text:
Korea: Train Connecting North and South Stopped.  · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

The train service that connects North Korea and South Korea was suspended on the 28th of November. [En] When the train that stopped more than 50 years started operating after the North and South Korean summit last year, people were excited and expected closer relations. Due to the increase in stiff relations between the two governments, the North Korean government announced the halt. Netizens respond to these gradual changes of their relations.
Many bloggers share their disappointment about this decision.
남북철도, 잇는데 50년! 끊는데 1년!
예전에 남북문제나 통일관련 다큐멘터리에 단골로 등장하던 경원선 신탄리역의 철도중단점은 통일에 대한 염원과 더불어 우리에게 분단국가의 슬픔을 한층 더 깊어지게 하는 상징이었다. 끊어진 철도와 멈춰서있는 기관차, 그리고 비석에 박힌 ‘철마는 달리고 싶다’는 글귀는 우리들을 더욱 애상에 젖어들게 하는 것이었다.
남북정상회담 이후 작년 5월 17일 반세기만에 남과 북을 잇는 시험 열차가 운행되면서 철마의 꿈은 이루어지는 듯했다. 사람들은 50년 넘도록 멈춰있던 남과 북을 잇는 열차가 운행되면서 기쁨에 들떴고 서울에서 파리까지, 모스크바까지, 런던까지 가는 상상을 하며 다가올 남북교류와 협력에 기대를 걸었다. 그리고 작년 12월 11일 정기열차가 운행되면서 이러한 기대는 바로 현실이 될 수 있는 전기를 마련했다.
하지만 이명박정부 출범 후 악화일로를 걷게 된 남북관계는 철마의 50년 꿈을 1년도 되지 않아 다시 접게 만들었다. 북측에서 “6.15공동선언과 10.4선언을 부정하고 북남대결을 집요하게 추구해온 남측당국”에게 책임을 물으며 개성관광과 남북열차운행을 전면 중단시킨 것이었다.
북측은 이번 조치를 ‘1차적’인 것이라고 강조했다. 앞으로 남측의 반응을 보아가며 차후조치를 취할 것이란 이야기다. 하지만 현재로선 앞으로 남북관계는 더 악화될 것이란 예상이 지배적이다. 국민의 정부, 참여 정부 10년간 진행한 햇볕정책과 그 부산물들이 불과 1년도 안되어 도로아미타불이 될 상황에 놓여있다.[…]
‘조만간 다시 운행이 재개될 것'이라고 쓴 웃음을 짓는 마지막 남북열차 기관사의 말이 너무도 안타깝게 다가온다. 남북을 잇는 철로 앞에는 너무도 자욱한 안개가 끼어있고 멈춘 철마는 다시 달릴 날이 기약이 없다.
The place where the train didn’t move at the Sintanli Station was a popular scene in documentaries regarding reunification or North-South Korean issues. It was the symbol of sorrow of the divided country and of desire to be re-unified. The disconnected railway, stopped train, and a letter ‘Train wants to run’ made us grieve.
After the North-South Korean Summit on the 17th of May last year, the train connecting North and South was finally operated after half a century. It seemed that what the train dreamt for came true. People were excited in watching the train be operated and even expected that it would run to Paris, Moscow, and London. We expected cooperation between North and South Korea. And then, on the 11th of December, the regular train started operating. It was the moment that the dream turned into reality.
However, since the new government launched, North-South Korean relations became worse and 50 year dream of the train had to stop in 1 year. North Korea threw the blame to “the South Korean government that seeks for North-South conflicts and denies the 6.15 Summit and the 10.4 Summit” and stopped operating North-South Korean train completely.
The North Korean government emphasized this as the first step. That means that they would have different settlements depending on South Korean attitudes. However, we mostly predict that it would be worse. What we have done for 10 years would disappear within 1 year.
It was painful to watch that the train engineman with a sour smile said ‘it will be operated again soon.’ Thick fog in front of the railway between North and South Korea and the train there… we don’t know when it can run again.
What is the right direction for reunification?
이산가족상봉은 꿈에도 못꾸고, 금강산 개성관광, 남북철도중지..점점 더 꼬여가는 남북관계 과연 이상황까지 오게된 원인이 무엇이고, 누구에게 책임이 있을까요? 남쪽 북쪽 분명..일방적으로 한쪽 잘못은 아니겠죠? 그러나 한가지 분명한것은 과거 10년동안 우호적인 남북관계가 극단적인 대치상황에 와있고, 앞으로도 더 깊어질것 같다는 것입니다.
한날당은 과거 야당시절부터 남북관계의 기본 전략으로 “상호주의”를 주장하고 있습니다. 내가 떡하나 주면  너도 떡하나 달라..솔직히 남한은 북한의 핵을 빼면, 경제력, 군사력(재래식무기)차이가 비교가 안될정도입니다. 압도적 우위에 있는 상황에서 상호주의를 주장, 더구나 한피를 나눈 민족입니다. 통독전 서독은 어떠했습니까? 공산주의국가중 가장 부자나라인 동독을 상대로 서독은 유무상으로 지원해준 경제지원금이 엄청났다고 합니다. 서독 국민들은 바보였습니까?[…]
The Grand National Party emphasizes “reciprocity” as the basic strategy of North-South Korean relations. If I give a rice-cake, you should give one back… Honestly speaking, except nuclear weapons, South Korea can’t be compared to North Korea in terms of ‘economic power’ and ‘military power.’ We’re in the much superior situation and now we’re insisting on reciprocity. In addition, we’re sharing one ethnicity. Think about West Germany before reunification! They financially supported East Germany disregarding compensation. At that time, East Germany was the richest Communist country. Does that mean that West Germans were stupid?
A citizen journalist and blogger visited the train station.
28일 오전 9시 30분. 도라산역에서 S4401 열차가 힘차게 기적소리를 울리며 북측을 향해 떠났다. 최근 북측의 육로통행 제한에 따른 마지막 열차였다. 지난해 12월 11일 다시 개통된 경의선 철도가 남북관계 경색으로 다시 운행이 중단된 것이다. 이날 남북출입사무소(CIQ)와 도라산역을 뒤덮은 짙은 안개는 현재의 남북관계를 그대로 보여주는 듯했다.
“착잡하다… 이렇게 늦게 출발한 것은 처음 있는 일” 지난해 12월부터 220여회 경의선 열차 운행에 참가했던 기관사 신장철씨는 ‘마지막 운행’ 소감을 묻는 질문에 “착잡하다”고 답했다. “남북관계가 빨리 정상화되어서 더 많은 열차가 남북을 오가길 바란다.” 신씨는 “현재 북측의 분위기는 달라진 게 없다”고 전한 뒤 “북측도 열차 운행 등에 열정을 가지고 있다”며 “더 많은 열차 운행이 이루어질 수 있도록 남북이 모두 노력해야 한다”고 말했다.
이날 마지막 열차는 평소 출발시간보다 30분 늦은 9시 30분에 출발했다. 이와 관련, 신씨는 “이렇게 늦어진 것은 처음 있는 일”이라며 이런 설명을 덧붙였다.
“원래 오전 8시 50분께 북측의 승인이 떨어지면 일단 개성관광 버스가 통과한다. 그 다음에 열차가 출발하고 일반 화물 열차가 북측으로 들어간다. 열차는 보통 9시에 출발해 왔는데 오늘은 좀 늦었다.” 북측의 제한조치에 따라 하루 7차례였던 출경횟수도 4차례로 바뀌었다.[…]
“My feelings are complicated… It was the first time to leave so late like this.” The engineer man, Shin Jang Chul who joined this train operation from last December and who operated it 220 times answered. “I hope that our relations get better again and more trains will come across.” He said, “North Korean atmosphere has changed yet either. They also have the passion to operate trains. North Korea and South Korea both of us should make efforts to operate more trains.”
The last train started at 9:30 am, which was 30 minutes late. About this, Mr. Shin said, “It is the first time to be late.” He added, “Usually, after North Korea approves at 8:50 am, the Kaesung Tourism Bus leaves first. And then, the train heads off to the Northern part with containers. The train usually leaves at 9. Today it was late.” After the stiff relations started, North Korea limited to accept 4 trains from 7 times.[…]
Through this incident, many netizens discuss what is the right way for better relations.
[…] 남북관계 파탄의 장본인은 바로 ‘DJ’ 이기 때문이다. 처음부터 DJ의 ‘5억$ 밀거래’ 등 지극히 불대등적, 비정도적, 부도덕적 대북관계를 조급하게 밀어붙이지만 않았던들 오늘의 이 같은 ‘심각한’ 남북경색은 결코 오지 않았을 것이다. 오히려 보다 ‘진전된’ 남북관계가 확립되었을 것이다. 오늘의 남북관계가 단절의 위기까지 치닫고 있는 것은 이명박 정권의 ‘순리적’ 대북정책에 있는 것이 아니고, 모두가 전적으로 김대중과 노무현 좌파정권의 퍼주며 애걸복걸한 ‘성급한’ 대북정책에 있기 때문이다.    남북을 불문하고 이 땅에서 태어난 사람이면 그 누가 통일을 바라지 않겠는가? 하지만 우리의 통일은 애걸복걸 한다 해서 조급히 서둔다 해서 이루어지는 것은 결코 아니고, 그 무엇보다도 ‘시간’ 곧 우리는 독일과는 달리 ‘민족상쟁’ 을 꺾었기 때문에 적어도 이 아픔이 치유되어야 할 시간이 필요하다. […]

author: Hyejin Kim


text:
Mexico: Identifying Stolen Cell Phones · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

How can one stop the robbery of cell phones in Mexico?  Diego of Blog Mx [es] thinks that unique registration codes can help identify the phones, but according to laws the information can only be seen with a judicial order.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Eduardo Avila


text:
Nicaragua: Human Rights March · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Ramón writes about the planned civil society march, without the presence of political parties, planned for Nicaragua to commemorate the International Day of Human Rights [es] on December 10.


text:
Pakistan: Responding to Thomas L Friedman  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Kashkin at Pak Tea House responds to Thomas L Friedman’s article “Calling All Pakistanis” published in the New York Times.

author: Rezwan


text:
Paraguay: Dependence on Brazil for Bridge Costs · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

A new bridge over the Paraná River will join Paraguay and Brazil.  However, the costs will be financed entirely by Brazil, and Michael Quomo of Zoopolitica [es] believes that it makes his country of Paraguay to be dependent, means “condescension” and “creates informal subordination links.”


text:
Video:What image opened your eyes to human rights?  · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

The sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is on December 10th, and Witness’ The Hub team has put together a video that responds to the question:  What images have opened your eyes to Human Rights? The video is online right now and with it they are asking all of us to participate by showing and telling the world about the power images have had in making us care about Human Rights.
The images used on their video all came from the archives at Witness’ The Hub, a platform for uploading Human Rights related videos. In this short clip, Human Rights abuses in Afghanistan, Argentina, Brazil, Burma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Chechen Republic in Russia, the Philippines and West Sudan are featured.
The call for answers to their question is open for everyone, and there are different ways to respond:
1) Respond with video  on the Hub
2) Respond with text (leaving a comment on their blog post)
3) Respond with video on YouTube
4) Join them on Facebook
5) Blog & Vlog!
More information on The Hub's  project can be found on their group page and on their blog. Any language is welcome for the response, and they'll do their best to translate all of the responses, and if you wish, you can also help them translate content.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


text:
Americas: Songs Supporting OLPC in Peru and Uruguay · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

UCPN [es] posts links to two new songs that were written to support the One Laptop Per Child projects in Peru and in Uruguay, which was written by Jorge Drexler.


text:
Argentina: Patricia Pérez Candidate for Nobel Peace Prize · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Patricia Pérez, an HIV positive woman living in Argentina is a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the Network of Women Living with AIDS writes El Otro Género [es].


text:
Bahamas: Customs Corruption · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Sidney Sweeting at Weblog Bahamas blogs about the alleged corruption within the Customs Department.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Barbados: Dealing with HIV · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados Free Press questions why the island's HIV infection rate is 50% higher than in other regional territories.


text:
Brazil: How to become Santa Claus in four weeks · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Anton M. Steeman describes one of the many courses in Brazil that leads to qualified Santa Clauses, a welcome Christmas temporary job. “The most difficult part of being a good Santa Claus is the hours and hours sitting in a chair, showing a slight smile, taking punches and pushes, a finger in the eye, in the mouth, pulling the beard, etc, etc, etc … without showing any stress. Because Brazilian children are, as everywhere in the world, bloody nuisances.”

author: Paula Góes


text:
Chile: The Launch of CNN Chile · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

CNN recently launched a new station in Chile, and Mariana of Zancada [es] hopes that it does not turn into 24 hours of police and crime news.


text:
China: Political Science Professor Denounced By Students · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN collects and translates local newspapers commentaries about two of his students reporting to the city's public security bureau and education committee, accusing a political science professor of making counter-revolutionary comments during a lecture.

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
China: Protestors and petitioners penned up into madhouse · Global Voices
Bob Chen

若干年后，整个人类都会为今天发生的事，而震惊！！！！！！！！！！！
This is a comment people left after a news story. It is a story about petitioning, protest and madhouse. Reading the story, I am almost drowned by a sense of desperation infused in what Mr. Sun has gone through all these years, but also very much touched by Mr. Shi’s courage to expose such a scandal to public. I know, this would be a story worth record, and translation.
In China, it’s a long tradition that people wronged by their hometown officials would trek to Beijing to appeal for justice. It is called petitioning, a mild way of protest. As mild as it is, however, no local government involved would easily let the petitioner go, and interruption, detain, threat are never unusual. And now, a more civilized way is employed, that is, asylum, or, madhouse. That’s where the story started.
57岁的农民孙法武一下车，就四处张望寻找。约好的同伴还没到。
突然，一辆面包车“嗖”地停在老孙面前。车上下来三人，将他半包围了。
老孙认得其中一人，新泰市泉沟镇信访办主任安士智。
“干什么去？”
“北京打工去。”
“打什么工！你是去上访。不能让你走！”
两男子一左一右上来，老孙掏出手机报警，被劈手夺下。随后被塞进面包车。
Mr. Sun-fawu, 57, got off the car and looked around for his companion he was to meet. Yet no one was there. All in a sudden, a microbus rushed to him and stopped, 3 people coming off and closing him in. One of them was identified as An-shizhi, Sun recalled, who is the director of the Petitioning Office (the official agency handles complaints) in the town.
“what are doing?”
“to find a job in Beijing。”
“Looking for a job? No, you are to petition. You are not let go!”
Two men came up, snatched away the cellphone Sun was to use for police-calling, and pushed him into the microbus.
Sun’s nightmare started. The place he was sent to is exactly the City Asylum, where the mentally disordered stay. The government men left him there.
老孙冲着那医生大喊：“我没病！我是上访的！”
那天很多“病人”听到了这喊声，包括后来跟老孙关系密切的老时。
“医生说，我管你有没有病，你们镇政府送来的，我就按精神病来治。”
What he later went through was that:
“手脚全绑在床腿上，外套蒙在了脑袋上。”老孙听到有人说快灌药，接着脸部被捏住，嘴被动地张开了。
医生捏了他下颌，几粒药“自己下去了”。
当晚7点左右，主治医生朱风信来给老孙打了一针，之后老孙“没了意识”
During his days there, Zhu has thought to escape, though he claimed time over time again he was normal. He pleaded the dean. But the answer was as cold as the patient room, that “only those sent you here sign an agreement, you are allowed to go”. And a “suggestion” followed, “ask your family to find the government.
But how to? Sun asked himself, with no phone with him.
Sun’s grief
Sun’s grief dates back to several years ago, when the land in his village sunk so much that it was no more arable due to the thriving mining at the place. Since 1988, the mine owners have compensated the affected villagers for a few times.
按补偿标准，老孙家可获4万多元。但据老孙及村民徐学玲等人讲，全村300多户都没领到补偿款。
According to the criteria, Sun’s family could get over 40 thousand. But as Sun and some other villagers said, over 300 households in the village got no compensation at all.
But the village officials insisted the fund has been distributed. Since 2001, villagers voted Sun as one of their delegates, to complain to the town government. The city inspection group, however, alleged that the fund has indeed been allocated after investigation. The villagers defied, sending more complaints and inquiry of further probe.
三天后，当年10月1日晚，十多人闯入老孙家打砸。当时老孙没在，老孙的儿子、新婚第五天的孙贵强被砍成重伤。据孙妻张学芳回忆，那些人喊着，“再上访弄死你们全家”。
Sun didn’t stop. He haunted around town, city, and provincial Petitioning Offices, and even to as far as Beijing. In 2004, he was detained for 14 days, the prosecution being “disrupting social order”. In 2005, he was sentenced to prison, again, but for over 1 year this time.
Then in 2007, a new weapon was put in use. He was put in the asylum.
“开始天天吃药，打针”。老孙对药物敏感，“头一直晕，站不起来”。
He stayed there for 3 months, 5 days. Only did he pledged that no more petitioning would he committed was he released.
In 2008, Oct, the story at the beginning of the article happened. This has been his second time to be a “mad man”.
A secret recorder
老时秘密进行着自己的“任务”，迄今，他记录了18名被关进医院的上访者
He used to go to Beijng to complain the negligence of duty of the local government. In 2006, he was sent by Tianbao government (another one) to the same hospital.
He was called to go out later, but he refused. He required an explanation of such a treatment, and holds that if there is none, he would stay.
No explanation was given, and he stayed. In the 2 years 5 months he spent there, he has been collecting evidence about the petitioners contained in the madhouse.
老孙做了许多记录，记在纸片上，甚至旧药盒上。
老时说，一切都是“秘密进行”的，因为护士不让“上访病人”间交谈。
日记和记录的纸片，老时藏在褥子底下。
One of his diaries writes:
“一些精神病人老是打我，只要我和医生、护士顶了嘴，等他们走后，几个病人一定会打我，掐我脖子。肯定是这些医生指使的。”
“some patients kept beating me up, as long as I quarreled with doctors and nurses. After they were gone, the patients would come up and hit me, clutched my neck. They must have been ordered to do so by the doctors.”
进来第二天开始，每次吃药，他都将药压在舌下，等护士走了再吐掉。
护士很快发现，后来吃药会检查舌头。老时和“上访病人”李元亮也这样说
This is the end of the news story. It was released by the well-known Beijing-based paper New Beijing on 8, Dec, and very soon, it has caught the attention of the Chinese blogsphere. The comment at the beginning gained as many as 10000 support clicks on 163.com, and what we see is a gloomy picture of a muzzled world by methods as ridiculous as you can expect. How long has this happened? Would this keep on going if it was not revealed? And we have enough reason to doubt how many more remain undiscovered.
And we are more than shocked. The life in madhouse is expected to be so horrible, that every word, every pleading, every complaint you yelled out would be considered a mad word, and no one would trust you. That's why those petitioners are more than admirable.
Or, the entire society has already been such a madhouse? And finally, will we lose our sense of judgment, that we ourselves would doubt “are we mad”? Is this what we are hoped to be?

author: Bob Chen


text:
China: Traci Lords at Hong Kong Movie · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Human Flesh search engine from mainland China managed to dig up the details of an adult movie appeared at one of Stephen Chow's popular movie. The female figure is Traci Lords. See ESWN for details.


text:
Cuba: Journey of the Bloggers  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez begins “the planned journey of the bloggers” deemed “counterrevolutionary” by the government, she explains: “In the blogger phenomenon there are a thousand ways to camouflage oneself” – and Uncommon Sense applauds her cleverness: “Freedom one day will prevail in Cuba, and nothing the dictatorship does to limit access to information on the Internet, and the spreading of that information, will prevent that.”


text:
Egypt: Defining Terrorism · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

Egyptian blogger City Bird wrote the following post:

author: Tarek Amr


text:
Eritrea: Russian literary ties · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Semantic Eritrea reports that the government of the Russian Federation has decided to cement the connections between Eritrea and Russia by erecting a monument of bronze to famed poet Alexander Pushkin, as well as a Pushkin Centre in the Eritrean capital of Asmara. Pushkin's Eritrean connection comes from his great grandfather who was allegedly kidnapped as a young boy from his village just south of Asmara, the blogger says.

author: Elia Varela Serra


text:
Fiji’s military coup: Two years on · Global Voices
John Liebhardt

Few people give more mileage to anniversaries than journalists and bloggers. Fiji’s military coup led by Commodore Voreqe “Frank” Bainimarama hit its two-year anniversary December 5, and bloggers around the region (and countless commenters to the blogosphere) have spent the past few days gathering thoughts and opinions on the country’s past, present and future.
Let’s begin with one of the few bloggers expressing qualified support for using the military regime to make necessary  constitutional changes in Fiji.
“Two years down the road, Fiji is still moving towards democracy,” writes laminer_flow in Stuck in Fiji M.U.D. “Albeit, a work in progress for some. While democracy may be the ultimate objective, the debate in Fiji is how to get there and when.”
Sadly, there have been the usual chorus of displeasure, from the proponents of instant gratification democracy. Among those, is the Fiji Times Editor; whose Editorial of Dec. 5th 2008 had no new ideas to propose, just more of the same whining…
[Fiji Times Editor Netani] Rika, displaying his usual miscreance; downplayed the errors of the media and pointed fingers at the Interim Government's policies, like a person with an axe to grind. Not surprising for a person, awaiting the decision on contempt of court charges.
The title [We look forward to more bad news] of Fiji Sun's Editorial of Dec. 5th 2008, was a truculent at worst. At best, it was almost as if the publication was praying for a disaster and those opinions were almost equivalent to the ramblings of the Fiji Times editorial.
Both Editorials appear to echo the sentiments in several blogs, almost word for word.
One of the military regime's most vociferous critics, Soli Vakasama, says the country has this to show for the past two years of military rule:
No Elections!  No Sugarcane Industry!!
200,000 people directly affected!!!
No money to pay landowners for lease of their land on the cane belt means mass eviction!!!
That elicited a comment from Iceman:
…Everybody knows that since the coup of December 2006, the economy has declined and will continue to do so until an democratically govenment is elected.. The thing is these fools at Nabua do not understand simple economics. Investors will only come in when there is a stable government not a militarily led one. More investors will lead to more job oppotunities will then more tax revenue for the government which in turn fund necessary infrastructue development, healthcare, education etc. The overall effect of it will trickle down to us ordinary people. To boast about the so called UN Mission bringing in the necessary revenue for the govenmrnt is nonsense… All of them should understand that they are suffocating the Fiji economy right now and the only way to stabilise the economy, cut the crap, surrender the arms, go to barracks, election asap and charge Bainimarama for treason….
Commenter PeacePipe wonders what the neighboring countries are doing to restore democracy in Fiji:
The second anniversary of the madman’s coup passed without any major incident. There was not even a whimper from PIF Aust and NZ to say what they will do about it. At least we have started a movement in Fiji to band together. I suggest we add our support to this movement and work together as a united force as Mick Beddoes said together we can be more effective and stronger. This is the time to move.
This brings up the point of whom will lead the Fiji once democracy is restored. Commenter Tim looks for the country's new leaders:
Who do you think Fiji’s future leaders might be? They sure as hell can’t be those whose names we see in very common use.
It needs a new generation as well as those that to date have completely spurned the cargo cultist, opportunist, ideological bullshit artists of its recent history.
The RFMF? Ratu Joni M maybe?
What of the Judiciary? its been so “@#$%” over by a few that have let their good intentions and egos get the better of their judgement. Probably their fear has played a big part too.
Politics? – Beddoes among others maybe.
Academics?. Most of the sensible ones left a long time ago and can only fire pot shots from abroad.
I suppose one good thing is that we’ve got the dysfunctional encircled by the borders we know as Fiji – except that the majority of FIjians have to suffer the buggers trying to rule them in between propping up their own self-interest.
Responding to a recent statement from the Attorney General who claimed Fiji would have elections when a fair electoral system is created, gdevreal had this to say in Fiji Board Exiles:
Funny haw all the same people who criticize the electoral system could never in a million years get elected under any democratic system.
All electoral systems are less than “truly democratic”. Once you introduce guns to the occasion, they are automatically un-democratic. There are also minority and group rights to be concerned with. Indians block vote. Is that democratic? How does it lead to good leadership? Who controls the selection of candidates?
Nations have Constitutions for a reason. It is an agreement between all parties. It can only be changed with a subsequent agreement between all parties, not just a bunch of idiots who come along and want to change things to suit their own personal and political objectives.
Voreqe's problem is he thinks the military stands above the People, above the democratic system. No matter who chooses, he thinks he has the right to “correct things”. Obviously he is a meglo-Idiot. The World can see this but they also can see that he bribes the people with guns, and it is far cheaper to support 4000 people with guns than 796,000 without guns. So now you have a ruling elite. Will they be brought down peacefully, or like the Tutsi'sor Serbs?
Raw Fiji News uses a purposely crude analogy to express his sentiment:
It’s been 730 days now since Fiji has been raped by this Frank the rapist and like those before him, Frank is beginning to realise that raping this particular “woman” is a no-win situation. Worse still, she has powers that will prevent Frank and those like him from ever achieving that elusive “coupster-orgasm” they chasing. Frank is also realising that once you force yourself onto her, you simply can’t end it with her. She will just lay there while Frank gets carried away with all his dirty game and fantasy until one day, he will die trying and she will consume Frank again when he is breathless and ten-foot under minus that “orgasm” he hoped he would get from her.
So, is it really worth it Frank? Two years of climbing with no luck mate? Tough luck bro!!!!
No Right Turn, a blogger from New Zealand sums up the past two years in Fiji — and sees some hope:
Two years ago today, Fiji's democratically elected government was overthrown by its own army in a military coup. And two years on, things have got even worse. The military regime, which in the usual authoritarian military style, sees criticism as rebellion, is waging a war on the media, deporting journalists and hauling editors before the courts on contempt charges. After getting a tame academic to redefine “media freedom” as “the freedom to print what the government tells them to”, they are now in the process of enacting Singapore-style media controls to prevent further criticism.
The military, having seized control, are now following the usual pattern of coups and are expanding their budget. Not that they ever keep to it anyway…
But there is some hope. Today the SDL, United People's Party, National Federation party (basically, every significant party bar the Fijian Labour Party) and a host of unions and NGOs have united under the banner of the Movement for Democracy to push for a return to Parliamentary rule. After two years of sullen acquiescence, the military may finally face some serious internal opposition. Which can only be a good thing in the long term.

author: John Liebhardt


text:
Gender imbalance in Malaysian schools · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Kian Ming wants to probe deeper the gender imbalance in Malaysia's public universities.

author: Mong Palatino


text:
Haiti: Distorted View of Aristide · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

HaitiAnalysis.com republishes an article that claims “repeated false stories of corruption against President Aristide are part of a continuing disinformation campaign against him that began when he first took office in 1991.”


text:
India: Interest in Mizo Elections. · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Kima posting on the illusionaire blog announces the election results in Mizoram and talks about the high turnout and intense interest in the polls.

author: Preetam Rai


text:
Iran: Students Protest Dictatorship and Gender Apartheid · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Photo is from yaarinews.com
A group of students held a protest rally against the Iranian government and president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the University of Tehran on Sunday to commemorate Student Day, the anniversary of the murdering of three students of University of Tehran on December 6, 1953.
Daftare Tahkim Vahdat (means the Office of Consolidation of Unity), an important student association, had organised this demonstration to protest against censorship, gender apartheid and pressure on students. They chanted slogans such as “Down with the dictatorship” and clashed with security forces. You can see a collection of photos here.
Here is a video on the demonstration:
Salam Demokrat says that students who had been in jail or deprived of studying delivered speeches at the university. The blogger adds:
در ادامه سخنرانی ها دانشجوی منع تحصیل و زندانی آزاد شده، مهدیه گلرو، از دانشگاه علامه
در مورد جنبش زنان و خاطرات زندان خود سخن گفت و مورد تشویق و پشتیبانی فراوانی از دانشجویان قرار گرفت. بعد از خانم گلرو، دانشجویان کرد، بیانیه ی خود را خواندند. و دانشجویان سوسیالیست دانشگاه های ایران و دانشجویان سوسیالیست پلی تکنیک بیانیه های خود را توزیع کردند
The blogger adds that the number of students was between 3000 to 4000.
See more photos here.

author: Fred Petrossian


text:
Jamaica, India: Examining Mumbai  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Why is it that nations always try to save face before saving lives? Why do the authorities always wait for disaster to strike before putting in place the necessary safeguards?”: Jamaican Annie Paul tries to make sense of the Mumbai attacks, adding that “these questions are as relevant in Kingston as they were in Mumbai…”


text:
Jamaica: National to be Awarded UN Prize · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Abeng News Magazine is proud that Jamaican Dr. Carolyn Gomes “was recently announced as a recipient of the prestigious United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights for 2008.”


text:
Japan: Crisis in primary news reporting · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

The shifting landscape of news media in Japan has triggered its fair share of debate recently, with many criticizing the mainstream press for its slip-ups and what some perceive as an attitude problem.  Monthly and weekly magazines, meanwhile, are one by one disappearing from the shelves, faced with dwindling sales and a new market environment. Online alternatives such as citizen journalism, on the other hand, yet to reach their full potential elsewhere, have faced major challenges locally, one major South Korean player already having given up on its attempt to enter the Japanese market.
All of this leaves the question: where will primary news come from in the future, if not from mainstream media? One answer is web media companies and news aggregators, but these sources have faced criticisms of their own lately. On August 4th in a popular entry at Hatena's AnonymousDiary, one anonymous blogger provided an insider's perspective on this question, recounting the story of a friend who works as a fledgling reporter at a major Japanese newspaper. The entry, which drew over 450 bookmarks, begins:
つい先日、大手新聞社の新人記者をしている友人と飲んだ時に聞いたのだけど。
ある時、その新聞社に所属する友人が取り扱った記事があった。
つまり彼が取材し、作成して記事にしたニュースだ。
ネタ的には大ネタではないけど、大衆受けしそうなネタだったという。
でもそこは大手媒体だからおもしろおかしく書くにも限界があり、まぁデスクのチェックが通る程度の記事に仕上げたわけだ。
その新聞社はニュースを自社サイト以外にポータルサイトにも配信しているから、いくつかのポータルサイトの経済欄だけに掲載されたけど、それほど注目は受けずに終わったらしい。
（でも見ている人はきちといて、はてブも20コほど付いたという）
The blogger then describes the “arrival of the crisis”:
問題は翌日に起きた。
彼はそのニュースを大手ポータルサイトのTOPIX欄で読むことになる。
といってもそのニュースは彼の記事ではなく、Web系の媒体社の●●社のニュースとして掲載されていた。
なんとその媒体社が、ほとんど同内容のニュースを、少しばかり情報を肉付けして、ニュースに流したらしい。
そのニュースは記者の友人の独占ネタだから、すぐに「パクられた」と理解した。
しかもパクった方の媒体は、独立系の社員も数十人の小さな会社だから、おもしろおかしくタイトルもつけられるし、Webウケも狙える。だから結果的に大手ポータルサイトにも取り上げられたとのことだ。
The next section is titled “The words of Mr. A”:
すぐに友人は上司にあたるデスクのA氏に報告したのだけれど、
「あぁ、●●社はよく、俺らの記事をパクるんだよなぁ」
「まぁモラルは悪いけど、業界では珍しくもない」
と、忙しいのか、それほど相手にされなかったという。
たしかに文体も変えているし、情報も肉付けしているので、著者権の侵害ではなさそうだ。
だが「記者が足を使って、取材した内容を、パソコン上だけで編集し、1本電話取材を追加しただけで、ほぼパクり、ニュースにする。その会社って媒体社として、記者として恥ずかしくないのだろうか」
彼は酒を飲み、酔っ払って赤くなった顔で、僕に問いかけてきた。
In the next section, the blogger describes the disappearance of the “stoic reporter”:
デスクのA氏はその会社のことを知っていて、「その会社の社長は有名週刊誌の元編集長だ」と言ったらしい。
メンバーも優秀な人がけっこういて、Webメディアとして成長を狙っているらしい。
Web メディアなんてそう儲からないビジネスモデルだろうから、たくさんの記者を抱える資本も売上のなく、結果的に大手新聞社の記事をパクるしか、情報の取得ができないのだろうけど、でもそうなると、足を使って一次情報を得ている記者は、バカ正直みたいな立場になってしまう。
大手新聞も購読者数や広告費が減少しているから、ただでさえ記者が減っているのに、このままでは一次情報がどんどん少なくなっていくのではないだろうか。
All of this leads to a “tragedy”, in the words of the blogger:
Yahooが書いていると信じている人もいるらしい。それで「新聞読まなくてもYahoo!ニュースがあるから大丈夫」なんてのんきなことを言っている。
でもポータルサイトのニュースは、全部僕の友人など、新聞社の記者たちが作ったニュースです。
彼らの存在をWebやWebをとりまく人が、蹂躙し続ければ、彼らの（今は高いかもしれんが）給料も払えなくなり、結果的に一次情報もなくなる。
みんなそれでいいのかな？
The blogger ends the post with the question: “Is this the way company reporters and editors want things to turn out?”
メディア業界の衰退は、情報ジャンキーの僕らのtragedyになり得るのではないのかな。
僕は友人に一人前の記者に成長してほしいし、これからもニュースを作っていってほしいけど、このままではそれも無理なのかもしれない。

author: Chris Salzberg


text:
Japan: How to learn a foreign language · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Britty at Brittys Wake gives suggestions to Japanese about how to learn a foreign language [ja]. “There are two things that are absolutely necessary if you want to learn a foreign language. The first is time, and the second is skill in using your native language.” On the need for time, Britty writes: “Just like gymnastics, swimming, driving and cooking, [languages] are not hard once you're used to them, but it takes time to get the knack.” And on knowing your native language: “If you can't express nuances in your own language — in our case Japanese — then you will not be able to express them in a foreign language.”


text:
Lawsuit takes aim at Francafrique · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Cellule Francafrique [Fr] reports on a new lawsuit filed against the presidents of Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and the Republic of the Congo in a court in Paris last week.  The suit, brought by Transparency International and a Gabonese taxpayer, accuses the three heads of state of “concealing misappropriated public funds”.

author: Jennifer Brea


text:
Libya: Eid Al – Adha 2008  · Global Voices
Fozia Mohamed

With the recent spate of inertia that hit the Libyan blogosphere a few months ago (and continues to do so) and which a reader on Highlander’s blog calls LDS (for Libyan Disappearing Syndrome ). I did not think that there would be much blogging this Eid. But glancing through Khalid’s ‘All Libyan blogs’ aggregator I was heartened to notice  a few posts cropping up here and there to break the dry spell.
Today’s post is therefore very much a spur of the moment thing. It has no plan nor structure but I like to think that those are usually the best, don’t you?
We are in the first day of Eid, and on a day like this my household is usually very busy with cooking and barbecuing and whatever else Libyan families usually do over the big Eid. Usually I also dread the preparations that precede it and the whole process until the house is clean and tidy because it involves a lot of hard work and diplomacy in negotiating around the various personalities involved. Yet at the same time I love the fact that we are all together, children, aunts and uncles, siblings, grandparents and parents and the house is resonating with laughter and fights.
However, this year, unlike any other year, the happiness is subdued which I feel is reflected in the very brief posts published by most of the Libyan bloggers. For example:
Tasnim,
Leila,
Mr Madi,
Nasimlibya,
LovelyH
and even uncharacteristically Highlander  all barely manage a classical greeting and/or card.
A few elements have I believe contributed to this general feeling of melancholy floating around. The first is the global economic crunch.
Even though Libya has no credit card economy or mortgage problem to speak of, I think a copycat syndrome is at play here and market prices on commodities have risen astronomically.
The second factor is the high level of influenza activity this winter season. In my opinion this year’s strain is lethal with many cases in hospital. Why am I so sure? It’s because our entire household  ( like most Libyan families) is bedridden and this has never happened before, usually it is the most immuno-compromised only that fall ill but this time all did and we have a self imposed quarantine at home.
Thirdly there’s an ongoing mini epidemic of ‘blue tongue’ disease  in domestic cattle/sheep which has driven the price of sheep beyond the reach of ordinary Libyans at least in this side of the country. Basically many of us could not afford to buy a sheep this year. AngloLibyan  speaks for many when he says :
“Speaking to my family back in Libya last night, they told me that they along with many people this year decided not to get a sheep because of two reasons, the news of the blue tongue disease that is apparently affecting many sheep in Libya at the moment and the other reason is because of the greed of people selling the sheep who have increased their prices much higher than usual,[ref]”
On the other hand Khalid Jorni as usual has a unique approach and he reminds us what this Eid is about also in his post ‘Hajj’.
“I’ve been following the day of Arafah on television today. The pictures are so beyond description, they just grab you by the front of your shirt and say: “hey inattentive!, are you ever coming? Here everyone has come, the Asian, the Caucasian, the Arab, the African… What is taking you so long? Making and saving money? Is that what you worship now?”
Between wondering about  the price of meat and the human and animal diseases we almost forgot the annual pilgrimage to Mecca…
Despite the slightly passive attitude, I find that the Libyan voices are still there, warm and affectionate in the various comment sections, where they are all still interacting, in addition to wishing each other Eid Mubarak (a happy Eid).
So here I am joining my voice in wishing everyone a Happy Eid Adha inshallah and to get well soon too and here is hoping that the ice that’s been gripping the blogs melts a bit and we hear from everyone more often. The world is after all listening to ALL the voices!

author: Fozia Mohamed


text:
Malaysia: Traffic lights · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Kampua Talk feels Sarawak in Malaysia has the most traffic lights in the whole world. She also suggests some activities while waiting for traffic lights to turn green.


text:
Mexico: Death Penalty in Chihuahua · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Mexablog [es] writes that the Chihuahua governor Reyes Baeza plans to hold a referendum on whether the death penalty should be implemented in that state.


text:
Myanmar: Jailed bloggers receive awards · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Popular Burmese bloggers Zarganar and Nay Phone Latt, who were arrested by the Junta authorities for allegedly criticizing the government, have been recognized by media groups in Paris.


text:
Myanmar: Prepaid GSM SIM card now available · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

dawn_1o9 reports that pre-paid GSM SIM cards are now available in Myanmar, but costs and application procedures are still prohibitive. Mobile phones have been used in the protest actions against the ruling Junta.


text:
Philippines: Alumni Blogs Against Highschool Closure · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

The alumni of the University of the Philippines Cebu High School published a blog dedicated to help the efforts to defend the highly esteemed public school from threats of closure.

author: Karlo Mongaya


text:
Philippines: Surprised by Boxer’s Easy Victory · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

Rev. Edicio dela Torre shares his countrymen's surprise at Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao's easy victory over Oscar de la Hoya in last Sunday's match. “We were all heavily influenced by the media hype about de la Hoya,” he said.


text:
Playing for Change: Peace Through Music · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

MeetJohnSong brings to our attention a global collaborative musical project called Playing for Change: Peace through Music. The concept behind it is that music is a common uniting factor between different cultures, ethnicities and regions.The film and music will be available in 2009, and more information on the project can be found on the Playing for Change website.
Playing for Change is not just about making and distributing music, their foundation (PFCF) is building and sustaining a Music School in the township of Gugulethu and an Arts Center in Johannesburg in South Africa as a way to provide opportunities for growth and education to the youth in the community and they are also maintaining a Tibetan refugee center in India and Nepal.
The trailer that features the song Stand by Me performed by musicians from different parts of the globe made its rounds a few months back as a viral video, now it comes back with the complete story of how music can erase borders and frontiers:
You can also view the extended trailer for the documentary:
This project is not the only one of its type, author Suzanne Lehn told us this past week of YouTube's virtual symphony orchestra open to participants from all over the world:
YouTube is orchestrating an exciting new collaborative project: inviting musicians worldwide to be auditioned online for the world's first virtual symphony orchestra. Amateurs as well as professionals, have until January 28, 2009 to download sheet music, and upload videos of their performances.


text:
Rwanda’s ‘colonization’ of Congo · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Alex Engwete [Fr] on recent talks in Goma between Congolese and Rwandan officials: “Let's not kid ourselves.  ‘Normalization’ is nothing less than Rwanda's implicit colonization of Congo.”


text:
Thailand: Mastermind behind the crisis · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Thai Intelligent News Weblog wonders who might be the “mastermind” behind the conspiracy to undermine Thailand's ruling party and former leader Thaksin Shinawatra.


text:
Trinidad & Tobago: Flower Child · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

A Caribbean Garden takes a trip down memory lane and shares photos of the flowers of her childhood.


text:
Twittering the Ghanaian Elections · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

While the use of Twitter has become increasingly familiar in North America, Europe and many parts of Asia, it is still a very new and relatively unknown tool in other regions of the world such as Sub-Saharan Africa. However, it has proven to be an efficient way to quickly share information in times of political changes such as yesterday's Presidential and Parliamentary elections in Ghana.
The Mobile Active blog commented on the importance of sms for election monitoring, especially after the instances of fraud of violence experienced in the last months in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Nigeria:
Each of the 4,000 trained observers-mostly members of the 34-organization strong CODEO coalition–are deployed all over Ghana are using their phones to report on incidences at the polls and how well the polls are conducted, using a coded checklist.  As we have reported before, systematic SMS reporting by trained local citizen observers about how well an election is conducted can prevent rumors, and is an independent and reliable indicator about the quality of the election process.
One of the Twitter users that twittered the vote and the subsequent results almost minute by minute was Ghanaelections, a Twitter account set up by the African Elections project, aimed at developing the capacity of the media in ICTs in order for them to use it as a tool for election coverage in Ghana, Cote d'lvoire and Guinea from 2008 to 2009.
Other twitterers had more modest intentions and simply wanted to share their joy as first time voters, such as Kwabena, who the day before the election had announced “I'm hopin to see long queues on Sunday. Kill the apathy, Ghana”.
AfricaTalks also reported his vote, that took him only 15 minutes since arriving at the polling station in spite of the long lines that in some places started as early as 2am.
Although some incidents were reported by observers and twitterers, overall the voting went well and the day passed calmly and smoothly.
Once the polls closed, twitterers were excited to start reporting on the vote counting:
A few hours later, the first provisional results were also posted on Twitter as they were being announced. For example, chrisdof announced that the winning of a seat in Parliament by the daughter of Kwame Nkrumah who led Ghana to independence in 1957. Another Twitter user, ghanablogger, not only he liveblogged about voting but he also linked to a video of it, as well as to several photos that he took of the polling stations and that he posted on his blog.
As of Monday morning the results of the Presidential elections are not yet clear, only that it was a very close race. Most international media reported on the big turnout and smoothness of the voting day.
While waiting for the official results, blogger Oluniyi David Ajao complains about the lack of attention to good news from Africa such as peaceful elections in his home country in a post titled “Does Ghana exist?”
The Ghana 2008 Presidential/Parliamentary elections has been over since about 12 hours ago and I find it interesting that many of the leading Western media outlets have not made a mention of Ghana 2008 Elections. Perhaps, Ghana does not exist on their radar screen. Ghana, like the rest of black Africa will only pop-up on their monitoring screens when over 1,000 people have butchered themselves or over 300,000 people are dying of starvation, or over 500,000 people are displaced by a civil war.


text:
Zimbabwe: Civil society campaign against state abductions · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Human rights activist and journalist Jestina Mukoko was abducted from her home on Wednesday the 3rd of December at dawn. According to several civil society reports, including the Kubatana blog written by a group of online activists:
…a group of at least 12 men in two unmarked vehicles came to her house. She was taken by force still barefoot and in her pyjamas. More than 24 hours later, there is still no sign of Mukoko, nor any indication of her whereabouts or who might have abducted her.
Jestina Mukoko is the director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), a local human rights organisation that is involved in monitoring and documenting human rights violations in Zimbabwe. This is Zimbabwe, the blog of the Zimbabwe Civic Action Support group Sokwanele, wrote:
Mukoko and ZPP are well known for their brave stance of highlighting the brutality and deaths that were brought upon the MDC supporters by Zanu PF militia and state security agents in the run up to the June 27 presidential run-off.
Following Jestina Mukoko's abduction, the Zimbabwe Civic Action Support Group Sokwanele launched a campaign calling upon the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU) to urgently intervene and make sure that the MDC activists and Jestina Mukoko are released before any further harm is done to them. The campaign includes a list of actions to help release of all the abducted people, including calling the Norton Police Station (Mukoko's neighborhood), writing appeal letters or spreading the word through an embeddable widget (see left). Amnesty International has also demanded the inmediate release of Jestina Mukoko who, as the Executive Director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, is viewed as the most high-profile person to be abducted in Zimbabwe to date.
According to Sokwanele, the same day that Jestina Mukoko was abducted, six other people were arrested in Harare:
The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) Secretary General and the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) General Councillor, Raymond Majongwe, was arrested together with six others today at 9.30 am while walking opposite the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) building along Samora Machel Avenue. An eye witness revealed that an unspecified number of women who were with Majongwe were beaten up and dispersed from the scene.
[..] SABC journalist and former ZBC reporter, John Nyashanu, was arrested together with two other journalists by riot police at 1030 hours. The arrests took place on the corner of Second Street and Union Avenue in Harare’s CBD. Details of their apprehension are still unclear.
Moreover, in the Stop Abductions in Zimbabwe campaign page, Sokwanele lists 17 other people that were reportedly abducted and that are still missing:
1. Concillia Chinanzvavana, the MDC Mashonaland West provincial Chairperson of the Women’s Assembly, a former parliamentary candidate for Zvimba South and a member of the MDC National Council.
2. Her husband, Emmanuel Chinanzvana, who is a councillor for Ward 25 in Zvimba South.
3. Fidelis Chiramba, Zvimba South district chairperson, who stood as an MDC senatorial candidate for Zvimba in the March 29 elections.
4. Ernest Mudimu, MDC parliamentary candidate for Zvimba North in the March 29 elections.
5. Fanwell Tembo, MDC Zvimba South youth organiser.
6. Terry Musona, MDC deputy provincial secretary.
7. Lloyd Tarumbwa, MDC activist.
8. Violet Mupfuranhehwe, wife to MDC Zvimba South youth chairperson – Collen Mutemagawo.
9. Collen Mutemagawo, MDC Zvimba South youth chairperson.
10. A two year-old child belonging to Mupfuranhehwe and Mutemagawo.
11. Pieat Kaseke, MDC activist.
12. Gwenzi Kahiya, MDC activist.
13. Tawanda Bvumo, MDC activist from Chitungwiza.
14. Agrippa Kakonda, MDC activist.
15. Larry Gaka, MDC activist.
16. Chris Dlamini, MDC activist
17. Baba vaSarudzayi
Update Dec. 8th afternoon: According to Sokwanele, two more people from the Zimbabwe Peace Project have been abducted today:
More than 151 hours after the abduction of Zimbabwe Peace Project Director, Jestina Mukoko, from her Norton home, six suspected state agents today abducted two ZPP employees Broderick Takawira (Provincial Coordinator) and Pascal Gonzo (driver) from their Mount Pleasant offices. According to eye witnesses, the six forcibly entered the ZPP offices before insisting to see Takawira, who they force-marched, together with Gonzo, into a waiting vehicle before speeding off.


text:
Zimbabwe: On the cholera crisis · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Sokwanele posted several pictures taken in Ruwa of raw sewage overflowing from manholes, causing residents in the area to fear for a cholera outbreak. Sokwanele says: “It’s a ticking time-bomb, and the residents know it, but can do nothing about it”. The Kubatana blog also comments on the current cholera crisis in Zimbabwe in which “water supplies to Harare were turned off completely – the water authority had run out of chemicals”.


text:
Africa and China: Good or Bad Partnership? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Allen from Fool's mountain posted some videos discussing the nature of partnership between Africa and China.


text:
Bermuda: Issues, Not Race  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Vexed Bermoothes finds “a breath of positive air” from two politicians in the midst of the Bermudian Premier's “petty fights about race in Parliament.”


text:
Brazil: Deadly chemical leak kills 80 ton fish in Rio de Janeiro · Global Voices
Paula Góes

While most of people's attention in Brazil was turned to the tragic floods in Santa Catarina, another environmental disaster struck the country, this time in the state of Rio de Janeiro. On November 18, a leak of deadly endosulfan pesticide into the Pirapetinga river, a tributary of Paraíba do Sul River, killed thousands of fish – over 80 tonnes – in Resende and other neighbouring cities. The incident also caused the interruption of the water supply for 7 cities in the area. The tragedy was worsened by the fact that it happened during breeding season for many species, some of which are under threat of extinction. Cintia Sibucs [pt] says that apart from fish, she was sad to see also dead water hogs and even birds:
Pela quantidade de peixes e animais mortos, pode-se dizer que será necessário uns dez anos ou mais para que toda essa vida volte ao que era antes. O produto químico Endosulfan, usado na fabricação de inseticidas, é usado pela empresa que fica em Resende. O acidente gerou ainda mais transtornos pois o serviço de água e esgoto suspendeu a captação de água por uns dias, deixando a população em alerta.
Agora, depois de tanta tristeza de ver milhares de peixes e capivaras mortas, o que resta é recolher o que restou. Desde sábado (22/11) as prefeituras de Volta Redonda e Barra Mansa estão num trabalho ininterrupto de recolhimento dos peixes, que já estava causando forte mau cheiro.
A dead water hog, photo by Environmental Engineering teacher Ricardo Terra, from Blog do Roberto Morais
The leak was discovered after an investigation led by Rio de Janeiro's Environmental Control Body, alerted by mass deaths of fish in the Pirapetinga and Paraiba do Sul rivers. Resende based Servatis, the company responsible for the fertilizer plant, confessed to the leak of 1.5 thousand litres of endosulfan and alleged it was caused by a human failure when connecting a tanker lorry [pt]. In a post titled “Besides death, no risks”, Vitor Menezes [pt] challenges the company's statement of November 19, barely a day after the accident, claming that the situation was under control:
A empresa Servatis, responsável pelo vazamento do pesticida endosulfan no rio Paraíba do Sul, afirmou aqui em seu site que, de acordo com a sua gerência de meio ambiente, a concentração do produto no rio havia caído a zero e não havia “mais risco à fauna”. Os peixes do post abaixo não devem ter recebido o recado.
Dead fish, by Environmental Engineering teacher Ricardo Terra, from Blog do Roberto Morais
As discovered later, the leak of insecticide endosulfan was higher than the 1.5 thousand liters stated by Servatis. The product was spilled during the unloading of a 30 thousand liter capacity truck, but only 12 thousand liters, mixed with rain water, were recovered by the company's dike container. Servatis later admitted that at least 8 thousand liters may have leaked – contrary to what it had disclosed in the previous week. Lawyer and environmentalist Luiz Felipe Muniz de Souza [pt] comments on the consequences of the leak to local communities:
Várias comunidades pesqueiras afetadas estão impedidas de trabalhar e nem sabem ao certo quando poderão retornar, pois a ação do inseticida, mesmo tão distante do ponto em que foi despejado pelos criminosos, e mesmo estando tão diluído – devido ao volume do próprio Rio Paraíba do Sul e devido ao volume d’água das intensas chuvas regionais –, continua provocando mortandade de peixes em toda a foz do Paraíba do Sul, e nas praias do município de São João da Barra e de São Francisco do Itabapoana. Os criminosos ambientais, que inicialmente se omitiram e mentiram sobre a quantidade do produto arremessado no rio, depois admitiram que foi uma quantidade 10 vezes maior do que a declarada, diante de tantos peixes mortos!
Photo from Blog do Roberto Morais
Servatis received a R$ 33 million fine (about US$ 13.3 million), which will be disputed by the company [pt], and a 20 day suspension penalty. It has resumed operations today, December 9th, in all departments apart from endosulfan production. BIOTRIBO   [pt] reacts to the news:
Mais uma vez o poder público zomba de nós! Sem que nada tenha sido feito para minimizar os danos ao Rio Paraíba a empresa “Servatis volta a operar nesta terça-feira” (…) Em menos de um mês, desde o acidente ambiental, a auditoria realizada por empresa privada solicitada pela SEA foi rapidamente concluída, e sem que houvesse tempo hábil para a realização de uma segunda auditoria ou para que se analisasse a fundo o conteúdo do documento – medidas que poderiam dar mais garantias sobre os processos e ajustes da empresa para a segurança da população – a Servatis abre!
A dead tortoise, from Blog do Roberto Morais
A TroLhA [pt] blog expresses the feelings that environmental law in Brazil is two faced:
O aparato de fiscalização ambiental quando se trata da persecução das medidas de controle e defeso de espécies (alías, necessárias), tem se mostrado eficiente em coibir as infrações cometidas por pescadores e populações que dependem dessa atividade, e que geralmente, ocupam os andares mais baixos da nossa pirâmide social… Por outro lado, quando se trata de estender essa eficiência aos empresários e industriais, que exploram atividades econômicas que trazem sérios riscos ao ecossistema no qual estão inseridos, nossos órgãos ambientais são de uma leniência e ineficácia vergonhosa… Direito a propriedade e a livre iniciativa não podem se sobrepor ao direito a vida…Bom, pelo menos não deveriam…
Rui Camejo [pt] reminds us that it is not the first time that Servatis has harmed the environment. According to the blogger, about three years ago the very same company was also responsible for the leak of Dimetutato insecticide. Fellow blogger Norival Duarte [pt] echoes this post and comments further:
E essa denúncia não deve se limitar a essa fronteira, à foz desse afluente: deve ser estendida a toda a bacia hidrográfica desse que é, seguramente, um dos mais importantes rios do Brasil, dada a sua relevância nos aspectos sociais e econômicos de toda a região que ela tão generosamente abraça.
Photos from Blog do Roberto Morais
Paraiba do Sul river, sourced by the junction of Paraibuna and Paraitinga rivers, starts in the Serra da Bocaina, in the state of São Paulo running for 1.12 km to the mouth in Atafona, in the north of Rio de Janeiro State. The Paraiba do Sul river basin extends to three states – São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro – and is considered, in area, one of three major river basins in Brazil, covering an approximate area of 57,000km².
Banned in many countries wordwilde, endosulfan is widely used in the control of a large variety of insects and mites in crops. Its use is banned in Europe and the Environmental Justice Foundation is running a campaign for people to press their national governments to ban endosulfan and list this chemical on the Stockholm Convention.
Photo from Blog do Roberto Morais


text:
China and U.S: Ideal Citizen Education  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Russo at Frog In A Well compares conservative education program in the U.S with textbook in China from 1933-39 about “being a good citizen”.


text:
Colombia: Pablo Escobar’s Brother Makes Claim of AIDS Cure · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Colombia's twitterers are buzzing about the television declaration of the cure and vaccine for AIDS that druglord Pablo Escobar's brother, Roberto states he has discovered. So far, the only available information regarding the claim can be seen on 6 month-old low quality videos of testimonies by people claiming to have been cured thanks to the drug and the website [es] which so far only has a splash-screen.


text:
Costa Rica: High Fines in New Transit Law · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Costa Rica is preparing to enact a new transit law, which according to Fusil de Chispas [es] will contain high fines for traffic infractions.

author: Eduardo Avila


text:
Costa Rica: Unconventional Names for Towns and Villages · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

In Costa Rica, La Foto Salió Movida [es] searched the electoral lists and discovered truly strange names of townships and villages in the country, and publishes them on his blog. Some of the names, translated into english includes Loser, Ice Cream or Liberty, Beer, Betterthannothing, Cheap Houses, Sewers, Socks, The Smurfs, and Ashtray.


text:
Côte d’Ivoire: Interview with Best Francophone Blogger Israël Yoroba · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Israël Yoroba Guebo is a 26 year-old multimedia journalist from Côte d'Ivoire that has been blogging about his country for over a year at Le blog de Yoro [Fr]. Now his efforts have been rewarded with the Best of Blogs award in the French language category, the prestigious international blog awards organized every year by Deutsche Welle. Last year another African blogger was chosen as Best Francophone Blogger, Global Voices friend Cédric Kalonji from the DRC, whom we interviewed on that occasion. Now we take the opportunity to interview Yoro too.
How did you first hear about blogs and when did you start blogging?
I had heard about blogs a long time ago, without really knowing what they were. But I can say that I've discovered this online universe while being the editor of the international section of a daily newspaper. I discovered blogs by journalists, writers, singers… that was 2006. And then my Editor in chief, Théophile Kouamouo, started his own blog where he shared his opinions. Seeing someone close blog inspired me enormously.
On the 23rd of June 2007 I created my first blog on Afrikblog, where I touch all sorts of topics, from here or abroad. In that blog I don't have a clear editorial line, my ideas are quite scattered. It's like an exercise for me.
Finally, in Decembre 2007 the ivorian blogosphere launched its own platform, Ivoire-blog. There I created Le Blog de Yoro [Fr] (Yoro's Blog), which is the one that has just received the Best of Blogs award in the francophone blog category.
What were your motivations to start a blog?
My first motivation was to show a different face of Côte d’Ivoire. You know, after the five-year war that we endured, the image of the country has been often soiled. I wanted to tell the world that yes, there has been war in Côte d’Ivoire, but we are on the path to peace. Above all I wanted to present the daily life in Abidjan, the economic capital, and in the rest of the country. I went from a little web exercise to a passion that today seems to me like a full-time job.
Can you describe your blog for someone that has never read it? What are the issues that interset you the most?
I tried to have a simple format, with a banner designed by myself. In general, in my blog I discuss issues and I write about current stories that are important for ivorians (here or in the diaspora) and for people that are interested in the Côte d’Ivoire, even for those that are only starting to hear about my country. Mostly I write about stories that aren't necessarily published in the papers, and I often give my opinion about current affairs.
Do your family, friends and colleagues read your blog?
Yes, they all know my blog. At first, I had to force them a bit to come and read it. I put all their email addresses in my blog newsletter, so every week they received a digest. But after that they didn't wait for the newsletter anymore and read the blog by themselves. They really encouraged me to keep my blog alive.
Why did you decide to write your blog in French?
French is the language I can express myself the best, I don't speak our local languages well and also French is Côte d’Ivoire's official language.
Could you describe the ivorian blogosphere?
In Côte d’Ivoire, blogging is still very new and not very developed. Internet is not very widespread and very expensive. Most people don't know much about internet tools and so they usually they limit themselves to chats and forums. I used to write my blog from an internet cafe but it wasn't very convenient, so I decided to invest in an internet connection at home. It has a speed of 256 kb/s, and it costs me 20,000 Fr CFA (about 25 euros) a month. That way I can blog whenever I want.
The ivorian blogosphere started to take shape mostly since the launch of Ivoire-blog.com. Nowadays I would say there are about a hundred ivorian bloggers, including those that blog in other platforms.
In your opinion, what are the issues that concern ivorian bloggers the most?
In general, ivorian bloggers are interested in development issues in Africa. But there are blogs specialized in advertising, communication for development, development strategies, current affairs analysis in Côte d'Ivoire and in the world. You can also find blogs focusing mainly on Web 2.0 and new technologies of information and communication (NTIC) in general.
Photo by Israël Yoroba of a street scene in Abidjan
Are there any freedom of expression issues in Côte d'Ivoire?
In Côte d’Ivoire, there is a complete freedom of speech. You can find in ivorian dailies things that in other countries would put the lives of journalists at risk. You can also see that in my blog there are no taboos. I talk about any issue. And I let visitors leave comments as they wish. I've never had any problems for saying one thing or another.
Have you met other ivorian or African bloggers thanks to your blog?
Yes, I have met ivorian bloggers. With some of them I have even become friends. And I have also met many other people from here or from Europe thanks to the the blog, and have developed a friendship with them, albeit virtual for the time being. But I'm convince we'll meet one day.
What do you do in life, when you are not blogging?
I have to confess that blogging has become almost like a job for me. I blog almost all the time. Otherwise, I'm also a journalist and I take care of my little family.
What are your main interests, besides blogging?
I'm Christian, and I'm also a musician. Religion and music have an important place in my life. But I like reading and most of all traveling.
What are your wishes for your blog after receiving this important award?
I wish to make it more professional. You know, I work with a small point and shoot camera that is not even mine. Currently I'm trying to purchase a more professional one. And when you listen to the quality of my interviews, it's atrocious. So I'm also looking to have a better microphone. Overall, I'd like my blog to become more professional and to have my own domaine name.
I also have another project involving blogs in Côte d’Ivoire, but you'll have to pardon me not telling you more. You should just know that after this award I'm hoping to meet other bloggers all over the world in order to learn from their experiences and share mine as an ivorian blogger. I'm also really looking forward to participate in interesting bloggers conferences and meetings.
(Note: The interview was originally conducted in French via email, this is a translation from French.)


text:
Dominica, U.S.A.: Political Strategies  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As Dominicans prepare themselves to go to the polls in 2010, Chris at Dominica Weekly thinks that “there are many strategies that local political parties can adopt from the Obama presidential campaign.”


text:
East Timor: The difference a computer makes · Global Voices
Paula Góes

In a country where the cost of the Internet is 3.000 USD a month for a 256 kbps connection, Sara Moreira shares pictures from the times she was teaching Computer Engineerig in Dili. “As you can see, your laptops would truly make a difference for young women in Dili, Timor!”.


text:
Ecuador: Correa’s Visit to Iran Characterized with Changes in Schedule · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Ecuador President Rafael Correa recently visited Iran, and according to La Voz de Guamote [es] the visit was characterized by several changes in schedule.


text:
Ecuador: Open Software Conference and Local Programs · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Café de Chucho [es] recently enjoyed an Open Software conference at the National University of Loja in Ecuador and was pleased to learn about ELASTIX, an open sourced IP communications program created by a local company.


text:
Ethiopia: Is the Orthodox church losing ground? · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Arefe of Addis Journal comments on the decrease in the number of Orthodox Christians, traditionally the dominant church in Ethiopia, in the new census of the country. And, drawing on Professor Medhane Tadesse's essay, “Religion, Peace and the Future of Ethiopia”, he analyses the reasons for this decrease.


text:
Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago: VoIPs  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“It seems that the CARICOM members have no handle on technology and its positive impact on the economy, and Guyana is no different”: Blogging from Trinidad and Tobago, KnowProSE.com is not surprised that Guyana seems to be on the verge of closing cyber-cafes because of competition from VoIPs.


text:
Iran: “A blogger arrested” · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Sibiltala, an Iranian blogger in Canada, says[fa] that Hossein Derakhshan, an Iranian blogger, has been arrested 38 days ago in Tehran. Sibiltala adds that Derakshan's sister “confirmed this news”. Read more here.


text:
Jamaica: Baby Cereal Break-Ins · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

A curious situation in Jamaica: a spate of robberies from “a gang of housebreakers [that] have been cleaning out people's homes, only pausing to mix their favourite drink, baby cereal.”  Iriegal is befuddled.


text:
Jamaica: Looking Back  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As the year draws to a close, Jamaica and the World looks back on the good, the bad and the ugly of 2008.


text:
Paraguay: The First 100 Days of Lugo’s Presidency · Global Voices
Muna Annahas

The first 100 days have passed since Paraguay’s elected President Fernando Lugo assumed power last August. Paraguayans were eager for a change, a change that had raised so many expectations from the new President, who was an ex-bishop and from his cabinet. Some bloggers took time to write about the first 100 days of Lugo's Presidency.
The blog Rescatar [es] compares the first 100 days of Lugo with a Pau D’arco tree (Tajy) saying that people expected to see the blooming flowers on the tree, but they have yet to see them.
No se han visto mucho los cambios pero se han sentido. Para situarlo en un plano botánico a fin de graficar lo que a nuestro juicio aconteció en estos primeros tres meses es que la gente quería ver al Tajy florecer y lo que hizo el árbol fue fortalecer sus raíces para prenderse más fuerte al suelo y evitar que los vientos que han comenzado a soplar lo tumben fácilmente.
Changes have not been seen, but they have been felt.   To situate it in a botanical plan, which is what has happened in these three first months, the people wanted to see the Tajy bloom, but instead the tree strengthened its roots in order to make itself stronger in the soil and avoid that the winds would knock it down easily.
Edgar Ruiz Diaz in his blog Las Preguntas de Venerando [es] decided to give Lugo and his Cabinet ratings from 1 to 10 for their 100 first days for their accomplishments.
Presidente Fernando Lugo: El viaje se constituyó en sinónimo de trabajo presidencial porque desde que asumió la Presidencia de la República todas las semanas utiliza uno o más aviones para trasladarse a ciudades del exterior o localidades del interior del país. Con su promesa de traer el cambio al país, transformó algunas modalidades de atención a la gente en ese sentido estableció Mburuvicha Roga como sitio de reuniones con sintechos y sintierras para discutir sobre invasiones. Por sus actitudes, el ex obispo parece haber pensado en serio que un vicepresidente se asemeja al florero sobre un escritorio y pese a sus desaciertos o errores creo que el Jefe de Estado puede mejorar y por eso mi calificación para él es cinco en este post.
President Fernando Lugo: His travels have become synonymous of presidential work because ever since he assumed the Presidency he uses one or more airplanes to travel abroad or to other locations within the country every week. With his promise to bring change to the country, he has transformed some of the modalities of attention and that is why he established Mburuvicha Roga (the presidential house) as a place for meetings to discuss with the homeless and landless peoples regarding the invasions. For his attitude, the ex-bishop appears to have thought seriously that a vice-president resembles a vase on top of a desk, and in spite of his mistakes or errors, I think that the Head of State can improve and because of that I grade him a 5.
Lopez Barrios of El blog de Lopez Barrios [es] says that so far, Lugo has tried to govern his country with pacifism, but things are not going according to plan.
Fernando Lugo según mi manera de ver ha tratado de llevar con cierto grado de pacifismo los rumbos de su patria, la verdad es que al día de la fecha las cosas ya no están pacificas… el caos reina por doquier… y aun cuando nos esforcemos en tener una mirada optimista, la urgente determinación sobre asuntos de seguridad de índole prioritaria brilla por su ausencia.
Fernando Lugo according to my way of seeing things has tried to take the country with a certain degree of pacifism, the truth is that currently things are no so peaceful anymore… the chaos rules… and even when we try harder to have a more positive view, the urgent decisions regarding security matters, which is a priority is absent.
The first days of a new government is a short time to have a conclusive opinion of the government per se, but it is enough time to notice it flaws and its strengths, as many of the country's bloggers have done. There is no miracle, there is no secret, and it is a process. As any process, it takes time and with the right strategies a lot of hard work and perhaps a bit of luck, the new President is hoping that the country will overcome the flaws and make of this country a prosperous nation once again.

author: Muna Annahas


text:
Paraguay: The Leaf Stevia Used as Sweetener · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Brenda writes about Stevia, a Paraguayan leaf often used for sweetener, which is also thought to have healing properties.


text:
Saudi Girls Rock! · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A group of Saudi young women are making their voices heard – in a manner unheard of in conservative Saudi Arabia.
Writing at Muslimah Media Watch, Ethar tells us the story:
The internet is abuzz with talk about an all new rock band, The Accolade. Nothing special, you would think, until you realize that not only are the members all women, but all Saudi women.
And being Saudi women, is what is drawing the world's attention to this band:
On the day the band made the front page of The New York Times (NYT), their ‘friends’ on their MySpace page went from 17 to 584. Today, only four days later, they have almost 1,000 friends, over 130,000 profile views, and comments from people in Italy, Spain, Korea, Sweden, Mexico, Germany and the USA (to name a few) saluting them and wishing them luck. That’s in addition to almost 1,000 fans on their Facebook page.
Ethar continues:
The band is made up of four college students: 21-year-old Dina (the guitarist) and her 19-year-old sister Dareen (bass guitarist), along with Lamia (vocals) and Amjad (keyboard). Here’s a short interview with them.
Egyptian Zeinobia picks up the story for the Egyptian Chronicles and writes:
To be honest I was surprised ,I think this is the first Saudi Rock group ever , the hip hop and Rap are much popular than rock as I know in KSA. Also I thought they would sing in Arabic, some of the rock  bands in Egypt do sing in Arabic. Anyhow good luck to them,hopefully no one would harm them insh Allah (by the will of God).
Jazarah, from Jordan, links to their song Pinocchio from YouTube and notes:
The Accolade is a rock band from Saudi Arabia, the unusual thing is that the band members all girls, yes Saudi girls, of course they didn’t go public, but they dream of performing live in Dubai, do you think it’s happening? This is their first hit, Pinocchio:
Writing on Mideast Youth, Rasha from Saudi Arabia, sheds some light on what makes this band extra special. She explains:
In an ultra conservative country such as Saudi Arabia, an all female rock band is not exactly the norm! These four college students were brave enough to follow their dreams and stand against the tides of a society that is hardly forgiving to such taboos.
Rasha further adds:
These girls live in Jeddah, which is known to have a much more relaxed atmosphere than other parts of the kingdom. There are more and more male bands and concerts playing openly for the public, and you can even notice that there is less segregation between the genders in restaurants and shopping malls.
I have visited Jeddah a few weeks back. It really felt as if I had entered another country! People are much more relaxed and women can actually be comfortable in their own skin! unlike other areas of Saudi Arabia where women are made to feel awkward just by their mere presence in public.
But still, an all girls rock band does break so many social chains even in Jeddah. They won’t be able to perform in public unless they do private parties or for all girls only. None the less , their music is being heard and downloaded from inside and outside the kingdom.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


text:
South Africa: On freedom of religion · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Constitutionally Speaking comments on the “lack of knowledge and appreciation of minority religious practices” in South Africa, sparking quite a debate in the comments section of his post.


text:
South Korea: Comfort Women Demonstration · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Michael Solis from Ohmynews! forecasts the Korean comfort women demonstration on Human Rights Day.


text:
Trinidad & Tobago: Language Lessons  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“What's with the dumbing down of the English language by people who should know better?” From Trinidad and Tobago, Coffeewallah thinks that “poor language is really a way to keep people oppressed.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Afghanistan: Afghans Win Homeless Soccer World Cup · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

SunLeaf says that the Afghanistani team took part in the Homeless Soccer World Cup and showed true character and determination in winning.

author: Adil Nurmakov


text:
Afghanistan: Young Female Politicians Meets Youth · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Azar Balkhi reports that Fawzia Koofi, 32, Deputy Speaker of the Lower House of the National Assembly of Afghanistan, paid visit to Kabul University students. This lady is getting more and more popular as a modern young leader among the youth in Afghanistan.


text:
Armenia: UN Declaration Supporting LGBT Rights · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Despite problems with its human rights record and being the last country in the South Caucasus to decriminalize homosexuality, Unzipped commends the Armenian government for endorsing the UN statement against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

author: Onnik Krikorian


text:
Bahamas: Death of an Icon  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Mr. Farrington was one of the most brilliant men I have ever met.  He was often in another world, but when he was in ours his intellect was staggering”: Nicolette Bethel acknowledges the passing of a Bahamian “cultural giant”.


text:
Bangla News Headline Aggregator in Unicode · Global Voices
Rezwan

On a trail less travelled shares the link of a new site (Kashphool.com) which aggregates news headlines (সংবাদ শিরোনাম) from Bangla/Bengali online newspapers published from Bangladesh and India converting them in Unicode from different dynamic-font schemes.

author: Rezwan


text:
Bangladesh Gets Its Own Taj Mahal · Global Voices
Rezwan

Azmi Jahan Dot Com reports that a replica of the Taj Mahal has been built in Bangladesh by a Film producer. India has already protested the move.


text:
Bosnia & Herzegovina: The Burning of a Mosque · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Cafe Turco and Yasmin's Heart discuss the burning of a mosque in the village of Fazlagića Kula in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


text:
Central & Eastern Europe: Mikołajki, Mikuláš · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

In Poland, “Santa Claus visits twice” – according to the POLSKI blog: on St. Nicholas Day and for Christmas. Same in Slovakia, writes The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovakia, and in the Czech Republic (more about it on CzechFolks.com and on My Czech Republic Blog.


text:
China and France: Boycott of French Goods · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

On December 1, an article appeared in China.com urging a nationwide boycott against French product in order to protest against the meeting between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Dalai Lama. The post advised consumers not to buy about 50 French brands, including cars, clothes, alcohol and skin-care products.
Commentaries from official Chinese newspapers add oil to the nationalistic sentiment. For example, a China Daily's commentary in December 8 criticized Sarkozy's decision “an unacceptable affront”. Another commentary from China Review News listed out 4 major trade agreement between China and France that may be jeopardized in this diplomatic crisis. Guanqiaob reposts the list in his blog:
1、中國公司2007年底與法方簽署購買160架空中巴士意向協議，交易額在100億歐元左右，其中包括110架A320飛機以及50架A330飛機。
2、法國阿爾斯通有限公司與中國鐵道部一次性簽署了總額達12億歐元的全球最大功率貨運電力機車的生產合作意向書，並在中國的地鐵列車訂單突破1，400輛。
3、阿爾卡特朗訊與中國移動和中國聯通今年初正式簽署總額為7.5億歐元的移動通信解決方案及服務框架協議。
4、法國國有核電設備供應商阿海琺宣布，將向中國出售兩座最新一代的壓水核反應堆，價值80億歐元。
2. An initial agreement has been signed between French company Alstom and China railway on the manufacturing of electricity generator and 1,400 trains. The contract is around 1.2 billion Euro.
3. French company Alcatel-Lucent has signed a mobile communication service contract with China mobile and China Unicom. The contract involves Euro 0.75 billion.
4. French nuclear service company Areva is about to sell 2 Deuterium Uranium to China and the contract involves 8 billion Euros.
Apart from rational economic consideration, nationalistic sentiment circulated on the Internet is more ideological in nature. 16fang's call for boycott and its historical reference is an example:
法国总统萨科齐坚持会见达赖喇嘛，不顾我国外交人员的反对和抗议，我们中国已经不是八国联军想欺负就欺负的那个旧中国了，一起行动起来，告诉你周围的人，让我们一起抵制法国货！
共产主义的导师马克思曾说过：生产力决定生产关系。落后就要挨打，这是我们先辈用亿万鲜血换来的教训，我们这一代还有我们的后代都不应该忘记！过去我们忍辱负重地发展自己，现在我们国家现在富强了，我们要捍卫自己的尊严。
A patriot message have been circulating via QQ and other peer to peer communication. Lindsey CN translated the message at the comment session in earlier post in GV:
Motherland Summons!
For your information:
In France little children are educated to exclaim: “FREE TIBET!”
The French president Mr. Sarkozy stated that rejecting Beijing-Olympics is an option,
The Mayor of Paris proclaimed that the Chinese are no more than whores in Africa,
The Olympic torches were extinguished four times by Frenchmen deliberately,
The Olympic rings were distorted into a manacle and printed on the map of China in France,
The Mayor of Paris hung the flag of Tibet separatists in the Municipal Hall and refused to meet the torch,
The romantic French threw garbage on the torch with taunts, jeers, and laughter.
The sacred Olympic torch received all along her journey in France savage faces,
The three thousand French policemen were not strong enough to protect a disabled Chinese girl torchbearer,
——————–
After all the above facts, dear fellows, if you are still silent and indifferent, then tell me, are you still enjoying the blood of Yan and Huang?
Dear fellows, what should we do to maintain the dignity and the honor of our beloved country? Boycotting Carrefour, yes it is, it is one of the few things that we could and must do for our motherland! And can not we live without Carrefour? Even just for 12 hours in the New Year’s Day?
But dear peace-loving people in this global village, Carrefour boycott does not mean
that we Chinese are infighting with our fellowmen,
that we are curbing violence by violence,
and that we are disseminating hatred and nationalism,
instead it works as
a peaceful resistance to bias and prejudice,
a tolerant way to express the indignation of Chinese,
a strong declaration that we are red-blooded and brave,
and a cry to inform France of what we are thinking and feeling
—–We are angry!
We have been silent for such a long time that we almost lose our courage. But without the claim of the state’s dignity, dear fellows, where would you start a warm family?
Please convey this message to your family, friends and acquaintances!
Dream2008 urges netizen to develop rational strategy for long term boycott:
1、坚定信心，做好持久、攻坚的准备；
2、强烈抗议、理性抵制、明智消费、杜绝暴力！
3、对家乐福的抵制由个人决定，不号召，不鼓动，不歧视不抵制家乐福的人；
4、抵制去法国旅游的行为；以在国内旅游为荣，以去法国旅游为耻！
5、促进名人、明星等抵制法国奢侈品，抵制仍在消费法国奢侈品的名人、明星（只针对现在和未来，既往不咎）；
6、剥去法国奢侈品的光环，给予核心打击，让其价值一落千丈；
7、工业品的抵制需要谨慎，政府该采购的还是要采购，可以替代的选择替代，两败俱伤的行为要避免。
8、制作口号、顺口溜、打油诗、广告等等；（可用攻击性的词汇，但不要用辱骂和侮辱性的词汇）
9、从自己做起，从身边做起，要号召，要宣传，但不要强迫他人。
However, not all netizen support the boycott, amoiist is skeptical of such action:
我的第一反應就是“德性”，想想在三鹿毒奶粉事件這些年輕人都到哪了？
Kaoifeng declares that he won't join the boycott:
首先是因爲我壓根買不起法國貨，法國貨多奢侈品，在商場裏我看到一件“法國品牌”的衣服頂我好幾個月的工資，對於我這樣一個爲了活命的飯碗而奔忙的人來說，哪裏舍得花那辛苦錢？如果說買不起也算是一種抵制，那我倒是經常“抵制”的，等同於經常愛國。
不要忘了一點，我們抵制法國貨，法國人同樣可以抵制中國貨。誰說這世界上只有我們可以抵制別人，不允許別人抵制我們？這就要算一筆抵制的賬，看誰更得好處。這麽多年來，中國的經濟依靠出口與投資拉動，一旦別人抵制起中國貨，出口下滑恐怕還不止現在這麽嚴重，經濟的下滑也不止像現在這麽小幅。我不知道，中國從法國等歐盟國家每年進口多少億元的商品，每年又出口歐盟多少億元的商品，如果抵制的結果是傷敵一千，自損一萬，這種只要面子不顧死活的抵制不要也罷。
Twocold makes fun of the boycott agenda with a list of boycott reasons:
第一，我们必须要转移注意力，找点乐子。我们的党报写道“ 从法国的政局看，萨科齐日子的确不好过。经济不景气，失业大幅增加，民众支持率下降，于是萨科齐在人权问题、涉藏问题上动脑筋了，想在这些方面整出点动静来，转移公众的视线。”
彼此彼此的，从中国的政局看，当局的日子的确也不好过，经济不景气，失业大幅增加，民众支持率下降，于是当局在人权问题，涉藏问题上动脑筋了，想在这方面整出点动静来，转移公众的视线。
The same logic applies to China. The Chinese government also has difficult time. The economy is going down, unemployment rate is high and it has lost people's support. Therefore it has to work on human right and Tibet issues to distract people's attention.
第二，买不起法国货了。因为大家的股票缩水，经济衰退，能源加税等等原因，一向不便宜的法国货现在看来更奢侈了。既然暂时买不起，不如加入抵制的队伍，这样一来，可以换取爱国的好名声，以便在经济复苏的时候借这个头衔东山再起。
第三，可以保全我们的政府。这是很重要的，我们的当局是当年我们的爸爸和爷爷们亲自选出来的，所以说，他代表了我们，他正确就代表我们正确，他有面子就代表我们有面子。在互相的经济政治博弈中，如果我们获得了胜利，那就是当局胜利了，也就等于我们胜利了，但万一我们失手了，那这就是我们的错，是不明真相的群众受到了一小撮人的煽动，引发了狭隘的民族主义浪潮，因为我们的不顾大局导致了外交受阻经济受损，给政府台阶，胜造七级浮屠。
第四，可以防腐败。…但是对一些官员和喜欢出国考察的领导的影响很大，在世界各地的免税店里，他们，尤其是他们的太太是法国货的消费的主力。抵制了法国货，他们就不好意思把法国奢侈品背回中国，而他们又比较落伍，一时估计也没听说过别国的奢侈品，所以短时间内限制了他们的消费，在表面上等于防止了腐败的发生。
第五，可以帮助我的拉力车队。…
第六，可以防止官员出逃。法国最近成为了中国外出考察团的官员们最喜欢失踪的地方…
第七，可以降低泡妞的成本。一旦抵制的浪潮掀起，你就可以对喜欢法国奢侈品的女孩子们说，为了国家，我不会给你买这个的。

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
China: More on Boycotting French Goods · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN translated a few articles reflecting on the call for French goods boycott.


text:
China: Sexy Girl on Government Website · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Joe from ChinaSMACK translates report about the hacking of Jingzhou City Bureau of Commerce's websites and the netizens’ comments.


text:
Cuba: Human Rights Day  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Today is International Human Rights Day – an annual reminder of the day on which the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights back in 1948.  Sixty years later, Cuban bloggers (particularly from the diaspora) remain vocal about the many human rights abuses that plague the island of their birth.
Babalu Blog, in a post titled “(Violation of) Human Rights Day in Cuba”, says:
The Cuban regime has begun its celebration of Human Rights Day the only it way it knows how, by violating every right in the 60 year old United Nations declaration.
The celebrations began on Monday, with a wave of arrests and threats against Cuban Human Rights activists aimed at preventing Cubans from commemorating the 60th anniversary of the UN's declaration of Human Rights.
He goes on to cite six separate cases of people being detained or threatened. Fellow blogger Uncommon Sense also relates a story of dissidents being arrested in Havana:
More than 20 Cuban dissidents — including the journalist Guillermo Fariñas and former political prisoner Jorge Luis García Pérez (Antúnez) — were arrested this week, apparently to prevent them from participating in events marking International Human Rights Day.
Nonetheless, Sánchez and other dissidents have vowed to go forth with planned events to commemorate today's 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As long as the Castro dictatorship is in power, however, rights outlined in the declaration are far less than universal.
As if to emphasize his point, Babalu takes “a look back at the status of Human Rights in Cuba over the years”, adding:
Witness yesterday's brutality against peaceful activists, and you can see there has been no change in Cuba's treatment of its citizens. The repression continues under the leadership of raul castro.
Uncommon Sense agrees that Human Rights Day is “nothing to celebrate in Cuba”:
Unfortunately for the Cuban people, the Castro dictatorship…is not taking a holiday from its schedule of oppression and repression.
But unfortunately for the Castro dictatorship, it cannot skip today on the calendar.
The more people who today remember the message of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and advocate for its application on the island of Cuba, the sooner the day of the dictatorship's demise will come.
Meanwhile, Penultimos Dias (ES) takes a long, hard look (though the use of photos and video) at how far Cuba still has to go before its citizens can benefit from the rights and freedoms that are celebrated today.
Sunrise in Havana shares a message from a Cuban compatriot whose “only crime [was] to have the audacity to think and speak freely”:
Throughout the last fifty years, in our beloved Country the basic rights that all human beings should have, have been insulted and trampled and at the same time anyone that has had the strength to defend those rights has been subdued without scruples…it's heartbreaking to see a nation destroyed.
As a Cuban who loves freedom, I will always be committed, with all inside Cuba, with the intention of defending the values and rights of our countrymen in the Island.
Hurray for the 10th of December and Hurray for Human Rights…
Finally, Babalu posts a PDF file that “relates the accomplishments of Guy Perez Cisneros, Cuban Ambassador to the United Nations and co-Chair of the committee responsible for the creation and discussion of the Declaration among the United Nations delegates” – and the irony is not lost on him:
While a Cuban was at the creation of this document, it is the Cuban regime on the island that is doing its level best to make a mockery of its noble goals and language. Irony indeed.


text:
Dominica: Rights of the Child  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The stunning reality is there are a number of incidents of uncalled-for brutality and abuse against children every day in our society”: Dominica Weekly says that there is a fine line between discipline and child abuse.


text:
D.R. Congo: Authorities close Lake Bukavu to fishing · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Congoblog [Fr] reports on a planned 3-month closure of Lake Bukavu, in eastern Congo:  “This decision by local authorities has upset a number of fishermen on whose fish the town of Bukavu depends and who have no other means of subsistence.  ‘This is an illegal and inhumane decision.  We are going to die of hunger along with our families.'”


text:
DR Congo: Subversive photo montages · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Art me Africa features the work of Sammy Baloji, a Congolese artist that “extracts b&w images of migrant mine workers from the early 20th Century and superimposes them over contemporary shots of the now abandoned industrial landscape”.

author: Elia Varela Serra


text:
DR Congo: Human Rights and Gender Violence Situation in North Kivu · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Today is International Human Rights Day and, under the motto “Every human has rights“, this year's marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is also the last day of the yearly campaign 16 days of activism against gender violence. In many parts of the world, however, the human rights situation is far from ideal and gender violence is a daily threat. One of those places is the North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as shown by this roundup of blogs written by aid workers in the region.
As an introduction, a reminder by journalist Michael Kavanagh:
I’ve been reporting on DRC for five years now, and there’s nothing that frustrates me more than the dismissive comments I often get about how conflict in Africa is endemic.
Violence is rarely irrational — it almost always has root causes that can be addressed. We’re often just too busy or lazy to learn enough about a situation to figure out how.
A few days ago Rebecca Wynn, a press officer with Oxfam, wrote about the displaced people (IDPs) in the Kibati area, north of Goma:
The children I am meeting here in Kibati in the Democratic Republic of Congo are at school, but they get no education. The school is where they sleep. It’s their home. Ever since they fled from the violence in their villages, it’s where they have slept, with leaves as their mattresses and their bodies snuggled close.
[…] There are 21 villages of Kanyaruchinya, which surround the Kibati camps. Four of these villages are completely empty and the rest are full of thousands of people who have been forced to run from their homes. The population here was just under 19,000 people before the recent troubles, but an estimated 50,000 people have arrived in the camps and villages here over the last month. Of the families here, 65 percent are hosting displaced people. But many people are living in public spaces such as schools, churches, and orphanages.
Gina Bramucci of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) also writes about the Kibati IDP camp, where around 5,000 people live “in unsound shelters – a frame of tree branches, a plastic sheet as a roof, dry banana leaves to fill gaps and act as a windbreak”:
Firewood distribution in Kibati is important on several levels right now […]  In conflict areas trips outside of the population center or camp in search of firewood and water expose civilians to a higher potential of violent attacks. In Congo, men and boys can be beaten, intimidated or forced into labour by armed groups. But the chore of collecting firewood falls to women and girls, and for them, the stakes are even higher.
The danger she's talking about is, of course, rape. Elizabeth Roesch, a gender and advocay expert working for CARE, quotes a girl in a displaced camp:
The other day, I asked a young girl who fled the most recent fighting, when she would go back home, and she replied: “As long as there is war, we won't go back – how can we go back and risk being raped? When we go for water, when we go to the fields, we are afraid.” Other women nodded in agreement, and suddenly I understood how effective rape is at terrorizing communities.
Stop the war in North Kivu, a blog written by an anonymous aid worker in Goma, has a short video of such IDP camps:
Stop the war in North Kivu also writes about the unofficial “taxes” that the CNDP (the rebel group led by Nkunda) has imposed on civilians in the area they control:
-Long truck: 2000 U$ to get through.
-Fuso truck (small size): 500 U$ to get through.
-Toll for every vehicle: 50 U$.
-If you carry just a bag with some items that could be sold in the market: 5 U$
It is said around here that CNDP is a disciplined force in the sense that they don´t loot the population. Now I understand that they simply don´t need to do it. With this kind of tax procedure, looting becomes completely innecessary.
Meanwhile, the price in Goma of first need commodities like beans has tripled in the last two months.
Emily Meehan, communications manager for the IRC in Goma, writes about her recent arrival to North Kivu:
[earlier this year] I was reading about the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly North Kivu, and wondering why we didn’t hear more about the ongoing humanitarian crisis there. I thought about the women and girls who have been raped and tortured by armed groups. I imagined Goma, North Kivu’s capital, to be a town under daily siege, with mortars blasting, windows shattering and machine gun fire crackling always in the distance. I imagined civilians running in hordes from clashes in the streets, screaming, moaning, and falling. My imagination was far from reality.
I arrived here in Goma last month […] and I quickly saw that this tragedy is not so obvious – people have been living with war for too long in Congo. It is not sensational. They carry on, their “everyday switch” set on emergency.
Iker Zirion, working for Veterinarios sin Fronteras (VSF) in Butembo, writes [Es] a parable to illustrate the complexity of the armed conflict in North Kivu, in what he calls “three causes for one same effect“:
Un soldado de las Fuerzas Armadas de la RDC que huye del frente entra en casa de Vital Kagheni buscando algo de comida. Le golpea. Aprovecha para robarle el dinero y el móvil. Más tarde, vuelve con otros dos soldados. Quieren algo más que dinero. Quieren a su mujer.
Al otro lado de ese frente del que huyen, el CNDP toma varias localidades. En la escuela de una de ellas, encuentran a Bertrand Kitambala. Tiene 13 años. En algunos países, hay personas que creen que esa edad es suficiente para empuñar un arma. Desgraciadamente, la RDC es uno de esos países.
Un miembro de las FDLR está escondido en el bosque. Lleva ahí mucho tiempo. Está cansado y tiene hambre. Hacia él se acerca, sin saberlo, Kakule Lukumbuka. Lleva una cabra atada con una cuerda. Cuando llega a su altura, el FDLR sale de su escondite y le dispara. Pero no antes de arrebatarle la cuerda de las manos. No tiene ganas de correr y no quiere que el disparo haga huir a la cabra.
On the other side of the frontline they are fleeing from, the CNDP takes several towns. In the school of one of them they find Bertrand Kitambala. He's 13. In some countries there are people that believe that's old enough to take up arms. Unfortunately, the DRC is one of those countries.
A member of the FDLR is hiding in the forest. He's been there for a long time. He's tired and he's hungry. Unknowingly, Kakule Lukumbuka is walking towards him. He's carrying a goat tied to a rope. When he arrives where the FDLR is, he comes out of his hiding place and shoots him. But not before snatching away the rope. He doesn't feel like running and doesn't want the shot to scare the goat away.
In another post, Iker Zirion writes about starting over:
“¡Buenas tardes! El día ha pasado sin incidencias, pero en un ambiente de tristeza para casi todo el mundo. Nada se ha salvado. Hay que empezar nuevamente de cero”, nos dice vía sms APRONUT, oenegé de desarrollo congoleña y una de nuestras contrapartes en Kirumba.
No es la primera vez. La población de la zona ha tenido que comenzar de cero varias veces desde la década de los noventa hasta hoy. ¿Qué se puede responder a un sms como ese? Yo, desde luego, no lo sé. Afortunadamente, otra persona del equipo tuvo más capacidad de reacción: “¡Animo! Empezaremos de nuevo todos juntos”.
It's not the first time. The population in the area has had to start from scratch several times since the 1990s until now. What can we answer to an sms like this one? I really don't know. Fortunately, another person from the team was able to react faster: “Come on! We will start again all together”.
Both photos by Iker Zirion


text:
East Timor: Human what? · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Timor Cartoon International has a cartoon to celebrate the 60 years of the universal declaration for human rights.

author: Paula Góes