chapter 39: fishy situation

Study finds fishy labelling at restaurants, markets

Sarah Schmidt , Canwest News ServicePublished: Thursday, August 21, 2008
OTTAWA - Fish lovers and sushi connoisseurs beware: Fillets marketed as Mediterranean red mullet could really be spotted goatfish, and a white tuna wrap may just be Mozambique tilapia.
A new Canadian study using DNA bar-coding technology found that one in four fish samples taken from Toronto and New York restaurants and stores were mislabelled.
In all cases, they were sold to unsuspecting consumers as higher-priced or more-desirable fish species.

full story here: http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=4381b239-db40-47da-ae6b-b573bc5dc72c

this reminds me of hot friday and saturday nights in bantama in kumasi. we used to gather and party there, and we'd always have banku and tilapia. not the most appetizing thing if you're expecting red snapper, but a nice trip down memory lane nonetheless. here's a look at one of ghana's favourite dishes.

banku is a ‘dumpling’ made from a sour, fermented corn mash which is wrapped in plantain leaves and boiled. It is to be eaten with your hands (right hand only). here it was served with fried tilapia and an extremely spicy salsa-like fresh sauce.

great with beer!

chapter 38: a journey of a thousand miles...

"a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
-lao-tzu

when i went to ghana to try and build human rights reporting capacity in the media, i knew results would come slowly, if at all. i had a couple of successes, but many disappointments as well. the story of humu, a muslim girl who was being forced to quit school and get married, was one of the ones that got away. we got her back in school briefly, but all indications were that she would be forced to marry when the media and police pressure was off. (read the full story here: http://www.jhr.ca/fieldnotes/view.php?aid=1137)

but recently, my colleague muftaw mohammed, who was instrumental in our coverage of that story told me humu had managed to complete school and is looking forward to continuing her education. it's a big victory for a muslim girl in ghana. muslims face bigger hurdles to education and career success, particularly the girls, who are often treated like chattel. humu's success can serve as an example to her community, and open up new possibilities for so many disenfranchised young people. it's also a great example for young reporters like muftaw that they really can help change things for the better. here is the email i got from him:

Dear Bro,
Today my heart is glad that I did not lose in my fight against the violation of Human Rights. So I say kudos and more greetings to your elbows. All the credits to you for your leadership and training and man, I must say am really missing big time the good times when we used to work, dine and share ideas together. More especially, your efforts in igniting up my spirit when I am down.

All theses citation are occasioned by the phone call I had this morning from Humu’s mother to the effect that Humu has graduated from her computer course in Accra and is currently in kumasi with the mother waiting for her JHS certificate to continue with her education.

Now the mother and other family members who thronged the DOVVSU offices and I believe you remember that day, they are all now looking for you and I to offer us their vote of thanks and to crown us as heroes but I told them you have gone back to your home land.

So I say gracias to you.

We never walk alone.

chapter 37: private insecurity

this is the face of the latest canadian soldier killed in afghanistan, the 89th since the mission began. master corporal josh roberts was shot during an operation against insurgents in the dangerous zhari district. he was known as an all-round good guy, and was expecting his first child next month. but this is more than another tragic story from the front lines.

investigations are underway to determine whether roberts was shot by a private security team which was in the area at the time. private security companies in war zones have been a source of controversy for years, particularly in iraq and afghanistan. the stories about tragic massacres involving blackwater and other private security companies abound.

many afghans, not to mention ngo's and the united nations, don't trust private security firms, and who can blame them?(http://www.privateforces.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2081&Itemid=99999999)

not only are these security companies making billions of dollars, they also kill civilians, and get tangled up with state military forces.

canadian forces shot and killed a private security guard in april from the same company being investigated in master corporal roberts' death. the canadians apparently shot at security personnel after they failed to heed warnings to stop advancing towards a military checkpoint. these firms provide security for development projects and protect foreign dignitaries. that's work the military used to do, but private security forces now fill these roles without legal and ethical boundaries.

newspaper reports in afghanistan say they increase the likelihood that those in the country to fight the taliban will be confused with security forces that often seem to play by their own rules. (http://www.privateforces.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2022&Itemid=99999999)

it's making afghans increasingly nervous and breeding paranoia. and given the thin line between local cooperation and radicalization, perhaps it's time to give them the boot.

chapter 36: back on the pommel horse

so it's been a while. between seeing long lost friends, getting back to work, re-acclimatizing to life in canada and partying in pemberton, i haven't been thinking about the blog. but now it's time to get back on it.

work is crazy in the lead up to the beijing olympics. we're understaffed, and golobal national has asked me to pick up the slack by training to do practically everything on the show, from broadcast producing, research, story producing and web editing. oh yeah, and writing. by next week, i'll probably even be up on the desk! it's going to be a hellish next month or two, but at least i'll be making good cash.

speaking of the olympics, exactly what everyone knew would happen...has happened. china has completely ignored its bid promise to respect freedom of speech. it blocked journalists' access to websites critical of the regime, such as amnesty international and falun gong. it has arrested dissenters, destroyed people's homes with no compensation to make room for facilities, and cracked down hard on free speech.

as far as i'm concerned, the olympics, as a movement, is over. it's now just a big corporate gangbang. there are efforts afoot to backroom the whole deal to protect what's left of the olympic reputation as a uniting human force. and unfortunately, it's being spearheaded by canada's ioc member, dick pound. the torch relay is close to being eliminated because, counter to uniting people in the olympic spirit, the international portion united people in protest against tyranny, and we can't have the ever-so-shining olympic reputation tarnished, can we?

Pound said:

"The international leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay was close to a disaster that was beyond the control of the IOC and the organising committee. My commission, which examined the issue, felt that there should not be an international relay, and my understanding is that the coordination commission was of the same view. The risks were obvious and should have been assessed more closely. The result was that there was a crisis.
"My view is that there should be an analysis of how this happened and a resolution to do away with the international portion of the torch relay ... the high risk and low reward of the international leg is now obvious."

the only thing that's obvious to me is that pound is not representing canada's values...he's representing the jackbooting thugs at the ioc who support the jackbooting thugs of beijing.

beijing has tried to change the focus, saying this will be the best olympics ever. but from where i sit, the only thing that can obscure this disgusting olympic farce is the even more disgusting blanket of pollution that 'doesn't' sit over the olympic city.