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Japan: Monozukuri for the Modern Age · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Make is an American quarterly magazine for do-it-yourself enthusiasts founded in 2005 and featuring everything from tutorials on soldering, to weekend woodworking projects, to cat toys that send tweets when attacked. Monozukuri (literally “making things”) is a tradition in Japan of high-quality craftsmanship dating back at least as far as the Edo period, with achievements including complex myriad-year clocks, techniques for bending wood and mechanical dolls that can draw kanji.
So what happens when you combine Make magazine's grass-roots rebellion against consumer technology with the monozukuri spirit of excellence in craftsmanship, sprinkling in a bit of Akibakei mania for good measure? You get Make Tokyo Meeting, an extravaganza of flying beeping crawling buzzing off-the-wall creativity that has grown from its first “meeting” in 2008 to an event that draws audiences in the thousands today.
Last weekend (May 22-23), the fifth incarnation of the Make Tokyo Meeting [ja] took the campus of the Tokyo Institute of Technology by storm. ITlifehack (@ITlifehack), who was at the last meeting, describes the scene at Make Tokyo Meeting 05 (MTM05):
今回も会場は大岡山駅の目の前、東京工業大学のキャンパス。銀色のかまぼこ屋根が目印の百年記念館を始め、体育館や教室など、大学全体が会場となっています。総勢200組を超える出展者が参加されたということで、メイン会場はあふれんばかりの人でごった返していました。
A search on Twitter for the tag #MTM05 brings up a slew of other impressions. @imae_kagaku points to the rise in popularity of the Make Tokyo meetings:
過去のMTM入場者数。次は桁が変わりそう。 01:600名 02:1200名 03:2100名 04:4000名 05:7200名 #mtm05
@kumajoi lists his three favorite exhibits at MTM05, hitting on the major themes at the event: electronics/tech, monozukuri/craft, and Akibakei. In the tech category, he cites a booth by Sony (@SDK4Felica) demonstrating some of the nifty things you can do pairing the Felica smart card with the popular Arduino microcontroller.
In the monozukuri category, he recalls the amazing ball machines crafted by blogger denha (see video below), who writes at his blog denha's channel about his experience at MTM05:
中でも一番の盛況だった機械系の作品、マーブルマシンやボールトラック装置は休みなく稼働させていたのでいろいろ不具合が出てきました。自宅で楽しむ分には数分、数十分ですが、出展となると装置にとっては過酷です。次回、中部圏で初・・・というより東京以外で初のMakeが開催されます。自宅からも近いということで参加を予定していますが、機械系が出来るだけ永く動くように改良と修理などのメンテナンスを念入りにしていこうと思います。
In the Akibakei category, kumajoi showcases an iPhone figure recognition device designed by @nishio, who explains his creation at his blog:
iPhoneにフィギュアを押し付けると、それがどのフィギュアか、それの向きがどっちむきか、場所がどこか、という情報が取れるデバイスをgassoと作った。これを使えばiPadの上に載せて動かすことでフィギュア自体をゲームのコントローラのように使ったり、特定の場所に置くことでストーリーの展開が変わる絵本を作ったり、三人でそれぞれ自分のキャラクターをiPadというマップに乗せて戦うなんてことができる。夢が広がりんぐ！
@nishio wasn't the only one writing about the iPad. Blogger Imamura, who listed some of the things he noticed at MTM05, cited the appearance of the shiny new toy:
iPadを持ってきている出展者多数。少し触らせてもらうことができた。単に大きくなったiPhoneともいえるけれど、大きくなるだけですごく変わるなあとも感じた。iPadデザインのノートもあった。
This comment on Twitter by @Fumi Yamazaki on the use of iPads at MTM05 was heavily retweeted:
日本の優秀なハッカーはもっとグローバルに活躍すべきだと思う。 #MTM05  でも色々な驚きがあったし。まだiPad発売されていないのに東京の某ハッカーグループは既にiPad hackathon を2回開催していて、既に3回目も予定されてるんだよね。
For more of this astonishing stuff, check out coverage by Rick Martin (@1rick), one of the few bloggers writing about Make Tokyo Meeting 05 in English. His writeup and video at Gizmag on an amazing bike-wheel LED light by Suns & Moon Laboratory (SML) drew a lot of views:
SML has outfitted bicycle wheels with a system of LEDs that can actually output a digital picture (it will accept bitmap files) by using the special Anipov software. Masaaki Ikegame gave a quick demo showing an assortment of images and animations, including one of the iconic Hatsune Miku.
So great was the success of Make Tokyo Meeting 05 that the event has inspired people to organize the first such event outside of Japan. Make: Ogaki Meeting, in the planning stages right now, will take place on September 25-26 in the most centrally-located city in Japan, Ogaki, Gifu. Don't miss it!
For more on Make Tokyo Meeting 05, see photos by robot-dreams, jimgris, and Hatris. Also see below for some more videos: one of two kids playing a virtual bounding-ball light-game, and the other the second part of a two-part video by beatnik.jp, the latter half of which features a band of unusual instruments closing the event with an extended Auld Lang Syne, known as Hotaru no Hikari (蛍の光) in Japanese.

author: Chris Salzberg


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Macedonia: Silly Songs Do Politics · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

After GVO covered the topic of ridiculous advertising songs in Macedonia, a few more examples surfaced on the Macedonian web. The most talked about was the anthem of the Young Socialists [MKD], the youth branch of the Socialist Party of Macedonia.
While online portal Kirilica praised [MKD] the anthem as part of the trend of “growing creativity of the Macedonian political parties” and for the use of the new media as standard means for communication with the citizens, some more independent sources were less forgiving. 365 compared [MKD] it to a faux gospel choir, while On.net posted a copy of the video and the intro [MKD]:
Wow, what a musical political candy! The clip for the anthem of the young socialists of Macedonia, yummy, yummy! Musically it smacks of Band Aid (SPM for Africa: Did they know it's lunch break time?), and lyrically it takes a bit of Mira Marković (“the heart, too, is on the left”) and a lot of rhyming: globalist, humanist, socialist, nudist… And the montage: as soon as the term “visionary” is mentioned, Ljubisav Ivanov pops into view, with cameos of Goce Delchev. Like, like!
Come on, become a socialist
You can do what nobody else can
beyond all rules and laws,
if you are an anti-globalist,
come on, be a socialist.
If you are a [friend/comrade] without a blemish
and your heart beats on the left side,
you are the same as every other person,
come on, be a socialist.
Visionary, cosmopolitan,
missionary and a humanist
come on, it's your turn,
come on, be a socialist
If in your heart you feel grief
for those in misery, pain and hunger,
you are an eternal pacifist
come on, be a socialist
[spoken word/speech]
We live in an unequal world, a world in which 50 biggest companies own more property than 50 poorest countries. We live in a world in which over 100 million people get by with less than a dollar per day. We socialists must fight against such a world. Until we build a world of different people with equal opportunities.
One of the main motivators for numerous Facebook users who shared this video was the total disconnect of the lyrics with reality, and the complete oblivion to irony. SPM leader Ljubisav Ivanov AKA Dzingo is an MP and almost a permanent member of government coalitions over the last two decades, including those run by neo-liberal right-wingers.
Ivanov heads one of the richest families in the country, and used his high political positions before and after the independence of Macedonia to privatize the companies related to the Sileks concern, including mines, banks and factories, tied to numerous scandals related to abuse of workers’ rights. This family also owns Sitel TV, Sileks Football Club, and practically rules the town of Kratovo as a fiefdom.
An article [MKD] in Macedonian Globus Magazine referred to the GVO article, and elaborated in detail on the young socialists’ song. The article's author, Dzvezdan Georgievski, expounded on the use of the slogan by Mira Marković, widow of the late Serbian president Slobodan Milošević, hinting at various kinds of influences on the SPM and the regimes it is a part of.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Pakistan: Culture Of Intolerance · Global Voices
Rezwan

Raza Rumee at Pak Tea House discusses about the recent attacks on Ahmadi community in Pakistan and what signs it gives.

author: Rezwan


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Russia: A Study of Local Discussion Boards · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Online forums in Russian cities are in a certain sense a unique phenomenon. It's not blogs that became the major platforms for open discussion in the regions, but discussion boards (called more often forums). Unlike Moscow or Saint Petersburg, where blogs or LiveJournal communities represent the most important spots in the information space, other Russian cities usually have a different structure of the blogosphere – if we count the forums as part of the blogosphere, of course. And, obviously, we should, as they play the most important role there.
At the same time, forums are underexamined. It's not only that they are sometimes underestimated by RuNet researchers, it's also because they're worse indexed by the search engines. In my Ph.D. paper, I performed a study of the Russian local discussion boards. Below are the summarized results of this research.
A body-laptop interface, by sternlab.org, photo by Bekathwia
Technology
Forums are usually hosted on open platform engines (like phpBB [EN], Invision Power Board [EN] or vBulletin [EN]). Forums differ by type, size and the level of political independence. On the one hand, forums imply a higher level of anonymity. On the other hand, users on such forums have significantly fewer rights than forum administrators.
Role of forums
The impact of forums on the social capital and political mobilization is still quite questionable. Theoretically, forums should contribute to building local communities online, filling the “offline gap in the space of social relations” that is often present in Russia. However, in reality this is often not so.
Of course, sometimes forums become a platform for public campaigns (which lead to both negative and positive consequences). In 2006, the Kondopoga riots [EN] were initiated on the local city forums. Sometimes forums become the leading information sources in times of disaster (the way it happened with the Perm forum teron.ru during the fire in the restaurant in 2009 [EN]). In the city of Ryazan, portal forum.rzn.info is mainly dedicated to politics and is one of the most popular websites in the region. However, in some cities there are no political forums. For example, in the city of Orenburg the most popular forum is devoted to fishing (orenfishing.ru) [RUS].
Some forums, like Virtual Grozny (forum of the Chechen Republic‘s [EN] capital, Grozny [EN]), virtually “die” (it means that forum users no longer post messages), yet continue to be an important source of online documents that reflect the time and the people. Back in 2006, GV covered Natasha Raslambekova's story [EN] of the First Chechen War, which she had shared at Virtual Grozny. Even after the forum is dead, some of the discussions there remain quite interesting.
Forums and freedom of speech
It seems that forums are monitored very carefully by the regional authorities. Sometimes monitoring is combined with control. In 2007, independent journalist Dmitry Tashlykov was accused of defamation against the governor of Vladimir region [EN] because of a comment posted on a Vladimir city forum.
Audience and transformation to multi-service platforms
The size of the forum audience (that was measured on the basis of the open statistics services like LiveInternet, SpyLog or Mail.ru) correlates very well with the size of the city (correlation coefficient = 0.63), which means “the bigger the city – the larger the forum.” In the largest cities, forums have evolved into multi-service portals (just as lots of search engines in the US turned into portals in the early 2000s, though not many of them have survived since then). The audience of some portals can be compared to radio stations or even local TV channels. For example, the Yekaterinburg regional portal e1.ru [RUS] boasts 2 million users monthly, while in Chelyabinsk 74.ru [RUS] has 675,000 users. Of course, it's important to treat such numbers with caution, since online statistics services often exaggerate the number of visitors.
The table below presents cities with the most popular forums:
Russian cities with the most popular Internet forums
* – with the correction coefficient 0.5.
In several cities, popular forums have not been found. Most of them are capitals of Russia's national republics. The absence of forums can be explained by poor Internet connection conditions. (It is important to note that only Russian-language forums were studied; there are also forums in local languages as well as in English). The other group is comprised of industrial towns (like Dzerzhinsk [EN] or Balakovo [EN]). A possible reason is that people in smaller towns tend to visit forums of the regional capitals, which have bigger audiences and are usually more influential.

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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Russia: Bloggers Cover Moscow Gay Pride Parade · Global Voices
Gregory Asmolov

LJ-user Zyalt published [RUS] pictures from Moscow gay pride parade [EN] that took place despite it the ban by Moscow authorities. The event organizers had to change its location several times. Other pictures of the parade, which was just a few minutes long, can be found here, here and here.

author: Gregory Asmolov


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Russian “Little Blue Buckets” Movement Reaches Ukraine · Global Voices
Gregory Asmolov

Ukraine-based feminist organization “FEMEN” [EN] conducted an action [ENG] in support of the Russian online movement “Little Blue Buckets” [ENG] and against the “unification of Russia and Ukraine under Kremlin patronage.” Activists with their breasts painted in blue tried to rally near the building of the Russian embassy in Kiev, but were arrested (and later released).


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Slovakia: The Fight for Nationalistic Voters · Global Voices
Tibor Blazko

2010 is the year of the parliamentary elections in Hungary and in Slovakia. As is perhaps usual anywhere in the world, in the time before the elections some politicians are starting to recall irrational tensions, thinking they will profit from them.
One example is the Slovak National Party‘s “patriotic law,” which originally got the support of SMER, the main Slovak political party. After public protests, Slovakia's president Ivan Gašparovič returned the law to the parliament, officially asking to postpone its ratification.
In the next parliamentary round, SMER seemed to have taken the public opinion into account and did not vote for the law. But on the same day, the parliament approved a new “patriotic law” introduced by SMER's leader, the current Slovak prime minister Robert Fico. The initiative could be labeled as Fico's next populist step and, even though his version is much lighter than the previous one, this can still be seen as his fight for the Slovak National Party's voters.
In Hungary, the winner of the election is Viktor Orban. Even before establishing his new government, he was in a hurry to keep his older promise and introduced a draft law that would allow Hungarians living abroad to obtain Hungarian citizenship. Back in 2004, Hungary held a referendum on this issue, but it failed because the turnout was only 19 percent then.
Shortly before the upcoming June 12 Slovak election, PM Fico was criticized for the growth of the state debt (a sensitive theme due to the present Greek problems), growing corruption and the newest allegations about illegal financing of his party. In this situation, it must have seemed highly appropriate to turn his attention to something else, so Fico started to use Orban's law for his own political agenda. He called a meeting of the Slovak Security Council and declared that Slovakia was “ready for strong counter-measures” if the discussion with Hungary fails.
(On a different note, according to another Security Council statement by Fico, Slovakia will be working closely with Poland and the Czech Republic on potential flood damage control due to long-lasting rains in Central Europe – but there's been no mention of Hungary, where most Slovak rivers flow.)
Here are some views from Slovak netizens, part of a discussion of a SME article about PM Fico's fear of the Hungarian citizenship:
strejda64 [a declared SMER voter]:
I've been working with Hungarians in Austria for four years already, what we here speak in whisper about … they discuss loudly. They simply want borders to be changed, Trianon canceled and the Big Hungaria re-established. […] These are the people who have never been to Slovakia or Romania, where Hungarian minorities live, they just live with the feeling of big unfairness that happened to the Hungarian nation…
***
Jonesy [a declared Most-Híd voter]:
I also have dual citizenship – Czech and Slovak. Does it mean Fico is afraid of me so much that he considers me a security risk? fee-faw-fum :-D
***
kverulant [a declared voter of SaS, a newbie opposition party]:
Is it possible that Orban does not realize that this way he supports a chance to keep the present [Slovak] government members in office? It's impossible.
The only logical result: he wants to have an enemy available during his governance, so that a smoke cloud could be produced in case of any internal Hungarian problems. […]
***
urss:
If there were no Hungarians, then we should invent them to allow stupids speak about something, and politicians […] are secretly laughing that they have a perpetuum mobile that helps them to get into parliament. Just let us dream about the Hungarian threat – […] while [politicians] enjoy their perfect lives…
About half a million of ethnic Hungarians live in Slovakia (approximately 10 percent of Slovakia's population), and in the past elections many of them naturally voted for the Party of Hungarian Coalition, founded in 1998 as a union of smaller parties. In the past, several of the party's representatives held seats in the Slovak government.
A year ago, the leader of the Party of Hungarian Coalition, Béla Bugár, left the party (leaving the most nationalistic members behind) and established a new one, Most-Híd (“Bridge”). This more civic party also has the support of a few Slovak voters. After adopting part of the Party of Hungarian Coalition voters, it is still not certain whether either or both of the Hungarian parties will obtain 5% of the votes needed to enter the parliament.
Orban's effort was perceived as support for the original Party of Hungarian Coalition. Also, Orban's future foreign minister János Martonyi “diplomatically” visited the headquarters of the Party of Hungarian Coalition only, ignoring Bugár's “too liberal” counterpart.
The Slovak National Party had its own bad experience with dividing, when in 2002 both factions stayed out of the parliament. A year later, parts of it were re-united under Ján Slota, known as one of the main parliamentary absentees, who once appeared allegedly drunk, and who enjoys piloting small planes and driving luxury cars “lent to him by one of his friends for his personal use” – and who is quite notorious for his reference to the ancient Hungarians as “Mongoloid types with crooked legs and even more disgusting horses.” Thanks to PM Fico's recent activity in the nationalist field, the Slovak National Party is also facing problems with the 5% quota.
Ján Slota now features in SME newspaper's “Absolutely Seriously” satiric series. Recent “What Would Hitler Say About the Slovak National Party” is another such parody based on Downfall/Der Untergang, a 2004 film depicting the final days of Adolf Hitler in his Berlin bunker. SME has kept the original sound, but added subtitles that completely change the meaning of the original.
In the first part, Hitler, as an imaginary tutor of his Slovak ally, reacts to the bad news and decides that he is not going to ignore Slota's behavior just because of the fees he receives from him, in the end accusing him of being Hungarian. (During World War II, Slovakia was Germany's ally, and “the Slovakian government paid the Germans 500 marks per head for the ‘privilege’ of deporting their Jewish citizens to Nazi death camps.”)
Below is a copy of SME's satirical video, posted on dotSub.com, with subtitles translated into English:
P. S.
Slovak elections 2010 results compared to 2006 (selected parties):
SMER 35% (29%)
Bridge 8% (-)
Slovak National Party 5.07% (12%)
Party of Hungarian Coalition 4% (12%)

author: Tibor Blazko


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Africa: Poor African parents and their choices · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The debate about poor African parents and their choices continues.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Azerbaijan: Animal rights · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Thoughts. Dreams. Visions. Nightmares. Me. reports on an action staged in support of animal rights in Azerbaijan. The blog says that the event held close to Baku's Zoo was a welcome event and centered on the need to create a special center to cater for stray animals. However, it also notes, attitudes in society also need to change.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia make Eurovision Top Ten · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

This year's Eurovision Song Contest drew to a close on Saturday in a televised final which attracted around 120 million viewers worldwide. But while some media reported lagging interest in the 54-year-old competition and concerns about spiraling costs in recent years, countries such as those in the former Eastern bloc continue to take it seriously.
Indeed, when it comes to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, some would argue that each takes it far too seriously. In 2008, Russia and Georgia came to blows over the latter's entry while Armenia and Azerbaijan eagerly embroiled themselves into their own scandal during and after the competition the same year. Such bickering is increasingly noticed outside of the region as @SarcasmCupcakes sarcastically pointed out on Twitter.
Of course, with Armenia and Azerbaijan still locked into a bitter dispute over the territory of Nagorno Karabakh, nothing could be further from the truth, although the competition had been held in a much better spirit than in previous years. Despite that, however, at least one minor spat between Armenia and Azerbaijan did reportedly occur. Nevertheless, all three countries were remarkably restrained.
The situation did became a little more tense closer to the final when, after leading in the betting stakes, Azerbaijan was reported to be facing competition from estranged neighbor Armenia. “Maybe bookmakers made fun of Armenia and Azerbaijan because only we could bet mad money on [Eurovision] because of stupid nationality?” wrote one young journalist from Azerbaijan on his Facebook page.
But aside from the politics, why do countries such as those in the South Caucasus take the competition so seriously? Scary Azeri explains why in a post just as relevant for Armenia and Georgia as it is for her native Azerbaijan.
Eurovision is crap.
It is the cheesiest show that currently exists in this world.
[…]
To me, the answer is obvious. The countries that take Eurovision seriously simply have no good pop music. They are hopelessly behind, and will never catch up, unless they stop investing national funds into crap.
[…]
Or is it because, for countries like Azerbaijan, Eurovision is the only chance to feel like a part of the world’s pop culture?
Judging from most commentary on the competition, many would agree. Just as Twitter and blogs were full of commentary in support of the acts from the region, there were many more that instead ridiculed them. Some, such as FQI CUI, also equated the number of votes to the acts from Armenia and Azerbaijan more on the basis of female eye candy rather than actual musical merit.
Azerbaijan surprised me. I suspect that Safura appealed to voters who were erm… more visual. The same for Armenia’s Eva Rivas (if that push-up bra were any higher, we would have had a free show when she was erm… bouncing across the Eurovision stage) though her voice was better than Safura’s IMHO. The Armenian song choice (“Apricot Stone”), while reflecting their cultural heritage was just all over the place lyrically. Kitschy to the max. Azerbaijan at number 5 and Armenia at number 7.
Was nice to see the Georgian entry (Sofia Nizharadze with “Shine”) crack the top 10 at number 9 […]. Sofia has a huuuuuge voice that was pretty much on fire for most of the track. She’s a pretty lass too.
Glass Candle Grenades was more scathing, critical and unashamedly politically incorrect.
In case you hadn't realised this is ‘Drip Drop’ by Safura, who is from Azerbaijan, the lucky girl. Once you get past the fact that she is some kind of unholy foreign amalgamation of Miley Cyrus and Holly Valance, you start to notice the fantastically choreographed dance moves. You don't? But they were arranged by Beyonce's Choreogropher! The one that did that horrible video that Kanye West loved so much! Apprently in Azerbaijan they need a choreogropher to help a confused woman down the stairs. Maybe he just sorted out the twirling gay bloke that appears later in the song. I don't know and I don't really care. The song was boring, and so was Safura. Next!
[…]
After that downer anything would sound good, right? Wrong. What we have here is a 78 year old Armenian man blowing a pipe and a woman who looks like she has blown her miniscule budget on plastic surgery to look like a down syndrome Angelina Jolie. She is singing about an Apricot Stone. I noticed that the really foreign sounding women are never as amusing as the men, even when singing about the inedible parts of fruit. This song managed to be both boring and baffling, whch is no mean feat. and I'm pretty sure the only reason it recieved any votes at all was because of her cleavage. That's cheating down syndrome Angelina Jolie!
Others such as Watch with Mothers, however, were a little more forgiving and good spirited.
First up was Azerbaijan with Drip Drop – actually not a displeasing song – and we were promised choreography from the people who gave us the dance routine for Beyonce’s Single Ladies, a routine copied by everyone from The Jonas Brothers to members of the Brazil World Cup squad. Sadly, singer Safura wasn’t quite able to match the attitude of Destiny’s most successful Child, and it all looked a bit stilted and overbaked. Still, for the cheesiest ditty-festival on the planet, this wasn’t a bad start.
[…]
Georgia’s saving grace was that singer Sofia Nizharadze was extremely presentable. But as Graham Norton accurately surmised, this was an over-produced affair and it didn’t help that we could barely see Sofia for all the weirdos in white suits she was surrounded by, actively molesting her. A missed opportunity, no less.
[…]
Things were picking up. Armenia took to the stage as the show got its second wind, and we were treated to a busty lady singing about Apricot Stones whilst an 83 year old man played some pipes and a bedlam-assignation of mad people jaunted about behind them. If the drugs were kicking in at this point, you might not even have noticed.
Nevertheless, the acts from Azerbaijan's Safura and Armenia's Eva Rivas provided many with much to tweet about on Twitter on the day of the finals. The cleavage displayed by the latter in particular did not go unnoticed by many, including Armenian bloggers such as Ianyan.
[…] All the apricot stones in the world couldn’t have helped Armenia’s Eva Rivas place in the top three, but they did land her in seventh place – an accomplishment that might have been aided by her own prominent apricot stones.
Unfortunately, however, such commentary was at the expense of arguably more talented singers such as Georgia's Sofia Nizharadze. Netherless some Armenians and Azerbaijanis did tweet about her.
Meanwhile, Twitter was also awash with tweets from some nationalists alleging their particular entry hadn't been awarded the number of points it deserved. This was especially true for Armenia and Azerbaijan, although many Europeans also noted the apparent favoritism shown by Russia towards its three former satellite republics.
And while Georgia exchanged votes with Armenia and Azerbaijan, its two warring neighbors didn't do so among themselves. In contrast to previous years, however, major scandals had been averted.
At the end of the day, though, and despite concerns about Azerbaijan's oil revenue and Armenia's Diaspora adversely influencing and affecting the vote, Germany's Lena won the competition much to the relief of some regional analysts. Moreover, and despite some Armenians alleging Turkey entered a rock song to divert support to ally Azerbaijan, it came 2nd.
In the South Caucasus, Azerbaijan came 5th, Armenia 7th, and Georgia 9th, but while supporters and nationalists in the South Caucasus scratched their heads in disbelief, with some even alleging sinister financial, political or geopolitical motives and plots, most other attention was instead on Germany's winning entry. Sputnik music was one of them.
First place, however, went to by far the most impressive song on the night. Germany’s Lena took the stage with little more than a microphone and a cocktail dress. She looked and sounded drunk and sloppy, but her song, ‘Satellite,’ had a serious kick and a killer melody. Her vocal style, unlike the interminably dull singers who had gone before her, was delightfully playful, calling to mind Regina Spektor or Björk at her poppiest. ‘Satellite’ has already topped the charts in Germany, and it’s a reasonable bet that her Eurovision success will see her climb the charts all across Europe this summer.


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China: lost in translation · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The machine translation of Chinese character into English can be really hilarious. PH from veggie discourse has a few examples.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Responses to FoxConn’s suicides · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

SACOM have several updates on reactions and responses to FoxConn workers’ consecutive suicides, including 1. Appeal by Sociologists on FoxConn suicides, 2. Global Day of Remembrance for Victims of Foxconn, 3. Letter to Apple and 4. A protest action in Hong Kong


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France: Scholar Unpacks the Concept of National Identity · Global Voices
Suzanne Lehn

Reflets reposts (Fr) from newspaper Le Monde a review of “L'identité nationale, une énigme“, a book by a specialist in comparative anthology Marcel Detienne, denouncing the “mythideology” of an immanent France, whose brand of nationalism rules out interracial mixing. The author was interviewed in two videos, here and here (november 2009).

author: Suzanne Lehn


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Guatemala: State of Emergency Due to Tropical Storm Agatha · Global Voices
Renata Avila

Right after the Pacaya Volcano increased its activity last week, Agatha tropical storm formed near Central American and it has hit Guatemala especially hard, leaving behind devastation in the highlands with missing people, at least 93 deaths, blocked roads, broken bridges and devastation in rural areas.
The storm dissipated on May 30 but due to the large amount of damages, School classes have been suspended until June 4th and the entire country is on alert. The network of digital journalists [es] are recommending people to stay home, unless it is absolutely necessary to go out.
Photo by Guatemalan Government used under  CC BY NC SA license.
Geraldine Mac reports about the tragedies caused by mudslides:
A state of emergency has been declared in Guatemala as the storms heavy rain thrashes through Central America. ‘Agatha's’ heavy rain has caused mud-slides which are destroying houses and businesses alike, cutting off roads and causing fear and panic throughout the region and there is a risk of a volcanic eruption. Just over 120 miles from Guatemala City in the town of Alomolonga, a mudslide buried a house with a family of 2 adults and 2 children there was no survivors. Four other adults and children have also been killed in separate incidents due to the amount of heavy rain causing more than just a few mud-slides and 11 people are missing. These mudslides have been causing traffic problems and power has been cut off from those places affected.
The blogger Chitiore wrote the list of addresses where one can take suggested donated items to help those affected by the storm. The damages are still uncertain, but the storm decreased and is now a tropical depression, which is something that the blog Good News in Guatemala calls “a miracle.” Now the danger moves to the most vulnerable regions in the country, where the terrain was affected badly. River levels have increased causing floods, and many roads are blocked by rocks that have been washed away by the water.
Houses near the volcano. Picture under a CC BY NC SA license by the Guatemalan Government.
According to the government's official twitter account @TuGuatemala [es], the official numbers for Sunday morning were, at the time, 13 dead, 30 missing people, 17,101 people in temporary housing and 2,912 severely damaged houses. Since then, the number of deaths has increased to approximately 100. The emergency demands coordination and solidarity from all Guatemalans and help from the international community. You can visualize a map(pdf) with all the incidents reported by May 30.
CC BY NC SA by Gobierno de Guatemala
Rudy Girón of the blog AntiguaDailyPhoto.com writes that Guatemala urgently needs a break from disasters:
Of course the tropical storm Agatha is the worst of all evils because it hit hard the entire country with a heavy downpour which caused floods and land slides in many places, including La Antigua Guatemala. Many people have lost their houses and many more have been evacuated and are now living in temporary shelters. A flood of tweets and Facebooks updates keep inundating the timelines with the hash tags #Pacaya, #AgathaGT,#CenizasGT, #ApagonGT, etc. You can look at all the photos from tropical storm Agatha that people are uploading at http://is.gd/cvbam andhttp://is.gd/cvbak. Don’t you agree that we need a break from Nature’s catastrophes?
Many people in Guatemala agree and hope that the country will be prepared to help those in need.

author: Renata Avila


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Jamaica: Carrying on, but Counting the Cost  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaica is doing its level best to carry on in the face of the disorder that the signing of an extradition order for suspected drug and arms trafficker Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke has caused in the island nation's capital.
One of the most heartening signs that the country is determined to get back to normal is the Calabash International Literary Festival, which has proceeded as scheduled this weekend.  @anniepaul tweeted updates from Treasure Beach:
Wonderful. Calabash is like a huge lung purifying the putrid air we inhaled in Kingston RT @mrseven65: @anniepaul how has it been so far?
As the festival drew to a close, it was evident that despite the success of the event, the situation in West Kingston was still top of mind:
@anniepaul: Wi no know how we and dem a go work it out. Someone will have to pay for all the innocent blood. UPRISING. #Calabash closing…
Downtown Kingston quiet. By bbcworldservice, used under a Creative Commons Licence.
Meanwhile, the capital appears to be calmer.  Twitter carried regular updates:
Gwyneth_h:
@onthegroundjm  Quiet on Red Hills Road from Wednesday. Traffic heavy like a normal Saturday, especially around Price Mart
@lauraredpath: Quiet Sunday morning in West Kingston #Tivoli #Jamaica
@anniepaul: Hallelujah, the Wild West is calm for now RT @lauraredpath: Quiet Sunday morning in West Kingston #Tivoli #Jamaica
@lauraredpath: Young men play football across from the National Arena. #normal Kingston despite #Tivoli clashes http://twitpic.com/1sh0fn
Spent the morning in Hannah Town. I find the community more peaceful than my own mind, plagued by all I need to do #Tivoli #Jamaica
@j007li Jamaica on a whole was fine, it was just Kingston (along w/Spanish Town) and that has calmed considerably.
That calm has come at a cost.  Several wanted men have turned themselves in, but only after a great deal of bloodshed and loss of life.  As if the existing casualties weren't bad enough, there were tweets being circulated that the Prime Minister deserved as awful a fate; several Tweeple were quick to come to his defense:
@ChrysalisCEO: I'm seeing more irresponsible tweets; suggestions that the Prime Minister deserves to be killed?! UNACCEPTABLE!
@ArnoldKer: @ChrysalisCEO We no longer respect the fundamental right to life? No wonder Jamaica's at the place we're at. That's sad.
Authorities believe that ‘Dudus’ is still in Jamaica – albeit with a new “look” – but while detainees are being held and processed at the National Arena, the man at the center of the imbroglio still has not been found.  The blogosphere still seems torn, however, over the performance of the country's security forces:
@ChrysalisCEO: I'm heartbroken. I just looked at some of the photos of the bodies of Jamaicans, discarded like garbage. Follow @yardlife to see them.
@ArnoldKer: Those men prepared for a war, attacked the security forces and they responded. Let's not forget that.
Army on the streets of Kingston. By bbcworldservice, used under a Creative Commons Licence.
Recent tweets suggest that the security forces are once again conducting operations in Red Hills:
@roleli: Security Forces seem to believe that the wanted man &/ his cronies are in the Sterling Castle, Kirkland heights area of Red Hills
apparently men have now been detained in a Red Hills community and it seems the men are from the recently ‘conquered’ community
@jamaicaobserver: 9 picked up in East Kirkland Heights http://tinyurl.com/2fu4a5m
More weapons and ammunition are also being found.  In addition to the “36 guns found to date along with 9241 rounds of ammo”, @onthegroundjm just tweeted:
Confirmed: A house in Denham Town was searched and an AK-47 rifle was found along with 7 rounds of ammunition. The… http://bit.ly/diqSun
The rest of the region is watching closely.  @anniepaul retweeted this commentary by Sir Ronald Sanders:
Jamaica’s business is CARICOM’s business. Neither CARICOM governments nor the people of CARICOM can sit back and pretend that events in Jamaica in which criminals defy the authority of the State are not relevant to them.
And, when this particular confrontation is over, Jamaica must start the gruelling process of openly and transparently dismantling all party political connections with gangs…Jamaica will be economically stronger, socially better and politically more stable than it has been for decades and, as a consequence, CARICOM will benefit.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Japan: My Eyes Tokyo · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

Isao Tokuhashi at My Eyes Tokyo interviews foreigners living in Tokyo. The latest interview, the 32nd in the series, is Robert Koch, an audio products manufacturer from Pietermaritzburg in South Africa.

author: Tomomi Sasaki


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Japan: National police to share information on organized crime members · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

Sarah Noorbakhsh, at Japan Subculture Research Center's blog, reports [en] on the forthcoming cooperation between the National Police Agency (NPA) and the Japan Security Dealers Association (JSDA). The police will provide information for a database on yakuza (Japanese mafia) members “to combat organized crime members opening securities accounts”.

author: Scilla Alecci


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Japan: Okinawans vent frustration over Futenma · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

The end of May has come. And with it, Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama reaches his self-imposed deadline [en] to announce to the U.S., and his own country, a decision on the relocation of the American military base of Futenma [en], in Okinawa prefecture.
After having shilly-shallied for months, pledging to re-examine the first agreement [en] signed by the then ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the U.S. in order to find a new solution which reduces the number of bases in Okinawa, Hatoyama has now backtracked.
The base will be relocated to Camp Schwab, near the small village of Henoko [ja], in the center of the northern island of Okinawa.
Okinawa residents who last year supported and voted for the Democratic Party of Japan [en] in the hope that the new government would finally relocate the facilities outside their prefecture, or even outside of the country, saw their wishes dashed. A relocation of the bases turned out not to be possible [en] as the government deemed the presence of the American military forces in the area still crucial for the security of Japan and Asia.
Soldiers at Camp Schwab. By Flickr id: boviate
Yukihiro Okinawa, fed up with politicians who aren't able to keep their promises, expresses his disappointment about the failed relocation of the base:
「最低でも県外」
「埋め立ては自然への冒涜だ」
鳩山総理が繰り返し国民に訴えてきたことばです。
しかし、5月末決着は「県内で埋め立て」という最低で冒涜な結論を出しました。
国のリーダーがウソをつき、沖縄の未来を勝手に危険な方向へ向けたのです。
ほんと情けない人たちだ・・・信念なき政治家は去ってくれ。
At Henoko. By Flickr id: selena lynn
ECO recalls how, when she was little, her conception of “normal” was living near a military base, until she one day realized that “normality” is in fact something else:
沖縄県はいつも犠牲になっています。私がこどもの頃、那覇市古島に住んでいました。
すぐ近くに天久基地があり、cもなく育ってきました。
今は返還され新都心となり公園や美術館、ショッピングモールができています。今考えると、異常な光景でした。
慣れって怖いですね。
ちゅら島うちなー（美しい島沖縄）
未来の沖縄のために
ぬちどぅ宝（命は宝物）
こどもたちのために
辺野古案は反対です！
絶対に反対です！
The failure of Hatoyama's government to take a clear stand on the relocation issue and carry out its plan even in the face of U.S. pressure has been the target of heavy criticism from opposition parties and the national media.
Eiji criticizes this attitude, which he considers hypocritical, as earlier governments never even hinted at straying from the status quo in Okinawa:
この両党が与党であった10年間、そして去年から今年にかけて、普天間基地の問題に対して、いったい何をやってきたんだという問いが、満腔の怒りとともに噴き出してくる。
裏切りか裏切りでないか、それを言えるのはウチナンチュだけだ。
一方的に負担を押し付けてきた張本人たちに、自分たちの気持ちの代弁など、して欲しくはなかろう。
あんたたちには、なにも言える資格はないのだ。
あんたたちの言うことなど、誰も信用していないのだ。
相手にしていないのだ。
沖縄の人々は鳩山首相の辞任など、誰も望んではいまい。
こと、ここに至ってもなお、ぎりぎりまで、あのひとに期待しているのだ。
「県外」「国外」を、口のうえにのぼらせただけでも、あのひとは空前絶後の首相なのだ。
ウチナンチュだけがそれを知っているのだ。
Although some U.S. military bases [en] are located in other areas of Japan, 20% of Okinawa hosts 75% of the facilities in the country. On May 28th, an Extraordinary Citizens’ Assembly against the “Agreement of Henoko” (辺野古合意 Henoko Gohi) gathered to demand equal distribution of bases throughout all of Japan.
Harumi-s shares the records of the petition:
日本の平和と安全、抑止力維持のために沖縄に犠牲を強いるのはやむを得ない。そのような沖縄に対する差別を継続しようとする日本政府に対して、沖縄県民の怒りは、これからもっと広く深くひろがっていくだろう。抑止力論やアメとムチの振興策はもはや沖縄では通用しない。公約を破り、日替わりで発言を変え、見え透いた二枚舌を弄してきた鳩山首相や閣僚たちの言葉を信じる沖縄県民はもういない。[…]
日米安保条約に沖縄に基地を置くという条文はない。
沖縄の米軍基地が、我が国の安全保障のうえで、あるいはアジア及び世界の平和の維持のために不可欠であるというのであれば、基地の負担は日本国民が等しく引き受けるべきでものである。
“It is inevitable that Okinawa sacrifices itself for the sake of Japan's security, peace and threat deterrence.” The Okinawan people, faced with this type of discrimination by the Japanese government, will become more and more resentful. The deterrence theory and “carrot and stick” measures are not applicable to Okinawa.
After having broken the promises announced in its manifesto, coming out with a new statement every day, and having been blatantly two-faced, the people of Okinawa will not believe a single word of what the Hatoyama government and its cabinet ministers say.
[…]
In the Security treaty there is no article stating that the bases must be located in Okinawa. If the military bases of Okinawa are really crucial for the maintenance of peace in the World and in Asia, and to guarantee the security of the country, then the burden should be equally distributed throughout all of Japan.
UPDATE
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama announced his resignation [en] on Wednesday, after just 8 months in office.


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Japan: Those Commonplace, Vinyl Umbrellas · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

A traditional Japanese umbrella or wagasa, made of bamboo and Japanese paper, is a beautiful thing. The most common umbrella however, is this cheap, translucent type made from plastic and vinyl. It can be bought practically anywhere at kiosks and convenience stores.
‘Only boring rain, no snow’ by kirainet
Ownership
Mari at watashi to tokyo explains how they are so common that sense of ownership is very low.
Actually at the office, so many people use that umbrella that it is impossible to tell which one is mine or yous. So we take one when it suddenly rains, without meaning any harm. People seem to think as if the clear vinyl umbrella is freeware. Almost automatically, people collect vinyl umbrella like this. Ah, I do the same.
Intentional or not, the umbrella stands in front of convenience store doors are a prime location for umbrella switching and theft. A commenter on Tagame's blog recounts a recent episode:
前にちょっといいビニール傘をコンビニの外の傘立てに置いておいたら、出てきた時には骨がさび付いたふる～いビニール傘に変わってました。
A fed up @Yutarine darkly tweeted:
雨の日のコンビニで他人の傘をパクる奴には等しく死を。
Weather forecast
Many people have made it a habit to check the forecast in the morning. Lester Ho said:
As you know that the weather report in Japan are 90% accurate and everyone will know today’s weather and if it’s going to rain, you can see plenty of people ready their umbrella before it starts raining on the day.
While 90% might be an exaggeration, not being caught off guard (and wet!) is important. Perhaps it reveals a bit of your habits? The blogger at Odeon Apple wonders if a salesperson with a vinyl umbrella, as opposed to a “real” one, would come off as a bit hurried and untrustworthy to their customer.
「この人、朝のニュースや天気予報も見ずに外に出かけ、行った先でビニール傘を買うなんて、準備などがきちんとできない人じゃないだろうか、行き当たりばったりなんじゃないの」と思われそうなこと。
Screenshots of the Umbrella app
There's even an iPhone app from a Japanese company whose sole purpose is to inform whether you need to bring an umbrella today. The Tokyo Hacker blog introduces it in a post titled “Say goodbye to vinyl umbrellas” [ja].
Lost and found
Umbrellas are #1 in the list of lost properties delivered to the Metropolitan Police Department. In 2006, there were approximately 430,000 umbrellas delivered, which accounts for more than 20% of all lost properties.
The Association of Japanese Private Railways even starts their definition of “lost properties” with a mention of umbrellas in a dictionary of railway related terminology.
大都市の鉄道では、「ひと雨500本」という言葉が示すように、雨が降ると傘の忘れ物が多くなります。
The city of Kanazawa operates a project that makes use of the piles of umbrellas that are collected by the railway company each year. They are made available for free rental in a dozen places, including tourist centers and buses. Marked with the logo of singer Eri Takena, they can be returned to any of the designated spots. Bad habits don't seem to go away, though. A majority of the umbrellas went unreturned last year – it seems that many tourists take them home as keepsakes.
It won't be long before the Japan Meteorological Agency officially declares the beginning of the mainland's rainy season.


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Lebanon: Evil challenges against techy women · Global Voices
Layal Al Khatib

Lebanese blogger and geek Mir talks about six “evil” challenges women in the IT world face in her latest post.

author: Layal Al Khatib


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Madagascar: The voice of a young blogger and translator · Global Voices
Sopheap Chak

During the 2010 Global Voices Summit in Chile, a young girl from Madagascar asked me whether I am really from Japan, the country where she is passionate about everything including language, culture, and especially sushi. I was impressed that she could speak better Japanese than myself despite the fact that I have been living in Japan for two years already.
She is Radifera Felana Candy, translator for Global Voices Lingua Malagasy. Only 15 years old, Candy is probably the youngest member in the Global Voices team. Her participation in Global Voices has not only improved her language skills, it has also allowed her to promote her country's language, Malagasy. Candy, currently a high school student, wants to know more about infographics in college and she hopes to use her blog as a tool for social change. This advocacy via the blogosphere is laudable.
Candy together with her dad, Maminirina Radifera Ranaivoson (left); Leonard Chien, Global Voices Lingua Director; and Archbishop John Baptist Odama of Uganda, one of winners of Breaking Borders Award
I interviewed Candy via e-mail about her personal life and her blogging activities:
1. Tell us more about yourself:
I'm RADIFERA Felana Candy, 15 years old, and I was born in Madagascar. I'm a sophomore high school  student. I learned Japanese during my first year in high school but at that time I was only taking lessons here and there on the Internet. I decided to take a language course one year after.
2. How long have you been blogging? Why?
I first heard  about blogging through the “Foko Madagascar” Project. I participated in a blog training they organized. I have been blogging since 2007. But at  that time I was not very active. I didn't have internet at home and I  had no idea about what to write about. I started to blog because I  always loved writing stories since I was very young.
3. What kind of blog did you start with ?
I wrote about  everyday life, about the things that surprised me, interested me, or made me  angry.
4. Is your family open to new technologies? Are they supportive of your online activities?
Yes,  since both my parents work with computers, and especially my  dad because he is very passionate about photography. My dad is also a very active blogger. As long as I  don't talk about  politics, it's ok, because here in Madagascar, especially during a crisis,  politics is a very sensitive topic.
5. What do you like most about blogging?
Blogging allows me to share my opinion to others, to let them know about  what is happening in my life and my community. I value this opportunity to share something about myself to others, and to interact with readers. It's a kind of way to communicate with others. But apart from writing, I also love to create my  own blog banner, I love to edit photos, even though I'm not very skilled yet.
6. What do you think about blogging in Madagascar?
Access to blogs is very limited in Madagascar since only 1 or 2 percent of  Malagasy people can access the internet due to its price. But I know there are many individuals who really want to blog. If we can improve web access, I believe blogging can contribute to change/ameliorate the way of life of Malagasy people.
7. What is your expectation from blogging for yourself and your community?
I hope to attract more people to blog, or maybe that I  will change the views of some people by sharing my views,  especially about blogging. I remember when I told some of my friends about blogging, they said that it's a waste of time.
8. You are translator for Global Voices Lingua Malagasy. How do you like your role with GV now?
GV is a big community, its a major website, and it's rare for this kind of website to be translated into Malagasy.  Malagasy is not a widely known language, and it's an honor for me to translate GV articles into my language. It's also a way for me to improve my English and  Malagasy language skills. And now that I've attended the Summit, I feel more motivated to do translations. I love to do it. GV became something important to me, and  I'm proud to be a part of GV Community.
9. How do you picture  yourself in the future?
After high-school, I will study IT, or infographics. I hope I will also  be more involved with GV.
10. What is your message to fellow young netizens?
Be more open to the world.  Blogging is an easy way to share your opinion. It is never a waste of  time especially if you write something interesting and useful. Through blogging, maybe we will find other bloggers in the world who also share our views, and who can understand and help us in our lives.  When I participated in the first blog training of Foko, I asked them  what I can write on a blog. One of the answers was that I can use blogging as a diary. It's true, but be careful not to share something intimate on  your blog, someone can use it against you (to “hit” you)

author: Sopheap Chak


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Maldives: A Non Muslim In the 100% Muslim Nation · Global Voices
Rezwan

Hasan Ziayu reports about a Maldivian who openly announced his disbelief in Islam on state television and was detained by police. Now the dilemma is: one cannot become a Maldivian unless he is a Muslim, but since the person is already a citizen, what will happen to his citizenship?


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MENA: Rage after Israel Attacks Gaza-bound Flotilla  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Emotions are running high across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), after Israel attacked a peaceful flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to besieged Gaza – and the Twittersphere is ablaze.
According to Reuters:
The violent end to a Turkish-backed attempt to break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip by six ships carrying some 600 people and 10,000 tonnes of supplies raised an outcry across the Middle East and far
beyond.
And no where is this rage more obvious than on Twitter - where thousands of tweets with the hashtag #flotilla, #Freedomflotilla, #Israel, #Gaza and the Turkish word for Israel #Israil – many of which have now been disabled – mushroomed in a few hours.
Reactions across MENA included sarcasm, anger and shame.
From Dubai, UAE, Mariam writes:
Bahraini Esra'a Al Shafei sarcastically notes:
Israel has just announced the world's most dangerous weapons: Wheelchairs and elderly people. #Flotilla #FreedomFlotilla
Rami Boraie, who tweets as Ramsville, follows the same stream of thought, saying:
Nothing will happen because it will be called “self-defense” because water purifiers are just bombs waiting to be made.
Lebanese Jamal Ghosn tweets:
If you let someone get away with murder every time, you can't act surprised when it kills again. #flotillamassacre #flotilla
Bahraini Yacoub Slaise adds:
Israelis have never respected borders, they've existed for 60 years on that basis, never expect them to respect intl waters #freedomflotilla
Again from Ramsville:
It's obvious the
flotilla was a peaceful operation. To see israeli soldiers board with machine guns should show the ridiculousness of it all
And there was also action on the ground:
From Egypt, Bothania Kamel reports:
Palfest posts a photograph from the demonstration here:
A scene from the Cairo demonstration by PalFest
Ali Dahmash, from Jordan, also tweets:
The only demonstration I managed to see now was at the Prime Ministry  and it's building up #flotilla http://tweetphoto.com/24880069
And here‘s Dahmash's photograph:
Activists gather in Jordan in protest against the flotilla attack
Meanwhile, after a few celebratory tweets that #flotilla is becoming a trending topic on Twitter, accusations surfaced that Twitter is ‘censoring’ the entry.
Dowza tries an explanation here:
There isn’t much available as to what happened but it’s not really surprising. Israel showed its distaste for international law once again and attacked an aid vessel outside of their jurisdiction. This was in international waters and the equivalent of piracy. There are reports  as to as many as 12-15 people being killed and steadily rising. It’s hard to get any sort of correct number because well… the israeli press is introducing all sorts of unsourced factors. One claims soldiers were attacked with knives. Can we believe this? I’ll elaborate later but for now I am interested in why #flotilla is not trending. Sure it may not be super important but Twitter was used with great success during the Iranian elections for people to speak out. It was even kept up so people could communicate. So obviously it is anti-Iran. But can we establish something else?
As said I’m more interested in why #flotilla is not trending worldwide on Twitter. If you look on trendistic which tracks tweets #flotilla is number 1.
He continues:
WHY is #flotilla not trending? This is obviously interference on Twitters part. There is no other rational explanation.
(…)
It is frightening to think that anyone is purposefully blocking words from being discussed by a greater audience so lets hope this is all some sort of coincidence. Given pro-israeli propaganda that is prevalent in almost every mainstream media outlet it wouldn’t surprise me.
Lets hope it’s an ‘error’.
This is what I got when I tried looking up #israil
And as the ‘errors’ continue, Twitter users are becoming more vocal.
SuadAK, from Bahrain, screams:
Twitter blocked #Israil too!!! Cowards #Twitter
From Bucharest, Romania, Florin Cosac appeals to Twitter:
@twitter: Stop censoring #israel, #gaza and #flotilla from trending topics NOW! #FreedomFlotilla
On the Guardian's Technology Blog, Charles Arthur attempts another explanation:
But at around 11am, as #flotilla began “trending” – rising to the topmost-used hashtags on the service – it seemed to vanish.
Was this censorship by Twitter? Quite a few asked the question.
Certainly if you went to the standard URL for such a search – http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23flotilla – you briefly got a result saying “Twitter error”.
However if you used the advanced search, you get the results as you'd expect.
What also happened was that people started using a new hashtag: #freedomflotilla. That rapidly trended.
The error in #flotilla search results quickly fixed itself, though. Possibly the rapid rise in the hashtag's visibility tripped an anti-spam filter at Twitter headquarters (where it was 3am in the morning, so we might assume that it's the machines, rather than the people, who are on duty – though then again, knowing the nocturnal habits of programmers, perhaps not).
So: shock as Twitter not being used to censor news. But it does show the enormous sensitivity there now is about Twitter's impartiality that any suggestion that a world event might be pushed out of its “trending topics” (displayed on the right-hand column of every Twitter user's home page) can create such frustration.
It doesn't, of course, help anyone on the convoy that was attacked. But getting information into public hands is a public good. Twitter is coming closer and closer to being viewed as a utility – certainly by those who use it. Perhaps we'd all feel more comfortable if it had a business model that had real, declared profits.
Stay tuned for more reactions as the day progresses.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Mexico: Community Journalism in the Gulf of California · Global Voices
Andrea Arzaba

In the Gulf of California, a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland, there is a great example about how citizen journalism is able to create environmental consciousness in a community and become a model of reporting.
SuMar “Voces por la naturaleza” (Your Ocean: Voices for Nature) is a local association that focuses on Gulf of California’s conservation, motivating their own community by giving tools to people in order to become leaders and take action. Citizen journalism is one important subject, as they have hosted different conferences on writing with an environmental and social focus. This is what they mention on their own website:
El periodismo comunitario, el arte como medio didáctico y las nuevas tecnologías de la comunicación son algunas de las tácticas utilizadas por SuMar. Porque una sociedad crítica y propositiva es una sociedad con poder, nuestras campañas de comunicación están orientadas a informar a la ciudadanía e invitándolos a participar en temas de interés común y con gran respaldo técnico y científico.
About 100 teachers and students have been able to become a part of the citizen journalism project. By discussing these environmental issues, they were trained how to use citizen media and being trained o act and react to it. There have also been several conferences about citizen journalism related to climate change, fishing, ecotourism, etc.
The participants not only focus on writing, but they have also created podcasts, photo galleries and different videos about what is happening in their own region.
All the podcast episodes begin with this introduction:
Sobrevivir en el Golfo de California: Promesas incumplidas de la modernidad, crisis ambiental y postales cercanas del progreso como ideologia. Una serie de reportajes producidos por el staff de política y rock'n'roll.
Some of the subjects they cover are local issues, such as Puerto Peñasco‘s history (from the presence of the indigenous communities until the construction of touristic infrastructure, and fragments from politicians’ speeches), education in the main area, and migration within the region. However, one of the most important aspects of these podcasts, is the freedom of the express themselves, as with its informative perspective that gives a voice to the residents of the Gulf of California region in order to complain and talk about the issues that are affecting their own region.
This is a fragment of Podcast #8:
Con sus impresionantes campos de golf, su turismo de sol y playa, con los infaltables e innumerables casos de despojos ejidatarios, pescadores y pequeños propietarios; por parte de los potentados políticos en turno, el denominado Cancún Foxista, Peñasco o Rocky Point para los turistas americanos, es uno de los claros ejemplos de la corrupción desarrollista del Estado Mexicano.

author: Andrea Arzaba


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Nigeria: Cast your vote in the 2010 Nigerian Blog Awards! · Global Voices
Eremipagamo Amabebe

It's time again for the Nigerian Blog Awards! Starting Monday, voters can cast their ballot for the best blog in over 30 categories, ranging from “Best Fashion Blog” to “Most Controversial Blog” to “Best Student Blog” and more. For those unacquainted with the Nigerian blogging community, the awards are a convenient point of introduction to what is arguably the largest and most active blogosphere in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Between May 10th and 24th, more than 200 netizens submitted nominations for their favorite blog in 30 categories. Nominators could choose from a list the organizers provided of nearly 500 blogs, or they could suggest a blog from off the list. The criteria for nominations were inclusive: Nigerian bloggers from around the world were encouraged to participate (it is estimated that more than 1 in 10 Nigerians lives outside the country), and non-Nigerians whose blogs focus on Nigeria were also invited to take part.  “Are you a Nigerian blogger or does your blog focus on Nigeria? Has your blog been updated in the last six months? Is your blog publicly accessible?” the website asks. If so, you are eligible to compete for an award.
The nominees for the most contested category, “Nigerian Blog of the Year”, are below:
You can see the nominees in the 29 other categories here.
Sub-Saharan Africa is known neither for its high Internet penetration nor for its blogging activity – but Nigeria leads the region, with Internet penetration at 11% (11 million), a figure second only to Egypt's on the African continent.  Nigeria's vibrant blogging community is just one reason to take note of the blogging awards, and to get acquainted with some of the best Nigerian blogs.
The voting beginning Monday is only one half of the Awards program. The Blog Awards are divided into two sections: Group A recognizes the best in traditional categories such as Political Blogs, Parenting Blogs, etc., while Group B focuses on “fun” categories (last year's awards included “Say What?! – Most confusing Blogger” and “Blogsville magician/Disappearing act – disappears for long periods without any explanation”).
The  2010 Awards are organized by Good Naija Girl, with help from HappyBBB, Tinuo, Adeola, and Sting (organizer of the 2009 Awards). Good Naija Girl says she hopes to expand participation to the wider community, making the Awards “a well-established hub for connecting Nigerian bloggers or bloggers with a focus on Nigeria worldwide.”
Voting for Group A takes place between Monday, May 31st and Sunday, June 6th. Winners to be announced June 7th. Nominations for Group B begin mid-June.
Cast your vote, check out the schedule, or follow the Awards on Twitter here.

author: Eremipagamo Amabebe


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Nigeria: Oil spills have taken place for past 50 years · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Sokari points out that oil spills have been taking place in Nigeria for the past 50 years.


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Pakistan: Netizens Demand End To Internet Censorship · Global Voices
Rezwan

Sana Saleem at Mystified Justice posts a plea by the netizens to the Pakistani government to end the ongoing Internet censorship and intimidation in the country.

author: Rezwan


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Pakistan: The Lesson In The Facebook Ban · Global Voices
Rezwan

Following the lifting of the ban on Facebook by Lahore High-court, Adil Najam at All Things Pakistan questions:  “So, what is the lesson in all of this? Who gained what in this entire episode? And who lost what?”


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Peru: The Return of the Indigenous Leader Alberto Pizango · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

As announced [es] earlier, the exiled indigenous leader Alberto Pizango returned to Peru on May 26. The former head of the Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest  (or AIDESEP for its initials in Spanish)  spent more than 11 months in exile in Nicaragua after leaving the country following the events and conflicts in the region  of  Bagua. He had been facing an arrest order during this time, but he finally decided to return to the country, despite certain skepticism from his own organization.
Following news of his return, Peruvian President Alan García stated [es] that he would guarantee that Pizango would be treated fairly during his judicial process for the events in Bagua, which is also known as the “Baguazo.” However, the Minister of Women Affairs, Nidia Vílchez said [es] that Pizango's return appeared to be a provocation on his part.
Protest sign reads "Bagua, I don't forget and I don't forgive. Sanction the person guilty of genocide, Alan García." Image by Javier Fernandez, Flickr User javi270270, used with photographer's permission.
During the early morning hours of  May 26, teams of journalists made their way to the airport to cover Pizango's arrival. Families of the police officers who were killed during the Bagua conflict went to demand an arrest and to place responsibility of the death of their loved ones on Pizango. Finally, Pizango arrived at approximately 3:45 pm accompanied by Daysi Zapata the current president of AIDESEP, and the actress Q'orianka Kilcher. As expected, he was first held [es] in the offices of immigration and later arrested and taken to the police station in the area of La Victoria.
Following his arrest, it was announced that Pizango would go on trial [es] for the events in Bagua and face charges of sedition and homicide, as well as charges for attacking the Armed Forces. At the same time, protests have been planned calling for his release.
The next day, on May 27, the judge announced that the arrest order will be changed to a restrictive order [es], meaning that he will have to fulfill the restrictions placed by the judge, including that he cannot leave the country, that he must report on all of his activities each month, and that he cannot change residences without informing the judge.
In the blog Prensa Alternativa [es], there is a brief summary  of the reason why the arrest order was changed:
Con inocultable alegria fue recibida la noticia de la  liberación del  lider indigena amazonico el Apu Alberto Pizango Chota.  La orden que hace  casi un año fuera emitida por una jueza debido a  presiones politicas,  que lo acusaba de ser responsable de los  sangrientos acaecidos en el  llamado “Baguazo”, en donde perdieron la  vida 34 ciudadanos peruanos  debido a un enfrentamiento entre indigenas  amazonicos y policias  miembros de fuerzas especiales.
The blog Transparencia Nacional Perú [es] doubts Pizango's declared intentions for his return and writes the following:
El retorno de aquel instigador que no informo debidamente a la gente de lo que ocurria, que se lavo las manos luego de los sucesos sangrientos, que lucho por intereses fuera de la realidad, no es un regreso para solo enfrentar a la justicia por los cargos de cuatro delitos por el Baguazo, sino como lo dijo Deysi Zapata lider de AIDESEP, que el regreso de Alberto Pizango es para ser Candidado Presidencial del Peru en el 2011, aun cuando luego lo negara sabemos que es asi.
Twitter users commented on Pizango's return, some showing support for the indigenous leader, and others denouncing him. David Grandez (@davidgrandez) says [es] that Pizango got what he wanted:
Te saliste con la tuya Pizango, 11 meses como prófugo de la justicia y te dan comparecencia  […]!
You got away with it Pizango, 11 months like a fugitive from justice and now you get the right to an appearance […]!
John Rivas (@johnidem) tweeted [es] his observation on the whole ordeal:
Muy raro lo de Pizango, justo a casi 1 año de lo que hizo, regresa y no pasó nada. Y los caviares en silencio.
The Pizango issue is very weird, almost 1 year from what he did, he returns and nothing happens. And the caviares [leftists with moderate economic views] are silent.
Twitter user Ansuanet tweeted [es] in support of Pizango:
El colmo hubiera sido #Pizango en la cárcel y Meche en el Spa, relax, libre de culpas por el #Baguazo… y Alan está pasando piola…
It would have been pathetic that #Pizango go to jail and Meche [Meche Cabanillas, the Minister of Interior during the Baguazo] in the Spa, relaxing, free of guilt for the #Baguazo…and Alan [Peruvian president Alan García] is going unnoticed….
Ollanta Humala Tasso (@OllantaHumalaT_), founder of the Peruvian Nationalist Party, also tweeted [es] about Pizango, saying that the Government needs to take responsibility for the “Baguazo”:
El Gobierno debe responder por la matanza en Bagua, no el Sr. Pizango.
The Government needs to respond for the killings in Bagua, not Mr. Pizango.
Following his release, Pizango held a press conference [es]. In the blog Mariátegui [es] they  publish some of his statements:
“He vuelto no solamente para ponerme a derecho sino también para contribuir a la necesaria  reconciliación entre peruanos y peruanas”. “A los deudos de los policías e indígenas, les envio mi sinceras condolencias y exijo una exhaustiva e imparcial investigación para llegar a la verdad”.

author: Juan Arellano


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Russia: Blogger Describes His Experience With E-Gov Portal · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Alexey Grigoriev blogs [RUS] about his experience of starting a small business at e-government portal gosuslugi.ru. The portal is still full of technical bugs and even after online application one has to present all the papers in the regional tax service office.

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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Russia: Journalist’s Blog Hacked · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Both LiveJournal (sina-ja-mina) and Facebook accounts of Andrei Maltsev [RUS], journalist and blogger, were hacked on May 31, Vladimir Pribylovski reported [RUS]. This is the fourth blog hack this year and the third during the previous week (Following hack attacks of Maxim Sviridenkov [EN] and Renata Guseletova (aka demonessa22 [RUS])).


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Russia: Photos and Live Tweets of the Dispersal of the “Day of Dissent” · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Bloggers nl [RUS], zyalt [RUS], Igor Podgorny [RUS] post pictures of the dispersal of today's “Day of Dissent” that is conducted on the 31st day of the month in order to celebrate 31st article of the Russian Constitution [EN] (freedom of assembly). Abstract2001 reports [RUS] at least 25 people arrested, RibaFishka tweets from the police station.


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Sri Lanka: Buying A Condom In Colombo · Global Voices
Rezwan

London, Lanka And drums quotes a friend who shares his experience in Colombo: “to the average man buying condoms is a total nightmare.”


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Sri Lanka: Where To Put Your Trash · Global Voices
Rezwan

Iromi Perera at Groundviews writes about the garbage problem in Sri Lanka and comments: “dumping your trash in front of another person’s house seems to be the common and recommended solution.”


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The Balkans: Violent Treatment of Animals · Global Voices
Sinisa Boljanovic

The civil war that was waged in the former communist Yugoslavia during the 1990’s resulted in several hundred thousand people killed and almost a million refugees. After the war, crime and various forms of violence became a regular occurrence in the countries of the region. Victims have mostly been different national and religious groups, the gay population and Gypsies. Recently, animals have also become a target of the bullies. Almost every day some dogs or cats are being exposed to torture by cruel people who record their cruelties and publish the video on the internet.
In mid-April, a lot of people in Serbia were shocked by a terrible video of violence against a female dog which was shown by TV channels. An anonymous monster cut off the dog’s paws and left her to lie in the puddle of blood in one of Belgrade’s street.
On that occasion Goran Paskaljevic, a well-known filmmaker and president of the association for animal protection called SOS Animals, said this to the daily newspaper Blic:
I am shocked that something like that could happen. I expect that the police will find the culprit, even though the victim is not a human, but an animal.
He added:
Those who could carry out such a monstrous act against an infirm dog that couldn’t commit anything bad are dangerous for people as well.
Blogger Dragan Jakovljevic wrote  a very sad post, in which he asked the female dog called Mila to forgive the sin of the mankind:
[…] ”Each sin, even the smallest one, affects the fate of the world,” said the old man Siluan. And each virtue does, too: because a victim – in this case, a female dog Mila – is not alone anymore. Tens of thousands of people are offering their help and searching for the monster. Their voices are currently saving this planet. Thanks to them, I dare look into Mila’s eyes, at least on the only endlessly sad [photo] which has appeared on the internet these days, and say: “Forgive, if you can.”
Since one woman found Mila under her car and took her to a veterinary clinic, doctors gave the female dog the first aid. Now Mila is recovering from the wounds and waiting for an operation in Germany where she should get the prosthetics on her legs so that she could walk again.
Just a few weeks after the event, a new disturbing video of violence against a kitten appeared on Srdan Stankovic's page profile (the video has since been removed).
A couple days ago, lawyers of radio and TV station B92 brought a criminal charge against him. Also, a group “Sprecimo nasilje nad zivotinjama” (Stop Abusing Animals) has been created on the Facebook. This group already has more than 44,000 members. Their message is:
STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST ANIMALS!!!
If you love animals, please help save them from cruelty!
If you love animals, join the animal rescue team in your community!
Animals have feelings, just like you or me. Treat animals like you would want to be treated if you were them.
The question is: where are the roots of more and more brutal violence in Serbia?
Dragan Popadic, a social psychologist, said on the web site of Radio Free Europe that the civil war is not the only reason. He added:
That is part of the problem. But I think that we are supposed to look for the roots of violence in something that is present in the current situation. In my opinion, there are no reactions to violence […]. Tolerance towards violence, a tendency that some forms of violence are seen as good violence is tremendously polluting our everyday lives, leading to these excessive and brutal forms of violence.
On the same web page, a Serbian ballerina, writer and blogger Jelena Tinska said:
The Vietnam syndrome has taken over the rule of Serbia, somnambulists stroll over the streets, young boys kill girls. The man who cut the legs of this dog, tomorrow he will cut the breasts of his girlfriend if she cheats on him, because he is a psychopath. Therefore, insane [bullies] are walking over our cities, but they have not been punished yet.
Serbia's neighbor Bosnia and Herzegovina is also facing violence against animals. According to Sarajevo’s daily newspaper “Oslobodjenje”, this past March there was a series of protests in Sarajevo which were organized by an association called “Friends of animals.” Direct pretext for those protests was a terrible video shot by three young people and published on Facebook. The video shows how these boys are setting a notorious pit-bull terrier on an infirm stray dog, and how the bloodthirsty animal is tearing its victim apart.
A lot of bloggers from this country reacted to the video very harshly.
Blogger zuti__karton published a post titled “How monstrous can we be?” As a dog owner and a volunteer at an animal shelter in Tuzla city, she reacted to the video very emotionally. Because of that, her first reaction should be perceived as a public appeal to everyone to stop abusing animals, not as an invitation to take revenge on the culprits of the brutal crime. She wrote:
[…] The only fair law is “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” and everyone should be treated according to this law […] then I’d like to see who would repeat such a crime. […]
[…] These are just some of the cases of violence against animals… Only God knows how many others there are… Is anyone asking himself how monstrous a creature we can be, how primitive we can be. Can we be even worse? I think we can, because we are people, not animals. […]
[…] We often kill for the sake of fun, out of jealousy, for money or for similar senseless reasons. We wage wars because misters from TV tell us to do that, because someone has this or that kind of name, because someone is black and someone else is white, because of the damned colors. […]
Medo_Lee wrote:
[…] Protection of animal rights and taking care of animals is typical of western, democratic, civilized and prosperous societies and we are so far away from that level.
Human is the worst animal and a proof of that is what's happening to us. […]
Blogger Mafa has a totally different opinion. He published a short post titled “Violence against animals is justified”:
Look at what these little monsters [dogs] have done to a young man… One of them bit off his leg. This young man will never be able to walk, not to mention play football :(  He doesn’t have enough money to buy a Sony PlayStation, so his life is, to say the least, destroyed. Why did the dog make him disabled? Why? How could this dog be so cruel :( if the man had had a pit-bull, like Kemal, it's certain that he wouldn’t have experienced this misfortune. :(
Croatia has almost the same problem as Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On March 4 this year, daily newspaper Jutarnji List published an article about brutal violence against dogs and cats in the cities of Vinkovci and Vukovar:
Newspapers are often full of articles about the abuse of animals. Every time people are shocked by the brutality of violence. So citizens of Vinkovci were upset on Wednesday when a dog with severe scalding injuries of its nose, head and back was found in the center of the city. There was a thick wire hoop tied around its neck. […]
[…] A few days before, association “dr Ivan Rostas” warned about one case of animal abuse, this time, against cats in Vukovar. They received the disturbing news from Vukovar about cats that were being exposed to brutal torture by a group of children and several adults from the nearby apartment buildings. They also published photos of a cat whose eye was torn out and another cat whose tail was cut off. Poor animals had also been exposed to stones and slingshots.
Animal fans and online activists from Croatia have created Facebook groups, too, in which they invite people to join them in protection of the animals.
A devastating fact is that in all of these countries there are laws for protection of animals but, unfortunately, they are not applied in practice.

author: Sinisa Boljanovic


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Why Invest In Bangladesh? · Global Voices
Rezwan

Why invest in Bangladesh? Because “Bangladesh is a winning combination with its competitive market, business-friendly environment and cost structure that can give you the best returns,” comments GuruMia.com.


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Angola: A Foreign Look by Afonso Loureiro · Global Voices
Clara Onofre

Aerogram: Afonso Loureiro's Blog
Afonso Loureiro is a Portuguese blogger who has been living in Angola since 2008 for professional reasons: he works in cartography for an Angolan company and  is also dedicated to train local staff with the distinct purpose of reducing dependence on foreigners working in that area.
Because of his blog, Afonso has been threatened with death. In this interview he tells Global Voices about these episodes, he reflects about self censorship and freedom of expression and he speaks about his foreign perspectives about the country that welcomed him.
Why did you chose blogging as a form of expression?
The Aerograma [Aerogram, pt] was born mainly as a channel to broadcast my experiences abroad to close family and friends. The lines of communication between Angola and Portugal do not always work the best and this was the way I found that it would always be possible to pass on what I was living. On the other hand, the blog would become a repository of memories that I could revisit later. However, without that I had realized, it fled out of my hands. I started writing regularly and not only targetting my dear ones: a real crowd of people began to follow my experiences in Luanda. The next step will be the completion of a book inspired by the journey that Aerograma has drawn.
How long have you had this blog?
The blog was officially created in March 2008, but its official start was in June that year, when I left for Angola. Shortly thereafter, I began to publish articles on a daily basis.
What motivates you to write about Angola?
I don't write exclusively about Angola; I write about what moved me. Aerograma was brought to life so that I could share my experiences, which in this moment happen in Angola, aiming to present in a balanced way the country that hosted me, with its good and bad things.
Do you have family ties with the country?
From my family only my grandfather has been in Angola, doing military service during World War I, when he fought against the Germans.
How would you describe Angola?
Angola is a country full of potential, though wounded by a war that soon became an excuse for resources to be appropriated by a very limited elite. Oil is the basis of the Angolan economy and agriculture doesn't really go much further than subsistence. New generations will face many challenges ahead, but after a decade of peace and increasing openness in politics, they also have a promising future ahead. Moreover, if there is a word that sums up Angola that word is ‘future’.
Angola seeks to establish its own identity, denying its colonial history, but some traces of five centuries of coexistence with the Portuguese cannot be erased. The very integrity of the country is achieved at the expense of the Portuguese language, which unites and distinguishes its people, erasing ethnic boundaries.
Economic Barometer from Aerograma, CC Licensed
How do you see the unbridled growth of the country?
Angola's economic growth was mainly due to the fluctuation of oil prices and capital movements. A sustained growth has not been seen that would translate into improved economic and social conditions of the country. Most investments only seek short term return, as imports or luxury hotels. Investment in agricultural or industrial production, with more dilated payback periods of capital, is pre-empted by the Angolan businessmen.
Fortunately, in the midst of so many dazzling projects, the roads are being recovered. Bottom-up economic growth will arise even with an economy that depends on oil as the main source of revenue.
Currently, the Angolan economy depends almost entirely on foreign companies and technical expertise that, of course, are also interested in generating wealth for themselves. While the Angolan staff are not sufficient to meet the needs, the Angolan economic growth will only enrich others.
What do you like the most about Angola and why? What do you like the least and why?
After having traveled around part of the country, from the dense forests of the north almost to the southern desert and having been amazed by the endless horizons of Africa, I have to admit that what I like and admire the most in Angola is its people. Especially outside Luanda, I have had super interesting and relaxed conversations with Angolans of all ages. I discovered a fighting people, still marked by a war that was not theirs. I discovered engaged students and good professionals seeking an opportunity to show their potential.
Smiles from Aerograma, CC Licensed
The endemic corruption that pervades the country and the climate of war that is still lived in the capital are the main negative points that I highlight. These two factors create and exacerbate inequality and make life very difficult for most of the population. The misappropriation of public money, the scandals linked to the National Bank of Angola and the megalomaniac projects at the expense of infrastructure is a reflection of the worst that there is in Angola.
Do you frequently read blogs written by Angolans? If so, what is your opinion of them?
My reading list includes many blogs written by Angolans, Brazilians and Portuguese. I find no substantive differences between them that justify a definition of Angolanity of their blogs, other than that stem from natural cultural and social baggage of every nation. Blogs by Angolans are generally critical of their country, but nevertheless show love for Angola. They represent excellent places to find out how the Angolans define themselves, in the diaspora or in Angola.
You have told us that you are threatened. What are the issues that raise the anger of those who threaten you?
While seeking to be balanced in the analysis that I do about the country, everytime I slip a bit from political correctness or I do not limit myself to repeating MPLA propaganda, I know I will receive some less amenable feedback. Among it there are always some people who threaten reprisals, whether physical or others. As usual in such cases, the threats are anonymous, but, interestingly, they all come from Angolans living in Portugal. They criticize and threaten for not being in line with the official ideology, for not sticking to saying only good things about the country. Of course they forget that the purpose of Aerograma is not indulge the ego of others, but to serve as an account of the experiences of someone in a new country, speaking of what is good, but also of what is bad.
I received more threats when I invoked episodes in the history of Angola during the civil war. The May 27 [pt], for example, is still a taboo, or so I realized.
'Discipline is the fundamental basis of unity in the organization.' from Aerograma, CC Licensed
How do you deal with the threats?
In early times, I would want to know if the article in question could be interpreted differently than planned, but quickly I realized that the threats were directed at Aerograma altogether just because it spoke of Angola without reflecting the views of the official gazette. There are two or three individuals with too much time on their hands that carry out the task of intimidating those who write about Angola. After establishing a few rules in the filtering of comments, most of the xenophobic messages are deleted immediately.
Although it is an unpleasant task, I analyze each message, in order to find out to what extent I should take them into consideration. One of the measures I took, was to remove my photo from the signature of the articles.
What would you say to those people?
When the threats started coming, I wrote an open letter [pt] where I tried to explain that freedom of expression is a fundamental right, as is the freedom to ignore what we dislike. I suggested to the ones that threaten me they should seek a blog that they liked more, because it may be a symptom of masochism to insist on reading what they dislike or makes them so itchy. Some find the cure for an inferiority complex by mistreating others.
I still think that the blogosphere is big enough for everyone to search what one likes or, if not found, to create whatever he pleases. The ones who don't like what I write have a good remedy: not to read me.
Did you change in some way the subjects you address in your blog?
I did not change the subjects. If I did, who threatens me would have won. The articles in which I address most controversial topics now I make a short introduction where I foresee that I will offend someone and that threats will surely arise. I just started to take extra care avoiding to identify the places where I usually live and work. Some of the threats I received quoted places which are too close for me to feel comfortable.
'The vote is secret. Nobody is obliged to reveal his choice.' from Aerograma, CC Licensed
And finally, do you believe there is press freedom in the country?
Officially, the freedom of the press exists, but especially for those in Angola self-censorship is a serious problem. It takes great care to navigate the waters between the official line of thought and the themes that conscience dictates. Furthermore, I believe that there are two separate government structures operating in Angola: the official multi-party MPLA, which accepts press freedom and democratic principles; and a mono-party MPLA, whose structure works in the shadow of government and roughly accepts criticism. Especially in the countryside, organs of MPLA take the place of government, even with their own intelligence services. Self-censorship is caused by the fear of this shadow MPLA, which acts and reacts in a somewhat anachronistic way.
There is still a long road ahead for freedom of expression to be granted (not only in Angola), but I think that for what there is, it is already consolidated. There have been more and more Angolans saying what they think and the time when the reprisals were immediate seems to have passed. The proliferation of private weeklies is a good sign.

author: Clara Onofre


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Argentina: Massive March Against Gay Marriage · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

The blog El Artillero [es] posted a story from Perfil.com [es] about a massive march organized by various evangelical churches protesting against gay marriage. The post explains the Argentinean Congress today began debating a law to modify the Civil Code to allow same-sex marriage. Reactions from Argentinean bloggers on the issue is something to watch for in the upcoming days.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Azerbaijan: A jazz view of Eurovision · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

The Girl in Jazz comments on this year's Eurovision Song Contest which came to a close on Saturday. The blog highlights the differences between pop music and jazz and concludes that the former is about competition rather than collaboration, and rules over freedom.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Azerbaijan: Eurovision reflections · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines reflects on the weekend's final of the Eurovision Song Contest and says that despite the politics it enjoyed the international music competition more so than in other years. Moreover, the blog notes, there was no major conflict this year between Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia and Georgia.


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Bermuda: On Media & Madness?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Vexed Bermoothes reports that the Bermudian media is all set to establish a self-regulatory council; he also joins other bloggers in questioning the government's plans to proceed with the construction of “a new ‘iconic’ airport and ferry terminal which will cost an estimated $300-$400 million to build.


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Brazil: Film-maker Missing After Flotilla Attack · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Brazilian Film-maker Iara Lee has been missing since yesterday's attack  against the Freedom Flotilla [pt] near Gaza by the Israeli army, reports [pt] Thais Romanelli from Opera Mundi. Luiz Carlos Azenha, from Vi  o Mundo [I Saw the World, pt] reproduces an open letter from the film-maker, supporting her reasons for having joined  the flotilla.

author: Raphael Tsavkko Garcia


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Brazil: Freedom Flotilla, Human Rights and Cartoon · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Conceição Oliveira writes [pt] at Maria Frô blog about the Freedom Flotilla attacks. Her commentary analyzes the declarations from UN High Comissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay and is ilustrated by a Carlos Latuff's cartoon.


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Bulgaria: Protest Against the Gaza Blockade · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

On June 1, the Association of Palestinians in Bulgaria held a rally in Sofia, protesting against the Gaza blockade. Ruslan Trad has posted photos from the rally on his Facebook page. Among other things, the protesters demanded the release of two Bulgarian journalists who had been on one of the international flotilla ships – and who, according to this news item, are currently awaiting deportation from Israel.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Burundi: Parties fight over poll results · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

This Is Africa discusses controversy over poll results in Burundi: “They [the opposition] alleged widespread intimidation and fraud, as well as a number of irregularities surrounding the ballot boxes.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Colombia: First Reactions to the Results of Presidential Elections on Twitter · Global Voices
Julián Ortega Martínez

The results of the Colombian presidential elections held on May 30 surprised a lot of people which, based on opinion polls and the internet campaign, expected a more disputed contest between the frontrunners, right-wing candidate Juan Manuel Santos (Party of the U) and centrist candidate Antanas Mockus (Green Party). Santos, self-proclaimed heir of the legacy of popular president Álvaro Uribe Vélez, got almost [es] 6.8 million votes (46.56%); 3.1 million votes went to Mockus, former Mayor of Bogotá (21.49%). As a result, the two candidates will participate in a run-off election set for June 20.
Centre-right Germán Vargas Lleras (who has supported Uribe's administration while being critical of the second re-election bid and other scandals) surprised most people with his third place (1.47 million votes, 10.13%), as well as leftist Gustavo Petro (1.33 million votes, 9.15%). Noemí Sanín and Rafael Pardo, candidates of the traditional Conservative and Liberal parties, did poorly (6.14% and 4.38% respectively), while the minor candidates Jairo Calderón, Róbinson Devia and Jaime Araújo Rentería were below the 1% mark.
Sign calling to vote blank to destroy "the matrix" at closing of the Green Party campaign in Bogotá. Image uploaded by Flickr user :: De todos los Colores :: and used under a Creative Commons license
Polls closed at 16:00 and the quick pre-count by the National Registrar Office (which by 17:30 had results for the 95% of the polling stations) allowed a fast reaction by many twitterers, most of them surprised by the huge difference of votes between the frontrunners. Some even wrote ‘fraud’ [es], based on news denouncing vote-buying by the Electoral Observation Mission (MOE) and other irregularities (later clarified by the MOE).
@Galocd
Cada que los colombianos eligen la cagan. Hubiera  sido mejor instaurar la dictadura formalmente y ahorrarnos la plata y el  tiempo
@stultaviro
El triunfo demoledor de Santos no me alegraría tanto de no haber sido por la actitud triunfalista y prepotente de la Ola Verde
@tropicalia115
Colombiano: come tamal un día. Come mierda cuatro años.
@simonwilchesc
#Buscandoculpables: OBAMA MALDITO!!!! NOS ILUSIONASTE CON QUE PODÍAMOS GANAR VIA WEB
@laosada
A mi no me extrañan los resultados. Santos usó el tema del empleo y eso lo ayudó. Mockus habló de impuestos y eso lo jodió. La cagada.
@rauldc
Me molesta [sobremanera] que la #olaverde este diciendonos ignorantes a los que no votamos por Mockus y la tolerancia??
@egolaxista
A la Ola Verde le faltó mucho de la humildad y la sensatez que sí tiene Antanas Mockus.
@muereelkin
yo convertiria a Putumayo en una region especial asi como es Hong Kong en china
@Maria_lola
No sean idiotas. En Putumayo no ganó Santos porque el uribismo se les metió con la plata fácil, no porque sea una región consciente.
@luisuribe
“Si la voz del pueblo es la voz de Dios, Dios odia profundamente esta puta patria.”
@elmalcharlao
Los que piensan que Chávez quedó mamando, NO, al contrario, está feliz porque ya tiene la excusa para una guerra, igual que Santos.
@elreyarturo
La política requiere de madurez, perseverancia, paciencia y tiempo. No tiene nada que ver con la euforia y la moda.
@nataliavivas
dejémos de ser tan ilusos con internet, la campaña real no se hace con retwitteos, ni hashtags, ni like's.
@SilviaRest
No creo q las redes sociales sean las perdedoras de la jornada, se movio mucha opinion q se puede seguir capitalizando #elecciones2010.
@juglardelzipa
¿desempleo? ¿pobreza? ¿corrupción? ¿eso no lo había acabado uribe?.
@lulliepop
La ola verde ha sido aplastada por un tsunami naranja.
@dametupin8
El mensaje de Mockus fue plano e hipnotico, el de Santos es inteligente, pluralista, incluyente y visionario.
@JoseGregorio
Leer los miles de tweets de girasoles insultando a los que no votaron por el lider de su secta me hace aun más feliz por su derrota.
@Polexia
Menos insultos, más estrategia. Verdes, no dejen hablar a su candidato en los próximos debates y entrevistas. Q ternurita la esperanza verde
@Popcultura
Bueno definamos una cosa: Votar en blanco no me hace un apátrida ni un Santista, me hace una persona que no le gusta ninguna opción.
@astridavila
Bueno, ya vimos que la discusión acá es una chimba y nos hace sentir inteligentes y poderosos. Ahora salgamos a hablar a la calle, ¿sí?
@Mr_Brownie
Me permito discrepar de los que celebran “el triunfo” de la democracia
@pabloabitbol
Ojalá la ola verde deje de tildar a la gente de inculta e ilegal, y se dedique a construir una estrategia fiel a los ideales que defiende.
Even President Uribe had his two cents [es]:
Colombia ha recuperado la libertad política que estuvo secuestrada por el terrorismo. Gracias Fuerzas Armadas. Gracias ciudadanía.

author: Julián Ortega Martínez