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“Radical Imagination” in the Context of Global Protests  · Global Voices
Barbara Auger

The development of digital communication has allowed the voice of the people to be carried further, whilst at the same time liberating words, images, ideas and actions that were previously restricted to specific areas. The virtual world is ultra-connected, full of ideas and teeming with innovative entrepreneurial initiatives. People in the real world then use this digital interconnection to protest, organise and express dissident ideas.
David Graeber, an American anthropologist, wrote an article on the Guardian website in September, 2011, regarding the protests of the Occupy Wall Street movement rising from the rubble of the financial crisis of the last few years:
Is it really surprising they would like to have a word with the financial magnates who stole their future?
Just as in Europe, we are seeing the results of colossal social failure. The occupiers are the very sort of people, brimming with ideas, whose energies a healthy society would be marshaling to improve life for everyone. Instead, they are using it to envision ways to bring the whole system down.
But the ultimate failure here is of imagination. What we are witnessing can also be seen as a demand to finally have a conversation we were all supposed to have back in 2008. There was a moment, after the near-collapse of the world's financial architecture, when anything seemed possible.
Radical imagination on Wikia. License CC-BY-SA
Imagination, a word we seem to be rediscovering today, refers to the human ability to represent things or events perceived by the senses. A link between the world and the individual, the mental image built by this faculty journeys from one mind to another through different modes of transmission (written, oral or visual in the form of books, speech or films, for example).
The economic and the cultural fields are not the only areas that have recently suffered from this failure of imagination. A quick look at mass western productions in cinema, music and literature makes the incessant repetition of old school, vintage or retro (if not cheesy) tunes apparent: they are remixed, remade and rebooted into the cultural sphere of the twentieth century.
The official imagination, authorised and largely disseminated by media institutions, is being challenged by the emergence of another type of imagination on the global scene: an imagination that is spontaneous, more intimate and often unauthorised.
This so-called radical imagination refers to the emotional, visceral and impulsive roots that link humans to the world. Rather than order, morality and conscience, radical imagination draws its forms from the rapport between the body and the environment. It is a raw, emotional and fundamentally creative perception that affects the human spirit.
At its root, or in its more radical form, imagination- to borrow Nietzsche's expression about art- challenges and overcomes chaos. Radical imagination is not about bringing chaos nor losing oneself in it, rather it is about the human spirit confronting and challenging chaos. Basically, the act of imagining is to deal with disorder and give it one's desired shape.
Since 2007-08, the international scene has seen many uprisings that could fit this very definition of radical imagination. People faced with increasingly harsh environments raised their voices against an apparently endless crisis: austerity measures to combat the debt crisis in Europe have led to protests in Iceland, England, Spain, Portugal, Greece and many others; the precarious living conditions are also at the root of uprisings that culminated with the Arab Spring in 2011 in North Africa; the anti-corruption protests worldwide (2011) and more recently the anti-rape rally that shook India (January, 2013);self-immolations in Tibt, or the Jasmine protests; and the village riots resounding in China. The roots of the Indignant Movement in Spain and Occupy Wall Street in North America also took hold in 2011.
Not all these movements are the same, and no two movements are exactly alike; however, to borrow the term used by Umair Haque, the existence of a so-called Metamovement is very real:
The Metamovement is a movement of movements (…) The Metamovement isn't just a faint, transient echo, but the increasingly resonant reverberation of people challenging this brutal state of malfunction, this Great Splintering of institutions and social contracts. Their truth, I suspect, might be this: there's no one left to turn to — and so the Metamovement has turned to each other.
These forms of popular and radical expression are highlighting a widening gap between the institutions and the people. The self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, is particularly significant. His action, as a response to precarious living conditions and widespread state persecution, has triggered reactions of Internet users and netizens worldwide. They condemn the lack of jobs, corruption and the deterioration of human rights in their countries, leading revolts until the fall of the oppressive regime.
This mode of radical expression is still found today among Tibetan people who, at the beginning of 2013, had already seen up to 96 self-immolations. A detailed study says:
The Tibetans have framed the recent wave of self-immolations not only as acts of sacrifice but as acts with religious meaning, as in the tradition of offering one’s body for the benefit of others. A number of testimonies state […] that they were motivated by the wish to preserve Tibetan religion and culture.
The expression of radical imagination clearly takes place in a context of tenuous social conditions. Its ever-evolving principle is most evident with the fluctuation between oppressive actions (austerity measures, repressed identities and denied rights, etc.) and counter-reactions (uprisings, revolts, protests, sacrifices, etc.). Acting as a form of outlet, radical imagination fills an important prophylactic role for society and allows people to fight back against a harrowing and chaotic future. It provides people with a prism to consider the nature of the existing order and to sow the seeds of an alternative social structure.


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RuNet Freedom: a Pirate’s Revenge · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

Amid brazen attempts [GV] to censor the RuNet, one group is fighting back. On February 4, the Pirate Party of Russia has announced [ru] a new specialized internet hosting service, called the PirateHost [ru], created in retaliation to attacks on Russian internet freedoms.
About Us section of the PirateHost website, complete with “Anonymous” iconograhy. Screenshot. February 6, 2013.
Russia's “pirates” have been vocal in their opposition to internet censorship — the Pirate Party currently runs rublacklist.net [ru], an information clearinghouse that keeps track of websites blacklisted by Russian ISPs at the behest of Roskomnadzor [ru]. The PirateHost, however, goes a step beyond advocacy. In addition to offering its users protection from DDoS attacks, the new hosting service is legally savvy [ru]:
В зависимости от вида публикуемого контента мы специально подбираем площадки расположенные вне зоны вашего юридического преследования
Depending on the type of published content we specially select hosting areas located outside the area where you can be legally prosecuted
More interestingly, it has exclusive features based on the idea of combating government interference directly. The online journal Hacker explains [ru] that when it first became apparent that Roskomnadzor, the agency in charge of enforcing the blacklist, has trouble accessing websites running on the new IPv6 [wiki] protocol, someone decided to check if they would be able to block one of these websites:
Цензоры отписались, что «отсутствует техническая возможность доступа на сайт» — и отклонили заявку на внесение в чёрный список. Таким образом, можно сделать вывод, что если цензор не смог зайти на сайт, то этому сайту ничего не угрожает. Сразу же родилась идея: а что если составить чёрный список государственных IP-адресов, с которых осуществляется проверка сайтов? И просто блокировать посетителей с этих адресов.
The censors responded that “there is no technical ability to access the website” — and denied the request for including it in the blacklist. It can therefore be inferred that if a censor can't access the website, nothing threatens it. At once there was an idea: what if we create a blacklist of government IP-addresses which are used to check websites? And just block the visitors from these IP addresses.
This is precisely what the PirateHost purports to do [ru]:
[…] мы ведем реестр ip-адресов органов государственной власти Российской Федерации и блокируем посетителей с этих адресов до входа на ваш сайт.
[…] we keep a registry of ip-addresses of Russian Federation government authorities and block the visitors from these addresses from entering your website.
The Pirate Party Vice-President, Stanislav Shakirov, explained in his blog [ru] that in order to create this registry, the PirateHost will run “honeypot” websites and report them to Roskomnadzor:
[…] мы будем создавать страницы, которые будут проходить предварительные фильтры Роскомнадзора и прочих государственных органов. Отследив айпи-адреса тех, кто зайдет на эти страницы-маркеры, мы занесем их в черный список. Если поймем, что вся подсеть принадлежит госоргану — забаним всю подсеть.
[…] we will create webpages which will be subjected to Roskomnadzor and other government filters. Having tracked the IP-addresses of those who visit these marked pages, we will enter them into a blacklist. If we think that the entire subnet belongs to a state agency – we'll ban the entire subnet.
In keeping with the spirit of the Pirate Party and freedom of information, according to Shakirov [ru], the blacklist may be distributed publicly, for anyone to use:
Также есть желание эти списки раздавать заинтересованным и дружественным ресурсам. Может всем. Пока оцениваем, как это лучше сделать технологически, инфраструктурно и в какой форме.
There is a desire to distribute these lists to interested and friendly parties. Maybe everyone. So far we are evaluating how to do this better from the point of technology and infrastructure, and in what way.
In a way, such a blacklist will be a mirror image of the blacklist run by Roskomnadzor or the white-list piloted by the League of Safe Internet in Kostroma — only instead of websites, it is the visitors that will be “curated”. To be sure, this is an ironic, bold move, one that will bring some much needed publicity to the Russian Pirate Party as well as some money to its coffers (a Habrahabr.ru commenter leaked [ru] a tentative price list for the hosting services, which ranges from as low as 30 EUR to as high as 400 EUR per month).
Nevertheless, one has to wonder about the move's ultimate effectiveness. Critics have pointed out [ru] that simply using an anonymous proxy would be a quick way for agencies like Roskomnadzor to subvert Pirate Host blocks. Proxies can, of course, also be used as a work-around for the actual, official, blacklist. Are Russian bureaucrats in charge of policing the internet technologically savvy enough to do their job? We may soon find out.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Andrey Tselikov


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Tourist Hordes Trashing World’s Largest Mangrove Forest · Global Voices
পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)

Increasing numbers of loud and littering tourists are damaging the world's largest mangrove forest, which stretches from Bangladesh to eastern India and is home to Royal Bengal Tigers and a colorful collection of other wildlife that includes spotted deer, birds, crocodiles, and various species of snakes.
The mild weather of winter at the moment is sure to draw visitors to the Sundarbans forest, and with it throngs of tourists whose careless picnicking and sightseeing destroy the environment and disturb the animals. Nearly 100,000 local and international tourists [bn] flock to this UNESCO world heritage site each year, with that number increasing each year by 20-30 percent.
This issue has fueled debate in local media and the local blogosphere.
Tourists trekking in the Sundarbans. Photo by Mohammad Mustafizur Rahman. Used with permission.
Iftekher Mahmud, a journalist for The Daily Prothom Alo newspaper, wrote about his travel experience [bn]:
বেলা গড়িয়ে সকাল ১০টা বাজতেই লঞ্চ আর ছোট জালি নৌকায় পর্যটকদের আনাগোনা বেড়ে গেল। মাইকে বিকট শব্দে হিন্দি গান বাজতে বাজতে একটার পর একটা লঞ্চ বনের ভেতরে হানা দিতে লাগল। পর্যটকদের লঞ্চ চলে যাওয়ার সময় সুন্দরবনের পরিবেশের জন্য মারাত্মক ক্ষতিকারক চিপসের প্যাকেট ও পলিথিন নদীতে ভাসতে দেখা গেল।
The tourists start pouring in on steamboats and smaller rowboats by 10 in the morning. The steamboats blast loud beat music as they cruise through the rivers deep in the forest. The tourists litter empty plastic potato chip packs and polythene bags in the river from the steamboat, causing much harm to the environment.
Tareq Onu, a bird watcher, wrote on his Facebook page [bn] during a visit to the Sundarbans:
কিছু অসভ্য মানুষ দেখলাম যারা বনের ভিতরে, নদীর জলে প্লাস্টিকের ব্যাগ, বোতল নির্বিকারে নিক্ষেপ করে এবং তারস্বরে মাইক বাজিয়ে গান শোনে। এরা কেন আসে সুন্দরবনে!
Saw some uncivilized people who carelessly threw plastic bags and bottles into the river and played loud, irritating music inside the forest. Why do these people visit the Sundarbans?
Mohammed Arifur Rahman Chowdhury [bn], a commenter on the Prothom Alo Article, said that he considered tourists such as these to be ignorant:
আমরা এখনো অশিক্ষিত পর্যটক, আমার এখনো জানিনা কোন এলাকাতে কি ভাবে ভ্রমণ করতে হয়। বনের সোন্দর্য বিকট শব্দে গান বাজিয়ে হই হুল্লোড় করে উপভোগ করা যায় না।
As tourists, we are extremely ignorant. We still don’t know what travelling etiquette is and how not to disturb nature. You cannot enjoy the serenity of the Sundarbans by playing loud music.
The number of vessels traversing the many rivers in the Sundarbans has also grown. In 2011, 25 ships and cargo vessels sailed in the area, but only a year later that number had spiked to more than 130. Every day that these vessels blast their hydroelectric horns and release contaminated exhaust and oil waste, they destroy the Sundarbans environment a little more.
Fishing nets floating in a river. Photo by Mohammad Mustafizur Rahman. Used with permission.
Fishermen also destroy the forest in search of fish. Shopnobalok Ami [bn] wrote on somewhereinblog:
মাছ বা কাঁকড়া ধরতে কিংবা শামুক-ঝিনুকের খোঁজেও যারা যান তারা যে স্রেফ মাছ-কাঁকড়া-ঝিনুক নিয়ে ফেরেন তা নয়। পথে গাছ কেটে নৌকায় তুলে কিংবা নৌকার সঙ্গে বেধে ভাসিয়ে নিয়ে আসেন।
The fishermen who go to catch fish or crabs or snails sometimes cut down trees from the forest and bring them back tied to their boats along with the day’s catch.
But there is hope. In an effort to end irresponsible tourism and to promote eco-tourism in the Sundarbans, the government has drafted legislation [bn] that would prohibit tourists from carrying any items that may cause damage to the environment. Items such as microphones, megaphones, chemical products, plastics, and discarded foodstuff would not be allowed to be dumped into the river, and boats would be required to have proper waste disposal systems on board.

author: পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)


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When Bob Marley Went to Africa · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The film opens on the Ghanaian coast at the remnants of a slave post, the camera then pans over the Atlantic, finally settling on the green hills of rural Jamaica (Marley’s birthplace Nine Mile) from where it picks up Bob Marley’s story, thus cementing a link between the continent and its new world diaspora.
Sean Jacobs reviews Kevin MacDonald’s critically film, “Marley”.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Missing Colonial Map, Charged Border Dispute · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Debate has flared up about maps allegedly taken by the British after Sudan became independent in 1956. While some believe the historic documents could ease ongoing border disputes, researchers doubt they exist at all.
Joseph Edward discusses the issue of missing colonial-era maps of the South Sudan border.


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Bangladesh: Protesters Demand Capital Punishment for 1971 War Criminals · Global Voices
পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)

Forty-two years. That's how long Bangladeshis have awaited justice for the horrific crimes committed against them  during their fight for liberation from Pakistan. And on February 5, 2013, Abdul Quader Mollah, the secretary general of Bangladesh's Islamist party Jamaat-e Islami was sentenced to life in prison for murder, rape, torture and other crimes committed during the 1971 liberation war.
But tens of thousands feel that justice has not been served. They want him hanged. And they are occupying capital city Dhaka's Shahbagh intersection to show their resolve. Protests are spreading like wild fire across the country.
Jamaat-e Islami rejected Mollah's verdict and enforced a dawn-to-dusk strike on Tuesday and Wednesday disrupting life in the country. (The full verdict by the International Crimes Tribunal can be found here.)
Screenshot of the Facebook event that generated much response
Bloggers played a vital role in building pressure to try Mollah and other accused war criminals, many of whom are politicians with the Islamist party, and expedite a process that has been on hold for 42 years.
So its no surprise that bloggers are central to organizing the ongoing protests. The Bloggers and Online Activists Network (BOAN) created a Facebook event to invite people to occupy Shahbagh square, protest against the strike and demand the death penalty for Mollah. About 70,000 people have been invited to event and more than 7000 people have confirmed they are joining.
People from all walks of life are continuing their sit-in at Shahbagh intersection in the capital for the second consecutive day. Image by Firoz Ahmed. Copyright Demotix (6/2/2013).
Shahbagh, the Tahrir Sqaure of Bangladesh
The last few days were full of protests and rallies at Shahbagh. Processions from all over the city  joined the crowd of about 15,000-20,000 people, bringing the scenes of Tahrir square during 2011 Egyptian revolution to Dhaka. People are singing protest songs, reciting  poems, and screening films and documentaries on Bangladesh's liberation war.
Pavel Mohitul Alam updates his Facebook status from Shahbagh:
Shahbagh is full of processions, slogans and singing. Thousands of people from all walks of life are joining in protests using candle lights and are carrying torches. A band will start playing live soon. Please join us.
Many have shared pictures from Shahbagh via Facebook, like ICSF and Kazi Sudipto.
Journalist and writer Imtiar Shamim writes at Muktangon blog [bn]:
…This Shahbagh will soon be extended to other cities- It will beat the fear of civil war by fringe elements who envisage colonial intervention, who will clinch victory by confirming justice for the war criminals.
Besides Dhaka, there has been news of similar protests in cities like Chittagong, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Khulna, Comilla, Mymensingh and Rangpur. People are gathering in large numbers raising their voices for the highest punishment for the war criminals.
Rayhan Rashid writes on Facebook about spreading the protests across the country:
The fire has spread from city to city. I just want to be one of those hundreds of thousands of people….
Protesters on a candlelight protest organized by'Bloggers and Online Activist Network’ demanding death penalty of war criminal Abdul Quader Mollah. Image by Firoz Ahmed. Copyright Demotix (6/2/2013)
Delayed Justice
During the 1971 liberation war an estimated 3 million people were killed by the Pakistani army and approximately 250,000 women were raped. Local political and religious militia groups like Razakar, Al Badr and Al-Shams, many of whom were also members of Jamaat-e-Islami, aided Pakistani soldiers in killing, particularly targeting Hindus.
Abdul Quader Mollah, also known as ‘Butcher’ to the Bengalis in Mirpur area, was a senior leader of the Razakar force. He lead many mass murders in Mirpur area. The International Crimes Tribunal was formed after 42 years of the independence to try the perpetrators of the crimes against humanity during the liberation war of Bangladesh. The first verdict of the ICT was against Abul Kalam Azad alias ‘Bachchu Razakar”, who was sentenced to death for his involvement in crimes against humanity during 1971.
Outrage at the Verdict
When Quader Mollah was sentenced to life imprisonment (peoples’ anticipation was death penalty), many expressed their outrage on Facebook, Twitter and blogs. Elora Leelith demands a “Razakar and war criminal free” Bangladesh:
My first child will be born on 7 of February. I wish its generation will see a Razakar and war criminal free Bangladesh. I want capital punishment for Quader Mollah and gang.
Hazrat Binoy Bhodroe asks the Tribunal on Twitter:
@hazratb9bhodroe Honorable Tribunal, how many deaths have to be proven to get a death sentence?
Allegations against Abdul Quader Mollah
There were six indictments against Abdul Quader Mollah. The trial has proven his association in three of these and direct involvement in two killings. He was acquitted on one charge. The indictments are related to the following incidents:
It is not clear whether there can be an appeal against the verdict. But blogger Omi Rahman Pial pleads:
The appeal against the acquittal of Quader Mollah against the Keraniganj killing is the key. This protests should pressurize the government prosecution team to appeal against that acquittal. 344 people were killed and he was known as the ‘butcher’. Such cruelty should beget more than just life imprisonment.
According to the latest updates, the prosecution team of the ICT has taken a policy decision to appeal against the verdict to enhance Mollah's sentence. Bangladesh is one of 58 countries that still actively practices capital punishment.

author: পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)


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Bangladesh: Protests Must Rise Above Politics · Global Voices
Rezwan

Let’s join together, Bangladeshis in Dhaka and all over the word, to make sure that after waiting for four decades, justice is finally delivered, and the memory of our martyrs is honored.
Anushay Hossain writes on the ongoing protests in Shahbagh area in Dhaka.

author: Rezwan


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Dignity, Courage and Hypocrisy: Egyptian Man Stripped Naked by Police  · Global Voices
Sara Labib

Hamada Saber is the name of an Egyptian man, who was seen in a video which went viral and was even featured on CNN, while he was being beaten and stripped of his clothes by police forces. The incident brought about a wave of shock and disbelief and shook the nation in disgust. Interestingly, many people on social media started contrasting what happened to this man and the nation’s reaction to it with the extreme sexual harassment and rape Egyptian women are subjected to.
First, here's the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuYQj4-bu7A
On Twitter, Ghada Elsayeh wrote [ar]:
بس الفرق بين حمادة إل اتسحل والبنات ال اتحرشو بهم واغتصابهم كبير لأن الناس تعاطفت مع حمادة الجبان ولم تهتم بالبنات الشجعان! محتاج علاج نفسي!
@Ghadaelsayeh: The difference between Hamada who was beaten and the girls who were sexually harassed and raped is great because people sympathized with Hamada the coward while they didn’t pay attention
to the brave girls! [They] need psychological treatment.
The reason Saber was called a coward by some is his initial statement to the media that he had been stripped of his clothes by the protesters, not the security forces. Reactions were divided when it came to this testimony: although some called him a coward, others felt the man might have been under threat to deny the truth, like journalist Rasha Azb, who tweeted:
اوعوا تلوموا علي حمادة صابر .اوعوا تلوموا علي واحد قضي ليلة من الذل والخوف واحنا نايمين في بيوتنا.اوسخ حاجة انك تيجي ع الضحية..ارحموا الضعيف
@RashaPress: Don’t blame Hamada Saber, don’t blame someone who spent a night of humiliation and fear while we were sleeping in our homes. The worst thing you can do is to blame the victim… have mercy on the weak!
Another interesting contrast made is that between Sabry’s generation (he is a middle-aged man) and the generation of his daughter. The latter had spoken out against what her father initially said, calling his statements ‘lies’. The blog The Arabist mentioned her saying:
In the most surreal part of this sad episode, Hamada Saber and his daughter Randa ended up arguing about what happened to him on a major satellite TV talk show, with Hamada accusing Randa of having taken money from satellite channels to lie about him.
Ahmed Talaat added:
لسه الناس مش قادرة تصدق أن فيه فرق بين جيل حمادة و جيل بنته ! جيل حمادة لسه بيخاف من أمين الشرطة ! جيل بنته مابيخافش من رئيس الجمهورية ..
@AhmadTal3t: People are still not able to believe that there is a difference between Hamada’s generation and that of his daughter! Hamada's generation is still afraid of a police officer! The generation of his daughter is not afraid of the president of the republic..
Later on, Saber, after hearing the reactions of his own family and the Egyptian people to his initial statements, decided to change his testimony. He apologized for blaming the protesters, claiming security forces were the ones who beat him and stripped him of his clothes. He also stressed that he hadn’t received any money to make the statements he initially made.

author: Sara Labib


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Egypt: Prime Minister’s ‘Bad Boobs’ Speech Transcribed · Global Voices
Rayna St.

YouTube user Masr Madaneya publishes a short video of Prime Minister Hisham Qandil's speech subtitled in English. The declaration sparked outcry and mockery in the last days after the Prime Minister claimed that breastfeeding mothers cause diarrhea to their babies with their unclean breasts.

author: Rayna St.


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For Chinese Cinema, the Japanese Invasion That Never Ends · Global Voices
Abby Liu

The Chinese entertainment industry's relentless production of films about Japan's World War II-era invasion of China has come under the spotlight after TV extra Shi Zhongpeng made headlines in China last week for reportedly having acted as a Japanese soldier [zh] more than 200 times last year and even having “died” eight times in a single day for different projects.
With China and Japan currently sparring over islands in the East China Sea, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 has become a safe and popular choice for movie directors who continuously face strict censorship. For example, in Hengdian film studio in China's eastern Zhejiang province, about 48 movies dealing with the Japan's invasion of China were shot in 2012.
“There's a limit on historical dramas and spy stories allowed to be aired during prime time slots,” Zhou Weicheng, general manager of Greentown Media told Chengdu Business News [zh]. “What can we shoot other than the Japanese invasion?”
For these reasons, Chinese TV channels have been inundated with anti-Japanese movies aimed to educate, euphemistically speaking, the Chinese audience. Chinese media and netizens have questioned the intention of authorities and expressed concern over movie censorship.
Commentator Yu Deqing further explained [zh]: “The Chinese movie industry has two aspects: on one hand, some sensitive topics are strictly censored; on the other hand, some mainstream topics will get government funds, such as those about the Japanese invasion. Movies with breakthrough ideas that require advanced technology are difficult to get past censors or get government funding.”
A screenshot of a report on video hosting website Youku about TV extra Shi Zhongpeng who acted as a Japanese soldier over 200 times last year.
Education or brainwashing?
One user on Chinese micro-blogging website Wangyi Weibo questioned [zh] the need to produce so many dramas：
日军侵华虽然值得我们每一个中国人铭记，但我们是不是真的有必要拍出N*N部出来，并变着法的来丑化日本？让本来是只该对日本法西斯的憎恶，升华成对整个日本民族的憎恶。
Although the Japanese invasion of China is worthy of our memory, is it really necessary to shoot and air so many movies, and try to find so many different ways to demonize Japan? It would only elevate our hatred of Japanese fascists to the hatred of the whole nation.
User leiyang516789991 questioned [zh] the authenticity of the movies on Wangyi Weibo:
别人的电影都是反射战争的残酷性和非人性，让观众对战争有理性的反思。我们的电影反映的是杀戮的正义性和领导人的英明伟大，让观众对那段真实的历史从始至终都稀里糊涂。没办法，历史这个小姑娘我们就是要打扮成这样的，尔等胆敢乱讲真话，拉出去枪 毙！
In other countires, war movies are a reflection of the brutality and dehumanization of war, which forces audiences to reflect. Our movies reflect the justice of killing and the greatness of the leaders, which make the audience confused about the real history. But what can we do? They dress up this little girl we like to call history any way they want to, whoever dares to speak the truth will be pulled out and shot!
User wangwei1976 echoed [zh] the sentiment on Wangyi Weibo:
抗日片不真实让我们觉得抗战是场游戏，这会误导我们的人民。这是对历史的背叛，强调历史的真实能让我们更清楚的去面对明天！日本拍得日美之间的战争和德国拍得德苏之间的战争，美国人近几年拍得二战大片中，都真实得让人对战争和人性进行深层次的思考。这才是一个民族自信的源泉！
The untruthful portrayal of the Japanese invasion makes me feel as if it's just a game, which can be misleading. This is a betrayal of history. Understanding the true history allows us to face the future with a clear head! Japan's movies about the war between Japan and the United States, Germany's movies about the German-Soviet war and American movies about World War II have inspired people's deep reflection on war and humanity. This is the source of a nation's self-confidence!
The consequences of movie censorship
Economist 李子暘 commented [zh] on Weibo about the general situation of movie censorship in China:
抗日剧泛滥是管制的闹剧。投资影视，不是闹着玩的。万一题材通不过，百万千万甚至上亿的投资就要打水漂。谁也受不了。因此，就只好跟 风，题材政治安全是首要考虑的条件。既然抗日题材政府允许，那就赶紧拍。在中国做影视，创新是最可怕最疯狂的，跟风无可指责。
The overflow of movies about the Japanese invasion is the result of censorship. Investing in movies is not a joke. If the topic doesn't pass the censors, millions and even billions of investment will be in vain. No one can afford to go through this. Therefore, people have no choice but to follow suit. Political safety is a priority when choosing a topic. Since the government gives the OK to anti-Japanese themes, then why not shoot them. In China, film innovation is the most scary and crazy thing a person can do. One can't be blamed for following the trend.
Commenter 于德清 expressed [zh] his concern over the censorship on Chengdu Business News:
问题是，过度的行政管制，只会抑制创新和产业的升级。造成抗日剧的低水平和无聊重复的原因，大抵如此。其一个直接后果是，电视的吸引力下降，人们远离沙 发。近年来，大中城市电视开机率已经明显下降。年轻人都上网看美剧、韩剧了。可是，有些管制者仍然不明白，他们把市场管死了，自己还有什么用呢？
The problem is that excessive administrative controls will suppress innovation and industrial upgrading, thus you have low level productions and copycats making anti-Japanese dramas. The direct consequence is a decline in the attraction of television; people will stay away from the sofa. In recent years, in big and medium-sized cities, TV watching rates have decreased significantly. Young people on to the Internet to watch American and Korean TV dramas. However, some regulators still do not understand that they have pushed their market into a dead end. What is the benefit for themselves?

author: Abby Liu


text:
Her Zimbabwe: A Platform for Women to Share Views · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Her Zimbabwe is an online platform for women to share their views, discuss issues and carry out open debate about the things that affect them.


text:
Hong Kong’s Parents Turn to Obama Over Baby Formula Shortage · Global Voices
Amiee Xia

Hong Kong residents, frustrated by a shortage of powdered baby formula caused by mainland Chinese smugglers making a run on the city's stocks, have launched a petition seeking help from the White House.
The petition, launched on January 29, has collected more than 22,000 signatures so far and sparked international media interest, with outlets such as Reuters and the Strait Times covering the story.
Demand from mainland Chinese customers, who are wary of their own milk industry ever since melamine-tainted milk sold by China's largest producer killed three babies and sickened thousands in 2008, have turned Hong Kong into an entrepôt of foreign milk powder for China, which places heavy taxes on imported brands. Smugglers buy large quantities of the powdered baby formula tins in Hong Kong and carry the load over the border into mainland China several times a day to be sold there.
Powdered infant formula is transported out of the city through “professional” travelers. Image from Badcanto. Non-commercial use.
For Hong Kong parents, it is difficult to afford the formula with such an organized smuggling network buying up stock and driving up prices, according to the petition:
Local parents in Hong Kong can hardly buy baby formula milk powder in drugstores and supermarkets, as smugglers from mainland China storm to this tiny city to buy milk powder and resell for huge profits in China. Many retailers stockpiled milk powder and are reluctant to sell to local parents as the shops can sell their stocks in big cartons to mainland smuggler for huge profits. Countries like Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand exercise rationed sale to tourist buyers from China for milk powder but the Hong Kong government simply frame the situation as a matter of free trade and refuse to exercise law which is already there to stop cross-border smuggling. We request for international support and assistance as babies in Hong Kong will face malnutrition very soon.
Two Facebook campaign pages (in Chinese and English) have launched to promote the petition. The goal is to collect 100,000 signature by February 28 so that the President Obama is forced to respond to the demand.
Public resentment of the shortage in Hong Kong is fierce; the Dictionary of Politically Incorrect Hong Kong Cantonese blog has translated some social media discussions reflecting that. The blogger highlighted a quote from online opinion leader Chin Wan's Facebook commenting on the government's earlier proposal of setting up a network distribution system among local residents:
Hong Kong has officially fallen to the enemy’s hand. Baby food has to be on ration. The Hong Kong Communist government, who came up with this suggestion shamelessly, doesn’t know that implementation of food rationing is a humiliation to the local people. Is this the period when Hong Kong was occupied by the Japanese military? Why don’t they restrict smugglers from buying infant formula?” Why don’t they arrest smugglers? Instead, the government deal with Hong Kong legal residents by requiring them to register with the rationing system. This is because Hong Kong is ruled by the Chinese colonist government, and its behavior is like WW2 Japanese military government. The status of Mainland Chinese is like Japanese during the time of Japanese occupation, and they enjoy the privileges of colonists. All Hong Kong compatriots, from the behavior of the Hong Kong Communist government, Hongkongers have fallen to become second-class slaves.
Though the Chinese government is certainly not happy about such move, mainland Chinese netizens are quite sympathetic toward the petition. In the comment section [zh] of Caijing magazine's report on the petition, many blame the Chinese government for failing to control its own food industry:
有航母有宇宙飞船，就是不能供应合格的奶粉给祖国的未来，这是怎样一个奇怪的国家
We have warships and spaceships, while we don't have good enough quality milk for the future of the country. Such as strange country.
别国都说中国人口太多,没一个国家能为中国应供足够奶品了, 抢到别人喊救命了还骂别人为啥不给抢，为啥国人就是不肯改善自己的产品？连基本道德问题都处理不了谈什么强国？走出国别人只会说中国人连婴儿也要毒害，海外华人的脸都给你们丢光了!怪不得有钱的都要外逃不想做中国人了!
Other countries said China's population is too huge and they can't produce enough milk product to meet our demand. Now they call for help and we condemn them for restricting our purchase. Why don't we improve our own product? We can't be a strong country without addressing the fundamental moral question. If we enter the global market like this, people would say that we are poisoning their babies. Now overseas the Chinese are humiliated by all of your behavior. No wonder the rich want to escape the country and give up their Chinese nationality.
需说爱国应支持中国货品，但如果你见过外国怎么养牛产奶、中国又怎么养牛产奶，你也不敢给孩子吃中国奶粉。
In principle, we should support Chinese brands. However, if you see how cows are bred in foreign countries and in China, I bet you wouldn't dare give your kids Chinese milk powder.
新的国耻。
New national humiliation
美国，奥巴马真累
The U.S.A and Obama must feel very tired.
真讽刺，这是行为艺术，
So satirical. This is behavioral art performance.
我觉得大陆应该也要向奥巴马求助解决婴儿奶粉问题
Mainland Chinese should also make their appeal to Obama to solve the milk powder problem.
Two days after the petition was launched, the Hong Kong government responded to the crisis with a hotline that parents could call to order powdered infant formula from suppliers. It also passed a new regulation limiting visitors to carrying no more than two tins of milk powder over the border per day. The policy has calmed public outrage for the moment.
However, with issues stemming from Hong Kong's border control (such as the issuing of visas with multiple entries), the free trade agreement between Hong Kong and mainland China, as well as cross-border development projects the two countries have undertaken, the complicated and at times problematic trade relationship between Hong Kong and communist mainland China will continue to be just that.
Oiwan Lam contributed to this article.

author: Amiee Xia


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Italy: Gay Couples Are Allowed to Raise Children, according to Supreme Court · Global Voices
Bah Abdoulaye

Rome Gay Pride Party 2011 (image taken by the author)
[All links point to resources in Italian, unless otherwise noted]
In early January 2013, Italy's Supreme Court rejected a father's appeal against the awarding, by the court of appeals in Brescia, of sole custody of his son to the child's mother who lives with another woman. The headline on ilpost.it summarises as follows the highest court decision:
Sostenere che sia dannoso per i bambini crescere in una famiglia gay è un «mero pregiudizio», privo di «certezze scientifiche o dati di esperienza».
Claiming that it's damaging for children to grow up in a gay family is “a mere prejudice”, devoid of any “scientific certainties or proven data”.
The decision on the part of the judges in Brescia was justified by the father's acts of violence against the mother's friend in the presence of the child. On pontilex.org Cagliostro explains:
L’uomo, 27 anni, aveva avuto una relazione con una donna italiana e da questo rapporto era nato un figlio. Finita la storia tra i due era stato disposto l’affidamento esclusivo del bambino alla madre mentre gli incontri con il padre si sarebbero tenuti «con cadenza almeno quindicinale in un ambiente neutro e inizialmente protetto».
The 27 year old man had had a relationship with an Italian woman and a child was born from this union. When the relationship ended between the two, sole custody was awarded to the mother while meetings with the father were to be held “fortnightly in a neutral environment and initially under supervision”.
A lively debate was sparked, which was also prompted by Obama's second inauguration speech as US President, who declared, among other things, that:
Il nostro viaggio verso la libertà non potrà dirsi completo fin quando i nostri fratelli e le nostre sorelle omosessuali non saranno trattati come tutti davanti alla legge: se è vero che tutti siamo creati uguali, allora l’amore tra ciascuno di noi dev’essere trattato allo stesso modo.
Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law, for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.
There have been demonstrations for and against the government's plan to legalise gay marriage and adoption in France. Campaigners for LGBT rights have expressed their satisfaction while more conservative sectors of society insist they are “less enthusiastic”.
Rita De Santis, President of Agedo [Association of parents of homosexuals] declared on diregiovani.it that the decision of the Italian Supreme Court was:
“Una bella notizia certamente. Negli ultimi tempi abbiamo sentito, tra gli altri, anche il Papa dirsi contrario. Per allevare un figlio ci vuole quella che chiamiamo genitorialità che non è da confondere con un qualcosa di genetico. Ci sono etero che non sono in grado di averla, ci sono coppie che ammazzano o che abbandonano figli.
…. I bimbi che crescono in coppie omogenitoriali, spesso trovano ambiente sociale ostile, se ne parla in modo discriminatorio. L'omosessualità non è una malattia o un vizio o una scelta”.
[…] good news without a doubt. Of late we have heard the Pope, among others, saying the opposite. Raising a child requires what's termed genitorialità [parenting skills], which should not be taken for something genetic. There are heterosexuals who are unable to have children, there are couples that kill or abandon their children.
…Children who grow up in LGBT families often face a hostile society, it [the gay family] is spoken of in a discriminatory way. Homosexuality is not a disease, nor a vice nor a choice.
The opinion of psychologist Anna Oliverio Ferraris, a lecturer in developmental psychology at Rome's La Sapienza University, is quoted in an article on La Voce d'Italia:
“In assoluto non è un problema” che un figlio cresca con una coppia omosessuale, “ma possono esserci grosse differenze da caso a caso, come peraltro per le coppie eterosessuali. Più che dare principi generali, occorre verificare se le coppie sono all’altezza di tenere i figli, quindi bisogna vedere la preparazione dei genitori”.
“Overall, it's not problematic” for a child to be raised by a homosexual couple, “but it can vary a great deal from case to case, as it does for heterosexual couples. Rather than issuing universal judgments, what matters is that couples are fit to have children, so people's readiness for parenthood needs to be looked at”.
User comments abound online, including many on the newspaper Corriere della Sera‘s blog, where user lettorequalunque00 notes, not without a certain amount of irony:
Il mondo è pieno di famiglie etero che hanno prodotto individui problematici, traumatizzati da un'infanzia infelice e da genitori assenti ed incapaci di trasmettere affetto. Poi, chi afferma che le coppie gay sono più violente o che addirittura i bimbi potrebbero subire violenze sessuali non si rende conto di quanto sia divertente… La cronaca parla soltanto di uomini violenti con le loro compagne e con i loro figli. Ieri si è parlato del padre di due bimbe, arrestato per violenza sessuale. Ma la sua era una famiglia etero, quindi automaticamente sana, composta da persone sane… È a dir poco ridicolo.
The world is full of heterosexual families who have produced troubled individuals, traumatised by an unhappy childhood and by absent parents who were incapable of showing affection. And as for those who claim that gay couples are more prone to violence or even that [their] children might experience sexual abuse, they don't realise how laughable they are…The news is full of men who are violent with their [female] partners and children. Yesterday, there were reports of a father of two children who was arrested for sexual abuse. But his family was a heterosexual one and, therefore, had to be a healthy one, made up of healthy individuals…It's ridiculous  to say the least.
Certi Diritti [Certain Rights], an association linked to the Radical Party, pointed out that this is not a new position for the national justice system to take and, on the sentence itself, adds:
È molto importante che vi sia stato un riconoscimento da parte della Corte di Cassazione. Ora vedremo come i Tribunali applicheranno questa sentenza. Ma soprattutto chiediamo ai candidati al prossimo parlamento di prendere nota di questa sentenza, e di agire di conseguenza, facendo sì che Camera e Senato la smettano di non guardare alla realtà dei fatti e comincino invece a operare solo (!) sulla base della stessa.
It's very important that there has been this acknowledgement on the part of the Court of Cassation. It remains to be seen how the courts will apply the judgement. But, above all else, we would ask the candidates for the forthcoming election to make note of this judgement and to behave accordingly, making sure that the parliament and the Senate stop avoiding the facts and start acting only (!) on the basis of these same facts.
Apart from the Pope, who has made several speeches on the topic since the debate got underway in France, several other representatives of the Catholic Church have commented, including Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, and Domenico Sigalini, bishop of Palestrina and president of Italian Episcopal Commission on the Laity. Gayburg.blogspot.it reproduced the latter's comment on the issue:
Non si può costruire una civiltà attraverso le sentenze dei tribunali… Non può essere la legge a stabilire quale sia il rapporto migliore con i genitori. Né tocca a un tribunale stabilire quale sia la situazione ottimale per un bambino.
You can not construct a society through a court's judgments…It cannot be up to the law to determine what is the best relationship with the parents [to have]. Nor is it up to a court to determine what the best situation for a child is.
Responding to the prelate's comments, Nefrite writes on the Corriere della Sera blog:
Le uniche sentenze su cui costruire una civiltà sono evidentemente solo quelle della Sacra Rota, che decidono dell'inesistenza di un matrimonio da cui magari sono nati quattro figli…magari per uno dei cosiddetti “impedimenti dirimenti”, resi celebri ne I promessi sposi da Don Abbondio.
Obviously the only judgments on which to found a society are those issued by the Sacred Roman Rota [en], in which a marriage, which had produced four children, was declared nonexistent…due, perhaps, to one of the diriment impediments [impediments which invalidate an attempted marriage under canon law] made famous by Don Abbondio in [Alessandro Manzoni's novel] The Betrothed [en].
Those who disapprove of the judgement claim to be concerned about the well-being of the child but fail to offer, however, any concrete proof to support their point of view. The portal linkiesta.it published a post by Monica Piccini describing a video in which children raised in LGBT families talk about their experiences:
…. i figli under 18 delle Famiglie Arcobaleno hanno detto la loro in un film documentario Il Lupo in calzoncini corti delle filmaker Lucia Stano e Nadia Dalle Vedove. Due anni di riprese in compagnia di due famiglie miste per riprenderne la quotidianità, eccezionale e insieme ordinaria. «Come ci si senta con un papà – spiega Federico, 10 anni e due mamme – non lo posso sapere. Stando bene così non m’interessa come si sta in un altro modo».
…the children, all under 18, of the Famiglie Arcobaleno [Rainbow Families] have their say in the documentary Il Lupo in calzoncini corti [The Wolf in shorts] by film-makers Lucia Stano and Nadia Dalle Vedove. They spent two years filming the extraordinary and, at the same time, very ordinary, day to day existence of two blended families. “I will never know”, says 10 year old Federico who has two mothers, “what it feels like to have a dad. Things work well like this and I don't want to live in any other way”.
Dario De Gregorio, describes his experience of LGBT parenting on ildialogo.org blog:
In cosa differisce la nostra vita da quella di una qualsiasi coppia di genitori eterosessuali? Direi in pochissimo. E sicuramente non nella gestione quotidiana della nostra vita familiare che è fatta di pappe e cacche, tappe da percorrere, scoperte continue, gioie quotidiane. Forse la reale differenza (e credo possa essere un vantaggio) sta proprio nella nostra uguaglianza nella gestione della bambina: non c’è uno che ha partorito ed allattato e l’altro che è tornato al lavoro subito dopo. Io ed Andrea abbiamo sin dall'inizio vissuto in maniera paritaria quest'avventura condividendo allattamenti (artificiali…), veglie notturne, scoperte quotidiane. Ciascuno di noi con le proprie sensibilità e le proprie modalità, ma accomunati da questa meravigliosa esperienza.
How does our life differ from that of parents who are in a heterosexual couple? Not a lot, I would say. And certainly not in the everyday organisation of our family life which revolves around feeds and nappies, stages to be reached, constant discoveries and daily joys. Perhaps the real difference (and I believe it can be an advantage) lies in our equality in terms of raising our child. One of us didn't give birth and then breastfeed her while the other one went straight back to work. Andrea and I have, since the beginning, shared equally in this adventure, sharing (bottle) feeds, nighttime awakenings, daily discoveries. Each of us has our own concerns and ways of going about things, but we have been united by this amazing experience.
It is difficult to find statistics on the number of children living in this kind of family. The number of countries which have already introduced legislation to allow for gay marriage and adoption [en] is on the increase. And, when it comes to family life, the problems which arise in homosexual families do not seem to be any different to those experienced by heterosexual ones. On several occasions the European Court of Human Rights has also condemned European countries which discriminate against LGBT people.
What is sure is that an individual does not choose to be born black, white, yellow, red, male, female, heterosexual or homosexual.

author: Bah Abdoulaye


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Mali: Threats All Around · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

The Malian army has committed serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law (IHL) during the ongoing conflict against armed groups, including extrajudicial executions of civilians, according to testimonies collected by Amnesty International during a ten days mission in Mali.
On February 5, 2013 after a field investigation in Mali, Amnesty International published its first situation report, “Mali : first assessment of the human rights situation after three weeks of fighting” [fr].  The post points out [fr] that civilians are threatened by all parties in the conflict.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Mexico’s Social Media Love Revolution · Global Voices
Andrea Arzaba

Internationally, you will find many “different Mexicos” in the news: the beach-sun-party-tequila paradise, the drugwar-dangerous nation and the artistic-folkloric-colourful country with great food to discover.
Mexico is a very big and diverse country, and for the last couple of days Mexican social media has been full of violent news, starting from the tragedy of a gang raping 6 Spanish tourists to the Blast in Pemex Headquarters, not to mention corruption and human rights violations against journalists.
By knowing the negative image Mexico has in global media, some people from the international community living in Mexico got tired of seeing how the positive side of the country gets lost in a sea of horrifying stories everyday. This is why they decided to act in Twitter by creating the hashtag #ForTheLoveOfMexico.
Some of the TOP tweets of this conversation include:
Susannah Rigg (@MexicoRetold) invites netizens to start the online conversation:
@MexicoRetold: Join the love revolution #fortheloveofmexico…
MexicoMoment (@MexicoMoment) continued the dicussion by mentioning the importance of the use of the hashtag:
@MexicoMoment: We believe in Mexico's performance & potential. In good tidings and great food. In responsible tweeting. #fortheloveofmexico @MexicoRetold
Tach (@tachauvergne) made some compliments on Mexico's cultural diversity:
@tachauvergne:  Because there's nowhere else on Earth that offers such a diverse and thrilling melting pot of culture, food and people#ForTheLoveOfMexico
Paola O Silk (@HTOMpaola) mentioned she is proud of her country because of its indigenous heritage:
@HTOMpaola: RT”@MexicoRetold: Mexico has over 68 distinct indigenous languages!#fortheloveofmexico” ~that is 1 of the reasons I'm in love w/ my country
Tapagringa (@kimmcdaniel) explained how Mexico changed her sense of time and family:
@kimmcdaniel: I love Mexico for teaching me to slow down and enjoy the ride.That family is most important.Everything else will wait.#fortheloveofmexico
Alejandro Castañón (@alexgillessen) expressed his concern about his nation's “bad luck” and courage:
@alexgillessen: @vocativmexico I love Mexico for its strength to carry on despite of the bad luck that has #fortheloveofmexico
Alejandra Castre (@Alejandra81) wrote about the amazing migratory phenomenon happening with monarch butterflies:
@Alejandra81: #fortheloveofmexico Mexico is witness for one of the most amazing migratory events: The Monarca Butterlfy comes every 2 our Oyamel Forests.
Finally Laura Winfree (@CancunGringa) expressed her admiration for Mayan heritage next to beautiful Caribbean beaches:
@CancunGringa: Because where else can you see Mayan ruins next to Caribbean beaches? #fortheloveofmexico http://twitpic.com/c16zbe
Some positive thoughts that needed to be raised, made by Mexicans or people who have been in Mexico, for their citizens not to lose hope when facing the wave of violence the country is facing today.

author: Andrea Arzaba


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Creating Art to Kuti’s Legendary Beats · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Mr. Jaeger has worked on several of Knitting Factory’s Fela efforts including Fela: Live In Detroit 1986, and the Ginger Baker compiled Fela: Vinyl Box Set 2.
Wes Flexner speaks with the person behind the artwork for “Best of Black President Pt 2″, an extensive collection of  legendary Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti’s music ranging from 1971’s “Black Man’s Cry” to 1992’s “Underground System”.


text:
Secular Politician Shot Dead, Protests Erupt Across Tunisia · Global Voices
Afef Abrougui

Chokri Belaid. Photo taken by Amine Ghrabi on October 15, 2012, shared on Flickr. (CC-NC)
Protests have erupted across Tunisia, following the assassination of Chokri Belaid, a leading member of the secular opposition, and a staunch opponent of the Islamist-led coalition government. His supporters and his mourners are either directly or indirectly accusing the Islamists for his murder.
Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali condemned the murder and described it as an “act of terrorism”, while President Moncef Marzouki cancelled his trip to Cairo where he was supposed to participate at the summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
France24 Observers published a video shot by Bel Fekih Amine, Belaid's neighbor on its YouTube page. The video shows the crime scene a few minutes after Belaid was shot dead outside his home in the early hours of February 6, 2013.
Family Accuses Islamists:
The police is still investigating, but Belaid's family is pointing fingers at the Islamist party Ennahdha. @simonsayzzzzz, a journalist working for Agence France Presse tweeted [fr]:
Frère de #ChokriBelaïd: “(…)j'accuse Rached Ghannouchi d'avoir fait assassiner mon frère” #AFP #Tunisie
Chokri Belaid's brother: I accuse Rached Ghannouchi [President of Ennahdha] of assassinating my brother” #AFP #Tunisie
Zannoubia tweeted:
La sœur de #chokribelaid sur l'avenue accuse ennahdha le MI et leurs milices de l'assassinat de son frère. #Tunisie
the sister of Chokri Belaid at the avenue [of Habib Bourguiba] has accused Ennahdha, the ministry of interior and their militias for killing her brother
Ennahdha denied such accusations. Sasa Petricic the Middle East Correspondent for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation tweeted:
#Tunisia ruling Islamist Ennahda party denies responsibility in killing of prominent secular opp leader #ChokriBelaid, despite differences
“Assassinated for his ideas”:
Belaid was known for being a vocal critic of the government and Tunisian Islamists. Though, it is still not known who was behind his murder, Tunisian netizens seem to be confident that his anti-Islamist ideas cost him his life.
Haythem tweeted:
On a pu tuer #ChokriBelaid mais ses idées éterniseront
They were able to kill Chokri Belaid, but his ideas will live forever
Leith Ben Ayed said:
RIP #ChokriBelaïd. Un grand homme tué pour ses idées, qu'il ne soit pas mort en vain.
RIP Chokri Belaid. A great man murdered for his ideas. May he not die in vain
Protests Erupt:
Tear gas near Interior Ministry in Tunis. Photo by Amine Ghrabi shared on Flickr. (CC-NC)
As the news of Belaid's murder spread like fire, protests have erupted in several regions of the country. AFP has also reported that the offices of Ennahdha and the government in several provinces of the country were attacked and vandalized.
Police near the Interior Ministry in Tunis, February 6, 2013. Photo by Amine Ghrabi shared on Flickr. (CC-NC)
The collective blog Nawaat reports:
@nawaat:Des milliers de manifestants a #Gafsa. Le local d'Ennahdha saccagé et ses meubles et documents brulés. #chokribelaid
@nawaat: thousands of protesers in Gafsa [south west of Tunisia]. Ennahdha office was ransacked, furniture and documents were burned
@nawaat:A #Redayef le syndicat enseignant décréte la grève générale. Le local d'Ennahdha saccagé et ses meubles brûlés dans la rue #chokribelaid
@nawaat: in Rdeyef [a town in Gafsa, south west of Tunisia], the teachers’ syndicate declared a general strike. Ennahdha's office was ransacked and its furniture burned in the street.
@nawaat: a Sidi Bouzid, des centaines de manifestants tentent de forcer la porte du bâtiment du district de police. #sidibouzid #chokribelaid
@nawaat: In Sidi Bouzid, hundreds of protesers try to break into the police district office
Sasa Petricic  tweeted:
Offices of #Tunisia governing party Ennahda attacked after opp’n leader #ChokriBelaid assassinated. Thousands protest in Tunis, SidiBouzid
At Habib Bourguiba Avenue [Tunis], police used tear gas to disperse protesters, who gathered outside the headquarters of the Interior Ministry, chanting anti-government slogans and calling upon the Interior Minister to leave office. France 24 correspondent David Thomson tweeted [fr]:
Tirs de gaz lacrymogène sur l'Avenue Bourguiba, dispersion des manifestants #Tunisie
tear gas at Habib Bourguiba avenue, protesters dispersed
He added in another tweet [fr]:
La situation dégénère en heurts manifestants/police sur #Bourguiba
the situation degenerates into clashes between protesters and police
Privately-owned radio station Shems FM shared the following video showing the chaotic situation at Habib Bourguiba avenue.
The clashes led to the death of a police officer, announced the Interior Ministry on its official facebook page.

author: Afef Abrougui


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Solidarity Rises from Southern Brazil’s Sunday Flames  · Global Voices
Pedro Henrique Tavares

[All links lead to Portuguese language pages except when otherwise stated.]
Porto Alegre, 27 January 2013. It was meant to be a Sunday like any other. The Gaucho Football championship mood was taking over the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Those who’d passed in the main university entrance exams were celebrating yet another hard day’s study. Everything seemed fine. A start to the year like any other.
However, the worst tragedy in the history of the state was about to take over the news in the midst of this Sunday mood. In the city of Santa Maria, in the Kiss nightclub, a fire wiped away the lives and dreams of more than 230 young people [en]. And as the columnist Juremir Machado da Silva said in the Correio do Povo (the People’s Daily), on the morning of 27 January, ‘all they wanted to do was have fun’.
Once the initial shock was over in the gaucho [en] interior, solidarity took hold.
Vila Liberdade, Porto Alegre. Collection of donations being carried out at Giudice Gymnasium (CC BY-SA Overmundo)
The main social networking sites were used as a tool for the gathering of information about the incident, as well as a way of asking for help for the victims. There weren’t enough doctors, psychologists. There wasn’t enough food and drink. The injured needed blood.
On Monday 28 January, the Hospital de Clinicas in Porto Alegre sent out a message on Facebook, so that people would stop donating blood, as stocks had been completely replenished in less than a week:
O Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre esclarece que não está solicitando doações de sangue para esta quarta-feira. Centenas de pessoas mobilizaram-se em solidariedade às vítimas de Santa Maria e o Banco de Sangue do hospital recebeu mais de 500 doações só nesta segunda e terça-feira.
O hospital agradece a disposição de todos e conta com a compreensão dos doadores para que se organizem para procurar o Banco de Sangue nas próximas semanas.
The Hospital de Clinicas in Porto Alegre would like to clarify that it is not requesting further blood donations on Wednesday. Hundreds of people have already helped out in solidarity of the Santa Maria victims, and the Blood Bank has already received more than 500 donations on Monday and Tuesday alone.
The hospital would like to thank everyone’s willingness to help and would like to count on those who’ve already donated blood to return to the Blood Bank in the next few weeks.
Nathalia Guarezi (@naguarezi), editor of the De Chaleira blog, one of many who asked for help to try and find those who’d disappeared, tweeted:
Pessoas, a @luanamag pediu ajuda para encontrar essa garota em alguma lista de feridos de Santa Maria: http://facebook.com/faccoferreira. Vamos ajudar!
People, @luanamag has asked for help to find this girl on any of the lists of injured in Santa Maria area: http://facebook.com/faccoferreira. Let’s help out!
International press coverage came out in force too. The incident was the main headline in the New York Times on 28 January. Simon Romero (@viaSimonRomero), head of the North American newspaper in Brazil, tweeted one of the articles that the NY Times wrote about the case on 29 January.
The Observatório de Imprensa (Press Watchdog), one of the main Brazilian organs aimed at criticising the media, commented on the main press coverage of the story on 28 January. According to Luciano Martins Costa, who published the article about the incident in OI ‘the numbers give the scale of the tragedy, the different elements which came together to aggravate the situation give way to fury, but even so were finding it hard to comprehend the meaning of the incident in its entirety.’ Costa went on:
Os jornais de segunda-feira (28/1) tentam superar a perplexidade, mas essa é a expressão que define exatamente até onde pode chegar a narrativa especializada: quanto mais as palavras e as imagens nos aproximam da verdade, menos aceitável ela se torna.
The Monday (28.1) newspapers tried to overcome the perplexity, but this is the term which defines exactly what happens with regard to a very specialised account of what happened: the more words and images bring us closer to the truth, the less acceptable it becomes.
Flames consume Vila Liberdade
And so, at the beginning of the night on that Sunday, with a huge roar, a siren went off at Vila Liberdade, in the north zone of Porto Alegre. The community is only a few metres from the recently inaugurated Gremio Arena. The splendour of the new stadium contrasts starkly with the misery of the local area. According to Sul 21, 90 of the 150 houses were consumed by flames. At least 50 of them were totally destroyed.
Vila Liberdade – Porto Alegre – 27/01/2013. Around 800 people are now homeless. (CC BY-SA Overmundo)
According to the Civil Police and the local population, the fire had broken out after a fight between a couple in Vila Liberdade. Samir Oliveira’s report, from 29 January, explains:
Valéria é apenas uma das dezenas de moradores da Vila Liberdade que se amontoavam entre os escombros do incêndio(…) Em meio a cacos de vidro, tijolos quebrados, ferros retorcidos, esqueletos de geladeiras e carcaças carbonizadas de porcos, gatos, galinhas e cães, os moradores buscavam recuperar materiais que pudessem ter resistido às chamas.
Valeria is only one of dozens of Vila Liberdade residents who were huddled together in the fire debris (…) amongst shattered glass, broken tiles, twisted tools, skeletons of fridges and burnt bodies of pigs, cats, chickens and dogs, everyone desperately trying to recuperate anything which had survived the flames.
Vila Liberdade (CC BY-SA Overmundo)
While the traditional media worked overtime to try and cover one more catastrophe after such a short interlude, it was clear to see that the force of the feeling to help those in the Santa Maria incident, immediately extended to the Vila Liberdade victims. In amongst the protests against the Arena and the condolences, appeals for food and clothing dominated the digital media, principally the following day.
Vila Liberdade: the checking and distribution of the donations is carried out in the sports gymnasium at the Municipal School of Antonia Giudice. On 2 February a group of volunteers went to the shanty town en force to take statements of the incident from those who had been affected by the fire. (CC BY-SA Overmundo)
That Sunday will never be forgotten. And neither will the solidarity.

author: Pedro Henrique Tavares


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Dreams Come Alive, Baseball Player José Contreras Returns to Cuba · Global Voices
Elaine Díaz

[All links lead to Spanish language pages unless otherwise noted]
In April 2012, the young journalist, Lenier González, editor of the Cuban magazine Espacio Laical [Social Communication Project forming part of the Archdiocese of Havana], concluded the prologue to the compilation “By Consensus for Democracy” with the following words:
El intenso debate sociopolítico que está teniendo lugar en la sociedad cubana, y su capacidad demostrada de impactar sobre la opinión pública insular, constituyen una muestra irrefutable de que Cuba está viva.
The intense sociopolitical debate that has been taking place in Cuban society, and its clear ability to impact on insular public opinion, constitute irrefutable evidence that Cuba is alive.
The vibrancy of the Caribbean nation, as evidenced in the  recent discussions surrounding the Internet [en] and the Migration Reform [en], amongst many others, has been expressed through blogs and social media.
The arrival, just over a week ago, of José Ariel Contreras to Cuba, a Cuban baseball pitcher based in the US since 2002, has moved the inhabitants of his native province, Pinar del Río, and also fans of Cuba's national sport: baseball.
Las últimas modificaciones de la Ley migratoria, que finalmente “pusieron” a mi primo en Miami y en Belice a mi mejor amigo, trajeron a José Ariel Contreras al Capitán San Luis. ¡Demasiado para el aburridísimo pueblito de Pinar que José Ariel, en el castellano que casi olvidara antes de “irse”, hubiese intercambiado con su pueblo!, cuenta desde su perfil en Facebook el periodista Carlos Díaz.
The most recent modifications to the Migration Law, which finally “put” my cousin in Miami and my best friend in Belize, brought José Ariel Contreras to the stadium Capitán San Luis. So much for the boring town of Pinar, which José Ariel (in nearly forgetting his Castilian before leaving), had exchanged for his new town!, recalls the journalist Carlos Díaz from his Facebook account.
The Migration Reform, which has been in place since January 14, allows visits from health professionals or high performing athletes “that left their country after 1990, if they have spent more than eight years of this time away, except in cases where they have been tending to humanitarian work where their entrance to the country will be dealt with within less time”, relays a note from the Inter Press Service agency.
Aliet Arzola, makes an evaluation from her Facebook page:
Esto era un sueño hace muy poco, pero finalmente se hizo realidad… Como mismo René Arocha rompió el hielo y desertó, ahora José Ariel Contreras se convierte en el primer pelotero cubano en regresar a la Isla… Ojalá detrás puedan venir muchos más, deseos no les faltan, de poner sus pies en Cuba y de enfundarse en la camiseta de las cuatro.
Only recently this was merely a dream, now finally it has become reality… In the same way that René Arocha broke the ice and left, José Ariel Contreras has become the first Cuban baseball player to return to the Island… I hope that following this, many more will come and with no shortage of wishes to set foot on Cuban soil and squeeze into their number four shirts.
Carlos Manuel Álvarez, a journalism student and blogger, who carried out the interview with Contreras, joined the celebrations. Álvarez travelled to Las Martinas- Contreras birthplace- late on the 30th January in order to ask him about his experience of Cuba more than 10 years later, along with other questions, which the sportsman was happy to answer.
Carlos Manuel Álvarez interviewing José Ariel Contreras. Photo: Courtesy of Carlos Manuel Álvarez
According to Álvarez, Contreras’ exit from the national selection during 2002 caused a great shock. “Many players had split beforehand, but Contreras stayed a while. Your return has created a way back in, in some respects it has built a bridge. Can you imagine those baseball players who left, playing once again for Cuba?”, he enquired.
To which Contreras responded:
Antes que todo somos cubanos. Donde quiera que estemos y haciendo lo que hagamos. Jugando beisbol, o barriendo una calle en cualquier lugar del mundo, seguimos siendo cubanos. De hecho, yo tengo una cláusula, que firmé en 2002 con los Yankees, donde dice que en contra de Cuba no juego. Si juego en un evento internacional, es con mi equipo. Y ese es mi sueño, tener la oportunidad de jugar por Cuba antes de retirarme.
First of all we are Cubans, regardless of where we are or whatever we are doing. Be it playing baseball, or sweeping a street in any place in the world, we continue being Cuban. In fact, I signed a clause in 2002 with the Yankees that states that I won't play against Cuba. If I play in an international event, I will play with my team. This is my dream, to have the opportunity to play for Cuba before I retire.
Throughout this month, Cuba has also reformed the programming of state television channels. As part of these changes, it was announced that a weekly transmission of baseball games from professional foreign leagues would be shown, satisfying the long-standing demand of the people, that could make possible the dream of watching the New York Yankees on screen.
The professionalisation of baseball is another pending matter for sports in Cuba. According to Contreras, “the best baseball in the world is in the US, but the Japanese, Korean, Domincans and Venezuelas all play there. The Cubans will also have to join and the quality will rise, indisputably”.
For the readers of OnCuba, the magazine that got the scoop on the interview, it is important that “the Cuban baseball players can get involved in the major leagues, and that Contreras’ dream of playing for Cuba in the World and Classic Leagues may come true”.

author: Elaine Díaz


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Europe’s Frozen Conflicts · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Black Sea News publishes Natalya Belitser's paper [en] – “Transnistrian Conflict: State of Affairs and Prospects of Settlement” – written for the international conference on “frozen conflicts” in Europe, which was held in September 2012 in Bled, Slovenia (via Andrei Klimenko).

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Trinidad & Tobago: Cyber Security  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

ICT Pulse wonders how serious the Caribbean really is about cybercrime and online security.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Panic and Terror Walk Hand-in-Hand in Guinea-Bissau · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

As the world's attention is focused on another part of West Africa, the citizens of the small, troubled country of Guinea-Bissau struggle to bring a worsening human rights situation to regional and international attention.
Guinean Human Rights League released a major report [pdf] on the human rights situation today, a serious wake-up call for those who think that silence means everything is okay in the country [pt]:
[…] a Guiné-Bissau tornou-se num país isolado de um mundo cada vez mais globalizado, país onde o pânico e o terror caminham de braços dados. A população vive entrincheirada no seu próprio receio de um amanhecer de novas violências, de fugas sem destino, agravadas pelo facto de de se aperceber que a comunidade internacional não consegue unir-se, para garantir os interesses e aspirações.
[…] Guinea-Bissau has become an isolated country in an increasingly globalized world, a country where panic and terror walk hand-in-hand. The population lives entrenched in its own dread of waking up to new violence… worsened by the fact that the international community cannot come together to guarantee [its] interests and aspirations.
As Global Voices reported, an April coup d'etat destabilized the country, followed by an ongoing “transition” brokered by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which has been punctuated by intrigues and repression of political voices.
Some of the largest international human rights organizations have been silent on Guinea-Bissau for months, and notably Human Rights Watch did not include the country in its report on 2012, making the Guinean Human Rights League report that much more important.
The League writes of its reporting [pt]:
Guinean Human Rights League Report on Human Rights. Click the image to download the pdf file [pt]
…este trabalho difícil, sobretudo por se realizar num contexto de ameaças de toda a orden, só foi possível graças aos esforços dos membros e estruturas a todos os níveis desta or- ganização, assim como às pessoas singulares, radicalmente comprometidos com as causas nobres de direitos humanos e paz
…this difficult work, most of all because it is carried out in a context of all kinds of threats, was only possible due to the efforts of members and structures at all levels of this organizations, as well as individuals, radically committed to the noble causes of human rights and peace
While the report documents violations of economic and social rights, as well as violations of the rights of women and children, the most timely sections are those focusing on impunity, the justice system and the armed forces. Starting with April's coup d'etat, the League writes [pt]:
[…] os direitos e liberdades fundamentais nomeadamente, a liberdade de expressão, de manifestação e de reunião, foram e continuam a ser ilegalmente restringidas pelo Estado-Maior, detentor do poder real no país, em nome da garantia de uma paz e estabilidade inexistentes, numa clara violação da constituição da república e dos instrumentos jurídicos interna- cionais dos direitos humanos. A sociedade guineense vive hoje, independentemente da sua vontade, num clima de insegura e amargurada impotência e refém de uma classe política e castrense dividida, imprevisível e violenta.
[…] fundamental rights and liberties namely the freedom of expression, of protest and assembly, were and continue to be illegally restricted by the [Military] Command, possessor of real power in the country, in the name of guaranteeing non-existent peace and stability, in clear violation of the Constitution of the Republic and of the international human rights instruments. Guinean society lives today, against its will, in a climate of insecurity and bitter helplessness and hostage to a divided, unpredictable and violent political and martial class.
What violence is referred to here? In October, after violence at an airbase and allegations of coup plot, its supposed leader was caught (Global Voices reported), an opposition leader was kidnapped and savagely beaten [warning: graphic photos]. Then reports surfaced of killings of young people in Bolama [pt] swept up by the military crackdown. In November, the Guinea Human Rights League denounced a kidnapping of a well-connected man [pt] whose “lifeless body was found days later in the morgue of the country's main hospital”. Blogger Pasmalu wrote [pt] in November:
Perante a inércia dos países democráticos e com a conivência activa da CEDEAO, que pinta este país como se a barbárie não tivesse assentado praça na Guiné-Bissau e tudo estivesse a correr da melhor forma, prossegue todos os dias a MATANÇA de pessoas em Bissau.
Já não são só por razões de perseguição política, embora esses casos sejam os mais numerosos, mas os militares e alguns civis ligados ao (des)governo, que fazem questão de estar presentes e participar não só nos espancamentos como nos assassinatos, aproveitam para ajustes de contas de ódios pessoais antigos e recalcados.
In face of the inertia of democratic countries and with the active connivance of ECOWAS, who paints this country as if barbarism never set up shop in Guinea-Bissau and as if everything was going really well, the everyday MASSACRE of people in Bissau goes on.
Now not just for political persecution, although these are the most numerous ones, but military men and some civilians connected to the (un)government, who insist on being present and in participating not only in the beatings as in the murders themselves, to take advantage of the settling of personal scores from long-time hatreds rehashed.
Hopes for the future
The UN Security Council heard yesterday from its own high-level diplomats that there is a “general atmosphere of fear” in the country, where UN envoy and Nobel Peace Laureate José Ramos Horta is set to arrive in coming days.
Blog Ação Cidadã quotes liberation hero Amílcar Cabral [pt] in its manifesto:
a luta do nosso povo é contra tudo quanto seja contrário à sua liberdade e independência, mas também contra tudo que seja contrário ao progresso e à sua felicidade
the struggle of our people is against all that goes against liberty and independence, but also against all that counters progress and the happiness of the people
Recent months have seen citizen initiatives arise, like Movicidadão [pt], which is a coalition of individuals and groups who will participate in a drive to register and issue documents to the numerous citizens who lack these. Ação Cidadã [pt] also shows how young people are “appropriating” public space in the town of Buba by naming streets and public places with names like “Active Voice Alley” and “Patio of Justice”.
Meanwhile Guinean poets and artists organized a week of cultural activities in Portugal [pt] to show the world that “Guinea-Bissau has much more than the military men”.

author: Janet Gunter


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Côte d’Ivoire’s ‘Elephants’ Doomed?  · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

What if the football history of Côte d'Ivoire was doomed in a particularly strange way? A story written in such a way that superstars cannot ever put their hands on the continental trophy ? What exactly do Didier Drogba and Laurent Poku lack to win a Africa Cup? They are both talented [..] but they fail where other less talented players have found success.
After the elimination of the “Elephants” of Côte d'Ivoire in the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations, SUY Kahofi raises questions [fr] about the national football team.


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Impact of Factory Jobs on Workers’ Wealth · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Work for Chris Blattman in Ethiopia to assess the impact of low-skill, low-wage factory jobs on the worker’s wealth, health and politics (among other things).


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Bangladesh: All Roads Lead To Shahbagh  · Global Voices
Rajib Kamal

At Shahbagh, the youth are taking charge and pushing politics aside for the fourth day running. Thousands of protesters continue to occupy the main intersection in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka demanding capital punishment for Abdul Quader Mollah, a leader of the Islamist party and other individuals being tried for war crimes committed during the 1971 liberation war.
They have waited 42 years for the accused to be tried, many of whom are now politicians with the Islamist party Jamaat-e Islami, and they say they won't back down till they believe justice is served.
Since its a Friday and a holiday, a huge crowd is expected to join the protests. A youth lead mass gathering will take place at 3:00PM in Shahbagh. The Blogger and Activists Network, Cultural Activists and Youth Organizations will address the mass gathering. No political slogan/speeches will be allowed. Political organizations are requested not to bring any political banners. The organizers have requested students from schools and colleges to join.
The Shahbagh protests are being live streamed by youth activists Shourov Hassan, Mahmudul Amin and Fahim Mahmud. You can watch the live stream here.
Live streaming of protests using a mobile phone. Image courtesy Matir Manush
Matir Manush writes on Facebook:
এই হচ্ছে সেই ডিজিটাল চোখ, যা দিয়ে শাহবাগ এর আন্দোলন দেখছে দেশ-বিদেশের ২৫০০ এর ও বেশি মানুষ…
This is the digital eye with which more than 2500 people are watching the Shahbagh protests concurrently.
The Blogger and Activists Network initiated this protest and uprising on Tuesday afternoon 5 February, after Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Mollah's verdict and sentence of life imprisonment was announced. Here are some scenes from Shahbagh (all images used with permission):
Ocean of People in Shahbagh. Image by Aninda Kabir Avik
Torch protests in Shahbagh. Image by Sharat Chowdhury
Slogan on the street demanding capital punishment. Image by Abdul Aleem Khan
Protests in Sylhet city. Image by Jamil Cowdhury.
Candle Light Protests. Image by Sharat Chowdhury
Here are some Twitter reactions:
#Shahbag People from all spectrum are joining the movement. Rich-poor-kids-senior citizens-war veterans-athletes. This is #Bangladesh.
— Prithvi Shams (@Prithvi_Shams) February 8, 2013
After over 4 decades of standing by while rapists and murderers were appointed govt ministers, we say enough. #shahbag #Bangladesh #71
— Tahmima Anam (@tahmima) February 8, 2013
You can follow the mass protests using #Shahbagh এবং #Shahbag Hashtags.

author: Rajib Kamal


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“Pedophile’s Guide” Lands Russian Blogging Platform on Blacklist · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

The Russian Internet blacklist has claimed another visible website: the blog-hosting portal lj.rossia.org. Federal communications monitors from Roskomnadzor filed two separate decisions [ru] against lj.rossia on January 28, regarding a blog that publishes Russian translations of the American book “The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure,” by Phillip Greaves, who was arrested and sentenced to two years’ probation by a Florida court in 2011. (Greaves’ book was briefly available on Amazon.com, before that site pulled it from sales.) Roskomnadzor's blacklisting finally took effect earlier today, after lj.rossia's administrators apparently refused to remove or block access to the content within the Russian Federation.
Lj.rossia.org is a small blogging platform with around two thousand active users, some of whom, however, are notable bloggers like Vladimir Pribylovsky and Roman Leibov. It is also a repository [ru] for some accounts suspended by LiveJournal or hacked in the past.
This marks the second time in a month that lj.rossia has tangled with federal censors. Just last month, on January 8, Roskomnadzor demanded that the site cut off access to user kazantripreport's blog for disseminating information about illegal drugs. As it happens, lj.rossia had already decided [ru] to suspend kazantripreport more than a week [ru] earlier, after portal-founder Misha Verbitsky put it up for a vote [ru] among users. (They determined that “commercial use of the [lj.rossia] server” constituted a violation of the site's terms of service.)
Misha Verbitsky, 21 May 2006, photo by Misha Verbitsky, CC 3.0.
Verbitsky's website is no stranger to problems with material harmful to children. In 2010, accusations [ru] arose that several lj.rossia users—some registered as “friends” of Verbitsky—had been posting child pornography for years. When site administrators (namely, Verbitsky himself) took no action, the infamous Hacker Hell broke into the offending accounts, and Verbitsky immediately suspended them. A year later, Hell intervened again, when Verbitsky refused to suspend a user for republishing stolen email and LiveJournal messaging logs. This time, Hell hacked and froze the account publishing the logs.
Censorship was with lj.rossia at its inception. Indeed, Verbitsky created the LiveJournal-alternative after that site's Abuse Team froze his account in June 2005. His offense was promulgating the phrase [ru] “Kill a NATOite!” (Убей НАТОвца!), which (then still American) LJ administrators interpreted literally to be a call to violence. Verbitsky temporarily lost his account along with hundreds [ru] of other LJ users (including many prominent bloggers, like Maksim Kononenko), after the site activated an automatic crawler to freeze any account using the Убей НАТОвца phrase, regardless of context. When Verbitsky resuscitated his blog on lj.rossia, his inaugural post [ru] read simply: “Kill NATO! NATO, kill it!”
The current scandal surrounding lj.rossia's Phillip Greaves clone (user how_to) also has a history dating back at least to September last year. That was when newspaper Moskovskii Komsomolets published an article [ru] criticizing lj.rossia for hosting the blog. Two days after that piece, Roskomnadzor issued an official warning [ru], accusing the newspaper of disseminating hyperlinks to illegal material. (Still six weeks before the Internet blacklist registry went online, the government relied on an older law than bans mass media outlets from spreading illegal information.) Indeed, Verbitsky commented [ru] on the incident at the time, mocking the turn of events as “surreal.”
As it turns out, lj.rossia already debated the pedophile blog last month, on January 10, when user andrewkasper complained [ru] that it contained illegal content and called for how_to's suspension. Verbitsky was initially receptive to the complaint, reposting [ru] it the same day to lj.rossia's supervisory community. As the comments poured in, however, the debate quickly degenerated into attacks on andrewkasper, including comparisons [ru] of him to Goebbels and Stalin, as well as accusations [ru] that andrewkasper and how_to are one and the same person. (This latter theory supposes that andrewkasper's complaint was intended solely to draw attention to how_to's blog.)
Writing again today, Verbitsky addressed the blacklisting of lj.rossia. Surprisingly, he now says he's prepared to introduce a “stop-list” that would block blacklisted posts and accounts from people accessing the site in Russia. Verbitsky has also asked the supervisory community to debate whether or not he should delete how_to's lj.rossia account. Offering his own two cents, user how_to commented this evening on Verbitsky's post, advocating [ru] the Russia-localized stop-list, and defending [ru] Greaves’ book as something that “tests the limits of permissible” and addresses “the most important political issue: the sex question.”

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Critic Rises within Communist Party of China · Global Voices
Abby Liu

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has urged the Communist Party of China (CPC) to be more tolerant of criticism and receptive to the views of non-communists. His comment has drawn a lot of interests on Weibo and Twitter, some responded with hope, others reacted with skepticism. CHINA DIGITAL TIMES has more details.


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Ecuador: Central Bank President Resigns Amid Forged Degree Scandal  · Global Voices
Daniela Gallardo

Pedro Delgado, cousin of President Rafael Correa Degaldo, resigned as President of Ecuador's  Central Bank on December 19 after discovering he forged his Economics degree. The discovery was presented to the State Attorney General on November 20, 2012 [es] by opposition politician Enrique Herrería, after he conducted a thorough investigation into Delgado's educational background. Nevertheless, President Correa defended his counsin in his weekly address and in retaliation went after the prosecution and the media.
The weekly address from November 24, 2012, after the allegations were made. Video taken from archivodigitaleu‘s YouTube channel:
Article 69 of the Monetary Authority and State Bank Law outlines that, in order to serve as President of the Central Bank, “it is necessary to hold a post-graduate degree from an accredited university, local or abroad, in a field related to the primary function of the position.” But on November 22, El Universo from Ecuador published an article that claimed Pedro Delgado admitted to a Miami court that he in fact did not hold a Ecuadorian university degree.
On November 23 [es], the same paper reported that Delgado had presented a university degree to Costa Rica's Central American Business Administration Institute (INCAE), a claim the institution confirmed.
According to Ecuadorian paper El Comercio [es], Herrería visited INCAE on December 5 to verify Delgado's academic record; but he came up empty-handed. The article goes on to explain that Delgado was officially registered at Universidad Católica del Ecuador [es] from the spring semester of 1983 until the spring semester of 1990, despite never graduating from the university. La Hora [es] indicated that upon evaluation, the President of INCAE was skeptical and promised to provide the requested documentation as quickly as possible.
EcuadorTV's YouTube channel posted the video of Delgado's resignation [es]:
President Rafael Correa (@MashiRafael) publicized his reaction on Twitter:
@MashiRafael: Día durísimo. Verificamos que Pedro Delgado había presentado un título falso en el INCAE. Le ha hecho un grave daño a la Revolución.
Vaderetro Referencias [es] posted images of the forged document Delgado provided to the Quito School of Economics. The diploma indicates a Masters Degree in Business Economics from INCAE, and falsely implies Delgado is a graduate of Universidad Católica del Ecuador.
El Comercio published the reactions [es] of some assembly members to Delgado's resignation.
La República [es] reports that after tendering his resignation, the President's cousin was in Miami by 7:00 am the next day.

author: Daniela Gallardo


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European Regional Differences · Global Voices
Tibor Blazko

Slovak NGO/think-tank Conservative Institute [en] blogged [sk] about the results of a study of 270 second-level EU regions (NUTS 2). Comparing changes in unemployment, they found that during 1990-2011, despite the growing amount of Euro-funds, the differences between the regions grew by about 4 percentage points. In more than 50 years of European integration, the EU institutions have created 112,140 regulations. Conservative Institute claims [sk] that the actual EU strategy is causing loss of competitiveness, higher debts, taxes and a lower level of employment:
[…] Instead of the futile struggle with regional differences, the EU should rather begin to focus on reducing the regulatory burden, which is the opposite of what is currently being done. The government's goal should not be the removal of regional or other differences, but the removal of regulations and barriers to business and everyday life […]. The consequences of the increased level of redistribution will prove negative in the long run […].
The EU's regional/cohesion policy as part of the European redistribution mechanism should be cancelled. The reforms, which are always heard about when the end of one of the programming periods is approaching […], are mostly just an attempt to put on new clothes on the old skeleton figurines. Stubborn construction of welfare state […] – this naive and irresponsible direction of the EU ignores the reality. The reality in which the EU member states are losing more and more jobs in a globalized economy, losing the competitiveness […]. The reality in which the indebted EU is courting the communist China about buying European debt.

author: Tibor Blazko


text:
Japan’s Corporate Slaves Put Humor to Hard Work · Global Voices
Mari Wakimoto

[All links lead to Japanese language pages, except when noted otherwise]
With a twist of humor, moral and technical support has been pouring in across social media sites for Japan's “corporate slaves” or shachiku as they are referred to in Japanese slang.
There is even an App! It's called “Friends of Shachiku“.
The application allows shachikus to automatically “like” and “share” their boss's Facebook posts. It also generates bookmark URLs of what their boss has shared or liked on Facebook. The app even has a feature that allows you to decide how frequently you want to “like” your boss's post; all you have to do is press the button, “Be a desirable shachiku“.
Hisaju, is the freelance engineer who created this application:
みなさんがコンプレックスや仕事など何かで悩んでいるときにそれを（アプリで）解消しようとは思ってはいなくて、そのサイトを見てクスっと笑って悩みがその瞬間だけでも和らげるようなサービスがあったらなという思いで作っています。
It doesn't intend to be a perfect solution for what your are struggling with at work, or even for your self-esteem. I made this app in the hopes that people will laugh for a moment when they use this service, and give them a brief respite from their daily struggles.
As of December 12, 2012, “the number of bosses” that users of this application registered was 9,669.
A Japanese boxed lunch Bento, with “Gozensama” (a term wives use for their husbands who work late) written on the rice. Image by Flickr user Y.S.K.31 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Shachiku is a newly coined mash-up of kaisha and kachiku, which are Japanese for corporation and domestic animal. The mash-up literally translates to white-collar workers who have been domesticated by corporations and now live off their salaries without free will.
Playing off the traditional Japanese card deck karuta and the slave-like conditions shachikus endure, in December 2012, the hashtag #社畜死亡かるた (translation: #WordPlayOffShachikuDeath) went viral on Twitter.
(Note: To understand the following tweets you are going to need a crash course in karuta! Karuta cards either have symbols on them (Japanese hiragana alphabets in this case) or proverbs. The following tweets take inspiration from “Iroha Garuta”, a popular karuta game that is played by matching symbols and proverbs. So in the following tweets, Twitter users match alphabets with short proverb-like sentences about the shachiku.)
For instance, one user described the harsh working conditions that the shachiku endure:
@Tarodigy い: 胃カメラ飲むまではひよっこ扱い。 #社畜死亡かるた
@Tarodigy U: Until you work so hard [that you get ulcers] and have to swallow a gastro-camera, you are just a little boy [that can be ordered around] #WordPlayOffShachikuDeath
Another user referred to bosses who think working over-time is the norm:
@hebomegane_sun: う「上の判断をあおがないと定時退社できません」 #社畜死亡かるた
@hebomegane_sun O: Only special permission can allow you to go home. #WordPlayOfShachikuDeath
And this user decided to highlight low wages:
@teracy き:「給与明細みたくない」 #社畜死亡かるた
@teracy P: Paycheck is to stare at and get sad. #WordPlayOfShachikuDeath
Regarding invitations to after-work socializing:
@YangZerstoerung『ま』:「また飲み会か…」 #社畜死亡かるた
@YangZerstoerung N: Not Again. Another obilgatory dinner with the boss. #WordPlayOffShachikuDeath
All of these tweets invite bitter smile to readers.
@kirikami used togetter, a tool that aggregates tweets, to create a page on this topic. The following comments were posted there:
@hiro_britpop: 社畜大杉w 泣けてくる → #社畜死亡かるた – Togetter http://togetter.com/li/397644
@hiro_britpop: LOL. too many “shachiku”. It makes me cry. → #Karuta of Shachikus’ death (#社畜死亡かるた) – Togetter http://togetter.com/li/397644
@hhhrk このタグ私を見てるみたいで、みんなもそうなんだ！と安心しかけたw #社畜死亡かるた
@hhhrk This hashtag seem to talk about my situation. I almost felt relieved to know that everyone is like me. #Karuta of Shachikus’ death (#社畜死亡かるた)
@kirinnnn「うちの会社は誰も文句言ってない」という経営者に見せてみたい。RT @work_bpt: #社畜死亡かるた – Togetter http://bit.ly/WJmo1J
@kirinnnn: I want to show these tweets to the manager who thinks that “No employee complains in my company” RT @work_bpt: #Karuta of Shachikus’ death (#社畜死亡かるた) – Togetter http://bit.ly/WJmo1J
[1] “Gozensama” means to come home after midnight, or a person coming home late. According to a Japanese dictionary of slang it is often used by wives to refer to their late-working husbands.

author: Mari Wakimoto