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Afghan Whispers

Farid Pouya · 18:16 · Eastern & Central Europe

Afghan Reality encourages foreign forces such as Canadian soldiers stay in Afghanistan. The blogger says

“Security. Security. Security. This is a persistent call for international assistance from the Afghan government, civil society and most importantly from the ordinary Afghans. How could peace and stability be envisaged without reassuring the safety of aid workers, citizens and elected representatives?”

Safrang talks about Europe & minorities:

“Denying the holocaust, a relatively recent and well-documented historical event, would at worst be a factual error, no more than that. One would think that no country in the world with a rule of law and respect for basic human liberties criminalizes erroneous historical claims, or jails people for committing factual errors and expressing personal opinions about historical events. Especially countries that purport to upholding freedom of expression, and excercising and defending it to the point of insulting hundreds of millions of people would be expected to defend the freedom to express controversial -or outright wrong and stupid- opinions. However, expressing doubts about holocaust is a crime in 10 European countries.”

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Iraq in Crisis - The Optimists Strike Back

Salam Adil · 10:29 · Middle East & North Africa

As the crisis in Iraq rumbles on bloggers are divided on the whether there is civil war and how bad things really are. For the sake of balance here is the reports of those who are looking for lights at the end of the tunnel.

If you want to understand what is really going on read this:

Ali of Free Iraqi gives an excellent analysis of the mentaility of the Iraqi Sunni and Shia.

He concludes by saying:

I think we should all look at ourselves first and for me I think the major problem is that Saddam's mentality is still running this country through people like Sadr, Al-Hakeem, Adnan Al-Dulaimi and Barzani. It's those people who keep inflaming those already existing divisions for their own benifit, as they represnt nothing but ethnic and sectarian hatred and they feed this fear and hatred among their people so that they vote for them. We Iraqis need to see that and then Americans need to see that too. The solution is certainly not even visible now but I think it helps a lot to identify the problem first.

The optimists strike back:

Forget civil war we have all out blogger battles in Iraq. The Konfused Kid is not confused anymore , he starts with a warning: “WARNING : I am pissed off, so I may say things I do not mean.” and then lays into Zeyad and AnaRki13:

F**k you Zeyad, F**k you Anarki13, f**k you my sectarain grandmother, f**k anyone who's done anything to wallow in the misery of Iraq and incite more hatred, fear and death amongst the masses, either intentionally or not. Those blogger friends who have taken to recluse in digging up any horrible stories and passing them off to anyone who can hear, glorifiying any negative news they can find, please ignore these sorry fools

Ouch. But why?
(more…)

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What Salvadoran bloggers are saying - politics and nostalgia

Tim Muth · 09:52 · Americas

lingua → zht · zhs

El Salvador is in the midst of a very spirited campaign season leading to the election of mayors and National Assembly deputies on March 12. The campaigning has produced a great deal of commentary in the Salvadoran blogosphere in the past two weeks.

Blogs in Spanish

Ligia at El Salvador o algo por el estilo is particularly incensed by the political campaigning of president Tony Saca for ARENA party candidates. She provides a rundown of recent television appearances of the president which she labels “tele-corruption” and SacaVision. Two arguments are advanced that Saca's campaigning is illegal — one is that members of the armed forces are prohibited from partisan political activity and Saca is the commander in chief of the armed forces. The second is a legal prohibition on government officials using their office to favor a particular political party.

At the Hunnapuh blog, they are also reacting to the coverage of Saca on television with poetic satire noting that only television and its suit-coated announcers could believe the claims of Saca and ARENA that the FMLN is in league with gangs in the country. Clearly no fan of Saca, the bloggers at Hunnapuh, also see an Alice in Wonderland through-the-looking-glass quality to Saca's rosy statements about El Salvador, a theme which is also picked up by blogger Rebeca.

Rebeca also describes watching political candidates debate in a forum hosted by respected Salvadoran journalist Mauricio Funes. The debate was dominated by the ARENA and FMLN candidates throwing stones at each other. At the end, Rebeca was left comparing the ARENA candidate's promise to have all the solutions with the record of where the country is today after many years of ARENA control of the government.

Soy Salvadoreño discusses promises he would like to see politicians of both parties make and keep, including a promise that they will not follow their individual desires, nor the desires of their party leadership, but the desires of the persons who elected them.

Bloggers are raising questions about the electoral census listing the eligible voters in El Salvador. The bloggers at Hunnapuh point out that the list is so out-of-date and full of ineligible voters, that recently deceased FMLN chief Schafik Handal surely lives on as an eligible voter. Meanwhile Salvador Canjura points to the movement of thousands of people changing their residence prior to the elections, to tip the balance of power from one party to the other. Canjura also wishes that the political campaigns, which seem to have lasted for more than a year, would simply be over.

Some bloggers on the Salvadoran right have also made their appearance in the past week. The author of Salvadoreños alrededor del Mundo, criticizes the the FMLN for resorting to marches and street protests without any legislative plan for governing the country. In a blog simply titled “Mi país” (My Country) the writer asks that, although the sorrows of the civil war should be remembered, people should now walk peacefully in the streets. The writer goes on to question whether the FMLN, which blew up bridges and infrastructure during the civil war to destabilize the government, should now be trusted to run the government.

Away from politics, a post by Soy Salvadoreño notes with some nostaliga that Banco Salvadoreño, with its little squirrel logo, has been acquired by a Panamanian investment group. Nostalgia is also apparent in the tribute to Kolashanpan, the uniquely Salvadoran soft drink.

Blogs in English,

Meg describes her meeting with Ruffina Amaya, the only survivor of the El Mozote massacre.

Tim expresses his view that ARENA is using the combination of fear tactics and Tony Saca's popularity as the centerpieces of its campaign, including the old threat that an FMLN victory will lead to Salvadorans in the US being deported. Tim also reprints a commentary by Carlos X, moderator of the San Romero mailing list, who is concerned that the rhetoric of both major parties about the problem of gang violence is polarizing the country in dangerous ways. Meanwhile Jon at the Posthegemony blog explores some reasons that the FMLN may doing better in recent pre-election polls.

Photo Blogs

There are recently uploaded photo blogs by Ms. Donna and NeoSlv.

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Voices from Central Asia and the Caucasus

Ben Paarmann · 09:46 · Central Asia & Caucasus

Cows by Lake Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan

Welcome to the latest roundup from the Central Asian and Caucasian blogosphere brought to you bi-weekly by neweurasia. As usual, we take you through the countries alphabetically.

Armenia:
As a matter of routine, we’d like to draw your attention to the Oneworld blog where Onnik Krikorian has written up his latest roundup from the (English-speaking) Armenian blogosphere. This week, there has been little political discussion, and the bloggers focus on writing about culture. On the same blog, Nessuna summarises the Armenian-language blogosphere, containing great information on the country’s higher education system and the problem of unemployment. And, on another cultural note, Who knew Armenians could Rap wonders whether one can reconcile the fact that on the one hand young Armenian hip-hop-savvies love crosses and frequently rap about Jesus, but on the other hand hardly ever go to attend church.

Azerbaijan:
Carpetblogger, who has now firmly relocated to the Ukraine, couldn’t resist from offering his very own perspective on a recent Financial Times rating, declaring Azerbaijan’s capital Baku one of the winners in the contest “2006/2007 European City of the Future”. Despite attracting two MacDonald’s branches and, well, considerable oil-cash, he is sceptical whether the people responsible for the contest have actually ever been to Azerbaijan.

Georgia:
SueAndNotYou wonders why Georgia features a list called The 14 Most Dangerous Destinations 2006. While Sue has to admit that she had lost her wallet before and some friends tried to assassinate her with vodka, she is a bit disappointed and fears for her Georgia’s reputation. Ben of neweurasia has attended a very interesting lecture giving a critical account of the Rose Revolution in 2003.

Kazakhstan:
Kazakhstan is currently living through a full-blown political crisis that sparked off when opposition politician Sarsenbaev got killed two weeks ago. This weekend saw the first anti-government protests on Respublika Square in Almaty for years. Nathan over at Registan.net, neweurasia and Democracy Rising have been covering the story. Also at neweurasia, there is a discussion underway about who might be blamed for the murder and whether it is really that easy to simply point the finger at the government. The murder of Kazakh opposition leader has caused anger and dissent, as Petruchooo documents. A vigil held in the memory of Altynbek Sarsenbayev was broken up by the police and petruchooo features a photo and account of the events.

Kyrgyzstan:
The Golden Road to Samarqand writes about traditions in Kyrgyzstan and highlights the problem of spending far too much money on events such as funerals and weddings. Controversy over at Betsy’s The Moveable Feast: It seems she has been a little bit fed up with life in Jalalabad lately and wanted to voice her anger/confusion on her blog. However, loads of Kyrgyz people found out about the post and engaged her in a hefty discussion, coming very close to the edge of mutual verbal abuse. If taken with some grains of irony, it is, however, absolutely funny reading, both the actual post and the comments. This week, Edil Baisalov sets off for Oxford, in the United Kingdom, to attend a conference entitled “Kyrgyzstan at the Crossroads”. He promises to keep his readers updated about his conference-attending activities, which will also take him to Sweden and Finland.

Tajikistan:
James of neweurasia informs the interested reader that in Tajikistan, President Rakhmonov let’s democracy go exactly as far as he wants, and no one is surprised.

Turkmenistan:
In one of the most in-depth discussions about Turkmenistan’s unknown future after President Niyazov, Peter of neweurasia and some fellow readers exchange their points of view about what could be likely future scenarios. Courtesy of Turkmen blogger Karakum, who has also participated in the exchange, the complete discussion is now also available in Russian on his blog, where in turn some interesting comments have been published. Other newsworthy tidbits from Turkmenistan include a bird-flu scare, demolition of houses in the Caspian Sea port town Krasnovodsk (now called after the President Turkmenbashi) and the ongoing coverage of the gas row between Turkmenistan and the Ukraine.

Uzbekistan:
Bсеузный блог reports about an Uzbek musician named DG Pilgrim who became popular enough in his home country to move to Moscow to work as a producer. From there, he moved to Kazakhstan, where he is very popular to the present day. Now, he has moved back to Tashkent, and is working on a number of new projects, including two videos, and in May will hold a concert called “Pilgrim and Friends.” In a sequel to the photo shoot on footwear in Samarkand, Бозор presents a photographic tour young people’s clothing. Origuy, originally from Tashkent but now living in Sydney, marvels at the fact that foreign films on television are not dubbed. His blog charts the progress of his stay in Australia.

Regional news:
The Winter Olympics are over now, and here some favourite blog posts from the region: Alan Cordova analysed whether the opening ceremony music choice for the respective countries had a secret meaning, Tidor endorses Almaty’s bid to host the games in 2014 (wait, is there any sarcasm???) and My Wrath explains why American figure skater Sasha Cohen is not pseudo-Kazakh reporter Borat (whose real life name is Sacha Baron Cohen). On a more serious note, neweurasia has now finished its special coverage of HIV/Aids in the region and you can read the reports on Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan by clicking on the links. Meanwhile, Jessica offers her critical perspective on donor policies and priorities. A book on Turkmen history by Atamurat Kushzhonov has been published in the Uzbek town of Urgench. Paikhas gives some biographical details about the author and a brief survey of the book’s contents. He also appends an extensive bibliography on Russian-language materials about the Dashoguz region in northern Turkmenistan.

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Polish Blogosphere Update

Jordan & Maria Seidel · 04:04 · Eastern & Central Europe

Upon news of the arrest of 17 pedophiles in Poland, part of a worldwide Internet child porn sting started in Spain, Peter Gentle of the beatroot ponders whether looking at such images is also a crime.

Polish bloggers, while in agreement that looking at such images is perverse, are mixed on the question of whether it actually constitutes a crime. In the comments section of the beatroot, Roman says that on the one hand, simply looking at child porn is not enough to be criminal, but on the other hand:

…the problem of the “slippery slope” [rears] its ugly head. Where do we draw the line?

Peter G. suggests that we should draw the line when thought leads to behavior. He compares watching - or veiwing - porn to thinking, implying that viewing child porn is not actually a behavior we should criminalize. He continues the slippery slope argument:

…then once they have reached the bottom and the dirty little fantasies turn into behaviour, then that is when pedophilia becomes a crime. But watching something is very similar to thinking something. It all happens in their heads.

But DBN, also in a comment, adds that simply viewing might be criminal because it creates a demand for these materials in which children are exploited:

…I think the reason why looking at child pornography is illegal is the assumpsion that some children were hurt in the production of these materials.

Peter G. also challenges the stereotype or unfair association made between pedophiles and gays, indicating that most pedophiles are in fact heterosexual. The debate continues on the beatroot.

Along the legal front, the Polish government reached a compromise over data retention for telecoms. The law, introduced by the Law and Justice party, was a rather draconian response to cries from the law enforcement community that they cannot fight corruption effectively without data retention of at least 4 years. Dariusz Czuchaj at Poland - IP law news and resources reports on the data retention compromise drafted in part to fight terrorism and corruption.

Is Poland getting a lobotomy? Gustav of Warsaw Station reports on the latest brain drain phenomenon to hit the service and professional sectors of Poland. He takes a more personal view of the issue, despite the fact that Poland “loses about 30,000 workers, many of them young and well-educated, to Britain, Ireland and Sweden”:

…the skills of the highly-trained programmers and computer technicians heading out of Poland are next to useless here - at least this gives them the chance to earn a bit more money, maybe sending some back to Poland. Who knows, maybe they'll return to Poland and start up a business in 10 or 20 years.

But his exuberance for personal choice ebbs a bit when it comes to Polish doctors leaving, since “Poland needs all the good ones [doctors] it can get.” In the end, the best case scenario for Poland, as a nation, might very well be the restrictions on worker mobility still in place throughout the EU. While individual Poles may complain that they need 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet, Poland itself may be benefitting, albeit temporarily, from labor mobility restrictions.

On the lighter, but no less passionate side, the ongoing debate over the best city in Poland continues on p3. Aaron Fowles' recent visit to Krakow renewed his interest in Poland. A resident of the western city of Poznan, Aaron was refreshed by Krakow's cultural vibe:

This place is amazing!! They advertized a chess tournament on the radio! There are jazz clubs! Hurrah!

In a comment, the beatroot begged to differ, favoring Gdansk: “[it] is better, cheaper and the people don't all look like middle aged ladies from Austria…”

Gustav gave a nod to Krakow but is turned off by the snobbery, preferring to live in the Polish capital, Warsaw.

That's the Poland blogopshere update! Until next time - Do widzenia!

P.S. Stay tuned for a roundup of Polish-language blogs (which number over 10 million) in future updates. We will translate the main ideas into English.

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The week in Kenyan Blogs

Juliana Rotich · 02:21 · Sub-Saharan Africa

KenyaRugby Image courtesy of White African
This week has Kenyan bloggers writing about very diverse topics, let us start with sports

White African reminisces about rugby in Kenyan High schools , generating about 20 comments, that is how passionate Kenyan's can be about rugby.

Kenya Cricket has an excellent play by play rundown of the game between Kenya and Zimbabwe.Kenya wins!

Another sport that Kenyans are passionate about - drumroll please? Soccer. habari Kenya writes about “Man U vs Arsenal vs the rest” reffering to the English premier league, that Kenyans follow quite closely.

Sadly, Memoire exits the blogging stage with a finale that discusses her thoughts on blogging, i do hope she comes back in future as does Adrian. He invites his readers to make him happy by bidding for a good cause - proceeds go towards habitat for humanity. With a starting bid of 425,000, he wishes someone would convince memoire to come back to blogging. The reason why her exit is sad is that memoire would post about shared experiences that are uniquely kenyan, and thus she will be missed greatly.

Unganisha is back after a 6 month break, with a vivid post “Kampala Endless Nights” about his trip to Kampala. This post is particularly apt as Uganda borders Kenya, and had elections this week, where Yoweri Museveni won the election.

Kikuyu Moja shares his thoughts about the challenge of harambees (fund raising) for a social project like a children's home. He considers the perceptions of Kenyans towards charity.

…Hence, the provoking allegation that I would like to make and on which I would like YOU to comment on is that there are a lot people out there - no matter what nationality - that don’t give a damn about others. And it’s not only that they don’t care, it’s also that they seem to think that OTHERS might be responsible for the fate of street/abandoned children, the environment, politics / etc..
Charity begins at home? For them it ends at home.

Gukira posts “On being clever”. He discusses how the Kenyan school system encourage a certain brand of ‘clever' if you will, and how those who've gone through the system would understand how the word ‘clever misrecognizes the technical facility for intelligence'.

Kenyan Pundit live blogged the TED conference in California, where she gives us good news about the 2007 TED conference in Africa.

The conference will be in Arusha, Tanzania from June 3-7. The theme will be Africa: The Good News. TED will be providing 100 scholarships to make it possible for (young) African thought-leaders, entrepreneurs, activists, creative souls, bloggers etc., from the continent and the diaspora.

This january post by the journalist John Kamau, is worth a read, as he interviewed Isaiah Mathenge ‘The last governor of Rift Valley'.

There is always commentary about politics, and this past week, more to life looks at kenyan politics, and other recent news using the metaphor “The pontius pilate syndrome”, with “Government of Kenya as pontius Pilate, Raila and LDP as the pharisees, the real culprits of the Anglo leasing and Goldenberg scandals as Barrabas and the usual screaming crowds as themselves.”

You missed this gives his reasons why he thinks “…That The Current War On Corruption Is A Train Heading To A Place Called “Nowhere””

Wangu of the group blog virtually insane writes a very sane piece about the current kenyan affliction if i may call it that, of how kenyans respond to corruption and famine, and ends with an examination of the kenyan dream. She asks, “what are we waiting for?”

Nyakehu shares her thoughts about the famine in Kenya, as does What an African Woman thinks who notes “When it is has become commonplace to vie for right of way with (emaciated) cattle in Nairobi, you know that there really is a drought and it is very serious.”

We conclude with some poetry, the piece “You” by lifemoments, and the piece “In Praise of Love” by Munaks,where he provides an english translation and historical context of the swahili poem.

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