http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/345/blogs_01_wahdah.gif discusses the Arabic language and how it influences “Arabic political and cultural discourse” and considers whether the “explosiveness and poetic” nature of the language leads to “radical Islam”.
..... This [those educated in classical Arabic] in no way led to the creation of radical ideologies or ideologies; but it did influence the way in which those ideologues express themselves. And the themes expressed in much classical literature likely make it all the more unacceptable for such a set to accept being ruled by aliens (or those under alien influence).

This is my thinking. I could be reaching too far back, as is Dr. Lewis when he explains that the roots of modern terrorism lay in some back room Anglo-Ottoman-French-Austrian-Icelandic treaty or in the conduct of the 18th and 19th century corsairs. Or when someone tells us that the the Arabic language itself leads to "radical Islam".

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/345/blogs_02_wordsbody.gifWordsbody comments on Obamamania and takes us through his celebrtory supporters and detractors from Spike Lee and Toni Morrison on the one hand and Maya Angelou and Whoopie Goldberg on the other. The split within the Black community is obvious – one of the choices being do you vote on racial lines or because you sincerely think Obama is the man?
“Uncomfortable as I am with the role of the great O in this campaign, I actually welcomed her statement above. Because the converse is also true. I am free as a black person to support Hillary Clinton if I want.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/345/blogs_03_psycherevolution.gifAfrican Renaissance: A Revolution of the Mind? poses some thoughts on the question of borders in Africa which cut through linguistic and ethnic groups as a way of controlling the “natives”.
“This got me wondering about how borders have exclusified languages or dialects...I hope there is such a word as exclusify, but what I mean is if a Shona person spoke Kalanga with a Shona accent in Botswana they would probably get flak for it, and if I as a Kalanga speaker have taken flak for speaking Shona ''funny.'' Shona and Kalanga are in some respects like Texan English and the English one would find in Wales, so they are not completely dissimilar. Once upon a time, they were the same language but a border ran through it and now it lives between them.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/345/blogs_04_chippla.gif Chippla’s Weblog reports on recent talks between the Russian gas multinational, Gazprom and the Nigerian government on the development of gas fields.

“What about Gazprom? What does it have to offer? The Financial Times report (referred to in the first paragraph of this write up) provides next to nothing on this, though it quotes a Nigerian government official as saying:
"What Gazprom is proposing is mind boggling. They are talking tough and saying the west has taken advantage of us in the last 50 years and they're offering us a better deal."
Until such a deal is made public (should the talks between Gazprom and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation bear fruit) this blogger remains deeply skeptical. Gazprom, like any other energy conglomerate, is simply strategically positioning itself for global growth beyond the shores of Eurasia. Already a key player in the European gas market, in addition to being 'the' key player in the Russian gas market, it now has its eyes set on a region of the world in need of exponential growth”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/345/blogs_05_sotho.gifSotho links to the 25 most important films on race and the lack of recognition of Black actors by Hollywood.
“Look around, and you’ll see how African Americans have emerged as the big screen’s most reliable stars. Will Smith is the one demonstrable megastar. Morgan Freeman’s quiet dignity gets him designated as the face of God and the soul of humanity. ...........And the achievements of blacks are regularly honored by Hollywood. In the past seven years, blacks have won Academy Awards in every acting category. Halle Berry took Best Actress for Monster’s Ball, Freeman Best Supporting Actor for Million Dollar Baby, Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/345/blogs_06_cairofreeze.gifCairo Freeze, an Egyptian weekly cartoon editorial, posts a cartoon on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s recent speech suggesting that aspects of the Sharia Law to be officially recognised in the UK.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/345/blogs_07_civilexpression.gif No Longer At Ease has an excellent series of updates on the fighting in Chad between the government and rebels. The updates are very informative in this very difficult to understand conflict.
“The rebels took off just five days ago from the East of the country, near the Sudanese borders. Chad and Sudan have been exchanging accusations that each is supporting the others' rebels. Chad supported and armed rebels in Darfur and so did Sudan with Chadian rebels. In 2006, the rebels reached the outskirts of the capital N'Djamena but they were pushed back with the help of the French troops. There is no doubt that Sudan will be delighted with a change of leadership in Chad.

It also seems that the EU, and particularly France, sees president Idris Deby as a liability; he has presided over fraudulent elections and changed the constitution so he can have a third term. His ongoing rivalry with the Sudanese government is also making the deployment of UN troops in Eastern Chad and Darfur much more difficult.

The African Union, already overloaded with the crisis in Kenya, Darfur and Somalia, has said that Chad will be suspended from the organization if president Deby is deposed and "until normalcy and democratic rule is restored in that country".

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/345/blogs_08_kubatanablogs.gifhttp://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/345/blogs_09_blacklooks.gifBlack Looks reports on the link between the Israeli billionaire and settlement magnate, Lev Leviev’s diamond mining in Angola and building of illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
“New York and Londoner’s campaign to boycott the jewellery stores of Israeli billionaire and settlement magnate, Lev Leviev on Madison Ave and Bond Street. Leviev is a major constructor of Israeli settlements on Occupied Palestinian land in violation of international law. He owns Alluvial diamond mines in Angola where thousands work in dangerous conditions, largely unregulated and often digging with their bare hands standing in dirty muddy water. [Alluvial diamonds are cheap to mine because the diamonds are just below the surface. ]”

* Sokari Ekine blogs at Black Looks and http://www.africanwomenblogs.com