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Brazil: Call for a boycott of the country’s biggest newspaper · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

At the end of November, two separate but somehow connected protest movements arose on the Brazilian blogosphere and twittersphere. One of them called on all bloggers to support a campaign of mass un-subscription to the largest Brazilian newspaper, Folha de São Paulo, and its website UOL. The second was a demonstration in front of the headquarters of the same media group, organized by the “Medialess Movement” headed by Cidadania [pt] blog, against a perceived bias and news manipulation of the Folha group.
Both the boycott campaign and the demonstration were sparked by the  newspaper's latest alleged attempt at character assassination against Brazilian president Lula da Silva, this time by publishing an article by César Benjamin, an ex-ally and current Folha columnist, claiming that Lula admitted in 1994 he had attempted to sexually subdue a fellow inmate when jailed for political crime in the 80's. With the denial of the other people present at the said conversation and even those jailed with Lula during the dictatorship, including the said assaulted inmate, the author of the article apologised for any offense and the newspaper was forced to publish new stories denying the allegations a few days later.
Nevertheless, both movements converged as a larger protest organized through the blogosphere against what many call “PIG”, an acronym for the Coupist Press Party [in Portuguese Partido da Imprensa Golpista] a term coined to describe the biased Brazilian media that serves political interests. Twitter users @Dolphindiluna and @Aritana designed badges initially posted on the Arlesophia, Blog do Tsavkko and Maria Frô blogs, inviting readers to un-subscribe to the media group. These banners were spreading quickly on the blogosphere, when Folha sent a warning to cyberactivist and blogger Antonio Arles, claiming inappropriate use of the group's trade marks:
Arles briefly explains [pt] the situation and says he believes he has been intimidated by the largest Brazilian newspaper:
CENSURADO
Acabo de ser notificado extrajudicialmente por escritório de advocacia representando a Folha para que retirasse os selos da campanha #CancelandoFOLHA #CancelandoUOL, sob pena de processo por suposto uso indevido das marcas. Sendo assim, retirei imediatamente os referidos selos.
No momento não poderei desenvolver um post explicando melhor o caso, mas deixo aqui meu protesto por mais este ato de censura contra blogs.
I have just been notified out of court by the law firm representing Folha [de São Paulo] to withdraw the #CancelandoFOLHA #CancelandoUOL (#unsubscribeFolha, #unsubscribeUOL) campaign badges, otherwise I may suffer legal action for alleged misuse of trade marks. Thus, I have immediately withdrawn those badges.
At the moment, I cannot write a post explaining the case further, but I protest here about one more act of censorship against blogs.
Was it really an act of censorship? Flávia Penido [pt] explains that by using registered trade marks, bloggers left room for the newspaper's lawyers to contest the campaign. She highlights law 9279/96:
CAPÍTULO III – DOS CRIMES CONTRA AS MARCAS
Art. 189 – Comete crime contra registro de marca quem:
I – reproduz, sem autorização do titular, no todo ou em parte, marca registrada, ou imita-a de modo que possa induzir confusão; ou
II – altera marca registrada de outrem já aposta em produto colocado no mercado.
Pena – detenção, de 3 (três) meses a 1 (um) ano, ou multa.
Não tem o que espernear, certo?
Article 189 – A crime against trademark registration is committed by those who:
I – reproduce without the holder's permission, in whole or in part, trademark or imitates it in a way that may lead to confusion, or
II – change someone else's trademark of a product already on the market.
Penalty – detention of 3 (three) months to 1 (one) year or fine.
So, there is no reason to sulk, right?
Flávia Penido [pt] continues, pointing out:
No entanto, que fique claro a proibição da utilização da marca da Folha de São Paulo, não tem o condão de coibir a manifestação daqueles que pretendem boicotá-la – basta que se faça outro selo, sem usar o logo da FSP (atentando também para os crimes de injúria, calúnia, difamação – há que ser mais liso que um bagre, se é que me entendem, mas dá pra fazer, com relativa facilidade). […]
Minha questão aqui é fazer com que todos pensem nas formas de se exercer a livre opinião – e mais do que isso, fazer com que as pessoas deem o correto valor às coisas: o que é mais importante? Fazer o protesto ganhar corpo, crescer, ou ficar dando murro em ponta de faca? Sério que o logo da FSP é tão importante assim pra campanha decolar? Eu acho que não.
My point here is to make everyone think about the ways to exercise freedom of speech – and more than that, to make people appreciate things in a correct way: what is more important? To help the protest take shape, grow, or carry on hitting the wall? Is the Folha logo really so important for the campaign to take off? I don't think so.
Antônio Arles, in photo by Aritanã Dantas. Used under a Creative Commons License.
Antônio Mello [pt], who has just unsubscribed to the group's online portal UOL, has started a new campaign. He believes that if a large part of the blogosphere republishes the banned badges, Folha will not be able to notify every blogger and this will force the broadsheet into giving up:
As publico aqui, convocando-os para que façam o download delas para seus computadores e depois subam-nas para seus blogs ou redes sociais. Eles vão ter que notificar a blogosfera toda. Assim vão aprender que os tempos mudaram e não existe mais informação de mão única.
Marco Aurélio Weissheimer [pt] has joined the campaign and canceled his subscription to the group's product:
A razão: uso indevido da inteligência do assinante.
"Folha publishes fake documents. Un-subscribe to it!"
Folha's decision to notify Arles fueled an even bigger reaction, and no sooner were the original logos banned than many alternative badges quickly appeared on the web. Rodrigo Vianna, from Escrevinhamentos [pt], publishes a banner on the left, that refers to a derogatory news piece published by Folha earlier this year against possible presidential candidate Dilma Roussef, using a spam email as its main source. The blogger says his campaign is not for the boycott of Folha, but to stop feeding their attitude:
A “Folha” não gosta de “banner” na internet que peça cancelamento de assinaturas do jornal. O diário da família Frias tentou até intimidar um blogueiro que publicou esses “banners”.
Mas a “Folha” gosta de ficha falsa na primeira página. Ah, ficha falsa pode!!
Então, o povo da internet resolveu bolar um “banner” novo, aproveitando a ficha falsa.
This second wave of online protest helped to encourage people to attend the demonstration on Saturday, 5th December, when dozens took to the streets of São Paulo and assembled in front of the Folha headquarters to protest against the newspaper's stance. This was the second time in less than a year that the blogosphere had mobilised to demonstrate there.  With the motto “Folha rapes journalism”, I recall many reasons for the demonstration on my own blog:
Foi Ditabranda, Ficha falsa da Dilma, defesa descarada do Golpe em Honduras, defesa do DemoTucanato de forma inveterada, defesa de Israel, acusações infundadas contra o governo no caso do Blecaute – que em nada lembra o apagão e racionamento de FHC -, oposição sistemática ao governo de forma burra, mentira e violenta, baseada na franca manipulação, e, agora, o golpe de misericórdia, o artigo absurdo e criminoso acusando Lula de ser estuprador ou, ao menos, de ter tentado sê-lo.
"Folha de São Paulo: Headquarters of PIG – Coupist Press". Photo by Aritanã Dantas. Used under a Creative Commons License.
The organizer of the demonstration last Saturday, Eduardo Guimarães [pt], described it as a success, with people coming from the states of São Paulo, Santa Catarina, Rio, Minas Gerais:
Missão cumprida e alma lavada. Perdeu quem não veio. Foi uma festa democrática.
Hurting the pockets
Claudinei Vieira [pt] wonders if the campaign may cause a real change of attitude at the paper, as the boycott seems to have been effective so far, for Folha to pay attention to it:
Isso significa, portanto, de imediato, duas coisas: que uma campanha pela internet realmente está incomodando a Folha, que resolveu revidar. Opa. E de tal modo que está atacando a toda blogosfera e, de quebra, ao direito de expressão. Outro Opa. […]
Eu só fico pensando se eles realmente acreditam que essa campanha depende mesmo e somente de duas únicas imagens…
Some bloggers, such as  Rodrigo Vianna [pt], believe that hurting the media in the pocket is a more effective way to discredit them than attending demonstrations:
Acho que a melhor forma de atacar essa turma é no bolso. Conheço uma dúzia de pesoas que cancelaram assinatura do jornal nas últimas semanas. Deve haver muitas outras por aí. Então, sugiro uma manifestação sóbria, em loval público, para um ato coletivo de cancelamento de assinaturas. […]
Não é preciso “queimar jornal” (não gosto disso, lembra os rituais fascistas nos anos 30), nem gritar. Basta dizer: não darei mais meu dinheiro a você. Essa linguagem eles entendem.
"Don't read or subscribe to Falha de São Paulo". Falha is a wordplay with Folha, meaning "fail"
Maurício Caleiro [pt] follows the same line of thought, agreeing that bloggers should concentrate on the online boycott campaign:
Deixar de comprar e deixar de comentar qualquer matéria da Folha: este me parece o melhor caminho para legar ao jornal a irrelevância que ele, por suas próprias ações, faz por merecer.
Maria Frô [pt] thinks that un-subscribing to the media group is not enough. She has published a list of companies that advertise in the paper and invited readers to boycott them too:
Além de cancelar assinaturas da FOLHA/UOL, proponho que boicotemos empresas e produtos que anunciem neste grupo empresarial. Quem deseja ter sua marca assinada a um jornal que pratica anti-jornalismo não merece que os cidadãos de bem prossigam consumindo seus serviços/produtos.
"Folha helped the dictatorship. Un-subscribe to it!"
Lauro Mesquita, from Guaciara blog [pt], says the group seem to be pursuing their own bankruptcy:
Assinatura do Uol e da Folha não rolam mais aqui e não é só pela ameaça ao blogueiro. Se um jornal é burro assim pra tratar com a discordância, imagina o tanto que é pior a sua opinião sobre as coisas do mundo. […]
Do jeito que tá, até 2015, o grupo empresarial chega a meta da tiragem zero e seus proprietários vão gerir dois fanzines e 50% de um blog. Eu não vou sentir nenhuma saudade.

author: Raphael Tsavkko Garcia


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Chile: Cartoon Blog Dosis Diarias Turned 3  · Global Voices
Issa Villarreal

“40 years of walking to the Promised Land and turns out to be this [a desert]. We're supposed to be the chosen people. I was expecting something closer to Rio de Janeiro” reads a recent comic [es] of Chilean cartoonist Alberto Montt. His blog Dosis diarias celebrated its 3rd anniversary in November.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Issa Villarreal


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China: Anniversary of Charter 08 · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

C.A Yeung from Under the Jacaranda Tree translated an article written by Sun Wenguang on a seminar in Shandong by a number of Charter 08 signatories to commemorate the anniversary of Charter 08. The attendees made a joint pleading for the immediate release of Mr Liu Xiaobo, the coordinator of the drafting of Charter 08.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Forced Demolition · Global Voices
Andy Yee

A recent case of forced demolition has raised attention to the protection of citizens’ rights and fair conflict resolution in China.
On 13 November this year, the forcible demolition of a private building, ordered by the Chengdu local government, led to the suicide of one of its owners, Tang Fuzhen, who poured gasoline and set fire on herself. The house stands in the way of a district government’s project to link two roads. Comparisons were made with a case that happened last year, where a woman in the Minhang district of Shanghai threw self-made petrol bombs at a demolition crew preparing to destroy her house, which is the site of a transportation hub for the 2010 Shanghai Expo.
Site of former home of Tang Fuzhen
Cases like these are known as ‘nail houses’, referring to homeowners who refuse to move from demolition zones, usually because of disagreement with the compensation offered. The most famous one was the Chongqing nail house case in 2007, when a Chinese couple reached negotiated agreement with the developer after 3 years of standoff.
In a recent blog post, well-known blogger Wuyuesanren (五岳散人) compared the peaceful resolution of the Chongqing nail house case with the violent incidents last month:
不知道是否还有人记得那位“最牛钉子户”，在那个事件当中，拆迁者与被拆迁者虽然在进行着某种程度上的博弈，但双方都还是在规则之内，有笑容而无真正的伤害。
Wonder if anyone still remembers the ‘toughest nail house’. In that incident, though the demolisher and the demolished were in some kind of opposition, both sides still played by the rules. There were smiles and no real harm.
但从最近的事例看来，双方的耐心都似乎被消磨了，对抗的手段与结果都越发的激烈。前段时间，某直辖市的一份内部讲话资料曝光，其中明确提到强拆是一种合适的手段，并且要“形成巨大的压力，造成兵临城下的态势”。
But judging from recent incidents, it seems that the patience of both sides had worn thin. The oppositions and the results were violent. A while ago, an internal speech of an official was exposed. The official mentioned that forced demolition is an appropriate action, and even stressed that it has to ‘create a situation of siege and massive pressure’ to the oppressed.
这些事例证明，在很多社会领域当中，某些利益相关方的对抗已经到了必须展示暴力的程度。作为强势的一方，由于各种条件都具备，越发的没有了协商解决的耐心与诚意，而另外一方在财产损害更大、权益被侵害更多的状态下，也出以更激烈的方式进行对抗，这种对抗从哀求式的上访，开始转变成伤害自身以求传播效力的最大化。
These examples show that conflicts between interested parties have reached a level that violent means are necessary. The stronger side, enjoying the favourable conditions, has no patience and sincerity to engage in negotiations. The other side, with much more to lose, could only resort to more violent methods in response. First they would petition, but now they are beginning to hurt themselves to attract more attention.
In an interview with the International Herald Leader, a Chinese official newspaper, he commented that China’s cases of forced demolition went through three stages:
最初，对抗是单向压制，因为那时传播媒介是有限的；第二阶段是上访以寻求司法救济；第三阶段，伤害自身同时也伤害对方，有时集体对抗，更极端的是自焚造成社会伤害。
At the beginning, the flow of pressure is one-way, from the oppressor to the oppressed. The mass media is not yet involved at this stage. In the second stage, the oppressed resort to petition and judicial means. In the third stage, they would hurt themselves as well as the oppressors. Sometimes, there might be collective confrontation or even self-immolation.
One blogger, Yao Hongen (姚鸿恩), talked about a nail house case in the US in his blog to contrast with those in China. In 2006, Edith Macefield turned down a US$1 million offer to sell her house to make way for a commercial development in Ballard, Seattle. After Macefield’s death, it was revealed that the house was willed to the new construction project’s superintendent, Barry Martin, for the friendship and care he has shown to the old lady during the construction.
Home of Edith Macefield
Yao Hongen said:
老太没有请律师，没有写信到有关部门，没有上首都华盛顿讨个说法，更没有自己制造燃烧弹或以自焚抗议，只是对开发商说一个很简单的词“No”。
The old lady did not employ a lawyer; she did not petition; she did not go to Washington to protest; and, needless to say, she did not make petrol bombs or set fire on herself. All she did was to say ‘No’ to the developer.
Among the comments that the post attracted:
新浪网友 (2009-12-06 13:59:47): 中国的小老百姓都是弱势群体，政府想拆就拆，才不管你以后有没有房子住！我们这儿政府就打着灾后重建的旗号，要修建商业街。要强行收回土地，要我们搬走。我们的房子可都是有土地证和房产证的！
Chinese citizens are the vulnerable. The state can demolish whenever they like, and would not care if you had no place to live later! Our government used banners like post-disaster construction to forcibly take away lands. But we do have the land and property certificates!
新浪网友 (2009-12-06 16:31:24): 开玩笑,在中国政府就是最大,执政者就是最狠,逆我者杀!
It’s a joke. In China, the state is the most powerful and the most ruthless. Those standing in the way will be killed!
新浪网友 (2009-12-06 13:21:37): 估计我的有生之年在中国史看不到这样的事情的
Guess I would not see such kind of things happening in China in my lifetime.

author: Andy Yee


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Colombia: Critique and Rebuttal on Medellín Digital · Global Voices
Issa Villarreal

Fernando Castro of Bitácora de viaje enlists the obstacles of ICT program Medellín digital [es], which implements technology in institutes and public places of Medellín, Colombia, to promote equality and education. Blogger suggest that using propietary software may not be the best way to reach the common user, and readers comment back to try to clarify the problem.


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Cuba: Film Festival · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Generation Y escapes the everyday through the world of Cuban film.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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D.R of Congo: 66 Ways to Franco · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Koratend writes an excellent post about 66 ways to find information about Congolese musician Franco: “Counting the ways to Franco was an excursion into the realm of metadata, matters of syntax, and a contemplation of the hive mind of the web.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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East Africa: Not-so-serious weekday roundup · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Studio Edirisa's weekday news roundup for East Africa: “Not-so-serious weekday roundup of East African news and stories:
Is Uganda running out of money – Museveni flies home in economy class, proving a point or winning votes?”


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Egypt: When did Saudi Arabia become Switzerland’s role model? · Global Voices
Marwa Rakha

On Sunday, November 29, 57.5% of Swiss voters approved a ban on the construction of new minarets atop mosques, paving the way for a constitutional amendment.  The referendum will affect the construction of new minarets (not mosques) and will not affect Switzerland's four existing minarets. Jillian York covered the initial reactions from the Arab and  Muslim blogosphere.  The ban is still creating ripples of tension among the supporters and opposition.
Mona ElTahawy has one question for Switzerland and other European countries enthralled by the right wing:
When did Saudi Arabia become your role model?
Even before 57.5 percent of Swiss voters cast ballots on Sunday to ban the  building of minarets by Muslims, it was obvious that Switzerland’s image of  itself as a land of tolerance was as full of holes as its cheese. When the  right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) came to power in 2007, it used a poster  showing a white sheep kicking black sheep off the country’s flag. This was no  reference to black sheep as rebels — the right wing doesn’t do cute — but to  skin color and foreigners.
Posters the SVP displayed before Sunday’s referendum showed women covered from  head to toe in black, standing in front of phallic-looking minarets. Such racism  preceded and fed into the bigotry that fueled the referendum.
Still enraged by the notion of politicizing the minarets, ElTahawy says:
Minarets are used to issue the call to prayer, not to recruit people to Islamic  political groups. If the SVP finds such prayer calls too noisy, I’d like to see  it try to stifle church bells.
Mohaly wishes that:
the Swiss people would have proven to the world how unbiased and  coherent they are, and instead of voting against building minarets, they could  have simply voted for having the most prominent swiss product “Clocks” fixed  over each new minaret (check the picture). It can be a beautiful architecture  holding a practical instrument that can be of benefit for everyone without  positiong it as a “Muslim Missile”!
Nawara Negm pointed a finger at bigotry:
Nawara reminds those who are calling for tolerance now of their earlier intolerance:
In her post, Mona ElTahawy also touches on this issue:
The Grand Mufti of Egypt, for example, denounced the ban as an “attack on  freedom of belief.” I would take him more seriously if he denounced in similar  terms the difficulty Egyptian Christians face in building churches in his  country. They must obtain a security permit just for renovations.
Last year, the first Catholic church — bearing no cross, no bells and no  steeple — opened in Qatar, leaving Saudi Arabia the only country in the Persian  Gulf that bars the building of houses of worship for non-Muslims. In Saudi  Arabia, it is difficult even for Muslims who don’t adhere to the ultra-orthodox  Wahhabi sect; Shiites, for example, routinely face discrimination.
Bigotry must be condemned wherever it occurs.
Muslims against Sharia found Libya's President Gaddafi's statement funny; he said “Swiss minaret ban invites al-Qaeda attacks.”
Therein lies the assumption that all acts of jihadist terrorism must be a response to some kind of provocation (real or imagined) from non-Muslims: after all, the apologists keep telling us “defensive” jihad is quite alright, caliph or no caliph.
The Fraggle-haired dictator also quips “I don't think anyone in the Muslim world will from now on authorise the construction of a church.”
This is ironic, of course, since 1.) it's not like the Muslim world has welcomed churches or freedom of worship with open arms up to now, and 2.) restrictions on building non-Muslim houses of worship are enshrined in the Pact of Umar, which has provided a far-reaching precedent for oppressing non-Muslims in a variety of ways. For that matter, the minaret ban does not restrict worship or the construction of mosques.
While Shokeir is monitoring signs of Western Countries getting fed up with the symbols of Islam
Hassan El Helali, on the other hand, is relieved and he highlighted one of the comments on his post:

author: Marwa Rakha


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Guatemala: Three Lynched on Chicol · Global Voices
Issa Villarreal

Blogger Luis Figueroa dwells on the idea of “popular justice” [es] and its link with the Guatemalan civil war after three persons were lynched by burning in the town of Chicol, Huehuetenango.


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Guyana: Intellectual Property · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

From Guyana, caribbeanlawbytes blogs about intellectual property rights in the region – a particularly personal issue in light of the fact that an article she authored was republished online without her consent.


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Honduras: Lobo is President After Controversial Elections  · Global Voices
Leonidas Mejia

Caught between calls to abstain from voting and fear of violence on election day, Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo from the National Party was elected President of Honduras, with Elvin Santos from the Liberal Party in second place. The elections themselves are controversial: indirectly they support the ousting of former president Manuel Zelaya in June by a military coup. At the time, Zelaya was replaced by Roberto Micheletti, then President of the National Congress, who acted as interim until the elections of November.
Few countries have confirmed whether they will acknowledge the results of the elections, while leftist governments have stated open rejections: for the moment, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and Venezuela have not recognized president-elect Porfirio Lobo, The Guardian reports.
In spite of the uncertainty, as well as the difficult political and social situation of the country, the voting process proceeded without major problems. While the Supreme Electoral Tribune reported a turnout of 60% [es], a percentage higher than expected but still problematic for declaring a representative majority.
Photo by user rbreve. Taken from Flickr following a Creative Commons license: http://www.flickr.com/photos/breve/3685439122/in/set-72157620912638868/
Opposing, strong opinions about the election can be found in the catrachan blogosphere.
La Gringa from La Gringa’s Blogicito shared her surprise when noticed the lack of militarization at the polling places:
I went to  three polling places on Sunday in La Ceiba (the third largest city in Honduras)  and one in El Porvenir (a smaller town) in the department of Atlantida. The polling places were crowded  with hardly any police or military in sight. I was surprised at the latter  because I was worried they would be needed for security.
Blogger David Moran from El Catracho believes that high-percentage of voters represented the discontent [es] against former president Zelaya:
El hecho destacable de las elecciones fue la notoria participación de los hondureños, algo sumamente necesario para contrarrestar el boicot de Zelaya y sus adláteres chavistas. Lo único que  hicieron con sus protestas callejeras y actos vandálicos fue despertar nuestra conciencia democrática y ponerla en su contra.
On the other side of the spectrum, the National Front of Resistance Against the Coup’d’Etát [es] calls to reject the president-elect:
Hacemos un llamado a los gobiernos y movimientos sociales  democráticos y honestos en el mundo a rechazar los resultados de la farsa electoral y a desconocer el pretendido gobierno que se instale a partir del 27  de enero.
From Mirada de Halcón, Juan Carlos Rivera considers that the elections can be used to “clean” [es] the actions of the coup:
Ahora, los magistrados del Tribunal, aliados del régimen de facto, tuvieron que recurrir a la trampa para intentar convencer a  la comunidad internacional de que las elecciones “fueron masivas y  transparentes” y, lograr en consecuencia, lavar el golpe de Estado y absolver de los delitos a los ejecutores.
Porfirio Lobo, who will be sworn in as president in January 2010, was Zelaya's opponent in the general elections of 2005. He is part of centre-right oriented National Party, and was President of the National Congress of Honduras until 2006. According to Spanish newspaper El País [es], he is 62 years old, a father of 11 children, and has a degree in Business Management from Miami University.
Translated by Issa Villarreal

author: Leonidas Mejia


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India: Media Speculations · Global Voices
Rezwan

Subir Bhowmik exposes Indian media's fabricated report on the arrest of ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa in Dhaka, Bangladesh and his subsequent transfer to India.

author: Rezwan


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India: The Kaiga Nuclear Disaster · Global Voices
Rezwan

The Filter Coffee writes about a recent disaster in the Kaiga Nuclear Atomic Power Station in Karnataka, India and complains about the lack of information regarding the contamination.


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India’s Position On Climate Change · Global Voices
Rezwan

Jyoti Kothari writes about India's stand on the COP-15 climate change conference in Copenhagen.


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Jamaica, Bermuda: Talking Climate · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Labrish Jamaica and Bermuda's Vexed Bermoothes comment on the climate change talks, which began yesterday in Copenhagen.


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Jamaica: Gaza/Gully Truce · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Regional bloggers are all over the truce between the Gaza/Gully factions of Jamaican dancehall.


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Nominations Open for ‘Best of the Blogs’ Award · Global Voices
Diego Casaes

Blogging has become a major motivator of social and political change in many parts of the world, as well as a source of information. Here on Global Voices, we curate and publicize some of these blogger voices and translate them into many different languages. A central goal of the community is to promote a cornucopia of perspectives and aspirations. For this reason, we support initiatives such as the Best of the Blogs awards.
On December 7, Deutsche Welle in Germany kicked-off the sixth annual international Best of the Blogs awards: the BOBs. The nominated blogs will be sorted in eleven different language categories. Global Voices Online is an official partner alongside Reporters Without Borders, re:publica 2010 [de],  TV5 [fr], Al Arabiya [ar], and many others.
Any person interested in nominating a blog, must first search for it in the BOBs blogopedia and submit the blog of their choice in the competition database if it is not already listed. The jury will select the finalists. Winners will be selected from this group of finalists between March 15 and April 14 through a combination of online voting and a jury selection.
On April 15, the winning blogs and podcasts will be announced at the Re:Publica Internet conference in Berlin [de]. The awards ceremony will take place at the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum in June 2010 in Bonn.
For bloggers, the BOBs is opportunity to conquer a broader audience and to be named one of the best bloggers on the Web. So far, there are 15,558 registered blogs in the blogopedia:
The Blogopedia is our international online catalogue of Weblogs, podcast and videoblogs. Each blog is entered into the database according to a variety of criteria from topic to country of origin to language. Looking for music podcasts in Brazil or food blogs in China? No problem! Just type your keywords into the search feature or browse through the categories and Tagcloud. Then join the thousands of other Bloggers who have submitted their blogs, podcast and videoblogs into the Blogopedia.
In this year's competition, climate change is under the spotlight, with a special prize category for blogs and podcasts discussing the topic. Additionally, the BOBs have also added Bengali (Bangla) to the line up of languages.
We're looking forward to seeing the big winners of the BOBs awards 2010. Go nominate your favorites!

author: Diego Casaes


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Pakistan: Wake Up! · Global Voices
Rezwan

Absar at The Mafia blog comments: “to bring back Jinnah’s Pakistan, we must come out of our shells of idleness”.


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Romania: Election Results · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Updates on the results of the second round of Romania's presidential election – at Power&Politics World and Csíkszereda Musings.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Russia: Interview With Blogger Anatoly Karlin · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

An interview with Anatoly Karlin of Sublime Oblivion (formerly of Da Russophile) – at Siberian Light.


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Russia: “Teaching the Rich in Moscow” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

English Man In Moscow recounts a recent experience of doing “some teaching at a mega rich Russian family.”


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Russia: Video “Girls Against Army Conscription” · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

LJ-user aka_ankaz [RUS] posted video “Girls Against Army Draft” [RUS] where women protest against the draft in front of the Ministry of Defense in Russia.

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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South Africa: Practice South African national anthem · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Africa is not a country posts a video to help soccer fans practice the South African national anthem for the opening game of The World Cup June 11, 2010, in Johannesburg between South Africa vs Mexico: “Practice the national anthem. You have no excuse.”


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Uganda: Homosexuality is not our biggest problem · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Don discusses Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill: “Our government is so resolute in passing this legislation, that it has told donors to keep their aid if they will tamper with our pet project.”


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Ukraine, Afghanistan: Mayors and Corruption · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Petro's Jotter praises Kabul residents for having their mayor sentenced for corruption and misappropriation of $16,000 – and offers a Ukrainian perspective: “Imagine how full the Kyiv jails would be if the corruption bar was dropped to a paltry USD 16,000 — wouldn't even cover ONE of the Oligarch's watches.”


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Ukraine, Germany: Esquire Article on the Demjanjuk Trial · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes links to an Esquire article “on the Demjanjuk ‘trial’ currently being staged in Germany.”


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Ukraine: Morality Commission vs Writer Oles Ulyanenko · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

IZO highlights an “example of the new Ukrainian morality committee (NEK) at work” by translating LJ user dadakinder‘s post (RUS) on the “compromise” reached between NEK and the Ukrainian author Oles Ulyanenko, whose novel had been deemed “pornographic.”


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Ukraine: UK Ambassador’s Blog · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Leigh Turner, UK Ambassador to Ukraine, blogs about an annual charity bazaar in Kyiv and the need to establish the “world-wide recognition for Brand Ukraine.”


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Africa: Can Africa benefit from the World Cup? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Bankelele shows how Africa can benefit from the World Cup: “Back to the post, so besides global giants like Sony and Coca Cola, what other opportunities are there for Kenyan and other African nations & companies?”


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Africa: Twitter, Africa is more than AIDS epidemic · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Twitter, Africa is more than AIDS epidemic: “It's wonderful that you wanted to raise awareness about World Aids Day yesterday. Really, it is. But um, are you sure turning the text of all posts mentioning the word “Africa” red was the best way to do it? It's just that it made some of us think you might be suggesting that Africa = AIDS.”


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Arab Bloggers Workshop: Twitter Reflections on Day One · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

As the first day of the Second Annual Arab Bloggers Workshop comes to a close, we'll take a look at participants’ reflections from the whole day, to find out what they learned and how they're feeling.
The day started off with a bang, as Global Voices organizers Sami Ben Gharbia, Amira Al Hussaini, and our sponsors from The Heinrich Böll Foundation welcomed participants from across the Arab world and beyond.  Following the introductions, presenters Noha Atef of Global Voices Advocacy and Eman Abdulrahman of Global Voices (and founder of Kolena Laila) shared their tips and thoughts on creating effective campaigns online. Mauritanian attendee weddady noted that Kolena Laila is looking to build partnerships across the Arab world in this tweet:
You can find more information at kolenalaila.com
Throughout the day, there were several specialized workshops, on everything from circumvention and anonymity (presented by Jacob Applebaum) to citizen journalism (presented by Amira Al Hussaini and Salam Pax) to video-hosting alternatives to YouTube (presented by Slim Amamou and Marcin Gajewski).  Of the latter, Lina Ben Mhenni commented:
Some alternatives to YouTube
The presentation that got participants most riled up, however, was one given by Syrian attendee Razan Ghazzawi on the Berkman Center for Internet & Society's study mapping the Arabic blogosphere.  Though there were too many reactions to share (which can be found by searching the hashtag #ab09 on Twitter), here are some highlights: Egyptian participant lastoadri wondered on Twitter if participants were fully informed about the study:
lastoadri wonders aloud
Nasser Weddady noted an important point made by Razan:
weddady quotes Razan Ghazzawi
Finally, Iraqi Salam Pax agreed with Razan on the issue, stating:
Salam Pax agrees with the presenter

author: Jillian C. York


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Armenia: 21st Anniversary of the 1988 Earthquake · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Still living in temporary shelter 21 years after the earthquake, Gyumri, Shirak Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia
Monday marked the 21st anniversary of the 1988 earthquake which devastated many areas in northern Armenia leaving around 25,000 dead and many more homeless. Yet, despite a huge inflow of money from international donors for reconstruction, conditions still remain harsh more than two decades on with thousands still living in domiks — temporary accommodation such as simple shacks or even metal containers.
Precise numbers for the number of families in Armenia's second largest city of Gyumri still living in such a situation are still unknown, but it is believed to be around 4-7,000. But while the government has promised to provide them with apartments by the end of the year, bloggers continue to focus on the problems faced by many. Peaches and Pomegranates visited Gyumri a day before the anniversary.
It was a fitting time to be in the city as Monday will be a remembrance day for those who lost their lives during the devastating earthquake. Gyumri also lies close to the Turkish border. […]
[…]
I fell in love with the small city. Despite the sadness sown by the earthquake, a subtle beauty exists in the crumbling 19th century buildings. […]
Writing on the Birthright Armenia blog, one ethnic Armenian volunteer from the Diaspora recounts his time in the city working with a journalist organization as well as the local Caritas Armenia NGO, and one encounter in particular.
I can tell you that if you dig, you will find out what a “domik” is, what it looks like, what it smells like, which legally blind man lives alone in a particular one in the “Barracks” district; you will find out that besides the legally blind man, 7,500 families still live in domiks; you will understand the true nature of hospitality; you will realize where the mistrust of government stems from; […] you will know why your host grandfather’s eyes glaze over whenever he talks about anything circa 1988; […] you will uncover that nearly all marshrutka’s are privately owned by the mayor and drivers pay 2,000 AMD a day to rent them; you will realize that the youth are bored and disenchanted; […] you will realize why people want to leave…and why they want to stay.
Of course, digging around in Gyumri requires sifting through a lot of rubble. In most cases it’s psychological rubble. I met my host uncle Moso the very first night I was there. […] Oh, and he was deaf… which was an interesting surprise for my first night there […]. He taught me Armenian sign language (I don’t know if he was kidding or not, but the sign for “Gyumri” is apparently to beat your chest with your fists…like a silverback gorilla, while the sign for Yerevan kind of looks like playing the world’s tiniest violin). […] He could read lips and he could even sound a few words, having lost his hearing when he was three years old. That is…21 years ago. That is…in 1988. […] I forget how I brought it up, but he started telling me about his experience in the earthquake. Apparently, he was standing outside his school when buildings began collapsing. His father had rushed over to him and snatched him up, just as his own school began crumbling in front of his eyes. He didn’t hear after that.
Another foreign visitor to Gyumri for the anniversary was Ashley Corinne Killough, a Fullbright scholar in Armenia. She posts an account and an audio slideshow (above) of another encounter made through Caritas Armenia on her blog.
More than two decades after the 1988 earthquake that killed one out of every 12 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless in Gyumri, Armenia, the city is still recovering. Unemployment numbers are dire, and many dilapidated, unusable buildings remain standing.
An estimated 4,000-5,000 families still live without proper homes. They wait for housing while living in the same “domiks,” or Soviet cargo containers, that they inhabited 20 years ago. There are others who have apartments, but the conditions are barely livable.
Cartias Armenia beneficiaries living in temporary shelter, Gyumri, Shirak Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia
A little over a week earlier, other photos and tweets from visiting beneficiaries with Caritas Armenia were posted on my Frontline Club blog. There was also a video interview with the local NGO's media and press person.
For readers living in Armenia, photographer Anush Babajanyan has an exhibition of her multi-year photographic project documenting families in Gyumri underway in Yerevan until 6 January 2010. Some of her work can also be viewed on her personal blog as well as Transition Online's Patchwork.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Armenia: Human Rights Irony? · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

The Armenian Observer comments on a human rights conference to be held this week in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, and questions the participation of one of the invited speakers. Before falling from grace with the current authorities, former Military Prosecutor Gagik Jahangirian was accused of violating the human rights of conscripts and torturing detainees during interrogations.


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Bahamas: Interest in Climate Change · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bahama Pundit‘s Larry Smith says of the Copenhagen Climate Change talks: “The good thing about action to address climate change is that it presents unprecedented opportunities for the world in terms of energy security, pollution control, technology innovation and sustainable development.”


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Bermuda: Second Chances · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Of the escalating crime situation in Bermuda, 21 Square asks: “Can we help people get off the path to destruction early enough to get them back on the right path?”


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Cambodia: Anti-Corruption Advocacy of Bloggers · Global Voices
Sopheap Chak

In denoting the International Anti-Corruption Day, annually celebrated on December 9th, the United Nation Office on Drug and Crime posted:
“Attitudes on corruption are changing. As recently as ten years ago, corruption was only whispered about. Today there are signs of growing intolerance toward corruption and more and more politicians and chief executives are being tried and convicted”
This phenomenon is reflected to some degree in Cambodia due to the fact that there are many discussions and awareness raising on corruption.
Borin who originated from Sihanouk Ville opened a critical discussion on the government’s claim that “Corruption is every where, even in the developed countries.” He accepted that corruption exists everywhere and varies in degree. While his blog’s commentators offered that there is the situation that corruption can be either acceptable or unacceptable, Borin resisted the fallacy of justification of corruption.
“Corruption is every where, but there are places that it is worse, and places that are better. So to say, a government is good enough because corruption is everywhere, is not acceptable. To say you’re good you must be ranked among the cleanest, not the dirtiest. To me there’s no acceptable corruption,” said Borin.
While acknowledging that corruption is hard to eliminate, Borin suggested that there must be an effort to reduce the degree of existing corruption, so that Cambodia will be ranked better in terms of anti-corruption.
KI Media recently posted a short article on the release of Transparency International's 2009 Corruption Perception Index (CPI):
“Cambodia's rank moved to 158 out of a total of 180, a slight improvement over 2008 when Cambodia ranked 166. Among ASEAN countries, Cambodia ranks lowest along with Laos.”
Such ranking improvement signals a positive reform in the country while the Prime Minister Hun Sen also publicly announced that the long-awaited Anti-Corruption Law will be passed by December 11, which is apparently to coincidence with the celebration of the Anti-Corruption Day.
“I officially announce that the anti-corruption law will not be delayed anymore,” he said. “Within this year, the Cabinet will pass the long-awaited anti-corruption law,” reported VOA.
It is maybe also contributed by many efforts of the civil society movement ranging from the NGOs working group on anti-corruption to individuals who keep raising public awareness and advocating for the rule of law respect and “say no to corruption.” There is also an emerging blog advocacy initiated by more than 40 local NGOs with the funding from USAID through Pact-Corruption. This blog, with technical support from Open Forum, appears in both Khmer and English language under the name “Kampuchea Deumbey Pheap Saat Saam” or “Corruption-Free Cambodia.” Reading from the blog’s project, it says:
“The website, in short, is the important means to pave the way for the people, an information source to provide knowledge about the impacts of corruption, and an opportunity to all interested people to participate in the struggle to alleviate corruption and promote integrity.”
In his blog, Morn Vutha, a blogger and Project Coordinator of Open Forum of Cambodia, also launched a campaign to introduce the above Saatsam website with the appeal to the public to participate and give him feedback on blog design, so that it can better serve the public.
Similarly, a prominent blogher, Kounila Keo dedicates one of her blueladyblog.com’s content on corruption alone. In some posts, she shares her experience on facing corrupt officials and she keeps impressing that there are those who could become rich with honest business. In one of her anti-corruption articles, she ponders the root cause of corruption in Cambodia of which she attempted to link the role of trauma caused by the impact of civil war, poverty, and mainly the lack of certain education and greed. In her blog, she says:
“Between POVERTY and CORRUPTION, which one comes first? […] They both in fact complement each other. But in my point of view, a lack of certain education and moral value, greed and fear of anything bad that will happen to people again like wars are big contributors to corruption.”
She finally shared similar opinion to Borin that corruption does exist everywhere in the world and it is hardly to be stopped. However, she suggests the way that individuals can hugely contribute to reduce corruption by firstly stopping the evil within ourselves and persisting not to fall into the traps of corruption. In her ending post, she appeals:
“The nationals must feel sad about this ranking of Cambodia as such– or we can say, “Who cares?” .. But well, who cares for us if we don’t care for ourselves?… Without corruption, human rights value will be increased.

author: Sopheap Chak


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China: On changing China’s ethnic policy · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

C. Custer from ChinaGeek translated Woeser’s blogpost on the discussion about abolition of the policy on autonomous ethnic regions.


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Controversies Surround French National Identity Debate · Global Voices
Suzanne Lehn

From the very start, the government-initiated debate about “National Identity”, staged on the internet and in local meetings, has had its critics.
The Observatory of Public Debates website, debatpublic.net, issued on Nov. 2 a slightly critical “little overview” of the official, French government website, debatidentitenationale.fr [Fr], launched that same day to facilitate the national debate on immigration and integration. And on Nov. 25, Panafa Blog gave a thorough insight into the various issues raised, under the suggestive headline “National Identity”: Eric Besson reheats old controversies (in French, English and German).
But, until the conclusion of the process, scheduled to culminate in a symposium on Feb. 4 (under whose presidency remains yet unclear), it seems less and less easy to separate dispassionate reflexion from the mere unleashing of xenophobic feelings.
So, without trying now to sort out among all these, let us only cast an eye on a few of the reactions to the debate.
Spreading rumors
Unsurprisingly, rumors have been flourishing since the first days of the process, including one that the management of the website has been “outsourced.”
As voiced as early as Nov. 8 in a post on Le cri du contribuable (The taxpayer's scream”) :
Le ministre de l’Immigration, Eric Besson, vient de lancer un vaste débat sur l’identité nationale. Le hic : la gestion du site internet a été confiée à une entreprise mondialisée [qui a un centre offshore au Maroc]. Le site internet de l’Identité nationale serait-il géré du Maroc? Ce serait un comble! En tout cas, le patriotisme ne fait pas partie des valeurs du ministère de l’Identité nationale, qui n’a pas confié la gestion de son site à une société française…
And later this one, which first appeared on Google sidewiki, hit it big throughout the internet and especially on twitter:
Une rumeur persistante sur le web affirme que le site débat identité nationale serait modéré par trois Malgaches payés 100 euros par mois. Une “info” que personne n'a encore pu confirmer ou infirmer.
Reflexiums comments, from Madagascar :
Ah oui ! mais que je suis bête, ca doit être un échange de bons procédés, les francais sous-traitent le débat sur l’Identité Nationale en France, et les malgaches vont sous-traiter les élections malgaches en France, donnant donnant hein ?
Denouncing slip-ups
Indeed, the Swiss referendum about minarets, the tower of a mosque from which the call to prayer is made, did not help to raise the level of the discussion, which may be mushrooming beyond the organizers’ hopes or expectations.
The blog Les mots ont un sens (“Words do have a meaning”), under the headline “From one slip-up to the next one, the national identity debate is going into a tailspin”, provides an anthology of
Des contributions ouvertement racistes sur le site du débat national sur l'identité française, des dérapages (contrôlés ou non) de personnalités politiques qui virent à l'aquaplaning… Les minarets suisses ont bon dos.
and concludes :
D'amalgames en amalgames, on obtient finalement un énorme gloubi-boulga d'islamophobie et de racisme qu'on ne parvient plus à contenir.
[…]
Les exemples d'institutionnalisation du racisme ordinaire sont de plus en plus nombreux. Et cela ne choque visiblement personne.
The groupe Claris, a “collective intellectual”, created in 2001 with the aim of “acting to clarify the discussion about security” shows its impatience by publishing a call to remove the Ministry of Immigration, signed by prominent French scholars:
[…] il est temps aujourd’hui de réaffirmer publiquement, contre ce rapt nationaliste de l’idée de nation, les idéaux universalistes qui sont au fondement de notre République. Nous appelons donc les habitants, les associations, les partis et les candidats aux futures élections à exiger avec nous la suppression de ce « ministère de l’identité nationale et de l’immigration », car il met en danger la démocratie.
Take action
Finally, examples might come from unexpected areas of the civil society. Blogger and French daily Le Monde journalist Eric Azan reports on his blog Veilleur de Jour :
Le débat sur l’identité nationale rebondit aujourd’hui là où l’on ne l’attendait et par celle que, bêtement, on n’imaginait pas dans une posture aussi radicale: Geneviève de Fontenay […]
[…] Juliette Boubaaya, Miss Picardie 2009, rêve de devenir, dimanche 6 décembre, la première Miss France musulmane. Et l’idée séduit Mme de Fontenay : « Juliette […], issue de l’immigration, petite-fille d’un grand-père algérien, elle brigue le titre de Miss France au moment où certains de nos hommes politiques interrogent sournoisement le pays sur ce qui forge l’identité nationale. A titre personnel, je me félicite de la présence de Juliette Boubaaya à l’élection du 6 décembre. Et entre nous, j’espère qu’avant de mourir, je verrai une Miss France maghrébine. Songez à l’impact qu’aurait ce vote. »
« A quoi pensez-vous ? » demande Lionel Laparade [de La Dépêche du Midi]. « À la claque administrée aux hommes politiques qui ont fait de l’identité nationale leur fonds de commerce, à la formidable réponse donnée, ainsi, à certains discours nauséabonds. Quand j’entends Besson, je suis indignée. Il manie la provocation de façon scandaleuse. »
(update : Malika Ménard, Miss Normandie 2009, was the one elected)

author: Suzanne Lehn


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Corruption Impeding Development In Nepal · Global Voices
Bhumika Ghimire

It is not secret that corruption is a major problem in Nepal. According to Transparency International (TI), the country stands 143rd (down from 121) among 180 countries on its anti-corruption scale. New Zealand being the least corrupt and Somalia the most.
TI says that the reason for the country's seemingly unconquerable corruption malice is:
“political instability and weak executive in Nepal with the increased corruption level. Although, this year was relatively peaceful in Nepal, corruption has increased as the law implementing agency has become weaker due to various issues related to transition,”
Mohan Nepali  at Groundreport says:
Nepal is yet far behind in the combat against all-pervasive corruption, ill-governance and dysfunctions of its state mechanisms.
The present rise in the petroleum price is also considered as an indicator of the heavy influence of black market forces, operating in nexus with political players, on state power mechanisms.
Dr. Hari Bansha Dulal, a well known political commentator, reminds that the culture of corruption has some highly placed promoters.
“It is not only the poor local politicians trying to establish a foothold in politics who are engaged in looting the state; the so-called top leaders of major political parties have not given up their right to loot the state altogether. Madhav Kumar Nepal’s government is planning to waive arrears worth Rs 10 million incurred by former prime ministers and ministers over the last two decades. Except for Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, all former prime ministers of the last two decades are in the list. The timing cannot get better because PM Nepal himself is in the list for the generosity he exhibited during his stint as a deputy prime minister of the country some years ago.
When it comes to looting the state, consensus does not evade Nepalese politicians. And, they really are getting sophisticated at it. All-party unity in draining the state’s coffer is not something that is local to Dang. Lately, this has been happening in every nook and corner of the country. “
The culture of corruption in Nepal is not limited to the government and politicians. Sadly, social life has also fallen victim to this disease. Krishna Bhusal writes in his blog how marriages-with high dowry demands from the groom's family and the bridal side willing to ignore character imperfections of the groom if he is in well place position within the government (where he is able to extract undue political and economic benefit) is affecting the sanctity of social relationships.
In recent years, due to large number of Nepali workers traveling abroad in search of employment, immigration and border security has also morphed into a virtual gold mine for those officers seeking undue benefits. In a blog by Nepali officers, B. Basnet-who was recently transferred to a different department, discusses why immigration staff find corruption so enticing.
“In Immigration, the illegal travelers are the source of major illegal income. Normally fair travelers are not under targeted income source list. The types and volume of illegal or curtailed travelers are amazing. Most of the illegal work is done with the pre-consent and coordination of higher level official of the Ministry and Department. The percentage of such income immediately distributed through their agents. So, it is stupid to blame only to the junior immigration staffs for corruption matters.”
Basnet says that reforming immigration should start from the higher level officials.
To gauge the scale of Nepal's culture of corruption, here is an YouTube video from Kathmandu's Avenues TV. You can see how a community water distribution project in district of Salyan's materials buying process is rigged.
“Corruption affects us all,” recognizes UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his message on the International Anti-Corruption Day today.
Corruption is entrenched in Nepal. Culture, social relationships, business and government-all affected by this malice. Unless the people and the government work together to end social acceptance of the practice, it is unlikely that honesty is going to make a comeback in Nepal.

author: Bhumika Ghimire


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Cuba, U.S.A.: Reduced Sentences for Cuban 5 · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Circles Robinson posts an update on The Cuban Five for Havana Times.


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Dominican Republic: Días Has Died  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Repeating Islands acknowledges the passing of “the ‘father of the Dominican rock'”, Luis Días.


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Featured Author: Eman AbdElRahman · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Global Voices Online contributor Eman AbdElRahman, also known as Lasto Adri, regularly posts articles about her native Egypt. However, she is also active in a project called Kolena Laila, which according to the website:
“We are all Laila” is an initiative to devote a day, annually, to speak up about the problems facing oppressed women in the Arab region. On that day, bloggers publish posts under the title of “We are all Laila” to raise awareness and discuss the concerns of women in Arab societies.
She was onhand to participate in the Second Arab Bloggers Conference in Beirut, Lebanon, where she presented the project to the group. In this video, she discusses the project.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Indonesia: Movie ban puts freedom of speech in question · Global Voices
Juke Carolina

The Indonesian Censorship Board (LSF) has banned Balibo, a film about a group of Australians who were murdered during the 1975 Indonesian military invasion of East Timor. The ban ultimately stops the movie from being screened last weekend by the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club (JFCC) — association of Indonesia-based foreign media newsmen, and therefore will not be screened at this year's annual Jakarta International Film Festival (Jiffest).
Some officials, including the military, cheered the decision taken by the censorship agency saying that the movie would open up an old wound and could jeapordize the bilateral relationship between Indonesia and Australia.
The international press criticized the ban and questioned Indonesia's freedom of expression. However, when the Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik asked to comment about the ban, he told a local newpaper – The Jakarta Globe – that the ban is “for the country’s interest, the security and welfare of the people in the future” adding that the movie is banned mainly because it is packed with political content.
Jogjakarta blogger Rawins wonders why the government doesn't train the people to think critically:
Kenapa masyarakat kita tak dibelajari untuk berpikir dewasa dengan main cekal semacam itu. Padahal dengan pencekalan itu, masyarakat justru malah penasaran dan mendongkrak popularitas film tersebut.
Why aren't we taught to think maturely instead of censoring just like that. The truth is that with the censor, the people would be more curious and the popularity of the movie will increase.
Rob Baiton who blogs at The RAB Experience, said that the ban doesn't come to him as a surprise:
It was hardly surprising that the Indonesian Censorship Board (Lembaga Sensor Film / LSF) slapped a ban on the film Balibo. The film tells the story of five journalists killed in Balibo while covering the Indonesian invasion of East Timor. It also tells that story from the perspective of Roger East (who was ultimately murdered on the docks of Dili) and Jose Ramos Horta.
Patrick Guntensperger, a professional writer/analyst based in Jakarta, reviewed the movie on his blog.
In the first place, controversy aside, the movie is a terrific one. It is an exciting, authentic depiction of high drama and adventure; the fact that it is a true story only adds to its fascination. And the director and producers stand behind their version of the events. This is not a movie that “was inspired by actual events” or “based on a true story”. The title sequence states unequivocally that “this is a true story”.
In conclusion Patrick said that, above all reasons, the movie should be watched as a movie:
There is little point really in recounting much more of the plot of the story; suffice it to say that the Indonesian government has one story and pretty much everyone who has investigated the incidents has another, utterly different one. This is a movie. And it is a very good movie. Watch it as a movie. And if it interests you enough, do your own research into the historicity of the script.
Indonesian Independent Journalists Association (AJI Indonesia) said that the movie is highly educative and should not be banned.
It launched a Press Release [id] on its website, saying:
Keputusan LSF tersebut bertentangan dengan prinsip kebebasan berekspresi, kebebasan berapresiasi dan tidak menghormati hak masyarakat untuk tahu.Menurut Pihak LSF pelarangan film tersebut akan “membuka luka lama” konflik Indonesia dengan Australia dan Timor Leste. Alasan tersebut terkesan berlebihan.
[…]
AJI Indonesia menduga, pelarangan film tersebut sangat politis karena film tersebut mengungkap pelanggaran HAM oleh tentara Indonesia berupa pembantaian lima jurnalis asing di Balibo, Timor Leste pada 1975. Pelarangan film tersebut terkesan untuk menutup-nutupi keterlibatan sejumlah perwira Indonesia dalam pembantaian jurnalis itu.
The decision of the censorship board is against the principle of freedom of expression, freedom of appreciation, and failed to honor the right of the people to know. According to the censorship board the film will only “open an old wound” of conflict between Indonesia and Australia and Timor Leste. We see the excuse as overreacting.
[…]
AJI Indonesia presumes that the ban of the film is politically motivated because the film reveals human rights violations by the Indonesian army when the five foreign journalists in Balibo, Timor Leste were slain in 1975. The ban of the film suggests a cover up of the involvement of some Indonesian officers who slayed the journalists.
AJI demands the censorship board to revoke the ban:
AJI Indonesia meminta agar pelarangan film “Balibo Five” dicabut. Pemutaran film ini penting untuk memberikan informasi kepada publik Indonesia mengenai peristiwa tersebut dari sudut pandang lain dari apa yang disampaikan pemerintah Indonesia selama ini.
[…] Film tersebut juga menjadi peringatan bahwa pembunuhan terhadap jurnalis harus diusut tuntas, pelakunya harus diadili.
AJI Indonesia asks that the ban on the movie about the Balibo Five to be revoked. The screening is important to share the information to the public about the event from a different point of view from one delivered by the government all these years.
[…] The film should be a rememberance that crimes of murdering journalists need to be solved, and the crime doers should be tried.
Despite the ban, AJI screened the movie last Thursday in Jakarta. The free public screening was attended by hundreds of journalists and students.
Brett McGuire on his blog Spruiked firmly believes that the government shouldn't ban the movie:
Should the government ban the movie? Probably not. Sure, it opens old wounds, but this helps the healing process. Most Indonesians know very little about East Timor. Thirty years later and most still believe the New Order fairytale that the East Timorese invited Indonesia to take over from the Portuguese.
Should the government ban the movie? Banning movies seems a little heavy handed. It's something that we expect religious leaders to do, not democratically elected governments. Still, this government seems to have forgotten that the New Order ended 10 years ago.
Balibo is a name of a small town in Timor Leste, how the East Timor formally called itself after the 1999 referendum which marked its independence from the Republic of Indonesia, situated at the west side of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara.

author: Juke Carolina


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Featured Author: Jillian York · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Jillian York describes herself as “a writer, activist, Internet censorship combatant, and blogger.” She is based in Boston where she works at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society on the OpenNet Initiative and Herdict, a crowdsourcing project to identify blocked websites.
She has a personal blog, writes frequently for the Huffington Post, and is an avid Twitter user. In this interview Jillian mentions her post from September, “The Cupcake Revolution.”

author: David Sasaki


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Jamaica: Testing the Windies · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Well, well, well, what was previously thought to be impossible in international cricket, actually happened, today”: Jamaica's Girl With A Purpose congratulates the West Indies cricket team on drawing the second test match with Australia.


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Japan: Kiko Network blogging from Copenhagen · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Martin J Frid introduced a Japanese NGO, Kiko Network, which focuses on climate change issue. The group has sent three people in Copenhagen to report on the COP15.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Japan: Worst Corruption Cases of 2009 · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

The Berlin based Trasparency International published a summary [en, pdf] of the 10 Worst Corruption Cases of 2009 (in Japan).

author: Scilla Alecci


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Kazakhstan: Big city lights, gerontocracy and Photoshop · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Kazakhstan’s bloggers continue to monitor the state’s traditionally non-transparent politics and comment on the news. Among their concerns is the government’s announcement that due to the economic crisis, wage increases for state employees, pensioners and students on stipend, scheduled for the beginning of 2010, would have to be postponed for six months. However, these difficulties will not affect the country’s new capital, which President Nazarbaev considers his personal project.
Thousand-pa writes [ru]:
Only yesterday, the country was roused by the news that the budget was tightening. Today, the President is lamenting that, “The city’s architects are slow in coming up with ideas. Nothing has been submitted to us recently.” Translation for ordinary people: when it comes to wages, there’s no money; when it comes to the beloved toy, there’s plenty.
The country’s attitude towards the capital is ambivalent. In official propaganda, it is regarded as a symbol of the republic’s flourishing. Among themselves, people grumble about it – billions of dollars spent on bizarre architectural experiments like the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation or the Khan Shatyry Entertainment Center, while problems with potable water and electricity persist. However, a decade of massive investment could not have gone without results, and the city is beginning to acquire a “human” feel.
Pari-from-kz writes [ru]:
Astana is a small, clean, cozy, quiet city. Most people you meet on the street are young, as are the majority of government employees. You’ll find many well-dressed girls.
Wind sweeps through the Left Bank. For whom was this downtown built? It’s a pity there are no people here. Then again, what people are we talking about, if the population of the country is only 16 million?
I expected things to be worse. It’s mainly things like internet speed, mobile phone rates that get on my nerves.
All big politics is now done in Astana, but, unlike the super-modern cityscape in which this process takes place, the methods of government are increasingly reminiscent of soviet gerontocratic stagnation. Alim-atenbek writes on this topic:
We can compare the current period in Kazakhstan to the 1970s: Brezhnev, Awards, Nomenklatura, The Party, Dissidents, The Baikal-Amur Mainline…
As does pari-from-kz [ru]:
Our fears are becoming justified – we are quickly approaching the image of Turkmenbashi. We now have schools, universities, science institutes and three national libraries that bear the name of the president. But the grandiose event happened two days ago, when he was officially immortalized in bronze.
While bloggers from other countries are discussing what wristwatch brands their presidents prefer, pycm remembers the story about the president’s ring in Kazakhstan [ru]:
I remember one time The Boss came to Karaganda, visited a housewarming party, gave a TV to a family of state employees, etc. The press corps posted a picture on the official site, where the President has a giant “bolt” on his finger. The electorate, of course, started to grumble on the internet, saying that Turkmenbashi himself would be jealous of such a rare jewel. An hour later the ring was photoshopped out.
Translated by Andrey on neweurasia.net

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Kazakhstan: Taking the blogosphere’s pulse for the month · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Bloggers continue to share their opinions on current events, from questions of government and regional development in the republic, to musings on the interrelatedness between social behavior and consumer priorities.
Thousand-Pa comments on the recent wave of publications about Turkish schools, which have been successfully working in the country for some time [ru]:
So they raise Turkish nationalists – traitors to the homeland, basically. But for some reason, everyone has ignored the news that there will be 1000 students from Afghanistan coming to study in Kazakhstan next year. I don’t like the prospect of the Taliban’s ideas penetrating the already-tumultuous sphere of Kazakhstan’s students.
Megakhuimyak quotes Almaty officials in saying that they received instructions from their superiors to replace 3000 foreign specialists as a means of reducing imported labor; however, only 1500 foreign specialists are registered in the city [ru]:
“This is how our local and federal agencies communicate when it comes to exchanging reliable information,” the blogger concludes.
In another post, he writes [ru]:
In the United States, those who cannot pay their mortgage simply abandon their houses so they no longer have to pay the bank. Here, people fight until their last breath for apartments. [For our population] the house is central, as are connections in the neighborhood. This is why our social mobility is so much lower.
Whenever Epolet goes on business trips, he always buys newspapers to with personals and advertisements [ru]:
It helps me get a feel for the business atmosphere of a city. Before me, for example, is a newspaper from Petropavlovsk (northern Kazakhstan). Every fourth automobile can be traded for grain; lots of personals say “looking to take out credit without a deposit;” and so on…
Blogger and financier azoo is perplexed by the government’s announcement that stocks of the embattled BTA Bank, 24.9% of which are owned by private investors, could be redistributed among creditors as part of the bank’s debt restructuring [ru].
Minority shareholders are hysterical. In what other country could investors simply be abandoned? This is against the background of the government trying to attract the populace to the stock market!
In conclusion, a bit of humor and irony from Kazakh bloggers. Idsg, upset by his fellow citizens’ manners, is putting his faith in technical progress [ru]:
Almaty needs to develop a new kind of asphalt using nanotechnology, which would cause a reaction that would rebound saliva back at spitting pedestrians and drivers. The city’s appeal would increase manifold.
Pulemetchizza’s experience shows what you can learn by reading newspaper headlines [ru]:
The Office of the Public Prosecutor has exposed over 4 thousand crimes that were concealed from official reports.
Over the past 10 months, Kazakhstan’s crime rate has dropped 7%.
Most importantly, everything is logical.
Translated by Andrey on neweurasia.net


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Namibia: Traveling in Namibia · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

David writes about his travel in Namibia: “Twyfelfontain is a UNESCO World Heritage site West of Khorixas where there are world famous rock paintings and engravings.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Nigeria: Nigerian farmers take Shell to court · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

“A unique court case, brought by four Nigerian victims of Shell oil spills, in conjunction with Friends of the Earth Netherlands, begins on Thursday 3rd December in the court at The Hague,” Ben reports on Remember Saro Wiwa blog.


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Serbia: Threats to B92’s Journalist  · Global Voices
Sinisa Boljanovic

On Thursday, Dec. 3, Serbian television station B92 broadcast the first episode of “Insider,” a show which was about Belgrade’s hooligans – the fans of Partizan, Red Star and Rad football clubs.
In accordance with the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance, “Insider” got information about the names of leaders of the hooligans and many crimes which were committed by them, and reported that none of those leaders has not been sentenced in courts.
Soon after broadcasting, Brankica Stankovic, a journalist and author of “Insider”, has started to receive serious threats from fans of the mentioned football clubs on Facebook. It’s interesting that the messages have not been sent by anonymous people.
Below are some of them that web site “U poverenju” re-published:
1. Sister, you attacked the people and the game in which life is worth very little. We are not mafia, politicians and corrupted rich men! I am sorry for you, it will be painful.
2. Question for Brankica: Will you sacrifice your life for your idea? We will. That is our strength. You will never defeat us.
3. All of you from B92 are the regime’s bitches and hirelings. B92 should be shut down as soon as possible.
4. She should be slaughtered and delivered to the people from B92 to eat her. Dead bitch!
5. Bitch, will not live long!.. stay away from football fans
Serbian bloggers reacted to the threats.
In his blog, Jaksa Scekic cited some of the messages which had been sent publicly by numerous citizens in the previous days and wrote:
Brankica Stankovic is endangered, “Insider” is endangered, B92 is endangered, the profession of a journalist is endangered, the state is endangered.
Shall we succumb?
It should show them that journalists, citizens, government are not afraid of them.
It is time for the journalists’ guild to do something. Statements are not enough anymore. They are the dead letter and they can calm someone’s conscience only.
We have to show that we are more powerful than they are.
Blogger Srdan Fuchs analyzed the causes of the threats and the violence by hooligans in general. He wrote this:
[…] However, the traces of violence point out another thing. They point out that, as a main motive [of the hooligans] for the violence, there is social desperation, life without any goal, the eking out at the “bottom” without any idea of how things could be changed. […]
In the post titled “Crystal night starts”, blogger Strongman pointed out a serious problem in society. He wrote:
Neither the police, nor the prosecutor’s office, nor the Judiciary can solve the problems with violence and a criminalized society. All of us are responsible for and deserving of everything that is happening to us. We are now facing an “either, or” situation. Either them, or us. […]
According to the B92’s source from Dec. 6, president of the Republic of Serbia said that the state will not tolerate violence by hooligans and criminals who threaten journalists doing their jobs.
Tadić said that the state has taken measures of protection, adding that the state institutions will react in accordance with the law and arrest and prosecute all those endangering the lives of others.
As of now, nine young people have been arrested. They are between ages 18 and 26.

author: Sinisa Boljanovic


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Trinidad & Tobago: Customer Service · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidadian Taran Rampersad jumps through hoops to get his mobile phone number reactivated after his handset was stolen.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Tweets from Beirut: Day Two of the Arab Bloggers Workshop · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

The second day of the Arab Bloggers Workshop kicked off with a presentation about Herdict Web, a site which uses crowdsourcing to gather reports of Internet filtering from users around the world.  Qatari workshop participant Muhammad Basheer tweeted a photo from the presentation:
Muhammad Basheer tweets about Herdict
Following the first presentation, Egyptian blogger Manal discussed the world of Arab techies, particularly touching about female techies in Egypt.  Lebanese NightS noted the need for more women at #ab09:
NightS calls for more female techies
After Manal's informative presentation, the bloggers broke into group workshops, touching on a variety of subjects.  One workshop, conducted by hamzoz, focused on blogging from Iraq.  Muhammad Basheer attended the presentation and tweeted:
Muhammad Basheer attended @hamzoz's presentation
Creative Commons rep Donatella Della Ratta also attended, tweeting:
Donatella tweets about @hamzoz's presentation
Bahraini participant Amira Al Hussaini attended a presentation by the lead of the new Rising Voices project in Yemen.  She was clearly impressed by the workshop:
Amira Al Hussaini is impressed by the number of Yemeni bloggers
The last major presentation of the day was once again perhaps the most captivating.  Anas Tawileh, founder of Meedan, presented on the Arabic-English crowd translation project.  Iraqi blogger Salam Pax best captured the sentiment in this tweet:
Salam Pax was captivated by the Meedan presentation
Tawileh opened his presentation with a number of interesting facts about the Internet including one that the number of hours spent on Facebook in a year, translated into volunteer hours, could be spent to build the Giza pyramids in only 9 days.  Amira Al Hussaini shared another of Tawileh's tidbits:
Amira Al Hussaini tweets a fun fact
Tweeting about the concept, Moroccan GV author Hisham G. summed up Meedan in a few words:
Hisham G. talks about the concept of a "translingual web"
Lastly, Meedan itself (which has covered the workshop here) noted on Twitter that they'll be translating tweets from the conference (which can otherwise be found on hashtag #ab09):
Meedan will be translating tweets from the workshop


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Uganda: Can election violence in Uganda be prevented? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Can election violence in Uganda be prevented?: “New human rights watch report on election violence in Uganda and how it should be prevented is out. I will update this post after a though reading but for now I have reservations.


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Uganda: The politics around Global Fund · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Esther blogs about health crisis in Uganda and the politics around Global Fund: “To date the money has never been disbursed and Uganda has failed to qualify for Round 9 of the Global Fund causing a $20 million funding gap in HIV causing early deaths due to treatment interruptions”


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Zambia: 52 died from climate changes related incidences · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

52 Zambians have died from climate change related incidences: “A New Global Climate Index for 2010 released Tuesday in Copenhagen listed Zambia as one of the countries already bearing the brunt of climate change.”


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Bangladesh: Return Of Street Signals · Global Voices
Rezwan

Of Diaries And Experiences celebrates the new change in the traffic system in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. The blogger wishes if the working traffic signals and vehicles abiding by the rules could be a permanent change to the chaotic traffic system and it could change people’s mindset towards following street signals.

author: Rezwan


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Barbados: Friends?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“There is terrible misunderstanding about what the IMF does–part of which is the Fund's fault; some is plain uninformed ignorance; some may be willful misunderstanding especially by politicians…”: Living in Barbados wonders whether the International Monetary Fund can be the island's friend.


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Bermuda: Fleecing? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Vexed Bermoothes says: “The Bermuda Music Festival is a complete failure as a tourism promotion.    In fact, it’s scandalous.”


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Brunei: Climate Change Signs · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

panyaluru observes that climate change indicators are already evident in Brunei

author: Mong Palatino


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China: Molding the face of Chinese manufacturing · Global Voices
Don Weinland

What is being called a “Chinese manufacturing image advertisement,” as well as China’s first global ad campaign, aired Nov. 23 on CNN Asia.  The ad seeks to promote the global reputation of products manufactured in China after years of scrutiny regarding safety and quality.
The advertisement, produced by DDB, one of the world’s largest advertising companies with a clientele including McDonald’s and Volkswagen, was funded by the China’s Ministry of Commerce along with 4 subordinate organizations including the China Advertising Association.
In an interview with the CBN on Nov. 30, a Ministry of Commerce official revealed that the ministry was indeed behind the creation of the campaign.
The ad, 30 seconds in length, features western actors and actresses utilizing a variety of products tagged “Made in China” but with the design or technology from various western countries.  A voiceover in American English states at the end of the ad: “When it says made in china, it really means: made in China, made with the world”
The final frames of the advertisement read “made in China” only to replace the ‘in’ with ‘with’, reading “Made with China”.  The original slogan in Chinese—not featured in the ad—was “Made in China, the World’s Cooperation”.
Chinese journalist Song Lei describes the advertisement in an article at Sina.com:
这是一则充满活力、画面精美、现代感十足的广告。从其中的特写画面看，晨跑者所穿的运动鞋标有“中国制造”，但“综合了美国的运动科技”；家庭所用的冰箱印着“中国制造”，但“融合了欧洲风尚”；MP3播放器上标注“中国制造”，但“使用来自硅谷的软件”；模特所穿的服装也由“中国制造”，但“由法国设计师设计”；广告最后出现的飞机，更是体现了“世界合作”这一理念。
Song goes on to analyze the advertisement:
可以看出，该广告想传达的信息是：经过30年的努力，中国产品正在同各国的商业和文化力量携手改善全球生活质量。而在全球经济低迷的背景下，这则广告更是显示了国家对于“中国制造”的信心。
The Los Angeles Times’ David Pierson reported that critics of the advertisement said China should focus more on improving the quality of their products:
Some critics say China's ad campaign is misdirected and that the Ministry of Commerce and the trade groups would do better to focus their efforts on improving manufacturing practices in China rather than spending time trying to sway opinion overseas.
In the Chinese blog “Greeness” a blogger states that the ad campaign is an effective way to combat the recent wave of economic protectionism and cultivate China’s newfound soft power:
以广告方式宣传国家形象，对中国来说尚属首次。分析人士认为，在当前金融危机阴霾尚未散去、贸易保护主义有所抬头的背景下，主动出击展示国家形象，是一次很好的尝试，有利于提升中国的软实力.
Journalist Shi Jingtao sees the advertisement as a natural progression of China’s soft power.  Shi gives his opinion of the ad campaign in a China Youth Daily article:
以往我们习惯了“酒香不怕巷子深”的低调和韬光养晦的谋略，很少像现在这样高调出击，主动在全球做起了“形象广告”。笔者认为，这不是一种偶然和表象，而是这个时代语境之下的必然结果。
While opinions of the advertisement vary among Chinese blogs, some blogger are critical of the “extroverted” method of image molding and believe the reputation of Chinese manufacturing can be solved domestically.
Corporate blogger Lou Xiangpeng writes that the most important thing for Chinese manufacturing is the healthy cultivation of Chinese brand products:
中国制造是世界的打工仔，中国制造代替不了中国品牌。中国制造的地位与形象能否提升，关键取决于中国品牌的地位与形象，中国制造必须升级为中国品牌，否则，就是把打工仔的形象换成穿西服的打工仔也不行。
Lou sees China as having little control of export-oriented manufacturing.  He says international corporations contract to the lowest bidder yet place the blame on China when products are defective, thus contributing to China's bad reputation.
中国制造，本质就是代工…品牌不是中国的，定价我们说了不算。中国制造产生的问题，主要不是中国制造造成的，可是，只赚些苦力钱的中国制造却背负着无端指责。那些指责中国制造的国家，他们的企业一方面在全球寻找中国这样的便宜的生产地，以降低成本，最大限度地赚取利润.
Chinese blogger Nuoteam writes that image alone will not save the Chinese manufacturing industry.
为“中国制造”正名，仅仅凭形象策划，还只是浅层次的努力…中国国家形象的塑造，到海外宣示“中国制造”的风采固然是一个路径，而专心做好国内的事情，又何尝不是另一种意义上的形塑.
Many articles on this ad campaign report that the Ministry of Commerce has purchased a six week advertisement spot on the CNN Web site, although this has yet to be confirmed.

author: Don Weinland


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China: VeryCD.com closed · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

VeryCD, one of the most popular file sharing website in China, was closed suddenly yesterday. Its founder, Huang Yimeng admitted that the website didn't have “Information Network Broadcast Audio Visual Programming Permission Certificate.” (More via Danwei)


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Colombia: Celebration of Lights and Candles · Global Voices
Issa Villarreal

Photo by Flowery *L*u*z*a*.
Día de las Velitas (Day of the candles), also known as Día de los Alumbrados (Day of the Lighting), is a traditional celebration of Colombia in honor to the Virgin Mary and the Immaculate Conception. On the evening of December 7 or early morning of December 8, Colombian families light candles and lanterns in both houses and streets, and welcome the Christmas season.
According to newspaper El Tiempo [es], December 8 was declared a festivity by Pope Pius IX on 1854, after a pilgrimage made in honor to the Virgin Mary around 431 B.C. The Pope decided to celebrate that day bringing light on the principal dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
Photo by Flowery *L*u*z*a*.
This year, the Día de las Velitas was cheerfully documented by bloggers who shared collections of photos and their unique ways of celebration. For example, Madame Web explained in her blog La Lógica de mi Papá that she particularly likes this festivity [es] because it makes her feel closer to those who live around her:
Me gusta mucho el día de las velitas porque en la calle, por lo menos acá en Pasto, se siente la unidad, en los barrios los vecinos de todas las casas echando globos, música por todas partes, familias reunidas, los niños corriendo y jugando, los altares a la Virgen en los garajes, algunas procesiones, comida y festejo por todas partes.
Blogger Juan David Escobar from Reticente pondered on how the festivity had managed to stay with him [es] although its meaning had completely changed:
Cuando niño la abuela nos dijo que eran velitas para la virgen. Ya cuando pelaos entendimos que eran velitas para la “candelada del diablo”. Y ahora, sospecho que son velitas para que me den calor y me permitan pensar al ritmo del fuego que consume unos palos de parafina de colores.
Photo by Flowery *L*u*z*a*
Blogger Lunaisa narrated her family reunion [es] on the night of December 7:
Sin ser una persona religiosa, siempre nos reunimos en familia a prender velitas y farolitos y volar globos con un deseo amarrado al globo.
Ayer, domingo aprovechamos para reunirnos y pasar un rato muy agradable en familia y con algunos amigos. Pasamos un rato muy agradable a la luz de las velas, una buena botella de tinto y lo mejor de todo una agradable charla.
Global Voices contributor Cati Restrepo shared in her personal blog [es] a video of the scattered lights in the streets of Santa Fé de Antioquia:
A pool of photos dedicated to Christmas lighting in Medellín, Colombia can be found on Flickr. Festivities similar to Día de las velitas are celebrated in other countries, like France's Fête des lumières tradition.
All photos taken by Flowery *L*u*z*a*, and used with permission following a Creative Commons License.

author: Issa Villarreal


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Cuba: Human Rights Day  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Diaspora blogger Uncommon Sense says that today, which commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “is a day to remember and honor this document, and more importantly, those in Cuba and around the world imprisoned and suffering for demanding that their governments abide by its precepts.”


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Czech Republic: Travel Roundup · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Reference Frame writes about a replica of Prague's Old Town City Hall in Seoul. The Journeys of Captain Oddsocks writes about Jan Žižka, “the most feared and respected military leader and tactician in Czech history,” and describes travel to Písek and Tábor.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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East Timor: 2010 national budget · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The government of East Timor has presented the 2010 national budget to parliament. The government will prioritize the funding of an Anti-Corruption Commission


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East Timor: Police performance · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Tempo Semanal has an article criticizing the human rights record of the East Timor police


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Ghana: An unofficial blog of former Ghanaian President · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

An unofficial blog of the former President of Ghana, Jerry Rawlings: “This space endeavours to consolidate the work and thoughts of the former President of Ghana, Jerry John Rawlings.”


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Ghana: President Atta Mills up against his own party?  · Global Voices
L. Abena Annan

In the months leading to the election of President John Evans Atta Mills, many Ghanaians, including those abroad, feared that a New Democratic Congress (NDC) win would morph into another reign by the party’s founder and former military ruler, President Jerry John Rawlings. The transition was smooth, and the relationship between Presidents Rawlings and Mills, seemed cordial.
JJ Rawlings, an unofficial blog site created to highlight the work and thoughts of the former president posted a positive report on May 18, 2009 about President Rawlings’ trip to South Africa on behalf of President Mills. It reported:
President Mills thanked President Rawlings for representing Ghana at the inauguration and assured him that there would be follow up measures to take advantage of the opportunities for mutually beneficial relations between Ghana and South Africa.
But lately, tensions have been rising between President Mills and other members of the NDC party including President Rawlings.
Ato Kwamena Dadzie recently wrote in his post, “A President Under Siege“:
President Mills is under siege. No doubt about that. He has become such an easy target that an increasing number of people are baying to take a hit at him. What is most intriguing is that the heaviest hitters are people within his own party. The opposition can take a vacation.
Just last week, it was the majority leader in parliament, Alban Bagbin. He said the president, who likes to portray himself as a humble sheep, has surrounded himself with aides and confidantes who behave like foxes, hyenas and lions. These people, according to Mr. Bagbin, tend to intimidate and harass anyone who tries to offer some useful counsel to the president.
Days before Mr. Bagbin’s comment, the man who transformed the then Prof. Mill from a taxman to a politician, Jerry John Rawlings, and a group of constituency chairmen of the ruling party were expressing indignation at how the president been conducting himself in office.
Mr. Rawlings believes strongly that his protégé has employed incompetent ‘bastards’ who have taken advantage of their proximity to power to satisfy their selfish interests.
A blog entry posted early this year on Vibe Ghana reported that:
Kwesi Pratt, social critic and Managing Editor of The Insight, has taken a swipe at former President Jerry John Rawlings for putting spokes in the smooth running of the administration of President John Evans Atta Mills.
According to him, Jerry Rawlings’ utterances about the administrative style of the current president are not only embarrassing, but also insulting to the intelligence of the law professor.
A comment in response to this post by someone named Prince, said:
I think ex-President Rawlings would do himself and the NDC party a world of good if he behaves in a more stately manner—after all it's just a probation period of 4years–any impression of Atta Mills being a stooge and not his own man would spell doom for the NDC party as a whole and Rawlings in particular.
Ghana Pundit  recently posted an article about President Rawlings’ response to the current debate:
It would be out of place to allow the NPP that has been rejected by Ghanaians to tell us what we should do. If all members of the NDC and the Members of Parliament have openly come out to express their feelings, then the NPP that has been rejected would have nothing to say.
The same post included a comment by Kofi Adams, spokesman for the former president:
Mr. Kofi Adams said Rawlings believes there is need for individuals within the party to hold the government and its appointees accountable instead of their opponents in the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Adams goes on to say:
It is good for the party. It will be bad for the NPP to tell us what to do after they have been rejected and if all party legislators and others have come to the realization to let President Mills know about the feelings of party members and Ghanaians, it is good for us.
This is because, if we allow the NPP to continue to tell us, it would be like a university graduate being corrected by class six pupils.
Ato Kwamena Dadzie has received over 70 responses to his post, “A President Under Siege?”  Essuman-Cape Coast, one of the responders wrote:
Our journalists have failed us, when NPP set up an employment agency in their Greater Accra Regional office and used it to get their foot-soldiers employed nobody asked questions(find out from Kojo Asante-CDD). Go check the loan defaulters of NPP's MASLOC and LEAP credit facilities and it would shock you that they are all card-bearing NPP supporters. NDC supporters are aware of all the above machinations of the NPP and it would be suicidal for Mills to ignore those who fought hard for him to become president. The way Mills manages the aspirations of his own supporters and Ghanaians in general is the solution to these problems. However, let me state that, some of the NDC Gurus are behaving like children. Words like Mediocre, Team B and Greedy Bastards are coming from ourselves. I am well-paid but I just won't allow my boss to insult me everyday. Does anyone believe that under JJ, every NDC foot-soldier was o.k., certainly not but no-one incited them against him. I can agree that Mills has been slow on only one thing, that is, not arresting Molbila's killers earlier in January 2009 only for one of them to run away. Mills would succeed and this cycle of voilence visited on defeated parties after elections would cease.
Ato Kwamena responded saying:
This country is not for any group of soldiers – be they on foot or in humvees! After all the NPP did (who didn't know MASLOC and LEAP were for partisan sorts?) their foot soldiers complained that Kufuor didn't do enough for them. What do they want? A gold concession or the oil fields?

author: L. Abena Annan


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