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Fiji: ‘The Media has been Muzzled’  · Global Voices
John Liebhardt

“The stories on this page could not be published because of Government restrictions,” read page two of the Fiji Times Sunday, April 12.
The Fiji Sun reports it will not “publish political reports- either from the interim Government or their critics – until it can do so with accuracy, balance and fairness.”
Fiji Television viewers turning into the Sunday, April 12 received this notice over a black screen: “Viewers Please Be Advised There Will Be No 6PM News Bulletin Tonight.”
This reporting by omission is in response to new government “public emergency regulations,” (opens .doc file) which will be in place for 30 days, prohibiting the broadcast or publishing or any material that “may give rise to disorder” or could create “a breach of the peace, or promote disaffection or public alarm, or undermine the Government and the State of Fiji.”
Since April 8, Fiji has been ruled by three different governments. Thursday, April 9 a court of appeals declared that military ruler Commodore Voreqe Frank Bainimarama came to power illegally in December 2006 when he dissolved Parliament and deposed the government of Laisenia Qarase. As directed, Bainimarama stepped down, and the court instructed the country’s President to appoint a caretaker government to lead the country to elections. President Ratu Josefa Iloilo said he had no constitutional authority to install a new leader, so he nullified the country’s constitution, fired the judiciary and appointed himself head of state and the military.  The following day he re-appointed Bainimarama and gave him a five-year mandate to complete carrying out his stated reforms of ending corruption and communal, provincial and religious politics.
The new government will rule by decree. Under the  “public emergency regulations” it has the power to curtail assembly, expanded search and seizure powers and gives police and military the power to detain “suspected persons” for up to seven days without charges.
In relation to the press, Bainimarama's government installed “information officers” at newspapers, television and radio stations to enforce the regulations against publishing any story “negative in nature” regarding the extraordinary recent constitutional events. In a letter to media organizations, the government pointed out they should broadcast “news that is pro-Fij.”
Thus, the newspapers and television programs have decided to ignore all political events.
In other news,
The government has asked one Australian and one New Zealand journalist to leave the country because of their negative reporting;
One local internet forum has closed until further notice;
The Fiji Times editor, Netani Rika, was arrested Sunday after the government asked him to refrain from publishing blank pages blaming government restrictions.
Writing about Fiji TV's canceled news bulletin, the pro-government blog IG-Fiji explains the new media regulations.
The govt. will not tolerate any forms of sedition, treason or civil disobedience from any quarter. We have stated that all media outlets need to exercise a high degree of caution before publishing any article which may cause riots or civil unrest of any sort.
For the government, this means, publishing stories “by contacting parties such as [opposition political parties] NFP, SDL and other NGO’s who all chose to use the limelight as an opportunity to voice their personal opinions and attempt to cause an uprising against the govt. of the day.”
Back to IG-Fiji:
If the Fiji TV management team chooses not to run their news bulletin as normal, but under the Emergency Decree, then the govt. will not interfere with the decision taken by the management. This also applies to the Fiji Times who were cordial enough to agree that specific news articles would not be run but the requirement was that the company be allowed to publish a censorship message in its stead. This was readily agreed to and it was further agreed that no news that had been censored would be published on any of the media outlets websites. We are of the belief that the media council will be working closely with us in a professional manner in order to ensure the 30 day transition passes smoothly. The Emergency Regulations will be reviewed after this period and renewed IF necessary.
We ask that all the people of this country come together in a patriotic harmony and work with the govt. to help build a better Fiji which is free of corruption and racial politics.
The journalists and media watchdogs at  Café Pacific explain how Fiji’s media has its work cut out for them.
[E]ditors, journalism and the news media have an unenviable job ahead of them – trying to pick their way through the Fiji minefield and maintain some level of media freedom and independence in the current climate of censorship and self-censorship. Expulsion of expatriate Australian publishers under the glare of immediate glare of international media publicity over the past year was one thing, the day-to-day unsung hard graft and risks now facing courageous local journos is quite another. Café Pacific believes Fiji is now entering a sinister era where journalists are stepping out of the regional rhetoric of media freedom and may face real dangers as suffered in many other developing nations.
From Intelligentsiya.
It is appropriate therefore that we try to assess why there are such intense attempts to censor the media.
To do that we begin by going back to the Rabuka Chronicles or his “No Other Way” steps to dealing with the media.
Our view is that this time around Bainimarama is aware that the mood of the people in this country will not be as acquiescent in comparison to 6/12. So in their true hearts and minds fashion, they will label every piece of news that does not support them as inciteful (big word there Leweni, sure you know what it means?).
But the real intent is to clamp down and ensure that small pockets of opposition do not become public information in case other people in the country decide to support it and hey presto we have a big protest against being robbed of the right to live in a free and democratic society en masse.
Unfortunately by picking up Rabuka’s tips from ’87 and trying to control the media, the media houses defiance today will instead inspire many others to also stand up and oppose the military junta.
Yes they’re still amateurs. That is why they will continue to be out-done, out-gunned, out-flanked, out-maneuvered and out-numbered.
Note: Sitiveni Rabuka, a once low-ranking officer in Fiji’s military, carried out the country’s first two coups, both in 1987, that overthrow a government headed by an Indo-Fijian political party.
According to most counts, Fiji has endured four military coups since 1987. A new blog calculates the weekend’s actions amounted to half-a-coup. With that in mind, coup four and a half has been covering  the media. The blogsters at Coup Four and A Half ran this report.
Sources say Fiji TV reporter, Edwind Nand, was questioned this afternoon because of his interview with ABC journalist, Sean Dorney.
Nand is understood to be still at the Central Police Station in Suva.
Fiji TV have been told it's not allowed to air the Dorney interview.
The internal censorship has given rise to the importance of the foreign press and blogs who are taking comments.
The media has been muzzled, says Soli Vakasama.
REMEMBER, PEACEFUL RESISTANCE IS THE WAY AS THERE IS NO LAW IN FIJI TODAY.
It’s hard to do but try to carry on as normally as you can.  There are many supporters who have to work  in areas that the ig contro,l to keep the wheels turning, we need to stop vilifying them otherwise we’d all be in the shitpit.
Do not vent in public, come in here and vent your frustrations. We all feel your pain.
Use other sites like You Tube, Twitter and Anti Fiji Coup sites  to add your resistance to the illegal stance in Fiji.
From Talking Fiji a few days back:
Other media outlets are exercising caution less they too be censored by the militarised Police.
The only source of uncensored news and commentary in Fiji now come from blogs.
It is an undeniable truth that media censorship is the first step towards creating a police state…
In times of darkness and despair, a free and balanced media is a beacon of hope for a people supressed.
If you take away that hope, then all that is left is misery.
And misery, if left to fester, can turn into resentment and then to anger.
Put another way, State censorship of the media is the first slippery step toward anarchy because the people of Fiji will not remain supressed for very much longer.
Not everyone in Fiji is critical of the recent government moves. A commenter at Fiji Live, Kumar, argues:
Media should work with the government of the day. They have responsibility to use their freedom for the benefit of the country. The media in Fiji is known to incite racial tension and portray one sided information. It has been constantly trying to portray a negative image of the current government which is trying hard to build a better Fiji. Let Fiji move forward … don't kill her!
International citizen journalists have also chimed in. From Kiwi Blog, David Farrar reports:
In the NZ blogosphere there has been a diversity of opinion on Fiji. Most have been highly critical of Bainimarama, but several (mainly on the right) have supported him, as they admired him standing up for the minority Indians and wanting to abolish the race based constitution.
To be honest over the last year I had been creeping more towards the camp that if he does get rid of the race based constitution, and hands over power to a truly democratic Government, then he may be seen one day on the side of the good guys.
But no-one should be defending his regime’s attack on media freedom. Supressing criticism at he point of a gun is what the Stalinist bloc used to do, and what Castro and Kim do.
Australian blogger Andrew Bartlett writing in Crikey Blogs.
Kevin Rudd has said that Fiji is now “virtually a military dictatorship”.  I’m not sure what else needs to happen before the word “virtually” gets dropped, but whatever term you want to use, it sure isn’t democracy – especially with the latest censorship crackdown. The dictatorship’s Secretary for Information, Major Neumi Leweni, is kindly providing ‘information officers’ and police to assist every media newsroom in Fiji with deciding what is and isn’t newsworthy. Some more details are on the Talking Fiji blog.
The renewed censorship will mean blogs and other sources of online information will probably become the main way to access uncensored information out of Fiji.
Not long after this current coup first occurred, the military attempted to shut down access to anti-government blogs.  No doubt similar efforts will be made now, but at present there is a wide range of blogs providing some information and some vibrant rallying calls.
On Bartlett’s personal site, a commenter, TRS, argues you have to take what you read online with a grain of salt.
The blogs have never really had to try to counter censorship as it’s very nature has allowed bloggers to post without any degree of external influence. Most blog sites contain posts written by anonymouse bloggers.
What is important to note are the truth claims of many bloggers. Whilst the blog posts at the moment seem to carry a lot more information then what is available from traditional media outlets, we have to very careful in absorbing what it’s contents are.
Unlike tradtional media, the stories contained in the blog posts have not been subjected to normal journalistic standards nor have they been vetted properly.
In any case, the only option for any coup related news for many Fijians right now are the blogs sites. Some news is better then nothing.


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Guyana: Stupid is as stupid does  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Guyanese blogger Imran Khan is convinced he must be stupid – why else would he fail to see the logic behind President Jagdeo's advice to flood-besieged farmers to diversify into aquaculture: “Forgive me for thinking that when the place is flooded that the fish ponds…would become flooded and the fish would swim away.”

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Hungary: “The Rise and Fall of Ferenc Gyurcsány, Part II” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

“The Rise and Fall of Ferenc Gyurcsány, Part II” – at Hungarian Spectrum.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Indian Elections 2009: Allegations and Concerns of The Common People · Global Voices
Bhumika Ghimire

The run up to Indian general elections sure looks like a spicy Bollywood movie. Big actors from major political parties and their activists are busy hurling allegations at each other while the common people stand befuddled, waiting for someone to listen to their concerns.
Indian politicians are at the receiving end not only from their opponents but also from the public-online and on the streets.
Sameer Shaikh, is concerned about the way main opposition party-Bharatiya Janta Party(BJP) operates during elections. In his blog he writes about the three “nitis” or principles of the Hindu nationalist party, saying they use religion to divide people, push cash to win support and use racism to foment suspicion.
“Raam = When elections come they talk about Raam, the God who spread love. And Here under the name of the GOD several politicians are using it to get in power…. this has being BJP's triumph card to gain votes…. Be it LK Advani saying that Ram Mandir is what they wanted to always do or be it Varun Gandhi whose controversial speech has put him in jail and he is now held under the NSA (Threat to nation act).”
Congress, the party in Government, is also being criticized, especially the Gandhi family scion-Rahul Gandhi. Offstumped, which describes itself as focused on bringing a right of center reality check to Indian Politics, news media reporting and opinion through Blogs in English and Hindi writes about Gandhi’s “phony love for the poor.”
“The reality for these mostly poor and largely Muslim victims of the CPI-Mafioso’s tyranny of Nandigram was that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi let them down when they needed them the most by looking the other away at Buddhadeb’s Taliban Act.
As Rahul Gandhi goes about tom-tomming his phony love of the poor it is imperative to refresh everyone’s memory of those poor he let down badly in Nandigram by never fighting for their dignity.”
Communalism is in minds of many Indian voters. The issue highlighted by November 2008 attacks in Mumbai and violence against Christian tribals in state of Orissa.
Charakan, a doctor, writes about how communalism is being exploited to reach political goals:
“Religion, region and to some extent caste come to the rescue of the rich. So the Ram mandir, Maratha pride and Islamism are invented to prevent unity of the poor. The poor Muslim laborer is lynched by a mob for ‘preventing’ the building of Ram Mandir. The poor train passengers are killed by Islamist bombs as a revenge. The Bihari coolie is be-headed by poor and unemployed Marathi youth for Maratha pride. The rich laugh all the way to the bank.”
Caste politics, a mainstay of Indian elections, has troubled the people for long. Many blame political parties-from right, center, left and even those who claim to exclusively champion the lower caste population for abusing the heinous practice for political mileage.
Vikram Garg, a PhD student from Mumbai delves into the caste politics in India from an academic standpoint. In his post titled “Is Mayawati bringing the change India’s Dalits (people of lower caste) need?”, he discusses research carried out by University of Washington and Edinburgh in village of Nangal in state of Uttar Pradesh with 48% dalit population.
He says that despite all efforts made to empower the dalits, their situation still remains dire.
“Simply claiming Dalit self-respect is a legitimate but incomplete goal. In fact for most of the Dalits in Nangal the notion of respect and improving access to resources are deeply linked. Without the right access, anger is brewing in a cynical and increasingly desperate peasantry. This anger could explode anytime and India could be in for a few very bloody decades.”

author: Bhumika Ghimire


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India: Pink Chaddi Facebook Group Hacked · Global Voices
Rezwan

Shivam Vij at Kafila reports that the Facebook group of the Pink Chaddi campaign has been hacked and calls on Facebook to help restore the group.

author: Rezwan


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India: Showcasing Photo Theft · Global Voices
Rezwan

Sans Serif highlights a Flickr group called Indian Copyright Laws that has sprung up to showcase the work of individuals which have been used by different mainstream media and websites without taking permission of the photographer, a growing phenomenon in India.


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Iran: 19 year old blogger is jailed · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Ghomaar, an Iran based blog, writes  [fa]that Alireza Firouzi, a 19 year old blogger and student activist was arrested in Zanjan. The blogger adds that Firouzi is among student activists who revealed a sex scandal in Zanjan University in June 2008. Ghomaar adds that Alireza was interrogated by prosecutor of Zanjan about his blog and his posts.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran: Environmentalists Campaign to Save Isfahan · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Iranian environmentalists are using online media tools to save different cultural monuments such as  The Si-o-se Pol or “33 Pol”  (bridge of 33 arches) an architectural masterpiece in the heart of the Iranian historic city of Isfahan (Esfahan). A battle is ongoing between authorities that want to develop a new metro project and concerned citizens from across Iran who fear the damage it might cause.
Shahin Sepanta writes [fa] an open letter to the international community to save Isfahan, a former capital of Persian empire, from destruction. The blogger writes that the the city council of Isfahan has decided, without sufficient preparatory studies, to construct a metro tunnel in the vicinity of this unique complex of architectural masterpieces.
People of Isfahan, as well as many non-governmental organizations have protested against such an unwise project and have demanded that authorities to dig the tunnel farther from the historical parts of the city, and employ precautionary actions to reduce the traffic burden. Nevertheless, the city council has continued its operation without paying any attention to such protests.
Bearing in mind that Isfahan, as a cosmopolitan entity, comprises of many historical and valuable sites that belong not only to the Iranian people but are considered as the common heritage of the mankind, it is the right of everyone in the world to enjoy its marvels and, at the same time, take the responsibility of guarding it against all destructive threats.
In GreenNews we read  [fa] that the increasing number or protest against the metro project has forced authorities to declare controversy statements about the development of project. GreenNews has published photos (like the one above) showing construction machines in close proximity of '33 Pol (bridge of 33 arches).
There is also a petition is launched to stop metro project that got around 1000 signatures so far.


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Iran: Free Potatoes and Election · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Several bloggers reported that Iranian government tries to ‘get people's votes in June presidential election by distributing free potatoes in different cities’.Sibzamini(means potato in Persian) is an Iranian blog that covers all news and reactions regarding free State-distributed potatoes.


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Jamaica: Debt Relief  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Although Jamaica Salt reports that the island “has had some welcome relief from its huge, crippling debt”, the blogger is sceptical that the money saved will be channeled into the right areas.


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Japan: CB2, the child robot · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

On Pink Tentacle, updated news about CB2, the Child Robot With Biomimetic Body. The robot, already presented to the public in 2007  by the researchers of Osaka University, is said to have developed socials skills by recording human expressions via eye cameras. According to Professor Minoru Asada, within the next two years CB2 will also be able to speak in basic sentences.

author: Scilla Alecci


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Kazakhstan: A Push for Global Uranium Reserve · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust reports that Kazakhstan’s president Nursultan Nazarbayev is continuing his years-long push for a global “bank” for uranium.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Kazakhstan: Great Success with Iran · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Elina Galperin reviews the outcomes of a meeting between the Iranian and Kazakh presidents, who have signed a series of mutually beneficial deals.


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Kazakhstan: Railroad politicking · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Michael Hancock analyzes the transport policies in the Central Asian region against the background of the Iranian leader's visit to Kazakhstan.


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Kyrgyzstan: The politician’s funeral  · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Elena tells about the funeral ceremony for Medet Sadyrkulov, ex-chief of the presidential administration of Kyrgyzstan, who tragically died in the burnt car.


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Kyrgyzstan: The Vagina Monologues in Pictures · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Sam posts a photo-reportage from the Vagina Monologues performance that has taken place in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.


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Lebanon: Academics and Bloggers Call for Israel Boycott  · Global Voices
Antoun Issa

A new boycott campaign of Israel has been launched by Lebanese academics and bloggers.
Lebanese blogger Rania Masri joined with her fellow blogger/academic Marcy Newman, an American who lives in the West Bank, to launch the initiative.
The campaign has been given its own blog site, titled Boycott Zionism, to which Lebanese academics and bloggers have been adding their names to the growing list.
On her blog, Newman stated the campaign was in response to a call by the Palestinian National Boycott Movement to expand the boycott internationally:
in honor of يوم الأرض (land day) and the palestinian national boycott movement’s call for land day to be global bds day the campaign has finally been launched in lebanon
Part of the campaign's statement reads as follows:
Statement of Academics in Lebanon
In this latest onslaught against Palestinians, Israel has attacked a university, the Ministry of Education, schools across the Gaza Strip, and several UNRWA schools. Such attacks against learning centers are not unique for Israel. Most particularly since 1975, Israel has infringed upon the right of education for Palestinians by closing universities, schools and kindergartens, and by shelling, shooting at, and raiding hundreds of schools and several universities throughout the occupied Palestinian territories.
Nor have these attacks been limited against Palestinians. As academics in Lebanon, we are all too familiar with Israeli onslaughts against educational centers. In its latest assault, in 2006, for example, Israel destroyed over 50 schools throughout Lebanon, and particularly schools designed for the economically disadvantaged in the South.
We thus stand, as academics in Lebanon, in urging our colleagues, regionally and internationally, to oppose this ongoing scholasticide and to support the just demand for academic boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel.  Specifically, we ask our colleagues worldwide to support the call by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel to comprehensively and consistently boycott and disinvest from all Israeli academic and cultural institutions, and to refrain from participation in any form of academic and cultural cooperation, collaboration or joining projects with Israeli institutions as a contribution to the struggle to end Israel’s occupation, colonization and system of apartheid.
The boycott call has been welcomed by Palestinian bloggers, some of whom have promoted and posted links to it from their blogs, including Gaza 08 and Uprooted Palestinians.
Fellow Lebanese blogger, Rami at Land and People, has also added his voice of support:
Rania and Marcy who are tireless (unlike me) have started this essential campaign for the academic boycott of Zionists. Please check the website of the Lebanese Campaign for the Boycott of Zionism, and join the campaign if you haven't already done that.
Boycott, divestment and sanctions are peaceful means of civil resistance to oppressors. Support the Palestinian and Lebanese people in resisting occupation and oppression.

author: Antoun Issa


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Moldova: More on Twitter · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

More on Twitter and last week's events in Moldova – at Ethan Zuckerman's My Heart's in Accra and Evgeny Morozov's Net Effect.


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Pakistan: The Root Cause Of The Problems · Global Voices
Rezwan

Bilal Qureshi at Pak Tea House opines that denial is the root cause of the problems in Pakistan and comments: “Unless Pakistanis agree that Taliban are not the answer to any problem, nothing will change. Otherwise, Pakistanis will continue to see suicide bombing across the country.”


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Palestine: Health Issues On Film · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Eva Bartlett, a Canadian activist in Gaza, reports on a short documentary competition held to mark World Health Day, highlighting health issues Gazans face, and medical care during attacks.

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Paraguay: Typical Bread Called Chipa · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Camino Al Paraguay [es] has photos of Chipa, a typical kind of bread from Paraguay.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Peru: Unanswered Questions After Sentencing of Fujimori · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

With the sentencing of Peruvian ex-president Alberto Fujimori, Eland Vera of Comunicación y Desarrollo Peru [es] has some unanswered questions such as, “Is it possible that history repeats itself if we elect a person like Fujimori?”


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Qatar: Media Contradictions · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

The Qatar Visitor blog discusses the media environment in Qatar, finding that there are contradictory forces at work.


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Russia, Belarus: Internet News Roundup · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Svetlana Gladkova of Profy reports on the intention of the Russian Anti-Monopoly Service “to officially include Microsoft in the register of monopolies doing business in the country” and on president Medvedev's announcement that “the government of the country would be watching foreign investors coming to the internet market closer – and would also be investing in the industry itself.” Also, Svetlana writes about Google's arrival in Belarus (as well as about various Google impostors in the region), and about “the war LiveJournal bloggers virtually declared to Mail.ru” in Russia.


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Serbia: Good and Bad Things About Belgrade · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Five “good things” and three “bad things” about Belgrade – at Balkan File.


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Slovenia: “Ljubljana to Get ‘Tito Street’” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sleeping With Pengovsky writes about Ljubljana mayor's initiative to name a street after Josip Broz Tito, who, in Slovenia, “is remembered for things both excellent and terrible.”


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Thailand: Fake Red Shirt application · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Thai 101 translates a fake Red Shirt membership application which was probably made by critics of the red-shirted protesters. The Red Shirts are demanding the resignation of Thailand's Prime Minister.

author: Mong Palatino


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Thailand protests: Shopping stores were closed · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Shopping stores and other local businesses were forced to close in Bangkok as violence erupted between government troops and opposition Red Shirts yesterday.


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The Best Online Sources for News and Analysis on the 2009 Indian Lok Sabha Elections · Global Voices
Gaurav Mishra

As the campaigns for the 2009 Indian Lok Sabha elections heat up, several new websites are aiming to become the default source of news and analysis related the 2009 general elections.
These websites, however, are directly competing with election microsites from mainstream media — Hindustan Times/ Google, TOI, Mint, DNA, The Hindu, Yahoo!, MSN, Rediff, NDTV, IBN Live, India Today, The Week, Economic Times, India TV, Aaj Tak, Business Standard, BBC and Al Jajeera– and need to offer something different to be useful.
All the mainstream media election microsites have similar features: details about parties, constituencies, candidates and manifestos, statistics about previous elections, and an overload of news and opinion related to the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. However, some microsites have unique features which stand out, so let me start by pointing to my favorite, often interactive, features on the mainstream media websites.
DNA, India Today, Business Standard and IBN Politics have user friendly pages for columns by some very well-known writers.
The Hindustan Times/ Google election microsite is based on Google gadgets which allows you to add individual features to your iGoogle page.
The WordPress-based Hindu Election Blog allows you to subscribe to specific tags and categories.
MSN has a useful news aggregator which allows to you find news by candidate, party, or state.
The Outlook India Election Blog is doing a great curation role by linking to important stories from elsewhere.
Of the new players, IndiPepal is perhaps the most ambitious, with blogs from several well-known analysts.
India Voting and Engage Voter also have content rich websites with some interesting features.
BlogAdda has a very well designed social media aggregator for the elections, which collates photos, videos, and posts from election-focused blogs.
OneVote also has a well designed social media aggregator that collates photos, videos, tweets, blog posts and news reports related to the India elections.
Vote Report India, a collaborative citizen-driven election monitoring platform for the 2009 elections, aims to aggregate direct reports about irregularities in the election process with news reports, blog posts, photos, videos and tweets related to the elections from all relevant sources, in one place, on an interactive map (see our earlier post for details).
With a wide variety of sources vying with each other, election-watchers in India and elsewhere are sure to find a source that fits their specific news and opinion needs.
Which are some of your favorite online sources for news and analysis on the 2009 Indian Lok Sabha Elections?

author: Gaurav Mishra


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Trinidad & Tobago: Mainstream Media  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Keith in Trinidad has issues with the local mainstream media, saying: “‘Responsible journalism’ appears to have joined the ranks of ‘Police intelligence’ and ‘Honourable Member of Parliament'”.


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Ukraine: Luxury Cars and Taxpayers’ Money · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Ukrainiana writes about Ukrainian officials’ luxury cars acquired on taxpayers’ money, “a cheap commodity in Ukraine.”


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U.S., Europe: Clinton’s Message on Roma Day · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a video message in recognition of the International Roma Day: video and text – at U.S. Department of State Blog.


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USA: Deploying a Pro-Immigration Web 2.0 Strategy  · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

The Opportunity Agenda is holding an open online seminar (webinar) on April 16, 2009 (3pm EST) to advise activists on how to develop social media strategies for supporting pro-immigration reform in the United States.

author: Solana Larsen


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USA: No More Columbus Day at Brown University  · Global Voices
Simon Maghakyan

In response to protests from Native American and other students, the prestigious Brown University in the United States has changed the name of the national public holiday Columbus Day to “Fall Weekend” on its academic calendar.
Bloggers are debating this modification of a holiday that honors the European explorer Christopher Columbus for “discovering” America in 1492.
First Landing of Columbus on the Shores of the New World. Painting by Discoro Téofilo de la Puebla.
Some celebrate the Brown change as a form of acknowledgment of the genocide of America's indigenous peoples; others denounce what one conservative blogger sees as, “Idiot College Liberals Ruin[ing] Another Holiday.”
Conversation Nation details the name change:
Hey Christopher Columbus, what can Brown do for you? They can take your name off a holiday.
The faculty at Brown University voted to drop the name Columbus Day after protests from a Native American student group on campus
The fall school holiday will now be known as the more generic “Fall Weekend” The faculty has control over the academic calendar and Brown officials don't plan to intervene
Some Native American groups maintain Columbus Day should not be celebrated, citing his “violent mistreatment of Native Americans”
Officials from Italian American groups in Providence slammed the decision telling The Providence Journal that Columbus should be recognized as a hero who discovered America
[…]
It's a federal holiday but several states and some other colleges have changed the name. Should they?
“Ignatius Reilly”, writing on Right Pundits, says:
[…]
I have news for Brown University students: most of the Founding Fathers owned slaves, Lincoln mistreated his wife, Malcolm X was a complete sexist, Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy were womanizers, and ALL of them were completely unacceptably politically incorrect by today’s standards. If you want to go down this road and judge people by today’s standards, then we cannot honor anything in America’s past.
Oh, and another thing, Native Americans went to war with and conquered each other, and also treated women really badly, so we can’t really celebrate them either […]. After all, life sucks.
[…]
Responding to another critique of the change, Left of Boston comments:
[…]
Columbus… enslaved and raped the people who he encountered in Central America and brought disease, as many of the other explorers did. Those are the facts, they're well documented […].
[…]
Columbus Day is an occasion where revisionist history prevails. We try to see him in a positive light to cover up what he actually did. He did not actually discover America (there were several who had before him), so the premise of why we have Columbus Day is interesting to consider.
[…]
It is possible to see this as “political correctness,” but when we celebrate someone who enslaved people – there's no reason to be politically correct.
[…]

author: Simon Maghakyan


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Uzbekistan: An Uzbek Feast · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust posts an extensive and detailed story about the Uzbek ethnic cuisine and even shares some recipes.


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Albania, Croatia: Newest Members of NATO  · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Albania and Croatia joined NATO earlier this month: Albanian Blogger and Croatian Crescent write about it.


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Algeria: Bouteflika Takes On Third Term · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

On Friday, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was elected for a third term in office, extending his already ten-year tenure.  Along with former Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem, Bouteflika changed the constitution to remove the presidential term limit, a revision that was approved by the Council of Ministers in November 2008.  According to Daily Maghreb, he won his third term with 90.24 percent of votes cast.
Moroccan and Algerian bloggers had much to say about his re-election.  Prior to the win, Algerian-American The Moor Next Door said:
The Algerian presidential campaign is dominated by Abdelaziz Bouteflika, substantively and visually. So vigorous has been his campaign that Boutelfika skipped the Arab Summit in Doha, sending FM Medelci instead. Others have attempted to initiate their own narratives — this is implicit in Hanoune’s, as she is a Trotskyite, and it is increasingly clear in Mohamed Said’s campaign, though he was an remains a relative unknown. Touati has for the most part tried to coopt Bouteflika’s platform using a different face, and Younsi and Rebiane have used their campaigns as platforms to attack the regime, with the former’s platform being the more dissident of the two, ideologically speaking
Larbi [fr], commenting on the margin by which Bouteflika won, said:
Félicitations au Candidat Abdelaziz qui rentre dans notre top 5 à la troisième place.
Bachar Al-Assad  reste toujours à la tête du classement avec un score de 97% (réélu le 29 mai 2007).
Au deuxième rang on retrouve un fidèle à l'émission: Zine el-Abidine qui obtient 94,49 %  (réélu 24 octobre 2004).
Puis le jeune Abdelaziz qui avec ses 90,24% d’hier est troisième. Un rang honorable tant la compétition est rude  et il y a de nombreux joueurs qui ne déméritent pas.
Bashar Al-Assad is still in the lead with a score of 97% (re-elected on 29 May 2007).
In second place we find someone ever faithful: Zine el-Abidine obtains 94.49% (re-elected 24 October 2004).
Then the young Abdelaziz who with 90.24% yesterday is third. An honorable rank as the competition is fierce and there are many players who never lose points.
At Bilad Tlisman [Ar], Algerian blogger Baroudi doesn't necessarily agree:
Citoyen Hmida had a few choice remarks as well:
Seul candidat crédible, seul candidat ayant accès aux médias officiels, seul candidat bénéficiant de tous les moyens de l’état pour mener sa campagne, seul candidat à avoir une chance d’être élu, seul candidat à bénéficier du soutien logistique d’un parti, seul candidat à avoir exercé le pouvoir et à en connaître les arcanes et les arnaques, Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA a été le seul candidat à pouvoir devenir (ou plutôt à rester) président !

author: Jillian C. York


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Americas: The 5th Summit Gets Underway · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Fifth Summit of the Americas, to be held in Port of Spain, the capital city of the twin island republic of Trinidad and Tobago, from April 17-20, 2009, is already capturing intense regional and international interest.  On the Summit's website, the Prime Minister of the host country Patrick Manning, says in his official welcome statement:
It is indeed, an honour and a privilege for Trinidad and Tobago to have been chosen to host this most important summit of hemispheric leaders, especially since this is the first time a Summit of the Americas is being held in a Caribbean state. This provides a strategic opportunity for Trinidad and Tobago and its CARICOM partners to play a leadership role in the geopolitics of our hemisphere and help shape a development agenda that will serve to enhance sustainable development across the entire region.
At the top of this “development agenda” is the current global financial crisis, with other topics tabled for discussion ranging from energy security and environmental sustainability to tangible ways of promoting human prosperity.
Agenda aside, though, much of the attention focused on the Summit has to do with the attendance of new U.S. President Barack Obama and his team.  The Caribbean citizenry, at least judging from the voices of regional bloggers, closely followed the 2008 U.S. elections and were thrilled when Obama was elected the first black President of the United States.  But seeing President Obama in real life – even along the travel routes – may turn out to be a pipe dream: the security is so tight and the accreditation process so stringent that many feel sidelined by a Summit that is supposed to be about them – the people of the Americas.  Hence the emergence of a parallel summit – The IV Peoples’ Summit of the Americas, described as “an encounter of social movements of the hemisphere opposed to neo-liberalism and that stand for social justice, equity, peace and sustainable development.”
Meanwhile, the Fifth Summit Secretariat is doing its utmost best to convince the general public that they can participate in the goings-on – albeit virtually.  There is a Facebook page dedicated to the Summit and the official website has a blog feature (with just one entry thus far) and a chat/feedback feature, which, at the time of this post, was offline.  There is also a flickr photostream and the Summit is claiming a space on Twitter, providing the tech-savvy (and Internet-accessing) public with other avenues to keep track of developments.
There is also immense curiosity about the possible fallout from Presidents Obama and Chavez being in the same room, not to mention rife speculation over Cuba, the only nation barred from the Summit.
The Civil Society Forum of the Summit begins today.  It is expected that more than 300 delegates from international and regional NGOs, including members of academia and indigenous and faith-based groups will participate, adding value to the overall outcome of the Summit talks.  Regional bloggers, meanwhile, have been vociferously talking about the Summit…
Trinidad and Tobago News Blog posts a comprehensive list of mainstream media stories on various aspects of the Summit preparations, along with a link to Summit photo albums, while another of the blog's contributors, Stephen Kangal, takes issue with the Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister's pre-Summit decision to “travel to 6 out of 33 Latin American countries with leftist leaning Presidents within a short period of four days using a most expensive private jet merely to ascertain the perspectives of these heads of state on the summit agenda of energy security and the Cuban question”, calling the move “nothing short of egoism gone mad” and “an exercise in futility.”
Jamaican diaspora blogger Mark Lee, writing at Abeng News Magazine, says:
At issue is whether the leaders will move from the realm of platitudes to political action on things that occupy the minds of the man and woman in the street. The issues that should stir debate may include the criminality that is undermining Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Haiti and the not so mundane but perennial matter of Cuba’s admission to the OAS.
Cuban bloggers, particularly from the diaspora, are also weighing in.  The Cuban Triangle, seeing some flaws in the U.S. administration's new policy on Cuba, posts a breakdown of what it calls “Obama's package to carry to Trinidad”, calling it “humanitarian, unsustainable, small-bore, a kind of inoculation, and a question mark.”
Barbados blog Bajan Dream Diary has been following the Trinidad and Tobago mainstream media reports and republishes two stories – one which suggests that T&T citizens are unimpressed with the amount of money being spent on the Summit, and the other which speculates about a possible devaluation of the Trinidad and Tobago dollar post-Summit.
Back in the host country, bloggers seem both excited and amused.  5am at Mango Media Caribbean thinks that the Summit will make for “one hell of an interesting week”:
Despite the big personalities, the Trinidad Summit represents a real chance for leaders of the Americas to communicate and engage in substantive discussion in ways that only face to face interactions can permit.
There are big issues on the table: the lack of a special envoy to the Americas, the 11 undocumented workers in the US and their path to legalistion, a cheaper and more environmentally cleaner ethanol for the US that Brazil, Central America and the Caribbean can help produce, and the impact of the global meltdown on the developing nation states that comprise the Americas.
…while This Beach Called Life puts a humourous spin on the entire affair, spoofing a reported telephone conversation between President Obama and Prime Minister Manning:
President O: Anyway, I am calling about the Summit.
PM PM: Yuh want to change de agenda again? No probs. Some ah dem leaders real soft and de rest is only mouth. Dey feel because dey have a few oil dollars  dey big. Stupees!
President O: No, I didn’t really call about that. I am actually calling about my plane and the accommodation for it.
PM PM: We bill a new hanger and thing. Doe worry bout nothing. We taking care of it.
President O: Nice PM PM. Glad to hear that.
PM PM: So yuh bringing de Beast?
President O: Huh? Yes, Hillary will be arriving ahead of the Summit…I understand this Summit is costing the country a pretty penny and people are worried about their jobs, just as in the US.
PM PM: You think I have dem to study. I is de leader, I will spend their money how I want. When yuh doe spend it dey say yuh doe do nothing. When yuh spend it bad dey say he thief.   All dem people want is hospital and school, like ah could hole a Summit in a Senior Comp. Look, I fed up yes. Stupees!
President O: I think all Good Leaders must relate to their population and talk to All The People, not just some. A Good Leader must speak with compassion and not arrogance. A good leader must not swell up like a bullfrog on stage.
PM PM: Ah hah tu tell some ah dem leaders that, yes.


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Azerbaijan: Turkish music banned? · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Following reported progress towards normalized ties between Yerevan and Ankara, In Mutatione Fortitudo comments on unverified pro-government news reports and blog posts in Armenia which quote questionable sources alleging that Turkish music has been banned on Azerbaijani TV and radio. The blog, based in Baku, says that nothing could be further from the truth.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Bangladesh: Celebrating Bangla New Year · Global Voices
Rezwan

ASM Rahat Khan posts pictures of the Pahela Boishakh (Bangla New Year) celebrations and comments [bn]: “after seeing all these colors who will say that Bangladesh is a land of struggles and have nots.”


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Barbados: Paternity Laws · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Do Barbados’ child support and paternity laws favour women?  Bajan Dream Diary examines the evidence.


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Brazil: Indian writers and poets on the blogosphere · Global Voices
Deborah Goldemberg

There is, among the Indian bloggers in Brazil, a special group of writers and poets. Although some anthropologists and linguists look suspiciously on the notion of indigenous literature, tracing the origins of this phenomenon back to a Western tradition that started with Aristotle, these Brazilian Indians of Amerindian origin, as well as those with a mixed background, have declared themselves writers and poets of indigenous literature. Not only that, but they are also publishing, having their work translated into other languages and blogging extensively too.
Daniel Munduruku
The most prominent figure in the indigenous literature movement in Brazil is Daniel Munduruku, an indigenous writer from the Amazon region, resident in São Paulo. With over 30 books published, he is the director of Inbrapi, an entity created in 2001 with the aim of defending traditional knowledge from bio-piracy and exploitation by third parties. Daniel has a bilingual website dedicated to his literary work, mostly targeted at youngsters, but also a blog dedicated to drawing attention to news he considers important to the cause of indigenous peoples. For example, on International Women's Day, he wrote this beautiful declaration:
Penso compulsivamente nas mulheres. Não se trata de um olhar desejoso, mas corajoso.
Corajoso porque, confesso, morro de inveja delas: da coragem, da obstinação, da intuição, do olhar sempre distante e sempre presente; da fortaleza e da fraqueza que revelam.
Sei que poderão pensar que isso é humano, presente em homens e mulheres. Eu discordo. Conheço o masculino, convivo com ele em mim e sei que por mais esforço que faça percebo um lobo faminto, sem escrúpulos e sem medida.
Acho que o homem masculino devia ouvir mais as mulheres. É claro que alguns dirão que elas falam demais. Isso também é justo e certo, mas talvez falem muito por terem sido ouvidas tão pouco em passado recente e terem, por isso, que gritar para se fazerem ouvidas. Por isso tenho a impressão que nós homens, precisamos exercitar o sagrado direito de fazer silêncio, ouvir, ouvir e ouvir.
Outros oponentes dessa teoria dirão que, assim, viraremos mulheres. Rebato o argumento dizendo: é disso que estou falando!
Ao menos hoje temos que calar para deixar nossa intuição falar. E minha intuição diz que preciso sentir a dor do outro pra compreendê- lo em sua dimensão humana.
Hoje quero ficar assim, miudinho, pequenininho, quietinho só para ver a magnitude do ser – mulher falar coisas que preciso ouvir.
Talking of women, the indigenous literature movement is wonderfully well represented by Eliane Potiguara, writer, teacher and indigenous activist who had her name put forward for the Nobel Peace Prize (for the Project A Thousand Women of the World). Eliane, whose origins are in the State of Paraíba but who now lives in Rio de Janeiro, has also a personal website where she disseminates her literary work. She blogs as part of her work at GRUMIN, a network of indigenous women that she helped to create and is the current coordinator of. The blog is a communication tool for indigenous women where she posts a mix of literature, career opportunities, whilst drawing attention to relevant episodes in the plight of indigenous women. Recently, Eliane posted a beautiful text about the literature of the excluded, which she had read out at a literary event:
A literatura dos excluídos ainda é uma pele de Boto que foi destruído ao longo dos séculos e que está esquecido e abandonado no fundo dos rios a precisar renascer_ ardentemente_ com a força da alma da natureza e humana. Mas essa natureza está envolta nas amarras dos séculos de dor, do obscurantismo, dos grandes enigmas e contradições da própria existência, do divino e do amor. A literatura ainda é um segmento cultural e político que não consegue chegar na totalidade das camadas menos privilegiadas social e economicamente do Brasil e do mundo.
Esse Boto Literário precisa ser salpicado com as lágrimas emocionadas da Natureza, muitas desvairadas lágrimas. Aí sim, essas feridas do mundo¬_ que as mulheres indígenas as eternizaram com seus beijos de cura, bálsamos históricos, histórias não contadas e adormecidas no fundo do rio ou dos oceanos, essas sim, _ serão eternamente curadas, assim como o Boto literário.
The latest book by Eliane Potiguara
Another active indigenous writer is Olivio Jekupe who has an incredible life history, having had to overcome many obstacles to be able to study philosophy and establish himself as the writer he is today. With many books published, some of them translated into Italian. Olivio brings presents strongly the issue of his mixed background, which is a reality of many Brazilian Indians:
O mestiço é o mais discriminado nesse país, pois tanto eu quanto muitos no Brasil sofrem. Sei que sou mestiço e não tenho culpa de ser, e a miscigenação existe desde a chegada dos portugueses, não sou o primeiro índio não puro e não serei o último. Mesmo não sendo índio puro, quero dizer que tenho orgulho de ser o que sou e não podemos ter vergonha, meso que a sociedade nos discriminem.
In his blog, Olivio posts articles about his indigenous literature, for example, on the interesting story of the indigenous origin of the Saci, a folklore character widely known through Monteiro Lobato's books as being black and having only one leg, whereas, according to Olivio, the real Saci actually has two legs!
Saci Pererê according to Monteiro Lobato. Image by André Koehne under Creative Commons license
Não sei se já ouviram falar que o Saci na verdade é um personagem indígena e que tem duas pernas, é provável que não ouviram ainda, pois eu fui o primeiro que escreveu dois livros que fala sobre esse personagem, tenho dois livros com o título – Ajuda do Saci, da Editora DCL, e o outro que se chama – O Saci Verdadeiro, da Editora UEL. Nos meus livros eu tento mostrar que o personagem tem duas pernas e é um índio, diferente da visão de Monteiro Lobato.
E sei que já tem documentários sobre esse tema, e muitas matérias que falei para jornalistas, e até teses de mestrado sobre o tema, como fez a escritora Graça Graúna onde ela fala do meu livro, O Saci Verdadeiro.
É importante que todos possam conhecer esse personagem onde tento mostrar o que nas Aldeias Guarani é comum ouvir sobre ele.
Sei que um dia minhas histórias serão tão conhecida que serei convidado para dar palestras em vários cantos do Brasil, de Norte a Sul do Brasil.
Olívio mentions Graça Graúna, another indigenous writer, a poet, from the Northeast of Brazil, originally from Rio Grande do Norte State, but currently living in Pernambuco State. She is as active in life as she is on the blogosphere. Her prize winning blog is much visited and brings a mix of news about indigenous literature and her wonderful poetry. Amongst many, I have chosen one poem to share with you, which is also a flower…
aos poetas Carlos e Sônia Brandão
… que Ñanderu* acolha
as pedras da nossa canção.
Que seja pedra enquanto leveza
o sinal: sem poesia os tempos não existirão
Graga Graúna, Nordeste do Brasil, 12 de março de 2009.
* Ñanderu, em guarani, significa Nosso Pai; o Grande Espírito, o Criador.
Graça Graúna, March 12, 2009
* Ñanderu, in Guarani, means Our Father; Great Spirit, the Creator.
For those who want to know more about indigenous literature, the NEARIN blog, kept by the Nucleus of Indigenous Writers and Artists of INBRAPI, is worth a visit. The blog aims to provide a space for debate around indigenous literature and art. It brings a diversity of news about the theme, registering related events taking place all over Brazil as well as a list of authors and books on indigenous literature. For those who happen to be in São Paulo on April 19th, Indian Day, go to have a look at the Recital of Indigenous Poetics, at the Casa das Rosas, Avenida Paulista, 37, starting at 15:00 local time. Below is the invitation:
At the end of this fascinating tour around the blogosphere, ask yourself: is there any doubt whether indeed an indigenous literature exists in Brazil?
In the first article of this series, we introduced the Indian blogosphere. In the next one, you will learn how indian people in Brazil have been using the blogosphere to fight for their rights.

author: Deborah Goldemberg


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Celebrity Power in Indian Elections · Global Voices
Kamla Bhatt

Salman Khan (center), a Bollywood super star, campaigns in support of Congress party candidate Milind Deora at a rally in Mumbai
In India movie stars and filmmakers wield enormous influence and that point was drawn dramatically by Danny Boyle in the movie Slumdog Millionaire (hint: it is the toilet scene). Interestingly, the entertainment industry's (especially Bollywood or the Hindi film industry based in Mumbai)  involvement in Indian politics was pretty marginal with a few a actors and some film makers participating in the election campaign process.  But, there was an exception. The Southern state of Tamil Nadu, which is the first state in the world to effectively harness and use the film medium for political purposes right from the 1940s.  During the late 1960s this nexus between politicians and the Tamil film industry reaped handsome dividends for Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and led to the formation of the first non-Congress government in the state. Since then various offshoots of DMK party have alternately been in power in Tamil Nadu. By the 1980s there was a steady trickle of entertainers into the political arena. In some cases they successfully contested and formed governments (like NTR and his Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh) or were voted/nominated to the Indian Parliament.
Fast forward to 2009 and the involvement of entertainers from Bollywood (or the Hindi film industry) based in Mumbai and the Tamil and Telugu film industry have registered a significant spike in the election campaign. Telugu actor Chiranjeevi launched a new political party in Andhra Pradesh, while Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt failed to get nominated because of his criminal record in the 1993 Mumbai blast. In Tamil Nadu former actress and Chief Minister Jayalalitha is in the running after being defeated in the previous elections.  But, it is the involvement of Bollywood folks that has captured peoples’ imagination.
Bollywood actor cum blogger Amitabh Bachchan offers a glimpse of his thoughts on the  upcoming Indian elections. He writes:
“The elections are upon us. Elections in the largest and most thriving democracy in the world. TV has nothing else to offer but the electoral scenario unfolding upon us. Exit polls and analysis and who will win from where and who said what to whom and why. Even the media questionnaires that come across to us are full of queries on politics. Friends have become foes, foes have become friends. Games and manipulations all parties play to come to power. To win for the next 5 years and remain in governance. To them politics is an aphrodisiac, an elixir, that compels them to perform.”
Bachchan's wife Jaya Bachchan has been active politically for a few years now.
What could be the driving force that has prompted so many Bollywood actors to step out of their comfort zone and do their bit for this Indian election campaign? Gaurav Shukla of India Election 2009 might have unearthed the answer to that question. He writes:
“Celebrities who used to keep politics at an arms length have surprisingly chosen to rally around the need to vote this time. Industry experts suggest that the Mumbai terror attacks in November last year may be the reason for this change…Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, John Abraham, Kamal Haasan, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Anurag Kashyap, Shriya Sharan, Shruti Haasan and Sushmita Sen are among those who have joined the chorus.”
Bollywood actor Aamir Khan helped launch a voter awareness campaign for Association of Democratic reforms with the tagline: “Sachche ko chune, Achche ko chune” — meaning “vote for the honest, vote for good people.”  Besides being the face and voice of the voter awareness campaign, Khan went one step further and helped produce the videos and audio pieces. AamirKhanblog writes:
“The ads have been made by the actor’s production company, Aamir Khan Productions, free of cost. An ‘A’ list Bollywood ensemble has put together this campaign. The creative head is Prasoon Joshi of McCann Erickson, Rakyesh Mehra is the director, Avinash Gowarikar the still photographer, and Shashi Sinha of Lodestar Media the media planner for the campaign. Everybody is working for the campaign gratis.
The ad campaign is being aired in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Assamese and Oriya so that it can reach out to the masses.”
Aamir Khan, who is also a blogger reminds Indian voters to make an informed choice when they cast their post. He wrote in his  blog post:
To all Indians, remember to vote, and make an informed choice. Meaning, check out all the candidates from your area before you decide who to vote for.
Khan is vacationing in Montana, but according to media reports will fly back to Mumbai and cast his vote on April 30th, the day the commercial and entertainment capital of India goes to the polls.
Besides Khan, a whole slew of Bollywood actors and filmmakers have volunteered their time for various election mobilization and awarness programs. Perhaps, the most significant one is the involvement of the entertainment industry in the non-profit organization called Jaagore (that translates to “Wake up”). The NGO has created powerful short video clips like this one where Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor points out that average age an Indian is 23 years old, while the average age of a a cabinet minister in the Federal Governmnet is 62 years old.
Or, watch this video clip by Bollywood film director Rakeysh Omprakash, where he points out that in the state of Rajasthan a politician won the elections by one vote.

author: Kamla Bhatt


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China: Underage prostitution ring sparks public indignation · Global Voices
Bob Chen

The underage prostitution ring recently exposed in Xi-Shui County, Guizhou, has sparked nationwide fury. The ring involved several government officials and teachers as its customers and  procured young  girls, including those from primary school, as prostitutes.
The case was first investigated last year when a victim's mother reported her daughter had been enticed into the ring and raped. After an eight-day secret probe, provincial police discovered the prostitution ring, which was run by three individuals including a 14-year-old girl who is a school drop-out and her 15-year-old boyfriend. Surprisingly, the venue provided by another criminal for sexual service  was actually in the building which houses the staff of the judicial department.
More than ten school girls, some of them under 14, were coaxed or threatened with violence to join the ring. Netease.com reported how a thirty-year-old teacher deprived the girl named Wang Qing of her virginity. Wang was lured by her friends to meet the prostitution organizers.
“当时我很怕，被他们逼着进了一家旅馆，一个30来岁的男人锁上门后就动手脱我的衣服，我吓得直哭。事后‘结拜姐姐’威胁我不能把事说出去，否则要叫人打我。”在这里，王清被一个叫冯支洋的教师夺走了第一次。“我后来才知道他是习水县第一职业高级中学的老师。他很变态，玩了许多花样。
Later, however, Wang took another thirteen-year-old girl into the ring. The organization thus expanded step by step, with more innocent girls falling into the trap.
A few regular customers were listed by the police, including:
Official Li Shoumin, of the county migration office, land and resources official Chen Mengran, social security official Huang Yongliang, legal affairs official Chen Cun, local real estate developer and representative on local legislature Mu Mingzhong, school teacher Feng Zhiyang and taxi driver Feng Yong.
Degeneration, from the top down
The public was shocked that the officials from judicial system flouted law themselves and deflowered girls the age of their daughters. Moreover, the teachers that should have educated and protected students were doing exactly the opposite. What's wrong with these public servants?
Blogger Yang Genshen expressed his indignation in his blog:
当悲剧以一种令人发指的方式呈现出来，留给人们的却是一种从未有过的荒凉与寒冷。习水县多名公职人员嫖宿年幼女生案不只是一场人伦悲剧，更像是一场恶魔的狂欢。
The Communist Party secretary of Politics and Law in Xishui County, where the case happened, said in an interview by China Youth Daily:
“我们都是为人之父，如果我们的女儿被别人这么搞，我们的感受会怎么样？
He further commented, ‘the crime is more unforgivable than a murder!’
But the story has only just started with the exposure of the ring. As the officials were brought to trial, by what charge should they be prosecuted becomes a controversial issue.
The trial opened on 8 April. Hundreds of people stood outside the court waiting for the ruling verdict and scores of journalists waited but they were held outside as the court intended to protect the privacy of victims. Families of the victims were also denied entry to the courtroom.
The lawyer assigned to the defendants, however, didn't show up. Later he announced that he refused to defend them as he thinks it as a shame. Another lawyer was assigned.
A more dramatic scene followed. When the public got to know that the prosecutor tried to charge the defendants with ‘visiting an underage prostitute（嫖宿幼女）’ rather than the more serious charge ‘raping’, many suspected that the defendants were being protected in secret.
Lawyer Luo in his blog explained his doubts:
习水县人民检察院撒了个弥天大谎，以最低刑的起点来认为嫖宿幼女罪比强奸罪高为由，表白自己是在从严打击，可是稍有点法律常识的人都知道我国《刑法》中嫖宿幼女罪的处罚程度远低于强奸罪，因为强奸罪最高刑是死刑，而嫖宿幼女罪最高刑期是有期徒刑十五年，孰轻孰重我想地球人都知道。
Lawyer Yao echoed the point in his blog, condemning that the procurator was manipulating the public:
虽然大多数法律人倾向于以强奸罪定罪，但公诉机关仍然坚持以嫖宿幼女罪起诉，….当记者问到为什么不以强奸罪起诉时，习水县检察院检察长是这样回答的：嫖宿幼女罪的起刑点是五年以上有期徒刑，强奸罪是三年以上，嫖宿幼女罪的起刑点高，因此有利于打击犯罪。这样一个回答，如果不是出于无知，那就一定是别有用心，是欺侮民众的智商。嫖宿幼女罪的起刑点固然高过强奸罪，但最高刑期不过是15年，而强奸罪却是可以判无期乃至于死刑的.
More than the specious justification of choosing a lighter charge, people have been questioning how the crime can possibly be interpreted as ‘visiting underage prostitute’ rather than ‘raping’.
On Jinghua Daily, a Beijing-based newspaper, the well-known blogger Wuyuesanren (五岳散人）considered what the charge means:
那是说当事的女孩子是自愿出卖自己的，只是因为没有到岁数，所以有此规定。在嫖宿幼女的场合，多是幼女“自愿”，甚至是在幼女主动纠缠的情况下进行的。换言之，犯罪行为的实施，受害幼女本人也有一定的过错。相比（奸淫幼女）而言，行为人的主观恶性也较小….就是说，这么一个罪名不但开脱了侵害人，还把受害人给描绘成了有一定自愿情节的卖淫者。
Lawyer Yao also commented on the whether it should be considered as raping:
按媒体的报道，这些可怜的孩子是在被殴打之后，是在被“打毒针，拍裸照”的威胁之下屈服的，与这些“公职禽兽”发生性关系不是出于她们的自愿，追求钱财也不是她们的目的，这难道还不算强奸吗？也许，在这位检察长的眼里，只要给钱了，就没有强奸罪了，那我看强奸罪也就可以取消了。
The trial has been adjourned. Whether the suspects will be found guilty and on what charges, the victims have been almost irretrievably damaged! But will they receive any comfort from their families or communities? From what a victim’s mother told the reporter we see no sign of any relief:
“那个案子发生后，只有14岁的康倩和她的女朋友一起跑到深圳去打工。后来，公安局让我去把她找回家来，辨认那些嫖客。可她一句话都不肯说，就是不肯承认被男人欺负过。从深圳回来后，本来读初二的她就不再愿意去上学了，而是天天在外面混。有时一跑就是一两个月不回家，被我抓到后，痛打一顿，然后把她的头发剪得乱乱的，这样她才老老实实地在家里待上一阵。可过不了多久，又是经常不回家过夜，后来我干脆就买了条锁狗的铁链，把她锁在家里。”
Post co-edited by Bob Guy

author: Bob Chen


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Georgia: Concerns emerge over opposition protests · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

As the opposition blocks off main roads in Tbilisi, some bloggers and other online commentators are starting to question the tactics employed by protesters in the Georgian capital. Nevertheless, most are thankful that the protests have not resulted in major clashes.
The New Atlanticist blog, for example, is especially grateful, and not least because the start of the demonstrations calling for Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili's resignation marked the 20th anniversary of one of the darkest days in the country's recent history.
The choice of April 9 as the day to launch the protests is fraught with symbolism for Georgians and it imposes significant responsibility on them.  […]
So far, ordinary people participating in the demonstrations have borne that responsibility well.  […] Apart from […] a few scuffles in the crowd and sporadic claims of beatings, there has been no violence and no broken windows.  This is all the more remarkable because, following a conscious government decision, the police have kept away from demonstration venues.
[…]
However, April is not yet over, and across every positive development blows a countervailing wind.  […] People of goodwill can build upon that achievement with peaceful and constructive dialog.  Some opposition leaders already speak in such terms.
Writing on the Daily Telegraph blog, however, Sarah Marcus says that the opposition over-estimated their support in society.
I think that the government might have been more confident than the rest of us all along that it would all peter out and any violence would be isolated and limited.
The demos have made very clear that the authorities gauged the mood of the majority of Georgia much better than the opposition did, in addition to which they did the groundwork well.
[…]
It's generally agreed that the main reason the rallies did not manage to chase Misha from power was that the opposition are trapped in a radical stance that is no longer widely popular in Georgia. People say they lack vision and that if they did oust Saakashvili their temporary unity would crumble and they'd be at each others throats, all vying for power, within days.
Now, no one understands the limitations of the opposition better than the government.
Even so, writing on Kasrika’s Blog, one GIPA journalism student says that the protests continue.
Day six of Georgia’s anti-government protests remained as stable as in previous days, with a few thousand protesters starting in front of Parliament in the afternoon and then splitting into different groups by 6:30 p.m.: one in front of the Georgia Public Broadcasting building, and one in front of the Avlabari Presidential residence/office compound, where protesters stayed all night in tents.
Protesters put up five mini prison cells in the road in front of the Public Broadcaster, where Alliance for Georgia party leaders plan to spend the night, and had blocked Kostava Avenue, the main road in front of the building, by 6:30 p.m.
However, say some tweeting on #tbilisi, their actions might now be proving counter-productive.
dv0rsky: Whole #tbilisi streets are paralized. Three different places of demonstrations, main roads closed, standing in traffic jam for 2 houra
[…]
mhikaric: My friend couldn't make it to work and is walking home. Once sympathetic to Opp, now pissed off & wishes they'd leave. Prob typical #tbilisi
The Tbilisi Blues is also unimpressed.
I'd really like to sympathize with the opposition, but these people must understand what a grave responsibility they bear when talking to thousands of tired and angry people. If you are a leader, people depend on you to guide them. If you don't know what you are leading them towards you have no reason to be sitting in the chair.
Salome Zourabichvili, and all the other opposition leaders, have run out of things to say. How many days can you say – he is corrupt, he is non democratic, he is a rabbit he is a…? You have to find another bad guy, create some more paranoia to further disorientate the rabble. The enemy is large and we must remain fighting together to win!
[…]
Salome seems to be turning into the same thing she hates.
And, despite being an outspoken critic of the government as well as a vocal advocate of civil disobedience, human rights lawyer and activist Anna Dolidze is concerned.
A young student addressed a manifestation today in front of the Parliament. […]The student was booed of the stage as some of the opposition leaders called his intervention a “provocation.” Another leader stated that “young people of that age should not teach us what to do'” […] This incident raises many serious and profound questions as very well expressed by my young people on Facebook.
Are opposition leaders more tolerant to different opinions that the government? Is Georgian society, maybe, not in general receptive to diversity of opinions or was this incident the result of a mob effect? Is Georgian opposition willing to listen to youth? These are some of the questions to be addressed and thought about.
In Mutatione Fortitudo has even more doubts.
Methinks, many people have one question in their mind these days – who wants Misha's resignation? Are these protests in Tbilisi a genuine grassroots democratic movement, or is it just a Russian-orchestrated operation to oust Mikheil Saakashvili and to replace him with a marionette?
Regardless of the politics of the protest, however, the use of online tools to disseminate information has been unprecedented. Frontline Club blogger Guy Degen interviews a media trainer and two GIPA journalism students covering the protests on their blogs.
GIPA student bloggers cover demonstrations in Georgia from Guy Degen on Vimeo.
More updates will be posted on Global Voices Online as of when, but in the meantime it's worth keeping an eye on the GIPA Journalism School Blog as well as Twitter at #tbilisi.
Coverage of the first, second, third and fifth day of protests is also available on Global Voices Online.


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Cuba: Blogger Yoani Sánchez Introduces Voces Cubanas · Global Voices
Claudia Cadelo

As a philologist and a blogger since 2007, Yoani Sánchez has been a big part of the phenomenon, which has been described by some as “blogostróika” in Cuba. Her blog Generación Y [es] is currently hosted on the portal Desde Cuba [es], which happens to be blocked within the country since the last week of March 2008. However, it is still available by anonymous proxy. Together with Reinaldo Escobar, she has helped organize the “itinerant blogger gatherings [es]” held during the past two months and is also on the jury for the blogging contest “A Virtual Island.”
Photo by Claudio Fuentes Madan and used with permission
She has been awarded with the Ortega and Gasset prize for journalism, the Bitácoras 2008 prize, and the BOBs organized by Deutsche Welle. On January 28, the new Voces Cubanas [es] (Cuban Voices) project was launched, which aims to gather citizen bloggers from across the island. To date, there are 8 active blogs and 15 in development.
Claudia Cadelo: What are the goals of the new portal Voces Cubanas and how does it differ from Desde Cuba?
Yoani Sánchez: Voces Cubanas is a blogging platform and differs from Desde Cuba [es], which also contains a virtual magazine and other universal spaces. It is a website where all those who want to express ideas, put their projects online, can do so.  It is born and inspired by the experience that we gained through the administration of other sites, but there is not an editorial policy that guides it, rather each blogger is his or her own director, editor and even censor.
CC: What does one need to do to have a blog in Voces Cubanas?
YS: The fundamental requirement for the new blogging platform is to live in and write from Cuba. Those who want a space at Voces Cubanas only needs to let us know in person or through an email to bloggers@vocescubanas.com. We'll help them with a proposal for a design and we'll teach them ways to administer their own blog themselves. We accept any type of subject matter, only when it does not incite violence, pornography, racist or discriminatory propaganda.
CC: What are the blog that are hosted on the site so far, could you make a brief introduction to each one?
YS: By the end of February we have had 7 blogs, and little by little we will have another 3. The greatest difficulty to have these blogs ready is internet access. Since we cannot have internet connection at home, we are forced to use public sites, usually hotels or others sites that are very expensive to use. Nevertheless, we have been building Voces Cubanas without trying to do it all at once, despite the limitations and obstacles that Cubans face when trying to develop projects in the virtual world.
To date, there are the blogs Reportes de Viaje [es] (Travel Reports) written by Henry Constantin from the province of Camagüey, Veritas [es] written by Eugenio Leal is dedicated to opinion surveys, my blog Generación Y has a mirror on the domain Desde Cuba, the independent journalist Iván García has a blog called Desde La Habana [es] (From Havana), and we are working with the blogs Octavo Cerco [es] by Claudia Cadelo, Habanemia [es] by Lía Villares and Lunes de Post Revolución [es] by Orlando Luís Pardo Lazo.
CC: What is the concept of blogostróika? Do you feel that blogs can contribute towards the expansion of freedoms for the Cuban people?
YS: The idea of calling this new phenomenon with the label of blogostróika came from Cuban writing their blogs from exile. They called this new wave of personal and collective sites with Cuban themes that have appeared in the past five years. The use of this term is a clear allusion to the process that came about when Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, especially during the information transparency process called glasnost. Even though the term sounds nice, I have to make a small comment that perestroika was pushed from a position of power, while the alternative Cuban blogosphere did not ask permission from anyone to exist.
CC: Talk to me about how your experiences with all of the international recognition that you have received and talk about the different stages of your life, before you were a blogger, as a blogger and as a blogger that traveled distances to teach people how to open a blog. What can you say? Have you changed? Have you discovered something about yourself?
YS: My life has changed in many aspects, while others remain the same. Ever since the foreign press discovered my blog, I have received many interview requests, offers for collaboration, and messages of encouragement. I was a person profoundly shy and I had to evolve and adapt when people on the street recognized me and even asked for my autograph. I have also learned to live with the unjust judgements against me, the acts of defamation, the lies to make me out to be an employee of the CIA. My family has seen my free time decrease, but they have given me all of the support to free from daily chores.
What I have learned the most during these two years of blogging is the what an ordinary citizen can achieve, of the immense power that is hidden within each individual.
CC: What do you hope for the future of the Cuban blogosphere?
YS: I hope that it becomes more numerous and more pluralistic. I have the feeling that the Cuban blogosphere will play an important role in the democratization of Cuba and in the field of public opinion. That it will be healthy for a long time because there is a lot to tell and many ways of doing so, and I don't see that it is time to run out.

author: Claudia Cadelo


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Cuba, U.S.A.: Extending an Olive Branch?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Obama administration yesterday announced some key changes to U.S. policy designed to “reach out to the Cuban people in support of their desire to freely determine their country’s future.”  While the policy shift allows for a lift on travel and remittance restrictions and paves the way for greater telecommunications links with the island, some bloggers are concerned that the measure has not gone far enough (e.g.: the trade embargo still remains in place), rendering the new policy, in the words of The Cuban Triangle, “humanitarian, unsustainable, small-bore, a kind of inoculation, and a question mark.”
The blogger goes on to explain:
Today’s action – affecting travel and remittances, telecommunications equipment and services, and gift parcels – was dramatic because it changes eight years of movement in the opposite direction. But it still leaves President Obama with a 90 percent-Bush Cuba policy.  (Candidate Obama said that policy amounted to “tough talk that never yields results.”) Beyond Cuban Americans, it does not address the issue of broader contact with American society, whether from tourists, universities, professional associations, churches, synagogues, or other parts of our civil society. Nor does it address diplomacy, and the President’s spokesmen repeatedly dodged questions about what kind of dialogue the Administration might seek with Cuba.
But Cuba-Blog seems comfortable with the fact that the President was delivering on his campaign promises, saying:
[He] has opened the door to Cuba and Cubans a little bit more…
Reaction in Cuba – as well as throughout the diaspora – has been…well…mixed.  The Latin Americanist reports that former Cuban President Fidel Castro was unhappy about the embargo remaining in place:
In an article written in the Cuban press, Castro seemed to be pleased that President Barack Obama scrapped ‘several hateful restrictions‘ enacted by the previous presidential administration. Castro briefly struck a conciliatory tone when he wrote that the Cuban government would be willing to normalize relations with the U.S. Yet he also blasted the forty-year long blockade which he labeled as a ‘truly genocidal measure‘.
The Cuban Triangle also posts a roundup of reactions.
Cuba, desde mi ventana [ES], a blog whose mission statement reads: “I would like to share with you information about the international activity of Cuba, which is my country of origin, whose image is distorted in the world by the enemies of the Cuban Revolution”, is not pleased that the new U.S. policy did not extend to the embargo:
El presidente Barack Obama eliminó el lunes ”todas las restricciones” para que los cubanosamericanos puedan visitar Cuba y enviar remesas desde Estados Unidos, pero sin tocar aspectos del criminal bloqueo económico…que ha provocado pérdidas directas a la Isla caribeña por más de 93 mil millones de dólares…
Meanwhile, Havana-based Yohandry's Weblog [ES] posts an interesting roundup of reactions to the policy change from ordinary Cubans.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Dominican Republic, Haiti: Gagá · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Easter Sunday marked the end of the Gagá celebrations in the Dominican Republic”: Repeating Islands experiences the Dominican version of Haitian Rará.


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Dominican Republic: Traffic Fatalities Due to Alcohol · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Over the course of the Holy Week holidays, 57 people lost their lives due to traffic accidents in the Dominican Republic.  Rocío Díaz of Monaco [es] notes that 70% were alcohol-related and that people use the days off “as an excuse to drink like they never have in their lives.”


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Ecuador: Fernandina Volcano Continues to Erupt · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The volcano Fernandina located on the Ecuadorian Galapagos archipelago continues to erupt writes La Voz de Guamote [es].


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Ecuador: Handing Out Gifts During Signature Drive · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

In the Chillogallo neighborhood of Quito, Ecuador, Andrés Rodríguez of Modestamente Humano [es] has photos of workers supporting the campaign of Alvaro Noboa handing out bags of oats to “supporters” during a signature drive.


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Egypt: Cleanliness Day on April 10 · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

On January 1st of this year Tarek Amr's Change the Channel initiative took off. A month later, Inji's Going Local campaign hit the blogosphere. More initiatives followed on various levels of development starting from anti-harassment and political awareness to culture , anti-terrorism, and freedom of creativity and expression. Now, Mostafa Ahmed and more than 4,500 enthusiasts kicked off Egypt's first Cleanliness Day on April 10.
On their Facebook group, the creators of the event said:
On April 10, the campaign was put to action in El Sharkia, El Mansoura, Agouza & Dokki , Al Arish, Heliopolis & Nasr City, Suez, Al-Haram (Pyramids Area), 6th of October, Al Zawya Al Hamra, Ain Shams University, Maadi, Helwan, New Cairo, Matareya, Shobra El Kheima, Meet Ghamr, Mohandeseen, and many more areas.
The campaign was endorsed by the media and the Ministry of Environmental Affairs:
In frame of Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs’ efforts to encourage voluntary activities in environmental field, Friday 10th April will witness the first celebration with Cleanliness Day, that will be held under the auspices of Eng. Maged George, Minster of State for Environmental Affairs. The idea was declared by a group of voluntary youths on a Face Book's site called Parliament.
Eng. Maged George assured that 10th April will launch a continuous campaign for cleanliness in all Governorates of Egypt as the Ministry supports executers of the campaign with in-kind contribution such as 300 large plastic containers for wastes’ collection in coordination with Authorities of Municipalities in Governorates and Regional Branches, in addition to 500 T-Shirts and Caps to be distributed on participated youths in the celebration.
With such an overwhelming response, a clean Egypt is not an impossible dream:

author: Marwa Rakha


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Egypt: Industrial Tweeting  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Industrial Tweeting is coming to Egypt, notes Arabawy, who posts a photograph of textile “Ghazl el-Mahalla labor leader Kamal el-Fayoumi experimenting with Twitter…”

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Egypt: Twitterfeed Tutorial  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger IRC President posts a video tutorial on the use of Twitterfeed on YouTube.


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Georgia: Opposition protests enter fifth day · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Despite dwindling numbers over the weekend, the opposition in Georgia has once again rallied an estimated 20,000 supporters in the capital, Tbilisi. Although well down on the 50,000 that demonstrated on Thursday, the number of those openly calling for the resignation of the Georgian president, Mikhail Saakashvili, did at least match those taking to the streets on Friday.
And as tents are erected outside the Georgian presidential palace, it has also prompted bloggers to examine the opposition movement and analyze their chance of success. At Kasrika’s Blog, for example, a GIPA journalism student introduces readers to one of the demonstrators.
20 years ago, Lia Lazashvili remembers standing with her friends in front of Parliament, demonstrating the soviet government. She recalls one of the leaders, Irakli Tsereteli, began to lead the group in prayer. Many were on their knees when Soviet soldiers came through the crowds with shovels and tanks, beating people to death, and causing a panicked stampede that killed several others.
[…]
Lazashvili eventually overcame her fears, and her history as an anti-government protester has placed her back in front of Parliament several times, including last Thursday, April 9. She was among the crowd during the 2003 Rose Revolution protests, where she became an active member of now President Mikheil Saakashvili’s  United National Movement, and served as a Tbilisi City Council Deputy representing the party.
But she quit in 2006, disappointed in how the government spent money, and how they ignored the opposition.
“I told them ‘You are Neo-Bolsheviks,’” she recalls. “The freedom we gained 20 years ago we are losing and we need to fight for it again.”
Writing on her Resistance Georgia blog, human rights lawyer and political activist Anna Dolidze explains why she believes a campaign of civil disobedience is necessary. Indeed, she explains, such actions have defined history.
I believe that it is impossible to change things for the better in Georgia without peaceful civil disobedience. Saakashvili and his comrades (neo-bolshevik style retained!) will not leave their posts voluntarily. Ousting them with force and with unconstitutional means is unacceptable. […] This should not be surprising to Americans, that have attained progress through civil disobedience during the civil rights movement; And neither to the British, that gave up India after civil disobedience campaign led by Gandhi.
However, the former head of the Young Georgian Lawyers Association also says that following the November 2007 unrest in Tbilisi, the authorities are targeting less well-known political activists.
Non-democratic regimes to try to pressure the support base of opposition groups as opposed to attacking talking heads directly. From the experience of 7/11/07 the government learned that they will pay a high price for attacking known opposition figures. […] This way talking heads- opposition leaders continue to appear publicly while their support base is becoming smaller As these people are less visible, such cases are harder to prove. Beso Sarjveladze, a former TV star and civic  activist was ambushed and assaulted yesterday. […]
Meanwhile, Middle East and Eurasia Political Analysis says that despite some isolated cases of violence, it is uncertain how long a relative calm can last. The blog also wonders how genuine and united the opposition movement actually is.
With media coverage focusing solely on events in Tbilisi, it’s hard to gauge how much popular support there is nationally for the opposition.* Either way, it would seem foolhardy not to try to encourage support from Georgia’s other cities and towns enabling the opposition to highlight how unpopular Saakashvili is, if indeed that is the case.  Not doing so almost presumes that one could characterize the opposition as mere political opportunists looking to secure their own paths to power.
The same could also be said of the failure to create a single platform acceptable to all parties now in opposition – something that continues to elude the current crop of protestors. If Nino Burjanadze -perhaps the highest profile opposition figure given her two-time stint as Georgia’s acting president – can be booed during a protest speech, then clearly for the moment, the Saakashvili regime has little to worry about.
Even so, another GIPA journalist student says there are signs that protesters have come from further afield than just Tbilisi.
While the bulk of demonstrators were in Tbilisi, gathering in front of parliament, similar protesters from Ajara and Guria moved towards the President’s official residence in Bobokhvati in Ajara. Some 50 cars and ten mini buses ignored the rainy weather as they converged on the Bobkhvati address in an attempt to find President Mikheil Saakashvili and show their dissatisfaction.
New tactics are being tried, though, with Sako's Blog reporting on some of the less conventional tactics adopted by the opposition.
Thousands of demonstrators surrounded the main entrance to the President Mikheil Saakashvili’s residence and office compound in Avlabari on Monday night, April 13, in an attempt to block anyone from entering or leaving the building.
[…]
The so-called “second wave” has breathed new life into a protest that was dwindling in fervor by the day. Opposition leaders did not get the numbers they expected even at the height of the protest on April 9, and the crowds had decreased from tens of thousands to hundreds by Sunday.
[…]
He also said the second wave of protests will include fake mini prison cells around the city in which famous Georgians would sit “as a symbol of being a prisoner of the government.”
Tomorrow protesters are going to have a ‘tie protest’. In front of the parliament tey will fasten ties at fense and will make a wish Saakashvili to resign. […]
However, not everyone is happy about other aspects of the demonstrations, with one Armenian GIPA journalism student lamenting the amount of rubbish left behind each demonstration.
When the opposition accused a city street-cleaning team of vandalizing their sound system late Saturday night, April 11, Tbilisi mayor Gigi Ugulava sarcastically retorted the protesters could clean up the demonstration sites themselves […].
Some activists responded Sunday by sweeping up trash on Rustaveli Avenue and dumping it in front of the mayor’s office. According to official sources, when they left the sight, the garbage was taken away.
[…]
It’s not only the political leaders, both opposition and administration, who have a mess to clean up. Demonstrators themselves, while demanding a responsive political leadership, should also think about what they can do to be responsible citizens. It starts with picking up the trash, and disposing of it properly.
Such concerns, along with reports of abusive rhetoric coming from opposition leaders, might also be reason enough for the latest post from Anna Dolidze who wonders whether a third force is necessary in local politics.
[…] This should be a group of political forces and individuals that are not AGAINST someone by FOR something, for reforms, for better healthcare, for reduced military budget, for negotiations with Abkhazs and Ossetians and with Russians, for reforms and more money in education, for integration with the European institutions etc. This group would come up with a positive, progressive platform and would engage with everyone- not just Georgian- Orthodox population. It should be based on respect and not on swearing, cynicism and aggression. It would try to change current discourse. There are people that share these values within Georgian opposition now, yet they have been completely silenced by radicals from both sides. […] Because the two existing platforms of Saakashvili and anti-Saakashvili do not instill much hopes for a better, more democratic future.
More updates will be posted on Global Voices Online as of when, but in the meantime it's worth keeping an eye on the GIPA Journalism School Blog as well as Twitter at #tbilisi.
Coverage of the first, second and third day of protests is also available on Global Voices Online.


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India: Geographical Mashup on Election · Global Voices
Rezwan

MapmyIndia is a public service website to help voters in India make an informed choice on issues that matter to them during the forthcoming parliamentary elections. Navigating easily from the digital map the voters can view extensive location based data on constituencies and analyze information on parties, candidates and their track records.

author: Rezwan


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Japan: Missile Launched. What to Believe?  · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

On April 5th, North Korea launched a Taepo Dong 2 ‘rocket’ that flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean.
North Korea announced their intentions beforehand and the news was broadcast on the 4th, to which blogger Atsukoba commented:
しかし、マスコミは番組の冒頭や見出しで煽動的な報道を繰り返しています。そこだけ見ると、いまにもミサイルが日本に撃ち落とされるかのように錯覚してしまいます。
The Defense Ministry, eager to seem to be on top of the situation, set off a false alarm, not once but twice. Tobias Harris at Observing Japan covers the chain of misadventures in detail in a post titled “Drowing in Noise“.
While confusion reigned supreme amongst media outlets, government officials and the local municipalities that received bouts of information from them, reactions in the Japanese blogosphere were varied. Many bloggers expressed befuddlement sprinkled with a sense of detachment, wondering what North Korea had hoped to accomplish.
A tumblr post [ja] by Tez with a bullet point list of the factual information from a NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) Radio talkshow has been reblogged over 150 times.
Tez said:
やっぱでもNHK第一ラジオって日本に残された数少ない良質のコンテンツを提供するメディアだよなあと思った。2名程専門家が出てきてたけど、それぞれが独立して自論を述べてた。民放TVなら絶対討論にして訳分からない状態に揉めさせるよな。
In Tokyo, no “flying object (飛翔体)” could make a dent in the euphoria of a gorgeous hanami (cherry blossom viewing) weekend. Set on getting their annual hanami fix for the year and having had enough of the news, people barely glanced at the extras that were handed out several hours after the first booster had dropped in the Sea of Japan.
Daily Yomiuri Extra at Ueno Park by ripplet.jp
Former diplomat Naoto Amaki puts it this way:
メディアは北朝鮮ミサイル発射問題一色だ。果たして国民はそのニュースをどこまで詳しくフォローしているのだろうか。
毎日の勤労に疲弊している国民の多くは、洪水のように溢れる新聞やテレビの報道を深く読んでいる暇はないだろう。
しかしそれでよいのだ。どれもこれも同じようなニュースばかりだ。やっぱり発射した。でも何も起こらなかった。よかった。日本政府は何もできなかった。でも関係者にはご苦労様だった。それにしても北朝鮮はとんでもない国だ。国際社会はこれを許してはいけない・・・これでいいのだ。
Exhausted from everyday work, the Japanese just don't have the time to digest the torrent of information that we get from newspapers and television shows.
However, that's fine and the way things should be. All of the news that's being reported is the same. North Korea launched something. Nothing happened. Good! The Japanese government couldn't do anything. To everybody involved, thanks for all your trouble. North Korea is being it's usual provocative self! The international community is outraged and fulminates against this latest incident. So, business as usual?…that's fine and that's the way it should be.

author: Tomomi Sasaki


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Morocco: Discovering Jewish Morocco · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Jewish Morocco is a blog in which a traveler to Morocco is tracking his experiences with Jewish sites and Morocco's few Jewish people.  The blogger recently traveled to the east of the country for Passover.


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Morocco: A New Green Party · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

The View From Fez announces that a new green party, called the Environment and Sustainable Development Party (Le Parti de l'Environnement et du Développement Durable), has been formed recently in Morocco.


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Morocco: Crossed Loyalties · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Ibn Kafka remarks [fr] on the fact that, despite long-term disagreements between the two nations, the monarch of Morocco sent a congratulatory telegram to re-elected Algerian president Bouteflika.


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Pakistan: Clamp On SMS Services  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Jazba's blog reports that the Pakistan government is considering to suspend sms services in Pakistan to prevent the terrorists, who uses sms to execute their attacks. At present 70% of the population in the country are using mobile phones and many of them use sms messaging.