French voters reject EU Constitution

An appropriate follow-up to the downfall last week of Chancellor Schroeder’s Social Democratic Party in Germany has to be the resounding NON delivered by French voters yesterday at the doorstep of Jacques Chriac and the European Union HQ in Brussels. Old Europa is sinking ever deeper into a state of political, economic, and social crisis while the new EU member states look on in disbelief.

You may have already seen or read news reports and political commentaries about the meaning of the French vote and the consequences for all European Union member countries. Below are links to the German press (Der Speigel) and German state-run broadcast media (Deutsche Welle) as well as today's Technorati search results for 12,137+ postings on France's EU Constitution referendum, and last but not least an interesting pre-vote commentary by Gwen Pris for openDemocracy.org

Me? I have absolutely no comment. This is an internal affair for the Europeans to work out amongst themselves without any input from the U.S. of A. America has enough severe problems of its own right now without having to worry about who the French are frying now.

I am just as dumbfounded and shocked as poor ol’ Jacques Chirac. All that work, all that time, all that money, for a NON!!? I’d feel sorry for the guy if I had any feelings for him at all, which I don’t. I wonder how those clear thinking and liberal minded citizens over in the Netherlands are going to vote on Wednesday? I wonder what this means for the fate of the world?? Not much, probably.


Der Speigel: Going Dutch on the EU Referendum,
Der Spiegel: Chirac Gets French Fried
Deutsche Welle: French vote not end of Europe
Technorati search: EU Constitution
OpenDemocracy: The end of the European Union

Germany's Gerhard Schroeder Down for the Count!

A telephone conversation with Washington D.C. last night:

Me: "Yes Ma'am. He's gone, 1st Round Knockout from what I can see. Results? Tonto's watching the numbers coming in right now on ZDF. What the numbers look like Tonto?"

Tonto: "The numbers (election results) say he's gone. The voters in all 15 German states have told Chancellor Schroeder, the SPD, and the Greens it's time to pack up and get outa here."

Me: "Did you hear? Me too, I'm really happy to see him go too. That lyin', backstabbing, good for nothin' sapsuc........! This is cause for celebration. Mission accomplished I'd say. Can we come home now? We sure do miss the folks back home, you know?!? Pleeeassee!"

(Pause while I'm listening to caller speak.)

Me: "FRANCE!!! Oh no Ma'am, we don't wanna go to France! You know the last time I was over there I almost died from food poisoning. Plus they couldn't understand a darn thing I was saying, kept trying to convince me that all I needed was a shot in the arm. Oh no Ma'am, not France. What else you got in that deck of cards of yours? How 'bout Spain? At least the food is decent down there in..."

Just kidding of course..:-). Right.

I'm sure you've already heard about the brutal defeat handed to Germany's Bundeskanzler Gerhard Schroeder and his Red/Green Coalition in the German state of Nordrhein-Westfalen (NRW) by now. The election results prognosis was ready within about 10 minutes after the polls closed last night and Schroeder & Co. were told to start packing! I'm a bit sad to see Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer go though. At least you could count on what Joschka said was what he (almost) believed.

The international news media is just in a feeding frenzy at the moment. If your Deutsch language skills are up to snuff then dig right in here at Der Spiegel's online edition. For English speakers here is what Der Spiegel's english language edition has to say about the NRW elections and you can also follow events on their new (pseudo)blog Daily Take over the next weeks.

I wonder who's next? Ch-Iraq?

Update May 24th:

The ZDF (Second German TV channel) website has a really interesting Macromedia Flash video presentation titled Schicksals Jahr 1945 about the end of WWII in Germany from a German perspective. Moderator is the infamous Guido Knopp, one of Germany's leading documentary film and video producers and The Authority over here on documenting what really went down. The ZDF Flash video includes German survivors of WWII giving their testimony about those last dark days as well, so check it out. Can't get this kind of stuff back in Kansas you know. Riveting.

L.A. Elects Latino Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

The citizens of the sprawling U.S. megalopolis Los Angeles have elected the first Latino mayor in 133 years (since 1872) when the "City of Angels" was nothing more than a dusty frontier outpost of less than 6,000 residents. Here is the full story at the L.A. Times. Be sure to checkout the L.A. Times election blog and other related articles on this important political story.

Here is a brief history on L.A.'s (3) former Latino mayors. O.K., the real number is only 2 1/2 because one former Latino mayor, Manuel Requena who served in 1856, was a stand-in for only 13 days. It seems that the 3-time elected Mayor of Los Angeles, Stephan Clark Foster, had to step out for a few days to head up one of his infamous Lynching Parties so he put the Mexican guy in charge until he got back. Thanks to the folks over at the NNDB website for the great profile and background info on this "Hang 'em High" American frontier politician.

Born and raised in the predominantly Spanish-speaking barrios of East L.A. the newly elected Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa unseated the incumbant James Kahn with the help of a rapidly growing Latin-American voter population in L.A., and help from the African-American voters and from none other than the present Governor of California himself, Arnold Schwarzeneggar.

I wonder what that the Presidente of Mexico Vicente Fox has to say now, especially if he has plans to travel to L.A. to congratulate the new Mexican-American political heavyweight? I can hear him now, that is, if El Presidente ever gets the nerve to show up in L.A. in person:

"Can't we just all get along, por favor?!"

"Newsweek Lied, People Died" by Glenn Reynolds

This is one of those Blogosphere Wildfires that doesn't really need much input from me. Professor Glenn Reynolds (author of the Instapundit blog) and fellow bloggers have thrown down the gauntlet at the feet of Newsweek regarding the false report about personell at Guantanomo Bay flushing Korans down toilets.

Start here at MSNBC's GlennReynolds.com, hop over to the Instapundit blog here and just start scrolling down until you reach the May 16th postings, then dive in. Don't miss the barroom brawl that's broken out between the Blogosphere and Adam Cohen & friends of the New York Times re: "Ethics and Blogging" as referenced in Glenn Reynold's May 9th posting here. I should not forget to thank Ingrid over at Uganda Watch for breaking the news early on May 10th here.

Ain't blogging just grand? And you thought that nobody was listening. Me? I'm just going to sit back and read and listen. I love a good fight as long as nobody gets hurt. This is better than that new TV series Deadwood that ethiopundit was writing about the other day.

Ethiopia Decides: 2005 Parliamentary Elections

Surely you have heard about the (relative) calm and very high (80-89%) voter turnout at the polls in Ethiopia on Sunday. According to this BBC News article international observers seem to be pleased with the election so far as well as the ruling EPRDF party and to a somewhat lesser extent the main opposition party, the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD). I guess what really matters in the end is that the people of Ethiopia are satisfied with the voting process and the election results so that they can move forward.

My fellow blog author ethiopundit has been providing the Blogosphere with extensive and excellent insights into politics and life in Ethiopia for many months now. The ethiopundit is clearly not in favor of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front taking a 3rd term in office and his writings are a must read for anyone seriously interested in learning how politics and history work in Ethiopia today. Many many thanks for your tireless work ethioblogger.

Another very good blog on life in Ethiopia is Meskel Square by journalist Andrew Heavens. Meskel Square's blog archive for May 2005 has two good articles about the elections and I'm sure there will be more to follow. Meskel Square is the historic 16-lane traffic junction in the nation's capitol Addis Ababa. Andrew's blog is a great read and he has lot's of good photos of Ethiopia available at Flickr.

So if your want the "inside scoop" on what's going on in this ancient and magnificent African country make sure you stop by ethiopundit and Meskel Square and use the resouces available in their respective blogrolls. Good Luck on the road to democratization Ethiopia and congratulations on the excellent voter turnout. Even children are allowed to vote down there! Maybe we oughta try that out in the "West". I bet you we would have fewer wars and less poverty and corruption in business and international affairs if kids could vote (without their parents in tow, of course).

Let children have a real voice in national politics. Give Kids the Vote!

Mexico's President makes racist slur toward African-Americans

Updated May 16th:

In a speech on Friday last week before a group of Texas businessmen Mexico's President Vicente Fox said and I quote:

"There is no doubt that Mexicans, filled with dignity, willingness and ability to work are doing jobs that not even blacks want to do there in the United States...."

Nah, he didn't say that. Did he? Nah, can't be. He's the Presidente of Mexico. Maybe he meant jobs that not even (black) slaves want to do, or Indans, or something like that. Oder? Lot's of history between Africans and Mexicans and between Native-Americans and Mexicans too.

Here is what the Washington Post and the Chicago Sun Times had to say about this little booboo by "El Presidente". The whole incident has to do with Fox's disappointment with proposed U.S. legislation to tighten borders and attempt better control of illegal immigration from south of the Rio Grande AND to slow down the US$128 billion dollars worth of illegal drugs pouring over the Mexican-U.S. border every year. Just think if that amount of money was re-directed toward helping to relieve the Mexican people's miserable poverty and invested in projects for developing countries around the world. One-hundred-twenty-eight billion dollars is a lot of money El Presidente!!

Talk about the Wild Wild West (Nuevo Laredo). Remember the Alamo. Charge!!!

Business Success Stories in Africa

Ethan is back from Japan and has posted The Ghanaian Success Story on May 10th to his blog. All writers who really care about Africa need to do more to better research, write, and publish stories that point out Africa’s successes. And yes that goes for Yours Truly most of all.

It is just as easy to find good news and success stories about Africa as it is to find stories about humanitarian crisis, war, and other depressing stuff. One thing we can do better is to stop relying so heavily on the MSM for our news and views and begin to source our own news from people living and working in Africa and by sharing and using more information with one another.

Here is a related posting at Howard French’s A Glimpse of the World titled “The Africa You Never See”. The original article appeared in the Washington Post and was written by Carol Pineau. Here is the World Bank March 18th press release about Pineau’s documentary film Africa Open for Business and the link to the Africa: Open for Business website.

A “Hat Tip” to Kenya Hudson at Ambiguous Adventure and to Emeka of The Timbuktu Chronicles for helping to get Pineau’s story out into the Blogosphere last month.

Jewels in the Jungle 1st Anniversary

Today one year ago we (Tonto and I) launched this weblog. We were skeptical that anybody would pay attention. We were not sure that we could consistently keep at it by providing good content to the blog and holding our readers interest. We didn't know squat about Africa, at least that is what our African friends here would tell us when arguments got a bit hot under the collar. We weren't sure if Blogger would last and not crash & burn like they did back in 2003 with their earlier software version(s). We couldn't imagine that blogging would take off like wildfire around the globe at the rate of 40,000 new blogs a day and climbing.

In short, we didn't know nuthin' but we were willing to give it a shot in an attempt to help draw people's attention to Africa. To get people to do more about Africa if all they did was to think about the continent and the people and the invaluable natural wonders of Africa more. And last but not least we were skeptical about the chance that people from all over the globe would be talking back to us and working together with us in order to help us and our readers to understand more about Africa and how Africans view and interact with the world we all live in.

One year later we realize that we were wrong about almost everything. The only thing we were right about is that even if a handfull of people interacted with us via this basic web-based software tool that we would be surprised beyond belief. One year ago we could have never imagined that we would find ourselves in the company and comfort of fellow blog authors and readers of such integrity, talent, courage, and imagination.

So I and Tonto are forever in your debt for a wonderful and challenging year online. We promise to get better at our research and writing and creativity in an effort to inform and "edutain" and share information with our fellow bloggers and readers during the next year(s). Perhaps our combined efforts will help in small ways to light the fires in people's minds and form the global building blocks necessary to build the bridges between us and them, the haves and the have-nots, between you my readers and the beautiful children and people of Africa featured so prominently on this blog during the past year.

Thank you so much for a great year.

Photographer & Friends in Uganda

Susanne & Friends; Jinja District, Uganda
Photo by Susanne Behnke, Uganda 2003

The German photographer and teacher Susanne Behnke hanging out with her newfound friends down in Jinja District near Lake Victoria, southeastern Uganda. Thanks Susanne for the use of your wonderful photos on Jewels in the Jungle during our first year in the Blogosphere.

Update May 12th: I've made a few corrections to the captions on photos of schoolchildren that I posted yesterday. The primary school where these photos were taken in 2003 is located in Iganga District of southeastern Uganda. All photos of Uganda (lots of them) I have published to this blog up until today were taken either in Jinja or Iganga districts, in the Busoga Kingdom.

I always confuse Jinja city on Lake Victoria at the source of the Nile river as being in the south of the country, but now we've got that corrected all by ourselves. You can study and download maps of Uganda at the U.N. Cartographic Section site and the U.S. State Department's Bureau of African Affairs has a good background summary on Uganda.

I will have more on how the kids are doing down in Iganga and Jinja districts as soon as we can get some reliable information out of there. That's a whole 'nother story all by itself and I haven't had any substantial information from people in this area working with these children since I'd say June last year. I apparently stumbled upon some information last year about a suspicious group of people (supposedly) working with orphaned children that I wasn't supposed to see or know about, but it would be unfair of me to say more until I know more. I will find out somehow and fortunately it does not involve the children shown in these photos. In the meantime you can learn more about Uganda and their President Museveni at the BBC News Country Profiles and the IRIN News section on Uganda.

Schoolchildren in Uganda: Photo III

Schoolchildren in Iganga District, southeastern Uganda
Photo by Susanne Behnke, Uganda 2003

Beautiful, bright little kids. This is also a favorite photo of mine from the series of more than 1000 photographs taken by my friend Susanne during her visit to Uganda in 2003.

Schoolchildren in Uganda: Photo II

Schoolchildren in Iganga District, southeastern Uganda
Photo by Susanne Behnke, Uganda 2003

Again, one of my all-time favorite photos of young people hard at work learning. O.K. the Girls are working hard, the Boyz will catch up later.

Schoolchildren in Uganda: Photo I

Schoolgirls in southeastern Uganda - Iganga District
Photo by Susanne Behnke, Uganda 2003

Happy Mother's Day 2005

Happy Mother's Day to all those Moms out there who read my blog or just happened to end up here today by accident. I'm gonna have dinner with my family here in Germany in a few minutes, but couldn't pass up a chance to wish you all a nice day. And yes, I did call my Mom back home in the States today to wish her a Happy Mother's Day and tell her that I do love her very much, despite our (sometime) fierce arguments when I'm back home on American soil. Lot's of temperament in the family you know, especially the women. I just wish that I could figure out a way to safely disarm Mom. She always hides her (2) firearms when she hears I'm coming into town so that I can't find them and turn them over to the local sheriff. Other than that my Mom is a real sweet senior citizen and goes to church (almost) every Sunday. I think she leaves the pistol(s) at home, but I'm not sure about some of the other Mom's sittin' up in church. You never know...:-)

So for all those Moms and Moms-to-be and future Mothers out there in the Blogosphere, here is a nice little photo set from the International Rescue Committee titled "Mothers and Children" for your viewing pleasure.

That's it. Ciao Bella Mamas...:-)

Darfur: New Flash Movie and Children's Drawings

Ingrid over at the Sudan Watch blog has a posting about a new (Macromedia) Flash video on Darfur created by the PHR organization after a trip PHR staffers made to the region this past January. The video music soundtrack was produced by the Berkelee College of Music Women-to-Women Project for Darfur. The soundtrack's main theme is titled “To the Sudanese Women” performed by Farah Siraj. Checkout the video credits for more information about the photographer, video and web producers who collaborated on this fine piece of work made primarily for Internet audiences. We need more online media projects like this about issues and peoples not only in Africa but around the whole planet.

Ingrid also has two postings on drawings by children who have escaped the killings and atrocities in Darfur and are now living in refugee camps along the Sudanese border with Chad or (God forbid) inside of Sudan itself. Ethan Z has the original scoop on the Children of Darfur’s drawings posted at his blog here.

Spread the word and don’t forget about the people living in these miserable IDP camps, especially the beautiful little children. The next time someone tries to tell you that the Government of Sudan is not responsible for genocidal attacks and murder in the Sudan, remember these people’s words and pictures and the PHR video.

What you do to them (the "GoS is innocent" idiots) after that is your business. I know what I would do but I'm not supposed to talk (write) like that online, at least not on this blog.

Who the heck is Corneille E.N. Ewango?

Who is Corneille E.N. Ewango? (Updated January 02, 2006)

This post is for the benefit of participants who have completed the Africa Quiz 2005 at the Global Voices Online - Blog Africa project site. We hope that you enjoyed taking the short quiz on Africa and will follow the global dialogue on African affairs in the blogosphere for 2006. Following is the text of my original question entry for the Africa Quiz 2005 that contains detailed information and links about the correct answer.

QUESTION

What is the name of the African botanist and conservationist who was the recipient of the 2005 Goldman Environmental Prize for courageous acts to preserve endangered wildlife and plant species in the Okapi Faunal Reserve?

Hint: The Okapi Faunal Reserve is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in a country that is home to 50% of Africa’s tropical moist rainforests.

Wangari Maathai - Kenya

Sama S. Banya - Sierra Leone

Corneille E.N. Ewango - Democratic Republic of Congo

Jef Dupain - Democratic Republic of Congo


ANSWERS

A. Wangari Maathai - Incorrect
Wangari Maathai is the internationally renowned Kenyan environmentalist, activitst, government minister, and the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Wangari Maathai did receive a Goldman Environmental Prize in 1991.

B. Sama S. Banya - Incorrect
Sama S. Banya, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation in the government of Sierra Leone, was awarded a Birdlife Conservation Achievement Award in March 2004 for his work to help preserve precious bird and wildlife sanctuaries in his home country and his work in facilitating the signing and ratification of several international conservation agreements.

C. Corneille E.N. Ewango - Correct
Corneille E.N. Ewango, a former staff member of the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature, was responsible for the botany program in the Okapi Faunal Reserve in the eastern D.R.C. from 1996 to 2003. The reserve covers more than 3 million acres and is home to the Mbuti people (indigenous pygmies) and to 13 primate species, elephants, and animals found nowhere else on Earth, including the Okapi (a forest giraffe).

Amidst the chaos of two brutal wars, economic and political corruption, and the rampant resource exploitation that took place for more than a decade in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), Corneille Ewango was able to save the reserve’s precious herbarium collection, computers, research and data on 380,000 trees and plants___ and his own life. Working together with only 30 junior staff members who did not flee the fighting, Ewango was able to mobilize more than 1500 local residents of the Ituri forest region to stand up against marauding militias who were raping and murdering and bandits who were illegally exploiting and exporting the Congo’s gold, diamonds, coltan, and timber.

Corneille E.N. Ewango was awarded the 2005 Goldman Environmental Prize and a no-strings attached grant of USD$ 125,000.00 together with 4 other recipients in April 2005. He is due to complete his graduate studies in Tropical Botany at the University of Missouri – St. Louis this year.

D. Jef Dupain - Incorrect
Jef Dupain is a primatologist working for the African Wildlife Foundation famous for his work with the bonobo species, a member of the Great Apes family and very close relative of the chimpanzee. Jef’s work with the endangered bonobos of the central African rainforests dates back to 1994 when he set out for the very remote Lomako Forests of the Congo River Basin. After the outbreak of war in 1997, bonobo populations in the region were devastated by the civil unrest, burgeoning human populations and loss of habitat, bushmeat trade for the illegal mining and timber extraction, and the illegal global trade in endangered wildlife.

Bonobos are the closest relative of humans in the Great Apes family, sharing 98.4% of our genetic makeup. Unlike their more aggressive chimpanzee cousins, bonobos are noted for their docile natures and matriarchal societies. The Bonobos’ similarities to humans has long been noted by the indigenous peoples (pygmies) of the Congo Basin. Their legends tell of bonobos showing men what foods were available in the forest to eat.

Jef Dupain returned to the Lomako Forest region of the D.R.C. in 2002 to continue his work studying and protecting the bonobos. The award-winning documentary The Ghosts of Lomako features his recent work with these mysterious and precious primates. Jef Dupain is presently chief coordinator of the AWF Congo Heartlands project.

Technorati: Africa Global Voices environment Congo Kenya Sierra Leone

Blogging and the world of business

UPDATE January 03, 2006:
Attention to participants of the Blog Africa "Africa Quiz 2005"

Please follow this link for detailed information about the Congolese botanist and conservationist Corneille E.N. Ewango. The April 22, 2005 post below "Blogging and the world of businesses" unfortunately contained links to two blogs that are no longer online. That problem has been fixed today. Thanks for participating in the Africa Quiz 2005 and we hope that it was fun.

***********************************************************************************
Original Post April 22, 2005

I want to begin this posting today by saying to some of my fellow blogger buddies that I am truly humbled and terribly proud of the work you are doing. In the past 30 years (Wow! Has it been that long??) that I have been involved with electrical engineering and the ICT fields we have seen a lot of things come and go. I am amazed many times at the creativity and brilliance I see pouring out of people who are publishing online and their willingness to share information and knowledge and all kinds of stuff with other blog authors and their reader audience. To this day many tech purists continue to ignore the power of these simple web publishing tools (blog software) albeit at their own peril. There are between 9 and 10 million weblogs out there, 40,000 new ones per day.

I appreciate the comments saying thanks for my encouragement, but it is I and many others in the tech field and other professions who must say thanks to you. Some of us have waited for this explosion of creativity and collaboration using simple tech tools for a very long time. Bravo to you.

Now in my little sector of the Blogosphere (can’t cover the whole thing, it’s growing too fast!!) I have been paying particular attention to the laidies, not to say that the guys aren’t doing good work ‘cause many of you are, but the women are just moving like Gazelles. Again bravo to the women, it’s about time that you left the boyz behind in the dust. Go on girlz.

Kenya Hudson who has recently returned to blogging from what must be a really busy schedule posted a nice morsel the other day that has important value and I plan to build upon some of what she could only state briefly. The same goes for Carine in a brief article she has done on Corneille E.N. Ewango, winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize 2005 for the work he has done at the Okapi Faunal Reserve in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Wangari Maathai, the Nobel Prize for Peace 2005 laureate, received this coveted prize for grassroots environmental work in 1991. Africa in many ways is still in a frontier stage, underdeveloped and working desperately for engagement from the world of global business, not just begging for humanitarian and development aid. In recent history no continent, no nation, has been able to fulfill the wants and needs and ambitions of its peoples with just handouts and loans from the IMF or World Bank and the like. None.

Now what does this have to do with blogs and business? Well, read the special cover feature of the upcoming May 2, 2005 issue of BusinessWeek magazine: Blogs Will Change Your Business to get an idea about the shakeup blogs and bloggers are causing in corporate America and soon to arrive in Europe. Then think to yourself how this might apply to businesses in emerging markets i.e. the African continent, Asia, South America. If you are interested in the world of business this BW feature article could be very useful for you.

I receive the BusinessWeek Insider email newsletter for years now and a link to this special preview article was included in today’s BW email. However, I first discovered the news about the BusinessWeek cover story at Amy Gahran’s Contentious blog. You can learn quite a bit about blogging at her place and from her readers (see comments). Another good place to learn about business blogs is at the Business 2.0 online magazine’s B2Day. Despite the 1,000’s of information feeds I receive about technology every month and year the first place I learned about weblogs was by reading a February 2002 article at the Business 2.0 site.

I’ve recently added the Nairobi, Kenya financial blogger bankelele to my blogroll and the Timbuktu Chronicles business blog has been on my roll for ages now. Check these folks out when you find the time. The next time someone tries to tell you that blogging is just a waste of time and nobody is earning money with blogs, just smile. Smile like a fox on Wall Street.

Covering your rear-end in the Blogosphere

Ethan Zuckerman of the My Heart's in Accra blog has an interesting article on using encryption technology to protect yourself online titled A Technical Guide to Anonymous Blogging. If you find yourself in one of those repressive regimes where speaking out can land you in jail, get you killed, tortured, or worse then this article is worth a read. Also check out Ethan's new blog publishing experiment using Wordpress at his new URL here. The last time Ethan tried out a new web publishing tool it did not work out so well, but if he get's into trouble with the new software this time he can always seek help from Wordpress afficiendos like Carine or Amy.

Ethan also wrote an article titled the Subtle Business of Software Localization. This article should be interesting for those of you who use web-based digital image storage and management services from Flickr or Yahoo! and are wondering why your images don't look the same online vs. how they are displayed on your PC monitor. Note that Ethan is cross-posting (or bridging?) between his new blog address and the old blog address at Harvard.

We'll keep it brief today because yes we are still working on the technology problems described earlier. Sometimes technology can be a BIG PAIN IN THE YOU KNOW WHAT!!! Fortunately we know how to keep a cool head in technical emergencies.

Experiencing Technical Difficulties

As I pointed out in my last posting, I am attempting to fix a problem with one of my Microsoft desktop applications. What at first appeared to be a minor bug has turned out to be not so minor after all. Fortunately it is a problem with my "old baby" and I refuse to put her out to pasture just because I have a new extremely hot Dell PC. I shall retire the "old baby" with respect and honor and in good working condition as soon as I nail down this pesky little software failure.

Should be back in action in the Blogosphere any day now. Oh yeah, I refuse to accept any help from the boyz in the lab. I can fix this baby all by myself, thank you. (I hope??).

"Tonto, hand me that hammer over there please. Yeah, the BIG ONE."

Living with Refugees + General Updates

We're gonna be away from the blog for a couple of days (or more) because I have to troubleshoot a particularly pesky little problem with a software application. First Tonto and I are going after the little critter (bug) 'cause we can do anything that these young tech experts around us think they can do, and we can do it better. If we mess anything up, then we might ask the youngsters for help.

"Fur and Feathers are Flying" over at Le Salon of News and Thought because somebody (Brian) brought up the "G Word" in reference to Rwanda. It's getting kinda hot over there so Tonto and I are gonna keep a low profile until things calm down. All kinds of nationalities have joined in the fray, including a Rwandan blogger. Maybe The Malua needs to serve some refreshments to his guests in Le Salon to cool 'em off? Lemonade anyone? Tea?

Kenya Hudson of the Ambiguous Adventure blog is back after a (very) long pause, so you should keep an eye out for her upcoming postings. Welcome back, Ms. Hudson. There is also some good writing to be found over at Wambui's Snapshots of New Orleans. In my opinion she is doing very interesting legal work dealing with crime and punishment issues in the U.S.A., so do stop by and have a look at some of her excellent journal entries.

Oh yeah, CNN did air Sorious Samura's Living with Refugees documentary this past weekend here in Europe although the scheduled time slot got changed due to Prince Charles and Camilla's wedding. If you missed this excellent 1 hour program depicting Samura's 3 week journey and stay with a family escaping the killing fields of Darfur and their nightmarish experiences at the UNHCR Breijing Camp in Chad, then try to get your hands on the video or demand that it be shown again to the world by writing to your Minister of Communications or something. Here is another account of life in the camp published by journalist Monika Wawrzyniak on April 6th.

Riveting documentary journalism on the atrocities in Sudan and the abuse and incompetency of local and international "officials" who are supposed to be helping people who have escaped from what Kofi Anan described as a "living Hell". A must-see video for anyone who gives a damn about the victims of war and mass murder. Adam and his family are now living at the Tréguine Refugee Camp in Chad thanks to the tireless efforts of Sorious Samura. Neither camp is like the one that the IFRC describe in this little PR story from 2004. Living with Refugess. No blood, no Janaweed militias on camelback, and a Happy Ending (sort of).

See y'all in a couple of days or so. Ciao.

The Funeral of Pope John Paul II

Today I joined with millions of people around the world in the privelage to witness the live TV coverage of the Requiem Mass for Pope John Paul II, a truly historical event in my opinion. I was so moved by what I saw and heard this morning here in Europe that I felt compelled to write just one more piece about this great religious leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Let there be no doubt about it, live broadcast and satellite television remains a very powerful communication medium on Planet Earth despite the increasing gains of the Internet.

Any funeral is a sad occaisson and this one particularly so as one could witness over the last several days the outpouring of grief from the millions of people who were part of his flock and from those of us who respected John Paul II’s leadership and concern for the world. As I stood or sat and watched the funeral I couldn’t help but be impressed by the gathering of thousands and thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, and the 200+ world leaders and dignataries from more than 80 countries, and religious leaders from around the world. Of course the images of the beautiful and historic Vatican itself is enough to impress all by itself, but to see it filled with so much humanity was a powerful experience for many.

Today at the Vatican many leaders from the Four Corners of the Earth were gathered together to mourn this great man. Presidents and prime ministers from 5 continents: from the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, France, Ghana, Turkey, Afghanistan, Italy, the U.S.A., Iran, Syria, Brazil, Australia, Jordan, Spain… and on and on were there. Many of them mortal enemies standing side-by-side to mourn this man (or at least to be seen on international TV). Kings and queens and other royalty and world dignataries seated side-by-side. Leaders of the world’s great religions who throughout history have waged wars against one another that were so bloody and horrible it is improper to describe them here, gathered together to offer their condolences and prayers to John Paul II. They didn’t look so mighty and powerful today with their heads bowed in sorrow against the backdrop of the ancient Vatican surrounded by that sea of humanity from around the world mourning for the Pope, did they?

I was wondering to myself as I watched if they really understood as leaders of our world what kind of responsibility they carry for all of us everywhere on this Earth? ...for the weak as well as the strong, the poor as well as the rich, the sick as well as the healthy? If these political and business and religious leaders are committed to the meaning of faith and prayer and the recognition of good in all of humanity, as the Pope tried so hard to show us with his own life and service to God?

Looking at the faces of all of those people today gathered in St. Peter’s Square to mourn the passing of the Pope helped me to re-confirm not only my own faith in God (which gets a little shakey at times, I’ll admit it) but also in humanity itself and especially in those people who so desperately need our help. I hope that I can hold onto that conviction real tight until my own passing, and I hope that at least some of our world leaders present at the Vatican today were moved in similar ways and better understand these very important facts:

FACTS: Humanity is crying out for peace and justice and dignity so that people can get on with the important business of building a better world for everyone. The majority of people around the world want to live in peace and be good neighbors and friends, to be united in our humanity and not be divided by war and violence for political gains or misused through greed and corruption for money and other material wealth.END FACTS

If our leaders and we ordinary citizens of the world can keep these important facts always in the forefront of our thoughts and our actions, humankind will truly make it to the Kingdom of Heaven someday. And if we fail to do so, we will all most certainly perish from this Earth.

Those are some impressions I come away with after watching the Pope’s requiem funeral mass. May John Paul II rest in peace under the glorious Dome of St. Peter’s Cathedral for as long as a thousand generations, so that others who follow us may come to learn about his great works in our time in the history of humankind on this Earth.

Here are some additional online resources about Pope John Paul II’s funeral for my readers:

1. BBC News online coverage of the funeral
2. BBC News photo essays of the funeral
3. BBC News Timeline of the Popes throughout history: note that the 3 African Popes are mysteriously missing in the timeline but are noted in this BBC article. Also reference comments made to my earlier posting on John Paul II. My readers are the “The First to Know What’s Up”.
4. BBC's thoughts and views about the Pope from around the world
5. Google News links to online media coverage of the Pope’s funeral

CNN’s coverage was so lousey today they don’t even get an honorable mention. Somebody oughta tell the CNN U.S. reporters they need to shut up when a requiem mass is in progress and stop trying to score career points. At least Christiane Ammanpour knew when to shut up and when to talk. CNN needs a shakeup from the top down. Bring back Ted Turner now.