Archive for
July 2nd, 2006
Stories
Africa: Is Homosexuality a Religion?
France-based Togolese Blogger Kangni Alem reflected on homosexuality in Africa recently. Namely, he tackled claims by some on the continent that homosexuality is a heretic religion. In the process, he mentioned recent “outings” of public figures. A debate ensued that involved Martinique's lesbian blogger Le Blog de [Moi] who'd read an excerpt of the post on Global Voices.
Homosexuality and Religion
J’écoutais RFI (…) quand je suis tombé sur un reportage sur l’homophobie à travers le monde. Et là, de la bouche d’un militant des droits de l’homme camerounais, j’appprends que certains auraient peur, au pays de Paul Biya et de William Eteki Mboumoua, des homosexuels, parce qu’ils sont censés propager une nouvelle religion. (…) tout cela relève de suppositions liées à la superstition, à une conception désagrégée de la sexualité en Afrique, suite aux mutations et rencontres civilisationnelles, et d’un tissu d’incompréhensions tenaces.
même la métaphore biblique sur l’homosexualité n’attribue pas aux “sodomites” un quelconque prosélytisme religieux, sinon une tendance à la déparavation dont la conséquence directe a été la punition divine. Mais bon, depuis plusieurs décennies, dans les caves du Vatican, cette histoire de “punition divine” ne fait plus rire les prêtres homosexuels!
Recent Gay Scandals in Cameroon
Il faut dire que le Cameroun tient l’actualité quant au sujet. Il y a 2 ou 3 ans, je crois, deux hommes s’étaient présentés à la mairie de Yaoundé ou Douala pour demander qu’on les unisse par les liens du mariage civil; l’affaire avait fait couler beaucoup d’encre, puisque le maire n’avait jugé bon répondre à la “provocation” qu’en faisant intervenir les policiers. Récemment encore, le directeur de publication du journal La Météo avait été condamné à six mois de prison avec sursis pour avoir publié dans ses colonnes le nom d’un ministre sur une liste d’homosexuels présumés. Dans la foulée, plus d’une dizaine de plaintes en diffamation ont été déposées devant le tribunal de Yaoundé contre des journaux qui ont publié (…) les noms de plusieurs dizaines de personnalités politiques, religieuses, artistiques ou sportives camerounaises accusées de “déviances” homosexuelles. Rappelons qu’au Cameroun, les rapports sexuels entre personnes du même sexe constituent un délit puni de six mois à cinq ans de prison et d’une amende de 20.000 à 200.000 francs CFA (30 à 300 euros). Seulement, diraient les plus homohobes!
Homophobia and Ignorance
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Global Food Blog Report #23
#1: From Berlin, Delicious Days cooks up a storm and celebrates for the winning of her team Germany last Friday night: Berlin, Berlin, wir fahren nach Berlin! OR Finger Food for the Big Party…
The many people who believed that the World Cup may have a positive effect on our economy all seem to have been right on. Living in Munich (and probably anywhere in Germany at this point) feels a whole lot different these days, a noticeable change in atmosphere would be the understatement of the year. Locals as well as people from all over the world, soccer fans or not, carry an extra big smile on their faces throughout the day - which may be a totally normal thing in other spots of the world, but not necessarily in Bavaria. The typical experience would definitely include grumpy waitresses or police officers, unfriendly shop assistants and bus drivers. We just live with it, trying not to complain too much about it and keep our own vim and vigor. Having the World Cup in one’s country is always an exciting event, but we are all pretty blown away by its positive impact on our daily life. And I’m not only talking about the countless evenings spent together with friends watching the games (all of them in fact, not only the Germans’) and preparing lots of finger food. Continue reading and get the delicious recipes NOW!
#2: From Venezuela: Chef Sumito Stevez talks about the new project of his friend Morris Harrar from Caracas has now in New York. Literally, Mr. Harrar changed the standards of gourmet baked goods in Caracas when he opened Saint Honoré, a first class bakery located in Los Palos Grandes. Now, with TISSERIE, his new enterprise, he plans on taking over the "Big Apple" with a similar kind of project. Their first day operating: June 29, 2006. Congratulations!
#3: A Chicken in Every Granny Cart will knock your socks off this time with three incredibly easy and delicious looking recipes from her childhood: Bistec de Casa Abuela, Guacamole and Mexican Lettuce Slaw!
So last Saturday when the skies opened and it looked like monsoon season the boy and I decided it was time to take some of this knowledge and create a dinner in support of the Mexican football side (who, unfortunately eventually lost to Argentina). We grabbed some steak and the fixings for guacamole and as a last minute addition the ingredients for my favorite Mexican salad from childhood (and for once we thought ahead and got enough so the boy’s sister could come over and nosh too).
The marinade for the steak was easy and made the steaks taste lovely, but the star was definitely the guac. It’s damn near impossible to make a bad guac! I loved the lettuce slaw too, but I really don’t think that it is authentic in any way (but tasty to be sure). In fact, the only thing missing were fresh, homemade tortillas…GET THE RECIPES NOW!
Mexico's big day
Just hours before the presidential elections in Mexico, the run for the presidency seems to be heading to a very tight end. Polls show a very short distance between the two leading candidates. Right now I can’t give you any further details on how the numbers are showing because of a restriction on Mexican electoral legislation that states the prohibition to post by any means any polls seven days before the election takes place but the truth is that both Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Felipe Calderón Hinojosa are just a very short distance from each other.
This election will be very important to Mexico for it will be the proof for it to consolidate its democracy or return to the old practices in which the ruling party used to handle elections watching only under its own interests. Unfortunately, the fear is that it will come to bring back those old practices since the campaign of Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, militant in the ruling party PAN, has been backed by the government by publicizing a number of public actions to favor their candidate. However, the government has denied that they have in fact favored Felipe Calderón with this ad campaign.
As for Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the former major of Mexico City, he has come to head the polls after an important decrease in his numbers, as he didn’t want to attend the first presidential debate. His participation in the second presidential debate brought him back into the race as this marked his reappearance in media after a long absence which he chose to take in order to avoid confrontations with his competitors. Andrés Manuel López Obrador is the candidate for the left-wing party PRD that is very popular in Mexico City and the south part of Mexico.
The third runner up so far is Roberto Madrazo Pintado who is also behind in the polls by a very slight margin from Felipe Calderón who was in second place in the last polls published. Roberto Madrazo is the candidate for the once hegemonic party PRI that ruled Mexico for over 70 years in a row. His candidacy has been affected by the fact that he practically imposed himself as candidate against the will of the majority of PRI’s militants. He also represents the past to which no Mexican wants to go back. His history is surrounded by alleged acts of corruption and electoral fraud back when he ran for Governor of his State Tabasco.
There are two other candidates from newly formed parties that don’t really have any chance of winning the election. These candidates are Patricia Mercado from the PASC and Roberto Campa from the PANAL.
Right now there are some fears among Mexican society such as:
This week in the Syrian blogsphere
To start off, like always Ammar Adulhamid has a very interesting article about the role that Arab/Syrian Americans are now playing in the democracy fight back home, and the role they could play, giving the example of the Arab-American Anti Discrimination Committee's last conference…
The reality is Arab Americans have been quite lucky, relatively speaking. For despite all the stereotypes that exist about them in popular imagination and in the media and despite the acts of terror being perpetuated in their name, no matter how partially, they were never subjected to the kind of practical discrimination that other minority groups in this country have had to deal with, so far. We might indeed be able to make a good argument that this situation is rather tenuous, but that does not excuse or justify getting in bed with Arab regimes.
Nassim Yaziji from Middle East Policy has an interesting article about “The Neo-Internationalism After 9/11″, and how this affect the democracy process in the middle east… (more…)
Hong Kong: July first rally: the Anson Chan effect?
July first in China is many things. It is the anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party in China, the day in 1997 when Hong Kong was handed over to China and is also the date of one of the largest mobilizations in Hong Kong each year.
This year the number of demonstrators has doubled compared to last year; the mainstream media explained that it was the effect of Anson Chan stepping out to challenge the SAR government, particularly the reigning Chief Executive Officer Donald Tsang. However, bloggers have their own explanation on why they joined the demonstration or not.
Compared with two to three years ago when 500,000 people would come out for the July first protest, lower numbers over the last two years could be explained by shifting attitudes towards the issues and, as Hong Kong blogger Tungpo explains, the protest organizers themselves.
Links for Sun, 2006-07
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