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Russia: Renewed Anger Over Bureaucratic Traffic Bypasses · Global Voices
Ashley Cleek

A fiery incident on a Moscow highway has reignited the debate on Russian officials’ use of “special signals” that allow bureaucrats to move quickly through traffic.
Blogger and member of the Society of Blue Buckets activist group's LiveJournal (LJ) page, archeornis, brought attention to a recent YouTube video [ru] of the Head of Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations, Sergey Shoygu’s black Mercedes making use of the “official” blue signal and robotic chirp, which is used to make drivers pull over to let the “official” car pass.
“Want to be shot in the head, idiot?”
The video was shot in Moscow and uploaded to YouTube by archeornis (aka YouTube user vlastimeu, sometimes used as a collective videoblog for the Society of Blue Buckets) on May 14, 2011. While driving in the outside right lane of the motorway, archeornis was hassled by a black Mercedes whose driver insisted his car be allowed to pass:
archeornis did not pull over, and about a minute into the video someone in the Mercedes shouts through a megaphone:
Tе че, дебил, в голову выстрелить чтоль, придурок?
The video, picked up by dozens of Russian blogs, spread throughout the Internet. The owner of the Mercedes was quickly identified as Sergey Shoygu, Minister of Emergency Situations.
Not only did the Mercedes driver's imprecation became an Internet meme, it also ignited a number of discussions in the blogosphere.
User zangasta spoke up [ru] about the unfair nature of how laws are enforced in Russia:
Но, если закон утверждает что у какого-то Михалкова больше прав чем у меня, и я должен уступать ему дорогу – то это не закон а гавно.
И соблюдать его я не буду.
However,  other comments [ru] showed a cynical and unfazed public:
Небедный человек. Очень небедный.
User xoxlova commented [ru] whether or not it actually is a law that drivers must pull to the side for cars with sirens and signals:
С другой стороны – разве не обязаны пропускать при включенных маячках с сиренами?
According to Russian law, cars are required to pull to the side to any car with a blue signal turned on. Such signals, however, are only to be used during emergency situations.
One of main questions raised by the bloggers was if Shoygu himself was in the car at the moment. Irina Andrianova, head of media relations for the Ministry of Emergency Situations, told [ru] the Russian wire service ITAR-TASS, “The driver was alone in the car. He was driving from the garage to Warsaw highway. There was no reason for the driver to be in the hurry.” Andrianova underscored that, “The driver has been disciplined for his incorrect behavior on the road.”
Bloggers demand responsibility
Dissatisfied with the minor reaction from the Ministry and government, blogger Andrei Malgin posted a collage of pictures showing Shoygu’s same driver from before the incident, driving Shoygu’s Mercedes two days after the incident.
A collage of pictures showing Sergey Shoigu's driver made by Andrei Malgin. Pictures by user InGiNeR.
LJ user pavelcorsun registered his lack of surprise [ru] regarding the possibility that Shoigu's driver was still behind the wheel:
Почему я не удивился?
Потому, что ни в одной газете, ни на одном сайте не назвали его имя и фамилию.
Везде – водителя уволили.
К такой формулировке не прикопаешься — может и уволили :-)
In a post that had 2,396 comments as of May 20, blogger Aleksei Navalny wrote [ru] that he plans to send a letter of complaint to Russia’s prosecutor general on Monday May 23:
Ок, согласен со многими комментаторами, требующими написать заявление в прокуратуру.
Мы направим такие заявления.
Факты, требующие разбирательства:
– публичная угроза убийством, которая воспринимается вполне реально, с учетом того, что раздается из автомобиля с номерами ФСО
– был ли в машине Шойгу? Судя по включенной мигалке – да. Отдавал ли указание Шойгу высказать угрозу убийством?
– если сам Шойгу не отдавал такого указания, то какие действия выполнил, когда это произошло в его присутствии?
– по какой экстренной надобности следовал его автомобиль? Для чего были включены проблексковые маяки?
В понедельник отправим.
Though such violent language has been rarely caught on tape, videos of bureaucrats speeding through traffic with the help of a small blue signal, chirping horn, and megaphone is nothing new in Moscow.
In the spring of 2010, blogger archeornis posted several clips [ru] on his own blog, in which he documents how, through the use of a siren, one is able to speed through endless lines of Moscow traffic.
Andrei  has announced [ru] that he has sent a request to the Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliev to analyze who – the driver or Shoygu – actually made the threat, as well as whether or not Shoygu was in the car when the incident took place.
Both questions remain unanswered.
The finale?
On May 21, 2011, bloggers outed [ru] the driver, named Vladimir Shishkin (bloggers even published Shishkin's digital footprint – pictures from social network Odnoklassniki).
According to documents from the Ministry of Emergency Situations and shared on the RuNet by an anonymous source, it appears Shishkin was fired on May 16, 2011, two days after the incident. Bloggers, however, continue to doubt that Shishkin will be held responsible for making a death threat.
As Andrey Malgin wrote [ru]:
Причем в бумагах нигде не говорится об угрозах убить человека. Уволили за то, что включил спецсигнал. Обойден также вопрос, был ли на борту начальник. И, конечно, умиляет наличие в приказе об увольнении гос.номера автомобиля, – это чтобы никто не сомневался, что уволили того, кого надо. Не уверен, что в приказах об увольнении водителей принято указывать номер машины, на которой они ездят.

author: Ashley Cleek


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Russia: Senator Calls for Civilized Political Discussion Online  · Global Voices
Vadim Isakov

Senator from pro-Kremlin “United Russia” party Robert Shlegel urged opposition leaders to join him in developing the rules of civilized political discussion online, Lenta.ru reported [ru]. The senator said the opposition often uses “lies, accusations and provocations” online.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Vadim Isakov


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Saudi Arabia: Woman Arrested for Driving  · Global Voices
Mona Kareem

A week ago, a Saudi mother drove her car in Jeddah to take her kids to their school. On May 22, 2011, another Saudi woman, Manal Al-Sharif, drove her car with the famous Saudi women rights activist Wajeeha Al-Huwaider sat beside her and her brother and son in the back seats. The day before, Al-Sharif had posted a video of herself driving on YouTube.
Manal Al-Sharif was arrested, then released on bail, but later on the police arrested her from her house at midnight once again.
Twitter has been awash with netizens writing about this new heroine, whom some have described as another Rosa Parks (a famous activist of the African American civil rights movement).
Picture of Manal Al-Sharif taken from her Twitter account.
Saudi blogger Ahmed Al-Omran (@ahmed) wrote:
@ahmed: Is this the moment? Rosa Parks : 1955 :: Manal al-Sharif : 2011 #saudi #women2drive
Saudi tweep Omar Johani (@omar9944) wrote a tweet last night commenting on what Al-Sharif had done:
@omar9944: An unsung hero in Manal's saga, her bro! Accompanied her when she drove, had his wife babysit Manal's son. Saudi guys #TakeNote! #FreeManal
Famous Egyptian columnist and activist Mona ElTahawy (@monaeltahawy) tweeted on the case of Manal last night, and she retweeted several opinions that stressed that the time for women empowerment has came to Saudi Arabia:
@monaeltahawy: #ManalAlSharif was arrested at 4 am without an arrest warrant. Her “crime”? Driving while female. #Saudi #Women2Drive #FreeManal
She has also criticized the enemies of women rights in Saudi Arabia saying:
@monaeltahawy: #Saudi royals & ultra-conservative clerics claim society “not ready” 4 women to drive. More like royals, clerics not ready 4 women's rights.
Fouz Abdullah (@FouzAbd), a young Saudi female tweep, wrote about Manal and women's legitimate right to drive through her Twitter account, warning [ar] the religious police of their war against women:
لا نحتاج الى وصي او رقيب لكي نحافظ على عفتنا وشرفنا. ارحلوا #haya'a
Kuwaiti female tweep, Rana Al-Abdulrazaq (@ranati01) , also showed solidarity with Manal Al-Sharif saying [ar]:
ما قامت به منال الشريف اليوم هو شجاعة حقيقية .. امرأة تصارع ارثا مثقلا من الجهالة والموروث الذكوري المجحف
Another Saudi woman, Nawwarah Ashad (@@nawwarah82), mocked the societal statement that claims Saudi women are “queens” so they should not be working or driving but kept and served at home:
@nawwarah82: how am i a #queen in saudi when a queen “rules” a country while i can't even vote on a municipal election & need a guardian to rule myself!
Egyptian tweep, Maha Hosny (@Maha114411), wrote about the importance of what Manal has done, before she was arrested again, saying:
منال خرجت من السجن بس دخلت التاريخ و هى فعلا تستحق الاحترام و لن يضيع حق وراءه مطالب ده ابسط الحقوق فى ايه؟؟ #manalalsharif
Another Saudi tweep, Abdulaziz Al-Alami (@AzizAlAlami), commented on Manal's arrest:
@AzizAlAlami: Manal taken from her house in the Aramco camp in the middle of the night to the station. Right,thats how you treat a queen #Saudi #FreeManal
Another Saudi tweep, Heba Al-Butairi (@H_eba), who has been active online lately for the rights of Saudi women, wrote about Manal saying:
@H_eba: #FreeManal Took a turn from the oppressive to the INSANE! Dragging her out of of her house in the middle on the night? She's not a terrorist
Another Saudi female online activist, Khuloud Al-Fahad (@Khulouds) showed support for Manal Al-Sharif:
القبض على منال بهذه الطريقة هو لإرهابنا من الخروج للقيادة وتخويف أولياء أمورهن وبث الرعب في نفوسهم لكن ماقامت به منال خلق مليون منال
Saudi novelist Badriya Al-Bishir (@badryahalbeshr) also tweeted to show support for Manal and criticize her arrest:
من الذي خالف؟ منال خالفت القانون أم القانون خالف منال؟ وكيف يستوي قانونا لا يساوي بين المواطنات والمواطنين

author: Mona Kareem


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South Korea: Protecting World Heritage Site from Construction Work · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Local residents and activists have strongly protested against the government's plan to construct a naval base on the Jeju island, one of the World Heritage sites. Twitterer Kim Se-ri, an assistant movie director, has been tweeting [ko] about the ongoing protest for over a month now.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Trinidad & Tobago: Gay Rights · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

gspottt thinks that “it’s impressive that the Ministry is interested in attitudes to homosexuality; and notable that the poll [about equal rights for homosexuals] was commissioned by the last government”, but maintains that “it’s a matter of how you ask the question.”  Photos and video of Trinidad and Tobago's first observance of the International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia are here.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Trinidad & Tobago: Hops Bread · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Lifespan of a Chennette asks: “How do you like your Hops?”


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Africa: Africa Day Celebrated on Twitter · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Africa Day is the annual commemoration on May 25 of the 1963 founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). In 2002 the OAU established its own successor, the African Union.
The name and date of Africa Day has been retained as a celebration of African unity. This year's Africa Day theme is Africa and the diaspora.
Africa Day facts
Tweeps are celebrating Africa Day using the hashtag #AfricaDay. Let's start with a few Africa Day facts.
@octopusict: Africa is the second largest of the earth’s seven continents and makes up approximately 22% of the earth’s total land area.
@solidgame:Lowest point in Africa – Lake Assal in Djibouti which lies at 515 feet (155m) below sea level.
@CapeVerdeExp: RT @Mo_the_Ho: 4 countries in Africa rank in the world's top democracy's: Mauritius (25), South Africa (29), Botswana (36), Cape Verde (39)
@Luyanda_Peter received a t-shirt made in China to celebrate Africa Day. Photo courtesy of Twitter user @Luyanda_Peter.
Quotes of the day
@MacJordaN celebrates Africa Day with a quote from Kwame Nkrumah:
“I am an African, not because I was born in Africa but because Africa is born in me “- Kwame Nkrumah. http://is.gd/gRuUdA/
@Sentletse quotes from Frantz Fanon:
According to Frantz Fanon each generation must discover its mission, fulfil it or betray it. #AfricaDay.
@AlluviaWines quotes Paris Hilton:
“I love Africa in general; South Africa and West Africa, they both are great countries” – Paris Hilton
This is how @Routledge_AS celebrates Africa Day:
To celebrate #AfricaDay, we're offering free access to key articles which engage with topics concerning Africa http://bit.ly/kvNOFy
To @charkenty, Africa is rhythm:
Keita, Makeba, Masekela, Dube, Les Nubians, Koite, the Kuti's, N'dour, K'naan, Amadou&Mariam… Africa is rhythm.
What is your most beautiful spot in Africa?, asks @NikiMapoma:
I Agree”@GetawayMagazine: Today is #AfricaDay ! What's your most beautiful spot in Africa? > #VictoriaFalls #Zambia”
What do you love most about Africa?:
Happy #AfricaDay folks :-) Awesome Google doodle up in honour of our beautiful continent. What do you love most about the land we live in?
Is there anything to celebrate?, wonders @mssvy12:
Are we celebrating democracy and having black presidents that get rich while citizens grow poor?
@NaijaHistory remembers Tajudeen AbdulRaheem:
Fond Memories of #Tajudeen AbdulRaheem on this #May25 – #AfricaDay. “Organize. Don't Agonize” http://t.co/FZorn3s
@SmartestAlec shares music for Africa Day:
Africa must wake up -Nas and Damian Marley feat Knaan. #AfricaDay http://bit.ly/kL88Qm
@ImaCooperator reminds Africans not to forget the tragedy of Africans:
Tragegy of Africans is dreaming to WIN lottery tickets when in real sense they have not bought the ticket-Lumumba
What does it mean to be an African?
To mark Africa Day, Tweeps answer the question: “What does it mean to be an African?” The hashtag for the question is #tobeafrican.
@ekow_q_johnson: #tobeafrican is to find gap-teeth sexy
@RosebellK: #TobeAfrican is to call any medical male worker doctor and every female medical worker in those dresses nurse
@coco_january: #tobeafrican is to swell with pride whenever ur country is mentioned in connection with something good no matter how small..
@Delalorm: RT @garyalsmith: #tobeafrican is to play football barefoot for hours without feeling a thing (via @Rowie_007)
@idontfearhuu: #ToBeAfrican means right after an Aunt has visted and left, your mom has to approach “How much did Auntie give u? Let me keep it for u”
@su_charFIERCEST: RT @DUSTAccra: RT @yass_minn: #tobeafrican is to go to an event with your whole family when the invitation was for only one person
@Oi_blood: RT”@get_alyf: ℓ☺ℓ #ToBeAfrican doesn't mean anything if you don't have a fowl or goat running around your compound right now…..”
@Naju_O: RT @coco_january: #tobeafrican is to receive ur male visitors infront of ur gate cos daddy is at home..
@Ruthaine: #ToBeAfrican means you have the right to let your phone ring at church, funerals, meetings etc etc
@RosebellK: #TobeAfrican is to take yo child for baptism + the first question kickin off the ceremony the Reverend asks, is this child baptised?
@Mbabazi_AN: RT @motwi_86: #ToBeAfrican is to rule till u're 100
Global Voices Online wishes you a Happy Africa Day with a poem from Mighty African:
It takes a village to raise a child
It takes a male child to start a village
It takes a female child to educate them all
In Africa
One man’s inactive car
Is many other men’s community service
Because you will need others
When your own car breaks down in Africa
It doesn’t fall into winter
And then spring into summer
People may be raining away
But life and warmth never run dry in Africa
Tangerine tree, football field, sugarcane seller
Very different but similar
Who needs Mapquest? In directing and navigating
All landmarks are on deck, in Africa

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Angola: Organizer Arrested on the Eve of Protest Against Poverty · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Luis Bernardo, the president of MRIS (Revolutionary Movement for Social Action) who organized a protest against poverty [pt] in Luanda today, was arrested on the eve of the event [pt]. A few days before, Bernardo had denounced threats against him by the Angolan regime, as reported [pt] on the blog Central 7311.

author: Sara Moreira


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Bahamas: Mid-Term Budget  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I die in despair as the debt, deficits and taxes all continue to rise with no respite in sight”: Rick Lowe at Weblog Bahamas doesn't hold out much hope for the fiscal measures in today's mid term budget.


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Barbados: New FIFA Corruption Allegation · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados Free Press links to a FIFA press release that details new corruption allegations against the organisation's vice-president, Jack Warner.


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Bolivia: New Ministry of Comunications Raises Doubts · Global Voices
Felipe Cordero

Rodrigo Reque Mejía, owner of the blog Puro Papo [es], compares the Bolivian government's newly created Ministry of Communications with the fictitious Ministry of Truth in Geroge Orwell's 1984 novel. His concerns have to do with potential Internet censorshio, among others.

author: Felipe Cordero


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Chile: Should State TV Play Hidroaysen Ads?  · Global Voices
Felipe Cordero

Luis Cuello in El Quinto Poder, describes how [es] Television Nacional de Chile, the State's television channel, played the latest of ads by Hidroaisen campaign during the night news (prime time in Chile).  He asks readers whether this is the right approach, considering that thousands have repeatedly protested in past weeks against this project.


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Colombia: The Reasons Behind the Floods · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Lorenzo Morales blogs for Americas Quarterly about ‘the reasons behind’ massive floods during Colombia's rainy season: “Unpredictable forces of nature are in play in Colombia’s current disaster. No one can be blamed for that. But as national and local authorities wash their hands of responsibility, they persist in sponsoring policies and projects that alter (and sometimes destroy) the mechanisms that can both trigger or turn off such forces.”

author: Silvia Viñas


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Cuba: Prisoner & Dissident Deaths  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Uncommon Sense links to a report which alleges that the death of a prisoner was at the hands of prison guards, while Babalu links to new medical reports of the late Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia, noting that “the report from the most recent beating…mentions the bruises found on his body; the same bruises that according to the Castro regime…never existed.”


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El Salvador: Poll Results Show 65% Approval for President Funes · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

In Central American Politics, Mike points out that although May poll numbers show “65% of San Salvador's residents approve of the job that [President Mauricio Funes] is doing” his party, the FMLN, is not doing as well.


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Jamaica: Minister Resigns  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Girl With A Purpose has the details about recent political resignations and Cabinet reshuffles, here.


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Mexico: First Woman Drug Cartel Leader · Global Voices
Andrea Arzaba

A Mexican woman is believed to have become the head of the “Arellano Felix” Cartel, which operates in Tijuana, northern Mexico. Her name is Enedina Arellano Felix, and according to the blog Mundo Narco [es], Enedina is an “intelligent, mechanical and discrete woman in charge”.

author: Andrea Arzaba


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Mexico: Teacher Protests in Oaxaca Continue · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

“Fourteen thousand schools shut down in Oaxaca. 1.3 million students left without school, as their teachers are continuing their actions against the state government of Oaxaca, protests that appear increasingly radical,” Aguachile reports.


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Russia: Reporters’ Open Letter Highlights TV Censorship Concerns · Global Voices
Vadim Isakov

Censorship on the majority of Russian television channels has been around forever but a recent open letter by REN TV reporters showed how even remaining small islands of media freedom could get washed away by a tsunami of political paranoia.
The letter [ru] written on the behalf of REN TV news service employees appeared on the website of anti-government politician Vladimir Ryzhkov. It accused the management of REN TV, one of the largest private television channels in Russia, of blacklisting members of Russian opposition and shying away from the topic of human rights abuse and social problems:
Censorship Causes Blindness. Image by Flickr user Andreia Bohner (CC BY 2.0).
Уже составлены «черные» списки политиков, которых запрещено показывать. Среди них такие известные деятели оппозиции как Борис Немцов и Гарри Каспаров. Запрещена всякая критика «Единой России» и ее лидеров. Кардинально изменилась вся информационная политика канала. Вместо репортажей о социальных проблемах, борьбе правозащитников и произволе чиновников эфир занят криминальными новостями,  сообщениями об успехах «силовиков» и «заказными» сюжетами, восхваляющими губернаторов и депутатов.
Devalued journalism
Managers of REN TV dismissed the accusation and called the authors of the letter “fools.” But bloggers took the side of the authors and condemned censorship in Russia media.
Finam FM radio host Yuri Pronko wrote [ru] on his blog:
Профессия журналиста в России полностьюдевальвировалась. Журналистики сейчас как таковой в стране практически не осталось. Есть только видимость, как и видимость публичной политики. Все превратилось в сплошную болтовню, в болтологию.
Сложно оставаться в профессии, тем более заниматься политической журналистикой, если поля для этой профессии нет! Последний бастион свободы на ТВ, которая еще наблюдалась на канале РЕН, вот-вот рухнет. Все чаще журналисты подвергают себя самоцензуре, самоконтролю, неисполнение которого чревато потерей работы.
Journalism as a profession in Russia has been completely devalued. Journalism as such does not exist in the country. There is only an appearance [of journalism], the same as an appearance of politics. Everything has been turned into chatter.
It is difficult to stay in the profession and especially practice political journalism if there is no space for this. The last bastion of television freedom that one could see on REN TV is about to collapse. More often, journalists practice self-censorship, self-control and can lose their jobs for not doing it.
Oleg Kozyrev (oleg-kozyrev) draws attention to the graph [ru] by Internet analysis company Medialogiya. The graph shows that REN TV did reduce the coverage of Boris Nemtsov, an outspoken critic of Russian government, from January to April this year. At the same time, the coverage of the ruling party United Russia remained high.
Other netizens showed little surprise with censorship on REN TV. “Elections are near and Russian traditions are strong,” Georgian blogger olegpanfilov2 wrote [ru], “Before elections, there are either blasts or nationalization of media.”
“Closer to elections, they clear what hasn't been cleared before,” svorodnikov echoed [ru].
“This is Medvedev's modernization in full swing,” blogger drandin concluded [ru]. “This is Medvedev's ‘freedom is better than non-freedom.'” [a reference to the famous quote by Medvedev]
But it looks like some bloggers expected an open resistance toward censorship on REN TV. Apparently, the anonymous letter reminded people of a widely spread practice in the Soviet Union, when an unnamed letter could easily put an innocent person in prison.
Blogging on Slon.ru, Vasiliy Gatov criticized [ru] the authors of the letter  for not disclosing their names:
Задумайтесь: даже если это действительно написано кем-то из работников службы новостей РЕН ТВ, анонимность означает только одно: этим людям так хочется работать в «ящичке», так важен этот сомнительный наркотик, что они скрывают свои имена (опасаясь за свои теплые рабочие места с соцпакетами), вскрывая между тем вполне отвратительные методы нового руководства.
Old news and new ways
Prominent Russian journalists have occasionally warned about the demise of country’s media. Vladimir Pozner, a famous television host, recently said that self-censorship in Russia nowadays was “at an all-time high.”
In an earlier interview with PBS Frontline, Pozner also talked about the lack of “different views” on Russian television networks. Professional media practitioner, Pozner is notorious  for underlying the principle of Russian self-censorship  by citing famous Russian poet Yevgeny Evtushenko:
An educated neighbor of Galileo
Was as smart as Galileo himself.
He knew that the Earth rotates,
But he also had a family.
The phenomenal speech [ru, with English subtitles] by prominent Russian journalist Leonid Parfenov at the end of 2010 on media freedom, provoked a reaction within the media community but did not change the situation regarding media censorship. Symbolically, the speech found its way to people through blogs and social media since many television channels cautiously refrained from broadcasting it.
It may be all too logical for outspoken Russian reporters to go online and abandon traditional media channels. After all, people do regard blogs and online news portals more open than old media.
But radio, television and newspapers still hold the attention of the majority of Russians and serve as the primary sources of information for people in different corners of the country. The development of the Internet may bring something that, according to Pozner, Russian people never had and therefore could never desire: freedom of speech.


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Saudi Arabia: Will women take the wheels on June 17?  · Global Voices
Thalia Rahme

Women2Drive group launched a campaign in Saudi Arabia, via a Facebook page  and a hasthag on Twitter  [en and ar], to encourage and prod women to follow the example of Najla Hariri and [en] and Manal Al Charif [en] and defy the laws by driving on June 17th. Manal, one of the event initiators, was arrested by local police for having trespassed the rules and driving her car in Khobar, in the in the Eastern part of the country.

author: Thalia Rahme


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South Korea: Social Media Controversy Surrounds Sports Broadcaster’s Death · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

The death by suicide on May 23, 2011, of national television channel MBC sports announcer Song Ji-seon in South Korea, has sparked considerable controversy regarding social media in the country.
South Korea has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, but this latest case has opened a new debate on the public health issue.
Social media involvement?
Song came to public attention after the accidental disclosure of her relationship with Korean baseball player Lim Tae-hoon via a journal-style post on her Cyworld [ko] account (Korean version of Facebook), which led to his subsequent denial of the attachment.
The original post was removed, but the screen capture image of the post can be found online, and despite hacking allegations, is believed to have been written by Song herself.
The troubled presenter is thought to have faced criticism [ko] from malicious online comments regarding the relationship, and faced possible suspension or sacking from work over the issue. She sparked concern [ko] amongst her Twitter followers regarding her state of mind, with a number of worrying tweets up until her death.
Image of Lim Tae-hoon.com's main page. Image captured by author.
A special website LimTae-hoon.com [ko] has been set up, on the one hand revealing alleged salacious aspects of Song's relationship with Lim and on the other paying condolences to the deceased. The site's several pages temporarily halted yesterday due to high web traffic.
Lim has faced online abuse, with several portal sites blocking the comments sections of news articles reporting on the case.
Mainstream media response
Major South Korean sports newspaper, Sport Seoul, has implied [ko] that social media played a role in Song's death, quoting a government official as saying that lies and speculative articles are shared and rapidly spread via social media.
Net users have strongly criticized the comment as irresponsible and devious. Suicide is known to be a complex issue often with multiple causes.
Certain ways of presenting and portraying suicide in the media appear to precipitate suicidal behaviour in vulnerable people, and most news organisations follow guidelines on reporting responsibly.
Twitter user @rselove83  tweeted  [ko]:
송지선 아나운서의 죽음을 SNS 탓으로 돌리는 무책임한 언론기사네요 http://bit.ly/mxMi3z 악성댓글이 달리도록 자극적인기사를 쓰고 또 그 악성댓글로 다시 기사화한 것 너네 언론들이 아니었는지.[…]
A sports fan, Min-tong (@MintAcademy)  tweeted  [ko]:
“SNS가 그녀를 벼랑으로 몰았나” 송지선 아나운서 자살이 꼭 SNS 때문인것 처럼 말하는 기사들 뭐니… SNS는 도구일 뿐이고 그걸 쓰는 사람들이 문제인거잖아. 이걸 빌미로 SNS 규제 할려고 그러니?
A female sports broadcaster and a colleague of Song's has commented [ko] that the South Korean sports world is still a hostile place for women.


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Thailand’s First Female Prime Minister? · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of the Democrat Party and Yingluck Shinawatra of the Pheu Thai Party will battle for Thailand’s top political post in the July 3, 2011, General Election.
Yingluck, who is the sister of deposed leader Thaksin Shinawatra, has emerged in the past week as a popular and serious candidate who could end up as Thailand’s first female Prime Minister.
What are some online reactions to Yingluck’s candidacy? Andrew Walker, writing for the New Mandala identifies Yingluck’s strengths:
Yingluck is a much better proxy for Thaksin than Samak. That she is more presentable goes without saying…
Yingluck perfectly symbolises Thaksin’s appeal to generational change; her femininity underlines his challenge to established expressions of power; her business background echoes his CEO style; her economic success excites the aspirations that Thaksin cultivated; and, most potent of all, her surname is Shinawatra.
In political terms, Yingluck is Thaksin in a frock.
The Lost Boy links Yingluck to other female leaders in the region:
She fits the stereotype of the region's female leaders. She is from an elite background, she has strong feminine qualities, she is educated, she is a potential agent of change, people will listen to her because of her family ties and she will likely be a timid leader
But Saksith Saiyasombut isn’t sure if she can win over the undecided voters:
People who hate Thaksin won’t vote for Puea Thai anyway and voters who still think highly of him will give their vote to his sister – there’s nothing to change about that. What’s crucial now is whether she can win over the undecided voters. We’ll have to wait for the campaign trail to see if Yingluck can stand on her own. She still has enough opportunities to prove herself as a politician and not only as Thaksin’s sister.
There is an ongoing debate as to whether Yingluck would just be an inferior clone of her more famous brother. Harrison George, writing for Prachatai, discusses this issue:
He obviously plans to use Yingluck as some sort of robot that he can manipulate from a distance and so act in effect as Prime Minister without being elected.
But thinks that Thaksin’s admission about his sister being his ‘clone’ could have been misinterpreted:
Now this could mean nothing more than the fact that Thaksin’s understanding of genetics is about as flaky as his grasp of English grammar. But it also allows the interpretation that Yingluck is not some sort of remote control puppet, but merely an able learner of the Thaksin model of public administration
Whatever the case, the ‘clone’ issue has generated a lot of discussion in political circles:
Political speculators are also having a field day, suggesting possible clones among the political classes, noting that plastic surgery could be used to reduce any resemblance of a clone to the original model.
How is Yingluck as a campaigner? Here is a Twitter reaction:
@zllip: RT @terryfrd: Well, Yingluck is not a great speaker, but I guess she doesn't have to be. She's got the energy, the presence — not to mention the name
Anek Sae-lao doubts if the victory of the opposition Pheu Thai would be a victory for human rights:
He questioned if the red shirts and their sympathizers can really think of Pheu Thai (PT) as a political party that will be friendly to human rights and rule of law. I totally agree with him and have also been wondering if red shirt members are too naïve to think that the party will be the solution to all problems.
It is quite frightening to see some red shirt members believing that if PT wins the election, the party would take an all out war against the “amaat” (elite) and the “establishment”.
I doubt that this will happen. Yingluck is no left wing political activist and neither is Thaksin. Both of them are businesspersons
The Red Shirt mentioned in the quote refers to the anti-government protesters who clashed with government forces last year in Bangkok. They are seen by many people as loyal supporters of Thaksin.
Like in other countries today, Thai politicians are actively using the social media to reach out to a bigger audience. They have integrated the use of Facebook, Twitter, and pic badges in their campaign strategy. The hashtags #thaielection and #THelection are used to monitor Thai election updates on Twitter.
Both Yingluck and Abhisit have their respective twitter accounts. Tweet Yourself Thai compares the tweets of the two candidates. Jon Russell has written two posts that discuss how Yingluck and Abhisit are maximizing the Internet for their electoral campaign.

author: Mong Palatino


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Trinidad & Tobago: Advantegous Politics · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Plain Talk says that when it comes to politics, “the name of the game is advantage.”


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World Economy: Women Weigh in on Poverty, Work and Debt · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

This post is part of our special coverage Global Development 2011.
The International Museum of Women‘s online exhibit on women and the economy, features slideshows, podcasts, videos and essays on women from countries such as Sudan, Denmark, Philippines, USA, Costa Rica, Mexico, Argentina and how they view issues such as poverty, business, family, rights, money and much more.
Economica, IMOW's online interactive exhibit sets out to explore women's contribution in the global economy. Picturing Power and Potential, was a juried photography exhibit showing different ways in which women participate in the economy and are agents of change.
For example, the exhibit's Community Choice Award winner was Brenda Paik Suno, a third generation Korean-American who took pictures of a Jeju Granny of the Sea, a woman who is part of the tradition of female divers of the Jeju Islands who have harvested the sea for generations.
Female divers of the Jeju Islands. Image by Brenda Paik Suno.
Focusing on Latin America brings us perspectives on how the crisis affected the women in three different countries of the region: Mexico, Costa Rica and Argentina, and how they are facing the new challenges brought by the rising participation of their countries in the world's economy.
Version in Spanish here.
Young Women Speaking the Economy asked women from four different countries to send in their thoughts on diverse economic issues.
Ally Zeifman tackled the subject of relative poverty through an audio interview. First she started by asking people in Denmark to answer if they thought there was poverty in Denmark, and then by interviewing a woman who believes that she is one of the invisible Danish poor. On her project page, you can hear the audio and read an introduction to the subject and see a picture slideshow with quotes from the interview illustrating what being poor in Denmark looks like.
Some of the quotes such as “I graduated from the university, but  I am unemployed”,  “My son really wanted to play football, but I cannot afford all the shoes and equipment, so in the end i decided it's better to just get some food on the table” and “I know I am not poor like in Africa, but I have to say no a lot” might ring bells with anyone who has been in a tight financial situation.
Valeene Salanga of Philippines reflects on how even a college education is no guarantee to a brighter future, when getting that first job seems to be a path riddled with obstacles for which she, a recent graduate, felt unprepared:
In this video, uploaded on the IMOW's YouTube channel, we learn about the hardships a certain group of women are facing in India. These are the women whose husbands have committed suicide due to agricultural debt and now they are left alone to fend for themselves, pay of debt and provide for their families in a society where they were already at an economic disadvantage:
There is much more to see, read and listen in Economica, and women can also participate and submit their own creative work focusing on the economy.
This post is part of our special coverage Global Development 2011.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Azerbaijan: Eynulla Fatullayev Pardoned Following Twitter Action · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

This post is part of our special coverage Eurovision Azerbaijan 2012.
Just two days after the UK branch of Amnesty International launched its Twitter campaign to call for the release of Eynulla Fatullayev comes news that the imprisoned journalist and prisoner of conscience has been included in a list of prisoners to be pardoned ahead of the 93rd anniversary of the founding of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.
Sentenced in 2007, with previous calls for his release from the European Court of Human Rights as well as many other international human rights and media watchdogs falling on deaf ears, the news surprised many, but was nonetheless cautiously spread on Twitter.
@leylanajafli: #Eynulla Fatullayev FREED?? has anyone confirmed? #Azerbaijan
JafarAbdullayev: Deyilənə görə #Eynulla Fətullayev azad edilib.Təki yalan olmasın.
@leylanajafli: Gulara Azimzadeh also says she got the news by phone “from smb who wouldn't joke about it”… Will confirm once there's smth solid. #Eynulla
@leylanajafli: List of prisoners to be officially pardoned will be on @RadioAzadliq soon – #Eynulla Fatullayev's name expected to be there!
When the news had been officially confirmed Twitter exploded with tweets from pro-democracy activists in Azerbaijan and elsewhere.
@turkhankarim: EYNULLA IS FREE!
@HuseynovaTurkan: #Eynulla Fatullayev is Free!!! #humanrights #Azernaijan
@mejidli: #EYNULLA FETULLAYEV AZADLIQDA! #azerbaijan #azerbaycan
@Peaceweet: Detained #Azerbaijani journalist Eynulla Fatullayev has been freed! Thank you so much everyone, especially @AmnestyOnline This is amazing!
@leylanajafli: Confirmed! #Eynulla Fatullayev has been pardoned ahead of #28may holiday :) @jonsnowC4 @AmnestyUK http://bit.ly/l62UIM
@GozelBayramli: Eynulla fətullayev azadlıqda. Bütün siyası məhbusların tezliklə azad olunmasını tələb edirik…
@IsaGambar: #Eynulla azadlıqda! Danışdım, formadadı! Davamı gəlsin!
@FuserLimon: Reportedly, #Eynulla Fatullayev is already home, drinking tea. We have yet to see photos.
@mirafgan: Daha bir siyasi məhbus AZADLIQDA! Eurovision yaxınlaşdıqca ümid edirəm Azərbaycanda heç siyasi məhbus qalmayacaq! #azerbaijan #eynulla
The issue of whether bad press following this year's Eurovision Song Contest victory might have had a role in the pardon was also mentioned by others.
@lukeallnutt: #Eynulla Fatullayev pardon: So was it #Amnesty or #Eurovision?
The answer to that question remains unknown, but it is possible that a combination of media attention on Azerbaijan ahead of Eurovision as well as increased campaigning by organizations such as Amnesty International played a significant role.
@AmnestyUK: Our twitter action this week was the culmination of years of work by so many organisations. And all of you. Thank you. #Eynulla #Azerbaijan
@lukeallnutt: kudos to @AmnestyUK MT @Golnaz Esfandiari I just interviewed #Eynulla who said Amnesty International played a key role in his release
@jonsnowC4: Utterlly amazing news: Azabaijan has freed the editor Eynulla after Amnesty's massTweet.thanks for everyone's help: the power of Twitter!!
@adewolff: In repressive #Azerbaijan, long-time jailed journalist #Eynulla was freed. Thanks to int'l pressure and #Eurovision. Let's remain watchful.
@emajidli: More good news! Seeing reports that #Eynulla Fatullayev is free! Eurovision can transform #Azerbaijan !
@emajidli: The “Eurovision affect” in Azerbaijan: Most famous political prisoner Eynulla Fatullayev set free after 4 years in jail on politically motivated charges!! Deep sigh for the country!! Wish the other activists staying behind teh bars on politac charges be freed soon!!
@leylanajafli: #Eynulla Fatullayev at home! Reminds me of the feeling I had after Adnan and Emin were freed. #Azerbaijan
However, with pro-government activists from the İRƏLİ Public Union attempting to disrupt the Amnesty campaign to release Fatullayev, many remain concerned that the arrests of outspoken critics might still continue.
@adewolff: And thus, the #Ireli chief concludes this day of disappointment for his band of collaborators. RT @raufmardiyev: We'll be back :)
@parvanapersiani: @adewolff @raufmardiyev with new arrests? oh, we never doubt it :)
For Eynulla Fatullayev, however, it probably doesn't matter… for now at least.
@turkhankarim: Eynulla bütün onu dəstəkləyənlərə çox sağol deyir: “Hamınızı sevirəm…”
This post is part of our special coverage Eurovision Azerbaijan 2012.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago: FIFA Disciplinary Hearing   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

B.C. Pires says that the most recent corruption allegation against FIFA vice-president Jack Warner “looks for Jack like it did for Tony walking into that diner in the last episode of the Sopranos; but…it seems more likely Jack will emerge from Sunday’s disciplinary hearing, not in a hail of bullets, but with a shining halo.”


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Belarus: Economic Crisis · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Nils van der Vegte of RussiaWatchers reports on the economic crisis in Belarus.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Bhutan: Facebook Poll Suggesting Discussion Topic In National Assembly · Global Voices
Rezwan

The leader of the Opposition in the Bhutanese National Assembly Mr. Tshering Tobgay asked his Facebook followers to participate in a poll to decide “What the National Assembly should discuss during the coming session.” Mr. Tobgay will try to include the top questions in the discussions at the next Assembly sessions.

author: Rezwan


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Brazil: New Forestry Code Approved in Chamber of Deputies · Global Voices
João Miguel Lima

The Brazilian Chamber of Deputies approved the controversial new Forestry Code with 410 votes against 63 in an open session. As citizens knew each deputy's choice [pt], they used Twitter to regret the support for the ruralist project, as well as to mourn the murder of the forest defender Zé Cláudio Ribeiro.

author: João Miguel Lima


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China: French Students Encountered Chinese Chengguan · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Fanua from ChinaSMACK translated a local news about two French students selling crepes in Shanghai – the chengguan came, and the French street vendors fled like everyone else.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Netizens Declare Candidacy In Upcoming Elections · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Amid news of the Fuzhou bombings on Thursday, something remarkable was taking place on Sina Weibo: earlier this week, citizens from across the country began announcing their decision to run this autumn as independent candidates in their local People's Congress elections at the municipal district level, voting for which is open to the public. Among them are journalists Li Chengpeng and Yao Bo.
Though not unprecedented—Yao Lifa's 1998 win of a municipal level People's Congress seat in Hubei province led several dozen others to try and follow in his footsteps—the Weibo ‘slate’ is unique given the high public profile of several participants, as well as that nearly all of them began their campaigns on their microblog.
From Wikipedia, ‘Elections in the People's Republic of China’:
Deputies to people's congresses of counties, cities not divided into districts, municipal districts, townships, ethnic townships, and towns are elected directly by their constituencies to five-year terms.
One Person, One Vote, Changing China
The emergence of the candidates online comes just days after the detention and release of Liu Ping, who also intends to stand in the grassroots level People's Congress election in her province of Jiangxi.
The roster of Weibo candidates, which continued to grow on Thursday, currently includes [all links Chinese]:
Liu Ping, Xinyu, Jiangxi
Li Chengpeng, Chengdu, Sichuan
Xia Shang, Shanghai
Wang Zhongxiang, Tianjin
Huo Taian, Kunming, Yunnan
Hidden Dragon (alias), Changxing, Zhejiang
Yu Nan (alias), Lanzhou, Gansu
He Peng, Changzhou, Jiangsu
Liang Yongchun, Hangzhou, Zhejiang
Yao Bo, Beijing
Wei Zhongping, Xinyu, Jiangxi
Li Sihua, Xinyu, Jiangxi
Wu Danhong, Beijing
Xu Chunliu, Beijing
Li Chunxiao, Chengdu, Sichuan
Xu Yan, Hangzhou, Zhejiang
Wang Jian, Hangzhou, Zhejiang
Of his plans to run, Wang, a CCP member, writes [zh]:
我知道我无法当选，但至少跟有勇气的人站在一起，表明我的立场，真正为民说话，我的选举口号是：“与其埋怨黑夜，不如点一支蜡烛”。
Other Sina Weibo users have been highly supportive of the would-be legislators. A ‘China Election’ account has been set up to monitor candidates’ campaigns [zh] as they gear up, and a group [zh] has been formed on Weibo in which users are posting all sorts of information, from eligibility requirements to campaign procedures and regulations, even suggestions for campaign ads, such as this one, made by one user for Hangzhou candidate Xu Yan:
Vote Xu Yan
One discussion thread [zh] from Weibo reads in part:
@书海飘香ELE:这么说吧，独立参选的时代很快会到来，这是他们做出的让步，也就是他们说的发展社会主义民主，这和五不搞是一致的。他们中间有很聪明的人，屁民们不是要民主么？可以，没问题，就按宪法框架内玩民主。但有一点他们绝对不会让步，就是那个致命的啥啥自由的。
Shu Kexin, veteran independent campaigner and public policy researcher in Beijing, had this to say [zh] of the flurry of interest in electoral politics:
我们国人要先学会关心自己的小区，然后是关心自己的城市，然后是关心自己的国家。别总琢磨关心自己的家庭，然后就移民到美国，关心北美那块土地上的人去。哈哈

author: John Kennedy


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Cote d’Ivoire: Amnesty International Report on Post-Electoral Conflict · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Amnesty International published a report about Cote d'Ivoire [fr, PDF] on May 25 in conclusion of a field survey: Looking back on 6 months of post-electoral violence. In this document [fr] the organisation warns that, “The conclusions of this report clearly show that all of the conflicting parties have committed crimes under international law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Cuba: Architectural Heritage  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Fernando Dámaso at Translating Cuba, is concerned about the country's architectural patrimony.


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El Salvador Gets its Share of WikiLeaks Cables · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Tim from Tim's El Salvador Blog reports that online news site El Faro has started releasing WikiLeaks US diplomatic cables related to El Salvador. Follow Tim's blog for future posts on individual cables.


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Georgia: Demonstrators dispersed ahead of independence day celebrations · Global Voices
Ana Keshelashvili

Shortly after midnight, opposition protests in the Georgian capital were disperse. A policeman was reportedly killed, apparently run over by a jeep belonging to an opposition party leader, after tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons were used to break up the demonstration. Journalists were also beaten up and their materials confiscated. Footage posted on YouTube by Maestro TV showed police used excessive force and was spread widely on Facebook. Человек с киноаппаратом [RU] also posts photos.

author: Ana Keshelashvili


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Guyana: Dreaming of Utopia · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“One day, we gon discard that box, push aside the ol’ habits, and think in ways that make the whole place sparkle”: Guyana-Gyal has a dream.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Honduras: ‘Golpista’ Rhetoric Continues as Country Prepares for Zelaya’s Return · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

In PULSE –“a collaborative political weblog”– Belén Fernández sheds some light on the current situation in Honduras: “Earlier this month, a Honduran court dropped remaining corruption charges against Zelaya, who is expected this coming Saturday in Tegucigalpa. Despite the accord, golpista rhetoric continues in the same broken-record fashion as always […]”


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India: Malayalam Bloggers Campaign For Soumya · Global Voices
Inji Pennu

Kerala was rife with outrage, when a 23 year old girl Soumya was thrown out from a moving passenger train, raped and brutally murdered. The intriguing thing was when she was being attacked and thrown out of the train, none of the passengers lifted a finger to stop the train by pulling the emergency chain. It was a clear demonstration of the callousness of the Kerala society towards woman and crimes committed against them.
Govindaswamy, the accused was nabbed by the police and is currently in custody. According to the state police, he seems to be a beggar with a criminal background. Suddenly things took an interesting turn when blogs started to write how this person who seemingly lived by meager means is now supported by a battalion of lawyers, five of them. The media was strangely silent on this issue until a blogger ‘verutheoruila’ started the campaign with a blog post.
Blog vs. Media. Image by author.
The blogger collected articles and snippets which were in the ‘unnoticeable’ sections and brought them into the forefront. With the title, “Please don't murder Soumya again” [ml], the blogger gives a detailed account of the happenings to date.
Verutheorila concludes his post with,
കാര്യങ്ങള് എല്ലാം ഭദ്രമെന്നു പറഞ്ഞ് മാധ്യമങ്ങളും പൊതു സംഘടനകളും നിയമ, മനുഷ്യാവകാശ, സ്ത്രീ കൂട്ടായ്മകളും ഇനിയും ഉറക്കം തുടരരുത് എന്നു തന്നെയാണ് ഈ സാഹചര്യങ്ങള് തെളിയിക്കുന്നത്.  പുതുതായി സ്ഥാനമേറ്റ മന്ത്രിസഭ ഇക്കാര്യത്തില് കര്‍ശനമായ സമീപനം കൈക്കൊള്ളുക തന്നെ വേണം. സൌമ്യയുടെ മരണ സമയത്ത് ശക്തമായി രംഗത്തു വന്ന യു.ഡി.എഫ്, എല്.ഡി.എഫ് നേതാക്കള് സത്യസന്ധമായി പ്രവര്‍ത്തിച്ചാല് സൌമ്യക്ക് നീതി ലഭിക്കുന്നത് അകലെയാവില്ല. ഇതിനുള്ള അഭിപ്രായ രൂപവല്‍കരണമാണ് ഉണ്ടാവേണ്ടത്.
ഇന്റര്‍നെറ്റ് അടക്കമുള്ള മാധ്യമങ്ങളിലൂടെ ഒരു ജനത  ഉണര്‍ന്നെണീക്കുന്നതിന്റെ സാധ്യതകള് ഹസാരേയുടെ സമരം കാണിച്ചു തന്നതാണ്. കേരളത്തില് അത്തരം സാധ്യതകള് ആരായേണ്ട നേരമാണിത്. അതിനു നമുക്കായില്ലെങ്കില് സൌമ്യയെ കോടതി മുറിയില് വീണ്ടും ക്രൂരമായി കൊലപ്പെടുത്തുന്നതിന് നമ്മളും പങ്കാളികളാവുകയാവും ഫലം.
There has been an overflow of support from all quarters of the online community regarding this and with two hundred plus commentators to the original post, this blog has forced the mainstream media to take notice.
Shaji comments [ml]:
തീർച്ചയായും നമ്മൾ വിചാരിച്ചതിലും അപ്പുറത്താണ് കാര്യങ്ങൾ കിടക്കുന്നത് എന്നു മനസ്സിലായി. മധ്യമങ്ങളെ നമുക്ക് പൂർണ്ണമായും വിശ്വസിക്കാൻ കഴിയില്ല. അവർക്ക് അവരുടേതായ ചില അജണ്ടകളുണ്ട്. പുതുമാധ്യമങ്ങളുടെ സാധ്യതകൾ നമ്മൾ ഉപയോഗപ്പെടുത്തിയേ മതിയാവൂ. പരമ്പരാഗത മാധ്യമങ്ങളുടെ സഹായമില്ലാതെ തന്നെ ഇത് പരമാവധി ആളുകളിലേക്കെത്തിക്കുന്നതിന് നമുക്ക് കഴിയണം. അവസാനം മറ്റു ഗതിയില്ലാതെ പത്രങ്ങളും ചാനലുകളും ഇത് ഏറ്റു പിടിച്ചു കൊള്ളും. തങ്ങളാണ് ഇത് പുറത്തു കൊണ്ടുവന്നത് എന്നവകാശപ്പെട്ടുകൊണ്ട്
MKERALAM stresses the role of the society [ml]:
കേരളം ഒരു സിവിലൈസ്ഡ് സമൂഹമാണെന്നു ലോകത്തെ വിശ്വസീപ്പിക്കുകയാണോ അധോലോകത്തെയും ക്രിമിനല് എലിമെന്റുകളെയും സംരക്ഷിക്കുകയാണോ അവീടുത്തെ നീതിപാലകരുടെ ചുമതല. നമുക്കു വിശ്വസിക്കാം, ആദ്യത്തേതാണെന്ന്, നീതിയില് വിശ്വസിക്കുന്ന നിയമപാലകര് അവിടെ ഉണ്ട് എന്ന്. ഇല്ല എങ്കില് അവരെ നീതി ഓര്‍ക്കിപ്പിക്കുകയാണ് ജനത്തിന്റെ കടമ.നമുക്കതു ചെയ്യാന് കഴിയണം.
നേരത്തേ തന്നെ ഒരുശക്തി സൌമ്യക്കുവേണ്ടി ആളിപ്പടര്‍ന്നിട്ടുണ്ട്, അതു കെടാതെ നോക്കണം, അതു മുന്നോട്ടു കൊണ്ടു പോകണം.
ഒരിലയോടെ എല്ലാത്തിനും സ്റ്റാറ്റിറ്റിക്സ് ആവശ്യമാണ്. അതുകൊണ്ട്, ഒപ്പുശേഖരിക്കുക, അഭിപ്രായം ശേഖരിക്കുക മുതലായവ നടത്തുന്നതു നന്നായിരിക്കും.ഒരു ബ്ലോഗേഴ്സ് യൂണിറ്റ് അതിലേക്കു തയ്യാറായി വരുന്നതു നന്നായിരിക്കും.
What should Kerala’s society be? A civilized society or a  society that protects its criminals? We need to make sure it is the first, that we believe in justice. If the lawmakers tend to forget it, we have to remind them of their duties. We should be able to do that.
There was a powerful movement earlier for Soumya, we need to make sure the flame doesn't disappear. We need statistics, signatures, people behind this. So try to do the needful. We as a bloggers community can ensure this campaign is heard. Cheers, we will win, the people will win, the truth will win.
There were indeed some dissenting voices regarding media's role from journalists like Jisha Elizabeth, who comments [ml]:
ആളൂര് വക്കീല് മാത്രമാണ് മുംബയില് നിന്ന് വന്നത്. അയാള്‍ക്കിരിക്കാന് തൃശ്ശൂരില് ഒരു ഓഫിസ് വേണമായിരുന്നു. തൃശൂര് ഉള്ള അവിടെയുള്ള സാദാ ജൂനിയര് വക്കീലന്മാരാന് ബാക്കി ഉള്ളവര്. പേരെടുത്ത ക്രിമിനല് lawyers എന്നു എവിടെ നിന്ന് കിട്ടിയ വിവരമാണ്? അളൂറിന്റെ ഒപ്പം കൂടിയാല് അവര്‍ക്ക് കിട്ടുന്ന പേര് മാത്രമായിരുന്നു ലക്‌ഷ്യം. ഇപ്പോള് നെറ്റിലൊക്കെ തകൃതിയായി ചര്‍ച്ചകള് നടക്കുന്നു. അവരുടെ പേരൊക്കെ എല്ലായിടത്തും എത്തിയില്ലേ? ഞാന് അന്വേഷിച്ചറിഞ്ഞ കാര്യമാണ് പറഞ്ഞത്. അത്രേ ഉള്ളൂ.. മാഫിയ ഉണ്ടാകാം. ഹരി പറഞ്ഞ ചില സാധ്യതകള് അതിനുണ്ടാകാം. എന്നാല് സൌമ്യ വധം പ്രീ പ്ലാന്‍ട് അല്ല. ആ വക്കീല് ആര് എന്ന അന്വേഷണം ആണു നടക്കേണ്ടത്. അത് പല പത്രക്കാരും മുംബൈ ഹൈ കോര്‍ട്ടില് അന്വേഷിക്കുന്നുണ്ട്. വക്കീലന്മാരും അവരുടെ നിലയില് അന്വേഷിക്കുന്നുണ്ട്. “അത്ര” പേര് കേട്ട ആളാണേല് വെറുതെ ഗൂഗിളില് ഒന്ന് സെര്‍ച്ച് ചെയ്തു നോക്കൂ. വിവരം കിട്ടില്ലേ. അല്ലേല് മുംബയില് ഉള്ള വക്കീലന്മാരോട് അന്വേഷിക്കൂ.,. അല്ലാതെ പത്രക്കാരെ തെറി വിളിക്കുന്നതില് എന്തര്‍ത്ഥം???
Kichu writes [ml] about why one cannot completely trust the mainstream media these days:
മാധ്യമങ്ങള് സ്വ:ലേ സിനിമയില് പറയുന്ന പോലെ “Business with profit content” ആയിക്കൊണ്ടിരിക്കുന്ന ഈ കാലത്ത് പത്രവായന കൊണ്ട് വലിയ പ്രയോജനം ഇല്ല എന്ന് വിശ്വസിക്കുന്നവനാണ് ഞാന് അതു കൊണ്ട് തന്നെ ഈ വാര്‍ത്ത ആദ്യം അറിയുന്നതും ഈ ബ്ലോഗ്ഗിലൂടെ തന്നെ. ഈ ശബ്ദം നിയമത്തിന്റെയും അധികാരത്തിന്റെയും ചുക്കാന് പിടിക്കുന്നവരില് എത്തിക്കാന് കഴിഞ്ഞാല് നിങ്ങള് വിജയിച്ചു കൂടെ സൗമ്യയും. അല്ലെന്കില് എന്നത്തെയും പോലെ അധികാര പദവികളില് ഇരിക്കുന്നവര് വീണ്ടും ചിരിക്കും “പൊതുജനം കഴുത !!!”
Anoop Jacob Thomas writes [ml] about the common man's plight:
There is a sad fact which I experienced personally, this is a country which “protects” criminals a lot, and police doesn't do anything unless the case gains some publicity. The police who are supposed to investigate the case, will investigate(sometimes) and people with money, power and influence are always protected. Lets think that something will happen, but the court is helpless unless facts with evidence is provided.
With the public losing the trust in mainstream media, blogs with the individual's voices have revolutionized how we get our news and online campaigns like these gives voice to the common man which cannot be ignored.

author: Inji Pennu


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Japan: Tokyo after the earthquake · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

Photographer Francis Harrison published a photo essay [en] that portrays Tokyo in the first few weeks after the earthquake.

author: Scilla Alecci


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Kenya: Documentary on child abuse by Catholic priests · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Njamba discusses the lastest expose by Irish TV on child abuse by Catholic priests in Kenya: “I just finished watching a 53 minute documentary aired by an Ireland TV station on clerical abuse in Africa and there were four cases of Kenyans two boys and two girls who were abused by catholic priests who were later transferred elsewhere and these cases were never reported to the Kenyan government…”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Kenya: East Africa’s Biggest Mobile Tech Event · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

East Africa's biggest mobile tech event is taking place in Kenya next month: “The next big thing in African Tech has arrived. Pivot 25 is here!The region’s top 25 mobile tech startups pitch against each other June 14-15 in Nairobi, Kenya at the Ole Sereni Hotel.”


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Kenya: Taking care of orphaned monkey · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Taking care of an orphaned monkey in Kenya : “We currently have a baby genet at the Colobus Trust which was found a few weeks ago being played with by a troop of vervet monkeys at the Diani Reef Hotel. The genet was weak and exhausted and showed signs of nerve and muscular damage from the incident, along with a small wound on her front left paw.The Trust took her in and has assigned three volunteers to act as foster mothers…”


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Lebanon: Bras for a cause! · Global Voices
Thalia Rahme

Bras for a Cause is the first lingerie design contest of its kind  in the Middle East. Launched on May 19th, the initiative aims to raise  awareness and support women who are battling or have been treated for  breast cancer. Selected designs (including some mastectomy bras designed  specifically to enable woman who have had a breast removed to follow fashion trends) will be made and sold throughout the Arab world, raising funds for foundations. To follow this campaign, please click here, here and here.


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Maldives: Failing Democracy · Global Voices
Rezwan

Mode at A Geek's Thoughts wonders why democracy is failing in Maldives.


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Nepal: Codes Of Ethics For Bloggers · Global Voices
Rezwan

Considering the growing popularity of blogs in Nepal and some recent issues, Nepali journalist and blogger Ujjwal Acharya has taken steps to initiate talks about a code of ethics for bloggers in Nepal and is inviting suggestions and comments from netizens.


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Panama: Wikileaks Reach Panamanian Government · Global Voices
Ariel Moreno

This post is part of our special coverage WikiLeaks and the World.
The diplomatic cables leaked by Wikileaks have wreaked havoc in global politics. Panama is not an exception. The last few weeks have been marked by scandals and suspicious behaviors of several members of the current administration. A cable that links the government party CD -Democratic Change- with the Colombian drug dealer David Murcia has triggered outrage among Panamanian citizens.
La Prensa [es] informs:
Investigaciones llevadas a cabo por este diario, así como información contenida en cables de Wikileaks entregados a La Prensa, revelan una serie de hechos que vinculan a altos cargos de la actual administración, con el colombiano convicto David Murcia Guzmán o su socio local Ernesto Chong Coronado.
Enrique Ho Hernandez, the current head of the Aseo Urbano y Domiciliario, has apparently received money from the Colombian government. La Prensa [es] points out:
Ho, quien en las elecciones de mayo de 2009 manejó las finanzas de la campaña del hoy presidente, Ricardo Martinelli –según declaró ayer a este diario Alma Cortés–, fue citado en una asistencia judicial que pidió a Panamá un juzgado del Principado de Andorra, por presunto blanqueo de capitales, en el que se vinculaba a Chong Coronado y a su padre Ernesto Chong De León.
Panamanian outrage is expressed through different ways. One of them is on social networks.
Meijan Adams Morales (@MeijanAdams)  believes that the unveiled information has revealed a hidden role of the current president and his administration:
Los #WikiLeaks han desenmascarado al gobierno de @rmartinelli #Panama. La verdad ha de prevalecer ante la mentira
However, Ricardo Zanetti (@ricardozanetti) thinks that it is hard to believe a man like Murcia whose business was money laundering by deceiving people:
Quien le va a creer a un tipo que su ‘negocio’ era MENTIRLE A LO PANAMEÑOS? #Panama #Murcia #Martinelli
Diego Barria (@diegoorlandob), on the other hand, does not believe that the Wikileaks cables are true:
#panama los wikileaks es un grupo de cobardes que los ambiciosos medios utilizan para subir sus ratings! Deberian hacer las acusaciones.
President Ricardo Martinelli used his (@rmartinelli) to assert that those accusations were part of a conspiracy against him and his party by accusing him about every single unfortunate event.
Esta es una campana sistemática para desacreditar al cd más la gente cercana al presidente y acusarlos de todos los males del universo
He had also written a previous tweet  [es] referring to this campaign as devised by people greedy for power:
Hay una campaña orquestada para acabar con la credibilidad del gobierno. Ellos quieren el poder para olvidarse del pueblo por sus intereses
Joao Q in his blog Medio Cerrado [es] expresses his anger because the president has easily accused others of his mistakes, instead of taking responsibility for them:
ya sabemos que Martinelli cada vez que puede arremete contra la izquierda (que casi ni existe en Panamá), contra el PRD (que está manga por hombro de la juventud para arriba, y para abajo también) y contra los medios (que mal que bien hacen su trabajo), pero bueno, como dice Manuel Vázquez Montalbán: Lo peor para un paranoico es que en verdad lo persigan.
Cables released by Wikileaks have shaken Panama, the dirty roles of many politicians have been unveiled and people are hungry for answers and justice.
This post is part of our special coverage WikiLeaks and the World.

author: Ariel Moreno


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Peruvians Say No to Fujimori in ‘March for dignity, Fujimori never again! #26m’ · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Global Voices author and Spanish Translation Manager Juan Arellano is updating a Storify post [es] on the developments of “March for dignity, Fujimori never again! #26m” taking place in Lima right now, on May 26. Protesters have mobilized to show their rejection of ‘fujimorismo’ and their discontent with the possible victory of Keiko Fujimori in the upcoming second round of presidential elections.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Russia: Peaceful Religious Co-Existence in Tatarstan · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

At OpenDemocracy.net, Oleg Pavlov writes about Jadidism, “an Islamic movement common among the Muslims in the Volga and Urals region,” and peaceful religious co-existence in Tatarstan.


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Russia: Politicalized literature · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Ernst Krenkel of Backyard Safari takes a closer look at [GER] Vladimir Sorokin's The Day of the Opritchniks and Nathan Dubovitsky's Near Zero and asks to what extent Russian literature is politicalized.

author: Vilhelm Konnander


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Serbia: Arrest of Ratko Mladic · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

It is with a sense of relief and disbelief that many Bosnians and Serbs alike today learn about the arrest of Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, charged with genocide and war crimes during the 1992-95 civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The arrest of Ratko Mladic may come as a surprise to many, but international pressure has been building in recent years that Serbian authorities finally bring the general to justice.
Living with the memory of loved ones massacred or mutilated by warring parties while perpetrators are still at large remains an additional trauma for families regardless of sides in the conflict. For many, the collapse of Yugoslavia along ethnic and religious divides proved a rude awakening as the peoples of Europe stood helpless witnesses to indiscriminate violence and crime on a scale the continent had not seen since the Second World War.
Memories and traumas live on in Bosnia, and as long as criminals are not brought to justice, there will be no release from the agonies of aggression. Sarah Correia of Café Turco describes the situation:
I am in Kozarac now, a place razed to the ground in May 1992. I went to Trnopolje today for a commemoration, and I could see in people’s faces the pain. But then I came back to Kozarac and got the news. Tears of joy in everyone’s eyes, and a feeling of disbelief, that a moment in which nobody believed has come.
Still, suspicions that Serbian authorities have for long been complicit in hiding Mladic or at least turning a blind eye to his whereabouts linger on. Consequently, one of the first questions facing the Serbian president, Boris Tadic, was why the law did not catch up with Mladic earlier, as told by Sladjana Lazic of A Slice Of Serbian Politics:
Asked why Mladic was not arrested five years ago, Tadic added that there will be an investigation about that, and if the investigation proves that people from the Government or state structures were responsible for interferences with that process, they will be prosecuted as well. Tadic also said that Mladic would be extradited to the United Nations war crimes tribunal but did not specify when, only saying that “an extradition process is under way”.
In this context, the issue of alleged war criminals on the loose has long been running havoc to Serbian prospects for membership in the European Union, and it seems it has become a cause célèbre to the point that Serbian authorites simply had to catch Mladic. Commenting on this, Sleeping With Pengovsky writes:
The arrest of war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladić comes at an extremely crucial moment for Serbia. At a time when Croatia is apparently on the verge of having been given a fixed date for EU entry, when Chief Prosecutor at the Hague Tribunal Serge Brammertz said that Serbia has not done nearly enough to catch the two main remaining war criminals (Mladić and Goran Hadžić), at the time when the EU is considering reintroducing visas for some Balkan countries including, apparently, Serbia, it would seem that Belgrade had no choice but to take the issue of general Ratko Mladić off the table.
No matter what the feelings and sentiments may be today in Bosnia and Serbia, the arrest is an opportunity both to move on towards a brighter future and a means to better grasp the tragedy of recent history. At the end of the day victims of war and terror in former Yugoslavia may now rest in greater peace and dignity than only yesterday. What a difference a day makes.


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Serbia: More Reactions to the Arrest of Ratko Mladic · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Richard Byrne of Balkans via Bohemia and Borut Peterlin react to the news of the arrest of Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general wanted for war crimes, including the Srebrenica massacre. Sladjana Lazic of A Slice Of Serbian Politics and Viktor Marković (@Belgrade) report [en, sr] on small-scale protests in Belgrade and other Serbian cities; Marković also tweeted earlier today that “more than 100 Facebook groups [had been] created in support of Ratko #Mladic in the past two hours.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Indian Arrival Day Food  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

TriniGourmet.com shares what's on her menu to commemorate this year's anniversary of Indian Arrival.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Oppression of Women  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Women’s oppression, he said, was a myth created by the Judeo-Christian West as a tool of capitalism.  I nearly fall on the ground”: And then, Lisa Allen-Agostini writes a must-read post about it.


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Ukraine: Proposal to Declare Crimean Tatar Deportation “Genocide” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Window on Eurasia reports on the Ukrainian Peoples Party's proposal to declare the 1944 deportation of the Crimean Tatars by Stalin “an act of genocide and a crime against humanity.”


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United States: A Blog for Rethinking the Hispanic World · Global Voices
Yarisa Colon

In New York, “the most Latin American city of of all the cities of America,” [es] as Claudio Iván Remeseira affirms, the Hispanic cultural and artistic dynamism can be felt. Global Voices spoke with this recognized journalist and cultural critic regarding his blog Hispanic New York Project: a prism that reflects the actual panorama that enriches New York and the country.
Claudio Remeseira, Director of the Hispanic New York Project. Photo by Marcia V. Zorrilla
Global Voices (GV):  A mere ten years (approximately) following the arrival of blogs, we see that their solid welcome continues strengthening.  Given your experience as a writer and journalist, what can we attribute this peak of blogs to?
Claudio Iván Remeseira (CR): Blogs are a form of direct communication that responds to our times. A hundred years ago, writers, journalists and politicians published a type of magazine or flier, occasionally one or two pages, through which they were able to have a bearing on public opinion.  This was a very common resource.  Blogs are the equivalent of this type of medium, and they are rooted in a long standing need for expression.
Anthology cover.
GV: Upon immersing yourself deeper into the blog, you notice an artistic and cultural effervescence generated by Latin Americans in New York City.  What guidelines do you employ to spark so much diversity?
CR: Editorial criteria is key to every publication.  What we've done is quite original: try to rethink the dominant vision about Hispanics in New York; and incorporate voices from Spain, Mexico and Portugal into the Hispanic universe.
I use the definition of “hispanic” employed by Dominican academic Pedro Henríquez Ureña [es], who was invited to Harvard University's Charles Eliot Norton Lectures, where he gave speeches entitled “Literary currents in Hispanic America” from 1940 to 1941.  According to Henríquez Ureña, “hispanic” refers to all that derived from the cultures of the villages that populated the Iberian Peninsula (Hispania of the Romans) and later intermixed through the Conquest and colonization with indigenous villages (mislabeled as “natives,” considering they were also in the last instance immigrants, mostly from Asia, and in part from Oceania) from that which today we call Latin America.
The difficult thing is not being able to publish more pertinent information. I don't pretend to compete with large companies like Univisión or Fox New; but every day I try to include 6 or 7 important news items.  The topics are geared towards news on the Latin community in the United States, and international politics covered by Hispanic columnists in New York or in other cities in the United States.  I also publish a list of events of art, cinema, literature and theatre, such as the Teatro Stage Festival, for example, co-sponsored by the Hispanic New York Project.
GV: Can you share a bit about the relationship between academia, particularly Columbia University, and your blog Hispanic New York Project?
CR: This blog is a personal initiative.  I am the editor and the only person responsible for its content.  The Hispanic New York Project, on the other hand, is an academic-cultural initiative put up by Columbia University's Center for American Studies, and comprises three fundamental elements: education (through an annual seminar for undergraduates about the city's Latino history) and research; programs of activities about literature and film directed towards the community; and the production of books and other publications: the first result of this editorial effort is entitled “Hispanic New York: A Sourcebook” (Columbia University Press, 2011), of which I am the editor.  We also provide free advising to writers, journalists and academic researchers.
GV: What was the impact – if any – of your virtual project in the development of this anthology?
CR: A direct relationship between the blog and the anthology does not exist, since both projects are independent from one another.  The anthology was born from the necessity of having a textbook for the classes that I offer at the Center for American Studies since 2006. Given the small quantity of anthologies of books that deal with the topic of our class (with the exception of those such as “Latinos en Nueva York: Communities in Transition,” edited by Gabriel Haslip-Viera and Sherrie L. Baver, and “Mambo Montage: the Latinization of New York”, by Agustín Laó-Montes and Arlene M. Dávila), we decided to create this “reader” that includes up to date information about the topic.  We hope that our publication complements previously mentioned texts.
The first video of the presentation for the “Hispanic New York: A Sourcebook” anthology:

author: Yarisa Colon


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Venezuela: Fee Hikes for the Caracas Metro and the Bolivarian University · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Setty writes about recent price hikes that, he argues, are getting little attention: “The Caracas Metro is tripling its fares, from 0.50 bolivars to 1 bolivar in June and 1.50 in December. Meanwhile, a friend who takes language classes at a Bolivarian University, President Hugo Chavez’s new public university system, tells me that the university abruptly announced it would start charging tuition. Retroactively.”


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Angola: Real Madrid ”Galacticos” in Africa! · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

afrik.com blog, believes that :”The news will without doubt, delight football fans in Africa. Real Madrid stars, will play their last game for this season, on May 25 in Luanda.”


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Bangladesh: Options Left For Dr. Yunus · Global Voices
Rezwan

An Ordinary Citizen comments on the options available for Bangladeshi Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus after he was removed from the position as Managing Director of Grameen Bank.


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Bangladesh: Wi-Fi And Digital Campus · Global Voices
Rezwan

Mahfuzur Rahman Manik writes about the present state of Wi-Fi networks in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh and whether students can access them.


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Bermuda: Gay Rights  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Bermuda has a long history of discrimination rooted in slavery, the restricted vote and racial segregation. Those who championed resistance to these injustices, those who have benefited from their elimination, should be sensitive to any discrimination set upon any other group”: Respice Finem wants to put gay rights back on the agenda.


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Brazil: Photos from the “Different People’s” Big Barbecue Protest · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Just over a week after Brazil's “barbecue protests” [en] against class prejudice and in defense of quality public transport in Sao Paulo City, it is time to take a look back at the event's highlights, as it continues to inspire and bring laughter to the country's blogosphere.
It is estimated that the event attracted a crowd of between 200 (according to the mainstream media) and more than 4,000 (according to the blogosphere) people. Here are some of the more “different” videos and photos produced by citizen reporters. [All the links in this post lead to Portuguese language posts except when otherwise noted; the videos have English subtitles].
Subway protest
The following photo, taken at the beginning of the protest, shows the place where the Higienópolis subway station was originally planned to be built. The barbecue protest was a response to the withdrawal of permission by the government of Sao Paulo for the station's construction, following a petition signed by 3,500 residents from the upscale neighborhood of the capital of Sao Paulo.
Corner between Angélica and Sergipe streets. Photo by Marcel Maia, on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
At the end of the night, the streets were still full of people. In the following photo a clothes line hangs at Angelica Avenue, giving the posh neighborhood the feel of the poorer outskirts:
Angelica is the new Augusta: a reference to the neighbor area that have long been taken by “different people”. Photo by luddista on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
Humor, sarcasm and glamor (or not)
As expected, the event was marked by an ironic tone and there was plenty of good-natured criticism of the exclusive behavior of Sao Paulo's elite. The satire was well recorded in the following photos:
“Enough of cars 1.0 in Higienópolis”. Photo by Patricia Melendi, on Flickr. Published with permission.
I only take the tube in NY, Paris and London! Photo by Luís Eduardo Catenacci, on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
Change now! – A protester holds poster suggesting that some streets should have their names changed: instead of poor northeastern states, they should be called after chic French regions. Photo by Luís Eduardo Catenacci, on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
Pop (music) is the closest the middle class gets to popular. Photo by Patricia Melendi, on Flickr. Published with permission.
A protester holds a post saying “Down with the poverty of spirit!”. Photo by Fernando Baldan, on Flickr. Published with permission.
The photos below show the color and creativity of the “multi-differentiated” crowd:
Photo by Eduardo Catenacci, on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Photo by Eduardo Catenacci, on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
And, of course, the protesters were never short of food and drinks, all brought to the event which began as Facebook joke:
Farofa at Angélica. Farofa is a very popular toasted manioc flour mixture. Twitpic by @amanda_rossi.
A “different cat” barbecue (the name given to any street barbecue with meat of doubtful origin, not necessarily cat though!). Photo by Luís Eduardo Catenacci, on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
“Differentiated peoples. We are in the area.” Photo by Marcel Maia, on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
The protest in videos
In the first video report from his blog, Rafael Castilho interviewed protesters and residents alike to hear different perspectives on the issue. The resulting video shows people who commute two to three hours to work in Higienópolis, as well as representatives of the residents association:
The whole controversy was well explained in this documentary by @carolthome and @ducamendes:
Barbecue outcome
Nearly 5,000 people have signed an online petition as opposed to the 3,500 signatures of the original petition promoted by the association of dwellers that led to a reassessment of the construction of the subway station. The protest has inspired a computer game and other movements, such as Different Front for a Different Brazil:
Parabéns a toda galera que fez parte de alguma forma do evento “Churrascão da gente diferenciada” os inspiradores do nosso movimento Frente Diferenciada, graças a vocês ficou refletida a idéia clara que podemos e queremos um Brasil diferente. Afinal de contas somos todos diferenciados, somos brasileiros por um Brasil melhor!
It is not clear whether the protest will result in concrete action by the government, but if in the National Parliament everything “ends in pizza” [en], in the streets of Higienópolis, the different people protest ended in Samba. The song is by Márcio Lugó and Dre Nascimento:
Elitist Government of Sao Paulo. A graffit protest on the wall where the Higienópolis subway station was planned. Twitpic by @mundano_sp.
Gente Diferenciada
Eu sou diferenciado
Gosto de churrasco de gato
Pão com pão sem queijo coalho
Cerveja gelada só no bar do lado
Alguns dizem “não preciso de metro
Tenho carro, dinheiro que levo aonde eu vou”
Mas e a gente tão igual e diferente
Que pelos trilhos descarrila a cantar
Alguns dizem que não precisa de metro
E o governo aceita sem nenhum pudor
Mas a gente que é diferenciada
Nesse churrasco mostra a cara pra cantar
Eu sou diferenciado
Pego ônibus lotado
Morumbi ou Eldorado
Porque o metrô foi inapropriado
Pra quem?
Different people
I'm different
I like cat barbecue
Bread with bread and no cheese sandwich
Cold beer only at the bar next door
Some say “I don't need metro,
I have a car and money to take me wherever I go”
But what about us, so equal and so different
who derails at the tracks when singing
Some said they need no metro
And the government shamelessly accepted it
But we people who are different
Come together to this barbecue to sing
I'm different
I ride crowded buses
to Morumbi or Eldorado
Because the metro was unbecoming
Who for?
It is not yet clear whether the Higienópolis subway station will come to be built in real life. On the Internet, meanwhile, a mock design for a metro line that will serve the so-called “different people” is already doing the rounds on Twitter, where it was “portrayed” in a twitpic by @rogertunes:
The “different people” metro line. Twitpic by @rogertunes.

author: Paula Góes


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China: Old Woman Performed Self-surgery · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jacky Huang from China Hush translates a local news story about an old woman self-performed a surgery by slitting her belly because she was unable to pay for hospital fee.


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Cuba: Any True Democracy?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“When Castro says that Cuba is the most democratic country in the world, I am uncertain if he is being serious or it is black humor”: Iván García says that he will only “believe in the Socialist democracy, as advocated by the regime in Havana, when you see a negative vote.”


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Cuba: Repressive Action  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuban bloggers cite numerous cases of the authorities cracking down on dissidents, calling the arrests “part of a vicious series of repressive moves by the dictatorship to target the opposition.”


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Egypt: Gearing Up for a Second Revolutionary Round · Global Voices
Nermeen Edrees

This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Revolution 2011.
Egypt will not sleep tonight in preparation for its Second Day of Anger. Following Mubarak's ousting, many protests took place. However, it has been obvious that the demands raised since the start of the January 25 revolution have  mostly not been fulfilled. The turtle steps that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and Cabinet are taking were not up to the level of the promises to protect the revolution and its legitimate demands, hence the calls for the second day of anger at Tahrir Square this Friday.
A poster calling for the Second Revolution on May 27 posted by Mostapha Abdel Latif.
Although the demands represent the heart and core of the Egyptian revolution, tomorrow's call for a million person march was not widely accepted by many citizens who have been calling for stability, and some political parties like the Muslim Brotherhood which had announced that it would not participate in tomorrow's rally.
However the MB leaders’ decision didn't effect the Ikhwan youth, who have decided to participate in the “Second Revolution” as they have done on January 25th.
On Twitter Ąhmed El Mąssry writes:
Brotherhood divided over Friday's protests almasryalyoum.com/en/node/452783 #MB #may27 and #25jan story repeats it self
Meanwhile, many promised to be there. Mostafa El Attar notes [ar]:
As usual prior to the Egyptian Days of Anger, rumors bubbled to the surface.
Mai Khalil reports:
#akher2esha3a ppl in #Maadi advising each other to go to ATMs and withdraw all the cash they can.yo2sodo eah ya3ny #May27
Also, the day of preparations did not run smoothly, as activists were arrested.
Ganzeer, Aida ElKashef , and NadimX were arrested early this morning for posting a poster  that offended the military police.  They were released later on the day.
While activists in Cairo were arrested and released, seven activists from Suez were reportedly arrested while preparing for the rally and there is no news about their release yet.
And in a very unexpected move, SCAF issued their 58th Communique which states that although they support the right of peaceful protests, the armed forces will not  be in protest locations during the 2nd Day of Anger, and that the revolutionary youth will have to protect the square and protesters.
The night is still relatively young in Cairo the city that never sleeps.  Protesters already starting calling for volunteers to protect the entrances and enforce protective measures.   Not only that but activists and protesters are apprehensive of their greatest enemy – the hot Egyptian summer, and offer the following advice:
Nada Amin cautions:
@Gsquare86 wear white, caps, sun glasses, drink loads of water and juice, eat before u go. Always have a bottle of water with u!
This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Revolution 2011.

author: Nermeen Edrees


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Ethiopia: Blog of Ethiopia Musician Meklit Hadero · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Visit the blog of Meklit Hadero. Meklit is a musician “born in Ethiopia, raised in the U.S. and nurtured by San Francisco’s richly diverse arts scene, this acclaimed singer embodies worlds.”


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France : The “Civilized” Internet According to President Sarkozy · Global Voices
Suzanne Lehn

French president Nicolas Sarkozy hoped to use the G8 summit of 2011 as an opportunity to improve the country's reputation on an international level and, indirectly, within its own bleak political landscape.  What better way than the ultimate symbol of modernity, the Internet?  To implement the idea, the G8 summit in Deauville, France, which was held on May 26-27, 2011, was  preceded by a forum held in Paris on May 24-25, the so-called the eG8.  However, with the only guests being government representatives and directors of leading IT companies, this forum dealt with much more than issues of economy, copyright and security.
Disappointment and petitions
Although investigative efforts were made, no positive reactions were found on French-speaking blogs. Thus, an article entitled #eG8 : Error progress not found on the Electron Libre website reads:
Some called it a pointless conference, arranged at the last minute as if for electioneering motives.  In retrospect, it seems that they weren't far from the truth.   Most noticeable was the absence of the citizens and the free world from this forum whose potential impact on the future of the web is heavily doubted.
This ‘civilised’ Internet proposed by Nicolas Sarkozy sparked a petition on Access entitled  “G8: Protect the Net” (in English, German and Spanish), the suggestion of a petition on Avaaz, the Civil Society Statement for the eG8 and G8 by la Quadrature du Net on May 24, and the concern from CNIL.
Reporters without Borders, the only organisation aside from the Electronic Frontier Foundation to have been invited to take part in the eG8, condemned behind undercover “attempts to regulate Internet” :
[…] the existence of double standards between the rhetoric by certain democracies and their actual actions, about the treatment of WikiLeaks by the American administration.  The other democracies are no different : “it's easy to stand up for freedom of speach in Syria, but we should also do so in Italy, Australia and France.”
Postmortem of a promise
Things had actually started rather well in May 2010, with the project led by the former French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bernard Kouchner, in which the Internet was used to defend freedom of speach.   Alas, the weekly newspaper Marianne hihlights how Nicolas Sarkozy, the “cyber-president,” put a dead stop to the Quai d'Orsay's vague attempts of using the internet to promote human rights:
Of all the issues on Kouchner's agenda, only economic development, security, cybercrime, Internet governance and Hadopi remain – freedom of speach mysteriously disappeared.  Cyber-dissidents are most definitely becoming ‘persona non grata’ for the eG8.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy at the eG8Forum, photo by cattias on Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
The Journal Libre provides an anthology of the words of this eG8's host:
Internet and society : “Don't let the revolution you started threaten the basic right of every individual to a private life and full self-reliance.  Don't let the technology you shaped threaten the basic right of children to live shielded from the perversion of some grown-ups.  Don't let the revolution you started convey unhindered and unrestrained evil.”
Internet, friend of democracies or tool for the powerful ?
The advocates of civil society have an alternative vision of the internet.  Korben finds this notion of “civilised Internet” “mind-boggling”:
Perhaps Internet is the tool that people needed to highlight their utopias.
The eG8 is the complete opposite.  It's the tool, or rather the giant advert which polititians need to regain control of something that is eluding them.  The eG8 is the bling bling that's trying to outshine the true Internet.
(…) the Internet which gives everybody the floor, which encourages knowledge and sharing, which gives wings to democacy.  An Internet free from any control, from any censorship.
For Pixellibre, this time it is the last straw therefore his “huge rant” at president Sarkozy:
Through stigmatising the Internet as a lawless space, needing to be muzzled, you're going to trigger something unstoppable and believe me sir, it's a game you're sure to lose.
(…) Please have a little more consideration for freedom of expression and bloggers, we are talking about human lives, about the most elementary right of all: freedom…yet you talk about the HADOPI law [Fr]…you still did not understand how much the Internet matters.
Action needed
The website reflets.info makes fun of the “great lovers of free, open and neutral Internet”: the industry's big companies selling technologies of censorship, and intends to describe, in a series of posts:
the technologies, the practice and operators of Deep Packet Inspection.  The “well-known ones”, like Qosmos, Alcatel, Thales, Nokia Siemens, Cisco…but also the less known ones whose action, in investing in markets, exporting products, sometimes to dictatorships, . . .makes us feel uneasy.
The website parti pirate assesses the measures taken in France by Nicolas Sarkozy with regard to the Internet and finds a whiff of Chinese-style control in them:
Through the false notion of a “lawless” space and the desire to “civilize” it, Nicolas Sarkozy is turning the Internet into a space where the government has full control and where private societies hunt down harmless netizens with all implied excesses.
Jérémie Zimmermann, co-founder de La quadrature du net, concludes :
The Internet belongs to all of us, las a common resource, and together we must hold governments responsible for the protection of its openness, which is at the root of our individual liberties.
As if you were there. . .
Some live tweets:
@jerezim : The speech would be truly magnificent if it wasn't just being addressed to CEO's… #eG8 #Sarkozy
@jeffjarvis :  #eG8,  government acts as if it should protect us from the internet. Instead, the internet needs protection from government
M_C_B : Well, #eG8 is the Americans coming to Paris to tell the Old Continent not to regulate the Web…. #firstimpression
@VinZ : Wikipedia on the rostrum is considered a representative of civil society #eG8 its presence on this panel is welcome
If you haven't been following the live or pre-recorded demonstration on France Télévision TV, Korben posted a selection of oral presentations [Fr], and this “hard-won press conference” of civil society representatives.
And the eG8 forum is on Twitter.

author: Suzanne Lehn


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Germany, Ukraine: Implications of the Demjanjuk Ruling · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Alexander J. Motyl writes at Ukraine's Orange Blues/World Affairs about the implications of the May 12 sentencing of John Demjanjuk “for being an accessory to the murder of 28,060 Jews in the Nazi concentration camp in Sobibor, in occupied Poland.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Guatemala: Voters Register for Upcoming Elections · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Antigua Daily Photo posts a picture of a registration booth in City Hall in Antigua, Guatemala: “This is an election year in Guatemala and the Tribunal Supremo Electoral (TSE) is rushing to get all potential voters registered and updated.”


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Haiti: Vendors in Delmas · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Throwing Down the Water reports on “the chaos” associated with clean-up efforts in Delmas, the capital's largest commune.


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Hong Kong: Scandal on Internet Learning Support Programme (ILSP) · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jeremy Godfrey, former Hong Kong Government Chief Information Officer from 2008-2011, has opened a blog for exposing the selection process for the tender on Internet Learning Support Program (ILSP). He believes the result of the selection has been affected by political pressure.


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Hungary: Corruption On the Rise · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Hungarian Spectrum writes about corruption in Hungary: “A few days ago Ernst & Young made public its latest survey on corruption in Europe and came up with the startling result that Hungary is the most corrupt country within the European Union. It can be compared only to Russia.”


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Mexico: Consensus on Disapproval of TV Series: ‘The Team’ · Global Voices
J. Tadeo

Under the production of Pedro Torres [es], the Mexican television giant, the television series called “The Team” (“El Equipo” in Spanish) aired on May 9, 2011 during prime time, narrating fictional stories of triumph and heroism of the elite officers of the Federal Police.
The presentation of the series (filmed in collaboration with the Federal Police and the Secretariat of Public Security, whose commanding officer is Genaro Garcia Luna) generated abundant reactions from the Mexican public for whom this topic is sensitive. The public are highly aware of every activity or announcement from the public administration and armed forces, in the midst of the war the government has waged against organised crime. [See the Global Voices special coverage page on this topic].
Federal Police, Mexico. Image by Flickr user Jesús Villaseca P (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
With this in mind, blogger and opinion leader Sopitas [es] showed his discomfort with the fact that the current problems faced by the country in terms of violence are captured in a melodrama, and at the same time infers the objective of broadcasting a work of this nature:
La verdad es que, incluso desde un punto de vista exterior y parcial, resulta muy incómodo ver problemas reales que azotan furiosamente al país como parte de la trama de una telenovela que mezcla en sus entrañas toda clase de estrategias de mercadotecnia. Sin embargo, ya poniéndonos desde una postura crítica, tal parece que buscaba ser una forma fácil de renovar la fe y la credibilidad del pueblo en la Policía Federal. Es decir, una estrategia para legitimar una guerra que cada vez más ven como injusta por medio de un producto que el pueblo consume diariamente sin muchos ánimos de crítica: las telenovelas.
Ciudadano X [es], for Ciberpolitica, thinks similarly in his post titled “Why should Garcia Luna quit?”:
En tercer lugar, no hay que olvidar las tristemente célebres “Producciones García Luna”, que muestran que el citado funcionario está más interesado en presentar una imagen favorable en los medios que en desempeñar sus funciones con eficacia. ¿Y qué han logrado? Debido a su torpeza, sólo han servido como apologías del delito (como la cínica presentación de “La Barbie”). Peor aún: gracias a sus estupideces (por que no tiene otro nombre) estuvo a punto de escaparse la secuestradora Florence Cassez.
La última de las Producciones , “El Equipo” es un auténtico insulto a los televidentes, ya de por sí impunemente maltratados por Televisa.
Thirdly, one shouldn't forget the sadly popular “Garcia Luna Productions”, which showed the aforementioned official is more interested in presenting a favourable image in the media than executing his duties efficiently. And what have they achieved? Due to their incompetence, they have been served as apologies for crime (as in the satirical presentation of  “la Barbie”). Even worse: thanks to his stupidity (there is no other word for it) the kidnapper Florence Cassez almost escaped.
The last production, “The Team” is an authentic insult to viewers, already so liberally maltreated by Televisa.
On the other hand, Pepe Flores [es], for Vivir Mexico, bluntly pointed out what he perceived as the goal of the television series and the reaction of the audience:
Señalada como un esfuerzo promocional para justificar la estrategia bélica de la Guerra contra el Narcotráfico, el programa fue denostado por mostrar una visión propagandística.
Furthermore, the referred author summarised the statement of a  journalist who explained the reason why “The Team” will stop airing in  the next few days:
De acuerdo con el periodista Jorge Carrasco, altos mandos de las Fuerzas Armadas mexicanas vieron con desagrado cómo el titular de la Secretaría de Seguridad Pública se hacía publicidad a través de la serie de TV.
This position is shared by journalist and blogger Jenaro Villamil [es], who additionally made reference to the viewership that the series reached:
No le gustó al ejército, menos a los legisladores federales y una buena parte de la audiencia la vio como un híbrido de melodrama con programa de acción que no alcanzó a cuajar. Incluso, las redes sociales -en especial Twitter- no la bajaron de serie chafa realizada para beneficiar a un impugnado Genaro García Luna.
Finalmente, la telenovela El Equipo, financiada y apoyada  logísticamente por la Secretaría de Seguridad Pública, dejará de  transmitirse el viernes 27 de mayo por una razón fundamental: no pudo  remontar su bajo rating, a pesar de ser transmitida en el horario  estelar de las 22:00 a las 22:30 horas en el Canal 2.
The army didn't like it, much less federal legislators  and a good part of the audience saw it as a hybrid of melodrama and  action series that never worked out. Even social networks,  especially Twitter, rate it as a shoddy series made to the benefit of  Genaro Garcia Luna.
Finally, the series “The Team”, financed and supported logistically by the Secretariat of Public Security, will stop airing on Friday, May 27 for one simple reason: the ratings were very low despite being aired in prime time from 10:00 to 10:30 on Channel 2.
Beyond the end of the television series in question, Animal Politico [es] makes reference to the political and legal repercussions which the Secretariat of Public Security could face regarding the controversial show:
A tres días del estreno de la serie, El PRD [Partido de la Revolución Democrática] en la Cámara de Diputados presentó una denuncia ante la Secretaría de la Función Pública (SFP) contra García Luna, para indagar presuntas irregularidades al permitir que se utilizara equipo y se exhibieran estrategias públicas contra la delincuencia en la serie de televisión “El Equipo”.
La vocera de la bancada, Leticia Quezada (@Leticia_Quezada), entregó la denuncia, argumentando que se usaron instalaciones de la SSP que están catalogadas como estratégicas y de seguridad nacional. Además que se permitió el acceso de personal ajeno a la dependencia y se ha utilizado armamento y helicópteros de la dependencia.
Three days after the premier of the series, the PRD [Party of the Democratic Revolution] in the Chamber of Deputies filed a complaint before the Secretariat of Public Service (SFP) against Garcia Luna, to make inquiries about alleged irregularities by permitting the use of equipment and exposing public strategies against delinquency in the television series “The Team”.
Spokeswoman Leticia Quezada (@Leticia Quezada) handed in the complaint, arguing that SSP [Secretariat of Public Security] facilities catalogued as strategic and of national security were used. Moreover, personal access to outside personnel was permitted as well as the use of arms and helicopters from these facilities.
A sensitive and controversial issue, that apparently has generated consensus among the blogging community, something difficult to achieve among a citizenry that finds itself immersed in a war with conflicting views.

author: J. Tadeo


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Mexico: Gun Trafficking in the Southern Border · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

In Vivir México [es], Ximena Vega blogs about gun trafficking in Mexico's southern border, an issue that has been shadowed by the problems in the northern border with the United states.