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COP19: Fasting For The Climate  · Global Voices
Andrea Arzaba

Filipino lead negotiator Yeb Saño. Photo from Flickr user 350.org under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Yeb Saño, leader of the Philippines delegation at the United Nations Summit on Climate Change in Poland (COP19), has decided to stop eating until he sees real solutions from negotiators at the summit. He wants the process to bring “climate justice to the poorest countries,” and links Typhoon Haiyan, which has left more than 4,000 people dead and 4 million displaced, to climate change.
Saño started using the hashtag #FastingForTheClimate to expand his cause on the web:
DAY 1. #FastingForTheClimate
— Yeb Saño (@yebsano) November 11, 2013
Other climate negotiators, like Pablo Solón from Bolivia, used Twitter to support Saño:
Only through action is posible to break the inaction of the #UNFCCC. All our support to your hunger strike @yebsano #ClimateJustice
— Pablo Solon (@pablosolon) November 11, 2013
Saño has also been quoting Mahatma Gandhi, relating his teachings to his personal fasting:
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” ― Mahatma Gandhi #FastingForTheClimate
— Yeb Saño (@yebsano) November 13, 2013
But the fast for the climate has gone beyond Twitter and reached the blogosphere.
David Tong, a lawyer for international human rights from New Zealand and a fellow for the Adopt a Negotiator Project, blogged about his concerns regarding the way his government is reacting towards climate change issues. He also mentioned Saño in his text:
I’m ashamed of my government because they laughed when Russel Norman of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand linked Typhoon Haiyan to climate change.  They laughed.  They mocked him.  They yelled “shame”.  Let me say that again: when Yeb Saño was quoted in the New Zealand Parliament, people laughed. The worst typhoon ever recorded hit last weekend.  It killed over 10,000 people. 478,000 people have been displaced. Real, human, people, with families and children and lives and loves.  Philippine lead negotiator Yeb Saño is one such real person, and he pledged to fast until a deal was done for all our futures. And my elected leaders laughed.  No one here in Warsaw is laughing.  In fact, 30 or more people are joining Yeb in his fast.
Carlie Labaria, a development specialist from the Philippines, is also blogging for Adopt a Negotiator Project. One of her last posts describes the current situation in her home town, comparing it with her disappointment about the current resolutions from the climate talks happening in Poland:
I think about my Mom and Dad and little sister, my hometown, the people of Visayas especially Tacloban and Panay. How much more suffering do the leaders of the world need to behold before they finally realize that addressing Loss and Damage is about survival, dignity, and justice?
During the summit, hundreds of politicians discuss ways – and ideally reach agreements – on how their countries can act to prevent climate change from causing more extreme weather events. But every country has its own interests, so reaching an agreement is a slow process that takes more time than is always expected.
There are two days left before climate talks are over in Poland, and Saño is still fasting. He also started an online campaign to pressure governments to take real action at the summit.
Philippine climate negotiator @YebSano delivers his 600,000 strong #Avaaz petition: https://t.co/aAKXQopzB5 #COP19 pic.twitter.com/IQOfsxUVru — Avaaz (@Avaaz) November 19, 2013
Saño wants “a new mechanism under the UN Convention on Climate Change that allows poorer nations to reduce losses related to climate change”. At the UN process, developed countries are assumed to be largely responsible for the effects of climate change due to the large amounts of carbon that they emit year after year.
The results of these talks will be key for the success of ongoing negotiations in the next summit, which will take place in Lima, Peru, in 2014.

author: Andrea Arzaba


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Haiti: Reforestation Nation  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Haiti Grassroots Watch blogs about some of the challenges of reforestation on the island.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Iran:Eight Netizens got Arrested · Global Voices
Farid

Iranian authorities announced that eight netizens including one woman were arrested in Rafsanjan,in Kerman Province, on charges of “insulting Islamic sanctities and values”.

author: Farid


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Jamaica’s Drug Testing Programme Under the Microscope · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

The controversy surrounding Jamaica's drug testing program for athletes has continued with a recent investigation by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The investigation was spurred by concerns raised by former Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) executive Renee Anne Shirley in a Sports Illustrated article in August:
There can be no doubt that the tiny island of 2.7 million is the world's preeminent sprint factory. And now the island needs a world-class anti-doping operation to go with its achievements on the track.
Following a meeting with WADA officials, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Neisha Headley released a statement affirming the government's commitment to upgrading its program, based on the recommendations from WADA:
These include the invitation to an established NADO to work with JADCO at an operational level, an acknowledgement by the Minister to undertake a legislative review of anti-doping law in Jamaica, along with the evaluation of JADCO’s governance and management structure. The Minister has indicated that an additional budgetary contribution of eight million Jamaican dollars…is to be made to JADCO to assist with these advances. The Minister has also confirmed that most of the vacant posts in operations have been filled.
In an interview with the BBC, Dr. Paul Wright from JADCO expressed great concern about the test results from Jamaican athletes:
Remember, all of these results except one were caught by Jadco. The problem is these people were tested positive in competition. That means, months before, you know the date of the test and the approximate time of the test.
So, if you fail an in-competition test, you haven't only failed a drug[s] test, you have failed an IQ test.
This could be the tip of the iceberg to have so many positives coming in competition.
However, Jamaica Olympic Committee President Mike Fennell said that many of the comments being made about the drug testing programme are “uninformed”:
We have some weaknesses that have been corrected.
The integrity of our testing programme has been proved and, therefore, this is just something we are going to strengthen. Work is being done to get outside assistance to see not just how we can not just strengthen the work of JADCO but raise the bar in terms of their professional activities and efficiency.
There was further controversy when a Wall Street Journal piece questioned the credentials of Dr. Herb Elliott, head of JADCO since 2012 and Jamaica's head doctor for the 2008 Olympics.
Initially Elliott dismissed the report and threatened possible legal action:
The man said I have no degree, no medical degree and no graduate degree. He claimed he called the Columbia University and they said they don't know anything about me, which is what a lot of universities would tell you if you just call because I haven't given them permission to give anybody anything.
Elliott later said that he was willing to resign in order to save JADCO:
“In the interest of JADCO and Jamaica, I would resign. I don't know if I would do it right away, because I don't want anybody to feel that I did anything wrong and, therefore, that is why I am resigning.”
Track and Field's world governing body, the IAAF, has distanced itself from WADA with deputy general secretary Nick Davies calling the WADA criticism “excessive”. According to IAAF President Lamine Diack, Jamaican athletes were in fact among the most highly tested group of athletes in the world.  Interestingly,  Jamaica sprinters Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won the IAAF male and female World Athlete of the Year awards on Saturday night.
@Ricaaduh said he was always wary about the country vesting so much importance in sport success:
I had said from day one that staking the "greatness" of the country on athletics was a foolish decision. This is the result.
— rB  (@Ricaaduh) November 16, 2013
@uNcLe_IvAnn figured that if Jamaican athletes are tested so heavily abroad, then it should not matter how much they are tested by JADCO.
So if Jamaicans are being tested the MOST internationally isn't it overkill if JADCO is also testing them frequently? #ThatsARap
— I van Persie  (@uNcLe_IvAnn) November 17, 2013
Donovan White implored Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller to get involved in the situation:
Madam PM you need to clean house at JADCO & start over, having this drag on is flirting with irreparable damage to Jamaica!
— Donovan G White (@maninja2) November 14, 2013
Wayne Jolly responded that the authorities are not approaching the situation with the seriousness it warrants:
@maninja2 we're staring into the edge of the abyss….without anyone displaying the simple common sense and logical thinking that is needed
— Wayne (@rabalaclion) November 14, 2013
@JahMekYaGal was surprised that Dr. Elliott could have had such a long career with allegedly questionable credentials:
Look here man Dr. Herb Elliott was at Bustamante Children's Hospital for like 2 decades, if him never a good good doc it woulda get caught!
— The YGL (@jahmekyagyal) November 13, 2013
Tyrone Christopher was not convinced by Elliott's claims that he cannot remember when he earned his degrees:
Dear Herb Elliott: I remember when I moved from 'Pinky' to 'Brains' in my grade 5 math class. You don't recall what??!
— Tyrone Christopher (@Tyrone876) November 13, 2013
Grace felt that with all of the other problems the country is facing, funding JADCO should not be the greatest priority:
Whenever I avoid or drop in these widening craters aka potholes I think of the persons upset about the under-funding of JADCO et al
— Grace Lindo (@Lindofromja) November 17, 2013
Martyn Lewis took a more facetious look at the situation:
Love the fact that the Head of Jadco, Jamaica's athletics anti-doping agency, is called Herb Elliott.
— Martyn Lewis (@MartynPLewis) November 15, 2013
Ka'jue Ensemble was skeptical about reports that Dr. Herb Elliott planned to sue the Wall Street Journal:
What? JADCO Chairman Dr Herb Elliott has plans to sue Wall Street Journal? Really? Okay moving right along cause not one thing coming out of that so tell me something new.
Dennis McIntosh felt that the challenges are the result of institutional problems and not necessarily the fault of individual athletes:
I don't think that fingers should be pointed at the athletes, but at the organisations that have apparently not been providing what is needed by the athletes and what is required by the international bodies…
We have produced WORLD CLASS ATHLETES, through their individual and collective had work and sacrifice….They deserve WORLD CLASS ORGANISATIONS, INFRASTRUCTURE, SUPPORT, FACILITIES AND LEADERSHIP!

author: Matthew Hunte


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‘Japanese Banksy’ Bashes Nuclear Industry With Street Art · Global Voices
Gerda

Anonymous Japanese street artist 281_Anti Nuke takes inspiration from his British counterpart Banksy to take on Tokyo Electric Power Company, the operator of the crippled nuclear plant in Fukushima prefecture.
You can see more of 281_Anti Nuke's works on his website.

author: Gerda


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LGBT-Friendly Coloring Books for Russians · Global Voices
Gina Lentine

Activists from the LGBT equality T-shirt company FCKH8.com are planning to send 10,000 copies of a pro-gay coloring book titled “Misha and His Two Mothers” to families with children in Moscow and Sochi, prior to the 2014 Winter Olympics. The book's core message, captured by the catchphrase “Gay Is Okay!” (Гей – окей!), is to let children know that being gay is not criminal. Writing in the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, Angelina Galanina condemned [ru] the coloring book as “propaganda.” RuNet reactions have ranged from the vitriolic to the measured [ru]. LiveJournal user kolyaka [ru] quipped:
Так примерно во времена железного занавеса к нам проникала запретная литература, тлетворная музыка и даже библии в СССР забрасывали. Как относиться к подобной раскраске? Не знаю.
This is roughly how banned literature, dangerous music, and even the Bible reached us in the days of the Iron Curtain and flooded the USSR. What to make of such a coloring book? I don't know.
fckh8.com's new Russian-English coloring book. T-shirt reads, “Gay is okay!”

author: Gina Lentine


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Persistent Stereotypes, Latent Prejudices: Black Characters in Brazilian Comics · Global Voices
Luis Henrique

Black characters in Brazilian comics have been treated with stereotypes and prejudices throughout the years, a historical survey by Professor Nobuyoshi Chinen of the Comic Observatory [pt] at the School of Communication and Arts at the University of São Paulo (USP) [pt] has found.
Page from the comic strip “Encruzilhada” [“Crossroads”]. Artist: Marcelo D'Salete. Image used with permission. Description of the page: A black character is detained for interrogation by a supermarket's security guards who think he is a car thief. This is a true story and the Ford referred to in the text actually belonged to the character being unfairly detained. Text from speech bubbles: (1) What were you doing there? Were you behind that Ford? (2) You must have at least three previous offences. (3) Do you think I was going to steal the car? (4) Are you crazy? Let go of me! I need to go back!
“The representation is not yet ideal”, the researcher stated in an interview [pt] for USP's news channel. His doctoral thesis [pt], entitled “The role of the black man and the black man on paper: representation and representativity of African descendants in Brazilian comics”, examined not only the presence of black characters but also their visual representation in comics, making way for an analysis of stereotypes and prejudices.
In this interview for Global Voices in Portuguese, Professor Nobu, as he signs his emails, talks a little about his research, the question of regional diversity in Brazil and in Brazilian comic books, and the relationship between virtual representations and social aspirations.
Global Voices (GV): Have you observed a greater coordination among black authors capable of influencing the black presence in the world of comics? Should we really expect that more black authors will change the current (im)balance in representation?
Nobuyoshi Chinen (NC): Curiosamente, no decorrer da minha pesquisa tive dificuldade em encontrar ou identificar autores negros de quadrinhos. Alguns personagens menos famosos, de autores também pouco conhecidos, não consegui obter muitas informações. Pode até ser que vários dos artistas que citei sejam pretos ou pardos, usando a terminologia do IBGE [Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística], mas não encontrei dados referentes a isso.
Dos que sei que são negros e estão engajados em valorizar os personagens afro-brasileiros ou denunciar o racismo, destaco os trabalhos de Mauricio Pestana e de Marcelo D’Salete. Ambos com trabalhos muito interessantes, não sei se a ponto de exercer essa influência que você cita, mas que tem tido boa repercussão. Obviamente, o fato de um autor ser negro e se identificar com temas sensíveis como a questão das cotas, o preconceito, a desigualdade faz com que ele retrate esses temas com mais propriedade ao abordá-los em suas HQs, o que não significa que alguém que não seja afrodescendente não seja capaz de fazê-lo com talento, sensibilidade e respeito.
Curiously, throughout the course of my research I had difficulty finding or identifying black comic authors. Some less famous characters, from authors who are also little known, I didn't manage to get hold of much information. It may even be that some of the artists which I cited are black or mixed-race, using the terminology of the IBGE [Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics], but I didn't find any data regarding this.
Of those who I know are black and who are engaged in valuing Afro-Brazilian characters or condemning racism, I would highlight the work of Mauricio Pestana [pt] and Marcelo D’Salete [pt]. Both have very interesting work, I don't know whether to the extent of exerting the influence which you mention, but which has had positive repercussions. Obviously, the fact that an author is black and identifies with sensitive topics such as the issue of quotas, prejudice and inequality means that he portrays these topics more authoritatively when tackling them in his comics, although this doesn't mean that somebody who is not an African descendant would not be capable of doing the same with talent, sensitivity and respect.
GV: Has the increase in participation from other corners of the country, including authors from different regions and with different visions of the world, contributed to increasing the diversity [broadly-speaking] of national comics?
NC: Eu penso que, na verdade, estamos é perdendo essa diversidade geográfica. Os temas estão ficando mais universais e mais focados na realidade urbana. A regionalidade que existia, por exemplo, nas histórias em quadrinhos de terror, gênero bastante comum até os anos 1990, foi se diluindo. As referências a superstições ou seres sobrenaturais que enriqueciam o folclore local abriu espaço para outro tipo de narrativa. O que ocorre atualmente é uma diversidade temática maior. Antes havia quadrinhos de terror, de aventura, de ficção científica, entre vários outros. Hoje, a esses somam-se os quadrinhos femininos e feministas, quadrinhos gay, quadrinhos autobiográficos etc. Eles trazem uma visão particularizada do mundo, mas não os valores de uma região, mas de um segmento da sociedade.
I think that, in truth, we are losing that geographical diversity. Topics are becoming more universal and more focused upon the urban reality. The regionality which used to exist, for example, in horror comics, a genre which was quite common until the 1990s, has gradually been diluted. References to superstitions or supernatural beings which enriched local folklore have made way for another type of narrative. What is taking place at the moment is a greater thematic diversity. In the past there were terror comics, adventure comics, science fiction comics, amongst others. Today, we can add to this list female and feminist comics, gay comics, autobiographical comics, etc. They bring to the table a particular vision of the world, not the values of a region but rather of a section of society.
GV: We are living in a time of identity affirmation. Is there a visible change online? And if so, could this change extend beyond the virtual world and take hold in the streets as well?
NC: Não sou especialista em comunicação online e considero-me um usuário apenas mediano das redes sociais, [mas] a impressão que tenho é justamente o contrário da sua pergunta: o virtual apenas reflete o que o mundo real está ansiando.
A afirmação das identidades foi um dos motivos pelos quais a maneira de representar os negros nos quadrinhos passou por uma significativa mudança. Os afrodescendentes e a sociedade como um todo já não toleravam mais o estereótipo antigo que acabou sendo substituído por uma maneira menos preconceituosa. É claro que os meios de comunicação (digitais ou não) ajudam a propagar esse modelo mais contemporâneo, num processo que se autoalimenta, mas se o público não for receptivo ou não houver uma predisposição para a mudança, o mundo virtual não tem a capacidade de alterar o mundo de verdade.
I'm not a specialist in online communication and I consider myself no more than a moderate user of social networks, [but] the impression which I have is precisely the opposite of your question: the virtual barely reflects what the real world hankers for.
The affirmation of identities was one of the reasons prompting a significant change in the way black people are represented in comics. African descendants and society as a whole no longer tolerated the old stereotype which ended up being substituted by a less prejudiced manner of representation. It is clear that the media (digital or otherwise) help to promote this more contemporary model, in a process which feeds off itself, but if the public wasn't receptive or predisposed to change, the virtual world would not be able to alter the real world.
GV: How does this change affect the future of Brazilian comics, if it affects it at all? What did your research show in this regard?
Page from the comic “Encruzilhada” [“Crossroads”]. Artist: Marcelo D'Salete. Image used with permission. Description of the page: A black character is detained by a supermarket's security guards who think he is a car thief. This is a true story and the Ford referred to in the text actually belonged to the character being unfairly detained. Text from speech bubbles: (1) The guy doesn't want to talk, but Noca is sure he took the car last month. (2) Idiot! You arrested the wrong guy. Take him away.
NC: O aumento de temas amplia o leque de possibilidades tanto para autores quanto para leitores. Na minha percepção, nunca se publicou tantos títulos de autores nacionais como nos últimos anos e parte desse fenômeno se deve à essa variedade de visões. Ressalto, porém, que a maioria das obras autorais é lançada para venda em livrarias, em versões mais bem produzidas e mais caras do que os gibis de banca, o que torna tais publicações praticamente inacessíveis ao grande público.
No caso específico do meu trabalho, há um fator adicional que é a lei 10.639/3 que torna obrigatório o ensino da cultura afro-brasileira em escolas de ensino fundamental ao médio. Há, portanto, um incentivo institucional para autores que se interessem pelo tema, uma vez que os quadrinhos são excelentes instrumentos de apoio didático. Alguns dos trabalhos que analisei, como o excelente AfroHQ de Amaro Braga, Danielle Jaimes e Roberta Cirne, foram publicados com o objetivo explícito de atender à demanda da lei 10.639/3. Os casos que citei apontam alguns caminhos, mas afirmar que irão afetar, de alguma forma, o futuro dos quadrinhos brasileiros seria precipitado ou otimista demais.
The increase in topics extends the range of possibilities for both authors and readers. The way I see it, more titles by national authors have been published in the last few years than ever before and part of this phenomenon owes to this variety of worldviews. I would emphasise, however, that the majority of these works are released for sale in bookshops, in better-produced and more expensive versions than the comic strips from the newsstand, which makes such publications practically inaccessible to the wider public.
In the specific case of my work, there is an additional factor which is that Law 10.639/3 made the teaching of Afro-Brazilian culture compulsory in secondary schools. There is, therefore, an institutional incentive for authors who are interested in this topic, since comics are an excellent means of teaching support. Some of the works which I analysed, such as the excellent AfroHQ [AfroComic] by Amaro Braga, Danielle Jaimes and Roberta Cirne, were published with the explicit aim of fulfilling the demands of the Law 10.639/3. The cases which I have cited point to some ways forward, but to state that they will affect the future of Brazilian comics in some way would be hasty or over-optimistic.

author: Luis Henrique


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Russian Social Conservatives & Economic Liberals Want to Cut Abortion Funding · Global Voices
Daniel Alan Kennedy

Russian anti-abortion poster. Text reads, “Don't Murder.” Image anonymously distributed online.
Abortion is one of the most controversial issues in many countries around the world. Russia, however, has traditionally not been one of them. Soviet Russia was the first country in the world to legalise abortion in 1920. Though the practice was again banned under Stalin, millions of abortions were performed every year after 1955. In 1990, at the very end of the USSR, over four million abortions were performed [ru] in Russia alone. A lack of access to effective forms of birth control, coupled with bleak economic and social conditions, meant that Russia had one of the world's highest rates of abortion throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. Since then, the number of terminated pregnancies in Russia has steadily declined, falling to just over two million in 2000 and to just under one million [ru] in 2011. But Russia still leads the world in abortions compared to live births, with 1,022 abortions performed for every 1,000 births in 2011 (the only country where the former exceeds the latter).
Russians have traditionally favored legal access to abortion. In a poll conducted by the Levada Center in 1998, 65% of Russians said abortion “should be permitted and carried out according to the wishes of the woman.” Though the figure has fallen somewhat in recent years, a majority of Russians have consistently opposed measures aimed at restricting access to abortion. Despite this, there are indications that sections of the Russian government are moving to introduce restrictions on the practice. In April 2013, the Russian Duma banned advertisements for abortion services. Then, in October, deputies in the local assembly for the Samara region voted in favour of an initiative that would ban state insurance from paying for terminations. The reason given by the bill's author, Dmitri Sivirkin, is that funding abortions at the expense of the state's coffers is an anathema to Russia's religious citizens. Sivirkin explained [ru]:
Почему православный, мусульманин, иудей должны своей копеечкой участвовать в этом грехе? Если женщина хочет убить своего ребенка, если она дошла до этой степени нравственного падения, то пусть она делает это за свой счет, пусть это будет ее грех! Почему она делает это за счет общества?
Why must an Orthodox [Christian], a Muslim, or a Jew take part in this sin with their own kopecks? If a woman wants to kill her own child, if she's fallen to that level of morality, then let her do it at her own expense. Let it be her sin! Why should this be done at the expense of society?
Responding to criticism that his initiative would compound Russia's already dire problem of abandoned children, Sivirkin replied, “I believe if God allows a child to be born, then God will look after him.” On November 14, Sivirkin's proposal was introduced to the Russian State Duma as a bill. The move ignited an intense debate on the RuNet, about both the proposed bill and abortion in general. Journalist Dmitri Bavyrin, in a Facebook post [ru] that attracted over 180 comments, provocatively voiced his support for the measure.
Чувства верующих, разумеется, идут лесом, ибо с такой формулировкой можно запрещать все что угодно (о пошива женских брюк до учебников по биологии). Но требование, повторюсь, правильное и давно назревшее. В нашей высокодуховной стране аборт средство контрацепции… А как иначе-то? Противозачаточные стоят денег, презервативы стоят денег, а тут разрезал за спасибо – и пошел. Спонсируемое государством детоубийство.
The feelings of believers, obviously, can go get stuffed. With that sort of justification, you can ban anything you want (from women's trousers to biology textbooks). But the demand, I repeat, is correct and long overdue. In our deeply spiritual country, abortion is a means of contraception… and how couldn't it be? Birth control costs money, condoms cost money, but they'll cut it out of you for nothing and it's gone. [It's] state-sponsored child murder.
Blogger and journalist Roman Fedoseev also weighed in [ru], proposing on his Facebook page an innovative, if slightly unpalatable, compromise:
С одной стороны, та женщина, которая делает аборт, тоже заплатила налог и внесла взнос в медстраховку. С другой — не понятно, почему остальные должны платить за какую-нибудь бедовую даму, которая сама себе назначила тариф “Безлимитный” и использует аборт в качестве контрацепции.
Поэтому мне представляется правильным такое решение. У каждого (у мужчин в том числе!) есть сертификат на один аборт в счет медстраховки: оступились, контрацепция подвела — всякое бывает. А дальше — извините, уже за отдельную плату.
On the one hand, the woman having an abortion has paid her taxes and paid her share into medical insurance. On the other hand, I don't understand why others should have to pay for some harlot, who's decided she's on some “unlimited” plan and uses abortion as a form of contraception.
Because of this I'm proposing a solution. Everyone (including men!) has a certificate for one abortion on their medical insurance, [if] you mess up, or the contraception fails—things happen. But after that—sorry, you have to pay for it yourself.
Fedoseev's proposal was met with mixed reactions. One user criticized what he saw as an attempt to limit “a basic medical service.” Others found it impractical or morally repugnant.
Max Avdeev: А может с раком тоже так? Или с другими болезнями? Второй раз заболел, ну сам дурак. Томографию только раз в жизни. Дикость какая рассматривать необходимость аборта как проступок. То есть для общества лучше проблемный сирота потом, чем недорогой аборт?
And would you do the same with cancer? Or with other illnesses? Get sick a second time and you're an idiot. Will we have one MRI scan a life? It's insane to view the inevitability of abortions as an offence. So it's better for society to have the problem of orphans than inexpensive abortions?
Olga Shantser: Стопроцентной гарантии не дает ни один контрацептив, а также еще, например, от изнасилования застраховаться нельзя.
There is no 100% guarantee for any form of contraceptive, and there is also no means of insuring against rape.
Alena Popova, a businesswoman and founder of a numerous civically-minded tech ventures, was blunt [ru] about any initiative to limit access to abortion:
Запрещая аборты, все, кто ЗА, понимают же: аборты будут всегда, только уже нелегально делаться. И зачем?
— Алёна Попова (@alyonapopova) November 15, 2013
[When] forbidding abortion, everyone who supports the idea needs to understand this: there will always be abortions, they'll just be done illegally. And for what?
The debate emphasizes Russians’ ambivalent relationship with abortion. While very few want to see it banned outright, many are concerned about its continued prevalence in Russian society, ironically at a time when abortion is at its lowest level in 50 years. But perhaps more interestingly, in a country with extraordinarily low income tax rate, it shows Russians are beginning (1) to think of themselves as “taxpayers” and (2) to see social benefits less as entitlements, and more as privileges. While Sivirkin has framed his argument against state-funded abortions in religious terms, he may have found some unlikely allies in Russia's economic liberals.

author: Daniel Alan Kennedy


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No One Found Guilty of ‘Prestige’ Oil Disaster in Spain · Global Voices
Lourdes Sada

Black oil slick at a Galician beach.  Photo from Wikimedia Commons used under license CC by SA 3.0
On November 13, 2002, the petrol tanker Prestige sank off the coast of Galicia in northern Spain, causing a highly toxic oil spill that polluted parts of France and Spain's Atlantic coast in what is considered to be one of the worst environmental disasters in history.
Eleven years later, after ten years of investigation and a nine-month trial, the Galician High Court of Justice has acquitted three of the defendants – the ship's captain, Apostolos Mangouras; the ship's chief engineer, Nikolaos Argyropoulos; and the head of Spain's merchant navy at the time, José Luis López Sors – of all crimes against the environment. A fourth defendant, the vessel's second officer, remains on the run.
The catastrophe occurred when, due to unknown causes, one of the ship's oil tanks was punctured near the “Coast of Death.” The ship's captain asked Spanish authorities for permission to dock, but was prohibited from bringing the tanker closer to shore for fear that the leak would pollute the port. He received the same response from Portuguese and French authorities. The Prestige was forced to return to the high seas with a cracked hull and in terrible weather conditions, which would later lead to its sinking and the massive oil spill that followed.
The oil tanker Prestige about to sink after splitting in two. Photo taken from the blog Ecología Verde and used under license CC by NC 3.0
According to the Spanish blog El ojo Sostenible (The Sustainable Eye):
The acquittal reverberated around the world in publications such as as Al Jazeera [en], The Telegraph [en], The Times [en], BBC [en], The New York Times [en], Le Monde [fr] and Der Spiegel [de]. In Spain, the court's decision has outraged citizens, who have expressed their frustration on social networks. On Twitter, “Prestige” has been a trending topic for several days:
Caso ‘Prestige’. Del todos a la cárcel a todos a la calle. ¡Viva el vino!
— Miguel Ángel Revilla (@RevillaMiguelA) November 13, 2013
“Prestige” case: From “everyone to jail”, to “everyone free”! Long live wine!
El Prestige se suicidó.
— Fernando Garea (@Fgarea) noviembre 13, 2013
The Prestige committed suicide.
Gonzalo Semprún tweeted a political cartoon by Manel Fontdevila that shows the judge exiting the Galician High Court of Justice. Meanwhile, a group of birds covered in oil peer at him from around the corner. “What did you say that movie was called?” one bird asks the other. “The Birds”, the other replies:
Manel Fontdevila : No hay culpables del Prestige pic.twitter.com/h683yvloql
— Gonzalo Semprún (@gsemprunmdg) November 14, 2013
Manel Fontdevila: No one found guilty in Prestige case.
Some tweets compared and contrasted the disparity between this case and others. Alba Martín Tutor cited a recent case in which a cyclist in Sabadell was fined 100 euros (about 134 US dollars) for eating a croissant while riding his bicycle:
En esta país somos idiotas: 200 euros de multa a un hombre por comerse un croissant mientras iba en bici y ninguna multa por lo del Prestige
— Alba Martín Tutor (@albatutor) November 15, 2013
We're idiots in this country: A 200-euro fine for a man eating a croissant while cycling, and nothing for the Prestige case.
Twitter user Verónica compared it to an ongoing case in Girona in which a professional pianist is being sued over noise pollution by her downstairs neighbor, who alleges her piano playing caused psychological damage. The public prosecutor originally sought a seven-year-jail sentence, but has since reduced it to 20 months:
Tocar el #piano: contaminación acústica y 7 años de cárcel. El #Prestige contamina con 63.000 t de fuel y no es delito #verguenzadejusticia
— Verónica (@aguanaiz) November 15, 2013
Playing the #piano: noise contamination and seven years in prison. The #Prestige dumps 63,000 tons of oil and it isn't a crime #verguenzadejusticia [disgraceful sentence]
Pablo Correas Tébar noted a case in which five people are facing time in prison over alleged aggression toward police during a protest in Guadalajara against education budget cuts:
El Prestige, sin culpables; ¿defender la educación pública? Petición de cuatro años de cárcel #MarcaEspaña http://t.co/5XXxH4Q4Gn
— Pablo Correas Tébar (@PabloCoTe) November 15, 2013
No one guilty in the Prestige case; but for defending public education? Four years jail #MarcaEspaña [Spanish brand]
Iván Pandora wrote on his Spanish-language blog La Caja de Pandora (Pandora's Box):
In the Muxía region, a group of volunteers works to clean up the oil dumped by the Prestige tanker. Photo taken from eldiario.es and used under license CC by SA
Parece que el hecho de que ese barco (monocasco) – que según los expertos era muy anticuado y con medidas de seguridad más que precarias – tuviera permiso para navegar por las costas gallegas no es punible.
La controvertida decisión de alejar el barco y esparcir el fuel durante horas por toda la costa, tampoco.
La pésima gestión del gobierno y la lentitud por no decir inoperancia, parece que no merece ninguna disculpa oficial.
It seems the case is not punishable due to the fact that the ship -single-hulled and, according to experts, very old and equipped with more than precarious security measures- had permission to navigate through the Galician coastline.
Also not punishable, it seems, was the controversial decision to remove the tanker from the coastline, spreading oil throughout the area for hours.
The government's abominable management and slowness, if not uselessness, seem to be deserving of not a single official apology.
Blogger Juantxo López de Uralde lamented that charges were never pressed against those chiefly responsible for the catastrophe:
Ya al juicio se llegó sin que ninguno de los responsables políticos reales de aquella tragedia se sentaran en el banquillo. (…) Pero no sólo nos llama la atención la falta de políticos, sino también hay que preguntarse cómo es posible que ninguno de los responsables del fuel, del flete, de las compañías propietarias del buque… se sentaran en el banquillo. Pero es muy doloroso que quede impune la negligencia criminal de aquellos que mandaron el barco “al quinto pino”.
The trial came to an end without a single person politically responsible for that tragedy sitting in the courtroom's dock. (…) But we aren't just looking at the politicians, we also have to ask ourselves how it's possible that not one of those responsible for the fuel, the cargo, the shipping company…sat there in the docks. But it's particularly painful that the criminal negligence of those who sent the tanker out to sea went unpunished.
The environmental activist group Nunca Máis, which formed in response to the Prestige disaster, has decided not to appeal the ruling, and the region's fishermen's cooperative is considering the same, due to the very high legal fees involved [es]. According to El Confidencial [es], in this catastrophe it's the taxpayers who lose:
Volunteers cleaning the beach at Carnota (La Coruña). Screen shot from the video «Historias del Chapapote» [Tar Stories] used under license CC by SA 3.0
La sentencia considera que los únicos tres procesados por el accidente no incurrieron en ningún delito, por lo que no se le puede exigir responsabilidad civil a nadie. La consecuencia más importante es que los seguros del armador no cubrirán los gastos que generaron las labores de regeneración de la costa. (…) La Fiscalía cifró en 4.328 millones de euros los gastos y los daños generados (…). Pero el dictamen anula cualquier reclamación económica.
The verdict means that the only three defendants prosecuted for the accident are not guilty, and for this reason, civil liability cannot be imposed upon anyone.  The most significant consequence is that the shipowner's insurance won't cover the costs incurred in the coastal clean-up. (…) The prosecutor quoted around 4.328 billion euros [about 5.8 billion US dollars] in costs and damages (…). But the ruling takes away any right to economic claims.
Costs could rise if French plans [es] to re-file the administrative review presented by the coastal protection trade union of Las Landas, the French area affected by the spill, to the National High Court days after the disaster are successful. Their lawyer Renaud Lahitète said:
Lo presentamos al día siguiente de llegar fuel a nuestras costas por precaución, para poder actuar en caso de que se dictaminase que no había delito penal, como así lo dice ahora la sentencia.
We presented the review as a precaution the day after oil arrived on our shores in order to be able to act in case it was found that no crime was committed, just as the acquittal has done now.
Greenpeace Spain now considers the decision to be “a white card allowing the petrol industry to put the environment, and citizens, at risk.” The organization's campaign director María José Caballero stated [es]:
La sentencia demuestra que en España no estamos preparados para juzgar una catástrofe medioambiental, ni para condenarla, ni para defender el medio ambiente.
The sentence shows that in Spain we are not yet ready to try an environmental catastrophe [in the courts], neither to condemn it, nor to defend the environment.

author: Lourdes Sada


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Unemployment, Poverty and Brain Drain: Italy’s Crisis Deepens · Global Voices
Bah Abdoulaye

Italians’ ever-emptier shopping basket
Picture: Shutterstock
While repeated  tragedies [en] in the so-called “Mare mortum” (literally “Dead sea”) off the coast of Lampedusa occupy the headlines of traditional media and social networks, Italians are still in the midst of an economic crisis that offers no sign of ending: the poverty rate continues to increase and so does the number of highly educated people leaving the country.
In the second half of October, a dossier entitled “New Poverty in Italy. Italians that Help“, presented by Coldiretti at the International Agriculture and Food Forum in Cernobbio, captured a worrying situation of hunger in Italy.
On the blog articolotre, Gea Ceccarelli revealed:
Secondo quanto rivelato dall'associazione, gli italiani indigenti che hanno ricevuto attraverso canali no-profit pacchi alimentari o pasti gratuiti sono stati quasi 4,1 mlioni. Circa 303.485 di questi nuovi poveri hanno potuto beneficiare dei servizi mensa, mentre 3.764.765 sono stati coloro che, vergognandosi, hanno preferito richiedere pacchi a casa.
As revealed by the association, there are more than 4.1 million poverty-stricken Italians that have received food through non-profit food parcels or free meals. Approximately 303,485 of these new poor people have benefited from canteen services, while 3,764,765, too ashamed, chose to take home food packs.
For its part, the website ilsostenibile.it provided details of the most affected social class:
Insieme a 579mila anziani con oltre 65 anni di età (+14% rispetto al 2012), in Italia ci sono ben 428.587 bambini con meno di 5 anni di età che nel 2013 hanno avuto bisogno di aiuto per poter semplicemente bere il latte o mangiare, con un aumento record del 13 per cento rispetto allo scorso anno; ma ad aumentare con un tasso superiore alla media è stato anche il numero di anziani, ben 578.583 over 65 anni di età (+14% rispetto al 2012), che sono dovuti ricorrere ad aiuti alimentari.
Together with 579,000 over 65 year olds (+14 percent compared to 2012), in Italy there were 428,587 children under the age of 5 who in 2013 needed help just to be able to drink milk or eat; however, what increased at an above average rate was the number of elderly people, 578,583 over 65 year olds (+14 percent compared to 2012), who have had to resort to food aid.
Hit hard by the crisis, Italian families save on everything, or have to forgo the purchase of essential goods. The website riverflash.it reported:
Sei italiani su dieci, hanno tagliato le spese per l’alimentazione, che ha raggiunto il livello più basso degli ultimi venti anni. Nel 2013 il crollo è proseguito con le famiglie italiane che hanno tagliato gli acquisti per l’alimentazione, dall’olio di oliva extravergine (-9%) al pesce (-13%), dalla pasta (-9%) al latte (-8%), dall’ortofrutta (-3%) alla carne, sulla base delle elaborazioni su dati Ismea-Gfk Eurisko relativi ai primi otto mesi dell’anno che fanno registrare complessivamente un taglio del 4% nella spesa alimentare delle famiglie italiane.
Six out of ten Italians have cut their food expenditure, which has now reached the lowest level of the last 20 years. In 2013 the collapse continued with Italian families cutting food purchases, from extra virgin olive oil (-9 percent) to fish (-13 percent), pasta (-9 percent), milk (-8 percent), fruit and vegetables (-3 percent) and meat, based on the Ismea-Gfk Eurisko data from the first eight months of the year which show an overall cut of 4 percent in the food expenditure of Italian households.
Despite the fact some politicians continue to say that the end of the crisis is near, for the moment all there is to see is the deterioration of the situation. The website termometropolitico.it quoted alarming figures that illustrate the severity of the work situation:
Gli occupati sono 22.349.000 circa, con una contrazione di 80.000 rispetto il mese precedente e di 490.000 in confronto l’anno passato, facendo così passare il tasso di occupazione al 55,4%. Gli obiettivi europei per il 2020 ci imporrebbero, invece, un tasso di occupazione pari al 67%. I disoccupati, sottolinea l’Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca sono arrivati a quota 3.194.00 circa. Di conseguenza il tasso di inattività (cioè coloro che rientrano nella fascia di attività 15-64) si posiziona al 36,4%, in aumento sia rispetto il mese che l’anno precedente.
There are approximately 22,349,000 employed people, a decrease of 80,000 compared to the previous month and of 490,000 compared to last year, thus causing the employment rate to fall to 55.4 percent. The European targets for 2020 would, however, require an employment rate of 67 percent. The unemployed, stresses the National Research Institute, have reached approximately 3,194,00. Consequently, the rate of inactivity (i.e. those who fall into the 15-64 age range) is 36.4 percent, increased compared to both last month and last year.
The website Consumerismo, an online newspaper similar to Codacons, or the Coordination of Associations for the Defense of the Environment and the Rights of Users and Consumers, wrote:
Il tasso di disoccupazione si attesta al 12,5%, in aumento di 0,1 punti percentuali rispetto al mese precedente e di 1,6 punti nei dodici mesi.
slogan di Codacons, tratto da Codacons.it
I disoccupati tra 15 e 24 anni sono 654 mila. L’incidenza dei disoccupati di 15-24 anni sulla popolazione in questa fascia di età è pari al 10,9%, in calo di 0,2 punti percentuali rispetto ad agosto ma in crescita di 0,6 punti su base annua. Il tasso di disoccupazione dei 15-24enni, ovvero la quota dei disoccupati sul totale di quelli occupati o in cerca,
è pari al 40,4%, in aumento di 0,2 punti percentuali rispetto al mese precedente e di 4,4 punti nel confronto tendenziale.
Il numero di individui inattivi tra 15 e 64 anni aumenta dello 0,5% rispetto al mese precedente (+71 mila unità) ma rimane sostanzialmente invariato rispetto a dodici mesi prima. Il tasso di inattività si attesta al 36,4%, in aumento di 0,2 punti percentuali in termini congiunturali e di 0,1 punti su base annua.
The unemployment rate stands at 12.5 percent, up 0.1 percent on the previous month and 1.6 percent on the previous 12 months.
Codacons’ slogan “Don't swallow the toad!”, from Codacons.it
There are 654,000 unemployed people between the ages of 15 and 24. The percentage of unemployed 15-24 year olds in this age group is 10.9 percent, down 0.2 percent from August but up 0.6 percent from last year. The number of 15-24-year-old unemployed people, that is the percentage share of total of those employed or seeking employment,
is 40.4 percent, up 0.2 percent on last month and 4.4 percent in the trend comparison.
The number of inactive individuals between 15 and 64 years old increased by 0.5 percent compared to the previous month (+71,000 units) but remains essentially unchanged compared to 12 months earlier. The inactivity rate stands at 36.4 percent, up 0.2 percent in economic terms and 0.1 percent over the year.
The gender differences are also remarkable, with women being disadvantaged. The website romasette.it noted:
il tasso di occupazione maschile, pari al 64,4%, diminuisce di 0,1 punti percentuali rispetto al mese precedente e di 1,7 punti su base annua. Quello femminile, pari al 46,5%, diminuisce di 0,3 punti in termini congiunturali e di 0,7 punti percentuali rispetto a dodici mesi prima. Il tasso di disoccupazione maschile, invece, rimane invariato al 12% rispetto al mese precedente e aumenta di 1,8 punti nei dodici mesi; quello femminile, al 13,2%, aumenta di 0,3 punti rispetto al mese precedente e di 1,3 punti su base annua.
The male employment rate, 64.4 percent, is down 0.1 percent on last month and 1.7 percent on last year. The female employment rate, 46.5 percent, is down 0.3 percent over the short term and down 0.7 percent compared to last year. However, the male unemployment rate remains unchanged at 12 percent compared to last month, an increase of 1.8 percent over last year. The female unemployment rate, at 13.2 percent, is up 0.3 percent compared to last month and 1.3 percent since last year.
By analyzing the Istat data released at the beginning of October, it can be seen that in the first six months of 2013, the purchasing power of households decreased by 1.7 percent compared to the same period in 2012. Based on this, the website concluded:
“This crisis will last years. Finally a bit of stability.” Satirical cartoon by the artist Altan [en]
Tradotto in cifre – calcola il Codacons – è come se una famiglia di 3 persone, in appena sei mesi, avesse avuto una perdita equivalente a 594 euro (489 una famiglia di 2 componenti, 654 una di 4), una stangata tanto invisibile quanto disastrosa.
Se si aggiunge il dato reso noto pochi giorni fa dall’Istat, relativo al 2012, con una perdita del potere d’acquisto del 4,7%, la stangata diventa impietosa e assume contorni drammatici. In un anno e mezzo è come se una famiglia di 3 persone avesse avuto una tassa invisibile pari a 2.236 euro!!!!
Expressed as figures – calculated the Codacons – it's as if a family of 3 people in just six months has lost the equivalent of 594 euros [about 800 US dollars] (489 for a family of two, 654 for one of 4), an invisible but disastrous blow.
If you add to this the data for 2012 released just a few days ago by Istat, with a loss of purchasing power of 4.7 percent, the blow becomes merciless and takes on dramatic profile. In a year and a half it's as if a family of 3 has been subjected to an invisible tax that amounts to 2,236 euros [about 3,020 US dollars]!!!!
With the increase of poverty, the number of solidarity initiatives also has increased. In fact, the website fanpage.it reported that:
…Si contano nel 2013 ben 15.067 strutture periferiche (mense e centri di distribuzione) promosse da 242 enti caritativi che fanno riferimento a 7 organizzazioni (Croce Rossa Italiana, Caritas Italiana, Fondazione Banco Alimentare, Banco delle Opere di Carità, Associazione “Sempre insieme per la Pace”, Comunità di Sant’Egidio, Associazione Banco Alimentare Roma) ufficialmente riconosciute dall'Agenzia per le Erogazioni in Agricoltura (Agea) che si occupa della distribuzione degli aiuti. Per quanto riguarda la tipologia di aiuto alimentare offerto – conclude la Coldiretti – i formaggi rappresentano circa il 28 per cento in valore, seguiti da pasta e pastina per bimbi e anziani, che assorbono il 18 per cento del costo, dal latte con il 14 per cento, dai biscotti (12 per cento), dal riso (8 per cento), dall’olio di girasole (6 per cento), dalla polpa di pomodoro (4 per cento) e, a seguire, legumi, confetture e farina.
….In 2013 there are 15,067 peripheral structures (canteens and distribution centres) maintained by 242 charitable organisations which refer to seven organisations (Italian Red Cross, Caritas Italia, Food Bank Foundation, Charitable Works Bank, “Together for peace” Association, the Sant'Egidio Community, Rome Food Bank Association) officially recognised by the Agency for Agricultural Payments (Agea) that deals with the distribution of aid. With regards to the type of food aid offered – concludes Coldiretti – the cheeses account for about 28 percent of the total value, followed by pasta and pastina for children and adults, who account for 18 percent of the costs, milk at 14 percent, biscuits (12 percent), rice (8 percent), sunflower oil (6 percent), tomato pulp (4 percent) and, finally, vegetables, jams and flour.
Commenting on the latest Istat figures on the employment situation, the website ermometropolitico.it said:
Meno di due giovani su dieci lavorano, anche se bisogna contemplare all’interno di questo dato la presenza dei minorenni e quindi degli studenti. Di fatto il dato più preoccupante è la disoccupazione giovanile, ovvero la quota dei disoccupati sul totale di quelli occupati o in cerca, che a settembre è arrivata al 40,4%, in aumento dello 0,2% rispetto ad agosto e di 4,4% nel confronto annuo.
Less than two out of ten young people work, although we have to consider also minors and students. In fact, the most worrying figure is youth unemployment, more specifically the number of young unemployed people compared to the total of those employed or seeking employment, which in September came to 40.4 percent, an increase of 0.2 percent compared to August and 4.4 percent over the last year.
On Twitter, the problem was also deeply felt:
Sei milioni di senza #lavoro, metà di questi non lo cercano neppure più. E sono sopratutto #giovani sfiduciati. #crisi #disoccupazione
— Il_libertario (@il_libertario) October 26, 2013
Six million without #work, half of them do not even seek it any more. And above all it is the #young who are disheartened. #crisis #unemployment
I giovani non hanno speranze per il futuro,ma la forza di andare avanti,la crisi la sta pagando la fascia d'età 40/60.#suicidi #crisi
— MalvaGia (@Gabrymalvagia) October 11, 2013
Young people have to hope for the future, but the strength to carry on, the 40/60 age group is paying for the crisis. #suicides #crisis
The immediate consequence of this dramatic situation, in addition to youth unemployment (which has arrived at the levels of 1977, over 40 percent) is the increase in emigration to other countries.
Cartoon strip: brains leaving Italy – Source Il nazionale
More than 400,000 Italian graduates and doctoral students have fled from Italy, and 59 percent of young people left behind would like to leave the country due to lack of employment prospects in Italy.
Another complication in the future will be the Italian population: in 2030, or 16 years time, there will be more over 65-year-olds than active citizens. Not even the influx of foreign immigrants can compensate for the brain drain: the many recent arrivals are due to the situations in Africa and in the Arab countries, but the phenomenon was previously already decreasing; economically more dynamic countries are the new objective, not the Italy of unemployment and economic crisis.

author: Bah Abdoulaye


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Exposing the Invisible: Video Profiles of Info-Activists · Global Voices
Gerda

A new multimedia project called Exposing the Invisible tells the stories of activists, hackers and journalists who work “at the new frontiers of investigation.” Through short films and text, the digital project by Tactical Technology Collective explores the missions of these experts and the tools they use to carry out their exposés.
The first film is about Paul Radu, a Romanian investigative journalist specialized in reporting on crime and corruption in the Balkans. (Subtitles in five different languages are also available.)


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Hondurans Hopeful Ahead of Elections · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Adrienne Pine in her blog Quotha writes that “there is an incredible amount of hope right now in Tegucigalpa,” as Hondurans prepare to elect a new president on November 24, 2013:
It's palpable, in the central park, in cafés, on the streets, in my classrooms. It feels to me like there are equal amounts of hope and terror, with one gaining as the other loses ground, and then reversing direction. But my interlocutors tell me I'm wrong. They tell me it's all hope (though they then often fall back into talking about their perfectly legitimate fears). […] Because when people I know come up to me to exclaim that on Sunday they are finally going to be LIBRE/libre (as several did today), they are talking about so much more than the party.
“Libre” in Spanish means “free”, and it is also the name of the political party under which Xiomara Castro de Zelaya -wife of former president Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted in a military coup in June 2009- is running for president in the upcoming elections.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Japan’s Open Data Policy Still Needs Work  · Global Voices
Keiko Tanaka

Screenshot of Open Data Index
Even though the Japanese government is working toward advancing its open data policy, the country has a ways to go, ranking 30th out of 70 countries, according to an index compiled by Open Knowledge Foundation. Masahiko Shoji of Open Knowledge Foundation Japan writes:
日本は、政府支出、企業登記情報、交通時刻表、立法の分野で低い評価を受けました。また、どの項目もオープンライセンスの採用については「Yes」の評価を得ませんでした。これらの課題は６月に発表されたG8諸国における速報の時点と同じであり、日本の取り組みが大きくが進んでいないことを表しています。
Japan's open data on government spending, company register, transport timetables and legislation received low ratings. All data set fields were not able to receive an evaluation of “YES”. Such challenges are the same as that of the ratings among the G8 compiled by Open Knowledge Foundation in June this year, and it shows that the progress of Open Data efforts in Japan is small.

author: Keiko Tanaka


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Pakistan’s IMF Bailout Brings Painful Rise in Inflation · Global Voices
Aisha

In Pakistan, a nation already beleaguered by poverty, power cuts and security issues, inflation is on the rise, thanks to austerity measures implemented by the government to satisfy the stringent conditions attached to a bailout worth 6.6 billion US dollars from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The IMF approved the three-year loan package to stabilize Pakistan's economy as part of its Extended Fund Facility financial assistance program in September 2013. In return, it required that the Pakistani government impose strict austerity measures such as implementing budget cuts, slashing subsidies, increasing tax revenue, privatizing state enterprises that operate at a loss, and reforming the energy sector with price hikes.
Pakistan government is considering to ban exports of onion to end sharp increases in their prices. Image by Flickr user Olaf Kellerhoff. CC BY-NC
The government has slashed subsidies by 35 percent in an effort to comply, thereby increasing inflation and sending prices soaring in local markets.
Pakistan, like much of the developing world has been on a steady diet of IMF loans since the 80s. Some of the current loans are to repay old loans – “circular debt”. IMF's loan to Pakistan in 2008 was for $11.3 billion. Pakistan still owes IMF nearly $5bn from those loans for which interest is accruing. The biggest chunk in Pakistan's yearly budget is repaying IMF plans. So every year, health and education gets 2-3 % and repaying loans gets 25% of the annual budget.
Though Pakistan's Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar pointed out that his government, the five-month-old Pakistan Muslim League-(Nawaz) had “inherited a battered economy” and that ending subsidies was essential for the nation's self-reliance, inflation hit 9.1 percent in October 2013, the sharpest increase of last 16 months.
Graph depicting year-on-year (YOY) increase in inflation, as measured by Consumer Price Index (CPI). Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Islamabad.
Food prices as well as prices of other basic necessities have skyrocketed. Because people's incomes are not increasing at the same rate as inflation, this has meant a stressful situation for many, especially those who survive on daily wages. According to an article in IRIN Asia, inflation in Pakistan has had a severe impact on food security in the country.
As reported by The Express Tribune, prices of perishable food items rose 18.6 percent, while the clothing and footwear group increased 14.6 percent. Against the backdrop of the government cutting down on subsidies and raising the power tariff, all of this has put intense financial pressure on the ordinary citizens of Pakistan.
Dissent has grown over the measures put in place to satisfy the IMF's terms. Digital content creator Rabab Khan commented on Google+:
Loans from international donors like IMF and World Bank, while intended to assist in implementing policies for inclusive growth, do not achieve their purpose due to their tendency to bring more inflation, economic instability, and unemployment to the country.
From their official Twitter account, opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf tweeted a message from its chairman, former cricketer Imran Khan:
#IKPressCon: Inflation is being done as declared in the IMF agreement. Injustice with people of Pakistan – Imran Khan
— PTI (@PTIofficial) October 3, 2013
Journalist Osama Bin Javaid (@osamabinjavaid) reported:
Pakistan’s inflation rose 9.08 per cent in October 2013 from a year ago. It was the highest increase after 14 months. http://t.co/ieecCvbWzV
— Osama Bin Javaid (@osamabinjavaid) November 3, 2013
Banker Sayem (@SayemZA) pointed to a graph showing how the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) has been moving up since the finance minister made his budget speech in June 2013:
One graph to explain PMLN record breaking performance – inflation on fire!!! #Pakistan #PMLN #PTI #PPP #MQM pic.twitter.com/RzRvOxrWFj
— Sayem (@SayemZA) November 19, 2013
Usama Usmani, an accounting student from Karachi, lamented:
Inflation is showing its worst impact in #Pakistan now! And we are busy in useless debates because this nation sucks!Good people are unlucky
— Usama Usmani (@usama02) , November 10, 2013
For the middle and the lower middle class, the government's measures to generate revenue and its inability to control steeply escalating prices are proving to be back-breaking. In addition to the rise in prices, the government has been strictly imposing a ‘cash tax‘ on holdings in cash due to the high inflationary pressures, as the value of the Pakistani rupee has decreased dramatically.
The US dollar has reached an exorbitant high against the Pakistani rupee, fetching 108.27 rupees for one dollar, thus making  imports and loan repayment expensive. The IMF has accepted that with the decline in Pakistani rupee and the elimination of subsidies on electricity, inflation will increase. Moreover the crisis will worsen in the absence of economic development and employment opportunities.
To curb the insurmountable levels of inflation and to keep the struggling economy on track, on November 13, 2013, the State Bank of Pakistan raised its benchmark interest rate to 10 percent from 9.5 percent, hoping to ease price pressures and support the currency.
Only time will tell if the inflation will be stemmed, bringing much needed relief to the masses in Pakistan.

author: Aisha


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PHOTOS: The Thrill and Agony of World Cup Qualifying Matches · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

A few do-or-die matches to qualify for the 2014 World Cup were played worldwide last week in Africa and Europe. Despite the of-repeated claim that those games are just that, games, how people behave before and after some matches show that there is a little more at stake that what everyone would like it to be.
Here are reactions caught on film from four of those deciding matches, which ended in complete elation for Algeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon and France, while Burkina Faso, Senegal, Ukraine and Tunisia saw their hopes of heading to Brazil vanish with the final whistle.
Algeria vs. Burkina Faso
Algeria qualified thanks to a late goal scored on Burkina Faso in additional time.
The crowd in Algiers felt the World Cup fever, as seen in this photo by Twitter user Bilel.:
Photo prise en Algérie, on est tellement a fond #AlgeriePresenteAuBresil ma gueule ! pic.twitter.com/0lkbz76pnf
— Bilel. (@BilelB_) November 19, 2013
Photo taken in Algeria, we are totally invested in this #AlgeriainBrazil, my face!
Algerian bloggers added humor to the joy of qualifying for the World Cup in Brazil:
loool #AlgeriePresenteAuBresil pic.twitter.com/L8YTbiUDYo
— Ana Djazairi Mahboul (@DjalilYougo) November 20, 2013
The tension during the first leg of the match-up on October 12 led some supporters to resort to racial insults towards the black referee, as captured in these screenshots by Paulin Diasivi:
Pendant le match Burkina vs Algerie qlq twitt raciste des supporteurs algeriens pic.twitter.com/d5MSIhFEjv
— Paulin Diasivi (@paulindias) October 14, 2013
During the match Burkina vs Algeria, some racists tweets by Algerian supporters
Côte d'Ivoire vs. Senegal
Côte d'Ivoire was also involved in late game drama when they managed to tie Senegal in Dakar 1-1 to qualify. The joy was visible in the team's dance as the game came to an end:
C'est fini la Côte d'Ivoire arrache sa qualification après 90 mn de suspens, les Elephant seront au Brésil. pic.twitter.com/NsYMblqE7G
— Anaky Yannick (@YannickAnaky) November 16, 2013
Côte d'Ivoire pull out a win after 90 minutes of play, the Elephants will go to Brazil
Brésil on arrive #Team225 pic.twitter.com/T9utitCPgT
— éléphants au Brésil (@Le_TonTon_) November 19, 2013
Brazil, here we come
Cameroon vs. Tunisia
Cameroon's World Cup play-off win over Tunisia was less dramatic with a 4-1 victory. Still, there was a bit controversy as Tunisia claims that two Cameroonian players were not eligible to play. Yaoundé, the economic capital of Cameroon, nevertheless was still beaming with pride after the win:
Le Cameroun vas en coupe du monde >>>> pic.twitter.com/qJNZvNVq6F
— Indomptable (@Andy_CMR) November 17, 2013
Cameroon is heading to the World Cup
Given the political dissidence in Tunisia, some supporters may not be as sad as expected with the elimination of their national team. The current government is quite unpopular within  the country's secular community because of stricter religious measures, and a win for the country's football team could have been seen as a win for the government :
Cameroun 4-1 Tunisie, les gens hypocrites “sur twitter” vs “chez eux” avouez … PTDRRR pic.twitter.com/pYUpqOMnE0
— LiliaAyew⚪Ⓜ (@LiliaKapoor) November 17, 2013
Cameroon 4-1 Tunisia, the hypocrites on “Twitter” [ed's note: pretend to be sad while cheering the elimination of Tunisia] vs. “at home”, fess up now…LOL
France vs. Ukraine
France had the deepest hole to climb out of to qualify after they lost the first leg 2-0 against Ukraine. In an miraculous come back, France won 3-0 in the second leg of the match-up, prompting raucous celebration from French fans and shows of despair from Ukrainian supporters:
Ce soir, le Stade de France a vibré ! Les IMAGES dans les tribunes >http://t.co/CUWYlTQFXa #FRAUKR #Bresil #CM2014 pic.twitter.com/WuEf9UnX6D
— Le Parisien (@le_Parisien) November 20, 2013
Tonight, the stadium was shaking! The images from the crowd #Brazil
The Rueter's photog who posted up next to these Ukraine fans struck gold… http://t.co/rRo7pkKbZg pic.twitter.com/gxirTLir8v
— American Fútbol (@futbolmovie) November 19, 2013

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Reengineer the News! Global Voices Partners with Oximity · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

Oximity's team pose for a group photo in Berlin, Germany.
Oximity is a new website with the modest goal of “reengineering the news industry”. It's neither an aggregator nor a citizen journalism site, but something that encompasses both.
Behind the bravado is the site's co-founder Sanjay Goel who together with a Berlin-based team has developed a technically sophisticated and ambitious tool for news reading and writing.
The goal is to offer “news from the source” as an alternative to traditional mainstream news providers. Any organization or individual can use the site as a publishing platform with their own name and branding. And readers can easily sort through vast amounts of content (in any language) by creating “Playlists” of sources or keywords (Tags) on a personalized homepage.
Partnership
Global Voices stories in all languages are now available on Oximity, where readers can choose to follow specific variations of language or topic (say, Spanish and French stories about Ethiopia).
As a feature of our partnership Oximity has given Global Voices stories special status on their homepage as a “recommended playlist”.
The list of publishers is quickly growing as Oximity focusses on expansion and honing in on a business model. The site is still in beta and Oximity pride themselves on adapting quickly to feedback.
Oximity's homepage (Nov 19, 2013)
Interview with Oximity's Sanjay Goel
Sanjay Goel, Co-Founder
What motivated you to launch Oximity?
The news industry's fundamental model has not changed since its invention more than 400 years ago. It's time to make a fresh start.
Serious lack of trust in the media is a problem in most countries thanks in part to media consolidation and vested interests. On Oximity all news will come from the source, because the source is by definition the expert.
Journalists are skilled in news writing and storytelling, but most fall short when it comes to reporting that really requires expertise.
Doesn't relying on “sources” like organizations or individuals introduce problems with quality or issues with bias?
Yes, that can be a problem. Our solution is to enable our users to proofread, translate, and offer public feedback on stories, a bit like on Wikipedia. Oximity also provides tools to allow users to contextualize, refute or add to published articles, allowing the reader to see multiple perspectives in one place.
Companies like eBay and LinkedIn create online trust through ratings, public scrutiny and feedback systems. We are applying these learnings to the news industry.
What are your long-term goals?
We want Oximity to be a non-partisan, secular, mainstream news platform that offers solutions to the flaws of the current news model. Our agenda is to promote objective reality — or what some people call ‘the truth’.
We want Oximity to be financially self-sustainable. We are learning from the revenue models of large internet companies that are not primarily in the news business, including eBay, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Google.
What are some of the technical features of Oximity you are excited about?
Thanks to extremely versatile technology anyone can plug their content into Oximity, and organizations can also display news from Oximity on their own websites. This creates a two-way flow of news for a critical mass of self-empowered and interconnected writers and readers.
Instead of organizing news under just a few broad categories like most other sites, we sort vast amounts of information using automatic and semi-automatic tagging that helps ensure Oximity is relevant to each individual.
Additionally, behind the scenes, we use a technical standard for our articles (rNews) that makes them easily discoverable in search engines.
We solved the need for verification of writers with a unique peer-to-peer authentication system. Oximity can approve writers we know, and approved writers can approve other writers they know. We were inspired by similar ‘web of trust’ models used in open-source software development.
Also, we have implemented special algorithms for scoring of articles that help the best rise to the top, and an advanced search for article recommendations and discovery.
Why did you chose to make your website multi-lingual?
As our world comes together via technology, language differences can still be a barrier to information sharing and mutual understanding. No part of the world should be left behind because they don't use English. Technology should adapt to people, not vice-versa. Therefore, we facilitate writing and reading news in more than 200 languages.
Users can manually translate any article to increase awareness of an issue in their own community, and we also have an automated translation feature in 40 languages.
Our readers can set up Playlists to follow topics of interest through Tags, even in languages they don't understand – that is a major breakthrough for news consumption.
Why do you wish to share Global Voices stories?
We believe that each human being is equal – in absolute terms, with no exceptions. One would expect the mainstream media to reflect the issues of everyone. But most of the media that has global reach and impact is from the ‘rich world’, so we end up focusing on issues relevant to only a few countries disproportionally.
Global Voices helps correct this imbalance by bringing news from the entire world. You have built an amazing and dedicated community over many years, and it is a privilege to share this content with Oximity's users.

author: Solana Larsen


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Saudi Prisoner Interview Raises Controversy Over Arbitrary Detainment · Global Voices
Anas Soliman

A controversy over the issue of arbitrary detainment rose after the popular Saudi TV show MBC 8 PM ran an interview with Waleed al-Sunani, a prisoner who has been imprisoned for eighteen and half years for his ultraconservative Jihadist religious views.
The interview was filmed back in July, and the airtime was delayed two times. In the interview, al-Sunani explained why he denounces his citizenship and allegiance to the Saudi state, describing modern states as being fundamentally secular and accusing Al Saud rulers of being agents to the Unites States and enemies of Islam. He also confirmed his support for Al Qadea in its operations within Saudi Arabia and in fighting the American occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq.
The issue of arbitrary detainment has always incited criticism for the Saudi government. Independent human rights sources say that there are over 30,000 arbitrarily imprisoned people [ar], who were arrested without a warrant and have not had access to lawyers and a trial. Many of whom were arrested in the massive, post-9/11 “war on terrorism”.
Some Twitter users thought that al-Sunani is a merely a literal representation of the state-supported Wahabbism. Religious scholar Hakem al-Mutiri tweeted [ar]:
سأعرض فتوى من فتاوى أئمة الدعوة في نجد قبل مئة سنة في شأن أهل الخليج ودخولهم تحت حماية بريطانيا والتي تؤكد أن #السناني ملتزم بها تماما
— أ.د. حاكم المطيري (@DrHAKEM) November 18, 2013
I will submit some fatwas [religious edicts] of Najid major scholars a hundred years ago regarding the Gulf people enrollment under the British projection which confirm that al-Sunani is completely bounded by it.
He then followed by a series of fatwas that attack the early British influence over the Persian Gulf region and incite people to resist it.
Saudi blogger Bader al-Rashed sarcastically tweeted:
ترى كلام السناني هو اللي درسناه في المدارس في كتاب التوحيد لابن عبدالوهاب .. الفرق إن أغلب الطلاب كانوا يشخبطون على الطاولة والأستاذ يشرح.
— بدر الراشد (@BALRashed) November 17, 2013
When al-Sunani is saying is what we studied in the [religious curriculum]. The difference is that most students were drawing on their desks when the teacher was explaining it.
Saudi columnist Ibrahim al-Qahtani criticized the choice of an ultraconservative figure rather than many imprisoned moderate human rights activists such as the members of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association Abdullah al-Hamid, Mohammad al-Qahtani and Suliman al-Rushodi:
قبل لا تطلع من السجن سير على زنزانة الحامد و القحطاني و الرشودي..فرصة تكشفهم لكافة الشعب و المسلمين #وليد_السناني_في_برنامج_الثامنة
— إبراهيم القحطاني (@brhom) November 17, 2013
Before you leave the prison, go to al-Hamid, al-Qahtani and al-Rushodi's cells. It is your chance to expose them to every Saudi and Muslim.
Saudi blogger Msaaid al-Rushiad commented:
#لقاء_وليد_السناني_مع_الثامنة عموما الي خطط للحلقة كان له هدف ..واضح من الردود ان الهدف جاء عكس ماكان متوقع (:
— مساعد الرشيد (@msa3d_r) November 17, 2013
It is very obvious that those who planned this episode had a goal, and it is also very obvious that the [outcome] was contrary to what was expected.

author: Anas Soliman


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Taiwan: Virgin Mary With an Aboriginal Face Tattoo · Global Voices
I-fan Lin

The statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary with facial tattoo based on the Atayal people's tradition. Photo taken by Octopus (章魚). Non-commercial use.
An Atayal woman with the traditional facial tattoo held her granddaughter. Photo taken by atonny.Non-commercial use.
When Italian Catholic Father Alberto Papa came to Taiwan in 1963, he learned that face tattoo is an important culture for many aboriginal tribes in Taiwan. For example, in Atayal culture, only respectable person would have face tattoo. To deliver the idea that Virgin Mary is a holy figure, the father decided to add a golden face tattoo on the statue of Virgin Mary in his church.
More photos showing Taiwan aboriginal women with face tattoo can be found here.

author: I-fan Lin


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Gulnara Karimova Ends Provocative “Twitter War” in Uzbekistan · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Gulnara Karimova, the glamorous daughter of Uzbekistan's president, disappointed the more than 50,000 followers on Twitter by deactivating her account (@GulnaraKarimova) today. During the last several weeks, her tweets provided a rare glimpse into power struggles in one of the world's most secretive states.
The fall of the “princess”
One of the richest and most influential people in Uzbekistan, 41-year-old Gulnara Karimova was long mooted as a possible successor to her father who has ruled the Central Asian nation since 1989. Harvard-educated Gulnara served as Uzbekistan's ambassador to the United Nations and Spain in the past. More recently, she has focused on her career as a pop star and fashion designer. She has also built an extensive network of charities and media, business, and cultural projects in Uzbekistan.
Several weeks ago, however, Karimova's projects in the country came under fire from security services. A number of people she worked with and some of her bodyguards were arrested on charges she alleged were trumped-up.
Gulnara Karimova. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
“Twitter war”
In a surprise move, Karimova took to Twitter to expose what she described was a plot by the country's powerful security minister to limit her political influence. During the last several weeks, she tweeted about the intensifying attacks by the Uzbek security services on her political and business interests. She also accused the security services of using torture to extract confessions.
As the frequency of her Twitter posts increased, so did the number of her followers. Many of them included foreign journalists and academics. Gulnara's tweets provided an unprecedented real-life first-person account of the power struggles in one of the world's most secretive states. BBC described Gulnara's use of the social network as “Twitter war”.
Apparently, Gulnara had many netizens on her side in that war. She re-tweeted hundreds of posts by other Uzbekistani Twitter users voicing their support for her. The followers of her account also included individuals from neighboring countries who wished the children of strongmen ruling their countries also used Twitter. On November 20, a Tajikistani follower of Karimova's account tweeted [ru]:
начинаю и заканчиваю свой день просмотром твитер-сериала об узбекском падишахе, его дечери @GulnaraKarimova и злом визире безопасности
— Парвиз Хамдамов (@mr_parvizon) November 20, 2013
I begin and end my day by watching the Twitter soap opera about the Uzbek padishah [king], his daughter @GulnaraKarimova and the evil security vizier [minister]
жаль в таджикистане такое кино не снимают
— Парвиз Хамдамов (@mr_parvizon) November 20, 2013
It's a pity that they don't make this kind of movies in Tajikistan.
Another Twitter user wrote [ru] on November 20:
История с Гульнарай Каримовой – наверно первая битва за власть, за которой можно наблюдать сидя в Твиттере @GulnaraKarimova
— Шапараки Овора (@du15yak30) November 20, 2013
Gulnara Karimova's story is perhaps the first ever struggle for power one can follow on Twitter.
Gulnara quits Twitter
Gulnara's “Twitter war” intensified in mid-November as she became more explicit in blaming Uzbekistan's security minister of using Stalin-style coercive methods to strengthen his grip on power. Then, on November 20, she blamed her fall from grace on her mother, Tatyana Karimova. Gulnara alleged that Tatyana Karimova “promised to destroy everything connected to [Gulnara]” if Gulnara did not stop “meddling” in her business interests. About a month before, Gulnara accused [ru] her mother of practicing occult rituals and possibly “satanism”.
After spending some time “airing her family’s dirty laundry” on November 21, Gulnara disabled her Twitter account.
After a memorable day airing the family laundry, Gulnara Karimova's Twitter account disappears (again, for now). http://t.co/1K41kzzPdK
— David Trilling (@dtrilling) November 21, 2013
Many netizens now feel disappointed about losing the rare glimpse into power politics and feuds within the ruling family in Uzbekistan:
Гульнара Каримова удалила свою страницу в Twitter, жалко, интересная была страничка ( http://t.co/wo8dWrSBuI
— Yedil (@sundetbai) November 21, 2013
Gulnara Karimova has deleted her Twitter account. It's sad, for that was an interesting account ( http://t.co/wo8dWrSBuI
Черт! Где Каримова? Верните Каримову! Как я теперь буду узнавать о том, что происходит в Узбекистане???
— Шапараки Овора (@du15yak30) November 21, 2013
Shit! Where is Karimova? Bring back Karimova! How am I now going to get updates about what is happening in Uzbekistan?
как заканчивается сериал об узбекском падишахе и его дочери? хэппи энд или нет? требую продолжения!
— Парвиз Хамдамов (@mr_parvizon) November 21, 2013
How does the soap opera about the Uzbek padishah and his daughter end? is there a happy end or not? I demand that the soap opera go on!
The “soap opera” might as well continue soon. After all, when Gulnara had disappeared from Twitter in the past, she returned shortly afterwards with a much stronger passion for tweeting.

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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VIDEO: “They work to die”, Mystery Disease Killing Central American Sugarcane Workers · Global Voices
Elizabeth Rivera

Workers who cut sugarcane and other crops in the coastal lowlands of Central America are being hit by a mysterious disease:
From Panama to southern Mexico, laborers are coming down with kidney failure at rates unseen virtually anywhere else in the world. Families and villages are being devastated by the loss of nearly entire generations of men.
Since 2000, chronic kidney disease has killed more than 24,000 people in El Salvador and Nicaragua, the two countries that are by far the worst-hit by the disease.
Rigorous scientific investigation has only just begun in the communities hit by the epidemic, and relatively few facts have been established, but scientists are coming up with what they believe to be a credible hypothesis. They say the roots of the epidemic appear to lie in the grueling nature of the work performed by its victims.
Esteban Félix, a Peruvian photographer from the Associated Press, documented the effect of the epidemic in Chichigalpa, Nicaragua, one of the most affected communities.
Thanks to his work, Félix received the Gabriel García Marquez Prize for Journalism [es] this year in the Journalistic Image category.
In this video, edited by Alba Mora (@albamoraroca) with music by Dan Bality, Félix tells the stories behind the photos that he took during his stay at Chichigalpa. In his own words, Félix summarizes:
Uno trabaja para vivir, pero en realidad esta gente trabaja para morir.
Some people work to live, but here, people work to die.
Bitter Sugar: A Mystery Disease from Alba Mora on Vimeo.

author: Elizabeth Rivera


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Zambia’s ‘King Cobra’ President Publicly Calls Ministers, MPs Fools · Global Voices
Gershom Ndhlovu

Recently, Zambian President Michael Sata called one of his senior ministers a fool on national TV for failing to repair a presidential guest house in the country’s second largest city Kitwe, about 400 kilometres from the capital Lusaka.
President Michael Sata addressing parliament. Photo used with permission from Lusaka Times.
This incident came barely a few weeks after President Sata told off his Vice-President Dr. Guy Scott and some ministers in remarks that were also broadcast on national TV.
Below is a video posted by YouTube user Matongo Maumbi showing Sata rebuking one of his ministers:
Sata is known for his abrasiveness and disregard for protocol at both local and international functions, actions which seem to be sending Zambians cringing each time he appears in public.
But it is the president’s latest remarks on November 20 while on a campaign trail of a by-election in the provincial capital of Luapula, Mansa, about 1,000 kilometres from Lusaka where he insulted members of parliament from the region that have raised questions on the state of the 76-year old-leader who was elected into office two years ago.
Quoting community radio station Yangeni, the Zambian Eye reported:
President Michael Sata has said his Members of Parliament from Luapula Province are foolish.
Radio Ya[n]geni, a Community Radio station in Mansa reports that President Sata said this when he addressed a public rally to drum up support for the Patriotic Front (PF) candidate in Mansa Central Constituency by-election at Muchinka Primary School Grounds today.
President Sata said next year, 2014 [the next elections are scheduled for 2016] the people should give him Members of Parliament with brains because the current crop of Parliamentarians are foolish.
Commenting on social commentator Proud Aushi Musamba Mumba’s page, Barbara Chanda wrote:
we have doctors close to the president who cant tell the trruth because of fear of retribution this is not sata as hes known hes definetly not well yes he can rant but not to this extent unfortunately us africans too are a bit mental we will start jumping up and down like poisoned rats to encourage him and say hes proactive and encouaging [his members of parliament] to work when everyone is shaking like a leaf scared of being sacked they cant make any decisions because they might offend him! [all sic]
Before President Sata’s trip to Mansa, citizen media website Zambia Reports wrote about what was expected of the head of state:
The President, who is spontenous in his public appearances and produces some made-for-stage theatrics, is expected to address rallies with his first call set for Muchinka grounds in Mansa. Mansa residents may just enjoy a portion of the drama from their Head of State.
In the Kitwe incident, in which Communications, Works and Supply Minister Yamfwa Mukanga was lambasted, the Zambian Watchdog reported:
President Micheal Sata today again went ballistic when he publicly insulted Communications, Works and Supply Minister Yamfwa Mukanga over the presidential Lodge in Kitwe’s Ndeke township. […] Mukanga was blasted like a small boy in front of his juniors and television cameras as he (Mukanga) kept smiling without anything to do in front of the Zambian president nicknamed ‘king cobra’.
At an earlier function to commemorate Armistice Day, which falls on November 11 every year, President Sata laid into Mukanga and other officials. Mainstream media the Post reported the story:
Where is Yamfwa Mukanga? Why is there no water here and the grass is not green? Why haven't you done anything on Dr Chiluba's [Zambia's second president] grave…Kale sana nakweba (I told you a long time ago) […] I will do it myself if you can't put a house on Chiluba's grave.
Zambia's Vice-President Dr. Scott was yet again on the receiving end:
You the Vice-President are in charge of this place, why is it that the flowers and the grass are withering and there is no water? You Roland Msiska also, why is the grass here in this poor state and yet you operate from here?
At another function, Sata published admonished his vice president for sending a junior minister outside the country to officiate at a function of a company that imports second hand cars, asking:
“You sent your deputy minister to glorify second-hand vehicles. This was your speech which your deputy minister read. Why should we glorify second-hand vehicles, and you say we have a Vice-President?”

author: Gershom Ndhlovu


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10 Years After Fatal Police Operation, Ecuadorian Court Reopens the ‘Fybeca Case’  · Global Voices
Gina Yauri

Ten years after a police operation in a Guayaquil pharmacy left three missing and eight dead – two civilians and six suspected assailants – the case remains unsolved.
On the morning of November 19, 2003, suspected assailants and police agents forming part of the Grupo Especial Antidelincuencial group (a grupo [es] operating outside of the law which was dismantled after the incident) clashed at a branch of the pharmacy Fybeca. Pistols, machine guns and even grenades were found at the scene.
Student Fernando Monro (@FernandoMONRO) shared a photo which was published throughout the country's media channels following the incident.
Así se encontraba la farmacia Fybeca hace 10 años #CasoFybeca pic.twitter.com/zOIjWtEhDO
— @fernandomonro (@FernandoMONRO) noviembre 19, 2013
This is what the Fybeca pharmacy looked like ten years ago [Fybeca Case]
In December of 2003, a police court trial began against the 20 police officers who participated in the operation. On April 27, 2004, the officers were declared innocent due to lack of evidence and the trial brought to a close.
Almost eight years later on January 17, 2012 [es], the Comisión de la Verdad y Derechos Humanos de la Ficalía [es] [Commission of Truth and Human Rights Watch of the Attorney General] reopened investigations into that morning's events. Seventy testimonies were gathered during the inquiries of people present at the incident, including victims’ family members, witnesses, employees and police officers.
On November 14, 2013, the Attorney General Galo Chiriboga appeared [es] before the National Court of Justice to file charges against 31 people [es] for the presumed crime of extrajudicial execution, carrying a sentence of 16-25 years prison. El Universo [es] reports that police officers and “three lawyers who in 2003 were judges in the police court. One of whom currently performs duties as district attorney,” are among the 31 accused.
#CasoFybeca Fiscalía formulara cargos por la presunción de grave violación de derechos humanos expresado en una ejecución extrajudicial
— FiscaliaEcuador (@FiscaliaEcuador) noviembre 14, 2013
[Fybeca Case]The District Attorney's Office will file charges for the serious presumed violation of human rights demonstrated by an extrajudicial execution.
Jorge Blum, a National Court of Justice judge, accepted the request [es] made by district attorney Galo Chiriboga and remanded [es] 20 of the 31 accused in custody.
Meanwhile, in Twitter there are many messages of support for victims and their families as well as several displays of happiness that the case now seems to be advancing. However, many stress that the process has been slow and that there is still a lot of ground to be covered.
Eduardo Delgado (@eddepi) tweeted:
Caso Fybeca: es una muestra de q en este país ya se está aplicando la Justicia, no mâs impunidad ni abuso de autoridad…
— Eduardo Delgado (@eddepi) noviembre 19, 2013
Fybeca Case: it goes to show that in this country the law is now being applied, no more impunity nor abuse from the authorities…
On the other hand, Segundo Veloz (@Veloz2002) wrote, outraged:
Quieren tapar el sol un dedo,. El caso fybeca siempre fue un verdadero asco de investigación., y lo peor que nunca los culpables se hallan.
— Segundo Veloz A. (@Veloz2002) noviembre 19, 2013
They want to block out the sun with a finger [A Spanish expression similar to “put out a fire with a thimble of water”]. The Fybeca Case was always a true investigative disgrace, and the worst is that the guilty are never anywhere to be seen.
Vivian Assange (@VivianAssange) emphasised:
10 años desde uno de los más atroces casos de desaparición forzosa en Ecuador! 10 años del “caso Fybeca” a ese país no queremos volver!
— Vivian Assange (@VivianAssange) noviembre 19, 2013
10 years have passed since one of the worst forced disappearance cases in Ecuador! 10 years since the Fybeca Case – we don't want to return to that country!
CarlosLucio (@CarlosFLucioR), for his part, wrote a message of solidarity:
Hoy son 10 años de la masacre a sangre fría en la fybeca de la alborada.. Dios tenga en su gloria a esas personas inocentes que murieron
— CarlosLucio (@CarlosFLucioR) noviembre 20, 2013
Today marks 10 years since the cold-blooded massacre in the Fybeca de la Alborada [referring to its address]. God keep the innocent who died in his Glory.
In the same way, Rodolfo de la Roca [es] wrote a message of support for the widows on his Facebook status [es].
Es una pena lo sucedido con el CASO FYBECA esta clarito lo que paso allí … tuve la oportunidad de conocer a una de las viudas. Es una de las tantas perlas de nuestra policía.
It's a shame what happened with the FYBECA CASE, it's all too clear what happened there…I had the opportunity to meet one of the widows. This is one of the many charming factors of our police force.
The families of the victims of the Fybeca pharmacy incident have fought for years to clarify the facts of the case. In fact, as they share the same first name, three of the widows are known as “the three Dolores,” [a nickname with the added element that, in Spanish, “dolor” means aches or pains]. Dolores Briones’ husband was the pharmacy's courier and died that day alongside Dolores Vélez's husband, who was in the store shopping for diapers. Dolores Guerra's husband is one of three people missing after being detained by the police.
“The three Dolores” have made a formal complaint to the Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos [Inter-American Commission on Human Rights] and demonstrate each year [es] outside the pharmacy, calling for justice.
Ten years after the incident, thanks to the Attorney General's request, “the three Dolores” again have hope to continue fighting for the state to respond to the events of that day.

author: Gina Yauri


text:
Closure for Russian Terror Victims? · Global Voices
Nina Jobe

Russian special forces participating in the capture of Islamic militants, including Sokolov. YouTube screenshot.
In what has become a routine event in Russia's restless southern province of Dagestan, a shootout took place in a village on the outskirts of the capital, Makhachkala. The incident turned out to be more than just the usual standoff between cops and Islamic militants, however. In the aftermath, Russia’s National Anti-Terror Committee (NAC) released a statement claiming that one of the militants was none other than Dmitry Sokolov, the mastermind behind last month’s Volgograd bus bombing which was allegedly carried out by his wife. The NAK reported [ru] that in the course of action five men were killed, and Sokolov admitted his guilt in the bombing.
The story shortly took a strange turn, when Russian journalist and radio personality Yulia Latynina claimed [ru] a different series of events took place. During her weekly radio program Latynina said that Sokolov was in fact detained by local citizens earlier in the week, and was turned over to the police. She also claimed that after this incident failed to make it into the news, a local source told her that the police would probably end up “killing” the man as a result of a “special forces op.”
Anonymous blogger hardingush [Global Voices report], a Russian special forces soldier operating with an anti-terrorist team in the North Caucasus who blogs about his experiences there, challenged [ru] Latynina in a blog post, questioning her claims that Sokolov was easily detained by locals while he was out in a public place, and not even wearing a suicide belt (i.e. unprofessional). In fact, hardingush went as far as to claim that she, or someone else, made up the initial report — possibly due to fog of war:
Понимаете, Юля, после каждого ОБМ [оперативно-боевое мероприятие — ed.], в котором я участвовал, в интернете появлялись свидетельства очевидцев. Все эти свидетельства были столь же абсурдны, как и ваша история о мифическом знакомом из Махачкалы. Если бы кого-то гражданские задержали после терракта и передали бы сотрудникам полиции (на вашем журналистском языке – ментам), то весь Дагестан бы гудел об этом до сих пор.
You see, Yulia, after every Operational Combat Action in which I have participated, eyewitness accounts appeared on the internet. All of these accounts were as as absurd as your story about the mythical acquaintance from Makhachkala. If someone was detained by civilians after a terrorist attack and given over to the police (or to “cops” in your journalistic parlance), all of Daghestan would have been buzzing about it until now.
Latynina's Echo Moskvy colleague Vladimir Varfolomeev reposted [ru] Latynina’s story on his blog, and most of the comments he received reflected growing cynicism with Russian law enforcement officials. Many sarcastically commented on the alleged fact that Sokolov had confessed to the Volgograd bombing:
Главное, перед смертью по телефону успел взять на себя ответственность за взрыв в Волгограде!
The most important thing is that before he died he had the time to take responsibility for the explosion in Volgograd over the phone!
Others were also skeptical of Latynina’s story:
А почему вы об этом сразу не написали, а стали ждать “сообщений об этом по новостям”?
And why didn’t you write about this right away, but waited for “reports about this on the news”?
We may never find out how Sokolov found his end. But the opaque nature of routine counter-terror operations only encourages the conspiracy theories in which the Russian blogosphere takes so much delight.

author: Nina Jobe