CAR

Here is a nice video about CAR. That is pronounced "see"-"ay"-"are" as in the letters, not "car" as in the vehicle. Ever heard of the Central African Republic? Well you may not need to. Some skeptics believe it will cease to exist as a nation in the near future, here is why:



CAR was supposed to have elections in March, then May, and now, after rewriting the constitution to allow the current government to stay in power as long as it takes to run an election, who knows? They are likely waiting for some rich pro-democracy group to come in and fund the election.

There has not been a peaceful, free or fair election since the one that launched the first rebellion in 1960 when France 'pulled out' and left the brutal Jean-Bedel Bokassa in their place.

For more info here is the BBC profile, here is the HDPT website.

Saudi Breasts: Political Weapons

On a fateful day in May of 2007, Dr Izzat Atiya of Egypt's al-Azhar University issued a fatwa offering a way around the segregation of sexes in the workplace. Some say it came to him in a dream:

"A woman at work can take off the veil or reveal her hair in front of someone whom she breastfed."

Suckling at the teat of a woman "at least five times a day" would, according to Dr. Atiya, make any man into a son in the eyes of Allah, and such a familial bond would allow them to work together harmoniously.

Noting the obvious sexual temptation that the naked breasts of a co-worker may stir, he offered that "the man should take the milk, but not directly from the breast of the woman." This did little to calm the swelling of disapprobation from the ranks of Islamic legal scholars at the time. Realizing his error, the good Dr. issued a full retraction and the swelling subsided... until this month.

Shaikh Abdul Mohsin Bin Nasser Al Obaikan, a member of Saudi Council of Senior Scholars and advisor to the king, issued the same fatwa in early June. This time, he claimed, it would be useful to allow woman to travel alone in cars with foreign drivers.

One anonymous Saudi woman put it quite succinctly:

"Does Islam allow me to breastfeed a foreign man and prevent me from driving my own car? I have not breastfed my own children. How do you expect me to do this with a foreign man? What is this nonsense?"

Now the men of Saudi Arabia are in a little more than a handful of trouble. Not only do they face mountains of opposition from their female counterparts but also a righteous and opportunistic group of Saudi women are using the fatwa to their advantage. Unless all women are permitted to drive in Saudi Arabia they will breastfeed men all over the place. The campaign will be launched under the slogan "We either be allowed to drive or breastfeed foreigners." Nice tactics.

I hear there has been a shortfall of drivers in Saudi Arabia lately. One way or the other that won't last long.

Two heads are better

I am happy to introduce a vastly intelligent and widely renowned gentleman-poster who will be joining me here on SuperBear. Not only will he expand the scope of the blog intellectually, but hopefully he'll help to keep things tidy. I do get sloppy sometimes. Welcome to my wee brother Ben!

The UAE is a bad country

Here is the Human Rights Watch page for UAE.

The situation is absolutely terrible.

I keep saying to myself that people would not keep coming if the abuse wasn't worth the extra income. While perhaps it is true, I no longer think this is an acceptable position. This state is filthy rich. It can afford to treat people decently.

Here is Amnesty International's page.

Although you sometimes hear claims about 'bolstering efforts' and 'renewing commitments', the UAE has yet to sign any major international treaty on human rights.

On the other hand — when it comes to human trafficking, in Qatar you need your employer's permission to leave the country. Now that's a lot of power in the employer's hands. In the UAE, if you make it to the airport and request a flight home, you're given a ticket and told to never return. Is that at least a little justice?

Most Failed Index

 Foreign Policy magazine published the 2010 Failed State Index this week. Somalia topped the list and can still be referred to as the most failed state in the world. Ignoring the awkward grammar of that title, what can be said about the functionality of the index and the sensibility of the concept?

Over at Aidwatchers, the concept is not well recieved:

One can only speculate about the political motives for inventing an incoherent concept like “state failure.” It gave Western states (most notably the US superpower) much more flexibility to intervene where they wanted to (for other reasons): you don’t have to respect state sovereignty if there is no state. After the end of the Cold War, there was less hesitation to intervene because of the disappearance of the threat of Soviet retaliation. “State failure” was even more useful as justification for the US to operate with a free hand internationally in the “War on Terror” after 9/11.

While the 'failed state' label may have its glaringly biased implications, the index itself is telling. It measures twelve signifiant variables including demographic pressure, refugees, human flight, uneven development, human rights, and public services. In doing so it thankfully does not label one state or another 'failed'. What can we glean from the index then?

Well, lets take for example the fact that Kenya is in the red but Eritrea is in the orange. I would argue that in Kenya people have more political freedom, more freedom of expression, more opportunity for advancement, more access to loanable funds, more mobility, and a freer press than in Eritrea. This index as you can see, does not count these factors. In Eritrea they have fewer refugees, less group grievance and more even development. So, Eritrea makes its way to a higher ranking despite having a dictatorial government that controls mobility and the economy.

The factors that make Kenya a more comfortable place to live have more to do with civil society and less with government than the factors taken into consideration for this index. Which factors are most important for understanding the socio-political situation in a country? As always, there is never one index that can please everyone.

Mo says No

The Mo Ibrahim foundation has decided for the second year in a row, not to award the coveted Excellence in African Leadership award. The 5 million dollar cash prize, as I discussed in an earlier post, is awarded to an African leader who have been democratically elected, served within their constitutional term limit and have left within the last three years. As he expressed in this piece for the Financial Times, Mo and his team were just not impressed by anyone this year.

This year, like last year, the prize committee – chaired by Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary-general, who is independent of the board – has decided not to make an award.

So does that mean that African leadership has been, as The Economist might say, “hopeless”? And has the foundation, established to celebrate good leadership in Africa, ended up proving that there is no such thing?

No. Whether there is a winner of the prize or not, the purpose of the foundation is to challenge those in Africa and elsewhere to debate what constitutes excellence in leadership. The standards set for the prize winner are high, and the number of eligible candidates each year is small. It is always likely there will be years when no prize is awarded.

Though a disconcerting that there is no leader worthy of the prize, it's still nice to see this organization keeping their standards and not just doling out the cash to candidates who came close.

treeburst

Empty buildings everywhere

Rent in Abu Dhabi is exorbitant and not expected to fall. There are thousands of empty apartment buildings in the city — and new buildings go up every month.

I can't make sense of it, other than if we are looking at seriously lagged housing demand or a very forward looking construction boom (I suppose the city would see it that way). But how could developers afford to be so forward looking?

According to an assessment of the property market put out by the Urban Planning Council, current demand is outstripping supply. So why then are so many spaces empty? There is only one thing that makes sense of this: the housing/rent market in Abu Dhabi is not a market.

Land is allocated on the basis of merit not demand. Any local in Abu Dhabi is guaranteed an income so they never feel the pinch. Foreigners are prohibited from ownership in all but select areas, so locals can procure plentiful territory in this deserted country with limited competition.

Furthermore, since Islamic banking does not allow interest, there is little opportunity cost for investing in housing. There is little to lose if your building stays empty (little more than capital depreciation, which admittedly is high in this environment), even over a long period of time.

Putting these ideas together you get the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, a dusty, desolate place filled completely with empty apartment buildings and 'villas'. The contradictions never cease in this place, and don't imagine this changing for years to come.

Wavin' Ads

I am completely caught up in the World Cup Fever. One unavoidable fact when this happens is that advertisements are bombarded at you. One in particular that caught my attention immediatly was this K'Naan "Wavin' Flag" music video.

I first saw K'Naan on a tiny stange at UBC in Vancouver, Canada. He was honest, fluid and a fantastic performer. I have been fortunate enough to have seen K'Naan in concert three times in Western Canada and he has never let the crown down. Well, until Coke bought this K'Naan's song.

I heard this song several months ago and thought is was a nice tune, but it didn't catch me like his live shows did. Now its just making me sick. So to embrace the sickness, and to forward the repetition I face on a daily basis I have four five videos to look at today.

The first is the arabic mix with Nancy Ajran. Notice how the back up dancers are not exactly modest looking. Do you ever see arab youth dressed in the way?


I love the one arm punch.


The next one is the spanish version, compare these backup dancers to the arab ones:



The Chinese version:



Here's how I first heard it:



Here's the US pop version:




Whew, survived it? Damn that gets annoying! What would you say K'naan got paid to have Coke rewrite his song?

Here is the full list of versions (some are probably not official):
The Arab World: "Wavin' Flag/Shagga' Bi Alamak Da" by K'naan and Nancy Ajram
Brazil: "Wavin' Flag" by K'naan and Skank
China: "Wavin' Flag" by K'naan Jacky Cheung and Jane Zhang
France: "Wavin' Flag " by K'naan and Féfé
Greece: "Wavin' Flag" by K'naan and Professional Sinnerz feat. Komis X
Indonesia: "Wavin' Flag/Semangat Berkibar" by K'naan and Ipang
Japan: "Wavin' Flag" by K'naan and Ai
Nigeria: "Wavin' Flag (Naija Remix)" by K'naan and Banky W. & M.I.
Spain: "Wavin' Flag" by K'naan and David Bisbal
Thailand: "Wavin' Flag" by K'naan and Tattoo Colour
Vietnam: "Wavin' Flag" by K'naan and Phuong Vy

Photo of the Week - Super Salmon

This is largest salmon ever found. It was more than 1.3 meters long and weighed more than 40 kilos. This bad boy is a Chinook. The Chinook are known for using their giant rocklike snouts as a weapon against bears. The great fish clamps down its mighty jaws and the rock hard snout crushes anything in the vicinity, often inflicting great pain on the weary paws of a hungry bear.

A sight like this is enough to strike fear into the hearts of bear.