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Africa: It’s time for Big Brother Africa All-Stars · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

On July 18, 2010 Big Brother Africa, a television show produced by Endemol, entered its fifth season with Big Brother Africa All-Stars. The show, which has become the most popular TV reality show in Africa, is being taped at the Big Brother House at Sasani Studios in Johannersburg, South Africa and will run for 91 days.
Other editions were Big Brother Africa 1, Big Brother Africa 2, Big Brother Africa 3 and Big Brother Africa 4: The Revolution.
Bloggers are following the show closely; discussing and sharing information about the show with their readers.
Here are the names of participants from Nigerian blogger Oluniyi Ajao:
Big Brother All Stars will see 14 housemates from 14 African countries come together to compete 24/7 for 91 days in the search for the ultimate winner prize – USD 200 000, watched by audiences on DStv channel 198.
The Big Brother Africa 5 housemates in  the order they entered:
Mwisho from Tanzania
Jennifer from Mozambique
Paloma – Zambia
Munya – Zimbabwe
Code – Malawi
Sheila from Kenya
Yacob from Ethiopia
Sammy from Ghana
Kaone from Botswana
Merly from Namibia
Uti from Nigeria
Lerato from South Africa
Hannington from Uganda
Tatiana from Angola
Bella Naija discusses the first “eviction” and housemates’ revolt:
It was the first eviction show of the ‘All Star’ season of Big Brother Africa. All the housemates were up for eviction and we just knew that ‘biggie’ had something up his/her sleeve!
Before we get back to the evictions, its been an interesting week in the Big Brother Africa All Stars house all week. The housemates have spent the week getting to know each other and basically getting reacquainted with the Big Brother Africa experience. We’ve had Munya and Meryl take a steamy shower together (well not really ‘together’ but at the same time in neighbouring shower stalls), there has been some sizzle between Sheila & Hannington – she seems quite open to the idea, though she warned him that he might not be able to handle her lifestyle.
Finally, the other big news was the Housemates’ Revolt. The housemates got really rowdy on Saturday as they were protesting the lack of food in the house. When things got out of hand and guards were sent in by “Biggie” to calm the situation, the housemates took them hostage and didn’t let them leave. After discussions between the housemates, Tatiana (Head of House) and Biggie; Eventually, the guards were let go and Big Brother rewarded the housemates with an abundant supply of food.
Back to the evictions, Tatiana and Kaone were evicted because they got the lowest amount of viewer votes. However, Big Brother nullified the evictions and reinstated them into the house. That wasn’t all, they were allowed to issue two ‘daggers’ to the other housemates.
JMK of Big Brother Africa Forum describes what happened on Day 25 Diary Session:
During his Day 25 Diary Session, Hannington admitted that he will miss Max for the pranks that he has been pulling on the Barnmates. He told Big Brother that the Barnmates have decided to give him a smelly gift for his troubles.
Sammi told Big Brother it has been a busy day, preparing the outfits for the Big Brother Movie auditions. He admitted he would miss Max and all the jokes they shared. He did, however, add that they gave him a send away gift he is unlikely to find amusing.
Lerato described her costume as a corset-boobtube-cape fusion and her name is Intergalac Chic. Lerato told Big Brother she wasn't sure if Max was going to leave or become a Barnmate. She admitted that his departure saddened them.
Ameyaw Debrah also writes about housemates’ Diary Session:
During his Diary Session, Munya begged his fans to vote to keep Tatiana in the house this week. He told Big Brother that he was appealing to his fans to support Tatiana because she had also done the same for him. He said that though he did not know who else was up for eviction, Tatiana had to stay – little does he know that Head of House Sheila replaced herself with him and he is going head-to-head with the Angolan to stay in the house this week!
Lerato got a surprise visitor to The Barn on Tuesday when her ex-boyfriend Maxwell (from Big Brother Africa Season 2) appeared through the doors. Lerato screamed “Oh my God!” and gave him a huge hug. “What are you doing here! Oh my freaking word,” she exclaimed, before reaching for a cigarette to calm her nerves. After the introductions, Max quickly made himself comfortable with a beer and settled into life in The Barn.
He was quickly up to no good, playing tricks on the Barnmates. First, he hid away cigarettes and drank a few beers. He then set about isolating them and talking to each Barnmate individually, telling them different theories about how the game will pan out.
First up, he told Hannington that he didn’t expect to see Lerato when he came into the Barn. He admitted he and Lerato remained friends after he got married. He also told Hannington that Sammi believes he is from Nigeria. Next, he took Sammi aside and flattered him for having a good character. They shared their experiences about Nigeria. Max even volunteered to prepare a Nigerian specialty for dinner. As soon as he was done chatting to Sammi, Max went back to talk to Hannington and told him he was a big fan.
Finally, sadness fell upon the Big Brother House on 9 August 2010:
Today [9 August 2010] in the Big Brother house, Uti, the Nigerian house mate received a call from home and got very bad news that his dad had passed.
After recieveing the message, Uti wept (Watch Clip Here) and confided in Sheila before making it known to other house mates.The barn  mates however watched everything from the Barn and other house mates have advised that Uti leave the house for his fathers burial and come back afterwards?
Should Uti leave or stay and finish what he already started???What are your thoughts???


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Africa: Yes We Can: Songs About Leaving Africa · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Glenna links to an album with songs about leaving Africa: “Rose Skelton, who writes the lovely blog How di Bodhi, has just compiled an album called Yes We Can: Songs About Leaving Africa.”

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Bangladesh: International Internet Gateways Do Not Support IPv6 · Global Voices
Rezwan

Ahamed Bauani is concerned that the two International Internet Gateways (IIGW)  operational in Bangladesh do not support IPv6 and “do not have any plan to do so”. The blogger advocates for creating a group to pressurize the government to take step to connect Bangladesh with IPv6 network via IIGW.

author: Rezwan


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Blogger questions Fiji spokesperson on lifting media regulations · Global Voices
Michael Hartsell

Blogger Crosbie Walsh interviewed Fiji's Permanent Secretary for Information on why the government has not lifted the Public Emergency Regulations after the country passed new laws governing the media.

author: Michael Hartsell


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China: I am Liu Xianbin  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

First of all, who is Liu Xianbin （劉賢斌）? Liu is 42 years old and has spent almost one third of his life time in jail. Now he is under arrest again. Below is Liu's profile picture:
So what has he done? In 1989, when he was 20 years old, as a junior university student, he participated in the Beijing Tiananmen democratic movement, demanding political reform to stop corruption. However, the military crack down had not stopped Liu from his political activism and he was arrested on April 15 1991, sentenced to 2.6 years under the charge of “spreading anti-revolution seditious propaganda”. He was released in October 1993,  continued to organize democratic political party,  and was again sentenced to 13 year imprisonment under the charge of “state sedition”. He was eventually released in November 2008.
Liu's freedom only lasted for 20 months. On June 28 2010, he was arrested by the Sichuan police because of his political writings. On August 12, he case was handed over to the court under the charge of “inciting state sedition”.
In order to show support for Liu, local and overseas activists started a campaign under the slogan “I am Liu Xianbin” in early July. So far 16 concern groups have been set up, such as Hong Kong group, Shandong group, Anhui group, Inner Mongolia group, Guangxi group, Shaanxi group, and etc.
Liu Feiyao, a social activist from Hubei, explained why he decided to speak out for Liu Xianbin,
民间反响如此之大，除了因刘贤斌对民主、人权长期的不懈地追求外，除了他为了自己的理想受尽磨难以外，还有一个原因就是当局这次做得太过了。大家实在难以 理解和接受，刘贤斌这次出狱只有一年多的时间，除了声援被抓的朋友等不多的行动外，他又能有多少“颠覆国家政权”的行为呢？更何况声援一下被抓的朋友也是 “颠覆“吗？
Information concerning Liu Xianbin's case and the campaign has been censored both in mainstream and online media in China and activists from the concern groups have been under strict monitored. In order to carry on the campaign, beginning from early August, activists started a hunger strike relay and below are a selection of hunger strike activists’ comments on Liu Xianbin's life path.
One of the friends that Liu had defended was Chen Yunfei from Sichuan. Now it is Chen's turn to support Liu through hunger strike:
贤斌救同胞出狼窝，他又深陷虎口。放眼望去，哪里有清静之地？大陆国人谁能会幸免不被伤害？这都是掌权者丧失“政治伦理”所致，是“阶级斗争”思维所赐。 为让我的孩子，我们的孩子不再因言获罪，不再是为争生存权而抗争，我们现在就必须“公开、理性、非暴力”地抗争到天明。
Xu Jianxiong from Shaanxi:
刘贤斌是我们的好兄弟，是中国的好公民。今天他身陷囹圄是因为他无法放弃对正义和良知的坚持。如果我们自己的同胞可以被无端陷害、可以被因言治罪，那么， 这个国家的公正还存在吗？这个民族的希望还存在吗？我们深知，没有每一个中国公民的觉醒和行动，中国的自由和民主是永远不会到来的。绝食，只是表达我们的 一种态度－－我们永远将和正义与良知站在一起！愿刘贤斌早日获得自由，愿国家早日实现民主。
Wei Qiang from Shaanxi
我，是刘贤斌；我的名字却是魏强，这是种声音，是人类精神的桥梁，是社会发展的力量，是追逐自由的奔跑，是精神对人格的塑造。
我，是刘贤斌，我要呼吸，我要奔跑！我要打破所有摧残生命的牢笼。
我，是刘贤斌，我要光，我要自由。

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Wiping Sweat Gate · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

China Hush has a post on the recent “wiping sweat gate”, which explains how propaganda with Chinese characteristic is manufactured.


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Colombia: The 53rd Festival of Flowers in Medellín · Global Voices
Lully Posada

The 53rd Festival of Flowers in Medellín, Colombia took place between July 25th and August 8th. This year, the festival ran longer – it is now 15 days long, and there were many more events. The full schedule of events can be found on the Festival's official page. In addition, there was an increase in the number of people who attended the variety of ceremonies, 150 events, 18 musical stages, and the main event, the parade of Silleteros (flower carriers).
Sigue el caminar de los silleteros by Rubí Flórez and used under a  Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.
The silleteros are a large group of peasants from the community of Santa Elena located one hour from Medellín, and who carry up to 500 wooden frames on their backs with flowers harvested from the region. These days, the festival is a highly organized business and has grown since the first festival that was held on May 1, 1957. The Facebook group “Flower Festival 2010 [es]” provides more information about the history of the event that was created by the illustrious resident Arturo Uribe, who was part of the board of the Promotion and Tourism Office. According to the Facebook group, the first festival:
duró cinco días y fue algo incipiente porque careció del brillo de la actual. Sin embargo, con casetas en varios sitios de la ciudad y con fiestas privadas en los clubes sociales, los antioqueños disfrutaron de la magia de las flores.
The official page of the Silleteros highlights their active participation [es] in the parade and the wooden frames decorated with many types of flowers.
Nuevamente los 500 silleteros y silleteras del Corregimiento de Santa Elena entre niños, jóvenes, adultos y pioneros, tenemos el gusto de invitarlos  este próximo 08 de Agosto, a partir de las 2:30 p.m. a disfrutar de la 53º Versión del histórico Desfile de Silleteros 2010.  (…), enseñaremos que en nuestra comunidad silletera en medio de  flores se puede construir espacios en donde la tolerancia, convivencia, equidad de genero, unión familiar,  nos hace ser una de las mejores representaciones de la cultura colombiana.
This is how this year's Festival of Flowers took place with the attendance of local residents and visitors, and which was talked about in social media and blogs. Xady of the blog Expresate [es], invites his readers to experience the joy from the festival's activities:
La feria de las flores nos trae muchos eventos significativos para toda la comunidad y el pueblo Medellinense con sus respectivos turistas. Debo destacar los espectaculares eventos musicales que se llevan a cabo de la feria de las flores, desde las presentaciones de las bandas músico marciales, tablados artísticos de Latin jazz, festival de bandas en la terminal del sur y artistas representativos de nuestro país como Grupo Galé, Jorge Celedón, Grupo Niche, Andrés cepeda entre otros.
Silleta (detalle) by Rubí Flórez and used under a  Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.
Tomáz Garzía in his blog Mundo Desgrafiado [es], provides another look at the festival, of which he writes, “I couldn't be better inspired to talk about my fellow citizens” and about those who take part:
Por esta época se disfrazan de paramilitares y saltan a la calle de poncho y sombrero, prendas que los campesinos ya evitan para no desentonar con las tendencias de la moda.
There are other activities besides the parade of flower carriers that attract visitors to Medellín, such as the group horse ride. The twitter account of the El Colombiano (@tips9333) newspaper received a photo from Daniela Zapata, who captured the image of a girl who fell off the horse and which was published the picture on Twitpic. Another of these activities is the antique car parade. Richard Klaus of the blog Orgullo Paisa [es] makes reference to the 15 years that the event has been part of the Festival of Flowers:
Este emblemático desfile cumple 15 años de realizarse y año tras año lo hace con mucho más éxito, durante el recorrido podremos deleitar nuestra vista viendo los hermosos y vistosos carros que paseaban nuestra calles paisas hace mucho tiempo y que ahora nos acompañan en tan magno evento.
Blogger Jaime Horacio Arango of DiabloG [es] writes about the “political decision” that took place in regards to the festival's broadcast, in relation to the debate that took place between the television channels Teleantioquia and Telemedellín. This year, Teleantioquia was not given broadcast rights to cover the central event, the Silleteros Parade, even though they had been broadcasting the event for the past 23 years along with Telemedellín. This created negative comments that finally were calmed, supposedly by the Antioquia Governor, Luis Alfredo Ramos, who asked Teleantioquia to follow the Mayor's ruling, who argued that it was a registered brand and that it was Telemedellín's production, but they would facilitate the signal to those who wanted to broadcast it on a regional or international channel. In conclusion, Teleantioquia linked to Telemedellín, and the parade was able to be seen by many more people through regional television channels.
Despite this politicization, each year the Festival of Flowers in Medellín attracts more and more people. The Festival moves the economy and turns the city into a place where one can live its traditions and simple activities.

author: Lully Posada


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Cuba: He’s Back  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Fidel Castro’s return to public life after a four-year absence provokes conflicting emotions here”: Generation Y and Havana Times blog about his reappearance.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Cuba: Marching in Memory  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuban bloggers discuss the harassment of Reina Luisa Tamayo, as she makes attempts to organise commemoration marches to the grave of her son, political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo.


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Guyana: Back Then  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“That man is dead and gone, yet he still shape people minds”: Guyana-Gyal remembers what life was like under Forbes Burnham.


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India: The Blackberry Debate · Global Voices
Rezwan

The Acorn discusses in details about the current dispute with RIM, provider of Blackberry’s messaging system, and the Indian government over encrypted messages and intercepting the communications for state security.


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Nepal: Leadership Vacuum Continues · Global Voices
Bhumika Ghimire

More than a month after the resignation of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal is still without a leader. Four rounds of elections have failed to produce a clear winner, another round is scheduled for August 18th.
Madhav Kumar Nepal. Image by Flickr user izahorski, used under CC license BY-NC-ND
Animesh Roul at MacArthur Foundation's Asia Security Initiative blog says that the fifth round of elections is not expected to work out a breakthrough.
“There is no sight of either a consensus PM or PM elected by the simple majority unless the major parties forge a consensus, which is very unlikely at this moment.  As rightly pointed by Madhav Kumar Nepal, there is a bleak chance in the fifth round also as the differences between competing parties are still persisting. Unfortunately, each party is trying to become winner. Now, it seems the caretaker government will continue for some more time. At this moment only two political parties can bring some kind of respite to this political deadlock in Nepal: The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) and the United Democratic Madhesi Front, an alliance of four Madhes based parties. Although Madhesi are willing to vote for Prachanda, they cannot do that because some external forces are influencing their decision against that. And the UML is adamant on its demand of forming a National Consensus Government. And most importantly, Maoists are also not serious about the government formation. It seems delay and political instability benefits them.”
The current environment of convoluted political deal making and ideology inspired selfishness among major political parties was further complicated when neighboring India sent its special enjoy Shyam Saran to Kathmandu.
Sharan, a former Indian Ambassador to Nepal, was widely criticized during his tenure for allegedly meddling in country's affairs and crossing the diplomatic line. Now that New Delhi has sent him to Kathmandu as “Mr. Fixit”, the Maoists and the right wing nationalists have found strong ammunition to block any proposal from the Nepali Congress and Communist Party (United Marxist and Leninist) – who are seen as favoring Sharan's visit.
Bloggers are also questioning whether India can send an envoy to discuss Nepal internal sensitive matter, without being invited. At Nepali language blog MySansar, Deepak says,
“शरण यसरी आउन मिल्छ कि मिल्दैन। धेरैले शरणलाई माओवादी र तत्कालिन सात दलबीचको भारतको राजधानी दिल्लीमा १२ बुँदे सहमति हुँदा सहजीकरण गरेका व्यक्ति भनी प्रचार गरेका छन्। त्रिभुवन विमानस्थलमा बुधबार अपराह्न उत्रिएलगत्तै भारतीय प्रधानमन्त्री मनमोहन सि‌हको विशेष दूत भएर आएको शरणले गर्वसाथ बताएका थिए। तर कुनै पनि देशको आन्तरिक मामिलामा त्यो देशले नबोलाईकन विदेशबाट विशेष दूत आउन मिल्ने हो कि होइन? भन्नेमा चर्चा हुन आवश्यक छ। यदी कसैले बोलाएको हो भने; कसले बोलाएको हो? उसले प्रष्ट पार्नुपर्यो। यदी होइन भने हाम्रा नेताहरुले हामी आँफै मिल्न सक्छौं तपाइको आवश्यकता छैन भनिदिए कति राम्रो हुन्थ्यो होला।”
Gyanendra, ex King of Nepal. Image by Flickr user izahorski, used under CC license BY-NC-ND
Royalists are also making hay of the situation and demanding that Monarchy should be reinstated to combat against Indian meddling and influence. Anil Bhakta Kharel at Hamro Blog says that it is time to reinstate the monarchy which at least tried to resist foreign influence:
“नेपालको सन्दर्भमा २४० वर्षदेखि शाहवंशले नेपालरुपी घर विग्रन–भत्कन दिएको थिएन। जस्तोसुकै अप्ठ्यारा परिस्थितिमा पनि आफ्नो स्वाभिमान बचाईराखेको थियो। राष्ट्रद्रोहीले भारतमा गएर नाकाबन्दी लगाउन लगाए पनि नेपाली जनतालाई जहाजमा तेल र खाद्यान्न पदार्थ ओसारेर खुवाएकै थिए। जनतासामु झुक्ने तर विदेशीको पाउ कहिल्यै नमोल्ने राजसंस्था जनतासामु झुक्यो। तर नेपाली जनताले त्यस्तो राजसंस्थालाई अझै चिन्न सकेका छैनन।”
As the Maoist and royalists are using the current political crisis to further their agenda and gain mileage, Nepal's economy and law and order situation continues to slide down. Nepal's biggest holiday Dashin is just round the corner. Hopefully, the people will have something to celebrate by then.

author: Bhumika Ghimire


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Pakistan: Under-reporting of Non-Muslims  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Yasser Latif Hamdani at Pak Tea House says that under-reporting of Non-Muslims is a major problem as “it only paints Pakistan as an intolerant society”.


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Philippines: “Jejemon” Translator and the Global Voices Manifesto · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

First, what is Jejemon? It refers to a special combination of internet and mobile phone language which is popularly used by young Filipinos today. Education officials are not happy over this Jejemon craze since they believe it stunts the language ability of students.
A few months ago, Global Voices featured the Jejemons and we quoted the Urban Dictionary Website to define Jejemon
- a person WhO tyPeZ lYKeS tH1s pfOuh..
whether you are RICH, MIDDLE CLASS or POOR ifpK eU tYpE L1K3 tHiS pfOuh..eU are CONSIDERED AS JEJEMON.
– (noun or adj.)—a person who is very expert in typing..
– a person that nevr (sic) gets tired of typing consonants in all of his comments…
– people with very LOW IQ
– a person that destroys the morale of language in any typing media like internet, cellphones…etc…
– a person you want to fuck off and kill
– an emo/gangster who owns all the possible negative qualities of a person.
Now here comes the Jejemon Translator. Normally, Filipino internet users do not use web translation tools since majority are familiar with the English language. But recently, a growing number of Filipinos have been using the Jejemon Translator and some users insist it is “better than Google Translate.” This is still debatable but Jejemon Translator is definitely funnier.
Jejemon Translator website
Why are Filipinos using the Jejemon translator? Well, many are curious to learn the Jejemon equivalent of certain words in Filipino. They also want to be entertained since the Jejemon style of writing and the Jejemon words are humorous.
Let’s try the Jejemon Translator. Usually, Filipino words are used in the Jejemon translation tool but let’s be different today and use the English language. Let us ‘jejemonize’ the Global Voices Manifesto
We believe in free speech: in protecting the right to speak — and the right to listen. We believe in universal access to the tools of speech.
To that end, we seek to enable everyone who wants to speak to have the means to speak — and everyone who wants to hear that speech, the means to listen to it.
Thanks to new tools, speech need no longer be controlled by those who own the means of publishing and distribution, or by governments that would restrict thought and communication. Now, anyone can wield the power of the press. Everyone can tell their stories to the world.
We seek to build bridges across the gulfs that divide people, so as to understand each other more fully. We seek to work together more effectively, and act more powerfully.
We believe in the power of direct connection. The bond between individuals from different worlds is personal, political and powerful. We believe conversation across boundaries is essential to a future that is free, fair, prosperous and sustainable – for all citizens of this planet.
While we continue to work and speak as individuals, we also seek to identify and promote our shared interests and goals. We pledge to respect, assist, teach, learn from, and listen to one other.
We are Global Voices.
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Whil3 we C0Nt!nue 2 wOrk aNd ZpeaK Az !NDIv1duUaLS j3jEJEje, wE alZoH Seek 2 idENt!fY And pRoM0tE ouR zhu@reD 1nt3r3S+z and 60@LZ jeJeJ3jE. w3 pledge 2 ♥ xD ♥ ResPeCT lolZ, @zs!Zt J3Jejej3, ♥ xD ♥ TEAcH pOWZ, Leu@rn fRoM powZSZsSZz, @nd L!Sten 2 oN3 0wTHer.
WE r Gl0WbaL ♥ xD ♥ V0iCEZ pOwZ.
After reading this Jejemon translation of the GV Manifesto, you will now understand the divided reaction of Filipinos to the Jejemon craze. It’s either you find it funny and interesting, or you’re disgusted with it especially the torturous writing style of the Jejemon language. Believe it or not, there are many young Filipinos who are experts in decoding and writing the Jejemon script.
Here are some words from Blog ni Borontok about the Jejemons
I don't like them nor hate them. But I think jejemon was just a fad. We don't have to discriminate or give pessimistic comments about them. They have their own life and sure we have our own. And it's our choice if we want to be with them or just let them exist or hate them. But the bottom line is why are so many Filipino affected with this fad to the point of blogging something awful about our country's education, in our country's people. May be for you they are nonsense but they are who they are. Accept the fact.
“Don’t Judge a Person by its TYPO… *ajejejeje”

author: Mong Palatino


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Russia: Blogger Accredited for 2010 Youth Olympics · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Madina Kucheryavenko (aka LJ user ilgirino [RUS]) will become the first Russian blogger officially accredited for 2010 Youth Olympic Games [EN] after she won the special contest [RUS].

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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Rwanda: Is Rwanda like Singapore? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Is Rwanda like Singapore?: “Pardon me for not blogging about Kagame's electoral victory; it was not much of a surprise. Instead, I've been wanting to talk about something that he mentioned often on the election trail: Singapore.”


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St. Lucia: R.I.P. Sesenne  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Caribbean Review of Books acknowledges the passing of “Marie Selipha ‘Sesenne’ Descartes, St Lucian folk singer and ‘queen of folk culture’.”


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Taiwan: Anniversary of Typhoon Morakot · Global Voices
David Reid

Typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan in August 2009. Paul Katz looks at Xiaolin Village (小林村) one year after the disaster. The focus of the people is now on rebuilding their village.

author: David Reid


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Taiwan: Political Ad based on Hong Kong · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party runs an anti-ECFA ad by painting a negative picture of Hong Kong society. ESWN has the transcript translated.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Red Mango  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Yuh want ah mango? Dance de shango”: Simply Trini Cooking recalls “a little piece of mouthwatering bliss from [her] childhood…sweet red mango.”


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Ukraine: Businessman Seeks Protection Via YouTube, Not Police · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A Donetsk businessman posts hidden camera footage of threats and harassment by a competitor, as well as an appeal for help to the Ukrainian president, on YouTube; the video (RUS) has generated over 56,000 views so far. (A detailed Kyiv Post story by Peter Byrne is here (ENG); Vadim Isakov's GV translation on a similar case in Russia is here.)

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Video: Music videos under 99 USD · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

In an industry where expenses keep rising, making and promoting a music video can get tough. The 99 Dollar Music Video website gives bands and filmmakers a chance to shine with creative videos, shot in one day, edited in one day and costing no more than 99 US Dollars.
As they explain:
$99 Music Videos is an independent music network dedicated to merging  low-fi, cutting-edge videos with the best of today's music scene. Every  week, we feature a debut music video from independent bands who've  teamed up with local filmmakers to making a new, original music videos.
While most of the videos come from continental USA, there have been submissions from other countries, and today we bring you one of those examples. From Brazil, musician qinhO and drgameiro rose up to the challenge, but he only spent 17 dollars on his “Mais de uma Janela” video:
In the following Skype interview, the musician and directors spoke with the channel, which is part of the Next New Networks.
You can also follow QuinhO on YouTube.
Videos are submitted by the artists or filmmakers, and if you have a video that fits their criteria, it can be added to the channel. Although the channel's production has slowed down lately, we hope they surprise us with a new season.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Zambia: The people Vs George Mpombo (former Defence Minister · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Zambian Economist posts the judgement in the the case of The People Vs George Wello Mpombo – where the defendant was charged with a count of dishonoured cheque. Mpombo is a former Defence Minister and a leading critic of Zambian President Rupiah Banda.


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Angola: Hard Days for Freedom of Press · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Isabel Bordalo, a portuguese journalist working in Angola, in her blog, says that the press in that country is going through hard days [pt]. She refers to an episode that happened last week with the newspaper A Capital which was impeded to go out allegedly due to an article about the prices of social housing.

author: Sara Moreira


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Beirut: 10 things to do under $10 · Global Voices
Katharine Ganly

Think visiting Beirut is expensive? Shalabieh at Shalabieh's World gives us suggestions for 10 things to do in Beirut for under $10. See the ideas, and maybe add your own suggestions here.

author: Katharine Ganly


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Brazil: The Indigenous, The Internet and Interculturality · Global Voices
Elisa Thiago

This post is part of our special coverage Forest Focus: Amazon.
Photo by flickr user Lorena Medeiros, published under anAttribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons License
The idea commonly supported in the collective Brazilian imagination, that the indigenous Brazilian is no longer considered indigenous as soon as he or she adopts the customs and technologies inherited from the West, is countered by a reality in which indigenous villages are using information tools and technology with ever more frequency precisely for more efficiently defending their indigenous lifestyle and culture.
In Taqui Pra Ti [pt] blog, an article by Professor José Bessa Freire, coordinator of the Indigenous Studies Program (University of Rio de Janeiro) [pt] and research with the Graduate Program in Social Memoy (UNIRIO) [pt] discusses the indigenous appropriation of citizen media available online and the use of multimedia content to promote socialization, claim rights and affirm indigenous identity in cyberspace:
No Brasil, índios de diferentes línguas e etnias foram estimulados a usar a Internet por organizações governamentais e não governamentais. Embora a situação ainda seja bastante precária, inúmeras das 2.698 escolas indígenas existentes nas aldeias, frequentadas por mais de duzentos mil alunos, foram dotadas de computadores. Ali onde isso não foi possível, os computadores dos postos de saúde da Funasa foram disponibilizados dentro dos Pontos de Cultura no Programa Governo Eletrônico – Serviço de Atendimento ao Cidadão.
With increased computer access, the first indigenous internet sites began to appear in 2001. According to Eliete Pereira, from the Atopos Research Center at the Arts and Communications Faculty of the University of São Paulo [pt], indigenous presence on the internet is still rather erratic [pt]. In a map she prepared of indigenous internet participation [pt], Eliete found three types of sites: personal sites, sites corresponding to particular ethnicities and sites corresponding to indigenous organizations.
Holders of personal sites innovatively used the internet to show individual indigenous production. In this category, for example, we find the sites of writers Daniel Munduruku [pt] and Eliane Potiguara [pt], in which the authors present their books and interact with their readers. We also find the blogs of notable indigenous leaders like Ailton Krenak [pt].
The sites pertaining to specific ethnic groups have been designed to bring greater domestic and international visibility to  particular indigenous ethnicity through the dissemination of arts, indigenous craft art, design patters, narratives and languages of different ethnic groups. This is the case of the Baniwa [pt], the Ashaninka [pt] and so many others who, after participating in the discussion on indigenous access to information technology and the internet in 2005 in Rio de Janeiro, and following the inauguration of the  People of the Forest Internet Portal [pt], began to use these digital tools as part of interculturally-based educational projects supported by the Ministry of Education (MEC) [pt] and NGOs like The Socio-Environmental Institute [pt].
Finally, the sites created by different indigenous organizations are presented online by institutions that represent different ethnic groups, that cover local, regional or national collectives, and that are associated with the fight for land rights, bilingual education and the health of the indigenous population. These sites are tools for claiming rights and pursuing political action. Examples include The Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB) [pt], the Online Indigenous Brazilians [pt] and the Federation of Indigenous Organizaiton of the Back River Region (Rio Negro) (FOIRN) [pt].
The Suruí, information technology and the Amazon Rainforest
A very successful case of political action focussing on the use of digital technologies is the initiative pursued by Almir Narayamoga Suruí [en], chief of the Gamebey tribe of  Suruí Indigenous Brazilians who live in the indigenous village of Sete de Setembro in the state of Rondônia, Brazil. The forest has always played an important role in the lives of the Suruí, both from a cultural point of view and from an economic one, which is why Almir's tribe is engaged in reforesting and in combating deforestation of the ancestral lands through the use of tools like Google Earth and GPS.
In his first consultation in 2007, Almir endeavored to find his village in  Google Earth's satellite image. That was when he immediately noted how much of his people's territory was being threatened by the rampant deforestation of the outlying forest. Yet, at the same time as he grew worried about what he had found, he also noticed that the solution was just before his eyes; the internet could give the Suruí the visibility and cultural strength needed to protect the forest.
A partnership with Google Outreach – Google's social arm, and the Metareil'a indigenous association was signed soon thereafter in 2008. The first tangible result of  this partnership, the so-called cultural map, was made available to internet surfers (using Google Earth), including to Suruí internet surfers. With the technical assistance of ACT-Brasil [pt], the map was prepared based on information collected in conjunction with the Suruí elders and wise men who were familiar with the history and characteristics of the tribal territory.
For Almir, the relationship between Suruí and the internet, this “tool of the white man,” is an innovative attempt to ensure that “contact” reinforces, not corrupts, indigenous lifestyle. In the case of the Suruí,  their first contact [pt] with the European-influenced culture and society of Brazil occurred in September 1969:
[Há] apenas 40 anos os primeiros homens brancos penetraram em nossa floresta. Cheios de esperança, recebemos estes visitantes com a intenção de estabelecer relações de paz com o mundo externo. Contudo, nossa esperança para o futuro se deparou com imensa tragédia. Apenas dois anos depois do primeiro contato, a população Suruí diminuiu de 5.000 pessoas para 290. Além de muita gente nossa morrer devido a doenças novas para nós, nossa cultura foi ameaçada de extinção por causa da morte de nossos anciãos. Aos 17 anos, assumi o papel de chefe. Hoje, busco apoio do mundo externo, com esperança renovada.
According to the NGO Aquaverde [pt] the Suruí have been “precursors” and “an example” for other indigenous groups in the efficient fight against invaders and destroyers of their lands, but
[e]ste sucesso ainda é frágil e ameaçado, precisa se consolidar, mas o desmatamento não progride mais nas terras Suruí. Infelizmente, várias áreas foram profundamente afetadas pela falta da floresta. No entanto, os Suruí conseguiram se libertar da dependência dos madeireiros, voltar às suas atividades tradicionais e desenvolver novas, tais como: piscicultura, cafeicultura e artesanato.
A second initiative has been technology training for approximately 20 indigenous Brazilians in the association`s headquarters in Cacoal. A third step will pursue the more ambitious stage of the “partnership” to use internet resources: combatting the deforestation of the Sete de Setembro Reserve in real time. In order to achieve this, the Suruí will be given smartphones that are equipped with Google's Android system, which will enable them to capture occurrences of deforestation in real time, post images on the internet and send them to the world and to the proper authorities.
The argument that indigenous identity is lost on account of the adoption of digital technologies thus becomes baseless. In fact, the Suruí intend to strengthen their right to preserve, to the greatest extent possible, their relationship with the earth and the culture inherited from their ancestors.
See a video: Trading Bows and Arrows for Laptops
This post is part of our special coverage Forest Focus: Amazon.

author: Elisa Thiago


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Ecuador: Twitter Users Love Their Country · Global Voices
Milton Ramirez

Ecuadorian twitter users celebrated the anniversary of the independence of their country in a very special manner. Each year on August 10, the people of this South American country commemorate independence from Spain in 1809, becoming the Luz de América (Light of America). It is also an opportunity to for civics, and as a national holiday, most government employees have the day off.
Cayambe (left) and  Antisana (right) volcanoes, seen from the summit of Cotopaxi, at (19,347ft) above sea level by Flickr user magnusvk and used under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license
But this year was a bit different, especially for net citizens active in the use of blogging tools and social networks. Many of these users wanted to show a more positive side of their country. Through an idea of bloggers Pablo Garzón, Alfred Naranjo, Alfredo Velazco, Paúl Barahona, and Priscilla Riofrio, a website was built to support the project called Te Amo Ecuador (I Love You, Ecuador). The project promoted the use of the hashtag #teamoecuador to be used on the anniversary of Ecuador's Independence. According to the site [es]:
El objetivo es mostrar la deliciosa gastronomía, sitios turísticos, paisajes únicos, glorias deportivas, su historia y demás detalles de Ecuador, demostrando de esta manera nuestro orgullo de ser ecuatorianos.
No matter where an Ecuadorian was located, at home or abroad, the initiative found plenty of support. Even the national government participated with a tweet with the corresponding hashtag [es] coming from the official Presidential twitter account (@presidencia_ec). The organizers asked others to tweet at three different times: at 11:00, 16:00, and 22:00, which are considered to be peak hours for internet access in Ecuador.
Rocío Elizalde of the blog La Libertad de Expesión es un Derecho del Periodismo en Ecuador [es] (Freedom of Speech is a Journalistic Right in Ecuador) explains why she participated in the #teamoecuador project:
Se reflejó pasión por Ecuador, ya que cada twitter de #teamoecuador tenía una característica de porque Ecuador es una país para amar con pasión. Esto nos permitió reconocer lo megadiversos que somos, lo grande que somos, lo maravilloso que tenemos y la calidad de gente que hay en este maravilloso Ecuador.
Blogger Patty_LDU writes about why Ecuador's Independence is considered the first of its kind in Latin America [es] and what was the role of one of her founding mothers, Manuela Cañizares [es]. She asks how should Ecuadorians honor the founders of this country:
En la historia de sudamérica este fue el primer paso primordial, y mucho mas allá de la historia, hoy debemos recordar porque estos héroes de la patria lo hicieron? Será que ahora con tantas posibilidades tecnológicas en nuestras manos podemos decir PRESENTES?, y mostrarle al mundo lo que somos y por lo que peleamos
Inspired by the information [es] on ways to achieve trending status, #teamoecuador managed to reach seventh place for trending topics around the world on Tuesday, August 10. Twitter users also attracted the attention of many of the major media channels in Ecuador. However, this achievement followed a similar placing on the trending topic lists. On August 2, twitter users in Ecuador spread information about a UFO sighting in Guayaquil, but actually turned out to be a kite [es]. Blogger Stalin Granda cites some of statistics [es] and writes that at noon on August 10, there were 4,402 tweets with the hashtag from 1,034 different Twitter account.
While most people seemed to be pleased with the #teamoecuador initiative and the good feelings toward their country, there were people who did not feel like celebrating. Blogger Andrea Caracola [es] had doubts about this nationalistic pride. While she is happy that Google Ecuador featured the independence of her country, she writes that she is not especially proud of being Ecuadorian.
Soy ecuatoriana porque así dice en mi partida de nacimiento, porque me tuve que agachar a besar una bandera y porque así lo imprimieron en mi cédula, pero nacionalista jamás. Lo siento señores, pero no me siento orgullosa de haber nacido aquí. De 1 universo, 9 planetas, 204 paises, 5 continentes, 809 islas, 7 mares …¡justo tuve que nacer aquí!
There were other hashtags like #QuieroEcuadorEnTT (I Want Ecuador on Trending Topic) and #ApoyoEcuadorTT  (Support Ecuador Trending Topic) that did not receive the same amount of support. Blogger from La Plegaria de un Pagano [es], even thought at one time, that the project was funded by the national government to show a false sense of conciliation.
Despite these suspicions and feelings of not being nationalistic, there were many Twitter users who enjoyed using the hashtag on the national holiday.

author: Milton Ramirez


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Guinea: At Long last, a Date for the Second Round of the Presidential Elections · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

On August 9, It was with great relief that Guineans learned  that the President of the transition, General Sekouba Konate had signed a decree for the second round of presidential elections to be held on September 19 [Fr].
The date was initially scheduled to be sometimes in mid-July then in the first weekend of August, but due to challenges from 23 of the 24 first round presidential candidates, the Supreme Court needed more time than expected. The Supreme Court explains its decision about the delay and suggesting a new date to the CENI (Commission électorale nationale indépendante), as reported by guineeenligne.net [fr]:
En Guinée, la Cour suprême, plus haute instance judiciaire du pays, autorise la CENI, la Commission électorale nationale à proroger le délai fixé par la loi pour organiser le second tour de l’élection présidentielle. La Loi guinéenne stipule que le second tour doit avoir lieu 14 jours après la proclamation officielle des résultats du premier tour qui s’était tenu le 27 juin dernier. Les résultats n’avaient été officialisés que le 20 juillet et le second tour aurait dû se tenir le 4 août.
C’est après une crise de confiance entre la CENI et quelques candidats au premier tour du scrutin présidentiel du 27 juin dernier que cette institution a tenu à faire une mise au point portant sur des accusations de vol de bulletins, de détournement d’urnes et de manipulations de chiffres.
"Waiting to enter the voting station in Guinea" Photo by UNDP on Flickr CC Attribution 2.0 Generic license
Among the most critical candidates had been Sidya Toure, who came third in the first round. Supporters of the leader of the UFR (Union of Republican Forces) explained on their Facebook page:
We reject these results, which do not reflect the outcome in the polls. It does not call into question the process, but the Department intends to exhaust all the options the law allows before accepting the results of the elections.
Radio-Kankan also reported that his followers recently organised a public protest:
Monday, July 5, all dressed in red, went out in the streets in some neighborhoods of the capital to protest against what they called, with a good dose of bad faith, fraudulent manipulation of the results that their leader is the victim.
Sidya Touré himself used harsh words against the interim President, who was so upset by the attacks that he threatened to quit his position as leader of the transitional government.
Another former prime minister, Lansana Kouyate, who arrived fourth in the first round, also made critical remarks against the CENI, through his spokewoman, Zalikhatou Diallo.  Here are his words as reported  by Magbana on the blog Guineaoye:
We found massive fraud in Conakry and its municipalities — Matam, Ratoma, Matoto — and in Siguiri and Kankan,” two cities in Upper Guinea, said Zalikhatou Diallo, campaign director for Lansana Kouyate, leader of the Party of Hope for National Development (PEDN).
In Conakry, Matam, Matoto and Ratoma, ballot boxes disappeared (overnight) only to reappear in the morning. There has also been stuffing of ballot boxes” in the polling centres, she said.
In Kankan, Diallo alleged there were false polling stations and in places more votes were counted than there were registered voters. She also added that in Sigiri, there had been “fraud and ballot-stuffing as well as voter intimidation and instances of multiple voting”.
On August 2,  Prof. Alpha Condé addressed a letter to the Acting President that was reposted on the blog guineelibre.com and cosigned by the leaders of the parties that support him, asking him to simply dismiss the President of the Independent National Electoral Commission , its director of planning and of operations. In the letter, Prof. Conde and party leaders on his side argue the following:
It seems unacceptable and even outrageous that the CENI had made no reasonable efforts to pass the Court minutes of constituencies as important as those of Kankan, Mandiana Lola Ratoma and Matam, while the transmission is in the case law and its responsibility, whether or not electoral dispute.
These complaints  have been followed by legal actions against the Director of Planning of the Independent National Electoral Commission El Hadj Boubacar Diallo. According to information released by ondes-guinee.info,  Diallo was due to appear  before the Court of First Instance of Dixinn on August 12 to answer these charges.
The Prime Minister of the transition, Mr. Jean-Marie Doré, former spokesman of the Forum des forces vives (grouping opposition parties, trade-unionists and civil society movments), had also expressed his reservations on the shortcomings of the CENI and the date of the second round. The conakrynews.net blog reports the prime minister's views on the imperfections of the electoral process so far and what the CENI should correct for the second round:
To fix the date of the second round, Jean-Marie requires to correct « deficiencies, deficiencies and excesses that occurred during the first round, are placed so that everyone can say that the maximum has been done to that the election be transparent. For the transparency of elections requires that all acts required by law to be performed.
All these complaints against the CENI have caused concerns within the international community, which is following the evolution of events in Guinea with special attention since the violence of September 2009 perpetraded by military against the civilian population.
Many African personalities visited Conakry to convince the political players to go forward with the electoral processus: J. Ping, President of the Commission of African Union, Amadou Toumani Touré of Mali, Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal. Even US President Obama urged Guinean citizens on August 7 to make sure that  their first free presidential elections is a successful one by holding a peaceful second round.
On Guineaoye, Mr. Compaore urges the CENI to hold the second round as quickly as possible.  He says if you allow a lot of space and time between two rounds of voting, new complications can arise that disrupt the electoral process.  He says Guinea is setting an example for other countries and should not let the opportunity slip through its fingers.
Still, Guinea is not far from disaster when one considers the division between the principal political agents. The first round results showed that voters had voted mostly based on ethnic groups rather than candidates’ programs. Alliances between former candidates have divided the country into two blocks that are getting more polarized everyday.
Amdy‘sblog summarizes the situation in these terms:
The trend is that the second round of this election seems to have divided the nation into either good or bad citizens, depending on the beholder's point of view. This division may be more profound than ever. Formulating an opinion right now in Guinea is often met with skepticism by key players.
The shortcomings of CENI are mostly due to poor organization, lack of training of electoral officers and the fact that political parties did not play their role properly. For a better preparation for the second round, the site guineelive.com, informs that CENI is taking the following steps:
CENI signed an agreement with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) for additional training for members of polling stations for the second round of the presidential elections to address shortcomings noted in the first round. The aims are to enable members of polling stations to ensure properly their roles and responsibilities and can drive perfectly techniques of voting.
The Director of IFES (International Foundation for Electoral Systems), Elizabeth Cote adds:
Overall for the second round, 45,000 polling officers will be trained for the second round for a total budget equivalent to the first round (3.7 billion GNF)
Now it is for all parties to play their part and train their representatives in order to  ensure that the Guineans elect a president without legal complaints from the challengers.
[For more background on the Guinean elections, here is a recap of the events from the death of  Lansana Conté to the start of the electoral process and a review of the first round of the elections].

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Jordan: Royal Conversations · Global Voices
Katharine Ganly

What would a confidential meeting between King Abdullah of Jordan and his extended family be like? Mab3oos gives us a fly-on-the-wall view in this humourous post, the first of a series of tongue-in-cheek glimpses into what goes on behind closed doors.


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Peru: Protests in La Convención Over Export of Gas  · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Social conflict continues in Cusco, Peru over the sale of the gas from the Camisea Gas Project, where local residents demand an increase in the amount of royalties for the region, and they also want to assure that a part of the production remains in the region available at a reasonable price. To date, gas has been sold at a higher price locally, than the price of the exported gas. After the June 17 strike [es] that took place in various departments in Southern Peru against the sale of gas, and after President Alan García announced [es] in his Independence Day message to the nation that the sale of gas would not stop, but that there would be renegotiation of the royalties of the sale, came news of an indefinite strike [es] that was announced in the province of La Convención in late July.
The protests have been concentrated in Quillabamba, the capital of La Convención, and in the area of Echararte, where various gas stations are located. On July 30, 17 people who tried to overtake these facilities were detained [es]. Due to these attempts and because fiber optic cable was cut [es] by the protesters, the government declared a state of emergency [es] in the region, a measure that was rejected [es] by the regional president of Cusco. The 17 people were later released [es].
Meanwhile, members of Congress and government ministers declared that these actions were part of the political platform [es] of certain people (referring to the protest leaders) or that they were using the excuse of gas [es] to generate conflict. The regional leaders refused to travel to the capital city of Lima [es] to negotiate an agreement, and on the contrary, called for government representatives to appear in the region.
These events have various sides. For example, the opinions expressed about the negotiation of the royalties have led to some suspicions and disbelief. Gladys Pereyra of the blog Pizarra Blanca [es] comments:
Lo que se pretende con esta renegociación es evitar que los  peruanos  paguemos más que los extranjeros por un gas que nos pertenece.  ¿Es esto  posible? La propuesta es aumentar las regalías … y con ello  equilibrar el precio nacional e internacional.  Eso sí, reiterando  siempre que los contratos originales “hayan sido  hecho antes” del  actual gobierno, el precio del gas para la exportación  “no fue  adecuadamente planteado”
And Jorge Manco of Bitácora del Perú y del Mundo [es] provides analysis from the economic point of view, but not obvious with the political point of view, above all that from the left and concludes:
En la presente  coyuntura política de tránsito político, la  izquierda tiene el desafío  de asumir un discurso moderno que promueva  la inversión privada,  facilite la capitalización del país en  condiciones equitativas para el  Estado, empresas y regiones. De allí,  que la negación dogmática a la  exportación del gas natural nos haría  retroceder a la vigencia de  políticas insensatas e irresponsables del  pasado, donde “el remedio  resultaba peor que la enfermedad”. Por tanto,  el gobierno debe con  firmeza liberar las reservas del lote 88 de los  compromisos de  exportación y renegociar los precios y regalías del lote  56.
In the blog Gran Combo Club [es], Silvio Rendón focuses on the topic and the inability of the government facing the protests. Rather than analyzing the relevance of what was claimed, they prefer to accuse the protesters of politicking and even though it was a pre-announced protest, nothing was done to prevent it.
Recién ayer domingo el gobierno saca un comunicado  condenando a los que  protestan tildándolos de “dirigentes electoreros”,  pues se presentan  como candidatos a las elecciones regionales y  municipales, con el  objetivo, según el gobierno de apoderarse de los  recursos “de todos los  peruanos”. Hay un campesino desaparecido, aquí. También: La Convención en paro contra la venta del gas de Camisea. Ora se presenta a los dirigentes sociales como distantes de las autoridades políticas, ver aquí,  ora se los presenta como “electoreros”. Difícil articular una propuesta  política a partir de protestas y movimientos sociales cuando se  criminaliza a esta articulación como “electorera”.
The following video (used with permission) from Enlace Nacional shows the protest act of washing of the flag by members of the Workers Federation of Cusco:
After these escalating protests and the governments refusal to negotiate with the protesters, Monsignor Carbrejos, president of the Episcopal Conference mediated [es]. He traveled to the town of Quillabamba to try and calm things down and bring both parties together to sit down and talk. Talks finally took place on Monday, August 9, when the Premier Velásquez Quesquén appeared in the town of Kiteni [es] in Echarate to dialogue with representatives of the communities after they decided to suspend the strike. For the moment, there is calm, however, we must be vigilant because the suspension of the strike is temporary. If the government does not fulfill its promises, the strike will restart.
More news can be found on the blogs Sicuani Noticias [es] and Quillabamba Noticias [es]. In addition, this blog republished an article from Mexico that provides another perspective on the topic: Natural gas from Peru: For Mexico or for Repsol? [es]

author: Juan Arellano


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Republic of Congo: Anniversary of 50 Years of  Independence Under the Shadow of Unemployment · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Benjamin Bilombot Bitadys at Congopage writes that it's puzzling that Congo-Brazzaville is spending 27 billions of CFA francs on the celebration  of the anniversary of the independence (August 15) when 53% of the population (mostly young people) is still unemployed [fr].

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Serbia: Banking Group Turns Well-Intentioned Suggestion Into PR Disaster · Global Voices
Danica Radisic

The lack of understanding that major corporations still have for what's being said online may not come as a shock. Intesa SanPaolo [ENG, ITA], Italy's largest banking group and one of the largest players in Eurozone, however, has in recent days demonstrated plain poor business sense and a complete disregard for basic public relations in a breaking story on the Serbian market.
Over the past day, a blog post titled Catastrophic PR for Banca Intesa Beograd [SRP] by Istok Pavlovic, one of the country's more influential bloggers and a former Internet marketing university teaching assistant, has been spreading like wildfire through the regional online community:
A current issue these days is the scandalous action by Banca Intesa Beograd toward a common citizen who, entirely well intentioned, sent them a business proposal. Whoever wishes to, can read the somewhat long text on ekriminal.com [SRP]…
Upon reaching the destination provided in Mr. Pavlovic's post, one finds a seemingly common story. Vlada Cuckovic, the author of the blog, which is described as “an open platform for discussing e-crime,” recounts the recent events that led to a shocking reaction from Intesa SanPaolo Group:
Since I have an idea on how to enable the progress of applying electronic commerce, I looked for a link to electronic payment. Searching the Internet, I came to the conclusion that only Banca Intesa has processing of Internet debit cards in Serbia. The first thing I noticed when visiting their site http://www.bancaintesabeograd.com/ was the length of the domain name. I came upon an idea, purchased the domain eIntesa.com, created a proposal for the site, new logo and sent Banca Intesa the following e-mail:
Dear Sirs/Madams,
To arrive to your bank's site one types the following address: bancaintesabeograd.com. 22 characters are necessary and, if one adds ‘www.’ it takes 26 characters, while the general trend is the shortening of domain names. The word ‘banca’ is in Italian, while ‘beograd’ is in Serbian, having the name of the bank ‘Intesa’ in between…
We propose that the address www.eIntesa.com be the landing page for the new site that will offer electronic banking services.
How much does the domain cost?
We wish to collaborate with you and are prepared to offer the domain www.eIntesa.com as a gift.
Our wish is only that you view the attached proposal for increasing the competitiveness of your MSP sector.
Attached are the logo and proposal for Intesa.
Sounds reasonable, right? In the worst case scenario, a mid-level executive employee of Intesa SaoPaolo Group would waste half an hour reading through the proposal and then decide whether to shape it to Intesa's business plan and policy, then ship it off to a higher executive and turn out to be an innovative employee, or brush the proposal off and go about his daily bank executive routine. At first, Vlada Cuckovic thought he got the latter, a regular corporate brushoff, as Intesa replied:
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your proposal. At this time we do not have plans for the development of such portals for the Bank….
Mr. Cuckovic let matters be and had almost forgotten about the proposal when he was summoned for a police interview by the Inspector for High Technology Crime in Belgrade on July 12. He immediately accepted the summons and reported to the SIV [Federal Executive Assembly] building for an interview, where he was first informed that Intesa SanPaolo Group had filed a case against him with the World Intellectual Property Organization[ENG]  of the U.N., based in Geneva. He also emphasized in his blog post that the Ministry of Internal Affairs and inspectors deserved praise and called the interview a “pleasant and sensible conversation with an inspector who has a PhD next to his name”.
Pleasant conversation aside, SanPaolo Group's claim has been filed and WIPO's site confirms that the case is active [ENG], probably meaning it is currently being investigated. The very notion that a serious global business would invest at least USD $1,500 for arbitration, added to whatever they will have to pay attorneys and other expenses regarding this claim, instead of contacting the owner of this Web domain, whose name, contact information and proposal they already possess is more than enough to baffle anyone living in the civilized world. Mr. Cuckovic and the vast majority of those now following the story wonder why no attempt was made by Banca Intesa Beograd or Intesa SanPaolo Group to contact him and resolve this matter internally, or at least quietly. For this purpose, Mr. Cuckovic has left his telephone number on his blog post, should anyone from Banca Intesa decide to discuss the matter directly with him.
Intesa SaoPaolo may be among those corporations that do not take citizen journalism or opinions spread through the Internet seriously, but the reality is that the story being spread on the local blogosphere as this article is being written may bring a massive blow to Banca Intesa's reputation and client relations in the country and farther.
Istok Pavlovic, who just last month received a gift from a mobile provider due to an unsolicited positive text on his blog about their network, concludes his blog post on the Intesa matter with a suggestion of his own:
If Banca Intesa wishes to wash its hands of this situation, my suggestion is that they not even consider coming out with a statement to the effect of “we wanted to protect the interests and intellectual property of the Bank…” because this will only infuriate their potential clients and drive them to other bloodsuckers.
I suggest that they make a public statement that the person from the bank responsible for this has been fired (even if they haven't really) and to offer a public apology to this man for the impropriety.
However, I believe they won't even be heard of. Because, for God's sake, who reads blogs on the Internet anyway.
For example, my site has some 10,000 visits per month and mostly by people who have no interest at all in business or entrepreneurship, but have come here to read about fishing. Plus all the other blogs and forums writing on this subject. That's not much. So, Banca Intesa, you don't need to do anything. Just relax.
Mr. Pavlovic's clear sarcasm here is a perfect reflection of the general opinion of the local online community on this matter and on the general disregard of major corporations for public opinion expressed on the Web in Serbia. Whether Intesa SanPaolo stand a chance of winning their case before the WIPO and whether public opinion and common sense will prevail remain to be seen. The irony of it all seems to lie embedded in the domain name www.eIntesa.com, proposed by Vlada Cuckovic: translated from Italian, it means “eUnderstanding.”

author: Danica Radisic


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South Korea: A Pastor Facing Arrest for Visiting North Illegally · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

A left-inclining South Korean pastor who made an unauthorized trip to North Korea will be arrested for violating the National Security Law as soon as he returns to South,  South Korea’s Joongang reported.  Pastor Han is scheduled to return tomorrow from his 10 day visit to North.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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South Korea:South Korean President Opened His Twitter · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

South Korean President, Lee Myung-bak opened his official Twitter account (@BluehouseKorea) yesterday, South Korea’s IT online media ZDnet reported [kr].


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Afghanistan: Just get rid od Karzai · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust reflects on the popular belief that Hamid Karzai is the main problem in Afghanistan. “What can we do about it? The usual answers seem to involve removing Hamid Karzai in some way—with all its myriad problems usually left unsaid”, he writes.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Azerbaijan: Ramadan · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

From the Land of Fire, a blog by a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer working in Azerbaijan, details Ramadan in the form of a daily diary. In the first post, the blogger says that although she is not Moslem, she wanted to attempt to fast and also hope other PCVs will better understand the tradition as a result. By the third day, however, things were not going as smoothly as the first and second days although had improved by the fourth. The blog will continue to document Ramadan until it finishes on 9-10 September at http://raechellewatkins.blogspot.com.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Bangladesh: Online Journalism And Multimedia · Global Voices
Rezwan

Mahadi Hasan Talukder, an online journalist, comments on the slow speed internet in Bangladesh and the phenomenon of media portals not using multimedia options properly to assist online journalists.

author: Rezwan


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China: Are the greatest natural disasters Man-Made? · Global Voices
Gabriel Nada

The Chinese Propaganda Department has issued notice to mainstream and online media outlets regarding the recent disaster in Zhouqu. For the Chinese government, it is a time to mourn rather than digging up the man-made mistakes. Reporters, hence, have been asked to leave the landslide area. However, if we don't admit the man-made mistakes, how can we prevent future ones?
最大的天灾就是从来不承认有人祸
The above quote is one of the hottest QQ micro-blogpost by Lian Yue (连岳). So long as culpability for the human role in ‘natural disasters’ is ignored and denied we will continue to see occurrences of human suffering and loss around the world. Staying within the scope of this post  to deal with the world inside China, we can look back over the last 8 months of 2010 and see an enormous amount of wasted potential, energies and lives through ‘natural disasters’ in which either human hands played a role in bringing these events about in the first place, or better human planning, foresight, and recognition of the conditions could have prevented such serious consequences.
Indeed, on SOSO's blog search for ‘natural disaster’ (天灾), the first result returned is a blog entitled Natural Disaster together with Man-made Disaster (天灾与人祸) by blogger ‘Small Qiao Running Water Family’ (小桥流水人家). Just three results down is the title Regarding Natural Disasters, Can We Only “Blame Nature” and not “Fault People”? (面对天灾，我们能只“怨天”不“尤人”吗？) posted by ‘Good Morning!’ （早安） Directly following this post is Southern Region's Water Crisis- Natural Disaster or Man-made Disaster? (南方水灾天灾还是人祸？) by ‘Sacred Land Mother Earth” (神州大地).
What is the human role behind the toll of natural disaster?
As of this posting, of the first 10 results on SOSO, 5 of the titles specifically question whether these ‘natural disasters’ should really be considered natural disasters. 8 of the 10 deal with precisely this subject of when does the real responsibility for the grave human and economic consequences of ‘natural disaster’ truly lie with humanity and not nature?
Writing on July 20th 2010,  QQ user, Struggle (奋斗) says,
地震没多久，又来大水了，每天都在宣传，史上最猛的洪水，超过九八年的。
九江又决堤了，也超过九八年的。年年拨款，年年筑堤，年年防汛，年年抗洪，结果咧，该淹没的还是没了，不该决堤的也决了。九八年的时候出现了个工程，学名叫做豆腐渣。从地震和大水来看，这个工程在中国遍布神州啊，估计大禹要是活着也拿这水没招。
每次出现这些天灾，政府都是快速反应，全民捐款，然后来，当天灾再次来临，AGAIN。只能说，政府这事后诸葛亮当得还是比较称职的，那平日的那些关系民生国计的工程起什么作用呢？地震的时候学校医院倒了，大水的时候堤坝垮了，来战争的时候部队散了，整人的时候来劲了。从没说起过追究责任，难道在天灾面前就可以忽略人为的因素，每次看见敬爱的温总理，总是在想，好人，但那是你应该的，每次看见部队在抢险，总是琢磨，感人，但那也是应该的。在这些事面前，这是政府职能，反倒是忽悠百姓捐款不靠谱，群众不能为政府的过失买单。
只提天灾，不讲人祸。
Jiujiang's dam burst again- also worse than in ‘98. Funds are allocated every year, dikes are built every year, flood control every year,  fighting floods every year- the results? Children crying. Areas that are supposed to be submerged are wiped out. Where the dam shouldn't burst it bursts. In ‘98 an engineering project was put in place, scientifically known as “soy bean dregs” [term for a program hastily thrown together without substance]. Surveying the aftermath of the earthquakes and heavy rains, these projects- which are spread throughout China's sacred land- makes it seems that even if Yu the Great [mythical Chinese ruler from the 21st century B.C.E. who stopped the floods] were living, he couldn't hold back the waters.
Every time these natural disasters appear the government is quick to respond. Everyone donates. Afterward, the same disaster strikes. AGAIN! Keeping in mind that everyone is a genius in hindsight, one can only say that the government is reasonably competent in dealing with these issues- but in terms of a relationship to people's everyday lives, what use do these programs actually have? When an earthquake strikes the schools and hospitals still collapse. When heavy rains fall the dams still burst. When conflict arises the army is still scattered.  During the time of causing people harm  there's no problem. There's never an investigation into responsibility. Don't tell me that in the face of natural disasters we can simply neglect the role of man-made causes. Every time we see beloved President Wen we always think “he's a good man”, but that's what he should be. Every time we see the army react in an emergency we always consider it to be touching- but that's what they should do. When facing these issues, that is the government's role- not tricking the average people into donating funds. The people shouldn't be paying on behalf of the government's bill.
Only natural disaster is mentioned, not the man-made causes.
Looking through a blog search of ‘natural disaster’ (天灾) on 163.com, one also finds the common thread of questioning the nature of why these disasters are so costly in terms of lives, production, economics and the future. As of this posting,  8 of the 10 titles returned for the first page of results on 163.com directly question the involvement of ‘man-made disaster’ (人祸) in the catastrophic aftermaths of these events.
163.com user ‘Safe Harbor’ (避风港) writes in The Main Culprits in Natural Disasters are We Ourselves (天灾的祸首是我们自己):
突如其来的天灾，让人们措手不及，看着惨不忍睹的一幕幕，令人心碎，让我首先想到的是大自然对人类的惩罚，曾经的参天大树，茂密的森林，伴随着油锯的轰鸣，轰然倒下，变成了人们享受的各式用品…堤坝内的清清的河水和堤坝后的柳林是我儿时的天堂，不记得何时，柳林没了，土堤坝变成了厚实的沙石坝，绵延数里，很壮观，换成了另外一道风景。可是在肆虐的洪水面前，它们却是那么的不堪一击！…肆意毁林开荒，带来的结果是植被被大肆破坏，土地不能发挥蓄水的功能…为了发展地方经济，职能部门没有计划的审批，大量的林地，变成了一片片的参园，后续监督的不力，是山坡永远的失去了森林和绿色。同样是为了发展地方经济，招商引资，无计划的建设了数家木材加工厂，连绵数十家，形成了所谓的产业园区，领导政绩抹上了浓浓的一笔，带来的后果，谁考虑了呢？当时，林业专家们难道真的不知道后果吗？合法的木材审批指标能够满足这么多业户的需求吗？…无论是谁，在经历这场天灾之后，都应该认真的想想了。
What seems to be further evidence of poor human and government policy and planning comes from ‘Very Green’ (何青青)  in a piece entitled Please Permanently Remember this Unpunished Sin—Incontrovertible Proof that Man-made Disasters exceed Natural Disasters (请苍天记住这笔孽债—人祸甚于天灾的铁证 ):
2010年7月6日新京报A26版登载了一条很不起眼但却触目惊心的消息：防洪水库内建千栋别墅！
报 道说“1958年的那场特大水灾，促成了苦池水库的建设。苦池村所在地天然地势低洼，每每发水，始建于后魏正始二年的人工渠道无法分流洪水，苦池村及周围 村庄总是被淹。1958年，政府在苦池滩修建调洪区，即现在的苦池水库。……1959年建成后，运城没再出现特大水灾。苦池村村民介绍，2006年，在干 枯多年后，库区修建了180亩的东湖，并在水库南部造假山，许多地方开始建房。2009年，这里变成了运城‘东花园’。”
据 有关资料称：水库里最大的非防汛永久性建设项目是占水库面积三分之一的“企业老板别墅区”。该别墅区的官方名称叫“关公企业之家会员俱乐部”。对于记者提 出的有无合法手续、何时售房、房价如何等疑问，一个名叫张俊的经理说：“所有手续齐全，包括土地证、房产证等预售五证全有。每平方米的价格为7000元到 15000元，每栋500万左右吧。”他说，“我们主要面对中小企业家群体，是为这个阶层服务的。”一位当地知情人对记者表示“就是为山西煤老板们建设的 煤老板别墅区。”
The report stated: “1958's great flood facilitated the building of the reservoir. The natural site of the reservoir village was in low-lying terrain. The old irrigation ditches which had been started were not enough to divert the water. The reservoir village and surrounding hamlets were constantly submerged. In 1958, the government built a flood-control basin- the existing reservoir. After its completion in 1959, Yuncheng did not receive more flooding. In 2006, the reservoir village introduced the building of 180 villas as well as a rock garden in the southern part, building in many areas. In 2009 this became Yuncheng's ‘East Garden’.”
A related piece of information says: the largest permanent structure without flood protection- covering one-third of the reservoir's surface area- was the “Company Boss's Villa District”. The official name for the villa district was “Guangong Company Family Member's Club”. As to questions raised by the reporter regarding whether or not lawful procedure was followed- when the building was constructed, what the price of the housing was, these kinds of issues- a certain Manager Jun Zhang said: “All the procedures were completed- including land deeds, property titles, all 5 of the official certificates for the advance sale of property. Each square meter was between 7000-15,000 RMB. Each structure was around 500 square meters. ” He continued,”We principally served small and medium sized business entrepreneurs- that segment of society.” An informed local source told the reporter “it was built for the Shanxi Coal bosses, a Shanxi Coal boss villa district.”
A way forward to prevent these disasters?
While it would be unfair and unrealistic to expect policy and planning to prevent all future loss of  life and  property from genuine natural disaster, certainly an improvement to existing practice and policy can be asked and expected. It seems clear that in many cases individuals, corporations, and even the government itself have ignored what could be seen as fairly clear signs that certain actions were simply disasters in the making- not unavoidable natural disasters but avoidable disasters of neglect and corruption.
yoyo concludes a post entitled After the Disasters (天灾背后……) with this thought:
这些个事情在当灾难都过去了之后，总还是应该要好好地实地做做调查研究，好好地吸取各种经验教训，好好地举一反三，好好学会反思吧？而我们呢，总在被需要的时候，可以极力地督促着别人去进行反思的时候，却总是要刻意地避开自身也是需要好好地、深刻地进行反思的这个关键点！而作为个人却觉得，这些个深刻地反思，对于我们民族自身正确的前进方向、发展道路，才是更加关键的。再在做什么和人民相关的事情的时候，负点责、讲点切实可行的真材实料的工程而千万不要再搞出那些豆腐渣来的可好？因为谁也保不准在他自己的有生之年里，豆腐渣工程不被报出光来的，这是其一；其二呢，豆腐渣工程在关键的时候，赔上去的是几倍、几十倍、上百倍、甚至是更多的人民的生命和财产的安危！

author: Gabriel Nada


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France: Expulsions of Roma people from Camp Sites Stir Feelings of Shame · Global Voices
Suzanne Lehn

As Roma people are expelled from campsites by security forces under the supervision of the French Ministry of Internal Affairs, Club de l'Europe blog [Fr] links to a video entitled “How many hens did we steal from you this year?“. “We shot these images in march 2003. Now the same people are still treated as subhuman while being blamed for the living standards that are forced upon them”.

author: Suzanne Lehn


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Iran: One of Mayor’s sites was filtered · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to  Kalmeh news site, and several bloggers, Iranian authorities filtered “Khbargozarieh Shar” (means city's news agency). This site belongs to Tehran's Mayor. No information about the reasons for this filtering was released.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran: Arresting girls for unfit hijab · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Here is a film in You Tube showing the Iranian securtiy forces arrested and humilated a few girls for unfit hijab (veil). You can read the conversation in English.


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Japan: A manga to celebrate the US-Japan alliance · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

Jamaipanese reports [en] that the US military in Japan have published the first chapter of a manga to celebrate 50 years of Japan-US alliance.
The first chapter is titled “Our Alliance – A Lasting Partnership” and can be read online (Japanese only).

author: Scilla Alecci


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Japan: Where taking a vacation is a no-no · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

Lying lazily in the shadow of an umbrella on a beach, being a tourist and wandering around the streets of an unknown city with a guide book in your hands, or just relaxing at home enjoying free time. Common ways of spending a holiday perhaps, however, many Japanese forego these every year in order to miss as few days of work as possible.
According to a survey by Expedia Japan that examines the ‘Vacation Deprivation’ situation [ja] in 11 developed countries, Japanese workers take on average only 7.9 days off a year. Japan, with an average allowance of 15 paid days off a year is the country with the smallest number of paid days off after the U.S. It is, however, number one for untaken vacation time.
Among the causes are said to be pressure and anxiety due to the economic crisis and a working environment where few people dare to be absent from work so as to avoid “causing trouble to their colleagues” by increasing their workload.
A proposal to replace the old-fashioned OUT OF OFFICE message. by Luis Gosalbez. CC License
An anonymous business man at Hatenalabo shares his experience [ja] as a superior with the authority to allow vacation time to his younger colleagues. From executives down to the heads of smaller divisions, nobody wants to take the responsibility to say “yes” to a colleague who wants to use the days off that are due to him in his contract. The older colleagues don't take vacations and so the newer ones won’t either. That's the praxis!
入社して半年ばかりたった男の子が、「来月友達と旅行行くんで１週間休んでもいいですか？」とかいってきた。
急にそんなこと言い出したから「ちょっと、さすがに一週間は無理でしょ」って注意したら、酷く怯えたような、物悲しいような恐ろしい顔で私のこと見てたけど、今考えるもっととソフトな言い方すればよかった。
とくに立て込んだ予定も入ってなかったから休ませてあげたい気持ちもないことはなかったけど、そんな習慣はなく、そもそもだれも有給休暇を消費しない社内環境で、上司や他の同僚が聞き耳立ててる状況ではやっぱり無理だよ。そんな恐い顔しないでよ。
あっても使えなくてさらにへんな罪悪感を植えつけるような制度なら最初から無くなって欲しいよ。
Another recent survey on foregone leave by Ipsos and Reuters of 24 countries around the world revealed that only 33% of Japanese workers choose to use up their entitlements. France was first with 89%.
Sasa, a business man, confesses [ja] that in his company also, people would think twice before asking to take some days off as they would be unpopular with their colleagues.
sasaの周りでも有給なんて、あってないようなもの。取れない風潮がある。
残業しないで帰ろうとすると、えっ？まさか帰るわけじゃないよね？という雰囲気で言葉をかけられる。
The lack of a regulation on sick leave in Japan forces many workers to use their paid vacation entitlements if they are ill. This is also one of the reasons why many people prefer not to use all the days off they have accumulated fearing they may have none left in case they can’t work due to health problems.
H.N.,  a Japanese expat who has a blog explicitly called kusoshigoto “crappy work”, has no mercy for the Japanese labor system and criticizes it [ja]both for the lack of Government regulation and the instilling of sense of guilt and social pressures.
正直、sick leave（病欠給）がない国ってのは聞いた事がない。特に日本は先進国、経済大国wとか言っておきながらsick leave（病欠給）すら定められてなくて、病気で休んだら有給が削られるなんてエグ過ぎるだろ？　これはクソ会社の問題って言うより傲慢な国の問題かもな。仕事絡みのストレスでウツ病なったり、過労死や過労自殺など世界でも類を見ないような社会問題が頻発してるのに見ないふり、聞こえないふりか？　連日終電ギリギリまで働かせておいて「体調管理も仕事のうちw」って言ってるのと同じレベルでクソだな。
H.N. then continues with his polemic and questions [ja] the Japanese work ethic.
本来、仕事は生活するための手段に過ぎないのに、日本ではいつの間にか仕事自体が目的になってしまっているんだよな。諸外国では当たり前のwork to live（生きるために働く）の価値観が、live to work（働くために生きる）にすり替わってるんだから。


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Jordan: Big Brother is Watching You!  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordanian netizens had a rude awakening when news surfaced about the sentencing of Imad Al-Ash to two years in prison – for insulting the Jordanian monarch in an instant message (IM) he had sent to a friend. The computer engineering student was allegedly detained and tortured for five months before the state security court heard his case. Jordanian bloggers have their say here.
Naseem Al Tarawnah says the charge is so “dangerous that it's not even funny.”
He adds:
First, the fact that it’s the 21st century and Jordanians are still being tried for lese majeste – a law so archaic that it begs to reason why any nation would dare continue to use it and still promote itself as progressive – is beyond me. If anything, this is one of those laws that world history has proven to be pretty damn useless and ineffective. It doesn’t stop people from insulting the country’s ruler, in fact it encourages critics to do so (as is the case in Morocco these days), and more over, it solidifies the idea that one lives in an authoritarian state.
Al Tarawnah continues:
Second, the State Security court prosecuting a university student for something he said on a chat room? Not only does this erode the credibility and undermine the perceived legitimacy of this judicial body, but the same court that tries people for treason should not be sentencing citizens for the criticisms insults they inflict.
He further notes:
Third, I’ll just put aside the fact that MSN Messenger is apparently being monitored by the mukhabarat (secret service) aside and thank the good Lord that I’m not a chat kind of person.
Al Tarawnah concludes:
I hope that this post is not taken as a suggestion or even as an act of encouraging Jordanians to, God forbid, insult the King. Heck, I don’t think anyone should be insulting anyone to begin with. But then again, I don’t think anyone should be sentenced to two years in prison by the State Security court for doing so.
Perhaps the most dangerous outcome of this case is that it will likely solidify notions held by certain proponents within the state who have been pushing for placing limits on free speech online.
Readers were quick to comment on the case and its implications.
Farah is angry private IM could be monitored, saying:
This is what bothers me the most. Someone from the government needs to provide an explanation. How dare they? What is this 1984?
tambi adds:
This is outrageous. I think that the officials have to make a statement, clarifying what really happened. Because if what happened is really a sentence based on chat logs! God help us all and god curse the ones responsible for the arrest.
And Reem says such news makes it safer for her to take her thoughts offline. She notes:
News like that makes me feel safer expressing my thoughts among closed groups offline than online. Not because i have revolutionary opposing thoughts, but because i dont know where the boundaries are and what are the laws protecting me. In Jordan it seems that technology is working better for the government to enforce its 18th century laws rather than for the people to move forward.
Meanwhile, Monty is not surprised:
Although I shouldn’t be surprised…whether its your email, your blog, your facebook account, your phone, your tweets, MSN, skype or anything else you do online, I’m pretty sure that its all being stored somewhere and will be referred to the minute some idiot believes you have stepped out of line. For those of us who are active online, that means they can pretty much know everything about you.
Where I am surprised is the fact that they actually have the capabilities and resources to monitor our chats…as it has across the world, the IT revolution started with the security services.
And Thamer is looking for answers on how chats can be monitored:
Regrettably, this is a giant step backwards for the country. Does anyone know if the person in question was in fact being monitored (not sure if technically an MSN chat can be monitored locally) or someone tipped the powers to be that he has insulted the king? I would imagine that if he was chatting on MSN within a chat group and an intelligence officer posing as a civilian or an informant was taking part in the chat they could have been the ones tipping off the authorities. Otherwise, I hope that someone with technical know how can enlighten us more about this!
Other readers who chimed in said that Al-Ash was arrested for posting comments on a Jihadi site, and not for insulting the King of Jordan in an IM.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Kazakhstan: Former presidential adviser released · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust reports that James Giffen, adviser to the Kazakhstan president and middleman between oil companies and Nazarbayev, was accused of bribing the Kazakh officials, but now the U.S. government dropped most of the charges against him.


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Kyrgyzstan: Nationalist agenda on the rise amidst new rallies · Global Voices
Chris Rickleton

Who would be Rosa Otunbayeva right now? Two months after effectively losing control of Kyrgyzstan’s south, Central Asia’s first female president faced further upheaval as Balykchi-born entrepreneur Urmat Baryktabsov announced his intentions to march on the national capital and “discuss a strategy for development in the country”.
The demonstration took two decidedly different forms. Just under a thousand people, Bishkek residents as well as sojourners from Barykatabasov’s native Issyk Kul region, made it through to the capital’s old square where they sat around aimlessly, drinking tea brewed specially for the occasion or enjoying a picnic with their families.
The other half of their movement, meanwhile, were prevented from advancing on Bishkek by a police cordon at Kirgshelk, a village equidistant from the metropolis and Balykchi – a standoff that resulted in a pitch battle between law enforcement officers and demonstrators as well as Baryktabasov’s own arrest. He is accused of publicly calling for violent change in the government, organization of mass disturbances and illegal possession and distribution of weapons.
The entrepreneur’s own exact aims were unknown. One outlet suggested he had organized the show of strength in order to get charges against him dropped and secure a position in the interim government. His prior record of public mobilization – an attempt to seize the White House after the Tulip Revolution in 2005, suggested that the preventative action taken by the interim government was justified. But the event raises a more pressing and relevant question: who or what will be next to try and disrupt order in this fractured Central Asian state?
Will it be Nurlan Motuev of Naryn province, clandestine coal baron turned Muslim leader? He has remained quiet since the events of April 7, yet shares the same capacity for spontaneous combustion as Baryktabasov and other political marginals who seek to use regional support bases as an entrance into public life at national level. If not though, perhaps Nariman Tyuleev, the popular former Mayor of Bishkek, who has already had demonstrations in the capital held [ru] on his behalf?
Whilst a Kloop poll showed Baryktabasov had limited general support for his actions, many that backed him did so because, ironically, he had never been involved in politics before. Such is the entrenched disillusionment with politicians in Kyrgyzstan that some wish to see a man with no experience in government rise to the highest ranks of public office.
In the South, the situation has far from stabilized. The evidence pointing to an almost total lack of interim government control there, whilst local leaders manipulate the state apparatus to carve out local fiefdoms in and around the regions two biggest cities.
This month's blog of the week [ru] highlights the alarming effect that residual ethnic tensions are having on justice and due process in the Barzakorgon region of Jalal-Abad. Nurbek Toktukunov, an ethnic Kyrgyz lawyer, describes the difficulties he has faced in defending an Uzbek client accused of murder during the June events. The account demonstrates instances of major neglect by Law Enforcement Officials, who Toktukunov believes “have fallen under the control of aggressive local leaders.”
Cautiously surveying the chaos in his city from the comfort of his plush office, is Osh mayor Melis Myrzakmatov. He has declared his opposition to any international investigation into the events which left the city in rubble in mid-June. In their blog, Bishkek-based English language publication the Spektator considers his purported culpability in the June events themselves:
“His desire to remove the city centre’s largest Uzbek neighbourhood and build his own hotel there was known before the riots began, as was his wish to relocate the bazaar – which along with Osh’s main mosque constitutes the heart of the city’s social activity – to the outskirts of town. For the homeless Uzbek victims of the violence he allegedly helped inflict, he threatens high rise flats or arbitrary jail sentences.”
Whatever or whoever was the cause of the conflict in southern Kyrgyzstan, all political discourse in the former-Soviet state now takes place in its shadow. Analysts have noted much of the Kyrgyz language media’s tendency towards ultra-nationalistic rhetoric. Murzaki reports that the manifestos distributed at Baryktabasov’s demonstration (Bishkek chapter) were chocked full of lowest common-denominator populism ‘glorifying Kyrgyz people and promising good life without any concrete goals’.
It is growing increasingly clear that nationalism, in its various shades, is the main platform on which October’s parliamentary elections will be soon be fought.

author: Chris Rickleton


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Morocco: English as the Second Language · Global Voices
Nabila Taj

This post is part of our special coverage Languages and the Internet.
In a recent interview with African Writing Online, Laila Lalami, a Moroccan-American author, elaborates on her educational upbringing. Lalami grew up speaking Moroccan Arabic,  but it was not until she was a teenager that she “finally came across Moroccan novels, written by Moroccan authors, and featuring Moroccan characters.” This is primarily because Lalami attended a French school as a child. She says:
“French was the language in which I was first exposed to literature, beginning with children's comics like Tintin and Asterix, through young adult novels like those of Alexandre Dumas, all the way to classics like those of Victor Hugo.”
Nonetheless, Lalami published her first novel, Secret Son, in English after earning a Ph.D in linguistics from the University of Southern California.
Lalami’s experience is quite common for a student in Morocco. Said Bellari, a writer for Moroccoboard.com, advocates the gradual eradication of the dependence on the French language,  and the introduction of English as the official second language of Morocco. In his essay, he introduces a newfangled concept known as “disliteracy:”
“It means that they are speaking the wrong language in Morocco amongst themselves and with the rest of the world. Because of that we fail to go with the global flow and we isolate ourselves more and more from the development growth of other areas abroad like the one in South East Asia. Just to be clear from the onset: with this assertion I do not want to say that we should stop speaking Arabic in Morocco. Allah yastar (May Allah have mercy)! Not in the least, perhaps we should do that even more. With it I mean in fact that we should aim to fade out the French language as soon as possible. Simultaneously we should give the English language a fresh stimulus in all aspects of Moroccan society and let it take its place as a second language of Morocco. French should not even be 3rd or 4th language for that matter. This change from a francophone to an “Arab-Anglophone” country will introduce a second era of Istiqlal (independence).”
Language is a key component in the formation of a society. Societies come together based on common values and one objective is to form a way to communicate with one another in order to flourish. Bellari writes that it is self-destructive for the Moroccan society to continue to keep French as a second language:
“Every Moroccan academician, scientist, entrepreneur, artist, writer, doctor, politician or whatever key societal character, will easily admit that French is still the Master of the Moroccan Universe. In more than 50 years France has still succeeded in keeping the illusion in Morocco alive and kicking that we need our historical and cultural ties with it.”
Although it has been 55 years since Morocco gained its independence, French influences are still quite evident. Language is self-referential tool used to express social identity. Every language offers its own tones, gestures, facial expressions, and accents. It also comes with a heavy history. In this case, Bellari says:
“For the remaining part, French as a Lingua Franca in Moroccan society, consciously, but even more unconsciously, still reminds us of being slaves, of being dependent, of being backward, of being unable and of being all the things that second rate people are, or better phrased: of being what racist people want you to think of yourselves, of being second rate: I am less worthy, less able.”
In addition to distinguishing national identity, an increased use of English will open up new doors in the world of science and technology. A blogger on Bla Francia, Hicham, describes the lack of advancement in the scientific sphere. Reliance on the French language, especially in the education and research of the sciences, does not seem to reap in enough benefits for Morocco. Hicham lists the following statistics :
- 50% of students enrolled in the first year of university drop out before the end of the first term, without obtaining any certificate.
– 9.3 is the average number of years required to obtain a bachelor's degree (usually takes four years),
– Less than 10% of graduating students only receive a bachelor's degree in four years
Although high costs are also a reason for the low graduation rate, it is a reality that:
The French language is relatively prevalent in Morocco, but most students are not comfortable enough with it to actively participate in the scientific world where French is the primary language. To improve the situation, the blogger, who is quoting from a paper by Khaled Sami on the need of scientific e-documents in Arabic, suggests:
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Providing a crash course in French is one way to appease the situation, but Hicham encourages that universities should allow their students to explore the scientific world in their own vernacular, Arabic. This does not diminish the vast number of scientific publications, and Internet references reported in English. International forums, and organizations in the scientific sphere are more likely to communicate in English than in Arabic, or in French.
Bellari continues in his essay to say that propagating English as the second language will lead to:
“a true collective grass-roots wave that speaks of will-power, self-determination, self-expression and new trust, hope and optimism for the future. It is the collective people’s effort of riding the Laraki of Moroccan destiny while halting the constant watching in the rear mirror and start looking through the front window, to 2050 and beyond, in the sole interest of our children and grandchildren.”
If the English language does gain the title of the official second language of Morocco, entirely new pockets of economic and social opportunities will manifest themselves to the residents of Morocco.
This post is part of our special coverage Languages and the Internet.

author: Nabila Taj


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Mozambique: Discussing Culture of Work in Africa · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

The statement that was made by the billionaire Mo Ibrahim, during his recent visit to Mozambique, saying that “Africans don't have a culture of work”, drew a response from Rui Guerra at blog Prestigío [pt]. Blog ma-schamba [pt] goes even further with a deep reflection on the way Mozambican people live and work, especially in the cities.

author: Sara Moreira


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Myanmar: Elections To Be Held on November 7 · Global Voices
tan

Myanmar has announced today that elections will be held on November 7, 2010, which will become the first election to be held after 1990. Political parties were urged to submit their candidate list between August 16 and August 30, 2010.

author: tan


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Pakistan Floods: Why Should We Care? · Global Voices
Rezwan

Ethan Casey tries to widen awareness of the massive devastation of the Pakistan floods beyond stereotypes which are present in the West. The post includes some links to organizations for donations to flood relief for the victims.


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Pakistan: Sluggish Help For The Flood Victims · Global Voices
Rezwan

Osama Bin Javaid criticizes the sluggish response of the Pakistan government and the international community to help the flood victims in Pakistan. The blogger asserts: “the world must DO MORE and do it NOW.”


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Turkmenistan: Despite its wealth, govt owes money · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Ekspeditsiya writes about Turkmenistan's request to China for a $4.1 billion loan to develop the huge and untapped gas field.


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Africa: Conference on African Same-Sex Sexualities · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A conference on African Same-Sex Sexualities and Gender Diversity will take place in South Africa, February 13-16, 2011.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Africa: Shout-Africa.com calls for correspondents · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Africa’s newest newshub Shout-africa.com invites African journalists interested in corresponding for the online news project on voluntary basis to promote online journalism in Africa.