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The Year that Was in Madagascar : Part III · Global Voices
Mialy Andriamananjara

Earlier, Lova Rakotomalala gave us an overview of Madagascar in the first months of 2009 and the events that lead to the coup d'etat that brought Andry Rajoelina, former mayor of Antananarivo, to power.  Mialy followed with the next several months, which saw more protests, the boycott of Rajoelina at the UN, the strength of Malagasy citizen media, and a devastating toxic spill.  Here, she continues by taking a look at the events which marked the final month of the last decade.
December 2009
Negotiations in Maputo and yet another new Prime Minister
Only former Presidents Ravalomanana, Ratsiraka and Zafy attended the next round of power sharing negotiations in Maputo at the invitation of Mozambique's president, Joachim Chissano. The negotiations concluded with details on sharing the highest state offices and ministries. Rajoelina boycotted the negotiations and later called the opposition parties “putschists”. He then barred them from returning home. They were stranded first in Maputo, then in Johannesburg. Instead of negotiations, Rajoelina announced the organization of parliamentarian elections on March 20, 2010, as reported by Voice of America:
“Madagascar's leader Andry Rajoelina has called for parliamentary elections after rejecting negotiations aimed at ending the crisis caused by his military-backed take-over of the country earlier this year.
The head of Madagascar's transitional authority, Andry Rajoelina, announced on national television that elections would be held on March 20 for a new parliament which would choose the next prime minister and draft a new constitution.”
Meanwhile, the consensus prime minister agreed upon in October was removed, replaced by Cecile Manorohanta, a former Minister of defense under Ravalomanana, and Madagascar's first female Prime Minister. She did not last long however, as Rajoelina replaced her with a military official one day after nominating her. Madagascar's Prime Minister is now Colonel Vital Albert Camille. The BBC reports:
“The consensus Prime Minister, Eugene Mangalaza, was sacked by Mr Rajoelina on Friday and replaced by Col Vital Albert Camille. Mr Mangalaza's sacking came just a day after Mr Rajoelina called a parliamentary election for 20 March 2010.
But local observers, quoted by Reuters, have expressed concerns that an election organised unilaterally by a military-led government will lack credibility. “
On December 22, protesters are fired upon again in the capital.
Then a mutiny is organized but fails. Mydago.com publishes the mutiny declaration of some low level military officials. Avylavitra took pictures of the barracks where the mutiny took place.
Jentilisa thinks it was all for show, and the mutiny was somehow staged, a fake.
“Nandalo teny aho, tanaty fiarakaretsaka, ny alahady hariva ary gaga raha nahatsikaritra fa tsy nahita na dia vata-miaramila iray aza niambina ny vavahadin'ireo toby rehetra teny sy ny vavahadin'ny biraon'ny minisiteran'ny Fiarovana. Mpijerijery hatrany ny zavamisy ny tena, noho izany, efa niahiahy zavatra hafahafa sahady aho raha nanana io tsikaritra io. Amin'ny fotoanan'ny hotakotaka indray ve vao tsy misy miambina ny toby? Na misy fandrika mivelatra eo na efa misy fifanarahana miafina eo amin'ny samy miaramila indrindra fa eo amin'ny lohandohan'ireto miaramila ireto. Efa nisy fanomezantoky eo amin'ny fifanarahana hatao sahady angamba hoe ataovy amin'izay ny iraka nampanaovina anareo fa navelanay malalaka ny toerana hanaovanareo azy!
Tsy tena gaga loatra aho ny maraina raha nandre fa nisy fikomiana nataona vatamiaramila notarihina manamboninahitra lefitra tamin'ny toby iray tetsy Ampahibe ity. Vao maika moa tsy gaga mihitsy aho raha nandre fa voafehy vetivety ihany ilay
fikomiana sady nanaiky hosamborina mora foana ilay mpitarika ity fikomiana sandoka ity. Dia efa fandre sy mahazatra ihany koa raha malaza avy hatrany fa nahitana volabe teny an-toerana ary nanaiky avy hatrany ireo mpandray anjara fa nandray vola tamin'ny fanaovana ity fikomiana ity. Dia nisy koa ny solombavam-bahoaka notondroina no nanome ny vola hanaovana ilay hetsika. Hita avy hatrany fa fihetsiketsehana fotsiny no betsaka ary misy ny fandrihana”.
Madagascar is banned from AGOA
In a post titled “AGOA Obituary”, Ndimby writes:
“Pour 2010, sortie par la petite porte donc pour trois pays : la Guinée de Moussa Dadis Camara ; le Niger de Mamadou Tandja ; Madagascar d'Andry Rajoelina. Au niveau des chiffres de l’AGOA en 2008, les Etats-Unis avaient importé pour 324 millions USD de Madagascar, 106 millions USD de la Guinée et 44 millions USD du Niger. “
Twitterers had followed's campaign to ask the US government to spare Madagascar. Is it moral to punish ordinary citizens who work in the AGOA factoriesand who will lose their jobs, when the country is barred from the AGOA because of  non democratic acts committed by their leaders?
In the same post, Ndimby asks :
“Les 100.000 employés des entreprises franches avaient les moyens de peser dans la balance : pourquoi ne sont-ils pas sortis dans la rue pour manifester de manière visible ? Car 100.000 personnes et leurs familles qui protestent pour protéger leurs emplois, c’est quand même plus noble et plus crédible que 5.000 à 10.000 pelés et tondus sur une place publique, qui se prétendent « peuple malgache »”.
Achille52 writes ironically that new technologies will now be substituted for the AGOA :
“Maintenant que l’AGOA est parti sous d’autres cieux, on se demande que faire de ces milliers de chomeurs qui vont affluer
dans les mois à venir. Mais faut pas s’inquiéter ! La HAT a trouvé Ze Solution… Les nouvelles technologies !! Je ne voudrais
pas toujours jouer l’oiseau de malheur, mais cette idée est digne d’un conte de fée. En premier messieurs, il faudrait
essayer de réduire la fracture numérique pour que tout le monde puisse se connecter…et travailler le cas échéant. Ensuite, il faut des formations sérieuses, et non pas ces centres à la con où l’on apprend juste à utiliser le clavier. “
Avylavitra has a different take, criticizing international agreements and organizations that come with strings attached:
“Nosoniavina ity AGOA ity, hay izy ity rehefa taty aoriana, lasa fitaovana anankiray hanaovana “pression politique”  avy
amin’ilay tany matanjaka mifanaraka amin’ny tena.”[…]
“Tsy misy nifampieràna fa tonga dia mambran’ny SADC isika, hay ity SADC ity aty aoriana: “handefa miaramila izahay e”,
“hanaovanay ’sanction’ ianareo e”, “hanaovanay ohatran’izao ianareo”.[…]
Mazava izany ny politikan’ny firenena matanjaka e, ny fanjakàna izay tohanany ny azy no problemany fa tsy ilay vahoaka
mahantra ao amin’izany firenena izany. Resaka fotsiny ity ilay hoe: “lutte contre la pauvreté” e, tena izany dia hypocrisie
internationale, fihatsarambelatsihy eo amin’ny sehatra iraisam-pirenena. Anisany ity  resaka droits de l’homme ity, izay
champion amin’ny fiarovana an’izany  ny Amerikana. Ary maro amin’ny organismes international no miady amin’ny firenen-dehibe amin’ity fanaovana embargo ity, satria ny fanaovana embargo dia midika ho  misy ampahan’olona maro “victimes”, lasibatra noho izany embargo izany. Noho ny inona. Noho ny caprice politique, ny hoe “tsy mety aminay ity fa ity no mety aminay“, dia ny firenena manontolo no atao takalon’aina ao anatin’izany.[…]
Tena Andry Rajoelina ve no problème? Ratsiraka ve? Ravalomanana ve? Zafy Albert ve no problème eto amin’ny firenena? Sao dia mba tsara jerena tanteraka mihitsy hoe fa inona marina no tena véritable combat atrehantsika eto Madagasikara amin’izao fotoana izao?”
Sad news kept coming. Jacques Sylla passed away. Jacques Sylla, the heir of a prominent political family, had been a Prime Minister under Marc Ravalomanana, later his chief negotiator during the crisis. He then joined the ranks of Rajoelina's supporters and was seen with Rajoelina later on demanding that Ravalomanana quit.
This about face was severely judged by some, but a more measured opinion is expressed by Patrick, who also thinks Sylla's case illustrates the complications of Malagasy politics.
“Jacques Sylla était foncièrement un homme du centre, et les hommes du centre peuvent être aussi bien considérés comme des médiateurs qui rééquilibrent la balance lorsque le moment le nécessite, que critiqués par les radicaux comme étant des opportunistes prêts à manger à tous les rateliers.
Durant l’essentiel de sa carrière, Jacques Sylla aura démontré qu’il n’était pas un simple beni oui oui. Cela fut
particulièrement visible lorsqu’il était Premier Ministre de Marc Ravalomanana, et lorsqu’il ne le fut plus, par contraste
des situations et du comportement de l’exécutif. Élu Président de l’Assemblée, il prouva également qu’il n’entendait
nullement encourager cette institution à être un organe godillot, quitte à être
incompris.
[…]
C’est pourtant le même homme qui en 2002, prit d’assaut le palais de Mahazoarivo malgré la signature des accords de Dakar et organisa des milices que l’on appelait pudiquement « réservistes”.
A small consolation in this deluge of bad news during what is truly a “annus horribilis” (Ndimby) : the shipment of protected but pillaged Malagasy rosewood was successfully stopped due to international campaigns.
Since March 2009, there were reports of pillages :
“Armed gangs are logging rosewood and other valuable hardwoods from Marojejy and Masoala parks in Madagascar following abandonment of posts by rangers in the midst of the island nation's political crisis, reports marojejy.com and local sources. “
The Madagascar Rainforest Massacre is illustrated by a compelling video on youtube. Madagascar Rainforest Massacre
But this one shipment was stopped :
“The shipment, which would have been transported by Delmas, a French shipping company, had been scheduled for December 21st or 22nd out of the port of Vohemar.”
To continue with ecological and positive news, Patrick, of FOKO, participated via video conference to COP15 and did some truly amazing awareness rising campaing with a local NGO, Jade.

author: Mialy Andriamananjara


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Trinidad & Tobago: Bringing Beyoncé · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“To pretend that Beyoncé hasn’t done more for world hope and happiness than all the politicians in Trinidad and Tobago combined, is to continue to live in the delusion that we as a nation are as World Class as Beyoncé Giselle Knowles”: This Beach Called Life is all for the upcoming Beyoncé concert.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Uganda: Obote knew about AIDS but kept quiet · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Ugandan former president Milton Obote knew about HIV/AIDS but kept quite: “l happen to hail from Southern Uganda where HIV-AIDS was first discovered. Obote ll Government decided to sit on the medical findings under the late Dr.Eriab Muzira, claiming that it will discourage tourists. But when Museveni took over in 1986, the first thing he did in 1987 was to go open.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Western Sahara: Running the Sahara Marathon 2010 · Global Voices
Renata Avila

So you just made that list. Yes, the list with your  New Year’s Resolutions. Maybe you have written there that you want to exercise more often, and you also want to  help other people around the world, travel to a different country and also meet people from other cultures. If the answer is `yes`, you will love to learn more about the Sahara Marathon 2010 on February 22, 2010.
The Sahara Marathon is an international sport event to demonstrate solidarity with the Saharawi people and this year celebrates its tenth anniversary. Twenty different nationalities will face an enormous challenge in the Western Sahara desert while helping the Saharawis in refugee camps.
Running Shoes by Josiah Mckenzie under a creative commons licence http://www.flickr.com/photos/josiahmackenzie/3414064391/sizes/m/
This year the marathon will go to Dakla Camp and many Saharawi blogs are announcing and promoting the event. In Spanish, Todos con el Sahara, Sahara Deportes and Blog de Montaña,  write about the event. You can also find information about it in English on the official site as well as at euskera, where you can find a blog dedicated to the event.
Con el Sahara blog explains the purpose of the event:
Las aportaciones de todos los corredores y el dinero recaudado de particulares o instituciones es íntegramente destinado al proyecto de ayuda humanitaria en los campamentos.
The donations from the participants and the funds raised by individuals or institutions will go towards the humanitary aid project in the refugee camps.
Sahara Marathon by aabrilru under a Creative Commons License http://www.flickr.com/photos/aabrilru/3539753056/sizes/m/in/photostream/
Last year, Kilometrosysueños attended the Sahara Marathon and his inspirational experience to motivate you to take part of it:
Recomiendo firmemente a todos los corredores esta prueba. Es maravillosa la experiencia de correr por el desierto, además hay distancias para todos: 5, 10, 21 y 42. No hay excusa!!!
I strongly recommend this challenge to any runner. A race in the desert is a wonderful experience, besides there are distance options for all: 5, 10, 21 and 42 kms. You have no excuse!!!
If you miss this, your second opportunity is the “Sahara Bike Race” that will take place next April, with a blog promoting the event in multiple languages: Spanish, French, English and Italian.
Many Saharawis have been refugees for more than 30 years, entirely dependent on restricted aid and big efforts by their political leaders and facing the indifference of the rest of the world. One third of them are children. Events like the marathon and the bike race described above are intended to raise funds to help them develop small projects but also to share with anyone a unique and rich culture, but also the problems they face to survive as a nation.

author: Renata Avila


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A Global Look at Anti-Corruption Day · Global Voices
David Sasaki

On January 18 Global Voices will launch the Technology for Transparency Network, a collaborative research mapping of internet projects that promote greater transparency, government accountability, and civic engagement. This is the first in a series of posts that will explore related issues through the eyes of bloggers worldwide. To kick things off we look at how bloggers responded to International Anti-Corruption Day, which was signed into law in 2003 at the United Nations Convention against Corruption and takes place every year on December 9th.
On Space for Transparency, the official blog of Transparency International, Georg Neumann looks back at the state of anti-corruption activism for 2009:
Increasingly, anti-corruption activists have been in the line of attack. Journalists writing on corruption in politics and society such as Sri Lanka’s Lasantha Wickramatunga earlier this year have given their lives. Activists from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Guatemala or Zimbabwe have faced threats or were being silenced. Anti-Corruption Day stands for a day to remember, recognise and honour these brave and fearless people, who went to prison or lost their lives believing that through fighting corruption they will make the world a better place.
Neumann also notes that 2009 saw the passing of a flawed review mechanism which doesn't require member states to seek input from independent NGO's based in their countries. In a five-minute YouTube video Peter Eigen, the founder of Transparency International, describes the important role of civil society in fighting corruption and improving governance:
But it wasn't all bad news in 2009, writes Neumann. There are now 40 Advocacy and Legal Advice Centers worldwide providing legal advice to victims of corruption. Also, online social media has proven itself a powerful tool in promoting transparency and fighting against corruption. In India, for example, J. N. Jayashree started a wiki to protect her husband whose safety was threatened as a result of his whistle-blowing activities. In Morocco an anonymous anti-corruption activist has begun posting videos to YouTube of police officers accepting bribes.
On Global Voices a number of posts commemorated Anti-Corruption Day last month. Bhumika Ghimire notes that Nepal was ranked by Transparency International as one of the world's most corrupt countries. Linking to other Nepalese bloggers, Bhumika's article shows how corruption in Nepal affects the economy, governance, public works, and even marriage.
'Arruda Out'. Twitpic by Cleudson Fernandes, Twitter user @cleudsonf, published with permission
In Brazil violence broke out on Anti-Corruption Day between police and protesters:
Protesters have been demanding the impeachment of the Governor of the Federal District, Jose Roberto Arruda, and his deputy, Paulo Octavio, in addition to a thorough investigation into all parties cited in the bribery scandal that led to a police operation codenamed Pandora Box. According to the investigation, Governor Arruda is the possible head of a R$ 600,000 (approximately $340,000) per month bribery scheme that has benefited allies among district members of parliament, businessmen and government officials.
Transparency HackDay in São Paulo, photo by Alexandre Fugita used under a Creative Commons license.
But there is also reason for optimism in Brazil when it comes to transparency and open governance, as Paula Goés explained a week before Anti-Corruption Day:
The first Transparência [Transparency] Hackday, “two days for hacking into Brazilian politics”, was launched in São Paulo at the beginning of October, and the last camp took place this week, on December 1st  and 2nd, in the capital Brasília [pt]. Organized by journalists Daniela Silva and Pedro Markun [both pt], the event has free entry and is an opportunity for software developers, journalists and researchers to gather together to find ways to “scrape” data from official websites and create applications that bring transparency and participation to the political processes.
Global Voices editors also point readers to a number of posts around the blogosphere related to transparency, corruption, and government accountability. Peter Marton looks at the harmful role of corruption in rebuilding Afghanistan. In Ukraine, meanwhile, Petro congratulates the residents of Kabul for sentencing their mayor to four years of prison for corruption and imagines how quickly Kyiv's prisons would fill up if the same laws were enforced in his country. Writing in Registan.net, Alexander Visotzky looks at the corruption charges against Mukhtar Dzhakishev for the illegal sale of Uranium and concludes, “The fight against corruption in Kazakhstan is apparently much more of a political game than an attempt to root out corruption.” Writing from Japan, Scilla Alecci points to Transparency International's Ten Worst Corruption Cases of 2009 in Japan. Finally, writing from the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, “Gil the Jenius” asks for tougher punishments against public officials convicted of corruption.
Looking back on anti-corruption activism in 2009 we see that an entrenched culture of corruption is still pervasive worldwide. But we also see a growing online discussion about what can be done to curb corruption, promote transparency, and increase civic engagement. In future posts we'll look more specifically at online discussions and internet-based projects to promote transparency and fight against corruption in Nigeria and China.

author: David Sasaki


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Argentina: Romantic Singing Legend Sandro Passes Away · Global Voices
Jorge Gobbi

Roberto Sánchez, popularly known as Sandro, died on January 4th in Mendoza, Argentina. He was one of the pioneers of Argentinean rock music in the early 1960s, and became famous all over Latin America as a romantic music artist. Until recently, his shows in Argentina attracted multitudes, but he retired from the scene because of health issues.
His smoking habit created limitations in his respiratory capacity with the passing of the years. He also had a heart problem. His condition got to a point where he needed a heart and lung transplant, which was performed in November 2009. Forty-five days later, Sandro died at the age of 64.
Photo by Globovisión and used under a Creative Commons license.
According to Ruth Vilar of the blog Escribiendo en Voz Alta [es] they say “Sandro only leaves us physically, because we know great people never die. And he belonged to that group”.
The blog Extremista [es] writes that “during the funeral, more than 50 thousand people showed up to give a last goodbye to Roberto Sánchez at the Argentinean Congress, and the cars that followed him to the cemetery carried nearly 100 wreaths”.
Dr. Gen [es]focuses on the possible consequences of the passing of the singer: “Hopefully people will be aware of the dangers of smoking and more people will quit smoking because of what happened to Sandro, rather than because of medical advice.”
The topic of his death made the cover of many magazines and newspapers, as Irina of the blog Lado B [es] says. TV cameras were not allowed in the funeral, as requested by Sandro's family. However, the C5N channel broadcasted a video that did not respect the family's wish, as the blog 2papiros [es] notes.

author: Jorge Gobbi


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Australia: Whaling War of Words · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

The whale hunt seems to be the forgotten war in the public relations hype that surrounds the collision of the Sea Shepherd’s Ady Gil with a Japanese whaler.
The anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd has vowed to continue the fight against whaling in the Southern Ocean after a Japanese boat struck one of its vessels.
Sea Shepherd says Japanese security ship Shonan Maru 2 has sheared off the bow of the Ady Gil, its high-speed carbon fibre boat.
Japanese whalers are also accused of using Australian charter planes to spy on the whereabouts of Sea Shepherd vessels.
‘Willful’ attack escalates anti-whaling war
The bloggers’ focus in Australia has been the maritime clash and its reporting by the media.
Strange Times’ youngmarxist was amongst the first to have issues, questioning the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) reporting:
The Australian ABC has reported, as fact, allegations by the anti-whaling organisation Sea Shepherd that a Japanese whaling boat, the Shonan Maru 2, today deliberately sunk the Sea Shepherd vessel the Adi Gil.
… It’s clear that the ABC has failed to report both sides of this story and is acting in this case as Sea Shepherd’s propaganda arm, rather than seeking out the statements presented in this post and giving people the information they need to start making their own conclusions.
BREAKING: Video of collision between Sea Shepherd’s Adi Gil and Japanese whaling boat
The Punch’s Tory Maguire is concerned about the risk to people’s lives by this orchestrated stoush in the Southern Ocean:
We’re not big on vigilantes in this nation, which has an imperfect but workable system of the rule of law, enforced by publicly funded police. Yet for some reason the ridiculous antics currently under way off the tip of Antarctica are allowed to carry on unchecked, and have prompted a frenzy of boys-own-adventure cheering here at home.
With perhaps just a touch of irony as a Murdoch staffer, she suggests a lack of objectivity in the mainstream media coverage:
Whomever is ultimately responsible for the sinking of the Ady Gil yesterday afternoon, it was highly irresponsible of the Sea Shepherd organisation to put the crew in such danger. But there was Mr Watson on the ABC this morning being hailed a hero for protecting the whales from the Japanese factory ships. He was also on Macquarie Radio, no doubt Fairfax radio, most TV stations and in every newspaper.
Sea Shepherd is going to get someone killed
At Ambit Gambit, Graham Young is even more pointed in his criticism of the media . Firstly he disputes the accuracy of reports that the Ady Gil was “stationary”:
Sea Shepherds claim that the Adi Gil was in reverse when hit. It may have been, but this was after it put itself in front of the Shonan Maru.
That journalists represent this as the Japanese ramming the Sea Sheperds is a result of clever manipulation by the Sea Shepherds.
Graham also attacks what he sees as similar bias:
Fairfax newspapers ran a story saying that the Japanese had hired planes in Australia to track the Sea Shepherds. Instead of asking why the Sea Shepherds were allowed to use Australian ports to carry out acts of piracy in the Antarctic without hindrance (or surveillance) from the Australian government, the news stories, and the government response, condemned the Japanese.
Confirmation bias rams Japanese
Meanwhile  political debate in Australia centres on what the Rudd government should do about the continuing presence of whalers in Australian waters:
AUSTRALIA should send the Oceanic Viking to monitor clashes between whalers and the anti-whaling Sea Shepherd vessels, which were operating “at the very limit and edge of the law”.
An international law expert at the Australian National University, Professor Donald Rothwell, told The Australian Online that despite claims whalers had rammed the Ady Gill, it was clear “provocative” behaviour was involved on the part of the anti-whaling protesters.
Whaling protest boats operating at edge of law: Donald Rothwell
The same article in The Australian newspaper has an online poll ‘WHALING SHOWDOWN': Who do you think is to blame for the collision between a Japanese whaling ship and Sea Shepherd protest boat?
Whalers and Protesters are the only choices.

author: Kevin Rennie


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Bahamas, U.S.A.: Same Old Story  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Bahamas’ The Gaulin Wife “wasn’t fooled” by the new film Avatar: “The story is clichéd, dangerously so, because while it appears to call into question colonialism’s devastating effects on the colonized, it ultimately reinforces a colonial worldview…”


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Bangladesh: How To Get A Job After Graduation · Global Voices
Rezwan

Fahad at Finding Myslef cites an example how get a job in Bangladesh after graduation.

author: Rezwan


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Barbados: Road Toll Gang · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados Free Press chastises the police for not clamping down on the Boscobel “Road Toll Gang”, which “stop[s] tourist hired cars by standing in front of them. They inform the drivers that the road is closed, instruct them to drive another way and then demand money for the ‘assistance’.”


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China: “Avatar” and forced demolition · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Fauna from ChinaSMACK translated Chinese reaction of the Hollywood movie “Avatar”, some comments related the struggle to the forced eviction and demolition of people's home in development project.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: The tragic curtain call of substitute teachers · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Starting 2010, 448,000 substitute teachers in China will be laid off. CC & Key from China Hush translated local news and online comments on this latest policy by the ministry of education.


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Dominican Republic: The Passing of the Multi-Talented Luisito Martí · Global Voices
Rocio Diaz

In the Dominican Republic, the funeral to bid farewell to Luisito Martí [es], a versatile comedian who died on January 3 after suffering from stomach cancer, was attended by hundreds of people from the country's President to the simplest of citizens. The scene was described by Reynaldo Brito of the blog Imágenes Dominicanas [es]:
Su imagen perdurará, aún en su sepelio y en el trayecto a su tumba, la risa de Luisito Martí brillaba entre la multiud que fue a darle el último adiós. Con alegría, entre aplausos, con merengues, proyecciones de sus películas, fue sepultado el polifacético hombre que dio vida a decenas de personajes que recrearán por siempre la alegría con la que vivió.
His image will endure, even during his funeral and on the way to his tomb, the laughter of Luisito Martí shone through the multitude that went to say their last goodbye. With joy, applause, the dancing of merengue, screenings of his movies, it was the burial of the multi-talented man, who gave life to dozens of characters who will forever be recreated with the joy with which he lived.
Photo of spectators to pay their final respects to Martí. Photo by Nicolas Monegro and used with permission.
Born in Santo Domingo on February 1, 1945 as Luis Bernardo Marte Hernández, Martí started in show-business in the 1970s alongside the well-known merengue artist Jhonny Ventura, and became a part of Combo Show, where he played the conga drums. In 1975, he scored a hit with the song “La Muerte de Martín” (The Death of Martín), the first of his many hits, which ranged from songs to celebrated characters that perfectly reflected the Dominican idiosyncrasies.
Photo of Luisito Martí by Imagenes Dominicanas and used with permission.
In the 1980s, Martí developed characters, including the popular Balbuena, Casimiro Valdez, Lamparita, El Chino Bichán y Belarminio. Of these, Balbuena had an international reach, when he became the lead in the 1995 Dominican film, “Nueba Yol: Por Fin Llegó Balbuena!” directed by Angel Muñíz, and which chronicled the reality of the Dominican immigrant that arrives to New York in search for the famous “American dream.” Rita Tejada analyzes the film and writes [es]:
La película Nueba Yol (1995) es la representación visual del costo para lograr ese sueño. Nueba Yol fue éxito de taquilla cuando se presentó en los cines dominicanos. Tanto en la República Dominicana como en los Estados Unidos, esta película se ha convertido en material de referencia, por ser uno de los pocos largometrajes dominicanos con cierta calidad y por tratar un tema tan vigente como lo es la emigración.
For Dominicans, Luisito Martí has left a lasting legacy, which is summarized by José Rafael Sosa:
Tu legado es la alegria.
Tu herencia el talento que brindaste.
Tu aporte: el haber desmostrado que el trabajo de hacer reir era una misión demasiado seria
Your legacy is the joy.
You leave behind the inheritance of your talent that you gave us.
Your contribution: being able to show that the job of making us laugh was a very serious mission

author: Rocio Diaz


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Egypt: Naga Hammady Massacre  · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

Respect Religions by Sarah Carr
Coptic Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7. On the eve of their celebrations in Egypt, Copts go to churches and celebrate the holy event. But this year an unexpected incident happened in Naga Hammady, in Upper Egypt, where an unknown criminal opened his fire randomly on people there after they finished their prayers and were on their way back to their homes.
Zeinobia wrote a new post about the massacre in her blog saying:
I am really very sorry and angry for what happened in Naj Hammadi yesterday. It hurts me more than the Egyptian Christians because what happened is against all Egyptians.
…
My condolences to the families of those who were killed  and injured in this disgusting attack.
Another blog, Coptic File, wrote about the incident:
On Misr Digital, Wael Abbas also published a video of Naga Hammay shootout on his blog.
The ministry of interior says that this attack is related to an older incident when a 12-year-old Muslim girl was raped by a Christian man in the same city. But Zeinobia can't see how such incident can be accepted as an excuse for the shooting. She also blames the ministry of interior for the whole thing:
And with my all respect this is ridiculous , fighting a crime by a group of crimes. I blame the ministry of interior in all of this , if there is a real respect and fear of the law nothing of this could happen.
Also, Nawara shares echoes similar sentiments. On the Ministry of Interior's press release regarding the shooting, she says:
Nawara also blamed the Egyptian Media:
The Cat of the Desert blamed the society and the extremists for all this.
He then posted a video of Abu Is-haq El Huwainy warning people form the Christians and the evil plots they make against Egypt!
The Egyptian blogger, Te3ma, on the other hand, believes that some foreign entities stand behind such incidents:

author: Tarek Amr


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Haiti: Free & Fair?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Haitian blogger Wadner Pierre features a letter from a U.S. Congresswoman who expresses concerns that the island's upcoming elections would be “a set back for Haiti's democratic development if these elections will not be fair and credible.”


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India: Rising Number Of Youngsters Dependent On Alcohol · Global Voices
Rezwan

TheBigThinkng at Indianblogger.com discusses the issue that rising number of youngsters in India are now dependent on alcohol.


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Japan: Witnessing a Tibetan sky burial · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

Blogger Huixing   witnessed a Tibetan sky burial [en] in Litang. At his blog [ja] a sequence of pictures document the traditional funerary practice wherein a human corpse is exposed to birds of prey.

author: Scilla Alecci


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Oman: Diet, Podcast, and the Higher Educational System · Global Voices
Riyadh Al Balushi

Omani bloggers are back in the blogging scene as they start the new year with big resolutions and plans. Blogger ATGM started a new blog to share his extreme diet program which involves having only four extremely small meals a day while drinking loads of water. However, ATGM is aware that it is not possible to maintain this diet as a permanent lifestyle and is considering healthier lifestyle options:
What I know and realise from all related information I came across related to dieting and how to eat healthy; that it is all about your eating habits. If you balance your eating timings around the day, have smaller portions and have a reasonable amount of water; then consequently you should be able to stabilise your weight, stay in shape and most important have a healthy eating routine.
You can learn more about his diet progress over at his blog.
New in the Omani blogging sphere this year is a launch of a satire podcast called T-Junction which discusses in a comic manner in its short audio episodes the latest news published in local papers. The show is made by Mohammed Al Tamami and Abdulla Ali. You can learn more about them from BeInOman.com and their Facebook page. Embedded below is their latest episode:
On a more serious note, Undercover Dragon of Muscat Confidential interviewed recently the COO of Michigan State University in Dubai to learn about his opinion on the higher educational system in Oman. The interview suggests that the Omani education system is poor due the spread of plagiarism, the inappropriate of the assessment system, and the culture of passing everyone. Suggestions on how to improve the system mentioned in the interview include introducing an accreditation system and publishing employability data and salary figures to make it possible to compare colleges and force them to compete. You can read the whole interview at Muscat Confidential.

author: Riyadh Al Balushi


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Puerto Rico: Three Kings Day · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Gil the Jenius is disheartened that “on Three Kings Day, the traditional Puerto Rican day for sharing gifts and celebrating the (extended) joy of Christmas, the death toll by murder on My Island this year stands at 19.”


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Sri Lanka: Rumor Mill At Work · Global Voices
Rezwan

“All I can wish for from now on till election-day is to permit all our eligible voters the chance to cast their secret ballot as they wish, and not be coaxed by monetary or illegal acts to go against their true wishes,” comments Serendipity on the upcoming presidential election in Sri Lanka.


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Syria: Petition to Google for Arabic Android · Global Voices
Mohamed ElGohary

Syrian blogger Anas Qtiesh invites  us [Ar] to vote for Arabic support in new Google Android open source software in  Google Nexus  One.

author: Mohamed ElGohary


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Trinidad & Tobago: Party On! · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Club Soda and Salt weighs in on Trinidad and Tobago's party politics.


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Azerbaijan: Interview with Scary Azeri · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Women's Forum interviews blogger Scary Azeri, now also a contributor to the online gender-specific site based in Azerbaijan. The blogger, born and raised in the oil-rich former Soviet republic, speaks about her blog and reaction to it. Crossing many cultural divides, the blog has already become popular with foreigners as well as those living in the South Caucasus region. Global Voices Online interviewed Scary Azeri in July.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Cambodia: Press freedom ranking · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

GV author Tharum Bun discusses press freedom and the rise of newspapers in Cambodia

author: Mong Palatino


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India: Caste Discrimination · Global Voices
Rezwan

Sparsh comments on the still persisting caste discrimination in India: “I always ask elders that society has become more feudal, caste oriented and communal than 60 years ago. No clear cut answers. People still ask with smile surname to map out the caste and ancestry in their minds.”


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Japan: National Film Industry and Avatar · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

The denmipapa blog is publishing a series of posts explaining the business side of the Japanese film industry. The fifth installment explores why the industry is not set up to release an ultra expensive 3D movie like Avatar. [JA]

author: Tomomi Sasaki


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Japan: PM Hatoyama Starts Using Twitter · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

Have something you want Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to know? You could try tweeting about it to @hatoyamayukio!
@hatoyamayukio
All links in this post link to Japanese content unless otherwise noted.
The Prime Minister started using Twitter during the new year holidays as a means to “bring politics to the people”, in addition to the existing Kantei TV and a mailing list. He also has a new blog called Hato Cafe (鳩Cafe or “Pigeon Cafe”).
Following some confusion with a fake Twitter account [en], his first tweet was sent on Dec 31st, 2009 5:49 PM.
みなさん、あけましておめでとうございます。今年もよろしくお願いいたします。今日からツイッターとブログ「鳩cafe」を始めました。http://bit.ly/7OSH1o ご感想など@hatoyamayukioへお寄せください。馴れるまでは１日１ツイートが目標です。
(The translation above is quoted from @hatoyama_y_en, which is run by translation service MyGengo.)
The initiative is the brain child of the “Civilian Working Group to Shorten the Distance between Citizens and Politics” (国民と政治の距離を近づけるための民間ワーキンググループ). Members include playwright Oriza Hirata,  blogger and art director Naoyuki Sato, CEO of eWoman, Inc. Kaori Sasaki, and art director Yuji Tokuda. Tokuda also designed the blog.
@hatoyamayukio's follower count is growing steadily, and is around 139,000 as of January 9th.
Is it really him?
This was the focus of discussion for the first few days and the very first issue that @hatoyamayukio addressed by clarifying that the PM sends a draft of his tweets by e-mail to his secretary, who posts it to Twitter.
This disappointed many people, as voiced by Makoto Chikazoe:
「基本的に私が書いています」と言いつつ、結局スタッフの意見を聞いて秘書官が投稿しているのだ。多くのTwitterユーザーが期待していたのは「首相の生の声」である。しかし、実際には何人もの人を経由した首相の声なのだ。これでは結局Twitterである意味はなく、従来通りの記者会見をテレビや新聞でチェックすればよいだけだ。
Akky from Ajiajin [en] has a different opinion:
Although many internet users expressed their disappointment to it, I personally don’t think that prime minister himself/herself should tweet on their mobile gears. It is reasonable as well as US president Obama never used Twitter.
Is he really reading our tweets?
Obviously, this was the next big question. The answer? Perhaps.
私がみなさんをフォローしていることについて「本当に読んでいるのか」「そんなにフォローできませんよね」などご指摘を頂きました。確かに全てのコメントは読めませんが、執務室のモニターにみなさんのコメントを常時表示し、それを読んで少しでもみなさんの生の声を知りたいと思っています。
(Again, the translation is from @hatoyama_y_en.)
Hato Cafe
Follow back
@hatoyamayukio will follow everyone who follows him. This is called follow-gaeshi (フォロー返し, literally “follow back”), an action that is considered by many in the Japanese twittersphere to be good etiquette.
The Japanese official site guide twitnavi published a post titled “Please wait a while longer to be followed by Prime Minister Hatoyama” on January 2nd, explaining that there is a limit on the system's side.
Tweets for @hatoyamayukio
@hatoyamayukio hasn't replied to anyone (yet?) but the editorial desk at Mainichi Shimbun @mainichijpedit is hopeful:
@HatoyamaYukio 総理！「Twitterの女王」こと歌手の広瀬香美 @kohmi さんとの勉強会にご参加いただけないでしょうか？毎週水曜日に一緒に政治や経済の勉強をしています。ご検討ください！ #kokkokokko
@yamachan_run recently started Twitter:
@hatoyamayukio首相が始めたことがきっかけで、ツイッターに登録してみました。 首相がブログ・ツイッターをどのように使いこなして見せるのかすごく気になります。
Comments from blogger Satonao
One of the signs that the Prime Minster was going to dip his toes into social media came when blogger Naoyuki Sato, better known as Satonao, was invited to have dinner with him. Curious, we posted [en] about the seemingly random event last October.
At that time, Satonao reported:
鳩山さんは Twitter 自体を知らなかったようだけど、とても素直に耳を傾けてくれた（どんな話題にも辛抱強く丁寧に相手の目を見て耳を傾ける人だった）。でもまぁなんというか、Twitter を理解してもらうことの難しさよ（笑）
書き込む姿を見てもらったり、ボクの実況へのみなさんの返信をパソコン画面で見てもらったり（熱心に読んでくれた）、いろいろしているうちにかなり興味はもっていただけた模様。殺し文句は「オバマも使っています！」（笑）。始めてくれるかどうかは全くわからないが、スタートラインには立ってくれたようである。閉じた世界が急にオープンになるのは無理だろう。まずは第一歩。少しずつ。少しずつ。


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Philippines: Bloggers and elections · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

baratillo.net from the Philippines identifies the different types of bloggers who write about elections


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Philippines: Protecting the film industry · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Critic After Dark discusses the proposal of an actor-politician to impose a quota of Hollywood films to be shown in Philippine theaters


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Philippines: Senatorial candidates · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Pinoy Oberver suggests some names to consider when voting for senators in the coming Philippine elections on May


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Russia: Blogger Reveals Microchip Plant Construction Delay  · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Habrahabr user pechkin1007 published [RUS] photos showing a construction delay at the “Angstrem-M” microchip plant near Moscow. The plant administration received a €815 million government loan [RUS] in 2008 and committed to starting the construction in Autumn 2009.

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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Russia: Death Penalty Moratorium Extended Indefinitely · Global Voices
Andrei Skvarsky

Russia has indefinitely extended a moratorium on the death penalty that was due to expire on January 1, thereby taking one more step on a tortuous journey that began in 1996 and has the definitive abolition of capital punishment as its destination, while opinion polls suggest the majority of Russians want the death penalty to remain in use.
The death penalty issue has never been anywhere high on the agendas of the former Soviet Union, nor has it been a widely debated topic in post-Soviet Russia. Nevertheless, Russia committed itself to outlawing capital punishment in 1996 in seeking to join the Council of Europe, whose rules forbid any crime to be punished by death. Though Moscow promised to phase out the death penalty rather than place an immediate and definitive ban on it, Russia was granted Council membership in February 1996.
In May of that year, the then Russian president, Boris Yeltsin, issued a decree entitled “On the Stepwise Reduction in the Application of the Death Penalty in Connection with the Accession of Russia to the Council of Europe,” which prescribed that Russia sign Protocol Six to the European Convention on Human Rights, a document prohibiting capital punishment in peacetime. Though Russia carried out its last execution months after the decree came out, Yeltsin's order was widely seen as a de facto moratorium on the death penalty.
Russia signed Protocol Six in April 1997, but its parliament has still not approved it. The country is the only member of the 47-nation Council of Europe not to have given parliamentary ratification to the document.
A landmark decision came on February 2, 1999, when Russia's Constitutional Court imposed a de jure moratorium on capital punishment. The current version of the Russian constitution, adopted in 1993, gives anyone charged with a capital crime the right to a jury trial, a system re-introduced in Russia that year after being abolished in 1922.
Until 2010, the system only existed in parts of Russia, and the Constitutional Court's ruling of February 1999 suspended the use of the death penalty until jury trials were extended to the rest of the country. The court argued it would be unconstitutional to apply capital punishment before then.
The death penalty issue resurfaced in autumn 2009 as Chechnya, which, since 2004, had been Russia's only region not to use the jury system, was preparing to introduce it on January 1, 2010. The Supreme Court asked the Constitutional Court whether this meant the green light for bringing capital punishment back into use.
The Constitutional Court responded on November 19 with extending the 1999 moratorium indefinitely, though capital punishment remains enshrined in Russia's criminal law.
The moratorium, the court said in explaining its suspension of capital punishment, had resulted in “stable guarantees of the right of the individual not to be punished by death and [in] a constitutional regime…involving an irreversible process to abolish the death penalty,” a process that “reflects a trend in international law and is in tune with commitments made by the Russian Federation.” Moreover, the court argued, international law prescribed that Russia comply with Protocol Six as long as it has its signature under it even though its legislature has not yet approved it.
Numerous comments were posted on RuNet both before and after the Constitutional Court's ruling, and they essentially reflect the returns of opinion polls on the death penalty issue.
Very few posts state unconditional rejection of capital punishment. There are many comments where the death penalty is backed in principle but its use in Russia is opposed to because of the scale of malpractices in the Russian law enforcement system. Some of the posts support the death penalty but suggest that death sentences be deferred so that possible judicial mistakes could be corrected.
Typical arguments of advocates of capital punishment are that it works and that it is unfair to spend taxpayers’ money to keep capital offenders who are serving prison terms. Some do not believe that the possibility of innocent people being sentenced to death is a serious reason to scrap capital punishment.
One website states the position of the Russian Orthodox Church, the essence of which is that it is the public that should decide and that the death penalty is accepted in the Old Testament and is not rejected in the New Testament.
Below are some of the comments.
LJ user eduardvalerevi4:
Laws to use the death penalty and other strict measures have not been written by totally stupid people, nor are so-called ‘our’ opinions always based on sober-minded thinking and always far-sighted when we see a problem of some kind of illegal act. That's if we are leaving judicial mistakes and the like aside… The next strictest penalty [to capital punishment] is life imprisonment, it includes providing the criminal with accommodation and food (leaving judicial mistakes aside, let me remind you again) until the end of his life regardless of how long he lives…this is money out of the taxpayer's pocket, that is from the state budget. Are you prepared to pay (as a taxpayer) for someone who has murdered half your relatives (a rough example) to go on living peacefully? (Let alone the fact that prison buildings are not made of elastic).
The Alatyshov website published several answers to the question, “What do you think of the abolition of the death penalty in Russia?”:
Fender:
They won't be sentencing the right people anyway – corruption.
Yorik:
I support the death penalty on condition that we have police and a judiciary ideal in all respects. But as long as Russia has the practice of people getting caught indiscriminately and the wrong people getting punished, I support the abolition of the death penalty.
Amylet34:
The death penalty is necessary in exceptional cases. I do support it [as punishment] for exceptionally serious crimes that have been committed repeatedly, provided there is convincing evidence!!!
Kolomeyets Nikolai:
Death penalty or no death penalty, there were, there are and there will be crimes. That's the way the world is made and the way man is made.
Zadumka:
Bad idea!!!!!!!!! Those bastards should be [bumped off].
There are 63 comments on the Russian-language website of radio station Voice of America. Here are some of them:
Dmitry:
If the state gives up its right to “blood” – its right to put criminals to death, people may go back to blood feuds. It's wrong to confuse the notion of judicial mistakes with that of fair retribution. If anyone has any doubts, let them ask the people through a referendum. The Constitution and Criminal Code allow this form of punishment.
All the people – if that's the right word – who have committed acts punishable by death end up being released in 10, 15 or a maximum of 20 years’ time and live among us (bloody militants, sex maniacs, serial murderers). Those pseudo-humans again sow evil because of your humaneness and your acute sense of justice.
[The death penalty] is absolutely necessary! Yes, there may be mistakes, but someone who hasn't yet embarked [on a criminal path] will wonder whether it's worth doing so when they've seen what has happened to some brute of that kind. In Russia the stick has always worked better than the carrot – all the latter has been able to produce is more lawlessness – and that's why we have all this rampant corruption!
***
Ildar:
Death should only be the penalty for bribery and embezzlement by state officials. Corruption will then disappear in a jiffy and without a trace.
***
Yan:
‘Yes’ to the death penalty without any alternatives. But with a five-year deferment of the execution of sentences in case there has been a judicial mistake. EXECUTION must come after that.
***
Lyolik:
Yes, there are mistakes – it is human to err, – but I don't want to feed characters such as Chikatilo [Andrei Chikatilo, a notorious Soviet serial murderer executed in Russia in 1994], who live off the money that I pay the state as taxes. So one would think it's a very complex issue.
***
Dimetrius:
I SUPPORT THE DEATH PENALTY. AFTER ALL, THERE ALWAYS ARE INNOCENT PEOPLE [WHO GET CONVICTED], BUT IN THAT WAY WE WOULD AT LEAST GET RID OF ALL SORTS OF TRASH. I DON'T WANT TO PAY TAXES FOR THEM TO BE KEPT [IN PRISON] FOR LIFE. LET THIS MONEY GO TO THE DISABLED, ORPHANS – ALL THOSE WHO ARE NEEDY, IN A WORD.
***
Alexander:
If Russia lifts its moratorium on the death penalty, it will sink even lower in the eyes of Europe. No nation will have anything to do with it. We mustn't do this, otherwise we'll go back to traditions of medieval savagery.
The death penalty is a vestige of cannibalism and savagery. We are a civilized nation, and for this reason we must not use the death penalty if we want to be humans and not animals. It seems you live in the Middle Ages.
***
Ya Russky [“I Am Russian”]:
I live in RUSSIA, not in Europe. I support the death penalty – I'm against murderers, pedophiles, terrorists, against people who commit high treason, against those who have ruined the country and created ethnic strife.
***
Marina:
Dear supporters of the death penalty, there is something I want to tell you. What are your reasons for advocating the lifting of the moratorium? What makes you think that capital punishment is necessary? To administer justice? But is MURDER a just form of retaliation for a serious crime? No, it is not, because execution is nothing else than sanctioned murder. I assume that the purpose of criminal punishment is punishment and not correction, and in that case execution is no punishment because a dead person cannot be punished.
The Decalog XXI section of LiveJournal cites the Russian church's position on the death penalty as stated in the “Social Principles of the Russian orthodox Church.”
Deacon Andrei Kurayev, a theologian and a professor at the Moscow Theological Academy, sums it up as follows:
The Old Testament prescribes the death penalty. The New Testament does not abolish it, not really reasserting it, but not abolishing it either.
The death penalty was used in the Church history of subsequent ages and in the history of Christian states such as the Byzantine and Russian empires. This means that we can say that it is wrong to try to give man external liberation that is greater than his inner liberation. It turns out that today's society is not ready for the abolition of the death penalty. For this reason, we state today that, on the one hand, we do not demand the abolition of the death penalty, but that, on the other hand, the Church is open to supporting a public movement for the abolition of the death penalty. But ultimately, the Church does not seek to force its position on the entire society. It expects a decision that is based on the consensus of the entire society.
Decalog also quotes the head of the church, Patriarch Kirill, as saying, in part:
We find no ban on the death penalty in Holy Scriptures, the Holy Tradition or the historical legacy of the Orthodox Church. Moreover, in the Old Testament times this form of punishment for various crimes was directly established by God. Let me add that the Lord Jesus Christ did not protest against the death penalty being used against Him or against others even after He had been condemned to death and was suffering on the cross. Attempts by some religious, and especially public, figures to put a theological basis under the abolition of the death penalty have no solid ground under them.
[However,] the Russian Orthodox Church hails any governmental moves to abolish the death penalty or avoid its practical use.

author: Andrei Skvarsky


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Russia: Photos of Yawning Girl Stir Interest on RuNet · Global Voices
Vadim Isakov

Russian bloggers humorously discuss photos of a little girl [RUS] who for the second year in a row stands and yawns in front of the Russian president during the Christmas service at the Church of the Christ the Saviour in Moscow.

author: Vadim Isakov


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Slovakia: First Slovak Terrorist Caught in Ireland, Sort Of · Global Voices
Tibor Blazko

On Saturday, January 2, the Slovak police had a training exercise in which they put explosives into the luggage of several passengers at Poprad airport without informing them. Policemen with a bomb-sniffing dogs searched for the explosives, but one explosive was not found and the police failed to remove it from the luggage. It accidentally  entered the plane and traveled to Dublin, Ireland.
A few minutes after the plane's departure, the pilot and the Irish airport luggage service were informed about the explosive. The next mistake was that the police superiors were only informed about the missing explosive on Monday.
The Slovak police used the airport's camera surveillance system to identify the man who owned the luggage. They contacted him in Ireland with a message saying he had to wait for the Irish police to collect the material. On Tuesday morning, the Irish police was informed. Who knows how, because instead of just getting the explosives, they enclosed the area near the passenger's flat and detained him for a few hours.
Complications continued when the information spread to the media. CNN initially spoke about the incident from Bratislava airport (a different airport, which also had a similar training going on at the time). Slovak TA3 at first reported that the traveler carried as much as 90 kilograms of explosives without knowing it. This, combined with the initial lack of information and varying versions, initialized thousands of netizens’ comments.
Here is a selection of some comments that I had the patience to read through:
bledomodry:
They will punish the dog that did not find the explosive by lowering food portion to one half and in the evening they will forgive him half of punishment because of good manners.
kriqx:
A head will fall – of that journalist hyena who published it
sloboda prejavu:
Did someone at least apologize to that poor person?
citronsk:
Of course – the Irish police
radsej som zdrhol:
… and i must admit that our [policemen] still have to learn from the French ones because the Frenchies during similar training in December 2004 even did not know where and by what plane their lost sample had flown away. [here's a BBC report on the 2004 incident]
Here are some more reactions, from another source:
Juraj Lörinc:
Just now i heard the foreign minister say on TV that we will send more humanitarian aid abroad
percento:
What if it was the other way around and the police just covered for a real terrorist? I mean what if he really wanted to destroy that plane and just forgot the detonator, and the police took it upon themselves to be not able to say that Slovakia had incapable terrorists! they are saving the good name of Slovakia and do not care at all that they get draggled all over newspapers
Tomas Bily:
… and next, I completely, really completely, do not understand why Mr. “Steve” did not unpack for two days, or he thought it was a randomly packed cell phone?
Jozef Drahovský:
Let's be glad that … the plane flew to Dublin and not to Beijing because a 49-year-old Slovak electrician could be also executed.
A discussion at SME.sk forum:
Jiří Ščobák:
Let's be glad that … plane did not fly to the USA … if it had been the USA, that person would have been denied entry to the country.
Jarry:
… or the mentioned person after short time will from his heart admit that he wanted to assassinate and explode the plane
occams_razor:
… finally Slovakia should have representation at Guantanamo, too.
Viera Šimkovičová:
… when I imagine that I'm traveling with my baby and somewhere they arrest me because our officers put something into my luggage during an enhanced anti-terrorist protection … according to TA3, they spent three hours questioning that man.
Martina_M:
… from what I know about the Irish people, two and a half hours he was waiting until a vacant room was found
jožinzbažin:
… and maybe finally foreign tourists will get interested in our Gotham – where else would they pack you a free bomb into your luggage?
Reactions from another forum:
Frankie I have 3 bombs, you 4, it's together 8
So let's go to drink a beer…
***
After arrival – What do you have in that suit case? How can I know it…. Oh, mister is from Slovakia
***
We're asking passengers … to switch off mobile phones and other electronics equipment. Passengers from Slovakia also make sure that today they haven't packed detonators in your luggage. Have a nice flight.
***
The probability that the plane you're traveling on has one more bomb in addition to the official police bomb is quite high. A solution: Take your own bomb. The probability that there are three bombs is much lower.
***
How many Slovak policemen are necessary for a terrorist attack?
Two – one will hide the bomb and the second will not find it.
***
I wish to express profound regret on the part of the US for failing to categorize and properly label DVDs obviously sold to your country. Odd as it may seem, the “Police Academy” video series was never intended as instructional.

author: Tibor Blazko


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Southeast Asia: Prepaid mobile internet services  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Preetam Rai lists the prepaid mobile internet services offered by mobile telcos in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam


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Taiwan: Teaching anthropology in Hualien · Global Voices
David Reid

Kerim Friedman writes about his experience teaching anthropology at Dong Hwa University in Hualien.

author: David Reid


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Thailand: Children protesters want alcohol billboard ads removed · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Hundreds of children are asking officials of Bangkok to remove the billboard ads of alcohol drinks. Blogger Thailand Crisis criticizes the parents and adults who are using the children as “leverage in order to support their hysterical campaign about “social order” and “morality”.


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Thailand plans to buy submarines · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A blogger lambasts the proposal of the Thailand navy chief to buy submarines. The influential King of Thailand disagreed with this plan in the past.


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Uzbekistan: Calculations of the parliamentary elections · Global Voices
Mansurhon

As expected by different experts parliamentary elections in Uzbekistan were recognized valid. Chairman of the Central Election Commission Mirza-Ulugbek Abdusalomov released that information later the same day (December 27), and added that 15,108,950 voters or 87.8% of all registered voters participated in the elections and, according to the article 44 of the Law on Elections to Oliy Majlis they were legal and undisputable.
neweurasia wrote about different surveys and one in particular by loyal to the Uzbek government Uzniform information agency.
Online survey, conducted during end of October and first decade of November asked respondents if they “…know that December 27 [2009] elections to the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis and region, district and city Kengashes of people’s deputies will be held?”.
Out of 159 survey participants 82 (51.6%) answered “NO”; 12 (7.5%) referred to the difficulties with responding to that question; and, only 65 (40.9%) answered “YES”.
No generalization from my side but… If we consider that this was just a survey asking if they knew about then upcoming parliamentary elections that didn’t mean that they expressed their will to participate in actual elections.
Such opinion comes after checking out results of other survey by the same information agency which asked people to evaluate “…evaluate current activities of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis?”. Out of 171 respondents more than a half (89, or 52%) answered “NEGATIVE”; 15 (8.8%) participants answered “More negative than positive”; “Positive” and “More positive than negative” options got 41 respondent’s approval which sums up to 24% of all answers.
Ferghana.ru’s article titled “Parliamentary Elections Held in Uzbekistan” emerged many different opinions by those who read it.
максим (maksim) says [ru] that his “grandma was forced to participate in the elections because she was said that in case of not participating her pension for January would be available only after New Year.” Nobody wants to be without money on a New Year night, to meet and “celebrate” it with a poor holiday dinner. Thus, old lady had to go and “contribute” to that theater performance.
Che Lovek (basically, means a Human being), another active participant of the discussion, got mad because went to the elections to vote against everybody but couldn’t find such option. His fellow Dionis responded by: “Since we didn’t have “against everybody” option I filled in boxes of all candidates.” This means his bulletin didn’t meet requirements of the counting machine and had been exluded from calculation as invalid.
Whatever happens in the minds of citizens of Uzbekistan, international observers recognized elections as “democratic and open”. Very often serious politics doesn’t care about real state of affairs and analyzes events through the prism of national interests.
Photo courtesy Uza.uz: President Karimov participating in the election on December 27.
Cross-posted from neweurasia.net.

author: Mansurhon


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Algeria: First day for a book on Amazon · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

Maamar Ameur writes [Ar] his experience with his colouring book for children “A.B.Coloring” ‘s first day on Amazon, and his blogger friends enthusiasm to help him promote the book through different social media websites.

author: Eman AbdElRahman


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Azerbaijan: Year of the child? · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Emotions on Air, Mind Mute visits an orphanage in Azerbaijan and compares the officially stated aim of making 2009 the Year of Children with the reality faced by those seemingly forgotten and destined to remain in residential care.


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Bolivia: Ex-Beauty Queen Named Candidate for Governor of Beni · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

For many, the news that Bolivian President Evo Morales would name ex-Miss Bolivia Jessica Jordan, 25, as the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party candidate for governor of the Department of Bení seemed like a late Day of the Innocents (Bolivia's version of April Fools Day) joke. However, when the announcement became official in a live televised press conference, the reaction became immediate on Twitter, as well as the reaction to those reactions. After the dust settled, bloggers also began to provide their thoughts about the matter.
Photo of Jessica Jordan by Hugo Miranda and used with permission.
Initial opinions on Twitter were ones of disbelief that a former beauty queen would be nominated to participate in the elections in such a high-ranking position. Diego Arrázola (@darrazola) wrote:
ni pa concejal JESSICA JORDAN puej pa GOBERNADORA! q esta pasando? siguen en la jodita de los inocentes?
Mariela Castrillo (@ardilla_ilusa) wrote:
Lo de Jessica Jordan es hilarante….no hay más gente en Beni? no hay más jóvenes con sueños? q pena…
There were similar messages of disbelief, and many referred to the fact that Jordan was the former Miss Bolivia. However, others thought that it was not fair for people to react in this manner. Patricia (@arquitecta) counters:
que les pasa? ven normal que un feo acceda al poder, pero cuando una bella candidatea, se rayan… machistas!
Jaime Durán of the blog Economía Política, Desde el Lado Gracioso [es] criticizes those that have already written off the candidate:
Están también los que olvidandose de sus posiciones de género han dicho muy sueltos de cuerpo que la niña será muy bella, pero que es poco probable que la cabeza le sirva para algo más que peinarse. Viendo la calidad de gobernadores que hasta ahora ha tenido el Beni, dudo mucho que se pueda criticar a la bella Jessica Jordan, por este tema. Por mi parte, estoy seguro que dictará cátedra en los temas en los que se ocupe, pues siempre he creido que belleza e inteligencia no son para nada incompatibles.
One of the major questions that this nomination raises is “What's in it for MAS?” Beni is a department in the Bolivian Orient that has traditionally been under the control of the opposition. Placing a nationally-known figure, who has not been a party member or active in politics is seemingly attracting the attention of the entire country and could turn the tide in that part of the country. Hugo Miranda of Angel Caido [es] adds his thoughts:
Y bueno esto merece un comentario, quizas resulte obvio que el MAS esta usando a figuras publicas de los departamentos donde aun no domina para tratar de ganar las Gobernaduras y Municipios, de esta forma tener el control total de todo Bolivia.
Quizas para algunos Jessica este siendo utilizada para estos fines del todopoderoso Evo Morales.
Pero queda la duda, y creo que Jessica se merece eso por que ella quiere mucho a Bolivia.
This is worth commenting, maybe it is obvious that the MAS is using public figures in the Departments where it does not dominate, in order to win the Governorships and Mayorships, in this way to have total control over all of Bolivia.
Maybe for some, Jessica is being used for those ends by the all-powerful Evo Morales.
The doubt remains, and I think that Jessica deserves all this because she loves Bolivia very much.
The strategy seems to be working as some bloggers who have been apolitical, or even in opposition to the MAS party are starting to support Jordan. However, some are making it clear that their support is going to the candidate, and not the political party. Even those people who are not eligible to vote in the Department are expressing their desire to help the candidate. It still remains to be seen whether the strategy will work in the elections scheduled for April 4, 2010.
Miranda, who has not been a supporter of the MAS party, writes that the one candidate that he will support is Jordan to the extent that he will include free campaign advertising on his sites. Durán concludes:
Creo que la elección del Beni será la más interesante de todas las que presenciaremos en abril del 2010. Asimismo, desde esta palestra anuncio que estoy dispuesto a trasladarme a la bella tierra oriental para colaborar en tareas de campaña

author: Eduardo Avila


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Brazil: Net-citizens have fun shooting corrupt politicians · Global Voices
Thiana Biondo

After finding himself the target of a Federal Police investigation as the leader of the latest corruption network to scandalize Brazil, José Arruda, Governor of the Federal District, can now be shot by net citizens in an online video game. Launched by the Movimento Brasília Limpa [Clean Up Brasília Movement, pt], the game features Arruda and panettone (once simply a popular Christmas cake, but now a symbol of the fight against corruption in the country) flying through the air. Paola Lima [pt] explains how to play:
O passatempo é simples – e feito em cima do que se tornou o símbolo da crise, o panetone. O jogador tem de destruir os quitutes natalinos que aparecem na tela, assim como os bonequinhos do governador José Roberto Arruda. Ao fim do jogo, a mensagem: “Você ajudou a limpar Brasília”.
Movimento Brasília Limpa
The inspiration for the game was the events of November 2009, when the Federal Police accused Arruda of being in charge of a syndicate based on bribery and passive and active corruption that allegedly distributed a monthly sum of R$ 600,000 (approximately US$ 340,000) to its allies. His misdeeds were caught on camera and spread around the country via YouTube. Arruda denied all charges and claimed that the money had been donated to buy panettone for the poor.
Needless to say, this excuse only added to the scandal and has given rise to a number of jokes; even children have been poking fun and calling for Arruda’s removal from government. Many songs, animations and video clips have appeared on YouTube, all using the ready-made public footage to retell the story, seasoned with a lot of mockery. It seems that Brazilians are using humor and the Internet to make sure that the public – famous for their short memory when it comes to politics – does not forget about this case.
http://www.radioretweet.com.br/blog/
MC Paulada has created two funk songs (both in Portuguese) to celebrate the “Pandora's Box” scandal.
MC Paulada/You Tube
MC Paulada/You Tube
The “Pandora's Box” police investigation will be resumed after the Christmas and New Year’s Eve recession, when the Supreme Court and the Federal Chamber will set up a Parliamentary Inquiry Commission (CPI) to analyze the case. If the institutions do not choose a more effective method of investigation, slow bureaucratic procedures will make the chances of an impeachment scarce, and Arruda could end his term before the next election, due in October 2010.
GameMania
“Arruda's Panettone” is not the first online game featuring Brazilian politicians accused of various misdeeds. The President of the Senate, José Sarney, accused of nepotism back in July, has also been a target. The aim of the following game is to shoot Sarney's head with a cannonball while he is surrounded by other legislators. It is a lot of fun, and you can work your way up through different levels. The game was created by the website Parece Piada. Click below to play:
The tradition goes back to the 1990s, when former Brazilian President Fernando Collor de Mello, who was impeached in 1992, was the target. According to Futepoca [pt], Collor's was the first game of its kind:
O primeiro escândalo de corrupção a ganhar as telas de vídeogames e computadores foi o que envolvia o então presidente Fernando Collor de Mello. Com o nome “Roxo”, o objetivo do passatempo era acertar a figura de um caricato mandatário – com faixa presidencial a tira-colo – com um martelo. Ao garantir o sucesso da empreitada, o pequeno Collor no joguinho, seu membro ganhava a cor roxa e surgia um balãozinho com o dizer: “Ui!”. Tudo em alusão à declaração do próprio alvo da piada, ainda em campanha eleitoral, de que ele teria “aquilo roxo”.
http://desciclo.pedia.ws/wiki

author: Thiana Biondo


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China: New Ticketing System For Train Riders · Global Voices
Don Weinland

As “Chunyun”—the travel season before, during, and after the Chinese New Year—approaches, two of China’s largest rail lines are adopting a “real-name” ticketing system.
Guangzhou Station in Yuexiu District, Guangzhou is a major hub for travel in Southern China. Photo by Don Weinland
Information Times reported Friday that passengers traveling on trains serviced by Guangzhou Railway Group or Chengdu Railway Bureau will be required to produce a valid identification card upon purchasing a ticket.  Names and ID numbers will be printed on tickets and must be produced with a corresponding ID card at train stations to gain entrance.
Along with this change in ticketing practice, Information Times reports that passengers will be allowed three tickets per purchase but must produce three separate ID cards: one ticket per ID.
A variety of factors have brought about the introduction of the system.  The difficulty of securing a ticket has become a hardship for many Chinese working away from home.  “Yellow Cows”, or scalpers, purchase large quantities of tickets in advance to sell at inflated prices.  The new measures may also increase safety aboard trains.
Appeals for a new system have been visible since last Chinese New Year’s holiday.  An article published January 2009 at Sina.com sought a solution to the problem that has been popularly dubbed “a ticket is hard get.”
春运当前，有关火车票实名制的呼声再次高涨。民意一方呼声急切，以为非实名制而不能解“一票难求”之困局。而处于铁道部一方，则断然表示“成本太高”，言下之意，难于实行。铁道部门的这种“傲慢”，加之其垄断地位、春运种种苦难现象，混合在一起，一再地刺激民意昂扬。
Faced with the New Year’s travel season, appeals for a real-name train ticketing system rise once again.  The appeals of the people are urgent, thinking that the “a ticket is hard to get” situation cannot be solved without a real-name system.  But [the rail lines] have resolutely expressed that the “expenses are too high,” or in other words, it would be difficult to carry out.  The arrogance of the rail department along with their monopoly status, the variety of hardships during the holiday travel season, mix together and once again agitate an upbeat popular opinion.
According to Baidu Encyclopedia, the real-name ticketing system will restore a sense of fairness to rail transportation during a season that is already fraught with difficulty.
目前民众尤其是外出务工人员，在出行乘坐火车这种公益性的大众交通工具时，常常遭遇不公平：虽然长时间排队，却很难买到自己急需的火车票；而一些票贩子却能通过各种手段，获取他们并不急需的火车票。于是，在这种现实面前，公民乘坐火车变成了一种没有权利和尊严的选择：要么你去求人找关系买票；要么你多花钱到票贩子那里买票。
At present when the people, especially those working away from home, take a form of mass transportation such as a train, they often met with unfairness: although they have lined up for a long period of time, it’s still difficult to buy the ticket they urgently need.  Yet scalpers have a variety of means of acquiring tickets they don’t need urgently in the least.  Faced with these facts, the taking of trains by citizens has become a choice void of rights and dignity.  Either you beg someone with good connections to buy you a ticket or you give your money to the scalper.
The Chinese New Year’s travel season, known as “Chunyun” in Chinese, is the world’s largest periodical circulation of people.  According to Xinhua News, This year’s travel season will see over 2.1 billion trips made between places of work, hometown, and back again, an increase of 9.5 percent from last year.
Not all agree with the adoption of the real-name ticketing system.  Baidu Encyclopedia has listed some common complaints regarding the introduction of the system:
春运期间，铁路与民航的最大区别是客流量大。一旦推行实名制后，将会增加售票的信息录入时间和验票的信息核对时间，降低工作效率，影响人流疏散，加剧人群滞留，容易形成挤压伤人事件隐患。所以，实名制在现实中不具有可操作性。
During the holiday travel season the biggest difference between rail and air transportation is the large volume of train passengers.  As soon as the real-name system is in place ticket registration and ticket checking time will be increased, work effectiveness [for rail employees] will be decreased, influencing the dispersing of the flow of people, adding to build up of crowds, and creating the conditions for trampling incidents.  Therefore the reality of a real-name system is not workable.
这仅仅是增加了黄牛的麻烦，并不能从根本上解决问题，真正的黄牛，肯定不会是去排队买票的，既然是从内部拿票，所以你买黄牛票的时候只需带上你的个人信息，如此而已。
This only increases the difficulty of the scalper’s business but by no means fundamentally solves the problem.  Real scalpers certainly don’t line up to buy tickets.  Because they buy tickets [from a connection] within the ticket office, you will only have to provide your personal information when buying a scalped ticket.  It’s as simple as that.
The Chinese New Year’s travel season is generally defined as a period of forty days before, during, and after Chinese New Year’s, or Chunjie in Chinese.  According to Baidu Encyclopedia, this year’s travel season begins Jan. 30 and ends Mar. 10.  Chinese New Year’s, a lunar calendar holiday, lands on Feb. 14 this year and lasts fifteen days.
Information regarding the “real-name” system was first leaked online on Dec. 10 from a Chinese blog.  The changes were later confirmed by a railway insider in an Information Times article.

author: Don Weinland


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Egypt: Galloway is a persona non grata · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

Zeinobia writes about the new official news that British MP George Galloway has been declared persona non grata in Egypt – on the background of the Free Gaza March last week. He has been deported from the country and blacklisted in the official and some of the unofficial media too.


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Egypt: In our house.. H1N1 · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

Egyptian blogger, Ahmed Shokeir, writes [Ar] his experience with his younger child's infection with H1N1 (swine flu), and how the family worked on combating it.


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India: A Critically Ill Marxist Leader Trends On Twitter · Global Voices
Aparna Ray

At 11.30am on Wednesday 6th January 2010, a medical bulletin from a private hospital in Salt Lake, Kolkata announced that Mr. Jyoti Basu, a 95 year old Marxist leader and former Chief Minister of West Bengal, who had been hospitalized on January 1st, following a bout of pneumonia had been put on the ventilator and was critically ill.
Mr. Jyoti Basu, a patriarch of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) had served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1977 to 2000, making him India's longest-serving Chief Minister as of 2009.
Soon, the word spread like wildfire and in the absence of a follow-up official statement/ medical bulletin regarding his condition, speculations began (both in the real and virtual world) as to whether Jyoti Basu was alive or had passed away. The arrival of a host of political leaders and other dignitaries, one after the other, at AMRI – the hospital where Mr. Basu was being treated, further fuelled the speculation regarding his death.
“Has he passed away?” A friend from Bangladesh asked me in the afternoon on Facebook Chat. “I don’t think so, have not yet heard anything to that effect”, I replied. “The news doing the rounds is that he has passed away but the government is not announcing it yet”, said another friend, an avid netizen.
As the day wore on, the crowd grew outside the hospital, more dignitaries visited and speculation gathered momentum. It also offered us an interesting opportunity to watch social media in action.
‘Breaking News’ of Mr. Basu’s ‘death’ was published on various websites, some of which, for example, SamayLive.com (an online news service from the Corporate House Sahara India Parivar) and kalponik.us claimed that they got the news from ‘inside sources. The ‘news’ was also discussed widely on blogger forums, social networking sites such as Facebook and of course, on Twitter.
By afternoon, Jyoti Basu was a hot search topic on Google, a lot of it being initiated from Kolkata. With all the buzz generated, he soon became one of the trending topics on Twitter, surely a first for someone from West Bengal.
lihkin – Jyoti Basu is dead and its all on Twitter. RIP Jyoti Basu.
paldibyojyoti with the number of tweets claiming Jyoti Basu dead, God himself would have been confused about Mr. Basu's fate!
anoopan (Anoop Narayanan) –  http://twitpic.com/x0xsk – Google suggests Jyoti basu is dead
twikewl (Sunny Sodd) > @atulchawla: Jyoti Basu was born b4 computers, he was against computers, and now he's a trending topic on Twitter. Funny how life works.
By around 2pm, ‘RIP’ messages were pouring in. Tweets were coming not only from ordinary citizens but from celebrity Tweeters associated with MSM. Shobhaa De, a well-known columnist and novelist tweeted:
DeShobhaa – Jyoti Babu's death is worth mourning. I remember our last meeting at the Bengal Club vividly. Intellectual giant and idealist. Rare today. RIP
The page on Jyoti Basu in the Wikipedia was also modified to accommodate the unconfirmed news of his demise.
Finally at around 3.30pm, the veteran leader’s long serving personal assistant Joy Krishna Ghosh issued a statement that the patriarch was very much alive, though critical. Biman Bose, the West Bengal Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) reaffirmed this message. Mr. Bose also stated that he was aware that rumours of Jyoti Basu's demise were being fuelled by ‘certain websites’ and that he had himself  read some of them. He urged the people at large not to give credence to such rumours.
Gradually the message began seeping through all the buzz that Mr. Basu was still alive and responding to treatment. Those following the story online saw something interesting happening on the Web.
The pages on the websites that had initially cited ‘inside sources’ and announced the passing away of Jyoti Basu were curiously unreachable or blank. Wikipedia took quick action, removed all incorrect references and semi-protected the page on Jyoti Basu to prevent unauthorised editing.
On Twitter too, a section of Tweeters were already cautioning others not to re-tweet unconfirmed news without checking out official confirmation. There were tweets and re-tweets of news quoting the official statement and medical bulletin. @Shobhaa De drew quite a bit of flack for jumping the gun.
ChinTweet (Chinmay Tadwalkar)  – @DeShobhaa What are you upto,ma'am? Jyoti Basu is critical but still ALIVE! Keep your “RIP” messages with yourself.
Unni1945 (P.N. Unni) – Shobha De's hurry makes good laughing. let Jyoti Basu recover soon
cosmichappiness – @DeShobhaa Jyoti Basu is not dead yet. Hold on to ur obits and check the news
By the next day, more dignitaries, including the Prime Minister had visited Mr. Basu in the hospital. His condition remained unchanged. Some of the Netizens who had keenly observed the frenzied discussions of the day before, were quick to express a critical view of the role played by social media in the entire episode.
Pradeep at Sands of Change wrote on his blog:
Democratization of mass media mechanism may have its good side, but definitely not without pitfalls. A good example of the latter was the way the rumour about Jyoti Basu’s death spread on twitter this afternoon. Like email forwards and sms forwards, this too got mindlessly retweeted. The extent of traffic could be gauged from the fact that Jyoti Basu was a trending topic on twitter for a while… Interestingly, now it was the non-journalists who jumped the gun with “breaking news”, and it was they who got it all wrong! I hope they have become wiser now, and will pardon, when next time round journalists slip.
Kanupriya at Mixed Expressions wrote:
We always speak of media irresponsibility and sensationalism but in this case aren't citizens responsible for this rumor? Yes, Mr. Basu is critical and is hospitalized too but the news of his death is not confirmed by any official sources yet. In fact as per the latest update from most of the official sources, he is still alive. .. Well, now I'm curiously waiting for any update from news sites to know if it is actually a rumor or twitter was the first platform to break this news…Till then the curious case of Mr. Basu continues…
Others urged social media users to be more responsible.
For example, Anirban Saha wrote on his blog:
It’s a plea, to all who uses social media (facebook, twitter, orkut…and the list is endless) to be responsible… we need to be more responsible, as citizens as netizens.. the social media is a powerful tool to educate. It is equally powerful to spread rumours.
According to Shivalika Raj:
Social media is a plat form where people can share ideas, news or information from around the world but that information need to be authentic and not just any useless piece of rumor. The problem with the social media is that we cannot find the authenticity of the person involved and he/she can write anything and that news is spread in two minutes like a wave of water. I reckon that its our duty to make sure that the information we are sharing with our networks is acceptable enough. Assorting such news is quite hectic and sometimes time wasting but spreading a untruthful piece of news is quite dire for the society.
On Twitter too, tweeples were sounding words of caution. For example,
SachinKalbag – Journalists on Twitter will have to learn to remain true to journalism fundamentals. Twitter is a medium not a free-for-all. @surekhapillai
anirbanmisra -Jyoti Basu is alive, it was a rumor, appolise (sic) for being a part of spreading the rumorSachinKalbag –  To those who perpetuated Jyoti Basu is dead myth, please be more responsible. Else Twitter will be under govt scanner.
SachinKalbag – To those who perpetuated Jyoti Basu is dead myth, please be more responsible. Else Twitter will be under govt scanner.
When asked to comment on the viral spread of unconfirmed news positioned as citizen journalism and the resulting criticism of social media as a vehicle of such rumors, popular Indian blogger Dina Mehta said that today the term ‘citizen journalist’ was being used loosely, leading to unnecessary controversies. According to her, “citizen journalists are typically folks who are talking to their communities” so not everything that is crowdsourced, or found on Social Media should be labeled citizen generated news/citizen journalism.
As of this hour, Mr. Jyoti Basu continues to be critically ill and is battling for his life. The rumor mills have died down as of now. In the final analysis, the moral of this incident (and others similar to this one, for example the one pertaining to Steve Jobs that appeared on CNN's iReport site in 2008) is perhaps that whether we are recognized/ professional journalists or simply ordinary citizens, it is each of our responsibility to ensure that we do not oil the rumor mills online or off it.

author: Aparna Ray


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Iran: Chinese cyberactivists support Iranians · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Since the recent mass demonstration in Iran against the Islamic Regime during the commemoration of Ashura, dozens of Chinese “netizens” have joined the #iranelection Twitter community. They have added their own new hashtag, #CN4Iran, and even built a new site to support the struggle of the Iranian people, titled CN4Iran.org. Global Voices interviewed one of the cyber activists behind this initiative.
When and where was your site created and what are its main objectives?
Our site was created in Dec 28, 2009, hosted by Dreamhost.com (US). Our objective is to support the Iranian people for liberty and democracy, learn from them and spread the experiences to Chinese people.
Please explain us who is involved in this project, and do you have any organizational support?
The creator is CaoTaMaDe (nickname), we also have some webmasters and volunteers. You can see more details on Cn4Iran. Until now, we have NO organizational support.
Have you been in touch with Iranian cyber activists? What are your sources and who is your target?
We followed some Iranian people [on Twitter]. Sometimes we send message such as: How are you? Thank you. The major source is the Twitter users we followed, such as @@persian2english, @oxfordgirl, @oli2be, @tehranweekly. We also collect news from foreign media, for example, CNN.com. Our target is the Chinese cyber citizen, firstly the Chinese users on twitter.com, and then other Chinese Internet users who read our information. Also, we infrequently have some worldwide readers, and we tell them the reaction in China (by translating some Chinese news into English).
Do you see any similarity between Chinese and Iranian censorship? What about cyber activism?
We know that many web sites have been blocked by Iran Regime, which is similar to China. I guess they also have a censor system for keyword filtering, like the Great Firewall (GFW) in China. Such situation is quite common in countries like Iran and China.
About the cyber activism, I think it's viable. However, the governmental censor becomes more and more severe. We hope people from different fileds can have his/her own voice, even if it is noisy voice, but is must be heard. We also hope more people can make contribution, the collaboration in China or ever in the whole world can make the target to be achieved as quick as possible. Twitter.com can easily connect us together, this is a great choice and beginning.
How have been feedback so far?
We received some responses, like helping us to re-design the picture for supporting Iranian people, and helping us to translate English to Chinese. More feedback is the RT on twitter.com.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Mauritania: Woman MP Calls General Aziz a Hypocrite! · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

Mauritanian blogger Nasser comments on MP Nomma Bint Mogaya's explosive speech in the last days of 2009 in parliament denouncing General Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz and calling him a hypocrite. He also features her speech in a video translated into English.


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Morocco: Ladies Honored · Global Voices
Hisham Almiraat

Moroccan bloggers joined the Kolena Laila (We Are All Laila) campaign, an independent online initiative inviting bloggers across the Arab region to express themselves freely and raise awareness on the concerns of women in their respective societies, for the first time. The campaign which originally started as an exclusively Egyptian initiative back in 2006 is now covering blogospheres from across North Africa and the Middle East.
Laila is the protagonist of the novel “الباب المفتوح” (The Open Door) by Latifa Az'zayate, and symbolizes women who try to build an independent personality in their communities.
Bouthaina, writing in Arabic on My Sweet Home tells the story [Ar] of a woman to whom modern life seems to have brought little benefit. She writes:
I'm Citizen Like You!
A. C. Osama writing in Ana Wa al-Hayat [Ar] attacks what he sees as widespread sexual harassment against women in his society. He writes:
التحرش الجنسي جريمة.. جريمة يعاقب عليها القانون، ليس لدينا طبعا. بل في دول الشمال. هنا الأمر يختلف، و إن كان هناك بعض الوعي الذي بدأ في الانتشار، إلا أن المجرم الوحيد الذي يشار إليه بالأصابع إن حصل فعل التحرش، ليس سوى المرأة. على الأرجح أنتم تعرفون كيف يحصل ذلك، و إن حدث و أظهرت تضايقك من تصرف “السي السيد” فلن تجد جاوبا أكثر من “إنهن فتنة، يستدرجوننا.. أنظر إلى لباسها! عليهن اللعنة”.
صحيح أن هناك تيار، يريد إرجاعنا، دون وعي منا، إلى زمن كانت فيه المرأة يرى إليها كوسيلة إشباع لرغبات و نزوات الرجل. و هذا ما قد حصل فعلا، فبعد تطور نسبي عرفته مجتمعات بعض الدول العربية في النصف الثاني من القرن الماضي على مستوى التفكير و رؤية الأمور، ها هي الأشياء ترجع إلى أصلها. كل ما يبدو لنا من المرأة هو الجسد. و أول شيء نفكر فيه عند رأيتنا لها هو السرير!!
. الأمر مقرف لدرجة لا تتصور. رأفة بنفسي و بكم طبعا، سأختم الآن. لكن كنوع من التنفيس عن الذات اسمحوا لي بالقول: لعن الله الرجال!!
The issue of sexual harassment was also tackled by writer and blogger Mohamed Mouâd EL GORDE (Medmouad) who calls for more respect and courtesy toward women. He writes:
I owe to my mother who, after the prematured death of dad, sacrified herself to raise us & to have all we need & my maternal aunts who didn't marry just to take care of us & later of grandma. Education & ethics in which I believe came from them & thanking them won't be enough whatever I do. Those silly men should think twice.
I won't allow myself to harass [any woman]. Understand as you want, I try to be as gentelman as possible.
So, men, please: have a respect for women.
Another blogger, Issam, although supportive of Kolena Laila initiative, is skeptical [Ar] about the impact such initiatives can have. He writes:
دعونا الآن نفكر في الفئة التي ستقرأ هذا الكلام.. إنها غالبا فئة مثقفة مطلعة على المدونات والأنترنت.. هذه الفئة تفهم تماما أبعاد القضية وليست على الإطلاق هي الفئة التي تحتاج إلى تنوير في الموضوع. وحتى إن وجد من هو على هذا القدر من الثقافة ورأيه يخالف ما نتكلم عنه هنا، فإن أول رد فعل سيقوم به حينما يجد موضوعا عن المرأة وحقوقها هو أن يغلق الصفحة دون أن يخسر على الموضوع سوى كلمة واحدة: “هراء!”
أظن أن الصراخ المثقف، والندوات المثقفة، كعادة الثقافة دوما، أشياء تدور في حلقة مفرغة مثقفة بدورها. إن من يهين امرأته أو يضربها أو يتحرش بها لن تجده على الأرجح يتصفح هذه التدوينات أو يحضر الندوات أو يشارك في المهرجانات.
Hind Idrissi, writing on Hindapress [Ar], yearns for a time when, she says, men and women used to respect each other more. She writes:
إن ما تربينا عليه ووجدنا أجدادنا واباءنا وأمهاتنا عليه هو الاحترام المتبادل وليس اللكم المتبادل, إن من المعروف على المرأة العربية المسلمة عامة والمغربية خاصة هو احترام الزوج بل أن المرأة كانت تقبل يد زوجها احتراما له وهذا كان منتشرا في أجيال سابقة ومازال إلى يومنا هذا في بعض العائلات القليلة جدا ربما البعض سيقول هذه إهانة للمرأة لكن عندما يكون هناك المودة والاحترام المتبادل وعندما نرى البعد المعنوي لهذا التصرف لا يكون كذلك وبالمقابل يكون الزوج هو السند والأمان لها وفعلا في زمن مضى كان الرجل أكثر احتراما لزوجته والعكس صحيح .
Blogger Heebou goes on denouncing a certain mindset [Ar] that he sees prevalent against all Lailas or independent-minded women. He writes:
ما ننسى أنها حملتنا ,أنجبتنا ,أرضعتنا وربتنا فقط لنرفع صوتنا في وجهها كنا صغارا وحتى صرنا كبارا نجدها بقربنا أيام المرض نشفى فنعذبها حتى نسقطها أرضا ولا ننسى تشطيبها من الوجود فقط لأنها ليلى.
Blogger Marrokia [Ar] who wears the Islamic veil or Hijab, defends her choice of a conservative lifestyle. She writes:
هكذا أريد أن أعيش لأني اتخذت ما هو صائب: حجابي تاجي وجسمي ملكي وعقلي حريتي. بكل بساطة هذا قراري
Finally Naoufel explains [Ar] why in his view some assumptions need to be challenged. He writes:
.. فقط سأحتفظ بمقولة أن الاسلام كرم المرأة.. ثم أضيف: هل كرمها المسلمون أيضا؟ ان كنت ستهز رأسك ايجابا.. فتعال أكرمك أنا أيضا.. أمنحك حيضا و نفاسا و جنينا يعيش في بطنك لتسعة شهور و أسجنك في البيت ما حييت و اذا تسامحت معك و حدث ان خرجت فالبس النقاب، ثم في الأخير أمنحك نصف ما أخذه أخوك من الارث.. ها قد كرمتك
الديمقراطية هي الحل
Democracy is the solution.
Kolena Laila celebrated its fourth anniversary, and whilst some have been questioning the point behind such initiatives, the organizers claim that it has already reached its main goal: opening up spaces of debate throughout the Arab world. The campaign was held from December 24 to 31.

author: Hisham Almiraat