South African Diaspora (http://www.southafricandiaspora.org/archives/2006/05/30/take-take-take/) raises some interesting points about Africans leaving to work abroad in the West. He goes into considerable detail about skilled and unskilled labour and the cost for Africa to educate it’s skilled workforce who then leave.

“So taking this from America’s point of view, they can basically pick and chose who they want from Africa’s talent pool, not have to pay a cent for their education and training, and have no trouble getting them to immigrate. What a great system. Africa, why are you so poor and stupid?”

He asks what would happen if all the educated Africans came home to work? For example many Indians who left to study IT in the US are now returning home. He makes one challenging suggestion of the US:

“I would like to see America paying $1 million for every immigrant that they take. Or even better, if for every skilled worker that they took, they took 20 unskilled workers. Or maybe a moratorium on permanent immigrations, only 5 years maximum allowed – go overseas, work a bit, get cash and experience, bring it home and make it better…”

African Gadget (http://www.afrigadget.com) is a new group blog created with the aim of showcasing African alternative technologies and ways of utilising every day objects to solving local problems. One of the first pieces on show is:

“Handcrafted, locally made bikes using wood and rubber for the tires. Yes, they do have brakes, which are much needed in the mountainous areas of Uganda, Zaire/Congo, and Western Kenya.”

African Gadget is looking for more people in Africa to join their team. “No matter where you are located, you’ll see (and hopefully take pictures of) some interesting gadgets or mechanical wizardry. Even if you don’t have your own blog, or have never done anything like this before, you can easily get started here."

AfriGadget will cover these categories: Gadgets (of course), How-to’s, Books, Energy, Communication, Transportation, Water, Wood and Metal projects that are different from the norm.

Sub-ZeroBlue (http://www.subzeroblue.com/archives/2006/05/homosexuality_in_the.html) discusses homosexuality in the Arab world by commenting on it’s existence and asking what should be done.

“First of all, let's start with the general fact: Homosexuality exists. It has existed for ages and ages, and will continue to exist for ages to come…The Arab and Muslim world is no exception. Homosexuality exists in our societies and is a lot more widespread than we think it is…We and our governments choose to ignore that fact, we choose not to face it, and just act as if it’s not there, even though we know we’re lying to ourselves; it’s because we simply don’t know how to handle it.”

He goes on to say that on the basis of basic human anatomy homosexuality cannot be regarded as natural but since it exists, the Arab world needs to find a way to deal with it. He asks:

“So, is the Arab world’s policy of just ignoring the existence of homosexuality, and leaving it for the Arab society to deal with, as something that is both illegal by law and forbidden by religion, the best solution we have?”

The Arabist (http://arabist.net/archives/2006/05/28/a-letter-from-sharqawi) publishes a letter from Mohamed el-Sharqawi, a protestor who was detained by the police whilst protesting in support of the pro-reform judges. Sharqawi was sexually assaulted during his detention:

“Activist Mohammed el-Sharqawi, 24, was sodomized ‘using a rolled up piece of cardboard for nearly 15 minutes,’ his lawyer Gamal Eid told The Associated Press. ‘Almost all of el-Sharkawi’s body is bruised, swollen, or cut,’ Eid said. ‘I haven’t seen such brutality and sadism since 1995,’ he added, referring to a period when the state mounted a crackdown on Islamic militants.”

In this post, Sharqawi describes his ordeal from being kidnapped, beaten and assaulted over an 8 hour period by Egyptian security forces:

“I went through many moments of fear and horror in my life, but nothing was like those I went through after I left the Press Syndicate on 25 May, 2006, around 6pm. I got into one of my colleagues’ car, to take a ride to the train station, so as to catch the train to Alexandria. I wanted to see my family, after a period by no means short - 30 days -behind bars in Tora Prison.”

Diary of a Mad Kenyan Woman (http://madkenyanwoman.blogspot.com/2006/05/nambrangelina-africa-in-hock....) comments on the Brad Pitt/Angelina Joli saga in which they have gone to have their baby in Namibia. The government is providing them with protection from paparazzi during their stay and the couple have donated $175,000. The couple have a joint worth of literally millions of dollars. The child will have Namibian citizenship. MKW comments:

“However, we Africans have now reached new depths of depravity and shame. Or perhaps that should be heights, since it is somehow rather ineffable that an entire country can be turned into a private maternity ward. An. Entire. Sovereign. Country. Namibia has granted Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt the rights of ownership (or lease?) over its borders and its airspace, so that this couple, who are accomplished enough to have arranged their genetics so as to have the requisite good looks—if one likes that sort of thing—to subsequently make unthinkable amounts of money for occasionally pretending to be someone else on film, can determine who enters or flies over Namibia. I repeat. Namibia, THE COUNTRY.”

MKW (as are many other African bloggers) is disgusted with this arrangement or rather agreement by the Namibian government. MKW concludes that it would be best to stop pretending and just bring back colonialism:

“This time, we have ourselves agreed to slavery and to colonialism. This time, we have invited and reveled in them. This time, we have no excuse. I have never been so ashamed to be an African.”

Acoustic Motorbike (http://ggernst.blogeasy.com/article.view.run?articleID=316558) reviews a new book, an Anthology on lesbian writings from South Africa – Sometimes X Sometimes Y.

“It is a beautiful, moving anthology of personal stories of South African lesbians. There is poetry, stories, letters and autobiography. The anthology deals with issues of coming out, family and peer acceptance and rejection, love and loss, abuse and death.”

Black Looks (http://www.blacklooks.org/2006/05/blocking_blogs_monitoring_mobiles_-_.html) comments on the new trend emerging in African countries with governments increasingly attacking internet sites, blocking blogs and arresting bloggers and journalists. The Ethiopian government continues to block Ethiopian blogs in Ethiopia. The government is still denying responsibility but who else could be doing it. Apart from the blocking of blogs in Ethiopia, arrest of bloggers in Tunisia and Egypt, the Gambian government has hacked into the site of exiled journalist, Pa Nderry Mbai, who runs the Freedom Newspaper. His own content was removed and replaced by a false statement plus the publication of the names and emails of all registered users of the site all of whom were later ordered to report to the police station to be detained.

In addition the South African and Zimbabwean government are planning to enact legislation that will require mobile phone users to produce employment records and addresses. Providers will be forced to disclose and monitor usage.

"…from a user perspective the Bill has implications for both privacy and access or use of mobile phones. As always it is the poor that will mostly be affected by this legislation. If you don’t have an address, do not work in the formal economy or are an illegal immigrant then under the Bills regulations you will no longer be able to use a mobile phone. The second hand sale of SIM cards which again is used by mostly poor and rural people will be criminalised as failure to report the sale or exchange will result in a prison sentence of up to 12 months.”

Afrikan Eye (http://afrikaneye.blogspot.com/2006/05/slavery-and-colonisation.html) has an excellent essay on Slavery & Colonisation in Africa. She beings by saying:

“This blog is by an Afrikan for Afrikans...and those who are interested in the continent. May we have the courage to engage in our healing...I mean REALLY do the work required for us to heal...and of course a critical step in that process is learning how we were wounded...so here we go...this is PART of the story.”

She discusses the slave trade, resistance amongst captured slaves, colonisation and its impact on political and cultural underdevelopment, and Britain’s Gulag in Kenya. The piece is quite detailed and includes photos and graphics.

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks,

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org