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Nepal’s Dalit Women: Fighting For Dignity · Global Voices
Bhumika Ghimire

Caste system in Nepal has long discriminated against a certain section of society. These people are the so called “untouchables” or the dalits who are treated as second class citizens by the community members. The constitution of Nepal  guarantees equality for the dalits but in the real world, outside long winding provisions of the constitution and legalese, the dalits are still openly treated as less than human.
Limited access to education, scarce employment opportunities and discrimination embedded in social structure have severely restricted growth and development of dalits in Nepal. For dalit women, the situation is even worse.
Blogger Kiran at Everest Uncensored  discusses about Dalit Women and their issues:
“When we talk about Dalit women they suffer from triple discrimination as oppressed by the so-called high caste people (which equally affects both male and female Dalits), oppressed by the design of the Hindu patriarchal system and oppressed by Dalit males. 90% of Dalit women in Nepal live below the poverty line and 80% of Dalit women are illiterate.  These women are also vulnerable to serious health issues, sex trafficking, domestic violence, and suffer from social, political, and economic powerlessness.”
With 80% of dalit women struggling with illiteracy, odds could not be stacked higher against them. Dalit women are also often target of racially motivated attacks by the so called “higher” caste members of society. Renu Kshetry at NewsBlaze writes about a dalit woman who was attacked in a village near capital Kathmandu:
Recently B.K., a Dalit woman, was the victim of a heinous crime – she was tortured, beaten and forced to eat human excreta. The person who orchestrated this barbaric act was a supposedly educated woman: Bimala Lama. The principal of the local Gadi Bhanjyang Primary School, Lama accused B.K. of practising ‘witchcraft’.
The incident took place earlier this year, unfortunately, is not isolated. Every year dalit women are victimized, and very few manage to get justice.
Some dalit women, however, are working to achieve what was previously thought to be impossible. A temple is Kathmandu's Baneshwor area now has a dalit woman as priest.
“The 43-year-old is the priest at the Chhakkubakku Bhagwati temple in the busy Baneshwor area of the capital, hemmed by shops and pavement stalls. Besides being a woman, she is also a Dalit, a community that stands at the bottom of still-conservative Nepal’s rigid social ladder and is ostracized as untouchables even now.
The mother of four comes from the Sarki clan who were originally cobblers and once forced to live on the carcasses of dead cows when Nepal was a Hindu kingdom with a ban on cow slaughter.”
In constituent assembly elections held on April 10, 2008, a number of dalit candidates-including women, were elected and dalit leaders hope that increased political participation will help end discrimination.
Here is a video in Nepali by NepalNews.com which features dalit leaders to discuss how the country's new constitution should be shaped so that caste discrimination ends definitively.
For more information on Nepal's dalits, you can visit Nepal Dalit Info, which has informative articles, studies and latest news on Nepal's dalit movement in both English and Nepali.
Law against discrimination has been on the books for long in Nepal, but the caste system continues to ostracize one community. It is clear that unless dalits-especially women, are given the opportunity educate themselves the practice will continue to find new victims.

author: Bhumika Ghimire


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Pakistan: How To Spot Fake Doctors · Global Voices
Rezwan

A recent report in a local newspaper asserts that some 70,000 fake doctors with bogus degrees are operating throughout Pakistan. Kamran Brohi points out to a facility in the Pakistan Medical And Dental Council Website with which one can check the registration status of a doctor from an online database.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Rezwan


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Palestine: A Student’s Tour Of Gaza · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Lina Al Sharif, blogging at 360 km2 of Chaos, describes the trip around Gaza that she made with her university friends, and shows us a video of some of the places visited.

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Palestine: IDF Torches Palestinian Vehicles · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

At Do Unto Others, Samuel Nichols writes that Israeli military patrols have started setting fire to cars which are caught trying to cross the border from the West Bank into Israel. He posts a video here.


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Russia-Georgia: Tagliavini report reviewed  · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Greater Surbiton discusses the recent EU-report by the Tagliavini Commission on the 2008 Russo-Georgian war, and argues that it – with few exceptions – mostly sides with the Georgians.

author: Vilhelm Konnander


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Russia: Medvedev’s critical questions · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

CrisisCrunch comments on some critical issues about Russia raised by the country's president, Dmitry Medvedev, in a recent article.


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Russia: Struggling with democracy · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Robert Amsterdam draws attention to an interview on Russian democracy with Kremlin Grey Cardinal Vladislav Surkov.


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Saudi Arabia: Stuff Saudi People Like · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Find out what Stuff Saudi People Like on this blog.


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Sri Lanka: Stop The Exodus · Global Voices
Rezwan

Serendipity opines that many in Sri Lanka want to leave the country for various reasons and the government is doing nothing to stop this exodus.


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Happy Independence · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“We still have far to go but I live in hope that the generations to come will get it right”: Abeni wishes St. Vincent & the Grenadines a happy Independence Day.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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UAE: Hijab as a marketing ploy  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Abayachic questions the use of hijab as a marketing ploy.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Azerbaijan: Blogger trial dilemma · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Following yet another postponement in the trial of detained video blogging youth activists Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli, In Mutatione Fortitudo offers its opinion on the case so far. The blog says the authorities in Azerbaijan face a dilemma. If the two detainees are imprisoned it will result in significant international outcry. However, if the two are released, it will represent a dangerous precedent for the ruling regime.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Bangladesh: Sidewalk Bookseller World And Best Sellers · Global Voices
Rezwan

Ulysses at Back To Bangladesh wonders how the sidewalk booksellers in Dhaka streets, who sell cheap bootleg bestsellers during traffic jam, pick up which books to sell. The blogger asks: “do people buy these books because there is nothing else affordable? Or do they really read these books?”


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China: Why Western Media Mistakes Matter · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

C. Custer from Chinageeks discussed the issue on why western media mistakes matter.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China’s Dark Satanic Mills · Global Voices
Robert Woo

On Oct. 14, Chinese photographer Lu Guang won this year's $30,000 W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography for his photos on China’s environment. The Fund’s website posts the following paragraph describing Lu Guang’s project:
Lu Guang has been documenting the ecological disasters in China resulting from the rapid growth of the economy since 2005, focusing on environmental pollution and the problem of schistosomiasis (bilharzia). Over the last three decades, peoples’ living standards have constantly been on the rise in the country. At the same time, industrial pollution has brought serious consequences for public health and for the environment at large.
It was the first time for a Chinese national to win this award and, what was more important, one of the first times that China’s perilous environmental situation was presented with such visual power. What is in his photos is something far beyond any single environmental issue, but the desperation and hopelessness of people whose life has been stuck in a hell on earth.
China Hush shows the entire photo collection with translated captions. Here are some samples:
There are over 100 chemical plants in Jiangsu province coastal industry district. (江苏滨海头罾沿海化工园区) Some of them discharge wastewater into the ocean; some heavily contaminated sewage is stored in 5 “Sewage Temporary Pools”. During the 2 high tides in every month, the sewage then gets discharged into the ocean with the tides. June 20, 2008
Hebei Province Shexian Tianjin Iron and steel plant (河北省涉县天津钢铁厂) is a heavily polluting company. Company scale is still growing, seriously affecting the lives of local residents. March 18, 2008
Villagers from Kang village in Linfen City, Shanxi Province (山西省临汾市下康村) due to long-term consumption of the polluted water contaminated by industrial waste, there were 50 people who have cancer and cerebral thrombosis. 64-year-old Wang Baosheng got ill since 2003, he has fester all over his body so he cannot go to bed and lying face down on the edge of the bed each day. July 10, 2005
Henan Anyang iron and steel plant’s (河南安阳钢铁厂) sewage flowed into Anyang River. March 25, 2008
Inner Mongolia province Heilonggui (黑龙贵) Industrial District, the couple who worked at the Plaster Kiln and just got home. March 22, 2007
It is not only the critics overseas have been deeply impressed, but citizens at home have also been startled by these images. On one of China’s largest web portals, 163.com, more than thirteen thousand people commented on their frustration, fright and gratitude to the photographer for revealing it in such graphic manner.
这是中国吗？国庆阅兵应该把这些图片展出来。
山西啊，在山西活了20多年，临汾呆了四年，然后下定决心，这辈子再不去临汾了。那边真不是人呆的。记得以前爸爸说过他年轻的时候去临汾，都说那里是花果城，街道旁边都是果树。现在我是没看到什么花果树，在临汾的时候都不愿意上街，出去一圈，鞋子就是黑的了。晚上在屋里睡觉，早上起来，鼻孔里都是黑乎乎 的，两天洗一次头发，水象墨汁。在那四年，学会了不穿浅色的衣服，我的衣服都是黑色的。淡色的没法穿，一天洗一次，但是晾着也脏啊，没几天就洗不干净了。从来没见过月亮星星。晚上的时候感觉天空压的很低，都觉得快喘不过气来了。唉，糟蹋啊
死了一部分人 穷了一部分人 然后富了一些人
是个有良知的中国摄影师！
我是学环境工程的，看到这些，心里就不舒服。我们天天喊着奔小康，奔小康，都不知道人们的贫富差距越来越大了。那些只为赚钱，不管他人生命的人，不是畜生而是禽兽。。。
As expected, there always will be some people irritated by the fact that this is a Chinese photographer getting a reward from foreigners by disgracing China.
将最丑陋的一面展示给世界就可以拿奖，这位摄影师的人品啊····
However, such an attitude is quickly rejected by the common sense of most of other people.
老卢，支持你，我们太需要正视自己的缺点了。那些说三说四的人，你们没有生活在那种地方，不知道他们多么希望有人帮他们能说句话。

author: Robert Woo


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Cuba: Contemplating Change · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I think that for Cuba to transition to an open society from a society ‘with some emergency exits’, some of the people now occupying positions of power in the government could take a long vacation…”: Octavo Cerco contemplates what's needed for meaningful change in Cuba.


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Guadeloupe, Martinique: Soccer & Religion · Global Voices
Fabienne Flessel

A video showing an interview of the famous French soccer player Thierry Henry in which he expresses his affiliation to Islam, has caught the attention of Martinican blogger Bondamanjak [Fr/Fr Cr] and triggered impassioned comments from readers.

author: Fabienne Flessel


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Hungary: Dual Citizenship · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Hungarian Spectrum writes about “a recurrent theme in Hungarian politics”: dual citizenship.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Hungary, Serbia: Tragedy At The Border · Global Voices
Marietta Le

This weekend, several Hungarian and Serbian media outlets referred to a daily newspaper of Pristina, Koha Ditore (ALB), as having specific information on the illegal border crossing case that happened earlier this month. A Serbia-based Hungarian website, Magyar Szó (HUN), wrote that, according to Koha Ditore, Ismet R., suspected of smuggling a group of Kosovo Albanians, was arrested in Kosovska Mitrovica. Most of the news reports mentioned that 15 people drowned in the Tisza River as they were trying to cross the border, but the only adult survivor, Agron Rama, admitted that the group consisted of some 19 people (SRP, ENG).
According to one of the first reports (HUN), published by a southern Hungarian news site Délmagyar.hu (HUN) about the case of 15 illegal immigrants disappeared in the Tisza River at the Hungarian-Serbian border, a member of the group who tried to cross the river, father of a 2-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl, was the one to call the police from a public payphone in the border village, Röszke, at dawn on Oct. 15.
Csaba Bálint, a blogger with Serbia Insajd (HUN), commented on the case, using the report of Délmagyar.hu, and also proposed to start an investigation personally on the relations between Hungary and Kosovo:
[…] Child, child, help!
That's what the Kosovo Albanian guy, whose children almost froze to death on the bank of the Tisza River, was repeating, when he was trying to escape to the EU one night. If somebody isn't familiar with the story, I'll retell it in a nutshell. […]
The weirdo had gone by that he would pay the human smuggler well, it's a trendy profession there, and what would be, would be, he would step into the new world at Szeged. He hadn't reckoned with the fact that cold rain would fall on his kids at night, that they would be worn out because of this irregular forest hike. When our man saw how big the trouble was, he left the children back in the October rain, and went to ask for help. […]
The children hardly breathed when they found them. A 2-year-old and a 3-year-old, I'm just mentioning that! They were totally run cold. One child of the cross-border violator mister had fallen into a coma, but got better since then. They came off with a whole skin, but the story is sad. Sad and makes you wonder. At least some questions come up with it.
What's the reason for that from the independent and free Kosovo Republic, hundreds of independent and free citizens are escaping? Probably, it's not easy to live in a ‘democracy’ built on delinquency? Tell another independent country in Europe from where dozens of free people are coming illegally every week! Probably, the states that urged to recognize a Columbia of the Balkans, hereafter are not working so hard anymore on making the country a country? If a 29-year-old man with two little children is heading off to the forest at night in the middle of October, then I have to say: no.
In the next episode we'll look at what Hungary, the big European friend of Kosovo, has done so that the people living there wouldn't have to escape to the West. […]
Balkan Insight reported that investigations have been started by an EU rule of law mission, EULEX, Kosovo police and the Hungarian authorities. According to the website, migrant family groups had to pay €6,000 to €8,000 to get to Hungary. Contrary to the media referring to Koha Ditore, Balkan Insight emphasized, no arrests have been made yet.
By Monday, Magyar Szó reported (HUN) that a body of one man was found on the Hungarian border of the Tisza River, and on the Serbian border bodies of two women were found. One of them was Agron Rama's wife and the mother of his children.
Gábor Nagy, a Hungarian immigration officer, also commented (HUN) on the case on his blog, showing the same incomprehension of why Albanians escape so desperately from Kosovo:
[…] Of course in cases like this the question can always be raised, if the parents are so careless as to start off with babies to the ‘big world’ or the situation is really this horrible in Kosovo? Though it should be mentioned, nobody is after them from Kosovo, as they ‘achieved their independence.’ At least on paper. And that also can't be forgotten that these people are always helped by human smugglers for weighty Euros. But if we consider that it's not even to Hungary where they want to escape, then I have a negative stance on the things, too.

author: Marietta Le


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Hungary: Update on ‘Nap-Kelte’ Talk Show · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Hungarian Spectrum posts an update on the situation around the Nap-kelte political talk show – and is “trying to make sense of Hungarian legal thinking.”


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India: BJP Needs A New Leader · Global Voices
Rezwan

The Acorn opines that the major Indian political party BJP must elect its next leader to lift the party from political turmoil.


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India: Climate Policy · Global Voices
Rezwan

“India’s climate policy must be founded on the development needs of the majority of its population and the needs of India’s future development,” opines Prabir Purkayastha at Roger reports.


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Indonesia: Youth Pledge Day 2009 · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Breaking Tweets gathers twitter posts on the commemoration of Indonesia's Youth Pledge Day. The historic day, October 28, 1928, is recognized as an important date for Indonesia's aspiration to become a free and independent republic.

author: Mong Palatino


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Martinique: Debating over the statutory change  · Global Voices
Fabienne Flessel

Martinican MontrayKreyol discusses the popular debates [Fr] over the change of institutional status of Martinique as a French overseas department.


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Mozambique: Expectations toward the ’09 elections · Global Voices
Frederico Dava

Mozambicans are in the midst of another electoral process and its main contenders are the parties of FRELIMO – currently in power, RENAMO – the oldest opposition party and MDM – the newest opposition party; those parties are “chasing after” the votes. For the first time, the country simultaneously hosts presidential, legislative and provincial parliament elections, the latter are the first in the history of Mozambique. Many people were looking forward this moment, such as blogger José from Debates e Devaneios blog [pt]:
Várias vezes me interroguei se vale a pena participar neste processo e se o meu voto não me torna conivente com uma farsa. Mas, apesar de tudo, acredito que neste caso a abstenção só vai beneficiar o Partido no poder e junto a minha voz aos que apelam ao voto.
Se não houver contrariedade de última hora, amanhã, mesmo não sendo feriado para mim, farei uma longa viagem para depositar o meu voto.
After a 45-days-long electoral campaign, characterized by gestures of violence, in most cases by militants of FRELIMO, few hours from the vote, the voices of the civil society multiply, calling for an organized election, without violence. Good judgment is called for from the candidates so that they can accept the results from ballot box as a demonstration of the people's will. The call of the civil society extends to the press, especially the publicly-owned media, asking for impartiality in their coverage of the event.
The director of the Technical Secretary of Electoral Administration-TSEA, Felisberto Naife, came public to vouch for the conditions of the voting process in Mozambique as well as in 7 other countries, 5 of them in Africa and 2 in Europe: Portugal and Germany. But not all the countries will allow expatriates the right to vote. The blog Comunidade Moçambicana highlights the case of Malawi [pt]:
O governo do Malawi não autorizou os moçambicanos a votarem excepto nos consulados e embaixadas, de acordo com Felizberto Naife numa conferência de imprensa do STAE, esta manhã. A CNE pretendia que os moçambicanos no Malawi pudessem votar em cinco diferentes locais, mas o Malawi não o permitiu. É o único país que proibe votação fora de embaixadas e consulados.
Entretanto, Naife disse também que o STAE não conseguiu utilizar um helicóptero na província do Niassa devido a falta de combustível. Isto pode causar alguns problemas para fazer chegar materiais de votação às assembleias de voto mais remotas.
Nevertheless, despite the reassuring speech of the TSEA director, close to the voting day, the mass media reported that there are regions with no fuel to supply the helicopters in charge of distributing materials to the voting areas where access by road is difficult. This is the case of the province of Niassa, in which a helicopter had to be diverted to the province of Nampula, due to lack of fuel.
The director of TSEA, without explaining the reason of lack of fuel in those places, minimizes the impact of the aerial operations, stating that helicopters were placed in areas in which the electoral process had already been scheduled in accordance with the means currently available. Without further explanations, the director guaranteed the materials’ arrival in all voting places.
Image from the blog Debates e Devaneios.
In Nampula, province with one of the biggest electorates of the country, a journalist from STV, a private TV News channel of Mozambique, as what he described as a “strange phenomena”, reporting yesterday afternoon that around one thousand people were accredited as electoral observers, by an organization with no competence to do so, the Mozambican Forum of Electoral Observation, and most of them were affiliated to FRELIMO.
According to the reporter, such observers were taken by state cars to different corners of the province; when the reporter asked the electoral bodies, namely the TSEA and the National Commission of Elections, they claimed not to know anything about the accreditation process, having heard of it only because of the reporter and that they would start an inquiry of this case.
This issue not only raises suspicions about potential fraud, that often “flavor” the Mozambican electoral processes and are rejected by the ruling party, but it also highlights the abusive use of the state's resources by FRELIMO, in a very documented and amplified way,  as remarked by Álvaro Teixeira:
Amanhã, dia 28/10, é um dia muito especial para um belo país chamado Moçambique e para essa terra da boa gente que é o Povo Moçambicano. É dia de Eleições, um dia que deveria ser natural numa democracia consolidada e amadurecida, mas sobre o qual recaem as maiores suspeitas de ilegalidades cometidas pelo partido no poder, a FRELIMO, que controla todos os organismos que deveriam ser independentes, como a CNE e o CC, a seu bel-prazer, conseguindo perverter o conceito de democracia que é a inclusão, transformando-o em exclusão.
This way, despite the reassuring speeches of electoral organizations and despite all the conditions for the vote, there are important aspects that concern many Mozambicans, such as the existence of areas where elections will not be held because of lack of material; what happens will legitimate the voices of some opposition parties that have been accusing the ruling party of conspiracy with the TSEA to prepare a fraud. There are, at the moment, a total of 2073 observers, 1543 of which are Mozambicans and 530 from other countries. 922 journalists were registered, 42 of them foreigners.
In addition to the national and international oversight and the support of media to bring impartiality to the electoral process, the citizens of Mozambique have the project Verdade-Eleições2009 [pt] which uses the Ushahidi platform to monitor reports, events and discussions on the electoral process throughout the nation. The website, which works as an aggregator of citizen media, allowed the political engagement of Mozambicans by the use of blogs, Twitter, news feeds, reports and headlines, all of which also by the use of SMS.

author: Frederico Dava


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Pakistan: Four Issues On The Waziristan Operation · Global Voices
Rezwan

Ahsan at Five Rupees lists four things to be aware of during the Waziristan offensive against the Taliban insurgents by Pakistan army.


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Reunion: Creole becomes second official language · Global Voices
Fabienne Flessel

In the midst of the International Creole Month, Guadeloupean blogger CaribCreoleOne discusses [Fr] the now official use of Creole language alongside French in all the administrative procedures and places, in the city of Le Port in Reunion.


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South Korea: Jeju Olle routes · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jean Min from Ohmynews! told the story of the restoration of “Olle”, a walking path, in Jeju island.


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Taiwan: Ethics of gift giving · Global Voices
David Reid

Michella discusses the ethical issues for journalists offered gifts. She finds it difficult to understand some of the gift and money giving traditions in Taiwan.

author: David Reid


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Thailand: Laid-off underwear workers create new clothing line · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Presenting, ‘Try Arm’ underwear products designed and made by laid-off workers of Triumph Company in Thailand. The workers who are still on strike conceptualized “Try Arm” to sustain their campaign for reinstatement or fair compensation.


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Thailand: New law on rallies · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Cabinet of Thailand is proposing a new bill that would govern the conduct of public assemblies and rallies in the country.


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Uruguay: Presidential Election Heads for Runoff · Global Voices
Mario Blanco

Presidential elections in Uruguay were held on Sunday, October 25, and no one can say who will become the next President because no candidate received the required majority (50% + 1). In this situation, the election will go to the next round in a run-off election on November 29, 2009.
The Broad Front candidate, Senator José Mujica, was the closest to the majority needed receiving 48.16% of the votes. In second place, the National Party candidate Luis A. Lacalle, received 28.9% of the vote, still giving him a chance to win and who will face Mujica in the run-off election. In third place, the Colored Party received 16.66% of the vote, considered to be an internal victory for its followers. This party had fallen in past elections, after being the governing party for many years. Now, under the leadership of Pedro Bordaberry, the son of ex-dictator Juan M. Bordaberry, the party has grown more than expected as indicated in earlier surveys.
Graphic by Jorge Oyhenard and used with permission.
The 4th political party, the Independent Party, did not achieve the necessary percentage to obtain a Senate seat, receiving only 2.47% of the vote. It did, however, manage to elect two deputies to Parliament.
The reactions from the various parties were surprising, as noted by the blog Asi Ta'l Mundo Botija [es], who makes references to the contradictions. The party that celebrated the most was the one that received the least number of votes, and on the contrary, those who received the highest percentage appeared to be sad:
Muchos se lo tomaron como sorpresa o como triunfo, y no fue, a mi entender, “ni chicha ni limonada”. Por lo menos para mi no fue sorpresa. Que había quienes pensaban (o soñaban) que el Frente Amplio ganaba en primera vuelta, cierto. Pero no creo que esa gente deba estar triste. Por otro lado, el Partido Nacional logró menos del 30% que estimaban las encuestadoras; sin embargo el festejo de muchos de sus simpatizantes fue como si hubieran ganado la copa del mundo. Y los del Partido Colorado también festejaron y mucho. Fue el tercero en el conteo de votos, pero así es este país.
Many took (the results) as a surprise or as a victory, and it was not, in my understanding, “not one or the other.” At least for me, it was not a surprise. There were those who thought (or dreamed) that the Broad Front would win in the first round. I don't think those people should be sad. On the other hand, the National Party received less than the 30% predicted by the surveys; nevertheless, the celebration by many of their followers were as if they had won the World cup. The Colored Party also celebrated a lot. They came in third place after the vote tally, that is how this country is.
He also provides some thoughts on why the Broad Front did not win outright in the first round:
Bueh, aunque se me enojen algunos lectores, pienso que uno de los factores es que la fórmula debió ser al revés. O sea, Astori a Presidente y Mujica a Vice. Mujica es un tipo al que admiro. Dice las cosas de frente, no es políticamente correcto, no es tan hipócrita o falluto, como venimos acostumbrados por estos lares. Pero … La gente lo eligió, por encima de Astori, quien tiene lo dicho por Mujica, más que es el tipo que más sabe de economía en este país, reconocido por gente de la oposición. Esto le hubiese bastado para atraer gente de otros sectores políticos.
Well, even though I may make some readers angry, I think one of the reasons was that the ticket should have been the other way around. In other words, (Danilo) Astori for President and Mujica for Vice-President. I admire Mujica. He says things in a straightforward manner, he is not politically correct, he is not that much of a hypocrite or a person that fails, which are things we are accustomed to around here.  But … the people elected him over Astori, even though (Astori) is the person who knows the most about the economy in this country, recognized by the opposition. This would have been enough to attract people from other political sectors.
However, another blogger known as La Ciudadana (The Citizen) wrote in her blog Qué pasa Uruguay? [es] that the Broad Front should think about what went wrong:
El Frente Amplio, sin embargo, deberá tener autocrítica, deberán pensar un poco dónde se equivocaron, porque contaban con el 60% de aprobación al presidente (cosa que dudo y dudaré), contaron con todo el aparato propagandístico del gobierno que hasta el día antes, estuvo poniendo su cuota de apoyo, contaron con mucho dinero para la propaganda, con la salida de los ministros haciendo también lo suyo, en fin, contaban con un aparato importante en su beneficio, pero igualmente no llegaron, fue un día negro si se quiere, porque aparentemente no lograron mayorías parlamentarias, no se si se confirmó ya o aún no, no lograron sacar los pleibiscitos adelante, y no ganaron en primera vuelta que era su principal objetivo.
Graphic by Jorge Oyhenard and used with permission.
In Parliament, there was suspense from the public whether any party would obtain the majority of the seats. The Broad Front Party will have 16 seats in the Senate, while the National Party and Colored Party gained 9 seats and 5 seats, respectively.  In the Chamber of Deputies, there will be 50 representatives from the Broad Front Party, 30 National Party members, 17 Colored Party members, and 2 from the Independent Party.
The blog Mujeres y Elecciones 2009 en Uruguay [es] (Women and Elections 2009 in Uruguay) has been providing coverage about issues affecting Uruguayan women throughout the campaign, and notes that 6 women Senators had been elected from the Broad Front party.
The strategies for the next round [es] has already started. According to surveys, it is expected that the Broad Front Party will continue to govern the country and that Mujica will win the run-off election. The Colored Party candidate, Bordaberry, has already said publicly that he will support Lacalle [es]. The blog Visión Universitaria [es] alludes to this union of the Colorado and National Parties, calling them the “Rosados” (the Pinks). However, even with this support, it does not appear that the National Party candidate will have enough votes to beat Mujica.

author: Mario Blanco


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Video: Winners of UN Contest became Citizen Ambassadors · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

We bring you the 5 winning videos for the UN contest where participants sent in a video stating what they would tell world leaders if they had the chance.    The 5 video bloggers had the opportunity to give their message in person at the UN Day celebration in New York City.
In a previous post we announced the UN Citizen Ambassador contest where video bloggers had to record what they would say to World Leaders if they had the chance, to effectively win the opportunity to speak directly with Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon at the UN Day on October 23rd. The winners were chosen and notified through YouTube as well, and here is the video announcement by the United Nations Channel:
Emily Troutman from the USA, who we recently wrote about in relation to her Congo Matters video, was one of the winners. In  her UN video response, she spoke about how World Leaders should remember that they are responsible for more than 6 billion of other human beings, one person at a time:
Jeremy Walker of Canada was another winner, who asked the UN to prove that it still can help solve worldwide problems, to return hope to those who still want to believe that there can be change:
Breno Coelho from Brazil uploaded a video answering what is needed to be done to make this world a better and safer place, where it is answered by many different people, all offering their solutions: more love, less greed, less hate:
Maricarmen Ortega of Mexico also included the voices of many in her video, this time in several different languages:
Kirsty Matthews of Canada had a short message, straight to the point: what is needed is equality, sustainability and justice for all:
United Nations TV uploaded a video showing the 5 Citizen Embassadors in NYC at the UN Day:
Congratulations to all!

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Videos on how Maternal Mortality Affects Communities · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

baby by gabi_menashe
When a woman dies during pregnancy, childbirth or due to complications after delivery, it affects not only the family, but also the whole community. These videos, by different human rights organizations, go beyond statistics to tell us the stories of women and their families as they struggle to understand why it is that so many women are dying during childbirth and what needs to be done to stop this.
First, the White Ribbon Alliance produced a four minute video titled Birth and Death explaining the seriousness of Maternal Mortality and how it can be stopped:
UNICEF also created a two minute video to raise awareness about this issue, with 5 steps that can be taken to diminish maternal mortality: education, respect, empowerment, investing and protection.
In this next video, In Silence: Maternal Mortality in India by Human Rights Watch, photographer Susan Meiselas and reporter Dumeetha Luthra traveled to India to follow the story of a woman who died after giving birth:
In Peru, as told by this piece done for CARE by Phil Borges, the Watchmen for Lives program to decrease maternal mortality has proven to be a success: by empowering and educating women from within the communities in the importance of healthcare during pregnancy and by making a chart for midwives with warning signs on when to send women to a clinic – so more are going to clinics to give birth, dramatically reducing the numbers of deaths due to complications during labor.
Amnesty International has this documentary piece, 18 minutes long, about Maternal Mortality in Sierra Leone. One in 8 women die in Childbirth there: the inability to pay for medical attention, a practically non-existent healthcare system, lack of trained medical practitioners and understaffed and understocked clinics are the main reasons. As the women in the video tell: everyone there knows a woman who has died during pregnancy or labor.
And from Australia, students from the Nursing and Midwife program at the University of Sydney have created Birthing Kits that they've delivered to developing countries to try and prevent unnecessary deaths. It includes a plastic sheet to put under the mother, surgical gloves, scalpel blades, gauze, soap and string to tie off the umbilical cord. In the video, they tell of their initiative and the successful experience they've had in Bangladesh.


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Vietnam: Twitter-like application · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Introducing Mimo, a Vietnamese microblogging website whose platform is similar to Twitter.


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· Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“When it comes to swine flu, if the MoH sanitises our minds of the myths, there won’t be a need for special sanitisation of buildings”: KnowTnT.com comments on the Trinidad and Tobago health ministry's handling of the H1N1 situation.


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Albania: Robert Elsie’s “Albanian Dialects” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Albanian Blogger recommends scholar Robert Elsie's work to those interested in the Albanian language and literature.


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Anguilla: No News is Bad News · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Six members of the Royal Anguilla Police Force arrested in the last five years. Traditionally, the Anguilla public administration operates under the assumption that any bad news is better not published”: Corruption-free Anguilla is “simply disgusted at this state of affairs.”


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Argentina: Victims’ Testimony Against Members of Military Dictatorship · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The La Plata branch of the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights (APDH of its initials in Spanish) recently opened a blog to translate and share the testimonies of victims and their families who are testifying at the trials against members of the military dictatorship in Argentina.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Barbados: Party Leader · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“We have had some exciting days in Barbadian national politics”: Living in Barbados blogs about the power struggle in the opposition BLP party.


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Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia: “Dumping Grounds for People” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Dumping Grounds for People is a blog devoted to the results “of a four-months long journalistic investigation, conducted mostly undercover in ten institutions for adults with intellectual disabilities or mental illnesses in Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia.” A Flickr photo set, by Yana Buhrer Tavanier, is here, along with this note: “Bulgaria and Romania, both EU members since 2007, and Serbia, which seeks the same status, have a grim track record when it comes to institutional care. This investigation suggests that they are still failing to meet international standards.”


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China: Painted plagiarism of a push-up photograph · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joel Martinsen from DANWEI highlighted a recent painted plagiarism scandal by an artist named Li Yueliang.


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Egypt: Egyptian Male Blogger Orders Artificial Hymen · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

When Radio Netherlands broadcasted an Arabic translation of the Artificial Virginity Hymen kit, when Youm7 newspaper announced that the product will be available on the Egyptian market for LE 83, when conservative parliament members in Egypted wanted the product banned and any exporter exiled or beheaded, and when it caused such an uproar in the Egyptian blogosphere, Mohamed Al Rahhal just had to buy one.
As he went to retrieve his package at the post office:
it had been opened by various puzzled customs and postal employees who, at a loss, defined the product in writing as “containing an unknown red liquid” – and awaited my description.
He told them it was “cinematographic make-up” and took the item home:
Such is the “hymen”: a 5x7cm folded piece of plastic – of albumin, the notice promptly corrects me – covered on one side by dark red ink. Placed in the vagina before sex, the plastic hardens slightly, and rips upon intercourse. A few drops of “blood” will stain the sheets, preserving the woman's, her family's, or society's “honour”.
Whether it does actually work or not I cannot answer. The complete absence of medical information on the product, as well as online accusations that this product can cause infections, made me unwilling to give it to a volunteer to test.
Mona El Tahawy did not like how Egyptians were hot and bothered over fake hymensWith all the troubles Egypt faces these days — spiralling cost of living, a president in power for 28 years whose son looks likely to succeed him, etc. — why all the fuss over hymens, real or fake?
Welcome to the hypocrisy and denial that together drum at the heart of conservative religious views on women and chastity. And in the case of Egypt, that conservatism applies equally to Muslims and Christians.
As a Muslim, I know the Qur’an preaches chastity for men and women, but the conservative obsession with women means only females are expected to abide by the prohibition on extramarital sex. This obsession with virginity is shallow at best and deadly at worst.
Mohamed El Rahhal strongly condemns:
the hypocrisy that allows us to discriminate against 50% of the society while giving a free pass to the other half. I am against forcing women to go such lengths, sometimes endangering their health, to allow us to delay a long-awaited national moratorium on gender relations.
Morality is worst interpreted by anatomy. And if we're waiting upon a small piece of plastic to define morality, then we've already failed – and ought to find a better definition.

author: Marwa Rakha


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Egypt: The top 10 most influential people  · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

Blogger Ahmed Shokeir conducted a survey to find out the 10 most influential people in Egypt after he was surprised to find out that Gamal Mubarak, son of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak — who is expected to succeed his father — was among the 2009 TIME 100 Finalists .
Shokeir writes:
Zeinobia shared the top 10 most influential people in Egypt according to Shokeir's survey:
First of all we do not have these kinds of lists in Egypt regularly , second you must know that this was held on an Egyptian blog , the participants are considered a very small sample from the Egyptian society “More than 120 participants on his blog and more than 300 participants in the event on the face book” and some may considered it as unrepresentative sample still most of the answers surprisingly represent the views of most Egyptian people as I see it.
Saving the best for last, Zeinobia shared the top 9:
In 10th place for 168 points The Egyptian National football team trainer Hassan Shahata.
In 9th place for 181 points businessman Naguib Sawiris.
In 8th place for 200 points president Hosni Mubarak. “26 votes”
In 7th place for 200 points journalist Ibrahim Eissa . “46 votes”
In 6th place for 202 points businessman Ahmed Ezz.
In 5th place for 215 points scientist Ahmed Zowail.
In 4th place for 262 points TV hostess Mona El-Shazely.
In 3rd place for 325 points footballer Mohamed Abu-Tarika.
In 2nd place for 364 points Gamal Mubarak.
As for Egypt's most influential figure,
Now to my surprise :
In 1st place for 496 points comes Islamic TV preacher Amr Khalid.
With no doubt that the previous nine except for Ahmed Zoweil has played an important and influential role in our lives in 2009 but Amr Khalid !!??
Zeinobia is aware that:
this survey came at the seasonal peak of Khalid’s popularity after his Ramadan TV shows this year contributed much to this result besides of course the role of religion in our lives.
But she still wonders if he deserves to come first in the list.


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Guyana: Uniformity · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Individualism and free expression are made up of much more than clothing.  Signifyin’ Guyana explains.


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Hungary: 1956 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Hungarian Spectrum writes about an online collection of testimony (HUN) on the events of 1956, which “helped the western powers understand the Hungarian situation, not just events that occurred during the revolution but more importantly the reasons for the outbreak of the uprising.” Remainder of Budapest wrote this on the eve of this year's anniversary of the 1956 revolution: “Some articles have already debated if there would be any kind of riot this year, because since 2006 each national holiday was a potential source of danger, the political situation was so tense, that I don’t really believe Hungarian authorities were ever able to guess in the last years, if they would have to use tear gas the next time or not…”


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Hungary: Budapest · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Marietta Le of Remainder of Budapest comments on Budapest Business Region's campaign video and on the discussion raging on YouTube and elsewhere – here and here. She also links to a site that lists seven tour routes for those interested in Budapest's contemporary architecture, and posts pictures from a walk in the Kertész Street neighborhood. BudapestZin shares tips on how to avoid “being robbed, cheated, blackmailed and overbilled in the Budapest nightlife.”


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India: A Campaign To End Domestic Violence · Global Voices
Rezwan

One in two women in South Asia faces violence in her home. Charukesi at A Time To Reflect writes about a campaign called Bell Bajao (ring the bell) which aims to put an end to domestic violence in India.

author: Rezwan


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India: Information For NRIs · Global Voices
hj barraza

Amreekan Desi has some practical information for the non resident Indians who are trying to go back to their motherland to settle there.

author: hj barraza


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Jamaica: Police Corruption · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“News of police corruption is sadly no surprise”: Letter from Jamaica wonders whether “we get the constabulary we deserve.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Japan: Animated stereoviews of old Japan · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Pink Tentacle picked up enigmatic photographer T. Enami (1859-1929)'s photos of old Japan and represented the stereoviews through gif animation.


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Japan: When Your Wife is Sick · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

When Japanese “corporate livestock” (社蓄 shachiku) culture and values on marriage collide – more than 300 people responded to this question on the mega forum Hatsugen Komachi: Should a husband take time off work when his wife is sick?
Situation
Rina has been married for 8 years and has a daughter in the third grade. She is getting divorced and recounts an early episode in her marriage that has stuck in her mind since then.
When their daughter was a baby, Rina became very run down from sleep deprivation due to her night crying. She fell sick with a high fever and wasn't in a state to take care of their baby girl but her husband refused to take paid leave or come home earlier than usual. Rina was extremely disappointed that he didn't even call. It took two months for her condition to improve and she can't forget how her husband didn't help out at all.
Question
ここういう状態の場合、会社を休めないまでもせめて定時で帰ってきてほしいというのはわがままでしょうか。
みなさんのご家庭はどうですか？妻が病気の時、夫は会社を休んで子供の世話をしてくれますか？また、会社で「妻が病気だから」と言って休んでいる人をどう思いますか？
What about your families? Does your husband take the day off from work to take care of the kids when the wife is sick? Are there people at your companies that take the day off because their wife is sick?
Responses
Right away, many veteran mothers righteously posted stories of the times that they were sick and still dragged themselves out of bed to take care of themselves and their children without any help from their husbands – not that they expected or wanted help from them.
‘Married with two children’ said:
インフルエンザで寝込んでいるときも、４０度の熱が三日間下がらない時も、一週間３８度から熱が下がらずいた時も夫に休んで欲しいと思ったことはありませんでした。夫の職種が営業だったので客先と約束があれば休めないのも仕方がないし、客先と急に約束が入ったら帰れないのも仕方がないので。会社に勤めてお給料を頂いている以上会社に損害を与えるような休暇をとれないのは当たり前。
トピ主様のご主人の業種がわかりませんが当人の体調不良と家族の体調不良はまた別でしょう。夫の風邪を理由に仕事を休む妻というのもありえないと思いますがどう思いますか？
It's obvious to me that if a person receives a salary, they can't take days off that will impact negatively on the company. I'm not sure what your husband does, but him being sick and a family member being sick are two different things. I can't believe that there's a wife that wants her husband to stay home just because she's sick. What do you think?
Miri says you must consider your husband's reputation.
旦那さんのお仕事の形態にもよると思いますが、急なお休みは周りにとても迷惑をかける事となります。それに自分(妻）の管理が出来ていない事で夫の会社に迷惑をかけるなぞ夫の評価を下げる事と思って居ます。
妻が病気(入院する様な病気以外）夫が会社休むは普通とは思えません。ヘルパーさん頼むとか考えます。
Teardrop recalls a similar experience. Her husband went off to drink with his work buddies when she was sick, resulting in a huge fight.
でももっとびっくりしたのはこの話をした時の女性達の反応！「そんなことで・・・。」という反応なんですよね。ウチなんてもっとひどいわよ～って。
妻たちはみんなこういう仕打ちに慣れてしまって、感覚がマヒしてしまっているんだなぁって、悲しく思ったことを覚えています。
でもあれから数年・・・完全に私もマヒしてます。
Kanon says her husband shows his love in a different way.
夫の会社の激務や夫の社内での立場を思えば「体調悪いから帰ってきて！」とは言えません。私の体調の悪い時に夕飯を外で済ませてきてくれる。駅の自販機でポカリを買ってきてくれる。私にはそれだけで十分に優しい夫です。
‘Kengyo-shufu’ (Working housewife) said:
ちゃんと仕事をしたことないから言える言葉だと思います。
ご主人だって休みたいんだと思います。でも休めないんですよ。自分が体調悪くて休むのは周りに風邪をうつしてはいけないとかそういったことではないですか?
簡単に休めないという現在の多くの日本の企業が問題だと思いますが休めないのが現実です。
Some are sympathetic, like nabe.
リナさんの言うことは正しいです。全然わがままではありません。
私はもちろん休んでいます。 […] 妻が病気になっても働く時代は終わってます。
二人で力を合わせて生活守って時代です
Pochi is surprised at how harsh everybody is, and sarcastically asks if they work 15-16 hours each day of the year.
家族がせっぱつまった状態のときに、仕事のほうがどうにか都合がつきそうだったら、少々遅刻して病院につれていくとか、コンビニで食料を調達するとか、残業はせずに急いで帰ってくるとかするのは社会人失格？頭から「休めるわけない！！」と決めつけるのは、ストイックな姿を会社の人に見せたいから？自分の楽しみのために有給をとることもあるでしょう。（有給をとって友人とゴルフにいく上司をなんども見てます）
Tokumei says it depends on how sick you are and goes on to say:
結婚生活を快適に過ごすこつは、お互いに相手に期待しないことではないかともうすぐ銀婚式の私は思っています。期待すると裏切られたと思うし、期待しなければ些細な優しさもありがたく感じられます。再婚の際の参考までに
This is Echika's advice:
うちの会社の場合、男性が家庭の事情で会社を休むと、上司はあまりよく言いません。なので、私も自分の体調不良と偽って休暇をとり、妻の看病をしました。
‘Usuaji’ says that this would be impossible at his/her company.
でも、文句を言い続けて一生夫婦であり続けることよりも、離婚と言う手段を選んだトピ主さんの勇気は素晴らしいと思います。
Nya says it can be bothersome but men are not good at guessing what women want, unless it's spelled out.
妻が病気の時、「食事を作るのは難しいだろうから、外食して帰るよ」という夫さん、よくいますよ。高熱で起きられない妻の食事は??思いつきません。面倒だけど「作れないのでコレコレを買ってきて(何か買ってとまかせると、こってりしたコンビニ弁当とか買ってきてしまう)」
It must be noted that Hatsugen Komachi is very female oriented or even housewife oriented. An interesting tangent to this story is that reactions from Hatena, a much more male oriented community, was totally different (There is no job in the world that's more important than the health of myself or my family. 自分、もしくは家族の健康にも優先する仕事なんてこの世に一つもない。) as was the discussion on the professional SNS LinkedIn (login required: Japanese Businesspeople Even Sacrifice His & Her Families) but that's a story for another day.

author: Tomomi Sasaki


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Kuwait: Weird Wedding Things · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Do you guys know of any other weird things brides do before their wedding?” asks Kuwaiti blogger eshda3wa after her friends has decided to go into hiding before her big day.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Maldives: The Price Of Environmental Activism · Global Voices
Rezwan

Maldives hosted the first underwater cabinet meeting to make people realize the threat of global warming and its effect on the country. Applauding the intention and activism behind this initiative Mohamed Nasheed opines that this will also hurt the tourism industry in Maldives as insurance premiums on investments have been increased manifolds and many potential investors are turning away because of this publicity.


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Peru: A Different Look at San Martín Statue in Lima · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Juan Arellano of the blog Globalizado [es] has an up-close look at the Statue of General José de San Martín in Central Lima, Peru. As part of the events of Lima Week, visitors were given the opportunity to climb up temporary stairs to see the statue from a different vantage point.


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Russia: Khodorkovsky’s Case, 6 Years On · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

In The Huffington Post, Robert Amsterdam writes about Mikhail Khodorkovsky's case, six years on.


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Saudi Arabia: Saudi Woman for California Assembly · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A Saudi-born woman, Ferial Al Masry, is running for the California State Assembly, writes Saudi blogger Qusay.


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Sri Lanka: Paintings To Unite The Nation · Global Voices
Rezwan

“10 canvases painted by students who attended the Future Leaders Conference (FLC) 2009 were selected for display at the ‘Colombo Art Biennale 2009′,” informs Sri Lanka Unites. In these canvasses Sri Lankan youth of various ethnicity and regions “voiced their thoughts on reconciliation and the future of Sri Lanka through art”.


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The Balkans: Karadzic’s Trial; Plavsic’s Release · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Americans for Bosnia writes about the trial of Radovan Karadzic. Samaha writes about Biljana Plavsic’s release.


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Ukraine: Charity · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Scenes From the Sidewalk writes about an encounter with one of Kyiv's many homeless children – and posts photos from actress Olga Kurilenko's visit to a CrossRoads Foundation/ChildRescue's rehabilitation center. Wild World of Sean's Blog reports on a charity visit to a Kyiv hospital for children affected by the Chernobyl catastrophe.


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Ukraine: Interview With A Drug Addict · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

David Sasaki shares thoughts on “engaging, not exoticizing human rights” and posts a video interview with Pavel Kutsev, a self-described “average drug addict” and “the co-founder of Drop-In Center, a Ukrainian organization which advocates for the rights of the injection drug user communication and for better national policy related to substitution therapy.”


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Uruguay: Two Plebiscites Fail to Pass · Global Voices
Mario Blanco

On the same day as the Presidential elections in Uruguay, two ballot questions were presented to voters. One of the questions asked whether the hundreds of thousands of Uruguayans living abroad should have the right to the epistolary or consular vote.  The debate was based on whether or not those that live outside of the country should have the right to elect who will govern those still living in Uruguay.
At the website Voto x Uruguay [es] (I Vote for Uruguay), there are many videos with messages of support for this motion by Uruguayans living abroad. who want the right to vote.  There were videos submitted from Canada, Spain, France, and the United States.  This video created in the Spanish city of Ferrol shows a group of Uruguayan ex-pats, who gathered to simulate a vote, as a way to show their support for their right to vote.
However, the result on election day was “No,” with only 36.93% voting “Yes.”
The other plebiscite that attracted more attention and caused more sad and surprise reactions, was the question that attempted to annul the Law of Expiration [es]. This current Uruguayan law establishes that the crimes committed by the military and the police during the last civic-military dictatorship, which included multiple violations of human rights, would remain with amnesty.
The United Nations has observed the law, and it has also been repudiated by the Organization of American States [es].  However, in the end the vote results to annul the law reached 47.36%, and it did not reach the necessary 50% + 1.
This result caused strong and sad reactions from the various online communities. In Facebook, for example, in the two days following the vote, there were a large number of groups created, such as Parliament Should Annul the Law of Expiration [es], I Cannot Believe that the Law was not Annulled [es], National Mourning [es], and I Will Never Forget [es].
For some, like 19-year-old Mauricio P. Milano of the blog Montevideo Blogger [es] writes why he neither voted “no,” nor “yes” in the question:
Aunque ya saben que afortunadamente no me tocó vivir la época de la dictadura en Uruguay, con los pocos años que tengo ya he vivido lo suficiente como para escuchar cientos de relatos sobre esta historia, a favor de los militares y a favor de los tupamaros. Quizás el eclecticismo que me caracteriza sea propio de una generación que vino después que se calmaron las aguas, como la mía; pero la opinión que he venido a formar de todo esto es que ambos grupos estuvieron mal, hubo crímenes (secuestros, asesinatos) de los dos lados y en realidad ninguno de ellos puede lavarse las manos de lo que han hecho. Esto es históricamente innegable. Y no voy a volver a comentar lo hipócrita que es el simple hecho de que, ante tal evidencia, uno de los presidenciables en estas elecciones nacionales pertenezca al grupo de los tupamaros, porque ya me expresé sobre esto en la primera parte de este post (click acá para leer).
Lo que quiero decir hoy, a favor de la justicia y del derecho de elección que tienen quienes estuvieron involucrados en esta historia, es que considero inaceptable que mi generación deba cargar con la decisión de anular o no la Ley de Caducidad. Por el simple hecho de que no lo vivimos y nunca vamos a entender la verdadera profundidad de los conceptos que encierra, porque no tenemos nada que ver con eso. En pocas palabras, no tenemos por qué asumir las cagadas que hicieron los que vinieron antes que nosotros. Y decir esto no es mirar para el costado. En todo caso, es mirar para adelante. La sociedad, como cada una de las personas que la compone, tiene heridas. Y como heridas que son, es obvio que arden. Pero como heridas que son, cuanto más se las revuelva, más van a tardar en cerrar. No voy a dejar que lo que pasó antes contamine a mi generación, no quiero esa enfermedad social.
Even though fortunately, I was not alive during the dictatorship era in Uruguay, with the few years that I have already lived, I have already heard hundreds of stories about this history, in favor of the military and in favor of the (guerrilla group) Tupamaros. Maybe the eclecticism that characterizes me as typical of a generation that came after the waters subsided, like mine, but the opinion that I have been formulating from all this is that both groups were wrong, there were crimes (kidnappings, murders) from both sides and in reality, neither can wash their hands of what they have done. This is historically undeniable. I will not comment on the hypocrisy of the simple fact that one of the Presidential candidates belonged to the Tupamaros, because I have already commented on it on this post [es].
What I want to say today, in favor of justice and the right to choose by those who were involved in that history, is that I consider it to be unacceptable that my generation must bear the weight of the decision to annul or not the Law of Expiration. For the simple fact that we did not live it and we will never understand the true profundity of the concepts that it involves, because we had nothing to do with it. In fewer words, we do not need to assume the mistakes made by those that came before us. To say this does not mean to look the other way. In any case, it is to look ahead. Society, like each of the person who is a part of it, has wounds. Since they are wounds, it is obvious that they burn. Since they are wounds, the more that they are stirred, the longer it takes to close. I will not let what happened before, contaminate my generation, I do not want that social disease.
Finally, in Asi Ta'l Mundo, Botija [es], there are thoughts on why the law was not annulled. He writes that these plebiscites should not be conducted on the same day as elections because too many are overwhelmed and that the information does not arrive as it should.


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Antigua & Barbuda: Ending Gender Violence · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I want to beat power and gender inequalities to a pulp, starting with enforcement of good legislation designed to protect women”: Antigua's playing with ink invites us to join in “16 days of activism to end violence against women, starting November 24th.”


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Bangladesh: Daylight Savings Time Confusion · Global Voices
Rezwan

Last June Bangladesh implemented Daylight Savings Time for the first time in the country. Expat blogger Meandering Memos writes about the confusion created among the citizens as the government has decided not to revert to the old timing.


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Barbados: Key Professions · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“In the Barbados context teachers, policemen and nurses represent core professions which are key to building and sustaining a productive society”: Barbados Underground is afraid these callings are in crisis.


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China: Bridging the gap? Interviewing bridge bloggers · Global Voices
Marta Cooper

The Chinese blogosphere, as we all know, is booming. As one of the largest on the planet, it is constantly evolving and simultaneously being set back by the all-too-famous governmental censorship. According to Li Datong, the country’s civil society is being reborn online through the intense cyber-dissent and the breaching of the Green Dam last summer. In his view, not only is discontent with the Chinese government becoming more ferocious in an online setting, but such opinions are also receiving more official notice, namely in shaping the reporting of unrest in Tibet in early 2008.
But how does bridge blogging (the writing and translation of, in this case, Chinese and China-based blogs into English) fit into this online make-up? What is it they seek to achieve? and how, if at all, do they help foster a less black-and-white communication with the West? These are the questions I put to various bridge bloggers dotted around the People’s Republic this week.
chinaSMACK, an entertainment-heavy blog, rests on the premise that “translating and sharing the content that is most hot or viral on China’s Internet, and the comments of Chinese netizens themselves, will help foreign netizens better understand a part of China’s modern society and realize that Chinese people and foreigners are really not so different after all.” Fauna, the site’s translator, wants “to show that Chinese people are humans, too.”
This would suggest dissatisfaction with foreign audiences’ perceptions of China and the related media bias in covering the nation. Indeed, we are all too aware of the dominant Western discourse reiterating China’s systematic breaching of human rights, the controversial treatment of ethnic unrest in Xinjiang and Tibet, its ‘Great Firewall’, intense media censorship and the ramifications felt by media professionals who do not tow the party line (out of the 175 countries featured in Reporters Without Borders’ recent Press Freedom Index, China came 168). But however much this discourse hovers around us, it is rarely followed by a cultural understanding: we lack a more complex appreciation of China’s history of foreign imperialism, stark poverty, grassroots revolution and societal and cultural characteristics that would otherwise help us to better understand why such measures are in place.
For Jeremy Goldkorn, founder of Danwei, bridge-blogging allows the coverage of China to improve, if for no other reason than to make available a wider breadth of sources to a more well-informed outside world. This has
a normalising effect (…) blogs help to fill in more details about Chinese daily life and how it is lived.
Goldkorn founded Danwei in 2003 in order to chart what he considered the exciting change China’s Internet was witnessing through the blogosphere and BBS forums, much of which the West was not aware of. Equally, Chinese themselves are also becoming more aware of the West, its lifestyles and perceptions of China.
For some, however, the initial act of bridge-blogging was only partially in response to narrow Western media framing. Cheng Lingcao established Fools’ Mountain in 2006 due to frustration with Chinese media practices, namely the detaining of blogger Wu Hao, and Cheng’s own desire to add support to the online campaign to free Wu. But, like Goldkorn, Cheng also felt the growing online debate in China needed translating into English to reach a wider audience, with the aim of establishing dialogue, not confrontation.
Yet, for all of bridge-blogging’s attempts at deepening both Western and Chinese perspectives of each other, it has its flaws. ChinaGeeks founder Charles Custer claims
it’s dangerous to assert we offer anything more than ‘a taste’. The Chinese Internet is vast and there are millions of opinions out there. Time constraints alone force us to pick and choose what we translate carefully, so it's obviously not representative of ‘the Chinese perspective’ (I'd argue there's no such thing) and it is all being filtered through a foreign lens, i.e., it's non-Chinese people making the editorial decisions about what to translate and what not to.
The selection process behind choosing what to translate is not subject to strict guidelines. According to Goldkorn, much of it is based on gut instinct and what readers may not expect, all in the context of a changing China.
But, in the opinion of a Fools’ Mountain contributor who wished to remain anonymous this often ticks the box of “anti-China behaviour”. He cites the recent example of Atlantic Monthly’s James Fallows’ commentary on Chinese bloggers’ attitudes towards race after the participation of a mixed-race Shanghainese woman in a beauty pageant. Fallows cited many quotations collated on ChinaSMACK, which, in the anonymous blogger’s view,
were extremely racist and vicious (…) however, when I looked into this story, I found ChinaSMACK’s story not only incomplete, but extremely biased. While the few racist quotes were translated to help make the point, the majority of sympathetic comments in China's blogosphere against racism were completely ignored.
While we cannot generalise about the entire blogosphere through this one example, it does show potential problems the bridge faces. Fallows himself stated,
this is not a “blame China” episode but rather one of many illustrations of the differences in day by day social realities and perceived versus ignored sources of tension in particular societies.
chinaSMACK responded in agreement with Fallows. Fauna told me,
my post was about “Lou Jing Abused By Racist Netizens” (…) I do not think it is my “duty” to remind people that not all Chinese are racist. My post is not to “set the record straight”. My post is a translation of the story that is spreading on the Chinese internet.
Besides issues of this nature, there are also several practical problems: getting over the Great Firewall, financially maintaining these initiatives and involving non-English speakers in the dialogue make the bridge a relatively weak one. But, it is an effort in a progressive direction, fostering a deeper understanding on both sides of the globe and linking the crossroads both the West and China find themselves at today.

author: Marta Cooper


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China: The death of an overseas returnee · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

China Hush has a translation of a report from Southern Metropolis Daily on the suicide of Tu Xuxin, a civil engineering PhD who returned from the U.S.A to China to develop his career in a local university.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Egypt: Damsels in Distress · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

Wandering Scarab does not believe that Egyptian women know what they really want; their actions demonstrate that they don't really want equality or freedom; they do not even know what freedom is; they want to be free within cages of their own creation. They love being Damsels in Distress.


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Guyana: Restorative Justice · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Recent years have found the Caribbean embroiled in the challenges of drug trafficking, money laundering, murder, rape, robbery and crimes of all sorts”: Guyana's caribbeanlawbytes wonders whether the region is ready for restorative justice.


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Haiti: National Anthem Singing Contest · Global Voices
Fabienne Flessel

Sammuel from Thanks for loving Haiti has launched  [En/Fr/Fr Cr] a video contest for the best Haitian National Anthem singer. The best video will be chosen by the readers and the winner will probably be announced on January 1st 2010, National Independance day in Haiti.

author: Fabienne Flessel


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India: Domestic Violence Against Men · Global Voices
Rezwan

A day in the life of India argues that “domestic violence is not a women specific issue, violence against men is taken very lightly and a few would out-rightly deny the existence of it.”


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Maldives: Shariah Law In The Penal Code · Global Voices
Rezwan

Random Reflexions blog discusses the recent call for shariah law to be included in the penal code of Maldives by a political party and several MPs.


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Martinique: Free your mind, free your hair · Global Voices
Fabienne Flessel

Blogger Imaniyé from Martinique reports the creation of a Facebook group  [Fr] by people who are eager to defend the rights of Martinicans to comb their hair as they want and above all to twist it into dreadlocks, without being discriminated against.


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Nicaragua: Protests in Managua Show Divisions Within Student Movements · Global Voices
GV Contributor

It has been a busy week in Nicaragua. On October 19, the Supreme Court overturned Article 147 of the National Constitution, which had prohibited continuous presidential reelection. It stated that a president could not run for consecutive reelection. The ruling opened a debate whether this was a legal move by the the Supreme Court. The ruling also opened up the possibility that current President Daniel Ortega from the Sandinista Party (FSLN) could run for reelection after his term finishes in 2012.
Azahálea Solís Román, from the Nicaragua Autonomous Movement of Women (MAM for its initials in Spanish) wrote in Barricada.com.ni [es]
Ayer por la tarde en Nicaragua, la Corte Suprema de Justicia, por medio de 6 personas que fueron nombradas como magistrados de ese poder del estado, pero que en realidad son militantes de un partido político, declararon la inaplicabilidad de un norma constitucional porque se opone a otra norma constitucional, es decir declararon inconstitucional la Constitución.
The Supreme Court decision produced a minor event a few days later, when a Supreme Court judge, Francisco Rosales (FSLN militant) was being interviewed by a local news tv channel [es], when he was met by a group of young people who attacked him with eggs. In addition, the United States Ambassador in Nicaragua, Robert Callahan, gave a speech where he declared the Supreme Court decision on reelection as inappropriate, undiscussed, and biased towards one party [es]. As a result, protests organized by students took place in front of the US Embassy in Managua.
There was also unrest about the actual budget the universities would receive. By law, they must receive 6% of the National Budget, a budget that is itself is being reduced. However, at the same time, there a proposal to create a new governmental office called the National Council of Evaluation and Accreditation (CNEA for its initials in Spanish). This office will take over functions from the National Center of Universities, which approves all universities in the country and distributes the 6% budget to the public universities, including giving part of this budget percentage to private universities.
Gabriela Montiel wrote on this Facebook page, later reposted on Barricada.com.ni [es], a review of the first day of protest for the 6% budget (October 21st).
El 6% constitucional se ha ido reduciendo a tal punto que son aproximadamente 200 millones los que se han ido recortando y se seguiran recortando. Los perjudicados, LOS ESTUDIANTES, sobre todo los de afuera de managua. Es importante retomar la lucha del 6% hay muchos que creen que por tener un gobierno frentista este 6% esta asegurado pero se han olvidado de los princpios de lucha y se han acomodado al plan del gobierno y no a las necesidades de los estudiantes, que son o deberian ser la prioridad de UNEN.
Two accounts have come up from the first protest of October 29th. Gabriela Montiel wrote on El Boletincito Nica [es]:
Foto: Gabriela Montiel, CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0
Y empezaron a tirar botellas y bolsas de agua hacia la tarima, son tan inteligentes los Universitarios que demandaban que canal 2 y la UCA (Universidad Centroamericana) se fueran, que uno de los botellazos le dio directamente a Edwing Castro (diputado) mientras este declaraba en la tarima el apoyo del gobierno pàra vetar la ley acreedora del CNEA, se logró ver que en la boca de Castro habia sangre…aunque la mayoría de botellas iban directo al periodista y camarógrafo de Canal 2, también se escuchaban abucheos hacia Edwin CASTRO ya que el fue uno de los que votó a favor del CNEA y luego llega aca a estar en contra de CNEA…Incoherencia!!!! Dulce y comoda incoherencia!!!!
Foto: Gabriela Montiel, CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0
The student in the photo carried a sign reading “Assembly: CNU, UNEN and CNEA doesn't represent me, We are students, not ignorant! We demand respect to autonomy and a transparent use of the 6% budget”. Delni Ayala, President of Humanities Faculty of UNAN accused her of damaging the CNU and asked the crowd to repudiate her, which the crowd did with water balloons and other objects.
This shows that the Student Movement is divided because the official association, UNEN, is pro-government, but not all of the students see it that way. That was one of the reasons that Sandinista deputies were booed by the crowd when UNEN and CNU leaders invited them up the stage, while its known they voted for the CNEA law that takes over functions over CNU and 6% budget.
Gaby Castro, UCA Student, wrote on her Facebook [es]:
Pero el grado de hostilidad tuvo su máxima expresión una hora después de concluida la congregación por el 6%. Frente al busto de Casimiro Sotelo, joven sindicalista que murió asesinado por la Guardia Nacional y símbolo de la resistencia en nuestra universidad, nos salimos a gritar más “en lo íntimo” por nuestras becas, en conjunto con algunos de nuestros vecinos, los estudiantes de la UNI y otros de la UNAN. Un grupo de jóvenes encapuchados – unos dicen que eran CPC (Consejos de Poder Ciudadano), otros de la Juventud Sandinista 19 de julio y hasta estudiantes de la UNAN – se bajaron de una camioneta doble cabina y nos agarrabron a morterazos ¡A quemarropa! A los que estábamos en la calle y a las instalaciones de nuestra universidad… Resultado: nueve heridos, todos de la Facultad de Humanidades y Comunicación y daños al edificio en construcción de la UCA. Todo esto a causa de rehusarnos a seguir la protesta organizada por el FNT (Frente Nacional de los Trabajadores, organización satelito del FSLN) en la Embajada Americana, en respuesta a las declaraciones del embajador Callahan emitidas un dia antes, que fueron catalogadas como “injerencistas”.
The USA Embassy was vandalized with wall paintings and minor destruction [es], and the police had to fire tear-gas at the end of the afternoon to disperse the crowd in front of the building [es]. This second protest was caused by the declarations of the USA Embassador, but only Sandinista aligned groups supported this protest.
Later, it was revealed by Twitter user Ojoz [es] that a crew from TV10 news was attacked near UNAM, but there was no aparent reason for this attack.

author: GV Contributor


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Paraguay: Addressing the Growing Security Concerns  · Global Voices
Belen Bogado

Two former presidential candidates, two current Senators, and some businesspeople have been calling for an impeachment of President Fernando Lugo for his inability to provide security to the country. However, it has been the recent kidnapping of Fidel Zavala, a cattle rancher who has been captive since October 15 and whose kidnappers have demanded a 5 million dollar ransom, which has really stirred up debate about who is ultimately responsible for the security concerns, what steps should be taken to solve the situation, and whether the blame placed on the President is merely a political maneuver by the opposition.
Zavala was kidnapped by the Paraguayan People's Army (EPP for its initials in Spanish), a terrorist group believed to the continuation of the Patria Libre political party. The EPP is also said to have been advised by Colombia's FARC in 2004 in the kidnapping and murder of Cecilia Cubas [es], daughter of former President Raúl Cubas.
President Fernando Lugo outlines security plan. Photo by Fernando Lugo APC and used under a Creative Commons license.
Liberal senator Alfredo Jaeggli said Lugo should face an impeachment [es] because he is not fulfilling his functions as president by not providing security to Paraguayan citizens.  The impeachment idea is also supported by Pedro Fadul and Lino Oviedo, both former presidential candidates and Senator Julio Cesar Velázquez.
What places Lugo in an even more difficult position is that the President has been linked to members involved in Cubas’ case, to the point that Cecilia’s mother, Mirta Guzinsky, launched a video during the 2008 presidential campaigns asking citizens not to vote for Lugo [es].  The video has now been revived within the online Paraguayan community through collective emails with the subject line: “What if Mirtha Gusinsky was right?” Lugo was the Bishop of San Pedro department in 2004 when he said he had not heard anything about the kidnap, even though the Cubas case was on every single media utlet in the country at that point.
Debates are ongoing both within the high political spheres and among regular Paraguayan citizens. Blogger José Angel López Barrios, comments on his blog that the government is not now nor has never been equipped to fight the increasing kidnap industry [es]:
Sin duda se aúnan un montón de factores en la sucesión de secuestros que nos acorralan, en 8 años hemos tenido por lo menos 100 secuestros y el único factor común destacable es que quienes deben solucionar estos crímenes no están preparados para ello. (…)
La increíble suma solicitada por los mismos (5.000.000 de dólares) revela que atrás de ese pedido existe la idea de financiar las operaciones del grupo clandestino….
There is no doubt that there are many factors that make the kidnaps possible, which have been haunting us, we have had about 100 kidnaps in the last 8 years and the main outstanding factor is that the people who are supposed to be responsible of solving these crimes are not prepared for the task (…)
The unbelievable sum of money requested by the kidnappers (5 million dollars) reveals that behind their request lies the idea of financing more operations for this clandestine group.
Maki Fretez, a blogger who comments on an ABC Color article, says impeachment is fundamental to reestablish security and safety in Paraguay [es]:
Cambiar al presidente en este momento es una cuestion de superviviencia!, de lo contrario hay que apagar las luces y salir del pais cuanto antes. El juicio politico es un mecanismo constitucional por lo que no puede ser considerado irregular…
Others believe the impeachment flag is being used by politicians to favor their parties and personal interests, and that it is neither helping the kidnapped Zavala’s circumstances, nor improving the situation in the country.  Blogger and journalist Alfredo Boccia, writes in his blog Antes del Septimo Día [es]:
La mención al juicio político fue azuzada por buena parte de la oposición, por la prensa -que insinuaba que el silencio de Lugo ocultaba algo- y, por supuesto, por el vicepresidente, quien le dio manija a su fastidiosa y autodestructiva tarea de marcar sus diferencias con el presidente.
En momentos en que se imponían la austeridad de palabras y la reflexión prudente, triunfó la descalificación irresponsable y la vocinglería fanática. El que debería ser la principal preocupación de todos -cautivo en condiciones probablemente dramáticas en los montes del Norte- pasó a un segundo plano.
The political trial idea was incited by the opposition and the press – who insinuated that Lugo’s silence meant he was hiding something- and of course, by the vice president who insisted in his auto destructive and irritating function of pointing out his differences with the president.
At times when it is necessary to use trouble-free words and reflect prudently, the irresponsible disqualification and fanatic clamor prevailed. The person who should have been the main concern – probably captive in dramatic conditions in the forest in the North – became a secondary issue.
As Zavala remains captive, the debate over security concerns continues.

author: Belen Bogado


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Russia: Nokia In and Out of LJ · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Profy reports on the demise of Nokia's LiveJournal community: “But unfortunately for everyone (Nokia, the editorial team, and the overall corporate usage of social media) the community only existed for 25 days and was closed last week with the PR representative citing the fact that many bloggers used the community in a manner the company did not predict it could be used in.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Russia: Riot Police vs “Senior Citizens” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Oleg Kozlovsky reports on a scandal that broke out after riot police used – during a drill – “water cannons, shock grenades, and tear gas” to disperse “a group of senior citizens that protested social injustice and blocked a federal highway.”


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Russia: “Twitter Against Tyrants” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Oleg Kozlovsky links to and quotes from the text of a briefing held by US Helsinki Commission/Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, which included “a few recent examples of how we utilized Web 2.0 to spread information about electoral fraud” in Russia.


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Slovakia, Hungary: “Linguistic Discontents” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Edward Lucas writes about the Slovak-Hungarian relations, including the “linguistic discontents.”


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Slovenia, Croatia: Updates on Border Dispute · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sleeping With Pengovsky posts updates on the recent developments in the Slovenian-Croatian relations – here and here.


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South Korea: Foreign gangs · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Robert Koehler from the Marmot's Hole picked up a news story about police's cracking down of foreign gangs and gave an introduction to the character of different foreign gangs.


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The Balkans: Open Letter to Amnesty International · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Samaha posts Ed Vulliamy's open letter to Amnesty International regarding the invitation to Professor Noam Chomsky to lecture in Northern Ireland – as well as background info on the campaign.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Death Penalty · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The term ‘death penalty’ is a literary iceberg – two words that hide a huge amount of detail beneath the surface”: Know TnT.com examines the issue.


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Trinidad & Tobago: India Tour · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad and Tobago's rapso ambassadors, 3 Canal, are preparing for an upcoming tour of India.  Caribbean Free Radio posts a podcast with all the details.


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Trinidad & Tobago: National Pride? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad and Tobago bloggers react to news that a massive flag erected at the National Stadium may have cost TT $2 million.


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Ecuador: BarCamp Loxa 09  · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

BarCamp Loxa 09 is scheduled for the end of November in Loja, Ecuador [es]. The event will culminate a series technology-related events at the Technical University in the city, which will include the Latin American Creative Commons gathering and iSummit Loxa 09.


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Honduras: The Beginning of the End of the Crisis? · Global Voices
Leonidas Mejia

The signing of the “Guaymuras Dialogue Agreement of San José/Tegucigalpa [es]” has opened the door to solving the crisis, which started on June 28, 2009 with the ousting of President Manuel Zelaya.  The teams representing Zelaya and interim President Roberto Micheletti signed the agreement on October 29, with the final backing of the United States, specifically the Sub-Secretary of Hemispheric Affairs, Thomas Shannon.
The agreement point that was debated the most and which had provoked the failure of previous dialogue attempts was whether or not to return Zelaya to power. This agreement would call for a power-sharing government and for both sides to recognize the results of the Presidential elections to be held on November 29. The signed deal is now in the hands of the National Congress, which must approve it and which is the same body that voted for Zelaya's removal more than 120 days ago.
Photo by NewsHour and used under a Creative Commons license
The international community has praised the signed agreement. The Organization of American States supports the November general elections, as are the European Union and the United States, which also recently resumed the issuing of visas to the country, which had been a measure to pressure the Micheletti government.
In Honduras, there is a mix of hope and uncertainty. There is hope that the political, economic, and social crisis that the country has been living since June will finish as soon as possible, at least in this current state.  There is uncertainty in that the return of Zelaya is still in the hands of the National Congress.  There are reactions from Honduran blogs:
In the blog Nacer en Honduras [es], Ardegas writes “Will Zelaya be reinstated? That is the floating question,” and looks at some of the possible obstacles before he is returned to power. For example, Ardegas writes that the reinstatement will be ineffective if the Supreme Court does not suspend its pending orders for Zelaya's capture.
Juan Carlos Rivera of Mirada de Halcón [es] believes:
La crisis aún no ha terminado, el acuerdo es, a penas, la puerta hacia la resolución del conflicto. La inestabilidad, la convulsión social, continuará si no retorna Manuel Zelaya Rosales al poder.  Esto no lo digo yo. Lo grita la gente que está en la calle. La mayoría de hondureños exige la reintegración del presidente que eligieron en noviembre de 2005.
In the blog Hibueras [es], Gustavo Zelaya calls the signing of the agreement a “Halfway Celebration?” and provides opinion about the interference of the United States in national affairs:
Esto era lo fundamental para muchos, en especial para los gringos encabezados por Shannon y para el resto de los candidatos presidenciales. Y aquí es donde se nota con toda claridad quiénes son los que mandan, ordenan, imponen y deciden en los asuntos nacionales. Ya no sólo les debemos la clasificación al mundial.
Finally, the blog Honduras en el Mundo [es] writes that “Congress has us waiting:”
Hay que estar vigilantes, y espectantes, la restitución está cerca, pero no hay que confiarse, esperamos que los diputados del Congreso sean consecuentes con el país, que reparen el delito que cometieron, y solucionen este problema, para que de una buena vez sea revertido este golpe de Estado.

author: Leonidas Mejia


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Ukraine: Swine Flu (and Some Election Politics) · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The past three weeks in Ukraine have been very intense.
First, a child sex abuse scandal broke out on Oct. 13, involving, among others, three members of PM Yulia Tymoshenko‘s parliament faction (to learn more, read this article at Abdymok and this Kyiv Post editorial).
A week later, on Oct. 19, the presidential campaign officially kicked off, with the election scheduled to take place on Jan. 17, 2010. On Oct. 24, thousands of people from all over Ukraine were brought to Kyiv's Independence Square to cheer for PM Tymoshenko at a huge rally celebrating the official launch of her campaign (for photos, video and thoughts on the event, see this post at Ukrainiana).
On Oct. 26, Ukraine's interior minister Yuri Lutsenko announced that “a network of the extreme Islamic movement al-Takfir wal-Hijra, which is banned by many countries in the world, is spreading in the Crimean territory of Ukraine,” and its members were planning to kill Mustafa Jemilev, the leader of the Crimean Tatars.
Finally, on Oct. 30, after a few days of alarming reports on an outbreak of respiratory illness in western Ukraine, the first swine flu-related death was confirmed, and PM Tymoshenko ordered Ukraine's schools closed and public gatherings – including election campaign rallies – banned for at least three weeks; restrictions on non-urgent travel inside Ukraine may also be imposed. According to WSJ.com, Ukraine's president Victor Yushchenko canceled his upcoming campaign rally “where he had been due to announce his election agenda, telling journalists that 11 people had died of H1N1, contradicting a Health Ministry report of only one fatality. An aide and a ministry official said Mr. Yushchenko may have made a mistake.”
Below is what Anglophone bloggers are writing about this latest development – the flu outbreak.
Ukrainiana:
At least 61 people are in critical condition. H1N1 has been officially confirmed in seven cases. Schools and kindergartens in nine oblasts have been closed: Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Zakarpattya, Chernivtsi, Rivne, Volyn, Khmelnytsk and Vinnytsya.
“Ukraine has entered a flu epidemic, of the so-called California (swine) type. As of October 29, we have 951 people hospitalized. Unfortunately, we have to note 30 fatalities,” Minister of Healthсare Vasyl Knyazevych said at a briefing Friday.
More recent reports bring the death toll to 37. […]
MoldovAnn:
The H1N1 virus has finally arrived in Ukraine, and along with it a big ole dose of overreaction and panic. Reports vary on the number of infected and number of deaths attributable to swine flu, but there seems to be clear consensus that those who have died waited too long to seek medical attention. Then again, knowing the medical care available in regional towns and villages, it’s hard to imagine how going to the clinic or hospital would have really helped many of them – sad to say.
Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko, in an attempt to scare the living bejeezes out of people, oops, I mean protect the population, has extended the autumn school break for another 3 weeks and advised people to avoid public gatherings. Once the announcement hit the wires this afternoon, parents started panicking – the flu immediately forgotten as they tried to figure out what the hell to do about childcare for another 3 weeks. Ex-pats were openly hoping the “quarantine” wouldn’t affect the international schools.
I saw three people wearing masks today, and another half-dozen covering their noses and mouths with scarves. Igor went to several pharmacies to buy echinacea and flu medicine, but no luck. Every place around us was sold out of both. So he bought a dozen lemons and insisted I drink the “family recipe” for good health – a potent concoction of vodka, lemon juice and honey. […]
Foreign Notes:
LEvko is astonished at the panic in Ukraine and the way over-the-top reaction from the government and politicians over the swine flu epidemic which has hit the country. There is even talk of the president establishing a state of emergency and possibly postponing the presidential elections.
[…]
Ukrainian politicians would do better to take a good look at Ukraine's appalling life expectancy figures. Major causes of premature deaths in the country are the smoking of cigarettes and excessive alcohol consumption. A ban on advertising these products and restricting their availability would help save countless lives, but it won't happen because there's too much money being to made from their sale. Much easier to show “decisive leadership” and determined action over the flu epidemic, and scare the the population out of its wits – no doubt increasing the sales of cure-all vodka even more…
p.s. I ‘phoned the official goverment swine flu information hot-line today…all I heard was crackling..
Windows to Russia!:
[…] Think maybe this has to do more with control of people at election time than the flu? […]
Twitter user Victor Kotusenko/roxolanus:
ok, now we are getting this h1n1, it's coming. oxoline ointment in my nose every day, washing my hands often, what else? I guess sleep more)
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mild panic in Kyiv today as h1n1 cases officially confirmed
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I would call it concern rather than panic in Ukraine, although people are scared by media. but medical services seem to react. we'll c […]


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Bangladesh: Chinese Pressure Censors Tibet Exhibition In Dhaka · Global Voices
Rezwan

Poster Of Tibet Photography Exhibition
Students for a Free Tibet, Bangladesh (SFTBD), the Bangladesh chapter of the Students for a Free Tibet organization, in partnership with Drik Bangladesh, has organized a photography exhibition on Tibet named “Into Exile | Tibet 1949-2009” at Drik Gallery in Dhaka which was scheduled to start today and run for a week. Drik Bangladesh is an internationally acclaimed photo agency which is led by renowned photo journalist and blogger Shahidul Alam.
Phayul.com reports quoting a spokesperson from SFTBD:
“On 29th October 2009, Qian Kaifu, Cultural Counselor, and Cao Yanhua, Cultural Attache, from the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Bangladesh visited Dr Shahidul Alam to ask him to cancel the exhibition.”
“They brought Chinese gifts along with their request,” [..]
Unheard Voice Blog reported on 31st of October, 2009:
It seems like China is surely paying attention. Tomorrow’s exhibition in Tibet seems to be in jeopardy with the organizers under serious pressure to cancel the event.
Yesterday a delegation from Chinese embassy came to meet the Shahidul Alam, director of Drik and ‘requested’ him to cancel the event.
An email from an activist reached us here: ‘They also wandered around Drik and asked employees number of questions….
Alam bhai told them not to advise him what to do on his own property. So the exhibition is going on, but we are expecting huge lines of dgfi (military intelligence) and what not on the opening day on Sunday.
Not only was the exhibition targeted, but also the activists as the post elaborates:
As of 6 pm tonight, Special Branch officers reached Drik under the operatives of a certain SI Mijan and demanded to know the name of the contact person for the exhibition. The movement leaders also previously reported various visits to the home of the activists over the past three weeks by the same SI.
Shahidul Alam posted this message on Twitter:
7:04 PM Oct 31st: khairul kabir and palash from special branch currently at Drik. want to know names of organisers of Tibet show. I've refused to give it.
And today (Sunday) the inevitable happened. Shahidul Alam tweeted this afternoon:
The heat is on. OC Shah Alam just phoned me again telling me to stop the show. Threatened to send police if we refuse.
Later reports came in that police finally prevented the event:
An hour before the launch, scheduled for 5pm, police shut the gates preventing public from entering the gallery, said Drik authorities.
Drik managing director Shahidul Alam said Bangladesh Police Special Branch spoke with him and asked him to stop the exhibition citing a “government order”.
Alam said, although the police officers could not produce any document of the order, they threatened to shut down the show by force if the organisers did not do so willingly.
Now let us learn about the turn of events from Shahidul Alam's blog post:
When Mr. Kaifu, instead of showing interest in our sole Chinese member Jessica Lim in the library, insisted that we find a quiet place to talk, I realized it was more than a courtesy call.
He got straight to the point. “We would like you to cancel the Tibet exhibition” he said. Reminding me that Tibet was a part of China, he went on to explain how the Bangladesh China relationship would be affected if the show went on. He also spoke of the many things we could do together, the exhibitions we could bring. About how such a famous organisation like Drik would find many partners in China. It seemed churlish to remind him that my recent application for a visa when I was to judge the TOPS photojournalism contest in China, had been rejected.
As politely as I could, I reminded Mr. Kaifu that ours was an independent gallery. I asked him how he felt he had the right to tell us, what we could show. I invited him to the show and assured him that he would be free to present his own opinion at the opening. We would be happy to show a Chinese exhibition, if the quality was right. He wanted to see the gallery and a colleague showed him around as I went back to the meeting.
It was evening before the phone call from the ministry of culture came in. “China was a friend, you mustn’t show pictures of Dalai Lama” the high ranking official went on. “No no we are not talking of censorship, but…” This was followed by some artist who spoke as if he was a friend. I couldn’t place either of the callers, though I could place the ministry official by his rank. I could see it was to be a multi-pronged attack.
Shahidul Alam commentates on the images in a live web stream after the exhibition had been closed. Image courtesy Media Helping Media
The Special Branch do like me. They came to visit again. [..] The initial cordial conversation, turned sharp when I refused to divulge the contact details of the organizers. They reminded me of how it would become difficult for Drik to operate in the future if we didn’t take the side of the government. I reminded them that I was siding with the law. That the law applied to the police, was an unknown concept to Shah Alam.
Pictures of the turnout of events are available on the DrikNews site which appears to reported at as an attack site. You can ignore the sign (its safe) and see the pictures.
Rob Godden at The Rights Exposure protest writes:
The Chinese government’s increasing interference into other states is a worrying trend. Not satisfied with running their own complex censorship system they are attempting to make it transnational. These tactics work best on small countries such as Bangladesh, or Nepal where I am now, and smacks of bullying. [..]
The Chinese government obviously thinks that it has jurisdiction over any content that relates to China where ever in the world it may be displayed. If pressure from the embassy does not work an unofficial cyber attack will be on its way.
Bangladeshi netizens have already started protesting. Habibullah Mizan wrote in the Facebook page of the event:
Are WE living in BANGLADESH or CHINA??? WHO runs our elected government??? WE or the CHINESE???? We can’t even allow any exhibition? Really shame, shame, shame.
Shada Kalo Blog is also not happy with the government's decision and asks it to show a little spine:
Comrades, why are you kow-towing to China and repressing freedom of speech in Dhaka? Yes, I know the old jokes about it raining in Peking and opening umbrellas in Dhaka. But seriously, this was not a government sponsored event. The worst Beijing could have done if you said sorry, we can not intervene, was NOT sell you some more lead-tainted toys.
We thought you took an oath to protect and follow the constitution of Bangladesh first (which includes protecting the freedom of speech of its citizens), not the geopolitical aspirations of China when this really does not matter to Bangladesh.
Sorry, now we know better.