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Talking to Golnaz Esfandiari, English-Language Journalism’s ‘Bridge’ to Iran · Global Voices
Mahsa Alimardani

Golnaz Esfandiari at the Sixth Al Jazeera Forum in March, 2011. Photo used with her permission.
Based in Washington, DC, Golnaz Esfandiari is a senior correspondent at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and one of the few journalists based outside of Iran writing in English about the nuances and intricacies of Iranian society and politics. If you're an Iran watcher, you're probably already following Golnaz on Twitter. You might also know her blog, Persian Letters, one of the few English-language, Persian-speaker-led news sources on Iran. Having worked at RFE/RL’s Persian service as well as for the English-language newsroom, Golnaz thinks of herself a “bridge” between the two offices.
Global Voices co-founder Ethan Zuckerman has defined “bridge figures” as people who are passionate about explaining their home cultures to people from other societies. As Golnaz's work is very much in the spirit of the Global Voices ethos, we spoke to her about her unique role as a bridge between Iran and the English-speaking world.
Global Voices: In terms of digital journalism, you are among the more visible figures. Your Twitter account has been ranked one of the top 10 accounts to follow on Iran by The Guardian. Your blog Persian Letters has been a finalist for the Online Journalism Award. Can you tell me a bit about your experience in this new media landscape?
Golnaz Esfandiari: Social media has allowed me to access unique information about Iran and Iranians. It allows me to access a wider audience and bring more voices in my reports. Social networking sites and applications have made it a lot easier for me to reach people on the ground, to speak to my sources. I’ve also acquired new sources and have been able to get a better understanding of, for example, hardliners who are usually not open to an interview with us. I’ve managed to break a few stories over the years only by reading and verifying information on blogs and content on social media carefully.
GV: You were one of the first people to criticise the notion of a “Twitter Revolution” in 2009, when many were citing Twitter as the tool for mobilizing and bringing protesters together in opposition to the fraudulent election results. You explained in one article that you “shattered [your friends’] dream of a “Twitter Revolution” when you pointed out that most users covering the protest were in fact outside of the country. Looking back, six years later, what do you think the role of social media is in Iran?
GE: I think the use of social media in Iran and its significance is increasing. Government officials admit that and I also see more people inside the country using social media sites and apps. I actually think that since 2009, the use of social media has increased considerably. Some Iranians told me they joined Twitter after reading about the allegations about a “Twitter Revolution” in Iran. Social networking sites have facilitated conversation and the sharing of content that is banned or considered sensitive, people can discuss taboo subjects relatively openly. They also challenge state policies and stances on social media quite regularly.
The latest case is when a state media ban on former President Mohammad Khatami was announced publicly, many started sharing his images on social media. Or I still see people sharing their concern over the house arrest of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi on social media, four years after they were put under arrest and their ties with the outside world  cut. There are many such examples. As you know, there are few platforms where Iranians can express themselves freely. Social media allows for relatively free discussions and exchanges of views for people inside the country. It has also created more ties between Iranians inside and outside the country.
But it’s not all good. Social media facilitates the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories, which are quite popular among some segments of the society. And of course the Iranian regime also uses social media extensively for propaganda purposes. There is an increasing number of Iranian officials on social media, and also Iran analysts who comment regularly on the nuclear issue, some of whom have ties to the government and  basically repeat the official line.
GV: You mainly write and report in English, yet you started your career in Persian-language journalism. Is there a reason for this transition? And can you describe if these experiences are at all different (better or worse)?
GE: I’ve been with RFE/RL for more than ten years and over the years I’ve been back and forth between our Persian service and the newsroom where I currently work. I sometimes work as a bridge between the two, trying to incorporate reporting from our Radio Farda colleagues in our coverage for the English website and other services. Working in the newsroom has been very different from my working experience in our Persian service. While I’ve enjoyed my work in both services, I feel I’ve learned more in the newsroom and grown professionally. I’ve had the privilege to work with very professional and experienced journalists who have taught me a lot.
GV: A lot of Persian-language media is run and written in the diaspora for agencies such as RFE/RL and BBC Persian. These agencies report news about Iran in Persian for both audiences inside and outside of Iran, whereas when you write in English, you are covering Iran for mainly Western audiences. Have you noticed a difference in the journalism styles? And is it easy to jump between the two?
GE: Sometimes stories written for Iranian news sites are longer and less focused, information is not delivered concisely. A straight news lede is missing, the sourcing can be weak. There isn’t much storytelling. Regarding my audience, I’ve noticed that I also have readers inside the country, and of course expats, so it’s not really just a Western audience. I haven’t had problem switching, although for a strictly Iranian audience I write a bit differently in terms of the background I give.
GV: Iran is one of those complex countries with many contradictions and layers that are often hard for an outsider to grasp easily. Do you think that with more professional journalists like yourself in the field, Iran is becoming a little bit less of an alien entity in the west?
GE: I certainly hope so, although every now and then there are still misleading reports based on a lack of understanding of Iran and the Iranian people—there are still lots of simplifications, exaggeration, or misperceptions. Knowing the language is key for good reporting; it is important to be able to read the Iranian press—not only Western media reports—and talk to the people in their own language. I think Iranians on social media are also playing a role in explaining to the world that their country is more than a number of nuclear facilities and mean clerics who make controversial statements.
GV: One last question: if you weren’t a journalist reporting on Iran, what would you be doing?
GE: That’s a question I sometimes ask myself…. I would probably be using my degree in psychology and working with refugees from Syria or other countries. Over the years, my respect and admiration for medical workers has increased significantly. So in another life that could have been a career I would have pursued.

author: Mahsa Alimardani


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Cameroon’s Government Tries (and Fails) to Blame Embarrassing Photoshop on Hack Attack · Global Voices
Dibussi Tande

Photoshopped picture that appeared on the government website of President Paul Biya honoring fallen soldiers. The Cameroonian government claims the photo was uploaded by a hacker.
Thirty-eight Cameroonian soldiers who died fighting the Nigerian extremist group Boko Haram in northern Cameroon were honored in a ceremony presided over by the country’s Defense Minister Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo'o on March 6, 2015. Noticeably absent from the event was President Paul Biya, who had travelled to Europe a few days earlier for a “brief visit.”
The president had also been absent from a similar ceremony in August 2014 even though he was in the country at the time. To many observers, the president’s continued absence from these ceremonies is a sign of indifference towards soldiers who died defending the country. As the French-language Journal Du Cameroun lamented:
Pas un geste de compassion envers les soldats tombés sur le front dans le grand nord, absence récurrente du chef de l’Etat aux obsèques des soldats tombés dans le grand nord, pas un mot sur ceux qui sont sur le terrain, aucune visite de terrain d'encouragement, moult de questions qui attendent l’appréciation du président de la République dont le silence laisse songeur…
Not a single act of compassion towards the soldiers who died at the frontline in northern Cameroon; repeated absence from the funerals of the fallen soldiers; not a single word to soldiers still on the field; no trip to encourage the ground troops. These are among the many questions that President of the Republic, whose continued silence is food for thought, has to answer.
Critics were quick to point out that just weeks earlier, President Idriss Deby of Chad, Cameroon’s key ally in the war against Boko Haram, had personally honored Chadian troops killed by the group, and even visited wounded Chadian soldiers at the military hospital in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde.
One can therefore easily understand the outrage that erupted when barely three days after the Yaounde ceremony, the website of the Presidency of the Republic published a photoshopped image of the president bowing before the coffins of the dead soldiers.
“The insensitivity is simply mind-boggling and inexcusable… This is an unbelievable shame, and Cameroonians deserve full explanation for the embarrassment,” wrote US-based Cameroonian journalist Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai. Bate Felix, another Cameroonian journalist working with Reuters news agency, concurred in a series of tweets:
It was already insulting that #Cameroon President #Biya did not attend the ceremony honouring 39 soldiers who died fighting #BokoHaram 1/3
— Bate Felix Tabi Tabe (@BateFelix) marzo 10, 2015
It was even more outrageous that someone in #Biya‘s team thought it would be brilliant to photoshop him into it 2/3 pic.twitter.com/xy2GxAbKYx
— Bate Felix Tabi Tabe (@BateFelix) March 10, 2015
An exasperated Nelson Simo wondered:
Si difficile d'assumer le fait que Biya n'ait jamais rendu hommage aux soldats? Grossier montage de la Présidence. pic.twitter.com/L4tHJ8JlVl
— Nelson Simo (@lesikanel) March 9, 2015
Is it so difficult to live with the fact that Biya did not personally honor the dead soldiers? What a crude montage.
Faced with the avalanche of complaints on social media, the photoshopped picture was taken down within a couple of hours and replaced with a picture of flag-draped coffins:
The power of #socialmedia. Fake picture of Biya honoring fallen troops replaced! http://t.co/WnxXaPHmBE http://t.co/nrQIHCQ5wL
— Dibussi Tande (@dibussi) March 9, 2015
The entire article was eventually deleted from the website.
This, however, did not end the controversy as the story was picked up in the following days by the print media.
The French-language daily, Le Messager published the photomontage on its front page with the title: “Après avoir déserté… Le Chef des armées nargue les soldats.” (After Deserting… the Commander-in-Chief Mocks the Troops.)
The headline of another French-language daily, Quotidien Mutations, was equally blistering: “Manipulation: Le scandale qui vient de la présidence” (Manipulation: Scandal at the Presidency). Foreign news agencies such as France24 also picked up the story.
Confronted with an embarrassing story that refused to go away, the government finally decided to respond two days later. In a statement in French read on the government-controlled Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV), Issa Tchiroma, Cameroon’s minister of communication and government spokesperson, claimed that the image was the work of a hacker:
Toutes vérifications faites, la fausse nouvelle attribuée au site officiel de la Présidence de la République résulte d'un grossier montage photographique, qui est l'œuvre d'un pirate informatique entré par effraction sur ledit site, et sans doute mû par la volonté de porter atteinte à l'honneur et à la dignité du Chef de l'État, de nos forces de défense et de sécurité et de la nation camerounaise tout entière.
Cette ignoble manœuvre intervient au moment où le peuple camerounais dans son ensemble, a décidé de former une union sacrée autour du Chef de l'État et des forces de défense et de sécurité dont il est le Chef, pour sans doute créer la diversion et la distraction, tenter de saper le moral des troupes sur le front de guerre et de démobiliser la nation tout entière, dans le formidable élan de solidarité qu'elle est en train de manifester.
After thorough verification, the false news attributed to the official website of the Presidency of the Republic is the result of a grotesque photomontage by a hacker who broke into the site, and who was undoubtedly motivated by a desire to undermine and dishonor the Head of State, our defense and security forces, and the entire nation.
This despicable maneuver comes at a time when the Cameroonian people are in a sacred union with the Head of the State, Commander-in-Chief of our defense and security forces. No doubt, the person set out to create a distraction in an attempt to undermine the morale of troops at the frontline and break the nation’s extraordinary spirit of solidarity.
Screenshot of flag-drapped coffins of dead soldiers which replaced the photoshopped picture after public outcry.
The government’s claim was instantly met with derision. An incredulous Felix Bate asked:
Min. #Tchiroma will make us believe that #Cameroon presidency site was hacked & someone uploaded this shameful photo? pic.twitter.com/3ewBLGDyf2
— Bate Felix Tabi Tabe (@BateFelix) March 11, 2015
Pierre Christian could barely contain himself:
Waaaaaaa ahaahahahaahhaaha tchiroma parle d'un piratage du site de la présidence. Mais quelle idiotie !! Un grossier mensonge !!
— Pierre Christian O. (@PierreChrist_) March 11, 2015
Whaaaaaaaat! Tchiroma says the presidency site was hacked! What stupidity!! What a blatant lie!!
Twitter user Jess Dina asked the minister:
Tchiroma, pourquoi tu prends les camerounais pour des cons. C'est tres dommage#LRT
— JD (@Jess_Dina) March 11, 2015
Tchiroma, why do you take Cameroonians for morons? This is very disgraceful.
The French-language daily, Le Jour, roundly dismissed the hacker excuse:
Le site Internet de la présidence et la page Facebook du chef de l’Etat sont truffés de photos grossièrement montées. Contrairement aux dénégations de Issa Tchiroma, les administrateurs de ces sites sont coutumiers du fait.
The head of state’s website and Facebook page are chock-full of photos that have been clumsily photoshopped. Contrary to Issa Tchiroma’s denials, this is a common practice by the administrators of these sites.
Internet sleuths confirmed Le Jour’s assertion as they combed through the social media sites managed by the presidency for evidence that the “grotesque photomontage” was not the first of its kind by the presidency’s webmaster:
@BateFelix just compare with this other picture tweeted by the presidency twitter's account a few days before pic.twitter.com/LD7g3W3LDK
— Florian Ngimbis (@ngimbis) March 11, 2015
@ngimbis @BateFelix Also compare with this one from the website of the presidency pic.twitter.com/LP0hYNVCoE
— Dibussi Tande (@dibussi) March 11, 2015
The Camerooon-info.net news portal also posted an extensive compilation of photoshopped images from the president’s website and Facebook page.
In spite of mounting evidence that the photomontage was not the work of a hacker and most likely the handiwork of an overly creative staff on the president’s communications team, the government stubbornly stuck to its story. In an interview with the government daily Cameroon Tribune, Minister Tchiroma vowed that they would track down and punish the culprit.
According to news reports, the investigation is being carried out by agents of the Ministry of Defense and the Directorate General for External Research (the rather innocuous name for Cameroon’s dreaded intelligence service).
In their desperate bid to catch the alleged culprits, security forces have thus far made two rather bizarre arrests. On March 14, they arrested a certain Foyet Eric Kennedy in Yaounde on suspicion that he was the hacker after he challenged the government’s version of events on a local radio station. He was subsequently set free. That same day in Douala, Gerard Kuissu, a prominent human rights activist and journalist was also arrested in Douala and accused of being the hacker. The evidence? He had shared the photo on his Facebook page. He was subsequently transferred to Yaounde for further questioning then finally released three days later. (Click here for Kuissi’s chilling narrative of his harrowing experience in jail).
Interestingly, while security forces continue to search for what many believe to be an imaginary hacker, officials at the presidency have been busy deleting all photoshopped pictures from the president’s website, Facebook page and Twitter feed. Links that once led to pages with these pictures are no longer active or no longer carry the pictures. However, as Cameroonian journalist Thierry Ngogang has cautioned on his Facebook page about the ongoing cover-up attempt:
La vérité est comme la queue d'un singe: il peut essayer de la cacher entre ses pattes, elle apparaîtra toujours.
The truth is like the tail of a monkey; it always reveals itself no matter how hard the monkey tries to hide it between its legs.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Dibussi Tande


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#HackEC15 — An Open Data Challenge in Ecuador · Global Voices
Patricia Carolina Saucedo Añez

As part of the Second International Conference on Democracy and Digital Government 2015 (ICEDEG 2015), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is hosting Hack Ecuador Challenge 2015 (HEC'15). The event welcomes Ecuadorians with open-data apps that promise to deliver needed services in local communities, improving the nation's online ecosystem, especially in the public sector.
#HackEC15 RT @CarlosMonsalveA: ¿Porqué ser miembro IEEE Ecuador? 3) IEEE Hack Ecuador 2015. Premios a mejores apps. pic.twitter.com/xyonH5AGKW
— Open Hack IEEE (@OpenHackIEEE) January 7, 2015
Why join Ecuadorian IEEE? 3) IEEE Hack Ecuador 2015. Best App Awards.
Iria Puyosa, a representative of one of the contest's organizers, told Global Voices about her expectations:
De acuerdo con los indicadores del Open Data Barometer, la política de datos abiertos de Ecuador se orienta hacia la innovación y el bienestar social. En Ecuador se dispone de datos abiertos sobre variables demográficas, educación, salud, producción agrícola, importaciones/exportaciones, transporte y telecomunicaciones. Este es el tipo de datos que pondremos a disposición de los participantes en el hackathon. Esperamos una gran participación de los estudiantes afiliados a la Sección Ecuador de IEEE. Y lanzamos el reto a los empresarios y emprendedores tecnológicos ecuatorianos para que también se sumen a procesos de innovación, usando datos abiertos.
According to indicators of Open Data Barometer, Ecuadorian open-data policy is oriented towards innovation and social welfare. In Ecuador, open data is available about demographic variables, education, health, agricultural production, import/export, transport, and telecommunications. This is the kind of data that we will make available to the participants in the hackathon. We expect that a large number of students affiliated with Ecuadorian IEEE, will attend the event. We also challenged Ecuadorian technology entrepreneurs to join the innovation process using open data.
Who is participating?
The contest will be divided into two categories: students and professionals.
What are the prizes?
Winner of first prize gets $800 in cash and a winner's certificate. The second-place winner gets a certificate, too. Winners will be announced on April 8.
You can join the Facebook group del HEC'15 or follow @OpenHackIEEE on Twitter and find out the latest news from HEC'15 using the hashtag #HackEC15.
Webinar Informativo 4 de Marzo -> Regístrate gratuitamente y conoce más sobre el #HackEC15 http://t.co/WnoIZM2vpF
— Open Hack IEEE (@OpenHackIEEE) February 19, 2015
March 4 Informational Webinar -> Sign up free and learn more about the #HackEC15

author: Patricia Carolina Saucedo Añez


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Protesters in Taiwan Rally Against Nuclear Power · Global Voices
I-fan Lin

Protesters wrote down what they are willing to do to save energy. Photo is taken by coolloud.org. CC BY-NC 2.0.
Major cities across Taiwan recently witnessed mass demonstrations advocating for renewable energy policy and the decommissioning of the country's nuclear power stations.
On March 14, as many as 45,000 people protested against the plan of the state-owned Taiwan Power Company for sending abroad 1,200 highly radioactive used fuel rods from the island’s first and second nuclear plants. Reprocessing of these sent fuel rods would extend the service lives of the plants, which are scheduled to go out of service in the next six years. However, the protesters rejected the reprocessing because it is too expensive, and the radioactive products of reprocessing will be eventually sent back to Taiwan.
Two days after the anti-nuke demonstration, the legislators agreed to freeze the Taiwan Power Company's plan to reprocess the fuel rods overseas.
Concerns about Taiwan’s nuclear power plants have mounted since the Fukushima nuclear accident, which resulted from an earthquake and tsunami hitting Japan in March 2011. Also located on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, Taiwan faces significant risks with its three relatively outdated nuclear power plants.
According to Taiwan's existing schedule, its first nuclear power plant, launched in 1978, will be decommissioned in 2018, while the second nuclear power plant will operate until 2021. On March 14, protesters across the country demonstrated to hold officials to this schedule, or perhaps even accelerate Taiwan's shift away from nuclear energy.
Chiung-Li Sun, a reporter from the independent journalism platform Events in Focus, Taiwan's first plant might go offline even sooner than 2018.
在去年12月10日大修，依原本計畫退出108到112束燃料束，但是由於燃料池的容量，已經不夠了，所以只退出92束，留了10到16束本來該退出的燃料束在爐裡[…]。打開原能會「核能電廠用過核子燃料貯存表」，赫然跳出的數字是，核一廠一號機，貯存容量3,083束，已儲存量3,074束，剩餘9束，這一個統計的時間是「104（2015）年2月」而「預估滿池時間」，是「104（2015）年1月」。燃料束無法退出，將導致核一廠無法運作。[…]
目前，台電已經在核一廠區內，興建「乾式貯存」裝置，燃料束從冷卻池裡拿出來。該裝置已經完工，進行過第一階段的試運轉，但是由於新北市政府尚未核發水保設施完工證明，無法進行第二階段的「熱測試」（相關資料），何時可以啟用，不知道。[…]
台電打算用110億，送1,200束燃料棒出國再處理。[…]原能會主委蔡春鴻就說，就算「再處理」搞成了，也不過是延長2個週期，也就是36個月，剛好到核一執照到期。核一廠一號機的40年大限，是在2018年12月，依法在3年前，也就是今年底前，要除役的話，得提除役計畫。
108-112 spent fuel rods were supposed to be retrieved from the reactor during the major maintenance on December 10 last year. Because the spent fuel pools did not have enough capacity, only 92 bundles of the spent fuel rods were retrieved. As a result, there were 10-16 bundles of spent fuel rods left inside the reactor. […] If we look at the document, “The Storage List for Spent Fuel Rods in the Nuclear Power Plants” [published by the Atomic Energy Council in February 2015], we'd be surprised by the numbers: The capacity of the spent fuel rods in the First Nuclear Plant is 3,083 bundles, and the current storage is 3,074 bundles, which means it can only store another 9 bundles. According to plant's maintenance schedule, the storage space should have run out in January 2015. If the spent fuel rods cannot be retrieved from the reactor, the nuclear plant can't be operated. […]
[In response to the situation], the Taiwan Power Co. has built a dry fuel storage in the First Nuclear Power Plant for the spent fuel rods removed from the water pool. Although they finished the construction of the storage space and conducted a first-stage trial run, they cannot proceed the second-stage thermal trial because the New Taipei City government hasn't yet issued them the Certificate of Completion for Water Conservation. No one knows when this storage can be used […].
Taiwan Power Co. budgeted NTD 11.25 billion [$353 million] to finance the export of 1,200 spent fuel rods to other countries for reprocessing. […] Atomic Energy Council Chairperson Chun-Hung Tsai has pointed out, however, that the plan for reprocessing the fuel rods could only extend the first nuclear power plant's operational life by an extra two cycles (36 months). The plant's first reactor will finish its 40-year service in December 2018. If the decommissioning process is on schedule, the power company is legally obligated to submit its plan by the end of this year, three years before December 2018.
Because Taiwan Power Company did not find a suitable place for the final storage site of the nuclear waste, the residents of New Taipei City are worried that their homeland might become the final storage site of the nuclear waste if their government approves the dry-spent-fuel storage. Therefore, given concerns about earthquakes and floods, the New Taipei City Government is unlikely to approve the construction of the dry-spent-fuel storage at the first power plant. On the other hand, the legislators’ decision to suspend the Taiwan Power Company's plan to reprocess the fuel rods overseas is likely to scrap the Economic Affairs Ministry's proposal to extend the service life of the First Nuclear Plant, leaving the country's problems with nuclear waste deadlocked.
Several huge demonstrations have been held in Taiwan since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident. The country even halted the operation of a fourth nuclear power plant, after a clash between anti-nuclear protesters and riot police in front of the Taipei Train Station on April 28, 2014. As the Atomic Energy Council decided in January that the Fourth plant be mothballed later this year in July for three year, the fate of the plant would have to be decided by a referendum to be held before 2018.
As the Fourth plant was designed to replace the First and the Second, with the above-mentioned complications in the launch of the Fourth plant, the Economic Affairs Ministry endorsed the Taiwan Power Company's proposal to reprocess spent fuel rods abroad in February. However, it denied its intention to extend the service life of the First power plant on March 15 soon after the anti-nuclear demonstration.
Related articles on Global Voices:
2011/3/16 Taiwan: Country's Nuclear Power Plants Are High Risk
2011/3/21 Taiwan: The Reassurance of Nuclear Safety is Not Convincing
2011/3/24 Taiwan: Call for Energy Policy Review
2011/3/29 Taiwan: Anti-Nuclear Protesters’ Lonely Quest
2011/3/31 Taiwan: Nuclear Waste on Orchid Island
2012/5/11 Taiwan: Indigenous Tao People's 30 Year Nuclear ‘Nightmare’
2012/5/16 Taiwan: Could the Future Be Nuclear-Free?
2013/1/6 Taiwan's Nuclear-free New Year's Wish
2013/3/10 Taiwan Denies Entry to Anti-Nuke Visitor Ahead of Protest
2013/8/5 Nuclear Opponents in Taiwan Work to Change ‘Unfair’ Referendum Law
2013/8/7 Referendum on Taiwan's Fourth Nuclear Plant Suspended
2014/5/12 Should Anti-Nuclear Parents in Taiwan Bring Their Kids to Protests?

author: I-fan Lin


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The Collapse of Civilisation Is Already a Reality for the Children of Ambovombe, Madagascar  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Children in Ambovombe, Madagascar. Photo by John Strauss Kotovaoarivelo, posted on Facebook.
A scientific publication in the Journal of Ecological Economics argues that “over-exploitation of either Labor or Nature will result in a societal collapse” if nothing is done to prevent it.
Based on a mathematical model, the study explains (via The Guardian) that the convergence of ” the stretching of resources due to the strain placed on the ecological carrying capacity” and “the economic stratification of society into Elites [rich] and Masses (or “Commoners”) [poor]” will increase the likelihood of the fall of society as it was observed for previous human civilizations.
That collapse is already a reality in the south of Madagascar, a region that has suffered recurrent bout of famine over the past decade. 300,000 people are at risk of famine in the region because of a severe and prolonged drought since November 2014. 90% of the Malagasy population live with less than 2 USD/day, a stark reminder of the growing inequity on the African continent. John Strauss Kotovaoarivelo is an accountant manager from the region. He visited the city of Ambovombe and could not hold back his tears from what he saw. He hesitated but felt compelled to share the urgency of the situation by posting photos of children fighting for their lives because of lack of food. Kotovaoarivelo writes :
Je ne peux pas me taire et faire comme si de rien n’était devant la gravité de la situation vécue au quotidien par nos compatriotes dans le sud. Ces photos parlent d’elles même. Je ne vais pas vous prendre la tête pour ces photos, mais quand même en vous bousculant juste un peu pour réfléchir avec moi sur les pourquoi et les comment de toutes ces choses qui font chaque jour le calvaire de ces pauvres gens. Je vais vous révéler là des photos pour ne pas dire des informations qui passent presque inaperçues [..]  Nos dirigeants sont occupés ou aveuglés par d’autres choses qu’ils ne pourront jamais déchiffrer le message sur les regards de ces pauvres enfants
I cannot keep quiet any longer and pretend as if nothing is happening in the face of  the grave situation that our countrymen in the south face on daily basis. These photos speak for themselves. I will not bludgeon your head with these photos, but I hope they will jost your awareness a little and help you reflect with me about the plight of these people. I am merely sharing my pictures so that their suffering will not go unnoticed [..] Our political leaders are so busy or so blinded by other things that they cannot feel the message in the eyes of these children, seeking help.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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13 Eritrean Writers You Should Know About · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Woyingi compiles a list of Eritrean literature, which includes Sulaiman Addonia's The Consequences of Love and Taught to hate: observations on madrasas, Astier M. Almedom's Re-reading the Short and Long-Rigged History of Eritrea 1941–1952: Back to the Future?, Alemseged Tesfai's Two Weeks in the Trenches: Reminiscences of Childhood and War in Eritrea (Memoir) and Tekie Fessehatzion's Shattered Illusion, Broken Promise: Essays on the Eritrea-Ethiopia Conflict 1998-2000 (Essays).

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Bermuda’s 99% · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The economic gap appears to be widening in Bermuda and one blogger has been paying attention. A week ago, after the Bermuda Telephone Company announced that it was considering introducing new – and more expensive – residential high speed broadband internet products and a high-end restaurant launched a $1000 per plate “private dining experience”, BeachLime.com noted that “the disconnect between big-ups and the common man remains steadily high.”
In a follow-up post at the beginning of this week, the blogger suggested that “once again, the less well off have to make up the slack.” He was referring to the government's decision to increase bus and ferry fares in an effort to take a bite out of the national debt, saying that it has “the undesired effect of targeting the people least able to handle further dents to their savings or earnings”:
Yes, on the surface it's probably not a substantial cut; a 5 dollar increase in a book of 15 tickets isn't a killer move, but when it comes to who gets to pay more, think about it. Who catches buses on a regular basis in Bermuda?
According to the blogger, the rate hike will have the greatest impact upon students, the elderly, the disabled and low income earners:
The people who are more likely to be able to afford a small dent in their earnings are the ones less likely to use that service!
Sad situation all around. Meanwhile the politicians continue to find ways to inconvenience Bermudians just a little bit more, every time.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Cameroonians Aren’t Happy With Le Monde’s Coverage of Their President’s Health · Global Voices
Julie Owono

Screenshot of the Biya couple returning to Yaoundé
The frequent trips made by Paul Biya, president of Cameroon since 1982, and his wife to Europe have always been cause for question among Cameroonians and observers of the country's politics. But the presidential couple's most recent trip in 2015 has drawn particular attention thanks to French newspaper Le Monde, which relied on anonymous sources to report that the trip was health-related.
Cameroonians have criticized the paper's coverage as an invasion of privacy, and even accused Le Monde of participating in a plot orchestrated by former colonial power France to destabilise the country.
It all started on 13 March when Le Monde Afrique, the African edition of Le Monde, published an article initially titled “Le couple présidentiel hors du pays et en mauvaise santé” (The presidential couple out of the country and in poor health). In the first version of the article, which was shared widely on social media, notably by prominent Cameroonian activist Bergeline Domou, the editors of Le Monde Afrique declared:
Depuis le 2 mars, le chef de l’Etat camerounais « effectue une visite privée en Europe », indique un communiqué du palais d’Etoudi, le siège de la présidence, sans préciser la destination. Mais de sources concordantes, Paul Biya séjourne actuellement dans un centre hospitalier du canton de Genève, où il suit un traitement pour des soucis cardiaques et un cancer de la prostate, ajoutent les mêmes sources. Âgé de 82 ans – dont 33 passés au pouvoir – « l’homme lion », comme on le surnomme au Cameroun, hésiterait à subir une opération chirurgicale envisagée par les médecins.
Une source bien introduite dans les organisations de la diaspora camerounaise affirme que les médecins et autres personnels soignants camerounais ou d’origine camerounaise travaillant aux HUG (Hôpitaux universitaires de Genève, structure publique mais de grande qualité où sont souvent hospitalisés des chefs d’Etat africains) ont été récemment invités à prendre leurs congés. “
A press release from the presidential palace indicated that since 2 March, the Cameroonian head of state “is on a personal trip to Europe”, without specifying the exact destination. But several sources indicate that Paul Biya is currently staying in a medical facility in Geneva where, the same sources add, he is undergoing treatment for cardiac issues and prostate cancer. At 82 years of age — 33 of which were spent in power — the “Lion Man” (as he is known in Cameroon) is said to be hesitating about undergoing the surgical intervention suggested by doctors.
A well-connected source within the Cameroonian diaspora has confirmed that doctors and other healthcare professionals from Cameroon or of Cameroonian origin who work at HUG (the University Hospital of Geneva, a public but well-regarded hospital where African heads of state are often hospitalised) were recently encouraged to take their holidays.
In the version of the article currently available online, this information has been removed. The headline is also different. “Le couple présidentiel hors du pays et en mauvaise santé” (The presidential couple out of the country and in poor health) was changed to “Le couple présidentiel s'exile pour raisons médicales” (The presidential couple go abroad for health reasons), and then to “Le couple présidentiel est à Genève et s'occupe de sa santé” (The presidential couple is in Geneva and focused on their health), as can be seen in screenshots on the blog of Cameroonian Allain Jules:
Screenshots by Cameroonian blogger Allain Jules that show the evolution of headlines from Le Monde regarding the presidential couple in Cameroon.
The article prompted various reactions from Cameroonian readership. First was the question of medical confidentiality. For Allain Jules, interviewed by the news site Cameroon-Info.Net, everyone, including people in the public eye, has the right to a private life and to medical confidentiality:
Même s'il y a des vérités, c'est de l'ordre du privé. Parce que, chaque personne est libre de garder un secret médical. Encore plus, les médecins. Le secret médical est un des fondements de la médecine libérale dont la violation est réprimée par le code de santé publique et le code pénal.
Even if it is true, it is private. Because everyone is entitled to medical confidentiality. Doctors even more so. Medical confidentiality is one of the foundations of the medical profession, the violation of which is outlawed by the public health code and the penal code.
This is a view shared by the Cameroonian government. On a chat show on Cameroonian television, the inspector general of the Ministry of Communication declared:
le droit aussi pour le chef de l’Etat camerounais au respect de sa vie privée, nonobstant son statut de personnalité publique.
L’article 9 du Code civil français prescrit que «chacun a droit au respect de sa vie privée», a-t-il rappelé. Le Pr. Albert Mbida a également évoqué un arrêt rendu par la Cour de cassation en 1998 qui abonde dans le même sens.
The right to a private life for the Cameroonian head of state as well, even he is in the public eye.
He pointed out that article 9 of the French Civil Code decrees that “everyone has the right to respect for his or her private life”. Professor Albert Mbida also referred to a judgement delivered by the Supreme Court in 1998 which came to the same conclusion.
To Paris-based Cameroonian analyst Abdelaziz Moundé, the Le Monde article issue poses a fundamental question:
La fonction présidentielle sacrifiera t-elle à l'impératif d'une mutation moderne ? : déclarer ses biens suivant la Constitution et publier son bulletin de santé, gage de responsabilité et de transparence.
La question du secret dans la gestion des affaires de l'État n'a plus la même nature qu'au mitan des années 60. La vie politique evolue avec les exigences de son temps.
Will the institution of the president respond to the pressing need for a modern transformation?: to declare his or her assets in accordance with the Constitution and publish his or her medical report, showing responsibility and transparency.
The question of privacy when it comes to managing national affairs is not the same as in the mid-1960s anymore. Political life has changed in line with the times.
More than the question of medical confidentiality, one point resurfaced repeatedly in Cameroonian reactions to the story: the idea that Le Monde Afrique was in fact the journalistic arm of a foreign effort to destabilise Cameroon. Citing an anonymous source, the site 237online wrote :
Cela trahit une sorte de complot du Quai d’Orsay, par presse interposée, contre le pouvoir de Yaoundé au moment où le pays de Paul Biya inspire confiance, à l’intérieur comme à l’extérieur, explique un fin analyste. On a envie de dire que c’est une histoire de fou, car Paul Biya subit régulièrement des check-up dont les résultats sont toujours satisfaisants. S’il y a des malades dans cette affaire, on pourrait dire que c’est plutôt le journal Le Monde qui mérite d’être conduit à l’hôpital et non le chef de l’État camerounais. Cette affaire pue la manipulation
This reveals a plot of some kind by the Quai d'Orsay (French Ministry of Foreign Affairs), through the intermediary of the press, against those in power in Yaoundé at a point when Paul Biya's country inspires confidence inside and outside the country, explains a keen analyst. You want to say that it is nonsense, that Paul Biya has regular check-ups, the results of which are always satisfying. If there is anyone involved in this affair who is sick, it is Le Monde newspaper, which deserves to be sent to hospital and not the Cameroonian head of state. This whole affair stinks of interference.
The suggestion of alleged attempts by the former colonial power to destabilise Cameroon, whose 30 years of peace are threatened by Boko Haram extremists in the north of the country, is not new.
On 28 February 2015, during a march organised in the capital Yaoundé in support of the northern population under attack by Boko Haram and of the soldiers fighting them, French ambassador to Cameroon Christine Robichon was booed by participants, who chanted “Non à la guerre, Non à Boko Haram, Non à la France !” (No to war. No to Boko Haram. No to France!)
Twitter user Ottou Sydney Olivier summed it up when he said:
Ce sentiment anti français qui continue de se propager partout au Cameroun… Le monde Afrique a pas aidé avec son article c'est sûr
— Ottou Sydney Olivier (@sydneyolivierO) March 16, 2015
This anti-French sentiment that continues to spread through Cameroon…The LeMonde Afrique article definitely didn't help
The presidential couple has not responded to the article from Le Monde Afrique yet.

author: Julie Owono


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Chinese Artist Recounts Being Censored for Selling Ai Weiwei T-Shirt · Global Voices
pao-pao.net

T-shirt designed by Wu Tun, now available for purchase at corlectionstore.com
This is the part one of a trimmed version of an interview with Wu Tun, an online shop owner whose Taobao shop was forced to shut down in November 2014. The interview was conducted by Yi Que Tang and originally published in Chinese on pao-pao.net on February 10, 2015. The English version was translated by Mandy Wong and republished here under a partnership agreement with Global Voices.
Last November, as other vendors celebrated record sales numbers on Chinese online shopping platform Taobao, 28-year-old artist Wu Tun was forced to “permanently shut down” his T-shirt shop on Taobao. After just four days of business with 10 T-shirts sold, Wu’s venture was abruptly closed because of one particular T-shirt that displays a brick wall with big letters reading “愛 Can’t Be Here” printed on top. The Chinese character means “love” – its transliteration, “Ai.”
Wu had created a simple T-shirt design as part of Ai (Love) Can’t Be Here, an online action expressing support for Ai Weiwei, the world famous dissident artist who has been under house arrest in China since 2011. “I decided to support and participate in it when I learned about it,” said Wu, “I thought it was a subtle expression to support Ai Weiwei and didn’t expect that the censorship authority would find me. The sensitive political environment makes it impossible for both Ai (Ai Weiwei) and ai (love) to exist.”
But Wu did not stop supporting Ai Weiwei. He was determined to carry on the endeavor of selling T-shirts.
Ai’s passport has been held by police officers since 2011, so he can’t travel abroad. I wish my effort could raise more people’s awareness about his status. I am also doing this for myself. My online shop was forced to shut down because of the t-shirt. I still want to re-produce the t-shirts and am searching for shops that are willing to sell them.
Wu created a page on Indiegogo, the second-largest crowd-funding platform in the US, with a description on the project and a promotional video. The Great Firewall has not blocked the site, so the content is accessible in mainland China. But the video content, which is hosted in YouTube, cannot be viewed.
Wu wishes that his video could be viewed by more Chinese netizens because it explains his concern and support for Ai Weiwei and criticizes Internet censorship practices in mainland China. Late one night in early February, he uploaded the video on Youku, a Chinese version of YouTube, hoping that the video clip would be stay up longer if posted at night and thus reach more people. But he found the video deleted the next morning.
Wu was furious, actively witnessing censorship as it became more and more stringent:
Among the post-1985 generation, I began using the Internet a bit earlier than others. I started searching stuff online when I was a junior secondary school student in 1999. At that time, I searched for things like music, fashion, games, and other things young people are interested in. Suddenly, many websites were blocked for unknown reasons. Later, I learned that Fang Binxing (lead developer or “Father” of China’s Great Firewall) and his GFW were working behind the scenes. Imagine having to use a VPN to break the “wall” just to watch a video. The shutdown of my Taobao shop is a similar story. While we realized that “Ai Weiwei” is a forbidden term in China, I changed Ai's Surname to Love, but the authorities still shut down my shop. Friends from overseas asked me the reason and I didn’t know how to explain…
Wu started using a VPN to circumvent censorship, but new restrictions on VPN use in China left this effort similarly fraught. “I need to access Twitter, VPN is essential for Chinese Internet users,” Wu stated. “To post a kitten photo on Twitter is now a luxury as you have to try really hard.  If your smartphone gets connected to a VPN, you feel like you won in a lucky draw.”


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Documenting the Systematic Decline of Women’s Rights in Macedonia · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Although southeast European countries are progressive in many other ways, the decline of women's reproductive rights in some Western Balkan countries has been a worrying trend. In Macedonia, several small protests have been held in recent years to demonstrate people's opposition to government involvement in determining public sentiment on issues like abortion and family planning, after the government implemented a national anti-abortion campaign that began in 2011.
“My body – my decision” sigh at a protest against new abortion law. Photo by Vanco Dzhambaski, CC BY-NC-SA.
Recently, Macedonian equal rights activist Ana Vasileva, known as @Amateuress on Twitter, provided a lengthy overview of the systematic decline of women's rights in Macedonia on her blog:
In recent years Macedonia has undergone a very subtle, yet dreadfully pervasive deterioration of the situation with women's rights. Mainly unnoticed or overlooked, the government latched on the popular, deeply misogynist sentiment of the suffering mother (a metaphor often used for the country itself) and after the initial surge of promise with the introduction of the gender quotas in 2006 and the adoption of the Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, which paired with the history of equal treatment from the previous system led to even higher percentages in female representation in certain areas compared to the EU average[1], things started moving downwards steadily, without sufficient public resistance.
It can arguably be claimed that the ploy began with the anti-abortion posters and newspaper ads which started littering the public space out of nowhere circa 2006-2007 without anyone claiming responsibility for them…

author: Filip Stojanovski


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India’s Supreme Court Axes Online Censorship Law, But Challenges Remain · Global Voices
Subhashish Panigrahi

The Supreme Court of India took a remarkable step to protect free expression on March 24, 2015, striking down controversial section 66A of the IT Act that criminalized “grossly offensive” content online. In response to a public interest litigation filed by Indian law student Shreya Singhal, the court made this landmark judgement calling the section “vague”, “broad” and “unconstitutional”. Since Tuesday's announcement, the news has trended nationally on Twitter, with more than 50,000 tweets bearing the hashtags #Sec66A and #66A.
Cartoon by Manjul, shared widely on social media.
Section 66A allowed police to arrest any person who sent online communications deemed “grossly offensive” or known to be false. This has enabled the government take down many websites with allegedly objectionable content. Among various cases since the law was updated in 2008, two people were arrested for making comments on Facebook regarding India's prime minister Narendra Modi and one man was arrested for commenting on public service closures following the death of political leader Bal Thakrey.
The now-defunct Section 66A reads as follows:
66-A. Punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service, etc.
—Any person who sends, by means of a computer
resource or a communication device,—
(a) any information that is grossly offensive or has menacing character; or
(b) any information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal
intimidation, enmity, hatred or ill will, persistently by making use of such computer resource or a communication device; or
(c) any electronic mail or electronic mail message for the purpose of causing annoyance or inconvenience or to deceive or to mislead the addressee or
recipient about the origin of such messages, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine.
Internet rights advocate and lawyer Pranesh Prakash, who works with the Center for Internet and Society in Bangalore, has been one of the law's most outspoken critics in recent years. Immediately following the ruling, he tweeted:
#66A has been struck down in its ENTIRETY!! What great news for #FoE and rule of law in India! Will they do the same for s79(3)?
— Pranesh Prakash (@pranesh_prakash) March 24, 2015
Nikhil Pahwa, independent journalist and founder of the MeddiaNama blog, offered his take on the ruling:
This is a great decision for freedom of speech in India…66A is far too vague, and lends itself to arbitrary implementation by the police, especially phrases like “grossly offensive”, annoyance, inconvenience, ill will. Remember that even the right to offend is an integral part of free speech.
Journalist and author Sagarika Ghose sarcastically wondered if the government of India would retroactively offer recompense for all of the actions taken against citizens for violating 66A.
Now that #Sec66A gone, in same spirit will GOI apologise to Priya Pillai,allow Wendy Doniger, un-ban books,stop calling media anti-national?
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) March 24, 2015
Some were playful in their response to the decision. Siddharth Sing set out to “test” the efficacy of the ruling with a tweet mocking prominent public figures in Indian politics:
Bal Thackeray's funeral caused such a traffic jam. Azam Khan's buffaloes are stupid. Sibal looks like Peter Pettigrew. #66A #Testing
— Siddharth Singh (@siddharth3) March 24, 2015
Section 69, which provides authorities with the power to censor websites that “create communal disturbance, social disorder, or affect India's relationship with other countries” was upheld however. The Court has yet to clarify this decision. CIS India's Pranesh Prakash tweeted:
Unfortunately 69A (website blocking) has been upheld despite many issues, incl lack of transparency. Need to read full judgment to see why.
— Pranesh Prakash (@pranesh_prakash) March 24, 2015
Tuesday's decision comes after the government of India was heavily criticized in January 2015 for blocking 32 websites in the country.

author: Subhashish Panigrahi


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Recycled Cooking Oil Fuels LED Cherry Blossoms in Energy-Conscious Japan · Global Voices
Sayuri Ishiwata

Illumination in Keyakizaka, Tokyo. Photo from Flickr user Dick Thomas Johnson. CC-BY-2.0
An innovative approach to recycling and alternative power generation is allowing the cherry trees along Tokyo's Meguro River to “bloom” in winter.
This past winter, waste cooking oil was gathered from local households and restaurants to light up LED lights the color of cherry blossoms for the 2014 Everyone's Meguro River Illumination. The cooking oil was then recycled and converted into biodiesel fuel that in turn was used to generate electricity.
これ行こうかな♡ “@event_checker: 12/25(木)まで東京・大崎五反田地域の目黒川が桜色に染まる「目黒川みんなのイルミネーション」開催中！→http://t.co/MM9cAXBhuo … pic.twitter.com/Ua0omrHt7H”
— くみらきむ (@xx_kumi) December 6, 2014
Everyone's Meguro River Illumination: A winter event held around Gotanda (walkways alongside the Meguro River in Gotanda, Tokyo), decorating cherry trees along the river with unique cherry blossom color (pale pink) LEDs.
The waste cooking oil also fueled the trucks that were used to collect the waste oil itself.
Recently in Japan, biodiesel fuel — fuel made from recycled cooking oils and fats — has gained attention thanks to increased numbers of cars that can use it. The technology is now more practical, and is a great way for common people to reduce their environmental impact.
According to a report from Japan's Ministry of the Environment, at least 450,000 tons of domestic waste cooking oil is collected each year across Japan:
日本を例にとると、230万トンの食用油脂が消費され、45万トン程度が廃食用油として回収・処理されている。食品工場や飲食店から排出される廃食用油の回収率は高く、飼料や肥料、石けん、インク原料、ボイラー燃料などとして有効利用されている。一般家庭からの廃食用油はその殆どは、そのまま排水として一緒に流される、または燃やす、埋めるといった形で処分されており、家庭からの回収率は低い。(source)
In Japan, 2.3 million tons of cooking oil is consumed each year. About 450,000 tons of this used oil is collected as waste for recycling or disposal. It's relatively easy and efficient to collect waste cooking oil from food processors and restaurants. This oil can then be effectively reused as feed stock for fuel, fertilizer, soap, raw material for ink and boiler fuel. On the other hand, the collection rate from households is low because most of the waste cooking oil is disposed by directly disposing of down the drain, by incinerating it with the rest of the trash, or by sending it to the landfill. (source)
Another significant advantage of burning biodiesel is that the fuel emits no sulfur oxide, itself a serious cause of air pollution.
There are even slogans for biodiesel: “eco-friendly clean energy for next generation”; “local energy generation for local consumption”; and “100 percent off-grid generation.”
☆目黒川みんなのイルミネーション☆ 目黒川に冬の桜が咲き乱れる♪ pic.twitter.com/4j07ys5OAN
— 世界の素敵な夜景 (@mickynoun1) March 21, 2015
Everyone's Meguro River Illumination: Winter cherry blossoms are in bloom beside the Meguro River.
Cooking oil-fueled cherry blossoms aren't the only lights brightening Tokyo in winter. Every year from late autumn to the Christmas holiday season the city's streets are lit up by colorful illuminations at night. After Christmas events and autumn leaves, night-time illumination of city streets is something Japanese people look forward to during the darkest time of the year.
先週土曜、清水寺　夜の特別拝観に行ってきました！超キレイでした！！今週末までです。http://t.co/WtrKSBp6Qp pic.twitter.com/48MRSBhLoh — JAPAN ATTRACTIONS (@JP_attractions) 2013, 12月 4
Last Saturday, I went to Kiyomizu-dera (temple in eastern Kyoto City) for the special night viewing! It was so beautiful! The special opening period will end this weekend.
However there are some who think night illumination is a bit waste of electricity.
Since the “triple disaster” triggered by the Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 11, 2011, national sentiment in opposition to nuclear power and in favor of moving towards alternate forms of energy has only increased.
One reason for this change in public opinion was that the 3/11 triple disaster included a massive and ongoing nuclear accident at a large nuclear power complex in Fukushima.
Following the Fukushima disaster, all of Japan's nuclear power plants were shut down out of fears that another major earthquake would trigger more nuclear accidents. The shutdown posed tremendous challenges for Japanese society: until March 2011 the plants had provided more than half the nation's power supply,
The result of the earthquake, tsunami, nuclear accident and nationwide nuclear power plant shutdown was immediate power shortages, followed by the launch of nationwide power saving campaign that extended to schools and office buildings.
Rolling blackouts (planned blackouts) were implemented to reduce power consumption and make sure blackouts were evenly distributed. Japanese society also worked to minimize the use of air conditioners and heaters, encouraging people to use stairs instead of elevators and dimming store interior lighting.
Many “We are saving energy!” (節電, setsuden) signs appeared on the walls and windows of public spaces.
ナイス節電！ RT @TokyoAcademy: 練習場は節電中。 http://t.co/V9PViET
— 節電bot (@setuden_bot) August 28, 2011
Nice power saving! RT @TokyoAcademy: “The exam prep space is saving energy.” [Image: “Fans for use inside (un-air conditioned) building]
As time has passed since the disaster, many special events that had been given up before have resumed, such the nighttime illumination of cities.
At the same time a considerable number of people have voiced the opinion that Japan should give higher priority to securing stable power for daily life necessities rather than special events.
イルミネーションの電気に力入れてる場合か… そんな余裕あるならいい加減こっちの節電やめろし pic.twitter.com/pFqmpPEPLl — セレガラ (@SEREGA_TypeR) 2013, 12月 7
Is making sure there is enough electricity for nighttime illumination something we should be focusing on? If we can afford illumination we should also be able to afford stopping conserving power in our daily lives.
Another Twitter user pointed out the paradox between the societal movement to reduce electricity consumption while at the same time trying to attract visitors with nighttime illumination.
「自分で電気代払ってるんだからいいじゃない！！」っていう瞬きがどうしても許せない。 RT @uk_dfz: 震災後3年目。どこ行ってもイルミネーション、キラキラ。今、原発は一基も動いてないよね。計画停電？節電？いったいなんだったんだ？ pic.twitter.com/TusqvJo9EZ — oningiri (@oningiri) 2013, 12月 21
I really can't  forgive them when they say, “We pay for the electricity by ourselves. No problem!!” RT @uk_dfz: Three years have passed since the disaster. I can see illuminations wherever I go. No nuclear power plants are operating at the moment, right? Planned blackout? Saving power? What was the point?
Japan, like many other countries, has always struggled with limited natural resources and securing new energy sources. There is some awareness of alternate energy sources, but the “clean energy” movement is still in its infancy. Perhaps the biodiesel-fueled cherry blossoms lights on the Meguro River provide a clue about how to deal with the dilemma that exists between the anti-illumination criticism and the desire for pleasant winter lights at night.

author: Sayuri Ishiwata


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Russian Social Media Users Write 30 Million Daily Posts · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Russians tweet, post, and blog 30 million items a day. Nearly everybody's doing it. Image edited by Kevin Rothrock.
According to a new study, Russian social media users pump about 30 million new posts into the digital ether every day. Igor Ashmanov, creator of Kibirum (a research firm that specializes in analyzing social media and managing online reputations), announced his company's findings at a marketing conference in Moscow earlier this month.
In addition to gauging social media activity across the RuNet, Kibirum‘s study focused on Russia's most active social networks: Facebook, VKontakte, Twitter, LiveJournal, and Instagram. According to the research, there are 3 million active Facebook users in Russia writing 4-5 million daily posts. There are 1.5-2 million Russian Twitter users, who tweet 8-12 million times a day. Instagram users share more than 2 million photos every day, and there are more than 14 million registered LiveJournal accounts.
Russia's most popular online network, VKontakte, publishes 12 million daily posts from users who are generally the youngest of any major social media website. On average, the oldest users belong to the Russian website Odnoklassniki.
Kibirum‘s study also counted about 12,000 online news sites and more than 120,000 standalone blogs and Internet forums.
For all the people registered on these websites and the large number of posts, Kibirum found that only 5 percent of users actually create original content. (The vast majority of Web activity is reposting someone else's material.)
Efforts to calculate and label the RuNet's bloggers and digital media could become a major feature of future Internet regulations. The so-called “Law on Bloggers” that took effect in August 2014, as well as a more recent legislative initiative from Duma deputy Alexey Kazakov to equate unambiguously bloggers and journalists, will likely spur more efforts to quantify and identify the Russians producing and sharing content online.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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A Trinidadian Falls in Love with Jamaica · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Trindadian diaspora fashion blogger, Afrobella, grew up “steeped in reggae music and [with] a love for Jamaican culture” – so why did it take her so long to actually visit the island? She's not sure she can answer that question, considering that her first impression was that “Jamaica is an intoxicatingly beautiful place with unique culture and cuisine”:
Jamaican culture is appreciated around the world, but it’s a whole ‘nother thing to go there, be there, and experience the lifestyle.
That said, she has posted her Top 5 reasons to visit Jamaica. Of course her list includes things like the warm weather and ambiance of the popular vacation spot, Montego Bay – but it also waxes poetic about the country's reggae music, food and drink and – no surprise for a fashion blogger – the shopping.


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Balloons Released in Brussels in Support of Jailed Iranian Student Hamid Babaei · Global Voices
Lourdes Sada

Balloons released on ULB campus in support of the release of jailed student Hamid Babaei. Photo by JH Baraër Bridou, used with permission.
A cloud of yellow balloons recently filled the sky above the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), where on March 6 the local chapter of Amnesty International staged a protest against the detention of Hamid Babaei, an Iranian graduate student studying industrial engineering in Belgium, until his imprisonment in Iran almost two years ago.
The Iranian embassy is across the street from the ULB campus.
Babaei and his wife, Cobra Parsajoo, had been living in Belgium for several years and both had received academic grants to pursue graduate studies. (Parsajoo is a pharmacy doctoral student.) In the summer of 2013, the couple returned to Iran on vacation. During their stay, intelligence officers approached Babaei and asked him to collaborate with the Iranian government by informing on fellow Iranian students living in Belgium. Babaei refused, claiming he had no special knowledge or interest in politics.
Hamid Babaei at the Brussels airport. Photo reproduced from the Free Hamid Babaei Facebook page, used with permission.
On August 5, 2013, while he waited at the airport for his flight back to Belgium, he was arrested and accused of spying.
Babaei was jailed and interrogated in the infamous Evin prison, a home to so many arrested intellectuals that it's earned the nickname “Evin University.” On December 21, 2013, after a kangaroo court that lasted ten minutes denied Babaei a lawyer and the opportunity to testify in his own defense, he was sentenced to six years in prison for “acting against national security by communicating with hostile governments.” According to an article in the Belgian newspaper L'avenir,
Dans son jugement, le président du Tribunal révolutionnaire a retenu à l’encontre de l’étudiant que la bourse et les subsides que lui allouait l’université de Liège constituaient des «preuves» de son inféodation à des «Etats hostiles».
In rendering his judgment, the chairman of the Islamic Revolutionary Tribunal held against him the fact that the student had received a fellowship and a grant from the Universidad of Liège, stating that this constituted “proof” that he was under the influence of “hostile governments.”
Babaei has recently been transferred to the notoriously harsh Rajai Shahr prison, and he runs the risk of being placed in one of the communal wards shared by violent criminals. Since his transfer on February 17, Babaei has been on a hunger strike.
Iranian authorities have pressured Babaei on several occasions to confess publicly to the crimes of which he stands accused and also to implicate his wife. So far, he's resisted, sparing his wife very serious consequences, as she is currently living with her family in Iran, barred from leaving the country. Undeterred, she has mounted a formidable media campaign to free her husband.
Babaei's story is just one of many. During the Ahmadinejad Presidency, Iran's intelligence services increased surveillance of expatriate Iranians. Blogger mmellissa78 sums up the situation on her site Shadow Diplomacy:
Iranian Expats, Beware.
It seems that you can decide to leave Iran but Iran can decide not to leave you, both metaphorically and literally.
So while Foreign Minister Javad Zarif is trying to set up a committee for the return of Iranians from abroad and while President Hassan Rouhani promises to improve the state of human rights in Iran, the regime that preceded them is still working based on a code: either you root for Iran or you become its enemy. If you don’t spy for the regime, you must be spying against it…simple, and very very sad.
Rally at the University of Liège. Photo from Free Hamid Babaei on Facebook, used with permission.
Ever since the tribulations of Hamid Babaei and his wife began, classmates at the University of Lièges and in Brussels have regularly demonstrated their solidarity, organizing rallies, writing letters to Belgian and Iranian authorities, and promoting online petitions demanding their release and permission for them to return to Belgium to resume their studies.
With this symbolic act, students and professors are determined to keep Hamid Babaei's case in the spotlight.

author: Lourdes Sada


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Belarus Tightens Grip on Internet With New Data Retention Decree · Global Voices
Sergey Kozlovsky

Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and his government are stepping up their crackdown on Internet freedom. Images mixed by Tetyana Lokot.
As part of a government effort to combat drug trafficking, Internet service providers in Belarus will soon be required to store complete records of Internet users’ browsing history.
The new policy, issued by decree by the Ministry of Communications, comes into force on January 1, 2016. Though the “anti-drug” measures are ostensibly aimed at combatting illegal drug trafficking and distribution, some human rights defenders fear that the decree could be misused for political purposes. Pavel Sapelka, a legal expert for the Viasna Human Rights Center, believes the authorities would not hesitate to abuse their powers to limit free speech online.
К сожалению, власти были более обеспокоены ограничением доступа к сайтам, который распространяют нежелательную для властей информацию. Понятно, что если эта норма будет работать прозрачно, так, как и должно, безусловно, это хорошо, поскольку мы все понимаем, что не стоит на месте ни преступность, ни средства, которые помогают преступникам осуществлять свою деятельность. Если же под видом борьбы с противоправными действиями будут чиниться препятствия в работе тех сайтов, которые пропагандируют политические взгляды, то это будет расценено как очередное нарушение.
Unfortunately, the authorities are more concerned with the restriction of access to the websites which disseminate undesirable information. Of course, if this norm works transparently, as it should, this will be a good thing, because we understand that [organized] crime and the tools it employs are only becoming more sophisticated. However, if the authorities use combating illegal actions as a disguise for hindering the work of websites which promote certain political views, it will be regarded as another violation [of free speech].
Under the new decree, ISPs will be obligated to store information about the time of connection to and disconnection from the Internet, as well as the amount of data sent and received. Companies providing Internet services will also have to collect all Internet users’ names, passport data (collected by ISPs when users sign service contracts), internal and external IPs, and MAC-addresses of their devices. Service providers across the board will be required to retain this data for at least one year. While this amount of time is not uncommon by global standards, the technical and legal particulars around collection remain murky. Moreover, this approach seems extremely general, given the relatively narrow stated goal of pursuing drug traffickers and users.
Legal restrictions associated with drug trafficking in Belarus have gotten worse, mainly because of “spice“—a new drug commercially known as synthetic marijuana. It’s relatively easy to find a recipe for cooking spice on the Internet, and that has contributed to the drug's popularity in Belarus, Russia, and other neighboring countries. Since January 2014, spice has made up 70% of the illegal drug market in Belarus. Although the problem is real, experts believe that it is a critical misstep to allow authorities to surveil the online behavior of all Internet users, regardless of whether they have any association with drug-related websites.
This decree is the latest in a series of new regulations that restrict online rights—without question, censorship in Belarus is becoming stronger as presidential elections draw near.
Last December, the government adopted amendments to media legislation, ostensibly mandating that any website in the Belarusian segment of the Internet will be viewed as a media organization. This leaves websites of all kinds subject to the mercy of the Communications Ministry, which has the authority to shut down sites extrajudicially.
At the end of February the Communications Ministry published a decree mandating ISPs to block Internet anonymizers such as Tor and VPN services. The authorities suggested that any such service with anonymising facilities used to access websites already blacklisted in Belarus would be added to the state blacklist as well.
Soon after the adoption of the media amendments, several large online platforms, including independent news websites, were blocked temporarily. Local activists and journalists called this blocking a “dress rehearsal before the election.” If this is indeed the case, then limiting access to anonymizers and storing users’ browsing history and personal data are but little changes to the final script.

author: Sergey Kozlovsky


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BREAKING: Saudi Arabia Wages War on Yemen · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on Sanaa. Photograph shared by Yemeni blogger @mareb_elward on Twitter
Saudi Arabia launched a military campaign against Yemen this morning. Backed by its Gulf Arab allies, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan and Saudi Arabia started an airstrike operation, dubbed Decisive Storm, against Houthi fighters who took control of Yemen in January.
The airstrikes started at 2.30 a.m. Yemeni time, and online Yemenis and Arab bloggers are torn between those wanting to see the Houthis rooted out of power and those who don't want to see the country becoming another Iraq, Syria or Libya.
Friend in Sana says bombing started at 0230 am – crazy anti aircraft fire followed #Yemen pic.twitter.com/nK0kpI0i5I
— vivek raj (@vivekrajindia) March 26, 2015
UAE commentator Sultan Al Qassemi names the countries taking part in Decisive Storm:
Al Arabiya: 30 UAE fighter jets, 15 Kuwaiti, 15 Bahraini, 10 Qatari, 6 Jordanian, 2 Egyptian jets, to participate in “Decisive Storm” #Yemen
— سلطان سعود القاسمي (@SultanAlQassemi) March 26, 2015
Journalist Henan Moussa adds:
Military operation against #Yemen Houthis is called ‘Decisive storm’. Pakistan &Egypt are also contributing with air &naval forces. @akhbar
— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) March 26, 2015
And student Daniel Wickham, from the UK, asks:
Saudi, Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt & Jordan bombing #Yemen right now. Pretty much guaranteed US & UK-made jets are being used right?
— Daniel Wickham (@DanielWickham93) March 26, 2015
Al Qassemi also draws parallels to another storm:
Current major regional war “Decisive Storm” shares same initials as last major regional war “Desert Storm” (1990) Coincidence? I think not.
— سلطان سعود القاسمي (@SultanAlQassemi) March 26, 2015
Yemeni blogger Atiaf Alwazir appeals to her countrymen and women:
No matter our political affiliations don't root for #war it won't solve any problems, it will just cause more bloodshed #Yemen
— Atiaf Alwazir (@WomanfromYemen) March 26, 2015
And she adds:
#war is never the answer.This is intended to destroy #Yemen not to shift balance of power! F you #saudi & international war loving coalition
— Atiaf Alwazir (@WomanfromYemen) March 26, 2015
Yemeni Hamza Shargabee explains:
the airstrikes are happening because the participatns hate houthis/iran not because they love #Yemen
— Hamza Shargabee (@icHamza) March 26, 2015
From Sanaa, Jamal Jubran writes on Facebook:
أنت ضد فكرة الحرب. أنت ضد العدوان،أيّ عدوان. تخرج لمظاهرات ضد الحروب. كيف الآن تؤيد الحرب على بلدك. عشر دول بتضرب بلدك في وقت واحد. السعودية بتضرب بلدك. وأنت تؤيدها. اسمح لي أقلك : أنت كائن مسخ ومشوّه.
يلعن أبو شكلك.
You are against war. You are against any aggression. You take part in anti-war demonstrations. How come you now support a war on your country? Ten countries are attacking your country at the same time. Allow me to tell you that you are a disturbed person. May you be damned.
And Hafez Albukari shares photographs of empty streets in the capital Sanaa, as schools have been closed for the day:
Quite Sanaa streets at 7am as many r not going to schools, colleges or work after air strikes panic. #Yemen pic.twitter.com/vCd41ZleZn
— Hafez Albukari (@hafezbukari) March 26, 2015
Many are questioning what airstrikes will achieve.
On The Yemen Peace Project page on Facebook, Will Picard writes:
Saudi Arabia, responding to Abdu Rabu Mansur Hadi's request, has launched air strikes against San'a. As a student of Yemeni affairs and of military tactics, I do not understand what KSA thinks it can achieve with such strikes. People will be killed, without a doubt, and the infrastructure will be damaged, but air strikes will do nothing to degrade the position of Saleh and Ansar Allah.
He adds:
I'm a relatively smart person. I've studied international relations and warfare for a long time. I honestly cannot imagine what positive result Saudi Arabia or its allies think can be achieved through air power right now. Thoughts?
Meanwhile, Saudi blogger Hassan Al Harthy is celebrating the Saudi stance in standing against “injustice and enmity.” He tweets:
في كل عهد تحرير من ظلم وعدوان السعودية بلد النصرة بعد الله ،، #عاصفة_الحزم pic.twitter.com/xM6VM5sNbX
— حسن الحارثي (@Al_7arthy) March 26, 2015
Every reign sees a liberation of injustice and enmity
Saudi Arabia is the country of support after Allah
He shares this inforgraphic which champions Saudi monarch King Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud as the liberator of Kuwait; King Abdulla bin Abdulaziz as the saviour of Bahrain and the current King Salman bin Abdulaziz as the champion of Yemen.
Journalist Mohammed Jamjoom wonders if the airstrikes will pull in other regional players:
Discussing #Saudi led airstrikes in #Yemen, Arabiya anchor just asked guest what he thinks response from #Iran will be …
— Mohammed Jamjoom (@MIJamjoom) March 26, 2015
And Syrian blogger Rafif Jouejati asks:
Is it officially WWIII yet?
— Rafif Jouejati (@RafifJ) March 26, 2015
Stay tuned for more coverage from Yemen.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Pakistan was a part of the Saudi-coalition bombing Yemen. Apologies for the error.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Civilian Death Toll on the Rise as Saudi Arabia Leads Airstrikes on Yemen · Global Voices
Abir Ghattas

Photograph shared by Yemeni journalist Nasser Arrabyee
@narrabyee on Twitter
A total of 18 civilians have been killed and 24 people injured as Saudi Arabia and its allies bombed Houthi rebels in airstrikes on Yemen early this morning, announced the Yemeni Ministry of Health.
A 10-nation coalition which includes Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Sudan, Morocco, Pakistan, Egypt and Jordan have started airstrikes against Yemen to fight Houthi rebels, who have taken control of Yemen in January. Dubbed Operation Decisive Storm, the operation has the full blessing of the US, a key Saudi ally.
On Twitter, the human toll of the attack came to light as Yemenis woke up to the carnage in the capital Sanaa. The first airstrike took place just after 2 am.
Yemen Updates tweets:
Ministry of Health: 18 civilian people were killed and 24 others were wounded in the #Saudi assault on #Sanaa, via SabaNews. #Yemen
— Yemen Updates (@yemen_updates) March 26, 2015
Yemeni political activist Ammar al-Aulaqi tweeted that families were fleeing Sanaa after the airstrikes resumed at 6:09am:
Heavy traffic on roads leading out of Sanaa, whole families are fleeing today. — Ammar Al-Aulaqi (@ammar82) March 26, 2015
Just like Ammar el Aulaqui, several Yemeni Twitter users are sharing photographs of the destruction caused by the airstrikes, that hit several civilian neighbourhoods in the north of Sanaa.
more casualties of saudi/US war on yemen. reports of many causalities on a neighbour hood north of sanaa. pic.twitter.com/kXMWzYzV26 — Hussain Albukhaiti (@HussainBukhaiti) March 26, 2015
the destroyed homes in sanaa that was targeted by Saudi/US lead war against yemen. pic.twitter.com/BahBx8DJo4 — Hussain Albukhaiti (@HussainBukhaiti) March 26, 2015
in this neighbourhood north of sanaa many women and children were killed. pic.twitter.com/O1ZoxjVhkP — Hussain Albukhaiti (@HussainBukhaiti) March 26, 2015
Yemeni journalist, Nasser Arrabyee also tweeted about the civilian houses destroyed by the attack.
Civilian houses and cars nearby Yemen Sanaa airport destroyed by Saudi bombing this morning. pic.twitter.com/GAHtadvjZF — Nasser Arrabyee (@narrabyee) March 26, 2015
Yemeni blogger and activist Afrah Nasser tweeted that the current situation in Aden is a bloody street war with several causalities.
.@lina22980 in #Aden tweets: a street war now in #Aden. Killed bodies lying on the ground down the streets. #Yemen
— Afrah Nasser (@Afrahnasser) March 26, 2015
She also highlighted the humanitarian crisis that will only get worse after these attacks, since in Yemen more than 15.9 million people are in need of some kind of humanitarian assistance.
15.9 ml ppl – 8% more than last year – currently require some kind of humanitarian assistance in Yemen. http://t.co/VO6ISZVnAc — Afrah Nasser (@Afrahnasser) March 26, 2015
The real tragedy would be the disastrous humanitarian situation. Starvation & lack of basic services would lead to more violence #Yemen
— Afrah Nasser (@Afrahnasser) March 26, 2015
Finally, Hisham Al-Omeisi tweets reflect that the civilian death and injury toll is only going to increase given that there is no infrastructure in place to protect the civilians during war time, especially against airstrikes.
No bomb shelters, safehavens in Sana'a whatsoever..we never expected airstrikes/bombardment nor are prepared to deal with it.. #Yemen — Hisham Al-Omeisy (@omeisy) March 26, 2015
Stay tuned for more coverage from Yemen.

author: Abir Ghattas


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Defiant Tunisia Hosts the World Social Forum · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

Tunisia hosts the World Social Forum for the second time in a row
Less than a week after the deadly attack on the Bardo Museum in the capital Tunis, which left 20 tourists and a police officer dead, Tunisia is hosting the 10th edition of the World Social Forum (WSF).
Following the attack on March 18, there were fears that the forum might be cancelled. However, the organizing committee issued a statement declaring that the forum is not going to be cancelled and that all of its activities are maintained.
Through this attack, terrorist groups attempted to undermine the democratic transition Tunisia and the region are currently experiencing while creating a climate of fear amongst citizens who aspire to freedom, democracy and pacific participation in establishing democracy.
The quick response from the social movement and all the political bodies in Tunisia opposed to terrorism, calling upon unity to fight it, proves how Tunisians care about their recent democratic experience. The social movement in Tunisia and the region counts on the global support of democratic forces to oppose violence and terrorism.
More than ever, the massive participation to the WSF (Tunis 24th-28th March 2015) will be the appropriate answer from all the peace and democratic forces towards a better, more fair and free world made of pacific co-existence.
In fact, the maintaining of the forum is perceived as a strong response to the Bardo Museum attack.
Nessryne said:
Despite the shock and the sadness, I cannot wait for the #WSF2015. Activism, struggle and life must go on. #BardoAttack
— Nessryne J (@sasoukee) March 21, 2015
While the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey tweeted:
World Social Forum 2015 is about to start in #Tunis. Best answer 2 Bardo massacre is building another world! #WSF2015 pic.twitter.com/EptYl25Pkd
— LabourNews #Turkey (@KivancEliacikEN) March 23, 2015
The World Social Forum is an anti-globalization and anti-capitalism meeting of civil society organizations. It first met in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2001, as a response to the World Economic Forum. It serves as a space for reflection to groups and movements that oppose no-liberalism and strive for social and economic justice.
Human rights advocate Rae Abileah explains:
The World Social Forum is about learning how to translate our struggles & work in coalition – @ActionAid #FSM2015
— Rae Abileah (@raeabileah) March 23, 2015
We don't want to take a nice photo with world leaders in Davos. We want to hold them accountable in #Tunis! @ActionAid #FSM2015
— Rae Abileah (@raeabileah) March 23, 2015
The Dakar-based Flamme d’ Afrique tweeted on 24 March:
Les peuples du monde se donnent RDV à Tunis pour s'indigner face aux inégalités dans notre monde et prêcher pour un monde meilleur #WSF2015
— Flamme Afrique (@Flamme_Afrique) March 24, 2015
Peoples of the world will be meeting in Tunis to express anger at the inequalities of our world and preach for a better one
The forum kicked off on Wednesday afternoon with an anti-terror march to the Bardo Museum.
2015 World Social Forum delegates march to the Bardo Museum, where two gunmen killed 21 people on 18 March. Photo shared on Twitter by @arabesque_tn
Le #FSM2015 à #Tunis est une excellente occasion pour affirmer que la lutte contre le #terrorisme passe aussi par la justice social #FSM
— Seif Eddine TRABELSI (@seifeddinetr) March 24, 2015
The World Social Forum in Tunis is an excellent reminder that counter-terrorism also requires social justice
This is the second time in a row Tunisia hosts the forum. Tunis has already hosted the 2013 edition. During the five-day event, 70,000 delegates from more than 4,000 organizations representing countries from across the world, will be discussing a wide range of issues and topics including, climate justice, immigration, media freedom, women's rights, refugees and energy.

author: Afef Abrougui


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‘Diner en Blanc’ Fans the Flames of Jamaica’s Social and Economic Divide · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Emancipation Park in Kingston, Jamaica; photo by Kent MacElwee, used under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.
The coming together of friends that originated in Paris just over a quarter century ago and has since mushroomed into a global phenomenon, has now spread to the Caribbean.
Le Diner en Blanc was conceived by Francois Pasquier, who wanted nothing more than to have a picnic with friends in a public space; participants were to wear white in order to be able to easily find one another. From year to year, the event grew and soon gained international momentum. It is now a registered trademark, so event planners who would like to host a Diner en Blanc soiree must sign licensing agreements and abide by the organisation's guidelines, which include keeping the location of the event secret until the very last minute.
But hosting such a fancy affair in a developing country like Jamaica raises some troubling questions about entitlement, race, class and economic power. In a blog entry posted soon after the event was held at Kingston's Emancipation Park, Active Voice referred to “the imagined community of #DinerEnBlanc”:
The location had been announced; Kingston’s beloved Emancipation Park was being occupied by Jamaica’s One Percent, clad in white and brandishing bottles of wine and hyper-expensive loaves of bread (one lampoons them lovingly because by staging this event they were in effect telegraphing to the world that Jamaica isn’t so crime-ridden that it’s not business as usual–or should we say leisure as usual–when it needs to be)
The post went on to detail the various marketing aspects of the event, which was pitched as an epicurean celebration that boasted a waiting list of thousands. Fashion and decor retailers, food supply chains and even banks got in on the advertising action:
The upmarket picnic had no shortage of sponsors. The imagined community of Diner en Blanc has deep pockets. Organizers of all floundering and struggling cultural ventures in Jamaica please note…money is available depending on how you incorporate your sponsors into your events and how ‘tasteful’ and simultaneously boasy [boastful/proud] you are… […]
But…but…is this not a textbook case of conspicuous consumption you ask? literally eating and drinking as conspicuously as possible–or is it something else? You decide. This blog isn’t into glut-shaming. I’ve just filleted the event for you, that’s all. *Waves napkin*
Other bloggers were uncomfortable about the event as well. At first, Kelly Katharin Ogilvie McIntosh dismissed it as “just another party”. But then, she saw an interview that changed her perspective:
A representative from one of our leading banks made a statement that has been bothering me since Friday night: ‘All of Jamaica is here’. No, Ma'am. Not at all. 900 people is not all of Jamaica. Did you mean to say ‘All of Jamaica that matters is here'? Think about it: All of Jamaica (that matters) is here.
This goes to the heart of what is wrong. It reveals the thinking of many of us. It explains much of what we see around us. ‘All of Jamaica (that matters) is here.’ Us and Them. It informs the dispensing of justice, provision of health care, why some things happen in some communities and not in others. ‘Us and Them’. As long as those with means continue to pretend as if Those Others don't exist, the chasm between Us and Them will grow wider.
She also questioned the priorities of Jamaicans, suggesting that the value placed on keeping up appearances is holding the country back economically.
One of the most powerful musings about the whole affair came from Sarah Manley, the daughter of former Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley, who posted a Facebook note that was widely shared, and which bloggers like Annie Paul and Jean Lowrie-Chin republished:
When I posted the picture juxtaposition of the Diner En Blanc affaire beside the huge plumes of smoke from the Riverton City Dump fire blanketing the city of Kingston I did so with a clear conscience and a profound sense of irony. The elegant aerial of Jamaica's elite decked out in fine style streaming in to our National Emancipation Park, a picture I might add widely circulated in social media, and in traditional media, presented an irresistible visual representation of the haves doing what haves do. Their choice of white clothing formed an almost cloud like film eerily similar to the white smoke billowing over the capital. While Rome Burns, a long venerated metaphor for those with excess living to excess in the midst of poverty and desperation begged to be the caption.
Attendees of the event appeared oblivious to the paradox as they posted photos and videos on Instagram and sang along to the lyrics of the popular song, “Burn”:
And we gonna let it burn #DinerEnBlanc #Kingston #Jamaica #DinerEnBlancKgn
Un vídeo publicado por Diner En Blanc Kingston (@dinerenblanckgn) el
Manley soon began to feel the backlash. Herself part of the country's elite, she was not surprised at the reaction. What did shock her, though, was the fact that most attendees “seemed unaware that there was any irony attached at all and were genuinely surprised that [Manley] would put the two images together”.
Manley provided several examples of “Rome burning”, starting with the dump fires, which are so commonplace that “it has been suggested [they] are an accepted part of an economic structure so deformed that starting the fire is a common strategy of business development for the truck owners who are paid to haul the huge mounds of dirt needed to put it out.” She noted the predicament of the cash-strapped Ministry of Health, “frequently in the news for being short of even the most basic supplies”.
She also found it offensieve that the event was able to break the rules of Emancipation Park, “one of only a few carefully maintained public spaces in our city designed for all to enjoy”.
Calling out the culture of entitlement which she believes the Jamaican media has also been complicit in, Manley whittled the whole dilemma down to a matter of form over function:
We Jamaicans are spectacularly good at appearances. We are good at creating the appearance of success. We seem however to have confused looking the part with being the part. It is so ingrained in our culture that to many of us we genuinely think that if we show up, in the right attire, at the right address, it doesn’t matter if we actually produce nothing, do nothing […]
That you could turn up in your finery with your picnic baskets of (What was in those picnic baskets? Good cheese? Pate? Or tin mackerel?) of whatever, is evidence of nothing. Rome is a flame, despite your presence on the Boards of Associations, despite your Jimmy Choos. The desperate in ghettos ten deep to a room are plotting ever plotting to scale your wall, to pick your pocket, to carve themselves out a slice of your pie cooling just beyond their reach on your watchtower.


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Prisoner of Conscience Pedro Canché’s Letter to Journalist Carmen Aristegui · Global Voices
Elizabeth Rivera

From jail, Pedro Canché wrote a letter to fellow journalist Carmen Aristegui after her recent and controversial exit from media group MVS. This letter was published on his Tumblr blog “Diary of a prisoner of conscience“.
15 de marzo de 2015 Carta a Carmen AristeguiA propósito del consumado golpe al equipo de investigación de MVS, en específico a tu equipo de noticias, Carmen Aristegui, ¿cuándo tendremos en México un canal de televisión o cadena de radio nacional exclusivo de periodistas?
¿Qué necesitas?
Si don Julio Scherer demostró con la revista Proceso la independencia del poder plutocrático y oligárquico del periodismo auténtico ahora le toca a una mujer aterrizar un proyecto nacional al estilo Aristegui. Todo nuestro apoyo. Es hora y tiempo de que los nuevos vientos soplen en favor del viejo arte del periodismo honesto.
Toda mi solidaridad con Daniel Lizarraga e Irving Huerta. Pero no basta con ser solidarios y pronunciarse cómodos desde el celular o la computadora ¿Qué necesitas Carmen Aristegui?
Basta con apelar a la buena voluntad de todos los mexicanos, esa minoría. Pero de férrea voluntad que lee y a la que Televisa y Tv Azteca no le han logrado chupar el cerebro y convertirlos en zombies, todo un manjar para la clase política, en especial al PRI. El PRI maldito.Todos le entramos a la cooperación Carmen Aristegui. Es muy incómodo hacer periodismo desde la palestra de la oligarquía. Bastante incómodo. Como mexicana, y sobretodo como periodista, considéralo.
Aterriza el proyecto ¿dinero? todos le entramos. Todos. Todos los que no queremos ver arder a nuestro México.
March 15, 2015. Letter to Carmen Aristegui. On behalf of the coup done to the MVS research team, specifically to your news team, Carmen Aristegui, when will we have a TV or radio channel just for journalists in Mexico?
What do you need?
If Mr. Julio Scherer while at Proceso magazine showed independence from plutocratic and oligarchic power for authentic journalism, now is the time for a woman to land a national project, Aristegui style. You have all our support. It is time for new winds to blow in favor of the old, honest art of journalism.
All my support to Daniel Lizarraga and Irving Huerta. But supporting is not enough, nor is taking a stance comfortably from your cell phone or your computer. What do you need, Carmen Aristegui?
It should be enough appealing to the good will of all Mexicans, that minority with iron will who reads and to whom Televisa and Tv Azteca have not yet brain washed and turned into zombies, into a nice feast for the political class, PRI especially. That dreadful PRI. We all cooperate, Carmen Aristegui. It is very uncomfortable to make journalism from the arena of oligarchy. Quite uncomfortable. As a Mexican woman, and above all a journalist, think about it.
Start the project, money? We all will help out. Everybody. Everybody who doesn't want to see our Mexico burn.
Pedro Canché was detained on August 30, 2014, accused of sabotage, after covering a protest against the rise in water service fees at Felipe Carrillo Puerto city hall in Quintana Roo, Mexico. As he awaits sentencing, he regularly publishes on his blog images, videos, phrases and thoughts about freedom of expression with the help of organizacion Article19.

author: Elizabeth Rivera


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How Can Solar Energy Make Life in Tajikistan’s Mountains More Sustainable? · Global Voices
350.org

Roshorv, a village in Tajikistan's Bartang Valley. Photo taken from zamkosmopolit's Live Journal with permission.
Renewable energy currently provides the main hope that the world can avoid the catastrophic consequences of climate change. But in addition to its bigger picture promise, renewable technologies can help solve the pressing social and environmental problems of local communities without requiring complex gadgets or significant investment.
In late December 2014 the village of Roshorv (located at an altitude of more than 3000m) in the Bartang Valley of Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) was presented with a solar cooker. Sadarbek Tohirbekov, a teacher of Russian language at the local school and the head of a family of six, received the facility from the Tajik environmental organization Little Earth.
After the cooker was installed in the yard, an employee of the NGO Oyandasoz — Little Earth’s partner in the region — tested the efficiency of the device and discussed potential for expanding their use across the area.
Tajikistan, the poorest state to emerge from the former Soviet Union, suffers blackouts during winter due to the declining capacity of its domestic energy infrastructure, yet hosts strong potential for renewable energy with over 200 sunny days during the average year and significant hydro resources. In addition to Tohirbekov’s solar cooker, which other residents in the village have access to, Roshorv has its own mini-hydro station that helps power the village and the surrounding area during the evenings.
Tohirbekov and the solar cooker. Photo by Little Earth.
Tests on the parabolic collector dishes that power the solar cooker were held over a series of days. Measurements were taken at 1000, 1400 and 1600 hours in Tohirbekov’s yard. During mild winter conditions the dishes were able to bring a 3-liter aluminum kettle to boil in 20-25 minutes, and cook a soup with rice and potatoes in an aluminum pressure cooker in around 20 minutes.
“To prepare a lunch or dinner [without a solar cooker], we use about half a kilo of bush kindling and then a couple of kilos of firewood and three kilos of dried manure or coal. For example, just to boil five to seven liters of water requires about three to five kilos of bush. A solar kitchen can greatly reduce the consumption of firewood and other fuels, even if you use it only once a day,” says Tohirbekov.
Land clearing and logging by local people has become a major problem in the mountainous areas of Tajikistan, where wood is often the only available source of energy. Hillsides stripped of their tree and bush cover have increased the hazard posed by dangerous and often fatal mudslides.
According to Rozik Yaftaliev, director of Oyandasoz, a solar kitchen of the type at Tohirbekov’s house can be used whenever there is a sun and a clear sky for cooking or boiling water.
“This easy-to-use device helps save time and wood, and when cooking there is no smoke! Since last October, my family in the village Nisour has used a similar solar kitchen. On the days when we use it, we cut consumption of bush wood by 70-80%,” he said.
The hunt for kindling to heat homes is threatening the sustainability of lives at altitude in Tajikistan. Photo taken from zamkosmopolit's Live Journal with permission.
Currently demand among local residents for assistance obtaining solar devices is soaring. This is not surprising, because solar kitchens are inexpensive, easy to use, and do not have any mechanisms that might need repairing if they break. Most importantly, the fuel – sunshine – is free and renewable.
The solar cooker is not perfect, however. It can support a weight of just over eight kilograms while the rings are of a single size and thus do not suit all utensils. And, of course, on a cloudy day a solar cooker can be rendered impotent. However, such technologies can significantly reduce the burden on the local environment and improve the living conditions of the mountain villagers.
Villagers in the Bartang Valley region of Tajikistan get around 200 days of sunshine a year. Why not put it to use? Photo taken from zamkosmopolit's Live Journal with permission.
“Solar kitchens can be a good helper for people in remote mountain villages that have difficulties with access to modern energy services and for whom access to fuel is a critical priority. We, for our part, will do everything possible to continue the dissemination of resource-saving and energy-efficient technologies in the mountain communities of the republic,” said Musavvara Shukurova, Little Earth’s director.
In the first half of 2015 Little Earth intends to distribute about 10 solar cookers to the most vulnerable families in the villages of the upper reaches of the Bartang Valley.
“Even if we imagine that each cooker can save about 15-20 kilos of wood per day, accounting for only 100 days of sunshine a year, it would equal about two tons of fuel saved. Accordingly, 10 solar kitchens help people save more than 20 tons of wood annually at that rate. This is a good opportunity to reduce felling and prevent CO2 emissions,” says Anton Tymoshenko, assistant coordinator of energy-saving programs at Little Earth.
This material was prepared by Timur Idrisov, senior advisor at the environmental organization Little Earth. Little Earth is a participant of the program Climate Workshop organized by 350.org to promote decisions about the use of renewable energy and reduce the impact of humanity on climate. Contact the organisation via little.earth.tajikistan@gmail.com or visit their website leworld.org.