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Francophone Morocco on Eid Mubarak Said · Global Voices
Lydia Beyoud

Last week, Morocco celebrated Aid el-Kebir (“Big Eid”), a festival commemorating Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac, and God's mercy in sparing him.
Family members visit each other over the largest meals they can afford, exchange gifts (often clothing), give alms (zakat, one of the five Pillars of Islam) and sacrifice many cuddly, tasty sheep, a tradition that symbolizes the lamb God gave Abraham to take Isaac's place.
While some bloggers content themselves with offering kind wishes, others focus on diverse topics related to the holiday.
Agharass, a young Moroccan blogger sent out his warm wishes for a happy Eid 1428 (in the Hejira calendar) to the blogosphere, including
Mes meilleurs voeux de bonheur, d’amour, de réussite, de blogging, de partage et toutes les choses qui vous rendent heureux bon, kamlo men 3andkom…pour les musulmans et non musulmans!!!
“best wishes for happiness, love, success, blogging, sharing and all everything that brings you happiness” for both “muslims and non-muslims” [FR]!!!
France-based blogger Larbi writes [FR]:
Les musulmans de France ouvrent le bal demain Mercredi. Les Marocains sont parmi les derniers à le fêter vendredi prochain. A toutes et à tous bonne fête de l’aid. 3wacher mabrouka.
“Muslims in France will open the ball tomorrow, on Wednesday. Moroccans are among the last to celebrate [Aid] this coming Friday. Happy Aid to all. 3wacher mabrouka [“Happy Holidays” in Moroccan] .
Blogger Mourai Redouane waxed thoughtfully about the people he interacts with on a daily basis in Casablanca and who will travel to their far-off towns elsewhere in Morocco to be with their families for the holiday [FR]:
Je rentre chez moi en pensant à ces gens, tout ce petit monde qui va s’effacer momentanément d’un espace et prendre vie dans un autre, même dans un lapse de temps limité. Je me rends compte que je ne les connais pas vraiment ces gens là. Car pour se faire il faudrait les côtoyer là-bas dans leur élément et prêts de leurs racines. C’est en regardant ces gens, en sentant leur émotion et mon émotion à moi aussi que je retrouve le vrai sens de cette fête qui dépasse, à mon avis, de loin tout le cérémonial autour du mouton pour avoir une dimension social et humaine plus profonde, car porteuse de joie de prospérité….et de nouveaux souffles de vie.
A tous ces gens je souhaite un bon Aid, aussi je souhaite à tous ceux qui liront ces lignes Aid moubarak Said avec tous mes vœux de santé et de bonheur.
Une pensée spéciale ira aux femmes qui, je le sais, aiment particulièrement cette fête du fond de leurs cœurs…
I go home thinking about these people, all these little people who are going to momentarily erase themselves from one space and come alive in another, even in a limited lapse of time. I realize that I hardly know these people. To do that I would have to live among them there in their element and [near] to their roots. It was while looking at these people, while feeling their emotion and my own that I found the true meaning of this holiday which in my opinion goes beyond all the ceremony surrounding the sheep, and has a much deeper social and human dimension, bringing joy and prosperity…and new life.
A special thought goes out to the women who, I am positive, particularly love this holiday from the bottom of their hearts…
7didane, often with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek, offers up some Aid el-Kbir Resolutions [FR]:
1- Ne frimez pas avec le mouton : la taille ne compte pas.
2- Ne pas trop manger de viande.
3- Ne frimez pas avec le mouton : un seul suffit. Abraham voulait sacrifier un fils, pas deux.
4- Pensez à partager, à inviter. Et si vous le pouvez aider d'autres à acheter. Et ne frimez pas.
5- Pensez à acheter les habits de la fête aux petits qui n’en ont pas.
6- Ne frimez pas.
7- Pensez à donner entre 5Dhs et 50Dhs aux enfants même s’ils en ont. Et pas plus !
8- Visitez le plus de monde.
9- Souhaiter bonne fête à tout le monde. Même à ceux que vous ne connaissez pas, ceux qui vous rencontrez tout le temps mais à qui vous n’avez jamais adressé la parole, la femme de l’oncle de la tente qui a parlé dans ton dos … Pardonnez
10- Utilisez les gros sacs plastiques. C’est avant tout une fête.
1. Don't be a show-off with your sheep: size doesn't count.
2. Don't eat too much meat.
3. Don't be a show-off with your sheep: one is enough. Abraham wanted to sacrifice one son, not two.
4. Remember to share, to invite. And if you can, help others to purchase [a sheep]. Don't show off.
5. Remember to buy new holiday clothes for children who don't have any.
6. Don't show off.
7. Remember to give between 5 and 50 dirhams to the children, even if they already have some. But not more!
8. Visit as many people as possible.
9. Wish everyone a happy celebration. Even those who don't know, those you pass by all the time but to whom you've never spoken, the wife of the uncle of the aunt who spoke about you behind your back…Forgive her.
10. Use the big plastic bags. It is a celebration after all.
Blogger Agadir posted a funny Aid special on animal husbandry and the characteristics Moroccan judges are looking for in the contest to find the best sheep for the Aid sacrifice.
The post is entitled: “La Star Ac Hawli: Profile of a Sheep” (“Star Academy” being a European (with it's various North African incarnations) version of “American Idol” while “hawli” means “sheep” in Moroccan) [FR]:
Comme promis, nous proposons à nos chers lecteurs qui possèdent des connaissances limitées en élevage d’ovins les trois premiers candidats au casting de la semaine :
Le Sardi: Selon toute logique, nous ouvrons les festivités avec le champion des champions venu tout droit du plateau central, le Sardi. Les bêtes se caractérisent par leur hauteur au garrot et leur couleur blanche (sauf pour le contour des yeux, le museau, les extrémités des pattes et des oreilles qui sont noirs)…les Sardi sont généralement des moutons made in Settat, Kalâat Sraghna et Tadla, très prisés lorsqu’ils sont nourris aux grains.
Le Bergui : Bergui signifie en Dialectal marocain “brun” et désigne la race la plus répandue sur le territoire, avec un cheptel s’élevant à quelques 1 million et demi de brebis. Beaucoup plus petit que le Sardi, le Bergui (ou Tamahdit) est originaire du Moyen-Atlas et se singularise par sa couleur blanche et sa tête brune.
Le Chyadmi : L’autre brun de service est originaire des Chyadma (plaines de la région d’Essaouira). En plus d’une tête vraiment brune, tout le corps a une couleur plus sombre que celle des deux précédentes races.
Nous avons également remarqué un tempérament belliqueux de certains spécimens lors de notre passage au souk, mais nous ne saurions préciser s’il s’agit d’une particularité ou simplement d’un événement anecdotique…
Côté goût, il est connu que la viande d’agneau a un goût très prononcé, contrairement au veau, et que le Sardi demeure le plus apprécié des trois. Mais les qualités gustatives de chacun dépendent avant tout de son régime alimentaire.
As promised, we offer our dear readers who have limited knowledge of ovine rearing the three main candidates for this week's casting:The Sardi: following every logic, we open the festivities with the champion of champions coming strait from the central plateau, the Sardi. Usually of good quality, the animals are characterised by the height of their haunches and their white color…Highly desired because they are grain-fed.The Bergui: Bergui means in the Moroccan dialect “brown” and designates the most widespread species in the territory…much smaller that the Sardi, the Bergui (or Tamahdit [in Berber dialect]) originates in the Middle Atlas mountains and stands out by its white color and brown head.
The Chyadmi: the other brown one on duty originates in the Chyadma (plains in the region of Essaouira). In addition to a truly brown head, the entire body is of a darker color than that of the previous two species.
We also noted a combative temperament of certain specimens during our walk through the souk, but we wouldn't be able to specify whether it was an individual case of simply an anecdotal happenstance…
As for the taste, it's well known that lamp meat has a very strong taste, in contrast to that of the calf, and that the Sardi remains the most appreciated of the three. But the gustative qualities of each one depend above all on its eating habits.
Finally, blogger Bassirou turns to more serious affairs (though this last comment may be debatable by some) with a post about the occasional work opportunities provided by this holiday [FR]:
L’Aïd n’est pas uniquement l’occasion de renforcer les liens et de dissiper les discordes. Il permet aussi de générer des ‘‘emplois’’, aussi saisonniers ou occasionnels soient-ils. Ainsi, le temps d’une fête, nombreux sont ceux qui, par exemple, s’improvisent bouchers, histoire de se faire un peu de sous et… des tripes et têtes de moutons, offerts par des clients généreux. Pendant que d’autres se font brûleurs de têtes et squattent pour la circonstance des trottoirs qui deviennent de vrais dépotoirs.Il y a aussi ces petits transporteurs de moutons, de sacs de foin, de charbon, etc.
Les chennakas également sont là, ces intermédiaires de fortune qui acquièrent des moutons quelques semaines et même quelques heures auparavant (!) auprès des éleveurs, et qu’ils soumettent à une rude épreuve de gavage à l’eau et au sel entre autres, avant de les proposer en vente à un prix trois voire quatre fois plus élevé que le prix d’achat!
Il y a aussi et surtout des voleurs qui veillent et qui gâchent la fête à beaucoup de personnes. A l’approche de l’Aïd, ils écument les campagnes en volant moutons et vaches… Tandis que les moins hardis, mais néanmoins très malins, simulent des querelles dans les rues fréquentées pour attirer les plus crédules dans leur traquenard, et les déposséder en leur faisant la poche à leur insu! C’est tout cela qui pimente la fête …
Aid is not only a time for strengthening ties and clearing up discords. It also allows for generating “employment”, seasonal or occasional though it might be. Thus, during this holiday time, many are those who, for example, contrive to serve as butchers, just to make a few pennies and…mutton tripes and heads, offered by generous clients. While others become “head burners” [burning off the hair from the animals head in order to cook it] and squat on the sidewalks to do so, which become real refuse dump…The chennakas [people who among other nefarious tasks, show up out of nowhere during your haggling session with a sheep vendor, and conspire to overbid you just to drive up the price of the animal, taking a cut of the profits at the end] are also there, those intermediaries of fortune who acquire sheep a few weeks and even a few hours (!) beforehand from the shepherds, which they submit to a cruel ordeal of forcefeeding of salt and water among other things, before offering them for sale at a price three to four times higher than the purchase price!…There are also and above all thieves who wait for and ruin the celebrations for many people. At the approach of Aid, they skim over the countryside stealing sheep and cows…while those less bold but nevertheless quite crafty, feign quarrels in busy streets to attract the most gullible into their trap, and to dispossess them of their pockets’ contents when their backs are turned. All this adds spice to the festivities…

author: Lydia Beyoud


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China: Official Olympics channel’s unveiling ceremony crashed · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Cucqueans can now be added to the list of groups of people who have disrupted affairs within Chinese state television with their grievances. But what does it say when those doing the disrupting are themselves high-profile Chinese state television personalities?
Friday was meant to be a big day for China's main sports channel CCTV-5, with a lavish ceremony attended by top station executives held to celebrate its official change of name to The Olympics Channel. It got a bit bigger when a visibly upset Hu Ziwei, the wife of top CCTV-5 announcer and sports news dept. head Zhang Bin—about to introduce Olympic ping pong player Wang Nan—suddenly appeared on stage and grabbed the microphone, accusing Zhang of having had an affair, as well as of smearing the name of both China and next year's summer Olympics. Hu herself is a host of an Olympics-themed program at BeijingTV.
Someone present inevitably got out their cellphone, and six hours after the video was uploaded to video sharing website Tudou, over 20 pages of comments had poured in. Sina was quick to delete the clip, but a copy has been placed on YouTube. The Tudou user has provided a caption of what Hu said:
视频开始，胡拿麦说话，张斌想阻止又不敢动手的样子晃来晃去。
胡：……但是有一天，我呢不是作为一个节目主持人的身份，而是作为站在我身边的张斌先生的（哽咽）太太，来为大家……（被打断）耽误大家一分钟的时间！耽误大家一分钟的时间！收好（抓住台子）
胡：今天对于奥运频道是一个特别的日子，对于张斌先生是一个特别的日子，但是对于我来讲也是是一个特别的日子。因为在两个小时之前，我知道除了我之外，张斌先生还和另一个女人保持着不正当的关系。（我的题外话：你也是不正当的关系？）
胡：明年是奥运的一年，全世界的人民都在关注中国。但是，但是一个法国的外交部长说过：中国人如果要是在价值观上没有……（画外音：请不要拍摄）那么这一切又有什么意义呢？又有什么意义？（上来很多人拖她）你们就这样对待一个弱女子？你们就这样对待一个弱女子吗？
胡：（不断挣扎）我只说最后一句话，让我们可以保持风度地对抗。但是法国的那一位外交部长曾经说：中国在能够输出价值观之前，不会成为一个大国。在我们面前面对着这样道貌岸然的……张斌内心并不能够面对自己的时候……甚至于不敢面对他受到伤害的妻子的时候。我觉得中国作为一个……成为一个大国……你们到底有没有一点儿良知啊？！你放开！离一个大国还差得太远了。
胡：今天可能是最后的一个星期天了。明天大家都会过一个很好的……长假，我和张斌是不可能了。
画外音：何必呢？
胡：非常不好意思，我也是……但是知道……（听不清）
张斌：对不起大家。
Hu: ….but there came a day, when I wasn't just a television announcer, but the (sob) wife of the man standing next to me, Mr. Zhang Bin. I just want to take…… (cut off) one minute of everyone's time! I'll just take one minute of your time! Let go. (she grabs the podium)
Hu: Today is a special day for The Olympic Channel, and it's a special day for Mr. Zhang Bin, and for me, it's a special day too. Because just two hours ago, I found out that besides me, Mr. Zhang Bin has been maintaining an improper relationship with another woman [the vlogger cuts in: the relationship with you is improper too?]
Hu: Next year is an Olympics year, and all people all over the world will be watching China. But, but it was a French foreign diplomat who said: If the Chinese people's values don't….(someone off-screen says: please don't take any pictures)…then what significance will any of it been? What will have been the point? (Many people now try to drag her off) Is that how you treat a weak woman?
Hu: (Still struggling) I just want to say one last thing—can we please keep our demeanor here?—that French foreign diplomat also said: until China is able to start exporting its values, it won't be able to become a great power. For us to be faced with such prim and proper……yet Zhang Bin can't even be brought to face his own……at a time when he won't even face his hurt wife. I think China, as a……to succeed as a great power……don't any of you have any conscience at all?! You let me go! We're so far from being a great country.
Hu: Today might be the last Sunday. Tomorrow everyone will go on a nice, long……vacation. But there's no way Zhang Bin and I will.
Off-screen: Is this necessary?
Hu: I'm very sorry, I'm…..too. But I know……(unclear).
Zhang Bin: Sorry, everyone.
With the number of journalists present at the time, photos have been floating around. Someone has put several of them together at the HoopChina BBS, where 11 pages of comments have already come in:
Gossip over the personal relationships of prominent Chinese television announcers has always been a hot topic [zh] on the Chinese blogsphere, and this has been no exception; mentioned in several places is speculation that Zhang had divorced his previous wife to be with Hu, who some are alleging was quite active in pursuing a relationship with him at that time, that she attacked Zhang's ex-wife at one point, and there's even speculation on who his newest lover is. Neither Hu nor Zhang have mentioned this on their blogs.  Zhang's new blog.
On a thread at the PCHome BBS, readers write:
heyuan1999
国外的话 不是要直接电击放倒了了么~~~~~~
lulu719
CCTV这些人~
全被老罗说中了，不是能力问题是政治面貌问题。
上面有人你政治过关，就能上去。
scott_zcl
都是一路货色，利用公众资源，解决自己的私事，也是一建人。
icorbie
现在知道痛苦了，她今天的眼泪在几年前已经有个女人流过了，只不过现在轮到她了
Anonymous readers at a Movivi post have written:
这个女人不是被逼到一定份上，也不会做出这种事情。她自己也是个要面子的人啊。
这个新闻发布会应该叫“张斌新外遇新闻发布会”，而不是“CCTV5更名奥运频道”，唉，两口子的事情闹到国际影响，真是不容易啊。不过，从此张斌和胡紫薇的日子恐怕不好过了……
Sae at Douban writes:
【提名胡紫薇为2007感动中国年度人物。】
Then by ‘Dreams Come True':
我觉得中国作为一个……成为一个大国……你们到底有没有一点儿良知啊？！你放开！离一个大国还差得太远了。
这让上面的人听到肺不得气炸了.
花了那么多钱,又是奥运,又是大国崛起的,让一个首都电视台的著名主持人在中央台的关于奥运的场子里给说出了这么直接的话.
Comments on the Tudou clip are more toothed:
死胖子 这回没前途了
知道胖子会为了她和前妻离婚,就应该知道自己会有那么一天
不久之后必将ＨＸ
And coming now in English on YouTube:
aidanying:
She said in the beginning that she didn't do it as a TV presenter. Even if she did, what's wrong with that? There is nothing in this world totally professional. We are humans with feelings, not robots. It requires a lot of courage for a woman to stand in front of a press conference of a national TV and speak out like that. I would cheer for her. And honestly, she did it very good!
wlyu2001:
I support this lady and I think that's only way people would pay attention to the stupid Zhang Bin's immoral behiviour and cctv's covering truth action. Zhang Bin is an animal and fucking idiot! Get off the sport channel and we don't want to see you on TV, any TVs!
Later in the evening, Zhang put a less-than-convincing and short statement onto the internet, blaming what happened on the pressure Hu faces at work:

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: John Kennedy


text:
Czech Republic: New Year’s in Prague · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Czech Daily Word provides some stats on the upcoming New Year's celebrations in Prague.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


text:
Egypt: Bidding Farewell to Bhutto  · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

Egyptian bloggers couldn't stop themselves from writing about the assassination of one of the bravest women in the Muslim world, and may be the whole world.
Carmen – Diasporic Discontents – wrote about her own experience when she met Bhutto [En].
I met Benazir Bhutto when I was in grad school. She was a very powerful speaker and it was hard not to want to be part of her entourage. I asked her where she got the strength to deal with fear and she told me that convictions go a long way.
I think she saw that I was asking this question to find answers for myself and so she added, “You have to stand out for the principles you believe in. If you believe in your principles, your strength will come”.
*****
Others showed their sympathy with her, such as Mermaid – Halet Saada Moaqata – who said:
اتصدمت النهاردة لما عرفت خبر اغتيال رئيسة وزراء باكستان بي نظير بوتو…انا مش متابعة قوي لاخبار باكستان و افغانستان لكن في الفترة الاخيرة كنت اتلبع قناة الجزيرة و اخريات من القنوات الاخبارية ولا حظت مدي قوة هذه المرأة
و اعجبت بها بشدة لكونها اول امرأة مسلمة تشغل هذا المنصب في دولة من دول الشرق الاوسط
و مدي نضالها لرفع الطوارئ عن بلادها التي فرضها برويز مشرف لضرورات امنية
I was shocked today when I knew about the assassination of the [former] Pakistani prime minister … I am not that aware of the Pakistani and Afghani matters, but lately I've been following Al-Jazeera and other news channels and noticed how strong that woman is.
I really admired her because she is the first Muslim woman to reach such position in a Middle Eastern country.
I also admired her struggle to end the State of Emergency in her country that was made by Pervez Musharraf for security reasons
She then asked:
الي متي سيتم اغتيال الزعماء الراغبين في الاصلاح العام و دحض قوي الفساد المتفشية؟؟؟
لماذا لا تغتال هذي الايدي الخبيثة قوي الفساد؟؟
Till when will this series of assassinations continue to target the leaders who are looking for political reform and fighting the forces of corruption???
Why don't these dirty hands assassinate the forces of corruption instead??
*****
Eman Abdel Rahman – Lasto Adri – decided to write one phrase only to summarize her feelings towards Bhutto.
يا من لم أعرفِك..
لكن حزنتُ لإفتقادك
To whom I didn't know..
But was sad to miss.
*****
Eyad Harfoush – Dawn Songs – wrote about the Lady and the Cowards:
The barbarian ashes of the world did it, assassinating the brave lady of Pakistan, one of my early models of feminine character, the personified beauty, the pretty rose of Indian subcontinent, they assassinated “Benazir Bhutto”. The freaked-out rats of Qaida did their former threats, assassinating the former prime minister, who lives in elective exile in Dubai for 8 years, before she return home last October. When the coming election parameters favored her, they killed her with a suicidal bomb. They fooled a son of bitch young man, convincing him he will be admitted to heaven of God, if he assassinated the cute lady and the strong diplomat of Pakistan. May God burn in hell the assassin and all the devilish organization behind him. I do not agree to many aspects of Benazir's policies myself, but this does not make me less grievous on her murder.
*****
Bella – Afkar Mobathara [Ar] – also wrote:
وداعاً بي نظير التي تفتحت عيناي على صورتك وكنت أشعر بالفخر الشديد لتولي إمرأة منصب رئاسة الوزراء في بلد يبعد عنا آلاف الأميال ولم يدع يوماً أنه بلد الريادة ومع ذلك قام أبناءه بصنع القنبلة النووية وكانت تحكمه إمرأة في يوم من الايام حتى قفز فوق أحلامهم حكم العسكر وحول أيامهم لجحيم مقيم.
Goodbye Benazir, the one whom when I first saw her photo felt the pride of seeing a female prime minister in a country thousands of miles away of ours, a country that never claimed to be a leader, however their people succeeded in creating an Atomic Bomb and was ruled by a woman one day, till the army ruled the country and ruined people's dreams and turned their lives to hell.
*****
On the other hand, some others preferred to ask some questions, such as Afandina, who wrote here:
قيل في المثل الفرنسي ” أبحث عن المرأة ” وهنا نقول إبحث عن المستفيد … من هو المستفيد من إزاحة أكثر الخصوم السياسيين قوة بباكستان … عند إجابة هذا السؤال سنصل إلى القاتل
رغم إنها لم تكن المفضلة لدي لتحالفها ضد الإسلاميين
إلا أنني حزنت لمقتلها
The French proverb says “Chercher La Femme” (Look for the woman), but here we can see Look for the one who has benefited from it …. who has benefited from moving one of his most powerful political opponents off his way … after answering this question we will know who is the the one behind this assassination.
Although she was not one of my favourites because of her alliance against the Islamists, but I was sad for her death.
*****
Haffsa – El Nas wel Aalam – wrote some other questions here too:
ليه القتل؟؟
ليه الارهاب؟؟
ليه الغجرية و التعصب؟؟
عشان قالت انها حتستبعد الاسلاميين من برنامجها و لا عشان ايه بالظبط؟؟
Why murder??
Why terrorism??
Why barbarism and fanaticism??
Is it because she said that she will eliminate the Islamists from her program or what??
*****
The fact that Bhutto was a liberal and Shiite makes way for a different opinion from the Salafis. You can see this in Daktoor Khaled's post here
بي نظير بوتو…تلكم المرأة الشيعـيـــــــة…الاسماعيليــــــــــة….
بعد عودتها من منفاها…
وبعد تخطيط وتدبير وتكتيك منها ومن دول محور الشر…أمريكا…إيران ..بريطانيا..وأعوانهم….
وبعد الانفاق ببذخ..والضجات الاعلامية ..ورفع الشعارات الكاذبة..شعارات العلمانية….والديمقراطية…
في لحظة يا أحباب…بل في أقل من ذلك…..
ينتهي كل شئ…وتنتهي أحلام كثيرة بنتها أمريكا على تلكم المرأة.
Benazir Bhutto … that Ismaili Shiite woman …. after her return from exile … and after planning from the axis of evil … United States of America …. Iran … Britain … et al … and after spending much … on propaganda … and false slogans of secularity … democracy.
In one moment my beloved ones … or may be less … all that was gone … and the dreams America built on that woman were over.
*****
And finally some bloggers preferred to see it from a feminist angle, such as Bint El Qamar who asked [Ar], why most of those who wrote about Bhutto's assassination were women as if men didn't care about that incident. Also Fantasia wrote here:
A brave woman in her life and death. A woman who looked death in the face.. She is a bold soldier who died fighting for the freedom of her country. Banazir Bhutto scared cowardly men, although they have all the power and authority in their hands.
Another light is out.. Another candle in the wind.. Another flame gone out.. Another voice silenced forever.
Seems that evil is winning nowadays. My tears shall never dry out, my courageous lady. You are one of a kind. You showed the whole what women are made of. It's time for you to rest in peace. And it's time for us to carry the torch. Shame on her who doesn't learn your lesson.

author: Tarek Amr


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Georgia: Election Polls · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Comparing the situation with Armenia and Azerbaijan, Christine Quirk at Asking Tough Questions in Tough Places comments on the value that opinion polls might have during elections in the South Caucasus. The former head of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Azerbaijan turned political analyst says such polls serve a purpose, but that full disclosure of the methodologies used is necessary.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Georgia: Voter Lists · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

TOL Georgia says that in just four years the electorate has apparently grown by 2 million people even despite negative population growth. The blog says that in advance of the January presidential election, serious concerns should be raised about the voters list.


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Jordan: Film Festivals, Citizenship Law and More · Global Voices
Mohammad Azraq

From a film festival in Dubai, a Jordanian film maker is making his debut at Sundance.
Amin Matalqa, shares his experience participating in the Dubai International Film Festival, and talks about his film Captain Abu-Ra'ed , which has been selected for the World Cinema Competition at the Sundance Film Festival.
The festival was a lot of fun. I didn't get to see many films, but I got to meet a bunch of exciting people with a lot of enthusiasm. The organizers of the festival have really put an effort to make you feel welcome. First class treatment and a great place to motivate the future of Arabic cinema and cross-cultural diversity.
We premiered Captain Abu Raed at the festival, and the crowd was fantastic. We had a full house of 400 people, with a mixture of people who'd heard about the film and some who knew nothing about it. I was really pleased at the laughter and the tears that resulted in a beautiful finale and a long standing ovation. A very special moment and the first sign of success for our special little film.
And we picked up the Best Actor Award for our fantastic Nadim Sawalha (Abu Raed) at the end of the festival. I think this is just the beginning for things to come. The buzz around the festival was circulating about Abu Raed, and that makes me smile. Next stop… Sundance!!!
Read more about it here, and also view the trailer of Captain Abu Ra'ed from You Tube here.
Lina Ejeilat brings up, the story of a newly born baby, that was abandoned by both his parents, after he came to life at Al-Basheer hospital in Amman.
It’s becoming old news; another newborn was found in a pool of her blood, in the WC of Al Basheer Hospital. Apparently her mother came to the hospital seeking pain killers for cramps. Doctors suspected she was pregnant and she denied it, so they asked her to take a urine test. She went to the toilets, delivered the baby, cut the umbilical cord with some sharp device, left the baby there, and escaped.
The baby is recovering in hospital before being handed over to the Ministry of Social Development. The 24-year-old mother was found an hour after the baby was discovered, and she admitted that she was pregnant out of wedlock. The newspaper report says she is now being hospitalized for excessive blood loss, and will be later handed over to police for further investigation.
In another post, she talks about used book stores in the Netherlands, and she shares memories of trips she made to the Netherlands and Turkey.
In August of 2006, I was in Muenster/Germany, and we made a quick trip across the border into the Netherlands, stopping in one tiny village. We were told it’s known for being a “Book Village” (I can’t for the life of me remember its actual name). Everything about it was tiny, except perhaps the windmills, and the number of small family-owned used book stores. Most book stores were part of some house – practically the family library compiled over the years and opened to the public. The one I entered had a small wooden door that opened to the kitchen, where a dog stood barking and an old woman was baking. The great thing about the Dutch is that they, unlike the German and French, take pride in their fluency in other languages. I bought about eight English and French books for only 20 Euros.
A few months later I visited Istanbul – and although I was there for only two days, I fell head over heels in love with that magical city. It’s so hard to explain what’s so captivating about Istanbul. I promised to blog about it last year but never did. Yesterday, I had a very interesting conversation with someone who has been living there, and after discussing the great contradictions of the city, Turkish nationalism, cultural identity crisis, visual richness, the Bosphorous, and the mystical air of all the elements the city brings together, I found myself deeply longing for Istanbul.
Read more here and here.
Naseem Tarawneh ( Black-Iris), expresses his disagreement with the citizenship law in Jodan which deprives women married to foreign men from passing citizenships to their children and husbands.
There is an absurd law – the Citizenship law – in Jordan that women who marry foreigners cannot pass the Jordanian citizenship on to their children. Most reside in Jordan, these are Jordanian women, with, for all intents and purposes, Jordanian kids who were born on this soil and have probably lived here their entire lives. Yet, just like a foreigner, they need to renew their residency permits every year.
He also brings up a pressing issue for Jordan these days, and that's the rising fuel prices, and how this will affect the pocket of the Jordanian citizen.
The new economy-minded government is going to help us all out by telling us how much more we’ll be spending on filling our gas tanks every month. It’s part of a new initiative to let us all know how broke we’ll be in advance. Meanwhile, every time a new Minister of Energy comes on to the scene, we always seem to be filled with renewed promises of energy relief. Oil shale, wind, solar, nuclear. Jordan will be producing all of it in just a few more years. So, you know, hang in there.
More on that here and here.
Liana, an American living in Amman, talks about what she found Jordanians’ love for mobiles, and how the use of mobiles differs in Jordan from her own country.
Cell phones in Amman are often people's main source of communication for both business and personal matters. Business cards often just have a cell phone number, and it is not uncommon for people to have two or three mobiles. (This is not to separate parts of their lives, work and home, for example, but to save money.) “What company do you have?” someone will ask when getting your phone number. The choices are basically Zain, Umnia, or Orange. Based on your response, your friend will pull out a different phone, since it is much less expensive to call within in a company (from a Zain phone to a Zain phone, for example.)
In the States, not putting your phone on silent, even during an informal social gathering, will earn you a sneer and a major faux pas. Here it is a normal part of daily life, and many adults have Arabic pop songs or even religious chants as their ringtones – another element not relegated to the “youth” here in Jordan.
In another post she expresses her dissatisfaction with graduate classes she is taking at the University of Jordan.
This class, Theories of Conflict and War, has been essentially empty academically for me. We cursorily discussed how the major theories of International Relations (Realism, Liberalism, Marxism, and Critical Theories) view conflict. There was less material than I am used to seeing covered in one undergraduate class (maybe this is because we ended the three hour lectures two hours early on most days?) and there was one book that was suggested reading, which we never discussed.
More on that here and here.

author: Mohammad Azraq


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Kenya Elections 2007: Should Raila Supporters Celebrate? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Although the official presidential results have not been announced by the Electoral Commission of Kenya, Kenyan blogger, Gerald Baraza, has already declared the winner on his blog, “Kenya has a new President: Hon.Raila Amolo Odinga!… Congratulations Your Excellency Raila Amolo Odinga, 4th President of the Republic of Kenya!”
This should not surprise you. Kenyan bloggers have been following this year’s elections very closely.  They have been covering the historic Kenyan Elections 2007 with constant updates of presidential and parliamentary votes. Other bloggers have been posting photos and writing about their own experiences and observations.
Mzalendo, a citizen-led parliamentary watchdog in Kenya, has done an excellent job of posting regular results of the parliamentary votes.
An update from Mzalendo at 2pm yesterday read:
Mzalendo now has the results for 47 Constituencies. For the complete up to date list click here
Highlights
– All of Moi’s sons have lost
– Minister Munyao has been defeated
At 3pm:
Mzalendo now has the results for 64 Constituencies. For the complete up to date list click here
At 9pm:
We’re now up to 95 constituencies, view the latest list here
BTW guys need to relax a bit on the requests for updates. We’re doing the best we can with our staff of two, and my laptop rapidly (and I do mean rapidly) approaching its deathbed. I was last in bed on Wednesday.
Kenya Imagine blog has a special Election Update page. Apart from posting regular updates, the blog asked voters to share election news and their experiences:
Have you any news on the elections? Please share it here. It needn't be anything untoward or alarming, although news of that will be very much appreciated also. Even news on the turnout, any delays in opening and so on is welcome. Are there enough observers about? Are there long queues? Do the Commission's officials look like they will cope with the hard work? Read here as Kenyans give their election experience.
How did the whole exercise go? Kenyan Pundit (Ory) considers this election a historic one even by international standards:
Folks this is a historic election by Kenyan standards, regional standards and international standards – I don’t think there is a precedent for the number of incumbents that are going down despite having massive resources behind them and attempts to bribe voters. And I challenge you to find an election in the Western world in recent times where people have come out with such determination, conviction, and a strong sense of civic duty .
I’m very very proud of Kenyan voters and you all should be no matter who you are supporting.
The media has focused on the presidential race and on the tribal nature of the campaign, but the story of the revolution (as I keep repeating, but really it’s worth emphasizing) is at the local level – Kenyans have realized the power of the vote and will no longer be taken for a ride. I think this election will be a watermark as far the maturity of voters and the impact it will have on the next Parliament (now we need to get rid of pensions for one-term MPs), Kenyans want results and CHANGE and not empty talk, and if ODM wins they will have an incredibly difficult time at managing expectations.
Ory’s observations of the voting day:
Despite turning up at 6:15 am turnout was already crazy. I’m really curious to see what the turnout will be overall because the few polling stations I visited in Lang’ata had an incredible turnout. When talking to guys in the line in Mada, they said they’ve never seen anything like this.
Observations from the day:
– Ballot papers were not on site like they are supposed to be. They only got delivered at 8:00 am, leading to lots of agitation among the crowd that had turned up early to vote. The crowd finally broke the gate into the school and rushed in (me included otherwise I’d still be in the line) after getting tired of waiting. Once that happened temperatures came down. Apparently many stations in Nairobi and especially Lang’ata did not start voting until around 9:00 am.
– Once inside the school, things were very chaotic. There was no one directing you on where to go and since you voted according to your last name’s initials it was a unneccessarily maddening process trying to figure out which classroom you should go to and then you have to line up again.
– There was lots of camaraderie and good humor in the line. Something very social about voting, which I didn’t expect. People also expressed their determination to vote no matter how long they had to stand in line. No one was wearing any party insignia or logos. There was also heavy tension in the air – any hint of something shady and the crowd could have lynched guys.
Thinker’s Room observed some interesting stuff:
I may have forgotten to carry my camera to capture the scenes, but there’s nothing wrong with my eyes and ears. Here is some of the interesting things I came across
•	Some people woke up between 3 and 4 and were at the polling stations from 4 AM in the morning to vote
•	If you’re thinking of heading to the ECK command center and waiting sweatily at ECK Chairman Kivuitu’s elbow for the results to be announced think again my child. No doubt remembering the events of 2002 the ECK has made sure that idlers and riffraff do not coalesce their shouting selves around the officials. Most roads leading to the KICC have been cordoned off and some very grim faced security personnel that appear to be either Administration police or General Service Unit. I found myself apologizing from a sharp look from one of those gentlemen.
•	Some bars refused to serve customers who do not have the magical inked finger to indicate voting
•	Some matatus refused to carry people that did not have the magical inked finger
•	In Kibera things almost became sticky when it was discovered that Raila Odinga was not on the voter’s roll. Neither were people whose names started with O and A. Naturally this caused some acute consternation. The ECK explained that the lists had been split along alphabetic lines to reduce the numbers on the lines, and some lists were not delivered in time.  Mercifully updated lists were updated and voting took place. I for one am very grateful that people kept their cool. Considering that in some communities names beginning with A and O are fairly thick on the ground, it could have been interpreted quite differently with very nasty results.
•	Lines in Kibera were up to 2Km long. Yes, that’s kilometers.
•	Nairobi polling stations are heavily populated by party agents that are reducing the speed of counting the ballots to a crawl
•	Anticipating long nights, some ECK officials are making use of lulls in the voting to catch 40 winks on benches and on the grass.
•	It was refreshing to see young aspiring leaders like Jonathan Mueke and John Kiarie showing up to vote. John Kiarie actually came with his wife and baby
•	The Uchumi in South B was closed. (4 litres of soda don’t last as long as you’d think!)
•	The voting queue at the Catholic Parochial polling station had to be seen to believed. It was even longer than the Kibera ones! Looping and winding on itself like that annoying snake game on Nokia phones
•	There is talk that turnout could top 80% this election, which is a big increase from the last election where it was about 55%
•	Preliminary coverage is inconsistent across stations. KTN is showing Odinga is ahead and Citizen and Nation are showing Kibaki is ahead (as of 11 PM)
•	Some of the preliminary results are verging on the absurd. 99% for a candidate?
Mental Acrobatics calls for an independent news/current affairs radio station in Kenya:
This election has highlighted again that Kenya seriously and urgently needs an independent 24 hour news/current affairs radio station available nationally. Preferably on FM! Yes we have many independent 24 hour music stations and religious stations, now we need a hard hitting news/current affairs station. Something like the BBC’s radio 5 Live.
It is not sufficient to get a quick 3 minute update every hour or so from the music stations’ “team on the ground”. They just repeat what the official news conferences say and add very little insight or analysis. I feel sorry for the reporters, how much depth can you explore in 1.5 minutes leaving 1.5 minutes for a Q and A session?
Thank goodness for the BBC World Service which not only dispatched reporters around the country but also made the Kenyan election the lead story for the day (until the assassination of Benazir Bhutto (RIP) took over as the lead story). A lot of information I am using today is coming from the BBC World Service.
Gerald Baraza posted a breakdown of how Kenyan ethnic groups voted:
Here is a reliable and scientific prediction of how the various ethnic groups have voted:
Candidate: Mwai Kibaki – Raila Odinga — Kalonzo Musyoka
Kikuyu — 2,533,000 —– 5,000—– 2,000
Luyiah — 300,000 – —900,000— 60,000
Luo— 2,000 — 965,000— 1,000
Kalenjin— 150,000— 1,220,000 — 5,000
Kamba– -10,000— 4,000– – 910,000
Kisii- –200,000— 310,000 —- 2,000
Meru — 615,000—- 2,000 — 1,000
Other African— 150,000— 2,800,000 —50,000
Non African— 8,000— 8,000 —2,000
Total —-Kibaki- 3,968,000 –Raila– 6,214,000 –Kalonzo-1,033,000
In the same post, he writes that Kenyans in Michigan are planning to celebrate:
Kenyans in Michigan, plans are already underway for a grand celebration of this victory. Please get in touch if you do not want to miss out!!!
White African was impressed to see innovative use of technology by mobile election reporters:
I’ve been particularly impressed with the AfricaNews.com media group. They use technology in innovative ways, creating real usable systems to report and connect with Africans on multiple platforms. In the case of the Kenyan 2007 Elections, in partnership with the Arid Lands Information Network, they have created a site where mobile reporters from around the country bring news about the elections.
Juliana of Afromusing was covering the elections on her Twitter channel:
driving by polling stations, most of eldy area appears to be raila country by large margins about 19 hours ago from web
visited several polling stations in eld. some with long lines some are done. took pics. 04:39 AM December 27, 2007 from web
nation media txt and blogger daudi confirm railas problem voting in langata.new registers being printed 01:51 AM December 27, 2007 from web
fam. voted v. early in the morningm it was peaceful and quiet. 01:38 AM December 27, 2007 from web
phone call, rumour is that railas nm omitted from register in langata? 01:37 AM December 27, 2007 from web
the queues in eld for voting were v. long. pple were there in the dark of night. 01:30 AM December 27, 2007 from web
tweeting now from eldoret kenya using motorola q on safaricom gprs internet 01:25 AM December 27, 2007 from web
She is also blogging the election from Eldoret at Afromusing.
Two leading Kenyan newspapers, The Standard and the Daily Nation, set up multimedia election platform and for the first time introduced blogging in the newsroom.
Jesse Masai is probably the most notable parliamentary candidate who kept a blog as part of his campaign strategy. There is also a blog of Youth for Kibaki 2007, which has not been updated since July 2007.
Jesse Masai's latest post titled, Finito:Vox populi, vox Dei, reads:
Najivunia kuwa Mkenya.
I’m proud to be Kenyan.
I have lost, but am glad about it all: The immediate-former MP is truly and finally out.
Some of the things the above-mentioned did in at least three of my strongholds over the past few days – including yesterday – are better left unsaid.
I lost to, among a few others, ODM’s Joshua Kuttuny, a one-time schoolmate at Cherangany High School (these day’s St. Mark’s Boys).
We are contemporaries in much else, but similarities end almost immediately, as we do not agree on much in terms of world view.
My loss aside, am happy for my country and the manner in which it has been during this tense and fractious moments.
I believe our best days are ahead of us.
The next few weeks and months will see me sit down and write something decent about it – probably a book
A few minutes ago, Kumekucha, like Gerald Baraza, declared Raila the winner. He explains why:
Even as ODM were holding a press conference to claim victory in the presidential race, my tally as I had indicated in an earlier post clearly shows a Raila victory.
Interestingly the ECK is still giving Kenyans stories about missing returning officers and sitched off mobile phones to divert attention from the crux of the matter.
Back to my figures. Assuming an amazingly high average voter turn out countrywide of 60% from approx 14 million voters, that would give you a total vote count of 8.4 million votes meaning that as soon as Raila hit 4 million votes he should have been declared the winner. Available figures show that Raila has accumulated well over 4 million votes.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Lithuania: Blogger-Politician · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Lituanica links to an English-language blog of “one of the most PR conscious Lithuanian politicians, ex-Vilnius Mayor Artūras Zuokas.”


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Madagascar: Zoma market photographs · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Harinjaka posts photos from Zoma market in Antananarivo, Madagascar.

author: Jennifer Brea


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Mali: Old map of Timbuktu · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Sociolingo posts an old map of Timbuktu, Mali: “Here is an old map of the ancient city of Timbuktu from the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas.”


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Morocco recalls ambassador from Senegal · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Blog politique au Senegal writes [FR] about the King of Morocco's decision to recall his ambassador from Senegal in a spat over Western Sahara: “It must have been a nasty blow to [the king's] ego when a socialist ex-minister dared refuse to adopt the Moroccan line on the fate of the sahraouis.”


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Poland: Bhutto’s Tractor Scam · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

the beatroot writes about a 1990s Polish-made Ursus tractors scam, in which Benazir Bhutto was allegedly involved: “Benazir had launched the Awami Tractor Scheme for the welfare of poor farmers in Pakistan and allegedly received 7.15 percent commission in the purchase of tractors through their front men – Jens Schlegelmilch and Didier Plantin of Dargal SA – who received about 1.969 million dollars for supplying the Ursus tractors.”


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Russia: Duma Cossacks · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Window on Eurasia writes about the Russian Duma's Cossacks.


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Russia: Holiday Charity (via Egoism) · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Russia is embarking on a 10-day national vacation: from Dec. 30 to Jan. 8, the country will be celebrating the New Year's and Orthodox Christmas – and should also have enough time to rest, relax and sober up in between. Charity isn't among the most popular subjects in the Russian blogosphere during the festive season, although some bloggers do discuss ways of helping the poor and needy this year.
Here is what Moscow-based LJ user mymrochka wrote (RUS) on Dec. 23:
I really want to talk about charity on the eve of the Catholic Christmas. But I'll talk about something else.
Imagine this. You've gone out shopping today, to buy New Year's presents. It's totally crazy around you, people are sweeping all there is off the shelves, no one's really paying attention to the price tags anymore, all you want is to be done with buying everything you need and breathe freely, knowing that on Dec. 30 and 31 you won't have to busy yourself with this shopping madness and can instead devote the day to cooking the proverbial [Olivier salad] to have a place to rest your face in when the sound of the fireworks subsides.
How much have you spent? Me, I'm scared to count. I haven't really enjoyed [the shopping experience] – every time I look at a store counter, I get my usual migraine.
And last night, I went into a store near my house and bought everything that my hungry child had been demanding […]. There, I saw a babushka [old woman] standing by the entrance again. She's been standing there for a few months already, since it got cold. She stands there quietly, doesn't ask for money, helps people open the door. Every time I walk by, I try not to look at her. For some reason, I feel ashamed. I don't know why. Yesterday I made up my mind […]. I came up to the babushka decisively, squeezed 100 rubles [approx. $4] into her hand and tried to quickly get away. But failed to. She caught my hand, said something that I didn't hear because I was trying hard to get away. “Pardon me,” I said. “What was it?” “Again!!!! Once again!!!” – the old woman said. Then she wished me happiness and health and let me go. On the way home, I suddenly recalled that indeed this wasn't my first feat like this. Only before I had somehow managed to get away quickly and to repress the memory of the babushka and the crumpled bill.
It's horrifying, for some reason. I've no idea if this babushka‘s got kids, I don't know whether they drew her out to the street, or perhaps she's lonely, or maybe even a drunkard and had spent all her money on liquor and thus became homeless. But it doesn't really matter what had happened. It is wrong that a human being has to stand in front of a store all day long, with nowhere else to go to. Because I'm a human being, too, and I feel upset because of us, humans.
So I'll talk about selfishness.
Let's all of us who've read this try to clean our consciousness by the end of the year – out of pure selfishness – so that we could say proudly about ourselves that we are humans, too, and good humans at that. So let's put aside a sum of money sufficient to buy one New Year's present – to make at least one homeless babushka happy. Or a bum. And it's okay if he spends this money on drinks – it's none of our business. Because he'll be happy, right? He'll think: “What a miracle, they are giving me money, and not just 5 rubles [20 cents], but 200 [$8] – maybe the New Year has indeed arrived?” And he doesn't care about our motivations, so give him the money, even if you feel bad about parting with it, or even if you don't believe that he's an authentic homeless, but an eccentric millionaire who prefers to spend his pre-New Year's free time this way. Forget for a while that 5 rubles given from the heart are better than 500 given with regret, and that the best gift is what you create with your own hands. Money, warm clothes, food – this is what a homeless person needs for Christmas, and this little we can provide him with, even though we can's give him a home.
What can be better for such inveterate egoists like ourselves than to have someone believe that we are magicians or God's messengers?
And then it'll turn out that we've been talking about nothing else but charity all along today.


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Russia: Messina Earthquake and Russian Sailors · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis writes about Russian sailors’ participation in the rescue operations following the 1908 earthquake in Messina, Sicily.


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Serbia: “Manufactured Guilt” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Gray Falcon writes that “only by rejecting this manufactured guilt and by understanding who made it and with what purpose can the Serbs begin their path to freedom.”


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South Africa: What if Jacob Zuma is found guilty? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

J.S wonders what will happen if Jacob Zuma is found guilty: “I keep wondering what this is going to mean for us especially in terms of his election victory in the ANC. What will the outcome be if he gets found guilty? Some people have speculated that the ‘groundroots’ supporters will revolt and we could be headed for a type of civil war – the pro-Mbeki vs the pro-Zuma camps.”


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Ukraine: Politics Update · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LEvko of Foreign Notes thinks that president Yushchenko – like Margaret Thatcher before him – should get himself a “voice coach.”


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Ukraine: Tymoshenko’s Budget · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes reports on the article in a Ukrainian daily that accuses Yulia Tymoshenko of going against her election promises and approving the 2008 budget that includes “a multimillion INCREASE in the money provided for the maintenance of deputies, kabmin ‘big-knobs’, and the President and his secretariat.”


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Angola: Welcome to a new blogger · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Soba L [pt] is a new blogger from Luanda, Angola, who likes examining carefully daily events. In his first posts, he analyzes the actual situation of the RAP music in  Angola, the consequences of the civil war, and the recent summit Africa-Europe.

author: Paula Góes


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Antigua: Fixing Crime  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Talk Antigua thinks that crime is destroying the country “and no one seems to be doing anything about it.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Barbados: Retired Immigration Chief Shot Dead · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Both Barbados Free Press and Barbados Underground report on the murder of former Chief Immigration Officer Kenrick Hutson.


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Cuba: Havana in Pictures  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

photo.imagina posts a beautiful Flickr photo set of shots from Havana, Cuba.


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Cuba: The Divorce Rate · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Regalado [es] writes about the divorce rate in Cuba, in which it is reported that 6 out of every 10 marriages end in divorce

author: Eduardo Avila


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Ethiopia: French Translation of the Kebra Nagast · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Roots and Culture interviews [FR] Samuel Mahler, who recently translated the Kebra Nagast, a sacred text of many Ethiopian Christians and Rastafarians, into French.


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Ethiopia: Queen of Sheba, Now Available in French · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

This week, francophone blog Roots and Culture interviews [FR] Samuel Malher, a religious scholar from Strasbourg who has written the first unabridged French translation of the Kebra Negast, a sacred Ethiopian text.
The Kebra Negast, or the Glory of Kings, is considered sacred not only by Orthodox Ethiopian Christians, who comprise 65% of the country's population, but many Jamaican Rastafarians who believe it predicts the last Ethiopian King was God incarnate.  It documents the lineage of the Ethiopian monarchs, who are said to descend directly from Menelik, son of the Israelite King Solomon and the Ethiopian Queen Makeda, otherwise known as the Queen of Sheba.  It also tells the story of how the Ark of the Covenant was taken from Israel to Ethiopia, and how the Ethiopians became God's new chosen people.
In the interview, Malher explains how he first became interested in Ethiopian Christianity in 1998, while studying theology at the University of Strasbourg.
One of his professors, an African, noted that African Christianity was often imported by Western missionaries, but questioned if that was true for all of Africa.
“I realized that Ethiopia, where Christianity had already arrived by the third century, deviated a bit from the rule,” Malher says.
Malher decided to go to Ethiopia to learn about the Queen of Sheba, the Ark, and a dynasty of emperors who ruled Ethiopia from the 13th century until 1974, all deriving legitimacy from their professed Solomonic lineage.  He found an Ethiopia that was “deeply religious as it was proud of its history, always independent.  A unique history still visible in its grand cities.”
Makeda, Queen of Sheba and the Ark of the Covenant
Makéda c’est “la belle” en éthiopien. Elle a d’abord entendu parler de la sagesse de Salomon, elle n’a pas résisté à attendre, à patienter chez elle.  Elle s’est mise en route avec sa caravane, elle a emmené beaucoup de pierres précieuses, d’encens, de choses pour apporter, pour honorer le roi Salomon, qui avait déjà une grande réputation dans la région. Une fois arrivée sur place, la rencontre a voulu qu’elle se déroule dans le palais. Mais elle a eu le temps de voir aussi le pays, la Bande de Gaza par exemple, différents endroits sont cités par le Kebra Nagast, on peut retrouver les lieux, c’est vrai.
Et cette fameuse reine a rencontré le roi Salomon et lui aurait donné une descendance. Ce qui étonnant c’est que cette reine n’est pas restée auprès de celui qui pouvait être un concubin, ou un mari ou un partenaire pour la vie.
Elle est retournée auprès des siens dans le royaume de Sabah qui est parfois très difficile à situer. Il était peut-être beaucoup plus petit que l’actuelle Éthiopie, sans doute il se concentrait, il se limitait au haut plateau de l’Abyssinie, donc au nord de l’actuelle Éthiopie.”
This famous queen met King Solomon and gave him a descendant.
What is astonishing is that this queen did not stay afterwards with someone who could have been a consort, a husband or a life partner.   She returned to her own people in the Kingdom of Sheba, whose location is very difficult to locate.   It was probably smaller than present-day Ethiopia, and without a doubt was concentrated in, was limited to the high plateau of Abyssinia, north of Ethiopia.
The Political Origins of the Kebra Negast
Malher explains that the Kebra Negast was likely written sometime between 1200 and 1270, when two dynasties were vying for power in Ethiopia:
…c’était l’époque où il y avait deux dynasties qui se faisaient concurrence, d’une part la dynastie du roi Salomon, et puis les autres dont la dynastie des Agrées. Il y avait deux peuples qui prétendaient au pouvoir en Ethiopie. Et donc il y a là dans le Kebra Negast le fameux Isaac le pauvre qui est donc du côté de la dynastie Salomonienne qui aurait donc compilé le kebra Negast à partir des citations bibliques mais sans doute aussi à partir de récits oraux qui se racontaient, il les a mis par écrit tout d’abord sans doute en arabe puis en copte avant de pouvoir les traduire et les publier ouvertement en Guèze.”
…it was a time when two dynasties were competing for power, one the dynasty of King Solomon, and the other the dynasty of Agrées. There were two peoples claiming power in Ethiopia. And so there is in the Kebra Negast the famous Isaac the poor who is of the Salomonic dynasty side and who would have compiled the Kebra Negast not only from from biblical quotes but also from oral traditions, and he wrote them down undoubtedly first in Arabic, then in Coptic, before being able to translate and publish them openly in Ge'ez.
The Kebra Negast established the Solomonic dynasty's divine origins, and thus their right to rule over Ethiopia:
C’est un modèle, le pouvoir est transmis avec une bénédiction, avec l’idée d’une élection, ça c’est très important, beaucoup de pays ont connu aussi cette tradition, jusqu’au moment où on est arrivé à l’idée de la démocratie, l’idée de la monarchie a été peu à peu mise de côté.
It is a model [where] power is transmitted with a blessing, with the idea of selection, and that is very important. Many countries have had this tradition, up until the moment they arrived at the idea of democracy, and the idea of monarchy was, little by little, pushed aside.
And also to repel foreign invaders:
Le Kebra Negast lui est vraiment connu en Éthiopie, il a était le livre de base des empereurs pour administrer leur pays mais aussi pour se comparer à d’autres pays donc en se disant descendant du roi Salomon, en se rattachant à des origines nobles, l’Éthiopie avait de quoi faire face à des pays qui voulaient peut être envahir le territoire éthiopien.
The Kebra Negast is really known in Ethiopia; it was emperors’  primary book for administrating their country but also for wocomparing themselves to other countries.  By calling themselves descendants of King Solomon, by attaching themselves to noble origins, [Ethiopians] had something with which to confront those countries that perhaps wanted to invade Ethiopian territory.
The Ark of the Covenant, the Chosen People
Ethiopia's territorial integrity and the rule of its Kings were supported not only by their claims of Solomonic ancestry, but by their possession of what they believe is the Ark of the Covenant, built by Moses in the Old Testament to house God's Ten Commandments, and brought to Ethiopia by Queen Makeda and Solomon's son, Menelik–without Solomon's knowledge.
Le Kebra negast est un ensemble d’écrits qui décrivent l’histoire des patriarches, l’histoire de la reine mais aussi l’histoire de l’arche de l’alliance qui serait actuellement encore déposé dans une église dans le nord de l’Éthiopie et avec les prophéties qui tournent autour de l’élection du peuple d’Israël qui serait donc transférée sur le peuple de l’Éthiopie avec la présence de l’arche de l’alliance.
The Kebra Negast is a collection of writings which describe the history of the patriarchs, and the queen, but also story of the Ark of the Covenant, which is currently sitting in a church in northern Ethiopia, and the prophecies surrounding the selection of the Israeli people [as the chosen people] which would then be transfered to the Ethiopians with the presence of the Ark of the Covenant.”
L’arche de l’alliance on en trouve déjà la mention dans la bible dans le livre de l’exode et dans le livre des rois, où Moise était chargé de concevoir un coffre en bois d’acacia recouvert d’or et à l’intérieur seraient déposées les deux tablettes sur lesquelles figuraient les dix commandements.  Alors cette arche intéressait aussi le peuple éthiopien car il représentait la présence de Dieu parmi le peuple. Là où était l’arche le temple était sanctifié…Elle représente la présence de Dieu et l’élection du peuple d’Israël parce que l’arche aurait eu un grand pouvoir, elle se déplaçait presque seule, de la volonté d’Israël d’accompagner le peuple d’Éthiopie pendant son voyage.
The Ark of the Covenant is mentioned in the Bible in the Book of Exodus and in the Book of Kings, where Moses was commanded to fashion a box from Acacia wood and cover it in gold.  The two tablets on which the ten commandments were inscribed would be placed iside.  This Ark also interested the Ethiopian people because it represented God's presence among the people.  Wherever the Ark was would be sanctified…It represents the presence of God and the selection of the people of Israel, because the Ark had a great power, it freed itself almost on its own from the will of the Israelites to accompany the Ethiopian people on their voyage.
Et aujourd’hui encore on retrouve une reproduction dans chaque église par la présence de tablettes qui représentent les dix commandements sous forme de copie. C’est un peu comme dans l’église catholique la présence du corps du christ par l’Ostie.
Aujourd’hui l’arche de l’alliance est un peu un objet de curiosité pour les journalistes pour les scientifiques aussi mais en même temps elle est protégée par l’église orthodoxe éthiopienne, qui la conserverait dans cette fameuse cathédrale de st. Marie de Sion.
Je pense que c’est vraiment une question de foi. Lorsqu’un prêtre éthiopien vous répond : “Si vous voulez prouver que l’arche n’est pas là, allez-y. Et le journaliste pose la question en sens inverse, il demande toujours est-ce que l’arche est vraiment là ? Elle est là, c’est à vous de le prouver, elle n’est pas là c’est à vous de le prouver !”
Today, the Ark of the Covenant has become something of an object of curiosity among journalists and scientists, but at the same time it is protected by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which preserves it in the famous cathedral of Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion.
I think that it's really a question of faith.  When an Ethiopian priest response: “If you want to prove that the Ark isn't there, then go ahead.” And the journalist inverts the question, asking, “Is the Ark is really there?  Whether it is there, is for you to prove.  Whether it is not there is for you to prove!”
Kebra Negast and the Bible
Like most non-canonical texts, the Kebra Negast was not included in the Bible and some translations were even destroyed by the Church.
C’est un peu l’histoire des Apocryphes, l’église universelle a toujours eu la priorité de garder un recueil de texte que l’on appelle la Bible. Il y a beaucoup d’apocryphes en effet qui sont mis de côté, qui sont ignorés par beaucoup de fidèles déjà et qui ne sont pas très droits dans ce que veut exprimer l’Eglise.  Il y a des écrits qui concernent parfois la vie de Jésus, la vie d’un prophète, la vie d’un patriarche, qui montrent le côté humain de ces hommes et de ces femmes, et l’Eglise voulait d’abord faire passer le message de Dieu, de la justice… Il y avait certaines raisons de ne pas exploiter ces textes.
It's the story of the Apocryphas.   The Church has always had a priority to keep a collection of texts which is called the Bible.  There are many apocryphas which were in effect cast aside, which were already ignored by many followers and were not very correct in terms of what the Church wanted to say.  There were writings concerning the life of Jesus, the life of a prophet, the life of a patriarch, that should the human side of these men and women, and the Church wanted first of all to pass on the message of God, of justice…There were certain reasons not to use these texts.
However, the Kebra Negast relies strongly on certain Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions, according to Malher:
La fin du Kebra Negast…parle beaucoup du Christ, du nouveau testament dans la Bible mais aussi beaucoup de l’ancien…Les éthiopiens ont repris les versets importants de l’ancien testament, tel que le prophète Jérémie, ou Zacharie ou Osée…qui ne sont pas beaucoup lus…
The later chapters of the Kebra Negast…talk a lot about Christ, of the New Testament of the Bible, but also a lot of the old…the Ethiopians took important versus from the Old Testament, such as those of the prophets Jeremiah, Zachariah or Hosea…which are not widely read…
The Kebra Negast blends together the stories of the major Israeli patriarchs into one, great patriarch and incorporates Old Testament prophecies about a Messiah which, “will come, build his house, and save his people.”  Malher says these are words of forgiveness for all people, but that according to its own tradition, “Ethiopia is the chosen country, the favored country. For the other peoples, there is an idea of pardon, of reconciliation. I think that it is very important for the people of Africa, for people around the world to be able to read these promises, these prophecies.”
Malher also says that the Queen of Sheba's story is told in the Koran, but there she is responsible for Solomon's downfall, for tainting his behavior.  The Bible on the other hand emphasizes the queen's decision to submit to the God of King Solomon and bring the religion of the Israelites back to her own country.
On Rastafari Beliefs
Le Kebra Negast s’arrête après 117 chapitres d’éloges et de gloire, il s’arrête sur le Christ.
Ce sont les prophètes, les rois, les entités mais il n’est rien dit du dernier empereur Hailé Sélassié.
C’est simplement pour dire que la bénédiction sera accordée à l’Éthiopie et sur les différents rois, sans avoir connu le dieu d’Israël auparavant, ils se sont soudainement tournés vers lui à travers le moment de la rencontre de la reine de Sabah et de Salomon.
Rien ne les prédisposait à se soumettre à ce Dieu .
Ils ont fait le pas qui leur accorde la bénédiction. C’est ce qui est dit vers la fin du kebra Negast, C’est Hailé Sélassié qui s’appuie sur ce texte pour légitimer sa descendance, son ascendance, il a donc un pouvoir légitime.
Nothing predisposed them to submit to this God.
They took the path that gave them this blessing.  That's what it says at the end of the Kebra Negast.  It was Haile Selassie who relied on this relied on this text to legitimize his descendents, his ancestors; and so he has a legitimate power.
J’ai rencontré des rastas en Éthiopie, à Shashaménie. On a discuté, on s’entend sur pas mal de choses.
Parfois c’est aussi un préjugé, l’élection divine, je pense que chaque homme est béni, chaque homme peut être élu, c’est pas seulement l’empereur Hailé Sélassié qui est l’unique élu.
Cette bénédiction s’étend à tous les rastas, chacun est considéré par le grand dieu qui a donc posé son regard sur l’Éthiopie.
I met Rastas in Ethiopia, at Shahamenie.  We talked, and we agreed on many things.
Sometimes it's also a prejudice, divine election, I think that every person is blessed, every person can be chosen, Emperior Haile Selassie is not the only chosen one.
This blessing extends to all the Rasta; each is considered by the Almighty God, who looked upon Ethiopia.
Why Translations Are Important
The last French translation of the Kebra Negast was published in 1915, and included just ten chapters detailing only “the most romantic elements of the encounter with the Queen of Sheeba.” His translation from Ge'ez, an ancient Ethiopian language, is unabridged.
Malher says this translation is very important, particularly now that other forms of Christianity have taken root in Ethiopia.
Parmi les 65% des Chrétiens il y a naturellement aussi des églises très récentes qui sont arrivées, l’église catholique, l’église protestante et l’église d’une communauté américaine, qui s’implantent en éthiopie. On retrouve de multitudes de concessions, de communautés différentes…
…Beaucoup de religions se développent ou prennent une place importante dans la vie du peuple éthiopien. C’est important de pouvoir dialoguer.
Comme beaucoup de religions ont des livres, la Bible traduit dans beaucoup de langues, l’Ethiopie a la particularité d’avoir le Kebra negast, un livre millénaire, qui mérite d’être connu par les étrangers, par ceux qui visitent l’Éthiopie, pour se plonger un petit peu dans la culture et dans la littérature éthiopienne c’est sans doute avec le Kebra Negast traduit en Français que l’on peut déjà faire un grand pas dans ce sens là…
Among the 65% [who are] Christians there are naturally also churches which are very recently arrived: the Catholic Church, the Protestant Church, and a Church from an American community, which implant themselves in Ethiopia.  There are many concessions, different communities…
…Many religions develop or take an important place in the lives of the Ethiopian people.  It's important to be able to have a dialog.
As many religions have books, the Bible is translated into many language, Ethiopia is uniqu ein having the Kebra Negast,  a millennial text which deserves to be known by foreigners, by those who visit Ethiopia, to dive into the culture a little bit and into Ethiopian literature.  By translating the Kebra Negast into French  we are already taking a great step in that respect…
You can read the complete interview, in French, at the Roots and Culture blog.
Photographs: Kebra Negast by Samuel Malher; the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Ethiopia, which houses the Ark of the Covenant (Wikipedia); and Haile Selassie I, the last King of Kings of Ethiopia (Library of Congress)


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Japan: Web visionary Umeda Mochio · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

While famous in Japan as a web visionary, Silicon Valley resident Umeda Mochio (梅田望夫), president of Muse Associates, co-founder of Pacifica Fund and board member of the Japanese bookmarking and diary service Hatena, is little-known overseas. His recent book “Web Shinkaron” (“Theory of Web Evolution”), in which he attempts to explain in a straightforward way the ongoing revolution in cyberspace, sold 370,000 copies and become a national besteller in Japan. Umeda blogs (in Japanese) at My Life Between Silicon Valley and Japan.
In the last few days, many Japanese bloggers and Hatena users bookmarked a recent interview with Umeda by the Japanese magazine Central Review (Chuo Koron), posted on Dec. 28th and also blogged about by Umeda himself [ja]. The following are translated excerpts from the original interview, conducted in Japanese. [Note: Due to copyright issues, the original Japanese text is not included.]
The interviewer begins by asking Umeda why, since the publication of Web Shinkaron in 2006, he has not written a “Web Shinkaron 2″. Umeda explains:
After “Web Shinkaron” was published, I was told by many editors: “You created a category, didn't you?” Certainly, books about the web which offer an explanation about technology, even just as new paperbacks [shinsho], get published in large numbers. However, the web is already flooded with information of that kind, so for me, my job was done when I created a new category.
As well, there has not yet been an event which would demand changes in the framework presented in “Web Shinkaron” since [it was published]. YouTube and Facebook are both embedded in the same framework. I think it would anyway be better if, when another major change arrives, people much younger than me write the “definitive edition”.
For two years between 2001 and 2003 Umeda blogged at CNET Japan (blog posts viewable in the CNET archives [ja]). In the interview, he discusses this experience, and reflects on his activities introducing young Japanese to Silicon Valley and to the web era:
From 2003, for nearly two years, I wrote a blog at a site called CNET. I was asked by the editor in charge over there, in his 20s at the time, to handle writing, interspersed with the theme of what was happening on the web, commentary about careers suited for young people. I did this, I got a good response, and I wrote many articles.
Also, I founded an NPO called JTPA [Japan Technology Professionals Association], and every year I am involved in a “Silicon Valley Tour” to which about 20 young people under the age of 30 are invited. Although the participants are incredibly talented kids, they don't hold solid hopes about the future. While talking, I quoted the words of [Steve] Jobs, CEO of Apple, and said: “Silicon Valley is just a bunch of people doing what they like to do. Just do what you believe in, do what you like.” [I said that] and there was one kid who started to cry. It was the first time anybody had ever said that to them. There was another student there who declared: “I'm going to study at Stanford!”
Although [these kids] have lived for more than 20 years, and must have also had discussions with their parents and teachers, I still have to wonder, what is Japan's education system doing? Is it earnestly confronting young people? For these young people as well, I felt that I had to write this book.
Later in the interview, Umeda describes his vision of the “web era”:
The phenomenon at its foundation is the creation of a giant archive of knowledge and information. This is what I call “another Earth”. This is not simply something like a library, it is connected to the flesh and blood of human beings, and it is continuously updated with daily information. It is an era in which one has the power to access, anytime, every single piece of information about individuals from across the world.
In the web era, if you want to study, in every respect you can keep studying without end. It is an era of growing difference between the people who master the web, who think of it as something that overcomes the limitations of the [human] brain, as an amplifier for [human] ability, and those who do not.
Umeda is often criticized for being over-optimistic, a characterization that he does not agree with. In the Chuko interview, asked about the severity of this fascinating new web era, he explains in more depth the upcoming difficulties facing the next generation as a result of globalisation:
Although, by making use of the web in a practical way and following your own intentionality, you can proceed in your studies as if you were driving on the highway, still as a result of globalisation, there is a huge traffic jam coming up in the road ahead. The idyllic age during which the word “global” indicated only Japan, United States and Europe is gone; the age is now one in which  we are joined by many competitors from India and China, so climbing the highly-specialized “high, steep path” will involve real difficulties. Nevertheless, in order to harness your intentionality, there is no choice other than to follow the life of the “animal trail”, competing with the coordinated power of all human beings. In this book, I present a “role model thinking method” as a hint for doing this. One way or another, in free competition, finding your own intentionality becomes very important. Because it becomes a competition of how much one can immerse oneself in the subject, of how industrious one can be.
Much like others working in Silicon Valley, Umeda notes in the interview that the volume of work he and others are handling has increased substantially:
If I look at myself, and also at the friends around me, we are working overwhelmingly more than we were ten years ago. The reason is that the work is information processing, so as information technology advances, because of globalisation, not only has the amount of information exploded, but the work can also be done anytime, anywhere.
Matsumoto Yukihiro, developer of the programming language Ruby, says that mails arrive from overseas even while he is sleeping, so that when he opens his eyes in the morning, 200 mails have collected overnight. What he said, intently, was: “Don't work doing things you don't like to do. You'll become sick.” I felt strongly that, even while thinking of survival, you have to work doing things that you like.
As in his book, Umeda emphasizes the importance of enjoying your work; without enjoying the work one is doing, he sees it as impossible to survive in the new globalized economy. In the interview, he outlines the background to this idea, the globalization of the workforce:
On the other hand, large corporations are increasingly becoming organizations within which the individual cannot choose their work. In BRICs [Brazil, Russia, India, China] including China, in Africa, and so on, in countries where physical strength is demanded, besides having suddenly been forced to take a new post, businesses have suddenly had to shrink, companies have merged, and crises are rapidly increasing. In order to work at a large corporation, it is increasingly necessary to have “the skill to tackle with pleasure the task you are given”. I also was once working in a large corporation without having a special quality, but nowadays that's completely impossible. (LOL)
Finally, at the end of the interview, he looks toward the future of the web era:
Where will the working style of the web era end up? There is no answer in this book either. What I can say is that, in order to survive in this difficult age, there seems to me nothing you can do but what matches your intentionality. I am often criticized for being overly optimistic, but in terms of awareness of the issues, it's not optimism at all. If you read the book carefully, I think you will understand this.
[Note: This is an unauthorized translation of the original interview in Japanese, reproduced under the terms of fair use. The article will be removed if the publisher so requests.]

author: Chris Salzberg


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Kenya: A new President must be sworn in today · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Kenyan Jurist points out that according to the Kenyan constitution a new president must be sworn in today: “My further thoughts after listening to the contestants; H E Mwai Kibaki's term expires today, a new President must under our Constitution be sworn in today.”


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Puerto Rico: Kayak Trip · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The CAC Review interviews Taino Almestica, part of a two-person team that circumnavigated the island of Puerto Rico in a kayak.


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Sudan: The Aftermath of the Teddy Bear Circus · Global Voices
SudaneseDrima

Not surprisingly, about a month ago the Sudanese blogosphere's main topic and attraction was the teddy bear circus which received a huge amount of media attention.
Drima, The Sudanese Thinker found it unbelievable:
The whole thing is just so unbelievably pathetic. Clearly it’s an honest and innocent mistake. Oh no, how stupid can I be, she’s a white British infidel so it must be a freaking Zionist CrUSAde and Jewish conspiracy. Right? Raaaight!
… This isn’t the first time the school finds itself in the midst of a controversy, albeit one surely not as big as this. Back in the 90’s when beloved al-Turabi was still in power and his version of Sharia was being shoved down our throats, the school came under pressure to change the girl’s uniform. Many Islamists hated the fact that girls wore skirts and mixed with boys. Now we have this.
Amjad was equally critical and shocked at what he called “stupid”:
Three words: This is ridiculous.
How on earth would a British teacher know that naming the teddy bear Mohammed would insult our prophet, especially that 20 out of the 23 children CHOSE to name the teddy bear Mohammed and she wasn't the one naming it?
Why are they assuming that the teddy bear was named after our prophet (PBUH)?
This is really stupid! And they closed down the school till January just because of this! oh my god.. I really can't believe this.
Kizzie, Wholeheartedly-Sudaniya clearly wasn't happy:
WHAT?!
A British schoolteacher has been arrested in Sudan accused of insulting Islam's Prophet, after she allowed her pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad.
The police force doesn't have anything to go except arresting 54 year-old kind Gibbons!
Black Kush wasn't pleased either and wished the British teacher well:
Go well, Mrs Gibbons. I hope you dont bear grudges against the Sudanese people. The ragtag group into whose hands you fell are a minority and does not represent us at all. I wish you well.
Rara Avis offered her thoughts too and on a none related note, Sudanese blogger Path2Hope is now studying in the United Kingdom:
I must admit that no matter how much I abhor words like “deadline” and “assignments” there is something really refreshing about going back to student life. The solidarity that you feel with your classmates/colleagues transcends age and race and that’s truly something.

author: SudaneseDrima


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Trinidad & Tobago: Trip to Cairo · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I spent most of my first day swearing never to return, but I’ve been won over. I’ll be back.”: Club Soda and Salt visits Cairo, Egypt and finds a few similarities to his native Trinidad and Tobago.


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Afghanistan: From Bhutto to Christmas, Child Marriage to the Plight of Women · Global Voices
Joshua Foust

Time for a brief roundup of Afghan blogs, and many apologies for the lengthy delay since the last.
For starters, the vicious murder of Benazir Bhutto looms large for Afghanistan, for the prospects in Pakistan will impact the prospects in Afghanistan. Hassan Abbas, a former Pakistani official and now a scholar at Harvard's Belfer Center, wrote a fascinating analysis of who her possible murderers may be:
But few here believe LeJ could have managed to carry out the attack without assistance from sections in the establishment. Analysts believe Al Qaeda has become a convenient smokescreen to explain motivated attacks on political rivals. The question people are asking is: What motive could the establishment have in killing Benazir?
Top political sources told Outlook that hours before Benazir was assassinated, she was on the verge of exposing an ISI operation to rig the January 8 general election. They say she had been collecting incontrovertible proof about a rigging cell allegedly established at an ISI safe house in Islamabad.
I hate to be the one to point this out, but would it be very hard to discover a rigged election in Pakistan? The last few have been rigged by Musharraf himself; how would a rigged election this time prove any different? Indeed, I remain deeply skeptical that Musharraf would be behind her murder, if only because suicide bombers are not his style. A rogue element with ISI, in at least tacit collusion with al-Qaeda? That is certainly possible, though at that point I fail to see the usefulness of distinguishing the two.
There is also the distinct possibility, amidst the weeping and gnashing of teeth, that Ms. Bhutto's murder may not really mean anything at all. Regardless, the theories of Musharraf's involvement will continue apace, and in the end Bhutto's real killers will probably not matter in the slightest: perception is what counts, and if everyone thinks Musharraf did it, then he did it.
Of a wholly different stripe is the continued deplorable treatment of women. Atash Parcha recounts one horrific account:
Doctors at a hospital in Qalat, capital of Zabul Province in southern Afghanistan, are treating a brutally tortured woman whose husband cut off both her ears and nose, broke her teeth and shaved her head only three months after their marriage. The victim, 16-year-old Nazia, is also suffering from psychiatric distress due to her experience, according to a doctor in Qalat hospital.
It's like a Hosseini novel come to life. Mohammed Fahim Khairy has a picture of the poor girl, who must now live the rest of her life mutilated because her husband was an monster. He also relates a terrible statistic:
Most of the opium farmers and warlords are marrying children by force or  given good money to the needy parents…
About 16 per cent of children are married under the age of 15, according to recent data from UNICEF. And there is evidence that the poverty of recent years is pushing down the marriage age further in some areas
It's not just girls. Back in November I noted the resurgence of bacha bazi, or boy-play:
Later into the night, once the dancing is over, the boys are frequently shared with close friends, for sexual favors. And by the end of the evening it is not at all uncommon for the boy to have a new owner, as the parties often provide the opportunity for buying and selling.
An enlightened sense of multicultural tolerance surely draws the line here. It is not controversial to call this sex slavery—the worst sort, involving children. In stark contrast to the West, where there is a very real dichotomy between what we consider to be homosexuality and what we consider to be pederasty, in Baghlan it seems the distinction is meaningless.
As I noted there, a society that sells impoverished boys and girls like property is not a healthy society. And the growing prevalence of both practices—child-marriage for girls and bacha bazi for boys—can be traced back to the endless grinding poverty in the countryside. It is a pattern sadly repeated everywhere there is endemic poverty.
It makes for a strange contrast with Nassim Fekrat's best Christmas wishes. Nevertheless, I agree with him wholeheartedly:
I wish you all a great Christmas. Let 2008 be the year of peace and security. The year 2007 was bloody year for Afghan people, suicide attacks and several explosions in central of the cities. Lots of people died. Don't forget Afghanistan, don't forget its children, women and homeless people.

author: Joshua Foust


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Afghanistan: Harsh Winter Predicted · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nasim Fekratْ  reports that Mullah Omar, the leader of Taliban, disseminated a message to the international forces in Afghanistan saying they should expect more attacks on them by Taliban in winter.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Africa: Africa’s modular machines · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Afrigadget has a video showing Africa's modular machines: “The video below shows how the machines are used in wood workshops to make design cutouts, carve out pieces for furniture and to split planks of wood. It is essentially the same machine pieces, motor, pulleys and frame, just customized for different uses.”


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Algeria: Online Poll on Bombings · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Algerian blogger Nouri discusses Al Jazeera's recent poll on Algeria. The online poll asked users whether or not they supported the al-Qaeda bombings in Algeria.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Americas: Year in Review · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Plan Colombia and Beyond reviews what took place in Colombia and Latin America in 2007.


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Arabeyes: Sad for Bhutto · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

News of the murder of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was received with shock across the Middle East.
Bahrain:
From Bahrain, blogger Mahmood Al Yousif sends his condolences to the people of Pakistan.
“My condolences to the Pakistani people for her loss and its barbaric method. When all that is left is the law of force and terrorism to get your point of view across, you have already lost the cause. Peace-loving human beings should be unequivocal in their condemnation of terrorist acts. Because if things are left as they are, and violence is simply condoned, then we can rest assured that we and those we love will soon be in the cross-fire,” he writes.
Saudi Arabia:
Saudi blogger Rasheed Abou-Alsamh was also saddened by Bhutto's loss. He wrote:
I was shocked and saddened. I had always been a supporter of Benazir and of the whole Bhutto family. To me they, and the Pakistani People’s Party that Benazir’s father the late Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto founded in 1967, represented progressive and secular ideals that would help propel Pakistan from the ranks of dysfunctional Third World countries to that of developing nations that were successful such as Brazil and Malaysia.
The blogger and journalist then links to an interview he conducted with Bhutto's brother, Murtaza, who was also assassinated in Pakistan.
Qatar:
In Qatar, Abdulrahman Warsame links between the brutality of her murder and the violent situation in Pakistan. He explains:
The barbaric nature of her murder shows how deeply violent Pakistan has become; the government blames Alqaeda and Taliban, that was expected!. But it couldn't have been the government; this was a huge blow to Parvez Musharraf who wanted the elections to go ahead peacefully, to gain some legitimacy, and Bhutto was the most suitable candidate to rebuild his image in the West. But now that she's gone, he's stuck with his arch-rival Nawaz Sharif.
No one knows how things will turn out in Pakistan after the elections now that the government has decided not to postpone them, but the political turmoil is set to continue as long as Musharraf is in control.
UAE:
Seabee, who lives in Dubai, finds Bhutto's murder pointless. He writes:
On reflection I suppose it really wasn't a surprise that Benazir Bhutto was murdered. In fact she talked of the danger herself several times recently.
Plus the ‘collateral damage’ of others killed and injured as a result of the attack on her. And make no mistake, there will be even more deaths in the coming days and weeks as a result of this.
What an appalling comment on where we are as human beings. Tens of thousands of years of evolution and we're mentally still in the Stone Age, brainless, the worst animals on the planet.
Israel:
For Israeli Nissim Dahan, who lives in the US, Bhutto's murder reminded him of “the sense of hopelessness that permeates much of the world.” He further continues:
I am not a student of Pakistan’s history. And I have been made to understand, of late, that in the past, Mrs. Bhutto represented a mixed bag with respect to the aspirations of her people. Yes, there are persistent charges of corruption, and accusations that she supported the Taliban. But I can’t believe that her legacy will be defined only by her negatives.
There are several things to consider when we seek to judge her. She was a woman who defied the odds and was twice elected to lead a country that was not predisposed to elect her. Yes, she was driven out on charges of corruption, but, and this should not be underestimated, she chose to come back home. She was not naïve. She knew she faced a grave threat to her personal safety, a point that was driven home when she just arrived. And yet she chose to come back to compete in the political arena. Could blind ambition, alone, explain that? I think not. There must have been some noble aspiration on her part that compelled her to take the risk. Perhaps she learned from past mistakes and wanted to set things right? We can only guess.


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Argentina: Manu Chao Concert at Psychiatric Hospital · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Argentina's Travel Blog witnessed a unique concert held by Manu Chao at a Buenos Aires psychiatric hospital sponsored by the patient-run radio station called La Colifata.


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Armenia: Traffic Rules · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

With traffic congestion now adding to the insanity that is usually driving in Armenia, Raffi K at Life in Armenia offers his readers some tongue-in-cheek rules for motorists. Ironically, they are pretty much right on the mark.


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Bahrain: Bhutto – Martyr of Freedom · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Hayat (Ar) describes assassinated former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto as the ‘martyr of freedom.’


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Bahrain: Reactions after the riots and arrests · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

In another special roundup, we have the reactions of Bahrain's bloggers to the events of the last few weeks, when rioting took place after the death of a demonstrator during a commemoration of ‘Martyrs’ Day’, and many were subsequently arrested.
Talking to the world
MuJtAbA AlMoAmEn describes how events have developed:
Rabab Ahmed points out that these days it's impossible to suppress information:
You and whose army…?
Rayyash reports that the government seems to be using ‘militias’ in civilian clothing:
Sayyed Mahmood Al Aali is concerned about the same matter:
Photo credit: Du'a Al Janabi (via Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights)
Feeling safe?
Ebtihal Salman has heard the official talk about forces used to maintain security, and has a question:
Keep them in check…
And Concerned Citizen X is furious:
What bothers me most is that our government officials willingly sets there vicious dogs against its people, these mongrels have been brought to Bahrain and nationalized for the sole purpose of keeping civilians in-line ensuring/preventing demonstrations against the continuing suffering and standing for what they believe in. Bahrainis, have become second-rate citizens, the newly nationalized now-called BAHRAINIS are living better lives, getting higher paying government jobs, government support & housing. They have infested the Armed forces, Special Forces, riot police & the police stations, just to name a few government agencies; and some private companies/businesses now have a preference towards the newly nationalized Bahrainis as well. […] So then, rather than sending negotiators to these troubled areas, to listed to the people’s concern’s, to comfort them in their time of need, to communicated the government’s concerns and wishes, government officials send in their death squad. Why is it so hard to do the obvious, the best thing to do, even if it may be the hardest, rather than what is currently being done?
Bomb them all?!
Silly Bahraini Girl feels pessimistic about a visit home:
I am returning home with mixed feelings. As much as I would love to be back home and see family and friends, as much as I am dreading coming back to a war zone, where stone throwers are being met by mercenaries, tear gas and rubber bullets. People say that the war has started in Wonderland. A man was killed by the riot police. Others have been arrested. I spoke to a friend who said: I wish the government would just send missiles to those villages and flatten them. She was my friend. I, who is articulate at the worst cases, became tongue-tied. Missiles? Flatten the villages? […] I am sick of the hatred.. and tired of people who blindly believe in propaganda from both sides – That young 31-year-old man was killed at the hands of mercenaries. And there is nothing and no evidence which will change that. My country employs mercenaries. My country deals with citizens with an iron fist. My country has no respect for human rights. And my country is arrogant. My country is insecure. My country behaves like a child, with knee jerk reactions – correcting every mistake with a bigger one.
Time for a change
Mahmood wants the country to move on:
There seems to be no end in sight. Each side is steadfast in their refusal to listen. Theirs is the view of “not giving in”, as if this is a battle in which an exclusive winner is declared. They fail to realise that the only losing side in this equation are the normal people who have grown tired of this predictably contentious state of affairs. […] A new way of thinking is required to resolve this issue. Another set of sacrifices is needed by the disparate parties to achieve the status of equitable equilibrium. All need to honour the memory of those who laid their lives to provide the foundation for this country. Their memories should be made into a recognised beacon guiding current and forthcoming generations not to take things for granted. […] Isn’t it high time that we consigned tired and empty platitudes to the rubbish heap and boldly trod the courageous road to an equitable future?
Three-way split
Fareed Esa believes that people take one of three positions in such situations:
Lack of accord
LuLu is looking at Bahrain's political environment, and comments on the main opposition party's response to the events:
Far from the days when Al-Wefaq was commanding the Shia street, their latest reactions to the recent wave of violence show total helplessness and confusion. On the other side, it seems that the recent events are as much a show of frustration with Al-Wefaq as with the government. Beyond speeches and feeble attempts to criticize the Ministry of Interior's handling of the demonstrations, this political society needs a shift in strategy before it is too late. …What we see in Bahrain nowdays is that Al-Wefaq's entrance into parliament not only exposed their own lack of direction, strategy, and ability to tackle serious national grievances. It also showed the whole “political reform” process to be sham with no hope in sight. It actually proved what Haqq was claiming all along: the parliament is so heavily restricted by the government and pro-government forces that no “change from within” can possibly take place.
It doesn't have to be that way…
Lamontami heard about the events in Bahrain while on holiday in Singapore – and makes some comparisons between the two small states:

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Bangladesh: Women and the Police · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

black and gray on Eliza Sharmeen, who is the first woman in the country to command a passing out parade in Bangladesh.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Barbados: Homophobia · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“In the Caribbean we are confused and hypocritical in our attitudes toward sex in general”: Living in Barbados blogs about the region's lack of tolerance for homosexuality.


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Bolivia: Polls Related to the Constitution · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Miguel Centellas of Pronto* provides the latest polls in Bolivia, including approval rates for the president and prefects, as well as others related to the new Constitution.


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Brazil: OLPC After First Round of Bidding · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

OLPC News provides information on the status of bidding for the purchase of 150,000 laptops for children in Brazil and also links to an interview with David Cavallo, OLPC representative in that country.