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Beheadings, Shoot-outs and Baby Dumping: Where is Japan heading? · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

News stories covered this week by the mainstream news media in Japan have shaken Japanese society, with many wondering where their country is heading and what has happened to the nation's youth. Most sensational among these stories is the shocking tale of a high-school boy who killed and beheaded his mother, then carried the head with him to an Internet cafe before turning himself over to the police. (It is noteworthy that this is not the first time that this type of crime has occurred in Japan.) Police reported that after admitting to the crime, the boy said: “I want terrorism and war to disappear from the world,” and explained that: “It doesn't matter who I choose to kill.”
Next up is the story of a 24-hour standoff involving a former yakuza gangster, who hid in his suburban home holding his former wife as hostage. The standoff finally ended, but not before the man killed one police officer, injured another, and also injured his own son and daughter.
Add to these two the story of the first Japanese “Akachan Post” (Baby Post, also referred to as a “Stork's Cradle”), a kind of “baby hatch” measuring 50 centimetres by 60 centimetres, opening onto a small heated compartment. Parents who, for whatever reason, cannot take care of their children can drop off their young babies in this hatch; hospital personnel are alerted when the door is opened, and immediately come to receive the baby.
The idea of introducing a “Baby Post” was sparked by the rise in cases of child abandonment in Japan. One such case, also in the spotlight this week, involved a couple whose baby died in the luggage compartment of their motorbike as they gambled their money away at a local pachinko parlour, the baby's body later found dumped in the gutter.
Although the Baby Post may help avoid horrific situations such as these, the system is not without its detractors. On its first day of operation, a man apparently misunderstood the intended age range of the “Stork's Cradle” and dropped off his 3-year-old son into the baby hatch, telling him that they were just playing hide-and-go-seek. The boy apparently could talk and was able to identify himself by name.
What do Japanese people think about all these stories? Many expressed great distress about what is happening to Japanese society.  Blogger choumi summarizes the situation well in the first few lines of her entry on the topic:
母親を殺す息子に、
息子を捨てる父親。
嫌なニュースが立て続け。
Another blogger dawnpurple writes:
親殺し、子殺し、育児放棄など昔からあったといいますが、明らかに性質が変わっているといわざるを得ません。
いつもこの結論でどうしようもないのですが、いったい日本人はどうなってしまったのでしょうか。いや、世界か？
In a post called “What is this we call life?“,  blogger bar_moonCot writes:
何故、なんで命の奪い合いをしなければならないんだ？　あんた方にとって、命とは一体どういうものなのだ！？
人間、所詮は「人の形をした獣」だということか？　　否、俺はそうではないと信じたい。
人の心の奥底には、忘れることのない道徳心、慈しみの心を備えているはずだと、信じていきたい。
悲しいニュースではありましたが、改めて「命」というものを自分の中で再確認する機会となったのでした。
Others, such as Prefectural Assembly Member Kanda Masakuni, related the recent events to their own lives:
報道によれば母親殺害事件においては、被害者の母親は子供達に多くの愛情を注いでいたようであるし、赤ちゃんポストに預けられた3歳児は名前を名乗る事が出来るという。
ましてや赤ちゃんポストには、父親に連れられ預けられたという。
何という世の中かと思うと同時に、親の愛について考えさせられた。
１つに、親の愛がなぜ子供に伝わらないのか?
もう１つが、親の愛をなぜ放棄するのか?
私も現在、子育ての真っ最中。
3人の子供は難しい盛りにある。
日頃から思っている事だが、親の愛の表現も千差万別、受け取る子供の感受性も千差万別であり、これが愛情表現という正解は無く、よって親子間による手探りの繰り返しこそが、親子の愛の深まりにつながるのかなぁと思っている。
勿論これは私の考えであり、もっと素晴らしい形で親子間の愛を深めておられる方も多いと思う。
There was another group of bloggers who took a different position, arguing that the mainstream media had sensationalized these stories at the expense of other issues, which received much less (or no) attention. Blogger mk-labo expresses this sentiment:
メディアは、こういった事例をセンセーショナルに取り上げて
「時代がおかしくなった」「若い世代はキレるから怖い」と
いたずらに不安を煽ろうとはしていないだろうか。
Other bloggers made this argument more explicitly. Blogger wayakucha argues that the sensational stories were used to cover up or ignore other more important issues, such as the passage of the new national referendum law and the protests at Henoko Bay:
他の方も指摘されていますが、ここに書かせてください。本日の夕刊で、国民投票法ごり押し、沖縄復帰35周年を大きく扱った全国紙、あるいは、在京キー局のニュースがありましたか？
ないですね？
本日のトップは、高校生が母親殺害か、赤ちゃんポストに3歳児、ですね。
つまり、これらの事件は、国民投票法を隠すために使われていたのです。
実際、赤ちゃんポストは、10日に分かっていたのです。それが、なぜ本日、これだけ大きく報じられたのでしょうか？
私は、高校生の母親殺害も、少し前の事件で、本日、国民投票法を隠すためにリークされたと思っています。日本の警察には、赤子の手をひねるようなものです。
[…]
さらに、沖縄で、辺野古の基地に反対する市民を弾圧するために、自衛隊が「派兵」されています。いつ、国民に、自衛隊が銃口を向けるか、わかりません。
明日の朝は、北朝鮮が核ミサイルを撃ったとか言うニュースが流れても、私は驚きません。
日本の言論統制は、ここまで進んでいる…のではなく、もともとそうなのです。
Finally, other bloggers were more introspective. Blogger kiryuyrik's post on the topic, simply titled “Saikin…” (Recently…), expresses dismay and great sadness:
なんとなく
泣きそう。。
そんな気分。。。
特に意味はない。
でも涙が出そう。
切ないです。
最近のニュースもそんなんばっかり。
エキスポランドの事故死
神戸の妊婦殺害
福島の母親殺害
赤ちゃんポストに３歳児
負の連鎖
が止まらない。
誰か止めてくれ。
ニュースを見る度に鬱になる。
悲しい。。
何かが蔓延している気がする
社会の流れとかじゃない。。
何かに侵されてる。
そんな気がする
暗いニュースばっかり。。
マスコミも無駄に食いつく。
無意味な報道合戦
最近少し疲れました。。

author: Chris Salzberg


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Cambodia: Encouraging E-Commerce · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Borin has some points on what is holding back e-commerce in Cambodia.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Preetam Rai


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Cameroon: Diaspora-homeland collaboration in online publishing · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A success story of Diaspora-homeland collaboration: “The Post’s collaboration between the hard copy as content provider and its US-based site owners as administrator, demonstrates an alternative (even if unconventional) model of publishing online. It simultaneously illustrates how the skills of the Cameroonian diasporic community are being appropriated towards the homeland particularly in the face of poor infrastructure and a lack of skills in website development.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Ethiopia: a new blog collects tributes to Anthony Mitchell · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A new blog dedicated to Anthony Mitchell: “We've set up a website to collect all the tributes to Anthony Mitchell that are flooding on to the internet. You can see it at anthonymitchell.wordpress.com.”


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Iran:Babak Zamanian, a Student Activist in Danger · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to Inja va Aknoun[Fa],Babak Zamanian,a student activist from Amir Kabir University in Tehran,is in danger in prison. He was arrested about three weeks ago and he has heart problems.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:Graffitis in Tehran · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Petit has published several photos of grafittis in Tehran.The blogger says they look like New York ones!


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Iran:News in Photos · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Kamanagir has published several photos about daily “life” in Iran or recent events.You can see a Tehrani cab driver decorates his cab with a halter or you csn discover Iranian police is seriously pursuing an anti-gang program in Tehran. The program is followed by punishment in the streets, including marching the gang members with plastic swords. The red vase in the above picture is what Iranians use to wash themselves up in the restroom.


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Iran:Woman Activist is out of Jail · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Zeynabeh Peyambarzadeh,journalist and woman activist is out of jail. She is a member of the “One Million Signatures Campaign Demanding an End to Discriminatory Laws against Women.”


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Iran:No Lawyer for Haleh Esfandyari · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

In Free Haleh blog we read that two days ago Nobel Laureate lawyer Shirin Ebadi had agreed to defend Haleh but the latest news is that Iranian authorities are denying Ebadi’s request to represent Haleh – and denying access to Haleh in prison.
Dr. Haleh Esfandiari is the Director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC.


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Kyrgyzstan: Regional Divides · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

neweurasia reports on strategies for tackling Kyrgyzstan's regional divisions.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Russia: Dissenters’ March in Samara · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

On Friday, police at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport prevented Russian opposition leaders Garry Kasparov and Eduard Limonov from boarding a flight to Samara, where they planned to take part in the Dissenters’ March, scheduled to coincide with the Russia-EU Summit. A number of other opposition activists and journalists didn't make it to Samara as well that day, and Kasparov's aide Marina Litvinovich (LJ user abstract2001) was one them. Here's what she wrote (RUS):
[…] I've just returned from Sheremetyevo-1, where they didn't allow us to take our 9 AM flight. We were released around 1:45 PM, only after the 1:30 PM flight to Samara had departed (we, of course, didn't have tickets for it, and we couldn't buy them without our passports [that were taken away by the police], and moreover, they were not letting us out of the waiting lounge). […]
Despite the absense of Kasparov and Limonov, the opposition rally did take place.
LJ user insie (Stanislav Sazhin) attended and posted his photos here and a 27MB video – here (WARNING: both links are bandwidth intensive). Below are excerpts from two of insie‘s May 18 posts (RUS):
01:57 pm
The situation around the Russia-EU Summit is incredibly banal. “Potemkin Villages” is what it's called. Mr. Putin thinks that Merkel and company are a bunch of idiots if he hopes that by showing Russia's presentable side he'll manage to deceive the European leaders. And this exactly is the goal of all the latest actions, which are more like state terrorism.
First of all, all who in some way had been revealed to have something to do with the marches were hunted down in a rude and mean way on their way to Samara. And they aren't even looking for reasons to detain. They give no reasons. They just detain and that's it. […]
The second stage is no less intricate and smells even worse because of that. All the Summit's guests are transported from the airport to the site of the event … on helicopters! Yes, on helicopters, to keep them from seeing the Russian reality, so that they didn't notice the empty villages, broken down roads, rusty cars. And you know what – I've seen it all on the way from the airport to the city today. […]
What is the regime thinking of – does anyone really believe that the European leaders aren't aware of the way things really are in the country? Is Putin really sure that it's possible to [embellish the truth] of his crimes […] by ordering all villagers to stay away from their garden plots during these days (yes, so that they didn't spoil the view)? […]
This morning, I saw for myself how the arriving passangers stood in line at Samara international airport. But it wasn't an ordinary line, no. People were being searched. Their personal passport information was being read aloud and they were forced to wait. Those who complained were rudely admonished. […] Every last name was openly checked against some printed list. And they were openly saying this: “You aren't on the list of undesirable persons, you may go!” The very fact that citizens of the Russian Federation can be undesrable persons in the Russian Federation – this needs no further comment, I guess.
[…]
07:10 pm
Streets leading up to the fountain on Osipenko blocked, empty asphalt, lots of water cannons and gloomy policemen on every crossing: each step I was making in this sleepy kingdom led me to think that soon I'd see Something. Something that all these special services are so afraid of.
But I failed to see it. Didn't see it! From afar, it seemed as if young people were getting drunk near the fountain. The only thing that seemed to ruin this idyllic Friday afternoon were the [Imperial flags] […].
[…] Near the fountain, there were about 200 people – merry, relaxed, happy young faces, enjoying the sun […]. These people waved flags, chatted, and the already familiar black banner of the Other Russia was in the vanguard. I thought – are civilized rallies possible in Russia, withough fights and hysteria? The police were barely visible. They encircled the square loosely and were also present all the way along the street up to the embankment.
But this was nothing compared to the April clashes in Moscow and St. Petersburg. This was victory. The first and last one this evening. The regime decided against using harsh measures […].
Journalists were slightly less numerous than the young people, mainly photographers – I've counted at least 150 people. Plus the usual old women, sympathetic city residents and the coalition's leaders (those who had not been caught) – all in all, 500 people or so.
[…]
And then the farce began. At the command of the cheerful guy Yura […] all these folks moved along the street. It bacame clear right away that the people had gotten too relaxed in the sun, as they kept refusing to march, and didn't chant anything, and felt more like taking a merry walk and chat on various topics.
Yura and his assistents were screaming menacingly at them, the column rearranged shoulder to shoulder again, but their slogans subsided after two or three times, and the straight rows were beginning to stray apart once the leaders looked the other way.
Special respect to journalists. There were so many of us! Photo and video cameras literally surrounded the marching protesters. […]
A crowd of onlookers as large walked along on the sidewalks and small paths – they didn't have it in them to join the march, but they didn't want to walk away either. What if the fighting starts – you gotta watch it from the first rows!
So this is how we walked cheerfully to the embankment […]. By then, some of the onlookers had decided to join the march. It all looked pretty funny – half-naked girls with guys or mamas, elderly women, men in suits. Democracy! […] All in all, I'd say there were about a thousand people.
Despite the quantity, the march still failed. The chants were kind of weak, and only the [National Bolsheviks] were yelling them, and the rest were silent. These phrases that we've already heard a million times are boring. “Russia Without Putin” – yes, I agree, but is there some other way to say it!?
[…]
For the next half an hour, there were boring speeches on the same subjects, and in the hellish heat, and without a microphone (the police did not allow to use amplifying equipment). The same slogans were being repeated over and over again. The boredom was diluted only by a woman from Belarus […]. She was harshly critical of Lukashenko, and it turned out that there were many of his supporters in the crowd. […]
The great finale of the evening were the handshakes between the rally's leadership and the leadership of the local police […] – all went great, not a single person has been detained. And really, no one wanted to fight in such heat.
And would they want to? The regime has achieved its goal – it eliminated the backbone before it reached Samara. And the rest turned out to be ineffectual, to tell the truth.
My verdict – a great walk, great company, great acquaintances and smiles, no march, no politics. Simply a great evening.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Tajikistan: Povert & Locusts · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Bonnie Boyd writes about Tajikistan's alarmingly high poverty rates and why it looks like things are only going to get worse for many in the near future.


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Uzbekistan: Blogosphere Roundup · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Tolkun Umaraliev highlights some of the biggest topics in the Uzbek blogosphere recently.


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Uzbekistan: Pop Politics · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Registan.net discusses an Uzbek pop star's anger at the daughter of the country's president. The singer believes that her fame is being used by the president's daughter to build up a bid for the presidency later this year.


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Bahrain: Politicians Attacked by Riot Police · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Riot police attacked a seminar this evening in support of Hassan Mushaima and Abdulhadi Alkhawaja. They used tear gas and rubber bullets. According to some online reports, Waad’s Ibrahim Sharif was injured, possibly by a rubber bullet, and had to be taken to hospital….This attack comes just a day after the King ordered the public prosecutor to drop the case against the activists,” writes Chanad Bahraini.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Botswana: impact of brain-drain on aviation industry · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The face of brain-drain: “I found this document the other day at the Air Botswana check-in counter at the recently renamed O.R. Tambo International Airport, Jo'burg. It reads: “NOTICE TO AIR BOTSWANA PASSENGERS & STAKEHOLDERS
Air Botswana apologises sincerely to passengers who are affected by the current disruption to its services. This temporary situation is caused by factors relating to flight crew. In common with many airlines in Africa and elsewhere, Air Botswana has experienced a loss of pilots, whose skills have been recruited by carriers in the Middle East and Asia where the civil aviation industry is growing rapidly. This has resulted in a diminished capacity to maintain a full timetable for services, necessitating a rescheduling of some flights.”


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Central African Republic: Bangui International Human Rights Festival · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

The first Bangui International Human Rights Film Festival (Fr) starts on May 22 with the support of the French organization Alliance and the EU, writes the blog of the Alliance for Democracy and Progress.

author: Jennifer Brea


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Chile: External Vote Rejected · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Notas Al Margen [ES] reports on the rejection of the proposal that would allow Chileans living abroad to receive the right to vote. Some variations on the proposal called for new voters to register every five years, where they would need to travel back to Chile during this time period. El Diablo en los Detalles [ES] has a simple message to those that voted against this proposal. In addition, a YouTube video [ES] of a government official defending the right to vote by Chilean ex-pats is also available.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Democratic Republic of the Congo: Bukavu, a city caught in the middle of many wars · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Kakaluigi describes an apprehensive mood (Fr) in Bukavu, a city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Bukavu was caught in the middle of fighting between Tutsi government forces and the Hutu that fled there after the Rwandan genocide, and later between Congolese government and rebel forces.  Kakaluigi wonders whose interests President Joseph Kabila really has at heart: those of Bukavu's people at heart or the Rwandan government.  “During the day he is with us and at night he is with Kigali.”


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Hong Kong: From Indecent Student Magazine to Indecent Bible · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The campaign against the Bible was started by an anonymous website, truthbible, on 15 of May to protest against the Obscene Articles Tribunal's (OAT) internim ruling that two issues of Chinese University's student paper were indecent.
Uptill now, the website has received 2041 complaints, while the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority (Tela) has received more than 2,300 before the weekend. Spokeperson from the Tela said that they wouldn't hand over the Bible to the OAT because Bible is a classic and its value has been recognised by the community.
The website cites a number of texts and stories from the Bible to show that it is full of violence, obscenity and discrimination, such as description of incest between father and daughters, rape, etc. However, the action actually gains support from Christians who want to use Bible for defending freedom of speech in Hong Kong.
In an internet joint statement (via inmediahk.net), it said:
我們不要忘記歷史的教訓：十六世紀宗教改革家加爾文生平最大污點，是對異見者塞爾維特 (Michael Servetus) 的殘酷逼害。
或許有人會覺得，投訴《聖經》豈非將《聖經》「擺上枱」？——但《聖經》從來都是應該被「擺上枱」，發光發亮的，而非只放在酒店抽屜陰暗處「辟邪」，或安於教堂的長椅背後、每逢到禮拜天才被翻幾頁。《聖經》教我們行公義、施憐憫，這些教導，都應該讓世人看得見！
cowcfj is an individual blogger joining the campaign, here is his explanation:
我的目的不在於要打倒聖經，而是要凸顯淫審處不合理的處理手法。…我相信，聖經就算送審了，最後也沒可能被裁定為「二級不雅」的，淫審處人員沒有這種膽量。他們只敢對大學生、明報下手。他們只是明光社手中的棋子。
Memory-Melody-Mentality quotes Malcolm X to explain the spirit of this action, the ultimate objective is an apology from OAT for their mistake:
著名黑人民權鬥士Malcolm X 曾說：「你跑到他的宮邸，希望他改正問題－－但偏偏問題就是他製造出來的。他就是罪犯。你不要把你的事交給罪犯，你應該把罪犯送到 (國際) 法庭。」我們都只是一群小市民，我們沒有能力把淫審處送到國際法庭，但我們有能力吸引世界的目光。我們將繼續以荒謬回應荒謬，我們會一直嘗試再一次讓路透社的oddly enough 報導香港，直至淫審處面對他的錯誤，公開道歉。
Since the Tela has refused to hand over the case to the tribunal, plastichk further questions the selective prosecution practice:
請問一聲，影視處是根據哪一條法律，去判斷「源遠流長的宗教文獻或文學作品」有豁免審查的特權 (Immunity)？
如何去判定「一般合理社會人士，普遍接受的道德禮教標準」？中大學生報只有百多宗投訴，聖經在兩日內卻已經有超過二千個投訴！
「道德禮教標準」是隨著時代改變的，以往普遍接受，不代表將來會繼續接受。
大家要留意，影視處是政府轄下的「行政機關」，而不是法院－－所以一句講晒，選擇性執法惡晒。
大家要決定啞忍，還是對這種不公不義的現況提出抗爭？去申訴專員公署投訴？籌錢向高院提出司法覆核？大家好好想一想吧。
“Moral standard” is changing according to time, it might be acceptable in the past, but it doesn't mean that it is acceptable in the future. Please notice that Tela is an “administrative body”, it is not a tribunal or court –we can conclude that it is selective prosecution.
Should we decide to be silent about that, or should we confront this unjust practice? Whether to complain to The Office of The Ombudsman (trans. note: a government body against abusive administrative power)? or to collect money for judicial review? Please think hard on this.
ESWN has translated the CU student magazine's questionaire which touched upon incest and animal love. Last week, the OAT warned a local newspapers that its report on the student magazine issue had also violated the indecency and obscenity ordinance as it had made some direct quotes from the questionaire. Therefore, by translating the questionaire, ESWN also ran the risk of a maximum fine of HK$400,000 and 12 months in jail.
Ooops… by linking to ESWN's article here at GVO, I will be in the same boat. Now you might get the meaning of using farce (complaint on Bible) against farces (OAT's ruling against student magazine and obscene hyperlink).

author: Oiwan Lam


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Indonesia: Creative Commons in Indonesia · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The Indonesian Law Reporter looks at existing copyrights law in Indonesia and asks if Creative Commons license is applicable in Indonesia?


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Japan: Background to Constitutional Revision · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Japan Observer has posted a long and very thoughtful entry outlining the history and politics of the constitutional revision debate in Japan. On the future of the debate, JO writes: “[W]ith the collapse of organized opposition to revision within the political system, the only potential source of opposition is from the Japanese people themselves […] the push for revision is an opportunity for the Japanese people to raise their voices and claim the process for themselves.”


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Japan: Mail from Henoko · Global Voices
Hanako Tokita

dr.stonefly reprints an email sent by an activist in Henoko, urging the readers to take direct action in the protest against the marine survey. The email describes a fierce collision between the authorities and the peaceful demonstrators on boats and canoes. [Ja]

author: Hanako Tokita


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Japan: Strange Confession Note · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

More on the story of the boy who sawed off his mother's head and brought it to the police, courtesy of Mutant Frog Travelogue: “After the crime, he went into an Internet cafe, watched a Beastie Boys DVD, and apparently wrote the following note…“


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Japan: Who’s the real nationalist? · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Graham Webster at Transpacific Triangle, picking up on earlier entries by Ampontan and Observing Japan, asks the question: “Who's the Bigger Nationalist: Abe or Koizumi?” The verdict: “People like Abe who favor constitutional revision are ‘practical nationalists,’ whereas people like Koizumi who pay tribute to late 19th century nationalist traditions are ‘sentimental nationalists.'”


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Jesus will turn down 1,000won for the donation · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

“Jesus will turn down 1,000 won (US$ 1) for the donation,” lyrics of a church hymn[ko]. The video clip shown the song of a church has been leading to bloggers’ arguments, criticizing the corruption of Korean Christian churches and criticizing misunderstanding the lyrics on the other hand.

author: Hyejin Kim


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Kenya: free wi-fi in Nairobi · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Kenyan Pundit announces free wi-fi in Nairobi, Kenya: “Apparently KDN is offering free wi-fi in Nairobi (think it’s a promotion for their Butterfly product). It’s supposed to last through the end of the month. If you have a wi-fi enabled laptop, PDA etc. just search for the essid butterfly and connect. They are supposed to have around 100 access points in Nairobi.”


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Korea: 518, Gwangju Massacre · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

It was 518. A number Koreans don’t forget. Blogs were filled with ‘518’ for several days in order to commemorate the Gwangju Massacre (Gwangju Democratizaion Movement) on the 18th of May, 1980. A blogger, thirdtype, posted a five minute video clip and the stories of the deceased.
Bloggers, like qts, show an impressive movie poster, ‘I wished it to be a dream,’ with her (or his) brief expression about 518.
학교다닐때는 입밖에도 내지 못하던 사건… 이젠 한국 민주화의 아이콘으로 자리잡은 518. 그 5월이 또 왔다. 언제짬내서 또 광주한번 다녀와야지.
A blogger, Level-B, talks about how he got to know about Gwangju Massacre.
그러니깐, 내가 처음 광주사태를 첨 알게 된 게 아마 대학교 1학년 때였을 거다. 학교 식당 앞에 빨래줄에 매달아놓은 그 희생자 사진들과 관련 사진들을 보고 아 씨바 이거 진짜야? 했던 나는 동아리방에 굴러다니던 책들을 통해 딱 11년 전 그 도시에서 있었던 일들을 알게 됐고 나를 비롯한 [우리]가 그 자장 속에 있을 수밖에 없다는 걸 깨달았다. 그리고 그때로부터 딱 16년 후인 오늘,
이제 광주는 일종의 성지 대접을 받고있고 별 그지 깽깽이까지도 다 망월동에 참배랍시고 가서는 껄떡대는 시대가 됐다.
권력에 환장했던 그 새끼들도 아직 멀쩡히 잘 살아있고 그때 도청에서 군인의 총에 맞아 죽은 사람들을 기리는 노래인 < 임을 위한 행진곡>은 이제 그 빛을 많이 잃어버렸다.
그래서?
뭐 잊지 말자는 말밖에는 할 게 없네.
A blogger, Ulariul, posted a documentary and explained how it changed his perspective.
난 관심 없다구..
광주 5.18 관심 없다구 라고 생각하고 있었다.
물론 그들의 만행에 대해선 어릴적부터 대학생들에게 들었던바 있다.
지금도 볼수 있을지 모르겠지만 그때 당시의 처참한 사진들을 난 봐왔었다.
그래도 난 나와 상관없다라고 생각했는데…
위의 다큐를 보면서 다시한번 피가 거꾸로 쏟구쳐 오는것을 느낀다.
전두환이 살아 있다는게… 너무나도 슬플 뿐이다.
The young generation, like Canimg, commemorates it in their ways.
내가 태어난지 두달이 되었을때 이웃동네에서 일어난 사건이다.
고등학교때 친구하나는 1980년 5월 17일 광주에서 태어났다고 했다.
수많은 사람들이 죽어나갔던 그때 그 시점에도 새로운 생명은 태어난 것이다.
나서 죽는게 사람이겠지만, 억울하게 죽은 영혼이 더 아프지 않게,
그때 새로 태어난 우리가 위로해 주고 같이 아파해 주고…
다시 그런 세상이 되풀이 되지 않도록 제대로 만들어 가야 할텐데…
A young and really popular internet cartoonist made a series of cartoons on the internet showing how young generations who had painful stories from the incident try to get revenge on the main leader, Chun Doo-hwan, and young people who didn’t know about the incident had chances to learn about it.


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Kuwait: Food, Protocol and Dust Storms  · Global Voices
Abdullatif AlOmar

What is the difference between Chicken Majboos and Chicken Biryani? How do you react when you are suddenly face to face with the Amir (Ruler) of Kuwait? And how do you survive a dust storm? These are just some of the issues Kuwaiti bloggers are discussing this week.
Rieaane, a Filipino living in Kuwait, shares with us how to cook a traditional Kuwaiti dish.  She writes the full recipe and explains the difference between Chicken majboos (a Kuwaiti dish) and Chicken Biryani (an Indian dish) in her blog philq8.
I always love cooking and making experiments with the foods I found in our kitchen.  Since I am in an Arab country right now, I always aim of cooking all the Arabic dishes that I want to eat.  And since some of the ingredients of these dishes are not suitable in my taste, I always make a way to cook it in my own style and personal taste.   I also noticed that the Chicken Biryani (Pinoy Style) which I posted here few months ago ranked 3rd in this blog’s top posts for the month of April.  Few days ago, I tried to experiment arabic dish again called Majboos.  It is an Arabic dish which is consist of long grain rice and chicken or meat. The meat or chicken were boiled before frying, then the rice is being cooked with the meat or chicken’s  broth.
Krakatoa speaks about how he reacted when he came face to face with the Amir of Kuwait Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah at a condolence meeting.
intlxpatr takes us on a tour of the old American Hospital in Kuwait.
I discovered the beautiful building we park in front of when we got to church is the Old American Hospital. I don’t know what it is used for now, but it has been beautifully renovated.
Qais over at io81 shares more of his business experience and how advertisements affected his business.
Following my earlier post of Gift Express, when i introduced my marketing campaigns:P they are small but i like calling them campaigns. I had to know what impact i got for the money i have spent on such ads.
Meanwhile, Ms Loala tells us about bad parking at Kuwait University.
Now don't tell me those two were on a hurry. Can you see the freaking distance between the two sidewalks??! This is unbelievable!
Finally, Forzaq8 was shocked with the dust storm over the weekend.
wow what a weather yesterday, the dust storm was obstructing view on the street , i was drivng on fifth ring road yesterday after i went out of my friend dewaniya
Picture from Forzaq8 flickr stream.

author: Abdullatif AlOmar


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Lebanon: Updates on Clashes between Army and Fatah el Islami · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

MFL is updating and commenting on the fightings going on in the North of Lebanon between the Lebanese army and Fatah-al-Islam.

author: Moussa Bashir


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Lebanon:Clashes between Army and Fath Al-Islam in North · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

Liliane reports on the on going clashes between the Lebanese Army and members of Fath Al-Islam in north Lebanon. It is reported that there has been seven casualties from the army and four from Fath Al Islam. The clashes started at  3am on Sunday May 20, and was still going till late in the morning.


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Madagascar: solar power in Madagascar · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

From AfriGadget: “A small company in Madagascar is working to get electricity to rural areas of the island. This video shows them taking the solar panels around in a van to show people how it works and educate the children on solar power. It’s an interesting video, especially near the end where Bill hooks up his computer to the internet through a satellite connection at night – all powered by the solar panel’s stored energy.”


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Maynmar: Dam Building in Myanmar · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Yangon Thu points to an article that talks about the Myanmar government using force to clear the ground for massive dams.


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Russia: “Discrimination” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

It sometimes takes more than money and time to have your computer fixed in Moscow: good looks, lots of patience and a special sense of humor may prove helpful as well. LJ user kmaka reports (RUS) on a recent conversation with a technical support service representative:
Discrimination
I call the service center to arrange taking my warrantied laptop there. I ask how long it'll take them to replace a CD-ROM. Ten days, they reply. How come, I say, all it takes is pushing one button twice… Well, there's this and that. I do arrange to take it there, then they'll make the order. And then, when the part arrives, I'll take it there again.
And you say you work from 10 to 6, I decide to clarify. Does it mean you really open at 10? That is, if I come at 10, will anyone be there?
No, they reply, there won't be anyone. Not until 11.
And could you somehow arrange for someone to be there, I say, because I have to go to work, too.
Well, a service representative Sergei tells me, if you are a long-legged, slender blonde, then yes, this can be arranged.
We ended up agreeing that Sergei would bother showing up at 10:30, thus doing a favor to a nice-looking brown-haired woman with an incredible decollete, husband and child.
I'm wondering now whether I should call the IBM headquarters and tell them about the peculiarities of the Russian service – or whether I should visit the hospitable office first.


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Starcraft shook Korea again · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

The computer game, Starcraft, shook Korea again. The CEO and designers of Blizzard Entertainment visited Korea and revealed ‘Starcraft II’ in public. For the first place, they chose Korea and made a special version in Korean for Korean gamers, the biggest contributor to make the game popular for the last 10 years. Look at the preview of the game and how Koreans were so enthusiastic in the presentation on the 19th.


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The face of racism in Reunion · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Rachiri Mayotte writes about racism in Reunion (Fr) as politics on the island move toward the right.


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UAE: Student Band Rocks! · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Dubai rockers Asking Alexandria dropped into the studio and we filmed their live performance. They're about to start a 9 month tour of the UK and they've been asked to play 4 songs on MTV Europe's segment on Dubai. Not bad for a bunch of students from the UAE, one of whom attended The American University of Sharjah!” write UAE Students, who link to a video of the performance here.


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Which father is my real father?: Japan’s 300-day rule · Global Voices
Hanako Tokita

In early May, the Japanese government announced that it will take a special measure to recognise children born within 300 days of their mother's divorce, given that the mothers became pregnant after divorce. This announcement came after a group of divorced women with children raised the issue on the current civil law, sparking debate in the National Diet.
Section 2 of Article 772 of the Japanese Civil Code, implemented in 1898, stipulates that a child born 200 days or more after its mother's marriage took place, or within 300 days after its mother's marriage was dissolved or terminated, is considered to have been conceived during her previous marriage. This means that the child must be added to the koseki of its mother's previous husband, or family registry, which causes tremendous distress for the mothers and other people involved. In order to prove that the child is not biologically related to the former husband, this former husband has to testify before the court. Many of these mothers avoid contact with their former husbands, or do not want their children to be registered in their former husbands’ registries. In such cases, children do not have koseki.
The Ministry of Justice estimates that approximately 3,000 children are born under these circumstances every year. Those children who do not have family registries cannot receive various social services such as health care and pension programs, and are not issued passports.
Following the government's announcement, the issue has been extensively debated on many blog sites. An anonymous blogger argues that the law does not need to be changed.
もし、新しい旦那の子供だと言い張るならみなさん、状況をよく考えて下さい。その女性は、離婚後すぐ（翌日くらいには？）彼氏が出来、妊娠し結婚しています。そんなことありえますか？明らかに離婚前に不貞行為をおかしているようにしか思えません。侵していないとしても、離婚後すぐに妊娠というのはいかがなものでしょうか？自業自得としか思えません。この法律になんの不具合があるのでしょうか？
もう一件、女性の再婚禁止期間の短縮も検討されているみたいですが１８０→１００日たった３ヶ月で再婚を決意するようなスピード結婚って、これも再離婚の可能性がありますよね？おたがいをよく知らないで結婚するって・・知った仲だと言い張るならこれも離婚前の不貞行為が感じられます。そんな法律じゃいけないと思うのです。むしろ、雁字搦めにするべきだと思います。例えば、子連れ離婚した場合は、再婚できないとか。ニュースで流れる虐待の１００％近く、再婚家庭や同居家庭です。あきらかに、子連れ再婚にはハイリスクがあります。なんの罪もない子供が、信じていた実の親に裏切られ虐待を受けるのですよ。この、状況に方があきらかに深刻ではないのでしょうか？
On the other hand, Toranekojiji writes that the law is behind the times and calls for affirmitive relief.
離婚後に生まれた子どもの父親を定める「３００日規定」は、明治時代にできた民法の内容をそのまま受け継いでいる。
一般的な妊娠期間を考慮したものだ。しかし、離婚後の妊娠でも早産で「３００日」に足りないと、前夫の子になってしまう。
離婚がすんなり決まるとは限らず、夫からの暴力で逃げていたり、離婚協議が長引くケースも少なくない。妊娠の時期より離婚成立が遅れると、再婚相手の子でも、別れた夫の戸籍に入る。
Divorce is not necessarily granted easily. It is not rare that divorce mediation can drag on in such a case as a woman is running away from her husband's violence.
[…]
離婚前の妊娠でも、ＤＮＡ鑑定や調停の記録、別居状態を示す住民票などで、子どもの父親が誰かを判断することはできるはずだ。
法務省の運用見直しは、離婚後の妊娠であることを医師が証明すれば、３００日以内でも再婚した夫の子か非嫡出子として認めるものだ。一定の前進だが、これで救済されるケースはそう多くない。
離婚前の妊娠も見直し対象とした案は、“復古調”の家族観を持つ保守層の抵抗で頓挫している。長勢甚遠法務相は「貞操義務や性道徳」を持ち出した。女性の再婚禁止期間の短縮を盛り込んだことにも、自民党内の反発が高まった。
In the revision by the Ministry of Justice, if a woman obtains a doctor's note proving that she got pregnant after her divorce, then her child will be regarded as either her new husband's child or an illegitimate child. Although it is a step forward, not a lot of cases will not be solved by this.
A bill which takes into account revision of pre-divorce pregnancy situations has been held back by the conservatives with reactionary family values. Justice Minister Nagase Jinen brought up the argument of “fidelity and sexual morals”. There was backlach within the Liberal Democratic Party over the insertion of a shorter restrictive period for women to get remarried.
[…]
離婚で苦しんだ女性が、子どもの戸籍の扱いで再び苦しむ事態も解消したい。今回の運用見直しで結論とせず、より多くの親子を救済する法改正へ
論議を深めたい。


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Zimbabwe: despite severe inflation… · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Is Zimbabwe still moving forward?, asks David Kobia: “Africa is truly a continent of insoluble contradictions. Zimbabwe's largest mobile operator, Econet has introduced 3G (Third Generation) cellular service to the capital – Harare. So far there are only 2 other countries offering the service on the continent, South Africa and Mauritius.”


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Zimbabwe: Remember Murambatsvina! · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

This is Zimbabwe remembers Murambatsvina: “In the dead of winter, just like Stalin, one his heroes, Bob set the armed forces on defenceless families and brought in the bulldozers to throw them into the street. Within a matter of weeks, 700 000 people were living in the open, exposed to the harsh winter by night and loss of dignity and property by day. It was a hopeless situation as working men and women were tormented by the choice between going to work and leaving their property and helpless children in the open, or not going to work and getting fired. The expression between a rock and a hard place has never been so real.”


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Africa: Afrigator gets better · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Afrigator update from Mike Stopforth: “When we launched Afrigator – Africa’s first social media aggregator – a month and a bit ago, truth be told, we knew there was much we had not had enough time to perfect. However, the decision between it not being perfect and us losing out completely was a no-brainer.
So ever since we launched we’ve been looking forward to improving on some of the shortcomings of the site. Now, the next version of Afrigator is fresh out of the brains of Justin, Mark and Stii and ready for your input.”


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Alain Mabanckou on the new French government · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Congolese poet-novelist Alain Mabanckou writes about several politicians from the left who were given positions in France's new conservative government, as well as the appointment of France's first African Minister of Justice, Rachida Dati, the daughter of Moroccan and Algerian immigrants.  On the basis of these appointments, he calls France's new government, “a government of openess that should be encouraged,” (Fr) inciting a flurry of comments from readers who think Mabanckou is being much too generous and wonder why he did not comment on the new Ministry of National Identity and Immigration.


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Algeria: Election Results  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Algerian blogger Nouri updates us on the results of the Algerian elections here.
“As would be expected, voter turn-out was low with only 6.6 million votes cast out of an electorate of some 19-odd million Algerians (36.51%). Of those votes cast, 14.5% were spoiled,” he notes.


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Arabeyes: The Middle East in Pictures  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Today's Middle East in Pictures tour takes us to Dubai's tranquil beaches, Doha at night, a picture of a flower in Bahrain, the blooming flower gardens of Syria this spring and finally on a Viagra buying spree in the bazaars of Fez, in Morocco.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates:
Who wouldn't die to be on this stretch of sand? I know I would love to but the weather in Dubai and the noise of construction machines pounding just a few minutes away will make me change my mind immediately. Been there, done that! And so has Seabee who brings us this week's images of lovely beaches in Dubai here.
Dubai only has about 40 kilometres of natural coastline. A lot of that is taken up by the city, Port Rashid, Jebel Ali Port, Dubai Dry Docks plus some which is private for the beach hotels and some for Sheikhs’ beach villas.
But we still have maybe 15 kilometres or so of open public beach. The main stretch starts beside Burj Al Arab, our famous seven-star hotel, and runs back towards Dubai city, which is about 30 kilometres away.
Doha, Qatar:
In nearby Doha, the capital of Qatar, and home of Al Jazeera, Qatar Victor beings us this image of Doha at night.
The site Qatar Living has a lively panorama of lovely photographs from the oil-rich Gulf country here.
Bahrain:
Moving on to Bahrain, blogger BuZain  proudly announces that he has posted his first flickr picture here.
I just uploaded my first flickr photo taken with my new Nikon D80 digital SLR camera. This getting-into-photography thing is a long story and it is too late to tell it all so I'll let the juice for a separate post…I took like 400 pictures since I bought the D80 few days ago but this picture is the one I like most and I thought I'll share it with you all.
Syria:
From Syria, blogger Hovic  presents us with more flowers in vibrant colours, which are blooming this spring. More pictures of Syria's flora are also found here.
The photography site, aptly called Syria Looks, also boasts stunning pictures of dead cities , which date back to the Byzantine era, and the Citadel of Aleppo.
Other photographs of those stunning sites are also available in Syria Winks here.
Fez, Morocco:
Our last stop this week is in Fez, in Morocco, where a traditional contortion of impotency drug – Viagara – is available over the counter.
“Now, you probably think that Viagra is not a usual item on a tourist's shopping list in the old Medina of Fez. Maybe right – however, when you go into a traditional medicine shop, you can be surprised,” notes The View.


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Bahamas: Beautifying Nassau?   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I believed that finally, instead of just talking about it, Mr. Ingraham would set as one of his top priorities the changing of downtown Nassau from a freight depot to a beautiful tourist attraction.”  Sidney Sweeting at WeblogBahamas.com is disappointed to learn that beautification of the Bahamas capital is not high on the government's list of priorities.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Bahrain: Deform Process  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Jadd William (aka Abdulhadi Khalaf) provides links to Bahraini blogs which discuss the political situation in Bahrain here.


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Bangladesh: On Pakistan and the US · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying on how the US is supporting the Pakistani Military. “In pursuit of its War on Terror, the Bush Administration has been subsidizing General Musharraf and his military as they continue to cling to power in Pakistan. Pakistan is most definitely not a poster child for Mr. Bush’s “Freedom Agenda”. Yet it is a poster child for everything that is wrong with Mr. Bush’s War on Terror.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Barbados: Political Funding from Cuba?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“According to a BFP source, the government of Cuba has long been injecting funds into the People’s Empowerment Party and the Clement Payne Movement”: Barbados Free Press questions the wisdom of allowing foreign governments to inject money into Barbados political parties.


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Belize: Riot in Belmopan · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Belizean reports that “police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters in Belmopan as the House of Representatives met to consider a bill allowing government to assume a $33 million dollar debt following the failure of the privately held Universal Health Services Hospital.”


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Bukavu on the Congolese-Rwandan border: A city at the crossroads of conflict · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Kakaluigi, a foreign missionary who has lived in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for 35 years describes a feeling of apprehension about the future that overshadows Bukavu.
Bukavu is a city of survivors.  During the First Congo War （1996-1997），Bukavu was caught in the middle of fighting between Tutsi government forces and the Hutu that fled to the regionafter the Rwandan genocide.  Government and rebel forces clashed there during the Second Congo War (1998-2003). In 2004, the city fell to soldiers led by General Nkunda, a dissident pro-Tutsi Congolese general, and in just three days, some 16,000 women were raped.
Bukavu still faces insecurity and violence, including raids from FARDC soldiers and continued fighting in (Fr) North Kivu as recently as yesterday.
The presidential elections have yet to bring the peace and stability they promised.  Kakaluigi wonders whose interests President Joseph Kabila really has in mind: those of Bukavu’s people or those of the Rwandan government.
Bukavu ce 20 mai 2007, le matin. Tout est suffisamment calme et tranquille, mais  beaucoup d’appréhension se manifeste  dans les milieux de nos  populations. Il y a trop de nuages à l'horizon, qui ne font pas bien espérer.  On ne sait pas où on veut aller,   et  vers quelle partie Kabila se penche. On se demande: avec qui il dialogue vraiment, si avec les congolais  ou avec les rwandais.  Ou bien au cours de la journée il est  avec nous et pendant  la nuit il est avec Kigali.
L’histoire de Nkunda nous fait penser trop de choses qui ne sont pour rien claires. J’ai l’impression qu’une situation, très semblable à celle de 1998, peut-être, se prépare secrètement, même s’il n’y a pas, probablement, la volonté politique internationale qu’il avait il y a 9 ans, car es choses sont fortement changées.
Mais toujours est  plus clair que la Rwanda a la main prise sur le Congo quant à des intérêts pour la population. Les gens ont récupéré courage et esperance.  Nous  souhaitons qu'elles  ne soient pas déçues au-delà de toute limite. (PB)
Photo: An early education center outside of Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Courtesy Julien Harneis.


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Bulgaria: Euro Vote Results · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Dr Sean's Diary reports on the results of the European Parliament elections in Bulgaria.


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Chile: Transantiago Falls Short · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The relatively new public transport system in Santiago that seeks to integrate and combine the different lines of buses and trains continues to draw criticisms.  Qué weá miro en Interné? [ES], a Chilean blog, thinks that even with a well thought out plan, the plan  cannot work unless all of the buses are integrated and all of the stops are ready to be used.


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China: Google a little evil · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Onemanbandwidth has a post on Google's policy. In regarding to censorship, it is rather active. The blogger compares the photo search result of Tiananmen / 天安門 from U.S and from China, and the result is completely different.


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China: history of Chinese characters · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Granite Studio blogs on a recent discovery in the study of Damaidi carvings, which carry symbols that resemble early Chinese writing. If the researchers are correct, then these pictographs would be by far the earliest extant examples of proto-Chinese characters.


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China: Property law review · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

China law blog has a review on the China property law. It is in four parts: 1, 2, 3, and 4.


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Colombia: The First Blogger Meetup in Medellín Results in Mixed Reviews. · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Throughout the planning of the first blogger meeting in Medellín, a website, Medallo Bloguero [ES] was set up for bloggers from Medellín and others interested could participate in the planning process by giving their opinions and criticisms on the planned activities for the first roundtable/meetup.
The idea behind the meetup was to have a space where both bloggers and non-bloggers could take something of value with them, and to spread the blog love all around. This roundtable event was to take advantage of the National Internet Week and internet day as an opportunity to present Medellín Bloggers to the rest of the community.
Here are some comments from the Medellín Bloggers:
Diegoeche [ES]
Acabo de llegar del evento… me aburrí. La verdad había me hecho expectativas… pero no me gusta escuchar a alguien que no sabe de lo que esta hablando y que cree que diciendo siglas (CSS, XML RSS) va a hablar de cosas muy interesantes. Si se quería dar una introducción a que es blogging, o tratar de definir que era un blog creo que publicitaron mal el evento. Me imagine otra cosa.
Ademas un ambiente tan entusiasta resulta terriblemente perjudicial para la discusión jejeje.
Besides, such an enthusiastic environment is terribly harmful for discussion, hehehe.
Ayer fui al primer encuentro de blogger en Medellín, llegue cuando ya había empezado y me fui antes de terminar, solo estuve para el final de una charla en la que alguien hablaba maravillas de los blós y que todo el mundo debería bloguear, luego siguió una charla “técnica” sobre los blós y web 2.0, que no me gusto, o me daba risa la recitación descarada de wikipedia o me daban ganas de llorar ante las mismas palabras vacías y TLA, espero que se repita, pero ahora sea mas integración y menos charla.
Angelfire [ES]:
Pues parce, yo ya tenia cierta experiencia con este tipo de cosas y estoy seguro que no nos fue mal, hablar de blogs en medellin no es tan fácil como hablar de futbol o cosas por el estilo, desgraciadamente a nuestra ciudad o al país en general le falta más cultura, y pues para eso estamos nosotros.
Frakasoft [ES]
Bueno quiero primero felicitar a las organizadores por la idea, creo que hay que repetirlo. Sin embargome parece e que hubo muchos cosas que se debieron mejorar, desde el objetivo del evento. Yo iba a socializar y a pasar un buen rato, no ha que me dieran clases y charlas interminables… pa eso la Universidad y mis profes :P. Creo que si lo que buscaban era gente que no blogueara le apuntaron a los que no debian. No logro entender por que lo llamaron encuentro Blogger si querian gente no-blogger. Creo que debemos reunirnos de nuevo pero en otro contexto, Sin charlas magistrales, mas bien con un conjunto de temas de los cuales conversar, en un contexto mas de conocer gente, tomarse unas polas y hacer amigos. Eso si sería un “encuentro” Bloggger .
Jaime Humberto Medina Medina [ES]
Con suma atención he leido este post sobre Lo Bueno, lo Malo y lo Feo del Encuentro Blogger Medellín 2007, del cual también tuve muchas expectativas, en mi caso virtuales, por cuanto les escribo desde la ciudad de Pereira.
Lo de la norma bloguera de hacer una reunión para ir a tomar cerveza y hablar mierda, tiene mucho de cierto y en parte fue lo que sucedió en el Encuentro Blogscolombia el pasado año en Bogotá donde tuve la oportunidad de asistir.
Las diapositivas me parecieron excelentes porque muestran de manera clara nuestro “oficio” blogueril.
I thought the slides were excellent because they very clearly show the craft of blogging.
Galo [ES]
Es un gran logro haber realizado el evento y haberle llegado a los que participaron. A mí me gusto mucho que se haya vuelto un blog en el mundo real, los participantes comentando, compartiendo experiencias y debatiendo. El café le dio un aire mucho más informal al evento y permitió mayor integración.
Noájida [ES]
Exito rotundo el conversatorio, pues se conversó, el que quizo habló, además hay tendencias muy marcadas que nos dan herramientas para asignar funciones. …En fin, es demasiado para un primer acercamiento, no importa cual sea el fin de cada bloguero, yo creo que lo importante es que cada uno lo alcance reconociendo al otro, a la diversidad, eso para mi es civilización.
Gracias a los organizadores, es un trabajo voluntario, que vale mucho.
Thank you to the organizers for the worthwhile and voluntary work.
Patton
Pues por lo que leo fue un éxito, 40 personas para una convocatoria tan corta y para ser la primera … excelente. creo que te das mucho palo y te exiges demasiado. Ningún evento de bloggers al que haya ido ha tenido una parte “académica”, y tal vez en lo que pecaron fue en tratar de unir dos públicos distintos en un mismo espacio.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Congo-Brazzaville: renewed calls for an independent election commission · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Deman Le Congo-Brazzaville renews its calls for an independent election commission (Fr) as the only way to ensure the upcoming presidential and legislative elections are transparent, fair, and free of violence.


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Costa Rica: Meetings Against FTA · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Sites against the vote to approve a Free-Trade Agreement continue to appear in Costa Rica's blogosphere.   De pie, Costa Rica de pie!!! [ES] is a site published by the Frente Amplio political party that seeks “to inform the national communiy about the parlimentary resistance against the Free Trade Agreement with the United States.”  The site documents meetings across the country to state their position, with photos and information about attendees.


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East Timor: Reflections on the Presidential elections · Global Voices
Jose Murilo

Timor Online brings up Max Lane‘s reflections on the latest Presidential elections (also in Portuguese), which circulated through ETAN's East Timor list, and “are the result of conversations over the phone with contacts in East Timor and with friends in Jakarta who also are in close contact with East Timor, as well as trying to keep up-to-date with what materials are available on some key websites”.

author: Jose Murilo


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Egypt: Bahma Update  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Here is the latest! Bahma victims torn between agony and hope, resort to boycotting Muslim neighbors,” writes Egyptian blogger Nora Younis, who continues to update us about the standoff between Muslims and their Coptic neighbours in the village of Bahma.


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France’s New “Ministry of Nationalism and Expulsion” · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Francophone blogger Et Si Nous Parlions has no love for French president Nicolas Sarkozy's new Ministry of Immigration, Integration, National Identity, and Co-Development.  He prefers to call it the “Ministry of Nationalism and Expulsion” (Fr).
The ministry's title suggests its broad-reaching ambitions.  French human rights groups have criticized the ministry's xenophobic potential and eight historians of immigration said that it “it is not the role of a democratic state to define identity.”
The French press should be more critical of the new immigration ministry
Et Si Nous Parlions criticizes the French press coverage of Sarkozy's new government and the new immigration ministry, its attitude of “wait and see, give [Sarkozy] his chance,” when for him, the purpose of and the potential for abuse by this ministry are clear.
Ce ministère est unique en Europe. Même les pays qui ont osé l'extrême droite au pouvoir n'ont pas créé un ministère de ce genre. D'un point de vue politique, voyez vous la nécéssité de créer un ministère entier pour 8% de la population? (+0,4% de sans papiers?). A quand le ministère des gays ? des femmes battues (10%?), des bimbos, des handicapés?…Symboliquement, ce ministère s'occupera donc de suivre les étrangers de A à Z, certes , mais surtout il sépare les étrangers et même les naturalisés des autres français.
…[La presse] nous demande de fermer les yeux et d'attendre. Attendre quoi ?le pire ?…
Many of Et Si Nous Parlions‘s readers share the blogger's apprehensions about how the climate for immigrants in France under Sarkozy's new government.
Immigration as scapegoat & the French double standard
Citizenofutopiatownships:
l'immigré a toujours été le bouc émissaire des politiques en france, les politiques francais n'ayant jamais voulu reconnaitre qu'ils ont eu tort d'avoir pensé à l'union européenne car le peuple n'y était pas préparé. le francais à du mal à travailler? la faute à l'immigré non! l…sarkozy ne m'étonnera pas car je connais ses idées. le peuple français finira déçu car à la bétise, il faut savoir opposer la sauvagerie. idi amin avait expulsé les indo pakistanais de l'ouganda il y a eu des représailles contre la souveraineté de son pays. et il serait peut être temps que notre ultranationalisme reémerge. la france se juge libre d'accepter et de refouler les migrants. mais qu'elle oublie pas qu'il y a également des émmigrés français dans les pays d'origines des réfoulés. si on veut vraiment éviter le developpement de la haine entre les peuples je pense que les occidentaux devraient vraiment pencher sur le problème du co-développement car c'est tout de même grâce à ces petits africains que ces pays européens sont si grands.
Sarkozy has an immigrant background, too
Citizenofutopiatownships thinks the new president's tough attitudes toward immigration come from insecurities about his own immigrant background.
en fait je pense seuls ceux qui ont souffert de leur condition “d'immigré” comme l'avoue le nouveau président de la France peuvent éprouver autant de haine vis à vis de tout ce qui est étranger.
nicolas sarkozy je l'ai touours dit c'est tout simplement un Lepeniste en version atténuée les français ne pouvant se resoudre à élire LE PEN ont choisi son modèle réduit qui reste tout aussi nocif. et croyez moi il me rappelle bien un certain Hitler qui finalement on l'a tous compris détestaient plus les juifs de par ses origines à lui même.
And in a similar vein, Mangosutou compare Sarkozy's psychology to Adolph Hitler and some other famous leaders with foreign origins and dicatorial tendencies:
Sarkozy est un juif hogrois( de mère grecque) né en france; aucune attache véritable avec la france, si ce n'est le droit du sol dont dispose bon nbre d'étrangers; Hitler était autrichien,né à Brunnau-sur-Inn,à la frontière allemande-Pinochet était français, né au chili et autre Fuji-Mori qui s'est réfugié depuis ds son Japon natal après les crimes commis ds son pays d'adoption.
African leaders are unwilling to stand up to France
fab:
Tantpislaissons Sarkozy et la France faire ce qu'il leur plait!!!Moi ce qui m'indigne c'est l'absence de réactions des Etats africains qui continuent de traiter comme leur maitres les ressortissants de ce même pays.Je pense que si il y avait réciprocité les choses seraient rentrées dans l'ordre.
Mangosutou:
…regardez seulement la dignité des chefs d'Etats de l'Afrique anglophone et vs pourrez, là aussi, comprendre l'écart abyssal qui existe entre des Sassou ,Biya, Bongo d'une part et Obansanjo,Mbeki et Mugabe d'autre part.
Bewildering acts of tokenism
Et Si Nous Parlions describes the Sarkozy government's attempts to counter accusations of xenophobia or racism with what he thinks are token gestures, cosmetic treatments that obscure the real problems:
Il a déja commencé ce gouvernement et il est enteriné quand Fillon va visiter un foyer de femmes battues. On nous montre que des femmes noires et leurs gamins au bras. Dans un pays ou une femme meurre tous les 4 jours des coups de son compagnon, on peut aisement comprendre que la violence faite aux femmes touchent toutes les populations. Dans un pays ou 10% des femmes se declarent battues (Versus 4,2 % des femmes issues de l'immigration), on peut comprendre qu'il ne s'agit pas que de femmes de l'immigration. Même si elles étaient toutes battues, elles n'attendraient pas les 10%.
Voici la France d'aujourd'hui, celle de Rachida Dati. Fille d'une famille de 12 enfants et parents analphabètes. Si nous avions eu le ministère du nationalisme , il y a 50 ans. Rachida Dati serait elle ministre de la justice ? Ces parents ne sachant pas vraiment parler français auraient ils eu une carte de séjour ?. Mais aujourd'hui, elle cautionne d'être l'arabe qui cache la forêt


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Hong Kong and China: June 4 massacre · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Imagethief has a reading of a pro-China political party's chairperson, Ma Lik's comment about June 4 massacre: Ma Lik wants not only to redefine the language that is used to describe the Tiananmen Square events, but that he wants to institutionalize that redefinition as a pre-requisite for universal suffrage in Hong Kong.


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Hong Kong: B.T. piracy case appeal rejected · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

The Court of Final Appeal dismissed the appeal of Chan Nai-ming, who had been convicted and sentenced to three months’ jail for uploading infringing movies to the Internet by using the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing program. Charles Mok comments that even some individuals have abused the technology, the direction of prosecution shouldn't be put on individual netizen. Besides, the situation of internet surveillance by copyright holders and private sectors can be abusive [zh].


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Hong Kong: Indecent Google Link · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Because of the recent debate about the ruling of Obscene Article Tribunal in Hong Kong, the mainstream media found out that the Tribunal had once ruled a Google search hyperlink to an online novel which depicted violent acts as category II indecent article. Charles Mok questioned (zh) the credibility of the Tribunal ruling.


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Hong Kong: judicial independence with a special Hong Kong characteristic? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN put together information, mainstream news reports and blogpost that investigate the accountability of the Hong Kong Obscene Articles Tribunal and found out that the so-called judicial independence of the Tribunal is highly questionable: the adjudicators are self-selected volunteers and they are giving interview with the mainstream media on the cases on a daily base.


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India: Flying Coffins · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Retire The Coffin hopes to mobilize opinion about the Mig 21, also known as the flying coffin. “This blog is dedicated to the memory of Squadron Leader Swapnil Sakar Pandey, who sacrificed his life on March 1st 2007, while trying to steer his burning aircraft away from populated areas. The aircraft was a type-77 variant of the MIG-21, otherwise known as the flying coffin. This blog has been created to mobilize public opinion to force the Government of India to accelerate the replacement of the flying coffin with a more modern MRCA (multi role combat aircraft).”


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Iran:Violence against Women Goes On · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to[Fa] Kanoune Zanan,Iranian police continues its crackdown on women’s dress and there is a new victim.A young woman was beaten by police in Tehran. A citizen could take a few photos of her.People could make her got rid of the security forces who wanted to force her in their car.


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Iraq: Security Situation Update · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Omar at Iraq The Model updates us on the security situation in Iraq. “There hasn’t been any major security incidents in Baghdad since the attacks on three bridges in both its northern and southern suburbs on Friday May 11, more than a week ago. This doesn’t mean Baghdad is essentially calm: there are episodes -albeit minor and limited- still happening from time to time. They often go unreported, so there’s no information on whether they leave any casualties. Anyway, we do hear small blasts and bursts of machine guns a few times a day. In most cases it’s impossible to know whether those were raids by security forces or attacks by militants,” he explains.


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Jamaica: Cricket at Lord’s · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“If ever there was a stodgy cricket ground with a staid atmoshpere, this is it.  Lord's in St. John's Wood is a most boring place to watch cricket.”: The Life and Times of Michmac reports from the West Indies vs. England match.


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Jordan: Live Blogging from the World Economic Forum  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Our very own GV Jordan author Naseem Tarawnah was busy blogging away at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, held in Jordan.
“The WEF I think is one of those events where there is just too much to talk about and too many sessions to attend, too many conversations to over hear. I wish I had my laptop somehow surgically attached to my waist with my digital camera in a holster, my recorder in my left holster and wires attached everywhere to create something similar to Batman’s utility belt; but that would’ve just made me look strange and suspicious,” he jokes.


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King of Abdullah of Saudi Arabia Visits Morocco, Gets the Royal Treatment · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Tunisien Doctor muses (Fr) about King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia's treatment duing his visit to Morocco: the hand-kissing, the woolen carpets strenching hundreds of meters to line the path of the king's motorcade.


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Kuwait: Iraq Invasion Home Video  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Lebanese blogger Mark posts links to two home videos made by a Kuwaiti mother, which bring back a chilling reminder to the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.


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Kuwait: No bookstores in Malls  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Q at Kuwaitism argues that despite the surge in the number of shopping malls in his country, there is yet a bookshop to open in any one of them.
“I don’t buy the crap that people don’t read in Kuwait! Just look at Jareer, which is not the best store and in the worst locations, yet it seems to be busy mostly!
“When traveling, there seems to be some sort of book store or library at every corner, even if you go to a place like Dubai, not too far, you will find a Borders! We need a Borders or Barnes&Noble type of store here!”


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Landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome · Global Voices
Salam Adil

This week blogs have covered a steadily deteriorating situation in Iraq. Things are not so much going from bad to worse, but from worse to appalingly worse. Also read about a visit to the Iraqi ID office and one blogger gets to answer readers’ questions.
But first, my condolences go out to Aunt Najma and her family whose grandfather died after a long illness. Unfortunately, outside events turned funeral plans on their head. While the male mourners were at a mosque at one side of the city the female mourners were at Najma's house…
It was 7:30 when we started hearing very loud explosions. All the women moved to safer rooms in the house, and everyone started calling to see if their relatives are okay. Several explosions followed… a curfew [started] at 7:30.. Everybody got stuck.
We had 25 women sleeping at our house with no previous notice.. Almost everybody started laughing hysterically, grandma forgot all about her loss and got busy trying to figure out what to do…
The men hid their cars in houses in the neighbourhood, they divided themselves into three groups and slept at three or four houses, people in the neighbourhood were really hospitable…
Mosul is a mess now.. Many buildings are badly damaged as I saw on TV. Thank God everyone is safe.
If you read no other blog post this week read this one
Al Tarrar chronicles a city being torn apart by the troop surge that George Bush is promoting. And gives us another side to the story behind the headlines:
El Biya’a vicious confrontation between the government/invader forces and the Mujahdeen have marked a new turn in the battle for dominating Baghdad. The streets have never been as unreal as they are today. The minute the government forces pull away from an area and immediately heavy shooting commences. …
Haifa Street is relatively calmer due to the presence of unbelievable amount of military hardware. Yesterday BC counted more than 18 Hummers and two tanks swarming in an area of roughly 2 kilometers! And between them you could see children, grownups and cars…
As the curfew starts not a single sole is seen or else will be shot at by either the government/invaders or the Mujahdeen!
And as for life in Baghdad…
Prices are gone beyond believe. A taxi ride to certain areas could cost up 80 US Dollars per trip and you will be dropped off on a main road far from your destination. It is shear madness. Also, in our area we have been continuously without electricity for the past two weeks.
The other painful sight is the large number of stray animals. People say that dogs are eating dead bodies and consequently turning vicious!
How could anyone manage the war like that? The government/invaders running full capacity and yet they fail to deliver. Who was that freaking idiot behind increasing the hardware to that extent as a solution?
In other worlds:
Nabil neighbourhood was taken over by Al Qaeda and Nabil describes some of their activities against his neighbours. How one shop was burned because the owner wanted to take away his generator and another building was destroyed because the owner would not pay money to the local Al-Qaeda group.
He also reports how sectarian divisions are becoming more entrenched among the people around him.
Even in college, its funny but I have to mention it, we had couples from different cults who loved each other for two or three years, now
they broke up because one of them is shiite and the other is sunni. And when a guy loves a girl, he first ask whether she is shiite or sunni before he talks to her, and if she was from the other cult he would neglect his feelings.Those are really funny and sick minds at the same time
The Shaqawa breaks down the whole concept of sectarianism into simple terms that anyone can understand. He writes:
Think about this. What makes you more upset, if a random person in a far away place gets killed, or someone in your city gets killed, or if your cousin gets killed? … Sometimes you chose sectarianism to stay alive, but I guess you should be criticized for it…
I think only in Iraq it is automatically a bad word because people hate to see the Shi’a having power after the Shi’ite majority was oppressed for so long. Still, I think that sectarianism, if it means that you support your group against all others, and support your group in a way to harm others, then it is a crime and such people should be shown as criminals and condemned. It is a fine line, isn’t it? Never black and white and never good and bad!
Baghdad Treasure gives his respect to Americans for their effort to rescue their captured soldiers and wanders about the 9 Iraqi soldiers that were captured and executed by al-Qaeda militants. “I was thinking why didn’t the Iraqi government offered to help or drain a canal to find the missing Iraqi soldiers? Are their souls that cheap?” he asks.
Going to renew your ID card is something that most people dread. And Marshmallow26 dreads it more than most. It was seven years since she last had to go to renew her ID.
The only thing that stayed the same is “dealings” and to be exact “citizens mistreatment”…
to me, it has been 7 years I haven't stopped by that street, it was a shock…what is going on? Lots of T-walls, garbage, miserable faces and torn mentality…they divided the narrow hallway to two tighter hallways one for men and the other for women, now we have to get in rows waiting on our turn to get in…not to mention standing in the middle of different types of people with strong stink, damn it.
Thank goodness I was having my sunglasses with me
And finally…
Sunshine is on holiday from school and has time to answer some readers’ questions…
- How do you feel about the US presence ?
people ask me that question a lot ..
well , scared , worried, confused, I don’t trust them , because they killed our eldest uncle as I mentioned before , as well as many innocents. But there are absolutely good soldiers like those I met in the airport ,but in the first year of the invasion , I used to feel safe when they were around , but now , I try to be as far as possible . my feelings changed , because they are not the same soldiers who freed us. … We see each other in the markets , they used to salute us , but now , we drive as hurry as we can if we see them coming , we try to avoid them , because if a mine exploded they shoot randomly .. we don’t feel safe, neither them because of the terrorists who ruin our lives ..
- I am curious to know more about your faith – the holidays you observe and what they mean. and the traditions you have around marriage. My biggest question for you is about heaven. What is heaven to you? How does a person get there? Do you believe these good deeds earn your way into heaven? Is there a book that you would recommend to give us a true understanding of the basics of your faith?
Well , we celebrate 4 feasts , one last for 3 days it comes after the fasting month “Ramadan” , the other feast when people go to Mecca and it last for 4 days , our prophet's birthday ,as well as the Islamic new year (the memory when our prophet left Mecca to Al -madeena ). About heaven, people go there if they do the right things , like if they don't lie , don't cheat , don't kill , don't humbug, love each other , etc .
And yes, I believe these good deeds earn the way into heaven, I would recommend the holy Quran , if you want to know more about Islam , it is like the bible , because they are from the same god. About marriages I wrote a post about that .
- Many people ask me if we have arranged marriages , NOOOOOOOOOO we don’t have arranged marriages ,it breaks my heart what people in the west think like that about us.

author: Salam Adil


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Lebanon: Violent Clashes and an Explosion · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

The clashes between the Lebanese army and the organization of Fatah al Islam, as well as the explosion in Ashrafieh (Beirut), took precedence over all other news and blog posts in almost all of the blogs during the past two days. Following are quotes from a number of these posts including a post quoting a civilian trapped in the camp of Nahr el Barid in North Lebanon, in the crossfire, between the army and the organization.
In the Nahr el Barid Camp
In a very rare blog post on the conditions in the camp where some members of Fath al Islam are reported to be hiding, A Shouly quotes Ahmad, his friend, who is one of many trapped in the crossfire:
Ahmad, a friend of mine, living in the camp, told me that they don't have water now, nor bread, nor hospitals. They are starting to feel hungry, they can't take the injuries outside the camp nor the dead, mostly civilians.
Explosion in Ashrafieh–Beirut
Golaniya who lives in Ashrafieh, was awake and out when the explosion in a parking near the ABC shopping mall occurred at about midnight on Sunday. She shared with her readers what was her first experience with the aftermath of a violent explosion as well as her anxiety over the safety of her sister who was at home, a couple of blocks from the explosion.
I was walking on glasses, glasses of bed rooms, living rooms, of homes. It was so crowded, with families wearing pajamas, pink, blue, yellow, scared, panicked, I saw a guy with a wet face, and a woman grabbed my friend's arm asking him about her house, we left her.
I don't know why, but I shed a tear.
I looked at my Southern friend's face, he was in the South when Israel bombed it, he heard the noises, saw the red, all this is very familiar to him, very not to me.
I saw the fire, I saw the giant thing glowing in the panicked people's eyes, I do not know how does it feel to be Lebanese, to have a Lebanese face, I haven't lived a “civil” war, nor a terrorist war, June war. I haven't heard a single noise outside the screen, we shared history??
Word on the Street
Jounoune mentions some of what the people on the streets are saying concerning the origins of the militants in the north of Lebanon:
The Government is blaming Syria. I am really not a fan of Syria but word on the streets is that militants in the north (said to be linked to Al Qaeda) have been funded and armed to create sunni arms in response to the shia's hizballah. The word on the street is that Lebanese sunnis will not hold arms and fight so yes, such militants have been created and grown as a possible retaliation. Of course, just like the US couldn't control Al Qaeda which in reality it helped create, these militants will be very hard if not impossible to control as well. Proof of the matter… these days events.
And in a witty article, Jamal mentions some facts about the situation which he describes as circulating rumours that we should beware:
The panic and fear engulfing the مساطيل [fools] makes them susceptible to any rumors that might answer their question “Whodunit?” Who's the big bad wolf? Of course the big bad wolf is banking on this chaos and on these rumors to feed the already pre-conceived convictions and ignite the pent up hatred.
Anyways this مسطول [fool] just wants to point out that some widely circulated rumors, are just that rumors, and hopes that his مساطيل [foolish] buddies do not adopt these propaganda lines as facts and speed up the nose dive into the shit pond that awaits us. […] 3.) The nutbags are not exclusively Palestinian, most of them are actually مساطيل with some nutbags from various other Middle Eastern countries. […] 6.) The مساطيل [fools] don't love life. A large number of people showed more outrage for the glass shattered in ABC than for the tens of soldiers and civilians dead during the day.
Blame Game
The two major Lebanese groups, the pro–government and the opposition threw allegations at each other as a result of the situation. Abu Ali summarized this blame game and added his opinion in a post in which he said:
The two camps in Lebanon are now throwing allegations at each other, each sticking to the usual litany: The pro-Government group accuses Fateh al Islam of being Syrian agents, in charge of derailing the international tribunal by holding Lebanon hostage. The opposition describes Fateh al Islam as a creature of the Hariri group, brought in to oppose the Shi’a expansion on sectarian basis. They point to the fact that Mr. Fatfat, when he was Minister of Interior, gave official recognition to Hizb al Tahrir, a Sunni party fighting for the reinstatement of the Caliphate. Hizb al Tahrir became famous for its strong expression of dislike towards Danish cartoonists by burning churches in Ashrafieh.
I wonder who those Fateh al Islam are anyway. There has been so little transparency in reporting the events of the past 2 days that one is unsure what is and what is not true. Are they Palestinians? We hear that only part of them are, and that the group is mostly made up of Lebanese Sunnis from the squalid areas of the North, like Bab el Tebbaneh. Places like Bab el Tebbaneh are truly the poorest areas of Lebanon, only the Palestinian camps are worse.
Updates
MFL and Blacksmith Jade are two bloggers posting updates on security situation.
Civilian Casualties
Mustapha raised the issue of the civilian casualties and the ethical issues that it poses:
Indeed, terrorists hiding among civilians pose a moral dilemma, and the humanitarian crisis should not be ignored. But does that mean that the Army should somehow start “talking” with terrorists whose only aim is to destabilize Lebanon?
A lot is at stake in the Army’s zero-tolerance policy. A “softer” and “more understanding” Army will send the wrong signals to would-be-terrorists that it is ok in the future to attack the military. Moreover, the Army has to send a clear message to the residents of the camps: Not handing the terrorists over will cost you much more than keeping them around.
On Fatah al Islam and On How Will the Clashes End
Abu Kais explains why the army can never lose this battle:
This battle cannot be won by Fatah al-Islam. They are outnumbered by the increasingly popular army, even though they seem to have a lot of weapons. The group, which the head of the Internal Security Forces called “imitation al-Qaeda”, consists of former Iraq fighters and international terrorists. That they all got into Lebanon with the help of Syrian intelligence should be a confirmation to all that the Assad regime is a major sponsor of world terror. According to An-Nahar, one of the killed terrorists was involved in the Ain Alaq bombings in February, and another was wanted over the 2006 plot to blow up trains in Germany.
Jeha wrote on what he sees are the role and objectives of the organization of Fatah al Islam:
Groups like those Fath Al-Islam and other similar fundamentalist groups are “true believers”.
In practice, they are opportunists who follow whatever the “cause du jour” happens to be. They have become more vocal and were overdue for some action; with the approach of the Hariri tribunal, their Syrian masters may have seized their chance to “activate” them. That much was clear to the Mufti, who called for support to the Lebanese armed forces as the fighting got bloodier.
In theory, it was meant to be different, at least from the perspective of the cannon fodder they recruit. The ideology of Fath Al-Islam and similar groups is geared towards a return to the heydays of the Caliphate. While this particular outfit is focused on a return to Palestine, others want a return to Al-Andalus.
And finally, As’ad Abu Khalil believes that the whole situation will end up in a stalemate with things returning to their “abnormal” conditions as they always do in Lebanon:
This is typical. We have seen this before. The Lebanese Army is given an opportunity by the political class (and by the sectarian sects–all of them) to show muscle, but only against the refugee camps of Lebanon. I remember this from my childhood. Back in 1973, Israeli terrorists (headed by Ehud Barak) sneaked into Lebanon and killed Palestinian leaders: one of them was a poet sleeping in his bed (Kamal Nasir). The Lebanese Army did not lift a finger–it never does against Israel.[…]
But make no mistake: nothing will change. It will end like every other incident of this kind ends: in a stalemate, and in things returning back to abnormal. This is Lebanon.


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Malaysia: Bloggers United Meet · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Mavericsym posts images from a recent gathering of bloggers in Malaysia.

author: Preetam Rai


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Mali: revisiting traditional medicine · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Timbuktu Chronicles: Revisiting traditional medicine;
“In the capital Bamako there is a laboratory where researchers spend their working days studying the medicinal effects of plants brought in from around the country – selected on the advice of traditional healers. The laboratory has been established by the Malian government which is convinced that traditional medicine is a crucial public health investment….the researchers systematize herbs and information, they extract biologically active components, analyze and characterize them.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Moldova: Travel Diary, Part 5 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Economist's Edward Lucas posts the final installment of his Moldova travel diary.


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More than 140 dead in “peaceful Philippine elections”  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Philippine police is claiming the midterm polls were peaceful since there were fewer deaths this year compared to the previous elections. But Kontra Daya, a citizen electoral watchdog, is challenging this verdict:
“Kontra Daya belies the claim of the Philippine National Police and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that the elections were generally peaceful and orderly. Such an assessment seems oblivious to the fact that the police themselves have tallied at least 143 election-related killings, since January 2007, in the run up to the elections. We suspect there to be more. We expect that the trend of violence will continue well into the canvassing stage of the elections.”
Aside from election-related killings, there were many instances of abduction, ballot-snatching, ballot-switching, harassment of pollwatchers and burning of a school-building. For many Filipinos, these horrid crimes may be not surprising anymore but foreign observers were shocked by these incidents.
Ellen Tordesillas links to an article which mentioned the remark made by a foreign observer about feeling more secure in Afghanistan than in southern Philippines. Inside PCIJ has a transcript of the report of foreign observers. The article notes the following:
“The 27 observers of the People’s International Observers’ Mission stated that the significant number of disenfranchised voters, vote-buying, deadly election-related violence, direct intimidation of the armed forces, the suspicious absence and abandonment of duties of Comelec officials, and the overt coercion by candidates of powerful political clans ran contrary to the Palace’s statement that Filipino voters cast their ballot, free of coercion and according to their own will.”
James Jimenez, spokesman of the Commission on Elections, does not agree with the observation:
“Let me point out that the Commission is not in a state of denial. Far from it. We have acknowledged repeatedly that we’ve had problems with violence, except that we insist on putting the problem in the proper context: that the levels of violence we’ve experienced so far are lower than those in previous polls. This does not make violence any more acceptable to us, naturally. As we’ve always said, even one incident is one incident too many.”
Like a rolling store blogs about the intervention of soldiers in the recent elections:
“One thing I noticed is that the military has been actively campaigning against militant partylist groups as confirmed by reports of incidents in Southern Luzon.  This has not received too much media attention. In 2004, only a few generals were implicated in rigging the polls. Now, we are getting reports that the entire military is being mobilized to influence the outcome of the polls. Very disturbing indeed.”
Sumilang writes about the alleged harassment of young pollwatchers by soldiers. Our thoughts are free exposes how soldiers were told to campaign and vote for Administration bets. Himagsik Kayumanggi theorizes on the political violence engulfing the country:
“The inertia of tyranny at first seemed impervious to humanitarian blandishment. (President) Arroyo may shed crocodile tears, but her cabal of generals and security advisers don’t care and seem addicted to the opium of violence.”
Our Times and Bryanboy are disappointed with the elections. But Teacher Rowie remains an optimistic voters and in fact, “smells the winds of change.”
Pedestrian Observer reacts to the statement of a Comelec official claiming vindication for the scandal-ridden 2004 and 2007 elections:
“Now what’s up with these people so eager to absolve and fish out their credibility out of the toilet early in the game truly makes you wonder why they issue such crap. It is as if they are more concerned in covering their tracks than doing their duty as overseer of a clean, orderly, honest and credible election.”
Postcard headlines describes the election process in a province in southern Philippines:
“The highest bidder pays his/her way to victory. No one actually dares to contest such a result because that would mean challenging the local warlords, the military and the Comelec operators that are under their pockets.”
Rasheed’s World critiques Philippine elections:
“If the results are always going to be so massively rigged to begin with, why even bother to hold elections to begin with? The pretence of a democratic exercise will be exposed for what it is: A sham that serves only to keep a dictatorial Arroyo and her political cronies in power. The Philippines deserves better.”
Carol P. Araullo also made the same conclusion:
“The general picture emerging from the stories and the images that have so far dominated the tri-media and ordinary people’s accounts is that of a nightmarish elections and post-elections situation that has confirmed our worse fears. The farcical nature of the electoral process in this country has been laid bare, much worse than even our most dire predictions.”
The Guidon Blue Ballot asks students of their views on the high number of election-related crimes in the country.

author: Mong Palatino


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Morocco: The Week of Firsts · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

This week in the anglophone Moroccan blogosphere, much ado was about Rachida Dati, France's first North African Justice Minister, appointed on May 18.  Dati is a 41-year-old lawyer whose father is Moroccan and her appointment is causing quite a stir – on the one hand, it demonstrates that minorities can make it in France, but as Liosliath says, “Ms. Dati’s parents wouldn’t even have been allowed to enter France under Sarkozy’s proposed immigration policies, and that’s just one of the reasons I find her so hypocritical. She’s pursued Sarkozy for years, begging to be part of his team – obviously morals are trumped by career ambition in her case.”
The View From Fez reported on the Moroccan reaction to Dati's appointment:
While many in France have applauded Rachida Dati's rise to power as French Justice Minister, the reaction of the Moroccans and many in the French community in Morocco has been muted. “She has no experience and is just there to look good,” said one cynical commentator.
Maghrebism first asked, “Why can’t an immigrant child share the same views as Sarkozy?”  The blogger then argued for Dati, saying:
Rachida Dati, as an individual and immigrant-child, has all the right to agree with Sarkozy’s policies. And Sarkozy has all the right to appoint her, without being accused of looking for a posterboy(girl). Maybe he has the same reasons for appointing her as the leftist politicians. Because of her experience and abilities.
Somehow, immigrant and leftist groups find this hard to believe. Only they can claim to have the true immigrant-politicians. All the other ones are just poster boys/girls, traitors and weirdos.
This fetishism is ridiculous and restrictive. It’s time we start realizing that not all (second-generation) immigrants are the same. That we don’t share the same values even though we share the same background.
It turned out to be a week of firsts – after the news of Dati's appointment broke, another news story – rather, a newspaper came to light.  Before this week, those wishing to read Moroccan news in English could choose between the state-run news website and a U.S.-backed site.  With the release of The Casablanca Analyst, a new independent weekly, this is no longer the case.  The View From Fez reported first, saying:
For only four Dirhams the reader is offered poetry, analysis, news, comment and a book review. Sections of the paper are devoted to Moroccan national news and comment, analysis of world affairs, opinion pages, culture, language and communications, literature and so on. It is a heady mix and certainly provides several hours of enjoyable reading and contemplation.
The Morocco Report also praised the newspaper, quoting from its pages and saying:
My students remarked that the editors are indeed quite ambitious, and I don’t disagree, but that kind of confidence is what they’ll need to succeed in a country where even the most popular newspapers only sell around 100,000 per issue (Morocco’s population is 31 million), and where few people speak or read English.
And yet, I’m impressed, because not only are the articles original, but the writers seem to remain true to their identities, claiming their perspectives as Muslims, humanists, pacifists, environmentalists, nationalists, seekers of truth, democrats, lovers of literature and the arts, militants for freedom and economists (not in that order).
And for one last exciting first, Cat in Rabat posted about what is probably Morocco's first wine outlet: “Its location on this particular street … in this particular neighbourhood of Agdal … in Rabat … in Morocco for that matter … was about as incongruous as a Carmelite nun at an Al Qaeda bootcamp in the foothills of Afghanistan, but there it was.”

author: Jillian C. York


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Myanmar: Congratulating the Exiled News Agency · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Yangon Thu congratulated Myanmar's exiled news agency Mizzzima for winning the Free Media Pioneer award this year. “I have been reading Mizzima since 2004, I believe and I admire what they do.”


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Myanmar: Militia Given Free Reign · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Fifty Viss writes about a vigilante group that took the law in its own hand by arresting civilian supports of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.


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Nepal: The Nepali Congress and the Maoists · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

United We Blog! on the major points of discussion between the Nepali Congress and the Maoists. “Negotiations between the Nepali Congress and the Maoists are focused mainly on four issues: A. Return of seized property, B. Release of salaries for the combatants, C. Construction work at the cantonment sites, and D. Monarchy.”


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Oman: Friday-Saturday Holiday? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Omani blogger Sleepless in Muscat updates us with plans to introduce a Friday-Saturday holiday in the Sultanate.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Pakistan: The Budget · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Pakistani Spectator on the upcoming budget. “Prices of milk products is actually increased by 20%. How does a common man survive in such an economic situation. Up-till now currency reserve and reduction in debt payment have no impact on the life of a common man. Increase in salary in upcoming budget is welcome but it cannot cater the actual need as living cost is increased on monthly / daily basis.”


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Peru: Food as a Social Change Agent · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Peru Food translates the speech given by Gastón Acurio, who stands behind the idea that Peruvian food can be a vehicle to fundamentally change the country for the better.


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Peru: Garcia’s Approval Drops · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Living in Peru reports on a recent poll that indicates President Alan Garcia's approval rate dropped 5%  In addition, opposition figure Ollanta Humala's approval stands at 16%, but the site points out that the survey was taken in the Lima area and not in the rural parts of the country where “Humala's popularity is unrivaled.”


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Peru: Increasing Interest in Information Technologies · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

An empty auditorium to hear an interesting lecture leaves the blogger at Sin Papel [ES] perplexed.  What can be done to get Peruvians more interested in information technologies?  The lecture given by a university professor was not well attended, and not because of high registration costs.  It was free.  The blogger thinks that students should take advantage of these free opportunities, which would help the country remain more competitive.  He also asks his readers how to generate more interest and encouragement to Peruvians.


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Poland: Roma Photo Exhibit · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

“Strolling through the Saski Park in Warsaw this morning, by pure accident, I came across wonderful open air photo exhibition on Polish Roma,” writes Olia Yatskevich of TOL's Romantic and posts some photos.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Qatar: Pro-US Coup at Al Jazeera  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Friend of Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based satellite television station, Karim, links to news which claims that there has been a pro-US coup at the station.


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Qatar: Rising Cost of Living  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Writing from Qatar Serendipity links to a news article about the rising cost of living in the Arabian Gulf state.
“When it was just affecting expats, the companies didn't seem to care too much, but now that inflation is biting at the Qatari population too, does this mean employers are going to take action and raise salaries in line with inflation?” wonders the bloggers.


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Romania: Impeachment Referendum · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Transatlantic Politics and Edward Lucas – on the referendum on president Traian Basescu's impeachment.


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Russia: A Tale of Two Women · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Moscow-based expat blogger Laura Citron shares “A Tale of Two Russian Women” over at nEUrosis.


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Russia: Blog Ranking · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Krusenstern, host to the Blog-Carnival Russian Media (in 11 days now!), posts a ranking of Russia blogs (in German), and Siberian Light writes about it in English.


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Russia: “Broken Slav-O-Meter” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Moscow-based Darkness at Noon writes about foreigner detection skills: “In a country that was trained for 70 years to view foreigners with skepticism, it's no wonder they're good at rooting us out.”


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Russia: Chechnya Documentary · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

A Step At A Time links to a Zarema Mukusheva’s Crying Sun: The Impact of War in the Mountains of Chechnya documentary on Google Video.


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Seyni Kouyate on Yankadi Reggae · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Roots and Culture has an interview with Seyni Kouyate (Fr), a Yakandi reggae musician from a griot family in Guinea-Conakry.  Kouyate says Yakandi reggae is not a Western-African fusion; it's a fundamentally African music form.  “It's the meeting of traditional African rhythms, specifically from West Africa, with Jamaican skunk…the beating of the heart [Jamaican skunk] took from nyahbinghi is the influence of the homeland on Jamaicans, which they call the promised land in Africa.  And nyahbinghi's origin is in Yankadi which is really West Africa.”

author: Jennifer Brea


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South Korea: Bruce Cumings interview · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Timothy Savage and Kang Sung-gwan from Ohmynews have an interview with Bruce Cumings, an expert specialized in Korean history, on issues including social and political development of Korea, North Korea crisis and international relation.

author: Oiwan Lam


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South Korea: Cheonggye vendors to be displaced again? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jamie from Two Koreas blogs about the displacement of Cheonggye vendors from the old Dongdaemun Stadium. As more money is sunk into the Seoul property markets, redevelopment becomes very political.


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Sri Lanka: On the Hijab · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Married With Kids on wearing the Hijab and the changes in people's behaviour towards her. “My family, as a whole is not overly into religious identity, and stuff, and opt for a more secular look.
I did too, but, somehow, a change within, was happening for quite a while when I felt, am I ashamed of who I am? The need to assert myself, and my belief, was what set me on the road to adopting the Hijab as a dress code.”


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Sudan: dealing with Darfur · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Jeff Msangi writes about Darfur: “The way the international community have and still handles the Darfur issue is a good proof of how priorities have changed lately.What we don't understand is that by neglecting cases like Darfur we are not only doing a massive injustice to humanity but also continue the cycle of terrorism. A lot has been debated about Darfur, fingers have been pointed, and yet no concrete and workable action has been taken.”


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Sudan: divestment update · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

“As many readers of this blog know, PetroChina, a Chinese oil company, is one of the highest offenders in funding the genocide in Darfur. As of the end of 2006, Fidelity, a US based investment firm, was the largest PetroChina shareholder on the New York Stock Exchange,” writes Zahara Heckscher of Blog For Darfur.