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Decisive Moment for Pro-Immigration Movement in the United States · Global Voices
Robert Valencia

This post is part of our series on Latin America: Migrant Journeys in collaboration with The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA). Stay tuned for more articles and podcasts.
It has been almost 30 years since the U.S. pro-immigration movement has gotten so close to witnessing the passage of comprehensive legislation. The immigration bill that has been circling the Senate since the start of 2013 cleared a hurdle when the border security amendment passed with a vote of 67-27 on June 24.
On June 27, a vote of 68-32 in the Senate backed immigration reform, a level of support that has not been seen since the 1986 law that legalized three million people. Now, the House of Representatives must decide whether it supports the Senate’s decision.
The 2013 immigration bill seeks to create a roadmap for citizenship while strengthening border security and raising the cap on visas for high-skilled workers. It also intends to establish a new visa program for low-skilled workers on America's farms and elsewhere.
Pro-immigration rally. Photo by Anuska Sampedro (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
In 1986, then-President Ronald Reagan signed an immigration law that very much resembles that of the “Gang of Eight's”: tighter security border, strict rules over hiring undocumented workers, and the opportunity for those who entered the country without authorization to legalize their status.
A major difference between the two immigration proposals is that President Reagan considered the 1986 measure an “amnesty” to millions of undocumented people. Twenty-seven years later, “amnesty” is the term immigration advocates want to avoid at all costs, given the negative connotation Republicans have given the word. Rather, the word “legalization” seems to be accepted.
Nevertheless, one of the most controversial parts of the immigration bill also managed to be passed on June 26, when the Senate agreed to double the number of officers on the United States’ border with Mexico, despite the fact that the flow of immigrants to the United States has dropped considerably as a result of economic problems that the country has faced since the recession of 2008.
In fact, Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner (R-OH) has promised that the immigration issue will not be resolved quickly and explained that said reform could be prolonged until next year.
InmigranteTV [es] says that despite the obstacle that the House of Representatives could present, it does not downplay the Senate’s approval:
No es que el voto del Senado carezca de importancia. Para empezar, con su aprobación por 68 votos a favor y 32 en contra, la propuesta del “Grupo de los Ocho” -cuatro senadores republicanos y cuatro demócratas- logró ya llegar más lejos en el intrincado camino legislativo que ninguna iniciativa migratoria desde la que lograra convertir en ley Ronald Reagan en 1986.Y lo hizo además con un nada desdeñable apoyo republicano: 14 senadores conservadores que con su voto favorable enviaron un importante mensaje de bipartidismo a sus compañeros de bancada en la Cámara Baja
It is not that the Senate vote lacks importance. For starters, as it passed with a vote of 68 in favor and 32 against, the Group of 8—four Republican and four Democratic senators—proposal managed to go further down the intricate legislative path than any immigration initiative since the one that Ronald Reagan turned to law in 1986. And he did it, furthermore, with far from negligible Republican support: 14 conservative senators who, with their vote in favor, sent an important bipartisan message to their legislator colleagues in the Lower House.
For immigrants, the week of June 27 was full of important moments. Specifically, the U.S. Supreme Court voted to send the case of Fisher v. University of Texas back to the Fifth Circuit Court for further review. The case had challenged affirmative action in acceptance policies that allow universities to consider racial and ethnic diversity as one factor for admission. While the court did encourage further scrutiny of these policies, their decision does maintain these programs for increasing diversity in higher education.
On Twitter, members of Congress as well as ordinary people and media personalities share their opinions before Washington’s decision.
Florida Republican representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (@RosLehtinen) said the following
@RosLehtinen: Nuestro sistema de inmigracion no funciona. La #reforma apoyará a las familias y traerá empleos. http://1.usa.gov/14duCQo
@RosLehtinen [es]: Our immigration system does not work. The #reform will support families and create jobs.http://1.usa.gov/14duCQo
Still, some are skeptical of the Republicans’ intentions to improve immigration reform, like Alonso Credes (@alcredes), who responded to Ros-Lehtinen with the following tweet:
@alcredes: @RosLehtinen pues convenza a los miembros de su partido no a los demas…
@alcredes [es]: @RosLehtinen then convince the members of your party not everyone else…
According to an article published in Politico, Representative Filemon Vela (D-TX) resigned from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on July 2 in an apparent protest over the coalition’s embrace of the Senate’s immigration bill, which includes an unprecedented increase in security measures, including about 20,000 in new agents to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border. A day later, he wrote the following in his Twitter account:
@RepFilemonVela: I am committed to immigration reform. I believe it is the primary domestic issue facing this nation http://tl.gd/n_1rl5gno
Representative Vela linked to his statement on the reform bill in which he outlines his opposition to the legislation. He explains that the border security measures only increase the environment of fear between nations, and is an irresponsible use of government funds, especially following sequestrations that have cut so many valuable services.
Finally, Luis Carlos Vélez (@lcvelez) claimed that the law opens the path to legalization:
@lcvelez: Senado de #EEUU aprueba cambio de leyes de inmigración lo que abre la puerta a la ciudadanía para millones de inmigrantes indocumentados
@lcvelez: The #US Senate approves change to immigration laws, which opens the door to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants
Undoubtedly, the pro-immigration movement has come very far to bring a broken immigration system to the glaring national spotlight while calling on legislators to overhaul it. Despite clearing a hurdle on the Senate floor, it is likely that the bill will die on the House of Representatives at the hands of Republicans. This, in turn, will predict an ongoing fight to legalize millions of  immigrants who want to call America home

author: Robert Valencia


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‘E-Christians’ Reject New US Ambassador to Spain for Being Gay · Global Voices
Lourdes Sada

The new American ambassador to Spain has been announced: James Costos. The new ambassador, who holds a degree in Political Science, has three traits that stand out: he is a top executive of the television production company HBO, a strong defender of animals — a member of the HSUS organization, dedicated to the condemnation of animal cruelty — and is openly gay.
He is also a relentless persecutor of piracy, opposes bullfighting, and is a prominent activist of the LGBT cause.
According to the online newspaper 20 minutos [es], during Obama's presidential campaign, Costos — whose title was announced on June 15, 2013 — and his renowned decorator spouse Michael Smith:
James Costos (left), US ambassador to Spain, and his spouse, Michael Smith. Photo from the blog Anotaciones de Pensamiento y Crítica.
(…) recaudaron más de 3,5 millones de dólares para la campaña de Obama entre 2011 y 2012, cuando prestaron el lujoso ático que poseen en Manhattan (Nueva York) y la gigantesca mansión que comparten en Los Ángeles (California) para varios actos de recaudación de fondos.
Some are of the opinion that his nomination could be a reward for his donated favors during the presidential campaign, but others allege that his nomination is due to pressure from the Hollywood lobby, which views with concern the frequently discussed [es] amount of piracy in Spain.
What does seem clear is that Costos has been entrusted with a country in which being homosexual should not be a serious problem. In fact, the gay community is well-integrated in Spain, and according to a report from the Pew Research organization, 88 percent of the population considers that it must be a fact accepted by society. Same-sex marriage has been legal since 2005, being the third country in the world that approved it, after the Netherlands and Belgium.
However, even though the nomination of Costos has been announced without fanfare in the Spanish political scene, there is an organization that is completely against his appointment: E-Christians, an ultra-Catholic website of Catalan origin, has been especially critical of the American government for sending Costos to Spain.  They have gone so far as to start a petition [es] to urge the Spanish ministry of Foreign Affairs, José M. García-Margallo, “to not give blessing” to the new US ambassador to Spain”, which is to say, to reject Costos as ambassador. According to the text shown when signing the petition:
El Sr. Costos y su pareja son promotores del homosexualismo político en aquel país [EE.UU.] y ha sido nombrado por esta razón. Su presencia significa la voluntad de intromisión en la política interior española para promover el homosexualismo político, un hecho inaceptable desde el punto de vista de la neutralidad formal que debe poseer toda representación diplomática.
E-Christians is a website founded in 2001 by Josep Miró i Ardèvol [es], member of the Convergència i Unió party, former agricultural advisor of the autonomous Catalan government, and former city councilman for Barcelona. According to the newspaper El Plural [es],
Josep Miró y Ardèvol, president of E-Christians. Photo from the blog El Trastevere.
[E-Cristians] defiende los valores de la Iglesia y se opone al matrimonio homosexual o al aborto. Defiende que la crisis actual está causada por la pérdida de los valores cristianos y de la aceptación por la sociedad de la homosexualidad y la interrupción del embarazo.
Carlos Gil Fernández [es] commented on this article:
Nunca pensé que en mi vida iba a decir esto: me empieza a caer bien el Embajador de los EE.UU. Quién me ha visto y quién me ve, todo por culpa de los fachas ultracatólicos.
Rafael90 [es] mentioned on the website menéame:
Ultracatólicos en puestos de gran poder político–>
Homosexuales en puestos menos importantes (embajador)–>
On the Internet, the majority of the comments went against the claims of the E-Christians. On Twitter, some users succinctly expressed their anger and clear rejection of this initiative and its promotors: “Can this be more silly?” (marian/@marianMasoto54 [es]); “Disgust for radical Catholics” (Sergio – 3ªRepública/@sergiofdezp [es]); “You can never cure stupidity” (AGP/@agonzalezpac [es]); “Moron coming to attack!!” (Moisés Prieto/@MoissPrieto [es]); “Well, well, well. This is respect” (Ernesto S. Pombo/@espombo [es]).
Other Twitter users were more explicit, such as Carlos Saenz Eíriz [es] and jm renye [ca]:
@cseiriz: elplural.com/… DE QUÉ VAN ESTOS Srs ? PÓNGALOS YA EN SU SITIO Y QUE HAGAN PROSELITISMO EN SUS IGLESIAS….SI LES DEJAN.
@JmRenye: Que es dediquin a netejar la merda que tenen a casa seva i deixin als demes en pau.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Lourdes Sada


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Egypt’s “People’s Revolution” in the Eyes of Russians · Global Voices
Daniel Alan Kennedy

The protests that have rocked Turkey, Brazil and Bulgaria this summer have finally spilled into Egypt, where massive demonstrations against the Islamist policies of President Mohamed Morsi have led to a second revolution or a cynical military coup (depending on who you ask). Morsi was ousted and arrested, the constitution suspended, and the liberal Mohamed ElBaradei has been appointed interim prime minister. Morsi's supporters, many of them members of the Muslim Brotherhood, clashed with police and anti-Morsi protesters, leading to widespread civil unrest with at least 30 deaths and over 1000 injuries. With the unrest showing no signs of abating, on July 7, 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Egypt was on the road to civil war.
A small rally heading to Tahrir square to join the protests against President Morsi. By Zeinab Mohamed CC 2.0
As with past protests [GV] in the region, Russians have been actively following the events in Egypt. Many take a positive view of the army's actions in removing Morsi, or entirely elude references to the military, viewing the proceedings as a people's revolution. For example, Kirill Goncharov [ru], a Moscow student involved in youth politics, was particularly impressed with what he saw as the non-hierarchical nature of Morsi's removal, writing on his facebook [ru]:
Самое крутое в Египте, что там не было никакого координационного совета оппозиции. Люди просто взяли власть в свои руки, без всяких лидеров.
The coolest thing about Egypt is that there was no “Coordinating Council of the Opposition [GV]” there. People simply took power into their own hands, without any leaders.
This view was seen as naive by others. One user [ru] replied laconically:
Люди в погонах просто взяли власть в свои руки, да.
People in uniform simply took power into their own hands all right.
Alexander Ivanov [ru], a self-identified Communist, was also in favor of what he referred to as “the revolution” and hit back [ru] at suggestions the army was not acting in the people's interests:
ну армия у арабов вообще очень важное место занимает. Тем более, что они поддерживают народ. Посмотрим что будет происходить.
well in the Arab world, the army occupies a very important position. In addition, it supports the common people. We'll see what will happen.
Some Russian liberals like journalist Dmitri Bavyrin [ru] also had no problem [ru] with the removal of a democratically elected president, as long as that president was an Islamist. Bavyrin bitingly argued that Islamism was antithetical to the childish “hipsters” who started the first revolution, but eventually lost control of the democratic process:
Победил исламист и стал работать в пользу исламистов, что в корне противоречило хипстерскому пониманию демократии. Хипстеры опять вышли на улицы – и вот тут, наконец, военным всё надоело. Военные отобрали демократию… потому что либо демократия, либо эль-Барадеи, но не всё сразу. Люблю военных.
An Islamist won and started to work to the benefit of Islamists, who contradict the basic hipster understanding of democracy. The hipsters once again took to the streets and that's where the military got sick of it all. The military took away democracy… because you can either have democracy or ElBaradei, but not both at once. I like the military.
The views of Bavyrin and Ivanov were echoed by Anton Kapshuk [ru], a rock musician and Communist, who wished his “Egyptian comrades” success [ru] in their endeavor:
[Мурси] не стал добиваться улучшения жизни народа. Цели Революции тогда, так и не исполнились. Вместо этого началась исламизация страны. Это вызвало массовые протесты. Была принята исламская конституция, которую назвать демократичной никак нельзя. Стало понятно что дни Мурси сочтены.
Главную роль в революциях обычно играют военные. Пока солдаты не перейдут на сторону повстанцев, свержение строя маловероятно. Тогда, во время прошлой Революции, решающую роль сыграли военные. Тоже самое случилось и в этот раз. Переворот совершён. Исламисты от власти отстранены и даже многие из них арестованы. Военные обещают новые демократические выборы.
[Mursi] didn't work to improve the lives of the people. The aims of the Revolution were not realized at that time. Instead, the country began to be Islamicised. This brought about massive protests. An Islamic constitution was adopted, which could in no way be called democratic. It was obvious Morsi's days were numbered.
The main role in revolutions is often played by the military. If the soldiers don't go over to the side of the uprising, the overthrow of the [old] order is unlikely. During the previous Revolution the deciding role was played by the military. The same happened this time. The overthrow is complete. The Islamists were removed from power and many even arrested. The military has promised new democratic elections.
Others were less optimistic. Blogger Aleksandr Chernokozov [ru] believes that Morsi's removal was attributable to “the virus of revolution” that had taken hold in Egypt since Mubarak's ouster and that what was happening called to mind “the start of a civil war” [ru]. Writing on his LiveJournal, Chernokozov warned:
Уже арестованы лидеры «Братьев-мусульман». Есть информация, что в списках на арест — сотни, а по некоторым данным тысячи активных участников движения. «Братья-мусульмане» серьезно готовятся к акциям протеста. Похоже, самая массовая из них уже начинается. Самое главное здесь то, что все они готовы пожертвовать жизнью…
The leaders of the “Muslim Brotherhood” have already been arrested. There are reports that the list of those arrested reaches hundreds, and according to some, thousands of active participants in the movement. The “Muslim Brotherhood” is seriously preparing itself for protest actions. Indeed, the biggest one of these actions is already starting. The most important factor here is that they're prepared to sacrifice their lives…
Twitter user Aleksandr Barbashov seemed to be one of the few RuNet bloggers to respect democratic institutions, tweeting [ru]
Хоть исламист Мурси мне и не нравится, но он был ЗАКОННО избранным президентом! Опасный для себя прецедент создают египтяне. #Египет
I don't like the Islamist Morsi either, but he was a LEGITIMATELY elected president! This is a dangerous precedent for Egyptians to set for themselves. #Egypt
Morsi's removal by the military speaks to the failure of formal politics in Egypt. Weak democratic structures, a highly polarized electorate and an entrenched military elite meant such an outcome was probably sadly unavoidable. While Russia's hard-left opposition usually makes no secret that it views parliamentary democracy as a sham, the fact that many of Russia's self-professed liberals approve of such a coup speaks to the failure of a genuine liberal tradition in Russia.

author: Daniel Alan Kennedy


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Former Fukushima Plant Manager Passes Away · Global Voices
Keiko Tanaka

Masao Yoshida, the manager at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant at the time of the accident in Japan, died on July 9, 2013. He had esophageal cancer. Many people expressed condolences on social media, and EX-SKF blog translated more details on Yoshida's unfulfilled dream to speak for workers and stabilize the plant.

author: Keiko Tanaka


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Global Voices Launches Partnership with North American Congress on Latin America · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Global Voices and the North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA) have launched a new partnership that will combine Global Voices’ focus on citizen media and NACLA’s analysis and expertise to bring our readers original, in-depth coverage about the region.
NACLA, founded in 1966, is an independent, nonprofit organization that seeks to “foster knowledge beyond borders” by providing information and analysis on Latin America and its complex relationship with the United States:
“We believe that knowledge is essential for change, so we use a unique combination of information/media activism and popular education to provide people the tools they need to understand the world in order to change it”
Every month, GV and NACLA authors will work together to provide content related to a specific topic. A podcast with interviews, analysis, and additional reporting on the issues analyzed in the posts will be available at the end of the month.
Migrant Journeys
We begin our partnership with the theme “Migrant Journeys.” In July we will be covering a wide range of issues related to migration: from the immigration bill that is currently being discussed in the United States Congress, to the human stories behind migrants’ dangerous trek north through Central America and Mexico.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Immigrants on U.S Immigration Reform · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

As usual, the one thing the media aren’t covering is what the immigrants themselves think about immigration reform.
In Upside Down World, David L. Wilson writes about a meeting held in New York where activists -some from Mexico and Central America- discussed “the forces that drive people out of their own countries and the suffering they experience both during their flight to the United States and once they arrive here.”


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Journalist Sued for Comparing Tajik ‘Intelligentsia’ to Excrement · Global Voices
Chris Rickleton

Tajikistan's state-approved ‘intelligentsia’ is showing itself to be more thin-skinned than intelligent. Members of pro-government intellectual circles are currently suing a journalist at an independent news agency for quoting and concurring with Lenin's disapproving view of public intellectuals in an opinion column.
People in Tajikistan have mixed feelings regarding their Soviet past, but these feelings, whether good or bad, rarely lead to court cases. Yet Olga Tutubalina, an editor and columnist of Asia-Plus, one of Tajikistan's few genuinely independent media outlets, is facing a rather serious lawsuit for quoting [ru] the first leader of the Soviet Union in a post titled «Неинтеллигентно об интеллигенции» (‘The Intelligentsia's Unintelligence’) [ru]:
«Интеллигенция – это не мозг нации, это ее говно». Так говорил вождь мирового пролетариата Владимир Ленин, так хочется сказать и мне, читая новости о возвращении на родину поэта Бозора Собира…
“The intelligentsia is not the ‘brain of nation’, it is its shit”. This is what the chief of the world proletariat Vladimir Lenin said, and this is what I want to say reading news about the return of poet Bozor Sobir to his homeland…
Bozor Sobir is a well-known Tajik poet who was among the founders of the country's pro-democracy movement in the early 1990s. In 1993, at the height of the civil war in the country, he moved to Russia and later received refugee status in the US, where he lived for nearly two decades.
In his rare interviews, Bozor Sobir criticized Tajikistan's intelligentsia for praising the authorities and offering no independent opinion about the problems confronting the nation. In a 2008 interview, the poet expressed [ru] his disappointment with modern Tajikistan:
Моей родиной был Советский Таджикистан. В нынешнем Таджикистане я не жил и не чувствую, что это моя родина…
My homeland was Soviet Tajikistan. I haven't lived in today's Tajikistan and I don't feel that it is my homeland…
Given the poet's previous views on the subject, his return to Tajikistan was surprising for many Tajiks. In an interview with state owned TV channels, Sobir said [ru] that he had accepted an invitation from Tajik President Emomali Rahmon to ‘stay forever’. He also added his bewilderment at why a country as small as Tajikistan needed so many political parties, and expressed his gratitude to Rahmon, with whom he said [ru] he had a ‘warm and sincere conversation’.
These statements were put into context when Asia-Plus reported [ru] that the poet was to receive an apartment and benefits from the state, news that has damaged the poet's reputation in the eyes of many Tajiks.
In her blog post Olga Tutubalina expressed [ru] her disappointment with the poet:
Вот так вот быстро и без особых церемоний «переобулся» некогда известный демократ и революционер, а ныне, по всей видимости, уже глашатай воли руководства страны.
In such a free and easy manner, the once famous democrat and revolutionary, now the apparent flag bearer of the government's will has “changed his shoes”.
Tutubalina then wrote [ru] that while Bozor Sobir is ‘the least expected’ representative of the intelligentsia type ‘so accurately described by Lenin’, he is far from alone in toadying to the country's autocratic president:
О чем только говорят эти постыдные встречи интеллигенции с главой государства, на которых говорит только Рахмон, а представители этой так называемой совести нации в лучшем случае молчат, смиренно потупив взор, в худшем – начинают попрошайничать.
What to say of these embaressing meetings the intelligentsia has with the head of state, wherein Rahmon does all the talking and the representatives of the so-called conscience of the nation maintain a silence, dropping their gaze submissively at best, and in the worst cases – start begging [the President]
Some commentators on the Asia-Plus blog expressed solidarity with the author. A user named Али Бедаки [Ali Bedaki] wrote [ru]:
Ольга,нет слов…вы написали то что думаю я и не только я поверьте.спасибо!!!
Olga, I have no words to say… you wrote what I think and not just me, believe me. Thank you!!!
However, not everyone agreed with this harsh critique of the ‘conscience of the nation’ and Bozor Sobir in particular. Алкос Шарифзода [Alkos Sharifzoda] defended [ru] the poet:
Каждому человеку хочется жить у себя на родине. Я рада тому что Эмомали Рахмон вернул нашего Великого писателя Бозор Собира на родину. Он высказал своё мнение по поводу партий и как бы там не было я его поддерживаю. Не вам Ольга решать кому возвращаться а кому нет. Мы народ хотим чтобы Он жил среди Нас. Мы любим Его…
Every person wants to live in his homeland. I am glad that Emomali Rahmon has brought back our Great writer Bozor Sobir. He [Bozor Sobir] expressed his opinion about parties and whatever he says, I support him. It's not for you to decide who is to come back and who is not, Olga. We, the people, want Him to live among Us. We love Him…
But things started to take a much more serious turn when Mekhmon Bakhti, the chairman of the Tajik writers union said [ru] in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Tajik service that more than ten creative associations plan to file a law suit against Olga Tutubalina. He also added that she could have avoided this if she had addressed the quote only to Bozor Sobir rather than the ‘intellligentsia’ at large. In a probable reference to Tatubalina's Russian ethnicity he added: “To live in a country and feel hatred towards its people is deplorable.” The chair of the writers union also advised Olga to be grateful that she lives in such a democratic country:
за такие слова в таких странах, как Грузия, Армения, Казахстан или Россия, с такого журналиста «содрали бы кожу»
In countries like Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan or Russia, a journalist like this would be “scalped” for such words
Barzu Aburazzokov, a Tajik stage director, thinks [ru] that the case launched by the various creative associations represents a political order from above. Interviewed by RFE/RL's Tajik service he noted that this same ‘intelligentsia’ said nothing “for the last 20 years in the face of electricity and water shortages…dead labour migrants, arrests of successful entrepreneurs, and thousands of other problems for the population.”
This demotivator shared on the public facebook group Platforma by the user Умный Бизнес (Clever Business) posits that society is ‘for’ Tutubalina and ‘against’ the state-puppeteered intelligentsia.
The lawsuit could cost Tutubalina and the Asia-Plus news agency up to 50,000 US dollars plus confiscation of property if one of Tajikistan's judges – not known for their independence – sides with the creative associations initiating the case.
The face-off between Tutubalina and the ‘intelligentsia’ has already generated plenty of discussion on ПЛАТФОРМА [platforma] the largest public facebook group dedicated to discussions of political and social issues in Tajikistan. Bakhtiyor Sattori, who was stabbed in February of this year – supposedly for his criticism of the government – commented [ru]:
Лучше бы отозвали свой иск – позор будет громкий и все их прошлые дела затмит вот этот позорный иск. Неужели они не могут просчитать на 2 хода вперёд, интеллигенты?
They should withdraw the suit – the shame will be loud and anything they have done in the past will be overshadowed by this shameful suit. Why can't these representatives of intelligentsia look 2 moves ahead?
Ораш [Orash], however, was surprised [ru] by the support of Tutubalina:
Удивляюсь сторонникам Тутубалиной для которых неизвестны такие понятия как национальная гордость. … Ольга если вы оскорбили интеллигенцию то вы оскорбили всю нацию и это не клевета…
I am surprised by supporters of Tutubalina, who have no concept of national dignity… Olga, insulting intelligentsia means to insult the whole nation and that is more than libel.
Tutubalina, meanwhile is considering [ru] counter-suing for libel in relation to the accusations of ‘hostility towards Tajik nation’ brought up by Mekhmon Bakhti in his interview. Nevertheless, the odds seem stacked against Tutubalina and Asia-Plus, a very different ‘conscience’ in a nation enduring a prolonged period of political repression [see GV Tajikistan archive].
N.B An amusing side note in this tense confrontation between Tutubalina and the creative associations is the fact that the lawsuit's initiators went to the pains of finding [ru] a definition of ‘shit’ in order to prove the defamatory character of the word. This was the definition they found:
Согласно толковому словарю значение слова говно в совокупности со словосочетанием интеллигенция имеет следующее значение и восприятие читателей, как
Говно: (неисчисляемое существительное) разные вещи, особенно ненужные, глупые, нехорошие вещи или принадлежащие неприятному человеку. Например: Забирай свое говно из моего гаража!
According to the glossary, the meaning of the word ‘shit’ in connection with ‘intelligentsia’ has the following meaning for [the average] reader.
Shit: (uncountable noun) different things, especially unwanted, stupid, bad things or the belongings of an unpleasant man. For example: Take your shit our of my garage!
This post is part of the GV Central Asia Interns Project at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

author: Chris Rickleton


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Mafia Hukum, the Law Mafia in Indonesia · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Indonesia Law Online tackles Mafia Hukum or Law Mafia in Indonesia and the campaign to end corruption in the judiciary :
Mafia Hukum, the Indonesian term for the blocks of lawyers, judges, police, and other law professionals who lock up practical access to law in many jurisdictions.

author: Mong Palatino


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Mozambique: Tax Justice Campaign · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Tax Justice campaign video, by Action Aid
Between 2003 and 2011, tax incentives given by the Mozambican government to mega-projects in the country have cost around 163,701,400 US dollars each year to the public coffers, Action Aid Mozambique reports on its recently launched Tax Justice campaign [pt].

author: Sara Moreira


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Pulling Back on Police Powers in Jamaica?   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaica's take on this year's Blog Action Day dealt with the issue of extra judicial killings and police brutality – fairly common occurrences in the country, at least judging from the online community's huge response to the event.
If nothing else, the initiative sparked intelligent discussion about the topic, especially against the backdrop of the third anniversary of the invasion of Tivoli Gardens, the steep death toll of many of its residents at the hands of state security forces and the country's resulting state of emergency.  But now, one of the bloggers who organised JA Blog Day (Active Voice's Annie Paul) is reporting on what the police can't do, thanks to a recent judicial ruling:
In Jamaica its so normal for the police to stop your car and search it if they want that the ruling of a judge saying there is no legal basis for such police action comes as a thunderclap. According to Barbara Gayle, writing in the Gleaner:
A Supreme Court judge has ruled that the police have no power, under the Road Traffic Act, to arbitrarily stop and search motor vehicles, opening the door for a flood of lawsuits.
The police have repeatedly argued that the law gives them the power to stop and search vehicles, and that this has resulted in the apprehension of criminals, the recovery of stolen vehicles and stolen farm produce.
But Justice David Batts says the police are abusing this power.
Batts made the ruling when he ordered the Government to pay $2.8 million in damages to a motorist who was assaulted by the police when he was stopped in St Catherine in May 2007.
Paul continues:
The judge’s statement has been refuted by the Police Commissioner who insists that the Police do have the power to stop and search members of the public. On the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Facebook Page the laws as the Police understand them are set out:
Police Powers to Stop and Search
by Jamaica Constabulary Force (Notes) on Monday, 1 July 2013 at 20:07.
The statement refers to the judge's ruling, noting that his “remarks will be examined by the High Command, to determine whether they have implications for how personnel operate on the front line.”  It also reminds the Jamaican public about “powers given to the Police to conduct stop and search operations as part of their effort to control criminal activities, especially in instances where public thoroughfares are used”, their broad powers to stop and search vehicles and their occupants as well as their rights to stop and search for firearms, just to name a few.  The blog post continues:
By a startling coincidence, the very day after this was made clear to the public the Police stopped a van on the North Coast of Jamaica and found that it was stuffed with lethal weapons, allegedly imported from Haiti. This reinforces the rationale for giving police such extra-judicial powers, a move supported by many citizens on the grounds of security. The problem is that there seem to be no checks and balances for the many occasions on which the police abuse these powers.
As far as the legal ruling goes, Active Voice notes that:
[The] move to police the police, has not gone unnoticed and unappreciated by those of us who demand that the wanton killing and maiming of innocent citizens by the Police be stopped forthwith.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Saudi Families of Detainees Mark ‘Third Detainees Day’ · Global Voices
Guest Contributor

Families of Saudi detainees marked the Third Detainees Day to protest the arbitrary detention of their loved ones, who have been behind bars for years without access to a fair trial. The day, on July 7, was called for by anonymous advocacy groups @e3teqal [arrest] and @almonaseron [the supporters].
Saudi Arabia is one of the few remaining absolute monarchies in the world and has a devastating human rights record which includes arbitrarily detaining over 30,000 people.
Across the kingdom, families of detainees hung pictures and signs demanding the release of their relatives. They made videos and distributed flyers to publicize the cause. Unlike the first and second detainees day, this time bridges were guarded by security forces to make sure no one hangs signs on them. Also, walls that had any sort of expressions demanding the release of the prisoners were painted right away.
The family that got the most attention was that of Abdullah Al-Ayaf. Al-Ayaf has been in jail for six years now. He was tried and acquitted, but he still remains in jail. His picture was hung outside their home in Qassim.
The house was soon surrounded by police and Mabahith (secret police) cars. A member of the Mabahith talked to Maha Al-Dhuhaian – Al-Ayaf's wife – during the day and cursed her. Later, a police officer came to talk to her demanding the photograph be taken down. She told him about the Mabahith member.
“I don't think any member of the security forces would say those things,” the officer replies. “That sign is the only reason we're here in the first place, it's better you take it down,” he adds.
“The sign means I want my husband back. Don't send me your thugs. The sign is staying,” she tells him.
The conversation was being videotaped by Yasser, Al-Dhuhaian and Al-Ayaf's son. The officer asks him if he is shooting and Yasser answers “Yes, I am.” The officer makes an immediate phone call while the mother tells him “are you calling about my son? Don't. I told him to shoot this.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en&client=mv-google&v=eKDgJGYZdkc
As soon as the video was uploaded to YouTube, it went viral. Saudi tweeps started a hashtag demanding that Mabahith member be held accountable for slander.
At dawn, police officers threatened Saleh,Yasser's brother, saying they would crash his cars if he doesn't give them Yasser's ID.
Maha Al-Dhuhaian tweeted:
@cczz1000: الناس في صلاة الفجر تذكر الله ورجال الشرطة عند بابنا يطالبون تسليم ابنائي لهم والا سيعدم سيارتنا ..اي امن يتحدثون عنه حسبي الله وكفى
People are performing dawn prayers while police are at my door demanding I hand in my sons or they will crash our car. What security are they talking about?
The next day, July 8, police came to surround the house again demanding the family hands in the son who shot the video. At the same time, an employee from the ministry of interior called the family asking them to delete the video and promising they will get what the want.
The last time I spoke to Yasser, he told me:
“My father will be released sooner or later. I'm not doing this for my father. I'm not a hero, but the path is dark. And so, if we do not burn, who else will light the way?”

author: Guest Contributor


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The “Fair” Factor in Bangladesh · Global Voices
Rezwan

Aziza Ahmed writes about the Bangladeshi social prejudice on dark-skinned girls in matrimonial affairs.

author: Rezwan


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Venezuela’s President Offers Asylum to Edward Snowden · Global Voices
Aglaia Berlutti

This is part of our special coverage Snowden: The US is Watching You
The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, offered humanitarian asylum to Edward Snowden, former contractor at the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) who leaked classified information about mass surveillance programs in the United States and the Great Britain.
Snowden, charged with espionage and property theft by the United States government, is currently on Russian territory, where he is attempting to avoid extradition to American soil.
Maduro's offer comes at a complicated diplomatic moment: UNASUR (Union of South American Nations) demanded an apology from Europe due to the incident suffered by Evo Morales, during which various countries closed their airspace to the Bolivian leader based on suspicions that he was transporting Snowden.
In events leading up to the military parade that celebrated 202 years since the signing of the Venezuelan declaration of independence on Friday, July 5, President Maduro stated [es] that, “As leader of the State and Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, I have decided to offer humanitarian asylum to the American young man, Snowden.”
Maduro explained that Venezuela is offering the measure to Snowden to “protect him from the persecution that has been unleashed from the most powerful empire in the world against a young man who has told the truth”.
A day later, the Venezuelan president confirmed his intention via Twitter (@NicolasMaduro) [es]:
@NicolasMaduro: Ratifico el espíritu humanitario de conceder el asilo al joven estadounidense Snowden para protegerlo de la persecución mundial del imperio.
@NicolasMaduro: I confirm the humanitarian spirit of granting asylum to Snowden, the young American, to protect him from the empire's global persecution.
President Maduro had mentioned the possibility of welcoming Snowden on various occasions, but this is the first time he has done it openly and directly.
Despite the controversy, the United States government declined to make comments regarding the Venezuelan president's offer. According to Reuters [es], the White house has not released an opinion on the issue and referred questions to the country's Department of Justice.
Nevertheless, on Sunday, July 7, a group of U.S. Congress members established their position on Snowden's possible political asylum, stating that: “Whatever country offers asylum to Edward Snowden, who leaked data from the National Security Agency's (NSA) surveillance program, will set itself against the United States.”
The announcement [es] appears to be a direct response to statements made by Venezuela and Bolivia to grant the humanitarian measure to the former U.S. contractor.
Nonetheless, despite the Venezuelan president's offer, on Monday, July 7, Edward Snowden requested political asylum from Nicaragua through a letter, information that was confirmed directly by the government of the Central American country.
“I, Edward Snowden, citizen of the United States, am writing to request asylum from the Republic of Nicaragua due to the risk of being persecuted by the Government and its agents,” he explains in the letter, dated June 30, 2013. In it, Snowden also explains the consequences that he can suffer after revealing the United States’ secret electronic surveillance program, which he fears could result in the Espionage Act of 1917 being applied against him. If found guilty under this U.S. law, Snowden could be sentenced to life in prison.
Photo by -lucky cat- on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
It is worth highlighting that the request for asylum – or the offer that President Maduro made – is duly stipulated in Venezuelan legislation in the Organic Law on Refugees or Refugees and Asylum-seekers (published in Official Gazette No. 37,296 dated 03 October 2001).
The debate on social networks
The offer of asylum to the former NSA contractor on behalf of President Maduro has sparked a heated debate in Venezuela between those who support the government's position with respect to asylum and those who criticize it by considering it unnecessary and merely political. Above all, the offer seemed to intensify the political confrontation between both countries and it is reflected as such on social networks.
On the forum “Aporrea,” which tends to be pro-government, Maduro's decision is supported almost unanimously. Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa's position is also praised [es]:
rararoadrunner (Foro Aporrea): ¿Será necesario que UNASUR envie una escuadrilla, compuesta por un avión de cada país, para acompañar a Edward Snowden de Moscú a su país? A ver: lo que vemos ahora es que usted encarna la gloria al bravo pueblo, un ejemplo para tod@s! ¡Vivan los Estados independientes de América, el sueño del Libertador, Simón Bolívar!
rararoadrunner (Foro Aporrea): Will it be necessary for UNASUR to send a squadron, composed of a plane in every country, to accompany Edward Snowden from Moscow to their country? Let's see: what we see now is that you embody glory to the brave people, an example for everyone! Long live the independent States of America, the dream of the Liberator Simón Bolívar!
Deuteros (Foro Aporrea): Ecuador está mostrando una actitud bastante valiente y digna en este asunto; Rafael Correa es un gran ejemplo de líder. Esperemos que Rusia asuma una postura más frontal respecto a Snowden.”
Deuteros (Foro Aporrea): Ecuador is showing quite a brave and dignified attitude towards this issue; Rafael Correa is a great example of a leader. We hope that Russia assume a more head-on position with respect to Snowden.”
Even so, pro-government political analyst Nicmer Evans criticizes the governmental offer on his blog [es]:
Lo más interesante del caso es que el ser de la CIA o haberlo sido ahora es tan “chic” que nuestro país no podía quedarse atrás en tener su propio ex agente delator, y hemos corrido a ofrecer asilo a el exCia más cotizado del mercado: Snowden, que como una estrella del pop está siendo debatido por muchos países en cuanto a quien ofrece el mejor asilo en solidaridad con quien hasta hace poco era el responsable de que todos estuviésemos pinchados por los gringos a través de Prism, y hoy es la panacea de ejemplo revolucionario mundial.
The most interesting thing about the case is that the being of the CIA or having been it is now so “chic” that our country cannot remain behind in having its own former informing agent, and we have run to offer asylum to the most valued ex-CIA member in the market: Snowden, like a pop star, is being thrashed around by many countries in terms of who will offer the best asylum in solidarity with someone who, until recently, was responsible for everyone being bugged by the gringos through Prism, and today is the formula for an example of a global revolutionary.
There are also citizens who believe the offer of political asylum is a sign of good will.
Francys Caridad (@francyscaridad) [es], for example, celebrates the possibility of Snowden arriving in Venezeula:
@francyscaridad: #SnowdenBienvenidoAVenezuela  bienvenido a venezuela snowden! #snowden #venezuela #asilo #asilopolitico
@francyscaridad: #SnowdenBienvenidoAVenezuela  [#SnowdenWelcomeToVenezuela] welcome to venezuela snowden! #snowden #venezuela #asilo #asilopolitico [#asylum #politicalasylum]
Héctor Abad (@hectorabadf) [es] comments on the U.S. position with respect to Edward Snowden's legal situation:
@hectorabadf: Snowden es ahora un apátrida perseguido y sin derecho a asilo, por decir la verdad de que todos podemos ser espiados por la NSA.
@hectorabadf: Snowden is now a persecuted, stateless individual without the right to asylum for telling the truth about how we can all be spied on by the NSA.
Mariela Azocar (@MarielaMartha) [es] also supports President Nicolás Maduro's decision to offer humanitarian asylum to the former U.S. contractor:
@MarielaMartha: @NicolasMaduro Buen día mi querido presidente si lo apoyo en darle asilo al joven Snowden. Venezuela será su casa…
@MarielaMartha: @NicolasMaduro Good day my dear president if you support the young Snowden in giving him asylum. Venezuela will be his home…
Marianny Barroso (@MARIANNYBARROSO) [es] considers the decision of the Venezuelan state to be convenient in offering political asylum to Edward Snowden and supports it publicly:
@MARIANNYBARROSO Snowden hoy es amenaza de un Gobierno q a hecho mucho daño a nivel mundial!! por eso APOYO el ASILO en Venezuela! patria de BOLIVAR y CHAVEZ
@MARIANNYBARROSO Snowden today is a threat of a Government that has done a lot of harm on a global scale!! that is why I SUPPORT ASYLUM in Venezuela! Homeland of BOLIVAR and CHAVEZ
Twitter users also debated how the asylum could affect the already quite deteriorated political and diplomatic relations between Venezuela and the U.S., in addition to the case involving the former contractor's legal situation.
In Josefina Ruggiero's (@ruggieroj) [es] opinion, the words of the President of the DUMA (the lower house of the Russian Federal Assembly) summarize part of what are the current political relations between Venezuela and the United States:
@ruggieroj: Presidente de la Duma: la relacion de Vzla con EEUU es tan mala que el caso del joven Snowden no la empeorara. Esta clarito #asiloSnowden
@ruggieroj: President of DUMA: Venezuela's relationship with the U.S. is so bad that Snowden's case will not worsen it. It is clear #asiloSnowden [#Snowdenasylum]
Still, for Luis Carlos Díaz (@LuisCarlos) [es], journalist and Global Voices collaborator, the concern is more about citizen rights.
@LuisCarlos: Hay demasiado foco en Snowden y muy poco en el espionaje de los estados y la privacidad de los ciudadanos
@LuisCarlos: There is too much focus on Snowden and very little on state espionage and the privacy of citizens
Venezuelans even attempt to analyze the political problem from an almost humorous perspective, as is the case of Alejandro Barrios (@alepicture) [es]:
@alepicture: el rechazo de maduro es tan grande que le ofrece #Asilo a #Snowden en #Venezuela y el lo ignora…
@alepicture: The rejection of Maduro is so great that he is offering #Asilo [#Asylum] to #Snowden in #Venezuela and he is ignoring it…
Perhaps Twitter user @WATH23 [es] summarized Venezuelan expectations about Snowden's response to the Venezuelan offer:
@WATH23: Edward Snowden lleva días en el Trending Topic Venezolano. Hoy llega al primer puesto con su negación al asilo político en Venezuela.
@WATH23: Edward Snowden has been a Trending Topic in Venezuela for days. Today he reaches first place with his rejection of political asylum in Venezuela.
At the time of writing this post, Nicaragua has not yet ruled on the Snowden's request for asylum. At the same time, President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, stated that Venezuela received a formal request for asylum from the former American contractor.

author: Aglaia Berlutti


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Vigilante Justice & Race Riots in Provincial Russia · Global Voices
Nina Jobe

A bar fight that broke out last weekend between two young men in a small town of Pugachev in Russia’s central Saratov region, ended with racial violence. The victim, 21-year-old Ruslan Marzhanov, a town local of Tatar extraction, died of knife wounds in the hospital on Saturday, July 6. The suspect, 16-year-old Chechen Ali Nazirov, was later detained for the murder.
What should have been a tragic, but routine case, quickly morphed into something else. The murder underscored long-standing ethnic tensions between the native Russian population and the town's North Caucasian diaspora. After the funeral, which was held the day after Marzhanov died, hundreds of locals marched into a Chechen neighborhood, demanding that the Chechens “leave.” Several people were reportedly injured in the brawl that ensued, although the police maintain [ru] that they were able to prevent the violence.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that the victim was reportedly friends with local Chechens. Azamat Mitsaev, a Moscow resident involved with youth city government, reported [ru] on his Facebook that Marzhanov's Chechen friends were the ones who took him to the hospital, and were also apparently the ones to find Ali Nazirov and turn him over to the police, having first “beaten him up.”
The acting Governor of Saratov Oblast, Valery Radaev, urged the people to remain calm, saying [ru]:
Неконтролируемая стихия может повлечь за собой цепную реакцию, в результате чего не исключены новые невинные жертвы. Мы не имеем права такого допустить! […] кровная месть и национальная ненависть – не способ решения проблем, а бомба замедленного действия”
An uncontrolled force of nature [like a popular uprising] can lead to a chain reaction, resulting in new innocent victims. We cannot allow this! […] blood feuds and national hatred are not a way to solve problems, but a ticking time bomb.”
His entreaties fell on deaf ears — when Pugachev Mayor Stanislav Sidorov walked out to speak with the crowd that congregated in the town square Monday, he was heckled, reports [ru] Twitter user Liudmila Rossenko:
Главу облили водой. Народ ликует #Пугачев
The Head [of Administration] got water poured all over him. The people are happy #Pugachev
Pugachev Head of Administration addressing the crowd moments before getting a bottle of water poured on his head. YouTube screenshot.
According to locals this was not the first time the Chechens had caused problems. The BBC’s Russian Service quoted [ru] the chairman of the regional branch of the opposition RPR-PARNAS party:
У меня родственники там живут в Пугачеве. Не первый раз у них, четыре или пять убийств уже было. Дагестанцы, чеченцы облюбовали город Пугачев. Эти конфликты у них происходят последние два года все серьезнее и серьезнее. И встает вопрос, почему власть в это до сих пор не вмешивалась?
I have relatives living in Pugachev. This is not the first incident, they've had four or five murders already. Dagestanis, Chechens have taken a fancy to the city of Pugachev. These conflicts have, over the past 2 years become more and more serious.  And the question arises, why don’t the powers that be intervene?
Marzhanov's mother emphasized this point [ru]:
Я не имею претензий к чеченцам, у меня претензии к власти, которая допускает и потворствуют их беспределу.
I have no complaints about the Chechens, I have complaints about the government, which allows and indulges their lawlessness.
Marzhanov's mother addressing the crowd and speaking about her son's military service. YouTube screenshot.
The Kommersant [ru] newspaper reports that in the meantime, residents of Pugachev have come together in a working group, which will establish “people's patrols” to patrol the town streets along with the police. The people have “lost faith” in the regional government, and seem ready to resort to “vigilante justice.”
The situation is exacerbated by episodes of mass hysteria. For example, a video posted on YouTube [ru] Monday alleged that the authorities had sent armored personnel carriers (APCs) to Pugachev because of the escalating protests. The video, which now has over 200 thousand views, turned out to be a fake, shot last month during local military exercises. This did not prevent it from fooling many bloggers, including the popular opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who used the apparent establishment of martial law as an excuse to sarcastically blog “this is what ‘stability’ looks like.” [ru] Navalny later removed the video from his blog.
Meanwhile, in response to appeals from the local government, the Investigative Committee (Russia's federal investigative agency) agreed [ru] to launch an inquiry into events in Pugachev. This seems to indicate that the federal government is concerned that the situation could still spin out of control. But, perhaps, this is a case of too little, too late. Vigilante justice may still prevail.

author: Nina Jobe


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What Should International Development Look Like After 2015? · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

In 2000, the member states of the United Nations made a historic commitment to achieve eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. The MDGs focus on some of the world’s most pressing development issues, such as poverty, gender, health and basic literacy. With 2015 fast approaching, a conversation has started about what progress has been made, and what still needs to be done. What should the post-2015 goals be?
The MDGs are: eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality and empowering women; reducing child mortality rates; improving maternal health; combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability; and developing a global partnership for development.
Progress so far has been uneven, both between regions and countries, and within countries.
In May 2013 the United Nation's High-level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda (HLP) presented its recommendations for global development priorities beyond 2015. These have been greeted with both praise and criticism.
On Twitter the hashtag #post2015 is being used to debate the post-2015 development agenda.
On his blog, Matt Andrews of Harvard's Kennedy School questions whether developing new goals is worth it:
As groups meet to develop post-2015 MDGs I ask: What were the MDGs meant to achieve? Did they achieve this? What evidence is there? Does the evidence really support having post-2015 global goals and targets? Or should we just focus on growth…
Economists Richard Kozul-Wright and Jayati Ghosh write at the Guardian's Poverty Matters blog:
Making inequality part of the development policy agenda has already gained traction. But to make lasting progress, it will be necessary to move beyond MDG-style targets and instead consider a global new deal allowing different economic strategies providing benefits for all.
Image from UN Millennium Development Goals Facebook page.
It has been argued that a key weakness in the MDGs was that they were written without the participation of the people whose lives they were meant to improve. As Megan Williams of the Australian Council for International Development notes at Make Poverty History Australia:
Over 15 years ago, a group of people sat in a room at the United Nations and imagined what it would take to eradicate extreme poverty, and in what time frame it could be achieved. Without much outside consultation they presented eight Millennium Development Goals to the world, which in the years following, galvanised popular action, were written on billboards, marched through streets and painted on buildings. […] This time instead of being locked in a room discussing what comes next, the conversation is spilling over into boardrooms, parliaments and communities around the world.
This video posted on YouTube by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) shows how the UN gathered the opinions of people around the world to present to the HLP :
Indonesian student Andhyta Utami (@Afutami) has uploaded a presentation offering a young person's perspective of the post-2015 agenda.
At the Local First blog, John Coonrod of The Hunger Project comments:
In the year 2000, world leaders created the Millennium Development Goals – eight time-bound goals to significantly cut poverty in all its forms. MDGs such as access to pre-school, primary education, good nutrition, safe water and sanitation all require effective local governance. Yet very little was done to “localize” the MDGs.
Coonrod then lists ten priority actions he believes the world community should take to ensure that the post-2015 agenda adheres to the principles of “Local First”, including investing in grassroots civil society and guaranteeing that women’s voices are heard.
Chudi Ukpabi, a international development consultant, focuses on Africa in a blog post at The Broker:
Tackling issues like poverty, inequality, food security, water security and environmental degradation will remain necessary for international development after the Millennium Development Goals expire in 2015. It is my contention that – in the upcoming decades – African countries will need to define and bring their own priorities in terms of social, economic, cultural and political issues, into the debate.
Also at The Broker, Saskia Hollander responds to the HLP report:
It is all too easy to be fooled by rhetoric. Despite its promising transformative discourse, the HLP falls short of recognizing and tackling the economic and political power structures that hamper the desired transformative shifts.
And Indian campaign Wada Na Todo Abhiyan expresses its concerns:
We commend the Panel for their efforts to reach out to a diverse set of stakeholders and make the process participatory, which was a point of discontent with the way the current MDGs were formulated, and appreciate parts of its intent but also have some serious concerns around the fundamentals of the Report. At a glance, the huge shift as the Report states is of “partnership”, i.e. of turning to the private sector as well as civil society “within market principles”, making us quite worried and wary. Further, this big shift comes without a clear articulation of corporate accountability; it is limited to government “prompting” the multinationals, suggestions for companies to internally strengthen their mechanisms, “integrated reporting” and corporations being accountable to their shareholders (which they anyway are).
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which helped to develop the MDGs, is calling for a development agenda not only aimed at the global and universal level, but also at the national level with specific targets adapted to the capacities of countries. It has summarised this two-level approach:
1. Level one: Establish a small set of global goals reflecting universally-agreed outcomes.
2. Level two: Each country translates the global goals into specific targets and indicators which reflect their specific level of development, context, responsibility and capacity. They should also include equality dimensions including gender equity and, where possible, make full use of data disaggregated by sex.
Acknowledging that the world has changed since the MDGs were formulated, the OECD has focused on eleven elements to help adapt to the new realities.
On his blog, Dan Smith of International Alert calls for the debate to continue:
My worry is that the positions taken in the HLP report, more than two years before the UN General Assembly votes through the new development goals, will be about as comprehensive and nuanced as official position-taking will get. From here, I would expect positions to narrow, to lose their challenge and depth while gaining in technocratic legitimacy. Accordingly, it seems time the debate gets properly under way so that doesn’t happen.
This post is part of a series by Global Voices bloggers for the OECD engaging with post-2015 ideas for development worldwide. The OECD is not responsible for the content in these posts.

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Why Can’t Madagascar Settle on an Election Date?  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Four years since a military takeover plunged the country into political crisis in 2009, Madagascar cannot seem to find a way out.
One of the critical steps in the consensus road map [fr], an agreement signed by the head of the transitional government and three of the country's four opposition parties that outlines an exit to the crisis, is to organize free and transparent elections. Yet the date of the presidential elections have been delayed and pushed back more often than flights between Newark and Cincinnati airports.
The country has been bogged in crisis for so long that a recurring question among observers is whether the current transitional regime will outlast how long Madagascar's previously elected administrations held office. To boot, the political constitution is in such disarray that the prime minister has stated that in his opinion, there is currently no acting head of state in Madagascar.
What is the hold up anyway ?
At the deadline for submitting their candidacies to the election, there were 49 declared presidential candidates. With the election date pushed back from May to July to a date to be determined later in 2013, a few candidates have already dropped out of the race while three others have been asked by the international mediation group (GIC-M) to withdraw their names in order to comply with the spirit of the road map.
The three politicians whose candidacies are deemed unacceptable by GIC-M are the current president of the transition, Andry Rajoelina; Madagascar's former two-time President Didier Rastiraka, who served from 1975 to 1993 and from 1997 to 2002; and Lalao Ravalomanana, the wife of booted President Marc Ravalomanana.
African Union representative Ouedraogo explains the mediation group's viewpoint with respect to the Malagasy elections [fr]:
C’est vrai que ces candidatures ne respectent pas toute la légalité, mais la situation des Malgaches est telle que, après quatre ans de crise, il vaut mieux chercher la solution. Et la solution, nous, nous disons qu’avec une pléthore de candidatures – une pléthore parce qu’il y a 41 candidatures – il suffit de responsabiliser les Malgaches, de leur faire confiance, et ils feront le bon choix pour eux-mêmes
While it is true that these three candidacies do not comply to the agreed legal framework, the situation of Madagascar is such that after four years of crisis, we need to find a solution. And the solution might be, considering the plethora of candidacies (41) to trust the Malagasy citizens, let them take charge of their destiny and they will make the right choice for themselves.
But none of the three candidates seem ready to drop out of the race. Rajoelina is seen campaigning in the west of Madagascar in the picture below under the cover of some official event to attend (the presidential campaign is not officially underway since the election date is not yet set):
Rajoelina campaigning in Mahajanga, Madagascar, July 2013. Image posted on Facebook by Patrick Raharimanana with permission.
Lalao Ravalomanana has declared in the Wall Street Journal that:
I am running for President, nothing has happened recently to make me change my mind. I am prepared to suffer personal sanctions for my beliefs [..] The outcome all Malagasy citizens want is for an election date to be agreed; nothing more, nothing less. After that it is for the people to decide who they want as their next President.  All forty-one candidates should be allowed to present their manifestoes.
The rest of the candidates urge the Malagasy civil society to take action and do everything in their power to get an election date set once and for all. For that, a petition was launched [fr] and signed by 21 of the 41 candidates left.
The United States has also stated that they are in favor of election that would include all 41 candidates this year [fr].
Who is benefiting from the delays? And who is suffering?
As stated earlier, many observers wonder how long will the transitional regime last and how the country can bring closure to the crisis. The underlying issue is that the current administration is not ready to let go of their power, as illustrated by Rajoelina's campaigning effort.  The longer the status quo is maintained, the longer they can hold onto their positions.
Zafy Albert, an ex-president, stated that one of the main road blocks is the army [fr], the entity that helped put the current administration in power in the first place :
Zafy confirme que le blocage c'est l'Armée mais que des négociations sont en cours
Zafy confirms that the main blocking agent is the Army but negociations are ongoing.
The reasons for holding on a while longer are made quite apparent by a recent infographic published by the OMNIS agency, a state-owned agency that been commissioned to manage, develop, and promote the national petroleum and mineral resources in Madagascar:
Natural resources of Madagascar and the corporations vying for them. Graph posted by OMNIS Agency on Facebook, with permission
The map lists all the oil concessions in Madagascar and the international corporations that have signed contracts to exploit the available resources of the territory. The lack of transparency on the content of these contracts prevent Malagasy citizens from knowing the exact terms of the deal and who benefited from them. Another reason for hanging on to power a while longer is the ongoing lucrative rosewood trafficking.
While the prolonged transition benefits a few privileged ones, it has taken an important toll on the general public. A recent study shows that the political crisis has overshadowed a more pernicious social and economic crisis: while Madagascar was already one of the most impoverished nations, now nine out of ten Malagasy live with less than two US dollars a day. The data shows than there are four million more poor citizens in the country since 2009 [fr].
The following video by Erick Rabemanoro details the impact of the crisis on unemployment, purchasing power and crimes [fr]:
An exit to the crisis at this point is not merely a question of politics anymore, it has become a question of survival for the majority of the population. A glaring question mark on where exactly does the priority of the political elite and the international community stand.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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China: Woman Activist Made Homeless · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ye Haiyan, a woman activist who has protested against school principal's sexual harassment of schoolgirls, together with her daughter and boyfriend, has been forced to leave their home, first in Guangxi province, and subsequently Guangdong province. Photo uploaded by Ye to her Sina Weibo on July 6 2013.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Rural Identity, Urban Heart · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Off Beat China translated a photo feature by Sina which gives a snapshot of the life of a few post-90s migrant works in Beijing.


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Crowdsourcing Student Ideas via Facebook  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Indian State of Gujarat is crowdsourcing opinions from students. He posted on his Facebook page an appeal to students and youngsters from across the Country to share their opinion on what they think went wrong in the Nation that a “Trust Deficit” has been created, reports Offstumped.


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Fear and Censorship in Russia’s Huffington Post · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

PublicPost, an internet news publication that for a time sought to become the Russian Huffington Post, met its end last month [ru], when it became the latest in a series of innovative online media to be shut down this year. Founded in 2011 and funded through a collaboration between the state-owned Interfax news agency, Sberbank Bank, and Echo Moskvy's editor-in-chief Alexey Venediktov, PublicPost melded independent and regional blogs with original reporting, while trying to remain even-handed in it's political coverage. When the news of its looming closure were announced in June, 2013, PublicPost's acting editor-in-chief declared [ru] that the project was not meeting with expectations, and its general director said that the reasoning was purely economic — not enough daily visitors [ru] to maintain funding.
PublicPost is shut down completely, not even an archive remains.
With this, PublicPost joins the ranks of recently shuttered Openspace.ru [GV] and Russkaya Zhizn’ [ru], as well as Bolshoi Gorod [ru] (which lost much of its funding and editorial team, but is technically still operational). These projects are alike in that they were ostensibly closed for financial reasons, with political underpinnings vehemently denied by investors. They are also alike because, despite all claims to the contrary, their closure invited a myriad theories that politics was somehow to blame.
That's not to say that some commentators don't see PublicPost as part of an overall trend. To journalist Andrey Miroshnichenko, writing [ru] at Slon.ru, PublicPost is just a symptom of an overall divestment from new media — a divestment caused in equal parts by lack of money, lack of interest, and lack of success. The optimism of the post-crisis years (2009 and 2010) when many of these investments were first made is gone, and now:
Праздник кончился, гирлянду тушат. Для отрасли это тоже грустно, конечно. Где теперь бюджеты? Нет теперь бюджетов. А рынка и подавно нет – с него живут единицы. Что остается? Украина, корпоративные медиа, погружение в ил до следующего цикла.
The party is over, the party lights are going out. This is sad news for the industry, of course. Where are the budgets now? There are no budgets now. And, moreover, there is no [real] market [for innovative media] – it's capable of supporting a few individuals at best. What's left? The Ukraine, corporate media, hibernating in the river mud until the next cycle.
Pro-government blogger Dan Bialik thought [ru] that the real reason was PublicPost's faulty business model:
[…] пабликпоц основывался не на “юзер дженерейтед контент”, а на обычном пиздинге. А по сути, дублировал так называемые “блоги Эха Москвы”, которые тоже всего лишь копии других блогов, и не всегда даже с ведома их авторов. В общем, гавно засохло и вонять перестало, не о чем жалеть совершенно.
[…] publicpotz [sic] was based not on “user generated content,” but on your run-of-the-f*cking-mill theft. And at its core, it cloned the so-called “Echo Moskvy blogs,” which are also simply copies of other blogs, and sometimes without permission by the authors. To sum up, sh*t has dried up and stopped stinking, there is nothing to be upset over.
PublicPost's erstwhile acting editor-in-chief Nikolai Klimeniuk had a different story to tell in a very long post [ru] on his Facebook page. The project was doing fine until it lost its legs in January, 2013, when it's editorial policy was hobbled and a hiring freeze was instituted. The reason, according to Klimeniuk, was that:
[…] что проект воспринимался как резко антипутинский. Генеральный директор PublicPost, он же – заместитель гендиректора Интерфакса Алексей Горшков, объясняя ситуацию, использовал именно это выражение, а не например, «либеральный», «критический» или «оппозиционный». […] с какого-то момента подчиненные Грефа обращать его внимание на «антипутинские» материалы на PublicPost – в основном это были ругательные блоги […]
[…] the project was received as starkly anti-Putin. The General Director of PublicPost, who also happens to be Deputy General Director of Interfax, Alexey Gorshkov, used precisely this phrase [anti-Putin] when describing the situation, and not, for instance “liberal”, “critical” or “oppositionary.” […] at some point [Sberbank Director German] Gref's underlings started directing his attention to “anti-Putin” materials on PublicPost – mostly these were abusive blogs […]
This, in turn, was due to infighting in the Kremlin administration as Vyacheslav Volodin tried to impose his power over state-owned media, including the Interfax news agency:
PublicPost, по всей видимости, оказался слабым местом одновременно Грефа и Интерфакса. Из разговоров с людьми, информированными о ситуации, у меня сложилась такая картина: Грефу лично делали выговоры за PublicPost Медведев, Сергей Иванов и Володин. […] Путину приносили распечатки ругательных материалов про него.
PublicPost, it seems, turned out to be the Achilles heel of both Gref and Interfax. From talking to people who have internal information I got the following picture: Gref received personal reprimands from Medvedev, Sergey Ivanov and Volodin. […] Putin was brought printouts of abusive materials about him.
The catalyst, however, was not a blog, but rather an article about the possible retirement of the heads of Russia's three major TV channels and personnel changes in state-owned media and the President's Administration. It was this article, says Klimeniuk, that brought about tangible meddling with PublicPost's editorial policy:
PublicPost было строго запрещено впредь писать про госмедиа. Рекомендовалось по возможности не писать ничего, при невозможности – ничего острого про первых лиц (Медведева и Путина). […] Не использовать выражения «закон подлецов», «марш против палачей», «антисиротский закон» и т.п., а использовать только политически нейтральные выражения […] Рекомендовалось не трогать РПЦ. […] Было дано (и исполнено) указание стереть все «антипутинские» блоги.
PublicPost was forbidden to write about state-owned media. It was recommended to not write anything, or at least anything biting, about top officials (Putin and Medvedev). […] Not to use phrases like “law of scoundrels,” “march against butchers,” “anti-orphan law” and so on, but to use only politically neutral phrasing. […] It was recommended not to touch the Russian Orthodox Church. […] We received (and executed) a directive to delete all “anti-Putin” blogs.
Facebook user Natalia Konradova had a slightly different take [ru] on what finally broke the camel's back, blaming PublicPost bloggers, rather then their original reporting (her information is admittedly second-hand):
какой-то мудак написал блог с заголовком, в котором были слова “Путин” и “мудак”
some dickhead wrote a blog with a title that included the words “Putin” and “dickhead”
Regardless of the proximate cause, PublicPost deleted numerous individual blogs from their website, and their pre-moderation policy became even stricter. Anastasiya Mironova, a former PublicPost contributor, experienced the new policy first hand [ru]:
[…] вдруг они перестали публиковать мои блоги и заказывать мне репортажи. У меня появилось подозрение на цензуру […] Посты не принимали под предлогом сменивлшейся политики сайта, которая предполагает лишь репортажный материал в блогах.
[…] suddenly they stopped publishing my blogs and requesting pieces. I started to suspect censorship […] My posts were not accepted under the pretext of new site policy, which involved only reporting [as opposed to opinion] in blogs.
In the end, none of the compromises worked — after several months the publication was still shut down. The difference is that it went out on a sour note, a sentiment clearly visible in this quip [ru] by Mironova:
Не исключено, что среди тех мудаков, которые написали про Путина, была и я. Однако же блоги премодерировались полностью, так что еще неизвестно, кто мудак…
It's possible that I was among the dickheads that wrote about Putin. But, the blogs were completely pre-moderated, so it's not that clear who is the dickhead here…

author: Andrey Tselikov


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Grenada: Electronic Media Ignorance?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Grenada's controversial Electronic Crimes Bill will be debated today in Parliament, but Blah Bloh Blog is “at a loss as to how they are going to establish such legislation…given the very well-known fact that literally NO ONE in the government…knows anything about computers, the internet, electronic communications or social media.”


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Indian Blogger Forced To Delete Post · Global Voices
Rezwan

Prasant Naidu at Lighthouse Insights reports that film critic, journalist and blogger Soumyadipta Banerjee was apparently forced to delete a recent blogpost. He wrote a post at his BollywoodJournalist blog describing the life and death of Constable Ravindra Patil, the only eye witness in Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s famous 2002 Hit-and-Run-case. Soumyadipta also issued a public apology to Salman Khan.


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Intra-urban Displacement in Medellín, Colombia · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

[…] ultimately, every one of the thousands of people displaced within Medellin faces the same grim choice: Lose your house, job, and community — or lose your life.
James Bargent in In Sight Crime writes about intra-urban displacement -“when victims are displaced to a different part of the same city”- in Medellín, Colombia.


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Serbia Rises to Save 600-Year-Old Oak Tree · Global Voices
Danica Radisic

As a plan to remove Istanbul's Gezi park sparked a mass uprising in Turkey in recent weeks, the people of Serbia were faced with a similar fight. A planned highway was set to destroy a 600-year-old oak tree in central Serbia, but after days of protests, the government seems to have bowed to pressure and modified the construction project to save the oak.
In late June 2013 [sr], news broke that  the government had secured 340 million euros [about 435 million US dollars] in loans and another 700 million euros [about 895 million US dollars] are expected for the construction of Corridor 11, a long awaited and strategically important portion of highway to run through central Serbia.
But Serbians soon learned that the highway would run straight through the location of a 600-year-old oak tree in the village of Savinac near Gornji Milanovac. Reaction against the plan was immediate, with people revolting on social networks and soon organizing protests in Savinac and online.
Aside from being a marvelous natural treasure and historically significant, there is also a superstition among Serbs that cutting down an oak tree will bring tragedy, even death. The elderly in rural Serbia will say that oak trees, considered a greatly respected natural phenomena in these parts, are simply not to be toyed with. Had government representatives and those in charge of the highway construction known that this particular oak tree was in the way of Corridor 11, they may have found a solution for it, but according to Minister of Urbanism and Construction Velimir Ilić, their “attention was not drawn” to the matter previously.
Social networks in Serbia were soon ablaze with hundreds of protest messages from citizens under the hashtag #hrast (#oak) on both Twitter and Facebook.
Minister Ilić was quick to react to the outcry against the cutting down of the oak tree that began on social networks and soon spilled into Serbia's mainstream media. He stated that he would find a solution [sr] to have the 600-year-old, 40-meter-high, 7.5-meter-wide, massive tree moved to a different location. Online tabloid Telegraf was among those who questioned this solution and spoke to experts about it:
“In hrast [oak] we trust” became a popular banner held by many at the protest in Savinac and shared on social networks. Photo courtesy of the Institute for Sustainable Communities – Serbia Facebook page.
Da bi se taj hrast, te veličine bezbedno iskopao, to zahteva veliki posao, veliki broj radnika i veliki prostor, odgovarajuću mehanizaciju. Teorijski je moguće, ali niko nema to iskustvo, te verujem da bi iskopavanje hrasta bio i njegov kraj. To je sve besmisleno. U zemljama koje drže do sebe takvo drvo bi se “uklopilo” u ambijent – kaže botaničarka Vasić.
This oak tree of this size, to be removed safely requires great work, a large number of workers and a large amount of space, with adequate equipment. Theoretically, it is possible, but no one has that experience, thus I believe that the removal of the oak would be its end. It's all nonsense. In countries that stand by their own, a tree like that would be “included” in the setting – says botanist [Olja] Vasić.
While the minister and other government officials sought different solutions to the problem, citizens organized protests around the tree in Savinac. In the last days of June, citizens began gathering around the tree to save it, joined and led by the likes of Serbian poet Dobrica Erić, who originally is from the area, and non-government organizations such as the “Green of Serbia”, in a protest dubbed “The Oak Must Not Fall”.
“Green of Serbia” activists gather around the 600-year-old oak tree in Savinac. Photo courtesy of Institute for Sustainable Communities – Serbia Facebook page.
The protests lasted until the first weekend of July 2013. Meetings were held at the Ministry of Urbanism and Construction as well as at Prime Minister Ivica Dačić's cabinet to discuss the matter, after which Minister Ilić made a public statement on July 9 that the oak tree would be preserved. As daily tabloid Kurir reported [sr]:
“Asfalt će biti potpuno odvojen jednim betonskim armiranim nosačem, tako da asfalt ne ošteti žile, a ni žile asfalt. Na taj način će se izbeći moguća oštecenja auto-puta”, rekao je Ilić.
“The asphalt will be entirely separated by a reinforced concrete beam, so that the asphalt doesn't damage the roots, nor the roots the asphalt. This way, possible damage to the highway will be avoided,” Ilić stated.
Both the highway and the oak tree, centuries older than many nations, are of great importance to Serbia. While the highway promises a much needed logistical solution to a region of Serbia that is plentiful in agricultural and manufacturing businesses, the citizens of Serbia have shown that they are not willing to make a sacrifice of this size.
Blogger Zoran Sokić, in reference to the oak tree that shook Serbia, recounts his childhood in the mountainous woodlands of central Serbia, pointing out the importance of three trees that made a difference in his childhood and coming of age and concludes:
Mogu samo da kažem da će se u mom kraju slaviti čovek koji tu dovede auto – put i pominjaće ga na slavama i okupljanjima u lokalnim kafanama, nakon branja malina, bar deset narednih vekova. Stara je lokalna priča, verovatno koliko i taj hrast u Savincima, da smo pravo slepo crevo, da komunisti nisu dali da tuda prodje pruga jer je četnički kraj, da će se sva omladina odseliti ako ne dodje put … Slažem se. Ali sa druge strane, ne bih dao ni jedno od ova svoja tri drveta ni za tri auto puta ili tri pruge.
I can only say that, in my hometown, the man who brings the highway will be celebrated and mentioned at slavas [celebration of the family saint among Serbian Orthodox Christians] and gatherings at local cafes after picking raspberries, for at least the next ten centuries. Old are the local tales, probably as old as that oak in Savinac, that we are a dead end street, that the communists didn't allow the railway to pass here because it is was a Chetnik area, that all of our youth will move away if the highway doesn't come – I agree. But, on the other hand, I wouldn't give any of these three trees of mine, not even for three highways or three railways.

author: Danica Radisic


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Several Blasts Shake Buddhist Temple In Northeastern India · Global Voices
Rezwan

The Mahabodhi temple complex, a Buddhist pilgrimage site in northeastern India, was hit by multiple explosions, leaving two people believed to be Tibetan monks injured.
Eight blasts rocked the Bodh Gaya temple in the south of Gaya district in the state of Bihar between 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Sunday, July 7, 2013. Two live bombs were also recovered at the blast site. One man was detained not long after the bombings, and five more suspects were picked up by the Indian national investigation agency on July 9.
Security experts say that the explosive devises could have been made from ammonium nitrate or potassium permanganate, both of which are widely available and are commonly used in bomb-making.
The disaster has been heavily politicized. The Bharatiya Janata Party called for a statewide strike the day after the blasts protesting the government's failure to fight terrorism. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee suggested that the violent acts were a “game plan before elections to disturb states, regional parties and also to plan to murder some political leaders”.
The attack was condemned by Buddhists in India and its neighboring countries. The temple is one of the four main pilgrimage sites of the Buddhists.
Bangladeshi Buddhists protesting the terror attack on Mahabodhi Gaya in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka. Image by Mohammad Asad. Copyright Demotix (8/7/2013)
Sri Lankan-Canadian journalist and blogger D. B. S. Jeyaraj compiled Buddhist majority Sri Lanka's reactions. He reminded that there has been a historic connection between the Mahabodhi and Sri Lanka so they are also concerned:
With the advent of Turkish rule in the 13th century the Mahabodhi temple fell into a state of neglect and was virtually in ruins.
[…]
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Sri Lanka’s Anagarika Dharmapala the devout Buddhist revivalist began reclaiming the Mahabodhi Temple for Buddhists.
Subhash Gatade at Kafila blog suggested that one should look beyond the usual suspects:
One expects added caution on part of any of the experts / commentators for another important reason as well. It has been widely reported how in two of our neighbouring countries – namely Burma and Sri Lanka – Buddhist extremists have unleashed a wave of terror against the hapless Muslims. And any such news without proper confirmation that Bodh Gaya, has come under attack of Jihadi terrorists, can make matters more difficult for the minority Muslims there.
Protest rally of Buddhista in Kolkata. Image by Suman Mitra. Copyright Demotix (7/7/2013)
Myanmar blogger Chan (@mydaydream89) lamented the lack of worldwide attention to the explosions:
@mydaydream89: Nobody gives a damn to #Buddhism. If that #India #MahaBodhi blast was in #US or at a famous church or mosque, the world will be screaming.
Subodh Khanna (@subodh1945), a retired medical representative from Kanpur, wrote:
@subodh1945: “seems blast is to announce to world they can strike anywhere in india -And wat a soft state india is” — subodh1945 http://disq.us/8dyqv9
Dr. Archwordsmith (@docsaystruth) criticized the usual response to these kinds of disasters:
@docsaystruth: Condemn, criticize and compensate http://archwordsmiths.blogspot.com/2013/02/…… story after every blast in india @drrakeshparikh @abcul


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Korean Culture to Blame in Asiana Crash? · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

As more details are coming out about the Asiana Airlines plane crash which claimed two lives and injured 181 passengers, Malcolm Gladwell's bestseller ‘Outliers’ has been widely quoted in articles and online venues. The book points Korea's hierarchical culture as the main contributing factor of the 1997 Korean Airlines Plane Crash at Guam airport. The Marmots Hole blog commented on such analysis.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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St. Kitts & Nevis: Arrest Escalates Political Tensions · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

Political tensions in St. Kitts continue to rise following the arrest of the former People's Action Movement leader Lindsay Grant during a protest march in the capital last Friday.
The move was intended to pressure the country's Prime Minister, Denzil Douglas, to either call an election or to step down to allow the formation of a unity government.  Grant was leading a “march for democracy” down Church Street and reached a police barricade set up at the intersection with Central Street when the incident took place.  The video and photos below cover some of the action…
The details of the events that followed are still being disputed, with some claiming that Grant crossed the police barricades and was subsequently accosted by a police officer, and others saying that it was the actions of the officer which forced Grant across the barricade.
Protesters on the march
Grant was arrested and held at a nearby police station. Soon, large crowds began to protest in front of the station until Grant was released six hours later; discussion was heated on the “Largest St. Kitts and Nevis Facebook Group”:
Protesters outside the police station.
King Black Coral blamed the police for the incident:
It's a shame that Skn [St. Kitts and Nevis] police force turn a peaceful protest into a violent one. When the criminal element have been taking over the federation where are they[?] It's so sad to say but once again the ugly face of politics is destroying our land of beauty. I witness[ed] it growing up and now it's back [to the] same thing just on the different side. This tit for tat needs to stop otherwise our federation will definitely be ruined.
Eural Huggins disputed this and felt that the protesters were largely responsible:
Ppl like you who will condone wrong for political expediency…have you watch[ed] the video? Their claim is they took that route because the ghaut was running…well if you are marching and see a barricade with police why would you want proceed if you claim to be peaceful? There were other options which they refused to take.
Sheldon Pemberton compared the recent protests to Denzil Douglas’ past action:
1993: Dr Douglas lead (sic) an illegal violent protest through the streets of Basseterre. Who is ready to die defending our Democracy with Lindsay Grant[?] The time has come for the Nation of David to take down Goliath and his cronies. Will the People Of David take their Destiny of Freedom in their/our hands[?] The choice is Ours. And Freedom had (sic) it's (sic) Price. Lets [show] the world and our children that WE ARE READY TO TAKE OVER TO MAKE OVER OUR NATION and pull it back from the jaws of a DICTATORSHIP.
Latisha Richard believed the protests were not about politics but about principles:
Why ppl saying we willing to die for politicians?? Marching for democracy is dieing (sic) for politicians? Then we want to say ppl are not standing up for the country's motto… when there's a clear stand ppl are still confused… What's sad is that the ppl who are saying these things are unsure of a job and are arguing, “Labour gimme a wuk”. It's the duty of the GOVERNMENT to supply jobs for alllll citizens whatever government is in … marching doesn't mean you're choosing sides it means you see a flaw and you want it to change… if you don't care abt the situation why do you wish to have a voice in the matter? I applaud the Robert Bradshaw labour party … but you're blind if you can't see that the labour party now is not the labour party of yesterday …
E Naevisia Scarborough, however, was ambivalent about the nature of the protest, given history of protests on the island:
In 1967 my mom was 13, in '93 I was 14 and now in 2013 my son is 13. Three generations, nothing but babies, scared shitless by this kind of unrest and ppl believe that its (sic) ok because……. I don't condone '67, '93 or 2013. We need to get our act together. Lots of ppl saying the march was peaceful but up to which point[?] Mr. Grant provoked the situation. If all a y'all believe that we have the right to walk anywhere we want at anytime, how is it that he is the only one who tried to break the rule and pass the barricade and he is the only one who got arrested[?] There should have been lots more sitting on the bench last night. But u see I guess Mr. Grant has something to prove by getting arrested.

author: Matthew Hunte


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Trinidad & Tobago: Cell Phone Photography  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

This year’s crop of mobile phones in particular make it possible to take excellent photographs, some of which rival those from more professional equipment in good light.
Mark Lyndersay takes a look at the evolution of cell phone photography.