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Bangladesh: Welcoming Pahela Baisakh · Global Voices
পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)

Tomorrow is Pahela Baisakh (first day of summer, Bengali news year), the favorite festival of the Bengalis. Every year Bengalis celebrate their new year with galore. The first day of the new year is filled with festivities. Wherever there are Bengalis in the world, they celebrate this day with different events.
On this day everybody wears traditional clothes. The girls are draped in Saris and the boys wear Panjabi/Fatua (longer or shorter version of Kurtas). The shopping malls are engaged in brisk business. Especially worth mentioning are the summer collections by fashion houses targeting this day.
AlAmin90 shares what he presented his loved one:
পহেলা বৈশাখের জন্য দিনাকে আমি সাদা-লাল রংয়ের জামদানি কাপড় গিফট করলাম। আর হাতের লাল চুড়ি, মাটির গহনা আর লাল টিপ।
One of the main attractions of Pahela Baisakh celebrations is the Panta-Ilish meal. Many houses prepare special cuisine including Panta Bhat (lightly fermented rice) and Ilish (Hilsha) fish cooked with mustard and green chili. As the demand of Ilish fish soars during Pahela Baisakh the price goes up steeply [bn].
The colorful rally organized by the graphic arts institute. Image courtesy Wikipedia
Every year after the sunrise a colorful rally called Mangal Shovajatra [bn] starts in front of the graphics arts institute of Dhaka University. This rally rolls across many streets of the city and comes back to the institute. The masks and placards of the rally portraits the rural life and the daily affairs of Bengal. Blogger Tung Tang was in one such rally [bn] and tells about it:
চারুকলার ঢুকে প্রথমে চোখে পরবে মাটির সরা তারপর এ আছে মুখোশ বানানোর কাজ। মাটির সরায় কাজ করছে চারুকলার শিক্ষার্থীরা বিভিন্ন রং বিভিন্ন থিম এর। নির্দ্দিষ্ট কোন থিম নেই, তবে বেশির ভাগ সরার ডিজাইন লোকজ সংস্কৃতির গ্রামীণ জীবন এবং আবহমান বাংলা ঐতিহ্যর উপরে। পহেলা বৈশাখের মঙ্গল শোভাযাত্রা যে কয়টি প্রচলিত আইটেম এর মধ্য রয়েছে মুখোশ, সরা আর কিছু প্রাণীর প্রতিলিপি ।
The Bengali new year celebrations started during the Mughal era (15th century). In those days the region had Zamindar system. The peasants used to pay tax to the Zamindars till the last day of spring. On the first day of summer (Pahela Baisakh) the Zamindars used to distribute sweets to the farmers. To celebrate this many festivities used to be arranged, fairs took place. Pahela Baisakh become a part of peoples’ lives ever since. Gradually it became more festive and full of enjoyment.
Chayanat's concert at the Ramna Batamul. They are welcoming the new year with songs. Image by Abu Ala. Copyright Demotix.
In Bangladesh, the main celebrations of Pahela Baisakh take place in Dhaka, the capital. Cultural organization Chayanat [bn] arranges new year's concert at the Batamul of Ramna and one of the main feature is the rally of the graphics arts institute. Many people come to this area to celebrate.
Every Bengali has something to share about this day, especially the childhood memories of joining the festivities of Pahela Baisakh. Sheikh Jalil at Sachalayatan reminisces about his childhood memroies of this day:
বৈশাখ এলেই মনে পড়ে বৈশাখী মেলার কথা। গ্রামের হাট-বাজারে বসতো এ মেলা। নাগরদোলায় চলা, লাঠিখেলা দেখা, বায়স্কোপ দেখা, মেলা থেকে মুড়ি-মুড়কি-বাতাসা-সন্দেশ-মিষ্টি কিনে খাওয়া আমার শৈশব বেলার স্মৃতি। বাবা-মা, বড় ভাই-বোনের হাত ধরে মেলায় যেতাম। তারা কিনে দিতেন বাঁশি চরকী, বেলুনসহ আরো কত কী? সাপুড়েদের সাপ খেলা, বানরের খেলা আর ষাঁড়ের লড়াই দেখতাম এ সময়। সত্যিকারে আশেপাশের কয়েকটি গ্রামের মিলনকেন্দ্র ছিল আমাদের বৈশাখী মেলা। হিন্দু-মুসলমান সবাই মিলে আনন্দ-উল্লাস করে বৈশাখের প্রথম কয়েকটা দিন কেটে যেত।
Those who are abroad and cannot join the Bengali new year festivities regret that. A diaspora blogger writes [bn]:
বৈশাখ মানেই গ্রামহারা শহরহারা দেশ ছাড়া হয়ে বিশ্বের কোন এক ব্যাস্ত নগরীতে বসে শুধুই স্মৃতির জাবর কাটা, টেলিভিশনের পর্দায় রমনার বটমূল আর তরুন তরুনীদের গালে রঙের ছটা দেখা। হায়রে বৈশাখ তুই কি কখনোই শহরে আসবিনা? শহরের সাথে কি তোর চিরকালই আড়ি?
New years decoration – a little boy with a crown of leaves. Image by Abu Ala. Copyright Demotix
Pahela Baisakh is now celebrated across the classes, although it was only a funfair of the middle income Bengalis. Blogger Ektutells [bn] more about that:
বৈশাখের এ উত্সব, মানুষের সর্বজনীন এ অংশগ্রহণ দুই দশক আগেও এরকম ছিল না। বৈশাখের উৎসব আমেজ, ভালো রান্না আর অনুষ্ঠানমালা সীমাবদ্ধ ছিল মধ্যবিত্ত সংস্কৃতিমনা কিছু মানুষের মধ্যে। ছায়ানটের অনুষ্ঠান হতো বটতলায়। সেখানেও অংশগ্রহণ ছিল সংস্কৃতিকর্মী ও মধ্যবিত্ত একটি শ্রেণীর। গত দুই দশক ধরে বৈশাখ বরণে ব্যাপক পরিবর্তন এসেছে। বৈশাখ বরণের রং মধ্যবিত্তের গণ্ডি পেরিয়ে উচ্চবিত্ত ও নিম্নবিত্তের মানুষের মধ্যেও ছড়িয়ে পড়েছে। বৈশাখের অনুষ্ঠানে বেড়ে চলেছে সর্বশ্রেণীর মানুষের অংশগ্রহণ। […] নিম্নবিত্ত সাধারণ শ্রমজীবী মানুষও বৈশাখের জন্য আলাদা করে রাখছে তার ঘামে উপার্জিত অর্থের একটি অংশ। সাধ্যমত গায়ে তুলছে বৈশাখের পোশাক। ঘুরতে বের হচ্ছে প্রিয়জনের সঙ্গে। মেলা থেকে কিনে আনছে শৌখিন কিছু।
There are many programs arranged by different socio-cultural organizations during the whole day. On this day Bangladesh Open Source Network (BDOSN) is campaigning [bn] to portray the culture and tradition of the country in Wikipedia.
Bangladesh is a developing country. Its per capita income is 828 USD [bn]. There are many problems in the country like political disturbances and unemployment. But during Pahela Baisakh everybody forgets that and joins in funfair. Everybody shares the enjoyment and celebrations. S. M. Rahat Khan shares (with picture) the same [bn] at Somewhereinblog.
লাল-সাদা শাড়িতে……পাঞ্জাবিতে…চারদিক এত বর্ণিল…কে বলবে পৃথিবীর একটি গরিব দেশ বাংলাদেশ? কে বলবে নানা কষ্ট আর না পাওয়ার দেশ বাংলাদেশ? সবাই যেন সব ভুলে একটি দিনের জন্য হলেও সুখের স্বর্গে পরিণত করে বাংলাকে…

author: পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)


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China: Firmly support CCP Central Committee · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Alia from Offbeat China explains the political background of the new Internet meme “Firmly support CCP Central Committee”.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Social Mediascape · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Michael Hurwitz of ChinesePod gave a very clear introduction of the Chinese social mediascape to encourage foreigners to interact with Chinese netizens. (via Tea Leaf Nation)


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Colombia: Photo Exhibit Creator Denounces Attack on Freedom of Expression  · Global Voices
Lully

In the blog El Salmón [es], Carlos Alberto Castaño denounces [es] the confiscation by Bogotá police of his photo exhibition, “Realities, because the eye and the lens do not lie.” Castaño writes about violation of freedom of expression and political persecution due to the content of the gallery, where he denounces “the violation of human rights” caused by the armed conflict in his country.

author: Lully


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Cuba: Camila Vallejo and Yoani Sánchez · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

During her visit to Cuba this week, for a meeting of the Union of Communist Youth, Chilean Student Federation leader Camila Vallejo declined an invitation to meet with acclaimed Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez. Vallejo generated much controversy on Twitter when she told CNN that she saw this as neither “necessary nor relevant” to her trip to the island.

author: Ellery Roberts Biddle


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Cuba: Cyberfeminism in Havana · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

At En 2310 y 8225 [es] Cuba-based blogger Yasmín Portales writes of an upcoming academic symposium in Havana on ciberfeminismo, or “cyberfeminism.” Though glad to be participating, Portales questions the definition of the term, and the value of hypertext in relationship to analogue literature.


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Cuba: The Visit of Camila Vallejo  · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

David Vásquez Abella blogs at La Pupila Insomne [es] about Chilean student and communist youth leader Camila Vallejo‘s visit to Cuba this week for a meeting of Cuba's Union of Communist Youth. A leading member of the Confederation of Chilean Students, a group that has led massive demonstrations advocating for equal access to quality education in Chile, Vallejo met with Fidel during her visit. Cuban folk singer Silvio Rodriguez also commented on her visit.


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Guinea-Bissau: Coup d’Etat and the Angolan Military Mission · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

At nightfall on Thursday, April 12, 2012, dozens of military personnel took the streets of the capital of Guinea-Bissau, the headquarters of the historic political party in power, PAIGC (Partido Africano para a Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde, or African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde), and the National Radio, starting yet another coup d'etat in a country that since independence in 1974 has never seen an elected president make it to the end of term.
In recent weeks, two events raised the tension levels in the military and political arenas: as Global Voices reported, there were allegations of “generalized fraud” by the opposition in the first round of presidential elections on March 18 (early elections due to the death of President Malam Bacai Sanhá in January 2012) and the announcement of the withdrawal of the Angolan Security Mission in the country, MISSANG.
Headquarters of the presidential candidate Carlos Gomes Junior (PAIGC), also known as Cadogo, during the campaign for presidential elections. Photo by  Giuseppe Piazzolla coypright Demotix (12/03/2012)
The armed forces and the quest for arms
News of the military withdrawal [pt] at the beginning of the week had raised alarm about the possibility of a military coup being prepared. Guinean military personnel had taken what is considered a political stance in demanding the reinforcements of Angolan military equipment that MISSANG had received after the failed coup attempt of December 2011 – “if not, they should return it to Angola”.
The spokesman for the Guinean Armed Forces, Daba Na Walna, moreover told journalists [pt] that, two days after polls closed on March 20, the Angolan ambassador in Guinea-Bissau, General Feliciano dos Santos, had accused the General António Indjai, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, of intending to bring about a coup d'etat.
Portuguese journalist Helena Ferro de Gouveia wrote [pt] in her blog Domadora de Camalões about the “formal reasons behind the position the Guinean military men took”, and added:
[com] o afastamento dos militares angolanos, que apesar de inúmeras críticas que lhe podem ser feitas têm sido o garante de alguma estabilidade no país, a Guiné mergulharia numa nova espiral de incerteza.
Voting station for military personnel. Photo by Giuseppe Piazzolla copyright Demotix (15/03/2012)
On the beginning of the 12, the National Movement of Civil Society for Peace, Democracy and Development (MNSCPDD), had announced [pt] a peaceful march “with the goal of defending the values of democracy, Peace and democracy itself,” exalting “the Armed Forces to remain neutral and non-partisan in relation to the political dispute under way in the country”.
Meanwhile, a few hours later, the coup began.
Reactions on Twitter and blogs
A little before 8pm, journalist António Aly Silva, on his blog Ditadura do Consenso (Dictatorship of Consensus), announced [pt] that “dozens of military personnel have just descended on the residence of candidate Carlos Gomes Jr (out front and out back), and also on the delegation of ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) and that there were “many people fleeing, running, through the city of Bissau”. Then the first shots were heard.
On Twitter, the international community did not hesitate to respond. InDepth aggregated a series of tweets and various media sources on a Storify page. A number of people, like Mel Huang (@mel_huang), mentioned the wave of rebellions that have happened in countries near Guinea-Bissau.
George Ayittey (@ayittey), economics professor and author from Ghana, vented:
Look, we are FED UP with these military brutes, bandits, vagabonds and coconut-heads: http://bbc.in/IHyHUv
To which Majaliwa (@majaliwa68), from Tanzania, responded:
yes,in the same countries…it seems they occur repeatedly in same sample of countries NOT across Africa =stereotype!
Aly Silva left an appeal to the international community:
"This is what happened to the back of the residence of Prime Minister and candidate Carlos Gomes Junior". Photo by Aly Silva
Mais de um milhão de guineenses estão reféns de militares…guineenses. Temos sido sacudidos e violentados, usurpam e tolhem-nos os nossos direitos, até o mais básico. Até quando mais a comunidade internacional vai tolerar que gente medíocre – alguma classe política, e militar faça refèm todo um povo? (…)
Nada justifica o levantar das armas, é intolerável o disparo de armas pesadas numa cidade com mais de quatrocentas mil pessoas. É criminoso, acima de tudo. Tiveram tudo para estancar a hemorragia e a orgia de violência. Sabem há muito que este é um país que nasceu, cresceu e vive sob laivos de militarismo.
(…) Não há tiros, nem feridos nas urgências e menos ainda corpos na morgue resultado de mais uma brutalidade da canalha. Não se sabe quem morreu – espero e desejo que ninguém tenha sido morto. Um país é o último, e único, refúgio seguro para o seu povo. Foi traumatizante ver mulheres e crianças a chorar; é triste ver homens e jovens a fugir de homens e jovens como eles.
More than a million Guineans are hostages of military men… Guinean ones. We have been shaken and assaulted, they have usurped and restricted our rights, even the most basic ones. How long will the international community continue to tolerate that mediocre people – some political and military class, keeps a whole people hostage? (…)
Nothing justifies taking up arms, and shooting of heavy weaponry is intolerable in a city of more than 400,000 people. It is criminal, above all else. They had all they needed to stop the bleeding and the orgy of violence. They've known for a long time that this country was born, grew up and lives in the context of militarism.
(…) There is no shooting, no wounded at the emergency room and much less victims at the morgue resulting from yet another rogue brutal act. It is not known who died – I hope and wish that nobody has been killed. The country is the last, and the only, secure refugee for its own people. It was traumatizing to see women and children crying; it is sad to see men and young people running away from men and young people just like them.
Friday 13 morning, the journalist reported that “there are more and more military on the streets, some circulating even in civilian cars. The situation has become tense again, sign that something is not right. Meanwhile, the self-named ‘Military Command’ made an (unsigned) statement saying that the revolt was caused by a hypothetical ‘secret agreement’ between Guinea-Bissau and Angola, by the interim President Raimundo Pereira and the Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr.”
The whereabouts of Carlos Gomes Júnior, winner of the first round of voting for President, and Prime Minister at the time of the death of the former president, are still unknown. The second round of elections is scheduled for April 29, to be disputed with ex-President Kumba Yalá, even though he refuses to participate, having asked for the elections to be annulled and demanded that the National Electoral Commission (CNE) withdraw his name and his photo from the second round ballot in protest against alleged irregularities in the first round.

author: Sara Moreira


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Internet Campaigns Invite Tourists to Visit Latin America · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

The people of Latin America boast of their land's fine and varied geography, with its beaches, forests and mountains; they are proud of the inheritance left them by the peoples who inhabited these lands in pre-Hispanic times, and which are standing today in the form of its archeological remains, the wonders of which are scattered all across the continent; and then there is the rich mixture of races and cultures that make up the modern cities of the region.
But if this part of the world is so magical, why isn't it also the most visited?
According to statistics of  the most visited countries in 2010, Mexico has the highest ranking among Latin American nations, in tenth place on the list, followed by Argentina, which is at number 43. And if we take into account that France, which heads the list, receives 79.3 million tourists, compared with the 22.6 million that put Mexico in tenth place, and the 5.2 million that visit Argentina, it becomes clear that Latin America is not chosen by large numbers of people as a tourist destination.
However, if we look at these statistics from a historical perspective, tourism to Latin America has increased, and, even if not dramatically so, certainly enough to provide governments with reason to grant more importance to the sector. As mentioned [es] in a statement on EnlaRedRadio, there are various challenges for the region when it comes to increasing tourism:
Marco Antonio Serrato, director general de Educación Ejecutiva en el TEC de Monterrey en México, comenta que entre los temas que determinan el debate actual sobre el turismo en la región, destacan “el rol que la industria juega como motor del desarrollo económico y social en los países de América Latina; la puesta en valor de los activos, sean naturales, culturales, arqueológicos o humanos, con los que nuestros países cuentan para posicionar la actividad turística y las marcas país a nivel internacional; y la diversificación del turismo en variantes no solo de playa, sino de naturaleza, cultura, negocios, salud y congresos”.
Serrato añade que “el desarrollo de estrategias e infraestructuras que promuevan y faciliten un turismo sostenible y la mejora de servicios complementarios como los gastronómicos, telefonía móvil, renta de vehículos y hospitalarios, además de la profesionalización de los trabajadores que atienden a los usuarios, al igual que garantizar la seguridad de los turistas y reforzar la percepción de esta, son tareas que vienen aparejadas con los lineamientos de desarrollo más generales”.
Marco Antonio Serrato, Executive Director General of Education at the Monterrey TEC in Mexico, notes that key issues that shape the current debate about tourism in the region include, “the role the industry plays as the engine of economic and social development in the countries of Latin America; attaching a true value to the assets our countries possess, whether these be natural, cultural, archeological or in terms of its people, and which will allow us to locate our tourist activity and national brands at an international level; and the diversification of tourism into activities that move beyond simple beach holidays into offering the experience of our natural environment, and other activities related to culture, business, health and the staging of conferences”.
Serrato adds that, “the development of strategies and infrastructures that stimulate sustainable tourism, the improvement of complementary services in gastronomy, in the mobile telephone network, vehicle rental and hospitality services, as well as the professional training of the workforce that deals with tourists, guaranteeing their safety and security and increasing their perception of the same – all these are tasks that are entailed in the development of the most general of plans.”
Jorge Gobbi, Global Voices author and blogger specialising in tourist matters, wrote [es] in early 2012 about this growth trend in tourism in Latin America in his Blog de Viajes (Travel Blog) [es]:
se pueden señalar al menos dos cosas. La primera, las cifras de crecimiento de las naciones sudamericanas se ubica entre el 8 al 14%, dos a tres veces más que la tasa de crecimiento mundial. Segundo, buena parte de ese crecimiento se está dando gracias al aumento del turismo regional. Lo que es una muy buena consecuencia de la mejor situación económica y del aumento del consumo en nuestros países.
Con esas perspectivas, es de esperar que para este 2012 los organismos de turismo sudamericanos se van a concentrar en incrementar su promoción en otros países de la región, sin apuntar tanto a América del Norte y Europa. Esperemos que 2012 sea la consolidación de una tendencia de crecimiento económico a mediano y largo plazo en América del Sur, ya que las perspectivas globales no parecen demasiado positivas.
at least two points can be identified. First, growth figures of between 8% and 14% among South American nations, which are between two and three times the rate for the world as a whole. Second, a good part of this growth is due to tourism within the region itself. This is one very positive consequence of the improved economic situation and the growth in consumption within our countries.
From this perspective, it is to be hoped that tourist organisations across South America are going to focus in 2012 on increasing their promotional activities in other countries in the region, and not give so much attention to the North American and European markets. Let's hope that 2012 will be the year of consolidation towards both a medium and long term trend in economic growth in South America, particularly as the global picture isn't particularly positive.
A question follows: What concrete actions are governments or businesses taking to increase the flow of tourists into their countries? Apart from the infrastructure works and service sector training that needs to be carried out, one of the most common strategies is that of the publicity campaign.
Colombia is host to one of the most well-known tourist promotion campaigns, with its slogan, “Colombia, the danger is you'll want to stay“, which was preceded by the establishment of the country brand: “Colombia is passion” [es]. There is an official travel guide to accompany the campaign, which has produced various promotional videos:
Neighbouring Venezuela is also attempting to attract tourists through its Venezuela Turismo, since the country possesses many interesting [es] destinations.
Another Colombian neighbour, Panama, has recently launched [es] its “Disfruta Panamá” or “Enjoy Panama” campaign, which makes use of a YouTube channel and Facebook pages in both Spanish and English, as well as Twitter accounts, also in Spanish and English. The website Visit Panama provides an additional resource.
As for Central America, although there is a regional campaign to promote tourism within the region, several of its countries have their own campaigns, as in the case of Guatemala with its “Corazón del Mundo Maya” [Heart of the Mayan World], or Costa Rica's “Sin Ingredientes Artificiales” (No Artificial Ingredients).
Mexico is running several campaigns, one of which, Mundo Maya 2012 [Mayan World 2012, es], places the same emphasis as Guatemala on the ancient Mayan civilisation. Another is Visit Mexico. The Federal Executive Authority in this country has its own Ministry of Tourism, which initiates the development of tourist destinations and activities at the same time as promoting these among both Mexicans and those from abroad. And then there is the Mexican Tourist Board (also an arm of the Federal Government), which coordinates, designs and develops both national strategies and those targeting the overseas market.
Moving south, we find “Chile es tuyo” [Chile belongs to you, es], a campaign mainly targeted at the internal tourist market. Something similar can be found in Argentina's “Viajá por tu país” [Travel your own land, es]. But we also come across local initiatives here, as in the case of that of the Tourist Secretariat of Santa Cruz Patagonia [es] or that of Mendoza [es].
In neighbouring Uruguay there are several websites that promote tourism in the country, including Tourists Club Uruguay, Viaje a Uruguay [Journey to Uruguay, es] and Turismo en Uruguay [es].
Several campaigns have been put into motion in Peru as part of the activity that takes place within its country brand, with the launch of a new campaign [es] in the coming days. One of its previous campaigns, “Perú: Vive la leyenda” [Peru: Live the Legend] was a prizewinner in Brazil last year. This is the video:
I had the opportunity earlier this year to speak with the Argentinian journalist and blogger previously cited in this article, Jorge Gobbi, and we recorded a short podcast [es] about tourism in Latin America today.
Although the above is not an exhaustive survey, it does give a rough idea of how the promotion of tourism is currently taking place in a region with an infinite number of attractions to offer to both local and international visitors.

author: Juan Arellano


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Italy: Netizens Ponder the April 2009 L’Aquila Earthquake · Global Voices
Paola DOrazio

[All links lead to Italian language pages, except when otherwise noted]
As still marked by many church clocks and bell towers at the center of L'Aquila [en], at 3:32 am of April 6, 2009, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake broke the silence of the sleeping town and destroyed the lives of many of its inhabitants. To remember the third anniversary of the tragic event, citizens came together in support and remembrance, created numerous web pages for retelling and commenting upon the earthquake and its far-reaching effects.
There was no dearth of official visits and commemorations — significant to many was the presence of Fabrizio Barca, the minister of “Coesione territoriale” [the Italian office created in 2011 to coordinate the actions of local governments and support political infrastructure in central-southern Italy], who has shown particular concern for Aquila's situation and to creating transparency in the reconstruction process — amidst great sorrow and grief, demands for justice and for guarantees of reconstruction.
Church clock stuck at 3:32 am of April 6, 2009 in L'Aquila. Photo by StazioneMIR, under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.5 License
In the last two days, many have shared, above all via Twitter, (#laquila, #terremoto, #laquilapernoi, #6aprile) their memories and reflections, and expressed solidarity with the people of Aquila. Highly referenced in these tweets is a telephone conversation intercepted the day after the earthquake, in which two businessmen joke about the event, looking forward hungrily to the money to be made in rebuilding. In this short video you can hear a excerpt from the conversation.
 @ermeneleutico dedicates a few verses to the town:
Buonanotte l'Aquila / riempita di promesse / usata e abbandonata / per meschino interesse
While Marta Torres shows her solidarity with the people of the city of L'Aquila and the region of Abruzzo:
Non dimentico mai #laquila, città distrutta il #6aprile. VERGOGNA k sia ancora una città fantasma. Tutti il mio affetto al popolo abruzzese ♥
@Bebo1936 recounts his experience three years ago:
Tre anni fa ero a scappare per la violenta scossa di #Earthquake all’#aquila #Abruzzo
And @DaniDBJ adds:
L'Italia che quella notte non rideva, oggi non dimentica.. #6april#laquila
Finally, @liv_77 demonstrates how there has not yet been a return to normalcy for the people of L'Aquila:
Da 3 anni, ahimè, guardo il sito di INGV -@INGVterremoti#laquila
Many initiatives have been launched to safeguard the memory of the event. A video made by Shoot4Change and Anpas collected voices, images and live stories, creating a space for collective sharing and remembering.
Move Productions and Al Jazeera English produced a documentary titled “Ritorno a L'Aquila” (Return to L'Aquila), that was transmitted today by hundreds of web tv channels, coordinated by the Altratv.tv network together with Internet provider Tiscali.
Furthermore, on April 15, the online magazine Wired.it has launched a campaign with the goal of maintaining a high level of attention on L'Aquila emergency in order to discuss publicly the reconstruction projects and the rebirth of the city. To this end, there's also been a barcamp organized in the central Duomo Square. For information and updates on the organization of these events, you can follow the hashtag #occupylaquila on Twitter.
The collective 3:32, put together in the weeks following the earthquake, published on its blog a long reflection on the most relevant events to characterize the past three years in L'Aquila:
Il terremoto del 2009 è stato senza dubbio una catastrofe; e quindi, come qualsiasi catastrofe nella storia dell’evoluzione del mondo, ha distrutto delle cose, delle forme di vita, ma ne ha fatte sorgere delle altre. Anzi, la sfida della ricostruzione è riuscita ad attivare dei processi di incontro e comunicazione tra le persone che prima sembravano impossibili. […] Più che restaurata, o semplicemente ricostruita, la nostra città deve essere rifondata. Battersi per L’Aquila oggi significa in primo luogo opporsi alle speculazioni edilizie e all’ulteriore consumo di suolo e territorio. […] La nostra è certamente una lotta territoriale, con la sua identità e le sue specificità, ma è anche una lotta per un modello complessivo fatto di politica trasparente, di decisioni realmente democratiche e partecipate, di rispetto  del patrimonio ambientale e culturale e sviluppo eco-sostenibile.
L'Aquila still resisting. Photo by Abruzzo Indymedia under a Creative Commons BY-SA 2.5 License
There has been no lack of official voices either, like that of Stefania Pezzopane, councilwoman for culture in L'Aquila, who on the news website Articolo21.org wrote:
Il 6 aprile resta una data diversa dalle altre perché sono passati più di mille giorni e sentiamo sulle nostre vite il peso di una precarietà e di un disorientamento che persistono. La nostra città è ancora deserta, ferita, priva di quella vita pulsante che era, poi, la quotidianità di ciascuno di noi. […] Questo non è un giorno normale proprio perché, a fianco al lutto che è impresso come una ferita nei nostri cuori, ci stupiamo della nostra forza e della speranza che ancora riusciamo a donare allo sguardo con cui cerchiamo di abbracciare il futuro.
Walking about the streets of the city and its surrounding neighborhoods, one realizes that in L'Aquila the trauma is still present and visible, but stronger yet is the resentment of those families who will never see their homes again, of those who feel abandoned and who believe that not enough has been done, that in three years nothing (or almost nothing) has changed: debris and rubble piled on the streets downtown, houses propped-up in makeshift fashion, windowless buildings make up the cityscape awaiting tourists in the medieval jewel of Abruzzo.
Thousands were wounded and 309 people died, many of whom were students from all over Italy who had moved to L'Aquila to attend its university.
The L'Aquila tragedy, as it persisted after the earthquake, did not concern solely the loss of human life during the catastrophic event: there were many judicial inquiries (some still under way) regarding the handling of the emergency, the responsibilty of those companies that chose building materials and designs that were unfit for an earthquake zone (in particular, the construction of public buildings, like student housing, has come under questioning), and regarding lobbyists and other groups interested in receiving a portion of the funds allocated to reconstruction of the city and the entire seismic crater.
After the triple catastrophe (tsunami, earthquake, near nuclear meltdown) that a year ago battered Japan [en], there are many comparisons to be made between Fukushima and L'Aquila, comparisons that underline the differences in ‘approach’ between Italian and Japanese scientists when it comes to making previsions for earthquakes based on seismology.
A couple of months after the event, when the media frenzy that brought L'Aquila such (sad) international notoriety had left, the floodlights suddenly turned off. Now, three years after the tragedy, there is still much work to be done before the city and community can return to the actual stability they once knew.

author: Paola DOrazio


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Kazakhstan: Hockey Star’s Wife Leaves Her Mark on the Kaznet · Global Voices
Chris Rickleton

Stacy Dallman, wife of former NHL hockey player Kevin Dallman, is likely to be remembered in Kazakhstan for a long time to come. After four years of starring for Barys, a team based in the Kazakh capital, Astana, Kevin is now on his way to other foreign ice rinks, apparently because his spouse Stacy's blog, Kaziland, upset some pretty powerful people in the Central Asian republic.
For Kazakh hockey fans, the news that Kevin, 31, had his contract with Barys torn up, is a bitter blow. An ex-defensemen for the LA Kings, Dallman was the heartbeat and captain of the Barys team, enjoying a cult status similar to that of Brazilian soccer star, Rivaldo, when he spent his twilight playing days with FC Bunyodkor in Uzbekistan.
Kevin and Stacy (centre) with the Barys leadership. Photo taken from the blog nortonsports.com
Like Rivaldo's stint in Uzbekistan, Dallman's time in Kazakhstan has ended in acrimony, the government apparently refusing to honour the remaining three years on his contract. In a post titled ‘до свидания’ (‘Goodbye’ in Russian), his wife Stacy signed off on her time in Kazakhstan with a thinly veiled broadside against the Kazakh government:
I’m done. No more blogs about Kazakhstan. I leave behind some of the most intelligent, discerning young people who are poised to become the next leaders of a historically repressed country that I am confident has the desire and ambition to overcome it’s problems.
And, in a nod to classical Russian literature, she added a Leo Tolstoy quote to her swansong post:
Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold.
“Washing away?” Imagine how that sounds translated into Russian or Kazakh, in the corridors of power where President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his advisors strain to determine the course of their 20-year old ‘managed democracy’.
Or how about this, from a post entitled ‘Home Sweet Home':
I don’t really know why I tolerate it less and less every year. It just pains me when I see so much potential for a huge country with abundant natural resources who’s people don’t see a dime from their land being exploited and instead live in poverty and commanded denial. The money that should be used to develop the country is wasted away through corruption, lies, stealing, greed and selfishness on every level, in every organization from government right down to to small businesses to your everyday nanny or housekeeper.
Harsh words for a government that spends so much time and money burnishing its image, lauding its relative successes in a region strewn with faltering authoritarian regimes.
But the powers that be are probably thick-skinned enough to take some foreign criticism about corruption without resorting to deporting an international hockey star. What may have worried them more is the fact that many Kazakh internet users, usually seen as politically apathetic, came out in droves to agree with Stacy's posts. In a reply to ‘Home Sweet Home’, one poster, Sanjiy, said:
What is written in the article is just the top of the iceberg. This blog is one of the bricks the building of democracy in Kaz will be made of.
Another visitor, Aidaika added more damaging words:
Stacy, thank you for your article, everything is true and it hurts me :-( Maybe you’ve heard about Zhanaozen events in last December, maybe not, but just to show everyone here in what country we live and what kind of president we have  – the president has given green light to police and army to shoot at civil people.
But despite living in Kazakhstan for four hockey seasons, Stacy didn't seem to know too much about the December 2011 Zhanaozhen tragedy:
Was that the Oil situation?
Mukan.A thought Stacy was biting the hand that fed her:
Stacy, I agree with most of what you are saying. But if you look deeper what made you come to this country ? Is your husband that bad who could find a job only here? I am sorry but this country feeds you and your familly for the past years. I cant say this is a perfect country but you should appreciate the people country and the government where you live.
Another commenter, Kamila, wrote a lengthy post extolling the virtues of the Kazakh state and was subsequently criticized by other respondents for being a pro-government ‘troll’. (For more information about ‘trolling’ in Central Asia, read this excellent report by IWPR):
“Stacy, Just ignore Kamillas, Kamshats and etc. They are being paid by [the Kazakh] KGB 25000 tenge [USD 170] to troll… Ha-ha-ha,” said one visitor, Alma Atinian living in the US.
Clearly, despite her claims to the contrary, Stacy's blog had already become very political. As several local and international websites began [ru] carrying reports about the blog, Barys, her husband's employers, asked her to delete a post:
“If you are wondering where the last post went…. well….Kevins agent made me delete it! Well the agent is blaming it on the team, the team is blaming it on the owner of the team, the owner of the team is blaming it on the president of the country. I’m not quite sure if the president of any country would have enough time on his or her hands to worry about one little blog that less than 100 people read per day…but that’s their story and they are sticking to it. I’m 30 not 13… but whatever, I deleted it to be respectful of the agents/teams/owners/president of the countries request,” Stacy informed her growing fan club in a post titled “Bye-bye opinions”.
Less than two weeks after “Bye-bye opinions”, Yahoo Sports reported that Barys had said “bye-bye” to the Dallmans.
On Twitter, Central Asian political commentator @JoshuaFoust wrote:
Amazing fire de coeur from Stacy Dallman about corruption in Kazakhstan.
@Slage 85, was less complimentary:
“Stacy Dallman, who cares about you? You're a nobody. Stay away from Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. You aren't welcome,” he raged.
But back in Kaziland.com, most posters displayed genuine grief at the Dallmans’ departure, and anger towards the government, whom two posters accused of “behaving like a little girl” in its handling of the blog. One hockey-supporting father begged:
Kevin don’t leave. You are the best captain. All my friends shocked. The son cried all evening.
While Gussein contributed perhaps the most moving tribute to the pair:
Thank you very much for your effort to change Kz into a better place for its people. And i really appreciate what your husband, Kevin, has done for Barys. We are gonna miss you guys!!! and i’m sure that one day during our lifetime Kazakhstan will be a free country, and it will be a place where people would be able to practice freedom of speech. For now, you did what was right, and we will remember it for generations to come. I personally have no regrets, but only a sorrow that we have to be separated. We will miss you, our Canadian brothers and sisters.
Politics and sport – an explosive combination.
N.B For a dose of feel good on the Kaznet, check out the music video “Englishman in Shymkent” on YouTube. It is up to 100,000 hits now, and deserves ten times more.

author: Chris Rickleton


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Pakistan: Incessant Violence in Karachi · Global Voices
Kumail Ahmed

The bloodshed in Karachi which has killed more than 300 people in the last three months hasn't come to a halt. The latest spree of bloodshed started after the killing of a political activist, Mansoor Mukhtar, who belonged to the MQM (Muthida Quami Movement) – the largest political party in Karachi. The next day – 28 March, 2012 – a political worker of ANP (Awami National Party), Mr Zianulabdeen was murdered by unknown terrorists.
These murders, backed by extortion activities and targeted killing, started a brutal chain reaction which has gloomed the port city's landscape. Dawn's timeline aptly summarizes all the events which have occurred till the 9 April.
The million dollar question is, ‘why does violence always return in Karachi?’
Rangers stand guard next to a burnt out car that was set on fire after a shooting incident, which killed Awami National Party (ANP) activist in Karachi. Image by Mohsin Hasan. Copyright Demotix.
Last year 1,175 people were killed. There are many reasons to this violence. Some reasons are:
Pervez Hoodbhoy explains the effects of overpopulation with an analogy with fishes. According to a research, fishes have to two goals:  1) they want to increase access to available space, and 2) increase access to the amount of habitat complexity (presence of obstacles and hiding places like rocks and plants) within the tank. As more fish are added, amount of space becomes less available. Hence aggressiveness increas.
According to Hoodbhoy Karachi is no different. The infrastructure has depleted over the years. He quotes Eqbal Ahmed, who writes:
Karachi is starved of the wealth it generates. The city contributes more than sixty per cent of the federal and Sindh governments’ revenues. Only a fraction of it is invested back in building its infrastructure. To make matters worse, under successive Karachi governments, land and other resources have been prey to the greed of those in power.
People gather at the house where the dead bodies of five people were found. Image by PPI Images. Copyright Demotix.
The common people of the city are extremely dejected by the present conditions of the city. Teenagers don't see any positive development in the near future. A shadow of hopelessness overwhelms their remarks. A plea to God for a prosperous future is all what they have. Teenagers gave the following remarks when asked about the turmoil in Karachi:
Natasha Faisal comments:
I look around myself and wonder how we will ever prosper when we are divided into groups which bring no development in the country. I wonder why we have become so hardened that we no longer mourn the death of our fellow Karachiites.
Mirha Khan comments:
With the amount of violence we have witnessed in Karachi recently, I often wonder if the city will end up burning to ashes.
Malika Niazi comments:
All we can do now is pray for Karachi’s future.  People are, indeed, dying and it really isn’t that safe to be roaming about on the streets unarmed.
Twitter and Facebook were flooded with remarks of despondence and criticism on the government to stop violence.
Jawad Hussain: The city of Karachi is once again under a wave of violence. What I saw this morning was that some miscreants setting ablaze a mini bus in Gulistan e Jauhar area while reports are there about killing innocent people in different parts of the metropolis including Baldia Town.
@parasabbasi: Saw a weird dream today where I and two other friends were going to buy medicines and became target of firing (#Karachi violence)
Nadeem Paracha asks about the real terroists in Karachi?
@NadeemfParacha: So many reports on Karachi violence in today's papers and not a single one mentions who was/is killing whom.
The government must take actions as Jaffrry tweets:
@Jaffrry: Authorities must execute appropriate strategy to stop violence in #Karachi.

author: Kumail Ahmed


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Perspectives on North Korea’s Unsuccessful Rocket Launch · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

North Korea launched a rocket on April 12, 2012, despite international warnings of censure and further isolation. But to its embarrassment, the rocket disintegrated right after the launch and its remnants fell into the sea. This incident stirred up numerous debates in South Korean Internet space.
An instant reaction on the news of rocket launch was tut-tutting over the astronomical amount of money wasted on its unsuccessful launch, which could have been used to feed millions of starving North Koreans. A comment by Kim Sun-jun read [ko]:
1년치 옥수수를 다 태워 버렸네.
North Korean soldiers look south while on duty in the Joint Security Area, Korean Demilitarized Zone. Image is in the public domain, via Wikipedia.
Yoon Jae-won (@yjw23_kseri), a North Korean analyst at the Kim Kwang Su Economic Research Institute, wrote six tweets which have been retweeted numerous times by other users. After condeming [ko] North Korea's rocket launch as a ‘reprehensible act’ which could ruin current six-party talks, which are slowly progressing, Yoon then questions [ko] public belief in the effectiveness of international sanction:
그런데 북한을 어떻게 다룰 것인가 하는 것은 현실적인 측면을 고려할 필요가 있습니다. 유엔안보리를 통해 북한을 비난하는 것은 자연스러운 반응이지만, 북한에 강경대응으로만 일관했을 때 더 큰 문제를 불러일으킬 수 있기 때문입니다.
Yoon further explains [ko]:
제재로 일관하는 것은 국제사회에서 북한을 더욱 고립시킴으로써 오히려 김정은 체제의 내부결속을 다지는 결과를 초래하게 될 것입니다. 이런 상황일수록 이명박정부가 상황을 관리하고 북한을 고립시키지 않음으로써 개혁개방으로 유도하는 것이 중요합니다.
Daum Agora forum user stkt refuses to use the word ‘ failure‘ [ko] in describing North Korea's rocket launch, since there is no failure in sceintific experiments, especially in the space development program:
로켓발사는 애당초 실패라는 개념이 일반적인 실험과 다르다.일반적인 무기실험과 달리 로케트는 발사를 해봐야 실험 데이타를 얻는다. 로켓발사 실험에 있어서는 실패와 성공의 기준은 무엇이 잘못되었는지를 확인할 수 있는 실험 데이타와 노하우를 얻었는지의 여부인 것이지 기체의 발사결과 자체가 아닌 것이다.
Daum Agora user Ceasurs21 introduces [ko] an interesting perspective:
북한의 로켓 발사가 실패했다는 소식이 반가우면서도  한편으로는 로켓 발사와 관련된 북한사람 중에 얼마나  많은 사람들의  목이 달아날까도 생각해 봤습니다.핵심 기술을 가진 과학자야 빳다 맞고 목숨은 건지겠지만 누군가는 책임지고 수용소에 끌려가거나  죽는 사람이 생길지도 모른다는 생각하니 씁쓸하네요. […]우리나라 사람중에서도 고초를 겪는 사람이 있습니다.다름아닌 주식투자자입니다. 며칠전 북한의 로켓 발사가 임박했다는 소식이 전해지자 방위산업 관련주들이 테마주에 편입되면서 급등했습니다.
Daum Agora user 이건좀아니다, after explaining about North Korean's brinksmanship strategy, complains [ko] that since its threat patterns have not changed for decades, it is the South Korean government's turn to come up with effective strategies to handle such a dire situation.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Peru: What Is Killing the Dolphins? · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

[All links lead to sites in Spanish unless otherwise stated]
Dolphins [en] are among the most intelligent creatures on the planet, found in almost all the oceans in the world and with very few natural predators. In Peru they are found along various sections of the coast, including Lima's beaches where they swim alongside surfers, in the Paracas National Reservation, or on Piura's coastline, in the north of Peru, which is a spot also enjoyed by humpback whales.
This is the reason the news that in the first part of this year 3,000 dolphins have been found dead along the north coast of the country has caused such astonishment. Carlos Yaipén-Llanos, director of ORCA [Scientific Organisation for Conservation of Aquatic Animals], a Peruvian marine life conservation organisation, points out that these deaths are the result of “an acoustic impact that is created by deep-sea equipment used for the detection of oil, gas and other minerals”.
Dolphins in Pisco, Perú. Photo by Flickr user Alicia0928 under CC license. Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0).
The director of ORCA also reveals that it has been deduced from the forensic analises of the dolphins that they suffered from “acute decompression syndrome evidenced by fractures in the periostial bones and hemorrhaging in the middle ear, disseminated pulmonary emphasema, and air bubbles in organs such as the liver, kidneys and blood vessels”.
A subsequent newspaper report mentions that it is the use of exploration technology known as Sísmica 3d which causes the acoustic impacts that affect the dolphins. The company BPZ [en], based in Tumbes (to the north of Piura), is using this form of exploration to gather information on oil and natural gas deposits. This company has denied that their research causes the deaths of marine species, but the report on environmental impact indicates that this technology does have its consequences.
President of the Congress Daniel Abugattás has declared his hopes that the ministers of environment, production, energy, and mining inform the Peruvian parliament about this case. Another source suggests that it is IMARPE, the Instituto del Mar del Perú [Peruvian Sea Institute], that should release an official report on the matter.
Hardy Jones, the founder of BlueVoice.org [en], filmmaker and activist for the conservation of marine life, went to Peru to experience Dr. Yaipén-Llanos’ primary reports of the 25th March. Already on Peru's northern coast, he tweeted [en] on the 27th March:
Found 615 dead #dolphins on 135 kilometers of beach N of San Jose, Peru. Tragedy unspeakable. Please retweet. This must be investigated.
On his personal blog he describes [en] in greater detail how he found out about these events, his trip to Peru and what he saw there:
Carlos and his team performed necropsies on a couple of the dolphins. Seeing a new born common dolphin, umbilicus still attached was wrenching.
We raced along the hard sand at the edge of the surfline crying out when we saw a dead dolphin. At first they came every couple minutes. But then we’d hit intervals when the cries would go “dolphin! Delphin! Otro! Dos mas! There’s another one up by the dune.”
Later he posted [en] part of Dr. Yaipén-Llanos’ report on BlueVoice's blog:
As previously reported, two species have been affected: Long beaked common dolphin (Delphinus capensis) and Burmeister’s porpoise (Phocoena spinipinnis). We counted 615 common dolphins. All age classes were affected: Adult males, females, lactating females, juveniles, calves and newborns. We counted 19 porpoises, only females and calves.
ORCA has shared photos on Facebook of their findings. Dr. Yaipén-Llanos was interviewed on Spanish CNN about the events. The following video [en] is part of Hardy Jones and Carlos Yaipén-Llanos’ journey along the coast of Northern Peru:
Meanwhile, environment and fishing ministers met on the 10th April to report on the link between oil exploration and the deaths of the dolphins. They also had to report on the measures being taken to avoid greater environmental impact on marine fauna, now that a report has shown that approximately 20,000 dolphins, as well as other species, are in mortal danger. Inquiries into the use of Sísmica 3d have been planned along the entire Peruvian coastline.


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Russia: Ilya Varlamov, Omsk’s Blogger-Mayor? · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

As the Moscow opposition adjusts to the reality of Vladimir Putin's return to the Kremlin, there are growing indications that the capital's activists and protesters are seeking to reestablish last winter's momentum by relocating their efforts to Russia's regions. In the last week, dozens if not hundreds of Muscovites have pilgrimaged to the southern city of Astrakhan, to support a local politician's hunger strike against last month's vote, which he claims was falsified. More than 1,500 miles to the northeast, in the city of Omsk, an activist group has arranged online primaries for opposition candidates to stand in the city's June mayoral election.
Going Digital
The virtual election is not new to the Russian opposition. In October 2010, tens of thousands of Internet users elected [ru] Aleksei Navalny to replace Yuri Luzhkov as mayor of Moscow. (Not an elected office, President Medvedev later appointed Sergei Sobyanin to serve in this position.) Navalny's virtual triumph that October was an important step to attaining the political celebrity he enjoys today.
In a LiveJournal post earlier this year, blogger Vladislav Naganov addressed the protest movement's collapse by advocating [ru] the adoption of primaries:
Generally speaking, the time has come to organize full-fledged primaries within the opposition. We can't continue as we have for much longer. We need to determine a real leader once and for all.
“Citizen Mayor” [ru] is a virtual primaries project initiated by activists in Omsk, designed to nominate a single individual to represent the city's united opposition. In a strange turn of events, photographer and popular blogger Ilya Varlamov has suddenly become the most likely winner of the “Citizen Mayor” contest, which will conclude its final round of voting [ru] on Monday, April 16.
The Joke That Has Fewer and Fewer Laughing
Russian blogger Ilya Varlamov in Moscow. Photo by VITALIY RAGULIN, (04/08/11) CC BY-SA 3.0; Wikimedia Commons.
Varlamov's candidacy started as a joke [ru] on social networks like Twitter, producing a meme that typically began “if Varlamov becomes Omsk mayor,” and followed with a humorously optimistic comment. For instance, one user tweeted: “If Varlamov becomes Omsk mayor, we'll just secede from the state and organize a mini-paradise there.” Another young woman in St. Petersburg wrote: “If Varlamov becomes mayor of Omsk, I'll leave Peter[sburg] and return to my homeland [in Omsk].”
Initially, Varlamov admitted that he could not take his candidacy seriously, telling journalists on April 5:
First, because I've only been to Omsk once, and it was only for a couple of days, and to nominate [yourself] to be head of a city that you don't know is strange, to say the least. Second, I don't want to mix politics with some kind of performance, which the campaign could become if I participate.
Five days later, however, Varlamov announced a change of heart, admitting that his running for Omsk mayor is “at first glance, entirely absurd,” but he promised the public “the funnest, loudest campaign in the history of Russian mayoral races.” He wrote [ru] in his LJ blog:
We'll bring a new level of discussion to questions about government transparency and the urban environment of Russian cities. When we're done, our issues will be the main issues of every election across the country.
In lieu of an Omsk-tailored political platform, Varlamov directed readers to an April 3 post, titled “Ten Steps: Moscow for People,” which set out ten priorities for improving urban life in Russia's capital. (Varlamov's text focuses on improving public transit, bicycle and disabled access, architectural aesthetics, and so on.) Explaining the transposition of his Moscow initiative onto Omsk, Varlamov said:
Omsk is a small Moscow. Problems everywhere are the same. First we'll put things in order there, and then across all of Russia.
Varlamov also named a handful of individuals who will join his Omsk campaign, including the mega-popular LJ blogger Artemy Lebedev, who summed up [ru] the team's plan with a characteristic flourish of profanity:
The plan is simple: Varlamov becomes the mayor of Omsk (and not on fucking Foursquare, but for real), he brings his team with him, and some decent city management begins.
Lebedev then added:
Today, Omsk is one of the country's most fucked over cities.
Going into some detail, Lebedev went on to describe his plans for the architectural redesign of Omsk, listing various types of bureaucrats and buildings that would be slated for destruction, should Varlamov win the election. “The old farts,” he wrote about the city's existing government, “will be ousted in disgrace, and left to sell sunflower seeds outside the entrances of tomorrow's construction sites.”
Winners and Losers
While campaigns like Varlamov's in Omsk and Navalny's in Astrakhan might represent exciting new directions for Moscow's opposition movement, what consequences could this projection of influence have on local actors?
Igor Fedorov is one of Omsk's most popular locally-based bloggers. Six years before Ilya Varlamov was even born, Fedorov settled in Omsk, where he has lived ever since. Though he is unlikely to defeat Varlamov, Fedorov has posted to his LJ account a far more detailed campaign program [ru], including a sober analysis [ru] of municipal revenue prospects. (He notes that 84% of the city's budget relies on three taxes that legally cannot be raised until 2013.) While Fedorov proposes many ideas that mirror Varlamov's “10 Steps,” he breaks with the Muscovite photographer on several issues that seem to carry local significance, such as celebrations for the upcoming 300-year anniversary of Omsk's founding, as well as the need to balance public transportation development with the completion of construction already underway on automobile roads. In a particularly telling distinction, Varlamov promises to import foreign specialists from America and Europe to beautify Omsk, whereas Fedorov claims [ru] that the city's ideal model should be Pavlodar, Kazakhstan [en], which he “was lucky enough” to have visited on a business trip earlier this year.
In preliminary voting [ru], Fedorov led Varlamov in support on LiveJournal, though the latter finished well ahead in the overall tally. If Varlamov indeed takes the nomination and registers to campaign officially in Omsk, will it signal a victory for the democratic process and a second wind for the opposition, or could it threaten to make a mockery of both?

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Russia: Proposed NATO Hub in Ulyanovsk Sparks Protests · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

“There are no ‘NATO bases’ in Russia” [ru], tweeted Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitriy Rogozin on March 15, a couple of days after news agencies reported on plans for a NATO transport hub based in Russia [ru]. The perpetual Communist Party (KPRF) leader Gennady Ziuganov was not convinced, tweeting a few days later: “The NATO base in Ulyanovsk – presents from Putin to the USA for recognizing [Russia's presidential] elections” [ru], and further calling it a “betrayal.” This quasi-exchange exemplifies the hubbub over a transport hub that will be based on an airfield in Ulyanovsk [en], a medium sized city on the Volga River, and the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin. On one side is a scandalized Russian Internet community, along with opposition politicians milking the scandal; on the other are government officials trying to downplay the incident.
Russian politician Dmitry Rogozin giving a press conference in Moscow, 2/22/2011, photo by A.SAVIN. CC BY-SA 3.0; Wikimedia Commons.
Rogozin was reacting to a wave of online indignation that has since spread to the streets, leading to hunger strikes and anti-NATO marches in Ulyanovsk and Moscow. He has since continued to tweet emphatically about the situation, blaming the spreading resentment on “provocateurs.” After all, when Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the initial announcement, he made it clear that the hub supporting NATO’s Afghanistan mission would be used for the transport of only “non-lethal” equipment and for refueling. The Foreign Ministry was later careful to dispel worries [ru] that the new “base” will be anything but a transport hub, or that NATO personnel would be stationed there.
Unfortunately, Russians’ mistrust of both NATO and their own government means that no agents provocateurs are necessary to incite discontent. In fact, the “move along, nothing to see here” line serves only to encourage accusations of conspiracy. The analysis in Russian blogs ranges from the potential use of Ulyanovsk to transport Afghani drugs to Russia [ru] to flippant calls [ru] for an analogous Russian base in the USA or Europe. According to many bloggers, Putin is either betraying vital national interests [ru] in order to soften his now-completed presidential campaign's militant rhetoric, or there is some quid-pro-quo [ru] between European missile defense and the Ulyanovsk base. And, of course, there is the sacrilege of tying the anti-Communist alliance to the birth place of the founder of Russian Communism. (Photo.)
KPRF has in fact been at the forefront of opposition to the hub in Ulyanovsk. On March 19 [ru], the communists organized the first anti-NATO meeting. Although it was small, the subsequent March 26 [ru] “No to NATO” protest, also organized by the local KPRF branch, drew around 300 people. The April 7 march [ru] was even more numerous, drawing approximately one thousand protestors. However, members of the fringe political party “Will of the People” claim [ru] that they, along with other nationalist groups, made up most of the crowd. “Will of the People” advertised the march on its blog [ru], as well as on the newly created “Ulyanovsk without NATO” [ru]. (Photo.)
Anti-NATO protests in Moscow, 4/5/2010, photo by ILYA VARLAMOV, copyright © Demotix.
Communists and nationalists seem to be the only major opponents of the base. So far, Eduard Limonov’s “Other Russia” [en] movement has been the only liberal opposition group to register protest with its “The Foreign Ministry is a Den of Traitors” [ru] action on April 5 in Moscow. Even Aleksei Navalny, a darling of both nationalists and liberals, has not commented on the issue. Nashi and other pro-Kremlin activists, the usual suspects staging anti-NATO protests, are also conspicuously silent. Perhaps they were satisfied by ministerial assurances.
The communists were not satisfied, however, launching a hunger strike on April 8 [ru] at the Ulyanovsk airport slated for the base. Although their encampment has since been dismantled by the police [ru], they plan to continue the strike at least until April 21 [ru]. This hunger strike has been drawing much less attention than the one in Astrakhan [en], although it looks like KPRF has been using search engine optimization [ru] to increase public awareness. Incidentally, some local bloggers believe that the strike is driven by the desire of Nairi Chatinian, a factory owner and a local KPRF committee member, to move into bigger politics [ru] or perhaps take over the leadership [ru] of the local party machine.
On March 26, the NATO General Secretary tried to alleviate some the above fears [ru] by stating that NATO has no plans for a “base” in Russia. Vladimir Putin reiterated this when he addressed the Duma on April 11, saying [en]:
I assure you that nothing unusual, not corresponding to our national interests, is happening there. On the contrary, everything that is being done in this sphere fully corresponds to the national interests of our people.
Indeed, if ever there is a NATO base established in Russia, Vladimir Putin is probably the only political leader who could get away with it. Until then, the facts on the ground don’t really matter. Without mutual trust, the Kremlin and members of the opposition will simply continue to talk past each other.

author: Andrey Tselikov


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Tunisia: Relief at Lifting of Protest Ban · Global Voices
Salah Almhamdi

This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.
Tunisian netizens have expressed their relief at the lifting of the ban on protesting on Habib Bourguiba Avenue. The avenue is the main street of Tunis and was the location of a mass demonstration on the eve of the Tunisian Revolution. It recently witnessed a series of protests, by the jobless on April 7, by civil society activists on April 9 (Tunisia's Martyrs’ Day), and by some members of the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) on April 10.
The two last protests aimed to “liberate” the avenue. During the Martyrs’ Day protest, violent clashes occured between protestors and police leaving many wounded, thus increasing tension and the desire for the ban to be lifted. The following day, members of the NCA marched in the street and met the Minister of Interior to discuss the events of April 9. On April 11 the government decided to lift the ban on protesting on the avenue.
Habib Bourguiba Avenue. Image by Flickr user Tab59 (CC BY-SA 2.0).
Netizens have expressed their satisfaction at taking back the freedom to protest on Habib Bourguiba Avenue, but vowed not to let the matter rest.
Blogger and journalist Sofien Chourabi gave credit to the revolutionaries for the lifting of the protest ban:
Journalist Tounsiahourra tweeted:
The following video from WebdoTN shows the recommencement of protests on Habib Bourguiba Avenue. The UGET protesters gathered in front of the Municipal Theatre and chanted various slogans:
Prominent blogger and journalist Haythem El Mekki tweeted:
Student Haykal Fakhfakh called for the resignation of Ali Larayedh, Tunisia's Minister of Interior:
@HaykalFakhfakh: L avenue bourguiba est libre maintenant passons a la demission du ministre de terreur #tunisie #9Avril
Journalist Emna Ben Jemaa calls for vigilance:
@Emnabenjemaa: Ne vous faites pas arnaquer par l annulation de l interdiction.faut que les responsables soient punis #MI
This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.

author: Salah Almhamdi


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Africa: Southern Africa Needs an ECOWAS · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Following moves by ECOWAS (The Economic Community of West African States) to defend democracy in West Africa Rumbidzai argues that Southern Africa needs an ECOWAS: “The Southern African Development Committee [Community] (SADC)  on the other hand has increasingly displayed its inadequacy to address similar issues. In 2008 when Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe lost an election to Morgan Tsvangirai and the subsequent runoff was marred by horrendous violence, SADC did not make a firm decision to respect the people’s choice.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Algeria: Tributes Paid to Late President Ahmed Ben Bella · Global Voices
Salah Almhamdi

Following the death of Ahmed Ben Bella, Arab netizens have remembered the man who was Algeria's first president.
Ben Bella died on April 11, 2012, after an illness. He was one of the symbols of the Algerian War of Independence and became president of Algeria in 1963. As hundreds flocked to Algiers to pay tribute to their former president, netizens remembered Ben Bella's rule.
Ahmed Ben Bella. Photo from Wikimedia Commons  (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Mahmoud Siyoucef said:
@mahmoudsiyoucef: ALGER VENDREDI 13 AVRIL…IL PLEUT SUR LA VILLE COMME IL PLEUT SUR MON COEUR…
The following video from Doualia.com shows the official funeral of Ahmed Ben Bella:
FreeTunis quoted Tunisia's president Moncef Marzouki who attended the funeral:
@FreeTunis: Marzouki: L’Algérie n'est pas la seule à avoir perdu BenBella. Le Grand Maghreb l'a perdu aussi, tout comme la nation arabe.
Lebanese journalist Hisham Melhem gave credit to Ben Bella for helping to achieve Algeria's independence but criticized his legacy:
@hisham_melhem: True, Ben Bella, Nasser & other Arab ‘revolutionaries’ gained independence, but they planted the seeds of cruel autocracy.
Blogger Issandr El Amrani wrote:
One after another, the liberation-era figures of Algerian politics are dying — the question is whether their successors will ensure that the same claustrophobic political system will survive.
Palestinian blogger Hisham Shafiq Skalla paid tribute to Ben Bella [ar]:
However, not everyone wanted to think about Ben Bella. Journalist Leila Beratto quoted a young man speaking on Algerian national television:
@LeilaBeratto: Obsèques de benbella (devant la tv): commentaire d'un algérien de 26 ans : “Même mort il continue de nous emmerder” algeriensEtPolitique
In the following video [ar, fr] from Doualia.com Algerians offer their final observations about Ahmed Ben Bella:


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Armenia: Support for Georgi Vanyan · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Following the cancellation last week of a festival of Azerbaijani films in Armenia's second largest city of Gyumri amid threats of violence, both the traditional media as well as online commentators have covered the campaign targeting the organizer, peace activist Georgi Vanyan.
Armenia and Azerbaijan remain locked in a bitter conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh and, although the war waged in the early 1990s was put on hold by a 1994 ceasefire agreement, tensions remain high on the front line with scores of conscripts dying in skirmishes each year.
Yet, despite the need to find a lasting peace and to bring the two countries together, the activities of individuals such as Vanyan irk nationalists. Some press reports on last week's incident, for example, quoted two ‘security experts,’ a term used for those engaged in the online information war with Azerbaijan, attacking Vanyan for his cross-border peace building initiatives.
Ironically, their position, along with other nationalists in Armenia, almost exactly mirrored that of their counterparts in Azerbaijan who welcomed the festival's cancellation and gleefully applauded video of Vanyan being assaulted. Even so, there were also other more alternative voices online.
@KevorkO: What if we put all these petty, small-minded ethno-nationalists in a single cage at the zoo? #caucasus #Armenia #Azerbaijan
@Alisa_Bala: people should understand that #peace is above all things and we must treat peace advocates,the most courageous people
@DiTomtie: Peace activist was beaten in Armenia. Sad proof that our societies are not ready for a change.
Similar comments were also made on Facebook, but there were also posts on a number of blogs and online sites as well. One on the Foreign Policy Association blog, for example, recounted a meeting between Vanyan and the author, an Azerbaijani, in 2009:
From my personal humble experience in conflict resolution I learned that advocating for peace can be a tough job. Mostly, because the majority of people who live in conflict zones and were affected by wars, do not understand the point of reconciliation. All they know is that they lost relatives, possibly were displaced, or had to flee. What they usually want is for justice – what they perceive as one – to be restored. In conflict zones one can rarely meet sincere peace advocates who would stand up to their own people, and tell them the other side of the story.
In South Caucasus Georgi Vanyan is one of the few.
That’s why in South Caucasus Georgi Vanyan is a rockstar.
And, although unlikely to be speaking for many young Azerbaijanis, Be Positive! sent a message from one side of the contact line to the other:
We, Azerbaijani Youth with common sense, think that recent events in Armenia are exhausting. […]
[…]
We reproach the weak and insensitive events against Georgi Vanyan as we, Azerbaijani bloggers, are in need of and faithful to democratic values […]. We are proud to give moral support to Georgi Vanyan.
There were also posts on blogs such as HİPER QARAGÜRUH`un bloqu [az]:
Azərbaycanda olduğu kimi, Ermənistanda da sülh tərəfdarı olan, insanların ölmələrini, it kimi bir-birlərini didməmələrini, minlərlə insanın avtoritar hakimiyyətlərin oyunlarının qurbanı olmamalarını, bu mənasız müharibələrə sərf olunan enerjinin inkişafa, tərəqqiyə sərf olunmasını istəyən, ağlı başında, intellektual, ziyalı insanlar var. Bu insanlardan biri də Cənubi Qafqazda tanınmış erməni hüquq müdafiəçisi, rejissor, yazar, “Qafqaz Sülhməramlı Təşəbbüslər Mərkəzi”nin rəhbəri Georgi Vanyandır.
[…]
Qafqazın bu iki ölkəsi aşağı-yuxarı eyni taleni bölüşən dövlətlərdir. İkisində də eyni vəziyyətdir. Sosial-iqtisadi vəziyyət, ölkədəki korrupsiya, təhsildəki biabırçı durum, siyasi repressiyalar, ifadə azadlığı, ordudakı “dedovşina” və s. Hətta deyərdim ki, Ermənistan bizdən biraz irəlidədir. Çünki, pul Sarkisyan hakimiyyətində bizimkilər qədər çox olmadığına görə, rejim cəmiyyəti bu qədər təzyiq altında saxlaya bilmir. Buna görə də nisbətən irəliləyişlər əldə olunub. Amma ümumilikdə vəziyyət eynidir.
As in Azerbaijan, there are rational, intellectual and intelligent people in Armenia advocating for peace, wanting an end to the death of people, to hatred among them, and to the surrender of thousands of people to the games of authoritarian governments, wishing that the energy spent on pointless wars were directed towards development and progress instead. One of those people is the well known Armenian human rights activist, film director, writer and director of Caucasus Center of Peacemaking Initiatives in the South Caucasus, Georgi Vanyan.
[…]
These two countries of the Caucasus share more or less the same destiny. They are in the same situation: socio-economic situation, corruption, the shameful state of education, political repressions, freedom of expression concerns, hazing in the army etc. I would even say that Armenia is ahead of us a little. The reason is that [Armenian President] Sarkisyan’s regime does not have as much money as ours do and this is why their regime cannot apply as much pressure on society. This explains why they have comparatively some progress. But overall, the situation is the same.
The online portal, Kultura.az, also featured commentary [az]:
Tendensiya budur ki, Ermənistanda türkə, Azərbaycana nifrət etməyəni, Azərbaycanda isə kökündə “erməni” sözü olan istənilən nəsnəyə nifrət etməyəni dışlayırlar. Bu, 2 rejimin bəlkə də yeganə təbliğatdır ki, əhalinin inanmasına nail olublar.
Rejimlər müharibə təbliğatından necə istifadə edir, bunu uzun-uzadı bu yazıda anlatmayacağam. Əsas məsələ budur ki, nifrəti saxlamaqla hakimpreiyyətlərinin ömrünü uzadırlar. Kimsə bu nifrətin əleyhinə çıxsa, hakimiyyət tərəfindən qınanır, gözdən salınır, böhtanlar atılır, bəzən isə cinayət işi açılır və sair təzyiqlərlə üzləşir. Əhali də ona pis baxır, “erməni” və ya “türk” deyib təhqir edir, ona qız vermirlər və ya evdə qalır, onu təhqir etmək caiz sayılır və s..
[…]
Bu iyrənc müharibə təbliğatı, beyinlərə yeridilən nifrət propoqandası bitməyincə nə buralarda bir demokratik ölkə qurulacaq, nə də Qarabağ problemi həll olunacaq.
Bu rejimlər, bu təbliğatlar müvəqqətidir, bizə qalan nifrət yox, sevgidir – Vanyanın humanizm, sülh sevgisi.
The tendency is that those in Armenia who do not hate Turks and Azerbaijan, and those in Azerbaijan who do not hate anything with the word “Armenian” in it, are ostracized. This is probably the only propaganda from the two regimes that their people will believe.
I am not going to explain in this post in details how these regimes make use of war propaganda. The main thing is that by keeping hatred alive these regimes prolong the lives of their rule. Anyone who stands against this hatred is criticized, belittled, defamed by the government, or sometimes criminal cases are opened and pressure is applied. People look down on that person, they humiliate that person by calling them “Armenian” or “Turk”. No one wants their son or daughter to marry that person. Humiliating that person is considered a virtue etc.
[…]
Until this propaganda of a foul war, this brainwashed propaganda of hatred, ends, neither democratic systems will be established in these [countries] nor will the Karabakh problem be resolved.
These regimes, this propaganda, are temporary. What we will end up with is love, Vanyan’s humanity, his love for peace.
Undaunted by the actions against him in Gyumri, Vanyan eventually held his otherwise ill-fated Azerbaijani film festival at a restaurant outside the city limits and plans to hold another next week in Vanadzor, Armenia's third largest city. Moreover, there also appears to be another positive outcome from attempts to obstruct Vanyan's work.
Zardust Alizadeh, an Azerbaijani analyst and a speaker at one of Vanyan's recent cross-border events, was quoted as saying by NewCaucasus that he might now consider staging a festival of Armenian films:
Я считаю, что настоящее искусство – служит добру, гуманизму, сближению народов. И мне пришла в голову идея: а почему бы мне не повторить инициативу Ваняна в Азербайджане?

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Bangladesh: Theory of Dynasty Politics · Global Voices
Rezwan

Mukti provides a rudimentary theory of dynastic politics in Bangladesh.

author: Rezwan


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Fuel Price Protests in Several Indonesian Cities · Global Voices
Juke Carolina

Several Indonesian cities were rocked by protests against petrol price hikes in the past few weeks. According to local media reports [id], violence marred some of the protests which resulted in injuries.
Initially, the Indonesian government was planning to raise the petrol price on April 1. There was no official statement about the adjusted petrol price. Currently the subsidized petrol known locally as Premium is sold at IDR 4,500 (USD 0.50) per liter. Without the state subsidy, Premium could cost around IDR 8,400 (USD 0.92) per liter.
Protesters near Parliament Building. Photo from Flickr page of Djembar Lembasono used under CC License
Gianrigo Marletta, a Jakarta-based video journalist posted the following video on YouTube.
The protests last month and the active military presence [id] in the cities to secure the protests somehow refreshed memories of the nation's past experience with fuel riots. Back in 1998, the country descended into chaos following the government's plan to increase the fuel price. Chinese-Indonesian shop houses were torched by furious mobs, somewomen were raped, student protesters were kidnapped and gunned down, and in the end, Indonesia's longest running president Suharto was forced to resign.
On his timeline, Twitter user @cuapolitik said that it's about time to increase the fuel price. He reasons:
3. Jk BBM tak naik, subsidi untuk solar premium th 2012 ini bs melonjak dari Rp123,6 T menjadi Rp191,1 T. #BBM
4. Pdhl, subsidi itu akan lbh brmanfaat kl dipake utk infrastruktur atau tuk peningkatan pendidikan n ksehatan. Lbh terasa utk rakyat. #BBM
5. Msyrakat yg krang mampu akan menikmati manfaat jk BBM subsidi naik. Sebab, msyrkat kurang mampu bukan konsumen BBM yang terbesar. #BBM
6. Harga jual bbm subsidi yg terlalu rendah dibanding di LN mendorong penyelundupan penyelewengan. Yg untung ya para penyelundup. #BBM
7. Krn subsidi, harga jual bbm subsidi di dlm negeri jauh lebih murah daripada harga barang yang serupa di negara2 tetangga. #BBM
8. Itu sebabnya, para penyelundup justru menikmati perbedaan harga ini, hingga merugikan keuangan negara dan kita semua #BBM
11. Slama ini org2 bilang pmrntah hanya ambil kbjakan menaikkan #BBM subsidi. Salah. Ada kbjakan lain utk atasi defisit. #BBM
17. Kbjakan subsidi ini adlh kbjakan dr masa lampau. Dl bs subsidi, krn kt eksportir. Tp skrg kt importir, n sdh keluar dr OPEC #BBM
18. Slain itu, dl knsumsi BBM kt rendah, jauh brbeda dgn skrg. Karenanya kbjakan subsidi hrs diubah perlahan. #BBM
Blogger Sony Haryo Prabowo wrote a post on his blog, saying that demonstrators in Makassar, Sulawesi, have wrongly targeted fuel resellers:
sekian banyak SPBU di Indonesia, Pertamina hanya memiliki 74 di antaranya (sumber: Pertamina Retail). Ribuan lainnya dimiliki oleh dealer (swasta).  Dengan demikian, perbuatan para pendemo yang merusak SPBU telah membuat hilangnya lahan mencari nafkah bagi seorang wiraswasta, bahkan mereka juga menghilangkan lapangan kerja andai SPBU tersebut benar-benar berhenti beroperasi.
Sony concluded:
Demo yang mereka lakukan juga menutup jalan, merusak kendaraan pribadi, bahkan kendaraan pengangkut minuman ringan ternama yang mungkin seringkali mereka minum. Saya ingin mengajak para pembaca berdiskusi dan merenung. Dalam demokrasi, demonstrasi memang boleh dilakukan, bahkan harus. Namun, harus selalu diingat bahwa demonstrasi harus dilakukan dengan dasar yang benar dan dengan akal sehat. Demonstrasi yang terjadi di Makasar ini membuktikan ada sebagian mahasiswa di Indonesia ini tidak menggunakan akal sehat dalam berpikir. Mereka hanya ingin melampiaskan apa yang mereka inginkantanpa berpikir apa kerugian yang mereka sebabkan. Bahkan lucunya lagi mereka melakukan demo seakan-akan tahu masalah yang mereka hadapi.
Twitter users have maximized the microblogging site to report clashes between the police and students in Jakarta. They also debated if the price increase is appropriate.
@ikovoz: Issue korban meninggal di bentrok salemba itu hoax. skg di RSCM 3 org mahasiswa dan 1 satpam yg msh dirawat
@LBH_Jakarta: Polisi melakukan sweaping ke LBH,47 ditangkap paksa.6 ditangkap di samping LBH.Total 52 org dibawa paksa ke Polda.
@komar_hidayat: Terlepas harga BBM naik atau tdk, apakah ada tanda2 nasib rakyat akan membaik?Terbuka lapangan kerja baru?
@BankDunia: 40% penerima manfaat langsung subsidi #BBM bagi rumahtangga adalah 10% rumahtangga terkaya

author: Juke Carolina


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Guinea-Bissau: Hospital Suffers “Collateral Damages” from Coup d’Etat · Global Voices
João Miguel Lima

Simão Mendes National Hospital employees have been posting photos and reports [pt] on their Facebook profile [pt] which illustrate “collateral damages” from the coup d'état that took place on April 12 in Guinea-Bissau. Power cuts, lack of medicine and fuel shortage for ambulances jeopardize the work of doctors, whose moves are limited due to roads being blocked by the military.

author: João Miguel Lima


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India: When Tradition Is Injurious To Health · Global Voices
Rezwan

Ram Bansal elaborates what Indian traditions are damaging to human health.


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Mozambique: First African Board Book Gathering  · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

Maputo is playing host to the first ever African meeting of publishers of board books. These are sturdy books, published on a small scale (often for children) with strong covers and resistant bindings. Culture reporter Inocêncio Albino wrote about the event [pt], and has been tweeting photos of books by Kutsemba Cartão, the first African board book publisher.

author: Janet Gunter


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Remembering Murdered Activist, Vittorio Arrigoni · Global Voices
Paola DOrazio

[All external links in Italian unless otherwise indicated]
On April 15, 2011, news came of the kidnapping and then murder in Gaza of Vittorio Arrigoni,  a member of the International Solidarity Movement, an event which sent shock waves through the world of international activism, its ripples felt far beyond the online world.
Vittorio Arrigoni in Gaza,  from his Facebook profile.
Vittorio, better known as Vik, provided a first person account of Gaza and Palestine on his blog Guerrilla Radio, concluding each post with the message Restiamo umani (Stay Human). The blog is still active today, thanks to the efforts of friends and collaborators, who keep his memory and engagement alive by documenting and describing the everyday lives, difficulties and violence suffered by Palestinians in the Gaza strip. Facebook pages [ar] in several different languages have been created and dedicated to his memory.
A year after his death, many initiatives have been organised to commemorate his courageous defense of human rights and support of the Palestinian cause. Events and demonstrations are planned for various cities in Italy (for a complete list see this Facebook page), but there will also be events in several European cities, including Paris [fr] , Madrid [es], Cologne and Palma de Mallorca [es], as well as in Gaza, Ramallah and in Cairo [all en].
Demonstration in Gaza in memory of Arrigoni –  April 15 , 2012, from Facebook
The independent news network Globalist.it is running a retrospective of Arrigoni's work and writings (some of it previously unpublished) and has allowed friends, writers and journalists ample space to share their memories and stories of Arrigoni.
Another initiative, established with the support of Arrigoni's family, has taken the form of a reading movie, produced thanks to a crowdfunding initiative which ended on March 31, 2012. Nineteen international figures (including Tariq Ali, Noam Chomsky, Brian Eno, Stéphane Hessel, Luisa Morgantini, Moni Ovadia, Ilan Pappé and Roger Waters) who have, in the past, shown interest and engagement, from a cultural or humanitarian perspective, with the tragic consequences of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, have agreed to “lend their voices” to the reading of 19 chapters of the book Gaza – Restiamo Umani (Gaza – Stay Human), a collection of Arrigoni's articles written during his months in Palestine as part of the “Piombo Fuso” [“Melted Lead”] operation.
The trailer for the film  “Gaza – Stay Human” [en]:
In addition to the commemorative events there is also an important and significant initiative being organised by the international Freedom Flotilla network. On Sunday, April 15, an international mission of 1,500 Italian and international activists will set out to “break the isolation and the siege of Palestine”.
On the initiative's site they declared:
Questa nuova missione ha per obiettivo, quello di rivendicare il diritto di entrare in Palestina e la libera circolazione per i palestinesi e per chiunque voglia andare a trovarli, rompendo l’assedio “di fatto” che Israele pratica anche in Cisgiordania. […] Il nostro progetto è trasparente: noi andiamo direttamente in Cisgiordania per contribuire alla costruzione di una scuola. Il terreno è già stato acquistato, i lavori sono iniziati e quello che vedete qui sopra è il progetto degli edifici. All’uscita dell’aeroporto di Tel Aviv, il 15 aprile, ci aspetteranno delle auto per portarci direttamente a Betlemme, dove le famiglie e le associazioni palestinesi ci riceveranno.
For news and live updates on the initiative you can follow the @freedomflotita account and the hashtags #flytilla and #airflotilla2 on Twitter.
Currently Vittorio's Facebook page is the main location for sharing and announcing events and memories. Messages of support and memories have been circulating for days on Twitter as well, even if there are plenty of critics as well.
For example, @dscanferla writes:
I paci-finti non si smentiscono mai, #Arrigoni è morto da un anno, il processo a #Gaza è una farsa e per loro la colpa è d’#Israele ???
Rosa Schiano, an activist and photo-reporter who knew Vik personally, describes a demonstration organised by children from Beit Lahia:
@infoxresist I bambini di Beit Lahia, a nord della Striscia di Gaza, ricordano vik con musica e e rappresentazioni.
A year after his tragic death however, the events leading to his death remain uncertain. A motive for the killing has yet to emerge from the 14 court hearings held so far and many suspect the Israeli police of mishandling information.
Michele Giorgio addressed that view on  the Near East News Agency site:
Ritrattando in buona parte le confessioni che avevano reso negli interrogatori seguiti all’arresto da parte della polizia di Hamas, i tre – Mahmud Salfiti, Tamer Hasasnah e Khader Jram – hanno recitato, davanti ai giudici della corte militare di Gaza city, la parte dei giovani difensori delle tradizioni sociali «minacciate» da un presunto stile di vita troppo «liberal» di Vittorio. Più di tutto hanno negato di essere stati a conoscenza di un piano per uccidere l’attivista italiano. È evidente il tentativo degli avvocati della difesa di far ricadere tutte le responsabilità su Breizat e Omari che non possono raccontare la loro versione dei fatti. La prossima udienza è fissata per il 14 maggio e secondo alcune voci potrebbe essere l’ultima prima della sentenza.
Two Partito Democratico (Democratic Party) MPs – Vincenzo Vita and Lucia Codurelli – tabled a question in the Italian parliament in order to seek clarification from the government of the motives behind the kidnapping and killing of the activist.
Please stay human.


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Singapore: If We Launched the Rocket… · Global Voices
Kirsten Han

Following North Korea's reported failure to launch their rocket, a hashtag popped up on Twitter: #ifSingaporelaunchedarocket.
In no time at all Singaporean tweeples began to contribute their observations of Singaporean culture and foibles.
Mr Brown refers to the expensive naming competitions Singapore had for the Budget Terminal and Marina Bay, which ended up in the two places being named the Budget Terminal and Marina Bay:
@mrbrown: #ifSingaporelaunchedarocket The rocket would be named, after a million-dollar naming exercise, The Singapore Rocket.
@jeffcheong: #ifSingaporelaunchedarocket & failed it will be known as air survey. Singapore never fail one. Like how ‘ponding’ is used to cover ‘flood’.
@contrabandkarma: #ifSingaporelaunchedarocket that failed, Lui Tuck Yew would say that breakdowns are unavoidable.
@dingneng: #ifSingaporelaunchedarocket it would be near GE, so politicians can brag about it.
@kixes: #ifSingaporelaunchedarocket that failed, @STcom‘s headline would read, “Min of Defense says Singapore Rocket good first effort”.
JohnnyBoy refers to Yam Ah Mee, who shot to fame after announcing the results of the 2011 General Elections:
@MrJohnHoHoHo: #ifSingaporelaunchedarocket Yam Ah Mee will be the one to do the countdown.
@visakanv: #ifSingaporelaunchedarocket we would have a cheesy song with hand-gestures, like YOG's Oh Yeah x3
@weizhu: #ifSingaporelaunchedarocket Must get aunties to pat the launchpad first.
Adine refers to the Singaporean penchant for taking note of auspicious numbers so that they can bet on them in the lottery:
@axixe: #ifSingaporelaunchedarocket people would be asking if it had a number plate.. For auspicious reasons.
These tweets from Singaporeans are just yet another example of the Singaporean aptitude for trolling, turning events and memorable quotes into memes for satire and amusement.

author: Kirsten Han


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South Africa: Nelson Mandela Digital Archive Project Unveiled · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Nelson Mandela goes digital: “The Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory is a digital archive project dedicated to Nelson Mandela. The online project has over 1900 documents, photographs and films of the icon.”


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This Week in the Caribbean Blogosphere  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

It has been another interesting week in the Caribbean blogosphere, with netizens discussing everything from crime to elections…
Trinidad & Tobago
There was outrage in the blogosphere over the death of two-year-old Aliyah Johnson, a victim of child abuse. Guanaguanare was worried “that [it] will amount to nothing”:
The sort of callousness that did not recognise or respect her humanity/divinity is not something that was just one lifetime in the making. This sin is generational and it will also be generations before it is lifted…and only if we begin right away to work towards that future.
Government offices and officials can only do so much. We are the ones, however, who have actually heard the cries and have seen the bruises and other signs of abuse. We continue to be the silent witnesses in our neighbourhoods and maybe even in our own homes. We have to stop pretending that it will all go away…
In a follow-up post, the blogger linked to a video that could help “[address] the problem of child abuse and the wider problem of violence (and the connection between the two) in our country.”
The Eternal Pantomime added:
Remember Daniel Guerra? Remember he was picked up in a car a stone’s throw from his house, by a parlour, and days later his body was found in the Tarouba waterway system?
Remember the Prime Minister wrote a Letter to Daniel, that was really a letter promising to save all the children of Trinidad and Tobago promising that what happened to Daniel, Akiel, Sean Luke, Amy, Hope…would never happen again…
Well…crimes against children are on the rise, and the government has been quietly dismantling social work and welfare projects that can assist in these situations…So think about little Aaliyah now, who, according the forensic report was beaten to death… This is going to happen again and again partly because this society is very sick and partly because very few systems are properly enabled to deal with these issues…when last you hear about the trial against the two boys that killed Sean Luke? I done talk…
Bloggers in Trinidad and Tobago also focused on other issues this past week, including the Dangerous Dogs Act “as news of yet another innocent child being violently ripped and torn apart by yet another, dangerously-aggressive, unrestrained dog makes the rounds” and patients’ rights, as cancer patients who were over-exposed to radiation at a national facility continue to seek justice.
The Bahamas
More north along the Caribbean archipelago, Bahamian netizens had elections on their mind. Blogworld, who recently posted her own voter's manifesto said:
So, in the parlance of the day: Papa has rung the bell.
I can talk the talk like any other Bahamian in 2012. Papa = the current prime minister, Hubert Ingraham. ‘The Bell’ = the announcement of a date for the next general election. I know how to translate the statement.
I just don’t know what it means.
She went on to explain:
Some time ago, I wrote up my own manifesto (since the political parties vying for leadership of the country hadn’t seen fit to share any of their promises or policies for the next five years) as a voter, a participant in a process that is commonly called “democratic”. Since that time, others have joined me in making similar statements, and a few voices have called for our leaders and other politicians to have the balls to step out from behind their carefully crafted propaganda and open themselves up to discussions of issues with reasonable citizens.
But, disappointingly, and with one important exception (Branville McCartney of the DNA) they haven’t.
And this, to my mind, does not bode well for our future.
So my question is this. Given the passion and energy being expended in tearing down the other parties, or the other leaders—in dismissing reasonable questions and observations as ‘FNM’ or ‘PLP’ or even ‘DNA'—each of these being intended as insult, what happens the day after elections, when one party has won and the other(s) has/ve not? How do we work on building a nation of Bahamians?
So as we stare down the home stretch, as we slide into these last three weeks before Bahamians go to the polls and cast our votes, I would like at least one day to be dedicated to having the people who are contesting the elections to tell us what their vision is for this nation. Where do we go from here? How do we find our place in the twenty-first century?
Weblog Bahamas‘ Rick Lowe, meanwhile, hoped that “the level of discussion will be raised for the campaigns”:
If this is what we will get from the opposition it certainly seems to narrow the choice. It also makes me wonder why we must refer to some M.P.s as honourable.
Cuba
Cuban diaspora bloggers acknowledged the passing of Miami-based Catholic Bishop Agustin Roman. Notes from the Cuban Exile Quarter said:
Cubans have lost the physical presence of one of the great leaders of the Cuban exile community who passed away yesterday night at the age of 83 but his spirit and his writings live on. Monsignor Agustín Román wrote and spoke about the challenges facing the Cuban people and…offered a profound analysis of the state of the Cuban dissident movement that remains extremely relevant.
Pedazos de la Isla said of a speech the late Bishop made “about the importance of the internal Cuban opposition, dissidence, or Resistance”:
As he explains in this heartfelt piece, no matter what you call those brave Cubans inside the island, they all fight for justice. And justice is what Roman also represented in his 84 years of life. Although he is now physically gone, he will always spiritually guide not just Cuban exiles, but all Cubans, into freedom. His example was one worth emulating- a true man of God, a true Catholic, and a true Cuban. He was not afraid to tell the world that his brothers and sisters were in need of freedom, he was not afraid to say that he was an exile, and he was not afraid to explain why he was exiled (he was sent out of the country at gunpoint by the Cuban regime). Agustin Roman did not live off of hate or bitterness, and yet, he was clear in explaining that fighting peacefully was not a sign of weakness, but instead a sign of great strength and courage.
babalu shared details about the funeral arrangements:
This afternoon, Father Agustin Roman will be laid to rest. At noon today, a funeral procession will leave La Ermita de la Caridad and make several stops throughout Miami.
Diaspora bloggers also expressed concern about the safety of the man who was arrested before the start of a Papal Mass in Santiago de Cuba for shouting “Down with communism!” and published a translation of an interview with the man's mother.
On island, bloggers were talking about the trial of El Ñaño, an imprisoned Rastafarian priest. (This post gives some background on the case). Even before yesterday's trial, bloggers were tweeting about his innocence; they also live-tweeted the court proceedings, ending with the following update:
The trail has ended but the judgment may be delayed for months.
Other Territories
Jamaica: Abeng News Magazine kept its readers au courant with the latest developments in the Trayvon Martin case.
Puerto Rico: Gil the Jenius likened the country's increasing violence to a cancer.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: And Still I Rise marked the thirty third anniversary of the La Soufriere eruption.
Barbados: Contemporary artist Sheena Rose commented on the stereotypical image many people have of the Caribbean:
The more I travel, the more I realize that people do not know the Caribbean. I get the feeling that they thinking we live at the beach all day, have the steel pan playing and drinking coconuts all day, living in a paradise. Yes to me, my home is my paradise but it have more than the beach and coconuts.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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United Kingdom: Cases of Child Malnutrition on the Rise · Global Voices
Esteve Mata

Charlie Cooper, a collaborator from portal Kaoesenlared [es], published [es] an article on 13th March about the increase in cases of child malnutrition in the United Kingdom. According to FareShare and Kids Company, two charity organisations, many starving children come from immigrant families without work permits and who cannot apply for benefits. However, they have also reported cases of parents in employment who are finding it increasingly difficult to get by due to the high cost of living.

author: Esteve Mata


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Armenia: The mob rules · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Unzipped again comments on last week's cancelled festival of Azerbaijani films in Armenia's second largest city of Gyumri. The blog concludes that the campaign and demonstration against local peace activist Georgi Vanyan illustrated that the ‘mob rules’ and “state structures in Armenia failed to protect constitutional rights and freedom of their citizens.“


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Azerbaijan: Emin Milli speaks at Amnesty International conference · Global Voices
Pervin Muradli

Emin Milli, one of the two ‘donkey bloggers’ detained in July 2009 and later conditionally released in November 2010, posts the transcript of his speech delivered yesterday at Amnesty International UK's National Conference.

author: Pervin Muradli


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Azerbaijan: Free Bakhtiyar Hajiyev · Global Voices
Pervin Muradli

NetProphet comments on the case of Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, a young activist in Azerbaijan who was sentenced to two years in prison on what international human rights groups consider politically motivated charges, and a new campaign to have him freed.


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Business Prospects in Myanmar · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Aim Sinpeng writes about the booming business prospects in Myanmar. Foreign investments have risen especially after the government has pledged to implement some key political and economic reforms

author: Mong Palatino


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China: The Uyghur Question · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

China Matter has an article discussing the best strategy for political groups to save the Uyghur identity, culture and spirit. The blogger believes that violence is not the way.

author: Oiwan Lam