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Hungary: Chemical Waste Reservoir Still Dangerous · Global Voices
Marietta Le

As it was widely reported, a flood of red sludge hit villages in Western Hungary earlier this week. The disaster caused by a spill of toxic material from an alumina plant reservoir affected seven villages in the area: Tüskevár, Kolontár, Kisberzseny, Somlóvásárhely, Apácatorna, Devecser, Somlójenő. (A zoomed-in map with the reservoir is here.)
According to a Saturday report [HUN] of the Hungarian newspaper Népszabadság, the number of casualties is seven, one person is still missing. Many of the inhabitants were burnt by the toxic mud flowing through the village.
In need of urgent help
The Hungarian government started a website with information on the red sludge, the arrangements made and the situation in the area. By Saturday, the inhabitants of Kolontár have been evacuated because of the risk of a new spill. At an on-site press conference, the Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán said: “[…] late last night cracks appeared in the northern wall of the reservoir; it is assumed that there is a danger of another failure. Experts have analysed the condition of the wall and have determined that there is a real risk that the wall would collapse and that the red sludge behind it would spill out. […]”
The press release also stated that some 750 people have been evacuated from Kolontár because of the risk of another spill, law enforcement forces are standing by in case the nearest settlement Devecser with its 6000 inhabitants needs to be evacuated as well. Meanwhile, dams are being built to protect the residents.
The officials have also set up a national bank account called the Hungarian Relief Fund. George Soros, a Hungarian-American businessman, sent $1 million to the victims of the red sludge, and George Pataki, former governor of New York of Hungarian descent, addressed every Hungarian in the world to help the families in need.
The video below also includes information for those who would like to help the victims. The footage was shot by a Hungarian television channel's crew right after the flood hit the settlements: people were covered with the red sludge, houses were blasted by the wave of the toxic spill.
Tamás Mészáros, blogging on the spot, wrote this [HUN] on Wednesday:
[…] Actually, there are many cars running on the small road between Kolontár and Devecser. Many cars of relief organizations can be seen. Over Kolontár, a police chopper is circling round in the air. Army aid vans, disaster units, police cars and Duna TV are also on the spot. They are shooting near the Kolontár community center. Policemen stand at the crossing. Army aid trucks are arriving to the settlement. The view is very depressing. Everything's full of the red monster. In the ditch by the road, the red monster is still flowing down. People in chemical protection clothing are going down to the houses affected by the disaster. On the balcony of the community center there are many people with laptops in their hands. Some are translating into English. Mineral water is piled up at the entrance. In the room inside, there are many clothes and rubber boots in one pile. Outside Kolontár, there are many metal objects, wheels and household gears by the road. […]
Tamás also reported [HUN] on Saturday's evacuation due to the mud drying and turning into floating powder. This may also be toxic, so he had to wear a mask when buying food.
He wrote [HUN] they still needed rubber boots, blankets, sleeping bags and help with the cleaning.
A Facebook group [HUN] was set up to collect information about what was missing from the settlements affected; Magdi Novák's blog is doing the same.

author: Marietta Le


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India: Chennai’s Moral Police  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Sharanya Manivannan at Ultra Violet shares some experiences involving Chennai's police who exercise moral policing on women.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Rezwan


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India: Women In Call Centers · Global Voices
Rezwan

Manka Banda at AAUW Dialog reviews Reena Patel's recent book which discusses among other things about the challenges and opportunities female employees in India’s call centers encounter in their everyday lives.


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Kenya: Raising the Bar for MP Party Nominations · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Raising the bar for MP party nominations in Kenya: “Headlines of outstanding warrants for fraud and forgery, questionable accumulation of wealth, and the recent road rage  incident continue to haunt MP for Makadara the Honorable Mr Gideon Mbuvi Kioko aka ‘Mike Sonko’. “

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Kyrgyzstan: Cast your votes! · Global Voices
Chris Rickleton

The October 10 parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan are likely to be the freest and fairest in the country's young history. As such, they offer a perfect opportunity to test the impact of the Internet on public life in the country.
Website EurasiaNet.org [eng] ran a brief feature on a new initiative set up by Milieukontakt International [eng], website vybirai.org, which offers visitors ‘easy-to-use tools to compare political parties’ promises before Kyrgyzstan’s October 10 parliamentary polls.’
Whether or not the website, translated into Russian, Kyrgyz, Uzbek and English, has come into being too close to the vote in order to make an impact on proceedings is unclear. Nevertheless, Kloop blogger Sato showed enthusiasm for the project in a short post on October 6.
“29 parties fighting for [120] seats in parliament. The devil himself breaks a leg trying to find out Who? What? Recently the site “Choose”[has appeared], which, I believe, provides a simple way around voting in batches.”
As to the predictive powers of the online polls in the country, much doubt has already surfaced. But one of the largest, taken by news agency AkiPress [ru] will surely provide an interesting indication as to whether small-scale internet usage (7,803 voted in total) can produce samples representative of  nationwide trends.
In that poll, Omurbek Tekebayev's [eng] party Ata Meken come out on top with 27 seats, followed by Ata Jurt (20) Ar Namys (17) and Ak-Shumkar (17). Certainly, the poll is unable to relate to some of the finer details [eng] that will determine the outcome of the vote. For instance, if any one party is to pass into the parliament, they must first receive a 0.5% minimum share of the vote in every region.
That may be a problem for Ata Jurt [ru](Fatherland). Hugely popular in the South of the country, they face the very real possibility of receiving less than that share in the northern region of Talas. That worry has been compounded by an attack on the party's Bishkek HQ on October 6, which Kyrgyzstani citizen media portal Kloop.kg [ru] captured on video.
The attack, seemingly carried out by relatives of those who died on the capital's central square on April 7, came less than 24 hours after a video [kyr] surfaced on youtube appearing to show party leader Kamchybek Tashiev promising a crowd in Kyrgyzstan's Batken oblast that their party would return former president Kurmanbek Bakiev to office.
In an interview with 24.kg [ru], linked on their party website, Tashiev assured voters the video was a fake: “We have an expert opinion that the video is mounted. I cannot even say right now exactly where it was shot. We spent 20 days in 190 meetings and never filmed them ourselves.”
Apparent poll leader Tekebayev has also suffered in what has proven to be a viscious smear campaign between the parties. According to RFE/RL's Bruce Pannier [eng], a repost of an old video has emerged showing Tekebayev asphixiating an unknown female with a belt whilst mock campaign slogans such as “I'll give you democracy” appear in subtitle form.
Pannier notes that few have paid attention to the smear, something an anonymous comment immediately after the article attributes to the fact that “most people in Kyrgyzstan can't afford to use broadband internet.” But it is getting harder to access this kind of video online in Kyrgyzstan at any rate. According to Kloop.kg [eng], the Ministry of Culture and Information has written a strongly worded letter to ISPs in the country, encouraging them to block sites displaying “erotic content.”
In a typically offbeat approach to Kyrgyzstan's big day, Bishkek-based English language magazine The Spektator has contributed “Nevermind the Ballotts”, a no holds-barred ‘style guide’ to the October 10 elections (pp16-19 of scribd). The mischievious publication had the following to say about the man who could potentially be Kyrgyzstan's next Prime Minister:
‘(Alleged) sex, (planted) drugs and an appreciation of the sounds of the komuz[traditional Kyrgyz musical instrument] - O.T [Omurbek Tekebayev] has a bad boy appeal that certainly registers with the ‘zhigits’ [young males] prone to looting supermarkets and smashing up restaurants every five years. Still, if Tekebayev wants to wind up on top of this vote, he might want to play down his wilder side. I’m going to advise a discrete three-piece and a red tie – his party’s colour – for what might just be a golden day in autumn for Ata-Meken.’

author: Chris Rickleton


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Liberia: Liberia’s Rape Court · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Jina writes about Liberia's “Rape Court”:  “The court, which will turn two in Februrary, was a direct response to what many people we met called a rape “epidemic” in Liberia.  The country's post-war rape stats are sky-high, and most of the victims are young girls.”


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Pakistan: Judiciary Is The Lifeline · Global Voices
Rezwan

Fatima Saleem at Change-Dignity-Prosperity  opines that in Pakistan the “only possible change is through judiciary now”.


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Puerto Rico: A Blog on Gender Discrimination in Law Schools · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Environmentalist lawyer, law professor at the University of Puerto Rico, and blogger Erika Fontánez examines the possibility of opening a blog [ES] to discuss gender discrimination against female law professors in law schools: “Maybe its time to openly talk about what it means to be a female law professor.”

author: Firuzeh Shokooh Valle


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Puerto Rico: Goodbye Santa Rita · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Bea explains why she is moving [ES] from Santa Rita, the university neighborhood that harbors the main campus of the University of Puerto Rico.


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Puerto Rico: Wave of Hate Crimes against LGBT community · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Gay activist and blogger Pedro Julio Serrano has demanded that the Police [ES] investigate the latest case of attempted murder against a transsexual woman in Puerto Rico as a hate crime. Ten members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community have been murdered in the past 10 months in Puerto Rico.


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Russia: Moscow Mayor’s Dismissal and Some “Kremlinology” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Back in April 2010, Brian Whitmore of RFE/RL's The Power Vertical wrote this about Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov‘s complex relationship with the Kremlin:
It's hard to imagine Moscow being run by anybody but Yury Luzhkov. But then again, it was hard to imagine Tatarstan being run by anybody other than Mintimer Shaimiyev — until, of course, somebody else was running it.
[…]
There is little doubt in my mind that [PM Vladimir Putin] and [President Dmitry Medvedev] would like to remove Luzhkov, who has been able to operate as a more-or-less independent player in the capital for nearly two decades — annoying three successive presidents in the process.
The problem is that while Medvedev could get rid or Luzhkov with the stroke of a pen, replacing him could literally become a bloody mess. The struggle for control of post-Luzhkov Moscow would likely descend into a vicious struggle among Kremlin factions for control of the economically lucrative capital. It could be the mother of all Kremlin clan wars, which is surely giving Putin and Medvedev pause.
It took about five months for Luzhkov to be “[relieved] of his duties as Moscow Mayor ahead of term” – by President Medvedev's Sept. 28 “executive order” – “in connection with the Russian President’s loss of confidence in him.”
The subsequent discussion on the English-language Russia blogs focused as much on Putin and Medvedev (and their complex pre-election relationship) as on Luzhkov himself (and the future of his wife‘s business).
As Streetwise Professor wrote, “Kremlinology is back in vogue”:
[…] You could argue that Medvedev and Putin are sufficiently confident in the stability of the country that it could withstand the messiness inherent in a transition to a new equilibrium. You could argue the reverse, that the political condition in the country is so fraught that Medvedev, or Medvedev and Putin, determined that extraordinary measures were required, even knowing that the immediate consequences bear their own risks for the system.  You could argue that this is a unilateral political strike by Medvedev. Or you could argue the reverse yet again, that it is the result of an agreement between Putin and Medvedev.
In fact, I’ve seen people argue all of the above. Given the information at hand, the best we can do is advance hypotheses, and be sure to keep in mind that they are just that. It is very difficult to know exactly what is going on under the rug: what the dogs are fighting over, how the fight started, who is winning. […]
Julia Ioffe wrote this in her Foreign Policy piece:
[…] Most voices have been praising Medvedev for proving his independence from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the man thought to be the real decider in this town. The theory goes that Medvedev wanted Luzhkov out but Putin wanted him to stay, causing a split behind the scenes. The fact that Luzhkov was fired, according to this school of thought, indicated that Medvedev won and Putin lost. […]
But that explanation makes little sense […].
[…]
Instead, Putin determined that Luzhkov needed to go and sent in Medvedev to do the dirty work, a move that not only knocks out a powerful rival but leaves his hands unsoiled in what has become a bloody fight. […]
A Good Treaty responded to Ioffe's arguments:
[…] Ms. Ioffe’s central thesis is that firing Luzhkov does nothing to boost the power of President Medvedev, and that the entire bonanza was the “dirty work” of Vladimir Putin. She argues that people are wrong to say that Medvedev won and Putin lost. […]
This is a scarecrow argument insofar as it assumes the relationship between the tandem partners is a zero sum game. Characterizing this interplay as a win/lose scenario forgets the fact that Vladimir Putin himself gave Medvedev his biggest credibility boost of all by promoting him as his successor. […] The reelection of Medvedev, while far from predetermined, is a very real option under Putin’s consideration. That being reality, it’s over-simplistic if not foolish to dismiss the growth of President Medvedev’s influence on the grounds that it assumes his every advance comes at the expense of the Prime Minister. Medvedev’s gain is Putin’s gain, as it adds credibility to the tandem’s junior partner and preserves the choice ahead for 2012. […]
Whitmore wrote this on The Power Vertical:
[…] Luzhkov's removal was not, as some media have reported, a sign of a split in the ruling tandem. And it was most certainly not, at least as far as I can see, a “victory” for President Dmitry Medvedev over Prime Minister (and national leader) Vladimir Putin.
It seems pretty clear at this point that Putin was on board with the decision to sack the Moscow mayor. […]
The Ivanov Report wrote:
[…] [Luzhkov] picked a fight he could not win, and he did not.
[…]
But even today, it’s clear that by firing Luzhkov, Medvedev may have won the hearts and minds of millions of people—in Moscow and across the country—who would be willing to see him re-elected in 2012.
Vilhelm Konnander pointed out a rather inconspicuous yet important St. Petersburg connection:
[…] The struggle between Russia's two capitals, Muscovites and Pitertsy, is a major theme in Russian politics, that also Putin's road to power is part of. As a protegé of erstwhile St. Petersburg mayor, [Anatoly Sobchak], Putin is likely never to forget how instrumental Muscovite interests were for defeating Sobchak back in 1996, and the dire consequences this had for himself. Ever since, the Pitertsy have been longing to get back at Luzhkov, barely succeeding to keep him at bay in the 2000 presidential elections that brought Putin to the Kremlin. Of course, this is common knowledge for anyone following Russia. What is interesting is how little this has been the focus of attention recently. Instead, Luzhkov's dismissal is predominantly interpreted as part of a struggle between Medvedev and Putin for the 2012 presidential elections. […]
The Pipeline had a quick look at Luzhkov's “last weeks” in office, and, in a four-part series, dissected various aspects of the Sept. 28 dismissal, covering the reactions of the markets and Russian political elite, bloggers and ordinary Muscovites, providing an overview of potential candidates for the post of Moscow mayor, and examining the impact of Luzhkov's ouster on Moscow's real estate and construction market. Here's an excerpt from Part 2 of the series:
[…] Luzhkov’s sacking provided a harvest for satirists and comedians and viral photos are spreading throughout the Russian internet. One features a photo-montage of a refugee Yelena Baturina saying to a small Luzhkov, “Let’s go Yurka [a diminutive for Yuri], somehow we will survive on $3,000,000,000!”
On GlobalPost, Miriam Elder wrote about an interview with Luzhkov (RUS) that appeared in The New Times magazine:
[…] The interview […] gets at the heart of the matter when the question is given on whether Luzhkov understands that Inteko, the multibillion dollar business belonging to his wife, Yelena Baturina, is likely under threat. It also shows the degree of Luzhkov’s self-delusion.
“You know, why we’re so calm? Whatever has been said or written, we are honest people. Inteko and Elena, that is, my wife, have an honest business — the most honest and most transparent of all those, well, at the very least, that run a construction business.” […]
Vadim Nikitin of FPA's Russia wrote:
However disgracefully he was forced out, let’s get one thing straight: Luzhkov was a dirty crook. […]
[…]
In a hypercentralised country like Russia where most of the national wealth resides in the capital, Moscow and Muscovites had always lived like kings compared to their compatriots, and it’s certainly no big achievement of Luzhkov’s that he managed to keep it that way. […]
Power&Politics World wrote:
[…] The prosperous business of [Luzhkov] – Baturina couple were repeatedly in the Moscow media attention. But many Russians – especially Muscovites – preferred to turn a blind eye to that, sharing a typical stereotype that corruption is an inevitable concomitant of power. Luzhkov’s efforts in improving life in the capital and his efficiency as a manager were believed to be outweighing all the negative nuances. […]
Dmitry Sidorov of The Putin State Chronicles made this prediction:
[…] It seems to me that the former mayor will be let go without cut marks in exchange for his “voluntary” public silence. I am guessing that his wife eventually will be kindly asked to sell her business at the price stated by a well-connected purchaser. […]
Writing about the family business component of Luzhkov's story, Konnander mentioned Putin's deputy prime minister Igor Sechin:
[…] The question now is if Luzhkov has reached a settlement e.g. with Sechin, giving him some sort of immunity in an ordered exchange for his wife's business empire, or if we will witness something similar to what happened to [Yukos]. […]
Whitmore also made a mention of Sechin in his post about Luzhkov's dismissal:
[…] It does appear, however, that the decision to remove Luzhkov was opposed by Putin's powerful Deputy prime minister, Igor Sechin. […]
In a follow-up post, he wrote that “Medvedev's real rival in the ruling elite is not Putin but Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin.”
And Streetwise Professor, too, wrote in his Luzhkov post about another developing story that features Sechin:
[…] Sechin’s threat to invade Gazprom’s turf represents a major challenge to the status quo. […] This is the Russian equivalent of Bugs Moran’s North Side gang hijacking Capone’s South Side gang’s bootlegging trucks. And we know how that turned out. (Chicagoans still hear about it on trips abroad:) […]
Interestingly, Chicago entered the Luzhkov story through the front door, so to say, too – thanks to its mayor, Richard Daley, in a post titled A Tale of Two Mayors on Poemless (as well as in Ioffe's earlier Foreign Policy text, titled Moscow's Mayor Daley). Here's the closing section of the post by Poemless:
[…] While it’s popular to bemoan the joke that is the democratic process associated with Russia or Chicago, I hear few people complain that they’ve been robbed of the chance to vote their leader out of office. While a new era begins, and reform and “real politics” seem at least more possible now than it did a few months ago, I don’t see many people dancing in the streets. I hear lots of talk about legacies. About looming criminal investigations. About architecture and city planning. And, as if we’d regressed into ancients who’d just witnessed a comet, I hear people, bewildered, ask what it all means, and keep their fingers crossed that everything continues to work. Like those ancients, we will find new leaders, good or bad. The earth will keep turning. […]
I suspect it will be some time, however, before we find a new Daley or Luzhkov.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Universal human rights, cultural relativism and the Asian values debate · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

East Asia Forum has published an article written by Patrick Chin-Dahler on the debate between universal human rights, cultural relativism and the Asian values.

author: Oiwan Lam


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World: One Day on Earth on 10.10.10 · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

The One Day on Earth project is only a day away, a day where people from all over the planet will record videos during that day, send them in, and they will become part of a documentary film and experience that will represent a snapshot of humankind.
People from all over the world have  signed up to be a part of this experience,  and many have created or joined one of the 495  groups and communities that have cropped up around the event: from parents to be, to weddings, to teachers, and groups around a specific country or location. Although more than 10,000 people have already signed up, there are still some countries with low representation for the event, and the organizers have posted a shout out for anyone to join or invite others who live in one of the countries to join in and be a part of the experience.
Their promotional video seems to bring a little sample of what this day long documentary could be, and one can only imagine what the editing process for all the footage will be like:
There still is time to sign up and join the event, and Matt Lambert from Motionographer blog sums up the results nicely:
The results of this project will be a shared archive of video — downloadable for non-commercial use by participants for creative and educational purposes — a feature film, and a community of filmmakers and inspired citizens dedicated to exploring our global identity via a shared media event.
However, according to this next clip, to be able to access this trove of knowledge you will need to upload a 1 minute video during 10.10.10.  So don't miss the chance!

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Bangladesh: September On The Jessore Road · Global Voices
Rezwan

Bangladesh Unlocked pays tribute to “September On The Jessore Road“, a poem written by the famous US poet Allen Ginsberg depicting the plights of the refugees and the Bangladesh freedom struggle in 1971.


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Bhutan: Effects of globalization on language  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Mfox at Kuzu Bhutan Weblog discusses how globalization affects the local languages.


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India: The Best Solution For The Ayodhya Dispute · Global Voices
Rezwan

TheBigThinkg has the best solution for the Ayodhya dispute: “remove the idols of Ram and Sita which has been placed inside the Babri Masjid  structure against all Agama Sastras, by people drunk with Abhimana and Ahamkara (such people are called hoodlums/thugs) and let our Muslim brothers to decide what they want to do with that structure”.


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Iran: “Blogger sentenced to 15 years” · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Iranian blogger Hossein Maleki Ronaghi has been reportedly sentenced to 15 years in prison. Hussein Rongah Melki (also known as “Babak Khoramdin”) was one of the key cyberactivists behind Iran Proxy against web filtering. He used to blog about human rights and civil society.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran: History in photos · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Vahid Rahmanian, a talented photo blogger, shows Iran's history in photos in his blog.


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Iran:”Ahmadinejad’s 2.2 billion comments “ · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Fars News, a pro Islamic Republic web site, claimed that Ahmadinejad's speech on France 24 received 2.2 billion comments.PersianUmpire writes “unfortunately  it didn’t take long for France 24 to confess to receiving a measly 31 comments.”


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Japan: Straw Art Festival  · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

Japanstyle published pictures [en] of the Wara Art Matsuri [ja], where giant mammoths, dinosaurs and other sculptures made of straw were exhibited in Uwasekigata Park (Niigata Prefecture, western Japan).

author: Scilla Alecci


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Laos: Room to Read project · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Christina Xu writes about the Room to Read project in Laos and tackles the schooling and learning conditions in the country.

author: Mong Palatino


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Myanmar: Video message campaign for human rights · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Pro-democracy Myanmar activists who are based in Japan have launched a video message campaign which aims to pressure the United Nations to make a concrete action about the “serious human rights violations by the ruling junta” in Myanmar.


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Serbia: Belgrade Gay Pride To Take Place Sunday · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Belgrade Gay Pride Parade is to take place in just a few hours, on Sunday, Oct. 10; the official Twitter hashtag is #bgpride. Belgraded (@Belgrade) gives “the lowdown on how things are going so far regarding the Serbian society’s reactions in the media and everyday life”: “Most of the Serbian people still believe that ‘gay parade’ translates as ‘anal intercourse in the middle of the street’.”


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Serbia: Belgrade Pride Takes Place, Rioting Reported · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Reports from the Belgrade Gay Pride – at #bgpride (SRP, ENG). Despite extremely tough security measures, some rioting did occur. “Lot of vandalised cars around the #bgpride route,” @Belgrade reports.


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Should China continue to support North Korea’s Kim dynasty? · Global Voices
Andy Yee

North Korea’s next leader Kim Jong-un, the youngest son of ailing Kim Jong-il, made a high-profile public appearance at a gala anniversary celebration in Pyongyang on Saturday. North Korea’s top ally, China, is sending a heavyweight delegation that will stay in North Korea from Saturday to Monday. According to state news agency Xinhua, the delegation is being led by Zhou Yongkang, the Chinese Communist Party’s ninth-ranking leader.
The visit follows a major North Korea Workers’ Party conference held on 28 September which enshrined Kim Jong-un’s succession. Earlier this year, Kim Jong-il made two visits to China, in which Kim is thought to have sought and secured China’s support for his son’s succession.
China has long been a tacit supporter of Pyongyang, and it is apparent that it plays a key role in North Korea’s transition. To be sure, China is no admirer of the Kim dynasty and is annoyed by North Korea’s nuclear brinkmanship. But for the Chinese, stability is a top priority, as a sudden collapse of North Korea could lead to flooding of refugees into Northeast China. As The Economist comments (23 September 2010):
Whether North Korea can manage a successful transition depends not only on events inside the country, but also on China, without whose help the North would quickly collapse. Privately, many Chinese pour scorn on the Kim dynasty. But the government would probably be content with any arrangement that has a reasonable chance of keeping the country stable and on good terms with Beijing.
But the Kim dynasty is both a source of stability and instability for China. On one hand, China shares longstanding historical and ideological ties with the Kim regime, and backing it up ensures that China continues to have more leverage over Pyongyang than any other country. On the other hand, in order to defend hereditary succession, the Kim dynasty is likely to avoid opening the country more to the outside world. This, in itself, means that North Korea will continue to be a fragile and economically unstable regime, as Chinese blogger Li Kaisheng explains:
金氏政权为了维护家族世袭，不得不使朝鲜自我封闭，以对朝鲜人民实现愚民政策。但这样做的后果是使朝鲜变得极其落后与脆弱，并在外交上不乏挑衅行为。从长远来说，这样的邻居并不适合充当中国的战略缓冲地带，搞得不好还会由战略资产变成战略负担。
To defend hereditary succession, the Kim dynasty has to keep North Korea as a closed country and continue to fool its people. This will lead to a economically retarded and fragile North Korea, which will practise provocative foreign policies. In the long run, such a neighbor is not suitable to be China’s strategic buffer zone; in worse cases, it could even become a strategic liability.
Jiao Zongye, writing in Singapore newspaper Zao Bao, also explains how the Kim regime could become a strategic liability for China in terms of soft power:
金家王朝的世袭制和暴虐世人皆知，外界一提朝鲜就想到中国，国人听起来还以为是中国外交实力雄厚国力强大对朝鲜影响巨大脸面增光。实际上是，金家王朝只有中国这一根大杆子撑着，中国到哪里都要背上这个王朝的暴虐印象，国际社会看到的不是中国的大国气度而是中国的强权政治。朝鲜世袭制的封建统治放眼世界无不是落后和自私的代表，其对于今日正要谋求国际形象、政治力量提升、社会改革普及的中国完全是累赘和负资产，不割裂朝鲜的结果是外界认为中国是世界暴虐体制的维护者和代言人。
The evils of the Kim dynasty are well known. When talking about North Korea, the international community will think of China. Innocent Chinese citizens might think that mighty Chinese diplomatic power is having a significant influence on North Korea. The fact is, without China, North Korea would collapse. China has to carry the image of this tyrannical regime wherever it goes. To the world, this is not a reflection of China’s power but its authoritarian politics. North Korea’s hereditary succession represents backwardness and selfishness. For a China which is striving to improve its international image, political influence and internal social conditions, its support for North Korea is a liability. If China does not cut its ties with North Korea, the world would think that China is the spokesperson and defender of tyranny.
It is unlikely that China will push North Korea into significant political changes. However, the same Economist article predicts that China would hope to see some gradual changes in order to reduce the unpredictability of North Korea:
China is unlikely to push Mr Kim or his successor into reforming the North’s political system, though some observers of North Korea think China may want Mr Kim to boost the role of the party at the expense of the army to make the regime less unpredictable. But China will continue trying to prod the North Koreans into reforming the economy and opening the country more to the outside world. It hopes a transformation like the one that China itself has achieved since the death of Mao Zedong might avert a sudden collapse.
How exactly can this be achieved? Li Kaisheng suggests that hereditary succession is the biggest obstable, but China could leverage on its economic supports to North Korea:
中国政府已经意识到一个封闭落后的朝鲜对中国的不利影响，因此千方百计地想说服朝鲜实行改革开放。但朝鲜清楚地知道，一旦实行改革开放，让朝鲜人民见识了外面的世界，其世袭计划势必失去合法性与群众支持。因此，只要朝鲜坚持政权世袭，就不可能有真正的改革开放。
The Chinese government has already realized the disadvantages of a closed and backward North Korea. It is trying to persuade North Korea to implement economic reforms. But the Kim regime is well aware that once the country is open to the outside world, hereditary succession will lose legitimacy and mass support. Therefore, as long as the hereditary succession is there, real economic reform is not possible.
但中国仍然掌握有朝鲜生存所需要的关键因素：粮食、能源以及国际政治上的支持。关键在于，中国如何把握好在使用这些政策杠杆与确保朝鲜不致崩溃或倒向美国之间的平衡，这需要领导人与执行者有着高超的战略眼光与执行能力。不得不承认的是，在利益的平衡与战略时机的把握上，金正日有着近乎天才式的发挥，而中国领导人相比起来则逊色不少。这也是近些年来中国屡次被朝鲜所利用但从朝鲜几无所获的一个重要原因。
But China still holds all the elements for North Korea’s survival: food, energy and international support. The key point is that China should effectively employ these policy leverages so that it will neither collapse or nor fall into America’s hands. This requires strategic insights and implementation skills. We cannot but admit that Kim Jong-il is a genius player in power balancing and strategic timing. Because Chinese leaders are weaker players in these respects, China is being taken advantage of repeatedly by North Korea in recent years, with little benefits from North Korea in return.

author: Andy Yee


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Thailand: Battling child pornography · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Lost Boy blogs about the selling of child porn videos in the streets of Thailand. He links to relevant websites that are campaigning for the elimination of child prostitution and trafficking.


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Anguilla: Not Quite Ready  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The airwaves and the local newspapers this past week have been filled with talk of the need for Anguilla to seek independence from the United Kingdom”, but Corruption-free Anguilla says that “Anguilla will be ready for full internal self-government, and subsequently for independence, only after we have put in place the essential building blocks of democracy.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Armenia: Abuse in Yerevan school · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Following the posting of video evidence of hazing in the army, Unzipped posts and comments on a video showing physical and verbal abuse in a local school. The blog, however, notes that the video was uploaded months earlier and is only now being slowly spread through Facebook. Nevertheless, it has resulted in a response from the country's Ministry of Education which is detailed in the comments section of the post.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Armenia: Domestic violence claims a life · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

The issue of domestic violence in Armenia is well known, albeit rarely spoken about openly. However, a video interview with the family of a young woman who died of injuries sustained after being beaten by her husband and his mother has shocked and angered many.
Ianyan posts an extensive entry.
Zaruhi Petrosyan, a 20-year-old mother of two was beaten to death by her husband and mother-in-law over attempts to extort money from her and her family. In a video shot by News.am reporter Gagik Shamshyan, Petrosyan’s mother and sister, Hasmik Petrosyan,  can be seen recounting the excruciating tale of violence Zaruhi experienced in the months and years before her death on Oct.1.
[…]
According to Petrosyan’s family, she received the beatings as threats to follow through with her husband and mother-in-laws demands to ask for money from her relatives. Her mother-in-law beat her while she was pregnant, Hasmik said.
The family appealed to law enforcement two times, even with a written notice stating that if the beatings continued, it would result in criminal action, but they said nothing was done.
Unzipped also comments on the case and especially inaction from the authorities and law enforcement agencies.
I remember when relatively recently the Women's Resource Centre wanted to put posters in Yerevan to highlight the problem of domestic violence and indicate hotline for those affected to call, the Yerevan municipality refused to allow it by claiming there is no such problem in Armenia. Typical mentality. Let's pretend that we do not have such problem, let's not talk about it, otherwise it may affect our image… Instead of facing up the problem and developing effective means to tackle it. In the meantime, cases […] keep happening…
The Armenian Observer also takes the same approach and urges readers to sign an online petition to urge the passage of legislation to tackle the problem of domestic violence in Armenia.
What I find strikingly typical in this story, is that Zaruhi Petrosian, the victim, told the doctors she ‘fell’.  It is considered a shame in the Armenian society to voice about shameful things in the family. This also translates to other issues in the society – take corruption, election fraud or hazing in the Army. […]
Writing on the Amnesty USA blog, Global Voices author Simon Maghakyan expresses his anger and also urges readers to sign the petition he was responsible for setting up.
What makes me angrier is Armenian government’s inaction on domestic violence even after international uproar a few years ago. In November 2008, Amnesty International issued a report on domestic abuse in Armenia stating that more than a quarter of women in Armenia have faced physical violence at the hands of husbands or other family members. Many of these women have little choice but to remain in abusive situations as reporting violence is strongly stigmatized in Armenian society.
[…]
Please join me in signing the petition to Armenia’s prime minister demanding that his government guarantee justice in the death of Zaruhi by investigating all possible guilty parties (not just the husband but also his brother and mother); investigating allegations of local law enforcement’s prior knowledge of Zaruhi’s continuous abuse; and expediting the passage of domestic violence legislation.
Meanwhile, on a related note, Le Retour (in 3 Parts) also comments on the case, but adds criticism of government attempts to stage a beauty contest which would arguably perpetuate the existing patriarchal society in place.
[…] we wonder why gender stereotypes prevail in our country and why women continue to be abused at the hands of men. When notions of “man” and “woman” get defined and confirmed by government officials, why are we surprised when violence — physical, emotional, financial — prevails in society?
When are we going to say enough is enough?
The petition can be signed here.


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Brazil: Abortion debate heats up in presidential runoff · Global Voices
Marta Cooper

As the 31st October date for the presidential runoff in Brazil approaches, the focus in the country is shifting to an ever-more contentious issue: abortion, bringing to light the murky blend of politics and religion.
Just days before last week's first round of voting, news spread of a 2007 interview with Workers’ Party (PT) candidate – and current frontrunner [pt] – Dilma Rousseff, in which she claimed to be in favour of legalising abortion as a matter of public health. This triggered a backlash from conservative religious groups, including the controversial posting on YouTube of a pro-life sermon given by a Brazilian pastor who, having shown graphic photos of aborted foetuses, called on his congregation to vote against the ruling PT's “anti-life” [pt] candidate.
Dilma's camp argued this backlash lost her crucial votes from the Brazilian Christian right that would have otherwise secured her the 50% needed for an outright majority. This portion instead went to Green Party candidate Marina Silva, a staunch anti-abortionist. Marcelo Déda, the PT's re-elected governor of Sergipe, said [pt],
A queda de Dilma e o crescimento de Marina no final se deveu ao recrudescimento do fundamentalismo religioso. É o efeito do púlpito nas igrejas.
The fall of Dilma and the surge of Marina at the end was due to the rise of religious fundamentalism. It is the effect of the churches’ pulpit.
Stalwart political blogger Altamiro Borges labelled this week's events as the “trap of the right” [pt]. Fellow blogger Rodrigo Vianna was also in agreement:
Com Serra estão a extrema-direita militar, as igrejas evangélicas mais conservadores, a Opus Dei, a TFP, a ala mais nefasta do novo catolicismo e os interesses econômicos de quem quer interromper a política de independência econômica e diplomática do Brasil.
Imaginem se Serra ganhar graças a essa onda. O que será o governo dele? Um vale-tudo em que a Globo, a Veja, os ruralistas, a direita católica, os mercadistas mais reacionários, os demo-tucanos derrotados nas urnas (e loucos para uma vingança contra “essa raça” de lulistas) vão dominar o Estado.
With Serra are the extreme right wing military, the most conservative evangelical churches, Opus Dei, a TFP [Brazilian Society for the Defence of Tradition, Family and Property], the most nefarious wing of new Catholicism, and the economic interests of  those who want to interrupt the policy of Brazil's economic and diplomatic independence.
Imagine if Serra wins thanks to this wave. What will his government be? A vale-tudo in which Globo [the principal TV network], Veja [a mainstream magazine], the ruralists [a bloc of Brazilian legislature known by their ties to agribusiness], right wing Catholic groups, the most reactionary enterprisers, and the Demo-PSDB coalition who have been defeated at the polls (and who are thirsty for revenge against “this breed” of Lulistas [a derogatory term for Lula supporters]) will dominate the country.
However, the debate soon turned petty. Amigos de Presidente Lula (Friends of President Lula) [pt], a pro-Dilma blog, was quick to call Serra a “liar” and also in favour of “legalising abortion”. During his time as Health Secretary in Fernando Henrique Cardoso's government in the late 1990s, Serra advocated for a debate in Congress over the issue, and regulated the guidelines for abortion in the case of sexual violence. Yet, throughout his presidential campaign, he declared himself to be anti-abortion.
At the Maria da Penha Nelas [pt] blog, which documents violence against women in Brazil, one contributor wrote,
Será que a nossa tutela (ou dominação) histórica não nos dá o direito de ser protagonistas num tema tão feminino como este?
Por que usar um tema tão complexo, e cheio de valores, morais, religiosos, éticos e de foro íntimo, para desmerecer um candiato a presidência da república?
Will it be that our historical safeguarding (or domination) does not give us the right to be protagonists in a subject so feminine as this?
Why use such a complex theme, and full of values, morals, religion, ethics, and of an intimate nature, to disregard a candidate for the presidency of the republic?
Dilma's views [pt], meanwhile, have been far from clear. She has openly changed her stance on abortion from against – calling it a “crime against women” – to in favour, as this clip [pt] shows.
Brazilian election frontrunner Dilma Rousseff. Photo by Roberto Stuckert Filho, from Rede Brasil Actual's Flickr photostream. Used under a Creative Commons license.
Bloggers are now concerned [pt] that the desire for political gain have overshadowed and trivialised a complex subject that warrants a deeper debate. Malusil, of blogging collective Trezentos [pt], lamented,
É uma pena que esse grave problema social, em vez de incentivar um verdadeiro debate, esteja sendo usado com máquina de guerra eleitoral.
Abortion remains illegal in Brazil unless in the case of rape or if the mother's health is at serious risk. Brazil's long-established women's movement has consistently lobbied for the decriminalisation of abortion, arguing it is fundamentally a woman's right to have control over her body. Meanwhile, there has been an ongoing discussion in Brazil's Congress on in fact tightening legislation on the procedure, rather than relaxing it.
While precise figures are impossible to gauge, Brazil's Health Ministry claims one million clandestine abortions a year are practiced in the country. Research [pt] by women's groups has also shown that, in the impoverished northeastern states of Bahía and Pernambuco, illegal terminations are the top cause of maternal death, illustrating Brazil's huge socio-economic divide between north and south. In an article re-posted on the political and current affairs blog Vi O Mundo [pt], Tulio Vianna [pt], a professor of Law at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, argues,
However, opposition to decriminalisation from religious and conservative groups, which have substantial clout in the world's largest Roman Catholic nation, has been intense. Last year, Brazil was at the centre of a controversy in which doctors who had performed a termination on a 9-year-old girl who had been raped by her stepfather and carrying twins were excommunicated by the Archbishop of Olinda and Recife, Jose Cardoso. He claimed, “God's law is above any human law,” and upheld the crime of abortion was more grave than the girl's history of sexual abuse.
From this concoction of opposing opinions, the abortion debate fails to be pushed in a progressive direction, used instead as a tool for winning votes. Conceição Oliveria, of the popular blog Maria Fro, [pt], writes,
StartFragmentEndFragment
Estamos vivendo tempos de grande confronto de idéias e projetos políticos, espero que a sociedade brasileira use de bom senso e que estabeleça os valores democráticos e o apreço à verdade como bandeira política.

author: Marta Cooper


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Brazil: first Dilma-Serra debate in presidential runoff · Global Voices
Marta Cooper

Dilma Rousseff and Jose Serra met in São Paulo yesterday for their first televised debate in the second round of Brazil's presidential elections. Rodrigo Vianna at Escrevinhador [pt] has analysed the discussion.


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China:  The Chinese Traitor Who Got A Prize Is Still A Chinese Traitor  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Roland from ESWN translated an online blog post written by Sima Nan attacking Liu Xiaobo as a Chinese Traitor.


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Curacao: Netherlands Antilles is no more  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“A new journey has started on a route never taken before. Let us all take pride in our heritage and let us embrace our new country and mix the two with love and respect”: Karel's Legal Blog congratulates Curacao on its new country status.


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Ecuador: A Personal Account of September 30 · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Claudia Cazañas wrote a post on her blog [es] describing how she lived September 30. She mentions that Twitter updates kept her informed.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Jamaica: The Force of Film  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Annie Paul reviews Better Mus’ Come, which she says “signals the end of a long drought in Jamaican film-making and shatters the formula the few movies that have been made here have followed.”


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Jamaica: (Wo)man of the Year  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Active Voice explains why Diana McCaulay is her candidate for Man of the Year: “It takes balls for a single woman to go up against the state in the way [she] has…Diana McCaulay has almost singlehandedly been taking the fight to the authorities on the matter of the proposed transformation of the Palisadoes spit leading to the airport into a mega highway.”


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Lebanon: This morning in Beirut · Global Voices
Katharine Ganly

Shalabieh  finds a strange pair of eyes watching her from her neighbour's Beirut balcony.

author: Katharine Ganly


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Mexico: Mexico City as Example for Making Latin American Cities More Livable · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

In Mexico Unmasked, Tim Johnson writes that, “Major cities in Latin America […] have become more livable, friendlier places,” because of “a revolution in urban governance.” He uses Mexico City as an example, describing what happens every Sunday when “Paseo de la Reforma [is] shut down to vehicle traffic and opened up to cyclists, strollers and joggers,” and how Sunday October 10 was special.


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Morocco: Against Torture Somewhere; Against Torture Anywhere · Global Voices
Hisham Almiraat

Moroccan officials have been up in arms this week, queuing in front of cameras to express their utmost outrage after the arrest and alleged torture of Mustapha Salma Ould Sidi Mouloud [Fr] by the Polisario Front, the Algerian-backed separatist movement that disputes sovereignty over Western Sahara with Morocco. Mustapha Salma, a former Polisario Front police chief and high ranking official was accused of treason by the separatist movement after he publicly praised the autonomy plan [Ar], proposed by Moroccans to solve the over three-decade old conflict. The story of Mustapha Salma can hardly pass unnoticed as it is all over the media in Morocco; his pictures splashed across the front pages of local newspapers. The official media has been condemning the Polisario and their Algerian backers on the ground that they have violated Mustapha Salma's right to free expression and for fear that he may be facing torture. (Mustapha Salma has, reportedly, since been released.)
Whilst this story raises legitimate concerns over the violation of human rights by the Polisario Front and the Algerian regime, some bloggers expressed outrage over the indifference of local mainstream media and the Moroccan government over the fate of a young Moroccan, Fodeil Aberkane. It is a more local, but way more horrifying story of a young man, whose most basic human right, the right to life, has been denied.
The victim was 37 years old and his brutal death in a police station in the old city of Salé, near the capital Rabat, is for many bloggers, reminiscent of the Years of Lead, the dark era of the previous regime of King Hassan II, when police brutality and torture perpetrated by state agents was a horrifying reality Moroccans had to live with.
Fodeil is arrested on September 11th, 2010, and charged with consuming cannabis. After 48 hours spent in jail a judge decides to release him. A few days later Fodeil goes back to the police station, to ask for the return of his belongings: a motorcycle and a cellphone. An altercation follows and Fodeil ends up again in prison, accused of “insulting officers during the exercise of their function.” Two days after that he is transferred to the main hospital in Rabat where he is pronounced dead. There is no doubt in the minds of Fodeil's family and friends as to what led to this tragic end [Fr]: police brutality and torture. An investigation is launched but no charges brought as of yet against any of the persons believed to be involved in the death of Fodeil Aberkane.
The story has grabbed the attention of bloggers and online activists as it comes amidst a climate of decline in freedom of the press in the country and, since, as writer and blogger Laila Lalami reminds us, it isn't an isolated incident:
Fodail Aberkane is not an exception. Over the last few years, allegations of torture have been made against the police in Morocco on many occasions. Two years ago, Zahra Boudkour, a 21-year-old university student from Marrakech, was arrested for taking part in a student demonstration. She was stripped naked and beaten, but no one was brought to account for the violence that was visited upon her. In his encounter with the Marrakech police, another university student, Abdelkebir El Bahi, found himself thrown from the 3rd floor window of a dorm. He is now in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Boudkour and El Bahi were abused and tortured because of their ideas and their ideals. Fodail Aberkane was trying to get his moped back.
Bill Day writing on the a la menthe agrees:
Because the victims are not celebrities, they suffer and die unnoticed by the Western media — out of sight, out of mind. While the Kingdom has broken very publicly with the “Years of Lead,” during which there was widespread torture of political dissidents under King Hassan II, incidents such as those reported by Lalami are a chilling counterpoint to the current regime's bright face of prosperity, particularly when coupled with ongoing suppression of any kind of free press.
Blogger and activist Najib Chaouki [Ar] created a Facebook group called “We Are All Victims of Torture,” in which preamble he calls for the “perpetrators of this crime to be prosecuted diligently.”
Blogger Larbi denounces the double standards of the Moroccan government [Fr]. He writes:
Si ce gouvernement, avait une seule once de dignité, il devrait différer le plus tôt possible les assassins de Fodail Aberkane devant la justice ne serait-ce que pour ne pas mourir du ridicule. Quant à la torture, on oserait même pas penser qu’elle cessera un jour, tant qu’au Maroc , elle est apparemment éternelle.
An online petition to “End Torture and Police Violence in Morocco,” has gathered over 300 signatures so far.
Some bloggers and Twitterers have been sharing and displaying banners like the following picture that reads: “Makhzen: Police kills. If you wish it to continue, keep quiet.”
The Makhzen is the generic word that designates the Moroccan ruling establishment.
Blogger and lawyer Ibn Kafka offers his reading [Fr] of the reasons behind the persistence of torture in Morocco:
La torture est […] un instrument de pouvoir dont le régime marocain ne tient pas à se passer, mais dont il tient seulement à limiter les effets nocifs sur sa réputation, nationale et internationale. En l’absence de contre-pouvoirs politiques et institutionnels sérieux en interne, ce sont principalement les retombées médiatiques et diplomatiques externes qui pèsent sur les choix sécuritaires du makhzen.
As for Western media, the blogger explains…
[Ils] ne s’intéressent au Maroc qu’à travers l’optique orientalisme-islamisme-terrorisme – et dans cette optique, Fodail Aberkane ne remplit pas de fonction utile.
Excessive, unchecked prerogatives delegated to the police often lead to an arbitrary abuse of power, as Riad Essebai writes on Robin des Blogs [Fr]:
Aberkane n'est ni le premier, ni le dernier à être la victime d'un système, ou l'agent de la force publique peut être, à la foi, juge et arbitre. Ce pouvoir “absolu”, est le véritable criminel dans cette affaire, et c'est cela qu'il faudra combattre.
aboulahab, writing on the C.J.D.M. blog [Fr] (Circle of Young Moroccan Idiots) urges people to speak up:
[L]’Histoire retiendra tout type de profil, sauf le profil bas. Assez de bassesse. Le Maroc a besoin de grands hommes, qu’ils se manifestent. Sommes-nous déjà une civilisation de fonctionnaires asservis et de citoyens muets ?

author: Hisham Almiraat


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North Korea: North Korea’s Alledged Flicker Account · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

The world's most reclusive states, North Korea is believed to have open a Flicker account and uploaded 26 photos of the regime's propaganda events, Yonhap reported on North Korea's alledged Flicker account [ko]. The fact has not been confirmed yet by the government or other media outlets.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Paraguay: The Problems with Soy Production · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

In Hablemos claro…en serio Enrique Ramon Galeano says he is against massive soy production; he shares [es] an essay written by his friend Ben F. on Facebook.


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South Korea:Senior N.Korean Defector Hwang Jang-yop Died of Natural Causes · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Senior North Korean defector, Hwang Jang-yop died at his home in Seoul yesterday. Police confirmed that he died of natural causes. Many Korean mourners visited his alter to pay their respects. South Korea's Chosun gave an extensive reporton Hwang's life.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Contract Questions  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Know TnT.com‘s Edmund Gall has a few questions for the Minister of Works and Transport regarding a multi-million dollar contract being awarded at the Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago.


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Venezuela: Crime and Violence ‘Staring you in the Face’ · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

“As crime has increased, not only does it get closer to you, but your self-imposed curfew grows and gets earlier. Your paranoia increases” explains Miguel Octavio from The Devil's Excrement, in the post “When street crime and violence stares at you in the face in Venezuela.”


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Vietnam: Hanoi’s 1,000th birthday festivities · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Hanoi is 1,000 years old. The festivities to mark the historic occasion lasted for ten days from October 1-10. Bloggers share their observations and reactions about how the events were organized.
Photo from the Flickr Page of haithanh used under CC License Attribution 2.0 Generic
Aaron Joel Santos describes the scenes in Hanoi during the first day of the celebrations
Hanoi is turning 1,000 years old. In 10 days. But the festivities began this morning. Officially at 8am but by the time I left my house at 7.30 the streets were already an orderly mess. Roads blocked, traffic diverted, people hoarded, “No Entry” signs planted…This morning I headed into the maelstrom. And it was fun.
Everyone was in a good mood. I’ve made fun of these celebrations along with everyone else for I don’t even know how long, but in the end, a lot of locals seem very excited about it.
Vietnam Adventures blogs about the preparations for the event
So far from what I have seen, lights have been put up throughout the city, mainly on Dien Bien Phu Street and between West and Truc Back Lake. The lights are a big attraction at night and the streets are packed. A lot of work has gone into Ba Dinh square, in front of the HCM Mausoleum, where many of the celebrations will take place. Traditional performances occur on stages on the side of the road; I passed one on my way home from work with about 100 motorbikes stopped, watching on.
Ehrin Macksey narrates the activities during the Sunday anniversary
Girls dressed up in Ao Dai, event workers shifting out propaganda posters and military personal dotted the area around the mausoleum. People visiting from the countryside came to see what their capital had prepared for them on Sunday’s anniversary. Vietnamese people are at heart very kind and easy going people. I really had a great time walking, talking to them, having my photo taken with them and of course taking snap here and there. The only thing that was a little bothersome was all the police being rude and forcing people from watching the preparation of the parade from the street.
Amy Gottlieb notes the impact of Hanoi’s 1,000th birthday, historically known as Thang Long, on the residents of the city
Granted, I must admit – even with the disastrous traffic, the incessant road blocks, and the influx of tourists, the spirit of the city is contagious! The energy is palpable, as streets are abuzz; and people appear happier, in good spirits, and in festive moods.
Using the #hanoi1000 hashtag, here are some twitter reactions:
Jen_Vuongyen: RT @benjaminbland: I've never seen so many Vietnamese clutching maps: proof that the countryside has come to Hanoi for 1000 years celebrations
dragfyre: watching the big cultural/fireworks show in #Hanoi. pretty impressive. surprisingly, they ended off with Beethoven's Ode to Joy
danielleto: Miss my city Hanoi so much Happy birthday to you
fisheggtree: Just as a predicted here weeks ago, #hanoi1000 failed as a tourism draw due to too much inward focus & ignoring their foreign market
lovesyr96: RT @UkissHARD: HAPPY #HANOI1000 ~ Today is HANOI's 1000th great anniversary!!!We're so proud, no matter if we're Hanoi-ian or not ^^~ as long as we'r VNese
linhngjb: Good morning!!! just woke up! It's 10/10/10. Ha Noi – my city – is 1000 years old now!!!! happy Bday Ha Noi!!! So proud of u <3 #hanoi1000
Steve Jackson observes that many twitter posts reflect cynicism and disappointment of  several netizens about how the events were organized.
The style of the celebrations may be questionable but this is a truly remarkable capital. However, I doubt I’m the only one who will be happy to see the end of #hanoi1000. I’ve really felt like I’ve missed the place over the last ten days.
Happy birthday Hanoi, I’m looking forward to seeing you get back to your old self.
Philip Arthur Moore points to the images indicating the 1,000th birthday party of Hanoi
Helicopters, people on rooftops, empty alleyways; sounds about right for Hanoi’s 1000th birthday party. I doubt I will go anywhere other than my balcony today. Crowds have a history of driving me mad, and if the last nine days have been any indication, Hanoi’s Old Quarter will be absolute bedlam for the next 18 hours
Referring to the deadly fireworks explosion a few days before the main event and the flooding in central Vietnam, Andy Engelson explains further why he was not too much enthusiastic with the celebrations
I tried to muster up the enthusiasm to go take some photos or attended events. But I couldn’t do it. The much-anticipated gala, in my opinion, was a huge bust. A fiasco. I’m happy it’s over. Can we all get back on with our lives, now?
Maybe it’s the completely boring series of events scheduled. I’m sorry, I’m just not into entertainment in the form of revolutionary film festivals, blaring patriotic music, and traffic jams. Did I mention traffic jams? I was happy miss the one yesterday the one that kept the president of Vietnam sitting in his motorcade for five hours. Hope he had a minibar
On the bright side criticizes the event planners
I've already expressed my disappointment leading into the celebration, the lack or organization, the lack of inclusion of the foreign community, both locally and internationally.  And in this past week of celebrations, I have grown even more so.  Some would say that the expats are being too negative and looking for bad things to say.  But I'll tell ya…when a city turns 1000 years old, and you don't tell anybody how you are planning to celebrate or what festivities they can attend, when you don't even tell them what days they may not be able to get to their place of work due to road closures or close so many streets that the already insane traffic becomes monstrous, well then…I don't have a hell of a lot of sympathy. It's poor event planning and it's laughable.
Viet Tan used the occasion to dramatize their concern about the political and human rights situation in the country
Participants, from within Vietnam and overseas, passed out fliers, t-shirts and hats affirming Vietnamese sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands. This civic action to raise public awareness is the latest effort by Viet Tan to promote Vietnamese national interests and advocate for social justice and democratic change through open and peaceful political activities.
Writing on Facebook, Doan Minh Ngoc muses about the need to protect Hanoi’s future
Well, if you love Hanoi from the bottom of your heart; because your childhood has been inextricably linked to Hanoi, then the post-celebration future of Hanoi matters more than all this short-lived hype and enthusiasm. You'll feel the urge to do actual things for Hanoi, not just lazing around the streets or wearing t-shirts. Or it's just me trying to think of my situation positively. Whatever.


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Caucasus:  Perceptions of inter-ethnic friendship · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Social Science in the Caucasus posts the results of a survey held last year which includes data examining perceptions of inter-ethnic friendship in the South Caucasus. Riven by frozen conflicts and ethnic rivalry, the results show that 70 percent of Armenians disapprove of friendship with Azerbaijanis while 97 percent of Azerbaijanis disapprove of friendship with Armenians. Interestingly, only 18 percent of Georgians disapproved of friendship with Russians, 16 percent with Abkhazians, and 17 percent with Ossetians.


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Chile: All Mapuche Prisoners End Hunger Strike · Global Voices
Felipe Cordero

A general hunger strike by Mapuche prisoners prosecuted under Chile's anti-terrorism law reached its final closure today.
As Global Voices informed earlier, most prisoners ended their protest on October 2, but prisoners in the cities of Angol, Victoria and Cholchol had continued. Late on October 8, prisoners in Angol and Victoria put an end to their hunger strike after reaching an agreement with the government. Today, a Mapuche youth on hunger strike inside a youth detention center in Cholchol also ended the strike [es], thus ending the general strike completely.
Mapuche flag. Image by Flickr user Donmatas1 used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons License
As usual, Twitter was a forum for emotions to be shared. Some thought the end of the strike was good [es], while others also hoped for a future with less discrimination [es]. Iglesia Joven (Young Church) (@pjantofagasta) expressed its joy for the news [es]:
Felices x fin total de huelga de hambre mapuche, damos gracias a dios  por la vida d los comuneros mapuche, rezamos y trabajamo x soluciones
Happy for the total end of the Mapuche hunger strike. We give thanks to God for the lives of the Mapuche “comuneros”, pray and work for solutions. [In Spanish, the word “comuneros” means “community members.” In Chile,  the word “comuneros” is widely used to refer to members of  Mapuche  communities specifically. Hence, people refer to the prisoners on hunger  strike also as the “comuneros” on hunger strike.]
Miguel J. Pedreros (@mjpedreros) felt happy but expressed doubts about the promises of President Piñera's government [es]:
http://bit.ly/bRAD3E Fin total de  huelga de hambre mapuche. Piñera promete mucho (cambiar la historia de negacion a mapuches) ojala cumpla
http://bit.ly/bRAD3E Total end to the Mapuche hunger strike. Piñera promises a lot (to change the history of negotiations with the Mapuche). I hope he fulfills that promise.
Partido Igualdad [es] (Equality Party) informed more about the end of the strike [es]:
“Si  bien es cierto se ha llegado a un acuerdo, no es totalmente  satisfactorio para nuestros hermanos. Desde un principio dejamos claro  que no eran suficientes las demandas, pero claramente aquí se tomaron  consideraciones de carácter humanitario y el avance en varios puntos”,  expuso el werken Jorge Huenchullán. Finalizó  adelantando que “consideramos que algunos gestos que hizo el Gobierno,  como liberar a algunos comuneros, daba para bajar la huelga de hambre.  Continúa la mesa de diálogo para tratar otros temas pendientes, como por  ejemplo, el derecho a territorio.”
“Although it is true that we have reached an agreement, it is not totally satisfactory to our brothers [prisoners in hunger strike]. From the beginning we made it clear that our demands weren't entirely met, but we took humanitarian reasons and the progress on several points into account”, said the werken [messenger in Mapudungún] Jorge Huenchullán. He finished by saying: “we considered that some signals by the government, such as freeing some comuneros, was enough to end the hunger strike. The round-table negotiations will continue to address other remaining issues, for instance, the right to land”
The hunger strike had been in progress since July and was reaching a critical point. Though the hunger strike is over, the conflict between Mapuche in southern Chile, private timber companies and the government is far from over.

author: Felipe Cordero


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China and Tibet: Democracy in Exile · Global Voices
Minax

Being a Tibetan in exile is a loss that manifests in many forms: the loss of homeland and natural rights fall within that. To some degree, the loss is also a blessing in disguise. Exile bestows upon Tibetan refugees in Dharamshala a reinforced national identity, a free voice, the right to practise and spread their religion without fear of persecution and the right to vote. All of these are denied to Tibetans who remain in a Han-Chinese ruled Tibet.
Chinese American academic Jianglin Li, author of 1959 Lhasa, was in Dharamshala on October 3 to observe the preliminary election of the Kalon Tripa, the leader of the Cabinet of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), a pressure group subordinate to the 14th Dalai Lama. The CTA's stated goal is to “rehabilitate Tibetan refugees and restore freedom and happiness in Tibet”. The CTA is commonly known as the Tibetan government-in-exile.
As Li described in her photographic journal of the election, voters turned out in droves at local polling stations. It is impossible to ignore the smiles on their faces.
The process of electing the Kalon Tripa (Chairman of the Kashag or Cabinet) is similar to a popular vote for the head of state in western democracy. Alongside it was the election of the senate, however, with a Tibetan twist. Li explained the election rule:
议员共40名，西藏三区各10名，四大教派加苯教各两名，加起来就是40名。僧人可以投两票，一票投给他所在的地域，另一票投给他所属的教派。比方说，一个来自康区的黄教僧人，他可以投一票给代表康区的议员，还可以投一票给代表格鲁派的议员。
According to the Election Commission 79,449 people registered to vote. In the last general elections in 2006, 72,771 people registered to vote, but the number that actually voted remained less than 50 percent of those registered. The official figure of the Tibetan exile population is about 150,000. (via Tibet Sun)
It is hard to imagine that when the 14th Dalai Lama first arrived in India in 1959, via the treacherous Himalayan path, only a small number of people accompanied him. In the years that immediately followed, over 20,000 Tibetans followed the same route to exile. Attempts to pass through what is now the Chinese border have never ceased, seemingly undeterred by frequent fatalities. A YouTube video taken  by a group of western mountaineers and circulated widely online, shows Chinese border guards opening fire on a group of unarmed Tibetan civilians in 2006, as the latter attempt to cross the border. Many of the Tibetans are young and scarcely equipped for the journey.
Li related her own experience with the Tibetan in exile:
目前，作为藏人，想要行使你的民主权利，你先得流亡，让你的身份成为“流亡藏人”。不过，其实我自己也一样，我的民主权利来自美国，而非中国。我行使自己的民主权利，先得让自己变成“美籍华人”。。。
Li's remark certainly resonates among the Tibetan activists. Prominent Tibetan poet and writer Woeser, who lives under constant surveillance in her Beijing home and has been banned from leaving China, linked to Li's journal on her blog, the Invisible Tibet (post deleted see cache). She relates to Li's observation about the “lucky” refugees:
而在我的人生中，我从未有过自己做主参与投票选举的经历……
The election in India was quite smooth. However, in Nepal, the process had been disrupted by local officials. Tibet report writes:
…the instability that has been the highlight of the Nepalese Government has provided the Chinese Government with willing officials there who play into their hands to deny basic and fundamental rights to Tibetan refugees in Nepal. On October 3 we witnessed on such attempts when local officials seized ballot boxes from the Tibetan community in Nepal’s capital, who were participating in this worldwide elections.
Apart from South Asia, the election also took place in Europe and North America among Tibetan exiles. Chopathar described the election scene in New York in the comment section of Woeser's post (see the cache link above):
纽约的投票现场非常热烈壮观，人进人出，因为大堂里人太多，一部分投完票的人必须得出来。投票地点在曼哈顿。
我很早就去了，我排队排到了第一位，当然是第一个签名和领到选票及投票的。为自己苦难的祖国图伯特尽一份心，我感到无上光荣。
Chopathar 10.04.2010 纽约市
The final elections to decide the composition of the Kalon Tripa will be held on 20 March 2011. Thubten Samdup, the Dalai Lama’s representative in Northern Europe, created a website to attract more candidates. From the questions which have been posted for the future candidates, readers can get a sense of the most critical preoccupations of Tibetans-in-exile:
What is your position on the China Tibet negotiations and what would you do differently?
What measures do you believe we, the Tibetan community in exile, can take to effect positive changes in the lives of Tibetans residing inside Tibet; especially those confronting land rights issues, unwarranted detentions, and inequalities in competing for education and jobs?
What would you do to revitalize our large Tibetan settlement camps and reverse the current trend of many young Tibetans leaving their communities in order to find employment elsewhere?
What would you do to improve the standard of education in our school system and how would you help young Tibetans preserve their culture while in exile?

author: Minax


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China: English translation of Liu Xiaobo’s writings · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN has searched around the net and compiled a list of the English translation of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo's writings.


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China: Fujian villagers fight against forced demolition · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The youtube video shows how villagers from Minhou county, Fujian province fight against forced demolition.


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China: Liu Xiaobo’s Detractors · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Xujun Eberlein from Inside-out China looks into the debate over Liu Xiaobo's political position and thought.


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Cuba: Limits on Self-Employment  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“According to the newspaper Granma, starting in October you can work for yourself in 178 activities” but, argues Laritza's Laws, the new regulations come hand in hand with some limitations which, “along with the stepped-up state supervision and inspection, will limit future possibilities for operating a small business.”


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El Salvador: Nothing to Celebrate on ‘Día de la Raza,’ Columbus Day  · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

In the blog El Trompudo Carlos Molina argues [es] that there is nothing to celebrate on the “día de la raza” (Colombus Day): “It should be the saddest day of our lives, because it was the day that started the robbery and looting of everything our natives had built.”


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France: Magazine Tells Fairy Tales about Polygamy in Immigrant Families · Global Voices
Anna Gueye

Le Point, a French weekly news magazine, was the victim of a “militant” of the new order that is rising up against the portrait being painted of residents of immigrant communities. In a short article entitled “LE POINT, un magazine engagé” (LE POINT, an activist magazine), the blog called L’Offusqué  (Taking Offence) explains [fr]:
We’ll get right to the point. Issue no. 1895 of the magazine Le Point, in a cover story on “Things We Can’t Say,” contains an article written by its publication director, Franz-Olivier Giesbert, also the bravest reporter in France, called “One Husband, Three Wives.” The article was meant to tar and feather those horrid French polygamists of ever-increasing numbers whose public assistance payments are growing to obscene amounts.
The blog Le scan de la diversité (The survey of diversity) [4] continues[fr]:
But it turns out that the main article in the story, based on the testimony of an alleged polygamist’s wife, has no basis in fact. The testimony that Le Point received is from “Bintou,” the 32-year-old third wife of a Frenchman of Malian descent with eight children, including one who is turning bad. The reporter never met with Bintou, who doesn’t exist. Why not?
CCM reveals a technique used by French journalists who are interviewing foreign-born Frenchmen of modest surroundings, many of whom live in the suburbs [fr]. The article is Journaliste en banlieue et correspondant de guerre, même combat ? (Journalist in the suburbs and war correspondent—same combat?) [fr] , the reporter called on a “fixer,” because for some people, reporting from the suburbs is like being a special envoy to Bagdad:
Le Point got taken by a “fixer.” What exactly is a “fixer”? The term is usually used for “interpreter-guides” that assist journalists in Iraq and in war zones in general, as explained by Marc Epstein in a report on these shadow men and women in L’Express in 2005
In a post called The manipulating and manipulated press, the blog Des petits riens reports [fr]:
The latest posting from the news site Arrêt sur images contains a gem: How a “fixer” (indispensable aide for a journalist who wants to gain access to an area considered to be dangerous) tricks a journalist from the very “respectable” weekly Le Point : The magazine wanted to write an article on “suburban polygamists,” a juicy subject for enhancing the stigmatization of these people from other countries. The fixer was the young and brazen man, Abdel. Tired of the negative image of these communities, played up by the media, he pretended he was the wife of a polygamist. Everyone should watch the video, it’s hysterical.
Here is how the journalist @si introduced the video and the article on Twitter:
dan_asi « Le Point piégé : la femme du polygame s'appelait… Abdel (article + vidéo). http://fwd4.me/gz4 #exclu :-) »
Le Point en flagrant délit de bidonnage – @si
Uploaded by asi. – Watch the latest news videos.
The sociologist Eric Fassin used the hoax as the basis for the article “Polygamy: Le Point and the Societal-Media Fabrication of Moral Panic ,”[fr] showing how journalists and others in French society came to believe that many families living in the suburbs are polygamists:
In fact, there is only one verified figure in this field: one sample showed 65 out of 4439 adolescents were from a polygamist father, in other words, fewer than 1.5%.
We find the following information in an article on polygamy in Senegal[fr] (where many of these people are from):
According to a survey of Senegalese households published in 2004 by the Senegalese Institute for Statistics and Demographics [20], 6.6% of women in Dakar in 2002 entered into this type of marriage. In rural areas, the figure was twice that.
Fassin continues:
“Today, the debate has taken shape…the problem with polygamous families is that they cause delinquency.”
In Senegal, reactions to the impact of polygamy on society are minimal and opinions are divided. The Comments section of the blog Chez Gangoueus offers a detailed exchange on the effects of polygamy in Senegal [fr].

author: Anna Gueye


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Guyana: Pursuit of Happiness  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Flip open we newspapers, almost everyday, bullets and blood bust out; Citizens and Opinionists throwing words like Hobbesian nightmare…screaming who fault it is…but no body ain’t saying, Let it start with me“: Guyana-Gyal wants to be happy in spite of it all.


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India: A View From Kashmir · Global Voices
Rezwan

Wasim Khalid, a Srinagar based journalist, shares at South Asia Wired how it is like to live under curfew in Jammu & Kashmir since June.

author: Rezwan


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Jamaica: Storm’s Perspective  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Active Voice posts an interview with Storm Saulter, the director of Better Mus Come, Jamaica's latest feature film.


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Macedonia: Provincialisation of TV News Coverage · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

In an excerpt from his master's thesis, Sead Dzigal posted data [MKD] on the content of TV newscasts in Macedonia from September 2009. National/local politics – 37%, crime chronicle – 25%, and–quite similar to the U.S.A., as presented in Ethan Zuckerman's TED Talk–news from abroad only 11%.

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Malaysia: Should schools abolish examinations? · Global Voices
Syafique Shuib

A few months ago, the Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister of Malaysia, Muhyiddin Yassin, announced the possibility of introducing a school-based assessment to replace the current exam-oriented approach by scrapping the UPSR (Primary School Evaluation Test) and PMR (Lower Certificate of Education).
A committee was formed to study and examine the effectiveness of both exams and it was recently announced that the government will retain the UPSR exam and change the PMR exam to a school-based assessment. Muhyiddin, however, says that the changes will not be immediate:
“We reckon that it will take six years for such a major transformation to really work because it involves changes in syllabus and books as well as training for teachers so that they are not so examination-oriented,” he said, adding that the pilot project for school-based assessment had been carried out at some 550 schools since 2008.
Clon's Blog supports the government's decision:
My personal point of view is that first of all, it is a good news. The students will not be burdened just to study for their exam and pay hundred and hundred of ringgits for their tuition fees every month! Although we may not know the outcome or result of this decision but I hope that this would not decrease the quality of our future generation. Actually, the reason we are studying now is not solely for the examination but it's the purpose of learning. So what for learning the subjects we don't need in future?
Roystance's Point of View provides a different viewpoint:
For your information, by having the examination life of Malaysian student, it could keep them aware with the future challenge. We do not need to seek for majority vote because it is obvious that the exam hold a very big responsibility for our nation.The consequence of scrapping exams for the whole country at one go is a highly risky move.
Readers of Education in Malaysia, a blog that provides thoughts and opinions on both public and private education in Malaysia, share their thoughts on this matter:
Anonymous said… I believe Malaysian youngters are as potential as their counterparts in our parts of the world. Hence, please don't pamper them by let them studying less. Else, in the future, when they grow up, our students who grown up to be scholars cannot compete with other scholars from advanced countries.
Passionate About Blogging said… Children have different gifts, talents, inclinations. I don't think PMR or UPSR is bad for the children. The problem has always been the stress put on their young shoulders by their parents’ expectations. Learning should be fun, it should be a discovery, not a burden or a shame.
Aifa said… The exams shouldn't be abolished instead why don't they just sat and re-modified or upgrade it. What I notice that the children in schools nowadays become more robotic and their purpose of going is not to learn anymore but to get straight A's. I'm not saying that getting A's is a bad thing but they're just kids. Parents, communities and politicians are putting too much expectations on kids to succeed.
Malaysian tweeps also took the chance to voice out on this issue within the 140 characters limit:
@ecachan: I'll become the Minister of Education and I'll make sure PMR and UPSR will stay! LOLOL
@britksy: #nomorepmr? JOKE. Even as a student I would want to sit for PMR. Or else, from UPSR, everyone will slack until SPM year.
@manmohanjit: The gov wants to abolish UPSR and PMR, good decision. It's about time.
@DonovanFoong: now only one to abolish PMr and UpsR ! argh
@ctaudreylim: Why abolish? REVAMP! Argh!
@suebahrin: yes. Gov retain UPSR but goin 2 make it harder. PMR replaced w school based xm
@Farveen: Hoyehh..less stress for the kids!
@jannahtesl: School Based Assessment VS A Sijil [certificate] I Can Never Use for Work Application?

author: Syafique Shuib


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Maldives: No McDonald’s · Global Voices
Rezwan

Mohamed Saeed points to the fact that there is no McDonald's outlet in Maldives and weighs the pros and cons of having them.


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Pakistan: The Role Of Political Islam · Global Voices
Rezwan

Feroz Khan at Pak Tea House discusses the importance of reducing the role of political Islam.


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Puerto Rico: Violence & Corruption  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Repeating Islands draws attention to the issues surrounding “another violent weekend ended in Puerto Rico”, while Gil the Jenius maintains that “we can and have but will not survive as a society with widespread corruption.”


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Russia: Music Battle Over the Khimki Forest · Global Voices
Masha

Sergey Shnurov at the concert, photo by LaFleur
About two weeks ago, a popular Russian ska punk band Leningrad released its first song and video after almost two years of silence, mocking the scandal over the Khimki Forest near Moscow, where for years local environmentalists have been trying – unsuccessfully up until recently – to stop the construction of the Moscow-St. Petersburg motorway.
Another popular Russian rock musician, Yuri Shevchuk, was among those who took an active part in the campaign against the destruction of the forest. On August 22, 2010, at the pro-Khimki Forest concert in downtown Moscow, he had to sing with his equipment unplugged, because the local authorities had not allowed the musicians to use electricity at all. Later on, he performed on stage with U2's Bono, and together they sang a famous Bob Dylan song, “Knockin’ on Heaven's Door.” On the day before the performance, Bono met with the Russian president and talked to him about poliomyelitis and HIV/AIDS in Russia, but failed to mention the Khimki Forest dispute because he was not aware of it then.
After the Bono-Shevchuk joint performance – and due to the public outcry – president Medvedev decided to postpone the Khimki Forest construction.
All these events seem to have inspired Sergey Shnurov, Leningrad‘s ex-frontman, to re-unite the band and write a new song on this issue:
Leningrad used the imagery of Nikolay Kopeikin [RUS], a Russian underground artist, famous for his pictures filled with dark humor and provocative messages. The main hero of the video is a mean snowman with a balalaika, standing in front of a forest. Around him are various cartoon characters (e.g., the Simpsons as well as some famous Russian ones), fighting with each other. Political figures like President Dmitry Medvedev, PM Vladimir Putin and ex-mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov also appear in the video.
In his song, Shnurov is making fun of those musicians who support the campaign to save the forest, implying that they take part in the protests only in order to earn money and fame.
Покупайте билеты братья, я последний певец демократии. Химкинский лес!
Про бесчинства все эти не заткнете мне рот,
И поеду гастроли, я концерты давать
Буду петь про “доколе им страну продавать”
Так и я не в накладе получаю процент, и живу в шоколаде, громко капает цент
The new song and its video have triggered a strong reaction in the Russian blogosphere. Many bloggers assumed that this song was a mockery of Shevchuk and that the line “I am the last singer of democracy” referred to him. The video on YouTube has received more than 418,000 views and 1,700 comments from users over two weeks. YouTube user The1chico1 wrote [RUS]:
Ну как же, как же, это ведь ты у нас самый крутой певец правдоруб один […] Зависть взяла банальная, что это Шевчук выступил, а на его фоне все остальные оказались ничтожествами и Шнур так же говно, как и все остальные, и вот вернувшись с очередных теплых стран где уже давно привык наслаждаться жизнью, решил заявить о себе
In his interview to the Russian Newsweek, Shnurov claimed [RUS] that he had nothing against Shevchuk personally and liked his honesty. He said that he was not making fun of Shevchuk in the video and there was not a single word against him in it.
Russian rapper Noize MC [RUS] made a video response called “Shave a Star” (the name is a reference to Leningrad’s song “Shave a Pussy”). Shnurov’s face is on the masks that Noize and his band are wearing in the video. They perform on stage together with the main character of Shnurov's video – a person in a snowman’s costume:
Using a lot of curses and offensive gestures, Noize MC implied that the song by Leningrad had been written on Kremlin orders.
Dmitry Bykov, a renowned Russian writer, pointed out [RUS], however, that Shnurov was not serious about anything; he was making fun of Shevchuk, environmentalists and the Kremlin fans all together. But, according to Bykov, the period of mockery and political irony has long gone, and the frontman of Leningrad has missed this trend. The quantity of absurd has turned into quality and ironic non-participation will not help in this case.
This battle is probably not over. Shnurov may write a response after he finishes his concert tour. This debate has raised sensitive issues for the society and once again showed that music and arts can highlight the underlying problems and controversies. In this regard, a YouTube comment on Leningrad’s video by user Woltch85 would be more than appropriate:
ЭЭЭйййййй!!! Господа очнитесь!!! Неужели в России кроме Химкинского леса больше нет проблем! Посмотрите на улицы нашей необъятной Родины, толпа беспризорников, голодных стариков, да и вся остальная масса в ж***е, но зато всех нас волнует вырубка леса, все вдруг резко об экологии задумались.

author: Masha


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Russia: Photos of Russian SWAT training  · Global Voices
Vadim Isakov

Blogger artemgorbachev posts photos from a training of the Russian Special Purpose Police Unit (OMON).

author: Vadim Isakov


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Russia: President Medvedev Welcomes Schwarzenegger Via Twitter · Global Voices
Vadim Isakov

Right after landing in Russia, Arnold Schwarzenegger shared his picture in Moscow with his Twitter followers. Russian President Medvedev replied to the twit by writing: “Welcome to Russia!” The two extensively cover their interactions on Twitter (here and here).


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Serbia: Gay Pride Parade Used as Excuse for Riots · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Gay Pride Parade held on October 10, 2010, in Belgrade brought out the worst and the best elements of Serbian society in the open. The police had to suppress about 6,000 rioters who, in a very organized manner, wrecked damage of at least EUR 1 million in the city center, while pro-democracy forces hailed the event as a big advance for the freedoms of speech and association, guaranteed by law.
As reported [MKD] by Macedonia Gay Blog-Magazine, at least the legal part of the event was a success:
… The second Gay Pride Parade took place in Belgrade, with over 1,000 marchers. The event was a success because it passed peacefully, under heavy police guard… [After the parade was over] around 6,000 hooligans used it as an excuse to demolish buildings, rob stores and destroy public infrastructure.
The Parade started at noon, but the tensions started rising from 10 am. The hooligans’ rage culminated after 1 pm. They burned the entrance to the building housing the seat of the ruling Democratic Party. At one point, after the demonstrators breached the police cordon, an anti-terrorist unit had to intervene. A public bus was burned, and trams attacked… Hooligans failed to directly attack any of the marchers.
Serbian president Boris Tadić condemned the attacks and announced that the perpetrators of violence would be arrested indiscriminately. According to him, an attack on the police equals an attack on the state, which is ready to deal with the vandals who endanger the citizens’ security. He stressed that Serbia protects the rights of all citizens regardless of their differences.
During the day, the state media announcements kept repeating that over 60% of the arrested rioters were not locals, but had been brought from other places in Serbia in an organized manner. In various ways commentators complained of the present levels of unchecked hate among the youth, and hinted or openly blamed reactionary nationalist forces which relied on football hooligans to form the core of paramilitary units during the Milošević regime. In total around 140 persons were injured, mostly policemen, and the police detained over 200 suspects.
The social media hero of the day [SRP] was the policeman Saša Čordić, 26, who was captured on video telling off a rioter [loose translation] “How dare you to wreak havoc to my Belgrade! Get the fuck out of here!”
The video was instantly reproduced in several copies, with hundreds of thousands views. A Facebook page based on the quote [SRP] very quickly gained several thousands of fans.
Another social media hit was the column “Open your mind!” by turbo-folk star Jelena Karleuša, first propagated by Twitter users such as Slobodan Markovic, who described [SRP] it as “brutal.”
In the column [SRP], which won praise on FB by liberals who usually consider turbo-folk reactionary, the singer asks when will “millions of Serbs stop allowing a handful of human excrement to portray their people as savage and stupid.” She candidly wrote about confronting the homophobic attitude of her footballer husband, a self-proclaimed typical Serbian macho man, by exposing the hypocrisy and double standards in regard to heterosexual and homosexual relations, as well as refusing to continue to take part in sexual acts deemed “unnatural” by such traditionalists, but required within their marriage.


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South Korea:Photos of the Hi Seoul Festival  · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Blogger MyCar 9960 uploaded photos[ko] of the 2010 Hi Seoul Festival, Seoul's seasonal cultural festival. A series of indoor and street performances, parades and exhibitions are held in several spots around Seoul until Sunday.


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Sri Lanka: Dance In Pictures · Global Voices
Rezwan

Minaali Haputantri posts some elegant photos of a dance performance by Channa Upuli, an world renowned Sri Lankan dance troop.


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St. Maarten: Garden Isle · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Citizens of St. Maarten have been urged to mark their new political status…by taking practical steps to transform the new Dutch Caribbean nation into a ‘Garden Isle,’ with a view to protect the environment and to boost tourism”: Repeating Islands has the link.


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Venezuela: National Assembly Reforms Military Service Law, Removes Sanctions · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Venezuelan Analysis reports that the National Assembly reformed the Military Conscription and Enlistment Law, eliminating sanctions for not registering in the Military Record.


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Venezuela: Reactions to the Law of Military Service · Global Voices
Patricia Acosta

The government's decision to “reactivate” the Military Conscription and Enlistment Law has generated an attitude of resistance from civil society, stronger than usual for orders coming from President Hugo Chávez. But Chávez opponents are not the only ones rejecting the law; there is a shortage of the usual unconditional support among government supporters.
At the beginning of October, the government declared that those not enrolled in the military record before October 21, 2010 would face penalties, such as: (see original in Spanish)
Article 82 On the failure to register in the Military Record Venezuelans who do not register in the Military Record will be sanctioned with a fine equivalent to twelve tax units [unidad tributaria in Spanish] (12 U.T) [one tax unit equals 65 Bs.F (Bolivar Fuerte) or $15.14 US dollars; 12. U.T equals $181.68 US dollars]
Article 83 On the failure to notify Venezuelans of military age who fail to notify a change in residence or domicile, in civil status, or any other circumstance that could affect their eligibility to qualify for the purposes of military service, will be sanctioned with a fine equivalent to six tax units (6 U.T) [$90.84 USD]
Article 84 Failure to cooperate Civil and military authorities who breach the obligation in article 15 of this Law, will be sanctioned with a fine equivalent to twelve tax units (12 U.T) [$181.68 USD]
Article 85 On not requiring documents of military service for the use of weapons Representatives, officials of public or private agencies with the ability to hire staff, whose work includes the use of weapons and do not require the presentation of documentation that certifies military service, will be sanctioned with a fine equivalent to twenty tax units (20 U.T) [$302.8 USD]
Article 86 On not requiring documents certifying military service Representatives and officials able to hire personnel from Public Administration organs and agencies who do not require documentation that certifies registration [in the military record] or military service, will be sanctioned with a fine equivalent to twenty tax units (20 U.T) [$302.8 USD]
Article 87 Imposing of sanctions The sanctions provided for in this Law will be imposed by the Chief of the corresponding Military Circumscription.
On Twitter, with the hashtag #SoyCivil (I'm a Civilian), Venezuelan users repudiated the order during the first days following the announcement:
Willy McKey  (@willymckey) writes about the military:
¿Y si obligan a los militares a hacer un servicio civil obligatorio? #SoyCivil
Iria Puyosa (@NSC) makes a reference to article 134:
Art 134 CRBV: ” Toda persona, d conformidad con la ley, tiene el deber de prestar los servicios civil o militar”. Yo elijo #SoyCIVIL
Mati Aristeguieta (@MatiAriste) says:
Leo “la ley es inconstitucional” ¿quién decide eso, nosotros o el TSJ [tribunal supremo de justicia] arrodillado ante el militar-militarista Chávez? #estamosjodidos
The population's discomfort comes from the obligation “to be” registered and “to give” military service. Blogger @Kareta explains in her blog ExplíKame [es] that there are contradictions in the law:
La Ley contempla en el Art. 7  que ninguna persona puede someterse a “reclutamiento forzoso”, pero si la leemos con detenimiento, la misma se contradice. En el Art4 se habla de las ”obligaciones militares” que tenemos todos los venezolanos y el Art6 remata diciendo que los venezolanos en edad militar “tienen el deber” de prestar el servicio militar en la FANB [Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana].
Government sympathizers have also reacted to the Law on military service. Twitter user @GigiFrasca tells her friend Adolfo Alfonso (@CAMUFLAJEblog):
Que fastidio con ese Registro Militar, perdon pero me da fastidio!!
El Guardian Creativo (@Jo8a) tells the President (@chavezcandanga) via Twitter:
NO SE CUAL ES EL ROLLO CON LA INSCRIPCION MILITAR, SI ESO YA ERA CONSTUMBRE HACERLO DESDE HACE AAAÑOS, Y ANTES SI ERA TEMIDO
On October 7, through their Twitter account (@SecretariaAN),  the National Assembly informed:
La fecha del 21 de octubre estipulada en la Ley como fecha tope para la inscripción en el registro Militar queda sin efecto. Favor retwitear
It is not known exactly why the Government decided to extend the deadline of October 21, 2020 to “permanent,” with no expiration date, referring to the call to register before October 21. Likewise, on October 8 the President assured via aporrea.org [es] :
Los medios de comunicación privados han lanzado en los últimos días una campaña mediante la cual han generado ansiedad en la población diciendo que hasta el 21 de octubre hay plazo para inscribirse en el Registro Militar obligatorio.
On the other hand, organizations like PROVEA  (Venezuelan Program for Education-Action in Human Rights [es]) demand that the National Assembly and the Supreme Court repeal the Law of Enlistment:
Por ello solicitamos a las autoridades garantizar nuestro derecho constitucional a la objeción de conciencia, así como el restablecimiento pleno de la no obligatoriedad del servicio militar, derogando esta y cualquier ley que pretenda desconocer los derechos humanos presentes en la Carta Magna. Cualquier normativa que desee interpretar los artículos 61 y 134 debe realizarse de manera democrática protagónica y participativa, después de una amplia consulta de carácter nacional que involucre a todos los sectores de la vida nacional.
The reform of the Military Conscription and Enlistment Law will be debated on Tuesday, October 12.

author: Patricia Acosta


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