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Philippines: “Hong Kong, our apology for what happened” · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

Last Monday's hostage-taking of Hong Kong nationals in Manila, which has roused worldwide indignation over the bloodshed, has led Filipinos to write apologies via a Facebook page.
The “Hong Kong, our apology for what happened” Facebook page now has over 30,000 likes. Its wall is filled with general apologies from Filipino Facebook users:
Roland Jacob Delos Santos: People of Hong Kong, our apologies and condolences. We're one with you in mourning for your loss. Please forgive our president – he does not know what he is doing.
Ely Realeza: We don't need to defend our name, just be humble and ask for forgiveness…
Rowena Agulto: To the people of Hongkong we sincerely apologize for what happen in our country! I still cry everytime I watch the video of the incident. I felt so sorry for those innocent life that was lost. May God be with Us!
Some comments specifically apologized for the Philippine police and government's incompetence and mishandling of the incident which is perceived as a big factor in the bloodshed:
Omar Leyson: We sincerely apologize for the incompetence and callousness of the authorities/media involved in that tragic incident…please continue your TRUST to our fellow OCWs who works hard and honestly in your beautiful country…They just want to bring food to their families back in the Philippines…Again, we're sorry and may our Divine Creator continue to bless all of us…Thank you!
Justin Felix: our deepest condolences to the chinese nationals who were murdered on aug 23 hostage crisis.We all know that their innocent and dont deserve to be treated that way.Were sorry for our authorities for not responding quickly and for not having capable skills to act in that kind of situation. We know that our apology is not enough to put away sorrows in their families and in every chinese nationals in honkong. From our heart were sincerely sorry for what happened.Were really sorry we really do..=,((
Hong Kong citizens are also exchanging comments with Filipinos in the page:
Wong Johnson:Dear all the phillipinos, I understand the very main source of the incidence is the serious corruption in ur country and most of u are victims too. So, we would just blame on the incidence itself but not the whole nation of you.
Christmas Cheung: Although most of Filipinos are nice. To be a HKP , I still decide not to go Philippines for my entire life :S
Laurel Lee: Actually, I just hope people who did wrong to say sorry… You guys can do nothing but watching the event when it happened and you all show that you care. I can see the goodness in you, but this apology I cannot accept. It is because those horrible things are not done by you. The police, the government, and phototakings guys should apologize, but they don't. That's why we are still upset.
I typed emotional words here yesterday too. Sorry about that…but my point is release the anger of HKers is no good for both of us. You all don't need to receive such a negative emotion in this way.
There are occasional angry statements but there seems to be a positive and conscious effort among the page's commenter to avoid being offensive:
Jackson Chi Wai Tsang: I am from Hong Kong. I think most Filipinos who have been to this Fan page can understand our feelings. Please kindly keep this attitude and spread to you nearbys who don't understand.
Anthony Morabe: Fellow Filipinos, If they have said something bad to us don't retaliate. Don't debate with them, it isn't going to help. Just deepen your understanding. It's completely understandable if they have violent reactions and don't give an excuse of it could happen anywhere cause I think they heard that like a million times already. Let's just hope that someday they can and they will forgive us. PEACE.
Xavier Leung: some reminders for all people who leave message in this page:
1. please try to use language that is understood by both Hongkongers and Filipinos.
using languages that is not understood by other people may cause misunderstandings and cannot show your respect.
2. please do not use the Google Translate, as the result is not so good.
3. please do not post messages you saw on this page again, the page is over-flooding

author: Karlo Mongaya


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Russia: Interview With RT’s Peter Lavelle · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

An interview with RT's Peter Lavelle – at Sublime Oblivion.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Russia: “Jailbird Moms” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A Good Treaty writes about two Russian “jailbird moms” – Anna Shavenkova and Yulia Kruglova: “Two court cases in recent weeks have given Russia’s bruised citizenry a few additional reminders that the world is a cruel, extremely stupid place to live. Both these cases involve mothers of young children, but the similarities pretty much end there.”


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Russia: Khimki Forest and Bono’s “Intervention” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Natalia Antonova comments on Bono's role in the resolution of the Khimki forest situation during his visit to Moscow earlier this week: “There was an “intervention” on behalf of Bono in regards to the destruction of the Khimki forest? Where is the evidence of this intervention?”


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Russia: Lake Baikal and James Cameron · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Vadim Nikitin of FPA's Russia blog believes that Lake Baikal would be a “good fit” for James Cameron's “passionate environmental activism.”


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Russia: Mari Paganism and Charges of “Extremism” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

OpenDemocracy.net reports: “In their remote forest republic 400 miles east of the Moscow, the pagan Mari people are once again being harassed by the authorities. […] Ethnically kin to the Finns and Hungarians, their profoundly ecological religious worldview challenges Russian-led designs on their republic’s natural resources.”


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Russia: The Mirny Diamond Mine · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Siberian Light writes about the Mirny Mine, “the largest open pit diamond mine in the world, and […] the second largest excavated hole in the world.”


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Russia: West Nile Virus Hits Volgograd Region  · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

LJ user alliruk writes [RUS] that the South of Russia may turn into Africa because of the global warming. After listing recent unusual epidemics outbreaks in the Volgograd region, he mentions the recent West Nile Virus [EN] outbreak that had already killed six people [EN].

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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South Korea: Extras Went On Strike  · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

In South Korea, about one hundred extras from movies and soap operas went on strike, protesting over low pay and verbal abuse in the work place, South Korea's Segye [kr] reported.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Southeast Asia: Durian, the “King of Fruits” · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Durian is an exotic fruit found in many Southeast Asian nations. It is known for its strong smell and taste which are appreciated and detested at the same time by many people. There are more than 20 varieties of durian in the region.
Durian photo from the Flickr page of YimHafiz used under CC License Attribution 2.0 Generic
Despite its offensive smell, durian is a leading food product thanks to its distinctive flavor. Examples of durian products are durian pancakes and macaroons in Kuala Lumpur, durian candy and ice cream in Davao City in the Philippines, durian mousse cake, and cream puffs in Brunei, and baked durian in whole wheat filo pastry in Indonesia. There is even a durian flavored condom in Vietnam.
jerrenn from Malaysia does not like the smell of durian but admits that it is the undisputed “king of fruits”
Of course, that's to people who like it- to people who don't, like yours truly, we can hardly call it the king of fruits, although ‘national fruit’ seems suitable to me
But the durian is a unique fruit, isn't it? There are people who love it, and there are those who loathe it. I myself never liked it. The smell has always been overpowering. For those of you who like it, don't say a word, but for those of you who don't, you'll get what I mean when I say it's a foul stench.
GV author Senor Pablo, in an email reply, writes about the popularity of durian in Brunei
It's a very popular fruit in Brunei….and we have special varieties not seen in other parts of South East Asia… like orange to red coloured Durian. I have friends from China living in Brunei who would travel around Borneo trying out the different varieties….
Durian is considered king of fruits and to some an aphrodisiac!!
Speaking of red durians, Foodiva's Kitchen shares the red durian quick rolls recipe.
Durians are really an acquired taste for people who are not brought up eating this sweet, pungent-smelling fruit. But then hey, I eat smellies like blue cheese without any problem and I wasn't exactly brought up on that! I guess the key here is to keep an open mind and don't just believe everything you hear or read until you try it
The red durians are prevalent in Borneo and they have a very rich, sweet taste that I can't adequately describe here. If only my tongue could write, I would let it have a go at telling you how this fruit tastes like. Lol!
Durian is banned in many public places especially in hotels and airplanes. Still Life in Moving Vehicles from Bangkok uploads a picture of a ban durian signage
Durian, the spiky-looking tropical fruit that originates from Southeast Asia, isn't welcome in certain public places. Hotels, airplanes, and even taxis sometimes have signs or stickers on their windows that inform customers to leave their fruit at the door because it has a strong unpleasant odor. There's an urban myth that claims that some people who consume durian in combination with alcoholic beverages die from a strange chemical reaction. So it's an especially good thing the sticker next to it forbids customers to drink in the cab
Multibrand compares Jakarta City of Indonesia to durian. If Big Apple is New York, the blogger describes Jakarta as the Big Durian
I felt that Jakarta is similar to my favorite fruit i.e. the Durian which has sharp thorns, thick skin, and smells okay although might not be good for some people, but TASTES A LOT MUCH BETTER THAN ANY OTHER FRUITS, therefore I would not want to exchange with any other fruit.
What's That Noise from the Philippines is not bothered by the smell of durian
The smell doesn’t bother me. The fruit is custard-like but stringy with a seed in the middle of each section. The taste reminds me of slightly sweet onions. People either love it or hate it. After we had a few pieces, we gave the rest to a friend because it was smelling up the house and no one else here would eat it.
Kokot, also from the Philippines, believes that eating durian is like “eating your favorite ice cream in a public toilet”
My father’s family owns durian trees so, most of his family eats the fruit. I recall it was during durian season and the house keepers were opening baskets of durians at the back yard and my cousins were standing in front of them with their eyes set on the durian. Watching everyone eating durian was mouthwatering. My grandmother offered me one and to be honest, I didn’t like it at all but it grew on me and now I love it! I had trouble eating it at first because of the smell. I used to tell my grandmother that eating it was like eating your favorite ice cream in a public toilet. She used to refrigerate it and when it comes out from the fridge cold it taste better, a lot better
Bucaio from Davao in the Philippines (durian is planted in the Davao region of the Philippines) didn’t like durian during the first time she ate it
It was like eating butter redolent with raw garlic. I like butter, and I adore garlic, and I love them together in anything savory. But to find the combination in a fruit is nothing short of bizarre.
But has since then changed her mind
I had sampled three varieties (Cob, Yellow Cob, Arancillo) and they were all, ambrosially, sweet.
Sweeter than langka (jackfruit), but with the same pungency, though durian pulp is soft as moist cotton, the fibers fine and smooth.
Perhaps a good indicator of durian’s popularity in the region is the reported story of how Macau’s ‘gambling king’ Stanley Ho sent his personal jet to Singapore just to purchase 98 pieces of durian.

author: Mong Palatino


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Thailand: Attitude towards migrant workers · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Sanitsuda Ekachai criticizes the “repressive” policies of Thailand which target migrant workers. Most of Thailand's migrant workers come from the neighbouring country of Myanmar.


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Thailand: “Chicken fights” · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Aside from commenting on the unique attitude of many Thais on animals and insects, BigBabyKenny also posts pictures of a cockfight event.


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Thailand: Elitist education and politics · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Ladprao 64 asks why many university students and graduates of Thailand are supporting political groups with “fascist” tendencies.


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Thailand: Learn Thai language through Skype · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Catherine Wentworth discusses the procedure and her experience of learning the Thai language through Skype.


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Thailand: Street ice cream · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Michael Babcock describes the street ice cream products which are popular in Thailand.


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Thailand: Yellow Fever Vaccination · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Chris Mitchell identifies the health centers in Bangkok, Thailand where residents can get yellow fever vaccination.


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Togo: Computer Camp in Togo · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Life of an American volunteer in Togo:”In the beginning of June, we held our computer camp! The boys came the first three days and the girls came the three days after that. Everything actually went really smoothly.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Togo: Journalist Didier Ledoux Brutalized Again, Newspaper Fined 90,000 euros  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Reporters sans frontières deplores that two weeks after being harassed and threatened by a French Lieutenant-Colonel Romuald Letondot, journalist Didier Ledoux of Liberté Hebdo  was brutalized again [fr], by Togolese officers this time because he allegedly took photos of one of them. Liberté Hebdo was also fined 90,000 Euros [fr] because it published report suggesting that the president brother-in-law was involved in drug trafficking.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Ukraine: Museum of Strategic Rocket Troops · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Leigh Turner, the British Ambassador to Ukraine, writes about the Museum of the Strategic Rocket Troops, located some 300 km from Kyiv.


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Vietnam: Urban farmers in Hanoi · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Aaron Joel Santos posts pictures of farmers in Hanoi, Vietnam. He also comments on the impact of urbanization in the capital.


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Afghanistan: Parliamentary Election Update · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust provides an update on the upcoming parliamentary election in Afghanistan, specifying numerous worrying instances of violations and abuses of state resource by candidates, campaign staff, and government employees.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Afghanistan: The Helmand Food Zone Fiasco · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joel Hafvenstein writes about the British “Food Zone” program, which was considered to be a better effort comparing to other counternarcotics activties in Afghanistan. But “when examined closely, there’s no reason to think the Food Zone program was effective’, he says.


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Angola: “Alambamento” and Marriage Practices · Global Voices
Clara Onofre

In Angola, there is a quite strong cultural tradition of the asking of the hand of bride in marriage, called alambamento.  Considered by some more important that the civil or religious [christian] marriage, the alambamento consists of a series of rituals, like the delivery of a letter with the request for the hand of the bride, which sometimes comes with money.
Bride, photo from blog Teto de Estrelas
On the blog Muxima N´gola [pt] reads a detailed description of this event
Quando o jovem casal de namorados decide casar, é necessário ter o aval  da família da noiva e isso só é possível se, durante o pedido, toda a  gente estiver de acordo em que o casamento se concretize. O jovem casal  marca o dia do pedido. Esse dia é marcado pelos tios da noiva, pois é  necessário reunir toda a família e é entregue uma lista contendo o que o  noivo tem de conseguir reunir até ao dia do pedido.
On the list are various consumer goods and in spite of normally being the same for everybody, they can vary depending on the family in question, as the same blog explains
O dia do pedido está marcado e o noivo parte em busca de todo o material para que no dia não falte nada. E o que está nessa lista? Primeiro é um envelope com dinheiro. 300, 400, 500 USD, depende do que o tio estipular. A altura da noiva em grades de cerveja, a altura da noiva em paletes de sumo ou coca-cola, um cabrito, um fato para o tio e uns sapatos para a mãe.
The blog of Tre Angolando [pt] also describes alambamento with reference to the importance of the list delivered to the groom
Trata-se de uma lista elaborada pelos tios, onde consta uma relação de coisas que o noivo tem de “comprar” para oferecer à família da noiva, como indemnização pelos gastos feitos com ela desde o seu nascimento até ao dia do casamento. Basicamente é um dote que representa um bem valioso porque quanto maior o pagamento, maior prestigio terá a noiva.
Material gifts, photo from blog Teto de Estrelas
In the case that the bride is pregnant, the values referred to above grow significantly, according to Tre Angolando [pt]
Este valor pode ainda ser superior, caso o noivo tenha saltado a janela. Saltar a janela significa que a noiva engravidou antes do casamento e claro, é justo que o pedido seja reforçado. Quando chega o dia do pedido, os familiares do noivo juntam-se à família da noiva, fazem-se as apresentações e procede-se ao pedido de casamento.
This is how the process goes, according to the blog Muxima N´gola:
Quando chega o dia, a família do noivo (pai, mãe, tio, tia, irmãos) vai a casa da noiva e o tio da mesma, como se de um juiz se tratasse, apresenta toda a gente e informa de que se vai dar início ao pedido de casamento. Os pais da noiva convidam os pais do noivo a entrar e o tio dá início à leitura do pedido apresentado pelo noivo. Se o pai da noiva concordar com o pedido, o noivo terá de ir buscar o alambamento ou seja, aquela lista de coisas que juntou. O alambamento é apresentado e se tudo for cumprido é feita uma reunião para acertar a data do casamento e outros detalhes de natureza logística. Posto isto, canta-se e dança-se (não é por acaso que aparecem as grades de cerveja e de coca-cola na lista).
From this day on, if everything goes well, the couple becomes man and wife. Arriving at the wedding, some couples tie the knot wearing traditional clothes and some prefer to use the famous suit and tie with brides wearing the traditional white dress. Débora Cecília, author of the blog Teto de Estrelas [Starry Ceiling, pt] reports that she attended a wedding that she was invited to in Cabinda, in the north of the country:
No dia do casamento a mulher se veste com um fato, uma roupa típica do  país, e o homem se veste com uma camisa social, terno e gravata. Antes  de começar a noiva aparece debaixo de um pano, para testar se o marido a  reconhece de verdade.
Traditional dance at the wedding party, photo from blog Teto de Estrelas
After the union is duly official it is time for a party, or else Angolans would not be by nature such party people. Ample food and drink delight the guests, always accompanied by good Angolan music.
The tradition is no longer what it was; in spite of the alambamento still being a strong characteristic of Angolan culture, the truth is that it is becoming less practiced. Along with modernity, not just in Angola, says Sandra Flosi, who writes on alambamento in Mozambique in the blog Mosanblog, some families give up this tradition while the more conservative make a point to keep it up. At the same time, Angolan society recognizes the ritual importance of alambamento and even uses it in TV advertising.

author: Clara Onofre


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Colombia: Cat Launching Video by Radio DJ Causes Outrage · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

A video uploaded by Medellin DJ Yohan Melguizo on popular social network Facebook two months ago is causing outrage among animal lovers in Medellin, Colombia.  The DJ works for Energia, a reggaeton radio station, and in the video it seems there are three people at the scene where one of them is seen launching a live cat through the skies while singing Chombo's The Flying Cat. The other two at the scene have been tagged as Danny Lopez and Santiago Agudelo Gutierrez, and in the video's comments it seems that it was Agudelo who did the launching while the others watched and recorded the incident. [Edited to Add: Video has since been taken down from DJ's facebook page]
On Facebook, people are starting to share this video and making a call for authorities to step up. Taking into accounts the recent attention given to the case of the British woman  caught on video as she calmly put a cat inside a trash can, it is hoped that the cat tossers in Medellin will have to take responsibility for their actions.
Edited to Add:
Since the article was published, more information has come up through facebook. Julian Ortega sent in a note:
Me enteré hace un momento (por esta página de FB) de que el video que publicaron los reguetoneros ya circulaba desde antes en la red. Mira: http://www.cronica.cl/noticias/site/artic/20100202/pags/20100202164430.php y http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1362072454224 (total, los tipos aparecieron lavándose las manos y diciendo que eso era ‘de un HP costeño’.
A group is up on Facebook asking Melguizo to step up and explain why he posted the video (even if he wasn't involved) without any words of condemnation to the action. The group also posted a copy of the video in question, which has now been removed from the DJ's facebook page.  It is in this group that the DJ responded to the video issue a few hours ago:
Señores 1ro Que Todo Saludo Recargado De Energia segundo heyy El del
Video no soy Yo, 1ro ese Hp es costeño y ese fukcing video me lo
mandaron por coreo y simplente lo comparti en el facebook por que me
parecio asqueroso, y ay dejen de andar mandando mensajes sin saber bn las cosas
Melguizo also erased comments from his facebook video where the conversation implied that they were involved with the cat throwing, but as Juan David Hurtado posts on his blog, the internet screen capturing fingers are quicker:
Dejo aquí el video y capturas de pantalla obtenidas por dos usuarios en las cuales se ve claramente algunos comentarios ya borrados en los que incluso, uno de sus compañeros tilda a “La rata” como el autor material del hecho. Por ahí dicen que el que nada debe, nada teme… ¿por qué habrán borrado esos comentarios?
In Antofagasta Chile, a person who similarly posted the video online apologized publicly after he was accused of throwing the cat from his balcony. He wrote to the papers stating that he understood that he had made a mistake by uploading that video to Facebook, that he didn't mean to hurt so many people and clarified that he only shared the video, but didn't have anything to do with authoring it.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Costa Rica: University Students Protest Budget Agreements · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Some University of Costa Rica students took hold of the social sciences building in protest of the budgetary agreement that was reached between the government and university officials where a 7% budget increase was agreed upon after negotiating the original 4% the government proposed.
Cristian Cambronero from Fusil de Chispas explains in his post FEES: The FEUCR Lost its head :
El acuerdo firmado a altas hora de la noche del miércoles entre los rectores de las universidades estatales y el gobierno, sobre el Fondo Estatal para la Educación Superior (FEES) desató una fiesta de locos este jueves. Un grupo de estudiantes encabezados por el liderazgo de la  FEUCR y el Sindicato de Empleados de la UCR (SINDEU) invadieron la sala  de sesiones del Consejo Universitario para gritar su oposición al  acuerdo firmado por la rectora Yamileth González, exigir que el Consejo  lo rechazara, y reclamar que la rectora haya suscrito el acuerdo “sin  consultarles”.
Here is a video showing FEUCR president Silvia Herrero insisting that anything less than a 13% budget increase was unacceptable and that taxes should be asked of “people with money, not us”:
After this, some of the students took possession of the social sciences building, and Olalla Vargas, a social sciences student was there when it happened, as she tells us on her blog:
Pero lo que sí me parece indignante es el secuestro del edificio de Sociales, y me refiero a secuestro porque, discúlpenme eso no fue una toma, como sí lo fue la toma de rectoría.
El jueves 26 de agosto -por cierto día de feria vocacional- a todos los que nos encontrábamos en el edificio nos obligaron a salir, gente encapuchada nos sacó por las puertas de emergencia. Sin dar explicaciones de quienes eran y quién les dio legitimidad y/o autoridad para hacer algo así, y enajenando de cualquier proceso o lucha a los demás estudiantes de sociales, nos secuestraron el edificio.
It seems that many students are unhappy with the occupation of the building which resulted in the locking down of all the university.
On the comment thread, Priscila writes:
Claramente representan a nadie o a dem pocos. Fue una verguenza estar hoy en el edificio de Ciencias Sociales y que nos sacaran encapuchados de ahí.
Teníamos una grabación, invitados y trabajo por hacer, pero no… eso no le importa a ninguno de los que “luchan por la U”, pero que lo único que logran es ensuciar más el nombre de la UCR
Yo solo pido que las personas no generalicen por culpa de 5 gatos que además deben esconder sus caras y “prohibirnos” sacar fotografías, seguro por la verguenza que les da estar haciendo semejante tontera.
The students who took the building opened a blog to tell their side of the tale and defend their point of view. Even though it started as an independent innitiative, after a student assembly on Saturday it was voted that the FEUCR would support both the occupation of the Rectory and the taking of the Social Sciences Building, as Daniela Muñoz commented.
The following is a video interview of the masked people who took hold of the building, the clips of them justifying their actions and explaining that they covered their faces to avoid backlash from the university authorities are mixed with comments from people outside the building who expressed their displeasure with the way the situation unfolded on Thursday:
Earlier today the occupation of both buildings ended as the University authorities reached an agreement with the groups of students stating that they would not cut scholarships, quotas or decrease in the efforts to strengthen the other university sites. The University of Costa Rica will resume normal activities tomorrow.


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Guinea-Bissau: An Armored Mercedes Benz · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

António Aly Silva on Ditadura de Consenso [pt] tells of the battles between the widow of assassinated head of state Nino Vieira and the President over an armored Mercedes Benz, given by Muammar al-Gaddafi. He then mentions other security measures taken by politicians – saying “but here, in this country, is there anyone who is safe?”

author: Janet Gunter


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India: A Message To Pastor Jones · Global Voices
Rezwan

Raja Basu from New Delhi is shocked by the heinous plan of Pastor Terry Jones to burn The Quran to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 incident. The blogger has this message to the Pastor: “by instigating people to burn The Holy Quran, you have actually brought yourself down to the level of that same Osama bin Laden whose act you have tried to contempt. Do you realize that?”

author: Rezwan


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India: Uncontrolled Alcoholic Liquor Consumption · Global Voices
Rezwan

Ram Bansal at India In Peril informs that growing number of male Indian adults (currently 50%) are taking alcoholic liquors regularly. The blogger discusses the downside of the uncontrolled alcoholic behaviors and its impact on the limited income families.


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Kazakhstan: Does Astana Need Central Asia? · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Megakhuimyak analyzes statistics and comes to a conclusion that Kazakhstan does not have strategic trade or investment interests in Central Asia, while the region itself turns out to be a source of risk and problems for Kazakhstan.


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Kazakhstan: Prison Riots · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

KZBlog writes about the disturbing news from Kazakhstan’s prisons, where – more and more frequently – inmates mutilate themselves or stage riots, claiming that they are routinely beaten and tortured.


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Kyrgyzstan: Economic roots of inter-ethnic clashes · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Elina Galperin reflects on the possible economic reasons of the recent inter-ethnic clashes between Uzbeks and Kyrgyzs in the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan.


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Kyrgyzstan: Southern politician opposes central government · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nathan Hamm reports that Melis Myrzakmatov, the mayor of Osh, the largest city in the south of Kyrgyzstan, and a thorn in the side of the new government since it came to power, has fended off an attempt to remove him.


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Latin America: Blog Day Celebrated through Web Conferences  · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Celebrate Blog Day today with a day long online summit. The III Virtual Blogger Encounter will have speakers from Ecuador, Argentina, Colombia and Spain engaging through webcams with an international online audience about blogs, branding and other social networks.


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Libya: Charity in Islam  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Libya, Khadija Teri discusses charity in Islam.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Pakistan: Another Match Fixing Scandal · Global Voices
Rezwan

Hamid Abbasi at Chowrangi is shocked by the news of another match fixing scandal of some players of the Pakistan cricket team and opines that “this is nothing less than a betrayal to the nation.”


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Pakistan Flood: Relief Efforts By PKKH Team · Global Voices
Sana Jamal

The team of bloggers of Pakistan Ka Khuda Hafiz (PKKH), Pakistan's leading alternative policy institute, has launched a massive relief effort for the flood victims called ‘Mere Log’ (meaning My People). On Thursday they have reached Thatta and Makli city with food, clean drinking water and medical supplies.

author: Sana Jamal


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Russia: Adventures of Israeli Blogger in Russian Hospital  · Global Voices
Vadim Isakov

The hallway of the “famous” hospital in Voronezh. Photo by dorinem.
Many people live their lives without an opportunity to look at everyday things from unusual perspective. Sometimes it takes traveling abroad to better understand what you have or don't have at home. But sometimes it takes a foreigner blogging about her experiences in a hospital to pinpoint the “shocking truth” about your country.
Although “a foreigner” may not be the most accurate description of a blogger dorinem [RUS] who was born in Ukraine and spent there 16 years before moving to Israel where she found a new home in 1993. The young women speaks perfect Russian and knows her way around the former Soviet Union. She recently traveled to Russia to visit her relatives. But sudden bleeding changed her travel plans and she found herself in a hospital in Voronezh [ENG], a city in southwestern Russia.
Dorinem described her adventures in the Russian hospital on LiveJournal.com, the most popular blogging platform in the country. The blog posts became popular within days. Her recollections and quotes ended up on the pages of newspapers and magazines. Discussions that started on her blog grew into nation-wide debates on the quality of health care in Russia. And although everything that dorinem described is nothing new for many citizens of Russia, it took an outraged outsider to make people realize that getting used to something horrible doesn't make it normal.
The woman got sick in Voronezh on Saturday when it turned out to be extremely difficult to find any professional help. Here is how she described her first experience in the hospital:
Пока ждали, я смотрела по сторонам, и глаза мои лезли на лоб. Во-первых, люди, привезенные на «скорой», вылезали из «скорой» и ковыляли в регистрацию на своих двоих (кстати, совсем не маленькое расстояние). Иногда привезенные просто не могли этого сделать, и тогда по всему покою бегали санитары с криками «Нужна каталка!», а им отвечала тетка: «Каталок нет!!!», и так несколько раз по кругу. Те же счастливцы, которым каталка все же досталась, лежали на абсолютно голой незастеленной поверхности, причем раздевали для осмотра их иногда прямо в коридоре или в кабинете при открытой двери, поэтому за время ожидания мне пришлось лицезреть интимные органы нескольких людей, при том, что я совсем не собиралась этого делать. Кроме того, я видела, как везли кого-то на каталке, при этом постоянно нехило так врезаясь в углы, так что съехавшего человека постоянно приходилось поправлять, чтобы он окончательно не упал с каталки. В общем, мне показалось, что я попала в какое-то жуткое чистилище, которое было специально организовано так, чтобы еще живые люди в ужасе убегали из этого места.
It took more than an hour for dorinem to get registered at the reception desk (and she was bleeding all this time). The hospital and doctors did not cheer her up. The rooms were dirty, the doctors were unprofessional and rude and the whole atmosphere seemed to work so even a healthy person felt sick while being there. Here is the description of a medical exam:
Там стоял тазик. И в тазике плавали какие-то кровяные сгустки. Извините, но из песни слов не выкинешь. Я в полном ступоре смотрела на это. Потом повернулась к врачу и сказала дрожащим голосом: «Там… Там, в тазике, это…». Она подошла, посмотрела и сказала: «А, ну не обращайте внимания. Просто не садитесь на тазик, а вот тут, повыше». Я настолько обалдела от всего происходящего, что не нашлась, что сказать и все же полезла на кресло.
Not able to determine what was wrong with the woman,  the doctors put dorinem in a hospital room with other people. The hospital did not have hot water and the patients would use plastic bottles to heat the water in the sun. The hospital also did not have towels and toilet paper. Doctors and even nurses were impossible to find during the weekend. Nothing worked and nobody wanted to do anything about it. One had to be lucky to get blood tests done and ultrasound exam was done only one day after.
The description of shocking moments experienced by dorinem in the hospital took seven long blog posts full of depressing pictures (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6 and part 7).
But dorinem‘s story has a happy end. She managed to fly back to Israel alive and in a good spirit. Her blog posts now end with a wish to all readers “Don't get sick. Anywhere.”
The blogger dorinem was not the only computer-versed person who ever got sick in a Russian hospital. But she was the one who expressed her outrage in her blog and, provided that those posts were written in Russian, received enormous publicity among other bloggers and, later, with media.
“Israeli citizen on Russian Hospitals: ‘It's Purgatory that People Run From'” [RUS] reads a headline in one of the most popular Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda. “Voronezh Authorities Check Information of Israeli Citizen About Violations in Health Care” informs another headline of Russian information agency REGNUM. “Can Voronezh Health Care be Healed?” follows up with an article Komsomolskaya Pravda.
The attention of media and authorities toward that particular hospital and toward the state of health care in Russia was sudden and motivated by the blog post. The example showed the growing influence of the Russian blogosphere when it became common for media – and sometimes for the authorities – to react to the reports written by bloggers.
The story is far from being over. The hospital in question is being investigated and evaluated by different government commissions. But one thing is for sure, as hard as it was for dorinem to be in the Russian hospital, her decision to blog about her experiences made a difference in Voronezh and motivated other people in Russia to look at their lives through the eyes of a foreigner.

author: Vadim Isakov


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South Asia: Bloggers On The ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ · Global Voices
Rezwan

American People's Rally against planned Islamic mosque near ground zero. Image by Flickr user asterix611. CC BY-NC-ND
The recent debate on the planned Islamic Center/Mosque named Park 51 near the site of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York, USA has been reverberated in many blogospheres around the world. Several groups in USA are objecting to its proximity to the site of the September 11 attacks, sources of funds etc. The media coverage of this issue has been much criticized for propagating polarized opinions and blamed for inciting Islamophobia. The conversations in the blogs are so diverse and far fetched that it is hard to summarize them in one post. In this post we will look at snippets of some interesting conversations by a number of South Asian bloggers.
Bangladeshi blogger BabuBangla at Sachalayatan writes about the sensitiveness of choosing the site near the 9/11 attacks:
আইনগত অধিকার ও সামাজিক ন্যায় বিচারের প্রশ্নে এই মসজিদ নির্মাণে কারো আপত্তি থাকবার কথা নয়। কিন্তু ৯/১১ হামলায় নিহতদের পরিবার ও আমেরিকার নাগরিকদের অনুভূতির সংবেদনশীলতার প্রশ্নটি বিবেচনার দাবী রাখে। ইসলামের নাম ব্যবহার করে এই হামলা হয়েছিল। এখন যতই সকল মুসলিম খারাপ নয় জাতীয় বাণী দেই না কেন, এই হামলার সাথে মুসলিম ও ইসলামের নাম জড়িত থাকার বিষয়টি তো আর মুছে যায় না।
আগামী দিন গুলোতে বাংলাদেশে যারা এই “গ্রাউন্ড জিরো” প্রসঙ্গটি আড্ডায় বা মিডিয়ার আলোচনায় আনবেন, আমেরিকার মানুষের এই সংবেদনশীলতার বিষয়টিও সহানুভুতির সাথে বিবেচনায় রাখবেন বলে আশা রাখি।
So when Bangladeshis should debate on the “ground zero mosque”, I would expect that they consider this sensitiveness of the American citizens.
Another Bangladeshi blogger Nayeem Hossain at E-Bangladesh questions the efficacy of the mosques in USA to draw the Muslim community closer to the mainstream culture:
Why such a controversy over an Islamic Center? Did the so-called free Willy practitioners of Islam in US ever ask themselves? Now they are taking shelter behind the liberal left but, how many of these mosques actually work into incorporating the Muslim community to the mainstream culture? [..]
It’s important that ethnic minority communities don’t become a self isolated community in a multicultural country. But for many Americans, that’s how they perceive many minority community people. If all of a sudden they think the same for a religious minority i.e. Muslims, it’s also a question we need to ask ourselves, why and how can we change that.
Indian diaspora blogger Greatbong at Random Thoughts Of A Demented Mind compares the debate mongers from both sides:
The FUD-mongers, representatives of the Christian right, are represented by the usual suspects—Newt Ginrich, Sarah Palin, Sean Hannity, Glen Beck and their medium of hate namely the Fox channel. Their aims are solely political—- galvanizing  the angry masses at a time of economic uncertainty, tapping into the pervasive ignorance of a large section of the American population about Islam and brown people in general. The goals are to prevent mosques from being constructed anywhere  in the US and the 9/11 mosque is simply a small part of  a larger agenda to demonize an entire religion and raise the laughable bogey of the Islamicization of America. When they say “Would the Saudis allow a church near Mecca” they, in a back-handed way express their admiration for the bigotry of Islamic states, by wanting to mirror that intolerance in the US of course in a diametrically opposite way.(In India, we hear analogous arguments as to why we should be more like Pakistan).
On the other hand stand the so-called liberals. Their primary rhetorical weapon, besides wordplay (like how it is fashionable to refer to the building as Park51 or Islamic study center instead of a mosque even though their website says it houses a mosque) has been to create strawman arguments. [..]
For me of course the question that should be the starting point of all debate about the “correctness” of the whole thing has to be— what is the reason behind the Imam and his unnamed foreign backers’ stubborn determination to construct not a mosque or a mosque in Manhattan but a mosque as physically close to Ground zero as possible, even in the face of easily anticipated public dissent?
Manzer Munir at Pakistanis for Peace warns about the perils of victimizing the whole Muslim world because of a few radical terrorists:
This idea by the opponents of the mosque and the right wingers that somehow it is perverted and insensitive to build a mosque several blocks from Ground Zero is in reality only true if we buy into the belief that Muslims and Islam brought down the towers and not a handful of radical extremists of the religion of Islam. If we believe that mainstream Islam itself was responsible for all those deaths on American soil and not Osama Bin Laden and his Al-Qaida network, only then would building the mosque there be insensitive. But for us to somehow associate the whole religion of Islam of over 1.5 billion people by the actions of 19 terrorists is ridiculous.
We must remember that we have a war on terror and not a war on Islam. Far away from Ground Zero in cities across the US as more and more mosques come under opposition in their communities, we must hold steadfast to our ideals, principles and to the US Constitution. As the best nation in the world, we have to defend our ideal and the basis of what makes us the best and that is the US Constitution. Speaking as an American and not even as a Muslim, I know that if we stop defending it for fear of being distasteful, insensitive, or inconsiderate, then we lose what makes us who we are as the freest nation in the world and we must not ever let that happen!


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Turkmenistan: The former ruler’s golden statue removed · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

M reports that the golden statue of Turkmenbashy, the country’s first dead President, atop the Arch of Neutrality was quietly pulled down in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, this week.


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Turkmenistan: WikiLeaks-like service in demand · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Turkmenistan is a society so veiled in shadows that one wonders whether its own leaders believe in the government’s propaganda. For this reason, the country desperately needs a service like WikiLeaks to help expose the truth, argues neweurasia’s Annasoltan.


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UAE/Saudi Arabia: Palestinian-Israeli author’s cultural site blocked  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Arabic Literature (In English) reports that the “new literary and cultural site from Palestinian-Israeli author Ala Hlehel and journalist and culture critic Anton Shalhat, Qadita, is apparently blocked in the UAE and Saudia Arabia.”


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Africa: Maker Faire Africa 2010: First Day · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Photos and first day account of Maker Faire Africa 2010: “This year, besides having jua kali creators from Kenya, we also have makers from Uganda, Rwanda, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria and South Africa. It’s a great turnout, and continues the tradition from Ghana last year.We’re seeing all kinds of incredible ideas brought to life.”


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Armenia-Azerbaijan: More dialogue through film · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

This post is part of our special coverage Caucasus Conflict Voices.
With national television in Armenia and Azerbaijan controlled directly or indirectly by the authorities or government-linked individuals, there is little opportunity for independent reporting. This is especially true in the case of the simmering conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh.
The war, fought in the early 1990s, left 25,000 dead and forced a million to flee their homes. Few ethnic Armenians remain in Azerbaijan, and ethnic Azeris also left Armenia, while attempts to negotiate a lasting peace continue to falter. Skirmishes, however, still occur on the front line despite a 1994 ceasefire agreement.
Communication between the two sides is also discouraged and, for most citizens, impossible. Even so, new and social media is slowly starting to fill the information void and circumvent official or self-imposed restrictions in place on objective reporting free from negative stereotyping, propaganda and occasional misinformation.
The independent media organization Internews, for example, is just one example of peace building initiatives migrating online. Although traditional video reporting, the Internet is perhaps the only medium through which such films can be seen and distributed. Such stories are rarely, if ever, reported in the mainstream media.
Part of a project implemented by British NGO Conciliation Resources, and already mentioned on Global Voices, some of the reports are very original and unique indeed. In Download, for example, virtual conflict teaches a previously addicted online gamer in Azerbaijan a lesson on the futility of war.
Download (English Subtitles) from Internews Armenia on Vimeo.
Meanwhile, former residents from Shusha, a once mainly Azerbaijani-inhabited town in Nagorno Karabakh known to Armenians as Shushi, remember their lives before the war. Negotiations to end the conflict contain provisions for the return of IDPs to their former homes in a phased implementation of any settlement.
Shusha Under Canvas (English Subtitles) from Internews Armenia on Vimeo.
Although the conflict was accompanied by numerous cases of ethnic cleansing and the tit-for-tat expulsion of minority communities, there are reportedly as many as 20,000 people of Armenian origin still living in Baku, the Azerbaijani capital and a few hundred ethnic Azeris in Yerevan, the Armenian capital.
Most are women or the children of mixed marriages, but in both cases, they keep a low profile. However, My Niece From The Caucasus profiles an Azerbaijani woman who remained in ethnic Armenian-populated Karabakh. Internews Armenia follows her on a journey to to meet with her family now living in Ukraine.
My Niece From The Caucasus (English Subtitles) from Internews Armenia on Vimeo.
The same theme is examined in At the 8th Kilometer, a joint production between Internews in Armenia and Azerbaijan. The film looks at the lives of women from mixed marriages now separated from their biological families. The report also includes an interview with an ethnic Armenian woman still living in Azerbaijan.
At The 8th Kilometre (English Subtitles) from Internews Armenia on Vimeo.
A more positive story, however, is told in All Films About Love, a touching look at an Armenian man still married to his Azerbaijani wife. Despite being directly affected by the war, the two pensioners remain together and say their love is as strong as ever.
All Films About Love (English Subtitles) from Internews Armenia on Vimeo.
Very definitely, it is the jointly produced films where the project shines. In Spectrum, for example, artists in Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan ponder the conflict as well as the need for communication, understanding, and peace through their work.
And in Kamancha-nameh, two musicians talk of their love for the same instrument which is part of both country's musical tradition. Despite attempts by the media to focus on the differences between the two nations, the report shows how similar they actually can be.
Spectrum (English Subtitles) from Internews Armenia on Vimeo.
Kamancha-nameh (English Subtitles) from Internews Armenia on Vimeo.
But perhaps one of the strongest collaborations, My Enemy – My Friend, details the experience of Armenians and Azerbaijanis held captive or taken hostage by the other side. It also reports on the work of two men on both sides of the front line who work tirelessly to free or exchange them.
My Enemy – My Friend (English Subtitles) from Internews Armenia on Vimeo.
Breaking many stereotypes, one can't help but realize how narrow coverage in the mainstream media of both countries is with regards to the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh as well as the possibility for Armenians and Azerbaijanis to live in peace. Now, however, such reports can be found on the Internet.
This post is part of our special coverage Caucasus Conflict Voices.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Australia Still Waiting for a New Government · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

A week after its election, Australia is waiting for a new government. Neither side won a majority of the 150 House of Representative seats. Though counting is still continuing, the likely result is:
72 Australian Labor Party, 73 Liberal/National Parties, 1 Greens, 4 Independents. The nation watches while negotiations take place to form a minority government.
Bloggers have been busy speculating not only on possible outcomes but also the reasons for the hung parliament. At his self-titled site Adrian Phoon speculates on the rise of the Greens, blaming the ALP for its own woes:
The ALP’s assumption that it could rely on the progressive vote even when it offered progressive voters little comfort was proven false. (Obama in the US would do well to take note of the ALP’s election woes.)
He echoes a common cry:
One thing’s for sure: the ALP needs to get back on the climate change bandwagon, for its own sake as well as the planet’s, and soon.
Australian Election 2010: How the Left Was Won
Colin Jacobs of Electronic Frontiers had campaigned hard against the Labor Government’s proposed internet filter. He sees the result as vindication:
I believe many internet users had their political consciousness awoken by this attempt to slap censorship on the country's net connections. When this issue was important to people, it didn't just put them slightly off-side, but made them hopping mad, if not lifelong skeptics of the ALP.
How you shaped the Election
At Café Whispers, a blog where I occasionally post, Nasking laments the state of play:
What does surprise me is the amount of people who are willing to vote for these “win at all costs”, “say & do anything to gain power” politicians & media allies who often display the moral development level of a “me me me” adolescent willing to destroy all of the community fair’s Leggo constructions because they didn’t get the blue ribbon & prizes when they expected them…and petulantly stand with hands on hips screeching out: REMATCH!!!.
Friday Siesta At The Cafe (“Waiting” Edition)
Duckpond is more concerned with one big issue than who forms government:
Next week we will probably have a government to replace the caretaker government but will we have a government prepared to act on Global Warming?
… Global warming is not an issue that will go away. It is a looming crisis unfolding over the next century that demands policy, foresight and courage. If the non-scientific opinion is put aside, its effects will impact Australia as anywhere else on the globe.
… A week may be a long time in politics, but is a short moment in global warming.
WAITING IS NOT A OPTION
The gay marriage blog has renewed hope for legalisation, touched with realism:
With the Greens now potentially holding the balance of power in both houses of Parliament gay marriage has never been closer to the political centre stage.
… In fact, all it would take would be the opportunity to introduce a Private Member’s Bill with a subsequent free vote. Gillard could even take some of the credit if she dared – by having a Labor MP introduce the bill.  If that sounds alarms on her political radar a Greens Senator or Bandt could do it.
… the post-election negotiations are a tough moment for gays and the politicians they have placed their faith in.
AUSTRALIAN GREENS MUST HOLD LINE
The Political Sword has two posts on what may have brought about the election result. They analyse possible factors:
The Rudd factor seems to be the most convincing explanation of why it has come to this. There are many others: the Gillard factor, the Queensland factor, the NSW factor, the Abbott factor, the Coalition factor, the media factor, and even more. They are for other pieces.
Its conclusion:
I still like Kevin Rudd. I believe him to be a fine person of high integrity and lofty ideals who has a splendid vision for this nation, and many policy ideas for improving the lot of its people. It has been the process of implementing policy and communicating with the electorate that has come unstuck and has disappointed so many of us who have supported him throughout. But I for one still admire him and regret it has come to this.
More on: How has it come to this?
Lorenzo at Thinking Out Aloud is far more optimistic than the rest:
It was reasonable to complain about the limited substance in the recent Federal election campaign, and the hung Parliament result  made its own statement about the lack of defining content in the election. Yet, we also had two personable, intelligent, public-spirited people on offer as Prime Minister. Leading proposed ministerial line-ups of generally sensible and experienced people. (Claims that there is some great moral urgency that one or other lose or win, or that one or other becoming PM is some grounds for moral despair, tell us far more about the folk indulging in such extravagances than Julia or Tony.) The election campaign was fought with a lack of violence we take entirely for granted but would be regarded as a miracle in large parts of the globe.
The Lucky Country
At Peter Black’s group blog Election Blackout, Emma Anderson has some meta-blogging, blogging about blogging about the election. She also hits a positive note:
… being part of this blog, has had a strong impact on how I see the world of politics. I'm still cynical, I strongly believe that much needs to change, and I believe that being a voice of dissent and criticism is absolutely neccessary. However, for the first time, I feel like my vote might actually have counted, and I'm kicking myself for not having been enrolled in time.
… We need to encourage people to think for themselves. To be a voice against propaganda, a voice in favour of facts, not agendas.  We need to respect the diversity of our culture and our people, but we also need to balance this out realistically.  The world should be run on the best ideas and the facts, not on ideology.
A future blog developing out of this blog: some personal as well as more general lessons
Orange Tim at Despatches from Agent Orange hopes that a hung parliament may bring some changes to the way our legislature operates:
One thing is for sure, I reckon there are a large number of voters who are probably thinking it’s time for some sort of parliamentary reform. To be blunt, politicians are frequently “reforming” the way we live & work, yet aren’t so keen on reforming their neck of the woods.
He also wants to see some constructive soul searching by the major parties:
I’m certain that the major parties will both be looking inwards and looking to reform themselves. If they’re not, then they’ve got some issues. It’s very clear the Australian voters believe they have issues and need to reform their parties.
Australia waits
He’s not alone in those sentiments.

author: Kevin Rennie


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Bahrain: Freej Al Fadhel before Iftar · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

bint battuta in bahrain takes us to Freej Al Fadhel, Al Fadhel neighbourhood in the capital Manama, for a glimpse into daily life 10 minutes before the call for prayers which signal the end of the fasting day this Ramadan.


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Caribbean: “Earl” Watch  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

It's that time again: Hurricane season.  And regional bloggers, having been affected by brutal storms in the past, are keeping a watchful eye on Hurricane Earl, which has now been classified as a Category 3 storm.  Within the next 36 to 48 hours, it is expected to affect both the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, among other islands.
Even as a new weather system forms off the Barbadian coast, Barbados Free Press is relieved that Earl has passed them by:
Hurricane Earl will make for wet Bajan weather for the next couple of days, but our neighbours to the North are taking quite a hit.
The good news for Barbados is that once again a hurricane missed our home. The bad news is that another storm is forming to the east and there is an 80% chance it will grow into a named storm within 48 hours.
It’s easy for Barbadians to become lulled into a false sense of security because we’ve been lucky or blessed for a long time as far as major hurricanes go.
Cuba, too, seems to have been spared; Havana Times writes:
Hurracane Earl has picked up steam on Monday morning as it crosses the northern Leeward Islands and heads for the Virgin Islands.  It is not expected to threaten any part of Cuban territory.
Repeating Islands reports that the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Earl “was likely to keep growing”:
National Hurricane Center forecasters project the hurricane to remain offshore of the United States, passing through the open water between the U.S. and Bermuda from Wednesday through Friday…
So far, however, bloggers from the U.S. Virgin Islands have been the most active, perhaps because they are next in Earl's path.  News of St. John says:
Home owners, villa managers, and business folk began preparations last Thursday, moving outdoor furniture inside and tying down what was left.  By Friday evening, the sounds of hammering and nail guns could be heard, boarding up. StormCarib reports Monday flights out of St. Thomas have been canceled.
In another post, he uploads a video still and reports:
Earl slowed its forward motion overnight, delaying the arrival of its fury about 12 hours.  Now the National Hurricane Center says the center of the storm will pass northeast of St. John at about 6 p.m.
Power's off in Cruz Bay.  The St. John Spicecam quit transmitting at about 7 a.m.  This is the last picture.  Notice it's blurry. The camera was getting blown around.  A surprising number of sailboats are still moored in the harbor.  How many will be damaged and end up in the Beach Bar, literally?
A further update reveals that the “dingy dock in Cruz Bay's a goner.”
Meanwhile, fellow blogger Live De Life is battening down the hatches and preparing as best as possible for Earl's arrival, reporting:
We're feeling the outer edge of Earl this morning. Gusts of wind and hard rain. Power keeps going on and off. And now there is thunder and lightening. Luckily we do not have to go to work today.
We'll keep you posted as the day progresses.
News of St. John has been doing just that: the blog's latest posts report that “Earl is right over the island”; one update even includes a video “from St. John  taken at about 8 a.m.”
Global Voices will post more storm updates as they become available.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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China: Blogger Fang Zhouzi was attacked · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Famous blogger or the Science Cop, Fang Zhouzi, was attacked by thug yesterday (August 29). ESWN translated his blog post about the attack.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Tibetan blogosphere · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Dechen Pemba introduces the Tibetan blogosphere for tomorrow's BlogDay at the comment factory.


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Cuba: Interrogation  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Luis Felipe Rojas blogs about his detainment by the Cuban authorities and says: “I think about the path that has brought this country the totalitarian power that is eating away at itself.  What will be my next punishment?”


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Cuba: Naming Names  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“After all the hubbub about Cuba agreeing to release 52 political prisoners in jail since the ‘black spring’ crackdown of March-April 2003, there still remain in prisons across the island 21 members of the Group of 75″: Uncommon Sense posts their names.


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East Timor: Narrowing the Digital Divide in Images · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Steve Song shares a set of photos from field work on a project that intends to narrow the gap in access to communications in East Timor – Dili Village Telco.

author: Sara Moreira


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Ghana: Former President Connects With People On Facebook · Global Voices
L. Abena Annan

Ghanaian ex-president John Kufuor / Image courtesy: Kufuor;s Facebook page
It has been almost a year and half since John Kufuor respectfully handed over power to President Atta Mills in what was touted by political analysts as the most peaceful and remarkable election in African politics. His post-presidential months were not the most pleasant – from accusations of ludicrous ex gratia demands to those of corruption, the former president was hammered from all corners.
Despite leaving office, Kufuor still sees the need to communicate with the public. Thanks to social networking, Kufuor communicates using his Facebook account, which has 15,066 followers (at the time of writing this post).
It appears that President Kufuor is the only Ghanaian past president thus far who connects with Ghanaian citizens through social media platforms. And perhaps the first to take his socio-political agenda, in this case poverty and hunger, onto an international platform.
The former Ghanaian president announced his appointment as Ambassador Against Hunger for the World Food Programme on his Facebook page:
His Ever Excellency John Agyekum kufuor has been appointed an Ambassador Against Hunger for the World Food Programme. He will work for The Hunger Project and will be an Ambassador Against Hunger and Disaster.<
This announcement received 95 thumbs up and 50 comments from his followers.
Erasmus ‘Pobosky’ Oware commented:
Congratulations K4. The world will always recognize your good works and will reward you accordingly. You are the best that ever happened to us. Congrats once again Daddy.
Arthur Chester said:
U hav done a lot for Ghanaian children when u were president and some of us still believe dat u will put dat experience into play once again. We say congrats for the elevating to dat level. Stay there and bring good name to yourself and mother Ghana.
On October 9, 2009, it was announced on his Facebook page that he had finally assumed office as Chairman of the Governing Council of Interpeace, a non-governmental organization dedicated to international peace building in societies that have experienced division and conflict. Today, his face is one of the few that grace the organization's homepage.
Though John Kufuor was not appointed to lead any relief efforts following 2010 Haiti earthquake, he urged his followers on Facebook to pray for Haitians and “help for they are all our brothers and sisters”:
My heart goes out to the people of Haiti. I pray the good Lord will calm the situation. Let us all do anything we can to help for they are all our brothers and sisters.
His followers discuss various topics on his discussion board. “The Best President” is one of the topics on the board. The topic was introduced by Francis saying:
I submit that Former Ghanaian President Kufuor is one of the most successful African president, if not the most successful in contemporal Africa
Kweku agreed:
thats the truth all the way no gimmicks no lie
But not Frimpong:
Though, as a president he did great,that does not make him the best of all the presidents Ghana has ever had.
Steve noted that Kufuor did not satisfy everyone:
Prez KuFFour, His Time Of Governing Ghana many things went wrong, He did his best but not to SATISFACTION Of all. I Learnt Prez KuFFour Never VISITE Upper West Region ,WA , in his 8years Rule. Ghana is more than 50years and all the Presidents who Rule the Nation Ghana did thier best.
Kofi sees Kufuor as humble and tolerant:
he is 2nd to none,i think he is the best president we have ever had in ghana,so humble , tolerant and GOD fearing.
When the head of the Ghanaian National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) stormed his residence claiming that the house was in water way, his followers reacted through his Facebook page.
Juliet said:
Very sad and unfortunate how cheap politics can give some butterflies wings.
“Leave the old man alone,” said Hillary:
why wasn't this done during his administration. what about SHOPRITE,VILLAGIO and all other residences around. give us a break. LEAVE THE “OLDMAN” ALONE……..
Another political figure in Africa using social networking sites to communicate with citizens is Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan. In July 2010 we published two posts about his Facebook page.

author: L. Abena Annan


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Ghana: Photos of Ghanaians threatened with relocation · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Bunmi displays Devin Tepleski's portraits of the inhabitants of Bui, Ghana, who are threatened with relocation by a new hydroelectric dam.


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Japan: Web Startups Present at WISH 2010 · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

The second edition of the web industry event WISH [ja] was held on August 28th.
The brainchild of Agile Media Network‘s Motohiko Tokuriki [ja], this event derived from a heated debate last year about how to perceive the Japanese web. Global Voices covered the debate in a three part series that collected responses to the question, “Is the Japanese web disappointing?”. The inaugural WISH 2009 attracted four hundred people on a weekday night and the event hashtag #wish09 became a Twitter Trending topic. (read the Techcrunch report)
This year, several hundred people gathered in Roppongi to attend the half-day event, while thousands more tuned in to watch the presentations on UStream and NicoNico Douga.
From the organizer's website:
昨今、「ガラパゴス」という言葉の流行にも見られるように、一般に日本の製品やサービスは国内だけの市場に最適化され、グローバルに展開しにくくなっていると言われています。 ただ、実際には、個人やベンチャーから大企業まで、世界を狙える新しいサービスやガジェットが生まれ続けてはいるものの、なかなかその実態を利用者に知られる機会がなく、利用者を増やすのに苦労しているのが実情です。
「WISH 2010」では、ウェブ関連の 「サービス」や「端末」を開発されている様々な企業・個人の皆様に、多数のメディアやブロガー、ツイッターユーザーに対し てサービスや端末をアピールするプレゼンテーションの機会を提供することにより、まだ知名度が低いけれども可能性のあるサービスや端 末が飛躍するきっかけとなることを目指しています。
WISH 2010 provides an opportunity for individuals and corporations developing web-related services and devices to reach out to the media, bloggers, and Twitter users. They have the potential but not the visibility, and the event aims to help them take flight.
Struggles with isolationism continues and one expression of this might be is how the phrase Galápagos Syndrome has taken a firm root in our vocabulary,  as mentioned above in the WISH 2010 introduction. Galápagos Syndrome is a term, self-deprecating at best, that was coined to describe how Japanese cellphones have evolved in its own way, incompatible and increasingly irrelevant to the rest of the world. The concept has broadened to explain unique development in other industries and generalized to include describing an inward looking mindset.
WISH 2010 started with a panel discussion [ja] between Yoshikazu Tanaka (founder and CEO of Gree), Akinori Harada (COO of Mixi) and Hiroki Eda (manager at Digital Garage and the project manager for the business development of Twitter Japan) to the topic of “how the Japanese web should aim to go global”.
Should a company start out aiming to reach a global audience, or first focus on capturing the local market? This talk is especially interesting as Mixi is spurring their overseas efforts. Japanese startup culture and the difficulty of getting funding were also discussed. Harada brought up the fact that many of the suicide victims in Japan are small business owners; Japanese business owners are literally running their companies at the risk of their own lives.
@shinyai:
原田：腹をくくれというサムライ精神で起業させるという考えではダメ。リスクをとらないというのもどうかと思うが、大企業に入れるような人間が、起業に目を向けるような環境が必要。 #wish10
Tanaka thrilled the audience with tales of overcoming financial hurdles in the early days, while both he and Harada encouraged startups to be more agressive and open-minded about raising funds.
@kakuit:
徳力「サービスが流行るのと，お金が入ってるタイミングにはズレがある。GREEが流行り始めた時期はAdsenceで？」田中「全然。GREEにはクレカのキャッシングで凌いでいた時期がある。楽天のボーナスで返済。」 #WISH2010 #WISH10
@toshi_t:
原田「24時間没頭できると思ったら、まず資金調達するべきです。資金調達で3年没頭できるということを想像してみて欲しい。」 #wish10
Next were fourteen presentations and demos. Head over to Asiajin or Techcrunch to read a full list of the services.
The winner was the e-book publishing platform Puboo by paperboy & co.. As an expansion of their popular book review community site Booklog, Puboo allows anyone to write and publish a book online. Their name comes from the word “publish” and the sound of a baby, or something new, being born.
Mainichi Shimbun's @norimineshigeto, one of the judges, tweeted:
#wish10 「ブクログのパブ－」は現代のガリ版だと思う。誰もが簡単に自分の表現を形にでき、発表の場がある。そこで人と本が出会い、人と人が出会い、人が世界とつながり、新しいものが生まれる。戦後ガリ版刷りの同人誌などによって多くの優れた文化が生まれたのと同じことが今後起こると思う
A performance [ja] by singer Kohmi Hirose, one of the first celebrity figures to embrace Twitter in Japan, followed the presentations. Coordinator Hiromi Okuda explains [ja] that they are looking to innovate the music publication platform and this event was an experiment to bring Hirose and engineers, who have the potential to build that platform, together in the same room.

author: Tomomi Sasaki


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Kenya: My Take on Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s Autobiography · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Njeri Wangari reviews Ngugi Wa Thiongo's new autobiography: “Dreams in a Time of War… let you get an understanding of Ngugi that you probably have never before. We all to tend to think that Ngugi a radical who is too pragmatic about use of his mothertongue only drawing his characters from his rural setting…”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Kuwait: Much Ado About Bu Qutada wa Bu Nabeel  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The discussion continues on Kuwaiti blog Five One Eight about the Bu Qutada wa Bu Nabeel series which created a rift between Kuwait and Morocco. More on the story here.


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Latin America: Blogging at Los Superdemokraticos · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Coinciding with several Bicentennial Independence celebrations in Latin America, from June to October 2010 German and Latin American bloggers [es] will be writing for Los Superdemokraticos about their “daily lifes [sic] in international political contexts.” Posts are published in German and Spanish; five texts are translated into English each month.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Libya: Focus on Food Blogs  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Khadija Teri, from Libya, shares three food-related blogs written by Libyans here.


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Mexico: Fleeing Monterrey · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Hernando y la Silla writes [es] about why people are leaving Monterrey, a city that “has become the center of the conflict between the various criminal gangs.”


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Morocco: Hating TV Dubbed in Arabic  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Moroccan blogger Mohamed Mouad explains why he hates television shows which are dubbed in Arabic.


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Nicaragua: The Result of the 2.0 Meeting of Blogs and New Media  · Global Voices
GV Contributor

Image from Flickr user Jorge Mejía Peralta, jorgemejia, used an Attribution 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license.
The 2.0 Meeting of Blogs and New Media (2.0 Encuentro de Blogs & Nuevos Medios [es]) took place on the 12 and 13 of August, in Managua, Nicaragua, increasing the value of blogs and new media as citizen spaces for social participation in the country. The event was made possible with support from the Cultural Center of Spain in Nicaragua (Centro Cultural de España de Nicaragua [es]).
During its first edition [es] in 2009, the meeting focused on traditional and print media and writers that were migrating toward an online platform. In its second edition, 2010, creators of “native” web content were invited, from independent bloggers to corporations, social activists and even political organizations.
The meeting included guests from Guatemala (Stephanie Falla, from Maestros del Web [es] and 120Segundos.com [es] ), Renata Avila (lead of Creative Commons Guatemala, Global Voices author, also involved in other digital experiences), Cristian Cambronero (from FusilDeChispas.com [es], National Journalism Prize for Costa Rica 2010), Monica Brenes (University of Costa Rica, project La Carpio en Linea [es]), Marcela Alfaro (from Cocoa Interactive [es]), and several Nicaraguan bloggers from different backgrounds, locations and with distinct purposes for the Internet.
The meeting generated a lot of coverage from the local Twitter community (more information can be found on the site twittnic.com) which voted [es] for the tag #nicablogs10, and followed the event weeks before it began. On traditional media, like magazine Confidencial, the event was covered through various articles on web editions, later listed on the event's official blog [es], including interviews with the creators of the projects La Carpio En Linea [es], 120Segundos.com [es], Group Todo por la costa caribe [es] (Everything for the Caribbean Coast), and even video coverage for an outlet that is essentially a print weekly:
Rodney Dávila, collaborating with Confidencial.com.ni [es], wrote:
Conversar de blogs es trastocar temas sobre la diversidad, desarrollo cultural, participación e incidencia ciudadana, producción de contenido para nuevos medios, innovadores usos en aplicaciones móviles. Temáticas que fueron abordadas en el 2.0 Encuentro de Blogs & Nuevos Medios, que se llevó a cabo recientemente en la Universidad Centroamericana.
Maricela Kauffman, historian for Turkulka.net [es], wrote for the project's blog:
El 2.0 encuentro de blogs & nuevos medios demostró que la cibercultura es también una “buena práctica” local; una oportunidad, una plataforma donde las sociedades centroamericanas están promoviendo proyectos innovadores, apropiándose de nuevas tecnologías, difundiendo el conocimiento local en el mundo urbano. Bienvenidos los nuevos espacios en donde “la transparencia es la nueva objetividad” (David Weinberger). — Desde la Galaxia Gutenberg a la Galaxia Internet; la transparencia es el objetivo
Emila Persola in his presentation [es] placed an emphasis on the impact of blogs in our context:
En ese sentido, yo no creo haber superado aún la idea romántica de tener un blog y considero que en términos generales aún no se supera tampoco en el país. Y no se supera no solo por una falta aún necesaria de conectividad, sino también porque aún falta un compromiso de los blogueros por desarrollar, por un lado, una disciplina de publicación y por otro, aprender a contrarrestar a las coyunturas locales.
Javier Barrera, from 1001medios.es, created a podcast episode dedicated to “the small corners of the Internet.” You can download the podcast, in Spanish, here. In the same post Javier reviews the participating blogs and bloggers [es].
Rafael Chacón, Interactivity Senior Producer for BBC Mundo, presented via Skype about how BBC Mundo uses social networks to spread and find stories and sources:
Ahora ustedes también participan en la generación de noticias, pero además llegan a ellas de forma distinta: sus amigos las recomiendan y las comparten en las redes sociales, hablan de ellas en sus blogs personales.
The comments from his presentation are now part of a post on his editor blog in “Un (BBC) Mundo Más Social [es]” (A More Social BBC Mundo).
Conexiones [es], a new blog dedicated to investigative journalism, covered the event:
Iniciativas de cómo incidir en la sociedad a través de blogs y nuevos medios alternativos en la web, crear participación entre la comunidad desde esos espacios, generar contenido y conocimiento, fueron los temas expuestos hoy  en el auditorio Xavier Gorostiaga de la Universidad Centroamericana (UCA)… Decenas de personas, interesadas en desarrollar blogs y nuevos medios a través de la web 2.0, estuvieron atentos a la ponencia de  nicaragüenses y centroamericanos sobre el desarrollo de sus blogs y el impacto que han logrado con éstos. La actividad es organizada por la Universidad Centroamericana (UCA) y el Centro Cultural de España en Nicaragua (CCEN).
Blogger Emila Persola was interviewed [es] by local newspaper El Nuevo Diario because of the 2.0 Meeting:
No hay que dar tregua. Hay que contribuir más bien a criticar esa idiosincrasia del nicaragüense, pues en el fondo no es digna de admiración. Somos un pueblo muy intolerante, desafortunadamente esperanzado más en las bendiciones o maldiciones que provengan del cielo, que en preocuparnos por encontrar una conciencia capaz de superar nuestro atraso económico, social, político y hasta espiritual.
Other media that covered the event include the European Press Agency [es], the Enlace Académico Centroamerican [es], the Tulum Magazine [es] from Guatemala, and El 19 Digital [es].
Image from Flickr user Jorge Mejía Peralta, jorgemejia, used an Attribution 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license
On Flickr there is a set of images dedicated to the 2.0 Meeting, with pictures under a Creative Commons license, courtesy of Jorge Mejía. The images from this post come from the same set.
Maestros Del Web after the 2.0 Meeting created a “Guía para organizar en 5 pasos un evento de tecnología e internet,” (Guide to organize a technology and Internet event in 5 steps) where part of the process of the event's organization was taken into consideration. Like previously mentioned, Maestros del Web participated in the event, represented by Stephanie Falla. The guide includes these points, among others:
El curador o equipo organizador …  debe plantear un conjunto de ideas claras para transmitir en el transcurso del mismo:
No se trata de llenar un auditorio de gente que habla una después de otra, sino crear un discurso que entre en la gente, en los participantes, en los otros expositores, y en los medios de comunicación que cubran el evento.
Rodrigo (Peñalba) agrega que el discurso se va creando desde como se agrupan los temas de los expositores, sea una charla técnica, una charla de una experiencia de trabajo, o una conferencia con preguntas y respuestas o si es una sesión de vídeo charlas:
Que cada expositor entienda lo que se le esta pidiendo exponer y de como calza en el programa en general. De ese modo puede preparar el enfoque de su participación acorde a la idea básica general que fijamos para diseñar el evento.
The blogs and projects that presented in the event are the following:
To summarize what each of these blogs do would merit writing several post summarizing the work of each of them and the many other blogs that could not be presented on during the event's official program. We invite you to visit all of them; the participation of these bloggers is what made the Meeting a success. We hope to see you there next year!
Disclaimer: Rodrigo Penalba was a Coordinador for the event.

author: GV Contributor


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Russia: Bloggers Outraged by Putin’s Interview · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Recent interview [RUS] of Vladimir Putin to Kommersant newspaper outraged many bloggers. They accuse Putin of a lie [RUS], ignorance [RUS], deliberate substitution [RUS] of the terms “police state” and a “state governed by a rule of law.” Other bloggers condemn [RUS] his attitude towards protesters: “You went out [on a street – GV] with no right to do that and get yourself beaten in your head by a police baton.”

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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Russia: Online Cooperation as an Alternative for Government? · Global Voices
Gregory Asmolov

Coordination center of Ushahidi-based "Help Map". Photo by Anton Gerdo
The role of social networks and the blogosphere is usually viewed through a context of transparency and accountability. Social media activists can help in exposing the state’s failures and holding the government accountable. During this summer's wildfires [ENG], however, the role of the Russian media was more than that. Bloggers not only exposed the government’s unaccountability but demonstrated a high degree of solidarity and self-organization in fighting the disaster.
The activity of the Russian online community wasn't limited to helping wildfire victims. Bloggers created units of volunteer firefighters, went into the field and eventually provided immediate response. Along with the comprehensive instructions on how to become a firefighter, how to fight various types of wildfires, and what equipment volunteers should have, the Internet provided a platform for 24-hour coordination and exchange of information about the rapidly changing situation.
The fact that bloggers had to take matters into their own hands sent a message that was much stronger than any critique of the government. To some extent, Russian bloggers filled the gaps created by the government. This situation might surprise since quite often the ability of the Russian blogosphere to cause any effect beyond the virtual space was more than debatable.
So, what caused such an extraordinary effect?
Failure of the government as a trigger for online cooperation
There are several explanations. The skeptical approach says the major reason for the awakening of Russian netizens is a high degree of personal threat. Unlike other cases, the wildfires affected the entire population of Moscow. An anonymous user explained [RUS] this approach to Lenta.ru:
Когда горела Сибирь, нам было, честно говоря, пофигу. Когда пожар был в соседнем лесу, мы ковыряли в носу на даче и загорали под солнышком. Когда сгорела Выкса, мы проснулись и вскрикнули: “Власти бездействуют!” Через полчаса мы припомнили какую-то там бучу с Лесным кодексом и кинулись к компьютеру. Через час блогосфера бурлила. А на следующий день, когда Москву заволокло дымом, нам стало страшно, и мы бросились работать на благо страны.
Beyond the cynical point of view, however, high degree of cooperation might be explained with two factors. On the one hand, cooperation was empowered by a shared understanding that the government has failed to get the situation under control and, moreover, didn't want to be held accountable for it. On the other hand, it was information technologies that provided both information exchange and tools for coordination and effective collaboration.
The feeling of total distrust in the government was one of the major leitmotifs in the online discourse around wildfires. Anna Baskakova, an art expert who took an active part in firefighting, published an appeal to Sergey Shoigu, the Russian Minister of Emergency Situations. The appeal received over 2,400 comments and became one of the most popular posts of the week. Baskakova wrote [RUS]:
… у меня исчезли последние детские иллюзии, связанные с тем, что кто-то там, наверху, о нас заботится и нас защищает (нет, я не о Боге, я говорю о руководстве страны и о Вас в том числе). Теперь я стала взрослым человеком и рассчитываю только на себя.
One of the peaks of the bloggers’ dissatisfaction with the government was the moment when PM Vladimir Putin co-piloted a firefighters’ plane [EN]. It was widely recognized as a PR action. Some bloggers wondered if Putin had a legal right to co-pilot. One of the bloggers asked [RUS]:
Премьер-министр тушит пожары; Премьер-министр реанимирует 80-летних бабушек; Премьер-министр сеет пшеницу. А кто управляет страной?
In a sarcastic post titled “Innovation in firefighting,” Leonwolf listed [RUS] ways in which the government was putting out the fires. It included:
One of the sharpest responses to the government's actions was provided by Yulia Latynina, an Echo Moskvy journalist. She claimed [RUS] that the state system reached a new degree of failure when even Putin’s presence wasn't bringing about any changes:
Мы видим, что система по-прежнему не функционирует. Над Москвой стоит смог, московские морги переполнены. Лужков даже не вернулся из отпуска. Система продолжает выделять 9 млрд. рублей на чистую воду, переименовывать милицию в полицию. Здорово, ребята, давайте лучше не милицию в полицию переименуем, а сразу, как кто-то пошутил в блогах, ВАЗ переименуем в БМВ, те же самые три буквы. И тремя буквами всё это накроется.
"Have you signed up to volunteer?". An illustration by a LJ user ryskan.
Technology helps online communities to replace government
The wildfires showed that with the help of technology, online community can replace both the functions and the structures of the government.
One of the most significant signs of the government's failure was the fact that bloggers had to buy equipment – including fire hoses – for official units of professional firefighters. Igor Cherskiy, one of the leaders of online volunteers, a writer and a blogger, asked [RUS] Shoigu not for help, but for instructions on which fire hoses to buy:
Назовите, пожалуйста, адреса, где вы прячете эти сокровища. Мы приедем и даже купим их у вас же, чтоб вам же привезти, чтобы вы потушили пожар. <…> Понимаете? Наши женщины не боятся покупать пожарные рукава для ваших героических войск. Они только боятся “купить ненужное”.
Shoigu didn't reply to Cherskiy, but another blogger – LJ user fort_i_ko, a former firefighter – explained in detail what fire hoses to buy. Cherskiy concluded [RUS]:
Ура! Теперь любая кухарка сможет управлять МЧС. Ибо очень доходчиво всё изложено.
Vladimir Lenin's famous saying that “every cook has to learn how to govern the state” did not, of course, apply in this situation. It was self-organization of bloggers that provoked the emergence of several leaders of the rescue operation, and, consequently, separation of duties between them. LJ user _alisa wrote [RUS] after one of her trips to an area affected by the wildfires:
вчера мы ездили в Кулебаки чтобы отвезти им все это – необходимые пожарным инструменты, продукты, средства защиты были приобретены на деньги блоггеров, организовал наш десант по заброске всего этого в «горячую точку» i_cherski , который как известно на общественных началах замещает временно недееспособное руководство МЧС.
If i_cherski played the part of the Minister of Emergency Situations, the role of the Minister of Health and Social Aid was played by Elizaveta Glinka, aka doctor-liza. Her apartment was turned into the headquarters of aid coordination and a storehouse at the same time.
With the help of pozar_ru LJ community, Cherskiy and Glinka became the two leaders of the volunteer cooperation. Despite their successes, collective action of this type often lacked coordination. Overwhelming numbers of help offers, together with information overload, threatened the whole idea of efficient coordination. Moreover, some organizations that took an active part in rescue missions had no Internet representation whatsoever. For instance, an important role was played by a charity branch of the Russian Orthodox Church [RUS].
A management platform that made cooperation-based mutual aid more effective was “Help Map” [RUS] – the first Russian Ushahidi-based platform [ENG] that aggregated information from all possible sources and organized it according to categories, geolocation and time. The crowdsourcing element of “Help Map” made it possible to expand the range of people who could share information beyond bloggers and Internet users. “Help Map” created a useful database and launched a coordination center that connected those who needed help with those who offered help, relying on the information submitted to the map section. Blogger ottenki-serogo, who visited the Ushahidi-based coordination center in Moscow, described [RUS] the role of “Help Map”:
Карта Помощи – без сомнения проект года. Возможно, его даже наградят, посмертно, когда пожаров в стране, наконец, не станет. Скорее всего это будет какая-нибудь интернет-премия, но никак не признание заслуг государством. Впервые (вы можете вспомнить что-нибудь подобное?) интернет добровольцы не только объединились в желании помочь, но и создали сайт, колл-центр, систему мониторинга и обмена информацией.  […] Они не связаны ни с какими организациями и политическими партиями, они сами по себе, они тихо растворятся среди нас, когда беда отступит, и соберутся снова чтобы помогать, если, не дай бог, случится. Система создана, обкатана и готова к повторению.
Coordination center of "Help Map". Photo by Ottenki-Serogo
“Help Map” not only sent a strong message to the government that it wasn't capable of taking care of its own citizens, but also presented a new accountability mechanism that is emerging among citizens. Ushahidi has become a civil society institution. These were the first steps to a reality in which the public would form alternative mechanisms and institutions, in order to fill the vacuum of government structures.
The combination of a dedicated online community as a main platform for discourse, several leaders and a coordination center based on an Ushahidi map, created a new model of effective online cooperation that can provide efficient and timely response. Blogger grey-wolk summarized [RUS] the role of the model that has emerged:
Люди без указаний, без поощрений и жажды славы просто начали сами исполнять функции государства. […] Выяснилось, что сочетание активных людей, новейших технологий распределенной работы,  отсутствие формальных ограничений и неограниченного источника знаний в виде сетевых ресурсов Интернета приводит к тому, что данный “виртуальный” коллектив весьма небольшой численности может проводить операции, реально влияющие на огромное пространство – несколько областей России.
Described above is an example of the “governance without government” phenomenon (a term coined in 1992 by James Rosenau and Ernst-Otto Czempiel [EN]). ”Governance without government” became relatively efficient and sustainable because of the role of the information technologies. Moreover, information technologies helped create platforms that inspired growth of new offline institutions (e.g., the coordination center that was set up as an extension of “Help Map“).
Some Russain bloggers already see that the online response to wildfires might be the beginning of a new political model for Russia, when citizens armed with technology take governance in their own hands. Blogger grey-wolk developed this idea in a post titled “Wildfires as a catalyst for self-governance in Russia” [RUS]:
При всех ошибках и несколько хаотической  форме создания “виртуальной организации” можно выделить несколько главных положений:
- в России существуют люди, способные самоорганизовываться и осуществлять существенные макроскопические воздействия
– “виртуальный коллектив” такого уровня может быть создан практически в любое время и способен осуществлять серьезную деятельность через 2 -3 недели после старта проекта.
Таким образом, после июля – августа 2010 года в России наконец то появился зачаток позитивного движения, и не считаться с его наличием формальные власти уже не в состоянии. Данное движение пока затрагивает в основном сферу деятельности МЧС. Что на очереди?
- there are people in Russia who are able to self-organize and achieve significant macro-impacts
– “a virtual working group” of this type can be created at any time and is able to maintain serious activity after 2-3 weeks after starting the project.
As a consequence, after July-August 2010 we can finally see the first signs of a positive movement in Russia, and the government can not ignore it anymore. So far, this movement mainly affects the activity of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. What's next?
“Governance without government”: challenges and obstacles
Successful cooperation can’t work without a high degree of mutual trust between people. John Clippinger, in his book “A Crowd of One: a Future of Digital Identity” [EN], argues that the degree of online cooperation depends on the ability to evaluate reputation and credibility of online community members.
On the one hand, the wildfires showed that online community members are more trusted than the government is. Anna Baskakova wrote [RUS]
[…] я поверила в человеческую доброту. Потому что мне отовсюду под честное слово шлют вещи, деньги и продукты, чтобы я потратила все это на тушение пожаров. Даже совсем незнакомые люди из-за океана говорят, что мне доверяют, и переводят суммы на мою карточку. Вам не шлют, Сергей Кожугетович? Странно. Отчего они не хотят вам помогать??
On the other hand, online activity was still accompanied by mutual suspicion and incidents, especially since the Russian Internet is known as a space with a high degree of engagement of pro-government bloggers.
One may suggest that in an emergency situation there is a rise in the degree of trust, and, as a consequence, online cooperation grows more sustainable. This sustainability, however, is very fragile. Once the emergency decreases, the degree of suspicion and tension rises.
More sustainability requires more options to evaluate who your partners are and what their reputation is. It should not be a surprise that leaders of the online movement were well-known. Clippinger argues that the development of online trust through the development of online identity can create a new social reality with more advanced levels of cooperation and self-organization. The Russian wildfires case is another proof that “governance without government” requires a high degree of mutual trust. It also provides hope, since members of the online community have an opportunity to examine the track record of their fellows. It means that online cooperation not only requires a developed online identity, but is also a part of online identity development. As a consequence, next time when cooperation is required it can be based on trust that was developed previously.
Certain obstacles of online cooperation should be mentioned, though. One of them is the “Iron Law of Oligarchy” [ENG]. Suggested in 1911 by sociologist Robert Michels [EN], the “law” says that any form of organization develops competition for leadership and creates its own “oligarchs”. In an online environment, information hubs become oligarchs of sorts. If that happens, information hubs turn from cooperation to rivalry, thus threatening the efficiency of networked actions.
Another problem is the audience. LiveJournal blogs and communities primarily address active Internet users. Ushahidi-based “Help Map” tried to expand its audience by including SMS-messaging, but still information about the website is primarily distributed on the Internet. At the same time, the Russian “conventional” mass media (primarily TV) are controlled by the government and are instructed [RUS] to “avoid exaggeration and dramatization” of the wildfires. As a consequence, the audience available for online cooperation is limited.
Conclusion
In summer 2010, the Russian blogosphere became an example of “governance without government” that emerged in the conditions of the government's failure to handle the disaster. The mix of blogs, online communities and an Ushahidi-based platform, together with the emergence of new offline institutions to support this structure, provided a framework for relatively efficient and coordinated response.
Russia isn't the only example of this phenomenon. In his recent, still unpublished, report – “Mobile Telephony & Governance in Weak/Non-State Areas” – Steven Livingston [EN] from the George Washington University showed that information and communication technologies might be a catalyst for new forms of governance in weak and stateless areas. The report demonstrates how mobile phones can “create new sorts of institutions that allow people to manage issues (such as banking, security, and information for trade) more effectively” without the government's involvement. It means that cooperation mediated through technology gradually becomes a more significant alternative for governance by the government and a new framework for accountability, in various parts of the world. In this case, the Russian online response to the wildfires might be just one of many examples.
The problems of trust and relationship, as well as the limited ability of the Internet to reach more people, are still here.  One may add that once the government recognizes network as a potential rival for governance, it might take steps to restrict online cooperation.

author: Gregory Asmolov