text:
Ecuador: “Clean Quito” Campaign Fights Chewing Gum · Global Voices
Paulina Aguilera Muñoz

Historic Downtown Quito. Image by Flickr user Nelson Piedra used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license
Have you ever thought about how much it costs a municipality to remove chewing gum stuck to the pavement? Thousands of dollars in street cleaning, with special technology, are spent to fight this habit of discarding chewing gum on the ground. In Quito, the municipal government and several schools began a campaign that seeks to remove gum from the ground and make the capital cleaner.
The campaign “Quito Limpiecito” [Clean Quito] expects to remove 230,000 [es] pieces of gum disposed of in the city's historic downtown [es], as part of the project Patrimonio Sano [es] [Healthy Patrimony] that seeks to protect the first city declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, along with Krakow in Poland.
A gum “census” [es] took place and hundreds of students marked spots of gum in the streets with circles made with chalk. Some surprising figures [es] are:
800 estudiantes de 40 planteles educativos identificaron gomas de mascar en varios sitios del centro histórico. Cada chicle es retirado en 10 segundos.Miles de chicles marcados con tiza en el suelo de la plaza de Santo Domingo, en el centro, son removidos con dos hidrolavadoras, que utilizan agua a 150 grados centígrados de temperatura. El conteo determinó que hay un total de 47 042 chicles en la plaza de Santo Domingo y entre 10 y 15 chicles por m2 en la Plaza de la Independencia. El valor de una goma de mascar es de 5¢. En 2009 el retirar este dulce de piedras y calles costó $1,96, por metro cuadrado.
Centro Histórico [es] describes the campaign where young and old participate equally:
Funcionarios de la Administración Centro pusieron agua y limpiaron los  geranios de los balcones de su edificio; limpiaron vidrios y recogieron  la basura de las calles circundantes: Chile, Guayaquil. De igual manera  funcionarios de la Alcaldía hicieron su parte en la Plaza Grande,  Palacio Arzobispal y calles circundantes.
Edgaretsa (@edgaretsa10) shares images on Twitter [es]:
Niños contando la cantidad de chicles arrojados en la plaza en la campaña Quito Limpie cito http://yfrog.com/2r19usdj
Angel Sanchez (@AngelSanzC) re-tweeted about the campaign [es]:
RT @revistavistazo: #Quito Limpiecito. Campaña para sacar alrededor de 200.000 chicles pegados en el suelo del Centro Histórico || lampara!
As the following video shows, “Quito limpiecito” [pronounced leem-pieh-seetoh] is a clean city initiative that advances ideas, wishes and brings together young and old.

author: Paulina Aguilera Muñoz


text:
Haiti: Football Funds to Help Earthquake Recovery  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Repeating Islands reports that Haiti's earthquake recovery effort will benefit from proceeds of the 8th Annual [Football] Match Against Poverty, to be held on December 15 in Greece.

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
India: The Sexual Harassment Bill (2010)  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Naina Kapur takes a critical look at the Sexual Harassment Bill (2010) which was recently introduced in India.

author: Rezwan


text:
Jamaica: U.S. Influence?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Active Voice takes on an interesting “dot connection exercise” with “the sequence of events that preceded and followed the sensational charges recently levied against JLP Deputy Leader James Robertson”.


text:
Kenya: Kibera Film School · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Kibera Film School in Nairobi Kenya is a space where trainees learn all aspects of filmmaking from script, acting, casting, camera, production, editing, and distribution. Professionals from the Kenyan film and TV industry work as instructors in the KIBERA FILM SCHOOL. Kibera is a slum in Nairobi.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


text:
Pakistan: Winner Of The Best South Asian Blog Award · Global Voices
Rezwan

Owais Mughal and Adil Najam informs that popular Pakistani groupblog All Things Pakistan has been named the Best South Asian Blog in the Seventh Annual Brass Crescent Awards 2010.


text:
Portugal: Citizen Videos Promoting 24/11 General Strike  · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Youtube profile GreveGeral2010 [General Strike 2010, pt] gathers several one minute videos promoting today's mobilisation of Portuguese citizens against the austerity budget to be voted this week in the Parliament, following 2010 European sovereign debt crisis.

author: Sara Moreira


text:
Portugal: Updates on 24/11 General Strike · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Follow hashtag #GreveGeral (General Strike) for Twitter updates on the general strike taking place in Portugal today and blog 31 da Sarrafada [pt] for a “minute by minute” online clipping of events. Twitter hashtag #GreveNao (No Strike) is being used by anti-strike movement supporters.


text:
Russia: Bashkortostan President Meets Loyal Bloggers · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

JournalUfa comments [RUS] on the recent meeting of Rustem Khamitov, the new president (governor) of Bashkortostan republic, with the bloggers. Only loyal bloggers were allowed to come, plus several controversial moments were cut from local TV-coverage, blogger petroffvalerij claims [RUS]. In general, Bashkortostan-based community expressed confusion [RUS] about this attempt to establish direct contact between the regional government and the netizens.

author: Alexey Sidorenko


text:
Russia: LiveJournal Suspends Another Independent Blogger · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

LiveJournal abuse team has suspended account of Stanislav Sadalsky, an actor and a popular independent blogger. Sadalsky claims he can access his account but can't post new posts at stanis-sadal [RUS]. So far the blogger launched a new account at sadalskij.livejournal.com. It is the third LiveJournal suspension of the political blogger in November 2010.


text:
Russia: Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s Facebook Account Banned and Un-Banned · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

On November 20, 2010 Facebook has suspended Mikhail Khodorkovsky‘s private account allegedly due to usage violations. It took four days to convince the social network to un-ban it. Anton Nossik once again noticed [RUS] how anonymous reporting and suspension of the opposition accounts becomes a new censorship technique, even more efficient than DDoS and hacking.


text:
Sri Lanka: An Opinion On Budget · Global Voices
Rezwan

Ratmale at Serendipity publishes a general opinion on the Sri Lankan budget, especially in the context of the rural areas.


text:
Trinidad & Tobago: Fictitious Phone Call  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

aka_lol, tongue very much in cheek, posts a fictitious exchange between the former Prime Minister and the former executive chairman of the Urban Development Corporation of T&T, who was in charge of awarding billions of dollars in state contracts.


text:
Ukraine: Social Media Play Crucial Role in Covering Anti-Tax Code Protests · Global Voices
Tetyana Bohdanova

On Nov. 22, several thousand Ukrainian entrepreneurs from different regions gathered in the center of Kyiv to protest against the new tax code approved by the Ukrainian Parliament last Thursday.
While the country’s traditional media failed to produce timely and balanced coverage of the events, social network users and bloggers kept Ukrainians well-informed about the latest developments in Kyiv and other cities.
At Blogoreader.org.ua, Serhiy Pishkovtsiy analyzes [UKR] the impact of social media on reporting the protests. He writes:
Більшість головних телеканалів країни мовчали, а ввечері випустили скупі сюжети про мітинг підприємців. Протягом дня деяку інформацію показував лише 5 канал, а ввечері вийшов розгорнутий репортаж на 1+1, а також велася пряма трансляція на ТВі. На цьому все. Решта каналів фактично проігнорували мітинг кількох десятків тисяч людей, який відбувався на головній площі країни.
Але це вже не важливо. Українське суспільство, зрештою, показало, що в змозі обійтися і без заангажованих традиційних медіа. Майже вся інформаційна картина вчорашнього дня була повністю висвітлена в соціальних медіа – Twitter, Facebook, Вконтакте, блоги та відеосервіси.
But it is no longer important. The Ukrainian society, in the end, has demonstrated that it can do without the biased traditional media. A nearly full informational picture of the day has been painted by the social media – Twitter, Facebook, Vkontakte, blogs and video sharing services.[…]
Vitaliy Moroz (@Insider_ua) provides an overview [UKR] of online activity that took place on Nov. 22:
Офіційний початок анонсований в Інтернеті і серед підприємців був запланований на 10 ранку […].
Близько 11 ранку тисячі українців дізналися, що події з протестами можна переглянути в режимі реального часу.
Онлайн-трансляція через Ustream.tv стала подією дня в українському інтернеті.
Online broadcast through Ustream.tv became the event of the day on Ukrainian Internet.
A screenshot of the Nov. 22 Ustream.tv live broadcast of the anti-tax code rally on Bankova St. in Kyiv
Ближче до обіду українські твітеряни розпочали надсилати повідомлення-заклики до західних ЗМІ з проханням написати про події, які відбуваються в Києві. […]
Українські телеканали надіслали камери на Майдан, зранку кілька знімальних груп Інтера, ICTV можна було побачити в центрі подій, Однак тема протестів не стала центральною у вечірніх новинах. До вечора жоден телеканал не робив прямих включень.
Демонстранти переконані – телеканали з огляду на цензуру на висвітлюють у повній мірі акції протесту. Поширюються заклики до преси.[…]
The protesters are convinced – TV channels cover the protests reluctantly because of censorship. Appeals to the press are being circulated. […]
While the traditional media remained relatively inactive, online activity has been on the rise throughout the day. @Insider_ua writes:
30-40 твітів в секунду з хештегом #kat_ua, 18 000 користувачів одночасно слідкують за протестами в Києві  в онлайн-режимі – цифри активності користувачів.
A screenshot of the Nov. 22 Ustream.tv live broadcast of the anti-tax code rally on Kyiv's Independence Square
In the afternoon of Nov. 22, Reuters ran a report on protests in Ukraine. Internet users pushed Reuters’ news article to the top on Digg.com.
Finally, late in the evening, ICTV channel ran a talk show with the protest being the central topic. Closer to midnight, a live broadcast from the protest was shown on Channel 1+1.
At Blogoreader.org.ua, Serhiy Pishkovtsiy concludes:
Звісно, не обійшлося і без негативних моментів. Було багато інформаційного шуму, були і розчаровані. Але насправді цей приклад є дуже позитивним. Що б там не говорили про тиск на медіа та цензуру – в Україні ще не все втрачено, поки є соціальні медіа.

author: Tetyana Bohdanova


text:
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Does culture unite or divide? · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

This post is part of our special coverage Caucasus Conflict Voices.
With a recent survey indicating that the majority of Armenians and Azerbaijanis are against mutual friendship, hopes for peace between the two neighboring countries appear very bleak indeed. Locked in a bitter stalemate over the the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh, successive attempts to broker a peace agreement since a 1994 ceasefire have consistently faltered.
The war fought in the early 1990s left 25,000 dead and forced a million to flee their homes. Skirmishes on the frontline continue to claim many lives every year since, and, thanks to an almost daily barrage of news and opinion demonizing the other, neither side seems prepared for peace. One of the co-authors of a report examining the role of the media in perpetuating the conflict sums up the situation in a guest post [EN/RU] for my personal project on Armenia-Azerbaijan cross border communication and cooperation.
[…] statistics highlighting the number of people who approve or disapprove of friendship between Armenians and Azerbaijanis illustrate that quite well. Only 28 percent of Armenian respondents approve of friendship with Azerbaijanis while just 1 percent of Azerbaijanis approve of friendship with Armenians.
Yet, even though hostility towards Armenians appears to be stronger in Azerbaijan, intolerance and ethnic hatred exists in Armenia as well. This was illustrated only too well by recent attempts to host a festival of films from Azerbaijan in Yerevan, the Armenian capital. Meeting with strong resistance from nationalists, it had to be canceled. Writing on his recently launched blog, Charles Lonsdale, the British Ambassador to Armenia, comments on the news.
So a modest festival of Azerbaijani films had to be cancelled because no venue in Yerevan was prepared to host it, apparently in the face of threats.  We've not been involved in organising the event, but I'm disappointed.  Not least as a simple question of freedom of expression and what this says about the openness of society in Armenia.
I appreciate some people are frustrated, arguing, for example, that it wouldn't be possible to have a festival of Armenian films in Azerbaijan, so people shouldn't show Azeri films here. Or that there is anti-Armenian propaganda in Azerbaijan or Turkey, which means no films at all should be seen here (though the films to be shown on this occasion hardly qualified as propaganda). […]
[…]
[…] The planned festival should be one small step in challenging people on both sides to think differently, however difficult that is.
Although disagreeing with the festival for other reasons, and also noting the role that social media played in mobilizing online opposition, Caucasus Edition was also concerned.
One of the negative stereotypes about Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis that I often hear from Armenians is that the ‘majority of Azeris are intolerant, they are full of hate toward Armenians and not ready for cooperation.’ Then there is the mirroring positive stereotype among Armenians about themselves who, unlike the Azeris, are ‘tolerant, open-minded and ready for cooperation.’ Based on some recent events, I have to question the latter notion.
[…]
Ultimately, however, for me this is not even an Armenian-Azerbaijani issue, but an issue of freedom of expression. Whether any of us agrees with the organizers or not, they should have a right to organize any festival, in any format at any time except if it promotes hatred and violence, and this one clearly does the opposite. […]
Unzipped also feels the same.
I strongly believe that art, and culture, do not recognise borders. Even if countries are at the state of war. Art, and films, are the best way for ordinary people to get to know each other better, to break the ice, even or especially in case of closed borders. There is also internet, of course, and meetings outside the national borders.
I have no problem if there are people who protest the idea or the fact of the festival. It’s their right. But do it in a (at least remotely) civilised way, without engaging the lowest possible denominator of nationalist/racist crap, personal attacks and threats to individuals. There is a fine line when freedom of speech gets transformed into something that should be considered within the frames of legal/criminal code. Many have already crossed that line.
Yet, even if such attitudes exist on both sides, there are at least a few who feel differently. Writing for Caucasus Edition, Gulara Azimzade, a young activist in Azerbaijan, provides examples of Armenian music that she likes, and agrees with Unzipped that culture should not be constrained by borders.
We all love music and films. After a long day at work, during a workday, or at home when we are bored, we listen to music and at least once a week watch a movie. Music and movies are believed to be spiritual food- we forget about the stress, it brings us joy and at times sadness. We even like listening to songs that we do not always understand, so long as they sound pleasant, it doesn’t matter in which language they are. But sometimes, in some circumstances this might not necessarily be the case…
[…]
It would be a moral crime to deny and sacrifice their valuable work to war and conflict. More so, I believe its wrong to discriminate creative work by race, gender or nation. They belong to humanity, to the world and to art.
Ironically, however, in neighboring Georgia, ethnic Armenians and Azerbaijanis co-exist in peace in Tbilisi and the regions. In another guest post for my own project, Reader in Baku recounts a recent trip to the Georgian capital [EN/RU], visiting locations where culture and friendship is indeed shared.
The old part of town. Nicely tired after walking around. The weather is chilly. A cup of tea would be so good now. We spot a teahouse on one street and decide to walk in. As I sit down I can hear a couple of men nearby speaking in my mother language – Azerbaijani.
It turns out this teahouse belongs to an ethnic Azeri. Now and then, though, the language of conversation over the table smoothly flows into another language. It is not Russian, or Georgian…
Seeing my puzzled face, one of the men greets me in Azerbaijani, and as it always feels somehow warm to run into your fellow compatriots in a foreign country, I move my chair closer to his table without hesitation.
He has been living in Tbilisi for over 10 years and just two minutes later takes me on a journey I rarely get to travel. The South Caucasus, a region more defined on the map with its funny abrupt borders, appears to be sitting at the little square table.
In fact, he is not my fellow compatriot, even though his Azerbaijani is better than my own. His name is Albert and he is an ethnic Armenian.
He also sings folk songs in Azerbaijani by the legendary Armenian troubadour Sayat Nova, and quotes poems from the great Azerbaijani poet Samad Vurgun. Albert also has a large family with his wife, an Azerbaijani, and a dream – to cross the Azerbaijani border.
He introduces me to his best friend sitting next to him at the table.
His name is Ramiz, a 74-year old ethnic Azeri singer who sings Armenian songs. I ask him to sing a little for me, but he politely refuses, saying that there has been a loss in the family. His beloved wife recently passed away. She was Armenian.
The musical friends wax lyrically about each other’s beautiful cultures, fascinating us with the similarities connecting them, and ponder the futility of the game that is the conflict between the two countries…
[…]
If only the entire Caucasus could be like this, harmonic and synchronic. And why not? With overlaps in cuisine, culture, mentality and human emotions connecting us, is it so wrong to seek to coexist peacefully together?
Marine Ejuryan also makes a guest post, examining examples of shared culture throughout history, but now forgotten by many. The Armenian student concludes that it is time for people on both sides to realize this.
Tragically, […] many years of war, enmity, and negative propaganda have resulted in the current perceptions of the ‘other’ in each of our societies. Without a doubt it is now time to break the stereotypes Armenians and Azerbaijanis have of each other.
The idea that Armenians and Azerbaijanis are “ethnically incompatible” is certainly nothing but pure fallacy.
We used to live together in peace and still do on neutral ground which means we can also do so here – in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh. What we need to do first, however, is to end the propaganda wars on both sides.
We also need time.
Time for both societies to learn to live together peacefully again.
Incidentally, on the same theme, several of the guest posts written for my own project are now available in the form of an electronic book freely available for download or reading online. A Russian translation will be available soon. Meanwhile, Global Voices will continue to monitor developments in the use of new and social media in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. A special coverage page is available here.
This post is part of our special coverage Caucasus Conflict Voices.

author: Onnik Krikorian


text:
Azerbaijan: Turkish memoir allegations · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

The Önər Blog [AZ] summarizes and comments on some of the allegations made against Azerbaijan's former president and Soviet-era boss in a new book of memoirs by a Turkish Embassy Press Attaché in the oil-rich country. The blog also posts an English translation.


text:
Barbados: Shameful Vote at UN  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

With the country's recent abstention from the UN vote allowing executions of LGBT people, BFP says: “I have always found it shameful that Barbados – a nation founded with the assistance of chains, whips, rape and cultural genocide – now so easily supports nations involved in slavery and human rights violations.”


text:
Bermuda: The Marijuana Issue   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Truth be told, there is no way to stop people from smoking weed”: bermudashorts suggests that if politicians want to have “a meaningful conversation with young people about weed”, they will need to understand that most of them “don’t want to be fed a bunch of lies about marijuana’s ill effects.”


text:
Chile: Support for Electoral Reform · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Greg Weeks from Two Weeks Notice shares poll results that show support for an electoral reform: “A new poll in Chile shows support for some electoral reform, particularly for voting to be voluntary (77%).  Meanwhile, 60% support making registration automatic once you become 18 years old.  The same percentage supports allowing Chileans to vote from abroad. “

author: Silvia Viñas


text:
China’s wetland crisis · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

China Dialogue has a collection of photos taken by Sean Gallagher showing the decline of China’s wetland crisis and its impact.

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
Cuba: Waiting in Vain?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“We are surrounded by a repression that does not sign papers, show its face, or place a stamp next to each act which violates its own law”: Generation Y is waiting for answers.


text:
El Salvador: Important Support for Law Prohibiting Metallic Mining · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Tim from Tim's El Salvador Blog reports: “A law to prohibit metallic mining in El Salvador got important support today, as a deputy in the Salvadoran National Assembly from the GANA party announced GANA's support of the measure. “


text:
Korea: Paulo Coelho Joined the #Prayforkorea in Twitter · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

After North Korea's artillery shelling on a South Korean island, killing two marines and two civilians and wounding at least a dozen people, twitterers, both local and international, have joined the #prayforkorea discusssion. Paulo Coelho, the Brazilian star writer, tweeted “On the verge of a war: Twitter can do nothing, but prayers can. #prayforkorea #importantnews”

author: Lee Yoo Eun


text:
Lebanon: Blogging Lebanon – the Convention · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

“After its unfortunate cancellation last May due to student protests at the American University of Beirut, AUB's Online Collaborative is announcing the relaunch of AUB's First Lebanese Bloggers Convention, now renamed to Blogging Lebanon,” writes Moudz, who posts details about the event.

author: Moussa Bashir


text:
Lebanon: Blogoshpere Embraces LGBT Bloggers  · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

“…as blogging in general is becoming more and more popular in Lebanon, so are Lebanese LGBT blogs. The blogs are very new, less than a year old… The themes of the blog are as diverse as the Lebanese LGBT community itself,” wrote Daisy, who also linked to some of the blogs.


text:
Lebanon: CBC Report on Hariri Assassination Sparks Debate  · Global Voices
Antoun Issa

An in-depth CBC report on the high-profile assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Al Hariri has sparked intense discussion in the Lebanese blogosphere.
Tension has resurfaced in Lebanon in recent months as rumours suggest that the UN's Special Lebanon Tribunal is close to indicting Hezballah members in the Hariri assassination.
Hezballah's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has vehemently denied any involvement in the killing, and warned of the instability the country will face should the UN indict his operatives.
It is in this tense climate that Canada's CBC publishes a detailed investigation into the Hariri assassination, adding to rumours that Hezballah did in fact carry out the assassination.
The Lebanese blogosphere has been quick to respond.
Discussion has been ongoing on Qifa Nabki's blog, with questions raised and answered by the CBC journalist behind the report – Neil Macdonald.
The question:
The second critique comes from an eagle-eyed friend and long-time reader of this blog, Ben Ryan, who sent me this commentary (which I post with his permission).
CBC, November 19, 2010: “UN commission in Lebanon did no telecom analysis at all for most of its first three years of existence. At that point, in October of 2007, things began moving fast… in December, a specialist from FTS began examining what the computer was spitting out. … He had identified a small network of mobile phones, eight in all, that had been shadowing Hariri in the weeks prior to his death. … when the investigators began their due diligence, double-checking their work, there was another revelation, this one even more earth-shattering. Someone digging though the commission’s records turned up a report from a mid-ranking Lebanese policeman that had been sent over to the UN offices nearly a year and a half earlier, in the first months of 2006. …”
This tracks with the previous stories and appears to explain why all this is finally coming out now, and possibly why leaks of it surfaced back in 2006. But it doesn’t explain the 2005 report, and it doesn’t explain why the 2006 report claimed that the Brammertz investigation was handling the phone records.
These points are important because 1) the phone records were on the radar as of October 2005, and rather than getting shoved in some drawer and forgotten they were being reported on in the international media. And 2) they were reportedly a key part of the Brammertz-era investigation too, if Le Figaro is accurate (and again, they were being reported in the international media so were hardly gathering dust in a filing cabinet somewhere). The timeline for these records as laid out in the CBC report just doesn’t make sense. Also, I find it very convenient that so much of the plot in this story is being driven by one super-human mathematical genius dead man who can neither confirm nor deny any of it.
What’s more, someone at the UN seems to rediscover these phone records and leak them to the international press every time the suspect du jour needs a public relations wupping. They got buried in the scandal of the 2005 UN report actually (accidentally..) naming names and pointing at Syria, but the timing of the 2006 report, right after the “Divine Victory,” and the 2009 report right before the elections, and now this one as things appear to be ratcheting towards a confrontation, both target Hezbollah. I’ve seen no attempt at an explanation of how these magical phone records could point to the Syrians in October 2005 and then Hezbollah in 2006, 2009, and 2010.
Basically, I smell a rat. Maybe these are real and maybe they say exactly what MacDonald says they do. But this story is being peddled, not investigated. An investigative reporter capable of discovering all this would also be capable of the 15 minutes of Googling and Google Translating that I did to compile these discrepancies, and either explain them in the new report or at least start asking these questions.
The reply from Neil Macdonald:
I wrote to Neil Macdonald (author of theCBC report about the UN investigation into Rafiq al-Hariri’s murder) asking him if he would respond to some of the questions published on this blog earlier today about the timeline presented in his account of the investigation’s proceedings.
Mr. Macdonald had argued in his piece that “Brammertz could not be persuaded to authorize the one technique that those investigators wanted above all to deploy: telecommunications analysis,” and that “the UN commission in Lebanon did no telecom analysis at all for most of its first three years of existence.”
As some of our fearless readers have pointed out, the Mehlis report itself clearly indicates that the Commission was using telecoms data in its investigation to track Hariri’s killers. So why, I asked Mr. Macdonald, would Brammertz have had to authorize telecommunications analysis if the Commission was already using it in 2005? Or was that earlier work done under Mehlis a different kind of telecoms analysis from the stuff performed by Wissam Eid?
Mr. Macdonald responded to my query with the following note, which I quote with permission:
“The question we addressed in the documentary was when the commission began carrying out actual telecomms analysis of phone records. My sources — and they were there  — are absolutely firm. The commission did none until late 2007.The Lebanese police did. Capt. Eid was the first to discover the red network, and the first to identify the co-location phones. The commission under Mehlis was aware of the ISF’s early telecomms work. Brammertz referred to the commission’s collection of phone records (I refer to that in my piece; they obtained the entire 2005 phone database for Lebanon). But actual telecomms analysis by the commission itself, as I reported, was not authorized until late 2007, at which time FTS, the British firm, was brought in.”
Perhaps the most contentious part of the CBC report is the alleged duplicitous behaviour of Lebanon's intelligence chief, Col. Wissam Hassan. The apparent linkage between Hariri's top intelligence officer and Hezballah is difficult to grasp, according to two Lebanese bloggers, Beirut Spring and the Angry Arab.
Beirut Spring:
If you thought that the CBC report was a slam dunk by the Hariri alliance against Hezbollah, I’m afraid you got the wrong idea.
There’s a part of the report that casts doubt on the role of Colonnel Wissam El Hassan in the crime. Col. Hassan is firmly in the Hariri camp and the fact that his name was brought up by the CBC report as a suspect has caused dissonance in many minds. Col. Hassan remains one of those targeted by Hezbollah as a “false witnesse”, so what gives?
According to the CBC, col. Hassan was supposed to be in the Hariri convoy the day he was killed, but he didn’t show up and gave what the CBC calls “flimsy” alibis. He also supposedly lied about a phone call he made before the crime.
The fact that Col. Hassan’s name came out makes the picture muddier and will cause great confusion.
Angry Arab:
This CBC report rendered a great service to Hizbullah's campaign against the Hariri court.  Public opinion surveys in Lebanon already point to a clear and systematic decline in public support for the court, even among Sunnis and Druzes (the Christians are split).  I mean, to accuse the key intelligence guy in the Hariri camp, Al-Hasan, of complicity is to turn the investigation into a farce.  This Wisam Hasan was so key to UN investigation that he was even used (at least in the case of “false witness”, Muhammad Zuhayr As-Siddiq) as the official interpretor of the UN team.   And for the report to rely on the account of Mehlis discredited the court and report further.  The Hariri camp is now clearly at war, and Wisam Hasan (who is named in the report) has so much dirt on his Hariri enemies and will fight back.  The movie will now get more interesting and suspenseful.  As for the Hariri investigation itself, you may relegate it to late night TV, on “Nick at Night”.  Check your local listing.
The Human Province believes the investigation has become a question of competing conspiracy theories:
The discussion about Hariri’s assassination quickly becomes a question of competing conspiracy theories, and necessarily so, because there was clearly a conspiracy to assassinate Hariri. The question is: a conspiracy by whom?
And that’s what is so frustrating to me: without any hard evidence, be it presented by the STL or Hassan Nasrallah, we are left to the mercy of conjecture. (Incidentally, the STL isn’t the only international court that’s facing problems of legitimacy and false witnesses.) And worse, given that we are in the realm of conspiracy and competing theories thereof, we are forced into an epistemological Chinese finger trap  in which evidence against a theory actually becomes evidence in favor of it. This is convenient for partisans, since there isn’t much that can challenge the particular conspiracy theory carried out by the villains their ideological and political worldview suggest.
But unfortunately for  the rest of us, we’re left with the uncomfortable choice between exhaustion bordering on apathy on the one hand, or vulgarity and naïveté on the other.
The CBC report reinforces the fragility and sensitivity of the Hariri case. Tense times seem certain for Lebanon as the UN's Special Tribunal for Lebanon reaches its end point.

author: Antoun Issa


text:
Lebanon: Le bonheur · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

In a blog dedicated to paintings and illustrations, Ella posts this painting about a happy moment of a girl and her cat.


text:
Lebanon: Lebneneez Calendar 2011 · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

Artist and blogger Nadine Feghaly posts about the collaboration of 12 Lebanese artists who made a calendar out of their illustrations of their favourite Lebanese saying.


text:
Lebanon: Warmer than usual · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

Seif and Beirut writes about the warmer than usual weather in Lebanon around this time of the year and its possible effects on water supply and other environmental issues.


text:
Peru: Fines For Careless Pedestrians · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón

As of November 15, Peruvian pedestrians can be fined if they break the Traffic Code. Depending on the seriousness of the infraction, the amount of the fine may vary between 18 to 108 new soles (approximately US$6.50 to US$38.50). At the moment of writing this post, a week after the code came into force, 3,985 Lima residents [es] have been fined. Almost 75% of them committed serious infractions.
In a country where pedestrians and drivers are notorious for not complying with traffic regulations, bloggers are expressing their feelings about this measure.
Image by Flickr user Martin Garcia, martintoy, used under an Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license
The group blog Perú es Babel [es] expresses the situation from the perspective of a pedestrian and includes the list of infractions and the amount of each fine:
Es cierto. Los peatones muchas veces son (más bien, somos) los culpables de los accidentes […]. Ahí está el mea culpa de este redactor que no tiene carro y toda su vida ha sido peatón pero, en tal condición, también es fácil darme cuenta de que la ciudad no está ni pensada ni hecha para peatones.
O sea, ahora resulta que no puedo cruzar por mitad de calle, por más que la cuadra sea larguísima y yo vaya exactamente al frente, ni más ni menos, aun cuando el propio municipio se haya tomado la molestia de construir un caminito a mita de la berma central para tal propósito, ya que se sabe que la esquina está muuuuuuchos metros más allá. ¡Claro! esto, si nos ponemos estrictos, ya es ilegal. Pero ¿y qué hago si no tengo un puente peatonal o paso subterráneo? De hecho en Lima hay muy pocos.
It's true. Most of the time, pedestrians are (or rather, we pedestrians are) the ones to blame for the accidents […]. There you have the mea culpa from this editor who doesn't own a car and has been a pedestrian his whole life, but as such, it's also easy for me to realize that the city isn't conceived nor thought nor made for pedestrians.
So, now it turns out that I can't cross at the middle of the block, no matter how long the block is and even though I'm going right in front of where I'm standing, nor less nor more, even though the city hall took the time to make a little path in the middle of the central shoulder with that intention, because it's well know that the corner is very far away. Right! if we are strict, that is illegal. But, what if I don't have any pedestrian bridges nor underground passages? In fact, in Lima there are very few of them.
Some days before this regulation came into force, blogger Diego Pajares [es] considered this as good news:
Una buena noticia. Desde el lunes 15 de noviembre, los policías de tránsito y de carretera tendrán la facultad de intervenir a los transeúntes que, deliberadamente, infrinjan las normas de tránsito. El anuncio ya se había hecho en agosto y hace unos días fue recordado por el ministro de Transportes y Comunicaciones, Enrique Cornejo Ramírez.
From Lambayeque in northern Peru, blogger José Elías Zeña del Valle, from Del Valle para todos [es] has some recommendations:
Blogger Buho from the blog 100pre informado [es] republishes some updates and important information:
La estadística señala que la infracción más cometida por los transeúntes es cruzar de forma intempestiva o temeraria la calzada sin respetar las señales de tránsito ni los semáforos, seguida de transitar cerca del sardinel o al borde de la pista.
En tercer lugar figura desobedecer las indicaciones del efectivo policial, y cruzar la calzada por delante de un vehículo detenido, por cualquier causa, cuando a éste no le asiste el derecho de paso.
Statistics show that the most common infraction from pedestrians is to cross the street untimely or recklessly, not observing the traffic signs and the lights, followed by walking too close to the kerb or the edge of the road.
In third place we have disobeying orders from the police officers, and crossing the street in front of a stopped vehicle, no matter what the cause is, when pedestrians don't have the right to cross.
Finally, Este blog es tuiio [es], by Juanktuiio, informs readers on the procedure:
En todos los casos, los Policías están obligados a detener momentáneamente a los peatones infractores, identificarlos y llenar la papeleta. Los menores de edad también están sujetos a estas sanciones

author: Gabriela García Calderón


text:
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Election Violence · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“When did we become so intolerant that we are unwilling to grant people the right of association?”: Abeni is calling for an end to the violence surrounding the lead-up to election day.


text:
The Cold War Origin of Asia’s Troubled Waters  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Andy Yee reviews the Cold War history and the role of the U.S in the Northeast Asia territorial conflicts in Asia Sentinel.


text:
Trinidad & Tobago: El Tucuche  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The only known Amerindian glyphs in Trinidad occur on a rock outcrop here”: wordtryst blogs about her favourite mountain.


text:
Ukraine: Entrepreneurs Renew Mass Protests · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

@Matteush reads tweets marked with the #kat_ua hashtag, concludes (UKR) that “the whole country has risen to protest bandit tax code”: rallies and strikes by entrepreneurs are taking place in (UKR, RUS)  Chernivtsi, Rivne, Odessa, Lutsk, Kharkiv, Lviv. In Kyiv, some 30,000 are said to have gathered at Maidan, and many more are still arriving; live broadcast is here, live updates (UKR) and photos – here. @Outofscope writes this (RUS) to protesters who are still on their way to the rally: “It's cold at Maidan, dress warm!”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


text:
Africa: Announcing a new knowledge resource for Africa · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Oluniyi announces the launch of a new knowledge resource for Africa: “Today 25th November 2010 marks another milestone in the quest for putting African information online. A new website has launched. It is aptly named Africa Portal, and aims to be an authoritative knowledge resource for Africa”.


text:
Bangladesh: The Politics Of Eviction · Global Voices
Rezwan

Jyoti at Unheard Voice Blog writes about the politics of eviction in Bangladesh, which has heated up the political arena in Bangladesh in recent times.


text:
Bhutan: Books Or Bars · Global Voices
Rezwan

“Books printed in Bhutan are too expensive for an average income Bhutanese reading public,” informs Penstar and that explains why there are more bars than book shops in that country.


text:
Bhutan: Tobacco Law And Village People · Global Voices
Rezwan

Passu is apprehensive about the impact of ban on tobacco in Bhutan. In almost every house of his village tobacco is still being used and they have to pay higher to get them.


text:
Brazil: Bloggers react to wave of violence in Rio de Janeiro · Global Voices
Debora Baldelli

A wave of violence has frightened residents of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Beyond arrastões (a form of mass robbery), car burnings, bombs, shoot-outs, criminals have also attacked police posts. The violent attacks bring back the old discussion about security in the city. A great wave of panic, in part brought on by the mainstream media, also brings to the fore a new problem: the great proliferation of false rumors on the Internet. The blogosphere and Twittersphere have begun to question the reason behind the attacks – as well as the veracity of the facts – and are demanding evidence.
See below a map of the attacks that is being constantly updated:
The map shows that the attacks are occurring all over the city and are moving and decreasing in accordance with intense police operations. A large assault was announced for Saturday, which resulted in the acceleration of operations, principally in the favelas of Vila Cruzeiro and Complexo do Alemão.
At 9pm local time on November 25, seven of the ten trending topics in Brazil on Twitter were related to the situation in Rio de Janeiro, from highest to lowest:
#BOPE [Special Police Operations Battalion]
#rio
#paznorio (#peaceinrio)
#Vila Cruzeiro [area invaded by drug traffickers fleeing police operations]
#Pimentel [Captain Rodrigo Pimentel, police and co-author of the film Tropa de Elite]
#Cabral [Governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro]
#Marinha (#Navy) [Being cited for helping with the loan of equipment, newly bought tanks, the same as those being used in Iraq]
On the world trending topics at the same time, #BOPE was in third place, followed by #Vila Cruzeiro and #Pimentel.
Opinions on what exactly was happening in Rio de Janeiro diverged:
mitsudiz Enquanto isso a Tijuca caga pro pânico midiático. A galera aqui é treinada desde 2001 a diferenciar psicopatia coletiva de guerra civil.
jasomcox Agora surgem boatos que tem arrastão e tiroteiro em cada canto do RJ, ó ta rolando um aqui no play do meu predio
@danielefranco: É mto bom ver os amigos tuitando dizendo que chegaram bem em casa! #Alivio
@LiraBellaquaa violência tá mais do que presente. Passei o dia todo ouvindo sirenes. Isso é a realidade
@celsoathayde amanha nova guerra anunciada no complexo. a Policia vai lá fazer o seu trabalho, o crime vai contra atacar e moradores vão morrer #ilógico
"Tanque de Guerra aqui perto de casa #MEDO" ("War tank here close to home #FEAR") by Twitpic user BrunoFq
The need to know what is true or false, and which areas were or were not being attacked, made @casodepolicia launch two hashtags #everdade (#truth) and #eboato (#rumor), through which information revealed on the web was verified in real time. The tweet reached 10,000 followers on the fifth day of the terror in the city.
Coverage led by the country's major broadcasters was criticized via Twitter. According to the blog of the Knight Center [pt], the account of BOPE slammed coverage of some for getting in the way of operations [BOPE's were subsequently deleted]:
Usuários usaram o hashtag #globocop para comentar a cobertura das emissoras no site de microblogs. “A #Globo fica dedurando o esquema tático do Bope!”, reclamou uma internauta. “Se o #globocop não estivesse ali o helicóptero do Bope ia chegar fazendo tiro ao alvo”, comentou outro.
Among the possible reasons for the recent increase in attacks is the idea of reprisal for the installation of UPPs (Pacifying Police Units). These UPPs were first installed almost two years ago in the effort to remove drug traffickers from the favelas and “bring peace” to residents through the installation of a police unit at strategic points in the slums. Part of the population indeed believes that the UPPs are helping to control the problem, and others ask themselves if it would be this easy to “expel the criminals”. The number one question would be, where did these criminals go after being expelled by the installation of the UPPs? Siron Nascimento, cited by the blog Vi O Mundo (I Saw the World) [pt] responds:
O governo do Estado ocupou algumas poucas favelas, com resultados positivos em algumas, anunciou sua política pacificadora e dormiu em seus louros. Ora, os bandidos abandonaram as favelas das UPPs e foram para onde? Alguns para a Baixada Fluminense e Baixada Gonçalina. Outros deslocaram suas atividades do tráfico para crimes de outro tipo. Assaltos, invasões de edifícios, arrastões como os que vemos agora.
On the same blog [pt] the comment of a reader on the same topic of the UPPs followed:
É preciso perguntar: UPP dá certo? Só isso basta? Sem inteligência se combate o crime, prende bandido e retira suas armas? É necessário fazer um raio-x da política de segurança pública do Cabral [Governador do Estado do Rio de Janeiro]. A UPP não é ocupação social. É ocupação militar. Não tem nenhum civil desempenhando qualquer função nas upps. Ia ter um concurso para assistente social, psicólogo, advogado etc para as UPPs e foi cancelado. E os bandidos, para onde foram? E suas armas?
There are those who disagree with the argument that the attacks have been a response to the UPPs, such as Gustavo Barreto of Consciência (Conscience) [pt]:
Os principais chefes da Polícia Militar do Rio de Janeiro e a Secretaria de Segurança Pública vendem a tese deplorável de que os atentados são uma ‘reação às políticas das UPPs’, e a velha mídia simplesmente engole. O curioso é que as UPPs estão presentes em 13 favelas, de um universo de 1.000 existentes no Rio e região metropolitana. Imagina quando chegarem a 20, 30! Melhor mudar para Miami de uma vez.
The most interesting aspect of all is that a good portion of the violence reported after this series of attacks was already common before. The sounds of shooting are not exactly anything new in Rio de Janeiro. What is different this time, however, is that everything is happening at the same time, and everything is being spoken of, reported and investigated as part of the same giant problem. The population of the city is being tempted to speak out and be heard (whether through the Disque Denúncia [hotline] or whether on Twitter), and being taken seriously by the authorities. When a person reports via tweet, sees their report being investigated, and hears of police action, this not only stimulates the participation of residents but also gives credibility to the police. Everybody wins.
@MatheusXLima Muito legal a policia estar agindo contra o trafico no #RiodeJaneiro
@cibele2011 Eu amo o Rio de Janeiro. É surreal o q [sic] aparece na mídia, mas finalmente tá acontecendo o q deveria,a polícia agindo como polícia.
What residents actually want is that police forces are able to stop this series of attacks and that this helps to solve the city's problems with violence. It is also hoped this wave of violence helps to re-evaluate the actions of the government, resulting in a real strategy for “pacifying” the city. The problems should be resolved so that residents can stop living in fear and not so that large events like the World Cup 2014 and Olympics 2016, always cited by international media in relation to Rio, can be held safely. It is time to think of the local and not the global.
@andersonaragao1 Engraçado… o RJ se acabando na violencia e a preocupação mais aparente do governo e da imprensa é com a imagem da sede da copa…
@ALB_Whiite como que o brasil quer sediar copa do mundo se não dá conta nem da violencia q ocorre no rio?alguêm me explica isso???
@NOGALMEIDA N sei como o Brasil quer sediar a copa com tanta violência!Os jornais apenas revelam o que nossos queridos governantes tetam esconder!:)
Statue of Christ the Redemptor, important tourist spot in the city, with a worried appearance – image by @tcherol via Twitpic
The author of this post is from Rio de Janeiro.

author: Debora Baldelli


text:
Brazil: President today, blogger tomorrow · Global Voices
Marta Cooper

Outgoing Brazilian president Luis Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula) was interviewed [pt] for the first time this week by a range of progressive bloggers, an event seen by many as a major step [pt] in the ongoing push for a more democratic media system [pt] in the country.
The two hour session was also streamed online, allowing bloggers to participate via webcam through microblogging site, Twitter.
A range of topics [pt] were covered, including political reform within Brazil, abortion, education, corruption, and the country's foreign policy.
Media reform was particularly high on the agenda, with Lula affirming,
Eu sou o resultado da liberdade de imprensa neste país. A maior censura que existe é acreditar que a mídia não pode ser criticada.
I am the result of freedom of the press in this country. The greatest censorship that exists is to believe that the media cannot be criticised.
He rallied against the spread of misinformation and called for a tighter regulation of Brazil's media industry. He criticised Brazil's mainstream press for arousing fear by exaggerating the extent to which the country would be affected by the global financial crisis, and for reporting false causes behind the TAM Airlines plane crash in 2007.
Brazil's mainstream media remains in the hands of few reigning families, chief among them being the Marinho family, which owns the country's major broadcasting network, Rede Globo [pt]. Historically in close association with the military dictatorship (1964-84), Globo has been well-poised to consolidate and exert its control in television, film, radio and print.
Newspapers have frequently come under fire for serving political interests, most recently in the country's presidential elections, during which current president-elect, Dilma Rousseff, was largely seen as having been the victim [pt] of a mainstream media massacre. Major dailies and magazines swooped into the runoff debate, capitalising on controversial issues, such as religion and abortion, which leave Brazil fiercely divided.
The outgoing president was quizzed over the proposals made at last year's first National Conference of Communication [pt]. The need for more extensive regulation, citizen participation and social control within mainstream media were among the proposals drafted at the conference, with Lula reassuring bloggers that they will be submitted to Brazil's Congress. He added that the debate was now in the hands of Dilma, who pledged greater press freedom in Brazil during her acceptance speech on 31st October.
President Lula chats to blogger Conceição Oliveira via Twitcam during his first interview with Brazilian bloggers. Image by Ricardo Stuckert/PR, from Blog do Planalto's Flickr photostream. Reproduced under a Creative Commons license.
For those who attended, the session signalled the opening a new channel of a more progressive communication between decision makers and non-mainstream media forces. One web user, participating via Twitcam, called the session “emotional” [pt]. Notable political blogger Rodrigo Vianna [pt], while reminding readers that “old” media would still remain, said,
Não sei se os leitores têm dimensão do que isso significa: quebrou-se o monopólio. Internautas puderam perguntar, via twitter. O mundo da comunicação se moveu. Foi simbólico o que vimos hoje.
I don't know if readers get the dimensions of what this means: the monopoly has broken. Via Twitter, Internet users could ask questions. The world of communication moved. What we saw today was symbolic.
Renato Rovai, editor of liberal current affairs magazine Revista Forum [pt], was equally positive [pt]:
Ela entra para a história da cobertura política brasileira.
It [the interview] entered the history of the coverage of Brazilian politics.
The very group of bloggers invited to attend was also significant, writes participant Leandro Fortes [pt]:
Esse mesmo grupo foi chamado por Serra, no auge da baixaria da campanha eleitoral, de representantes de “blogs sujos”, uma referência nervosa a um tipo de mídia que pegou o tucano, uma criatura artificialmente sustentada pela velha mídia corporativa, no contrapé. Nem Serra, nem ninguém na velha direita brasileira estavam preparados para o poder de reação, análise e crítica da blogosfera e das redes sociais. Matérias falsas, reportagens falaciosas, discursos hipócritas, obscurantismo religioso e a farsa da bolinha de papel, tudo, tudo foi desmontado em poucas horas dentro da internet. Chamar-nos de “sujos” nem de longe nos alcançou como ofensa, pelo contrário. Nós, os “sujos” fizemos a história dessa eleição. Serra e seus brucutus terceirizados sumiram no ralo virtual.
This very same group was called by Serra, at the peak of the immoral election campaign, the voices of “sordid blogs”, making a nerve-racking reference to the type of media which caught the toucan [a term for Serra], an artificial creature supported by the old media, on the back foot. Neither Serra, nor anyone in the old Brazilian right-wing expected the power of reaction, analysis and criticism of the blogosphere and other social networks. Fake articles, fallacious reports,  hypocritical discourses, religious obscurantism and the bolinha de papel farce were unveiled within a few hours on the Internet. We, the “sordids” made the history of this elecetion. Serra and his pre-historic outsourced friends disappeared in the virtual drain.
Participants were, however, quick to point out the session's failures. Vianna noted that pressing issues of human rights, land reform, justice and public health were not covered in enough detail, overshadowed instead by the discussion of communications. Also lamented was the absence of female bloggers, although Conceição Oliveira, of the blog Maria Fro [pt] (who also blog as Conceição Lemes at Vi o Mundo) [pt]  participated via Twitcam.
Lula seemed convinced of the power of engaging with citizens through social media, promising he will blog and tweet in the future. Brazil has the second-highest amount of Twitter users in the world after the United States, and its Internet users straddle anywhere between 67 to 73 million. Social networking sites such as Orkut and, to a lesser extent, Facebook, also remain wildly popular.

author: Marta Cooper


text:
China: Hang the Liberal! · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A website,Progressive Society, with a feature page called  Hanging Slave of the West, has been set up by some extreme “leftists”. The website claims to record all the sins of Chinese political liberals. It also collects photos of famous political activists such as Nobel Peace Prize winner, Liu Xiaobo calling them slaves of the West and demands them to be hanged.


text:
Cuba: Reasons for Confiscation  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Generation Y finds out that the reason copies of her book were confiscated, is because its contents “are against the general interests of the nation, since it argues that certain political and economic changes are required in Cuba so that its citizens may have more material benefits and achieve personal fulfillment, ends completely contrary to the principles of our society.”


text:
Fiji: Government explains deportation of Fiji Water boss · Global Voices
Michael Hartsell

David Roth, Fiji Water’s local representative, was kicked out of Fiji because he was interfering with the country’s internal affairs, says military leader Frank Bainimarama.
Bainimarama, speaking over the weekend during a trip to China, said Roth was acting in contradiction to his work visa. He did not elaborate on details, but Fiji’s leader said the representative to the US-based premium water firm was “had been acting in a manner prejudicial to good governance and public order by interfering in the domestic affairs and governance of Fiji.”
Since Roth left the country November 18, Fiji’s government has tried to paint the squabble as an issue between an individual and the state.  Permanent Secretary for Information, Sharon Smith-Johns said the government was not targeting the multi-million dollar water company that bears the country’s name. She also reassured the business community of the islands’ favorable investment climate.
Photo from Flickr by dlisbona
Taxing situation
Fiji Water began distributing to the United States in 1997 and can now be found in 40 countries. The company was bought for an estimated $50 million USD in 2004 by the US billionaires Stewart and Lynda Resnick. That year it won the US Secretary of State’s Award for Corporate Excellence for bringing sustainable jobs to Fiji. Fiji Water currently ships $150 million USD per year, employs 350 local workers and spends an estimated $1.3 million USD a year on development projects. “However, this is a lot less than the 30 per cent corporate tax it would normally pay,” Hamish McDonald wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Fiji’s government originally provided the start-up company with tax free status until 2008. That year the Bainimarama government proposed 20 cent per litre tax over all water bottled in the country. Bottlers bristled at this and Fiji Water shut down its plant in the Yaqara valley for a few days during the dispute, which the government eventually backed down.  With a $150 million bond payment coming due next year for Fiji’s government, McDonald speculates Bainimarama could be re-thinking the tax plan.
However, the action is not unanimous. Ratu Epeli Ganilau, Fiji’s minister of Defense and Immigration, resigned from the government, claiming differences stemming from the Roth affair. Rumors persist that he was ordered to sign Roth’s deportation papers and refused.
Paradise for business?
Crosbie Walsh, author of Fiji: The Way it Was, Is and Can Be, said the government did itself a great disservice in the Roth affair.
I have to agree with readers that whatever the cause, Government has made a serious mistake in deporting the Fiji Water CEO. If he was really interfering in Fiji's internal affairs in a major way,  whether it was purely personal or whether it was a tax issue involving Fiji Water, is beside the point. The matter could have been dealt with much better, and at a better time.
It would seem Government is unable or unwilling to handle criticism or questioning of its position without over-reaction. The signal they have sent to investors and the international community is not very reassuring, especially with Fiji Water being an American company and America's recently inferred more conciliatory towards Fiji. Kid gloves are needed in diplomacy not mailed fists.
Walsh does concede that this situation could be similar to the recent standoff between Warner Brothers and the government of New Zealand over the US-based entertainment company's refusal to pay taxes (and follow labor laws) if it decided to make two films based on the Hobbit in the country. In the end, the government ceded to many of Warner Bros. demands to keep production in New Zealand.
In a comment, Proud Fijian partially agreed.
Only difference is Warner Bros has a choice to take the movie elsewhere. Fiji Water is Fiji Water.
We need investors in Fiji who are willing to contribute to the economy in paying taxes. What makes us think that this will stop investors coming to Fiji.
Actually by doing this we choose who we want as business partners to invest in Fiji- ethical companies with a win-win approach.
In Fiji Board Exiles, real jack argues Fiji’s government has hurt itself toward outside investors by making the fight personal.
yesterday [Permanent Secretary for Information] Sharon Jones made a release saying that they will explain to the business community that the situation with Roth is merely between the Govt and Roth. tsk tsk tsk – its probably the stupidest statement she has ever made – she doesn't seem to realise the implications and significance of that statement -
what she is basically saying is that the Govt can target individual persons and that once the govt targets individual persons like Roth there is no right of recourse to the law or the Court – which is exactly whats happened to Roth.
this is a terrible statement for a govt to make – because it means that Govt is in the business of persecuting people – that Roths removal was persecution.
In Fiji Today, sa rauta vinaka said Roth should have been fighting a different battle.
I mite share some sympathy for Roth’s expulsion if he had lobbied for a quick return to parliamentary representation and democracy for the people of Fiji INSTEAD of using his paid dumb stoogies (ganiluas & naulukaus) to keep all his freeby arrangements with the IG. As for the sponsorships they’ve done around the country, my neighbour tells me that is peanuts and loose change for them.

author: Michael Hartsell


text:
Ghana: Images from Ghana · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Beautiful images from the Central Region in Ghana by Nana Acquah: “Yesterday, I photographed a kind, old man who is our President’s friend and he has photos and stories to prove it. Each day brings new, refreshing stories.”


text:
Ghana: The trial of Amina Mohammed · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Stephen Kwearing writes about the case of Amina Mohammed, the lady at the centre of an alleged robbery and mass rape on a bus in Ghana.


text:
Ghana: What on earth is Nkrumahism?  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Ato wants to know what exactly Nkrumahism is: “Hardly a week passes by without Ghanaians hearing about ‘Nkrumahism’ or the fact that the ‘Nkrumahist’ parties are fragmented…What on earth is Nkrumahism? I know it has something to do with Kwame Nkrumah but I don't know exactly what.”


text:
Haiti: Cholera & Elections  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

HAITI, Land of Freedom notes that several human rights groups have expressed concerns about the country's upcoming elections in the midst of the cholera epidemic.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
India: Fuzzy Memories · Global Voices
Rezwan

Dilip D'Souza at Kafila asks why are Indians obsessed with only remembering the act of terrorism on 26/11/08 and why not also 1/11/84 or 7/12/92?

author: Rezwan


text:
India: Mumbai Moving Forward · Global Voices
Rezwan

“There is a form of kinetic energy that’s contagious in Mumbai. As if, someone has set the people of Mumbai free – and they are moving forward,” notices Zain Mahmood while visiting the city.


text:
Jordan: Reactions to a New Government · Global Voices
Betsy Fisher

Following Jordan's November 9th Parliamentary elections, King Abdulla approved Prime Minister Samir Rifai's new government on Wednesday, November 24th.  Twitter lit up with reactions, with many reacting positively to the appointments.
AShamlawi tweeted:
On behalf of the ICT [information and communications technology] industry and companies congratulations to @ICTMinJO H.E. Marwan on the appointment & best of luck and support#ICT #JO
Adhametoom agreed:
Congratulations to HE PM @SamirAlRifai and HE @nasserjudehand HE @ICTMinJO and HE @WalidMaani . wish you all best of luck#JO #Cabinet
Maya Huneidi gushed:
Congrats to Nesreen Barakat – new Minister of Public Sector Development. I feel positive knowing a brilliant mind like her is in govt. #Jo
Others, like Farrah Mufleh here, were not so positive:
new “mini”sters list.. looking like an apple and actually being an apple are 2 different things. #JO
Several questioned specific appointments, including the appointment of Sa'ad Hayel Al Srour as Minister of Interior, after he lost his bid for a seat in the Lower House of Parliament. Naseem Al Tarawnah quipped:
Srour lost in the #JOelections after spending amazing amounts, but thats ok, they made him Minister of Interiorhttp://is.gd/hKjOc #JO
Farah Madadha agreed:
How things go around #JO:A man fails in the #Parliamentary #Elections, so he's appointed #Minister. The #gov must believe in his potentials
She questioned another appointment, this one of a former Health Minister, Zeid Goussous, as the new Minister of Tourism and Antiquities:
OK I really can't help but ask @PrimeMinistry how in the world does a #HealthMinister become a #Ministerof #Tourism?!?!?!
Nadine Toukan posted several tweets protesting another change.  The Ministry of Social Development had its name adjusted to the Ministry of Social Development and Women's Affairs.  Said Toukan:
Min of Social Dev & Women Affairs is regressive place for women issues! How sad. #Jo @SamirAlRifai
Toukan linked to her blog, writing:
In an effort to place women's issues on the government agenda and confidently claim it, the recent cabinet change includes a tag to the Ministry of Social Development, evolving it to Social Development & Women's Affairs….A sorry regression. Feeds into the problem. Insults half the population directly and insults the other half indirectly. Grows dependency on a quota mentality, everywhere. Lends to further gender stereotyping…
How can anyone justify that the wide range of topics that women's affairs may encompass belong in a corner inside the Ministry of Social Development? Does this mean that men's affairs do not belong within this ministry? Or is the role of women shadowed within social development only? Are there no men's affairs we ought to be concerned about? What is the definition of women's affairs anyway? Are women's affairs not society's affairs?
…We need to rewire our entire system within every building, street, hallway, book and screen towards a healthy reality of gender cohesion. We cannot do so with sexist, gender biased banners and after thoughts that label half a population and concern the entire.

author: Betsy Fisher


text:
Korea: Artillery Shots Heard From South Korean Island  · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Sounds of artillery shots were heard inland of North Korea this afternoon, audible from South Korea's YeonPyeong island. Although the firing was not directed at South Korea, it has successfully frightened many South Koreans.  Some Twitters sarcastically commented [ko] as ‘North Korea is taking advantage of the unprecedentedly high level of attention given to them’.


text:
Laos and the Convention on Cluster Munitions · Global Voices
Gael Brassac

The first meeting of state parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) which gathered 101 countries as well as numerous Non Governmental Organisations was held between 9th and 12th November in Vientiane, Laos. This conference followed the first effort undertaken by the civil society which has heavily lobbied to make the international community uphold the CCM. Adopted on 30 May 2008 in Dublin, 108 countries have already signed the CCM while 46 countries have ratified it. Today, about 36 countries are affected by cluster bombs which are still widely produced, used, and stockpiled.
Anna MacDonald, head of Control Arms campaign, reminds on Oxfam International Blogs why Laos hosts the CCM:
We are all here for the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions – which basically means the first annual meeting since the cluster bomb treaty was agreed.   It’s a very relevant location, as more than 2 million tons of bombs were dropped on Laos during America’s “secret war” between 1964 and 1973. At least 30% failed to detonate, and decades later, up to 80 million cluster bomblets lie undetonated across the country.
A deminer holds a fragment from a BLU 26 cluster munition which can travel approximately 150 metres.Savannakhet Province, Laos 2010 – by CMC under CC Licence
The aim of the CCM is of course to make cluster bombs’ production, use, stockpiling and transfer banned in all countries of the world. Cluster bombs are supposed to target military objectives but civilian facilities are often killed and injured by these weapons. According to the NGO Handicap International, 98% of recorded casualties associated with cluster bomb are civilians, and 27% involves children.  In another post, Anna MacDonald stresses that these weapons are against the international humanitarian law:
The ban on cluster bombs took 18 months to go through negotiation, although campaigners, activists and supportive governments had worked for many more years previously to ban these indiscriminate weapons. Cluster bombs are nasty, indiscriminate weapons that are hard to target and often lay unexploded on the ground for months, years and even decades after they were dropped. Children are particularly vulnerable potential victims, as they are attracted to these strange shiny little objects in the ground.
Vivian Tan, contributor on the blog IntLawGrrls, emphasizes the importance of the CCM:
The general prohibition in the Cluster Munitions Convention against the production, use, stockpiling, and transfer of cluster munitions represents a significant improvement upon the vague standards of the older Conventional Weapons Convention. The later treaty's mandate for the destruction of stockpiles is particularly important, as many countries have retained old cluster bombs dating as far back as the Cold War that have become highly unstable with age…This new treaty also sets specific deadlines for bomb clearance and destruction [countries are to destroy their stockpiles within eight years,  and clear their territory of unexploded submunitions within 10 years].
In addition, the Cluster Munitions Convention addresses victims already injured. States parties are obligated to develop national plans to assist all victims affected by cluster bombs without discrimination…Also laudable are transparency measures and requirements for thorough reporting. Within 180 days after the treaty enters into force for a state party, the state must disclose to the United Nations information such as a description of its current stockpile, bomb clearance and destruction programs, known areas of contamination, and proposed plans to achieve the goals of the Cluster Munitions Convention.
In the same post, she also points out CCM’s significant omissions :
First, the treaty only addresses cluster bombs dispensed by aircraft, leaving out those launched by submarines or on land. At the same time, the treaty gives a generic definition of cluster munitions that may result in an over-inclusive ban on more sophisticated models that do not cause the devastating humanitarian harm associated with the antiquated types.
Disparity among the state parties’ capacities and ill-defined standards are also critical drawbacks. Where there exist no relevant international regulations, the Cluster Munitions Convention requires state parties to apply “any necessary national law” to achieve its goals and penalize non-compliance. This may result in significant inconsistencies in enforcement among state parties. The treaty is also unclear on who should monitor its implementation, such the use of trust funds or mediation of dispute settlements between state parties…State parties are also obligated to bear the costs incurred by the United Nations in enforcing transparency and compliance measures. The heavier burden will fall upon poorer nations, who may not have the resources to keep up with the strict compliance standards in the first place.
The Cluster Munitions Convention has met resistance from major stockpilers like the United   States, Russia, and China, because it does not take into account the military value of cluster munitions or the expensive nature of their clearance and destruction. The key players’ refusal to adopt the treaty diminishes other states’ incentives to join.
Bonnie Docherty, researcher at the NGO Human Right Watch, adds on the blog The UK Debate:
A strong interpretation of the treaty also is important to maximize its humanitarian impact. While many of its provisions are clear, a few of its more controversial articles leave room for debate.
Most notably, some countries contend that the treaty waives the ban on assistance with prohibited activities during joint military operations with countries that have not joined. But many others, and  civil society groups, counter that the treaty cannot logically be interpreted to require countries that have joined to eliminate cluster munitions while permitting them to help another country use them.
Finally, countries need to carry out their promises. Many have started by passing national implementation legislation and destroying stockpiles. But more such laws are needed.  They should codify the convention’s obligations as well as its prohibitions.
On November 12, the Vientiane Declaration and the Vientiane Action Plan, calling for concrete actions against cluster bombs, have been adopted by the State Parties. During the meeting, several countries – including New Zealand, Austria, Belgium or Luxemburg notably – announced a 30 million dollar donation for cluster bomb clearance in Laos through grant aid and NGO funding, while Austria declared that the destruction of its cluster bomb stockpiles has been completed. But a lot has to be done. If significant military powers, such as the United Kingdom, France or Germany, have already signed and ratified the treaty, the United States, China, Russia or Israel – the biggest stockpilers and users – are still reluctant to take the plunge. Besides, the US army is accused of using cluster bombs last year as Amnesty International uncovered a cluster bomb attack in Yemen in December 2009. In 2008, Russia used cluster bombs during its trial of strength with Georgia. Meanwhile, Israel dropped 4 millions cluster bombs during the 2006 South Lebanon war. Next year, in September, Lebanon is scheduled to host the next second meeting of State Parties to the Convention of Cluster Munitions.
See also Handicap International's video tracing efforts carried out until the CCM

author: Gael Brassac


text:
Lebanon: Man Sentenced for Abusing Domestic Worker · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

Mount Lebanon criminal court sentenced a Lebanese to six years hard labor, reduced to three years prison term, for attempting to rape a Filipino domestic worker in his place of work, reports Ethiopian Suicides.


text:
Puerto Rico: Bloggers Criticize Censorship Call of Calle 13 Song · Global Voices
César Santiago

René Pérez Joglar and his sister Ileana of Calle 13. Photo by crlsblnc used under a CC Licence.*
Whether by design or unintentionally, urban music group Calle 13 stirred the pot this week with the release of a new record “Entren los que quieran” (Come in those who wish), and specifically with the song “Digo lo que pienso” (I say what I think). In the song, and at one point in a rather strong and sexually explicit language, the group takes a swipe to an unnamed mayor accusing him of being a drug user. Redod from PuertoRicoIndie.com [es] writes about this song in his review of the album:
De ahí René pasa a ofrecer pagar por tratamiento de rehabilitación y hasta hacerse ambos una prueba de dopaje. Los puertorriqueños no necesitarán ponerle nombre y apellido al alcalde –  los demás tienen al Internet para asistirles en su búsqueda de identidad.
The unnamed mayor is San Juan’s (The capital city of Puerto Rico) Jorge Santini with whom the group has had public spats in the past [es]. What should have been dismissed as material for gossip columns became an issue of free spech in the blogosphere when the president of the Puerto Rico Telecommunications Regulatory Board (JRT in Spanish), Sandra Torres, described the song as “obscene” and “lewd” and invited the general public to send their complaints to the JRT:
Yo gustosamente las voy a remitir a la FCC con una carta de mi puño y letra expresándoles  la indignación del pueblo puertorriqueño sobre este tipo de material.
The lead vocals of Calle 13, René Perez Joglar, reacted [es] on Twitter:
nadie tiene el derecho de seleccionar por ustedes la música que ustedes quieren escuchar. no dejen que los censuren. el pueblo manda!
Others in the Puerto Rican blogosphere reacted in a similar fashion. While some like Mariana Iriarte from the blog Con otros y otras en el mundo [es] decided to simply link to the song in protest, others were more vocal. A post [es] from the blog Parpadeando [es] says this is censorship meant to stifle free thinking:
Que esos que presiden la destrucción del pensar, dicen esos, esos tipos y tipas de los que Serrat decía que “entre ellos y yo hay algo personal”,  que pensar sólo sirve si es propiedad privada o estrategia de mercadeo, ellos, dicen que la lucidez es mala, que es grosera, y que es lasciva….Y por eso no les gusta la canción de Calle 13. Por lúcida. Prefieren cosas como “vota o quédate callao”, o mejor aún, “sencillamente quédate callao”.
The fact that a public official of the JRT was getting involved in the content of a song was categorized as overreaching [es] by @eldifusor, one of the team members of #EnPRofundo [es]:
Lo otro: La Junta de Telecomunicaciones NO ES LA FCC. Son dos entes aparte, la Junta es local y se supone que no se meta con contenidos.
He adds [es]:
Mañana llamen: 787-756-0804 y pregunten desde cuando la Junta cambio su función y si el tiempo que pierdan con Calle 13 lo van a cobrar.
@eldifusor argues that because they did not like the song [es] and because of their lack of jurisdiction, they now inform people how to communicate with the FCC [es]:
Esto es un “secreto” bien guardado por Gobierno y emisoras y por eso hacen lo que quieran. ¿Sabes como quejarte con la FCC?
Por eso digo que es hipocresía, ahora que hay algo corriendo que no les gusta, “informan” al pueblo y a medias…
Twitter user @GabyAviles [es] says all the critics are doing is getting more people to listen to the song:
La crítica solo hará q mas gente la escuche…así q estoy seguro q @calle13 le da la bienvenida
Considering the provocative lyrics, perhaps that was the whole idea.
*Photo by crlsblnc taken from Flickr under CC License NC-SA-2.0.

author: César Santiago


text:
Sierra Leone: CIVICUS supports government accountability · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

CIVICUS to support government accountability in Sierra Leone: “In Sierra Leone, a country that receives 70% of its money in overseas aid, civil society organisations are big business. Weak regulation and limited collaboration between CSOs have shaped a civil society sector marred by poor governance, minimal transparency and cases of corruption.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


text:
Zimbabwe: Problems getting national ID · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

This is a podcast in which a man describes the difficulties he is having trying to get an Identity Card (ID in Zimbabwe. He needs this to be able to vote in the constitution referendum and the next general and presidential elections.


text:
Chile: Blog Focusing on Santiago’s History and Culture Wins BiblioRedes Contest · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Biblioredes announced the winners of the contest [es] “The Best Content of our Local Culture in the Bicentennial,” where more than 652 blogs, web pages, videos and photo galleries participated. Urbatorivm [es], a blog about “urban and cultural history of the city of Santiago, Chile,” won first place.


text:
China: Conditions in Tibet Since 2008 · Global Voices
Andy Yee

In an interview with Asia Pacific Memo, Dr. Robert J. Barnett talks about what life has been like in Tibet since 2008 and the obstacles to talks between exiled Tibetans and China.

author: Andy Yee


text:
Egypt: Much Ado About the Parliamentary Elections · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

With the Egyptian parliamentary elections around the corner, candidates, as well as their parties, are using all the ethical and non-ethical weapons in order to win. And Egyptian bloggers, on the other hand, are watching, reporting, and sometimes participating in the ongoing war.
Sunday's (November 28) elections will see about 800 candidates from the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), 250 from the liberal Al Wafd Party and 130 from the Muslim Brotherhood  vying for the parliament's 508 seats.
The Three Main Parties
The Arabist wrote here about the an NDP candidate's campaign in Alexandria, and how – according to his point of view – the candidate's opponent, who is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, is being oppressed.
Zeinobia also wrote here about an almost identical incident in another city in Egypt. The post also included some videos showing what happened there in her post.
In the previous elections, the NDP chose 444 of its members to compete for the available 444 seats in parliament. The NDP members who weren't chosen to run on behalf of the party decided to enter the election as independent candidates. Later on, when the NDP won 38 per cent of the available seats, those independent members rejoined the party – giving it the majority of the parliamentary seats. Voice of Egypt reminded his readers about this, saying how it proves that the NDP is a party with no ideology nor fixed policy. He also explained how the party decided to tackle this issue this year:
Another blogger, Hassan El Helaly, decided to publish some posters on his blog, in order to show his readers how voting for the Muslim Brotherhood candidates is a bad decision. The posters highlight what he called the black history of the MB.
The poster shows the former MB head, quoting him saying he doesn't care about Egypt nor those living inside it.
Another Egyptian party that is participating in the elections is the New Wafd Party. Wafd is usually taken with a grain of salt by the Egyptian bloggers and they accuse it to be a puppet party following the ruling NDP's hidden agenda. Zeinobia wrote here about the Wafd's announcement for the Egypt’s first ever shadow cabinet, which she described as a “media stunt.”
She then commented on the party's advertisement.
Monitoring the Election
Many observers, both inside and outside Egypt, called for international election monitors, especially that U.S. officials and international organizations said that there was credible evidence of voter fraud and intimidation during polls for the country's Shura (Consultative) Council elections in June. Zeinobia wrote here how the Egyptian regime refused to allow international monitors, claiming it was against the country's sovereignty.
Zeinobia then wondered why the United States did not consider the presence of international monitors during its presidential elections to be against its sovereignty.
The High Elections commission created an official website for the parliamentary elections, and the absence of international monitors forced activists in Egypt to create Ushahidi-based applications in order to monitor the elections. Zeinobia listed all the independent monitoring applications here.
Other Comments on the Elections
Many other bloggers have their own comments on the elections. Tarek claims that the reason why Egyptian elections have  a low voter turn out is because the polls take place on a working day [Ar], and there are no official rules for business owners to let their employees to go to polling stations. Abul Maaly Fayek commented on the election posters the candidates stick on walls everywhere without even taking the house owners permissions [Ar]. He urged people not to vote for those members who bombard buildings with their posters without prior permission. And finally, Saeed Omar published an old video that – according to his point of view – summarizes how elections work in Egypt.
Ugly posters is a usual part of all candidates campaigns

author: Tarek Amr


text:
Georgia: Gypsies from Azerbaijan · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Ulviya's Blog reports on the plight of gypsies begging on the streets of Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. The blog notes that most of them come from Azerbaijan and offers a brief glimpse into their lives.

author: Onnik Krikorian


text:
Mexican Internet Users Spend More Time On The Net Than Watching TV · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Hugo Torres from Vivir Mexico [es] shares information from a recent study that shows that Internet users in Mexico “spend 79% more time online that watching television.” The study also shows that 33% of Internet users are online for more than 5 hours daily, and 85% are part of a social network.

author: Silvia Viñas


text:
Pakistan: Russian Cargo Plane Crash In Karachi · Global Voices
Rezwan

Karachi based Dr. Awab Alvi is live tweeting a cargo plane crash in the city: “Russian Cargo Airplane on way to Sudan (Khartoum) crashed 5 minutes after take off from #Karachi Airport #Pakistan #AirCrash“


text:
Serbia: Air India Pilot’s Family Reacts to Leaked Media Report · Global Voices
Sasa Milosevic

Zlatko Glusica with grandson. Photo courtesy of Merima Glusica
Six months after the May 22 Mangalore plane crash, which claimed 158 lives, an investigation report blaming Serbian pilot Zlatko Glusica for the country’s worst air disaster of the last decade was leaked to the media.
According to Hindustan Times, Commander Glusica “was asleep for over 1 hour 40 minutes of the three-hour flight and ‘disoriented’ at the time when the plane started to descend.”
An anonymous Indian source stated that Mr. Glusica was suffering from “sleep inertia,” adding that the “black box” recorded “heavy nasal snoring and breathing in pilot cabin.”
According to the voice recorder, co-pilot H. S. Ahluwalia warned the captain repeatedly to “abort landing,” saying they didn't have enough runway left and asking him three times to “go around.”
The Serbian media accepted the “sleepy pilot” story as the final version of this tragic event, showing little desire to investigate the real background of the Mangalore disaster, despite the fact that Mangalore Airport is said to be one of the most dangerous in the world, even for very experienced pilots.
The accusations had a devastating effect on the pilot's family, friends and colleagues in Serbia.
Mr. Glusica's daughter, Merima Glusica, said this to Global Voices:
Horrible headlines were published in the Serbian media. One of them – “Zlatko Glusica killed 158“ – completely broke me. Afterwards, my little son asked whether uncle Alexandar would also perish one day if he continued to fly.
Mr. Glusica's son Alexandar is a student at the Flight Academy, and his pilot's training was the main reason why Mr. Glusica signed the contract with Air India, where a pilot’s minimal monthly payment is about $9,500, whereas the average salary of Serbian national airline JAT's pilots is 2,400 euros.
Alexandar Glusica was deeply hurt and sent a protest note to the Serbian daily Blic, with the following request:
It’s inhuman to deal with rumors about the guilt of my father, while the official results of the investigation are still unknown. Do not blame my father until the end of the investigation.
He explained to Global Voices:
I understand that a country like India would blame a foreigner, instead of confessing their own error and the error of their own pilots. But I cannot understand that my father's people would encourage and support them in their lies!
He added for Blic:
All statements about my father's snoring for a period of 90 minutes are false because the black box only records the [last 30 minutes].
Alexandar Glusica noted that his father was fully awake at the moment of the landing, mentioning the report of CNN-IBN as a crucial proof:
CNN-IBN broadcast the conversation between him and the flight control. It is possible to hear that he was completely lucid during the conversation. In addition, it is a well-known aviation rule: while one pilot takes communication with flight control, the other one performs landing. In this case, as my father talked with the control tower, it is logical that no one else could have been doing the landing but the co-pilot.
Mr. Glusica's colleagues from the Serbian Pilot Association (SPA) sent a public appeal to Serbian journalists, protesting the “creation of a bad image of Serbian pilots.”
Predrag Radosavljevic, SPA's president, reminds readers that the Indian media reported about heavy rain at Mangalore Airport at the time of the disaster:
The passengers who survived talked about a blast under the fuselage, indicating a possible tire explosion. At such speed, with the wet runway and a tire explosion, there was no chance to stop the plane…
Branko Habuš, former head of the telecommunications sector of JAT and author of Aircraft Accidents in Civil Aviation, points out that the command of the plane was in the co-pilot's hands during the landing. Habuš had received this information through a pilot friend, who visited the site of the disaster and had access to a preliminary report on the causes of the accident:
The Indian co-pilot forced the landing. […] He missed a fixed point of landing as much as 600 meters. He landed suddenly and so “hard” that the plane just broke into pieces! The co-pilot was following the “localizer” that was near the runway and was probably giving the wrong information.
Merima Glusica recalls that her father did not have a high opinion of the Air India pilots:
He said they were very bad in their job. Some of the names he marked with the word “killer.” They were tampering with the command stick and flaps without announcing they would do it. In some cases he literally had to take the command stick from their hands in order to protect the passengers’ lives as well as his own. Their English was also very bad. How do you think he really felt when at the same time he had to pay attention to both a bad co-pilot and the control of commands?
Some Indian media do not trust the “sleepy pilot” theory, considering it an attempt of the Indian officials to hide their own errors, especially those that had been made during the construction of the new Mangalore runway.
Immediately after the disaster, the Environment Support Group stated this in a press release:
A series of Public Interest Litigations were fought by the Mangalore-based Environment Support Group (ESG) to stop the construction of this 2nd runway in Mangalore airport on grounds that the design simply did not conform to the most basic national and international standards of airport design. The PILs also highlighted that the airport does not conform with the most minimum safeguards for emergency situations – particularly during landings and takeoffs, and could not have emergency approach roads within a kilometre on all sides of the airport as required.
Mangalore Today wrote that “aviation experts had fiercely criticized the table-top nature of the airport, pointing out that it left no room for pilot error” and adding that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) should seriously consider extending the airport's runway after the May 22 disaster:
The civil aviation ministry has also directed the AAI to extend the runway by 1000ft, increasing the current 8000ft to 9000ft… The 3rd phase of the runway development project will include the installation of an arrester system and the creation of a 90mt buffer zone at the end of the runway.
Mangalore Today also revealed this shocking piece of information: the airport's control tower could not confirm Express India Flight 812 on the radar – because the radar was simply not working.
Union Aviation Minister Praful Patel spoke about the professionalism of the Serbian pilot in a TV newscast immediately after the crash:
The pilot had 10,200 hours of flying experience. Of these, he had 7,000 hours as a pilot in command and had over 2,000 hours on a Boeing plane. He was also familiar with Mangalore airport and had flown in and out several times.
Mr. Glusica’s Facebook page overflows with condolences, memories, images, songs and links to the latest articles. His last post, dated May 17, was made when he celebrated his birthday, just five days before the catastrophe. His Facebook wall shows a happy and loved man, a proud father of three and an even more proud grandfather of two. He lived for his family and for the sky.
His daughter Merima, in her pain, wrote this on Facebook:
What can we do when winter comes with the beautiful snowflakes?
Lonely, we will walk down the street, looking into your windows…
The lights will be off.
We know there's no one there since a long time ago. Only darkness…
Tears in my eyes, that's all that will remain…
May your wings be light, my Angel

author: Sasa Milosevic


text:
Uruguay: Study Shows How Family Dynamic Impacts Education · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Daniel Figares comments [es] on a recent study by the University of Montevideo that shows that, “In all the populations studied, we can see a greater educational delay in children that do not live with both biological parents.” Readers left their own thoughts on the study in the comments section.


text:
Brazil: Youth using citizen media to chronicle Rio violence · Global Voices
Debora Baldelli

Young residents in the Complexo do Alemão favelas in Rio de Janeiro have begun using social and citizen media to chronicle the recent wave of violence spreading through the city. Seventeen-year-old aspiring journalist Rene Silva has set up a Twitter account, @vozdacomunidade (voice of the community) [pt], to monitor the police occupation of the favela complex, with the related hashtag, #vozdacomunidade, already beginning to trend. Meanwhile, @Igorcomunidade [pt] is also offering updates of what he calls “a guerra do alemão” (Alemão's War), and another group of young locals [pt] has started streaming footage [pt] of the occupation.


text:
China: ‘Ditch oil’ floods restaurants · Global Voices
Don Weinland

An economic investigation team detained a Hubei oil refiner Nov. 10 who pumped more than 60 tons of “ditch oil” into the local restaurant industry during the past three years, Hubei’s Jingzhou News reported.
Restaurants save on "ditch oil," which sells for $10 – $12 per barrel. Don Weinland/ photo
Concern over the prevalence of the second-hand oil in restaurant kitchens has increased sharply since an investigative report in March said Chinese consume more than 3 million tons of the substance per year.
The report from the Chongqing Evening Post said the oil contains aflatoxins, a carcinogen naturally occurring in mold and reportedly 100 times more deadly than arsenic.
Ditch oil production begins with the collection oil residues from hotel and restaurant sewers or trash piles, according to Baidu Encyclopedia. The substance is refined into edible oil and sold back into the industry, often finding its way into school cafeterias and small restaurants.
Widespread use of the oil is nothing new, blogger Zizuo-Congming writes. Recent media coverage of the health risk represents China’s last-minute attitude toward potentially grave health issues.
地沟油不是今天才有的，为什么直到今天才有记者调查发现？为什么中国很多问题都要到了有危害结果了，而且是很严重的危害结果的时候，人们才会悚然惊觉？
Ditch oil didn’t just suddenly appear today. Why did journalist only investigate and discover it today? Why is it that so many problems in China must first have seriously dangerous consequences before people become horrified?
Escalating media attention is indicative of larger problems with China’s food services industry, blogger Xingyu-liushui writes. But the alarm could cultivate better eating habits.
地沟油事件的披露，说明食品安全环节还存在许多的隐患和漏洞，事关人民群众的生命健康，的确麻痹不得，大意不得。但反过来它又变成一件好事，有了对地沟油危害的认识，就可以举一反三，自觉加强对食用油生产、销售渠道的有效监督，让群众吃上安全油、放心油。
The exposure of ditch oil incidents illustrates the prevalence of vulnerability and hidden peril in the food safety chain and its relation to the people’s livelihood. It is incurably paralyzed and negligent. But on the other hand, it’s also become something positive. With an awareness of ditch oil’s harm and inferences about the industry in general, we can consciously reinforce the effective supervision of edible oil production and sales, allowing the people to rest at ease with a safer oil.
The business is lucrative, the Chongqing Evening Post reported. A refined ton of ditch oil costs about $45 to produce, while a barrel sells on the edible oil market for $10 to $12. The refinement produces an “unbearably foul stench,” according to the Jingzhou News report.
The Chinese government has taken increased interest in the health issue this year. The Ministry of Health announced in May hefty fines for possession of the oil. The State Council issued in July a proposal regarding local enforcement and preventative measures for keeping the oil off the market.
While the central government has eyed the problem, a solution cannot be reached without effective inspection and enforcement on a local level, Zizuo-Congming writes.
管理部门在监察过程中到底做了哪些实事，你们监察的内容有哪些？什么时候去监察了，怎样进行检查的？结果又是怎样的？为什么我们从来没有听过说管理部门在履行职责，为什么我们的管理部门总是在办公室里面喝茶看报纸，却对基本的民生问题漠不关心？
In the process of regulation, what actual work have management departments done? What kind of things do you monitor? When do you go monitoring and how do you perform an inspection? And what are the results? Why is it we have never heard of the management department following through with their responsibilities? Why is it that our management department is always sipping tea and reading the paper in the office, yet they are indifferent to the basic livelihood of the people.
In The Chongqing Evening Post report, professor He Dongping said the elimination of ditch oil could take 10 years. The “anarchy” of restaurant trash management in China provides an optimal environment for the collection of waste oils, he said in the report. Thorough government intervention into waste management may very well require more than a decade of effort.

author: Don Weinland


text:
China: Time for a new conversation about privacy invasion · Global Voices
John Kennedy

According to Privacy International, the list of endemic surveillance societies is topped by China, followed by Malaysia, Russia, Singapore, the UK and Taiwan, Thailand and the United States. In a post [zh] on her Phoenix blog, as someone with memories of a childhood severely lacking in privacy, poet and United States Naval Academy professor Rui Shen asks: with nearly every minute of our lives now under some form of surveillance, isn't it time for a discussion on privacy intrusion that goes far beyond airport security theater?
前些天晚上看新闻。一段新闻报道说，美国的各大商店都有专门的摄像机查看每一个顾客，其目的并不是监视他们是否偷东西，而是调查研究他们买东西的习惯。一个商店的女经理用画面解释：“你看，那个顾客，在这个架子前站了十分钟了，这说明他需要帮助。我会派一个售货员去帮助他。摄像机帮助我们提高销售。”记者问：“可是这些摄像机也有别的功能，对不对？”女经理笑着：“那是另外一个问题。”
新闻播出后，就是几个人的讨论。大家都对各处的摄像机感到不满，可是这种不满已经很多年了，摄像机是越来越多，而不是越来越少。我们没有隐私，我们就是在家里做爱，天上的卫星也能看见我们。是的，过去是共产主义时代，我们不能在家里没结婚就做爱，不能在家里反党，因为隔墙有耳，会有人报告到街道居民委员会去说我们没有做爱证书或是反革命分子。
From Huang Shuai to a climate of exposure in the 1970s, and the kind of exposure we should actually be worried about today:
现在我们大概不必需要揭发了，因为我们生活在一个时刻被监视的时代。摄像机冷冷的眼睛时刻盯着我们，观察着我们的一举一动。在新科技的引领下，我们走向一个时刻暴露的新纪元。基于对这个伟大时代的恐惧，我至今还没敢上Facebook,也不打算上去。刚刚阅读的文章说，facebook 的信息被卖给广告公司，我的生活虽然没有什么秘密，但是我对自己的信息被买卖感到不自在。基于这些原因，我不上新浪留言，不上搜狐留言，不上微博发言，不上很多网站。
其实我知道自己的做法只是一种自我欺骗，因为摄像机已经无所不在。这些天美国的媒体在争论飞机场安检问题。一些人对飞机场的能看到人体的安检措施不满，认为是侵害了他们的隐私。我看新闻中的争论，想，这些人是糊涂还是愚蠢？如果你在家上网，买东西，你的信息已经被暴露了。你的身体还有什么隐私？走过X光机，你担心你的隐私会被暴露？你的隐私无非是你身体的形状你的什么器官的样子，whocares about that? 你的真正的隐私不在这里，而在电脑里，而在你走的大街上，而在你去的每一个地方。你天天上什么网？你的电脑里有记录，有人在做这个调查。你去商店买什么东西？有统计数字分析你的习惯。你跟什么人在一起玩？有摄像机在看着你。生活在时刻被监视的时代，难道我们还有隐私可谈吗？

author: John Kennedy