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India Elections ‘09: Netizens react to Political Campaigns – II · Global Voices
Aparna Ray

In our first post of this series, we had brought to you glimpses of how netizens were reacting to the BJP's online campaign. In this post, we will explore reactions to the  election campaign of the Indian National Congress (INC).
Although initially the INC appeared to be lagging behind the online blitz unleashed by the BJP, very soon it woke up to the potential of the Social Web. However, being a late starter, the Congress party's campaign seemed to be always discussed in comparison to the BJP campaign.
The Congress party's new website launched mid-March 2009, sported the party's election slogan “Aam Aadmi Ke Badhte Kadam, Har Kadam Par Bharat Buland” (The ordinary man marches forward and with his every step, India is strengthened). Blogger Dimakh was not very impressed with the initial effort. He writes:
The website (of the INC) is not that attractive and not upto the mark of BJP which has lot of interesting features and seems to be updated more often. The site also seems to be done in frames technology which is very outdated and non search engine friendly. A very few ways to allow people interaction or no use of blogs and videos.
Apart from renewing their website, the Congress also launched online advertising featuring the party's Prime Ministerial candidate Dr. Manmohan Singh, the party's president Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and the party's general secretary, her son Mr. Rahul Gandhi.
screenshot of a Congress ad showing on Bollywood Frames, an entertainment blog.
As part of their online campaign strategy, the Congress also set up 600 Internet kiosks across the country. Taragana writes about the kiosks set up in Gujrat.
The  kiosks have laptops to show the achievements of  the  United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
These kiosks will be installed across various public places like malls, restaurants where they are bound to attract the youth and will fill them on the successes of UPA through audio-visual presentations.
Around one-and-half-year has gone into planning and creating these kiosks, which will also allow the users, an access to free internet usage for 20 minutes along with highlights of the schemes and achievements of the UPA vis-’-vis its opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
However, the part of the campaign for which the Congress has been most in the news is their election videos. Having purchased the rights to the Oscar winning song “Jai Ho” from the much-in-the-news film Slumdog Millionaire, the Congress initially launched a video campaign with three 60-second ad films using the Jai Ho music and jingle.The lyrics in these videos (1, 2, 3) extolled the Congress party's heritage, leaders, achievements and various schemes launched for the Aam Aadmi (common man).The videos were splashed across TV channels, YouTube and the audio was played on radio. Though they became popular, the videos soon drew comparison with the BJP's “India Shining” campaign of 2004.
Vinod Sharma writes in his blog:
It is the Congress now that has all but copied the failed ‘India Shining’ campaign of the BJP. ..Effectively, “Bharat buland” is all but India Shining/Rising in Hindi. Now go to that same poor man in the same hut five years after he was informed that India was shining, with this slogan. This time the Congress is returning the favour to the BJP, it seems.
The BJP, on it's part, was quick to retaliate with an ‘unofficial’ parody “Bhay Ho” (Let there be fear) attacking the ‘celebratory stance’ of the Congress at the time of terror attacks, inflation, recession, job losses etc.
Soon enough, the Congress pulled the videos off air, though they continued on YouTube. Twenty-22 writes:
Congress’ ‘JAI HO’ is temporarily off the air. Negative feedback on the celebratory approach of the three short films, released earlier in March, has forced the party to reconsider using them…A senior party leader confirmed that the three ‘Jai Ho’ films prepared by Percept in early March will not be aired at all during the campaign. The initial response to the idea of using ‘Jai Ho’ as the theme song was that it sounded good, but it is a “delicate walk to the other side”. The argument is that there is an “underbelly to this song and film which is not very palatable to the Indian sensibility”. It is now feared that the campaign could expose Congress to attacks from the Opposition, which would argue that the party was responsible for the existence of slums. A message that would run counter to and cancel out Congress’ claim as the force of progress.
A fresh video campaign, focusing on empowerment of the common people, was launched and is now being aired on TV channels, their official website and on YouTube.
Apart from video, Congress party is now campaigning through Facebook and Orkut. The Gujrat wing of the Congress party and some support groups like JoinINC and InCIndia are also on Twitter now but relatively low on noise. In their own words
INCIndia @Gauravonomics This isn't the official Congress a/c but one that serves to compensate for the relatively meagre Congress presence online.
Sveta Singh at iStrat Digital Marketing Blog offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Congress’ online campaign vis-vis that of the BJP. She writes:
Mr. Advani is not the only one wooing voter online now. With Congress waking up to the reality of online media, Election 2009 has truly turned into a digital war. Though Congress had stepped in late, still it is interesting to see what activities they are doing online.
Here are a few observations:

author: Aparna Ray


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India: Why I voted 49-0 · Global Voices
Rezwan

Arby K at A View From My Disjointed Laptop explains why the blogger had to vote 49-0 (refused to vote): “By choosing to vote, I will be endorsing the current system of elections. I will be settling to meet my short term objectives sacrificing the long term ones. So, I choose not to endorse an electoral system which brings unstable governments, indecisive leadership and regional fragmentation of the nation.”

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Rezwan


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Iran:Delara,Teenage Artist, on Death Row · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

In Savedelara we read that Delara, who is now 23 years old and jailed in Iran,faces death by public hanging for a murder that took place when she was 17 years old. Watch her paintings here.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Israel: Can Yoga and Judaism Coexist?  · Global Voices
Maya Norton

There are potential problems for Jews who want to study yoga, but even its Buddhist teachings and Hindu chants can be justified as humanistic values and modified accordingly. “Hey, whatever floats your boat,” Israelity jests. “We’ve heard of kosher cell phones and kosher sex, so kosher yoga? Why not.”

author: Maya Norton


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Israel: Celebrating Freedom While Serving Army Duty · Global Voices
Maya Norton

Yoav, a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, writes about celebrating the Passover holiday while on duty. Passover celebrates the freedom of the Jews from oppression. He blogs: “Only when celebrating the festival of freedom, while wearing a uniform and holding a gun, you can understand the importance of IDF's mere existence.”


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Israel: Palestinian Photographer’s Death Still Unresolved · Global Voices
Maya Norton

The death of 23-year old Palestinian photographer Fadel Shana at the hands of the Israel Defense Forces remains unresolved one year later, Dion Nissenbaum of Checkpoint Jerusalem reports. The case is currently under investigation by the United Nations.


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Israel: Sandstorm Photos  · Global Voices
Maya Norton

Check out The Sandman's photos of Israel's recent sandstorm for a palpable sense of what it feels like to be in the midst of one.


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Japan: Dog poo signs · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Englishman blogs interesting pictures of dog poo signs in Japan.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Japan: Hacker Community · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Fumi Yamazaki shows a glimpse of Japan Hacker Community in What's happening in Japan right now?


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Macedonia: Alexander the Great as Media Bait · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Marble portrait of Alexander the Great said to be from Alexandria, Egypt (2nd or 1st century BC), currently in the British Museum, London, UK. Photo by Filip Stojanovski, CC BY NC.
For several years now, Macedonian traditional media have been involved in relentless promotion of all and any claims and events related to Alexander the Great that were deemed “positive” in terms of generating public approval and more readers/viewers.
The only other person who can come close in this regard is the late pop singer-turned national hero Toshe Proeski (1981-2007), but he has been allowed to rest in peace for the last couple of weeks, after the closure of a defamation lawsuit between his girlfriend and his manager.
Alexander III of Macedon (356 BC – 323 BC), on the other hand, has no such luck – national TV Kanal 5 this Sunday descended to a new level of Hades when it literally “raised” his spirit in a so-called news item [MKD] about a “historian” who went to Florida with a camera crew to seek the services of an allegedly famous medium to provide contact with his (sic!) ancestors. In the video, the spiritualist claims that a young man dressed in lion's skin is standing in the room, saying he went to Persia not for conquest but to seek cultural exchange, and would like to know more about the contemporary Macedonian linguistics.
Razvigor blog, run by the author of this article, commented [MKD] on this quasi-news item asking how come the ancestral spirit could communicate in English, a contemporary language which developed thousands of years after his death, but had no information on Macedonian, which developed in a similar manner. In addition, this “communication” did not provide any exclusive information which would have been known by the historical Alexander, such as locations of treasures that can be unearthed by archeologists and used as evidence, or known by his spirit – like the location of the grave containing his earthly remains.
Two days later, a user on the social bookmarking service Kajmak.ot “unearthed” [MKD] an obviously faux news item [SRP] from a Serbian blog about the discovery of Alexander's tomb in the south of the Republic of Macedonia, near the Greek border. The article is written with the structure of a “real” news story, but any resident of Macedonia with minimal knowledge of local geography or social issues would immediately recognize it as a joke, since all the names of official institutions, functions, locations and persons involved are nonexistent.
Screen shot of the front page of Macedonian news portal Kirilica from April 14, 2009, prominently displaying the faux news about discovery of the grave of Alexander the Great as a real news item.
During that day, a number of Macedonian media, such as the news portal Kirilica [MKD], published Macedonian translations of this “news” in its entirety, adding just a small, barely noticeable disclaimer that the content has not been confirmed. Such gossipy items did not contain any fact-checking whatsoever, nor did they include a link to the original source. During the day, the site was frequently unavailable, possibly due to bandwidth overload.
Some bloggers took the bait, like Vojvodataa, the author of the blog Radikalno, who wrote [MKD]:
Please God, let this be true. The article contains many first names and surnames, I think there is some truth in it. If this is true, Our Lord is coming to aid our century-old struggle for our name and the elements of our identity, of which Alexander of Macedon is an indivisible part.
Other bloggers, such as Mojon and Azhder, reacted with lascivious humor, inviting the media to republish their posts about a discovery of a sexy photo of Alexander's seventh grade math teacher taken with his iPhone Ancient [MKD], and finding of the two sculls of King Marko [MKD].
On the other hand, the scientifically-grounded Archeological Diary documented the whole affair, providing an overview of the sensationalist (including A1, the most influential national TV station) and more somber media coverage of this affair. The blog's author Vasilka Dimitrovska, an archeologist, wrote [MKD]:
First and foremost, any information must be checked with at least three independent sources. Good God, even I—a non journalist—know that. It is nebulous to distribute news about anything connected to archeology without going in the field, even about the tomb and the spirit of Alexander of Macedon in person. Unless one checks all the options and removes even a shadow of doubt, the scientific public should be spared of such turbulent, emotionally charged media observations.
I suppose that the historians and the archeologists will continue to keep mum about these events [MKD], just like they kept silent about the world's first hamburger, the Copper Book, the Hunza and the Kalash, the Rosetta Stone affair, etc. There's nothing worse than such silence and ignoring, because it implies silent approval of such hypotheses and theories. We as society slowly move closer to the axiom “that the land has always been ours,” aiming to provide an united and monolithic view of a historical walkabout from the Paleolithic to Tito, even though some of the episodes are not quite “safe” and lead to the above mentioned failures of reason.
The view that history is a science based on immaculate myths, lacking elements that would contradict the fragile “officially ours Macedonian evolutionist schema” deserves criticism. We do not need to lie [MKD] – the truth is enough, no matter what it is. In spite of the fact that the same tendency spans from Greece to Sweden – recent research showed that national myths of all European countries are almost identical [MKD]. Dissemination of such trivial information provides a fake image to the world about strengthening of our identity (esp. the ancient Macedonian part), while lacking the scientific approach, published scientific papers and documented archeological findings. I really can't see why we should use a technique of self-identification through denial [MKD] to confirm any type of identity.
To conclude, I think that the Macedonian journalists covering culture, and especially the topic of history->identity should get more education about archeology as a science which deals with societies of the past, not the present. I for one would speak at such a seminar or a workshop. If need be, pro bono. :-)

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Maldives: Quality Of Education · Global Voices
Rezwan

Abdullah Waheed questions the education system in Maldives. Although some students found themselves ranked amongst the world top ten in the Cambridge O’ level exams this year, 73% of the 7000 candidates failed the exams.


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Pakistan: Job Opening At Taliban · Global Voices
Rezwan

Beenish Khan at Kaleidoscope posts a hypothetical job advertisement for recruitment of Taliban members which concludes with: “Come and join us, because we just don't give you a job, we give you a career and a confirmed ticket to heaven.”


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St. Kitts & Nevis: Film Festival  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Repeating Islands blogs about the upcoming Nevis Film Festival, which has “a particular focus on the Caribbean region and emphasis on the discovery of first film works by new talent and emerging filmmakers.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Syria: Killing the Intifada  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“On this day Khalil al Wazir fell under a hail of bullets as an Israeli death squad attacked his home in Tunis. The Zionist state mistakenly believed that by killing him they would kill the Palestinian Intifada but, more than twenty years later, the Palestinian people are still resisting,” writes Maysaloon, from Syria.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Syria: Syrian Users Kicked off LinkedIn · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Syria, An@s Online [Ar] reports that LinkedIn has suspended all the accounts of its Syrian users. “Syrian users are now afraid that the day will come soon when they are unable to access gmail or Google search itself,” writes the blogger.


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Syria: The Excuse for Blocking Facebook · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Ahmed Bakdash [Ar], from Syria, remarks on comments made by Syrian media advisor Dr Buthaina Shaaban on the ban of Facebook in her country. She claimed that it was blocked to prevent Israelis from initiating dialogue with Syrian Facebook users. The blogger asks: “What about blocking Arabic Wikipedia?”


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Taiwan: If You Lost Your Job… · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

Photo of Jian Yi-hao
What would you feel if you are fired,  your small business goes bankrupt, or you simply cannot find any way to make a living?
In this most disastrous moment of economic downturn, many Taiwanese are losing their jobs and helplessly waiting for for all the dreadful news to stop. Some begin to blame themselves for being unemployed. Business Weekly (商業週刊), one of Taiwan's most popular mainstream financial magazine shows this trend:
在台灣，就業市場也極嚴峻。勞委會估計，今年上半年，至少有九萬個正職工作消失，且今年七月畢業季，失業率將破六％，創歷年新高！
而對失業的恐懼感，甚至比實際的失業率還要高出好幾倍。
根據本刊和雅虎奇摩合作的網路民調顯示，近五成（四六．五％）民眾認為自己一年內可能被裁員。透過交叉分析更發現，就連碩、博士學歷者，也有四成以上認為自己可能被裁；而年齡越高，也越覺得自己會被裁。
不只如此，這份民調中，有近六成（五九．九％）民眾認為自己一旦被裁員，無法以現有技能在職場上獨立生存。其中，二十三歲到三十歲、三十一歲到四十歲者，認為自己難生存者超過六成。連碩士、博士學歷者，也有四成以上認為自己難生存。
The only solution offered by mainstream media is: be prepared to become a casual laborer and be ready to upgrade one's personal ability. For example, on Commonwealth Magazine: Who can give me a stable job?
全國的中高齡勞工都期待一支真正可以釣魚的魚竿，可以有尊嚴地工作，不必靠救濟金度日。
…and on United Daily News: Increase Personal Value by ACTION
「世界隨時在改變，你的『視界』也要隨之改變。」魏美蓉認為，自我鍛鍊成為「無可取代」的人，厚植個人的可雇用價值，而非技能的獨特性，逐步拉大與別人之間的距離，有朝一日，會找到職場的一片天。
However, to Jiang Yi-hao (江一豪), a worker and social activist, all these so-called solutions are nonsense. Jiang works in a remover company, writes for a left-wing citizen media Coolloud as a citizen reporter and fights for aborigines’ living right as a Han Taiwanese.  In a speech he gave in Tzu Chi University, he argued against these popular nonsense. He carried on the discussion in his blog, “Life is a Fight”:
「有人說：一定要有『靠救濟是一種墮落』的心態，才能讓自己不失業。怨天尤人、把責任都推給別人，不如『活在當下』『先動起來最重要』。」我相信，正是這種說法，才讓台灣勞工陷於今天的一敗塗地。
「美國華爾街掀起的金融海嘯，已延伸為大失業潮，潮水覆蓋全球，從美洲、歐洲而亞洲，無一倖免。」這句被王發行人拿來為這篇文章破題的話，精確地點出至今讓許多工人失業的罪魁禍首——擁有金融資本的權貴們透過衍生性商品在市場上興風作浪，並在搜刮財富後，將整個泡沫爆裂的代價以大規模的失業，推給無力自保的勞工階層來苦吞這場遊戲的惡果。
如果引發這次大失業潮的許多不公不義，至今還未被好好地清算；過程中受害最深的工人階層，正因為無法被制度保護而陷於生死邊緣之際，憑什麼要相信「靠救濟是一種墮落」的心態，來確保自己不失業？
這是什麼道理？！
然而攤開每天每日的報章，這樣偏廢的言論卻不斷地充斥在大眾的眼耳間。就拿天下、遠見雜誌的樣版企業——台積電來說，光是這個(3)月就備受主流媒體以大量篇幅來款待，不論是蟬連「天下企業公民獎」的大型企業首獎、或是其執行長蔡力行列名巴隆金融週刊（Barron's）年度全球最受敬重的執行長，連因為短期訂單增加取消無薪假，都能成為頭條新聞。但台積電於此同時發生的勞資爭議，卻遲遲無法在主流媒體曝光(註2)。
台灣的失業工人之所以會獨自走向貧窮、燒炭的命運，很大部分正是因為我們長期把失業當成個別勞工的錯誤與罪過，卻錯失集體面對、思考制度結構嚴重缺損的問題。如何透過這次因權貴階級把玩資本遊戲，而讓無辜勞工承擔痛苦的大失業潮，讓大眾至少能在「失業不只是我的錯」這個共識下，思考並推動妥善處理失業創傷的制度療法，才是一個正確的理絡，絕對不該再走回高唱勞工自我調適、增值的老路上。
在那天結束慈濟大學的分享後，有些同學仍意猶未盡地伴著我跟另一位講者提出他們的問題與感想，其中有位同學跟我說著她那同樣作為搬運工人的父親，我記得自己說了下面這段話：「我們工人的每一分錢都是靠著自己血汗，清清白白賺來的，沒有一分是不勞而獲、不義之財。」最後我說，「所以我覺得，當個勞動者是很光榮的一件事。」
明明不是我們不夠努力，而是這個社會給予我們的認識與尊重，太少。

author: Portnoy Zheng


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Australia: Playing Political Bingo with Boat People  · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

An upturn in the arrival of refugees to Australia by boat has brought tragedy and controversy. The issue of border protection that dominated the 2001 Federal election has re-emerged with extra venom.
A refugee boat has exploded off the north west coast.Three people are dead, two are missing and more than thirty have been injured, some with very serious burns. Three members of the Australian Defence Force, which was towing the boat, are among the injured.
Western Australian police say three people are dead and two are missing following an explosion on board an asylum-seekers’ boat being escorted to Christmas Island this morning.
Three dead, dozens injured after explosion on asylum boat ABC News Online 17 April 2009
Allegations that the fatal explosion was caused by asylum seekers have also revived the political storm surrounding the children overboard affair.
Claims that fuel was deliberately poured over the small wooden fishing vessel before the blast will be the focus of inquiries by police and the Northern Territory coroner.
Sabotage fear on boat blast  The Age 17 April 2009
A political stoush has erupted with Opposition parliamentarians accusing the government of causing the increase in boat people and encouraging people smuggling through its changes to border protection.
Bloggers are also taking off the gloves. Gary Sauer-Thompson at Public Opinion bemoaned the attempts to politicise asylum seekers again:
Doesn't the old hang on. The Liberals are banging the drum about border security, bad asylum seekers, boat people and soft on security. It is just like a replay of the old children overboard affair with undercurrent of Asian hordes invading Australia because they read The Australian and realized that Rudd Government has gone soft on the processing of asylum seekers.
The reality is that most asylum seekers arrive by plane, many are sent back, whilst the asylum seekers who arrive by boat are processed on Christmas Island. Children are treated more humanely, the so-called “Pacific Solution”, which had people sent to Nauru has been abolished and it has scrapped temporary protection visas, as well as reforming detention policy.
banging an old drum
Mark Thomson’s blog, Seeking Asylum Down Under, has a clear purpose:
Yes, we remember! Blame the victims for their own plight, extract as much sensationalism out of the role of people smugglers, put words in the mouth of ADF personnel who cannot answer for themselves, and then whip up public sentiment against refugees. Throw in dollops of confected outrage over your political opponents complete lack of preparedness to face down the ‘threat’ and you have the typical Lib's stock in trade response to the terrible plight of some of the most vulnerable people on the planet.
Oh, I forgot – then you set about making weak neighbouring countries complicit in policies that violate human rights!
Human rights in Australia – the fear & smear Liberals are at it again over asylum seekers!
Another progressive blog, Club Troppo, was more restrained:
Yesterday’s “boat people” explosion near Ashmore Reef west of Darwin, in which 3 people were apparently killed outright and many more seriously injured, has eerie if obvious parallels with the “children overboard” saga of 2001 which helped John Howard to his third successive election victory.
Returning to the present, there is a crucial difference between the situation the “children overboard” and “Tampa” asylum seekers faced and that of yesterday’s group whose boat apparently caught fire and exploded.  The current group didn’t face being towed back out to sea, and they almost certainly didn’t face prolonged immigration detention while their protection visa applications were processed.
In those circumstances, WA Premier Colin Barnett’s claims that the asylum seekers deliberately doused their vessel and the surrounding waters with petrol doesn’t seem to make sense.  There must be more to it than we’re being told, unless these particular asylum seekers simply hadn’t heard that the old Howard government “towaway zone” or ”lock ‘em up offshore and throw away the key” policies were no longer operative.  There’s a lot more to be told about this story.
The old explosive asylum story reignites
The alternative view was put strongly by Andrew Bolt, newspaper columnist for Rupert Murdoch’s Herald-Sun and perhaps Australia’s best known and controversial right-wing blogger:
AT least three boat people now dead. So how much “kinder” do Kevin Rudd’s policies seem now?
John Howard was supposed to be the cruel one, said Labor. It was Howard when Prime Minister who put in the Pacific Solution, whisking illegal boat people to Nauru, rather than land them here.
Too harsh, said Kevin Rudd, and scrapped it. It was Howard who cut the legal circus that allowed illegal immigrants to play the system for years, until we gave up trying to deport them.
Too harsh, said Rudd, and laid on lawyers. It was Howard who cut the lure of benefits and then imposed on illegal immigrants the imminent threat of return.
Too harsh, said Rudd, and scrapped the Temporary Protection Visas, giving all illegal immigrants—including well-heeled ones fleeing no particular danger—instant access to permanent residency with all the tempting benefits and rights.
Too harsh, said Rudd. And enlightened opinion cheered. Now we were nice. Really? So how nice is it to have now lured at least three people to their deaths? To have not one child overboard—oh, what a confected scandal that was—but a whole boatload of 49?
Yes, indeed. This is a “people overboard” scandal, but for real this time.
People overboard, and the kindness than kills
Possum Comitatus at Pollytics did not show any restraint when condemning Bolt’s post:
… there is no larger magnet for outright bigotry than asylum seekers.
With refugees it’s literally Moral Panic Bingo; Islam, terrorists, race, xenophobia – refugees are the ultimate canvas upon which the shallow end of the public affairs pool can paint their own preferred pathological animosities. If you don’t believe me, then undertake an experiment:
Write down 9 favourite themes of the small minded nutjob set, not specifically about any given thing, any old generically bigoted idiocy will do – then pop on over to the usual creatures that prey on such feeble minded antipathy and read the comments sections on any post they have about asylum seekers. Every time one of your predicted themes is mentioned by a commenter, mark it off – you won’t have to read far before you’ll be shouting “Wingnut Bingo!”.
Of all the Wingnut Bingo halls in the land, there is none bigger than that hosted by The Undescended Testicle.*
He started yesterday with his sneering innuendo, of asylum seekers being “Lured by Rudd to their deaths?”. There really are no boundaries that Bolt’s hysterical Rudd Rage refuses to cross – although the only thing really being “lured” here are miscreants by the bucketful into Andrew Bolt’s site –herding the dross of the internet into News Ltd advertising by playing up to their shallow and spiteful little fantasies.
Why Andrew Bolt should be Sodomised with a Calculator – Part 142
Not the usual sort of  criticisms we expect from a statistician and psephologist. For his data analysis you’ll have to visit Possum’s post.
It appears that most of those on the boat were fleeing Afghanistan, a country where Australian troops are currently fighting the Taliban.

author: Kevin Rennie


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Bahrain: Sunni v. Shi’i Basketball · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Bahraini blogger Ali Abdulemam writes about a basketball match with Sunni fans on one side and Shi'i the other.

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Bangladesh: Bijli Strikes · Global Voices
Rezwan

Tropical cyclonic storm Bijli (01B) is making a landfall in the Southern coasts of Bangladesh. The 3rd world view has the updates.


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Barbados: The Danger of Hate Speech  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bajan Dream Diary makes a case for hate speech legislation in Barbados.


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Bermuda: National Debt · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

When Vexed Bermoothes learns that Bermuda's national debt currently works out to about $58,000 per person, he suggests putting “a National Debt Clock in front of the Cabinet Office, just to remind those sweet talkin’ big spenders what they are doing to Bermuda’s future generations.”


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Bolivia: Community Wireless Network in El Alto · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Mario Durán of Palabras Libres [es] unveils the free and community wireless internet connection in the Rio Seco neighborhood of El Alto, Bolivia.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Caribbean: 5th Summit Begins  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As the heads of member states of the Fifth Summit of the Americas gather today in Trinidad and Tobago, bloggers Caribbean-wide are eager to discuss the pros and cons of the event.
Grenadian Blah Bloh Blog says:
Although I’m a good 150 miles overseas, I must admit to a great deal of personal excitement over the impending arrival of President Obama in Trinidad; we can only hope he might decide on a spur of the moment rest-stop in Greenz perhaps?
For the past week or so, as advance security measures have begun, Grenada’s Point Salines International Airport has become a hub for the U.S. Air Force.  F15 jets and C5 transports occupy a section of the runway, with the F15s maintaining a steady rotation of recon/surveillance flights.
Here’s hoping to hear some good news out of the Summit.
Good news may have to wait, but Blah Bloh Blog certainly spread some confusing news in the form of photos (allegedly of the arrival of The Beast) at Piarco International Airport, although there is no confirmation as to whether the vehicle in question is actually the U.S. President‘s limousine – but that didn't stop her from commenting:
Lawd, I have to love mi Trini brudders and dem – yuh ent see dem posing wid de man vehicle!! (For what it’s worth, I understand these pictures were taken by T&T police officers, not civilians. I know we Caribbean people good, but we ent so good dat de Secret Service go let we jus’ be liming around de most secure car in de world).
Other bloggers, however, are focused on more controversial issues.  From Trinidad and Tobago, Undisputed Truth has the financial impact of hosting the Summit on his mind:
The government of Trinidad and Tobago is spending between $1 billion to $2 billion TT dollars (US$161 million – US$323 million) of taxpayer money on the Summit. So far they are yet to publicly disclose the exact figure.
Trinidad’s GDP is only about US$15 billion. Trinidad is therefore spending about 13% of its GDP just to host the Summit. Prime Minister of Trinidad Patrick Manning has been mentioning his intentions to host the Summit for years. He has translated this into creating state agencies to quickly renovate and construct high-rise buildings in and around Port-of-Spain and the country each costing hundreds of millions of dollars. So the real cost of the Summit may be even scarier.
To put this into perspective, the G20 Summit hosted in London costed just £20 million or TT$180 million or US$29 million. So Trinidad is spending as much as 10 times the cost of the G20 Summit for the Summit of the Americas.
This is an absolute scandal and waste of money…
Barbadian blogger Cheese-on-bread! adds:
All eyes will be focused over the next few days on Trinidad, where President Barack Obama will be attending the 5th Summit of the Americas. I must admit now that although I would have been thrilled to get a glimpse of Mr. President, I don't think we could afford the expense that comes with hosting him. Reports suggest that T&T is spending TT$1.2 billion on the summit…thank God they have oil money. No bosie, it doesn't make sense putting ourselves in the poor house to put on a good show for the Americans.
Part of the President's surveillance has been set up here at the Grantley Adams International Airport, and I imagine all their satellites must be trained on Trinidad at this moment. All the criminals will probably be lying low this weekend…
Over in the French Caribbean, Carib Creole One [Fr] is carefully following Summit developments and ponders on issues of self-governance and inter-Caribbean relations.  He also takes a look at the complex relationship between the U.S. and Cuba.
Live in Guyana talks about the “Great Wall“:
The residents of Beetham Gardens, a drab area of rundown government housing and relentless gang warfare, have been cut off from the rest of this sprawling Trinidadian capital.
The government has erected a wall along the neighborhood's frayed edges, blocking the view into a long troubled community that shares space with the murky waters of industrial waste, overgrown weeds and the constant stench of the nearby landfill.
The 5-foot-tall wall is simply a beautifying touch, say government officials, who have spent months prepping for the arrival this week of 33 leaders including President Barack Obama at the largest and most important gathering of hemispheric leaders.
But it seems that Guyana has some Summit controversy of its own.  Caribbean American Forum notes that:
The New York Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID)…published a full page ad telling summit participants that ‘There is a crisis of governance in Guyana which has burgeoned from unparalleled corruption, bad and despotic governance and the abrogation of the rule of law. Guyana’s democracy is tenuous at best and the nation stands at the threshold of failed statehood.’
T&T-based Now is Wow Too finds the theme of the Summit (Securing Our Citizens’ Future by Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability) incredibly ironic:
T&T GOVERNMENT: Citizens? What citizens? All we care about is hurriedly spending at least $500 million dollars to fix up the country so that it looks good for Obama … and the rest of the world.
Quick! He's flying in today! Forget about the global financial crisis. Let's dish out about $1 million US to rehabilitate the airport so we can accommodate the US Presidential aircrafts and the other jets that are bringing in our important guests!
Paint all the lines, roadsigns, lightpoles, tree trunks … in fact, paint every and anything on the road along the route from the airport to Port-of-Spain! We can't afford to let Obama see any of our infrastructure looking old and ratty! And never mind if the citizens are stuck for hours in traffic while we spruce up. They're used to it.
(… i.e. the traffic, not the sprucing up).
Pave the roads and fix any potholes in areas where Obama and other foreign Heads of State have to pass! Build a wall (… and call it a ‘berm’) to hide the ‘slums’ in the Beetham so our important guests won't see the poverty!
And on that note, drive around and pick up all the vagrants so it will look like we don't have a problem with homelessness and madness. Some of these social outcasts are running away, but hopefully not in the direction of the Summit centre!
As if to address her concerns, public relations blog 5 am at Mango Media Caribbean interviews a spokesperson for the Summit Secretariat, who claims that “we are ready alright [for the Summit]; we have been ready for awhile” – this despite countless stories of a lack of preparedness in the local mainstream media.
In fact, Trinidad blogger B.C. Pires, who now lives in Barbados, is convinced that the best place to be for the Summit is anywhere outside of Port of Spain:
The Summit of the Americas starts tomorrow and the big shots start arriving today, with Barack Obama being the biggest shot of them all, of course.  And you won’t be able to move a muscle in town until Barack and the Beast ride out again.
He's not far off – Caribbean Beat Blog, for instance, reports that:
Caribbean Airlines (CAL) has been informed by the relevant authorities that there will be limited disruptions to its scheduled operations during the Fifth Summit of the Americas…CAL is recommending that passengers depart for the airport much earlier than usual, in the event that any traffic pile-ups occur, in order to arrive at the airport three hours ahead of their scheduled flight departure time.
But there is a lighter side to the Summit as well – at least in the eyes of bloggers.  As always, Trinidadian This Beach Called Life uses humour to focus on key issues, posting a fictitious diary entry from President Obama:
The trip to Mexico was eventful. We promised to use less illicit drugs and Mexico promised to export less gardeners. I am now on my way to sunny Trinidad and Tobago and can’t wait to see the Hyatt.
I can see a few tall buildings, the Great Beetham Wall and Hugo waving a red flag. Port of Spain looks good from this angle but there are wires hanging everywhere.  I wonder if they managed to round up the homeless and hide them from the international press. This was so Third World, the cleaning up for the Summit but denying it wasn’t so. Only a Banana Government would act this foolish. I wonder if there is going to be any protest but I don’t think a semi-dictatorial leader would allow something as democratic as protests to take place during an international event. It would make them look even worse.
Culture is also playing a role – both officially and unofficially.  Caribbean Free Radio‘s flickr photostream displays a photoset entitled “The People Must Be Herd”, along with the following explanation…
As final preparations are being made for the staging of the 5th Summit of the Americas in Trinidad, a group of artists will do a performance installation on the streets of Trinidad and Tobago's capital, Port of Spain.
The silent procession is part of a video installation being created by the band’s designers Ashraph Ramsaran and Shalini Seereeram.
T’in Cow Fat Cow debuted as an independent mas band in 2009, inspired by the song T'in Cow by 3 Canal.
…while Repeating Islands blog has the scoop on the cultural presentation for the official Summit opening later today:
For the opening ceremony, [carnival designer] MacFarlane has put together a 45-minute cultural presentation that traces the development of the Caribbean peoples from the indigenous inhabitants to the multi-ethnic citizenry of the region today.
What the Fifth Summit of the Americas will eventually achieve is still up for debate, but one thing is certain: the multi-ethnic citizenry of the blogosphere will monitor its progress every step of the way.


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China: Dialogue with Anti-CNN · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

On Monday (11 April), Rebecca MacKinnon, Global Voices Online co-founder and former CNN journalist, was interviewed by core members of Anti-CNN website.
This is a significant event as the Anti-CNN website was launched to counter the western media's (represented by CNN) reports on the Tibetan unrest and crackdown in May last year. As it has been pointed out by Rebecca during the interview that many people regard Anti-CNN a community of 50 cent for spreading Chinese government's propaganda. This interview can give people a glimpse of this community of patriotic young people.
The conversation was mainly about western media “impartial” and “bias” report on news related with China, including Tibet issue, Olympic torch relay protest. Rebecca has written a detailed summary in Rconversation. She expects to see more interaction between the Anti-CNN community with the outside world:
My purpose in doing this interview was primarily to understand the Anti-CNN community better as part of my book research. Communities of enthusiastic, patriotic young people like the Anti-CNN volunteers are part and parcel of the phenomenon I call cyber-tarianism.
It will be very interesting to see how the Anti-CNN website continues to evolve. Rao Jin (founder of the website) has plans to develop an English-language platform – with a less provocative, more friendly name – through which his community can engage in dialogue and debate with the English-speaking world. I think it's great that they're looking to expand their dialogue and engage with the world. It's important that the outside world understand that China's patriotic youth, like young Republicans or young Tories, feel that they are acting on their own belief systems and get angry when characterized as brainwashed puppets. It will be fascinating to see how the outside world reacts to these efforts, and how the Anti-CNN website administrators handle conversations that foreigners want to have with them involving events, people, or points of view that Chinese websites are generally required to censor in order to avoid being shut down.
In the Anti-CNN website, the organizer has transcribed in brief the conversation in the forum and here is a selection of carry on discussion:
happy: 看完了，至少代表了一个理性的国外记者的成熟看法，当然，我听得出来她对一个没有自由，特别是没有舆论自由国家的失望以及不满，当然分寸都是恰到好处，可以通过网络审查聊起来。
再者，Rebecca回答问题中流露出来的西方思维以及那些关于独立思考、言论自由、动机和目的区别对待的理性精神，都是我们“先天”缺少的，这种对话很有意义，真实多了。比看100条CCTV新闻联播内容有收获多了。
Moreover, western ideas of independent thought, freedom of speech and rational thinking that differentiate means and ends are implicit in her answer. These are something we missed in our culture. This kind of conversation is very meaningful and concrete, a lot more fruitful than 100 items in CCTV news broadcast.
superstar: 感谢Rebecca。相对来说，对中国的看法比较客观。
不过Rebecca的回答，也没啥新意。西方人对中国的看法都那样，我们国家重要的还是自己解决好发展的问题，其实不太用得着别人如何看。
当然，实际上CNN们的某些针对中国粗糙加工或者巧妙加工的新闻，我感觉他的读者并非西方人，而是我们中国内部。西方人充其量也就是个看热闹的，好点的也就是同情加理解而已，品行不端的可能期待着乘火打个劫什么的。
我想，实际上，中国跟西方的交流已经越来越多，虽然中国对西方某些方面保持着自我保护。但随着中国国家不断的发展，自信力的增长，针对中国的双重标准的事情会越来越少。我们会逐渐的敞开胸怀拥抱世界。
However, there is nothing new in her answer. Westerners share similar view on China, we have to solve our own developmental problem and should not care too much on others’ opinion.
My feeling is that the main audience of CNN's cropped photo and carefully processed news are Mainland Chinese, westerners are onlookers. Some with good intention may read it with sympathy, some with vice intention may take advantage of it.
In reality, there is more and more communication between China and the West. In some aspects, China is being self-defensive. However, China will gain more confidence when it continues to develop and there will be less and less double standard judgment towards China. We can embrace the world then.
ry1808: 中国的媒体给我的感觉是漂亮话说得太多，主旋律过于旺盛（当然现在有所改善，但是还是不够），但是刻意颠倒黑白的事情并不多见。国内媒体对于自己不便说的事情一般采取噤声的态度，也就是回避，根本不说。而西方媒体往往会自己另外编一个故事，让这个故事更符合自己的价值观。
四月社區初中一年級：AC提问过于温和，没有抓住一个问题深问，让她避重就轻绕过去了。还有，对暴徒袭击金晶，西人疯狂反华，西媒践踏中国民意(北京奥运)等违背人类基本道德规范，违背西方一直对别人说教的“人权”等的丑恶，此人根本没有认识到这是西方道德沦丧，是一种虚伪，双重标准的突出表现。她还是一付道德优越感的样子。每当问题涉及到西媒偏见，她就提中国媒体如何如何不好，这是两码事，至少中国媒体不自封是世界上最客观，公正的媒体。她既然懂中文，难道不知道中国媒体，从主流到网络，对政府的批评有多自由？多利害？希望AC以后这种访谈不要中了西人圈套，让此类人士借此机会收集所谓材料好写书，然后在书中以所谓“中国问题专家”口吻，再来一个重复西人对中国的深刻偏见和傲慢。老实说，我很失望…
Aircraft: 建议AC把这位记者在访谈后用英文写的一篇文章翻译出来。她的文章已经被美国人放在网上来批评中国人了。此人的文章将网友的提问断章取意，还是不断重复自己已经形成的偏见，吹捧达赖。
Hu Yong writes a blog post commenting on the difficulty in this communication:
沟通，还发生在两种不同的思维范式之间，一种范式总是使用“你们”这个词，把对方视为一个步调，一种声音，乃至一个蓄谋已久的阴谋；另一种范式总是使用“我”这个词，“我不会说中国人都怎么样之类的话，因为不同的人有不同的看法、利益、动机”；还发生在两种不同的政治文化之间，一种文化中，总理遇鞋后说：“这种卑鄙的技俩，阻挡不了中英两国人民的友谊！人类的进步、世界的和谐，是任何力量也阻挡不了的！”另一种文化中，总统遇鞋后说：“我能告诉大家的是，这只鞋子是10码……通过这么做来吸引注意力，这是一个人在自由社会所能做的”；还发生在两种不同的交流话语之间，一种话语体系中，由于管制的不对称性，支持政府的声音、支持主流立场的声音高亢嘹亮；另一种体系中，掌握政权的群体和无政权的群体相比，更重视后者的声音。
这是一场极为艰难的沟通，我要因此向小麦老师致敬，有勇气、有智慧进行这样一场跨文化、跨年龄、跨范式的沟通，给我们提供了一个观察部分中国年轻人所受教育和所持思维的窗口，更提供了一个和这样一种教育和思维下的年轻人进行对话的范本。
This is an extremely difficult communication. I have to express my respect to Rebecca. It takes much courage and wisdom to have this kind of cross-cultural, cross-generational and cross-paradigm communication. It gives us an opportunity to observe Chinese young people's education and mode of thinking and provides us with an example for future dialogue with them.


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FMC Meets with Conservationists in Nairobi over Furadan · Global Voices
Samuel Maina

Furadan meeting at WildlifeDirect office, Nairobi
On Wednesday, 15 April 2009, two representatives FMC, the Philadelphia-based manufacturer of the controversial pesticide that is at the centre of lion poisoning in Kenya, Furadan, met with conservationists that WildlifeDirect had gathered for that purpose. The conservationists had high hopes following FMC's announcement that they had withdrawn the deadly chemical from the Kenyan market and were implementing a buy-back program to remove the existing stock from the country. They had hopes for a productive meeting that would result in the charting of a strategy to ensure that all Furadan stock still in the country is removed.
However, Dr Paula Kahumbu – WildlifeDirect's CEO and convener of the meeting – while blogging at Baraza, said that things were not as rosy as they expected. “Of course FMC are not really interested in wildlife per se” she said in her blog post dated April 16. It was harrowing, according to her, that FMC would consider re-introduction of Furadan in future.
The scariest thing we heard from FMC was that they “will reintroduce Furadan once the right conditions are in place” course they wouldn’t divulge what those were.
Paula does not hide her frustration especially that stemming from the fact that FMC did not officially acknowledge that their product was devastating wildlife in Kenya. FMC say that there is not enough evidence to conclusively say that Furadan is responsible for all these wildlife deaths and they had taken the initiative to remove the product from the market just as a precaution. As difficult as it is to get imperical evidence against Furadan in Africa, there is a wealth of anecdotal evidence that points to the preference to use Furadan to poison wildlife. “With all the other evidence we have, eg. people admitting to using Furadan, purple grains on carcasses baited for lions, purple grains on snails for the bird hunting in Bunyala…How much more obvious does it have to be? asks Paula.
What FMC does or who they meet – for they have scheduled several meetings with government bodies – there is one disturbing point about Furadan and Paula has it in her post.
What I can’t get my head around is how our government can defend the use of a chemical that is banned in Europe and for which the US EPA has found there is no safe way to use it in a country of educated people who also have excellent enforcement.  In Kenya the people who use Furadan don’t even know how to read the label and none of them use any form of protective gear. That alone should make the officials question whether it’s safe for human use.

author: Samuel Maina


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Georgia: Who is Giorgi Targamadze? · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

The Tbilisi Blues comments on the current opposition protests in the Georgian capital and says that one political force opposed to the president might yet benefit from the stand-off between the government its more radical opponents.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Global Recession: “Underdevelopment is a mixed blessing”  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

There are governments which insist that their countries are not affected by the global economic crisis. Most of the time they are not convincing; and their constituents do not believe in the supposed improvement of the economy. But some of these governments might be telling the truth. They may not be completely honest about the real economic situation of their countries but they may be correct when they insist that the fearsome credit crunch, housing bubble, and other familiar crisis indicators are not visible in their territories.
How is this possible? Countries with very small economies and countries which are not globally-integrated are usually the same countries which claim that the financial crisis has not affected them so far. This post cites a few examples:
An article in the World Bank blog which focuses on East Asia agrees that Laos is not severely hurting from the crisis because of its “unsophisticated economy.”
Laos has a relatively unsophisticated economy that is agriculture- and natural resource-based, although industry as share of GDP has been growing steadily in the last decade…So far, Laos has been affected by the crisis less than other countries, because underdevelopment and relative closeness of the country's economy – curses that turned out to be a mixed blessing.
Earlier, I quoted a Lao economist who asserts that Laos will survive the crisis because of its agriculture-based economy.
Laos depends mainly on its agricultural economy. Photo from Flickr page of sama sama – massa
The author of Yek Livan Chayeh Dagh (means a cup of hot tea) notes that Iran, which does not have access to most of international financial markets, is less affected by the international financial crisis.
The reason is that Iran’s only link with outside world is through selling oil and its price has not fallen yet to critical price….I think the sections that will suffer a lot are the ones that provide service to new investments such as engineering consulting firms. The factories/enterprises that produce consuming goods such as food probably won’t find themselves in difficult situation.
Iman Brotoseno from Indonesia observes that the stock market crash did not hurt most Indonesians.
Wajar jika krisis ini ada imbasnya ke Pasar Modal Indonesia. Tapi hanya buat mereka kalangan ‘ the haves ‘. Kontribusi pasar modal di Indonesia  kecil sekali dibanding dengan sektor perbankan dan riil. Menurut Mirza Adhityaswara, di Amerika lebih dari 60 % penduduknya berinvestasi di pasar modal. Sementara di Indonesia hanya sekitar 1 juta orang yang bermain secara langsung , sementara yang lain bermain dalam investasi tidak langsung seperti reksadana dan saham campuran, dengan jumlah ‘ hanya ‘ Rp 30 trilyun.
Tony Abaya cites the failures in exports and tourism in the Philippines as the country’s “temporary salvation.”
The main and major reason why this country has not been as shaken as our neighbors have been by the global recession is our failures to develop exports and tourism to the same extent as our neighbors have.
These two sectors are the lynchpins of our neighbors’ prosperity, and the collapse of these sectors worldwide has unhinged their economies, leading to closure of hundreds of thousands of enterprises and the loss of jobs for tens of millions of workers and employees.
In other words, our failures in exports and tourism have ironically become our temporary salvation
Those who are exalted will be humbled, as our more successful neighbors’ economic skyscrapers crack or crash in the Intensity 6 earthquake, while the modest Filipino 3-storey walk-up remains relatively unscathed, so far.
Thank God or Allah – as well as our clueless trapos (traditional politicians), – for our failures.
Fatos Lubonja in Albania blames the lack of instruments to measure the crisis for the “indifference” of the people on the global crisis.
Më bën shumë përshtypje se sa pak flitet në Shqipëri për krizën botërore ekonomike dhe se sa cekët mbi të gjitha. […]Besoj se një nga shkaqet kryesore të indiferencës sonë qëndron në faktin se na mungojnë instrumentat për të matur atë që të tjerët e quajnë “krizë” dhe në përgjithësi na mungon një sistem imuniteti që, me reagimin e tij, tregon shkallën e rëndësisë së sëmundjes. Kriza sot matet me përqindjet e humbjeve në bursë, me përqindjet e rritjes së papunësisë, me shkallën e falimentimeve të ndërmarrjeve, me shkallën e rënies së fuqisë blerëse, të eksportit e me rradhë. Për të gjitha këto ne nuk kemi tregues seriozë dhe të saktë. […]
Dojdlivoe-leto from Kazakhstan remembers that the economic woes of the present are not as worse as the crisis in the 1990s [ru]:
There were times when all we had to eat were boiled macaroni and convenience soup from the grocery? This time, the worst thing that can happen is that we would have to abstain from shopping. It is not worth of panic.
The Iranian quote was translated by GV editor Hamid Tehrani. The Bahasa quote was translated by GV author Carolina Rumuat. The quote from Albania was translated by GV author Elena Ignatova. The Russian quote was translated by GV editor Adil Nurmakov.

author: Mong Palatino


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Guadeloupe: Sarkozy & Guadeloupe · Global Voices
Fabienne Flessel

After the 45-day mobilization in Guadeloupe, French President Nicolas Sarkozy made many promises – Mycho, who blogs at Critiqart Guadeloupe [Fr], expresses her disappointment about the President's attitude.

author: Fabienne Flessel


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Guyana: CLICO Judicial Manager Shot  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

News broke yesterday that Insurance Commissioner Maria van Beek, who also happens to be the woman in charge of dissolving failed conglomerate CLICO Guyana, was shot yesterday in Georgetown.  Bloggers have been trying to make sense of the attempted murder…
Guyana 360, one of the first bloggers to break the story, offers some context to the disturbing incident:
The collapse of Clico has left many policyholders and pension fund contributors in Guyana anxious about the company's ability to honor its commitments. Earlier this week, Van Beek filed a report saying the company's liabilities of more than $60 million far exceed its assets.
Guyana seized Clico after its parent company in Trinidad, CL Financial Ltd., received a government bailout. CL Financial suffered huge losses in real estate investments and could not borrow enough money on credit markets paralyzed by the global financial crisis.
President Bharrat Jagdeo's administration has said it will borrow from the Treasury to pay Clico policyholders, but payment could drag out over a 10-year period.
Soon after that entry, the blogger posts an update, claiming that:
Police sources are confirming that at least two men who opened fire on Commissioner of Insurance, Maria Van Beek are well known ‘guns for hire'…a police source not authorised to speak publicly about the investigations, said that the men lay wait on Van Beek.
Guyana Providence Stadium wants to know “who tried to kill Mrs. van Beek”, but admits “at this stage it is too early to speculate”.  He continues:
Her sister said it was stupid if someone who lost money in CLICO (Guyana) did it. Logic and common sense would rule that out. Every single person who lost money in CLICO would know, and I repeat, would know that Mrs. van Beek has absolutely nothing to do with the collapse of CLICO. Such an explanation should be ruled out. It is nonsensical and absurd.
Meanwhile, fellow blogger Imran Khan, notes that traffic congestion in the capital may have aided the perpetrators of the crime:
The shooting of Maria van Beek is troubling on many levels.  And the execution of the actual crime itself leaves one frightened. Anyone from Linden, East Bank of Demerara, West Bank and West Coast of Demerara who travels to Georgetown to transact business or attend to other matters nine times out of ten would use the Lombard Street access route on which Mrs. van Beek was shot. During the day the area where she was shot usually sees traffic progress at snail’s pace.
Had there been a free flow of traffic in the area the shooter is unlikely to have had the confidence that he would have been able to execute his crime with Mrs van Beek’s vehicle likely to be proceeding at a steady pace.
Live in Guyana follows up with the suggestion that “the men, sporting dreadlocks, escaped through Leopold Street, Werk-en-rust and probably headed further southward in the City”, but it is evident from another post that he has more questions than answers:
1. Is it that Van Beek's role as Judicial Manager of CLICO Guyana cause her to be privy to certain information that may have serious consequences for others?
2. Is it that someone or group of persons feel the need to vent their anger at the moves being made at CLICO Guyana?
Diaspora blogger Signifyin’ Guyana has the last word, calling the shooting:
A shocking turn of events indeed…one more in the string of shocking twists and turns in the ongoing CLICO (Guyana) mess.
I wish van Beek a speedy recovery.


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Haiti: Mounting Tensions · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Haitian Blogger identifies what he calls “the Forces aligned against Haiti's political, agricultural and economical sovereignty”, while My Life, an Open Book… is concerned about the mounting tension on the island in anticipation of this weekend's elections.


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Honduras: Six Hurricanes Predicted in 2009 · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Six hurricanes are predicted in 2009 and may leave Honduras vulnerable writes Honduras Daily News.


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India: Sights of Indian Elections · Global Voices
Rezwan

Chapati Mystery digs into Flickr to find some photos of election campaigns in India and posts some interesting ones.


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India’s First Digital Elections Evoke Strong Reactions Online · Global Voices
Gaurav Mishra

The world's biggest election is underway in India and, as India's 714 million voters cast their ballots in the month-long elections, they are witness to a range of digital initiatives from political parties, civil society organizations, media houses and even corporates. It's not surprising, then, that the Indian internet community is abuzz with discussions related to various aspects of the elections.
It's not only a big election in terms of numbers, it's a big election for India in terms of timing. Last November, the terrorist attack in Mumbai shook up India's politically apathetic youngsters and brought them out into the streets. Since then, a series of digital civil society initiatives have sought to channel this newfound sense of civic engagement in the Indian youth into meaningful participation in the political process.
In the run up to the elections, online conversations in India have been charged with this civic consciousness. Transparency campaigns like No Criminals in Politics and Vote Report India and voter registration campaigns like Tata Tea's  Jaago Re have caught the imagination of urban India's web-savvy youngsters, with their effective use of social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube.
Rashmi Bansal believed that, with the campaign, Tata Tea has taken corporate social responsibility further than most brands do. Rajesh Kumar wondered why only beverage companies do election themed social advertising. Indian Homemaker and Chavvi Sachdev shared their experiences with voter registration. Sanjukta did an interesting interview with Jaago Re campaign coordinator Jasmine Shah.
At the same time, the janus-faced Lead India/ Bleed India campaign by The Times of India has incited mixed reactions.
Anondan tore apart the Lead India print ad while Rajiv Dingra wondered about the rationale behind the Lead India/ Bleed India dichotomy. On Twitter, several users like Deepak and Kanika, found the Bleed India campaign “funny and creative”, while Sumant and Aadisht believed that Bleed India was “buzz gone wrong” and “badly done sarcasm”.
BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani's Obama-style digital campaign consisting of a blog, a blogger outreach program, and an aggressive internet and mobile advertising element, has also evoked strong reactions online.
Most bloggers, including Sampad Swain, Mayank Dhingra and myself, have praised BJP's campaign, but some, like blogger-turned columnist Sidin Vadukut have complained that it is an overkill.
The Congress Party's Bharat Buland campaign, built around the Oscar-winning song Jai Ho (let there be victory) from Slumdog Millionaire, has attracted a lot of criticism from bloggers like Vinod Sharma, especially after the BJP released a parody titled Bhay Ho (let there be fear).
Aparna Ray has captured some of the reactions to the BJP and Congress campaigns in previous posts on Global Voices.
Several bloggers like Rajesh Jain (associated with Friends of BJP), Offstumped are aggressively campaigning for BJP. The #indiavotes09 Twitter feed is dominated by hardcore BJP supporters like @offstumped, @centerofright, and @deadpresident, with only @vimoh and @b50 standing up for Congress.
Beyond the campaigns, bloggers have been critical of BJP's Hindutva agenda and the Congress party's obsession with the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.  Bhumika Ghimire has written about these critcisms in a previous Global Voices post.
The Indian internet community has also been abuzz with discussions on the controversy surrounding Varun Gandhi's inflammatory anti-Muslim speech and subsequent imprisonment, the incidents of shoe-throwing against Congress politicians P Chidambambaram and Naveen Jindal and BJP leader L K Advani, and the election campaigns of writer Shashi Tharoor , danseuse Mallika Sarabhai and ABN AMRO India chief Meera Sanyal.
In the midst of this spirit of civic engagement, some people have become fixated on the misguided idea of “negative voting” under section 49(O). Basically, the idea is that voters should have the right to ask for a re-election by selecting a “none of the above” option, if none of the candidates are acceptable to them. A chain e-mail falsely claimed that such a rule already exists. Many bloggers, like Deva Prasad and Vimoh, strongly supported the idea and even called it a powerful agent of change. A Facebook group and an online petition promoting the idea are getting some traction.
In terms of individual sources, the Outlook India Election Blog is doing a great curation role by linking to important stories from elsewhere. Social networking community IndiPepal has blogs from several well-known analysts. Blogger Chakresh Mishra is doing a series of state-wise pre-poll predictions for the Indian elections. Blogger Manoj Kevalramani is traveling through 11 states in 45 days to get a first-hand impression of the mood on the ground during the election period. The Indian Muslims Blog is writing about the elections from a unique minority perspective. Jai Hind, Indian Election 2009, Indian Elections 2009, Indian Elections, Speak India and Youth Ki Awaaz are some other blogs dedicated to election coverage. BlogAdda and OneVote are doing a great job of aggregating these conversations.

author: Gaurav Mishra


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Iran:AlHomat, Pro- Hizbollah site hacked · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to[fa] Shafaf,AlHomat, a site in Persian that supports Lebanese Hizbollah and promotes it among Iranians, ‘was hacked by Israeli hackers’. Some Islamist bloggers criticized Iranian government for its lack of support concerning AlHomat.


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Israel: Reflecting on Israeli-Palestinian Relations · Global Voices
Maya Norton

The mood in the Israeli blogosphere is contemplative. Perhaps it is the conclusion of the Passover holiday that celebrates freedom from oppression or just that Israelis have had quiet time to spend with their families, but a number of posts about relationships between Israelis and Palestinians have recently dotted the blogosphere's landscape.
Ami of Half & Half contemplates his exposure to Arabs while growing up in Israel.
The truth is, a lot of people like me grew up in Israel, and never really mingled with Arabs. I grew up in Haifa, the “City of co-existence”. But I only saw them when I went down the hill to buy a shawarma. They lived in their neighborhoods, and I lived in mine. They went to their schools, and I went to mine.
I served in the navy, so I didn’t meet Palestinians at checkpoints, roadblocks or while enforcing curfews. Even when I was shot at by Arabs (Lebanese, in this case), I couldn’t see them, they were so far away… All in all, I led an Arab-free existence in a country predominately concerned with them.
Journalist Noam Sheizaf who blogs at Promised Land observes that there is an apathy in Israeli society about international politics, and even pertaining to issues of Israel-Palestine. Sheizaf asserts:
Many people don’t think there is such a thing as “the occupation”. That’s the unfortunate result of the Oslo Accord and the establishing of the Palestinians Authority. People don’t seem to understand that Israel is still in control of almost every aspect of the Palestinians’ lives – which, as a result, have been reduced to little more than survival.
In fact, most Israelis don’t know much about Palestinians’ lives. Unlike the years before Oslo, almost nobody visits the West Bank anymore, and Palestinians don’t enter Israel. For most Israelis, the Palestinian problem is an abstract concept, almost imaginary. The drive from some Tel Aviv suburbs to the nearest Palestinian city takes about 10 minutes, but these are two separate worlds.
Lirun of East Med Sea Peace often blogs about the people in his life, many of whom are Arabs, both Christian and Muslim. He recounts a recent experience with Arab neighbors whom he usually speaks with in Arabic and who had mistakenly believed he was a Christian Arab. (He is Jewish.)
totally flattered i was also somewhat bummed that this whole time she wasnt liking me as a jew but rather as an arab hahaha.. i had been on my best behaviour trying to cultivate positive stereotypes and all the while the already well liked christian arabs were the beneficiaries :)
Michael Horesh of Afternoon Tea in Jerusalem reflects on a visit to the West Bank in an entry entitled “Israelis and Palestinians– No Way to Live.” He writes:
For all the beauty of the nature, what I also saw was the very core of the Israeli – Palestinian conflict. For either side, it is no way to live (NWTL)…
Looking at the Palestinian villages from a distance and comparing them to the set up of Israeli towns, you can see that the Palestinian Authority is clearly unable (and unwilling) to invest resources in their social development. NWTL…
World leaders, including Israelis and Palestinians, must start to engage with those real, day-to-day, and on-the-ground issues, and in a manner that replaces rhetoric for realism and multi-level understanding. Then, maybe, we will see a sustainable peace process emerging for the Middle East.
Jeremy Moses considers the language of the conflict in the Mixed Multitudes blog.
I hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, HATE IT, when people put the word Palestine or Palestinians in quotation marks. It is incredibly offensive and does nothing to solve the conflict.
Even if you don’t think that the Palestinians have a right to their own state, by denying that they even exist as a people or that they don’t have a right to self identity is wrong.
Peace activist Daniel Lubetsky relates the challenge of choosing words and language to deal with Israeli-Palestinian issues. The founder of OneVoice, an organization seeking peace in the Middle East, Lubetsky writes about the difficulty of crafting an organizational mission statement in the midst of conflict.
The Gaza war caused so much mistrust and resentment that even the most ardent believers in co-existence, peace, freedom and security for both peoples questioned whether “the other” side was a true partner that respected them.”
Lubetsky confides that negotiations had almost reached boiling point when they were saved by support teams from the United States and Europe. In the end, both the Israeli and Palestinian teams:
… succeeded in re-affirming and even deepening their mission and common message, including recognizing each other’s core fears and needs.
In an entry entitled, “Child Abuse,” Bernard Avishai departs from a dual perspective of the Palestinian-Israeli crisis and instead focuses on the experience of the young men and women who people the Israeli armed forces.
Let me get this straight. We take tens of thousands of 18 and 19-year-olds, young people who are little more than children themselves, and at a time of life when showing the utmost cool is a kind of sexual ante; a time when ideas about the world are largely received wisdoms; when bodies are at their utmost strength but so is the fear of death… when the desire to prove one's loyalty is at its most intense…
We take these youth… and tell them that the Arabs, deep down, will never want a Jewish state in the neighborhood; that, in any case, the land is sacred, and giving ground is an utmost sin of Jewish law, as is showing mercy to those who would kill you; that “Oslo” offered Palestinians a deal with utmost generosity, but that they came back with terrorism nevertheless; that (though this much has been obvious) terrorism can come in any form, male and female, young and old; that protecting our civilians from random cruelties is the reason they are there.
Avishai concludes by saying that the youth are imbued with these notions of ethics and valor without having the life experience to temper their judgment. The need for quick action imperils their decision making. In the face of intense military pressure, they are subject to mistakes sourcing from a deep social obligation to protect the land and people of Israel.
It is not clear what will come of the Israeli blogosphere's collective ruminations, but these posts together peel back the skin of Israeli society, revealing the thoughts of the Israeli as s/he encounters and deals with life in the Middle East.


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Japan: Crisis Vocabulary  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Adamu from Mutantfrog Travelogue collects and explains a list of Japanese vocabulary for describing the financial crisis.


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Martinique: Homage to Aimé Césaire · Global Voices
Fabienne Flessel

Today, Martinique celebrates its greatest personality, the self-entitled “Nègre Fondamental”: the late author and politican, Aimé Césaire.  Montray Kréyol [Fr] publishes three posts about his life, accomplishments and homages paid to him.


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Morocco: Transport Strikes Leaves Morocco Crippled · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Over the past week, a general transportation strike across Morocco has left the country nearly immobile.  Many Moroccans rely on buses, trains, and grande taxis to get from town to town.  Peace Corps volunteers, who make up a large segment of the English-language blogosphere in Morocco, were particularly affected by the strike and shared their stories.
Petit taxi, Er-Rachidia, Morocco
One such volunteer, the blogger behind Duncan Goes to Morocco, explains the strike in detail:
The strike started on the 8th of April. It is supposed to affect all public transportation. Anyone who makes their living by driving (even transporting goods) is on strike. In small villages like my community, our local market transit is partially affected. Our transit driver went to and from Tounfite on Saturday and Sunday, but has not gone other days. I’m not sure what governs his decision.
Transportation workers are striking because they are upset with new laws imposed by the government. There are several new laws, but a couple that people talk about a lot. One is that anyone who kills someone else with their car (regardless of fault) will go to jail for upwards of ten years. Most of the other laws concern fines for traffic violations such as speeding (1,000 Dhs) and running a red light (also 1,000 Dhs). The government is making these laws in order to reduce the number of deaths on the road in Morocco, which is currently high.
The effects of the strike are far reaching. In big cities, local taxis are affected, which transport many people to and from work on a daily basis. For people in the countryside, the greater concern is traveling between towns/cities. My host dad has to travel to Tounfite in order to collect his quarterly retirement pension from the post office. He went on Monday morning, but could not find return transport so was stuck in Tounfite for… Other people have to travel to and from places like Midelt for business, but are unable to.
Jewish Morocco was frustrated by the strike as well and wrote of difficulty traveling:
Woke up early and headed to central bus station and grand taxi stand. Spotted taxis to Jeradda. One was nearly full…but with taxi drivers. Grand taxis continued to strike. Headed to bus station and almost all buses were grounded including ones to Jeradda and Berkane. Heading back to Oujda to find woman with keys to the syangogue.
Just yesterday, oclynn in Morocco, another Peace Corps blogger, wrote that “the strike is still on and Morocco is a mess. Got a ride on Sunday w/strangers to Sefrou, as not even the nukls were running.”
But today, the good news arrived, as bloggers reported the news that the strike had ended.  Peace Corps blogger Reflections and Experiences in Al Maghreb al Aqsa penned:
Last night, as Doug and I were walking back to the hotel in Azilal after dinner, we received text messages from Houda, a PC staff member, telling us that the strike was over! We ran back to the hotel, and had a little celebration with Houda, who was just as excited as us.
After spending 3 weeks out of my site, I was finally able to travel back toward Tiznit today. I got as far as Tiznit, where I am spending the night. I hope to run a few errands tomorrow morning and be back in the arms of my poor cat by lunchtime.
And The View from Fez, noting that everyone was tired of the strike, stated:
The taxi, and bus strike that has crippled Morocco over the last week appears to have been called off. At least for the time being. The View from Fez  understands that the Transport Minister has agreed to reply to the drivers’ demands within thirty days. It is hope that he will tone down the rather excessive penalties for drivers involved in accidents.
Photo Credit: Omer Simkha

author: Jillian C. York


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Georgia: Opposition protests on hold, new concerns emerge · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Russian Roadblock, Gori, Republic of Georgia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2008, Licensed under Creative Commons
With the Russian military reportedly mobilizing within striking range of Georgia, many online commentators are becoming increasingly worried by the tactics employed by the opposition as it continues its campaign to force the president, Mikhail Saakashvili, to resign.
Just eight months after the August war, The Tbilisi Blues, for example, is particularly concerned by plans to bring protesters from the regions to Tbilisi, the Georgian capital.
No water, no electricity, no work and occasional handouts from the Red Cross, he says. Such is daily life in Ditsi and other villages like it along the South Ossetia border region. But it could be worse. […]
And to make matters worse, the demonstrations in Tbilisi have got these people on edge yet again as Russian armor began to mobilize the day the protests started.
[…] I guess the opposition needs reinforcements since fewer people are turning up to their rallies. I advise them to save the gas and stay away from the former “buffer zone.”
The same point about dwindling attendances is also made on a number of other blogs. Writing on his Frontline Club blog, for example, Al Jazeera's Matthew Collin says Georgia's “Cabbage Revolution” has wilted.
[…] “All Georgia is here!” declared one optimist from the stage. It was not. These few thousand, or a good proportion of them, were the opposition’s hardcore perennials; the people we’ve become accustomed to seeing time and again at protests here down the years – the unemployed, the pensioners, the dispossessed and the desperate, chewing on sunflower seeds, spitting the husks, and smoking.
[…]
Some correspondents have also suggested that a significant number of Georgians simply don’t trust the opposition – a fragile and sometimes fractious alliance of liberal democrats, belligerent nationalists, conservatives and street-corner populists – to do any better at running Georgia than Saakashvili. Some of the current opposition alliance are former regime insiders who’ve defected and […] others are the kind of veteran authority-baiters who would probably demonstrate against themselves if they ever came to power.
That's not to say that the situation in the country is fine, the blog adds. Indeed, says Collin, there are many problems still left unresolved. However, asks  Lingelien Ludicrous Legends, does the opposition offer an alternative?
[…] I do not like misha :). I'm just afraid that the strategy of the opposition does not work. since 1. I have the feeling they only want misha out, but don't have political programs to make a change, 2. are too devided and 3. do not have one leader, furhtermore 4. blocking roads everywhere does not build sympathy with the ones not already joining your protest and 5. i'm afraid changing leaders in a democratic country only by revolutions/protest does no good. […]
The same point is also picked up by a GIPA journalism student. Writing on Alibayli’s Blog, even some of the dispossessed remain unimpressed by the campaign of street protests.
Among the thousands of protesters in front of parliament on Saturday, April 11, is Rauf Zakaryan, 45, a homeless man.
[…]
He lived in Russia, Ukraine, and Armenia before, but moved because of the lack of money and to find somewhere to live.
[…]
Zakaryan decided to live in Georgia because he heard it was a more law-abiding country. He thinks Georgia is a fairer place to live and is puzzled by the calls for Saakashvili’s resignation.
[…]
“There have to be elections, there is no other way to get rid of the president,” said Zakaryan, before going off to look for a new place to sleep for the night.
Meanwhile, the GIPA Journalism Blog reports that protests are effectively on hold while the opposition campaigns in the regions ahead of rallies planned for next week.
More updates will be posted on Global Voices Online as of when, but in the meantime it's worth keeping an eye on the GIPA Journalism School Blog as well as Twitter at #tbilisi.


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Pakistan: Talibans Violating Constitution · Global Voices
Rezwan

Yasser Latif Hamdani at Pak Tea House reacts to the news that “Sikh families living in Orakzai Agency have left the agency after the Taliban demanded Rs 50 million as jizia (tax) from them” pointing that the Taliban’s Jizya scheme is unconstitutional.

author: Rezwan


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Paraguay: President Lugo Admits Fathering a Child as Bishop · Global Voices
Muna Annahas

Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo recently admitted that he is the father of Viviana Carillo's son, who was conceived when Lugo was still a Roman Catholic bishop. He also acknowledged a long-time secret relationship with Carillo.  Now this news is causing quite a stir amongst politicians, the media, and bloggers who write about the disappointment in their current leader, but also how there are much more serious problems to worry about and the comparison to other acts committed by politicians.
Photo by Fernando Lugo APC Flickr Account. Used under Creative Commons license. http://www.flickr.com/photos/fernandolugoapc/3444612710/
Carlos Rodríguez of Rescatar [es] makes a comparison with what happened years ago in the United States, when then-President Bill Clinton had an inappropriate and extra-marital relationship with Monica Lewinski. There are some who say that it was a personal and private relationship that did not affect the country's interests or did not have any consequences in the lives of the American citizens.  Now that Lugo has come forward and will accept responsibility, he writes that the issue is closed for the Paraguayan people [es].  He adds that there are more serious acts committed by other politicians that should receive more ire from the Paraguayan citizens, and that the press should return to focusing on the “national agenda.”
However, since Paraguay is a predominantly Catholic country, many are disappointed in the fact that Lugo violated the clerical vows of celibacy, but to some self-described atheists like Liam of Políticamente Incorrecto [es], that is a non-issue. He also examines the reaction by many different sectors to this piece of news [es] both nationally and internationally:
Conjeturas van y conjeturas vienen, desde todos los ángulos y sectores, hay mujeres ofendidas y machistas alegres, hay colorados eyaculando de felicidad y liberales babeando por un juicio político, hay periodistas pagados que defienden y otros, los olvidados, que machacan como pueden. Hay de todo, y todos están hablando de lo mismo, de las relaciones sexuales del Presidente Lugo. Mientras tanto que pasa? Nada, lo de siempre, el país se sigue cayendo a pedazos.
There are conjectures all over from different angles and sectors, offended women, happy machismo, Colorado party members ejaculating happiness and Liberal party members drooling for a political trial, there are paid journalists defending him and others that chase him as they can. People are talking about Lugo's sexual relationship and what happens in the meanwhile? Nothing, same as always, the country is falling apart in pieces.
On his blog Detrás del Papel [es], Jorge Torres Romero writes that Lugo unequivocally lied to the people:
Le estafó al pueblo. Se presentó como el candidato diferente, el candidato del cambio, de la honestidad y la ética. Pero al final resultó ser un gran mentiroso. Nos vendió (perdón, les vendió, porque yo no lo vote) la imagen del impoluto y hoy perdió ese único capital con el que construyó su candidatura: la credibilidad
Lugo defrauded the people. Has presented himself as a different kind of candidate, the candidate of change, of honestity and ethics. But in the end, he is nothing more than a big liar. He “sold” us (well them, because I didn't vote for him) the image of immaculate and today he lost that unique capital on which he based his candidacy: credibility.
The fact is that even thought this news was a shock and a big surprise for everybody, many feel that this should not shift the attention from what really matters for the Paraguayan people.

author: Muna Annahas


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Serbia: Thoughts on Doubt and Faith · Global Voices
Sinisa Boljanovic

Orthodox Christian believers will celebrate Easter on Sunday, April 19. On this occasion, some Serbian bloggers posted their thoughts about different legends and dogma related to Jesus Christ.
Vojislav Stojković wrote this (SRP) about doubt and Biblical resurrections:
Philosophy and science say that there should be doubt about everything (de omnibus dubitandum). To doubt the resurrection of Jesus is a great sin for the Church. Because of such doubts, a lot of people died from torture and burned at the stake during the Inquisition. But, at the beginning, the disciples of Jesus, especially one of them, the doubting Thomas, also had doubts about resurrection. Therefore, doubt shouldn’t be a sin. If I have doubts, I think. If I think, I exist (cogito, ergo sum). Every Easter, I ask myself what is better – to believe or to have doubt – and whether a man can choose between these at all?
These days Christians are celebrating their biggest holiday – the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For them, there is irrefutable evidence that Jesus of Nazareth is really God’s son and that he was sent by God to save humanity. Although in the Revelation by St. John the Theologian it is written that Jesus was the firstborn from the world of the dead (Revelation 1:5), the resurrection of Jesus is neither the only, nor the first Biblical resurrection. It is the most famous one – but it is only the seventh.
[…]
The first resurrection was carried out by the Old Testament prophet Elijah. […] The second resurrection is attributed to prophet Eliseus. […] The third one of the Old Testament resurrections is also linked to prophet Eliseus – that is, to his remains. […] Before his own resurrection, Jesus resurrected three people. […] First, he raised from the dead a young man, who was a son of a widow from Naina. […] The second resurrection by Jesus, and the fifth one in the Bible, is the resurrection of Jair’s daughter (Luca 8: 49-55). […] The third one – the most famous miracle by Jesus and the sixth Biblical case, is the resurrection of Lazarus from Vitania. […] The seventh and the most significant is the resurrection of Jesus.
According to Christian learning, this last resurrection is different from others because Christ resurrected himself to live forever. He overcame death. Because of that, as St. John the Theologian wrote, Christ was the firstborn from the dead. […]
At the end of his post, Stojković repeated what he wrote at the beginning:
[…] Doubt, therefore, shouldn’t be a sin because “I have a doubt” means “I think” – and “I think” means “I exist” (cogito, ergo sum). Those who don’t have doubts – they believe. They hold hard to their faith today, 20 and more centuries after the events described in the Bible or the Koran. […]
[…] Every Easter, I ask myself what is better – to believe or to have doubt – and whether a man can choose between these at all? […]
Here is the first one of over 150 comments to this post, by Libkonz:
I think it shouldn’t deprive the man of the right to think. One thing is when he recognizes God by his own heart and quite another thing is when someone is forcing what he should think on him.
Stojković replies:
No, it is not about forcing to believe. I don’t think about that. Another, more subtle thing is at stake here. Why does the modern and very educated man in the 21st century, in spite of all the technical and scientific miracles, still believe what was written 20 and more centuries ago? This is the question that's bothering me.
Aleksandar Vasović wrote this (SRP) about the Islamic view of Jesus Christ:
Jesus, in Islam – Isa, is God's deputy who was sent to lead Israel's children into the New Testament (Indzil). According to the Koran, Maria (Maryam, Merjema) bore Isa after the immaculate conception. That was a wonderful event, directed by Allah. […]
Islam teaches that Isa will come back to Earth to establish justice and to defeat the false prophet Antichrist on the Judgment Day. As all prophets of Islam, Isa is a Muslim because he preached about accepting the right way and the faith in only one God. […]
Islam rejects the Christian teaching that Isa was God's incarnation or son; it says that he was a common man who was sent to preach God's words like all the other prophets.
In Islam, Isa has two titles: the Messiah and the Anointed. Islam teaches that Isa was Mohammad's predecessor and that he predicted the arrival of the Prophet [Mohammad].

author: Sinisa Boljanovic


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South Africa: ANC hosts debate on twitter for upcoming elections · Global Voices
Ismail Dhorat

There is a final push by political parties contesting the upcoming elections in South Africa. In particular, the ruling party the ANC (African National Congress) held a debate via twitter today.
Interestingly, the political parties have begun to make use of Social Media and social networks to get their message across. The most prominent party making use of these techniques has been the DA (Democratic Alliance) whose campaign seems to have been inspired by President Obama's election campaign last year.
The DA have been managing a presence on social networks and several twitter accounts such as that of the mayor of Cape town and head of the DA, Helen Zille.
However, today the ANC announced on a newly created twitter account “ANC_DEBATE” that they would be hosting a live debate with questions fielded by Jessie Duarte, an anti apartheid activist and current spokesperson for the ANC.
After the announcement there was some debate on the usefulness of this. A South African twitter user @woganmay even created a special page on twittersa, to aggregate all the comments. Some reactions to the debate however were negative and the ANC took criticism.
For example, Jason felt that all of this was too late.
while Naeem felt that the amount of South African voters that are on twitter constitute a very small minority.
The ANC_Debate account saw a flood of questions directed towards it, and some of the responses are summarized below.
@Saulkza: Let's talk economy: What are you going to do to stop a local recession? What about unemployment?
@ANC_debate: A massive public investment in infrastructure will stimulate economic activity, increased public works, support to key sectors.
@nikzaz: what will you do about crime in south africa?
@ANC_debate: Overhaul criminal justice system – better coordination, modernise systems, more resources. Organise communities and deal with causes.
@shaynekrige: What in your opinion was the ANC's biggest mistake over the last 15 years?
@ANC_debate: Not so much a mistake, but not enough effort put into involving people in govt and in decisions about their lives.
This comment interesting, as it begs the question: Are we going to see an overhaul of the current ANC, a new way of including people in government decisions? Maybe government 2.0?
They also responded to comments and fears of censorship of the press
@jasdonwar: What do you have to say against allegations that South Africa's media will be curtailed by the government after the election?
@ANC_debate: That's a scare tactic. ANC fought for media freedom and there's nothing to suggest we would undermine it.
On the issue of censorship of satirical cartoonists
@JeremyTNel: Do you believe that cartoonists are too irreverent? Would the ANC like to regulate satire?
@ANC_debate: Cartoonists are supposed to be irreverent. Satire is important. But they should adhere to same code of ethics as any other journalist.
On questions of power and sustainability
@flintza: Again. How do you plan to meet SA power needs while limiting our carbon footprint. Focus seems to be coal (short sighted)
@ANC_debate: SA needs to move away from coal but likely to remain major source of energy for foreseeable future. Increasing investment in nuclear, solar and wind power.
On questions of Jacob Zuma the presidential candidate being in the dock for corruption charges
@ANC_debate: All are equal before the law and have a right to be presumed innocent. ANC maintains law must take its course & this applies to Zuma as much as anyone else.
On AIDS prevention strategy
@ANC_Debate: Focus on prevention, encourage condom use and responsible behaviour. Expand ART to cover all who need it. Strengthen p/ships across society
@irenebarnard: How will you keep the public informed about the status of your full HIV “aggressive prevention campaign”?
@ANC_debate: People need to be involved in implementation through local health facilities, NGOs, govt izimbizo in addition to traditional media.
For further coverage of the debate, visit Capetownalive which also has a summary of some of the questions.
Some users reported that they had been blocked or ignored however Jessie responded that no users had been blocked, they did however acknowledge that not all questions were answered. There seems to be plans to make this Q&A session a regular thing as it was announced that next week Friday another session will be held.
I responded on my blog, that even though this debate is coming at a very late stage and only engages with users on twitter, it is however a major step in the right direction for the ANC as it gives people direct access to the party. If something similar could be rolled out nationwide allowing people with just a mobile phone to post questions and receive responses from party candidates this could prove very useful in engaging all South Africans.

author: Ismail Dhorat


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Sri Lanka: Facebook Promotion In A Bus · Global Voices
Rezwan

Mayu at Revolution posts a video of a hilarious advertisement showing promotion of Facebook inside a local bus in Sri Lanka.


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Taiwan: Integration with South China · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Michael Turton from the View from Taiwan comments on the SCMP's report on Taichung Mayor Jason Hu's proposal calling for a further integration with South China, including Hong Kong with Taiwan to form a mega-region.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Argentina: Cleaning Up the Riachuelo · Global Voices
Celeste Calvet

La Matanza River, better known as El Riachuelo (The Little River) divides the Argentinean capital city Buenos Aires with the rest of the province that shares the same name. El Riachuelo runs through the Boca neighbourhood, one of the most visited by tourists, as it houses Caminito, a famous landmark in the history of Tango. Caminito offers dance and music in the street and it is a very colourful little street. Visiting Buenos Aires, one can imagine listening to an intense performance of a Tango orchestra on a summer night and finishing the evening with a romantic walk by the river. Unfortunately, in reality, this might not be a good idea. This watercourse is the most contaminated in the country, its waters receives industrial waste from the numerous factories along the riverside, especially tanneries.
Photo by FJTU and used under a Creative Commons license http://www.flickr.com/photos/fjtu/2531429872/
However, not all is lost. The ports of Buenos Aires are welcoming the Arctic Sunrise, a Greenpeace icebreaker that will be supporting the campaign [es] for the cleansing of the river. This ship is arriving from Brazil where it became involved in a similar campaign in the Amazon.
The Arctic Sunrise’s visit represents a form of pressure and a reminder to the general public that after nine months of the National Court resolution for the cleansing of the river, none of the specified steps has been taken [es]. In spite of the lack of action from the authorities and the overdue expected results, Francisco Isla Montoya, an Argentinean blogger expresses some hope in his blog La Communication no es Ingenua [es]:
Hoy los esfuerzos comienzan a dar resultado, hay nuevas generaciones, cambio social y leyes que pretenden resguardar el planeta o al menos intentarlo. Greenpeace, su rompehielos, está en Buenos Aires, esto no es inocente, es la voz de ambientalistas, ecologistas y ciudadanos conscientes de cuidar la casa.
Photo by Albริ and used under a Creative Commons license http://www.flickr.com/photos/_alby2_/318242785/
Hernán Nadal, coordinator for new technologies for Greenpeace, shares in his blog Listao [es] a video of the NGO campaign for the Riachuelo.
A week before the arrival of the Arctic Sunrise, Greenpeace opened a telephone line that allows people to give information about industrial waste in the area. According to a note on the blog Protagonistas [es], the data will be used to create a map of contamination in the river basin and would give a better sense of how many industries are responsible for the pollution.
Despite of the inefficiency of the authorities, environmentalists and other conscientious citizens may help bring about the long-awaited result for a river that could return to be what it used to: a place for families to gather, tourists to enjoy and life to blossom.

author: Celeste Calvet


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Azerbaijan: Dalga youth activist expulsion update · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

In Mutatione Fortitudo, the blog of Global Voices Online author Ali S. Novruzov, provides its readers with an update on the case of Parviz Azimov, the student activist recently expelled from university. The blog is concerned that the reason given for the action taken against Azimov is an alleged involvement in the drug business although no evidence has been presented.


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Azerbaijan: Youth activist expelled from university · Global Voices
Ali S. Novruzov

According to information spread by the Dalga Youth Movement, Parviz Azimov, the head of its Southern Regional Office, has been expelled from university. Both inside and outside Azerbaijan, bloggers are concerned by the action taken against the student activist. Don Quixote from the Land of the Blind [RU] informs its readers about the incident.
Совсем недавно, в январе нынешнего года студент Лянкяранского Государственного Университета и представитель молодежного движения “Далга” в Лянкяране Пярвиз Азимов написал статью о коррупции в собственном университете. […]
Вчера “Далга” распространили письмо, в котором сообщается, что после продолжительного саботирования Пярвиза, его, под вымышленнным предлогом все-таки исключили из университета.
The letter distributed by Dalga was published by several blogs, and requested that people take action in Azimov's defense. The senior student was eventually expelled for his alleged involvement in a fight, but few believe the official explanation.
Some are even reminded of their own experiences at universities in Azerbaijan. Writing on my Frontline Club blog, for example, it almost felt like déjà vu.
Once I wrote an innocent piece for azadliqciragi.org, an Azeri-language version of Cato Institute's Lamps of Liberty and I don't know how, but my dean N.A. at university got aware of it (too old and conservative to surf in Internet). Later followed what my dean called “educational conversation” between us in order to persuade me to halt my “revolutionary” and “oppositional” activism in Internet, and there he told me “in a manner of father” that I should “cool down”, otherwise I can possible be expelled from university. Curious enough, I asked him on what formal grounds it can happen – I have a perfect attendance record, excellent results, in good attitude toward teachers and no criminal behaviour – after a few seconds of thoughts, he replied that there can be a sabotage against me, for example, an alleged fight, which can result in my expulsion.
Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines is also reminded of a similar experience.
This incident reminds me of an event that took place few months back when I was asked to give a short presentation to a group of foreign exchange students on Azerbaijani culture. The conversation then turned into Q&A session, where we started talking about politics and general situation in the country. I answered each of their questions with honesty. Well, it turned out that none of the profs who were sitting in the room were pleased with my honesty (even though students were very happy). Nothing happened to me, well, except I was never asked to give another presentation by those people to another group of students.
Although Azimov was expelled at the end of February, it has only been in recent days that many found out. Writing on Thoughts on the Road, for example, one American journalist conducting media training in Azerbaijan remembers his former student.
Parviz was one of my best students while I was in Azerbaijan. He was the only one of my students to actually produce articles about corruption in the nation's education system. I had quite a few students who spoke about it – but naturally it was a very daunting subject to tackle. Many of my students were still studying at universities – so really digging into this subject could be dangerous for their academic careers.
As it was for Parviz.
When he first suggested writing about corruption at the university, I cautioned him about taking on the subject. To do it right would be difficult, and would certainly anger important people. Nonetheless, he was resolute – and for his final project he wrote both blog entries and a long newspaper article on the subject – an article that named names. I was more nervous than he about publishing the article.
I don't think it was one article that caused the university to finally kick him out. Parviz is one of those students that is challenging or infuriating, depending on your perspective. Once he grabbed hold of an issue, he didn't let go – the mark of really excellent journalist. This time, Parviz obviously infuriated enough people at the university to close that door to him.
He has great talent and energy – so I don't worry about him finding some position that suits his interests. But to be honest, I do worry about his personal safety. Azerbaijan is a dangerous place for journalists who challenge the system. A number of journalists have been mysteriously assaulted and murdered in Azerbaijan in recent years. Currently, Uzbekistan is the only European or Central Asian country that has more journalists behind bars than Azerbaijan, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
In conclusion, Don Quixote from the Land of the Blind is in despair.
А я больше ничего не скажу. Разве только то, что краснеть, поражаться, разочаровываться и терять дар речи начинаю уставать.
Incidentally, in order to form a better impression of the university where Parviz was studying, Dalga posted this photo reportage late last year. According to the official rating of Azerbaijani higher educational institutions published by the State Students Admission Commission, Lankaran State University ranks 16th.

author: Ali S. Novruzov


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Bangladesh: A Change Is Coming · Global Voices
Rezwan

Mahfuz Sadique has high hopes for the silent majority Bangladeshi people: “those who were mere witnesses of their fate and fortune till now will not wait for things to change at the top. [..] This time around, they –the people – will change Bangladesh.”