Archive for
February 13th, 2009
Stories
India: The Pink Underwear Resistance
On any ordinary afternoon, in most cosmopolitan spaces, it is OK for men and women to go out for a drink and ‘chill out’. Most of us do not live life with the concept of ‘morale policing’ breathing down our back. However, in India, as liberal and free a woman is, there’s never a guarantee that she will be safe.Recently, some 3 weeks ago on India’ Republic Day, January 26, in Mangalore, South of Mumbai, a bunch of Hindu fundamentalists of the Ram Sena party attacked a group of young college girls who were just chilling out having some drinks at a local pub. The girls were harassed and completely scared off, without any warning… luckily, no one was killed, but I’m sure the emotional trauma level was high.
As a reaction to this event, on February 5th, the Pink Chaddi campaign was kicked off by a few people who posted up a Facebook group online called “Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women”. They decided on a sassy, bold move to send pink colored women’s panties to the Ram Sena party as a ‘Valentine's gift’. More than the actual physical action of couriering underwear to a political party office, it is the concept alone which is buzzing on the minds of everyone in India.
Check out this video of a pile of underwear’s and the ‘love letters’ to the Ram Sena party. This is just a sample of what the campaign is planning, so we will have to wait for Valentines day to find out what really happens in terms of action. They are planning to meet at Pubs on Valentine's day and have a toast (any liquid will do) on behalf of all Indian Women, and these meetings will be recorded and later a video will be made including all of this.
Videos and photographs of the Pink Chaddis are also being collected to be sent to the Ram Sena, as can be seen both on the Facebook group picture page.
On the Pink Chaddi Campaign official blog, it is said that:
We have heard that Mr. Muthalik has decided to send pink saris “with love” in response. We greatly appreciate this and hope he continues to choose similar, non-violent methods to get his point across, just as we have chosen to be non-violent and loving in response to the brutality of the attacks on lovers and women in Mangalore and other parts of Karnataka.
Nevertheless, women from all over India, especially in Bangalore, where the campaign began, are preparing to send their personalized ‘chaddis’, which are underpants, to the Ram Sena party leader, Mr. Muthalik, who has been the man in charge.
The irony is that in a ‘land of Kamasutra’, women all over India have to fight for their rights, for their security, for their freedom and sexuality. One woman, Ree Diwan, posts in the Facebook group an image of pink underpants with “India, the Land of the KamaSutra” overlaid on it, and Patricia Chandrashekar, comments:
can't believe this is happening in the land of KamaSutra. Send these guys on a trip to Khajuraho. Let them see for themselves. The erotic statues are not even wearing chuddies!
We'll have to wait and see how the avalanche of Valentine's Day panties is received by the Ram Sena.
This initiative of female empowerment is not the only one taking place in India right now. Following, on a less dramatic but also effective campaign, women who come from a completely different socio-economic background and region of India give testimony of women’s empowerment. Navsarjan NGO community media group, Apna Malak Maa, present this video proudly profiling a local Women's Village Council in a village in Gujarat, which has taken care of unprecedented development work and solved many of the issues of their village, some issues which had not been solved for more than 20 years, such as sewage draining into their pond and the problem with sand collecting in the river, which meant that water supply lines and wells ran dry.
Thumbnail image used is “The Heart that Sings” by caribbeanfreephoto
Bangladesh: Books By Bloggers
The history of Bangla blogging is relatively short. It was December 2005 when the first Bangla blogging platform was born. But soon more platforms came up and open source development in Bangla input systems eased Bangla computing across the globe and brought more people in blogging.
The most encouraging aspect of Bangla blogging is the number of books the Bangla bloggers have published. Farid writes:
বাংলা ব্লগিং প্ল্যাটফর্ম চালু হবার পরে গত তিন চার বছরে অনেক অলেখকও যেমন লেখালেখিতে হাত পাকিয়েছেন তেমনি অনেক নবীন লেখকরাও ব্লগে লিখে তাদের লেখনীকে ধারিয়ে নিয়েছেন। আর তাই গত প্রায় তিন বছর ধরে প্রতি বছরেই ব্লগ পরিমন্ডল ও ব্লগারদের লেখা বইয়ের সংখ্যা উত্তোরত্তর বাড়ছে। এইবছর তো মোটামুটি ব্লগাররা মিছিল করেই বই ছাপিয়েছেন বিভিন্ন প্রকাশনী থেকে।
This year about 50 books have been published by bloggers targeting the Ekushey Book Fair. Here is a list of those books compiled by blogger Meghbaji. Here is a Facebook group called “Bloggers Book“. Most of these books are fictions, non-fictions and poems by individual writers/bloggers and a few are collection of blog articles.
Organized by some bloggers of Somewherein Blog the third sequel of collection of articles published in blogs called Opor Bastob -3 has been published. This year's theme is 'short story'. Brigade Sixteen writes about the book:
মুক্ত গণমাধ্যমের মুক্ত মতামত কেমন হতে পারে, সে ধারণা আমাদের অনেকেরই আছে। কিন্তু মুক্ত গণমাধ্যমের সাহিত্য - গল্প, কবিতা, উপন্যাস - তাও কি সম্ভব? সে প্রশ্নের উত্তর খুঁজতেই ব্লগের নির্বাচিত লেখা নিয়ে ২০০৭ ও ২০০৮ সালে প্রকাশিত হয়েছিল সংকলন ‘অপরবাস্তব’।
ব্লগারদের কাছ থেকে মনোনয়ন আহ্বান করা হয়েছিল গত বছরের নভেম্বরে। একমাসেরও বেশি সময় ধরে মনোনয়ন গ্রহণের পর নির্বাচিত গল্পগুলো ব্লগারদের সমন্বয়ে গঠিত একটি নির্বাচক প্যানেলের কাছে পাঠানো হয়। তাঁরা একমাস ধরে যাচাই-বাছাই শেষে মোট ২২টি গল্প চূড়ান্ত করেন, যা স্থান পেয়েছে সংকলনে।
বইটির মূল্য রাখা হয়েছে ১০০ টাকা। “বিক্রিলব্ধ সমুদয় অর্থ ব্লগের নানা উদ্যোগ, ক্যাম্পেইন, মানবিক কর্মকান্ড ইত্যাদিতে ব্যয় করা হবে।
In November 2008, we have sought articles by the bloggers. After more than a month of nominating the articles by readers and bloggers they were sent to a selection panel. The panel had selected 22 stories after a month long scrutiny and these were published in the collection of stories.
The price of the book is 100 Taka ($1.45). All proceeds will go to different blog related activities like campaigns, social causes etc.
Shahriar Hasan writes in the comments section:
অনেকেই মনে করেন ব্লগিং মানেই সময় নষ্ট। বইটা তাদের কিনে পড়া উচিৎ।
Kowshik writes in the comments section:
২০০৮ এ ব্লগারদের বই বোধহয় বের হয়েছিল ৭/৮। ২০০৯ এ তো মনে হইতেছে পুরা বইমেলা দখল কইরা নিছে ব্লগাররা। ৫০ টার মত বই! গ্রেট!
Last year bloggers of Sachalayatan, an online writers forum published a collection of blog posts titled ‘Purnomuthi'. This year another collection of posts will be published by some Sachalayatan bloggers.
Sachalayatan has published a catalog [bn] of books published by Sachalayatan bloggers along with detailed description of the writers. The writers forum has also published four literary e-books till-to-date.
Now let us see how the bloggers are reacting to this phenomenon. Mahbub Shahriar writes:
এবারের বইমেলা আমার জন্য অন্যরকম৷ অন্যরকম এই কারণে যে এবারই প্রথম আমি মেলায় লেখক হিসেবে এলাম৷ এর আগে কতবার মেলায় এসেছি পাঠক হিসেবে৷
Lina Dilruba shares her feelings of buying new books and bloggers books:
আজকে বইমেলায় গিয়েছি। ..বইকেনার মূহুর্তগুলো খুব উপভোগ করি।
…
এই আনন্দ, এই সুখানুভূতির প্রকাশ ঘটানোর জন্য তাই ব্লগে বসলাম।
…
ব্লগার বন্ধুদের বই কিনিনি আজ। অফিস থেকে যখন বেরিয়েছিলাম তখন বইয়ের লিস্টটা নিয়ে বের হইনি। পরেরবার প্রথম তালিকাটা ব্লগারদের জন্য বরাদ্ধ থাকবে।
….
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I am blogging to share my excitements of buying new books.
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I could not buy the books of the blogger friends because I left the list at the office. I promise the next day their books will be the first priority.
Mamun M. Aziz who blogs with the pseudonym Pathik writes:
প্রকাশক ফোন করে জানালেন আজ বইমেলায় চলে এসেছে আমার গল্পের বই –তথাপি।
ইস ! নিজে এখনো দেখলাম না।
কাল ইনশাল্লাহ যাব মেলায়।
Ahmedur Rashid, a publisher and a blogger is writing a series on the book fair and the bloggers each day. You can buy Bangla books online and learn more infos about Boi Mela from here. Anno Anon posts some pictures of the book fair.
Many bloggers are using blogs to advertise for free about their books and posting reviews to attract new readers. (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10)
The publication of books and the book fair have also united the bloggers across platforms. Mahmudur Rahman writes:
আজ বইমেলায় ব্লগারদের বিশাল মহামিলন ঘটবে। সচলায়তন,সা.ইন,আমার ব্লগ এবং প্রথমআলো ব্লগের ব্লগাররা মিলিত হবেন ১৯২নং স্টলের সামনে। আজ অনেক ব্লগারের বই বের হবে। ঢাকার বাহিরের অনেক ব্লগারই আসবেন আজ।
Egypt: Bloggers Rally Against Sexual Predators
Asser Yasser is an Egyptian female blogger who recently moved to Mokattam area with her family. Her maid complained of how she got harassed on the street on her way to or from Asser's home. Her 15 year old niece who lives with them complained of the violating words that she gets bombarded with on her way to and from school. And one day Asser made a horrible mistake and decided to walk to a kiosk 200 meters away from home to buy her children some candy. How dare she walk in the street? How dare she leave her car behind?
On her blog [AR], Asser narrated how she was violated:
It got more interesting when the father of the 19-year-old harasser snapped at Asser telling her to pick on someone her age. The father did not see or realize the gravity of what his son did. Now the father, the officers, and many others are begging Asser to drop the charges for the sake of the “poor children's” future.
Blogger Enas Lotfy wrote
Enas also highlighted other blogs and bloggers that support Asser:
Late Night Stories [AR], who told her that she is not the one who will ruin the boy's future as his parents did that long ago.
Egypt Watchman [AR], who told her that withdrawing the report is defeat and she should never accept defeat.
Osama Abdel Aal [AR], told her to do it for the sake of our mothers and sisters.
Mohamed Hamdy [AR], was the first to report the incident and his post was a cry for help addressed to all bloggers.
Desert Cat [AR], told her that she has justice on her side.
Justice for every one [AR], urged every woman, man and child in Egypt to fight sexual harassment by spreading awareness, changing dark beliefs, and by standing up for their right to a safe secure street.
The Presidential Palace [AR], said that we need to stop burying our heads in the sand until we hear another victim scream; we need to finish what we started.
Gharam [AR], wondered at the end of her post if one year in prison and a fine of L.E. 200 (less than 50 US$) is enough punishment for a man who terrorized a woman in the street.
Fantasia's World [AR], supported Asser and at the end of her post said that even if the harassment victim gave in to pressure and did not go to court, that should not drop the charges. The offender should pay either way.
Tartashet Afkar [AR], (random thoughts) also asked Asser to be strong and invited supporters to the Facebook Group created by Mohamed Hamdy
Bella [AR], wrote a very angry post accusing the Egyptian society of protecting harassers by giving them the chance to get away with their disgusting acts.
Ana Horra [AR], (I am Free) urged bloggers to join hands to make the streets a safe place for us
Zeinobia said that those neighbors who did not run to her rescue must remember that their girls and wives can be in the same situation and they will wish that anyone will come to their rescue.
Egyptian Fe-mail (me) told her not to give in to pressure for it is our right to walk in the street feeling some sort of security. The harasser and his friends did not think of their futures when they were getting high, when they violated her, or when she begged them to spare someone the age of their mother.
Al Nas Wa Al Alam [AR], (People and the World) used an Egyptian proverb to describe what will happen if Asser made peace with her harasser; her silence will invite more harassers and will result in more victims.
A New Female [AR], also reported the incident and invited people to another Facebook Group discussing the case and supporting the blogger.
Asser's courage inspired Shaimaa Gamaal to share her story:
It has been almost a year on the incident when I was sexually harassed in the safe streets of Cairo. I was out with my cousin when out of no where appeared an old guy, old because I think he is around 50, wearing a suit and looks decent and started showering our ears with dirty sexual comments.
She confronted him:
Every time I remember that moment I get a cold shiver. The guy’s pants were unzipped (imagine the view!) and he was talking dirty. It was scary and I was alone because I left my cousin behind and she was in shock. The crowded streets of Cairo all of a sudden seemed empty and the only sign of help was a speeding car that stopped a 100 meters from where we were. And I started yelling at him. He didn’t move at 1st but when I took a step towards him yelling he started running from me so I started running after him yelling and cursing till he disappeared.
I got over that incident and almost forgot it till yesterday when I found [Asser] blogging about a similar incident.
The veil-no-veil argument also kicks in:
There are even people talking about that she deserved it because she isn’t veiled. I am veiled. I don’t wear make up. I don’t wear high heals. I walk like a soldier. I wear a frown to the street and I still got harassed. I didn’t report it because I was never taught to report it … It is always my fault because I was born Egyptian, in a community with a serious identity problem. It is my fault because I am a woman and a genius spread the word the women are just sex toys!
As for Asser, Shaimaa says:
I pray for her to have the peace of mind amidst the pressures around her. I pray for her to get through this tough time. I pray for justice to prevail.
Jessyz wrote a Four Step Solution to Sexual Harassment:
I think I found the perfect solution to sexual offenders harassers in Egypt. This is a Four step solution to solve the problem. Instead of sending them to jail or making them pay a fine I think when someone is convicted they should:
1- Be tattooed on their forehead with a temporary tattoo that stays for 1 month, 3 months, 6 months or 1 year depending on their crime. It should say “Sexual Offender” clearly, this should scare most people off.
2- They should also serve community service time such as cleaning the streets, wearing a printed overall that says “Sexual Offender” all over it in very public areas.
3- A second time offender’s ID should include that they are a sexual offender.
4- If the sexual offender commits a third count, then they should be neutered.Seriously too, I think the offender’s parents should also be convicted of the inability to raise a civilized child. Fear of public humiliation might make offenders and possible offenders rethink their actions.
Wandering Scarab offered another solution and wondered if the Rape-aXe could really work.
We've all heard of chastity belts which originated in the medieval era. They were designed to be impenetrable, though I'm not so sure they were invented with rape victims in mind … A similar device was invented in 2000 by South African Jaap Haumann … A sexual offender would instantly lose a chunk of his member … A more simple yet effective device is the Rape-aXe which was designed by Sonette Ehlers, also South African. Rape-aXe is a two fold device [that] can only be removed surgically, whereby hospital staff alert the authorities. Essentially, it could be very useful in the identification and prosecution of rapists.
She concluded her post saying:
After all, desperate times call for desperate measures.
China: CCTV under fire
On the night of February 9, part of China Central Television (CCTV) Tower caught fire when a squad was shooting fireworks to celebrate the Lantern Festival. The fire has reportedly killed one fireman, injured seven other people, and destroyed billions of yuan in broadcast facilities.
Speculators have widely noticed the Chinese netizens’ online comments of the CCTV fire. But in fact, just as the authorities started to filter the relevant information in Chinese cyberspace, alternative communication means have been employed to air the grassroots views.
On February 10, I received a SMS message from one of my close friends, consisting of a traditional Chinese couplet available online at the moment:
上联：除夕夜捧红小沈阳
下联：元宵节火烧大裤衩
横批：央视不差钱
Second line: The Lantern Festival fireworks set the boot-shaped building on fire
Horizontal line: CCTV never short of money
The message ends with such a conclusion:
做人不能太CCTV啦！否则，躲得过初一，也躲不过十五！
On February 12, I received an email from Mr. Yue (岳先生), aggregating a myriad of grassroots comments and snapshots on the fire. One of its captions reads:
央视真有钱啊，人家元宵节放焰火，丫元宵节烧大楼。
Another netizen is quoted as commenting on CCTV’s misdoing:
主流媒体一直在教育我们诚实做人、遵纪守法，可你们却违规。我们的心情很凝重。
Out of my expectation, one commentator feels optimistic about the consequence of the fire:
一拆一建GDP又上去了，拉动了内需，又解决了大量农民工的临时饭碗问题。当事人立功受奖！
One person is dissatisfied with CCTV’s professional performance:
CCTV 报道美国911大火是第一时间且连续滚动报道，而对自家的大火却只在十几小时后哼了一下。这是什么精神？这是无私忘我的精神！
To draw a lesson from the fire, someone recommends politically:
“喉舌”上火，请用“民主牌”润喉片！
But I am afraid the Chinese people’s irony will be misintertpreted as gloat, merciless or inhuman. As a matter of fact, the aforementioned satire illustrated the grassroots concerns over the incident, their sympathy with the dead and injured, their anger with CCTV, and their love of the country.
New Zimbabwe Has Arrived, But…
Movement for Democratic Change president Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in Wednesday as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe in a historic move to establish a government of national unity after years of political, economic and social crises. The swearing in of Morgan Tsvangirai is expected to pave way for the revival of the economy and bring about rule of law and genuine democratic changes. Following this historic move, we decided to look at the voices, analyses and mood of Zimbabweans in the blogosphere.
Harare based blogger and Global Voices Author, Denford Magora, explains where the real political power lies in the new government structure. He has no doubt that the power lies with Robert Mugabe. He explains why:
Instead of being sworn in by the Chief Justice of Zimbabwe as Mugabe was, Tsvangirai was sworn in by Mugabe. The significance of this lies in the fact that, despite Tsvangirai's previous protestations that he was on par with Mugabe in a government of equals, he will actually be reporting to the “President”.
Point number two is the actual oath itself. In this oath, Tsvangirai swore to serve faithfully as Prime Minister, as expected, but then he was also sworn into cabinet and had to say that he will offer, to the best of ability, advice to the president in that cabinet. There was no mention of the Council of Ministers, which Tsvangirai Chairs, while Mugabe chairs cabinet.
The significance of this is that it is clear that the Council of Ministers has virtually no standing constitutionally. It is only an operational detail, an organisational convenience. It was not mentioned at all during the swearing in. But the cabinet, which Mugabe will chair and which Tsvangirai had to swear to respect and to serve faithfully, was mentioned by all three people sworn in today.
This is important because I fully expect that arguments that will crop up in future will be related to the powers of the Council of Ministers, chaired by Tsvangirai, and Cabinet, chaired by Mugabe. Tsvangirai will, before long, find that decisions made by the Council will be overturned or even ignored at Cabinet if they do not fall in line with Mugabe's own policies and “vision”.
Legally Mugabe will have a leg to stand on when he breaches the decisions of the Council because, as we witnessed today, the Council of Ministers is not equal to the cabinet. Tsvangirai has sought to lead people to believe that it is, just as he still seeks to make people that this government is a two-year government, when in fact Mugabe is very clear and has even told Tsvangirai to his face that this is a five-year government, in which Mugabe seeks to see through his “term of office” arising out of the June 27 presidential run-off hoax.
Denford wonders why Morgan Tsvangirai's supporters did not show up for the event:
What I found puzzling was that Tsvangirai's supporters on the continent did not show up for his inauguration. Khama of Botswana was nowhere to be seen. Nor was Jakaya Kikwete, president of Tanzania, whom the state media have started to badmouth recently for his alleged closeness to the opposition leader. President Wade of Senegal, who is also a supporter of Tsvangirai, was also absent. Still, it was a good day.
The swearing in of ministers is something we also need to pay attention to see where the “real power” lies. Denford continues:
On Friday, the ministers will be sworn in. It will be interesting to see who will swear them in, Mugabe or Tsvangirai. If it is Mugabe, as I fully expect, since he is the one that Chairs cabinet, then it will be final confirmation that Tsvangirai is being treated constitutionally as the First Minister and nothing more. Of course, no one is going to be sworn in to serve in the Council of Ministers (Chaired by Tsvangirai), because this is a body that will report to cabinet, so it is like a sub-committee.
Eusebia celebrates the arrival of new Zimbabwe, “…albeit not in the democratic way we all would have loved it to happen….” Democracy, argues Eusebia, should come out of a free and fair democratic elections:
Democracy the way we understand it has been shrugged of by this coalition government which is not a result of free and fair democratic elections but most Zimbabweans are not worried about that. Democracy has been made to wait awhile until the near death nation has been rescucitated, until the suffering of the people due to the economic collapse in the country has been eliminated, until the sick have been saved from dying because of lack of hospital treatment and until the education system has been revived. I personally think Tsvangirai and the MDC made a good decision and am going to support the coalition government by doing my part in rebuilding the nation, I believe that the change I want to see in this nation has to begin with me.
She rejoiced over the swearing in of Morgan Tsvangirai with the voice of Celine Dion:
Is it just me or do you also think of music every time something good happens in your life. Today as I rejoiced over the swearing in of Tsvangirai as Prime Minister the song, ” A new day has come,” by Celine Dion invaded my mind because I had been waiting for so long for a miracle to happen in Zimbabwe and reverse the plight of the suffering people. Everyone told me to be strong, to hold on and not shed a tear.
Through the darkness and good times, I knew I'd make it through, was determined to survive it all and not be counted as one of the dead victims of cholera or hunger.
The suffering in Zimbabwe, everywhere I looked felt like I was in a tunnel where I could not see the light but, hush now I see a light in the sky. Oh it's almost blinding me, feels like the country has been touched by an angel with love.
Below is a widget with the lyrics of this song that I am celebrating this wonderful day in the history of Zimbabwe with.
Bearded Man does not seem to have much faith in the new government since “Mugabe is obviously power-hungry and has little or no intention of sharing power with anybody…” and ZANU PF operates under the “golden rule”:
ZANU PF operate under what I call ‘the golden rule' - him with the gold makes the rules.
As I stated in my editorial “Tsvangirai Is Prime Minister - But Will He Be Allowed To Hold The Position?” yesterday, ” But the question which will only be answered by the passing of time is: Will Tsvangirai be allowed to fulfil the functions of Prime Minister, or will he find each and every move he makes being blocked and parried by Mugabe and his cohorts?
As the present agreement states that various advents and decisions have to be made jointly by Mugabe and Tsvangirai - and given the history between the two, are we in for more lengthy negotiations which will result in either Mugabe having his own way, or a permanent stalemate?”
Sokwanele posts a text message sent from the stadium when the swearing in ceremony was taking place:
This sms from the stadium just sent by a text message from someone there.
“mt [Morgan Tsvangirai] is making speech to crowd of 60 thousand. he welcomed all incl zpf [ZANU PF] and said there would be no going back on the agreement. they now leading up to new elections. he called on sadc to be partners. 19 yrs ago to the day mandela walked out of prison. the struggle has moved to a new arena. polarising of the country must end today. abuse of human rights must end. freedom of expression, no pseudo democracy, must implement democratisatio in parliament. calls for release of all political prisoners.”
More:
“drop duties on food. stabilise economy, zim has skills and brains to create new zim. schools and hospitals to be priority. pay in forex is guaranteed for army, teachers and health workers by end of month. calls for opening of schools on monday. party and state shall be apart. pm calls for transparent govt, appeals to all parties to recongnise each other. calls on zim to help themselves, unite and asks the people to unite with democratic values. asks for support from zim and god bless zim.”
The blog also has the inauguration speech:
His Excellency, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai,
Your Majesty, King Mswati III, the Chairman of the AU Commission, Mr Jean Ping, President Mugabe, former President Mbeki, Your Excellencies, Honoured Guests, People of Zimbabwe,
Today is an historic day for our country. As we form this transitional government, we look back with reflection on the difficult journey that has brought us to this day, and look forward with determination to the road that lies ahead.
To my fellow African leaders, there can be no turning back on the political agreement which each party has signed, knowing it is not a perfect agreement but still a workable one. An agreement that if implemented with good faith, will deliver a peaceful way forward toward a stable economy, a new constitution and free and fair elections. Brothers and sisters in SADC and the AU, we are counting on you to be our partners and to ensure that this agreement is upheld as we face the challenges of rebuilding our country in the days ahead.
Denford posts the list of all ministers of the new government. He notes that the position of the Reserve Bank Governor may become a bargaining chip between Tsvangirai and Mugabe:
Tendai Biti who, during the March 2008 election campaign said Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono “should be put in front of a firing squad” will now be boss to that very same Gono.
It is almost certain that within a month of this government being sworn in, Biti will seek to fire Gono. Mugabe will fight this tooth and nail. In the end, Gono's job may well become a barganing chip between the two leaders, Mugabe and Tsvangirai, as they seek to extract more concessions from each other.
Despite the significance and the historic nature of the swearing in of Morgan Tsvangirai as the Prime Minister, there seems to be a lot of work ahead for the new government to function smoothly as Denford analyses:
While Tsvangirai will be PM, he will not be chairing cabinet meetings. That remains Mugabe's job. He will instead chair the Council of Ministers, which sounds similar to Cabinet is apparently a less powerful body.
This has given rise to fierce disagreements between the two principals, with Mugabe saying that he defines the ministries and then Tsvangirai simply allocated them for his own party members. Tsvangirai, as betrayed by his statement above, insists that as Prime Minister, he should write the job descriptions of the ALL ministers.
Mugabe apparently conceded last week by saying Tsvangirai could write the job descriptions for MDC ministers but must leave ZANU PF ministers alone. Tsvangirai wants to be able to define the mandates of ALL ministers.
Korea: Seven Reasons Why You’re Dumped by Women
There was an interesting post introducing seven reasons why men are dumped by women on a date and giving tips on how you as a man should prevent this disaster. Don’t trust this 100 percent. It won’t always be right.
[…]처음 만나자 마자 이벤트 하는 남성
선물하는 남성 이벤트 좋지요. 이벤트 좋아하지 않는 여성은 아마 없을 것입니다. 그런데 이런 좋은 이벤트도 때와 장소를 가려서 해야 합니다. 이벤트라는 것은 남발해선 안될 비책입니다. 이벤트는 가장 결정적인 순간에 써야 그 효과가 톡톡히 드러나게 됩니다. 바로 감동이라는 선물을 말이죠. 그러나 처음 만나 상대방이 자신을 어떻게 생각하는지도 모르는데 단지 여성들이 이벤트를 좋아한다고 해서 이벤트를 발휘 한다는 것은 조금 낭비이며, 오버스럽습니다. 오히려 여성분에게 더 부담이 될 수 있구요 사실 약간 창피를 줄수도 있습니다. 처음 만났을 때 이벤트는 가급적 삼가하시는게 좋습니다. 선물도 마찬가지입니다.
It sounds good. There are no women who will hate some special events for themselves. However, you should do these kinds of events in appropriate time and places. You should not overuse them. You should have events on decisive and important moments. Then the women can be impressed. If you do the event on the first meeting even though you don’t know what the woman will think about you, you are wasting your time. It will make women uncomfortable. Those women might mock you. When you meet a woman first, don’t do this kind of activity. Don’t even prepare gifts.
좋은 경치, 좋은 음식 사주겠다고 이곳 저곳 방황하기
남성들은 나름데로 준비를 많이 한다고 했습니다. 경치 좋고, 분위기 좋은 곳도 알아 보았고 맛있는 음식을 하는 곳도 알아 보았습니다. 그런데 중요한건 이 남성도 거길 처음 가본다는 것이지요. 확실히 제 집 앞 드나들듯 해 본것이 아니라면 길 찾는 것이나 기타 다른 요소들로 인해 혼란스러울 수 있습니다. 이곳 저곳 돌아다니다 오히려 여성들의 심리가 더 피곤해질 수 있구요 나중엔 그냥 아무데나 갔으면 좋겠다고 생각해 버릴 수 있습니다. 누추하더라도 자신이 훤히 아는 곳, 맛과 좋은 분위기도 좋지만 여성으로 하여금 피곤함이 느끼지 않게 하는 배려가 필요합니다.
Men sometimes prepare too much. They check where good scenes or food are. But the thing is those men also try those places first. You don’t know the direction well either. You might be confused finding those places. If you move around here and there, a woman might be tired and later she might think that anywhere is fine for her. Even though you know humble places, you’d better take her to your familiar places and so she will not feel tired. That’s consideration.
이쁘다. 이쁘다 입에 침이 마르도록 칭찬하기
이쁘단 말 듣는데 안 좋아할 여성 없습니다. 물론 이것도 상대를 봐가면서, 분위기에 맞춰 가면서 짧게 짧게 아주 가끔씩 하는게 좋습니다. 처음 만나자마자 너무 아름답다는 둥, 이렇게 이쁘신데 아직까지 남자친구가 없었다는것이 믿기지 않는 다는 둥 너무 비행기를 띄우려 들면 여성으로 하여금 이 남성이 재미없고 시시하게 느껴질 수 있습니다. 너무 쉽게 감정을 표현하지 말고 조금 여유를 갖고 기다려야 합니다. 벌써 나한테 뻑 갔구나 생각하면 재미 없어지죠.
There are no women who don’t like to hear that they are pretty. But you shouldn’t do so often and, before you comment, you should check whether it is an appropriate moment or not. As soon as you meet the woman, you start blurting out that she is so beautiful and why she hasn’t had a boy friend with such a pretty face. The woman can think that you’re boring and cheesy. Don’t express your feeling too much. You should wait a little bit. It’s not going to be fun if you let her know right away that you have a crush on her.
마술 같은거 하지 말기
말이 필요 없습니다. 데이빗 카퍼필드가 아니라면 기껐해야 카드 마술정도 입니다. 정성은 갸륵하지만 이 것에 호감을 느끼는 여성은 별로 없습니다. 재밌다는 말도 립서비스가 될 가능성이 큽니다. 마술 하지 맙시다.
It is not worth it. If you’re not David Copperfild, what you can do is just card magic. The woman can appreciate your efforts, but she will not get interest to you due to that. She might say it’s funny and you’re good. But possibly it would be lip-service. Please don’t do magic.
자리 옮기실래요? 보다는 자리 옮기시죠
아무리 세련된 여성이라도 즐겨 먹는 음식은 소박합니다. 그렇지만 자리가 자리인지라 소박한 음식을 고르진 않겠지요. 뭐 좋아하시는게 있으세요? 라고 물어봐도 그냥 아무거나 잘 먹어요라고 대답합니다. 차라리 이런 말 보다는 여긴 이게 맛있는데 한번 드셔보시죠라고 약간 강조의 의미로 말하는 것이 좋습니다. 그담에 자리를 옮길 때도 자리 옮기실래요? 보다는 자리 옮기시죠.라고 얘기하는 것이 남성으로 하여금 여성을 리드해 나갈 수 있는 대화방법 입니다.
Even though she looks so fashionable, what she likes to eat might be not that fancy style. But maybe first time she might not choose humble foods due to the nervousness. If you ask ‘What would you like to eat?” She would answer, ‘anything is fine.’ Rather than asking this kind of question, why don’t you say ‘I know a good place. Do you want to try?’ When you move to another place, you’d better also say ‘Let’s move to another place’ rather than ‘Shall we move to another place?” This is a conversational tactic through which men can lead women.
상식이 풍부해 보여라
여성에게 호감을 얻으려면 일단 상대 여성이 관심있어 하는 일 또는 여성이 지금 하고 있는 일에 대해서 같이 얘기 할 수 있어야 합니다. 그런데 세상에는 여러가지 직업이 있고 특히 여성들이 하는 직업은 남성들 보다 더욱 다양 합니다. 또 여성들이 좋아하는 것도 다양하구요. 그중 하나라도 남성이 조금이나마 알고 있다면 대화에 더욱 도움이 됩니다. 게다가 그런 대화를 통해 이런 저런 다른 대화를 남성이 유도해 나갈 수 있습니다. 가장 좋은 것은 상대방이 관심 갖는 것을 나도 알고 있다면 그 대화는 지루하지 않습니다. 풍부한 상식을 유지해 나갈 수 있게 노력해야 합니다.
If you would like to give good impressions to women, you are able to talk about what women are interested and what the women do together. As you know, there are so many kinds of jobs in this world and women’s jobs are more various than men. What women like are more various too. If you know anything, it will help conversations. With that, you can lead various kinds of topics for conversation. The best thing is if you know what the other side is interested, the conversation can’t be boring. You should make efforts to maintain many knowledges, therefore.
취미하나쯤은 가져야 한다
아무리 세상이 각박하고 톱니바퀴 처럼 지루하게 굴러가는 일만 한다고 해도 남녀사이는 그것과는 많이 다릅니다. 취미가 없는 남성은 농장물 하나 자랄 것 같지 않은 척박한 이미지를 줄 수 있습니다. 게다가 취미가 없다면 다른 사람의 취미도 관심이 없는 것이 당연 합니다. 취미 얘기만으로도 많은 대화를 할 수 있지만 취미의 필요성도 못느끼고, 상대방의 취미에 동조도 할 수 없다면 정말 안타까운 일이지요. 취미를 만드시고 뽑내세요. 그리고 상대방 취미 얘기를 귀기울여 들어주는 센스가 필요 합니다.
Even though daily life goes around like a gear and the world is tough and boring, relations between men and women are very different. The man who doesn’t have a hobby is like a barren land that can ‘t have any single plant. If you don’t have a hobby, of course you would not be interested in other people’s hobbies. You can have interesting conversations about hobbies, but you even don’t feel the necessity of having a hobby and don’t understand other’s hobby. Make your own hobby. And it is necessary to hear about the other’s hobby.
Links for Fri, 2009-02
A new phishing scam is making its rounds through many Mexicans' email accounts and Zacateks [es] warns readers what to look for.
The drug cartel violence in Mexico is affecting the city of Phoenix, Arizona, which is now the world city with the second most kidnappings. Latina Lista writes that the US government should move to address the situation in Mexico.
ZaneIrani writes that a group of academics, writers, artists, journalists and Iranian activists throughout the world wrote a letter to the Baha’i community to say that they are ashamed of 150 years of oppression against Baha'is in Iran.
Open-Source Software Saturdays is an initiative in Guatemala to help with the preparations for the Software Installation Festival across Latin America planned for April 25 writes G10 [es].
Dayan Jayatilleka at Groundviews discusses the future of Tamil politics: “Tamil political discourse has to rediscover the heritage of Tamil progressivism.”
Rohan Samarajiva at LIRNEasia comments on the failing international telecom policy of Bangladesh, “illegal termination could not be controlled without bringing down international termination rates.”
Following the recent controversy surrounding a visit by Obama campaign manager David Plouffe to Azerbaijan, Blogger Interrupted says that his $50,000 speaking fee has been donated to the National Democratic Institute.
An initiative in Nigeria to give poets a role in national dialogue: Infocentrix Concept Publishing, ICP is set out to give voice to poets to participate in National discussion.
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