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Omani Bloggers Swine Flu Campaign  · Global Voices
Riyadh Al Balushi

Oman had a relatively big swine flu outbreak. With the number of fatalities in the country reaching 16, it is the largest announced number in the Gulf. Schools and universities were supposed to start by September, but were postponed to the mid of October. The biggest festival in the country due in January has already been canceled in fear of the flu.
Most Omani bloggers do not seem to be happy by the coverage provided by the local media and believe that more awareness activities should be carried out, especially as the disease could further spread during the celebrations of Eid ul Fitr, which begins tomorrow. Blogger Hamed Al Ghaithi started a bloggers’ swine flu awareness campaign in which he suggests:
Not all of these suggestions can be logically carried out, for example canceling a whole academic year, but it is still nice seeing Omani bloggers brainstorming ideas and spreading the message for taking precautionary measures to minimize the risks of infection.
Blogger Bader Al Hinai reported that the first offline activity in the bloggers campaign against swine flu was to be started today  in which some bloggers were supposed to go to a local market to educate people on the proper use of sterilization products. No updates can be found online on how the event went. According to Bader, future events to be held after the holidays are expected to be published soon.

author: Riyadh Al Balushi


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USA: Video contest on H1N1 flu prevention · Global Voices
Lester Bolicenni

Corine Clesnes, on her blog Big Picture, notes [fr] that the US government launched the 2009 Flu Prevention PSA Contest, to promote the best ‘viral’ videos’ on flu prevention.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Lester Bolicenni


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Africa: Samasource puts Africa’s digiratti to work · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

TMS Ruge blogs about efforts by Samasource to put Africa’s Rising Digiratti to work.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Iran:Maturity of Iranian People · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Pendar writes [fa] that Iran protests are a sign of political maturity and Iranians express their requests peacefully. The blogger adds “Iranian people are neither traditional nor westernized.They follow their own way.”

author: Fred Petrossian


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Kazakhstan: Propaganda Allergies · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

As megakhuimyak described it, last week in Kazakhstan “the senility grew ever stronger.” The country is astir over the president’s former son-in-law, Rakhat Aliev, now émigré enemy of the state # 1. People’s fear of the once-omnipotent oligarch and secret service official has turned into fear of being associated with a fugitive from justice, and has been aggravated by new standards of regulating internet content [ru]:
The [popular Kazakhstani forum] Center of Gravity now prevents users from typing the word “Aliev,” automatically replacing it with ellipses. This also happens when “aliev” is a component of another surname.
After some animated discussion of the new rule, the forum’s administrators stopped blocking the name and removed the discussion thread. “They gave us a tiny pittance after all,” comments megakhuimyak [ru].
mnatali33 cites a declaration written by the opposition regarding the trial of Kazakhstani human rights activist Yevgenii Zhovtis, who was sentenced to 4 years in prison. The declaration asserts that the sentence was motivated by his substantial criticism of the law enforcement, judicial and political systems. The blogger adds, in despair [ru]:
As long as we’re quietly grubbing this for breakfast, lunch and dinner, we will never – you hear me? – NEVER have rights, or human rights activists, or a lawful state.
As if to confirm, dass cites official statistics for embezzlement since the beginning of this year – about nine billion tenge (over $60 million) – and adds his own mathematical reasoning [ru]:
The publicized figures are only for the first six months of the year, and only include theft that has been officially exposed by court decisions. Assuming that the majority of theft has not yet been discovered, and a part of the cases is still in the process of investigation, I estimate the total volume of embezzlement to be about 200 billion tenge for the current year.
Mantrovkz returns to the topic of Aliev, who recently announced the creation of an opposition movement [ru]:
The opposition in Kazakhstan is a ragged assembly of former officials who got exposed for their machinations. Now the maniac Rakhat Aliev is trying to create a unified opposition group called “For a Free Kazakhstan.” Personally, I’m for a Kazakhstan free from Aliev, Abliazov, Kazhegelgin and others, including current embezzlers and thieves who haven’t declared themselves the opposition yet.
Also posted on neweurasia

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Mexico: Shooting at Balderas Metro Station · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

On September 18, a man was writing on the walls of the Balderas Metro Station in Mexico City, when he was confronted by a police officer. The man reacted and began shooting, killing the officer. During the chaos, subway riders sought refuge in the subway cars, while others fled up the stairs looking for an exit. Another man, identified as Esteban Robles Barrera, decided to take matters into his own hands to prevent more deaths and charged at the gunman. His intervention was unsuccessful and he, too, was shot and killed.
Photo of the scene outside the Metro Station taken by Sharenii of Ciudad de las Sombras. Used with permission.
The security video of the entire incident soon appeared on Mexican television and on the internet showing the sequence of events in graphic details. Some, like Bernardo Degaray thinks that the video should not have been shown [es] because of what it depicted.
The images clearly show the actions of the police officer and of Robles Barrera, as well as their tragic deaths. On sites like Twitter, there has been an outpouring of admiration for the bravery [es] shown by the two men. Roberto Marmolejo (@AdrianusImp) writes:
Ver el video del Metro Balderas te demuestra que los héroes todavía habitan la miserablemente esplendorosa Ciudad de México.
Other Mexican bloggers describe where they were during the tragic event. Daniel Hernandez of Intersections writes about the recent tragedy:
There is a culture of violence in Mexico, definitely, but a crazy person randomly shooting people is not the sort of thing that happens here. To put it bluntly, that's an American thing. But something is shifting.
(…)
Yesterday when I first heard the news — in a frantic call from a friend — I was in a meeting near metro Patriotismo. I rushed out to try to make it to the scene. The metro was operating as normal. Then my train stalled in the tunnel just before the transfer point Centro Medico — for a half-hour. Crowded shoulder to shoulder, in the hot tunnel, moisture on our skin from the rain, we stood … and stood … patient. When our train was finally cleared to the platform, a wall of people attempted to push into my car, while a few of us inside tried pushing out.
The blogger at Historias y Reflexions del Albuelo [es] (Stories and Reflections from Grandfather) also provides a recap of the day:
Iba yo camino al Asilo, en el camión que pasa por mí al cyber desde el que me conecto, cuando, por ocioso, le pedí su cel al chofer y me conecté a Twitter para despedirme de mis nietas y los malandros, cuando empezó a llegar la información del evento.
Al principio pensé que era una mamada más como la del pinche loco que “secuestró” el avión de Aeroméxico, sin embargo, al empezar a recibir más y más información, entendí que el asunto era delicado.
Entre lo que publicaban las fuentes noticiosas y los comentarios de reporteros y camaradas a quienes sigo, pude darme cuenta de lo serio del asunto y, especialmente, de la inquietud que embargaba al carnal Morf0 quien sabía que una amiga utiliza esa ruta para llegar a su destino y no se podía comunicar con ella.
I was on my way home, in the bus that takes me to the cyber-café where I connect to the Internet, when, out of laziness, I asked for the driver for his cellular phone and I connected to Twitter to say goodbye to my grandchildren and the guys, when I started to receive information about the event.
At first, I thought it was a joke, just like the crazy person and the “hijacking” of the Aeroméxico plane. Nevertheless, when I started to receive more and more information, I knew that the matter was very delicate.
Between what the news sources and the comments being shared by reporters and friends, I realized that it was a serious matter and especially because of the concern that came over my friend Morf0, who knew that a friend used the same (subway) route to get to where she was going and he could not get in touch with her.
The reference to the failed hijacking of the Mexican flight involves a Bolivian priest, who attempted to divert the plane indicating he had a bomb. No one was hurt and he was taken into custody.

author: Eduardo Avila


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South Africa: Eid Mubarak from community blog · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A community blog, Ramadan.co.za wishes its readers Eid Mubarak: “I hope we have brought value to you this Ramadan, and we hope that you have enjoyed reading the articles. Also, please take the time to thank the bloggers and remember us in your duas. All the bloggers here put in their time and effort without asking for anything in return.”


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South Africa: Escorting a tour around Africa · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Tony Park writes about his South African tour: “I could tell you that it’s hard work escorting a tour around Africa, and that staying in the lap of luxury is not all it’s cracked up to be… but I’d be lying. Greetings, at long last, Legion of Fans (LOF) from the stark but beautiful Karoo, in South Africa.”


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Uganda: Family statement of the abduction of journalist · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Buganda Post publishes a statement about the abduction of Ugandan journalist: “The Serumaga family has published a statement which describes in detail the events surrounding the abduction, torture and medical mistreatment of  popular Muganda journalist, Kalundi Serumaga, by Uganda’s  NRM government from September 11 through 15, 2009″


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Uganda: Kampala is thriving · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Scarlett Lion writes about her return to Kampala, Uganda from Monrovia, Liberia: “On Wednesday afternoon, I left Monrovia and flew to Kampala. I’m seeing this place with different eyes. What before looked shoddy and inefficient now looks like a thriving African city with a robust economy. I can’t believe how fast the internet is…”


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Uganda: “We Want Obama” Campaign Launched · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A campaign called “We Want Obama” is launched in Uganda: “Today, Invisible Children launched a new “We Want Obama” campaign focused on getting President Obama to go on the record committing the United States to take urgent action to end escalating LRA violence in central Africa.”


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Afghanistan: Captain Semrau Goes to Trial · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust reports that Captain Robert Semrau, a Canadian military man facing murder charges for the alleged shooting death of an injured, unarmed insurgent outside Lashkar Gah, is now facing a general court martial.


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Afghanistan: Mullah Omar’s New Statement · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Nick Fielding analyzes the political statement of Mullah Mohammad Omar, leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, for the Afghans, particularly those who are loyal towards the Karzai regime.


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Anguilla: abandoned hotel? · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Corruption-free Anguilla stumbles upon an abandoned hotel construction site, and asks questions about development policy and the possibility of government involvement. “The buildings just sit there, enigmatic, clueless.”

author: Nicholas Laughlin


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Armenia-Azerbaijan: International Peace Day · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Marking International Day of Peace, letzi83 notes that Armenia also celebrates its independence from the former Soviet Union on the same day and says her mind automatically makes a connection between the two events. unzippedblog also weighs in and says that despite sounding naive, maybe there's room for hope and welcomes the coincidence. My own Twitter feed notes that both events also come as Azerbaijan marks the end of Ramadan.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Bangladesh: The Exodus · Global Voices
Rezwan

Leetlegirl's Big Adventures blog posts some telling pictures of the mass exodus from the mega city Dhaka during the Eid holidays, which answer why the capital of Bangladesh is so quiet and free from traffic jams now.

author: Rezwan


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Bangladesh: To Save The Rivers Of Dhaka · Global Voices
Rezwan

An Ordinary citizen highlights the crusade of some local media to save the rivers of Dhaka from pollution.


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Barbados: Clean-Up Day · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Living in Barbados reports on Barbados Clean-Up Day, when volunteers collected garbage from the island's beaches. “How many meals on plastic plates? How many cups of soda in plastic cups? … I have no idea what figures to put to these questions but they still went through my head as I walked along Browne's Beach on Saturday morning.”


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Barbados: journalist’s “confession” · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Barbados Free Press reacts to a newspaper journalist's “confession” that he posted anonymous comments on several Barbadian blogs — starting a discussion about “the limits of anonymous blogging.”


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Barbados: listening to Chalkdust · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

The Bajan Reporter attends a lecture on “Calypso and Crime” by Trinidadian calypsonian Chalkdust, and files a report. “In the Question & Answer section, I got a chance to ask if Bloggers and Calypsonians serve the same purpose in showing problems and solutions few would dare touch normally.”


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Bermuda: decriminalising cannabis? · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

21 Square joins the debate over decriminalising cannabis in Bermuda. “Our present stance on cannabis has created a black market intent on fulfilling demand that is consuming our island and causing our crime rates to soar…. we maintain a punishment scheme for users which outweighs the actual crime.”


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Bolivia: 43rd Anniversary of “Constructing Progress” in Santa Cruz · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Andrés Pucci celebrates the 43rd anniversary since Santa Cruz, Bolivia “began constructing progress” [es] with the 11% of revenue sharing given to the 9 departments, which was 21 years after the law was passed.


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Cameroon: Dibussi Tande at the forefront of African blogging · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Francis Nyamjoh writes about the Cameroonian blogger, Dibussi Tande: “Dibussi Tande established JimbiMedia in 2004 with the primary objective of using affordable blogging technology to give a solid online presence to powerful African voices – creative people, trendsetters, academics, journalists, etc.”


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Can social media help make microfinance sustainable?  · Global Voices
John Liebhardt

Microfinance agencies provide loans to small businesspeople who often can’t meet the strict credit terms of large banks. Either these entrepreneurs don’t have the capital or the cash to back the loan. Or as the large banks argue, their credit needs are too small.
With banks out of the picture, microlending agencies step into the role usually held by the imperfect combination of relatives and often predatory money lenders. Microlending is most often associated with the developing world, but agencies have begun working in industrialized countries.
The Grameen Bank, the world’s first microfinance institution, was born in Bangladesh in 1983 by Mohammed Yunus, an economics professor who launched it to help alleviate rural poverty by providing much needed funds to entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. Not only would the poor repay these loans, Yunus argued, but the Grameen Bank’s lending style would become a sound investment. In 2006, Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. By 2008 Grameen Bank had lent $7.6 billion.
As the internet age hit, microlenders began looking for ways to replicate the Grameen Bank's success online. With the rise of social networking, especially peer-to-peer media, these lenders found their answer. The question, however, remains: Will social media help create a sustainable market for microfinance?
It’s just one of the debates occurring during a Sept. 23-24 Harvard University conference, Can technologies help reduce poverty in developing countries?
One of the first microlenders to have an impact over the internet is the US-based Kiva, which began a few years after a couple traveled to East Africa in 2004. Kiva claims to be the world’s first “person-to-person micro-lending website.”
Here’s a good description of how Kiva works, from Tales From Beyond the Glimpse, a blog from Austria.
In Kiva's website you can lend to someone across the globe who needs a loan for their business – like raising goats, selling vegetables at market or making bricks.  Each loan has a picture of the entrepreneur, a description of their business and how they plan to use the loan so you know exactly how your money is being spent – and you get updates letting you know how the entrepreneur is going.
The best part is, when the entrepreneur pays back their loan you get your money back or use it for another loan (I like this idea because you can give a small loan once and use the same amount over and over)- and Kiva's loans are managed by microfinance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so I suppose you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly.
I made a loan to Adjo Solomé in Togo.  I liked her immediately because she's working with a sewing machine!
I love the internet because you can do things like this directly now.
Kiva allows a potential lender to browse profiles of people needing finance. If a entrepreneur is selected and a loan made,  Kiva then allocates the funds to one of its microfianance partners, an agency working on the ground. The recipient will then repay the loan, usually at interest. (The use of interest is controversial, but common, within microfinance.) Kiva's site allows lenders to follow the money throughout the loan process, keeping tabs on repayment and other personal updates. This has caught on to other lending sites.
What helps drives these sites isn't just the loans; it's the methods used to make the funds available. “Social networks are important,” writes Jon Camfield in his self-titled blog. “Trust — more commonly called social capital in this situation — is the strength and number of interpersonal connections. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and the like are convenient ways to map out these connections (within a connected group of people), but hardly replace them.”
This is by no means new in development theory, and is often portrayed as either the keystone to successful development or a red herring (and to be fair, it's probably both).
Social Networks also provide a second important role. Beyond increasing trust to enable all sorts of transactions, and providing back-channels to smooth those along, they also improve (if not outright cause) technology diffusion. Spread throughout a network will be innovators, experimenters and early adopters who create, tweak and test new ideas, and then begin to spread them by word of mouth as well as through successful implementations.
The marriage of microlending and social media works two ways. First it allows a disparate group of people, perhaps the entrepreneurs, to communicate and become organized. Secondly, it allows them to reach out and relay their message with the larger world. Microlending organizations have latched on to this, leveraging technology to make sure potential lenders can put a face to recipients’ stories. Perhaps these personal bonds originate from the Grameen Bank, which began lending funds on the basis of trust and used peer pressure to insure the loans were repaid. Or, perhaps microlenders online use interpersonal connections as a bulwark against compassion fatigue.
Here’s an example of the personal touch from an interview in the blog China Philanthropy with Casey Wilson, the co-founder of Wokai, a microfinance site that has been called the Facebook for Farmers. Here Wilson relates a positive experience she's witnessed from microfinance.
On a micro level—one of my favorites is this woman from Sichuan who is 24 years old. When she was 18 she and her husband got married and were basically put into indentured servitude. His family put them in debt for living with them so they worked I the city for 4 years to pay off the debt and she was able to save up a little money when they moved back to Sichuan to start up a duck industry.
She bought a number of ducks. She started the business, and then 3 months in all of her ducks died. It turns out, at the same time she found out about our field partner. She went to them and got support and money to restart her duck business. I’m so impressed with her A—That she is so young and persevered through so much adversity and B—looking to see where she is with microfinance and where she would be without it. If our partner had not been there to help her she would have been left with nothing, her only options would have been to go back to the city, and she would never had the tools to lift herself from poverty. Stories like that are really inspiring to me.
The new French site Babyloan works on much the same manner as Kiva and Wokai, linking donors to entrepreneurs. But it is the first site to specifically target European donors.
It also has visions of building a social community. The Traveling Spouse, a blogger based mostly in France, reports:
Babyloan are hoping to develop the site into a social community, so that lenders can meet others and share experiences, even electing representatives to the board of directors.
By the reaction to this site, it has struck a chord with more than a few bloggers.
From Emmanuel Brunet, who lives and blogs in Paris.
Moi j'ai sélectionné Asfandiyor, Nishon, Gulchehra et Oygul, mes nouveaux amis du Tadjikistan.
Ils cherchaient 810 euros sur 9 mois pour acheter du bétail et ainsi produire du fromage, de la viande et probablement faciliter les activités agricoles. Dans 9 mois, ils nous remboursent les sommes données, sans taux d'intêret. C'est simple, ce n'est pas contraignant puisque l'argent n'est jamais perdu et ça donne un vrai coup de pouce.
L'argent remboursé pourra alors être injecté dans d'autres projets ou vous être rendu directement.
En quelques jours, les amis du Tadjikistan ont trouvé les 810 euros nécessaires à l'achat de bétail, grâce à d'autres participants de France et de Suisse.
C'est peut-être ça le développement (monétaire) durable… !
From the blog Les Enfants du Web.
L’intérêt est bien évidemment de suivre l’avancée du projet. Et on se dit qu’avec se genre de service notre argent arrive effectivement au destinataire…
J’ai donc décidé d’aider le projet de Chanthol Vorn, une cambodgienne qui veut développer sa petite épicerie ! Je contribue à hauteur de 20€ sur les 210€ nécessaire.
Je trouve le concept hyper intéressant mais le site en lui-même mériterait une interface un peu plus sympa. Que se soit au niveau des graphismes et de l’ergonomie, une version 2 n’est vraiment pas du luxe.
From Domi, who blogs at Mood-for:
Mmes Houessou et Gandaho veulent monter une petite boutique à Cotonou au Bénin pour nourrir leurs 4 enfants correctement. Elles ont déjà 340 euros sur les 460 dont elles ont besoin pour l’ouverture de la boutique. Je leur en ai prêté 30 et elles me le rendront dans 10 mois car, le saviez vous, les utilisateurs du micro-crédit remboursent mieux que la plupart des emprunteurs… Mes 30 euros, je pourrai ainsi les prêter à d’autres bientôt. C’est simple et efficace, c’est le micro-crédit à portée de chacun d’entre nous. Ca nous permet d’être utile.
The sites for Kiva, Wokai and Babyloan are full of functionality, great graphics and heart-warming photos. A participant in these projects cannot help but feeling part of a community. Interfaces also make sure the loan-making transparent. With all the technology supporting these sites, however, one blogger wonders whether these schemes will pass the sustainability test that often separates good development project from just good ideas.
David Costa, who blogs at Microfinance.fm out of Zürich, Switzerland:
my primary interest is looking at microfinance as an investment opportunity too and not as a donation.
Even in the case of Kiva the borrower has to pay interests but, at least, unless there is a default, the investor can re-use his capital or withdrawn it.
I am sure that donation and grants to not for profit institution like Wokai are important but from an investment standpoint these are not as scalable.
In the case of kiva there are more options: you can lend 4000$ and receive, if needed, part or all your investment back. In the case of wokai I can only donate
to their organisation – how they use the money is not really important from an investor standpoint. It is really not an investment.

author: John Liebhardt


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China: Beijing students protest against parade rehersals · Global Voices
Andy Yee

In the upcoming October 1 celebration of the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing will be mobilizing over one hundred thousands secondary and university students for parades. As it is compulsory for students to participate in the prolong parade rehearsal, some are not happy about it.
Apple Daily, a newspapers in Hong Kong, reported on 18 September 2009 that some students are annoyed by the prolong and compulsory rehearsals since the summer holiday. As the rehearsals has disrupted students’ study after the school term started, some decided to act against the unreasonable arrangement:
有北京大學生不滿當局的安排，在網上發起罷練行動的同時，公然焚燒訓練服抵制演練。事件引起當局極度緊張，除封鎖消息外，還派人嚴控大專院校及嚴懲涉事學生。
Some Beijing university students are dissatisfied with the authority. They have started an online campaign to boycott against the rehearsals. Some even burned the rehearsal uniforms openly. The authority takes the students’ reactions very seriously. Apart from blocking news reports, it has sent delegates to school campus in order to control and punish the students involved.
While discussions and reporting about these protests have been banned in mainland China, there are some discussions among overseas and Hong Kong Chinese.
On a forum in a portal for Chinese Canadian:
waves 2009-09-18 12:30: 學生真可憐，思想被奴化，肉體也被奴役，怪不得那麼多人爭破頭也要出國留學。
食量就是力量 2009-09-18 16:25: 就不明白, 為什麼不低調點, 悄悄過了就算了, 現在花了那麼多錢, 勞了那麼多民, 簡直就是壹場煙火, 看過了就算。
On One-forum in Hong Kong:
qingqing 2009-09-18 03:22: 讀大學了，還可以任由校外的“上級指示”的，到底是不是大學生呢？讀大學了，還要被迫去玩這樣的小兒科遊戲，不是侮辱了你作為大學生的尊嚴嗎？這樣也不敢抗議，杯葛，到時不合作演出，故意破壞演出，故意出錯，你們還是大學生嗎？
In another Hong Kong forum, Civilian Gunner:
louisli 2009-09-18 10:57: 係唔係要練到同北韓睇齊？
seamoncheng 2009-09-18 19:33: 大陸到而家都重係死要面…成班官都係無腦架..係到勞民傷財
Andy 2009-09-18 19:38: 佢地先有腦, 搞埋呢D面子工程, 攞正牌搵銀
[Photo taken from Apple Daily]

author: Andy Yee


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China: Mainland Blogger’s ironic review of shabby government buildings in Taiwan · Global Voices
Robert Woo

Blogger Lv Se De Shou Cang recently ran a photo journal titled ‘A look at some of the administrative buildings in Taiwan’, which has also generated interesting comments. (All pictures cited from the blog)
陈水扁家族弊案最近吵得沸沸扬扬，让许多人对侦办扁案的特侦组感到很好奇。事实上，座落于日据时代建筑的特侦组外观非常老旧，墙壁水泥斑驳脱落，看起来甚不起眼，很多民众经过还不知道这就是鼎鼎大名，专门打老虎的特侦组。
The corruption scandal and the conviction of Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian have become such a public affair recently. It  provoked great curiosity in the team which investigated this case, the Special Investigative Unit. In fact, the building that houses the SIU is a decrepit structure built during the Japanese occupation. It looks so drab that many passersby simply do not know that this is the home of the famous, tiger-beating SIU.
当看到taiwan行政院的照片…我实在不知该说甚么…
这是台湾的立法院（下图）也就是一般所谓的国会，常常上电视打架的立法院
It is quite obvious that what this blog is really about is not just a photo tour, but a thinly veiled criticism of many of mainland China’s government bodies and public officials’ extravagant work and life-styles. Even though there is not a single word in the blog directly flagging this intent, comments below show that almost everyone quickly understood.
Here is a sample of some of the comments, many of which are masterfully sarcastic.
对岸的公务员们，你们弃暗投明吧，过来给你们大房子住，奥迪车开～～～～
看了台湾的穷酸样，我们很有“成就”感。
我们的镇政府大楼也比他漂亮。
看得我眼泪直流，台湾人民真的生活在水深火热之中，我们一定要解放台湾。
民选政府就是不一样！记得某法国朋友来宁公干路过雨花区政府大楼时，惊诧地问道：这幢像白宫一样的建筑是什么？
Incidentally, the district-level (the second lowest level) government building the last netizen spoke of looks like this:

author: Robert Woo


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Ecuador: Quito Twestival Supporting Social Causes · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

In Ecuador, the Quito Twestival is starting to attract a lot of interest as a way to support a social cause, writes Christian Espinosa of Cobertura Digital [es].


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Guyana: celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Lifespan of a Chennette describes her family's elaborate preparations for celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr in Guyana — complete with menus.


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Guyana: images of Georgetown · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Flickr user Nigel Durrant — a Jamaican living in Guyana — posts sets of images from two well-known public spaces in Georgetown: Bourda Market and National Park.


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India: China Backs Insurgency  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Subir Bhowmik reports that China has started backing rebel groups inside India.


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Iran: Quds Demonstration via Google Maps  · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Watch protest demonstration in Quds Day in Iran via Google Maps and Youtube.


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Iran: Remember International Day of Peace · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Pendar writes about International Day of Peace.Pendar adds [fa] that ‘I as a blogger think that first [Iranian] regime should reconcile with [Iran's] people and then it can join the international community.’


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Jamaica: honouring Usain Bolt · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Active Voice reflects on how the Jamaican government has honoured star athlete Usain Bolt, and shares information about a new documentary film called Why Do Jamaicans Run So Fast?


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Japan: DPJ on Press Clubs and Media Opennness · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

Blogger APEESCAPE covers the way the Democratic Party of Japan has gone back on their promise and closed off press conferences to foreign, internet, and independent press. The Hatoyama administration is now under close scrutiny and APEESCAPE says “Today’s news is an incremental step to media openness, but not nearly enough.”

author: Tomomi Sasaki


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Japan: Plans to Accept More Foreign Students · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

The Guyjin blog is positive about the long term benefits of the plan to increase the number of foreign students studying in Japan to around 300,000 by 2020, a 250% increase.


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Laos: Monk Chat Blog · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Monk Chat program in Vientiane is a venue where Lao monks and foreigners can exchange in dialogue about their culture and religion.

author: Mong Palatino


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Mongolia: Central Asian blues · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Bilguun shares a new blues music project called “Khusugtun” in Mongolia.


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Omani Bloggers Take the Streets To Combat Swine Flu · Global Voices
Riyadh Al Balushi

Omani bloggers have started their Swine Flu Awareness Campaign yesterday by going through Souq Matrah to spread the message and educate people. The campaign which was originally initiated by Hamed Al Ghaithi, and then was taken to its next step by the cooperative effort of Bader Al Hinai, Ammar Al Mamari, Waleed Al Nabhani, Hashr Al Manthari, and Muawiyah Al Rawahi. These bloggers distributed sanitizers to restaurants and coffee shops and guided their staff on the proper method of cleaning the tables after the customers. The restaurants and coffee shops were very receptive of the advice and seemed to take it seriously, probably as some of them thought the bloggers were an official delegation from the Ministry of Health.
The bloggers then moved to taxi drivers to inform them about the benefits of using alcohol hand sanitizers and face masks for reducing the risk of infection. The majority of the taxi drivers had no idea what the sanitizers were and thought that these are liquid soup that required using water to wash it off.
The final state of the program was walking around the souq to inform visitors about the benefits of using alcohol hand sanitizers.
Blogger Muawiyah wrote a detailed post with pictures on how the event went and the varied reactions they received from the visitors of the souq.
Another event in the campaign against the Swine Flu is supposedly scheduled during the Eid break, but no specific details about the event can be found online yet.


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Pakistan: The Origin Of Railways · Global Voices
Rezwan

Owais Mughal at All Things Pakistan writes about the origin of railways in Pakistan. “The first line from Karachi to Kotri (1861) was constructed primarily to reduce the journey time on the final stage of long haul from Britain to Delhi and Calcutta,” the blogger informs.


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Peru: Antauro Humala Sentenced for 2005 Attack · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

In Peru, Antauro Humala, the brother of opposition leader Ollanta Humala, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the 2005 attack on a police station in Andahuaylas, as reported by the blog Que Tal Raza [es].


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Puerto Rico: Debate on Censorship  · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Anti-censorship poster posted at Flickr by Andréia
The Department of Education of the government of Puerto Rico recently eliminated five books from the eleventh grade curriculum of the public school system: Antología personal, by José Luis González; El entierro de Cortijo, by Edgardo Rodríguez Juliá; Mejor te lo cuento: antología personal, by Juan Antonio Ramos; Reunión de espejos, an anthology of essays edited by José Luis Vega (all Puerto Rican authors); and Aura, by Carlos Fuentes from Mexico. The public agency justified its action by saying that the books “contain unacceptable language and vocabulary, which is extremely coarse and vulgar.”
The governor of Puerto Rico, Luis Fortuño, supported the decision: “I think I have been very clear, and that all of the mothers and fathers out there understand perfectly that the books that an 18-year-old can read should not be read by a 12-year-old.” Numerous writers and artists in Puerto Rico publicly voiced their concerns and described the government's action as censorship. The Federation of Teachers also condemned the decision and stated that it “reflects ignorance about the social reality that our students live in, and a backward-looking vision of modern literature as part of the academic curriculum.” After such public pressure, the Department of Education said they had only permanently eliminated one book, but were still evaluating the rest.
The Association of Journalists of Puerto Rico joined writers, professors and artists in an act of protest in front of the Department of Education in Hato Rey, where they read fragments of the books that were removed. Footage of a demonstration against the elimination of books in public school system was posted at YouTube.
Bloggers have also been commenting intensely.The writer Mayra Santos Febres says in Lugarmanigua [ES]:
Temo a la censura. Sobretodo le temo cuando se utiliza “la formación integral de nuestros niños y jóvenes” como excusa para privarlos del contacto con experiencias y sobretodo con libros que los ayuden a desarrollar herramientas para pensar. La reflexión tiene que hacerse en un contexto amplio, sin verjas ni “no pases”. Es imposible pensar: es decir, “sopesar ideas”, cuando estas ideas diferentes, divergentes son sacadas de en medio desde un principio. Cierto es que la educación debe tener en consideración la capacidad de jóvenes y niños para asimilar y digerir información. No vas a servirle churrasco a un bebé de cuatro meses que no tiene dientes. Pero los muchachos de undécimo grado que configuran el estudiantado de Escuelas Públicas de nuestro país, a su edad, ya tienen dientes. Tienen dientes, uñas y garras. Algunos ya tienen bebés de cuatro meses. Ya pueden comer churrasco.
The legal scholar recently turned blogger Dora Nevares-Muñiz analyzed the controversy from a legal standpoint:
La censura de textos literarios de parte del Departamento de Educación es inconstitucional y viola derechos de los estudiantes… La censura, aparte de coartar el libre flujo de las ideas y la libertad de expresión atesorada en nuestra Constitución, constituye un acto de violencia de parte del Ejecutivo hacia unos estudiantes que tienen el derecho a recibir una educación que propenda al pleno desarrollo de su personalidad y al reconocimiento de los derechos y libertades fundamentales. El acto de censurar es de por sí un atentado a la libertad de pensamiento y expresión, típico de sociedades intolerantes y totalitarias…La censura no debe tener espacio en el sistema educativo. Una de las metas del sistema escolar debe ser que el estudiante internalice actitudes de tolerancia y respeto ante la diversidad y las personas que tienen ideas discrepantes. Este es uno de los primeros pasos para prevenir la violencia. Los libros censurados se leían en grado undécimo. Se trata de obras reconocidas en Puerto Rico y en el extranjero por su calidad literaria. Un estudiante de Escuela Superior debe tener desarrolladas las destrezas de pensamiento crítico y análisis lógico necesarias para analizar esos libros.
Censorship should have no place in the education system. One of the objectives of the school system should be that students internalize tolerance and respect towards diversity and people who have different opinions. This is one of the first steps in order to prevent violence. The censored books used to be read in eleventh grade. They are well known books in Puerto Rico and other countries due to their literary quality. A high school student should have the necessary critical analytic and logical reasoning skills to be able to analyze these books.
In his blog Lecturas urbanas [ES], Javier Valentín Feliciano remembered his experience in the public school system in Puerto Rico:
Cuando cursé mis doce años de estudios en la escuela pública nunca conocí a ninguna de estas autoras puertorriqueñas, tampoco conocí a escritores hispanoamericanos que estaban en todo su auge como Gabriel García Márquez, el propio Carlos Fuentes, Mario Vargas Llosa, Luisa Valenzuela, la lista es inmensa. Tuve que esperar muchísimos años para poderme reconocer como hispanoamericano con estos autores. En la escuela pública no los leí, nunca los asignaron. Quién sabe y nunca los hubiera descubierto.
*Bloggers posts were translated by the author. The picture is from Andréia's Flickr photostream and has been republished under a Creative Commons licence.

author: Firuzeh Shokooh Valle


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Republic of Congo: Government at last · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Elie Smith blogs about the new government in Congo-Brazzavile: “Why it has taken 63 days for Mr Denis Sassou Nguesso to form his government is a mystery, especially that, no major changes has been noticed. While there is no major change of faces, one will note that, the 37 member cabinate has 10 new entries.”


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Seychelles: New lease of life for Seychelles Media Association · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Seychelles Digital reports that the Seychelles Media Association (SMA) has been given a new lease of life.


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Sri Lanka: Endangered Amphibians · Global Voices
Rezwan

“Did you know that Sri Lanka holds the world record for the highest number of global amphibian extinctions?” informs Sri Lankan animal watcher blog Gallicissa.


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Suriname: R.I.P. Henk Tjon · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Celebrated Surinamese playwright and theatre director Henk Tjon died in Paramaribo on 18 September, 2009. The Bahamas-based Ringplay Productions blog remembers “his passion and his eloquence on the subject of the role of the arts in Caribbean society.”


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Taiwan: Kaohsiung set to screen film amidst controversy · Global Voices
David Reid

The Kaohsiung Film Festival came under pressure from China over its decision to screen The Ten Conditions of Love, a documentary about exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer. As a result the Kaohsiung City Government decided to screen the documentary in advance of the film festival. Echo Taiwan criticises the Kaohsiung City Government for bowing to Chinese pressure. Guts United says that even the decision to put forward the screening harms Taiwan's freedom of speech (zh).

author: David Reid


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Thailand: Three Years After The 2006 Coup · Global Voices
Markpeak

19 September 2006 is the date of latest Coup D'etat in Thailand, ousting Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra into exile. Three years later, the country is still in unrest situation.
Suranand Vejjajiva, one of Thaksin's cabinet members who switched to being a media analyst from being a politician, wrote an interesting wrap-up article on Bangkok Post: Three years down the road, Thailand is at a crossroads
His view points to Thaksin's strategy as different from other former leaders who were removed by the military junta:
the fugitive Thaksin remains a threat to the new regime three years after being overthrown. His “fighter” attitude is one factor, but it is also because Thaksin's base of power is like no other.
He did not obtain his influence from being in the Establishment or through collusion with it, even though he began by amassing his immense wealth through mobile telephone and satellite government concessions.
His business is modern, the operational model new. Through the stock market, he could raise funds at a larger and faster rate than any other business people.
And it was Thaksin's management skills both in business and politics that allowed him to build an organisation with a life of its own.
The combination of wealth and power furthered his clout within the government bureaucratic structure, many members of which continue to support him till now, despite attempts by the coup leaders and present government to dismantle his extensive network.
Suranand also cites two other factors supporting Thaksin: acceptance of democracy after the fall of communism in Southeast Asia and the failure of Thai bureaucracy in addressing the people's demands.
In summary, Suranand says it is difficult for both Thaksin and the opposing forces (military, bureaucrats and current Democrat government) to solve their own problem. Whoever can do will lead Thailand getting through the next decade.
Of course, Thaksin has his faults, and he is now facing the consequences of the abuses of power he committed. Political pundits agree that even though he may appear to be on the offensive, it will be difficult for him to actually return to power – let alone come back home – considering the numerous political enemies he has made.
But at the same time, the regimes that have replaced him, both the interim unelected one of Gen Surayud and the present Democrat-led coalition, have been unable to beat Thaksin in winning over the general population, as they face questions of democratic legitimacy, of capability in dealing with the economic crisis, and of competence in running the government – as reflected in the recent, and still pending, issue of the selection of the new police chief.
Worth reading. You can also follow Suranand on Twitter.
There are many blogs that mention the 19 September Coup D'etat anniversary. These are a few examples:
NaDao, a citizen journalist, briefly interviewed Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin, the military leader of 2006. Sonthi says that in 2006, his plan was to take down only one person, Thaksin, who causes trouble and believed that the country will unite. He defends his actions by blaming the low performance and wrong decisions of bureaucrat government (appointed by him) as the causes of the country's problem after the Coup.
Another post is from an anti-Thaksin side. Newgeneration wraps up the faults of Thaksin during his reign.

author: Markpeak


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Trinidad and Tobago: “poor man’s food”? · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

“Why are we so angry about the rise in the price of doubles?” Coffeewallah considers the popular Trinidadian street snack as an economic indicator. “The cost of living has increased for everyone, even your doubles vendor. They are really a barometer for society.”


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Turkmenistan: Ashgabat hosts ICT events · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Musafirbek reports that Turkmenistan hosted international telecommunications and information technology exhibition and the “Turkmenistan and Global Telecommunications System” international scientific conference.


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Uruguay: The Trouble with Buying and iPhone · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Marcos Crispino has had recent problems trying to purchase an iPhone in Uruguay [es]. Between unsuitable data plans and continuously out of stock in the stores, he thinks it has become too complicated.


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USA: Eid Postage Stamp Provokes Hate in Tennessee · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

A 2008 version of the stamp, before the price increase
As Muslims in the United States celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the celebration which marks the end of Ramadan, a pernicious chain e-mail is making its rounds.  The e-mail falsely claims that President Obama has issued a new postage stamp commemorating the two Eid celebrations and urges readers to boycott it, naming several terrorist attacks on the U.S. over the past twenty years.  The full text of the e-mail can be seen in this post by Missives from Marx, who expresses frustration at the letter, saying:
I received the following email forward today from a family member. It is because of stuff like this that I’m going to have to spend four weeks of my Western Religions course deconstructing Muslim stereotypes. This is why critical thinking has to be an essential component of all my courses.
As it turns out, there's nothing new about the letter, or the stamp.  About.com explains that the letter has been around since at least 2002, while the stamp itself was issued on September 1, 2001.
Aziz Poonwalla, on the BeliefNet blog City of Brass, explains the history of the e-mail:
Versions of the email, which has been making the rounds for years, have been repeatedly debunked before, but it still persists. I've blogged extensively about the history of the Eid stamp, the controversy that accompanied it when it was introduced (mostly from conservative Republicans), and the defense of the stamp by President Bush and Speaker Hastert. In a nutshell, the stamp was introduced on September 1st 2001, ten days before the 9-11 attacks, during the Bush Administration. Mayor Piper joins a long list of conservative politicians who have no objection to stamps commemorating Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, even teh Chinese New year – but a stamp devoted to the muslim holiday of Eid is singled out as a threat, requiring response from “patriotic” Americans?
A post on the Clarksville Online, a blog for the town of Clarksville, Tennessee, explains why the e-mail has made major headlines this year:
Clarksville Tennessee’s Mayor, Johnny Piper has sent an inflammatory anti-Islamic email to employees of the city, encouraging them to boycott a stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service…
…Mayor Piper has since attempted to defend his actions, but they are simply indefensible. Muslims are a integral part of this country. They serve honorably in our armed forces, defending our nation, and our freedoms. No one should be treated like a second class citizens based on their religious beliefs, or the actions of a radical fringe. This incident created by our Mayor  has been an embarrassment for our City, our State, and our Country.
Sheila Musaji has been tracking chain e-mails about the stamp for The American Muslim (TAM) since 2005, and in an update, remarks on Mayor Piper's abhorrent actions:
I’m certain the good mayor was just as surprised about President Obama’s White House Iftar.
And, of course the final recourse of all bigots:  “I have some good Muslim friends,” he immediately added.”
Perhaps those good Muslim friends might enlighten him as to why THIS (PDF) is offensive.

author: Jillian C. York


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Uzbekistan: Freedom of faith questioned · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Musa tells about the persecution of minor grouping of Bahá’í religion in Uzbekistan.


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Vietnam: New roads and bridges in Saigon · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Final Word describes some of the new road projects and bridges in Saigon, Vietnam.


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Vietnam: Sex Trafficking in Saigon · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Fish Egg Tree is angry and disappointed to learn that sex trafficking is rampant in Pham Ngu Lao in District 1 of Saigon, Vietnam even though authorities are aware of the problem.


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Barbados: Bolt vs. Gay · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Doan Mind Me shares his conflicted thoughts on the news that US sprinter Tyson Gay has equalled Jamaican Usain Bolt's 100-metre Olympic record. “Is it that when I see a Jamaican/Caribbean man running them times then I believe that he's clean cause I more easily empathize with him than with an American?”


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Bhutan: Climate Change And Religion · Global Voices
Rezwan

“For Bhutanese, there is an even stronger reason to believe in climate change. Our own religion, Buddhism prophecies climate change,” comments YesheyP at Kuzu Bhutan Weblog.


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Bhutan: Tax On Cars · Global Voices
Rezwan

The Bhutanese government is thinking about increasing the taxes and other fees levied on vehicles to control the increasing number of cars. Tshering Tobgay opines that the import quota system for the bureaucrats should be abolished to control traffic congestion. Bhutanese Blogger at Whatever Matters comments that the government should postpone the plan to a later date until there is an improvement in the public transportation system.


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Bolivia: Using the XO and Classmates with Community WiFi · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The project WiFi El Alto has been experimenting with using the OLPC XO and Classmate laptops with the community wifi signal [es] in the Rio Seco neighborhood in El Alto, Bolivia.


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Ecuador: Protests Against Sports Federation in Azuay · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Dario Orellana came across some signs of protest at the Sports Federation of the Ecuadorian province of Azuay. Many of these signs say that coaches have been working for three months without contracts [es] and other accusations of corruption.


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Egypt: Will Farouk Hosni be Unesco’s Next Director General ?  · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

Egyptian Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni has made it to the fourth round of voting for the post of Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the global institution concerned with genuine dialogue based upon respect for shared values and the dignity of each civilization and culture. His nomination has created a plethora of controversy.
Zeinobia wants to save UNESCO from Farouk Hosni:
Because he is not the best candidate to head this international cultural organization and because he has been a member in corrupted regime for more than 20 years … Again as an Egyptian I refuse this candidacy which I believe is an insult to Egypt before the UNESCO
The vote updates are posted here but Tarek Ez ElDen says that:
Jewish Refugees gave a more detailed update on the status of the other candidates:
The candidates from Benin, Lithuania, Russian and Tanzania withdrew from the race to be Director-General before yesterday”s third round vote, leaving five names on the ballot slated for 6:30 p.m. tomorrow in Paris, UNESCO said on its website.
The remaining candidates are: Algeria's Mohammed Bedjaoui European Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner (Austria) Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosny Bulgarian former foreign minister Irina Gueorguieva Bokova and Ivonne Juez de A. Baki of Ecuador.
Muslims against Sharia do not approve of the Egyptian candidate as well:
Notwithstanding Middle East political conflicts, Muslims are commanded to respect Jews as sharers in the revelation of One God. Conspiracy theory is common in the Muslim world, but does not befit a culture minister.
The Times says that the Egyptians are now rebuilding the synagogue – and Egyptians are discovering that a sizable Jewish community used to live in their country – as a result of their desire to get Farouk Hosni elected as the head of UNESCO. The Times reports that the Egyptians would like to go just far enough for Hosni to win, but no further.
Joseph Mayton of Bikya Masr argued why Farouk Hosni should be given a chance:
1. Attitude: I have interviewed a number of ministers here and elsewhere and Hosni seems to have that interest that is often lacking with other prominent figures. This is vital to a UN position. He is willing to admit he was wrong (he has told me such in previous interviews) and this was prominent in the Le Monde op-ed he wrote apologizing for the “book-burning” comments he made in Alexandria.
2. He APOLOGIZED: I don’t care whether you are a Zionist Israeli living in an illegal West Bank settlement, the man apologized! Now, why would the international community continue to argue he is anti-Semitic? He argues it is because the West, and Israel, do not want an Arab and/or a Muslim to take over the culture top spot. I agree!
And Bikya Masr quoted the Minister who tried to explain the Israel Saga:
“What I meant is that there are no Jewish books in the ministry of culture libraries,” Hosny began when asked about his statement. “However, one year before that I gave directions to the National Translation Institute to begin translating Jewish and Israeli texts and they are doing it now.
“About the stance of Israel against me, I think it is presumptuous and unjust, because I think that democracy means that it should not affect how nations and people vote,” the minister argued.
The minister has defended his actions, saying that he has done much to buttress the country’s Jewish heritage, including the restoration of all ten Jewish synagogues in the country.
“I have promoted and helped restore much of Egypt’s Jewish history to the country and the comments I made were taken out of context,” Hosni argued.
Meanwhile, Mona ElTahawy does not welcome a book burner into the UNESCO:
What does a security crackdown resembling Saudi-style morality policing have to do with the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization?
A lot, given that a serious contender for that UNESCO job is Farouk Hosni, Egypt’s culture minister for the past 22 years. During his lengthy tenure, Hosni has alienated many Egyptians by suffocating cultural and intellectual freedom while giving a leg up to religious zealotry.
A stronger case against Hosni’s bid to lead the U.N. cultural organization would focus on how he has used censorship and disregarded individual freedom to ultimately strip Egypt of its robust culture. He might not have actually burned books, but he has banned plenty. In 2006, Hosni ordered all copies of “The Da Vinci Code” confiscated and banned the film from Egyptian screens. Never mind that the Vatican itself hadn’t called for such a ban, that thousands of Egyptians already owned copies of the book and that bootleg DVDs were already on sale in Egypt.
One of UNESCO’s missions is to promote freedom of expression, so why would it want a director who has so adeptly stifled such freedom?
In another post, ElTahawy wondered what would the Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani have to say to Hosny as she quoted one of his poems and translated it (Full Poem Here):
Would You Permit Me?
In a country where thinkers are assassinated, and writers are considered infidels and books are burnt, in societies that refuse the other, and force silence on mouths and thoughts forbidden, and to question is a sin, I must beg your pardon, would you permit me?
Would you permit me to bring up my children as I want, and not to dictate on me your whims and orders?
And Zeinobia is not impressed with his website:
Farouk Hosni has launched an official website : Farouk Hosny which includes his news, his biography , his personal photo gallery, his so-called achievements, his speeches and interviews…etc !!
Ah and his terrible , really terrible paintings !! Strangely he did not include that criticism in his website.
Did he mention that he used to spy on Egyptians and Arabs in 1970s among his achievement ??
Still Bikya Masr think that he is winning:
Despite a global campaign against Egypt’s Farouk Hosni taking over the helm of the UN’s top cultural job, it appears that the embattled minister is winning, sources have said. According to local Egyptian newspaper sources and a UNESCO official in Paris, Hosni has proven that a global anti-Semitic campaign may not be enough to derail his chances of taking over in Pairs after alleging receiving 22 votes in the first round of balloting.His 22 votes put him clear of the other 8 candidates, but fell short of the 30 votes needed to win the election. A UNESCO official in Paris, who has been watching closely the voting process, says that Hosni’s internal campaign and “his overall nice character” has given him the edge over other candidates, who were thought to be in the advantage.

author: Marwa Rakha


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Gabon: Opposition Continues to Fight Election Result · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

The death of Omar Bongo, one of Africa's longest-serving dictators, in June inspired hope that Gabon might embark on a new kind of politics.  Yet when Bongo's son, Ali Ben Bongo, the ruling party's candidate, was declared the victor of the August 31st election, few were surprised.  As one francophone blogger, Le petit Quimonte illustre, explains:
Au Gabon, la Couronne est héréditaire, de mâle en mâle par ordre de primogéniture élue démocratiquement par succession directe au suffrage universel sous protection militaire.
In Gabon, the Crown is hereditary, passed from male to male by order of primogeniture, democratically elected by direct succession via universal suffrage, under the protection of the military.
And yet members of the opposition are refusing to go home quietly.
Last week, Gabon's opposition parties called for a 3-day national strike, in protest of last month's election, and to express solidarity with victims of the post-election violence in Port Gentil (although by most international news accounts, few if any in Libreville took up the call).  Gabon Libre Expression (via Afrik.com) reports that some opposition candidates are offering their own, alternative vote count which places UPG candidate Pierre Mamboundou ahead of Bongo, with more than 68% of the vote.
On Thursday, opposition candidates issued a joint statement and least nine have filed claims in the Gabonese Constitutional Court calling for the nullification of the August 31st vote, which ex-candidate Bruno Ben Moubamba calls “an electoral coup d'etat,” on account of alleged voter fraud and other irregularities.  The court has one month to rule on the allegations, but as a recent article on Afrik.com points out, with the court's close ties to the Bongo family, the opposition entertains little hope of a favorable outcome.
Long Live la Françafrique!
France, long cozy with the Bongo family, was deemed at least partly to blame.  Protesters in Port-Gentil targeted facilities owned by Total, the French oil company, in post-election violence that left at least three dead.
A protest against the election in Paris is planned for this Wednesday and, at least on one Gabonese news website, there are calls to boycott French products.
Pour Un Gabon Meilleur! explains the history of French companies in Gabon, and their close connectino to the Bongo family:
Elf, rebaptisé aujourd’hui Total, est la plus connue des entreprises françaises qui exploite les richesses du Gabon du fait de l’affaire qui à partir de 1994 et jusqu’au procès de 2004 a donné un coup de projecteur sur les liens entre les dirigeants de la société pétrolière, la famille Bongo, la mafia et les sommets de l’appareil d’État français.
Mais en fait, c’est l’ensemble de l’économie du pays qui est sous la coupe de sociétés françaises et il est difficile de toutes les citer. Le clan Bongo est servi au passage, étalant un luxe provoquant au milieu du dénuement. Mais l’essentiel de la richesse produite par les travailleurs du pétrole, des mines, de l’extraction forestière, du transport et des activités portuaires, etc., profite à des patrons et des actionnaires d’entreprises dont le siège est par exemple à Odet dans le Finistère (Bolloré), à la Tour Montparnasse à Paris (Eramet), à La Défense (Areva) ou à Niort (Rougier, pour l’exploitation et le négoce des bois tropicaux).
Elf, today named Total, is the most well-known of all the French companies that exploit Gabon's riches because of the controversy that from 1994 until 2004 put a spotlight on the links between the leadership of the oil company, the Bongo family, the mafia, and the heights of France's state apparatus.
But in fact, the whole of the country's economy is under the thumb of French companies, and it is difficult to name them all.  The Bongo clan has served as the , flaunting a provocative luxury in a place of extreme poverty.  But most of the riches produced by the [Gabonese] oil, mining, timber, transport  and port workers benefit the owners and shareholders of companies whose head offices are, for example, in places like Odet (Bolloré), the Tour Montparnasse in Paris (Eramet), La Defense (Areva) or Niort (Rougier, for the exploitation and trade of tropical wood).
Alliance Nationale de la Resistance du Tchad, presents a time line of France's supposed involvement in the election, which culminates in a now-infamous quote Robert Bourgi gave to Le Monde on the even of the election: “In Gabon, France is not a candidate, but the candidate of  Robert Bourgit is Ali Bongo.  Now, I am a friend Nicholas Sarkozy listens to.  Subliminally, the voter will understand” [Fr].
Readers of La Voix Du Peuple Gabonais  discuss the feasibility of a boycott of French products.  Ondonza writes:
je suis entièrement d'accord avec le boycotte, c'est une mesure de pression efficace qui peut amener les francais à revoir leur position, dans la mesure où le chiffre d'affaires de leurs sociétés diminuera à long terme, ils seront obligés de fermer et rentrer chez eux. Pour cela aussi bien les hommes d'affaires, étudiants, touristes et autres ne devraient plus prendre Air france ou Gabon airlines, une alternative sera de prendre la Lufthansa, Ethiopia airlines et autres compagnies. Les automobilistes ne devraient plus consommer le carburant de Total, ni de la Lybian oil. Penser consommer Gabonais maintenant cela fera rehausser le pouvoir d'achat des petits commercants gabonais.
Que Dieu benisse le Gabon
I completely agree with this boycott: it's an effective pressure device that can make the French reconsider their position…businessmen, students, tourists and others should no longer fly Air France or Gabon Airlines, but take Lufthansa, Ethiopia or other company as an alternative.  Drivers shouldn't consume Total oil, nor Lybian oil.  Thinking of buying Gabonese now will raise the purchasing power of small Gabonese traders.
May God bless Gabon
Aligatoire wonders how a boycott could possibly work, given Gabon's extreme dependence on its former colonizer:
Boycotter les produits français, je me demande comment? notre économie ne produit rien. Cela suppose boycotter tout les groupes CFAO, CECADIS,TOTAL,SMAG,BNP(bicig) bgfi,crédit lyonnais (ugb), SEEG, LIBERTIS(les bongo). DRAGAGE……commençons donc par créer une banque gabonaise et des entreprises gabonaises. Il faut donc commencer à être décomplexé de l'homme blanc. car bcp d'africains souffrent d'un complexe d'inferiorité face l'homme occidental.Cette lutte doit être d'abord psychlogique et culturelle.Tous nos dirigeants sont à la merci des occidentaux au détriment de leur peuple. Nous sommes dans les mêmes configurations lors de la traite négrière, le chef coutumier et le négrier.
Boycott French products?  How?  Our economy produces nothing.  That would mean boycotting CFAO, CECADIS,TOTAL,SMAG,BNP(bicig), bgfi,crédit lyonnais (ugb), SEEG, LIBERTIS(les bongo), all the companies……let's start by creating a Gabonese bank and Gabonese enterprises.  We have to start by getting over our hang-ups, because Africans suffer from an inferiority complex vis-a-vis the Western man.  This fight must be, in the first instance, psychological and cultural.  Our leaders are at the mercy of the West, to the detriment of their people.  We are in the same place as we were during the slave trade, the customary chief and the slave trader.
Alphonse Obiang, in a comment on Alliance Nationale de la Resistance du Tchad, turns the responsibility back on Gabonese politicians:
Cet article est du grand n'importe quoi!…je ne vois pas ce que paris vient faire là, sauf si vous prétendez que c'est paris qui a contraint les anti-bongo à diviser leurs voix par 22. le résultat est clair: prise en semble, l'opposition dépasse largement les 50%. divisée, ali bongo passe haut la maion. Tout le reste n'est qu'explications facile et foutage dd gueule.
This article is full of it…I can't see what Paris has done, unless you claim that it was Paris that forced those against Bongo to divide their voices by 22.  The result is clear: taken together, the opposition got far more than 50%.  Divided, Ali Bongo won easily.  Everything else are simple explanations and BS.

author: Jennifer Brea


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Guatemala: The Activism of Massacre Survivor Jesús Tecú · Global Voices
Renata Avila

Maya Achí activist Jesús Tecú Osorio is a survivor. When he was a child, he witnessed the Río Negro Massacre, one of the most horrific massacres of Guatemala's armed conflict. Many of his friends, his 2-year-old brother, and his young parents were murdered. He spent some time forced to work, along with 17 other child survivors, doing domestic work for the man who killed his brother.
Photo by Renata Avila
Years later, after he was released into the custody of his older sister, Tecú began to work to exhume the mass grave of those killed in the Massacre. Eventually, this work led to the conviction of 3 of the men who took part in the killings. This work has been crucial in the pursuit of justice and the preservation of the historical memory on local and international levels.
Tecú wrote a book called “Memory of the Río Negro Massacres” that tells his experience as a homeless child who survived the war. Tadeo explains more about the story that Tecú tells:
The military and paramilitary forces rounded up all of the women and children and accused them of collaborating with the guerrillas. Together they proceeded to rape, torture, and murder everyone. Some 177 human beings, including 107 children, were massacred on the 13th of March, 1982, in Rio Negro. The few survivors, mostly young boys, were forced into slavery. In The Massacres of Río Negro, survivor Jesús Tecú described being enslaved by a leader of the Xococ PAC, a man who ripped his youngest brother out of his arms and swung him by his feet, smashing his brains against rocks in front of his eyes because his wife was “not used to caring for [such] a small child.
Tecú's case is different from many others, because he stayed in his community helping his community to fight for their human rights. He is leading a Legal Clinic to help poor and under-educated people to fight for their rights.  This struggle  by Tecú and other survivors of Guatemala's civil war led to the creation of the New Hope Foundation (FNE). Their mission can be found on their blog [es]:
Consideramos que una buena educación para nuestros hijos es la única manera de combatir la intolerancia, construir una paz verdadera, y mejorar la calidad de vida para nuestras comunidades en las que viven en extrema pobreza tantos sobrevivientes de la violencia pasada.
Other similar initiatives are taking place in the Achí community, as a way to remember the past, but also celebrate their culture.  The Achí community recently opened the Riij Ib’ooy Center in the town of Rabinal, where people can learn more about the massacres, but also about the culture and glorious past of this Mayan group. In  an interview with the Coordination for International Accompaniment in Guatemala (ACOGUATE), Tecú explains that the situation in Rabinal is extremely complex, since perpetrators and victims are living and sharing spaces in the same small village.
In her blog, Christina Gray of the organization Youth Helping Youth describes how Tecú explains the story of his village to visitors:
Sunday afternoon, the delegation, interns, and coordinators met-up with Jesús Tecu Osorio, a Maya-Achí speaking survivor of the Río Negro Massacre of 1982, who shared with us some of Rabinal and neighboring community’s history as represented in the monuments dedicated to those murdered in the massacres, these monuments allow the community and foreigners to remember the lives of those that passed and speak out against the government's desire for everyone to forget.
For his work, Tecú was awarded the Reebok Human Rights Award. In this Witness video, Tecú explains his struggle for Justice:
Despite the progress made by Tecú and the Achí community, the work continues. Survivors are still pressing the Guatemalan government to convict those responsible for the massacres, as shown by Colectivo Guatemala Blog. Some of these individuals are being intimidated for their work.
Recently, Tecú has received threatening phone calls. Padd Daniel of the Guatemala Solidarity Network describes this news:
On the afternoon of September 14th, 2009, human rights defender Jesus Tecú Osorio received a telephone call on his personal cell phone from an unidentified extortionist who threatened to kidnap, torture and dismember each of Jesus’ children, one-by-one, if his demands are not met. The caller demonstrated that he knows where Jesus lives with his wife and children, as well as the location of the school where his eldest son studies. Like most human rights defenders in Guatemala, Jesus has received many death threats over the years, none of which have been properly investigated. But Jesus has never let intimidation tactics deter him from continuing his human rights work.
Nonviolent action has played a key role in the struggle for social change in Guatemala, as shown by local activists like Jesús Tecú. However, as the recent threatening phone call demonstrates, there is still much progress to be made.

author: Renata Avila


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Haiti, USA: MacArthur award for Danticat · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Repeating Islands reports that Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat has won a prestigious “genius award” from the MacArthur Foundation.


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ILO Mission to the Philippines · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A blog was set-up to highlight and report the activities and findings of the International Labor Organization High-Level Mission to the Philippines. The ILO mission aims to investigate the alleged human rights violations experienced by Filipino workers under the incumbent government.


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India: A Minister And A Twitter Message  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor was caught up in a controversy for replying a twitter message. Über Desi has details.


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Iran: Blog Service Providers in Trouble · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Several Iranian sites and blogs such as Parlemannews report [fa] that two important blog service providers in country are in trouble. Persian Blog is filtered and BlogFa has a lot of ‘technical’ problems in last week.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran: History, nature and culture in photos · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Throughout Iran presents itself as a gallery intended to show views of other side of Iran, different with what you may have seen in the media. Watch the photos here and here.


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Japan: Lecture on Manga, Anime and Otaku · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

Jean Snow points us to Patrick Macias's lecture at California State University, made available as a podcast episode: ‘Theoretical Perspectives on Manga, Anime and Otaku‘.


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MENA: Thanks “Khawater” from Japan · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

Television viewers across the Arab world were in for a treat this Ramadan, with the airing of a special programme on Japan. In its fifth season, Khawater (Thoughts) visited Japan, where a young Saudi preacher Ahmed Al Shugairy explained the Japanese success story to Arab and Muslim viewers.
The one-month show explained Japan's experience of progress and reasons behind its success. Al Shugairy tried to portray how Japanese people follow the principles of Islam in their day to day manners even without being Muslims.
Many Arab bloggers, thinkers, writers and other preachers praised the program, and hoped to one day see their countries as developed as Japan.
Labeed, from Saudi Arabia, wrote a blog post under the title “Ahmed Al Shugairy the great visionary“:
Ahmad Al Shugairy is one of the most inspiring people I have ever listened to. He is out there with a strong belief that one day he will make a difference.
[…]
For those who don’t know him! He has a show called “Khawater خواطر” that airs everyday in Ramadan, what he does in a nutshell is sharing his ideas and thoughts to the whole Muslim world and sometimes the Arab world in particular. These thoughts are presented in a documentary style with a short straight forward messages.
Labeed's illustration to thank Al Shugairy for his work.
Saudi blogger Samyah mentions a new project launched by a group of volunteers to translate the five parts of Khawater into English. Khawater‘s first season can be found translated here.
She also said:
Mohannad El-Tayeb, from the UAE, quotes Al Shugairy as saying:
“To every young man and woman, you’re not responsible for Arabs being retard today, and nobody has the right to blame you for that!! But young men and women of today are responsible of the future of the Arab countries, you are responsible of what we’ll be after 25 years, means that “WE” decide the situation of the Islamic world in 2030″
Mohannad then commented:
This year Khawater 5 is released. Ahmad Al Shugairy traveled to Japan and made this season there. He shows that Japanese people are still keeping their traditions and customs, while they’re developing quickly. It’s amazing. you’ve got to watch it.
Wafa from Tunisia wrote a post titled “Khawater…in less than 15 min, lots of lessons!!“. In this post, she said:
This year, ‘Khawater 5′ takes us to Japan and back!
Al Shugairy compares issues in Japan and the Arab world, which he’s calling ‘another planet’!
We see how organized, clean, disciplined and punctual the Japanese people are.
We see how they respect each other, respect the elderly, respect boundaries and respect their selves!
Isn’t this exactly how we all should be? No matter what religion we belong to, isn’t this how a good human being should be?
Aren’t these the morals and conditions that make this world a better place?
And N_spirit from Algeria wrote under “I love khawater” saying:
Pour ce Ramadan 1430, et d’après la bande d’annonce Khawater 5, Ahmad Al Shukairy a choisi de voyager vers le Japon, et en retirer des leçons du peuple Japonais qui a pu se relever et s’est reconstruit en un temps record après les bombardements atomiques de Hiroshima et Nagasaki.
Ahmed Amr from Saudi Arabia wrote under the title “Between values and reality” [Ar] a comment to people who criticize the programme and Al Shugairy. Also, Nahar [Ar] from UAE, Jeedo, a Jordanian blogger living in the US, and  Egyptian blogger Ahmed Bassiony[Ar] , all wrote about how they are impressed with the programme, and how they wish their countries to be like Japan someday. They also expressed interest in visiting Japan.
Reem from Jordan comments about Khawater on Twitter
Blogger Reem Al Saleh from Saudi Arabia wrote:
On the other hand, Subzero, a Tunisian who lives with his wife Bluerose and is preparing for a Masters in Electronics Engineering in Tokyo wrote about one disappointment of his, despite his utter fascination with the show:
The way Ahmad-san talks about Japan is really great! It is very similar to how I talk to my friends about Japan, and in some cases he used the exact same words! To be honest, even though I like the guy so much, I was disappointed and mad to know he was in Tokyo and yet he did not even try to contact Muslims there. I would really have done anything to talk to him and help him go around Tokyo, in addition to giving some thoughts about the program.
And lastly, Saudi blogger Masha'al criticizes those who talk about their admiration for the programme and yet, do not practice what they preach, and adds:

author: Eman AbdElRahman


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Mobile-empowered to serve you better · Global Voices
Aparna Ray

“We need to call Nimai to take a look at the wiring in the kitchen.  Please go and get him.” In the 90's that would be my mother asking my dad to go and fetch the electrician from his house, so that he could come and inspect the faulty wiring. There was no other way to contact Nimai.
Today, my  electrician Barun has a dual-SIM mobile phone – he tells me that one number is for his boss and the electrical shop which sub-contracts him and the second is for his ‘personal clients’ that his company does not know about. This second business is growing, he informs me with pride, and soon he will no longer have to work for the electrical shop. His family, of course, can contact him on either number.
Mobile technology and low-cost mobile telephony options have empowered service providers like Barun to offer better services and enhance the reach of their businesses.  The story is similar everywhere, across the developing world. A reader's comment on Brough Turner's post Mobile phone adoption goes crazy in Pakistan reflected this reality way back in 2005:
Another contributory factor…was the introduction of Calling Party Pays regime in late 2000 early 2001. Prior to the introduction of CPP, both the calling party and the called party were charged for airtime. Since CPP, only the calling party is charged. Consequently small traders and service providers such as plumbers / TV repairmen / electricians (whose services are in high demand) bought a mobile connection and were reachable throughout the day whether they were on call or in their shop.
However, the impact of the mobile phone is no longer restricted to connectivity alone. It has grown into a tool that enables, farmers,  small traders and service providers to take information-based decisions, thereby leading to their economic empowerment.
Thus, from the fishermen in Kerala tracking market prices and negotiating best deals for selling their catch the next day, to farmers in Andhra Pradesh using the mobile phones as business helplines to gain useful business development related information, small traders everywhere have woken up to the immense potential of mobile technology in helping them better their lives.  And in this they are not alone. As Martine Koopman points out on her blog ICT4D in Zambia  and Ghana, the story is similar in places like Ghana, for example. On a field trip to visit some farming communities living about 6km from Salaga, she observes:
Now they have seen the advantages of phones all of them would like to have one. They not only use it for accessing market information, but all their crops (yams, maize, ground nuts, vegetables, etc) are in the system. If market traders visit the village they have a better negotiating position. They also have contact with market traders in Accra and Kumasi by phone.
Apart from imparting business/market information, the impact of the cell phones can be felt when increasing cell phone usage helps to improve distribution efficiency and reduction in search-of-information costs as well as tackling price dispersions across local markets, as was seen in this study conducted in Niger.
In all of this, the end-consumer is also a beneficiary.  We get the benefit of convenience–from the basic facility of having an  on-call service provider to ordering the fresh catch of the day from the fish-monger on his mobile, right up to using the virtual marketplace on our cell phones to buy fresh produce directly from the local farmer–in addition to enjoying competitively priced goods and products and  services in the long run.
“Nimai”, thundered my mother, “get yourself a mobile phone. Otherwise,  next time I am calling Barun.”

author: Aparna Ray


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Oman: Eid on Twitter · Global Voices
Riyadh Al Balushi

(Photo credits: alucard187)
Oman celebrated the first day of Eid al Fitr yesterday, a day after most of its neighboring Gulf states. The celebration, which culminates the end of Ramadan – the month of fasting, is determined after the sighting of the new moon, and not all countries, or sects for that matter, celebrate it on the same day.
The outbreak of swine flu in the Sultanate was also supposed to put a damper on Eid. The Government ran TV and newspaper campaigns urging people to take precautionary measures – such as avoiding giving hugs, kisses, or even shaking hands if possible during this event. The Ministry of Interior Affairs also ordered the Mayors of towns not to hold any public receptions for Eid. On the first day of Eid, unlike most other Eids, Oman TV did not broadcast Sultan Qaboos bin Saeed attending an Eid prayer.
However, the scare of Swine flu did not seem to take from the joy of people celebrating the first day of Eid. Instead of having mass public prayers areas, some places performed the morning Eid prayer in regular mosques which accommodated a smaller number of people than larger places.
Omani tweeps were making updates throughout the first day of Eid. Omanizer_muscat tweeted that even though OmanTV ran all these awareness messages, this was the Eid in which she had the most kisses ever!
The majority of people seemed to be going out and socializing without any fear of the flu as Alucard187 tweeted on the night of the first day of Eid that all the tables in restaurants in the capital Muscat seem to be fully taken. Otheroman also tweeted that the traditional Souq of Matrah seemed to have thousands of people hanging out around the corniche.
Makorani kept updating us with funny quotes she heard during Eid. Fatmanoor  posted pictures of her homemade version of the traditional Omani Eid meat dish “Shiwa”, while alucard187 showed us pictures of the real thing getting dug up from the ground and unwrapped, and then ready to be eaten. Whole villages take part in the cooking of Shiwa, which consists of a whole cow or goat roasted for up to  three days in an special oven prepared in a pit dug in the ground.
Eid al Fitr in Oman is celebrated over a period of three days after the end of the month of Ramadan.

author: Riyadh Al Balushi


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Pakistan: Vanishing Parks · Global Voices
Rezwan

Faisal at Deadpan Thoughts writes about the encroaching religious institutions and the vanishing parks of Karachi.

author: Rezwan


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Philippines: National Artist Under Surveillance · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

The Philippine Navy recently confirmed that the man caught stalking the home of Bienvenido Lumbera, a prizewinning poet, dramatist, and literary critic, on September 17 was one of its personnel carrying out a surveillance training exercise.
Wonderer.wanderer asks, “What does the Navy want from a National Artist?” At Midfield answers that the country is now turning into a police state:
No conclusion other than this can be reached with the admission by the Philippine Navy that National Artist and Magsaysay Award laureate Bienvenido ‘Bien’ Lumbera was indeed the target of an actual surveillance operation.
The lame excuse:  “it was just a training mission.”
The lie just does not wash as Lumbera’s ‘targeting’ is apparently linked to his active participation in protests against Malacanang’s ‘dagdag-bawas’ moves in the recent National Artists’ Awards.
The message is all too obvious as it is chilling: we will not be secure in our homes if we dare get on the radar screen of the military for holding views opposed to the regime.
The administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has one of the worse human rights record after the Marcos dictatorship. The human rights alliance Karapatan has counted more than a thousand cases of political killings and over two hundred enforced disappearances since Arroyo took power in 2001.
For their part, the All-UP Workers Union reposts the editorial of a national daily on the issue in its blog:
The bungled spying on Lumbera, in other words, forms part of a chilling pattern. Thus, despite the sincerity of official spokesmen, the public cannot look upon the incident as a simple “inconvenience,” or (as Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita treated it) a mere laughing matter; it is of the utmost seriousness—because as we have learned from sad experience, military intelligence agents take their cue directly from Malacañang: as spies from a private army.
On a lighter note, The Construct suggests that the military should add watching James Bond and other spy films in their training program:
So why were they able to trump a marine? Given the supposed reputation of the Philippine Marines, wasn’t the guy supposed to be able to evade capture? Isn’t not cutting corners a basic lesson in the stalking (at least in sniper school)? A simple ploy like posing as a bill carrier or a utility meter reader would’ve worked flawlessly. I mean military folks do have that certain look that make them totally stand out in a subdivision like Dr. Lumbera’s.
But as Rising Sun warns:
Sa konteksto ng maraming kaso ng paglabag sa karapatang pantao, may dahilan para mabahala ang mga katulad ni Lumbera. Ang operasyong militar ay hindi humihinto sa simpleng pagkuha lang ng larawan o pagtatala ng mga naobserbahang aktibidad. Maaaring ito ang simula para sa planong pagdukot o pagpatay, sa pangunguna ng mga sundalong nasanay na sa kultura ng walang pakundangan.

author: Karlo Mongaya


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South Asia: Celebrating Eid-Ul-Fitr · Global Voices
Rezwan

Yesterday Muslims in many South Asian countries celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr marking the end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting. Many bloggers exchanged greetings and shared their rituals and traditions.
Pakistan:
Momina at Chowrangi explains different aspects of the Eid celebrations:
Eid is derived from the root word of `Aada meaning returned. We all know that we return to Eid periodically. It is also said to have been derived from ‘Aadah meaning a custom or a practice. The reason is that people customarily celebrate it.
Kalsoom at CHUP! Changing Up Pakistan remembers what Eid meant for her and her family while growing up.
Growing up, my favorite part of Ramadan and Eid ul-Fitr always centered around two things – my family and food. On Chand Raat, the night before Eid, I loved going to the market to buy bangles or get henna painted on my hands. My memories of Eid as a child were flooded with color, bright new clothes, laughter, and the taste of sivaiyyan [vermicelli noodles in sweetened milk] first thing in the morning.
As an adult, Ramadan has become increasingly a time to think about others around me, particularly the poor. Working in the development realm has helped put such issues into further context.
A boy looks behind while others are doing rituals at the end of Ramadan month, on Eid Namaaz (prayers) at Bangalore, India. Image by Sandip Devnath
India:
Sudhir Kekre remembers the Eid food delicacies:
When I moved to Hyderabad, Ramzan and Eid became a big part of our social calendar. A new world of mouth watering delicacies were introduced. Haleem and nihari along with the biryanis and mirchi bhajjis became synonymous with Hyderabad.
The blogger also comments on the relationship between Hindu & Muslims:
Perhaps festivals could be a good way of reducing the animosity between two communities.
The Sacromento Bee blog posts pictures of Eid celebrations across India.
Bangladesh:
“Eid is supposed to be a special day. But today was strange,” writes ulysses at Back To Bangladesh. The blogger goes on to describe the experience of surviving an earthquake in Dhaka on the Eid day. However there is a more worrying threat than earthquake for the Bangladeshis:
There are scary statistics about how many people would die from a severe earthquake in Dhaka. But, truth be told, I worry more about adulterated food than any other issue facing Bd.
Maldives:
Kaidha tells poetically how the Eid festivities have reduced to a holiday with no significance:
I remember a time when i was a kid, we would look forward to eid as being more than holiday
It's the day a big feast would be cooked and be visited by relatives
It's the day we would wear our new dresses and go to watch the marches
It's the day we would watch the fireworks of every colour blind the night sky
However with time, Eid has become just another day we could just laze around at home and watch tv or facebook all day
Eid Mubarak to all our readers.


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Tourism and HIV Infection in Thailand · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

A report titled “Why Japanese and Western people are infected with HIV in Thailand” by Doctor Kyo Taniguchi from NPO Gina covers statistics about sex workers and “Love, Marriage, and Hopeless love”.


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Trinidad and Tobago: tranquil temple · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Now Is Wow Too posts a tranquil, meditative video filmed near the famous Temple in the Sea in central Trinidad. “In the background, water laps, a bird sings in the tree and a woman sings in the Temple.”

author: Nicholas Laughlin


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Africa: Will technophobia crash the ICT party?  · Global Voices
John Liebhardt

The promise of ICTs benefiting human development is great. Mobile phones, some say, facilitate and expand markets where they previously weren’t. These mobiles have jumped into the domains of banking  (mobile ATMs in some countries), medicine (allowing rural inhabitants to receive needed information from specialists) and public services.
Internet connections allow students in the most rural areas to augment learning through research. Academics can keep up with colleagues across the world. Social media may make it easier for people to organize themselves and facilitate the way immigrants send remittances.
The role ICTs plays in human development is being debated and discussed at a Sept. 23- 24 Harvard University forum, ICTs, Human Development, Growth and Poverty Reduction.
What about the backlash against computers and the fear of technological devices? If the promise of ICTs will lead to poverty reduction, how will technophobia affect this mission? Technophobia certainly remains a global issue. With the influence of ICTs role in development, however, does the fear of technology and misunderstanding of its uses disproportionally affect the developing world? If so, what are people doing about it?
Here are a few examples of fighting and understanding technophobia in Africa. (If you’ve got more, we’d love to hear them. We’ll also be trying to write this issue in other parts of the world, so please pass those ideas along, too.)
Technophobia in Africa, like elsewhere, takes many forms. Resistance to technology by teachers has been cited (.pdf) as a problem of computer expansion in Kenyan classrooms. Both hospital staff and patients in Uganda list “cultural adaptability” as a constraint in implementing ICTs in health centers. Girls around the world view cybercafés – in many places, the only gateway to the internet – as strictly boys’ territory.
James Kariuki, an E-learning specialist from Cape Town, South Africa relates a story of a well educated friend having difficulty with adapting to new technologies. This is from his blog Elearning in Africa:
I engaged with a friend today and he was lamenting about the speed at which the technology is moving. I could see the agony in his face when he told me that he was scheduled to do a presentation in a hall, and the only thing in that lecture hall as a visual aid is a computer and a projector. The old-fashioned overhead projectors have been replaced by these new technologies. The pain of having to redo his presentation, and scanning his images so that they can be used on the computer was profound. I asked him whether he has considered attending any of training sessions:
Most of us have a phobia for technology and most of the jargon used in the training leaves us more confused than we were before training. I know of a number of professors in my department who have the same feelings about the technology and they cannot attend training.
I asked him, is this reasons that some lecturers never use the technology in the lecture theatres? He said:
Yes, and more to that there is a cultural bearing. They should have involved an anthropologist to study the culture of the prospective users of the technology so that they can advice them about what need to change first [in terms of culture] for the technology to be successfully used.
Here I see a problem where the technology is being provided but the constituency that should benefit from it is not. I am not sure of the best approach to dealing with technophobia, especially in situations where the individuals [with the phobia] have all the resources and support and training but they cannot still use the resources available. If you have a clue, feel free to let me know.
In a comment, Neil J says we should all be expanding our definition of technophobia — because each of us have a bit of it.
I suppose, as you said training is the best way to deal with this. I am currently doing a university assignment into technophobia. I think we all have elements of technophobia:
– the anger we display when a computer crashes
– fearing that computers will replace our jobs
– fear that we are being watched!
The digital divide is not just rural versus urban or rich countries versus poor. Gender remains an important factor, says Ore Somolu, writing in The Networking Success Project from Nigeria.
Women face a number of limitations to be able to freely use technology, Ore continues, including lower disposable incomes, limited time for technology use, average lower literacy levels. One solution includes starting technology lessons for girls at an early age.
Young women need to become more involved in science and technology from an early age. This could be formally (primary or secondary school, computer school, after-school program) or informally (learning from family or friends, summer camps with computer classes). The Gender Team at KnowledgeHouseAfrica organises the FOSS Women Bootcamp Workshop, which equips young women with the skills necessary to train other women to use FOSS* (Free and Open Source Software). Fantsuam Foundation offers scholarships to qualified and interested women for ICT training.
Mothers are a big influence on their daughters and if they display feelings of technophobia, some girls may unconsciously adopt similar feelings. It is important that encouragement comes from the home, through introduction from a young age to incrementally more complex forms of technology.
Lauren Clifford-Holmes, a student at Rhodes University in South Africa, at one time felt that ICTs were not living up to their promise because few projects created tangible results. She lists a few examples of best practices when using ICTs to augment development. From her blog, The Soap Box:
What struck me about this story were two key nuances: firstly that dumping technology in a community is useless unless the skills are taught for the consumption of and production using this technology. Secondly, this case study emphasised the importance of focusing on schools and introducing students to technology which can aid their learning experience, and teach them the skills they need to thrive in the knowledge economy/ information society.
She reports on an example that promotes the right kind of appropriate technology, the Intel Teach Program.
Mthebula High School was donated computers by Telkom a few years ago, but none of the teachers were incorporating the technology into their instruction. School language teacher, Mercy Ntlemo, attributed this to most of the teachers lacking “the specific knowledge and training to integrate technology in any substantive way”. This meant the computers were gathering dust, barely used beyond basic information retrieval and simple word processing.
This example speaks to the larger debate within ICTs and development: development needs to happen on a multitude of different levels. It makes no sense to think you are aiding development by donating free technology like computers to those who lack the skills to utilise this technology effectively.
In this particular case, Ntlemo underwent the Intel Teach Program, a professional development program designed to help teachers integrate technology effectively in the classroom with the objective of helping students build 21st century skills. Ntlemo felt she really benefited from the training and following her success, many other teachers did the program, to help “conquer their technophobia”.
This training program exposed the teachers to new approaches for creating assessment tools and aligning lessons with educational learning goals and standards. Additionally, they discover new ways to incorporate the use of the Internet, Web page design, and student projects as vehicles for powerful learning.
As a result of the Intel Teach Program, Ntlemo says that technology is now an integral part of the curriculum at DZJ Mthebula High School, and project based learning is the norm. The training program revolutionised the way the teachers used the computers – a wonderful resource which until then were being completely underused. Ntlemo says the program “has revolutionised the way we teach.”
So what does a story such as this one teach us? It teaches us that we need to have a wholistic approach to development, and that development occurs within a particular context – such as lack of digital literacy. We need to understand the contexts of the communities needing developments in ICTs so that development does not become a worthless endeavour but rather a meaningful process of change.

author: John Liebhardt