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Cuban Intellectuals Debate the Prohibition of 3D Private Cinemas on the Island · Global Voices
Elaine Díaz

3D cinema shut down. Image by Aylin Pérez, reproduced with permission.
[All links in this article lead to Spanish-language content]
Ever since  the official newspaper, Granma, announced the immediate ban on 3D cinemas run by the private sector, blogs and social networks have been awash with criticism.
The blog Cine cubano, la pupila insomne offers a sample of the opinions of various intellectuals and commentators, taking into account that  “occasions in which the voices of those who are impacted by the measures of the higher levels of Power in Cuba are rare.” According to the blogger and author,  Juan Antonio García Borrego, the measure has provoked conflicting emotions:
Primero, porque pienso en esos particulares que han hecho sus inversiones (que no son diez centavos) amparados en un texto legal que ahora los deja sin modo de reclamar. Y luego, porque no me queda claro si le medida obedece a la “política”, a secas, o si va respaldada por un estudio serio de lo que viene aconteciendo como tendencia en este universo tecnológico, asociado al consumo audiovisual.
Firstly, because I’m thinking of those private individuals who have made their investments (which are by no means small), based on a legal document which has now left them with no procedure to complain. And secondly, because it’s just not clear to me if this measure is simply kowtowing to “policy” or if it is supported by serious studies of what is emerging as a trend in this technological world, associated with media consumption.
Within the licenses that the Cuban state has granted to private businesses is the “Operador de equipos de recreación” or “Operator of recreational facilities” license, the remit of which is “the installation, operation or lease of facilities for the recreation of the public.”
The license, which excludes nautical facilities, underlines the compliance with regulations regarding security and protection of the facilities and of those using them. Nonetheless, the decision to close down all 3D cinemas is grounded on the nonexistence of a specific regulation for this type of activity, although there are no provisions explicitly prohibiting it, either. According to Gustavo Arcos, “In a situation like this, the real world dynamic indicates that one must created. If the activity proliferates and has success and a social impact there must be a reason.” In Arcos’ view:
La medida se vuelve aún más absurda cuando se sabe que para operar dichos locales, los dueños debían mostrar a los inspectores una licencia emitida desde hace varios años por las propias instancias estatales. Si el Estado se equivocó al otorgárselas bajo una figura tan ambigua, por qué deben los particulares, que tan grande inversión hicieron para preparar y disponer de sus locales, quedarse de buenas a primeras y sin mediar ningún tipo de aviso, estigmatizados, con sus negocios cerrados y enfrentando enormes pérdidas.
The measure begins to look even more absurd when you know that in order to operate these establishments, the owners must show inspectors a license granted several years ago by these very government bodies. If the State was wrong in granting these licenses under such an ambiguous premise, why should these private individuals, who have invested so much in preparing and offering these establishments to the public, out of the blue, and with no type of warning, be stigmatized, have their businesses closed down, and face huge losses.
State alternatives?
This past August, well behind its private sector counterparts, the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográfica ICAIC )opened a 3D cinema in Havana, which showed films like Titanic and Nitro Circus, among others.
The very timid range of offerings by the state sector reaffirms Borrego’s concerns on the State’s potential for “offering the population, in the immediate future, an alternative to what these sole proprietors had already began to offer. To purchase the necessary equipment for all of the cinemas in the country is simply unthinkable.” The Cuban intellectual, Abelardo Mena,  also wonders:
¿Qué sentirían los dueños de las salas cinematográficas en 1959 cuando les aplicaron, del día a la noche, sin interés en negociación alguna, la clausura de sus negocios? Y miren ahora, macilentos, el estado de los cines.
How did the cinema owners back in 1959 feel, when overnight, with no interest in negotiating, the closing of their businesses was imposed on them? And look, now, at the haggard state the cinemas are in.
The professor of the University of Havana, Pedro Noa, reiterates that:
es una verdad de Perogrullo, repetida hasta la saciedad, el estado deplorable de las salas de exhibición cinematográfica a lo largo de toda la Isla. En La Habana, se pueden contar con los dedos de una mano, los cines que conservan cierta dignidad.
It’s a truism, repeated ad nauseum: the deplorable state of the cinemas across the island. In Havana, you can count with the fingers of one hand the cinemas that have managed to hang on to a certain air of dignity.
In his article on the ban of 3D cinemas,  he states that  Roberto Smith, director of the ICAIC,
había señalado que el Instituto no estaba preparado para asumir formatos digitales que ya estaban circulando en el Mundo y que esa era una de las dificultades tecnológicas que iba a enfrentar el Festival del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano en su próxima edición de diciembre.
had stated that the Institute was not prepared to handle digital formats which were already circulating in the world and that this was one of the technological difficulties which the Festival del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano (Festival of New Latin American Cinema) was going to confront in its upcoming December edition.
In the light of the current situation, Noa wonders,
se imaginan (…)que en la Casa del Festival se aparezca uno de los dueños de las salas 3-D de la Capital y le diga a la Presidencia del evento: todo lo que tengan en ese formato digital, envíenmelo, que yo lo exhibo durante esos días con la condición de que me incluyan entre los espacios de exhibición oficiales… La posible respuesta, después de la Nota informativa publicada en Granma el 2 de noviembre, es obvia; pero en ese momento, la posibilidad de que eso ocurriera, me dejó pensando.
you can imagine (…) in the Casa del Festival, one of the owners of the 3D cinemas showing up and saying to the President of the event: everything you have in digital format, send it to me, so I can show it these days, on the condition that you include me in the official exhibition space…The possible response, following the Notice published in Granma on the 2nd of November, is obvious; but at the moment, the possibility of that happening has got me thinking.
State-sanctioned taste
One of the most well-worn criticisms of the private cinemas is the alleged banality of the content. According to García Borrego,
las características de las nuevas tecnologías ponen cada vez más a la mano aquella aspiración que de siempre ha tenido el público de todos los tiempos: ver lo que la gente quiera, no lo que otros le impongan.
The characteristics of new technologies increasingly put within reach the public’s long held aspiration: what the people want to watch, not what others have imposed on them.
For Abelardo Mena,
se trata, en el fondo, de una discusión sobre los modelos de gobernabilidad y/o educación social: el modelo de la escuelita (niños siéntenseeee! escuchen al maestro) o el modelo dialógico previsto incluso por Marx o Paulo Freire (una sociedad se educa a sí misma y eso incluye al partido proletario).
It’s, fundamentally, a discussion on the models of governability and social education: the school model (sit  down children! Listen to Teacher,) or the dialogue model, as prescribed by Marx and Paulo Freire (a society which educates itself, and this includes the proletariat).
In his article, Mena warns:
No debe ni puede existir un consumo cultural estatalista. ¿O es que aplicaremos también el Detector de Ideologías, diseñado por Lazaro Saveedra, a descubrir- como en 1984- si nuestros dirigentes son o no reguetoneros en la intimidad de sus casas? ¿O si son suficientemente cultos para entender el acto de gobernar en sus dimensiones más profundas?.
A state-sanctioned cultural consumption cannot and should not exist. Or should we also apply an Ideology Detector, as designed by Lazaro Saveedra, to find out – as in 1984 – if our leaders are or are not reggaeton artists in the privacy of their homes? Or if they are sufficiently cultured to understand the act of governance in its most profound dimensions?
This point of view was previously tackled by Víctor Fowler, who states that:
si bien cualquier Estado tiene el derecho y la obligación de regular y normar las actividades económicas que en el territorio que abarca son realizadas, ninguno lo tiene para decidir (y esto es de lo que principalmente trata el conflicto) cuál debe de ser el consumo cultural de sus nacionales.
If the State has the right and obligation to regulate and normalize the economic activities within its borders, no one has the right to decide (and this is what the conflict is principally about) what citizens should consuming in cultural terms.
Fowler questions the demonization of a space [the 3D cinema, in this case] of a more superficial form of media consumption, which has also been fed and fueled by state cinema chains, as well as state television, with its broadcasts of US TV series and cookie-cutter programming.
Hints for the future
The majority of those involved in the debate on the ban of the 3D cinemas agree on the need for some form of regulation or provision of this activity. García Borrego adds that the great challenge is for those who think that cultural policies on the audiovisual sector should not be the terrain of prohibition and censorship (pointless steps at this stage), but of intelligent creativity that takes advantage of  technological development for the most diverse purposes.
The state should take into account the criteria of the intellectuals and Cuban citizens. Many of the harshest criticisms refer to the level of inattention to public opinion in the country. In an open letter, Víctor Fowler stresses:
El presente mensaje breve que les envío tiene que como objeto el expresar –pese a que no tenga importancia alguna para algo que ya se decidió y aplicó- mi desacuerdo con la medida.
This brief message I am sending to you is intended to express –despite the fact that it has no significance because the decision has been made and applied– my disagreement with this measure.
With respect to the role of the State, Fowler suggests that
le corresponde la obligación de facilitar una mejor educación y disfrute de la cultura realmente universales, durante la ejecución de sus proyectos esboza y presenta la meta de aquello que considera la virtud ciudadana respecto a la relación entre el individuo nacional y la cultura.
It has the obligation to provide better education and to allow for truly universal access to culture, and in the course of its projects outline and present the objective of civic virtue in regard to the relationship between the individual citizen and culture.

author: Elaine Díaz


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General Motors’ Headquarters Move Out of China · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

China Law Blog's guest writer Greg Anderson commented on the recent announcement on General Motors’ decision to move its international headquarters from Shanghai to Singapore. To answer the question, the writer asked why did GM move its headquarter to China back in 2004.
In hindsight, it seems GM became overly excited about China as Hu Jintao began to halt the reform momentum inherited from his predecessors (following Jiang Zemin’s retirement from the Central Military Commission in 2004).  And now that Xi Jinping may be preparing to implement some big changes in China’s economy, GM is bailing out.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Oiwan Lam


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Global Voices Meetup in Kampala, Uganda · Global Voices
Laura Morris

Our third Global Voices Meetup will take place in Kampala, Uganda on November 23, 2013 at the Hive Colab.
This Meetup is especially targeted at the hundreds of Rising Voices microgrant applicants from across Uganda. Over the past three years, we received the most number of applications from East Africa, including from all corners of Uganda. We hope that this Meetup will help facilitate connections.
The Meetup will bring together many of these community members to share their experiences and help facilitate connections between others that share similar interests or missions. Hosted by two of our community members Maureen Agena (@maureenagena) and Rosebell (@RosebellK), as well as other GV volunteers, the gathering will focus on:
Since the focus of this meetup is primarily for past microgrant applicants, the invitation was initally sent to these groups, and all of the slots are filled.
Follow the event through Twitter via #GVMeetup and for more information, please contact: rising [at] globalvoicesonline.org

author: Laura Morris


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GV Face: Students Occupy Bulgaria’s Future · Global Voices
Sahar Habib Ghazi

On November 10, thousands of Bulgarians took to the streets to mark the 150th day of anti-government demonstrations, chanting “resign,” “mafia” and “shame on you” as they passed parliament.
Hangout participants:
Nevena has a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, from Sofia University, and has studied Sociology as a second university program. She worked as an international News Editor at the Bulgarian Information Agency Focus for two years and as an editor and screenwriter at the Bulgarian National Television for two years. She is currently doing two Master’s degrees in Literature, Cinema and Visual Culture, and in Human Resources Development.

author: Sahar Habib Ghazi


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Jamaica: Abuse of Police Power   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

If the police involved…are allowed to go unpunished aren’t you sending a message to other cops with no respect for human rights, especially the rights of the poor, that they have a license to behave like this?
Active Voice issues a plea to Jamaica's police commissioner after two teens were beaten – one fatally – by police.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Japan’s Independent Tofu Makers Are Rapidly Disappearing · Global Voices
Keiko Tanaka

Photo of a tofu maker's store, in which tofu is produced and sold. Image by Flickr user sawako (CC BY NC ND 2.0)
Japan's Yomiuri Newspaper recently reported [ja] that the country's traditional tofu makers who produce and sell tofu in their own shops are on the verge of extinction. According to the article, in the last ten years, 5,000 tofu makers have closed down their businesses.
Tofu industry journal Toyoshimpo [ja] detailed that the number of tofu makers are decreasing year after year, and now there are fewer than 10,000 tofu sellers in Japan.
Times are getting tougher for these independent tofu providers due to a hike in the cost of soy beans. Supermarkets and grocery stores are demanding lower prices from tofu makers, and independent tofu makers that sell tofu have to compete with the price of cheap mass‐produced tofu, amid Japan's economic stagflation.
The news reverberated on Twitter, where users recalled the tofu makers in their own communities and commented on the state of the industry.
Journalist Shoko Egawa wrote anxiously in response to the news report:
「豆腐の安売りが激しくなっており、どこも経営が苦しい。適正な価格でスーパーに卸すなど販売価格を見直さないと、豆腐屋はいずれなくなってしまう」と。それは困る！　→豆腐店、続々廃業「３６５日働いても利益ない」（読売新聞） http://t.co/QPt3jrhYLq
— Shoko Egawa (@amneris84) November 2, 2013
The report says “The price competition of tofu is increasing, and tofu makers are having a difficult time.If tofu makers don't review the price or start selling their tofu to supermarkets, they will disappear.” Now that is a problem! ―Tofu makers closing down businesses, say there's no profit despite being open 365 days―
Twitter user Kiwi Shiroyama expressed feelings of powerlessness, and commented in grief that despite her personal effort to support the community tofu maker by intentionally avoiding mega-stores that sell tofu, it didn't make a difference:
大手スーパーに、食の文化も安全も乗っ取られてはいけない・・と、できるだけ近所のお店で買い物をするようにしている。 でも、町の美味しいお豆腐屋さんもなくなってしまった。 ■豆腐店、続々廃業「３６５日働いても利益ない」 http://t.co/tNbtTyLy4o …
— 城山キーウィ (@ShiroPineapple) November 2, 2013
I have always made the effort to visit local stores instead of going to a big supermarket, yet my favorite tofu seller in the community closed up shop. ―TTofu makers closing down businesses, say there's no profit despite being open 365 days―
Photo of a tofu store taken by Flickr user vintagecat (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Hiroko Inagaki recommended that people take a hard look at the consequences of cheap tofu prices:
他生産品が値上げするなか低価格のままは確かに歪んでる。無理な低価格は食の安全を脅かすことにも繋がりかねない。安いことは喜ばしいけど、我々も安さの裏側をもっと見なくちゃ。　　　　　豆腐店、続々廃業「３６５日働いても利益ない」（読売新聞） http://t.co/cjmF190Rv6— hiroko Inagaki (@hiroko_Inagaki) November 2, 2013
It is certainly strange to have tofu stuck at low price while other products's prices are rising. Making the price unreasonably low could lead to endanger food safety. It's always delightful to see things at lower prices, but we have to be able to look deeper at the price tag and see what lies behind.―Tofu makers closing down businesses, say there's no profit despite being open 365 days―
Customers visiting a tofu maker in Tsukishima, Tokyo, to purchase tofu. Image by Flickr user urawa (CC BY 2.0)
Twitter user Don Uworry asked tofu makers to raise their prices:
豆腐屋さん、もう安売り競争はやめて、値段が高くて、美味しくて安全な国産大豆の豆腐と豆乳を作ってよ。私、毎日食べるから。ー＞　豆腐店、続々廃業「３６５日働いても利益ない」（読売新聞） – Y!ニュース http://t.co/2sGpLsALVJ
— どん・うをーりー (@kawalle) November 2, 2013
Dear tofu makers, please stop competing with the prices and start making delicious, safe tofu and soy milk made of soybeans grown in Japan with higher prices. I'll have it every day. ―Tofu makers closing down businesses, say there's no profit despite being open 365 days―
A variety of tofu is available in grocery stores, but independent family-owned tofu sellers that make and sell tofu are disappearing.
Image by flickr user shibuya246 (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Atsuko Momoi wished the best for her favorite tofu maker:
大好きな行きつけの豆腐やさん、いつまでも続けていてほしいな。がんばってほしい。だって、あの豆腐屋さんの豆腐は、美味しいし、心がある。 豆腐店、続々廃業「３６５日働いても利益ない」（読売新聞） – Y!ニュース http://t.co/uFBrCSRVSM
— 桃井温子 (@vegetable_love) November 2, 2013
I hope my favorite tofu maker stays in business forever. I'm rooting for them because their tofu is good and has soul.  ―Tofu makers closing down businesses, say there's no profit despite being open 365 days―
Chieda Aritake explained a personal connection to the dire news about tofu makers:
豆腐店、続々廃業「３６５日働いても利益ない」（読売新聞） – Y!ニュース http://t.co/jPIAfQJCo0　うちも、祖母がなくなったと同時に廃業しましたからね…。（大体スーパーの半値）
— 千枝有竹 (@Chieda_Aritake) November 2, 2013
My family used to be tofu maker, but closed right after my grandmother died. ―Tofu makers closing down businesses, say there's no profit despite being open 365 days―
Photo of a tofu maker. Behind him are machines to make tofu. Photo taken by Flickr user iMorpheus (CC BY 2.0)
User ASTORIA_11105 advised consumers to take their fair share of the blame for situation that tough tofu makers find themselves in:
豆腐店、続々廃業「３６５日働いても利益ない」 http://t.co/7mWICZjz1z デフレのせいにして適切な御代を払おうとしない世の認識がそもそも間違っている。豆腐造りを、キチンと利益が取れる事業にしておかないと、やがてそのツケは消費者に回ってくることに気付くべき。
— ASTORIA_11105 (@ASTORIA11105) November 2, 2013
I think the public has been wrong because they have blamed the bad economy on deflation and neglected paying the proper price. Consumers need to realize that if they don't allow tofu makers to profit from what they do, it is going to come back to haunt consumers. ―Tofu makers closing down businesses, say there's no profit despite being open 365 days―

author: Keiko Tanaka


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More Transparency Needed in Uranium Negotiation in Niger  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Anne-Sophie Simpere reports that the Uranium exploitation contract between Niger and Areva, a french energy company, are set to be re-negotiated as it comes to an end as of December 2013. She writes [fr]:
Il est incompréhensible que le Niger, 4ème producteur d’uranium au monde, et fournisseur stratégique d’Areva et de la France, ne tire pas davantage de revenus de cette exploitation et reste l’un des pays les plus pauvres de la planète. Les négociations en cours représentent une occasion historique pour le Niger d’obtenir de meilleures conditions pour l’exploitation de ses ressources, y compris de plus grandes retombées financières. [..] En France, une ampoule sur trois est éclairée grâce à l’uranium nigérien. Au Niger, près de 90% de la population n’a pas accès à l’électricité. Cette situation ne peut plus durer. La France doit prouver que le temps des contrats secrets, des négociations opaques et des pressions sont finies.
It is beyond comprehension that Niger, the fourth largest uranium producer in the world, and strategic supplier of the Areva group and France, do not draw more income from such exploitation and remains one of the poorest countries in the world. The current negotiations represent a historic opportunity for the Niger to obtain better conditions for the exploitation of its resources, including greater financial benefits. [..] In France, one in three light bulbs is powered by uranium from Niger. In Niger, about 90% of the population has no access to electricity. This situation cannot continue. France must prove that the time of secret contracts, opaque negotiations and diplomatic pressures are over.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Notes From the GVMeetup in Cairo · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

Throughout the months of November and December, Global Voices is organizing six in-person ‘meetups’ in Karachi, Kampala, Skopje, Porto, Phonm Penh and Cairo. The meetups are led and facilitated by Global Voices members, who live and know those local communities.
The Cairo meetup took place on November 16, 2013 in “The Workshops” facility in Maadi.
Mohamed ElGohary, Mohamed Adel and myself facilitated the event. We often encounter people who are interested in all the activities taking place in the GV universe, but aren't really sure how to volunteer, so we set up the gathering to introduce people to Global Voices and its daughter projects, Lingua, Advox and Rising Voices.
We also wanted to connect people who have ideas related to using social media for good, but are searching for others to join them or ways to seek funding.
After a short presentation, we asked the attendees to introduce themselves. We live-tweeted while everyone spoke using the #GVMeetup hashtag to share links to projects, blogs and hobbies of attendees.
One of the attendees used to study industrial design, and showed us her blog, Selouk.me, where she writes about the use of design to change people's behaviour. She talked about “gamification” and highlighted creative ideas to encourage people not to throw their litter on the ground.
Two other attendees, an investigative journalist and a law student, found common ground to discuss how laws related to freedom of information in Egypt need to be changed for journalists to carry out their work.
One attendee was interested in Rising Voices, and wanted to know more about the application process because she has an idea for an online platform to help people of her district speak up about the lack of government services in their area.
Yet another attendee was into voice and video editing, and was interested in GV podcasts. A few attendees asked to become authors, while another is developing on a new blogging platform, and we agreed to discuss the possibility of partnerships in the future.
During our conversation, we had some discussion about the importance of copyleft laws. We pointed out that all GV articles are published under a Creative Commons license. Mohamed Adel then gave a quick presentation about Creative Commons and the different license options.
I also gave a quick presentation about how GV authors build their stories from social media updates.
الأصوات العالمية: من نكون. from Global Voices on Vimeo.
We continued talking during coffee and lunch. We also played some short videos about Global Voices, and El-Gohary spoke about how fun it is to be a member of such a huge worldwide community.
GVMeetup in Cairo
We ended the day by sharing our contacts and encouraging attendees to contact us any time they need advice about their personal projects or joining any part of Global Voices.

author: Tarek Amr


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PHOTOS: Dhaka’s Beautiful Blue Sky Briefly Takes Over Web · Global Voices
পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)

White patches of cloud drifting in the sky. A lonely bird is flying. Image by Ashraful Alam, Baily Road, Dhaka. Used with permission.
The Bengali calendar is made up of six seasons, with two months comprising each season. Now is the Hemonto (হেমন্ত), or the dry season. During this season, the sky comes alive with vibrant color, from deep blues and pristine whites to the golden shades of dusk. Snowy patches of clouds hang overhead, and the sun warms the air.
Such was the scene on 17 November, 2013, with the striking beauty of the sky overwhelming the horizon above Bangladesh's capital city Dhaka. Talk of the stunning sight spread like wildfire on social media as netizens shared their beautiful images on Facebook and Twitter, some using the #Dhakasky hashtag. Even some newspapers featured them.
Journalist and blogger Simu Naser (@simunaser) wrote:
বাপরে, নিউজফিড দেখে মনে হচ্ছে আজকাল সবাই কাজ কাম ফেলে আকাশের দিকেই তাকিয়ে থাকে। এটা ভালো।
— Simu Naser (@simunaser) November 17, 2013
Oh no. Looking at newsfeeds, it seems everybody is watching the sky leaving all their work. This is good.
Torongo (@ttorongo) said:
আকাশ দেখে মুগ্ধ হয়েছিলাম বিকেলে, নীল সাদার সুষম কম্বিনেশন পুরো আকাশ জুড়ে।এখন দেখি ব্যাপারটা অনেকেই দেখছে,#ঢাকাস্কাই হ্যাশট্যাগও দেখলাম
— Torongo M (@ttorongo) November 17, 2013
I was amazed by the sky in the afternoon, it was a combination of blue and white stretching to the horizon. Now it seems that everybody's noticing it. Even saw the #Dhakasky hashtag.
Shafiul Alam (@shafiulnub) appreciated the moon too:
দিনের বেলায় জিরাম এট্টা আকাশ ছিল, এখন সিরাম এট্টা চাঁদ উঠছে।
— Shafiul Alam (@shafiulnub) November 17, 2013
During the day, the sky was beautiful, now the moon is stealing the show.
Atif M Safi tweeted an Instagram photo of the sunset:
The beautiful #sky today at #sunset #cloud #skyviewers #dream_sunset #lifeisgood #godhuli @ Dhaka | ঢাকা http://t.co/2lXbtcz3CW
— Atif M Safi (@Atif_Safi) November 17, 2013
Others also shared photos of the sky on Twitter:
#Dhaka landscape #Bangladesh pic.twitter.com/yPvGOjxUME
— Ahmede Hussain (@ahmedehussain) November 17, 2013
Bird of prey… Dhaka Sky #dhakasky (at Nitol-Niloy Tower) [pic] — https://t.co/2ewwpn7CvN
— Simon Templer (@thewickedsaint) November 17, 2013
Many users uploaded pictures of the #Dhakasky. Global Voices republishes some with permission:
Nice cumulonimbus cloud, ideal for kite flying. Image by Tanmoy Kairy, Dhanmondi, Dhaka.
The sky at home. Image by ahmedur Rashid Tutul.
Who has floated the white cloud boats in the sky? Image by Suronjona Haque.
The color of dusk on the sky. Image by Hasan Ahmed Khan. Mirpur, Dhaka
The sky has colored itself. Image by Manju Ahmed. Mohammadpur, Dhaka.
On YouTube, Abhie Zibran shared a video of the sky:

author: পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)


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Protesters, Journalists Speak Out Against Japan’s National Secrecy Bill · Global Voices
Keiko Tanaka

Screenshot from the live stream of the protest against the Secret Information Protection Act on November 21, 2013. Demonstrators chant, “No to secrecy law, protect the constitution.”
Thousands of people marched in Hibiya Park in Tokyo in protest of a bill that stiffens penalties for leaking classified information that could jeopardize national security. The bill has been lambasted by critics who fear it could hinder freedom of the press and the right to information.
Representatives from human rights groups, labor unions, the Japanese Communist party, and concerned citizens joined the protest on November 21. According to the organizer [ja], 7,000 people participated in the march to demand the withdrawal of the bill.
The bill would introduce harsher punishments for leaking national secrets in related to defense, diplomacy, counter-terrorism, and counter-espionage, but it remains unclear how the so-called Secret Information Protection Act would define what is a “national secret”.
The day before the march, a group of journalists organized a press conference in Tokyo to publicly object to the bill. Journalist and critic Soichiro Tahara spoke [ja] at the gathering:
私たちが普段やっている取材では、オフレコ取材、共謀、教唆などあたりまえ。この法律で“不当な取材”とされたら10年の懲役刑を喰らう。これでは報道は萎縮してしまう。これは危険きわまりない法律で、とんでもない
The job of journalists like us commonly involves off-the-record news gathering…If the bill is put into force, our job of reporting could be considered an act of inappropriate reportage, and we could face ten years in prison. This would make journalists wither. A bill like this is nothing but dangerous, and truly absurd.
Journalists criticize the Secret Information Protection Act at a press conference held in Tokyo on November 20, 2013. Image captured by Labornet Japan
Article 19, a London-based organization concerned with freedom of expression, also condemns the bill:
ARTICLE 19 urges the Japanese National Diet (Japanese Parliament) to reject the pending Special Secret Protection Bill. The bill violates international standards on freedom of expression and the right to information.
On the Internet, a number of users mentioned the bill. According to social media analytics, more than 370,000 tweets mentioned the bill during the week of the protest. Users published their messages under the hashtag “Demolish the Secrecy Act”(#秘密保護法をブッ潰せ) to express their sentiments against the proposed law.
Aside from the danger that the bill poses for access to information and freedom of expression, a pseudonymous lawyer known as “K” pointed out in an article [ja] on Weekly Playboy that foreign spies might not be subject to the penalties of leaking information:
このままでは日本ばかりが外国の機密を守る義務が生じて、日本の機密は他国に奪われ放題という悲惨な状態に陥ってしまうと思います……
I think, ultimately, the law would only obligate Japan to protect secret information potentially designated as such by foreign countries, while Japan's national secrets can be spied on and obtained by other countries, which would be a terrible situation.


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Racism, the United Nations, and the Dutch Saint Nicholas Tradition · Global Voices
Lourdes Sada

A child's painting representing Saint Nicholas and Black Pete. Image by Vera de Kok on Wikimedia Commons with license CC by SA 3.0
The children of Belgium, The Netherlands, and other European countries wait with impatience for the arrival of Saint Nicholas on December 6 because in those countries he is responsible – like Santa Claus or the Three Wise Men – for bringing them gifts if they have behaved well. But this year, the shadow of racism hangs over this beautiful tradition.
Saint Nicholas, according to an old song, arrives from Spain in a boat, and during the entire night he runs from one house to another on his donkey accompanied by his helper, Zwarter Piet (Black Pete, in Dutch) or Père Fouettard (Father lasher, in French). This character is a young black man, represented by white people with painted black faces, wigs, and clothing like the ones used in the 16th century. Zwarte Piet is the “bad guy” that hands out coal to the children who haven't been good. However, as Alix Guillard says on her blog Me in Amsterdam [FR],
Aux Pays-Bas, alors que la sévérité envers les enfants n'est plus de mise, on n'a pas abandonné ce personnage. Mais il s'est transformé en joyeux drille sympatique qui amuse les enfants, beaucoup plus que ce vieil évèque un peu trop rigide.
In The Netherlands, although severity with children is no longer admissible, they have not abandoned the character. But he has transformed into a nice, good natured urchin who amuses the children much more than that old Bishop that is perhaps too rigid.
Diverse groups have protested for years against the way in which the tradition treats Zwarte Piet, calling it racist. The black face of Zwarte Piet, doesn't have a clear origin: there are those who say he is a Moor that arrived from Spain with Saint Nicholas, others maintain that the black face is because he enters houses through the chimney, or that it also could be a reminder of slavery in the colonies, or even the Devil himself.
This year the Dutch government received a letter from the United Nations Working Group on People of African Descent. In the letter, the group requested that the Dutch government respond to accusations of racism.
A member of the group, Verene Shepherd, a Jamaican, actually suggested in a radio interview a radical change for Saint Nicholas, as stated in Le Monde [FR]:
Verene Shepherd, member of the group that started the polemic. Photo from the blog of Arjen Wilbers.
si j'habitais aux Pays-Bas, je m'opposerais à la Saint-Nicolas (…) Cela ne devrait pas exister au 21e siècle. C'est offensant et scandaleux. Après tout, quel est le problème avec le père Noël ? Pourquoi devriez-vous avoir deux ‘Santa Claus’ ?”
If I lived in The Netherlands, I would oppose the Saint Nicholas celebration. It should not exist in the 21st century. It is offensive and scandalous. After all, what is the problem with Father Christmas? Why do they have to have two “Santa Claus”?
In Belgium and Holland, these comments were interpreted as an illustration of complete ignorance of the Saint Nicholas tradition, considered the precursor to Santa Claus and a severe lack of respect to a very beloved tradition in those countries. Shepherd's weds provoked an authentic alluvium of reactions across the internet with messages like that of jicé on 7sur7.be [FR]:
Bravo Madame Verene Shepherd !!! . . Grace à une idiote comme vous, Marine Le Pen vient encore de prende 10 pts dans les sondages !!!
Bravo, Ms. Verene Shepherd! Thanks to an idiot like yourself, Marine Le Pen ends up winning 10 more points in the polls!
[Marine Le Pen is the french candidate of the Front National political part of the extreme right]
On Facebook, the page Pietitie [Dutch], launched on October 22, 2013 to defend the Zwarte Piet tradition, has about 2,200,000 “likes.” Peter Udo left the following comment [Dutch] on the page:
Berichtje voor de VN: Is er niet ergens een oorlog, hongersnood of genocide gaande waar jullie je beter druk om kunnen maken??
Note to the UN: Isn't there a war, famine, or genocide anywhere where your work is needed more?
Saint Nicholas, surrounded by his helpers Zwarte Piete, waves from the boat that brought him from Spain. Photo by 12Danny12 on Wikimedia Commons with copyleft license.
The debate runs the risk of dividing society and accuses the groups on the extreme left of taking political advantage. However, others have preferred to downplay the issue, and look for judicious reasons to maintain the tradition without offending anyone. The actor Erik van Muiswinkel, who has played the character for years, wrote in nrc.nl [Dutch]:
Zwarte Piet is een vrolijk relikwie uit racistische tijden, dat staat wel vast. (…)Ik vond het altijd wel mooi dat zo’n apert politiek incorrecte traditie, witte mensen die zich zwart schminken (…), in Nederland juist wel kon. (…) hij hoort bij Sint als Sancho Panza bij Don Quichot.
Zwarte Piete is a happy relic of racist times, certainly. (…) I always thought that it was fine that a tradition that is so politically incorrect as a white person with a face painted black (…) was possible in The Netherlands. (…) [Zwarte Piet] is with Saint Nicholas as Sancho Panza was with Don Quijote.
Barbara Woestenburg-Buijnsters left this comment [Dutch] on the Pietitie on Facebook:
Zwarte Piet is een schoorsteenveger en Sinterklaas is een Turk en ze wonen in Spanje en dat vieren wij in Nederland – het is gewoon het beste integratie feestje aller tijden!
Zwarte Piet is a chimney sweeper and San Nicolas is a Turk, living together in Spain, and that is what we celebrate in the Netherlands: The best celebration of integration that exists!
Meanwhile, the UN has settled the debate firmly disavowing the working group that created the controversy. Thus the Belgian representative to UNESCO, Marc Jacobs, expressed:
[Verene Shepherd] is nothing more than a consultant who has abused the UN name for her personal objectives in the media (…). The four signatories of the letter do not belong to a competent body of the UNESCO, they only used the letterhead, namely the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

author: Lourdes Sada


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RESULTS: Uganda’s First Ever Social Media Awards · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The first ever Uganda Social Media Awards (SMAs) took place on 15 November 2013 at The Hub, Oasis Mall in Kampala, Uganda.
Social Media Awards 2013 banner.
The objectives of the awards, which were organised by BluFlamingo, were:
The Uganda SMA’s (Social Media awards) is Uganda’s first event that seeks to bring together individuals and organizations that are at the frontline when it comes to using social media for entertainment, change, sharing of ideas, creating communities and talking to customers online.
The awards seek to reward those individuals and organizations that are making a concerted effort to harness the power of social media to engage and build communities online. From avid face-bookers to twitter personalities and passionate bloggers.
This first of a kind event will be held on November 15th 2013 and will bring together not just the digitally aware, but also corporate organizations at the forefront of new media and those who have contributed to the growth of social media in Uganda.
The winners of different categories were:
Best Entertainment website – BigEye
Best Entertainment individual writer – Moses Serugo
Best blogger – Beewol
Corporate – MTN Uganda
News & info company – NTV Uganda
News & info individuals – Songa Stone
Civil service – Kampala Capital City Authority
Best innovation – Matatu
Best customer care – Airtel Uganda
Social justice – Barefoot lawyers Uganda
Crisis management award – National Water and Sewerage Corporation
Best media outlet print – The Red Pepper
Best media outlet radio – Power FM
Best media outlet TV – NTV Uganda
Celebrity – Anne Kansiime
Photography – Echwalu Photography
Best social media campaign – 40 days & 40 smiles
Judge’s choice – Proggie Uganda
The winners were nominated through online public voting and later selected by a panel of five judges.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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‘Kill the Man, Rape My Girlfriend’ Singapore’s Army Removes Violent Lyrics from Marching Song · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Falcon Company of the Singapore army. Image by cyberpioneer, Singapore Ministry of Defence, Flickr.
The Singapore Armed Forces has banned the lyrics from the marching song Purple Light after a feminist group pointed out that it promotes sexual violence against women. The controversial verse of the song which is popular in the National Service makes reference to rape:
Booking out, see my girlfriend
Saw her with another man
Kill the man, rape my girlfriend
With my rifle and my buddy and me.
The army immediately responded to the complaint of the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE):
We understand that there have been some concerns about a ban on the popular marching song Purple Light because of an offensive verse. We would like to clarify that Purple Light has not been banned. However, steps have been taken to stop the offensive verse from being sung in the SAF, as it runs contrary to the values of our organisation and should not be condoned.
Aside from clarifying that the Purple Light song is not banned, the army also published the original version of the song:
Booking out, saw my girlfriend / Saw her with another man / Broken heart, back to Army / With my rifle and my buddy and me
The issue generated an intense online debate. Many people applauded the ban while others derided the ‘exaggerated’ reaction of feminist groups. AWARE addressed several of these criticisms:
Words are powerful. They shape social norms and our collective sense of what is acceptable. Our contention has never been that singing “rape my girlfriend” will by itself cause anyone to commit the deed. Rather, a society which treats mocking references to rape as entertainment then encourages rapists to view their acts as acceptable and causes rape victims to feel unsupported.
Typical, Really agreed that the song trivializes rape:
If singing about it “for fun” doesn’t trivialise rape, then what does? It’s worth keeping in mind that this is a song sung by thousands of men who don’t interact with anyone except other men for most of their waking hours for two years, and it’s very, very easy for even the most compassionate of people to lose sight of the humanity of those who aren’t actually in their sight.
Bay Ming Ching urged Singaporeans to fight patriarchy:
I seriously think that army misogyny does not just arise from the bottom; it is sponsored by state narratives on the in-viability of women's bodies to serve in the army and are more suited to stay at home and raise kids.
I see this as a minor victory for gender equality but I'm not celebrating because by banning the stupid verse, it doesn't address the root cause of the problem which is patriarchy.
I On Singapore appreciated the ban as a small step to change a culture which is biased against women:
National Service is a phase that all Singaporean men go through. It is important that the right values are instilled in young men while they are in service. In addition to values such as loyalty to country, leadership and discipline, effort should be made to instil respect for women as well.
Small steps like these help to shape culture and address wrong attitudes towards women at their root.
To sing songs with lyrics that advocate violence and sexual assault is an intrinsic wrong and deeply unbecoming of our young men. It is also deeply insensitive to victims of such sexual violence
Visa learned about the song during his National Service days and he supports the decision of the army to ban the controversial lyrics:
I served National Service (NS) too, I remember singing along to “kill the man, rape my girlfriend.”
To be honest, I didn’t think very much of it then. I was in a happy, healthy relationship, and rape just seemed too “far out” to possibly matter. Army boys joking about raping unfaithful girlfriends…it’s like girls joking about castrating unfaithful boyfriends, right? Harmless fun? Nobody gets hurt?
Not quite.
You see, Singaporean women do get raped. This happens way, way, WAY more regularly than most of us realise. We don’t often hear about this, because rape victims are silent and silenced. Many of us actually blame them for getting raped.
This isn’t a just-for-fun debate, we’re talking about something with real consequences, with real victims, with real pain and suffering.
But Benjamin Chiang is not quite happy with how AWARE raised the issue. He remembered how the song Purple Light inspired many soldiers:
Purple Light actually has rather moving lyrics. Crudness aside, after marching for 16km and singing these lyrics, I never felt more a soldier.
Purple Light,
At the warfront,
There is where,
My Buddy dies,
If I die,
would you bury me?
With my rifle and my buddy and me….
And when it comes to protecting our women, we will do so even if it means giving up our lives.
Think about that AWARE.
Darryl Kang insisted that the song does not normalize rape:
I respectfully disagree with AWARE. I think AWARE, and a lot of people, are reading too much into this song. It is just a song. A nonsense song that soldiers sing during marching and route march to take their mind off their tiredness. It means nothing.
Singing this song does not mean that the men tolerate and normalise the violent sexual abuse of women. It does not justify rape as a punishment for infidelity.
For goodness sake, it is just a song. By saying that this song normalise rape is like saying First Person Shooter game normlise killing. And if that is the case, then maybe we should ban all violent games. And don’t stop there. There are tons of movies and TV series that have rape or violence in the story line.
Is this the kind of nanny state that you want to live in? Is this going to do anything to solve the problem? Wake up!
Natalie KSL got frustrated with Facebook comments that criticize the decision to ban the lyrics:
I wouldn’t be upset if there were the occasional dissenting voice about freedom of speech and censorship. But it honestly scares me that the side supporting the use of the song overwhelms the other by a drastic amount.
It just makes me so incredibly sad.

author: Mong Palatino


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South Korea: Suffering of the Sacrificial ‘Wide Goose Fathers’ · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

‘Wide Goose Father’ is a commonly-used term in South Korea referring to sacrificial fathers who send their wife and children abroad for better education, but themselves remain in South Korea to work and cover all the expenses. The number of wild goose fathers has been steadily increasing over the years and recently, local media revealed that 70 percent of them suffer from depression and 77 percent from inadequate nutrition. Simon Kim from Korea Bang site translated related articles and net users’ responses to the news.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Story of a Democratic Blackout: Valencia’s Public Television Shuts Down (Part 1) · Global Voices
Lidia Ucher

Radio Televisión Valenciana (RTVV), a public entity born in 1989 in Valencia, Spain, has closed.
On the afternoon of November 5, the announcement from the Valencian government fell like a bucket of cold water among television and public radio workers, as that very morning they celebrated a sentence that declared the Layoff (ERE) [es], with which the public entity laid off 1,000 employees, void. This layoff, according to the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community, violated the principle of equality under Article 14 of the Spanish Constitution by following “ambiguous, subjective, and generic” criteria and recognized the right to the reinstatement of the laid off workers.
Soon after, however, the shock turned into indignation for a large part of Valencian society, and workers responded to it by firmly defending public television: Born was the slogan “RTVV no es tanca” (RTVV does not shut down) that quickly spread across social networks with the hashtag #RTVVnoestanca [es].
For its “grand finale,” people took to the streets in defense of “a public Valencian Television Radio, in valenciano and of quality” with the slogan: “RTVV does not shut down. It is yours” and cries of “Resign, Fabra!” (referring to the President of the Generalitat Valenciana, Albert Fabra).
The demonstration  massive, festive, and demanding  was held on Saturday, November 9, following four days of Valencians organizing daily “mascletà” displays: a void ERE, the RTVV shutdown announcement, the layoff of the RTVV management team for “lack of confidence in the Consell” after “having not told the truth” [es], the rebellion of the channel's workers, which triples the audience [es] with an independent and uncensored program, and like a wick that quickly ignites on social networks, the final announcement that the Fabra Government will shut down the public television shutdown via an urgent ruling by decree [es], “to control RTVV” and not prolong the agony of a television that at times leaves Fabra and the Consell in the buff.
Causes of the shutdown
“Ultimately, what they're taking away is democracy.” [es] This was one of the first, forceful citizen reactions gathered on the streets by Spanish public television's news bulletin “La 2 Noticias” [es] within hours of news breaking on November 5: Radio Televisió Valenciana was closing. The very news anchor, Mara Torres, elaborated on it as follows on her Twitter account [es]:
El cerrojazo a #RTVV. En #La2N
— Mara Torres (@maratorres_tve) noviembre 5, 2013
Abrupt shutdown of #RTVV. On #La2N
Social networks quickly echoed the government's announcement, just barely after credit was given to the first reports from workers of the entity themselves via their Twitter accounts, where they also almost simultaneously received the support of colleagues in the public media, such as programs like “Countries in Conflict” from the stated owned station Radio Nacional de España.
El gobierno valenciano anunciará en las próximas horas el cierre de #RTVV según El Mundo. Los trabajadores no tenemos confirmación. — Vicent Montagud (@vicentmontagud) noviembre 5, 2013
The Valencian government will announce the shutdown of #RTVV in the next few hours, according to El Mundo. We workers do not have confirmation.
Trabajo en un medio de comunicación público, siempre he creído en lo público y siempre lo apoyaré. Con @vicentmontagud y compañer@s #RTVV
— paisesenconflicto (@paisesconflicto) noviembre 5, 2013
I work in a public medium, I have always believed in the public and will always support them. With @vicentmontagud and #RTVV colleagues
Impact on the media and social networks
Thus was born the slogan “RTVV no es tanca” (RTVV does not shut down), which quickly spanned social networks with the hashtag #RTVVnoestanca [es]:
A falta de confirmació, hui pot ser el dia més trist de la meua vida. #RTVVNoEsTanca
— Vicent Marco (@Vicent_Marco) noviembre 5, 2013
Lacking confirmation, today may be the saddest day of my life. #RTVVNoEsTanca
Within a few hours, the hashtag that Vicent Marco used for the first time, #RTVVnoestanca became a trending topic in Spain:
@Vicent_Marco la 1ª mención del hashtag #RTVVNoEsTanca aparece en tu TL. ¡Ahora es Tendencia en España! #trndnl
— Trendinalia España (@trendinaliaES) noviembre 5, 2013
@Vicent_Marco the first mention of hashtag #RTVVNoEsTanca appeared on your TL. Now it is a trending topic in Spain! #trndnl
Channel 9 of Radio Televisión Valenciana announced the news echoing the statement made by the Valencian Government [es] and the agency's teleprinters, and news bulletin “Notícies 9″ opened that same night with part of the workforce in front of the cameras, supporting the statement their colleagues read about the shut down:
The tone of the statement is harsh and places responsibility on the government of the “Consell” (Valencian government) which they brand with “poor political and economic management that has destroyed this medium.” [es]
The speech by President of the Generalitat Valenciana, Albert Fabra, ended up angering not only the television and public radio workforce, but also much of the Valencian citizenry. And in his on-camera appearance, he even justifies the public television shutdown “to maintain basic services for citizens: eduction, health, and social policies.”
“Fabra does not assume responsibilities”
In a report labeled “historic”, the Canal 9 TV workforce decided to dedicate special programming to the shutdown of the public channel, with a editorial line that was clearly in protest and made them open with a headline never before imagined in Valencian television: “Fabra does not assume responsibilities” (see minute 0:26 of the video entitled “Fabra does not assume responsibilities):
The decision of the professionals to protest a “public television, in valenciano and of quality” to the last consequences was a setback for the Valencian government, which fearlessly received the protests before the RTVV shutdown from the very Radio Televisión Española [es] and all of the regional public television stations [es] except in the case of TeleMadrid in addition to reactions from journalists, labor unions, universities [es] and political opposition groups in the Corts Valencianes.
All of this was echoed by Canal 9 TV and the rest of the Valencian media, like Cartelera Turia [es], who also took to social networks to discusse the political intrigue surrounding the entity's management and commented on the scuffle between parliamentarians [es]:
The Canal 9 TV broadcast came to a boil: protest promos, journalists from the entity that took to the street with cameras in hand seeking support from the citizens, direct from hot spots covering student, parliamentarian, teacher, and labor union protests against the television shutdown and heated debated around political causes in addition to consequences throughout the entire Valencian audiovisual industry involving politicians and civic organizations often vetoed [es] by the public channel, enraged social networks [es] and a permanent “fly” on television screens: #RTVVNoEsTanca.

author: Lidia Ucher


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The Caribbean Review of Books Reinvents Itself Online  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Regional litbloggers will be glad to know that The Caribbean Review of Books is back in publication – online – with some help from Bocas Lit Fest.


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Ukraine Suspends EU Deal, Protesters Fill Kyiv’s Independence Square · Global Voices
Tetyana Bohdanova

Ukrainians protest in support of EU integration in Kyiv, November 21, 2013. Photo by Instagram user zenantipop; used with permission.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Ukraine's capital, hours after their government pulled away from a historic European Union (EU) partnership deal that would help the former Soviet country integrate further in to Europe and warm up to the West.
The move comes after Russia offered Kiev loans and imposed painful restrictions on some Ukraine exports, which were interpreted as aggressive measures to derail the EU deal.
On November 21, 2013, the Ukrainian government officially announced that it would suspend preparations for the EU-Ukraine Association agreement, which was expected to be signed next week. Soon after the news broke, opposition politicians called on citizens to join in a protest against this decision, scheduled for Sunday, November 24.
However, journalists, activists and other citizens on the Internet immediately began to spread invitations for people to come to Kyiv's main square on the very evening of November 21. Sometime after 10 pm, people began to gather on Maidan Nezaleshnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv to protest the government's decision and demonstrate their support for Ukraine's European integration. The protest has been dubbed #євромайдан (#euromaidan or #eurosquare) by protesters on social media sites.
Taras Demchuk, a blogger from Kyiv, tweeted [uk]:
думаю їхати на #євромайдан, хз чи щось змінить, але годі мовчати
— Тарас Демчук (@tdyoma) November 21, 2013
[I am] thinking of going to #євромайдан, who knows if it changes anything, but [we] should not stay silent anymore
Yana Suporovska, a Ukrainian television reporter, explained in one quick tweet [uk] that this, to many Ukrainians, was one bad decision too many by their government:
Вперше за багато років щиро хочу вийти на #євромайдан. І вийду.
— Яна Супоровська (@YanaSuporovska) November 21, 2013
For the first time in years I genuinely want to go to #євромайдан. And I will.
Oleksandr Arhat, another journalist from Kyiv, reported [uk] when he arrived to the venue of the protest:
Прийшов на #Євромайдан . Тут @GrishynUA @OlhaSnitsarchuk @nerodyk @ja_olga @sodel_vlad і ще купа народу)
— Oleksandr Arhat (@olarhat) November 21, 2013
I came to #Євромайдан. @GrishynUA @OlhaSnitsarchuk @nerodyk @ja_olga @sodel_vlad are all here, and a bunch of other people)
User @Roman2the_world on Twitter said:
I am Ukrainian and I support EU-UA association agreement Євромайдан #Euromaidan. Come together.RT show your support pic.twitter.com/QpU3eu82wv
— Roman (@Roman2the_world) November 21, 2013
EU officials were quick to blame Russia for Ukraine's decision on Twitter. The European commissioner for enlargement, tweeted:
#Ukraine:hard to overlook in reasoning for today's decision impact of #Russia‘s recent unjustified economic & trade measures against Kyiv.
— Štefan Füle (@StefanFuleEU) November 21, 2013
Carl Bildt Sweden's Foreign Minister point-blank blamed Russia:
Ukraine government suddenly bows deeply to the Kremlin. Politics of brutal pressure evidently works. http://t.co/IQSnb7Ifu7
— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) November 21, 2013
Russia wants Ukraine to join its own customs union with Kazakhstan and Belarus, which it sees as a potential rival to the EU.
Even those who disagree with EU integration, like Dmitri Pavlenko from the Belgorod region of Russia, were humorous about what they had to say [ru]:
Даешь ответный #майдан за немедлен. вступление в #ТаможенныйСоюз ! Геть #ЕС ! Ганьба подлым предателям- приспешникам Вашингтона и Брюсселя!
— Дмитрий Павленко (@dmitropavlenko) November 21, 2013
How about #майдан [a protest] in support of #ТаможенныйСоюз [Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia] instead? #ЕС [EU] go away! Shame on despicable henchmen of Washington and Brussels!
In the meantime, the number of people on Maidan has reached a thousand [uk]. Soon enough, UStream user КПІ-live set up a live online broadcast of the protest. At the time of writing this post, the number of users watching the broadcast reached about 10,000 viewers.
Twitter user @kraft99 wonders [ru]:
Похоже в #Украина может начаться твиттерная революция #Майдан #Євромайдан #UA #Ukraine #Украіна #Евроинтеграция #twitter
— Kraft (@kraft99) November 21, 2013
Looks like in #Украина [Ukraine] a Twitter revolution is about to begin #Майдан #Євромайдан #UA #Ukraine #Украіна #Евроинтеграция #twitter
Many have noted that this protest comes exactly on the eve of the 9th anniversary of the Orange Revolution, a series of protests that took place in Ukraine in 2004.
According to on-going online comments and conversations, it appears the protesters plan to stay the night and hold their ground. For the latest developments on the protests follow Maidanua.Org [uk] or the hashtags #євромайдан and #euromaidan on Twitter and Facebook.

author: Tetyana Bohdanova


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Uzbekistan’s “Twitter Warrior” Gulnara Karimova Is Back · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

After disappearing from Twitter yesterday, Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Uzbekistan's “enduring dictator“, has returned to the micro-blogging service. In a flurry of angry tweets, Gulnara is blaming [ru] her mother for using intimidation and arbitrary arrests against her colleagues, allies, and business partners. Gulnara also suggests that her mother is preventing her from seeing Islam Karimov, her 74-year-old father who has ruled the country since 1989.
In a post re-tweeted by Gulnara, one of her followers wrote today [ru]:
@GulnaraKarimova стреляет как хороший пулемет ее аккаунт открыт.@korobkov
— Елена (@elenapetuhov) November 22, 2013
@GulnaraKarimova fires like a good machine gun; her account is open.

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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VIDEO: Fighting Pakistan’s YouTube Ban, One Hug at a Time · Global Voices
Qurratulain (Annie) Zaman

Screenshot of Pakistan For All's video “If you want me back, hug me” protesting Pakistan's YouTube ban.
YouTube has been banned in Pakistan for more than a year, but the love for the video-sharing site in the country has not died. Many Pakistanis use proxy or VPN services to use it.
Speaking up for YouTube is organization Pakistan For All (PFA), a collective of concerned citizens outraged by the persecution of minorities in Pakistan. They are resolved to stand in the way of those that seek to oppress others.
Recently, PFA released a clip on video-sharing site Vimeo to protest the ban. In the video, a YouTube mascot moves through the southern port city of Karachi with a placard, “If you want me back, hug me”.
Global Voices recently talked with Ziad Zafar, a journalist, documentary filmmaker and one of the founding members of PFA.
Global Voices (GV): What was the motivation behind making this video?
Ziad Zafar (ZZ): The motivation was easy. Like all Pakistanis, we are deeply frustrated at being cut off from the world in this manner. YouTube is not only about funny cat videos and fail blogs, (though, God how we miss them!) it is truly a window onto the world and pivotal to how a new generation communicates with itself globally. YouTube allows Pakistanis to participate in a burgeoning global knowledge-economy, where access to information is truly democratic.
Ziad Zafar of Pakistan For All
This is crucial for a country like Pakistan where education is dispensed unevenly and which has one of the largest youth populations in the world. It is criminal for the government to deprive its citizens of such an important resource.
The video is part of a campaign called #KholoBC which is run by Pakistan For All, of which I am a member. We are opposed to all forms of state censorship and content regulation on the Internet. We want to make Pakistanis aware that there is a concerted and insidious effort underway to undermine our online freedoms using the smokescreen of national security and religion.
A lack of organised resistance against state censorship has visibly emboldened the administration to clamp down further on online freedoms.
Co-founder of PFA Sabeen Mahmud (left) and Ziad Zafar
In March 2012, the Pakistani government took the decision to purchase and install a nationwide content-filtering service which would operate on similar lines to China's Golden Shield or “Great Firewall” This Filtering Tool has been purchased from a Canadian company called ‘Netsweeper‘ and installation of this system has been completed in recent weeks. We believe this is a very ominous development for the future of online freedoms in Pakistan and that citizens should be aware of this.
Hugs for YouTube! #KholoBC from Ziad Zafar on Vimeo.
GV: It is a very interesting anti-censorship campaign. Where did the idea come from?
ZZ: One of the primary reasons we wanted to do this was, that we wanted to alert people's attention to the fact that the YouTube ban does not arise out of public or moral pressure. While the initial pretext may have been blasphemous content, the administration views YouTube and other social media instruments as subversive tools, and so are keen to go on suppressing them. From the Arab spring to Occupy Wall street, YouTube and other forms of social media have been central to a new wave of social movements that have swept the globe in recent years. The mindset in the bureaucratic-administration in Pakistan is cognisant of this, and so there is no real appetite to re-open the video sharing website.
#KholoBC is a Pakistan for All campaign opposed to all forms of state censorship and content regulation on the Internet.
It is important to note that other than initial global protests following the release of the film ‘Innocence of Muslims’ there has been virtually no public pressure brought on the government from political or religious circles to uphold the ban. Most Pakistanis want YouTube back . It is revealing to look at the index of most visited websites in Pakistan, the top 3 are proxy websites! This means that the majority of people logging on to the net are trying to bypass government controls.
GV: Are you planning to take your YouTube mascot to other cities?
ZZ: We have several other ideas in the pipeline for the #KholoBC campaign, and yes, Youtube will be making a return appearance at some point.
GV: what is the reaction in Pakistan?
ZZ: To be honest, we were a bit apprehensive at the beginning, fearing an adverse reaction from some religious nut, but the response was overwhelmingly favourable. It was such relief to be able to see ordinary citizens express themselves openly despite a creeping mood of fear and censorship that is taking grip in Pakistan. While there maybe antipathy towards YouTube from some religious sections, the vast majority of Pakistanis understand that YouTube is not synonymous with blasphemous content.
GV: Please describe how this citizens’ initiative Pakistan For All works.
ZZ: Pakistan for All is a broad based alliance of citizen and community groups fighting for progressive and working class issues. We believe strongly in direct-action and feel that in order to achieve any measure of success we have to galvanise ordinary citizens to fight for themselves and each other. We are encouraging people to get involved, to get political and be part of the pushback.
Human chain in Karachi in solidarity with the minorities of Pakistan.
GV: How many citizens are involved with you in your activities?
ZZ: We are a voluntary organisation supported by ordinary citizens. Dozens of people have been involved in our efforts so far, and we are steadily developing a large nationwide network.
GV: Earlier, Pakistan For All held a human chain campaign in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad? What was that experience like?
ZZ: Our group asked Pakistani Muslims to come forward and offer themselves as human shields to protect Christians during mass in the aftermath of the Peshawar church bombing that killed 85 people. Hundreds of ordinary citizens responded to our call and formed the shield in three cities. Since then we have had countless messages of support and solidarity by citizens expressing a desire to be a part of our efforts and the group is growing everyday.

author: Qurratulain (Annie) Zaman


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After Haiyan Disaster, Philippines Calls for Relief and Justice for Climate Change Victims · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

North Cebu was also hit by typhoon Haiyan. Photo by Act Regionseven, Facebook
Also see our Special Coverage Haiyan Devastates the Philippines
The massive destruction wrought by super typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in central Philippines has intensified the call for greater global action to address the harsh impact of climate change in the world especially in vulnerable small island nations.
Yeb Sano, the Philippine government’s lead negotiator at the Warsaw climate talks, became the voice of many poor nations which have been demanding the ratification of more effective pollution controls. Aside from delivering a well-applauded speech at the UN conference, Yeb also created an online petition asking netizens to stand in solidarity will all victims of climate change. As of this writing, the petition already has more than 700 thousand signatures:
Stand in solidarity with the people of the Philippines and all victims of climate change worldwide. Together our voices can push the governments meeting at the UN climate summit happening now to ratchet up pollution controls and help poorer communities with funding.
The question that will determine our survival is: can humanity rise to the occasion? I still believe we can.
Haiyan wiped out entire villages in Samar and Leyte provinces and displaced more than eight million people in the Visayas islands. It caused a storm surge killing thousands in an instant.
Many Filipinos are already urging the government to take decisive actions in relation to the country’s preparation for bigger natural disasters caused by climate change. Tony La Vina of Ateneo University believes that adaptation is not enough:
Yolanda’s message is that we can never adapt adequately to climate change. But still, we do not want to have many of our islands decimated regularly and for our people to continually start from scratch losing homes and livelihoods.
Adaptation clearly is not enough and we have to make sure that the human causes for climate change – greenhouse gas emissions coming from the use fossil fuels and land use activities – are mitigated. And while mitigation must be global, we in the Philippines must do our share if we are to have the moral high ground in asking rich countries to reduce their emissions and to help us adapt and in times of disaster.
Environment crusader Macky Lovina reminds the United States government that more than sending humanitarian assistance to the Philippines, it must prioritize the reduction of its carbon emissions:
Now we love the US? I have nothing against Americans, after all I've lived there practically half my life, and I'm grateful to all the men and women who have gone out of they're way to bring relief to disaster struck areas, but let's not forget one thing… The reason Typhoon Yolanda is here, and it will be here again and again, is largely because of US govn't policy that encourages and aggressively promotes the fossil fuel, mining and conventional agriculture industries. So when I see American politicians making sentimental speeches about the long friendship between the US and the Philippines, I know it's not real. After all if they really had the Philippines well being in mind then they would do their best to slow down Climate Change. In fact they're doing the opposite, knowing full well that islands like the Philippines will be the hardest hit.
On Twitter, Jason appeals to other countries:
I hope that those who countries who pledged for the victims of Yolanda will also sign the Agreement on Climate Change.
— Jason Tupas (@kayeSIjason) November 22, 2013
This useful map of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs shows the devastated areas and relief efforts in the Visayas
Meawhile, Enteng Bautista links the slow response of the government in mobilizing relief and rescue operations to the private control of the transport and heavy industry sectors:
In times of national disaster or emergency the government should have the power to mobilize and direct the assets and resources to help the people such as ships, planes, power barges, mobile communication and medical facilities. But why it could not and just hoping for the ‘soft heart’ of select few? Precisely because it is privately owned and controlled by the select few and powerful.
Tacloban City, the ground zero of the typhoon disaster. Photo by Gerg Cahiles
This video shows houses being swept away in Hernani, Samar during the storm:
Donations are still needed by typhoon victims two weeks after the storm hit the country. Aid distribution is getting faster but there are still many areas which are lacking in basic services. Waray Bayaay: Relief and Donation Drive for Leyte asks for bike donations to facilitate faster distribution of relief and sending of information in remote areas:
…we would like to equip the Leytenos with bikes as public transport is still unavailable to most. They need it to get relief goods from city centers or command posts (most who live in the most interior parts of the city or far barrios are not able to get because of inaccessibility); they need bikes to get to work or get food; they need it to deliver news (there is no network signal outside of Tacloban), whether to report illness or danger or relatives looking for them. Imagine walking 18 kilometers just to get to Tacloban City!
Chronicles of a Nursing Mom warns against sending of formula milk in evacuation centers:
I am truly saddened because the Yolanda situation has proven that we are already living in a formula feeding culture. Earlier today, a fellow breastfeeding mom messaged me that there are evacuees now in Villamor Airbase and they will be helping out. Her friend called out for formula donations because there were moms with babies.
Interestingly, popular messaging app Line is collecting money for Haiyan relief via a new sticker pack.


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Brazilian “Wikicity” Travels to the World Forum for Democracy · Global Voices
Pedro Henrique Tavares

Known as “the capital of participatory democracy”, the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre will become subject for a lab in the World Forum for Democracy. Focus will be given to the case of PortoAlegre.cc, a project created at the University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos (Unisinos) which is based on the concept of wikicity – a digital platform that enables the debate on and development of the city:
PortoAlegre.cc é um espaço de radicalização da democracia, onde você tem voz e vez para discutir a cidade, mostrando o que ela tem de bom e o que precisa ser melhorado. Melhor ainda, você pode dar sua opinião de como a cidade pode melhorar, e chamar as pessoas para ajudarem a transformar essa ideia em realidade.
PortoAlegre.cc is a space for radicalization of democracy where you have the voice and turn to debate the city, showing the best of it as well as what needs to be improved. Even better: you can give your opinion on how the city can be improved and call people to help to transform that idea into reality.
Organized by the Council of Europe with the support of the French government, the World Forum for Democracy takes place from November 23 to 29 is Strasbourg, France. PortoAlegre.cc will be discussed in the last day of the conference, November 29, in a panel dedicated to the importance and the future of wikicities:
Giving citizens the initiative and control over policies reverses the traditional model of policy-making – what are the results of wikicity experiments so far, as well as challenges encountered?
Watch below a video that celebrates the first anniversary of portoalegre.cc:

author: Pedro Henrique Tavares


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China to Do Away With Labor Camps · Global Voices
Abby Liu

China has announced plans to abolish its “re-education through labor” system.
Adopted in 1957, the system allows the police to send minor offenders to the labor camp such as thieves, prostitutes and drug addicts for up to four years without a trial. Yet many have criticized the system as a tool by local officials to deal with troublemakers who challenge authority.
According to a 2009 report for a United Nations human rights forum, there were 190,000 people imprisoned in China’s labor camps without trail.
In 2012, village official Ren Jianyu was sentenced to two years in a labor camp after posting messages on microblogs accusing former Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai of bringing the Cultural Revolution back to China with his “red songs” campaign. Ren’s case triggered a campaign to end the “re-education through labour” system on Chinese social media.
The decision came after the third plenary meeting, during which the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee meets. While many consider the move a step forward, some lawyers and journalists have shown their concern on Chinese social media over whether it is a true abolishment.
After the third plenary meeting, China has announced its plans to abolish the “re-education through labor” system. (Picture from 163.com)
Veteran lawyer Yuan Yulai wrote [zh]:
劳教是个毒树，铲除了，固然值得高兴。但土壤还在，肯定还会长出什么变种来。所谓里程碑一说，则纯属意淫。里程碑是在路上的，宪政根本没有上路，哪里来的里程碑？
Detention is a poisonous tree and we’re happy to see it eradicated. But the soil is still there, some kind of variation of the camps will definitely grow out of it. The so-called milestone is purely fictional. Milestones are supposed to be on the road, but there is no constitution on the road, where does this milestone come from?
CEO of Zhongzheng Company Peng Xiangfeng wrote:
劳教制度虽然废止了，不要高兴得太早，这几天和政法系统的领导交流，貌似现在有两个轻刑化罪名要大量应用了，一个是妨碍公务，一个是寻衅滋事，不过这两个终归要经过法院审判、律师辩护，还是进步了
Although re-education through labor is abolished, don’t get too excited. After an exchange of ideas between the leaders of the political and legal system, it looks like there are now two counts of light punishment applied to a large number of cases, one is obstruction, the other is causing trouble, but the two, after all, will have to go through the trial court and counsel, which can still be considered progress.
Teacher Li Qidong from Shenyang who was sent to a labor camp for a year because he “disturbed order in the classroom” wrote sarcastically:
劳教没有废除时，总是强调“不可替代”；宪政没有实施时，总是大加批判。这就是中国国情——总有阻碍改革、唯马首是瞻的人！
When detention was not abolished, they stressed that it was “irreplaceable”; when constitutionalism is not implemented, they always criticize it. These are China's national conditions – there’s always someone standing in the way of reform.
“Southern Weekend” commented [zh]:
从来没有一个制度如此大面积地侵犯公民的人身自由。全国人大常委会不仅要作出废止决定，更应直接对劳教制度进行合宪性、合法性审查；与劳教改革相配套的相关措施，也应进入人大视野。司法机关则应考虑如何公正对待劳教受害人的诉讼和赔偿等要求。
There has never been a system that has such an extensive power to infringe on civil liberty. The NPC Standing Committee should not only make a decision in the abolishment, but should also check the constitutionality and legal review of the detention system. Relevant measures for detention reform should be taken. The judiciary should consider how to do justice to the victims’ detention litigation and compensation requirements.
Professor Jiao Hongchang from China University of Political Science and Law wrote [zh]:
现在的问题不是废不废，而是怎样废。关键是在什么时机通过什么方式，建立怎样的制度转化来填补劳教制度废止后的空白。
The question now is not the abolishment or not, but how to abolish it, at what time, in what way, and how to establish a system to fill the gap after the abolition of the reeducation through labor system.

author: Abby Liu


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Is South Korea Encouraging Portal Sites to Self-Censor?  · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

The South Korean government has announced plans to allow large portal sites to censor or delete user comments that are deemed libelous, a move that Korean web users fear will restrict freedom of expression online.
The South Korean Communications Commission held a conference this week proposing regulations [ko] that give popular portal sites the power to make user comments invisible especially those considered libelous, for 30 days. If no active measures, such as the concerned user filing a complaint, are taken during that period of time, the sites can delete the comment.
Authorities claim that the regulation will lessen the burden of portal sites by reducing the number of defamation cases they face because of their users’ comments. However, critics question whether it is justifiable to allow the portal site to decide whether a comment is libelous or not– a tough judgement call even for legal professionals.
Image of Korea's largest portal sites (their arbor day edition) where active online discussions are taking place. Image uploaded by Flickr user @paperon. (CC BY NC 2.0)
Local media pointed out [ko] that the authorities assured the web portals that there will be clauses included that minimize their legal liability in case of a lawsuit– so portals will remain unscathed as long as they show they have censored or deleted the comments. However, opponents say the measures will promote self-censorship and political powers could abuse this bill to pressure portals to silence the opposition.
Net users in well-known, active community sites such as TodayHumor [ko] and Ppompuu [ko] exchanged heated discussions regarding the proposed regulation and the recent trend of South Korean authorities proposing multiple bills restricting online activities, such as a bill that would regulate online gaming like drugs and alcohol, and another that would limit hours of smartphone usage [ko]. Net user ID: 껄껄 explained [ko] on TodayHumor site:
이전: 정치인 -> 요청 -> 포털 -> 삭제. 이후: 정치인 : 요청x :포털 -> 삭제
한마디로 포털을 방패삼아 자신은 숨으면서 포털에게 무소불위의 힘을 주어 알아서 기라는말. 쟁점1. 안그래도 애매 모호한 명예훼손인데 포털들이 객관적으로 과연 판단가능할것인가. 쟁점2. “투명성과 공정성을 기한다면 큰 문제가 없을 것” 반대로 투명성과 공정성이 잃는다면 큰문제가 된다는것. 명예훼손이라는 법적인 영역을 과연 일개 기업이 판단가능한 영역이고 자의적으로 즉결처분가능 영역인가?
BEFORE: Politicians request portals to delete
AFTER: Politicians don't need to request. But portals go ahead and delete anyway.
This regulation means to use portals as a shield that they can hide behind them. It also intends to be, I gave you the power [to delete], so in return you voluntarily submit to me. Here is the first talking point: Libel is such a complicated case [to determine]. Will portal sites be able to make an objective judgment? Second talking point: They say that ‘when clarity and impartiality are maintained, it will not be a problem’. In other words, it can be understood as, ‘When clarity and impartiality are lost, there will be a serious problem’. Will an ordinary company [such as portal sites] be able to make the right judgments on legal issues such as libel, and is it within their area of expertise to make a final call?
Below is a part of one discussion thread [ko] from Ppomppu site:
악용될가능성이 아주 부단하죠. 악용보단 아주 이용할려고 작정을 한거죠 . 말이 안되는 법안이라 생각하는데요[…] 저대로 활용되면 그게 좋겠죠.. 실상은 조금만 맘에 안 들어도 삭제하라고 할 듯..[…] 댓글삭제 함부로 안되는 곳으로 몰리겠네요.
It is highly likely that this rule will be abused. Well, I would say they intend to abuse it, and I think it is just a plainly ridiculous bill […] It would be good if it really works the way [that they claim], but in reality, these sites will try to delete comments right away when they find them disagreeable […] Now people will go to site where they don't freely delete comments.
Here are discussions from the South Korean Twittersphere:
@Chocolete90: 7,80년대에나 통할 법한 통제를 지금 시대에 적용한다고 될 법한 일인가? 인터넷 규제 정말 가능하다고 보는건가? […]설상가상 시대감각도 없어..
@Chocolete90: Do they really think it is possible to apply such regulation that could have only worked back in the 70s and 80s? Do they seriously think it is possible to regulate the Internet? […] Such an anachronistic decision.
@ehanb: 문제는 지들 유리한 글은 내깔겨 둘 것이 뻔하다는 거.
@ehanb: The problem is that it is undeniably clear that they will leave comments that work in their favor.
@skjn_legon: 역시 그 분들에게는 인터넷이 두렵고 어려운 미지의 세계겠지. 그러니 힘이 있을 때 확 잡아놓고 싶겠지[…]
@skjn_legon: For those authorities, the Internet is an unknown, dark and scary place. So they want to rein it in while they are still in power.


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Jamaica: Language & Development  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaica needs to be declared the bilingual state it is asap.
Annie Paul thinks that “half of Jamaica’s problems stem from its linguistic identity crisis, insisting its mother tongue is English when a huge proportion of the population can only speak Patois.”


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Thousands March for the Liberation of Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Oscar López Rivera · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

“Christmas with Oscar Home” says the banner held at the march in San Juan for the liberation of Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera. Photo from 32 X Oscar.
Thousands of people are marching today in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in favor of the liberation of Oscar López Rivera, imprisoned in the United States 32 years ago on charges of “seditious conspiracy.”  López Rivera, 70, is a fighter for the independence of Puerto Rico, a colony of the United States. Politicians, artists, and many people across different ideologies have united to ask the president of the United States, Barack Obama, to pardon López Rivera, who has been called the longest held political prisoner in the western hemisphere. To follow the demonstration live, click here. For more information on Oscar López Rivera, see the Facebook pages 32 X Oscar and Free Oscar López Rivera Now. Also, follow the conversation under hashtag #FreeOscarLopez.

author: Firuzeh Shokooh Valle


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Twitter Farce Follows Revelations of Australia Spying on Indonesian President · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

It has taken a “conservative political and communications strategist” to catch the imagination of netizens during the current diplomatic standoff between Australia and Indonesia over spying revelations. Indonesia's president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has tweeted to protest phone tapping by Australia's Defence Signals Directorate, which included his and his wife's phones in 2009:
I also regret the statement of Australian Prime Minister that belittled this tapping matter on Indonesia, without any remorse. *SBY*
— S. B. Yudhoyono (@SBYudhoyono) November 19, 2013
The revelations are contained in a series of Powerpoint slides. This one lists the targets of the phone tapping:
Indonesian surveillance targets
Document leaked by Edward Snowden
On 20 November 2013 Mark Textor, pollster and political tactician for Australia’s ruling Liberal Party, experienced one of those twitter moments: ‘Apology demanded from Australia by a bloke who looks like a 1970s Pilipino porn star and has ethics to match’. [The misspelling is his own.] It was an apparent reference to the Indonesian foreign minister, Marty Natalegawa.
His deletion of the offending tweet did not save Textor from embarrassment:
#Indonesia RT “@denniallen @SBYudhoyono I apologise for having Liberal advisers as stupid as this in our country. pic.twitter.com/BsYNgWTPAC”
— Stephanie Rice (@stephrice88) November 20, 2013
His deletion was followed by an a denial and apology of sorts.
His twitter apology served to focus attention on Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s refusal to apologise because he will not discuss national security matters:
Apologies to my Indonesian friends – frustrated by media-driven divisions – Twitter is indeed no place for diplomacy.
— Mark Textor (@markatextor) November 21, 2013
And excellent lesson in why deleting a tweet & then denying it doesn't make the issue go away #Textor #TimeMagazine http://t.co/6bhUbea7LR
— Maybe (@Maybeee2011) November 21, 2013
Tweets also captured the humour of the moment:
Hmmm.. Mark #Textor seems to have an ‘intimate’ knowledge of Filipino porn stars… I find this troubling. #auspol
— Arthur Gordon Pym (@arthur_gordon_p) November 21, 2013
Textor has deleted his twitter account, apparently because of death threats but Vermeera has sounded a cynical note:
Mark Textor quits Twitter after death threats – http://t.co/ShD6XUJ9aZ via @smh #auspol or just more spin?
— Vermeera (@Vermeera) November 23, 2013
Inevitably it has been replaced by fake accounts:
.@TwitterAU Can you remove @Markatextor and @MarkTextorCT before someone gullible falls for them?
— Drag0nista (@Drag0nista) November 23, 2013
It seems that we now have #Textor’s Law: the most social media savvy spin doctors are only 140 characters away from their inevitable brain snap. It has something to do with wishing you could eat your words.
SBY has suspended military and intelligence cooperation with Australia and cooperation on people smugglers. Meanwhile, a small crowd of protestors in Jakarta has burned Australian flags.
Demonstration in front of the Australian Embassy, Jakarta, Photo by Denny Pohan, Copyright @Demotix (11/21/2013)
After the leaks by Edward Snowden, Australian security agencies must be wondering about the wisdom of sharing with the United States the Powerpoint about spying on the Indonesian government.
Update: Carolina has a Global Voices post on the online reactions from Indonesian netizens: Indonesia-Australia Diplomatic Tension Escalates Over Wiretapping

author: Kevin Rennie


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Video: Hong Kong Country Parks’ Naturescapes · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

To advocacy for the preservation of country parks, Francis So made a time lapse video on the landscapes of various country parks in Hong Kong.

author: Oiwan Lam


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100 Digital Projects That Truly Inspire · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

The Nominet Trust in the United Kingdom announce their 100 favorite projects using digital technology for social good (#NT100).

author: Solana Larsen


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‘People That Look Like Themselves’: A Comic that Celebrates Natural Black Hair  · Global Voices
Luis Henrique

This article is part of the a series that celebrates Black Awareness Day in Brazil (November 20). Read the first interview: Persistent Stereotypes, Latent Prejudices: Black Characters in Brazilian Comics
Image that explains the origin of the name “A Kindumba da ANA” on her page on Facebook. ANA- Baptized this way because she was born at the breast of the group Angolanas Naturais e Amigos, a forum (on Facebook) of discussion about naturally curly hair (and not just that). Kindumba- Kimbundo is a term for a hairstyle and/or a kind of hair. I adopted the term after reading the story A kindumba da minguinha, by the Angolan writer Arnaldo Santos. Another term that he uses to define hair is Jimbumba! That's how “A Kindumba da ANA” was born. (And Chiquinha, the author, drew some little curly hairs in the word ANA)
[All links lead to Portuguese-language pages except when otherwise noted.]
Francisca Nzenze Meireles, also known as Chiquinha, is the author of “A Kindumba da ANA,” a comic that uses humor to promote the beauty of natural hair and naturally curly hair. She is Angolan and has lived in Brazil for a few years. The name ANA refers to the initials of Angolanas Naturais e Amigos (Natural Angolan Women and Friends), an online forum. The strips can be seen on  Chiquinha's page.
Francisca Nzenze Meireles, also known as Chiquinha: “On the street, I see it emerging bit by bit, another norm of people. People that look like themselves.” Photo used with permission.
During the week in which Brazil celebrates Black Awareness Day [en], learn a little more about this artist, her impressions of working between different cultures, and about the affirmation of one's identity. And, in the spirit of the Portuguese language, take the opportunity to learn a little more about the accent and culture of Angola.
Global Voices (GV): Talk a little bit about the setting of comics in Angola. What have you read and what do you currently read? Which ones do you recommend?
Chiquinha (CH): Eu era leitora assídua de uma tirinhas Angolanas nos anos 90. O MANKIKO, de Sérgio Piçarra, um Angolano. Era muito bom, mas já não existe. Aliás o mercado livreiro e editorial em Angola não é muito vivo. Não sei o que se produz agora. Fui convidada a participar de uma exposição de banda desenhada em Angola promovida pelo OLINDOMAR estúdios. Enviei alguns trabalhos, mas nem sei se foram expostos. Eles não voltaram a me contactar. Mas imagino que a banda desenhada, como se chamam os quadrinhos em Angola, estejam sim “vivos e bem de saúde”. Jovens talentosos lá há muitos! Problemas existem nas editoras.
Chiquinha (CH): I was a regular reader of one of the little Angolan strips from the 90s– MANKIKO [en, pt] by Sérgio Piçarra, an Angolan cartoonist. It was very good, but it doesn't exist anymore. As a matter of fact, the book market in Angola is not very active. I don't know what is being produced right now. I was invited to participate in a comic exposition in Angola promoted by OLINDOMAR studios. I sent some work, but I'm not even sure if it was shown. They never contacted me again. But I imagine that the “banda desenhada”, as comics are called in Angola, are “alive and well.” There are many talented youth there! The problems are with the editors.
GV: Your work began in Angola and now continues in Brazil. Has this changed in some way the day-to-day inspiration for your work?
CH: Em Angola eu tenho um livro infantil escrito e ilustrado por mim, mas não tinha nada feito nada parecido com ilustração em quadrinhos. Os quadrinhos A Kindumba da ANA começaram aqui mesmo no Brasil (onde hoje moro) a partir do meu interesse em cabelos naturais, curiosidade e amor aos cabelos naturais crespos. Foi quase por acaso que nasceu “a Kindumba da ANA”. Eu participava de um grupo do Facebook chamado Angolanas Naturais e Amigos, e lá se discutia muito sobre cabelos naturais.
Na conversa com outras meninas , sempre surgiam cenas do quotidiano engraçadas, chatas, polêmicas, tristes, alegres… enfim, como gosto muito de desenhar, decidi brindar algumas meninas com historinhas que teriam um final feliz e/ou engraçado. Assim nasceu a Kindumba da ANA.
O facto de estar no Brasil não mudou, porque a fonte de inspiração continua sendo cabelo crespo natural, e nada mais. Alguns episódios referem-se ao Brasil especificamente, mas sempre tendo o cabelo como protagonista principal.
CH: In Angola, I have a children's book that I wrote and illustrated, but I haven't done anything that is similar to comic illustration. The “A Kindumba da ANA” comics began here in Brazil (where I live today) when I became interested in natural hair, as well as the curiosity and love for naturally curly hair. It was almost by chance that “A Kindumba da ANA” was born. I participated in a Facebook group called Angolanas Naturais e Amigos [Natural Angolan Women and Friends], and in the group there was a lot of discussion about natural hair.
In the discussion with other girls, there were always stories of day-to-day life that were funny, boring, controversial, sad, happy… anyway, as I really like to draw, I decided to show recognition for some of the girls with little stories that would have a happy or funny ending. And that's how “A Kindumba da ANA” was born.
The fact that I'm in Brazil hasn't changed anything because the source of inspiration has continued to be naturally curly hair, and nothing more. Some episodes refer specifically to Brazil, but always with hair as the main character.
GV: How is it to work between different cultures?
In this strip, Ana is questioned about the time dedicated to her hair and her pity for those who straighten their kindumba (curly hair). I have concluded that now, with naturally curly hair, it's just me that styles it.” (1) Ana, don't you waste a lot of time and patience on your hair? (2) No way! Before it was: (3) Wait for my stylist: (4) Hope that she was in a good mood; (5) That she didn't pull on my hair with force; (6) And that she didn't burn me…[Ana says (worried): “Careful with my ear.” And the stylist responds, impatiently: “I know what I'm doing!”] (7) Now: it's just me. (8) Whenever I want! (9) And I discovered that my hair is growing!!!”
Chiquinha: Eu não considero o Brasil tão diferente de Angola culturalmente falando. Aliás, Angola consome actualmente muita cultura do mundo inteiro. Principalmente os mais jovens. Nem a língua chega a ser um entrave à compreensão das tirinhas que faço. Aliás, a maioria dos fãs da Kindumba da ANA são Brasileiros. Não sei se porque a internet é mais acessível aqui no Brasil, ou se existem outros motivos para isso.
CH: I don't consider Brazil that different from Angola, culturally speaking. By the way, Angola currently consumes a lot of global culture. Mostly younger people. Not even the differences in language are an obstacle to the understanding of my comics. Even so, most of the fans of “Kindumba da ANA” are Brazilian. I don't know if it's because the Internet is more accessible here in Brazil, or if there are other reasons for this.
GV: In Brazilian comics, the possibilities of the online world and the increase in participation of authors from other corners of the country seem to bringing a greater diversity to the field, with the inclusion of other themes and world views in the comics that are available to readers. From your point of view as a foreigner, do you believe this is a trend? How was your reception?
CH: Eu não conheço muitos quadrinhos Brasileiros. Conheço a Turma da Mônica, as charges do Laerte, Henfil… mas não sou leitora assídua de revistinhas em quadrinhos. Então não saberia responder se existe essa tendência de mudança e inclusão de novos temas.
Sobre a minha acolhida, devo dizer que a resposta tem sido bastante positiva. As pessoas gostam de se ver representadas. Eu tento dar à A.N.A uma personalidade leve e agradável, um tipo abordagem que permita que crianças e adultos considerem os cabelos naturais, simplesmente como eles são: cabelos naturais. A A.N.A vem para imprimir leveza a um tema que poderia facilmente ser revestido de polêmica.
CH: I am not familiar with very many Brazilian comics. I know Turma da Mônica, the cartoons of Laerte, Henfil… but I'm not a regular reader of the little magazines of comics. Therefore, I wouldn't know how to respond if there is a trend of change and inclusion of new themes.
About my reception, I must say that the response has been rather positive. People like to see themselves represented. I try to give to ANA a light and pleasant personality that allows children and adults to think of their natural hair simply as what it is: naural hair. ANA is meant to make a theme that could easily be overwhelmed by controversy a bit lighter.
In this strip, Ana suffers from harassment from her boss with respect to her hair. (1) The boss says: Explain to me, with your hair like that, why is it? Some problem? A pledge? Somebody put a curse on you? Is it a bet? Is it punishment? A challenge? A debt? Were you widowed? Did someone leave you? (2) Ana thinks: If you weren't the boss, one word would do it, but that's how it is… (3) Ana responds: It's pride, it's good sense, it's having charm, self-love, higher self-esteem, it's stylish, it's a choice, it's making myself attractive, well-resolved, free, fabulous, powerful and beautiful! Any more questions? (4) The boss thinks: Uh-oh, now I look weak…
GV: We live in a time of affirmation of all identities– ethnicity, gender, religion, and others. The demonstration of these identities is rather perceptible online, and one of these examples is your own work with “A Kindumba da Ana”. Do you think that this change will manage to jump from the virtual world onto the streets?
Chiquinha: Acho que sim, e devo dizer que as redes sociais permitem que isso aconteça de um modo bastante abrangente. Eu mesma consegui voltar a usar o meu cabelo natural depois de pesquisar no You Tube o que fazer com o meu cabelo, porque eu de facto não sabia como cuidar dele. Não sabia o que usar, como pentear , estilizar, lavar… Depois foi o Facebook, troca de experiências, contacto com outras pessoas iguais a mim e a cada dia eu me sentia mais encorajada a perseguir um modelo meu, um modelo que não se vê na televisão , nas revistas, na literatura.
Na rua, vejo surgir aos poucos, outro modelo de gente. Gente que se parece consigo mesma. Gente que não quer se parecer com o padronizado da sociedade pré fabricada!
I think so, and I must say that social networks allow this to happen in a rather comprehensive way. I myself have returned to wearing my hair naturally after researching on YouTube what to do with my hair, because I really didn't know how to take care of it. I didn't know how to wear it, comb it, stye it, wash it… After that I went to Facebook, exchanged experiences, and made contact with other people just like me, and every day I feel more encouraged to pursue this new version of myself, one that isn't seen on television, in magazines, or in literature.
On the street, I see it emerging bit by bit, another norm for people. People that look like themselves. People that don't want to look like the standardized norm of a pre-fabricated society!
(1) Why the decision to wear your hair naturally? (2) Ana, dressed in African clothing, says: Because I wanted to “connect” with my ancestry. (3) Ana, with glasses, sitting at a desk, with a cup of coffee in hand. She says: What a silly question! (4) Ana in a short skirt, blouse, big earrings, giving the middle finger with a mischievous smile. She says: Because I told “fashion” to screw yourself! (5) Ana in a flowered dress and a candid smile. She says: Because I think its beautiful!
This article is part of the a series that celebrates Black Awareness Day in Brazil (November 20). Read the first interview: Persistent Stereotypes, Latent Prejudices: Black Characters in Brazilian Comics

author: Luis Henrique


text:
Brain Drain Or Brain Save · Global Voices
Rezwan

Indrajit Samarajiva refutes the notion that Sri Lankan talents invariably end up migrating in a foreign nation resulting in brain drain. In fact talent is there among:
Not only professionals but also many innovative village youth who would be National assets elsewhere, unseen and unrecognized in Sri Lanka. The issue is that their talent is not visible in the corrupt system till they leave Sri Lanka.

author: Rezwan