Archive for
March 25th, 2009
Stories
UAE: Tweeting the Rain from Dubai
It's raining in Dubai and Twitter is abuzz with reactions about the unusual torrents for this time of year.
MMM, a Tunisian blogger who works in Dubai, remarks:
Omar F Kassim can't hide his excitement:
while Ash Chagla declares:
And what's so special about the rain? TeeJayGee69 explains:
Josephine Lake is excited and looking forward to no school tomorrow:
Parky London has other worries on his mind and tweets:
Meanwhile, mmgoon reports there is no television:
and Ryan Harrison complains about driving standards:
Our last tweet is from Mister Aedan, who notes:
Sadly, even if he were to get great photographs, uploading them to Flickr and sharing them with friends would be a problem as the service is censored in the UAE.
Tunisia: Bloggers Divided on Qaradawi's Visit
Discussions continue in the Tunisian blogosphere and Facebook following the visit of Egyptian Islamic scholar Yousif Qaradawi, who is based in Qatar, to the secular country two weeks ago.
While some were enthusiastic, applauding the visit and creating a Facebook group to express their joy and happiness, others have formed a group protesting against and opposing this visit.
Qaradawi's official visit to Tunisia on March 4 and 5 was to celebrate Kairouan as a capital for Islamic culture. This visit is considered his first official visit to Tunisia since he accused the Tunisian government of hostility towards Islam and Muslims. He also accused Tunisian poet Sghaier Awled Ahmed, of being an infidel in his book: Secular extremism in Islam: The Cases of Tunisia and Turkey, which was published in 2001.
The supporters of the visit saw in this official visit a change in the government's policy towards Islam and Islamism and a sign of the failure of the secular project in Tunisia. Rashed Ghannuchi president of the now banned Islamic movement Annahdha shared the movement's joy over the visit and he also called upon the Tunisian authorities to cancel the decree prohibiting the hijab (Islamic headscarf worn by women), in a Press release he issued from London.
The visit's opponents explained on their part that Qaradawi had already attacked Tunisians and Tunisia in his book cited above. They saw this visit as another of the games played by the Tunisian government to win support during the elections, especially since Qaradawi started his visit by going to the premises of radio Zaitouna, established by the Tunisian president's son-in-law Sakhr Materi, who is establishing an Islamic bank in Tunisia. They saw this initiative as a support to these projects, especially that Qaradawi is very popular among Tunisians. Furthermore , they saw in this visit a threatening to the secular environment reigning in Tunisia since the rule of the first president.
Tunisian Debate expressed his opinion through caricatures as usual:
He added:
La dernière visite de l'Imam Qardhawi aurait pu passer inaperçue si elle n'avait revêtu un caractère officiel. En effet, Le tapis mauve que lui a déroulé le ministre de la culture et les Unes que lui ont consacré les médias ont suscité un vif débat dans la blogosphère. Les Laïques y on vu une menace contre les acquis progressistes amenés par Bourguiba tandis que les conservateurs se sont réjouis du retour à la normale de la Tunisie qui se réveille enfin de sa laïque léthargie made in occident. Un dialogue de sourd entre les uns et les autres a noyé toute possibilité d'entente sur la sempiternelle question de la laïcité et de l'Islam.
He also talked about authorties' agenda behind this official invitation:
Le régime en mélangeant les genres entretient des clivages et empêche la société de débattre clairement de ses divergences. Sa stratégie consiste à acheter la paix sociale en usant de toutes les voix discordantes que peut produire le corps social. Il les récupèrera à son compte et les mettra en scène dans un simulacre de démocratie.
Libya: From Funerals to Weddings
It's been difficult to pinpoint what the Libyan blogosphere has been discussing in the past months since the Gaza bombings.
This is because many of the more known bloggers have been on a bit of Winter hiatus. However, the good thing about the Libyan blogs is despite its relevant modesty, there is always a new crop coming out. As a reader, it takes me a bit of time to adjust but then I learn to appreciate the new blogs and the fresh perspectives.
In this regard, I've been touring the Libyan blogs for the last couple of weeks hunting for those voices and stories of interest. The only common line sometimes would be that the author is Libyan or lives in Libya.
American (living in Libya) blogger On the Edge recently wrote about miscellaneous events but the most heart wrenching part from her post was the passing away of the family cousin as a result of medical malpractice in Libya.
“The second funeral was for a well loved cousin .This was over the week end and up until today it continues .She had asthma and was ill with it off and on but we all knew this . Sometimes she would have to be hospitalized for treatment but never for long .On days like we had last week when it was so dusty , it was hard for her to breath. Sometimes this lead to a chest infection , which is what had happened to her last week .
She was feeling bad and having breathing difficulty's and felt the need to go see the doctor . She did and he told her she had a chest infection that needed a injection of anti biotic”s to give her immediate relief , along with a breathing treatment . She said ok , but I can't have penicillin . I am allergic to it . When the injection came she asked what the medicine was and was told it was penicillin . She told them not to give it to her because of her allergies and they told her not to worry about it . She argued with them over it but they gave it to her anyway .[sic]”
Khadijateri, another American blogger married to a Libyan, is asking for feedback on the newly released WiMax internet service. She received a lot of tips in the comment section.
“I ‘ve been watching the news about Libya's Wimax Internet. It opened to the general public a few months ago but I only know one person that paid for a subscription and modem only to find that there was no reception where they lived (not far from Tripoli's city centre).”
It is worth noting Libya is another country which has taken the step to deploy WiMax to provide internet users with another choice and bypass infrastructure difficulties.
Shahrazad is a new female Libyan blogger, who has been working as a tour guide but is looking into changing her profession. Shahrazad has two blogs Shahrazad's Blahs and Shahrazad's secret recipes, which is self explanatory.
In her latest post Shahrazad takes us on a tour of the souk [market] in Tripoli and we are regaled by her photos, which trigger a trip down memory lane for her readers.
“The souk is a favourite place of mine and I enjoy shopping for old Libyan and Italian silver things-from trays to jewelery. “
Anglolibyan has been invited to a screening of a documentary Autumn Thunder about Libya by Prince Mohammed Alsenussi, a son of the nephew of the deposed late King Idris of Libya. During the event which took place in London he managed to meet up not only with the dashing prince and some friends but also with another Libyan blogger going by the name of Braveheart.
Though Autumn Thunder as described deals with the usual issues presented by exiled monarchies it made a good launchpad for discussion about the various merits of changes undertaken in Libya since independence.
The recent celebration of Mother's Day ( March 21) in the MENA region and especially in the Arab speaking world has brought its spate of posts for the occasion. This is especially true for Libya since we celebrate Children's Day on March 20 and so the two events are always linked.
While there were numerous posts for the occasion the most touching is again by one new member of the Libyan blogosphere. Lolita from Lolita's Corner writes:
” The mother in me
Tried all I could
But to no avail
To hear little footsteps
Running and giggling away
Dreams and wishes are just that
But reality is a different showcase
Which I have to face and hopefully accept”
Lolita's melancholic poetry style goes straight to the heart and seems to be a coping mechanism to help with the loss of her parents and also to exorcise lost love. Additionally we learn that she is unable to have children, which is of course doubly sad on mother's day.
Safia's latest reincarnation on the blogs goes by the name of LadyCroc's Lounge. Her posts on any topic, including the latest one, are always questioning, quasi metaphysical with a sprinkling of sufism denote an inner search for the truth and for peace.
“There are indeed moments of bliss. During such moments I can truly feel the rainbow touching my heart. Those are the moments of mercy.
A few days ago I felt such a moment. My biggest wish in such a moment is to have the ability to kill time instantly, or just to freeze everything, continuing forever and ever in that short moment. These are moments of strenght for me, reviving my soul like hot spring rain reviving frozen buds buried in the cold soil of winter.
Allahs mercy, even if just short of an eyedrop, is truly eternal!”
Luna also is a recent addition to the Libyan family, she is giving away her two daughters in marriage very soon and has stepped into a hornet nest recently with her topic on relationships between Libyan men and educated smart Libyan women.
“When discussing this issue with my girlfriends many which are multicultural ,some married to Libyans others divorced, we came to a conclusion that men in general , but especially Libyan men, seem to thoughroghly enjoy the intelligence of women ,in everyday co working relationships, while discussing current or past issues- but at the end of the day, that they settle for the stupid ones when marrying , to make them feel grand machos! [sic]”.
This were just a few of the varied topics being discussed in the Libyan space.
Egypt: Google doodle by orphans
More than 160 Egyptian orphans took part in a Google doodle competition, held for the first time in Egypt and the Middle East. The winning design will be displayed on Egypt's Google homepage google.com.eg on April 3, which marks Orphan Day in Egypt. The day is celebrated annually on the first Friday of April.
Over the past few years, Google has shown more interest in the Middle East, starting with the opening of its Middle East office in Egypt, in 2006. Add to that, Google recently launched a new blog in Arabic.
Teedoz writes about the doodle competition saying:
Mohammadkotb and Ahmed Hamdy published a forwarded email from the Google Student Ambassador at Alexandria University, Amr Ebaid, who explains further details of the competition:
On 20th of March, Google organized the first ever Doodle for Google Competition in the Middle East. We invited over 160 orphans from different orphanages in Egypt at the GUC premises for a fun day. The kids drew AMAZING doodles that exceeded expectations. It was loads of fun, and most importantly, the kids enjoyed it!
Khaled AbulNaga, the Egyptian movie star, attended the event, and he was really touched by the children, and decided to sponsor one of them until he graduates from college!
Commenting on the email, MohammadKotb wrote his reactions after reading it, as well as mentioning the doodles he liked and voted for:
So after reading this email, I went to the link of the doodles and really I found very nice doodles made by the small Egyptians, who are very genius, and I have liked two doodle. The first doodle which is very very simple which is the doodle in the beginning of my post made by a child called Gaber Seror he is 15 years old, and this was the doodle I vote to it. And the second one was the following doodle and it was made by a child called Ahmad Taha who is 11 years old, and the most thing I liked it in this doodle is “Edret el fool” as I love the beans sooooo much
Google doodle by Ahmed Taha, 11 years old.
Noblese also urged people to vote for the winning doodle, in order to encourage young Egyptian talent:
Now, we want the whole world to know how talented Egyptian children are…we want to share this link with everyone, and ask people to vote for the winning doodle. The voting will last until the end of March, so VOTE now and forward to all your friends.
VOTE NOW: http://www.google.com.eg/myegypt - English Version
PLEASE FORWARD and SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS…show the kids that their art was well appreciated.
Zimbabwe: Bloggers not happy with the Coalition Government
Zimbabwean bloggers are unhappy with the way things are turning out within the coalition government between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai. The reactions are a mixture of distrust of Mugabe ad disappointment in the policy approaches of the MDC.
The blog Living Zimbabwe sees no point in Tsvangirai's remaining as Prime Minister if he is powerless. Supporting Mrs Bennett's statement that “unless Tsvangirai shows leadership now, it is going to be a waste of time having an inclusive government anyway”, the blogger says:
Nonetheless, what Mrs. Bennett had to say about the GNU was straight to the point and a fact that cannot be ignored. If Tsvangirai cannot protect Roy Bennett, what is the point of him being Prime Minister?
Most bloggers are frustrated by the lack of visible change in the lives of ordinary Zimbabwe. Kubatana blog, for instance, has a photo of a Zimbabwean reading the state-owned daily newspaper, The Herald, from 11 March, exactly a month after Tsvangirai was sworn in, with the headline: Harare Runs Out Of Water - Again.
Mostly in the firing line is Nelson Chamisa, the new MDC minister in charge of telephone and Internet services (ICT Minister) in Zimbabwe. Kubatana again reproduces a letter sent to the state-controlled telephone company, TelOne, which Chamisa is now in charge of and which is threatening legal action against the company for their “high-handedness”
Zimbabwe's collapse of Internet services, cut off by Intelsat because TelOne had not paid its debts, also elicited biting responses from the blogosphere.
Peace Love and Happiness blog has a post entitled, “Zimbabwe: Minister of Information and Technology, Pull Up Your Socks.” In it, the blogger says:
It has been a month since Nelson Chamisa was sworn in as Minister of Communications and Technology and by now we expect him to have made inroads towards the improvement of the telecommunications industry or at least made a tour of all the TelOne telecommunications exchange control rooms so that he familiarises himself with how the company operates but he hasn't done that. If he had done that he would have been informed that TelOne bills that are red in arrears and he would have sorted that problem. The word that is out among Zimbabweans at the moment is that Nelson Chamisa is very good at talking as an opposition member and very weak when it comes to walking the talk.
On Magora's Zimbabwe Blog,in an article entitled: Is Nelson Chamisa an Incompetent, Drooling and Clueless Minister, the new MDC minister is blamed for following discredited policies from ZANU PF, such as price controls on mobile phone charges:
Last week, Comrade Minister Chamisa announced that mobile phone charges were too high in Zimbabwe (which they are) and he was going to send a directive to mobile phone companies to reduce their charges drastically. So, we are back to price controls, which everyone, including the resident madman at the corner of First St and Jason Moyo as well as street kids, knows does not work. ZANU PF tried it and service suffered as a result. Infrastructure collapsed. Because profit margins are a function of the market, and not a result of a minister's say-so. It is an elementary concept, really, and I wonder how the MDC fail to grasp it.
What on earth has possessed Chamisa? I ask again.
With power and water cuts continuing, this week the world should not be surprised to hear of more riots by soldiers. Most of them are failing to access their US$100 from the banks as promised by the Inclusive Government:
There is chaos in Harare today and you should not be surprised to hear later on that soldiers have gone on the rampage again.First street is absolutely choked with soldiers, policemen, teachers and other civil servants who are failing to access their US$100 salaries. They have been trying since Friday and it clear this morning on First Street that some of them have slept at the banks waiting for them to open. There are blankets and long jackets spread on the pavement, where the civil servants are sitting waiting for the money to get to the banks.
Links for Wed, 2009-03
Stephen Ellis, co-author (with Solofo Randrianja) of Madagascar: A Short History, explains that Ravalomanana's removal can be attributed to two main factors: his use of presidential power to further business interests and his alienation of the provincial political class and the armed forces.
Uncommon Sense and Octavo Cerco share their thoughts on reports that the Cuban police “have surrounded the home of Cuban dissident Jorge Luis García Pérez (Antúnez), who for more than a month has [led] a hunger strike to protest abuses by the Castro dictatorship.”
Repeating Islands Blog sends greetings to Guadeloupean novelist Myriam Warner-Vieyra on her 70th birthday.
The previously detained Cuban photographer and musician have been released - Sunrise in Havana has the details.
Abeng News Magazine asks of the results of the recent by-election in West Portland: “What does it tell us about where things currently stand in Jamaica, if this constituency can be viewed as a microcosm of the Jamaican body politic?”, adding, “It’s high time this dual citizenship issue is seriously and objectively addressed.”
Guyana-Gyal blogs about Allen Stanford, issuing this piece of advice she learned from a friend: “Beware of those with sugar-tongue and oily lips.”
Blogsville Initiatives is a post about various initiatives started by Nigerian bloggers, which include Naija Bloggers Award and Blogsville Idol 2007.
Samuel T. Bowin is a Liberian tailor who lost everything except a pair of trousers and a shirt. How did he win US$10,000?
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