Photo of the Vandalized Billboard

Here you can see the acid burn, which didn't really do the job as intended. [AFP photo]

The Much-Anticipated all-Female Indian Peacekeepers Unit!

...has arrived!

State of the Nation Speech

I can't find a transcript online, but here's VOA's take. It was a reeeeeeeeealy long speech outlining the government's progress over the last year. President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf sounded confident, and the applause from lawmakers was plentiful. This morning most papers were devoted to the controversy about the divided house, and the protocol stuff about where she delivered the speech, who attended and who didn't, etc. But I guess that's a juicier story than the complicated issues of national development she spoke about.

Snowe Vote Overturned by Supreme Court

They had the votes, but according to the highest court, the House of Representatives got the procedure wrong:

The vote to impeach Snowe went through at a special session by 41 votes out of 64, but in the absence of the speaker and when parliament was on recess.

Under the constitution of Liberia, parliament can impeach a speaker through of a vote of at least two-thirds of the legislators and in presence of the speaker.

Sounds like the court didn't speak to the issue of the alleged bribery, so that controversy will linger.

The story notes that Chinese president Hu Jintao is coming to visit on Thursday, which would explain all the Chinese and Liberian flags going up all over town. Traffic's going to be a mess!

And speaking of Asian economic powerhouses, I heard from a colleague that President Ellen will visit Japan in March, at which time the Japanese government will announce a new program of bilateral aid to Liberia.

Look Out, Girls

I keep saying it; this place is about to get more socially conservative, especially in matters of sex and gender. You can feel it coming, in the way people talk and dress. This tends to happen after a war or other gender-bending event, including in the US after WWII where so many women had been called upon to work in traditionally male roles.

Today I read this passage in an academic study about post-war reintegration [pdf]:

Many studies have documented that after conflict women and girls are under pressure to (re)submit to often oppressive gender roles in post-conflict societies.

In evolutionary terms, I'd guess that this tendency is an instinct of the tribe (society, the collective mind) trying to create order out of chaos and also to replace all the members lost in the war by putting women back into the maternal role. Doesn't sound like much fun, though.

Billboard Butchered

Drove by that "Charles Taylor is Innocent" sign this morning, and someone had vandalized it with some kind of acid. The words are still there, but the photo has been mostly eaten away. The sign was originally erected about 3 weeks ago, and this is the first vandal attack on it that I know of.

While it lasted, the sign really did it's job in attracting publicity for his cause. About two weeks back, when all the journalists were here to cover the president's one-year anniversary, several of them chose to peg a side story to that issue, based on the sign.

Adoptions

Spoke with a guy last night who works for the US government in Monrovia. He says they process 30-40 adoptions of Liberian kids per month to US families, mostly sponsored by churches.

Guinea: Strike Ending?

Union leaders had first demanded [President Lansana] Conte resign, but apparently realizing he was likely to remain in power, they stepped back, urging him to appoint a powerful prime minister they say should head a new government.

Hey Minnesota Liberians

The TRC has started taking your statements:

Liberians and other West Africans who were affected by the Liberian conflict may call 612-766-7788 or 1-800-799-3688 to schedule an appointment. An estimated 25,000 Liberians live in Minnesota, one of the largest Liberian communities outside of West Africa.

Der Spiegel Article on World Bank

Long article with lots of references to Liberia as the Bank's big test case.

Liberian Lawmaker Wanted for Child Molest in US

The Child Abuse Unit of the Law Enforcement Division of Long Island in New York has published a bulletin containing full description and detailed personal information of Mr. Kettehkumuehn Earl Murray, a lawmaker representing District number 3 of Montserrado County under the Banner of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) party, alleging he sexually abused a minor in the state of North Carolina, USA in 1996.

The FBI is said to be offering reward for any information leading to the arrest of Kettehkumue Earl Murray.

Link.

Taylor Trial Delayed til June 4

THE HAGUE, Jan 26 (Reuters) - The U.N.-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone has postponed the start of former Liberian President Charles Taylor's war crimes trial to June 4 to give the defence more time to prepare, the court said on Friday.

The court had set April 2 as a tentative start date for the trial but defence lawyers requested more time, saying they would not be able to start before September due to a large amount of documents and work to be done.

CRY YOUR OWN CRY

More taxi slogans, from the 2 hour drive out to Grand Cape Mount yesterday:

ONE GOD
GOD HAS DONE IT FOR ME
RESPECT THE POLICE
V-5 [?]
PEOPLE LOVER [Nice!]
GOD FIRST MAN SECOND
BLACK MAN AND WHITE MAN
T-40 [?]
MORE TIME [If only!]
TO SERVE THE GLORY
NO MAN KNOWS TOMORROW
JAH-1
TRAFFIC AMBASSADOR [Cool!]
GODS GIFT
CONFIDENCE IS THE BEST [Isn't it?]
JUST BE GOOD
GOOD NEVER LOST [Really common one.]
OLD PAPA 1
MY BUSINESS SHOULD NOT BE YOUR CONCERN
ORIGINAL EAGLE
LAW AND ORDER
FAMILY TREE
JUST BE PATIENCE
STEP BY STEP
JUST IMAGINE
ONLY GOD GOD KNOWS MY FUTURE
SYLVEY JAH [Is this the guy's name?]
PLEASE DON'T PLAY WITH MY LIVING
STEP BY STEP WE'LL MAKE THE JOURNEY

BBC says up to 60 Killed by Cops in Guinea

Conte has offered to name a new Prime Minister, but protesters are saying they'll stick it out until the president names a transitional government.

Snowe Issue Goes to Supreme Court

On Thursday 1/25. Then maybe congress can get back to work.

Cops Kill 20 in Guinea, President Should Go

The BBC reporter in neighboring Guinea attended a march today that he estimated at 70,000 people. Not that crowd estimates are ever accurate or neutral, but even if he's off by half, that's a lot of people.

If you've been president for 22 years, and you've got debilitating health problems, and tens of thousands are marching for your ouster, and all you can think to do is call on the military for greater loyalty, I say it's time to go. Bow out gracefully and call for elections or something.

A Watershed Moment, Hopefully

All the Liberian government ministries are scrambling to get their presentations together for this event. Wish I could go. If any of our readers attends, send us a report, okay?

Mamba Point Hotel Lobby

Any Liberian journalist who's looking for good stories should loiter in the lobby of the Mamba Point Hotel. At breakfast on Sunday, I sat next to a Canadian guy calling himself a diamonds privateer, who explained to his tablemate the process of getting a diamond concession from the government. It's impossible right now, because of the sanctions, but this guy was grandfathered in, I guess.

Then I overheard a loudmouth American woman explaining recent Liberian history thusly: "Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf only let Charles Taylor go to the international court because the US put the screws on her." Whatever that means.

Then the waiter made me move tables, and I sat next to two US businessmen talking about leveraging millions of dollars in capital from OPIC, the US government agency that's tasked with facilitating US business investment abroad.* One guy was talking about sub-leasing a building to create 3 luxury business suites downtown, investing US$200k. The other guy said that OPIC is "having heart attacks over what they're going to do here. They're leaping without really thinking. They need to have some deals, so they put together this big microfinance [package]. I certainly wouldn't [invest in microfinance in Liberia] right now, but hey, it makes [OPIC's governor] look good."


*Actually, there are two such agencies, the other one being EXIM. They belong to a class of organizations called export credit agencies (ECAs), which exist in most developed nations. This DC group is dedicated to keeping an eye on the behavior of ECAs around the world.

Firestone: Child Slavers or Responsible Stewards?

Here's a kinda shrill editorial about abysmal conditions for workers in Firestone rubber, Liberia's biggest private employer.

And here's a reply from the company, denying everything.

A verdict is expected soon in a class-action suit against Firestone brought by alleged former child laborers.

Who's Gonna Take the Weight?

Speaking of graft, here's a pretty well-informed piece from a Liberian in the US noting some of the appearances of corruption that persist in the Ellen government.

The author has every right to call the government on its flaws, but it drives me crazy that educated, informed Liberians are so few in Liberia, and yet the ones who live abroad are so quick to blame and indict the ones who have come back to make a difference.

He asks the question of why the investigation of the Transitional Government is going so slowly. I would bet my right arm that the main reason is a lack of qualified, trustworthy attorneys who are willing to work for government paychecks, when they could easily get a better-paying job in the private sector. And how many of the qualified Liberian attorneys still live abroad? Most of them, I suspect.

I was just sitting in a meeting the other day in one of the government ministries, and it was simply astounding how little capacity and resources these high-level guys have to run the country. The Deputy Minister's assistant was wearing cheap knockoff hip-hop gear and not even paying attention to the meeting. At one point a heated argument ensued over the number of photocopies that were made.

But they're doing their best with what they've got. And they need all the help they can get. The international community is helping, but it's the diaspora Liberians that will be the key to success.

"It's one thing to critique it. It's another thing to construct the alternative."

-Susan Davis, Chair, Grameen Foundation

Another Ex-President in Trouble

The guy who ran the Transitional Government of Liberia in 2003-4, between the Taylor and EJS presidencies, is under investigation for massive graft.

Snowe Won't Go

Says he'll stay and fight.

It's really too bad this is happening. It makes the whole system look amateur, and at such a crucial time. But I guess this kind of thing happens in every country.

Where is He Now?

This kid must have been sent to a BSA Jamboree in the early 1960's. If he survived the war and doesn't live in Staten Island, he's probably a government minister by now.



Thanks, eBay.

Broad Street Makeover

In this AP photo from yesterday you can see that the center of Broad Street downtown has been cleared and landscaped. Until recently there was a hodge-podge of crumbling cement structures in the middle. [Too bad they took away the trees.]





And here's a postcard image from ca.1910 that looks like it might have been taken on Broad Street.

Cakes

Photos by Chris Herwig.

Neighboring Guinea in Turmoil

This is like, day 10 of street protests, and the BBC says 4 people have been killed. President Conte has been in office for 22 years. The trade unions are the main engines of resisitance, and reportedly Conte threatened the union leaders' lives in a private meeting yesterday. Neighboring Liberia doesn't need this!

One diplomat, who asked not to be named, said the situation did not look hopeful. "We don't feel we're heading for a quick end to this crisis. We have the impression that the people are determined to obtain something concrete... they don't want any more promises," they told Reuters. The strikers were also angered at the alleged involvement of President Conte in securing the release of two men, including Guinea's richest man Mamadou Sylla, accused of corruption. Last year, Guinea was ranked by Transparency International as the most corrupt country in Africa.

Snowe Looking Cooked

Congress has voted House Speaker Edwin Snowe out of office, though I guess it has to go through some kind of due process now. With hardly a friend in the world, Snowe is asking the UN mission to intervene, but no dice:

The UNMIL boss pointed out that it is the responsibility of the members of the House to resolve their differences and difficulties amongst themselves, "and that is what we are opting for," he added.

P.S. Here's an AP story about the Charles Taylor billboard.

Africa on a Platter

Eating dinner with friends, I looked down at my plate and this shape had appeared.

35,000 New Sources of Government Revenue

The Ministry of Finance is asking companies to bid for the provision of ID cards for 35,000 petty traders.

Alleged Bribery and Alleged Newspapers

I keep reading newspaper articles where they take the recent allegations of bribery of congressmen as some kind of evidence of the claim by House Speaker Edwin Snowe that the presidency is trying to oust him. I have no evidence in any direction, but I note that none of these newspapers (The Parrot, The Analyst, The Monitor, et. al.) does either.

There are plenty of people with money who stand to gain a lot more than this president if Snowe is unseated. And the only one benefitting from the bribery scandal at this moment would appear to be Snowe himself, since he's using the allegations to say that any vote against him would be illegitimate.

EJS: No Need to Try Taylor in Liberia

By HEIDI VOGT, Associated Press Writer

MONROVIA, Liberia - President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said her country does not need to try former president Charles Taylor, who is already being tried by a U.N.-backed court for his role in atrocities committed in neighboring Sierra Leone.

"He doesn‘t need to be tried here," Sirleaf said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Let him go through the due process that has already charged him on so many counts."

I can see her logic. Since he's being tried elsewhere, why rock the boat, in a country this fragile? And in my daily dealings with Liberians, I certainly don't hear them calling for Taylor to be tried here. Yes, there's a movement in support of war crimes tribunals, but it's small, and mostly centered around the University. Justice is nice, but peace is nicer.

Government Responds to FrontPageAfrica Report Card

They call it "The New Meaning of Dismal", a 29-point list of the government's accomplishments in the last year. Three examples:

12. Put Liberia back on a sound footing with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the African Development Bank, concluding successfully with the IMF a Staff Monitoring Program and obtaining for the first time Pre-arrears settlement grants of US$70million from the World Bank and US$4million from the AFDB;

15. Enforced the free and compulsory primary education system in Government Schools, with a result of 80 percent increase in enrollment at the primary school level;

19. Won support from the United States Congress and Administration for an additional US$50,000,000.00 in supplemental funding for continued assistance to ex-combatants, health, education, roads and electricity rehabilitation, the expenditure of which is ongoing;

Thanks Heidi.

Snowe Says He'll Go Quietly if Asked

Mon Jan 15, 1:54 PM ET

MONROVIA (AFP) - More than half of Liberia's lawmakers boycotted the opening of parliament and organised a parallel session to call for parliamentary speaker Edwin Snowe to resign.

"I was elected in lines with the constitution and I am not refusing to go if I am asked to do so in line with the law," he said.

Report Card on the Various Arms of Government

Anybody know anything about FrontPageAfrica.com? There's no indication where they're based, or where they get their funding. But it's a pretty slick website that's dedicated almost entirely to Liberia-related news. Maybe it's affiliated with one of the Liberian newspapers?

Anyway the site has just published a long, detailed report card on all the different government officials. The grading scheme seems pretty arbitrary, and doesn't always match the narrative comments. In the most glaring example, they conclude that Johnson-Sirleaf's first year was "dismal", but then they give her a "B-" grade overall. In fact, she gets the same grade as House Speaker Edwin Snowe, a man who's about to get thrown out of office for alleged misconduct!

If nothing else, at least the report card gives you pretty pictures of each member of government.

Lots of Stories on the 1st Year of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

Here here and here are a just a few. And here, here and here. And the AP and BBC have similar pieces planned.




P.S. One-time Presidential hopeful House Speaker Edwin Snowe may lose his job tomorrow, when congress gets back to work.

Best Use of Quotation Marks, Ever

To my knowledge there's only one of these billboards in town, part of a campaign to get the media to treat him as innocent until proven guilty. Charles Taylor's trial for crimes against humanity starts in March in The Hague. On the campaign's website, they quote Liberian law in his defense, but that seems kinda stupid since he's being charged with breaches of international law. The website is only partially functioning, but there's an email newsletter you can sign up for.

Liberian Goods to be Exported to US

All the papers are lauding the US White House for including Liberia in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which gives the country the right to trade and export locally-made products to the US. I wonder what products those would be. There's no manufacturing to speak of yet.

AGOA went into effect on Jan. 1st.

Taxi Slogans

Many taxis in Monrovia have a slogan painted on the back bumper. Sometimes it's just the name of the driver, but usually it's a message. As a foreigner, I often wonder what the slogans mean, even though they're written in English. Just on the way to work this AM, I wrote down these:

SYSTEM BIRD
50-50
GOD'S TIME IS THE BEST
SHINE YOUR EYES [means "beware" or "watch out"]
NIMBA BOY BACK IN TOWN
GOD DECISION STAND
CITY BOY
GOD IS IN CONTROL*
NO FOOD FOR LAZY MAN
THE COUNTRY RUNNING
FAT BOY
CKA SLASH [meaning "commonly known as"]

*the de facto Liberian national slogan

Cops Gang Rape Another Prisoner

Like the President says, it's the national pastime. The only difference here is that the newspaper wrote a story, for once.

Good news is that there was a guilty finding in a rape case the other day, only the 4th successful prosecution in Liberian history. 57-year-old perp vs. a 5-year-old kid. Life in prison.

What Do Liberia, Myanmar (Burma), and the USA Have in Common?

They're the only 3 countries that officially don't use the metric system.

Jubilee Sunday Makes Liberia a Special Focus

Just got this email from Sarah:

Check out the press release at this link, Josh... It makes specific mention of the Methodists across the US making Liberia a special focus of their Jubilee Sunday/Jubilee Year activities because President Sirleaf-Johnson is a Methodist laymember.

Church congregations to observe Jubilee Sunday
Worldwide Faith News (press release) - New York,NY,USA
United Methodist congregations will be among those praying for international debt relief as part of an observance of Jubilee Sunday on Jan. 21. ...

Peace Corps to Liberia?

Tucked into a new profile of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf from the Chrisitian Science Monitor:

The United States Peace Corps is one way the president says she hopes to recruit teachers to teach the 50 percent of Liberian children who aren't attending school.

Does the US State Department have a plan for this? The Peace Corps were here starting in the mid-1960's [anyone know how long?] and are remembered fondly by people in the countryside.

Newspapers: Snowe to Go

I bought seven different newspapers this AM, and all seven of them make it sound like House Speaker Edwin Snowe is a goner. Even a majority of his stalwarts have jumped ship and signed a bill to oust him.

At issue are these allegations:

1. He told the Taiwanese that Liberia would recognize Taiwan, without the President's permission. [China is THE major player in Liberia now.]

2. He brought a couple of unsavory characters with him on a government junket, called them government employees, and then lied about it.

3. He had a hand in stealing more than a million dollars from the petroleum company he worked for until last year.

Just the fact that the first two are not being ignored as business-as-usual I think says a lot about how far this government has come since the elections.

Congress goes back to work on Monday.

Monrovia: Where 48 Hours Means 48 Hours

I posted the other week about the yellow X's painted on illegal structures all over the country, where the Liberian National Police were planning to haul them away. I guess this was a strategy to both beautify the country and to put some rule of law back into the land tenure system. Well, now the process appears to be mostly complete, at least in the capital. Many wooden shacks, squatter huts, and half-built cinderblock walls have been removed.

But along the route we take to work, there was a conspicuous holdout, a handsome (and brand-new) annex to a small hotel, which I gather had been built on the sidewalk without permission. I must say, the little annex really improved the look of that busy corner, but rules are rules. About 72 hours ago, the cops wrote "48 HOURS" on the bricks, and about 48 hours ago, they parked a bulldozer out front, to the glee of the gathering masses. This morning the place was just a shell, barely anything left but the roof.

I Hope the Driver wasn't Still Inside

Yesterday on the way home from work at rush hour, we drove by a car that had flames licking up from underneath. A group of about 20 bystanders picked the car up, turned the car over on its side, and started throwing dirt on the flames.

What I Want for My Birthday

Lighthouse at the Top of Downtown to be Repaired

On the hill overlooking Monrovia, near where the carcass of the once-grand Ducor Hotel lies, they're rebuilding the lighthouse.

EJS Returns More Travel Money

Hajarah Kizza

(SomaliNet) Liberia’s President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has surprised many when she returned a balance of $19,000 to Liberia’s treasury. This was part of her travel allowance on trips outside Liberia.

According to Cyrus Badio, Liberia’s Presidential Press Secretary, this is one of the ways that Sirleaf is using to enhance transparency and accountability.

Sirleaf also provided receipts to explain how she spent the money. She then asked other leaders to emulate her example.

IMF Softening to Liberia

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund has decided to initiate the de-escalation of the Fund's remedial measures that have been applied against Liberia.

To encourage further reform efforts by the Liberian authorities and to provide a positive signal to Liberia"s development partners, the Board decided to lift the declaration of non-co-operation that had been in place since March 30, 1990, the Fund said in a media statement on Monday.

The Board also decided that it could consider lifting the suspension of Liberia’s voting and related rights following satisfactory performance regarding economic policies and payments to the IMF during an evaluation period of approximately 12 months from the date of the Board decision.

The Liberia has made considerable progress in implementing its economic programme monitored by IMF staff, the statement said.

[The rest of the article is really out of date, referring to the Mittal Steel deal before it was renegotiated.]

Are Threats Really Necessary?

Seems to me that if you want to build public support for a massive and controversial national reconciliation effort, such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, this would be the last thing you'd want to go saying in public:

A former Assistant Defense Minister, Mr. Arthur B. Dennis, has said that those who will run from the TRC will have nowhere to hide.

Oh boy.

The Snowe Story Gets Juicier

So it seems that indeed there was/is a resolution pending to oust House Speaker Edwin Snowe from office. He had previously accused the president's office of being behind the effort, but never presented any evidence. Now a couple of lawmakers are saying in public that another couple of lawmakers paid them to support the resolution, and they name names. In a denial, one of the ones named had this to say:

"I don't need to give anybody money to remove him because he is not up to the task. We already have the requisite number of signatures to remove him from office. We are only waiting for the resumption of our regular session," Representative Sieh stated.

This article [must read!] says that he may be ousted as soon as January 15!

Free Podcast on the Liberian Economy

From one of the president's expat advisors at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Liberian Taliban, Part 2

This has been brewing for a while, at least as long as I've been here. But it really felt like a shot over the bow when my dinner companion got a text message tonight saying that a young woman had been arrested in Paynesville for "indecent dressing". UPDATE: To their credit, the Liberian National Police were reportedly trying to protect the woman during her short time in custody. Apparently the community singled her out for persecution for the way she dresses. The main worry was what would happen to her in jail, where rape is not uncommon.

TRC Hearings to Begin Jan. 16th?

So far the Analyst newspaper is the only one to front a story about Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings starting Jan 16th. I guess up til now the process has just been field-based statement-taking? The story (can't find it online, sorry) wonders whether it will really happen on time, given the financial constraints that the TRC chairperson has mentioned many times recently. Funny that the other papers aren't touching it yet.

There's a great timeline of TRC developments so far at the Amnesty International website.

Little Breakthroughs in Liberian English

“the other tomorrow” = “the day after tomorrow”

Old Money

A friend came over the other night with one of these, a kolgolagi (sp?), or what he called “old Liberian money”. It’s a hand-wrought iron ingot, rather sharp and kind of rusty. Quote of the night was, “My great-grandfather paid 20 of these for my great-grandmother.” Then he busted out a L$20 bill and showed us that the image of this ancient currency is printed right on the modern Liberian money. “You could get a lot of food for one of these in the old days.”

Any numismatics experts out there with any knowledge of this thing?

Thanks, Jomah.

Update: I just found out from a coin collectors' forum that these things are pretty common, known as Kissi pennies, after the Kissi people:

Primitive Currency used in Sierra Leone, Liberia and French Guinea. Popularly referred to as the Kissi Penny but also known as Kilindi and Gitzi penny. The legend that breaking the elongated money item allows the sole to escape has also given it the name of 'Coin with a Soul'. The shape and sharp ends allowed for easy transport attached to the hair on the head.

More info here.

The Weather These Days

It's cool. It's not humid. It's hazy as hell with all the particulate matter from the whole region, neighboring countries where it's windy. And since the rains are finally gone, everyone is burning their trash, their leaves, so it's really smoggy. I guess we get about a month of this, and then the blistering sun comes to blister us again. But golly it's nice to have it cool for now.

Reform, One Kid at a Time

On the way to our house the other night, a Liberian friend got hit in the head with a rock through his open car window. He stopped the car and tried to chase the kid who threw it, to no avail. Then the kid’s friends offered to help him find the kid, for a price (of course). He put the kids in the car (with no intention of paying them) and they took him to see the kid’s parents. He brought a policeman with him and they took the family to the station.

“My goal was not to get money from the family, and the rock didn’t hurt me, really. My goal was to teach the child a lesson. We have just come from a devastating war and children are on the loose. And if nobody does anything to control them, they will always act like wild animals. So when the child chunked me, it was not about the pain. It was about the corrective process.”

Let the Airline Price War Begin!

Just visited Astreus Airlines' new office on UN Drive across from UN Drive Supermarket in Monrovia. The two women working there were cheerful and helpful, the polar opposite of the service at their only rival airline in Liberia, SN Brussels.

Better still, their prices are much lower than SN Brussels; right now you can get a restricted R/T fare to London Gatwick (via Freetown) for US$848! Their normal fare is $1062 R/T.

In January they're only flying once a week, on Wednesdays, I think. They say they're starting twice weekly flights in February.

Astreus Airlines Monrovia Office +231 06 520 294

Thawing

In the 8 months that I've been in Liberia, I can honestly say that the media, especially the newspapers, have really changed in their treatment of this president. They have become much less hysterical about her every flaw, and they have stopped blaming her quite so often for all the country's woes. And this is in spite of some high-profile battles between the Executive Mansion and the press. I've never seen an opinion poll, but if the media can be relied upon as any kind of reflection of the people's mood (at least the more educated class in Monrovia), then I'd guess the people have an overall favorable impression of the president's first year.

HAVE A ♥ FOR LIBERIA!

From Jubilee USA:

For the first action of the Sabbath Year, we will be collecting Valentine hearts addressed to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, asking him to “Have a Heart and Cancel Liberia's Debt!”

To get involved with this important and timely (and fun) push to cancel Liberia’s debt, all it takes is some red construction paper and a little creativity!

The message that should be written on the hearts is simple: “Secretary Paulson, Have a Heart and Cancel Liberia's Debt!”

Your heart and any hearts that you collect should be mailed to Saif Rahman at the Institute for Policy Studies, a Jubilee Network member organization helping to lead this effort. To ensure that the Valentine arrive in time, please be sure to mail them no later than January 31! Send your hearts to:

Saif Rahman
Institute for Policy Studies
Liberia Valentines
1112 16th St. N.W.
Suite 600
Washington, D.C. 20036

Full link. Thanks, Sarah.

Must-Read Overview/Update

...from the Independent UK.

Though the very last graf does contain an error:

Médecins Sans Frontières left Liberia this week. It leaves a network of clinics that doctors fear will soon be looted.

Funny 'cause I had dinner with two MSF-Spain nurses last night! Maybe one of the other MSF offices left?

New Website for State Radio/TV

Ladies and gentlemen, the Liberia Broadcasting System!

From the About Us page:

At the moment, there are no television (TV) equipment and studio facilities, also no Medium (MW) & Short wave (SW) facilities and equipment, which were used in the past to broadcast throughout the country and beyond. The Frequency Modulation (FM-89.9) facilities including its building were also burnt down completely thus, leaving behind the cracked walls.

The system is presently transmitting on an FM Transmitter (FM-99.9) that covers far less than 60 miles away from its CPU, which makes it very impossible to cover the entire nation. Presently, Radio France International (RFI) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) have installed two Frequency Modulation (FM) Transmitters on the compound of the Liberia Broadcoasting System that enable these great countries to relay all of their regular programs on both FM-103 and FM-106 respectively.

Pretty nice website, though.

The Liberian Taliban

Indecent Dressers Must Be Arrested is the name of what looks like a pay-to-play "article" in the Analyst newspaper, wherein some guy trots out the ancient fallacy about men not being able to control themselves when women dress sexy, basically blaming women for rape. Superficial moral judgements only exacerbate the problem, dude.

US is Seeking Liberia Archival Material

I just heard from a reader that the US Library of Congress is looking for Liberia-related documents, photos, sound recordings, historical archives of any kind. If you have a collection, or even a few items, and you'd like to make sure they are well-preserved, you might think of donating them. Get in touch with me and I will share the email contact I was given at the LOC.

Investing in the Peace

Now that the dry season is here, it seems people are starting to invest in the future a little, painting their buildings and putting up new ones all over town. There are at least five new restaurants on my side of town, and a couple of new gas stations. I even hear that there's a sudden shortage of cement, which is a good sign, in a way.