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Arabeyes: Who is Using the Tunisian Presidential Airplane? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The Tunisian presidential airplane and the ‘unofficial’ trips it takes to Europe and the fashion capitals of the world has attracted the scrutiny of the country's most outspoken bloggers. Who is using the president's plane? Who approves the trips abroad and how much is it used for official business?
Astrubal opened a can of worms when he posted those questions on his blog (fr),  along with the following video:
Les Tunisiens savent que leur président n'effectue pas beaucoup de voyages officiels. Les destinations, entre autres, vers Malaga, Malte, Genève ou Madrid (parfois pour une période qui ressemble fort à un shoping du week-end) l'ont-t-elles été alors dans un cadre privé ? Dans ce cas, l'utilisation de l'avion présidentiel ne relève-t-elle pas de l'abus ?
“Tunisians know that their president does not make many official trips.  However, the destinations of the presidential plane include, but are not limited to, Malaga, Malta, Geneva, and Madrid (sometimes for a period that strongly resembles that of a weekend shopping trip).  Were these trips for private purposes?  In that case, isn't the use of the presidential plane an abuse of power?” he asks.
Outre l'aspect troublant de ces destinations de l'avion en question, aussi longtemps que durera le silence médiatique relatif à l'évocation du train de vie (et pas seulement) de la présidence, la présomption de culpabilité, quoique l'on dise et quoique l'on fasse, sera la norme (comme dans toute République plus proche des champs des bananiers que du terreau sur lequel s'enracine l'Etat intègre).
“In addition to the disturbing destinations of the airplane, as long as the media silence lasts on the topic (among others) of the lifestyle of the president, a presumption of guilt will be the norm (as it is in every Republic which more closely resembles a banana plantation than the fertile fields on which a legitimate state is rooted).”
Je n'en sais rien, car ces questions relèvent en Tunisie du tabou. Je constate simplement, et pour ne citer que le cas des deux photographies du vendredi 9 février et dimanche 11 février 2007, qu'il n'y a rien dans les médias tunisiens (sauf myopie de ma part) qui pourrait expliquer ce week-end à Genève de l'avion de la présidence de la République.
“I really don't know. Those are taboo questions in Tunisia, and we do not ask them. To mention only the case of the two photos of Friday February 9 and Sunday February 11, 2007, I simply notice that there is nothing, not a single word in the Tunisian media (if I'm not wrong) that could explain the presence of the Tunisian presidential plane in Geneva's airport,” he explains.
Pour éviter la démagogie, on peut envisager de nombreux usages de cet avion qui ne soient pas pour le seul agrément du prince : telle sa mise à disposition pour certaines missions du gouvernement, missions humanitaires ou, pourquoi pas, certains déplacements exceptionnels de l’équipe de Tunisie, etc. Les déplacements de l’avion, observés au sein des photos, relevaient-ils de ces cas de figure (quand bien même je les trouve, pour ma part, aberrants étant donné le coût) ?
“To avoid any kind of demagogy, one could imagine several uses of this plane outside the obvious: like for certain governmental and humanitarian missions or, why not, for the few and exceptional trips of the national team of Tunisia, etc. However was the Tunisian presidential plane carrying out these missions (even if it is quite absurd considering the expenses)?”
Countryman Sami Ben Gharbia soon joined the crusade with a post in Arabic, which also seeks answers.
كلنا نعلم أن وتيرة سفر الرئيس التونسي بن علي .. قد انخفضت منذ سنة 2005، إذ نادرا ما غادر حصونه الأمنية في تونس. و تجدر الإشارة هنا إلى أن رحلات الرئيس بن علي إلى أوربا ما بين سنة 2001 و 2007، أي خلال الفترة الزمنية التي تمُ فيها التقاط هذه الصور،.لم تتجارز الثلاث رحلات، زار خلالها جنييف في ديسمبر 2003، روما في ماي 2004، و مالطا في جوان 2005.
(Vraisemblablement le départ)
(départ)
At the forum section of Nawaat, Ihsan_Aafi picks the thread and notes:


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Azerbaijan: Building collapse · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Having lived and worked in Azerbaijan, Carpetblogger is not surprised by the news that a newly-built highrise collapsed in the capital Baku due to poor building standards.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Ben Paarmann


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Azerbaijan: Radical islam · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Christine Quirk received a reader's comment to one of her earlier posts (GV reported) about the imaginary threat of radical political Islam in Azerbaijan. The commentator is a well-known Azeri Imam, who thanks the blogger for bringing up important issues. In turn, Quirk lists those players who benefit from the perception that Islam is on the rise in Azerbaijan.


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Bangladesh: Anwar Hossain and the Military · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Mash on the disregard for human rights in Bangladesh, and on the specific case of Dhaka University professor Anwar Hossain, who was taken away by the military in the middle of the night.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Bangladesh: Military and Democracy · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Voice of Bangladeshi Bloggers on the prospect for democracy in the country given the military's maneuvers.


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Barbados: Two Bodies Recovered  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Cheese-on-bread! compares the site of the Barbados apartment building collapse to a “ground zero”, while Barbados Underground and Barbados Free Press report that two bodies (mother and son) have been recovered thus far.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Cayman Islands: Caribbean Film Festival  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Mighty Afroditee is impressed by the quality of films being shown at the Caribbean Film Festival.


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Chile: Budgetary Needs for OLPC Project · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The One Laptop Per Child project in Chile outlines the budgetary needs for their upcoming public information campaign [ES], which includes letters and outreach to schools.

author: Eduardo Avila


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China: Actor Not Martyr · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ge da-xia from Yaoblog commented on Zoula's citizen reporting practice and argued that citizen reporter should be social actor, not martyr; and that report should be about the incident to a tool for defending citizen interest (zh).

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Exploitation in Summer Holiday · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Tan Weishan reported the exploitation of student workers by a shoe factory in Dongguan. More than a hundred secondary school kids spent their summer holiday working 12 hours a day with RMB$3 (US$0.4) per hour (zh).


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China: Feedburner Blocked Again · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

William Long reported: Feedburner, the most popular and powerful worldwide RSS service provider, is blocked by Chinese authorities. Last year, Feedburner had also been blocked temporarily.


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China: Websites Forced To Close By Police · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Vapano from a data company D2EX reported that many Internet Data Centers have received notices from Gong-an (Police department) which forced them to close down thousands of websites. To prevent other clients service being affected, his company has to close down all BBS data storage (zh). The police's policy is to ensure that the 17th National Congress of the CPC will go on smoothly.


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Cuba: Changes?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Is change imminent in Cuba?  Child of the Revolution offers two opposing views.


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Czech Rebublic: Mushrooming · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

My Czech Republic Blog writes about “a Czech national leisure activity”: mushroom picking.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Czech Rebublic: Syphilitic Pornstars · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

“Dozens of Czech pornstars caught syphilis during the last three months,” Petr Bokuvka of The Czech Daily Word reports.


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Gambia: Gambian Hip Hop · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The global reach of Hip Hop phenomenon: “This is Gambian hip-hop artist Dr Olugander, one of the opening acts of the 2nd International Sable Litfest in Bakau last month.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Georgia: UFO in Abkhazia · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

At Steady State, rindi is amused about conflicting reports of a mysterious object falling from the sky in the breakaway province of Abkhazia. Was it a Russian or a Georgian airplane? Or a US spy drone? Or even a “cosmic object”?


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Guyana: Dark Side of the Moon  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Guyana-Gyal might have missed an eclipse…


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Hong Kong: An Old Man Wishing To Live In Jail · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Luqui Luwei commented on a recent news about an 78 years old man who committed a minor crime in order to go to the jail so that he could at least fill up his stomach. As the income disparity is becoming more and more serious, the blogger felt that the government should give more help to the disadvantage (zh).


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India: Being cool and being Muslim · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A post on Indian Muslims on “Its cool to be a Muslim” provokes quite a few comments.


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India: On Feminism · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Ultra Violet, a new blog discussing feminism and India kicks off things with a post discussing feminism in contemporary culture.


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Iran:US policy and a web site · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Azarmehr says that during his visit to US last Novemeber :”we had a meeting at the US State Department. We were told that the US does not have a policy of regime change in Iran, instead the US policy is changing the behaviour of the Islamic regime! So I asked, “OK, how do you intend to change the regime's behaviour?” The reply was, “we have a website” :)) and what a load of bollocks that website was.”

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iraqi Insurgency · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Abu Aardvark (Marc Lynch) updates us on the latest news about the insurgency in Iraq.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Israel: Arab and Jewish Refugees · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Aussie Dave from Israel discusses the difference between Jewish and Arab refugees in this post.


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Japan: Executed Death-Row Inmate was Mentally-Ill · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Asia Death Penalty outlines the results in a report by Amnesty International indicating that one of the death-row inmates killed last week in Japan, Hifumi Takezawa, was mentally ill.

author: Chris Salzberg


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Japan: Life out of a Manga Kissa · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

A report just released by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has found that the much talked about phenomenon of “net cafe refugees“, a controversial term used to refer to people without homes who sleep in Internet cafes or “manga kissa“, is affecting thousands of people across Japan. While previously predicted to be widespread, the report is the first to provide concrete numbers on the phenomenon, estimating that over 5400 people regularly spend their nights in net cafes. As an alternative to more expensive options such as hotels and hostels, Internet cafes offer low-cost private rooms with Internet access, comic books, meals and sometimes even showers. Life out of such places, however, is generally grim, with many caught in a vicious circle struggling to find stable employment. The phenomenon itself may point to deeper problems in the Japanese economy.
Blogger Hamachan outlines the main points of the report:
>１ 短期派遣労働者には若年層が多く特に男性においては正社員になることを希望する者も多く見られること
>２ 住居を失い寝泊まりのためにネットカフェ等を常連的に利用する住居喪失者は約5,400人と推計されその年齢構成としては20歳代と50歳代に山がみられること
>３ 住居喪失者である短期派遣労働者は両調査において一定数見られたが概数調査によれば約600人住居喪失者は短期派遣労働者ばかりでなく、むしろ「短期直用労働者」や「失業（1ヶ月未満の直接雇用契約）者」のほうが多いこと
kiraku-10, meanwhile, posts a question at a message board pointing out an apparent contradiction:
会社では「労働者」が不足していると言うし、テレビでは「ネットカフェ難民」なんて言っている。
この二者をうまく繋ぐ方法はないものでしょうか。
どちらも何の条件が合わないのでしょうか。
皆仕事をしたいのにー
Some bloggers argued that the numbers from the report were actually probably conservative. Blogger junike explains:
それ以外の場所で過ごしている人もいるだろうから、ネットカフェ常連利用者以外のこうしたライフスタイルを取っている人というのはもう少し多いのかもしれない。
At news express, however, another blogger presents a view from outside of the city:
ネットカフェに先日久々に行きました。目的はテレビドラマの再放送でドラゴン桜を見て、原作が読みたくなり、漫画のドラゴン桜を見てきました。
ニュースではネットカフェ難民なる人達がたくさんいて、中高年者もネットカフェ難民が波及しているというけど、田舎なためかまったくネットカフェ難民らしき人は見かけませんでした。
Many bloggers reflected on the connection between net cafe refugees and Japanese society as a whole. One blogger writes:
確実に格差社会が現実としてあり、
貧しさが犯罪を生むこともあるだろうし。
１日は何も食べなくて我慢しても、
果たして３日我慢することが出来るだろうか。
理性はもつんだろうか。
私はそこまでの状態になったことはないし
家もあれば職もある。
ただ、日本にそういう人たちがいる以上
改善しないと、ひずみの中で苦しむ子どもたちがいる。
Another blogger draws a connection with the Constitution of Japan:
日本の憲法では、「日本国民は健康で文化的な最低限度の生活が出来る」
となっているのは、日本人ならご存知でしょう。
しかし、最近話題のネットカフェ難民は、明かにこれに違反してると思います。
といっても、ネットカフェ難民が悪いのではなくて、彼らにそういう生活を
させている社会のせいだといいたいのです。
このネットカフェ難民の人達の可哀想なことは、その生活もそうですが、
社会から驚くほど理解されていないということもあると思うのです。
それは、良く「そういう生活を選んだのは自分なのだから自己責任だ」
という自己責任論を言う人や「住み込みで働けばいいではないか」という
住み込み派のわかってない人の意見。
「努力が足りない・・・」という努力論の根性論の人。
社会全体がわかってない、どうしょうもない人の意見など。
だいたいにおいて事務的な意見しか出てこないのですよね。
それだけ彼らのことを理解していないのでしょう。
テレビで放送されても、彼らが働いているところは写らない。
写るのは、ネットカフェでパソコンを前にして寝ている場面の数々。
それを見た人は、「この人達は仕事もしないでパソコンばかりしている」
と思われてしまう。
とんでもない間違いである。
彼らは働いている。　　　それもかなりキツイ仕事をしている。
Finally, one blogger in Kobe went so far as to offer a place to stay for people sleeping in net cafes. At the “Net Cafe Refugee Relief Blog“, blogger Higeni writes:
ネットカフェ難民の多さに驚きます。
人が困っているのを見るとほっとけない性格なもんですから…
何とか救済とまではいかないにしろ手助けする方法はないかと考えてました。
名づけて「ネットカフェ難民救済計画」。ちょっと大袈裟？(笑)


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Japan: Soy Sauce for Ice-cream · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Edo from Pink Tentacle introduced a new popular food product, a type of Tamari soy sauce specially designed for use on ice cream.


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Jordan: Athletes Health · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jordanian Hareega discusses the untimely deaths of ‘seemingly healthy’ athletes.


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Jordan: Urban Development on Facebook · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Ahmad Humeid from Jordan writes about a new Facebook group which aims to discuss urban development in the the kingdom.


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Kyrgyzstan: Labour migration · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Scraps of Moscow links to an IWPR article about the impact of labour migration on the healthcare system in Kyrgyzstan, and finds many similarities to problems elsewhere in the developing world.


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Madagascar : Andriamanankoavy Jonny r’afa on why he writes · Global Voices
Mialy Andriamananjara

Malagasy Author-Musician-Sculptor Andriamanankoavy Jonny r'afa  explains his art  :
“D'abord, à travers l'Art, entretenir et enrichir la ” Mémoire Collective ” des Malgaches. Celà reste un devoir par respect des origines. Trouver alors ce qu'il faut préserver, et les transmettre, les traduire.”
“Through art, one can maintain and enrich the collective memory of malagasy people. It is our duty  to our origins. To find out what to preserve, transmit and translate.”

author: Mialy Andriamananjara


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Mauritania : Ignorance and Tradition · Global Voices
Mialy Andriamananjara

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Generously endowed women are favored in Mauritania. The fatter the woman, the more beautiful she is thought to be. Being big is also a sign of wealth and the search for beauty and signs of exterior wealth leads to some unorthodox methods : gavage, or the force feeding of women, forcing them to ingest 2 kilograms of couscous mixed with two glasses of butter in one seating.
Gavage of Mauritanian women was the subject of a “Politique au Senegal” post, written by Naomed, and a commentator remarked that :
“mais ce n’est pas de leur faute, ils ont été eduqués de la sorte”
“but it is not their fault, this is how they were educated”
Naomed, writing now on the Archipo Blog wonders though if Ignorance or tradition are an excuse.
“Les comportements condamnables sont légions dans nos sociétés dont une bonne partie sont légitimés par la tradition et la culture. Je cite en vrac : l'exploitation exacerbée opérée sur les jeunes bonnes et encore plus sur les petits talibés esclaves de leurs marabouts, l'excision, les mariages précoces et arrangés… Tout cela est profondément ancré dans notre culture, parfaitement conforme à nos moeurs. Jusqu'à un certain point, la corruption et la patrimonialisation du pouvoir accompagné du népotisme sont aussi inscrits dans les traditions.
Nous ne sommes pas responsables de l'éducation que nous avons reçue, c'est indéniable, mais jusqu'à quel point pouvons nous nous réfugier derrière cette éducation pour justifier nos actes ?”
“Condamnable acts abound in our societies and a great number of them are legitimized by tradition and culture. I name : the exploitation of young maids and abuse of small talibes slaves by their marabouts, excision, early and arranged marriages…. All this is deeply ingrained in our culture, in compliance with our customs. Up to a certain point, corruption and power, wealth grabbing combined with nepotism are also entrenched in our traditions.
We are not responsible of the education we got, that much we cannot deny, but up to what point can we hide behind this education to justify our actions?
He argues passionately that :
“Nous tolérons très bien la survivance de comportements criminels à condition qu'ils se passent chez nous et que les acteurs soient de notre culture, que ce soient nos voisins et nos frères…”
“We tolerate the survival of criminal acts if they are committed in our home and their perpetrators are of our culture, our neighbors or brothers…”
and he then turns the argument of tradition and education on its head :
“Si un comportement actuel condamnable est toléré et justifié par une tradition et une éducation, il serait juste d'appliquer ce principe de manière universelle. Ce qui est bon (à appliquer) pour nous doit l'être pour les autres.
Cela nous met dans une situation génante pour juger l'esclavage et la traite dont a été victime le continent africain.”
“If a condemnable act is tolerated and justified by a tradition and an education, it would be right to apply this principle universally. What is good for us, should be good for others.
It puts us in an awkward situation to judge slavery and its trade of which the African continent has been the victim.”
“L'esclavage était une tradition bien établie à l'époque. Nombre de sociétés étaient basées sur l'esclavage y compris en Afrique. Cet esclavage était conforme à la tradition, aux moeurs et à la morale de l'époque. “
“”Slavery was a well established tradition at the time. Many cultures were based on slavery, African ones included. This slavery was conform to the tradition, customs and morality of the time.”
He concludes by deploring the slave like conditions of young maids and demonstrating the absurdity of the education and tradition argument.
“Il ne vient à l'idée de personne de pardonner à ceux qui ont jadis commis ce crime. Au nom de la réciprocité des formes doit-on tolérer et laisser impuni le quasi esclavage des petits talibés, celui des jeunes bonnes ?
Sous le prétexte que les auteurs de ces actes ont été éduqués ainsi et qu'ils n'y voient aucun mal ? “
“”It comes to nobody's mind to forgive those who committed this crime. In the name of the reciprocity of forms, should we tolerate and leave unpunished the slave like conditions of small talibes, young maids?
Under the pretext that the perpetrators of these acts were thusly educated and saw no ill doing?”


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Morocco: The Upcoming Elections · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

The Moroccan legislative elections are looming – with 33 parties, 1,870 local candidate lists and 26 national candidate lists of women all vying for the 325 seats of lower parliament, the elections will prove to be interesting.
This year marks Morocco's eighth legislative elections, which started in 1960, just after Morocco gained independence.  Parliament was dissolved by King Hassan II in 1965, but the elections started up again in 1969, albeit to a different tune.  Driss Basri, who just passed away, reportedly falsified votes (among other offenses), leading to the discrediting of Morocco's democratic process.
It is only in the past 10 years that the elections have gained some semblance of democracy.  King Mohammed VI has put considerable effort into making the process fair; since 1997, proportionally representative candidate lists have been used as the basis for elections. In addition, a national list of female candidates has been formed to fill 30 parliamentary seats (although women may also vie for the other 295 seats).
For the next two weeks, I will give as much coverage as possible of the Moroccan elections as they unfold.
Ibn Kafka, who usually blogs in French, has written a detailed three-part analysis of the upcoming elections (see part one, and part two) in which he explains the history of the elections, as well as the history of repression.  Of the latter, he says:
It would be wrong to think that these practices have stopped: they have merely subsided, since the fragmentation of the Moroccan political scene, with thirty-three parties competing in the 2007 elections and a few other who haven't bothered, means that no clear opposition, save of course the PJD, emerges. The current electoral system, in place since 2002 and based on proportional representation ensures that no party can emerge with an outright majority. The only conceivable parliamentary majority is thus a coalition of parties – and to underline the structural character of this partisan fragmentation, Morocco is probably the only country having experienced the first-past-the-post electoral system for six elections in a row (1963, 1970, 1977, 1984, 1992 and 1997) without ever having known a bipolar partisan system or a party winning an outright majority of seats in Parliament. Of course, this was the intended outcome under Basri's watch, and his successors under Mohammed VI's reign have only had to fine-tune things a bit.
Another concern amongst Moroccan voters is voter turnout.  Although this year has seen many campaigns to encourage voting (particularly amongst youth), there are those such as Soumiaz who are worried:
I just wanted to share with you- and you can quote me on this, NEITHER THE GOVERNMENT, NOR THE KING WILL CHANGE ANYTHING, we have to claim the change! We Moroccans have to start thinking and acting as citizens. Kick your representatives’ butts, make them work … show them that you are no longer a subject but “un citoyens Marocains comme il se doit”. [a Moroccan citizen, as it should be]
For a long time, we let ourselves be misled; the administration is the servant and not us. Remind the clerk who is giving you an attitude “au service des mines,” that he/she was hired to serve you and that if it were not for you she/he would be still waiting at the temps agency… that will hopefully remind them who they are.
Don't give away your voice, VOTE. That is the only way for us to reclaim our BEAUTIFUL country.
Agadir Souss (fr) is concerned as well:
A la veille des législatives du 7 septembre liées intrinsèquement au projet démocratique marocain –avec à la clé un nouveau gouvernement et un nouveau Premier Ministre élu par le peuple– beaucoup d’électeurs connaissent trop peu de choses sur la trentaine de partis politiques en lice pour les commandes du Royaume. Certes, les compagnes électorales viennent de débuter, mais l’on connaît déjà les atouts et les objectifs de chacun.
Amazigh Blog (fr) isn't so confident that things have changed:
Mais QUOI DE NEUF en 2007?
Personnellement, si je devais résumer le tout en un seul mot, je dirais RIEN.
La démocratie?
Depuis belle lurette je ne crois plus en la politique marocaine, surtout quand il s'agit des urnes. Tous les partis prêchent pour la démocratie, mais qu'en est-il vraiment?
Personally, if I had to sum it up in one word, I would say NOTHING.
Democracy?
I have not trusted Moroccan politics for a long time, especially when it comes to ballot boxes.  All of the parties preach democracy, but what is it really?
Myrtus shares the news that a Moroccan female Jewish candidate will be running for parliament:
It was big news around the world a few years ago, when a record amount of women were appointed to fill various positions in Moroccan parliament which was considered unique in the Arab/Muslim world.  Now we have yet another noteworthy situation, equally deserving praise.
Ange Bleu (fr) is frustrated over the lack of young people in the lists of candidates:
Tous les marocains connaissent ces visages, pour cause : ces gens là occupent la scène politique marocaine depuis l’indépendance.
Le plus jeune d’entre eux A « tenez-vous bien » : 76ans. c'est des veritables Dinosaures.
The blogger adds:
On veut des jeunes bien formés avec de nouvelles idées et de nouveaux projets.
Ange Bleu‘s closing words seem to echo the sentiment heard all over the blogoma.  Look for more coverage of the Moroccan elections here in the weeks to come.
Creative Commons-licensed photo by pintxomoruno

author: Jillian C. York


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Myanmar: Fuel Price Protests · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

New Mandala reports on the continuing protests against the fuel price rise in Myanmar.

author: Preetam Rai


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Palestine: Gul for Turkey · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Fayyad from Palestinian blog Kabobfest  writes about Abdulla Gul‘s election as Turkey's president. “Ironically, some secular extremists in Turkey, too (have) issue with the fact the Gul’s wife, Hayrunisa, wears a hijab, which is banned from all Turkish public institutions, and (for) some reason terrifies some, especially when Mrs. Gul wears into the presidential palace,” he writes.


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Russia: “Anti-Akhmatova” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Languor Management writes about Tamara Katayeva's “600-page assault on the literary legacy Anna Akhmatova”: “This reminds me of Emma Gerstein's Moscow Memoirs, which was supposed to have debunked Nadehzda and Osip Mandelshtam's literary legacy, and really just portrayed them as particularly difficult people going through particularly hard times.”


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Russia: Politkovskaya Updates · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sean's Russia Blog is posting updates on Anna Politkovskaya's murder investigation – here, here, here (46 comments), and here.


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Russia: Sakhalin Travel · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

White Sun of the Desert writes about his recent Sakhalin travel: “The journey back entailed me having to do one of those things I’d always hoped I’d never have to do: enter a 4-berth Russian railway carriage which has 3 people sleeping in it already, and the spare bed is piled high with the others’ luggage, the space between the beds has a suitcase in it, and there is no sign of your own bedding.”


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Russia: “Word of Badmouth” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Copydude writes about various ways of mistreating foreigners in Russia – and about “word of badmouth,” which certain Russian restaurant owners don't seem to know anything about: “According to customer service research, a dissatisfied customer complains to an average of eight other people about a bad experience. In the blogging era, you can probably put the figure nearer eighty.”


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Saudi: Support for Jailed Activists  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Saudi Jeans updates us on the demands being made by the supporters of Saudi reformists detained since February.


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Singapore: Unlikely Allies · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Little Bridge finds African students taking the side of Chinese students in a campus fight with Mongolian students.


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South Africa: Mandela statue in London · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Nelson Mandela has a statue in London: “Attended by large crowds and graced by a gospel choir and some pomp and circumstance, a statue of Nelson Mandela was unveiled today in London, at Parliament Square, alongside those of Jan Smuts, Winston Churchill, Benjamin Disraeli and Abraham Lincoln.”


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South Korea: E.Land Workers Strike · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Workers from a local supermarket E.Land has been on strike for two months against the employer's termination of non-regular workers contract. Jamie from Two Koreas has some updates on the latest development.


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South Korea: Lee Myung-bak Doctrine · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Lee Byong-chul from Ohmynews reported on the presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak foreign policy, in particular his attitude towards North Korea and U.S.


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Sri Lanka: Health Minister and Homosexuality · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Equal Ground on the Sri Lankan health minister's remarks on homosexuality.


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Sudan: Sudanese Saint Josephine Bakhita · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Remembering the Sudanese Saint Josephine Bakhita: “Reading St.Josephine Bakhita's story made me want 2 cry, at the time when most of us had a pretty decent childhood, she spent hers as a slave.”


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Tajikistan: Trade · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Plenty of trade-related news from Tajikistan – and Bonnie Boyd has them all.


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Tanzania: Before Mandela there was Mwalimu Nyerere · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Who is Mwalimu Nyerere?: “Before Nelson Mandela there was Julius Kambarage Nyerere.
But who is Nyerere? Many do not recognise the name.”


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Thailand: Online Video Sites Down, YouTube Works · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Bangkok Pundit says Thai people can now access the previously banned YouTube site but couple of other video sites are not working.


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Trinidad & Tobago: A Study in Contradiction?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“First world is not about having things, it is about how we value our musicians, artists, writers, actors as well as our businessmen. We talk about the arts et al, but do we appreciate their value?” asks Half Empty or Half Full
 as she contemplates the contradiction that is Trinidad & Tobago.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Infinite Island · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Antilles highlights Infinite Island, a contemporary Caribbean art show which opens tomorrow at the Brooklyn Museum.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Poor Salesmanship · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Caribbean Public Relations blogs about “a perfect example of poor customer service and salesmanship.”


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Tunisia: The Rich and Poor  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

According to official statistics, there are twice as many rich people than poor ones in Tunisia. Subzero Blue  tells us why that really isn't the case.


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Ugandans and Expats Face Off in the Blogosphere · Global Voices
Glenna Gordon

I can also tell an American blogger when I read one—they are different in a way that neither makes me laugh or angered. See this entry, for example. Well, maybe some aren't that American, but the Americans—most expats, anyway—tend to lean towards that. To them,  is little more than an experiment in hard living.
This quote comes from 27 Comrade's blog, who is known for inflammatory comments on other people’s blogs. In the same post, he nominated Kelly for an “honorable mention” for this post about Stupid Bazungu and this post about her anniversary.
Kelly writes about her life in  with no holds barred. In this entry, Dead Bodies and I love Uchumi, she writes,
I got closer to the scene in my car…. It was an older Ugandan man laying smashed on the road bleeding in sort of a fetal position with his back to me. He was wearing a bloody pink golf shirt and a pair of dark track pants…
I panicked for a second because by the time I realized it was a human body I was so close to it. There were cars behind me coming up fast and the two men who had hit each other and the pedestrian were still arguing animatedly but no one was doing anything about the man lying in the road.
For whatever reason, sheer shock and my own jaded sense of mortality in  and desensitization to traffic accidents involving motorcycles and pedestrians I DID NOTHING.
Kelly explained herself by saying this:
Rationalizing it to a friend of mine I came up with what I think is an excellent analogy. If you were a black man in baggy jeans and corn rows who happened to be walking down the street in an upper class white suburban area in  and you watched another black man knock out some little old white lady and steal her purse and run off would you go help the little old lady?? My answer if I was that black man is F%CK NO. I would get the hell away from that scene because chances are the little old lady would think it was you and then before you knew it the cops would be arresting you!
In my mind if I stopped I was afraid the men arguing would see me and decide that it was actually me who hit the man, to cover themselves, very probable by the way here in Uganda, as I have been blamed for many things I did not do simply because I am a white woman and therefore a perceivably very easy, vulnerable (and lucrative) target.
And wait for it… here it comes… the comment… it’s anonymous:
If you had been in , would you have taken no action to help the guy who got hit by a car?
If you had been in , and had by some freak accident, been privy to so many people dying in the same space of time, would you have become so desensitized to death?
Personally, I think the reason why you are so desensitized to death, is not because you've suddenly witnessed it so much, but its because its not American or white people dying! From what I gather from your blog, as long as its Africans dying, you really don't give an effing…
But why should we africans be surprised? Even your media is like that. Two white people die in Europe or  and its a blooming tragedy. Millions die in  and your president won't label it a genocide. I really shouldn't expect anything more from you should I?
Kelly defends herself, but later on 27 Comrade’s blog, people take issue with her. Another blogger, Duksey says  here:
Kelly's blog has some annoying issues.
But perhaps the most interesting take on the divide comes from Hannah, the View from Kololo, where she writes about a party at the American Ambassador to ’s digs:
Tuesday evening Stephen Browning, the U.S. Ambassador to , hosted a cocktail hour for a congressional delegation led by Nita Lowey of . J RSVP’d but it was a last-minute decision to attend. Really, I was just in the mood to get dressed up. Also, I had missed the Fourth of July party at the ambassador’s house and I was curious to see the grounds….
Drinks were served by the pool. The house sits very close to the road, so we had no idea a long set of stairs to the side of the house would bring you to a large back garden with pool and pool house. It was quite lovely. I’m so glad our tax dollars are put to such good use…..
The delegation was in  for two days, one of which was spent traveling to and from Gulu in the north. Then they returned to , had a fancy cocktail party at the ambassador’s house, and went to sleep in the poshest and most expensive hotel in the country. In her speech Nita expressed how much they enjoyed seeing how people here really live. Keep dreaming, sister, keep dreaming. I wouldn’t even make such lofty claims after five months here…..

author: Glenna Gordon


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Ukraine: Animal Shelter · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

On August 19, Ukrainian journalist Tanya Kremen paid a visit to an animal shelter located near Hostomel, a small town just outside Kyiv. Below are her impressions and thoughts (RUS), which she has posted on her blog at Korrespondent.net:
Yesterday, I was at the animal shelter near Hostomel. It wasn't really an accident that brought me there: the reason was I'd read at the doggy.kiev.ua forum that the cats over there had no more food left, and since I love cats a lot, my friend and I decided to take some food there.
We spent a long time looking for the shelter – because there were no road signs pointing to where to turn to reach it […].
The shelter is: a few hundred dogs, about a hundred cats and one woman, Asya Vilgelmovna, who is doing an incredible amount if work and then some more. There's a lack of everything: time, money, food, people willing to help. She's got plans, big and good: step by step, gradually, to turn the shelter into an animal aid center, where they'd be treated and transitioned into a new life. But for now, she keeps all these creatures on her own pension and on donations – and the animals, I should say, look okay, even though they really miss interaction with people, especially the cats. A veterinarian from an agrarian university visits the shelter: he neuters the animals and provides treatment to those that need it, teaching his students at the same time.
The main problem, however, is that it's very hard to have an animal adopted – we aren't into getting ourselves mutts, we aren't into adopting shelter animals, […], unfortunately. Even though all the cats there are very beautiful and sweet, and there are wonderful, sweetest creatures among the dogs there as well.
As for the [missing] road sign, Asya Vilgelmovna had taken it down, in an attempt to stop the flow of people wishing to transfer an animal they've gotten sick of to her: a few times, elderly German shepherds were brought in, because they were too weak to guard the house and that's why had to be shot; puppies and other creatures were left anonymously, and recently, someone threw a sack with 17 kittens in it right over the fence.
I keep thinking of how to help the shelter and I'm not having any ideas – because even if some business/party/person decides to become a permanent sponsor, it's not going to solve the problem: we need to look for homes for the animals, and for someone to want to take them in means that this someone should be willing to adopt just a good dog, not necessarily a well-bred, expensive one, and what has to be done for this someone to be willing that I don't know…
Here are a few comments:
are:
Our people die like dogs, children are being given up to orphanages… Are the compassionate animal lovers thinking about this?
Tanya Kremen:
Aha, I'm of the opinion that these problems are of the same origin.
Off-the-Record:
[…] Yes, this has to be talked about again and again, so that it gradually got attached to the communal consciousness. But our people are barbarians; look at what's going on in all the forests around Kyiv (some 50 km around it, because it gets “cleaner” after that). The money-grabbing bastards are building palaces and then take their construction garbage (as well as their food leftovers) to the forest, throwing it all away a couple of hundred meters away from their own “mansions.” That is, they are building their mansions for sake of this very forest – which they then destroy. If any of you have doubts, I can take you for a ride and show you. Construction garbage, cans that used to contain chemicals, car sceletons… Twenty years ago, in Irpen (30 km from Kyiv), mushrooms and wild strawberries used to grow right in the city (where there was still some forest, there was actually a resort there, for people with TB, etc.)… I myself saw deers a few times there, right inside the city limits (some 15 years ago). Now, it's scary to walk into that forest – the new masters have eliminated the city's oak and fir trees, untouchable in the past, and have littered the forest for centuries with the garbage left after the construction of their pretentious mansions. Please believe me, it's not the old ladies from the one-storied houses who have done it… […]


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Venezuela: Preview to Referendum Election Campaign · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Venezuela News and Views writes about the preview to Hugo Chavez’ referendum election campaign where it will be “once more set on him, his persona, his character.  Love it or leave it, literally.”


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All out war in southern Philippines · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

War is raging in the island of Basilan, located in the southernmost part of the Philippines. An all-out war was recently declared by the government against the Abu Sayyaf bandit group accused of beheading 14 Marines last month. The military offensives have displaced thousands of families and imperiled the peace negotiations between the government and other Muslim rebel forces.
Carlos Conde writes about the military operations in Basilan and the initial victories of government troops. By Jove uploads a video report which features President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo instructing soldiers not to expose the innocent civilians to danger. RG Cruz Blogs muses on “terrorism jounalism”.
Morofilm’s article highlights the uniqueness of the Basilan community. Ducky Paredes uploads a speech of Congressman Wahid Akbar about growing up in Basilan. Leyahred’s me, myself & i on living in a war zone. Adam’s Reef laments the war in Basilan and criticizes the media:
“Beneath the surface of poverty, the island is teeming with richness in culture and heritage. I find it difficult to watch soldiers on TV romping around the place. How can Basilan even reclaim its untainted name? How can it spring back from the images of war attached to it, when its people’s attempts to slowly regain peace is thwarted? What bothers me the most is how major TV networks are insidiously turning all these events into a circus”.
Ka-Blog! provides a simple description of the armed groups operating in Basilan:
“There are four armed groups in that area now.  One is an armed bandit group which was put up by veterans of the Afghanistan War of Liberation and was originally trained and equipped by the US Armed Forces (Abu Sayyaf). Another is a revolutionary force fighting for their ancestral domains (MILF and MNLF).  Still another is a national armed force which is being equipped, trained and directed by a foreign armed force (Government troops).  The last is of course the foreign armed force which has no business being in the middle of all these but is there nonetheless (US troops)”.
The Patsada Karajaw Nation on the possible relationship between the war in Basilan and US military aid:
“A war with the said terror groups ensures the continuous pouring of military aid from the United States. Not only that, our government seems to have offered a promo to the Americans. In exchange for much needed military aid, the government extended additional perks to the Americans by providing them “temporary” structures in Mindanao which allow some of its personnel to stay in the country in between joint military exercises. This violates the Constitutional provision against the establishment of foreign military bases here. This sell out however is part of the survival mode of the fake President.”
In and out of season condemns the ambush of 14 Marines. Underside ponders on the perceived weaknesses of the military:
“First of all, the burning question that everyone wants to be answered is this: How in the world were the Marines ambushed, given that the government forces were supposed to be greater in number and better equipped? Answer: The following boo-boos were committed by the AFP itself: (1) The ammunitions provided to the soldiers were defective and (2) the government troops were not able to receive assistance from air pilots because of bad radio frequency”.
Uniffors is happy over the extra pay for soldiers but recommends “better leadership, up to date equipment, and ammunition that actually works so that those soldiers can live long enough to enjoy their extra pay”
Congressman Ruffy Biazon demands accountability from civilian and military authorities:
“Indeed, as we mourn the deaths of these Marines and those who were killed several weeks ago, we must determine the command responsibility of those who may have committed lapses or errors and hold them accountable, if any. Without immediately assuming anyone’s fault or guilt, the government must provide answers to the questions their families are asking.”
A senator through the blog Magdalo para sa Pagbabago has an allegation:
“I have received very serious insider information that ranking officials of the government, specifically of the executive department, had a direct hand in feeding our own military to the enemies of the State that led to the tragic death of the 14 members of the Philippine Marine Corps.”
Lovingarkin’s blog supports the all-out war and explains why. Caught you on camera gives a “snappy salute” to all Marines who died in Basilan. Bottled mourns the death of a young hero. My cover story is a college friend of a young Marine who died in Basilan. Cakes and ale is a friend of another fallen Marine.
“As a mother I cried in pain…this shouldn't happen if only our government peace negotiating panel meant a serious dialogue to seek peace. This bloodbath is absurd! Violence seeking and correcting violence?! The panel should take a back seat and try to look for others who can truly understand the inner dilemma and give us a good answer to these horrible acts that keep on making their trails.”
Ellen Tordesillas, describing the Arroyo government as ‘regime of insecurity’ speculates on the possible objectives of the renewed offensives in Basilan:
“Could it be that Gloria Arroyo and her military advisers feel the outrage of the soldiers, especially the Marines, over how, in the words of Sen. Antonio Trillanes, they “were fed to the enemies of the State”? And to pacify them, she gave them a war? Come to think of it, if Gloria Arroyo has to do something drastic to pre-empt public indignation on a possible guilty verdict on former President Estrada, would it be better for her if those who do not like her are in Mindanao busy dying in an aimless war?”
Violetagloria blogs about the statement of the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society. Suara Bangsamoro appeals for peace:
“Who committed the beheading and why did the perpetrators committed such act? This is a very controversial and sensitive issue that should have been responded with discretion rather than warmongering. For weeks, it is as if every Muslim has to answer for the act of beheading and Islam is once again put in the limelight and debate.”
Viewpoints is opposed to the “war by Filipinos against Filipinos”:
“It is both a civil and moral disaster when a government launches war against its own citizens. While war against nations is bad enough, a war by Filipinos against Filipinos is one of the worst misfortunes the Philippines could have, live and experience. And such a war is on and raging in the South.”

author: Mong Palatino


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Bahamas: End of the Monopoly?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Rick Lowe at WeblogBahamas.com thinks that a Supreme Court action questioning the constitutionality of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s monopoly on the industry could be “great news” for consumers.


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Bahamas: The Power of Print  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“There's an email making the rounds entitled ‘Blacks Don't Read’. Being Black, I read it”: Nicolette Bethel, guest authoring at Bahama Pundit, blogs about the power of print.


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Bahrain: Camera Jogging · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini Ammaro takes his camera along for a jog and this is the result.


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Bahrain: Hand-Picked Podcasts · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bint Battuta in Bahrain shares with us her pick of podcasts in this post.


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Bahrain: Nasfa Celebrations · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahrainis marked the birth of the Shia Imam Al Mahdi with a lot of fanfare and blogger Mahmood Al Yousif was out with his new camera to record the celebrations.


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Barbados: Answers for Britton’s Hill · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados Underground suggests that Barbados’ Chief Town Planner should provide some answers on the Britton's Hill tragedy: “It is not BU’s intention to engage in the blame game but we do subscribe to the notion that mistakes should be learned from and corrective steps adopted.”


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Barbados, Cuba, Venezuela: Literacy and Health Care  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Individuality1977 weighs in on literacy and health care in Cuba and Venezuela.


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Brazil: Tired of Philips · Global Voices
Paula Góes

There is a popular saying in Brazil that goes like this: “Say whatever you want to and you will hear what you don’t”. Paulo Zottolo, the Latin American President of the electronics giant Philips, has learned this the hard way. In a recent interview with Valor Econômico, a newspaper from São Paulo, he made an unfortunate comment that has outraged the blogosphere: “One must not think that this country is a Piauí, in the sense that it does not really matter. If Piauí ceased to exist, nobody would be upset”.
To make matters worse, the comment was published on the very same day that Teresina, Piauí’s fine capital, celebrated its 155 anniversary. The city, as Leonardo Fontenelle reminds us, had also been the target of negative comments by Zottolo, who once said [PT] that the cosmetic brand Nivea “was like Teresina, Piauí’s capital: everyone has heard about it, but only a few people really know the place”.
The comments have sparked an avalanche in the blogosphere and have motivated protests, campaigns, a boycott of Philips products and a brand new blog.  Zottolo’s comment has also helped to jeopardise any positive effect that the recent Cansei (I Got Tired) – a campaign sponsored by Philips- would have had. The protest had already gathered some critics among bloggers who considered it to be elitist. Philips was one of their main supporters and sponsors. Emer Luis [PT] is not surprised:
“O que o país poderia esperar de um homem que tem quadros com imagens da pobreza em sua sala para lembra-lo sempre que miséria existe? Não muita coisa a não ser um bando de besteiras e futilidades como estas. E é por isso que ninguém até agora levou o Cansei a sério.”
Roberto Zottolo afunda imagem da Philips – Nas Retinas
“What should the country expect from a man that has pictures with images of poverty hung in his living room to always remind himself that misery exists? Nothing more than this bunch of bullshit and futility. This is the reason why nobody so far has taken “Cansei” seriously.”
Roberto Zottolo ruins Philips’ image – Nas Retinas
Even supporters have started a veiled boycott of Philips, as reports Leonardo Fontenelle
“Ivete Sangalo é irmã de um dos fundadores do Cansei, e garota-propaganda da Philips; não é de se admirar que tenha participado do ato público na praça da Sé. Imaginem a saia justa da cantora ao se apresentar na semana seguinte em Teresina! Ivete Sangalo não mencionou a polêmica, não usou telões da marca Philips, e ainda disse que se seu corpo fosse um mapa, seu coração seria o Piauí.”
Piauí Boicota Philips – Leonardo Fontenelle
“[The singer] Ivete Sangalo is one of the Cansei movement founders’ sister, and Philips poster girl; unsurprisingly she participated in the public act in Praça da Sé. The next week she had a show in Teresina; Ivete Sangalo didn’t mention the controversy, didn’t use Philips big screens, and stated that if her body was a map, her heart would be Piauí.”
Piauí Boycotts Philips – Leonardo Fontenelle
On the same subject, is the paragraph below from Rizzolo’s [PT] blog and his very long and poignant analyses of current Brazilian economic affairs:
“O camarada Zottolo, não consegue se conter, como presidente de uma multinacional, que está por mera liberalidade no país, por enquanto, é claro, porque como já disse e afirmo novamente, se dependesse de pessoas como eu , liquidaria com essa farra e sangria que essas transnacionais, fazem no páis, de uma forma que reiteradamente costumo comentar aqui no Blog. Não é possível que o povo brasileiro, o empresariado brasileiro, os cientistas das Universidades, a população, possam se submeter à ditadura dessas empresas, que estão aqui ” mamando no nosso mercado de 190.000.000 de pessoas “, e ainda se dispõe a patrocinar movimentos golpistas; não venham me dizer que a matriz não sabia das manobras e conspirações do camarada Zottolo, isso ninguém vai me convencer. E observem que a elite , com apoio dos marqueteiros usam sigla como OAB, Philips, e Associações para emprestar confiabilidade no movimento, um absurdo.”
UJS quebra eletrodomésticos em protesto contra Philips no Piauí – Blog do Rizzolo
“Comrade Zottolo cannot stop himself, as the president of a multinational company which is here by fate of a mere generosity of this country, for the time being of course, because as I have said, if it was up to people like me, I would put an end to the bloodsucking that these international companies promote in this country, as I keep saying on this Blog. It is not possible that the Brazilian people, the Brazilian business people, the scientists in the universities, the population, submit themselves to the dictatorship of these companies that are here “suckling on our market of 190,000,000 people“, and are still happy to sponsor coups; don’t tell me that the head office did not know about the manoeuvres and conspiracies of comrade Zottolo, nobody will convince me of that. And note that the elite, with help from marketers use logos like the OAB’s [the Brazilian equivalent of the American Bar Association], Philips’, and other associations’ to lend trust to the protest, an absurdity.”
Students destroy Philips eletronics during protest in Piauí – Blog do Rizzolo
Fabio Pereira wonders whether the mainstrean media would be scrutinizing Zottolo’s comments had they been made by someone in the government:
“Será que se o teor da declaração de Zottolo fosse usado por Lula ou alguém de seu governo ou do PT teria o mesmo desprezo? Acho que o vídeo postado pelo repórter Luiz Azenha no YouTube responde o que a maioria dos nossos jornalistas faria se soubesse que a nefasta declaração fosse dada por algum membro do governo ou pelo próprio presidente.”
O silêncio da mídia – Observatório de Imprensa
“Had the tone of Zottolo’s declaration been used by Lula or someone from his government or from the PT [Labour Party], would it be so despised? I think the video posted by Luiz Azenha on YouTube shows what most journalists would be doing if this ill comment had been made by someone from the government or the president himself.”
The Media’s Silence – The Press Observatory
Here is the video. Use the arrows to see subtitles in  your favorite language.
video start
video end
Apparently, after all this, people from all over Brazil got really tired of Philips:
“Na verdade já tem muita gente chateada, sim. A pérola acima merece resposta. E nenhum grito é mais alto que o silencioso ato de não comprar produtos de uma empresa multinacional que não respeita as diferenças e é presidida por uma pessoa que pensa desse modo tão… tolo!”
Sou do Piauí, Eu faço a diferença – Não Compre Philips
“The truth is there are a lot of people already upset, really. The faux pas above deserves an answer. And no shout is louder than the silent act of not buying products from a multinational company that does not respect difference and is headed by a person that thinks in such a foolish way!”
I’m from Piauí, I make the difference – Don’t buy Philips
Many bloggers showed support for the idea of boycotting Philips products:
“Seria muito bem feito se os piauienses partissem agora para o ataque e iniciacem um boicote em massa aos produtos da Philips. Já está na hora daquela gente mostrar que tem auto-estima e não deixar mais que seu belo estado e seu povo acolhedor e decente sejam vítimas de deboches preconceituosos como este.” “Se ser pobre é um defeito, então se o Brasil deixasse de existir, na visão do sr. Zolloto, não faria também a menor diferença”
O Piauí é um Luxo! – Coió Online
“It would be good if those people from Piauí went for revenge and started a mass boycott of Philips’ products. It’s high time that those folks showed they have self esteem and stopped allowing their beautiful state and warm, decent people to be victims of prejudiced debaucheries like this.”  “If being poor is a flaw, then if Brazil didn’t exist anymore, according to Mr. Zolloto’s point of view, it wouldn’t make the slightest difference”
Piauí is Luxury! – Coió Online
Andrei Lima [PT] calculates the consequences of a boycott, which has been started by the Claudino electronics chain, the fifth largest buyer of Philips products in Brazil:
“Pode não ser nada, mas cada ponto percentual perdido num mercado tão competitivo quanto o de produtos eletrônicos, pode representar perdas de alguns milhões de reais no faturamento da Philips.”
Acione o cérebro antes de abrir a boca… – (com)gestão
“It may seem to be nothing, but each percentage point lost in such a competitive market as electronics could make Philips suffer losses of millions of Reais.”
Turn your brain on before you open your mouth… – (com)gestão
“Respect is good and Piauí appreciates it” – Armazém Paraíba announces it is not selling Philips products anymore.
Agent 65 [PT] calls on his readers to send messages directly to Philips asking for Zottolo’s head on a silver tray:
“Mas o cachimbo dele vai ser fumado logo, logo. A Philips estava esperando algo como isto para exonerá-lo. Mas já adianto, NUNCA mais compro NADA fabricado por esta empresa.”
“Mandem e-mail de repúdio aqui: jayson.otke@philips.com/”
Presidente da Philips pisa no tomate – Agent 65
“But he is already a dead man walking, soon he will go. Philips was waiting for something like this to sack him. But I anticipate: I will NEVER buy anything made by this company.” “Send a repudiation e-mail to: jayson.otke@philips.com/”
Philips’ president puts his foot in it – Agent 65
Piauí and North-eastern Brazil deserve respect – Philips discriminates against Brazil
Daniel Lopes [PT] writes on how he is used to hearing comments like this coming from people in Southern Brazil:
E, sim, o Brasil é engraçado. As pessoas das regiões menos pobres sabem pouco ou nada do restante do país, e o que fazem? Pedem desculpas pela ignorância? Pedem lições de geografia aos filhos, para saber onde é mesmo que fica a cidade de Alagoas, e em que canto do Nordeste está o Acre? Resolvem falar apenas daquilo que conhecem? Não – elas se acham melhores! Isso é que é complexo de superioridade!
O Piauí e o Insignificante – Blog do Daniel
“And, yes, Brazil is funny. People from the least poor areas know little or nothing about the rest of the country, and what do they do? Do they apologise for their ignorance? Do they ask their kids to give them geography lessons, to get to know where Alagoas is, and in which part of the North East Acre is? Do they decide to talk only about what they know? No way – they think they are better people! This is a superiority complex!”
Piauí and Mr. Insignificant – Blog do Daniel
To wrap up, these lines summarise what most Brazilians feel:
“De qualquer forma em nome de tantos amigos e conhecidos piauienses, me sinto na obrigação de dizer: eu ficaria chateado, sim, se o Piauí deixasse de existir.”
Eu Me importo com o Piauí – Blog do Vasco
“Anyway, in the name of so many friends and people from Piauí I know, I feel obliged to say: I would be really upset if Piauí ceased to exist.”
I care about Piauí – Blog do Vasco
On a lighter note, the unfortunate comment has inspired some poets, like Orlando Paiva, who is a master of Cordel literature:
“Se o Piauí desaparecer
Ninguém ficará chateado”.
Esse foi o refrão Por ele pronunciado.
Paulo Zottolo foi infeliz
Mas se foi ele quem quis
Agüente o povo revoltado”
Cordel de Repúdio ao Presidente – Ribamar Aragão
“If Piauí disappears
Nobody would get stressed”.
These were the lines
By this guy professed.
Paulo Zottolo was unfortunate
But he who created this climate
Must now bear the distressed”
Cordel to repudiate the president – Ribamar Aragão

author: Paula Góes


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Bulgaria: “Foreigner Tax” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Balkan Yankee writes on the ways in which the so-called “foreigner tax” is applied in Bulgaria.


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China: A social Reporter’s Internal Notes · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN translated a BBS post on a Southern Metropolis Daily reporter's experience in dealing with the police, migrant workers, security guards and village officials in Shenzhen.


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Dominica: Fair Trade after Dean  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Caribbean farmers affected by Hurricane Dean are asking Britons to continue buying Fairtrade bananas in order to help them recover.  Living Dominica reports.


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Efforts underway to recover downed plane in French Polynesia · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Parlons Tahiti writes about efforts to recover the downed plane (Fr) from a crash that killed twenty earlier this month in French Polynesia.

author: Jennifer Brea


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Egypt: Complaining for Change · Global Voices
D B Shobrawy

Something I love about Egyptian blogs is our tendency to complain. Firstly because we're Egyptian and its our nature and secondly because we have so much to complain about.
Among our complaints this week: international scandals, intellectual persecution, the Egyptian Legal system (or lack thereof), the question of beauty and as usual, religious persecution rounding out the group.
International Scandals
A couple months ago a former Egyptian double agent named Ashraf Marwan died when he “jumped” off his balcony while in London. (a favorite assassination technique of the Egyptian Secret Police. See Suad Hosny). His mysterious death has raised a lot of questions. Zeinobia points out his not-so-honest former dealings.
Strangely no one in the official newspaper spoke about the profession, the real profession of Ashraf Marwan; they did not speak from where he got these millions which became billions afterwards, not that only, now they are forgetting that he used to be an arm dealer with one hell of a history from profiting from other’s death like in the case of Iran-Iraq war, it is enough that his name was mentioned in the Iran Contra affair along with Adnan Khashoggi whom years later  turned out to be also a pimp too for the Saudi Royalties
Intellectual Persecution
When it comes to the Israel-Palestine debate
Norman Finkelstein is one of the most famous intellectuals on the topic. His criticisms of Israel have made him the target of hatred and has recently resulted in the denial of his tenure at DePaul University, the Arabist chimes in…
By Monday, the books for his course had been pulled from the DePaul bookstore’s shelves, while his case was restarting a firestorm of protest. The American Association of University Professors was preparing a letter to the university, protesting Finkelstein’s treatment as a serious violation of academic ethics.
Finkelstein vowed not to take the rebuff lying down—or, perhaps more correctly, to do something just like that. In addition to canceling his course, the university informed him that his office was no longer his.
Egyptian Legal System (and lack of it)
As much as the Egyptian Blogosphere fights for freedom, none of us are about to complain when the Government cracks down on the Muslim Brotherhood, fair or not. When Brotherhood members are held and released they are picked up again within hours. The Skeptic notes:
`Abd al-Monim Mahmud, himself detained earlier this year, reports that while two Brotherhood MPs have been released on bail, five Brothers were immediately detained again after prosecutors ordered their release, and a court threw out a prosecutor’s order to release four others:
The Question of Beauty
Beauty in the West vs. Everywhere else. Ha Ana Za with her usual enlightening analysis…
The Western ideal of beauty is often characterised as petite, blonde, buxom and blue eyed and yet how many people around the world actually fit this stereotype?
Actually a little less than 1.8% of the world's human population fit into such a category so is it perhaps the rarity of such individuals that make them so attractive?
Ideals of beauty are a part of every culture. If we look at images throughout Western history alone, we can see these ideals change according to what is valued and needed by the culture’s world view. Often a culture’s ideals oppress the body. This is true of our era where the oppression of women and the cult of thinness are linked to the objectification of all living bodies. We live in a society that emphasizes the surface, not the substance of the human being. After over 25 years of feminism, women’s’ self-image, as well as social and economic success are still largely determined by their looks.
Religious Persecution
Small groups like the Baha'i are easily overlooked in Egypt but their right to freedom correspond to the freedoms of all the countries citizens, therefore Baha'i freedoms equal Egyptian freedoms. Bilo at Baha'i Faith in Egypt challenges the undying ID card hurdle.
This video clip, entitled “Egypt Tourism Ad” was just published by the Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights on YouTube. It depicts the dilemma of certain citizens of Egypt, such as Baha'is, who are denied their ID cards because of their religious affiliation. Egypt will only allow the entry of one of three religions on the mandated computerized ID card forms, namely: Muslim, Christian or Jewish. If anyone belongs to any other Faith than these three, then the person is denied the ID card. The application form also clearly states that the entry of any false statements will lead to imprisonment and heavy fines. A citizen of Egypt without ID card is considered non-existent and cannot have any rights in his or her own country. All essential services in Egypt mandates the use of ID cards. The lack of such documents in Egypt amounts to Civil Death.
As long as we're writing and you're reading things will get better as we gather a collective voice. So on that note I'll see you here next week.

author: D B Shobrawy


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Egypt: Mubarak Deathwatch · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“(F)or over a week now the Egyptian (non-state) media has gone into another one of its Mubarak deathwatch modes,” writes Issandr El Amrani, from Egypt.


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Egypt: Princess Diana’s Death · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian Zeinobia marks the 10th anniversary of Princess Diana's death with this post.


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Guyana: A Few Things… · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

From listing the things on her desk (“a pen with invisible feet”) to things she can do (“cheer up sooner rather than later”), Guyana-Gyal will put a smile on your face today.


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India: Privacy and Terrorism · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Does anti-terrorism policy justify loss of privacy online? Arzan Sam Wadia has more.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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India: Working women and Housewives · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Ultra Violet on a recent court judgment that rules that a working woman is a “housewife first”.


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Iran:An abstract painting and a real Kebab! · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Aref Adib has published two photos:one is a painting from Howard Hodgkin,a British painter, and the other one is a photo of a Kebab in Vienna.The blogger invites us to see similarities between two photos.The blogger adds “a representational painter of emotional situations” & below the painting is my represention of a hungry situation in Vienna!”


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Iran:Iranian historical buildings in 6 photos · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Kosoof, a leading photo blogger, has published Iranian historical buildings in 6 photos.The blogger has given an explanation about each one.


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Iran:Study says US preparing military attack · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Iranian Truth writes that here’s a little story in the news that hasn’t been receiving much press circulation but is definitely of concern:According to SOAS,The United States has the capacity for and may be prepared to launch without warning a massive assault on Iranian uranium enrichment facilities, as well as government buildings and infrastructure, using long-range bombers and missiles.


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Iran:Talking to Gary Sick · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

View from Iran continues his interesting interviews and this time she talks with Gary Sick. The blogger says Gary Sick was in the Carter administration during the taking of the American embassy by revolutionary Iranian students. His discussion of that time, the difficulty of the negotiations, and the analysis of steps, missteps, and surprises is compelling and concise.You can read interview here.


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Jamaica: “Miss Lou” Fundraiser to Benefit Dean Victims  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Geoffrey Philp notes that part proceeds from an upcoming tribute and fundraiser honoring the late Jamaican cultural icon Louise Bennett-Coverley, will be donated to victims of Hurricane Dean.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Japan: Living in the Internet Cafe · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Mari summarized a survey by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare concerning the social status of people who linger in the the Internet cafe: The reason why people stay in such cafes is “to use the Internet”(52.8%), “miss the last train to home”(27.8%), and then 7.8% replied “I have no home.” The survey supposed 5400 people (the 20s and the 50s are majorities) will stay at cafes continuously and have no home.


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Japan: Robot cat · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

James from Japan Probe reported on the a T.V commercial on the sale of robot cat in Japan. There are three youtube videos to demonstrate the robot cat's emotion.


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Korea: Korean Beef VS Non-Korean Beef · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

The Moon Festival, one of the biggest festivals, is coming soon in Korea. One of the customs is to send gifts to relatives or people to whom you would like to show your appreciation. The most popular and fancy gift box is beef. Not just beef… the best is Korean beef (han-oo). Since Korea decided to import beef from other countires, the price has gone down, but the imported beef has brought up the question of whether to put up with the danger of mad cow disease. In addition, there have been comparisons in terms of price, quality of meat, and even differences in the names of beef parts.
Although there was the promise to import beef from cows younger 30 months, there has been the discovery of pieces of bones of imported beef and spinal bones, which are the principal sources of mad cow disease. Bloggers have reacted to the lukewarm attitude of the government and the coming Moon Festival.
Bloggers mostly criticize the government's attitude about this scandal and worry about the dange of being exposed to mad cow disease.
… 이번에 발견된 척추는 무척 위험하기에 국제적으로도 수입중단조치 가능한
경우였습니다. 그래서 일본역시 6 개월간 수입중단했고 일본의 이런 강경한
조치로 미기업은 지금 일본에 수출하는 소는 작업라인까지 따로 갖추고 있으며
일본에게는 비교적 안전한 20 개월미만 소를 수출합니다. 우리에게는 광우병위험
인자가 많아 더 위험한 30 개월소를 팔고 있습니다. 이번 척수발견시
대통령께서는 국민의 건강을 생각해 중단시키고 그동안 원산지표기의무화
시스템을 확실하게 만드셨어야 했습니다. 수입을 계속 안 하는 것은 힘든 일인
것 인정합니다. 우리는 수출하려고 하면서 수입은 안 된다는 태도 말 안 되지요
그러니 원산지 표시를 철저히 엄격하게 규제할 수 있는, 절대 속일 수 없는
망을 구축( 이것만은 필히 꼭 실시해 주시길 바랍니다.) 하신 뒤 수입한다면
( 국제적으로도 척추 발견은 수입중단해도 되는 사안이었으므로) 적어도 우리
소비자가 국민이 속지 않고 자신이 원하는 고기를 편한 마음으로 적절하게
선택할 수 있는 기회는 얻게 되는 것입니다…
제가 더 속상한 것은 댓글들 보면 가난한 서민들 중에는 죽어도 좋으니
고기 먹은지 오래니 싼 미국소 수입해 실컷 먹었으면 좋겠단 말이 많다는
겁니다 . 바로 이것입니다 . 결국 이 미광우병위험인자 소는 정재계 고위
인사와 그 가족들은 절대로 안 먹고 가난한 계층과 일반서민들만
광우병위험에 노출되는 현실을 정부도 잘 알텐데 , 국가에서 보호해 주고
차단해 막아주는 노력을 해 줘야 할 일을 전혀 안 한 채 무역마찰이나 fta 비준
등을 앞세워 대책없이 서민들이 희생양이 된 것이 아닌가 싶어 서글픕니다 .
…What I feel sad when I read netizens’ opinions, some poor citizens said that it's fine to risk importing foreign cheap beef so they can have beef as much as possible because they haven't had it due to the expensive price. This is the problem. The beef that has the possible danger would not be for the politically and economically high class, but for poor civilians. The government must know about this, but they don't have any tacticts or counterplan to be against importing this kind of the meat. Civilians will be victimized. This is sad…
Some bloggers are actively participating in the poll against imported beef.
…광우병걸린 소에 뼈를 들여오겠다니요 ? 도대체 이나라가 국민을 위한 나랍니까 ? 아니면 미국을 위한 나랍니까 ?
광우병검사도 하지도 않았으면서 이젠 아예 검사를 제외하고 미국산 뼈있는 쇠고기 들여오겠다구요 ?
우리나라 영국처럼 인간광우병으로 사회에 혼란스러워져야 정신차립니까 ?
수입위생조건을 강화했으면 강화했지 여태까지 한거라고는 오직 미국에 유리하게 위생조건을 낮추기만 했습니다 .
도저히 먹고 죽으란 소리밖에는 더됩니까 ?
이글을 읽는분들 서명 해 주십시오 .
Readers, please give your signature.
A blogger who works at a butcher's shop compares beef and explains the difference of meat-eating culture.
그리고 자꾸 호주산이나 미국산이랑 한우를 비교들 하시는데
한우와 수입소고기는 쓰임새가 다릅니다…
외국소들은 스테이크를 많이 뽑아내야 하기때문에 부드러운 고기를 선호하는거구
우리나라 문화는 스테이크 문화가 아닙니다,.,,,
생고기 구이문화죠…
쓰임새부터가 다릅니다 비교대상이 아니라고 생각되네요…
The standard is different…so we can't say which one is best.
Blogger, ‘No Victory Without Suffering,’ brings out several questions about why imported beef is accepted.
얼마전에 광우병에 관한 프로그램과 기사들을 보면서 참 여러가지 생각이 들었다 . 그 중 첫번째는 초식동물을 육식으로 키우는 미기업형 목축사업장의 어처구니 없는 발상이었고 두번째는 그 하이브리드 소 (?)를 미국인들이 주식으로 먹고 있다는 점, 세번째는 400도 이상의 열처리를 하지 않으면 광우병 인자가 사라지지 않는다는 그 쇠고기를 국내 기업들의 압력에 못이겨 국외로 팔려고 드는 미국정치구조의 의외의 후진성 (어쩌면 민주주의의 특징을 극명하게 드러낸 것인지도 ), 네번째는 먹으라고 팔아먹으려 들면서도 생산공정은 공개하지 않는 미기업형 축산업계의 이중성, 마지막은 그 문제있는 쇠고기의 수입을 거부하지 못하는 한국 축산업계의 후진성이다.
광우병 쇠고기를 수입하지 않기 위한 일본의 노력은 ‘왜 섬나라 왜국이 선진국인가’ 하는 이유를 몸으로 보여주는 좋은 사례 중 하나였다 . 팔아먹으려는 나라보다 더 고강도 관리 체계를 갖추고서 그들의 기준에 부합되는 제품만 수입할 것이라는 지극히 시장지향적인 정책으로 그 불합리한 요구를 뿌리칠 수 있는 일본의 능력은 선진국이기에 가능한 것일 것이다 .
더불어 나는 또 다른 생각을 하게 된다 . 우리가 ‘한우'라고 불리는 고기들은 과연 우리의 기대만큼 신선하고 위생적인 고기인가 하는 생각이 그것이다 . 우리가 흔히 한우가 육질이 좋다는 상식은 ‘우경(우경 )'을 하기 때문에 지방층이 얇고 육질이 좋다는 식으로 이해한다. 그리고 수입쇠고기들과 한우를 분류할 때 ‘지방층의 두께를 비교하라'는 조언이 담긴 기사를 어젯밤에도 봤다. 하지만 우리 모두가 알다시피 우리 나라에서 우경을 하는 농가는 사실상 없다고 봐도 무방하고 10년전만 해도 소를 키우던 나의 고향 시골집도 이제는 더 이상 소 (누렁이와 젖소도 키웠었다)를 키우지 않는다. 10년쯤 전에 소가 있을 때도 농사일은 기계로 했었고 소는 그저 외양간 안에서 먹이를 먹을 뿐이었다 ( 이론상으로는 미국의 기업형 축산업계와 다를 바가 없다). 정말 한우는 수입쇠고기보다 무조건 지방층이 얇고 육질이 좋은가?
The effort of Japan not to import these problematic cows is an example of why the island Japan is a developed country. Aiming for a market policy, they import products that correspond with their standards, which have a much stronger management system than selling countries and resist irrational demands. It must be possible because Japan is a developed country.
In addition, I have another thought. I wonder if the beef that we call ‘Han-oo’ is really as fresh and hygenic enough as we expect. We understand the reason why'han-oo'is good is because the fat layer is thinner and the quality of meat is good because of ‘oo-gyeong’ (farming cows) I also saw the newspaper give the advice to ‘compare the fat layer’ to distinguish imported beef and Korean beef. But as you know now, there are no ‘oo-gyeong’ anymore in our country. Even 10 years ago, my countryside house which raised cows are not raising cows anymore (we had yellow and milk cows). Even 10 years ago, machines handled farming and cows were fed in sheds (In theory, it is not so different from American industrial stock-farming). Does han-oo really have thinner fat layers and better flesh than imported beef?

author: Hyejin Kim


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Morocco: Books on Fez · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

The View From Fez shares a list of books pertaining to the grand city of Fez.


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Morocco: Cheap Chinese Plastic · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

Everything Morocco questions why there's so many cheap plastic products “made in China” being sold in the traditional artisan souks of Fez.


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Nepal: Madhesi MPs · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Democracy for Nepal on the internal dynamics of political parties as geographical identities become sharper.


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Pakistan: ExPM in exile returns · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

All Things Pakistan on the developments on the political front, as an Ex-PrimeMinister in exile returns to Pakistan in early September.


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Producing traditional music in Benin · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Benin couleurs posts photos of a Solidarite Internationale project to build a sound studio (Fr) that will produce traditional music.


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Russia: More on Politkovskaya and Litvinenko · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sean's Russia Blog posts an update on the investigation of Anna Politkovskaya's murder and remind his readers of another ongoing case: Aleksandr Litvinenko's murder.


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Sierra Leone: Blogging the Elections · Global Voices
Vickie Remoe-Doherty

Sierra Leone held its presidential and parliamentary elections on August 11, 2007. The exercise marked a peaceful transition to democracy after years of civil war. None of the presidential candidates won at least 55% as required by the constitution to prevent a run-off, which is set for September 8th, 2007. Now on to the Sierra Leone Blogosphere to see what bloggers have had to say about the process…
In Sierra Leone Elections Update – 3, Swit Salone writes:
National Electoral Commission has announced 100% of all presidential votes. All Peoples Congress (APC) candidate, Ernest Bai, Koroma has won 44% of the votes while the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) has won 38% of the total vote. The People’s Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC) leader Charles F. Margai won 14%; a remarkable feat for a political party less than 1½ years old. The constitution of Sierra Leone stipulates that a presidential candidate has to win at least fifty-five (55%) percent of the total votes in the first round of elections to prevent a run-off.
If the A.P.C had managed to gain at least 50.5% of the votes in the first round then they would have been guaranteed the win in the 2 round single-majority-win election. Charles Margai the leader of the P.M.D.C whom many believed shortchanged the SLPP of votes in key areas in the South & East has announced that he will form an alliance with the APC. However the other members of the PMDC party executive board proclaimed that Margai’s decision to join the APC was unilateral and that they are not following suit.
Jill and Dan write about the apprehensions felt going into the election and the break down of supporters regionally:
National Presidential Elections were held throughout the country last Saturday. We haven't mentioned it because there was so much uncertainty about how things would go… and lots of warnings to be prepared for the worst. Sometimes things flare up so fast — especially here where there is palpable discontent with the high rates of unemployment and the dismal state of social services and infrastructure. But as far as we know, everything seems to have gone off well. BBC has announced “free and fair” elections. There were over 4000 international election observers posted throughout the country to ensure this, and to report on anything seeming a bit fishy. There were a few political skirmishes here and there, but people turned out to vote peacefully in record numbers. We were told something like 2.6 million voters registered for this election — around 93-95% of the voting population. And people have high hopes for positive changes.
So far, five days later (as today is Thursday), the word is that somewhere between 17-19% of the votes have been officially tallied and counted. It will take a while before any results will be announced. At first, radio stations and party spokespeople, even the UN and NGOs were hearing all kinds of info, some of it conflicting. Whenever a tentative result was announced, whichever side was in the lead at that moment would claim it was winning. So now, we don't hear anything. Most of the country is expecting a runoff election to take place in a few more weeks. There were 7 candidates on the ballot on Saturday, and no clear winner as of yet. Seats in Parliament were up for grabs, and historically the North and West (predominantly Temne) support the APC party and the East and South (predominantly Mende) support the SLPP (current party in power). Of course this is a huge oversimplification of things, but basically those are the two parties with the largest bases of support, and typically over the last 30-40 years or so, power goes back and forth between the two. It's possible that some seats in Parliament will change and there might be some shifts… that's what people are waiting for as well as to hear if there's going to be a Presidential runoff or not
Sandra’s Latest gave us the latest statistics on the elections as 34.3% of the votes were announced:
The latest election update (from yesterday) is that 2119 of 6171 (34.3%) of the polling stations have reported their results. So far there has been a lot of fluctuation in the outcome. A couple days ago APC had over 70% of the votes, but the following day it was SLPP that was ahead. The presidential winner must take more than 55 percent of the vote to avoid a run-off. Here are the latest results:
Candidate Votes Percentage
Ernest Bai Koroma (All Peoples Congress) 46.17%
Andrew Turay (Convention Peoples Party) 1.4%
Alhaji Amadu Jalloh (National Democratic Alliance) 1.02%
Kandeh Baba Conteh (Peace and Liberation Party) 0.56%
Charles F. Margai (People's Movement for Democratic Change) 15.17%
Solomon E. Berewa (Sierra Leone People's Party) 35.32%
Prof. Abdul Kady Karim (United National People's Party) 0.37%
Swit Salone writes about the experience of being a national observer for the elections as well as lessons to be learnt from the results:
First stop on my observation was PortLoko….got there right as the polling center was opening and everything was orderly…..old, young, and not so old sierra leoneans waited sometimes patiently and other times a little rowdy but it was all in good spirit. All polling stations that I observed in Port Loko, Bombali, and Tonkolili [three districts in the northern part of Sierra Leone] were predominantly Temne speaking areas….and even without them saying, it was obvious that they were voting APC…..the most prevalent issue in the polling stations was that people didnt know how to vote….Some polling center officers and managers spent time explaining the processes in temne and sometimes in krio but even with the explanations people were confused about the process…some people didnt mark anything on their ballot paper while others selected multiple candidates or all the candidates. Some people signed their name instead of indicating their choice with a check mark or thumb print. In the polling stations and centers that i observed nothing peculiar happened that disrupted the process though rumors of pre-voted ballot boxes were rife everywhere……i dont know of any proven box stuffing incidents….
The biggest lessons from these elections are that Sierra Leoneans are never again going to let themselves be ruled by a regime that doesn't deliver. The funny thing is that most people who voted against the APC recognize that much may not change with the APC and that all politicians are pretty much the same but they voted for change to send a message to all parties that we are a changed people. We believe in accountability and anyone who does not meet our expectations will be voted out. Even if the SLPP wins, the message has been sent….loud and clear….WAY MAN DEM NO GLADI WI DAY VOTE FOR CHANGE....[meaning when the people aren’t happy they will vote for change…a popular saying by youth in Freetown, the nation’s capital]
During the campaigns, Nasratha wrote about about the first ever presidential debates in the country:
Last Week, the first ever presidential debates were held in Freetown at Lagoonda Entertainment Complex and this young wannabe scored tickets curtesy of a friend with the BBC. All parties were represented at the Debate besides the SLPP….Berewa refused to attend the debate because as he believed who ever was hosting it had no authority to call him to a debate and what not. Anyhoo, all the other parties were there though Charles Margai was about an hour late due to the fact that they were holding their rally earlier on that day.
First of I must admit that I questioned the relevance of the debates so late into to the campaigns….Almost everyone Tuesday of last week had already chosen their party….Also with most of Sierra Leoneans being illiterate….i questioned whether it was useful to have the debates in English….As far as I'm concerned these debates were more for the benefit of Sierra Leoneans in the diaspora (who are not voting) and the self satisfaction of the organisers themselves.
Since none of the candidates won 55% of the votes, there will be a run-off on September 8th, 2007 as Sandra announces on her blog:
1,839,208 votes at 6,171 polling stations have been counted. The results are out. At 10:00 this morning the final results of the Sierra Leone elections were announced over the radio. To be honest, the announcement did not come as a surprise. For the past week people have been talking about the upcoming run-off. The only difference now is that it is official. And the campaigning can begin.
The presidential run-off between the All People’s Congress and the Sierra Leone People’s Party will be held on Saturday, September 8th, 2007.

author: Vickie Remoe-Doherty


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Slideshow of Iran’s female athletes · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Tunisiendoctor has a slideshow of Iranian female athletes (Fr).


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Syria: Arab Bread Basket · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Syria is the Arab bread basket of the Middle East, writes Egyptian D.B. Shobrawy, who adds that the Arab country is sharing the spoils with neighbours hit by a wheat shortage.


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Trinidad & Tobago: 45 Years of Independence  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Nicholas Laughlin quotes BC Pires on the occasion of Trinidad and Tobago's 45th anniversary of Independence, while IZATRINI.com compares the country's first Independence Day celebration with how the holiday is celebrated today.


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Trinidad & Tobago: A Winter Tale  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Francomenz is looking forward to seeing Trinidad-born writer-director Frances-Anne Solomon's new film, A Winter Tale.


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Trinidad & Tobago: CCA7 Closes  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Caribbean Contemporary Arts will close its doors on the day the country celebrates forty five years of independence,” writes Thebookmann, who thinks that the Trinidad and Tobago gallery's final “show” was a fitting one.


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Trinidad & Tobago: The Caribs  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The CAC Review finds “noteworthy” a news story about the indigenous Caribs in Trinidad and Tobago in the context of the work of a government-appointed Amerindian Projects Committee.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Tropical Depression #6 · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The weather pattern heading towards the Caribbean has been officially categorized as Tropical Depression #6 of the hurricane season, according to an updated post by Francomenz.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Tropical Depression?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Francomenz follows the progress of a “disturbed” weather system heading towards Trinidad and Tobago.


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Tunisia: A new  Mohammed cartoon crisis ?  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Tunisian blogger A.L.G.Y of Cos-maux-polis is wondering whether a new Mohammed cartoon crisis is brewing. She explains that drawings of a man with the body of a dog wearing a turban  were published in a local Swedish newspaper on August,  18th. As protests are underway in Pakistan and Iran, she asks for moderation to prevail and wonders how can protesters be sure that the cartoon really represents the Prophet Mohammed (Fr).

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Turkey is Typing….WordPress Still Blocked · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Last week Sami Ben Gharbia did an excellent posting about the blockage of the WordPress blogging platform in Turkey, this week we will examine what Turkish bloggers have to say about it.  There is anger, resentment, and sense of utter amazement at the absurdness of the situation.  And yet, there is a powerful spirit of strength in combating this ban.
Many Turkish bloggers and expat bloggers feel that the recent banning of WordPress in Turkey is not only a sign of things to come, but a cause for embarrassment.  James in Turkey sums up the history of Turkish censorship well:
Turkey has banned WordPress, the blogging platform. This is not a move without precedent; the popular definitions site ekşisözlük and, more famously, YouTube have both been blocked in the past. Turk Telekom's virtual monopoly on internet access in Turkey makes a ban an easy thing to enforce. There is, after all, just the one service provider to submit a court order to. Such a ban wouldn't be as easy in a place like Britain, where multiple companies maintain the country's internet infrastructure.
The man behind this ban is the Turkish creationist Adnan Oktar, more popularly known by his pen name Harun Yahya. It seems Mr Oktar took offence at some sentiments express about his person on a certain WordPress blog, and proceeded to have his lawyers ban the entire platform. Mr Oktar's lawyers were also behind the ekşisözlük ban, which was only lifted after the entires about him were deleted.
Censorship in Turkey has long been extensive. When it comes to certain sensitive subjects – be it the Kurds, the Armenians, the hidden state or the military – Turkish journalists have always exercised a degree of self-censorship. Even ordinary Turks have a habit of lowering their voices when talking politics, lest they be overheard. In such an environment, the mere recalling of books and banning of websites can be almost second nature.
But despite its long history of censorship, the Turkish state has yet to realise that it just doesn't work. When YouTube was banned for an anti-Atatürk video that appeared in its wares, every other Turkish internet user found a way of watching the video to see out what the fuss was about. I myself have met authors who are delighted when their books are banned and taken away by the police. It makes people want to read them. Surely it's like dealing with a spoilt child – giving attention only makes it worse.
I have very little time for Mr Oktar. He is not an intelligent man. The legal action he has taken against certain WordPress blogs are completely in character and, as far as I can see, without much justification. I don't see how a tiny blog can do much personal harm to him.
But my personal thoughts aside, there is a bigger issue here – the fact that it is possible to ban parts of the Internet in Turkey. The courts should not be able to close entire websites in responsible to a single libel claim. More important than that, though, the internet access of an entire country should not rest in the hands of one single company, however privatised it might be. It's time to break up Turk Telekom.
As James points out, the ease in which this ban was implemented is of some concern, however with this ease also comes the resourcefulness of Turkish internet users to work around the ban.  Erkan from Erkan's Field Diary notes that he uses his RSS feed from Bloglines to read WordPress blogs.
Other bloggers have compared the decision to ban WordPress to a fatwa rather than a court decision, from Internations Musings:
What I simply don't understand is why nobody knows why this court decision is made. Looks fair to me that when a court makes a decision, it issues also a statement why the decision is made…or am I wrong? Now leaving so many people in limbo, it also creates space for speculations, conspiracy theories and gossip. I think that after 5 years, I still have a lot to learn about how Turkey is ruled, but this court issued rather a fatwa than a decision…
As to the type of the ban, Living in Turkey cites Turkey as joining the ranks of North Korea and Iran:
The Turkish Courts sometime around last Friday put forth an order that blocks WordPress from any internet user inside Turkey. Apparently, according to Photo Matt's blog, it is a DNS block. His site also provides tips for proxy servers around this block. Because of the nature of the domain, Turk Telecom banned the WordPress domain, which includes all subdomains.
So, when I went to visit my good buddy, fellow expat and blogger, Jake at his Foreign Perspective Blog, I was shocked to see this:
It basically says, “Access to this site has been suspended in accordance with decision no: 2007/195 of T.C. Fatih 2.Civil Court of First Instance.” This is the same thing that occurred to YouTube. It is too bad that a simple prosecutor and a judge that only uses the internet for email and to read the newspaper decided this was ok. Of course the judge is only following the law, the prosecutor is to blame. Most likely a wordpress blog published controversial material either insulting Turkey, Turkishness, the military, the courts, or Ataturk – all are possible. No word yet on who the real culprit is – and also no word from the media yet either.
I guess Turkey just likes to join the ranks of firewall enthusiasts like Iran, China and North Korea. Of course, with the most recent elections, Iran is not far off. It is also a shame, because Turkey, a country of 70+ million people, has about 15 million ADSL users and still growing.
Erkan's Field Diary writes about his frustration in trying to find out more about the actual court decision:
I actually called the largest service provider, TTnet Customer Service as a mere citizen. The call person in the service call repetad that “they don't know any information about the ban. The court demanded and they banned, that's it.” So as a citizen i cannot learn why i cannot have access to the site. I later surfed in the Ministry of Justice site in order to find if court decisions are published here. No chance. So there is an accountability question here too. The banners are not accountable to citizens. If only mainstream media takes the issue at hand, we might have a chance. In the mean time, you can change open DNS numbers and you can try different proxies in ‘www.anonymouse.com’ or ‘www.ninjaproxy.com’ to overcome the ban and have access:)
Frustration is also mounting by Turkish bloggers and readers as they are discovering that more and more sites are blocked because of their use of WordPress platform like the Flickr blog and the political ticker blog from CNN.
So what is being done? Good question.  Many Turks are getting around the ban by using RSS feeds and proxy servers, others are signing petitions to unblock WordPress, such as the petition from MidEast Youth, and still others are using their own sites as a protest such as Great Firewall of Turkey.
In any case, the one to blame this all on was the one man who had his lawyers block WordPress to begin with, Adnan Oktar, a creationist and (according to bloggers) a cult leader.  Hans from Internations Musings, give a brief introduction to the man:
Apparently this is what happened: the attorneys of the cult leader Adnan Oktar aka Harun Yahya, a 51 year old former interior design student known in Turkey as “Adnan Hoca”, who founded in 1990 the foundation known as BAV (Bilim Arastirma Vakfi-Scientific Research Foundation), had applied to WordPress for removal of what they described as “unlawful statements regarding their client”. “As most of our attempts were unanswered” alleged the attorneys, they applied to Turkish judicial courts “to stop the defamation executed through WordPress services”. Hence, by the decision of Fatih 2nd Civil Court of First Instance, number 2007/195, access to WordPress.com was then blocked in Turkey by TTNET, an Internet network that covers all Turkey.
We learned that the sites which Adnan Oktar's attorneys wanted removed are run by an Islamic Reformer Edip Yuksel, who wrote an article criticizing Oktar and his movement where he seems to be trying to expose Oktar and his followers as a fundamentalist movement with dark secrets. Edip Yuksel published this message of rebuttal.
Started as a religious cult that preyed on wealthy members of Turkish society, the BAV has appeared in lurid media tales about sex rings, a blackmail prosecution and speculation about its charismatic leader. But if BAV's notoriety has been burnished by a sensationalist Turkish media, the secretive group has earned its reputation as a prodigious publisher of inexpensive ideological paperbacks. BAV has put out hundreds of titles written by “Harun Yahya” (a pseudonym) on various topics, but most of them are Islamic-based attacks on the theory of evolution. His book, Atlas Of Creation, decrying evolution is now aggressively promoted well beyond the borders of Turkey to the Middle East, Europe, and even the United States. The book is turning up, unsolicited, in the mailboxes of scientists and members of the US Congress, and at science museums around USA. In France, the Harun Yahya book offensive led the government to issue a warning for schools to be on the look out for the “Atlas” before it makes it into their classrooms. Meanwhile, the increasing European activity of BAV, as well as of Christian creationist groups, recently prompted a committee of the Council of Europe – a 47-nation group that acts as a kind of continental watchdog – to issue a report strongly warning about its dangers to education.
The lavishly illustrated 800-page book is one of the most significant creationist challenge to Charles Darwin's theory, which Yahya calls a feeble and perverted ideology contradicted by the Koran. The books are slick, but BAV has had plenty of help. Creationism in Turkey got key support in the 1980s and 1990s from American creationist organizations, and BAV's Yahya books resemble the same sorts of works put out by California's Institute for Creation Research. Except in Yahya's books, it's Allah that's doing the creating. Unlike fundamentalist Christian creationists, Oktar does not claim the earth was created only a few thousand years ago. Instead, he argues that fossils show that creatures from millions of years ago looked just like the creatures of today, thus disproving evolution. Also, Oktar's brand of creationism is not only religious, but political and even messianic, seeing most of the world's ills – terrorism and fascism among them – as stemming from Darwin's theory of evolution. In 2001, Science magazine called BAV “one of the world's strongest anti-evolution movements outside of North America”.
I think that most readers would agree that the WordPress ban is not helping Adnan Oktar's public image one bit.  We can only hope that sanity will prevail and that this ban will be lifted soon.

author: Deborah Ann Dilley