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Obama and India · Global Voices
Kamla Bhatt

The election of Barack Obama was a keenly watched event in India. Obama appears to have been the choice for President for many bloggers in India. Here is an quick snapshot of the initial reactions from bloggers in India about the historical significance of Obama's election. Interestingly, an underlying theme in a couple of blog posts is how and when will India's equivalent of Obama appear? Change is needed not just in America, but also in India appears to be the message from these bloggers.
Kakisi's World captures the mood and how history was created with the election of Barack Obama as the  44th President of the USA.  The blogger writes that what India needs is an Obama:
“Barack Obama as President of the United States is a small step for humankind, a giant leap for America. All nations of the world take interest in the American elections, for America is not just a country but an idea, a dream. Only country that surpasses that dream is India for the idea of India is far more ambitious than people anywhere else would possibly imagine.”
Randeep Ramesh of ‘Asian Musings’ writes about ‘Obama Nationlists’ in India and says:
“Like the rest of the world, India woke up this morning agog at Obama's victory. His speech as President-elect was relayed live on every one of the three dozen local language news channels this morning displacing the usual blizzard of crime, stock market and cricket statistics.”
Randeep goes on to make a telling comment and compares the democracies between India and USA. He underscores the fact that  the American version of democracy is very different from the Indian version.  He adds:
“There is a presumption that democracies are all built the same…In India this is not true. People have yet to break the boundaries of gender and social-standing in India and are unable largely to choose a life for themselves. The reality is that identity – be it caste, class, race or religion – is central to the character of India's public life. It matters where you come from and who your father was in way that Americans would find bizarre.
Democracy in India is too immature to produce a President Obama. Although the country has had a Muslim nuclear scientist as president, a Sikh economist as prime minister and a Roman Catholic woman as leader of the biggest party these are merely outcomes of patronage.”
Rashmi Bansal of Youth Curry writes an interesting post about what Obama's victory means and wonders when India will get its Obama:
“And here in India one has to wonder when we will see an ‘Obama’ who will help us rise above our differences. And lead us into ‘change we can believe in'…
Not in 2009… but someday for sure.”
Appopt of Daily Kos is in India and shares his thoughts about Obama fever in India and how he wished he was back in the USA just for the elections:
“I actually cried a little during Obama's speech. ….I got a little choked up during McCain's speech as well. Both made me realize that, while I enjoy traveling and seeing the world, I really do love the U.S. of A. And for a few minutes, I was tempted to email my old bosses to see if they'd take me back.”
Democrats Abroad consisting of American expats in Bangalore organized a breakfast meeting (because of the time difference between India and the USA) to watch the election results. Robin King of Bits From Bangalore shares some pictures and writes:
“Here in India they are worried about protectionism with respect to outsourcing, but overall there is great hope of a more enlightened and less boorish role for US in the world.”

author: Kamla Bhatt


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Obama for Bangladesh · Global Voices
Rezwan

The US presidential election was closely watched by many nations in the world. Bangladesh was not far behind. In a recent post in Voices without Votes we see how Bangladeshi blogs engaged in cheering for Obama and McCain.
What  impact the victory of the US presidential elect senator Barack Obama had on Bangladesh? Back to Bangladesh is a blog of a Bangladeshi who came back to the country after living many years in USA. The blogger writes about the sentiments this great victory produced:
Today was a very special day for anyone who loves America.
Grown men cried tears of joy, not just in America, but also in many other parts of the world.
Dhrubo Hasan writes a poem in his blog at the Bangla blogging platform Sachalayatan:
বারাক ওবামা, আমার এই ক্ষুদ্র ৩২ বছরের জীবনে
সবচেয়ে বড় আশাজাগানিয়া মানব তুমি!
…তোমায় স্বাগতম!!
Lipna, a Bangladeshi expat in USA writes in her blog:
When I woke up today, walking on my way to office, I felt different, nothing was literally different, same people, same crowd, same city, same roads…still I smell something different in the air, I felt a change has started happening. I don’t know if it’s the believe that things will change with Obama’s powerful presence as a President or something is really around! But I strongly felt a vibe, I could foresee a better nation, a better future for America – the land of opportunities.
Tanim from Bangladesh writes in My Bangladesh about the amazing phenomena this election revealed:
“In this match of Donkeys vs. the Elephants, we saw an optimistically turbulent evolution where many recognized red states turned blue. And this was because, it was a win for people who seek change, a win for the youth deeming a message of unity from Obama, a change for US citizens from all the different color, creed, race, belief and communities – I haven’t seen a more unified United States of America until now.”
Tanim adds that this will have an impact in the coming parliamentary elections in Bangladesh on December 18, 2008:
He motivated and engaged young people from all walks and the middle-class of the United States, successfully mobilized them and created such an inspirational upsurge of youth takeover worldwide that I believe that this effect will be strongly felt in the upcoming polls here in Bangladesh as well.
Now we can proudly say that it’s not only ‘Obama for America’ but Obama for the World and let me be hopeful and emotional while saying ‘Obama for Bangladesh’ as well.
People say that the Obama story is possible in America, and only in America. Can it be replicated in Bangladesh? But then again Bangladesh needs a leader who can unite the parties.
Back to Bangladesh reminds what lessons Bangladesh could learn from this election:
And let's hope the Bangladeshi politicians learn a little from the grace that McCain showed:-  none of that “hey to churi koira jitya gesey (to the opposition -he has won by vote-fraud)” stuff in December, ok?

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Rezwan


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Paraguay: Violence Between Supporter Groups · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

A fan of the Paraguayan football club Sportivo Luqueño recently died at the hands of rival fans. Mabel Rehnfeldt of El Dedo en la Llaga [es] is placing the blame on the clubs’ management for looking the other way when dealing with supporter groups.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Philippines: Ferry sinks, 40 dead · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A passenger ferry capsized on Tuesday, November 4, in the Philippines, killing at least 39 people.

author: Mong Palatino


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Poland, Romania, U.S.: Fear of Obama · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot and Csíkszereda musings report on how the possibility of Obama becoming the next U.S. president is feeding the fears of the apocalyptically-minded individuals – and how Poland and Romania feature in these “prophecies.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Poland, U.S.: Support for Obama · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot reports that “even though not as enthusiastic as most Europeans, Poles would vote for Barack Obama by a margin of three-to-one.”


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Romania, U.S.: Discussing the Election · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Corina Murafa writes about the seeming lack of interest in the U.S. election in Romania: “A very interesting debate – “The American Night” – is broadcast on TV as we speak, with influential Romanian opinion makers discussing the US elections. Before this nonetheless, few Romanian bloggers discussed this subject – a rather trivial indication of this is the absence of any category titles “elections”, ”Obama” or anything similar in Zelist’s tag cloud (a Romanian version of Technorati).”


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Russia, U.S.: A Song for Sarah Palin · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Scraps of Moscow reports on Russians’ preferences in the U.S. election and re-posts a YouTube video of a “mildly entertaining contribution to the online body of material (growing fast, but probably with a short shelf life) poking fun at Sarah Palin. It seems to be by a couple of faux Russians […].”


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Russia, U.S.: “Obama, Palin, and Russian Glamour” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Anna Ershova asks her friends outside the United States – “the real outsiders” – who they'd vote for: “The vast majority of my Russian and Ukrainian friends and acquaintances — the younger crowd — would vote for Barack Obama if they could. But in general, the older Russians get, the more they like McCain.”


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South Africa: Afrigator Launches AfriGreater · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Africa's blog aggregator, Afrigator, launches AfriGreater: “Afrigator has partnered with Africa’s coolest T-shirt company, SpringLeap.com and we’re giving away five great t-shirts every month to you – our favourite African bloggers.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Southeast Asia celebrates Obama’s victory · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Congratulations to President-elect Barack Obama! Southeast Asian bloggers are celebrating his victory. In fact, his election success has led many bloggers to reflect about the need for change in their local politics. A sample of viewpoints in the region:
Rogue Economist hopes there will be “changes” as well in Brunei:
“It's official. The most powerful man on earth is now Barack Obama. This proves that nothing is impossible in this world, as long as you work (hard) for it. (Oh please God, Brunei needs someone like this to make changes!)”
Cambodia Calling reminds Obama about the challenges he will face:
“Why am I interested? Because it is everyone's business who becomes the leader of the most powerful nation in the world. The pressure on Obama will be immense. If Obama fails to deliver, it'll be a long time coming for another black president in the US.”
Return to Rai Ketak compares Obama’s victory to East Timor’s independence celebration:
“Today, phone calls and emails, online chats…All with one profoundly positive message. History does not make us. We make history. I have not felt like this since May 20, 2002. And one Timorese friend made the comparison over email as well:
“After Timorese independence, the election of Barack Obama is one of the great events of the 21st century. It does not matter what may come to pass afterwards. The great step has already been taken.”
Indonesia Anonymus wonders whether Indonesians will vote an Obama-like candidate:
“Indonesians, of course, just like many people in any other countries, are mostly for Obama. So we love Obama, no doubt about it. Now the question is: if there is an ‘obama’ in our country, will we be able to spot him? Or better yet, will we vote for him?
“In Indonesia, that would make our ‘obama’ half native Indonesian and half Chinese. Let's just say, our ‘obama’ has a javanese mother from Solo, central Java, and an Indonesian-Chinese father with ancestors from Fujian province, China.”
GJ Jakarta notes that the world has high expectations for Obama:
“This is a huge amount of pressure for this guy, he has not only the weight of Americans’ expectations, but that of the entire world.
“The reality is there will still be a financial crisis, the USA will be in recession, there will still be soldiers dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, thousands of people will be out of work, many more will lose their homes. I know this guy didn't do that, he's not responsible, and people are just looking for a happy story, something for the future, some shining light from the dark tunnel.”
Mahaguru58 from Malaysia believes America has redeemed itself by electing Obama:
“America has redeemed itself today by electing a man whom we can all respect and honor. Just listening to him speak, gives us a sense of hope. Each word that he utters, each sentence that he proclaims, returns a sense of goodwill to America. Today, the whole world celebrates the coming of a new era.”
Obnoxious 5xmom advises Malaysian bloggers who are overjoyed by Obama’s victory to do something about Malaysia’s local problems:
“It doesn’t make sense. So many Malaysian bloggers are ooooing and ahhhaing over how Obama has won the USA election. They write so passionately about him and how he is going to bring changes to the United States and the world.
“Yet, in our very own backyard, here in beautiful Malaysia, they never even bother to do something about it. Why so over the moon with what is happening in the USA when we cannot even try to make the changes over here in our country?
“Why I don’t see them ever question our own country’s policies? Why I don’t see them ever get agitated with the things that happen over here that affects us? Why gushing over something over at the USA when we cannot even lift a finger to do something here?”
Noting that America has achieved a breakthrough after electing Obama, Lim Kit Siang bemoans the quality of race relations and nation-building in Malaysia:
“Obama’s historic breakthrough make many Malaysians ask whether it is possible for a Chinese, Indian, Kadazan to become the Prime Minister of Malaysia although the Constitution is very clear that any Malaysian citizen, regardless of race or religion can become Prime Minister.
“If such a question is asked 50 years ago, the nation’s founders would unhesitatingly answered in the positive as there is no constitutional bar – separate from the question of whether it was likely to happen.
“But if the same question is asked now, there will be strong voices (as heard in Parliament today when this question was posed) who would rise up to say no.
“Why is Malaysian race relations and nation-building going backwards in the past 50 years as compared to the historic breakthrough in race relations in the United States with Obama’s historic victory in the US presidential elections?”
Rocky's bru from Malaysia has some questions for Obama:
“Will he be able to turn around the US economy? Will he close down Guantanamo Bay? Will he stop America's holy War against Terror? I have my doubts. But who cares, uh? They say anyone after Bush would/should make a better US President, at least to the rest of the miserable world.”
The US embassy in Thailand held a mock elections in Bangkok. Guess who won in the ballots? HaPPi like a HiPPo describes the mood in Bangkok:
“In the past few days, Thai television and radio channels in Bangkok have been talking a lot about Obama and seem to have forgotten about PAD protesters. Every Thai person I know supports Obama and even the radio jockeys and news presenters love him. Soon we can expect Obama dolls and other goodies being sold on the Thai streets.”
DK from Singapore was first worried over the selection of Obama as the Democrat’s candidate:
“I must admit that I was kinda worried when I learned that Obama is the Democrat candidate instead of Hillary. My main concern was that he is a black and America might not be really for a black president yet. I’m glad I was wrong. I’m glad Obama is elected as the President of United States. And although we don’t know if he is the right person to bring USA and the world out of recession, we know that we have better chance with him in the White House.”
Stars in the making from Singapore is a supporter of McCain:
“Tears came to my eyes when I watched John McCain give his final speech of this election campaign. In my mind, John McCain should be the next President of the USA. His experience in foreign affairs & war will stand America in good stead, and to me, he is the stability that America & the world needs during these turbulent times.
“But America voted for “Change”. Obama is a good man, and will lead the country with integrity. He is a symbol of the American Dream, but how long will this dream last? Will reality bite when Obama steps into his first year in office? Will expectations be too much for him to meet?”
Obama has chosen a Filipino as his consultant on Asia Pacific issues. At midfield reacts:
“For Filipinos, we will now to see whether having a Filipina as his main consultant of Asia Pacific issues will benefit us and lead to Obama revisiting his position against the Filipino USAFFE veterans equity bill and other issues, not least of them how the war on terror is being carried out here.”
A Filipina Mom Blogger is curious about Obama’s foreign policy:
“As a Filipino, I am interested in Senator Barrack Obama’s foreign policy. In Obama, I see a president willing to reach out to world leaders, whether friend and enemy, to open dialogue and resolve differences through diplomacy rather than military engagement. After all, when did it hurt to sit down and talk to our enemies?
“An Obama election will send a signal to minorities across America and to countries around the world that the US is breaking through the racial divide, opening their hearts to people of all colors and religion.”
Tonyo Cruz asks Filipino activists to emulate Obama’s campaign strategies:
“For Filipinos, let us draw inspiration from Obama’s victory. Let us raise the call for change this early (Obama started his campaign two years ago; the next elections here will be in less than two years!), challenge the political parties, and make our issues the central issues in the presidential campaign. Of course, the Philippine political system is a totally different animal compared to the US system. But that should not be an excuse to throw out the whole Obama experience. There are plenty of lessons to learn and perhaps to also apply in our own situations.”


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Egypt: Noha makes Egyptians angry! · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

On October 24, Noha made Egyptians proud when in an unprecedented case, sexual harasser Sherif Gommaa was sentenced to three years behind bars, hard labor, and was also ordered to pay 5,001 Egyptian pounds fine to Noha Roshdy Saleh for groping her in the street.
The blogosphere celebrated Noha's victory. Facebook users created several groups hailing Noha's courage; All for Noha Roshdy (AR), Kolona Noha Roshdy  (AR) (we are all Noha), Noha for President  (AR) while other groups posted the verdict on their walls and sent congratulations messages to their members here (AR), here (AR), and here (AR).
On October 30, Noha made Egyptians angry when Al Masry Al Youm newspaper published an article saying that Noha's lawyer Naglaa El Emam decided to appeal in favor of the harasser Sherif Gommaa after she found out that Noha was born in Jaffa and carries an Israeli passport. The lawyer also said that Noha sued a French officer for harassing her a year and a half ago when she was in France.
Once again Noha's news created ripples on the Egyptian blogosphere where she was either fiercely attacked or fiercely defended. Al Weleyat Al Mota7edat group (united women) declared the lawyer a traitor here, then they published the confrontational interview on Al Hayat channel between Noha and the lawyer here. In the confrontation, Noha accused the lawyer of falsifying information. An Egyptian published Noha's response (AR):
Noha clarified that Naglaa El Emam is not her lawyer and that she first met her when they were both guests on a TV show called 90 minutes. She only attended the hearing as a supporter not as her official lawyer. Noha also said that Naglaa was only after fame for she began arranging for TV interviews and asked Noha to appear with her as her lawyer. Noha refused.
Noha also clarified that she was born on September 5, 1981 in Tripoli – Libya not in Jaffa and that she moved with her family to Egypt when she was four years old. She refuted the lawyer's accusation saying that she was born to an Egyptian mother and a Palestinian father who has never been to Palestine since her grand father got a political asylum to Egypt more than 60 years ago. Noha also stressed the fact that she went to Egyptian schools and is a graduate of the faculty of law – Cairo University in 2005.
Finally Noha said that the lawyer's claim to appeal in favor of the convicted harasser is nonsense based on the Egyptian law. Noha also said that Naglaa's position would jeopardize her credibility as a lawyer due to her false accusations and biased judgments.
Demaghy wrote a post (AR) titled Nationalities and Sexual Harassment as he poses the following questions:
1- Does a girl being Israeli deny her the right to walk safely and securely on the streets of Cairo? Is there a clause saying that sexual harassment is approved of when it comes to certain nationalities?
2 – What is the relationship between a person's nationality and his or her own ideologies?
3 – How accurate is the information that Naglaa El Emam released to the media?
4 – How aware is the lawyer of the fact that she cannot switch sides between the defendant and the accused specially that there is a verdict?
5- Where in the name of God did He ask us to judge people based on their nationality and religious or political inclinations before they are righteously defended?
In a post entitled Bye Bye Naglaa El Emam (AR), Bassem Samir congratulated Noha on her final victory saying that:
Before any lowlife thinks of sexually harassing any female on the streets, because of you, he will know what he will get.
And on Facebook a group was created (AR) titled “Even if she is Israeli, she has the right to defend her honor.”
On the opposing front, Shady Samir quoted a comment (AR) saying:
the judge ruled in Noha's favor because she is a pretty young woman and the courtroom was full of pretty young women
On Facebook also, several “anti-Noha” groups were created here, here, and here, and on my posted items here people left comments accusing Noha of being an agent, of making a business out of sexual harassment lawsuits, and of insulting Egypt when she said that Israel is a respectable country.

author: Marwa Rakha


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Sri Lanka: Hope for America · Global Voices
Rezwan

Sri Lankan Blog Portrait celebrates the victory of the US presidential candidate Barack Obama and opines: “Around America, the world has moved on in soul and spirit. America can now step into the young, modern world, and come out of that old-fashioned, backward shell that they were wallowing in.”


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Egypt: Activist’s Flickr Account Censored  · Global Voices
Nermeen Edrees

Egyptian activists are screaming foul after Flickr resorted to ‘censoring’ their accounts on the photo sharing network.
Journalist, blogger and activist Hossam El Hamalawy writes:
“I had noticed that some of my recent pix from Ireland, that included the Palestine and the Republican murals were not viewable to the public unless they were signed in. I emailed the Flickr Gods. They were kind enough to respond back quickly and un-flag some of the pix, putting them on “safe” mode, but without giving me an explanation why they were flagged in the first place.
The only reason I can think of is an editorial anti-Palestinian bias”
After exchanging a couple of mails with Flickr, he is still waiting for a satisfactory answer:
“I still haven’t received a reply from them about why my Ireland photos were censored in the first the place, or about changing the above.
I have to say I’m disgusted and I’m in need of your solidarity to get my flickr account back its “safe” mode, so that search engines can find it”
Hamalawy threatened that he would migrate to another service because he simply is not going to remove the strike and demonstration pictures, some of which have been contributed by other photographers, from his account.
Nora Younes supported Hamalawy and threatened to migrate as well.
She writes:
“If flickr case 982056 is not promptly solved; I – a 3 years FlickrPro user, photojournalist, and internationally recognized human rights activist- will migrate too.”
Nora who has recently been awarded the HRF awardexpressed her disapproval of censoring Hamalawy's account:
“free speech is now struggling several battlefields: Twitter suspended their services in Egypt. In 2007, YouTube suspended Wael Abbas’ channel while his facebook page was recently deleted. And now flickr is censoring Hossam el-Hamalawy. Instead of the growing dependency on those companies we need to develop our own Arab Social Networks”
In another development, Hamalawy reports about the censoring of activist Wael Abbas’ Flickr account as well.
Oh great… They first disabled his YouTube channel, and now Facebook deleted Wael’s account..

author: Nermeen Edrees


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Taiwan: The Phantom of Police State is Back, Officially · Global Voices
David Reid

The visit of Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chair Chen Yunlin marks a historic moment in cross strait relations. Chen is the highest ranking official of the PRC ever to visit Taiwan. His five day visit to Taiwan includes talks on economic and transport links.
While some welcomed his visit many Taiwanese were extremely concerned that it threatened the nation's sovereignty. It comes after newly elected President Ma Ying-jeou told a Mexican magazine in August that relations between Taiwan and China were between two regions. This downgraded the state to state formulations made during the terms of the two previous Presidents, Chen Shui-bian and Lee Teng-hui.
Chen arrived in Taiwan on Monday 3 November. Approximately 7,000 police were mobilised to prevent any protests. However, the actions of police went far beyond merely preventing any disruptions to Chen's visit. Bloggers had plenty of comments on the actions of the police.
CoffeeShop was one of three women who were assaulted and detained by police for carrying Tibetan flags. She wrote:
我很害怕，我從沒這麼害怕過。直至半夜一點半了，寫著部落格，我的手還在發抖；我眼睛很痠了，但盯著電腦螢幕，我必須將我的感受及害怕都寫出來。
我懇請各位部落格讀者及我各位網友們，不要以各種形式去嗆陳雲林及警察。
因為，台灣人，我很怕下一個受到這種暴力對待的人，會是你／妳；我真的很怕。
I sincerely request every blogger and online friend to read this. Don't use every kind of action to go out and protest against Chen Yunlin and the police.
Because, Taiwanese people, I'm afraid the next one to be on the receiving end of this kind of violence will be you. I'm really scared.
Du Gu Mu（獨孤木） @ disappearing ROC asked if legal gatherings can make Chen Yunlin understand Taiwan's democracy.
他媽的民進黨就算打了一萬個共匪好了，他媽的這干一般民眾什麼屁事呀？警察就可以沒有搜索票就闖入民眾合法租賃的飯店空間？這關一般在路上拿著國旗抗議的 民眾什麼事？民進黨不管哪個人打人你都法辦了，可是拿這個當藉口就可以侵犯人權？你還真以為他媽的台北戒嚴了喔？幹！沒有用的無能低能總統！
Melon Daily wrote that they never imagined the police would snap the national flag.
有這樣的警方嗎?陳雲林來台，台灣民眾舉國旗嗆聲被員警當場折毀，但五星旗卻可以公然飄揚，歡迎陳雲林車隊通過，連國民黨議員自己都看不下去，罵警方毀國旗已經公然觸法， 甚至更離譜的是，還有女警禁止民眾拿國旗，理由竟然是因為機場是「公共場所」?
這一頭員警竟然硬生生將把象徵中華民國的國旗扯斷，但反觀中山北路這裡，這群號稱是「 中華統一促進黨」的民眾，卻可以大喇喇的舉著中國五星旗，迎接陳雲林車隊通過。
This one police officer acted harshly to the ROC flag which is the national symbol of ROC. But on Zhongshan North Road [near the Grand Hotel] a group called the China Unification Promotion Party was able to wave the Chinese five star flag to welcome Chen Yunlin's motorcade.
June Beans Charles said the orders of superiors overruled the law.
馬英九上任不到半年,
過去八年無法想像的事一一發生.
警察的眼中竟然沒有國家法令,只有上級命令.
明明是執行毫無法源依據的勤務,
明明是在戕害民眾的自由,
明明是缺乏正當性的行動,
但你在這些警察眼中看到的是理所當然的表情,
彷彿他們很樂於戕害民眾自由,
彷彿在他們眼中維護上級的利益高於維護民眾的利益.
這個就是軍閥的心態啊!
The police suddenly don't even recognize the laws of the nation, they're just following the orders of their superiors. Obviously they're carrying out their duties without regard to the law. Obviously they're destroying the ordinary people's freedom. Obviously they don't know the appropriate way to take action. But in the police officers’ eyes you can see a natural expression. It's as if they are happy to destroy the people's freedoms. It's as if they see safeguarding the interests of higher authorities as more important than protecting the people's interests.
This is just the attitude of a warlord!
kiantix wrote:
民進黨那四個議員在圓山掛布條，警察要趕；吹氣球抗議黑心食品，警察要趕；光是在機場舉著國旗，警察也要趕。
這些行動夠理性夠和平了吧？但警察大人將它們同視，這無異宣示，我們莊嚴神聖的法律，平等地禁止一切集會遊行，不論理性或激情，不論和平或暴力。
說得更極端一點，在警察國家眼裡，群眾的存在就是暴力，個體意志的存在就是暴力；在中產階級看來，國家暴力以外的暴力永遠都是錯的，既然是錯的，它為什麼存在也就無須探究了。
Aren't these actions peaceful enough? However, the police have made vows to protect the solemn and sacred laws which prohibit everyone coming together for parade or assembly, no matter whether its reasoned or passionate, peaceful or violent.
To speak even a bit more extremely, in the eyes of the police the people's existence is violence, the people's will is violence. It seems that the middle class think violence, except for state violence is always wrong, so why don't they need to have an inquiry about this violence if people's existence is violence?
English language bloggers also had something to say about the police. Eric at Taiwan Dream Foundation wrote that the arrival of Chen Yunlin looked like a return to martial law and was also a huge waste of police resources.
How does Ma Ying Jeou ( 馬英九) and his government deal with a person like this? By deploying 10,000 Taiwanese police just to protect Chen Yun Lin's eyes and ears from seeing and hearing the voice of the Taiwanese people. By the way, the entire police force in Taiwan numbers 70,000 to put the 10,000 into perspective. If Ma Ying Jeou is so worried that Chen Yun Lin might see the R.O.C. flag or hear someone say that Taiwan is independent and not a part of China, then he should just give Chen Yun Lin a blindfold and some ear plugs. Problem solved, and just think of all the money Taiwan could save.
A-gu at That's Impossible: Politics from Taiwan writes of some incidents that make it seem like martial law really has returned.
I think it's fair to say the government really is going WAY too far. The excuse that police are only taking measures designed to protect Chen's safety and avoid illegal demonstrations is simply not true. Martial law really is in the air. Arbitrary detentions and “banned songs” are back from the dead.
Lao Ren Cha responded to the way the media often labels Taiwan independence supporters as extremists.
They're not extremists! Well, some are. If you want extremists – those guys with that van on Dihua Street who advocate China joining the USA as the 51st state (well, 53rd after Canada and Iraq I suppose) fit the bill better. They're activists, and more people agree with them than foreign correspondents seem to realize – but so many independence-minded people don't dare say so, and realize that recognized, de jure independence is unrealistic now. That doesn't make those who voice their views extremists. It means they're exercising their right to free speech.
Looking at the last protest, I don't think 600,000 people (the author himself offers this figure below) can be labeled as ‘extremists’ – they're a legitimate political bloc.
tony4tw laments the attack on freedom of speech and calls on all bloggers to unite and take action.
As a Taiwanese citizen here in Taiwan, we are asking for your help. Today, we were getting oppressed to our freedom of speech. Tomorrow, will we loose our right to any forms of freedom? After China’s invasion of Taiwan, Taiwanese will all be marched to the concentration camp! Therefore, all the Taiwanese beseech all the Plurkers to help us by passing out our message. Without your help, we are all alone! With your help, we will be able to raise awareness and fight the Goliath.
As Chen Yunlin's visit to Taiwan continues there are sure to be many more loud voices in the blogosphere making their opinions known.
*Thanks to Portnoy for his assistance with this article.

author: David Reid


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Thailand: Losing face · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Thaipulse Blog writes about the importance of not losing face in Thai society


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The Lusosphere for Obama · Global Voices
Clara Onofre

America and the world have witnessed a historic moment with the election of Barack Obama as president. Not only because of the color of the 44th U.S. president's skin – which alone would be enough – but also the change that Obama brings through his views, words, beliefs and future projects. Barack Obama inherits a bumpy economy, the trauma produced by the endless war in Iraq and the fight to save the environment, along with other symptoms of mismanagement from George W. Bush's administration.
Obama's victory has moved Americans and people all over the world. It is as if we were thirsty for change. It is as if the great leader we have been waiting for arrived at last. From New York, Mozambican blogger Manuel Araújo [pt] tells of the huge crowd that gathered at Times Square to see Obama. The blogger says he will be proud to tell his grandchildren he was there at this historic moment:
“A explosao de alegria no Time Square foi tanta que por momentos fiquei surdo! As lagrimas foram tantas que me senti por segundos sufocado e afogado naquele mar de alegria! A felicidade tao grande que por segundos senti um no pescoco! O ar tao quente que por segundos senti o calor da raca humana! Um calor que nuna tinha sentido antes. No Times square, hoje descobri que quando o ideal e a esperanca e grande existe apenas uma raca – A RACA HUMANA! Que nao ha negros ou brancos, mulatos ou latinos, africanos ou asiaticos, vermelhos, azuis, pobres, ricos, nordicos, autralianos, pakistanis, kenyanos, zambianos, dominiquenhos, costariquenos, japoneses! A diversidade de racas, nacionalidades, estratos sociais representadas fez-me recordar a figura biblica da Arca de Noe!”.
Angolan blog A Casa de Luanda [Luanda House, pt] made clear they shared the hopes deposited in Obama with their readers:
“Obama emocionou-me com o seu discurso. Lembrou-nos de como um país deve ir muito além de uma colectividade de indíviduos. Deve ser uma unidade de pessoas que olham umas para as outras. Lembrou que temos histórias diferentes, mas um mesmo destino. Que enquanto respiramos, temos esperança. E principalmente, convocou os americanos e o mundo para um novo espírito de trabalho, baseado na responsabilidade, nas alianças, na esperança, na liberdade e na paz. Espero que o discurso ecoe em Angola, pois este país precisa como ninguém de todos esses valores”.
With Barack Obama as president come confusing feelings. Most  of the president's supporters are  now happy with this victory because Obama is of black descent, and I believe that this may help him combat racial discrimination and to become a standard-bearer for the black race. In Kenya, the country of the U.S. president elect's father's birth, they naively wait salvation at Obama's hands, hoping that he will pursue the corrupt politicians there and that it will be easier to obtain visas to enter American soil. It is the “American dream” in action, materialized and delivered by Obama in his post-victory speech. But first and foremost, Barack Obama is American and was keen to stress this even during the campaign. The author from Menina de Angola [Angolan Girl, pt] reflects on the same thing:
“Angola está sorrindo, bom pelo menos a minoria que entende ou acha que entende o que está acontecendo mundo. Os poucos angolanos com acesso à informação comemoram a vitória de Barack Obama, brindam ao primeiro negro da história mundial, mas cá com os meus botões, não vejo bem o que muda para nós pobres mortais. Não vejo como a cor da pele pode alterar o rumo da história do dia para a noite. Por acaso o racismo vai acabar? A fome e miséria do mundo vão desaparecer como num passe de mágica? Os conflitos intermináveis no médio oriente terão fim? Ele é apenas mais um americano no poder, com os mesmos ideiais de todos os americanos. É mais um capitalista rico que veio de família rica e teve acesso às melhores escolas. Mas acima de tudo ele é apenas um ser humano, não um mágico, messias ou super homem com super poderes, capaz de resolver todos os problemas do mundo do dia para a noite. Não estou fazendo propaganda contra, muito pelo contrário, fiquei muito feliz com a vitória de Obama, mas não porque ele é negro, branco, amarelo ou rosa choque, mas sim porque a sua plataforma de governo inclui entre outras coisas, uma grande preocupação com o meio ambiente. Eu vou comemorar de verdade daqui a 4 ou 5 anos quando as promessas de campanha tornarem-se realidade”.
The Chez Ludgero [pt] blog from Cape Verde shows his enthusiasm for Barack Obama, writing:
“Barack Obama é um fenómeno global. Fala-se dele em todas as línguas, em todos os países. Aqui em Cabo Verde tornou-se usual ver-se gente de todas as raças, de culturas diferenciadas, oriundas de vários pontos do globo, falando de Obama. A África lusófona ficou orfã depois de perder os seus líderes históricos (Cabral, Neto, Mondlane e Machel). E isso um pouco em consequência de alguma reticência em relação a Kalungano e alguns outros, por causa da mistura de raças que corporizam. A consagração de Obama, num ambiente como o dos Estados Unidos, pode chamar toda a África à razão, mormente os países lusófonos, cuja maior riqueza reside na mistura de raças e no encontro de culturas. A consagração da educação como a chave que abre todas as portas (mesmo as da Casa Branca) seria a maior lição a tirar da trajectória de Obama.”
Whatever the reasons for supporting Obama, the new American president has managed to generate a strong empathy around him, both locally and internationally. Kianda from O silêncio da Kianda [Kianda's Silence, pt] expresses with no shame her admiration for the elected president:
“Gosto de Obama porque sou muito mais democrata do que republicana, na minha essência de mais de esquerda do que conservadora. Sou a favor do aborto, do casamento dos homossexuais, da sensibilidade para questões sociais, da não ingerência arbitrária dos EUA na política interna do resto do mundo. Acredito muito mais no programa de Obama para resolver ou controlar os problemas económicos dentro dos Estados, o que tem sempre consequências no resto do mundo. Acredito mais na calma e na serenidade de Obama para julgar os problemas. Tem o sangue frio necessário para esta altura da história.”
Architect, Illustrator, Cartoonist João thanks Obama with this cartoon at Timor Cartoon International:
Thank you Barack!
Seja qual for o resultado…

author: Clara Onofre


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Ukraine, U.S.: Perspectives on the Election · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Kiva Stories from the Field writes about the “Ukrainian perspectives on the US presidential election.”


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Al Ghad Party – Another fire in Egypt · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

Al Ghad, Ayman Nour's Party headquarters burnt down one day before their general assembly. According to blog reports, thugs burnt down the building and hampered firemen's efforts to put the fire out.
In addition to losing their headquarters, the political party also lost 20 of its members – who were rounded up and arrested instead of the thugs.
Ahmed El Sabbagh wrote (AR):
Amidst our envy of those American people; how they manage to change their president every four years and Obama winning the elections just yesterday. Amidst our joy we are surprised by another episode of the comic Egyptian show that used to be called Al Wafd Party on Fire – now called Al Ghadd Party on Fire. The first show was No'oman Goma'a's supporters versus Mahmoud Abaza's and the new release stars Ayman Nour's supporters versus Mostafa Mousa's. The first ended in a court ruling in favor of No'oman Goma'a and the second will most probably end in Mostafa Mousa taking over the party. The curtains went down on the first show when the party burnt down completely taking away with it its leading role in opposition. Today we witnessed the end of Al Ghadd Party's opposing role when it went to flames.
Instead of arresting the vagabonds who caused the fire, the members and the leaders of the party were arrested including Gameela Ismail, Wael Nawara, El Sayed Basyouni, Sameh Attia, Naglaa Fawzy, and about 20 members.
Wishing you a democratic weekend!


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Bermuda: Waiting in Vain?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Some local media allege that, after many official promises and delays, big chunks of the draft law were copied from Wikipedia and the World Bank website only days before it was released!  This rush has raised many local suspicions about the law and its possible omissions”: Vexed Bermoothes says that Bermudians are still waiting on the Public Access to Information law.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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China and U.S: American Election and Chinese Rice Bowl · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Inside-Out China blogs about various discussions about the U.S presidential election and its implication on China economy.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Chinese Style Village Election · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN translated a photo essay on village-level election with Chinese characteristics.


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China: Two Voices on Internet · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN translated a commentary from China youth daily on the dichotomy of opinions in the Internet public sphere in China.


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Dominican Republic: Constitution Day and Possible Reforms · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

November 6 is Constitution Day in the Dominican Republic, and Rocío Díaz of Monaco [es] reflects the possible reforms to the current document.


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Egypt and U-20 World Cup · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

Egyptian Blogger Zeinobia mentions that Egypt will host the under 20 World Cup championship from the 25th of September to 16th of October 2009, following an announcement made by   FIFA.

author: Eman AbdElRahman


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Egypt: Ghad Party Headquarters Burnt Down  · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

Despite the recent spate of fires encountered in Egypt, today brings a different story for yet another fire – one started in the political Al Ghad Party‘s headquarters, in Cairo.
Blogger Zeinobia breaks the story:
Via Noura Younis , “The Al Ghad Party HQ was completely burnt down at Al Tahrir after a high level meeting !!??”
Al Ghad Liberal party is the opposition party of Dr. Ayman Nour who is currently in Jail for charges no one is convinced with.
There was a fight between the leaderships of the party on whom shall head it.
Update 1: According to Abn Masr Citizen Journalism website [Ar],the fire started as a result of a fight between the followers of Ayman Nour and the followers of Moussa , Nour's rival who wants to head the party. Moussa is with the regime by the way.
Egyptian Citizen  writes:
Today the Egyptian security and many of thugs are attacked Elghad party, set fire, and  the contents of the headquarters destroyed.
Witnesses says that the thugs who destroyed and set fire to the party are from supporters of Moussa Mustafa Moussa who dissented from Elghad Party, headed by DR.Ayman Nour
Because the suspicious relations between Moussa Mustafa Moussa and Egyptian security , they tried to help him to seized the headquarters of Elghad Party(Ayman nour)
As a result, all this destruction
Blogger Nidaal talks about an eyewitness report:
The Skeptic also mentions what a friend has told him about the cause that led to start of this fire:
A friend who was there tells me the brawl started when Ayman Nour’s wife, Gamila Ismail, refused to leave the headquarters and called out “Down with Mubarak!” Supporters of the government-backed faction reportedly responded, “Come down, you whore!”


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Egypt: Sexual Harassment Victim Stabbed to Death · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

I received an invitation to join a group named “Dr. Shaimaa Fouad … May you rest in Peace.” I did not know her and I wondered why anyone would invite me to such a group. Little did I know! Dr. Shaimaa Fouad died defending herself.
Desert Cat wrote (AR):
The 30 year old Shaimaa was an assistant professor at the faculty of dentistry – Ain Shams University. The doorman's 18 year old son watched her apartment and once her parents and sister left he knocked on her door to tell her that her car is parked in a no parking area. She gave him her keychain that included her car keys and the keys to the apartment. He took the car for a quick drive then found his way into the apartment using the keys he had. He grabbed a knife from the kitchen and headed to her bedroom where she was sleeping. He tried to rape her but she resisted and pushed him away. He stabbed her 16 (other reports say 17) times until she died.
Desert Cat is angry at how the society deals with such cases saying:
Dr. Shaimaa deserves mercy and may her soul rest in peace but those psychopaths who roam our society finding excuses for criminals and harassers are pathetic. They will claim that she used to seduce him with revealing clothes or that she opened the door when she was not properly dressed. We have heard of such point of views many a time but let me ask you “idiots” how did he see her revealing clothes when he was the one stalking her and watching her apartment? Where did he see her clothes when she was inside her bedroom? Do those people even think before justifying such ungodly crimes? Did they ever imagine going home one day to find their wife or sister or daughter the next victim? To those who blame the woman for anything evil that befalls her just because she is a female, I would ask you to shut up and I would pray that you experience such a horrific incident first hand and let's see what you will say then.


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Environment: Ivory Auctions A Disservice to Conservation · Global Voices
Juliana Rotich

Richard Leakey blogs about his concern regarding ivory auctions in South Africa.  “…I believe that auctioning the ivory stockpiles would cause poaching to increase particularly in the central, eastern and western African elephant range states where poaching is not yet properly controlled.”

author: Juliana Rotich


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Green Obama Dreams: Environment Bloggers Weigh in on The Historic Day · Global Voices
Juliana Rotich

Tim Hurst of Ecopoliticology blog posts an entertaining video titled ‘5 Green Obama Dreams’. The video mentions his posts on high resolution energy resource maps and the solar powered lawnmower.
On the DotEarth blog,Andrew Revkin muses on the significance of Obama's election, writing…
President-elect Barack Obama on Jan. 20 will become the most important leader of a species that has exploded in just six generations from a total population of 1 billion (around 1830) to a point today when teenagers alone number 1 billion, a species that is on a path toward more or less 9 billion people by mid-century. In numbers, think roughly of adding two Chinas on top of the one that exists today. Expectations that he will exert planet-scale leadership are high, as indicated in this letter from Nelson Mandela to the next president.
He is compiling a list of 10 best proposals to send to Obama's transition team. The proposals will be ranked by readers of his blog.
On the China Dialogue blog, a reprint of President-elect Obama's speech in 2007 is posted, reflecting on what Obama's presidency would mean for the environment.
What will a Barack Obama presidency mean for the global environment?
In a policy address delivered in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in October 2007 – shortly after George W Bush hosted a Washington conference on energy security and climate change — Obama set out his plan. It included a strong focus on energy efficiency and the use of a “cap-and-trade” system. Obama also emphasised his commitment to investing in clean technology, saying that new technology from the United States can help countries like China to fight climate change.
“[W]e will share our technology and our innovations with all the nations of the world,” Obama said. “If we can build a clean coal plant in America, China should be able to as well.”
La Marguerite suggests channelling the magic of community organizing seen in the Obama campaign, into tackling climate change.
Sarah Palin should not have mocked Barack Obama for being a community organizer. If anything, tonight’s results proved her wrong. Our new President has given new meaning, and strength to the concept of community organizing. And he has shown us what citizens can do, when given the means to organize towards a cause, that’s greater than themselves.
Tonight I am thinking of the thousands of Obama offices, volunteer networks, and fundraising organizations, along with the sophisticated Internet machine, and the organizing methodology, that went into getting Barack Obama elected. As the signs are coming down, the thank you emails go out, and the temporary offices go back to their original owners, I wonder, is that it? Will we go back to business as usual, each in our homes, going about our private lives?
Or will we use the skills learned during the Obama campaign to mount a national community effort, this time to address the threat of climate change? The last time I checked, we had less than ten years to get our act together. Citizens have a crucial role to play on the conservation end. As someone who has tried for the last year and a half, to curtail my consumerist and energy appetites, I can testify on the difficulty of accomplishing such changes at the individual level. Instead, we need to summon the power of community to help each other.
Omar Basawad of the Safari Notes blog says ‘Congratulations America!’
“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.” So, said the next President of the US.
I, we, have no doubt any more about that. And I do, for the first time truly envy Americans for how you can rise and at what you can do. And how lucky and blessed you are, to have such a democratic system and such ideals! Truly, you are a great people. And that is the reason you will continue leading the World militarily, economically and technologically; and you have just proven too, that you are above the rest of the World, morally. And now you have sent such a great statement across the globe, which will cause ripples and shock waves for a long time to come.
Very hopefully, the ripples and shock waves – will be so powerful so as to bring too, the same kind of change that will, one day, allow our children too – to have such a kind of democracy working in our parts of the World; a democracy that is truly: true, enlightened and ideal.
Tracy Stokes in South Africa had tears of joy on hearing the news that Barack Obama is the next president of USA. She wrote…
I sprang out of bed this morning (very out of character for me) and rushed to the living room, grabbed the remote and had that TV on before you could say “election results”. Obama is the new president of the United States, Bush is on the way out. So here I am, miles and miles away from where it’s all happening, at the southern tip of Africa, a South African of European descent, and it moved me to tears. Why? Because from next January, the most powerful man in the world will no longer be a warmonger, bigot, and dare I say it, village idiot, but an intelligent, compassionate man who has brought to Americans the opportunity to join the rest of the world in working towards peace, upholding of human rights, and fighting climate change. So congratulations to the American people in choosing the right man for the job.
On the 350.org blog, Phil considers the signifance of Obama's win particularly regarding climate change.
It's up to us to make sure Senator Obama follows through with the vision of a world we desperately want that is now a little bit more within reach. Sending him to Poland is a needed first step towards rebuilding the world economy and solving climate change, tasks which will no doubt take years, if not decades, to accomplish.
At this historic turning point, it's up to us to shed the yoke of history and move forward by joining with our new leaders and pushing for a bold new solution to these dual crises. The world is counting on us.
On the GreenPeace Making Waves blog, amid thanks, a reminder of the promises Barack Obama made regarding the environment is stated.
Thank you, Barack Obama, for giving all of us new hope for a changed America.
We're non-partisan here at Greenpeace. We don't have any permanent allies or enemies. We support policies, not politicians. We endorse deeds, not words. So even while a lot of us (in our personal capacity as human beings and not Greenpeace employees) are jumping up and down this morning with glee, we want to take a moment to remind you of the promises you made in your election campaign.
It's delivering on these promises, or bettering them, that will be the true mark of your leadership. …
On ‘Its Getting Hot in Here’ blog, Teryn Norris writes of reinventing America.
Few moments in history feel this monumental. It’s the feeling of renewed hope and immense possibility.
Barack Obama has once again tapped America’s power of invention. It’s the same power that led us to invent the first modern democracy. To invent the systems and technologies that continue to drive human progress. To constantly reinvent ourselves in the face of insurmountable hardship and division.
Invention is our greatest power — the very heart of the American spirit. It’s what can renew our promise once again and make this century the next American century.
Teryn concludes the post with
Obama has rekindled the American spirit. Now he must lead this nation to fully reinvent itself and the world — to lead us in what will be the greatest American project.
Let’s get started.
From South Africa, The Urban sprout blog offers kudos to the the American public for electing Barack Obama.
…how often do we ask ourselves what difference the leaders of New Zealand, Denmark, Germany or Iceland, for instance, will make to us all? But you have to give credit where credit is due and kudos to the American public for electing Barack Obama!
But what can we expect from Obama’s environmental direction, and can he be held accountable to his campaign promises?
We end this post with a quote from the Urban sprout blog.
Obama’s administration has 4 years to turn these visionary promises into something tangible, and that's the real challenge – but right now, there's plenty to be optimistic about.


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Guatemala: The Kaibiles as Peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo · Global Voices
Renata Avila

The Kaibiles are soldiers in the Guatemalan Army that undergo a specialized, yet controversial training  at a school in the northern part of the country, nicknamed “Hell”.  Many Guatemalans reject the abusive training that the Kabiles receive, which some say, closely resembles self-inflicted torture. It is often difficult to fathom why such methods are necessary, as described by blogger Statchka [es] when he details “Black Week of a Kaibil”. He explains that they are even forced to drink animals blood to survive.
One point of their decalogue had been: “The Kaibil is a killing machine.”  In the past, many of the soldiers have been involved in counter-insurgency operations, but also some have been accused of human-rights violations, but now they are mainly involved with anti-crime duties. In addition, the Kabiles have also been sent as Peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where 72 Guatemalans are currently on the front line in the city of Goma. Here is an Institutional Video regarding the mission in the DRC.
Due to their training instructions, Patrick from GNS Blog pointed out, such a mandate of Peace seems in conflict with their motto:
After all, the infamous Kaibil creed of: "If I go forward, follow me. If I stop, urge me on. If I turn back, kill me", seems to kind of jar with the traditional peacekeeper approach.
An admirer of the Kabiles, Perspectiva Militar [es], who is also a member of the Guatemalan Army detailed the training that takes place before the mission in the Congo or wherever else they might go. He explained the process of sending the Kaibiles to the Special UN Forces and how they say goodbye to their families, on his blog post Kaibiles to the DRC in Africa [es].  Here they have faced dangers, as in 2006, 8 of them died in an armed operations in the DRC [es].
Many wonder why members of the Guatemalan army, who have historically had a poor reputation in the area of human rights, are now being considered for the role of peacekeepers. As the situation in the DRC  is going from bad to worse,  where human rights abuses like rape has been used as a weapon, the Kabiles are still being sent to the front line.  The Kabiles come from a country that face a similar war-like setting, where women suffer the consequences of past and present conflicts.  However,  Journalist  Allan Nairn is optimistic about the peacekeeping mission and pointed out on his blog  that the new surroundings can alter behavior, and it differs greatly from political killings:
The other night a Mayan survivor remarked that there are Kaibiles in the Congo. They're a special unit of US-trained Guatemalan troops officially called "The Messengers of Death," but he noted that recently eight of them were ambushed and died themselves in that faraway land.
The poor Kaibil killers must not have known what hit them, since, on the road, away from home, they were in the Congo under actual legal constraint, as peacekeeping troops of the United Nations. It's a similar story with Indonesian troops, now deployed as UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.  Back home, unbound by law, they kill civilians, but, away — where that would cause problems — such behavior is banned, and, generally, despite their past record, they don't go around murdering people (rape is another matter; its a problem of men in armies most everywhere, and UN troop assignments vary: In Haiti, it has included repression).
It's not the man, its the mission. Political killers are not killing machines. They are human components of killing machines, and if the machine setting is switched from "kill" to "don't kill," as trained people, they do tend to comply.
But why are members of the Guatemalan Army in the Democratic Republic of Congo? Albedrío [es] may have the answer:
El tema de fondo es que los soldados guatemaltecos están siendo utilizados para ir a las zonas de mas peligro porque, de acuerdo con múltiples fuentes de información, se les considera con experiencia y baratos, como sus homólogos salvadoreños. En pocas palabras, en la actualidad Guatemala exporta soldados cuasi mercenarios para las guerras que los países beneficiarios de la explotación de las riquezas naturales no quieren asumir. Los beneficios si, los costos humanos y políticos no.
The underlying issue is that Guatemalan soldiers are being used to go the most dangerous areas because, according to multiple sources of information, they are considered to be experienced and cheap, like their Salvadoran counterparts.  In other words, Guatemala exports quasi-mercenary soldiers for wars that countries that are benefiting from the exploitation of natural resources do not want to take on.  The benefits yes, the human and political costs, no.

author: Renata Avila


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Guyana: Thoughts on Death  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I do not obsess too much…with what lies after death; my concern is with the quality of life one leads here”: From Guyana, Ruel Johnson writes “a brief note” on death.


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India: Narrowing the Digital Divide · Global Voices
Rezwan

Rajesh Jain posts a presentation in his Blog Emergic which discusses about innovative products which will help in the proliferation of low cost internet enabled PCs in millions of Indian homes.


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Iran: “KordanGate” and  fake Ph.D · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to news sites and blogs Iran's parliament has voted to sack Interior Minister Ali Kordan after he admitted a degree he said he obtained from Oxford University was a forgery.Ghazizadeh, an Iranian blogger, writes [fa] that conservative deputies can not distance from “KordanGate” because they knew about this story for years. Read more here.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:Another weekly magazine was banned · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Tourjan, an Iranian blogger and a religious student, writes[fa] that according to some news sites, Sharvand Emrouz, a weekly magazine was banned by Iranian government.


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Japan: Three Arrested for Visiting PM House · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Niphonese translated some local discussions about the recent arrest of three protesters under the Tokyo Public Security Act. The “reality tour” (not protest) was organized by Freeter Union.


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Latvia, U.S.: Michael Strautmanis · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Baltic writes about Barack Obama's tiny Latvia connection – via his chief counsel Michael Strautmanis, whose stepfather was Latvian.


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Malagasy Online Spell Checker is Now Available  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Dotmg announces that the free Malagasy spell checker he has been developing is now operational. The software, which is, as far as I know the first of its kind, is:”opensource, and is released under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3 (or above). It is part of a larger project called tsipelina, and the project is available on tsipelina.sourceforge.net. It requires PHP and a webserver, as it is written in PHP.”

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Pakistan: A letter to the West · Global Voices
Rezwan

Mohammad Yusha at Chowrangi writes a letter to the West: “Time is money, dear West, and time is running out. More alcoholic beverages please. More stores. More. More. More.”


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Pakistan: Citizen Journalist Suspended for Revealing Forgery  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Sukhmani at Instablogs informs: “After revealing an instance of fake research at the National Center of Excellence in Geology, University of Peshawar, research associate Abdul Karim Khan (also a citizen journalist) has been suspended from his post and also sued for defamation”


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Poland, U.S.: Patrick Moberg’s U.S. Presidency Illustration · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sylwia Presley notes on the popularity of Patrick Moberg's illustration of the history of U.S. presidency among Polish netizens.


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Puerto Rico: Election Time  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barriomulas.com and Speaking Boricua write posts about the Puerto Rican elections.


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Puerto Rico, U.S.A.: Remembering the Dream  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Obama's father was black, his mother white. My son's mother is black and I am white. To look at Obama, President-elect Obama, is to see My son's future in a way it could never be seen before”: From Puerto Rico, Jil the Genius explains why Barack Obama's election is so significant.


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Romania, U.S.: Obama’s Victory · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Corina Murafa and Csíkszereda musings share their thoughts on Obama's victory.


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Russia, U.S.: Reactions to Medvedev’s Address · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Reactions to president Medvedev's address to Russia's Federal Council, delivered shortly after Obama's election as the new U.S. president: Irina Filatova writes that Medvedev “talks tough, but in reality the moment may be past for an aggressive, Putin-style posture towards the US”; Eternal Remont wonders if this is “the international crisis McCain predicted for Obama”; Mmd Russia Blog posts a Russian take on the address and a “foreigner” one; Robert Amsterdam notes that “Medvedev congratulates then threatens Obama” and posts this comment from an anonymous reader: “There are several reasons to believe that the Russian government is quietly giddy with the election of Barack Obama, believing (correctly or incorrectly) that he will be lightweight in negotiations, and someone that the puffed-up Judo-chopping prime minister will be able to easily manhandle […].”


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Serbia, U.S.: Bloggers on Obama’s Victory · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Belgraded posts a roundup of Serbian bloggers’ reactions to Obama's victory.


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Serbia, U.S.: Change and Personal Risk · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Lucy Moore writes this about Obama's victory on her B92 blog: “But after we applauded and hugged our way through his final “Yes we can,” I couldn’t shake the thought that surely all this is just too good to be true. For as America saw in the civil rights years, and as Serbia saw in March 2003, those who stand for change do so at tremendous personal risk.”


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South Korea: Reaction to Obama · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ask a Korean! tries to answer the question: What is the Korean news media saying about our new president-elect Barack Obama?


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Egypt: Sexual Harassment Victims, Keep your Mouth Shut! · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

On November 1, Al Masry Al Youm shocked its readers with an article about two girls who went to the police station to report a sexual harassment incident but instead, they were detained for six hours and harassed by the officers on duty.
Amira Gamal, an active blogger and an administrator of Kolena Noha Group (We are All Noha) on Facebook sent out a cry for help and suggestion to the group members saying:
At this link and with the above mentioned news the mask fell off the face of the real harasser. Timing is a key factor here as Noha said “No! I will declare war against harassers. I will not leave my rights behind. I will get rid of my shame because I have nothing to be ashamed of. Harassers should be ashamed not us.” Shaimaa and Heba and thousands of other girls joined Noha in her call and decided to have the courage to fight sexual harassment.
Not only were the two girls ignored at the police station, but they were also harassed, threatened, and accused of unspeakable things. All Egyptians can relate to the negative associations with “police stations” where humiliation or rather fear of humiliation first comes to mind. There, where they sought help, Shaimaa and Heba found out that the bus driver who offended them has been replaced by 100 resentful males whose memories are still fresh with what Noha did to her offender. They have decided to make every girl who dares think that she could be another Noha and get her right back regret even thinking of stepping up.
Despite the fact that the two girls did give up their right to file a report and begged to go home in peace, the officer who abused them said that he insists on taking them to court for assaulting him. This is a call for whoever is left of real men and strong women, Shaimaa and Heba got scared because they thought that they were alone. Let's show them that they are not. Let's show them that there are thousands of men and women in Egypt who are willing to support them against their offenders – the driver and the officers! Looking forward to receiving your suggestions.
Ahmed Ali Eid, a young activist posted a note on Facebook questioning the worthiness of the Egyptian citizen:
Shaimaa: Heba asked for a chair to sit down because she has rheumatic fever, but officer Mohamed Waguih hailed her with verbal assaults before he finally kicked her. Another officer pulled Heba from her hair, clicked his government-given gun, and threatened to kill us both because she objected to being beaten up.
Heba: I bled during my being held in custody for the charges of assaulting an officer; they refused giving me medication or sending me to the hospital.


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Sri Lanka: Biggest ever War Budget · Global Voices
Rezwan

Dare to be different reports that Sri Lanka is due to declare its biggest ever war budget today as it intensifies its military campaign against the Tamil separatists.


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Taiwan: Defending Rights to Protest  · Global Voices
I-fan Lin

Following David's article on “The Phantom of Police State” coming back with Chen Yun-lin (陳雲林)'s visit to Taiwan on 3 of Nov, I have collected some visual materials showing the conflict between the protesters and police with brief translation.
Since Nov 3rd, many protesters wearing pro-Taiwan T-shirt or banners or waving the ROC national flag have been harassed by the police, and some of them were wounded. To the extent that people playing Taiwanese songs (Sunrise records, 上揚唱片) were disrupted with force, and a cup of coffee became all too dangerous.
Manuscript translation:
Defending rights to protest
Facing these incidents, Carolina thought Taiwan President Ma Ying-Jeou should take the responsibility.
在滿街的旗幟被拔走，民眾持旗被沒收的錯愕中，馬英九今天還唬爛說他絕對沒有下令撤旗。
OJ is also very disappointed with the current government.
當我們看到我們的政府是這樣對待自己的人民，我們真的只能很心寒地覺悟了…那些好不容易爭取來的民主法制、人權價值，都被這個自我作賤的政府給徹底丟棄了。
However, citizens prepare to fight back, non-violently. Francais asked citizens to collect evidence if they see these incidents.
今年12月的國際人權日，亞裔人權團體將會在巴黎集體發聲，我們原本只是想要再次聲討中國對台灣的打壓，沒想到，自己的政府被打出獨裁專政原形，台灣正式列入人權受危害的國家。因此，我們想請大家集思廣益，提供馬政府上任後種種侵害人權的事件，我們會整理後在國際人權日的活動上，一起向國際媒體揭露。很遺憾，眼睜睜看台灣的沈淪，這卻是我們唯一可以做的；也請大家各自努力。

author: I-fan Lin


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Taiwan: Livecasting the Protest · Global Voices
Portnoy Zheng

Different from the fierce encounter between protesters and police forces during the day in front of the Presidential Office, there are more than 400 students peacefully gathering in front of the Executive Yuan in order to bring everyone's attention back to the real question: Is the freedom of expression still belong to Taiwanese? And they protest against President Ma and its government for lowering Taiwanese human right standard as to the level in Mainland China(zh).
Wenli is now there and livecasting via Yahoo!Live along with 400 online watchers.

author: Portnoy Zheng


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Taiwan: No Violence Please  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Leonard criticizes Taiwanese protesters’ violent action towards mainland journalists and anchors from CCTV, China in the protest against Chen Yun-lin's visit.


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The Middle East’s Generation Facebook · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

What will the Middle East look like 25 years from now? That was the assignment the World Policy Journal gave Mona El Tahawy for their 25th anniversary edition. Mona decided to have some fun and imagination. This is what she came up with, mixing real people in imaginary scenarios in 2033. Who knows? They might come true!
Here are excerpts from AlTahawy's blog:
It’s October 2033 and Shahinaz Abdel-Salam, 55, has just been appointed Egypt’s first female interior minister. She’s about to address the nation by live holofeed to explain why she’s accepted a post that as a young woman she’d always dreamed would be abolished because, in the Egypt where she grew up, interior minister was synonymous with “chief torturer.”
…. Her speech is short, but remarkable. In one of her first decisions as interior minister, she designates Lazoghli a national museum, including the dungeons, so that Egyptians would always remember the struggles of the past. Then, she appoints a poet as her deputy. Call me a romantic fool, she’d later say, but the interior minister should be a woman or a poet. But not all the romance in the world could salvage the post of information minister—also known as the “censorship minister”—so she was relieved the post had been abolished and replaced by a social networking minister, responsible for boosting the online communities that had become vital to Egypt’s civil society.
Shahinaz's father
stopped speaking to Shahi for a few years after she started blogging in 2005. At the time, she would tell any journalists who would listen that she’d started to blog so that she could call the then-Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak a dictator. Shahi’s father didn’t think it was appropriate for the daughter of a proud army man to be so disrespectful to the head of state who was a fellow graduate of the army corps. Mubarak was to be the last of Egypt’s leaders from a military background. Shahi had tried to explain to her father that she belonged to a generation that would change Egypt, but to his death her father remained skeptical. He never told her that he’d read her blog secretly and was especially proud of the role model she had become for other young people when she started blogging.
… But Shahi’s father couldn’t imagine how a bunch of kids could change the country using their computers.
ElTahawy continues her dream by forwarding to 2033:
Shahi’s boss, Prime Minister Ibrahim El-Houdaiby, 50, knew all about how computers could change not just a country but a movement, even the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist organization founded in Egypt in 1928 and of which both his great grandfather and grandfather were iconic leaders. Ibrahim had been a protégé of a Muslim Brotherhood editor who had impressed upon him and other young Brothers and Sisters the importance of the Internet to express themselves. In 2005, that editor, Khaled Hamza, had launched the Muslim Brotherhood’s first English-language website, called IkhwanWeb, aimed at getting the movement’s news and views out to the Western media.
… Ibrahim, developed a reputation for feminist sympathies when, as a board member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s English language website he wrote an op-ed in 2007 for a Jewish newspaper in New York in response to a secular Egyptian female writer’s complaint that while she supported the Muslim Brotherhood’s right to exist, she didn’t believe they would return the courtesy. Ibrahim had gone on the record as criticizing the Muslim Brotherhood’s supreme guide for calling the women writer “naked” because she wasn’t wearing a headscarf when she’d gone to interview him. Ibrahim bolstered his feminist credentials when he went on to write a blog post criticizing the Brotherhood’s manifesto, which said that Islam allowed women to vote but not to become a leader of a country.
Mona does not forget to mention the role of Facebook for this generation of change agents:
Ibrahim and Shahinaz got to know each other through the social networking site Facebook, which, starting in 2008, began functioning as an online forum for young activists in Egypt. At a time when the Egyptian state was becoming increasingly out of touch with the needs and troubles of the average citizen and, more worrying, unable or unwilling to provide them with services they needed, the Facebook activists were becoming both the oxygen and blood of Egypt’s civil society.
On the future of President Mubarak's regime ElTahawy writes:
After he turned 80 in 2008, President Mubarak appeared in public less frequently, and soon it seemed as if every month brought a new disaster or crisis. The country teetered on the edge of a real revolution— and not a coup disguised as a revolution à la July 1952—fueled by the rage of the poor who were dying, fighting over bread and whose houses simply collapsed because of shoddy building standards or because of neglect. Facebook activists became the thin line between rage and sheer anarchy. They organized online fundraisers and encouraged their friends to go to poor neighborhoods and help clean up after disasters, such as the September 2008 rockslide that buried alive dozens as they slept in their homes in a shantytown on the outskirts of Cairo in. The activists also used Facebook to organize demonstrations and encourage each other to join nationwide strikes in support of workers protesting rising food prices and inflation.
This Facebook Generation soon became central to Egypt’s civil society, taking the reins from a Muslim Brotherhood, which having won in 2005 an unprecedented 88 seats in parliament becoming the largest opposition bloc, had lost touch with the ordinary Egyptians it had long claimed to champion. Instead, it had become obsessed with moral values and banning racy music videos. After Mubarak’s death in 2012, when his son Gamal took over, this Facebook generation—no longer mere children—began in many ways to function as a shadow government, able to mobilize and provide services that the Muslim Brotherhood had once been famous for.
Mona envisioned Gamal Mubarak's era to be an era of further strife:
Gamal struggled as crisis after another challenged his already tenuous legitimacy. He could not trigger the trickle down of economic growth that he used to boast about as son of the president and head honcho of a select group of uber-wealthy businessmen. As the Egyptian population continued to grow, so did its skepticism that a Mubarak could ever improve their lives.
Back to El-Houdaiby
In 2015, when he was just 32, Ibrahim and two other disillusioned young Muslim Brothers broke away from the movement and formed a new political party modeled after Turkey’s Justice and Development Party, otherwise known as the AKP.
… Soon after Gamal assumed the presidency, Ibrahim returned to Cairo from a job in Abu Dhabi, drawn back by a burning sense that he must provide an alternative that neither Mubarak Jr.nor the Muslim Brotherhood, led by a new—but just as authoritarian and out-of-touch—supreme guide, could offer Egypt. He started slow, hosting small meetings of like-minded fellow Muslim Brothers and Sisters whose blogs had identified them as frustrated with the Brotherhood’s rigid hierarchy.
… Ibrahim was already acknowledged as a leader-in-waiting by the time President Gamal Mubarak took the historic step in early 2033 of handing over power to a prime minister. Gamal, then 70, was tired of trying to prove he could govern. His heart was always in business, so he had made the mistake of thinking that his businessmen best friends could fix Egypt. Instead, they’d alienated the people with their lavish and corrupt ways. Gamal had inherited from his father an Egypt that was already teetering on the edge of social decay, its politics fueled by faded memories of glory. The 2008 global financial crisis hit the country particularly
hard. With every year of hardship, more neighborhoods—especially in Cairo— turned into “no-go zones” ruled by local thugs. Affluent Egyptians increasingly retreated into gated communities and, for its own protection, the Mubarak regime sealed off huge parts of downtown.
On India's leading role, ElTahawy dreams saying
Worried about Gamal’s increasing dependence on Brotherhood support, India, then holding the chair of the G-10’s revolving presidency, took the historic step in 2020 of pushing Egypt to open its political space. Almost overnight, a flurry of underground political parties gained licenses, allowing them to exist in the open. Ibrahim immediately began maneuvering to create his new party, Justice For All.
… Ibrahim’s party won the general elections, he seized the opportunity to deliver on his promise to surprise Egyptians with his choice of a cabinet. He was especially eager to prove his administration would not be beholden to the Muslim Brotherhood, but instead lay out a new vision of Egyptian politics: one that respected Islamic principles of social justice but did not use religion as a political weapon (thus avoiding the long-fought wrestling match between Gamal and the Muslim Brotherhood). In stead, he was determined to focus on rebuilding Egyptians’ crushed confidence by creating new jobs, stamping out corruption, and inviting deep-pocketed investors into the country. By giving ministerial portfolios to Shahinaz and seven other women, Ibrahim created Egypt’s first ever woman majority cabinet. It was a historic move that at once answered all the critics who continued to wonder if he meant it, all those years ago, when he criticized the Muslim Brotherhood’s position on women leaders.
Mona's dream gets better
Egypt’s first prime minister from an Islamist background had named a woman as his deputy and he put the entire Muslim world on notice. Egypt would revive its proud history of cultural and political leadership. What better way to shake the country awake than to place a woman as vice president? And what better way to show his break with the Brotherhood than to have a woman deputy who insisted that Egypt needed every man and woman working side by side to rebuild the country. Thankfully, his deputy had completed her graduate studies in Denmark and was well versed in Scandinavia’s success in supporting women.
… and in 2033 he would set out to emulate Erdogan’s successes. On his second day in office, Ibrahim then put Europe on notice: Egypt would apply for European Union membership.
On the Saudi front Mona ElTahawy dreams of a female mufti
One of the first people to congratulate Ibrahim was Maha El-Faleh, who, in 2032, was appointed Saudi Arabia’s first female mufti. Maha and Ibrahim had met at a conference in Dubai in 2010 after an online acquaintance. He had lived in Abu Dhabi at the time, while she had traveled from Jeddah. Their friendship, however, had long been brewing: in 2007, a mutual friend had invited Maha to join a Facebook group Ibrahim had created in support of political prisoners.
As co-mufti, she shared her post with two men—one a Sunni and the other a Shiite. Their appointments coincided with the thirtieth anniversary of what is now recognized as a tragic turning point in Saudi Arabia’s relationship with its powerful clerics. In March 2002, 15 girls were burned to death in Mecca when officers of the morality police refused to let them out of their flaming school building and barred firefighters from rescuing them because the girls weren’t wearing headscarves. The ensuing outrage allowed then Crown Prince Abdullah to snatch girls’ education away from the clerics and to further promote his reform ideology.
Abdullah had become king when his brother Fahd died in 2005, but he became mired between liberals impatient for reform and conservatives who hoped it would never come, unable or unwilling to press decisive actions. Abdullah had often spoken of furthering women’s rights and introducing much-needed reforms into Saudi Arabia. Many took him seriously because unlike some of his brothers who had ruled before him, he wasn’t a playboy king but a serious and earnest man whose simple tastes appealed to Saudis proud of their Bedouin past.
Before his death in 2015, Abdullah had prepared legislation to allow women to drive, but more important, to codify a criminal code which would end the free-for-all of Saudi Arabia’s courts in which hard-line clerics who also served as judges passed verdicts based on their own interpretation of Islamic law. The nephew who assumed the throne after Abdullah was laid to rest had not been expected to be much of a reformer. He’d had a little too much fun during graduate school in the United States and maintained the family tradition of summer vacations on the topless beaches of the French and Spanish Rivieras. But before his uncle’s death, Faisal had dipped a few toes into the Generation Facebook pool.
He set up a Facebook profile (under an assumed name, of course) to read what his fellow Saudis were saying and was in awe of their inventiveness. Maha had come to his attention when, one slow evening, she’d posted as her Facebook status: “Maha wants to be liberated once and for all.” (The social networking site encouraged its members to describe how they feel in what were known as “status updates.”) Though Faisal didn’t know it at the time, he was soon to find it serendipitous that his coronation coincided with an event in Saudi history that had empowered the hard-line clerics.
… On the eve of his coronation, Abdullah’s nephew, Faisal, had a dream where the Prophet Mohammed placed his hand on his forehead and told him that he had the chance to revive Islam’s great message of social justice and gender equality. When he asked the Prophet how he could do that, the future king of Saudi Arabia was told to recall the year 1979. Puzzled at first that the Prophet hadn’t quoted verses from the Koran about the responsibility of leadership, Abdullah asked his friends to help him interpret the message. One of those friends, Ahmed al-Omran, a Shiite Muslim from the Eastern Province who had visited the United States in 2007 as part of a State Department visitor’s program, told the future king of a book about the siege of Mecca he’d bought during his visit. The book’s author maintained that the incident was the precursor to Al Qaeda’s murderous ways. Ahmed, a fervent blogger both in English and Arabic,
had reviewed the book online after he returned to Saudi Arabia. The book was the first he’d ever heard of the siege, as the event itself had been omitted from the Saudi history curriculum.
Relieved that someone had known what the prophet had tried to tell him, the new king of Saudi Arabia was determined to set the kingdom on a just course that would revive that message of social justice and gender equality which the prophet had emphasized.
… The oil had lasted longer than the naysayers had predicted, but by the time Faisal took over, the price of oil had plunged back to the low double-digits, which marked the beginning of the end of the Saudi welfare state. As the managerial posts dried up, Faisal encouraged young Saudis to train and apply for the junior jobs they had once eschewed as “beneath them.”
… In 2032, Faisal felt the country was ready and he asked Ahmed to become the first Shiite mufti and to recommend two others to share the post. Ahmed nominated Maha El-Faleh and Fouad al-Farhan, his contemporaries from Generation Facebook. Maha, Fouad, and Ahmed had stayed in contact as their careers progressed and as Saudi Arabia and the Middle East changed around—and because of—them.
Fouad, for his part, became quite a celebrity after he was detained for several months in 2008 for the crime of calling for the release of dissidents in Saudi Arabia. Both Ahmed and Maha had campaigned for his release on their respective blogs. Unlike some other bloggers, Fouad had used his real name online, making it easier for authorities to corral him. But friends maintained his blog in his absence and likeminded bloggers across the Arab world called for his release via a massive online petition. Protest banners were posted across the Internet.
At the end of her article Mona admitted that she is a dreamer
To misquote John Lennon, you may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one who imagines such a rosy future for Shahi, Ibrahim, and Maha—and the Middle East. Why? To quote one of my favorite George W. Bushisms, don’t “misunderestimate” Generation Facebook and its ability to change not just Egypt and Saudi Arabia, but the entire region.
… The Middle East today, in 2008, is full of young people—the majority of the region’s population is below the age of 30. Paradoxically, their nations’ rulers are all old, having for years fought off any potential alternative leaders, creating a political vacuum into which those young people of the region are increasingly stepping. The Internet, blogs, and social networking sites now give voices to those most marginalized in the Middle East today—young people and women.
It’s impossible to look ahead in the Middle East without stopping for a moment to appreciate the myriad connections that keep the region in touch and aware in ways unimaginable in 1978 when Shahi was born. Satellite television means one can watch, over and over, the aftermath of the tragic September Cairo rock slide. On blogs like Shahi’s “An Egyptian Woman,” young people write about such tragedies, posting pictures and eye-witness accounts that rival the best media reports in Egypt. And, true to form, a group of young activists organized a group on Facebook calling on their friends and supporters to go to the griefstricken shantytown to demonstrate in support of its bereaved inhabitants.
Generation Facebook is the godchild of two important developments that took off in tandem over the past three years in Egypt—an increasingly bold blogging movement and street activism. Both are among the few reasons for optimism in a country where most are pessimistic about the future.
… The recent Internet-inspired activism has flipped the script—the needs of the masses have sparked a wave of unprecedented activism among young Egyptians. Bloggers have been instrumental in the conviction of police officers for torture and in getting neglected stories into the headlines.
… I call myself a foolish optimist. I’m a child of the “Naksa,” as those of us born in 1967, the year of defeat by Israel, are called. So what, beyond a foolish dream, is left for us? I am confident that Generation Facebook is planting the seeds of an opposition movement that gives Egyptians, and by extension the whole region, an alternative to the state and the mosque. In 2033, I will be 66 years old. Nothing would make me happier than to see Shahi, Ibrahim, and Maha make my dream come true.


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Trinidad & Tobago: The Pot & the Kettle  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As Trinidad and Tobago's Opposition Leader criticizes the Prime Minister's intervention regarding comments made about him during a radio newscast, Jumbie's Watch says: “Wait nah, ent this is the same man who attempted to muzzle the press?  That is like the charcoal in the chulha calling de bun-up roti on the tawa black.”


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Trinidad & Tobago, U.S.A.: Holograms  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Blogging from Trinidad and Tobago, This Beach Called Life thinks that CNN's election coverage holograms were “the second most amazing event for the night!”


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Ukraine: Harm Reduction and Law Enforcement · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

According to the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, “Ukraine has an estimated [323,000-425,000] injecting drug users and one of the fastest growing HIV epidemics in Europe.” Harm reduction initiatives – whose aim, according to the OSI International Harm Reduction Development Program, is to diminish “the individual and social harms associated with drug use, especially the risk of HIV infection” through “a pragmatic and humanistic approach” – are gradually taking root in Ukraine. For example, the first methadone substitution therapy programs, still illegal in Russia, were introduced in Ukraine in 2004 (for more info, see this report – .pdf file – by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance Ukraine).
Having the government's approval for such programs is not enough for them to succeed, however. For one thing, the general public and law enforcement officials should be aware of the situation and of the efforts to change it for the better. On a newly-launched collective LJ blog depo3p, blogger mazay – who is currently receiving methadone substitution treatment and is actively involved in a Ukrainian harm reduction info project Motylyok – writes (RUS) about a recent attempt to educate a group of Kyiv police officers:
[…] I got an offer to do a lecture on harm reduction to a whole company of Patrol Police Service (PPS)!.. An offer I couldn't refuse, no way! PPS are the guys who can be compared to those who hunt small game. And in nature, it is well-known that the smaller the predator, the more ruthless it is…
[…] And so me and a friend arrived at their den, a district police department, where we met the commander on duty, who looked us over energetically and asked right away:
- Have you brought [condoms]? [a widely-used but somewhat rude slang word for condoms is used here – gondony]
– ?
– Well, [condoms] [now here is a medical, neutral term – prezervativy]. What? You aren't distributing them anymore?..
We understood what was expected of us, and quietly placed a plastic bag with booklets on the table – “Important info for police officers.”
- We'll bring condoms another time, – my companion promised somewhat guiltily. The “commander” didn't say anything and, smiling weirdly, took us to the conference hall, where well-built guys in blue police uniforms have already gathered.
I began with the history of harm reduction. Started from Holland […]. A couple of guys out of the total of 30 woke up. Gradually, I moved to the world stats. The European stats. When I reached Ukrainian stats, a few more people raised their heads. And only when I began talking about corruption, about international experience – like, in Germany drug policies are very harsh, too, but no police officer would ever decide to do an ambush next to a drugstore, filtering, catching and searching addicts as they exit the store, taking the last money from sick people…
- Ha! Sick people!.. It's all your own fault…
– Well, it depends. Let's say, when you cross the street on red and get hit by a car. You'll become disabled, but why did you run on red in the first place, right? You shouldn't cross the street on red. And then you'll go to your doctor to get your disability papers, and the doctor will tell you – it's all your own fault! Or, like, if you drink cold vodka and catch a cold, or if you walk in the rain without your hat on… You get sick, go to the doctor, and he tells you that it's all your fault.
– But how can you compare it like this?
– Why not? Silliness leads to certain consequences. With drugs, it all starts with silliness. With being too sure that you won't get hooked. The illness itself does not begin with the first injection, but gradually, from being silly systematically. You should be able to tell which person is already sick and which one has simply “forgotten to put his hat on.”
The audience treated my comparison somewhat sceptically, but they became more lively, which was a good sign, I think.
I tried to tie this in to the situation with HIV, recounting stories about injection drug users who out of fear of the police do not always come to get clean syringes, and if they do, they do it reluctantly. […] Told them about the possibilities of [substitution therapy]… Their reaction was predictable.
- Our salaries aren't like those of the German police… And why should we pity these lazy bums, who get high in your [substitution therapies] and then go pickpocketing, taking the last money from the old people…
For an hour, we tried to get the audience to talk (mainly, they were village boys who've come to Kyiv in search of work). The discussion ended in a draw.
- You do get… eh… well… condoms? And those… all kinds of vitamins?..
– Gloves! [disposable gloves]
– Right! Do bring us some gloves and condoms!
– We'll do, – we promised them listlessly.
We shook hands and parted. […] The day didn't pass in vain – we've accomplished something big! Have made yet another step towards understanding!


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Ukraine, U.S.: “Khayrli Presidentlerden olsun!” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Maria Sonevytsky of My Simferopol Home clinked glasses filled with tea for Barack Obama with her Crimean Tatar host – and learned how to say “May the President be successful!” in Crimean Tatar: “Khayrli Presidentlerden olsun!”


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YouTube’s “Project:Report” Video Finalists Selected · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

We've been following the progress of the YouTube Aspiring Citizen Journalist competition “Project:Report” organized along with the Pulitzer Center to select an amateur video journalist to win a 10 000 USD fellowship to film a story of their choice. The finalists have been selected, and we'll present three of them to you.
The 10 finalists have been selected from the dozens of submissions, now they will produce another video for the second round and among these the audience will vote for their favorite. On the YouTube blog they have included a video with advice for this second round, on how to make the story appeal to wider audiences.
The 10 finalist videos can be seen here. However, it seems all the finalists are from the Continental US, leaving me with the desire to have seen products from other places around the world. Nevertheless, several of the finalists’ videos touch on certain topics related to minorities and migration issues.
In Living Between Borders,  inongimke presents the life of a young woman who is after being raised in the US, still doesn't have a legal migratory status, although all the rest of her family has been able to get the residence. This young woman lives looking at the opportunities out there that she can't access because she doesn't have a social security number, and the fear that one day they may separate her from her daughter and send her back to Mexico.
In De tu papá/From your father, sandracroa also brings us the story of an illegal immigrant living in the US, working as a day laborer and missing his family back home. He is unable to be with his daughter at her “quinceañera” coming of age party, and sends a video instead, knowing that estrangement is the payoff for being able to provide for his family from afar.
Skycitygirl brings us Rachel, her Grandmother's memoirs growing up as an acoma Native American Indian in a reservation, remembering how school enforced only English rules, when many students only knew their Native American languages, and how she remembers loving the scent and licking the clay whitewash on the walls of her childhood home.
The deadline for submitting videos to the 2nd round is November 9th, and voting will be soon after that.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Armenia: Inclusive Education · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

My The Caucasian Knot posts two entries accompanied by photographs on inclusive education in Armenia. Part of a voluntary project on child protection and disabilities, the first post details a return visit to the World Vision Child Development Center in Yerevan while the second takes a closer look and accompanies social workers on home visits.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Bangladesh: Maritime boundary dispute with Mayanmar · Global Voices
Rezwan

E-Bangladesh provides background information to the recent Maritime boundary dispute between Bangladesh and Mayanmar.

author: Rezwan


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Barbados: Immigration Nation?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Both Barbados Underground and pull! push! share their views on Barbados’ immigration policy.


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Cuba: Oh La Paloma… · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Havana Times reports that “Tropical Storm Paloma is on a course that could reach Cuba by Sunday or Monday.”


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Frontera Filmmakers: Video stories from both sides of the border · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Frontera Filmmakers is a website that unites video producers from both sides of the Mexico-USA border. We'll view the story of the 389 miles along the Arizona-Sonora border, teens in Tijuana speaking about reducing contamination and a park which has united Mexicans, US citizens, Chinese and Russian workers to build a monument for unity.
389 Miles is a documentary about life on either side of the USA-Mexico border. In the 4 minute trailer, the director Luis Carlos Romero-Davis invites us to watch the documentary on those who brave the border crossing across the desert, those who are out there searching for them in order to provide aid, and others who are there to protect their country from the Illegal immigrants. He also shows the partial interview with a smuggler who tells all about the human trade in that region of the world.
In Contaminacion 202 [es] a group of  youth from Tijuana, Mexico explain why it is important to control pollution and contamination, with examples of ground, water and air pollution.
The third video is titled “Entre Corazón y Mar [en]” (Between the heart and the sea), and shows the building process of the Pacific Rim Park in Baja California, Mexico, where Mexicans, US Citizens, Russian and Chinese have gathered together in spite of language differences to build a monument that honors diversity.There are many other videos on the Frontera Filmmakers site including animations, tv show pilots and cultural excursions into the lives of characters who live their lives at the edge of two worlds.