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Movember’s ‘Mo Bros’ — Now in India · Global Voices
Sourabh

Ram Singh Chauhan from Jaipur honored by World Records India and World Amazing Record Ahmedabad for his 17 Feet Longest Mustache. Image by Paavan Solanki. Copyright Demotix (24/9/2014)
Movember—that annual event involving the growing of mustaches during the month of November to raise awareness of men's health issues—is over. Over the next 11 months, until next year's of course, Indians will remember Movember fondly. The facial-hair phenomenon seemed to catch on particularly well in India this year, where “mo bros” were spotted all across the country—not just in major metropolises, but also in smaller cities. Indian men observing Movember were also visible in online social media, where mustachioed selfies became a trend both in India and worldwide.
Missing the #moochh in #Movember! Love what it can do when combined with a one- day hairstyle and a… http://t.co/B0Us2jsMRG
— Pronounced as Niche (@Kneeche) November 14, 2014
#Sunday #Selfie #Movember #NoShave @ Prabhadevi http://t.co/Pjgh4r8m3v — Bhawin Jagad (@bhawinjagad) November 23, 2014
@bunty_walia and was a pleasure meeting you again. Was a pleasure to finally gt clicked with you. #MoBros #Movember pic.twitter.com/iS0ejmZENz — devendra pai (@DEVenDrapai) November 23, 2014
@AXNIndia here is a fav movember selfie with a BFF #MovemberWithAXN Whattay cool contest!! #beardedmen #lovemax pic.twitter.com/B8xrwC6gsq
— रJOULE (@moshism) November 20, 2014
For obscure reasons, this picture is supposed to remind you of testicular cancer and http://t.co/D5NF6SAGnS pic.twitter.com/jT7Na27FXj
— ParitOsho (@paritoshZero) November 9, 2014
The word Movember is a portmanteau from the words “mustache” and “November.” The Movember Foundation coordinates a global effort to raise awareness about men's health issues—particularly prostate cancer. Participants in the event, known as “mo bros” encourage others to get annual check-ups, to learn about their own family's history of any cancer (for preventative care), and to adopt a healthy lifestyle. On November 1, men register at Movember.com with a clean shaven face and allow their mustache to grow over the course of the month.
Of course, Movember isn't just an opportunity for men to flaunt their mustaches; it's also a chance to raise money for men's health issues. Amal Vartak, a Mumbai resident, has supported Movember not only by raising awareness but also by collecting $1,800. Some women, known informally as “mo sistas,” are also involved in Movember efforts.
@AXNIndia #MovemberWithAXN My #Movember look ☺ Y should boys have al the fun pic.twitter.com/E32umkrpe1
— Daal-Baati-Cђuгma•• (@FarebiAankhein) November 21, 2014
@atulkasbekar is looking more and more like a Major in the Indian Army this #movember pic.twitter.com/0lllanAZld
— Elena Fernandes (@Fernandes_Elena) November 11, 2014
Honoring great Movember achievements is the World Beard and Mustache Championship at the end of the year. Several celebrities participate in this event, including actors, cricket players, and other athletes from acros India. Indian cricketers Shikhar Dhawan and Ravindra Jadeja have been known sport mustaches, as has Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh. Even the India's High Commission of Canada hosted a Movember fundraiser.
Movember has been immensely popular in recent years. It's charity, it's chic, and it's both literally and figuratively changing the face of men's health.

author: Sourabh


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Syria’s Women of Mazaya in Response to Arson Attack: “We Will Carry On” · Global Voices
Syria Untold

Women working at the Mazaya Center in Kafranbel, Syria. Source: The Mazaya Center.
This post was previously published on SyriaUntold.
“It was 3 in the morning. When the neighbors smelled smoke, they went down to the center. It was on fire. Everything was black, especially the room where the library was.”
With these words, Nour, the head of the Center of Mazaya describes the incident to SyriaUntold. Mazaya, which had created a warm environment for women to meet and learn, was burnt to ashes on November 10, 2014.
Although no one was able to identify the perpetrators, the people of Kafranbel point the finger at the extremist groups occupying the city. It seems that the empowering message of the center and its women-centered activities, was seen by some as a threat.
“Raising awareness among women, who are the key element in building society in Syria is detrimental to the goals of these radical groups,” highlights activist and artist Raed Fares.
“The purpose of the assault was not stealing, but sabotage,” adds Nour.
Nevertheless, the women of Mazaya have shown steadfastness in the face of their aggressors. They rehabilitated the center, cleaned the books from smoke and put everything back in place, as if nothing had happened.
This strength stems from a firm belief in their cause, says Nour, who addressed the perpetrators saying: “Despite being capable of committing such horrid crimes, you are weak. Your language is murder, theft and arson, a language we do not understand.”
To prevent similar incidents, the activists consider conducting a night patrol program. In addition, Nour demands political parties to take into account the existence of the center, as an active grassroots group. She also calls for more unity and cooperation between civil society organizations that hold the same cause.
In conclusion, artist Raed Fares emphasized that this incident although tragic, can not break the spirit of Mazaya’s women:
“Some hands struggle to build something and make the lives of others better, while others destroy and burn. The Center of Mazaya will remain active, for it is not a bunch of walls and equipment, but relentless work and effort.”
This post was previously published on SyriaUntold.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Syria Untold


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Ethiopia’s Zone9 Bloggers Face the Limits of International Law · Global Voices
Ivan Sigal

Zone9 members together in Addis Ababa, 2012. Photo used with permission.
This post was jointly published with the World Policy Journal blog.
The international human rights system is broken – or perhaps it never worked at all.
In case after case, citizens’ human rights are violated under the national laws of their respective countries, despite the existence of international human rights commitments in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration, and by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Organization of American States, the African Commission, and others. The International Criminal Court has little say concerning any but the most egregious of international human rights violations, and member states have wide latitude to dispense justice as they see fit.
For those who live in countries that fail to provide or enforce their own laws protecting freedom of expression, international principles have rarely provided actual recourse. Today, this is the case with the independent Ethiopian blogger collective known as Zone9.
In April of this year, the government of Ethiopia arrested six members of Zone9 along with three affiliated journalists in Addis Ababa. They were held for months without a formal charge and were denied the ability to communicate. Testimony from Befeqadu Hailu, one of the accused bloggers who was smuggled out of prison in August, as well as statements in court, allege mistreatment and frequent beatings. Informally, the nine were held on accusations of “working with foreign organizations that claim to be human rights activists and…receiving finance to incite public violence through social media.”
In July, the Zone9 prisoners were charged under Ethiopia’s Anti-Terrorism Proclamation of 2009 for receiving support from political opposition organizations, defined formally by the government as terrorists, and receiving training from international activists in email encryption and data security from the Tactical Technology Collective, a group that helps journalists and activists protect themselves from digital surveillance.
The Zone9 bloggers joined other media outlets targeted under similar laws, including Eskinder Nega, who had reported on recent Arab uprisings and the possibility of similar uprisings taking place in Ethiopia. He was arrested and charged with the “planning, preparation, conspiracy, incitement and attempt” of terrorism and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
International appeals from human rights advocacy organizations have had little effect on the case. In May, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay issued a statement explaining,
The fight against terrorism cannot serve as an excuse to intimidate and silence journalists, bloggers, human rights activists and members of civil society organizations. And working with foreign human rights organizations cannot be considered a crime.
Additionally, seven international human rights and press freedom organizations pressed the African Commission and the United Nations in an urgent appeal to intervene in the case against Zone9. The appeal focused on the lack of clear charges and failure to allow the defendants adequate legal representation.
Nani Jansen, a lawyer for the Media Legal Defence Initiative and the lead signatory in the appeal, writes in an email that both the African Commission and the UN “operate under the cover of confidentiality in the early stages of these matters.” She continues:
When they follow up with a Government, this is done without informing the outside world. Only months and months (often over a year) later, these exchanges with a Government get published in the mechanism's report to its supervisory body.
Thus any intervention joins the rest of those in the cone of silence that is Zone9—hidden from public scrutiny or participation.
Even if these bodies do follow up with the Ethiopian government, their recourse is limited. In an article on the urgent appeal, Jansen notes that the African Commission can condemn the arrests in a resolution, that both organizations’ rapporteurs can request official visits to Ethiopia to investigate, and that Ethiopia, as a member of the UN Human Rights Council, would be obligated to honor such a request. But even should such requests be made, and investigations conducted, there is little chance of enforcement of hypothetical findings on the Ethiopian government.
Since the appeal, the Ethiopian government has proceeded with charges against the accused. The latest details on the trial can be found on the Trial Tracker Blog, a site run by people close to the defendants.
Public attempts to highlight the Ethiopian government's transgressions against human rights such as the #Freezone9bloggers social media campaign have an indirect effect. They seek to shame the Ethiopian government to ensure better treatment for the prisoners. They also seek to pressure international organizations and Ethiopia's allies such as the United States, for whom Ethiopia is a critical military and security partner. The hope is that those organizations will in turn apply political pressure on Ethiopia to free the Zone9 defendants.
The implementation of international commitments seems to rest primarily upon a negotiated process of politics, not a functioning and enforceable system of law. Considering the ease with which national law in Ethiopia is employed or ignored for political ends, it is a grim irony that only political pressure can hope to resolve the case in their favor.

author: Ivan Sigal


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Guyanese President Shuts Down Parliament to Avoid ‘No-Confidence’ Vote · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

Guyana's Parliament building in the heart of Georgetown. Photo by David Stanley, used under a CC BY 2.0 license.
To avoid a no-confidence vote, Guyanese President Donald Ramotar has prorogued the country's parliament for six months (discontinuing the body, without dissolving it). Guyana has a history of particularly radical political instability, leading to concerns that Ramotar's move will undermine the country's democracy. More than 800 people have already signed an online petition calling for President Ramotar to reverse his decision.
Dr. David Hinds, a political activist and social commentator, wrote on Facebook that the government has lost its legitimacy:
Now that Parliament has been suspended, the people’s representatives have in effect been dismissed by the President. They have no formal forum to represent the interests of their constituencies. They have been put out on the streets—the very streets that for three years they avoided like the plague. The President and his cabinet and party are the sole rulers of Guyana. They have crowned themselves the dictators of the country; that is what they have always wanted. They have subverted the constitution. They can no longer hold on to the mantle of democracy; it’s an illusion.
The Roman Catholic Church, which prominently opposed the Burnham regime‘s racial politics, released a statement:
The […] suspension of Parliament on Monday November 10, 2014 puts Guyana into uncharted territory.
There are expectations that the ‘Church’ would give a guiding word or pronounce on issues. But the Church is the entire people of faith and not just its leaders. When believers from any faith tradition live their faith teachings in everyday life then truly the Church is speaking eloquently. When […] in daily life we hold our heads high in the face of intimidation and corruption it is then that the Church speaks in volumes. […] In times of flux and transition we are all called to examine our convictions and bring them to the process of renewal.
It is true that in former times the Catholic Church was at the forefront of efforts to promote justice and peace in Guyana […] We have worked on many national issues, from elections to domestic violence to trafficking in persons.
It is true that efforts in this area have not been consistent. In humility, I suggest that Guyana – like my Church – needs both institutional and relational strengthening. We must find new ways of relating to each other, and better structures to support and encourage those improved relations.
The Organization of America States also called on Ramotar to reverse his decision:
The head of the hemispheric Organization said, ‘in a democracy, an efficient functioning of the Parliament allows for checks and balances and for the voice of the people to be heard.’ He recalled that ‘since the last elections in November 2011, Guyana has had a split governance system with the executive controlled by one party and the combined opposition having the majority in Parliament.’ […]
In light of this reality the Secretary General of the OAS urges both the governing and opposition political parties ‘to redouble their efforts to reach an understanding and compromise on the major political and socio-economic issues facing the country.’
On Twitter, one user compared Ramotar's actions to the suspension of the constitution in then-British Guiana by the colonial authorities:
“@1DancingCrane: Guyana president suspends parliament http://t.co/DKEkGTlDRt”: Well, we're back to 1953.Thats when Britain did nearly same.
— Leyland (@KINGLeyland) November 13, 2014
Professor Maya Trotz, meanwhile, wondered why other regional leaders have said nothing about the political impasse:
Guyana: A 60-year schism http://t.co/46IUtR1H5C via @TheEconomist good stuff. No Caribbean leaders speak out yet.
— Maya Trotz (@matrotz) November 14, 2014
Iana Seales seemed to hold out hope that Ramotar might still be persuaded to call new elections:
Dear President Ramotar, the opposition is adamant there will be no talks outside of Parliament. Do the right thing & call elections #Guyana
— Iana Seales (@ianaseales) November 15, 2014
Writer and activist Ruel Johnson posted a picture from a protest outside of the parliament building in Georgetown:
A photo posted by Ruel Johnson (@rueljohnson) on Nov 11, 2014 at 5:13pm PST.
Just weeks ago, in an ongoing case that has excited many in an already polarized society, Guyana's Attorney General was accused of threatening a journalist. Recently, a popular radio conglomerate in Guyana circulated a memo asking hosts to avoid the discussion of politics during broadcasts.
Opposition parties, meanwhile, say they refuse to negotiate with the President while the parliament is still discontinued. The stalemate, in other words, promises to continue for some time.

author: Matthew Hunte


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India’s ‘Braveheart’ Sisters Fight Back Against Sexual Predators · Global Voices
Nikhil Dhingra

Screenshot from an interview of the two brave girls in Times Now Channel (Click on the image to watch the interview)
Mobile phone footage from outside New Delhi is shocking Indians this week, following the release of a video showing a clash after the attempted assault of two young women aboard a crowded bus in Rohtak, about 70 kilometers (44 miles) from the Indian capital. Roughly a year since the much talked about gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman aboard a moving bus, this week's incident is encouraging as its victims, sisters Aatri and Pooja, managed to fend off their attackers.
In the video, Aatri and Pooja defend themselves, unassisted by any of the other passengers. In a crafty maneuver, one removes her belt and uses it to counterattack her assailants. The other woman resorts to her fists, hitting back at the men, as her sister whips them with the belt. Not captured in the video below, the attackers eventually removed the women from the bus, but later fled, after the women armed themselves with bricks.
Following the release of the video and the subsequent national outcry, Indian police have reportedly arrested three suspects in the case. The man driving the bus at the time of the assault has also been suspended for failing to act. According to police, the driver had the opportunity to pull the bus into a police station and turn the men over to the authorities.
The three men accused of the attack are 19-year-old undergraduates at Jat College in Rohtak. The men's parents say they are being “falsely implicated,” as the dispute, they say, was about seating, not sex.
For defending themselves so assertively, people across India have praised Rohtak and Pooja as shining examples of how women should have the strength and willpower to fight back against attackers.
I would like to congratulate the girls and ask the authorities to take appropriate action,” Lalitha Kumarmangalam, spokesman for the government’s National Commission for Women, said. “Few girls have the guts to take on the molesters. The government should take action. I would appeal to every Indian to come forward and help.”
The scuffle aboard the bus wasn't the sisters’ only brush with violence, it seems. Another short video, released by the Indian news channel NDTV this week but filmed a month ago, shows what looks to be Rohtak and Pooja attacking a different man in a park. According to the Times of India, “The girls set an example of how sexual predators need to be tackled even if there is no help coming.”
On Twitter, the hashtag #Rohtakbravehearts has been used to express gratitude and support for the sisters:
Love what girls in India are doing to molesters #RohtakBravehearts – The Next Revolution
— mpanj (@Shivgad) December 2, 2014
Good for these sisters for fighting back! #RohtakBravehearts http://t.co/VFIygHkqv3
— Eloísa Ana (@EloPoeta) December 1, 2014
Others in India have been less focused on the sisters’ courage and more appalled by the bus passengers, who failed to take any action:
By keeping silent on the bus during the #RohtakBravehearts incident, men proved they are both Napunsaks and Perverts. pic.twitter.com/jn41xcAEBs
— अभय शंकर दुबे (@AbhaySDube) December 1, 2014
My India? #Gabbu #RohtakBravehearts #RohtakSisters #dabsandjabs #HT #cartoon http://t.co/bSsrYOYeMj pic.twitter.com/ZkzSvXy4El
— Zero (@dabsandjabs) December 2, 2014
In a Facebook post, politician Naveen Jindal also faulted the passengers for showing a complete lack of empathy:
Salute to #RohtakBravehearts who stood against molestation and gave a fitting lesson to the three culprits. Shameful that no fellow passenger stood up for them. These girls deserve a pat on the back.
Others, such as Indian News Anchor Deepika Bhardwaj, worried that the mainstream media moved too quickly to persecute those aboard the bus who didn't act, perhaps failing to get the full story:
Crime committed by victims of #RohtakBravehearts is to argue with them on seat for an OLD LADY. Girls had camera n armoury ready as ALWAZ.
— Deepika Bhardwaj (@DeepikaBhardwaj) December 2, 2014
#RohtakBravehearts demselvs sayin conductor helped dem/proposed ny help they want. He's suspended. Media doesn't mind his family starving!!
— Deepika Bhardwaj (@DeepikaBhardwaj) December 1, 2014
Union Minister Uma Bharti, who was one of the first ministers to address the incident publicly, commended the sisters, saying “all the girls should do what these sisters did.”
Despite passengers’ disturbing silence, the scandal might help raise awareness about women's security issues, perhaps leading to new legislation. If the social media responses are any indication, it's safe to say Indian policymakers are following the story closely.

author: Nikhil Dhingra


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Russia’s Largest Social Network Now More Popular Among Young People Than Any Website or TV Channel · Global Voices
Sergey Kozlovsky

Vkontakte's popularity on the rise. Images edited by Kevin Rothrock.
Russia's biggest online social network, a website called Vkontakte (“In Touch”), is only getting bigger. In fact, Vkontakte has become so popular that its daily audience among people ages 12–34 now surpasses any television channel in Russia, a new study shows.
According to data collected in September, Vkontakte's daily traffic among young Russians has skyrocketed to 2.2 million people. In this age group, second-place Yandex attracts 2.1 million visitors, followed by Google.ru (1.7 million) and Mail.ru (1.4 million). Among Russians ages 12–34, the most popular Russian television channel, TNT, attracts just 1.3 million daily viewers. Networks like Rossiya-1 and NTV fail to get even a million viewers in this coveted age group.
Dmitry Sergeyev, a top executive at Mail.ru (Vkontakte's parent company), says the website's success is due to the growing popularity of mobile devices.
Люди проводят время ВКонтакте, даже когда смотрят телевизор. Особенно это заметно в городах-миллионниках, прежде всего в Москве и Петербурге, но постепенно тенденция охватывает всю страну.
People are spending time on Vkontakte even when they watch television. We see this especially in cities with over a million residents, like Moscow and St. Petersburg, but the trend is spreading all over the country.
Vkontakte's exploding popularity suggests that younger Russians rely less on televised news, where the government exercises greater control over the circulation of information, and more on the relatively unregulated Internet. A disputed June 2014 study by FOM, the Kremlin's favorite polling agency, however, found that 87 percent of Russians still get their news from television, despite higher traffic on social networks, which appears to be due more to the growing popularity of games, videos, and other forms of entertainment.
Could Russians, if they spared more time for information instead of entertainment, make better use of social networks’ superior access to unfiltered news? Not necessary. Even Vkontakte, sometimes considered a counterweight to the Kremlin's stranglehold on traditional mass media in Russia, belongs to billionaire Alisher Usmanov, whose loyalty to Vladimir Putin is unquestioned.

author: Sergey Kozlovsky


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Turkey’s Growing Corruption Problem Is Getting Harder to Hide · Global Voices
Ece Basay

Money in a shoebox. Viral image.
In the last twelve months, the Turkish state has appeared significantly more corrupt. That is the underlying message of Transparency International's latest Corruption Perceptions Index, released December 3.
This comes as no surprise to anybody who has been living in Turkey during this period.
Around this time last year, Turkish citizens woke up to the biggest corruption scandal in the country's modern history. Key political figures, including ministers from the ruling Justice and Development Party and their sons, housing officials, the CEO of a major state-owned bank and an Iranian businessman were all arrested by Turkish police and held on suspicion of bribery, money laundering, and corruption. A police investigation is still ongoing and a parliamentary commission banned media outlets from reporting on it last month.
The December 17 arrests were followed up by images taken by police of millions of dollars stuffed in shoe boxes at the residence of the CEO of Halk Bank, Suleyman Aslan, and purported recordings of phone conversations in which then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (now Turkey's president) allegedly discusses a strategy for hiding vast amounts of cash with his son, Bilal.
Amid accusations that the Justice and Development Party played a role in pushing through changes in the police and judiciary, only one minor trial was held.
The arrests divided Turkey, with supporters from the Justice and Development Party claiming the recordings were dubbed, while others vented their fury at what they viewed as an obvious government cover-up.
Capturing the resentment some Turkish citizens felt towards the alleged family affairs of the Justice and Development Party at the time, Deli Gaffar, a blogger, wrote:
Bu iş bir baba-oğul konusu değildir. Bakanlarla oğulları arasındaki ilişki bir baba-oğul ilişkisini aşmış, bir tür iş ortaklığı da denilebilecek çete birlikteliğine varmıştır. Genellikle oğullar babalarla aynı sosyal çevreyi soludukları için babanın pis işlerine ortak olma, ya da en azından alet olma olasılığı hayli yüksektir. Ancak tersi de olabilir, yüksek ahlaklı bir baba, oğlu yüzünden bozulabilir ya da belki sırf evladını koruma güdüsüyle ilkelerinden taviz verebilir.
This is not an issue of father-son. The relationship between the ministers and their sons is beyond a father-son relationship, it has become a gang-type union that can also be called a business partnership. Usually, since sons breathe in the same social sphere as their dads, it is very likely for them to become like their fathers. However, the opposite can also happen, a father with high morality can degenerate because of his son, or he might compromise his ideals with the instinct of protecting his child.
On Twitter, people tweeted under the hash tags #hırsızvar (#thiefishere), #17Aralık (#17december), and #yolsuzluk (#corruption).
Those hashtags are still strong almost twelve months later, as Transparency's 2014 index reveals Turkey as the country that deteriorated more than any other in the 2013-14 corruption stakes.
The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks 175 countries, providing them each with a score between 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). According to Transparency International's index, two thirds of the world's countries rank below 50, and no one country scores 100. Turkey, which had a score of 50 last time the index was published, has 45 this time round.
Yeni ayakkabimin kutusunu calmislar anne #yolsuzluk
— Deniz (@sehrinmetalcisi) December 3, 2014
Mom, they have stolen the box for my new shoes #corruption
The 2013 scandal also precipitated broad censorship of social and traditional media. Government restrictions on Twitter and Youtube grew tighter in the run up to the recent presidential elections, which Erdoğan won, and remain in place. Newspapers and television channels were prevented from reporting on any hearings involving the ministers associated with the scandal November 26 after the leader of a parliamentary commission decided the ministers were “innocent until proven guilty”, and should therefore be free of press scrutiny.
But as one tweep noted, this has not diminished public interest in the case:
Yayın Yasağı koymaları o kadar ters tepti ki.. Şimdi herkes önce hırsızlıklarını sonra yasağı konuşuyor.. #17Aralık
— Şeb/Nem (@sebnemdc) November 28, 2014
This broadcasting ban has backfired so bad… Now everyone talks about their stealing first, then they talk about this ban.. #17december
#17aralık komisyonunda bakanların dinleneceği komisyona bugün yayın yasağı getirilmiş.Yaşasın milli irade yaşasın milli yolsuzluk
— Emrah DOĞAN (@emrah19_07) November 26, 2014
Today's #17december commission, which consists of the hearing of the ministers is not being shown. Long live the national will, long live the national corruption.
During a December 3 press conference marking the index's release, attended by a Global Voices author, Oya Ozarslan, Transparency International Turkey's chair of board, warned that corruption was a “systematic problem” in Turkey, that required a “systematic response”.
In the space of a year, the December 17 case had turned into an issue of fundamental human rights and democratic values, she added.
Other Transparency International studies suggest that corruption extends well beyond the president and his inner circle, however. According to the organisation's 2013 Global Corruption Barometer, 21% of Turkish citizens surveyed believed they had paid a bribe to at least one public sector institution that year. Additionally 61% of citizens believe that having an acquaintance within a given public institution is a very important factor in accessing proper public services.

author: Ece Basay


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With Blood New and Old, Ukraine’s Next Parliament Is Sworn In · Global Voices
Tetyana Bohdanova

A screencapture of new Ukrainian Parliament members reading the oath.
A new Ukrainian Parliament gathered for its first plenary session on November 27, 2014. The Rada's 418 members were elected in the October 26 snap elections, the first to take place since the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych, Russia's annexation of Crimea, and the beginning of a military conflict with Russia-backed separatists in two eastern regions.
Those elections took place according to a mixed electoral system: half the parliament's seats went to political parties that crossed the 5 percent threshold, and the other half went to single-mandate districts.
New parliamentary elections were one of the top demands by Ukraine's Maidan protesters—particularly after the tragic events of February 2014, when the demonstrators finally overthrew President Yanukovych, after significant bloodshed. Symbols from Maidan, especially reminders about the Old Regime's violence against protesters, were popular visuals in reports and campaign materials leading up to Ukraine's recent vote.
Ahead of the election, one of the main intrigues was whether Yanukovych's former allies—the people who supported Ukraine's short-lived “dictatorship laws” (so-called by Maidan protesters)—would make it into parliament again. Activists and journalists scrutinized candidates, closely monitoring campaigns and voting for violations. Despite these efforts, more than 30 percent of the MPs who supported the controversial laws (64 out of 239) were reelected to the parliament, this time mostly as independents, now unaffiliated with any political party.
The election also brings a great deal of new blood to the Rada. In fact, roughly half of the parliament's members are now first-term activists and journalists. There are even some soldiers in the incoming class, too.
New MPs include investigative journalists Sergii Leshchenko and Mustafa Nayyem, who authored a Facebook post that's widely credited with sparking the #Euromaidan protests, a “Self-Defense” activist who famously called for Yanukovych's resignation, several commanders of volunteer battalions engaged in the ongoing conflict in Donetsk and Luhansk, and others.
English-language Ukrainian blogger Taras Revunets drew attention to one of the new MPs, Nadiya Savchenko, a Ukrainian air force pilot taken prisoner during fighting in Eastern Ukraine and currently jailed in Russia:
Nadiya #Savchenko sworn in as a member of #Ukraine‘s parl(in absentia). She's a #Ukrainian POW held in #Russia.#рада8 pic.twitter.com/4OabBUGoji
— Ukrainian Updates (@Ukroblogger) November 27, 2014
Commenting on the presence of volunteer battalions’ members and commanders in the new parliament, Civil Network OPORA tweeted:
Нові депутати ходять не лише в костюмах #рада8 pic.twitter.com/cwTKSzS1D9
— Civil Network OPORA (@opora) November 27, 2014
New MPs don't only wear suits. #рада8
Kharkiv-based Twitter user Nikita Fatin called attention to the reelection of many members of Yanukovych's “Old Guard,” such as Oleksandr Vilkul, a former deputy prime minister. Referring to activists who, ahead of the October election, forced politicians accused of corruption into dumpsters, Fatin tweeted:
А для Вилкула в президию поставят мусорный бак? #рада8
— Nikita Fatin (@NikitaFatin) November 27, 2014
Will they put a dumpster in the presidium for Vilkul? #рада8
Others marveled that “anti-terrorist” battalion commanders and Kremlin-bogeyman Dmytro Yarosh, leader of the nationalist group “Right Sector,” will now share seats in a parliament with Yanukovych's former allies. Kharkiv-based activist Igor Zubkov had some fun with this concept, tweeting a photoshopped image of Right Sector figures threatening to punish the MPs who supported Yanukovych's infamous “dictatorship laws.”
Руку 16 января поднимал? Ходи сюда! #Украина #Рада8 pic.twitter.com/8FR6s5U0av
— Igor Zubkov ㋡ (@IgorZ_ua) November 27, 2014
Come here! Did you raise a hand on January 16 [to support the “Dictatorship Laws”]?
On her Facebook wall, journalist Irina Makarchuk summed up the curious composition of the new parliament:
Кстати, итог первого заседания #рада8 : военная часть, ньюзрум, коррупционеры, активисты и юля! #НоваРада ))
By the way, an outcome of the first session of [the Parliament of 8th Convocation]: the military unit, the newsroom, the corrupt ones, the activists and yulia (Yulia Tymoshenko – GV)! #НоваРада ))
As all sessions of the Rada are broadcast live on a designated television channel, singer-songwriter and activist Oleksandra Koltsova commented on the possible twists of such a “TV show”:
Включила в список продуктів на тиждень попкорн і валідол #НоваРада
— kasha saltsova (@kashasaltsova) November 27, 2014
[I] have included popcorn and validol [a popular anti-anxiety agent] on this week's list of groceries #НоваРада
Given the Rada's striking new political diversity, the first session was bound to begin controversially. As it happens, the Constitution requires the oldest serving MP to be the one to swear in the new parliament, leaving the task to Yukhym Zvyahilsky, a contentious figure in Ukrainian politics. A supporter of the “dictatorship laws” and the pro-Russian separatists in the East, Zvyahilsky was an awkward person to ring in the new Rada, and many opposed the idea of letting him do it. Ultimately, lawmakers reached a compromise, having all MPs read the oath aloud simultaneously.
Kyiv-based journalist Nastya Stanko commented on the ceremony:
Звягільського навіть не показали. Присягу фактично читав Турчинов #рада8
— Nastya Stanko (@StankoNastya) November 27, 2014
Zvyahilsky was not even shown [during the broadcast]. The oath was practically read out by [former Rada Speaker] Turchynov.
In the meantime, Hromadske.tv tweeted a photo depicting representatives from AutoMaidan (a movement within Euromaidan) gathered outside the Parliament Building, assembled to remind MPs of the heightened public scrutiny that awaits them in their new positions:
Під стінами парламенту вишикувався Автомайдан. #рада8 pic.twitter.com/xk7kd7ttlq
— Hromadske.TV (@HromadskeTV) November 27, 2014
Automaidan has lined up outside the parliament's walls. #рада8
Blogger Taras Revunets echoed a popular public sentiment, recalling the hopes many Ukrainians place on the new legislative body and the high stakes ahead:
#Ukraine‘s newly elected parl is sworn in. Hope u guys do a better job. Good luck! We'll be watching you. #рада8 pic.twitter.com/XwFcokMdOd
— Ukrainian Updates (@Ukroblogger) November 27, 2014

author: Tetyana Bohdanova


text:
China’s Censorship Authorities Are Not Fans of Foreign TV · Global Voices
Jack Hu

Screen capture from subtitled video of Big Bang Theory, from YouTube.
Two hugely popular Chinese websites that provided free subtitles for foreign films and TV series ceased operations on November 22. Both sites hosted platforms for special files designed to store subtitles that can then sync with a video file so that the viewer can see the subtitles while watching a show or film.
A report from China.cn.org, an official Chinese government news portal, linked the closures to criticism from the Motion Picture Association of America, the lead lobbying group for the Hollywood film industry.
But it is not entirely clear that the MPAA was behind the decision. Indeed, earlier this month, China banned websites from streaming or providing downloading services for foreign movies and TV shows without prior official approval.
Most netizens believe that the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) gave the order. A search for SARFT (广电总局) + Yyets (人人) on China's Twitter-like Weibo, yields a large number of angry comments, such as “SARFT, WTF” or “SARFT, mother Fxxker”, “SARFT, go to hell” and more.
Some speculate that the move is intended to impose a prior censorship regime over foreign TV programs by giving some online TV channels a relative monopoly over the right to broadcast the trimmed and subtitle-modified versions of programs.
For more than a decade, mainland Chinese young people have improved their English by watching American TV dramas online. Yyets.com and Shooter.cn provided Chinese-language subtitle files for pirated TV shows and movies that could be downloaded from websites outside the country, gaining millions of fans who closely followed their favorite shows. The two sites were supported by communities of volunteers of students abroad and some “subtitle groups” in China.
Yyets.com put up a statement on its website, explaining that the site is “cleaning content”:
本站自2004年由加拿人的一群留學生創建至今已10年多，感謝一路有大家的陪佯，我們一直保持著學習，分享的態度，不管是翻譯優秀海外影視劇還是世界名校公開課，希望我們的這些勞動能對大家有所幫助，這就已經足夠。
Thank you for your love, support and accompanying us since we — a group of students studying in Canada — set up the website in 2004. We do our work with the intention of sharing and learning together. We have translated high-quality overseas film and TV programs and open courses provided by prestigious universities. We hope that it has helped you, and if it has, we have done our job.
Yyets.com, a non-profit organization, has provided free download links and Chinese subtitles of foreign films, TV shows and open courses, mainly American, for millions of viewers in mainland China for more than a decade. It grew from a subtitle translation group and became the most influential subtitle group in China.
Shooter.com has offered Chinese subtitles for foreign films and TV series for 15 years. The two sites provided subtitles so popular that even some China’s video streaming sites also used their services.
The shutdown quickly led to a backlash on China’s social media. Twitter-like Weibo has seen thousands of users complaining of censorship under a topic “Goodbye to American TV series.”
Earlier this year, regulators removed some American TV shows, including the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” from major video streaming websites like Sohu and Youku. The government said the shows were pirated or not authorized for broadcast in China.
American TV shows such as “The Big Bang Theory” and “Breaking Bad” have found huge fan bases in China, thanks to deals with online video portals that license the programs and make them available just hours after their U.S. debuts. But such arrangements now appear to be in serious jeopardy because of stricter government screening procedures.
Starting in 2015, Chinese Internet companies that plan to carry foreign TV shows on their websites will be required to submit the entire season with subtitles to local authorities for approval. On top of the stricter screening rules, the number of foreign TV shows carried by Chinese websites cannot exceed 30 percent of the number of domestic TV shows carried the previous year.
Analysts have also suggested that Beijing may be trying to protect the interests of state broadcasters including CCTV, which have been challenged by upstart satellite and Internet content providers.
In China, domestic TV shows and films undergo a rigorous and lengthy pre- and post-filming government approval process. What is left after censorship is a proliferation of family-friendly soaps, anti-Japan dramas which have been mocked by plenty of viewers for its exaggerated plots, and costume dramas set in Imperial China. The government has been very sensitive to those TV shows able to reflect or indicate the realistic problems of society. Censors care about topics like protests, ethnic relations, violence and sexual content, under which lie ideological concerns.
Yan Feng (严锋), a literature professor with Fudan University, spoke highly of the efforts of the subtitle translation groups and got thousands of positive comments on Weibo:
历史上，有四次翻译活动，对中国文化产生了巨大的影响。一是古代以玄奘、鸠摩罗什等为代表的佛经翻译。二是近代以严复、林纾为代表的对西方文化的翻译。三是文革后以三联、上海译文等出版社为代表的对西方现代人文社科著作的系统翻译。四是新世纪草根字幕组自发组织的对海量影视和网络学习材料的翻译。
Historically, there are four translation movements which deeply influenced China’s culture. Firstly, the translation of Buddhist scriptures mainly by monks Hsuan Tsang and Kumarajiva in ancient times; secondly, the translation of western culture representatively by Yan Fu and Lin Shu; thirdly, the systematic translation of western modern masterpieces in humanities and social science; fourthly, the current translation of enormous quantities of stuff related to TV series, movies and learning online by volunteer subtitle groups.
Some netizens denounced China’s censorship and received popular support. Weibo user “This or that” (@这样这样那样那样) trashed the SARFT's decision:
问一声广电总局：我诺大华夏土地，人口十几亿，是否就得人人守着电视机，听婆婆小姨，掐鸡毛蒜皮；看妃嫔姨太，群起撕逼；围观霸道总裁恋弱智丑女；忍那几张假脸每天晃来晃去？你拍出一堆垃圾，却又来怪我们嫌弃，想全国人民，与你一样精神贫瘠！自食其力，学好英语，抵制烂剧，从我做起！
Question for the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television: Should our billions of people keep watching these kinds of TV series: the quarrels between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, the infighting in an emperor’s harem, a strong boss falling in love with a foolish, ugly woman. How could we stand those fake looks always on screen? Under your censorship, a pile of awful TV shows have been created, but you still blame us for being picky and expect all the people’s spirits to be as poor as yours. Be self-sufficient, learn English and resist bad domestic TV series!
“Mr. Too laze to figure out a name” (@Mr懒到不想想名字) was disappointed, and so decided to leave the country:
坚定了我出国的信念，尽早离开这个学习朝鲜闭关锁国的天朝吧[拜拜]别赶上第二次文革因为翻墙看美剧的罪名惨死狱中[拜拜]没什么比这个更能激励我好好学习的了
This strengthens my belief to go abroad, fleeing the country which is following in the footsteps of North Korea’s isolation. I wish not to be caught up by the second Cultural Revolution and die for scaling the wall to watch American TV series. Nothing else could encourage me to study hard.
“Sheep much ado about nothing” (@庸人自扰的羊羊羊) believed SARFT would not be successful in their attempts:
美剧永远不会“再见”， 在信息爆炸的时代，企图通过关闭几个网站而阻止信息传播，只能说明这个官僚制度思维僵化、幼稚和态度的傲慢。只要是大家都喜欢的东西，哪怕你把网络掐断，盗版光盘也会死灰复燃。该说再见的不是美剧，该说再见的是广电总局和该死的审查制度，我保持乐观，拭目以待！
The U.S. TV series will never say goodbye to us. The shutdown of some websites to stop the dissemination of information only suggests the close-mindedness, naïveté and arrogance of the bureaucracy in a time of information explosion. The pirated CD could have come back if the government shut down the Internet. It’s not U.S. TV shows who should be saying goodbye to us; it should be the censorship authorities and censorship. I’ll be optimistic about this.

author: Jack Hu


text:
Japan’s Long Winter Has Only Just Begun · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Screenshot of ANN Newscast.
Japan is experiencing the first early-December cold wave (寒波, or kanpa) in eight years.
According to meteorologists, from December 1 to December 12 Japan can expect cold temperatures and winter conditions normally seen only in February.
The cold winter weather makes for excellent television of wind-driven storm surges, hazardous driving conditions, and snowy landscapes as “intense cold invades the Japanese archipelago, causing damage throughout the country.”
The typical mid-winter pattern in Japan sees intensely cold air masses travelling across the Sea of Japan from Siberia towards Japan. Much like the “lake effect” experienced in the U.S. Northeast, the cold, dry air from the continent picks up moisture as it travels across the relatively warm waters of the sea of Japan.
The result is heavy dumps of snow along the Japan Sea coast facing the continental mainland.
The mountains that line Japan from north to south act as a wall, blocking the snowy weather patterns. Tokyo and the other cities of the Pacific Coast typically enjoy cool, dry, sunny winters, while the Japan Sea coastline is snowy and dark until late March.
With this latest cold snap, the northenmost island of Hokkaido is already socked in, as this Instagram photo of Rumoi demonstrates:
るもいのよるは吹雪
A photo posted by kuma chu (@bearbrichu) on
A blizzard in Rumoi
To the south, Aomori was also blanketed in its first snowfall of the season, receiving seven centimeters in the city center:
こっちでしかみれない綺麗さー！ 感動したw 雪しゃいこう pic.twitter.com/5UsfetrKM3
— ちゃんちか♔嫁 (@Usa1124Love) December 3, 2014
What an amazingly lovely scene! Snow is the best!
Amanohashidate, the famous “floating bridge of heaven” located near the city of Miyazu north of Kyoto, received a rare coating of snow:
A photo posted by 太田あや乃 (@ayanoncham) on
Back in Hokkaido, a bus carrying a group of tourists from Singapore made the national news after it slipped off an icy highway near the town of Shimukappu:
【社会】観光バス道路脇に落ち、１８人軽傷＝凍結でスリップか－北海道占冠村http://t.co/dCesDIA85O pic.twitter.com/b095HTf21g
— matomela (@matomel2000) December 2, 2014
A tour bus slides off the edge of the road, leaving 18 lightly injured. Slippery road conditions are thought to have caused the accident.
On Route 402, southwest of Niigata City, howling winds travelling at 33.8 meters/second are creating stormscapes along the Japan Sea coastline:
#日本海#西蒲区
A photo posted by 佐藤 謙太 (@kkkkenta) on
#Japan Sea #Nishiura District
As these snapshots from Yokote in the mountains of Honshu's snowy northeast shows, Japan's long winter has only just begun:
悪夢はまだ終わらない pic.twitter.com/ZBYopwSIwW
— ひろたかですー。 (@hirotaka_0117) December 3, 2014
The nightmare is far from over.

author: Nevin Thompson


text:
Russia Counts the Dead As Militants Strike in Grozny · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

What appears to be heavy artillery hits Grozny's Dom Pechati, where an unknown number of militants are now under siege by local police and military. YouTube. December 3, 2014.
The streets of Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, are currently host to an intense battle between local security forces and heavily armed militants. At least five police officers have been killed in the past few hours, an exploded police car lies smoldering in city's downtown, and Grozny's “Print House” Building is in flames and under siege.
According to the Russian news service Lifenews.ru, the militants are suspected of hijacking three taxicabs southwest of Grozny and using the vehicles to infiltrate the city. They were en route to an unknown target, when traffic police stopped their convoy and discovered a massive arsenal of automatic guns, grenades, and other weapons. This was when violence reportedly broke out, leading to the deaths of several police officers.
Claims that militants arrived in three taxicabs don't square with other reports about the number of armed men now battling Grozny police. Russian website TJournal.ru spoke to an eye witness who speculates that as many as 50 armed militants are currently roaming Grozny's streets. According to the witness, most people in Grozny speculate that the incursion is a failed effort to attack Grozny's airport, where Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov's private jet was expected to land around the time of the incident.
On Twitter, Russian users allude to an audio message from the militants where they claim to have 300 men in Grozny. Bloggers also uploaded a low-resolution video featuring several men spouting Islamic rhetoric, taking credit for the events in Grozny, promising to die in the fight against Islam's enemies. Within an hour, YouTube users added Russian subtitles to the two-minute video, which ties the attackers to Aslan Byutukayev, a Chechen insurgent commander and ally of the late Dokku Umarov, the former Caucasus Emirate leader.
Ramzan Kadyrov addressed the public using his favorite social platform, Instagram, where he told Grozny residents to stay indoors until the situation was under control, which he anticipated by morning time, December 4. Eager to shift the blame for such a daring attack to militant groups outside Chechnya, which he's supposedly purged of rebels, Kadyrov wrote, “We do not rule out the possibility that these people could have come from another region. There are no more illegal armed groups in Chechnya capable of such actions.”
Twitter users claiming to be either based in Grozny or acquainted with people there have posted alarming reports of violence and casualties.
Грозный , информация из 9 гор.Больницы, много трупов сотрудников и убитых…
— Абу Умар (@solih_shishani) December 3, 2014
Grozny, information from City Hospital 9: lots of dead bodies of police officers and others killed…
Сейчас в Грозном. pic.twitter.com/Oc8dh3tDOb
— Isaev (@TininVisa) December 3, 2014
In Grozny right now.
БТР-ы в Грозном pic.twitter.com/LBnvKS9VCe
— Мориарти (@UpaevMaga) December 3, 2014
Armored vehicles (BTRs) in Grozny.
For all the startling photos and talk of “300 Spartan” militants descending on the city, confusion seemed to reign supreme in Grozny.
От жителей Грозного поступает самая разная инфа: от “У нас началась война” до “Я ничего не слышал”.
— Beslan Uspanov (@beslanu) December 4, 2014
The info coming from Grozny residents is all over the place, ranging from “a war has started here” to “I haven't heard a thing.”

author: Kevin Rothrock


text:
Ukraine’s New “Ministry of Truth” Ridiculed on Social Media · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Images mixed by Tetyana Lokot.
The creation of a new Ministry of Information Policy within the Ukrainian government has caused widespread consternation among Ukrainians, leading some to dub it the “Ministry of Truth.” Critics say the Orwellian department, aimed at protecting Ukraine in the information war with Russia, will only hinder freedom of speech and set a dangerous precedent, allowing the new government a greater measure of control over Ukrainian media.
The new ministry is headed by Yuriy Stets, former head of the Information Security Department of the National Guard of Ukraine. Previously, Stets was chief producer of Channel 5, the TV channel still owned by President Petro Poroshenko.
Media advocates and journalists are particularly worried that the new Ministry is likely to inhibit the work of journalists, especially in war-torn eastern Ukraine, where media access is already an issue, and many have been speaking out on social media and protesting in parliament against the new initiative.
Hello the ministry of truth? We'll fight for sure!
— Oksana Romaniuk (@Sanatja) December 2, 2014
.@HromadskeTV anti-'Ministry of Truth' posters seized by Ukraine parliament securitypic via @UkrpravdaNews pic.twitter.com/zNkxpdR2UR
— Hromadske (@Hromadske) December 2, 2014
Stets, the head of the new department, himself defended the need for the ministry in a Facebook post, saying that information security was “one of the kay parameters of national security,” and that many countries have been known to create similar offices in times of crisis. His reasoning, however, did little to assuage the fears of the ministry's critics.
Shame,shame,shame – all I can call an idea of creating the Ministry of Truth.As a Channel 5 journo I am alarmed, ashamed, humiliated
— Myroslava Petsa (@myroslavapetsa) December 2, 2014
Ukrainians have long wielded online ridicule as the most powerful weapon against government oppression and injustice, and the situation around the “Ministry of Truth” seems to be no different.
Suggesting the new ministry's creation is nothing but a misguided attempt to address the outspoken criticism of the new government and its actions, users have been creating fake “ministerial” accounts on social media. The Ministry of Information Policy has already been creatively renamed as the “Ministry of Laziness and Spitting at the Ceiling” and the “Ministry of Sexual Politics,” hinting at the uselessness of the new office and the too-close connections between various government officials.
A Twitter account for the Ukrainian “Ministry of Magic” exposed the new information security initiative as a “magical solution” to the country's woes.
Ми працюємо! pic.twitter.com/rmfZwNOtUK
— Міністерство магії (@MagicUkraine) December 2, 2014
We are working! [text in image: Ukraine's Ministry of Magic. Fantastical Results Just Like That!]
。∧＿∧（｡･ω･｡)つ━☆・*。⊂　　 ノ 　　　・゜+.しーＪ　　　°。+ *´¨) 　　　　　　　　　.· ´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)　　　　　　　　　　(¸.·´ (¸.·'* ☆ УСПІШНА ДЕРЖАВА ☆ ・*。・゜+.
— Міністерство магії (@MagicUkraine) December 2, 2014
A SUCCESSFUL STATE.
Another Twitter account, “Ministry of Truth,” draws on the eponymous ministry in George Orwell's novel 1984, and comes with a slogan “War is ATO [Anti-terrorist operation]. Svoboda [Freedom] is a party. Nepotism is an HR policy,” echoing Orwell's “War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.”
Ну шо, хлопці та дівчата. Починаємо. pic.twitter.com/w7PKHMkNYk
— Міністерство Правди (@minpravd) December 2, 2014
Well, boys and girls. Shall we begin?
The immediate and scathing reaction of the Ukrainian online public sphere to the new government's “well-meaning” information protectionism seems to signal that Ukrainians have become more vigilant when it comes to state initiatives and will probably keep the authorities on their toes. If anything, Ukrainian citizens have had ample opportunity to perfect the art of protest, as well as the art of information warfare.

author: Tanya Lokot


text:
A Little Library That’s Making a Big Difference in Grenada · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

West Indian Stories. Photo by Flickr user coconinoco. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
There's a library in Grenada that's quite out of the ordinary. Founded by a writer, a church group and a grassroots, social action collective called Groundation Grenada, Mt. Zion is like the little library that could — promoting a culture of volunteerism that is not common in the Caribbean and encouraging youth to not only get involved, but to learn to love reading.
The project's focus on young people is especially pertinent in light of a 2009 United Nations Development Programme Human Development report that found Grenada has the highest poverty rate in the English Caribbean countries. Youth are the most adversely affected, with the economic situation having an effect on their schooling and eventual employability. The country's unemployment rate currently stands at around 40 percent.
Mt. Zion, though, is pushing library services as a viable career option, and the bonus is that a whole new generation is becoming passionate about reading.
Groundation Grenada shares one such example: 20-year-old Alesia Aird, a musician and artist who looks nothing like the conventional librarian. She listens to the conscious music of Jamaican reggae icon Peter Tosh, and she looks more Lauryn Hill than Nancy Pearl. Yet, she spends most of her free time volunteering at Mt. Zion and has come to be passionate about West Indian literature and works of science fiction.
Groundation explains:
Alesia wasn’t always a reader. In fact she recollects that reading had always felt like punishment; something that she was forced to do. She describes her experience in school as being analogous to teaching a fish how to climb a tree, as the school system failed to recognize and apply different styles and paces of learning.
So how exactly did a non-reader sign up for a gig as a volunteer librarian? Bit by bit, as it turns out. A friend asked her for some help with sorting books. She obliged, was taken in by the “good vibes” of the people involved says that what made her stay were “the smiles of converted non-readers coming upon a book that they loved.”
Aird is convinced that Mt. Zion is special, not simply because of the passion of its volunteers, but because of “its location [in the heart of St. George's] and origins which all give the library its unique characteristic and unorthodox feel.”
Mt. Zion's popularity continues to grow — reportedly by as much as two new members a day — especially with the younger demographic, who find it a supportive space where they can exchange ideas and be themselves.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Central Asian Migrants in Russia Are Humiliating Their ‘Dishonorable’ Countrywomen on Video · Global Voices
Abdulfattoh Shafiev

Uzbek women are taunted my a man with with a stick in a video uploaded on to RFER/L's Tajik channel.
“Why do you sell it [sex]?”
“Please, don’t do that…. I have a two-year old son…. I swear on the Quran, I will leave this job. If you see me here one more time, kill me.”
In one video, a middle-aged woman tries to hide her face from the camera as she admits that she is a sex worker. She begs the man with the camera not to punish her. The man behind the camera rages at the woman and her friend for “debasing the name of Tajiks” in Russia. He threatens to punish them by shaving their heads and disseminating the video through social media.
Despite pleading for anonymity the women are forced to reveal their identities. They kneel in frightened obeisance, waiting for their heads to be shaved. The shocking scene is trending in Tajikistan circles on Odnoklassniki — a popular social network founded in Russia — and on YouTube.
A number of videos of Central Asian women accused of prostitution and generally “shaming their nation and religion” have been uploaded onto file-sharing platforms by anonymous users in recent times. The videos, deleted by social media moderators, reappear again after being uploaded by different users.
While the world speaks out about the enslavement of women by ISIS, netizens in Central Asia are vigorously discussing videos portraying the relentless persecution and physical punishment of Central Asian women suspected of prostitution.
Videos of Kyrgyz and Tajik female migrants facing public humiliation in Russia are nothing new, but a copycat tendency means the phenomenon has now affected the migrant communities of other states in the region. In November a video appeared on YouTube showing two young women in Uzbekistan sitting with their hands tied behind their backs. The man in the video beats them with a stick while calling them sluts.
Screenshot of video discussion on Odnoklassniki.
This incident is filmed in front of other people, including women and teenagers. Although the original was deleted from YouTube, a section of the video is still accessible via RFE/RL's channel on the service.
Meanwhile, an older video featuring Tajik women being humiliated by a male compatriot in Russia is currently gaining popularity among Odnoklassniki-using Tajiks again. The reposted video has gathered more than 5,200 comments in recent weeks. Global Voices has decided not to disclose the names of commenters due to the sensitivity of the topic.
Comparatively few commenters condemned the honour-based punishment, with the remainder, both men and women, cheering the tormentors on.
One female user, M., calls the women in the video, “sluts, without honour.” Another prays for “…all Muslim women to be prevented from the wrong path  and guided towards the right way, and to have the honour of hijab.” S., also a woman, condemns the families of the victims: “If the family is a good family, then children also will be raised as good people.”
Comments from male users tend towards brutality. T. wrote: “Their heads should be shaved bald and then they should be sent out (to the street).” R. echoes T.’s sentiments, while another user, I. praises the men carrying out the punishment, “Let Allah increase the number of this type of honourable Tajik men.”
Screenshot of discussion on Odnoklassniki.
H. suggests a more radical punishment: “… In Afghanistan they would get hanged or shot as dogs.” Some, including D. and B. are for burning the women alive. B. says, “We, Tajiks, are merciful. Another nation would shoot them.”
But a minority of commenters display sympathy towards the victims. One poster, who goes by the name ‘I’ am afraid only of Allah,’ wrote: “…Better give them $100 and tell them to go home…” J. scolds the makers of the video and its supporters, saying: “…if these women would come to you and ask for 1,000 somoni [$200], none of you would give them anything. You consider yourself judges? Only God is a judge for Muslims.”
A. added: “You tell them that they are bringing shame to the name of Tajiks? She regrets what she did. But you bring shame on Tajiks by making this video and showing it to everyone.”

author: Abdulfattoh Shafiev


text:
Everyone but South Koreans Can Watch South Korean TV on YouTube · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

MBC's notice to Korean users on their video content hosted on YouTube.
South Korea's major TV networks have decided to block Internet users in the country from watching their content on YouTube and migrate to other online video platforms reportedly to increase their share of advertising profits.
The decision has incensed many Koreans, especially because the networks will continue to offer their content on YouTube to international users.
Beginning the first week of December, several popular broadcast and cable networks, including MBC, SBS, tvN and JTBC, began preventing users with Korean IP addresses from seeing their videos on YouTube. Several media outlets reported that the motive behind the move was money: YouTube gives the networks a relatively small share of ad profits (around 55 percent, while some have claimed 40 percent), while Korean portal sites such as Naver and Daum Kakao have reached a deal with the networks to give them around 90 percent. Back in June, seven Korean broadcasters, after forming an alliance, negotiated with YouTube in an attempt to boost their share of the money, but failed to reach a consensus.
Koreans have flooded various social media sites with criticism about networks’ decision, calling it irrational, short-sighted and discriminatory against their own audiences. Many complained that local video platforms don't run as smoothly as YouTube and force users to install extra software that could make their computers vulnerable to future hacking attacks (Read Global Voices previous coverage, “Korean users’ feud with Active X“).
유튜브로 국내외 영상 즐기는 이용자로서, 이번 국내 방송사들의 국내 유튜브 서비스 중단은 짜증만 난다. 해외에는 허용하고.. 차별하냐? 네이버로 옮긴다니.. 거기 동영상 서비스 무겁고 화질 짜증나는데. 액티브 떡칠에 광고 떡칠.. 최악의 헛짓이다.
— 펄퍼러스 Purpureus (@aestas21) November 24, 2014
As a [Korean] user who enjoys watching videos on YouTube, Korean TV networks’ decision to halt YouTube service only in Korea, while allowing foreign users to watch their content, is truly annoying. It is a form of reverse discrimination against Korean viewers. They will be using Naver from now on, but Naver's video service runs slow and its video definition irritates me. Moreover, that one is plastered with Active X and so many commercials. It is the worst decision that the networks have ever made.
유튜브 왜 서비스 중단하는지 검색해보니까 광고수익이 각 방송사에 적게 배분되니까 그런 거구만? 야이 미친… 해외 시청자들 의식해서 우리나라에서만 서비스 중단하는 나쁜 것들아ㅠㅠㅠ
— 슬러쉬 (@SoSlushy) December 1, 2014
After searching for an answer as to why those networks have stopped YouTube service [for Koreans], I found out that TV networks get relatively low ad profits on YouTube. These crazy people, yet still caring about international audiences have decided to end service only in Korea.
유튜브나 구글이 세상의 정의일리 만무하지만, 방송사의 유튜브 서비스 중단은 거의 확실하게 퇴행이 아닐까. 차라리 자체 유료서비스를 위해서라면 모를까. 경우에 따라서는 과거 아카이브까지 업로드하며 의욕을 보이더니..
— mimyo (@mimyo_) November 28, 2014
I am not saying that YouTube or Google is the answer to all problems, but the networks’ decision to end YouTube service is a true regression. If they came up with their own video platform to play their content, I would have understood. Furthermore, this decision is totally not in line with their previous actions; sometimes they voluntarily uploaded their archival videos and actively used YouTube. [editor's note: stations often upload almost full-length episodes of their popular TV series]
@_room321 우회하니 넘 느려요..ㅠㅜ 외국 서비스 써보려고 우회해본 적은 있지만 국내 컨텐츠 보려고 우회해야 한다니 어처구니가 없어욬ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
— Rotring (@Rotring_) December 1, 2014
I used a proxy and went around the block [to watch content on YouTube in Korea], but it is just so painfully slow. In the past, I have used proxy, but that time was to watch foreign content, not local Korean content. This situation is totally ridiculous.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Why ‘Maternity Harassment’ Was a Top Japanese Buzzword in 2014 · Global Voices
Shoko Baba

Photo from Pixabay user tasha. Creative Commons Deed CC0
Each year, Japanese educational publisher U-Can publishes its Japanese Buzzword of the Year, chosen from a list of 50 nominees. Many of this year's potential winners were lighthearted, but among the top ten buzzwords of 2014, however, was the very serious mata hara (マタハラ), meaning maternity harassment.
The term has been on the lips of many in Japan since the country's Supreme Court ruled in October 2014 that the decision of a Hiroshima hospital to demote an expecting female physiotherapist violated Japan's equal employment laws. The physiotherapist sued the hospital for 1.7 million yen (the equivalent of US$17,000) in damages.
On October 23 the Supreme Court dismissed the physiotherapist's suit, but also overturned to previous lower court verdicts and sent the case back down to the high court in Hiroshima, in effect ordering the court to change its verdict.
According to the Supreme Court's October 23 ruling, “as a basic principle, employers may not demote female employees without consent for being pregnant.” It overturned previous rulings by two lower courts.
【マタハラ訴訟】妊娠降格は「承諾なければ原則違法」　最高裁初判断 http://t.co/qbn0B0o0Ct pic.twitter.com/GElAVGH2GB
— 産経ニュース (@Sankei_news) octubre 23, 2014
Mata hara lawsuit: demotion due to pregnancy ruled illegal by Supreme Court.
Maternity harassment is in reference to when a female employee who is pregnant or has given birth is demoted, receives a pay cut, is laid off, or experiences other forms of negative treatment by employers. In recent years, even as the status of women has slowly improved in Japanese society, this sort of harassment has increased.
A variety of opinions about the October 2014 ruling could be found online:
同意なしの妊娠降格違法　マタハラ訴訟で最高裁初判断 http://t.co/RidEgNCZ4W 「妊娠がきっかけの降格は、自由意思に基づき女性が明確に同意した場合や、事業主側に特段の事情がある場合をのぞき、違法で無効」 ⇒うん。メチャクチャ納得できる。　腹に落ちる判決だね。
— ミネ（ワサラー団、ぼっち党員＠無農薬推進 (@minerin999) octubre 29, 2014
“As a basic principle, employers may not demote female employees without consent for being pregnant.”
- Yes! I totally agree with this. It makes total sense.
Others expressed their opinion of the buzzword mata hara itself:
マタハラ（マタニティハラスメント）問題、妊娠出産への配慮はあってしかるべきだと思うけれど、「仕事は軽くしてほしい、でも役職は外されたくない、早くに帰りたい、でも給料は保証してほしい」というのはどうなのかな……と思う。 だってその分の負担は他人に行くわけで、いわば逆マタハラだよね。
— あみ (@motonomokuami) October 23, 2014
The problem with “maternity harassment” is, while consideration should be paid to the needs of expectant mothers, on the other hand what about “I want a lighter workload without giving up my position as a manager. And I want to leave earlier while preserving my salary.” The fact is, others are having to pick up the slack. It's almost like “reverse maternity harassment” in practice.
Others focused on what effect the ruling would have on Japanese employers:
画期的なマタハラ違法判決。労務管理への影響は大きそう / “マタハラ問題に一石　減らぬ相談、年3000件以上　均等法に照らし新規範　：日本経済新聞” http://t.co/Xqd0QkXyvU
— 楠 正憲 (@masanork) October 23, 2014
The “maternity harassment” ruling is ground-breaking and will have a profound effect on labour relations. Nikkei Shimbun: “Mata hara ruling sets wheels in motion for massive societal discussion. More than 3,000 cases pending.”
Others suggest that the mata hara ruling may help change Japan's culture of overwork, where employees are coerced into working late into the night:
ほんと、これですよ。RT “長時間勤務がベースとなっている日本の労働現場では、長時間勤務ができない労働者は男女問わず職場からふるい落とされる。「マタハラ」は、男女平等に関する問題だけではなく、労働問題の氷山の一角でもある。” http://t.co/gebb204as1
— じこぼう (@kinkuma0327) October 30, 2014
This nails it: RT Japan's workplace, traditionally based on long working hours, may be about to change for both men and women. Mata hara is not an issue about sexual equality, but is just the tip of the iceberg that is Japan's toxic work environment.
There was also a lot of discussion about what the Supreme Court ruling means for Japan's significant number of part-time and short-term contract workers.
Traditionally, when compared to other G7 countries, few women in Japan have participated in the labour force.
Now, as Japan ages, mothers as a group are expected to play an increasingly important part in the country's workforce. According to Japan's Labour Ministry, between 2005 and 2009, 38 percent of mothers continued working after the birth of their first child. By 2020, the ministry hopes to boost this number to rise to 55 percent.
On October 15, 2014, the Labour Ministry announced it was embarking on its first serious study of the issue of maternity harassment.
It's expected that, thanks to this recent Supreme Court ruling, Japanese employers will be forced to consider and deal with the problem of mata hara.
At the same time, the issues of long working hours and overworked staff will be addressed. The mata hara ruling has the potential to create a better working environment for both men and women, while incorporating more women into the workforce, with the potential to increase profits for businesses as well.

author: Shoko Baba


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Ten Tips for Shooting the Perfect Photography  · Global Voices
Patricia Carolina Saucedo Añez

Shooting a good photography isn't a chance result, dedication is necessary, and above all, getting connected with the location.
A Masai boy. Photograph by Laura Schneider, used with permission
GV contributor Laura Schneider offers us ten tips for taking the best photographies on our trips. Here we have some of them:
1- No te olvides de llevar la cámara, cargada y con suficiente memoria adicional.
[…]
5- Toma nota de las fotografías
6- Lentes
7- Madrugar
8- Ahora o nunca
1- Don't forget to take the camera, loaded and with enough additional memory.
[…]
5- Take note of the photographies
6- Lenses
7- Wake up early
8- Now or never
Laura also shares one experience of hers:
Recuerdo cuando fui a Kibera en Kenia, la segunda villa o slum mas grande de África quería fotos naturales, no posadas. Quería que la gente no se esconda con la cámara. Así que me puse una camiseta de fútbol de Argentina. Los niños que había en el lugar se acercaban y me decían: Maradona o Messi y eso me permitía entrar en conversación.
I remember when I went to Kibera in Kenya, the second biggest slum in Africa, I wanted natural photos, not posed ones. I didn't want people hiding with the camera. So I wore an Argentinian football T-shirt. The children there approached me saying Maradona or Messi, and that allowed me to make conversation.
You can follow Laura on Twitter.

author: Patricia Carolina Saucedo Añez


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This Is What Global Voices Would Look Like Without Our Volunteers · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

And that's only a slight exaggeration: we do have a small core of staff and editors, but the real engine of Global Voices is our volunteers, who make up 96% of the community. Many editors and staff members also started out as volunteers.
So on this International Volunteers Day, we pay special tribute to the hundreds of Global Voices volunteers who've worked so hard over the past 10 years to keep the world informed about under-covered events and stories in their particular corners of the globe. Thank you, GV volunteers—we'd literally be nowhere without you!
Get to know more about our volunteers by reading our series of GV community member profiles, and learn more about volunteering for Global Voices here.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Uruguay’s Voters Give Former President Tabaré Vázquez His Old Job Back · Global Voices
Guillermo Vidal

Image shared on Flicker by Montecruz Foto of Tabaré Vázquez during a campaign stop.
Tabaré Vázquez will return to his former position as president of Uruguay after beating out his rival in the country's elections with a 13-percent advantage.
Vázquez was elected on November 30 with 1,226,105 votes (55.04 percent) over his Nationalist rival Luis Lacalle Pou's 939,074. The win for his leftist coalition Broad Front (Frente Amplio) earned coverage from the most prestigious media outlets throughout Latin America and Spain, underlining the important victory he had over his rival. The Spanish-language article, “The President Who Declared War on Cigarettes,“ published December 1 in Madrid-based newspaper El Mundo, details the commitment of the new-old president to work “with all Uruguayans.”
Around 8:30 p.m. the day of the runoff, preliminary results from the ballot count along with forecasts based on the first exit polls began to point to Vázquez as the winner. Not long after, outgoing President José Mujica met with Vázquez and his running mate Raúl Sendic at the Four Points hotel to offer his greetings.
In his first statements, Vázquez, who was president from 2005-2010, expressed his desire to find common ground with the opposition parties regarding the most important issues: health, education, safety, and peaceful coexistence of citizens. Once the ballot results were made known, Vázquez gave a speech before supporters waiting in the street, reaffirming his position: “Within the Constitution and the law, all is possible. Outside the Constitution and the law, nothing is possible.”
Many international media outlets highlighted that the second round of elections between the two candidates were carried out smoothly throughout the country; not even the reigning bad weather kept voters away from the booths.
Argentinean newspaper Página 12 ran Vázquez's victory on its front cover on December 1 with the headline, “The Front Has Broadened.” President of Argentina Cristina Fernández congratulated Vázquez via telephone Sunday evening, as described in a story from www.uypress.net.
The president-elect began a busy schedule following his win, including making announcements and confirmations for his cabinet in preparation for his inauguration on March 1.
On social media, some voters had a sense of humor regarding the campaign, mounting tongue-in-cheek protests, such as María Noel Pereira (@heymarianoel) and her “Ballot Jingle”:
Balotajingle (Balotaje Uruguay 2014): http://t.co/9CtUYDx0e0 vía @YouTube
— Maria Noel Pereira (@heymarianoel) diciembre 1, 2014
Ballot Jingle (Elections Uruguay 2014)
News radio program Informativo de Radio Oceánica (@infcentral) reported on the celebrations that took place in the border town of Chuy:
CHUY URUGUAY Asi se fenteja en chuy la victoria Del Frente Amplio .. elecciones 2014 balotaje pic.twitter.com/XBygIKlCnp
— informativo (@infcentral) diciembre 1, 2014
Chuy, Uruguay: Here people are celebrating the Broad Front victory in Chuy…2014 election.
Vázquez, a 74-year-old oncologist, promises to continue the social assistance programs of previous left-wing administrations. The president-elect known for his fight against cigarettes, promised to uphold the law legalizing marijuana; however, he will not implement its basic aspects and warned that if unsuccessful, it shall be reversed.

author: Guillermo Vidal


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Bahrain Comes to a Standstill for the King’s Son to Cycle, Run and Swim · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Traffic comes to a standstill in Muharraq, Bahrain, today as the King's son takes part in a triathlon. Photograph shared by @MohdBucheeri on Twitter
Traffic in Bahrain came to a standstill today (December 6) as some of the country's major roads were shut to traffic from 7am to 11am for the King's son to take part in a triathlon.
A burial service was delayed, airline travel was disrupted as travellers missed their flights, doctors could not go to work and patients were left without care while Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa swam, ran and cycled around the country.
Most of the bottlenecks were reported in Muharraq, where the Bahrain International Airport is located, in the country, which covers a total area of around 780 square kilometres.
The surprise came on social media, with netziens who are usually meek in criticising the actions of members of the ruling family, using their real names and voicing the worst criticism.
Raeda Sabt writes:
جنازة تأجلت .. رحلات طيران تأخرت .. الشوارع تسكرت .. يعني مصالح الناس آخر اهتمامكم بس عشان چم واحد يبي يركض !! #سباق_الترايثلون
— رائدة – البحرين (@RaedaSabt) December 6, 2014
A funeral was delayed, airplanes stranded, roads were closed. This means that people's interest are their last concern, just because a few people want to run!!
Ahmed Bucheery tweets:
The amount of stupidity is to make a race that would close al the roads in such small country #ChallengeBahrain
— • Ahmed | أحمد • (@AhmedBucheery) December 6, 2014
And Mohamed Buali, a Muharraq resident with 3,890 followers on Twitter, notes:
لم أشاهد تنظيم او أزدحام بشوارع البحرين، او إضرار بمصالح الناس مثل ما اشهده الآن في #الحد #عراد و #المحرق #ترايثلون ##سباق_الترايثلون
— Mohamed Buali (@MohammedBuali) December 6, 2014
I have never witnessed such organisation and congestion on Bahrain's roads, or damage to people's interests, like I have witnessed today in Hidd, Arad and Muharraq
He adds:
بإنتظار مسئول محترم يتقدم بإعتذار للشعب وبإعتراف بالاخطاء وسوء التنظيم! في شخص عاقل يصك الشوارع المؤدية للمطار؟!! #سباق_الترايثلون #البحرين
— Mohamed Buali (@MohammedBuali) December 6, 2014
I am waiting for a respectable official to apologise to the people and admit to mistakes and bad organisation. Is there anyone sane who would block roads leading to the airport?
On Vine, Mohammed Bucheeri shares this video showing passengers walking to the airport pushing their bags:
Bucheeri is particularly irked at the closure of the roads because his cousin's funeral had to be delayed because the family and mourners were not able to reach the cemetery. He sends a tweet to Shaikh Nasser saying:
إلى الشيخ ناصر ولد خالي متوفي وينتظرنا في المقبرة محد قادر يوصل للدفن والتشييع يرضيك ياطويل العمر؟ #ChallengeBahrain pic.twitter.com/TjnFPS4CxI
— Mohamed Bucheery (@MohdBucheery) December 6, 2014
To Shaikh Nasser,
My cousin is dead and is waiting for us at the cemetery.
No one can reach him for the burial
Is this acceptable?
In another tweet, he shares his encounter with a police officer:
آقول حق الضابط عندي وفاة وابي اروح المقبرة يقول لي ارجع البيت في سباق والشارع مصكوك .. حسبي الله عليكم
— Mohamed Bucheery (@MohdBucheery) December 6, 2014
I told the officer, we have a death in the family and need to go to the cemetery. He told me to return home as there is a race and the roads are closed.
Many netizens shared photographs of people walking long distances to the airport. Abdulla Al Jalahma shares this image from the airport's information display and asks:
الخساير هاذي من الي راح يتحملها غير الشعب المسكين؟ #البحرين_صاكة #سباق_الترايثلون حسبنا الله ونعم الوكيل pic.twitter.com/CEn2c99Lpv
— عبدالله الجلاهمة (@Aljalhemi) December 6, 2014
Who, other than the poor people, will shoulder the losses?
On it's Twitter account, the country's national carrier says the flights were delayed because travellers did not get to the airport on time:
تعتذر #طيران_الخليج عن تأخير بعض الرحلات صباح اليوم بسبب تأخر بعض المسافرين عن الوصول لمطار البحرين في الوقت المحدد. pic.twitter.com/agN0jgNMS3
— Gulf Air (@GulfAir) December 6, 2014
Gulf Air apologises for the delay in some flights this morning because some travellers came late to the airport
Twitter's 140-character cap on tweets could explain why the airline, a triathlon sponsor, failed to mention why some travellers were late to some flights.
Patients and doctors were also impacted, say netizens. Abdulla Al Jalahma tweets:
وردني قبل قليل خبر معاناة بعض مرضى الكلى البحرينيين حيث أنهم لم يتمكنوا من الحضور موعد الغسيل بسبب إغلاق الشوارع حياتهم في خطر #البحرين_صاكة
— عبدالله الجلاهمة (@Aljalhemi) December 6, 2014
I just heard that some Bahraini kidney patients were not able to attend their dialysis appointments because the roads were blocked. This puts their lives in danger
Mohammed Bucheery shares a photograph of an ambulance stuck in traffic:
سيارة الإسعاف لا تستطيع التقدم لخطوة بسبب الزحام وكان الله في عون المريض الذي بداخلها هذا كله بسبب #سباق_الترايثلون pic.twitter.com/NghYNlVZ61
— Mohamed Bucheery (@MohdBucheery) December 6, 2014
An ambulance not able to move an inch in traffic. May God help the patient inside it. All this is because of the triathlon
And Abdulmonem Almeer relays the experience of a doctor:
طبيبة خرجت من قلالي متجة المستشفى من الساعة ٨:٣٠ وهي الآن هي محشورة بالبسيتين والمرضى ينتظرونها وعمليات تم تأجيلها هل يعقل #سباق_التراثليون
— عبدالمنعم المير (@MonemAlmeer) December 6, 2014
A doctor left Galali at 8.30am and she is now stuck in Busaiteen. Her patients are waiting for her and she has to delay her surgeries. Is this imaginable?
But for people from Bahrain's villages, living under a security crackdown that started after pro-democracy protests were quashed in the country in March 2011, closed roads and road blocks are a way of life.
Wasan addresses the pro-regime crowds on Twitter saying:
حسيتوا فالناس الي فالقرى؟ حسيتوا بالي صار في العكر يوم حاصروهم اسبوع؟ انتوا ساعتين مو مستحملين.. #سباق_الترايثلون
— Wasan (@wasanator) December 6, 2014
Did you feel the suffering of people in villages? Did you feel what happened in Ekr when they laid siege on the village for a week? You couldn't bear the suffering for two hours
احنا متعودين الشوارع تنصك عند مداخل مناطقنا و ننقع بالساعات و مانقدر نوصل مكان و العذر؟ نقطة تفتيش…اكلوها انتوا الحين. #سباق_الترايثلون
— Wasan (@wasanator) December 6, 2014
We are used to having roads blocked at the entrance of our areas, and used to waiting for hours and not being able to reach the places we want to go to. And the reason for that is usually a police checkpoint. You can now suffer.
Mohamed Bueida draws comparisons between the burning of tires on roads by protestors, and the closure of the roads due to the race:
اليوم الترايثلون ذوق الناس الموت عشان يرضون بالصخونة لا يبه حرق التواير وايد ارحم،ساعة والسالفة تخلص هذا اللي تبونه؟؟ #سباق_الترايثلون
— محمد بوعيدة (@Bueida) December 6, 2014
Today's triathlon made people see death so that they accept getting fevers. Burning tires on the road is much better (than the triathlon) because roads reopen in an hour.
Is this what you want?
The pro-government crowd usually point the finger at the opposition for blocking roads and disrupting their life, particularly during protests and the burning of tires on roads. Today, they have another axe to grind.
A meme widely shared on social media showing opposition leader Ali Salman saying the closed roads aren't his fault

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Do You Read Ecolabels When Shopping? · Global Voices
Milton Ramirez

Rut Abrain Sanchez on her blog Esturirafi defines and identifies legal and volunteer product labels. Among the latter we find ecologic labels, “so manufacturers show us they are abiding by a series of requirements and for the consumer to be able to identify products environmentally more sustainable”.
There are Type I, Semi-type I, Type II and Type III ecolables. Abrain Sanchez mentions the first two of them, the most common:
Ecoetiquetas (Tipo I). Son sistemas voluntarios de etiquetado ambiental que identifican y certifican de forma oficial que los productos que la llevan tienen un menor efecto sobre el medio ambiente.
A nivel europeo existen sistemas nacionales de ecoetiquetado como el Ángel Azul de Alemania, AENOR Medio Ambiente de España o la Etiqueta Ecológica Europea (conocida como flor europea).
Etiquetado semi-tipo I. Estas ecoetiquetas suelen pertenecer a organizaciones sociales, asociaciones sectoriales, agrupaciones de empresas fabricantes, etc. cuyo principal objetivo es conseguir que la mayor cantidad de productos posibles se certifiquen bajo su sistema, para lograr el mayor reconocimiento posible por parte de los consumidores.
Dentro de este tipo se encuentran las etiquetas de agricultura ecológica, pesca sostenible, consumo energético, uso de madera (FSC, PEFC), productos textiles… Las que solemos encontrar en muchos productos que compramos a diario. A partir de hoy te vas a fijar mucho más :-)
Ecolabels (Type I). a volunteer system of environmental labelling that officially identifies and certifiies that products bearing it have a lesser effect on the environment.
In Europe, there are ecolabelling national systems, such as Blue Angel in Germany, AENOR Environment in Spain or Ecologic Label (known as European flower).
Semi-type I label. These ecolabels usually belong to social organizations, sectorial associations, groups of manufacturing firms, etc. with the aim of having the most possible products certified under this system, to achieve that most consumers recognize the products.
This type contains labels from ecologic farming, sustainable fishing, energetic use, wood (FSC, PEFC), textile products… We find these labels in many products we purchase on a daily basis. From now on, you'll sure look more in depth at labels :-)
Rut has been previoulsy quoted here. Her social networks are Twitter, G+ and Flickr.

author: Milton Ramirez


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#ICantBreathe: Thousands Block Traffic, Demand Justice in Boston · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

Demonstrators in Boston. Photo by @windowlej via Twitter.
I and thousands of people poured into Boston Common the night of December 4 to demonstrate outrage over court decisions exonerating police officers who killed Ferguson Missouri's Michael Brown, and New York City's Eric Garner. The crowd of mostly young people flooded the large park at the city's center, overwhelming the annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony taking place several hundred yards from the State House, which sits atop the park's main summit.
Riots broke out in Ferguson, Missouri last week after twelve jurors — nine of them white — elected not to indict Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown, the black teen whose death triggered many days of mass demonstrations and militarization of police forces in response. Just this week, a grand jury in New York dismissed charges against police officer Daniel Pantaleo, who choked Eric Garner to death amid an altercation over Garner allegedly selling loose cigarettes without license to do so.
Mobile phone video footage of Garner's killing proves that Garner had begged mercy from the officers, as he repeated over and over again the now viral collective plea “I can't breathe!” Video of the incident was taken by Ramsey Orta, a friend of Garner's who was later indicted on weapons charges.
Communities across the United States have been overcome with shock and anger at the grand jury decisions in both cases. In New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston this week, demonstrators have brought voice to hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter and #ICantBreathe that have overwhelmed social media since the Ferguson decision came down. And the revival of other classic protest chants that long pre-date the hashtag reminded us that this problem is nothing new:
“Hey-hey! Ho-ho! These racist cops have got to go.”
“No justice, no peace. No racist police.”
Demonstrators gather at State House in Boston Common. Photo by Ellery Roberts Biddle.
In Boston, police arrived in public buses with the words “State Police” where the final destination usually appears. Clad in neon yellow vests and wool hats, officers lined up in row after row, behind the majestic gates that separate the State House from the public park where it sits. Police stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the grand steps of the State House, hands folded in front of them. Four men in suits and long coats stood on the state house balcony, looking down at us. Despite questions and cries of frustration from demonstrators, the police were eerily silent. They must have been instructed not to engage, not to respond.
Protesters then began a determined, freezing cold walking tour of Boston — from major bridges to highway entrances, our band of thousands stopped traffic in many directions, for what had to have been hours.
Drivers texted, talked on their phones, took pictures and video of the crowd passing by. Many waved or honked their horns in support. Some opened their windows to the bitter cold air and held out their gloved hands, exchanging hi-fives with protesters as they walked by. Others scowled and waited for the roads to clear.
Protesters lie on Rutherford St in Charlestown, Boston @WBUR pic.twitter.com/lRLWnUZpGD
— Frederic Thys (@fredthys) December 5, 2014
We marched across the Charlestown Bridge, performing snippets and soundbites from the brutal incidents of police abuse that triggered our gathering. Again and again throughout the night, thousands of hands, skin of every shade, shot up into the bitter night air and the chant was loud: “Hands up! Don't shoot!” Again and again, demonstrators shouted, “I can't breathe!” Cardboard signs commemorating black people who have been killed by police spanned from Oscar Grant to Rodney King to Amadou Diallo, the Guinean immigrant killed in 1999 by New York police who shot 41 bullets at the 23-year-old reached into his pocket for his wallet.
We do matter. #HandsUpDC we’re ready. pic.twitter.com/zgggxv9AS1
— Praline Queen (@blowticious) December 4, 2014
How is it that so many people have lost their lives to become symbols of a systemic crisis, something too big to simply be called a problem, something centuries in the making?
At the foot of Bunker Hill, the site of one of the most important battles of the American revolution, we all lay down in the street before long lines of cars waiting for us to move. Instead of continuing to chant, clap or hold up our hands, we took a long moment of silence. Then, like a flock of birds, each responding to the next, we rose and started walking again.
Demonstrators in Boston. Sign reads: “White silence = white consent.” Photo by Ellery Roberts Biddle.
Ellery Roberts Biddle is the Global Voices Advocacy Editor and a Berkman Fellow at Harvard University.

author: Ellery Roberts Biddle


text:
Spending Christmas Eve Alone? Japanese Has a Word for That · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Christmas tree, Marunouchi, Tokyo. Image: François Rejeté / Wikimedia Commons. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
In Japan, Christmas Eve is supposed to be the most romantic night of the year.
Traditionally December 24 has been the big date night in Japan, where couples pair up and spend a special evening together before returning to work and the boring office routine on December 25; Christmas Day is not typically celebrated in Japan.
In recent years, however, not only has Japan's birth rate fallen, but so has the number of people getting married or even dating.
This societal change is now starting to affect Christmas Eve so much that a new word has been coined: kuribotchi.
職場の若い後輩達が「クリぼっち‼クリぼっちー‼ww」って楽しそうだったから「クリぼっちって何？笑」って話しかけたら、みんなちょっと気まずそうにしてた。理解した。
— ぽっぽ (@poppi_polla5r) December 2, 2014
At work a bunch of the junior staff were happily discussing their kuribotchi plans. “And just what the heck is kuribotchi?” I asked with a laugh. There was an awkward silence. And then I got what they were talking about.
A neologism created by combing the words “Christmas” and “hitori-botchi” (all by oneself), kuribotchi describes the condition of spending Christmas Eve alone.
This news report from December 2013 asks the big question: what are your plans for Christmas Eve?
The response?
“I'll be kuribotchi.”
In November 2014, online restaurant reservation service OpenTable surveyed nearly 1,800 people in the Tokyo Metropolitan area between the ages of 20 and 30. According to the survey, nearly 60 percent of respondents said they were not in a long-term relationship or even dating.
Some restaurants and hotels have launched kuribotchi specials to cater to solo diners and Christmas Eve celebrants, capitalizing on the fact that an equal number of singletons planned on either staying at home or eating out on Christmas Eve (respondents could select more than one activity):
“How twentysomethings intend to spend Christmas.” Image source: Nikkei Woman.
Significant for restaurant owners, however, is that about 43 percent of the 20-something survey respondents said they would spend no more than US$100 celebrating Christmas Eve, a striking contrast to the booming bubble years 25 years and a generation ago when the sky was the limit in terms of how much to spend on a big date night.
More and more Japanese 20-somethings are starting to embrace a solitary lifestyle:
1人焼肉をしてしまったら、もうリア充復帰は不可能だと自覚しています。 ただ肉食べたい欲求には勝てないの＞_＜ ソロ攻略。これで二回目……(もう手遅れ)ん pic.twitter.com/Oaz1yVczTB
— 悟りを開いたJIME(中の人) (@jime0714) November 19, 2014
Once you decide to eat Korean BBQ by yourself, you realize there's no going back to an active social life.
The writer here uses the term リア充, or “ria ju,” a Japanese Internet term that roughly corresponds to IRL (in real life).
In this context, “ria ju people” have active, vibrant social lives with plenty of friends. In contrast, kuribotchis represent another trend in Japanese culture, where people interact with each other mainly online through a computer interface.
In real life, Japanese society is still adjusting to the solitary ways of singletons:
ヒトカラきたのに25人の部屋に通された pic.twitter.com/OPLo8YDMUY
— みんなが体験した事なさそうな体験談 (@warauikenai) November 21, 2014
When I asked for a “single” karaoke room, they brought me to a space big enough for 25 people.
Others are still figuring out how to prepare winter dishes that would traditionally have been eaten with others, like hotpot:
センスないなぁ．美的センスゼロだね．何が足りないんだべ…でも…秘密基地好きだな．１人鍋さ〟 pic.twitter.com/GBaEkJJVqT
— はな子 (@im0ki1013) November 14, 2014
There is something that is just not right here. The presentation here is totally awful… it's lacking something. On the other hand, I like being holed up here with my hotpot for one.
A nascent meme on Twitter is people taking a solitary approach to playing board games meant for more than one player:
ふうちょんちで1人人生ゲームなう pic.twitter.com/KLpot0EKmy
— NO (@rmlsasfmfcc9) August 3, 2014
Playin’ the Game of Life all by myself.
1人人生ゲームスタート(^_^) pic.twitter.com/3oAfhWyHwc
— 岩手の沖縄 (@tomomotomo1978) October 16, 2014
Ready, set, go: playing the Game of Life with one player.
かいけん1人人生ゲーム pic.twitter.com/rSGerjw8Jc
— たけにー (@RBLUES0214) August 26, 2014
I thought I would try the Game of Life with one player.
For some, however, the end of November and the beginning of December mark the start of a grim countdown:
【悲報】クリぼっちまであと24日 【悲報】クリぼっちまであと24日 【悲報】クリぼっちまであと24日 【悲報】クリぼっちまであと24日 【悲報】クリぼっちまであと24日 【悲報】クリぼっちまであと24日 【悲報】クリぼっちまであと24日 【悲報】クリぼっちまであと24日
— しの@12/4誕生日なのだよ (@shino_1204_) November 30, 2014
We are sad to report that only 24 days remain until we spend Christmas Eve all alone. We are sad to report that only 24 days remain until we spend Christmas Eve all alone. We are sad to report that only 24 days remain until we spend Christmas Eve all alone. [repeats five more times]
Other kuribotchis take solace from Snoopy, who also may share their plight on Christmas Eve:
クリぼっちになりそうな人RT pic.twitter.com/F2vEl8GtXp
— time (@timesa100) November 27, 2014
He looks like he's going to be spending Christmas by himself too.