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Poland: Online Grief After 10.04.2010 · Global Voices
Sylwia Presley

Poland begins the official week-long mourning period after a plane crash killed the Polish President and 95 other officials yesterday in Russia's Smolensk region. All major online news portals, social media services, governmental websites as well as portals of Polish organizations around the world have changed their color palettes to gray, black and white to express unity with the nation's grief.
Google.pl has added a black ribbon to its main site, along with these words:
In memory of the President of the Republic of Poland, Lech Kaczyński, and all the victims.
Polish search engines, Wirtualna Polska and Onet.pl have changed their logos:
Gazeta.pl portal of a Polish daily is black and white now, features images of the deceased presidential couple, and has added a black ribbon to its logo:
Blogging engine Blox.pl also features a black logo now:
Same with the major social media sites: Blip, Flaker, Wykop and Nasza-Klasa:
Radio stations, like RMF FM [PL], have changed their programming for this week, are using toned down design and encourage listeners to post their condolences [PL] online.
Governmental websites have also stripped their portals of all colors except black and white. Prezydent.pl – a portal specifically dedicated to the President himself, has posted a photograph of the presidential couple – and a quote from a poem by Zbigniew Herbert:
…and the forest of Katyń evaporates fog…
Polish Embassies and Consulates have joined in the expression of grief. The Polish Consulate in New York changed the design of their site's header:
Polish institutes around the world are also expressing their sorrow. The Polish Cultural Institute in London changed the design of their website and posted this note:
It is with heavy hearts that we mourn the loss of our nation's President, Mr. Lech Kaczynski, in the company of his gracious wife and the many statespersons who have perished along with him.
According to the appropriate protocol of State, all government institutions will commence a week long period of mourning through which we pay tribute to the exceptional individuals that we have lost. As such, all previously scheduled activities of the Polish Cultural Institute have been suspended or cancelled where delay is not possible.  While this inconvenience is most regrettable we are confident that you will join with us in solidarity as we remember those lives that have passed before us.
While in Poland people are buying and displaying the Polish flag and black ribbons, all across social media users express their solidarity by adding the ‘Poland’ Twibbon to their avatars, as well as changing their avatar photos; below are examples from Nasza-Klasa [PL] social network:
A Polish blog from London, the Polski blog, posts an explanation of the extent of the current crisis [PL]:
The fact that this tragedy mirrors [the events of March 1940] is a very cruel twist of history and a massive blow to a country which in recent years has been emerging from decades of humiliation and suffering. And that’s regardless of what whoever thinks about the President, whose conservative policies and controversial comments often polarised the society.
Poland will need to brace itself for a very difficult period of rebuilding its power structures. Questions will be asked about the incident, about security policies, about the next steps. But I just hope this time Poland will take a more mature, less divisive approach to these issues.
For now, however, Poland is in the state of mourning – offline and virtually. Until Friday, we Poles will read the news, browse for information and official announcements as well as talk to each other in the palette of gray, black and red colors dominating the Polish Internet.
Polskatimes.pl logo


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Poland: R.I.P. Black Saturday 10.04.2010 · Global Voices
Sylwia Presley

Candles in Warsaw, photo by Maria Seidel
As we live through the first 24 hours of the tragedy of the Polish nation, social media present various reactions to this morning's events, when Poland lost its President and 95 other important personalities.
On Facebook, people are gathering in newly established groups:
[*] for Poles who died today near Smoleńsk.
We unite in tragedy
R.I.P. Black Saturday 10.04.2010
Some still struggle with accepting the facts:
Others stress the importance of remembering today's catastrophe and the place where it happened:
Many point out the sad irony of the entire accident:
They flew to pay tribute to the victims of Katyń and became victims themselves…
In front of Presidential Palace, Warsaw, photo by Maria Seidel
Social networking site ‘Nasza-Klasa’ also hosts a significant amount of posts expressing condolences to families, sadness for the nation and a new vision of unity around the person of the President for the entire country:
When he lived some supported him, others opposed him. The tragedy caused everyone to back him up! It's sad that only now he was chosen for the President, while we used to joke about him during his life… now it's only sadness and grief because Our President is gone and many others too. It's sad and depressing that only now he is appreciated (*) Feeling strongly for their families and those who really regret it all !!!!
A scout girl in Warsaw, photo by Maria Seidel
While waiting for official statements, on forums and in comments to news articles, people start discussing the actual reasons behind the accident. Roled lists the most obvious ones:
1. You fly old trash, which even pilots fear to manage.
2. You fly old trash in difficult weather conditions, without seeing a thing.
3. You decide to land this trash in an airport which is unsuitable for difficult conditions.
4. On board you have 80+ people, mainly the important ones.
5. It is common knowledge that a certain person already has a history of forcing pilots to be “less scared” [referring to the President's previous request to land in bad conditions]
The results, if one can think clearly, are for them to see.
Wujek_extrema speculates [PL]:
Sadly, I do believe in the pressure put on pilots. I can almost hear one of them say: “We will not let the Russians dictate what we should do” – especially on the way to Katyń. It will be an international shame on us, once it becomes official.
nych refers to the possibility of the President's intervention [PL]:
If the Russians advised them not to land, I am sure Kaczor [President] personally decided otherwise, he could not run late for the mess.
xyz points out the potential reasons behind decisions of this kind [PL]:
There were experienced pilots and generals on board. They must have been conscious of landing risks of that type of machine in those conditions. It could have been the case of some people taking the advice of changing airport as planned delay/making it impossible to take part in celebrations and maybe they were too ambitious – we will never know the truth.
pfg questions the irresponsibility of having so many officials travel on the same plane [PL]:
I do understand that the President flew with MP's, his ministers, general Gągor and other officials. But all major army heads in one plane – it is unbelievable.
While we are still waiting for answers to those questions, Wykop users focus [PL] on the fact that the world is learning the truth about the Katyń massacre itself. Hemus writes [PL]:
@JamesikR Despite the tragedy of the whole situation, you are right. Even though I have mixed feelings, I think that maybe today's tragedy will open the eyes of the West and we will not hear in future statements about the “Polish concentration camps.” Death of those dozens of people will not shade the death of thousands.
Mczarny follows up on the comments of users who claim that high traffic on main search engines is due to simple curiosity about the accident:
Thank God for human curiosity. I will go further to state that today's tragedy will not go wasted and will show what others were fighting for – the memory. Sadly, they paid the highest price.
Zexon comments [PL] on a positive note, mentioning that is can also lead to better relationships between Poland and Russia:
And maybe there'll be an improvement in the Polish-Russian relationships.
All flags at half mast, photo by Maria Seidel
Blogging engine blox.pl, in response to increasing amount of blog reactions, has asked [PL] readers to collate their posts in the comments section. Bloggers, like Grzegorz Ajdukiewicz, share [PL] their stories of the day, including photos:
This tragical event totally ruined my day. I started going to an event in the series called Photo Day (already edition #8.0). In the area of closed for refurbishment Central Station dozens of reporters gathered. One of them marched next to me talking on the phone. I heard “President,” “all died?” etc. I thought it was a joke (saying something in the crowd to start a gossip). I walked out of the stinky underground passage and walked into the almost closed down bar, where to my surprise they still had a TV LCD. It was on, a few people stared at it with open mouths. It was 9:56 AM. Everything became apparent. It was not a joke! Sadly!
Others, like yesss, keep their posts very short [PL]:
Pity for the people, it is people I am sad for. Not looking at colors and opinions. Deeply sad.
Bronisław Komorowski, who stepped in to lead the country until the next election, reassured the Poles in their feelings of this day in his official speech [PL]:
Today in the light of our national drama we are united. Today there is no left, no right wing. Division of opinions and beliefs is of no importance. Today we are united, standing in the front of the enormous drama, in the eye of the death of many people. We join in the pain of families of the victims and in the worry of our Motherland bereaved by them.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Sylwia Presley


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Poland: Video Reactions to the Deadly Plane Crash · Global Voices
Sylwia Presley

Following the shocking news of the death of President Lech Kaczyński and 95 other officials, Poland starts the official week of mourning. Next to an enormous amount of reactions in various online venues, video messages present themselves as a very powerful tool to express the feelings of the nation.
Natalia10odd posts her poem, including an English translation:
Bettymegami pays tribute to Lech Kaczyński:
Sasuuka reminds us of the faces and names of all the victims of the plane crash:
The most striking is this simple message of the Polish flag, a black ribbon and the Polish national anthem starting with lyrics ‘Poland is not vanished, until we are alive…’ in the context of its title – ‘In memory of the victims who died on April 10, 2010″ uploaded by gucio3417:


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Russia: Eyewitness Story Of Polish Plane Crash in Smolensk · Global Voices
Gregory Asmolov

LJ user elena-pushistay shares [RUS] an eyewitness story about the Polish plane crash near Smolensk, told to her by a local woman named Lyudmila, who lives just 3 km from the military airport where the tragedy took place.

author: Gregory Asmolov


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Russia: Reactions to the Polish Tragedy · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

April 10, 2010, the day that should have started a new era in the Russian-Polish relations, brought tragic news [EN] instead. Airplane with the highest Polish establishment on board crashed in the Smolensk forest. The reaction of the Russian blogosphere was divided as usual when it comes to the Russian-Polish relations.
The discussion went into several directions: 1) copy-pasting of the news, 2) figuring out whose fault it was, 3) messages of sorrow and solidarity with the Polish people, 4) conspiracy theories accusing Russian security services of causing the crash, 5) hate speech about Lech Kaczynski, the Polish President who died in the crash, and other politicians, and mystical justifications of the crash, 6) discussions on the future of the Russian-Polish relations, 7) comparison with previous deaths of Polish presidents connected with Russia (Bierut [EN] and Sikorski [EN]).
The first wave of information about the tragedy led to copy-pasting and attempts to find whose fault it was. The topic gathered about 5,200 blog posts. Even though posts of sorrow and solidarity weren't numerous on the blogs, Facebook users were much more willing to share their feelings. Facebook status updates were more personal, usually very short (and written by more internationalized audience). A Facebook group “Bring flowers to the Polish embassy” [RUS] was set up.
Warsaw-based Aleksander Pryazhnikov posted a picture of people listening to Prime Minister Tusk's speech at one of Warsaw's shops:
Warsawians watching PM Tusk's speech, photo by Alexander Pryazhnikov
Marina Litvinovich was the first to call Russians to bring flowers [RUS] to the Polish embassy, providing the address of it in Moscow. Later Veronica Khokhlova [EN] posted pictures of the candles and flowers by the fence of the embassy (more pictures are available here [EN]):
Flowers at the Polish Embassy in Moscow, photo by Veronica Khokhlova
Sergey Kornienko, a businessman from Kaliningrad region (former Eastern Prussia, Russia's only region with direct border with Poland), posted pictures [RUS] of the Polish Consulate in Kaliningrad:
Flowers at the Kaliningrad Consulate, photo by Sergei Kornienko
Those who were mostly focused on the reasons of the crash were either blaming the President or the pilots. On the other side of the discussion was former pilot Sergey Verevkin, who suggested [RUS] it might have been the error of the airport equipment. However, the version that it was Kaczynski's fault was more widespread. Bloggers referred to a similar case in 2008, when Kaczynski had a conflict with a pilot [PL] about landing in Tbilisi during the South Ossetia War [EN].
Besides this interpretation, an ugly, anti-Polish version was widely transmitted, implying the plane was full of “anti-Russian” politicians and it was a “higher justice” that the crash happened on the Russian ground. Those who transmitted this version were bringing to example Kaczynski's decision to name one of Warsaw streets after Dzhokhar Dudayev [EN], a controversial figure who is considered a national villain in Russia and an independence leader in Poland, as well as other controversial sayings by Kaczynski and other right-wing politicians who were on the plane. As kirpits wrote [RUS]:
Этот самолёт был переполнен ненавистью к россиянам и России, он просто не мог не упасть – слишком много было камней за пазухой…
Alexey Melnikov, member of the Yabloko party, made a list of the most common hate-speech sayings [RUS] on the topic. He concluded that ten years of Putin's reign has brought to life a whole generation of people ready to react joyfully to such horrible events.
The other “extreme” view was expressed in a series of posts with conspiracy theory versions. LJ user shimerli suggested [RUS] there could have been deliberate misinformation of the pilot. LJ user esselt questioned the mainstream media messages. Jaga-lux tried to critically analyze [RUS] the circumstances of the flight.
Russian liberals were uniform in their solidarity with the Polish people. The first page of the website [RUS] of Echo Moskvy (a liberal radio station and recently a blogging platform) was filled only with the reflections on the Polish tragedy. Russian political celebrities and bloggers wrote their condolences: Eduard Limonov [RUS], Vladimir Soloviev [RUS], Leonid Radzikhovski [RUS] and others. But the most appealing was Matvey Ganapolski's address (widely cited in the Polish media):
я прошу прощения и перед Польшей, как страной. Я понимаю, что лично ничем перед ней не провинился, но я россиянин и поэтому чувствую частичку своей вины просто потому, что на моей территории погибли граждане его страны.

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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Sudan: A complex election · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Hafiz discusses the difficulty of voting in Sudan: “In one village the nearest polling station takes around 4 hours by hours by lorry to be reached, as there are no proper roads.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Sudan: Peace prospects brighten dreams · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Nina writes about peace and hope in South Sudan: “But because I live here and see examples of courage and strength every day also, I know there is hope. Even though last year more people died in South Sudan than in Darfur, peace is now taking hold for the first time in decades and people are filled with a new energy and confidence.”


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Taiwan: HTC under attack on labour rights issue · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A union blog, Young Fast Optoelectronics Trade Union (YFOTU), reports on a protest against mobile phone company HTC which neglects the labour condition and labour rights violation of its supplier.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Thailand: Bloggers document violent clashes · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

21 dead. 858 injured.
These were the casualties in yesterday’s violent clash between Red Shirt protesters and soldiers in Thailand. The Red Shirts, which have been protesting in the streets for one month already, want Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign, dissolve the Parliament and call for a new round of elections.
Tony Joh documented the violent clash between protesters and soldiers at Phan Fa bridge.
Tony’s brief narration of the bloody event
Earlier in the day the army had pushed their way into Phan Fa bridge and had forced the protesters back, well this evening the protesters decided to mount a comeback.
At first the situation was relatively calm with the army playing soft soothing music to try and keep the situation peaceful. However that all changed in a split second as gunfire erupted and the crowd attacked with plastic water bottles and bamboo sticks.
The army, outnumbered and perhaps sensing that they were losing control opened fire on the crowd. People ran and ducked for cover as the sound of automatic gunfire range out over the protest site. Soon the protesters were picking up even deadlier weapons and suddenly the army was hit by a barrage of rocks and Molotov cocktails.
The army at this point decided to retreat and surrendered their thanks and armour personnel carriers to the red shirts, who attacked them with sticks and shields.
Nirmal Ghosh was also an eyewitness of the violent clash
The army had bizarrely set up a sound truck which was blasting out '70s disco hits in an attempt to keep the mood light. When I got there they were playing Boney M's “Rasputin.” A local truce was negotiated between a red shirt and the army unit commander.
But red shirts reinforced their fellow protestors in large numbers both at Ratchaprasong and at Rajadamnoen, and by nightfall it seemed inevitable that the army’s push to clear Rajadamnoen and Pan Fah, would go wrong.
The mood at Ratchaprasong where the main red shirt protest is camped was stable and even upbeat. But at Rajadamnoen in the Democracy Monument-Kao San road area, hours of standoffs and some skirmishes erupted into nasty full scale pitched battles with troops shooting directly at red shirts with both rubber and live bullets.
At Khao San road, an area swarming with tourists, violence also erupted
Journotopia's twitter feed is must-read:  “Barricades going up at Khao San. Reds preparing for soldiers’ return. Several pools of blood on road…. Don't listen to bland Thai govt reassuarances. Khao San is a dangerous place. I've seen 2 tourists with injuries…  Khao San lis shuttered up, red shirts everywhere.    It looks like a warzone…  Pitched battles in streets around Khao San. Tourists ducking for cover. A red shirt with an AK47.   Scenes of chaos at Khao San. Tourists tell me they saw horrific inuries, an old man with an eye hanging out.”
A short video clip showing the tense atmosphere at Khao San Road
A reader sent this email to New Mandala. This report describes the impact of the clash between soldiers and protesters.
Walking toward the protest, I noticed that there was a feeling of defiance in the air, but also weariness. All those walking back in the other direction looked extremely tired, and many were covered in grime, if not cuts and bruises. I also noticed here and there individuals (as well as an entire family, children included) who appeared to have “souvenired” some police helmets, riot shields and batons somewhere along the way.
A column of Armoured Personnel Carriers extending into one of the side streets. Swarming all over them were hundreds of red shirts, who were literally tearing them to pieces with their bare hands. Occasionally, they would stop so a middle-class Bangkok family could come and pose in front of the APC’s, perhaps lifting their children up on top for a better shot, but it wasn’t long until the demolitions began again in earnest.
But one didn’t need video evidence to know that violence had taken place there. The doors of all the shop-houses up and down the streets were riddled with the dents of rubber bullets. The streets themselves had been transformed into a mosaic of broken glass, stones and other debris. And then there was the blood
Nicholas Day shares his experience during the commotion. He also gives a clearer characterization of the Red Shirt protesters
Whether the bullets were live or just blanks I do not know. If they were live then they must not have been fired into the crowd in that confined space or a large number of people would have been dead. We did not move back far, we didn’t even get back onto Rajadamern road. People stopped their retreat and stayed on, although maybe at a slightly safer distance than before. People were saying that they were not real bullets. The people who did not move at all were the red-shirt guards who stayed right where they were at the front of their barricade. These guys must either be crazy or very determined and well disciplined, or maybe a bit of both.
I have learnt a few things in these last few hours. One is that tear-gas is really nasty stuff; the other is that the soldiers will need to use a hell of a lot of it to remove the red-shirts from Rajadamnern road.
Bloggers have already posted several pictures of the bloody confrontation in Bangkok. Some soldiers were hostaged by protesters during the encounter. They were released the following day.
After touring the site of confrontation, Thailand's Troubles concludes that soldiers didn't use live rounds in dispersing the crowd
The Prime Minister's claim of troops only shooting into the air with live rounds is incorrect and may be an outright lie. It has yet again been shown that Thai troops are ill-led, ill-equipped and ill-trained for tackling civil unrest without resorting to deadly force. Whether troops mounted their assault with orders to shoot at demonstrators or did so for reasons of personal malice may again never be known. But sending under-trained and poorly-led troops, with little experience of such imbroglios, into a tense and difficult situation with live rounds is a recipe for trouble.
Thai officials wanted protesters to end the rallies which have been hurting the economy, especially the tourism sector. Because of the violent clash, the political standoff is expected to worsen.

author: Mong Palatino


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Uruguay: Pictures of Painting a Mural · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The blog Con la Cámara en el Bolsillo [es] (With a Camera in my Pocket) is dedicated to capturing images around Montevideo, Uruguay. Fonzi recently published photos of the process of painting a mural.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Zambia: Election 2011 Project · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Zambian Economist blog has a project for 2011 elections: “I would like to bring together some of the committed minds Zambia has, at home and abroad, to put together a series of policy articles on a number of areas. The idea is to run these from the first month in 2011.”


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Bangladesh: On Ideologues · Global Voices
Rezwan

Jiten Roy at Mukto-Mona comments:  “It’s not easy to have a discussion with an ideologue because they believe in the absoluteness of their views, and their minds are closed; there is no room for accommodation.”

author: Rezwan


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Barbados: Accountability  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The ongoing CLICO saga presents a headache for Barbados”: Barbados Underground thinks that “it all comes back to the degree Barbadians are willing to hold our politicians and civil servants accountable.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago: Plan of Action  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados’ Allegiance wonders what Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Manning's political plan really is.


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Bolivia: Electoral Court Accused of Fraud by Government · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

After the April 4th local elections in Bolivia, Mario Durán of Palabras Libres [es] writes that the National Electoral Court is under fire accused of fraud by the national government because of some results that did not go their way.


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Central African Republic: Confusion as Opposition calls for a Boycott of the Elections · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Adrien Poussou  tries to sort out the political confusion as the Central African Republic is preparing for elections (fr).  Poussou blames the president for allowing a member of his own party organize the electoral process but  he also criticizes the opposition for being too disorganized to provide a clear alternative to the current situation.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Central Asia: Writing “About Each Other, For Each Other” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sarah Kendzior of Registan.net writes about the significance of Kyrgyzstan's and Central Asian social media and points out some external observers’ distorted view of them: “There is another internet, a secret internet, in which meaningful political conversations take place in Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Kazakh, Turkmen, and Tajik, yet the majority of the world remains none the wiser. […] Thanks to the internet, the world can hear what innumerable Central Asians have to say. The question is whether they care to listen.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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China: Appeal for Hu Jia’s release amid fears of liver cancer · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Wife of imprisoned blogger and activist Hu Jia, Zeng Jinyan, has issued an appeal calling for Hu's release on medical grounds following reports that he might have developed a form of liver cancer. Artist Wu Wenjian speculates that with standard practice being to provide sick inmates with treatment (in addition to prison fears of inmate deaths), the decision to deny Hu hospitalization must have come from above.

author: John Kennedy


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China: Chinese version of ChinaGeek · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

China Geek announced the launching of its Chinese version. The blog will translate China commentary from the English-language blogosphere, giving Chinese readers a view into the Western discourse on China and a way to get involved in that discourse.


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China: Writer’s call to eliminate the Internet · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN translated Chinese writer, Ma Jia's comment on Internet Literature. The writer claimed in a literary forum that had he the power, he would eliminate the Internet.


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Ecuador: Dispelling Misconceptions About the Saraguro Indigenous Community · Global Voices
Milton Ramirez

The Ecuadorian indigenous community of the Saraguro is readily identifiable by their traditional dress. The men, wearing their traditional short pants, black poncho, flat white felt hats with wide brims, and with their hair tied in a single braid running down their backs, are a commonplace sight in and around parishes like Selva Alegre, Manú, San Lucas, Cera and Tenta. The women can also be seen wearing a single braid, their traditional hat, shiny nickel or silver shawl pins (tupus), a pleated skirt (anaco), and wearing bright breaded necklaces.
Migration, however, has had its consequences, without exact statistics, it is estimated that  50% of Saraguros [es]  are actually living in Spain and Italy. This new vision of the world has led to seeing young Saraguro boys in western style baseball caps, western printed T-shirts, but still wearing traditional short pants and long braided hair.
A Saraguro playing the Kipa, a percussion instrument used in communication and musical celebrations. Photo courtesy of Angel Gualan.
Due to assimilation pressures and bilingual education, Kichwa is an language that the Saraguros have been trying to preserve.  Through Kichwa literacy and radio broadcasting programs in their own language, the Saraguros are revitalizing Kichwa.  Among young Saraguros and those who have migrated, their native language is rarely spoken. Only a small number of the oldest generation (people over 60) know this language according to an investigation performed by William Fischer.
Indigenous communities are not well represented in the Ecuadorian blogosphere. However, the Saraguro community is an exception.  Angel Gualán, a professor and a member, has been blogging to help preserve his native tongue, but he also tries to demystify some misconceptions about Saraguros. In his recently updated blog Mashi Angel Gualán [es] he explains the struggles and myths Saraguros have to live with. Non-indigenous often use pejoratives to identify them like ‘indio’, ‘joto’ and ‘primo’ which Gualan has experienced the racism firsthand [es]. The following are some of the misconceptions of the Saraguro indigenous community in North of Loja, as explained by Gualán:
Saraguros dress in black as an eternal mourning to Atahualpa
Esto si definitivamente es falso, la vestimenta viene de la historia, algunos historiadores dicen que  los indígenas Saraguros eran los que hacían el protocolo real al inca, y siempre andaban con el, cuando Atahualpa mure ellos se quedas en las zonas  hoy conocida como Saraguro, luego se expanden a los lugares mas cercanos como San Lucas y Tenta, ahora se ha expandido en algunos lugares así tenemos colonias muy grandes en la provincia de Zamora Chinchipe, de hecho un Indígena Saraguro es prefecto de esa provincia.
Otra razón por lo que un indígena Saraguro se viste de negro y blanco , es que la materia prima para su vestimenta autentica es la lana de borrego, y estos ofrecen lana de color blanco o negro, anteriormente no se conocia la tinta, desde ahí queda la vestimenta de esta manera.
Ademas el negro combina con todo , no me veo poniendo un pantalón de otro color, aunque en diferentes culturas del norte del Ecuador difiere mucho la vestimenta.
This is definitely false, clothing comes from history, some historians say that the Saraguro indigenous communities were those who followed the royal protocol towards the Inca, and they were always with him. When Atahualpa was killed, they stayed in areas known today as Saraguro, which later expanded to nearby places like San Lucas and Tenta, they have now expanded in some other places so we have very large colonies in the province of Zamora Chinchipe, in fact, an Saraguro indigenous member is Prefect in that province.
Another reason that a Saraguro wears black and white is that the raw material for his traditional clothing is made from wool from sheep, and they offer white or black wool; before ink was ever known, since then clothing stays this way.
Besides that, the black color goes with everything, I can't see myself wearing pants of another color, although in different cultures of northern Ecuador clothing is very different.
If Saraguros get a haircut they are disinherited.
La cultura es como la marca de familia, si uno reniega la cultura reniega la familia, existen personas muy arraigadas a la cultura que a veces pueden tomar esa decisión, ha pasado últimamente en la gente joven que siguen las modas de otras culturas y desean aparecerse a esa persona diferente, también por encajar en mundo nuevo de ciudad, definitivamente es duro convivir en una ciudad donde no tienes amigos que piense como tu, y es mas fácil uno pensar como ellos, ahí es cuando se pierde la verdadera identidad, después de un largo tiempo vuelven a sus raíces.
Muchos chicos se cortan el pelo por el tema, del continuo comentarios racistas que reciben, deciden parecerse a ellos para que no les digan mas esos comentarios, definitivamente mal…
Culture is like the mark of the family, if one denies one's culture, the one denies one's family, there are people deeply rooted in the culture that sometimes they can make that decision, it has happened lately with young people who follow the fashions of other cultures and who want to look like a different person, also for wanting to fit with the new world of a city, it is definitely hard to live in a city where you have no friends who think alike, and it is easier to think like them, that's when the true identity is lost. After a long time, they return to their roots.
Many young Saraguros cut their hair because of one issue, the continued racist comments they receive, then they decide to look just like those who insult them, so that they no longer make those comments, it is definitely wrong.
Male or female Saraguros cannot marry someone outside of their own culture.
Respuesta, Falso, eso ya depende de cada persona, decide con quien desea compartir su vida, y para prueba de ello existen personas que se han casado con chik@s de la ciudad, de otra cultura e incluso de otra nacionalidad.
All Saraguros speak Kichwa.
No todos lamentablementa hablamos el kichwa idioma nativo, Por que desde nuestros abuelos han ido perdiendo nuestra lengua y no nos hemos preocupado por recuperar.
También otro de los factores muy importante para perder este idioma fue la  implantación de la educación hispana, donde nos enseñaron que para pasar de grado debíamos hablar bien el español y que el kichwa no valía para nada.
Ahora estamos luchando por recuperar nuestra lengua, jóvenes que tenemos el sentido de identidad propia, aprenderemos y pronto recuperaremos este idioma tan preciado.
Unfortunately, not all speak the native language kichwa, ever since from the time of our grandparents, they have been losing our language and we have not been concerned enough to recover it.
Also another very important factor for losing this language was the implementation of Hispanic education, which taught us that for passing grades, we had to speak Spanish very well and that Kichwa was not good for anything.
Now we are struggling to regain our language, the young people who have a sense of identity, will learn the language and soon we will recover such a precious language.

author: Milton Ramirez


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Russia: Facebook to Open Office · Global Voices
Gregory Asmolov

Russian daily Vedomosti reports [RUS] that Facebook is going to open its office in Moscow and develop cooperation with local cellular companies. So far, most Russians have been using local social networking platforms (e.g., Vkontakte, Odnoklassniki, Moy Mir). The article's translation is published [ENG] in The Moscow Times.


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Global Voices Summit 2010: Countdown to Santiago · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, France, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Liberia, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Uruguay, USA, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Yemen.
Those, in case you were wondering, are the 60-plus countries—and counting—that will be represented at this year's Global Voices Citizen Media Summit.
Biblioteca de Santiago, venue for the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2010. Photo courtesy Biblioteca de Santiago
In 25 days’ time, on May 6, 2010, over 200 people from the four corners of planet earth will gather at the Bibiloteca de Santiago in Santiago, Chile, for the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2010. Moving this number of people across the globe takes some doing, and for us on the planning team, the past few months have been spent figuring out how to get people from cities like Lilongwe, Colombo, Port-au-Prince and Ulan Bator to Santiago, booking hotel rooms, sorting out visa applications, and, most of all, designing and refining the Summit format and program. Then refining it again.
This year's program will include plenary discussions, topic-based breakout groups, open “unconference”-style sessions and hands-on training workshops. Ten-minute showcases of outstanding citizen media projects will be interspersed throughout the event. We'll be facilitating online, real-time participation and will be capturing, translating, and publishing the knowledge and conversations coming out of the meeting as part of the process.
We're also excited about the announcement of the results of the inaugural Google/Global Voices Breaking Borders Award, which will take place on the evening of the first Summit day on May 6. The award recognises exceptional online initiatives promoting freedom of expression, and the winners will be flown to Santiago to attend both the Summit and the awards ceremony.
If you'd like to join us in Santiago, we've still got room. You can register via the Summit web site, which is also available in Spanish. The registration fee is $75, which covers attendance at the two days of the event, with a special fee of US$40 (CPL$22,500) for Chilean residents.
If you'd like to join us, but can't, we'll be streaming portions of the program live on May 6-7. Also check out blog posts by the Global Voices community and our speakers at the Summit web site and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
More news about the Summit very soon!
The Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2010 is made possible by Google, MacArthur Foundation, Open Society Institute, Knight Foundation, Hivos, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Yahoo, with support from Fundacion Ciudadano Inteligente and the Observatorio de Comunicaciones Digitales.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Hungary: A Long Election Day · Global Voices
Marietta Le

The first round of the parliamentary elections in Hungary took place on April 11. Fidesz, a center-right party, won over 50 percent of the vote, securing 206 of 386 seats in parliament; the Hungarian Socialist Party claimed 28 seats; Jobbik, a far-right party, made significant gains, winning 26 seats. The second round of the election, in which the fate of the remaining 121 seats will be decided, is scheduled for April 25.
Voter turnout in this election was 64.36 percent; in some areas, voters had to wait hours before they could cast their ballots. U.S.-based Eva S. Balogh of Hungarian Spectrum reported on the night of the vote:
Well, I thought that I would be able to give definitive news on the results of the Hungarian elections by 2 p.m. EST, but there was quite a bit of delay thanks to last-minute voters in certain electoral districts. I still have no idea exactly what happened, but just before the polls were scheduled to close at 7 p.m. in Hungary long lines developed. Naturally, conspiracy theories abound. […]
The problem was that the lines were so long that they were unable to vote for hours after the polls should have closed, and the National Election Committee decided to extend the campaign silence until all of the stragglers voted. The media's election coverage was shut down, and the only thing reporters and their high-level guests could talk about was the decision of the National Election Committee. Eventually, when about 99% of the ballots had been counted, the Committee decided to lift the campaign silence. […]
Index.hu reported (HUN) that the long queues were the result of a law modification initiated by prime minister Gordon Bajnai in 2007, when he was Minister for Municipalities and Regional Development. The new, stricter regulation generated higher numbers of participants in some big cities’ electoral districts, because those who wanted to vote in other places than their assigned electoral district could actually vote anywhere by showing a document of verification. This is why the more popular electoral districts had to cope with a new problem: they didn't have enough space and time to guarantee that everyone could vote there before the polls closed at 7 PM. According to a report (HUN), the last voter waited for his turn until 1:15 AM.
On the night of the vote, the public television aired live (HUN) some parts of the National Election Committee's assembly, interrupting it with some comments and live reports from electoral districts where there were still hundreds of people waiting. A reporter from Bocskay Road announced that he met a Czech TV crew, and this soon became a trending topic on Twitter (HUN), quoting the host, Gergő Süveges (HUN) at the TV channel's studio, who said that even the colleagues from the Czech Republic could make it to Hungary sooner than the Hungarian National Election Committee arrived to the point of making a decision on releasing the results after several hours of discussion. This comment quickly turned the host, an ordinary public TV journalist, into a popular media person.
A few mock Facebook groups were promptly created. One, for instance, was named after the National Election Committee (HUN), while another had this title: This group will sooner have 10,000 members than the election results (HUN).
Tomi of Gombapresszó was not among those who had to wait to cast a vote, but this election day was quite memorable for him still: he was there not only to vote himself, but also to document his daughter's first voting experience (HUN):
I could say that I remember the day when I was a first-time voter, but except for some blurry details (walking down Lenin Road with my father who had had a suit on), it's only the feeling that has remained […]. I was very proud of myself. Even the fact that communists organized the event didn't upset me, though they were well-known for not being the popes of multiple choice. But I didn't realize it then that I had only been invited to be a “voting gentleman.”
Yesterday's election was a real one, and my daughter Liza got a remembrance certificate about it.
It was impossible to find any sign of pride on her, though I tried to rake up this feeling in her […]. Anyway, I recorded the event – in case she wants to remember the day, she has the help. […]
By midnight, when everybody was aware of the almost fully processed results, Eva S. Balogh posted this comment on the outcome of the first round:
[…] The results were not terribly surprising: Fidesz won with 52.77% after the first round, which translates into 206 seats out of a total of 386. So Fidesz has achieved an absolute majority. Whether the party will receive the much desired two-thirds majority is still undecided and uncertain. We will know the answer in two weeks after the second round of voting when there will be a runoff in all districts where no candidate received more than 50% of the votes.
MSZP ended up second with 19.29% of the votes followed by Jobbik with 16.71%. Pretty devastating. LMP‘s showing was surprisingly strong: 7.42%. Unfortunately MDF didn't get into parliament. Ibolya Dávid, chairman of the party, promptly resigned. I think that MDF‘s involvement with the remnant of SZDSZ was a serious mistake. I'm really sorry about the failure of MDF because I think that Hungary badly needs a genuinely conservative party.[…]
Gábor Török, a political analyst whose blog (HUN) became famous among netizens when the campaign started, attended the mentioned public TV live broadcast and after arriving home he published a post (HUN) with a fast analysis:
[…] General picture: The election of 2010 brought a remarkable change in the Hungarian party system: the previous iffy two-party system trembled and fell apart. Fidesz-KDNP won with the highest rate of votes since 1990, on the opposition side arose two mid-parties and one surprisingly strong small one. In addition to that, concerning first round participation of voters (64,3%), it was similar to the three (1990, 1994, 2006) previous elections, but after 1998 the second lowest – though higher than anticipated. […]

author: Marietta Le


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India, Pakistan: Sania-Shoaib Mania Rolls On · Global Voices
Faisal Kapadia

The Shoaib Malik and Sania mirza  wedding controversy has been an awakening for people on the both sides of the India, Pakistan border. With the media blitz, it seems people of both the countries are witnessing a desi version of “papparazzi” as TV channels, print media and other agencies have hounded, gleaned and extracted any bit of information possible about this impending wedding.
Past skeletons have crept up on Shoaib in the form of his “ex wife” Ayesha  Siddiqui, whom he had to officially divorce to end the controversy. The allegations and the judicial case on him in India have now been taken back by the Siddiqui family for an alleged Rs. 150 million in alimony. The twists and turns of the story have been pure mayhem for media and obviously the bloggers are not far behind. The blogsphere in India and Pakistan  have literally lit up with views and debates, some think its a sign of peace to come while others cite this marriage as a source for future acrimony.
Syed Zaki Ahmed at Pak spectator thinks that the marriage and the noise is good for businesses:
Now in this situation how could businessmen lag behind. Businessmen in Pakistan have joined the party as they are getting orders for hundreds of thousands of T-shirts  featuring Shoaib and Sania ahead of their wedding that is expected to take place next week on 15 April.
They call me muslim blog comments on the rationale behind the decision Sania Mirza took to marry Shoaib  Malik:
What can Indian Muslims learn from Sania’s very personal decision? It is this: never be apologetic about Pakistan. Do not be needlessly cynical about that country out of fear of being dubbed a traitor. You are not.
The Hindu right wing parties, from Bajrang Dal to Shiv Sena, did make a meal of Sania’s decision. Yet, the bouncy tennis sensation took the plunge. Why? Simply because, deep in her heart, love for a Pakistani and being Indian need not necessarily be a conflicting experience.
However, Capricious thinks the marriage is going to fail:
* Sania Mirza got all the fame, popularity, wealth and iconic status in a very young age. She became a darling of India, pampered and loved by all Indians and projected by Indian and world media. [..] She is a independent girl. Unlike majority of Muslim girls of  the subcontinent, she doesn’t need a husband for the bread and butter. [..] The sense of providing livelihoods to the family is some thing on which man’s character, attitude and his authority develops. It gives the typical Pakistani Muslim mediocre mindset. This mindset always demands some thing extra and undue favor from the wives. Which will be absent in the marriage. The luxury of being “husband” could not be availed by Shoaib Malik.
Whilst every day brings new news like the Pakistani PM sending a  special gift for the couple, the diatribe continues elsewhere. Sunni Ulema Board, a group of religious scholars, reportedly issued a ‘fatwa’ (religious edict) against Sania and Shoaib for mingling freely and living together before the marriage is solemnized. There has even been a term coined on twitter for this union with  the hashtag #shoania
We have seen rumor mongering reports that the actual nikah (marriage registry) took place on the 9th of April. But nothing is over until Sania and Shoaib say it's over. It seems the media is feeding the mania and millions of people in both the country remain engrossed with all these.
Obviously this will continue till the 15th of April, as two very emotional nations watch a movie like story transforming itself in real life.

author: Faisal Kapadia


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Israel/Palestine: Will There Ever Be A Deal For Shalit?  · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has been held by Hamas for nearly four years, with all attempts having failed to get him released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Blogger The Other Door, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, gives his perspective on Shalit's ongoing captivity in this post.
Photo of Gilad Shalit flag by flickr user zeevveez (used under a Creative Commons licence)
The Other Door asks “Who wants Shalit?”:
He goes on:
The blogger concludes:

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Jamaica: Wet Fete?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Water Party is a staple of Jamaica's Carnival season, but Stunner cannot, in all good conscience, support the event this year, “not with this drought, not with these constant water lock-offs that I have to face.”


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Lebanon: A Bold Move · Global Voices
Layal Al Khatib

Lebanese blogger Mireille shares her friend Rita‘s plan of shaving her head to “break the chemo-therapy taboo and the conventional beauty standards” and to “raise awareness and funds for cancer” in her latest post.

author: Layal Al Khatib


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Macedonia: Ridiculous Advertising Songs · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Twitter user Blagoj Kapsarov warned [MKD] that…
The trend of ridiculous promotion continues…
…linking to a video [MKD] containing images of young singers Aleksandar Belov and Sanja Lefkova [MKD], and a tune exalting the virtues of studying at a private university in Skopje. The lyrics literally claim that…
…the best students study at MIT
it's world famous, and always a hit!
Come study at MIT, you'll become famous
and you'll always be the main man!
The Macedonian MIT is related in acronym only to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, even though zombifikacija pointed [MKD] that the brand choice with global appeal should be checked against the local linguistic context, as the word “mito” (мито) in Macedonian means ‘bribe.’
Apart from the use of a silly song, this is the latest instance of marketing practice to recruit celebrities to join the student body of private educational institutions as a way to lure customers. It was initiated by FON University in 2007, which bragged about [MKD] the enrollments of singers Toshe Proeski (who left the state music academy to major as detective) and Karolina Gocheva, as well as the football/soccer striker Goran Pandev.
As another example [MKD] of this trend, Kapsarov pointed a video [MKD] by a dairy company, featuring model Sara Leshi and the lyrics
When you're expecting guests
and need to arrange a buffet
the time is flying fast
and you must be on time
greet your guest with Zdravje Radovo!
In a comment, YouTube user paneporfavor compared the MIT advertisement to the song about Ohridska Banka (“Ohrid Bank”), which is widely considered ‘the mother of all’ ridiculous advertising songs, made famous when leaked [MKD] online in 2007, with an introduction by the editor of the portal On.net:
I read that that French company–Société Générale–is supposed to purchase Ohridska Banka. Well, it's the perfect time to raise the price of the purchase. You have to see this clip. It is not a commercial, it is psychedelia, a banking epic, madness!!! Starring Gjoko Taneski and Kate “Neli ti rekov” [name of her band]. The music is a mixture of [children's festival] Golden Nightingale and a military march. The video featuring teenage girls dancing in front of a church, and Bank clerk hotties swaying their hips! But the lyrics are the song's biggest trump card!!! Unbelievable! It goes like this:
Ohridska Banka is wherever you are,
has knowledge which adorns her always and everywhere,
it respects its savers and depositors,
and can complete all tasks with efficiency.
Ohridska Banka is a bank of trust,
known abroad and in Macedonia!
Ohridska Banka always secure
behind us we have experience and tradition.
Ohridska Banka knows about shareholding,
it already introduced electronic banking,
it knows how to achieve profitability,
and follows the trends professionally!!!
:)))))))))))))))
Hаааааааааааааааааааа!!!! You think this text is unsingable? [In Macedonian, as in English, there's no rhyme also.] Just watch!
However, do not underestimate the power of marketing in any form. Even though the bank clip never ran in the traditional media, the singer Gjoko Taneski in the meantime rose from his previous status of a local hero in Ohrid to a national representative at this year's Eurovision Song Contest.
In order to boost the appeal of Taneski's song “Jas ja imam silata” (= “I have the strength,” which local Star Wars fans translate using the synonym “I have the Force” – and say it proves Gjoko is a Jedi), his production company released an official video stuffed with local top models.

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Pakistan: Current Crisis In Khyber-Pukhtoonkhwa  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Faris Kasim at Teeth Maestro reflects on the current crisis in all the conflict affected areas of Khyber-Pukhtoonkhwa.


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Sri Lanka: A Blogger Elected As An MP · Global Voices
Rezwan

Ajith P. Perrera, a leader of the UNP party from Bandaragama, Sri Lanka and a prolific blogger has been elected as a member of parliament in the recently concluded general elections in Sri Lanka. Mr. Perrera thanks his readers for their support and is pleased to be the first blogger in Sri Lanka making it to the parliament.


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Sudan Votes After 24 Years · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Presidential and parliamentary elections are currently taking place to elect the President of Sudan and members of the National Assembly. The last time elections were held in Sudan was 24 years ago.
How does it feel to vote after so many years?
“I have never voted in my life…,” says Salva Mayardit, the leader of SPLM (Sudan People's Liberation Movement):
On Sunday morning, Cde. Salva Kiir Mayardit, chairman of the SPLM and president of the Government of Southern Sunday, cast his vote at the Kololo polling station adjacent to the ministries in Juba West. Over 50 international and domestic media, as well as a group of election observers and voters, were on hand to greet the President.
Kiir shows
Chairman Kiir showing his ink-stained left index finger after casting vote in Juba today
“I have never voted in my life and it is a good beginning in Sudan to conduct peaceful and fair elections,” said Kiir to the crowd.
Cde. Kiir arrived at 8 am sharp but was delayed due to the polling station not being fully set up. When he finally was able to vote, the President voted in four rounds of ballots with three ballots in each round – Executive, National Legislative Assembly, Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly, and the State Assembly.
SPLM Voices on the first day of voting:
On the first day of polling in Sudan’s first election in 24 years, SPLM agents throughout the South have reported slow going for voters and polling officials.
Lines of votes have been reported at many polling stations as they wait for the polling officials to begin the process, and materials continue to either be missing or still waiting to be delivered by local NEC officials in many states.
SPLM party agents in many states have also reported damaged polling kits, posting of voter lists in Arabic when most registered in English, and missing ballot papers for many elections.
Some specific reports are as follows:
As 12 noon, reports indicate that polling stations are still setting up and materials are still arriving or missing, which is delaying the vote.
SPLM officials observing polling stations in Juba saw no sign of polling officials this morning at Kator South (constituency no. 4), where voters were assembling at the Gyada Cooperative (Joint-Integrated Unit Barracks) with no sign of polling staff.
And on the second day:
As polling ends on the second day of elections, the general atmosphere seems to be calm and peaceful as voters patiently queued to cast their vote.
For the less fortunate, frustration and confusion could be read on their faces as the failed to find their names on the voter registrar placed at each polling station.
A disgruntled voter at a polling center in Hai Atlabara residential area said he was told to search for his name at two other centers but failed to find it.
On Sunday, the first day of voting, Dr. Anne Itto, the SPLM Deputy Secretary General for the Southern Sector casted her vote late in the afternoon as she had to first wait for the polling centers to open at her home constituency of Pageri in Eastern Equatoria State. She then had to look up her name in the various registrars, an exercise that took hours.
Dr. Anne Itto, deputy secretary general for the SPLM Southern Sector, shares her experience of voting for the first time in her life:
“I felt terrific knowing that I have chosen the leader of my choice for the next government,” she said.
She called on National Election Commission (NEC) to act quickly to resolve the problems that marred the first day of voting.
While the two leaders of SPLM are sharing the joy of voting for the first time, Sudanese Thinker explains the reasons behind his decision not to vote:
I won’t vote in the Sudanese elections.
I won’t vote because:
1. I missed the voter registration date and hardly regretted it since I’ve never really believed in the predicted “change-bringing” effects of the expected elections. Hence, I can’t vote anyway even if I change my mind and wanted to.
2. Positive alternatives to Al-Bashir with an actual chance of winning are nil.
3. Assuming I registered, given that Al-Bashir is going to win any way, I would rather abstain from voting than vote for him.
4. Regardless of the “confidence” in the election process expressed by the US envoy to Sudan, the elections aren’t going to be fair or transparent.
5. Even if I’m wrong and the election process achieves some decent level of transparency and fairness, it still takes lots of money for parties and candidates to win, something that Al-Bashir and his NCP have a lot of, while the opposition is relatively broke, with the exception of the SPLM which is too corrupt and divided to even run itself properly anyway.
6. Quite frankly, I just don’t care about the political process anymore at the moment. It’s hopeless. I’ve been so disconnected and apathetic towards what’s happening, I no longer feel its relevance. Given the current circumstances, Sudan is a country in waiting with too many question marks ahead.
Cecilia Wani is quoted in Sudan Votes describing the last elections 24 years ago:
Cecilia Wani, eighty two years of age said much as there were elections in the Sudan 24 years back, she and her husband never participated. According to her it was only the chiefs and those in authority who voted then.
“Not voting for the right govenment, means going back to slavery,” she says:
She expressed joy with being involved in such democratic historic elections. She says her interest is in the government that will be improving the health sector. She would also like to see her grand children going to better schools. “Not voting for the right government, means going back to slavery”, she said. “I do not like to see my grand children encounter the same problems I went through”.
But, as people were checking their names, there were complaints that their names were not appearing on the list of the voters. The problem was that the serial numbers were not matching with that on the registration card they had received last November during the election registration process. And those who could not read at all were in some centers left without a helper. Many of these left without voting.
Hafiz Mohammed describes how complex the voting process is in Sudan:
– The numbers of register voters is 16,176,142 people the polling station are 10,230, that means the average voters per centre is 1617. If any voters take one minute to complete the whole process, ( voting 8 time in north and 12 in the south) that means you need around 1617 minutes (27 hours) in the three days of voting.
- The centres open from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm that means 11 hours per day, i.e. 33 hours for the 3 days of voting. That is fine if the process of completing the voting only take one minute per voter.
- From our mock election and voters’ education training for more than 700 trainers of trainers, I can say one minute is not enough for anyone. Even myself I will not be able to complete the ballot in one minute, and I have been studying the rules governing the election and also contributed in writing our training manual and also the production of our training video.
- NEC staff in the polling station are suppose to explain to each voter how to vote and that itself takes more than one minutes, and that is supposed to happen 3 times. The voter passes through 3 staff in the voting station. The first is supposed to give you 2 voting papers, for the election of the president and the state governor, the second 3 voting papers for the National Assembly (the geographical constituency, women’s list and the political parties list — proportion representation), and the third will do the same thing for the state legislative council. Just imagine how long that takes. In southern Sudan there is a fourth, for the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly.
- In the north you have 8 voting papers with 3 colours and 3 symbols in the National and state Assembly to differentiate between ,the constituency , women list and party list (square, circle and triangle).
- From different mock elections the result shows the following; in Warap state in the south an illiterate women took her 3 hours to fill the 12 voting papers, finalist student in University of Khartoum took him 20 minutes to fill the 8 voting papers.
- The problem is for the illiterate to remember the colours, the different symbols in the ballot, and the symbols of different candidates and political parties.
- I was explaining the process to an illiterate 60 years old lady , it almost took me one hours to explain but at the end she , told it is difficult for her to remember the eight different paper and it is better for her to vote just two times instead of eight.
In “Can Twitter Bird Fly in Sudan?,” Ibrahim Elbadawi looks at the role of social media in Sudan. He uses lessons learnt from Iran for his analysis. His conclusion is that “we can expect a limited use of social media in sharing election related news and media content…”:
Both Facebook groups  “Girifna” which is a gathering place for those who refuse to elect President Al Bashir and the official group of the president’s campaign have barely managed to attract 5,000 members!
So to conclude, I can say that according to the proposed model we can expect a limited use of social media in sharing election related news and media content but we shouldn’t wait for a massive use the way it happened in Iran. The only thing that can change this is a serious crisis and a high international attention!
I believe the question I raised above is valid and important to discuss, but I also believe that for a young Sudanese like me there are other issues that are more important to worry about than Obama’s decision and the upcoming election. My real concern when it comes to online social media is: how can we leverage social media to promote good governance and enable social change in Sudan?
We have come across a few election related social media projects in Sudan. Ibrahim mentions Girifna in his pot. Girifna, which means “I am fed up”, is a movement made up of voting rights activists in Sudan. Apart from being on Facebook, the movement has a YouTube channel and a website.
The Sudan Electionnaire is a quiz that compares your views on 30 debated issues with the positions of the 16 main parties for the upcoming elections in April 2010. Once you complete the set of questions a concluding ranking shows how your answers match party programmes.
Sudan votes! But which party is yours? What are the parties’ real positions? Understand the positions of the main parties and find out which party best matches your own opinions! All you have to do is answer 30 questions.
Sudan VoteMonitor is a pilot project led by the Sudan Institute for Research and Policy (SIRP) and Asmaa Society in collaboration with other Sudanese civil society organizations, and supported by eMoksha.org and Ushahidi.com.  The project uses Ushahidi to collect election related data using SMS and email:
The purpose of this initiative is to utilize information and communication technology (ICT) to support the independent monitoring and reporting of the election process and results. Over the last three years, civil society organizations (CSOs) in several countries have succeeded in using ICT tools to support the conduct of fair and credible elections.
This is possible through the utilization of open source software and support of volunteers from Ushahidi, a platform that allows anyone to gather distributed data via SMS, email or web and visualize it on a map or timeline
Below is Day 1 Preliminary Report from Sudan Vote Monitor:
Sudan Vote Monitor Day 1 Preliminary Report
Sudan Vote Monitor concluded a very successful launch day with a total of 52 online reports in 12 categories, and 106 SMS messages from 253 locations across Sudan. There were no reports of system access issues and all operations were normal.
The following are some basic statistics for today April 11, 2010*
Online Reports: Total 52
2          – INFLAMATORY SPEECH
11        – VOTING ACCESS
12        – DISTURBANCES (INCLUDING VIOLENCE)
15        – VOTE TAMPERING
1          – ILLEGAL CAMPAIGNING
5          – VOTER HARASSAMENT
6          – WHAT WENT WELL
SMS Messages: Total 106
2          – INFLAMATORY SPEECH
5          – VOTING ACCESS
3          – DISTURBANCES (INCLUDING VIOLENCE)
11        – VOTE TAMPERING
6          – ILLEGAL CAMPAIGNING
6          – VOTER HARASSAMENT
63        – WHAT WENT WELL
10        – UNCLASSIFIED
The project has a channel in YouTube.


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Thailand: Citizen videos of violent clash · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The crackdown on the Red Shirt protesters in Thailand last Saturday by the military turned violent killing 21 people and injuring almost 900 individuals. The clash took place in a busy street in Bangkok which allowed bystanders and tourists to document the violence.
Both the soldiers and protesters accuse each other of using real bullets and hand grenades. We may never know who is telling the truth but the videos below allow us to view some of the violent scenes last Saturday.
Via Bangkok Pundit, a brief description of the videos
This video (at the 39 second mark) shows some kind of firefight and then some kind of explosive device (M79 grenade?) landing in the middle of a group of soldiers then soldiers retreating….
…Another video where you can see some guys dressed in dark clothing (red guards? or the third hand Panitan was referring too?) in the distance. At least one has an automatic gun and fires (based on other video of the area from earlier) in the direction of the soldiers.
At Vaitor’s weblog, a journalist who has been living in Bangkok for two years was shot in the arm while documenting the clash
At the moment I just have one working arm/hand to write which is quite annoying, but here are some Pics and Video Footage I took today at the heavy clashes between protesters and the police! Unfortunately I got shot and broke my right arm…
A partial list of names of people killed in Bangkok. Protesters paraded some of the dead in the streets of Bangkok as they vow to continue to push for the resignation of the Prime Minister.
FACT – Freedom Against Censorship Thailand blames all the major political forces for the violence which took place last Saturday
You are all to blame. Violence has never yet solved society’s problems and differences of opinion
We mourn the fallen Reds. We mourn the fallen police and soldiers. We mourn the innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire. Their blood was spilled in vain by the ammart. Only if we really want freedom and democracy will Thai blood mean anything. But if we only have elections to put a new crowd of fatcat dinosaurs into office, and that means Pheu Thai, things will never change in our beloved Thailand.
The soldiers simply obeyed their orders. They did not fire on those who gave the command nor put politicians in their gunsights.
Government spokesmen are now saying that no live rounds were fired at demonstrators. The high toll of dead and injured, including at least two foreign journalists, prove they lie!
Jotman believes the Red Shirts could gain more supporters from the provinces
The cause of the red shirts has been consecrated in blood.  The movement now has its martyrs. Red shirts can be expected to arm themselves better in preparation for any future street confrontation.  Many more supporters of the rural opposition movement, privy to evidence of the heartless brutality shown by government forces towards visitors to the Thai capital from the countryside, sickened by Bangkok's denials, are bound to step out of the woodwork.  Tensions within the Thai armed forces may lead to outright fractures.
Saksith Saiyasombut thinks that the Red Shirts are no longer mere supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra as the movement is now a loose coalition of forces which want to overthrow the elitist system of government
What many like to neglect is that the red shirt movement is now more than just a proxy mob of Thaksin, not just a tool of anyone to overthrow the current government. It is a true unavoidable force in Thai politics with legitimate claims, with a sound political consciousness that is now haunting the political elites and bureaucrats for failing to recognize the sign of times. The problems cannot be solely linked back to Thaksin (as he is trying to promote himself as the beacon of freedom and democracy, while there is no doubt that he is not) – it is a collective failure!
A few twitter reactions:
gnarlykitty: @tambourinequeen There were eerier stuff. Smashed cars, confiscated/found bullets/casings, but there were too many people moong-ing.
jfxberns: I'm for elections. I just think that protest -> violence -> dissolution -> new government -> protest is a cycle that needs to be broken.
For background information about the political crisis in Thailand, Topic Thailand summarizes the major issues. Pictures of the violent clash are available in Pantip and Nation’s State.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Corruption Commentary  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad and Tobago News Blog reports that Calder Hart is back in the country, while other local bloggers use the opportunity to comment on corruption.


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Trinidad & Tobago: The Uff Report  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

KnowTnT.com links to the report of the Uff Commission of Enquiry into the Construction Sector, while Afra Raymond provides an overview of its findings.


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Tunisia: Bourguiba 10th Death Anniversary Remembered  · Global Voices
Lina Ben Mhenni

Tunisians remembered the 10th anniversary of the death of their country's first president – Habib Bourguiba. He was a Tunisian lawyer, statesman and the founder of the Tunisian Republic, which he ruled from July 25, 1957 until November 7, 1987.
After the proclamation of the Tunisian Republic in July 25, 1957, Bourguiba  introduced many laws related to  education, women rights and family planning, among a few, that have played a crucial role in creating changes in the Tunisian society. Bourguiba remained a president until November 7, 1987 when his prime minister impeached him, on the grounds of his old age and his health problems. Bourguiba died on April 6, 2000, and Tunisian Internet users remembered his anniversary.
On Facebook, an event with 10,425 confirmed guests has been created  and bloggers wrote some posts on the occasion.
Illusions remarked:
Arabasta talked about the influence of Bourguiba's thoughts and achievements. In fact , he talked about a doctrine he entitled “Bourguibisme”:
Si j'ai parlé de Bourguibisme, c'est d'abord parce que je crois que ce qu'a fait Bourguiba (malgré ses nombreuses erreurs) peut être qualifié de “doctrine” ou de mode de pensée, on ne peut pas en dire autant pour tout les leaders du monde entier.
The majority of Tunisians agree that Habib Bourguiba had made some mistakes, but they also agree that he had been a great man who left a mark on the Tunisian history.

author: Lina Ben Mhenni


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Uruguay: Online Entry and Exit Forms for Travelers · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

There are now online forms on the website of the International Airport in Montevideo, Uruguay, making it easier for travelers to fill out entry/exit and customs forms in advance. However, Chino of the blog Tan Conectados [es] writes that it is not very user-friendly.


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Barbados: Bullies Charged  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados’ Cheese-on-bread! blogs about a landmark court ruling in the death of an eleven-year-old schoolboy who was fleeing from bullies.


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Cuba: Hunger Strike Victory  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuban political prisoner Dr. Darsi Ferrer has ended his hunger strike “after officials said they would meet his demands”, which Uncommon Sense says is “good news for freedom in Cuba” and suggests that “it's now more than time for the regime to similarly bring an end to a hunger strike Guillermo Fariñas by meeting his demand — the release of 26 seriously ill political prisoners.”


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Egypt: Cairo Protest Turns Violent  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Egypt, Wael Abbas tweets: “Urgent: a protest in down town cairo is now in progress, security is dramatically violent, some protesters fell unconscious due to beating!”

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Egypt: Lessons in Oppression from Iran  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

On Twitter, Daila Ziada comments: “Egyptian security forces are learning from the Iranian experience. They think exaggerated use of violence will stop protesters!”


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Guatemala: 5th Edition of BarCamp · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Gustavo Reyes writes about the preparations for the 5th edition of BarCamp Guatemala [es], which will take place on April 17, 2010 in Guatemala City.


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Haiti: Red Cross Presence  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Haitian Blogger questions the presence of the American Red Cross in Haiti.


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India: Introduction to Seven Notes Of Indian Classical Music  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Likhati, a blog on classical music, introduces us to the seven notes of Indian classical music.


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India: Longing For The History Of The Indian Emigrants · Global Voices
Rezwan

Lekhni at The Imagined Universe writes about Amitav Ghosh's novel ‘Sea of Poppies’ and reminds that “the book shows how little we know about emigrant Indians”.


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Macedonia: Blogs and Other Web Sources on Cooking · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Judging from the activity within a cooking group [MKD] of the Macedonian e-content aggregator Ping.mk, the most active gastronomical blog is Sitno seckano (Finely Sliced).
Sitno seckano regularly publishes bilingual recipes in Macedonian and English, tested by the three authors through cooking, photographing and eating, providing layers of insight. Case in point – Spring Carrot Cake:
Photo by Maja Dimitrova (used with permission)
Since its inception in March 2009, the influence of this blog has been steadily growing, through the quality of their original content, supplemented with marketing efforts such as the first-ever giveaway in the Macedonian blogosphere. Its recipes have been featured (with attribution) on other blogs, such as Balkan Cuisine.
A rising star in this area is the blog Vegetarijanstvo (Vegetarianism), which utilizes the topical blogs platform Kauza.mk, used as a tool for relaying information on social change activism causes.
Another gastronomical blog is Prikazni od edna mala kujna (Stories from one small kitchen), which features a characteristic style of recipe presentation: photos of hand-written notebook pages with additional explanations in posts. For instance: Sailors’ Salad [MKD]:
Sailors’ Salad: Boil potatoes, eggs for 12-15 mins alongside carrots, cucumbers, onions. Slice potatoes and onions into rolls. Layer them with cucumbers, carrots and eggs. Put vinegar, oil, pepper and salt over each layer. Over the top put mixed mayonnaise, sour cream and mustard.
From time to time, ‘general’ bloggers also write about their culinary experiences. For instance, Bochvarov once described his “meat bricks” [MKD], made of 30 kg of minced pork, 5 kg of garlic and 2 liters of wine…
As opposed to the strong individualistic flavor of cooking blogs, commercial food-related websites, such as Hrana (Food) and Gurman (Gourmand), choose to project a corporate image.
Sometimes websites specialized in other areas publish related articles. Veb-sajt na denot (Website of the day) has a section with reviews of culinary websites [MKD], and the Macedonian Cancer Portal often tackles food and ingredients in their section on healthy diet [MKD]. Tikvesh Winery, allegedly the first Macedonian company blog, also occasionally features articles on combining wine and food.
However, the overall number of online sources on cooking in Macedonian language remains low, and the influence of the local blogosphere is in its early stages. Possibly because of that, when Hrana i vino (Food and Wine) – the biggest local gastronomy brand which has a TV show and a magazine – published an issue with “recipes from the internet,” all of its sources were Serbian blogs, such as Palachinka (Pancake) and Moje grne (My pot).


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Mexico: Chicharito Goes to Manchester United · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Twenty-one year-old Mexican football sensation Javier “Chicharito” Hernández was recently signed by Manchester United notes Gancho, but he wonders whether he might not get enough playing time “if being parked at the end of a deep bench in England will take the edge off of Hernández's recent mojo.”


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Morocco: Formerly Jailed Blogger Bashir Hazzam Tells His Story · Global Voices
Hisham Almiraat

Tarhjicht is a small town in southern Morocco, some 200 kilometers south of the city of Agadir. It's a picturesque village on the edge of the Sahara desert, whose serenity is punctuated by five ritual daily calls to prayers.
On December 2, 2009, this peace was interrupted by the clamors of local students protesting their difficult situation and lack of a decent infrastructure. The peaceful march was violently confronted by the authorities who proceeded to arrest a number of students. Later that day, an ad hoc committee was created to support the arrested protesters. It issued a statement calling for the immediate release of the students and condemned what it described as “harsh and barbaric treatment” by the authorities. Bashir Hazzam, a blogger from the region published the statement [Ar] along with links to a video taken at the scene. A couple of days later, Bashir, and Abdullah Boukfou, the owner of the Internet café frequented by the blogger, were arrested and accused of “publishing false information harmful to the image of the country on human rights.” An Internet campaign of support followed, backed by calls from international human rights organizations to release Bashir and his colleagues. However, a court in the neighboring city of Guelmim sentenced the blogger to four months in prison while his prison mates received even harsher sentences.
Nevertheless, campaigners and supporters from all over the world mounted pressure on the Moroccan authorities. Bashir was released on February 8, 2010, two months after his arrest.
In the following interview Bashir tells his story.
Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
أشكر الطاقم المشرف على موقع الأصوات العالمية الذي أتاح لي هذه الفرصة للتواصل مع قراءهم الاعزاء وكما أشكرهم على مساندتهم  وتضامنهم معنا  في قضيتنا وأتمنى لهم دوام التوفيق والتألق.
أنا البشير حزام من مواليد 1982 بتغجيجت تلقيت تعليمي الابتدائي والإعدادي بهذه المنطقة، ثم السنة الأولى والثانية ثانوي ببويزكارن حصلت على الباكالوريا سنة 2002 بتغجيجت، التحقت بعدها بكلية الشريعة بأيت ملول – أكادير تخرجت منها حاصلا على الإجازة في الشريعة والقانون سنة 2008. انخرطت مبكرا في العمل الجمعوي ضمن أنشطة الجمعيات المحلية وفي الأنشطة التلاميذية ثم الأنشطة الطلابية في صفوف الاتحاد الوطني لطلبة المغرب، عضو جماعة العدل والإحسان،واخيرا مدون منذ سنة 2007.
How did you discover the blogosphere and what do you write about in general?
اكتشفت  عالم التدوين الالكتروني عندما كنت طالبا حيث اطلعت على مجموعة من المدونات واستنتجت أن هذه الاخيرة تمكن صاحبها من نشر افكاره بطريقة سهلة وبدون رقابة وبمجانية ، واعجبني ذلك كثيرا فأخدت بالبحث عن كيفية انشاء المدونة وهذا ما تمكنت منه ،فأنشأة مدونتي بموقع مكتوب وبالظبط  في الاول من سبتمبر من عام2007 وأطلقت عليها اسم مدونة البشري ونشرت خلالها المقال الاول بعنوان الوعود الانتخابية: حقيقة ام خيال  وبالمناسبة فقد تم التحقيق معي من قبل المحققين حول مضمون هذا المقال عندما اعتقلت في دجنبر الماضي، أما بالنسبة  لكتابتي فتنصب حول القضايا السياسية الوطنية والدولية ،والفكرية والدينية …
To what extent has blogging and the Internet in general helped you in your life and activities?
After your arrest with Abdullah Boukfou and others, the authorities claimed they had done so because you published “false information harmful to the reputation of Morocco.” Do you agree with this version of events? How do you explain the reasons behind your detention?
How were you treated during your detention? And do you think you received a fair trial?
معاملة المحقيقين معي كانت  جيدة اللهم بعض الاستفزازات في بداية التحقيق ،أما المحاكمة فلم تكن منصفة بعد ان تم الحكم علينا بالحبس النافد لمدة أربعة أشهر في حقي وسنة في حق عبد الله بوكفو مسير  نادي الأنترنيت وستة أشهر نافدة في حق ثلاثة طلبة وفي حق المدون اليديب بوبكر  رغم أن مجريات المحاكمة تسير نحو تبرئتنا من التهم المنسوبة الينا وكان شعورنا يسير في اتجاه ذلك ،لكن تفاجأنا عند النطق بالحكم واعتبرنا نحن وهيئة الدفاع  ان القضية متحكم فيها من قبل السلطات. حتى أن الاحكام جاءت متفاوتة خاصة أن التهم التي وجهت لي هي نفس التهم الموجهة  الى عبدالله بوكفو   لكن الحكم مختلف وكان قاسيا في حق بوكفو .
There were several interpretations of your release from jail: some said it was an implicit recognition by the authorities of their “mistake,” others suggested it was a public relations exercise to save the reputation of the country abroad. What's your take on this?
صحيح كل هذه الامور التي أوردتها قد تكون هي الدافع الذي جعلت السلطات تتراجع عن قرار حبسنا والذي لايخدمها في شيء،بل يشوه صورتها وسمعة البلاد خارجيا  .
Has the campaign of solidarity in your opinion, influenced the course of events? Do these campaigns really matter?
أجل ،الحملات التضامنية التي قادها المدونين بالمغرب وخارجه بقيادة جمعية المدونين المغاربة، والتضامن الواسع من الهيئات الحقوقية الوطنية والدولية وعلى راسها منظمة مراسلون بلاحدود،  ومنظمة فريدوم هاوس، و كذا الاعلام المرئي والمسموع، ساهم بشكل كبير في التأثير والضغط على المسؤولين لاطلاق سراحنا ،فبفضل مجهودات هؤولاء، بعد فضل الله تعالى، انعمنا بالحرية بعد أن امضيت شهرين من السجن، فلولا هذا الضغط لبقينا وراء القضبان، كما  أن انتمائي لجماعة العدل والاحسان شكل ضغطا كبيرا  على السلطات باعتبارها اكبر قوة سياسية معارضة بالمغرب وساهم كل ذلك في اطلاق سراحنا.
How would you characterize freedom of expression in Morocco, especially on the Internet?
وضعية حرية التعبير ببلادنا في تراجع مستمر وتقهقر ،ولاشك أن الارقام الصادرة حول هذا  الشأن من قبل المنظمات الدولية خير دليل على ما أقول ،حيث وضعت المغرب في خانة الدول التي لاتحترم حرية التعبير ولاشك ان الواقع كذلك يشهد بذلك من خلال الاعتقالات والمحاكمات للعديد من المدونين والصحفيين والحقوقيين والمعارضين السياسين بسبب ابداء أرائهم لاغير ،أما بالنسبة لحرية الانترنيت فهي كذلك أصبحت الدولة تفرض عليها رقابة كبيرة وهذا يتضح من خلال الهجمات التي لحقت المدونين  وآخرها اعتقال السلطات لمصمم موقع ” أفضل حاكم دولة في العالم”  عبد اللطيف أوييس [قبل اسابيع] وهومتابع الان في حالة سراح..
وهذا يعبر بالملموس بأن أيادي وعيون المخابرات المغربية امتدت الى عالم  الانترنبت  غير أن ذلك لن يؤثر بشكل كبير أمام هذه الثورة المعلوماتية التي أصبحت يوما بعد يوم تخيف الانظمة المستبدة.
After all that's happened, have you changed the way you blog or write? Do you have self-censorship?
لن يؤثر علي ذلك أبداً. كلا لم يحصل ذلك فأنا لاأزال أحتفظ بنفس الاسلوب رغم الاعتقال التعسفي الذي طالنا ،وذلك كله لن يغير  افكاري وأرائي في شيء باعتبار أن لكل فرد قي هذا العالم حرية ابداء أرائه والتعبير عنها كيف ما شاء وبدون رقابة ما دام أن ذلك لايخالف القوانين المعروفة في هذا الشأن.
What advice would you have for bloggers in Morocco, and in the world who fear the wrath of their governments or regimes?
أدعوا كافة الشباب الى الاستفادة من تقنيات هذا المجال الفسيح لابراز مؤهلاتهم ومواهبهم والتعبير عن طموحاتهم وتطلعاتهم عبر ولوج عالم التدوين لكسر التهميش الممنهج للدول الاستبدادية لفئة الشباب من أجل الوصول الى النهضة الحقيقية لهذه الدول لمواكبة التطور الحاصل في الدول المتقدمة، شريطة الانضباط للاخلاق والحوار الجاد والمسؤول واحترام خصوصيات الاخرين ، دون الخوف من الاعتقال أواستبداد الانظمة التي لاتحترم ارادة شعوبها مادام أن ماينشره المدون لا يخالف القانون في شيء.
Do you have a final word for those who stood in solidarity with you?
في الأخير أود من خلال هذا المنبر الإعلامي الحر أن أتقدم بالشكر والعرفان لكل من ساندني خلال هذه المحنة وعلى رأسهم جمعية المدونين المغاربة و كافة المدونين والنشطاء داخل الوطن وخارجه الذين تضامنوا معنا و أشكر هيئة الدفاع وجميع المحامين الذين آزرونا و كل المنابر الإعلامية وإخواني في جماعة العدل والإحسان و كافة المنظمات الحقوقية الوطنية والدولية وخاصة منظمة فردوم هاوس ومنظمة مراسلون  بلا حدود  و كل ذوي المروؤات الذين ساندونا وأبدو تضامنهم معنا في جميع أنحاء العالم. وندعوهم الى الاستمرار في هذا التضامن حتى يتم الإفراج عن  مسيرنادي الانترنبت عبد الله بوكفو ومصمم موقع ”أفضل حاكم دولة في العالم” عبد اللطيف أوييس المتابع في حالة سراح  وكل معتقلي الرأي في سجون البلاد.

author: Hisham Almiraat


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Nepal Scraps MRP Print Deal with India · Global Voices
Rezwan

United We Blog! for a Democratic Nepal reports that on public protest the Nepali cabinet has canceled the arbitrary MRP (Machine Readable Passport) print deal with India and decided to select a supplier through a competitive bidding process.


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Pakistan: Karachi Literary Festival · Global Voices
Rezwan

Raza Rumi at Jahane Rumi comments on the Karachi Literary Festival: “It is heartening to see how events such as this can take place, and the hope they can instill, in the land of suicide bombers, adventurers and charlatans.”


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Palestine: Ideas for Catchy Titles · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian blogger Laila El-Haddad sends out a tweet saying: “Officially started writing new book; in need of catchy titles; suggestions?”


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Saudi Arabia: Poverty and Suicide  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Saudi blogger Trad Alasmari (Ar) writes about suicide in Saudi Arabia (Warning: post contains picture of graphic nature). He claims that poverty could be to blame for its higher levels.


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines: La Soufriere · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“As a teenager I saw the awesome power of volcanoes when the Montserrat Soufriere Hills rumbled to life…since then I have looked at our dozing mountain with more than a little fear and respect”: From St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Abeni marks thirty one years “since Vincentians awoke to the news that the La Soufriere volcano had erupted.”


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Sudan: Alex de Waal on election in Sudan · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Alex de Waal writes about elections in Sudan from Khartoum: “Today the questions are, did the ballots arrive in time? Were all the names on the electoral roll? What was the voter turnout?Quietly, with dignity, with apprehension and sometimes with confusion and frustration, millions of Sudanese are voting. Good for them.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Sudan: Sudan Elections Roundup · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Read Alex Thurston's Sudan Elections Roundup on Sahel Blog.


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Sudan: SuDEMOP concerned about elections · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A press release from the Sudan Domestic Election Monitoring and Observation Programme (SuDEMOP): “…we are expressly concerned about the myriad logistical, procedural and administrative constrains that caused serious delays in the setting up, the opening of polling centers and the beginning of voting.”


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Sudan: Why hit illiterate voters with 12-ballot process? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Geofrey York tweets from Sudan about the elections: “Sudan election is extended to 5 days. When the population is largely illiterate, why were they hit with incredibly complex 12-ballot vote?”


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Trinidad & Tobago: LGBT Rights · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Thousands of GLBT voters will be participating in the upcoming general election”: Trinidad and Tobago's gspottt wants “a responsible government that is going to protect and take care of all its people, and not leave some behind, regardless of which party or coalition wins at the polls.”


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Ustream and Twitter changing politics in Japan · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Fumi Yamazaki blogs about the use of Ustream and Twitter by Japanese politicians and how it brings changes to politics in Japan.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Who’s who in Hong Kong’s elite · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

David Webb launches a Who's who in Hong Kong's elite database and invites organizations to submit information.


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Zimbabwe: Yellow card for Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Members of Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise marched to the offices of the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority to deliver yellow cards to the electricity service provider for poor service and high tariffs.


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Arab World: Arab Tweeple Launched  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

ArabTweeple is the first directory indexing more than 15,000 Arab Twitter users.


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Bahamas: How’s the Weather?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The nonsense that has paraded as commentary since the tornado tragedy in Freeport two weeks ago has taken political pantomime to new levels”: Bahama Pundit‘s Larry Smith blogs about weather and politics.


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Barbados: Media Options  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Make, break or ignore”: According to Allegiance, “these seem to be the options that the media currently have before them in Barbados.”


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Cambodia: Khmer New Year 2010 · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

It’s Happy Khmer New Year in Cambodia, celebrating the year of the tiger.

author: Mong Palatino


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China: How to buy your Expo tickets in person · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

If you are going to attend the Shanghai Expo, you will find Elaine Chow's tips on “How to buy your expo tickets in person” at Shanghaiist useful.


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China: Strolling to save East Lake in Wuhan repressed · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

East Lake, located at Wuhan city, is a state listed ecological tourist scenic area. It occupies 82 square kilometers, 6 times larger than the Hanzhou West Lake. Being a national 4A tourist area, its planning should be subjected to environmental assessment and public participation accordingly. However, in May 2009, a real estate developer, Overseas Chinese Town, OCT signed an agreement with Wuhan city government on the development with East Lake without public consultation. In December 2009, OCT got the development contract of a large piece of land (3167 mu, 1 mu = 666.67 square meters) occupying 1000 mu lake surface area. (background via
The photo below shows the original beauty of East Lake:
In March 2010, local media exposed the construction plan and on April 2 OCT claimed that the development project does not affect East Lake. However, blogger Yaohaiying pointed out that the so-called artificial fish pond (450 mu) is located at the core part of the scenic area and is clearly defined in the East Lake protection article approved by the State Ministry. The blogger exposed in details the developmental plan:
1、填东湖渔场450亩水面建造2个四星级以上酒店（精品酒店和度假酒店），及大量商业配套设施…
2、紧靠梨园医院边上，一个被称作“两百亩”（地名）的湖面，当前的湖水已被抽干，华侨城即将实施填湖计划。该水域约150亩左右。
3、在紧邻风光村和东湖渔场之间的至少400亩水面上，武汉华侨城已规划建大型水上主题公园，即将动工。
The numbers indicated in the map shows how the construction project destroys the East Lake:
The land reclamation in the East Lake has already taken place:
The China Study Group, summarized Time Weekly report explained that the project will destroy local livelihood, pollute the lake water and result in gentrification of public space:
Two villages and a fishery have already been evicted and demolished, starting immediately after the lease was signed last December, and a third villager is in the process of eviction. Villagers and fishery workers claim that part of the compensation promised by OCT has been pocketed by government officials, and when they petitioned the government about this they were assaulted by hired thugs. Most of these petitioners have backed down, but about 50 families in the third village are still holding out. All of this went largely unnoticed by Wuhan’s urban population and the news media for three months.
The chief concern among online critics of the plan was the possible ecological consequences, since water pollution and algae outbreaks have been increasing rapidly throughout China in recent years, rendering half of China’s population and two-thirds of China’s rural population unable to access safe drinking water, according to some reports. In 2007 an algae outbreak (attributed largely to synthetic fertilizers) in Tai lake on China’s east coast rendered the water undrinkable by two million people in Wuxi. In Wuhan, critics of the East Lake development plan also point to the plight of another local lake, Tangsun. On the 1-to-5 scale of water quality, Tangsun went from 1 to 4 within a decade of development, and experts estimate that even the most concerted effort to reverse the lake’s pollution would take at least another decade just to restore it to level 3.
Finally, critics are concerned about gentrification, as the development plan would transform the lake and its environs from a peaceful, clean place where anyone can enjoy the natural world for free (or a small entrance fee for some of the parks) to an expensive, noisy and artificial resort for the rich. In this sense some commentators emphasize that the effort to protect East Lake differs from recent comparable protests in China since its goal is not to protect private property or relocate environmental pollution farther away from the city, but to prevent public property from privatization.
More than 200 netizens self-organized via douban event page for strolling against the construction project in late March:
趁春光明媚～我们去东湖玩儿吧～
带上相机和音响，带上布条和纸板。
活动免费。
Another post on strolling from my1510:
1.穿统一的T恤，上面写东湖东湖，我们要散步的标语，于统一时间到东湖边散步，游玩；
2.于统一时间东湖边散步，同时戴口罩，散发有关资料传（口罩可行，散发资料危险）；
3.点孔明灯，同时附上我们的东湖东湖，我们要散步的标识；这个可以随时进行，但是要注意附上统一标识，以表明态度。
我们的目的很简单，首先是希望能够阻止这一将会破坏东湖环境的项目的建设；其次，从长远上看，我们希望能够通过这一个活动把“散步”这种健体运动推向正轨。我们希望的是平等的发表意见的机会，而非对抗任何人。
Our objective is simple, to stop the construction project that would destroy the East Lake. In the long run, we should make strolling a proactive and constructive expression. We want a equal opportunity to express our opinion rather than confrontation.
However in April 9, volunteers from a number of environmental groups were called upon by counsellors who warned them from further involvement with the development project. douban posted the counsellor notice:
“接上级通知，近期因'‘东湖事件’，有个别学校学生组织集会游行，造成诸多不稳定因素。为加强学校安全稳定工作，请各学院辅导员老师加强值班和校园巡视，密切关注学生动向，如遇学生集会游行等活动，务必及时通报学工部。谢谢”
The student organizers also disclosed that the notice is from the provincial level and the police are involved in the investigation.
A twitter hashtag #donghu is used to disseminate and update information regarding the East Lake construction project. However, after the crack down on strolling, there isn't any update in the past two days.