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Taiwan: Students Demand to Revise the Parade and Assembly Law! · Global Voices
I-fan Lin

About 500 students gathered peacefully in front of the Executive Yuan on 11/6 to protest against the current Parade and Assembly Law (集會遊行法). The government abusive use of the law has violated people's rights in protest in the past few days during the visit of Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chair Chen Yunlin. To prevent the return of a police state, the students demanded the government to apologize and amend the law in their open statement.
baladaily explained what in the Parade and Assembly Law needs to be revised:
The current law restricts the right of citizens to peaceably assemble, by forcing them to apply for permits which the government may deny at will after reviewing the protest topic, allows the government unrestricted rights to close off large areas from protesters, and allows police to forcibly disperse protesters even if they are not violent. The students are demanding the law be revised to require the government to grant permits upon receiving an application without the current content review (“government shall grant a permit” vs. the current “government may grant a permit”), while requiring police to follow the rule of law and due process in all arrests and detentions. In other words, the law should protect the rights of protesters – not restrict them.
Photo courtesy of judie.
Banner said: Revise the Parade and Assembly Law. President Ma Ying-jeou and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan must publicly apologize to all citizens.
Seeing how this sit-in was organized, David was impressed.
I was so impressed to see the students staging such a well organised, democratic and peaceful protest. Members of NGOs held a press conference discussing to talk about problems with the Assembly Law. A student got up with a guitar and sang songs. Several university professors came in support and one gave a long speech talking about his experiences of the Assembly Law from the days of martial law and the early years of the democratic era. Donations of water and food piled up. There was also a media centre distributing information and broadcasting the protest online. One aspect of the protest was that the students maintained political neutrality. They wore black shirts and removed any partisan political symbols.
judie reported the failure of negotiation between the government and students:
經過一夜堅守後， 11月7日上午行政院派出秘書長薛香川前往溝通，現場學生陸續提問，對薛的回答感到相當不滿意，決議繼續靜坐。不久傳出下午將會遭到驅離的訊息。
baladaily described how the police took action to remove the students:
At 4PM, three large police buses pulled up in the street behind the protesters, with squads of police officers emerging. “Remember!” the organizers shouted: “No violence! It is not the fault of the police that their orders are unconstitutional! No one is wrong here. Remain peaceful! We reassemble in 2 hours at Liberty Square!”.
Sitting on the ground, the 500+ students* links hands and sang, in English, “We Shall Overcome”. As the last lines of “We are not afraid today” faded, and the crowd of police grew larger, the students chanted “和平！” (“Peace!”).
*According to another source, there were about 300 students by the time the police started to remove the students with force.
The police left, and students insisted to stay till the government gives them a satisfactory answer. Then the police moved in again and forcibly removed them again. The students began chanting “人權!” (“Human Rights!”), along with the crowd which quickly joined in.
Photo courtesy of judie.
Photo courtesy of judie.
After the forced removal, students gathered again:
The protesters are now reassembling at Liberty Square, welcoming anyone who is willing to join in peaceably, without political flags or placards, and without a partisan agenda. Reports indicate taxi drivers who heard of their plight are picking them up and taking them to Liberty Square for free.
Now, several similar protests are being organized by students across Taiwan:
台南的成大校門前，一群學生靜坐呼應台北的運動，已決議要繼續一直坐下去，直到馬政府正面回應為止。新竹、台中的學生正在集結。
On 11/8, it rained in Taipei. Johnny reported:
一反昨夜近10部的SNG新聞採訪車，當場只餘兩部。一位女學生正在滂沱大雨中，清唱《美麗島》，這些坐 在濕漉漉地面的年輕朋友仍在煎熬。天氣驟變，可能只是對身體的有形考驗，執政黨和社會冷漠的回應，才是最艱困的無形試煉。
…離開廣場時，我突然有個夢：哪天這些青年也能那些美國年輕人創造歷史，讓台灣擺脫舊時代思維的政客，社會只講是非公義， 而不再分藍綠。
YES, YOU CAN!
YES, YOU CAN!
Photo courtesy of judie.

author: I-fan Lin


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Afghanistan: Afghan National Army · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nasim Fekrat posts a picture and writes about the national army of Afghanistan, saying that it is getting strong enough to stand up against Taliban and other enemies.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Afghanistan: Aid Worker Attacks in Taliban Strategy · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Patrick Frost opines why Taliban is targeting and killing/kidnapping foreign and local aid workers against the background of the recent abduction of French volunteer in Afghanistan.


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Afghanistan: Fawzia Koofi in France · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Azar Balkhi reports that Fawzia Koofi, the Second Deputy of the Afghanistan Parliament, attended the conference of Council of Women World Leaders that took place in France in an apparent sign of revival of gender equality in post-Taliban country.


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Bangladesh: Questioning the Judiciary · Global Voices
Rezwan

An Ordinary Citizen comments on the recent state of judiciary in Bangladesh which was separated from the administration about a year ago: “It was seen that the long hand of the administration on the judiciary was not over. Political cases included cases of corruption were not dealt unbiased. Bails were given or rejected, the reasons were not clear to the public as well as the experts.”

author: Rezwan


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Bermuda: Throne Speech  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Vexed Bermoothes summarizes the Premier's Throne Speech: “Nothing on increasing government accountability or transparency, on reeling in costs in the face of the economic slowdown, or on how Bermuda will respond to external and internal threats to international business and tourism.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Bhutan: Coronation of a King · Global Voices
Rezwan

The Himalayan Beacon posts a picture of the coronation of the new Bhutanese King, His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck and his quote: “I will never rule you as a King…I shall always serve you, day and night, in the spirit of kindness, justice and equality.”


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Bolivia: An Indigenous as Minister of Education? · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Mario Durán of Palabras Libres [es] wonders why the Bolivian government did not name an indigenous to the office of Minister of Education, while a commenter notes that the new Minister Roberto Aguilar may consider himself to be a member of one of the 36 ethnicities.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Cuba: Hurricane Paloma  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

In the latest installment of the chronicles of the 2008 hurricane season, Hurricane Paloma struck Cuba, destroying hundreds of homes in the process and compounding the damage and economic losses the island experienced two short months ago after Hurricane Ike.  Bloggers from both Cuba and the diaspora were monitoring the storm's progress.
Babalu Blog linked to mainstream media reports that suggested the devastation was not on the scale of Gustav and Ike, but he noted:
It's still early and no doubt that areas along the southern coast of Camaguey and Las Tunas provinces got hammered last night. Let's hope and pray that Cubans won't go through the misery that they've already had to endure the past 2 months.
Fellow diaspora blogger Uncommon Sense echoed his concern:
This has been an especially hard year for Cuba, as Paloma is the third major hurricane to strike the island. Rebuilding after the previous storms, Gustav and Ike, is far from complete, and Paloma will undoubtedly add to the ever-present suffering in Cuba caused by almost 50 years of dictatorship.
In a follow-up post, Uncommon Sense wrote about the Cuban government's “preemptive rejection of any post-Paloma assistance from the United States”, a move that dashed The Cuban's Triangle‘s hopes for aid to get through to the people who most need it:
Cuba similarly rejected U.S. help after hurricanes Gustav and Ike ravaged the island this year, deciding it was better to make a diplomatic/political point against the United States and the embargo than to accept all the help that was offered in response to the tragedies. Perhaps the American government's moral standing was compromised because it refused to lift limits on how much help Cuban Americans could send to family members on the island — the limits are immoral, no matter the weather. But there was never any doubt that the American offers of help to Havana were sincere and somewhat extraordinary.
Maybe the embargo should be debated, especially with a new president soon to take office in the United States. And if the dictatorship releases political prisoners and holds free elections, the embargo should be scrapped.
On the island itself, Havana Times reported that “Cuba is once again in the eye of the storm”, and did a good job of posting regular updates.
Circles Robinson said that the island was in the midst of “that strange, eerie time just before a hurricane strikes”:
It’s been one heck of hurricane season. If Hurricane Paloma crosses the island as expected, it will be the third major storm to hit Cuba this year.
Instead of trying to concentrate on the prospects posed by the soon-to-be Obama administration in Washington, Cuba must once again put all its priority on Civil Defense.
In a post that Circles wrote for Havana Times, he noted that “it was dark when Hurricane Paloma struck Cuban soil at 7:27 p.m. on Saturday and the damage being caused by its winds and rain continues on into the wee hours”:
The latest of three major hurricanes hitting Cuba this season was dubbed Paloma (the dove) but entered the island like a fierce hawk on the south coast of Camaguey province near the town of Santa Cruz del Sur.
In his personal blog, he wrote bout the damage assessment that was to follow and at Havana Times, he posted information about damage and recovery efforts, adding:
The hurricane season official ends on November 30th and nobody in Cuba will be sad to say goodbye.
And Generation Y was of the opinion that Paloma only deepened the devastation that was already there:
Today the sarcasm of the name is more cruel.  Paloma will flutter down over a wounded Island, sinking its beak into places that still show the wounds left by hurricanes in August and September.  It has the bare neck of the vultures, as common as they are absurd, and the blackness of its feathers does not bode well.
As for nature, it is better not to try to understand her.  She has both chaos and logic.  At the moment she has touched us with her confusion and madness.  Paloma will pass, leaving the Island in the same place, the destruction a little deeper and the dreams much farther off.


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DR Congo: Fighting Continues · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

As the world celebrates Barack Obama‘s victory as the next president of the United States, AfroSpear reminds us that the conflict in the province of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo hasn't stopped:
In this era where a man of African descent has secured the throne of the most powerful nation of the world, a tragedy of enormous proportions continues to be played out in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is indeed easier to sell a “message of hope” in political change to cure what ails us… than to “commit to action” so as to change a situation of recurring despair and destruction.
At the Untold Stories blog from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Michael Kavanagh writes from Goma:
There are now more than one million people who have fled their homes in North Kivu, and very few are receiving any humanitarian aid.  Before last week's fighting, most were getting by through the generosity of neighbors who hosted the displaced in their homes and yards and farms.  Now those host families are displaced, too. People are fleeing into forests, to churches, to schools […]
Villagers of Kibati fleeing towards Goma after fighting in the area. Photo by Julien Harneis
Last Friday, November 7th, regional African leaders meeting at a United Nations-backed summit in Nairobi called for an immediate ceasefire in eastern DRC, and the establishment of a humanitarian corridor so that the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the recent crisis can get the assistance they need. The summit, hosted by the African Union (AU), brought together DRC President Joseph Kabila and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, which borders North Kivu, as well as the leaders of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and South Africa.
Already on October 29th a ceasefire was announced unilaterally by the CNDP, the rebel force led by Laurent Nkunda. However, even as the summit was taking place, there were reports of heavy clashes between FARDC (the Congolese army) and CNDP in a number of rural areas including Kibati, about 9km north of Goma, leading to further displacements.  Dawn Hurley, an American Expat in Goma, comments on the situation:
Nkunda claims that he has not broken his self-proclaimed cease-fire and that he has merely fought off attacks from the government. But this distinction is hard to understand at best. Nkunda's rebels have taken two towns in the North, forcing the population to flee further. They have also retaken the town of Kiwanja. The town of Kiwanja was under Nkunda's control until Tuesday when another rebel group allied with the government retook the town in a surprising show of power. This lead to bitter fighting between the two groups, and eventually Nkunda's rebels reclaimed the town. However there are wide spread reports that many civilians were killed by Nkunda's forces as they reclaimed the town, apparently in a retaliatory fashion.
Meanwhile, a preliminary fact-finding mission from MONUC visited Kiwanja, north of the town of Rutshuru, after receiving reports that several civilians were killed there during the fighting including a Congolese journalist, Alfred Nzonzo Bitwahiki who worked for the community radio Ushikira (Racou). Colette Braeckman, a Belgian journalist and author of several books on Central Africa, wonders:
Des civils massacrés pratiquement sous les yeux de Casques bleus impuissants ou indifférents: Kiwanja sera-t-il un Srebrenica congolais ?
In order to document what is happening right now on the ground, on Friday the Ushahidi has deployed its software to the DRC after successfully using it during January's post-electoral violence in Kenya and in May during the xenophobic attacks on immigrants in South Africa. Ushahidi, that means “witness” in Swahili, is a tool that allowes anyone to submit crisis information through text messaging using a mobile phone, email or web form, and to visualize it on a map or timeline. The phone number to send the SMS reports to is +243992592111 and the site to view the reports is http://DRC.ushahidi.com.
One of the incident reports that can already be found on the DRC Ushahidi page refers to the killing of a local journalist in the Kiwanja area:
One of our facilitators for community radio (Ushirika) was killed in Rutshuru.
The Kiwanja Nehemiah Committee president has fled, the parish is more insecure.
We have had some contact with Kibirizi, but phone contact there is difficult. I'm in permanent contact with the Nehemiah Committee in Kiwanja and Rutshuru. Our superviser has been visited three times in a row by uniformed men in his house in Kiwanja.
For more reports from the ground, see this blog post by aid workers from the International Rescue Committee in North Kivu, or this diary of another aid worker in the area at the Alertnet blog.
A few days ago, the BBC's Africa Have your say asked its audience “Why can't DRC keep the peace?”. Here's a small selection of the answers given by Congolese readers:
Joseph, from Goma:
The whole problem stems from the DRC government in the 1990's not fulfilling their promise to hunt down the killers during the Rwandan Genocide. They promised Rwanda they would hunt down and kill those Hutu's who fled into Congo that took part in the genocide and they never did. Rwanda and the rebels were forced to take matters into their own hands because of the poor leadership in Congo which backtracked on their promise. I love my country but our leadership is hopeless.
Davis Tara, from Kinshasa:
DRC can have peace only when her leaders develops political will to end war. It seems kabila is enjoying to have insecurity in that part of his country so as to scare off polical opponents.
Dr Paul Kabasele, a Congolese in London:
The international community has been risponsible for the Hutus crossing the borders after the genocide, why shouldn't the same community sort out this mess?
Michelle F. of the Stop Genocide blog also has her say on how to keep the peace in the DRC:
If some degree of security can be established in the Eastern DRC, it will not be sustained without serious reforms to the Congolese military. The FARDC, beyond being under-resourced and generally incompetent, is responsible for some of the worst abuses committed against Congolese civilians, including enthusiastic participation in the brutal epidemic of rape that has become a hallmark of the conflict.
Speaking of the much-publicised problem of rape in Congo, Michael Kavanagh of the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting things that journalists and activists write about it  “a lot more than they write about the war”.  And he adds:
The problem with much of the reporting on sexual violence in Congo – my own included, sometimes – is that it lacks context, often because the context is so complicated that journalists and editors decide to gloss over it.
But it needs to be said over and over: rape in Congo is a direct result of the conflict.  Rape cases skyrocket after fighting and near frontlines; when fighting dies down so do the number of rapes.  Rape is an epidemic born from violence, not an endemic part of Congolese society.  The only way to “Stop Rape” is to end the war.  It can only happen in that order.
Dawn Hurley shares this anecdote:
As I was walking around Goma I talked with young one man, who perhaps best summarized the mood of Goma. I asked if he was scared.
He replied “Fear is a luxury for the rich.” If you are poor, what does it matter if you are afraid? There is nothing you can do about it. You can't run away, you can't change anything. You just keep on living. What is the point of being afraid?”
For a comprehensive list of background briefings and policy recommendations on the DRC, as well as ideas for action, see the Individual Responsibility to Protect blog.

author: Elia Varela Serra


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Haiti: School Collapses  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The fact that Haiti didn't need another tragedy didn't stop one from striking.  This time, it was a school collapse in Pétionville, which left scores of children dead and countless others injured.  Haitian bloggers were quick to offer online empathy and support.
Haiti Innovation said:
Some emergencies can be predicted. Every hurricane season, we can anticipate that Haiti will likely be hit with tropical storms.  Others such as the collapse of a school in Petionville yesterday are unexpected tragedies. The community was, as is usually the case, the first to respond.  They tried to remove as much of the rubble as possible but were hampered by a lack of heavy equipment.
Livesay Haiti Weblog confirmed that children were trapped in the rubble and urged people to “please pray for all involved”, as did Pwoje Espwa, who noted that rescue efforts were being hampered “by the area shanty towns surrounding the school and a steep ravine and the lack of any organized rescue infrastructure in country.”
Pwoje Espwa went on to write another post, this one dedicated to the memory of Mariella Delisca, one of the victims:
She was nineteen and a good friend of Nick Kocmich (Nico) who worked with us a couple of years ago. Nick is now in Port-au-Prince in charge of the Norwich House, a ministry of the Diocese of Norwich, Connecticut. Mariella was part of the Norwich family and will be sorely missed. Our prayers are for her family, her friends and for all those who have lost loved ones in that terrible accident that we now hear has taken 82 lives.
The Blesh Family, who lives down the hill from the school, admitted that the situation was “terrible”, while RHFH Rescue Center had a friend close by who “was able to go see what was happening”:
He said there was a class with 47 students and 45 were killed.  He saw several dead bodies being taken out of the actual building.  They were putting then into the back of pickup truck and driving them away like that.  We have heard today on the radio that the death toll is around  80.  There were at least 500 students in the school.
Meanwhile, The Haitian Blogger was saddened that the United Nations has been allocating money towards “stabilization” rather than infrastructure:
My birthplace is Petion-Ville, Haiti. It is a suburb of the capital of Haiti, Port-Au-Prince. At a school named “La Promesse” (the promise) in Petion-Ville a three story school building collapsed yesterday at mid-morning. The whole building crumbled. The concrete fell on the approximately 500-700 children from kindergarten to high school attending the school on Friday.
At least 50 are dead. At this time Haitians are digging with their bare hands and working through the night to pull out the hundreds that remain trapped under the rubble.
When the UN occupied Haiti, the Haitian president Rene Preval asked for more tractors and bulldozers for building Haiti's infrastructure, not more tanks and guns. There are now 9,000 UN troops in Haiti. The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti's (MINUSTAH) approved budget (1 July 2008 – 30 June 2009): is $601.58 million (See Haiti MINUSTAH Facts and Figures)
That's $50.13 million per month, $1.64 million PER DAY.
Yesterday, if Haiti had more bulldozers, more children would have been rescued.


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Honduras: Top 25 Sites Visited · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Of the top 25 internet sites visited by Hondurans, only 3 are from Honduras including a telecommunications and newspaper site, writes Hugo Chinchilla.


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Jerusalem: Armenian, Greek Monks Brawl · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Friction between various religious denominations is not new, but an incident that occurred between Armenian and Greek monks at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem has drawn the attention of many bloggers to such rivalry. Ben Witherington says that such behavior is a disgrace.
There are few places that better demonstrate both the diversity and the divided character of Christianity than the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. So divided are we, that in order for anything to go on in that Church which likely stands over the spot where Jesus was crucified, the keys to the front door have been held by a Muslim family for centuries, because of course the Christians who have staked out turf in this building couldn't decide who should have the keys! […]
[…]
Notice that Christians couldn't settle matters themselves so the Israeli riot police had to come in and break things up— a total disgrace. I wish I could say that real Christians don't behave this way, but since I have seen it with my own eyes in my own church, sadly I am unable to say this. It is too easy to write this off as non-born again folks behaving badly.
[…]
Father forgive us, for we know not what we do, nor how terrible our witness to a watching world is.
Opinion of a Minion is also amazed.
The video of it is almost beyond belief. It looks like rival football fans having a tussle but it’s the monks fighting over who gets to be in the church. If Armenians are using it for this Feast, the Greeks have to stay out of it. But the Greeks wanted to keep a guardian in the building, specifically in the area considered to be the tomb of Jesus. Armenians had a bit of a problem with that, and whammo slammo.
It’s worse than a divorce. […]
Contemporary Orthodoxy is particularly upset.
The sort of behavior exhibited by our angelic order is quite possibly the most disgusting display of lack of self control possible. It also seems to indicate a lack of maturity. Our Christian charity requires that we are at the very least tolerant of other denominations. […] A more appropriate way to take care of the situation would be to wait until they are finished and then appeal to the higher authorities as to what would be a more acceptable course of action in the future.
Chaldean Thoughts is also distressed by the brawl.
It's very sad for this to happen at one of the holiest places of Christianity. It's worse to know monks started this brawl.
Therion posts photographs of the fight and uses the occasion to attack Christianity.
Jesus is alleged to have taught his followers to “turn the other cheek” when provoked. But when it comes to representatives of his earthly church – fugetabout it!
[…]
This brawl is by no means an isolated occurrence. Six Christian sects share control of the ancient church. They frequently hurl abuse and engage in punch-ups that get so out-of-hand the Israeli police are forced to intervene.
What could be more ironical than Christians beating each other up on the alleged burial site of the ‘Prince of Peace.’ Just one more example of Christian hypocrisy, that gives the lie to everything they claim to stand for.
Friggin Loon is not surprised at all.
Nothing says religion better than a good brawl!
Unzipped posts a video.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Jamaica: Women in Danger  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

YardFlex.com reports that “women and girls have been the steady target of unscrupulous men who have been recently wreaking havoc in different areas of Jamaica with their random kidnappings or attempts.”


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Kazakhstan: Academic Shenanigins in the United States · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Patrick Frost reports on the scandalous case involving renowned US-based The Hopkins Institute, which has disclosed funding for three recent reports about modern Kazakhstan, revealing that the Kazak government-funded Washington lobbying firm APCO Worldwide provided $52,300 for those researches.


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Korea: Adultery and Constitution · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

A big scandal [En] involving two entertainers’ marriage life, affairs, and legal fighting in Korea this year has brought up whether adultery should be legal or not. An actress was disclosed to have had affairs with other men and she taken to court by her husband and actor for adultery. Long term fighting between them, exposure of their detailed marriage life, and legal fighting have dragged on for a long time. She eventually appealed to the Higher Court that the adultery law breaches the right to pursue mankind’s happiness. On the 30th of October, the Higher Court recognized adultery as constitutional[kr].
Regarding this decision, netizens show their opinions.
간통죄 합헌은 시류에 역행한다. 간통죄는 한국이 아직도 후진국임을 입증한다. 남녀간의 사랑에 국가가 형벌로 다스림은 헌법의 행복추구권에도 위배된다. 혼인의 순결과 가정파탄을 막기위한 장치라지만 오히려 가정파탄을 몰고온다. 믿고 사는 배우자가 간통죄로 고소하면 그것으로 정나미가 떨어져 이혼은 불가피하다. 이때 간통죄는 상대방을 애먹이고 원수로 만드는 작용밖에 할 게없다. 사람이 살면서 누구나 실수를 한다. 남녀간의 애정은 그 누구도 막을 수없는 자연스러운 현상이다.
A netizen:
결혼은 개인과 개인간에 맺어진 계약입니다. 이 계약 내용에는 상대방 이외의 사람과 성행위 해서는 안된다는 무언의 내용이 포함되겠죠. 그걸 어겼다는 것이 간통이라고 볼 수 있는 것인데…개인과 개인간의 계약위반에 대해 국가가 형법으로 죄를 묻는 것이 과연 옳은 일이냐… 묻고 싶네요. A가 B의 돈을 빌려가고 안갚았다면… 민사소송을 통해 받아내듯…아내가 혹은 남편이 배우자 몰라 간통을 저질렀다면 가정파탄의 이유를 들어 정신적 물질적 손해배상을 받도록 하면 되는 것 아닙니까? 사기죄를 들먹이시는 분이 있을 것 같은데… 처음부터 갚지 않을 목적으로 기망하는 사기와 정상적인 계약을 맺은 이후에 돈을 갚지 않은 것과는 다르죠. 사기는 오히려 혼인빙자 간음죄와 유사하다고 해야할까요? 아무튼 간통 절대 하지도 않을 것이고, 용납도 할 수 없는 일이지만…그렇다고 그것이 국가가 나서서 징역살이 시킬 문제도 아니라고 봅니다. 더욱이 간통죄는 이혼을 전제로 할 때만 상대방을 간통죄로 고소할 수 있기 때문에 간통죄가 가정을 보호한다는 논리는 전혀 설득력도 없고요.
Another opinion:
간통죄가 합헌으로 헌재에서 판결이 났다. 그렇다면 사회는 간통에 어떤 판결을 내렸나? 방송은 시청률만 된다면 불륜을 서슴치 않고 소재화 하며..마지못해 결론은 권선징악적이지만..내용상은 간통한 자들이 성공하는 시대를 그린다. 그러면서 한편으론 불륜논쟁을 피하기 위한 잔머리로 불륜이 아닌 진정한 사랑이다라는 명제로 중년의 불분명한 내연관계를 미화 하려는 시도도 한다. 이제 더이상 바람피우는 상대 배우자의 불만때문에 근거하는지 의문이다. 오히려 자신의 욕망을 채우는게 더 급급해 그 핑계로 상대방을 폄하하고 무능력하거나 불성실한것으로 묘사하며..자신의 외도와 바람을 정당화 하고 있지 않은지 되돌아 봐야 한다. 어느날 여염집이 즐비한 길거리에 나이트 클럽 웨이트 들이 붙이 광고 전단은 우리의 모습을 대변한다..부킹 잘되는곳..30 40대 애인만드는 곳이라는 제목을 당당히 붙이고 돌아다니는 그들 부디 우리가 부르짖는 자유와 사생활 보호가..멋대로 맘대로 나쁜 짓 다하고 돌아다니면서도 그것에 대한 방패막이로 오용되지 않길 바란다.
Is it a necessary regulation?
간통죄 옹호론자들은 간통죄를 폐지할 경우, 가정이 파괴되고 불륜이 넘쳐 날 것이라고 외쳐댑니다. 근데, 간통죄 없는 나라 보다 우리가 이혼이나 외도가 적습니까? 가정이 잘 지켜지고 행복지수가 높습니까? 간통죄는 가정을 지키지도 못하며, 외도를 막아내지도 못합니다. 대체로 남자들이 여자들을 구속하기 위한 수단으로 이용한 가부장적 이데올로기의 산물에 불과한거죠… 간통죄는 이혼하면서 상대방을 복수하기 위한 수단으로 이용하는거죠. 또 하나는 위자료나 재산분할에 유리한 위치를 점유하기 위한 수단이 되는 것이죠. 어차피 이런 수단으로 쓸거면 유럽처럼 유책 배우자에게 고액의 위자료를 부담시키면 되는 것이지, 굳이 형사처벌까지 하는 것은 과잉입법이라고 생각합니다. 상처를 입게 된 상대방의 고통을 생각해 봤냐고 항변합니다. 사람이 마음의 상처를 입거나 배신을 당했다고 형법으로 처벌하지는 않습니다. 우리는 직장에서 동료로부터, 친구로부터, 심지어 부모에게 처절한 아픔을 주는 인간도 있습니다. 배신으로부터 상처를 입었다고 모두 다 형사처벌을 한다면, 우리 세계는 온통 범죄자 천국이 될 것입니다. 간통죄 때문에 가정이 지켜지는 그런 끔찍한 나라에서 빨리 벗어나길 기대합니다. 성의 문제는 순전히 개인적인 일인데, 우리 사회는 공공의 적 보다 더 나쁜 죄인을 여깁니다. 옥소리가 남을 죽인 것도 아니고 이명박처럼 남의 재물을 빼앗은 것도 아닌데, 개인적인 일을 너무도 가혹하게 처벌하려는 경향이 있습니다. 간통은 성적자기결정권을 침해하는 위헌이 맞다고 생각합니다..^^
How long will the law exist?
역시  제 예상대로… 합헌 결정 났내요…그러나 역시 예상대로..  위헌으로 점점 기울고 있다는 사실.. 위헌 결정을 내린 사람이 5명으로 우세했지만..  절묘하게   한명이 모잘라서.. 합헌을 유지했내요 […] 몇년 있다   헌법 재판관 몇명 바뀌고 다시 하면  위헌 나올거 같내요 ㅎㅎ     몇년만  기다리셈…
Can you love one person in your entire life?
“평생 한 사람만 사랑하며 살 수 있을까.”
아내의 연애를 허락하고, 급기야 아내의 ‘두 집 살림'까지 받아들이는 다소 도발적인 소재로 인기를 모으고 있는 영화 < 아내가 결혼했다>가 한창 인기다. 영화와 현실은 다소 차이가 있지만 결혼을 앞둔 사람들의 대표적인 고민이자 살아가면서 한 번쯤은 스스로 생각해볼 주제이기도 한 이 질문. 하지만 이는 단순히 개인의 문제를 넘어서 가족의 가장 기초 단계인 ‘부부'의 형성에 중요한 영향을 미치며 사회적 약속으로 이어지고 다시 일정한 구속력을 가지게 된다…[…]아무래도 영화의 영향도 있고 무엇보다도 박철,옥소리씨에 의해서 더 이야기가 많아진것 같네요.휴 이런거 없이 사랑하는 사람이랑 결혼해서 살면 그 맘 변하지 않고 쭉 평생 함께 갔으면 좋겠는데 그게 쉽지가 않은가 봐요. 쩝 -_-

author: Hyejin Kim


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Maldives: New Cabinet · Global Voices
Rezwan

Think Maldives’ blog lists the new cabinet of Maldives selected by the president elect Mohamed Nasheed (Anni). The Cabinet comprises of candidates of four political parties.


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Mexico: Obligatory Military Service · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

La Banda writes about his experience with trying to sign-up for the obligatory military service in Nayarit, Mexico.


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Mexico: Video Workshops at UNAM · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Notilibertas [es] is sponsoring a video workshop at UNAM in Mexico City every Tuesday starting on November 11. The third part of the workshop will teach participants how to make videos for the internet.


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Pakistan: New Cyber Crime Law · Global Voices
Rezwan

Teeth Maestro reports that a Cyber Crime Law was enforced in Pakistan with effect from September 29th 2008. The maximum sentence under the act is imprisonment up to 10 years, or with fine not less than Rs 10 million; or with both.


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Paraguay: Blogger Meet-Up · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Muna Annahas writes about her meeting with some ex-pat bloggers during her recent visit to Asuncion, Paraguay.


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Sri Lanka: Photos of LTTE fighters · Global Voices
Rezwan

Cerno points to some interesting and rare photographs from the territory occupied by the LTTE fighters in Sri Lanka.


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines: The Big 100  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Blogging from St. Vincent and the Greandines, Abeni pays tribute to her village's two centenarians.


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Tajikistan: Talco Case Begins in London · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Ian says that the court case the Tajik government initiated against two former members of a consortium running Talco, the Tajik state aluminum enterprise, has gone onto trial stage in London.


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Trinidad & Tobago: 007 · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I didn’t recognize him at first since he had changed so many times over the years. What eventually gave him away was the use of his precise British accent to pick up the flight attendant and the manila folder on his lap marked ‘Double-Oh-Seven-Top Secret – For Your Eyes Only, Mr. Bond.'”This Beach Called Life insists that he met James Bond on a flight from Miami to Trinidad.


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Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana: From the Yard  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Growing up in a semi-rural, agricultural area of Trinidad, every household would make garden. Some larger than others, depending on the availability of land. Neighbours shared peas, beans, fruits, trade dasheen bush for avocados, encouraging diversity without having to plant everything yourself”: Lifespan of a Chennette highlights “the joy that you can get from the act of picking something from the backyard and taking it straight to the pot.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: “Radio Raid” Reactions · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The fallout over the Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister‘s visit to a radio station to complain about critical comments made against him during a newscast appears to have only just begun.  Local mainstream media continue to apply pressure, although in typical Trinbagonian fashion, some of the coverage is peppered with humour – a task made easier thanks to the untimely explosion of a light bulb in Parliament during a debate on the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Order:
In a subtle reference about Manning’s visit to Radio 94.1 FM on October 25, Panday (the Leader of the Opposition) informed the Prime Minister he would have no choice but to endure long lines at gas stations if he was an ordinary citizen who owned a car which was fuelled by CNG.
But bloggers see nothing humourous about what many of them consider to be the Prime Minister's attempts to muzzle free speech, although Caribbean Free Radio did have a chuckle or two about an anonymous email message she received that alluded to the whole controversy:
Did the sender of this message so desperately need to vent his/her feelings about Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s visit to radio station 94.1 FM that any Trinidad and Tobago-identified entity with the word “radio” in its name sufficed as a target? Or could it be that he/she thinks CFR is a radio station? Or perhaps a warning that I should expect a visit from the PM some time soon?
Then she gets serious:
I agree that the day a Prime Minister pays a visit to a media company that results–either directly or indirectly–in two people being suspended from their jobs, is a sombre day indeed for those who work in what has come to be known as the mainstream media. And when that same Prime Minister declares, in a post-Cabinet news conference, that he was well within his rights to visit the radio station, denies any connection between his visit to the station and the suspension of the employees, announces his intention to sue the TNT Mirror for their report on the incident, asserts his right to “sue any media house whose reporting aggrieves him” and to “visit any offending media house ‘as the spirit moves [him]‘”, who can blame the citizens of the country for feeling that freedom of expression–indeed, democracy–in Trinidad and Tobago is under serious threat?
Perhaps even more offensive than his threats are Mr. Manning’s efforts to shroud the clearly personal reasons for his beef with the media in the sheep’s clothing of officialdom. “Too many of the commentators either in the newspapers or on the radio do not respect our institutions,” he is reported as saying. “It is a question of being disrespectful to institutions and authority and pursuing a course of action that can cause the image of these institutions and individuals to be tarnished in the minds of those in whose interest they are set up to serve. And therefore they can become completely ineffective.”
Which I take to mean that our “institutions” are so feeble as to be rendered ineffective by the fact that the public thinks they’re not doing their job. And of course the reason the public thinks this they’re not doing their job is solely because the media tells them so, not because members of the public have dealings with these institutions and draw conclusions themselves. In addition to the impending suspension of our right to freedom of expression, should I also be bracing myself for the announcement that thoughtcrime has been added to the list of criminal offenses? Now there’s something that would aggrieve me.
KnowProSE.com exercises his rights by penning an open letter to the Prime Minister:
What, exactly, was the unprofessional behaviour that prompted your visit to the radio station? I understand that you have rights, but without such information there is an open question as to what the people were suspended for. Without that information, it appears to be censorship of the media – something which can only be alleged, but which tarnishes the reputation of your person, and more importantly, the Institution which your person is associated with. So I ask you, openly, to tell the nation why these people required your personal attention and presence.
Jumbie's Watch attempts to answer the question by linking to the transcript of what was said by the radio station announcers.  He then puts in his two cents’ worth:
Personally, the Grumpy Old Man in me feels that while a newscast should be more professional and less personal, and that this is in poor taste, I can't see the ‘insult’ to Pa-trick. I've actually had more insulting opinions aired here on this blog.
KnowProSE.com suggests that the Prime Minister is:
…probably too busy driving around, blazing his way through traffic with his security detail, to get up on the World Wide Web and read up what's going on. And maybe that's part of his problem – a lack of connectivity, in a very figurative and perhaps more literal sense.
Nicholas Laughlin attempts to address that lack of connectivity in this post about the issue:
Many citizens would say the institutions and individuals of the Manning government are already “completely non-effective” at solving the real and urgent problems facing the country. Forget the murder rate, the babies dying in hospitals, the near-permanent gridlock of the country's transport infrastructure, the power outages and water lock-offs, the widespread belief in massive corruption and fraud at high levels of government, the secret new constitution now being drafted that will consolidate executive power, etc etc etc etc. What we really need to worry about, Mr. Manning seems to believe–and he even seems hurt that we don't agree–is a free press.
Mr. Manning's radio station raid is yet one more reminder–as if, Lord, we needed another–that in Trinidad and Tobago democracy is not a practice but a concept, and a concept that we still, forty-six years after independence, do not really understand, much less believe in. In a representative democracy–the form of government we claim–the people's representatives, our members of Parliament, and the prime minister chosen from among them, have the duty of acting in the people's interest. Instead–with the help of a constitution which already concentrates too much power in the executive's hands, a system of tribal politics that is destructive of clear thought, and a succession of politicians enamoured of the trappings of power–we are lorded over by an administration which seems to believe it is the people's duty to act in the government's interest.
Mr. Manning has demonstrated over and again his disdain for criticism–however useful, however well meant–whether it comes from the media, the public at large, or even from within his own party. The 94.1 incident is perhaps not even the most serious example we've witnessed of late. I have no doubt that the Trinidad and Tobago media, backed up by their regional colleagues, will face down Mr. Manning's threats of personal and legal action against journalists by whom he feels “aggrieved”. But who among us is facing up to the bigger and deeper crisis, the bankruptcy of “democracy” as a meaningful idea and principle and practice in twenty-first-century Trinidad and Tobago?
Because we are all responsible.
Are we to take all this to mean that the local media is above reproach?  KnowProSE.com doesn't think so:
Yes, the media can do better. And I don't think that there's anyone in the media who would disagree, though defining what ‘better’ is can be a troublesome thing. The actions of Patrick Manning in the office of Prime Minister do not mean that media in Trinidad and Tobago shouldn't have some introspection. In fact, it should accelerate that introspection. Even so, the media has to protect itself and do so solidly – not armed with rhetoric and ridicule. It shouldn't treat the Prime Minister in the same way that he, apparently, wishes to treat the media.
The sad truth of the matter is that the government – including the Opposition, so don't get excited – has been so poor at informing the media and, by extension, the people of Trinidad and Tobago that one has to wonder what is really going on. The government does a stunningly poor job of informing media and the citizenry.
The media can do a better job. The government has to do a better job. Shoveling laissez merde at the media gets everyone where we are today.
And where we are today is that the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago has spoken out against the Prime Minister's actions (blogger Media Watch publishes MATT‘s response to the PM's statements in his fifth post about the controversy) and bloggers continue to voice their disgust.  Attillah Springer writes a poignant post entitled No, We Can't that makes the chasm between local politics and the new politics that Barack Obama has brought to America appear even wider:
No we can’t. We can’t speak out.  We can’t have opinions.
No we can’t. We can’t go on air and question our leaders. We must behave. We must tow the line. We must be loyal subjects or be labelled as traitors.
No we can’t be outspoken. We can’t be satirists or investigators or analysts. We must take nice pictures of ministers.  We can’t have a functional media because that would mean there would be too many unanswered questions.
No we can’t.
We can’t be anything else but suspicious of each other. We can’t speak our truths without first wondering and agonising about who will be antagonised.  We can’t move on from this stagnant stink of self-censorship. How it go look if you say that? They go come for you. Legal or illegal. Accident or accidentally on purpose.
No we can’t.
We can’t possibly think that change is ever going to come to this place of ignorant, quick to anger, thin-skinned leaders.
We can’t ever get out of this morass of idiocy.
We can’t get up off our backsides and select someone younger and more thoughtful, whose vision is not of his own reflection.
We must not ever even suspect that there is another way. For what would be left of our leaders if they were to realise one day that we didn’t need them to be our thought police? What would they be without their control and their veiled threats but frightened old men who want to hold on to their power like they want to hold on to their thinning hair and even thinner grasp of logic and/or reality?
Unsurprisingly, in the face of such widespread criticism, The Secret Blog of Patrick Manning attempts to have the last word:
Except for the fact that they served pone again for tea, this afternoon’s session of parliament was mostly unbearable, thanks mainly to Imbert, who approached me during one of the breaks to inform me that people have started calling me “Joe Petit Quart” (the Trinidadian equivalent of Joe Six-pack) behind my back. This due to my insistence that I am just a regular fella with the same right to visit radio stations as any citizen. I fail to understand why people are finding this idea so hard to grasp.


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Turkmenistan: A Kingdom for a Horse · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Peter comments on the Turkmen president’s sudden enthusiasm for all things horse-related, which has prompted him to sign deals worth dozens of millions to build new racetracks across the country.


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Uzbekistan: Inoyatov Visits Germany · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nathan reports that after the EU’s decision to lift the travel ban on Uzbek officials involved in the 2005 Andijon events, Germany is the first EU member to host one of these officials, Rustam Inoyatov – the head of Uzbek special service “for security talks”.


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Japan: Mobile Suit Gundam · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

On the occasion of the foundation of the International Gundam Society (国際ガンダム学会) during the Hiroshima Anime Biennale in August, Kange debates the aims of the research group which will study the future of mankind through the animated series Mobile Suit Gundam(機動戦士ガンダム). The blogger explains how the researchers at IGS, captained by a Chairman and a Vice experts in scientific fields, will focus on the anime itself as well as the anthropological and sociological aspects of the world represented in the series.

author: Scilla Alecci


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Algeria: Boutef vs. Barack · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

The Moor Next Door shares an article from Le Matin contrasting the election of Barack Obama in the United States with that of Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Algeria.

author: Jillian C. York


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Arabs Read a Quarter of a Page a Year · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Space and Time (Ar) links to UN statistics which show that Arabs read a quarter of a page a year on average, while Americans read 11 books.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Armenia: Gyumri · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

jack'sVolunteerWorkInArmenia details his weekend trip to Armenia's second largest city of Gyumri. Situated close to the (closed) border with Turkey, the city will next month commemorate the 1988 earthquake which devastated much of its infrastructure and left tens of thousands dead or homeless. The blog says that twenty years on, it is still going to take much longer to rebuild its shattered economy.


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Bali after the bombings · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

El Marco returns to Bali and posts pictures of the monument at the site of the 2002 Bali bombings. He also observes: “I found a land and a people painfully changed in the aftermath of the 2002 and 2005 terrorist bombings.”

author: Mong Palatino


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Bangladesh: Credible Election · Global Voices
Rezwan

Ex diplomat Sirajul Islam comments in his blog on the impending general election in Bangladesh: “If at the end of it, a major political party feels that there is no level playing ground for its participation in the polls, then for all practical purposes, the efforts of this Government has not been successful.”


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Bangladeshi Photographers in Flickr · Global Voices
Rezwan

Arup at Sachalayatan introduces us to twenty talented Bangladeshi photographers from Flickr and their works here and here [bn].


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Barbados: The Fate of Graeme Hall  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbadian blogs are doing their part to raise awareness of the plight of the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary: The Bajan Dream Project, Barbados Free Press and Barbados Photo Blog all say their piece.


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Bermuda: Avoiding the Issue?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As the UK Foreign Affairs Committee publishes a report containing recommendations for Bermuda to improve its accountability and transparency, Vexed Bermoothes thinks that the Premier is “raising the noise level to avoid discussion of the issues – these are the real threat to Bermuda’s reputation, not the report that calls them out.”


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Bhutan Crowns New King: Refugees Barely Remembered · Global Voices
Bhumika Ghimire

On November 6, the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan officially crowned a new King, who was appointed almost two years ago. The fifth Dragon King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck is an Oxford-educated 28-year-old and the eldest son of the fourth and previous Dragon King of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck. His coronation ceremony was attended by political heavyweights from neighboring India-including President Ms. Pratibha Patil and entertainers from Bollywood.
While Bhutan celebrated the coronation, the country and King Wangchuck barely remembered 100,000 ethnic Nepalese Bhutanese driven out by his father during the 1990s and now living as refugees in Nepal. In his message to the nation after assuming the throne, the new King promised to shield the country from “outside influence” but did not mention the refugees.
The region’s media was quick to pick up on the glaring omission. Taipei Times, India’s The Statesmen along with many others mentioned the refugee issue in their report on the coronation. Bloggers are also busy discussing the Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal.
Bhutan News, a non-partisan blog, informed just days before the coronation that the “refugees are in a state of flux”. Blogger Narayan Sharma expresses frustration over the long-overdue process of creating an environment where refugees can safely return to their homeland and blames Bhutan’s regime for the delay.
“Refugees’ hope of return has been lessened presently as the Druk regime has now the possibility to further procrastinate the issue with the new-found alibi of people’s representatives needing to decide the issue.”
Bibek Bhandari, a journalism student, wrote about the coronation and the refugee question for SAJAforum, mentioning the long history of ethnic Nepalese in Bhutan and that they were not exactly recent migrants.
“Approximately 103,000 Bhutanese Lhotshampas–descendants of Nepalese who moved to the southern lowlands of Bhutan in the nineteenth century–have been confined to several refugee camps in south-eastern Nepal since 1990. They have been forced to leave the country by the former monarch in the early 1990s during a campaign to impose compulsory national dress and ban the Nepalese language.”
Some bloggers are also discussing whether the recent decision to resettle the refugees in a third country will do any good and how moving to yet another foreign country might affect them.
At 510Report Adelaide Chen writes about the Bhutanese refugees resettled in Oakland, California who are trying to adjust to their new life in America by getting an education and learning English.
“Kharel and her sister are among the seven students from Bhutan attending the GED class several nights a week. She knows some of the other refugees, because they lived in the same camp for 17 years. Among the refugees from Bhutan that have accepted an offer to come to the U.S., few have expectations they will return to their homeland again.”
Maureen Sieh also writes about the refugees’ struggle to adjust to a new land. This time it is about those Bhutanese who have been resettling in Syracuse, New York.
“Hari Adhikari was a leader in one of the refugee camps. Now, he's helping Catholic Charities resettle some of the people he worked with in the refugee camps……He asks people if they have any problems with their apartments, budgeting and any other concerns they might have. He tells them that there are agencies here to help them, but they also have to be able to help themselves find jobs.”

author: Bhumika Ghimire


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Brazil: Criminal fire at Chapada Diamantina National Park · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Paulo Bicarato [pt] echoes the news that fires that have destroyed 50% of the Brazilian Chapada Diamantina National Park, roughly the size of New York City, were likely started by ranchers  clearing land for pasture. “For those who had the pleasure to have been to that piece of paradise, it hurts immensely”, says the blogger.

author: Paula Góes


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Brazil: National Park Under Threat from Illegal Fires · Global Voices
Paula Góes

For over a month, the Chapada Diamantina National Park, in Bahia, has been burning relentlessly. According to Brazil's environmental agency, 50 percent of the national park's 1,520 km² have burned, which represents 75,000 hectares of forest (roughly the size of New York City). Nearly 500 people – firefighters and volunteers – are battling the blazes, caused by illegal fires supposedly started by ranchers clearing land for pasture. Only heavy rains will stop the flames, but these are not expected until the end of the month.
If the causes are known, and it is not the first time, Paulo Bicarato [pt] wonders why the criminals have never been caught:
Como se ninguém soubesse disso. Se as causas são conhecidas, só se pode deduzir que há conivência por parte de alguém. Triste, muito triste ver que todo ano é a mesma coisa.
Marilia Miller [pt] points out that besides the problem of deliberate fire starting, the authorities have taken too long to act:
O que mais nos incomoda, portanto, sem dúvida, é a morosidade das autoridades competentes em viabilizar os recursos às brigadas voluntárias, que estão deixando de apagar fogo por falta de equipamentos (EPIS e Material de Combate) e de apoio logístico, tais como deslocamento e alimentação. O Governo do Estado, como sempre, está ausente, desconsiderando completamente o fato de que a Chapada Diamantina é a provedora de água dos baianos (80% das águas do estado nascem nessa região).
Blog SuburbioEmFoco shouts:
- PORQUE O SILÊNCIO? PORQUÊ A FALTA DE DIVULGAÇÃO DA GRANDE MÍDIA?????
Zé Luiz Soares [pt] asks if this is the end of a paradise:
É possível uma coisa dessas? No Brasil, é.
Não conheço a Chapada. Na verdade, sonho com ela há anos, como um paraíso distante a ser explorado; destino daquela que seria a minha maior viagem pelo Brasil; roteiro que planejo intimamente, a ser percorrido de mochila nas costas – sem planos e sem destino. Um sonho que, parece, vai se perdendo em meio à ganância, incompetência e irresponsabilidade.
Só resta contar com a interferência Divina, mais uma vez.
Photos taken in July 2005 by William Kitzinger and used under a Creative Commons license. See his Chapada Diamantina set.
Chapada Diamantina was once a rich source of diamonds and gold but now thrives on ecotourism. Due to the dry season and strong heat, small fires are common in the region and usually the forest heals itself. There were big fires in 1998 and 2003, but the situation is out of control this year, and if not reforested, Chapada may lose its exuberance for ever.


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Caribbean: Tributes to Makeba · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaica's Abeng News Magazine, Barbados’ Life, Unscripted, on the Rock, and Caribbean blog One Tribe, Many Voices all pay tribute to the late South African musical icon Miriam Makeba.


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China: Indie music bands · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Steve from the Fool's Mountain introduced a number of indie music bands in China.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Ticking time bomb? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Angry Chinese blogger wrote about the potential out-break of social unrest in China.


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China: Young Gangs · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

DANWEI has translated a local report on the emerging of young gangs (born in 1990s) in Beijing.


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Costa Rica: Differences in Customer Service · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Hazel Feigenblatt writes in her blog about the difference in attention that local tourists from Costa Rica receive, when compared to the customer service received by foreign tourists [es] , and how it seems that locals are treated like second-class citizens.  Many commenters share their own bad experiences.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Costa Rica: Supporting the Special Olympians · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Roy Rojas of The News Star [es] to support the Costa Ricans who will be competing in the Central American and Caribbean Special Olympics.


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Cuba: Hospital Visit · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“A bucket in one hand, a pillow under my arm, and a fan balanced on my hip”: Generation Y says that with hospitals in Cuba, “the patients’ families must bring everything.”


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Czech Republic: Public Opinion on Russian-Georgian War · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Dr. Sean's Diary reports that “the Czech public holds a characteristically divided / balanced set of views the Russo-Georgian war: majorities disapprove of both Georgian intervention in South Ossetia and Russia’s response […].”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Ecuador: Working Towards Being a Model for E-Government · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The capital city of Quito, Ecuador is launching a campaign to be a model of electronic government, and will include interactive workshops for citizens writes Christian Espinosa of Cobertura Digital [es].


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Egypt: What life has taught Galal Amin · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

“Born in January of 1935, his father had wanted his mother to have an abortion because they already had 7 children, she refused and that is how he came to be,” writes blogger Jessyz, who  takes us through the pages of the autobiography “What life has taught me” by Dr. Galal Amin, in a book review that triggers a lot of thinking.

author: Eman AbdElRahman


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Environment: Planting Trees in Cameroon · Global Voices
Juliana Rotich

From the Kabissa Newletter, a project is profiled: The organization aims to plant trees in thirteen Village communities of Ngoketunjia Division, as a means to fight climate change in Cameroon and the world at large.

author: Juliana Rotich


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Guyana: Value Added Tax  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Living Guyana thinks it's “about frigging time that…businesses start quoting prices inclusive of VAT”, adding: “It is about time that consumers start to demand more of the businesses they patronize.”


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Honduras: Making a Living as an Artist · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

“It is not easy to make a living as an artist,” and especially in Honduras writes Guillermo Anderson. The singer-songwriter says that we should not rely on the government to promote culture, but that each citizen should be the country's best Ministry of Culture.


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India: Prince of Kolkata retires  · Global Voices
JJ Rajendran

November 9th will be remembered in many Indian hearts. The day when Ganguly, ‘the god of the offside’ bid adieu to the world of International Cricket. Sourav Ganguly was India's most successful Test Cricket captain who is credited for having nurtured the careers of many young players who played under him.
Ganguly, also known as ‘Dada’ and ‘the Prince of Kolkata’ is still the idol millions associate their childhood with. This is more than just a simple sporting affair.
Sandman writes on what it means to be Dada’s fan, at his blog, ‘C’est la vie’:
I have always been a fierce fan of Dada. Fierce is indeed the word, for readers who might be smirking at my choice of the word. For ask anyone in class 12 B, batch of 04, Seth Anand Ram Jaipuria School, Kanpur, I once fought off an entire class of 50 in a heated debate over him on one of those not so infrequent occasions when our English teacher decided that English is better taught by letting people speak, rather than making them read. Over the years, the evolution of my own personality has mirrored that of Dada. That is probably why I am surprised that I actually feel this urge to write, on his last day in international cricket, to give an account of sorts, of what it meant to be his fan.
Vmminerva gets personal. In her post ‘Sourav Ganguly: What he’s meant to me’:
With Ganguly’s retirement today, I feel a sense of void, for apart from other reasons, his moving also takes away a bit of the childhood that I’ve continued to live to this day, for Ganguly’s India brings to me many cherished memories: the sneaking from school to find out the score, the discussion over whether Rani Mukherjee or Sourav Ganguly represented Bengal better, the yearning for rain in May just to reminisce the World Cup ’99, watching cricket at night from different time zones with red eyes and having to go to a ghostly early class the next morning, that fateful March ’03 night of the World Cup final, the stupid match day superstitions, and many more.
Praveen at Crusadertvm, recollects Ganguly’s involvement in the paving the way to the younger generation in his post, ‘Ganguly: Our own Dada’:
He brought in several youngsters like Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Sehwag etc and started building a team for the future. He guided them in such a way that he instilled in them some of his own qualities. This change was evident in that epochal series against Australia when India, playing in Ganguly's home ground, made an improbable comeback and went on to win the series. That was when the legend of Dada was born. He really became the big brother to his team mates as well as to millions of young Indian cricket fans.
At ‘Silly Point’, ©hinaman writes a post to Ganguly titled, ‘where the mind is without fear – the head is held high’:
There are only a few, who really understands ‘Indian cricket’, will today disagree with you. It is also certain many of them will never acknowledge it in words. They either did not want you to be the captain or they placed you there to see you fail. Because of you we, as a team, are no longer a soft option – at home or on tour. Your team mates and players from the world over have acknowledged what you have done for us, for Team India.
You did it your way. You do not have to prove yourself to anyone anymore. Fare thee well.

author: JJ Rajendran


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India: Troubles in Assam  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Words From The Solitude discusses the background of the recent politics and violence in the Indian state of Assam: “For several decades, Assam is passing through too much of tears and blood. This stunningly beautiful state and its people are struggling hard to come out from the curse of their own history.”

author: Rezwan


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Iran: Graffiti from Tehran · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

We can discover graffiti in Tehran in Alone‘s blog. Alone says “maybe I am a Vandal or Anarchist But I am glad to introduce myself as one.At least I stand for my right.I am not about politics .But I am interested on social subjects.”

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran: “Tehran Has No More Pomegranates” · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Parsarts informs us about Iranian documentary “Tehran Has No More Pomegranates”. You can also read an interview with its director, Massoud Bakhshi.


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Iran: Woman Activist Released on Bail · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to Change4equality, Esha Momeni, the Iranian-American student and woman activist, was released from prison on bail on Monday after being in jail for about one month. Iranian authorities accused her of acting against national security.


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Iran:Girls’ dormitory caught fire · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Gorgomishsky, an Iranian blogger, reports [fa] that girls’ dormitory in the ELM O Sanat University caught fire on Tuesday and three people were injured. The blogger adds that some students believe it was not an accident and  protested against University's Director asking him to find out responsible(s) of this event. You can watch photos here.


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Jordan: Automobile Expo · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Ali, from Jordan, visits the Automobile Museum, where he took a few pictures of cars which were owned by the late King Hussein.


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Jordan: Poor and Backward · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Being poor and backward go hand in hand, according to Jordanian blogger Muoffaq Qabbani, who brings us this story about how poor people insist on having more and more children.
Muoffaq writes:
He continues:
الفكرة الأساسية انه سبحان الله الفقر و الجهل اكتير من الأحيان بيلتصقو ببعض,
يعني فقير و بدك تتزوج 2 و تجيب 10 أولاد!!! يعني بعرف انه الرزقة على الله و المولود بيجي و بتجي رزقو معو , بس شي و منو !!
و اغلب الرجال برد عليك ,انه من عند الله , و انه مابقدر يخفف , والواحد ليش بتزوج , … إلخ
The idea is that it is bewildering how poverty and ignorance are interrelated at times. Why is it when you are poor, you want to get married to two women and have 10 children? I fully understand that God gives His blessings and that newborns come with their blessings.
And most men would reply to you and say that it is from God, and that he cannot do anything about it, and why does one get married, etc.
Muoffaq shares the following conversation he has had with an Abu Mohammed:
He adds:


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Jordan: Until the King Speaks  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordanian The Black Iris writes about things are quickly fixed in his country, following the King's intervention. “The whole concept that I, as a Jordanian citizen, am unlikely to see change in a whole myriad of issues until the King talks about them all, is simply disheartening,” he notes.


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KarmaTube: Promoting Change through Video Sharing · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Karma Tube is an online video sharing platform to spread short videos and their causes through the World Wide Web with tips on what actions the viewer can take regarding the portrayed cause. Through KarmaTube we bring you Skateistan from Afghanistan, Seeds of Light from South Africa and Barrios de Paz in Ecuador.
Skateistan was started by three Australians who set upon teaching the youth in Afghanistan how to skateboard as a novel recreational alternative and a cross-cultural learning platform. The Skateistan skateboarding school was set up on an abandoned pool in Kabul and both boys and girls participate in this non-competitive sport. As a matter of fact,  this is what their site's FAQ states:
Half of the students are female, giving Afghanistan the highest rate of female participation in skateboarding of any country in the world.
The following video can also be found on the skateistan YouTube channel:
Seeds of Light is a program started by Leslie Temple-Thurston in South Africa to improve the quality of life in an impoverished community. Drilling a well for water, planting vegetable gardens to improve the immune systems of children, starting computer labs and HIV/AIDS education were some of the projects the community has developed with Ms. Temple-Thurston's help.
The following video showcases Ms Leslie Temple-Thurston's work and the community that has benefited from it:
Barrios de Paz is a project of Ser Paz, spearheaded by Nelsa Libertad Curbelo Cora, who has worked in the barrios of Guayaquil Ecuador with gang members, uniting members from different gangs to work together and work for peace. Nelsa supports gang members from the perspective that kids who join gangs do so  out of a need to be a part of a family and in search for support and guidance: when given proper leaders they have the energy and disposition to work in peaceful endeavors, and when given love, they have the power to change for the best. In the 9 minute subtitled video Nelsa speaks about gangs, the psychology of the gang members and how the program has helped teens discover a way out of the violence cycle. The full length documentary is divided into two parts that you can view here and here.
There are many other inspiring projects and videos you can view on KarmaTube. It's uplifting to hear about good people performing great deeds for others.


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Lebanon: offering the world’s most expensive chocolate · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

Blogger LM, from Lebanon, tells us about Patchi, the famous Lebanese luxury chocolate-makers, who have launched the world’s most prestigious and expensive box of chocolate.


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Malaysia: Police disperse peaceful protest · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Paradise Storm and Anil Netto from Malaysia provide eyewitness accounts to the peaceful vigil-protest which was violently dispersed by the police. The vigil was a protest against Malaysia's authoritarian policies.


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Mauritania: Venture Capital · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Mohamed Fouad Barrada [fr] ruminates on the introduction of venture capital to Mauritania in the midst of this economic crisis.


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MENA: Blogs and a social revolution · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

Saudi blogger, Esam Mudeer, clipped from CNN Arabic, an article asking -in light of last week's major events in the Arab  world- if Arab blogs might lead a social revolution in the region.
وتميّز نشاط الكثير من المدونات السعودية خلال الأسبوع بالدعوة إلى إضراب جوع تضامنا مع نشطين معتقلين.
وفي الوقت الذي لم تتوفر معلومات بعد عن حجم الإضراب الذي وقع في السادس والسابع من نوفمبر/ تشرين الأول، تميّز نشاط المدونين السعوديين بجرأة، “وذلك احتجاجاً على انتهاك حقوق المعتقلين، وعموم السجناء في المملكة العربية السعودية، الذين حرموا من ما أوجبه نظام الإجراءات الجزائية.”
والسجناء الذين تضامن معهم المدونون هم من “تيار العدل�والشورى وحقوق الإنسان، ومن ضمنهم متروك الفالح.
None the less, the bloggers were in solidarity with the prisoners from the movement “Justice, Shura and human rights”, whom Matruk Al Faleh was amongst them.


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Mexico: Last Mobilization of the Year for AMLO · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The leader of the “Movement for the Defense of Petroleum, Popular Economy and National Sovereignty” Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO)announces that the last mobilization of the year will take place on November 23 in Mexico City writes Jessica Uribe of Vivir Mexico [es].

author: Eduardo Avila


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Morocco: Thriving On Fear · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

A Moroccan About the World Around Him writes about the recent case of Yassine Belassal, the teenager who modified Morocco's motto (God, Country, King) to idolize his favorite soccer team, FC Barcelona.


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Morocco: Unhappy Internet Users · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Blog as I Wanted tells us that users of Moroccan ISP Wana are unhappy with the company's Internet speed.


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Myanmar: Bloggers sentenced by Court · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Irrawaddy reports that two dissident bloggers from Myanmar were sentenced by the court to serve time in jail for maligning the Junta. One of the bloggers is Nay Phone Latt, who was a major source of information during the brutal regime crackdown last year.


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Pakistan: Worlds Second Best Mayor  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Ahsan at Five Rupees informs that according to Foreign Policy Magazine, Mustafa Kamal, the Mayor of Karachi, has been declared as the world's second best mayor.


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Palestine: Anxiety · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Palestinian diaspora blogger We Will Return expresses anxiety over Abbas’ speech to the Palestinian people.


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Peru: New Prime Minister Faces Skepticism · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

After the crisis in the Peruvian cabinet as a result of the scandal involving high-level governmental officials and links to alleged bribes involving oil contracts, President Alan García decided to name a new Prime Minister. The selected individual, Yehude Simon, does not belong to Garcia's APRA party [es], and he was received with some skepticism by some political sectors and by the population because of his alleged past linked to the terrorist movement MRTA. However, the skepticism towards Simon has to do with the failure of past government officials to make any progress against corruption and for the same language heard from other politicians in the past.
A few days ago and after a rough start due to the protests in various parts of the country, as the Weekly Summary from Perú Político [es] reported, Simon presented his action plan to the Congress. He also asked for a vote of confidence from the legislators. He did receive the vote, but there was also debate regarding what he should and should not do as Prime Minister.
Some bloggers have been providing their opinion on the matter and many are against Simon. José Gody of Desde El Tercer Piso [es] writes Hey, Yehude!
Una primera impresión es que Simon aún no se ubica en el rol del Presidente del Consejo de Ministro de un gobierno que se encuentra a la mitad de su periodo. Y es que, por momentos, el mensaje de ayer me sonó a agosto de 2006, cuando Jorge del Castillo exponía las grandes metas a cumplir por el gobierno, muchas de las cuales se han repetido en este mensaje. O al mensaje de un candidato presidencial que pretende hacer grandes cosas para convencernos de que votemos por él en el 2011.
Gran escepticismo produce, por ejemplo, el Plan Nacional contra la Corrupción. Mejor dicho, estoy escéptico con que se lleve a cabo. No porque a Simon le falte voluntad, sino porque, ya con la experiencia de lo que fue poner en el desvan a la Iniciativa Nacional Anticorrupción hecha durante el gobierno de Paniagua, esto de crear planes rimbombantes que no se cumplen por la poca voluntad de los Presidentes y de los funcionarios encargados de los controles. Ojo, si se cumple, en buena hora, será lo mejor para el país.
A first impression is that Simon still does not feel comfortable in his role as President of the Minister's Council in a government that is halfway through its term. And at times, yesterday's message sounded like August 2006, when Jorge del Castillo (the former President of the Minister's Council) presented great goals to be achieved by the government, many of which had been repeated in this message. Or in a message of a presidential candidate that wants to do great things to convince us to vote for him in 2011.
Grand skepticism produces, for example, the National Plan Against Corruption. Better said, I am skeptical that it will take place. Not because Simon lacks will, but because of the experience of watching them put the National Anti-Corruption Initiative created by the Paniagua government into the attic, and how they create grandiose plans that are not implemented because of the little will of the presidents and the officials in charge of the controls. Attention, if this is implemented, it would be the best for the country.
Guille of Pueblo Vruto [es] is sarcastic with the goals set by Simon and asks the following question in his post, “Can There Be So Much Beauty?“
Desarrollo económico: La economía crecerá en 6.9 por ciento como mínimo en los próximos años. La economía crecerá cuatro veces más que la población, lo que permitirá que se concentren mayores recursos para reducir la pobreza. (…) Se reducirá la pobreza a un tercio de la población. Al final de este gobierno, el ingreso per cápita de los peruanos deberá ser el triple que hace una década.
Cada familia tendrá su vivienda de 2 pisos con jardín y cochera para dos 4X4. El BCR otorgará préstamos para países subdesarrollados como Estados Unidos o Chile, y el Perú se convertirá en potencia nuclear con derecho a veto en el Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas. Faltaba más!
Economic development: The economy will grow at least 6.9 percent in the next years. The economy will grow four times more than the population, which will allow more resources to be provided to reduce poverty (…) Poverty will be reduced for a third of the population. At the end of this government, the income per capita for Peruvians should be triple of what it was a decade ago.
Each family will have their two-story house with garden and garage for 2 4X4 cars. The BCR (Central Reserve Bank of Peru) will provide loans for underdeveloped countries like the United States or Chile, and Peru will become a nuclear power with veto power in the Security Council of the United Nations.
Finally, Francisco Canaza of Apuntes Peruanos [es] is also very lapidary in his opinions in the post Yehude Simon in Congress.
a pesar de haber sido designado en medio de una crisis de corrupción, Simon no estableció siquiera una base de trabajo, un marco de políticas para afrontar la corrupción. El mero acto de rechazar las prácticas de corrupción, el pasivo del gobierno del que ahora Yehude Simon es parte, no significa establecer una política clara, para lo que no hace falta un nuevo Plan Anticorrupción sino un claro establecimiento de funciones y de responsabilidades
Tiene gracia, por ejemplo, que se hable de metas para la reducción de la pobreza pero no se diga siquiera cómo se va a focalizar los programas necesarios para tal fin. O que se plantee recién estudiar las matrices de función de diversos estamentos del Estado a la par que se habla de recién crear un organismo de planificación. Peor aún: Que se hable de incrementar el gasto social, cuando el propio Banco Central de Reserva del Perú señala que el gasto público no debería exceder los propios límites del crecimiento estimado del país, cuyos estimados para el 2009 son menores a los obtenidos este año.
Even though he was named in the middle of a corruption crisis, Simon did not even establish a foundation for his work, a framework of policies to face the corruption. The mere act of rejecting corruption practices, the passive government of which Yehude Simon is now a part of, does not signify establishing clear policies, which a new Anti-Corruption Plan is not missing, but a clear establishment of functions and responsibilities.
It is funny, for example, that they are talking about goals to reduce poverty, but they do not say how they are going to focus on the necessary programs for that goal. Or that they propose studying the matrices of various stratum of the State, of which they are talking about creating an organization for planning. Even worse: They are talking about increasing social spending, when the very Central Reserve Bank of Peru states that public spending should not surpass the very limits of growth estimated for the country, which for 2009 is even less than the growth achieved this year.
The work of the Prime Minister has just started, and many are waiting to see of the criticisms are justified or not.

author: Juan Arellano


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Russia, Somalia, Ukraine: Hijacked Ships Update · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Updates on ships hijacked by Somalian pirates – at The 8th Circle, here and here.


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Russia: Voina “Storms” Russian White House · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

IZO reports, via LJ user kassian (RUS): “The latest Voina group action, on the night of 6-7 December, involved the ‘storming’ of the grounds of the Russian White House and projection of an anarchist skull-and-crossbones on the building's facade.”


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Singapore students need career guidance · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Daphne writes that “one of the many shortcomings of the Singapore education system is that it lacks proper career/education guidance for students.”


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Syria: New Dawn for Humanity · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

Blogger Anas, shows an excerpt from the top of the front page of Al Watan Daily Syrian Newspaper, with a text saying:
“A New Dawn For Humanity, 70 Days Till Bush Leaves the White House”


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Taiwan: Arrest of former President Chen · Global Voices
David Reid

The Far-Eastern Sweet Potato writes that the arrest of Taiwan's former President, Chen Shui-bian, is terrible timing.

author: David Reid


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Taiwan: At the Protest Frontline · Global Voices
I-fan Lin

It seems that many people, especially if you are outside Taiwan, found the recent protest against Chen Yinlin in Taipei confusing. Bob pointed out that in China, some incidents in the protest were interpreted as democratic violence. Such impression is probably a result of the mainstream media report on the violent scene. You may want to ask what had happened during this long day, Nov 6th? Why did so many people decide to demonstrate in the street? How did the violence happen? Let's take a closer look at and listen to these protesters.
aswing explained why protest:
很多人問我，除了上街頭，難道沒有更「理性」的方法來反應民眾和在野黨的情緒嗎？我必須反問這些人，可以作在冷氣房表決，誰願意冒著被警察痛毆的風險上街頭？如果馬英九覺得自己勝了，就是人民對兩岸政策已經作了抉擇，他就可以為所欲為，那麼他有沒有把自己當作全民的總統呢？嘗言民主政治是多數決，但國民黨 這半年來的粗暴做法，身為少數，並沒有任何被尊重的感覺。…當在野黨重新回到街頭，其實意味著民主正在倒退。
Photo courtesy of kajin.
The government's overreaction in “protecting” Chen Yunlin and the police action in harassing the protesters had agitated more people to join the protest on 11/6.
Bo-Yu's mother arrived early.
有幾位因為前一晚參加過晶華那一場,比較有經驗,會提醒我們不要把絲帶繫在身體,說警察會直接扯絲帶,我也幫身旁的老先生老太太重新把絲帶綁在帽子背包上.
Photo courtesy of judie.
Protester harnyi was shocked when she arrived at the gathering location:
新聞中才能看到的恐怖畫面就這麼活生生的在眼前：數十位警察分別站在捷運出口兩邊，放眼望去都是拒馬，而陣陣的汽笛聲、喇叭聲、呼口號聲傳來，一股肅殺之氣瀰漫在空氣中。
obs noticed that the barricades didn't leave enough room for the protesters to move around.
從拒馬在中山南路的架設方式，就知道圍城行動控制不易。跑街頭運動那麼多年，沒看過這種ㄇ字型的陣仗，人群稍多就推倒了。
Most of the protest was peaceful,  harnyi reported:
這個頭綁黃絲帶的先生很可愛，沿路一直叫大家踩這面旗子，他說：踩一踩，把氣出一出就算了。對呀，誰說民進黨的支持都是暴民，我們用自己的方式來宣洩情緒，幽默，沒害人。
Photo courtesy of judie.
Photo courtesy of judie.
She disagreed with what was reported on the mainstream media later about their protest.
景福門那邊的確有一點衝突，可是，那不過是佔整個遊行人數的幾萬分之一，回家後看了新聞，在攝影機選擇性的鏡頭下，”暴動”竟然成了整個圍城活動的唯一主軸，這就是我們誇張的媒體生態，唉……
The Democratic Progressive Party claimed to end the protest at around 6pm, but some protesters kept going to the Grand hotel, where Chen Yunlin stayed. dayinfu joined the protest there. She described:
幾個外國友人, 拿布條到現場, 鼓舞現場的士氣。 現場人來人往, 所以, 18:30~~22:30之間, 人數似乎沒什麼增減…我猜約在6、700之數。
dayinfu left at 10:30pm, and she saw the incidents occur on the media after she came back home.
後來三台指揮車一一離去(約20:00左右, 我猜), 只剩群眾在原地繼續喊口號/汽笛發洩不滿。 約22:30, 我們覺得再待下去, 大概沒有什麼進一步的發展, 就先行離開回家。一到家才從新聞中得知警察暴動, 攻擊人民 。
a-gu described these following incidents and said both some protesters and the police were way over the line.
At one point in the afternoon the crowd suspected a man in a black shirt of being a gangster sent to make trouble or a police spy sent to collect information. They beat him up pretty bad and ripped his shirt off, presumably to see if he was wearing a wire…The second incident was the molotov cocktail thrown last night at the scuffle near the Grand Hotel. Could have very seriously injured a number of police officers and scared them for life. Maybe even kill somebody. Not cool.
On the other hand, the police were not the picture of calm law and order either. Some of the riot police were really unnecessarily violent with their billy clubs, really ripping on guys who were running away and who the police had no intention of actually arresting or anything.
I also had a friend who stayed until the end of the protest at the Grand hotel last night…I asked if the police were being reasonable or crossing the line, and he thinks the latter.
Yuglory left just before this incident.
我也很不諒解DPP把人丟了就走了，那天看了現場，就知道晚一點會出事，所以我10點多就拉了朋友走了，他們也都不清楚事情的危險性
後來跟一些朋友討論，大家對DPP當然不滿，對這些政客也是無言，但我們也認為，以那天的情況，那天就算要把群眾帶走也帶不走的，民怨真的很深，人民的憤怒是很清楚的.
Some people were not happy with the violence:
群眾暴力丟擲棍棒、石塊，導致多起流血暴力衝突，這些活動有何實質意義？儼然形成群眾發洩的一個大舞台，不和平不理性。
On the other hand, baladaily stated that what happened in the past few days was a culmination process of the confrontation between the protesters and police.
Citizens do not spontaneously become violent – and while there are always people in any demonstration who simply seek to cause chaos, they are vastly outnumbered by ordinary citizens who simply wish to express their dissent. It is only when those in power seek to use their authority to silence dissenting voices that good people may feel that they have little recourse. Successive administrations from both parties have been loath to relinquish the promise of almost unlimited authority offered by the current Parade and Assembly Law. What we saw over the last two days is simply the culmination of that process. The government could not resist the temptation to overstep their bounds far beyond what was required for public safety, and ended up facing the inevitable backlash.
Knowing that the decision of inviting Chen Yunlin to Taiwan was decided by the ruling party itself, jjw543 was disappointed with the ruling party due to what happened.
我難過是在於為什麼執政黨明知這種事的敏感性，為何不能事先與在野黨協調出最大共識？一意孤行，700多萬票是民意，500多萬票就不是民意？
即便少數要服從多數，也不代表多數意見就能完全漠視少數人意見一意孤行，更何況這個所謂的少數其實並不少，多數也沒多到那裡去，再者，投你一票的人也未必完全認同急速向中國靠攏主張…
At the end of the day, obs concluded that:
在這樣的時刻，重要的不是國旗、不是標語，甚至圍不圍城也已無關緊要。
但，相信民主相信自由相信多元的每個人，都應該以自己的方式發聲。
一個警棍伺候的城市，不會有和解。
一個哀傷死寂的社會，不會有進步。
一個人民不再吶喊的國度，不會有明天。
不為任何政黨，不為任何人，此刻我們應該為自己說話。
Photo courtesy of avant.

author: I-fan Lin


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