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VIDEO: Chinese Respond to American Child’s “Kill Everyone in China” Comment on Jimmy Kimmel Live · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

“America owes China a lot of money, $1.3 trillion. How should we pay them back?” One of the kids suggested, “We should go all the way to the other side of the planet and kill everyone in China.”
The episode appeared on an American Broadcasting Company (ABC) TV show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live”, on 16 October 2013 in which the popular American comedian Jimmy Kimmel held a Kid's Table discussion on the US government's debt crisis. The episode has annoyed some American Chinese communities whose sentiments have travelled back to mainland China via social media over the past month.
Fortunately, most Chinese are aware that the comment, though annoying, is kid's talk after all and ABC and Jimmy Kimmel have made open apologies. To address the prejudice against mainland Chinese, an animation called the Undying Chinese, was released on November 2 and circulated widely online.
The professional video produced by video marketing company vmini.com and published by dig.chouti.com, a social media portal similar to reddit.com, has taken a humorous approach to the kid's comment by reviewing the history of China from ancient times, its role in the world's division of labour and why killing Chinese is not a good idea and not viable.
The initial response on the American kid's comment was more antagonistic in the U.S. A pan-Asian-American political organization called 80-20 compared the speech to Nazi's rhetoric and put up a petition on October 18 demanding the White House investigate the issue. The petition said:
The kids might not know anything better. However, Jimmy Kimmel and ABC’s management are adults. They had a choice not to air this racist program, which promotes racial hatred. The program is totally unacceptable and it must be cut. A sincere apology must be issued. It is extremely distasteful and this is the same rhetoric used in Nazi Germany against Jewish people. Please immediately cut the show and issue a formal apology.
So far, 88,499 have signed the petition. ABC quickly responded with an open letter of apology to the petition on October 28 but failed to make peace and stop the American Chinese protest action.
Protest against ABC's kid's show. Public photo uploaded by Pang Linyong to Weibo.
A number of protests took place last weekend and former chief of the Chinese Student Union at Stanford University, Pang Linyong, collected photos from the protest scene in his Weibo. Pang, who is now settled in Silicon Valley in Californa, made a nationalistic call [zh] on October 29:
是中国人，不想被屠杀，就要行动起来，告诉你所有的朋友，抵制ABC，抵制ABC的母公司迪斯尼，不再去迪斯尼，不看迪斯尼动画片，直到ABC道歉，直到Jimmy Kimmel被解雇。如果你还是中国人的话，就把这个转发给你所有的朋友，让我们一起抵制ABC！美国华人已经在旧金山、纽约游行了，让大家告诉大家！
Chinese who don't want to be killed should act. Tell your friends to boycott ABC and its mother company Disney. Boycott Disneyland's theme park and animation until ABC apologizes and fires Jimmy Kimmel. If you still consider yourself Chinese, forward this message to your friends and boycott ABC together. The American Chinese are rallying in San Francisco and New York. Please tell others.
But his nationalistic call did not get much support, so far only 18 people have forwarded his messages back in Weibo. After all it is kid's talk. As Rensi from ChinaSMACK pointed out, “Little Brats” exist in every countries and the blogger collected a number of typical annoying kid's behaviors in China as a response to the Kid's Table discussion.
The best way to address antagonistic sentiment is a sense of humor and good knowledge of the subject of hatred. In this respect, the Undying Chinese video has done an excellent job.


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Italians Called to Film Their ‘Life in a Day’ · Global Voices
Gerda

Renowned Italian director Gabriele Salvatores is inviting Italians (and people living in Italy) to produce short videos about their daily life that will be edited together into a feature length film called “Italy in a Day” [it] to be released at the end of 2014. Videos can be submitted until November 17.
Salvatores is following the example of a similar, successful project from 2010 called “Life in a Day” produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin Macdonald.
Here is the official trailer for Italy in a Day:

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Gerda


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Latin American Women Face Harsh Penalties for Minor Drug Offenses · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Between 2006 and 2011, the female prison population almost doubled in Latin America from 40,000 to more than 74,000 inmates. Most incarcerated women are accused of minor drug offenses, –75% -80% in Ecuador, 30 to 60% in Mexico, 64% in Costa Rica, 60% in Brazil and 70% in Argentina– linked to economic survival in contexts marked by abuse and violence.
The International Drug Policy Consortium has published a report [es] written by Corina Giacomello addressing the context in which most women in the region become involved with drug trafficking networks.
The report also highlights that penalties for drug-related activities are disproportionate and suggests policies to find alternatives to imprisonment.
You can listen to an interview [es] with Giacomello on Soundcloud [es].

author: Silvia Viñas


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On Abortion and Controlling Sex in Egypt · Global Voices
Ahmed Awadalla

In a post titled Sex, Abortion and Control, anonymous blogger Hala/Cleo looks back at the painful experience she endured while supporting a friend through an abortion procedure in Egypt.
She writes:
Abortion happens in Egypt. The anti-choice chest-beating religious leaders and basha politicians bear little influence on the decisions of women to terminate pregnancies. Once a decision has been made, women will find a way to make it happen. Again, abortion happens in Egypt.
Despite this reality, abortion is illegal – all but in the case of danger to the woman’s health.
Photo shared by blogger Hala/Cleo on her blog.
Abortion is strictly illegal in Egypt except to save a woman's life, which is the case of most countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The exception to that is Tunisia and Turkey, which have more liberal abortion laws. According to the World Health Organization, around 1.5 million abortions in MENA in 2003 were performed in unsanitary settings, by unskilled providers, or both. Complications from those abortions accounted for 11 per cent of maternal deaths in the region.
In 2009, top Islamic scholars in Egypt issued a fatwa (religious edict) allowing women to perform abortion in cases of rape. However, it was never translated into a law.
Hala/Cleo offers her analysis of the reasons for outlawing abortion:
It serves as a means to control women. It silences, shapes, uses and then discards us. It limits our societal roles to being baby-making vessels within marriage, only within marriage. And if not, it squeezes the reality of an active healthy sexuality out of our ovaries and hangs the bloodied sheets off our balconies in the name of honour. It does not acknowledge us if only to shame us.
As the blogger notes, the topic remains a rarely discussed problem. She also provided a guide on performing abortion in Egypt.

author: Ahmed Awadalla


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PHOTOS: From Outer Space to Cyberspace, Nigeria’s Partial Solar Eclipse · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

Nigerians witnessed a partial eclipse of the sun on Sunday, November 3, 2013. According to Ikenna Okonkwo – a geo-scientist, blogger and university teacher:
The eclipse actually what is known as a hybrid Eclipse. A hybrid eclipse occurs when a Solar eclipse is seen as Total and Annular at the same time. A  occurs when the silhouette of the Moon completely obscures the Sun, allowing the much fainter solar corona to be visible. In an A the Sun and Moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun. Hence the Sun appears as a very bright ring, or annulus, surrounding the dark disk of the Moon. Usually the path of totality where a full (total or Annular) eclipse occurs is at best a narrow path with totality lasting about 2 minutes. On a much larger area observers get to see a partial eclipse.
Naturally, this event prompted reactions from Nigerians online. Many were enthused because they were witnessing another solar eclipse within a space of seven years, as seen in this tweet by Owolabi Caleb (@owocaleb):
Yea, #eclipse of the sun in Lagos Nigeria waow, 2nd experience, 1 in 2006 and 2013 half moon shining pic.twitter.com/v0s4YCcTWh
— owolabi caleb (@owocaleb) November 3, 2013
Elijah Balogun (@EarlEternal), a digital media enthusiast, dedicated his 1,000th tweet to commemorate the event:
My 1000th tweet goes to commemorate a special event. Partial #eclipse of sun in Nigeria and beyond.
— ELIJAH balogun (@EarlEternal) November 3, 2013
Many Twitter users shared the pictures of the eclipse as observed from their homes. For instance, Ikenna (@Failedrift) shared this picture on his Twitter timeline:
The glare even from a bucket of water is too much…. pic.twitter.com/PLHl0hKiEN
— Ikenna (@FailedRift) November 3, 2013
Victor Olurnfemi (@mavol), a digital graphic designer, did as well:
#Eclipse of the sun as purportedly seen in some parts of #Nigeria Warri: pic.twitter.com/SGL3O4nPug Lagos:… http://t.co/6nn3yMY9dV
— Victor Olorunfemi (@mavol) November 3, 2013
Some tweets were humorous. Nigerian writer Ayodele Olofintuade (@aeolofintuade) remarked:
In honor of this our new festival called solar eclipse I'll be throwing an eclipse party at roundabout, mokola,Ibadan [the capital of Nigeria's Oyo state]. Come one, come all.
— ayodele olofintuade (@aeolofintuade) November 3, 2013
Nokwai (@chuksikeji), an entrepreneur, wrote:
Please will all those who saw the #SolarEclipse come register here for free. Certification will be arranged for a token.
— Nokwai (@chuksikeji) November 3, 2013
Lee_alifa, a student (@dlordna). thought that:
Somewhere in nigeria an herbalist would be bragging saying “The gods are angry”..nd some ode's wld believe him..oga na #Eclipse oo […. and some fools would believe him… master, it's an eclipse!].
— lee_alifa (@dlordna) November 3, 2013
Timmy (@lil_timmzy), tweeted this:
Somewhere in #Nigeria there is a girl breaking up with her boyfriend simply bcos he didn't give her an #Eclipse gift
— Timmy (@lil_timmzy) November 3, 2013

author: Nwachukwu Egbunike


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Saudis Banned from Travelling .. to Mars  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Mars is off-limits to Saudis, says religious scholar Shaikh Ali Al Hekmi. Photo credit: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Did you know that travelling to Mars is forbidden [haram], or a sin? Saudi religious scholar Shaikh Ali Al Hekmi told Al Hayat newspaper that travelling to the red planet is off limits to human beings, whose life should not be squandered.
The fatwa (religious edict) was issued following an announcement by Mars One project that it was organising a one-way trip to the planet, in the hope of creating the first human settlement there. According to Al Hayat, six out of 477 Saudi citizens who have applied for the trip (of a lifetime) have been accepted for the mission.
On Twitter, Saudis took jabs at the ridiculousness of some fatwas coming out of the absolute monarchy under the Arabic hashtag  #الاشتراك_في_رحلة_المريخ_حرام, which translates to Participating in the Trip to Mars is Haram.
@mthaail jokes:
#الاشتراك_في_رحلة_المريخ_حرام متى ؟ وين ؟ ليه ما احد قالي ؟ طيب يمديني أسجل معهم ؟
— مثائل (@mthaail) October 31, 2013
When? Where? Why hasn't anyone informed me? How do I register with them?
And the jokes continue:
#الاشتراك_في_رحلة_المريخ_حرام اناشد ولاة الامر بإافتتاح مكتب للهيئة على المريخ وياليت لو نعرف ماحكم نكاح الكائنات الفضائية بالمره — (Just) عبدالله (@M3a_NFSY) October 31, 2013
I hope they open an office for the Commission to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice [religious police] on Mars. And while we are on the topic, what is the religious law for mating with aliens?
Ms Doshe suspected that the fatwa was issued to distract Saudis from the recent clampdown on the women driving campaign. She tweets:
#الاشتراك_في_رحلة_المريخ_حرام لا تحاولون تغيرون الموضوع مازلنا في مرضوع سياقة المراه للسياره — « Ms.unique » (@MsDoshe) October 31, 2013
Don't try to change the topic. We are still on the women driving issue
Blogger Khaled Abdulrahman says driving on the Saudi capital Riyadh's roads is more dangerous than travelling to Mars:
شوارع الرياض مغامرة اخطر. عضو هيئة كبار العلماء الشيخ علي الحكمي: #الاشتراك_في_رحلة_المريخ_حرام لأنها مغامرة يغلب الظن فيها هلاك المشاركين — Khaled ☕ خالد (@khaled) October 31, 2013
Riyadh's roads are a more dangerous adventure! Member of the Saudi Scholar's Higher Council Ali Al Hekmi sais that taking part in the trip to Mars is forbidden in Islam because it is a mission that will likely end in the demise of its participants
Dr Mohamed bin Abdulaziz adds:
#الاشتراك_في_رحلة_المريخ_حرام انصحكم يا سادة دعوا الارض فقد شبكوها بصكوك الوعاظ.. والمريخ من ارض الله الواسعة، ياليت التحريم عن سرقة المال.
— د/ محمد بن عبدالعزيز (@binaziz2012) October 31, 2013
I advise you to leave Earth as it is being stifled by religious scholars. Mars is part of God's land. I had hoped that they would forbid the theft of money
Areej asks:
#الاشتراك_في_رحلة_المريخ_حرام انتو اصلا ايش عندكم حلال ؟!! غير التعدد وتعنيف النساء بمسمى تقويم وسب وقذف الناس بمسمى الغيرة الدينية ؟ — أريــــــــج (@Hejazeah) October 31, 2013
What is acceptable for you except for polygamy and abusing women under the guise of rehabilitating them and cursing people under the pretext that you are zealous for religion?
And Muteb Al Amari addresses the scholar saying:
#الاشتراك_في_رحلة_المريخ_حرام محد طلب راي فضيلتكم ،، وشكراً
— Muteb Al-Aamri (@MutibMusa) October 31, 2013
No one has asked for your opinion. Thank you.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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South Korean Net Users’ Donation to Villagers Fighting Against Power Line · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Clashes continue to intensify in small South Korean village Miryang as senior villagers resist the government's decision to impose electrical power lines across their land, saying they will fight to the death for their land and living rights. An environmental group started a grassroot campaign in Daum Agora site [ko] of gathering small donations from individuals to provide solar panels for the villagers. Over 1400 net users have participated so far.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales Praises Catalan Viquipèdia · Global Voices
Violeta Camarasa

Jimmy Wales speaking at the Open Science conference on October 24, 2013. Credit: VUBrussel.
During the Open Science conference at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium on October 24, 2013, Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales highlighted Viquipèdia, the Catalan Wikipedia, as a success story. A video on YouTube features the moment when Wales talks about Viquipèdia (transcript by Viquipèdia editor Arnau Duran):
“…in some of our small language Wikipedias, we have very active communities, and there’s maybe only a few people there, but they are very passionate about their mother tongue, and they really want to do the work, and so they work really hard. If we have a look some of the larger minor languages of Europe, like Catalan is a good example. Catalan Wikipedia is far larger than you would have guessed from the number of people who are speaking Catalan. And it is because the Catalan people are quite passionate about their language, which has been historically under threat.”
Earlier this year, Viquipèdia reached the milestone of 400,000 articles, and the Amical Wikimedia, the association that promotes Viquipedia, got a chapter of its own, thus becoming the first Wikimedia chapter of a territory which does not correspond to a state.

author: Violeta Camarasa


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‘A Country is More Than a Territory’: Chileans Demand Vote From Abroad  · Global Voices
Elizabeth Rivera

Chileans in Montreal, Canada demand the right to vote from abroad. Photo shared on Haz tu Voto Volar's Facebook page
For the sixth time since the end of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, Chileans living abroad will not be able to vote in a presidential election. Despite successive governments having promised to legalize this right for citizens who, for whatever reason, find themselves outside the country during the voting period, and the majority of Chileans supporting this change, on November 17 only those Chileans present in the country will be able to vote.
According to 2005 numbers from the INE [es] (National Institute of Statistics), Chileans abroad represent 3% of the country's total population and of them, 72.5% demonstrate a desire to vote.
Since 2013 corresponds to an election year, several unresolved issues have been taken up again. This time, the binomial system reform, the creation of a new constitution, and the vote for Chileans living abroad got their turn, among others.
Under the hashtags #VotoExterior (#VoteAbroad) and #HazTuVotoVolar (#MakeYourVoteFly), Chilean Twitter users have expressed their feelings on the topic:
Dejar fuera del proceso democrático a casi un millón de ciudadanos es impresentable” http://t.co/SbHelQckbK #VotoExterior Por Favor RT
— Pizarnik_enAvalon (@Poesia_enAvalon) October 31, 2013
Leaving almost a million citizens out of the democratic process is a disgrace. Please RT
To which Pilar Bustos from Rancagua replied:
@Poesia_enAvalon @ccampete ciudadanos?? Ya no son ciudadanos chilenos… pagan impuestos desde afuera?? si es así, perfecto…
— Pilar Bustos (@pilibustosb) October 31, 2013
Citizens?? They are no longer Chilean citizens… do they pay taxes from abroad?? If so, perfect…
Twitter user René was more pragmatic and posted this ad:
Se busca chilen@ que no quiera votar para representar el voto de uno que quiere votar y no puede #RepresentameEnMiDerecho#VotoExterior
— René O W (@OrmeWit) October 29, 2013
Wanted: Chileans who do not want to vote to represent the vote of someone who does and cannot
Chileans demand unconditional vote from Washington, D.C., USA. Photo shared on Haz tu Voto Volar's Facebook page.
On El Quinto Poder [es], political scientist Marcela Ríos wrote her opinion on granting voting rights to Chileans abroad:
[…] nuestros compatriotas en el exterior llevan décadas impedidos de ejercer un derecho democrático mínimo, que por definición no requiere de condición alguna para su ejercicio, por el solo hecho de estar ausentes del territorio nacional durante el día de la votación. Nuestra democracia en general, y nuestros representantes en particular, deben asumir la palabra empeñada con ellos y con todos, y terminar de aprobar el proyecto de ley que se encuentra en discusión en el Congreso.
[…] for decades, our compatriots abroad have been prevented from exercising a minimal democratic right, which by definition does not require any conditions to be exercised, on the basis of the mere fact that they are absent from the country on election day. Our democracy in general, and our representatives in particular, must take their word up with them and with everyone, and pass the bill that is being discussed in Congress.
Matías Cociña, a Sociology doctoral candidate, went beyond the demand for the right to vote in his column, “Voting from abroad, and much more” [es]:
[…] Debemos también exigir que la ley contemple la representación de esta enorme cantidad de chilenos en el parlamento de todos, por medio de diputados (¿y senadores?) electos por los chilenos residentes fuera del país y debidamente inscritos en los consulados […] Temas como problemas en el funcionamiento de consulados, demoras en trámites para obtener documentación importante, firmas de tratados en materia de migración, eficiencia en la provisión de beneficios a los miles de becados en el extranjero, y un largo etcétera, muy rara vez son foco de preocupación de nuestros parlamentarios.
[…] We must also demand that the law takes into account representation of this enormous number of Chileans in the parliament of all, through MPs (and senators?) elected by resident Chileans outside the country and duly registered in the consulates […] Issues like problems in consulate operations, delays in proceedings to obtain important documents, immigration treaty signings, efficiency in the provision of benefits for thousands of grantees abroad, and a big etcetera, are rarely the focus of concern for our parliamentarians.
On the other hand, Gustavo Díaz, a contributor for the magazine Ballotage, conducted a deep analysis of the arguments put forth in this debate in his column, “Keys to the debate on the Chilean vote abroad” [es]:
Independiente de la búsqueda por beneficios electorales que siempre existe – ya sea en promoción u oposición del voto chileno en el extranjero –si es cierto que las preferencias de nuestros compatriotas están sistemáticamente sesgadas en favor de un color político, entonces mayores son los motivos para considerar su opinión, pues detrás de eso hay un patrón regular de exclusión – sea el exilio durante la dictadura o un posterior desencanto con el estado de las cosas – del que no nos estamos haciendo cargo y obliga a ciertos ciudadanos a tomar sus maletas y empezar una nueva vida en otro lugar. Si, en cambio, el voto de los expatriados no muestra ningún tinte en particular, el argumento del cálculo político no tiene ningún asidero y tampoco sirve para zanjar el tema.
Independent of the search for electoral benefits that always exist – either in promotion or opposition of the Chilean vote abroad – if it is true that the preferences of our compatriots are systematically biased in favor of a political color, then all the more reason to consider their opinion because behind this there is a steady pattern of exclusion – be it exile during the dictatorship or a subsequent disenchantment with the state of affairs – for which we are not taking responsibility and which requires certain citizens to pick up their bags and start a new life elsewhere. If, however, the expatriate vote shows no particular coloring, the argument of political calculation has no basis nor does it serve to settle the issue.
Díaz continues:
En ambos casos es necesario profundizar la discusión respecto a los límites de la ciudadanía. Está claro que quienes dejan el país de manera temporal por estudios, trabajo, turismo o circunstancias específicas deben mantener su derecho a voto; pero la situación de aquellos con residencia permanente en el extranjero ha visto distintas respuestas alrededor del mundo.
In both cases it is necessary to deepen the discussion with respect to citizen limits. It is clear that those who leave the country temporarily for school, work, tourism, or special circumstances should maintain their right to vote; but the situation for those with permanent residence abroad has seen varying responses around the world.
Chileans residing abroad who came together in the “Haz tu Voto Volar” (“Make Your Vote Fly”) campaign have created a news channel on YouTube called “Chileans Without a Vote” [es] with interviews, testimonials, and news developments related to the demand for exercising voting rights from abroad.
This is the campaign's emotional opening video [es]:
Loreto Galindo, coordinator of the “Haz Tu Voto Volar” campaign, published a column entitled “Never being too far away, we have always been so informed” [es] in online daily El Dínamo, where she explains the reason for said campaign and the paradigms it intends to break:
“Ustedes no viven lo que vivimos nosotros. Ustedes abandonaron el país. Ustedes no pagan impuestos. Ustedes NO tienen derecho”. Estos son algunos de los comentarios, pensamientos, ideas que durante estos casi 10 meses de intensas actividades nos han escrito una minoría de chilenos residentes en el país, en contra del Voto chileno exterior. […]
En breves palabras, clarificar que nuestra lucha no se trata de que nos otorguen el derecho a voto, sino  el derecho que tenemos de participar como ciudadanos en el más importante acto democrático de nuestro país, consagrado en el art. 13 de nuestra Constitución vigente.
“You do not live through what we live through. You abandoned the country. You do not pay taxes. You do NOT have the right“. These are some of the comments, thoughts, ideas against the foreign Chilean vote that a minority of Chileans residing in the country have written us over the past almost 10 months of intense activity.
In short, I want to clarify that our fight is not dealing with granting us the right to vote, but rather implementing the right that we have to participate as citizens in the most important democratic act of our country, enshrined in Article 13 of our current constitution.
While the vote of Chileans abroad becomes a reality, organizations Voto Ciudadano (Citizen Vote) and the Fundación Democracia y Desarrollo (Democracy and Development Foundation) will be holding a symbolic and electronic presidential election [es] where Chileans living anywhere in the world will be able to participate, express, and push for exercising their right to vote. Votes will be taken on this platform from November 10 to 17 (ending at 17:00 Chilean time).

author: Elizabeth Rivera


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Book Highlights Women’s Plight to Find the Disappeared in Chile’s Desert · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

We dug in the desert and sometimes came across strange bones. We were so frightened during those years that we would bury them again.
With this quote Ramona Wadi starts her review of the book titled “Flowers in the desert – the search for Chile’s disappeared”, by author Paula Allen.
With a bilingual narration, the book “disseminates the tenacity of the women of Calama,” where 26 men were executed, accused of conspiring to blow up a local factory

author: Gabriela García Calderón Orbe


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Melbourne Cup Brings Mixed Emotions · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

Melbourne Cup day, 5 November 2013, has been a day of mixed emotions. Favourite Fiorente’s win has been a triumph for trainer Gai Waterhouse. She became the first woman to train the winner of the race that stops a nation. It certainly  stops its home city where there is a public holiday that brings a crowd of up to 110,000 people.
However, the glory was dimmed by the death of one of the runners, Verema, which had to be put down afterwards. It was owned by the Aga Khan IV, one of the sport of kings’ richest patrons.
Twitter was a mixture of…
Elation:
Fabe Keily, is CEO of Women In Management Australia ‘What Working Women Want’.
GAI WATERHOUSE is Australia's FIRST FEMALE Trainer to WIN the Melbourne Cup: Just goes to show that you can WIN… http://t.co/zsCn7YM131
— Fabe Keily (@fabekeily) November 5, 2013
Some humour:
I must resist urge to 'shop that MT @7NewsSydney: The moment Gai Waterhouse realised Fiorente won 2013 #MelbourneCup pic.twitter.com/AkVtIGARx3
— Solly (@Sollygc) November 5, 2013
Followed by sadness with the news of the “euthanized” horse.
Oh Verema. RIP you beautiful girl. RT“@DanGinnane: How could you not choke up, at least a little #melbournecup pic.twitter.com/X5wM2szq07”
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) November 5, 2013
Plus a fair bit of anger:
Horses were beaten today, and one was put down. But #MelbourneCup is not the only day this happens. It's just the one people dress up for.
— ABCnewsIntern (@ABCnewsIntern) November 5, 2013
Verema has been put down after snapping a cannon bone. Worth re-reading our piece: The cruelty of the #MelbourneCup http://t.co/kYq9SPSsFx
— Jessica Reed (@GuardianJessica) November 5, 2013
Hope everybody had fun dressing up, gambling and vomiting. Verema was necessary collateral damage, right? #MelbourneCup
— Jes (@mugleyjes) November 5, 2013
With some black humour:
I love the smell of glue in the afternoon. #MelbourneCup
— Skarburn (@EnjoyMedway) November 5, 2013
In a sign of the online times, the Wikipedia entry for the Aga Khan was updated within two hours of the race:
Thoroughbred horse racing
…On 5 November 2013, one of Aga Khan's horses – Verema – fractured it's right fore cannon[90] and was put down at the Melbourne Cup, Australia.

author: Kevin Rennie


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NaBloPoMo, Caribbean Style!  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) has spawned NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), which, in turn, is getting quite a few Caribbean netizens blogging – here, here and here.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Complaint in Blogpost Goes Viral Prompting Reply From Service Provider · Global Voices
Rezwan

Jay Harish Shah, an Indian passenger who travelled on Air France and had an unforgettable experience, did not stop at filing complaint with the airlines. He created a blog titled One Night In Paris sharing his plights which went viral prompting the airline to reply quickly. He shares his subsequent communications with the airlines in the same blog.

author: Rezwan


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Painting an Entire Favela in Rio de Janeiro · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

The dream of painting an entire favela in Rio de Janeiro is closer to become real now that the crowdfunding campaign launched by two Dutch artists in September has come to an end with over 100,000 US dollars raised for paint and painters.
When Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn started the Favela Painting project in 2005, their idea was to create public artworks in favelas in Rio de Janeiro. Eight years later, their dream has escalated “to paint an entire hillside favela and create a social artwork of epic size”:
Spreading pride and optimism, creating jobs and attract attention in a positive way. Local people will be hired and trained, hundreds of houses plastered and painted, an entire neighborhood mobilized to transform their own community into an artwork that will become a monument for the people in the favelas of Brazil.

author: Sara Moreira


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Palestinian Pick-Up Lines · Global Voices
Maya Norton

Humor, especially dark humor, is a culturally acquired taste – especially in a war zone. The hashtag #PalestinianPickUpLines has recently been trending on Twitter, garnering tens of additions in the past few days.
These proposals, sometimes warm and funny, other times angry and political, reflect the reality of life in Palestine and the Palestinian diaspora.
British-born Firas Nabil, who identifies himself as “Palestinian at heart,” offers several romanticisms, including:
When you're not with me, my heart is divided like the West Bank & Gaza. #PalestinianPickUpLines
— Firas Nabil (@firas_nabil) November 4, 2013
My claim to you is like Israel's claim to Jerusalem, illegitimate & unrecognized. #PalestinianPickUpLines
— Firas Nabil (@firas_nabil) November 4, 2013
Jordanian Sara Amro contributes:
#PalestinianPickUpLines you're the only one who doesn't need to go through a checkpoint to get to my heart
— Sara Amro (@saraamroo) November 3, 2013
Mufeed Okal of Nablus, Palestine, puts forth an impassioned plea:
#PalestinianPickUpLines Can I hold you like I hold the cause, close to my heart.
— Mufeed Okal (@MuOkal) November 3, 2013
And Israeli journalist and pro-Palestinian activist Mairav Zonszein quips:
"Your beauty is harder to define than Israeli borders " #palestinianpickuplines
— Mairav Zonszein (@MairavZ) November 3, 2013
Blogger Woman Unveiled writes that this humorous trend provides a sense of relief from the hardships of daily life.
“I am the type of person who believes that the way to move forward on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is to focus on the current issues without letting past events hold back progress… As Palestinians continue to face hardships and an infringement on their most basic human rights, one trend on Twitter sheds light on how humor can help ease some of this pain… The pick-up lines definitely garner laughs in a way that also brings to light the different ways Israel’s actions, often illegal under international law, disrupt the daily lives of Palestinians.”
It is a weakness of Twitter themes that despite being salient at the moment, it is difficult to trace their origins and development. Likewise, little information is available about this trend, which reflects others before it, like the March emergence of the same tag, and previous ones like the July 2011 hashtag #SiegePickUpLines.
Egyptian blogger Mosa'ab Elshamy, along with his friend identified on Twitter as WelshInGaza (no longer available) declares himself responsible for #SiegePickUpLines. He explains that the two conceived the idea after a conversation about humor in the face of life in Gaza.
“Arabs usually face their misery with humor. It was a question which arose from pure curiosity and was fascinating when others (many Palestinians included) joined in the collective ridiculing of the illegal Gaza siege and the daily hardship people face in the, ahem, strip. As tweets flew, more people seemed not to limit the jokes on the siege, power cuts, tunnels and, ahem, rockets but other situations like the flotilla, UN resolutions, two-state solution and US politicians.
Elshamy includes among his favorite tweets:
“Baby, you must be from PalestFINE.”
“I’d never leave you (even if I could).”
“We may not have human rights, but baby, we have human needs…”
“Dating me is like being Israel, you’ll never have to apologize for anything, girl.”
“Baby are you a drone? ‘Cause you’ve been buzzing in my head alllll day.”
“They say opposites attract. Will you be the Hamas to my Fateh”
“Baby, let’s get together and make a one state solution.”
Yasmeen El Khoudary, who blogs at Gaza, Out of the Blue (and who is also a Global Voices Online author), adds:
“As a Palestinian from Gaza who believes in the power of sarcastic humor, I loved this. Its the -humane- short jokes and statements that really shed light on the truth, more than any misleading and -often biased- news story.”
If you know more about the history of these two trends, or ones like them, please comment and share.
In the meantime, it seems that in hard times we reach out to each other using humor to commiserate and connect. If you enjoyed reading about #PalestinianPickUpLines and #SiegePickUpLines, #HumorHeals and #ShutdownPickUpLines, from the recent U.S. government shutdown, may also appeal. What others have you come across that make you laugh or appreciate your current situation more? We want to hear from you.
Thumbnail Credit:
– Rusty Stewart on Flickr (Creative Commons License)
Hat tip:
– Jennine Abdul at The Lowercase Arab blog

author: Maya Norton


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PHOTOS: Snapshots of Life in a Manila Urban Poor Community · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Together with other members of the Filipino Street Photographers, Mark Z. Saludes conducted a photowalk in an urban poor community in Mandaluyong, an eastern suburb of Manila.
An old man in an abandoned lot.
‘Development projects’ and real estate investments are rising in Metro Manila which are often touted as visible proofs of economic growth. Indeed, the Philippines was recently cited as one of the fastest growing economies in the Asia-Pacific. On the other hand, most of the impressive economic statistics often cited by government officials do not always reflect the continuing poverty in the country, even in urban centers like Manila.
Despite the reported progress in the country, Manila is still home to hundreds of thousands of informal settlers. These urban poor communities are always threatened with demolition to give way for ‘development projects’. A relocation program is offered by the government but many families prefer to stay in their homes as they demand for an in-city or near-city housing program where schools, hospitals, and other services are accessible.
The photos of Mr Saludes provide a glimpse of life in an urban poor community in Mandaluyong. A community which might be demolished in the near future.
Global Voices is re-publishing some of these photos with permission from Mr Saludes.
An old man in his shanty
Scraps of wood and old tires are often used to prevent the roofs from collapsing.
A child peers through a small window of a thrift store which sells candies and cigarettes
The barber shop signpost   reads: Secret of the Handsome
A man wearing an SM cap. SM is owned by the Philippines’ richest businessman. Behind the man is a tarpaulin displaying some construction projects
*All photos courtesy of Mark Z. Saludes

author: Mong Palatino


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Remembering the 1746 Earthquake in Lima · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Lima in its Barroque splender at the end of the XVII century. Image from Juan Luis Orrego Penagos’ blog.
On October 28, 1746, the city of Lima was shaken by one of the strongest earthquakes in its history. Even though registries or scientific measurements for earthquakes didn't exist in that time period, by the descriptions that survived to the present day and the damage caused, it is estimated that the earthquake had a magnitude of 9 Mw.
The historian Juan Jose Pacheco Ibarra last year posted an article [es] in his blog Rincón de historia peruana (Corner of Peruvian History) using sources from that time period.
Pacheco continues relating the damage in the city:
Percy Taira, in the blog Expediente Oculto (Hidden Record), reproduces parts of a written chronicle by Father Pedro Lozano, from the Compañía de Jesús (Society of Jesus), who was a witness to the earthquake and narrates the great destruction in Lima, and adds [es] information about the tsunami that devastated Callao after the earthquake:
Pero fue incomparablemente mayor el daño en el Puerto del Callao, donde en la misma hora se sintió el terremoto sumamente violento. Resistieron á su primer ataque algunas torres, y una parte de las murallas; pero media hora después, comenzando los habitantes á respirar y recobrarse, se entumeció el mar, se elevó á una prodijiosa [sic] altura y se precipitó con horrible estruendo sobre la tierra, sumergiendo los mas grandes Navios, que se hallaban en el puerto; y elevando algunos por encima de las murallas y torres, los llevó á varar mas adelante de la población (…) No se distingue el lugar donde estuvo la ciudad, sino por las dos grandes puertas y algunos grandes lienzos de la muralla, que todavía subsisten
But there was incomparable damage in the Port of Callao, where the extremely violent earthquake was felt in the same hour. Some towers resisted its first attack, and a part of the walls; but half an hour after, when the inhabitants were starting to breathe and recover, the sea rose, it rose to an incredible height and it was precipitated by a loud noise over the ground, submerging the largest ships that were in the harbor, and lifting some others above the walls and towers, it carried them beyond the town (…) it is impossible to distinguish the place where the city used to be, expect for the two large doors and some large wall paintings that still exist.
The historian Juan Luis Orrego Penagos also comments [es] on the impact that this earthquake had on Lima's architecture:
las mejores joyas arquitectónicas de Lima se desintegraron; asimismo, tanto los edificios reconstruidos como los nuevos perdieron la elegancia y boato que mostraban los desaparecidos. En el futuro, como lección del siniestro, se empleó a gran escala el adobe, la quincha y los materiales ligeros, en reemplazo de la piedra, el ladrillo y los “materiales nobles”.
The best architectural gems of Lima disintegrated; at the same time, both reconstructed buildings and new ones lost the elegance and showiness displayed by those that disappeared. In the future, as a lesson of the incident, adobe, thatch, and light-weight materials were used on a large scale, replacing stone, brick and “noble materials”.
And the earthquake also had an affect on the virreynal city's habits , where, according to a study by the historian Scarlet O’Phelan, it was popularly believed that the earthquake occurred because of offenses the Lima people practiced, among them injustices against the poor, greed and usury, lust and women's vanity with their scandalous dresses.
En efecto, la iglesia sugirió que la moda francesa femenina de pronunciados escotes, mangas cada vez más cortas y faldas a la altura del tobillo, habían provocado la ira divina, materializada en el movimiento telúrico. La insinuante moda francesa había sido adoptada por las clases altas, pero también por los sectores populares.
Indeed, the church suggested that pronounced French fashion, including female necklines, increasingly shorter sleeves, and skirts above the ankle, sparked divine anger, embodied in the quake. The flirtatious French style was adapted by the upper classes, but also by everyday people.
In the blog Terremotos en la historia del Peru (Earthquakes in Peru's History), they point out [es] the relationship of this earthquake to the cult Lord of Miracles [en], and that even though it has indigenous origins [es] in its similarity with the cult Lord of Pachacamac, during the colony it was assimilated by black slaves and who made it their own. In the blog they point out that the earthquake “didn't only crack the physical foundations of Lima's buildings, but also political ones, since the black population rose in revolts and looting that altered the social order, as this natural punishment was interpreted as the harbinger of the viceroy's fall.”
“En octubre de 1747 se celebraron en la ciudad de Lima una serio de actos religiosos, entre los que destaco la procesión del Señor de los Milagros. Esta imagen recorrió por primera vez las calles de la ciudad durante cinco días. Es evidente que la procesión se ligó directamente por recuperar el orden público (…)” Rosas 2005:109
Esta acción tuvo buenos resultados para el gobierno ya calmo en cierta medida los ánimos entre la población revoltosa, además de convertirse el mes de octubre en una ocasión especial en donde se refuerza y recuerda los movimientos sísmicos en una estrecha vinculación a las relaciones sociales, tal y como lo vivimos en nuestros días.
“In October of 1747 a series of religious acts were celebrated in the city of Lima among which the Lord of Miracles procession was a highlight. For the first time this image traveled through the streets of the city for five days. It is clear that the procession was directly used to regain public order (…)” Rosas 2005:109
This action had good results for the government and somewhat calmed tempers among the unruly population, in addition to making the month of October a special occasion in which earthquakes help to strengthen and to remind us of our social ties, like we live these days.
It's worth adding that to this very day every October 28 the Lord of Miracles procession is seen through the streets of Lima.
Virrey José Antonio Manso de Velasco. Here is seen the side of the Lima Cathedral in the process of being rebuilt. For his great work he would receive the title of “Count of Superunda”. Image from the Rincón de Historia Peruana (Corner of Peruvian History) blog.
Rebuilding Lima took years, and was for the most part rebuilt thanks to the efforts of Viceroy Manso de Velasco, known then as Count of Superunda. Juan Jose Pacheco Ibarra comments:
El virrey Manso de Velasco actuó de manera casi inmediata comisionando a los empleados de limpieza y la cofradía de la caridad para dar sepultura a las víctimas […además] organizó la reconstrucción de los canales de agua, de los hornos de pan, la limpieza de escombros de las calles y de los caminos y la reconstrucción del palacio de los virreyes y la catedral.
Viceroy Manso de Velasco acted almost immediately commissioning cleaning employees and the charity brotherhood to bury victims […in addition] he organized the rebuilding of water canals, of bread ovens, cleaning debris from streets and roads and the rebuilding of the viceroy palace and the cathedral.
Additional information may be found on José Antonio Benito's blog, who shares [es] an interview with the North American historian Charles Walker, related to his book “Shaky Colonialism: The 1746 Earthquake-Tsunami in Lima, Peru, and Its Long Aftermath.” The book's presentation is available in this video [es] on YouTube.

author: Juan Arellano


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Teaser of Collaboration Between Calle 13 and Wikileaks’ Julian Assange · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

The expected single titled “Multi_Viral,” a collaboration between Puerto Rican hip hop group Calle 13 and Wikileaks’ Julian Assange, will be released next November 13, 2013 (yes, all 13s).
Last June, René Pérez, the group's frontman, visited Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Using the hashtag #JulianAssangeCalle13 they asked people to answer a series of questions through Twitter. These tweets are the material for the single for which Calle 13 collaborated with Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and Palestinian vocalist and musician Kamilya Jubran, according to Billboard magazine.

author: Firuzeh Shokooh Valle


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The Caribbean’s Financial Culture  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Abeng News magazine reports that the Caribbean has some of the lowest savings rates in the world.


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Thoughts on Bangladesh Election 2014  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Habib Siddiqui weighs in on the recent political stalemate in Bangladesh, which is making the road to Bangladesh Election 2014 difficult. He comments:
If the political leaders can’t tolerate each other as fellow human beings, politics is a wrong profession for them in a democracy.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Opposition Wins Again; Government Still Optimistic  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The results of the St. Joseph by-election in Trinidad have come in and – just as in the recently concluded Local Government Elections – the opposition People's National Movement has emerged victorious.  The seat was previously held by former Justice Minister Herbert Volney of the People's Partnership coalition government.  Twitter and Facebook have both seen netizen commentary about the outcome.
Early on, journalist @john_yearwood wondered if people were calling the seat too quickly:
#PNM celebrating by-election win in #Trinidad.Some not so sure it's over. What u think? #stjoseph. @wgibbings @CNC3TV @tv6tnt
— John Yearwood (@john_yearwood) November 5, 2013
Eldwin Baptiste was convinced that the PNM would hold on to its lead:
We got a winner #PNM #UNC #ILP is wetting after wetting #ByElection #StJoseph @tv6tnt @CNC3TV @cnewslive #PNMvictory pic.twitter.com/y0Z7GBcgMJ
— eldwin baptiste (@porkman1986) November 5, 2013
Even before the official results were announced, the Ccn Tvnews Facebook page felt secure enough in its sources to post that:
PNM Candidate Terrence Deyalsingh wins the St. Joseph By-Election: PNM 6308 votes; ILP 1986 votes; UNC 5605; IND 303 votes; DNA 9 votes. (53 of 53 stations) Source: Solution By Simulation
Much of the reader commentary on that post referred to the “wetting” that government's candidate Ian Alleyne promised his political rivals. Denecia J S Boodoo said:
ian[‘s] wetting after wetting has back fire[d] on him
The official results that were released later that night confirmed the early trends. An official statement from the Elections and Boundaries Commission noted that the opposition's candidate led the government's by 779 votes; just over 50% of the eligible population voted.
The PNM's official Facebook page, which changed its cover photo in anticipation of the by-election, wasted no time in celebrating the win:
Congratulations to Terrance Deyalsingh MP for St. Joseph.
Thank you for leading the way to the next General Elections!!
Impact on Governance soon quoted the opposition leader, Dr. Keith Rowley, in this tweet:
This #Government has no mandate to continue to govern #Trinidad and #Tobago.Dr. Keith Rowley.#TTPolitics #byelection #StJoseph
— Impact on Governance (@IOGTTProject) November 5, 2013
The government wasn't quite prepared to admit defeat, though, seeing that its losing candidate came in at what some supporters thought was a strong second place.  According to the C News Live Facebook page, Alleyne himself noted that:
“In 10 days time I have done a lot. What it takes some MPs 5 years I did in 10 days…”
Facebook user Patricia Worrell was not surprised at the government's reaction:
So! PNM won!
Waiting for KPB to come and ‘explain’ to us why it's really a UNC victory!
Finally, the memes started coming, with one of the most blunt referring to the then-teenager at the centre of this controversial story, who happens to be Ian Alleyne's sister:
Meme by Trini Public Sector Comics – www.facebook.com/trinicomics


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Trinidad & Tobago: Creative Collaboration & Devious Download · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Caribbean Review of Books blogs about an exciting new project, Douen Islands, whose “first manifestation” is an e-book of eleven poems (one of which boasts a video adaptation) and brief Twitter texts. Bonus: Click on the downloadable link in the post.


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‘Women Should Be Submissive’, and Other Google Autocomplete Suggestions · Global Voices
Tetyana Bohdanova

A series of ads by UN Women, revealed in late October, used the Google Autocomplete feature to uncover widespread negative attitudes toward women. Global Voices followed reactions to the UN Women campaign and conducted its own experiment in different languages. The results of searches conducted both within the UN Women campaign and Global Voices revealed popular attitudes not only about women’s social and professional roles, but also about their sexuality, appearance and relationships with men.
UN Women ad featuring Google autocomplete suggestions for the phrase “women shouldn't”
The creators of the UN Women ads used search phrases like “women cannot”, “women shouldn’t”, “women should” and “women need to” completed by genuine Google search terms to highlight overwhelmingly negative stereotypes, sexist and highly discriminatory views held about women by society globally. The ads quickly went viral and sparked a heated discussion online. Last week, creators have announced that they are planning to expand the campaign in response to the mass online reaction.
The auto-complete function for searches, according to Google, predicts users’ queries based on the search activity of all users of the web as well as the content of indexed pages. The predictions may also be influenced by past searches of the particular user if they are signed into their Google account.
Global Voices asked its contributors from around the world to carry out Google searches using the same or similar phrases as those used in the UN Women campaign, in their own languages. The searches done between October 19 and October 25, 2013, revealed attitudes about the roles women are expected to take in society, often demonstrating the same global prejudices, but sometimes showing contradictions in different countries. Below are searches in 12 languages from different countries and continents:
Spanish
Chile
“Women should not…”. A screenshot by Silvia Viñas. October 21, 2013.
Women should not…
Women should not preach
Women should not work
Women should not talk in the congregation
Women should not drive
Peru
“Women cannot…” A screenshot by Juan Arellano. October 21, 2013.
Women cannot…
Women cannot preach
Women cannot be pastors
Women cannot donate blood
Women cannot live without man
Puerto Rico
“Women should…”. A screenshot by Firuzeh Shokooh Valle. October 21, 2013.
Women should…
Women should be submissive
Women should use the veil
Women should preach
Women should work
French
France
“Women should…”. A screenshot by Suzanne Lehn. October 21, 2013.
Women should…
women should stay at home
women should work
should women preach
women should wear skirts
women should be submissive
women should know
women should vote
women should stay at home
should women work
women should do the cooking
“Women don't know…”. A screen shot by Rayna St. October 21, 2013.
Women don’t know…
women don't know how to drive
women don't know what they want
women don't know how to be in love
women don't know how to read cards
Arabic
Egypt (similar results in Jordan)
“Woman cannot…”. A screenshot by Tarek Amr. October 21, 2013.
Woman cannot…
Woman cannot live without marriage
Woman cannot live without a man
Woman cannot keep a secret
Woman cannot interpret man's silence
Chinese
“Women cannot…”. A screenshot by Gloria Wang. October 21, 2013.
Women cannot…
Women cannot be too smart
Women can't drive
Women cannot give birth
10 topics women cannot discuss with their husbands
Romanian
“Women should not…”. A screenshot by Diana Lungu. October 21, 2013.
women should not…
women should be loved not understood
women should not be understood
women should not wear pants
what women should not do in bed
Italian
Italy
“Women should…”. A screenshot by Gaia Resta. October 22, 2013.
Women should…
Women should stay at home
should play hard to get
should stay in the kitchen
should be subdued
“Women should not…”. A screenshot by Gaia Resta. October 22, 2013.
Women should not…
Women should not be understood
should not work
should not be understood but loved
should not read
German
Germany
“Woman should not…”. A screenshot by Katrin Zinoun. October 21, 2013.
Woman should not…
Woman should not teach
My wife should not work
“Woman can…”. A screenshot by Katrin Zinoun. October 21, 2013.
Woman can….
Woman cannot come
Woman cannot get pregnant
Woman cannot cook
Woman cannot get a baby
Hebrew
“Women don't…”. A screenshot by
Gilad Lotan. October 21, 2013.
Women don't…
Women don't work
Women are not modest
Women don't know how to drive
Women don't want to have kids
Hungarian
“A woman should be…”. A screenshot by Marietta Le.
October 21, 2013.
A woman should be…
a woman should be a chef in the kitchen
a woman should be pretty and ruthless
Danish
“Women cannot…”. A screenshot by Solana Larsen. October 20, 2013.
Women cannot…
Women cannot drive
Women cannot control vagina
Women cannot be color blind
Women cannot barbecue
In Danish, the searches for “women cannot” and “women can” yielded the same results.
Russian
Russia
“Women should not…”. A screenshot by Veronica Khokhlova. October 19, 2013.
Women should not…
Women should not be believed
Women should not lift heavy things
Women should not drink
Women should not be trusted
English
The UK
“Women should…”. A screenshot by Annie Zaman. October 25, 2013.
Women should…
Women should be seen and not heard
Women should stay at home
Women should know their place
Not all searches carried out by members of Global Voices community turned up negative terms. Nevertheless, the results of the experiment largely confirm UN Women’s worrying conclusion that a great deal of work still remains to be done in order to advance women’s rights and empowerment around the world.

author: Tetyana Bohdanova


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Bigger Protests Against Thailand’s Amnesty Bill · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

More groups and individuals in Thailand have expressed opposition to the controversial Amnesty Bill by marching in the streets. A few days after parliament approved the bill last November 1, tens of thousands joined protest actions in Bangkok to show their disapproval to the measure which would give blanket amnesty to politicians and leaders who committed political offenses since 2006.
From the Facebook page of medical students at Chulalongkorn University
Opposition to the bill emerged after it was reported that the amended version of the measure would benefit corrupt politicians and human rights violators. In particular, the opposition party said the bill will ‘whitewash’ the crimes of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who fled the country after being found guilty of plunder by a local court.
Thaksin was deposed by a coup in 2006. His younger sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, is Thailand’s prime minister today. According to Thaksin’s critics, the bill will allow the former leader to return to the country and recover his wealth which was sequestered by the government.
Aside from political parties, various institutions have also opposed the measure. School and hospital protests were organized in the past two days. Most notably, thousands of Chulalongkorn University lecturers, staff, students and alumni marched in the streets to express their rejection of the bill.
The senate will tackle the bill next week.
Reactions on Twitter reveal the unpopularity of the measure and the size of protests in Bangkok:
5:50pm Latest picture of the anti-amnesty rally at Democracy Monument #Bangkok (Pic @ter_TRnews) pic.twitter.com/C6ENfxfkIJ
— Richard Barrow (@RichardBarrow) November 4, 2013
รายงานสด…จากสยาม ม็อบเต้มเลยค่า แนะนำหลีกเลี่ยงเส้นทางบริเวณนั้นค่าาา @traffy @fm91trafficpro @js100radio pic.twitter.com/kBxz3Fzeiv
— Palmanee (@Palmy2u) November 5, 2013
Live reporting….from Siam. Mobs everywhere. Advice to avoid those areas.
Chulalongkorn Uni march against Thai amnesty bill panorama #ptcybertalk #redshirt @pouyingluck @thaksinlive pic.twitter.com/frGaSBC528
— issara r (@issarar) November 6, 2013
Credit when its due. Democrat Party has been consistently against Amnesty Bill for months. (Many people ignore) Peaceful protests so far.
— เอม นภพัฒน์จักษ์ (@noppatjak) November 6, 2013
@Nganadeeleg Opposing this amnesty bill shud not blur fact that corrupt judiciary has been imposing its perverse version of amnesty 4 years.
— JQ Public (@JQP6) November 6, 2013
Chulalongkorn University Against The Amnesty Bill Bangkok Thailand pic.twitter.com/fj2TSFfcSq
— S. Hirunyawanit (@Thaihundred) November 5, 2013
Many Facebook and Twitter users also uploaded photos in opposition to the bill:
Against amnesty bill. 사면법안반대. pic.twitter.com/DhTsAyy8bb
— Angel deviL Anlee (@Anlee_Okcat) November 6, 2013
Somyot Pruksakasemsuk questions why violators of the lese majeste (anti-royal insult) law will not be covered in the Amnesty Bill:
In the name of reconciliation, the law itself is obviously hypocritical.  Notably, it does not include those convicted or accused under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lèse majesté law, although they also are obviously victims of political conflict. The lèse majesté prisoners were sentenced because they expressed political views during the peak of the political conflict. By claiming that the amnesty draft bill is for equality contradicts the principle of equality itself.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is urging the public not to ‘politicize’ the bill:
…several groups appear not ready to embrace forgiveness and are mired in differences.
I don't want to see the politicisation of the bill with the aim of unseating the elected government and derailing democratic rule once again.
The bill has been distorted to cause misunderstanding as a fiscal issue.
The government's main goal is to bring about reconciliation. In the face of prevailing differences, the government would like all sides to pause in order to stop causing further divisiveness.


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China’s People Liberation Army Propaganda on Sino-U.S Relation · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Andrew Chubb from South Sea Conversation highlighted a “leaked” documentary video produced for China's People Liberation Army on U.S foreign politics and its role in the disintegration of former USSR and its threat to the one party regime of China.

author: Oiwan Lam


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D.R., Haiti: We Can Work It Out?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

This is an island. No way out. So these two nations, who have been doing a live rendition of a Russian novel for 500 years, are going to have to work it out.
Contrary to many of the opinions expressed in this post, Changing Perspectives weighs in on the decision by the Dominican Republic to deny citizenship to subsequent generations of illegal immigrants, most of whom are Haitian.


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Ecuador: #Ruraleando, a Blog That Humanizes Medicine  · Global Voices
Daniela Gallardo

[All links lead to Spanish language pages, except when otherwise noted]
In a corner of Ecuador in Patután, Cotopaxi [en], the people are connected to the world thanks to a blog: #ruraleando. It's likely that the patients who visit this parish's Health Clinic have no idea that each day at the end of her shift, Denisse Calle (@niches13) publishes, without fear or self-censorship, the problems and progress of the health system, and tells of what she has lived since beginning her placement as a rural doctor.  She does this because she knows what she's talking about: she questions, analyses, tests and proposes solutions.
If you have a look at #ruraleando, you might stop to read about day 112, when Doctor Calle met Segundo, an addict in rehabilitation who arrived with an intestinal infection, and left smiling ear to ear after being given a new opportunity to begin again.
There is also the story of a 29-year-old patient with high glucose levels, who, after arriving at the hospital for testing was simply told that he looked fine, and should come back four days later –and not one test was performed!
In the same post, the author tells of her encounter with Marlon, a child with special needs who came to the clinic and was entertained by the music of Pink Floyd.
These are every day stories, so common that they seem normal.
The blog teaches us to look further than the distraction of medicine as a profession, a profession which no longer centers itself in the patient, bur in endlessly dolling out prescriptions and medical exams. Its pain touches us while reflecting upon the human element in a community's problems.
Denisse with one of her patients, Génesis. Image taken from #ruraleando, and used under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-SA 3.0 EC)
Thanks to the blog, Denisse was able to make contact with national representatives in Health and tell them of needs which would go unseen, unfelt or unlived unless they become a part of this reality.
Through a proposal for a first aid training program after helping a traffic-accident victim in a very difficult situation, she was able to contact the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In a blog post, the doctor explains:
Un hombre inmóvil sobre el asfalto, gente (20 personas) alrededor, 2 policías… y nadie, NADIE! se acercó a siquiera tocarle el pulso… me arrodillé y cuando iba a tocarlo, la policía me dijo “qué va a hacer? no lo puede tocar, no le puede hacer nada!” a lo que le respondí SOY MÉDICO!, entonces me autorizó hacerlo…  Sí! suena absurdo! autorizarle a alguien auxiliar a un desconocido que ha sufrido un accidente, mientras tu le preguntas a la gente sobre si vio el vehículo que atropelló a la persona, por dónde se fue, de qué color era.
A man, motionless on the asphalt, a crowd of 20 people and two policeman around him…and no one, NO ONE, came forward to even feel his pulse…I knelt down and when I was about to touch him, the police asked me “What are you going to do? You can't touch him, you can't do anything to him!” to which I replied “I'M A DOCTOR!” and they gave me permission. Yes!  It sounds absurd! Authorizing someone to help a stranger who's suffered an accident, while you ask the people around whether they saw the vehicle that hit the person, where it went or what color it was.
In July, Denisse received an invitation to be part of the Seminario-Taller Internacional ”Retos Actuales de la Salud Pública en Ecuador y Vigilancia Ciudadana de las Políticas Públicas y Servicios de Salud” [International Lecture-Workshop “Current Challenges in Ecuador's Public Health and Civic Vigilance of Public Policy and Health Services”], and Nobel Prize winner in Medicine, Thomas Südhof [en], even responded to one of her queries through the BBC.
In this way, bit by bit, what began as a dream is becoming reality. Since publishing the first post in February 2013, Denisse has written about her wish to “show that change in health begins rurally; if a community is educated about things which seem tiny and even unimportant, you can achieve big changes.”

author: Daniela Gallardo


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Global Demand for Quinoa Takes Toll on Andean Farmers and Consumers · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Varieties of Peruvian quinoa. Photo posted by ApegaPerú on flickr and used under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license)
Quinoa has captured the attention of consumers from around the world, but the growing international demand has caused problems in local consumption in the Andean countries where it is produced, additionally affecting poor populations who used to consume it regularly.
The year 2013 was declared as the ‘International Year of Quinoa’ by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). FAO additionally named [es] Nadine Heredia, wife of Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, as special ambassador for the International year of Quinoa, together with Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia.
This declaration by the FAO is a recognition [es] of the great nutritional value of quinoa, a pseudocereal originating from the Andean region of South America which contains eight basic amino acids for human nutrition; in addition to proteins, carbohydrates, and minerals, it is relatively low in fats.
These nutritional qualities have, little by little, made the rest of the world interested in this ancestral Andean product. From rather low levels [es] of exportation a few years ago, Peru, the second world producer of quinoa, exported [es] 7,600 tons in the year 2012, from a production [es] of 43,600 tons; while Bolivia, the first world producer [es] of quinoa, exported [es] some 26,000 tons of its total production which was a little more than 44,000 tons.
The Peruvian gastronomic boom has also contributed to the spread of quinoa on a global scale, since several typical Peruvian and international dishes have been reinterpreted [es] by chefs using quinoa. It's use, which before was not very widespread outside of Andean homes, has arrived in force [es] to gourmet restaurants in Lima.
The following promotional video (with English subtitles), produced by FAO and uploaded to YouTube, explains more about quinoa:
However, this promising panorama has its negative side: the international demand for quinoa, which causes Bolivia to dedicate more than 50% of its quinoa production to exportation, has caused prices within the domestic market to rise and therefore is now not accessible [es] to the poorest populations.
The level of unsatisfied international demand [es] for quinoa is also currently causing the United States and Chile to research its cultivation in non-Andean lands.
With regard to this issue, in the blog All about Quinoa they republish an article by the anthropologist Mauricio Mamani Pocoaca which previously appeared in Bolivian newspapers, where he says [es] that in this time of globalization farmers must adapt to agricultural production chains or resign themselves to losing their crop lands. Mamani adds that the hope for income from exportation is a fallacy:
Habrá muchos pedidos desde el exterior y los países andinos no podrán responder; entonces los países industrializados producirán con alta tecnología y con fines industriales. Los subproductos de la quinua llegará desde el exterior a nuestro país, en enlatados, en sobre, en diferentes preparados, con conservantes. Nuestra quinua formará parte de la comida chatarra y nosotros seremos los consumidores dependientes: razón por la que lloran los campesinos en silencio y saben que, en el futuro, nunca más serán los dueños de la semilla de quinua y además están conscientes que, en el futuro desaparecerán algunas variedades que desde su origen, tuvieron distintas aplicaciones en su uso. Antes de la época de la siembra, todos los años comprarán a comerciantes (semillas transgénicas) con el denominativo de “semilla certificada”.
There will be many requests from overseas and the Andean countries won't be able to respond; so industrialized countries will produce with high tech equipment and by industrial means. Quinoa subproducts will come from overseas to our country, in cans, in envelopes, in different preparations, with preservatives. Our quinoa will form part of fast food and we will be dependent consumers: this is the reason why farmers are crying in silence and know that, in the future, they will no longer be the owners of the quinoa seed and they are also aware that, in the future, some varieties that were originally used differently will disappear. Before the time of sowing, every year they will buy will buy transgenic seeds with the name “certified seed” from businessmen.
In the same blog post, Rubén Miranda writes in response:
De quien dependa que las variedades no se pierdan, de los mismos productores, de quien depende conscientizar sobre evitar las semilla transgenicas […] (d)e todos nosotros, los interesados en mantener nuestra variabilidad genética.
Not losing the varieties of seeds depends on the producers; raising awareness about avoiding transgenic seeds[…] depends on all of us, those of us who are interested in maintaining our genetic variability.
In the virtual magazine PuntoEdu from the Catholic University of Peru, the Peruvian anthropologist Carlos Eduardo Aramburú shares an article [es] which explores the dilemmas between the exportation boom [es] and the shortage for the domestic market. Aramburú explains that in a field study in Ayacucho and Puno he found that:
los pobladores han dejado de comer quinua porque prefieren exportarla y han reemplazado este alimento por los fideos que son más rápidos de cocinar y llenan pero tienen muy poco valor nutricional. En conclusión, tenemos el boom de la gastronomía en un país donde, si bien la malnutrición crónica infantil ha caído, todavía los índices de anemia son altos. No comemos menos pero si comemos mal
the people have stopped eating quinoa because they prefer to export it and they have replaced this food with noodles which are quicker to cook and fill you up but have very little nutritional value. In conclusion, we have the gastronomic boom in a country where, although chronic childhood malnutrition has decreased, anemia indexes are still high. We don't eat less but but we eat badly
Confirming the above, Peruvian areas with a traditionally high consumption of quinoa, like Puno, have reported a shortage of the product. The Peruvian Society of Environmental Law blog reports that this is worrying, since Puno has 80% of the quinoa production in Peru, and adds [es]:
desde julio la región Puno sufre de escasez de quinua, debido al incremento de la demanda en más de 143% entre los años 2008 y 2012. Otro factor sería la promoción que se le ha dado a este producto en mercados importantes como China.
since July the Puno region has suffered from a shortage of quinoa due to the increased demand of more than 143% between the years 2008 and 2012. Another factor may be the promotion this product has been given in important markets like China.
Some citizens complain about the rise in price of quinoa in Peru, where Bolivian quinoa can be cheaper [es] than Peruvian kind:
Y con eso bajara el precio? :) RT @Capital967: Orgullo peruano: Declaran a la #quinua como Producto Bandera http://t.co/DVFRpibsz1
— LuisMiguelCaballero (@lcaballero) May 26, 2013
And that will lower the price? :) RT @Capital967: Peruvian Pride: They declare quinoa a flagship product
El medio kilo cuesta 10 soles promedio – El precio de la Quinua sigue por las nubes en mercados – http://t.co/0wgDklHUIU vía @tromepe
— Enzo Chaparro (@enzochaparro) October 15, 2013
Half a kilo (about one pound) costs 10 soles ($3.60 US dollars) on average – the price of quinoa is through the roof at the markets
@tv_peru Gracias @NadineHeredia por promover la Quinua. Y por hacerla subir de precio descomunalmente!!! Gracias? #OkNo
— Oswaldo Azulabril (@azulabril_16) October 27, 2013
Thanks @NadineHeredia for promoting quinoa. And for making the price rise unbelievably!!! Thanks? #OkNo
Finally, the website Carro de Combate shares an article [es] about the risks of the quinoa boom:
Ninguna moda, por muy ecológica o sostenible que pueda parecer, está exenta de riesgo. El consumo masivo puede traer consigo desequilibrios para las comunidades locales e impactos ecológicos, incluso si la planta que se cultiva es el “alimento de los dioses”.
Nothing which is in style, no matter how ecological or sustainable it may appear, is exempt from risk. Mass consumption may bring with it an imbalance for local communities and ecological impacts, even if the plant which is cultivated is the “food of the gods.”


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Hong Kong: Halloween-themed Anti-Poverty March · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A group of activists in Hong Kong dressed up in Halloween costume to show the “horror” of poverty in Hong Kong. More report and photos from Hong Wrong.


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Peruvians Protest Against Pro-Fujimori Congresswoman  · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Peruvian human rights organizations are speaking out against [es] the appointment [es] of pro-Fujimori congresswoman Martha Chávez [es] as a member of the Human Rights Commission in Congress due to her history [es] of disrespect of human rights.
Yesterday, November 5, Congress rejected [es] the request by congressman Heriberto Benítez -who had previously voted for Martha Chávez- to disable the commission.
Human rights groups organized a protest for November 5. On social networks the call to protest was made under the hashtag #FueraMarthaChávez [es] (Out Martha Chávez).
Volvimos a las calles porque estamos indignados! #TomaLaCalle #FueraMarthaChavez #FujimoriNuncaMas pic.twitter.com/AhSLk4lmFZ
— Alvaro Giles (@AlvaroGiles1) November 6, 2013
We have returned to the streets because we are outraged!


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Russians Remember the Nord-Ost Hostage Siege, 11 Years Later · Global Voices
Gina Lentine

The Nord-Ost play banner outside the Dubrovka Theater, during the October 23-26, 2002, hostage crisis. YouTube screenshot.
Russians are no strangers to terrorism, but there's always something strange about every passing anniversary of the country's worst terrorist attacks. Late last month, Muscovites observed the eleventh anniversary of the infamous Nord-Ost Siege at the city's Dubrovka Theater, a three-day-long hostage crisis, resolved only after special forces flooded the theater with a secret chemical agent intended to subdue the attackers. Tragically—and, many would argue, unforgivably—the gas also caused the deaths of 130 theater-goers.
Journalist Sergei Parkhomenko reposted [ru] to his blog on Ekho Moskvy a LiveJournal entry from 2007, which he wrote on Nord-Ost's fifth anniversary, complaining that nothing about the government's mishandling of the hostage crisis has been investigated or led to any punishments. In a particularly poignant moment, Parkhomenko recollects how Russians huddled around televisions during the standoff, waiting desperately for good news:
Сидим мы, сидим, ждем, ждем… Восемь утра уже… По телевидению пошли эти съемки, которые потом весь день крутили.
We sit and sit, wait and wait… It's already eight in the morning… On TV there are these clips that they then repeat all day long.
Eleven years later, many still harbor frustration and confusion about what happened at the Dubrovka Theater. Some see it as a massive failure of the Russian government's policies in Chechnya, while others embrace the conspiracy theory that the authorities staged the entire incident, in order to discredit the Chechen resistance. Still others see the Nord-Ost attack as evidence of an overall lack of regard for human life in hostage and crisis situations.
The RuNet was abuzz with different thoughts about the Nord-Ost attack's anniversary, though most bloggers demonstrate an ongoing search for answers, rather than any consolidated consensus.
Garry Kasparov published [ru] on LiveJournal a mordant reflection on the anniversary, aptly titled, “For Whom the Bell Tolls”:
Гибель собственных граждан никогда не считалась в нашем Отечестве серьезным преступлением, за которое стоило бы наказывать провинившихся начальников. Но, тайно наградив организаторов штурма на Дубровке, путинский режим пошел еще дальше, выдав бессрочную индульгенцию на выполнение любых преступных приказов.
За прошедшие 10 лет в отсутствие организованного отпора общества режим мягкого авторитаризма постепенно обретал зловещие черты фашистской диктатуры. Сейчас у мало-мальски думающих людей уже не остается сомнений в том, что только энергичными солидарными действиями мы можем не допустить развития самого мрачного сценария, несущего смертельную угрозу как для всей страны, так и для каждого из нас.
Поэтому не спрашивай, по ком звонит колокол…
The death of its citizens has never been considered a serious crime in our Motherland, which would require punishing the guilty men in charge. But, secretly having rewarded the [police] assault's organizers, the Putin regime went even further, indefinitely pardoning anyone executing any criminal orders.
For the past 10 years, in the absence of organized resistance in society, soft authoritarianism has gradually taken on the sinister features of a Fascist dictatorship. Now even halfwits no longer harbor any doubts that only by energetic, united actions can we prevent the development of the darkest scenario, which poses a mortal danger to both the whole country and to each of us.
So do not ask for whom the bell tolls…
Another oppositionist politician, Mikhail Kasyanov, tweeted:
Норд Ост- Дубровка, штурм,погибшие. Скорблю. Раскрытие формулы секрет газа оказывается в понимании Путина стоит больше,чем жизнь 130 граж РФ
— Михаил Касьянов (@MKasyanov) October 26, 2012
Nord Ost – Dubrovka, the assault, casualties. I am distressed. The disclosure of the secret gas formula is worth more to Putin than the lives of 130 citizens of the Russian Federation.
Lawyer and activist Karinna Moskalenko wrote in Ekho Moskvy about the wider legal and human rights implications surrounding the Nord-Ost tragedy, including her belief that the case should go before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR):
Это нарушение должно быть незамедлительно восполнено, – власти должны быть призваны к немедленному возбуждению уголовного дела и проведению расследования, что прямо вытекает из решения Европейского Суда.
The damages should be compensated immediately, [and] a criminal case and investigation should be opened against the authorities, following directly from the European Court's decision.
Natalia Pelevina, a British-Russian playwright, political activist, and blogger, published [ru] on LiveJournal an essay of reflections and questions on the Nord-Ost anniversary:
То есть могло быть так, что информация о готовящемся теракте поступила и была использована в своих целях?… Зрители и артисты не шли на мюзикл ” Норд Ост” умирать…
Could the information about the terrorist attack have been received [by Russian authorities] and then used for their own purposes? The audience and the artists didn't go to the musical “Nord-Ost” to die…
Pelevina also quipped on Twitter:
Норд Ост показал что в этой стране рожают не детей, а разменные монеты. #НордОст
— Наталья Пелевина (@NatPelevina) October 26, 2012
Nord-Ost showed us that, in this country, we don't give birth to children—just cheap coins. #NordOst

author: Gina Lentine


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Sex Education, Chinese-Style · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Liz Carter from Tea Leaf Nation introduces the readers to a viral video teaching parents how to explain sex to their kids. Most parents in China will tell their kids that they are picked up from the garbage bin, the video offers some tips to explain sex without actually talking about it.


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South Korea: An Interactive Timeline of the Spy Agency Election Manipulation Scandal · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

A special webpage ‘NIS 2012‘ [ko] was set up by savvy net users to host an interactive timeline explaining how the NIS (National Intelligence Service)’ election manipulation scandal has unfolded over the year. The site also features a diagram displaying relations and dynamics between concerned interest groups and political powerhouses and a list of top ridiculous quotes made by politicians and spy agents.


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For the Love of Football and Bolivia · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Bolivia vs. Peru at the Hernando Siles Stadium in La Paz – Photo by Eddie Avila.
The year was 1994, and Bolivia had punched its ticket to take part in the first and only World Cup appearance in its history. As an added bonus, this invitation-only sporting party was taking place right in my own backyard. To see his national team make it this far was a Bolivian football fan's dream, right? Yet one problem remained: it wasn’t my national team…yet.
I admit it. Growing up in the United States the son of Bolivian immigrants, the sport of football—or soccer, as it’s known in the US—never really interested me as a youngster. I preferred to play playground basketball pick-up games with my friends after school. On Sunday afternoons, while my dad was watching Mexican league matches on Spanish-language television with the familiar broadcaster's call— “GOOOOOOOOOL!!!”—resonating throughout the house, my brother and I would be watching “American” football on the other TV. On our street, nobody set up a pair of rocks to a make makeshift goal to kick around a black-and-white ball on lazy Saturday afternoons. We were the only Bolivian family in our Kansas town, so it was only natural that football didn’t figure much in my early life.
When tickets went on sale for the World Cup in the United States, my dad was already well versed in the ticketing process. He knew which times and travel routes to take in order to see as many matches as possible in Dallas, Texas, the city closest to us. Countless times he asked if I wanted to come along, but I had better things to do. I finally relented for one of the last matches in the First Round, curious to see what the fuss was all about, and with tickets in hand, we made our way to Dallas to see Argentina vs. Bulgaria.
The majority of football fans packed into Dallas’s Cotton Bowl stadium that day were first- or second-generation immigrants, taking full advantage of the opportunity to see their national teams so close to home. For them, football was a gateway to a little piece of familiarity in their adopted homeland. Before, during, and after the match, I craned my neck to soak up as much as I could of the color and rhythm emanating from the multicultural crowd. By the time the whistle sounded with a 2-0 victory for Bulgaria, the so-called “beautiful game” had gained a new fan.
Over the next ten years, my trips to Bolivia became more frequent and lasted a little longer each time, eventually becoming a kind of crash course in being Bolivian, making up for lost time. I met members of my extended family for the first time, pored over old photographs, and heard stories about my grandfather's time as a soldier in the Chaco War. And I started making connections between foods and other cultural references that were commonplace in our Bolivian-American household in the middle of Kansas, and their place of origin.
But ultimately, it was football that best helped me make sense of my bicultural and transnational existence. It also played a major role in my coming to feel like Bolivia was my country too, when I finally moved there permanently in 2007, even though my childhood experiences were quite distinct from those of my local family and friends.
Many of my recent memories from those years travelling back and forth are directly related to football. Since most of the national team’s matches are played at 3,600 meters above sea level in the city of La Paz, I would often take a quick trip from Cochabamba, my family’s city of origin, to see the World Cup qualifying matches. This meant taking an overnight bus, watching the match, and returning on the next overnight bus. All in the name of rooting for the home side hoping to see them return to the footballing world's biggest stage.
These trips were an echo of the ones taken by my father when he was my age. An often-told story is of him taking the back-to-back overnight bus to La Paz to catch a glimpse of the—arguably—greatest player of all time, when Brazilian titan Pelé‘s Santos team played against the Bolivian club Deportivo Municipal.
I also have memories of city residents pouring into the streets to celebrate a national championship by Jorge Wilstermann, my local club team, which is named after Bolivia’s first commercial pilot. I can only imagine what the scene was like when Bolivia clinched its World Cup spot in 1993 following an away tie in Quito. My only reference for that wondrous moment comes from my cousins, who speak of the days of jubilation and the national holidays that followed this accomplishment. And most recently, witnessing Bolivia’s 6-1 drubbing of powerhouse Argentina—complete with stars like Messi and Tevez—provided the short-lived sensation that anything was possible.
Some of the less savory aspects of Bolvian football, such as the violence between rival fans and anger towards referees and poor-performing players, remain foreign to me. But even so, I can't imagine what the transition and assimilation to life in Bolivia would have been like without football.
“I can't imagine what the transition and assimilation to life in Bolivia would have been like without football.”
In 2010, good fortune allowed me to travel to South Africa for the World Cup. Here again I followed in my father’s footsteps, maneuvering my way smoothly through the ticketing process in order to catch as many matches as I could. In South Africa, I savored the experience of being among fans from all around the world who share similar feelings of pride for their country through sport. But I did have to content myself with daydreams of what it would have been like to see the Bolivian squad emerge from the tunnel, or hear the goosebump-inducing national anthem play over the stadium loudspeakers.
Another World Cup qualifying cycle nears completion, and Bolivia was eliminated months ago for its poor results. We must now set our sights a few years forward, when qualification matches begin for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
If and when Bolivia reserves a place in another World Cup, I’ll definitely be using my ticket-booking prowess to secure a front row seat. And even if we never make it back in my lifetime, I’m still grateful to the sport that allowed me to establish new roots and find commonalities with the millions of other Bolivians who hold onto the same hope, not only for our national team, but for our country.
Eddie Avila lives in Cochabamba, Bolivia and is hoping to plot out his trip to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Tajik Elections Debate: Either Rahmon or “Cannibalism” · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Prior to Tajikistan's presidential elections, the website of the opposition Islamic Revival Party (IRPT) published a story titled “Will Emomali Rahmon Remain President or Not?” [tj]. The story drew hundreds of comments, triggering a heated debate between those who thought it was time for the incumbent president to step down and those who believed he should continue running the country. The website has now published all comments [tj] posted by readers, providing a rare perspective on how some Tajikistanis imagine a future without Rahmon:
Агар Ҷаноб интихоб нашавад, донед ки шумо хуб 1 ё 2 соли дигар катагӣ мекунеду баъд одамхурӣ мешавад…
Ҷаноби мо дар вақташ деҳқон буд, бинед Худои меҳрубон, ки хост, ӯ Ҷаноби Олӣ шуд.
Ватани мо танҳо бо Эмомалӣ Ш. Р. Зебост…
If [Emomali Rahmon] is not re-elected, you will have fun for another year or two before cannibalism begins…
[Rahmon] used to be a farmer. Don't you see that God wanted him to become [president]?
Our Motherland is beautiful only with Emomali [Rahmon]…

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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Tajikistan Votes in “Imitation” of Presidential Elections · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

President Emomali Rahmon casting his vote today. Photo by president's press service, part of public domain.
Tajikistanis went to the polls today (November 6) to cast their votes in the presidential elections. Although the process is still formally called “elections”, what is happening in the country is better understood as a procedure designed to extend the two-decade-long presidency of the incumbent, Emomali Rahmon, for another seven years.
Kirguzbek Kanunov wrote [ru] on Facebook today:
Я долго думал, как правильно назвать сегодняшнее политическое мероприятие и, по-моему подобрал более подходящее название. Выборами это назвать нельзя, по той простой причине, что выбирать не из чего. Назначением тоже это не назовешь, так как у <…>  народа, нет таких полномочий, и уж тем более в Таджикистане…
…Тогда давайте называть вещи своими именами. У нас не выборы, а очередной ритуальный обряд по утверждению президента Рахмона…
I have been thinking about how to best describe today's political event. I think I have come up with an accurate categorization. This cannot be called an election for the simple reason that we do not have [a pool of real candidates] to elect from. We cannot also call this an appointment, because <…> people do not have the power to do so [appoint a president], particularly in Tajikistan.
…Let us then call a spade a spade. What we have is not an election, bur rather another ceremony to validate Rahmon's presidency…
Rahmon vs. five unknowns
The main reason why there was not even a modicum of suspense or intrigue in today's elections is that the voters had to choose between the president who had been in office since 1993 and five virtual unknowns. Over the last three weeks, Jasur Ashurov was asking his Twitter account followers and the participants in the largest Tajikistani groups on Facebook whether they knew of candidates running for president. What he has found out is that most voters in Tajikistan did not really know any candidate other than Rahmon. On October 30, he concluded [ru]:
главный вывод: большинство избирателей на следующей неделе будут удивлены, заглянув в бюллетени. https://t.co/Env3W1WKMm — Jasur Ashurov (@jashurov) October 30, 2013
the main conclusion is that the majority of voters next week will be surprised when they see the ballot papers. https://t.co/Env3W1WKMm
но сделать свой выбор им будет несложно – там будет один кандидат, которого точно знают все. https://t.co/Env3W1WKMm — Jasur Ashurov (@jashurov) October 30, 2013
but it will not be difficult for them to make a choice because there will be one candidate that everyone knows [the incumbent president]. https://t.co/Env3W1WKMm
Cartoon depicting a voter standing near a ballot box with a ballot paper in his hand, and wondering: “OK, I know Rahmon. Who are these other people?”. Image posted on Twitter by Digital Tajikistan.
This image shows a made-up ballot paper with the names of the six candidates. A voter leaves comments next to each candidate's name. The comments show that the voter has not heard of a single candidate except Emomali Rahmon. Image posted on Twitter by Digital Tajikistan.
Mainstream media has also arrived at a similar conclusion after interviewing people in Dushanbe. On the videos below, journalists talk to people in the streets of Dushanbe, asking them if they could name the presidential candidates or if they saw candidates’ campaign materials. The majority of people could name only one candidate, president Emomali Rahmon. The videos are in Tajik and Russian, with English subtitles:
As Tajikistan Monitor suggests, the authorities have been busy over the last several months, making sure that voters in the country know that the incumbent president is the candidate everyone should vote for. Other candidates’ campaigns were so low-profile that they looked more like an imitation of campaign activity. Candidates toured selected regions of the country, meeting with small groups of voters. Tomiris shows [ru] how a typical “meeting with voters” looked like:
@jashurov Смешно. Ходила сегодня на встречу с представителями през кандидатов. Нагнали туда учителей и читали с бумажки.
— Томирис (@tomiristj) October 28, 2013
@jashurov Funny. I went to a meeting with representatives of presidential candidates today. They made teachers to attend the event and read out speeches.
@jashurov Это был спектакль. Все дремали, включая представителей. И все хвалили Рахмона, включая представителей других кандидатов.
— Томирис (@tomiristj) October 28, 2013
@jashurov This was a performance. Everyone was sleepy, including the representatives. And everyone, including the representatives of other candidates, praised Rahmon,
Jasur Ashurov responds [ru] to this observation:
@tomiristj Это только подтверждает мое предположение, что на самом деле никаких выборов не будет. Будет имитация выборов.
— Jasur Ashurov (@jashurov) October 29, 2013
@tomiristj This confirms my conviction that there will be no real elections. There will be an imitation of elections instead.
Therefore, the overwhelming majority of voters that came to the polling stations today had only known of one candidate running for president, the country's incumbent leaders. Tajikistan Monitor explains why in this situation Tajikistanis voted for the only candidate whose name they recognized on the ballot paper:
When I run out of beer, I go to the nearest beer shop to buy more. If I arrive at the shop and find that there is only one beer I know of (let it be Carlsberg lager) and five other brands I have never heard of, it is most likely that I will end up stocking up on Carlsberg. I might choose to try a different beer on a different occasion, but I will most probably want to stick to the familiar stuff if I am buying supplies for the next seven years. President Rahmon will win the elections because he is that familiar Carlsberg lager in a shop full of exotic and unknown beer brands.
Outcome foretold
Although the authorities have been working hard to imitate genuine elections, social media users noticed that Tajikistan's government knew in advance who would lead the country during the next seven years. While the outcome of the vote has not been formally announced yet, the incumbent president's office has already put together his meeting and travel agenda for part of the next year.
Выборы только завтра? Странно, а мы уже печатаем приглашение на огромное мероприятие с ЭР в январе 2014
— Парвиз Хамдамов (@mr_parvizon) November 5, 2013
The elections do not happen until tomorrow? This is strange, because we are already printing invitations for a huge event in which [Emomali Rahmon's] will participate in January 2014.
@mr_parvizon Был в Г. Матче. Там вовсю готовятся к визиту Рахмонoвa весной. Строят здания кот он должен открыть, заготавливают его портреты.
— Джура Охотник (@jurathehunter) November 6, 2013
@mr_parvizon I was in [Gornaya] Matcha district. People there are actively preparing for Rahmon's visit in spring. They are building facilities he would open and stock up on his portraits.
Some netizens suggest that even outside the country, there is little doubt about the outcome of the vote. Dastan Bekeshev tweeted [ru] yesterday:
Наверное многие страны уже подготовили поздравительные письма на имя Эмомали Рахмона.
— Дастан Бекешев (@bekeshev) November 5, 2013
It is likely that many countries have already drafted letters congratulating Emomali Rahmon.
Violations
Although the incumbent president is assured of an easy victory, the ballot was marred by widespread violations. Radio Ozodi shows [tj] several videos documenting the routine use of multuple voting, perhaps the most common violation of the election law in the country. Another video shows (at 0:39) an older man voting for several people:
Twitter discussion also confirms that multiple voting has been a recurrent problem.
#TajElex2013. I checked out a polling place. Registration looked well organized. In 5 mins, I saw 2 people cast 3 & 5 ballots, respectively.
— Kristine Kohlmeier (@Kristine_Shaw) November 6, 2013
Besides, the authorities have not taken down some of the tens of thousands of Emomali Rahmon's portraits, although the law suggests that all campaigning should end 24 hours before the voting.
Gov failed to remove several Rahmon posters today. In Kulob/Khujand: http://t.co/nBU9bjukfr Even in my neighborhood: pic.twitter.com/uJxJO1lQbN
— Aaron Huff (@AaronJHuff) November 5, 2013
Turnout
According to the official reports [ru], more than 80% of registered voters cast their votes by 18:00 pm Dushanbe time, about two hours before the closure of polling stations. On Twitter, some users have ridiculed turnout reports:
Impressive… Tajikistan says over 80% voter turnout with two hours still to go. http://t.co/TxwoSGmbtI
— David Trilling (@dtrilling) November 6, 2013
@dtrilling they need to be careful with figures, it may easily exceed 100% with this tendency
— Nur Akhmedov (@AhmedovNur) November 6, 2013
Уже более 80%? Им бы поосторожнее быть, так и до 200% можно дойти такими темпами. http://t.co/jvIbh0Z9sJ
— Томирис (@tomiristj) November 6, 2013
Over 80% already? They should be more careful, otherwise with that pace they can easily reach 200%. http://t.co/jvIbh0Z9sJ
Only in #Tajikistan, the #election commission's main job is to make sure that the reported turnout does not exceed 100% #onlyintajikistan
— Only in Tajikistan (@onlytajikistan) November 6, 2013
Young people crowding to cast their votes in today's presidential poll in Dushanbe. Image by Aaron Huff, used with permission.
People carrying national flags on the election day in Dushanbe. Image by Aaron Huff, used with permission.
After the elections
Few people expect much change in Tajikistan after today's elections. Mardikor writes [tj] on Twitter:
Ана як интихоботи дигар гузарондем. Чизе иваз шуд? На. Боз ҳафт соли демукротиё-бозӣ дар пеш.
— Мардикор (@mardikor) November 6, 2013
So, another election is over. Has anything changed? No. We have another seven years of playing democracy ahead.
Bachai Sako is more optimistic [ru], however:
@mardikor Все будет хорошо. Двадцать лет прожили с ним, еще семь лет проживем. Когда-нибудь в конце туннеля будет свет.
— Бачаи Сако (@BachaiSako) November 6, 2013
Everything is going to be fine. We have lived with him [Emomali Rahmon] for 20 years, so we will make another seven years with him. One day there will be light at he end of the tunnel.