David Sasaki

Egypt: Cairo's women speak out against violence

This week's entry in the Witness Human Rights Video series focuses on the systematic harassment of women in Egypt underscored recently by the widespread and spontaneous attacks on women by large groups on men in the streets of Cairo during the Eid-Ul-Fitr celebrations in October. "If blogs and citizen video are finally breaking the official and semi-official media’s silence on this issue, that is to be welcomed," says Sameer Padania, "but the government’s attitude may have some distance to travel."

Latin American Election Blogging

"November is quite the electoral month in what has already been a year of elections throughout the Western Hemisphere," writes David Sasaki in his overview of the role played by Latin American blogs and bloggers in the recently concluded campaigns in Nicaragua, the United States and Peru, and the upcoming elections in Ecuador and Venezuela.

Bush and Indonesia Islam

On his visit to Indonesia this past Monday, US President George W. Bush was greeted with street protests and critical statements from intellectuals, opposition politicians and the media. A. Fatih Syuhud shares three differing perspectives on the Bush visit by three Indonesian bloggers.

Arabisc: Plagiarism, Arrests, Bans and Democracy!

There's never a dull moment in the Arabic-language blogosphere, where newspapers that rip off the work of bloggers, the banning of an NGO meeting in Jordan and the criticisms fired at George Bush Senior during a lecture in the United Arab Emirates offer citizen journalists plenty of food for thought.

Shock and Tragedy in UCLA, Murder in Iran

In Farid Pouya's report, Iranian bloggers react to an incident last week in which UCLA campus police used a taser to subdue an Iranian-American student in a university library — and are reminded of similar cases of student repression in Iran, including one which resulted in a fatal stabbing.

Balkan Blog Roundup: Focus on the Positive

If the excerpts from the three weblogs — from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia — highlighted in Ljubisa Bojic's post are anything to go by, the Balkans have self-improvement on the brain.

Roundups

A cold wave hits Cuba, the release of a kidnapped Pakistani BBC journalist, why Koreans would love Battlestar Galactica, and much more can be found in today's Global Roundups.

Image from Mali: Transporting Sheep

When life gets tough, it is sometimes good to remind ourselves that things could be worse. We could be, for example, sheep on a bus in Mali.

Esperantoland through Pictures / Esperantujo tra Bildojs

Steven Brewer is back with his dual-columned documentation of the Esperanto blogosphere just one month before International Esperanto Day. Beyond mere blogdom, we are also afforded a dip into the Esperanto Flickr pool with shots from Frankfurt’s Parade of Cultures and a protest in Belarus.

The Week that Was - Bolivian Blogs

Hoping to gain more understanding into the recent boom of Bolivian blogs, the community portal, Blogs de Bolivia surveyed its readers. Eduardo Avila reports the results, recent blog events, and a mysteriously put-together top-ten list of national weblogs.

China: India

International observers frequently note the 21st century economic similarities between China and India. But, according to one Chinese blogger, President Hu Jintao could also learn a thing or two about democracy during his visit to Delhi. Also, the contentious Himalayan territorial disputes and how personal experiences can shape foreign policy views.

Ukraine: Maidan’s Second Anniversary

“Nov. 22 marks the second anniversary of the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, but little orange has been visible on the streets of Kyiv today,” observes Veronica Khokhlova. The anniversary has, however, inspired one Ukrainian blogger to pen his conflicting thoughts on where the Orange Revolution has taken the country.

Roundups

Wedding attire in Brunei, condemning police behavior in the Bahamas, prominent women in Islamabad, and much more can be found in today’s Global Roundups.

Pakistan: Blog-o-success

Omer Alvie’s latest droll dispatch from Pakistan teaches us how to write a blog post; offers US President Bush some advice on the word “please”; examines the passing of the Women’s Protection Bill; and, perhaps most importantly, reminds us to laugh.

Lebanon: Campaigns, Politics and Photos

Lebanese bloggers are campaigning for a doctrine of pre-emption: “Stop Sectarianism Before It Stops Us.” Meanwhile, informs Moussa Bachir, Al Jazeera International’s exclusion from the American market prompts one blogger to point out the “duplicity of America’s cable barons while others examine the modern political reality of Lebanon and the entire Middle East.

Costa Rica on Arias, Sabina and CAFTA

When Nobel Peace Prize winner and Costa Rican President Oscar Arias showed up to a concert by Spanish musician Joaquín Sabina, the crowd had some discontent to share with their head of state. Juliana Rincón Parra translates the accounts of Costa Rican bloggers who were there in her latest rundown, which includes some interesting comments on free trade.

Roundups

Election eve in Serbia, caste and statues in Chennai, celebrity sex in China, and much more can be found in today’s Global Roundups.

Madagascar: Coup Attempt Clouds Upcoming Elections

Exemplifying the globalization of how we inform ourselves, most bloggers on the East African island of Madagascar turned to foreign media after hearing whispers of an attempted coup. With Alice Backer’s translations we are introduced to General “Fidy” and learn what his strong-arming means for the December 3 elections.

South Asia: Politics, Happiness, Religion and The Birds

Why some Bangladeshis are wearing black badges; how Bhutanese officials focus on happiness over economics; Bollywood’s hottest pair; how learning to be a trek guide can empower women in Nepal; and why Pakistan’s government has banned a Sindh TV station. All this and much more in Rezwan’s realtime wrap-up of South Asian cyberspace.

Podcast: Interview With ChilePodcast’s Carlos Toledo

In an audio interview Chilean podcaster Carlos Toledo explains how he started communicating to the world, why he continues, and how he hopes to expand podcasting’s educational potential throughout Chile. With introductory music by Chilean band Valdivia.

Arabisc: One Blogger Arrested..1000s More to Go!

It sometimes seems that authorities arrest Egyptian bloggers more quickly than it takes to setup a weblog. Rami Siyam, who blogs under the name of Ayyoub, joined his peer, Kareem Sulaiman, when authorities arrested him outside the house of a fellow blogger. Amira Al Hussaini’s translations from Arabic also bring us a reaction to Egyptian Cultural Minister Farooq Hosni’s controversial comments about the hijab and explain the commonalities between engagements and elections.

Roundups

Good economy and bad roads in India, (”the last of the great Soviet-era central Moscow landmark hotels will soon be no more”, Africa’s most neglected technology, and much more can be found in today’s Global Roundups.

“One-third peeled.” That would have probably been my best guess if someone - say Flavorpill San Franciso - were to have asked me the meaning of aterciopelado. It’s not that I haven’t come across the term before. In fact, there is conclusive evidence that on Thursday, February 10, 2005 I read that:

Quick note to say ~~  if you don’t have Gozo Poderoso, the 2001 album from the Colombian duo Los Aterciopelados (which means “The Velvety Ones”),  then you should run, don’t walk, to your computer to order it right now (oh, right, you’re here already…and yes I know it is 2005).

The obvious downside of this story is that my mental hard drive of cyber consumption appears to be along the lines of a 5.25 inch floppy diskette. The upside is that women, specifically my woman, remember(s) everything.

Tangent: you can imagine the odyssean challenge that is arguing with a lawyer who does not forget. (and on whose bookshelf sits Gerry Spence’s “How to Argue and Win Every Time”)

And so, when both Mari and I simultaneously received our Flavorpill newsletter, I stuffed mine into a bulging folder titled “shit to read someday” while she promptly wrote back correctly identifying the meaning of Los Aterciopelados as “the velvety ones.” Hence, free tickets to last last Sunday night’s show at Slim’s.

Tercio means one-third. Pelado is the past-participle of pelar, “to peel” or “to pluck.” And so it would be easy to mistake the etymology as “one-third plucked” - another remarkable name for a band.

Tangent: pelarse is also one of my favorite Northern Mexican modismos. Literally, to peel oneself. Let’s say you and the boys have been organizing a trip to the - pardon my uncivilized speech - titty bar. You’ve been talking about it at work every day. All you need to do is mumble the whitest of lies to your wife that you will be watching a “sporting event.” But then, lying in bed one evening, your until-death-do-us-part mentions a chapter she just read in her self-improvement book of the month: the importance of open and healthy communication in a relationship. “I just want to let you know honey,” she begins, just as Dr. Internet Diploma instructs, “that you can tell me anything, that I won’t get mad, that the most important thing is being honest with each other.”

The tone of her voice is promising like new lingerie and, on an impulse, you foolishly, mindlessly, imprudently, dumb-assedly tell her of your plan to view other women without their tops on.

The next morning you inform your dear friends that you will not be accompanying them to the titty bar, but rather you will be stopping by the florist on the way home and subsequently watching the entire first season of Sex and the City while getting nauseous off chocolate covered strawberries.

And this is what they tell you: ¡no mames guey! ¡Te pelaste! Literally, “don’t suck dumbass, you peeled yourself.” More like, “unfuckingbelievable, you’re a disgrace to the y chromosome.”

In fact, according to the Real Academia Española, Aterciopelado originates from tercero or tercer pelo, “third hair.” The question is why? Google offers little help. Wikipedia explains how velvet is made, but there is not mention of a third hair. Similarly, in Spanish, we are told that the cloth is difficult to clean, but not why it has it’s peculiar name.

Somebody help me.

The term is also of interest to Central American snake aficionados. Aterciopelo is the Costa Rican name for the Bothrops asper, a sexually dimorphic venomous pit viper found in Central and northern South America. Here’s a picture of someone’s leg after a Bothrops bite:

One eager snake stroker affirms on WordReference that:

Terciopelo is now the most commonly accepted name for Bothrops asper, the only species in its genus found in Central America. “Terciopelo” does mean “velvet” in Spanish and apparently refers to the texture of the skin (I’ve handled many and it is velvet-like). It is the most common venomous snake in most of Costa Rica and is frequently found around human dwellings; personally, I have encountered more near humans than in remote rainforests.

Further evidence that people who like snakes are weird.

But enough about lexical semantics, the concert was fucking awesome. Lead singer Andrea Echeverri has a sexy stage presence of Frida Kahlo meets Kill Bill. Both Mari and I were drawn in by her confidence and charm. We had to get up early the next morning, but we stayed for almost the whole set which featured - almost entirely - the new album Oye … with the satisfying addition of Mari’s favorite track, “Rompecabezas.”

In conclusion, it’s better to be a woman than a man unless you’re on a road trip and the Velveteen Rabbit used to be my favorite book as a little kid.

Downloads of the day:

• Complemento from Oye
• Don Dinero from Oye
• Interview with Andrea Echeverri (8 minutes)