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South Africa: To vuvuzela or not to vuvuzela? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Discussions about the popular instrument called the vuvuzela blown by South African football fans have dominated the blogosphere since the beginning of Confederations Cup 2009 in South Africa, which ended last week. Journalists, TV viewers, coaches and some foreign players called for a ban of the instrument during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The debate is as loud as the instrument itself. There is even an online petition to ban the instrument. FIFA has allowed vuvuzelas during the World Cup 2010 arguing that it is part of an authentic South African football culture.
This is Wikipedia description of the vuvuzela:
a blowing horn, approximately one metre in length, commonly blown by fans at football matches in South Africa. The origin of the name is disputed. It may originate from the Zulu for “making noise,” from the “vuvu” sound it makes, or from township slang related to the word for “shower.”
Opinions in the blogosphere are deeply divided. Some bloggers are completely outraged by the sound produced by vuvuzelas while others call for tolerance and understanding. One blogger goes as far as claiming that the instrument spreads HIV!
Dave Taylor describes vuvuzelas as “the traditional instruments of football mayhem.”
To Chris of World Cup blog, the vuvuzela is “that giant swarm of insects…”:
That giant swarm of insects you’ve been hearing at every Confederations Cup game is not, in fact, one of the Biblical Plagues migrating south. It’s actually called a vuvuzela…
Capitals Kremlin considers the vuvuzela the most annoying noisemaker:
Ladies and gentlemen, Caps Kremlin is pleased to present to you: the world's most annoying noisemaker, the vuvuzela.
There is one long description of the vuvuzela from 24.com:
…take a sport from England called football, take a snort of glitter-eyed powder-nosed marketing gnomes, a large liquor conglomerate wanting to increase market share, add a white guy called Van Schalkwyk with a take-the-gap mentality and a plastics factory and what do you get? The vuvuzela.
Pitch Invasion calls the vuvuzela “Satan's instrument.”
Welcome to plastic Africa:
You then follow it up with a barrage of press releases about the kudu horn being used in ancient times to summon villagers to meetings, Christian cults claiming it as part of their sacred rituals and we get stuck with football games that can only be watched on TV with the mute button firmly on. And if you don’t like it, you must be at best a racist or at worst one of those guys who when he hears the word “culture” reaches for his gun.
Welcome to plastic Africa. And rue an opportunity missed.
From the Foreign Policy blog, “The World Cup's biggest concern is a trumpet,”
Five years ago, when South Africa won the right to host the 2010 World Cup, many were concerned whether the country had the infrastructure to host the huge tournament. With one year to go, though, most observers agree that the country will be pass that test. Instead, the biggest complaints have centered on an instrument called the vuvuzela.
ReasonCheck wonders, “…if these heathen brutes could be introduced to the joys of producing actual musical notes from their hellish plastic pipes”:
If you’ve caught any of the games on TV, you would have heard a continuous droning sound, like a perpetually embittered swarm of hornets. But you really have to be there to appreciate the full horror of the cacophony. I took my son to a game a few nights ago and have been suffering from headaches ever since, and am sleeping fitfully.
I then got to thinking that if these heathen brutes could be introduced to the joys of producing actual musical notes from their hellish plastic pipes there might just be a shift in Zeitgeist amongst them and they might seek to actually make music.
Pitch Invasion looks at the history of noisemaking in world football starting with the first popular noisemaker in Britain, the wooden rattle:
The first popular noisemaker in football — and one that made a sound to make even a vuvuzela wince — was the wooden rattle in Britain.
Writing in the Guardian, Simon Burnton hoped that “perhaps South Africa can learn from the loud wooden rattles that soundtracked British football in the post-war era – and fell out of favour when everyone realised just how annoying they were. I can only hope that one day soon a similar fate will befall the vuvuzelas.”
Yet it was a shift in the entire base of fan culture, rather than a simple realisation that rattles were annoying, that removed the rattle from the terraces.
Though a fairly recent instrument at South African football games, some trace the roots to African tradition. “The ancestor of the vuvuzela is said to be the kudu horn – ixilongo in isiXhosa, mhalamhala in Tshivenda – blown to summon African villagers to meetings.”
It seems to have been in 1992 that the vuvuzela was first used at South African football matches, by supporters of AmaZulu F.C.. Supporters made the horns out of discarded tin cans, and the use spread wildly, to the joy of many and the irritation of some: South African writer Jon Qwelane wrote in 2007 that “Nowadays, there is an instrument from hell, called the vuvuzela, which has largely formed my decision to abandon all live games and rather watch on TV, with the sound totally muted.”
In the 2000s, with South Africa’s World Cup bid on the horizon, the vuvuzela became a mass produced commercialised phenomenon as the result of a grant given by SAB Miller (the giant South African brewer) to Neil van Schalkwyk’s company Masincedane Sport in 2001, who began to mass produce a cheap plastic version.
SA Sucks disputes the “history” of the vuvuzela as “the ridiculous lie being spread via Wikipedia”:
Incredibly, the ridiculous lie is now being spread via Wikipedia (thanks Karooboy for pointing out) that the origin of the Vuvuzela is actually based on a “Kudu horn” that the blacks used to blow. I almost died laughing at this pathetic fiction but suppose its to be expected – the truth that these destructive beasts ripped them from trains in orgies of vandalism is obviously too politically incorrect to swallow. A bit further down this article is an image of a yellow horn-shaped vuvuzela – I got this image from one of the hundreds of spam emails which landed up in my mailbox, urging me to order 10 000 of these pieces of shit, with my corporate logo stuck on them. The horn shape is extremely unusual but as with the Wikipedia article, to be expected as PR companies do their best to bury the real history behind it.
According to SA Sucks there is nothing authentic African about the vuvuzela:
One of the things I love most about the politicians that run this fair dominion is how, at their discretion, they can make up their own history as they go along. The vuvuzela is one such example.
Those arguing for the vuvuzela maintain that it is part of the great South African soccer culture and that not allowing it would truly be an injustice. Bullshit. They’ve been around less than ten years. It was only when some bastard called “Neil van Schalkwyk, the co-owner of Masincedane Sport, which manufactures the plastic vuvuzela, won the SAB KickStart Award in 2001, which is an SAB-run project that assists entrepreneurs by providing grants and mentorship during the start-up phase of business.” that the vuvuzela really started making an impact.
Dave Taylor found the noise from the vuvuzela annoying and distracting:
A half-dozen fans having one of these, or even a lot of fans who blow on them to celebrate a goal or terrific defensively play is one thing, but as those of us that watched the FIFA Confederations Cup learned, the practice in South Africa seems to be to keep a continuous drone of vuvuzela going throughout the match.
And we’re not talking about twenty or thirty people in the stadium, we’re talking about hundreds, if not thousands, of locals keeping a deafening racket during the entire match.
I found the constant clamor to be most distracting and annoying, and it even got in the way of being able to hear the crowd reaction to terrific plays or bad calls by referees both.
Language Log notes that vuvuzela “is woth 23 scrabble points even before bonuses — or would be, if it were added to the official word list.”
Mark Gleeson at Reuters blog thinks that in the end money will talk louder than any vuvuzela. He says that the debate around the vuvuzela has become “almost a neo-colonial conflict”:
The debate around the vuvuzela was always going to generate big noise but for some South African commentators it has become almost a neo-colonial conflict.
The noisy trumpet, which dominates the sound waves around the stadiums during the Confederations Cup, has got a lot of people covering their ears.
Complaints from TV viewers across Europe have been vociferous enough for the future of the plastic pest to become the major item on the agenda at the series of press conferences FIFA president Sepp Blatter has held during the tournament in South Africa.
At the end the day, it is the big TV money that talks. If the world’s broadcasters feel the cacophony of vuvuzelas detracts from the viewing pleasure of their public, FIFA will be forced to back down and ban the trumpets from the 2010 World Cup stadiums.
It won’t have anything to do with any ‘ism, just cold hard cash.
Bob of the unofficial blog of DC United does not understand the vuvuzela haters:
I personally don't understand the vuvuzela haters. I guess some people have no ability to filter out these quiet buzzing sounds from the ubiquitous noisemakers in the stands during the Confederations Cup matches. Apparently, they are called vuvuzelas. I want one.
From the very first seconds of the very first Confederations Cup match that I watched this year, New Zealand v Spain, I thought, “what is that interesting sound?” and then promptly filtered it out. In a similar way, when I lived in Rosslyn, under the flight path of the planes approaching National Airport, the noisy planes bothered me for about a week. Then I didn't hear it anymore.
Anyone who has been to a live soccer match knows that it is an event of experiences. There is the game itself, but there are songs, Roman Candles, smoke bombs, drums, horns. Oh yeah, and drunk supporters too.
Some of his readers disagree. One of them hates “the damn thing” because it destroys the game atmosphere:
I'm one of the haters, and I can't comprehend someone who actually enjoys watching soccer on TV liking them. I hate the damn things. But it's not because they're loud and annoying. Lots of things — hell, lots of people — are loud and annoying, even (especially) at soccer matches. It's not because they're loud and annoying. It's because they absolutely, completely, utterly destroy the game-related atmosphere at the matches. Destroy it.
Another reader says, “it's insane”:
*You* may have some wonderful ability to push it into your mental background, but for most of us, it's insane. The sound is *not* “atmospheric”, it is *not* a minor part of the viewing experience, and it is *not* acceptable.
Setumo writes about the vuvuzela and intolerance:
For the record, we do not blow the vuvuzela because we are Africans. We blow the vuvuzela because we get an adrenalin rush from the creative noise it makes. Also, we get an adrenalin rush because we are human. Not because we are Africans!
Now that we have moved away from the racial stereotype, it becomes easier to clear the noise. Subsequently, we could agree in unison that this is a matter of like, dislike and intolerance.
One of Setumo's readers argues that World Cup is not and “African” thing:
So the Vuvu is an African thing?? The FIFA 2010 fiasco is not an “African” thing .. it is an international thing. The fact is that SA is only hosting the tourno, and trying hard to get as many international visitors to SA next year. So, have a bit of understanding that most non-Africans find the V-noise irritating in the extreme. I doubt that many non-African countries aspire to be anything like “African”, given the general mayhem, murder, & mis-Government that exists in this sick Continent.
Another reader likes the sound so much and would even buy vuvuzela ringtone!:
@mcOlly – As a Texan, I would totally buy that ringtone.
All this uproar over the vuvuzela is silly. If it doesn’t sound nice on TV, then the broadcasters should turn the stadium mics down. I just learned of the vuvuzela by watching the Confederations Cup, and it makes me want to go to the WC even more.
Shine2010 thinks that vuvuzelas will teach the world tolerance and respect:
…maybe an encounter with a few thousand vuvuzelas will force the world, and soccer, to actually adopt some of the ideals – tolerance, respect, etc. – that it constantly preaches.
Robyn has become a vuvuzela addict:
I first tried to blow a vuvuzela two weeks ago, at the start of the Confederations Cup which has been held in South Africa ahead of next year’s World Cup. I failed miserably. I blew and I blew and nothing happened, just a few insipid little parps. But at the Brazil vs. Italy game, I got the hang of the vuvuzela and quickly joined the crowd in a jaunty one-note tune. Baaaah! Baaah! Baaah!
It is a sound so irritating and so obnoxious that it’s best to stick with the maxim “if you can’t beat ‘em, join em.” Not blowing a vuvuzela at a South African football game not only makes you feel a bit left out but it also makes you resent the noise everyone else it making.
I Luv SA has a piece of advice for vuvuzela haters, “Suck it up”:
“Critics are saying they are too noisy. I say so what?,” writes Ash on South Africa Football Fans blog:
That is the purpose of the Vuvuzela after all. It is there to get the atmosphere buzzzzing. This is Africa and we are renowned for dancing and singing and generally creating a great vibe at our football matches.
It’s all part of the uniquely South African experience and I’m certain that if our foreign visitors attend the games and experience the electrifying atmosphere they will fall in love with the Vuvuzela.
To me asking the local supporters to leave their Vuvuzela’s at home would be like asking the Liverpool fans not to sing You'll Never Walk Alone, or asking the Brazilian fans not to create the Samba atmosphere at their matches.
“What happened to dancing and singing and costumes?,” one reader asks and adds, “Don't let your only contribution to the world be an almost universally annoying one! “:
If that is the only culture South Africa has to share, that is pretty bad. Whatever happened to dancing and singing and costumes? Seems to work for other countries just fine. Don't let your only contribution to the world be an almost universally annoying one!
It's a question of hospitality too. Blasting noise in our ears is just plain rude. I for one am turning the sound off. I feel sorry for anyone travelling to SA to watch the games. They have no choice in the matter.
Another reader compares the vuvuzela sound to “an annoying swarm of bees buzzing around your head…”:
The argument the blogger is making about comparing Liverpool songs and Brazil's samba atmosphere borders on retarded. I would certainly ask a Liverpool fan to stop if they just screamed one note of YWNWA in my ear for an hour and a half. There is a big difference between an annoying swarm of bees buzzing around your head a samba dance.
“You won't be watching your local teams or players,” another reader responds:
How is South Africa telling the world that they are football visitors? Visitors to the country yes. Visitors to football? Don't make me laugh. This is not South African football next year. It's world football in South Africa. You won't be watching your local teams or players.
Anders tells us that vuvuzela haters are the people who were watching the games on TV:
The vuvuzela outcry is mainly coming from those, like my friend, who are watching the tournament abroad. In the stadium, the fans love them. It's one of those things you bemoan until you actually are able to try it: think laser pointer. On TV the horns conflict with the commentary, among other things, but in the ground the ambient noise is part of the atmosphere. It is undoubtedly less abrasive in person than it is via satellite.
The real vuvuzela war, we are told, is not on the Internet but in the Netherlands:
There is a real Vuvuzela war threat in the Netherlands. The company SoccerID reported Monday to import the controversial South African horn to Europe. Within three to four weeks the first Vuvuzela's should be for sale in the Netherlands. NoLimitation however, claims to have exclusive distribution rights for the Vuvuzela.
NoLimitation BV acquired the exclusive rights to the Vuvuzela and use of the name through Urbas Kehrberg GmbH, the German company which claims to have the rights to all EU countries. This means that, according NoLimitation, they are the only company in the Netherlands with the right to sell the three-piece horn under the name Vuvuzela.
Chris of World Cup blog agrees that the vuvuzela is “quintessentially South African” but…
Problem is, it’s also quintessentially obnoxious. If you’ve watched even 30 seconds of a Confederations Cup, you’ve surely noticed the all-enveloping buzzing sound – and chances are those horns are the reason you only watched 30 seconds.
it’s just one long 90 minute droning sound. To the point you begin to wonder when the B-list horror movie is going to break out before your eyes. I’ve personally begun watching the games on mute – what with the combination of ESPN’s commentary team and the vuvuzela capable of being substituted for lethal injection and all.
Phobian suggests that the vuvuzela be allowed when South Africa plays:
The World Cup is for everyone, not just the Vuvuzela blowers. Maybe they should only be allowed at games where SA plays. The other soccer teams playing should also have some say in whether there should be Vuvuzelas or not at their games.
SA Sucks takes the vuvuzela debate to a totally new ground by arguing that apart from the possibility of damaging one's hearing, the instrument might spread HIV/AIDS!
SA Sucks writes, “Apparently Sipho would empty the vuvuzela every often by swinging it wildly, splattering strings of HIV-positive / TB (& God knows what other nasty diseases) gob all over the hapless person behind, in front of and next to him.”:
Medical experts are issuing warnings that the noise from a vuvuzela can permanently damage a person’s hearing, but that’s never mind the HIV/ AIDS dangers of this thing.
From last week’s Confederations Cup matches, spectators were blasted from all directions by the earth-shattering noise of the vuvuzela. In addition to the health hazards of ringing ears and thundering headaches, a by-product of mindlessly blowing on this instrument is the accumulation of a huge amount of saliva. Apparently Sipho would empty the vuvuzela every often by swinging it wildly, splattering strings of HIV-positive / TB (& God knows what other nasty diseases) gob all over the hapless person behind, in front of and next to him.
The vuvuzela is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the “Sub-Saharan Africoon”:
Personally, I love it! If anything is going to bring the World Cup 2010 down, and become a symbol of everything that is wrong with the sub-Saharan Africoon, it will be the damned vuvuzela. Just think how the filth, squalor, violent ape-like behaviour and deafening racket this thing produces will be beamed into 500 million White Western homes, for all the world to see.
SA Sucks warns World Cup visitors to prepare for an anthropological “baptism of fire.” The blogger experienced himself “three hours of hell on earth”:
But on Sunday I was subjected to more than three hours of this hell on earth.I vowed, then and there, that after that first (and only) evening of the authentic South African soccer experience, I would never ever allow myself to be subjected to it again. There were many things amiss that left me disappointed and angry that evening, but none so offensive to my senses as the Vuvuzela.
“If FIFA were to ban the vuvuzela then they may as well scrap the rotation policy of the World Cup and just stage it every year in Europe at times that suit the Europeans and with a European atmosphere at the stadia,” writes Visual Guidance:
Of course, there has to be something to moan about though. No complaints from the people at the stadium. They love it. No, it is the sofa slobs thousands of miles away, slouched in front of their TV and whining that the noise is giving them a headache. Boo hoo. Answer me this – are the horns any more annoying than the Ultras with mega-phones at partisan stadia across the peninsula or the England Band droning out ‘The Great Escape’ constantly at Wembley?
This tournament is being played in Africa. This is what they do at football games in their country, it’s their football culture. If FIFA were to ban the vuvuzela then they may as well scrap the rotation policy of the World Cup and just stage it every year in Europe at times that suit the Europeans and with a European atmosphere at the stadia.
Garreth finds the vuvuzela's noise awful and horrifying but feels that the global football community needs to explore new footballing cultures:
Even though the noise is awful (horrifying really) I’m inclined to agree with the SAFA on this one. As much as the World Cup is about football it is also about the global football community and exploring new footballing cultures. If I’m starting to sound a bit like a hippy here I’m sorry, but it generally is the way I feel.
The vuvuzela sound is annoying and that is why walls of Jericho fell!:
The sound is annoying! That’s why the walls of Jericho fell! The people of Jericho broke the walls down on themselves to escape the blaring! Death was the sweeter option. Now, as for those South African fans, they are ALL LUNGS! Don’t they realize the commotion they’re creating? I’m fully aware that it is the country’s soccer culture, but it has to be done away with! Nobody will buy a ticket to have some guy blow the crap out of a vuvuzela throughout the match!
Cape Town Daily Photo does not think the noise was all that bad:
I’ve never been a fan of the vuvuzela (that long plastic trumpet that South African supporters blow at soccer matches), but to be honest, it really wasn’t so bad. They weren’t too loud and I have to say that they did add to the atmosphere significantly. They are an integral part of South African soccer culture and it just wouldn’t be the same without them.
Getting ready for World Cup 2010?:
Buy ear plugs from a music store – you’ll still be able to enjoy the atmosphere, even if you find a vuvuzela positioned right next to your ear.
If you are a fan of vuvuzela, you can visit Blow Me website to blow the virtual vuvuzela.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Sri Lanka: No To Beef · Global Voices
Rezwan

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source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Rezwan


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author: Veronica Khokhlova


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OTT09 group photo, tired but happy, image courtesy of itzpapalotl
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If you're interested in the exchange and wondering how to engage, the simplest way is to post a comment on the blog. There you'll also find our research agenda, updates, opportunities to contribute, and preliminary findings, as well as occasional photos of our favorite animals, people and objects, such as Marc's dog Paio, who is in the running to become the exchange mascot. (go to project blog to see image!)

author: Ivan Sigal


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author: Tomomi Sasaki


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Japan: On How to Perceive the Japanese Web (Part Two) · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

Part Two and Part Three of this post highlights some of the discussions in the blogosphere and Twittersphere that followed the conterversial interview “The Japanese web is ‘disappointing': An interview with Mr. Mochio Umeda, summarized in Part One.  [All links in this article link to Japanese content unless otherwise noted.]
At the very least, the interview kick-started a serious dialog on how we perceive the Japanese web and the direction that it's taking. Mochio Umeda played a major role in shaping our current perception, starting with a popular blog about trends in the English web in 2003. His influence extended to the general public when he published “Web Shinkaron” (”Theory of Web Evolution”) in 2006, and took on the role of educator and evangelist for Web 2.0. @tsuda tweeted:
『ウェブ進化論』の凄さは、一見最新のネット事情をわかりやすく説明する「解説書」の体裁を取っていながら、物心ついたときからネットが側にある若者に対して「既得権益層を潰しちゃえよ！」というメッセージを発信していたところにある。
In this context, much of the initial reactions to the interview were heated analysis of Umeda himself and included quite a few personal attacks that emphasized his lack of awareness of the responsibility that comes from being in an influential and public position. For example, Takayuki Fukatsu, after underscoring that it was Hatena who failed at making inroads into the U.S. market, commented on his blog:
「Web進化論」みたいな、宗教的なカリスマになったからには、衆民にご利益と実績を示し続けないと、宗教は機能しないと思うんよ。煽ってムーブメントを作り出したからには、梅田さんなり、はてななりがそれを実践しないと、「あぁ、あの人の言っていたことは机上の空論だったのだなぁ」と、逆にみんなそれを諦めちゃうんじゃないかと。それが、「web進化論的なるものは日本では失敗する」っていう共通認識が、いまのwebのがっかり感の基盤なんじゃないかなと。煽るだけ煽ってリタイアしながら、日本のwebが「残念」とか言われても、どうしろというのかと。
As Umeda predicted, many people pointed a finger at Hatena as the reason for the current state of the Japanese web, with varying degrees of opinion on how ‘disappointing’ it is. Economist Nobuo Ikeda focused on the part about how the web has not developed beyond the realm of subculture:
この「残念」な状況を作り出した大きな原因は、はてなである。梅田氏が「バカなコメントが多い」といったように、実名の生産的な批判より匿名の悪罵のほうが圧倒的に多いことが「上の人」を萎縮させ、日本のウェブのレベルを下げているのだ。その結果、アメリカのブログは著名人が既存メディアの枠を超えてリアルタイムで議論する場になり、大手メディアに対抗する存在になりつつあるのに、彼も嘆くように日本のブログはますます劣化している。
[….]
日本をだめにしているのは、このような日本企業の家父長的な構造と、それにチャレンジしないでストレスを飲み屋やウェブで発散するサラリーマンだ。はてなは結果的には、こうした卑怯者に「ガス抜き」のプラットフォームを提供することによって、この救いのない（梅田氏も嫌悪する）システムを延命する役割を果たしている。このアーキテクチャを個人が変えることはできないが、はてなの取締役である梅田氏には現状を改善する意思決定は可能だ。それをしないで他人事のように「残念」というのは、加害者の開き直りにしか見えない。
[…]
What's bringing down Japan is the patriarchal structure of Japanese corporations and the salarymen that don't challenge the status quo but release their frustration online or in bars. In hindsight, Hatena has offered a venting place for these cowards and fulfills the role of life-support to this hopeless system (that Mr. Umeda also detests). One person as an individual cannot change this architecture, but it's possible for Mr. Umeda, as an executive of Hatena, to make decisions to improve the situation. Summing it up as ‘disappointing’ as if this were someone else's problem, without making such an attempt, is a perpetrator's easy way out.
Not very many bloggers ventured into comparing the English and Japanese web. Journalist Nobuyuki Hayashi is the noted exception, with a fantastic post on the difference in scope, competitiveness, feedback, profitability, and diversity of the two cultural spheres.
“So what’s up with the Japanese web – disappointing or enthralling?” was posted by Adamu at Mutantfrog Travelogue following a flurry of Tweets between Marxy and our own Chris Salzberg. There is a good discussion in the comments section, with language differences adding another twist to the debate.
Eiji Sakai, who blogs in English, Japanese and Vietnamese asks how many of us have a deep enough understanding of the English web to give constructive feedback on Umeda's views. He wonders if the Japanese inferiority complex towards the United States and Silicon Valley influenced our response, and doubts it would have been so excessive if Umeda lived in Saigon instead of Silicon Valley.
Michi Kaifu surmised that the aftermath of the interview proves to a point that Umeda's frustration is on target. She likens Umeda's vision of the web to a virtual School of Athens and offers her take in this way:
サブカルにもEコマースにもどんどん使われて大歓迎だけれど、この「アテネの学堂」の世界に限って言えば、「知的エリート」だけの世界である。すぐにメシのタネになるわけでもないのに、へとへとになるほどの頭脳エネルギーを絞って、知の形成過程に参加することに甘美な楽しみを見出せるような類の人だけの世界である。それが、全然ないわけじゃないだろうけど、あまりに小さく弱いと見える。
つまり、彼は日本（あるいは日本語世界）の知的エリートたちがふがいないことを攻撃している。同時に、知的エリートの世界に参加したいと潜在的に思っている人たちをつまらない嫉妬で引きずりおろそうとする「大衆の愚」に怒っている。
In other words, Mr. Umeda is attacking the shamelessness of the Japanese elite. At the same time, he's angry at the ‘stupidity of the general public’ that, with trivial jealousy, drags down the people who latently aspire to participating in the world of the intellectual elite.
Continued in Part Three.


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Jordan: Message to the Iranian People  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“The Iranian people have the virtues of a great civilization running through their veins. We love you Iran,” tweets Queen Rania of Jordan here.


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Kazakhstan: State-ordered blogging · Global Voices
Yelena Jetpyspayeva

rOOse, a blogger on the YVision.kz blog platform in Kazakhstan, has posted [ru] a letter from the government to the principals of schools and colleges across the country containing recommendations to upload videos to the KazTube.Kz video portal, which was created in February 2009 at the expense of the state budget. In particular, the principals are urged to post videos about “significant events taking place in their institutions on a regular basis.”
akost has associated [ru] this “marketing approach” with the one that had been applied back in the Soviet times, when “people were forced to work on subbotniks (area clean-ups), and nowadays people are forced to upload videos to inferior video portals”. bakha has suggested [ru] that the reason for that is that “the authorities have dumped a lot of money into that project and now they are looking for the ways to justify it by administrative increase of traffic”. At the same time, Kimberly jokingly notes [ru] that “fun” is the most popular tag on KazTube.
Against the background of the notorious amendments on Internet regulation and their adoption by the Parliament, one may readily suppose that such approach can become a regular practice in the near future. Kazakhstan may deliberately hinder the development of web 2.0 with its user generated content and replace it with the “approved by the government content”.
Kuanyshbek Yesekeyev, the head of IT and Communications Agency, who initiated these amendments, is worried [ru]:
“Internet has to be regulated to some extent. If it flows naturally, then there is a possibility that the events similar to those in Moldova (when popular uprising was organized via Internet) will take place in Kazakhstan.”
So far no criticism has taken due effect. Roundtables held by rights advocates, letters addressed by journalists and politicians to the Parliament, and even the strong criticism of the OSCE and other international organizations failed to stop adoption of this online censorship law. OSCE Representative for the Freedom of Media Miklos  Haraszti has said that this law would become a step backwards and asked president Nazarbayev to veto it.
Is Kazakhstan going to remain the country with positive contemporary history, which voluntary abandoned nuclear weapons and put forward various integration initiatives, or is it going to spoil its image and give a green light to censorship despite protests of local and international community? The Parliament of Kazakhstan has already passed the amendments and submitted them to the president for signing.
Also posted on neweurasia

author: Yelena Jetpyspayeva


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Kazakhstan: The decay of culture and media · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Today’s roundup of blogs from Kazakhstan is dedicated to culture and media and how they come across each other.  Of course, it did not go without politics being involved in it, as well as well as in many other things in Kazakhstan.
Megakhuimyak thinks that the main problem of Kazakhstani literature and arts is their irrelevance and lack of topicality [ru]:
“I am talking about satire and caricature – the genres, which are reflecting the current situation. The ones that exist at the moment are restricted by the editorial policy and trite techniques. In my personal opinion, it will be possible to say that our culture comes to life, only when these two genres revive”.
Ehot, a media professional, has tried to watch a weekly news bloc on the state TV-channel.  Here is what he thinks about it [ru]:
“I am not sure, whose idea it was to announce the content of the broadcast for entire 5 minutes, but it was too much. What can be said about average TV-viewers, when it was so much boring even for me, the one who deliberately tried to watch the news? I switched off the TV-set before the announcement ended”
A-strekoza has also tried to do her best and watch the film about the incumbent president after she downloaded it from the official web-site of the film’s main character [ru]:
“It’s kind of a disaster.  I have no complaints about the cameraman’s work, but the entire movie is a wild mix of an uncovered flattery with bad off-screen voice saying something pathetic and a far-fetched script… I wonder who has decided that such film can improve the image of the country and the president?”
Count-asylum shares his ideas that he has got after participation in the meeting of anime fans in Karaganda. What exactly happened there is that the police was watching closely the group of young fans of the Japanese animation art. The law enforcement was afraid that they had gathered for some unsanctioned meeting [ru]:
“It is necessary to top some pathos and exaggeration over this story to add more drama. Like this: “When they cracked down on the opposition newspapers, I was speechless – I read news on the web. When they put Zhakianov [opposition leader] in jail, I also did not say anything – I was a schoolboy. When they blocked Livejournal, I still did not resent –  I know about anonymizers.  But when they came for anime fans, nobody has been there to protest”.
Also posted on neweurasia

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Maldives: Much Ado About Signatures · Global Voices
Rezwan

M is furious about a provision in Maldivian law that requires the signature on any valid legal document to be in Thaana or Arabic or the language used in the document.


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Palestine: Fishermen Routinely Abducted Or Shot At · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Eva Bartlett writes about Gaza's fishermen who are regularly abducted at sea, or shot at, by the Israeli navy: “The area is rich in fish. The Israelis know this and don’t want Palestinian fishermen benefiting from it. It’s part of the siege.”


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Peru: Dangerous Polarization · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Susana Villarán writes about the “dangerous polarization [es]” that is taking place in Peruvian society and politics, including how some independent bloggers are being categorized on one end of the spectrum or the other.


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South Africa: Storm Brewing Between Government, Striking Doctors & Unions · Global Voices
Ismail Dhorat

In the last few months there has been a storm brewing between different parties here in South Africa related to the public health care system. Doctors, unions and government are at odds without being able to come to a compromise. There have been accusations made by all sides and doctors have started striking so their demands can be met.
At the heart of the matter is a grievance by public sector doctors that they are paid as much as 50% less then other public sector employee's at a similar levels. Additional issues include long shifts, conditions at hospitals and doctor to patient ratios. The doctors have set up a facebook group for supporters where you can find a full history of the events up to now as well as grievances.
According to the facebook group, they also feel they are not being sufficiently represented by unions such as the South African Medical Association (SAMA) and SAMA have come to an agreement with government without the support of their members.
SAMA states
We would like to reassure our members of SAMA’s commitment to advancing the interests of members, by negotiating for an OSD that reflects the aspirations and needs of our members. It is on this basis that we have attempted to keep members continuously and accurately updated on the employer’s proposal. Communicating the employer’s proposals is however, not an indication that SAMA accepts such proposals. Pronouncements by the doctor-grouping that SAMA has reached an agreement with the Department of Health are disingenuous, blatant untruths, and disrespectful to all parties involved in the OSD-negotiations.
While traditional media has reported on the hardline stance taken by the ANC on the striking doctors.
The African National Congress and Cosatu in KwaZulu-Natal have released a press release condemning doctors for their “unprofessional” strike action in the province.
In a strongly worded statement, the alliance partners suggested doctors were being unreasonable and had thwarted attempts by National Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi and the provincial MEC, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, to reach an agreement.
They accused doctors of refusing to stick with the process and channels available to them.
The provincial department of health in Kwa-Zulu Natal have also fired over 200 doctors for not appearing at work after an interdict was granted against them by the courts:
More than 200 doctors have been fired for failing to report to work in different hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal, SABC radio news reported on Monday evening.
The provincial health department said it had issued 226 letters of dismissal to health care professionals so far.
Some of the perspectives from the blogosphere
Fhuluphelo writes
One thing that I learnt while sitting in that ward was the impact the doctor’s strike is doing to these poor patients. According to this lady, it took her more than 10 hours to receive attention on arriving at the hospital as there were not doctors available and the nurses are not authorized to administer any medication before the patient is admitted and seen by a doctor. Not even pain killers and this woman was lying there all that time in pain.
An anonymous doctor at moralfibe writes
I had mixed feelings about striking and abandoning our patients in what is seen by the general public as just a dispute over salaries.  The protest action is in fact a culmination of years of abuse that medical professionals have endured at the hands of the government.
Let’s start with working conditions.  The hospitals are over-capacity, and the doctors are overworked.  In my ward, we officially have place for 65 patients.  We had more than 85 for the best part of last week.  Doctors work 30 hour shifts when they do overtime, working a minimum of 60 hours a week in my hospital, but it’s not like this everywhere. Usually it’s worse.  Although, this certainly is an improvement since 2002 when as an intern,  I worked 100 hours a week and 30 hour shifts every third day.   We are expected to do procedures with needles potentially putting ourselves and others at risk of contracting HIV by needlestick injuries, this even after having been awake and on our feet for 24 hours and more.
Further he/she writes
To do the job I do in the hospital I have three degrees in the medical field, but earn less than a gym personal trainer. If you compare my job requirements and qualification to any other professional in the government sector, I am being underpaid by at least 50%.  In private practice I would be earning at least 300% of my current salary.
and he/she also believes the government is using sneaky tactics to remove support for the strike action
When the Minister held that press conference on Wednesday, it was a sneaky political move.  When has any employer presented a wage offer to the public without first taking it the bargaining chamber?  It was a move that they knew would be highly publicized and designed to remove public support for the strike action.
Karren Little writes about the ethics
It's a very sticky ethical situation. The public is suffering, and there is a good chance that people will die as a consequence of the strike. On the other hand, the public suffers massively and thousands of lives are lost every day as the government continues to under-fund and mismanage the health care system.
Karren is not striking, but fully supports the strike action.
In The Crater, we're not striking – we're the only source of emergency care in a hundred-kilometre radius, and it really would be unethical to strike. But I would like to say that I support the strike and am grateful to my colleagues who have been brave enough to take action – and put their jobs on the line – for the sake of us all.
Sandile questions the morality of it all
It is all about the alleged poor salaries that medical doctors and only medical doctors get.
Well, what about their colleagues who are administrators, clerks, cleaners, drivers, nurses and others in the emergency services? There is something that is fundamentally wrong when medical doctors abandon wards with sick and dying people simply because they want more money.
Tourism radio South Africa writes
In my opinion, both parties are wrong. Both are in a position that they feel they cannot budge from but this goes beyond money. Here, I tell you what, throw some money at terminal patients and lets talk again. I don't believe in the health care system in SA, public or private, never have. I don't believe in medical aids either, its like playing a reality TV version of Fear Factor with a cash prize naturally. Can you be a capitalist and a doctor or politician? Seems so. Are those the only options? Apparently. So here's my argument…Above all, do no harm.  I think all parties involved could take a lesson from the oath or at the very least, don't promise what you can't deliver.

author: Ismail Dhorat


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Sri Lanka: Will The Arrest Of An Astrologer Change The Future? · Global Voices
Rezwan

Über Desi reports on the arrest of Chandrasiri Bandara, a famous astrologer, by the Sri Lankan government because he predicted that the president will be ejected from office. The blogger questions: “if Bandara could not predict his own arrest, why is the Sri Lankan government so afraid of his predictions?”


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Syria: Michael Jackson in Pictures  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Syrian Hosam Akras [ar] marks the death of King of Pop Michael Jackson by posting his photographs in this post.


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Taiwan: Is “adogah” a racist term? · Global Voices
David Reid

Adogah (阿兜仔) is a Hoklo Taiwanese word used to refer to foreigners in Taiwan. Dan Bloom had an article in the Taipei Times discussing the use of the word. He had the article translated into Chinese on his blog. Following the Chinese text there are details in English of a recent survey of Taiwanese people about their attitude to the use of adogah.

author: David Reid


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Trinidad & Tobago: Neverland  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

This Beach Called Life compares Trinidad and Tobago with Neverland: “In our Neverland, criminals will never be caught, our economy will never prosper without high oil prices, our money never stop being wasted on nonproductive ego-trips and our leaders will never stop climbing on the back of democracy to become dictators.”


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Barbados: Flame of the Forest  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

my rustic bajan garden is thrilled that it's Flamboyant season!


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Caribbean: On the Honduran Coup · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Writing at Havana Times, Guillermo Fernandez Ampie examines the Honduran coup d’état, while Repeating Islands reports that “heads of state throughout the Caribbean region have expresses their condemnation of the military coup in Honduras that has removed President Manuel Zelaya from office.”


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China: Shishou official speaks out about riot   · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Sam Verran from China Elections and Governance translated a blog post written by a Shishou official reflecting on the local government's “mistake” in handling the investigation and riot.


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China: Spoofing the collapsed Shanghai Building · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Netizens from cat898 started spoofing the collapsed Shanghai building with PS photos.


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Croatia: PM Resigns · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Croatian Crescent reports on Croatian PM Ivo Sanader's resignation – here and here.


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Georgia: Managed democracy criticized · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Social Science in the Caucasus sums up a recent talk given in Tbilisi about the state of democracy in Georgia. The blog says that democratization pushed from outside has exacerbated polarization and conflict in local politics.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Haiti: Preval Party Wins Senate Seats  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Repeating Islands notes that “preliminary results from last week’s run-off elections in Haiti indicate that President René Preval’s party won five of 11 contests to fill open Senate seats”, but adds that “there have been…threats from other senators to block the seating…because of the extremely low voter turnout in the run-offs…”


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Hong Kong: July 1 Rally · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN has a review on the newspapers coverage of this year July 1 rally.


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Hungary: Gay Marriage Legalized · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Pestiside.hu reports on the legalization of gay marriage in Hungary.


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Hungary: Rallying for Iran – and for “Nothing, Never” · Global Voices
Marietta Le

Those who were in Hungary during the past few weeks could get quite confused because citizens showed a number of different ways of using rallies as a tool of democracy.
On June 19, about a hundred of Iranian students studying in Hungary held a silent commemoration at Heroes’ Square in Budapest, the Hungarian capital. The rally had been organised via Facebook. The second demonstration, by Hungarian supporters, took place in front of the Iranian Embassy in Budapest on June 21: it was called the Green Flashmob.
The third rally “for democracy and human rights” in Iran was held on June 26, also in front of the Iranian Embassy. On the community blog site Lehet Más a Világ! (“The World Can Be Different!”), Redjade shared information and photos about the June 21 protest and wrote this about the June 26 one:
[…] It was a big contrast from the previous protest last Sunday where there was no police presence, at all. Not only was there a fence this time (borrowed from the Parliament?) but dozens of police including four police vans and six cars. But the entire event was a friendly and calm situation, however. But I wonder if the lower turn out by Iranian students may have been the result of the intimidating police presence. […]
The Hungarian media reported on the meeting between state secretary of foreign affairs Gábor Iklódy and the Iranian ambassador Ali Reza Irvas, after which the Hungarian official declared that the Iranian protestors had the right to protest peacefully and that Hungary was concerned about the restraints placed on the media in Iran.
Also on June 21, a different type of rally took place in Budapest: members and supporters of the Two-Tailed Dog Party (HUN) held a so-called General Demonstration against things that don’t make any sense. The Two-Tailed Dog Party is a fake political party known for its extremely humorous criticism of political issues in Hungary. Some 200-300 people gathered in front of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office: according to the blog (HUN) of the demonstration, the reason was that the existence of this office didn’t make any sense.
On the art blog Képgyár (“Image Factory”), journalist András Földes reported (HUN) on the Two-Tailed Dog Party's demonstration:
[…] ‘What do we want? Nothing! When? Never!’ Protesters in front of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) are shouting their demands for long minutes but they can’t gain a hearing. Nobody comes out from the office to receive the petition and to start dialogue.
Though there are enough demands. ‘Let tomorrow be yesterday!’ ‘Dissmiss us!’ ‘Main stage!’ ‘Let's bring everyone who is under the radical sign to a square!’ […]
Some of the users of Képgyár (HUN) mentioned in the comments section that one of the protesters with the ‘Dissmiss us!’ slogan was actually sending a hidden political message about frequent demonstrations against the present Hungarian government that have been taking place since 2006. Others noted that this kind of rallying for nothing already had a cultural background in Europe and represented an anarchist or radical liberal view, which contradicts the main goal: rallying for nothing.

author: Marietta Le


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India: High Court Rule Legalizes Homosexuality · Global Voices
Rezwan

Sanjukta Basu at Desicritics informs that today morning the Delhi High Court legalized homosexuality in India in a ruling in favor of a petition, which challenged the constitutionality of Section 377 of Indian Penal Code. The code criminalizes all acts of oral and anal sex between individuals irrespective of age and consent.


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Iran: “Rigged Election,Recount Scam” · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Free Lantern writes that “Iranian authorities have published photos of a partial recount on national news agency, the photos are a good confirmation of the rigged election. In these photos the ballots are not even folded! A paper ballot cannot normally go into the ballot box without being folded.” Watch the photos here.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Maldives: Drug Dependence Problem · Global Voices
Rezwan

Mohamed Nasheed discusses the problem of drug abuse and drug dependency in Maldives and ways to tackle this. It is estimated that almost 10% of the total 300,000 population in Maldives take drugs.


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Mexico: The Zapatista “Brand” and Tourism in Chiapas · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The Mex Files notes that the state of Chiapas, Mexico receives 4 million tourists per year; 25% mention that they were drawn by the Zapatista rebels, which are best identified by their spokesperson Rafael Sebastián Guillén Vicente, also known as Subcomandante Marcos.


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Romania: Csíkszereda Blogs · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Csíkszereda Musings writes about Csíkszereda's English-language blogs – here and here.


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Slovakia: Sts Cyril and Methodius Day · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovakia writes about Sts Cyril and Methodius Day in Slovakia.


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Sri Lanka: Eye-witness Account From An IDP Camp · Global Voices
Rezwan

Groundviews publishes an eye-witness account from an IDP camp in Sri Lanka describing the conditions of the refugees in a post-war situation. Separation of family members, no freedom of movement, corruption, bad hygiene conditions, diseases and epidemic are some of the problems cited in that report.


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Carnival Kids  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Abeni attends the Junior King and Queen of Carnival competition in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.


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State Of The Internet In India 2009 · Global Voices
Rezwan

Rajesh Jain at Emergic gives a brief overview of the state of the internet in India in 2009 in a multi-part series.  Read them here (part 1, part2, part3, part4).


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Trinidad & Tobago: This and That   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Diaspora blogger Jumbie's Watch comments on news coming out of Trinidad and Tobago – including a vote of no confidence in the Attorney General and the Prime Minister's refusal to apologize for “insensitive remarks he made on the murder of a 10 year old girl.”


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Bahrain: Congratulations, India · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Gay Bahraini blogger Shams Al-Ma7aba congratulates India on decriminalising homosexuality [Ar].


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Barbados: Charges Withdrawn  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados Free Press thinks that the Director of Public Prosecution's withdrawal of bribery and perverting the course of justice charges against a police officer “stinks to high heaven.”


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Belarus: President Pardons Emanuel Zeltser  · Global Voices
Mikhail Larchanka

On June 30, a U.S. Congress delegation visited Minsk. The Congressmen had a meeting with Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. During this meeting, members of the U.S. delegation asked the president to pardon Emanuel Zeltser, an American lawyer who, in August 2008, was “sentenced to three years in prison on charges of ‘attempted industrial espionage’ and the use of fake documents.” Lukashenko said he could do it and signed the pardon later that day.
Adam Goodman of The Being Had Times re-posted a BelTA article about the U.S. delegation's visit on his blog and here is a quote from it:
[…] During the meeting members of the US delegation addressed the President of Belarus with a request to use powers of the head of state to free US citizen Emanuel Zeltser, who had been serving his sentence in Belarus for committing a criminal offence.
Alexander Lukashenko emphasised that the US citizen had violated Belarusian laws. “He was arrested in our country and sentenced in accordance with Belarusian laws. Even US Charge d’Affaires a.i. in Belarus Jonathan Moore does not deny it. I have never thought that this man could become an issue in relations between our countries. Yes, according to Belarusian laws, according to the Constitution I can grant a pardon to Emanuel Zeltser. You have asked this of me, right? If it is very important for America and our relations and contributes to normalising our relations, I will sign the pardon today,” said the head of state. […]
On Wednesday, at 5:30 a.m., Zeltser flew back to the United States.
Belarusian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (LJ user radio_svaboda) invited bloggers to ask Zeltser some questions via the by_politics LJ community [BEL]. Only a few bloggers have responded so far, and LJ user lipkovich was the first one to [RUS]. Below are three of the six questions that he asked:
1. Is it true that you were arrested right after the negotiations at the Presidential Administration?
[…]
3. Would you seek material compensation from our country?
[…]
6. As far as we know, you were released following a pardon decree. Does it mean that all charges against you have been removed? If yes, do you plan to continue working on inheritance cases in Belarus?
So far, Zeltser has not replied to LJ user lipkovich and a few other Belarusian bloggers who are attempting to interact with him via an LJ community focused on Belarusian politics.

author: Mikhail Larchanka


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Bhutan: Ordinary People Are Losing Homes · Global Voices
Rezwan

Passu Diary discusses how the works of the hydro-electric power project at Punatshangchhu (Punakha) River in bhutan has made an impact on the local lives. There are no homes available for rent for the low income ordinary people and the blogger urges “we want our homes back. Please don’t buy away our living…”

author: Rezwan


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Cambodia: Khmer Gold · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Mongkol visited the National Museum and was able to view the recently donated rare Angkorian gold and jewelry which have never been seen before in Cambodia.

author: Mong Palatino


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DRC: Goma’s Makeover for Independence Day · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

On June 30th, the Democratic Republic of Congo celebrated the 49th anniversary of its declaration of independence from Belgium , as well as the country's first leaders: President Joseph Kasa-Vubu and Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba.
Independence Day was celebrated all throughout the country, but it was in the eastern city of Goma (the capital of North Kivu province) that the official festivities took place with the participation of President Joseph Kabila, as well as the presidents of a number of other countries. Here are a few bloggers’ reactions to this historic anniversary, celebrated in a city that not long ago was a war zone.
Photo by Patrick Butsapu
Colette Braeckman [FR], a Belgian journalist specializing in Central Africa, wrote about holding the celebrations in Goma:
Voici moins d’un an, qui aurait cru que l’indépendance du 30 juin, date mythique s’il en est, serait célébrée à Goma ? A l’époque, le chef rebelle Laurent Nkunda recevait toutes les télévisions du monde et devenait une star médiatique, entrant en concurrence avec les deux chefs d’Etat des pays concernés, le président Kabila et son homologue rwandais le président Kagame.
A l’époque, la peur régnait dans de vastes zones du Nord Kivu, à la merci d’attaques du CNDP […]
At that time fear reigned in vast stretches of North Kivu, at the mercy of the CNDP attacks[…]
For Dawn Hurley, an American expat in Goma who blogs at From Congo, the choice was risky:
It is not the most logical place to invite hot shots of all sorts to celebrate this grand holiday. It is an unruly city on the very edge the country. But it precisely this reputation as the Wild west (or rather Wild East) of Congo, that has led the President to choose to celebrate here.
For Colette Braeckman, celebrating the Independence in Goma has a strong significance:
Malgré les peurs des uns, les critiques des autres, il faut reconnaître que célébrer l’indépendance à Goma, hier terrorisée, assiégée et qui se sentait oubliée de Kinshasa, est un symbole fort. Le symbole d’un pays qui a entamé sa reconstruction et récupéré son contrôle sur toutes ses provinces, […] le symbole d’un géant convalescent, qui vacille encore un peu, mais qui, de manière décidée, s’est remis debout…
Dawn of From Congo also commented on the works happening around the city in preparation for the official festivities:
So for the past month Goma has been a giant dust bowl. The roads of Goma, which are perpetually in a ridiculous state of disrepair, have been dug up, marked off, and attacked with a variety of roadwork tools. Road workers have appeared out of nowhere and worked day and night over the past month, to turn Goma into a presentable city.
Boubol, the Goma correspondent for the popular Congoblog [FR], also wrote about Goma's makeover for the celebration (including some photos of the works):
« Je n’ai jamais vécu une telle situation à Goma, qui donne l’impression de se trouver dans une cité industrielle » s’exclame Mzee Paul, un sexagénaire, rencontré le long du boulevard Kanyamuhanga. Ce tronçon, sur lequel s’effectuera le défilé, revêt une nouvelle couche de bitume. C’est depuis la dernière éruption survenue en 2002 qu’il était dénué.
Nombreux sont le badauds qui passent leurs temps admirer les pylônes qui poussent depuis peu sur les routes de la capitale touristique. Au total, 600 réverbères éclaireront Goma d’ici le 30 juin, à en croire un des superviseurs des travaux: « La ville de Goma sera la ville la plus éclairée, après la ville de Kinshasa qui compte seulement 300 pylônes en bon état » a-t-il ajouté.
Many are the idle onlookers passing their time admiring the new street lights now mushrooming on the roads of this touristic capital. In total, 600 street lights will illuminate Goma until the 30th of June, according to one of the supervisors of the works: « The city of Goma will be the most brightly lit city, after the city of Kinshasa that only counts 300 street lights in a good state » he added.
Photo by Yvez Zihundula
However, Boboul wonders about the long-term permanence of the makeover:
S’ils se réjouissent en voyant ces travaux, les habitants de Goma ne se font pas d’illusion. Il faut attendre de voir s’il s’agit bien d’un élan de reconstruction ou si ce n’est qu’un embelissement temporaire, le temps de la fête.
Apparently the Independence festivities included some fireworks, which some people mistook for shooting as shown by this story at From Congo:
Argentine and Mapendo (two of the SHONA women) spent last night trying to decide where to hide. They heard shooting and assumed the town was being attacked. […]
In fact it was fireworks. Yesterday was Independence Day in Congo and a fireworks display ran for at least half an hour last night. I couldn't see the fireworks from my house, and apparently Argentine and Mapendo couldn't see them from their hiding spots. But we could all hear the explosions, and I have to say that it was as long and impressive sounding a display as I have ever heard.
I, for one, am not suprised the a fireworks display in a region which is still a war-zone, would scare the living daylights out of people. They announced it on the radio beforehand but many people, like Argentine and Mapendo, didn't hear the warnings and were left to assume the worst.
Goma-based journalist Yves Zihindula [FR], who also noted the impressive works happening in his city,  offers a bit of a pessimistic reflection about the Congo after 49 years of indepence:
Ceux qui ont vécu les années après le 30 juin 1960, parlent des bonnes choses du Congo et disent par exemple qu’un zaïre (monnaie locale de l’époque) équivalait à plus d’un dollar américain. Normal qu’un jeune de mon âge ait difficile à les comprendre. Pas de système d’éducation fiable, pas d’eau potable, pas d’électricité, pas de routes dans la plupart des localités… voilà ce que nous vivons depuis notre enfance.
49 ans après l’indépendance, quel bilan faire ? Qu’est ce qu’il faut que je réponde ? Je n’ai rien vécu jusque là. J’attends vivre… et ferais un bilan le moment venu.
49 years after the independence, what assessment can we make? What can I say? I haven't lived anything until now. I'm waiting to live… and then I'll make my assessment when the moment comes.
In a similar vein, Espérance-Francois Bulayumi at Mbokamosika [FR] wonders:
Devrions-nous organiser ce mardi 30 juin 2009 une fête pompeuse pour célébrer la journée commémorative du 30 juin dans la situation où se trouve le pays actuellement?
John Passou offered this reflection at the blog Aujourd'hui c'est Aujourd'hui [FR]:
L’indépendance du Congo est à reconquérir. Corriger aujourd’hui les vices du régime Mobutu, ce n’est pas, comme d’aucuns s’imaginent, l’œuvre d’un jour. Ce doit être l’œuvre d’une politique de longue haleine, habile et circonspecte. La domination néocoloniale a plongé la société congolaise dans un pourrissement tel qu’il nous faudra des années pour la purifier.

author: Elia Varela Serra


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Facebook conquers Southeast Asia · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Bernard Leong observes that Facebook is almost the dominant social networking platform in Southeast Asia. It has overtaken Friendster in Malaysia and is getting more members in other countries in the region.


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Fiji: New constitution or delaying tactic?   · Global Voices
Michael Hartsell

Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama outlined the plan to create a new constitution that will take the country to its next scheduled elections in September 2014.
In a speech to the nation, Bainimarama laid out the first details on an electoral timetable since April, 10 2009 when the Fiji’s president annulled the country’s 1997 ethnic-based constitution, fired the entire judiciary and eventually gave Bainimarama a five-year mandate. This was in reaction to an appeals court verdict of the previous day forcing Bainimarama to step down because the judges ruled the military commander came to power illegally in December 2006 when he dissolved Parliament and ousted the government of Laisenia Qarase.
Bainimarama carried out that December 2006 coup – Fiji's fourth since 1987 – to counter what he called the Qarase government’s corrupt and racist rule. He complained that Qarase and his SDL-led government ruled solely for the benefit of the majority indigenous Fijian community at the expense of other ethnic groups, especially the minority Indo-Fijian population, descendants of workers imported roughly 100 years ago by British colonials to toil in Fiji’s sugar and copra industry.
Until April 2009, Bainimarama’s rule was punctuated with creating the People’s Charter, a counterpart to the 1997 constitution, hoping to tame Fiji’s religious and ethnic tensions that have occasionally boiled over since independence in 1970. He also sparred with Fiji’s neighbors, including successive governments in Australia and New Zealand and the regional group, the Pacific Islands Forum, which in May stripped Fiji of full membership because Bainimarama had reneged on plans to hold elections in 2009. (Continuing to vote with the country’s ethnic-based electoral system still installed, Bainimarama has long argued, would only benefit racially polarizing parties in Parliament.)
A few weeks after the Pacific Islands Forum suspended Fiji, the European Union cancelled the country’s 24 million Euro subsidy for its ailing sugar industry because of differences with the Bainimarama government. The country may soon face suspension from the group of former British colonies, the Commonwealth of Nations, for its refusal to hold elections.
In Wednesday’s speech, Bainimarama reached-out to those neighbors and development partners, thanking those who have “shown the willingness to listen and understand.”  He also asked for foreign assistance when the country begins work on the new constitution in September 2012, after “extensive” consultations with all members of society. While the constitutional framework will come from the People’s Charter, many details are up for discussion, he said, Including Parliament size, length of term in office and creating checks and balances on power.
The constitution must be in place by 2013, Bainimarama said, so elections can be held one-year later.
As I have stated earlier the new constitution must include provisions that will entrench common and equal citizenry, it must not have ethnic based voting; the voting age shall be 18; and, it must have systems that hold Governments accountable with more checks and balances.
Bainimarama’s speech also touched on modernizing laws and institutions, but stated that his government will take the next three years to work on strengthening socio-economic conditions, upgrading Fiji’s infrastructure and propping up the country’s economy.
Coup Four Point Five argues Bainimarama is playing games with the election dates to prolong his rule.
Frank Bainimarama tried to fool Fiji and the world when he delivered his strategic framework for change national address today.
His claim that work on a new Constitution will start in September 2012 reveals that the regime will not relinquish power in September 2014 as he claimed today.
We draw your attention to his interview with Australian journalist Graham Davies in early May.
During the interview Bainimarama said he had the shortest time of five years to carry out economic and constitutional reforms and this was a very hard task.
If five years is a short time, then Bainimarama’s announcement of work on a new Constitution starting in September 2012 – 2 years from the projected elections in September 2014 is nonsensical.
Coupfourpointfive believes it is basically to pull wool over people's eyes.
At Raw Fiji News, fijidemocracynow2009 ties Fiji’s poor economic situation to the current political climate.
Delaying the process of drafting a new Constitution is a desperate gambit to give the Bainimarama regime some breathing space. It’s a transparent stalling tactic.
Leaving the country without a Constitution for three years will only act as a disincentive to potential investors
The dictator talks of engaging and re-engaging international partners, but if his stated intention is to keep our beloved nation in illegal limbo for another five years, how do other civilized countries engage with this dictatorship?
No, folks, the speech could never be called a “strategic framework”. It’s just a generalised exposition of propositions that is big on sweeping statement and very short on meaningful detail.
Let’s stick with the “buying time” theme a bit more. From Japan, L. Douglass Garrett, who writes the Competing Hypotheses blog, says a new constitution could serve Fiji well, but questions whether the Bainimarama regime is the right team to create that document.
The good news about that would be getting rid of the ethnically-divided means of electing representation in the 1997 Constitution… and that does need to happen if there is ever to be a practicable concept of “Fijian” as a nationality, not a hyphenated part of some identity… but…
The distinct possibility that such things are being said to draw out the tenure of the junta is real.
As this author has argued recently in other examples, the basis of Rule-of-Law governance is the Constitution *as it exists*. You follow what you have, and it changes by a process of amendment or replacement (whichever is allowed; one of them certainly is).
Fiji would be well served by a new Constitution. Let's let a constitutionally formed government perform that process.
In an unsigned post, Raw Fiji News doubts the new constitution will ever come to fruition.
Frank Bainimarama’s self-imposed wish list is just that, a far-fetched wish conjured by his conniving think-tank to delay the process of keeping the tyrant and his backers away from their imminent life-long jail sentences.
Frank’s “roadmap to nowhere” is not even worth the paper it’s written on.
Like all his previous twisted lies and PR stunts since December 2006, Frank just can’t seem to be able to hold down any of his previous motherhood roadmaps.
His clean-up corruption roadmap only resulted in a plethora of self-enriching programmes designed to puff up his and his cohorts bank balances.
His farcical charter has turned out to be the works of professional con artists out to line their own pockets while fanning the dictator’s ego with their promise of a heavenly peace and prosperity crap for the ailing Fiji.
Frank’s pretentious role as a guardian of the 1997 Constitution turned shitty when he ordered half-dead Iloilo to join him in abrogating Fiji’s supreme law on Easter Friday.
Banana republic of Fiji is now being promised a new constitution. Really?
From the blog at the Lowy Institute for International Policy, director of the Melanesia Program, Jenny Hayward-Jones, also questioned why the constitutional process should take so long:
For those sceptical of Bainimarama’s commitment to democracy, the speech offered little to persuade them otherwise. Bainimarama renewed his commitment to hold elections in September 2014 and outlined a new promise – the preparation of a new constitution by September 2013. While this was inevitably the consequence of the abrogation of the 1997 constitution on 10 April this year, it is not clear why he decided public consultations on the drafting of a new constitution cannot commence until September 2012.
Commodore Bainimarama said the new constitution would derive its impetus from the recommendations of the People’s Charter for Change, Peace and Progress. That document has been in the public domain for at least six months and has already been subjected to a consultative process. It is therefore strange that Fiji’s citizens have to wait another three years for an opportunity to participate in the process of determining their own future. If there are to be public consultations, why not start now? It would have cost the interim Government little and demonstrated to the region and the international community that Fiji was serious about political reform.
Hayward-Jones also predicted Fiji’s constitutional consultations will involve very little dialogue on the role of the military in Fiji’s politics.
More worryingly, the lack of any reference in the address to the future role of the military in Fiji was a strong indication that Commodore Bainimarama does not intend that the military retreat from its dominance of government and politics beyond 2014.
From New Zealand, No Right Turn also wonders what the government will be doing for the next three years.
Soli Vakasama didn’t come away impressed:
Jolly good thing that he believes in his own rhetoric, because he’d be the only one.
Every utterance from the illegal prime meanster is hollow like that thingamajig held up by his neck, and  so terribly terribly shallow.
In the comment section at Soli Vakasama, Jean D’ark points out if previous governments – or Fiji’s military – can’t obey Fiji’s former constitution, who’s to say those institutions will follow a new one?
no use working on a new Constitution if we can’t obey the one we have. We will just disobey that one when we don’t like everything it dishes up, either.
A Constitution has no intrinsic value in and of itself other than that which WE, ITS PEOPLE give it! Other than that, it’s just a piece of paper!
And if we don’t have any discipline in ourselves now to follow our current Constitution, we won’t be able to impart anything of that sort into the new one, either!
So it doesn’t really matter how much faith Frank, or you, or the military council has in the new piece of paper, if the people don’t go for it (and they won’t), then it won’t have any value, or power, either.
So there we’ll all be – stuck in exactly the same quagmire we are already in today.
A major narrative in Fiji’s current political situation remains that Australia and New Zealand are making matters worse with heated anti-Bainimarama rhetoric and corresponding sanctions. In the Soli Vakasama blog, commenter Budhau claims that Fiji’s neighbors must use more of the carrot than their usual stick approach with Bainimarama and help the country create a constitution — so everyone can move on.
We can easily start work on the new constitution right now, with help from experts from ANZ and have it ready in a year. We can easily prepare for elections with the help from ANZ and have an election in 2012 instead of 2014. If we begin work on the constitution and the elections – I am sure the EU will release the funds, with the sanctions removed, our economy has a chance to recover, the tourists will start coming and so on.
But no – some of you want nothing to do with a new constitution, elections etc. What you want is the 1997 constitution back, Qarase reinstalled as the PM and Frank and his boys to march straight to Naboro – and you will hold you breath until you turn blue unless you get your way – well, good luck.
Fiji:The Way It Was, Is and Can Be echoes those sentiments:
One might hope the international community, having given up on earlier elections, might sometime between now and then respond to Bainimarama's appeal for assistance.
The blog also posts a timeline on Fiji’s political events for the next five years.

author: Michael Hartsell


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Guatemala: For Some Artists, Picasso was Wrong · Global Voices
Renata Avila

Pablo Picasso, considered to be one of the finest artists of all time, said: “Computers are useless. They can only give you answers”. However, forty years after such statement, computers and the Internet are tools being used by Guatemalan painters and are hosting the galleries of the future.
Many of these artists are living and painting abroad. They use their blogs as a space to show others their work and stay in touch with their community.
Sebastián Sarti is Guatemalan, but was born in Costa Rica, where his Guatemalan father was exiled and married his Puerto Rican mother. He grew up in Nicaragua, lived for a while in Guatemala, and now he is dedicated to his paintings in Aix et à Marseille.  He is sharing his works on his personal blog  El Desorden de la Cabeza [es] (The Mess Inside My Head).
Le voleur d´animaux by Sebastian Sarti.
Based in Brooklyn, NYC, Juan Carlos from Historiando [es] has many talents to share with his readers.  A painter and activist, he uses his works for exhibitions in galleries but also for demonstrations.  He created a John Lennon poster using  recycled tickets from the metro, to protest against the high fares of public transpot in New York.  In this link, you can see some of his exhibitions.
Artwork by Juan Carlos
Elvira Méndez is a talented painter, based in Antigua, Guatemala and shares her work with the world. Her blog Pintura [es] (Paint) shows her collections of paintings, expressing herself with different shapes, colors, and textures.
Collage by Elvira Méndez
Alejandro Marré is a poet, a performer, but also a creative painter as his Arte Marré blog shows. Pop culture elements are remixed and retouched to have results, such as this:
Walking around by Alejandro Marré
Erick González is in Montmartre, the place any painter in the world dreams about. He is creating interesting pieces, expressing in images through recycled materials that contrasts the most complex topics in Guatemala, from violence against women to the increasing number of bodyguards and firearms. His blog [es] hosts critiques and pictures of his paintings.
Here is a sample:
I am a Product by Erick González
There are few galleries or public spaces for young artists in Guatemala to showcase their work. There are also little resources for invitations to exhibitions and the art critics rarely highlight little-known artists. For that reason, blogs are providing the opportunity to young artists to display their artwork, express themselves and share and interact with those who visit their sites to see their pieces of art.
All images used with permission or under a Creative Commons license.

author: Renata Avila


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Haiti: Mourning Met With Violence  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Repeating Islands reports that “Haitian police say the demonstrator found slain after the clash with U.N. peacekeepers during the funeral procession for Father Gérard Jean-Juste was killed by a bullet”, while a guest writer at Wadner Pierre's blog calls the situation “an example of a global security apparatus deployed to intimidate and maintain a hegemonic elite project over some of the poorest people in the world.  Today, even at funerals, the popular movement in Haiti is not allowed peace.  Mourning is met with state violence.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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India: Court Ruling Decriminalizes Gay Sex · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

On Thursday, 2nd of July the Delhi High Court ruled that treating consensual gay sex as a crime was discriminatory and therefore a violation of fundamental rights protected by India's constitution. We hear the response of some Indian bloggers to the ruling in this post.
Amit Varma of India Uncut says:
July 2, 2009—mark this day. It’s a big day in the history of independent India because today the Delhi High Court effectively decriminalized homosexuality. As of today, it is no longer illegal to be gay in India. I’ve often written about how India gained its independence in 1947, but Indians weren’t free in some many different ways. Well, notch one up for individual freedom. […] This doesn’t mean, of course, that we have suddenly become an enlightened society. There will still be much homophobia, stereotypes of gay people will abound in popular culture[..]. But at least it isn’t illegal any more. How big is that?
The Rational Fool quotes from the ruling:
It's a victory for secular democracy in India. In a landmark judgement, the Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah of the Delhi High Court, along with Dr. Justice S. Muralidhar, ruled in favor of the petitioner, Naz Foundation, and held that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code in its current form was violative of the of the constitutional provisions of Article 21, Article 14, and Article 15, “insofar it criminalizes consensual sexual acts of adults in private”. The ruling brings cheers not only to the LGBT community, but also to anyone who believes that liberty and equality before law cannot be held hostage to irrational beliefs and values in perpetuity.
Suriya Subramanian leaves a comment at Blogbharti to say:
I’d like to draw attention to the part of the ruling, which I think is the most important, but no one is talking about. The court did not just decriminalize homosexuality, but they went way ahead and offered people protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Harini Calamur at POV says:
About time. The State has no business to peek into our bedroom. This is not just about decriminalizing homosexuality – it is about ensuring everyone’s right to privacy.
Blogger ??!  writing at This is a Title asks:
You hear that? That's the sound a stupid law makes when it's finally overturned. […] Poor cops though, one less easy money-making scheme taken away from them.
And ??!  reminds us that not all the responses to the ruling have been positive, suggesting readers look at the Rediff commentboard. Here is an example of the opinions stated there, by Puneet Gera:
First time in life, I despite being Indian, accept Pakistan is a better country than India, at least gay sex is not legalised there. They have maintained their cultural values. I salute you Pakistan for your good values.
Szerelem is thrilled:
My friend informs me, via her lawyer brother, that while the judgement was passed by the Delhi High Court it is applicable all over the country, till overturned by specific states. This (a) makes the verdict even more awesome and (b) makes me wonder if/ when/ where it will be overturned, though hopefully not at all, because the judgement was way too long coming. Also, &#@$ you to the mullahs, right wing hindutva types and general assholes who seem to populate discussion forums in this country and are decrying this.
However, Dilnavaz Bamboat at Ultra Violet believes there is plenty more to be fought for:
While the decriminalization of consensual gay sex is indeed a victory for those rooting for orientation-equality, constricted notions of propriety continue to be imposed on basic choices deemed even remotely threatening to social fabric. A case in point being denim. I kid you not. Jeans, according to the Uttar Pradesh Principals Association, may well be the root of degenerate teen behavior. Scrap the blue stuff and voila! We’ll have model citizens.
The two may be seemingly unrelated but they point to a constant struggle to assert our right to self-expression and fundamental choices. And remind us that it’s far from over. Self-determination, for the most part, is still sitting pretty in the latter half of a dictionary.

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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India: Question To The Minister Of Railways · Global Voices
Rezwan

Roger Alexander questions the the Minister of railways of India, who presented this year's budget in the parliament today: “why has the cash surpluses of the Railways depleted so rapidly in such a short span of time?”


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Iran: A blogger was released from Prison · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to [fa] Ghomar Asheghaneh, Ali Kalai, an Iranian blogger was released after being in prison for several weeks. The blogger adds unfortunately more than ten other bloggers are still in prison.


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Iran: Desert in photos · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Darvish, a leading Iranian green blogger, shares Yann Arthus-Bertrand's photos on desert. The blogger calls the photographer an artist who sees the beauty of desert.


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Japan: Aokigahara and Suicide · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

Matt Holland at Feedbackward on Aokigahara, and Meaningful Suicide in Japan – “The ubiquitous and accessible nature of trains in Japan make them a logical and effective choice for those attempting suicide, but it is Aokigahara, the forest situated at the base of iconic Mount Fuji that hosts the most suicides of any location in Japan, and is second in the world only to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.”


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Malaysia: University admissions process  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Rajan Rishyakaran has written an article critiquing the Malaysian university admissions process.


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Mexico: Null Ballots and Low Turnout Expected on Election Day · Global Voices
Issa Villarreal

Sunday, July 5 will be a day for elections in Mexico.  Positions for governors in several states, more than 600 positions for mayors and other public representatives will be filled. However, an important percentage of the Mexicans citizens are expected to forgo their right to vote and some have decided to turn in a null ballot.
According to Mexican newspaper Milenio [es], 10% of the ballots of the elections are expected to be nullified as a way to express political discontent. According to the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary (Tribunal Electoral del Poder Judicial de la Federación , TEPJF), abstinence could reach 70%, as declared to newspaper El Norte [es, requires subscription].
There are many known reasons to avoid voting for any political party. They include feeling a lack of representation by the candidates and their proposals, the inefficiency of the current public representatives, the lack of credibility in the Mexican electoral system, and media manipulation of the electoral campaigns. Illustration artist and blogger Edgar Clement explains in his blog [es] that he will nullify his vote unless four conditions are met:
…que los diputados y senadores se bajen el sueldo por lo menos un 50%…
…que se eliminen las candidaturas plurinominales. Queremos que nos gobierne aquel por quien votamos, no el que al partido se le antoje…
…Que nuestros trabajadores en el Estado vayan al ISSSTE, que es gratuito, y si no les gusta, que paguen su doctor particular con su sueldo y/o que se pongan a trabajar para arreglar el ISSSTE…
…que ni el IFE [Instituto Federal Electoral] ni ningún partido anuncien nada en ninguna televisora durante todo este proceso electoral y que ningún comentarista ni “comunicador” intente manipular mi tendencia al voto o mi derecho a la anulación de éste…
This proposal is known as “I will nullify my vote” [“Yo anularé mi voto”] and is capturing the attention of the Internet public through a video created by user Tona Moreno, which is shared on YouTube:
In the video, Tona says:
Yo me considero un ciudadano responsable. Voto en todas las elecciones, pago mis impuestos, cuando me ha tocado ser funcionario de casilla voy con mucho gusto, y así como ciudadano responsable, creo que ya tenemos que ponerle un alto a esto. Creo que ya estamos hartos de estarles legitimando a estos funcionarios, a estos diputados, que lo único que hacen es subirse los sueldos estratosféricamente y proteger los intereses de ellos y de sus amigos.
Although it seems that nullifying a ballot (selecting more than one option on the paper ballot, turning it in blank, etc.) and not voting at all are similar ways of electoral protest, among the citizens there is much discussion about their different meanings. JoséCh comments on his Twitter account [es] on the difference:
Anular el voto no es bajarse del barco. Si vas a demostrar tu hartazgo tienes también que mostrar compromiso como ciudadano.
Intervention in ballot paper for the 2006 elections, by Felipe. Image used following a Creative Commons License: http://musica.nmty.org/2006/07/02/boletas-artisticas/
In the blog Hernando y la Silla [es], Ricardo Martínez replies to an editorial by Javier Corral published in newspaper El Universal in defense of the blank ballot:
Si en esta elección un movimiento ciudadano anónimo está sugiriendo desafiar a la partidocracia, eso sólo pone en entredicho su estructura inmoral de apropiación del poder, no a la democracia ni los valores que representa.
(…) Las elecciones en este momento son el único momento cuando los ciudadanos verdaderamente podemos ser escuchados. El resto del tiempo pasamos a tercer o cuarto término. Ante las pocas posibilidades, debemos aprovechar este momento para respaldar lo que todos sabemos en el fondo: los partidos políticos se han distanciado peligrosamente de los ciudadanos, y no al revés. No quieran ahora culparnos por lo que como partidos dejaron de hacer.
If in this election an anonymous citizen movement is growing to challenge the particracy, it is only because it defies its immoral structure of appropriating power, not democracy or the values it represents.
(…) These elections now are the only time when the citizens can really be heard. The rest of the time we are considered at third or fourth instances. Facing these few possibilities, we should take advantage of this moment to strengthen all we know deep down: political parties have dangerously distanced themselves from citizens, and not the other way around. They should not blame us for what the political parties did not do.
Abstinence and nullifying ballots are movements of national reach. Several opinion leaders have publicly admitted their support, among them Carlos Loret de Mola, journalist and news-anchor for an important national news show (as he stated in his column for El Universal [es]) and Denise Dresser, journalist  (video [es] . There are also civil organizations that call for protest. For example, the website “Cross them all out [es]” [“Tache a todos”] promotes taking the ballot paper and crossing out all of the candidates to show their lack of support to “neither political parties or any registered candidate”. Other campaigns in this direction include “Vote in blank [es]” [“Vota en blanco”] and “Nullify your vote [es]” [“Anula tu voto”].
In a more comical approach, there are campaigns that call to vote for ‘characters’ or parody candidates. In the blog Bunsen [es], a cartoon promotes candidate Dr. Mono [Dr. Monkey], supported by the slogan “He is sadistic, he is ignorant, he is a cartoon monkey and still… he is your best option”.
In a similar way, Esperanza Marchita [es] [roughly translated as ‘Hope Withered’] is a virtual candidate promoted by the organization Propuesta Cívica. Through her Twitter she comments [es]:
Voto nulo, blanco, válido, razonado, entusiasta, conservador, liberal, idealista, alegre, rudo y cursi… pero ¡¡¡voto al fin!!!
In her blog, she shares a story of attending  the National Assembly for the Null Vote [Asamblea Nacional por el Voto Nulo], in the Federal District, where more than 30 organizations “disappointed of the political representation system” met.
Papanatas [colloquial expression for ‘dumb’] is another “virtual” and parody candidate, with the shape of a potato. Its campaign, based on its Facebook profile and blog [es] invites people to write “Papanatas” on the paper ballot to send “a clear message to political parties that enough is enough.”
According to newspaper El Universal [es], during the elections for deputies in 2006, more than one million votes were null, from a total of 77 million registered voters in the electoral roll.

author: Issa Villarreal