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Iraq: F*** you Washington Post…

Salam Adil · 20:23

lingua → es

…so says Raed Jarrar. Today's post features voices from the edge. Sunshine is waiting for the war on her doorstep to end and writes of her hopes and aspirations; Last of Iraqis is turned back at the Jordanian border and writes of hopes lost; Layla waits in the immigration queue; Baghdad Dentist writes of a relaxed Baghdad and the blogger formerly know as Konfused Kid writes of a world that has changed.

But first…

The Washington Post publishes a story about a dog that was rescued from the ‘Baghdad slums' and Raed is incensed. He writes:

one million Iraqis killed in the last 5 years, and you celebrate rescuing an iraqi dog. what a bunch of racist a**holes.f*** you Karin Brulliard, and f*** the washington post.

and he invites concerned people to send similar comments to that journalist.

The city of Mosul is virtual war zone at the moment. With the Iraqi government threatening a final battle to retake the city, there is a nervous tension that verges on the unbearable. Sunshine describes the feelings of waiting for the war to end and her hopes for a better future. In a post that must be read in full she writes:

I still have hope, I don't know why.. All the ex-operations failed, but there is a voice inside my heart telling me to be optimistic…I open the curtain above my bed, look at the sky, and think.. If the troops will defeat the terrorists and we'll have security, my relatives who live abroad will come to Iraq, and I'll be able to see my aunt again, we'll do whatever we want and wear what we like, without being afraid from terrorists .. I'll feel more free to write about what I feel…. we've been living in a war zone for four long years, full of sadness & fear … I can't end the war, but we say “if you have lemon, make lemonade”; there's no bright side in the war, but in this four years I became stronger, and independent person, I believe in myself and I know nothing can stop me from moving forward, not even the war, nor terrorists when I have determination and faith ..

I realized how much I love Iraq, I did't know how much Iraq means to me, until I saw It destroyed.

.. but I have to prepare myself for the worse, so that I don't get depressed if things didn't work well, I don't want to feel what I felt in the beginning of the war, I thought we'll have the life we were told to have, a bright future, and live happily ever after, I didn't know there'll be fights and battles in front of my house.. I didn't know I'll see dead people in the streets nor hear all of the horrified stories that I hear each day, I didn't know I'll have to hide under the stairs for 10 hours continuously!

and Najma's family is preparing for the army house raids that will inevitably come:

Mom has been trying to get us ready, “they might come from the roof, so don't be scared if you see them at your room in the middle of the night”, I start whining and tell her to stop but she keeps reminding me that it can happen and I have to be ready. … Now if my sister decides to have a baby in the middle of the night, what shall we do?Conversations like this went on and on between my mother and my aunt as I and my cousins sat trying to imagine a better future!

God shows me his love in so many ways.. And I trust that there will be a way out one day, one very happy day… I just can't see it yet!

Meanwhile in Baghdad

Iraqi Dentist is enjoying the new peace that the capital is experiencing. He writes:

as for baghdad, it's great. now it's on the way to heal and stepping forward in the road of revolution and good future. except for some what i call “defects” here and there, one may say that the city has settled down. the people now feel safe and can go out for shopping, visiting friends and relatives without fear. i feel that the normal life is getting back again. while in febuary last year (like the current days), i just wanted to get out of baghdad because at that time i couldn't get out of the outdoor. everyday we heard someone or two were murdered in our destrict. no one day passed without a funeral…we still have some problems concerning electricity ( well they are big problems). the electricity in Baghdad just say “hi” for few minutes twice daily. The goverment … spent millions of dollars just to provide every family with 10amps … 10 amperes for every family?!!!?? that means no A/C at all, can't iron with refrigerators turned on, can't use ovens or microwaves and and …. moreover till now we are not supplied with that 10 amps. where all that money has gone?

Marshmallow26 is suffering from a bout of insomnia and with army raids in her neighbourhood and barking dogs she has a hard time catching up with her beauty sleep (”oh no I see those black circles surrounding my red bleared eyes;wish there were no mirrors at all”). Marshy concludes that it is the suffering of others that has caused this:

so many killed people and couple of deadly explosions took place yesterday and the day before… I guess that is why I am suffering at night, there are many people need prayers, sleeping on the streets, no shelters, many kids don't know whether their parents will stay for another extra hours with them in this world or the rope of death will wrap them in a spit of a heart beat!!I decided every time I wake up at night, I must say a prayer, I should ask for peace, peace and peace in the land which the “peacetime” term turned into a forgettable expression.

And over at Alive In Baghdad, a video about the youth football team in the Sadr City district of Baghdad.

Football in Sadr City: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Waiting in Exile

Last of Iraqis tries to enter Jordan to leave Iraq for good but gets turned back at the airport. In a repeat of the treatment he received last time at Jordan's Queen Alia Airport he witnessed the wholly degrading experience given to Iraqis turned back at the border. In an essay with photographs and detailed description gives stories of treatment of Iraqis in the “airport jail”. He concludes:

I feel the disappointment every minute, a stupid low life intelligence officer destroyed my future and killed my dreams, a legal dream of having a secure safe future, a dream of becoming a dentist in a place that appreciate science and doctors, not trying to kill each one of them; a stupid officer made me sleep on the floor and starve me!! A stupid officer prevented us from seeing our families whom we miss so much; a stupid officer destroyed our dreams; this is what happened in one day;this is a story for one person; just imagine every day how many stories like this happens;every day;can you imagine? This is a serious issue; I don't know what the Iraqis are made of to stand these crisis? What happens every day in that cursed airport is something so important, where is the media from all of this? It really requires the media attention, the light must be spotted on this issue and I'm ready to help as much as I can to expose the truth.

Once in exile in countries like Jordan and Syria, Iraqis do not fair much better. Layla Anwar joins the queue at the immigration counter along with many other Iraqis who apply to extend their residence. She gives a beautiful (and horrifying) description of the nervousness and fears of people waiting for a single official who, at will, decides who will stay and who must leave. She writes:

We were lined up like a herd of sheep, patiently waiting for the “official's” stamp. That much needed stamp which will prove that we are still accepted here…Or that stamp that will allow us a few more months of breathing space…

Or that stamp that will give us an illusory freedom in some temporary legality…

Or that stamp that will confer upon us a seeming sense of belonging…Another illusion of a “home”, however fleeting and ephemeral, that illusion may be…

I stood there like everyone else, waiting for my turn, overwhelmed by a strange feeling that I am about to take part in a game of Russian Roulette…

What if he refuses to stamp, what if he finds an excuse not to stamp, what if he delays the stamp, what if he requests more papers to stamp, what if…what will happen then?

I am almost certain that I was not the only one entertaining these deadly thought. And yes they are deadly if you happen to be an Iraqi hanging on by a string…

So much power in the hands of some official, who sometimes holds your documents upside down…Some much authority in the hands of this, almost always, mustached man who has the final say on your life or death…

And finally…

The blogger formerly known as Konfused Kid now goes by the catchy handle of Abbas Hawazin and renamed his blog to “Catharsis” in English and “Shaqshaqa” in Arabic. Has he grown up? Has he reached an epiphany? Abbas tries to explain:

things might change on the inside quite a long time before they do so visibly. The changes that I implemented to this blog and the desire to do so have been long thought of, I just didn't know how I would finally impart with the name I've been using for quite a long time now, after all, “Konfused Kollege Kid” was a gimmicky name for a gimmicky blog…As for the name, the Arabic signifies that Arabic language is going to play a more prominent role here, I can't decide whether I will dedicate another blog for it or just throw the whole thing here.

Shaqshaqa is taken from a famous Shiite sermon in which the usually reserved Ali throws a fit and rants about his lost caliphate title in a very angry, but articulate manner, after he is interrupted one of his companions ask him to continue but Ali replies to him dramatically: “O' Ibn `Abbas it was like the foam of a Camel (Shaqshaqa) which gushed out but subsided.” Meaning he has calmed down now. I've always loved the word ‘Catharsis', which basically means a similar, but less Camel-inclined, thing in English.
So people, don't worry, I'm really feeling quite okay.

4 comments · »»

Morocco: No Justice for Fouad Mourtada

Jillian York · 18:22

lingua → sq · bn · es · zht · zhs

Is creating a Facebook profile of a famous entity a crime? Although it's been done to nearly every major celebrity (a quick search for “George W. Bush” garners over 500 results), but when Fouad Mourtada chose to mimic Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco, he was committing a serious crime.

As Sami Ben Gharbia reported on Global Voices Advocacy last week, Mourtada was arrested on February 5 after Moroccan authorities discovered his false Facebook profile of the member of the royal family. And on February 22, he was sentenced to three years in prison (and had to pay a $1,000 fine). Bloggers in Morocco and around the world were furious.

Laila Lalami, who also wrote an opinion piece on Mourtada at The Nation, blogged that she “hoped cooler heads [would] prevail” at the trial.

Myrtus, who joined bloggers who went on strike for Mourtada, said:

The verdict is out: A giant leap backwards for you Morocco, I hope you're happy with yourself!
…
I am a second generation Moroccan-Dutch citizen, and I am a traditionalist. I've always been proud of my Moroccan roots and I've always respected Morocco's constitutional monarchy as an integral part of our national unity and a great source of pride, and held it in high regard. This is the first time in my life that I can honestly say, that sense of pride has been diminished. I feel only sadness and loss of hope with regards to Morocco.

Four Continents was appalled as well, saying:

If you value free speech…then check this out and then pass on the news. Facebook-impersonation shouldn't be a crime.

Also, Le Journal Hebdo has its website blocked again and is facing more fines for something they published about Western Sahara. I don't have details, but Scarlett's been in touch with them and I'll link to details if she posts any.

One commenter found the legal aspect of the case intriguing:

Though most invasion-of-privacy law does come from civil actions rather than criminal, I think criminal statutes protecting privacy draw pretty heavily on civil tort concepts.

In particular, the tort of “misappropriation of persona” (protecting name and likeness) does not require any monetary benefit on the part of the invader, mooting a defense of noncommercial motive.

With regard to First Amendment rights, though, it's usually the press violating someone's privacy, and there is strong precedent for public officials and public figures being exempt from privacy protections in the face of the media's First Amendment privilege.

By contrast, framing it as a matter of free speech makes it one individual against another, and you lose the compelling public interest of an unfettered news media. I'm not sure if the exemption for public officials and public figures would apply as strongly in this context. Unfortunate situation for the guy, but an interesting legal question.

Reb, who is researching the Moroccan blogoma, said in her blog:

I was saddened to hear that Fouad was sentenced to 3 years despite the campaign waged by Moroccan bloggers. I know Fouad is going to prison and these words will not console his friends and family but the bloggers that spoke up on his behalf should not lose faith. The efforts of the blogoma were not invisible to the local or international press and this movement will inspire more people to speak up for others with marginalized voices or for causes in which they believe. My best wishes for Fouad and his mother.

Outside of Morocco, The Sudanese Thinker was just as shocked as any Moroccan blogger:

Someone please tell me this isn’t real.

Andrew Brehm commented:

My take is that the Moroccon government simply didn’t take into account that it was a joke and just saw someone trying to impersonate the prince. Three years is mild punishment for what they thought they saw.

However, three years (or any prison term) is unacceptable for a joke, no matter how tasteless one might think it is.

So while I am not worried about Morocco’s justice system because of it, I am worried about this single example. I think they made a mistake and he should be set free. (The fine, on the other hand, I think is justifiable.)

Another commenter, Mike responded:

Andrew commented “So while I am not worried about Morocco’s justice system because of it, “…. You shoudl [sic] be. This is a system that routinely allows and abuse of detainees before trial. Once you get to trial then it’s about who you know and not what you know.

From Jordan, The Black Iris is also outraged:

I’ve been following this story since early February and waiting to see if and when Mourtada would be charged by the Moroccan government for creating a Facebook profile of Morocco’s Crown Prince. I had initially thought he would eventually be let go for such a silly thing, since it wasn’t like he was blogging about political issues. It was, as he said, a little joke and the account was deleted. But it seems that in Morocco, just like Jordan, it is really, really easy to harm the dignity of the state. Imagine three years of your life completely taken away from you for this ‘crime’. My prayers are with you Mourtada.

For more information on Mourtada's case, Lydia Beyoud has a roundup of French-language Moroccan blogs, Gawker has an interesting report, the Help Fouad website is constantly being updated, and Reuters is tracking the story. And of course, check Global Voices Advocacy for updates.

6 comments · »»

The groundswell of opposition to AFRICOM from African bloggers

John Liebhardt · 08:57

At the tail-end of U.S. President George Bush’s six-day, five-country farewell tour of Africa came the announcement the Pentagon’s plans for a second U.S. military base on the continent of Africa is dead.

While the U.S. military presently houses about 1,500 soldiers in Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, the Pentagon has spent much of the past year searching various locales in Africa for a second base.

This story begins one year ago when the United States military announced the creation of AFRICOM, a separate command structure to oversee all U.S. military operations in Africa (except Egypt). AFRICOM was meant to provide the military with a more efficient approach to Africa because previous responsibility for the continent had fallen under three separate command structures.

People soon realized that AFRICOM stood for more than streamlining responsibilities. Enmeshed in AFRICOM’s DNA from day one is what the Pentagon refers to as “capacity building”: The idea that if the U.S. military can assist African nations build democratic institutions and establish good governance, some of the pockets of poverty and disorder that remain fertile grounds for terrorist groups would disappear. Also, if U.S. soldiers could work with local populations and show their softer side, it may reduce the appeal of extremism and curb Africans’ mistrust of American intentions.

U.S. soldiers training African armies is one thing. So is digging wells and vaccinating cattle for villagers. But rumors persisted that the U.S. also wanted to place a second military base on the continent. Eventually the Pentagon admitted it was searching for real estate that would allow it to better serve local soldiers, provide development work and respond quicker to crisis and contingencies. That’s when the AFRICOM program began running into problems.

For many African bloggers, a second proposed U.S. military base on the continent raised many red flags. Questions from the blogshpere flew: What exactly are U.S. interests in Africa?

For Tristen at Contrary to Authority the answer was simple: The U.S. wanted to extract Africa’s vast oil reserves.

Africa is under a new wave of exploitation, this time, instead of people, rubber and gold, it is Chinese and American interests competing for oil.

This older post from Sokari Ekine at the blog Black Looks raises many concerns Africans had about an AFRICOM base:

The question should not be whether Africa NEEDS Africom but why the US believes it NEEDS to have a military presence in Africa. We should be asking ourselves the following questions. Why does the US feels it needs a military presence in Africa? What will the US military presence consist of in terms of military hardware and numbers of personnel? How does the US intend to operate and in what circumstances will it’s forces be mobilized? In what way will the US military presence dictate or determine the price of Africa’s natural resources and who gets access to them? In what way will the US military presence infringe on the internal affairs of independent African countries and determine their foreign policy towards other AU members? How will the US military presence influence the foreign policy of independent African states towards non AU countries such as China? How will the US enhanced military presence infringe of the rights of African citizens? How will Africom impact on continental migration and the rights of the millions of Africans without citizenship and the rights of refugees?

The blog Katch Up outlines how President George Bush first moved U.S. policy towards Africa from dealing with mostly military matters and began addressing the daily concerns of many Africans, like providing functional schools and hospitals. However, when AFRICOM was proposed, Bush supplanted the interests of regular people for the welfare of his military.

Regrettably, over emphasis on militarisation has often had a boomerang effect which has begat the US more enemies that it would wish to have. Amusingly the greatest modern threat to America, terrorism, has its most effective launching pads in former US allies.

This distrust of the US has not whirled past Africa but indeed has acquired roots here, especially if you throw in the humus that is religion, and uniquely Islam. The new policy, whose worth Bush has now come to evaluate, is the latest Yankee detergent for its PR.

…

China won the heart of Africa with its emphasis on partnership rather than handouts. Well, handouts do feature still but partnership in trade and investment has given Beijing inroads in record time.

Between January and October 2007, Beijing made an incredible 30% jump to trail EU and US as the biggest trading partner with Africa. The time that these three have taken to position themselves as such tells you why the US is repackaging itself.

After Bush’s announcement in Accra, Ghana, the international media made it sound like he backed down from his plan in the face of criticism from African governments. In the end, only Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia invited the Americans to set up a base in her country. (During the Cold War, the U.S. military and the CIA ran a large communications station in Liberia.)

For African bloggers, however, it wasn’t just the governments who stood up for African rights, but Africans themselves. AfricanLoft, which sponsored more than a few debates on AFRICOM, asked its readers to weigh in on Bush’s statement.

It is a triumph for Africa that African countries held fast, writes Xcroc, who blogs at Crossed Crocodiles, but he warns:

However, AFRICOM can still do most all of what Bush has in mind without an HQ on the continent. Still, it shows they did not plan, and they did not take their target into account, and at least this far, they failed.

The Bush intention with AFRICOM has been to use mercenaries, to train African militaries to act as surrogate. And by “partnering” and training, get to know their strengths and weaknesses, in case of fighting with, or against them in the future. They don’t need an HQ on the continent to do this.

Ayo, the Care Taker at African Loft has this to say:

As much as I like the US, I feel their timing was off. The war on Iraq is an eye-sore and no amount of PR can erase the fact that there isn’t any basis for the war. Also, there wasn’t enough “back-room” consultation before the idea was make public, and this is somewhat strange given how the US is perceived worldwide. Now it’s up to the next administration to make the decision; we haven’t heard the last of it yet.

Bobby writes this:

Perhaps, as I have been saying all along, they are waiting for the country(ies) they want the HQ to be based in to stabilize before they make any announcements.

The sad thing about it is that the people who make the US foreign policies always seem to dismiss the interests of those foreign countries as though it won’t hurt the US in the long term.

Sokari, who blogs at Black Looks (from above), instructed readers at African Path that the fight against AFRICOM is not over. People need to keep the pressure on.

The about turn by the US government can be seen as a small victory for African sovereignty and the continents refusal to be drawn into America's “War on Terror” agenda which is being used as a cover for protecting US commercial interests, such as oil, across the globe. Nonetheless, the Command still exists and can be mobilized at short notice and as this report shows - “AFRICOM heads for the Gulf of Guinea“. The questions I raised above should still raise concerns amongst African citizens and Civil Society organizations should continue to pressurize their respective national governments and the African Union, to address the questions.

Also from African Path, here is a comment from Shaft

Let there be democracy in Africa, and let Africans do business withanyone that is willing to do business with them. What Africa need is not another militaristic institution, but businessmen willing to invest in Africa. Africans with their country and resources and anyon else with their money can raise the African's living standard. I am glad that President George W. Bush finally realized that it is not in the interest of Africa and America to have a militaristic institution stationed in Africa preventing democracy from sprouting and flourishing.

5 comments · »»

Cuba: More Reactions to Castro's Retirement

Elia Varela Serra · 07:48

lingua → pt · es · zht · zhs

Four days after Fidel Castro announced that he would not accept another term as a president after almost half a century in power, the Cuban blogosphere continues to be abuzz with the news. After Janine Mendes-Franco's roundup collecting the first reactions after the announcement, and ahead of today's General Assembly meeting to elect a new head of state to replace Fidel Castro, here are a few more reactions from Cuba and abroad on the latest developments.

Photo by FloraG, used under a Creative Commons license.

Cuban writer Zoe Valdés [es], who lives in Paris, is skeptical about the supposed change that will come to Cuba:

Y como Castro nos tiene acostumbrados a esos numeritos, la única renuncia en la que creeré será en la de la muerte. De cualquier modo, su hermano es el mismo perro con diferente collar, uno de los hombres más crueles y perversos de la historia de Cuba y de la humanidad. Con Castro II no creo en cambio alguno. El cambio sólo puede venir de la democracia, de la liberación inmediata de los presos políticos, del reconocimiento de las organizaciones disidentes de dentro y del exilio. El cambio sólo vendrá cuando Marta Beatriz Roque, Osvaldo Payá, u otros de dentro, o figuras del exilio puedan intervenir en un espacio democrático dentro de la isla. No pienso que Raúl Castro asumirá semejante riesgo

… since we are used to such acts by Castro, the only resignation I will believe is the one brought by death. In any case, his brother is the same dog with a different collar, one of the cruelest and most perverse men in the history of Cuba and of humanity. With Castro II, I don't believe in any changes. Change can only come from democracy, from the immediate liberation of political prisoners, from the recognition of dissident organizations in Cuba and in exile. Change will only come when Marta Beatriz Roque, Osvaldo Payá, or others from the inside, or figures in exile, can intervene in a democratic space within the island. I don't think that Raúl Castro will assume the risk.

Ivan García [es], guestblogging at Tania Quintero's blog, is equally pessimistic about the expectations for change:

Cansados de campañas revolucionarias, marchas y consignas, los cubanos dudan que el próximo presidente, que se espera sea su hermano Raúl Castro, de 76 años, no sea una continuación de su política. […] Algunos como Juan Oñate, 44, obrero, cree que aunque nada cambie, “al menos Raúl habla menos y no está presente tanto en la vida de los cubanos como Fidel”. […] Pero ya la calma escasea. Tras casi 50 años de pobreza material y penurias, la paciencia se agota y la desilusión aumenta. Las encuestas internas realizadas por el partido comunista reflejan que la popularidad de los hermanos Castro y de su sistema político cuenta con menos del 25 por ciento de apoyo de la población.

Tired of revolutionary campaigns, marches and slogans, the Cuban people are doubting that the next president, who is expected to be his brother Raúl Castro, aged 76, is not going to be a continuation of his politics. […] Some, like Juan Oñate, 44, construction worker, believe that even if nothing changes “at least Raúl talks less and is not as present in the life of Cuban people as Fidel”. […] But the peace is scarce. After almost 50 years of material poverty and dearth, patience is running out. Internal surveys by the communist party reveal that the popularity of the Castro brothers and their political system is supported by less than 25 percent of the population.

After Castro released another letter on Friday calling for “a united vote in favor of the Presidency of the General Assembly” and thus continuing to meddle in Cuban politics, Alexis Gainza [es] declared that “joy lasted as much as a meringue in a school”.

Bloggers like Cuban in London, quoting Frank Sinatra, regret that Castro is stepping down after so many years on his own terms:

It’s hard for a British citizen to understand the stature of the outgoing leader. After all, the Cuban president outlived nine British Prime Ministers and ten American dignitaries. And he did it his way.

He also adds some blueprints for change in Cuba:

There are four principles, in my understanding, that Cuba should follow: the development of a free media and an independent judiciary are the first two. Economic and financial opening to foreign investors (as long as cherished achievements like education and health are not touched) and accountability should be the other two.

However, for Lou Rodríguez at Ninety Miles Away there's nothing to envy in Castro's way of leaving power:

Whatever the media may say about leaving on his own terms, leaving as a doddering old man, evacuating from three orifices, you can be sure, was never on his wish list. I could almost find it in my heart to feel sorry for him, almost. My head, however, offers no absolution. I will dance metaphorically over his grave, if the old buzzard doesn't outlast me.

For Jaime Leygonier [es], Castro didn't retire, he was made to retire:

No se retira, Fidel Castro era incapaz de retirarse, incapaz de saberse incapaz, lo retiraron hace año y medio con una incruenta revuelta palaciega, todos contra el animal enfermo, como mismo retiró Stalin a Lenin, para que se repusiera de su enfermedad bien lejos y bien oculto. Muy mal tenía que estar el anciano jefe de la manada para que con absoluta unanimidad lo desaparecieran sus secuaces.

He does not retire. Fidel Castro is incapable of retiring, incapable of knowing that he is incapable. He was retired a year and a half ago in a palace coup, all of them against the sick animal, just like when Stalin retired Lenin, so that he would recover from his illness, very far and very hidden away. The chief of the herd must have been in pretty ill in order to be made to disappear in absolute unanimity by his henchmen.

Review of Cuban-American Blogs criticizes Western media for their moral relativism towards Fidel Castro:

If Hitler had retired as Führer before 1939, what would the reaction of the Western media have been to his decision? Not much different, we suppose, to their reaction to Castro's “retirement” as Cuba's president-for-life.
[…] The media now recoils at condemning tyrants for their crimes as if their own objectivity were judged by their subjectivity to them. When forced to mention those crimes the media characterize them as allegations made by the tyrant's detractors. But their so-called achievements are never identified as the allegations of their apologists.

Another issue widely discussed in the Cuban blogosphere was the official visit of Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State for the Vatican, on Wednesday to mark the 10th anniversary of the Pope's landmark visit to Cuba in 1998. Rui Ferreira [es] describes the mass that Bertone officiated in Havana's Cathedral square, followed by about 3,000 Cubans who expressed their desire to receive the visit of Pope Benedict XVI soon “to bring us peace and improvements, which are very much needed”, according to a woman attending the mass.

Reinier “El Gusano” Potts at Babalu Blog, after quoting an article in The Independent describing Bertone's mass, expresses his disgust:

The sight of these Cuban Communist henchmen participating in a Mass is revolting. But, I have to confess that I get a little perverse pleasure out of the irony of hearing about this bunch of murdering thugs having to bow to the Almighty in a sobering preview of the judgment that’s ultimately coming their way, in a ceremony that could very well represent the last rites for the regime. At least raul had enough sense not to attend.

Marc Masferrer has published human rights violations in Cuba this week, such as unlawful arrests of independent journalists, and has also posted a musical a tribute to political prisoner Oscar Elias Biscet, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for opposing the regime in 2003. A campaing was launched this week to pressure the Cuban dictatorship for his release, he reported.

Penúltimos días [es], who also posted a song as a soundtrack for today's Assembly election, has been collecting media reactions to Castro's announcement to retire. And amongst those, he started a Top 10 of the most stupid things written about Castro in the last few days, with readers' contributions in the comments section. One reader mentioned a comment made by filmmaker Michael Moore, who shot part of his latest film Sicko in Cuba and wondered about the possibility of bringing Castro to give his acceptance speech:

As long as he keeps it under five hours. I'm telling you, that's got to be a ratings grabber. Can you imagine him? Showing up? If I could talk to (Oscar producer) Gil Cates and maybe get Castro in a dance number at the beginning of the show? Great.

It turns out Castro is a great subject for entertainment and humor, as shown by Claudia4Libertad collection of recent jokes about him on American television late night shows. Here's a sample from David Letterman's show, who also made a list of ‘10 reasons why Fidel Castro is retiring':

Experts believe that now that he has resigned,” Castro “will either be succeeded by his brother, Raul, or by his idiot son, Fidel W. Castro.

To finish this roundup, here's a very illustrative little parable that Enrique del Risco wrote [es] in his blog:

[…] un niño al que un compañero de juegos había hecho dar su palabra de honor (o de pionero, no recuerdo bien) de que se mantendría de guardia en el parque hasta que vinieran a relevarlo. Pasan las horas y el niño se mantiene de pie haciendo guardia, aterido de frío sin que el supuesto relevo aparezca. Al fin un transeúnte le pregunta qué hace allí y el niño le explica. El hombre trata de convencerlo de que se trata sólo de un juego, que seguramente los niños que le encomendaron hacer guardia estarán en sus casas calentitos pero el niño se aferra a la palabra empeñada. Por fin el hombre, convencido de la firmeza del muchacho busca a un policía y le explica la situación. El policía va entonces hasta el muchacho y le dice que él es un oficial superior y ha venido a informarle que su turno de guardia ha terminado tras lo cual el niño medio congelado entiende que ya no se trata de romper con su palabra sino de acatar nuevas órdenes y haciendo un saludo marcial se marcha. El cuento terminaba, si no recuerdo mal, con el hombre que había ido en busca del policía admirado ante la firmeza del niño. De más está decir que no era un cuento destinado a enaltecer nuestra firmeza sino a reafirmarnos la docilidad. […] Ya no somos niños, hace mucho tiempo todos hemos visto que todo no se trata más que de un juego. Los que dieron la orden original están calentitos en su casa o simplemente muertos mientras nuestros melancólicos no hacen más que aferrarse a viejas consignas, a las viejas palabras empeñadas, como a un instinto en el que al parecer les va casi todo, empezando por su propia idea de sí mismo. Sólo les digo esto: la realidad no es tan generosa como el cuento. Si aparece un nuevo policía será para decirles que todavía les quedan unas cuantas horas de guardia.

[…] a kid gives his word to a playmate that he would stand guard in the park until he would be relieved. Hours pass by and the kid stands guard, stiff with cold, with no sign of being relieved by someone else. Finally a passerby asks him what he's doing there and the boy explains. The man tries to convince him that it was just a game, and that probably the kids that sent him to stand guard while they would in the warmth of their homes, but the kid sticks to his word. In the end, the man, convinced by the firmness of the kid, looks for a policeman and explains the situation. The policeman then asks the kid and tells him that his an upper-ranking officer and that he came to inform him that his shift is over, after which the half-frozen boy understands that it's not about breaking his word but about following new orders, and with a military salute he goes away. The tale ended, if I remember correctly, with the man that had looked for the policeman being really impressed with the little boy's firmness. Needless to say it wasn't a tale destined to extol our firmness but to reaffirm our submissiveness. […] We are not children anymore, we all realized a long time ago that this is just a game. The ones that gave the original order are in the warmth of their homes or simply dead while our nostalgia is just hanging onto old orders, to old words given, like an instinct in which they have everything to loose, starting by their own idea of themselves. I just tell them this: reality is not as generous as the tale. If a new policeman appears it will be to announce that they still have a few more hours of standing guard left.

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Blogger of the Week: Nicholas Laughlin

Amira Al Hussaini · 01:00

lingua → es

An author, editor, art enthusiast, activist and “occasional” blogger, Nicholas Laughlin has dreams bigger than life for his hometown in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, and writing projects and engagements which make him wish the day was longer than 24 hours.

His voyage into blogging, in 2002, may have been by accident, but his involvement with Global Voices Online is certainly by design.

“I wrote my first GV post on 13 January, 2006, because Georgia Popplewell drafted me. And because from the moment, more than a decade ago, when I grasped what the WWW is, I've been convinced that the people who stand to benefit from it most are those–like me–living in small, obscure, far-flung parts of the world. GV helps make our voices less obscure and pulls us together into a web of delightful collaboration and coincidence,” he admits.

Covering the Caribbean, Nicholas surely has issues to confront - concerns, which he is working to bridge, by utilising blogging and other online tools available in an optimal fashion and promoting their use.

“In the Caribbean as a whole, the big issue is who is blogging and why. Not enough of us. Too many barriers: access to technology, access to education. Caribbean bloggers come for the most part from the educated middle class. Where are the other voices?” he asks.

By his own admission, he too blogs “very sometime-ish” on both his personal blog, and on Antilles.

“I don't update my personal blog very often, don't really have a sense of an audience, and think of it as a fairly self-indulgent incomplete sort of stream-of-consciousness. Antilles is rather sometime-ish too, I guess–mostly because I just don't have the time to everything I ought every day. At Antilles I simply try to keep up with news on Caribbean writing and art, link to Caribbean writers who also blog, and occasionally I post mini-essays or interviews. At Antilles we can pay more timely attention to what's happening today, or this week,” he reflects.

“At the moment, if I spend two hours blogging each week, that's a lot. At various times in the past I've been far more prolific. I certainly spend a lot of time online–'keeping informed,' I tell myself, but it's really a form of higher procrastination. I am a slow writer, it takes me ages to get started, and I crave distraction of any kind.”

Despite his sporadic blogging, Nicholas is quick to point that his blogging experience is rewarding, with the highlight of his blogging career being live-blogging his country's World Cup qualifying match against Bahrain in 2006.

Blogging has given me a better understanding of online tools and media, first of all, and their possible value. A space to try out tentative ideas in public. The opportunity to ‘meet' people and grapple with new ideas I might not have encountered otherwise. A forum for expressing worries and frustrations. The thrill that everyone feels of seeing one's words and ideas injected into a global conversation. Also the occasional illusion of productivity! There have been days when I've got almost nothing productive done, met not a single deadline, but have told myself, at least you posted one paragraph on your blog about X,” he explains.

My most memorable experience blogging is probably live-blogging the football match in which Trinidad and Tobago beat Bahrain 1- 0 to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. It was too nerve-wracking to watch the match on TV, so I listened to it on the radio, alone at my office, and live blogged to keep my nervous fingers occupied. For some reason my hits, never very numerous, spiked that day.

Away from blogging, Nicholas is a busy author and editor, who is heavily investing his time and effort in promoting Caribbean literature and arts.

“I'm the editor of The Caribbean Review of Books, a quarterly magazine covering chiefly Caribbean literature, but also visual art and current affairs. The CRB was launched nearly four years ago, in May 2004, and you can find out more about the magazine at our website, or at our blog. Here in the Caribbean, we consider the literature of the entire Antillean chain plus some continental territories (like Belize, Guyana, and Suriname) to be a single “national” literature which happens to be written in several languages (English, Spanish, French, Dutch, various creoles). It's quite a challenge trying to keep up with what writers from so many different territories are doing, plus those Caribbean writers in the global diaspora. The CRB is run as a non-profit, so fundraising occupies a lot of my time, apart from my various editorial tasks.

Just about a month ago I completed a biggish project I'd been working on for a year–a new edition of V.S. Naipaul's early family correspondence. That will be published in the UK by Picador, probably towards the end of this year. My own major writing project is a book about Guyana–part travel narrative, part cultural history, part I'm-not-yet-sure, with the working title “Imaginary Roads”. There's some information about it at my website.

I've been working at that for nearly three years now, very slowly and indecisively. Last year, I was awarded something called the Rex Nettleford Fellowship in Cultural Studies by the Rhodes Trust, which is helping to fund my research and writing. I also seem to write lots of book reviews and occasional pieces about Caribbean contemporary art. I post links to many of them here - though the page hasn't been updated in a while!”

Being a writer, says Nicholas, opens the door wide for having interests in all aspects of life.

“Susan Sontag once described a writer as a person interested in ‘everything'. I've always liked that idea. I think I have pretty wide-ranging interests and I have a sometimes disastrous tendency to plunge into new projects without fully comprehending how much time they'll require and how they'll derail existing obligations.

Trinidad has a small but energetic (if anarchic) art scene (read a little more about that here, in which I've got increasingly involved. In late 2006 I helped organise and run a six-week arts programme called Galvanize, and more recently I've been working with friends and colleagues to run a modest arts space called Alice Yard.

I'm also right now in the middle of a campaign to preserve a historic building in Port of Spain, which is under threat of demolition–see the website (built by my friend and GV colleague Georgia Popplewell) here. This is a good example of a new project into which I plunged without fully understanding.

And as all the above links might suggest, I'm very keen on using easy, free, or near-free online tools to document the life and culture of Trinidad and the rest of the Caribbean–making our ideas and stories and concerns globally accessible, responding to the sun-sand-sea stereotypes of Caribbean life, and turning up the volume on our voices in the global conversation. The great Trinidadian thinker Lloyd Best, who died last year, often described the immense challenge facing Caribbean people: understanding ourselves in and on our own terms. “Epistemic sovereignty” was his phrase. That must also extend to our presence, our existence, on the WWW.”

Despite a full schedule, Nicholas also has time to dream.

“These days, what I hope for is that the small society I was born into and have always lived in will remain a viable one. That may sound pessimistic. Trinidad and Tobago is in a phase of rapid change, mostly not for the good, and our prospects for the future depend on whether enough of us can stand up and grasp the responsibilities of true citizenhood. It is possible, yes. I don't know if it's probable. I like to think–or I hope–that many of the projects I devote my time to (the CRB, various arts initiatives, promoting the use of online media and tools) will have some ultimate good effect,” he hopes.

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