actup poster

walking the dog this morning i saw a new poster up here in the 18th: it's a black & white photo of sarko with "votez le pen" in white letters. as usual with images of sarko, the poster hasn't been up more than a couple of hours and already the eyes are defaced. how can a man so clearly hated have such good standing in the political polls...while newspapers report how many of le pen's tired evil ideas are filtering into the general political debate and le monde features a cartoon leading from burning cars to far-right support. i do wonder though why people aren't paying more attention to the fact that, during the upheavals in late october & november, the city of Marseille was utterly calm. a couple of pundits point to the weather, as if playing football on the beach is the best antidote for overcrowded housing projects.

16 years, 14 lives

On December 6, 1989, fourteen women students at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal were systematically murdered by a gunman, who wounded thirteen others before killing himself. Today is the sad anniversary of the Montreal Massacre.

frikyiwa

a couple of weeks ago i had the good luck to stumble into the china club during frikyiwa's annual music festival, devoted to music from the sub-sahara. and i was reminded why i'd been so impressed with frederic galliano when i met him two years ago...the musicians he finds for his label are phenomenal, the albums sound fabulous, the production looks great too. what's not to like? the only flaw is his promotions department: the festival should have been jammed with people, considering all the world music fans in paris, yet at least on the thursday night i was there, the room was half-empty. why? come on people, get out there, support frikyiwa, check out their site (which gives you the chance to listen to all sorts of fabulous music samples), and buy some stupendous music...

Dawit Isaac

Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaac was released from prison on November 19th, for two days. He was rearrested on the 21st. What's going on? Apparently, business as usual in Eritrea, where working in the media leaves a person open to all sorts of accusations from the government. Along with Isaac, his colleagues Yusuf MOHAMED ALI, (editor-in-chief, Tsigenay) Mattewos HABTEAB (editor-in-chief, Meqaleh), Dawit HABTEMICHAEL (reporter, Meqaleh), Medhanie HAILE (editor-in-chief, Keste Debena), Emanuel ASRAT (Zemen), Temesken GHEBREYESUS (Keste Debena), Fesshaye YOHANNES "Joshua" (publisher, Setit, playwright and poet), Said ABDELKADER (writer and editor, Admas, and owner of the press that printed most of the independent newspapers) all remain in jail. They have not been tried.

These journalists were arrested in the days following September 23, 2001. They have yet to be sentenced, more than four years later. The detentions came in the wake of the closing down of all eight independent newspapers by the authorities on 18 September 2001 (these include the weeklies Meqaleh, Setit, Tsigenay, Zemen, Wintana and Admas). Since then, only the state newspaper, Hadas Eritrea, has been published.

The most likely explanation for the crackdown is that it was an attempt to stamp out criticism of the Eritrean government’s treatment of students and political dissenters, and its prosecution of the war against Ethiopia. The detained journalists have had their bank accounts frozen and assets confiscated. Their relatives have not been allowed to visit them. During Isaac's brief release from jail, he was not able to speak freely about his experiences.

Want to know more about the situation in Eritrea? Visit PEN Canada...and don't be shy: send a letter of protest to the Eritrean government! Eventually all those small pieces of paper and all those protests can make a difference. (or at least, that's what i want to believe, and i know some Eritreans want to believe it too)