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Costa Rica: Creativity Through Collectivity · Global Voices
Jenny Cascante Gonzalez

Like a delicious recipe, artistic, musical and visual talents are placed together as ingredients in a functional and creative tendency: collectives. Across Costa Rica, many creative groups and collectives are using social media to showcase their work and connect with like-minded enthusiasts.  These are some examples of collectives in the fields of film, music, and the visual arts.
Filmic productions
Experimental filmic productions are constantly being showcased by projects by young up and coming filmmakers. Bisonte Producciones [es] shares many of their works on their YouTube channel.  As it states on its website, the fostering of a mission has become important for the members of the Collective:
Experimentar de una manera creativa y profesional a travez de la utilización de diferentes herramientas del lenguaje audiovisual, propuestas que representen e identifiquen nuestra realidad socio cultural; y a su vez incentivar la creación de espacios para difusión, discusión y reflexión del cine en Costa Rica
A creative, yet professional experimentation through the utilization of different audiovisual language tools for projects that represent and identify our social-cultural reality; as well as to give an incentive to the creation of spaces for the diffusion, discussion and reflection of Costa Rican motion picture industry.
Another blooming community is Chop Chop Producciones [es]. Their goals are determined and developed by the participation of the members . As expressed on their blog:
Somos un taller audiovisual, una escuela donde experimentar es un medio y se produce para aprender.
Chop Chop can be found on their YouTube channel and they can be followed through their Twitter account.
Photography and Literature
Colectivo Nómada [es] assembles images and words to complement one another. It is conformed by visual and literary communicators that aspire to explore the range of photography as an expression instrument. A description of the collective can be found on its website [es] and contains information about how the members of the Collective see their mission and goals:
¿Qué es Nómada?
Nómada es un colectivo integrado por Fotógrafos, se origina de la necesidad de crear historias que traspasaran el ámbito común de la fotografía. Desarrollando un vínculo entre la obra de autor y la fotografía con contenido social.
What is Nómada?
Nómada is a collective comprised of photographers, originating from the necessity of creating stories that go beyond the ordinary scope of photography.  Nómada develops a bond between the author’s work and the photography with social content.
Photo by Adrián Arias and used with permission
Besides its blog [es] where short descriptive narratives accompany some of the photos, Nómada manages a photo-essay section [es].
Music and Art
Electro-acoustic musical productions are the focus of Oscilador [es], whose aim is to bring about reactions from the audience.  Their website includes a description of what the collective is all about [es]:
Oscilador tiene como objetivo la integración de una comunidad electroacústica en torno a la producción electroacústica en Costa Rica. Trata de ser incluyente más que dirigir su atención a un género específico de música creada a partir de la tecnología.
Oscilador's main objective is to integrate the electro-acoustic community with electro-acoustic productions in Costa Rica.  To attempt to include instead of directing one's attention to a specific genre of music created by technology.
Another musical collective is NoisNois [es], which works with the union of visual-audio expressions with other creative arts.  As stated on its website, this Collective seeks participation and propagation of interdisciplinary collaborations. The main idea behind NoisNois, apart from serving as a platform for the diffusion and distribution of the collective’s artistic work, is to interact with others interested in their work. They share information on their Twitter account.
Comics and humor
People skilled in graphic design, especially cartoonists and comic book artists also participate in collectives to share common interests and their work. One good example of this is Colectivo de Comics [es], whose members are constantly looking for ways to improve upon and interact with others through the use of art. Some of their works can be seen on their website [es].
Costa Rican collectives have been growing and encouraging all kind of artists to group and combine their individual talents into a whole new and attractive groupings. By working together on projects, the results are as interesting as diverse.

author: Jenny Cascante Gonzalez


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Czech Republic: Prague Filming Fees · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Czech Daily Word writes that “Budapest, Vienna and other cities” are likely to replace Prague as “a favorite spot for American filmmakers” – due to newly-introduced filming fees.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Dominican Republic: A Tsunami of Garbage · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Duarte101 [es] writes about a planned urban art event called “Urban Solid Residue” which will show the reality of the amount of garbage in the form of a “tsunami of trash” in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Estonia: WWII History · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Itching for Eestimaa writes about the history of WWII and the Holocaust in Estonia.


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Global: Convoy to Gaza Makes History · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

History was made yesterday in the Maghreb as a convoy headed from the UK to Gaza was allowed to pass through the border between Morocco and Algeria, which has been closed for nearly 15 years.  The border closed in 1994 after Morocco suspected Algerian involvement in the attack of a Marrakesh hotel.
Gaza; Peace N’ Freedom described the convoy, sharing a video as well:
Reminiscent of the solidarity work with Spain during the Spanish Civil War, the largest aid convoy ever from Britain to the Middle East is set to leave from Westminster, London, tomorrow February 14. The convoy consists of 100 vehicles, including a boat, a fire engine and 12 ambulances. Member of Parliament George Galloway will lead the convoy on its travel through Europe, North Africa to Gaza, Palestine. The convoy has been financed through donations from the British people. Video on the launching below, more info at VivaPalestina.org.
Although the convoy is traveling to Gaza for humanitarian purposes, its mere passing through the Maghreb could have farther-reaching effects.  At least two members of the convoy have been reporting success stories through blogs, and a recent update on Viva Palestina‘s web site demonstrates that involvement in the convoy's success is not limited to the UK:
The convoy are now filling up with fuel in the town of Chlef. Apparently an Algerian is paying the bill on this occasion. The convoy has decided to make up some lost time by heading for Algiers this evening. The journey could take more than 3hours.
According to some, the convoy is helping to bridge the gap between Algeria and Morocco.  Yvonne Ridley who, along with Hassan Al Banna Ghani, is documenting the trip for a film, wrote a piece for VivaPalestina.org in which she said:
Although there are still thousands of miles separating the convoy from its end game of delivering aid to Gaza, Saturday's border crossing is the one which will be recorded in the history books.
Morocco and Algeria agreed to put aside their differences to open their land border for the first time in 15 years for the sake of Palestine.
Palestine has often been described as the key which can open the door to Middle East peace, but tomorrow it will open a door in the Maghreb which has been tightly shut since 1994.
This wonderful gesture is something Condaleezza Rice failed to persuade the neighbouring countries to do – her last attempt before the departure of George W Bush was made in September.
But the peace mission and genuine humanitarian nature of the Viva Palestina convoy has melted the hearts of those on both sides of this vital land border which, when opened, will ease the passage of those carrying more than one million pounds of aid for Gaza.
She also shared this video clip:
Another blog, Gaza Convoy 2009, is detailing the trip from afar. On Saturday, February 21, they posted this update:
00:25 (GMT) – Text update from the A Team
“Salaam we went through centre and hundreds of people here, it was amazing as its somthing we have never seen before. There were hundreds of people on the streets cheering. We were on the roof of our van, hanging off the back ladder with Mudasir tannoy. It was top, even the police are cheering ‘Allah Hu Akbar’. The youths, kids and men were hugging us…a 15yr old boy told me that even the muslims who drink came on the street to shout ‘Allah Hu Akbar’ and they make dua for us everyday to succeed.
We have come to a caravan site to sleep now”
Finally, Greg to Gaza, a blogger taking part in the convoy, is documenting the journey.  His most recent post was from Oujda, on the Moroccan-Algerian border:
Phone signal very sporadic. I'm fine. On Morocco Algeria border. First time open for 17 years. Just for us. Yesterday we had a fantastic reception at a socialist MP house and later that night a banquet in Oujda thrown by the greatest Islamic scholar in Morocco. Big rift in convoy today when some radical unruly elements were nearly sent home. A rebellion was finally successful when a third of the convoy refused to move from the Moroccan border unless everyone was let through. Time will tell whether that was the right decision. An Algerian MP has sent food to the border because we have been stuck at passport control for at least 9 hours. They have also promised free fuel tonight. Where we will sleep, when we can leave, how much longer its going to take or how many hours we have to drive are all unknowns.

author: Jillian C. York


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Global Health:  Mobile Phones to Boost Healthcare · Global Voices
Juhie Bhatia

Three foundations have joined forces in an effort to provide better healthcare through the use of cell phones and computer technology. In particular, these mobile technology initiatives are aimed at improving healthcare services in developing countries.
Cell phones are currently being used for health services ranging from HIV/AIDS education to reminding people to get vaccinations. Last week the Rockefeller  Foundation, the United Nations Foundation, and the Vodafone Foundation said that they will be encouraging such projects through the formation of the Mobile Health  Alliance (or  mHealth Alliance for short). The alliance, announced at the Mobile World Congress, will facilitate projects that use mobile technology for health purposes and work with public and private groups to further these initiatives.  The plan is to leverage the widespread use of mobile phones in developing countries – 64 percent of cell phone users are in the developing world.
Erik Hersman, blogging on White African, discusses how mobile health services are all the rage now among foundations and non-profits, while the Social Justice Blog applauds the move, saying:
“This is the kind of corporate social responsibility that's great to see — technology answering a pressing social need…mHealth Alliance uses the technology to provide virtual doctors to those living in rural areas, particularly in India, Uganda and South Africa.”
The mHealth Alliance also released a report at the conference called mHealth for Development, which surveys programs in developing countries that are using mobile technology to promote public health. The report examines 51 programs that are underway or will be implemented in the near future in 26 countries, and shows that these programs are more prevalent in India, South Africa, Uganda, Peru, and Rwanda. 3G Doctor Blog lists all 51 projects and elaborates on the report:
“I’m posting this from the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at the launch of a report that attempts to define mHealth; outlines the potential for mobile phones to improve health in the developing world; identifies building blocks for successful, sustainable and scalable mHealth programs; demonstrates the incentives for multiple players in the ‘mHealth value chain’…it also issues a call for action to create an independent global body to encourage multi-sector and pan-regional collaboration to leverage the transformational power of mobile networks and devices to improve healthcare delivery throughout the developing world.”
The report highlights projects such as Project Masiluleke (or Project M) in South Africa, a SMS-based service that promotes an AIDS hotline and provides HIV/AIDS education. The SIMpill project is another program in South Africa; it uses a sensor-equipped pill bottle with a SIM card to advise healthcare workers if their patients aren't taking their tuberculosis medicine. The percentage of people keeping up with their medicine rose from 22 percent to 90 percent thanks to SIMpill, which is also being used in places such as Thailand. Another project called Cell-PREVEN has been launched in Peru. Mahmud Hussein describes the project on his site:
“Investments in mobile health initiatives such as the one undertaken recently in Peru called the Cell-Preven project should be made, in which a mobile health team, consisting of a small group of trained health professional and workers are dispatched to select communities. People there can get check-ups, on the spot screening for diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis, treatment of sexually transmitted infections as well as medical care for female sex workers. The teams are connected through satellite communications or internet/mobile phones (where available) to doctors in other areas, where information can be shared between the two teams and further assistance be given in real-time.”
Nick Hunn, blogging on  Creative Connectivity, welcomes  the mHealth report, saying that it shows the different ways in which mobile technology can be helpful.
“That’s why the ‘Doctor in your Pocket’ report is so welcome.  It highlights the fact that there’s no one model that has to be followed.  Each of the countries put forward as examples have very different dynamics and customer sets.  In one the major user base is young men.  In another it’s mothers.  In all cases the users like the service and find it beneficial.”
Despite all this promise, some people remain cautious about mobile technology's potential to improve healthcare services. A comment on a post about the mHealth Alliance  points out that this technology still can't replace the experience of being treated by a real live health practitioner. Arun Pal Singh says:
“Medical care is often incomplete without physical contact between doctor and patient. While it may seem to be slightly beneficial to use technology, developing countries would be most benefited by producing their own doctors and paramedics.
Nothing beats education.”
Photo of Mobile Phone Up Close by samantha celera on Flickr.

author: Juhie Bhatia


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India: Clean Sweep by Slumdog Millionaire At The Oscars · Global Voices
Rezwan

Kamla Bhatt reports that last evening British and Indian cast and crew of the movie Slumdog Millionaire (a British film based on a novel set out in India) made a clean sweep at the Oscars by winning 8 awards out of 10 nominations including the best picture award.

author: Rezwan


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Iran:Persian blogs on Bluehost in trouble · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

In Kamangir we read: “Blue Host, the hosting service which is used for this very blog, and the number one recommendation for WordPress hosting by WordPress itself, has adopted a policy of suspending its Iranian users. In some cases the bloggers have been given a short notice in order to back up their data and leave.”

author: Fred Petrossian


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Israel: Dubai Denies Shahar Visa  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Dubai has denied Israeli female tennis star Shahar Peer a visa to play in the Dubai Tennis Championships, while her male colleague Andy Ram, was able to receive one. “There might have been some logic as to why Ms. Peer was not allowed to play, at least in some circles, due to political and cultural norms on the part of the Dubai government and the tournament organizers. But this situation has changed dramatically with the allowing of Andy Ram
to play, making one wonder if Peer’s ouster was simply because she is a woman!” writes One Jerusalem.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Israel: Election Shehanigans  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

JoeSettler discusses what he describes as Israeli “election shenanigans” in this post.


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Jordan: After four years of blogging  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The Black Iris, from Jordan, turns five and bloger Naseem Tarawanah asks: “I find myself wondering if there’s anything more left to say…”


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Kazakhstan: Politics and Society in Times of Crisis · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Politics remain the major topic of the online discussions in Kazakhstan – much more frequently and intensely than in public life. One of the most recent events, widely discussed by the bloggers, was the establishment of the new state award – the title of the Kazakhstan's Hero of Labor (an analogue of the Hero of Socialist Labor in the Soviet Union). A number of officials initiated a campaign in support of giving the first title of the Labor Hero to the president of Kazakhstan. Neruad writes [ru]:
The process of bootlicking has started across the country, though it is compulsory, organized by the upper officials. Governors are competing whose bootlicking would be the most effective.
However, the president has again showed his excellent knowledge of PR and understanding of the public expectations – he thanked the people for nominations and refused to take this award. The parliamentarians also relinquished themselves of some privileges. The news agencies reported that the Legislative contributed to anti-crisis measures and cut down its expenditures for 2009. m-kaa comments [ru]:
The relinquished privileges appeared to be more than substantial – 160 million tenge ($1.4 million), which has been left from this year, plus 1.3 billion tenge from the next year's expenses. The MPs will not have foreign business trips (except for the urgent ones), new cars, furniture and computers. The autopark and ICT stuff of the parliament is being renovated almost every year with nearly 60 cars and hundreds of PCs being purchased annually! Poor deputies, how they will survive…
Meanwhile, the Kazakhstani economy is undergoing a major paradox – the government denied the presence of economic crisis in the country, but the plan of anti-crisis measures has been adopted. The authorities are very cautious of the verbal signs and formulations – the word “crisis” is perceived as a taboo. Cherry-eye posts a Kazakh bank holding's wicked advertisement poster in Moscow (BTA Bank has a number of subsidiaries in the CIS countries). The billboard reads as follows: “You would agree that a crisis without panic loses its charm – Tranquil bank deposits”. The blogger says [ru]:
Respect! Perhaps, there is no immediate desire to give all money to BTA, but the teaser is nice. I wonder why the bank does not use this print in Kazakhstan? The public is less advanced, or it was banally banned here?
Dorovskih, a former Almaty resident now living n the U.S., shares his impressions upon his return to the biggest city of Kazakhstan [ru]:
Almaty is still the same – catastrophically small amount of people are smiling and look enjoying their lives. The road traffic reminds of the children's sack race competition, and the quantity of Land Cruisers and BMW X6s three times exceeds the amount of expensive cars in Houston. The “stability” is all around you: policemen are everywhere on the streets, and the people are still fully convinced of the rightfulness of the status quo.
Meanwhile, Megakhuimyak adds another drop of humor to the discussion, reflecting on the issue of implications of crisis on mass media. Some people say that lack of money will force businesses to drift from investments in expensive TV ads, newspapers and billboards down to online advertisements.
They are mistaken. Advertisers are going onto the streets and paint the walls! It is the cheapest yet effective and creative advertisiment. Get a couple of punks with aerosol paint sprays and all blocks in the neighboorhood will get to know you!
Also posted on neweurasia.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Kenya: WhereCampAfrica To Take Place In Nairobi · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

WhereCampAfrica is a free unconference for geographers, mobile location experts and social cartographers. The event will be held in Nairobi, Kenya on April 4th.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Kyrgyzstan: Back Count for the U.S. Airbase · Global Voices
Elena Skochilo

On February, 19th, 2009 nearly all Krrgyz MPs approved a motion denouncing the agreement between Kyrgyzstan and the USA about the American airbase at Manas. Of 89 total MPs, 78 voted for, one against, and two abstained:
The government, in the name of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, after signing by the President of the given law, should notify embassy of the United States of America in Kyrgyzstan and inform them about the decision of the Parliament. Then the air base should be deduced within 180 days…
Livejournal user and communist Sergey Kozhemjakin, aka kojemyakin, published [ru] an article in which he argued for the necessity of the airbase's withdrawal:
[The] airbase withdrawal is a positive event according to the long-term interests of Kyrgyzstan. That's why our main task is to expose the attempts of the USA to create political force under control to them on the basis of opposition. And, also, to expose the power which the same self-interest and which can quite offer earlier accepted decisions for the sake of own benefit moves.
Blogger Azamat Imanaliev, aka azzzik, devoted two posts to the American airbase two, including fine photos (post one, post two).  Meanwhile, the topic about the withdrawal of the American air base [ru] is currently the most popular forum of Kyrgyzstan Diesel, but has just been closed by moderators.  Nevertheless, some users managed to sneak in a post or two.  For example user Borg considered [ru] remarked that it is early to say goodbye to base:
Probably, the format of the agreement will change from the bilateral to the trilateral. Such a situation would be the most profitable for Kyrgyzstan [since] our country could receive the maximum payments. However, Russia would be like a warranter of all payments and observance all conditions, because it's very hard for Kyrgyzystan to supervise the Americans itself.
The next day, on February, 20th, 2009, Kyrgyzstani President Kurmanbek Bakiev signed the law, obliging the USA military to leave the territory of Kyrgyzstan within 180 days.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said [en] the United States would consider paying higher rent to keep the airbase open. But he added that the base is not irreplaceable and there were talks with other nations about ways to get supplies into Afghanistan. He says while he's considering paying more, the U.S. won't waste taxpayer dollars on a sky-high rent just to keep the base.
Speaking to reporters en route to Poland for a meeting of NATO defense ministers, Gates also said [en] Russia is “working against” U.S. efforts to retain a crucial resupply base for the war in Afghanistan:
And the question is on one hand you're making positive noises about working with us in Afghanistan, and on the other hand you're working against us in terms of that air field, which is clearly important to us.
Time magazine also wrote [en] that Russia, which hates the presence of the American military in their backyard, offered $2 billion in aid to their former fellow Soviet republic:
Washington believes Moscow — despite its firm denials — is behind the order evicting the U.S. from its last airbase in Central Asia.
Opinions of reputable foreign magazines are similar to the opinion of the typical visitor of portal Kloop.kg.  For example, one left [ru] this comment on the article about an air base withdrawal:
Generally, the question about the airbase will be solved not by our country. That is a question on the agenda within the relations between Russia and the USA.
I would agree. The auction is not ended yet, stake, misters!
Also posted on neweurasia.

author: Elena Skochilo


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Kyrgyzstan: Tablighi Jamaat · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Sultan reflects on the possible restriction of the activity of the religious movement “Tablighi Jamaat” in Kyrgyzstan.


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Morocco: Algeria Border Opened for Gaza Aid Convoy · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“For over fifteen years the the border between Morocco and Algeria has been closed and in a welcome development has been opened to allow passage for an aid convoy heading towards the Gaza Strip,” reports The View from Fez.


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Morocco: Climbing and Trekking  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The View from Fez writes about mountain climbing and trekking in Morocco.


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Morocco: Making Harira · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

A Moroccan Kitchen shares her recipe for the famed Moroccan soup, harira.


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Morocco: On HIV/AIDS · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Duncan, a Peace Corps Volunteer, discusses the small but growing problem of HIV/AIDS in Morocco.


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Morocco: On Sex · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Abdelilah Boukili ponders the preaching of abstinence, and sex in general, in this provocative and meaningful post.


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Nigeria: Listen To Naija Lingo · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Naija Lingo has just released a new feature that allows visitors to listen to the pronunciation of words on the word page. Visitors can also upload their own recordings!


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Pakistan: Honor Killings And Islam · Global Voices
Rezwan

Imam Zaid Shakir at GOATMILK: An intellectual playground reminds us that “the practice of honor killings has absolutely no sanction in the Qur’an, the Prophetic practice, or in the evolved systems of Islamic law.”


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Palestine: Attacks On Gaza Continue · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Despite the announcement of unilateral ceasefires by both Israel and Hamas, attacks by the Israeli military on Gaza continue while Palestinian factions have been launching rockets into Israel. In this post we hear the latest from Gaza's blogs.
Prof. Said Abdelwahed, who teaches English at Al-Azhar University, writes at Moments of Gaza (February 18):
Yesterday evening, an Israeli attack helicopter flew over our heads in Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood; it launched a missile somewhere in our area! Also, F-16 targeted two places in Khan Younis and Rafah. Last night, almost at midnight, F-16 executed three raids on targets to the north of Gaza city! Many of the places they target nowadays were hit sometimes during the war, so that they attack destroyed places! The thing was that those raids were off the air! There was no mention of it in the news as if it became a normal daily life practice!
American writer Elliott Woods, who is Gaza on a Pulitzer Center grant, has described the situation in a post on February 9:
Now that I have been here for almost a month – mostly during the so-called cease-fire – I can feel the continual threat in my bones. It's an ever present unease, like a headache or a hangover that doesn't keep you in bed, but keeps you conscious of the fact that something isn't quite right. What must it be like to live with this sort of uncertainty, this deadly anxiety, for years on end?
Australian activist Sharyn Lock writes (February 16) at Tales to Tell:
A South African teacher who reads this blog asked yesterday: “I’ve heard that everyday people are still being killed in Gaza, is this true?”
Yes. Almost every day there are further injuries, and often deaths. And as usual, the majority of the time they are civilians.
Sharyn gives some examples of the attacks that have been happening, then says:
Language and time limitations mean I am not able to always let you know details of the continuing injuries and deaths that are happening here as a result of continuing Israeli attack. Often, we will hear explosions, and it will take a day or two before we find out accurately what they were and who they affected. This week I am going to resume a regular weekly ambulance shift so that I can keep some level of awareness and witnessing. But sadly, whether you hear about them from me or not, you should assume these injuries and deaths continue, because in Gaza, this is what Israeli Occupation looks like.
Canadian activist Eva Bartlett blogs at In Gaza, and in a post on February 17 writes about the plight of farmers on Gaza's eastern border:
Abu Alaa lives in Khan Younis and owns land in the newly-extended “Buffer Zone”, the strip of land along the Green Line which, from North to South, cuts into Palestinian land by a full 1 km now.  When the Buffer Zone was ‘only’ 300m, it was already 300m too much land absorbed by the Israeli military occupation forces. Now that it is an arbitrary 1 km, are the people whose livelihoods have been decimated in every imaginable way from the siege (choking Gaza ever since just after Hamas was elected) meant to lay down their farming tools, give up self-reliance, and stand in aid lines for aid that is anyway unavailable? Like any competent people, Palestinians do not want to be aid-dependent; they crave for the right to self-sufficiency and the chance at an economy rather than receiving (or not receiving, as it goes these days) UN and other charitable hand-outs. Israel’s ongoing control of Gaza and its borders has meant that those farmers able to produce vegetables, fruit or flowers cannot export them. The meagre concession for Valentine’s Day, enabling a pathetic export of 25,000 flowers, was just that: meagre and pathetic. For the last 3 years, the flower and strawberry exports have near-completely ceased. […] So the farmers within, who try to earn a living, and simultaneously provide the vegetables used around Gaza, continue their non-violent struggle to exist, working their land and harvesting their onions, parsley, radishes, spinach, beans…to the rhythm of gunfire.
In a follow-up post (February 19), Eva recounts how a deaf farmer was shot through his ankle, the fourth farmer to be shot in three weeks. Sharyn Lock links to footage of the incident here.
Eva goes on to say:
These fertile rural eastern border areas of the Gaza Strip are emptying, because farmers, many of whom have farmed here for generations, are now too frightened to live and work on their own land. The confines of the Gaza Strip, which is just forty kilometers long and ten kilometers wide, are being shrunk even further by relentless Israeli invasions, by the imposition of an arbitrary and expanding “buffer zone” and by the targeting of civilians and farmers trying to live on and earn a living from their land. […] Just as the international community has stooped silently complicit to the siege on Gaza which has denied Palestinians of every conceivable means of existence and livelihood, so too are international leaders silent to the oppression of the farmers and fishermen, the poorest and the bravest, facing Israeli fire and ending up like Mohammed, Anwar, or 23 year old Rafiq who was targeted 2 miles off Gaza’s coast while in a small fishing boat. Israeli soldiers sprayed the boat with bullets, the ‘dum-dum’ exploding bullets hitting Rafiq in the back and exploding into numerous tiny shrapnel pieces which pierced his lungs and remain dangerously close to his spine, impossible to remove. These are not isolated and random instances. They are part of the policy of cutting off any means of self-sufficiency the Palestinians try to engage in, and of continuing in the efforts to break Palestinians’ will, efforts which have included a years-long, brutal siege, a 23 day bloody war killing over 1370 Palestinians, and the ongoing targeting of civilians throughout the Gaza Strip.
The anonymous foreign activist blogging at Writing from Gaza tells the story (February 16) of 19 year-old Ali Abdul Salam Al Sa’ay who lost his right eye, left hand and three fingers from his right hand when hit by a missile fired from an Israeli gunboat off the Gaza shore on January 10 (before the ceasefire). Ali is from Al Shati’ [Beach] camp:
Al Shati’ camp was particularly targeted during the Israeli war on Gaza.  Shelling of the camp took place ‘24 hours a day’, explains Ali’s father, Abdul Salam.  ‘All the houses that face the sea were evacuated.  They fired from gunboats, planes, everything’.
Explosions in al-Shati’ camp continue, as Israeli gunboats continue to pound the camp.  ‘Daiman, daiman (always, always)’, croaks Ali.  His father adds, ‘It is getting normal for the people to hear the shooting.  It’s like drums now.  Many people are getting injured’.
Louisa Waugh writes (February 16) at New Internationalist's Gaza Blog:
Faiza lives in Rafah, just 200 metres from the border with Egypt. Her house stands in front of a labyrinth of tunnels that have been dug underneath the Gaza border with Egypt. […] I knew her family had been evacuated from their house throughout the war, and had just recently returned. So I drove down to Rafah to see them. Rafah was ravaged by this war – the houses near the border have been blasted by artillery shells, bombs and machine guns and the landscape is scarred and ruined. It feels desolate – this is the coverage of Gaza you see on TV. Faiza's house, at the far end of a rough dirt track, now stands almost alone – her neighbours’ homes on both sides have been flattened by bombs, and she tells me many of the locals are still too scared to come back to the area because of the continual bombing. The Israelis say they are intent on destroying the network of tunnels, and almost every night there are airstrikes that shake Faiza's home, terrifying the children and the adults. When the bombing gets too intense, the family flees to their relatives who live further from the border.
‘We've been evacuated at least five times since the [18 January] ceasefire,’ she tells me. The word ‘evacuated’ carries the image of white UN vehicles arriving in convoy to rescue the vulnerable and speeding them away from imminent danger. But for the few people left here in this bombed-out buffer zone, evacuation means they get ten minutes notice to pack up and leave on foot.

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Poland: Economic Situation · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot writes about the economic situation in Poland.


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Poland: The Problem With “CEE” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Polandian writes about the problem with the term “Central & Eastern Europe”: “I’m all for people reporting on Poland and even highlighting its problems, whatever they may be, but let’s please keep it specific to Poland. What I don’t like is people suggesting that Poland, Latvia, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania et al. are essentially one big country where everyone has the same problems!”


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Qatar: Clean up Campaign a Success  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Qatar Living covers a clean up campaign, with photographs, in this post.


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Russia: Cherkizovsky Market in Moscow · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Moscow Through Brown Eyes writes about an article (RUS) on Moscow's Cherkizovsky Market that appeared in the latest issue of Bolshoi Gorod: “Each of these bewilderingly diverse stories could be the subject of its own article, if not an entire book. Taken together, however, these portraits add up to something more than glimpses at Moscow's diversity. They are evidence of a type of working-class multiculturalism that isn’t built on lofty rhetoric, but on the necessity of economic cooperation and mutual support.”


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Russia: Endangered Languages · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Window on Eurasia writes that, according to UNESCO, “19 languages spoken on the territory of the Russian Federation a half century ago have ceased to exist, and 117 more are either in a position UN experts say is “unsafe” (21 languages), “definitely endangered” (47), “severely endangered” (29), or “critically endangered” (20).”


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Russia: Politkovskaya Murder Trial Acquittals · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Oleg Kozlovsky, Irina Filatova, Foreign Policy Association's Russia blog, and Window on Eurasia write about the “not guilty” verdict for the three men charged with being involved in the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya.


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Saudi Arabia: Thoughts on the Cabinet Reshuffle  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Saudi Jeans reacts to the recent reshuffle in the Saudi government. ” I think the cabinet shuffle was not surprising in itself, but rather in its scale and some of the details,” he notes.


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Serbia: The Museum of African Art · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A Yankee-in-Belgrade writes about Belgrade's Museum of African Art.


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Serbia: Update on Miladin Kovacevic · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Belgraded posts an update on the Miladin Kovacevic’s story.


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Singapore: Most wired country in the world · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

According to Singapore's Infocomm Development Authority, broadband penetration hit 99.9 per cent in the country last December 2008.This makes Singapore the most wired country in the world.

author: Mong Palatino


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Taiwan: The cost of investment · Global Voices
David Reid

There has been a huge amount of Taiwanese investment in China over the past two decades. Michael Turton discusses the human cost of that investment.

author: David Reid


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Thailand: Alternative local currency · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Al Jazeera reports how residents of a remote town in northeast Thailand are using an alternative local currency to encourage fellow villagers to become more self-sufficient.


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Thailand: Australian gets royal pardon · Global Voices
David Reid

Australian Harry Nicolaides has been granted a royal pardon after spending almost six months in a Thai prison on lese majeste charges. New Mandala posted a statement from Harry's brother. Bangkok Pundit examines the lese majeste law.


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To females traveling to Egypt … or to the US · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

Lebanese Dr As'ad Abu Khalil of The Angry Arab News Service tells females traveling to Egypt: “to be wary, to cover up, and to mentally prepare themselves to accept a culture that is more tolerant of sexual harassment than their own.”  And to those traveling to the US, he says: “to be wary because crimes against women in the US are worse than crimes against women in Egypt, and the culture in the US seems more tolerant of crimes against women than in Egypt.”

author: Marwa Rakha


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UAE: Selective Surveys  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Measured PR, at the UAE Community Blog, questions the results of HSBC Bank International's Expat Exploreer Survey, published at Forbes on the World's Friendliest Countries, in which the UAE ranked least friendly.


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Ukraine: Obstacles and Hope for Museums · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Linda Norris of The Uncataloged Museum lists legal and other obstacles that Ukrainian museums are facing, but concludes her post on a positive note, writing about some of the museum employees she has met: “They make minimal salaries, work in conditions that are hard to imagine (no heat, for instance, this week in several museum buildings I was in), work with limited resources, and sometimes with colleagues who resent hard work and enthusiasm. They care passionately about the work they do and are enthusiastic about new approaches and the opportunity to connect. Those people, one by one, are the good news for Ukrainian museums and their future.”


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Uzbekistan: U.S. Airbase Seeking New Home · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Elina reports that after the American airbase has been closed in Kyrgyzstan, a top U.S. general is visiting Uzbekistan to discuss alternative supply routes for the army in Afghanistan.


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Zambia: When Will Zambians Be Proud To Be Zambians?  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

According to Mingell, blogging at Lusaka Times, Zambians are not proud of being Zambians. Why? Read his post to find out the reasons.


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Armenia: Illegal hunting in nature reserve exposed · Global Voices
Simon Maghakyan

Illustrating how online activism could make a difference in Armenia, a YouTube video of a chief forester hunting wild boar at the Khosrov nature reserve has resulted in his dismissal.
On February 6, 2009, YouTube user TugUrartu posted the video with the following description:
On January 20, we went to Khosrov's preserve on a trip. On our way back we saw how a forest guard is killing animals, saying ‘it's a stupid animal, it destroys forests’ oaks.’ He ignored our pleas …
The short video shows the forester firing fourteen shots at the running boar. The female cameraman even offers money to the forester to no avail. A day after the video was uploaded, a moderator of an Armenian environmental group on Facebook sent the following message to members:
The head of foresters KILLS WILD ANIMALS
… to protect the Khosrov reserved forest
“it's a stupid animal damaging the trees” says the head of foresters
Reserved Forest? Sl[a]ughter house? Place for having Fun?….
What is KHOSROV RESERVED FOREST NOW?
Who are the real protectors of it? In whose hands is it? How many animals still exist in the place called RESERVED FOREST”?
[…]
Lets protect our rights to live in HARMONY with NATURE~~”
The message, which was also posted on a few blogs, asked supporters to contact Armenia’s Ministry of Nature Protection and provided the relevant phone numbers and e-mail addresses.
The following day the environmentalist blog Bnamard [AM] wondered if the incident wasn't part of a powerful politician's development project as it detailed in another entry.
Հայկական մամուլը ժամանակին գրեց, որ Հայաստանի մի բարձրաստիճան պաշտոնյա Խոսրովի անտառում ռեստորանա-հյուրանոցային համալիր է կառուցում, ոչնչացնելով անտառի մի մասը: Թերեւս, անտառապետը հրահանգ է ստացել անտառին զուգահեռ ոչնչացնել նաեւ այնտեղ բնակվող հատուկենտ “ախմախ կենդանիներին”:
[…]
Bnamard later reported that the forester was punished.
Տուգանք մեկ միլիոն դրամ, աշխատանքից հեռացում..
[…]
Արգելոցի գլխավոր պետին և տեղակալին խիստ նախազգուշացում
[…]
ի դեպ սա բնապահպանության նախարարության թեժ գիծն է…51 91 82…, բայց չմոռանաք հայտնել ևս մի քանի լրատվամիջոցների[….]
[…]
By the way, the Nature Protection [reporting] hotline is 51-91-82, but don’t forget to also inform a few media outlets…
Indeed, without the video evidence, it is unlikely that justice would have been served at all.

author: Simon Maghakyan


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Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago: Missing Carnival  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

B.C.Pires is in “quiet Barbados” for Carnival and wonders if he can still manage to catch a flight to Trinidad: “There really is nothing like it; even in its modern, diluted, throwaway, made-in-China form…”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Bermuda, Cayman Islands: Freedom of Info  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“While Bermuda continues to pay lip service to public access to information, the Cayman Islands forge ahead”: Vexed Bermoothes weighs in.


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Bhutan: Happy Birthday Your Majesty · Global Voices
Rezwan

Bhutan, 2008 and beyond celebrates the King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk’s 29th birth anniversary by sharing a touching picture of His Majesty.


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Brunei: The nation turns 25 · Global Voices
Senor Pablo

Brunei Darussalam celebrated it's  twenty-five years of independence on 23rd February 2009. To celebrate the Silver Jubilee, a grand parade was held at the National Stadium, which according to BruneiLifestyle:
Ranoadidas reported that  the application for media passes from the Brunei's Information Department ” have escalated in terms of numbers and it almost reached an impressive 500 photographers excluding the foreign delegation”. The Department also “created a new segment for the new media such as bloggers”. This is a significant recognition of local bloggers as mainstream journalists in the country.
Brunei blogs are buzzing with colourful photos of the historic occasion and many bloggers are sharing their aspirations for the nation. Turquoise and Roses sees herself as more patriotic than ever through  “travelling, meeting people, learning new things about our culture”. But she is also concerned on the uncertain future:
In the midst of music and dance, celebrations and jubilations, what really are we celebrating? A number. Focus our attention to the sunset, and the impending darkness, and please celebrate what our freedom has enabled us to receive.
Free high quality education, nearly free high quality healthcare, a high standard of living, and freedom to achieve dreams that our forefathers have never even dreamed of.
If darkness is to come, pray for a bright, shiny, beacon of hope, that is the moon. When we are hopeful, we are not afraid.
Peace, Love and Kindness shares his aspirations for the country:
It is going to be much more meaningfully significant since this year’s National Day is being celebrated amidst national concerns on tragedies caused by nature’s heavy rains for the past couple of months. A few hundred Bruneians have been affected by big floods and landslides across the nation.  Internationally, too, our oil/natural gas-rich nation would be directly or indirectly affected by the worsening global economic and financial woes. Prudent spending would be the buzzword nowadays. On the other hand, Government spending and Foreign Direct Investments would have to be pushed through in robust passion, if only to stimulate the national economy.
KB Happening aspires for Brunei  to
achieve greater levels of future economic growths and social progress.. Insya-Allah. And let’s continue living in unprecedented peace and unity.. I’m proud to be a Bruneian! :)
The Scripted Destiny says :
It's been 25 years since our Independence in 1984. Brunei Darussalam has developed massively and changes between now and 25 years ago can be seen. Congratulation Brunei!
zysazy wrote :
People sometimes complain that there are limited entertainment, shopping malls, places to go to in Brunei, but one thing for sure, there is no place like home and I am proud to be called a Bruneian.
Mudahan Brunei will remain peaceful and diberkati. Amin.
May Brunei remain peaceful and blessed.”
Muizo blogs about his feelings on this important day:
The following are some of the photograph posts: G-FerRo, AnakBrunei, Kurapak, Jimmy Johari, Sky Raven, Karyawan, Metallichick, and Arabfamilies
Photographs by Senor Pablo

author: Senor Pablo


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Chile: Faces Along Commute Using Transantiago · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Andrea Zamora narrates her daily commute to the Municipality of Peñalolén in Santiago, Chile [es] and some of the people she observes riding the Transantiago public transportation system.


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Chile: Parking Spaces for Disabled Drivers · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Mario Carrasco Berrios describes some of his recent experiences in the city of Talca, Chile with the lack of parking spaces for disabled drivers [es], as well as the problem of drivers who are not disabled that take these reserved spaces.


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Cuba: One Year Later · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Blog for Cuba says that one year after Cuba signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the  International Covenant on Civil and Personal Rights, “human rights abuses continue to escalate.”


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Czech Republic: Vaclav Klaus’ EU Speech · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Czechmatediary writes about “a passionate response” to the Czech president's speech at the European Parliament.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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D.R. Congo: Chimps are Not Pets · Global Voices
Samuel Maina

The mainstream media is abuzz with news of a 15-year old 200 pound (90kg) chimpanzee that attacked a woman in Stamford, Connecticut, USA. The Ape, which had starred in TV commercials and films had attacked and left the woman, a friend of his owner, in a ‘very serious’ state.
Biologists and primatologists have, as would be expected, reacted to this news item with a stern warning that chimpanzees – and by extension – all wild animals cannot be treated as pets.
An adult chimp
The Lola ya Bonobo blog on WildlifeDirect posted explanation of why you cant have a chimp as a pet. They enumerate several reasons why this is so including the fact that chimps are wild animals unlike dogs and cats which have been domesticated for thousands of years thus allowing humans to selectively breed extreme aggression from their gene pool.
According to Lola ya Bonobo, this aggressiveness is somewhat not apparent when the apes are young. It is the reason why chimp traffickers sell the apes when they are still young but as they grow – to become almost the size of an adult male human, but with the strength of 10 heavyweight boxers – the owners are unable to control them.
It is a struggle to keep a chimp humanely and safely even for zoos and sanctuaries. Domestic owners obviously have no way of achieving anything near what zoos have. This leads to heightened aggressiveness and endangerment of human life.
Chimps, and all primates, due to their close genetic make-up to humans, potentially carry diseases that can easily be transmitted to humans such as Herpes B, yellow fever, monkeypox, Ebola, Marburg, SIV, and tuberculosis. This alone should deter humans from keeping primates as pets.
Then there is the ultimate reason why you should not keep wild animals as pets: the pet trade is an international menace that threatens many species with extinction. Conservationists are trying to stop this trade in developing countries where people trap endangered wild animals to sell as pets at home and abroad. But it is not only a problem of the developing counties alone. Lola ya Bonobo says:
…politicians in these countries point to the lack of laws in the United States and ask why is it wrong and illegal for them to have a chimpanzee as a pet, and if chimpanzees are endangered animals that should be conserved and protected, [why should] anyone in the USA [be able] order one over the Internet with a credit card?
Lola ya Bonobo closes by saying:
We don’t buy and sell people any more. Since chimps and bonobos share 98.7% of our DNA, don’t they deserve the same respect?

author: Samuel Maina


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Georgia: Punk Rock · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Georgian Live Music says the country's second largest city of Kutaisi was synonymous with rock and punk bands in the 1990s. The blog posts information and photos of some of them.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Germany: “Putins Pressefreiheit” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LJ user drugoi highlights Vladimir Putin's “appearance” at the carnival in Düsseldorf, Germany, and receives nearly 300 comments (RUS).


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Hong Kong: Defending freedom of speech  · Global Voices
Winglok Hung

On 22 Feb 09, more than a hundred Hong Kong people took on the street to voice out their concerns about  the alarming  shrinking of freedom of speech in Hong Kong. The protest was proposed by the Citizens’ Radio and supported by other democratic institutions including Save RTHK Campaign, Hong Kong Human Right Monitors and the pan-democratic political alliance in Hong Kong.
“Supporting Citizens’ Radio” and “Supporting RTHK” are the most frequent slogans chanted by the demonstrators. The protesters were unsatisfied with selective prosecution on Citizens’ Radio talk show’s guests including Mr Szeto Wah, a 78 years old prominent pro-democracy figure and the former chair of an anti-communist  organization, Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. At the same time, protesters were also anger with the refusal of transforming RTHK, a quasi public broadcaster but critical towards the government, into an independent public broadcaster.
Mr Szeto Wah bravely said he would not be afraid of spending the rest of his life in prison in order to fight for the free speech zone in Hong Kong! One of the masters of ceremony of the event, Angel Lee wrote in her blog that:
本身我都很少參與遊行, 今次站出來是因為重視言論自由, 香港這個國際大都會絕對有能力容納到不同發聲的平台, 讓市民可以多個選擇, 這樣香港這美麗之都才得以發展。
Another participant, XOX also supports the struggle for freedom of speech in Hong Kong:
Still a bit tired after yesterday march. But it is worth it. The selective persecution in the People Readio so bloody unfair. […].So, freedom! Kind of touched when the uncle Wah (Szeto Wah) said he rather go to jail. I really really don't want him to go to jail, considering his age and everything.
In a reply to a forwarded post on Seven Deadly Sins of Donald Tsang’s leadership, pangtszyin sighed,
我覺得現在無論是香港新聞透明及自由度,己大不如前了.
The facebook event page also have some discussions and the youtube video below shows the concert outside the government central office after the rally:

author: Winglok Hung


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India: Court Ruling Against Bloggers · Global Voices
Rezwan

Kafila informs about a recent Supreme Court ruling in India which states that “a person who starts a blog/community page cannot claim that it was a community page and not meant for public consumption.” That means the owner will be liable for all the collaborative contents and comments in that community page and can be sued by public.

author: Rezwan


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India: Slumdog Millionaire Sweeps The Oscar Awards · Global Voices
Rezwan

Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, a British social film based on a novel set out in India made a clean sweep at the The 81st Academy Awards Ceremony. Its British and Indian crews bagged 8 awards including the best picture award. It was truly India's day as ‘Smile Pinky‘, another short documentary based in India also won an Oscar.
A section of the ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ casts in Hollywood- photo by Flickr User  KaushiK™, used under a creative commons license
People from all over the world watched the awards ceremony. Some were live blogging the event like Sepia Mutiny. There were hundred of Twitter messages appearing in a minute during the live transmission where voices like Raajesh said:
Prerna at No Borders and Binaries said:
A horde of Indian invaders and their British allies on tourist visas took home the coveted and prized Oscars as the world watched. One in particular, A R Rahman, dazzled and charmed everyone with his musical genius while also speaking sentences in Tamil. This is America, English-only!!
And of course there were many who did not like Indians invading the Oscars:
But many Indian bloggers were tepid in acknowledging the feat of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. We highlighted the mixed reactions of many Indians about this movie in an earlier post in Global Voices. Many slum-dwellers in Mumbai, where the movie was shot, have protested because they were called slumdog in that movie.
Meera Sinha writes:
Despite feeling that Slumdog Millionaire shouldn’t be viewed as a defining film about Indian poverty, it’s been exciting to see India in the limelight after the movie’s 8 Oscar wins.  I’m tempted to write more, but I’ll give into the celebratory moment and avoid going into any further detail about my issues with the film.
Great Bong at Random Thoughts Of A Demented Mind was not too impressed either:
For one, Slumdog Millionaire very deliberately and very effectively strikes many of the chords that Academy judges have been known to have a soft spot for. In order to ace an exam, you do not necessarily have to be the best —even an average person can excel if he/she can understand the “system” and do exactly what is expected. Slumdog Millionaire does that admirably.
Hitesh Bagai wonders in a twitter message:
Lekhni at The imagined Universe tries to find “Why do Indians hate Slumdog Millionaire?“
I wonder if our main objection to the movie is because it depicts a part of India we’d rather not focus on.  We’d like to celebrate our economic growth and our resurgent middle class.  We’d like to point to our new malls and glass-fronted buildings. The movie does not show much of the prosperity of middle class India.  It shows the other India that not many of us know very well, or would like to think about – the poor India that has remained poor despite all the recent economic growth.
Shripriya Mahesh at Tatvam (Inner Truth) loved the movie and writes:
Why on earth should any filmmaker be burdened with representing a city or a country? He’s not making a documentary. There’s a story to be told. It involves a sliver of a view of a city. From the point of view of one fictitious life. The filmmaker’s job is to tell that story to the best of his/her ability. And that’s exactly what Danny Boyle did. And I for one, loved the result.
Prerna highlights India's capabilities and concluds with:
Sure, it took a British director to make a movie on an ‘Indian subject’ to get Oscars for Indian technicians who have been doing superior work for decades (i.e. Gulzar, A R Rahman, Pookutty). Slumdog Millionaire is nowhere near the A-list of Bollywood movies given it’s simple tried-and-tested theme of love over money. And this isn’t A R Rahman or Gulzaar’s best work. At the same time, it is heartening to see these musical greats finally getting international recognition for what is ultimately an Indian movie. However, THAT should not be a marker for success. AR Rahman doesn’t need Hollywood; Hollywood needs him.
Congratulations nonetheless, to Slumdog Millionaire and to every Indian that considers this their movie.


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Indonesia: Clinton visit a “diplomatic success” · Global Voices
Martin Manurung

U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Cameron Hume blogged about Secretary Clinton's visit to Jakarta. He says the visit was a diplomatic success.

author: Martin Manurung


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Iran: Students protesting against martyrs re-burial are jailed · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Up to 70 students from the Amir Kabir University in Tehran were arrested today, Tuesday 24th of February, while protesting against the re-burial of five anonymous Iran-Iraq War martyrs in the grounds of the university. Students have published several videos and photos of the demonstration in a student news website, Amir Kabir News. Several bloggers have reported on this event, showing a diverse range of opinions and bringing personal accounts.
Below is a video of the protest in Amir Kabir University, where students compared the Iranian government to the Afghan Taliban and chanted: “Down with the Taliban!”
In this other video, security forces are shown “attacking protesting students”, according to Amir Kabir News:
Several bloggers, such as Jdaneshjoo, have published [fa] a declaration made by the Islamic Association of students of Amirk Abir University about the recent event. This Student Association disapproves the authorities’ decision to bury the anonymous martyrs in the grounds of the university, and claims it is an excuse for security forces to maintain their presence in this university, repressing more than ever the student movements.
Ghomar Asheghane says the authorities want to turn the university into a cemetery and adds [fa]:
دانش‌گاه را با قبرستان اشتباه گرفته‌اند؛ که نه؛ می‌خواهند قبرستان‌اش کنند. همین که بسیاری از دانش‌جویان یا در زندان هستند … دانش‌گاه را تبدیل به قبرستان کرده است. همین که بسیاری از اساتید برجسته با کارنامه‌های ممتاز علمی از دادن درس و آموزش محروم می‌شوند خود دانش‌گاه را تبدیل به قبرستان کرده است. همین که احمدی‌نژاد جرات نمی‌کند با دانش‌جویان دیدار کند و در روز تعطیل به دانش‌گاه می‌رود، خود دلیلی است برای قبرستان کردن دانش گاه
Jomhour says that the students have been against this project because the authorities have used the war martyrs as an instrument to achieve their own political interests. He adds [fa] that the conservative Farsi news websites have published provoking stories and, in the end, students were beaten and arrested.
Hezbollah blog has a different opinion and says [fa] that some of the students — who are attending university thanks to the government's financial support — started to chant “down with the dictator”, “down with Basijis”… Writing with irony, the blogger adds that even in these days talking about martyrs is a shame. He concludes: “I do not know where we would be and what would have happened to us if these martyrs did not go to war.”

author: Fred Petrossian


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Kenya: Police harassment of activists · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Kenyan Pundit reacts to reports about police harassment of activists, “The report is disturbing to say the very least, not just because it shows you just how paranoid and oppressive this government is becoming, but also because it gives some insight into how the extra-judicial killings that have been in the news start off and how easy it is to be “disappeared” if you don’t have good contacts and with a Mungiki label slapped on you.”


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Korea: Hillary Clinton’s Visit  · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Korea. Rather than any other issues, North Korean issues were the major topic. Some people welcomed her on the street, raising signs, “Welcome, Hillary” and “Kim Jung Il Overthrow,” and burning his photos.
Since the current policy of the South Korean government toward North Korea is criticized after a series of conflicts between the two countries, her visit and schedule have been coming into the spotlight.
Not a few bloggers mentioned her contact with the previous President Kim Dae-jung who was awarded Nobel Prize and enacted the Sunshine Policy.
오늘 아침, 눈을 의심할 정도로 놀랜 사건이 있다. 힐러리 장관이, 김대중 전 대통령에게, 남편이 안부를 전해달라고 했다”며 “저와 남편은 김 전 대통령과 함께 일했던 시절에 대해 `긍정적이고 따뜻한 추억'(positive and fond memories)을 간직하고 있다” 는 말을 한 것 이다. 외교적 수사는, 아시다시피 고도로 계산되고 계획된 용어만을 사용한다.
그런데 옛날엔 Positive (긍정적) 이 었다 ?? ….. 그렇다면 지금은 부정적 (Negative) 이라는 지적으로 이해 할 수도 있는 것 인가?? 둘째, 따뜻한 (Fond) !!!! 이것은 또 무슨 단어인가 ?? 김대중 대통령은 ‘햋볕 (Sunshine) 정책'을 이끌고 노벨상을 수상했다…..햋볕을 상기 시킬수 있는 따뜻한 추억이라는 표현….차가운 현실과 반대되는것으로 간주 될 수 있는, 또는 ‘냉전’ 과 같은 단어와는 반대로 간주될 수 있는 표현…..바로 이 두 단어가 키워드 인것이다.[…] “90년대 금융위기와 대북 관계에 대해 보여준 `본보기'(example)와 지도력에 감사한다” 는 말까지는 굳이 부연 설명이 필요 없을 것 같다. 그럼 도대체 지금은 모야 ?[…]
And she used the term, ‘positive.’ Does that mean that now is negative? And ‘fond'!!! The previous President, Kim Dae-jung led the ‘Sunshine Policy’ and was awarded the Nobel Prize. The Sunshine Policy reminds us of warm memories and is opposite to cold reality and to ‘cold war.’ These two terms that she mentioned are key words.[…] It's needless to add more comments regarding what she said, “I appreciate the ‘example’ and leadership that you showed in the financial crisis of the 90s and North and South Korean relations. Then how about right now?[…]
Another opinion:
[…]저는 이 한통의 전화가 현 정부 인사들과 나눈 그 어떠한 대화보다 중요한 의미를 갖고 있다고 생각합니다. 미국의 입장에서는 현 정부가 미국 행정부의 대화 파트너임에는 분명하고 현 정부를 무시하고 김대중 전 대통령을 만나는 것은 여간 부담스러운 일이 아니었을 것입니다. 그래서 절묘한 형식과 타이밍을 맞춘 것이 한국의 떠나는 마지막 순간의 전화통화라는 방법을 선택한 것 같습니다.
Another sensitive part – Kim Jong Il's health and succession after him have been major issues:
힐러리 클린턴 국무장관이 북한의 후계문제를 공개적으로 언급해 그 배경에 초미의 관심이 모아지고 있다. 그는 서울행 기내에서 가진 기자 간담회에서 “북한이 평화적으로 권력승계를 하더라도, 내부 권력강화를 위해 훨씬 도발적인 행동을 취할 가능성이 있다”며, “이는 점증하는 압력”이 되고 있다고 말했다. 그러면서 “북한의 정치 리더십이 불투명할 때, 북한의 행동에 영향을 행사할 수 있는 효과적인 전략을 마련하는 것이 우리의 목표”라고 강조했다.
이처럼 미국의 고위 관리가 북한의 후계체제를 거론한 것 자체가 대단히 이례적인 일이다. 더구나 후계문제는 북한이 가장 민감하게 반응하는 사안이라는 점에서 그 파장이 만만치 않을 전망이다. 북한의 반응에 따라 북미협상이 시작도 되기 전에 거친 말싸움이 오갈 수 있기 때문이다.[…]
This is an exceptional case where a high positioned person of the US government commented on the succession of North Korean authority. This is a very sensitive issue to North Korea and therefore it could lead to more effects. It could lead to wild verbal arguments even before the North Korea-US negotiation starts.[…]

author: Hyejin Kim


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Maldives: Mohamed Nasheed’s First 100 days · Global Voices
Rezwan

Blogger Mohamed Nasheed analyzes the performance of the first 100 days of his namesake Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed (Anni) in two parts (1, 2).


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Mexico: Urban Artists in Monterrey Take to the Internet · Global Voices
Issa Villarreal

In the streets of Monterrey, a city best known for being the industrial and technological mecca of Mexico, graffiti and many other forms of urban artistic expression are growing.  Hundreds of street artists are active in the metropolitan area of this state capital located in the northeastern part of the country.  In synergy with its development and prestige in the field of technology, as it was the first Mexican city with internet during the late 1980s, these artists have started to utilize user-friendly electronic media in order to showcase their painted works and murals on the internet.  With sites like YouTube, Flickr, Fotolog, and blogs, artists are finding ways to share their works with the world.
Many of these electronic sites are free and easy to use, making the cost and effort investment minimal.  Artists are using these sites to document their works, promote upcoming events, and make connections with other artists. Since many of their street works are illegal – painting on public walls – anonymity and the use of pseudonyms save them from the consequences from the local authorities. For example, the graffiti artist Buster publishes his videos on YouTube about the way he makes this illegal tagging on the cement walls of certain major avenues and multi-story buildings as part of a series of videos called “The Wild Street.” The fans of this risk-taking graffiti artist also upload their tributes and homages to Buster on YouTube
For some artists, the process of painting a mural is almost as important as the mural itself. There are hundreds of videos available on YouTube, including a video, which is uploaded and constantly deleted from the web for different reasons, of a “graffiti attack” where dozens of teenagers organize to paint an underpass along the Alfonso Reyes avenue. To paint in such an exposed location without being arrested while paradoxically they are openly showing off on the Internet takes courage equivalent to a feat in an extreme sport.
On Flickr, one can find photos of works in progress. During the citywide art event “Campeones” that took place in mid-2008, the artists Fidencio, Screw, Blast (all three from Monterrey), Blair (from California) and Eltono (renowned French urban artist) came together to paint a giant whale with some wood panels on the wall of a parking lot.  The images found on Flickr with a search for the words “mural” and “campeones” taken by the artists, as well as spectators who watched the painting, provides a visual narration and illustrates step-by-step the transformation of the large, previously abandoned wall to become an alternative tourist attraction.
Photo by Cambalache and used under a Creative Commons license
On an individual level, these electronic sites serve as a type of portfolio.  The collective Los Contratistas use their blog [es] to publish recent works, discuss upcoming events, document past activities, present their project invitees, and share a bit of their philosophy.
One person who is part of this collective is the artist known as Fidencio, for his use of the child “saint” Fidencio of El Espinazo, Nuevo León, in his posters and stencils.  Sometimes he also includes his blog's address [es] in some of the street appearances.  His blog address is his business card for his work, a link of the physical world to the virtual world.
In addition to providing coverage of the work of these urban artists, social media is also important for establishing connection points and for other supporters, especially shops that are directly linked to the gangs, “crews,” or collectives.  For example, Streetarte [es], located in a very busy shopping center in central Monterrey is dedicated to the art of airbrushing and graffiti. They take orders to airbrush images on t-shirts, caps and other items. They use their website and their Fotolog, another image hosting service, to showcase their items for sale and as a portfolio for the artists that work there.
On their YouTube channel, they publish videos of those graffiti artists working live, without revealing their faces:
On the same channel, they also add original content of interest to the hip-hop community, which is closely tied to the culture of graffiti.  They publish video of conversations with local rappers, such as Güero, national rappers, such as Serko Fu and Caballeros del Plan G, as well as international artists such as the Spanish rappers Violadores del Verso improvising rhymes or “beatboxing.”
These urban artists are making great use of citizen media to promote and share their work. The state of Nuevo León, of which Monterrey is the capital, is the Mexican state with the most users of Fotolog. A mash-up map was recently created to link photographs found on Flickr and Fotolog of murals and other urban art with their corresponding location on a Google map. The result is a map of the metropolitan area of Monterrey showing different locations of murals, graffiti tags, stencil works, or stickers:
To date, there are more than 50 works from artists, via this map, can be integrated without problems to the service of Google Earth. For artists and collectives, these social media sites are becoming a very powerful tool. They have the best of both worlds: an international reach with little effort and little cost, as well as distancing themselves to protect their identity. The pseudonyms that they use when they sign their names in the form of “tags” in the street represent their usernames on the internet, known by their friends but out of reach of the authorities.

author: Issa Villarreal


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Mexico: War on Drugs Becoming Weirder · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Mexico's war on drugs is getting “so surreal, absurd, and downright twisted” according to Daniel Hernandez of Intersections.  He cites some recent incidents, including the claim that the drug cartels are organizing street protests against the Mexican military.

author: Eduardo Avila


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New Zealand: Blog ‘Blackout’ protest stalls anti-pirating law · Global Voices
John Liebhardt

A large swatch of New Zealand’s political blogosphere shut down its websites for a half-day on Monday, February 23 in protest of a copyright law that could have required internet service providers from disconnecting users who download pirated materials like movies or music.
Instead of being greeted by analysis and commentary, visitors to many of New Zealand’s blogs were welcomed with stark black screen and the following words in white: This Website is Blacked Out.
This Saturday, February 28th, Section 92A of the Copyright Act is due to come into force.
This website has voluntarily been taken down in protest against this law, which will be used to disconnect New Zealanders from the internet based on accusations against copyright infringement, without a trial and without evidence held up to court scrutiny.
The blackout screens, distributed by the Creative Freedom Foundation, go on to explain that illegal downloads and copyright infringement should not be condoned, but a fair and just trial is a basic human right and the bill, as written, has the potential to unreasonably punish internet users.  (Here is a good discussion on the legalities of Section 92 of the Copyright Amendment Act.)
The protest appeared to work as Prime Minister John Key announced he will stall the proposal for one month as he looks to forge a compromise with ISPs and copyright holders. If a solution cannot be found, Section 92 will be scrapped.
However, Key indicated that countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom now enforce similar versions of Section 92. One day, New Zealand may be required to meet international regulations.
Before the protest began, it was pointed out that this group of eclectic and politically divergent bloggers could not agree on anything — much less a law that was up before Parliament. Yet, the mood after the announcement of Section 92’s suspension was largely festive.
From No Minister:
To say we represent a diverse range of views is putting it mildly. Normally we disagree on everything. Even e=mc^2 can be regarded as a highly debatable proposition on our blogs.
So for us to all unite together, from across the political spectrum, to condemn S92A of the Copyright Act should send a signal as to how bad the law is. A law which can see people lose their Internet access on the basis of unproven allegations should have no place in the New Zealand statute books.
From Big News:
That's what happens when a group of people get a viral protest going, it gets support and gets into the mainstream media before midday and into the Aussie papers and into the Cabinet agenda.
Let’s stick for a second with the social media aspect of this issue:
From Oliver Woods:
What really is amazing is the fact that most media are attributing the backdown to the co-ordinated online ‘Blackout’ campaign by the excellent Creative Freedom Foundation. The issue had created an unlikely coalition of online activists from the left and the right… The widescale blog and website blackout demonstrated the influence that online citizen-journalists and bloggers can have. It reinforces the fact that websites are becoming an extremely valuable part of civil society that can speak with a united voice when it feels threatened.
He then goes on to explain why social media types shouldn’t be surprised by  John Key’s response:
Few politicians in New Zealand have realised the power of social media (blogs, social networking and such like). John Key and a handful of National Party thinkers are the exception. 2007 and 2008 saw National construct successful colonies of supporters on Facebook, including a widescale campaign of encouraging activists and supporters to join the site. Check out National's frontpage and you can see how seriously they are taking social media. If you want to see how National's party membership campaign is working on Facebook and John Key's 12,000+ friends, check out his profile here.
Oswald Bastable’s Ranting finds it odd that certain radio journalists — and other mainstream media folks — still look down on bloggers who merely “post their opinions on subjects and then argue over them.”
Will these types ever admit that their gripe with us is that we are not paid-up card-carrying members of the Journo's union?
And to give credit where it's due- what a refresing change to have the powers that be actually listen! Some were concerned that this would be a diversion for more pressing issues, but really- on quick executive decision and it's dealt with!
Yet some bloggers feel the death of Section 92 of the Copyright Amendment has been greatly exaggerated. New Zealand’s recording industry — like elsewhere — claims to be suffering greatly from piracy. Industry figures assert that 95 out of every 100 songs downloaded from the internet in New Zealand come from illegal sources.
The Inquiring Mind references a Computerworld article that contains a recent letter written New Zealand’s recording industry (and leaked out) claiming a very similar version of this now stalled section could be agreed to in the near future.
From Adam Smith in The Inquiring Mind:
Reading the article and the letter provides little comfort to Adam that an outcome acceptable to those who protested will be reached, if a Code of Practice acceptable to the RIANZ [Recording Industry Association of New Zealand] is agreed.
Further, he is suspicious that the delay announced pending agreement on a Code of Practice means that the law will be implemented providing a Code of Practice is agreed. All that means it seems to Adam is that a Code of Practice, any Code of Practice will be acceptable to Government.
This is not what the campaign was about in Adam’s view.

author: John Liebhardt


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Nigeria: Naijoo: Nigeria’s Own Video Sharing Site · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Nigeria has its own video sharing site, writes Loy at Startups Nigeria, “If you watch videos from Yahoo! TV, you’re probably going to enjoy Naija’s own video sharing community called Naijoo.Tv, an online video sharing site that allows you to upload, view and share video clips. When I first heard the name, I thought it would look like Yahoo! TV, but far from it.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Pakistan: Media Responsible · Global Voices
Rezwan

Thinking Out of the Box blames irresponsible journalism by a section of Pakistani media for the current state of affairs in Pakistan.


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Peru: Cholesterol Levels Rising for Lima Residents · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Cholesterol levels for Lima residents are rising according to a report cited by Letra Suelta [es].


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Peru: Seven Star Hotel in Cusco · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Tourism in Cusco, Peru will get a luxurious boost with the building of a new 7-star hotel writes Israel Ruiz of Living in Peru.


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Russia: Alleged Racist Murder in Moscow · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Moscow Through Brown Eyes translates LJ user plucer‘s post (RUS) about an alleged racist murder in Moscow.


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Sri Lanka: Failure Of LTTE · Global Voices
Rezwan

Indi.ca comments on the failure of LTTE tactics: “they are a successful crime syndicate but not successful representative for the Tamil people. And I’m obviously not telling Tamil people who to choose as representatives, but we all live on this island together. Guys that buzz our city at will blowing random **** are probably not your best, er, emissaries.”


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Sudan: Mourning a Great Novelist and Musings on the ICC · Global Voices
SudaneseDrima

After a long absence, a number of fascinating Sudanese bloggers, return to the blogosphere to rant, share their thoughts on recent events and vent. They're included in this roundup along with the usual suspects.
After a frustrated rant about Khartoum International Airport's unhygienic condition, Sudanese Optimist mourned the passing of the respected and well-known Sudanese novelist, Al-Tayeb Saleh.
Sudan has lost a dear citizen, who has contributed tremendously to Sudanese and Arabic literature. His most acclaimed work is the 1966 novel “Season of Migration to the North.” The novel was, at one point, banned in Sudan for its inclusion of sexual imagery, yet it was declared “the most important Arabic novel of the 20th century” by the Syrian-based Arab Literary Academy in Damascus.
Earlier this year, The General Union for Sudanese Writers, requested Al Tayeb Saleh to be preliminarily nominated to win the 2009 Literature Noble Prize.
Ras Babi Babiker mourned Saleh's passing too by reminding us about the great novel that made him a major name in the world of modern Arabic literature.
Season of Migration to the North (Arabic: موسم الهجرة إلى الشمال Mawsim al-Hiǧra ilā ash-Shamāl ) is a classic post-colonial Sudanese novel by the late novelist Al-Tayyib Salih. Originally published in Arabic in 1966, it has since been translated into English and French.
The novel charts individuation of the (un-named) narrator, who has returned to his native village in the Sudan having spent seven years in England furthering his education.
On his arrival home, he encounters a new villager (“Mustafa Sa'eed”) who exhibits none of the adulation for his achievements that most others do, and displays an antagonistically aloof nature. The villager betrays his past one drunken evening by wistfully reciting poetry in fluent English, leaving the narrator resolute to discover the stranger's identity. As it turns out Mustafa was also a precocious student educated in the west but simultaneously harbors a violently hateful and complex relationship with his western identity and acquaintances. The story of Mustafa's troubled past in Europe and in particular his love affair with a British woman, forms the center of the novel.
Meanwhile, as Drima mourned along with his fellow bloggers the death of his country's great novelist, he also blogged an in-depth analysis on the possible consequences of an ICC arrest warrant charging his country's president with crimes against humanity and genocide.
the ICC can’t do much on its own in terms of enforcing the arrest warrant (if it issues it at all) and the UN is a fangless paper tiger, but…
… given that we now have Susan Rice as the US Ambassador to the UN, Hillary as Secretary of State (she has her own blog now by the way), and a Blue Donkey administration in charge of running things, US policies towards Sudan will gradually become starkly different than they were just a few months ago when Bush was still in power.
An ICC arrest warrant issued within this new context will now have more weight, and hence its potential issuance will probably be more useful as a tool for pressuring Omar al-Bashir to act in favor of peace in Darfur and implementing the CPA.
Mimz, who returned to the blogosphere after a long absence, also recently mentioned the ICC arrest warrant and her adventures with Facebook.
“Dang!” doesn’t even begin to describe it. It’s been almost a year and a half since I was last here. And a lot of things went down during that time. Here are just a few highlights:
1. I joined facebook.
2. There’s a global economic crisis going on and it’s on the rise.
3. Obama was elected president of the United States.
4. Israeli troops attacked Ghaza killing and injuring hundreds.
5. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Omer El-Bashir on charges of war crimes.
6. I graduated.
7. Sami El-Haj was released from Guantanamo Bay. (I obviously have a lot of editing to do).
8. Gillian Gibbons was arrested for a “teddy bear blasphemy case” in Khartoum.
9. The rebels reached Khartoum and attacked everyone.
10. I quit facebook.
Did I mention that I finally graduated?
Hipster, a Sudanese blogger living in the UAE, is now also back actively blogging again. She shares with us a little “Che Guevara” experience she had while driving to work.
Aggravated at the abrupt interruption, I glared at the monstrous vehicle, only to be completely amazed and amused at the sight of the colors and words adorning the spare tire case. Che Guevara’s renowned & symbolic raggedy face picture was sandwiched between words in bold letters namely “T.N.T” and “ Al Maafia”. I couldn’t help but look down at my paperback copy of “The Young Che: Memories of Che Guevara”, lying on the passenger’s seat, triggering me to ponder and wonder upon the mockery this revolutionary has become.
With my humble knowledge, I ask: What do “T.N.T” and “Mafia” have anything to do with the Soldier of the Americas?
And if you've ever wondered whether blogging is a form of therapy, you're not alone. Path2Hope shares those thoughts too.
And then it happened, the dam that was blocking my ability from putting down thoughts onto paper broke and everything wanted to come pouring out instantly. So much to write about, so many experiences to relate and then you sit infront of the laptop and wonder – who the heck cares? Everyone has their own battle that they are tackling – and well I suppose blogging really is a form of therapy and an excuse to self indulge.
As for JohnAckec, he reminded us today of the increasingly sad situation with education in Sudan.
With more than 30 universities in Sudan and with talk of declining academic standards and rising level of unemployment amongst university graduates in our country, one is led to believe that university education has lost its glitter and is now next to worthless. Nothing could be further from the truth.
On a happier note, Precious, wished everyone a Happy Valentine's Day.
Although I no longer beleive in romance and that passionate love I used to dream of, and although I no longer trust a man's fake “I love you”s, but you might still have a little hope. So anyway, I deeply and sincerely wish you a very Happy Valentines day, whether you are Single, dating, engaged or married. Enjoy the day and dont let anyone not even him/her, ruin it for you!

author: SudaneseDrima


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Trinidad & Tobago: Carnival Pics  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

From Trinidad and Tobago, de cooler : soca news and This Beach Called Life link to photo sets of this year's Carnival celebrations.


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Ukraine: “Russophone Ukrainian Nationalists” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

In this post (RUS), which has generated over a hundred comments and is now listed as the 4th most popular item on Yandex Blogs, LJ user alek-ya explains what a “Russophone Ukrainian nationalist” is:
Hard to believe that it is possible, but such people do exist. I'm one of them, I may say.
[…]
* These are the people who often spend their whole lives speaking Russian, but who think of themselves as Ukrainians and consider Ukraine their Motherland.
* We effortlessly switch from one language to another in conversation: we have friends in all parts of the country.
* When we are abroad and someone asks, “Are you from Russia?” we respond, “No! I'm from Ukraine.“
* To another question: “What is your native language?” we reply: “I'm bilingual: Ukrainian and Russian.“
* After watching a movie, we try hard to recall what language it was in, Russian or Ukrainian.
* Our keyboards have three [character set options]: Ї [UKR], Ы [RUS], S [ENG].
* We are happy to have our children attend Ukrainian[-language] kindergartens and schools.
* Aggressive attempts by some of our […] officials to impose Ukrainian language frightens us first of all because it may scare people away from Ukrainian.
* For us, [Taras Shevchenko], [Ivan Franko], [Les’ Kurbas] (the list is endless) are [as important] as [Mikhail Lermontov], [Aleksandr Pushkin], [Mikhail Bulgakov].
[…]


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Bangladesh: BDR Mutiny And Gunfires · Global Voices
Rezwan

Unheard Voice is live blogging and posting pictures of gunfires and battles inside the headquarters of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), the paramilitary forces of Bangladesh. Apparently this is a mutiny and senior officers were reported killed. More roundups and news are available at The 3rd World View and BDfact.


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Bangladesh: Citizen Journalists Covering BDR Mutiny  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Today morning Dhaka was rattled by a fierce gun battle inside the headquarters of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR – paramilitary border security force) situated in the heart of the capital. Rumors had started to fly and later it emerged that junior officers have taken control and locked up seniors officers in a mutiny. Gun and mortar shell firings were heard and local media reported that 3 civilians and 2 BDR officials have died.  But the real toll can be way more as eyewitnesses saw more dead bodies being carried inside the BDR compound. The compound was circled by the security forces and the armed forces were sent in to quell the mutiny but the BDR members resisted them. BBC has posted some pictures and some background of BDR.
There was a crisis for information and the website of the country's major 24 hour online news source was inaccessible probably due to heavy traffic. That's where citizen journalists filled the void.
Civilians fleeing from the scene. Copyright Drishtipat and used with permission
Unheard Voice, the blog of the human rights group Drishtipat started live blogging almost instantaneously and many eyewitnesses updated in the comments section. Here are some eyewitness pictures posted in Unheard Voices blog.
There were questions all around why they mutinied and these could be gathered from the various citizen media sites in Bangla and English:
* The disparity between army pay scale and BDR pay scale was a sore point.
* Discrimination and mistreatment
* Corruption of BDR high officials especially in Operation Daal Bhaat
* No peacekeeping missions for them
Earlier in September 2008 some irregularities regarding Operation Daal Bhaat was highlighted in this Bangla Blog.
Here is a video of rebel soldiers placing their demands [bn] uploaded by YouTube user Azadvision:
Bangla Blogging platform Sachalayatan has been updating the news via posting phone reports from its citizen journalists in Dhaka. Some are updating the news via twitter like Asif Saleh and Rajputro.
BDFact has been updating on different issues:
The blogger placed some pertinent questions:
1. Did they ask for financial support and additional privileges? For how long these demands were made and not being addressed? Why? We need sequential stories.
2. All sector commanders were present in today's meeting at Darbar Hall. So, it cannot be the case that it was an accident. It must be a preplanned event. Who masterminded this? [..]
7. What is now happening outside capital? Do we know for sure if situation is under control, or not?
This is a defining moment for Bangladesh.
The blogger updates about the negotiation phase:
A 15-member BDR team, led by Nanok (state minister for LGRD), has moved to PM's house to start negotiation. Their immediate demand is to free BDR from military's control.
Meanwhile, UNB reported soldiers took control of Goalkhali BDR camp here after the revolt by their colleagues at the Bangladesh Rifles headquarters in Dhaka, triggering tensions through the southern city.
Journalists trying to cover and keep away from the firing. Copyright Drishtipat and used with permission
And in my own blog I have reported:
UNB ticker reporting: “PM announces amnesty for rebels; BDR delegation promises to surrender arms.”
LGRD's Nanok confirmed the amnesty after meeting of PM with BDR representatives. The Jawans promised that they will turn in arms (possibly by next morning. After Army and RAB are withdrawn). Rebel Jowans are claiming they were fired upon first, during meeting in the Darbar Hall in the morning.
A commenter at the Unheard Voices blog spells a hard truth:
This immediate acceptance of agenda set by the BDR also sends dangerous precedents for other groups to do the same thing if they feel marginalized. In Bangladesh, if no one listens to you then go on rampage and your demands will be met immediately. It’s been proven a successful strategy for the Students, Garment Workers, Political Parties, and now the BDR.
Ack Ack Gun on Satmasjid, Road 7A. Copyright Drishtipat and used with permission
Everything was calm and quiet in Dhaka in the evening and Rajputro sends this twitter message a while ago:
The situation is far from over and still volatile. Please keep an eye on the above mentioned citizen media sources to get the latest updates.


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Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago: Injunction · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados Free Press finds it “interesting” that the Trinidad and Tobago Central Bank and the Colonial Life Insurance Company Limited (CLICO) have been granted an injunction against CL Financial.


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Brunei: Fund drive for flood victims · Global Voices
Senor Pablo

The heavy downpour last month caused heavy floods and landslides in the country, affecting  homes of more than 200 families, leading to loss of milllions in property and crops in all the four districts in the country.  This has made the community to come together to pledge help for the less fortunate and those affected by the natural disaster.
A  public fund to help the victims from the recent flood and landslide was set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs on 3rd February 2009. The intention is to help ease some of the difficulties faced by the victims in getting back to their normal life.  As part of the efforts to collect donation to this fund,  charity drives have been organized in recent weeks for the benefit of the National Fund for the Flood and Landslide Victims. This is an example of how resilient the local community in helping one another. Masyarakat Perihatin is a Malay phrase which means a caring society.
For example, the Orchid Garden Hotel spearheaded a cupcake charity. The hotel succeeded in selling more than 2,000 cupcakes. It proudly displayed a 25-tiered cake made up of 250 kg of cupcakes. The whole structure measured seven feet by seven feet wide and 16 feet tall.
Photo by Strictly Beautiful
Ranoadidas reported about the cupcake charity event and another fund drive which sold 900 coupons of Nasi Lemak, a popular local dish:
The Cupcake charity at The Orchid Garden Hotel managed to sell 2,000 cupcakes. That’s amazing numbers. Another charity event was held at D’ Other Office  Cafe and Bistro, where almost 900 coupons of Nasi Lemak ( local rice dish cooked in coconut milk)  and Egg Tart combined was sold to the public.
Photos courtesy of Ranoadidas
AnakBrunei reported on the charity football event which gathered at least B$100,000:
Match between DPMM FC and FFBD XI. The match was organized by the Football Federation of Brunei Darussalam . All proceeds (nearly B$100k from what I gather) will be donated to the Fund for Flood and Landslide Victims
The picture above shows His Royal Highness the Crown Prince , chairman of DPMM Football club handing over the money collected from the football charity drive to the chairman of the Flood and Landslide Victims Fund.


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China: A hard place to defend · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Angry Chinese blogger explains why it is difficult to defend China human rights condition by referring to the visit petition of 62 year old Zhong Ruihua.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Control 2.0 Mastermind · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

David Bandurski from China Media Project gave more background about the propaganda event in the “eluding the cat” case, especially on the mastermind behind the control 2.0 strategy.