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Paralympic Games Kick Off in London · Global Voices
Richard Wanjohi

This post is part of our special coverage of the London 2012 Olympics.
After hosting a most memorable Olympics, the British capital city of London welcomed the world's Paralympians for what is claimed to be the biggest Paralympics Games ever. Though the Games may not be able to rival their able-bodied ones in terms of hype and coverage, there are still many conversations going on online focusing in the event.
Leggotunglei starts by giving a historical background of how the Paralympics Games came about:
In 1948, a hospital outside London witnessed the birth of the Paralympic movement, as a Jewish doctor who had fled Nazi Germany sought to change the lives of patients with spinal injuries — and inspire new hope in them through sport. The first “Stoke Mandeville Games” were organized in 1948 to coincide with the London Olympics, the second to be held in Britain.
Adam Lancia is blocked by Shingo Gujii during the preliminary group B wheelchair basketball match between Canada and Japan. Image by Clive Chilvers, copyright Demotix (30/08/12).
The blogger continues:
In 1956, a “statement of intent” was unveiled for the Games, which were by this time international, according to to the Mandeville Legacy website run by the local authority. It read: “The aim of the Stoke Mandeville Games is to unite paralyzed men and women from all parts of the world in an international sports movement, and your spirit of true sportsmanship today will give hope and inspiration to thousands of paralyzed people.” Four years later, inspired by Guttmann’s vision, the first official Paralympic Games were held in Rome in tandem with the Olympics. And five decades on, some 4,280 Paralympians from 165 countries — the largest number ever — have returned to Britain to compete in what is now the premier international sporting event for those born with disabilities, or disabled by injury or illness.
Voices of Russia says this about the opening ceremony of the Games:
On Wednesday night, the opening ceremony for the 14th Summer Paralympic Games was held at London’s Olympic Park, and who better to help welcome the Paralympians than a scientist who showed the world that physical limitations don’t limit human potential? “Enlightenment” was the theme, physicist Stephen Hawking the guide, and Olympic Stadium the venue, as London welcomed 4,200 athletes from 166 nations and territories to the 2012 Paralympic Games. The extravaganza, directed by Bradley Hemmings and Jenny Sealey, included 73 deaf and disabled professional performers and 68 disabled people among its 3,250 volunteers.
It also notes Queen Elizabeth II's role in opening both the Olympics and Paralympics – a first for any British monarch:
Sir Philip Craven, President of the International Paralympic Committee, welcomed the Queen before members of the British forces carried the Union Flag into the stadium. It’s the first time a British monarch officiated at the openings of both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. In a statement released before she opened the Games, the Queen said, “It’s with tremendous pride that the people of London and the United Kingdom welcome the world to the London 2012 Paralympic Games. The Games are returning to the country where they first began, more than 60 years ago”.
JideSaluDiary blog from Nigeria captures Africa's biggest economy participation in the Paralympic Games:
The London Paralympic Games opened on Wednesday night and Nigeria was represented. It is set to be an inspiring 11 days of watching deformed, turned athletes show the world that nothing is impossible. It was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who said “you can’t win unless you learn how to lose”. These Athletes have suffered deformity that would have any killed abled-body, however, they have learnt to come to terms with their loss. Basically, these Athletes have learnt to lose. I am looking forward to watching  blind footballers play 5 a-side football. I have also found out that there is wheel chair Rugby, how about that….wheel chair rugby, huh! There also will be one legged swimmers, as well as amputee Volleyball players competing like its normal. I know that, after this paralympic games, my challenges will become insignificant.
Nigerian weightlifter Yakubu Adesokan opened the medal score for African countries by giving Nigeria its first gold – in power-lifting. This is a performance that bettered even the able-bodied athletes’ Olympic achievements from Nigeria. Here are a few reactions on Twitter from Nigerians:
@BolaAnt: Well done to Yakubu Adesokan!! Doing what Nigeria's useless Olympic athletes couldn't do by winning gold! #Paralympics
@lophytee: Yakubu Adesokan wins first gold for Nigeria at the Paralympic Games, breaks world recorddlvr.it/24dJ4g
@MoshdaBoss: Yakubu Adesokan wins first gold for Nigeria at the Paralympic Games, breaks world record….Able bodied athletes go and hide o….chai!!!
@OcupyNigeria: Yakubu Adesokan wins first gold for Nigeria at the Paralympic Games, breaks world recordj.mp/NEZrTA
Athletes from other nations will similarly dazzle and inspire those around them, as they overcome all odds to take home medals. From its humble beginnings in Stoke Mandeville, the place which also lends its name to one of the one-eyed London 2012 mascots, the Paralympic movement has come a long way. But in its commitment to bringing people together to test and celebrate what they can do, rather than what they cannot, its core spirit has remained unchanged.

author: Richard Wanjohi


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Philippines: Facebook Photos Removed for International Day of the Disappeared · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

Facebook users in the Philippines removed their profile pictures last August 30 to demand justice for the victims of enforced disappearances.
The online campaign was in line with the International Day of the Disappeared and at the same time to express solidarity to the relatives and friends of the disappeared.
It's also a political action to remember the 40th anniversary of the imposition of Martial Law in the Philippines by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos this September 21. Among the campaign's objectives are the following:
- Remember the open tyrranical rule and the grave human rights violations during the Marcos years
– Reflect and study the prevailing climate of impunity and the pervasive rights abuses under the Oplan Bayanihan of the current Aquino administration
– Resist all forms of curtailment of human rights and pursue justice for the victims and their kin.
The online action is initiated by the human rights alliance, KARAPATAN, and the organizations of the families of the victims of enforced disappearances, DESAPARECIDOS.
Human rights advocates, the families and friends of the victims of various rights abuses, and various people's organizations held protest actions in Manila and other major cities in the country.
They decried the mounting cases of human rights violations, with over 11 victims of disappearances documented since President Noynoy Aquino began his term in 2010.
Jay Cuesta asks Facebook friends to remove their profile photos to support the campaign for justice and human rights:
Dear friends and colleagues,
Please take down your profile picture on August 30, Thursday, in solidarity with the friends and family of the missing, from the Martial Law days up to the present, who continue to seek justice. It also signifies our being one with the call to immediately pass the Anti-Enforced Disappearance Bill. August 30 is the International Day of the Disappeared.
Here are some of the images used by Filipino netizens to show support to the campaign apart from the typical blank Facebook profile picture:
FB profile photo of Jay Cuesta
FB profile of Ron Magbuhos
Judy Taguiwalo updated her profile photo with a list of some of the ‘disappeared’ activists
Photo from Louie Arches Posa

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Karlo Mongaya


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Portuguese, a Global Language? · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

A community page on Facebook, Língua Portuguesa: Uma Língua Global? (Portuguese Language: A Global Language?) [pt], provides a diversity of materials to promote the debate about the expansion of Portuguese language and its consequences. Several critical issues on the policies of this language of around 200 million speakers are addressed, such as minority languages, multilinguism and linguistic colonialism.

author: Sara Moreira


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Russia: Moscow’s Peculiar Illegal Parking Problem  · Global Voices
Karl Soper

Russian adventures and misadventures in parking could be a movie plot. The media often borrow and adapt the title of a popular film, “Peculiarities of National Hunting,” to express the craziness of the country’s parking situation.
But Russia’s parking problems are anything but comedy. Then-president Dmitriy Medvedev in 2010 called resolving traffic problems [ru], including parking, a test of the authorities’ capacity. Relieving Moscow’s congestion, he said, was the key to solving other large problems, turning the capital into an international financial center, and fixing traffic in other large cities.
Moscow’s traffic and parking woes are byproducts of success, downsides to a rising car-purchasing consumer class, and inevitable growing pains of an old megapolis built for public transit, not the automobile. These problems should have been addressed, and were not, at least until recently.
How they do it
Moscow drivers are accustomed to parking on sidewalks, or the grass. They are used to parking illegally on streets, and blocking traffic or bus and tram stops. In neighborhoods, they block alleys into courtyards, and impede movement of emergency vehicles. Business owners, and even petty criminals, join the action by charging for parking on “their” sidewalks.
Parking on Moscow's sidewalks, 7 June 2012, screenshot from YouTube video.
LiveJournal user Sergey Mukhamedov describes how illegal parking became the rule [ru]:
Очень скоро мы привыкнем к этим новым условиям жизни в городе и перестанем задумываться о неправильной парковке. “Делать как все” – станет нормой. Сначала мы привыкли видеть, потом привыкнем делать так же.
In the past, Russia’s traffic police (the State Road Safety Inspectorate, or GIBDD) could not do much about illegal parking. They sometimes conducted enforcement “raids.” But citations had to be handed to car owners who were generally not deterred by small fines. Meanwhile, drivers defend themselves by arguing that Moscow’s buildings, apartments, and other infrastructure were built with little parking.
The numbers support them. Along with 11.5 million people, there are probably at least 3.5 million vehicles in Moscow, or about three for every 10 residents, according to most sources. In late 2010, the mayor’s office [ru] reported the city had 920,000 parking spaces along with a deficit of some 2.3 million. That would amount to 3.2 million vehicles in Moscow.
It is not just Russia’s megapolis that suffers. Peripheral cities have parking problems that mimic those of Moscow or St. Petersburg. Their rate of car ownership is not far below that of the two largest cities.
How you modify behavior
LJ blogger Maxim Kats has plumbed the depths [ru] of Moscow’s parking problems (as accurately as it is possible to do) and concludes:
[…] решать проблему пробок (в часности парковок) можно исключительно репрессивными мерами — нам нужно не увеличивать предложение дорог и парковок, а уменьшать на них спрос. Делать это можно только деньгами.
Kats believes solutions to Moscow’s parking problems are:
[…] возможно только тогда, когда из головы у людей вышла формула того, что ездить по городу свободно и парковать свою машину бесплатно в любом месте — это неотъемлемое право, а все эти знаки и запреты будто ерунда полная. Пока философия в голове такова, то никакого спроса на подземные паркинги, никакого спроса на хороший общественный транспорт не будет.
But Anton Nosik asks whether Moscow must really resort to repression [ru]:
В очередной раз вместо строительства нормальных автостоянок и развития сети общественного транспорта пытаются решать проблему чисто репрессивными методами. Как будто бы под угрозой штрафов за неправильную парковку 5 миллионов легковых машин, ездящих по улицам Москвы, куда-то сами возьмут и улетучатся.
Other countries handle parking problems by different means, and so can Russia:
В самой по себе проблеме с парковками нет особенной московской специфики, потому что с ней сталкиваются мегаполисы в абсолютно любой части света. Но в цивилизованном мире эту проблему пытаются решать, создавая удобства для автомобилистов, решивших поменьше ездить по городу. И, конечно же, для решения проблемы с парковкой строят и оборудуют автостоянки в таких местах, где они не мешают дорожному движению. А у нас власти умеют создавать гражданам только неудобства. Им даже в голову не приходит, что есть какой-то другой способ взаимодействия с населением.
Higher fines to discourage illegal parking
Administrative code changes conceived by the government became reality on July 1, when stiff penalties for moving violations and illegal parking took effect. The price of a parking ticket in Moscow and St. Petersburg rose overnight from a nominal 300 rubles to as much as 3,000. The changes also included a heftier impound fee, and the authorities announced they would be towing more vehicles. At the same time, the government promised more public parking would be made available in Moscow.
Russians seem of two minds. Some say car owners never should have expected to park right outside their offices or apartments for free. Drivers worry about spending their salaries to park in the center of Moscow. A few media outlets suggest big tickets could become a windfall for corrupt city bureaucrats or police.
But the new fines do not seem to be biting too deeply, at least not yet. Moscow’s traffic remains in the late summer lull. The real impact may not be known until Muscovites return to their usual routines in coming weeks.
Citizens also respond
Ordinary citizens have never waited passively for the government to respond to illegal parking. They have a tradition of rather direct action against compatriots who do not follow the rules.
The most radical, and aggressive, is “repainting” an offending vehicle. In a case from Novgorod, made famous by photographs ubiquitously shared online, a man painted a gray BMW pink, after it was parked illegally on the sidewalk.
Free detailing for a driver who blocked his neighbors. The graffiti reads, “FOOL.” 1 March 2011, screenshot from YouTube video.
It is also common to see signs warning drivers not to park in certain places under the threat of getting a shovel through the windshield.
In 2010, the pro-Kremlin group Nashi, operating under the STOPBOORS (СТОПХАМЫ) name, pasted large stickers saying, “I SPIT ON EVERYONE I PARK WHERE I WANT” (МНЕ ПЛЕВАТЬ НА ВСЕХ ПАРКУЮСЬ ГДЕ ХОЧУ) on violators's windshields in Moscow. The action led to more than a few semi-physical confrontations with offending drivers. (The website o001oo.ru [ru] has videos of STOPBOORS in action.)
Anonymous photograph of the license plates of cars that blocked the alley in Balashikha, Russia. (Widely circulated online. Specific date unknown.)
But Russians also employ more subtle methods. On LJ, for instance, user dimka-jd shared a photograph of the license plates of cars that blocked the alley of a Balashikha building hanging from a tree [ru]. (See photo to the right.)
Technology and social media play their part in the citizen response. Moscow online paper the-village.ru [ru] has developed a smartphone app to name and shame offenders, called “Parking Douche.”
With this app, anyone can photograph an illegally parked vehicle, and a picture of the car and its license plate appear as banner ads for Internet users with IP addresses near the “parking douche.” To remove the ad, users simply need to share the post on social media, spreading the word about (and shaming) inconsiderate drivers.
Are there peculiarities?
When it comes to parking, is Russia a special case? In some ways, Russian reactions to illegal parking are like those of any people facing such conditions. But in others, they seem uniquely Russian.
Like other problems, Russia’s parking problem has accumulated for 20 years, awaiting some kind of solution. Observers debate whether Russians will respond to repression or reason, and are seemingly divided over confrontation or a more creative, civil approach. One could be describing politics just as easily as parking.
President Vladimir Putin recently indicated that Moscow’s parking dilemmas will not be going away soon [ru]:
Почти половина рабочих мест сосредоточена в пределах Третьего транспортного кольца, а проживает здесь только 8 процентов населения. Между Третьим кольцом и МКАД живут 92 процента москвичей. Ещё 1 миллион 300 тысяч ежедневно приезжают работать из Московской области.
It remains to be seen how vigorously Moscow will deal with illegal parking. If it succeeds, its methods could show what kind of transportation system and cities Russia will have — and even what kind of country it will be.

author: Karl Soper


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Sri Lanka: The 3rd Annual #TweetupSL is Tomorrow · Global Voices
Rezwan

Indu Nanayakkara informs that the third edition of the annual meet of the Twitter users in Sri Lanka will take place on Saturday, September 1, 2012. Details are here.
TweetupSL 3. Image credit  tweetupsl.org

author: Rezwan


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Thai MP Advice for Women to Marry Foreigners Stirs Controversy · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Get a German husband. Get a Swedish husband. Get a Norwegian husband…All you need is a farang husband and their government will pay you to study.
This was the advice of a Thai politician to poor women in Thailand. But the controversial statement was taken out of context, according to Saksith Saiyasombut.

author: Mong Palatino


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Turkmenistan: Goodbye August, Month of Melons · Global Voices
Anna Fergana

Turkmenistan is often said to be the country with the highest number of public holidays. Take the ‘Drop of water – Grain of Gold’ festival in May, or the celebration of the cotton harvest in November as examples of very unusual holidays that Turkmenistan has. Then add a sprinkling of Soviet, Islamic and pagan celebrations to purely political days off like Neutrality Day on December 12, and it is clear that there is no shortage of opportunities to enjoy pilau outside and take part in synchronized dancing in this isolated Central Asian state.
One of the better-loved public holidays, however, is Turkmen Melon Day, an event formally marked every second Sunday of August, but truly celebrated every day of the month, as the country's expansive steppe lands yield some of the tastiest crop known to mankind.
Turkmenistan has traditionally been renowned for its melons. On this photo, melons are sold in one of the country's markets. Image by Grigoriy Karamyanc, used with permission.
‘Sweetest’ holiday
The melon's official holiday was initiated by Sapamurat Niyazov, the fruity First President of Turkmenistan in 1994. Each year, the head of state makes a congratulatory speech and demands a celebration of the Turkmen melon. The belief that Turkmenistan's melons and watermelons are the best in the world goes unchallenged in the country. President Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov made an address to the nation this Melon Day reminding them that “since ancient times Turkmenistan has been considered the homeland of the best melons in the world.” As noted before on Global Voices, few people ever bother to contradict him.
Turkmen Melon Day celebration in 2011. Image by the Turkmenistan International Magazine.
Traditionally, Turkmen government bestows awards upon melon growers and celebrates the harvest with concerts and dancing, as can be seen in this video. It seems that the Turkmen treated this holiday as seriously this year as in years past. Few days in advance belgiler wrote [tk] on Talyplar.com:
Ýetip gelýän gawun baýramynyz gutly bolsun!
Children at Melon Day celebration, Ashgabat 2012. Image by Turkmenistan State Information Service.
Several respondents used the discussion to joke about the current practice of involving students in public celebrations. Bahbit posted [tk]:
ertir ayyn 12 anfiteatrda belleyaler sagat 17:00 da. Eger howes bildiryan bar bolsa barayyn gawun iymage
Duygur responds [tk]:
Duygur: Yok cagyrma Önem yany zordan kanikula cykdyk. Cagyrmawersinler cäre bar diyip.
Schoolchildren perform at this year's Turkmen Melon Day celebration in Ashgabat. Image by Turkmenistan: The Golden Age website.
Foreign readers also seem to be enthusiastic about this ‘sweetest’ of holidays, and Turkmen melons in general.
On Twitter, Katie Aune  responded to a question about the festival:
[I] wasn't there for Melon Day. But the melon was really really good! :)
Turkmen Melon Day celebration in Ashgabat, 2012. Image by Turkmenistan: The Golden Age website.
But some seem to be less enthusiastic. Nicholas Claytor said:
I have now lost 8 followers since wishing everyone a Happy Turkmen MelonDay. Again, my sincere apologies, authoritarian melon-haters.
But it all turned out okay in the end:
I have now regained all the followers I lost with my “Turkmen Melon Day” gaffe a few days back. Thanks to all those who stood with me
Turkmen Melon Day celebration in Ashgabat, 2012. Image by Turkmenistan: The Golden Age website.
A Blogger from Every Day's a Holiday described the Turkmen holiday in an ironic fashion, wishing curcurbitaceans a happy day on August 12, while one of the blog's readers made the connection between Turkmenistan's corridors of power and its famous melons:
In the book “Ghost Train to the Eastern Star” the author has much to say about the craziness and hubris of former leader of Turkmenistan, Niyazov. So it doesn’t surprise me AT ALL that he would declare a holiday for the melon.
Turkmen ‘honey’ melon. Image by Turkmenistan: The Golden Age website.
N.B. Tajikistan has followed Turkmenistan's suit and has been holding its own ‘Melon Day’ over the last six years or so. This year, however, the authorities have decided [ru] to merge the Melon Day with the Honey Day and hold the ‘Melon and Honey Day’ on September 2. BBC has this photo report from the celebration of Tajikistan's melons and honey in the country's south.

author: Anna Fergana


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Turkmenistan: Hip-Hop Key to Regime Survival · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

…[Turkmenistan's] young generation literally has got nothing to do. Which is why they love Hip Hop… But the government should not censor Hip Hop… for its own long-term survival.
NewEurasia.net's Khan explains how the growing popularity of hip-hop in Turkmenistan benefits the authorities.

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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UK: Lion Spotted Is Actually Pet Cat Named Teddy Bear · Global Voices
Paula Góes

United Kingdom police officers were busy last weekend with a major operation launched on the evening of Sunday August 26, 2012, following the apparent sighting of a lion in the English county of Essex.
Specialist firearms officers and experts from Colchester Zoo joined 25 officers called to where the animal was seen, using two police helicopters – one with thermal imaging equipment – to try to detect the animal. Essex Police have not released any details of the cost of the search, but the lion turned out to be large Maine Coon domestic cat called ‘Teddy Bear’.
This video uploaded to YouTube on 27 August by  DynamoMor provides some ‘eyewitness’ accounts. Another popular image of the ‘lion’ circulated via social media was later revealed to have been faked.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwbaNN3AfsE
Vics, an English girl living in the South of France, summarises the news with inside knowledge:
It seems that a combination of silly season and mass hysteria hit the UK this week after holiday makers in Essex reported seeing a lion in a field next to a camp-site in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. They took a blurry photo as “proof” and then the whole thing escalated with witnesses claiming to hear ‘loud roaring’ in nearby houses and people running away from the “lion” as he prowled around the camp-site at night. As soon as the British press got wind of the whole thing, they went into high alert and the Essex lion was front page news for most of the day on Monday. I have family who live in Clacton-On-Sea and so took great delight in sending them messages on Facebook warning them to stay inside and avoid loud purring noises in the garden. Photo-shopped pictures were shared on Twitter and Facebook all day and a couple of hilarious fake Twitter accounts were set up with the Essex lion sending out messages about how he was living it up large in Clacton and avoiding the police who were out looking for him.
Twitter account @EssexLion amassed nearly 37,000 followers in less than two days. His first tweet alone was re-tweeted 1,104 times and had over 70 likes:
ROAR BRUV!
“It's been a great week for British humour” says a Welsh blogger based in Italy:
As armed police and helicopters swarmed to the area, did my compatriots go into lockdown mode?  No, they carried on much as usual and continued to go “down the pub”.  I couldn't help smiling as the landlady of the nearest pub was interviewed, saying she was “a bit worried” but that her customers were still coming.  That's the kind of reaction that makes you strangely proud to be British!  On this occasion , too, twitter came into its own:  “Essex girl” and her companion “Essex man” are unflattering stereotypes in popular culture [better that you read about them here] so when, within minutes of the “lion” news breaking, a twitter account in the name of “Essex Lion” was opened, the tweeting party went on all night.  This puzzled a lot of my Italian twitter friends and I reflected that, had a lion been on the prowl here, everybody would have barricaded themselves in [elegantly, with good food on the stove and packs of cards to pass the time, it must be said].  As the night wore on and Sunday merged into Monday I think someone must have called Moody's because the poor old lion was downgraded, first to a “big dog”, then to a “wildcat” and finally, yesterday, to a domestic cat called “Teddy Bear”.  But the British are nothing if not stubborn, as many would-be invaders have found out,  and as I write  this on Wednesday night, there are still folk in Essex who are convinced they saw a lion despite the fact that the police called off their search yesterday morning.
Mark Borkowski wrote a post called ‘The Essex Lion and the Roar of the Crowd’, in which he noticed how the episode highlighted the power of social media:
The search for the elusive big cat provided a never ending stream of comic reports for the 24 minute news cycle. Twitter and other social media channels were awash with jokes surrounding the #EssexLion, lending their weight to this most agreeable meme. […] Ultimately, whether or not there was an escaped big cat prowling St Osyth is irrelevant. The power of the social driven media age proves that we are more interested in the potential and context of the story, rather than the truth. Especially when we need some enjoyment to help us forget the damp Bank Holiday weekend.
While blog Frivolous Monsters posted the ‘Diary – Essex Lion Hunting Special‘ and Rachel Jones published links to some earlier big cat sightings, Tony Giles wondered ironically how come the Essex Lion got so much coverage. On hearing the news that the Essex Lion was pet cat, Rishi Dastidar claimed a poem was inevitable:
People of Essex, do not be afraid!
The lion is a cat called Teddy Bear.
The big animal threat has begun to fade.
People of Essex, do not be afraid!
OK, we admit our binoculars were mislaid
and you can go about without a care.
The lion is a cat called Teddy Bear.
People of Essex, do not be afraid!
“Nobody does Monty Python-style police stories like the Brits”, says Michael Mountain summarising the search for the lion stalking the eerie grasslands of Essex, complete with photos and videos. To finish off, Vics evokes another British comedy classic, a must watch to understand the British and their their annual summer holiday in caravans:
Perhaps next time the police should heed the advice of everyone's favourite Catholic Priest ‘Father Ted‘ and remember that there is a difference between ‘small’ and ‘far away'!

author: Paula Góes


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Ukraine: Humorous Political Ad Sparks Online “Pussy Cat Riot” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Half a month ago, after weeks of tension caused by the adoption of the controversial Language Law and in the midst of an intense pre-election mudslinging period, Ukrainians were finally rewarded with the much-needed comic relief. They promptly transformed into an online political protest movement of sorts, whose messages were funny and silly, but also irreverent and straightforward: a true vox populi – as well as a decent reference source – on the current political situation and voters’ attitudes in Ukraine.
On August 12, 2012, Ukrainian users of Facebook and other social media started sharing photos of a humorous political ad that had appeared on one of the billboards in the industrial town of Dniprodzerzhynsk. Soon afterwards came an online avalanche of the ad's spin-offs (see image collections here, here and here [en, uk, ru]).
The Cat Ad: “I learned that my grandson voted for the Party of Regions, so I re-wrote my will to give my house to the cat.” (The image is available for free download and sharing at dndz.com.ua.)
The ad, which unnerved the local authorities quite a bit, featured a smiling elderly woman, a cute cat, and this text (written in what is known as Surzhykin Ukraine):
I learned that my grandson voted for [the ruling Party of Regions], so I re-wrote my will to give my house to the cat.
From reports on the Dneprodzerzhinsk Online news portal, which broke the story [ru], and other media outlets, it soon emerged that the man who had placed the Cat Ad was Maksim Golosnoy [ru, uk], a 30-year-old former head of the village council of Yelizavetovka in Dnipropetrovsk region.
Golosnoy is running for parliament in the October 28 elections, but there is also a criminal investigation launched against him over allegations of theft of public funds [ru]. The police put him on the wanted list on July 27, but on his website [ru, uk], Golosnoy claimed that he had not been subpoenaed and thus was not hiding – until very recently, that is, when he realized that he might be detained. He considers the charges against him to be politically motivated.
Golosnoy was a member of the Party of Regions from 2004 to 2011. This year, he was approached by Vitaly Klitschko‘s UDAR Party representatives as a potential candidate, but eventually decided to run through self-nomination and not on any of the party lists. During his talk with UDAR [ru], he described his political self this way:
Yes – I'm not a Jew, yes – I'm not a millionaire, yes – I come from the common folk, yes – I want to change life for the better!
The story of the ad's elderly woman and the cat turned out to be almost as twisted as Golosnoy's story, although there is no politics in it whatsoever.
The elderly woman's photo was taken [ru] by Lyudmila Dmitrieva [ru] in 2010, in Russia's Kenozero region, near the border of Arkhangelsk Oblast and Karelia. Komsomolskaya Pravda later identified her as Anna Ivanovna Tretyakova, born in 1928 (a brief video interview with her is here [ru]). Anna Ivanovna is catless and has no ties to Ukraine.
The cat featured on the ad turned out to be American: Komsomolskaya Pravda found [ru] its owner and the photo's author, Michael Pettigrew, a United States-based photographer. The cat's name is Qtip, and it is 10 years old. In the original image, available via Shutterstock.com, it appears together with Skippy the dog, a fellow “pet super model“.
Golosnoy's political background and ambitions, Anna Ivanovna's identity, or the cat's whereabouts all seem to be of little significance, however, now that the Cat Ad has got a life of its own, with numerous photoshopped adaptations targetting Ukraine's upper-echelon politicians being shared and discussed online.
“Under our leadership, even cats have acquired apartments,” reads one of the remakes [ru], mocking the ruling party's pre-election tendency to take credit for the mostly imaginary “improvements” in the quality of life of ordinary Ukrainians.
“Affordable Housing Program is gaining momentum,” reads another one [ru].
“Bequeath the country to me,” purrs [uk, ru] from his doctored campaign ad the bewhiskered Viktor Medvedchuk, who used to head Leonid Kuchma‘s presidential administration and is now hoping to re-enter the political scene in October.
“I learned that the [old woman] voted for the Communists, so I sent her off to the vet clinic,” declares [uk] the cat from yet another one of the remakes of the original ad.
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov gets his share of parody thanks to his son, Oleksiy Azarov, who is running for parliament in the October 28 elections, despite reports alleging that he resided [uk, de] and earned nearly 1 million Euro [ru] in Austria.
“I learned that my son is planning to become an MP – so I recommended that he put the cat on the ballot as well,” says the Cat Ad's Anna Ivanovna with PM Azarov's face (in a language that's neither Ukrainian, nor Russian, but is rather close to the tongue spoken by PM Azarov when he's trying to speak Ukrainian, which he does not know well).
President Viktor Yanukovych features prominently in the Cat Ad takeoffs.
One uses a screenshot from Heart of a Dog, a popular 1988 Soviet film based on Mikhail Bulgakov's novel: “I hate cats,” thinks Poligraph Poligraphovich Sharikov, the famous cat-hating Heart of a Dog character, the actor's face replaced with that of Yanukovych, the original Cat Ad right next to him.
For years, Yanukovych has been an inexhaustible source of inspiration for political parody fans. In 2004, during his failed attempt to get elected as the President of Ukraine, he became known as the “Proffesor” due to a spelling mistake [uk] that he had made on his official bio form. Back then, he was also being mocked for his overly dramatic reaction [ru] to an egg thrown at him by a protester in the city of Ivano-Frankivsk. Some of his most memorable gaffes include the 2007 re-naming [ru] of the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova into “Anna Akhmetova,” a namesake of his political ally, billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, and the 2010 mention [ru] of the Russian writer Anton Chekhov as “the wonderful, famous poet,” Ukrainian and Russian. Also in 2010, Yanukovych was hit by a wreath [en] at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Kyiv, an incident that produced this parody [ru], among others.
This month, the Cat has taken credit for the Wreath Attack on Ukraine's President – in this photo collage by Andriy Balan (@Andriy7MU).
The Cat Ad spin-off epidemic coincided with the end of the Pussy Riot trial in Russia.
“I learned that pussy means ‘cat’ – so I've knitted a [balaclava] for my cat,” says Anna Ivanovna in one of the remakes, her cat clad in a Pussy Riot-style pink ski mask, which is quickly becoming a symbol of protest in Russia.
A mock “wanted” poster announced [ru] a hunt for “the particularly dangerous gang ‘Babussy Cat’” (‘babusya’ is a tender way of calling one's grandmother, in Ukrainian and Russian).
Policy analyst Dmytro Potekhin summed it all up [en] on his Facebook page:
Pussy Cat Riot in Ukraine.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Ukraine: Taras Polataiko’s ‘Sleeping Beauty’ Project · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Katherine Brooks of The Huffington Post and Natalia Antonova at the Guardian's Comment is Free write about Taras Polataiko's Sleeping Beauty project, which did open on Aug. 22 at the National Art Museum of Ukraine in Kyiv, despite some initial problems (which the Ukrainian-Canadian artist described on his Facebook page). Photos from the opening have been posted on the Museum's Facebook page.


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Venezuela: Preserving the Oral Traditions of the Plains · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

This is the third and last post about a special series on Los Llanos (the plains) and its culture. Click this link to read the first post, and click this link to read the second post in this series.
The oral traditions of the plains (Los Llanos) are brilliant protagonists of the culture that has spread to other regions of Venezuela. These oral traditions are mostly a mixture of indigenous and Spanish cultures, which represent the base of language and traditions in Venezuela.
Nowadays, many people from these Venezuelan regions use social networks and other Web 2.0 tools to spread, highlight, and preserve these traditions. Hence, the Internet has become a database supported by many contributions, ranging from detailed academic work to personal notes about the changes and the influence of urban culture on the people from the plains, the llaneros.
Hence, the blog Letras de Cojedes [es] shares some detailed work about oral literature in the plains, with studies on popular sayings, jokes, short stories and traditional stories of the region. In this blog, the Cojedes state is in the spotlight, since this state is considered the “heart” of the Venezuelan llanero spirit.
Spirits and apparitions
Oral tradition in the plains is also comprised of stories of spirits and apparitions. Mitos y Leyendas de Venezuela [es] (Myths and Legends of Venezuela) describes the most famous legend characters used to scare children and adults equally, and dedicates several posts to the characters of the plains. El Silbon (a person who whistles a lot) and La Sayona are two of the most popular characters that have spread to other regions. Their stories can be found in this blog, like this version of the El Silbon Legend [es]:
El Silbón se presenta a los borrachos en forma sombría. Otros llaneros le dan forma de hombre alto y flaco. Usa sombrero y ataca a los hombres parranderos y borrachos, a los cuales chupa el ombligo para tomarles el aguardiente.
La tradición explica que al llegar el silbón a una casa en las horas nocturnas, descarga el saco y cuenta uno a uno los huesos; si no hay quien pueda escucharlo, un miembro de la familia muere al amanecer.
El Silbon appears to drunken people in a gloomy way. Some people from the plains describe him as a tall and thin man. He wears a hat and he attacks both partygoers and drunken people, sucking their navels to drink liquor.
This legend asserts that when El Silbon gets to a home at night, he turns over his sack and then he counts the bones one by one. If no one hears him, a member of the family will die at sunrise.
The blog also includes this part of the La Sayona [es] legend:
Esta aparición materializada en la figura de una mujer delgada, alta, de uñas largas y muy elegante, es considerada como una señal castigadora y reprobatoria de la mala conducta e infidelidades cometidas por los hombres.
Esta leyenda originaria de Los Llanos, data de la época colonial; sin embargo, hoy en día, todavía se escuchan “cuentos” de personas asegurando que han sido interceptados en algún camino por esta gélida y espantosa mujer.
La Sayona tiene la particularidad de “desdoblarse”, esto quiere decir que puede presentarse como un perro, un lobo o como la mujer antes descrita.
Así que si eres uno de esos hombres, que disfrutas pensando que puedes tener varias mujeres, no te descuides, porque puede que un día de estos La Sayona decida hacerte una visita…
This spirit takes a thin, tall, long-nailed and elegant ladylike form. She is considered as a punishment sign condemning men's misbehavior and infidelities.
This legend from the planes dates back to colonialism. However, nowadays you can hear people's stories about a cold and dreadful woman who has blocked their way.
La Sayona is distinguished for “transforming” into many things. She can appear as a dog, a wolf or the woman who was previously described.
So, if you are one of those men who enjoys thinking you can have many women, be careful because one of these days La Sayona might visit you…
Contrapunteo (dueling joropo music)
Besides spirits and apparitions, there is another tradition: the Contrapunteo, a type of joropo music that is played in other countries in Latin America. The Contrapunteo is very important in Venezuela and Colombia. In her blog Orinoco Padre Río [es], Elba Romero Lopez describes its basic features.
Contrapunteo. Picture by Flickr user Sr: aChe. All rights reserved, used with permission.
El contrapunteo puede ser a una sola rima (libre) o enlazando la rima del penúltimo verso, es decir, versos coleados. Esta forma de cantar demanda agudeza mental, conocimiento del llano por parte de los participantes, además de la chispa que caracteriza al llanero venezolano.
Moreover, in the blog Cantantes Vallepascuenses [es], Carmelo Gonzalez explains Contrapunteo's main features:
El contrapunteo constituye la expresión musical por excelencia de los llanos centrales de Venezuela y Colombia. Se presenta cuando dos cantantes deciden improvisar versos tratando de demostrar la gallardía ante el adversario. Consiste en una discusión que se realiza al ritmo de la música, y que requiere de agudeza mental y conocimiento del llano por parte de los participantes, con el fin de contestar de forma armónica y coherente.
Cuando se improvisan coplas al pie del arpa en modo de contrapunteo, el lenguaje suele ser picante y desafiante a su vez, con temas que tratan sobre la amistad, el llano y sus costumbres, preguntas y respuestas. Algunos contrapunteadores utilizan temas ofensivos y que tienen como fundamento hacer que el contrario se sienta amenazado y al mismo tiempo hacerlo quedar en “jaque mate” ante el jurado calificador y el público.
The Contrapunteo is a type of music that distinguishes the central plains in Venezuela and Colombia. Two singers decide to improvise verses to prove his opponent his braveness. It is an arguing by using music and it requires sharpness and knowledge of the plains in order to answer rhythmically and coherently.
In Contrapunteo, when copla (a popular folk song) is improvised at the foot of the harp, language tends to be both spicy and challenging with topics ranging from friendship, the llano and its traditions, to questions and answers. Some singers use offensive topics, so the other singer feels threatened and, and at the same time, to put him in a bad situation in front of the judges and the public.
In this video, Alcides Padilla and “El Moroturo” provide an example of Contrapunteo:
The language of the plains
Day-to-day language in the plains also provides some clues to discover this culture. In the blog Historiografías [es], Jeroh Huan not only gathers some of the popular sayings of the region, but he also explains their meaning. In his post, Jeroh writes about his conversation with a school teacher from the region and he reflects [es] on the influences of language and how the penetration of urban life in the plains has brought about the disappearance of many traditions:
Muchas veces el llanero de cierta edad habla con nostalgia de lo que era el llano en tiempos pasados. Observan cómo las alambradas y potreros acabaron con las vaquerías que era el trabajo que enorgullecía al hombre de a caballo. Las motos y las bicicletas están remplazando al caballo, el burro y la mula. Los motores fuera de borda hacen lo mismo con los bongos, curiaras, canaletes y palancas; y el aluminio remplaza a la madera, y así por el estilo, todo va desapareciendo, lenta pero inexorablemente.
El problema radica en lo siguiente: en la medida en que se “va acabando el trabajo fuerte del llano”, como tal, también están desapareciendo de la picardía del llanero esos dichos, refranes, chanzas, comparaciones y versos.
Sometimes, the old llanero talks with nostalgia about what the plains were in the past. People from the plains observe how wasted lands and wire fences have destroyed dairy farms, a work that makes horse riders proud. Motorbikes and bicycles have replaced the horse, the donkey and the mule. Similarly, outboard motors have replaced curiaras (a typical boat), paddles and levers; aluminum replaces wood and, thus, everything is disappearing slowly but inexorably.
The problem lies in the following fact: since hard work in the plains is disappearing, the llanero cunningness in sayings, jokes, comparison and verses is ceasing to exist.
The blogger also highlights several nature images from the plains in which animals and their behaviors are always included as metaphors of human behavior.
To conclude, we share some of the sayings and explanations provided in Dichos y refranes del llano en vías de extinción (Popular sayings from the plains that have become an endangered species):
· “Un solo palo no hace leña”. Para indicar que una sola persona no bastaba para hacer o mantener algo.
· “Me vieron la oreja blanca”, o “a fulano le vieron la oreja blanca” Para decir que le vieron la cara de tonto. (Esto porque el tigre tiene la mancha amarilla y el cunaguaro blanca).
· “Fulano es como el pavo real, bonito pero no canta” Es lo mismo que el anterior [que el individuo a quien se refiere no convence a nadie] y también se usaba para señalar que un hombre era homosexual.
· “Arrimar la canoa”. Significa ayudar a alguien, casi siempre, económicamente.
· “Ser caimán de un mismo caño, pozo o charco”. Para indicar que los personajes a quien se están refiriendo son de la misma calaña, y no se puede fiar de ellos.
Nota: Se ha tratado de escribir las palabras respetando la pronunciación de los hablantes, tal como se desarrolla una conversación en el llano.
·“Un solo palo no hace leña” (“One stick doesn't make the firewood”). It indicates that one person is not enough to do or maintain something.
·“Me vieron la oreja blanca”, or “a fulano le vieron la oreja blanca” (“They saw my white ear”,  or “they say his/her white ear”). It means people took him/her for a fool. (The reason for this saying is that the tiger has yellow stripes, whereas the ocelot has a white stripe).
· “Fulano es como el pavo real, bonito pero no canta” (“He/she is like a peacock, beautiful but doesn't sing”). It means the same as the previous one [a person who does not convince anyone]. It was also used to refer to homosexuality.
· “Arrimar la canoa” (“Bring the canoe closer”). It means helping people, mostly, in economic aspects.
· “Ser caimán de un mismo caño, pozo o charco” (“To be an alligator from one pipe, one well or one pond”). It indicates that the people you are referring to are similar and that you can't trust them.
Note: Words [in Spanish] have been typed according to the speakers’ pronunciation, just like a usual conversation is held in the plains.

author: Laura Vidal


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Angola: Voter Silence Also Speaks · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

Reports coming in on election day in Angola (31 August, 2012) have indicated things have gone peacefully and that there were no serious disruptions to polling. Yet a number of problems with the actual voting have been reported by citizens, including problems with accreditation of observers, people being assigned to the wrong polling stations, and questions about tampering with ballot boxes, as this article illustrates.
Global Voices reported on the eve of elections that there were serious doubts about the transparency and organization of the vote. This has lead to a widespread feeling of apathy among the voters, which may well be described by MCK's critical rap song O Silêncio Também Fala (Silence Also Speaks) [pt].
According to results read by the National Elections Commission on Angolan TV, 57% of some 10 million voters turned out to the polls, a significant decrease from 2008, when voter turnout was 87%. (Abstention figures may reach as high as 75% [pt] in some provinces.) Provisional results suggest high abstention in Angola's capital, Luanda.
MPLA, the ruling party of José Eduardo dos Santos, has taken 74.46% of the preliminary results [pt] presented by the National Elections Commission, followed by UNITA, 17. 94%, and CASA-CE, 4.53%.
Complaints about organization, allegations of tampering
While in some places, there were reports of very calm, even deserted polling stations, there were also problems early on. Citizen reporter H Coroado filmed frustrated voters at a polling station near the airport in Luanda – where many still had not voted by 10am, when the polls were to have opened at 7am. Some people had arrived at 6am. Election officials told voters that they were “lacking materials”.
Voters complained via SMS and email to the website Eleições Angola [pt] that they were assigned to distant polling stations:
A Rádio Nacional de Angola relatou que na Huíla, um jovem não votou porque o nome dele não saiu na mesma província e veio sair em Luanda, e segundo o jovem: não conhece Luanda.
Polling station in Benguela. Photo by Jesse Lufendo on Facebook (used with permission)
The same website also has accusations of potential tampering with ballot boxes and other irregularities:
Agentes não identificados que se faziam acompanhar num carro de marca toyota com a matricula ld 64-69 ea que se fizeram a escola 9064 estão a carregar as urnas para local incerto. Chegaram ao local e depois de conversar com a policia presente no local e o presidente da mesa lhes foi permitido o acesso a partir da porta dos fundos, estou a testemunhar isso agora e é muito grave. Joaquim Pereira, Grafanil
Rapper Luaty Beirão after voting. Photo by Pedrowski Teca on Facebook (used with permission)
Meanwhile, netizens shared images on Twitter and on Facebook of their painted fingers as proof they had voted.
At various polling stations around the country, the vote ended sooner than expected. In areas where power went out, the counting was done by candlelight, with the aid of flashlights or light coming from mobile phones.
On Facebook user Castelo Pedro wrote [pt]:
A falta de luz nas assembleias de votos é uma grande verdade, quase em todo país, porque eu acabo de chegar em casa estive a trabalhar como delegado e onde trabalhei havia mais de 40 mesas e os votos terminaram às 17 horas por falta de luz.
Lack of observers
Journalist Barnaby Phillips (@BarnabyPhillips) remarked on Twitter that the only international observers were from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and that they were only in 4 of Angola’s 18 provinces. Louise Redvers (@LouiseRedvers), also a journalist, tweeted:
I have not seen a single SADC or AU observer on my travels around polling stations in Luanda today
And added:
UNITA spokesman tells me over 1,000 party delegates did not get credentials to observe polling stations. #Angola
Portuguese member of European Parliament Ana Gomes wrote [pt] on the blog Causa Nossa (Our Cause) that “it wouldn't be worth the risk of going to Angola to give credibility to a process that, from the outset, was predictably flawed”:
Sendo as missões de observação eleitoral bastante dispendiosas, é entendimento do PE que só vale a pena enviá-las (a par de outras acções de apoio democrático) a países onde há, da parte das autoridades e forças da oposição, real motivação para um genuíno processo de transição ou consolidação democrática. (…) a UE concluiu, pela experiência de 2008 e posterior atitude governamental, que não havia nas autoridades angolanas vontade de ter observação independente
SADC observer and Tanzanian Foreign Minister Bernard Membe (@BernardMembe) tweeted during the polls, announcing that SADC would release a report on Sunday 2. (SADC praised the 2008 poll which the EU was so critical of.)

author: Janet Gunter


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Bahrain: Chaos in Court as Detention of Two Juveniles Is Renewed · Global Voices
Mohammed AlMaskati

A Bahrain judge has extended the detention of two juveniles aged 12 and 13 in the “Juvenile Welfare Center” for an additional seven days on charges of arson and illegal assembly. The renewal is the third since their arrest and will mean that the duo will have been detained for 28 days by the time of their next hearing.
Mirza Abul Shaheed Mirza (12 years old), Mohsin Mohammed Sadiq Al-Arab (13) and Mohammed Abbas Al-Moolani (16) were arrested on on August 7, 2012, after a police patrol allegedly spotted them setting tires ablaze in a road in Hamad Town, according to AlWefaq and AlAyam Newspaper [ar] which reported the story without naming the suspects. Al-Moolani (16) is not considered a juvenile according to the Bahraini penal code and was therefore detained in a normal prison.
Mirza AbdulShaheed (12) & Mohsin AlArab (13) in court. Manama, Bahrain. Image by Twitpic user and their lawyer @Duaa_al3mm
A number of Twitter users who were present in the court room as the news of the renewed detention were read to the waiting parents and family members said that many broke down in tears, including the mother of 12-year-old Mirza Abdulshaheed, who passed out. Zahra AlShaikh, was in the court room for the trial of her sister Zainab AlShaikh, tweeted [ar]:
AlShaikh then tweeted pictures as Mirza tried to comfort his unconscious mother before he was pulled away in tears [ar].
أين القلوب الرحيمة ؟ أدميت قلوبنا وهم يجرون الطفل #ميرزا_عبدالشهيد وهو يأبى أن يترك والدته بعد أن سقطت مغشيا عليها
Mirza AbdulShaheed pulled away from his unconscious mother. Image by Twitpic user @ZAlShaikh_BH
The continued detention of the trio came as a shock to the local Twittersphere, especially after the public prosecutor announced the release [ar] of the officer arrested in connection to the case of 16-year-old Hussam AlHaddad who died of injuries in clashes with the police in Muharraq on August 20, 2012.
AlWefaq National Islamic Society issued a statement  in which it considered Mirza Abdulshaheed to be the “Youngest political detainee in the world” as it classified the charges against the suspects as “political” in nature.
Recently, and to mark Eid Al Fitr, AlWefaq and other opposition societies launched an online campaign with the slogan, “An Eid without Kids” in which it highlighted the stories of “over 90 children under the legal age kept in adult prisons with charges filed against them that are not in line with their age”. Bahrain considers only those below the age of 15 as juveniles.
Minors above this cut-off age and who get in trouble with the law may thus be sent to jail should the judge deem it fit for the offense committed. A bill to change the cut-off age to 18 was turned down by the Shura Legislative Council in May 2011, according to Akhbar AlKhaleej newspaper [ar].

author: Mohammed AlMaskati


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France: New Pro-Roma Employment Policy Strikes a Nerve · Global Voices
Suzanne Lehn

[All links forward to French articles unless otherwise stated]
The recurring tensions surrounding “nomadic” Eastern European migrants have yet again made the news this summer in France. On August 22, 2012, a new policy was enacted by the French government led by Prime Minister Ayrault [en] that would ease access to the job market [en] for the Roma community.
Before this announcement, the dismantling of Roma camps during the summer of 2012, a task strongly undertaken by the new Minister of the Interior Manuel Valls, came with indifference, if not approval from the majority of the French population. This has sparked defenders of the Roma to show their disillusionment.
The Roma community is composed of about 500,000 people in France.  Their perception in the french public opinion has often been a source of tension and prejudice. Since 2010, the community has been subjected to frequent measures of mass expulsions [en].
The organisation Voix des Rroms [fr] nearly felt sorry for the ex-Minister of the Interior, Brice Hortefeux [en], and on Mille Babords,  it quipped:
Courage, gouvernement Ayrault ! Vous pouvez vous en sortir ! Nous, on s’en sort depuis 700 ans envers et contre tout. C’est juste une question de valeurs à respecter, et ce n’est pas très compliqué.
At a meeting on the 22 August, the French government announced some “alternative solutions” to improve the precarious situation of some 15,000 Roma living in France, many of them living in shanty towns on the outskirts of large urban areas.
These measures include an easing of the constraints previously held for Romanian and Bulgarian nationals in their access to the labour market, of which many are of Roma origin. Even though Romanian and Bulgarian nationals are citizens of the European Union and as such benefit from the freedom of movement, they are subject to French transient laws which in any case will cease to be in effect from 31 December 2013.
A confusion of terms
New constructions (wooden structures) in the Roma camp in Orly. Photo by Julien Paisley for CG94 photos, on Flickr – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Roma, Romanians, French travellers, sedentary people… Confusion reigns in France between “travellers” who are French but have an administrative status of their own, and the new poverty-stricken migrants coming from Eastern Europe paving the way to racist stereotyping in the court of public opinion.
The blog Dépêches Tziganes recapped what the words mean [fr], and made the following observation:
Une nouvelle fois tout se mélange ! Rroms et gens du voyage se trouvent associés aux idées de campements, de misère et d’expulsion du territoire. (…) Qu’importe que la très grande majorité des Rroms vivant en France sont citoyens français depuis de nombreux siècles, ils restent assimilés à des étrangers.
#YouAlsoWillFindAJobForTheRoma
The public outcry on Twitter and blogs since the announcement of the easier access to work has not been privy to these distinctions in meanings. On Wednesday the hashtag #ToiAussiTrouvesUnMétierPourLesRoms [fr] (#YouAlsoWillFindAJobForTheRoma) became a trending topic in France, among a wide variety of spellings and often including tasteless puns and racist stereotypes.
Some tweets were clearly offensive, others had poetic puns even if the joke was still tasteless:
@Soldat2Fortune: #ToiAussiTrouvesUnMétierPourLesRoms astronautes pour aller voler les étoiles du ciel et les mettre dans tes yeux. Je suis un#ROMantique.
Emblematic of the common reactions found online, a post found on the forum Les Moutons enragés [fr] entitled “Roma,  here we go, now they are offering them work in France” received 100 comments in 24 hours:
Dl:moi je dit une chose net et clair, QU’ILS RETOURNENT CHEZ EUX;
tous cela finiras mal.
Dudul: avant de s’occuper de la misère du monde, commençons par s’occuper de nos concitoyens dans le besoins, et en danger….
Dl: I will say one thing loud and clear, THEY MUST GO BACK TO WHERE THEY CAME FROM; this is all going to end badly.
Dudul: before we worry about the world's problems, let us start by worrying ourselves about our own citizens in need and in danger
“Ironmongers leave” Roma ironmongers, Sofia, Bulgaria. Photo by Philippe Garov on Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
As for blogs, it is hard to find entries that are  measured in their reactions when the topic of employment for the Roma community is brought up.
On Tempus fugit… Berdepas’ comment stifles, but in a polite way:
Les 4.395.000 “demandeurs d’emploi” français seront heureux d’apprendre que le problème de l’emploi des Roms a trouvé une solution !!! Leur accès à l’emploi sera “facilité”, ce qui veut dire que ces gens qui, pour la plupart n’ont aucune qualification, aucune volonté sincère d’intégration dans notre société, bénéficieront d’un traitement particulier qui feront d’eux des “Roms d’exception” dans toute la Communauté européenne !!!
Senior civil servant and former advisor to Nicolas Sarkozy Maxime Tandonnet explains:
L’enrobage diffère un peu il est vrai : on ouvre (comme il est prévu par les traités européens) le marché de l’emploi aux Roumains et aux Bulgares. Tout le monde est content et fait semblant de croire que cette mesure est destinée aux roms…  En réalité l’ouverture porte sur les Roumains et les Bulgares formés et qualifiés pour un métier, ce qui ne correspond pas forcément à la situation des populations en détresse vivant dans des squats et bidonvilles … (…)
Will procedural changes improve the economic situation of  the Roma?
The process for Romanian and Bulgarian nationals to gain work currently assimilates them as being from outside of Europe. Obtaining a work permit is similar to an obstacle course, with the following stages to complete: one must apply for a profession in high demand [fr] from the official list, obtain a promise of a work contract from their employer and the payment of tax based on the amount of their wages, and, finally, obtain the acceptance of the application from the authorities.
Will the relaxing or ceasing of these “transitory measures” have an effect on the economic situation of these migrants? Charities say they are disappointed, as seen in this video [fr] from AFP available on Daily Motion.
Residence card, the key. Photo source: Public domain
The blog Bienvenue chez les Rroms [fr] has given its seal of  approval  in advance to this measure. It explains [fr] why:
L'argument avancé par Manuel Valls selon lequel les solutions sont à trouver en Roumanie ou en Bulgarie est irrecevable et hypocrite car nous savons que ces deux pays n'ont ni les moyens, ni l'envie de traiter les Rroms comme des citoyens à part entière. La France n'a d'ailleurs pas de leçons à donner vu la manière dont elle traite ses propres “gens du voyage”, pourtant citoyens français.
La divine comédie without hesitation supports the Roma cause but sees another obstacle [fr]:
On nous annonce que le gouvernement Z'Ayrault va ouvrir les métiers en tension aux Roms. Je me marre …. Ce serait en effet bien que les Roms aient accès à certains métiers en tension, hôtellerie, restauration, BTP, métiers de service, aide à la personne. Mais vous le voyez quand vous passez devant un chantier ou quand l'aide ménagère vient visiter la mémé voisine, tous ces emplois sont cooptés par des Africains, majoritairement.(…)
Donc, pour que ça change vraiment maintenant, il faut plus qu'une volonté politique d'intégration. Il faut une volonté soutenue de la part des entrepreneurs et des recruteurs. Et cela sera beaucoup plus difficile à obtenir, parce qu'une fois que les habitudes sont prises il est difficile de faire dévier l'âne de sa trajectoire.

author: Suzanne Lehn


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French Coach Appointed to Change Kenyan Football Fortunes · Global Voices
Richard Wanjohi

On 29 August, 2012, Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Chairman Sam Nyamweya announced that former French footballer and coach Henri Michel has been appointed national team coach. After a string of bad results from the national team and missing out on two consecutive Africa Cup of Nations, as well as failing to reach the finals of regional football tournaments, FKF officials are feeling the pressure to find a way to get results.
Bloggers in Kenya had their own views about Henri Michel's appointment. Chenga Funga states this in his post ‘The Rule of Knowns‘:
A 3 way dilemma. That’s what has led FKF to Henri. Michel Simply put, would you rather the known-known, known unknown or unknown unknowns? After witnessing the Harambee stars struggle to strike lustre in the beautiful game, stakeholders have been touting names foreign to the Kenyan tongue for the national team’s top job. The dilemma therein. Others have been tried and tested in the recent past, and not many have impressed: Francis Kimanzi, “Ghost” Mulee, Antoine Hey and Zico, didn’t quite cut it. So Sam Nyamweya and Football Kenya Federation opted to chance with the known-unknowns, Raymond Domenech (yes, him), Claude Leroy, Oto Pfister, Adel Amrouche and Frenchman Michel from a more extensive shortlist. Many boast noteworthy success under their managerial careers and therefore felt equal to the task. Put in mind our football team is a wild card. Has been for a while now. In a minute way, VERY MINUTE, our position is similar to England’s, currently bossed by Roy Hodgson. Bags of potential, no actual results. Admittedly, we should be thankful for the national coaches we have had, but life goes on, and it has, with Frenchman Henri Michel. Our known unknown.
MutuaMaundu‘s blog also played down the expectations put on Monsieur Michel:
The whole country has almost gone hysterical about it. To many, Henri Michel is the much-needed messiah to the Kenyan soccer that has literally seen the worst. The French-man may have unrivalled feathers to his cap, but as a nation that has suffered heartbreaks and anguish due to an under-performing national team, let us tone down our expectations. It will be prudent not to expect too much.


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Hungary: Government Criticized for Its Handling of Ramil Safarov’s Case · Global Voices
Marietta Le

The extradition of Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan was based on the belief that he would continue to serve his life sentence there (the Hungarian government claimed this in an official statement [hu] on Friday). After Azerbaijan gave amnesty to the convicted murderer, however,  Armenia suspended diplomatic relations with Hungary.
In 2004, Safarov was arrested in Hungary and later convicted for killing Gurgen Margaryan, an Armenian citizen, while both were participating in a NATO course in Budapest.
The Hungarian government has entered a very sensitive conflict, and Hungarian bloggers expressed their disappointment over the country's extremely unfortunate diplomatic resolution of Safarov's case. (A GV text on the reactions of Armenian and Azerbaijani bloggers is here.)
Ramil Safarov's portrait is set on fire during the protest by the Hungarian Embassy in Armenia's capital Yerevan. Photo by Steve Storey, copyright © Demotix (31/08/2012).
Örülünk, Vincent? blog wrote [hu]:
After the session of the National Security Council, Serzh Sargsyan, the Armenian President, announced that he gave an order to the Minister of Defense to put the Armenian Army units on special alert, and at the same time he announced that they were severing diplomatic and other ties with Hungary. Wow.
This is the greatest success of the Hungarian diplomacy so far. We have never gotten into a fight with any country this fast before. […]
Kettős Mérce blog's reaction [hu] was to mock the Hungarian government's rhetoric on opening up to and strengthening economic ties with Azerbaijan:
[…] But the punchline is still the fact that despite the Azeri government's promise that the young man would serve his remaining term, today the Azeri news agency reported that he got amnesty from the Azeri president. Long live the policy of opening up to the East, the reputation of Hungary and the truth that can be bought!
Vastagbőr blog cites the main events that led up to the current situation. The title of the post is “For money, anything” [hu]:
2004: Ramil Safarov, Zrínyi Miklós National Defence University's Azeri student, killed with an axe his Armenian fellow student. In his country he became a hero, because, according to them, killing an Armenian is [freaking] cool.
2006: The Hungarian court convicted Ramil Safarov to life. Azerbaijan has continuously demanded the man's extradition, but the Hungarian state kept refusing.
July 2012: Viktor Orbán [the Hungarian PM] in Azerbaijan: “closer cooperation with the Caspian Sea region.”
July 2012: [The Hungarian PM's spokesman] Péter Szijjártó's discussion with the Azeri Minister of Economic Development during his two-day visit to Baku.
August 23, 2012: A source close to the Ministry for National Economy told the Figyelő [weekly] that Azerbaijan might buy 2- or 3-year Hungarian bonds worth 2 or 3 billion Euros. This sum would cover the majority of our country's planned foreign currency bond issues this year.
August 25, 2012: Armenian NGOs protested against the potential extradition of Ramil Safarov, known as the Azeri axe murderer, who was convicted and is serving his term in Hungary.
August 31, 2012: Today the [Ministry of Public Administration and Justice], complying with the demand of Azerbaijan, transferred the convicted murderer to Baku, since “the Azeri ministry informed the [Ministry of Public Administration and Justice] that they woulnd't alter Safarov's conviction, but directly countinue carrying out the conviction based upon the Hungarian sentence.
While no official comment has been released on behalf of Hungary regarding the suspension of diplomatic ties with Armenia yet, Hungarian social media users are circulating the U.S. statement condemning the extradition.
Due to the flood of English-language comments critizing the Hungarian government, commenting has been disabled on PM Viktor Orbán's offical Facebook page. Harsh comments have also been posted on the Facebook page of the Embassy of Hungary in the United States.
Arsen Kharatyan, who protested in front of the Hungarian Embassy in Washington, D.C., shared a photo of himself holding a poster that read, “Buy justice in Hungary for 2 bln. $.”

author: Marietta Le


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Malaysia Says It Set World Twitter Record on Independence Day · Global Voices
Jerrenn Lam

Malaysians sent 3.6 million twitter messages using the hashtag #merdeka55 during the August 31 Independence Day celebration. Malaysia believes it set a new world twitter record for the most number of twitter messages sent in one hour.
Organisers of the Janji Demokrasi (Promise of Democracy) celebration at Dataran Merdeka came up with the initiative to have attendees post their Independence Day messages on twitter with the hashtag #Merdeka55 (Merdeka means independence in Malay).
These tweets ranged from celebratory statements, to nationalistic ones, to humorous ones.
Merdeka celebration in Malaysia. Photo from Flickr page en-shahdi II
@KellyforniaGirl Happy 55 years of independence Malaysia ! I'm so proud to call you my home and even prouder to call myself a Malaysian. Selamat #Merdeka55!
@Evienereal Woaaa. I love how Merdeka square has turned into a demonstration hub on Independence Day. #Merdeka55
@appletej Happy Independence Day #Malaysia !! To more glorious years of freedom and prosperity!! #Merdeka55
@MalaysianVoice The fact that Merdeka is happening on a Friday is just awesome, long weekend for everyone #Merdeka55
@LisaSurihani :) No political ideologies or agendas. :) I am here to celebrate as a Malaysian. Saya anak jati Malaysia. #merdeka55
@sharifahaLEYA Freedom to speak, to think, to create, to express. May not be fully there yet, but at least we hve the freedom to dream. #merdeka55
@TypicalMsian Always kutuk Malaysia but never fall out of love with Malaysia. Because we only want the best for our country #Merdeka55
@Jenn_Thompson Politics and the love of your country are 2 separate things. Therefore in the spirit of patriotism let's celebrate #Merdeka55!
For some pictures and commentary on the event, Joshua Ong took pictures in his blog.
But there are reports that automated twitter messages were sent by machines.
@imShahidah: 720 tweets/min for #Merdeka55. Use of bots tweeting exact same tweet at the exact same time.
@rosli_s: @politweetorg: Mentions of #Merdeka55 were climbing rapidly at an est. 720 tweets/minute. Noticeable use of bots tweeting
@aafaizli: hijacked by bots tweeting the same tweet at 720 tweets/min – what to do. Anyway Happy Merdeka yeah

author: Jerrenn Lam


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Mexico: Court Rejects Challenge to Overturn Presidential Election · Global Voices
J. Tadeo

On August 30, 2012, the Federal Electoral Tribunal (TEPJF) of Mexico rejected the petition to overturn the Presidential election of last July 1.
In a public session, the magistrates declared unanimously [es] that the alleged offenses presented by the Progressive Coalition (whose candidate was Andrés Manuel López Obrador) were groundless; therefore, it was unfair to declare the Presidential election null as the people unhappy by the results wanted.
The Magistrate President of the Tribunal, Jesús Alejandro Luna Ramos [es], declared:
A lo largo de mi labor jurisdiccional he tenido la fortuna de resolver innumerables y muy intrincados asuntos, inclusive de tipo similar al de la gravedad que ahora nos ocupa, y en ninguno de ellos he sido influido por otra cuestión que no sea la justicia y el derecho. Por esta vía, he colaborado a la independencia de este Poder Judicial Federal, al que he consagrado mi profesión y mi vida, y seguiré haciéndolo.
Throughout my judicial career, I have had the fortune to solve countless intricate cases, similar even in gravity to the one that brings us together today, and in none of them I have been influenced by anything other than justice and law. In this way, I have collaborated with the independence of the Federal Judicial Power, to which I have devoted my profession and my life and will keep on doing it.
Once the ruling was known, the two times Presidential candidate Andrés López Obrador announced that he will not recognize the power that comes from this contested election, which he qualified as illegitimate. He also said that civil disobedience is an “honorable duty against the thieves of hope” and made a call to his followers to reunite at the Zocalo (downtown) in Mexico City next September 9.
Third Mega Protest against Imposition. Guadalajara, Mexico, July 22nd, 2012. Picture by Marte Merlos under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) license.
The reactions on Twitter after the TEPJF's resolution have been numerous and plural. Analyst Gabriel Guerra (@gabrielguerra) [es] focused on the definite character of the electoral court ruling:
@gabrielguerra: Nos guste o no, el TEPJF es la última instancia y su fallo es inapelable e inatacable. Ahora, hay MUCHO q arreglar en legislación electoral [sic]
@gabrielguerra [es]: Like it or not, the TEPJF is the last instance and its ruling is final and incontestable. Now, there is A LOT to fix in the electoral legislation
Congressman Gerardo Fernández (@fernandesnorona) [es] commented that the resolution didn't surprise him:
@fernandesnorona: Todo mundo sabíamos lo que resolvería el TEPJF a menos que se fuera muy ingenuo.
@fernandesnorona [es]: Everybody knew what the TEPJF was going to rule unless he/she was very naive.
Unhappy with the results of the election and the contest itself, Dr. John M. Ackerman (@JohnMAckerman) [es] expressed:
@JohnMAckerman: IFE [Instituto Federal Electoral] y TEPJF son producto de grandes luchas sociales a favor de la democracia. Hoy le dan la espalda a la cddnía [ciudadanía] y traicionan sus orígenes.
@JohnMAckerman [es]: The IFE (Federal Electoral Institute) and the TEPJF are the product of the great social struggles that favored democracy. Now they turn their backs on citizens and betray their origins.
Also, Profesor Ackerman called [es] citizens to protest:
@JohnMAckerman: Lamentablemente, con las cosas como están la mejor vía es la movilización ciudadana, pacífica y exigente.
@JohnMAckerman [es]: Unfortunately, considering he way things are now, the best course of action are peaceful and demanding citizen protests.
Even sports commentator Carlos Albert (@calber57) [es] took the opportunity to talk about the vote buying phenomenon and questioned the electoral court's integrity:
@calber57: Miles de mexicanos amolados vendieron su voto por uns cuantos pesos ¿por cuantos millones de pesos lo habran vendido los jueces del TRIFE? [sic]
@calber57 [es]: Thousands of poor Mexicans sold their vote for a few pesos, for how many millions did the TRIFE judges sold theirs?
José Luis Ángeles (@pequenolebowski) [es] expressed his outrage and hinted that foreign interests might have played a role in the TEPJF's decision:
@pequenolebowski: Mi indignación por el fallo de las elecciones mexicanas, ya van no sé cuántas. El vecino del norte [EUA] es muy poderoso, según se ve.
@pequenolebowski [es]: I'm outraged about the resolution of the Mexican elections; I've lost count of how many. The northern neighbor (USA) is very powerful as you can see.
The candidate that according to the official information [es] got the majority of the votes, Enrique Peña Nieto (@EPN) [es], received the electoral court ruling:
@EPN: El TEPJF resolvió el último de los medios de impugnación interpuestos. Es momento de iniciar una nueva etapa de trabajo en favor de México.
@EPN [es]: The TEPJF solved the last contest resource presented. It is time to start a new phase of work for Mexico.
Moreover, members and followers of the youth movement named #YoSoy132 (I am 132) took the TEPJF's decision with displeasure and expressed their intention to renew protests. User Alinna Duarte (@aLinnoize) [es] said:
Mega march, July 2012. Photo by Javier Armas under Creative Commons license (CC BY 2.0)
@aLinnoize: Urge retomar el programa de lucha como medio y fin trascendiendo la coyuntura electoral. ¡El #Yosoy132 no depende del TEPJF!
@aLinnoize [es]: It's urgent we resume our struggle as a mean and an end that goes beyond the electoral impasse. #Yosoy132 does not depend on the TEPJF!
David Ordaz (@david_ordaz) [es] informed in real time about the protests following the resolution:
@david_ordaz: Alrededor de 50 integrantes de #YoSoy132 impiden el cobro de peaje en la caseta México-Cuernavaca, en repudio al fallo del TEPJF.
@david_ordaz [es]: Close to 50 members of #Yosoy132 prevent toll collection at the Mexico-Cuernavaca highway as a way to show their rejection of the TEPJF's ruling.
Journalist Jenaro Villamil (@jenarovillamil) [es] reported on the “Funeral Procession” that the above mentioned youth group organized:
@jenarovillamil: Marcha fúnebre de C.U. al TEPJF y presentación de contrainforme de gobierno: próximas acciones de #YoSoy132 – http://bit.ly/S5xkV1
@jenarovillamil [es]: Funeral procession from C.U. to TEPJF and the presentation of a government counter-report: the next steps of #YoSoy132 http://bit.ly/S5xkV1
It is worth noting that the discontent is not general. Some took the news on the decision of the TEPJF with joy. Noel Pinacho (@NoelPinacho) [es] was one of them:
@NoelPinacho: Se demostró una elección limpia ante el #TEPJF. Muchas felicidades a @EPN, quien fue declarado oficialmente Pte. electo de México. [sic]
@NoelPinacho [es]: A clean election was demonstrated before the #TEPJF. Congratulations to @EPN who was officially pronounced President Elect of Mexico.
Similarly, Maximiliano Trejo G (@Max_Trejo_G) [es] said:
@Max_Trejo_G: Al resolver el TEPJF el recurso de impugnación dictando sentencia inapelable, confirma el triunfo de @EPN felicidades al Presidente Electo [sic].
@Max_Trejo_G [es]: As the TEPJF solved the contest pronouncing an unappealable ruling, the triumph of @EPN is confirmed, congratulations to the President Elect.
The TEPJF has determined the final result of the Mexican Presidential election of 2012. In the upcoming days, President Felipe Calderón will have to give his annual report to the Congress, as stated in the Constitution. His term will come to an end on December 1, 2012.

author: J. Tadeo


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Philippines: Plastic Ban Map · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A google map page shows the cities and municipalities in the Philippines which have banned the use of plastic in commercial establishments.


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Russia: Activist Jailed on Trumped Up Drug Charges · Global Voices
Masha

This post is part of our special coverage Russia's Protest Movement.
Earlier this week, the list of what many are calling Russia's ‘political prisoners’ grew yet again. On August 28, an Other Russia [ru] activist Taisiya Osipova [ru] was sentenced to eight years in prison for drug possession — four years more than the prosecution had requested. Osipova, a diabetic mother, was originally sentenced to ten years, but her case was sent back to a district court for a retrial, after then-President Dmitri Medvedev publicized his disapproval of the sentence and promised [ru] to have state prosecutors “deal with the case.”
Osipova's new verdict has left bloggers questioning both Medvedev’s integrity and his remaining influence within the government. Opposition leader Boris Nemtsov wrote [ru] on his Facebook:
Д. Медведев дважды мне и моим соратникам обещал помочь освободить Таисию. Помог, как видите. Ну почему они такие ничтожные, подлые вруны???
Flawed case for the prosecution
Strategy-31 protest dedicated to Taisiya Osipova and Pussy Riot. Petersburg, Russia. 31 August 2012, photo by Mike Kireev, copyright © Demotix.
The circumstances of Osipova's arrest and imprisonment remain suspicious. Police searching her apartment committed numerous procedural violations, with only one witness. Later, that witness claimed that he saw the police planting drugs in the apartment; his words were confirmed by a lie detector test. The court, however, dismissed his testimony.
The three young women [ru] who allegedly participated in a sting operation, purchasing drugs from Osipova, are also members of pro-Kremlin youth groups NASHI and Molodaya Gvardiya. Moreover, some evidence indicates that they were elsewhere during the supposed drug-buy. While the police usually use marked bills in sting operations, only one such bill was found in her flat. Osipova's supporters argue that it was likely planted there, along with 10 grams of heroin.
Furthermore, blogger Vladislav Naganov questions [ru] whether Osipova's harsh sentence reflects standard court practices in drug-related cases. According to his research, defendants convicted of similar crimes are usually sentenced to 2-to-4 years, instead of 8:
Буквально на днях организатора наркопритона под Калининградом (г. Черняховск) осудили на 2 года условно, хотя он был признан виновным и в незаконном приобретении, и хранении без цели сбыта наркотических средств в крупном размере.
The examples go on. Journalist Demyan Kudryavtsev believes [ru]:
Удвоить запрошенный прокурором срок по преступлению не связанному с насилием – это окончательное превращение судебной системы в карательную.
Why was Osipova punished so severely? Her allies, which seems to include the majority of Russian netizens, believe that the authorities framed her, in order to force her to testify [ru] against her husband, Sergei Fomchenkov, a regional leader of Other Russia. That movement — particularly its leader, Eduard Limonov — is regularly targeted by police, just as law enforcement hounded its predecessor, the National Bolsheviks. As Limonov himself wrote [ru] in his blog:
Восемь лет за решеткой для женщины с диабетом, – это смертная казнь. Они хотят убить Тасю. Заметно, насколько  приговоры по нацболам суровее  простых репрессий.
Parallels with Pussy Riot
A week before Osipova's eight-year judgment was announced, the three women from Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in prison. The two decisions seem at odds with both legal precedent and common sense. Pussy Riot, however, has become a symbol of Russia's political opposition. Osipova's case, on the other hand, has not attracted [ru] much attention from either international or domestic audiences. Global celebrities like Paul McCartney and Madonna (who spoke out on behalf of the jailed punk rockers) have been silent about Osipova, a provincial opposition activist, who will spend four times longer behind bars for actions she may never have committed in the first place.
This post is part of our special coverage Russia's Protest Movement.

author: Masha


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Saudi Arabia: Trial Challenged by Prominent Human Rights Reformists · Global Voices
Anas Soliman

Saudi prominent human rights defenders and reformists Mohammad al-Qahtani and Abdullah al-Hamid, whose long human rights advocacy records include taking part in founding the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, had the second hearing of their trials at Riyadh Criminal Court earlier today, September 1. The first hearing sessions of both of their trials were held separately last June, when the judge decided that the second hearing sessions for both of them would be held at the same time.
The charges against al-Hamid include:
Abdullah al-Hamad sat on the floor after the court room got full of attendees via @abdulrhmansh
A few days ago, al-Hamid called upon people to attend the hearing session and many reformist figures did.
Saudi journalist and publisher Nawaf al-Qudaimi was among those who attended and he tweeted:
Saudi journalist and human rights defender Iman al-Qahtani was also among the attendees. She was live-tweeting from the session:
The judge decided to hold the next session tomorrow, September 2, but it will not be public:
Saudi famous blogger Fouad al-Fahran expressed his support by tweeting:

author: Anas Soliman


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South Africa: Speakers at Highway Africa 2012 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Here is a list of some of the Speakers at the Highway Africa and Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) conference in Grahamstown, South Africa, which takes place on 9-12, September, 2012.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Thailand: Concern About Human Rights Violations · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Asian Legal Resource Centre calls on the Government of Thailand to carefully examine the practices and policies extant inside the security forces to ensure that “duty” does not stand as justification for inhumane treatment, torture, or murder.
Thailand is urged to look into the rising cases of extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations allegedly perpetrated by state forces


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UAE: Iranian Translators Distort Morsi’s Speech · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

UAE-based journalist Hassan Hassan Storfies how Iranian translators distorted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi's speech, at the Non-Aligned Movement meeting in Tehran, replacing Syria with Bahrain and Arab Spring with Islamic Awakening.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Syria: All Newspaper Headlines Celebrate Assad  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A copy of Syrian newspaper Tishreen with only one topic in all its front page stories – Bashar Al Assad. Picture shared by @anasonine
On Twitter, Syrian blogger Anas shares a picture of the front page of the Arabic language daily Tishreen and says:
@anasonline: This is a copy of Tishreen newspaper dating back to 2000 which my friend found by accident. All the headlines talk about one topic.


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Trinidad & Tobago: 50 Years Later · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

On August 31, Trinidad and Tobago marked its 50th year of independence from Great Britain.  The weekend has been full of celebration – although some bloggers found even that wanting – and citizen media commentary on what the landmark anniversary means.
In the week leading up to Independence Day, sweet trini's urban folks tales wondered if we were independent or in dependence:
50years in the making, this nation of shrinking imagination, where we ignore our most innovative selves and idolise what outside dictates. we are our best natural resource but let leaders chosen from shamefully slim pickings leave we the people languishing…
we exist in dependence, our welfare in hands busy pushing us aside to snatch+grab for money+power, but we say we independent…50 years in, will we continue to blindly celebrate ideals we only pretend to pursue, or are we ready to meet this 50th independence day with a commitment to we for we?
On August 31, the blogger suggested that:
as we celebrate the milestone of 50years we must also look to the future; to guide our direction here and now, we must ask: where do we see ourselves going? what do we see ourselves becoming, and is that who we want to be?
let us celebrate 50 years by moving closer to our dreams with the next 50; let us assert our independence by being our best selves and creating the trinidad+tobago we want for ourselves. we are people of great spirit; let us not stifle+cheapen that chasing the almighty dollar but become a trinidad+tobago where everybody is somebody, nobody is nobody, and each of we contribute to the resilience and innovation that make this tiny twin-island nation a force to be reckoned with.
aka_lol had rather sombre predictions for the country's future:
50 years from now I expect archeologists to be digging up old blogs to find out what the nation of Trinidad and Tobago was like at 50. Were the people civilized, were the leaders and citizens honest and  patriotic?
Nearly all the murder cases currently on the Police books today will remain unsolved 50 years from now, and the corrupt and their descendants will still be enjoying their ill-gotten booty and booty that was plundered from the Nation.
Political blogger The Eternal Pantomime concurred, raising historical facts that she believes has an impact on the nation's current challenges:
It seems as if 50 years later our road to independence is mired in as much controversy and confusion as when we started. And that’s another thing. There’s absolutely no attempt to talk about the nation’s path to self-autonomy and independence because it brings two things to the fore: the PNM’s role as architect of the Independence movement, and the ethnic groups who lobbied against the movement.
I doubt very much too that the Partnership [the government in power] will want a history of Independence that shows the DLP and its leaders then, such as Bhadase Sagan Maharaj and Rudranath Capildeo, as being opposed to the idea of Independence and strenuously so. They probably also don’t want excerpts of that famous letter of 1958 to be part of the historical record anymore, because then it raises questions about loyalty, nationalism, civic pride and intentions. Difficult questions that 50 years later we are uncomfortable asking and answering. And they remain difficult because we still have people here, from all groups that think Independence was a bad idea and that Trinidad and Tobago started going downhill August 31st, 1962.
KnowTnT.com, meanwhile, listed the recipients of this year's Independence Day awards and explained why he thought the Government Information Service could play a greater role in “educat[ing] and inspir[ing] a culture of national pride”:
For those deserving, congratulations. And those not, well that’s just my opinion.
Nation building, progressiveness and evolution rests squarely on the shoulders of those honored. Where the process fails is in its delivery. The one day or two hours reserved for honoring our patriots does little to achieve what its objective should be. In a society sorely lacking in everything from morality to manners the promotion of and elevation of the few role models we have is essential. Why must we wait until the day before to find out who the honorees are?
The GISL by having and continuing to disavow its core values, mission and vision provides little value to the Republic and will continue to be seen as a propaganda machine for electioneering. After 50 years of independence shouldn’t we as a Republic matured, even just a little bit?
The Eternal Pantomime also weighed in on the awards:
This government is INADEQUATE!  Poor planning, abuse of the flag as a symbol of national pride, Kamla and Jack on commemorative coffee mugs. In short the entire politicizing of our national symbols by a party that is anything but patriotic.
The supporters and defenders of this regime are unpatriotic and don’t deserve to be citizens here. They don’t love Trinidad and Tobago….they love her treasury and resources and only happy and patriotic when they eating ah food and sucking the country dry.
And some of these parasites got awards yesterday…national awards…
Plain Talk added that the corporate sector of the country also had to shoulder its share of the responsibility for nation-building:
Head of [Downtown Owners and Merchants Association] DOMA Gregory Aboud has put out a call to all citizens to demonstrate patriotism by holding hands and singing the National Anthem and I would not only like to support and congratulate him on his call, I would like to encourage him to go further and demonstrate corporate patriotism and support the call for businesses to contribute a fixed percentage of their earnings every year to the communities within which they operate so as to engender this same feeling of goodwill and love of country throughout the year.
Forget patriotism and national pride for a second and get down to real economics; the savings to companies in security and advertising alone would be more than worth the contribution as no one would be allowed to ‘touch’ a business that supports the community they operate in, and how much more ‘top of mind’ could you get than a mother sitting in a park provided and maintained by the supermarket chain she shops at?
Creative thinker Seon Thompson created and showcased a clever, interactive, independence-related project on his blog, Copy Book Page:
How much do we really know about our history and the people that contributed to the development of this nation? I decided to do some research of my own on notable national personalities who shaped our destiny and quickly realized that I was in need of a history lesson. I was learning so much that I decided to create some minimalist portraits of these icons in our national colors (Red, White & Black) to further extend this history lesson to the public. By simply highlighting some of the notable features of these individuals, I was able to draw on the viewers previous knowledge of their national history and ultimately stimulate dialogue about these influential personalities. I am aiming for 50 personalities so as I post, test your knowledge.
Check out the images here, here and here.
Despite the myriad of ways in which the country and its citizens celebrated the occasion, however, the overriding feeling in the blogosphere seemed to be one of despair.  The TnT River summed it up this way:
What do we really have to celebrate for 50 years? Lately, it seems that all we want to do is celebrate, and celebrate, and celebrate without fixing anything! Our crime rate is so out of control…We’re celebrating while our mothers and sisters cry. Our fathers and brothers are helpless.
It’s as if we’re on crack or cocaine. We abuse a substance called ‘feteing’ to fool us into thinking everything is alright. How many beds and medication in our hospitals need to be purchased? How many more ambulances need to be put on the roads to make them more efficient? How much (sic) police cars are needed? How many safe-houses for children need repair and construction? How many roads need fixing and alteration? How many schools need help?
So how do we justify spending millions in just celebrations that in no direct way will solve our woes. That literally go up in smoke once we light those fireworks.
So lets celebrate, and claim we are the greatest multi-cultural nation and country in this world. Because when all the confetti, fireworks, grinding and music have stopped, it’s back to our stark reality. And brother I hope you enjoyed that slim moment of happiness because you’ll have to wait another 50 years to see it again.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Yemen: Safe Streets Campaign First Book · Global Voices
Global Voices MENA

Yemeni anti-street harassment campaign Safe Streets posted on its Facebook page the launch of a new book to combat sexual harassment in the country.

author: Global Voices MENA


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2012 Paralympics: A Successful Start, Remarkable Stories  · Global Voices
Anna Gueye

This post is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.
[All links forward to French articles unless otherwise stated]
From August 29 until September 12, 2012, 4,200 athletes from 166 countries will take part in the 14th edition of the Paralympic Games in London and will compete in twenty disciplines.
Here is a video presenting the Paralympic Games by  paralympicSportTv [en]:
The organizers needed 15 days after the London 2012 Olympics to rearrange and make infrastructures accessible.
Charles El Meliani on JOL press writes that a record number of tickets were sold for these games:
Londres a fait des efforts colossaux en matière de billetterie, mettant sans cesse en avant les Jeux paralympiques dans tous ses points de vente. Avec un résultat impressionnant : au total, ce sont déjà près de 2,3 millions de tickets qui ont trouvé preneur. Sur 2,5 millions mis en vente. En bref, ces Jeux pourraient bien se dérouler à guichets fermés : exceptionnel.
The Burkina Faso delegation during the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games. Screenshot of a video of the ceremony provided by paralympicSportTv
The competing athletes are not all born with disabilities. Jacqueline Mallet on the blog ‘Province de l'équateur’ explains and illustrates some remarkable stories in the following post ‘“I was given up for dead”: the incredible destiny of disabled athletes‘:
Certains de ces sportifs ont grandi avec leur handicap, tandis que d’autres ont dû apprendre à le surmonter à la suite d’une guerre ou d’un accident. Frappés par le destin, ils ont trouvé dans le sport un moyen de se reconstruire.
Mallet also writes about the journey of several athletes: Martine Wright, a survivor of the London bombings; Derek Derenalagi, a soldier born in Fiji, given up for dead; Rim Ju Song, the first North Korean participant who, a few months ago, could not swim; and Hassiem Achmat, who survived a shark attack.
Another blog post entitled ‘A war mutilated Afghan en route to the London Games …‘ shares the story of Malek Mohammad, an Afghan athlete who lost both his legs in 2005 when he stepped on a land mine near his home in Kabul.
Afghan swimmer Malek Mohamed at home before the Paralympic Games. Screenshot of a video of Malek Mohamed provided by AFP on Youtube
In the blog post ‘Once a war victim, now a paralympic hero‘ [en], Damon van der Linde in Freetown, Sierra Leone, tells us about  the story of Mohamed Kamara who was only four years old when he was captured by rebels during the civil war. They eventually cut off one of his arms during his captivity.
On the France Handicap Info website,  Stéphane Lagoutière writes:
L'autre grande star de ces jeux seront bien sur les déficients mentaux, avec un retour après 12 ans d'absence.
In France, only a regional television channel will broadcast all of the events.
On Twitter, user @ThePositive1 posted a picture of the Jamaican team.
This post is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.

author: Anna Gueye


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Africa: Children Film Education and Jobs · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Our Africa is a project which lets children across Africa film education and jobs in their countries the way they see them.


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Africa, Turkey: Turkish Citizens With African Roots · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Ekrem Eddy Güzeldere writes on en.qantara.de:
When asked about their self-definition, the large majority said they defined themselves primarily as Turks. Only a minority saw themselves as “Turkish citizens with African roots.” And the desire to be fully assimilated in society was more important than the maintenance of their identity.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Angola: Brazilian firm’s electoral advice to ruling party leaked · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

Club-K leaked a study conducted by Brazilian firm SENSUS in July [Pt] which significantly informed the ruling party's electoral strategy. It warns Angolans are dissatisfied with inequality with young people using Facebook and mobile to organize, and of the charisma of Abel Chivukuvuku (CASA-CE). It also suggested the best margin for victory [Pt].


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Azerbaijan: Nationalism, Extradition, and an Axe Murderer · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Scary Azeri comments on the extradition to Azerbaijan of Ramil Safarov, an Azerbaijani soldier who murdered an Armenian counterpart on a NATO training course in Budapest, Hungary, with an axe. The blogger criticizes the presidential pardon and honoring of the killer in her native Azerbaijan while also abhorring the celebration of Safarov's freedom by many of her compatriots.

author: Onnik Krikorian