has more to offer than international terrorism.

You all are invited to join us.

French blog for the Maghreb logoarabic.png

Today, many bloggers throughout the Maghreb have honored Big Trap Boy's request, posting their own personal opinions about the Maghreb Union. Here is a sampling of what Morocco's bloggers have to say:

Lady Zee (fr):

Les initiateurs souhaitent réussir là où les politiciens ont échoué; à savoir, renouer le dialogue entre ces pays, dépasser les incompréhensions et les conflits, et s’unir. Un projet ambitieux, certes, mais qui mérite d’être salué.

The organizers wish to succeed where politicians have failed; that is, to join again the dialogue between these countries, to pass over misunderstandings and conflicts, and to unite themselves. An ambitious project, certainly, but one which deserves to be greeted.

Open Door (fr):

Je me rappelle qu’au primaire, on nous parlait souvent d’union de Maghreb, et de synergie entre les 5 pays voisins d’Afrique du nord : l’Algérie, la Lybie, le Maroc, la Mauritanie, et la Tunisie.

On n’arrêtait pas de nous vanter les mérites d’une éventuelle coopération entre les cinq pays, d’une stratégie économique commune, d’une politique commune, d’intérêts communs, de visions partagées . On mettait beaucoup d’espoir sur nos dirigeants, et on l’attendait beaucoup ce premier pas, celui qui nous mènera vers cette union tant désirée.

Une quinzaine d’année plus tard, on vit toujours la même situation, si ce n’est pire. Des conflits éclatent entre des frères voisins, des faux problèmes, des tensions se sentent de parts et d’autres. On entend toujours la même chanson, en boucle, les même promesses, les mêmes paroles dans le vent, les mêmes mensonges !

I remember in primary school, they told us about the Maghreb union, and the synergy between the five countries of North Africa: Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, and Tunisia.They didn't stop telling us about the merits of a possible cooperation between the five countries, of a common economic strategy, of a common policy, common interests, shared visions. We put a lot of hope on our leaders and awaited the first step that would carry us toward this much-desired union.

Some fifteen years later, we still live in this same situation, or even worse. Conflicts erupt between nearby brothers, false problems, tensions from all sides. We always hear the same song, [playing] in a loop, the same promises, the same words in the wind, the same lies!

Red@blog (fr):

Si on essaye de comparer l’émergence de l’UE avec celle de l’UMA, on se rend compte que les bases ne sont pas vraiment les mêmes. L’Europe venait de sortir d’une guerre qui avait laissé des séquelles assez profondes alors que l’Afrique du Nord bien qu’ayant vécu le colonialisme (à différents degrés) ne sentait pas le besoin de se regrouper pour ne plus vivre le passé. Il y a eu quelques épisodes plus ou moins disgracieux entre le Maroc et l’Algérie mais cela se vivait plus comme une conséquence de la Guerre froide que comme une réelle confrontation entre deux pays voisins.

If one tries to compare the emergence of the EU with that of the UMA (Maghreb Arab Union), one realizes that the [underlying situation is] not really the same. Europe had just completed a war which had left rather major after-effects whereas North Africa, although having lived through colonialism (of varying degrees), didn't feel the need to reunite or live in the past anymore. There were some more or less ungainly episodes between Morocco and Algeria but they were lived more like a consequence of the Cold War than like a real confrontation between two close countries.


Moi, ma famille et mes centres d'intérêt (fr):

La discorde n'arrange rien, unissons-nous ! Nous avons tout les ingrédients : Langues, religions, cultures, … manque plus que la volonté politique .. Lah ihdihom 3lina had les politiciens ou safi ;-)

Tous par un Maghreb uni !

Discord doesn't help anything, let's unite! We have all the ingredients: languages, religions, cultures, …all we lack is political will. God make the politicians follow the right way to lead us - and enough ;-)All for a unified Maghreb!


Stupeur! Un nouveau départ! (fr):

Milliards et milliards sont les pertes de chaque pays d’entre nous lors du change de devises, pour aller à un pays voisin de dois absolument passer par une autre monnaie convertible.

Un investisseur perdrait plus de 5% de son capital au change s’il voulait investir dans un pays maghrébin, sans parler des complications administratives.

Each of us loses billions and billions every time we exchange currencies; to go to a neighboring country we have to change to a convertible currency.An investor would lose more than 5% of his capital [to the cost of] exchange if he wanted to invest in a Maghrebian country, not to mention the administrative complications.

There are many different opinions across the blogoma - some for the Maghreb Union and some against. Some who believe that we are ready for a union, others who believe it will take time. Yet, the bloggers have turned out to be more unified than the Maghreb itself:

Aujourd’hui je blogue pour ce grand Maghreb, le Maghreb des maghrébins : maures, arabes, séfarades, berbères, et tant d’autres imazighern : Les hommes libres du nord de l’Afrique

Today I blog for the grand Maghreb, the Maghreb of Maghrebians: Moors, Arabs, Sephardi, Berbers, and many other Amazigh: The free people of North Africa.

(Murmures [fr])

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Hong Kong and China: June 4, 18 Years Later 

a small portrait of this author Oiwan Lam · 00:10

For 18 years, Hong Kong people have been insisting to join the candle night vigil in Victoria Park in memory of June 4 Massacre in 1989. This year, probably more people would come out to rescue the history.

The controversy lies in the commentary of Ma Lik, the Chair person of Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB), a pro China political party in Hong Kong. He tried to argue that June 4 is not a massacre in term of scale and that Hong Kong people need more patriot education to fasten the democratization process.

At the Eve of June 4 Eighteenth Year Memorial, Human Rights Watch issued a statement against China’s government’s failure to account for the massacre of June 4, 1989, which would eventually defy Olympic gloss.

Seechuen was surprised how quick and how much the truth had been distorted in the past few years. However, he still thanked Ma Lik so that June 4 photos could reappear in mainstream newspapers:

感謝馬力（當然還得感謝記者），又有機會在報章頭版看到這張圖片。

Thank you Ma Lik (Of course, we need to thank the reporters as well), so that we have the chance to see the above photos in newspapers headline.

從八九到現在，我看到，是非真是可以被顛倒。時間、權力與金錢所能夠扭曲的，遠多於我的想像，也遠快於我的估量。

From 1989 till now, what I see is that the truth can be put up side down. The distortion by time, power and money is far from my imagination and estimation.

Horizon devoted this song (from youtube), with his collection of photos to the mothers who could not find their children in the Tiananmen Square:

Mininoise blogs about >a song by Cui Jian, “The last gun shot”. He remembers the song because of this line: “Because my sickness is feeling nothing”.

我知道，
人會因為害怕太痛，把感覺隔絕起來；
用一堵圍牆，把它監禁。

感覺總又想逃獄，挑戰灰厚深牆。
可惡！
「你逃出來就算了，快給我滾！」

依吔依吔喊叫，
會是最好的止痛劑。

上星期起我把歌帶在身上，
從耳筒直插大腦沒天沒地的不斷重播。

其實，在最初的那幾年，
我已在慢慢地染上了一個病。
而且，一直沒有痊癒。

I know,
When people are afraid of the pain, they would block the feelings,
Building walls to put the pain in prison.

The feelings, however, want to escape and challenge the wall.
Damn it!
“Why don't you just escape? Get the hell out of here!”

Crying Yeeyeeyaayaa
Would be the best pain killer

Last week, I brought the song with me,
The ear phones connected directly to my brain, and the song ran continuously.

Well, in the first few years,
I have already infected with a disease
And it has never been cured.

Duimanpark pointed out that Hong Kong people's attitude towards June 4 is out of genuine patriotism:

是的，八九年之前，勢利的香港人都不太願意承認自己是中國人，因為當時祖國代表窮與落後，縱使香港人心知要在九七年回到這位滿身泥濘的母親的身邊，香港人還是消極地逃避著。

八九年四月至六月，局劫動盪，這幾個月給數百萬香港人上了一課活生生的「國民教育」。香港人心中的頻率與中國接通了，領略到「血濃於水」四字的真諦，他們忽爾脫下銅臭的外衣，出錢出力地為那弱不禁風的民主幼苗悉心灌溉。

仍記得六四屠城之後的一兩天，我在中學校園與其他師生唱著「義勇軍進行曲」，這也是我首次認識這支歌。

Before 1989, Hong Kong people didn't want to admit that they were Chinese, because Mainland China was backward and poor. Although Hong Kong people knew that they had to return to this poor mother country in 1997, they were avoiding the reality.

From April to June, the political turmoil had given millions of Hong Kong people a lived “national education”. The pulse of Hong Kong people was connected with China, and experienced the meaning of “Blood is thicker than water”, they took down the money minded attitude, and cultivated the sprawl of democracy with their hearts.

I still remember that one or two days after the June 4 Massacre, our school was singing the national anthem, that was the first time I got to know of the song.

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