Archive for
July 25th, 2008
Stories
China: Can a cop-killer be a hero?
Actually, the majority opinion in the story of Beijing resident Yang Jia who recently rushed into a police building in Shanghai and stabbed and killed six police officers, wounding several others, seems to be on Yang's side. Since then, Yang's mother has mysteriously disappeared, Beijing police have been sent to investigate and, judging from what's being said online, Shanghai police are refusing to cooperate.
Another thing that remains is GenitalGate, the rumor/story flying around that Yang was beaten so badly by police last year when he was accused of having stolen a bicycle that his genitalia no longer functioned properly, and this was the reason for his revenge.
Related to that is the idea that Roland Soong at EastSouthWestNorth put forth recently following the Weng'an pushup-riots, that either the most effective or most recent technique used by China's human flesh internet discussion directors aka the 50 Cent Party (will somebody please write them an entry on Wikipedia already!) in an age where enough netizens are savvy enough to get around keyword blocks, is to flood the blogosphere with disinformation in situations like these similar enough to divide portions of the online community and discredit the rest.
More information continues to surface on who these 50 Centers are and how they go about their work, so, second, is it likely that this short personal essay which appeared (briefly, for some) on all the usual major BBS forums yesterday was planted in an attempt to influence discussion? For example, how could the journalist mentioned below be so certain that any talk of Yang Jia's genital dysfunction was a lie? One commenter in the post linked to below notes that whoever posted it also only registered that account yesterday.
‘Fragmented thoughts on the Zhaibei police attack case “GenitalGate”‘ as posted on XinhuaNet on July 25:
一、关于生命
袭警案发生了有些日子了，网上各种声音起云涌，其中最夺人心魄的便是“生殖器”门了。由于生殖器被打残，杨佳才愤而杀人，夺走6条人命。于是乎群情激愤，杀人者成了英雄，被杀者成了活该。反过来的话，要是一个警察哪怕是杀了6个罪犯，这个警察恐怕会面临武力使用过当的指控，是绝对成不了英雄的。
难道6个警察的命就不是人命吗？难道面对6条无辜逝去的生命一律忍心用“尽管杀人是不对的，但是……”这种语言来说话不嫌太冷酷吗？
社会进步的最高表现便是尊重生命。不久前的纹川地震，我们一起哀悼死难的同胞，从未追问他生前是好人还是坏人，共同唱响对生命的礼赞，使我们民族的灵魂升华。这一次，难道我们就应该冷酷地拷问生前是非，仅仅就应为他们是警察吗？试问，如果杨佳式的“英雄”行为得以褒扬，我们的社会不就成了杀戮至上野蛮的丛林了吗？
不懂得尊重生命，就是野蛮和落后，别拿林冲来说事儿！
杨佳成了英雄，真是亘古奇闻！
It's been a good few days since the attack on police took place, and all sorts of voices have rung forth on the internet, the most sensational of which has been “GenitalGate”. Because he'd had his genitalia ruined in a beating, he became enraged and a killer, taking six lives. Then the public became furious, the killer became a hero, and the murdered then deserved it. Flip that around, if this had been a cop who killed six criminals, that cop would just be accused of excessive use of force. He definitely would not have become a hero.
So…six cops, aren't these human lives too? Six innocent lives were lost and to go and so easily say things like, ‘killing people is wrong, but……”, don't you think that's a little cold-hearted?
The clearest display of social progress is respect for life. Just a short time ago, we mourned for the tragic deaths of our compatriots in the Wenchuan earthquake. There was no asking if they were good people or bad throughout their lives, there was only unity in singing praise for life, uplifting the souls of our people. Now, though, it's like people are ready to torture others just to prove that they were wrong, and why, because they were cops? So let me ask, if “heroes” like Yang Jia are worthy of praise, won't our society then become some sort of kill-or-be-killed barbaric jungle?
To not know how to respect life is to be backwards and primitive, so don't even think about talking about Lin Chong!
How Yang Jia became a hero is far beyond me!
二、关于杨佳
杨佳已经被舆论打扮成大大的良民，其父说他“好读书”，旅馆说他按时交房钱，且不论是否真的，这就够良民了吗？我就看到有报道说他平时寡言少语，但为点鸡毛琐事就和邻居拔拳相向，大打出手，是个不叫则已，一叫就咬死人的疯狗，更加接近为了打牌输掉就杀死同学的马家爵！这种人在社会上确有一些，其自有存在的合理性，正常人千万敬而远之，以免杀生之祸。
Popular opinion has already painted Yang Jia as some sort of model citizen, his dad has said that he was “good in school”, the hostel he was staying at said he paid his rent on time, and regardless of if these are true or not, is that alone enough to make someone a model citizen? I see reports saying he kept to himself and didn't talk much, but then went picking fights with the neighbors over the most trivial of things, getting violent with them, a mad dog who needed no provocation, but when provoked would bite and not be able to stop, overall looking a lot like Ma Jiajue who killed his classmates over a poker match! People like this definitely do exist in society, and normal people always keep a safe distance, so to avoid tragic loss of life.
三、关于警察
这些年贪官污吏也杀了不少，抓得更多，但新的还在出现。原因很复杂，从人们如潮的怒骂背后，我更多听到的不是道德的谴责和法制的呼唤，而是心态“不平衡” 三个字。试想，这样的人一旦为官，怎能不去“找平衡”？价值观不正，这是贪官不断的一个重要原因。警察作为官府的人，也是从老百姓中来的人，既不象宣传得那么好，也不象大家说的那么坏。为什么一出事就无根据地认定是警察坏了呢？在杨佳被警察拦下的事情上，我就听说他是在人行道上骑着一辆无牌自行车才被拦住的。全世界的警察都在街上盘查可疑人，而每个害怕在街上遭遇飞车抢劫的上海人也都会赞同这样的盘查。当然我也没根据说警察的态度很好，但说警察不对的目前也没看到什么根据，有的都是推断。
Over the past few years, more than a few corrupt officials have been killed, and even more have been arrested, but new ones continue to appear. The reasons for this are complicated, but behind all the people cursing angrily like the tide, what I hear most are not moral condemnations or cries for the legal system, but signs of unbalanced mentality. If you think about it, when people like this become officials, why is it that they don't go find balance? Unhealthy values, this is one of the key reasons for unending official corruption. Police, as authority officials, are also people who come from the public, neither as good as gets propagandized, nor as bad as everyone says. Why is that that when something goes wrong police are groundlessly assumed to be bad? As for the incident of Yang Jia being stopped by police, I even heard that he was only stopped for riding an unlicensed bicycle in a pedestrian lane. Police around the world stop and check suspicious people on the streets, and every Shanghai resident afraid of being jacked in a rob-and-run will agree with these inspections. Of course, I don't have any basis to say that police have good attitudes, but then I haven't seen any basis at present to go and say that police are bad, and anyone who does is just speculating.
四、关于“生殖器门”
这个消息可靠吗？我搜了一下，最早是一个匿名者2号晚上发在Myspace的一个跟贴上的，故事很煽情，但至今没有任何可靠一点的渠道能证实。传的人多了，却几乎变成了确凿事实，据说连凤凰卫视都信了。我有个记者朋友通过关系看到了杨佳自己写的申述状，连杨佳自己都从未说过关于腰部以下的任何事！他告诉我此事肯定是假的，但是发新闻效果不讨人喜欢所以不吭气。从此我鄙视他。“生殖器门”比周老虎的照片容易分辨，打坏了要变好恐不那么容易，我不信警察隐瞒得掉。要是真的，杨佳杀的就不会是分局，而是派出所，因为拦他的警察就是派出所的，那个地方每天都有老百姓随便进去办户口，不想某些想象力过高的人说的比分局更难冲进去，这是每个中国人都知道的常识。我看他要杀的是在处理中不给他钱的人，因为有可靠消息证明他在山西警察那里就搞到了数万元钱，搞钱的方法和动迁时做“钉子户”差不多。
呜呼,可悲的“生殖器门”！世上本无所谓真相，说的人多了，也就成了真相。
舆论能杀人！它既把秦桧钉上了历史的耻辱柱，弘扬了千古正气，也把大明的长城袁崇焕送上了断头台，使大好河山沦于鞑虏之手。不管许多人喜欢不喜欢，我要说的是：
好听的故事不等于事实，这一次，舆论错了！
Is this information reliable? I did a search, and the earliest I was able to find was an anonymous MySpace user who posted it on the evening of the 2nd. The story is very stirring, but to this day there hasn't been anything more substantial to confirm this. The number of people who have spread it around is quite high, and that alone has nearly made it irrefutable fact, apparently even Phoenix TV even believed it. I have one journalist friend who through his connections was able to see Yang Jia's handwritten statement, and even Yang Jia himself has never said anything at all regarding the area below his waist! He told me that GenitalGate was a lie, but to put that in the news wouldn't please viewers, and that's why he kept silent. Because of this, I despise him.
“GenitalGate” is even easier to refute than the Zhou Tiger photos, because for that to be beaten bad and then recover, I'm afraid, is not that easy, so I don't believe that the police would have been able to cover that up. If it is true, Yang Jia wouldn't have killed people at a central police office, but at a local police station, because the police who stopped him were from a police station, and people go in and out of there every day to process hukous, which, unlike those people with too much imagination are saying, is not harder to rush into than a central police office building. This is common sense of which every Chinese person is aware. I can see that the people he wanted to kill were those who wouldn't give him money while he was being processed, because there is reliable information which proves that while he was being held by police there in Shanxi, he got them for tens of thousands of RMB, using pretty much the same tactics at the same time as the “Nailhouse”.
Alas, for this unfortunate “GenitalGate”! There is no so-called truth on this earth, only people who talk a lot, of stuff that becomes truth on its own.
Public opinion gets people killed! It got Qin Hui fixed in the most humiliating pose in history, bringing about ages of righteousness, put Yuan Chonghuan of the Great Wall up on the head-chop block, even led to our rivers and valleys falling at the hands of the foreigners. No matter how many people like or dislike this, what I want to say is:
Just because a story sounds good doesn't mean it's true, and this time, public opinion is wrong!
Zimbabwe: On the soaring inflation
Zimbabwe, that was once one of the richest countries in Africa, at present finds itself falling into economic chaos with inflation reaching record levels, and with zeroes being regularly added to the currency.
Ghanaian economist George Ayittey wrote the following about the economic situation:
Nothing coming out of Zimbabwe makes sense. The country is now a certified “coconut republic,” where common sense has been butchered and arrogant insanity rampages with impunity. A loaf of bread costs 6 billion Zimbabwean dollars and one U.S. dollar exchanges for one trillion Zim dollars. […]
The rate of inflation is over 3 million percent – whatever that means.
Photo of a Fifty billion note by ZeroOne, used under a Creative Commons License.
Codrin Arsene of the African Politics blog offered a list of causes of the political failure in the country, which are the root reasons why “Zimbabwe is in such a terrible economic situation”. Here are a couple of them as an example:
5. The international sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe were not carefully planned; some of them affected regular Zimbabweans more than it affected Zanu-PM politicians and members of the government.
[…]
7. None of the alternative sources of financing in Zimbabwe (China, India or the Arab League) put any pressure on Mugabe’s regime to redress economic problems or assure free and democratic elections.
Eddie Cross wrote about the consequences of the rampant inflation:
The inflation spiral we are in is being fed by a massive budget deficit - funded by printing money mainly, and by the abuse of the foreign exchange system.
[…]
One immediate consequence of this situation is a critical shortage of all basic foods. What little is available is now priced at levels significantly above those prevailing in South Africa - a reversal of the historical relationship. This situation is so serious that it is likely to result in mass starvation if it is not attended to soon. Political controls over the supply and sales of food are now universal and seriously affecting the welfare of those in the cities and in the rural areas who supported the MDC.
One of the new consequences of this state of affairs is the inability of staff in all State controlled institutions to cope with the situation. Poorly paid at best and with salaries that simply cannot keep up with the inflation, they are unable to maintain their standard of living. Many State departments and services are collapsing. How the PTC and ZESA are maintaining their activities is anyone’s guess.
With the introduction of the 100 billion Zimbabwean dollar note just a few days ago, the nightmare of counting the zeros has increased for bankers and shoppers -who are having to get used to talking about their daily expenses in trillions (one trillion has 12 zeros). Chipo of the blog This is Zimbabwe, illustrated these difficulties with the following story:
Earlier this week I instructed my bank to transfer funds to the value of $45 trillion into my current account. They made an error and transferred $45 billion. Ooops! They left off three zeros.
Interest on an overdraft is in the region of 6000% and now my account is overdrawn. It took me hours yesterday morning to get this sorted out. I am angry, but I also understand how easily an error like this can occur; nobody can keep up with the zeros and for anyone working with figures or cash, its just one big headache!
Robb WJ Ellis of the blog The bearded man commented on what can be bought with the new 10 billion bill. Either three eggs, according to Reuters, or a carton of ten boxes of matches according to an email from a friend. He went on to calculate the price of each match:
The cost of a carton (10 boxes) of matches was ZW$ 210 billion.
Therefore each box was ZW$ 21 billion.
Each box, on the label, states that one can get, on average, 45 matchsticks per box.
Therefore each match costs 466.66 dollars.
Normally about 5 don’t work, so each successful light probably costs in excess of half a billion dollars.
Zimbabwe Metro has now reported that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) “will early next week slash at least six zeros from the local currency as it grapples to fight hyperinflation”. The blog quotes the Bank Governor Gideon Gono as saying:
Accordingly, the next few days will see the Reserve Bank unveiling measures that would address concerns on the current minimum cash withdrawal limits, as well as with the IT systems digit handling constraints.
Yesterday, Sokwanele's This is Zimbabwe, published a letter sent by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions to Gono asking to remove that cash withdrawal limit currently in place, so that ordinary people in Zimbabwe can be given increased access to their own money. The letter highlighted the fact that:
… the military get preferential treatment when it comes to withdrawing cash: soldiers are allowed to withdraw Z$1.5 trillion and above per day, while ordinary civilians were only allowed to withdraw Z$100 billion.
Sokwanele's This is Zimbabwe have also just started a campaign to pressure the Austrio-Hungarian company Jura JSP who has been supplying the licences and software used to design and print the Zimbabwe dollar, as all banking software applications in Zimbabwe cannot support a $100 000 000 000 (12 digits) figure and fail at $1 trillion (15 digits):
We are calling on all our supporters and subscribers today to phone, email and write to Jura JSP and ask them to withdraw the software licence from the Zimbabwean government on the grounds that the cash they print has been used to primarily support a campaign of terror, and on the grounds that preferential treatment is given to the armed forces when it comes to accessing cash. Both these facts show that the Zanu PF regime is using money to buy the loyality and support of the armed forces. It clearly shows that this is a government that prioritises power and control over the people, more than it is concerned with the fact that ordinary people are struggling to survive.
This campaign follows another one they did last month calling the German company Giesecke & Devrient to stop supplying the Zanu PF regime with banknotes. A few days later the company decided to stop printing bank notes for the Zimbabwe regime.
USA: Longest Walk 2 for Native Americans rights
Two weeks ago an 8,000-Mile Walk for Native American Rights, Environmental Protection, and to Stop Global Warming reached its destination in Washington, DC. Started on the opposite coast, in the San Francisco Bay Area, on February 11, 2008, the Longest Walk 2 delivered a 30-page manifesto and list of demands to Congress, which included climate change mitigation, environmental sustainability, the protection of sacred sites, and items regarding Native American sovereignty and health.
Hundreds of walkers representing more than 100 Native American Nations, plus an active International group, embarked on a journey that lasted 175 days (4,200 hrs.) criss-crossing 26 states along two separate routes - through rain, snow, and even a tornado. They also picked up more than 8,000 bags of trash on the roads they traveled. “As we walked through this land we were horrified to see the extent in which Mother Earth has been raped, ravaged and exploited,” noted the Manifesto for Change.
Photo republished from the Longest Walk DC Photos gallery
The trek also commemorated the 1978 Longest Walk, a similar campaign that led to the defeat of 11 anti-Native American bills pending in Congress and the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act.
Despite the lack of coverage in the mainstream media (in the US and elsewhere), the event was a successful community effort and revealed an effective use of citizen media. In fact, its main website provides plenty of information, including hundreds of photos and dozens of videos - such as the following one about a wedding ceremony held at the Carson Indian Colony during the Walk:
Particularly touching the Voices from the Walk section, with so many posts providing a vivid, first-hand description of daily matters, personal struggles and achievements, along with participants' interviews, political statements and much more.
In one of those stories Melinda sheds some light on the everyday-sacred routine:
[South Route: Greensboro, June 22, 2008 10:27am] The routine is wakeup [4am], prayer, pack and load your gear on the trucks; tents and sleeping bags on one truck, luggage on the other. Then everyone comes together in a circle. After a briefing on the day’s schedule, an elder smudges the walkers as they file out. The earth is silent. All is still asleep. The bright moon lights our way as we snake down along our road. The ear can stretch far in the darkness seeking sound. For a good long while, it is just our footsteps. Ahh, the sound of sixty people walking. This is a sound to hear.
Maggie Madden gives us a glimpse of the global interdependency at play:
[South Route: 6/25/08] Breakfast was very yummy. Whenever the Japanese people are on kitchen crew we eat really healthy, tasty food. Kiyoko is a cook in Japan and she has been the most consistent dedicated cook on the walk. The only reason she hasn’t been here the whole time is because she had to return to Japan to renew her visa. She is always hanging out around the kitchen cooking yummy things for us and she walks everyday. She is very dedicated.
On a different note, Dennis Banks, one of the leading figures of the march and co-founder of the American Indian Movement in 1968, sends a public Thank You to GM [General Motors]:
[Thursday, 26 June 2008] Cheri Grohoski, GM's General Manager agreed with the Environmental Concerns of The Longest Walk 2 and “The Clean Up Mother Earth Campaign” of The Longest Walk, began discussions with Ray St. Clair in early February 2008 and presented the 3 vehicles to him on June 24th, 2008 at GM's General Offices at Detroit, Michigan. The vehicles will be used to help pick up trash and transport elders in and around D.C.
Obviously, the Long Walkers couldn't avoid some dramatic moments. Here is how Brenda Norrell describes an unexpected police charge in Columbus, Ohio:
[Wednesday, 04 June 2008] Unprovoked Columbus, Ohio police attacked Long Walkers, by first pointing a taser at the head of Michael Lane and then forcing Luv the Mezenger to the ground and handcuffing him. The Longest Walk Northern Route was walking this prayer through Columbus on Monday, June 2, when police squad cars and arrest wagons arrived. Without discussion of the purpose of the prayer walk, or verifying that the Ohio Department of Transportation had been notified of the prayer walk, police attacked the walkers.
This episode was later discussed on the Longest Walk Talk show on Earthcycles web radio, which also provided live reports from the march itself.
Another walker, Brita Brookes, contributes some insight on the overall goal and scope of such initiatives:
[Tuesday, 27 May 2008] The greatest cause of tension and conflict in this world is sometimes caused by the misunderstanding of two different cultures, or perhaps from the lack of actually getting to know each other, assumptions, rumors or plain misconceptions about a behavior or culture can lead damaging events perhaps worse than tornados and earthquakes.
Finally, the inevitable questions: “What is it that we learned in the last 5 months? And what is next?”
Among others, Morning Star Gali offers words of peace and gratitude as a promising outcome for future trails:
[Thursday, 17 July 2008] The last few days of the walk, I tried as much as I could to talk with walkers, to talk to the youth and hear from them firsthand what their experience was, what challenges they faced, what helped to shape their experience along the way. To everyone I encountered, I shook their hands and thanked them for walking — for making that sacrifice and carrying those prayers for if it wasn't for them, it all would not have been possible.
Western Sahara: Introducing the Sahrawi Blogosphere
On July 5, Global Voices started its coverage of the Sahrawi blogosphere with a post on a new satellite television station in the region. The post, by Yazan Badran, focused on the Arabic-language constituency of the Sahrawi blogosphere. That post was quickly followed by one from Renata Avila on poetry and the Spanish language, quoting Sahrawi bloggers in Spanish. Both posts were met with strong reactions, both positive and negative.
Although most Sahrawis speak Arabic or Spanish as a first language, some choose to blog in English; some live abroad, others in Morocco or Western Sahara. Still others are Sahrawi supporters from other countries. I will attempt to convey what all of them, regardless of political affiliation or beliefs, are talking about in this important region.
Introducing Anglophone Western Sahara
One prominent blogger covering this region is One Hump or Two? Admittedly an American, Will is especially notable for the fact that he has tirelessly assisted me in digging up the best of blogs from this region. His blog covers both political and cultural issues. An excerpt from a recent post reads:
I'm obviously no fan of Morocco's occupation of Western Sahara, but I like Morocco the country–everyone I know who's been there has liked it, and the Moroccan government is nice enough to let my friend study there this semester, despite his affiliation with separatists like me. That's why I hope Morocco and whatever Sahrawis are on its team win as many medals as they want at next month's Olympics.
View from Fez took in Morocco's chances, and pointed out that Morocco has won medals in the past in boxing and track. The taekwondo team is apparently good, too, so I predict a sweep.
FreeWesternSahara is a Sahrawi blogger whose blog tagline reads “No to the Auntomony, but yes to the Referadum.” A recent post featured photos from Western Sahara, including this one:
Freedom Writer is another Sahrawi who blogs in English. An excerpt from a recent blog post, about having to make a difficult decision, reads:
Emerson said that he loves ”the Sayers of no” more then ”the Sayers of yes”! and I agree with that. Emerson realized that ”No!' means ”yes” to saving other people s time and energy. When we make our choice to say No in any given situation( Job offer, invitation…) we save our energy and other people s time and effort to convince us to change our mind, and as Leonardo da Vinci said ” It is easier to resist at beginning than at the end”.
There are several other foreign bloggers writing about Western Sahara. Of prominence is alle, who runs the blog Western Sahara Info., a great place for news updates on the region. Sand & Dust, by Nick Brooks, is another great resource for those wishing to learn a bit more about the conflict between Morocco and Western Sahara. A third blog, Western Sahara Endgame, focuses heavily on politics.
As Global Voices continues coverage of the Western Sahara, we are constantly looking for new blogs to read. Please let us know if you find any!
India: Bomb Blasts in Bangalore
Bangalore, the capital of the state of Karnataka, was hit by bomb blasts a few hours ago. Reports suggest that seven bombs went off in various parts of the city, within a twelve minute timeframe. The blasts were of low intensity and used gelatin sticks. However, a woman was killed, and six people have been injured. The phone lines have been jammed in the city to prevent rumours from flying, and the roads are blocked. Sachin Uppal says
The scene was busy with people getting anxious and asking what's going on, however I have not see anything in particular. It was all filled with Police men trying to sort out the chaotic traffic and managing people.
Bangalore has been a high growth city for past 10 years now and has been peaceful. However, it seems like many people do not want that to happen. It can also be a political unrest or some kind of terrorist act. However, in the past couple of years this has been the 3rd biggest incident of Bomp blast in a city like Bangalore.
iisc life trawls the web for some information and doesn't find much. Bangalore Metblogs has some information on the exact location of the blasts. Keep Sakes points out to the inadequate infrastructure in the city.
Already we have no electricity, no petrol, no diesel, no infrastucture, no pavements to drive on (yeah, we drive on pavements, for the lack of space elsewhere), no rains, no metro , not even a proper name to call the city - “bangalore? bengalooru? bengaluroo? what??”… and now, of all things, we have a blast??? Isnt the city already on its way to ruin by itself that one H-A-D to put in a blast into this concotion as well ?
Vikas Sharma talks of the poor security arrangements in the city.
It was bound to happen. With light security, poor enforcement of law and laid back attitude of the Bangalore police, Bangalore would surely be targeted sooner or later. I started writing this post when I heard of one bomb blast near Madiwala, by now the count has gone up to eight! I hope this is not the signs of things to come… God forbid.
I have just passed Mysore road a few minutes back and am happy to be in front of my PC in the office, but still unsure if there could be bomb nearby…
Hari Shenoy writes about the anxiety that people in his office are experiencing.
Nayandahalli, which is quite close to my office has also been the location of one of the explosions, and the proximity of this explosion to my office has had people here up in a tizzy. There is a palpable tension in the atmosphere with cell phones ringing or people making calls to their near and dear ones hoping that they stay put in a place that is safe or stay at home out of harm's way.
While news channels (Times Now) was stating that the target was primarily the IT sector, with blasts on Hosur Road, Koramangala and such, it is quite unfounded to make such an assumption since the IT industry people would be the ones that would be among the most ensconed and protected among all others, given the levels of security within and outside their premises.
Quite a few people are twittering about the blasts. Jace says “… despite that we're a half kilometre away from the nearest blast. people are relieved their internet connection hasn't been hit.”. Constant updates on twitter user blastnews.
Links for Fri, 2008-07
Naijagal comments on the work of Sierra Leonan designer Adama Kargbo, who returned to her country after studying in the US to create a fashion line called Aschobi (photos included in the post). She says: “Sierra Leone isn't the first place you'd think of finding couture, but the country is changing”.
Ephrem Madebo of the blog Enset revisits the old debate of peaceful versus non-peaceful struggle for democracy in Ethiopia, after listening to a talk by Professor Mesfin.
Imnakoya of the blog Grandiose Parlor gives an overview of the recent corruption scandals and teachers' strikes that have recently happened in Nigeria.
Codrin Arsene of the African Politics blog comments on the recently released Failed States Index for 2008, noting that “seven out of the ten most failed states in the world are from Africa, namely Somalia (1st), Sudan (2nd), Zimbabwe (3rd), Chad (4th), the Democratic Republic of Congo (6th), Cote D’Ivoire (8th) and the Central African Republic (10th).”
Dibussi Tande of the blog Scribbles from the den quotes an article from the newspaper Eden in which the U.S Ambassador to Cameroon explains why tourists and investors are not coming more to that country.
Photographer Álvaro López was recently nominated for the prestigious Ibero-American New Journalism prize for his series called Terrorism in El Salvador. His photos showed a violent confrontation between a protestor and police, placing the photographer in danger while capturing the images writes Solavá of Hora Cero [es].
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