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February in Lima: Carnival, Day of San Valentin and Politics · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

A previous summary of the Peruvian blogosphere, dedicated almost entirely to “Operation Audacious Employee,” generated several interesting comments which highlighted certain points that were not very clear or that caused legitimate confusion to people who are not familiar with Peruvian society. To add one more opinion to the matter I'll extract this paragraph from the post “Thinking About Operation Audacious Employee” [ES] from the blog The Other Drum, which was not included in the last overview.
Si nos quedamos pensando que el problema son “los pitucos de Asia” no vamos a llegar muy lejos. Tampoco sirve de nada decir “todos somos racistas”. No es solo cuestión de raza. Muchos factores nos hacen sentirnos superiores o inferiores a la persona que tenemos al frente: el sexo, la vestimenta, el modo de hablar, el tamaño, la presentación… Tendríamos que comprender cómo es que estamos siempre midiéndonos con cada persona con la que interactuamos. Por qué nos hemos acostumbrado a hacerlo así. Cómo podemos cambiarlo. Algunos dicen que el mercado es el gran igualador que borra estas diferenciaciones. No lo es. Crea otras. Si una sociedad está programada para jerarquizar y discriminar a la gente, el mercado sólo introducirá nuevas variables de jerarquización y discriminación. El problema pasa más bien por desprogramarla.
Between the topics that have been in the political arena, we find state reform. Mariana Olcese of the blog Perú Político (“Political Peru”) tackles the subject in his post, the “State Reform: for the senate or the future?” in which he argues that “the government of Alan García has taken a step in what seems the correct direction: to demand that the political parties arrive at a consensus with respect to how the government should be arranged and how to reform it.” Olcese goes on to make a small chronicle of what happened followed by a reflection on the matter:
No se puede obviar la cuestión de si es que esos líderes convocados son realmente líderes que pueden aglutinar a agrupaciones de la sociedad civil que permitan hacer sostenible la reforma. En otras palabras, la reforma no se puede llevar adelante sin una difusión clara de ideas y propuestas a través de dirigentes, en lugar de anuncios a medias que terminan por generar pánico entre la población por asociarlo a pérdida de puestos de trabajo y de asistencia social, como podría causarlo la noticia de la fusión de organismos públicos descentralizados y programas sociales. Finalmente, antes de seguir con las etapas del proceso de reforma del Estado, es fundamental plantear a dónde se quiere llegar con eso. Decir “gobierno pequeño y eficiente” no significa nada si es que el ciudadano de a pie no sabe cómo puede medir esa eficiencia, qué es lo que debe esperar y qué canales puede utilizar cuando no están cumpliendo sus expectativas. Definir objetivos y metas cuantificables y con cierto tiempo estimado debe ser central en la reforma del Estado.
But not everything has been political this past week. San Valentine's Day was celebrated and Mu digressed about how the day will be observed by residents of Lima in his hilarious post San Valentine Statistics:
3.) Sobre el telo. El 70% llegará temprano al telo y encontrará sitio y se revolcarán durante un aproximado de 40mins – 120mins. Del 30% que no encontró telo, un 10% se irá a la Costa Verde, un 15% se irá a comer y volverá al segundo turno y el último 5% se meterá a un cine vacío a no ver la película. En San Valentín, nadie se aguanta.
But reality is usually different from what we read. If you want to take a look at how some Peruvians really find romance then read the post Viva Vivanda! which sheds some light on the behavior of prudish Lima:
De llegada aquí lo primero que me dicen es donde comprar. Obviamente el lugar indicado no será ni metro ni Plaza Vea, el lugar indicado para comprar comida es Vivanda. Mis amigas me recomiendan Vivanda con la alegría propia de las adolescentes que acaban de descubrir un nuevo “point” de entretenimiento… …¡Claro! Aun no había caído en la cuenta de que cuando una persona va de compras al supermercado, no solo va a comprar comida o bebidas para la semana, va a conocer gente, a mostrarse, a darse miraditas entre la compra del brócoli y el tomate o a sonreír tímidamente, mientras eliges el pateé para el desayuno.
A supermarket can also be a space for reflection and their aisles serve well for that purpose, as recounts “Gato Vivomuerto” in his descriptive post (as the title reveals) “Unemployed: Or the stupidities that people think while walking home“:
Bueno, lo primero es lo primero. Mañana me voy a Bujama aprovechando que hay una casa donde caer por allá. Dormir como una morsa en la arena, terminar de leer los tres libros que había dejado a medias, y tomar algo que me nuble la mente. Pasaré por Metro para comprarme un par de Guisquis, de hecho, si me había propuesto pensar este evento como afortunado, había que celebrar. Aun a pesar de que no hay trago que me cause más repulsión que el Guisqui. Está bien, seamos consecuentes. Lo que compré fue vodka. Ni siquiera era buen vodka porque frente a la góndola tomé conciencia de que reventar la billetera y esperar a fin de mes ya no era una opción. Detalles, que le dicen. Luego comencé a dar vueltas por las callejas del supermercado a ver si encontraba algo que me ayudara a subir el ánimo, sobre todo porque los psicotrópicos durante episodios como éste me están contraindicados. Llegué a un punto en que solo caminaba con mis botellas en las manos ya sin pensar en los productos de mediopelo que se exhibían, sino en qué iba a hacer. Qué hacer para pasar la menor cantidad de tiempo posible como hija de mamá. Felizmente no estaba tan perdida como creía.
This month of February is not only to celebrate love; we also have carnival and the tradition in the provinces of Peru is to do what is known in the region of the sierra as Yunza and in the jungle as Humisha. In the last few years these customs have arrived to Lima and, in the blog Cosas que ocurren (“Things that happen”) “Zaferson” starts with a personal anecdote in her post “Serpentina“:
El otro día estuve con mi familia en un cortamonte (*) y, en el momento en el que a uno se le acerca la gente a aventarle globitos y papelito picado… una señora muy risueña (calientitos y cervezas de por medio, sospecho) me coloca una serpentina alrededor del cuello y se va. No le hice mucho caso al tema (Total, es costumbre que te pongan serpentinas, globitos, papel picado, etc, etc, etc, en un cortamonte), pero cuando ya fue hora de irse a casa empecé a sacarme todos los papelitos picados y miré la serpentina amarilla que tenía rodeandome el cuello.
If you want to find out how the story ends, then read the complete post. And another blogger who tells us of his February experiences is Lactose Intolerance, who in Damn February/ Damn Kids /Damn Lima describes how the streets of Lima are transformed in February:
Estamos en febrero y estamos en Lima. Un niño que te mira con cara
pícara y tiene las manos detrás de la espalda da miedo. ¿Por qué Lima nos hace esto ah? Un niño no debería darnos miedo. Pero en febrero los niños y niñas mirándome desde las puertas de sus casas con cara pícara cuando yo paso en mi combi me dan miedo.
Transformed streets, but in another sense, are what the blog Contaminación y corrupción (Cercado de Lima) (“Contamination and corruption (Around Lima)”) in the post with the same title. The images that accompany post are quite eloquent in illustrating what is being denounced. And with this, I bid farewell until the next opportunity.
Translation from Spanish by David Sasaki

author: Juan Arellano


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Former Soviet Union: Syllabus on Deported Peoples · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

J. Otto Pohl's “imaginary” syllabus #4: “Deported Nationalities in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.”

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Gambia: The Healer President · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Blog Politique du Sénégal isn't sure (Fr) whether to laugh or cry about Gambian President Yahia Jammeh's new healer functions: “[He] has taken up a career as a marabout healer. And he is coming into some success. Commercial, that is because I can't put my hand in fire for his therapeutic prowesses… Hundreds of Gambians believe, as they line up endlessly to be healed by the therapist president. Fridays and Saturdays for asthma, Tuesdays and Thursdays for HIV.”

author: Alice Backer


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Haiti: Goodbye, Tiga · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Alice Backer remembers the late Haitian painter, sculptor and educator Jean-Claude Garoute, also known as Tiga.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Haiti: Picture of 1901 Port-au-Prince · Global Voices
Alice Backer

As its “historical image of the day,” Alterdestiny posts a picture of Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 1901.


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Hindi Blogoshere: Going Places, Tag Epidemic & Indibloggies! · Global Voices
Amit Gupta

Sorry for the late update, I've been busy off late & then went to a weekend holiday, so wasn't able to do my fortnightly roundup of the Hindi Blogosphere. So without much ado, lets have a crack over the happenings of Hindi Blogosphere in the last fortnight!
Disturbed with the current social & political scene, Rachana gives a sarcastic look in her future news bulletin while Jagdish is contemplating; is Yahoo is saving Hindi or is Hindi saving Yahoo! Jitu is also not far behind in telling everyone about the Hindi Portal game where he drops a hint towards a possible upcoming hindi portal from Google!! On the other hand, Neeraj wished Gazal King Jagjit Singh a very happy birthday & long life. The hunt for truth about Netaji‘s death continues for Srijan Shilpi as he posts his latest piece. Ravi Ratlami blogs about Blogging Ethics & Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. No, its not about the medical condition but a funny look at the condition from blog addiction's perspective!! He then continues on writing some FAQs on commercial blogging or blogging for profit. And Tarun was not far behind in expressing his own views on the topic.
Personally, I seldom talk about such heavy topics, so after being tagged by Ben(not from Hindi Blogosphere), I decided to spread this disease in the Hindi Blogworld & so far I think I've been successful as this tagging epidemic has claimed more than 5 bloggers so far & more are expected to be affected soon. But it'll not end here as I've been tagged again by Alka and as soon as I see the ripples of earlier tag fading out, I'll create some more ripples by throwing this other tagstone!! ;)
Ashish took us beyond Moon in Apollo 8, or rather, he told us about the Apollo 8's mission to Moon, the fastest run of man(till that time) in Apollo 10 & the big leap in Apollo 11. Talk about going places, why not experience the ancient city of Ajmer as I continue my travelogue of Ajmer & Pushkar!! On the eve of Valentine's Day, Italy based R.C.Mishra told everyone about Valentine's Day & some interesting historical facts about it.
Hardly a day goes by without any discussion on politics, its become a part of daily diet like vitamin supplements, it nothing is discussed on politics then it feels as if no meal that day would digest in stomach! ;) So Jitu calls for suspension of Uttar Pradesh government headed by Mulayam Singh!
After much delay, Indibloggies finally started & while they were hot, everyone was talking about them including Fursatiya!! Finally after the busy rounds of nominations & voting, the winners of Indibloggies 2006 were announced with Canada based Sameer Lal grabbing up the Best Indic Blog(Hindi) award while Italy based Sunil Deepak & New Delhi based Priyaranjan Jha came runners up!! Recently Sameer Lal also won the Best Hindi Blogger award in a public poll organised by the Tarakash team. My heartiest congratulations to all winners! :) Looks like its a conspiracy to give away recognition to NRI(Non Resident Indian) bloggers to lure them to Hindi Blogosphere!! ;) :P
And GK Awadhiya's narration of Mahabharat continues as the great war between Good & Evil reaches its second day.
Links courtsey: Narad
Image courtsey: Dr. R.C.Mishra

author: Amit Gupta


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Hong Kong: Cyber dream · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Sun bin visited Hong Kong's “Cyber port” and here is his conclusion: People were saying that HK's “cyberport” is a real estate development. I now want to put it in more specific terms, “purely residential development”. i.e. no business, no cyber, not even some decent shops or restaurants, or hotel, or cyber-business.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Hong Kong: tiny Disney world · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Onemanbandwidth visited Hong Kong's Disney world and explained why it did not affect the hotel occupancy rate: The Hong Kong Government, betting like they were in Macau, plowed millions of dollars more into the park than did Disney. They expected, acording to some bogus study, that the mainlanders would spend about 2.3 days (2.3???) in Hong Kong for their visit. Nope!


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Hungary: Paedophilia Controversy · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

According to Pestcentric, “Hungary has one of the lowest age-of-consents in the EU at 14 years old” – and this is causing foreign media to announce that the country is about to make paedophilia legal.


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Iran:Inside Iran secret gay’s world · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

A CBC documentary talks about Iranian gays. Nikahang says that documentary talks about some issues that we,Iranians, usually ignore them [Fa].

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:Stop Iran War · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Stop Iran War is a site and blog launched by Wes Clark, former NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander. He says “I believe it is critical to give voice to the vast majority of Americans who want to avoid a military conflict with Iran, and I hope you will visit StopIranWar.com to add your voice to our efforts.”


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Jamaica: Homophobia and violence · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Leon Robinson prefaces a post about a series of brutal attacks on gay men in Jamaica by saying: “Homosexuality is frowned upon in Jamaica. Not because were “homophobic” (surely we can't be afraid of them), but because it is unlawful, as our law is based upon the Bible.“


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Jamaica: “Satan is Real” · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Unreconstructed racists the Louvin Brothers, composers of the country classic “Satan is Real”, “would have been horrified to know that just near the equator hundreds of negroes were loving their music,” writes Marlon James, in a post touching upon reggae's roots in country-and-western music.


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Japan and Korea: Takeshima/Dokdo dispute and cat’s day · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Feb 22 is  is Takeshima Day , but also the cat's day in Japan; as James in Japan Prob said, cat's day is more excited than the Japan-Korea dispute over Takeshima and Dokdo. The blogger also post a cat's day video on his post.


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Japan: Fugu · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ampotan blogs about the poisonous delicacy, Fugu, and the research and attempt in breeding non-poisonous fugu in Japan.


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Japan: Petition for visas for Vu Family · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Debito starts to campaign for foreign minority's rights in Japan and posts the petition for visas for Vu Family, who have been living and working in Japan for six years.


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Kazakhstan: Environmental Buyout · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Ben Paarmann says that ChevronTexaco has long had problems with accumulating sulfur deposits at its Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan. So why is the government suddenly threatening to punish the company for environmental damage? Ben suggests that Kazakhstan's government may be trying to get more control over the project.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Madagascar: despite series of unfortunate events, bloggers are still upbeat…. · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Greetings all,
This is my first post on Global Voices. I am fortunate and  quite thrilled to have the opportunity to share with you the perspective of the Malagasy blogosphere. Unfortunately, the current news from Madagascar are quite sad. The main topic of discussion on the Malagasy web is the disastrous impact of the latest series of cyclones in Madagascar:
(Courtesy Harinjaka)
“Series  of unfortunate events”
Harinjaka wrote:
“Deux cent quarante deux millions huit cent soixante deux milles et trois cent cinquante trois Dollars US (242.862.353 USD) c’est l’argent qu’il faut à l’état malgache pour réparer les dégâts du Cyclone pour cette saison 2006-2007 selon ce communique officiel que j’ai lu aujourd’hui sur le site du ministère des Affaires Etrangère Malgache.
En effet, suite au passage de cyclones successifs depuis le mois de décembre 2006 au mois de janvier 2007, plusieurs régions de Madagascar se trouvent dans un état dramatique…”
Furthermore, Harinjaka asks whether there are any more doubts that this sudden onslaught of Mother Nature on the “Red island” is not related to Global Warming (Fr). Aiky also weighs in on the effect of the cyclones and wonders if the worst is still not to come. If another cyclone were to arrive, he predicts:
“les écoles fermeront comme d'habitude, le cours du riz flambera, le prix des ppn augmentera temporairement, les produits risqueront de disparaître du marché, les spéculateurs gagneront du terrain.”
Unfortunately, these are not the only sad news from Madagascar in the past few months: a drought in the Southern region (the irony here is a bit too cruel considering the flooding in the eastern and central regions of the country) (Fr), the continuing deforestation/desertification as illustrated by Tattum (Fr) and entire villages going up in smoke as narrated by Tomavana (Mg).
“Still here, still blogging”
However, Malagasy bloggers do not want any part of a pity party. Perseverance is the word. So they reassert themselves by celebrating their history (Fr), rediscovering the defining characteristics of their identities (Fr)(on Malagasy Miray) and submitting a few ideas (Fr) that could help Madagascar pull out of the current economic stagnation (read at “shadow gasy”).
They even get to enjoy  the little perks of blogging when a celebrity comes by to drop a word….
So,”Veloma” ( goodbye in Malagasy ) for now and hope to see you very soon,
Lova

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Nigeria: Internet Exchange, Making Money, Abuja, Political Endorsement, And the Niger Delta · Global Voices
Oluniyi D. Ajao

We begin this week's blog round-up with Timbaland‘s entry about Nigeria Internet Exchange.
It so happens that I desire to create an Internet utopia in Nigeria. I have a dream of providing Internet access to every Nigerian citizen. This became stronger when I was having a discussion with a friend yesterday and in our discussion, we identified that there are a lot of problems that could be solved.
I have fallen into the temptation (many times) of wanting to solve all these problems. Today, I might decide it’s going to be web applications – I mean lots of Nigerians are going online these days and there is not enough local content and so I think being a web developer will help solve this problem. Tomorrow, I identify that lots of Nigerians have Internet-enabled mobile phones and there’s lots of applications that can be built upon this platform. Honestly speaking, I will probably list about 20 or so problems that I can solve but to make any significant difference, I will require focus.
He goes on to highlight the main problem facing Nigerian Internet users today:
A lot of Nigeria’s local traffic still goes outside before it finally comes back. If you’ve ever used a VoIP application before and were trying to make a call to a Nigerian destination, although you’re even in the same state as the destination you’re calling, you will still experience serious latency; let’s not even talk about network gaming – with the current structure, it makes little or no sense for all those fast-paced games.
He concludes by offering a solution:
The solution to this problem is undoubtedly to create an Internet exchange point. Last year, I was made aware of discussions amongst ISPs to interconnect and I was glad today to find the Nigeria Internet Exchange web site. The site is really informative and I’m impressed by the fact that they’ve done a good job in really letting you know how to interconnect and the procedures required to do so. This will come in handy when creating the Nigerian Internet utopia. For now, I’ve gotten no suitable name and oh I’m reading up on IPV6.
From ICT, we move to money. Deola Akinyemi declares: Money – The More you Look, The More you See
Just about a month ago, when I wrote the article on Nospetco, Hazonwao, Wealthzone, Uphenry and other high return investments in Nigeria, the key thing on my mind was sharing information, creating awareness and sensitizing people.  I have gotten a lot of thank you mails to this effect,  and I thought I had done a good job. Little did I know however, that I was the one who would benefit the most from this enlightenment gesture.
I have always known that the hand that pours water on others cannot be dry. I had also known that the hand that pushes others up, cannot be down, but I have been shocked at how much information I have also come to gather in the course of providing information to you. In the course of the last one month I have come to hear about many more investment and money making schemes in Nigeria. Some of them, I’m still researching, and some I have decided to plunge in head on as well. There is one where you invest N6,000 and earn up to 2.5Million Naira in one year, that is worth trying as the risk is very low and it’s a banks product. There is another where you invest N70,000 and get the opportunity of earning about N300,000 and diamonds within 2-3months depending on you. I also got information about another where you invest a fixed amount and earn up to 30% per month, and yet another with over 200% returns in 8 weeks. I can’t contain them all in one post, but check out this two, and watch out for the others in future posts.
We switch gears and travel with Chippla's weblog, as the author blogs about the capital city of Nigeria in a post titled “On Abuja“:
The Nigerian capital city of Abuja is something of an oddity. Conceived in the mid 1970s and built from scratch on land obtained by the Federal government of Nigeria, Abuja is the next best thing to Lagos when one speaks of cosmopolitan Nigerian cities. In reality though, Abuja is very different from Lagos. While the latter is heavily congested and suffers from infrastructural decay, the former, it appears, has managed to blossom, maintaining a sense of decorum and orderliness that can hardly be found in any other large Nigerian city.
Unlike Lagos, Abuja enjoys the status of ‘federal capital.’ This was the status held by Lagos from October 1960 till December 1991. Having the status of federal capital directly translates to the allocation of extra funds from the public purse to maintain existing infrastructure and build new ones. Thus, today in Abuja, one finds residential buildings, roads and flyovers being constructed (albeit at a rather slow pace) for a ‘befitting’ federal capital city. The city of Abuja could rightly be described as a huge construction project, which still has a long way to go. Worn down structures and road signs are regularly replaced—in contrast to what one often finds in other Nigerian cities.
Chippla then goes on to highlight other features of Nigeria's capital city and offers an advice for the government of Nigeria:
By law, the current Abuja administration, headed by Mr. Nasir El-Rufai (who is also called ‘Mr. Demolition Man’ for ordering the demolition of illegal structures and buildings in Abuja, even those owned by powerful and once untouchable politicians) will be out of office in May 2007. The next Nigerian government must appoint people who at least have the guts of Mr. El-Rufai to manage the capital city. Going by the records of Mr. El-Rufai's predecessors, the making or breaking of Abuja largely rests on the individuals who govern it.
Yomi Says – a blog about web and mobility, the church, Work & Business, and life in general – highlights the fact that a private telecom operator (PTO) in Nigeria is now offering a special range of phone numbers that are not locked to a specific geographical part of Nigeria: Multi-links first PTO to launch Unified Licence numbers
Last week, private telecommunications operator, Multi-links launched its Unified Licence numbers. Customers with these numbers will be able to use their Multi-links phones in all parts of the country where there is Multi-links network coverage. The new numbers start with 07027.
Existing customers may migrate to the new numbering plan or retain their old numbers.
With service availability in over 6 cities including: Lagos, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Ilorin, Ijebu-ode and Sagamu, and the new national roaming facilities, Multi-links is gradually closing the gap between itself and the GSM boys.
While it certainly is a wide gap, it is worth cheering still. Starcomms and Multi-links seem to be doing a good job in leading the PTO pack. For subscribers, its better days ahead. Very soon we should be able to ask, who needs a GSM phone?
Election time is near in Nigeria, and Oro blogs about one of the aspiring presidential candidates: When A Professor Endorses Another:
Yesterday, in Lagos, Prof. Wole Soyinka publicly endorsed Prof. Pat Utomi and announced him political party’s support for the other Professor. While I am not too surprised by the much-awaited endorsement, I am not ignorant of the weight it lends to the candidacy of Prof. Pat Utomi. Over the last few years, Prof. Soyinka has established himself as a leading social crusader with both national respect and global influence, and his warnings about the political environment have always been taken seriously by both sides of the equation. So strong are his public comments that some not-so-smart paid public servants spend our tax-money trying to unravel the words of this igilango Oyinbo. Simply put, Prof. Soyinka’s endorsement of Prof. Utomi goes to show that like minds think alike, and that there are more forces for the good of Nigeria than there are against.
Not quiet far from politics, Grandiose Parlor blogs about the Niger Delta in Nigeria: The Niger-Delta Scam
If the insurgency in the Nigeria oil rich Niger-delta is allowed to continue unresolved, it will cumulate into a catastrophic event of epic proportions with dire consequences on the socioeconomic and political stability of the nation. This is not a dooms-day prophesy, or a forecast that requires some complicated regression analysis; it’s simple common-sense.
The following paragraphes however, convey the crux of the matter:
It’s getting seriously irritating to read about hostages been taken and released every other day. How much has been paid as ransom since the bandits perfected this scam-strategy? Where does the funds come from, and whose pockets does it go? I suspect a cabal runs these militia and it’s quietly profiting from the scams at the detriment of all Nigerians, particularly the innocent indigenes of the Niger-delta.
It’s long overdue for the respective governors and state assemblies of the militia-prone regions to be challenged for their complacency. In fact, they should be investigated; I won’t be surprised if they have strong ties with the Niger-delta militia after all.
Still in the Niger Delta, Black Looks blogs about US Marines & the Niger Delta:
Recently the National Geographic magazine published a feature piece on the Niger Delta “Curse of the Black Gold: Hope and Betrayal in the Niger Delta”. For those familiar with the issues of the Niger Delta there was really nothing that has not been reported by human rights environmental activists and Human Rights Watch over the past 15 years. What is new and cause for concern is the article “Nigeria and the United States: Convergent Interests” published by the Center for International Policy. A few months back I was contacted via my blog by a US contractor called Carol Chapital asking if I was willing to assist on a project in Nigeria.
We are preparing a study which is required to be reviewed by subject matter experts. Your name was provided as an expert. If your name is inappropriate with the academic subject experts, I apologize for the inconvenience.
The concluding paragraph of this blog entry however, reveals some very interesting statistics:
To put the scale of wealth into perspective and to emphasise the stakes for Nigeria, the US and more recently China, the World Bank reported that 80% of oil wealth is owned by 1% of the population; 70% of private wealth is abroad whilst 3/4 of the country live on about $1 a day – at least 15 million of those live in the Niger Delta (there are estimated 12 million Ijaws – an ethnic group that covers a very broad range of languages and city states)- though as the latest census did not include ethnic origin that number is somewhat arbitrary in 2007). President Obasanjo has made it clear that his policy towards the Niger Delta is to eliminate the militants and subjugate the non-violent movement for self-determination and resource control that started with the late Ken Saro Wiwa. It is therefore not surprising that the US has become directly involved with this Nigeria as part of their overall AFRICOM policy and in Nigeria’s case to protect their petroleum interests. Obasanjo will soon leave but the PDP will no doubt win the elections and realistically the same group of elite forces will continue to run the country so it is highly unlikely that there will be any changes in Nigeria’s relationship with the US.

author: Oluniyi D. Ajao


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Pakistan: Online freedom of speech as collateral damage? · Global Voices
sami ben gharbia

One year ago, on the 27th of February 2006, when the Danish cartoons controversy exploded, spawning waves of protest, anger and misunderstanding; setting embassies, flags, streets and passions on fire, the Pakistani Telecommunications Authority (PTA), under pressure from religious groups and on the orders of the Supreme Court, decided to ban the popular blogging platform Blogger. It was obvious that during the most caricatural chapter of that “clash of ignorance”, almost everyone among the major actors was overacting and overreacting. Nevertheless, seeing a government overblocking access to millions of blogs hosted by blogspot.com just because 12 websites were displaying the Danish cartoons, was surrealistic if not Kafkaesque. And what made the situation more unbelievable is that only one blog out of the 12 was hosted at blogspot.com.
Furthermore, that was not the only overblocking exercise undertaken by the Pakistani regime. During the same period, on March 31st, and based on the same “moral” motivation of protecting religious sensitivities, the Pakistani Telecommunications Authority overblocked for several hours millions of Wikipedia pages. The justification: the cartoons had been published on one single page.
The complex questions that enter the mind of anyone facing similar situations in other countries are obvious. What can you do, as a defender of online free speech, when your country, your fellow citizens–and maybe you –are insulted by those exercising freedom of speech? What kind of balance do you need to find in order to defend freedom of speech for everybody–even for those who published, republished or made the cartoons–while understanding the sentiments of anger surrounding you? Figuring out where one ends and the other begins is not an easy task in an environment where religious fervor is the norm.
And yet, that was the tricky path that the “Don’t Block The Blog” (DBTB) campaign found and has succeeded in navigating over the last year: defending the freedom of speech and campaigning for the right of everyone to express themselves, while containing the overwhelming pressure coming from many who supported, openly, the ban of the deemed blasphemous blogs and websites.
Yesterday, February 22, 2007, the Egyptian blogsphere may have had to answer the same difficult questions, as the Egyptian court sentenced the 22-year-old blogger Abdel Kareem Soliman (aka Kareem Amer) to four years in prison for insulting Islam on his blog. The religious motivation has certainly facilitated the task of the Judicial Power to make of Kareem the first blogger to be prosecuted in Egypt. Even Kareem's family has given the verdict a moral slant by disowning him a few days before his Court verdict session. Kareem’s father decided “to attend the court verdict session with his four brothers, who completely memorized the Holy Quran, to announce disowning the accused Abdul Kareem inside the court room, in order to reduce the embarrassment and pressure that civil rights organizations are applying on the court panel (…) The father of the accused also described the organizations that are working on having his son acquitted as “monkey rights” organizations.”
I spoke with Omer Alvie, who has launched the “Don’t Block The Blog” campaign, along with Awab Alvi, on the 3rd of March 2006. I asked Omer about the blanket ban, online free speech and DBB campaign to support freedom of speech of Pakistani bloggers:
Sami Ben Gharbia: Can you tell us more about the filtering situation in Pakistan? Did the online censorship get started in 2006 with the ban of the Blogspot.com blogging platform, or it is also targeting other online content, like opposition groups, news websites or the publications of human rights organizations?
Omer Alvie: Censorship of web sites did exist before the blogspot ban. Although the blockade was of only of a few primarily Indian media sites that focused on political view points that were critical of Pakistan or the Pakistani government. Since the blogspot ban a few selected other Pakistani web sites have been a target of government blockade. These sites are primarily political, addressing the Balochistan (province) crisis and the political movement which is particularly outspoken against the current government of President Pervez Musharaf.
SBG: Why doesn't the Pakistani government ban just the sites that were displaying the cartoons? Why they are maintaining a DNS level block on the blogspot.com domain and not an URL block targeting the sites deemed blasphemous?
OA: Keeping in mind that the internet (user) community is a small percentage of the total population of Pakistan, I think the level of priority or importance given to this issue by the concerned authorities is obviously very little.
As far as the blocking of the complete blogspot.com domain is concerned, and I don't know if it is incompetence, indifference or lack of an appropriate technique to block a specific blogspot site without blocking the whole domain. But the rationale for blocking millions of other blogs for the sake of one blog that is classified blasphemous is absolutely and positively ridiculous. But unfortunately they continue to do it. As far as banning the sites that were displaying the cartoons of the Prophet, the PTA is enforcing a ban on some of them but obviously not all. They probably are not even aware of the existence to some of them.
Actually, I'm sure the PTA realizes the enormous and impossible task of actually blocking everything that is classified blasphemous. It cannot be done as new sites come up every day that can be considered offensive, or the existing ones can be mirrored to alternative web addresses so the whole exercise of blocking sites is rather futile in my opinion.
The only way the authorities (in any country) can successfully ban a specific topic or content on related sites, is by banning the whole of the internet in that country. Otherwise, it can NEVER be done. What usually ends up happening, as in the case of the cartoon issue, the most useless, hate-filled, and irrelevant site ends up being popular (and as result gets a much larger audience) due to the ban enforced on it.
SBG: During the last year the ban of blogspot.com has been lifted several time and then resumed after a few days. How can you explain that? Is there any official reason behind this hemming and hawing?
OA: It is true that sporadic and short lifting of the blogspot blanket has occurred during the last year. No official reason has been given for the lifting of the ban for these very short durations. It should also be noted that the no clear official declaration has been made by the appropriate government authorities regarding the blogspot blanket ban either.
It is likely that the unblocking of the sites occur due to a glitch or other technical reasons in reference to the concerned ISPs. It is usually not the case that all ISPs unblock the blogspot sites all at the same time and for the same reason, however the short duration of the lifting of the blockade maybe.
SBG: The censorship of blogspot.com has a religious and cultural justification. What does the “Don’t Block The Blog” campaign think about censoring the 12 blogs publishing the controversial cartoons of the prophet Mohammed? Do you support their right to publish such cartoons? Does the DBB stand for defending the right to be offended, to borrow the expression of Salman Rushdie?
OA: It is my view that censorship on the internet is impractical and illogical. Blocking of sites does not ensure that the content becomes unavailable. Proxy by-pass servers and mirror sites can be set up to gain access to anything the government is trying to block.
We at DBTB support the right of free speech for everyone. This umbrella of free speech rights also covers those sites that we might consider offensive. In order to ensure free speech for most average citizens who voice their opinions for no other reason then just to tell the truth, one has to accept the right of free speech of even those who have an extremist or hateful political agenda. It is the right of every citizen (of the world) to voice their opinion and we support their right for free speech.
SBG: On the Washington Post article “Pakistan's Blog Blockade” a few comments are accusing the “Don't Block the Blog” group of campaigning in favor of selective freedom of speech. They are arguing that you are supporting censorship of the blogs and websites deemed offending; they are even quoting some extract from the press release–dated 06 March 2006–in which you wrote: “We urge the print and electronic media to exert pressure upon the Government of Pakistan to first lift the ban on non-controversial blogspot.com websites (…) while we expect any censorship to be within the limits of decency and decorum of the Pakistani culture.” Do you think these accusations are unfounded? How can you refute them?
OA: That initial press release was revised to clarify our point. That same press release and our website also included the statement that we support the right of free speech for ALL. Yet this quote was used to target our campaign.
Keeping that in mind, let me further clarify the quote initially written in the press release. Knowing fully well that we were addressing an extremely sensitive issue within our country and the primary reason for the blogspot ban was the printing of the cartoons of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), we had to be extremely practical in our approach in launching our campaign. Most readers in the west, and perhaps even those who used the quote to attack us, are not aware of the blasphemy laws enforced in our country. Keeping aside our personal opinion of such laws, it was imperative for us to be smart and present the issue as diplomatically as possible, without further inciting the situation. Had we first focused on the unblocking of the 12 banned sites, out of which only 1 or 2 were actually on blogspot, we would have certainly ensured ourselves a place in the list of banned sites.
For those who do not delve into advocacy issues, or are not actively involved in a free speech campaign, are usually not fully aware of the how the “game” is played. The primarily goal is to fight for free speech for everyone but in order to do that, one has to start slowly, diplomatically (walking on egg shells, as it were) to ensure that the campaign survives to fight a long battle. One has to keep in mind the political, religious and social tenets and laws practiced within the country in question. Once, the campaign gains momentum and garners the requisite attention, the campaign can push further the cause of free speech as the primary and only option for the way forward.
I would also like to point out that those who criticize our campaign, citing the example of the western countries as truly supporting free speech in comparison to Muslim or Third World countries, ought to seriously look at the reality as it exists. Specifically in Europe, and now even U.S. and Canada, the right to free speech does NOT exist when it comes to the topic of Holocaust Denial or Holocaust revision. Those who practice this right either end up in jail or else face some other punishment as in the case of Ernst Zundel, David Irving, James Keegstra and others.
I wonder what the reaction in the west would be had Salman Rushdie published a holocaust revisionist book rather than The Satanic Verses. Would the press and majority of the western public be as supportive? I hardly think so!
SBG: It has been a year since the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) instituted a blanket ban on Blogspot.com. What kind of approaches does the “Don’t Block The Blog” campaign–which was launched few days after the ban–adopt to fight against online censorship in the country? Are they technical, civil or legal approaches?
OA: As DBTB comprises only two individuals, we have been limited by the resources at our disposal and particularly restrained by time constraints, as both members of DBTB have work obligations, and do the campaign work in what ever free time they have available. We have primarily had a two-pronged approach to our campaign focus. One is to continually source by-pass proxy solutions that can help the bloggers in Pakistan access their blogs with ease, and the second is to continually maintain the awareness level of the blanket ban issue with not just the bloggers, but with media and with the more prominent Free speech and human rights organizations. In keeping with these aims, we have launched the first Pakistani Blog Aggregator to syndicate Pakistani origin blogs, including the ones that are currently being blocked. We are also planning writing competitions to promote free speech and have other ideas currently under development to ensure that freedom of expression (free speech) becomes the primary issue of concern for not just Pakistani, but also international audiences of the internet.
SBG: What is your relationship with Yasir Memon and Naveed Memon, the developers of the two proxy servers Pkblogs and Inblogs? Are they members of “Don't Block the Blog” campaign?
OA: The Memon brothers volunteered to provide this solution for the Pakistani and Indian bloggers through the venue of DBTB and their support of free speech. They are not members of DBTB, but we communicate as needed to discuss possible ideas for prospective technical solutions to the blanket ban.
SBG: We've heard about the message of Dr. Awab Alvi- the co-founder of the “Don’t Block The Blog” (DBTB) campaign- to the Indian Bloggers Collective Group, and how the DBB was helping their community circumvent the government ban on blogspot.com domain. Can you tell us more about that and how it's contributing to bridging the divides between activists and bloggers on both sides? Has any regional strategy or willingness to build an anti-censorship alliance been discussed between Pakistani and Indian bloggers?
OA: DBTB has always planned that all information or tools made available for Pakistani bloggers to by-pass a ban should be freely made available for also bloggers from other countries. India, as our neighboring country, naturally came to mind as we were aware of Indian bloggers also facing an blog access problem. Dr. Awab offered a hand of friendship and we are happy to say that the effort and the solution made available was appreciated by the India bloggers. We hope this cooperation grows and in future Indian and Pakistani bloggers work together to support the right to free speech and in course learn to respect, understand and appreciate each other better.
SBG: In the most recent update at the “Don’t Block The Blog” website, we are told that Google Inc.'s key representative has been closely following the activities of DBTB and is willing to help resolve the blanket ban. Do you really believe in the “don't be evil” rhetoric of Google, which, after all, agreed to censor itself for China? According to a Washington Post article, Google was following the censorship issue in Pakistan since March 2006, and “has been contacting a range of individuals in Pakistan, including in the government, to determine what's causing the unavailability of Blogspot, and to get access restored.”
OA: As mentioned earlier, DBTB is an awareness campaign promoting the rights of free speech. We are decidedly apolitical and therefore have to be as diplomatic as possible with whichever group or individual is offering to help us. We are fully aware of the Google's involvement in free speech issues, especially in relation to other countries like China.
We provide the benefit of the doubt to those willing to offer help, even though we might personally be a little suspicious of their history. As in this case, Google contacted us and offered to help. Rather than be critical and not accept or believe their offer (as the rights of bloggers are at stake and this issue is far bigger than our own opinions), we decided to give Google the opportunity to prove their claim that they are working towards a solution. Obviously, in months to come, we shall all be able to judge Google on their promise of support by reviewing the concrete results (or lack of results) achieved by Google. What is an assurance is that we at DBTB will continue to follow up with them to assess the progress of their efforts.

author: sami ben gharbia


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Peek at Poland: Time to Make the Pączki · Global Voices
Jordan & Maria Seidel

“Polish Doughnuts” by Polska＊ポーランド＊Poland
For at least one moment in the dark days of winter, life is sweet in Poland. Marking the last Thursday before Lent, Tłusty czwartek (or, Fat Thursday) is a day of over-indulgence in sweets.
This past Thursday, in scenes disturbingly reminiscent of Communist days, the local sweet shops and bakeries were full of people, lining up to get their hands on the source of sweetness and symbol of this special day – the traditional Polish doughnut, or pączki. Unfortunately, by lunch break, our local bakery was sold out already!
Typical sight in Poland on Fat Thursday, Wikipedia
Interestingly, each country has its own way of marking the last day before Lent: in Greece, instead of sweets, they eat loads of meat on Tsiknopempti. In Latin and South America, they celebrate in a more dynamic way with the Carnival.
How does your country mark the start of Lent? Do you sit in a sweet shop and gorge yourself on baker's delights or do you take to the streets?

author: Jordan & Maria Seidel


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Peru: The Bloggies · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Right on track with this weekend's Oscar Awards, Mis Otros Dragones presents the Peruvian version of “The Bloggies.” Categories include “best spam”, “best meme”, and even “best avatar.”

author: David Sasaki


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Poland: Anti-Euthanasia, Anti-Missile, Anti-Semitism · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot writes on one Polish man's right to die, on the U.S. anti-missile systems, and on the anti-Semitic writings of the Polish education minister's father. As always, the discussion area is bursting with comments.


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Poland: Offensive Cartoon · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Chris Borowski of Traveling Life writes about the New Yorker cartoon that has offended many Poles; the beatroot responds with a childhood story.


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Puerto Rico: Pondering corruption and passports · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Gil the Jenius offers some points to ponder relating to government corruption and the new regulations requiring US citizens to have passports in order to travel: “Although Puerto Rico is exempted for U.S. citizens (meaning they can visit without a passport), many people won't grok that.“


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Romania: Claudia Schiffer Banned · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

In Romania, “celebrities have been barred from advertising children's food” – which makes Claudia Schiffer illegal, reports Blog Bucharest.


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Serbia: Kosovo “Deadlock” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Balkan Baby writes on the Kosovo “deadlock.”


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The Jordanian Blogosphere: February Clippings · Global Voices
Naseem Tarawnah

The Jordanian blogosphere is abuzz with two controversies this month. The first revolves around the proposal to build a tourist complex near the Dibbin Forest that will result in the cutting down of many trees. While a small online campaign has started up in recent days, other bloggers see the issue in a completely different light.
The other issue involves a recent decision to remove two bloggers from the central Jordanian aggregator – Jordan Blogs. It seems Several bloggers have thrown their two cents in. The central theme seems to be about whether there should be limitations on freedom of speech.
“Freedom of speech is not limitless, there are boundaries and the moderators of JB understand those boundaries and act upon them, accusing JB of oppressing freedom of speech is just ridiculous, think about it for a minute, what’s their motive?”, says Bakkouz.
Elsewhere on the Jordanian blogosphere…
Since Jordan Planet was shut down and Jordan Blogs was launched, bloggers got together for their first official “Jordan Blogs” meeting. Read the reviews from Khalidah and Kinzi (in Arabish)
Are Jordanian women worse drivers than men? Naseem and (Her Eminence) Lubna exchange male and female point of views respectively on the topic. They also tackle another social matter as well: the life line of Jordanian girls.
Mansaf is the national dish of Jordan but you'd be naive to think there isn't a right way to both cook it as well as eat it. Dino posts a short video (Arabic) on how to do both.
Dima and Lama Hattab, Jordanian twins and national sporting enthusiasts, are currently training to climb Mount Everest. Bloggers Natasha and Tamara have more on the exciting news. Meanwhile, Ammar plays with some prose to produce a post on what it means to be Jordanian.
In an entertaining post, Roba tells us how she overcame being intimidated as a new driver and learned the art of “zorabah”, while Moey has drawn up a list of top 10 blogging mistakes to avoid that are worth a read. Tololy goes down theology lane as she wonders whether our belief in God is genetically inevitable, which inspires a debate on what came first: God or the need for God?
A blast from the past! Natasha shows us how today's popular Zahran Street looked like over half a century ago.
In the political realms Firas is not too happy with the fact that a Christian has been given a leadership position in the Islamic Action Front party. Issam has similar feelings regarding the news. Firas also gives a review of Russian President Putin's February visit to Jordan.
Meanwhile Khalaf isn't the biggest fan of the Minister of Municipalities right now and for pretty obvious reasons. Naseem points out the legislative contradictions in the draft of the ‘press and publications law’, which was later shelved by the Lower House; Khalaf tells us why.
With elections expected to take place some time this year, Naseem wonders if the voting age should be lowered from 18 to 16. You can also check out this video (Arabic) by a sketch comedy show on the women's quota in elections.
Meanwhile, Batir takes a look at the political landscape in Jordan and what role the word “reform” has been playing.
In Amman, city hall is trying to alleviate high-pressure traffic areas with a new policy allowing drivers to pay for parking spaces via SMS. However Ash of JoLadies has her doubts that this will solve the problem. Meanwhile, one of the biggest complaints in Amman has been the presence of trees in the middle of sidewalks, as Lina tells us:
“Anyone who has attempted to take up the healthy habit of walking and making the most of Amman’s generally lovely weather knows that if it isn’t a near-suicidal mission, it can best be described as a measure of one’s elasticity and ability to zigzag and dodge branches sticking out right, left and center.”
Lina looks at the latest plan to remove trees from sidewalks in order to create a more pedestrian friendly Amman.

author: Naseem Tarawnah


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Top ten Caribbean novels · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

In response to a meme about books and reading, Geoffrey Philp posts his list of top ten Caribbean novels.


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Turkmenistan: Flurry of Activity · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

neweurasia reports on the flurry of personnel shuffling, diplomatic calls, and presidential edicts since Turkmenistan elected its new president, who, the post says, must shake things up in order to survive.


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Turkmenistan: Turkic Reunion? · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

At neweurasia Peter reports on how relations between Turkey and Turkmenistan are changing in the wake of the death of the country's former President Saparmurad Niazov.


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UAE: The Giant Wheel of Hatred · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Dubai-based blogger SS is disgusted with the lack of tolerance he is witnessing around him. “Today, I found myself being attacked… for I spoke about the grace of life and kindness. If kindness and goodness is only something you share with your group/sect/herd/religion – then what's the point of living under this sky?” he writes.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Uzbekistan: Mathematical Expression · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Claire Wilkinson discusses a report showing that medieval Islamic art shows an understanding of complex geometry that did not find mathematical expression until fairly recently. The researcher first became interested in the subject while visiting Islamic structures in Uzbekistan.


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Bahrain: ‘Terrorist Plot’ Sparks Cynicism  · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Following a controversial news report about the discovery of a ‘terrorist training camp’ in one of Bahrain's Shi'a villages, Bani Jamra, Bahrain's ‘blogfather’ Mahmood Al Yousif writes a sarcastic post proclaiming his gratitude to Bahrain's Ministry of the Interior for making Bahrain a safer place:
I am ever so grateful to the Ministry of Interior for foiling the plot to overthrow the government, yet again, by a group of 35 youths who have confessed to not know each other yet intricately coordinate their heinous activities and practice the seditious act of throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at printed targets attached to trunks of palm trees in secret palm groves.
Adel Marzooq writes on the same topic, referring to other parties who allegedly have intentions to destabilise Bahrain:
Meanwhile, Silly Bahraini Girl makes reference to the increasing legal restrictions being imposed on bloggers in Bahrain and the rest of the Arab world:
Although we may laugh at this or that and consider them as things which will never happen to us..you really never know. You may be next for a post you published with good intent or for the heck of it … such worries are taking away the fun of blogging :) What is a blog if we are to exercise self-censorship in every other word we write? How do we protect ourselves? How do we exercise our right to freedom of speech without being labelled as traitors to our countries, religion and God?
Hasan, who has recently returned from a long period of study in Japan, is rediscovering Bahrain:
This morning, I was up by 7.00am to drive my mother to her office in Manama. On the drive down Budaiya Road, between Saar and Manama, I couldn't help but steal glances at the sporadic schools of palm trees that pepper the roadside as I waited for the oh-so-aggrevating traffic to move. To those of you who haven't been to Bahrain, please don't confuse this image with the symmetrically alligned palm trees in Miami and Malibu you may have seen in Hollywood renditions of  paradise. Regardless of this, I find Bahraini palm trees somewhat more honestly – romantic and reminiscent of something that has gone a long time ago. Our very own palms of a paradise lost. On my drive back home, and since my grandmother had asked me to buy her 100-fils’ worth of Bahraini FlatBread, I decided to do some exploring in a locale I hadn't been to in ages.
After buying the bread (by actually getting out of his car), Hasan then takes a route home through some villages:
Here are some of my quick remarks on what I discovered/noticed: People in Bahrain should DO something about trying to uncover all the covered up relics in that area and make it a tourist attraction.
But he is disappointed by some developments:
There was this HUGE house in the process of being built in Al-Hajar's backstreets and it is ABSOLUTELY the UGLIEST house I have EVER seen in the world – which made me feel physically sick by just looking at it … I am also very disappointed that the construction at the entrance to Shakhura (near that other ugly ghost house near the Shakhura entrance signpost) resulted in the felling of that palm tree that was stricken in half by lightening in a storm in the early 90s that resulted in it being still living on the outside, but charred in the heart. I really liked that palm tree. It was the only magical thing about Shakhura.

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Bolivia: Five Places to Sit Quietly in Cochabamba · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Jim Shultz shares his top five places of tranquility in Cochabamba.


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Bolivia: Floods and Carnival · Global Voices
David Sasaki

While rising flood waters threaten the northeast province of Beni, Carlos Gustavo Machicado Salas describes the Carnival celebration in Oruro as one of the best in the world.


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Colombia: 100 Years of Solitude · Global Voices
David Sasaki

It is the 40th anniversary of Gabriel García Márquez's Cien años de soledad, described here by Posthegemony as “a long, sprawling novel that lacks much in the way of a conventional plot. Rather, it is full of events and incidents, digressions and flashbacks or flashforwards, not least the famous flashforward with which the book opens …”


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Ecuador: Bond Default?  · Global Voices
David Sasaki

On the question of bond defaulting, ODI writes that “Rafael Correa, Ecuador’s new president, has been playing a game of chicken with the international capital markets.”


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Egypt: If Muslims are Weird..Read This: · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

If you think Muslims are weird, then Egypt-based blogger Tom Gara urges you to read this.


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Free Kareem: Lusophone Blogs Join the Crusade · Global Voices
Jose Murilo

As soon as the information about the verdict circulated on the net, Portuguese posts commenting the 4 year in prison sentence given to blogger Abdel Kareem Suleiman started to appear Brazilian bloggers sensitiveness about any situation involving censorship is a direct consequence of the many recent attacks to their freedoms on the Internet, as showed by previous GV reports here, here, here, and also here. That's why they are ever ready to take a stance and fight to maintain a status they believe they've already conquered for themselves. In addition, Kareem's case brings in some awareness about how different might be the Arab culture in relation to the freedom notions Brazilians are now practicing through blogging.
No mundo árabe, a fronteira que separa a liberdade de imprensa da liberdade de imprensar é muito tênue. A Justiça do Egito acaba de oferecer ao mundo uma evidência do fenômeno: condenou o blogueiro Abdel Kareem Suleiman a quatro anos de cana dura. Acusam-no de ter veiculado ofensas ao presidente do país e ao islamismo.
Blogueiro egípcio condenado a 4 anos de cadeia – Josias de Souza
Não se pode impedir um ser humano de pensar, a liberdade de expressão na blogoesfera está à distância dum teclado. E isso é grandioso para nós …e deve ser assustador para quem quer controlar tudo e todos, quem ainda não percebeu a essência da blogoesfera, uma massa crítica enorme que fala e pensa em tempo quase real, sem limites que não sejam os virtuais. E o de umas grades de prisão…se deixarmos.
Blogger precisa de ajuda-Free Kareem! –  Diário da Mulher Aranha
Indeed, Brazilian bloggers are always among the first to start spreading information about such cases and joining movements and petitions, even when not sure about the effectiveness of such actions.
Em comunicado à imprensa mundial, a Anistia Internacional afirmou que “esse é um novo golpe violento contra a liberdade de expressão no Egito” . Comunicados indignados não resolvem o problema de uma geração de jovens egípcios que querem se expressar. Em um país onde o Estado controla os jornais, as rádios e as emissoras de TV, a internet tornou-se a única fonte de expressão.
Blog contra o Islã – Remix Narrativo
Pensem bem: é mais ou menos o que o Sarney fez com a Alcinéia lá no Acre: perseguição. A diferença é que aqui ninguém foi para a cadeia – embora a blogueira ainda tenha algumas dores de cabeça depois da campanha Xô Sarney… A campanha, claro, já está rodando o mundo. Matéria na Itália causou um salto astronômico de assinaturas na petição on-line. O importante, claro, é assinar as petições: Aqui, aqui e aqui.
Liberdade para Abdel Kareem – Ladybug Brasil
Deeper insight we get from one of the top Brazilian bloggers, Pedro Dória, who efficiently describes the local context faced by Egyptian bloggers, also telling something about their peculiar style.
Não é todo país que tem uma blogosfera atuante, são menos ainda os países onde a blogosfera atuante também serve como fonte de informação. China, Irã e Egito são os únicos países onde os dois acontecem – blogofera atuante e informativa – que por um acaso também são ditaduras. No Irã e na China, como no Brasil, o naco que apura informação de primeira mão da blogosfera tende a ser composto por jornalistas. No Egito, raros os jornalistas metem a mão na cumbuca. É um trabalho de estudantes, profissionais liberais, gente que apura notícia, conta o que sabe e, eventualmente, é um quê franco demais a respeito de suas opiniões…Há dois anos, quando cá este Weblog ganhou o Best of Blogs da Deutsche Welle alemã na categoria jornalismo em português, uma categoria muito mais nobre coube a um egípcio. Foi o Best of Blogs Especial Repórteres sem Fronteiras, que premiou Manal and Alaa’s Bit Bucket. Há algo de nobre em persistir dando a informação mesmo quando o risco é real. Caso das ditaduras. Manal e Alaa são um casal e seu assunto favorito é direitos humanos. Manal estava preso quando venceram o Prêmio do Júri. Estão livres, mas isto é coisa de momento. Entram e saem da cadeira ao menos uma vez por ano por dizerem o que pensam em praça pública.
Logo onde – No Mínimo Weblog – Pedro Dória
Em finais dos anos 1970, o astrônomo Carl Sagan produziu uma destas séries que deviam fazer parte do currículo básico de qualquer criança. É Cosmos. Ensina ciência, este portento valorizado pelo Iluminismo, combatido tão raivosamente pela direita cristã. O episódio de abertura da série se passa num cenário reconstruído produzido com o que a computação gráfica da época permitia. É o lugar da Antigüidade grega onde Sagan coloca o centro do conhecimento ocidental quando este conhecimento nasceu. É a Biblioteca de Alexandria. Cidade onde, hoje, por escrever o que pensa, um blogueiro foi preso. dica do Ricardo Rabello
Logo onde – No Mínimo Weblog – Pedro Dória
Diz a lenda que o Califa Umar aconselhou assim o seu comandante: “Se esses livros estão de acordo com o Livro de Deus, não são necessários; se estão em desacordo, não são desejados. Portanto, destrua-os.” … 1400 anos depois, um déja vu. Já bastou termos ficado sem uma Biblioteca de Alexandria. A sua filha contemporânea também corre perigos.
As Bibliotecas de Alexandria – Sono Consciente
Amongst the wave of posts about Kareen's sentence, a lusophone voice cried out for attention:  The Portuguese blogger António Caldeira affirms being at risk of facing 32 years in prison for content published on his blog. Media reports mentions that the real problem was the disclosure of documents that were being kept in secret of justice.
A propósito da solidariedade com Kareem Amer, noto que a ditadura socialista portuguesa esforça-se por bater o regime egípcio: num processo político, eu fui pronunciado por 49 crimes a que corresponde a pena abstracta de 32 anos e 7 meses de prisão… O motivo: ter alegadamente publicado neste blogue documentos do tribunal comprometedores e emitido opinião política relativamente a um processo de contornos políticos.
Os 9 anos de prisão do bloguista egípcio e os 32 anos de prisão do bloguista português… – Do Portugal Profundo
Na Blogoesfera internacional existe uma onda de solidariedade com Abdel Kareem Soliman que hoje foi condenado a 4 anos de prisão. É altura de nos solidarizarmos com António Caldeira. A acusação que lhe é feita, não o visa apenas a ele, é uma forte mensagem dos poderes instituídos à blogoesfera Lusa.
32 anos e 7 meses – Nova Floresta
Os crimes de que é acusado terão sido cometidos no blogue Do Portugal Profundo, de que é autor, onde terão sido publicados  vários documentos relacionados com o processo da Casa Pia, quando este ainda se encontrava em segredo de justiça.
Autor de blogue acusado de 49 crimes – Decisões em Direito e Informática

author: Jose Murilo


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Free Kareem: The Caribbean joins in · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Caribbean blogosphere tends to focus on internal matters, but the plight of Egyptian blogger Abdel Kareem Suleiman struck a chord nevertheless with a few bloggers, including Cuban-American journalist Marc Masferrer, who posts frequently on human rights issues relating to Cuba. On February 19, Masferrer encouraged readers to sign a petition and visit the Free Kareem website, saying:
Free speech repressed somewhere, is free speech repressed everywhere. Even if our words never get us this kind of trouble, it is vital that we all remain vigilant, for freedom's sake.
Masferrer called the annoucement of Kareem's conviction on February 22 “bad news for Abdul Kareem Nabeel Suleiman, for Egypt and the for the cause of free expression.”
On the same day, WeblogBahamas wrote a brief post reporting the news, adding, “it's a tragedy to say the least.”
And in Bermuda, Christian S. Dunleavy linked to the BBC report and, three-quarters seriously, drew parallels between the Egypt government's actions and a recent threat by a Bermudian government official — “the PLP/BIU's blog police” — to report an expat blogger to the country's Minister of Immigration.


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India: Dealing with Delhi · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Feringhee on dealing with Delhi. “I don't see why people grouse so much about Delhi, but then, I have never had to live, commute and work here. As a stopover it is really quite civilized.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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India: On Duty · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Delhicate Constitution on duty and politics. “On the other hand you may say that you have been placed there because the majority of people have faith in your decision-making, and that they trust you to do the right thing for them. Doing what you think is right will not directly benefit them, and they may not see it, but eventually it will make everyone better off. Maybe their children will be a lot better off for it, and certainly the country will be. But there is a political cost attached too.


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Kazakhstan, the Soviet: “Stalinkas” and “Khrushchevkas”, Afghanistan and the Red Army Holiday · Global Voices
Leila Tanayeva

Save the Houses
Photo by Adam Kesher
Blogger Adam Kesher is displeased: the “Stalin's” house next to his own is going to be replaced by a new fancy building. These houses, built before the Second World War (1935-1938) or after  (till 1955) are notable for their scale, high ceilings so rare in later Soviet block houses, huge halls and thick walls. They have nice backyards and old-style lifts. Situated mostly in the centre of Almaty, “stalinkas” for a long time represented quality and well-being.
Adam wrote (RUS): “This is my yard, as Americans would say – my “community” – which I want to keep for my children and grandchildren. The construction companies say that the replacement is inevitable. This is not true. Anyone who has been to the countries where people cherish their history and their old districts knows that. I would really like the city authorities to spend a part of the budget to renovate the 1930-1950ss buildings, maybe adding some new details to their facades – mosaic, wall-painting, balconies art nouveau … I must be an idiot.”
What Adam is talking about is a part of a bigger government campaign on demolition of the old houses in the city, which is itself just over 100 years old. The maps, which indicate the districts to be demolished, circulated around for a while, even when they were not made public.
The houses, built at the time when Khrushchev was the First Secretary of the Communist Party, from 1953 to 1964, are to be destroyed too. The district with lots of “khrushchevkas” is dubbed “The Golden Square”, and each house is marked with a memorial desk about an artist or a writer that used to live there. Its inhabitants went on a hunger strike, as wrote KUB blog (RUS), demanding fair compensation for their flats. After several days of striking and negotiating, the inhabitants of the houses were promised higher compensation and ended their protest.
Kazakhstanis in Afghanistan
On February 1989, the last Soviet troops were deployed from Afghanistan, where the Soviet Union supported Afghanistan's Marxist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) government against the Mujahideen insurgents and suffered considerable losses, with hardly any results achieved. Around 22.000 Kazakhstanis took part in this Cold War game, being sent to Afghanistan as conscripts (1.5 years for soldiers and 2 years for officers). 761 people died and were buried in Kazakhstan, 21 dissapeared, according to the Kazakh Military Office's data for 1 January 1990.
neweurasia's Vitaly Mantrov interviewed (RUS) the veteran of the war in Afghanistan, an “Agfhani”, as Kazakhs would say. Sharipzhan Utegenov was 19 when he was drawn to the army and sent to Afghanistan:
“There was an ideology, the need to protect the Southern borders of our Motherland. To say “no” meant to get a public dissaproval. Many didn't want to go, but because of friendship and soldiers’ honor, rarely anyone dared to refuse… I didn't even think about staying, knowing that all my friends would go to war. We were brought up like that …
We didn't realise what Agfhanistan was like, that there was a war. How could it be possible? 1982 was a year of stagnation in the Soviet Union. Peaceful life. The first time I began to comprehend that I was going to war was when we were crossing the Afghan border. On December 12, when we approached the border in the trucks, we were told: “We are now crossing the Soviet-Afghan border. There are combat activities of the opposition. We have to give our brotherly support. We will possibly be shot at. Don't panick, don't jump off the car. Just lie down”. We laughed at it. In half an hour the shooting began… After a while, I had a feeling that I spent all my life in the army, and I had no life before, and I would stay there forever”.
“In 1985 I came back home and I was lost. 1882 was calm and quiet. Then there was “perestroika”. We left the Socialist country and returned to a chaos, pseudo-democracy. Anyone could shout whatever they wanted. There were queues everywhere. No jobs, no salaries. Soul-searching. We came back thinking that the state was waiting for its heros. No one cared, many didn't even know there was a war … There is a feeling that we were used: dropped in the middle of fire when everyone was peacefully studying, earning money, making careers – and then forgotten.
Young people now don't know anything about that war. I was in one school recently. For 40 minutes I spoke about the war in Afghanistan, about politics and its victims. When I finished, one of the pupils said: “How many Germans did you kill?”.
The Red Army Day is still the day …
… when they congratulate men in Kazakhstan.
nemtschin wrote (RUS): Guys, happy holidays! I am from a military family myself. My father was a senior warrant officer, operator and is now a pensioner, my uncle was a Captain, grandfather – a Colonel, ended his service as a head of medical supply of Central Asian military district. I spent my childhood on a military object in DDR, where soldiers and officers visited us, at home we had uniforms, caps, shoulder-straps, and belts, which were often used on me for not observing the subordination … 23 February was always a holiday for my family, even when it was not anymore in Kazakhstan. I was proud when the USSR Minister of Defense was saying in his speech: “Comrades officers!”, I thought he was saying it to my father.

author: Leila Tanayeva


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Latin America: Approval Ratings · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Though 2007 is not overflowing with Latin American elections like 2006, Boz has still managed to come up with a thorough set of poll numbers measuring the approval ratings of leaders throughout the region. See who's hot and who's not.


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Love troubles female blogger; floods, politics and petty jobs worry Malawians · Global Voices
Victor Kaonga

Based in the UK and studying Information Systems, Mercy Gondwe might be the only female Malawian blogger noted so far. While she has not been active she woke up on a day before Valentine's day to reflect on the day of romance. Mercy says she had to be careful with what to say on Valentine's day so that she doesn't hurt those in love:
Personally, I don’t believe in valentine and before you ask, am currently unattached. I believe everyday should be a romantic day between a man and a woman. Where love is concerned, we all need to feel appreciated all the time and not just down to one day.
Petty jobs, Big Salaries
Malawians highly respect their fellow citizens who live and work in diaspora. It is often assumed that the Malawians in diaspora have good jobs and make lots of money. Two bloggers share the reality.  The UK-based Cryton Chikoko reflects on his own life in UK in a post titled Of UK petty jobs:
The fact is these petty jobs are well paying, if we compare with the perks we were getting back in Malawi. Of course being a student I work few hours to concentrate on my studies but these few hours give a pay more than that of some chief executives in Malawi. It all goes down to a powerful economy here hence there is no huge gap between high earner and low earners. We are able, through such jobs, to make ends meet and help relatives and charities in Malawi.
And writing in Chichewa (Malawi's national language), a blogger calling himself m'malawi ku theba (A Malawian in diaspora) makes most of his postings about life away from home. He bears it all in earlier posting saying,
I know very few of malawian lads who have decent jobs, the rest of us have petty jobs. If we remember our poverty, then no choice..  I dont know! This is life in diaspora.
Old fathers bashed
Does it suprise you when you hear that within the same family the age gap between the oldest and youngest child is over 24? That is a typical reality in many rural African families let alone in Malawi. The burden of fathering in old age is a concern to a Clement Nyirenda, a Malawian living in South Africa. In a posting titled Of Fathers and Fatherhood, he feels such fathers leave the responsibility of taking care of the younger siblings to the older ones:
Malawian blogger represents Africa at a Software Summit
This week, Soyapi Mumba attended the 2007 Nonprofit Software Development conference in Carlifornia. He was expected to give a presentation about  Software Development in an African context,
The Summit will be a first-of-its-kind convening to bring together the range of developers, technologists, managers, eRiders, integrators, users and other practitioners who self-identify under the umbrella of roles around “developing nonprofit software”. The event will provide an opportunity both to gather as a community and to take stock of the field, while building connections and capacity.
Soyapi will also attend ETel Conference 2007.
Political Leaders worry blogger
The year 2007 has began with declarations by presidential candidates for 2009 general elections in Malawi. Three veteran politicians claim to have the backing of the electorates to lead Malawi as president after the incumbent. The issue of politics is a major item in many discussions by Malawians now. Isaac Ziba worries about the future of Malawi given the history the country has about our political leaders. After chronicling the leadership wrangles in a multiparty Malawi, he concludes in his post,
We are a nation in need of leadership, we are a nation in dire straits, we are a nation in economic doldrums, we can not afford a political game that yields no results, we can not afford to keep on going and not improve the quality of life of our people – each one of us, particularly our political leaders – in government or in opposition have a role in forging a pure developmental agenda for the whole nation, if development fails, all of us fail, development fails, Malawians will continue to live on less than a dollar a day, development fails, we fail our people and terribly so…
Questionable blessings of rain
Yesterday evening we had a very heavy hailstorm which has caused a number of damages. Trees along the road collapsed, roofs of houses and schools blown off and bill boards being bent while others completely collapsing on the ground. Our two telephone lines were broken. Praise God they have been fixed this afternoon. Dennis and his assistant left yesterday for Chitipa to deliver food, and the unfortunate part is that they spent a night on the way because their car got stuck in the mud…. I went to Karonga to deliver food and found out more about the flood disasters in Karonga and how best to help the victims.

author: Victor Kaonga


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Mexico: Cucapá People Denied Fishing Permits · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Campamento Cucapá has published a new video documentary with English subtitles that “tells the story the Cucapá, an Indigenous people of Mexicali, who have been denied fishing permits, even though they have been fishing in their valley for over 9,000 years.”


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Nepal: A federal republic · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Madhesh Blog on the demand for a federal republic in Nepal. “Thousands of Madheshis chanted slogans demanding abolition of monarchy, constituency based on equal and average population. They appealed interim parliament to announce Nepal as a federal republic.”


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Nepal: Monarchy and a Crisis · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Nepal Monitor on monarchy and an existential crisis. “As once Maoists were minimized, now the monarchy is minimized. Because of personalistic egos of political leaders and the king, our institutions are suffering. We may blame monarchy for backwardness, and monarchy as an institution may be a thing of the past for many countries, but there are still scores of advanced countries with monarchies.”


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Pakistan: On Basant and Kite Flying · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Light Within on the colourful festival of Basant that involves a lot of kiteflying and the prevalent controversy. “First it was the Punjab government announcing that they would set up a body to ensure safe kite-flying. Then there was the proclamation that Basant WILL be celebrated in Lahore with traditional ‘fervor.’ And now there is news that the Supreme Court has called in the Punjab government to explain why they would defy a stay order that had been issued.”


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Paraguay: Valentine’s Day in Paraguay · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Ben Dangl on Ciudad del Este, Paraguay: “most of the cars had tinted windows, the private security in front of shops had loaded guns, and the streets were as full of conspiracies and rumors as pirated DVDs and sunglasses. Real guns and fake musical condoms were also for sale in the city’s humid, market streets. Though Paraguay lacks access to the sea, it contains various oceans inside its borders – oceans of soy crops. The pesticides used in this booming industry give local campesinos headaches, cancer and birth defects.”


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Spanish Language: Pornoesfera · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Juan Luis of Tecnorantes is intrigued [ES] by Pornoesfera [ES], an informative, Spanish-language blog about the online industry or google's most-sought-after word.


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Taiwan: Flying Saucer Houses · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

Photographed by CantikFoto
In Green Bay, Taipei County, there are some abandoned houses. Due to their appearance, they have been named ‘flying saucer houses’ by many people in that area.
According to Echo-Maan, who lived in that area decades ago, the houses were built around 30 years ago by Tian Gong Industry Co. as resorts or vacation houses. When it was still famous, YAMAHA would hold rock music festivals for the whole summer there.
Riverbank518 says, ‘they look like Plug-in city built by Archigram in UK or modern buildings built by Metabolism in Japan.’
However, Echo-Maan said, ‘they were not finished, and no one knows who designed them. Although the view is attractive, the wind is strong and the buildings could not provide enough protection for the residents. At last, the houses are abandoned.
Although they are abandoned, and some local people hope it can be removed, some people in other countries love these houses because of the imagination. Or like Riverbank518 writes, they have been ‘abandoned by aliens.’
Written by mountaineer, edited by Portnoy. Both are GV Chinese Project Team members

author: Portnoy Zheng


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Kuwait: From Novel Ads to the History of Bloggers · Global Voices
Abdullatif AlOmar

Q from Kuwaitism takes us on a flash back in time to when advertisements in Kuwait were creative and attractive.
This time I’ll post an ad for Kuwait Airways that I liked a lot, when they first started their route to Paris back in 1965.
Yet we are pulled back from the good old days to the present, where people like snookie, who is trying to get her friend to visit Kuwait is faced with ‘Intercultural Stereotyping.’
Her mom has been telling her ridiculous things that she says she got from the internet. Things like getting arrested for taking photographs, being kidnapped, beaten up and some other really crazy stuff. I keep telling my friend that all that is ridiculous.
The Stallion, a guy with a passion for animals (the name isn't a hint at all), reminds us that The Protecting Animal Welfare Society
2nd Annual PAWS for The Cause Dog Show is near.
Join  for a host of activities including; advice on pet health from  ‘Ask the Vets’ stall; take part in  fun dog shows (and win a much coveted winner’s rosette); shop for pet products; visit the bric a brac stalls for a bargain or two; lunch on a tasty snack; Strut your Mutt for other pet owners to admire, or picnic with your pooch in the verdant shade of the Embassy gardens.
Nothing crazy can happen these days without a blogger notcing it (or are bloggers the only ones to notice crazy things nowadays?)
And rado watched something crazy while walking around..
about 10 windows broken in a tower at Sharq after the flag start flying… And the fireman’s close the street and fix it
Meanwhile, Forzaq8 points out that Kuwait is losing its compulsory license rights because of pressure from the US.
Our Fablous Government is throwing yet more of our Rights away.
I don’t know why our government is always Eager to sign anything that they are presented with , not sure there is much thinking going on there
Now According to the BBC
The most disturbing illustration of this double standard is the IIPA’s criticism of compulsory copyright licensing requirements.
Countries around the world, particularly those in the developing world (including Kuwait)all face demands to
eliminate compulsory licensing schemes in the publishing and broadcasting fields
In a matter related to blogging, a  couple of Kuwaiti bloggers were interviewed by Kuwait TV (a government-run television). One of them was Nibaq, who has the following to say about the interview:
The interview can be easily summed up as intro to Kuwait Blogging and the blogging scene in general. We were mostly asked one by one on blogging, how we started, what we wrote and then it dove more into the political/social aspect of it in Kuwait and the world.

author: Abdullatif AlOmar


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Egypt: Life Improving for HIV Sufferers · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Things seem to be getting better for people living with HIV/AIDS in Egypt, writes blogger egYptianist. In addition to free HIV testing and medication, the National AIDS Programme now has support groups where people with AIDS meet and share experiences in different aspects. Support groups are made of 10-15 people each.


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Egypt: TV Station Closed · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egypt has closed a television station, according to Zeinobia. It seems that Egypt at last listened to the American demands and closed the channel after warning(s) and threats, she writes.


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Free Kareem: Egyptian Bloggers Speak Out · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The sentencing of Egyptian blogger Kareem Nabeel Sulaiman to four years in prison for articles he wrote in his personal blog may have come as a shock to many around the world, but for Egyptian bloggers the lesson is just too close to home for comfort.
Kareem was sentenced by an Alexandria Court to four years in prison – three for blasphemy against Islam and one for insulting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
For blogger Ala'a Abdulfattah, who was himself imprisoned last year for his political activism, it is the one year Kareem was sentenced for insulting the President that struck a raw nerve.
3 سنين على تهمة ازدراء الأديان و سنة على تهمة اهانة السيد الرئيس
بيقولك مرة واحد قرر يرشح نفسه رئيس الجمهورية، مسكوه بتوع أمن الدولة و قالولوا أنت عبيط ولا ايه، قالهم هو شرط؟
الناس اللي كانت بتشجع محاكمة و حبس عبد الكريم، يا ريت تركزوا شوية على حتة سنة حبس على تهمة اهانة الرئيس دي، يا ريت تاخدوا بالكم كويس من معناها. و تفكروا كويس دي لما تعدي بالساهل كده ممكن تستخدم ثاني ضد مين و ضد كام حد في مصر.
فكروا كويس في عاقبة حبس الكافر الزنديق الكخة بتهمة اهانة الرئيس.
Another blogger, Freedom for Egyptians, agrees with Abdulfattah's analysis that now that Kareem has been imprisoned, others in Egypt are not immune.
“This morning, I checked the news of Egyptian Blogger Abdel kareem Nabil Soliman Amer and as expected he was sentenced to four years in prison. I did not expect the four years but a prison sentence. There is still the appeal procedure but who knows….
It is really sad! Egypt is setting a dangerous precedent for trying and sentencing internet writers and bloggers when other countries are working on raising the ceiling of freedom of expression.
And the biggest disaster that it is not the issue to agree or disagree with Kareem Amer's blog, but the real disappointment is that many people are supporting jailing Kareem, including his family. They do not know that regardless where do they stand on politics or religion, their turn is coming….
I am not shocked but sad,” she writes.
After reviewing some of the comments made by international organisation and human rights groups, another Egyptian blogger Ibn Al Dunya adds his two cents to the situation.
“It´s also a reminder of how some of the great sons and daughters of Egypt have gone through the same odd experience with al Azhar, albeit with different outcomes, that Kareem has been through for the last 16 months. The likes of Ali Abd al Razeq, Taha Hussein, Naguib Mahfouz, Youssef Chahine, Farag Fouda, Alaa Hamid, NasserHamid Abu Zeid, Louis Awad and Nawal as Saádawi have all been under the scrutiny, and been jugded as not up to par with the high standards of the much acclaimed institution.
For at least four of them, this has had enourmous consequenses , Mahfouz was stabbed 35 years after he wrote Awlad Haratna(Children of Gabalawi), the perpetrator using al Azhars deccision as the reason for commiting the act. Farag Fouda was killed in the street after SheikhMuhamed al Ghazali had declared him an apostate. Nasser Hamed Abu Zeid was stripped of his position at Cairo University, and unvillingly divored from his wife, Iqbal Younis and both of them forced into exile.
And now Abd al Karim Nabil Sulaiman…,” he writes.
Ibn Al Dunya also argues that religions are protected and cannot be tarnished by the writings or thoughts of one person or another.
“What people perceive as a defence for religion or a defence for the image of Egypt, is not a good thing, it´s a sign of weakness, the religions(Islam or Christianity alike) need not be protected by the people. Religion in itself is larger than anyone of us combined and both of the two religions has outlived worse times than this. It´s us that need´s religions not the other way around, and Islam is not threatened as a religion or civilization by al Qaida, Denmark, Salman Rushdie the Pope or any of the abovementioned authors, and certainly not by a single blogger like Kareem, just as Christianity is not threatened by the writings of Muhammad Emara or the pictures of the monk, etc,” he writes.
Meanwhile, blogger Yasmeen Amin tells us exactly what Kareem has written and what has landed him in prison.
“The last entry on his unfortunate blog dates back to October 28, 2006 where he mentions that he received a summons to appear at the police station for an investigation. The charges against him, he writes, are the ghost of Al Azhar haunting him, despite him receiving his dismissal paper from Al Azhar university already. He mentions other luminaries and intellectuals that were touched by Al Azhar’s curse, as he calls it, and who were forced to either abandon their ideas or flee the country or paid with their life, such as Nasr Hamed Abu Zeid, Dr. Ahmed Sobhy Mansour, Nawal El Saadawi or Ahmed El Shahawy and the late Farag Fouda. He writes that this only strengthens his courage and resolve.
Since that last entry he has been arrested and detained and has no doubt gone through hell. We have all seen enough videos on YouTube of what goes on in Egyptian Police Stations to know that his detention there was probably a nightmare – to say the least. Visits from his family and lawyers were forbidden.
The charges against Karim were those of insulting Islam, harming the peace and insulting President Hosni Mubarak,” she writes.
Amin says Kareem wrote about love and the use of religion to suppress women in all spheres of life. Kareem also “objects to not educating girls, of not allowing them to work in certain professions and fields. He condemns female circumcision and genital mutilation as yet another form of repression. He criticises marrying off girls at an early age and is very passionate about discontinuing domestic violence. All his criticism has been dealt with before by Al Azhar and the Grand Mufti.”
“I went through the entire blog. It took me a couple of days, but I seriously read each and every blog entry. I had to find out why he will be robbed of four years of his life. Why he was denied the right to complete his education. Why he was dismissed from University. Why he was silenced and used as an example to perhaps frighten other bloggers into silence,” she explains.
Amin does a marvelous job summing up Kareem's posts, giving us a dateline of all that the jailed blogger has written about. In conclusion, she says:
Amazingly, Chapter Three of the Egyptian Constitution which deals with Public Freedoms, Rights and Duties says in Article 47: “Freedom of opinion shall be guaranteed. Every individual shall have the right to express his opinion and to publicise it verbally, in writing, by photography or by other means of expression within the limits of the law. Self criticism and constructive criticism shall guarantee the safety of the national structure. “
This is exactly what Karim has done. He exercised his freedom of opinion. He took his right of expressing his opinion seriously and believed enough in it to write it on the internet in a publicly accessible blog. In my opinion Karim lived up to both his own true self and principles as well as his religion. In his profile Karim wrote that he was looking forward to helping humanity against all forms of discriminations. The Qur’an implores believers to speak up against injustice, which is precisely what Karim has done.
Once again a religious institution is confusing itself with God: instead of seeing that they are part of the problem, they interpret any criticism of the institution as criticism of Allah, whereas Karim only did what Allah has told every Muslim to do: [4:135]: “O you who believe! be maintainers of justice, bearers of witness of Allah's sake, though it may be against your own selves or (your) parents or near relatives; if he be rich or poor, Allah is nearer to them both in compassion; therefore do not follow (your) low desires, lest you deviate; and if you swerve or turn aside, then surely Allah is aware of what you do.”


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Iran:nuclear technology booklet for school children and teachers · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Kamangir has published the cover of a nuclear technology booklet for school children and teachers.In Kamnagir‘s blog we read:”according to the public relations’ office in the Ministry of Education, the booklet “Belief” includes the history of the nuclear technology in the world and also in Iran. The booklet also addresses “the importance of peaceful nuclear energy” as well as “the gang of countries which [want to exclusively] benefit from it”.”


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Iran:Remember fired bus drivers · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Several people demonstrated in front of a Court building where Mansour Osanloo,bus syndicate leader,was judged yesterday. Demonstrators asked that fired bus drivers back to work. Osanloo and other bus drivers are in trouble because they launched a strike and ask for better work conditions.You can see photos in Revolt68.


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Iran:”UK universities and Islamic Republic propaganda · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Azarmehr says that Islamic Republic uses British universities as a propaganda platform.He talks about his experience in SOAS :A request was made by an Iranian student at SOAS for a “symposium” about Iranian cinema. Later on an organisation named “Council for the Promotion of Persian Language and Literature” took over the organisation of the event and the “Iranian Cinema Symposium” actually became a pretext for an official celebration of the Islamic Revolution in a British university, organized and sponsored by the Iranian embassy in London.