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China: Carrefour under boycott threat · Global Voices
Bob Chen

Carrefour has been rolled into a campaign mixed up with both boycott and anti-boycott.
Recently, a widely circulated message writes
我们希望您至少在5月1日这一天抵制家乐福，让5月1日家乐福空荡荡的卖场向西方传达一个信息：中国 不可辱！中国人民不可欺！
抵制家乐福的活动将在全国各地展开，期待您的参与！谢谢您。
We hope you are able to boycott Carrefour at least on 1 May, to deliver, by the empty Carrefour that day, one message to the western world: Chinese shouldn’t be humiliated! Chinese people shouldn’t be insulted!
The boycott against Carrefour is going to spreading all over the country, and we anticipate your presence! Thank you.
The logo of boycott
Carrefour, the French retail giant, is the newest target on the list of what cyber-nationalists in China hate and aim at. Cell phone text messages calling on boycotts are popping up, over 5000 net cafes in China, as Daqi.com summed up, have been rife with posts against Carrefour, and quite a few radical netizens have already made the slogans into practice.
The boycott is supposed to be caused by the recent grief and violence the Olympic torch relay suffered from in France and the saying that a big shareholder of Carrefour, LVMH group, has donated money to the Dalai Lama.
The original text of the widely circulated appeal also explains the cause of the campaign,
刚刚结束的法国PARIS站OLYMPIC圣火传递，并不象大多数国人所知道的那样平静。在中国人把象征友谊与和平的OLYMPIC圣火传进法国时，我们看到法国人和 法国go-vern-ment都做了什么：
1.圣火传递前，法国当地电视台号召市民上街抗议示威，说：“不要让中国的旗子飘的到处都是”。
2.圣火传递中，火炬在Z D势力及其支持者的暴力阻挠下，被迫四次熄灭；
3.负责安保的法国pol.ice任由Z D分子在其眼皮底下抢夺火炬，殴打中国残疾火炬手，却袖手旁观；
4.火炬所到之处，法国人成群结队地举着Z D分子的旗子，叫嚣“XZ独立”、“中国羞耻”等口号，向中国示威；
5.成群的法国青年甚至抢夺中国留学生手中的五星红旗，当众撕碎，并殴打中国留学生；
6.法国巴黎市go-vern-ment在圣火经过市政厅时，悬挂出支持XZ独立的横幅和标语，全体市议员胸前佩带支持XZ独立的标章，使得原定于在市政厅前举行的庆祝仪式不得不取消；
7.法国的主流媒体在圣火传递结束后，以这样的标题进行了回顾：“火炬在巴黎惨败”法国《费加罗报》，“给中国一记耳光”法国《解放报》。
The Olympic torch relay that just ended in Paris is not as peaceful as most of Chinese know about. Let’s see what French and its government have done when Chinese carried the torch, a symbol of peace and friendship into their territory.
1.	Before the relay, a French TV station called on people to protest on street for the reason that they “don’t want Chinese flags flaunting all over”.
2.	The torch was forced to extinguish for 4 times under the violent disruptions of Tibet separatists.
3.	The French police in charge of security simply stood by to see the separatists snatching the torch, and striking the disabled torch carrier.
4.	At where the torch went by, hordes of French waved the flag of separatists, clamoring “Free Tibet’, “Shame on China” to protest against China.
5.	Groups of young men even scrambled the Chinese students’ Five-star flags and tore them up, two sides in conflict.
6.	When the sacred fire passed by the City Hall of Paris, the banners and slogans of pro-Tibet independence were hung out and all the alderman put on the pro-separatism badges, a behavior that made the planned ceremony there cancelled.
7.	The major media in France reviewed the torch relay with such headlines— Fiasco in Paris(Figaro) and A Slap on China
And it’s not unusual to see such comments tightly following up the petition.
完全抵制家乐福。
Completely boycott Carrefour.
坚决抵制
Resolutely boycott!
Furthermore, QQ groups all over China were set up to recruit boycott activists. A list shows that places including Chongqing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, more than 20 areas totally, have joined this cyber campaign, during which netizens can communicate by the IM tool to make the whole protest more organizational.
In fact at Kunming, a city in southern China, netizens have extended their slogans to the reality
by protesting in front of the local Carrefour. The banner reads:
支持奥运，反对藏独，抵制法货，抵制家乐福
Support Olympic, oppose Tibet-independence; boycott French products and Carrefour!
The following pictures show the protest in the city of Wuhan. Notice that the banner has exactly the same word as that in Kunming.
In Beijing, a girl held up a self-made sign to show her anger with the brutal treat Jin Jing, the disabled torch carrier received in France.
The girl in Beijing protested alone outside Carrefour. She was then persuaded away by a police.
A netizen commented:
顶礼！
Salute to her!
A-dish-of-cuisine said:
这帖子不顶我就不是中国人
mm，你是我们中国人的榜样！
比那些漠然无视的人狠狠一巴掌！
I were not a Chinese if I didn’t bump up this post
Girl, you are the Chinese idol!
A tough slap over those indifferent people.
Anti-boycott is also on fire
This time the rivaling voice doesn’t fade as years ago when the appeal of boycotting Japan products was at climax. Even on Tianya.com, a well-known marketplace of bold clamors and patriotism, the petitions of anti-boycott don’t shy away.
In Tianya, netizen Lepel said in his post “you are so unwise to boycott Carrefour, or, you think us too unwise”,
看到很多人在发起和组织抵制法国零售业巨头家乐福的活动，感觉实在可笑，同时也深为国人的愚昧而痛心。就象之前的抵制日货、抵制美货，或更久远的抵制洋货 运动一样愚昧。难道，非要把中国孤立于这个世界才好？难道，非要再搞一次“闭关锁国”才罢？想象当初的反日活动，作为一个老百姓，我们得到了什么好处？而 政府在双方关系缓和后，却又开始“镇压”有些失控的反日活动。……..这 样的教训还不够，现在又要反法，好了，你抵制了一个家乐福，便宜的只是其他超市，老百姓得到的只是要多跑一些路、多花一些钱去买日用品，还会得到什么？等 有朝一日，法国换了总统或对华政策，到时候又回到“中法友谊万古长存”的路子上来是早晚的事，到了那时候在看看今天大家的举动难道不觉得可笑吗？
I feel it so ridiculous when hearing that so many people are organizing a boycott against Carrefour. I bear great sorrow for their blindness, which is as much stupid as the boycotts against Japanese, American and all western products long time ago. Do you have to isolate China from the world again? Reviewing the anti-Japan activity years ago, I wonder what we commons have really got the campaign. When the tension between the governments came to ease, the anti-Japan action that slightly crossed the line got a crackdown….and we have not yet learnt a lesson from that, and now we are going to have anti-France.
Fine, with the boycott, you would simply favor advantage to all other supermarkets and let people go further and spend more for daily shopping. Anything else?
Someday in the future when a new French president comes into power or the policy gets changed, everything will just go back to “Long live China-France friendship”, sooner or later.  At that time, won’t it be laughable to look back at what we are doing now?
在爽与不爽中徘徊 analyzed that it will be the Chinese people that really suffer from the boycott, if it comes true.
抵制家乐福？拜托 实际上你抵制的是那些中国的生产厂家 家乐福的中国员工 还有什么 还有我们自己国家 因为家乐福在对中国政府上税！！！你能抵制到巴黎市长么？扯淡吧
Boycott Carrefour? Come on! You are actually boycotting the Chinese manufactures, Chinese workmen there and the country of our own, because Carrefour pays tax to our government!!! Are you able to boycott Paris mayor? BS.
HAINAN-COCONUT-WIND（海南椰风）ridicules,
我干嘛要抵制，我朝都没有号召，没准过段日子又在大谈中法友好呢！以前和越南又是打战又是谴责的，现在不还是亲切友好的会谈，不还是中越人民友谊嘛！死的那些战士，谁他妈管他们！cao！
Why should I boycott? Our dynasty (allusion to the ruling party-translator) has not yet called on, and perhaps soon they will talk greatly on the China-France friendship.
In history, it used to fight hard with Vietnam, but what about now? Friendly conversation and fellowship between us two peoples! Who care about those soldiers died there? F…
柳州刺史 recalled what he was doing ten years ago,
10年前，中国大使馆被霉菌炸了，我比现在的粪粪还粪粪，回想一下，真想抽自己嘴巴
Ten years ago when the Chinese embassy was bombed by U.S army I was even more indignant that the “patriotic young men” today. Thinking over that I really wish to slap myself.
东边日出西边女 might be facing an embarrassment,
我们这个中小城市政府目前正在加大力度引进家乐福.各的小官员忙得不亦乐乎.
我该怎么办,抵制?和我D政府不是一条心了.
Our city is taking pain to introduce the Carrefour in, every official extremely busy on that plan. What should I do? Boycott? Then I will be clashing with our party and country.
城南笑笑 grumbled
反日反法发德反韩反台反意反澳反越反英反美•••反全世界••反整个宇宙。就是不反独裁和腐败。悲哀的人
Anti-Japan anti-France anti-German anti-Korea anti-Taiwan anti-Italy anti-Australia anti-Vietnam anti-Britain anti-U.S…anti-world…anti-universe.
But NO anti-autarchy and corruption. So tragic men.
And Adaste concluded,
这就叫政府挖坑，热血青年栽树
This is called “the government digs holes, and zealous youngsters plant trees”.
Finally, an analogy might reveal how a lot of people view this patriotic action.
Magicsilence said,
粪青乃我党的安全套,高潮之后即弃之
The patriotic youngsters are the condom of the party— discarded right after orgasm.
The points of the two camps diverge sharply. Rumors have been heard that Carrefour is going to make considerable discounts on 1 May to counteract the planned boycott. And it has announced that it will always be the friend of Chinese. But even not so, the chances of a successful boycott campaign is doubted, as the predominant public opinion years ago for a boycott over Japan didn’t make a good shot, while today the each side is equally strong.
(Note: Pictures copied from Mop.com. Quoted opinions without given links are comments on threads in Tianya.cn that discuss the boycott. Thanks to the net forums.)

author: Bob Chen


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Cuba: New Freedoms · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Blogging from Havana, Circles Robinson Online writes about Cuba's “new freedoms”.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Ecuador: Shakeup in Armed Forces Due to Troubling Findings · Global Voices
Milton Ramirez

Ecuador is a relatively small country in the Latin American, but it has faced a lot of challenges since the begining of the 2008.  The Armed Forces especially have been under the spotlight during this time, with assisting during the flood emergency throughout the country to the recent border dispute with Colombia. During the this crisis, the Ecuadoran people were told that the radar was not properly working, then they were told it was damaged and therefore, only added the uncertainty of those events and changed many people's perception of the military.
These are only some of the inconsistencies being revealed in the press, and now the most recent controversy deals with a possible infiltration by the U.S.’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The Commander-in-Chief and President Rafael Correa asserted that the national intelligency system had been inflitrated by the CIA and that there are illegitimate links between the secret service and foreign agencies.  Some revelations have found that some Ecuadoran agencies had handed over information to the CIA following the attack by Colombian armed forces on FARC camps in Ecuadoran territory.
In fact, it also brought back memories of the work of Philip Agee, a former CIA agent who had worked in Ecuador, and subsequently left the Agency due to disagreements with the CIA's tactics and mission.  This has generated widespread discontent within the Armed Forces and National Police due to the statements made by their own commander.  For those nationals, who have always felt honor and respect for the Armed Forces, the country is now experiencing a serious dramatic moments of shock.
Correa himself recognizes that he would be in hot water because of these public declarations.  In BPLE [es], the author of this post collects some of the statements made by the president:
No lo voy a permitir y si tengo que caerme por eso (la denuncia), me caigo. Hay casos vergonzosos en que la CIA financia ciertas unidades de Inteligencia ecuatoriana, cuyos informes eran remitidos directamente a la CIA…
I am not going to allow it and if I have to fall because of it (the accustation), I fall. There are shameful cases in which the CIA financed certain units of Ecuadoran Intelligence, which reports were submitted directly to the CIA…
Somos Latinos [es] a platform of channels to publish content not only about Ecuador but South America, also covers the state of this situation, which saw the removal of many of the top-ranking leaders from both the military and police.
El martes, en un acto inédito, la totalidad de la cúpula militar difundió una carta abierta demandando un diálogo directo con el presidente. Fue la gota que rebasó el vaso. La respuesta fue inmediata y, según fuentes gubernamentales, recién empieza. Cayó el ministro de Defensa y la mitad de la cúpula militar y penden de un hilo el resto de los jefes de las fuerzas armadas y de la policía.
On Tuesday, in an unknown act, the entire military published an open letter demanding direct dialogue with the president. It was the drop that overflowed the glass. The response was immediate and, according to governmental sources, it is only begining. The minister of Defense was removed and the half of the military and the rest of the Armed Forces and police chiefs are hanging by a thread.
It is necessary then to take the word to the new minister of Defense Javier Ponce, who offered for the Ecuadoran Armed Forces to become more transparent, but hopefully this specific investigation does not focus only on the possible links with this organization but with those of other countries. Espionage on the Constituent Assembly and other persons should be investigated. That's precisely what's been promised by Ponce in a interview published by  in the newspaper El Universo from Guayaquil. Aswering the question of what are the immediate changes within the security forces, Ponce said:
Primero: cambiar la articulación que no solo la Fuerza Pública ecuatoriana sino también las del continente han estado dependientes en gran medida de EE.UU. Estar en posibilidades tecnológicas de llevar adelante una política de disuasión, defensa y protección de la soberanía…
First of all, change the fact that not only the Ecuadoran public forces, but those of all of the continent, have been largely dependent on the United States.  To be in technological possibilities of taking forward a policy of dissuasion, defense and protection of sovereignty…
All in all, Ecuadorans expect their president to explain in detail precisely what was the reason why he let go his officials in charge of the mainland security. He announced the changes from Mexico, from where he trasmitted his habitual radio address and anounced that he will explain more in detail on television.
Both large print media in Ecuador as La Hora [es]  and political writers, such as  Vladimiro Álvarez Grau  columnist of Diario Hoy write and explain what's going on with this scandal with a reserved prognosis. Another well linked and commented article related to this matter is a document written by Kintto Luccas who writes regularly for many press associations.

author: Milton Ramirez


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Fiji: Catch the Trashers on Camera · Global Voices
May Hnin Phyu

Strange Pants posts about a new public service blog, “Fiji Trash“, which aims to “showcase people who insist on ignoring all common sense and who believe that rubbish thrown onto the street will magically disappear or, better yet, grow into a tree.”

author: May Hnin Phyu


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Georgia: Tourism Development · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Social Science in the Caucasus examines Georgia's fledgling post-Soviet tourism industry and takes one ski resort as an example. After previously failed attempts at privatization, the blog says that with each step of progress, other problems emerge which reflect many of the issues facing the former Soviet republic.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Guyana: Demerara Bridge is Falling Down?   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Living Guyana issues a national warning about the Demerara Harbour Bridge, calling it “a floating disaster waiting to happen.”


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Guyana: Sweet or Sour?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Guyana-Gyal‘s lime tree is leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.


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Haiti: Reasons for Riots · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Haitian Blogger says that “amid food riots in Haiti, US claims of ‘success’ in Haiti sound hollow.”


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India: Nepal, Maoists and the Media · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Straight Angle on the communist inclinations of a national newspaper in India that celebrates the Maoist victory in Nepal.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Indonesia: Volcanic eruption · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Volcanism Blog reports that Mount Egon on Flores Island, Indonesia, erupted a 4 kilometer ash plume late on Tuesday 15 April, causing the evacuation of hundreds of villagers from nearby communities.

author: Mong Palatino


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Iraq: 210 Israeli Companies at Work  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi Ladybird reports from a seminar about how there are 210 Israeli companies working in Iraq.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Iraq: Battle between Gangs and State Continues  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“The battle between criminal gangs and the state continues, yet the war is far from being over. Public statements keep coming from both sides and they don’t seem to promise a diplomatic resolution for the crisis,” reports Iraq the Model, on the latest situation in his country.


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Iraq: No Graduations  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Najma, from Mosul, Iraq, writes about how her cousin's graduation ceremony was called off because of threats on campus.


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Iraq: The Story of the Doura Refinery  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Alive in Baghdad updates us about the oil refining facilities in Doura district in this video. Built in 1953 and partially destroyed from mortar attacks in December 2007, the refinery is located in the dangerous Doura District of Baghdad, where the lives of workers is under constant threat.


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Israel: Jail for Iranian Police Chief · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“You may recall the case of the Iranian police chief who was on the other side of an arrest after being found nude in a local brothel with six naked prostitutes. Well, now it looks like the next time he will be in the same room as 6 naked people, it will likely be the men’s shower room in prison,” writes Aussie Dave, from Israel.


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Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago: West Indian Writers · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp highlights three new books from West Indian writers.


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Jamaica, Guyana, U.S.A.: Virginia Tech Remembered · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaican Geoffrey Philp links to Guyanese poet Fred D’Aguiar's poem for Virginia Tech on the one-year anniversary of the shootings.


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Japan: Footage of Tibet and East Turkestan · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Japanese podcaster Morley Robertson at i-morley makes an appeal to the global press to take up video footage from Tibet and East Turkestan. Part of the footage is of the home of the Dalai Lama, shot in 2007, a building which he explains was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (later rebuilt) and may be destroyed again. He also offers other footage of ethnic Uyghur farmers protesting being forced to work without pay.

author: Chris Salzberg


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Japan: Mona Lisa Mutants · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Edo from Pink Tentacle introduces another Japanese artist Naoto Hattori. Edo has selected Mona Lisa Mutants collection in his post.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Japan: Thoughts on the Tachikawa flier case · Global Voices
Chris Salzberg

Japanese blogger Dr-Seton describes an urban legend [ja] about children in public housing who were kept inside, only allowed out to play in a small park. When one day the children were let free outside, rather than run around, they stuck to a very small space. He uses this story to discuss the issue of private and public space in the Tachikawa Flier case, in which three Japanese anti-war activists were arrested for distributing fliers in the Tachikawa army barracks. The Japanese Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by the three activists on April 11th.


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Jordan: How Can a PM Demonstrate his Worthiness? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Jordan, Khalaf asks: “How would a prime minister who is presiding over an economy with over 10% inflation, slow economic growth, failing public education and health services and an inability to execute any important public projects prove his worthiness?”


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Jordan: Smart Mosques with High Speed Internet · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Zeid Nasser, from Jordan, writes about ‘smart’ mosques, with high-speed Internet, cropping up in Malaysia and Indonesia.


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Kazakhstan: India Eyes Kazakh Oil · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Arman discusses reports that India may be planning to increase its presence in Caspian and Central Asian energy markets by purchasing oil assests in Kazakhstan.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Kazakhstan: Wheat Export Policies · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust analyzes the latest moves undertaken by the Kazakhstan government in fighting two-digit inflation by suspending wheat exports.


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Maghreb netizens respond to 8 year-old Yemeni girl’s petition for divorce · Global Voices
Lydia Beyoud

Tunisian blogger Stupeur!! Un nouveu depart!!  (Stupor!! A New Beginning!!) responds to a Yemen Times article about an 8 year-old girl who is trying to file for divorce from a 30 year-old man she says her father forced her to marry.
Yemen Times journalist Hamed Thabet describes the case:
Nojoud Muhammed Nasser arrived at court by herself on Wednesday, April 2, looking for a judge to handle her case against her father, Muhammed Nasser, who forced her two months ago to marry Faez Ali Thamer, a man 22 years her senior. The child also asked for a divorce, accusing her husband of sexual and domestic abuse.
According to Yemeni law, Nojoud cannot prosecute, as she is underage. However, court judge Muhammed Al-Qathi heard her complaint and subsequently ordered the arrests of both her father and husband.
Stupeur!! Un nouveu depart!! writes:
A huit ans, on regardait Captain Majed, Goldorac et Takaya Todoroki, on jouait au ballon à cache cache et aux sept cailloux. Nos filles jouaient à la poupée, à l’institutrice ou à l’infirmière.
Maintenant à huit ans on se retrouve devant une cour et on demande le divorce d’un mari qu’on nous a imposé.
Nojoud Mohammed Nasser est une jeune fille qui s’est présenté d’elle même à la cour de Sanaa où elle a demandé assistance à un juge. déposant plainte contre son père qui l’avait mariée de force et conte son ‘mari’ pour violences et agression sexuelles.
“A chaque fois je voulais jouer dans la cour, il me battait et m’obligeait à aller dans la chambre a coucher”
Jusqu’où iraient ces Homo-ignorens?
Au 21éme siècle on entend encore parler de ces histoires? et on se demande encore pourquoi les arabes ont mauvaise réputation! on se demande encore pourquoi on nous traite de terroristes et de sous développés.
Ne me dites surtout pas que ce sont des cas isolés! c’est très récurrent sauf que c’est tres rare qu’on en parle.
Ceci ne s’arrête pas aux enfants, mais touche même les grandes filles et les jeunes femmes.
When we were 8 years old, we watched Captain Majed, Golderac and Takaya Todoroki [all characters from cartoon shows widely shown on Moroccan/North African television stations several years ago], we played ball and hide and seek and marbles. Our girls played with dolls or pretended to be teachers and nurses.
Now at 8 years old they find themselves before a court, demanding divorce from a husband forced upon them.
Noujoud Mohammed Nasser is a young girl who represented herself on her own before a court in Sana’a where she asked for the judge’s assistance. Deposing a complaint against her father who had married her against her will to a violent “husband” who sexually abused her.
“Every time I wanted to play in the courtyard, he would beat me and forced me to go to the bedroom.” What lengths will these Homo-ignorants go to?
How can we still be hearing about such stories in the 21st century? And we still ask ourselves why Arabs have a bad reputation! We still ask ourselves why people treat us like under-developed terrorists.
And don’t even try to tell me that this is an isolated incident! It’s quite recurrent but only rarely spoken of. It doesn’t stop with children but even occurs to older girls and young women.
The post's title, “Ces arabes qui ne nous ressemblent pas” (These Arabs who are nothing like this), in addition to the subject matter, provoked a range of commentary from a simple “that's disgusting” to praise for the little girl's bravery and hope that such practices won't occur elsewhere:
On a volé son enfance et son innocence à cette fille! Et quel courage a-t-elle trouvé pour se présenter elle-même devant le juge!!! Ces pratiques barbares devraient être interdites et punies! J’espère qu’on ne leur ressemblera jamais!
Another comment reminds readers that pedophilia is not a racial issue but a state responsibility:
Les arabes ressemblent à tous les humains ! Des pédophiles, il y en a partout dans le monde, et c’est écœurant. Ce n’est pas un problème de race mais de certains états qui ne prennent pas leur responsabilité en ne mettant pas en place des lois qui imposent un âge minimum pour être marié et un vrai consentement.
In response to that comment, another wrote:
bien dit Mad djerba, les occidentaux ne se marient pas à des filles de 8 ans , parce qu’il y a des lois qui les en empêchent , par contre ils ne s’empêchent de les violer ….
An emotional blogger responds:
J’ai lu l’histoire de cette fille aujourd’hui dans le Corriere della Sera.
Crois moi, j’ai eu les larmes aux yeux, et pendant 5 minutes je n’ai prononcé aucun mot…
Des pays comme le Yémen, doivent être impérativement condamnés : c’est un terrorisme qu’il tolère, celui de violer toute l’innocence des enfants. Pour moi, c’est plus pire que les tortures…
Je suis vraiment incazzato à cause de ça…J’ai trop la haine !
Echoing some of the blogger's sentiment, another writes:
Rien de quoi être fier de ce côté là de la planète…Leur âge d’or (dort)[*] est situé définitivement au passé. Et ce n’est pas demain l’éveil…
A final blogger recalled the days of socialism in Yemen, saying:
et dire qu’en 72 à Aden on était dans un pays qui se réclamait du socialisme avec des jeunes filles et des adolescentes sans complexes avec leurs petits copains dans les lycées… ça me fous un cafard terrible cette histoire t’as envie de faire sauter la baraque.
(*This is a pun. In French, “d'or” (golden) and “dort” (sleeping) sound the same.)

author: Lydia Beyoud


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Nepal: In Lhasa · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

In which blogdai from Nepal interviews Kadfly, described as ” None but a single young traveler who happened to be in Lhasa when the uprising began.”


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Nepal: Meeting Obama · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Deepak's Diary on meeting Obama and how the man is quite different from the breed of politicians in Nepal.


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Pakistan: Media and restrictions · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

CHUP! on the new government in Pakistan lifting harsh restrictions on the media that were imposed by President Pervez Musharraf during his emergency rule in November 2007.


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Pakistan: Through Choudhry’s Lens · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

All Things Pakistan introduces a series on rare photographs by F.E Choudhry.


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Philippines: Bishop blogger sued · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A hard-hitting Philippine Catholic Archbishop was sued for libel by allies of the government because of something he wrote in his blog a few years ago.


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Selling Jordan  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Hareega updates us about the latest deals of the Jordanian government – which has been selling prime property to foreign investors.


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Singapore: Contagious disease · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Mr Wang Says So believes that the contagious hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) outbreak in Singapore is a good reason for his children to skip classes for a few days.


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Singapore: Cyrene Blogging Carnival · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Midnight Monkey Monitor invites everyone to join the Cyrene Blogging Carnival. The Cyrene Reef is a mysterious submerged reef in Singapore that only appears semi-diurnally.


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Tajikistan: Unjust Distribution of Wealth · Global Voices
Vadim Sadonshoev

It is almost impossible to have a profitable business in Tajikistan if you follow all rules and regulations set by the state. People bitterly joke that the easiest way to become a wealthy man is to become a governmental official or a person close to the government. Perhaps, it is true, as it gives you some kind of “immunity” from the checks, competition and possible prosecution — the higher the post, the more you get. Neweurasia summarizes a survey of Avesta News Agency about the richest people in Tajikistan:
If you are a wealthy person living in Tajikistan, it means that either (1) you’re a governmental official, or (2) you’re a former governmental official, or (3) you’re a businessman who avoids paying taxes, or (4) you’re an entertainment star, or (5) you’re a drug-smuggler. If you’re not a governmental official and you are wealthy, it means you have krisha (“a roof”, or patron from amongst the governmental officials).
The report shows – and it is relatively true – that even to become a popular entertainment star one needs to have unofficial patronage by somebody in the government. In another post neweurasia discusses doing business in Tajikistan:
Your krisha can be a criminal, a high official in the government, especially in a law enforcement agency or a former warlord. It is better to have a krisha from law enforcement agencies or from the government because the criminals and former warlords are not that much influential in Tajikistan [now].
Tojvar opines [taj] on the “weathiest Tajiks list”:
The governmental officials in Tajikistan never disclose their wealth and allege that they make their living only with the official monthly salary — 200 USD — although this is not enough in the capital city. My questions here: Why do they have that much wealth, while I should be a labor migrant in Russia?
To be fair, it is necessary to admit that those who enjoy benefits for the time being, always risk to lose business with every new wake of the property redistribution among the elites; no matter how influential your patron in the governmental structures is, you may lose both your immunity and your property. Last week, one of the most successful Tajik businessmen Maruf Orifov was sentenced by the Supreme Court to 8,5 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property for alleged bribery and tax evasion. He owned the largest retail chain “Orima” in Dushanbe.
John Musarra at Tajiksitan Journal desribes his shopping experience at Orima, while Ravshan thinks [rus] that the Supreme Court’s decision was inadequately harsh and would negatively affect the country’s investment climate. In any case, many in Tajikistan suspect that this trial is nothing else but a raider attack with the purpose to take over some else’s lucrative business. Tajeconomy shares [rus] this opinion and elaborates:
But the main intrigue here is that – who is going to privatize Orima? If the trial was fabricated with a purpose to take over the “Orima” chain, its next owner (or the patron of this person) can be considered as a mastermind of the trial. If the trial is indeed fabricated, who might have such power and resources to manipulate the law enforcement bodies?

author: Vadim Sadonshoev


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Trinidad & Tobago: Listen to the Music · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidadian blogger Now is Wow draws a musical sketch.


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Trinidad & Tobago, USA, Africa, Italy: Religion & Politics · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Notes from Port of Spain weighs in on everything from the Pope's visit to the US: “It's not enough for the Pope to be ‘ashamed’ of his American paedophile priests…he also has to do something about them” to international politics: “It's a lesson to every crook in office or aspiring to it: just brazen it out long enough and the world will lose interest.”


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Vietnam: Hung King memorial Day · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Blogger Faster than the Fastest has a question: “Every Vietnamese know that we have 18 Hung Kings during the 4000-year long history, why there is only one day to memorize them? Did 18 of them “die” on the same day?”


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Why Iraqis are Forced Out of their Homes · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Mama, from Iraq, writes a touching post about why Iraqis are forced to move out of their homes. Some leave to escape bad memories, while others leave under threat. Many leave the country altogether.


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Angola: On freedom of expression and globalisation · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Kianda [pt] thinks that “the fact that someone was born in one country should not revoke their right to think, criticize, vote or even run for elections [in another country]… we are in the globalisation era, in a world with fewer and fewer boundaries and we should all have the right to participate in societies that we have chose to live for a year, 2, 3 or a lifetime.”

author: Paula Góes


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Armenia: Independent TV Station Faces Closure · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Blogian comments on what many consider to be the imminent and effective closure of a regional TV station broadcasting in Armenia's second largest city of Gyumri. The station has been under pressure from the authorities since covering the activities of a former head of state and presidential candidate in the run-up to the disputed 19 February presidential election.


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Azerbaijan: Peace Corps FAQ · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Carolyn & Jesse's Azerbaijan Peace Corps Blog posts an entry answering the most common questions received from readers ranging from inquiries about computer access to attitudes towards single and married women. Intriguingly, concerns about the availability of can openers in Azerbaijan also makes the list.


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Bahamas: Code of Ethics · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“It has long been a desire of mine to see Parliament pass legislation committing a Code of Ethics for Parliamentarians…”:  Rick Lowe at WeblogBahamas.com explains.


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Belgium: The Balkan Presence · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Tanchi is guest-blogging at Kosmopolit about the Balkan presence in Brussels.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Bermuda: Restricting the Media?   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Vexed Bermoothes reports that the government's decision to pull advertising from the Royal Gazette has prompted a letter of complaint from The Inter American Press Association: “It’s really quite an embarrassment for Bermuda to be singled out for this criticism … to be grouped in with countries that sponsor censorship, violence against journalists, and aggression towards free speech.”


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Bhutan: An individual’s rights · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Freedom in Bhutan on why protecting an individual's rights is crucial for a democracy.


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Bolivia: Public Transport in Santa Cruz · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Public transport in Santa Cruz is a big problem, as noted by Professor Miriam Vidal.  Bus fare has risen to 33% recently, and many schoolchildren are bypassed by drivers because they do not pay the full fare [es].

author: Eduardo Avila


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: Tuzla · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Pure Intent writes about Tuzla: “Minus the coal plants and DITA factory, Tuzla would be a pretty groovy place to be.”


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Brazil: Lending a hand to police bloggers · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Alexandre de Sousa [pt] is lending a helping hand to other Brazilian police officers who have or wish to have blogs. In the last post of his series of tutorials, he gives some basic tips and blog optimization hints and says he wants to see even more. “The Public Security Blog [Blog da Segurança Pública, pt] complained about the lack of blogs in the Brazilian Federal district. The Police Approach blog [Abordagem Policial, pt] launched an appeal: Police officers from Bahia, make your blogs. And Stive [pt] began its campaign Make a Blog. And I support them!”


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Brunei: Discriminating the disabled · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Our Local Style points out that “the situation in Brunei for those with disabilities is dismal when compared against other nations.”


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China: Carrefour the Winner · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Huge jokingly said that Carrefour is the winner of the boycott campaign [zh]. 1. free ads; 2. many people suddenly realize that it is a French brand; 3. its discount will win the middle lower class’ heart in time of inflation.


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China: Contradictory Freedom · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ran Yun-fei listed out 17 freedom that Chinese patriots can enjoy in the West but denied in China [zh].


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China: Don’t be too CNN · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A music video called “don't be too CNN” is up at youtube. It compares the fake south China issue with CNN news production.


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China: Don’t Become Nationalistic Thugs · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Lianyue reminded people of the nationalistic demonstration in 2005 with a video and urged people not to act like nationalistic thugs in the Carrefour boycott action [zh].


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China, Hong Kong and Macau: Visa Control · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

There have been reports about China tightening multiple visa for foreigners to prepare for Olympics. Kenneth Tan from Shanghaiist found out that the Commissioner's Office of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong and Macau have stopped issuing multiple visa for foreigners living in China.


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China: How To Love Our Country? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Aw Guo writes in his blog on how to love China: it’s not just an action of updating our MSN signatures.


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China: More Trouble for CNN · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

How does Jack Cafferty brew more trouble for CNN in China? Take a look at imagethief.


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East Timor President returns home · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Xanana Republic Gazette describes how the East Timor President was greeted by his people when he arrived back in the country. An onlooker described the returning president as “frail but tense.”


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Egypt: Anti-Strike Facebook Group Formed  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

To circumnavigate censorship, activists in the Arab world are strongly leaning on online tools to get their messages across and expose what they describe as state brutality against civilians. Word about last week's April 6 strike in Egypt was spread on a Facebook group, which has so far attracted more than 71,200 members. Now Egyptian blogger GEMYHOoOD (Ar) tells us about an anti-strike Facebook group, which has around 1,000 followers.
GEMYHOoOD is obviously not pleased that President Hosni Mubarak's supporters have found their way to Facebook and says:
الواضح ان ماسحى الجوخ و كلاب مبارك عرفوا ان الفيس بوك حلو و جميل و تقدر من خلاله تجمع الشباب الفاضى و مش لاقى حاجة يعملها و زى ما اتجمع 70 الف مع الاضراب يقدروا يجمعوا 70 الف ضده
It is obvious that hypocrites and Mubarak's dogs have discovered that Facebook is nice and through it, you are able to bring together idle youth, who have nothing else to do, and just like 70,000 people were gathered for the strike, they can bring together 70,000 against it.
فجأة الاقى اعلان مدفوع الاجر على يسار موقع الفيس بوك تشجب و تندد بالشغب و العبث بالامن القومى المصرى و تدعو للاشتراك بمجموعة على الفيس بوك ضد فكرة الاضراب و ما حدث خلاله من عبث فى أمن مصر القومى
Suddenly you find a paid advertisement on the left of the Facebook site, which condemns rioting and disturbing Egypt's national security and calls for participating in a Facebook group against the idea of the strike and what happened during it of disturbance to Egypt's national security.
وصف المجموعة وفقا لما كتبوه فى الفيس بوك
من الفيس بوك خرجت دعوة اضراب 6 ابريل ومن فيس بوك ايضا يجب ان تخرج حملة ادانة لتخريب ممتلكات الناس و قطع الطرق وترويع الامنين – ان ما حدث فى المحلة حطر على الجميع وخطر على الأمن القومى المصري ويتحمل مسئوليته بشكل مباشر القوى السياسية التى سخنت الاوضاع بدون ان تكون لديها اى قدرة على السيطرة على الوضع كما يتحمل نتيجتها ايضا الأمن الذى قام بالبطش بالناس بلا هوادة فاستفز الجميع
The group describes itself on Facebook saying:
From Facebook the call for the April 6 strike came, and from Facebook the campaign to condemn the destruction of people's property and terrorising peaceful people should come. What happened in Al Mahalla is a danger to everyone and to Egypt's national security. Political powers in particular bear the responsibility for the situation getting out of hand without being able to control it. The security forces too are to blame after being brutal to people without discrimination.


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Egypt: Boycott the World  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

People around the world are using economic pressure in protest against political decisions by calling for boycotting products from certain countries. With more countries being constantly added to the boycott list, Egyptian blogger Tarek shares the following novel idea. Boycott the world, pleads the blogger.
Tarek writes:
قاطعوا المنتجات الدنماركية بسبب الرسوم المسيئة
و المنتجات الهولندية بسبب الأفلام التي تسخر من الدين
و المنتجات الأمريكية بسبب معاملتهم الغير إنسانية للعرب
و المنتجات البريطانية بسبب تفتيشهم للبابا شنودة في المطار
و المنتجات الصينية بسبب عدم إيمانهم بأي من الديانات السماوية
و المنتجات المصرية لأن بعض الناس يسبون الدين لبعض حين يتشاجرون
لذلك و إيمانا بدور هذه المدونة في حماية الأديان السماوية و الأخلاق الحميدة
فإننا ندعوكم أن تقاطعوا العالم
قاطعوا العالم يا عالم
Boycott Danish products because of the offensive cartoons
And Dutch products because of films which ridicule religion
And American products because of the inhumane way in which they treat Arabs
And British products because they searched Pope Shenuda at the airport
And Chinese products because they don't believe in any of the monotheistic religions
And Egyptian products because some people swear at the religions of others when they get into fights
This is why, stemming from the belief of this blog, to protect monotheistic religions and good manners,
I call upon you to boycott the world!
Boycott the entire world.


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Estonia: Finnish Muslims; Childhood Memories · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

AnTyx writes about the Finnish Muslim Party's protest against Estonia's presence in Iraq – and shares a few Soviet/post-Soviet childhood memories.


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Estonia: Interview With Blogger Flasher T · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Itching for Eestimaa interviews “Estonian blogger Flasher T, author of the lively Antyx.”


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Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago: Debt of Gratitude · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Signifyin’ Guyana profiles a Trinidad-born writer whose latest work book was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award for biography: “I owe Arnold Rampersad a great big thank-you for making this West Indian woman feel a lot more comfortable about studying Literature in huge American undergraduate classrooms…”


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Hungary: Coalition Not Dead? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Hungarian Spectrum reports that “we still can't be sure whether or not the coalition is dead.”


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Hungary: “Economic Ignorance”? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Hungarian Spectrum writes about “economic and financial ignorance in Hungary”: “Another thing that people don't seem to understand is that it is indeed proper and perhaps even more just to tax property rather than to rely so heavily on income tax.”


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Indonesia: Alert level raised around Mt. Papandayan · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

News from Indonesia reports that alert level was raised on Indonesia's Mount Papandayan volcano. The volcano lies 51 Kilometers southeast of Indonesia's third-largest city, Bandung, which is home to around three million people.


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Iran: Woman activist is released on bail · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to[Fa] Change4equality, Khadijeh Moghadam, an Iranian woman activist for equal rights,has been released on bail after 9 days in Tehran. She has been accused of activities against “national security.” Several people waited for her outside of the prison.Watch the photos here.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:Ahmadinejad and his new illusion · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Jomhour says[Fa] that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian President, called 11 September attacks a “suspicious event”. Ahmadinejad says the name of victims never got announced!The blogger writes it is a new illusion of Ahmadinejad and Jomhour invites him to check the name of the victims in this site.


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Jordan: Big Brother Reality TV Show Coming Soon  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“If you love the TV show, Big Brother, and if it’s been a life-long goal of yours to be a contestant on it, then I’ve got good news for all you die-hard reality TV fans; Big Brother is coming to Jordan and in the most hi-tech of manners,” writes Naseem Tarawnah, from Jordan.


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Jordan: Climate Change and the Arab World  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Batir Wardam, from Jordan, says the Arab world is starting to get serious about climate change.


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Jordan: The Camera which Sees Through Clothes  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A camera which can see through clothes and is being used to counter terrorism? Zeid Nasser from Jordan has more in this post.


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Kazakhstan: People Get Poorer Amid Economy Boom and Corruption · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

As the Kazakhstani economy continues to grow – although much slower now – thanks to petrodollars inflow, the resource nationalism and state expansion tendencies get stronger. Private business has to fight against the credit crunch consequences themselves, but both sectors suffer from flagrant and endemic corruption.
Kazakhstan continues expanding its control in the extractive industries, especially oil. Some observers believe the government's stance exemplifies “resource nationalism”, others argue that highly disadvantageous contracts that had been done in early years of independence worth revision because the nation can't get a fair portion of benefit from its own wealth. In either way, Kazakhstan introduced an oil export tax — it will apply to export of crude oil and add up $1 billion to the budget until the end of this year, reports utkir-aka [ru].
Meanwhile, megakhuimyak takes a look at the banking sector. Kazakhstani banks are believed to be among most stable and wealthy in the CIS, they often win Euromoney awards in management and aggressively penetrate neighboring markets. Although the last year's global credit crunch affected them too, and many were forced to search for internal sources of liquidity instead of dried up flow of external borrowings and toughen credit conditions:
As far as I remember, the Balzac's Gobseck was called inhumane because he took 13 per cent for long-term credits. How shall we call our kind bankers, who have average rates between 15 and 19 per cent? We can only dream about Gobseck's rates!, he writes [ru].
Meanwhile, azoo marks that amidst negative expectations about the bank sector's ability to survive the credit crunch, the country's major private bank shows +108% net income for the fourth quarter of 2007 [ru]. Nemtschin tried to check the widespread allegation that the national currency rate is overregulated with the dollar rate overestimated by the central bank. After several calculations he found out that, indeed, dollar in EU costs 114 tenge — i.e. 5 per cent cheaper than in Kazakhstan [ru].
At the same time, the vast majority of the country's population don't bother themselves with monitoring the trends or researching the monetary policies. But they did feel the last year's food and finance crisis personally. Beskunak writes in this regard:
“It's just my personal IMHO — my real income has shrinked 4 times for the past three months. I spoke to a newspaper's advertisement manager, she said the bulk of ads has fallen two times. The feeling of fear and expectation of disaster pierce the country after the Aliyev affair with all its kompromats [discrediting materials], which exposed the top officials’ filth” [ru].
But above all of the economic and political problems of Kazakhstan stands corruption, especially flagrant here as in every petro-state. The nation stands on 155 place among 180 in the Transparency International's corruption perceptions index.  Sarimov's post gives a good snapshot of how it's done in Kazakhstan:
More than 600 million tenge — it's 5 million dollar is the cost of design estimate of the market for farm products in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. Not of the construction even… The state-owned company announced a tender for development of a design estimate and will pay 5 million dollars to some private firm. Just to compare, here is what I found about 5 million dollars in the search engine:
- 5 million dollars are required to create a center for transplantation of bone marrow in Kazakhstan.
– Kazakhtelecom offered 5 million dollars for 51 per cent in the Kyrgyz telecom monololy.
– The Zaman Company invested 4,5 million dollars in a unique plant for production of ferroalloys out of coal wastes.
– The Central Asia's only factory on glass production works in Astana. Its total value is 5 million dollars.
Can you feel the difference?


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Kazakhstan: Political Players Reshuffled · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Kazakhstani political field may only seem still and silent against the background of a one-party parliament and a long-ruling president. But in its depth it is very lively – passions and intrigues are brewing both within the state apparatus and in the opposition's camp. The competition between groupings is not transparent for public and, certainly, not too democratic. Most likely, despite the country's looming OSCE chairmanship in 2010, this kind of political system will remain until then and long after:
“OSCE officials can forget about all Kazakhstan’s promises concerning democratization. All promises, in exchange of which we obtained your votes for our chairmanship. For those of you having problems with understanding, the Kazakhstan’s president plainly explained in his interview with Reuters: “We were elected as full-fledged member of the Organization, and we have no commitments whatsoever”, writes Arseny of neweurasia.
However, it was hardly a secret for most Kazakhstanis that their government will mock the OSCE and avoid reforms. That's why, the main political issue on the agenda was reshuffling of the two major cities’ mayors. It was antedated by the Olympic Torch Relay in Almaty, the former capital, the largest city and the region's business hub. Almaty was the first city on the torch's global race, anf the ceremony was organized very good by the Almaty administration, providing “a big deal of attraction for practically all Almatians”, reports Adam.
Anyway, president Nazarbayev, who was the first to run with the torch, left the city very pleased and next day appointed Almaty mayor Tasmagambetov to head administration of Astana, the capital city, which will be massively celebrating the 10th anniversary this year. The City Day happily coincides with the birthday of President Nazarbayev, who calls himself “the main architect of Astana” after he ruled to move the capital from Almaty.
The blogosphere, whose major part is localized in Almaty has blown up with sentiments. The Almaty community on LiveJournal featured dozens of comments, full of regret, as Imangali Tasmagambetov has built up a strong positive image by renovation of roads and construction of road junctions, new ambitious projects in architecture and rehabilitation of city development programs aimed to clean the rivers, fix electricity supply problems and tidy up the yards:
“Imangali, we'll be missing you”, says dass. “I only started to rejoice at the city, and the mayor has gone”, ehot is upset too [ru]. The main concern of the city residents is that all progressive initiatives may be curtailed under the new mayor – former minister of rural economy Ahmetjan Yesimov, a representative of the so-called “older guard” and, as rumored, nephew of president Nazarbayev:
“Taking into account a complete disaster in the country's rural economy, I am very scared about the destiny of our city”, pulemetchizza shares her concers [ru].
Meanwhile, many bloggers see reshuffling as a promotion for Tasmagambetov. Kolobok from the zakon.kz forum says: “Apparently, Imangali will be our next president”. Indeed, according to public opinion polls, ex-mayor of Almaty is believed to be the second most influential politician in the country – second only to the president. Megakhuimyak points out the following fact:
“It is interesting how he started his work in Astana. First of all he ordered to conduct — in 48 hours — a public opinion poll  to collect the city dwellers’ thoughts and suggestions about the town and its needs. This is a politician's behavior, not one of an official” [ru].
Interestingly, another occurence preceded the reshuffling. Fiscal police arrested the CEO of Kazakhstan Railways state-owned company for alleged bribery. Observers doubt that a man of rich experience and a former minister of economy could be caught with ridiculous 100,000 dollars in cash near his house. Sarimov generalizes: “All reshufflings (former mayor of Astana became head of the Railways) were ery quick and looked orchestrated in advance, so the railways chief's case looks as a perfect frame-up” [ru].
In another post sarimov opines on perspectives of the “controlled opposition”:
“The presidential administration is currently spinning two parties, both are puppet and progovernmental. Their leaders are aggressively shown on a television, publicized in the official press. I know this kitchen – they wouldn't print a word about them without order from above. It looks like they want to erect a new opposition, while the old opposition must demise and be forgotten… The quaestion is whether it is going to work out” [ru].


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Kazakhstan: US on Stans, Same Difference · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Adam is exasperated by the US’s one-size-fits-all approach to Central Asia that puts Kazakhstan and Afghanistan in the same category.


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Kuwait: Deportation for Traffic Offenders  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

…Or Does it Explode writes about a new Kuwaiti law – which calls for deporting expatriate drivers who jump red lights at traffic junctions.


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Laos: Low happiness rating · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Apocalypse Lao notes that in the map of the world’s happiness, Laos has a very low happiness rating.


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Macau: Social issues behind death penalty in China · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Leocardo [pt] comments on this week's Amnesty International's report that ranked China the first in the world in the number of executions in 2007 (470), followed by Iran (317), Saudi Arabia (143), Pakistan (135) and the US (42).  He analyzes the social issues behind death penalty in China and is surprised by the “Amnesty International's hipocrisy”. “I would make it clear, first of all, that I am against capital punishment. But we must try to understand the social and cultural causes behind a punishment that seems to be, for most of us free and democratic souls, an act of desperation.”


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Malaysia: The Opposition versus a High Court Judge · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Is Malaysia's opposition party using its new found political power to harass a High Court Judge?


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Malaysia’s flawless democracy? · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Lost Aborigine believes Malaysia's “flawless democracy should be rejected.” The blogger adds: “It must first begin with the step down of the Prime Minister and equality to the non-Malay Bumiputera.”


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Mozambique: On the new statutory minimum wage · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Basilio Muhate [pt] talks briefly about the consensus reached by Mozambique's trade unions and the employers’ associations in the negotiations for a new statutory minimum wage in eight of the nine sectors defined by the government. “If indeed there has been a consensus, it is a good step from the diplomatic point of view. The big question is whether this consensus will have multiplier effects on individual consumption and on the ability to afford staple foods in Mozambique”.


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Nagorno Karabakh: Human Rights Ombudsperson · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Unzipped commends the breakaway and self-declared Republic of Nagorno Karabakh for electing its first human rights ombudsperson. Although some concerns still remain with regards to figures working in an official capacity, the blog says that recent experience in Armenia has shown that such positions are necessary for democratic development as well as human rights protection.


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Nepal: On the Maoists · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

United We Blog! on the perceptions of Maoists in Nepal.


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Pakistan: Food crisis · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Pakistani Spectator on the food crisis which is no longer a “local” issue.


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Palestine: International Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Body on the Line marks the International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian Political Prisoners with this post.


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Russia: Putin and Kabaeva? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Lex Libertas wonders whether Vladimir Putin is really marrying gymnast and Duma deputy Alina Kabaeva – or it is all “a long-running April Fool’s joke by Dmitry Medvedev’s wife, Svetlana.”


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Saudi Arabia: Women Basketball Team  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

…Or Does it Explode? posts a video and an article about a Saudi basketball team for women called Jeddah United.


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Serbia, Kosovo: Election · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Krenar Gashi of Balkan Insight offers a Kosovar's perspective on the upcoming election in Serbia – and the campaigning in Kosovo.


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Singapore: Praise for Hillary Clinton · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Blogging from Singapore, Blowin’ In The Wind describes U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as “passionate and true to her convictions.”


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Syria: 12 Years for Kamal Labwani  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Syrian opposition activist Kamal Labwani has been handed a 12-year jail sentence for “contacts with Washington,” reports …Or Does it Explode?


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Thailand: Bangkok freeze · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

bact’ is a name writes about the planned Bangkok freeze: Street people will be  gathering together in downtown Bangkok to “freeze” themselves for 5 minutes on April 20


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Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela: Archaeological Find · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Caribbean Beat Blog reveals that on the island of Cubagua, situated between Venezuela's northeastern shoreline and the resort island of Margarita, “researchers reportedly have found archaelogical traces of three distinct periods of human history in the Americas.”


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Turkmenistan: Forests and Deserts · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Maciula reports and opines on the Turkmenistan government's intention to create a forest in the desert with the help of extensive irrigation.


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Uruguay: 365 versions of La Cumparsita · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Three hundred and sixty five versions of one of the most famous tangoes in the world, La Cumparsita, will be played in Independence Plaza in Montevideo, which is the site where it was played for the first time 91 years ago. Café Montevideo [es] has more details.


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AIDS – A Taboo in the Arab World  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

AIDS, the deadly acquired immune deficiency syndrome, is a taboo word in the Arab world. But the scary word has managed to crop up in many blog posts this week – from Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Bahrain and Yemen.
Jordanian blogger Hareega, a doctor by profession, shares this ‘uncomfortable conversation’ he has had with an acquaintance about his work at the HIV Aids clinic:
A friend asked, “How's your work this month”
“Good, I'm doing HIV clinics three times a week”
“HIV? like AIDS?”
“Yes”
“Watch out”
“Watch out from what?”
He looked me like I was an idiot, “Watch out from the HIV”
“Why should I watch out?”
“Well, watch out, it's HIV, it's AIDS”
“But why should I watch out? I don't sleep with my patients in the clinic”
“I know idiot, but just watch out, it's AIDS”
“I don't inject drugs with them either”
“I know I know, but just watch out”
“From what?”
“Listen, I'm no scientist (obviously), but you gotta watch out, or I have to start watching out from you”
Hareega continues:
Since January 1st, 2008, twenty-two new cases of HIV were diagnosed in Jordan.
Public knowledge about HIV among Jordanians, especially the “well-educated”: Zero, and declining.
Iraqi Layla Anwar too is incensed at the way this topic is “broached” in the Arab world – despite the increasing incidence of the disease in the region. While watching a television programme on the issue, the blogger notes:
Was watching a program some months ago, on Arabic Al-Jazeerah on HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases in the Arab World.
The producer cleverly attempted to broach this “sensitive” and taboo subject, by presenting it as a religious program and invited a guest speaker who is a specialist in both medicine and religious sciences i.e Islamic theology.
Layla explains:
HIV carriers are on the increase in the Arab World. No one would like to admit that but that is a fact. We all know how HIV is transmitted and we all know that the practice of safe sex and the screening of blood banks is a must.
So this is not what really caught my attention in the program. What caught my attention is that HIV and STD's are also on the rise among married heterosexual couples in the Arab World and not just among homosexuals.
The invited guest's speciality was epidemiology and infectious diseases. And in the realm of his practice, he encountered several cases (undeclared in public statistics) of straight couples for the most part married, infected with STD's and HIV in particular.
In 99% of the cases, the woman was infected by her husband. A husband who had unprotected extra-marital relations, with other women and sometimes with other men.
In 99% of the cases, the man believing himself to be invincible, had refused the idea of protection i.e the use of a condom.
So Mr.returning from his business trip, or his night outing comes home and offers his wife/partner the kiss of death.
On taboos, Layla says:
Of course you understand that talking about this subject in the Arab World is very taboo. A lot of denial surrounds it and a lot of rationalizations, to the effect that “us in muslim societies don't have such things”, “sweep it under the carpet, and don't let the neighbors know– what will people think”….etc.
The wall of tradition and culture is so dense that it is nearly impossible to talk about this subject in public without being accused of being “decadent, lewd and immoral.”
Meanwhile, AIDS victims die in silence, quarantined in rooms made of shame and guilt.
Amal A, from Palestine, also tackles the topic of Aids, noting her disgust at how a court case was handle in Egypt, where the prosecutor told one of the men involved in the trial, when he was informed him that he is HIV positive: “People like you should be burnt alive. You do not deserve to live.”
If Egypt is going to throw in jail all Egyptian men who have sex with men, they will need many more prisons. (…)
The criminalization of AIDs is a disaster!!! Othering and demonizing patients who are HIV positive or have AIDS will not help protect Egyptians. But this is not about protecting Egyptians at all. It's about the state scapegoating the weak to consolidate its power uber alles.
But things are changing slowly and there seems to be a silver lining. Bahraini Butterfly will soon be attending in Cairo, entitled Independent Artists/Bloggers Responding to AIDS in the Arab Region.
وستضم الورشة مجموعة من المدونين والمبدعين العرب في مجال التصوير وصناعة الافلام السينمائية وغيرها من الفنون الإعلامية.
هذه هي المرة الأولى التي سيتسنى لي فيها حضور فعالية تخص برنامج الامم المتحدة الانمائي في البحرين، كما ستكون المرة الأولى ايضا التي ستتاح لي فيها فرصة اللقاء بالمدونين والمبدعين العرب من مختلف الاقطار العربية. وسأشارككم بالطبع بما سأكتشفه من اسرار ودهاليز تتعلق بهذا المرض المخيف الذي لايزال الحديث عنه محظورا في معظم دولنا العربية.
The workshop will involve bloggers and creative Arabs in the areas of photography, film making and other media arts. This is the first time I will be attending an event organised by the United Nations Development Programme in Bahrain and also meet with bloggers and artists from around the Arab world. I will definitely share with you the secrets I will uncover about this scary disease, where even talking about it is prohibited in most of our Arab countries.
And last but not least, Armies of Liberation, links to news sources about a miracle Aids herbal medicine, developed in Yemen which claims to have the cure for the deadly virus.


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Angola: A glossary of Angolan terms · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Casa de Luanda [Luanda House, pt] has been compiling a glossary of Angolan expressions. “Check out the A to D, E to L and M to Z. sections. As soon as new suggestions from our readers come up, the list will be updated”.


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Armenia: Homophobic Values · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Unzipped: Gay Armenia comments on the recent suicide of a 22-year-old ethnic Armenian living in the United States. According to the blog, the young man killed himself after being forced into marriage by his family who were ashamed of his homosexuality. The blog says that the story represents the homophobic values in place in both Armenia and its Diaspora.


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Bahrain: Blogging for the environment · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

In recent months Bahrain's bloggers have been turning more and more to environmental issues, and one group of bloggers have even started a campaign to raise awareness about the environmental damage caused by plastic bags.
We start, however, with Mohammed AlMaskati, who a while back expressed disbelief after hearing a minister say that the environment was a priority for the government:
The WHO?!.. Environment? In Bahrain?! … Dare I remind you sir that Bahrain has the sixth highest level of carbon dioxide emissions in the world? Dare I remind you that our beaches literally serve as “litter bins” and are practically unsafe to even walk on? … I honestly don’t understand how any Bahraini official could even talk about environmental protection issues given the miserable situation of the country…
Lizardo is worried about the rise in temperature:
I did a kind of a study for school before and found that with this rate of temperature increase we are in two hundred years losing 10% of our islands area due to sea level rise, which with simple little math equal an area of Manama and Muharraq together!
A group of bloggers decided to use their blogs to help raise awareness about plastic bags, and started a campaign in January. Writer and blogger Deonna Kelli Sayed interviewed Sayed Aqa, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Bahrain, because the 2007-2008 UN Human Development Report was on climate change:
Deonna Kelli Sayed: What are some of the main challenges to Bahrain’s environment?
Sayed Aqa: As a small island state, sea level rise as a result of climate change will be a major challenge for the development and economy of Bahrain. Therefore, coastal area management as well as fresh water scarcity are major issues. Per capita, Bahrain has one of the highest rates of carbon emissions in the world, mainly from the energy sector. Scientists have agreed that if we don’t address these issues within the next few years, our planet will face catastrophic disasters that will affect our survival, particularly in countries like Bahrain.
…
DKS: What about plastic bags?
SA: Plastic bags are non-biodegradable. Therefore, their negative environmental impact is long lasting. Switching to cloth bags is something everyone can do without compromising much. This also is the most effective way of creating public awareness, as every one will get involved and people will have to make decisions on a daily basis NOT to use plastic bags. It is a constant reminder with a very positive contribution.
A number of supermarkets have recently introduced reusable bags, and announced they will soon be charging customers for plastic bags; Yagoob is pleased to hear it:
Another blogger, Maldita, is also happy at the supermarkets’ move:
I have started using the jute bags and they are adorable. I feel strangely proud bringing my jute shopping bag with me as I walk through the hypermarket entrance. It’s practically easy to pack groceries with more space and being and more durable. What more, it is easy to lug around instead of those small plastic bags. Just sling them over your shoulder if you really don’t have enough loads that require use of the trolleys.
Hubby has complained that now we can’t use those bags as trash bags anymore. Yes we do our part of recycling the plastics but it isn’t enough. I patiently told him that the earth is there giving us what we she can offer. Yet, think of it, what about our children’s children? Will she have enough to give the same? I already talked my friends and everyone I know to make use of the bags and contribute to the effort of saving our planet. If you are in Bahrain, please grab one when you do your groceries!
We end with Mahmood, who was pleased to tell us recently about Bahrain's first Farmers’ Market:
It is very much hoped that this event will become a regular seasonal market with facilities that will promote local seasonal produce and handicrafts, enshrining the concepts of “buy local” and of course cutting the greenhouse gases at the same time. This is local produce with all the goodness of being picked fresh and consumed fresh with no frozen, shrink-wrapped pseudo-green things in sight!

author: Ayesha Saldanha


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Barbados: Rising Food Prices · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bajan Global Report takes a look at how rising food prices are affecting various Caribbean territories.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Brazil, USA: Sex, Crime and the Vatican · Global Voices
Daniel Duende

Antônio Mello, from blogdomello[Pt], blogs about “Sex, Crime and the Vatican” — a BBC documentary (parts 1, 2, 3 and 4)[En, subtitles in Pt] about children sexual abuse by catholic priests and the shelter provided by the Vatican to the accused ecclesiastics — and a Vatican internal document named Crimen Sollicitationis, reportedly signed in 1962 by Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, that “said that if you were molested by a priest, you could complain to the bishop, to the cardinal, to the pope, but if you denounced the case to Justice, you would be excommunicated.”

author: Daniel Duende


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Chilean Shorts: Micro and Mini Movies on the Web · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

From Chile, three examples of online video creation: first, a Chilean pre-candidate for the presidency takes advantage of online video tools to produce documentaries and interviews for web distribution, next, two independent short film producers with videos which talk about poverty, disabilities, old habits which don't have such a hard time dying and, why not? Love.
Marcelo Trivelli, previously mentioned on Global Voices for his interest in promoting the One Laptop per Child project in Chile as part of his presidential program. The following video was uploaded on his YouTube channel, and speaks about the situation of children living in the streets of Santiago de Chile, where drugs and theft are their means of life. It is subtitled in English, you can view the original version in Spanish by following this link.
Also making videos about issues that matter to him is vlogger José Cordova Llanos: he won the “Genera” online video contest against abuse with his short film titled “Whisper”, which despite the language barrier, carries a message about the effects of psychological abuse that can be understood by people from all over the world. His next two videos also participated on an online 1 minute video contest, in this case, the Teleton in Chile:  his touching “Teach me” video carries a message in favor of teaching children not to discriminate illustrating it with the simple image of a child cutting paper dolls, while  “limited” is a humorous scenario that shows that being “common sense” impaired is far more limiting than being unable to move unassisted.
A quirky third video by josecordovallanos which I really liked is the “Bad Habits” video, mocking the current paranoid trends on security. Subtitled in English, it follows:
The last video, by YouTube user Patton1212 is simply titled “I love you”. You can view it subtitled at the end of this post, or directly on its source.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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China: Boomtown Beijing · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Onemanbandwidth introduced a documentary “Boomtown Beijing” by Siok Siok Tan. The film gave more background on the social psychology at the center of a rising state.


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China: One world, one dream, and one multi-front protest · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Last week's Olympics “angel” Jin Jing is on the traitor [zh] list now, after she spoke out against the upcoming nation-wide anti-Carrefour [zh] protests set for May 1 [zh].
People can't wait [update: yeah, it's totally on now] to get out to those, it seems, just like Chinese hackers, having already gotten into Carrefour.com.cn, weren't willing to wait until the 19th for the planned CNN.com DDOS attack to begin, all this against the backdrop of millions of netizens finding ways to display their patriotism.
As if that weren't enough, Jack Cafferty's remarks even got the central government on the anti-CNN bandwagon.
So now Saturday is looking like Chinese anti-CNN day in a number of different places [zh] around the world [zh]
At least one related post at China.com has over 27,000 comments over nearly 500 pages. As Heike The Dark Visitor blogger points out, the April 19 protests will mostly be held in western Europe:
1.  1500-1800hrs, 19 April 2008, at the Bundestag, Platz der Republik, Berlin
2. 1300-1500hrs, 19 April 2008, two routes (from Talie – Hotel de Ville – Bastille) or (Republique – Bastille – Hotel de Ville –Bastille, Paris
3. 1100-1500hrs, 19 April 2008, Downing Street outside of Whitehall, England
4. (No time given) 19 April 2008, Amsterdam, Holland
The protests appear to be well organized, with the coordination of donations, banners, flags, T-shirts…etc. While it is of course impossible to tell how widespread the demonstrations will be, an online keyword search, using Chinese, did produce several hundred hits.
One link Heike provides emphasizes that the protesters are furious and promising demonstrations that will flood Europe in a sea of red flags:
On April 18, one of the earlier members of anti-CNN.com posted the address and fax number for CNN's office in Beijing, along with a sample letter for anyone to send:
致美国有线电视新闻网负责人：
美国东部时间4月9日晚6点，贵台主持人Jack Cafferty 在“时事观察室”节目中发表了侮辱全体中国人的种族歧视言论，令人甚感震惊。他说：“他们（中国人）基本上还是五十年来的那群恶棍和暴徒。”
全世界华人充分理解贵国一贯秉持的言论自由原则，并尊重Jack Cafferty的政治立场，但是作为一个公众人物，一个新闻从业者，Jack Cafferty所说的已经完全超越了言论自由的底线，相信任何一个有尊严的华人都不会接受这种对于华人整个族裔的谩骂。
At 6pm EST on the evening of April 9, your network's anchorperson Jack Cafferty, made racist remarks on the program The Situation Room that insulted and shocked the entirety of the Chinese people. He said, “(the Chinese) they're basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years.”
The Chinese people of the world fully understand that your country has always upheld the principle of free speech, and respect Jack Cafferty's political stance, but as a public persona and a news professional, what Jack Cafferty said has gone way beyond the line of freedom of speech, and [we] believe that any respectable Chinese person cannot accept this kind of invective towards the entire Chinese race.
贵台稍候在15日发表的简短声明中辩解称Jack Cafferty所说的恶棍暴徒指的是中国政府，这样避重就轻没有诚意的道歉声明更是令人难以接受。首先，在Jack Cafferty的言论中，他反复多次说到中国，中国人，丝毫没有提到中国政府的地方；再者，Jack Cafferty在说到“恶棍”与“暴徒”时，使用的是复数，其意思非常明确，他口中的“他们”指的就是整个华人族群；最后，贵台的声明把矛头转向中国政府，这样牵强的强辩实际上是对中华民族的二度伤害！难道攻击一个国家的政府就不会伤害该国人民的感情了吗？
为此我致函向CNN以及Jack Cafferty提出严正抗议和谴责！
中国向世界敞开大门只有短短20多年的时间，全世界华人都能够理解各国人民对中国这个遥远的东方国家尚存在许多的疑问及种种误解。但是这并不意味着某些人可以不负责任、口无遮拦地攻击中国以及中华民族。即使不了解中国，任何一个有良知的人也不应该对发生在自己身边的事实选择性失明。
It is for these reasons that I have written to sternly protest and condemn both CNN and Jack Cafferty!
China has only opened its doors to the world for a short twenty-something years, but Chinese people from around the world are all able to see that people from every country around the world still bear many doubts and various sorts of misunderstandings toward China, this country far off in the Orient. But this does not mean that certain people can be irresponsible, and freely make attacks against China and the Chinese people. Even if one doesn't understand China, no conscientious person ought to be selectively blind to facts which lay before them.
以美国为例，华人移民多少年来都是社会中最遵纪守法和最友善的一群人。Cafferty先生是否记得， 9.11事件发生后 ，布什总统向劫机事件中表现英勇的华裔空姐邓月薇家属颁发奖状，称她是“美国的英雄”，事件中另一名中国学生曾喆在世贸大厦现场不停救人最终英勇牺牲，被追赠纽约市“社区贡献奖”的曾喆是美国历史上获此殊荣的第二人；Cafferty先生又是否知道，去年震惊美国震惊世界的弗吉尼亚理工大学枪击案中，有一名华裔女教师挺身而出带领学生顶住大门阻止了枪手进入，从而保护了全班学生。从何时起，善良、本分、为世界和平默默做出贡献的华人竟然成为了Jack Cafferty口中的恶棍和暴徒？
我相信，身为一名资深政治评论员，Jack Cafferty决非无知，他更没有失忆，促使他公开侮辱中国人的根本原因是他对我华人的种族歧视！他的言论无疑是对整个中华民族，尤其是在美华人最无耻的伤害，更造成了非常恶劣的影响，严重损伤了中美两国人民的友谊。
I believe, that as a senior political commentator, Jack Cafferty is in no way ignorant, as much as I don't believe he has amnesia: the underlying reason which led him to publicly insult the Chinese people is his racism towards Chinese people! His words undoubtedly referred to the entire Chinese race, shamelessly hurting in particular those Chinese in America the most, but the most terrible impact this has had is the serious harm it has done to the friendship between the peoples of America and China.
贵台多年来一直标榜CNN在全球树立了很强的公信度和良好的声誉，而现如今Jack Cafferty信口开河恶意攻击中国人的言论无疑是CNN甚至全美传媒界的耻辱！试问一个赤裸裸发表种族歧视言论的人有何资格站在道德高点批评他人为恶棍暴徒？
希望CNN及Jack Cafferty收起傲慢与偏见，立即向全世界华人进行公开、正式的道歉！
如果贵台及Jack Cafferty本人迟迟不愿就辱华言论事件向全世界华人做出诚恳回应，全球华人定将依法提起集体诉讼，追究CNN及Jack Cafferty的诽谤侮辱责任和相关赔偿。
期待你们的答复！
一名普通中国人：
2008年4月18日
I hope CNN and Jack Cafferty retract their arrogance and prejudice, and immediately issue a public and formal apology to the Chinese people of the world!
If this station and Jack Cafferty himself take their time in issuing a sincere response to the Chinese people of the world for this remark incident which has disgraced us Chinese, the Chinese of the world are firmly prepared to adhere to law and file a class-action lawsuit to look into CNN and Jack Cafferty's responsibility and appropriate compensation for this slanderous insult.
I await your response!

author: John Kennedy


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Controversial Malaysian politician now a blogger · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Dr. Chua Soi Lek, a former Malaysian politician who figured in a DVD sex scandal early this year is now blogging. In one of his posts he asks: “Should we fully trust new media and desert mainstream media?”


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Cuba: Exit Permits On The Way Out · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Cuban Triangle links to a report that says “the requirement that Cubans obtain an exit permit (tarjeta blanca) from their own government before traveling abroad, will soon disappear for nearly all Cubans.”


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East Timor: Ramos Horta is back home in the anniversary of massacre in Dili · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Ângela Carrascalão [pt] is pondering about justice: “The day that Ramos Horta returned to his country coincides with the 9th anniversary of the massacre in Dili. In my brother Manuel's home, dozens of refugees, who had sought shelter there, were murdered. Among them my nephew Manelito.  […] I do not know whether there will be justice eventually. I believe so. For Manelito and dozens of nameless faceless dead ones buried in Dr. António de Carvalho Street and for those who lie in Maubara. There are not thirteen deaths as Indonesia said. Because if they were 120 refugees and news of only 40 survivors, where have the other ones gone to?”


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Ecuador: The Launching of Creative Commons Licenses · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Creative Commons in Ecuador is set to be launched next week [es] in Loxa, Ecuador, writes Nelson Piedra.


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Guyana: Threats of Tourism · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Third World governments invariably justify the promotion of tourism as a driving force for economic development,” says Guyana Providence Stadium, but asks: “Is tourism really the holy cow to be protected and nurtured at all costs for Guyana's development?”


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Haiti, Congo, and the politics of hunger · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Skyrocketing food prices have already sparked riots in Haiti, Egypt and Mozambique this month as a worsening crisis not only threatens to leave thousands vulnerable to starvation, but will test weak and ineffective governments in poor countries around the world.
Two francophone bloggers, one Haitian, one Congolese, respond, but rather than blame the proximate cause–subsidies for biofuels in rich countries–they criticize the politics and the politicians who left their countries this vulnerable to begin with.  They write that the riots of these last few weeks and the riots to come, like the crisis itself, are symptomatic of deeper problems that cannot be solved by the simple magic of foreign aid.
Haitian blogger Natifnatal wrote an angry, heartbreaking post as she watched events in Haiti unfolding from thousands of miles away, in Abu Dhabi, which she suggests is a sort of self-imposed exile.  It's called “When politicians serve hunger to score points.”
Ces dernières semaines, Haïti est revenu à la une de l’actualité. Quelque loin que vous soyez, les nouvelles vous rattrapent, les imagent vous bousculent, le gêne vous serre la gorge, et la colère vous embrase. Vous êtes, en effet, en colère contre la manière dont votre pays est réduite dans la presse : à des laissés pour compte semant la pagaille, détruisant les rares magasins qui opèrent dans un pays qui ne fonctionnent plus depuis longtemps, posant des barricades enflammées, et lançant des pierres sur le Palais National. Vous êtes en colère parce les réponses qui vous sont posées par les étrangers qui regardent comme vous et qui n’en comprennent rien, sont impossibles à répondre. Faut-il commencer par 1492, parler de la découverte, de l’esclavage, de la prospérité de l’ex Perle des Antilles, de la lutte pour l’Independence, de Toussaint Louverture ? Ou faut-il conter la déchéance qui ponctue notre quotidien depuis 1804, l’occupation, la dictature, les massacres, la démagogie qui a revêtu des allures de démocratie avec Aristide, puis s’arrêter sur les kidnappings, les coups d’état, la pauvreté, l’indigence, et le désespoir qui nous hantent de façon quotidienne. Car ceux qui n’y connaissent rien le plus simplement du monde peuvent poser l’équation faim + pauvreté + hausse des prix = manifestations + démission du Premier Ministre + violence, et argumenter qu’une augmentation de l’aide alimentaire devait suffire à réduire la faim.
Mais vous qui connaissez Haïti, qui respirez encore son air en dépit de la distance, qui pleurez encore en silence quand vous avez un parent au bout du fil, vous savez que la situation est loin d’être aussi simple. Vous savez que ces manifestations ne sont pas innocentes, qu’il y a des mains derrière ces actes de violence, que ces soit disant revendications ne sont pas dues au hasard, que le renvoi du Premier Ministre ou l’octroi de l’argent n’arrangerait pas grand chose, et que ces manifestants ne sont que des pions entre les mains habiles des malades du pouvoir.
Parce que vous la connaissez la froide vérité, vous en avez marre. Vous avez beau fuir ces manœuvres politiques, vous avez beau rompre avec Haïti, vous avez beau vous résigner à votre condition de « sans pays », il suffit de ces moments pour que votre pouls s’accélère, que votre cœur se met a palpiter, que vous avez envie de vous arracher les cheveux, de maudire le destin, et de vous rendre a l’évidence, pour la énième fois, que vous avez bien fait de vous en aller.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Musengeshi Katata at Forum Realisance, watching events in Haiti and Egypt, writes a post called, “Today, Haiti.  Tomorrow, the world.”
Katata touches on the relationship between the current food crisis, the ecological devastation of the planet, energy demand, biofuels, and how India and China, developing rapidly and without the latest in energy-saving technologies, are coming to Africa in search of natural resources.
He asks “Why is Africa so slow to understand that it's only going to get more difficult [to develop] in the future?” and predicts that “the next few years will be bad, so bad that we will ask ourselves if Hell is African” because “rich countries will, as they always have, place the heavy weight of this intensifying crisis on the shoulders of poor countries” [Fr]
But in the end, Katata puts most of the responsibility on African elites themselves, predicting that “many incapable governments and puppet regimes are going to implode” in the coming years unless they recognize their own self-interest lies with protecting the interests of their people.
…le Tsunami, comme l´écrit un de nos confrères de l´Internet, va bientôt atteindre l´Afrique avec, comme le prédit la Banque Mondiale, de chaudes révoltes et des famines sans issues. Comment pouvons-nous présenter les choses pour que les élites noires et africaines comprennent qu´elles sont en train de dormir, et que leurs vues des choses est désastreuse et préjudiciable au bien être et à l´avenir des leurs ? Faut-il que les africains, les afrodescendants continuent toujours à se faire rouler par l´occident, et à négliger de voir les choses telles qu´elles sont au risque de subir, de décennies en décennies les graves vicissitudes chroniques du manque et de la pauvreté ? C´est à se demander : les noirs se refusaient-ils à réfléchir et tirer des conclusions utiles ou n´en étaient-ils pas capables ?
Tous les pays qui vivent de l´aide internationale, tous ceux qui n´ont pas développé à domicile leur propre agriculture sous l´aide et les promesses fallacieuses des pays industrialisés, vont connaître, dans les années qui suivent, de dures années de vache enragée. La crise économique que nous connaissons depuis bientôt 30 ans va s´accentuer et effriter les maigres moyens de tous les pays pauvres. Et ceux qui espèrent ou croient que l´aide internationale pourrait les aider à adoucir les choses se trompent encore une fois: cette aide, quoique soulageante, est un véritable poison si parallèlement, et cela malgré la misère et la pauvreté, un effort accru n´est fait pour pallier à ce genre de pénurie dans l´avenir. Parce que, avouons-le, l´aide corrompt et trompe bien les apparences ; ce qui empêche souvent, comme on le sait, de voir « l´arbre », le mal tel qu´il se présente et d´y remédier le plus judicieusement que possible. Par ailleurs, l´endettement des pays industrialisés actuellement est effrayante, et cela va provoquer prochainement, accumule au chômage, des crises sociales remarquables.

author: Jennifer Brea


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Indonesian politicians must blog · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Jakartass notes that the ruling party in Indonesia has decreed that candidates for posts will be required to set up blogs.

author: Mong Palatino


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Jamaica, Martinique, Trinidad & Tobago: Césaire Passes On · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp acknowledges the passing of Aimé Césaire, calling him “a poet honored throughout the French-speaking world and a crusader for West Indian rights”, while Caribbean Beat Blog says: “It is with heavy heart we say goodbye to this son of West Indian soil and thank him for his never-ceasing fight against colonialism.”


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Kazakhstan: Nuclear Domination Ambitions · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Joshua Foust reflects on the Kazakhstan's prospects and plans to take a leading position in the world's uranium market.