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Taiwan: The Allure of Night Markets · Global Voices
I-fan Lin

After sunset in Taiwan, when the stars start to twinkle, night markets are crowded with people from all walks of life. To Taiwanese, night markets are more than mere eating places. In a traditional night market, people eat, shop, and play games at the same time. Taiwanese love night markets, and now the culture of the night market has become a distinctive and precious touristic experience for foreigners visiting Taiwan.
Grace, a Taiwanese in New York City, writes about a visit to Taiwan:
My friends were asking me what I was going to do when I got to Taiwan…knowing my family, I knew we were going to drop off our bags and head straight to the night markets.
However, once upon a time, the “night markets” were much less famous than the “morning markets”. Liang-Lu Han explains:
早晨拜廟之餘再祭祭自己的五臟廟就成了廟口早市的起源。早市因廟口而起，但夜市則依菜市場和交通要道而生…早市的城市性格是農業社會的，日出而作、日落而息，但夜市卻代表了城市的工商業性格，離開土地、家園進入工廠、異鄉的人們，在傍晚之後在都市的街道尋找食物、商品的刺激與慰藉。
Night markets keep evolving alongside with the Taiwanese society. A Japanese traveler was amazed by the efficiency of the vendor in the night market:
神業としか思えない包み作業に見入っていると、待ち時間もあっという間サ～。
20人待ちぐらいで10分待ったかな？
番号札もらってあまりの待ち人数に「ゲェッッッ！？」と思っても、次々と出来上がるので心配ご無用。
While every Taiwanese loves night markets, the idea of a good night market differs and can be conflicting. Recently, the Tourism Bureau held a nationwide night market competition. According to the event spokeswoman:
The competition aims to select (the night markets) that are the cleanest, the most friendly to foreign visitors, the most interesting, the easiest to stroll through and the richest in culinary diversity.
On the other hand, some people prefer to preserve local culture and do not agree with the evaluation based on these “international standards”. Chensumi says:
找美食菁英來評比夜市，就好像辦部落格文學獎一樣，夜市之所以存在的理由，就是「不需要被美食菁英指指點點就可以靠底層生命力活得好好的」。
逛夜市的目的是什麼？就是去擠啊，去吃熱量很高又不健康的比臉孔大的炸雞排啊，吃廉價的豪邁的又會滋滋響的鐵板牛排啊…何況還可以撈金魚打彈珠…你永遠記得禮拜幾晚上，那片空地突然亮起燈泡，穿著拖鞋短褲就可以去吃東西，去玩耍，去看有趣的歐吉桑拍賣喊價。
The fried chicken that is bigger than the girl's face. Photo courtesy of koadmonkee under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Chensumi’s article about night markets has attracted a lot of enthusiastic discussions in the comment section. Some people argued that it is not fair to ask the night markets to be as spacious and clean as a restaurant. Maggie said:
我家附近的某塊空地，去年租給許多小攤過來擺夜市，非常空曠，完全不會人擠人，所以不到六個月就全部撤攤。該位美食專家應該很難體會到「人擠人」對於商家的重要性吧。
Shilin Night Market. Photo courtesy of koadmonkee under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Little babe said:
很多人都提到夜市有髒亂的情形 (人多的地方哪一個不髒?). 但是辦完夜市後呢?還是髒嗎,這就不盡然了吧! 大部分的攤販在營業結束後, 都會清理自己的營業範圍, 隔天去看並不會有髒亂的感覺.
Stanley talked about how the night market in his hometown changed after becoming a “tourist night market”:
夜市變成了”觀光夜市”後, 雖然這樣可以帶動經濟繁榮, 但相對的在地的味道就會少了很多, 在地人對那個夜市永遠就只能變成回憶了.
Old pinball game. Photo courtesy of chia ying Yang under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
What will the future night markets look like? Miesiao said:
政府介入其實是因為那些夜市店家也很愛期待政府做事,有商機…但這些觀光化的目標應該還是國外旅客,或許可以想更多觀光化的手段,而是不是害怕觀光化…
For example, Joe has pointed out that we should discover the distinctive character for each night market:
我喜歡夜市的美食，卻也討厭各地的夜市都長得一個樣子。我覺得，人有不同的樣子，風景有不同的樣子，狗狗有不同的樣子，怎麼夜市卻都同一個樣子呢？其實，更仔細的品味，也許我會發現每一個夜市不同的樣子，不同的個性。
Recently, to catch the wave of smart phones, the most famous night market in Taiwan (especially amongst foreigners), the Shilin night market, has an iPhone app now.
Writer's note: Thank you to Portnoy for providing some of the information and Tomomi for helping with the Japanese translation.

author: I-fan Lin


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Tajikistan: On the problems of Tajik youth · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

With an average age of 24, Tajikistan is one of the world’s youngest countries. But this may be a curse rather than a blessing, argues Tajik Voice exploring youth culture in this country and covering two topics – religion and life prioroties.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Trinidad & Tobago: On Boscoe  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Nicholas Laughlin is “bemused and bothered” by certain aspects of an interview given to the New York Review of Books blog about artist Boscoe Holder’s work, while Pleasure ruminates on the late artist's male nudes.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Turkmenistan: Instant messenger agent.mail.ru banned in Turkmenistan · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Annasoltan informs the readers that the government of Turkmenistan decided to ban the popular social networking site and instant messenger agent.mail.ru.


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Uzbekistan: Clashes on the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Marat Sartpaev reports on the series of incidents with detentions of officers and citizens of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan by each side since late August, while ordinary citizens are becoming nervous about this.


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Afghanistan: Inside a school for suicide bombers · Global Voices
Jamshid Sultanzada

The Republic of Silence has shared [fa] a video from film maker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy. How does the Taliban convince children to become suicide bombers? Propaganda footage from a training camp in Pakistan is intercut with interviews of young camp graduates.

author: Jamshid Sultanzada


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Africa: African Merchants in Ancient China · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Eccentric Yoruba discusses African merchants in ancient China: “In my previous post I mentioned that I had read somewhere that two slaves given as gifts to the a Chinese Emperor by an Arab delegation were the first Africans to enter ancient China.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Bermuda: On Camera  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

In response to the installation of cameras at certain traffic lights, Vexed Bermoothes says: “I feel that in a ‘nation of laws’ Government must be clear about how efforts like this are authorised, how they will be used…otherwise, the exercise starts to smack of ‘big brother’ intrusiveness.”


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Blog Carnival: Venezuela, Freedom of Expression on the Internet – A Summary · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

After reading the participating posts for the Blog Carnival: Venezuela, Freedom of Expression on the Internet [es] it is clear that while within the scope of traditional media there might be attempts to curtail freedom of expression, on the Internet the picture is very different because Venezuelans have launched themselves into the world of social media. Through their home connections or their BlackBerry phones, they talk, express their views and ideas without any major restrictions.
But, what is a “Blog Carnival”? It is a virtual event where a host blog, Global Voices in Spanish in this case, calls on other blogs to write about a specific subject. The Carnival usually has a set time frame and once it is over a summary post of the participating posts is published. That is what follows.
We begin this summary with someone from home. Laura Vidal, Global Voices author for Venezuela, published a post in her blog Sacando la lengua (Sticking out Your Tongue) where, apart from inviting other bloggers to participate in the Carnival, reflects on what Venezuelans write -or do not write- on the Internet. Among other things, she says [es] :
¿Hasta qué punto refleja la blogósfera de Venezuela la realidad del  país? ¿Sobre qué conversan los venezolanos que escriben en línea? … la política, que desde hace tanto convertimos en chismes comentados con  bases tan profundas como el rumor se ha vuelto el punto central de una  dinámica de diálogos y discursos prestados en las que la comunicación  corta la comunicación. Así sale la pregunta ¿Sobre qué no escriben los venezolanos? ¿Llegará la censura sin necesidad del piloto automático? … ¿De dónde sale lo que decimos?  ¿Pensamos lo que publicamos? La población venezolana alucina con las  innovaciones tecnológicas y adora comunicarse ¿Pero qué se dice?
Flor Peña, who blogs on Twitter Adictisimos, tries to answer these and other questions about the behavior of Venezuelans. She does so in a general way including some information, in her post “Complete Free Will Through the Web 2.0″ [es]:
con la llegada del internet la facilidad de comunicar y transmitir   información se ha vuelto infinita, los límites parecen no existir y   depende de cada individuo el determinar el uso que le hará al servicio … Pueden ver las Estadisticas en Venezuela de usuarios en internet AQUI … (pero) antes debe haber  confianza para llevar a cabo una acción, sea cual sea.  En el conocimiento  colectivo siempre hallaremos la razon del porque el  mundo es ovoide y  no totalmente redondo…
Sol, from the blog Tengo que decirlo (I have to say it), travels on an introspective journey to find answers to why we express ourselves and what can constitute a limiting factor of our reality and our freedom, in her post “Journey to the Depth of My Inner Self” [es]:
Los  gobernantes, los políticos de oficio, que se cierran alrededor de sus  creencias y dogmas se constituyen en propietarios de una verdad que  creen debe ser única e indivisible, no contentos con ello en algunos  casos pretenden imponer ideologías caducas que mutilan la libertad de  pensamiento y nos obligan a padecer el abismo de la exclusión … el avance tecnológico y el sometimiento a la velocidad de la información que se sucede a cada instante  de nuestra vida obliga a reflexionar sobre nuestro ritmo vital. “Es un  tesoro vivir sin prisa” comenta Antonio Más en su espacio virtual y es  demasiado cierto, la mayoría de nosotros en ocasiones tenemos esa  sensación de que nos llevan empujados y no hay nada mejor que darnos el  chance de disfrutar del libre albedrío.
Dulce Penélope is a blogger from Crónicas de una Mujer Solterísima en Caracas (Chronicles of a Very Single Woman in Caracas) and in a didactic post called “Implicit Challenges for Citizens in Freedom of Expression as a Human Right” [es], after presenting some general matters relating to freedom of expression, the access to public information and citizen journalism, she concludes that one must educate others to reach a democratic citizenry.
De nada sirve que el ciudadano  conozca que debe defender la libertad de expresión, el acceso a la  información pública, el acceso y uso a Internet, debe ser conciente que  es necesario recibir una adecuada formación sobre estos temas, no solo a  nivel jurídico sino conocer que esta ocurriendo en otros países en  torno a estas temáticas. Si bien organizaciones civiles en  Venezuela como Espacio Público y Provea han hecho esfuerzos al respecto,  es necesario que las universidades y en las comunidades los ciudadanos  fomenten la importancia en la educación para la ciudadanía democrática,  que preservar la democracia no se limita sólo al voto, al contrario el  ciudadano tiene en sus manos herramientas vitales que le permiten  fiscalizar la gestión de los organismo públicos, además la comunidad es la única barrera que puede frenar de forma contundente las  limitaciones y censuras que un gobierno pueda imponer para frenar el  libre ejercicio de la libertad de expresión.
An event took place in Venezuela during the Blog Carnival which determined what some participant posts focused on: the ban on violent images ruled by a tribunal in Caracas. The blog Colegio Nacional de Periodistas seccional Costa Oriental del Lago, sent us this post [es] for the Carnival:
La junta  directiva de la seccional Costa Oriental del Lago del Colegio Nacional  de Periodistas (CNP COL) rechazó la decisión judicial que prohíbe la  publicación de imágenes consideradas violentas en los medios impresos  venezolanos, a la vez que aseguró que la medida podría repercutir en la  autocensura, en el cercenamiento de derechos fundamentales, como el de  expresión y el de la ciudadanía a estar informada, y en el peor de los  casos, cierre de empresas de comunicación.
Lycette Scott from El Blog de la Negra shows her deep concern about the measure and reflects on the real motives and implications of the measure, and on the attitudes of politicians, in the post “Freedom of Expression?” [es]:
¿es posible dejar de publicar  noticias sobre violencia en un país donde cada día hay muertes violentas  producto del hampa común y en muchos casos también a mano de la  policía? pero más allá de eso ¿es posible cumplir con la prohibición sin  menoscabar la libertad de expresión? … El problema de fondo aquí no es  la foto, no es la situación de la morgue, no es la inseguridad, no es  la indiferencia gubernamental ante todas estas situaciones, no es que  los chamos se afecten sicológicamente … el problema en definitiva es un  gobierno y una ciudadanía que se sienten incómodos cuando se les ponen  las verdades en la cara, porque tanto a la sociedad como a los políticos  les encanta ignorar lo que sucede a su alrededor, es más chevere y más  cómodo saber que las cosas suceden pero hacerse los locos
Euped Rodríguez also posted on the issue in the blog Escritos sin papel (Writings without paper). The post “Freedom of Expression and the Internet: New Challenges” [es], aside from informing us about the realm of freedom of expression on the Internet in Venezuela compared to the rest of the world, points out that:
Con una nueva esfera pública en la  cual miles de personas expresan opiniones, información, reflexiones y  análisis a través de la red, (se) ha generado una comunicación más  transparente, directa y democrática que se está efectuando en el país y  en diferentes partes del mundo. Una esfera pública que favorece al  desarrollo de  la democracia permitiendo que cada persona sea participe  en los distintos hechos y toma de decisiones de una comunidad, región o  país. Sin embargo, si dicho espacio es restringido se rompería con uno  de los principios fundamentales de vivir en un país libre … Aquí en Venezuela estamos en una constante guerra de información,  existen dos bandos: oficialismo y opositores. Cada uno favorece a su  lado, utilizan las herramientas tecnológicas para defender lo que creen.  Cada usuario de internet se ha dedicado a funcionar como portavoz de  información, de generar contenidos.
Finally, in the blog Anotaciones al borde (Side notes), Kira Kariakin, its author, published the post “Rotten Town” [es], where she talks about the ongoing violence in Caracas and the context under which the aforementioned prohibition was set, and concludes that:
Aún contamos con este territorio de nadie y de todos de  internet para   poder acceder y difundir las informaciones que intentan ser acalladas  por el  gobierno en el mundo analógico. Han  habido amagos de censura y  amenazas con leyes improcedentes y punitivas  hasta ahora sin mucha  factibilidad de aplicación. En este caso, la  caducidad de los medios  tradicionales se cancela en los digitales porque  la gente puede acceder  a los contenidos, y difundirlos viralmente por  mucho tiempo. Ello no  es fácil de controlar. Videos como el de OneChot, los de Cuatro, la risa  de Izarra en CNN y la primera plana de muerte de El Nacional quedan en  la red para la reflexión.
We are very grateful to all those who participated, maybe taking time off other activities, and getting over fears, real or otherwise, that are perceived in the Venezuelan blogosphere. We also thank those who helped us spread the word about the Carnival in their blogs, and Twitter users that re-tweeted our annoucement. I also want to thank those who took the time to read this post and enjoy some very diverse blogs. I strongly recommend a trip through all of them, a great sample of the Venezuelan blogosphere that hopefully will not keep going unnoticed by the general public. See you in the next Carnival!

author: Juan Arellano


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Brazil: A guide to tech for transparency projects in the 2010 elections · Global Voices
Manuella Ribeiro

Brazil’s electoral law reform, approved in 2009, will have a positive impact on the October 2010 general election by giving citizens access to more information than ever before.  Furthermore, many emerging transparency projects from civil society, the private sector and the public sector are working together, actively using new technology tools to make the election visible and to get citizens involved in the upcoming celebration of democracy.
Next October, about 135 million [pt] Brazilians will vote for president, governor, senator, federal and state or district deputies. Last year, the Electoral Reform [pt] opened the doors for politics 2.0 by authorizing parties to use social networks (Twitter, Facebook and others) to raise campaign donations and participate in streamlined debates.
Before the elections, multiple projects were already working on issues such as transparency, civic engagement and public policies monitors. Google created an election platform [pt], compiling information about presidential candidates and displaying an interactive map showing election results since 1994, as well as bringing together the most active civil society initiatives: Campanha Ficha Limpa (“No Criminal Record Campaign”), Excelências (“Excellences”), Movimento Voto Consciente (“Conscientious Vote Movement”), VotenaWeb (“Vote on the Web”), and Eleitor 2010 (“Elector 2010”).
Google’s platform encourages voters to ask questions to their candidates by submitting them via a YouTube channel. The best questions, as chosen by the platform users, will be answered by candidates on television.
Paula Góes, Global Voices’ Multi-Lingual Editor, wrote about Campanha Ficha Limpa: “The Ficha Limpa (No Criminal Record) bill…seeks to prevent politicians who have committed serious crimes, such as misuse of public funds, corruption, murder and drug trafficking, from running in elections.”  The Movimento de Combate à Corrupção Eleitoral [Movement Against Electoral Corruption] created the campaign in 2008 and prepared a bill (in Brazil, the citizens can propose a bill if they obtain a certain number of signatures).  Avaaz.org played an important role in collecting signatures and putting pressure on the legislature to approve the bill. The Ficha Limpa Law was enacted by president Luiz Inácio Lula in June 2010.
The Superior Electoral Court ruled that the Ficha Limpa Law is valid and enforceable for the 2010 elections. After that decision, the founders of the campaign launched a website to monitor candidates’ compliance with the law, with additional features like visualizing gathered data and news from the media.  The site also includes a form to report candidate misbehavior.
If a candidate wants to be listed on the Ficha Limpa site, he or she must fulfill a pledge of transparency during the campaign by presenting a weekly report on his or her spending and other information. Forty candidates have already registered.
Voto Consciente is an association that was founded in 1987. The objective is to consolidate citizen participation by informing the public about politicians and their competencies. They also have a website to present that information and news about the association. They have many online activities, such as participation in social networks, publications and videos. For example, the movement in the city of Jundiai published a document about 16 candidates for state deputy and information about how citizens can use the Internet to supervise politicians or propose solutions for their city’s problems.
The other projects presented in Google’s platform have been documented as case studies on the Technology for Transparency Network. VotenaWeb was studied in the first phase of our research, while Excelências and Eleitor 2010 will be presented in the coming weeks.
Votenaweb allows citizens to compare their votes on congressional bills with the politicians’. Using a clear interface, congressional bills are translated into simple language with clearly defined context and consequences. In addition to monitoring the voting records on particular bills, users can also interact with the political landscape by symbolically voting for or against each bill. This tool helps citizens choose who to vote for by enabling them to find candidates’ voting records in recent years.
Excelências was created in 2006 by Transparência Brasil (“Transparency Brazil”). Excelências uses the Internet to make information about Brazilian parliamentarians available to the public.  They use official data to increase transparency surrounding 2368 politicians. As with VotenaWeb, Excelências helps inform citizens about the candidates in the 2010 elections.
GV contributors Paula Goes and Diego Casaes are the coordinators of Eleitor 2010.
Eleitor 2010 (“Elector 2010″), which was recently covered on Global Voices by Janet Gunter, intends to monitor Brazil's elections in 2010. The project uses the Internet to receive complaints about irregular campaigns during the elections. It uses the crowdsourding platform Ushahidi to document and map content submitted by citizens via SMS, email, Twitter, and various social networks. The coordinators are Paula Goes and Diego Casaes, both of Global Voices.
Multiple projects in Brazil track candidate behavior and monitor politicians’ work after they are elected. Congresso Aberto (“Open Congress”) visualizes and analyzes official data from Brazil's Congress. In Cidade Democratica (“Democratic City”), citizens document and discuss municipal problems and solutions as well as discussing candidates’ proposals and visiting candidate profiles. Finally, Adote um Vereador (“Adopt a politician”) encourages Brazilian citizens to blog about the work of their local elected officials in order to hold them accountable. Though Adote um Vereador currently focuses on local politicians, Milton Jung, one of the founders, hopes to extend the project to national politicians elected in October.
Several other initiatives to increase citizen participation before the elections are also at work in Brazil:
The upcoming elections are marked by the highest Internet usage ever in Brazil, both by candidates and by citizens.  For example, all candidates for president have accounts on Twitter and other social networks. The first online election debate, promoted last week by an Internet provider, surpassed 1.7 million hits and led the trending topics on Twitter during that period. At the same time, these tools are not restricted to use by candidates and media. Several NGOs, citizens and companies are using the Internet to improve access to information about candidates or supervision of the campaign. Google’s platform presents part of these experiences.
Hopefully technology tools and connectivity will help Brazil to elect better politicians for the next four years and to create a database about these politicians that will help hold them accountable for their actions in government. Despite the relatively short time of using these tools, we can say that by Brazil’s next elections, the Internet will be established as a space to promote greater information on candidates and the actions of government.

author: Manuella Ribeiro


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Brazil: “Do It Yourself” Clean Elections · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

[This post was originally published on Ushahidi's blog. Ushahidi is an open-source mapping tool that was developed in Kenya at a time of crisis in 2008 and has since been used for crowdsourcing worldwide.]
School children being told to chant candidates’ names by their teachers. Civil servants getting sacked for not campaigning for their political bosses. Zinc roofing being traded for votes. The public wholesaling of voters’ personal data to campaigners. Death threats to those who denounce electoral crimes.
Welcome to the unpleasant side of Brazilian electioneering.
These are just some of the reports coming from Eleitor 2010, a “crowdsourcing” project aiming to facilitate citizen reports of abuses of the electoral process in Brazil.
In the largest democracy in Latin America – with over 120 million voters – this year, voters go to the polls they will be choosing the successor of one of the country's most popular Presidents in history (Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva) but also voting on governors, a large portion of Congress.
Eleitor2010 website
Every country has its own unique political culture and oddities. Even the most minimal democracy has its own rules around electioneering, the mechanics of the vote, and ensuring that the state regulates the electoral process.
Brazil was one of the first democracies of its size to use electronic voting machines. It also has compulsory voting. But other aspects of its electoral process are unique, including attempts to strictly regulate of online campaigning, vote buying and what are called “showmícios” (concert-rallies).
Brazil has very clear and comprehensive laws regulating elections but the problem is enforcing these laws.
There is a real culture of politicians subverting the law, maintaining a privileged position as patrons of voters in Brazil. This stems from a distant colonial past and continued persistent inequality, where entrenched elite interests have maintained themselves.
The idea behind Eleitor 2010, which is a purely volunteer, non-partisan project run by a virtual team with zero funding, is to engage the voter beyond the day of the election. According to Paula Góes and Diego Casaes, its creators – who met via Twitter and now collaborate on Global Voices Online, the project is to promote critical and active citizenship, that challenges some of the arcane and undemocratic practices mentioned above.
Eleitor 2010 runs on the open source software Ushahidi, a web-based platform which received much attention for its utility in mapping incidents after the Haiti earthquake, driven by SMS reports from the ground.
Ushahidi has yet to reach its full potential as an election monitoring platform, say Góes and Casaes. With an estimated 25% of the country online every day, and one of the highest mobile subscriber rates in Latin America, they hope Brazil could be the place where it comes of age this year. Four weeks away from the election, Eleitor 2010 already has 230+ reports, from every state in the country, and from the most remote areas.
However, it is an uphill battle to get the message out about the platform, in a country where broadcast and print media are still strong, held in the hands of a privileged elite bent on defending its interests.
Despite this, the communications team at Eleitor 2010 has generated some media attention, and networking with other online transparency initiatives has been crucial. Google recently featured Eleitor 2010 on its page dedicated to the Brazilian elections.
Góes and Casaes hope that with their awareness campaign – on social networks including Orkut with over 40 million users, partnerships with networks of internet cafés, NGOs, and social movements – Eleitor 2010 will break through and change the way thousands of voters engage in the electoral process.
Through the plaftorm, some entertaining anecdotes have already come to light, well in advance of the October 3 vote.
Voters caught one man in a small town in the interior selling off Twitter accounts with 40,000+ followers for the sickeningly low price of US$125. This is illegal under Brazilian electoral law. When confronted, the man in question gave more incriminating evidence and then threatened to sue Eleitor 2010. The evidence, including screenshots and transcript of a chat with him, were delivered to the Electoral Courts.
Another comic report from São Paulo, where teachers at a school illegally encouraged children to chant for two candidates, one for mayor and one for President, and it backfired with children instinctively chanting “Lula!” “Lula!” The video circulated widely, and has had over 70,000 views.
Another video that raised eyebrows was one by blogger Ricardo Gama of a VW bus owned by the City Hall being used for a campaign in Rio de Janeiro. The blogger shouts “Are you carrying electoral propaganda in the car of the City Hall? This is an electoral crime! I filmed it. I am going to denounce you.”
From the north of Brazil, in the state of Maranhão, word reached Eleitor 2010 that a network of evangelical churches was offering to “trade” 3,000 votes for “support” after the election. In the state of São Paulo, one Bishop implored the faithful not to support President Lula’s chosen successor, Dilma Roussef.
These examples indicate how this platform and online, participatory tools will be of use in years to come. No matter whether it goes “viral” and becomes a household name, Eleitor 2010 and other transparency initiatives have already become game-changers this election year.

author: Janet Gunter


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Chile: Bands and Soloists on Twitter · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Roberto Carreño has listed the Twitter accounts of several Chilean bands and soloists.

author: Silvia Viñas


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China: Afterthoughts following the New Zealand earthquake · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Like 7-year-old Julie Murphy getting her lemonade stand shut down earlier this summer, news of the earthquake last week in New Zealand inspired countless discussions all across the Chinese Internet.
For Sina blogger and Christchurch resident Sun Jiayang, this was her first earthquake:
看中国的报道，对新西兰的防震工作是赞赏有加。确实，和海地的地震级数差不多，没有一个人死亡，而且只有两个人受伤，不能不说是一个奇迹。一个是因为基督城基本上没有高楼，另外地震的时间也是刚好所有的娱乐场所都关门以后，如果再提前一小时，可能情况和现在就完全不同了。救援组织很快就各就各位了，也很打程度上给了市民很大的安慰，也没有出现什么恐慌的情况。除了饮用水比较缺以外。在这里，严重鄙视那些提高水价的商家。
More of Sun's photos can be seen here.
The minimal damage done and lack of deaths directly caused by the earthquake, writes Sina blogger Vast Digital Ocean, was less of a miracle than the result of solid preparation, from schools to building standards:
我们不会忘记，汶川地震发生后，倒塌的学校的建筑质量曾饱受垢病，有些混凝土结构里面，甚至用钢丝代替钢筋，尤其是那些不法建筑商的豆腐渣工程，让我们付出了惨重的代价。而在新西兰，建筑物如果出现问题，政府一定会追究建筑商、设计师，政府审查人员的责任。
另外，民众掌握多少抗震知识也很重要。据专家介绍，根据以往大地震的经验，90%的死亡人员都是在跑出门口之后因为墙倒屋塌重物坠落致死。在地震多发的日本，每年都在固定的防震演练，所以当地震来临时，民众才会不慌不乱。而目前我国面临的防震教育工作依然很重，防震知识的宣传缺乏持续性和广泛性，很多老百姓不清楚地震发生的原理，甚至宁愿去相信地震谣言。
什么叫以人为本？新西兰地震的经验教训对此做出了充分的解答。有一个统计数字显示，近50年来级别相同的地震，在发展中国家造成的死亡人数要比发达国家高20倍以上。近年来，全球地震进入了活跃期，加强防震科普教育十分必要，而刚刚发生的新西兰地震，成了最生动的教材。
While not everyone has forgotten the lives lost in the devastating earthquake in Sichuan, in the two years since, have building standards improved? This is the angle Sina blogger ‘Traveler for Life’ takes in his September 7 post, ‘Can the zero-death miracle of New Zealand's earthquake be copied?’:
老实的新西兰总理却说：“我们非常幸运，没有人在地震中丧身。”总理把这奇迹归因于“幸运”，而没有上升到政府的英明决策云云，令我匪夷所思。憨厚如此却能当上富国的宰相，又使我着实的吃惊。
现在言归正传，新西兰的奇迹到底能不能复制？我的回答是悲观的。就像韩寒的人生不能复制一样，新西兰的奇迹也不可复制。
为什么有如此悲观的态度哪？因为负面的刺激太多了，也就乐观不起来。我看到，安徽的建筑商“用竹签代替钢筋。”这种偷工减料的做法能抵御大地震的袭击吗？不能。更有甚者这两天媒体又披露，在六朝古都西安，建筑市场上，出现了被人为拉细的“瘦身”钢筋。而且据说西安的这种钢筋加工点达上百家之多。可谓是“多乎哉，不多也！”这种害人的钢筋用在楼市上，几家欢乐，几家愁。大地震袭来时，就是上帝也保佑不了我们。

author: John Kennedy


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China: Police’s micro-blogging experience · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Michelle from interlocals.net has translated a story from Xinhua.net about the Chinese police officers’ strategy and experience in micro-blogging,

author: Oiwan Lam


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Colombia: Hiperbarrio Bloggers on Violence in Medellín · Global Voices
Lully Posada

Violence, murder, theft and crime are a constant in Medellín and its metropolitan area; issues all people must learn to live with and a social phenomenon that has grown in the last year. Members of Hiperbarrio expressed their feelings and different viewpoints on the matter in personal and group blogs.
Yuliana Paniagua, in the Hiperbarrio site [es], highlights the area of Castilla, where members of the blog Hope Revolution (Revolución Esperanza) went to take pictures. She also shows the importance of Hiperbarrio as a positive alternative for the community.
Jorge Vasquez wrote in the Villactivos collective blog [es] about the influence of a lack of values as a result of an uncontrollable situation, despite the government's investment in military spending:
Se ha configurado aquí un mundo del sigilo, de la desconfianza, de la prevención, en el cual reconocer un error  es resbalar, un mundo con sus propios leyes, iconos y figuras ejemplares para los jóvenes provenientes de los bajos mundos,  de las imágenes de los comerciantes de los medios de comunicación serios, que han hecho de la apología del violento un negocio lucrativo. Un mundo despiadado, donde al niño se le enseña con el ejemplo,  que ser bondadoso con el otro es ser tonto, que disputar el centímetro de calle, el pupitre en el colegio, el favor de la pareja es  lo que vale.    Y aquí están algunos de estos barrios hechos a imagen, semejanza y escala del egoísmo de los poderosos, unos más, otros menos, como vórtices de fuego, mientras la autoridad, de este país, que está entre los 10 de mayor gasto militar en el mundo, no ha podido controlar la sinfonía de fusiles que arrulla el sueño de sus habitantes.
Photo of Comuna 13 neighborhood in Medellín by author Lully Posada
Luis Elías, a member Convergentes, cries out in his personal blog [es] for the war in the neighborhoods to stop.  He wrote a second post [es] where he also refers to unemployment and laziness as causes for this violent situation:
Estoy harto de esta  guerra , no respetan ni los niños  menores de edad, ya lo utilizar  como carrito para cargar armas, pero eso también va en los  padres que  no se han dado cuenta de lo que están haciendo sus hijos  o también de los hermanos que están metidos en los grupos armados le piden en favor  para que le lleve el cuerpo del delito , y para  mal de todos  acabar con los barrios que  son buenos para vivir, ¿esto  cuando se va  a terminar?   ¡Ojalá   rápido!  Matan  a los que no tiene  nada que ver  con el conflicto.[
(…]  cuando llega el desempleo o la falta  de estudio  para los jóvenes buscan otras opciones  para salir de la misma rutina  en la que estaban y probar  cosas nuevas, cosas fáciles para sobrevivir en mundo que está lleno de corrupción.
I'm tired of this war, they don’t even respect under-age children, they use [them] as a cart to carry weapons, but that also goes for parents who have not noticed what they are doing to their children or also siblings who are involved in armed groups and ask [under-age children] to take away the body of a crime, and worse of all they ruin neighborhoods that are good to live in, when will this end? Hopefully soon! They kill those who do not have anything to do with the conflict.
[…]  when it comes to unemployment or lack of education for young people they look for other options to get out of the routine in which they were and try new things, easy things to survive in a world that is full of corruption.
Jaider Ochoa makes a positive comment about Hiperbarrio in the collective blog Revolución Esperanza [es]:
La idea de recuperar la memoria social y cultural de los barrios, de destacar esas cosas buenas con las que se cuenta, pero que se ven opacadas por el despliegue mediático sobre la violencia, permiten ver que estas comunidades no sólo tienen delincuentes, sino que también hay quien pueda decir que en ellas hay un sinfín de rasgos, personajes, tradiciones y actividades que hacen la diferencia y que permiten conocerla como un lugar donde también se puede habitar en condiciones dignas.
Finally, Henry Osorio in the Funacrate collectibe blog, raises some questions after narrating an event [es] experienced by an acquaintance called Manuel.
Pasaban los minutos, Manuel seguía observando desde la terraza y vio a un miembro del Ejército, como alienaba con su fusil a un señor que se trepaba por otra terraza de la vecindad, cuando el primero tuvo la oportunidad le disparó casi botándole el brazo.  Después que Manuel me narró su versión, quedé con una cantidad de interrogantes que me hacen reflexionar sobre la situación violenta en algunos sectores de la ciudad y la intervención de la Fuerza Pública en las comunidades.
¿Cuál es el tipo de intervención que debe hacer la Fuerza Pública cuando suceden estos hechos? […] ¿Cuál es el tipo de confianza que brinda la Fuerza Pública cuando interviene las comunidades afectando algunos  habitantes de estos barrios? ¿Las personas que corren en busca de refugio ante estos hechos acaso son  delincuentes?
The minutes passed, Manuel was watching from the terrace and saw a member of the Army, how he alienated with his gun a man who climbed another terrace in the vicinity, when the former had a chance he shot him almost busting his arm. After Manuel told me his story, I was left with a lot of questions that make me think about the violent situation in some parts of the city and the intervention of the Public Forces [the Military and Police] in the communities.
What is the type of intervention the Public Force should have when these things happen? […] What type of confidence does the Public Force bring when it interpheres in communities, affecting some inhabitants of these neighbohoods? Are the people looking for refuge in these events deliquents?

author: Lully Posada


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First Pakistani Tennis player to qualify for the Finals of US Open  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Pakistan has something to cheer about after a long spell of tragedies. Hina Safdar at Chowrangi  reports that Aisam ul Haq Qureshi has become the first Pakistani ever to qualify for the Finals of US Open tennis tournament.

author: Rezwan


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Getting to Know the Global Voices Latin America Team · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

As outgoing Editor for Latin America, I have seen the Global Voices team from Latin America grow tremendously over the past three years. Each of the volunteer authors has dedicated time and energy to serve the mission of Global Voices, and to share their part of the world with a global audience. At any given time, each of the countries that make up the Latin American region has been represented by a talented blogger tasked with the challenge of presenting a wide range of issues in a balanced and fair manner. Now that I am moving on to take the helm at Rising Voices, I am eager to see how the team will take the coverage of such a diverse region to greater heights under the leadership of the new Latin America Editor, Silvia Viñas. Continuing a recent tradition, let's meet some of these amazing people that have been part of the Latin American team (in alphabetical order by first name).
Members of GV Latin America with friends from GV Portuguese and GV Caribbean. Photo by Suzanne Lehn
Andrea Arzaba [Mexico] – I don't think I've seen a single picture of Andrea in which she was not smiling. Her enthusiasm and friendliness is both sincere and contagious. Recently back in Mexico after spending a semester studying abroad in Spain, Andrea is very active in youth conferences and blogging competitions. She was recently chosen to represent the Think About It organization at the UN Summit to be held in New York City later this month. Read her blog One Lucky Life [es] and follow her on Twitter: @andrea_arzaba.
Belén Bogado [Paraguay] – Belén is quite the multimedia star in her native country of Paraguay. Not only is she an accomplished print journalist, but she has also hosted her own radio show and television program.  In addition, she has brought special recognition to Paraguayan bloggers, including an introduction to the first blogger to write in the Guaraní language, who was featured in a GV post and which caught the eye of the local CNN affiliate.
Catalina Restrepo [Colombia] – Many of us have seen how much Catalina has grown over the past three years. She started as one of the participants of the Rising Voices’ project HiperBarrio. Since then, she has really come into her own, gaining confidence by the day and asking for more challenges. In addition to being invited to speak at international conferences, she was also recognized at home when she was awarded the Talented Young Woman [es] prize in Medellín. Read her blog: Cosas del Alma [es] and follow her on Twitter: @catirestrepo
Felipe Cordero [Chile] – Felipe joined Global Voices in 2010, and his participation began shortly after the tragic earthquake struck his country of Chile. He was living in Columbia, Missouri at the time when he volunteered to help with the coverage, as way to draw more attention to the tragedy and reconstruction. His posts helped make the Special Coverage Page of the earthquake timely and diverse. Since graduating from college, Felipe has taken part in many interesting training programs and internships, including one at the Chilean Mission at the United Nations. Read his blog: Política Online [es] and follow him on Twitter: @felipe_cordero.
Gabriela García Calderón [Peru] – At the Global Voices Summit in Santiago, Chile, Gabriela received recognition for being the GV member with the most number of translations across all Lingua sites. With more than 2000 translations under her belt, Gabriela wanted to get involved with GV even more. So, she volunteered to become a GV author by focusing on some of the non-political facets of Peruvian society. Read her blog: Seis de Enero [es].
Issa Villarreal [Mexico] – To say that Issa is interested in the urban arts scene in her hometown of Monterrey, Mexico, would be an understatement. In her free time, Issa covers local concerts and music festivals [es] on her blog and other publications. In addition, she is a videographer, and one of her most recent works was filmed a local amusement park. Her three-part series exploring graffiti and urban art across Latin American stands among some of her most classic posts. She also covers other topics, including the #internetnecesario campaign, although I was unable to convince her to write a post on the Mexican delicacy of eyeball taco. Read her blog: Perdida en el Súper [es] and follow her on Twitter: @hiperkarma.
Members of GV Latin America meeting with GV Board Member Rosental Alves at the GV Summit in Santiago. Photo by Juliana Rincón and used under a Attribution 2.0 Generic CC license.
Jenny Cascante [Costa Rica] – Jenny is another of our authors that is active in her country in the arts and cultural scene. She has been a part of the super-stylish arts digital magazine De La Bimba [es]. Read her blog: Nube Número Nueve [es] and follow her on Twitter: @nubecina.
Jorge Gobbi [Argentina] – Buenos Aires is one of my favorite Latin American cities and most times that I've visited, I've managed to stop by to say hello to Jorge. I don't think I realized how well-known he is in the Argentine blogosphere until he was featured in the La Nación newspaper as one of 5 of the most important bloggers [es] in the country. Probably best known for his travel blogging, he won Best Travel Blog in Spanish awarded by Lonely Planet. Jorge is currently pursuing his doctorate degree in Social Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires. Read his blog: Blog de Viajes [es] and follow him on Twitter: @morrissey.
Juan Arellano [Peru] – Ever since Juan has taken on the leadership role for Global Voices in Spanish, the site has thrived. The roster of active translators that he has recruited makes it one of the most diverse and willing teams to bring GV content into the Spanish language. The partnerships and collaborations that he has pursued serves as a model for other Lingua sites. In addition to translating posts, Juan also makes sure that local issues in his native Peru makes it to the pages of Global Voices. Read his blog: Globalizado [es] and follow him on Twitter: @cyberjuan.
Juliana Rincón Parra [Colombia] – While I had less interaction with Juliana than before, it was because she was promoted to Global Voices Video Editor. However, she still managed to provide great coverage of important videos from the region, which was whenever she was not knitting or podcasting.  Read her blog: Medea Material [es] and follow her on Twitter: @medeamaterial.
Julián Ortega [Colombia] – Digital media has become an integral part of Colombian politics over the past several years, and Julián has provided a service for helping GV readers wade through the vast amount of tweets, Facebook groups, and blog posts. He is extremely knowledgeable about the subtle nuances and context of Colombian politics. Julián is also very active in the equinoXio [es] digital magazine. In addition, he holds a special place in his heart for his cats, who can be seen on his Flickr account. Follow him on Twitter: @julianortegam.
Laura Vidal [Venezuela] – Laura has been personally responsible for making sure that Venezuela is not portrayed as a country that only revolves around polarizing politics. She has made sure GV readers learn about many of the country's talented musicians, writers, artists, and cultural projects. Currently pursuing her Master's degree in Education Sciences at the Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense in Paris, Laura has always offered me a place to crash on her floor during my stops in Paris, and also showcased her culinary skills to me when she made delicious arepas. Read her blog Sacando la Lengua [es] and follow her on Twitter @lenguaraz.
Luis Diego Molina and Adriana Vargas [Costa Rica] – I hesitate to not give each of these young authors their own recognition, but they've been working together on the citizen journalism project Habla Costa Rica, where they have reported from the ground during events like the protests at the University of Costa Rica. I've been thoroughly impressed with their willingness to learn and how much dedication they have put into their project. Follow the project on Twitter: @hablacostarica.
Lully Posada [Colombia] – Lully is such a strong supporter of citizen media projects around the world, but there is one that has attracted more attention than others. In fact, she has started volunteering with the HiperBarrio project helping out with workshops, but more importantly, providing encouragement and motivation to the new bloggers.  She is also one of the co-founders of the equinoXio digital magazine, and provides interesting interviews. Read her blog: Reflexiones al Desnudo [es] and follow her on Twitter: @lullyp.
Milton Ramírez [Ecuador] – Milton or perhaps I should write Dr. Ramírez, has been one of the most prolific GV authors from the region over the past several years. Milton holds a doctorate in Education and is extremely interested in examining the relationship between education and technology. He is also a champion for local technology projects and events in his native Ecuador, including extensive coverage of BarCamps and other digital campaigns. His love for his home region of Loja has placed the city on my must-visits someday. Read his blog: Education and Tech and follow him on Twitter: @tonnet.
Renata Avila [Guatemala] – As one of the resident Creative Commons experts within the Latin America team, Renata is the lead for the Creative Commons project in her native Guatemala. She is also serving as one of the co-leads in the Technology for Transparency project at Global Voices. Renata also holds a special interest in the plight of the indigenous communities in her country and which has served as a subject for many of her articles on Global Voices. Read her blog: Nothing is Permanent [es] and follow her on Twitter: @avilarenata
Rocío Díaz [Dominican Republic] – Rocío is our first author from the island of the Dominican Republic. She took great care in presenting a wide range of issues from the colorful characters of Carnival to the national sport of baseball, as well as the DR's response to the earthquake in neighboring Haiti. She started blogging as part of a national movement for community action, which helps draw attention to problems, as well as solutions in the island's municipalities. Read her blog: Monaco [es].
Silvia Viñas [Uruguay/Chile] – As the new Regional Editor for Latin America, Silvia has always been willing to fill in whenever needed, whether it be about issues facing Chile or Uruguay. No wonder she is so flexible, since she describes herself as half-Uruguayan and half-Spanish, and has lived in five Latin American countries. This allows her to be a great fit for the role of Latin America Editor, who needs to be well-versed in the affairs of an entire region. When she is not online posting and editing, she is the mother of an adorable two year-old, who just celebrated her birthday. Read her blog: Walking Around [es] and follow her on Twitter: @silviavinas
This is only a partial list, as there are many more authors who have recently joined or who have been recently inactive, but have been an integral part of making the Latin America region as strong as it has become. These authors include: Claudio Ruíz [Chile], Clotilde Castillo [Panama], Nike Jung [Chile], Muna Annahas [Paraguay], Roy Rojas [Costa Rica], Celeste Calvet [Argentina], Aaron Ortiz [Honduras], Leonidas Mejia [Honduras], Mario Durán [Bolivia], Carlos Suasnavas [Ecuador], Mario Blanco [Uruguay], Tim Muth [El Salvador], Rodrigo Peñalba [Nicaragua], Melissa De León[Panama], Luis Carlos Díaz [Venezuela], Rosario Lizana [Chile], Iria Puyosa [Venezuela], Claudia Cadelo [Cuba], Alvaro Berroteran [Nicaragua], HJ Barraza [Mexico].
As you can see, the Latin America team is very diverse, not only in the part of the world that they cover, but in their own personal interests and background. Congratulations to such an amazing team of volunteers for making the Latin America region so well represented at Global Voices.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Guatemala: 100 Good Things Before September 15 · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Guate Cambia [es] is coming up with 100 good things about Guatemala before September 15; users can send their suggestions to admin@guatecambia.com.


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Haiti: MINUSTAH & Violence  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Haitian Blogger discusses the recent death of a young man, allegedly at the hand of UN troops, saying: “It is because of the continuous abuses by MINUSTAH and violent incidents like the one in Cap-Haitien on August 17 that Haitians are demanding an end to the UN occupation of Haiti.”


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Indonesia: Blogger conference to include Facebook, Twitter users · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The annual gathering of bloggers in Indonesia is now open to members of other social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. The Pesta Blogger conference will take place next month.

author: Mong Palatino


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Indonesia: Former Playboy editor found guilty of indecency · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Supreme Court of Indonesia has found the former editor of Playboy Indonesia guilty of violating the country's indecency laws. Media groups and bloggers protest the decision as “criminalization of the press.” Playboy Indonesia contained no nude pictures.


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Indonesia: “Most Inspiring Tweeter” · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Indonesian businesswoman Fahira Idris won as the most inspiring person on twitter through an online survey.


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Jamaica: Policy for Parents  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“School has reopened so it’s high season for parent-bashing”: Long Bench republishes his response to the latest version of Jamaica's National Parenting Policy.


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Japan, Brazil: Dirty Hearts, a movie on first-generation Japanese-Brazilians after WW2  · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

Jamaipanese reports [en] that next year will be released in Brazil the new film by Brazilian filmmaker Vicente Amorim titled Coracoes Sujos  (Dirty Hearts).
The movie is about an underreported conflict that divided the Japanese immigrants in Brazil  [en] following Japan’s World War II defeat.
The trailer of the movie (in Portuguese) is embedded in the post.

author: Scilla Alecci


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Kenya: Koroga Enchants · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Koroga is an Africa story involving poets and photogpraphers: “At the heart of Koroga is a deep desire to understand how art shapes our social imaginations. Poets have responded to a range of images that capture the density and play of contemporary living, the beauties and tragedies that surround us.”


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Macedonia: Bronze Lions, Accountability & Transparency · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

The newly-erected statues of four bronze lions on a Skopje bridge attracted the attention of the Macedonian public by the end of August. The initial arrogant refusal of accountability by the statues’ creators overshadowed the questionable artistic achievement related to these publicly funded felines.
One of the so-called realistic lions, flanked by the recently installed police video cameras and a dysfunctional public clock. Photo: Filip Stojanovski, CC-BY.
The all-male statues are part of the controversial Skopje 2014 project. The first pair was installed on August 24, and the second on August 31. They immediately incited reactions by social media users. For instance kuzman0v said:
Okay, the lions are here, we only lack: the Hyenas, Timon and Pumbaa. #Skopje2014… [“Hakuna matata“].
Probably the first blogger on the scene was Zoriv, who published [MKD] a small photo-gallery and his impressions, stating that the statues reminded him of his visit to István Szécheny Bridge in Budapest, Hungary, 30 years ago.
…with a delay of about 120 years, Skopje is begging to acquire features common to European cities. Concerning our lions, the future symbol and guardians of Goce Delchev Bridge, I am not overly impressed. The whole “build” seems asymmetrical. The head with the mane is unnaturally tall compared to the rear. The muzzle and the whole head in relation to the body look thinner compared to the natural anatomy of a lion's head. If the news that these statues really cost EUR 1.2 million is true, I honestly say that for that kind of money another sculptor could have done a much better job.
Whatever, Skopje slowly but radically changes its appearance, which remained stagnant during the 47 years after the catastrophic earthquake. Maybe this is not the best time for such works, when the economic crisis invades every pore of our lives, but it was high time for Skopje at least partly to get a look of a minor and decent European metropolis.
In a comment to this post, antiseparatist said that these “are Bulgarian lions” from Lion's Bridge in Sofia.
Jokes
As usual, people who found the whole exercise absurd fought back with black humor and satire. Anatomical disproportions of the supposedly “realistic” lions incited a number of jokes, with topics ranging from their large heads to the absence/minuscule size of reproductive organs.
Twitter user apostolov80 used his photo of one of the lions for a multi-layered statement that “the lion has no balls.” Even though careful observers can detect some testicle-like shapes under the tail, echoes of this joke continue to ripple across the net, and some traditional media, like the weekly Fokus and the daily Vest. For instance, VidanaMacedonia alleged [MKD] that the animals were “castrated.” Vest editor Goran Mihajlovski commented [MKD] that such a feature might be quite in line with the true national spirit because the Macedonian idiom for “having balls” (courage) is “having an arse.”
The second pair of lions quickly got compared to Masters of the Universe's Cringer or something out of Power Rangers toy/cartoon franchises, and their “coming” was announced as an “attack of killer robots.”
Workers finishing up a so-called postmodernist lion, facing the old Skopje fortress. Photo: Filip Stojanovski, CC-BY.
Lions jokes quickly entered common parlance. Parents protesting the Government's decision (“due to the economic crisis”) to stop funding meals for handicapped children in a daycare center in Kavadarci pointed to the statues. Facebook users who shared an article [MKD] about this affair also spread the meme that “the Lions ate the kids’ breakfast.”
Kopach also had a point [MKD] in regard to these developments:
Democracy is a social order in which those who rob you address you as “mister” instead of “comrade.”
During the same week the media and the public shared two “important” news: “the lions arrived” and “the money for the Anti-corruption Commission failed [MKD] to arrive.” One might think that the overlap is accidental and random, a mere coincidence of timing. But no, there's more to this.
Namely, because we gave the money for the lions instead of to the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption, I expect the lions to be responsible for fighting corruption. This struggle should be lead by the mythical creatures of our artists, who are so devoted to the act of creating that they don't even know how much they earn, and have to employ their economist-spouses to take care of that. It is hard for me to be ironic about the whole situation, because we again displayed tribal consciousness about issues of general, public and national interest. Instead of strengthening the system towards better functioning of the rule of law, providing much-needed justice for all, we strengthen mythology, which the authorities think should provide salvation. Now, when you get stung or hurt by some injustice in our society, do not even think to ask responsibility from the state, the government, the political parties, the institutions: no, no, never. You have been clearly told who protects us: the lions. From now on, if you have any grievance, need to complain or cry, go to those which benefited from the investment of this society. Put all your torments on a piece of paper and file a complaint to the lions of Goce Delchev Bridge, and expect solutions from them. It would be nice if someone would get an idea to put a mailbox on all four lions, where we would be able to file our complaints as gentry. That would be a true service for the citizens!
Transparency
As shown in the video clip [MKD] by Telma TV, taxpayer-funded artists used different tactics to avoid answering how much  money they've pocketed. Darko Dukovski, who designed the “realistic”–albeit anatomically skewed–lions with his wife Elena, stated [MKD]:
I don't know about that either. My wife is handling those things. Ha-ha-ha [grinning and laughing].
Konstantin Janev, the author of the “postmodernist” stylized lions, said:
You can check in the legal affair office in the Centar Municipality, I think they have all the documents… Check not only about me, but about all the total expenses…
In his satirical TV show, blogger and journalist Jovan Postoloski shared footage [MKD] of Janev saying that such questions show bad taste and are almost equal to swearing, as well as trying to deflect by asking the reporters about their salaries.
In this post, Pablisher wrote [MKD]:
“The artists” act insulted and deeply surprised when a journalist dares to ask the insolent question about the honorariums for their works within the Skopje 2014 project. They freeze, make inarticulate movements, scratch, roll their eyes…
There's no reason to act surprised or insulted, the respected “artists” have an obligation to disclose their fees, because they get it from state money, the money of the public, and the public has the right to know that information. Such “artists” are in fact audacious, because they persistently dramatize a regular issue and try to portray it as lack of home education or lack of culture.
If a private donor would order these projects, then the “artists” “may” choose a nondisclosure policy and condemn brutishness. But they have no such choice in the case of Skopje 2014.
I think that this behavior confuses the citizens of Skopje, to the point that they sometimes justify it, saying “the journalists stick their noses in things that are none of their business.” Well, journalists exist to “stick their noses in things that are none of their business.” We saw what happens if journalists do not do that in the last few years – a total system collapse, arbitrariness, corruption scandals, endless nepotism…
Well, dear compatriots, before you start the divisions and defend the “artists,” remember that the money they receive as honorariums come from the taxes we all pay. The journalists, with all their imperfections, are your friends, and you can thank those who are courageous enough to defy the arbitrariness of this nontransparent administration.
There's only one absolute truth in regard to Skopje 2014: the project is profitable.
It turned out that the Dukovski couple received EUR 15,000, and Janev EUR 12,000 for the statues. (In a televised statement, he said he did not want to disclose the figure because it was too low.) Under pressure, Centar municipality disclosed additional figures three days later: for each pair of lions, EUR 68-74,000 were spent on “material expenses and workers’ fees” and “EUR 1,500 per square meter of relief” for the bases – without informing on the total number of the thus adorned square meters.
The total price for the lions is around EUR 2.3 million, with the lion's share allegedly going to Fernando Marinelli foundry of Florence, Italy. A joke related to this was that the ‘wealthy’ Macedonia is benevolently helping the ‘poor’ Italian economy to overcome the global economic crisis.
Bronze lion greets the pedestrians crossing Goce Delchev Bridge in Skopje. Photo: Filip Stojanovski, CC-BY.

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Malawi: Literacy beyond reading and writing · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Steve Sharra's analysis of literacy in the context of Malawi”: “Obviously a basic meaning of “literacy” starts out as learning how to read and write, and in Malawian discourse, the type of literacy most commonly heard on the street and across the airwaves is “Adult Literacy”…”


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Nepal: Gokarna Aunsi – The Fathers’ Day  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Nepal has its version of fathers’ day which is called Gokarna Aunsi. Pradeep Kumar Singh explains the tradition and the mythology behind this day.


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Paraguay: Media Ignores Execution of Three Indians · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Enrique Ramón Galeano writes [es] about the execution of three Indians, an event that he says the media and NGOs have ignored.


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Russia: Bloggers Clash With the Ruling Party · Global Voices
Gregory Asmolov

This summer's wildfires made it possible to learn a lot about the role that the Russian Internet community plays in the society. We have seen that the social media activists were able not only to provide independent sources of information [ENG] but also to cooperate with each other [ENG]. There is one additional dimension, however.
Despite the initial, politically neutral position, bloggers found themselves in a situation where they had to, unwillingly, participate in a political clash. It’s not only that bloggers were critical of the poor governmental response to the disaster. The online community had a few direct clashes with the pro-government forces, primarily activists and supporters of the Russian ruling party Edinaya Rossiya [ENG] (United Russia). The relationship between the blogger community and the pro-government forces had a high level of hostility.
One of the first episodes of the virtual struggle between bloggers and United Russia supporters took place when bloggers caught [EN] United Russia forging photos, and Ruslan Gattarov, a senator and head of the ruling party’s youth wing Molodaya Gvardiya (The Young Guard), staging pictures of himself putting out fires. Gattarov later explained [RUS] that he had to upload fake photos in order to put some content on the site and had no time to deliver the real photos. He wrote [RUS] that bloggers “could only stare at pictures and write nasty things” instead of putting out fires the way United Russia did. On his Twitter account, the senator was [RUS] even less diplomatic:
Ruslan Gattarov's tweet.
Some time after the scandal, United Russia announced [RUS] that Gattarov would be replaced as the leader of Molodaya Gvardiya. Although the official version said it was a planned replacement, a popular belief was that the Kremlin had been dissatisfied both with Gattarov's inadequate wildfires response and his ignorant public declarations. Piligrim-67, a blogger who helped to raise the issue, said [RUS] in an interview to a local media outlet that “effective and fast justice is possible only on the Internet.”
Gattarov also heads the United Russia's blogosphere council that was created in June 2010 and should improve the online image of United Russia as well as manage the network of its online supporters. The activities of the council had been investigated [RUS] by blogger spburger-senior.
Another major incident was a “black PR” attack against Yelizaveta Glinka (aka LJ user doctor-liza), a doctor and one of the leaders of the volunteer movement. The official website of United Russia published [RUS] an offensive article that accused Glinka of having political ties with the Spravedlivaya Rossiya [ENG] (A Just Russia) party. The article had a photoshopped image of Glinka with a zipped mouth. All the volunteers were accused by the United Russia “experts” of having political connections to “A Just Russia.” The reason for the United Russia media outburst was that after a consultation [RUS] with her readers, Glinka refused to give an interview to the party website reporters.
A photoshopped image of Yelizaveta Glinka, made by United Russia
Glinka's readers were extremely against any kind of cooperation with the ruling party. “Do you understand what they need this information for? They want […] say that it was done by them”, wrote [RUS] jestianka.
Blogger g_zharkov wrote [RUS]:
Лиза, не свяывайтесь после того как сенатор Гаттаров потушил поддожженной самим собой дерево, а потом ушел на выходные – любое общение с ними позор для любого реального добровольца как мне вчера сказали молодые и реально помогающие ребята из Владимирской глубинки “давайте жить так, как будто их и вправду нет”
Glinka wrote [RUS] that United Russia would now try to close her LiveJournal account and would keep harassing her.
The offensive article on the United Russia website has only made bloggers angrier. LJ user avmalgin wrote [RUS]:
Это самая настоящая травля, по-другому назвать нельзя. Причем травля человека, который действительно занимается делом. Если вспомнить, что еще не так давно доктору Лизе ломали ее ЖЖ, который был основным инструментом в ее подвижнической деятельности, складывается вполне ясная картина.Все уже знают, как бесстыдно и неуклюже “партия власти” пытается пиариться на пожарах. […] Прикоснуться к “Единой Росии” – значит запачкаться. Но беда в том, что они пытаются испачкать тех, кто с ними не желает иметь дело.
Another clash took place between the Ushahidi-based project Help Map [ENG] (Russian-fires.ru), an independent, non-political platform, and the website of United Russia supporters, called Storonniki (“Supporters”). The banner of Help Map was placed misleadingly under the information about Storonniki's own coordination center, and the organization ignored Help Map's requests to re-position the banner.
Screenshot of the misleading banner placement
On August 21, Igor Cherski, another leader of the volunteer movement, drew attention to the inappropriate banner. Cherski wrote [RUS] on his blog:
Ваш баннер и ссылка на “Карту помощи” появились вот здесь: http://www.storonniki.info/
Вы в курсе происходящего? Вас использовали или теперь вы работаете вместе со сторонниками ЕР? Просто интересно, ничего личного.
The question raised by Cherski caused another wave of of anger among bloggers. LJ user eresiru called it [RUS] an ideological mistake that would lead to total disappointment of the supporters of Help Map. Convincing people that Help Map had nothing to do with United Russia wasn’t an easy task. The site already had a disclaimer that the project had no affiliation with any political group, but now the creators had to add an explanation [RUS] on the top of the page that they were not cooperating with any politicians, and United Russia in particular, since it acted immorally throughout the disaster. Eventually, the banner was removed from Storonniki website, and Cherski acknowledged [RUS] that Help Map had nothing to do with the Russian ruling party.
Later, however, i_cherski dedicated a special post to the clarification of his position in regard to United Russia. He emphasized that the behavior of United Russia had been nothing to be proud of, but suggested that the online community should not automatically disregard any cooperation with United Russia activists. Some bloggers opposed Cherski’s idea:
“The best thing we can do is ignore them,” wrote [RUS] eckero.
“Everything they touch turns into farce. They spend money on PR without any real effect,” radvi_sasha responded [RUS].
Blogger kaktuso concluded that there was no sense in helping even the reasonable members of the party since it would do nothing but promote United Russia.
Unfortunately, the clashes weren't limited to online space only. On August 28, doctor-liza published a post about a visit of an unknown male, who entered through the open door and threatened her. She wrote [RUS]:
Он встал около двери нашей кухни – со сложенными за спиной руками.
С акцентом он спросил
– Это ты? “Справедливая помощь?”
– Я. Руки из – за спины выньте.
– Ты, б…дь, чего хочешь?
– Что бы Вы ушли.
– Уйдешь отсюда ты. Сука. Б…ь. Через тридцать дней. Б…ь.Насовсем.
И так несколько раз.
Then the man promised to return and left. Glinka asked volunteers to forgive her for getting them involved in a dangerous situation, asked them to stop visiting her and promised to increase security measures. Still, it is unclear if this episode is connected with the earlier conflict with United Russia.
Two “imagined communities” in Russia: TV audience and online audience
The bloggers’ community has demonstrated not only the feeling of dissatisfaction, but a high degree of hostility towards the government and United Russia. Opposition to the government was a common denominator for the majority of online activists, despite the fact that volunteers’ platforms had no political or oppositional background.
The critical attitude of the blogosphere differed significantly from the perception of the wildfire events by the majority of Russians. A poll by Levada Center showed [RUS] that most Russians thought that the government's response had been good, while the support ratings of the Russian president Dmitry Medvedev (73%) and prime minister Vladimir Putin (78%) had even slightly improved. 27 percent of the respondents said their opinions about the state’s leadership had improved, 57 percent said that it had remained unchanged and only 12 percent said that it had become worse. The most popular answer about the cause of the wildfires (39 percent) was that they were a natural phenomenon caused by extreme weather, and that no one could be held responsible for it.
Aleksey Grazhdankin, deputy director of Levada Center, explained [RUS] that the numbers depended on how the information of the wildfires had been presented to the public by the mainstream media (MSM). TV-watchers and bloggers had completely different sets of information. The blogosphere was full of firsthand information about the scale of the disaster, while the MSM avoided dramatization and focused more on the government’s response than on the disaster itself or its victims.
In this case we can see that the Internet actually triggers offline activity (and is not making people more passive, as it is sometimes argued), because it provides an independent picture of reality, shows that action is required and suggests ways of facilitating this action. “Enlightened” bloggers are relatively few in Russia (according to various estimates, between 20,000 and 50,000 people), and are completely outnumbered by the majority who uses the MSM as a major source of information, which often has a pro-government slant.
Benedict Anderson, a renowned historian, approached the media as a mechanism of formation of social groups with a common identity, which he called “imagined communities” [ENG].
The wildfires have shown that there are two very different “imagined communities” in Russia: TV viewers and social media users. They have different, and often quite opposite, attitudes, which affect how they act. The consumption of information online is deeply interrelated with social interaction, and, due to this and other factors, the Internet community is a much stronger, more effective and united, “imagined community.”
If in the previous article we argued [ENG] that the unaccountability of the government had triggered online cooperation, in this case we see that the degree of cooperation depends on the information source. To be provoked by the state’s unaccountability, people should first be informed that the government is unaccountable. This is what has been done by the Russian social media, whose approach is so different from MSM.
The divide between the two communities is deepening, although the TV community is still the decisive majority. The balance between the passive majority and the active minority presents an electoral dilemma: which political strategy should the Russian leaders choose to address both “imagined communities”?
In his recent article, Alexey Sidorenko suggests [RUS] three scenarios for development of the Russian Internet – liberalization, preservation of the current ambivalent status quo, and a significant increase of censorship and filtering. I would like to add the fourth scenario, a futuristic one, that would suggest the aforementioned divide to take place and to form a dual state – the “virtual” one, made up of netizens, and the “real” one, made up of the TV spectators. We may assume, however, that in this case the authorities will do anything to make Internet as close as possible to the TV model [ENG].

author: Gregory Asmolov


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Russia: Bloggers Expose Pro-Kremlin Youth Movement · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Blogger fritzmorgen posts[RUS] pictures of Anastasia Denisenko, a regional leader of “Molodaya Gvardia”, Russian pro-Kremlin youth movement. The movement officially agitates against alcoholism and drug abuse, although the unofficial pictures depict quite the opposite. The blogger also supplies the posters of the various club parties sponsored by the movement.

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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South Africa: South Africa’s Strike Season · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Prisha blogs about South Africa's public sector strike: “It is a well known fact that South Africa has a strike season. That’s right, you heard me: a strike “season” -just as we have winter, spring, summer and autumn – so too, do we have the public sector strike! The last five years of this debacle has seen government almost doubling its spend on public sector wages.”


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Sri Lanka: A Day To Remember · Global Voices
Rezwan

Vositha comments that today (September 8, 2010) is a day to remember for the Sri Lankans as it is “the end of Sri Lanka as we know it and a new beginning”.  Learn why.


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Barbados: “Sense of the Sensless” · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Abeni is saddened by the death of Vincentian Kellisha Ollivierre, one of the victims of the robbery/fire in Barbados: “My hope is that their deaths will drive home the need for strict adherence to building codes. This laissez-faire attitude with respect to people's lives has to end.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Thailand: Online branding campaign · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Thailand government enjoins its citizens to vote online (Facebook or Twitter) on how they want Thailand to be promoted globally.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Budget Day  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Today is Budget Day and Plain Talk has a few bits of advice for the new Finance Minister: “There has been a change in Parties at the helm of Governance, and if that change is to have any meaning…the real Leaders…need to espouse a vision [that] is very clear in the understanding that ‘capitalism without compassion is a prescription for confusion.'”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Coup Enquiry  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

KnowTnT.com reports that The Commission of Enquiry into the 1990 Coup was launched yesterday.


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Vietnam: Pre-1975 music · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Eric Burdette blogs about pre-1975 songs in Vietnam which he discovered through a Vietnamese music website. Eric thinks that young Vietnamese do not know the songs anymore because many records and record players were destroyed in 1975, the end of the Vietnam War.


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Vietnam: Reasons for marrying foreigners · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Based on an article written by Vinh Dang, about 40,000 Vietnamese citizens married foreigners between 2005-2008. The author also identifies the possible reasons why many Vietnamese are marrying foreigners.


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Zimbabwe: What makes a Zimbabwean hero?  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

What makes a hero in Zimbabwe?: “In Zimbabwe, it would seem that the definition of heroism is controlled by Zanu PF alone. Hero designation has always been in the hands of the ZANU-PF Politburo, though non-Zanu PF parties have recently demanded that the designation process be made more inclusive to reflect the multi-party political reality.”


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Bahamas: Cemetery Solution? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jerome Pinder at Weblog Bahamas proposes a solution to the decaying state of the country's cemeteries: “I would suggest that we put…prisoners on Chain Gangs and have them keep our Cemeteries clean.  And while they are at it, they could clean our streets, parks, playgrounds, and give Bay Street a wash down every couple of days.”


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Bangladesh: Koran Burning Is Unchristian · Global Voices
Rezwan

Bangladeshi blogger Jerome D'Costa opines that Pastor Terry Jones  and the Florida Church's Koran burning program is unchristian and immature and this will adversely affect the Christian minorities across the world.


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Cape Verde: Six Cities Become Twenty Four · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Net-citizens from Cape Verde have been discussing the recent decision made by the Government to promote eighteen former towns and villages to cities, leading to a total of twenty four. In question is the lack of infrastructures: reportedly, some of the new cities don't have water supply or even streets. [all links in pt]

author: Sara Moreira


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China: Activist Chen Guangcheng Released after Serving Full Sentence · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Barefoot lawyer, Chen Guangcheng is released today (September 9) after serving the four years and three months full sentence. China Human Rights Defenders urged the authorities to stop harassing Chen and his family.


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Cuba: Change the Model  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Of Fidel Castro's admission during an interview that the Cuban economic model doesn't work, Along the Malecon says: “Most of 11 million Cubans endure great economic hardship because the Cuban economy does not work. Castro should not only acknowledge that, as he evidently did, he should take bold steps to change it.


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Cuba: Our Lady’s Birthday  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Yesterday, many Guantanamo residents and Cubans in general celebrated the nativity of Our Lady of Charity (Caridad del Cobre), the mother and patron saint of Cuba since 1916″: Havana Times reports.


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El Salvador: Gangs Paralyze Transportation for 72 Hours · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Salvadorian gangs, also known as “Maras” have set a 72-hour curfew, paralyzing public transportation. In her blog, An Unknown Journey with a Known God, Jen Hess shares her experience and insight on the matter.


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Guinea Bissau: Reconstructing the Puzzle of Colonial War Memory · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Collective blog Luis Graça & Camaradas da Guiné [pt] brings together an impressive collection of stories focusing on the  experience of the colonial war that lasted from 1963 to 1974. According  to the editor, Luis Graça, the blog aims to help ex-combatants, both from Portugal and Guinea Bissau, “to reconstruct the puzzle of memory”.


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India: No Safeguard Against Misuse Of Law · Global Voices
Rezwan

All laws are misused in India and there are no safeguards against misuse of laws, says Sumanth at Desicritics.


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India: Under-reporting Communal Clashes In Bengal · Global Voices
Rezwan

Greatbong at Random Thoughts Of A Demented Mind criticizes the Indian government and the local media for trying to downplay the news of the recent communal clashes in Deganga, West Bengal.


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Jamaica: Dudus’ Date  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

YardFlex.com and Girl with A Purpose report on alleged drug don Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke's next scheduled Manhattan court date.


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Nicaragua: Should More Politicians Join Social Networks? · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Emila Persola writes [es] about the use of social networks by Nicaraguan politicians; he says he would like more of them to join Twitter and other social networks. He also gives a brief overview of some politicians who use social networks.


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Palestine: For Gaza Students, No Graduation Without Hijab · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

As in the rest of the Arab world, fewer women in the Gaza Strip wore the hijab 20 or 30 years ago. The “Islamic revival” over the last few decades has resulted in an increase in the wearing of headscarves and other forms of “Islamic” dress, a phenomenon which in Gaza grew with the rise of Hamas. Today the majority of women in Gaza wear the hijab; however those who do not frequently face social pressure to do so. Sometimes the pressure is institutional; there have even been cases of Christian schoolgirls being pushed to wear the hijab. In this post we hear from Asmaa Al-Ghoul, a journalist and blogger who was arrested last year for not wearing a headscarf; she is furious that a friend who refuses to wear the hijab has not been allowed to graduate from university.
Palestinian university students. Photo courtesy of PalFest under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Asmaa writes:
Asmaa is referring to the fact that Al-Azhar University has a strong association with Fatah, which would normally indicate a less religiously conservative environment than that of the Islamic University of Gaza which is affiliated with Hamas. She continues:
Asmaa is angry:
Younger girls are also affected:
And Gaza's Christian minority is not exempt:
Asmaa ends:

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Peru: Controversy Over Legislative Decree 1097 and Human Rights · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Image from blog Equipo Peruano de Antropología Forense –EPAF- (Peruvian Team of Forensic Anthropology)
On September 1, the text for the Legislative Decree N° 1097 [es] was published, which “regulates the application of procedural rules for crimes involving the violation of Human Rights.” Immediately, people and organizations dedicated to defending Human Rights began criticizing [es] this decree because it “conceals a new amnesty law in favor of Grupo Colina and other military groups.” During the era of terrorism by El Sendero Luminoso (Shinning Path) and the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, military and paramilitary groups (like the aforementioned Grupo Colina) allegedly acted as collaborators in the fight against terrorism, but in practice they functioned like death squads. Its members were subsequently tried and sentenced to various penalties, but in some groups the interest to release them has persisted.
In fact, shortly after the decree was announced, members of the Grupo Colina and  Vladimiro Montesinos Torres, former chief of the National Intelligence Service (SIN), sought to apply [es] Decree 1097 to their case, excluding ongoing processes. Although the prosecutors asked for the inapplicability [es] of the decree during these processes, and although various government representatives have declared that Decree 1097 will not apply to these cases, bloggers have a different view. Lawyer Christian Donayre Montesinos from the blog Sin Censura Previa (Uncensored) writes from a legal standpoint in his post “A well-intentioned legislative decree?…but unconstitutional” [es]
habría que recordar que la Ley Nº 29548 delegó en el Ejecutivo la facultad de legislar, entre otros temas, respecto de:
“c) La dación de normas procesales y penitenciarias relacionadas  exclusivamente al personal militar y policial que ha sido procesado o  condenado por delitos que implican violación de derechos humanos”.
Sin embargo, el Decreto Legislativo Nº 1097 regula la aplicación de  normas procesales por delitos que implican violación de derechos humanos  para todos los ciudadanos en general y no sólo para el personal militar  y policial, pues adelanta la entrada en vigencia del nuevo Código  Procesal Penal y dispone su aplicación en todos los Distritos Judiciales  del país a los procesos que se siguen por los delitos contra la vida,  el cuerpo y la salud previstos en el Código Penal de 1924 y el Código  Penal de 1991, así como por los delitos contra la humanidad previstos en  este último código.
one must remember that Law Nº 29548 delegated to the Executive the ability to legislate, among other things, on:
“c) The enactment of procedural and penitentiary laws related exclusively to military and police personnel who have been processed or convicted for crimes that imply the violation of human rights”
However, Legislative Decree Nº 1097 regulates the application of procedural laws for crimes that imply the violation of human rights by all citizens in general and not only by military and police personnel, it advances the entry of the new Criminal Procedure Code and it applies to all Judicial Districts in the country for ongoing processes for crimes against life, body and health under the Penal Code of 1924 and the Penal Code of 1991, as well as crimes against humanity under the latter code.
Melissa Ramírez from Amicus Luris also shares her opinion on the legality of Decree 1097 in the post “1094,1095,1096,1097….what's next?” [es], where she also gives examples of its possible consequences:
Para señalar un ejemplo que grafique la disposición señalada en el DL  1097 en el caso El Frontón que sucedió en el año 1986 si consideramos  que los hechos ocurridos son un delito simple este prescribiría en unos  diez o quince años, pero al ser considerados estos hechos por el Estado  peruano como un delito de lesa humanidad ello le permitía la  característica de la imprescriptibilidad es decir pese al paso de los  diez o quince años los hechos podían seguir en investigación y con ello  seguir judicializados,  con este nuevo Decreto la figura varía  totalmente pues al cumplirse el plazo señalado por la norma puede  archivarse de forma definitiva el proceso.
Jaime Abanto Padilla from the blog Balcón Interior (Inside Balcony) explains some of the scope of the decree in the post “New amnesty law for Human Rights violators” [es]:
El DL 1097 otorga a todos aquellos militares inmersos en crímenes y  violación de Derechos Humanos, la posibilidad de seguir los juicios  desde su casa, previo pago de una caución o fianza. El monto de la  fianza estará basado en su capacidad económica, en su solvencia. Y solo  en los casos donde se mantenga la orden de detención, ésta se cumplirá  en una instalación militar o policial. … El canallesco Decreto dispone que las investigaciones que superaron el  plazo de tres años, plazos legales, serán declaradas como archivadas a  favor de los encausados.
Juan Sheput, a Peruvian politician who blogs at Mate Pastor, in his post “Decree 1097 and the moral breakdown of the country” [es] manifests his dismay for the almost null demands for justice summoned by congressmen and political parties toward the government on this issue:
En las próximas horas los asesinos del Grupo Colina podrían salir en libertad. Esta  simple posibilidad habría generado la repulsión en cualquier otra  sociedad y un emplazamiento de los grupos políticos que entienden a la  Política como un conjunto de acciones orientadas al bienestar de los  ciudadanos. Pero nada de esto pasa en nuestro país. Más allá de unos cuantos comentarios y de una conferencia de prensa del Partido  Nacionalista, los congresistas se dedican a cualquier otro menester pero  no plantean ninguna de las acciones que la Constitución y el Reglamento  del Congreso les permite. ¿El resultado? Las risas de hiena de aquellos que hoy ven el futuro lejos de las rejas y celdas que merecen, por  haber asesinado a mujeres, niños y otros inocentes.
Finally, Ricardo Alvarado from the blog AveCrítica reflects on this issue and on the real quality of democracy in Peru in his post “The end to the Spring of democracy” [es]:
Los decretos legislativos de autoamnistía han puesto fin a la primavera  democrática iniciada con la caída de la dictadura fujimorista … ¿Han sido años perdidos? Sin duda. Pero no sólo se ha perdido tiempo:  también se jugó con las esperanzas de mucha gente en la posibilidad de  un cambio real en democracia, de salir del juego necio del toma y daca  para obtener un mínimo avance en materia de derechos, o de inclusión … Hay aspectos del modelo económico y social fujimorista que no se han  tocado y no se van a tocar. Las privatizaciones, las concesiones, la  economía extractiva, las mafias de la economía y los medios de  comunicación, los abundantes y bien pertrechados lobbys. A lo sumo, se  discute si el gas, o la electricidad, debe ir al Chile de Piñera, o al  Brasil de Lula, o a la Venezuela de Chávez. Mientras tanto, Pisco sigue  en el suelo, y buena parte del Perú -no sólo Lima; no sólo la Costa- le  da la espalda a los pueblos amazónicos.
Members of the group Equipo Peruano de Antropología Forense –EPAF- (Peruvian Team of Forensic Anthropology), published in their blog a sample letter to send authorities asking for the repeal of Decree 1097. The text is in English and Spanish. On Facebook the group NO al Decreto Legislativo 1097 [es] (NO to Legislative Decree 1097) currently has 1,294 members. The group's profile says: “We say NO to legislative decree 1097 because we want human rights violators to be appropriately prosecuted.”
But the controversy around the decree does not end there. The Minister of Justice, Víctor García Toma, declared [es] that he would resign “if it is established that the Executive sent Legislative Decree 1097 to Congress based on the opinion of the Ministry of Defense and not the whole ministry.” Later, the president of the Justice parliamentary Comission, Rolando Sousa, questioned [es] that “the Minister of Justice had signed legislative decree 1097 without knowing the content of the law.” finally, the Minister declared that the impasse was over and added [es] that the decree “will not allow limitations for crimes against humanity and human rights.” What is not over is the impression of informality by politicians and the impression that certain groups want to cheat in the enactment of laws in the country.

author: Juan Arellano


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Russia: Pictures of Burnt Villages in Volgograd Region · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Photoblogger Igor Podgorny posts [RUS] apocalyptic pictures of the burnt fields, forests, and villages in the Volgograd region, that suffered from the second wave of wildfires.


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Russia: Tens of Thousands of Muslims Celebrate Uraza Bairam · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Bloggers share pictures [RUS] and video [RUS] of the unusually populous celebrations of Uraza Bairam (internationally known as Eid ul-Fitr [EN]), an important Muslim holiday. Paul Goble notes [EN] critical reactions in the press and a new wave of anti-Islamic sentiment provoked by the event.


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South Korea: Number One Suicide Country · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Suicide is South Korea's chronic disease- celebrities, businessmen and even the former President is believed to have committed suicide. A study by Korea Statistics shows that the suicide rate has increased by almost 20 percent, placing Korea as the top suicide country between the age 20 to 30, Korea's YTN[kr] reported.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Taiwan Without Petrochemical Industry…  · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

What would have happened had petrochemical industry ceased to exist in Taiwan? The Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) under Taiwan's Ministry of Economical Affairs has tried hard to convince Taiwanese citizens that if Taiwan does not build more petrochemical industrial plants, its economy will collapse and people will suffer. On the other hand, environmentalists, activists, and bloggers are looking forward to seeing the end of such a polluting industry destroying the island's lands, water, and air.
On September 6 and September 7, 8 half-page advertisements were published in the four major newspapers in Taiwan, telling the readers that “Without petrochemical industry, we won’t have new toothbrushes, new bicycle tires, new umbrellas, and new ink to print newspapers.” The IDB is the mastermind of the advertisements, and also plans to publish thousands of handbooks for demonstrating the value and benefits petrochemical industry has brought to Taiwan.  This series of propaganda aims at persuading Taiwanese to support the government's decision to build the new Kuokuang petrochemical plant on the biggest wetland of Changhua County[en].
So far, IDB has spent TWD 3 million (about USD 100,000) of  taxpayer’s money on the ads to defend private corporations’ interests. Environmental groups[zht] and media and press watch organizations[zht] reacted to such an abuse of public expenses by making open statements, while bloggers and online activists adopted a different approach.
Wenli Xu, a well-known Nintendo collector and online activist, designed another set of ads to tell his readers his vision of Taiwan without petrochemical industry: [zht]:
[沒有石化業，老阿嬤就不用赤腳抗爭。]
[沒有石化業，哪來的六輕大火？]
[沒有石化業，白海豚就不必學會轉彎。]
[沒有石化業，沒傘撐也不怕淋到酸雨。]
[沒有石化業，鄉親們就不必圍廠抗爭。]
[沒有石化業，經濟部就不會花四五百萬稅金登匿名廣告。]
[沒有石化業，哪來的狗屁倒灶？]
Umi Wang on Facebook followed Wenli and designed four other ads to mock at IDB's propaganda. Below are two of them:
沒有石化業，哪有油水可以撈
沒有石化業，哪來的毒可以吸
A Facebook fan page has been set up to invite people to share their vision of Taiwan without petrochemical industry.
沒有石化業，雲林也可以跟宜蘭一樣辦童玩節。
Hedula Lee: 沒有石化業，石油要怎樣消耗殆盡？
Dailin Lin 林黛羚: 沒有石化業，抽煙才吸得到煙味。
The output value of petrochemical industry accounted for TWD 1.3 trillion (USD40.6 billion) in 2009, showing its undeniable economic contribution. However, independent environmental news reporter Shuchuan, quoted statistics from the Energy Bureau under the Ministry of Economical Affairs, which indicated that in 2009 petrochemical industry and other high energy consumption industries together used 36.3% of all energy in Taiwan, while generating less than 4% of the island's GDP[zht].
So why is the government still eager to expand such an inefficient industry? Munch provided us with a deliberated answer[zht]:
對於政府，國光石化的建造，重點不只是石化產業，而是二岸經濟臍帶的連結關係。
中國設立海峽西岸經濟區後，政府想在二岸經濟架構下，完成上游台灣，下游中國的跨海產業整合，透過政策管制不肯放行，依舊規劃在台灣設立石化上游產業，期待在ECFA通過後，石化列為早收名單，在二岸跨海合作生產下，原料台灣生產，免關稅進入中國加工，再銷往中國市場，甚至銷往東協。
However, Munch believes that Taiwan government’s plan is a mere fantasy:
台灣石化生產內需已足，再增加的產量幾乎都是外銷為主，但在中國強力要求海峽西岸經濟區內的垂直產業建立，加上2015年量產早已錯失商機，台灣石化業者巴不得國光石化環評不過，台灣生產澈底破局，政府全面開放西進設廠。
Apart from fighting against the ever expanding petrochemical projects in Taiwan, the Environmental Protection Union of Changhua[zht] works to prohibit the government from selling the large piece of wetland in Changhua to Kuokuang petrochemical plant. It has initiated the first environmental trust in Taiwan[en] by urging citizens to collectively buy in the piece of wetland and become shareholders[zht]. More than 30,000 citizens have pledged to join online.

author: Portnoy Zheng


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Trinidad & Tobago: Fear Factor  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Crapauds?  Cocktail Parties?  Lisa Allen-Agostini shares her biggest fear.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Love vs. Hate  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

KnowTnT.com says of the U.S. pastor who intends to burn the Quran on September 11: “Let us get to the real heart of this matter, which is not about God's love but about MAN'S HATE. I hope that everyone out there will listen when I say God's love will NEVER stem from hate…”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Same Old  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

B.C. Pires says that Trinidad and Tobago's Budget Day was “more like Reshuffling the Same Old Pack Day.”


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Angola: Journalist Killed for Unclear Motive · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Angolan journalist Alberto Chakussanga was killed on September 5, at his house. The motive behind the killing is not clear. Some bloggers suggest [pt] that there are connections with politics, as Chakussanga hosted a radio programme critical of the Government. Committee to Protect Journalists and French NGO Reporters Sans Frontiers condemn the crime.


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Asia: Videos on Drug Abuse and Detention Centers · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

image from HCLU video
Drug abuse detention centers in Asia are in the spotlight. Although some Asian drug addicts go in voluntarily to kick their habit, in some places, this has led to routine human rights abuses where people off the street are locked up with no choice, tortured, raped, forced to work for free and denied basic comforts.
The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union has released Abuse in the Name of Treatment,  a new video showing the situation of people sent into some compulsory drug detention centers in Asia. Some are sent there by family or walk themselves in to kick their drug habit, but in some other places, military police routinely round up anyone they consider “deviant”.  So street children, sex workers and drug users are sent to these camps with no right to appeal. Adding insult to injury,  some of these camps were built with money sent by Western governments, so the HCLU is calling viewers to action:
One of the centers – Koh Kor – was closed thanks to human rights  advocacy but there are still too many in operation. HCLU, along with  international organizations such as UNAIDS or UNODC, is calling for the  closure of these camps. We hope after watching our new movie more people  will join us and put pressure on these governments to stop the abuse in  the name of drug treatment.
Current TV's Vanguard released web episodes discussing the subject of drug addictions, Meth production and consumption in Cambodia and visited Korsang, a harm reduction center created as an alternative to the abuses happening in government run drug detainment centers.
Also in Cambodia, students at the University of Puthisastra made a two part video for the UPSTV showing their perspective on why youth get involved with drugs in the first place:
At the end of the Second part, Kosal returns from his 5 year prison sentences a changed man, willing to right his wrongs and have a fresh start. Their perspective of how a drug addict is sent to a place where he or she can genuinely get better should become a reality, because it shouldn't take a miracle.
To read more about the human rights abuses happening in detention centers in Asia, you can read the Human Rights Watch reports on drug rehab centers on Where Darkness Knows no Limits and An Unbreakable Cycle  in China and on Skin on the Wire in Cambodia .

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Azerbaijan: Opposition bloc unveiled · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Tamada Tales comments on news that two opposition parties, Musavat and the Popular Front of Azerbaijan, have formed an election bloc to contend 90 of the 125 seats up for grabs in November's parliamentary election. However, the blog notes, while some are willing to give it the “benefit of the doubt,” many commentators and observers are skeptical of the alliance's chances against the ruling New Azerbaijan Party in the oil-rich former Soviet republic.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Azerbaijan: Ramadan in Sheki · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Sheki, Azerbaijan comments on observing Ramadan in Azerbaijan. The blog says that the holiday is a time for sharing and remembering relatives that have passed away as well as those also marking the tradition.