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A Letter From China to the Norwegian Killer · Global Voices
Andy Yee

Many Chinese netizens could not comprehend the atrocities committed by Anders Behring Breivik in Norway. But they are less concerned about the motives and ideologies of Breivik. In their eyes, Norway is a paradise, where people enjoy a high standard of living and do not need to confront the pressures of survival. How could it happen?
To explore this question, a female Chinese netizen Fatty Flower has written a long letter [zh] to Breivik on her Douban blog. She suggests Breivik to be a Chinese in his next life so that he can appreciate how lucky he is to be born as a Norwegian. Written in a highly satirical manner, the letter reads like a rambling of the life struggles that ordinary Chinese have to face right from their birth. The post proved a hit and was reprinted in numerous other channels, including the Guangzhou newspaper Southern Metropolitan Daily.
Below is a translation of the original post, together with a few selected comments in the readers’ section:
你好布雷维克，我是一位来自中国的女青年，几天前听说你杀了至少86个人，今天晚上借着拉屎的时间，我酝酿了下思路，决定写一封信给你，我可能做不到语气平静，如果各种嬉笑怒骂让你不爽，请贱量！当然我觉得你不大可能真的看到这封信。
首先，你TM真是太走运了，生在挪威这种地方，上学不要钱，从头到JB都有ZF养，娶了老婆之后，继续给你养小孩，下岗了还有钱拿能在家喝茶！拔diao 无压力说的就是你这种情况你知不知道！在遥远的东方不知道多少人羡慕你！还有你的JB！！！！你怎么就不珍惜幸福美好的生活！
中午看CCAV的报道，记者们到了你家楼下，我由衷的想赞叹一句哇塞豪宅啊！好几层啊！！！这么大占地面积你可以养一窝金陵十二钗啊！接着记者继续跟警方 来到你的农场。尼玛你居然还有农场啊！不知道占地多少公顷哟！尼玛你知道农场在中国比东厂还珍贵稀有吗！！！你知道郭芙蓉跟吕秀才的半生积蓄只够买一个牛 棚吗！你到底有没有在好好生活啊！
你说你杀这么多人，到底图个啥？
人活着，不就图个生有所养，老有所依吗？你从小不用喝着三聚氰胺兑的奶长大，虽然你们那里水果蔬菜贵了点，但是至少你永远都不用知道地沟油炒菜的味道，顺便说一句其实还挺美味的，羡慕吗？
寂寞了你可以出门看看海看看峡湾，空虚了滑滑雪钓钓鱼，再不然道德低下一点花钱找人亲亲你抱抱你，找基友结婚都不犯法，你还有什么不满意的？听说你爸在法 国买了房子住的挺开心，你怎么不没事儿去看看老人家，权当出国旅游啊。P.S.你知道遥远的东方平常老百姓出个国有多困难吗？
以前看电影的时候我知道欧洲有火车联票，买联票可以坐上小火车在各个欧洲国家之间穿梭，我不知道挪威有没有这个项目，不过这么美的地方，你带着老婆，出了城坐个火车，吃着火锅唱着歌，也能游得很开心嘛。
没有体验过HARD模式的人就是不知道真正艰难的生活是哪样。
我不知道你是否还有追随者或者崇拜者，如果有的话，我劝你们，赶紧各回各家各找各妈吧，你们其实幸福的像花儿一样。
中文里有一句古话叫做饱暖思yin欲。我古文不好，不知道这个yin欲是不是单纯指的性欲，我们姑且把它理解为邪念吧。其实你的行为要我说，就是五个字： 吃饱了撑的。想想非洲那些不知道食物是什么的孩子，他们可没功夫想怎么报复社会。其实这事真的该怨挪威ZF，你想啊，他们把你照顾的好好的，让你不需要为 生计发愁，人一空闲下来，就容易瞎想。你说说你自己是不是这样。所以还有一句话说：人类一思考，上帝就发笑！
听说你杀了这么多人不用死，我不知道是不是该祝贺你，毕竟自然老死很奢侈，好多人都等不到。
鉴于这辈子你可能走不监狱，于是我真诚的邀请你考虑下辈子来中国投胎。在这里，生下来你就是个操心玩意儿，黄山黄河让你便秘，长城长江让你尿急。成长的过 程里你要和毒奶粉抗争，跟瘦肉精博弈。你要上各种兴趣班，左手奥数右手英语。运气好的话，你有可能出国，回到你上辈子呆过的地方，然后长舒一口气。运气不 好的话，你要经历千军万马的高考。之后上大学，再之后要谈朋友谈工作了吧。房子车子准备好你才可以拔diao。在拔diao的那一瞬间，你有没有觉得一丝 失落？  或者是片刻的如释重负？
不过别担心，后面的生活更跌宕起伏。你的孩子就要出生了，你要担心他的户口智力和健康，为了不输在起跑线上你玩胎教，恨不得隔着肚子教会他十八般武艺。
再之后孩子出生了，此处省略八百字，因为你都经历过，这是一个复杂又熟悉的循环。
是不是觉得还不够刺激不够操心？
没关系，我们再说说一种东西，英文叫做surprise，中文叫做意外。
这种东西在中国跟马克思主义哲学一样，从来都供大于求。
意外让你上天入地，而且意外来去匆匆，新鲜刺激还容易遗忘。
你也许会在ATM机上突然取出一笔巨款，也许会走在路上被一辆风驰电掣的三菱跑车撞飞，会在村头的大树底下被一辆卡车碾过，也许你落魄到在街头当小贩卖水 果，被一种叫做城管的警犬以破坏市容为由揍得低空掠过。也许你会被神秘BOSS怜惜，做了他的男宠，你从此有爱马仕还有玛莎拉蒂。不过也许你没有这等艳 遇，只是带着妻子孩子安安分分的生活，偶尔出去旅旅游，坐个高铁。然后你知道，你带着老婆孩子，出了城坐在动车上，是不是觉得这个场景似曾相识，好像上辈 子也经历过？别着急，你猜得中开头，却猜不中结局。
你们吃着火锅还唱着歌，突然，追尾了。
而且最刺激的是，你死了，但是在伤亡名单上你还活着。
说到这里，不知道你有没有一点心动。现在是北京时间23点11分，也到了我该睡觉的时候。千言万语最后汇成一句话,与君共勉：
Welcome to China.
Dear Breivik,
I am a young lady from China. A few days ago, I hear that you have killed at least 86 people. Tonight, I organized my thoughts and decided to write a letter to you while I was in the toilet. Forgive me for all my ridicules and the rough tone. But of course, I think it is unlikely that you will ever read this letter.
First of all, you are damn lucky to be born in Norway. You don’t need to pay anything for your schooling. Your government takes good care of every part of you, from head to penis. After you get married, you can get financial support for your children. When you are unemployed, you can get money and drink tea at home! Do you know that you live in an environment where you can make love without any pressure! In the Far East, so many people are envious of you! And your penis! Why don’t you treasure your life!
In the afternoon, I watched the report of the Central China Television and saw journalists gathering at your house. What a luxury place! With a few floors! You can raise a bunch of wives in such a big place! Then, the journalists followed the police to your farm. You have a farm! And how many hectares does it occupy! Do you know that in China, a farm is rarer than a factory! Do you know that Guo Furong and Lu Xiucai [note: two characters from a T.V drama] can only buy a cowshed with half of their life-time savings! Are you living your life properly!
You have killed so many people. That’s for what?
People strive for a good life and to age with grace. You don’t need to grow up with tainted milk. Although the fruits and vegetables in your country are a bit expensive, you will never know how they taste when cooked with illegal drainage oil. And they are actually quite delicious. Envy!
When you are lonely, you can go admire the Fjord. When you feel empty, you can go skiiing and fishing. Or, with a lower moral standard, pay someone to kiss and hug you; even engaging in a gay marriage is fine too. What more can you ask? I hear that your father has a house in France and he lives there quite happily. Why don’t you go see him, and treat it as an overseas trip? Do you know how difficult it is for us normal people in the East to go abroad?
I know from movies I’ve watched that there are cross-countries train tickets in Europe. I don’t know if they cover Norway. But in such a beautiful place, you can travel out of town by train together with your wife, eat good food and sing nice songs. How wonderful it would be.
Those who haven’t experienced it don’t really know what a hard mode of life entails.
I don’t know if you have admirers or followers. If you have, I advise them to go home. They are as blessed as little flowers.
There is a Chinese proverb, “If one is warm and well fed, one will think about wanton lust.” My classical Chinese is not good, and I’m not sure if “lust” here only has sexual meaning. Let us just take it as meaning evil. In my own words, you just direct your spare energy to the wrong places. Think about those African kids who have no ideas what food is. They just don’t have the energy to think about how to take revenge on the society. In fact, we have to blame this incident on the Norwegian government. Think about it: the government takes such good care of its people that they don’t need to worry about life. Silly thoughts come from idle people. There is a proverb: “man thinks, God laughs.”
I hear that you don’t need to die after killing so many people. I don’t know if I should congratulate you. After all, to die naturally is a luxury for many of us.
Because you probably won’t get out of prison for the rest of your life, I sincerely urge you consider to be a Chinese in your next life. Here, in the land of the Yellow Mountain, Yellow River, Great Wall and Yangtze River, life is complicated from the moment you are born. Right from the start, you have to struggle with tainted milk powder and poisoned meat. From an early age, you have to attend all those “interest classes”, learn English and train for Olympiad mathematics. If you are lucky, you will gain a ticket to go overseas, and return to the place you’ve been to in your earlier life. If you are less lucky, you have to compete with millions in the university entrance exam. After university, you will start thinking about friends and careers. You can only think about making love and having children after you have got a house and a car. After making love, perhaps you will feel lost, or the pressures of life relieved?
But don’t worry, life afterwards will be even more rocky. You child will arrive soon, and you have to start worrying about his intelligence and health. To enable your baby gain a head start, you just cannot wait but start to teach him while he was still in mom’s stomach.
Here I will omit 800 words, because you have experienced all those before. The familiar cycle starts again.
Do you think this is still not enough?
No worries, we can talk about yet another thing. In English, it is called surprise; in Chinese, accident.
Like Marxist philosophy, the supply of this thing far exceeds its demand.
Accidents come and go, let you fly and crash, and they are easily forgotten.
Perhaps a large sum of money will suddenly descend upon you at an ATM. Perhaps you will be crashed and thrown into the air by a speedy race car. Perhaps you will be run over by a truck below a tree in some remote villages. Perhaps you, down-and-out, sell fruits on the streets, and are beaten up by the city management officers. Perhaps you are selected by a mysterious boss to be his pet, and from then on you can enjoy luxurious brands. But perhaps, without such adventure, you just have an ordinary family. Sometimes, you may bring your wife and children out for a train trip. You know, you bring them out of town on a high-speed rail. Sounds familiar? Does that also happen in your last life? But wait, you guess the beginning correctly, but not the ending.
You eat good food and sing nice song. Suddenly, your train was hit from behind by another train.
The most exciting part is that you died, but on the list of casualty list you are still alive.
At this point, do you feel emotional? Now is Beijing time 11:11pm. I need to go to bed now. Let me distill what I’ve said into one sentence:
Welcome to China.
Some readers’ comments:
这位青年罪孽太深重下辈子肯定得投胎到中国无玄念了。(2011-07-27 01:00:22)
哎，所以各国人出生以后都到中国做个下放锻炼，就不会那么不知道珍惜了(2011-07-27 01:46:00)
挪威的监狱都比中国人住的房子强 (2011-07-27 13:43:02)
作者不过是在调侃中国人的生存环境，一下子就给某些很有信仰、很有精神、很有觉悟的人鄙视了。(2011-07-27 11:18:50)
这文章还是典型的中国人思维，吃好喝足生活稳定平安就是最大的追求。所以中国人总会对很多出身很好却投入革命运动的人很不解，因为我们没有信仰，或者说，世俗生活就是我们最大的信仰。这篇文章虽然是反讽，但是还是暴露了我们这个民族的想法。(2011-07-27 09:20:00)
谁有本事把中国治理好的赶紧去参政…没这个本事那就平时多发扬光明正义，见到不义之事有勇气有智谋去改变，不要窝在豆瓣里瞎叨叨，抱怨实在是浪费了才情。(2011-07-27 13:21:26)

author: Andy Yee


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Azerbaijan: Facebook hate campaign for ‘consorting’ with the ‘enemy?’ · Global Voices
Pervin Muradli

Angered by a photograph of Aynishan Guliyeva, a contestant in this year's national selection for Eurovision, standing next to an Armenian competitor during a recent regional music festival, some youth in Azerbaijan have launched a hate campaign against the singer on the popular social networking site. Created on Monday, the page has 2,726 likes at time of writing with the campaign reportedly resulting in the singer deleting her Armenian counterpart as a contact from her personal Facebook page.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Pervin Muradli


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Bahamas: The Reality of Squatter Communities  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The deeper we delve into the so-called ‘Haitian problem’, the more we come face to face with ourselves”: Bahama Pundit‘s Larry Smith examines the squatter situation on the island, saying: “The reality is that squatters include indigenous Bahamians, Haitian-Bahamians, immigrants with work permits and illegal immigrants. But these one-dimensional labels merely mask the complexity of the problem.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Janine Mendes-Franco

Tropical Storm Emily lightly skirted Dominica, Guadeloupe [FR] and the U.S. Virgin Islands, causing rain and “wave action”; now, Cuba and Haiti await her arrival.


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Chile: Latest Developments in Mapuche Land Conflict in Ercilla · Global Voices
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Ryan Seelau from Indigenous News updates readers on the Mapuche land conflict in Ercilla which we mentioned earlier this week.

author: Silvia Viñas


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David Bandurski from China Media Project translates an article from China Daily on How to Speak in the Microblog Age.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Colombia: Women on Sex Strike Demand Better Roads · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

In Colombia Reports, Matt Snyder writes: “For 38 days, 300 women in the town of Barbacoas have participated in a “strike of crossed legs” denying their husbands sexual favors until a road that connects their town to the rest of Colombia is paved.” Authorities said that the road will be paved; but, according to Matt's report, the women “announced that the sex strike would continue until October 11 when construction actually begins.”


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Cuba: In Favour of Travel  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Ninety percent of Cubans on both shores do not look kindly on the arbitrary policy of the Castro brothers, authorizing who can and cannot enter their country”, writes Iván García, adding: “Cuba belongs to all Cubans.”


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Guatemala: E-Forum With Presidential Candidates · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

On August 2, the citizen movement #EstoEsGuate [es] (This is Guatemala) held an e-forum with presidential candidates. Sakis Gonzales from Una Hoja de Papel [es] and Billy Quijada from Blog Cachacero [es] blogged about the event and the candidates’ performance.


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Guatemala: Soldiers Involved in 1982 Dos Erres Massacre Sentenced to 6,060 Years in Prison  · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

“A Guatemalan elite army unit entered Dos Erres in the northern Petén region on 5 December 1982 and tortured and killed some 250 men, women and children over the course of three days before razing the village”: Amnesty International explains. Four former soldiers involved in this massacre were sentenced this week to 6,060 years in prison.


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India: A Job Finder For The Illiterates · Global Voices
Rezwan

Nandan Rajan at Think Change India highlights Mathukathe, a free phone and associated services for the illiterate poor in India, which is equipped with job finding capabilities.

author: Rezwan


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India: Workers Protest Against A Multinational Company · Global Voices
Rezwan

Bhagirath Verma at CGNet Swara reports that 169 workers are protesting for months against a multinational company to implement a court order to regularize them but nobody is listening to them.


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Jamaica: “Emancipendence”  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaican bloggers discuss the country's “Emancipendence”, here and here.


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Japan: A Nuclear Gypsy’s Tale  · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

Before the Fukushima accident brought to light the parlous state of the Japanese nuclear industry, for years temporary workers have jumped in and out of remunerative short-term jobs at the power plants ignoring the risk of their profession.
Takeshi Kawakami (川上武志) was one of the so-called ‘nuclear gypsies’ and just like many other colleagues of his, for about 30 years he made a livelihood working at the different nuclear plants of the country for short periods. For years he earned money helping repair or replace  malfunctioning parts of nuclear reactors and carrying out dangerous operations, with a high-risk of  radiation exposure.
In his blog, Kawakami denounced the corruption and collusion between the government and the nuclear industry, focusing his coverage on the Hamaoka nuclear power plant. This power plant was recently shut down at the request of the Japanese government  for remedial work after it was deemed dangerous to continue operating in light of its position on one of the major seismic faults lines in  the Japanese archipelago.
In the post partly translated here, he tells of his experiences as a temporary worker when he worked for the first time inside a steam generator at the Genkai nuclear power plant in southern Japan.
Hamaoka nuclear power plant, by Hiroaki Sakuma. CC BY-SA license.
I worked at Hamaoka nuclear plant for a little over 5 years, but it was not the only time I’d worked at a power plant. Before Hamaoka, I spent my 30s working at a nearby nuclear plant for about 10 years  in the 1980’s. At that time, I did not work at just one site but was moving from one plant to another to do regular maintenance work. Recently, that kind of people are called “Nuclear gypsies” with a bit of contempt and in that period I was living as one of those.
Two years after I began the wandering life of a gypsy, I entered for the first time the  container of a steam generator. At the time I was working at the Genkai Nuclear Power Plant in Saga Prefecture. [Editor's note: In brief, there is a containment building within the plant. This houses the core and the steam generator.]  The steam generator  produces the steam to power the turbines which turn the generators elsewhere in the plant . The level of radioactivity in the containment building is very high compared to elsewhere [in the plant]. My job involved entering [the generator] and installing a robot monitor that would enable examination of whether there was any damage in the steam generator.
Actually what happened on the day was that another person replaced me and entered the steam generator to install the robot. After the installation was completed, there was a problem in that the robot wouldn’t respond and thus could not be operated from outside. There are many small holes in the walls of the central part of the steam generator and the six (I believe there were six) ‘legs’ of a robot, operated via a remote control, should be able to survey it through those holes. The employees in charge of supervising the installation concluded that there had been a problem in properly positioning the robot’s legs.
If the ‘legs’ are not completely inserted and the robot is left in that position, it could fall down at any time. If that happens, it spells the loss of a precision machine that's said to be worth several hundred million yen. That’s why I was sent in to enter the generator, on very short notice, to replace the robot back to its correct operating position before that happened. I started putting on the gear to enter the housing at a spot near the steam generator. Two workers helped me put it on. I was already wearing two layers of work clothes, and on top of those, I put on Tyvek protective gear made of paper and vinyl, and an airline respirator. Plus, I wrapped a lot of vinyl tape around my neck, my wrists and my ankles, to block even the slightest opening.
Once I finished putting on the protective gear — which honestly looks like an astronaut suit — I headed toward the housing. When I arrived at the area near the housing, two workers were waiting. They were employees of a company called the Japanese Society for Non-Destructive Inspection [JSNDI] and, to my surprise, despite the area being highly radioactive, they were wearing nothing but plain working clothes. They weren’t even wearing masks. The person who appeared to be in charge invited me over and, after a look at my eyes inside the mask, nodded his head a few times. I guess just looking into my eyes he was able to determine that I’d be able to handle working in the core.
He and I went to the steam generator together. That was the first time I saw the generator with my own eyes. It was I guess a spherical or oval shape, maybe 3 meters in diameter (I might not be remembering the size correctly), and was located at a position higher than the grating we were standing on. The base of the steam generator more or less reached my shoulder, at slightly less than 1.5m. At the bottom, there was a manhole. The manhole was open, and I immediately realized I would have to climb up into it.
The JSNDI employee in charge put his arm around me and together we approached the manhole. We looked over the edge and peered in. Inside was dark, and the air was dense and stagnant. It felt as though something sinister was living inside. My expression glazed over. A slight sensation of dread came over me. As I approached the manhole, I noticed a ringing in my ears and felt reluctant to go in. When I looked inside, I saw that the robot was attached to the wall indicated by the [JSNDI] employee. It was not properly attached, which is why I had been sent in. The atmosphere inside was ghastly and I had to desperately fight off the urge to flee. I might not have wanted to enter, but I was in no position to refuse.
The robot was square-shaped, 40 cm on each side and 20 cm deep. It was called a ‘spider robot’. The JSNDI employee put his face at the edge of the manhole, a third of his face peering in, and diligently explained what I had to do. There was little awareness at the time of the dangers to workers of radiation exposure, but even so I was concerned about the bold act of the employee, who looked inside the housing with me.
He continued looking inside, unfazed, and I remember wondering why he wasn’t scared. I was almost completely covered while he wasn’t even wearing a mask. […]
After receiving a very detailed explanation of the work that I was to do inside, it was time. I crouched beneath the manhole next to a stepping ladder that had been brought in, and the JSNDI employee gave me a deep nod. I stood up, climbed the ladder, and pushed my upper body through the manhole. In that second, something grabbed at my head and squeezed hard. A pounding in my ear started right away. Battling fear, I placed my hands around the rim of the manhole and used the momentum to launched my whole body inside. The pounding sound got bigger.
One worker said that right after he entered a nuclear reactor he heard a noise like a moving crab. “zawa,zawa,zawa…” He said that he could still hear this noise after he finished the work. Even after the inspection work, when he went back home, he couldn’t forget that noise. The man ended up having a nervous breakdown. A writer who heard this story spoke to this man and wrote a mystery novel based on that experience. The title of the book is “The crab of the nuclear reactor”. It was published in 1981 and was very popular among us.
In my case, I never heard such a crab-like noise but I had the feeling that my head was being tightly constricted and deep in my ears I heard very high-tempo echoes like a sutra “gan, gan, gan”. When I entered the steam generator I stood up all of a sudden and my helmet hit the ceiling. So I had to bend my neck and hold both the arms of the robot in the darkish room. “OK” I screamed. So the robot was unlocked and its feet jumped out of the hole. The entire robot was not as heavy as I had thought. After I matched its feet position in the holes I gave them another OK sign and so it was positioned in the hole. In the dark, when I verified that all the feet had entered into the holes I gave them another OK and jumped out of the manhole. […]
[Once outside,] I was almost in shock but looked at the alarm meter and saw that it had recorded a value equal to 180, when the maximum it can record is 200. In only 15 seconds, I was exposed to an unbelievably high level of radiation, 180 millirem. At that time the unit ‘millirem’ was used while now it’s different. Now everybody uses sievert. That time I was in charge of an inspection work that lasted about 1 month. After that I worked in another nuclear reactor but even on the second time I couldn’t get through the fear and experienced the same creepy noise.

author: Scilla Alecci


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Lithuania: Crushing Illegal Parking · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Journalist & Optimist tells [ger] how the mayor of Lithuania's capital Vilnius crushes a car with a tank, in an attempt to show non-tolerance of illegal parking, a long-time problem in the city.

author: Vilhelm Konnander


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Lithuania: Slovenian Blogger Comments on Vilnius Mayor’s Tank Stunt · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Piran Café‘s updates the blog's somewhat neglected “self-absorbed bike lane-parking morons” section with a vivid example from Lithuania, where the mayor of Vilnius Arturas Zuokas drove an armored personnel carrier over a Mercedes, which had been acquired specifically for the stunt and parked in a bike lane. “The best use of a tank I’ve ever seen,” wrote the Slovenian blogger.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Morocco: Activist Website Sustains DDoS Attack · Global Voices
Hisham Almiraat

This post is part of our special coverage Morocco Protests 2011.
The Moroccan activist website Mamfakinch! came under a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on Sunday 31 July, 2011, which blocked access to its main platform for several hours. The website is now back online.
What is Mamfakinch! and why has it been attacked?
Mamfakinch!
In the wake of the Arab revolutions, a couple of Moroccan online activists launched a militant website on February 17, 2011. They called it Mamfakinch!, which in Moroccan Arabic means “We won't give up!”.
In the six months of its existence, Mamfakinch! has attracted a record audience of over a million unique visitors across its two main outlets which comprise an online news portal and a blog. The site's goal, according to its members, is to provide a platform for free expression for opposition voices and pro-democracy activists.
Against the backdrop of the Arab revolutions, Mamfakinch! set about to aggregate, curate and disseminate citizen media material, emulating the work of similar outlets in the region, notably the celebrated Tunisian news portal Nawaat.org.
But as Mamfakinch! readers and supporters have grown in number, so too have its detractors. “The website has gained a lot of popularity in the Moroccan activist blogosphere but we had also attracted a lot of enemies. Attacks against the website started very early on but they are becoming increasingly aggressive” says this site's co-manager who also explains that the platform is receiving regular threats and countless derogatory comments. [Please note: the Mamfakinch! representatives interviewed in this article wish to remain anonymous].
One video recently surfaced on the Internet purporting to show an attack against Mamfakinch!. The site was quick to publish an article [fr] in which it (very sarcastically) dismissed the alleged attack as “a miserable spoof”.
The attack
On Sunday, 31 July, while the website was securing exclusive live coverage of the pro-democracy marches and demonstrations being held across the kingdom, access to its main portal was denied. The blockade lasted for several hours before the site again became accessible late in the evening.
According to the site administrators, Mamfakinch! came under a large-scale DDoS attack. “The attack seems to originate from thousands of dynamic IPs located in Saudi Arabia (!)” says the website's webmaster. The site's server, in a matter of a few hours, became overloaded with the amount of new automated IP requests.
“The site is now up and running and we have taken measures to ensure that such attacks don't happen in the future… although no one can be absolutely sure” says the co-founder of the site, who adds that his colleagues, “for obvious security reasons, prefer not to disclose details of the steps taken to secure access to the site.”
Like Ben Ali's Tunisia
Before the revolution in Tunisia, Morocco was praised for the relative freedom enjoyed by its Internet users. But the country is now seeing a surge in attacks against online dissidents, several of whom have had their Facebook or email accounts hacked into. Phishing techniques were probably used to harvest account passwords.
DDoS attacks, infiltration techniques and blockage of dissident domain names were common during the Ben Ali era in Tunisia, and these types of attacks are increasingly becoming commonplace in Morocco. The website of the irreverent magazine Demain Online has not yet recovered from an attack it suffered over a month ago. The website 20Fevrier.com, believed to be related to the pro-democracy movement in Morocco, also came under attack several weeks ago. It has been offline ever since.
Paradoxically, in the Arab world, the most experienced activists usually come from the most repressive environments. After a long confrontation with their governments, Tunisian and Egyptian activists have become experts in circumvention tools. This expertise is now being transferred to other countries in the region where militants are learning each day as they struggle against attempts to censor their voices online.
This statement from a member of Mamfakinch! sums up the situation quite well: “The more they attack us, the more we learn! Let them come!”
This post is part of our special coverage Morocco Protests 2011.

author: Hisham Almiraat


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Myanmar Alphabet, Names and Culture · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Ba Kaung writes about the Myanmar alphabet and explains the meaning of some of the popular names used in the country

author: Mong Palatino


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Myanmar: Number One Source of Global Internet attacks? · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Aye Lae of Mizzima writes about the report naming Myanmar as the world's number one source of internet attacks. The writer quotes some IT experts who believe that Myanmar internet users are not responsible for all the attacks


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Myanmar: Prison term for Facebook defamation · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Francis Wade of the Democratic Voice of Burma learned that Facebook users in Myanmar found guilty of defamation could end up in prison under the Electronic Transactions Act


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Norway: The Lesbian Couple who Saved 40 Teenagers · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

U.S. gay rights blog Talk About Equality explain what compelled them to write a hugely popular post earlier this week calling attention to a lesbian married couple who rescued 40 teenagers during the massacre on Utøya island in Norway last week.

author: Solana Larsen


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Papuan students rally in Jakarta · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

EngageMedia uploads a video of Papuan students holding a protest rally in Jakarta, Indonesia to highlight the struggle of West Papua for freedom and democracy.


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Philippines: #Zubiri and #Pimentel hashtags · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The twitter hashtags #zubiri and #kokopimentel which became global trending topics for several hours refer to Philippine Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri who resigned from the Senate after the cheating allegation against him was revived. Meanwhile, Koko Pimentel is the candidate who accused Zubiri of committing poll fraud


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Russia: Keeping Track of Elections · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Vladimir Kara-Murza of Spotlight on Russia writes about the peculiar process to get St. Petersburg governor Valentina Matviyenko eligible for nomination to the post of speaker of the Federation Council – Russian parliament's upper house – and how local by-elections have been held in a far from transparent process simply to elect Matviyenko, and thus be able to become speaker at all.


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Russia: Putin Critical of US Economy · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Robert Zeliger of Foreign Policy Passport draws attention to a statement on US economy by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, where he reportedly says that the US is “like a parasite” on the world economy.


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Russia: Remembering The Song of Igor’s Campaign · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

I am Donna Welles discusses the 13th century Russian story “The Song of Igor’s Campaign” and its message of the importance of national unity.


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Russia: Reshufflings in the Police · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

In Moscow's Shadows writes about “quite a dramatic restructuring of the [Russian Interior Ministry's] most senior echelons”: “The general line within the commentariat is that Nurgaliev is being encircled by Medvedev loyalists while Putin’s proteges are edged out.”


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South Asia: The South Asian American Digital Archive · Global Voices
Rezwan

V.V. at Sepia Mutiny features the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA), which is systematically documenting and preserving the history of the South Asian American community since 2008.


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Sri Lanka: 17 Year Old Boy Feeds Ten Membered Family · Global Voices
Rezwan

NAFSO (National Fisheries Solidarity Movement) blog reports that 17 year old construction labor Muththaiya Dharshan has taken the burden of feeding a war ravaged ten membered family in a village of Jaffna district in the North of Sri Lanka.


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The 5 Craziest Children’s Cartoons from North Korea · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Mark Hill posted North Korean children's cartoons conveying the regime's propaganda. Many of them are about defending the homeland and food from invaders.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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The Venezuelan Paramo in Images · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Venezuela Analysis posts a photo essay of the Venezuelan Paramo with photographs by Mason London: “The paramos, a unique ecosystem found in the Andes of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru (+/- 3,000 to 4,500 meters in altitude), represent some of the most agriculturally utilized lands in all of Venezuela.”


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

Ever heard of the Caurita Stone?  Review of the Indigenous Caribbean notes that “among Amerindian communities in Trinidad…etchings on the stone bear spiritual significance. The site of the Caurita Stone is now regarded as an important part of the ongoing quest for knowledge and understanding of Amerindian ancestral occupation and life on this island.”


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Armenia: Pagan tradition and Soviet entertainment · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Ianyan features two special reports accompanied by photographs on the traditional annual water fight at the pagan temple of Garni and an old Soviet-era games arcade that remains intact and in use in the country's second largest city of Gyumri.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Chile: Starbucks Baristas Hunger Strike for Higher Wages · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Coffee is a high consumption export product in many Latin American countries. Consumers may be aware of the disparity between how much they pay for a cup of coffee and how much the coffee farmers in far away countries may make, but perhaps they don't realise that what they pay may be more even than their barista's hourly wage, as the Chilean Starbucks workers currently on hunger strike state:
Hunger strike
The hunger strike demanding better working conditions started by three Starbucks workers in Chile is up to its 11th day, with Starbucks refusing to negotiate due to “company policies”, according to La Fundación Sol's (@lafundacionsol) [es] Twitter update:
@lafundacionsol: 11días de #huelgadehambre y Starbucks le dice a sus “partners” @Sindicatosbux q x polít corporativa no pueden dar benef en una Neg Colectiva
The three workers on hunger strike are members of the Starbucks employee union in Chile, which through its Twitter account @Sindicatosbux [es] has been reporting on their 30 day strike and latter hunger strike. As Andrés Giordano, the union's president, explains in this next video interview [es], their hunger strike is their last resort after all other efforts to reach an agreement with Starbucks were met with denials:
Through their blog [es], started in 2009, they have actively posted information on their union and their efforts to work with Starbucks to arrive at mutually beneficial solutions. For example, part of the Starbucks policy was to provide transportation to employees who close stores after 10 or 11pm at night in far off locations or in areas considered dangerous, as reported in this December 2009 post [es].  However, many locations and “partners” were not receiving the benefit, or due to routing issues arrived at their homes as late as 2am.
Back in November 2010, Starbucks’ partners in Chile wrote a letter [es] to their international visitors exposing some of the company's most offensive behaviors towards their partners. Although Starbucks excused themselves due to the economic recession, to the baristas it did not make sense that their prior benefits were being cut off, their salaries were staying the same and the yearly employee company party was cancelled while the top management went for a planning retreat to the Chilean South, complete with horseback riding and hot springs.
In the letter [es] they  wrote:
No es posible que un americano alto preparado en 3 minutos valga más que la hora de un barista.
In this next video,  The Timber Beast plays on the guitar and sings Joe Feinberg's ‘What Shall We Do With the Starbucks Bosses?’ in front of a Starbucks in Ontario, Canada, in support of the Chilean Starbucks workers:
The Wall Street Journal reports that United States baristas are also supporting their Chilean partners’ strike. In the article, Starbucks spokesman Jim Olson expressed that baristas in Chile make 30% more than the industry average and made reference to some of the 24 original demands which were dropped by the union, without mentioning the four that still stand.
Industrial Workers of the World explains a couple of these demands:
Their most crucial demand is earning a higher wage.  Currently baristas at Starbucks in Chile make $2.50/hr. while the drinks are still sold for US prices, and they haven’t received raises in 8 years.  The baristas are also asking for a lunch stipend in order to eat during their shifts, this is something managers in Chile are provided.
In addition, workers are also requiring transportation for those baristas working in remote locations and for those in dangerous neighborhoods who after 10 pm have to figure out how to return to their homes. They are also asking Starbucks to provide them with their mandatory uniforms.
Is it illegal?
Starbucks coffee. Image by Flickr user MissTurner (CC BY 2.0).
None of this makes for happy employees, but is it illegal? In this podcast interview by El Quinto Poder with Marco Kremerman [es], a researcher at the Fundacion Sol, he explains how companies like Starbucks take advantage of legal loopholes in Chile, such as the possibility of hiring replacements for workers on strike, turning their strike ineffective.
According to nacion.cl, Starbucks Union workers will report the company to the ILO for their anti-union policies. As Giordano was quoted:
Starbucks Coffee está vulnerando nuestra legislación laboral por sus reiterativas prácticas que buscan desarticular nuestra organización sindical y el proceso de negociación colectiva.
Coffee is one of the top world commodities and is mostly produced in developing countries. By far the greatest consumption is in developed countries, where people pay an average of 3 USD for a cup of coffee at chains like Starbucks. But when Starbucks opens in developing coffee-producing countries and maintains their prices, well, the contrast is noticeable.
Back in 2003, when Starbucks opened in Lima, Peru, BBC reporter Hannah Hennessy wrote about it:
There are some locals who can afford to pay two-thirds of Peru's minimum daily wage for a cup of coffee, but even they know it is a luxury for the privileged few.
And seven years later, the situation is not much different: although Starbucks sells fairtrade coffee, some critics at the GreenLiving blog of the UK's Guardian newspaper believe it isn't enough and that anti labor union policies affect its ethical rating.
This is by no means a Starbucks problem, though: the coffee industry in general has been criticized for its exploitative behaviors. Movies like Black Gold, which focuses on the gap between winners and losers in the coffee industry, specifically in Ethiopia, have been met with silence from the major coffee companies, as they explain on their FAQ:
We wanted to include interviews with all the major coffee multinationals: Kraft, Nestle, Proctor & Gamble, Nestle and Starbucks. But they all declined our invitations, which you could say, speaks volumes about the transparency in the industry.
In the case of Starbucks, we spent over six months trying to get an interview through their PR agencies and their HQ in Seattle. They declined all requests and went on to publicly discredit the film when it was released.
So far, Starbucks has not addressed the strike in Chile, and its local website [es] makes no mention of it. Now that the strike is echoing around the world maybe it will force Starbucks to answer questions like the one @micronauta [es] asked on Twitter:
Si los precios q cobra Starbucks en Chile por sus productos son similares a los de EEUU ¿por qué los sueldos son más bajos?

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Chile: Students Defy Government and March Through Alameda Avenue  · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Although the government refused to authorize today's demonstration on Alameda Avenue in Santiago, Chilean students are protesting for education reform once again. This time netizens are using the hashtag #4deagosto on Twitter to share reports, pictures and reactions.


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China: Anger Over State TV Attack on Microblogging Platforms · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

State controlled national television station China Central Television (CCTV), prompted outrage amongst netizens recently with a program entitled ‘Where is the moral bottom line of Microblogs?‘ [zh], broadcast by the channel on August 3, 2011,
Microblogging in China refers to sites such as Sina Weibo [zh] and Twitter, through which news, photos and videos, can be uploaded and shared by anyone. CCTV attacked the credibility of these sites’ so called “yellow journalism”, suggesting that they were major sources of rumor, fraud and marketing, masquerading as legitimate news.
The program also praised the efforts of an online group called the ‘Coalition Against Rumors’ (@piyaolianmeng) [zh], which was initiated by @douhanzhang [zh], an editor at the online public opinion research center of the Communication University of China [zh] – the training center for the 50 Cent Party. [The 50 Cent Party refers to online commentators who actively shape and sway public opinion on the Internet].
Coalition against rumors?
@piyaolianmeng has indeed done some good work in collating information regarding online rumors and frauds. Its latest micro-blog is about a fraud surrounding the death of a newborn baby in the Wenzhou train crash.
However, founder of online shopping website 6688.com and prominent blogger, @laorong, took some screen captures of a recent online discussion by members of the @piyaolianmeng group on instant messenger program QQ, which shows that its main objective is to discredit prominent bloggers and online activists.
Below is a translation of the conversation in the screen capture 1 [zh] and 2 [zh]:
Screenshot of @piyaolianmeng online group discussion attacking online activists and bloggers. Marks indicate highlighted points or names covered up for purposes of privacy.
The influence of V users is huge, we need to target at clearing them. [V users have their identity verified by the hosting website.]
In the future, when there is an issue to follow up, we have to work together. Let's signal each other in the group, I will join in.
Right, rumors are always motivated by some larger political and social causes.
Being a coalition, we need more group combating activities.
We need to base on facts and target individuals, work out a style that is different from the current sick online culture.
We need evidence to crack @laorong [Lao rong is a prominent blogger and founder of 6688.com]
I suggest we choose more viable targets. Between @laorong and @lichengpeng, it is better to crack down @lichengpeng [Li Chengpeng is a prominent writer].
@lichengpeng is more influential.
@xjb is also disgusting [xjb is Beijing News‘ username at Weibo]
These rumor spreaders are ill-hearted.
@laorong is watched by the Apple guy [The Apple guy is @xzhang]
Big eye [@lichengpeng's nickname] is very witty, he seldom makes original posts. He just adds inciting comments in the re-post.
Let's work together and crack down on one of them.
Professor of the Communication Department in Shenzhen University, @imsunhaifeng[zh], re-posted [zh] the screen capture in his micro-blog and attracted more than 6,000 comments. Below is a selected translation of the comments:
北区青年 随着公民意识的觉醒，统治者已经由最初的单纯的愚民，转变成了，先说一顿和民意相同的论调。然后默默接近你，最后由一帮暴徒出手，干掉意见领袖，继续维护河蟹！(20秒前)
@btchina01: Now that people have developed citizen consciousness, the ruler is also evolving. Instead of cheating people, they use common language to get close to you. Then a group of thugs appear and murder the opinion leader in order to defend the river crab.
會笑嘚豬 上升到集团作战的高度了！大眼厉害啊，但是大眼不要怕，你身后，有千千万万的草根支持你，不要怕这些垃圾，一切反动派在人民大众面前都是纸老虎！(40秒前)
苏珊大爷- 希特勒：“不要让青少年有判断力。只要给他们汽车摩托车明星、刺激的音乐、流行的服饰、以及竞争意识就行了。剥夺青少年的思考力，根植他们服从指导者命令的服从心。让他们对批判国家、社会和领袖抱着一种憎恶。让他们深信那是少数派和异端者的罪恶。让他们认为想法和大家不同的就是公敌。”(3分鐘前)
启网中国 网络有黑社会又不是一天两天了，D黑联合是迟早的事儿(4分鐘前)
aoners 请五毛前来辟谣(6分鐘前)
WinonaR 很难在其他法治国家的刑法里找到“传播谣言”的罪名。“谣言”作为一种言论，不能因其内容“不符合事实”就能入罪。宪法保障公民的言论自由，并没有把内容“符合事实”作为受保护的先决条件，因为法律不可能对人要求做不到的事情。(11分鐘前)
Where is the moral bottom line of CCTV?
Bloggers are worried that the CCTV program marks a prelude to the tightening of censorship on microblogging platforms. Moreover, as a propaganda machine, netizens believe that CCTV tells more lies than ordinary people, which has many of them to raise the question: where is the moral bottom line of CCTV?
China Central Television (CCTV) is the national TV station of the People´s Republic of China
杨过私人会所：CCTV质问微博的伦理底线在哪里？我不禁哑然失笑。 面对中国百姓看不起病，上不起学，住不起房，养不起老，买不起墓……CCTV却熟视无睹，编制谎言：童话世界、和谐社会、春天的故事，还时不时让小宋出来唱首《好日子》，请问CCTV：你的道德底线又在哪里？
历史袁老师新微博：央视问微博的伦理底线在哪里？新浪网友回答：1）微博是腐败的曝光机；2）微博是谣言的粉碎机；3）微博是真相的挖掘机；4）微博是自由声音的发动机；5）微博是民众微言的呼吸机；6）微博是社会空气的清洁机；7）微博是事件记录的影像机；8）微博是推动社会进步的永动机。总的来说，微博利大于弊
老丑：今天，CCTV的新闻频道讨论了一下关于报道了微博上的造假现象。并问：微博的伦理底线在哪里？http://t.cn/aQRYuP 现想问几个问题：1.CCTV的伦理底线在哪里？2.微博上的谣言和CCTV上的谣言，哪个更多？哪个更离谱？哪个影响更大？
刘兴亮：昨天，CCTV《朝闻天下》播出名为“微博的伦理底线在哪里？”的节目，称微博造假多有幕后推手，质疑微博伦理底线。这个节目我读出了两层意思：1、微博开始被妖魔化；2、官方准备开始治理微博舆论。
解决网许怀哲：我们这些小屁民能坏到哪去？能没有底线到哪去？我们再坏也不会去强拆，也不会造三聚氰胺奶，也不会挖空心思把老百姓的钱都掏出来。跟我们谈伦理底线，你们Y没资格，老子之所以没成知名企业家，知名官员，就是因为老子有底线。


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China: Symbolism of the High Speed Train · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Eli from Chengdu Living discusses about the symbolism of the high speed train in China and its backlash as a result of the Wenzhou train crash.


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China: Taxi Drivers’ Strike in Hangzhou · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ministry of Tofu translates a local feature story on the Taxi drivers’ strike in Hangzhou city in China.


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China: When the Concept of Tibet Enters the Stock Market · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Tibet 5100, high-end mineral water brand, makes its profit by hooking with the China Railway Bureau and is now listed in Hong Kong's stock market. Michelle from interlocals.net translates the story originally written in Chinese at inmediahk.net.


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Ghana: Towards the ‘Ideal Woman’: Meet Blogger And Journalist Linda Annan · Global Voices
Steve Sharra

This post is part of our special coverage Global Development 2011.
Though she shares a last name with a globally famous Ghanaian, Linda Annan is not related to former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan. Linda is a Ghanaian journalist and blogger who contributes to Global Voices Online on the Ghanaian blogging scene.
Linda founded and edits Obaasema, an online magazine for women. Obaasema means “ideal woman” in Twi, a Ghanaian language. Established in 2006, the magazine has a website, a YouTube channel, an online television version, a Facebook page, and is also on Twitter.
Linda Annan: Ghanaian blogger, journalist and founder of Obaasema magazine.
Linda was born in Ghana, but left for the United States in her mid-teens. While in the United States she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Corporate Communications, with a minor in Journalism, from Bernard M. Baruch College in New York. She has recently returned to Ghana, and is working in media and communications.
In this interview with Steve Sharra, Linda talks about blogging, her passion for knowledge sharing and women’s empowerment, Obaasema magazine, and all the many other things she does on the Internet.
Steve Sharra (SS): To get us started, tell us about yourself. Who is Linda Annan? You share a last name with a global Ghanaian, former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. Are you related to him?
Linda Annan (LA): I am a Ghanaian journalist and communication specialist with a passion for politics and activism involving women and youth empowerment as well as various social issues related to Africa. No, I'm not related to Kofi Annan, though we're both from the Fante ethnic group.
SS: Where were you born, where did you grow up, and where are you currently based?
LA: I was born and raised in Ghana where I lived until my mid-teens. After that I left for the United States; I just relocated to Ghana three months ago.
SS: What brought you back to Ghana, and what you are now doing?
LA: It has always been my desire to move back to Ghana at some point; the question was when would it be? This year seemed right because my plans fell through and Ghana is now ripe for the sort of projects I want to start. Also, the goal, since I started Obaasema, was to eventually launch it in Ghana and other African countries. Now is the time to start such a move. What am I doing now: I work as an Associate Consultant at an Integrated Marketing Communications firm.
SS: You have a remarkable presence online, starting with Obaasema, the magazine you founded and edit. Tell us about why and how you went about starting the magazine.
LA: Thank you. I started the magazine a few months after I graduated from college. Generally, I love to inspire and empower people and since I believe in the power of words and am passionate about women's issues, it only made sense that I would use this medium to accomplish it. Knowledge sharing is another thing I enjoy doing very much and the online magazine was the perfect platform to do this at the time. Also, post-graduation, I noticed the need for a platform that provided empowering and inspirational messages to young African women such as myself through various channels. Since it was something I strongly desired to have in my life at the time, and knew other women who would appreciate and benefit from it, I decided to create Obaasema magazine; the name “Obaasema” in itself carries a lot of weight. In the Ghanaian language Twi, it is translated as “ideal woman” – that's the woman I aspire to be and it's the woman I want to call on every woman to aspire to be. Whatever that “ideal” is, it definitely has to be rooted in substance.
SS: Who is your audience for the magazine? How far has your reach been thus far?
LA: Target audience for Obaasema is the African woman, although anyone will be right in arguing that women's issues cut across. Our readers aren't just African women or women of African descent; we have a global online audience. The Obaasema woman can be the woman sitting high up in a corporate environment making major decisions or she can be the artist beautifully cultivating her craft or the woman in the village with no knowledge of her rights. All of these women need encouragement and need to be empowered at different levels to grow into the women they were created to be. That's where Obaasema magazine comes in. I can honestly say that we have been able to accomplish the main mission of Obaasema, which is to inspire and empower, although of course, there's more work to be done. Through feedback from our audience we know that people are being challenged to connect with themselves and strive for things that are of substance, whether it is in their relationships with people, relationships with themselves or accomplishing that dream. It warms my heart to see that our contributions to society are going far.
SS: Tell us about your work for Global Voices Online. How did you get started?
LA: I chanced upon Global Voices Online in 2009 and thought it was an incredible news resource. I love the diversity of the GV team and wanted to be a part of it; I've been writing political pieces with Ghana as a focus. I haven't been able to contribute for some time now but I look forward to actively doing so soon.
SS: You have a blog, Abi speaks. What made you think of starting the blog?
LA: I'm pretty opinionated and as I mentioned earlier, love to share knowledge with people. “Abi Speaks” is another platform I use to do that. It provides a chance for me to freely write about my thoughts without the limitations of, for instance, Obaasema which is an official publication. Also, “Abi Speaks” is my way of creating another voice, a personal one, outside of Obaasema.
SS: In 2007 you were featured on Black Star News as Entreprenuer of the Day. How did BSN learn about you? What did it do for you to be featured on the BSN website?
LA: Black Star News found me online and approached me about an interview. Their feature definitely gave Obaasema some exposure especially since it was pretty fresh on the web at the time.
SS: What do you find interesting about the Ghanaian blogosphere?
LA: I like the vibrancy of it; the boldness displayed in pieces is exciting and indicates that Ghanaians are advancing in this area of “freedom.” The bloggers here are pretty active; they have gatherings and seem to have built friendships with each other as a result of this.
SS: Finally, what are your future ambitions for Obaasema? And for yourself?
LA: In the next few months Obaasema Online will be undergoing a revamp to revive the energy connected with the publication. After reaching where we want to be with this new direction, a move towards launching the print magazine in Africa will follow. Ambitions for myself: My career in Communications is going in a direction I didn't anticipate, in a very good way, and I'm learning to relax and see where God takes me in this area. In the mean time, I intend to further explore other platforms in media to help move Obaasema to the next level.
This post is part of our special coverage Global Development 2011.

author: Steve Sharra


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Iran: Water Fight in Tehran Leads to Arrests · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Water gun festival in Tehran. Photo by Amir, Copyright © Demotix (29/7/11)
Everyone knows not to play with fire. In Tehran, it seems, even playing with water can cause problems. At least this a ‘lesson’ that several Iranian youngesters learned when they were arrested last week by security forces for taking part in a game of water war in the streets. Facebook played  [fa] a significant role in bringing together a few hundred young people for the battle.
According to the Iranian Christian News Agency:
[Tehran Police Chief Sajedinia] warned “We will crush moves by youngsters trying to defy our norms” apparently referring to internet and text messages by youngsters calling others for mixed-gender fun and group activities in Tehran's Public places. Yesterday, several conservative media outlets in Iran objected to scenes of the water fight, wet dresses and pushed-back covers of the girls.
Water gun festival in Tehran. Photo by Amir, Copyright © Demotix (29/7/11)
Several bloggers reacted to this news with irony and anger.
Nedaye Sabz writes [fa]:
In this country if you water fight, you get arrested, but if you rape and murder, you not only do not get arrested, but you can even receive a medal for bravery.
Fetnegar writes [fa]:
It seems they [authorities] were looking for an excuse to arrest our young people… this water fight has potential to extend and maybe revive the Green Movement.
Derafshe Kaviani says [fa]:
Iran is a country where if you play with a water gun, you are accused of disturbing public order, but if you take a  Kalashnikov and gun down a young girl, you are considered as a soldier of the Hidden Imam.
Get Honest Third Eye writes [fa]:
It becomes a habit to relate what happens in this country to politics… some media talk about the water fight as though there were a few hundred thousand people demonstrating… I do not question why people enjoyed themselves in a water fight. I question why we politicize this event?
The blogger reminds us that there are political prisoners who take risks and do hunger strikes, but that their news was overshadowed by the water fight event.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Latin America: Should News Broadcasters Provide More English Content? · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Robert Valencia from My Humble Opinion blogs about a couple failed attempts by Latin American news organizations to provide content in English. He argues: “If Latin American broadcasters wish to keep up with other international networks that have incorporated high-quality English programming, now is the time to deliver real content that will pick the interest of audiences overseas as they hone in the skills of today’s lingua franca.”


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Lebanon: Abolition of Reduced Sentences for Honor Crimes  · Global Voices
Thalia Rahme

Lebanese Tweeps and  bloggers are congratulating themselves for the abolition of reduced sentence on crimes of honor on August 4th, 2011. Roy Tohme, tweets: ” Finally, we're catching up with humanity” while Tarekhs can't help but wonder why did a certain parliamentary bloc oppose the ban and says: ”Good Thing it passed”.

author: Thalia Rahme


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Mozambique: Behind the Detention of MC Azagaia · Global Voices
Jornal @Verdade

“You can even kill me but you can't silence the Truth.” Azagaia on the song As Mentiras da Verdade (a play on words meaning “True Lies”)
All links lead to Portguese language pages except when otherwise noted.
The authorities have had their eye on Azagaia  (real name Edson da Luz – one of the brightest  and most polemical [en] hip hop musicians from Mozambique) ever since he decided to use his songs for social intervention. On Saturday 30 July, he was arrested by the Police of Criminal Investigation (PIC) for allegedly possessing a few grams of “suruma”, a drug scientifically known as cannabis sativa, and whose possession and consumption is considered illegal in the country [pdf].
That night, Azagaia was going to present his most recent work in Maputo, about the so called “geração da viragem” (turning generation) which,  according to the musician, refers to a youth generation “that has represented and represents the center of the checkerboard of this political game which will be won by those who know how to occupy and explore it“. The blog Fobloga announced:
A prisão aconteceu algumas horas antes do início do concerto que ele faria no bar Gil Vicente, onde lançaria um novo clipe chamado “A Minha Geração”, contendo, como sempre, duras criticas ao governo. Azagaia é um forte crítico da política e da sociedade moçambicana.
Illicit Substances as Arrest Pretense
Many Mozambicans who had been following Azagaia's detention through the media were talking about a possible trap, or as the Brazilians say an “arapuca”. As the teacher Yussuf Adam wrote on Facebook:
se for por posse e uso de canabis sativa tinham que prender uma boa parte dos camponeses moçambicanos e muita gente nas cidades
Another facebooker, Sérgio Bila shared on his wall:
Não quero entrar para o debate, nem especular sobre o sucedido com o Azagaia, mas a nossa Lei penaliza tanto o consumo como a posse de “cannabis Indica” (a variedade “sativa” não ocorre em África). Mas achei algo muito interessante no meu velhinho e amigo Dicionário do Estudante [Porto Editora, 1980]: “Soruma, (s. f.) planta africana cuja folha os Negros fumam em vez de tabaco.”
The relationship of many Mozambicans towards suruma is somewhat summarized on Facebook in the words of Tony Manna:
suruma é a droga do povo desde [há] séculos, e que eu saiba nunca ouvi dizer que aconteceu um acidente de viação, porque o motorista tinha fumado um charro…enquanto que o álcool é consumido duma forma boçaloide, provoca as mais diversas problemáticas, desde a violência de todos os tipos, acidentes, etc, mas é legal!
A few months ago the US State Department blacklisted one of the most influential Mozambican businessmen [en], who had been closely linked to the powers in the ruling party since 1975, for considering him one of the most dangerous drug kingpins in the world. While the subject was not even being addressed in the coffeeshops of the pearl of the Indian Ocean anymore, Azagaia insisted on loudly singing that the country “works on cocaine”. In the song “Arrriii” the musician rapped about the pipes and the business of Uncle Scrooge, stating that if the “big” are corrupt, then “the little ones also start getting involved” and “a corrupt state remains”.
With these songs constantly attacking the authorities, many Mozambicans believe that Azagaia is in danger. On Facebook, Norberto Gravata, wrote:
Já era sabido que algum dia ele seria preso ou mesmo morto. Muitos são os consumidores e portadores de drogas e muitos jamais foram presos.
Handcuffed Words
An article written in September 2010 and republished on the Buala website, pointed out that Azagaia “26 years old [at the time], son of a Capeverdean father and a Mozambican mother… doesn't stick to denouncing corruption on the high spheres of political and economical power, but also the measures that directly affect the life conditions of the population.”
Azagaia's voice has troubled the government which has already tried to censor his songs on public television and radio, and even in some private media with close ties to the ruling party in Mozambique. He has even been intimidated by the Attorney General's Office on suspicion of “undermining state security” with the release of the song “Povo no Poder” (People in Power), where he sings about the death of the first President of Mozambique, Samora Machel.
Back to the detention of the musician, on @Verdade Online, internauts such as Muendhane were wondering “if this could be the end of freedom of speech? Or the exacerbated heroism of the police?”. A different netizen, who prefered to stay anonymous, wrote:
Esta para mim, foi uma tentativa frustrada de denegrir a imagem do rapaz, orquestrada por um punhado de gente que se sente atingida pelas letras do músico da maioria (o povo). Estes “polícias” querem mais é se vangloriar perante seus chefes, pois os mesmos são corrompidos por quantias muito abaixo do valor das duas bolinhas de “passa” que Azagaia trazia com sigo para o consumo próprio.
Poster for the replacement of the presentation of Azagaia
Ivo Faiela commented:
Mais uma vez podemos ver a COBARDIA deste governo, sabendo que a quantidade de suruma que “ele” tinha era insuficiente para ser preso porquê o mesmo aconteceu? Se foi a PIC que aprendeu e encontrou-lhe com a dita soruma porquê foi a esquadra? Está aí claro que isso foi mais uma deste nosso governo, que diz haver liberdade de expressão enquanto, liberdade tem ele de fazerem e desfazerem sem que alguém possa algo fazer.
A netizen who prefered not to identify himself vented:
No tempo colonial os poetas Mocambicanos que gritavam liberdade eram banidos, e escondiam-se em pseudónimos. Qual a diferenca entre o que Azagaia esta a ser sujeito e o que Kalungano e outros poetas do periodo de repressao colonial em Mocambique sofreram. Azagaia canta liberdade ensinada a geração de 75, quem o ensinou essa palavra e porque o querem amordaçar?
The teacher Andre Dimas finalized on Facebook:
como está difícil pôr algemas nas palavras… algema-se o dono da palavra…
The musician has been released and will wait for the resolution of the criminal process in freedom. The presentation of his most recent work titled Aza-leaks took place on Thursday, August 4.

author: Jornal @Verdade


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Poland: Story of a Bazaar · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Michael Dembinski of W-wa Jeziorki tells the story of the Warsaw Bazar Różyckiego – once one of the few marketplaces in communist Poland where sought-after western goods could be purchased


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Russia: Blogger Reveals Corruption at Moscow Journalism Faculty  · Global Voices
Marina Litvinovich

This is the story of how one blogger was able to overcome corruption in the Department of Journalism at Moscow State University (MGU). It seems unbelievable and impossible even, that this issue revolves around the entrance exams for the most powerful and prestigious university in Russia, despite the fact that this is perhaps the most corruption-prone element of the higher education system in the country.
Entrance interview mystery
On June 21, 2011, popular blogger Vladimir Varfolomeev posted an update [ru] in which he discussed the entrance exams for people trying to get into the Department of Journalism at MGU. Varfolomeev is not a state lecturer at MGU. He is the news editor at radio station Ekho Moskvy, but the Faculty of Journalism makes a point of inviting independent journalists to the commission that leads the entrance exam interviews. Had it not been for the fact that Varfolomeev is a journalist and popular blogger, this whole story might not have happened and justice would not have been served.
The Department of Journalism at MGU. Source: Wikipedia
When Varfolomeev first wrote about this issue in his blog, he simply expressed his doubt and incomprehension of the following situation: Why had one applicant, whom he had interviewed and who had received 30 points from the commission, suddenly slipped down to 12 points?
The Dean of the Department of Journalism, Yelena Vartanova, reacted [ru] to the entry almost immediately. She said that there existed a certain “institute of review of higher and lower marks”, a process which was in keeping with orders from the Ministry of Education (they were referred to as No. 442 and No. 285) and had existed in the Department of Journalism “for 30 years”.
That is to say, that if at an entrance interview for the Department of Journalism at MGU you get a markedly higher or lower mark, your mark will be reviewed. It is not known who reviews them. While the members of the examination commission are known, the composition of the extra “reviewers” is kept secret. No one knows when and where this is carried out and the applicant learns their final grade only when it is posted on the bulletin board of the department.
On the very same day that Varfolomeev’s first post appeared, June 21, 2011, an entry [ru] appeared on the Facebook page of a journalist from Slon.ru, Natalya Falkon, who had herself graduated herself from MGU's Departmentof Journalism. It detailed how her sister, Nastya, had tried to get into the department. In the entry entitled ‘Shame on the Department of Journalism’, Natalya wrote:
Настя рассказала, что собеседование прошло прекрасно, что она ответила  на большинство вопросов и в конце участники комиссии, проводившие  собеседование,  сказали: “да она знает больше нас!”. […] Насте повезло и  позже она случайно встретила кого-то из этой комиссии, кто сообщил ей,  что она молодец и у нее 30 баллов. […] Каково было удивление моей  сестры, когда она увидела напротив своей фамилии цифру 64. […] За  сочинение ей поставили 52 балла. То есть получилось, что она набрала 12  из 30 за собеседование.
Nastya’s situation is not unique: after a few days, Varfolomeev posted information [ru] on other applicants, identified only by their initials, showing that the points received by them after the interview – 30, 28 and 18 – had all turned into 2 points.
Of course it’s worth noting the problem of subjective grades. The fact is that an interview is not a formalised procedure and a lot depends on the emotional conditions of the lecturer and applicant. I say this as a university lecturer. The aim of an interview is to show the depth of an applicant’s insight, their motivations, interests and inclinations. Understandably, mistakes can be made.
Fallout
The editors at Ekho Moskvy supported their journalist and took up the topic. First, they invited Yelena Vartanova on air [ru], where she again repeated that “in the department, there exists a practice of rechecking not only all higher, but also all lower grades.”
However, Vartanova no longer referred to this “practice” as being written in orders from the Ministry of Education, as she did in her first commentary. The editors of Ekho Moskvy then decided to check [ru] these orders. The editors attentively read not only the orders, but also a mass of other documents, both the ‘Rules of Entry to MGU in 2011‘ [ru] and the rules of the creative competition [the Department of Journalism entrance exam] [ru] at MGU.
Nowhere could they find one reference to the rechecking of the results of an interview by any sort of expert commission. As soon as this became known, the head editor at Ekho Moskvy, Aleksei Venediktov, even advised [ru] journalists of the radio station not to take part in entrance exams at the department until all its rules become transparent and known to both applicants and members of the commission.
The situation thus created unpleasantness. It became obvious that there was no legal basis for the changing of points given by the commission at the interview. It also became clear that some of the applicants were wronged and clearly could not get into the faculty as a result of this process, and the whole issue stank of corruption. In general, everyone accepts this, but the case of MGU, which became well known thanks to Varfolomeev and his popular blog, had only one clear solution: justice needed to be restored, otherwise the heads of the department and MGU would look very bad.
The story ended relatively quickly, on the very same day when the Department of Journalism had to post the points received by candidates and, correspondingly, a list of who got in. The Rector of MGU, Viktor Sadovnichy signed a ruling [ru] on behalf of the Central Acceptance Commission on the cancellation of altered points, made by the Department of Journalism after entrance interviews.
A clean victory!
A clean victory! It seems to me that everyone who gets into the department this year must remember the “heroic act” of Varfolomeev. However, there is nothing heroic about this act. This is the usual practice of the Russian blogger: to write about injustice, uncover violations of rights, investigate incidents of corruption, defend those without rights and the weak, make noise, and demand answers from the authorities, civil servants and leaders.
As we know, this gets results and the example of Varfolomeev and the MGU Department of Journalism is confirmation of this.
By the way, the story didn’t end there. On June 28, TV Channel 1 revealed more details connected to this story. This was remarkable in and of itself, but all the more so for another reason. In the discussion [ru], the President of the Department of Journalism, Yasen Zasursky, defended the honour of the department and hinted that this issue was not as simple as it seemed and that members of the commission also could be non-objective:
Журналисты – люди живые, и у них есть тоже дяди, тети, дедушки, бабушки,  дети, внуки. Мы не хотели бы, чтобы наши экзаменаторы, в том числе  журналисты, слишком сильно проявляли свои заинтересованности.
The next day, on the commentary of the radio station Svoboda, Yasen Zasursky put it [ru] more bluntly:
Они [журналисты] ставили высокие оценки всем, кто к ним приходил,  особенно детям своих знакомых. […] Мы вынуждены привлекать к работе  комиссии журналистов, которые, не будучи профессиональными  преподавателями, рассматривают это как приятную дополнительную нагрузку,  полагая, что они могут помочь хорошим людям у нас учиться. Они прямо  говорили этим ребятам: мы вам всем поставим высший балл. Ну что делать?  Мы, конечно, должны задуматься над тем, как и кого привлекать к  творческому конкурсу.
Zasursky’s commentary has given rise to active discussion [ru] on Varfolomeev’s blog:
Oleg Kozlovsky – Владимир, неужели вы скрыли от общественности, что ваша тетя поступает на журфак?!
Владимир Варфоломеев – Случай гораздо более тяжёлый – поступать, несмотря на все отговоры, решил мой дедушка.
Oleg Kozlovksy – Vladimir, perhaps you’re hiding from us that your aunt is trying to get into the Faculty of Journalism?!’
Vladimir Varfolomeev – It’s a lot more serious than that, despite all dissuasions, my grandfather has decided to apply.
Who do you believe more: Varfolomeev or Zasursky?

author: Marina Litvinovich


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Russia: Police violence towards journalists and bloggers · Global Voices
Gregory Asmolov

Russian journalist and photoblogger Ilya Varlamov was threatened and attacked by Russian policemen when he covered oppositional demonstration in Moscow. He posted his story and photos [ru] of the attacker on his blog. Another story of police violence against a photoblogger during the same demonstration was told [ru] by Dmitriy Shedrin.

author: Gregory Asmolov


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Ukraine: People as Expendables · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Taras of Ukraïniana comments on two recent mine accidents in Ukraine, causing 38 deaths, and posts a video [ru] of a miner who says that mine-owners treat their employees as expendables.


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Ukraine: Pulling off Medals · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Leoš Tomíček of Austere Insomniac writes about two Ukrainian historical nationalists, Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych, who have been deprived of their posthumous distinctions as heroes of Ukraine by President Yanukovych.


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Azerbaijan: Refugee problem · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Ilkin Huseynov posts photographs of refugees in Azerbaijan on Invisible Photographer Asia and says that even 17 years after the 1994 ceasefire agreement with Armenia the problem remains urgent and demands special attention from society.


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Bahrain: Liliane Khalil, Another Blog Hoax or Propaganda? · Global Voices
Mona Kareem

On 2 August, 2011, British blogger and PhD Student, Marc Owen Jones (@marcowenjones) wrote a post about his investigation into the identity of an alleged Arab-American Journalist named Liliane Khalil (@Liliane_Khalil).
Jones traced back all the social media accounts of this persona, only to discover that she had made up all the events she attended, the interviews she conducted, and the people she met. In addition, she claimed to have worked at CNN in Atlanta and as a journalist for Turkish newspaper Sabah, who in fact denied knowing her. Three articles she claimed were published by Sabah, were actually copied from Reuters.
Twitter Avatar of Liliane Khalil
Jones also tried to analyze the relationship between Khalil and the Bahraini regime, especially since she was supposed to have been the United States Bureau Chief of Bahrain Independent (a pro-regime newspaper that has mysteriously disappeared).
In her online communications, Khalil has been in favor of all Arab uprisings except for the one in Bahrain, which she described as a plan hatched in Iran. This has led people to wonder whether she is either a Bahraini agent, or whether it could be a Western hoax, as with the recent case of the “A Gay Girl in Damascus” blog, which turned out to be authored by a middle-aged American male professor.
Khalil has not yet made any detailed replies to Jones’ allegations, but she says today that she will be commenting on it soon:
@Liliane_Khalil: I also understand that there is interest in what Dr Jones has attempted to “uncover.” I look forward to answering his questions.
Who is behind Khalil?
Bahraini blogger Mohammed AlMaskati (@emoodz) is one of those who suspect Khalil may turn out to be another example of how the Bahraini regime uses media to defend its image:
@emoodz: Twisting facts I understand, fabricating news is totally acceptable, creating pro-government international figures from scratch is a new low
Egyptian journalist Mona Eltahawy (@monaeltahawy) has also reacted to news of the the Liliane Khalil hoax saying:
@monaeltahawy: I was astounded and angry when Liliane Khalil launched a vicious attack on @NABEELRAJAB. And now she turns out to be a fake?
Bikya Masr, a news website based in Egypt, has also commented on Khalil since she has contributed writing to their website. Joseph Mayton wrote a post entitled ‘What we know about Liliane Khalil.’ He said they were suspicious when Khalil's Tumblr account was taken down, even though she said it was hacked, and that Khalil had talked about conducting interviews with Egypt's presidential candidate Mohammed ElBaradei and others, without ever delivering the stories to their website. Mayton ends the post saying:
Liliane Khalil has obviously used a number of people and organizations in recent years and this is a sad and unethical attempt to push an agenda
Later on, Mayton (@jmayton) tweeted saying:
@jmayton: So, it appears Liliane Khalil (whoever she is) is threatening to file a lawsuit against me for this article: http://t.co/eS6eA1O.
Managing Editor of Foreign Policy magazine, Blake Hounshell, (@blakehounshell) wrote a sarcastic comment on Khalil's ability to speak Arabic:
@blakehounshell: If this Liliane Khalil woman is an Arabic speaker then I am the Queen of Sheeba http://t.co/GfWyOxz
Guardian newspaper journalist Brian Whitaker has also written about the Liliane Khalil case on his Al-Bab blog saying:
Considering that she is supposed to have been reporting for more than 10 years, there is very little information about her on the internet (even less now, because some of it has been deleted recently), and examples of her published work are very scarce.
Chan'ad (@chanadbh), a well-known blogger on Bahraini issues, wrote several tweets about the Khalil case. In one of them he wondered:
@chanadbh: I'm surprised by the number of ppl who seem to be shocked by #LilianeKhalil turning out to be fake. Does no one use Google?
American activist Jillian C. York (@jilliancyork) has also reacted sarcastically to the hoax identity of Khalil:
@jilliancyork: So, yet another hoax in #lilianekhalil. I guess this is the time to tell you all I'm a 6-year-old cat from the streets of Marrakesh.

author: Mona Kareem


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Bhutan: Drinking On The Rise · Global Voices
Rezwan

Tshering Tobgay reports that Bhutan has a drinking problem and the Bhutanese government has increased taxes on alcohol to tackle this.

author: Rezwan


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Brazil: New Minister of Defence Becomes Trending on Twitter · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Brazilian diplomat Celso Amorim, Minister of External Relations of the former President Lula da Silva, was appointed by President Rousseff as the new Minister of Defence, replacing the controversial Nelson Jobim, writes [pt] Hugo Albuquerque. Thousands tweeted the news as Amorim's name became [pt] a worldwide trending topic.

author: Raphael Tsavkko Garcia


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Brazil: Proposal to Award a Homophobic Pastor Causes Outrage · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

The proposal of Rose Sales, councilwoman of the city of São Luis from the Communist Party of Brazil, to award a “Title of Citizen of São Luís” to the pastor Silas Malafaia has caused outrage among the defenders of gay rights. Malafaia is considered by many a homophobic preacher, tells us [pt] Mario Carvalho.


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Brazil: Brazilian Singer Censored by Politician · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Brazilian singer and songwriter Tonho Crocco is being prosecuted by the State Deputy Giovanni Cherini due to a song in which he criticizes 36 lawmakers from the state of Rio Grande do Sul for the 73% pay rise they voted for themselves, writes [pt] Jefferson da silva, from the blog Nadavê.


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Caribbean: TS Emily Passes  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bloggers share their thoughts on the near-miss that was Tropical Storm Emily in Haiti, Puerto Rico and Cuba.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Chile: Citizen Videos of August 4 Clashes Between Students and Police  · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Pepe Díaz, blackmetalmeda on YouTube, posted videos (1, 2, 3) of yesterday's clashes between students and police during an unauthorized education protest in Santiago, Chile. Also, blogger Montserrat Nicolas from Curvas Políticas shared a video (with English captions) she put together with footage by Hernán Ortega (@yoopinopino).

author: Silvia Viñas


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Chile: Police and Students Clash in Unauthorized Education Protest · Global Voices
Katie Manning

Hundreds of Chilean students, fighting to overhaul their education system, clashed with an intensified police force as they protested without permission on Thursday 4 August, 2011, through the center of capital Santiago.
The Student Confederation of Chile (CONFECH) called students across Chile to protest in April, a month after school began. Students were fed up with the growing privatization trend in Chile that began under Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship in the 1980s.
So far, every protest for education reform has ended with marchers drenched by water cannon jets and clouds of tear gas. Thursday morning’s protest was no different, except some politicians said, this time the violence against students crossed the line.
Police use a "guanaco" water jet to disperse students. Image by Flickr user FabsY_ (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
Over 1,000 officers driving armored vehicles, forging ahead on foot in bullet-proof “Carabineros” (police) uniforms, and riding teams of horses herded the students away from the presidential palace. Metal gates sealed off several metro stations.
The protest sky-rocketed to the top of the city's trending topics on  Twitter as students vented their growing frustrations using hashtags like #4deagosto, #laalamedaesnuestra and #camilasomostodos.
Online news site El Dínamo put together two Storify posts with citizen reactions and reports, one focusing on events taking place in Santiago [es], and another one on protests across the country [es].
Eder Rivas (@ederivas),  tweeted at 1:08 p.m.:
En las protestas hay toda clase de animales: guanacos y carabineros. Sólo faltan militares y armamos un zoológico.
Students  often compare “guanacos”, an infamous spitting Chilean camel, to the  police vehicle that fires water from its roof.
Many demonstrators remained calm, but some – covered by hooded sweatshirts, gloves and masks – pelted police vehicles with rocks. Two officers were wounded. Police detained 235 of the 800 or so protesting students.
Students actually requested permission to have this two-part march on Thursday starting at 10:30 am for high school students. CONFECH organized a second march at 6:30 pm. But both parties were told to disband by the authorities.
Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter said on Wednesday that he won’t authorize any new student marches on the street leading to the presidential office, called Alameda. He cited millions of dollars in damages, business-owner complaints, and lost class-time as the reasons behind his decision.
Unfazed by Hinzpeter’s disapproval, students exercised their constitutional right to protest. Chile's Constitution in Article 19, No. 13, guarantees the “right to peaceful assembly without prior permission and without arms.”
A contradictory regulation, issued in 1983 during Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, allows the dissolution of demonstrations that do not have the appropriate permission from authorities, i.e. Hinzpeter’s approval. The rule also gives authorities the power to dissolve a demonstration. The Equality Institute took a closer look at the conflict and deemed it unconstitutional [es].
Nevertheless, Hinzpeter still envoked the decree's power to ban the students from protesting.
Camila Vallejo (@camila_vallejo), leader of CONFECH, tweeted:
Lo que hoy pasa en nuestro pais, desnuda a la derecha en su verdadera forma de gobernar, nosotros no tenemos miedo, ellos si.
Hinzpeter’s decision proved to be a political misstep for the minister. Immediately following 10:30 am demonstration, a group of deputies and senators called for his resignation due to him authorizing a “brutal crackdown on students.” [es]
Image by Flickr user FabsY_ (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
On Monday, President Sebastián Piñera presented a series of 21 reforms that would install new government agencies to handle educational concerns. His plan called for an increase in educational funding to help pay teachers and take care of unpaid student loans. It would also offer more scholarships to universities.
CONFECH said they’ll respond to the president’s plan on Friday. If the escalating violence and continued demonstrations in Santiago and across Chile today are an indication, Piñera’s plan hasn’t placated the protesters.
Sergio Canales, (@sergiocanalesv), tweeted:
Esto hace rato dejó de ser  tema de derecha o izquierda, es gente normal que quiere las cosas más  justas #4deagosto.
Sentidos Comunes posted live streaming video of the protests, as did @VotaInteligente. Furthermore, students inside the Universidad de Concepción in southern Chile streamed throughout the day via Twitcam.
A ‘cacerolazo‘ was planned for Thursday night, as Global Voices author Felipe Cordero (@felipe_cordero) reports on Twitter:
Impressive number of people banging pots throughout Santiago. It hasn't stopped. This is not a struggle of a minority of students #4deagosto
#cacerolazo became a worldwide trending topic on the night of Thursday, August 4.
Katie Manning reports for www.MiVoz.cl, which publishes 14 citizen journalism news sites across the provinces of Chile.  More detail about the student protests sweeping through Chile is online at www.elnortero.cl.

author: Katie Manning


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China: Internet memes on Wenzhou Train Crash · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

George Ding from China Geeks explains the meaning behind two Internet memes derived from the Wenzhou train crash incident: “it is a miracle!” and “Whether or not you believe it; either way, I believe it.”

author: Oiwan Lam


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Colombia: University Dean Removed for Inviting Abortion Advocates · Global Voices
Cati Restrepo

Garciamado writes [es] in the blog Dura Lex about the debate which was sparked when a private University in the city of Medellín decided to fire one of its deans [es] after she proposed inviting guests who openly favor abortion to an event commemorating 75 years of the Institution [es].

author: Cati Restrepo


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Côte d’Ivoire: The Surprise Ousting of Pascal Brou Aka from Television Channel RTI · Global Voices
Kanigui

The decision came like a bolt from the blue in late July: The CEO of RTI (Ivorian Radio and Television), Pascal Brou Aka, was ousted from his functions by President Alassane Dramane Ouattara. The news and comments as diverse as they are numerous have travelled around the web like wildfire.
Many Ivorians have been shocked by the decision announced in a terse statement [fr]:
Cette décision est la conséquence de graves dysfonctionnements observés dans la gestion quotidienne de la RTI. Ces dysfonctionnements ont atteint leur paroxysme le samedi 30 juillet dernier. En effet, la direction générale de la RTI n’a dépêché aucune équipe de reportage pour assurer la couverture du retour du président de la République de sa visite aux États-Unis d’Amérique.
Appointed during the height of the Ivorian  post-electoral crisis to the head of Côte d'Ivoire Television (TCI), then propelled to the direction of RTI following the fall of Laurent Gbagbo, Pascal Brou Aka had the heavy task of relaunching a televison channel which was as tattered on a human level as it was on a material level.
Screen shot of a televised debate on RTI for the presidential elections in November 2010
A week before the relaunch of the new RTI, many Ivorians and observers are surprised by the dismissal. From social networks to newspaper offices, the conclusion is clear: this decision does not come at a good time.
On its Twitter account, the website afreekelection calls this decision incongruous [fr – all links]:
In this article [fr] the site goes even further by asking questions about the background to the situation:
Aussi incongru que cela puisse paraître, comment peut-on imputer à un Directeur Général la responsabilité de l’absence d’une équipe de reportage fût-il pour la venue du chef d’Etat ? On ne peut réduire la fonction du Directeur Général à de simples programmes de reportages.
The Ivorian tweep Jean (@Axiome1) posted a survey from the Ivorian portal Abidjan.net [fr] on his profile to discuss disagreement between Ivorian internet users:
#CIV2010 Sondage: Limogeage de Brou Aka Pascal (abidjan.net) >> Trop sévère à 61.60% ou 1049 votes // Approprié à 30.59% ou 521 votes
What fuels the skepticism most is the real reason for the ousting of the journalist who hosted the historic debate between Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara in the second round of the presidential elections in November 2010.
According to the weekly news magazine Jeune Afrique [fr], “Brou's independence was embarrassing.” In this report [fr], the magazine announces that the dismissal of Pascal Brou Aka is a result of his desire to cover the daily realities of Ivorians, which was not to the taste of the new authorities.
Whatever the reasons for the decision, it does not go down well with public opinion and many are waiting to see the following chapter.
For now, the transfer took place Tuesday, August 2, 2011 in the RTI premises and the new (acting) CEO Aka Sayé Lazare promised a  fresh television channel [fr] on RTI's official Twitter account (@RTI_Officiel [fr])
“Nous ferons les changements indispensables à l'émergence d'une #RTI nouvelle dès le 6 août 2011″ Aka Sayé Lazare #civ2010

author: Kanigui


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Cuba: Burden of the Embargo  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Iván García says that “who suffers the consequences of the embargo most is the average Cuban, not their rulers.”


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Cuba: Female Protesters Arrested  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Reports of female political activists being “violently arrested on the steps of the old Capitol building in Havana after their demonstration in favor of freedom for the Cuban people drew support from other Cubans and tourists”, here and here.


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Haiti: Tackling the Housing Problem  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Toussaint on Haiti maintains that “kicking people out of the IDP camps without providing them with an adequate alternative will not solve the [housing] problem”, adding: “The only solution is for the government to provide some form of public housing [and] engage in serious agrarian reforms that will provide real incentives for people to return to farming.”


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Lebanon: Protest Against Syrian Regime Attacked by Loyalists · Global Voices
Antoun Issa

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.
A small protest in the front of the Syrian embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, ended in violence on Tuesday, 2 August 2011, when pro-regime loyalists stormed the gathering.
Protesters were demonstrating in solidarity with victims of the Syrian regime's brutal crackdown on protesters, when supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrived in a counter-demonstration.
Pro-regime loyalists from the Lebanese Ba'ath Party and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) allegedly confronted the protesters chanting pro-Assad slogans, and violently attempted to disperse the anti-Assad crowd.
An anonymous eyewitness account published at Jadaliyya, and independent ezine affiliated with the Arab Studies Institute of Georgetown University, describes the initial scenes of confrontation:
We stood about three rows deep and faced the embassy as well as the Lebanese security detail. Suddenly, a group of men began running towards us from the side of the bank, led by a tall thin man in his fifties  with white hair, whom I later learned is a member of the Ba`th Party in Lebanon. Almost as if in a drill, the man with the white hair lined up the group of what appeared to be migrant Syrian workers facing us. He lifted his hands, as if he was the conductor of a grand symphony, and an almost surreal chanting war unfolded. We began chanting, “from Beirut to Hama, we are one people,” and they countered, “with our blood and our souls, we support you Asad.”
The eye-witness account continues to describe how the pro-regime loyalists tried to threaten and intimidate protesters to leave. This story is mirrored in a YouTube video from the protest by lebansyria that shows a group of menacing pro-Assad loyalists hastily moving to meet the anti-Assad protesters:
And then, the attack began:
When they attacked us, they all came together and they came at all of us indiscriminately. We were easily overwhelmed, and at first, they came after anyone with a camera. Men picked up chairs and threw them at us,  others took off belts and began whipping us with them, and others pushed, punched, and kicked at us. I saw a friend, one of the political  activists I respect most in Lebanon, being punched in the face. He  reeled backwards, and both he and I began to (me) walk and (him) stumble backwards into a parking lot where I, for some reason, thought I would  be safer. As he stumbled backwards, his attacker pushed him, and my friend fell silently like a heap of bones and meat onto the concrete  floor.
I walked towards him, as the attacker–still not  satisfied–kicked him while he was on the ground. As I bent down over my friend, I saw the attacker move on to another friend, grabbing her by  the neck and swinging her around the street in a bizarre semi-circle. He  then turned around towards me and my friend who was still on the floor.  The man, who was shouting in a Lebanese accent, was heavily muscled in a  white T-shirt, tanned and had short black hair. He approached me, shouting and swearing and accusing me of having a camera and taking  pictures. I am ashamed to say this now, but I stood up, looked at him  and pleaded with him to not hurt me or hurt my friend any further. I  opened my hands, looked into his eyes, and said “I don’t have a camera  or a phone. I don’t have anything. Please don’t hurt me.” At that  moment, even as the words were leaving my mouth, I hated myself for  feeling so vulnerable, and so afraid. He had won. Furiously, the  attacker turned away and towards others.
The attack was also filmed and uploaded onto YouTube:
What was intended to be a peaceful protest ended with broken bones, with local police admitting they were helpless to stop the pro-regime loyalists:
Three people went to the police station on Bliss Street (Maghfar Hubaysh) to file a complaint against those that had physically harmed us. They were turned away by the police, who told them that the attackers had political backing and that there was nothing the police could do. Thus a broken hip, a cracked skull, and countless black eyes and swollen body parts were all meted out by a group of shabab [guys] confident in the knowledge that they are not accountable to anyone.
Syria has always had a polarising effect on its smaller neighbour Lebanon.
Lebanese politics is defined by one's relationship with the Syrian government, and is thus divided between pro-Syrian and anti-Syrian camps.
Lebanon's own identity has struggled to find unity between those who perceive the country as an entirely separate entity from Syria, and those that wish to emphasise the special ties between the two neighbours. Certain sections of Lebanon, such as the Ba'ath Party and SSNP, contend that the two states should unite as a Greater Syria, rejecting the current political map as a colonialist project.
Consequently, Syria has constantly been an emotive subject in Lebanese affairs, as evident by the violent outcome of Tuesday's protests.
The attacks sparked outrage as Lebanese questioned the absence of security personnel during the attack.
Nadine Moawad:
Some protestors suffered heavy injuries from the beatings and are still in the hospital, while many others suffered beatings, cuts, and bruises. Activists headed to the Hobeich police station to report the attacks and  found zero cooperation from the police. The perpetrators must and will be prosecuted for their illegal attacks and all Ministries are held accountable for failing to protect their citizens to express themselves freely and peacefully. This is an atrocity and we must not be silent about it.
Elias Muhanna at Qifa Nabki condemned the exclusive fiefdoms political factions have established throughout Beirut and Lebanon as a whole:
Every six months or so, when I visit my family in Beirut (who live in this neighborhood), there are more and more SSNP banners hanging from walls and lampposts. Lately, it seems, they’ve been getting out their  frustration with the situation in Syria by intimidating peaceful protesters.
I think it’s worth highlighting something the author of the Jadaliyya post insisted upon: these protesters were brought together by their condemnation of the atrocities in Syria as well as their disgust with “the March 14-March 8 political schism that has polarized Lebanon for six years now.” They deliberately chose to demonstrate in this neighborhood [Hamra] so as to avoid being labeled as supporters of any particular political party. I encourage any like-minded readers of this blog who are living in Lebanon to find a way to get involved, join these protests, speak out, and help to end the rule of amped-up Baathist goons on the streets of Hamra.
The Angry Arab initially doubted that SSNP members were involved in the violence, but later conceded that the SSNP along with Ba'ath Party members took part in the attack:
I posted yesterday about the thuggish treatment of independent leftists (some of them I know) in Hamra when they protested against the criminal Syrian regime. I heard about the involvement of SSNP (which has been transformed by its leader, As`ad Hardan, into a tool of the Syrian regime). I asked SSNP folks who are among my Facebook friends to  explain and I was sent assurances that they were not involved. I now know otherwise. In fact, I heard that SSNP members in Hamra have been harassing those who have been protesting against the Syrian regime.
Lebanon has regularly been an exception to the rest of the Arab world when it comes to the right to protest. In fact, Beirut has witnessed an inundation of public protests in recent years regarding a plethora of issues.
However, an uneasy silence is being imposed on the country in a climate where Lebanon's major political players are keeping the country out of Syria's internal chaos for fear of retribution from the Assad regime.
This does not sit in accordance with Lebanon's longstanding tradition for the right to protest. That regime loyalists, with political backing, are allowed to violently stifle public opposition against the killings in Syria is certain to rile many in the country who consider their democratic right to protest sacrosanct.
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.

author: Antoun Issa


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Mexico: ‘Mexodus’ Documents Middle-Class Migration Triggered by Drug Violence · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Ismael Flores from Vivir México highlights [es] the work of Mexodus: “an unprecedented bilingual student-reporting project that documents the flight of middle class families, professionals and businesses to the U.S. and safer areas of México because of soaring drug cartel violence and widespread petty crime in cities such as Ciudad Juárez.” Read their blog section for testimonies and opinion.


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Nepal: Barcamp Returns In Kathmandu  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Pradeep Kumar Singh informs that the 3rd Barcamp is scheduled to start in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, on the 6th of August 2011.