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As Liberal Russia’s Secret Superhero ‘KermlinRussia’ Unmasks, Some See Evil · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Fans of fallen superheroes and Godwin's Law – as an online discussion grows longer, the probability of Nazi or Hitler comparison approaches – read on.
“The banality of evil” is a phrase coined by Hannah Arendt fifty years ago in her book about German Nazi SS lieutenant colonel Adolf Eichmann, that concludes that great evils in history were not executed by fanatics or sociopaths, but by ordinary people who accepted the status quo and believed their actions were normal.
Arseny Bobrovsky is not Adolf Eichmann. He certainly never killed anyone—indeed, he’s broken no laws at all. But for some on the RuNet, he represents pure evil.
Bobrovsky, the owner of a Russian PR firm called “Daily Communications,” would be a thoroughly typical example of Moscow’s “creative class” liberals, were it not for one thing: Bobrovsky has a secret identity. At least he did, anyway, until March 25, 2013, when he and his accomplice [ru] Katya Romanovskaya outed themselves [ru] to the world as the authors of KermlinRussia, one of the most popular accounts on Russian Twitter. With well over half a million followers today, KermlinRussia—a parody of Dmitri Medvedev’s first Twitter name—is widely regarded as one of the chief mouthpieces of the liberal opposition movement.
Within hours of this “coming out,” the usual suspects involved in anti-opposition news breaks (in this instance, the formidable Stanislav Apetyan) had uncovered [ru] the curious fact that Bobrovsky helped manage [ru] a public relations campaign for one of the most hated institutions on all the RuNet: the Safe Internet League [ru] (abbreviated as LBI, in Russian). That organization, of course, is most notorious for spearheading the RuNet Blacklist, a federal censorship initiative launched last summer, designed to purge the Web of content dangerous to children. (Critics, however, argue that the extrajudicial mechanism is a slippery slope to a wider crackdown on digital free speech.)
Damage control
The timing of this revelation couldn’t have been better for Apetyan, who just four days earlier was singled out [ru] on Facebook by Yandex-co-founder Ilya Segalovich as a hired LBI stooge. On March 21, 2013, Segalovich cited a March 18 post [ru] on LBI’s Vkontakte page, where the League named Apetyan’s blog and summarized his finding that the vast majority of RuNet public figures’ Facebook followers are bots. “For me personally,” Segalovich declared, “the issue of the League is now settled,” arguing that any affiliation with Apetyan discredited it entirely.
Arseny Bobrovsky, the male member of KermlinRussia, 12 April 2012, appearing masked in an interview on DozhdTV, screen capture, YouTube.
As it turned out, a far more important collaborator with the League was Bobrovsky, whose KermlinRussia account is an online hero to Russian liberals. After Apetyan’s discovery circulated, Bobrovsky published [ru] a long self-defense to KermlinRussia’s Facebook account, explaining the details of his past work for LBI, as well as his reasons for serving such an odious client. Almost two thousand words long, Bobrovsky’s text—a potpourri of confession and rationalization—is something to behold.
At certain times, he is repentant:
Здесь начинается серая зона моей совести. В этот момент я задал несколько вопросов, ответы на которые знал. Также как и знал, что мне соврут. Совесть боролась с профессиональными амбициями. В сухом остатке ясно, что я более амбициозный, чем совестливый.
Here [when I took LBI’s contract] began the grey zone of my conscience. At this moment, I asked a number of questions, the answers to which I already knew. I also knew that [LBI] would lie to me. My conscience fought with my professional ambitions. The bottom line is that I’m more ambitious than I am conscientious.
Elsewhere, Bobrovsky tries to justify his decisions under a rubric of consummate professionalism:
Но мне хотелось сделать этот проект. Потому что только такие проекты по-настоящему показывают, чего ты стоишь как профессионал.
But I wanted to do this project. Because only these kinds of projects can truly show your mettle as a professional.
He later adds:
Как профессионалу мне совершенно не стыдно. Я сделал свою работу очень хорошо и свалил обратно – заниматься бизнес-пиаром Маршала, передав через пару месяцев работу над аккаунтом своему сотруднику.
As a professional, I’m entirely unashamed. I completed my work very well and got out of there, carrying out the business-PR for Marshal Capital [the intermediary between Daily Communications and LBI], and managing to pass the account onto a colleague within a couple of months.
“Professionalism” and the opportunity to demonstrate his talents for manipulating public perceptions were key drivers in Bobrovsky’s decisionmaking. At first, he avoided taking LBI’s contract, instead recommending a competitor, Victor Michaelson [ru]. According to Bobrovsky, Michaelson’s firm botched the job, mounting a slapdash press conference that won the League more bad press for founder and board chairman Konstantin Malofeev (who also founded Marshall Capital, Daily Communications’ direct employer). Bobrovsky says he only stepped in after this media blowup, unable to resist the challenge. (“Crisis PR,” he writes, “is the most interesting type of project.”)
Presumably to show how uninterested in money he was, Bobrovsky even reveals the value of the contract Daily Communications finally did accept: 330 thousand rubles (roughly 10 thousand dollars) per month. Bobrovsky claims that Michaelson’s fee was almost two-and-a-half times more—amounting to over 150 thousand dollars for six months’ labor. What Bobrovsky doesn’t say, curiously, is that he was promised 20% of Michaelson’s contract earnings. According to Michaelson, Bobrovsky fought [ru] to receive 20% of the contract’s full value, even after LBI dropped Michaelson’s firm, six weeks into the campaign. Bobrovsky did get 20% of those six weeks (about three thousand dollars), but this apparently bred bad blood between him and Michaelson, culminating in KermlinRussia’s Facebook post, where Bobrovsky announced to the world (perhaps as an embellishment or maybe as an honest disclosure) that Michaelson couldn’t cut the mustard with LBI.
Not everyone is buying it
Earlier that evening, on March 25, Tonia Samsonova, a firebrand journalist for Slon.ru, Ekho Moskvy, and Dozhd television, responded to Bobrovsky’s unmasking. Samsonova, who interviewed [ru] a still-masked Bobrovsky in May 2012, expressed [ru] on Facebook her unease about his now-revealed résumé:
Вчера мы сидели в кафе с Арсением – кермлинрашей – я пришла домой и легла спать в семь вечера, мне снились кошмары. Потому что Арсений делал вещи, которые я не могу оправдать, и писал в Forbes тексты, с которыми я частично согласна (а по ключевому поводу мы с ним никогда не договоримся, видимо).
Yesterday, Arseny (KermlinRussia) and I met in a cafe. [Samsonova also posted a photo of this encounter.] I came home and laid down to sleep at 7 PM. I had nightmares. Because Arseny did things that I can’t justify, and wrote texts for Forbes.ru, with which I partially agree (though on the key issue it seems we’ll never agree).
Samsonova’s reservations about Bobrovsky’s “unjustifiable acts” and questionable texts echo the thoughts she aired in their televised May 2012 encounter, when both individuals sparred about KermlinRussia’s op-ed column for Forbes.ru, where Bobrovsky regularly argues that all Russian wealth (small and large) travels “dishonest paths.” (The idea being that no Russians can escape the petty incrimination that accompanies survival.) Samsonova plainly objected to this notion, telling her guest that he was simply wrong. In KermlinRussia’s later Facebook post, published hours after Samsonova’s “I had nightmares” comment, Bobrovsky countered that perhaps she ought to weep over her work for Ekho Moskvy, which is owned by Gazprom and headed by Alexey Venediktov, who is suspected [ru] of conniving with the regime at critical moments of the 2011-2012 winter protest movement.
Ordinary motives?
And what of Bobrovsky’s fate? He and his KermlinRussia colleague Ms. Romanovskya have apparently joined the regular staff at GQ Russia, which the magazine's chief editor, Michael Idov, announced in a heartfelt message to readers [ru] in the current issue. The duo is still updating KermlinRussia, and Bobrovsky by all accounts will continue to write articles for Forbes.ru, where one of his most recent compositions (ironically, given this week’s revelations) attacked none other than the League for a Safe Internet. Reading that text, one wonders how Bobrovsky expected readers to view his column, once his past affiliation with LBI came to light. Did he give it any thought? In that February 6 piece [ru], he writes:
Декларация борьбы с детской порнографией и педофилией — это эффективный способ получить 100%-ную общественную поддержку и настолько высокий уровень доверия к проектам Лиги, чтобы общество относилось к любым ее действиям максимально некритично. Очень похоже на стиль Владимира Путина, который в 2004 году под флагом борьбы с терроризмом почему-то отменил губернаторские выборы.
Declaring a fight against child pornography and pedophilia is an effective means of getting 100% public support and a high level of public trust in the League’s projects, so that society related as uncritically as possible to any of their [other] actions. It’s very similar to the style of Vladimir Putin, who in 2004 under the flag of a war against terrorism for some reason canceled gubernatorial elections.
Bobrovsky, of course, knows precisely what inspired LBI’s PR campaign. He was, after all, the man behind it. This excerpt above, perhaps better than anything he has said in the last week, displays the cognitive dissonance that colors Bobrovsky’s self-awareness. Is this a modern, diluted manifestation of Arendt’s “banality of evil”? In the postscript to her book, Arendt explains that the subtitular banality referred specifically to Eichmann’s bizarrely conventional rationale for his monstrous deeds:
Except for an extraordinary diligence in looking out for his personal advancement, he had no motives at all. And this diligence in itself was in no way criminal […].
By talent and tenacity, KermlinRussia has earned its place among the RuNet’s most beloved personalities. Indeed, Bobrovsky seems to bring that purposefulness to all his endeavors—both netizen and professional, both good and evil.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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VIDEO: Ukrainian Power Plant Ablaze, Town’s Future Uncertain · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

At least one person was killed and five injured on March 29 in a major fire [en] at the Vuhlehirska Thermal Power Plant in the town of Svitlodarsk in Ukraine's Donetsk region.
Some 12 hours later, the fire was still raging, the plant's four power-generating units were destroyed, and the town's 12,000 residents were left without heating, hot water and electricity. Bedridden patients of the local hospital were evacuated to the nearby town of Debaltsevo, according to Donetsk-based LJ user pauluskp (Pavel Kolesnik, ru), who has been re-posting videos and photos and sharing updates on the situation on his blog.
Kolesnik/pauluskp posted this video [ru] of the first minutes of the fire, recorded by the plant's employees at the time “when the flames still did not appear too dangerous”:
A little later, the picture was quite different:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm8lJjDgj_I
And here is what the fire looked like from a residential area 40 km away from the plant (ru; video by YouTube user Anton Zabolotny, re-posted by Kolesnik/pauluskp):
According to the official information, the fire started around 3 PM. In a comment to pauluskp's post, however, LJ user hannaukr writes [ru] that the fire actually broke out around noon, but the plant's employees spent the next three hours trying to extinguish it on their own, before finally summoning the firefighters.
LJ user kotya1975 adds [ru]:
[…] As a former firefighter, I agree that there would've been a lot more chances had the professionals become involved right away. Alas, now the plant is definitely doomed, and it's important not to allow the fire to spread to nearby buildings. […]
Kolesnik/pauluskp writes that the future of the town of Svitlodarsk, home of the damaged thermal plant, is one of the main concerns right now:
It doesn't appear likely that the plant would be rebuilt. [Donbas region] might get yet another dying ghost town […].
Something similar happened with the town of Ukrainsk. Neither the [coal mine that the town's economy had depended upon], nor the town itself managed to recover after [the 2002 catastrophic accident – ru] at the coal mine. […]
Kolesnik/pauluskp links to his own photo report [ru] from Ukrainsk, which was later re-posted and translated into English by English Russia blog.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Angola: Arrested and Disappeared for “Thinking Differently” · Global Voices
Vania Negrao

[All links lead to Portuguese language pages except when otherwise stated.]
Yet another protest scheduled for this Saturday, March 30, in Luanda ended with at least 18 detained.
The protest action, announced on Facebook, called for “dignity and the right to life for those who think differently”, remembering journalists and activists who have been silenced in Angola, among those Alves Cassule and Isaias Kamulingue disappeared since May 2012:
(…) já esperámos demais, Cassule e Kamulingue esperaram demais, Milocas [jornalista guineense desaparecida em 2012 em Angola, como reportado pelo Global Voices] esperou demais, Mfulupinga [morto em 2004] esperou demais, Ricardo de Mello [morto em 1995] esperou demais, tantos outros que vão sendo empurrados para o limbo do esquecimento, cidadãos que não gozam nem do direito póstumo a uma investigação condigna que faça luz sobre os factos que conduziram ao seu desaparecimento físico.
We have already waited too long, Cassule and Kamulingue waited too long, Milocas [Guinea-Bissaun journalist disappeared in Angola, as reported by Global Voices – en] waited too long, Mfulupinga [killed in 2004] waited too long, Ricardo de Mello [killed in 1995] waited too long, and so many others that are being pushed into the limbo of oblivion, citizens who do not even enjoy the posthumous right of investigation to cast light on the events that led to their physical disappearances.
“Where are Cassule and Kamulingue?”
For approximately 330 days the families of Alves Cassule and Isaias Kamulingue have lived with their hearts in their throats and not knowing the whereabouts of the activists. Alves Cassule and Isaias Kamulingue disappeared when they were trying to organize a protest and since then hours passed, days went by and there has been no sign of the two young men.
Image shared by Bloco Democrático de Angola on Facebook.
In an unceasing attempt to find out where their children are, the families do not want to accept that they are dead. On social networks, principally Facebook, a number of internet users insist on asking where the two activists are, and others go further and question who would have killed them.
In a comment made in the group Onde estão Cassule e Kamulingue? (Where are Cassule and Kamulingue) Luís Araújo says:
Não nos esqueceremos deles, continuaremos a exigir que nos seja dito o que é que os agentes da ditadura endocolonialista de José Eduardo dos Santos fizeram com os nossos dois compatriotas. Seja o que for que a ditadura endocolonialista tenha feito com eles e ou deles vamos acabar por saber com rigor. Quem quer que seja o responsável pelo que lhes tenha acontecido e ou esteja a acontecer vai ter que assumir as responsabilidades morais e criminais de mais essa violação dos direitos humanos, pois são muitas, demasiadas, as violações desses direitos a que a justiça continua sendo falha. EXIGE DIGNIDADE COM DIGNIDADE.
We have not forgotten about them, and we will continue to demand that we are told what the agents of the endo-colonialist dictatorship of José Eduardo dos Santos did with our two compatriots. Whatever the endo-colonialist dictatorship has done with them or to them we will end up knowing everything. Whoever is responsible for what has happened to them or what is happening to them will have to take moral and criminal responsibility for yet another violation of human rights, as there are many, too many, violations of these rights that justice continues to overlook. DEMAND DIGNITY WITH DIGNITY.
Angolan journalist Ana Margoso, said on her wall:
Estou longe de casa, no Kuchi, interior do Kuando Kubango, fiquei emocionada, porque ouvi a população deste lugar cantar na língua local, quem matou Cassule e Kamulingue… A mensagem passa afinal . Mesmo sem TPA, mesmo sem RNA, [Televisão e Rádio Pública de Angola] mesmo com a manipulação da informação, a mensagem está a passar no boca-à-boca. GAME OVER regime caduco!
I am far from home, in Kuchi, interior of Kuando Kubango, and I got emotional, because I heard people in this place singing in their local language who killed Cassule and Kamulingu… The message is getting around in the end. Even without state TV or radio, even with the manipulation of information, the message is getting around by word of mouth. GAME OVER expired regime.
Silence is a constant in the investigation being conducted by the police in Luanda. In the midst of uncertainty, space for rumors is opened. On her profile, Cassessa Vengue reported that some political party could be strategically involved in the disappearance of the two activists:
DNIC [Direcção Nacional de Investigação Criminal] PODE TER DESCOBERTA CONVERSA, ENTRE KASSULE/CAMULINGUE E DIRIGENTES DA UNITA. As fontes, confirmaram que assim que o processo de investigação estiver pronto, e se tais provas forem viáveis, serão apresentadas em público. O que é facto é que dirigentes como Isaías Samakuva, General Numa, e dirigentes da Rádio Deseprtar terão mantido contactos telefónicos, com os dois desaparecidos. As suspeitas, segundo as quais a UNITA terá feito desaparecer os jovens para comprometer o Executivo angolano, é quase uma certeza.
DNIC [National Office of Criminal Investigation] COULD HAVE DISCOVERED CONVERSATION, BETWEEN KASSULE/CAMULINGUE AND LEADERS OF UNITA. Sources will confirm as soon as the investigation process has ended, and if such proof is viable, it will be presented to the public. What is fact is that leaders like Isaías Samakuva, General Numa, and leaders of Radio Despertar have had telephone contact with the two disappeared. The suspicion, according to which UNITA would have disappeared them to compromise the Angolan executive, is almost a certainty.
Almost a year after, the families of the disappeared continue to push for the National Police, or other state entity, to duly investigate the disappearance of the two activists. In an interview with the VOA, Veloso Cassule, brother of Isaías Cassule, said:
Poster for the protest announced on Facebook.
Nós estamos a achar que eles não estão a fazer nenhuma investigação porque eles também têm medo. Nós assim não sabemos o que vamos fazer ou vamos nos unir com outra família e vamos sair às ruas
We believe that they are not conducting any investigation because they are also scared. So we do not know what we are going to do or if we will join with the other family and go to the streets
On social networks, a number of internet users have urged the families to march on the streets of Luanda. In one comment, Mauro Sérgio said:
Se as duas famílias saírem a rua podem ter a certeza terão bastante apoio, aconteceu com a família deles podia ser com a nossa… são duas vidas então as pessoas envolvidas no desaparecimento dos mesmo têm que libertar esses jovens, cometeram crime nenhum mesmo se cometessem devia se tomar as medidas apropriadas para os corrigir. queremos os dois jovens de volta as suas casas, temos e vamos apoiar quando os familiares saírem as ruas…..
If the two families go to the streets they can be sure they will have a good deal of support, what happened to their families could happen to ours… these are two lives so the people involved in this disappearance need to free the young people, who did not commit any crime and if they did the proper measures should have been taken to correct that. We want the two young people back in their homes, we have to and we will support family members when they go to the streets…..
A number of young people and Angolan activists joined the cause announcing a peaceful protest that should have left the Santana Cemetery at 10am marching to Independence Square.
Meanwhile, Central Angola reports that “after the meeting of all legal requirements, [the protest] was target of the usual repression by the regime”. There were reports of 18 detained, among those rapper Luaty Beirão and journalist Pedrowski Teca.
As this unfolds, a return to normality for the families of Isaías Cassule and Alves Kamulingue will only be possible when they find our their whereabouts.

author: Vania Negrao


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Blackout has Trinidad & Tobago Bloggers Seeing Red · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Good Friday in Trinidad and Tobago was suddenly dubbed “Black Friday” as the country descended into darkness, thanks to a nationwide blackout.  Most people were communicating via Facebook and Twitter.  One tweet gave the reason behind the outage…
@vindaRd: MT “@KeronRsingh: Phoenix gas had a power trip causing a shortage of gas to Powergen, which leads to nationwide #blackout.” #Trinidad
…while another summed up the general feeling:
@thackshaw: Looks like.I going to have to change.everything with the car charger now. Lord help us. Thank God the internet still up. #Trinidad #blackout
Despite the inconvenience, some netizens decided to take a lighter view of the situation…
@Sonz246: Allyah pay the light bill yet? @phillipyearwood #trinidad #blackout
@TriniBerry: Should have gotten that gas stove #regrets #trinidad #blackout
…while others were taking things very seriously:
@thackshaw: #Trinidad #Tobago power failure simply reinforces my argument that we need a 2nd power grid, based on alternative energy sources. #blackout
As dark turned to dawn and there was still no electricity, a sleep-deprived @TriniBerry tweeted:
@TriniBerry: So happy the sun coming up, mosquitoes, dogs and frogs could be quiet now #trinidad #blackout
Instagram photos and jokes soon followed:
@SocaboyCC: So is there ah #Trinidad #Blackout fete today lol?
At around 11 o'clock the next morning, with power having gone for close to twelve hours, JN was completely fed-up.  In response to a CNN TV6 tweet, sent at 8:13 am, which stated that 90% of customers had had their electricity restored, he replied:
@jasonnPOS: @tv6tnt Seriously? I live in the minority 10%? #steups #trinidad #blackout
A few hours later, he reported:
@jasonnPOS: 11.10am 29/3/2012: St. James, #Trinidad remains without power after an island wide #blackout lasting more than 10 hours.
At around the same time, the conspiracy theories started to fly, with many netizens questioning the timing of events.  For instance, people noted that the TV6 news had tweeted questions about people losing power hours before the alleged cause of the blackout had taken place.  The Eternal Pantomime went into further detail in this blog post:
The excuse given by the authorities thus far is that our supply of natural gas to the power plant generators was cut off. And that led to the shutting down of not just one generator or plant…but all of Trinidad and eventually to most of Tobago…
Interestingly, Tobago’s electrical plant runs on diesel…so I’m still unclear as to how their plant stopped working.
Not surprisingly, the Prime Minister…was out and about dealing with the emergency brought on by the power outage.
The curious thing is this…power went at 37 minutes after midnight…but the clocks at this power plant shows (sic) the PM and engineers and Minister of Energy onsite at 21:13:29. [The blogger posts photographs to support her argument]
Now unless the efficient folks at this professionally run power plant keep the wrong time on their clocks…The PM and crew were at the plant since 9 pm last night working on an outage that still hadn't happened…what gives?
Are the conspiracy theorists who I was laughing at on to something?
Have we gone from Full Dotish to outright Dangerous Governance?
Diaspora blogger Jumbie's Watch agreed:
Eternal Pantomime rightfully asked how come the photo op pictures of the PM were showing a time some 4 hours BEFORE the actual blackout.
One Roger D Ramcharitar dared to post a response at the UNCTT.ORG website.
As a former Advisor at the Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs, I sought clarification from colleagues within the industry and I have been able to ascertain that the clock in the photograph was actually a satellite clock which displayed an INCORRECT TIME as a result of the power outage knocking it off temporarily.
For those who do not know, an atomic, satellite, or wave clock receives a signal which automatically syncs the time to as accurate as ‘neither gaining nor losing time at a rate that would exceed a second in over a billion years’. My watch, for example, is a Casio Waveceptor which works on the same principle and receives 5 such signals per night and maintains accurate time.
Once the electricity is restored, the clocks in Trinidad receive their signal from Miami and resets (sic) automatically. No need to go around manually setting time. Mr Ramcharitar, to put it bluntly, is merely perpetuating UNC propaganda to the herd. And they’re lapping it up.
Jumbie shared his own take on the situation here, while The Eternal Pantomime raised more questions:
I got up this morning and the first thing I did was pull the battery out of my phones. I waited about 10 minutes, popped the battery back in and switched the phones on. The phones booted up and switched to the correct time.
I then did the same thing with my microwave and electric stove. Pulled the plug and then plugged them back in. Both the stove and microwave went back to 00:00.
I then pulled out a Nokia phone that I keep stored safely away for the end of the world. This phone isn’t charged regularly, once every few months; and it is switched off. I switched it on after months of no use and it immediately had the correct time.
Why am I going into all of this? To show you how ridiculous the government’s response about the clock at Powergen having shut down and not re-started properly is.
She continued:
The power outage happens and the PM whose ratings have plummeted sees this as the perfect way to curry favour with the population. It’s almost as if, in the aftermath of  WarnerGate, this blackout showed up as a gift.
According to most reports the black out happened around midnight. The Prime Minister shows up at around 5 am dressed as if she dropped everything and hustled out of the door….4 hours after the black out started. And she just happened to remember to bring along a photographer along to document the trip. And in the midst of working assiduously to bring power back on to the suffering citizens the engineers and technicians at PowerGen Syne Village Plant had time to pose for several group pics with the PM. I couldnt make this thing up if I tried.
If nothing else, that clock at PowerGen tells us that something very sloppy went down at the Plant. This is a plant responsible for providing electricity to an entire grid. That grid would comprise various villages. Time in a control room at an industrial plant is a serious thing. When incidents happen or readings are taken, you have to register times.
If the clock…and members of Kamla’s PR team keep telling me it’s a satellite and GPS clock….if the clock in the control room isn’t telling the correct time. Then whose time are they going by?
Let’s say the clock stopped at 00:37 or 00:45 which is the time most newspapers have given. When exactly did the power come back on at the Penal Plant for the time to be registered as 21:13:29?
You feeling me yet? The time on the clock, regardless of what argument, makes no sense.
The clock on the wall is actually a damning indictment of operational procedures at PowerGen Penal…unless of course the clock telling the correct time and the Prime Minister was there at 9 pm instead of 5 am…which is a whole other can of worms.
aka_lol was slightly more tongue-in-cheek about the whole affair:
The Easter Blackout of 2013 will go down in Trinidad and Tobago’s history as the most exciting thing to happen to this country since the attempted coup of 1990. It is rumored that this 8, 10, 12 hour electricity blackout was accidental and in no way the work of a defeated and humiliated but powerful and highly moral union or the disgruntled and eager-for-power opposition.
It was during this blackout that people had time to reflect on something other than Jack Warner and realize how dependent on electricity and Protox we have become.
This incident showed how easy it probably still is to shut the country down and that…all that is need[ed] is one false alarm from a gas plant and away we go.
The uncanny thing?  A day later, Jamaica (Trinidad and Tobago's neighbour to the north of the Caribbean archipelago) also experienced a nationwide blackout, prompting Samir King to quip:
@persian_king: To my fellow Jamaicans- Yesterday it was #Trinidad, to its #Jamaica, Happy Islandwide #blackout!!!

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Egyptian Hashtag Takes on Homophobia! · Global Voices
Ahmed Awadalla

A recent social media call to fight homophobia stirred a lively and heated discussion. In Egypt, it's still taboo to have public debates on sexuality related topics, whether on or offline. Although homosexuality is not mentioned in Egypt's penal code, state authorities have prosecuted gays using laws on prostitution and morality.
A Facebook event  was created by Ramy Youssef in response to the increasing homophobic attacks on social media. According to him, a recent social media trend is “Crushes” pages, used by students to express their feelings towards others, witnessed some expressing their feelings for people of the same sex, resulting in numerous homophobic slurs. Youssef wrote:
I invite you to an electronic campaign, including comment on homophobic posts in these pages, and tweeting, and posting on social media websites. We should say what do we think frankly about homophobia, say NO, express, oppose, get angry, this is the time for movement against homophobia.
The hashtag #ضد_رهاب_المثلية (Against homophobia) attracted many supporters and opponents as well. Nada Louis writes [ar]:
#ضد_رهاب_المثلية عشان اكيد في على الٱقل شخص واحد في حياتك قريب منك مثلي و انت ماتعرفش.
@nadalouis: Against homophobia because certainly there's at least one close person in your life who is gay and you don't know about it.
Nadim questions:
#ضد_رهاب_المثلية عارف مشكلة ال بيهاجم ايه؟مبيهاجمش بالشراسه دي متطرفين حياتهم دم وقتل واغتصاب,وبيهاجم ناس بتحب بعض بشكل مختلف,مين الشاذ هنا؟
@nadimx: You know what's the problem with the attackers? They don't vehemently attack extremists that live in blood, murder and rape as much as they attack people who love each other in a different way. Who's the pervert here?
Salma El Tarzi explains:
لان الحقيقة انت خايف على ذكورتك الهشة مش رافض المبدأ بدليل رجالة بتثيرهم فكرة ستتين مع بعض بس فكرة راجلين مع بعض بتقرفهم #ضد_رهاب_المثلية
@Salma_El_Tarzi: Because in reality, you're worried for your fragile masculinity and you're not against the concept itself. The evidence is some men are excited by the idea of two women together but disgusted by the idea of two men.
Amira Nosseir reinvents the biblical verse:
#ضد_رهاب_المثلية ما لقيصر لقيصر وما بين رجليك حرية شخصية
@Amira_Nosseir: Give what is Caesar's to Caesar and what is between your legs is a personal freedom.
Dina Magdi confirms:
المثلي/المثلية مش مريض/ة ومجرد فكرة انه راجل وبيحب الرجالة مش معناه انه هيفكر فيك بشكل جنسي لو خدته بالحضن #ضد_رهاب_المثلية #مصر
@Dodzym: A gay/lesbian is not sick and because he's a man and likes men doesn't mean that he will think of you in a sexual way if you hug him.
Mona Sadek shares:
#ضد_رهاب_المثلية عشان اللي مولَعين برفض أي حد مش شبههم وعندهم هوَّس إنهم مسئولين عن كل البشر وإختياراتهم عندهم مشكلة مع نفسهم مش مع غيرهم.
@Lemonada1: Against homophobia because those obsessed with rejecting anyone who's not like them, and obsessed that they're responsible for people and their choices have an issue with themselves not with others.
She adds:
#ضد_رهاب_المثلية عشان المثلي يقدر يعلن عن ميوله الجنسية ويعيش حياة طبيعية ميتورطش في جوازة بالغصب ويعيش بالغصب ويطلع أسرة فاشلة.
@Lemonada1: Against homophobia so that a gay person can declare their sexual orientation and lead a normal life, with getting involved in a [heterosexual] marriage against their will and create a broken family.
Amr Jamil reasons:
#ضد_رهاب_المثلية “أصل ده حرام” .. يعني إنت بتتحشر في أكتر علاقتين خاصين بالإنسان (علاقته مع ربنا) و (علاقته مع حد في السرير)..
@AmrJamil: “It's a sin”, this means you're interfering with the two most personal relationships for people; their relationship with God and their relationship in bed.
Homophobic graffiti was turned into an anti-homophobic one in Cairo. Photo shared by Leil-Zahra Mortada
Leil-Zahra Mortada shared a before and after photo of a homophobic graffiti that was remade by some activists into a anti-homophobic one. The graffiti is located at Mohamed Mahmoud street which witnessed many of the clashes between police forces and revolutionary protesters. The graffiti originally read “Cops are gays” in a way aiming to insult police officers, heavily criticized for the brutal use of force against protesters. After being retouched, the graffiti reads “homophobia is not revolutionary”. Part of the comment attached to the photo reads:
You won't believe how much the regime that we all fight against is based on patriarchal idea that hates gays like you. We all don't want to curse the regime only but also burn it down but don't use women, lesbians and gays, sex workers, belly dancers, because it's sexual discrimination and it's not revolutionary. This is an insult to your revolutionary comrades that stand with you in the face of a murderous regime. This is called chauvinistic lowness and backward thinking. The same mentality that we want to change and build a better society in its place. The same thinking that kills us.
Other tweets express more anger. Maie Panaga rants:
#ضد_رهاب_المثلية ما اسموش رهاب دول ولاد وسخة مش مؤمنين بحرية الشخص في اختياراته وجسمه تحت مسمي بقي مجتمع ولا اخلاق ولا دين . جاتكم الخري
@MAIEPANAGA: It's not a phobia, those are sons of bitches that don't believe in the freedom of a person in their choices and their body in the name of society or morality or religion. Screw you!
Others weighed in sarcastically. Gharebon says:
علشان ببساطة كل واحد من حقه يجيبهم بالطريقة اللي تريحه. #ضد_رهاب_المثلية
@Gharebon: Because simply everyone has the right to ‘cum’ the way they like to.
Abanob mocks:
قولت عليهم “خولات”؟ وحسيت انك راجل؟ و اتبسطت؟ :D #ضد_رهاب_المثلية
@ABA_NOB: You called them “faggots”? You felt like a man? You felt happy?
The hashtag continued for more than 24 hours and created an opportunity for Twitter users discuss the issue, however many homophobic slurs were thrown at proponents of equality. For example:
#ضد_رهاب_المثلية معا لتبويظ الهاشتاج معا للقضاء ع الخولات
@7amidovich: Together to ruin this hashtag, together we eliminate “faggots”.

author: Ahmed Awadalla


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Inside the 2013 Central African Republic Crisis · Global Voices
Anna Gueye

[Update:  President Bozizé has left the Central African Republic (CAR) and is now in Cameroon]
[All links forward to french articles unless otherwise stated]
As rebel leader Michel Djotodia solidifies his control as the new Central African Republic President [en] and the rebel coalition of Séléka announce their control of capital city Bangui, it is important to understand why the failure of the January 2013 Libreville peace deal [en] between the rebels and then-President Francois Bozize, was predictable.
The original Libreville peace deal, as signed in 2008, stipulated that the opposition that signed the deal would participate in the governing body.
As the Séléka rebels broke the original deal and advanced towards Bangui, France declined François Bozizé's request for army assistance last December to halt the rebels’ advance. This, in turn, forced the Central African President to sign the new Libreville agreements which now imposed a prime minister from the political opposition in a newly formed government. This new government had little chance to succeed because of several shortcomings: one of them is that multiple ministry positions were created to dilute the effective power of the prime minister, another reason is that the rest of the items on the agreement were not followed through (freeing of political prisoners and new census for the electoral lists).
Furthermore, since the signing of the Libreville agreement, the army of pro-Bozizé neighbouring Chad, has been fighting Islamist groups in Mali. Chad and its army has long been an instrumental ally for Bozizé [en] in reaching power and controlling the rebellion.  But Chad's commitment in Mali, stirred another rebellion against Chadian president Idriss Déby himself which wants to remove him from power. It became impossible for Chad to provide further support to Bozizé's army and weakened his grasp on power tremendously.
With this context in mind, let's look at the state of the CAR as the coalition of Séléka submitted a list of eleven demands to President Bozizé while regaining control of several cities.
The French government then called for an emergency meeting at the UN.
Rebels in Central African Republic via wikipedia CC-BY-2.0
On his blog,  Francis Laloupou writes about the challenging birth of a nation in his post Centrafrique, Etat zéro ( translation: Central African Republic, Ground Zero) :
Le premier président centrafricain, Barthélémy Boganda, disparu en 1959, quelques mois après son élection … avait dans un élan visionnaire … imaginé une parade aux prévisibles errements de son pays en militant, en vain, pour la création d’un Etat unique d’Afrique centrale comprenant la Centrafrique, le Cameroun, le Congo et le Gabon.
The first president of the CAR, Barthélémy Boganda, died in 1959, a few months after his election. He had a vision. He imagined a way to prevent the predictable mishaps of his young country. He tried in vain to create a single Central African state that would encompasse CAR, Cameron, Congo and Gabon.
He particularly deplores a history of power struggle between incompetent leaders:
… la Centrafrique aura mis en scène, aux yeux du monde, le spectacle de son inexorable déchéance. Une effarante descente aux abîmes, orchestrée par des régimes aussi indigents que caricaturaux. … Bokassa autoproclamé empereur avec la bienveillance de son compagnon de chasse Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, avant d’être renversé en 1979 par ce dernier … Afin d’éviter toute vacance du pouvoir, l’Elysée avait pris soin d’aménager une place au sieur David Dacko dans l’un des aéronefs transportant vers Bangui les soldats de l’opération « Barracuda ». Déjà, l’histoire bégayait en Centrafrique : Giscard d’Estaing réinstallait au pouvoir, en lieu et place de Bokassa, David Dacko, lui-même ancien chef d’Etat, renversé en 1965 par… Bokassa. Deux ans après, en 1981, David Dacko, qui n’a pas inventé la poudre, sera la victime d’un nouveau putsch portant au pouvoir le général André Kolingba …
… The CAR has displayed in the eyes of the world a show of its inexorable decline. A frightening descent into the abyss, orchestrated by regimes as deficient as cartoonish. … Bokassa, the self-proclaimed emperor,  got the silent approval for his self-proclamation from his hunting companion french president then Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, before being overthrown in 1979 with a push from the same companion the latter. Indeed, in  order to avoid a power vacuum, the french president has arranged for mister David Dacko to take over. In fact, he was in one of the aircraft carrying troops to Bangui during operation « Barracuda ». History was already repeating itself in CAR: Giscard d’Estaing put David Dacko back in power instead of Bokassa; Backo was the former head of state who was overthrown in 1965 by, you guessed it, Bokassa. Two years later, in 1981, David Dacko who was not the sharpest knife in the drawer, fell victim of a new coup by General André Kolingba …
Later on,  Laponou argues that elections in CAR were “democratic” only in name :
En 1993, la Centrafrique, à l’instar de nombre de pays africains, opte pour le multipartisme, et Ange-Félix Patassé accède au pouvoir à la faveur d’élections « démocratiques ».
In 1993, CAR, like many other African countries, opted for a multi-party system, and Ange-Félix Patassé came to power after “democratic” elections.
Sylvain Andzongo explains how many African leaders live in fear of being overhrown. He writes in a post BOZIZÉ, DEBY, SASSOU, OBIANG: Des putschistes dans la hantise d'être victimes de putsch (Bozize, Deby, Sassou and Obiang: the putchists who fear of becoming victims of coups):
Le 15 mars 2003, alors que soit ex-compagnon Ange Félix Patassé est en voyage au Niger, M. Bozizé rentre d'exil et s'empare de Bangui sans coup férir.
March 15, 2003, while his ex-companion Ange Félix Patassé is in holiday in Niger, Mr.Bozizé returned from exile and seized Bangui without resistance.
Joseph Akouissone highlights an important point in his blog post: Centrafrique: Annus Horribilis:
François Bozizé s’est emparé du pouvoir en Centrafrique avec l’aide décisive du gouvernement tchadien. Depuis, la République Centrafricaine vit sous la tutelle d’Idriss Déby, Président du Tchad.
François Bozizé seized power in CAR with the decisive help of the Chad government. Ever since, Central African Republic lives under the guardianship of Idriss Déby, president of Chad.
François Bozizé remained in power for the next ten years. Centrafrique-presse argues in the post:  Mine de rien, le soudard Bozizé fête ce 15 mars 2013, le 10ème triste anniversaire de son coup d’état (Without much ado, former soldier Bozize has now celebrated on March 15, 2013 the 10th anniversary of his sad military coup):
Il avait prétendu au début que c’était juste pour mettre de l’ordre dans le pays … Entre temps, il a organisé deux mascarades électorales en 2005 puis en 2011 qu’il a prétendu avoir gagnées et se prépare à briguer un troisième mandat après 2016 lorsque la rébellion de Séléka est venue faire vaciller son pouvoir en décembre dernier…
En dix ans de gestion du pays, Bozizé a mis la RCA sens dessus dessous ; la RCA est à feu et à sang. Il n’y a plus d’état, plus d’armée, plus assez à manger, plus de pays quasiment. La misère et la pauvreté sont le lot quotidien des fils du pays. Le territoire est mis en coupe réglée et dépecé par des bandes armées étrangères, ougandaises, soudanaises, tchadiennes, sud-africaines …
At first he claimed that it (the coup) was just to keep the country safe … By then, he has organized two fraudulent elections in 2005 and 2011 that he claimed to have won and prepares to seek a third term in 2016, although Séléka rebellion has shaken up his power…
In ten years of running the country, Bozizé has turned CAR upside down and the country is ablaze. There is no more state, no army, not enough food and nearly no more country. Misery and poverty are the daily ongoings of the country's children. The land is being fleeced and butchered by foreign armies from Uganda, Sudan, Chad, South Africa …
The civilian population remains the victim of this conflict. This Red Cross video presents the growing insecurities in the country:

author: Anna Gueye


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Iran: 500 Year Old Market was Burnt · Global Voices
Farid

Bloggers informed that Masuleh‘s 500 year old market was burnt in fire. The historical city of Masuleh has an age of eight hundred to a thousand years.

author: Farid


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Iran: “We Want Our Children to be Free” · Global Voices
Farid

The mother of dead blogger, Sattar Beheshti,said in a message in YouTube that she gave her son for Iran and added “we want our children to be free”. Sattar Beheshti died in “Cyber Police” detention facility last year.


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Iranian Singer Ermia’s Show Biz Veil · Global Voices
Hooman Askary

Iranian music talent show participants (season three). Photo by Manoto TV, from Googoosh Music Academy's official Facebook page
Iranians flooded social media with comments at the end of March, when Ermia, a female amateur singer who lives in Germany and wears a veil (hijab) won a talent show on the London-based Persian language television station, Manoto. Some found it strange for her to wear the veil on the show voluntarily, while others supported her decision.
The very popular Googoosh Music Academy (GMA) programme that debuted three years ago on Manoto TV is an adaptation of the American hit show, American Idol.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo-XAcw3nyo
Iranians who have lived with compulsory hijab-wearing for women in their country for the past 34 years under the Islamic Republic had radically different reactions to Ermia's win:
@Pooyamax tweets jokingly, criticising Ermia's hijab:
Ermia was born in Khomein and her real surname is Khomeini, in fact she is Imam Khomeini reincarnated as Ermia.
In her blog, Fatemeh, sees the controversy as natural within the Iranian post-revolutionary context:
How come when singers in other countries, like Egypt, sing with their hijab on, [people let go of it] but an Iranian girl participating in a talent show while covering her hair causes all this fury and protest? […] one cannot expect this society to react as easily and comfortably, [ours is a society] under constant persecution of a state that interferes in how the citizens treat their bodies or choose to wear. […] all the violent treatment of women and omission of secular females first from governmental offices and then from the society, the ill-treatment of girls by veiled interrogators and forcing them under the veil…. all this fear and grudge is now channeled against the young girl of Googoosh Music Academy who has a good voice and has chosen hijab. This prejudice and resentment is an offspring of suppression and oppression and has not come about out of the blue. Before any criticism or intellectual humiliation of people, one must try to understand their panic and discover the root of their fears.
Another Iranian blogger, a self-declared “Atheist who voted for Ermia” looks at the Ermia phenomenon from another perspective:
I personally don't disagree with hijab [in principle,] what I have a problem with is the suffix of “compulsory”. Yet, I did not see any effort on the side of this lady [Ermia] to advertise that. In my opinion protesting hijab or veil, is like protesting wearing orange socks! My question is why we degrade ourselves to disagreeing with a mere piece of clothing. I cannot convince myself to hate someone for their hijab. Perhaps this is because there have been people I hold dear who had chosen this kind of appearance, but, despite my detest of black veil as an attire for women, I have tried not judge people based on their garments.

author: Hooman Askary


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Lebanon’s First Civil Marriage “Approved by Justice” · Global Voices
Nada

Earlier this year, Kholoud Succarieh and Nidal Darwich initiated Lebanon's first civil marriage on Lebanese soil, in a country where only religious marriages could be contracted until then, and where civil status is administered by religious authorities. The couple argues that their contract is legal according to Lebanese law, and submitted it to the Interior Ministry.
Following contradictory information about the outcome of the submission of their marriage contract to the Ministry of Interior, Kholoud Sukkarieh contacted blogger Abir Ghattas to clarify some points about the status of their marriage. Ghattas posted this explanation in her blog on February 14, 2013:
according to Kholoud: “the decision was not taken yet..it is not refused.while legally it is legislated“
On February 25, President of the Republic Michel Sleiman was following up on the issue according to a tweet from the President:
@SleimanMichel: عرض سليمان مع وزير العدل موضوع تسجيل عقد زواج نضال وخلود والمراحل التي بلغتها هذه المسألة. #civilmarriageleb #lebanon #presidency
@SleimanMichel:: Sleiman discussed the issue of registering the marriage of Nidal and Kholoud with the Minister of Justice and the current status of the procedure  #civilmarriageleb #lebanon #presidency
And in response to a question, Kholoud tweeted an update more recently, explaining the marriage contract has been recognized by the Ministry of Justice but that they still need the recognition of the Ministry of Interior:
@KONi16: @RimaTarabay it was approved by justice but we need the interior to register it so we can get a family ID as husband and wife
More importantly perhaps, it looks like the couple is getting ready to welcome a new addition to the family!
@KONi16: #happyday #happyheroes am becoming a mummy feeling happy with my pregnancy

author: Nada


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A Platform for Middle East’s Indie Musicians · Global Voices
Rayna St.

Music for a better future. Screenshot from Mideast Tunes’ Indiego campaign video.
The revolutions and popular upheavals which have swept the Middle East generated an undreamed-of amount and diversity of arts. Music is one of them, and the digital music industry is on the rise. More importantly, underground bands have been burgeoning over the last two years. An ambitious project — Mideast Tunes — has taken the challenge to showcase underground musicians from the region, and have kicked off a crowd-funding campaign to sustain the endeavour. At Mideast Tunes, ‘Music for Social Change’, “[w]e believe music CAN CHANGE THE WORLD and that the musicians of the Middle East and North Africa will lead the way.”

author: Rayna St.


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Prime Minister Resigns, as Lebanon Remains a “Sinking Ship” · Global Voices
Nada

@Brigitte_khair: It is like the boy who cried ‘Wolf’, #Mikati threatening to resign. Again. When he eventually does, no one will notice.
When rumors of his resignation started, some thought Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati was playing a game of chicken. After all, he had already threatened to resign twice before.
And then he resigned on Friday, March 22, 2013:
@Najib_Mikati:قدمت استقالتي الخطية لرئيس الجمهورية والمهم ان يبدأالحوار وأن تنشأ حكومة إنقاذية في هذه المرحلة الصعبة و أشكر الله أني خرجت كما دخلت صادقاً
@Najib_Mikati: I have presented my resignation to the President of the Republic. What's important is to start a dialogue and to establish a rescue government in this difficult phase. I thank God I have left this office as I came, with integrity
The resignation came after the cabinet didn’t approve the formation of a supervisory electoral body and did not vote on the extension of the tenure of Internal Security Forces chief Ashraf Rifi.
Blogger Qifa Nabki posted a live translation of the televised resignation speech:
8:35PM: I’ve committed myself to the country that I love.
8:36: It is necessary to raise the salaries of the civil society workers. It is necessary to hold elections on time. We need an electoral law that renews Lebanon’s message to the world (as a place of coexistence).
8:38: The President has demanded dialogue on all of these issues. We need a government that can save the country from the problems it faces.
8:39: The problems are great. I am satisfied with my efforts.
8:40: I have kept all channels of communication open. The nation comes first.
8:40: I threatened to resign twice before: Once over the funding of the Special Tribunal, and once when Wissam al-Hassan was murdered. Today the conditions are worse, economically, politically, etc.
8:41: Today, I announce my resignation, hoping this represents a way out of the problems that the country faces. I want to thank all of the political forces that cooperated with me over the past period.
8:42: Despite the worries and tension that hang over us, we are capable of overcoming them. I remain by your side. May God secure this nation.
Sadly, there is nothing exceptional in how Mikati’s mandate ended as journalist Habib Battah points out:
@Habib_B: Lebanon had 6 prime ministers over last 9 yrs. That's a new PM every 1.5 yrs. Statistically @Najib_Mikati‘s resignation is right on track.
As the country faces a political vacuum, the current context is still an unresolved crisis: ongoing violent clashes in Tripoli, north of the country, complete uncertainty over the next elections, civil servants on strike, tension over Syria…
Lebanon Spring blogger notes the resignation was inevitable in as the country “resembles a sinking ship”:
The situation in government and Lebanon resembles a sinking ship. Security situation is near chaos, sectarian tensions are highest, military clashes became the norm in his hometown Tripoli, bickering with Aoun and Hezbollah continuously existed, open borders with Syria in both directions are exploited by all parties without any control, a Foreign Minister acts independently without instructions, no agreement on elections law is looming with a serious potential of its postponement and etc. All these matters would push any prime minister to go. Didn’t Mikati also confidently say the Orthodox Law proposal won’t pass? May be we know now how. With such a government of failure, this is the best he can do.


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Religious Extremism Blamed for Myanmar Riots · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Meikhtila riots in central Myanmar which also spread to other towns have killed more than 40 people and raised fears that religious and ethnic clashes would continue to worsen in the country. There are suspicions that the riots were provoked to create panic and distract public attention. Many people also analyzed the roots of the violence, in particular, the rise of religious extremism which have caused division and hate in many parts of Myanmar.
President U Thein Sein gave a televised speech to warn the ‘political opportunists and religious extremists’:
I am deeply saddened to find out that a simple private dispute led to a deadly riot and that some unruly instigators, taking advantage of the disingenuousness of the public, tried to spread the riots to other parts of the country.
I would like to warn all political opportunists and religious extremists who exploit the noble teachings of these religions and tried to plant hatred among people of different faiths for their own self-interest.
I will not hesitate to use force as a last resort to protect the lives and safeguard the property of general public.
Kyaw Zwa Moe wants the government to investigate and identify the people who instigated the riots:
A destroyed shop owned by a Muslim in Sitkwin. Photo by Thet Htoo, Copyright@ Demotix (3/29/2013)
Although fingers have been pointed in different directions, almost everyone in Burma seems to agree that someone, or some group, is responsible for instigating the recent riots. Now, responsibility falls on the government to investigate and take action against the political opportunists or religious extremists behind this unrest.
But Tomas Quintana, UN special envoy on human rights in Myanmar, suspects the involvement of state forces:
…(there are) instances where the military, police and other civilian law enforcement forces have been standing by while atrocities have been committed before their very eyes, including by well organised ultra-nationalist Buddhist mobs.
This may indicate direct involvement by some sections of the State or implicit collusion and support for such actions.
May Ng affirms this observation. Meanwhile, Min Ko Naing, a former political prisoner and leader of the 88 Generation Students group, also saw the inaction of security forces during the riots:
On our way into Meiktila, we saw a motorcyclist armed with a machete causing havoc at a petrol station. The police and the security officers were just standing there watching him. In fact, in that kind of situation, they don’t need to wait for their superior’s orders
Andrew Selth gives an overview about the history of Muslims in Myanmar which comprise about 4 percent of the country’s population. He notes that religious intolerance is not new in the country:
…religious intolerance is not new to Burma. Indeed, before 2011 the regime reportedly encouraged some anti-Muslim riots to divert attention from its own failings.
…the problem is not just the tactics of the security forces, but the discriminatory policies and community attitudes in Burma which make anti-Muslim unrest likely to recur. These are issues that few Burmese politicians seem willing seriously to address.
Benedict Rogers visited a village and interviewed some Muslims who told him that they have been living peacefully with their Buddhist neighbors for over 200 years already:
Last Monday, I visited a village little more than two miles from Naypyitaw, where a community of 260 Muslims had lived peacefully alongside Buddhists for 200 years. They told me they had never had a problem, and had good relations with their Buddhist neighbors, until March 22. That night, a huge mob of Buddhists came to attack the mosque and the madrassa alongside it. The Muslim people fled in time, and no one was killed or injured, but the mosque was damaged and desecrated, and the madrassa completely burned out. It was a smouldering scene of fear and misery.
Francis Wade thinks the recent riot is another proof of “Islamophobic streak” in the country:
…this latest wave of attacks on Muslims is so troubling because of the involvement of civilians, who have otherwise been tolerant of the Christian beliefs of their countrymen.
The Meikhtila violence should be seen as the latest manifestation of an historic Islamophobic streak in Burma. Of course there is bitter irony in reports of civilians and monks colluding with security forces in last week’s attacks;
Matt Schissler refers to the rise of an ‘anti-Muslim Buddhist nationalism.’ He mentions the posting of ‘969’ stickers and signs in some Buddhist shops:
…since September 2012, a concerted effort to encourage support for Buddhist shops and to discourage Buddhists from patronizing establishments with Muslim ownership and refuse sale to Muslims
The 969 is about the 9 special attributes of the Buddha, the 6 Buddhist teachings, and the 9 attributes of Buddhist monks.
Maung Zarni blames the violence to what he calls “genocidal Buddhist racism”:
… they have chosen to pursue a destructive nationalism that is rooted in the fear of losing property, land, and racial and religious purity.
He also observed the proliferation of online hate speech:
The Burmese state has mobilized its society’s Islamaphobia through various institutional mechanisms, including the state media outlets and social media sites, the presidential office’s Facebook page among them. Burmese-language social media sites, which thrive out of the purview of international media watchdogs, are littered with hate speech.
Aung Zaw blames military leaders for the emergence of ‘Buddhist fascists’ and ‘Buddhist extremists’:
Although they portrayed themselves as devout Buddhists, Burma’s military rulers showed no compassion toward anyone who did not bow before them.
The outcome is that we now have countless “Buddhist extremists” in Burma. Sadly, they are everywhere. They are out on the streets and sitting in Parliament, wearing military fatigues, business suits and monk’s robes.
So the rise of “Buddhist” fascists in Burma comes as no surprise to anyone who has witnessed the machinations of the country’s rulers over the past half-century. Their presence in the streets of Meikhtila is no more than a throwback to the darkest days of military rule, and one that will not be exorcised easily.

author: Mong Palatino


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St. Vincent, Haiti: Easter Traditions & Changes  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

I find Easter has taken on a ‘carnivalish’ vibe.
From St. Vincent, Abeni muses about “the changing face of Easter”, while Theater of Life looks at the Haitian tradition of kite-flying at Easter time.


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Trying to Get Through: Hungarians Send Video Messages to Prime Minister · Global Voices
Marietta Le

The snow that first blanketed western Europe eventually reached Hungary by March 15, the day of an important national holiday. Heavy snowfall left thousands stranded on the roads of this eastern European country, and the Hungarian government received harsh criticism for not being able to handle the situation (even though before the winter's coldest period started, it entertained citizens by nominating the director of the National Directorate General for Disaster Management as the government's “Commissioner of Winter Preparations” [hu]). The events planned for the March 15 national holiday, among them regular celebrations as well as anti- and pro-government rallies, were postponed for a few days.
The anti-government protests were ignited by the adoption of the Fourth Amendment to the Hungarian Constitution, which was passed on March 11 and approved with the President's signature on March 25 [hu]. Many people in Hungary fear that the activities of the current right-wing government are wresting the country from the democratic environment it first entered after 1989 (re-confirming its position in 2004 with the accession to the European Union).
The Fourth Amendment joins the list of the many steps taken by the Hungarian government that draw criticism from international human rights organizations and the Hungarian citizens:
Young Hungarians are also shocked by the government's stubborn refusal to acknowledge their protests and their demands for a more democratic decision-making. To get their message across, four young people launched a new blog on March 22, asking fellow citizens to send 1- to 3-minute-long video messages to the Prime Minister with their thoughts on his governance.
On the blog “Send a message to Viktor Orbán!” [hu], there are already many video messages recorded by people from all walks of life. The latest one [hu] comes from a BSc student in her third year who complains about the limited resources in Hungarian education. There is a video [hu] sent by a Hungarian IT professional living in Oxford, UK, who recalls how much the prime minister has changed from a young man fighting for democracy during Hungary's transition to “a regional director who is badly managing his limited company.” An eighth-grade school student also recorded a message [hu] to the PM pointing out that she didn't know what would happen in four years, when she would have to apply to a university, because at the moment her school's existence is also questioned after a cutback of financial resources.
The blog is run by Asia Dér, a student of the University of Theatre and Film Arts; Dániel Szabó G., a student of the Faculty of Law of ELTE University, activist of HaHa grassroots student union and a blogger of the Faculty of Law Student Government Monitor; Dániel Prinz, activist of HaHa grassroots student union, an economist working in Boston; Borbála Lőrincz, an undergraduate student of Durham University's Anthropology and Sociology program.
Here is how the blog authors described their initiative:
Our website is a citizen initiative to the fullest, we are not connected to any party or political organization. We created this website because recent days, weeks, months have demonstrated that the only effective way of fighting the government's autocracy is speaking up against it individually or together. They can say as many times as they want that there's George Soros, Gordon Bajnai or international interests behind the student and other protests – we prove that it isn't true. It's the Hungarian citizens who are behind the protests […].
This is why we are sending messages to Viktor Orbán, getting the ordinary citizens to tell him how they feel, [without being influenced by] the pro-government media and the public media [currently used as a propaganda tool]. Our messages are symbolic in a sense that we're not the ones who are going to relay it to the PM. But we are hoping that if there are enough people speaking up, these personal messages would reach the rest of [those who voted for the current government and those who talk about foreign and party influence], and would make them think over what they still believe in. In addition to this, we would like to reassure the people that they can and should have a word in the public political discourse, which is part of our everyday lives.

author: Marietta Le


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Al Jazeera: Amplifying (Global Voices) Women’s Voices  · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Last month, I received an interesting e-mail from my editor, Nasir Khan, at the Opinion page of Al Jazeera English. In the e-mail, Khan explained that while his goal has been to keep a gender ratio of 50/50 on the page, he has often come up short. Therefore, he wrote, he would be working on a project with the sole intention of increasing the output of women contributors:
For the months of February and March, I plan to have a gender ratio of 80/20 in favour of women, flipping the abhorrent ratio that currently exists within the industry … In the process, [we'll be] challenging other outlets to do the same.
Though the initiative failed to attract much mainstream coverage, it quickly spread through social media, and by mid-March Khan was well on his way to fulfilling his goal. Through tweets, e-mails, and Facebook posts, women heard about the initiative and lined up to contribute.
Global Voices women step up
The women of Global Voices were no exception, and by the end of March they had substantially contributed to the Opinion section. This shouldn't be surprising: just last month, a study published by The Guardian showed that Global Voices has a 51% contribution rate from women, consistent over time. The article praised Global Voices for its diversity, noting:
However you slice it, Global Voices publishes a diverse set of voices at all levels of participation, from the most prolific to the most casual.
Global Voices has always sought to bring the voices of bloggers and netizens into the mainstream — today we'll do the opposite, amplifying the voices of nine GV women (of whom we are very proud) that have made it into the mainstream.
Deborah Esch, a Global Voices author and member of the GV Advocacy Steering Committee (as well as a professor of literature), wrote about her experiences gaining open access to a scholarly archive that had previously been locked to the public, helping her come to terms with the death of activist Aaron Swartz. Esch writes:
Along the way, I found that I was no longer in search of an example – in literature, in historiography – a figure to help come to terms with the death of Aaron Swartz. I had my example: had it as an experience, the unexpected experience of open access to a scholarly archive that had till then been locked away from the public behind the monolithic gates of one institution or another.
Esch also published a second piece on the anniversary of the Exxon Valdez disaster.
Two Global Voices ladies: Jillian and Leila at the Arab Bloggers Summit in Tunisia 2011. Photo shared by Jillian C. York on flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Rayna Stamboliyska, a GV contributor, wrote about the importance of “hacking science,” explaining:
A very powerful concept – “citizen science” – has naturally emerged along the lines of open science. Countless professional researchers blog about their work and discuss online results obtained by their peers. Such open discussion permits non-professionals to participate as well. The surge of the hacker/maker/do-it-yourself movement has tremendously contributed to engage non-professional scientists in science.
Nowadays, there are hundreds of projects the world over within which professional and non-professional researchers take part in genuine scientific studies. A clearly visible shift has operated in the recent years from citizens helping merely collect data to citizens actually analysing it, producing valuable results and interpreting them as well as generating new hypotheses.
Leila Nachawati Rego, a Spanish-Syrian contributor and member of the GV Advocacy Steering Committee, wrote of reasons to remain optimistic about Syria. Using the town of Kafranbel as a symbol of hope against tyranny, Nachawati Rego writes:
This northwestern town has become well-known for the powerful and edgy banners. They are being created since the beginning of the uprising and are instantly shared through social media.
Internet users from all over the world look forward to every new message and drawing, which summarise the meaning and the evolution of the Syrian struggle.
Although banners and drawings have captured international attention, Kafranbel is more than that. It is also a model for new forms of self-management emerging from the rubble. Its inhabitants not only have survived several regime bombings, but also have engaged in self-government while rebuilding their own town.
Chan Myae Khine, who writes about Myanmar for Global Voices, analyzed the ongoing conflict between Muslims and Buddhists in her country, explaining:
The background of the latest clash between Muslims and Buddhists, however, is not as clear cut as is reported. Although it is reported to be sectarian in nature, the characteristics of the latest flair of violence are utterly atypical, and at worst, planned. An insecure public, the nature of the extremists and the announcement of a state of emergency are indicative of a regression from the still-ongoing transition towards democracy.
Renata Avila, a transparency advocate and longtime contributor to GV and GV Advocacy, discussed the case of American journalist Nicholas Blake, in which the Guatemalan state was declared responsible for the journalist's disappearance. She writes of her experience:
While I worked as a lawyer for the Guatemalan genocide case, preparing the witnesses who presented their testimonies before Spanish National Courts, I struggled with the lack of information about the Army suspects. Counterinsurgency plans and information of the chain of command were obtained either via whistleblowers or Freedom of Information requests filed in the United States, evidencing the importance of both the freedom of information architecture and whistleblowers as key instruments where not even a Bush or a Kennedy can obtain the truth. Up till now, the Military Archives remain sealed, secret. Key files needed for the cases are reported “missing”.
GV contributor Yoo Eun Lee, who writes about Korea, asked “Who was behind the South Korean cyber-attacks?“, writing:
If the attacks were indeed from North Korea, there is no need to read anything into it. Their message and motive cannot be anymore clear. North Korea has been using all kinds of extreme war rhetoric offline for decades, with statements like “turning the South Korean capital into a sea of fire/blood”. This hacking could be just more blackmailing – only done online.
Although blaming North Korea for the attack provides very convenient and believable explanations – compact enough to fit into saucy headlines – it is completely lazy and misleading.
Kirsten Han, who contributes to GV from Singapore, wrote about the Singaporean government's attempt to increase the country's birth rate, calling some attempts “cringe-worthy at best”:
Young men and women are now being bombarded with “pro-family” messaging, cajoling and coaxing them into getting married and settling down rather than “waiting for all the stars to align”. A married life with children is portrayed as the ultimate desirable outcome, and singles are continually told to get out there and start looking for a spouse…
…it's like constantly being under the gaze of an overzealous aunt, eager to set you up on blind dates with anyone who catches her eye. Young Singaporeans are barely given the time and space to really think about what they want, and with a host of “pro-family” policies – priority in the public housing queue for married couples, parental leave being only applicable to couples who are lawfully married, etc – it sometimes seems like a choice between conforming or working doubly hard. Those who don't fit into the social norm are more or less left out.
In her piece, GV contributor Lakshmi Sarah proposes that the BRIC countries take steps to act responsibly when it comes to women's rights and violence against women:
The BRICs have gained attention since 2001, when the term was initially coined. From 2000 to 2008, the BRICs’ share of GDP rose from 16 to 22 percent. The Times (London) has quoted a financial adviser predicting that by 2050, the BRICs nations will “dominate the globe”. Each BRIC country has its own view of power and responsibility. Each BRIC country also has its own record when it comes to human rights and women's issues.
I contributed my own piece as well, looking at the effectiveness of an activism campaign leading up to Microsoft's recent release of a transparency report:
The campaign could serve as a strong model for future efforts. Unlike popular petition platforms like Change.org and AVAAZ, the letter to Skype used a dedicated website and opened signatures up to both individuals and organisation, adding clout. This helps, as Microsoft is unlikely to be affected by the complaints of individual users.
Continuing the effort
Al Jazeera's Khan hopes that the success of this experiment will lead to greater gender balance in the future. This whole experiences goes to prove that the first step to overcoming gender imbalance is deciding to do something about it. Our community believes strongly in supporting diversity in the media, and we're thrilled for the opportunity to help.

author: Jillian C. York


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Bangladesh Authorities Go After Bloggers, Claim They Are ‘Anti-Muslim’  · Global Voices
Rezwan

This post is part of our Special Coverage Bangladesh's #Shahbag Protests
As deadly clashes between Islamist activists and authorities continue to escalate religious tensions in Bangladesh, the country's telecommunications authority is making moves to silence bloggers deemed anti-Muslim or anti-state.
Award-winning blogger Asif Mohiuddin and three other bloggers have become the latest target of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, according to online news site online news site Timesworld24.com [bn]. The commission recently contacted Somewhereinblog.net, the largest blogging platform in Bangladesh, requesting that the four blogs be taken down from the site.
In a report on its website, Somewhereinblog.net officially acknowledged that it had removed the four blogs in line with the government request.
The Bangladesh government formed [bn] a nine-member committee on March 13, 2013 to track bloggers and Facebook users who made derogatory remarks about Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, a member of the committee, has requested information on a number of bloggers from different blogging platforms in an effort to ban certain writers considered insulting to Islam or anarchistic.
This development comes after Islamists had claimed that bloggers who support the ongoing Shahbag movement – which demands capital punishment for the country's war criminals, some of which are high-ranking leaders of the country's largest Islamist political party Jamaat-e-Islami – are atheist and anti-Islamic, and foster anti-social elements.
Some Islamist activists have gone so far to declare that Shahbag bloggers will be slaughtered in public. Blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider, who was on the forefront of the Shahbag movement and wrote frequently about religious fundamentalism in Bangladesh, was brutally murdered outside his home in capital city Dhaka on February 15, 2013.
Mohiuddin, a self proclaimed atheist, has been vocal for the Shahbag movement and wrote against religion and religious politics. But whether his blogging has anything to do with inciting religious violence and hatred is yet to be proven. In January 2013, he was brutally attacked by unknown assailants, presumably for his writings. The police recently arrested four persons who revealed that they attacked Mohiuddin on instruction of a religious extremist.
In an interview with Deutsche Welle Syeda Gulshan Ferdous Jana, founder of Somewhereinblog.net said:
This is the first time in the over seven years of somewhereinblog.net that authorities have issued written instructions to discipline bloggers. The email named four bloggers, including Asif Mohiuddin's blog profile, and advised us to permanently remove all of these blogs immediately.
Mohiuddin, whose blog won the best social activism blog from the Deutsche Welle Best Of Blogs Awards 2012, has suffered backlash from his writing in the past. He was arrested in 2011 during an offline protest and police suggested that he should stop writing.
Blogger Asif Mohiuddin. Image by Siam Sarower Jamil. Copyright Demotix (10/2/2013)
On March 20, 2013, Mohiuddin and seven other bloggers were sued by an individual in the northern Bangladeshi district of Natore [bn] on charges of libeling Islam, God, and the Prophet Muhammad. Another lawsuit against these bloggers in Chittagong was dismissed on March 6, 2013 for lack of evidence.
Mohiuddin commented in a Facebook note [bn] about his recent ban:
প্রায় প্রতিদিন ধর্মের পক্ষে অসংখ্য ব্লগে অসংখ্য লেখা পোস্ট হয়। অথচ অনলাইনে শুধুমাত্র “আমি প্রচলিত ধর্মে অবিশ্বাসী” এই কথাটুকু বলার অপরাধে অসংখ্য অশ্রাব্য গালিগালাজের সম্মুখীন হয়েছি।
Each day, many posts are published on religion. But when I wrote only that “I do not believe in traditional religions”, I was attacked by many.
In the same post, he called the commission's efforts to shut down blogs a dangerous precedent:
কোন ব্লগারের লেখা সেই ব্লগটির নিজস্ব আইন অনুসারে বেআইনী মনে হলে বা শর্তাবলী লঙ্ঘিত হয়েছে বলে মনে হলে ব্লগ কর্তৃপক্ষই তার সিদ্ধান্ত নেবে। ব্লগ কর্তৃপক্ষ এই বিষয়ে স্বাধীন এবং কোন লেখা থাকবে আর কোন লেখাটি থাকবে না, তা সিদ্ধান্ত নেয়ার দায়িত্ব কোনভাবেই কোন ক্ষমতাশালী মহলকে দেয়া যাবে না। ভেবে দেখুন, আজ এই অজুহাতে কারো ব্লগ সরকার বন্ধ করে দিতে সক্ষম হলে সরকার ভেবে নেবে ব্লগারদের তারা নিয়ন্ত্রণ করতে সক্ষম। তাই কাল আরেকজন ব্লগারের ব্লগও তারা বাতিল করার আবদার তুলবে। কোন সরকারই অনন্তকাল থাকবে না, আগামিতে কোন ধর্মান্ধ গোষ্ঠী ক্ষমতায় চলে আসলে পরিস্থিতি কোনদিকে যাবে?
If the writings of any blogger defies any of the rules of the blog or is deemed illegal then the blog owners can decide on that. Which posts should be published or not should be at the discretion of the blog platform, not the regulatory authorities. Just imagine, if the authorities can manage to shut down a voice by forcing the platforms to do so they can start believing that they can control the bloggers. So they will find another reason to ban another blogger. The government will change and imagine if any radical Islamist government comes to power what will happen?
In an interview with Deutsche Welle radio Mohiuddin has said that he will not give up blogging.
“Stop authoritarian aggression against bloggers. Blogging is our right.” Image courtesy Asif Mohiuddin
Bangladesh is a non-religious parliamentary democracy, so there is no sharia law or blasphemy law. If anybody claims to be an atheist, he or she has the same rights as other citizens. However, Under Section 295A of Bangladesh's Penal Code (1860), any person who has a “deliberate” or “malicious” intention of “hurting religious sentiments” is liable to imprisonment.
The commission has stated [bn] that according to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Act, it can ask required information from any individual or institution who uses the Internet. However, blogging platform Amarblog [bn] published a statement on March 22, 2013 saying that it won't jeopardize bloggers’ privacy at the request of the government. It questioned the commission's legal authority to ask for blogger information as well as questioned if it has jurisdiction over Amarblog which is registered in United Kingdom and hosted on an overseas server.
Bloggers have also doubted the legal basis for such demands.
Blogger Mohammad Munim [bn] criticized the commission on Muktangon, a community blog:
বাংলাদেশের সংবিধানে মত প্রকাশের পূর্ণ মৌলিক অধিকার সকল নাগরিককেই দেওয়া হয়েছে। [..] BTRC নামের তথাকথিত স্বাধীন এই কমিশনটির হাতে যে-কোন ব্লগ বা ওয়েবসাইট বন্ধের সুইচ থাকলেও সে-সুইচের ব্যবহার দেশের সংবিধান মেনেই করতে হবে, কোন কর্তাব্যক্তির খেয়ালখুশিমতো নয়।
Blogger and activist Rayhan Rashid [bn] wrote on Facebook that the government might be piggybacking off of rising religious tensions in order to broaden its power:
বিটিআরসি'র সাম্প্রতিক এই অপতৎপরতার সাথে কোথায় যেন জামাত-শিবিরের শাহবাগ আন্দোলনকে “নাস্তিকদের আন্দোলন” হিসেবে সুযোগসন্ধানী ব্র্যান্ডিংয়ের মিল আছে। জামাত-শিবিরের দরকার ছিল শাহবাগ আন্দোলনকে প্রশ্নবিদ্ধ করা, আর সে লক্ষ্যে তারা ১৯৭১ এর মতোই অস্ত্র হিসেবে বেছে নিয়েছে ধর্মীয় উম্মাদনা, আর বিভাজন-বিদ্বেষকে। সরকার বা বিটিআরসি'রও একটা সুযোগ দরকার ছিল যাকে পূঁজি করে স্বাধীন চিন্তার এই শেষ প্লাটফর্মগুলোকে কোনোভাবে নিয়ন্ত্রণের আওতায় আনা যায় – এখানেও নাস্তিকতা, ধর্মীয় অনুভুতি ব্যবহৃত হচ্ছে সুযোগসন্ধানীর অস্ত্র হিসেবে।
Blogger Farhana Ahmed [bn] explained on Mukta Mona (Free Thinkers), a blog on freedom of expression, the reasoning behind why atheists and secular online activists are being targeted:
আমার মনে হয়, এই রকম ঘটার পেছনে দুটো বিষয় কাজ করছে। প্রথমটা অনেকটা তাত্ত্বিক, নাস্তিকদের নিয়ে ধর্মব্যবসায়ী বা অ-ব্যবসায়ী দু’শ্রেণীর এস্টাব্লিসমেন্টের পক্ষের লোকজনের মনে সন্দেহ ব্যাপক। এসটাব্লিসমেন্টের স্তম্ভগুলোর মধ্যে ধর্ম অন্যতম শক্তিশালী মাধ্যম, কখনো কখনো তা রাষ্ট্রের চেয়েও শক্তিশালী, রাষ্ট্রকেই ধর্মের মদদ নিতে হয়। এসটাব্লিশমেন্টের অন্য স্তম্ভগুলোও ধ্বসে পড়ার উপক্রম হলে মদদ মাঙ্গে ধর্মের। [..] বিনা প্রশ্নে মেনে নেওয়া, অতিপ্রাকৃত শক্তির ভয়ে ভীত করে রাখা—এইসব অস্ত্র ব্যবহার করে ধর্ম তার কার্য হাসিল করে। নারী পুরুষের পুরুষতান্ত্রিক শোষণের বিরুদ্ধে সচেতন হয়ে উঠলে, ধর্মই তাকে ঠান্ডা করে; মালিকের বিরুদ্ধে শ্রমিক যেতে পারে না, কারণ আল্লা যাকে এই যামানায় কিছু দেননি, আখেরাত তো তারই জন্য। রাষ্ট্রক্ষমতায় থাকার জন্য রাজনৈতিক দলগুলোর সহজ ব্যবহার্য অস্ত্র হলো ধর্ম।
I thinks there are two reasons behind this. The first one is theoretical, both the Islamist hardliner and practicing Muslims are skeptic about atheists. Religion is very powerful, sometimes more than the state such as when the state has to accept the help of religion. If any of those establishments are in trouble, they take refuge in religion. [..] Religion accomplishes their job by deploying instruments like blind faith, taking things for granted, and keeping people in fear. When patriarchal oppression is protested by women, religion keeps them in check, workers cannot revolt against autocratic employers as religion reminds that for those who have less in this world, there is an afterlife waiting for them. To remain in power the simplest of weapons is religion.
She continued:
দ্বিতীয় দিকটা শাহবাগের গণজাগরণ মঞ্চের প্রতিক্রিয়ার সাথে জড়িত। নাস্তিক মরলে বা মার খেলে তার প্রতি যে ঔদাসীন্য দেখাচ্ছেন আন্দোলনের সহযোদ্ধারা তাতে করে নাস্তিকরা জামাত-শিবির-হি্যবুতের সবথেকে সহজ টার্গেটে পরিণত হয়েছেন।
The second reason is the reaction to the Shahbag mass-uprising. Being labeled as an atheist is a distraction even among fellow protesters, so the atheists are becoming an easy target for the [religious political establishments] Jamaat-Shibir-Hijbut Tahrir.
Update: According to the latest reports, the nine-member committee participated in a discussion forum with the clerics community of the country. A list of 84 bloggers and Facebook users have been submitted and the committee asked from the community concrete evidence against their allegations. The committee has publicized an email account where complaints on blasphemous contents will be received.
This post is part of our Special Coverage Bangladesh's #Shahbag Protests

author: Rezwan


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Anonymous Brazil Report on Controversial Preacher · Global Voices
Débora Medeiros

Anonymous Brazil released a dossier [pt] about Marco Feliciano, recently elected as chairman of the Committee for Human Rights and Minorities in the Deputy Chamber amid the outrage of human rights defenders due to his vocal hardline views on homosexuality and racist remarks. The dossier contains information on legal cases involving the evangelical preacher and congressman as well as “ghost workers” from his office.

author: Débora Medeiros


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First Dead Pigs, Now Dead People · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Following the news stories of dead pigs, Beijing Cream highlights a news story on the fact that dead human bodies are regularly found in China Rivers.
The government of Lanzhou, capital of Gansu province, announced on March 28 that “around 100 bodies on average are dredged from the river in the city every year…”

author: Oiwan Lam


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Filmmakers Crowdfund Documentary on Paraguay’s ‘Recycled Orchestra’ · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

The children of Cateura, a slum outside Asunción, Paraguay, live surrounded by trash. In a place where a violin costs more than a house, musician Fabio Chavez is transforming children's lives by teaching them to play music with instruments made out of trash.
Now, one filmmaking team wants to capture their inspiring story in a documentary and is turning to crowdfunding website Kickstarter to do so.
The upcoming film “Landfill Harmonic” is described on Kickstarter as “a beautiful story about the transformative power of music, which also highlights “:
The world generates about a billion tons of garbage a year. Those who live with it and from it are the poor – like the people of Cateura, Paraguay. And here they are transforming it into beauty. Landfill Harmonic follows the orchestra as it takes its inspiring spectacle of trash-into-music around the world.
Their goal is to raise $175,000 to complete two main production trips. They plan to complete post-production of the documentary by the end of 2013. At the time this post was published, they had raised more than $21,000 with 44 days to go in the campaign.
The filmmakers share a teaser of the movie on Vimeo:
Production for “Landfill Harmonic” began in 2010, after executive producer Alejandra Amarilla Nash and producer Juliana Penaranda-Loftus discovered the orchestra while doing research for a documentary about underprivileged children in Paraguay. The Facebook page for the film explains the living conditions of children in Cateura:
Cateura, Paraguay is a town essentially built on top of a landfill. Garbage collectors browse the trash for sellable goods, and children are often at risk of getting involved with drugs and gangs. When music teacher Fabio set up a music program for the kids of Cateura, they soon have more students than they have instruments.
Many netizens from around the world have been touched by the story of The Recycled Orchestra. On Vimeo, Susan McGraw Keber shared her reaction:
Exceptional….brought tears to my eyes…we who have so much and who discard so much…this is an example we all need to see and hear!
Vimeo user TheGate-Web wrote:
Realmente conmovedor. Y pensar que la gente se queja por tantas estupideces, mientras estos muchachos, sin ningún tipo de posibilidades, tienen la voluntad y el ingenio de crear magia sacando notas celestiales a través de sus rudimentarios instrumentos. Gracias por la lección, aún nos queda mucho por aprender.
Truly touching. And to think that people complain about so many stupid things, while these kids, without any type of possibilities, have the will and ingenuity to create magic with celestial musical notes through their rudimentary instruments. Thank you for the lesson, we still have a lot to learn.
Paraguayan music students show their instruments made out of trash. Photo shared on Facebook by Landfill Harmonic
You can learn more about The Recycled Orchestra on Kickstarter and follow “Landfill Harmonic” on Facebook.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Global Voices Adds Corporate Jargon to Its Roster of Languages · Global Voices
Allen Smithee

Global Voices is renowned for its multi-lingualism. The international citizen media network makes its content available in over 30 languages, including lesser known tongues like Aymara, Malagasy and Bahasa. As of April 1, 2013, however, Global Voices will begin translating its content into its most obscure language yet: Business-speak.
New languages are added to the Global Voices roster via community vote. At the last vote on February 29, 2013, Business-speak received 95% of the votes.
“It was truly astonishing,” said Executive Director Navi Lagis, adding that the result led some in the organization to conclude that vote-rigging had taken place. “But as no incidents of of voter fraud were reported via the Ushahidi-based crowdsourcing tool we used to monitor the election, we had to accept it as the true result.”
Managing Editor Analos Nesral was also surprised at the success of Business-speak, especially in light of the competition. “I honestly thought Klingon, Elvish and Pig Latin would have received more votes,” she said, “and I'm shocked that not a single person voted for my personal favorite, Na'vi.”
Money talks! By Kevin Labianco on flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Business-speak's success at the polls may be attributed to the recent influx into the community of unemployed management consultants who grew consciences after the Occupy Wall Street protests and decided to volunteer for Global Voices. The group campaigned tirelessly during the election period on a platform of “Obscure is More”, and even created a Shepard Fairey-Obama-style graphic with the word “HUH?” that supporters ran on their Facebook pages.
Some Business-speak supporters who were campaigning for other causes killed two birds with one stone, producing creative blended slogans such as “Jesus Didn't Weep, He Was Lachrymose!” (from a supporter of the US religious right) and “Facilitate My Same-Sex Parental Units’ Conjugal Rights!” (from a gay-rights advocate).
“The right not to be understood is enshrined in the constitutions of many countries,” said J. Hermeticus, editor of Global Voices in Business-speak and the campaign's leader. “Or if it isn't, it should be. I'm going to get a kick out of translating Global Voices articles written in lively, comprehensible language into leaden, jargon-laden prose.” (Hermeticus uses a pseudonym to avoid being trolled by Plain English advocates).
“Why ‘measure’ when you can ‘benchmark'?” said one of Global Voices in Business-speak's “stakeholders”, as members of of Hermeticus’ translation team have taken to calling themselves. “Why stifle the potential of the word ‘ask’ by limiting it to verb status? And ‘action items’ are sooooo much less boring than plain old ‘tasks’. Meaningless buzzwords and awkward neologisms rock!”
One challenge Hermeticus anticipates is a lack of rigor on the part of his translators. “If people understand what you're saying the first time they hear it, or even or the second or third time, you're not doing it right,” he said. “Not to criticize the quality of my translation team, but Business-speak is one of the most difficult languages in the world to master, even harder than French. I anticipate I'm going to have to do a lot of obfuscating and re-mystifying of the texts I receive even from my best translators.”
Another challenge is abbreviations: “I'm hoping people don't get into the habit of shortening the name of the Business-speak site to ‘Global Voices in BS’,” Hermeticus said. “But if they do, we'll just have to go into stealth mode and deploy some serious damage control.”
Happy April Fool's Day, everyone!

author: Allen Smithee


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What will New WICB President bring to West Indies Cricket? · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

On March 27th, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), the governing body for the sport of cricket in the region,  elected Whycliffe “Dave” Cameron to be its new president. Cameron, who was previously the WICB vice-president, defeated the incumbent Julian R. Hunte 7-5 in a vote of board members. Emmanuel Nanton, who was Cameron's running mate, defeated former West Indies cricketer Joel “Big Bird” Garner 8-4 in an election for vice-president.
Any discussion of cricket in the Caribbean is passionate and this was no exception. Much of the discussion centered around the legacy of the Hunte presidency and the implications of his replacement by Cameron.
At the West Indies cricket fan Facebook group WICFA, Colville Mounsey was disappointed by what he perceived as the lack of support for Hunte from the Winwards territory he had served for many years. He felt this would negatively impact the Winwards:
For the first time there was equity in regional cricket, no one could point a finger and say they were being marginalized compared to the previous status quo of Windwards cricket being ‘butt’ of all jokes in the region.
Mounsey added that he doesn't think the election of Nanton is a substitute for Hunte's removal:
Why would [you] trade someone who was once a marginalized subset, trade someone who ensured equity for someone who only promises it[?]
Ezra Hinds felt the situation was indicative of the reluctance of Caribbean leaders to give up power:
That's why I have to laugh when I hear nearly every Caribbean opposition leader speaking about Prime Ministerial term limits. The only way one of them will do that is if they realise they have a terminal sickness or something extreme when they take the govt. Persons know the BENEFITS of having certain positions and will do all to keep them.
Kezron Walters felt that the fans should hold whoever is the WICB president accountable for the state of West Indies cricket:
Whatever happens, we should continue to be the t[h]orn in the WICB's side. Let's continue to agitate for fairness, equality and RESULTS! Congrats Dave Cameron. But it's not gonna be smooth. Much to be done to get West Indies cricket back to the top.
Kevin S. Moore said that cricket fans should be wary of insularity and suggested that Hunte had been in office long enough to fulfill his agenda:
We have been asking for the death of insularity in WI cricket since the first day of WICFA. Can you view it as your people paving the way for the future of WI cricket, showing that they can support a candidate without considering his nationality? Also I honestly believe that Hunte had no more to offer, his last term was more settled than the first two, but there is very little someone can achieve in a fourth term that they didn't in the previous three stints.
According to Anthony December, Cameron's election as president should lead to more cricket being played in Jamaica:
With the Jamaican now at the helm of the WICB…that is good news for Jamaicans and SABINA PARK! which has seen [next] to NO cricket at all…
However, Sigebert Degazon argued that the president does not have the sole authority to assign games to any territory:
You all must understand the president CANNOT give any island Cricket. The president has only one vote, like everybody else, only in case of a tie he has another vote. As a matter of fact the president was the VP. He has not become president to look after the interest of Jamaica, but the interest of WI Cricket.
There was also a heated discussion on the Facebook page St. Lucians Aiming For Progress (both Hunte and current West Indies Captain Darren Sammy are from the island.)
Dalkeith Charlesmagne felt that Hunte had done a good job and that it was time to support the new administration:
Hon. Dr Julian Hunte has done a tremendous job in putting back a little swagger in the West Indies Team under the captaincy of Mr Sammy. As anything else, one can only do that much, so the Ex President should bow out gracefully and retire to the lovely beaches and sunsets of St Lucia. It is my belief that Mr Sammy still has a lot to offer as the leader of a team, he has played a pivotal part in [molding], uniting and committing the players to a new direction that has seen the WI team succeed and become victorious in one format of the game, and showing some improvement of late in the other formats. We are all West Indians and obviously want to see our team be a successful unit like the ones of old, so let's all rally around the team, its management, the coaches and most of all its new President. God bless.
According to Terry Finisterre, Hunte's removal from the presidency shouldn't have any negative impact on Saint Lucian cricket or the fate of West Indies Captain Darren Sammy:
Saint Lucia has a CPL T20 franchise, that's not going anywhere, Darren Sammy is a franchise player, that won't change. West Indies captaincy will be there or it won't. Really matters not at this stage of Mr Sammy's career. He's achieved more as captain than his dozen or so predecessors, after all.
Saint Lucia as a venue has been under-marketed mainly thanks to our own lack of effort in capitalizing on having one of the Caribbean's newest and (by universal acclaim) best venues.
Tennyson Scott felt that Hunte's impact on the WICB was positive and that it was time to look to the future:
Mr Hunte is a very calculated individual. His decision to reverse his earlier decision not to run would have been based on some discussions with the territorial boards. Obviously there was a change in the views of some of the voter or some may have voted against their board mandates. I am indeed thankful and proud of the contribution of my fellow St. Lucians involved in decision making in the West Indies Cricket. Mr Hunte can leave with his head high and say I won a world championship, made [it] to a final of [a] Women[‘s] World Cup final. He can say we moved from losing woefully to wining some and being very competitive in some losses to top ranked team[s]. He can say that we have broken the strangle hold that WIP had on West Indies Cricket…Mr Hunte felt that there were some things that we not completed and believed that they would not be undertaken…by another president. What ever we think we must respect his decision to run again as this is his right. It is all left to be seen what the future holds under Cameron.

author: Matthew Hunte